sometimes it's just tough being the little guy

creative solutions

In case you have not guessed already, it's hot. What do you do at midnight when it's still 80 degrees and you're too hot to sleep? Well, if you are Jeremy and Genna, you pop in a DVD, pull back the curtains, and watch from the pool!

a middle of the night chat

This is the conversation Jeremy and Isaac had at some unknown hour:

I want popsicle

sorry buddy, we're out

I waaannt........ pop

we don't have pop

I waaannt........ that

that? that's a pie crust

ok, I have a pie

yeah, don't think so

I want smoothie

sorry we're out of smoothie stuff

(*huff*) I want..... I want......... Um........ I want milk smoothie

You want a rice milk and ice smoothie?

Yup!


Jeremy and Isaac went shopping today and bought juice, 2 giant bags of frozen fruit for smoothies, fresh fruit, and 10 packs of popsicles.

the sign of a good time

What's funny is that for his birthday I got Isaac a John Deere t-shirt that says Play In The Dirt. I guess he's already got that down.

we like to party...... just not this year

Next week we will be heading to the family lake house in Conconully, and will be celebrating Isaac's 3rd birthday while we are there. Jeremy and I were discussing what still needed to be picked up for his birthday when I made a comment about how glad I was not to have the stress of parties. Then I realized some of you (mainly family) may start to wonder when your string of invites don't start arriving in the mail. (we call it Birthday Season here since the birthdays go August, September, October, December, January, and now May too........ amazing that we managed to get them all in different months!) This year we are going to skip the party hoopla. Parties can be rather stressful, and the girls were getting crazy over the top with their party planning and what they wanted for their birthday parties. (some of you may remember me writing about Bella and how she is constantly planning parties and holidays; it's a non-stop topic of conversation with her.) The kids and I had a chat, and they all decided to skip the friends and family party in exchange for a special birthday celebration on their real birthday with just us. I can not tell you how excited I am about this! Jeremy has got something special planned that he's going to do alone with each of the kids, as do I. Of course this does not mean we will never do a party again, just that this year we're going to take a step back and try something a little different. So don't worry dear loved ones, we still love you! You'll just have to come and visit for the sake of a visit this year instead.

This is what hot looks like

It's hot

It's really hot. It's so hot that at 11pm last night I was pushing Isaac on the swings in his underwear just to cool him down. It's so hot that I've been dragging a industrial sized fan around the house with me like it's my personal life line. It's so hot that a well balanced diet consists of ice cream sandwiches and popsicles. (dairy, "bread", fruit-like substance.... almost as good as Bill Cosby's chocolate cake) It's really hot.

Everything I need to know, I learned in Genesis

We started our new science book this week, and I must say we are off to a fantastic start! The kids love this book, tonight they were begging me to pleeeaase do a science lesson. Before we even cracked the cover though, we talked about the title. Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. What does that mean, they wondered. I decided the best place to start in explaining this was the beginning; the very beginning that is. We read through and discussed Genesis 1. I personally can't think of a better way to start any science curriculum than to remind ourselves who, when, and why everything was created.

This particular science book truly is a wonderfully put together book. It is written in a way that reads aloud very well. (when I read from the book it doesn't sound like dull text, it sounds like I'm just having a great conversation with my kids) The kids were thrilled to learn they have already received the fancy and very official sounding title of Zoologist. Bella was so impressed with herself for earning this honor so quickly, she has taken it upon herself to make sure Micaiah receives his zoology badge as soon as possible. He is starting with the study of penguins, and learning most of the information with the help of Panguia, Bella's large cuddly penguin that clucks like a chicken. Panguia didn't fit in all that well down at the south pole, so she decided she'd be better off taking up residence with Bella. She's much happier here and spends much of her time clucking around the house and trading fashion accessories with Bella. Anyway.......

Here is Genna's drawing from when we were learning about Kingdom, Phylum, and Class. (phylum and class drawings are on different pages) I know the pic is a little blurry, but you get the idea.




included in this picture is a lizard, crab, frog, snake, caterpillar, penguin, rainbow dog, turtle, butterfly, purple cat, purple pony, dalmatian, beetle, and lady bug

Action Jackson

Genna is a huge Jackson Pollock fan, and this is her version of a Pollock. At first I thought she was drawn to his art because she felt she could imitate it, but it actually goes much deeper. She loves to study his work and speculate how he painted it. (did he use brushes or just pour from a can? maybe a spray bottle? was he painting with a specific outcome in mind, or letting the art create itself?) She also loves to make up stories about the art or find hidden shapes in the paint. I personally have never cared for Pollock. I guess you could say I don't "understand" it, and it's hard for me to see why people would like it. I'm very happy to see her taking such an interest in art, even if she isn't drawn to the same artists and art styles that I am. I suppose it's a great lesson in art appreciation all around.

