Category Archives: Uncategorized

A funny milestone

Posted on by
Reply

I often find myself wondering at what age kids should start attending to personal hygiene things themselves. For awhile it was showers. When do kids start showering? How do you teach them? Funny thing, parenting is, because things just happen when they are meant to happen. Lex decided one day it was time to start showering. That was awhile ago and now he showers sometimes and bathes other times. But it just happened when it was time. I say all this because a new thing I’ve been wondering about for awhile is nail clipping. It’s one of my least favorite jobs. The kids don’t fight or protest, but they just barely cooperate, and their nails grow so fast I feel like we are clipping them every week! This evening Lex fussed about not liking to have his nails clipped so I said, “Want to do it yourself?” He jumped at the idea!! It was hard work for him because he’s still developing that fine motor control, but he did a decent job. It took him a long time, but I was patient and he was patient and he was super proud of himself when he was done! I guess right about seven is the answer to that question.

I thought hard about getting the camera but he was sitting on my lap and it was sweet and he was working hard and I didn’t want to interrupt the moment. Why don’t I have an eye-cam yet?!?!

Seven year check-up!

Posted on by
Reply

We had Lex’s seven year check-up today! Seven years old! My, how time flies. He was not very happy to go, but I appreciate that he doesn’t physically fight with us much anymore. I had to carry him into the exam room, but he didn’t protest or fight, instead he just snuggled in and fussed. On the way over he kept saying, “I’m not very excited to go to the doctor’s office.” To which I had to reply, “Of course not, no one ever is!”

lex p2

This is his general opinion on going to the doctor. At least he just sulks these days and doesn't physically object. Fortunately we have a good doctor who is able to get him chatting and make the appoinment go smoothly.

He did a good job though and cooperated with the doctor. No surprise, he’s a well and growing boy. They measured him at 48″ (now he can ride the rides, right?!) and 56lbs. Which puts him at the 73rd percentile for weight and 32nd for height. Not that that matters at all, but I like to know. :)

lex p1

Open wiiiide.....

Then we came home and he was antsy and picking all afternoon, like something was just off with him. Not sure if it was brought on by the doctor’s appointment or something else. Bedtime was an hour late (thanks to a birthday dessert!) but I’m hoping he’ll sleep well and wake up his usual chipper self!

Happy Birthday Grampy Don!

Posted on by
Reply

Eve picked out a present at the store yesterday and wrapped it up as soon as we got home. She added a card and hid it in her room until today. This morning she brought it down and was so excited she practically accosted him first thing in the morning, demanding he open his present. :)

eve

A very excited Eve. She even put on her party dress for the occasion.

hugs

It's nice to get birthday hugs first thing in the morning. Happy Birthday Grampy Don!

We took him to the Montshire this morning and then brought him home for a nap (or maybe that’s what I wish I was doing in the early afternoon!). Then had a nice dinner and Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler for dessert, with local frozen yogurt on the side. Yum.

Lex said “It’s nice having a grandpa for a neighbor.” I agree.

Origami

Posted on by
1

We were quite busy with the origami today. Lex loves it. He kept saying, “Wow, it’s amazing that paper can be turned into this.” Every now and again I would make a fold on mine, then show him how to do it, and it would completely transform the shape of the paper in his hand. He was amazed.

origami lex

Also, while we’re on the subject of Lex, this is from the other day, the day after his Three Piggy Opera. He was beaming! I still smile when I think about it!

piggy hat

The Three Piggy Opera

Posted on by
4

This is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen! Really. It’s almost 17 minutes, but worth it! In the very beginning Lex is hidden behind a little girl in a blue shirt, but then they sit down and you can see him clearly.

This is the event that caused him so much stress in the beginning. Once he learned he would be in the orchestra, which is what he was hoping for, he relaxed and got really excited! He’s been walking around the house all week singing and practicing, using claps instead of jingle taps (the instrument he’s playing in the video).

Watch it. Watch it again. Laugh. Maybe it’s only funny to me because I know all the kids. We’ll see. Anyway, I was cranky before this opera, but left feeling really, really happy! Lex was bouncingly happy as well. He watched the video on the camera in the car, then Eve watched it once we picked her up. Both times Lex sang along the whole time. I love it! I love him!

Taking care of oneself

Posted on by
1

What exactly does that mean? I mean, I know what it means, but how does one really do that? Especially when one has a family that also requires taking care of. I know it is important. I know what I feel like and what my household feels like when I am taking care of me, at least in part, and I know what I and my household feels like when I am not taking care of me. A lot like these past few days. But really. Taking care of oneself requires three things, sleeping well, eating well, and exercising. Easy, right? Taking care of ones family requires many, many, more complex things. Often things that are not in direct agreement with taking care of oneself. So then you have to start the balancing act.

