Unexpected day off

I got a call about dinnertime last night that Megan (my cousin) was in labor with her twins (six weeks early). Her mom (my aunt) is also my boys' baby-sitter, so I got an unexpected day off today!!! And it was beautiful. My friend Leanne reminded me about the free story time at the local arboretum, so I called up our friend Joni and we all headed out with our boys. Unfortunately we didn't get much time to talk, but I think it is safe to say all our kids had fun.

I couldn't believe that Nick actually pet the corn snake! Several times. He was loving every minute of it, though I made sure to steer him clear when they were feeding it. I'm still a little weirded out by that, even if it is just part of the whole life cycle and everything.


Then everyone sat down for the story. It was something about worms. Yeah!


Then the kids got to use magnifying glasses to look for worms. Double yeah!


Then Nick started climbing the walls.


And locking his friends in the cages. Hey, he was in there too so it was OK right? I'm sure at this point Leanne's kids were off doing something constructive while ours let out their inner animal. :)


And look, Joni was even kind enough to take a picture of me with the boys. Too bad they would rather be anywhere but sitting down with me!


Then Joni and Dalton left and we had a picnic lunch. We dined at our own table since everyone else had peanut butter sandwiches. Oh the joys of food allergies. But, my boys didn't mind. Nick munched on his dinosaur sandwiches and grapes while Zander downed some string cheese and crackers. As you can see Nick stole a few.


After lunch we were supposed to join Leanne and her boys back in the giant sandbox (remember the hole to nowhere). But my boys had a different plan. They wanted to go on an adventure. So we did.


Nick used the map to lead us around the park for nearly an hour.


Unfortunately, I think he takes after his mother! Can't you just see Zander saying "Um, guys, I think we took a wrong turn somewhere." (That's the road behind him).


Then we took a quick snack break under a nice tree and my boys let me get a couple more pictures before we all headed home!

Little Miss R is 1!!!

I am so sad I never did the cake smash thing with my babies!! I love little almost naked babies covered in frosting and chocolate cake. Though Miss R wasn't nearly as smily as the first time I took her pictures at 6 months, I think we still managed to get a few that will be wall-worthy! Hope mom thinks so, too.

Can a kid really be allergic to watermelon?

Apparently, watermelon allergies do exist (it's in the same family as ragweed). I was just surprised to see this reaction because Nick has ate watermelon numerous times before. Granted, we've never had it on the rind and I don't think he has ever had 5 pieces in one sitting, but still. I felt so bad when I told him he couldn't have one of his favorite fruits anymore.



Editor's note: I called the allergist on Monday and the nurse said to keep it away from him for 30 days and try again. We later learned that probably wasn't necessary.

Best $3 ever

Nick is awful about cleaning up the messes he makes (I think most 4 year olds are). But lately it seems to have gotten worse. His room is in a constant state of complete chaos with clothes, toys and who knows what else strewn everywhere. And don't even get me started about what goes on under his bed. That kid can hide more under a single bed than should even be possible.

So the last time Mike ran to the store I asked him to pick me up a cheap timer. Of course, he wanted to know why I would need such a thing when we have a timer on the oven and the microwave. I needed the portability. If I could make cleaning a game maybe Nick would participate. We've only tried once, but it worked like a charm. Even if I only get a week or two out of it before the novelty wears off it will still be the best $3 I've ever spent.


Tonight before dinner Nick asked to get the timer down so he could clean the porch (I never even told him what I planned to use it for, so I'm guessing Mike did when they bought it). I set if for 5 minutes and he was so excited because he "beat" the timer. Then after dinner he asked to set the timer in his bedroom. I gave him 10 minutes and he closed the door and got started. At the end of 10 minutes he came out and asked for more time, so I gave him another 10 before he finally called it quits. The room wasn't perfect, but it was a definite start. The best part was that he did it on his own without whining for help. He was so proud to show me all the things he picked up.