This is a true Jackson Pollock

Will there ever come a day.......

when Bella will no longer amuse me? She is truly sound asleep in these pictures. On this particular night she was complaining of being really hot, so she decided sleeping in her bathing suit, in this position, was the best way to be comfortable. I guess it worked.

In other Bella news: The other day Bella was finishing up a lesson in her new language arts book and casually said as she was closing her book "it sure is a good thing that none of our friends are cannibals." Hmm, I think I'm going to have to agree with her on that one.

(Don't worry, we aren't watching horror movies or having casual chats about things as horrific as cannibalism, she picked it up from Pippi Longstocking.)

And last (for now), but not least; about a week ago Bella and I were heading home from a meeting and passed the little pub that sits just down the road from us. Bella piped up from the backseat "why do we never go there mama?" (yes, she calls me mama, I love it) I told her that was a place that some grown-ups go, to drink alcohol. "Do you and dad go there?" she asked. I told her no, because mom and dad don't drink alcohol. She then said (sorry about this mom) "I bet grandma goes there! She's really old and she drinks lots of alcohol!" HA! If you don't know my mom, then you probably won't understand the true humor of that. My mom is only 46, and almost never drinks alcohol around my kids. (maybe a mimosa at Easter brunch, but they certainly never drink when they are babysitting) I'm not sure where my kids got the idea that she's some lush hangin' out at local pubs, but I promise it was not me!

I love my Bella, she sure does make life fun.

I just love this little guy

oh Bella

Last night while discussing Isaac's upcoming birthday, Bella announced that for her birthday dessert, she wants a wedding cake. OK........

his summer uniform

I realized that almost all of Micaiah's pictures look like they were taken on the same day because he's wearing his "summer uniform" in each one: a diaper. Since the little guy hates the heat so much, he pretty much spends all day and night in just a diaper. He also spends a lot of time in his little chair on especially hot days because it's much cooler than cuddling in my arms, and much safer than the floor. At least it keeps him happy and makes a lot less laundry for me!

He's a big one!

Micaiah Gregory is now 2 months old and weighing in at 15 1/2 lbs!

just wanted to add........

For anyone that might be worried about Bella having to do chores to pay for a window, she's only going to be out $10 at most :)

Well, that didn't work as expected!

Does it ever seem like punishments are harder for the parents to handle than the kids?

The kids have been playing baseball together a lot this summer, so I decided to pick up a plastic bat and balls in hopes to avoid injuries from a rogue bat tossed from a child who suddenly gets distracted by a butterfly in mid-swing. (we have two metal bats and a ton of baseballs from Genna's baseball seasons) Fast forward to today: After a very productive morning of homeschooling, and many fun hours of playing in the sun, it was time for the kids to start their chores. I asked Bella to go outside and gather up everything that had been scattered around the yard. She was outside for about 5 minutes when Genna suddenly started shrieking and came running out of her room shouting that Bella broke the window. I ran to see what happened and make sure no one was hurt, and I found Bella staring with wide eyes at the bat she just used to crack the window. There is a small hole surrounded by a beautiful big "spider web" design in the glass. When I asked her what in the world she was thinking and why she would possibly hit the window with the bat she just said "I didn't think it would break, I'm not even very strong!" The truth is that most of the time she really is not very strong, and I NEVER would have expected her to crack a window with a little plastic baseball bat from the dollar store. At this point I handed her the phone and told her to call daddy and tell him what she had done. (this was more so that I could have a moment to gather my thoughts because I wasn't exactly happy with her)

I told Bella that she has lost her privileges to play with the Wii and watch TV. I also told Bella that she would be doing extra chores and her allowance money would be going towards replacing the window. She was very good about taking her punishment, but of course I feel awful! She had plans to use her allowance money for a new pair of Hello Kitty earrings since her last set broke. She's been talking about wanting another special shopping day with me, and was so excited to be earning money. I know of course that she needs this lesson because this wasn't truly an accident (we've actually discussed before about not hitting the windows with things, and lately she's been "forgetting" a lot of the rules), but it also makes me sad to have to do this. Just another one of the joys of parenthood I guess.

