Play Ball!

T-ball season is in full swing for Jared!

Obsessed with vacuuming

Connor recently became fascinated with the vacuum cleaner, and begged me to teach him how to vacuum. After a quick crash course, he set about vacuuming the kitchen for me. He paused every so often to thank me for teaching him to vacuum, to thank me for LETTING him vacuum, and to tell me that I'm the best mom ever for letting him vacuum.


He cried last night when he asked if he could vacuum and I told him "no" because the floors weren't dirty, and besides, it was bedtime.

I'm the best mom ever for letting him vacuum one day, and another day, I'm the worst mom ever. Who knew the cleanliness of my floors and his ability to vacuum or not could be so closely linked to how he feels about me at any given moment?!?!

Beach Bums (Part 2)

I just realized that the portion I'd written in the post last week about Charlie at the beach somehow got erased!

The "Beach Bums" post should have continued something like this:

Emily walked Charlie down to the water's edge and set him into the water (just enough to get his feet and legs a bit wet) to see what he thought. He didn't hate it, but he wasn't real impressed either. LOL! He basically just walked right back out again without any sort of fuss, but he didn't willingly get back in again!


And yes, I know he needs a haircut, but it's been low on my priority list (it's a lengthy list lately!). Besides, I personally like him all shaggy and fluffy! He's pretty cute when he's not wet!!!

Wow!

Emily has been determined to learn how to french braid over the last few weeks. I showed her the basics and she's been practicing with my hair before bed while I read a few chapters of a book out loud to the kids. This was the best one she did (and she's only 8!).

Bucket or Boot (It's all the same)

If you want to pour water, feel free to pour from a bucket...


...or a boot!


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This picture isn't anything special, but I kept coming back to it anyway. I think just because of how vivid all the colors are! The RED of his shirt, the BLUE of the water, the GREEN of the seaweed... My Little Man on a mission!

Beach Bums

We've had Heidi, our Labrador Retriever, for nearly 11 years now, and she has never ONCE gone out into the water without it being a very grudgingly. She'd slowly walk into the water to go after a tennis ball, but as much as she LOVED her tennis balls, if one went out past about 10 feet from the shore, she'd turn tail back to the beach and call the ball a total loss.

Over the weekend, we had some sunny weather (first time in WEEKS) and took advantage by walking the family and the dogs down to the beach in our neighborhood to spend a few hours playing. Heidi trotted right down into the water, and even did some swimming back and forth between the shore and part of the dock. I was amazed! She went out into the water, totally on her own decision, at least 10 different times.

I guess our water loving breed of dog is a late bloomer?

I got this hilarious picture of her shaking off after one of her little swims:

Ready, Set, Jump!!

Jared was having fun jumping off the edge of the boat ramp in our neighborhood, testing out different poses! (the other ones turned out blurry)

Connor's frog

Dan caught Connor a frog over the weekend (as it was jumping out of the way of the lawn mower)


Can that grin be any more goofy/adorable?!?!?

Hi Mr. Frog!!


PS Connor likes little crabs, too! He found this little guy at low tide over the weekend!

Brothers

Seriously, these two are too much!


I see this sort of behavior about 10% of the time. The other 90% looks more like something out of a professional wrestling championship match. haha!

iPhone

I ♥ my iPhone!!!!! People said it would change my life, and it totally has! It's easier to use than I expected, and the variety of apps is endless (entertainment, education, etc). I've seen recipe apps, work-out apps, game apps... You name it! I love being able to connect to the Internet while I'm out and about (to look up info, check into Facebook, check my email, etc), I love that I can let the kids play games here and there (extremely helpful in getting through errands, or long waits in waiting rooms!), and that they can actually be LEARNING while they play (one of Connor's favorite games has him learning letter sounds and blending them into words). I sat in the car knitting while Connor was at preschool the other day, and listened to songs stored in my phone from my iTunes account. When my hands got tired of knitting, I played several levels of "Angry Birds Rio" and "Cut the Rope". Then I checked into my Facebook account, and also checked the 10 day weather forecast and emailed my husband. All rolled neatly into one amazing little phone! It also takes photos and videos (not super great quality, but nice to have if something photo and/or video worthy comes up and I'm not prepared with my good camera or video camera!!). What more could you ask for?

