04 October 2014
Shenandoah
01 October 2014
The Project
Oh man. School projects. AKA torture for parents with a deadline. Josh's class has been studying Native Americans and the kids got to pick a project that was due today. Which is why Jason and Josh spent some (a lot of) quality time Monday and Tuesday evening making this pueblo.
Josh is incredibly lucky to have Jason as his father. I went and got books and materials for Josh weeks ago and reminded him day after day that he needed to work on this. In the tradition of students everywhere, he ignored me. When it came to crunch time, I told him that there would be no exceptions made for chores and bedtime for this project. At which point, Jason took one for the team and spent two evenings working with clay (plan A - didn't work) and then cardboard and paint (plan B). Josh was pretty happy with the results and hopefully his teacher will feel the same. I would like to believe that he will learn his lesson and not procrastinate next time, but I am not sure that I ever learned that myself.
Pack Meeting
Last night was the pack meeting. We have a great cubmaster who does a wonderful job of mixing teaching and fun. I love that he helps the boys work on skills like having good sportsmanship and plans fun activities at the same time. They got to play the stick pull game (Jason and the cubmaster seen below demonstrating) and balloon volleyball.
And then of course there were awards to be handed out. Michael earned 5 belt loops and has been looking forward to getting them in his hot little hands for quite a while.
Josh earned one as well, but there was a communication issue so we'll have to do those next month. In any case, we are just so grateful for all the scout leaders who put so much time and effort into helping our boys have a great experience in scouting!
30 September 2014
Expecting
I found this gem on my phone this morning (thanks, Jason!). What kills me is how Ben has the belly forward with hands on the back of hips stance of a pregnant woman down pat. I don't know what they were going to give birth to, but clearly this pregnancy is making an impact on them. I am curious to see if they will act out breastfeeding.....
28 September 2014
September
Now that it is the 28th, I guess this would be a good time to record highlights of a month when I haven't blogged very much. So, here it goes:
School
We are in our second month of school (no, really). Ben adores kindergarten. That was a bit of a shock. But a lovely shock like when a chocolate has a hazelnut cream core. He has said multiple times that he knows "tomorrow is going to be a great day because every day is a great day!" For. the. win. I am curious to hear about his teachers' experiences with him when I go to parent teacher conferences.
Michael is doing really well in 2nd grade, although his teacher up and got a new job less than 30 days into the school year. Ugh. Can't blame her too much since the commute to this school was quite long and she got a job in her home county, but still. In any case, new teacher starts tomorrow. In the meantime, the GT teacher invited Michael and a couple of kids from his class to participate in a lunch group called the Philosophers Club. We were told it was a group that would use the Socratic method to explore issues. All Michael says is that she asks them a lot of questions. I am not sure that he is sold on the idea that he should be spending his lunch time with the GT teacher, but he seems good to go as long as it isn't every day (which it isn't).
Josh also seems to be doing well, although his teacher has had rather spotty attendance thus far (her husband was in a motorcycle accident and she had surgery). Luckily, they switch teachers for science and Josh loves his science teacher. The teacher is the only male teacher in 5th grade (actually, he may be the only male teacher in any grade) and has the students do a lot of hands-on experiments and activities. Josh has also been given his first book report assignment as well as a project to complete. We are bracing ourselves for a life lesson on procrastination as the book report is due on Tuesday and, despite encouragement and discussions about time management, it is no where near finished. We have also discussed how there will be no exceptions given on completing other chores and activities (ie piano practice) and no staying up late to complete projects given a month in advance. Let the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth begin!
Activities
Piano lessons started up again this month. We put them on hold during the summer as we wanted as much flexibility in our schedule as possible. However, neither Jason nor I play so even though we tried to have them practice all summer to keep some of the skills fresh, we couldn't help them progress at all.
Scouts also started again after a summer break. Josh and Michael both have great leaders. Josh is lucky enough to have his best friend in his den and I am sure the two of them together are a handful. Michael is thrilled to finally get to participate in scouting as well and his mom really needs to get on the ball and get his Bobcat badge attached to his uniform soon.
Rockets! A friend of ours is part of a rocketry club and he invited us to come launch rockets and watch the night launch. Sadly, I took no pictures, but it was so much fun. The boys always love launching their own rockets (Republic Cruiser and the Clone), but watching the night launch just took it to a new level of fun. The rockets were all decorated with lights and in the dark we could see the engines burn.
