So, the trick is to trick them

For days now I have been trying to get the boys to willingly play outside - get fresh air, exercise, do something other than sit. All of my efforts have been greeted with 'It's too hot.' 'I'm bored.' 'I don't know what to do.' 'How long until I can go in?' ... Nice.


Knowing full-well that today was supposed to be in the nineties, I braced myself for grumbling when I suggested story hour at the park today. To my surprise, I was greeted with excited cheers and enthusiasm. So, we packed up our lunch, got dressed up in our play clothes, and headed out at 10:45. We were at the park until almost 2:00, and left only because I knew I had to lay Meagan down for a nap.


But that was not the end... Once Meagan was down for the count, the boys - get this - asked to go back outside and play. On the hottest day we've had for weeks! So, I set up the snake sprinkler, and they had a blast. We took a snack break for ice cream bars, and then swapped the sprinkler for the slip-n-slide. When Meagan woke up, she joined in. Finally, at 4:30, I turned off the water and forced them to go in. I was afraid they were going to get overheated, or that I was going to melt...whichever came first. But, FINALLY, a day of normal kid activities, full of fun and energy and make-believe and imagination. I guess the trick was to trick them into forgetting how much they didn't want to be outside.

Version 3

Okay, as soon as I posted that last post, I got an idea. I made a few changes, and I think I like this one much better. What do you think?

Under the Mistletoe

I admit, I've been putting off scrapping Grandma's Christmas pictures. I just don't scrap holidays very well. I started working on this last night and didn't at all like what I had done. So I started all over again today (perk of digital). I'm still not completely sure about it. I can't decide if I like all the flourishes in the corners. But Sebastian said he likes them on, so I left them for now. Also not sure about the background color - is there too much neutral showing? Should I change the background color all together? Any opinions? I'm open for suggestions. Anyway, this is Grandma and Grandpa under the mistletoe in 1963.

...

I spent a lot of the afternoon today pricing things for a garage sale that I'm having at some undetermined date, hopefully in the near-ish future. Mostly I priced my paper scrapbook stuff and whatever baby stuff is laying around that I haven't already gotten rid of. Sebastian was devastated when he saw that I was getting ready to sell scrapbook stuff. "But Mom, I like our scrapbooks. I don't want you to stop making them." I explained to him that I still do scrapbook pages, but that I use the computer instead of paper. He still seemed a little sad, but was at least not on the verge of tears. It's good to know that he likes his books that much. At least they won't go unappreciated. Hopefully.

Other than that, the kids drove each other, and therefore me, crazy today. It was a day of random accidents and lots of screaming and fighting. Sebastian and Meagan both took a nap today, though, which alleviated some of it. Still, by the end of the evening, they were all back to getting hurt by tripping over thin air, so I stuck them in bed right at 8:00 and put a movie in for them to watch. Hoping for a better night of sleep tonight and a less stressful day tomorrow.

DONE

DONE! I finished my book around 6:30 this evening. Meagan took a long nap today, which let me get ahead a little, but I must admit, I read through play time outside and read while I made dinner (which was less than mediocre LOL), and read when I went to the bathroom, and any other chance I could. Last night I stayed up until 1:00, knowing I would pay for it this morning, but I just COULDN'T put it down. There was so much information to take in, and each chapter ended with just enough to not be quite enough, and I had no choice but to read on.

So more than once this afternoon I sat in my living room with eyes full of tears, at one point I was bordering on bawling... And after reading the whole story, all seven books, and thinking on it now for a few hours, I am completely amazed at her ability to weave so many details together. Just to see the ultimate weight of seemingly menial decisions that characters make throughout the stories, all coming down to the end events. I'm very impressed with her writing abilities, to say the least. She is an amazing story teller. And I find myself, just a little, wishing to believe that Ron, Harry, Hermione, the Weasley's and the others really exist somewhere...much the same way I felt after reading the Lord of the Rings. Let's just say, I'm already considering reading it again.

