I got this great idea to walk the energy out of T. It doesn't work. It walks the energy out of me. We were hiking uphill and I was huffing and puffing with 24 sudden extra E pounds on my back. E started mimicking my breathing patterns.
T has asked to "run races with my feet". We race up and down the driveway for mommy and T time. T is pretty fast and tells me so.
They made "frosting on the front porch" It is chalk that has been soaking in bin water for a few days since Papa was in charge, rubbed against the exposed aggragate front porch step. It does fabulous hand and foot prints. They used it to "paint" their tree house. E wasn't allowed in the tree house because of all the wet paint. It is true. It is on very thick out there.
A few things have been happening around here. Sold a house. Got a job. My brother got married.
I left J in charge while I went off to that for 48 hours. T and W continue to confess Papa "sins" I think he must have fed them some sort of sugar for every meal. They told me they got a popcicle on the way to and from the air show. Another confession "We really like capri suns mom We finished one box so we had to eat the next box". Another confession "my ice cream was pink and T's was green" "Pudding is so good, mom" "We had Meow Meow and Papa treats at the air show" Those are fruit snacks and fruit strips, respectively. "we watched movies in the DAY and on SUNDAY"
Like I say, not how I would do things. But the very first thing out of W's mouth when I got in the car? "Mom. We had LOTS of fun with Papa!" complete with a huge grin. Whatever. Stuff like that isn't in the mommy job description, my little sugar addicts.
We also went hiking for a bit as a family. T wanted to go back to the car every time we went uphill. W found a huge leaf for her and T. T found a family of banana slugs all snuggled together. It looked more like dog poop to J and I, so good eye, T. E walked about a 1/8 mile or so. He was talking up a storm, gathering rocks and flopping his body over logs to see what was on the other side. When he needed a break, he would kneel down and get some good portable fuzzy time in.
T decided to take me on a drive for his mommy time to make some dust with his pick up. He was pretending to drive the couches downstairs through dust. He mimics the key turning on and off perfectly. He drove us to the tire store to fix his tire, and also drove to work. But he isn't sure what he does for work yet. Decisions, decisions.
W and I played my little pony. She used her doll house furniture to make all sorts of pony play structures. But I have to play with it her way, or she keeps repeating what I'm supposed to say.
E loves necklaces at the moment. Or anything he can put around his neck. He thinks it's funny to put W's head bands on his neck. Or the binoculars (pronounced bee-noculars by T). or the broken necklace. Then waddles off with it bouncing off the budda belly.
We went to the beach and E made a friend. He helped a little girl about a year older than him build a sand castle by throwing sand into her bucket. Thank heavens she was not picking about her help. I thought it was cute, but who knows what the parents were thinking. I think they were ok with it. The were smiling. but they were also speaking another language. Hopefully it was ok.
We made a bath with huge bubbles in it and I actually let E and T take a bath together. This usually results in fighting because E can't keep out of T's territory. But they were playing very nicely together. There was a plastic knife in the bath that day. Getting a bath from being thrown in the toilet after taking it from the floor amongst the play dough pieces. T asked E if he "wanted to taste delicious" and proceeded to spread bubble butter on E. They were both having fun.
We were reading scriptures and I was trying to get the kids to engage in the reading by asking them questions instead of playing. It wasn't successful in the slightest. I finally asked "if dolphiny knew the answer" and W shouted "all dolphiny knows about is STUFFING!" It's true. And then of course we were all laughing.
I have noticed T and W have been missing joy school. So I asked them which friends they would like to come play. T said I just want to play with you Mommy, but they could come over. It is ok. Melted my heart. We didn't invite anyone over that week. W said "Just Milli. Only milli." Then T remembered his friends he played with the day before and their trains "Just Jake and Luke" W chimed in and said not Jake and Luke because they play too rough. She wanted to play with Zak, their big brother, because he had a cool rock collection that included crystals.
We went to a park that apparently had their play structure revamped last year when I went nowhere due to E being so tiny. It is soooooo cool. It has a merry go round. And a zip line. Seriously, right? Do you know any new parks that install merry go rounds? They set it up where the level of the merry go round is flat with the surrounding surface, so no one gets caught underneath. But is it seriously the best park ever. We've gone like three times this week because it is so cool. I was impressed that W knew how to take turns with a line with the zip line. Usually, since there are two of them, they kind of dominate the play area they are in. So I didn't think they would let someone have a turn without verbal cues, but W did great all on her own! I was so proud of her.
E found a part that has a board and moving pegs. He loves it there. He could move those peg pieces for a whole 10 minutes or so.
E has also figured out that you can kick a ball. He stinks at it at the moment, but he can do it. Even though they are both boys, it amazes me that E is so much more attracted to balls than T ever was, but T is so much more interested in mechanical things.
E also folds his arms. Kind of. When it is time to pray, he stops moving and pushes his hands flat on his budda belly. Oh! I'm in love!
E loves to continue spitting. The other day T and W were pretending to be snakes in a snake pathway and was making the S sound. E tried it too and can do it, all while smiling a bit. So cute to me.
And right on target for scribbling. He loves it!
E has been paying attention to airplanes ever since the air show. When he hears the noise he looks up in the sky and tracks them.
T invented his "motor boat". He puts E's push car in a bin full of water. It floats for a bit before it fills up with water. T bounces on it and calls it his motor boat. Then he takes it out and the car is "filled with gas" which he drives around the driveway and makes train tracks. Then it is out of gas and the whole thing starts over.
We did the heart hunt for FHE like our home teacher suggested. It was actually really fun. We all cut out and created hearts, then hid them everywhere. The kids hid some of theirs where they could find them and others that we could find them. The hearts were supposed to remind the person that found them of the family member that hid them and that they love them. We had a really good Tuesday.
We also did a bug hunt, just like the bear hunt at the party. But I think the hunting games wore off after that. No more hunts, mom.
T woke up one morning with Meow Meow still in bed with him and Fish had fallen on the floor. We were playing and I told Meow Meow to get fish from off the floor so Fish wouldn't feel lonely. T said "that's silly! have you ever seen a cat scuba dive for fish??!!" Later that day I heard them looking for razorclams. Like I say, everything that goes in, must come out in play.
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| T putting gas in his car |
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| The bubble butter day |
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| at the beach! |
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| My cool bro! |
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| T is in this position often. I'm not sure why. He does this with most of his toys that have wheels. His trucks, bikes, wagon, etc. |
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| T cruising in his motor boat |
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| E looking for a refill on blueberries. T would pick blue berries and fill up the cup holders for E. E ate them all |
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| W decided to stop giving E blueberries because she wanted to the farmers to earn their money. I had explained to her what the no signs meant. So she wanted to be honest instead of continuing to fill E's bottomless pit |
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| T searching for the perfect blueberries for E |
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| Milli time |
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| Right before E popped this water balloon |
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| Now that fiery Flynn is officially broken. Not even duct tape can fix him |
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| boys watching the air show |
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| after air show treats |
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| E slept 2.5 hours after I came home |
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| bro is married |
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| One of J's favorite pics of W. It is obvious she is happy to be with him |
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| T enjoying it all |
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| Raspberry boy |
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| W at park |
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| W requested this pic be taken |
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| W drew this pic of Papa eating grilled salmon |
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| E doing his medicine ball exercises |
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| When Oliver was here |
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| E scribbling with markers on the refridgerator box |
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| T in my garden |
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| just some thoughts for aunt B |
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| Ideas for mom's wiener roast party |
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| They worked hard on this mudpit |
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| handy dump |
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| My cool kids |
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| sibling bride informal pic |
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| sibling bride formal pic |
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| W's star pencils |