Telescopes! The local astronomy club had a star gaze night at a local park yesterday so we went to see what we could see. Turns out we could see the moon, Saturn and a couple of its moons, binary star systems, a nebula, and a couple of star clusters. Not bad at all. And now we are all more motivated to learn some constellations.
Baby
And the pregnancy continues. I finally made it off of my nausea meds around the middle of the month. The meds and the nausea were kind of a "pick your poison" type of situation. Off the meds, I spent the day laying on the couch feeling horribly ill. On the meds, I spent the day laying on the couch feeling horribly exhausted. I will pick exhaustion over nausea any day. So, being out of that stage is nice. However, I now have the shape and proportions of a whale so that has its own set of inconveniences. Oh, and at no other time in my life have I been so relieved at the presence of port-a-potties in outdoor places. The baby seems to feel that my bladder is his own personal punching/kicking bag and I live in constant fear of peeing in my pants if he gives me a good, unexpected kick/punch when my bladder is full.
Birthday Boy
Jason had a birthday this month. He is now the ultimate answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything. Just in case you were wondering.
School
We are in our second month of school (no, really). Ben adores kindergarten. That was a bit of a shock. But a lovely shock like when a chocolate has a hazelnut cream core. He has said multiple times that he knows "tomorrow is going to be a great day because every day is a great day!" For. the. win. I am curious to hear about his teachers' experiences with him when I go to parent teacher conferences.
Michael is doing really well in 2nd grade, although his teacher up and got a new job less than 30 days into the school year. Ugh. Can't blame her too much since the commute to this school was quite long and she got a job in her home county, but still. In any case, new teacher starts tomorrow. In the meantime, the GT teacher invited Michael and a couple of kids from his class to participate in a lunch group called the Philosophers Club. We were told it was a group that would use the Socratic method to explore issues. All Michael says is that she asks them a lot of questions. I am not sure that he is sold on the idea that he should be spending his lunch time with the GT teacher, but he seems good to go as long as it isn't every day (which it isn't).
Josh also seems to be doing well, although his teacher has had rather spotty attendance thus far (her husband was in a motorcycle accident and she had surgery). Luckily, they switch teachers for science and Josh loves his science teacher. The teacher is the only male teacher in 5th grade (actually, he may be the only male teacher in any grade) and has the students do a lot of hands-on experiments and activities. Josh has also been given his first book report assignment as well as a project to complete. We are bracing ourselves for a life lesson on procrastination as the book report is due on Tuesday and, despite encouragement and discussions about time management, it is no where near finished. We have also discussed how there will be no exceptions given on completing other chores and activities (ie piano practice) and no staying up late to complete projects given a month in advance. Let the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth begin!
Activities
Piano lessons started up again this month. We put them on hold during the summer as we wanted as much flexibility in our schedule as possible. However, neither Jason nor I play so even though we tried to have them practice all summer to keep some of the skills fresh, we couldn't help them progress at all.
Scouts also started again after a summer break. Josh and Michael both have great leaders. Josh is lucky enough to have his best friend in his den and I am sure the two of them together are a handful. Michael is thrilled to finally get to participate in scouting as well and his mom really needs to get on the ball and get his Bobcat badge attached to his uniform soon.
Rockets! A friend of ours is part of a rocketry club and he invited us to come launch rockets and watch the night launch. Sadly, I took no pictures, but it was so much fun. The boys always love launching their own rockets (Republic Cruiser and the Clone), but watching the night launch just took it to a new level of fun. The rockets were all decorated with lights and in the dark we could see the engines burn.
Telescopes! The local astronomy club had a star gaze night at a local park yesterday so we went to see what we could see. Turns out we could see the moon, Saturn and a couple of its moons, binary star systems, a nebula, and a couple of star clusters. Not bad at all. And now we are all more motivated to learn some constellations.
Baby
And the pregnancy continues. I finally made it off of my nausea meds around the middle of the month. The meds and the nausea were kind of a "pick your poison" type of situation. Off the meds, I spent the day laying on the couch feeling horribly ill. On the meds, I spent the day laying on the couch feeling horribly exhausted. I will pick exhaustion over nausea any day. So, being out of that stage is nice. However, I now have the shape and proportions of a whale so that has its own set of inconveniences. Oh, and at no other time in my life have I been so relieved at the presence of port-a-potties in outdoor places. The baby seems to feel that my bladder is his own personal punching/kicking bag and I live in constant fear of peeing in my pants if he gives me a good, unexpected kick/punch when my bladder is full.