Book Worm

Well, I wish I had something fantastic and interesting to tell you, but since I've had my nose buried in a book since Saturday morning, not much to report. Friday was the Harry Potter release, which I have had on my calender for MONTHS. Nicole and I had planned on going to Meijer to get the book Friday night/Saturday morning, since it went on sale at 12:01. When I went next door to see her, though, she looked awful (sorry, Nicole, if you're reading this - but I know it's nothing you don't already know). She was having a noticeable allergy attack, and her eyes were nearly swollen shut. Yikes! I could tell she didn't feel like going anywhere. So, I went solo. I was worried I would be bored just standing there by myself. But I had forgotten my seeming ability to talk to almost anyone. So, by the end of the evening, myself and three other ladies were having a great time laughing and talking, making predictions about the book, and discussing our children and whatever else came up. We drank 'pumpkin juice' that the Meijer employees were handing out, and tried to scheme up ways to steel the guy's Harry glasses from his back pocket without him noticing - all in fun, though (no real steeling took place!). It was 12:30 when I got home...not bad, I guess. I got there at 10:45, and the line was already absurd, stretching more than 2/3 of the way down the long aisle to the back of the store. By the time they actually began handing out the books, the line wrapped all the way to the back on one side of the store, across the back of the store, and back up toward the front on the other side. And that was just in our rinky-dinky town. I was glad I showed up when I did, or I would have been waiting for quite a while!

So, I've already started reading, OF COURSE! I have put it down for meals, bedtimes, and a few play times. But I took full advantage of nap times both yesterday and today! And guess what I'm doing when they go to bed? I'd say right now I'm about a third of the way through the book.

But can I just say that my husband is FIRED! He turned to the back of the book and started reading it OUT LOUD to me. Enough that I know the names of a few people that make it all the way to the end...that I wish I didn't know, but what's done is done. I must say that for one or two of the names I was relieved...I'll leave it at that because I know some of you are reading it too, and I don't want it to be spoiled for you like my darling husband spoiled it for me. (wink).

Anyway, off to DQ for ice cream treats and then kids in the tub and then a family movie and then bed, and then MORE READING! I just can't put it down for long! It's not the first time in my life that I've been accused of being a book worm, and I'm sure it won't be the last!

Art of Living

I did another layout last night. Another one of Meagan (it's a good thing I have a girl to scrap all of these girly designer products I've had to use lately). Journaling says: "In so little time, you have perfected the art of living." This picture is of Meagan from August '06.

Park Pictures

Well, finally, I've taken the time to take some pictures of the kids for their 2-yr and 6-yr pictures (and 4 1/2-yr). We went to a park nearby this morning and found a spot with trees and a nice backdrop. Pictures of the boys went fairly smoothly. I started with Sebastian, and then Isaac, so by the time I got to Meagan, she knew just what to do...sort of. She sat right down on the spot by the tree, just where her brothers had been sitting. But she apparently missed the part where they were looking at the camera and sitting still and smiling. Hmmm...so I took several pictures of her, and got almost nothing worth keeping. She was either looking down, or away, or she was in a blur of motion. I got one picture that was sort of okay. I'm going with it. Makes me glad we didn't suffer through a portrait sitting, though. I can just imagine how pleasant (and never-ending) that would have felt.

After pictures I let the kids play on the playgrounds for a while. But it was already creeping up on being uncomfortably hot and humid. Around noon, we left and headed to get something for lunch. Thus ended the highlight of my day. The rest has been spent in what feels like a non-stop battle with the boys. The only reason I even have a few minutes reprieve for blogging is because their sitting on their beds in silent punishment right now. Let's just say they've earned an early bedtime. Hoping for a much better day tomorrow.

Layouts

I have a few layouts I've done in the past week. With the kids being gone and all, I've had a little extra scrapping time.

Here's the first one. Back in March, the fire department visited their Motor Development class. They got to sit in the fire truck, spray the hose, and all that good stuff.

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Layout #2 - from Meagan's birthday party. I used Karen Lewis's new kit - Cupcake Cafe. Journaling: Meagan, what kind of cake do you want this year? "Choo choo" you reply. Are you sure you don't want something else? 'Choo choo' you answer with certainty. Choo choo it is then - Lady to be exact - the pretty magical purple engine. Grandma made a big cake for everyone else, but you got your own special cake.

