Fix it Felix!

I'm watching Wreck-it Ralph with the kids. Felix was opposed, until the first 30 seconds when Felix gets to go on top of the building and fix things. Now he's 100% on board.

What's happening?

Leo is awesome
◊ Leo climbs everything he can get his hands on and feet on : the stairs, the slide outside, chairs, and consequently, tables and the stove.
◊ He wants to do everything the big kids do. He has a keen sense of "not fair" when it comes to his sibs.
◊ He says "Hi" and waves with a great big smile.
◊ He makes vroomish noises when playing with cars or the dust buster, or anything with a hose.
◊ If I say Leo, wanna dance? He starts dancing.
◊ He knows what "no" means.
◊ Today he stopped me reading a book and grabbed the one he wanted me to read. Then he turned back to a favorite page and started pointing at things and babbling about them.
◊  He just started signing "more", but he uses it a lot!


Felix is awesome, most of the time. Whoever coined the term "terrible twos" must have done so before their child hit 3.
◊ Doing the potty training thing, it is going okay. He is enjoying all of the naked time immensely.
◊ He's been playing at being a baby with a family. "I'm a baby backhoe, Relia is the girl backhoe, daddy is the daddy backhoe, and you are my momma backhoe, and you scoop me up with your scoop. or "I'm a baby backhoe sleeping in a egg. I'm gonna crack out when I'm ready."My other favorite is we are a family of "sea crawlers".
◊ The other day Felix told me when he was a baby he was sleeping in my tummy.
◊  This time last year, Felix was pretty much terrified of the water. This year he can't get enough of the deep end of the wading pool. I have to remind him constantly not to jump in.


Aurelia is awesome as usual.
◊  She is a social butterfly.  That is hampered by her early bird habits. She gets up before any of her friends and then goes to bed almost right after supper so she isn't a complete bear the next day. However, she finds a friend from school just about everywhere we go: the zoo, the pool, the library.
◊  She can't hep but read. Sometimes I get irritated as she stops to try to figure out a sign, while I'm in a hurry to get somewhere. But I really can't complain about that, right?
◊  I love watching her work with numbers. She is getting better at reasoning with numbers and I cannot wait to see what she does in first grade.
◊  She is constantly coming up with new schemes and plans that usually involve a lot of help from me. What will happen when she can do more on her own?

While we have moments of complete crying screaming whining chaos, when the kids aren't tired or hungry, they are great together. It is fun to watch them help each other and play together.

I'm feeling my summer days already slipping away. I can't believe it is almost July already. I've pretty much convinced myself that summer is done when August starts since I have classes that start August 9th. Ugh. I'm feeling like there is not enough time, even though I have a whole month left.

My kind of summer school

I am in awe of all that Kindergarten has done for my girl. Now I'm trying to help her avoid that summer amnesia I always see come Fall:
(BTW, except for daily reading time, I don't plan this stuff. I try to just remember to find the learning moment in what they are already doing by questioning or posing a challenge)

Science - How many small buckets to fill the big bucket? What floats? What happens when you push a beach ball into the full bucket?


Reading at least half an hour a day. I rarely have to force this. We've started our weekly library visits, and Dora books are a clear favorite (groan). But she can read them by herself, so I guess I shouldn't complain.


Our view during reading


You'd think there'd be some math in there, right? Yesterday we wrote numbers on the fence, skip counting by 2. I keep asking about the patterns, but she hasn't seen it yet. I also ordered a couple of playing card holders, so we can better play my trove of math card games.

Austin & the Manoochehris

We went down to Austin to see CeCe, Michael, & Ben. The kids are in love with Michael & Ben.
We got to see some kittens, play with trucks, send the guys off to do homework, have some Tendermaid, dance and sing on stage at the Paramount, visit the library, play at the park, AND we finally went to the SPAM Museum.







Not nearly enough time there as we had to rush off to get FP home to work. I can say we will be back at the SPAM museum one of these days.

Woo Hoo!

Warning, Potty training info ahead:

First 24 hours of potty training has yielded successes! This is a little surprising, because we spent the majority of the day in swimsuits without any potty time at all.

I'm being cautiously optimistic, and trying to keep my daydreams of only one child in diapers to a minimum.

The funny part is that I cannot convince him that he is old/big enough to wear underwear. so we are bare buttin' it for the mean time. He will wear a cloth diaper, so I've been putting him in those without a liner for naps.

Also, I have a bone to pick with the people at Hanes. Who thought putting pictures on the butt was a good idea? When I can get him to consider wearing the undies, he insists that the big picture of Thomas the Tank Engine should be in the front. He wants to be able to see it. Duh.