Before:


After:


Editor's note: Nick woke up at 6:30 Monday morning and immediately came out to ask me for the timer. He wanted to clean his room a little bit. WOW -- whose kid is this?

Long day

Apparently this weekend has been rough on ALL my guys. By 7:30 Sunday night every last one of them was asleep. Zander was put down about 6:30 because he wouldn't stop whining. Nick was watching a movie on the couch and Mike was readding the final Twilight book so I headed back to the computer room to edit a few more Italy pictures before sending Nick off to bed. I came out at 7:30 and found this:







Editor's note: Mike woke up as I was posting this at 7:45. Guess he only needed a cat nap.

What about the bed: Part 2

At the beginning of the year several of my posts revolved around the crazy places and ways my children fell asleep with Zander's tub nap proving to be the most peculiar/uncomfortable option. This morning while I was getting ready for work he must have decided once again that it wasn't any fun to sleep in the bed. I walked down the hallway and saw his light on and baby gate open but couldn't see or hear him in his room. The living room light was on and this is what I found:


He had toted his blanket out of his room, grabbed a cup of milk and then settled down for another snooze. I guess I should just be happy he appears to be learning something. The couch is definitely more comfortable than that little blue bucket.

Wishin' on a penny

The boys love throwing pennies in the mall fountain, though I am pretty sure the whole wish concept is lost on them. Still, they have fun doing it so if I have pennies I let them have at it.

I think Mike was a little nervous Zander was going to jump in.

Winding up for the pitch. Look at him up on his tip toes to get better range.

Nick wasn't listening. I kept telling him to stay behind the glass, but it was so much more fun to toe the edge.

He wanted to throw the penny in the waterfall. Love Zander's smile here.

Yeah, there's that whole not listening thing again. He's got his hand in the water.

And other than the fuzz on Zander's chin, why is it the best pictures I get of my kids are in the mall. I can't get them both looking at me when I am trying to take "real" pictures. Stinkers.

Nick's first movie

I was so excited to take Nick to his first movie. It didn't hurt that both Mike and I wanted to see it, too. All Nick ever talks about is Toy Story. His friends are all into Ironman and Transformers and Bakugans and my little guy just wants his Buzz and Woody. So, we decided that Toy Story 3 would be Nick's first real movie theater experience. We surprised him Sunday (in part because I didn't want to get his hopes up only to have something come up and we wouldn't be able to go) with the special two-on-one trip. Mema came home from the river early enough to take Zander off our hands for the adventure.

Nick was happy when we first got there, but I really think he was more worried about his snack than the movie. We finally got to sit down in our seats and his reaction to the huge screen was quite underwhelming. When the lights started to dim he got a little excited, but mostly, he just sat and watched the first half of the movie quietly. A few other kids made some funny comments to the characters on screen, but not our guy. He happily munched on the popcorn and relaxed in the chair.


But, by about three-fourths of the way through the movie he had pretty much had enough. He got a little fidgety and then started almost nodding off in his seat. With just a little bit to go he climbed into Mike's lap where I am pretty sure he snoozed for at least a couple of minutes.



Maybe the movie wasn't that good (I liked it, but others have agreed that it wasn't as engaging for young kids). Or maybe he just isn't ready for the big screen experience. Either way, I think we will be saving our money and waiting for movies to come out on DVD from now on.

Pool party

Last year Mike's side of the family started a new Christmas tradtion -- we didn't do it. Instead, we all got together in Des Moines in June for a pool party! What a great idea. After lunch everyone puts on their suits and we head to his aunt's above ground pool for the afternoon. We were lucky this year that the predetermined Saturday was one of the five sunny days in June. No, seriously, it's been that bad.

This is totally Mike's domain. He is the water guy! I would rather watch from the edge.

Someone likes to splash! Give you one guess who.

These two spent half the afternoon on the lounger lobbing soaking wet Toy Story balls at all the adults.