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Layout #3 is also from Meagan's birthday party. Isaac and Sebastian played t-ball with Daddy and Shane (and Tina I think). I love these pictures of Isaac. He's such a fun little guy - he sure loves his helmet! Journaling: you took full advantage of having both daddy and shane around for meagan's party. you got out the tee and your glove and started up a game of t-ball. but let's face it. it's just not t-ball if you're not wearing your helmet.

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Harry Potter

So Deidra, in case you're wondering, here's my take on Harry Potter...

I thought it was a great movie - very entertaining. However, compared to the book, it seemed like they played Harry Potter Legos...they took all the story pieces apart, and put them back together in whatever order they wanted, leaving some of the pieces laying on the floor. It seemed like the general story line was the same...at least they accomplished the same general end and all...but they had things in a strange order. Did you think? And while I didn't mind most of their changes, there were a few that bugged me - like blaming Cho (who knows why that bothers me?). But, like you said, if you take the movie alone, separate from the book, it was quite entertaining. I will definitely go see it again before it's out of theaters.

We saw it in IMAX 3D. The IMAX part was sweet! But I really didn't care for the 3D. It hurt my eyes....but I can't even look in my kids' view finders very well, so I don't know why I didn't expect it to bug me. Oh well. It was worth it to see it that big, and with such a clear picture and awesome sound!

Only 1 more week until the book!

Vacation

Wow, has it really been almost 2 weeks? Sorry!!! We've been on vacation! Woo hoo! Last Thursday we loaded up the kids (each with their own suitcase, plus another suitcase for Lucas & me...that was fun to stuff in the back of the van), the movie players, the wagon (which took the place of the spare seat in the back of the van), and lots of sunscreen and headed to Mom & Mike's boat. We got there around 7:15 (pm) and checked into our hotel - I was not about to try sleeping on a boat with Meagan, world's most accident-prone child. Then we headed out to get dinner. We tried TGI Friday's, but it was PACKED, so we went to the East of Chicago pizza buffet instead. It was actually pretty tasty, and WAY more relaxed than TGIF's would have been. With all five of us in one hotel room, we had a late night. By the time Lucas & I got cleaned up and got things in order for the morning, it was 11:00, and all three kids were still watching TV. Finally, by 11:30, everyone was asleep...that's way later than their typical 8:30 bedtime, and I knew that the morning would come all too soon.

By 7:30 we were up and getting dressed and packed. After breakfast at McD's, we headed to the Point! Since we were staying at a Cedar Point hotel, we got into the park an hour early, so Grandma & Grandpa took the kids, and Lucas and I headed to the Maverick....awesome ride!

It was a hot day, but thankfully their air-conditioned boat was nearby. We headed to the AC for lunch, and for breaks every now and then. The kids had a great time, though. Sebastian and Isaac rode their first roller coaster - The Woodstock Express. Sebastian LOVED it, and headed straight for the Jr. Gemini. Isaac was a little less enthusiastic, and sat out the second ride. When Sebastian got off the Jr. Gemini, he asked if he could ride one that went upside down. !!!! Sorry, kiddo, you're about 6 inches too short for that still. Maybe in a few years.

It was a long day. We left around 9:00 at night and headed to other Grandma and Grandpas. This year Grandma was brave enough to take on all three kids for their week-long vacation. So, Lucas and I left Sunday morning (and headed back to Cedar Point for a day of big people rides), and the kids began their summer vacation with Grandma and Grandpa. They've done lots of swimming and playing. They went to the zoo yesterday, and to a museum a few days ago. We are heading down either tonight or tomorrow morning to pick them up. I miss them!!! Can't wait to see them!

In the mean time, Lucas and I did some work around the house, cleaning and painting the walls while no little fingers were around to smear the paint. We also got Meagan's wallpaper replaced from where she tore her boarder off the wall during nap time one day. And even with all that, we've had some time for 2 movie dates - Transformers and Harry Potter (I bet you can guess who picked which movie LOL). But, our quiet time has come to an end. Vacation is over, and soon life will be back to normal. Can't wait!