(okay, so I wouldn't mind a bit if it would clean my house and prepare all our meals as well, but even the iPhone has it's limitations!! hahaha!)

Oldies, but Goodies

Once upon a time, a little girl named Emily Grace was counting down the days until her very first dance recital. (Her mommy was praying she wouldn't be in labor the day of the recital, having to miss Em's big day!)

This feels like just yesterday...


This coming June will mark the end of Emily's 6th year of dance, and she loves it just as much as she did back then!

Quote of the Week

"People are EXACTLY like trees. Except trees have branches and leaves. And they're made out of wood. And they're really tall! And they live outside." -Connor

FYI, he's been extremely obsessed with trees lately, and how they make air, wanting to know why people cut them down, worrying people will cut down too many, wondering how they grow so tall, wondering how they know how to grow, etc etc etc. On Friday, he got into this line of questioning/commenting about how people are all different from each other, and how that makes us each special, etc. He continued the conversation by saying the quoted sentences at the beginning of this blog post. When I then questioned him HOW people were exactly like trees, he said, "Because each one is different and special, just like people!"

Adorable!

It just cracked me up how he emphasized that people and trees are EXACTLY alike, then followed it with a long list of exceptions. LOL But it all came together in the end and I was able to follow his line of thinking. My sweet Little Man!!!

Okay, Eeyore

Jared just came home with a big pile of Writer's Workshop papers he's done over the last few months in class (Writer's Workshop is basically just a time-frame of the day where the kids pick a topic and write about it, and often illustrate their work as well).

My scanner is misbehaving, so I'm just going to type up one of the things he wrote back in November to share with you (I'll type it how he spelled it all). This particular piece of writing is so JARED. He's such an Eeyore type character a lot of the time!

Anyway, from November 8th, 2010:

"The spel a thon is cuming up. and I am produly not going to win but if I don't it won't matr. I will just clap for the prsin that dus win. If I do win my holl famly will go to the gret wolf loge. that wont hapin eneweys. so why shud I be so exsited."

(FYI, his school hosted a spell-a-thon back in November, where the kids collected pledges based on how many words from the list they could spell correctly. For every $20 collected, you earned and entry into a drawing for a stay at Great Wolf Lodge. So that's what he's talking about!)

Wasn't that whole Writer's Workshop paper just sad??? haha!

The worst worry

Emily was having some SERIOUS problems with staying on task with her homework last week, and after nagging at her 3-4 times to get back to work, I decided to give her some motivation by telling her that if she wasn't done with her homework by the time it was time to leave for tap class that night, she'd be missing tap. She finally buckled down and finished her worksheets in the nick of time, but not after a bit of drama!

I was emptying the trash can from her room and came across the following sticky note, which I've been giggling about ever since!


The worst worry she never even thought to worry about???? LOL!!!!!!! So funny!

True Story

Once upon a time, there was a silly mommy who was in too big of a hurry and didn't check all the pockets before washing a load of jeans. When the jeans came out of the dryer, the mommy noticed there was red crayon smeared all over EVERY pair of jeans that was being pulled out. Lots of work later, most of the jeans were salvaged (due in part to the fact most of them were turned inside out so the red crayon stains were on the INSIDE of the jeans), and the ones that were still messed up were getting too small or had minor knee damage and needed to be replaced anyway. But in case the silly mommy ever forgets to check pockets again, and finds herself in the position of needing to get melted crayon out of clothing, she's bookmarked the following information, straight from the Crayola website:

