June 24th -29th

     Since cleaning up our flooded basement on Thursday after we came back from our mini vacation in Minnesota, I've not been feeling very good. I had sinus surgery about a year and a half ago, and yet I still get sinus infections and blockage. So, I haven't had my camera out that much or been very interested in writing. Still I wanted to capture some memories from this week, so here goes...

~ making fudge with Steve and Jared late one night after Alexa had gone to sleep. We used the quickie recipe off the back of a Marshmallow Fluff container. Yum!

~ going to see Shrek Forever with Steve and the kids at the cheapie show

~ going on a Home Depot run after the movie to pick up custom made storm windows for the upstairs rooms. They were already two weeks late, we had ordered them over a month ago, and found out that they had reversed the dimensions on the windows so we still had nothing to take home. Needless to say, we cancelled the order, got our money back and will be going elsewhere.

~ having Jared call me out to look at his sidewalk drawings. He made one of me, Steve, Shrek, and Rumpelstiltskin. He has really taken off with his drawings, usually wanting to draw every day, whereas before it had been months since he'd picked up a pen or crayon. He now includes lots of details in his drawing like eyebrows, bottons on clothes, and eyeballs inside of eye sockets.

~ lots of reading

~ going to church. Afterwards, I took the kids to a local indoor fruit market while Steve stayed to play electric guitar for second service. It was one of the worst times with the kids. Even though I hate to put the kids in the cart (they are four, for goodness sake!), it does help to keep Jared from dashing away from me. Jared did everything from fling fruit on the floor, knock over pails of juice, to run all around the store with me chasing him before I finally gave up. Then when I finally was able to scoop him up when he ran close to me, he yelled, kicked and screamed for awhile. UUUUUUGGGGHHHH. I love him so much, but he is a very intense, little boy, from having huge temper tantrums, to sitting up in bed at 9:30 and talking your ear off for an hour.

~ catching fireflies and swinging in the dark

~ watching Bedtime Stories together on movie night.

~ having Grandma watch the kids for three hours while I saw the sinus doctor and had another CAT scan done. Turns out the two upper sinuses have severe blockage and the lining has thickened. Now I'm on a steroid treatment and taking antibiotics. Monday evening I crashed at 7:00 and didn't wake until 8:00 the next day.

Yesterday, I still felt horrible, so I lazed around the couch most of the morning. Still, as I look back over the day, I'm amazed at what we still accomplished.

~ had a Joker's Birthday Party. Jared made up this game a few weeks ago. We sit around in a circle and have a birthday party for the Joker (who is really a pirate figure). Everyone brings him gifts to open up, ranging from diamonds, to poison, to knockout gas. Then sometimes we dance and then sing Happy Birthday. Then the Joker blows out his birthday candles.

~ did many mazes with the kids from a Maze book, and Alexa practiced writing her letters in a Big Kindergarten workbook I bought her a few weeks ago.

~ lots of jumping on the bed

~ watched several episodes from both Liberty's Kids series and the original Inspector Gadget series.

~ I squeezed in a shower

~ during lunch I read to the kids several Step into Reading Spiderman books, and a Graphic picture book about Patrick Henry.

~ my mom came over for a few hours to watch the kids so I could get some rest. But right before she came over, I found the kids in my room naked, rubbing my Vaseline all over themselves and the wall. They had been quiet for a few minutes, but it was so nice to eat my pizza lunch in peace, that I didn't go in there right away. That cost me twenty minutes of my resting time. What time I did have to rest after getting a bill ready to mail, washing the dishes and cancelling an appointment, my mom took the kids for a little walk, they washed the car with the hose, and read together.

~ In the afternoon, we did a project out of Mary Ann Khol's awesome book ScienceArts called Wet Paint Design. The kids dipped construction paper in water, then dropped diluted paint from a medicine dropper onto the construction paper to make designs.

Jared called his picture Volcano and Alexa labeled hers Ogre. We talked a little about the process of diffusion, too.

It still amazes me how even with such little planning on my part, and even when I feel bad, if we discuss the things going on in our lives and take advantage of everyday opportunities, the kids learn and pick up so much. Just in this week were were able to discuss everything from the American Revolution, sinuses, getting a refund, why it's not safe to run off in a store, how to make fudge, and diffusion.

A Weekend of Pretend Play, Naps and Movies

This will be a quick (well, probably not that quick!) recap of our weekend, yesterday and today.