Birthday Boy
Jason had a birthday this month. He is now the ultimate answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything. Just in case you were wondering.
14 September 2014
The Sound of Pee
First off, there are three things you must understand for this post to make sense.
1. We have three boys, so there is a lot of standing and peeing going on in our house. (Not that we didn't train Josh first to sit down, but he saw Jason standing once and then tried it on his own - an amusing story in its own right - and that was the end of sitting.)
2. The boys have their own bathroom right down the hall from our room.
3. Josh sleep walks.
So, we have these incidents. They occur at night. See #3. Because our townhouse is not very large and because the boys do not seem to know how to close the bathroom door when they pee at night, Jason and I are very familiar with the sound of them peeing in the toilet. And yes, for those of you who don't have the pleasure of listening to little boys wee wee in the porcelain throne, there is a particular sound to the activity. And just like a seasoned parent can often tell the difference between a frustration cry and a pain cry, we have learned to tell the difference between peeing the toilet and, well, you'll see. Which brings us to our three incidents.
1. Many moons ago, Jason and I were in bed when we heard someone get up to use the bathroom. We hear pee, but we don't hear it going in what sounds like the toilet. Jason leaped out of the bed with great alacrity and rushed down the hall to find Josh peeing...into the bathtub. Jason asked him about it and Josh appeared to be rather disoriented. Jason sent Josh to bed. No harm, no foul as the tub was easily sprayed and rinsed, but in the morning Josh had no memory of peeing in the tub.
2. Several moons ago, Jason and I awoke to the sound of one of the boys walking up the stairs in the middle of the night. It was Josh. We asked him what he was doing up and out of bed. He informed us that he had gone to the basement to use the bathroom. Now, we have 4 bathrooms in our townhouse. To get to the one in the basement, he had to pass by 3 perfectly functioning bathrooms. We were a little wiser by now, so we asked him if he had peed in the toilet or the tub. Again, he was disoriented. So, we sent him to bed. However, the conversation sent off an alarm in our heads as we realized that Josh hadn't known where he had gone pee and we didn't have any reason to feel sure that he had gone pee in the bathroom much less in the toilet. So Jason went down and did a quick check around the basement to search for "wet spots" and to make sure the toilet had been flushed if Josh had actually used it. Again, in the morning Josh had no memory of any of it.
3. Last night, Jason and I were in bed just on the cusp of falling asleep when we heard someone get up to use the bathroom. We hear pee, but we don't hear it going in what sounds like the toilet. But, we also don't hear what sounds like the bathtub. This time Jason kind of groans as he gets up to check on Josh. And then groans again as he finds Josh trying (emphasis on the word trying) to pee into the trashcan in the bathroom. Josh appears to be disoriented, but Jason convinces him to finish in the toilet and then the two of us spend some quality Saturday night time cleaning pee off of the floor and out of the trashcan in the boys' bathroom. And, once again, Josh gave us a bit of blank stare when we asked him about it this morning.
1. We have three boys, so there is a lot of standing and peeing going on in our house. (Not that we didn't train Josh first to sit down, but he saw Jason standing once and then tried it on his own - an amusing story in its own right - and that was the end of sitting.)
2. The boys have their own bathroom right down the hall from our room.
3. Josh sleep walks.
So, we have these incidents. They occur at night. See #3. Because our townhouse is not very large and because the boys do not seem to know how to close the bathroom door when they pee at night, Jason and I are very familiar with the sound of them peeing in the toilet. And yes, for those of you who don't have the pleasure of listening to little boys wee wee in the porcelain throne, there is a particular sound to the activity. And just like a seasoned parent can often tell the difference between a frustration cry and a pain cry, we have learned to tell the difference between peeing the toilet and, well, you'll see. Which brings us to our three incidents.
1. Many moons ago, Jason and I were in bed when we heard someone get up to use the bathroom. We hear pee, but we don't hear it going in what sounds like the toilet. Jason leaped out of the bed with great alacrity and rushed down the hall to find Josh peeing...into the bathtub. Jason asked him about it and Josh appeared to be rather disoriented. Jason sent Josh to bed. No harm, no foul as the tub was easily sprayed and rinsed, but in the morning Josh had no memory of peeing in the tub.