How to remove Crayons (Regular) from fabrics-fresh stains/heat-set stains(melted): Cleaning Materials Laundry detergent Bleach for colored clothing (Clorox 2® or OxiClean powder) Paper towels Amodex® ink & stain remover (optional) WD-40® (car part lubricant) Liquid dish soap Stain Removal Tips Place the stained surface down on pad of paper towels, spray with WD-40, let stand a few minutes, turn fabric over and spray the other side. Apply liquid dish soap and work into the stained area, replacing toweling as it absorbs the stain. Wash in hot water with laundry detergent and Clorox 2 or OxiClean powder for about 12 minutes (use heavy soiled setting if there is no minute timer on your machine) and rinse in warm water. SPECIAL NOTE: Heat-Set Stains-Clean the drum of your dryer to remove any remaining wax residue. Spray a soft cloth with WD-40, and wipe the drum. Clean the WD-40 residue from the drum by washing with liquid dish soap and water. Run a load of dry rags through a drying cycle to ensure that your drum is clean. (Optional)-Amodex® ink & stain remover PROCEDURE: Use on fabric according to directions on container. Purchase Amodex by calling 800-624-7367 or visit www.fahrneyspens.com.

Please Note... The suggestions for removing stains have been compiled as a service to our consumers. We are unable to guarantee or be responsible for the results obtained by these procedures. You may also wish to consult your local cleaner for further recommendations. Before attempting the stain removal method, test each procedure on an inconspicuous area of the material or surface to be cleaned. Please be advised these stain removal methods involve hazardous products and are intended only for adult use. Crayola does not recommend children attempt these procedures. In many procedures, specific brands of products are recommended. These are brands that performed most effectively in our laboratory. Always check individual containers for recommended procedures and warnings. Competitive brand products may work equally well.

Quote of the Week

Conversation snippets from yesterday:

Jared: Connor, I'll bet you don't know what the day after today is.
Connor: Yes I do! It's tomorrow.
Jared: Yeah, but what's it called?
Connor: I already told you!! TO-MORR-OW!!!!!!!!!!
Jared: But what DAY is tomorrow called?
Connor: It's called the day mama's working my class, that's what!
(and I AM working in his class! hahaha!)
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Connor: I wish there weren't any girls in my class.
me: How come, you usually have fun with the girls, too!
Connor: Yeah, but all the time now, they just want to play sisters, and you have to be a GIRL for that game, and so I don't like it.
me: Maybe you could ask to be the brother, and then you could still play?
Connor: No, because then they'd want to do the hugging and kissing to me.
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MS Walk

This past weekend was the MS Walk. Emily Grace joined us this year (first time since she was about three years old and got too heavy to be pushed along the route in a stroller, but was too small to walk the whole distance!!). It was really fun having her along.

My mom took a picture of Emily signing the large poster that was set out


We saw these girls ahead of us during the walk at one point, and liked their shirts!


A man dressed as a Klingon from Star Trek took our picture for us as we got to the finish line (my mom's friend Mary, Emily, myself, and my mom)




We'd heard leading into Saturday that it was going to be mostly rainy, so we came prepared with umbrellas, changes of clothes, and towels to help dry ourselves off with, but it ended up being mostly sunny for us (some white clouds scattered around, and some DARK clouds off to the side, but the dark clouds STAYED off to the side the entire day!!). It WAS pretty windy here and there, but all-in-all, we couldn't have asked for much better!

Between the actual route, plus the walking we did to and from the parking lot, and signing in, getting our "freebies", etc, we did about 4.33 miles of walking. Em did fantastic keeping up with us the whole time! It's always neat to see so many people gathered together for the cause, and to know I'm making a bit of a difference!

3 fingers vs. Level 3

Connor was on the treadmill earlier in the week, on level 2 (pretty darn SLOW!). I feel okay with him being on it at that speed, but he said he wanted to RUN and asked if he could try level 3. I told him to hang on tight and show me what 3 looked like, so I could decide if it was okay for him or not. He held onto the treadmill bar with one hand, then held up three fingers towards me with his other hand. hahahahaha! I explained I meant he needed to hold on tight and turn the treadmill to level 3 so I could see if it looked too fast for him or not. He said, "Ohhhhhhh!" and we both started laughing.

Maybe you had to be here to see it for yourself, but I found it pretty hilarious!