The little spit!

Isn't there a term that goes something about spitting in your eye? I don't know...maybe I'm way off. Anyway, tonight after dinner, we were all caught up in one of Lucas's wrestle/tackle/romp/tickle/whatever else attacks that he tends to get into after dinner. This, by the way is a favorite game for the kids. Mommy - that would be me - is not such a fan. But I'm still forced to endure, because, for unknown reasons, I willfully chose to marry the man. And he's bigger than me, so I generally can do nothing about it and am forced to participate. Well, the boys had gone running crazy out of the kitchen to avoid an attack from Daddy. With no other targets available, he tackles me to the ground and pins my arms. Just at this time, along comes Meagan, who jumps on us and starts play hitting Lucas to make him let go of me. I got my arms free and grabbed her. I held her up above my head (mind you I'm still on my back in the middle of the floor). She laughs and giggles and yells (with glee, I thought), 'Mommy Mommy!' Then, without warning, she SPITS in my eye. Well, my reaction was to put her down and wipe my eye. She runs off full speed, laughing at the top of her lungs...she has now found a new and improved way to get free from the tickling game. Great. We have a spitter!

Legos

I almost forgot to tell you... Sebastian has already gotten impatient, and has spent his Harry Potter savings. LOL! We were heading up to Target and Lowes last weekend to run a few errands. We had a duplicate gift to exchange, so we took it to Target. Well, they didn't want to give us store credit for whatever reason, so we had to get something else right then and do an exchange. Sebastian decided he wanted to put the money from the gift towards his Legos, but he was still about $40 short of the Harry Potter Lego set. Well, sitting right beside it on the shelf was a skull castle set that had a 'way cool' dragon and lots of people. It was $50...just what he had to spend. He was sold! No need to wait for Harry. He just got the skull castle instead. (I still fail entirely to understand how those kinds of things are attractive to boys, but they seem to be??). It took him 2 or 3 days to get the whole thing put together, and now the castle is sitting on the very top of our toy shelves (so Miss Meagan can't get her sticky fingers on it), ready to be played with whenever the mood strikes him. I think after taking so long to build it, he's now kind of tired of looking at it. So it may be a week or so before he's in the mood to actually play with it LOL!

Sleep tight

What a gorgeous day we had today! After church we went on a bike ride, so Lucas could test out his new bike. The parking lots behind our house were empty, so the kids had free reign over them - a dream come true for the boys! They were ramping curbs and speeding from one end of the lot to the other. Later in the afternoon, we played basketball, followed by a little t-ball / baseball. Meagan insisted on wearing a bike helmet while batting - maybe because yesterday she got cracked in the head by her brother with a bat (plastic bat, so nothing too bad). So, needless to say, she looked a little quirky! But whatever works for her...she surely isn't our first quirky child!



Tonight was a scrapping night for me. I'm still trying to get caught up on layouts for my designers...June was a bad scrapping month for me. Oh well, I can only do what I can. But I was able to get one done at least tonight. I actually had to do it twice because I had it almost finished and my computer ran out of RAM (?????) and crashed on me. So quite a bit of my progress was lost. Oh well, I like the second version better, so I guess it worked out okay anyhow.

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Journaling: We never seem to know where we'll find you anymore. Wherever it is, it's usually somewhere other than your bed... our bed, the upstairs hallway, the living room floor, the top of the stairs... this particular night, you were in the middle of the kitchen floor. You must have snuck down to watch Daddy play on the computer. Sleep where you fall, huh Baby Girl? Well, wherever you land, sleep tight.

Credits

Glimpse of the future

I've had a glimpse of the future - all of the schedules, the sports, and activities - YIKES! Today is the first day for me all week that I haven't had somewhere to take someone for daytime or evening activities. This has been a busy week for us! Monday was what ended up being Sebastian's last t-ball game (Wed. was called due to lightening). Tuesday we had story hour in the morning. Then Tuesday night kicked off a 3-day sports camp at church. Sebastian did soccer, and quite enjoyed himself. Each night was 2 1/2 hours long, though, so it pretty much commanded the evenings. But, lots of fun, and well worth the time! I'm looking forward to a bummy day around the house, just catching up on stuff that needs to be done (like laundry for starters! Sebastian told me yesterday that their clothes hamper "reeks" *LOL*). Gonna try to pay bills today. Maybe I'll get some more scrapping done tonight...or sleeping...that sounds good too!

