Memories

Because it is my favorite story (now) I looked back in my blog to relive it. How did I not blog this? Maybe it was before I started blogging? Anyway, there is no way I should ever forget this story, so I want to make sure it's written down.

The boys must've been about 2 1/2  maybe 3 years old. They were "suppose" to be napping. Instead I heard the giggling. You know that giggling? The giggly that means not only are they up to something, but you are too late. This instinct proved correct. I opened the door to see them standing on top of their dresser peeing into the fan to make it spray everywhere. Every mom has two choices at this point. A) Walk in and immediately begin the consequence process and stop the action, B) Walk away...just walk away. I chose B. It was too late, I did not want to wear any of that pee, so I walked away. When it got quiet again I went in.

We did discuss the consequences and decisions made that naptime. But wait, it gets better.

Part of their punishment was that they had to wipe down their entire room. Seriously, it was covered in pee! They each got a soapy bucket and a wet cloth. They proceeded to walk around the room, "Is this your pee or my pee?" "Nope, that's your pee." They conversed over the areas they were cleaning and whose pee it actually was.

I had to keep myself from giggling....a little.

Girls Can Play Baseball Too!

With the warm-ish weather (as in around 38 degrees), we are loving playing outside. Really, I think any time you can see the grass and walk on it without soaking your shoes, it's a day to be outside. The kids are loving it. The girls in particular are very excited about t-ball. They hold the bat wrong, they have no idea what the game is about, and they love every single moment of it. They take turns putting the ball on the tee for the other person and then running away giggling (after multiple lectures from mommy on why we don't stand behind the batter). It's so much fun to watch! Here are some pictures of the girls and their baseball "skills."

Books

How do we instill the love for books into a child that will carry them for life?

I have such great memories of reading as a kid. One of my favorite memories is with my dad. He was my principal in a small school for the first 7 years of my schooling. A perk (to me) was this special access to a storage room. Dad would let me go into this dusy room full of years and years of outdated textbooks and let me pick books to bring home. It was like entering a magical world! Now this must've been the late 80's (I was just a few years older than the boys...WOW!). So that means the outdated books were from the 60's, maybe 70's. I remember reading a book (and struggling to read it) about how to teach special education students in PE. Ha! My favorite books to get were social studies books or those big books used for reading curriculum with all the stories and then questions at the end. I always felt so special and I'm sure it's a part of what made me want to be a teacher and gave me a passion for life-long reading.

I always wonder how we instill that in our children. Molly and Katie are at that perfect age where they love reading. Love being read to. We read "The Foot Book" over and over and over. Books are fascinating.The boys love books as well, but are beginning to show real preference. They like to look at books about Star Wars, or have us read Magic Treehouse books to them. But, they are right in between independent reading on their own and us reading to them.

We had a moment in the public library today (we LOVE the library). We were walking through all the adult fiction books and into the non-fiction section (where the Star Wars books are located). They were kind of in awe at all the books. I stopped, pulled one out and said, "You can check this out." They didn't believe me. I walked around randomly pointing to several books. I said, "You can check out any book in this library. All these books are open to you. Even if you can't read them." They were totally stoked. I have to find a science section because I think they'll be in heaven for weeks and weeks. It was a great moment.

It made me realize that I need to find and take advantage of those moments where they love reading and help instill that further. I don't want learning to read to be a process of dread. I want excitement. Love! Joy! I think we're on the right path, and I hope that they learn to love reading and books as much as I do.

On the list of things to do?
*Introduce them to the used book store
*Family Reading Time (reading or browsing, everyone has a book, or 10)
*Learning how to read! And for the girls? Learning more letters! (More on that another post)

Geocaching, Attempt #1

With the lack of snow and beautiful sunshine, we decided today was the perfect day for a hike and/or geocaching. We'd never done the geocaching before but we thought it would be a fun addition. Upon entering the state park we realized that it might be more treacherous than we initially thought. Deciding to power through it, Dan went up the icy hill first. With babies on our back it proved to be too challenging and after Dan took a fall with Katie on his back, we turned around and skidded (sat on our haunches and slid) down the hill back to the starting spot. Failure! After a quick picnic lunch the boys decided to go exploring. Best idea of the day!  They ran and played. We found some non-icy trails, Katie ran and played. Molly enjoyed more time in the backpacks. We found rocks, deer poop, deer tracks, and Thomas even found some "fossils." Here are a few pictures of our adventure!

It's Snow Fun!

In an effort to be a better mommy today was one of the first of many fun activities to come. I filled four spray bottles with water and then made each a different color using food coloring. The kids each took a spray bottle outside and made some colorful snow. They loved it! We were out there for a long time! The boys even went back out during the girls' nap! I would consider day #1 of new mommy a total success!

 

Molly Eats!!!!

Molly is not known as an eater. There are very few things I've ever been able to even get her to eat. She will drink chocolate milk, from Costco, out of the specific containers. She will eat pancakes. That's pretty much about it. Other than that, she nurses. This has been a source of desperation for me as I won't feel comfortable weaning her until she has expanded her food intake.

We blamed the eating issue on me. I'm insanely picky, love bland food, and eat only a handful of items. Then, in the last week, Molly started eating! How did it happen, you might ask? I made homeade chili. That's right, the girl eats chili. Apparently she needs flavor and spices. Who knew? Now we can blame Dan! ;) In our house, you are required a "no thank you bite." That means you take one bite of everything on your plate. If you don't like it, you may say, "No thank you," and eat the rest of your dinner. Even if you've tried a particular food before you are always required one bite. The kids are really good about it. But Molly we realized, is a little different. If the first bite at the table is something she doesn't like, she's done with the meal altogether. She does get that from me. Oops. But now that we know, we start with the good stuff and then try new stuff towards the middle so she's at least eaten something.

Now Molly is an eater! She's just particular. Against all of my being, she wants to eat whole hot dogs, not cut up hot dogs. Whole grapes, not cut up grapes. It kills me. I think I need a trained nurse by my side at all meals. But she's eating! The weaning is still not going well, but I at least feel like she's getting nutrition for once. So glad we've figured out her little quirk! A great mix of mommy and daddy!