Very Important Summertime Tasks, Nos. 3-9

 3.  Pull out the wooden puzzles

 4.  Eat amazing watermelon (although, if you're Benjamin, you reject watermelon.  And strawberries.)

 5.  Teach your little brother to drive

6.  Play with Play-Doh

 7.  Imagine something...and then make it

 8.  Make your sister mad by sitting in the Duplos

9.  Build a playhouse and show it off (Grace, it's time to get used to Benjamin appearing in all your photos now that he's walking!) 

Using a Fork

He has decided to experiment with using a fork...with his RIGHT hand! A first for any child around here. :)

Very Important Summertime Task No. 2

Reading.

Very Important Summertime Task No. 1

Taking turns burying each other in pillows.

Strategy

You might remember that I used to lament that I didn't have enough ottomans (ottomen?) to keep the little ones out of trouble. Now that Benjamin can move, climb on, or get behind each one, the ottomans don't really matter anymore. But, the fact that he is walking now really makes me happy. He is not any more "into everything" than he was before. And I love how proud he is of himself, and how he giggled each time he started walking those first couple of days.

One More Song

G:  Will you sing me one more song?
Me:  Ok, what song?
G:  Um, "Star, star, star."
M:  Well, I don't know that one.
G:  Usually I sing it.
M:  OK, why don't you sing it.
G:  No, you sing it.
M:  OK, I'll sing it if you tell me how it goes.
G:  You just start at the beginning.

Phone Pictures from Jeff

A Visit with John

Jeff's dad came out to visit the kids for a few days. We all had a nice time. It took Benjamin a couple of days to warm up to John, and it was fun to watch crawl into his grandpa's lap after he did.

Lilies

Last year, at my dad's celebration of life, Doreen made centerpieces out of some beautiful orange lilies. I was so happy to see this one thriving in the yard, one year later. Thanks, Doreen, for this lovely remembrance of Dad.

What Men Say

Now that we have been blessed with three kids, old men seem to be prompted to speak to me more often than they used to.  And they generally say one of three things:
1.)  "You know what causes those, right?  Heh, heh, heh."
2.)  "You know how to stop having them, don't you?  Heh, heh, heh."
3.)  "You sure have your hands full.  Heh, heh, heh."
I could spend some time here sharing the snarky responses I've come up with (always a few minutes too late, though.)  But, since many other, more talented writers have already spent plenty of space doing that, I'll leave it to them.  And I'll just say that yes, I do have my hands full...full of good things!

Anyway, the other morning, I had walked Jonathan to school with his younger siblings and was on the way home with them.  An older man that I sometimes see walking in the neighborhood approached me and said, "I need to tell you something."  I braced myself for one of the three formula remarks above.  Insead, though, he said, "You're a good little mama."  What?!  He proceeded to tell me that he sees me taking my kids to and from school all the time, pushing them in the stroller, taking care of them, and that I'm doing a good job with my kids.  And said it again, "You're a good little mama."  In that context, I really didn't mind being called a little mama at all.  I thanked him profusely, and was so thankful that God had sent him my way on a morning that I really needed some encouragement.

And now school is almost out, I'm so looking forward to having everyone home, have made grand plans for scheduling fun and meaningful activities with my kids, and I'm really sick.  And almost out of toilet paper, among other things.  So much for grand plans.  I guess I'll try tomorrow to be a Good Little Mama.  If I feel better.

Oh, and I should mention that, that very same afternoon, when I had all three kids with me, my neighbor who was washing his truck said, "You sure have your hands full.  Heh, heh, heh."

Not to Worry

Jeff isn't feeling well, but Jonathan made sure that there's a doctor on call, watching over him. On the headboard, in fact.

Stinky Baby

He was so excited to take a bath that he was kissing the shower head. Really!

Silly Kids

Grace: "Mommy, I suppose it's ok if you sit on my bed."

And in a separate conversation, Jonathan asked me what I thought he should do with some pipe cleaners he had woven together. I wasn't sure...maybe a carpet for Lego guys or something else for Star Wars guys? "No," he said, "I want it to be a swamp environment for crocodiles."

Um...ok!

And This Is Why He Is Not Walking...

He has much more important things to do. Happy 17-month birthday to my precious little stinker of a baby boy.

The Legoland Pictures...and Stories...

This is going to be a very long post!

Jeff and I have been planning this trip for a long time.  He's been traveling a lot, and will continue to travel a lot off and on.  We've been trying to make the best of it.  When we found out he'd have a trip over a weekend, we planned to make it a family event.  (Jonathan has gotten used to all the school germs this year and has had perfect attendance....which we ruined by taking him out of school for a day for this trip.)