Exercise is important. I know that. But exercising means ignoring my daughter, which lead to irritating behaviors on her part. If I spend the morning paying attention to her (and perhaps sneaking in some much needed floor sweeping or laundry folding) then I will have good behavior from her all day. That will make me feel good. Or I can exercise, which I know is good for me and is considered taking care of oneself, but then I’ll have to deal with an annoying daughter all day. Where is the balance?

Eating well is a good thing, I know. Eating well, however, takes a lot of prep work. You need to procure fresh fruits and veggies, you need to wash them and prepare them in a timely fashion. You generally need to serve them prepared (with some exceptions, of course). All of which takes time. I don’t cook dinner most nights because when I do it takes a significant chunk of time, which in and of itself wouldn’t be so bad, but when you add it to the other things that have to get done in a day, I find I run out of time. Once again my kids are ignored and sometimes thats ok, but sometimes they fight and I yell, and we all would be happier if I’d just served pb&j for dinner. To everyone. That’s not healthy eating, but is it taking care of oneself?

Sleep. Ahh… elusive sleep. We have friends who just had a new baby, with a 20mo old son as well. They were lamenting their lack of sleep. I couldn’t bring myself to tell them that it gets better, but only a little. At least at 5 and 7. Perhaps when the kids are older, or moved out, or married. We’ll see. Right now there are never enough hours in the day. I get the kids in bed and Alan is ready for me to sit down and be with him. However, I still need to clean up the kitchen and fold laundry. By then it’s already past an “early bedtime” time, and that doesn’t include any relaxing for me. So much for taking care of oneself. However, I know that my morning will be better if the kitchen is cleaned up at night and the laundry is done. So maybe that is taking care of myself?

I think this is the fine line we’re walking on this path of modern-day motherhood. A little for me, a lot for the family, and hold tight to the knowledge that the best way to take care of oneself is to have a happy family and a smooth day. If that makes any sense.

That’s my ramblings for the evening, unproofread and unedited. Hubby is home now so I’m off to clean the kitchen and fold some laundry. :) Tomorrow is another day.

Lex’s 7th Birthday, Day 3

Posted on by
1

Let’s just say I AM EXHAUSTED. There, I said it. I am tired and I am ready to not celebrate a birthday tomorrow! :)

Today we had Lex’s friend party. He invited nine friends (plus Lex and Eve equals 11!) One girl didn’t make it so we ended up with 10 kids total. I had the party mapped out and it went somewhat according to my plan. The glitch was that not all of them are as in to Legos as Lex is, so my “free play with Legos” time ended up being “run around like wild men” time. They all had fun though, and no one got hurt or cried (much) so I’m going to call this one a success!

Eve fell asleep at 6:30 and Lex went to bed quite easily at 7pm, though he just now told us he can’t sleep so I let him sit in bed and read for awhile. I am going to finish this post, drink some tea, and go to bed!

table

Setting up the table. My birthday boy is so cute!

lego sheets

Alan and I debated for awhile on the best way to play with Legos outside. I thought the back deck, but I was worried about the kids sitting in the direct sun. We agreed on sheets in the shade on the front lawn. It went fairly well.

playing

I thought the kids could color a Lego man coloring page that I printed while they waited for everyone to arrive. The kids thought otherwise and headed directly for the swingset.

relay p1

Once everyone had arrived we did a Lego relay.

relay p2

They had to run to the bucket, scoop out a Lego (the big Lego Quattro blocks), and carry it in a spoon back to their team's bucket. All without using hands, just the spoon.

relay p3

The kids all had a great time with this game! Lex's team agreed that since he was the birthday boy he should be able to use his hands. :)

relay p4

She did great! (only cheated a little! :) )

relay p5

This guy was fast!

lego time

After the relay was over they all headed for drinks and snacks, then settled on the lego sheets to build.

the lawn

It was peaceful for a bit.

blue tongues

Guess who's been eating the blue and green Lego block cookies? :)

cake p1

Cake time! The cake was a bit anticlimatic because Lex doesn't like candles or singing. I brought it out, asked who wants cake, and got only a mild interest. I don't think they realized it was a cake! A few kids appreciated my hard work before I cut it into pieces. Everyone happily ate it.

cake p2

Three Lego cake blocks with cake "bumps" and covered in fondant. I had a little trouble keeping it all pretty while stacking, but Lex was happy with it and therefore I was too!

lego games

I had lots of Lego games planned, but it was hard to keep them focused. Some of the kids wanted to play with Legos the entire time, but many others just wanted to run and be more physical.

tower building p1

This game was popular. They divided up into teams of two and had to build the tallest free-standing tower within a given period of time. They all quickly figured out the tall pieces, but struggled with balance and stability. Everyone (almost) had a great time with this game.

tower building p2

Working hard. Their tower fell over right before the time ran out.

presents

Guess what Lex got for presents? Legos! Somehow he managed to get through this whole Lego birthday without getting any duplicate sets.

what

What? Caption this.

blindfold building

The crowd was getting out of control. I scrambled for ideas. I wanted to find another bandana or two and do a three-legged race, but I could only find two, so we did a blind-fold building challenge. This settled about half the kids. The other half grabbed a football and ran around.

football

Kids were loosing their shirts and shoes everywhere! We agreed that we're doing ok as long as none of the KIDS get lost!

lego man

I had a great clean-up crew today (and yesterday!) Eve had a rather unfortunate incident in the bathroom that resulted in me bathing her quickly, so Alan took point on clean up. He proudly announced that he finally found a body for the giant Lego head!