No, I don't really tie my kids up! As you know, Jared loves Batman and all his villains right now. So, lately I've had to be Poison Ivy. He actually wants me to tie him up, drag him up the stairs to my "greenhouse," and then on Saturday, I picked herbs and other plants from my greenhouse, boiled them up, and then cooked up Batman for a Batman stew. Afterwards, we laid together and I told him a story of how I (Poison Ivy) became Poison Ivy, which I'm sure was quite different from the story made up in the comics.

So, Saturday, for the most part was a really nice lazy day. Steve made bacon and pancakes, the kids watched a Scooby Doo movie, Steve got caught with the budget, and I was able to do some reading. Steve took a nap and I feed the kids lunch, we read some more Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and then we played doctor. Alexa loved playing in the traditional way, taking temperatures, blood pressures, giving shots, and listening to heartbeats with her doctor set....

...while Jared played a little more unconventionally (he's using the injection needle as a missile below).

Later that afternoon, Steve took the kids to order storm windows for the upstairs while I took a much needed nap. For the past month, we've been constantly on the go on the weekends with family stuff, so it's been so nice this weekend to just do nothing scheduled. Later that evening we picked up some movies and a pizza, and watched Mulan. I was surprised at how much I liked it. I'm not a big animation fan at all, but it really was pretty good. Later that evening Steve and I watched The Young Victoria. Lately, I've been falling asleep in the middle of movies, but I stayed awake for this one.

Sunday was once again satisfyingly lazy. After coming home from church, we ate and took more naps (the adults, anyways!) I honestly can't remember much more that we did other than the kids watched Mulan again, and we picked up a chicken dinner from Jewel so I didn't have to cook.

Monday was a wonderful stay at home day. We didn't go anywhere. It was marvelous! I've forgotten how important it is for me to have days like this, frequent days like this, to feel sane. The kids excelled in pretend play this day.

First thing in the morning, the kids went upstairs to play music together, Jared on his drum set and Alexa on the guitar.

They haven't made concoctions lately, but Jared said he just had to make a new recipe today, so that's what he did. Here were some of the ingredients: turkey meat, water, juice, a very ripe banana, cereal, a little donut, chocolate sauce, and tied up Batman and Spiderman.

Jared's new villain costume. He calls this the Wizzar.

There was riding bikes in the sprinkling rain....

....hiding in their "cave" the sandbox...

...tracing letters (I bought her a Kumon My Alphabet Games book. She's also told me yesterday that she wants a maze book, too)

...showing me his rock collection...

...jumping on the bed...

...and giving their stuffed dog, which they named Bono, a bath.

Steve stopped home briefly to take a quick shower (he'd been playing golf all day with clients) and brought some co-workers with him. The kids were so hyper-talkative, it was funny. They usually are shy around strangers, so I don't know what brought this on. At one point, one of the men asked Alexa how old she was. "Four," she says. "Oh," he says, "so you'll be going to kindergarten next year then, right?" She thinks about this for a minute. "I don't think so," she says. "When I get older, I'm going to heaven. Heaven is a wonderful place because that's where Jesus is." 

I can't believe we did this, but we watched two movies in a row - Scooby Doo and the Samurai Sword, and the Wizard of Oz.

Today was our Junior Farmers program. We had a lot of baby holding from chicks, to ducks to bunnies.

And before we left, they asked to run up the stairs and across the bridge.

When we got home, we had lunch and I read two more chapters in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Violet just turned into a blueberry. I checked some e-mails and blogs while I ate, and the kids got into a lot of mess. I thought they were just giving their pretend dog a bath again, which they were doing at first, and used a half bottle of conditioner to do it, but then they drifted into my bedroom, quickly got my nail polish and mascara and painted "masks" all over their bodies. While I cleaned them off and the mess in the bathroom, they watched a little of Arthur and Word Girl on PBS.

After that they painted two water color pictures a piece. Alexa is now using the hair dryer to dry her dog, and Jared is lining up all his weapons on his bed. And I need to sign out because I'm being called to play the Joker.

Another Peek into One of Our Days - Adler Planetarium

So, for the second week in a row, here's a detailed peek into one of our days. Be prepared. It's a long read!

7:20  I wake up this morning and drag myself out of bed. I tell myself I need to get better about not reading so late at night so I'll get up earlier. I'm actually surprised Alexa isn't up yet. She usually gets up between 6:30 and 7:00. I pour myself a bowl of cereal, and sit down at the computer. I want to write down directions to the Adler Planetarium. I've driven down there before, but never my myself with just the kids. I've actually never been downtown alone with the kids before, so this will be a scary first for me. I check a few e-mails and then Alexa walks into the kitchen followed by Jared ten minutes later. They both talk with Steve for a little while as he gets ready for work, and Jared works on tying up his Batman figure. We kiss Steve goodbye.

