Our people this week

Talking to "wah wah"



Helping their dad shovel gravel




Play time with Henry




Playing trains with each other



Playing with glow sticks with Cole



Daddy keeping Mommy happy. :)

 Sorry for no face pictures... must be metaphorical for my lack of real presence with them this week, but this move will be over soon, and life as usual can resume. :)

Pics of the Week

Exercise in magnets, and letters, and colors

Blow drying crayons- why, you ask? That's a very good question.

So they will melt. I guess. :)

Watching airplanes in their "boops"

My favorite time of day

This just says "COZY"

A "sensory play" activity this morning. Barley, cornmeal, mixed beans, lentils.

Of course, the boys improved upon the original idea. And then buried their hands and feet in them. Much better idea. :)

Sleepless, (and it'd be great to be) In Seattle

The things that are keeping me awake tonight:
Do they sell ping pong balls at Walmart? How do I keep ending up sleeping in my 4 year old's bed, and he in mine?! Would making sugar cookie dough at this hour wake everyone up? It needs to chill, but the boys might like to color the dough, so I should wait for them, right? Why don't I ever buy snack foods?! What should I get the boys for Christmas? If I made animals out of art board for the boys' rooms, would they just tear them down? Could sharing a room work for them? Would they ever sleep? Would Colton be nice? Where can I get silhouette shapes for shadow puppets? Will Crayola washable markers write on Ziploc baggies? Do I need to have the carpets cleaned? Do I need to switch to decaf? Half-caf? Should I move the 9 foot tall Christmas tree? How is not having a washer/drying going to work? What day is Evee's birthday? Should I make the boys' Halloween costumes? What are they going to be? Could I find Thomas the Train tracks used on craigslist? Will the seats of our kitchen chairs come clean? Could I really homeschool a child? Are we being too tough on Colton? Not tough enough? Are there small, flat boxes somewhere around here that I could put rice, beans, cornmeal, birdseed, etc, in for the boys to drive their tractors in? Is there a tarp in the garage I could put under it? Would mosquitos eat them up if they did it outside? Would those clip-on repellents stay on kids? Are there any frozen bananas in the freezer? Do I have enough extra pictures for Colton to make an alphabet book out of? Would using his magazines for pictures cause him to cut up other, non-approved books? Did Bryce eat enough dinner? Is he warm enough in there? What on earth are the cats doing!? What are we going to do tomorrow? Do I have to pee again? What is up with my stomach? What are we going to do with those dogs? Could I put iron-on vinyl on fabric to make cute raincoats? What size shoe does my niece wear? What day did Beth say they find out what they're having? Why can't I ever go to sleep? What makes people sleep?
I do have to pee.
Good night, dear void. (is that the second "You've Got Mail" reference in a week?)

Camping Favorites

Some of my picture favorites from our camping trip in CO. *melt*

For the Record...

...doing more is not the same as being more. I have today to prove it.
Alarm: 5:45 (I admit, I did not get out of bed at this time)... read Phillippians.

Breakfast:
http://realhealthyrecipes.com/2010/02/15/green-power-smoothie/
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/blt-fried-egg-and-cheese-sandwich
Plus, yogurt and blueberries. And coffee.

Activities for the boys (which commenced upon both of them getting themselves so far up a tree, the fire department was almost called, I decided it was time for the bag of tricks):
1. Giant sandbox volcano which erupts with baking soda and vinegar
2. Making miniature blueberry handpies
3. Shapes tracing on waxpaper and "painting" with markers. (this would have worked much better with markers that routinely had their lids put back on.)
3. Cornstarch and water "goo"

Dinner: http://www.mangiodasola.com/2009/11/broccoli-cheddar-soup.html (Thank you, Meredith, for finding all these recipes!) Which I stayed up late making last night, for today.

I walked with B. And cleaned up the kitchen. And did laundry.
And I am wiped. out. And not being very nice.