All in all a good day. Turns out bedtime will be a bit later than expected. This post took forever (maybe because I was doing three other things at the same time?) and Lex is having trouble falling asleep so he is downstairs with us again, reading with Alan.

I love my family.

Party time, Lex style!

Posted on by
Reply

Day two of celebrating Lex’s 7th birthday, family party! Family trickled in throughout the day and some joined us for an afternoon trip to a local Safety Day event. There we got kid ID kits (finger prints, vintage Polaroid photos, and a high-tech DNA swab kit!) The kids climbed bouncy things and checked out emergency vehicles, did craft projects, made buttons, and we all enjoyed a great K9 Unit demonstration.

at the safety fair

A beautiful day at the safety fair.

climbing

Eve loved this inflatable obstacle course.

slide

The big slide at the end. That's Eve on the way down and Molly at the top.

finger printing

My dear kids getting finger printed by the cops.

k9

This was the most well behaved dog I've ever seen. Once he did not obey the officer's command so the officer said "In the car." and the dog ran over, jumped through the open window, and sat still until the officer told him to come out again. Doggie time-out. I love it! I wish my kids ever did time-outs that well.

After that we were all tired and sweaty so we came home. Lex headed straight inside to play with the presents he’d gotten so far, while the girls played outside for awhile. Lex opened presents on an as-arrived basis, so there was always something new and interesting for him to play with. He got tons of Legos, of course, and cool origami books and papers, and an awesome microscope kit, and many other fun things. He is a very, very fortunate boy!

sandbox

Back home the girls headed straight for the swings and sandbox, while Lex headed straight for the new toys inside. :)

cookie baby

Ouch, you're biting my head! (This little girl was so cuddly with me all afternoon. Lucky me!)

hugs

Hugs with Mema.

For dinner we had an oatmeal bar. Like a salad bar, or an ice cream bar, but with Lex’s favorite dinner of all time. The dinner he has every night. Oatmeal! We cooked a big pot of oatmeal and put out tons of fixings. The kids had fun! Several grown-ups grumbled, but Lex was happy and it’s his birthday. As we heard earlier, “You get what you get and you don’t get upset,” right?! :)

oatmeal bar

Our oatmeal bar. Lex and I love oatmeal and eat it daily, often twice daily for him!

eves oatmeal

Eve added some of everything to her oatmeal! Including the fruit salad! Not surprisingly, she didn't eat much of it.

Then, because it was getting late, we washed down our creative bowls of oatmeal with a giant, three-layer, bright yellow cake! Lex decided to brave the candle thing as long as there was no singing. Alan started singing something else, not Happy Birthday, and I’m totally blanking on it now, and the crowd joined in. Lex wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. When I put the cake with lit candles on the table the crying won out. He opted to let Eve and Molly blow out the candles while he scooted down to the floor. Silly boy. He happily jumped back up to help us eat the cake. I just now ate a big piece of it (Alan went out for an errand and I’m home alone with a cake… DANGEROUS!) and I can feel the sugar eroding my teeth and hurting my brain. Ahh… I treat myself well.

cake

Cake time! The fondant covering was a last minute idea because I ran out of buttercream frosting and conveniently had lots of extra fondant from tomorrow's Lego cake.

candles

This is the moment he decides he can't handle the situation. His face looks so sweet.

girls

Luckily we had these girls around, always ready to help with candle-blowing-out jobs! (photos of my life are always marred by those darn water bottles!)

cut cake

There he is! Ready to help eat the cake! As requested, a three layer cake with french vanilla, chocolate fudge, and raspberry layers. Covered in bright yellow fondant. It says HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEX around the side and a big 7 on top.

story time

What's a family party without stories with Aunt Katie?

I got the kids in bed easily enough and Lex fell asleep dreaming of how much fun he’s going to have playing with Legos tomorrow. He is getting really quick at following directions and building the sets. For tomorrows’s Lego party (with his friends) we are going to stick to the big buckets of colored Legos and let the kids get creative. I’m getting a bit excited for that party too, but first I need to fold laundry and have a good long (ha!) night’s sleep.

Thanks to those who came today and big eHugs to those who couldn’t make it. We have a pretty amazing family!