Nick got pretty courageous.

He jumped off the side.

Though his face never went in. I will give him credit, later he was jumping/getting thrown off my knee and was going all the way under water. A far cry from the pain that was swimming lessons.

Nick's only problem was when his Toy Story ring popped on the pool ladder. He still had the life jacket, but it wasn't enough to make him happy.

Zander was the king of jumping off the edge during his swimming lessons.

But, the big pool seemed a little daunting to him. He made us catch him before his head could go under.

Zander didn't get an afternoon nap, but he almost fell asleep on this lounger.

Puzzle power

For a long time Nick was super into puzzles of all kinds. Lately, his attention has wandered to more creative/crafty kinds of projects, but a recent trip to the Dollar Tree changed all that. Even the dollar stores are cashing in on the Toy Story 3 mega marketing scheme. Right inside the door was an end cap with multiple TS3 items, including three different 100 piece puzzles. Nick was in love, but I was hesitant. He can fly through 35 piece puzzles without problem, but struggles with 65 pieces. I figured 100 would be way too many, but for $1 I figured we could at least try.

As soon as we were done with dinner he wanted to sit down and start on one of the new puzzles. So Mike and I sat down with him to see how he did. I have to say I was quite pleased. He needed a little gently prodding, but for the most part did everything all by himself.




He wanted to try another one but was obviously tired, so we convinced him to wait another day.

Zander wanted to get in on the action, too. Instead of letting him play with Nick's puzzle we tried to entertain him with his own. Despite what these pictures looklike, he wasn't all that interested. I swear, these two kids are absolutely nothing alike.

Under construction

I love finding new fun things for my kids to do. I love cheap new and fun things even more. Pink and Green Mama is one of my favorite bloggers for finding these creative things that I can do with my kids and some things that can help develop their imagination on their own. Most recently I came across her idea for a construction sensory box. She had several other sensory boxes that seemed either a bit girlier (she does have two girls) or a bit messier than I was looking for. But the construction one seemed right up my alley.

So after work I headed to the Dollar Tree to find the rocks she mentioned in her post. After about 10 minutes of searching I found them in a set of bins that also held decorative pieces of glass and marbles used for decorating. I picked up six bags and headed to Target for a tub. I would have loved to bought a large flat tub, but I knew filling it with rocks would have been quite pricy so I settled for a smaller tub that was just barely big enough for both boys to get their hands in at once.





After one afternoon I'm thinking that even if a larger tub would have been a lot more expensive it might have saved my sanity. The boys loved the box and had a hard time sharing the small space. Maybe two small tubs would work just as well and still be a little less expensive. Or, maybe my kids could just learn to share. Yeah, I know, wishful thinking. Anyway, when they tired of playing construction guys they didn't give up on the tubs. They just switched gears. They used their new Toy Story 3 buckets (another Dollar Tree find) to unload the construction site and build new ones on their work bench and the porch floor. Sure, it got a little messy, but the rocks are big enough that clean-up was still a cinch. In all, not a bad toy for $10 ($6 for the rocks and $4 for the Rubbermaid).

Out at the park

My kids love to go to the park but with our crazy wet weather lately we haven't had many opportunities. Nick was so excited he got to ride his own bike to the park today! I was nervous, but he loved it. I think his excitement for riding the bike made his interest in the park wane just a little. After about 20 minutes he was ready to go -- which was fine given how hot it was. Just look at his poor little red face.

Last summer he would barely walk on these without me standing nearby. Now he hops along with no real worries.



And then there is this guy. He is my trouble maker (times two). And I can't stop him. So he climbs. And scares the crap out of me.



And tries to be just like his big brother. Only shorter. And if it is possible, less coordinated.



The safest thing he did all day was sell me some fruit! It was so cute, he would repeat every word I said and the "grab" the item from behind the counter. Even though his attitude is beyond fixing I still love him to pieces.