GIRL Time!

"GIRL TIME!" This is what Natalie screams anytime just the two of us go anywhere or do anything without the boys. We had 2 hours of official girl time this evening, thanks to John suggesting it. We went to eat at Chik-Fil-A (my favorite 'fast food') because Natalie wanted to play and I couldn't force myself to stomach McDonald's. Then we washed the car (why this is so fun, I'll never know) and headed to CVS. I had some pictures to develop (I know, shocker!), so we walked around while they finished printing. Here is what we found:

Is she stylin' or what?

Somedays are a Decathlon

OK, not everyday is a decathlon. Just most days. Some days I am am gung ho, ready to start the 10 event race; while other days, I feel like I am last out of the blocks. In my everyday, the 10 events could involve: numerous car trips, temper tantrums, time-outs, birthday parties, grocery store torture. It all becomes a blur. I know that this is a season of life that will morph into another sort of race... I just need to sit back and appreciate the journey instead of looking for the finish line.

On another note, well-meaning individuals sometimes say, "Oh, enjoy it while they are young, it passes by so quickly." (Usually after one or all the children have presented an incredibly embarrassing behavior.) I try to smile through my gritted teeth and thank them. In reality, I wonder, "how in the world I am going to make it through today???"

Simple Things That I Appreciate

*Children's laughter

*Peanut Butter (Peter Pan/Smart Choice)

*A full tank of gas

*A nice smile

*Willow Tree people

*Running

*A good book

*Clean sheets

*Costco cake

*Silence

*Naps

*Sweet tea

*Not changing diapers

*An empty dishwasher

*Front row joe parking

*Finding my keys when they are lost

*An empty clothes hamper (coupled with an empty washer and dyer)

*Someone holding the door open for me when I am pushing a stroller.

*When I run spellcheck, getting the "No Misspellings Found" message.

Camp Thurman

Cooper went to Camp Thurman this week. What a fantastic time he had! He was so patient to answer my 20+ questions that I had for him each day. He told me about swimming 2 times a day, wearing his bathing suit all day long, the cool crafts they did, the skit with Dr. Do-Bad, the bible stories that they learned, the bow and arrow that he got to shoot, the sandbox that he played in relentlessly, the rope bridges that he crossed and so much more. His counselor was 'Amazon' and Amazon's helper was 'Fig'. Cooper had the best time with those guys. What a great experience for a 5 year old that loves adventure!

I gave him a disposable camera to take pictures of the fort, his friends, the skit, the pool and whatever else he wanted to remember. Well, I guess he wanted to remember the skit the most because he took 19 pictures of it! I felt like I was right there...

Vacation Bible School - Round II

Natalie and Luke were lucky enough to get invited to Gram's church for Vacation Bible School - Outrigger Island. There's just something about seeing a room full of purple shirted little kids that is adorable. They did the neatest crafts and Natalie came home yesterday with a necklace holder (decorated toilet paper tube) that held all the memory verses she has been working on all week. She even said 3 of them! Pretty impressive for a 4 year old, I think. Even Luke got in on the fun, telling me all about what he got to eat at VBS and who he played with. No memory verses from him yet, but I'm sure by next year he'll be reciting them. :>)

After VBS was over today, Gram treated us to a fun lunch at Chicken Red's. Sure is nice to have her so close and able to do fun stuff on a whim!

More Swim Thursday Fun!

Here is a glimpse of the fantastic fun that we have at Swim Thursdays with Ms. Mary! It may look like there are a lot of children in the pool clamoring for Ms. Mary's attention, but in reality there were 4 other children that are NOT in the picture!!! As you can see, Ms. Mary is not a sideline participant when it comes having fun in the pool. She is the center of all the FUN! We love Ms. Mary!!!

Juggling Time

Summer really should not be any different for me (mother of preschoolers only) than the rest of the year, right? Oh my goodness, I could not be more wrong! The last 4 weeks have been chaotic with swim lessons, VBS, Camp Thurman, birthday parties, swimming and trying to squeeze in work somewhere. Last week the older 2 went to VBS, this week it is the younger 2. (Yes, Natalie gets to experience 2 versions of Vacation Bible School) Cooper is at Camp Thurman all this week. Both activities start at 9am, yet reside 10 miles apart. Huh? In theory, if I drop Cooper off early, I can almost get the other ones to their event reasonably on time. Then I get to bolt to Fort Worth to do as much work as humanly possible before I have to pick them up, squeeze in some swimming, take a nap and race up to pick up Cooper! YIKES!