We had so much fun keeping the secret from the kids.  The anticipation added to the excitement.  I saw an idea on Pinterest awhile back for a traveling Lego box.  I made one for a birthday gift for a friend of ours, and it went over so well that I decided to make one each for Jonathan and Grace for the trip.  (It's really easy...just use a wooden Kleenex box from Hobby Lobby, cover the Kleenex hole, paint it, flip it over, cut a baseplate to size, glue it on...and this is what you get.  I Mod Podged the kids' names on them, too.

 The kids knew we were going on a trip.  We picked Jonathan up from school, then picked Jeff up from work, gave them their Lego boxes, and broke the news to them.

Grace's box had some of her Duplos in it.  She loves to put the flowers on her fingers!

Jonathan was pretty happy to have his own box.

The drive took longer than we thought.  There was terrible traffic late into the night, and the kids had a short night's sleep in the hotel, so they were really tired.

But, they were still really excited.  Grace kept saying that she was so excited to be at Legoland.

Legoland is building a hotel.  Jonathan wanted me to take a picture.  It will have themed rooms with bunk beds for the kids.  Looks like a kid's paradise.

Off to our first ride!  We were able to ride on a little boat all together when we convince the worked that Benjamin is, indeed, a baby, and no, he can't walk.  This was a boat ride through fairy tale land...in Legos.

Duplo Playtown was my favorite part of the day, and I think Benjamin could have stayed there all day long.  Grace loved it, too, and Jonathan liked it.  It was geared for little kids and their parents.

I love my little jailbirds.

And my little farmers.

Jonathan and Jeff enjoyed this ride last time, and tried it again on this trip.  I had the, um, pleasure, of occupying the younger two while J & J waited in line and rode.

I don't have pictures of it, but we ate a picnic lunch while watching a show about some silly acrobatic Legoland firefighters.  The kids giggled all the way through it.

The helicopters were a huge hit with Jonathan and Grace.

There is a huge news Star Wars display in Miniland.  I let Jonathan request pictures of anything he wanted, and we took LOTS!  Here are a couple of favorites.

Jonathan's favorite part of Legoland is Miniland, I think.

The boys are checking out Darth Maul.  I may have spelled that wrong.  I'll have to ask Jonathan.

Benjamin loved crawling in the bins of Duplos.

Driving school for preschoolers.  Bliss for Grace.  I should note that she has no idea what to do with the gas or the brake.

One more visit to Duplo Playtown on the way out.

Jeff told Grace that she could get wet in the fountain at the end of the day.  And she did.

And...we're done!

This was our second time at Legoland.  Last time we were here, Jonathan was four and a half, and Grace was a few months old.  Jeff and I traded off with each kid, and we were able to do what Jonathan wanted to do.  He was tall enough for all the rides and tried both roller coasters...super fun.

This experience was totally different.  Our kids are in three very different stages and able to do very different things.  Jonathan was exhausted and it affected his attitude at times.  Grace was brokenhearted not to be able to do some of the big-kid rides that were for age four and up.  Jeff and I traded off helping the kids a lot, and it was hard to juggle all their needs.  Still, though, it was a really special day for our family, super fun, and I would do it again.  (It was so great to do this all together instead of having Jeff travel and have the rest of us stay home without him.)  And as a little time passes, the memories get sweeter for each of us.  The kids are forgetting the fussy and tired moments and just remembering the great bonding time we had as a family.  I love the way Legoland is geared toward families with younger kids and makes sure that a lot of the experiences have to be shared to make them fun.

We did some other fun things on this trip, including spending time on the beach and having dinner with some old college friends.  Oh, and did I mention that I made the trip home with the three darlings all by myself?  And I got to see my friend Sarah and her family on the way.  I was pretty proud of myself for getting home without any major mishaps.  Lots of people were praying for us, I think!

A Big Post Coming Up

I'm working on a Legoland post!  Blogger has a great new development (finally...) I can upload a whole bunch of pictures all at the same time.  Whether they'll stay in order, I don't know, but they're uploading and I'll be posting them, with stories, soon.

I've been drowning in mommyhood lately, and that's one reason why I haven't posted as much.  My kids are really needy lately (nothing abnormal about that - they're kids, right?) and there just doesn't seem to be enough of me to go around most days.  It's overwhelming.  I'm so inadequate for this job and thankful that my kids are forgiving and God is filling in the gaps for me.  Still thankful to be a mom, in love with my husband and kids, and trying to keep my head above water.

Anyway...Legoland post, coming right up!

Springtime Bliss

Someday

Gracie, to me:  "Mommy, will you share your clothes with me someday when I'm a grown-up mommy?"

Going to School