Camp?!

FP and I are not experienced campers. We've both been to camp, but have never really been camping. The DNR has this cool getting started program where they provide the guidance and stuff to get you started. We signed up to go in mid July.  I do feel pretty confident setting up a tent, and I know how to start a fire, but we are both a tad nervous about it the whole managing gear, cooking, and keeping the kids happy. In the end, we're hoping it leads to some cool adventures down the road.

They don't recommend bringing toddlers so my mom & dad agreed to watch Leo. But I keep thinking we could do it even with the baby. Is that just plain stupid? Any thoughts from those with more knowledge about such things?

More of my kids

Eight!

8 years ago	7 years ago
6 years ago	5 years ago
4 years ago	3 years ago
2 years ago	One year ago
And today!

1? 2? 3?

Reading an article on how only children don't have it so bad as people think. Then, having lunch with Rellie while her brothers are enjoying their last week of daycare for the summer. I had the fleeting thought, "What would life be like if we only had one?" Certainly easier and more flush moneywise, but then I would never have seen these smiles.



Totally worth it.

Guess who has left the crib!

Thanks to Deborah and Keith's yard sale!


I just noticed that you can clearly see the quilts Nana made too.

Leo!

You've got it all together, right?

Tonight I'm feeling a little overwhelmed again. Thoughts abound of simplifying my life, improving my relationships, pushing my self imposed limits (ala How to Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days). This dissatisfaction sometimes comes out in frustration with the other people in my life. Not okay, but it's the truth.

the perfection I seek is obtainable through my summer vacation, right?

Austin

Friday we hit Austin for Morgan's graduation Party.
Before the party we went to visit FP's HS Choir director. the kids had fun exploring the choir room.

Can you find the leo in the picture?

Guess where we wnt in the afternoon.

Appreciation?

I have made it my mission this year to get my family to a baseball game this summer. FP and I have talked about doing it now that Felix is old enough to enjoy it a little and Relia is old enough to enjoy it a lot. But I'm cheap, so I have been entering every Twins ticket contest I have run across. Yes, that is my strategy for getting us there, 100% reliance on luck.

Well, apparently it worked, because I got a call on Friday that I won one of those contests. Wow. The prize is a 2 night stay at a swanky hotel, some spending $$, the seats are right behind home plate, and the Twins will be playing the White Sox!

Now here is where my brain gets in the way. The contest was in honor of teacher appreciation week. and of course, as soon as the excitement wore off, I started thinking about all of the teachers I know who do way more than I and how they deserve appreciation. When I mentioned this moment of self doubt, FP answered, "Nope, according to the drawing, you deserve it." Yep. One of the many reasons I married that guy. He can almost always talk me down from the ledge. However, it prompted me to dash off a couple of notes to those that I admire so much.

I picked up the package yesterday and they took my picture with the branch manager and balloons. The people at the Credit Union were just glad it was a member who won. The kids were thrilled that I brought home balloons.

Edited: Just got an email that I also won another pair of tickets for next week!

Last day (no kids)

I brought Relia to work with me today as I wrapped some things up and moved into a new office. She did a great job of helping and entertaining herself while I met with various groups. She insisted I refer to her as "my special little helper" and (instead of using any pronouns).

Everyone commented that she looks just like me with blond hair. That made me so happy. Then I realized that I need to remember that when I get down on myself. My daughter looks just like me, and she is beautiful.

Now I need to purge purge purge so that I can enjoy my new space instead of feeling oppressed by all of my crap.

Report Card

She got her report card today. This is where I get into trouble as a teacher and parent. She received "advanced" marks in reading and speaking, but not math. I don't know the literacy standards at all, and I know she is doing fine, but did not expect her to be advanced. I know the math standards, and I know she is exceeding them. I don't really need her report card to tell me how she's doing, and I VERY rarely give advanced marks myself, but it is hard not to wonder about what has been happening in math.

Graduate!

She unofficially graduated from Kindergarten on Friday, luckily there are still a couple of days of school left.



I celebrated by leaving for a night to celebrate the end of the year with a bunch of old teacher friends, including my 3rd grade teacher! I was in her first class ever, and through the years she has called me Megan way more than she has ever called me Sarah. :)

Back in town, I got the lawn mowed -which was amazingly satisfying. All the rain we have been having has not only made the grass grow fast, but has also made it difficult to get it dry enough to cut. So now I want to spend time in the yard. The kids spent almost all day Sunday in the yard, and Felix even convinced us to turn on the sprinkler.