As an update - still no new news on any moving, etc., for those of you who might be wondering. I'll keep you posted.

For now, I'm off to switch the laundry around and figure out what to do next. I'm feeling like there's way more to do than I can get done today, and I sort of struggle to prioritize when I'm feeling like this. So I guess I'm just going to have to pick SOMETHING and DO IT! Wish me luck!

Play day

Another busy day in the books! This morning we went to the park for library story hour. Today was sidewalk chalk day, and they got to decorate all the sidewalks all around the park. Then we stayed afterwards and ate lunch with some friends of ours. The kids had a great time playing, and I had a nice little bit of grown-up time (with the occasional interruption) with some of the other moms that I've gotten to know. We left around 1:00 or so. It was so stinking hot today, we just stayed inside for most of the afternoon. But this evening was the first night of Mega Sports Camp at church. It's a free sports camp for kids between 6 and 12. They can choose between soccer, basketball and cheer leading. Sebastian chose soccer. So they were out on the fields for 2 hours (but they had plenty of snacks and drinks for the kids to help them handle the heat). I had Meagan and Isaac with me because Lucas wasn't home from work yet (and actually, it's now 10:30 and he's still not home...my poor guy). Anyway, trying to keep the two of them occupied for 2 1/2 hours was interesting. Towards the end we were in the gymnasium area where they were doing the cheer leading (it was air conditioned in there - soccer and basketball were both outside...so we went for watching cheer leading). Meagan had the BEST time! She was imitating all of the big girls, and she was jumping and spinning, and clapping, and whatever else she could think of. It was hysterical, and she drew quite the audience. I must have heard 'oh, she's soooo cute!' at least 50 times. What a little ham! But then when all the kids came back in to have their wrap up time, I was struggling to keep her quiet (well, failing is actually closer to the truth). She wanted to keep running and playing, and wanted nothing to do with sitting quietly and listening and watching. So, the last 20 minutes or so was a juggling act (which I'm quite used to by now, but that still doesn't make it easy). Other than that, though, we all quite enjoyed ourselves.

I took some pictures at the park, but I'm entirely too tired and lazy to do picture stuff tonight...maybe tomorrow if I get a chance. For now, I'm off to shower and go to bed. Later taters!

Mother of the Year

Well, one game down, one to go. T-ball tonight was just the kids and me. (Lucas wasn't feeling well, so he stayed home and took it easy.) I hurt my chances of winning the Mother of the Year award by forgetting the water on a 90-degree day. Oops...maybe I'll win next year (LOL)! Again, they pitched to the kids 3 pitches before getting out the tee. Tonight Sebastian didn't have to use the tee at all! His first hit, he hit straight to the first-baseman. But, since there are no outs in their league, it didn't matter. His second hit came on the third pitch, and he hit it almost from the ground. It landed just between pitcher and second base. Not bad. His third hit, he hit on the first pitch and cracked it! He was so proud of himself. And I videoed tonight, but of course was chasing Meagan during his third hit, and so didn't get it on tape. Oh well. Again, hurting my chances for Mother of the Year. Sheesh.

When we got home, we had water and ice cream. Mmmm. Then, the kids and I went outside to play. It was a late night - we were out until 9:45. Then we came in and did bath time, so they were up until after 10:00. That's late for them considering their usually in bed before nine. But it was worth it. The boys played with Sebastian's new Lego kit while Meagan rode every bike/truck/car/anything with wheels she could find. After we cleaned up toys, the kids 'helped' me water the flowers by running through the hose water (at 9:30 at night!). By then, lightening bugs were out, which was a new experience for Meagan. So, of course, we spent the next fifteen minutes chasing, and sometimes catching, lightening bugs. We also saw 2 bunnies travel through our yard, which the kids absolutely loved. It was all I could do to keep Meagan from running after them. It was a good night...I'm hoping the late night pays off with sleeping in tomorrow! (Keeping my fingers crossed!)