8:00 a.m.  I've got a lot to do this morning if I'm going to get us out the door at a halfway decent time, so I pour the kids some cereal and give Jared his medicine. I start defrosting the spare ribs in the microwave, and go into the kids' room to pick out clothes for the day. Alexa asks me to open her new Lego set she received for her birthday, and I pretend to be Alfred for Jared as he wants to play Batman for awhile. We continue our pretend game as I dress them both and fix Alexa's hair.

9:00 a.m. I want to jump in the shower right away, but Alexa really wants me to help her build a Lego car. At first I say no, but then I watch her with the instructions, how she has found the right pieces and has really made surprisingly good progress on her own, so I sit down on the floor and help her. We're both proud of the car when we're finished. It's actually the first time I've ever built anything with Legos before.

Jared has tied Batman up the umbrella again. Remembering yesterday's lesson, I left Batman dangling right where he was.

After putting the car together, I put on PBS (the last 10 minutes of Dinosaur Train is on) and jump in the shower. 

10.00 a.m. Steve calls, so we talk for a little while, and I try to race through dressing, drying my hair and fixing my makeup. Meanwhile the kids watch Sesame Street. Here's a little aside. On the show, Elmo asks the kids which school they thought he should go to today. He talks about going to a school where there's a lot of animals. Then he yells out, "That's right. We're going to farm school today."  Huh?  How about we're just going to visit a farm? I hate how almost every PBS show portrays school as this place where you're almost always going on field trips or doing fun, hands-on things that you always love to do, and there are only four or five other kids in your class. Talk about indoctrination. 

Anyhow, when I finsh getting myself ready, and I pack us a lunch, put the cameras in the bag, and water the plants. I also pour more sugar water on the flower inside the butterfly pavilion. We all take a quick bathroom break, put on our jackets and head out the door.

11:00 a.m. We make good time and get downtown in about twenty minutes. After letting Steve know I actually got us downtown safely, we run into the building and find a place to eat. At first they say we can only eat in the cafeteria where we'd have to buy our own food, but then a lady says we can see if there's room in the classrooms where the school groups eat lunch. We find a table in the corner, and it all works out. I feel sad, though, seeing so many kids crammed into that room. Jared decides to make a sandwich out of the bread, roast beef and string cheese I brought. He always wants to eat each item separately, so this was a first. He is very proud of himself.

12:00 p.m. We take a bathroom break and head to the new exhibit geared towards 2-8 year olds. It's called Planet Explorers.

Jared loves wearing this space outfit. Thank God he was wearing it after what happens a few minutes later.

I just love this picture of Jared on a space toilet.

The first part of our visit is ok, but then it seems all hell breaks loose. The school kids are finished with their lunch, and they come hurdling through the exhibit, picking up play rocks and whipping them at each other as hard as they can. To get away,  we enter a room in the exhibit where it is pitch black, to simulate being in space. Jared stands right in front of me, and I'm about to take his hand, when a horde of kids push us from behind, almost knocking us to the ground. Jared gets away from me, and I can't see or feel him in the room. I've never been so scared before in my life. I can just imagine him being trampled. It's such a small room, and by now there are probably 25 kids in there all screaming and shoving. Thank God I feel Jared's space backpack in the dark and grab him. We press our backs against the wall and wait until they've left and it's quiet again. We make our way to the front where we can no longer see any other groups and play there for while.

1:00 p.m.  We take another bathroom break and head downstairs to check out those exhibits. The kids find some parts of the new telescope exhibit interesting, but after a short while they ask to go upstairs to look at the Mars Rover.

2:00 p.m. We're all getting a little tired, but they are reluctant to go. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit I lure them away with a promise of a scoop of ice cream at home. I'm still not feeling the greatest since the ER trip. I give Steve a quick call in the car, and we drive home. Jared has fallen asleep in the car (the expressway was really backed up so it took almost twice as long to get home), so I lay him on the couch. Alexa and I check on our butterflies. Three more have hatched since we've been gone. We sit at the kitchen table and share some cherry almond shortbread cookies. Alexa wants to build more with Legos, so we take out the box.

3:00 p.m. We work on building a Lego house and have just finished when Jared wakes up in a crabby mood. He always wakes up crabby if he happens to fall asleep in the car. He settles down quickly, though, when I share one of our cookies with him.

