Summer Ambitions

I have big ambitions for the summer. So, I am going to attempt to document our progress as a way of staying honest. Let's see what we can actually get to and which activities are the most fun for everyone. It will be me and my three kiddos for the most part with Dad home off and on.

We've got our Summer Bucket List written out with 54 items and 70 days to do them. My 9 year old says there are too many. That may very well be, Son. My husband and I have visions of getting back into a routine of working out that is much needed. We also want to clean out, clean up, and get this house in order. Both boys will be playing baseball twice a week for the next six weeks, two children have gym once a week, and little sister has swimming once a week. We also need to limit screen time and do some academic work to avoid the summer slide.

Wow! I'm exhausted already. We have a lot going on and we will have down time too, but I know if there isn't some sort of plan the fighting will erupt in no time.

My first attempt to get things done without whining to use technology is to have a list of what must be done before the kids can even ask for tech time. I plan to adapt this pin from Your Modern Family to work for our expectations:

No Screen time Until


Tomorrow is the last day of school so, I've got to go and figure out what we will do after early release to celebrate.

Hope to update you on our progress again soon!
L

Spring into Summer!

It has been hot, hot, hot here this week! With the temperature in the 90's for 3 days in a row what else do you do with a house full of kids but have a water play day of course! The kiddos loved it. I have a little pond with sprinklers that fills with about 2 inches of water and a water play table. I put the kiddy slide going straight into the water and they splashed around for hours.

They put on swimsuits I had asked their parents to bring and were slathered with sun screen. They wore sun hats as well and since we were outside from about 9:30 am to 11:30 am the sun isn't that harsh yet and we didn't have any problems with sun burn.

They had so much fun we did it again the next day! I had to move our play area around to try and have equal flooding throughout the yard. Here are some pictures of our little set up:
















And the next day too:

When naps go away...

I'm currently in a huge transition. My almost-3-year-old is giving up his nap and my 15-month-old is going down to one nap all at the same time. Wow!

My older son has never been a great sleeper and fighting him to take a nap hasn't been much fun. I'm hoping this change of schedule will help him fall asleep more easily at night and give him a longer period of rest. It worked last night. He slept for 11 hours which is amazing! Of course he fell asleep in the car on the way home from Grandma and Grandpa's house. It may need to be one of those 'hop in the car to go to sleep' kind of things until this schedule is firmly on the books. I don't feel like the best mother when I plunk him down in front of the TV for an hour and a half in the afternoon to give him something quiet and still to do when the other kids are sleeping. He's not one to sit and do anything for an extended time and for now this is his rest time.

As for the baby, yesterday he was able to stay up until my other day care kids took their nap at 1pm and he slept for 2 and 1/2 hours. Very good. He has been sleeping about 1 and 1/2 hours in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. This will be better. He still sleeps 12 hours at night! What a life saver!

My Baby is 1

Such a bittersweet moment. My baby boy turned 1 yesterday. The past year has gone by so quickly. I guess sleep deprivation can do that to time.

He is at such a glorious age. He is fun and happy and sleeps well, but as soon as he takes those first steps he won't be a baby anymore...he'll be a toddler. He is very close. He received a shopping cart walking toy for his birthday and he loves doing circles around the living room, but he needs help to make the turns. He will also briefly let go of whatever is holding him up.

He is such a Momma's boy and loves me so much. Will he ever love me this much again once he wants to do everything himself and can say 'no'? When my first son turned 1 only a year and a half ago we thought he was so big. And while they have changed so much from those first days and weeks he is still a baby and I can see that now with my second. Now that I understand how fleeting babyhood is I am able to enjoy it so much more. I try to breathe it in and seer it in my memory everyday.

Road Trip

The fam went out of town this weekend to visit some friends and have a little collage reunion. A 2 & 1/2 year old and 1 year old are totally manageable in the car for three hours when there is a parent with two free arms able to turn around to offer toys, books, dropped sippy cups, and snacks repeatedly. It is a little bit of a different story when the only adult in the car is driving. Such is the situation I found myself in on Sunday when we left my husband behind for a work conference and I drove the three hours home on my own with the boys. The first hour and a half was great! They were asleep. The next 20 minutes were not bad, but then the kids were over it. My1 year old was hitting his cranky time, anytime after 4:30, and my toddler was insistent that he needed his shoes on even though he had to have them off when we got in the car. I tried some different music on the radio for a little while and finally had to give in and sing songs for the rest of the ride. Old MacDonald and the Wheels on the Bus were big hits. All in all it was not bad. My toddler is usually great in the car and I could have wished for a little more on his end. The baby has never been one to be soothed by the car, but he gets better all the time. I definitely know I can handle it and I didn't even have to pull over and set up the DVD player. I'm sure it will be necessary in the future.