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you - Suzie especially. We made a trip to Target today to pick out birthday stuff with Sebastian's birthday money. All together he had $35. He had originally planned on spending it at Barnes and Noble, but since we were in Target already he decided to just look at the toy aisles. He had a list a mile long of stuff he wanted, but he couldn't decide for sure on anything. He did end up getting one Lego Star Wars kit with the money from Suzie, but he decided to hang on to the rest of it. He found a HUGE Harry Potter Lego kit that he wants to buy, so he's saving his money. It's $90! Only $65 left to go...so by his 8th birthday he'll be able to afford it! LOL!

Out in the Yard

I finished another layout for Grandma's book today. I'm slowly getting caught up on scrapbook projects. These pictures were taken somewhere around 2000, as far as I can guess from comparing to other pictures that were dated. I know yard work pictures aren't the most exciting. But I love that the 2 of them shared these kind of moments together and just enjoyed what they were doing. I guess truly sharing a life with someone is sharing the mundane as well as the monumental. (gush!)

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Yin and Yang

Today I learned that one 20-minute bike ride can do amazing things to highlight the contrasts in personalities between Sebastian and Isaac. We started off at the foot of our driveway. Our mission was to ride down our street, head to the road that runs behind our house, and make our way through the parking lots and back. Simple enough. We all started out together (Meagan in tow behind me). Immediately, the differences began to shine through. Sebastian went full speed down the driveway and flew into the road with hardly a glance for cars. Isaac walked his bike to the very foot of the driveway, climbed on, looked two or three times for cars, and then cautiously pulled out onto the road. Sebastian sped as fast as he could down the street, making sure we all knew he was in front - he was the fastest - he was the leader. Isaac pedaled along at his own leisurely pace, content to stay behind or beside me, talking to me and to Meagan through the whole trip. Several times I had to call to Sebastian to come back and be patient - 'You're getting too far ahead,' I would say. Several times I had to look over my shoulder to make sure Isaac was still with me. Once, he had actually stopped to check something out on the side of the road (while Sebastian, of course, was still going full-force ahead of us). As we passed other people, Sebastian sped by them without so much as a glance. Isaac watched everyone we passed, and for those on foot, he would slow down and wave at them until they waved back, making sure to say hello. Isaac noticed several things along the way - certain flowers, birds, bunnies. Sebastian was a blur.

As I was in the bike ride process, I was just trying to stay balanced between Speedy and Poky. But as our ride came to an end, and we were just going around in circles at the end of our road a few times, I realized how very different the two of them are. They are put together in completely different ways for completely different purposes in life. Sometimes difficult for me to balance, or figure out for that matter, but very cool nonetheless.

Falling behind

Well, I feel like I'm falling behind in just about everything at the moment - housework, bookwork, yard work, scrapping, and blogging. We've had lots of stuff going on, and very little time for much more than the basics. I managed to steel enough time last night to finish a layout for one of the creative teams I'm on. I did this layout using Karen Lewis' new 'Out of This World' kit. At the rate I'm going, it feels like it will be forever before I get caught up. Oh well, one thing at a time...starting with this layout, I guess.

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Journaling:
the robot shirt. a gift from tina, summer ‘05. size 3T. a wardrobe staple for the past two years. to be worn only with orange mesh shorts, if possible. to be worn as frequently as possible. you absolutely adore this shirt. but now it’s ‘07, and you have outgrown this priceless article of clothing. more than once you tried to convince me it still fit,but, really, it hardly goes over your head anymore. sorry, buddy, the robot shirt has to go. we’ll keep it. i wouldn’t dare part with it for good. but, let’s pack it in a special box with other special things we want to keep. then we can get it out and look at it any time you would like. plus, we’ve got lots of good pictures of you in your coolest shirt ever. i’ll even make a page about it for our scrapbook. how does that sound? good? good. And if we ever find another cool robot shirt in a store, maybe we can get you one.

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