4:00 p.m. We go onto the Amazon.com site and look up some more Lego sets, dreaming of the next one we want to get. Jared falls in love with the Batmobile set. I run across an awesome free site called freelegoinstructions.com. It has thousands of instructions for previously made Lego sets. So I suppose if you have lots of random Lego pieces, you might be able to use the instructions to build something. Or just use your wonderful imagination. Jared decides he wants to ride his bike outside, and Alexa starts drawing on the porch with sidewalk chalk.  I check on our butterflies and am so excited to see one actually coming out of its chrysalis. I call the kids in and we watch for while. They grow tired of it and go back outside to draw. They soon call me out to see the words and letters they've drawn on the asphalt. They tire of this and decide to make "sea water" - a blend of water, grass, sand and dirt. Meanwhile, I work on straightening the house.

5:00 p.m. While I straighten, the kids come back in the house and strip naked. For some reason, at least once a day, they feel the need to strip naked. They smear glitter lip gloss on their chests, and after I ask them to wipe it off, they do flips off the couches. Jared does this naked, except for his Teenage Mutant Ninja turtle mask and shell I made for him. Today he is calling it his Mean Skeleton costume. Steve calls, and I mix flour and water together for the gravy and drop some corn on the cob in a pot full of water to boil. This entire time I've also had to play Batgirl, too. Steve walks in the door, and the kids talk to him while I finish making the gravy, make some toast and cut up fruit.

6:00 p.m. We eat hurriedly because Steve needs to leave for worship team practice tonight by 6:35. He plays guitar every other week. The kids talk over each other, telling him about our day and showing him the Lego car and house. Steve gets his stuff together while I start cleaning the kitchen. He leaves, and I finish cleaning the kitchen while I play Batgirl.

7:00 p.m. I get the kids in the bath, and quickly put the dishes away, sweep the floor and give the butterflies more sugar water. Then I give the kids their bath and dress them. I've promised them that tonight they can watch half of the Little Mermaid II ( I think they've watched that about a dozen times already). We start the show at 7:40. I continue to straighten the house, bring in the plants from outside and check e-mails.

8:00 p.m. I work on posting to this blog until 8:25 when the movie is over. Then I read Jared a Batman book called Birthday Bash (it's a Scholastic Step 3 book), while we halfway watch American Idol. We usually watch the show together as a family. As tonight is just results night, I mute the show and just turn it up when they start to announce who will be kicked off the show this week. Alexa's book request for this evening is TinkerBell and the Lost Treasure - another Step 3 Step into Reading Book. My friend calls about going to a bounce place tomorrow, and when I've finished that call I notice Alexa has fallen asleep on the couch. I lay her down in bed.

9:00 p.m. I work on another blog post, while Jared sits on the couch, flipping through his Batman books and making up stories. Steve calls at 9:20 and is on his way home. We talk for 5 minutes. Jared follows Steve in the bedroom while he changes when he gets home. They both go outside for a while to look at the lightening. Then Steve carries him into our bedroom and makes up a Batman story for him. I finish posting to my blog.

10:00 p.m. Jared finally drifts off to sleep at 10:20. I make a cup of hot chocolate and read for awhile from my Elizabeth Peters book - He Shall Thunder in the Sky- (It's the 13th book in the Amelia Peabody series, about a armature Egyptologist who also solves crimes) - while Steve enters receipts into the budget. We watch the last 20 minutes of Law and Order together, and then we get ready for bed. I read some more in bed until about 11:15.

Happy 4 Year Old Birthday!

The kids woke up on the 29th, their first day of being 4, to chocolate donuts. The kids, especially Jared, LOVE donuts so it was a wonderful first birthday present.

Steve went into work for a half day, so I threw in one load of laundry and spent the rest of the day just playing with the kids.

Jared put together one of his many creations, including using the tongs to be the highest tower in Gotham City.

Then we had lots of fun taking silly pictures of ourselves with the camera. 

Alexa has spent many, many hours over the past few weeks writing letters and words. She was so proud of herself for writing the word hot on her own.

When Steve came home, we went to a close playground for a little while. Actually, this is a place we've gone to for two years but Steve had yet to go.

When we had visited Toots Grill in Downers Grove in December with my mom, she registered them for the kid's club birthday. So, we headed there for a burgers and fries birthday dinner.

Jared's favorite part of the evening? When the train brought by a cupcake with candles while the Happy Birthday song played over the speakers.

Then there was the horse ride before heading home to open presents.

They LOVED opening their presents this year. Let's see; Jared received a Batman, Batmobile, knight's costume and Star Wars Lego set. Alexa's presents were a baby doll set with high chair, car carrier, play pen and sling, Monkeys Jumping on the Bed game, and cash register.

We also sang Happy Birthday and actually almost didn't eat any of the cake, but right before heading to bed, they remembered the cake. 

Happy Birthday my little man and lady.