2. Several moons ago, Jason and I awoke to the sound of one of the boys walking up the stairs in the middle of the night. It was Josh. We asked him what he was doing up and out of bed. He informed us that he had gone to the basement to use the bathroom. Now, we have 4 bathrooms in our townhouse. To get to the one in the basement, he had to pass by 3 perfectly functioning bathrooms. We were a little wiser by now, so we asked him if he had peed in the toilet or the tub. Again, he was disoriented. So, we sent him to bed. However, the conversation sent off an alarm in our heads as we realized that Josh hadn't known where he had gone pee and we didn't have any reason to feel sure that he had gone pee in the bathroom much less in the toilet. So Jason went down and did a quick check around the basement to search for "wet spots" and to make sure the toilet had been flushed if Josh had actually used it. Again, in the morning Josh had no memory of any of it.
3. Last night, Jason and I were in bed just on the cusp of falling asleep when we heard someone get up to use the bathroom. We hear pee, but we don't hear it going in what sounds like the toilet. But, we also don't hear what sounds like the bathtub. This time Jason kind of groans as he gets up to check on Josh. And then groans again as he finds Josh trying (emphasis on the word trying) to pee into the trashcan in the bathroom. Josh appears to be disoriented, but Jason convinces him to finish in the toilet and then the two of us spend some quality Saturday night time cleaning pee off of the floor and out of the trashcan in the boys' bathroom. And, once again, Josh gave us a bit of blank stare when we asked him about it this morning.
01 September 2014
Motivated
Timing is ticking away.
The clock is counting down.
The end (of the world as we know it) is near.
These are the sort of sentiments which have motivated much of our summer. We are not normally a go out and do a bunch of stuff kind of family. Summers are for relaxing and for the kids to get as much play time in as possible. Plus, Jason and I are homebodies. Jason even more so than me. But this last summer, every time I came up with a plan to go somewhere or do something, he agreed. No arguing. No pointing out we had just gotten home from some activity or trip. We just did it. And it seems (to me anyway) like we did a LOT more than normal.
Why?
Well, I think we both had the same four words running through our heads that we would attach to the beginning or end of any sentence that contained the phrase "we should go/do.....".
And those four words are:
BEFORE THE BABY COMES.
Ominous words. Foreboding words.
Don't get me wrong, there are some fun things about babies. But we have three mostly self-sufficient boys who dress themselves, buckle themselves into the car, walk under their own power, carry their own water, and are potty-trained. We can up and go pretty much anywhere whenever we want.
Life as we know it is about to come to a screeching halt.
We are about to reenter the diaper bag, baby feeding, diaper changing, baby sleep schedule, hauling around baby gear stage of life. It feels like we may be entering the Twilight Zone.
We've had a great summer. I hope the boys have many, many great memories. Because we are unlikely to leave the house again for the next five years.
The clock is counting down.
The end (of the world as we know it) is near.
These are the sort of sentiments which have motivated much of our summer. We are not normally a go out and do a bunch of stuff kind of family. Summers are for relaxing and for the kids to get as much play time in as possible. Plus, Jason and I are homebodies. Jason even more so than me. But this last summer, every time I came up with a plan to go somewhere or do something, he agreed. No arguing. No pointing out we had just gotten home from some activity or trip. We just did it. And it seems (to me anyway) like we did a LOT more than normal.
Why?
Well, I think we both had the same four words running through our heads that we would attach to the beginning or end of any sentence that contained the phrase "we should go/do.....".
And those four words are:
BEFORE THE BABY COMES.
Ominous words. Foreboding words.
Don't get me wrong, there are some fun things about babies. But we have three mostly self-sufficient boys who dress themselves, buckle themselves into the car, walk under their own power, carry their own water, and are potty-trained. We can up and go pretty much anywhere whenever we want.
Life as we know it is about to come to a screeching halt.
We are about to reenter the diaper bag, baby feeding, diaper changing, baby sleep schedule, hauling around baby gear stage of life. It feels like we may be entering the Twilight Zone.
We've had a great summer. I hope the boys have many, many great memories. Because we are unlikely to leave the house again for the next five years.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)