respect

I seem to have a life lessons from movies theme going on tonight. Oh well. Micaiah is now 2 months old (I'll post some new pics soon!), and I'm happy to say the kids are so in love with him. They are always holding, hugging, kissing, playing, and loving on him. It is so wonderful to see. The only problem is that sometimes he becomes more like a little toy. (and who can blame them really, babies are rather small and cute!) When that happens, we take our cue from Horton and remind everyone that "a person's a person, no matter how small". Words of wisdom from Dr. Seuss

Thanks Pippi

As a child I loved the Pippi Longstocking movie, and since Jeremy and I decided to cut out cable, we want to build up our collection of family friendly DVD's. Pippi arrived a few days ago, and much to my delight, the kids fell in love with her instantly. Tonight after the kids watched it (for the 10th time this week), Bella came to me and said "If I believe in myself, can I do anything? Like Pippi believes in her self?" I told her absolutely! She replied "Oh boy! I believe I can learn how to swim when we go to the lake!" Sounds good Bella, I like your positive thinking.

I judged a book by it's cover

A couple weeks back, this book caught my eye on the bargain shelf at Borders. There was no summery on the back to give me an idea of what this book was about, but for some reason the cover intrigued me so I decided to take a chance. I'm so glad I did! This really was a delightful book; an excellent summer read. It was quite simply, about a couple's first year living in Provence. Since I have a contractor for a father, I found their remodeling woes to be very humorous. As a lover of gourmet cheeses and breads, this book made me hungry. And as someone who has never been to Europe but hopes to go someday, his description of the country and the people make me wish even more to visit someday. Definitely a wonderful way to pass warm summer days.

That's all you, dad

Jeremy and I have agreed that there are certain things he gets to (has to) handle when it comes to the boys, and there are certain things I get to (have to) handle when it comes to the girls. He's gotten off pretty easy with Elijah, but I'm a little glad he has Isaac to deal with because it makes it more fair that I have to deal with Bella.

Yesterday afternoon Isaac said he had to go potty, and then ran outside. Isaac has been potty trained since shortly after his 2nd birthday, so I was a little curious why he said that and ran outside. I followed him out just in time to see him drop his shorts and "water" the garden! I'm glad none of the neighbors were out to see this, but I'm betting this wasn't the first time. I think it's time to have a chat with your son daddy!

tell me something I don't know

On the 4th of July, the kids and I spent the evening at my parent's house. My dad was helping the kids do sparklers, and I told Isaac to try to spell his name with the light. He then proceeded to wave his arm wildly and yelled out S-Y-C-O-E! Lets go ahead and say that out loud together now: SYCOE (psycho). My son is psycho. Next.

not IF, but WHEN?

Genna has sort of had her eye on American Girl dolls for a few years now, but we've yet to give in and get one for her. (she's never been much of a doll girl, and I can't justify the $95 price tag for something that may or may not hold her interest for a long time) Genna has always liked to play with animal toys, but over the past year I've noticed her slowly gaining more interest in dolls. A few weeks ago she actually dug out her Barbies, and carried them with her everywhere. Recently Jeremy and I set up an allowance system for the kids based on chores, and last weekend Genna treated herself to a singing Hannah Montana doll with the money she had earned. She is just head over heals for this doll, and a couple days ago she came to me and said she wanted to buy an American Girl Felicity doll. We went on line and I showed her how much they cost, and then we laid out just how many chores she would have to do to earn enough money. I told her it would probably take her about 5 months to save up the money, but when I told Jeremy about her plans he said she'll probably have that doll within two months. Genna is one of those kids that once she sets her mind to something, she works hard to see it through. The next day Genna came to me (and impressed me with her improved math skills) to show me her plan on how she is going to earn enough money in just 3 weeks time. While I think 3 weeks might be pushing it a bit, I won't be the least bit surprised if she pulls it off!

confession

I have a soft spot for sweet southern movies. The accent brings back fond memories of family. The small towns seem like such a lovely place to live and raise kids, even if everyone does know everyone's business. My mother-in-law recently brought over the movie Because of Winn Dixie for my kids, and I absolutely love it! I'll put it on just to listen to it when I'm cleaning, and I think I'm going to add the soundtrack to my next order from Amazon. Jeremy seems to think I'm a little silly for liking movies that fit into a category that doesn't even have it's own designated section in any movie store or on-line retailer, but I'm hoping there might be a few closeted southern movie fans out there that might read this and suggest some new titles for me. Let me know if you've got something!

Well how do you like that!

In light of my recent forgetfullness, I decided I would pick up a new planner. (my old one is all used up) Now I'm sitting here with my new planner, and I can't remember any of the stuff I needed to write down!