Laundry - The Ongoing Saga

I have written a previous post - Laundry: A New Strategy about how I have conquered laundry and all was going to go perfect with the new process of doing laundry. Well, all is NOT perfect, never will be perfect, and I feel like I should just give up on thinking I will ever have all the dirty clothes hampers empty for any length of time.

Here's some of the issues that make laundry so fun:

*John likes the whites to be bleached. OK. However, I have learned, through experience, not to bleach the towels that I take to the gym to wipe my sweat. Bleach + Sweat = Super stink SO, that means I have to sub sort the whites into bleach-able and non-bleach-able.

*John does not like his t-shirts to be thrown in the dryer. I can respect that because I do not like my workout shorts or sports tops to go in the dryer either. Therefore, I have to sub sort the colors into dry-able and hang-up-only. (Then I have to actually hang up those clothes under a fan for minimum 12 hours)

*The kids' hamper ends up so full, it makes 2-3 loads in less than a week! (Lights or darks are about as sub sort as those get.)

*Also, there are 4 beds of sheets to wash each week as well. Not a big deal, just 2 more loads to work into the mix...

*Now that it is summer, I am washing towels and bathing suits every day, because we swim every day, if not twice a day. (I do not like chlorine to sit in either of those items) We take 3-4 towels to the pool each time and wear 5-8 bathing suits a day. I know a bit extreme, but all in the name of fun for the summer, right?

What Can Happen in a Minute?

What can happen in a minute? OK, if we were being honest here, really more than a few minutes, you know, just long enough to blow dry your hair, or put on your clothes or change the laundry from the washer to the dryer. No more than a few minutes, huh?
Back to the question, what could happen in that brief span of time? Let me list the things that can occur if you have a curious 2 year old, clever 4 year old and dominating 5 year old:

*a child could decide that they are going to make egg whites; all by himself. Open the refrigerator, get an egg out, get a pan out, crack the egg on the pan, FREAK out and throw as much of the shell and what is left into the pan, then run to the hallway, take off the shirt with egg all over it, put on a PJ top (who'd notice in the middle of the day?) and casually walk into my room as if nothing happened. Here's what I found along with the refrigerator door still open and egg yolk ALL down the dishwasher and pooled on the floor. I must say I am impressed that he did get the egg white in the pan and the yolk... well, not in the pan. (LUKE)

*someone could decide that they are going to play 'dress up' and dress the 2 year old (boy) in a velvet top and velvet skirt. (John really frowns on this.) (Cooper and Natalie)

*a child could decide that he needs to get naked right now and strip his clothes off and get back to sitting down as if nothing ever happened. The fun part is trying to find where he put his clothes... (Luke)

*someone could decide that they would scrub the carpet with toothpaste to get it clean... yes, the toothpaste is still there and it is still not clean. (Cooper and Natalie)

*a child could decide to wash the pen marks (that he put there) off of his legs by getting up into the sink and flooding the whole bathroom. (LUKE)

*a child could decide that they are going to 'wash' their dolls' hair, body and clothes in the bathroom sink. (Natalie) (Anytime my children use water without supervision=trouble.)

*a child could decide to unroll a whole roll of toilet paper into the toilet because 'it just kept rolling, mommy!' (Luke)

*a child could decide that what she is wearing is NOT her favorite outfit and go change in 14 seconds flat and be back sitting down, leaving me to wonder if I just thought she had a dress on earlier or if she has been wearing capris all along. (Natalie)

*a child could decide that they are going to eat the Nestle Quik (powder) straight out of the container with a spoon. And that this should take place underneath the dining room table. (Luke)

These are all things that when I see the end result, I think:

How in the world did they manage to do that so fast?

Swim Thursday

One of my best girlfriends graciously opens her house, pool and refrigerator to us every Thursday of the summer. Seriously. She has it scheduled on her blackberry and clears out of the office early on Thursday so everyone who wants to can all have fun swimming, playing and laughing. Once the shade completely envelopes the pool, we clear out and get to eating. (Why does swimming make you hungry enough to eat an elephant?)

It is such a great time and my kids ask every day, "Is today Swim Thursday?" They know they are guaranteed a grand time with Ms. Mary, Scout and 3-10 extra playmates! Thank you for sharing your oasis with us, Mary!