The morals:
1. More activities for the boys does not necessarily use their energies in such productive ways that they have none left for hooliganism and bullying. They do.
2. More activities does mean less energy for Mommy for the said hooliganism and bullying. And these were not handled excellently, as planned.
3. Let's all be thankful for a new day tomorrow. With no mistakes in it. Yet. (~Anne of Green Gables)

...and hope that warm soy milk, and "Friends" reruns will ease us into a good nights' sleep. :)

Love

I will be patient. I will be kind. I will not envy. I will not boast. I will not be proud. I will not dishonor others. I will not be self-seeking. I will not be easily angered. I will keep no record of wrongs. I will not delight in evil. I will rejoice in the truth. I will always protect. I will always trust. I will always hope. I will always persevere. I will never fail. I will be LOVE. (see 1 Cor. 13:4-8)

Especially to these little men. <3

Ice Breakers

Well, this little project went off with no smashed fingers or shards of ice to the eyes. These things actually did not even occur to me until the hammers were swinging, and ice chips were flying... soooo... that's good. I'm not sure I'm completely competent to watch small children!! (I did have the foresight to space them a few yards apart, but that was the extent of it). It's a little late to be figuring that out, though. And, minus some little 'tudes, the day was pretty good. Boys did what they do best. Get dirty. (C and B were soaked in our driveway mud puddles- C's boots were full of water- before we even left home. He arrived in his tighty whiteys.) Bust things. Climb things. Give their mamas heck. C went home early with his Daddy.

B and I checked out the Farmers' market in E-wood. Not too shabby. Got all of the produce on my grocery list exept for bananas. We then tackled the Wal-Mart, where he sometimes sat in the basket, sometimes walked holding onto the basket, sometimes steered the basket into oncoming shoppers, and sometimes added things to the bottom rack of said basket. Like three jars of spagetti sauce, goldfish crackers, multiple bottles of dried spices, and hair products (a change from his usual dropping-things-out-of-the-basket routine). I guess I forgot to ask him if he needed anything. :)



"Slime" (GAK) is on the agenda tomorrow. (Recipe here)

Best Laid Plans

Not a big surprise that today didn't get off to such a scheduled start as planned; but it was a start!! I did wake an hour before the boys, (by that of course, I mean the baby boy), and had some study/quiet/coffee time, as the sun came up. Does it seem that the earlier one wakes, the earlier one's children wake?! Menu for the week, and grocery list were composed- (thanks to some yummy pinned ideas from friends on Pinterest). Some short notes were written to a couple of dear friends in hard places. Not at all a wasted morning.
Jason worked this morning, then took the boys and his mom to the Aquarium while I went to Trader Joe's in search of quinoa (check.), and to Michaels' for glow sticks (not check; will search online for these), and did not get to my substantial list that required me to get to the Farmer's market and the grocery store, as I was in Jason's truck, and it was just too darn hot. Did I mention that coffee spilled in my seat, and my backside was soaked, and in mocha color? My best laid plans were defininitely postponed.
Boys did (sort of) help to make dinner- pizza calzones- and then proceeded to repeatedly catch and release our little tadpole/frogs (after changing their water, of course... gross.)

I'm freezing two large blocks of ice with small toys inside for C (4 years) and friend to excavate tomorrow afternoon. There is quite a frozen, drippy mess in my freezer! And how in the world can you keep all the toys from sinking to the bottom? I doubt very seriously that the boys will care, however. Approved destruction will make their day, don't you think?!

Yes, that is mud on their faces. And many other places.

P.S. The day ends with holding my littlest for a couple of wonderful hours while thunder boomed outside, and doing a puzzle, playing Memory, burning new music, hanging up clothes, putting glow-in-the-dark stars up, and dancing with feet in the air with my oldest. And then going to bed, and getting up again. And reading this. Beautiful day. I think I'm ready for tomorrow. :)

A Beginning

Tomorrow I'll begin a new experiment adventure in mothering. Thanks to the resources of other creative mothers' and educators' blogging, I'm aiming to improve my boys' daily play and pre-school learning; a little more routine and pre-planning on Mommy's part (help me.), and a lot less of the movies that seem to play on repeat in the background of our lives. We are in a very transitional phase of our family's life, a lot of changes taking place, so I hope a little structure will do us all good. Come along, won't you?!
Sarah