June facebook Posts

These are some posts I put on facebook in June:

June 18
Flooded the bathroom by playing "swimming pool." (He was singing his heart out while sitting in the sink as the faucet was running.) I should have investigated the moment I heard Evy say,"Wwhhooo! Kids out! Time for adult swim!"

June 20
I asked Merritt (3 yrs) to take some dirty clothes to the laundry room. The next thing I hear: the washing machine is on. He had loaded up the washer with those clothes and turned on the washing machine. I hope he folds, too.

June 22
Sheila handed Merritt a chocolate covered raisin. He responded with: Why did you kill the Whopper, Mom?

June 15
Posted on Erik's wall:  "Spiderman's Secret Lair" . . . . You have to see this! (The picture doesn't show all the layers.) Hope it stays until you can. Secret slide hideout, tents, tunnel pieces, parachute, sheets, pillows, balloons, flashlights, escape hatch, and blankets.

Picture From Mother's Day

My Aunt Cathy was in town.  So, we all met up for Sacrament.  Oddly, Aunt Cathy isn't in the picture that she sent out.  But, my mom, me and Deborah are there  . . .  .

Chills and Thrills

Yessiree, we have the computer back.  That is the biggest thrill for us.  It will take awhile to get all my stuff back on it, but we are humming right along.
Last week I did tons of reading/researching/cooking to try and figure out a better way for my family to eat.  So far, it is going well.  There has been at least one total cooking failure and several "bleh" responses from the group, but, overall, it is improving.  I am mostly doing it to help me because of how I react to sugar.  I've been reading about it for months and decided to try making some changes.  I started here:
Maria Mind Body

Last week was fun with the boys as well.  Lots of school time.  Lots of playing with their cousin.  Swimming lessons are going well.  They are having a great time at them, at least.  Saturday was lounging pool day.

Sunday was Father's Day for us.  More on that and pictures to come.

I am the Music Chairman for our ward.  In all, that means I am responsible for good music programming for our Sacrament services.  If any of you find yourselves in that role, I put the resources I use the most on this page (also found on the upper right page links)  http://www.sjolsethupdate.blogspot.com/p/ward-music-resources.html

From my facebook posts:

June 6
Evy: Mom, I wrote a note. What does it say?

Me: It says,"My mom is awesome!"

Evy: (with a look of amazed disbelief). Really? I didn't know how to that. I left one for Dad under his pillow.

I love being Evy's mom.

(Sure enough, there is a sealed envelope under the pillow with a red lettered "DAD" written across it.)

June 8
A flip switched for Merritt (3 1/2 yrs) this morning with self-expression. My favorites so far, in no particular order:

1. I like orange.
2. I am a good Finder. (Yes, he is .. maybe because he hid it in the1st place.)
3. . . . he exclaimed when he saw his cousin this morning: I HAVE A PENIS!!!

We are thrilled he is talking so well and are *so* eager to hear what else he's been wanting to tell us.

June 11
Memo to Fellow Early Risers: Must put on anti-monster face camo in secret before Mommy fully wakes up. If not, then you are not reaching your full monster fighting potential.

Eyeliner this time. (He has been eyeing a new set I got for Christmas.) He put it all up so nicely, too. I had to ask where he got the eyeliner because I didn't see anything out of place in my bathroom!

He came running to me saying,"Wook, Mom, I fight monsters," while pointing at his face. He was so proud and *knew* that I would be as equally pleased with his creativity. what a crack up.



My Day in a Snapshot

Our days are a variation of lots of activities.  Some days we are at home all day, some days we are in the car all day getting errands done, and most days are a mix of it all.  We stay busy and try to make sure that the busy-ness is a good one.

I randomly picked a day to record what our life is like:


I'm up at 5:30 for my workout.  Bike and a short swim.  Then off to home to get the boys up, dressed, and ready for the day.

Breakfast--Evy:  none (kid won't eat before 9:30).  Merritt:  turkey SAUSAGE and yogurt.  Mom:  oatmeal with quinoa.

8:00  They play at the gym while I get a long swim in (yes, swimming twice in the same morning makes me tired, but I've got a logic behind it) and then back home for snack.

10:00 Summer Homeschool.  It is going amazingly well.  Evy is working on reading and Merritt is eager to accomplish whatever I ask him to try.  We do all kinds of things from reading, art stuff, walking around outside, to drawing on the board in the garage.  Next week we are going to hit the outdoors really hard. I have some plans for us to get done before it gets hot.  I am really enjoying this time with them.

12:00 Lunch.  Typical: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or leftovers.  Today's menu--bean soup.  Thankfully, they ate it.

12:30 Play.  Today the boys have been superhero/pirating it with costumes and props and sound effects.  They take this play *very* seriously, like they totally know it is their job to play.

Evy:  Ironman, I need you.
Merritt:  Hold on!  I'm getting my armour on. ch-ch-ch-ch!

Evy:  Wook at all my TREAAAASSSUUUUREEEE!

Evy:  Don't look.  Go tell Mom a joke.
Merritt (looking at me):  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
(guess that is his version of a joke)

If I need to redirect, I have to make sure that I do it in character and use the appropriate superhero name.

2:30  Quiet Time.  Otherwise known as: IthinkIamgoingtopaybillsandgetworkdone but I end up entertaining Evy and Merritt, or at least refereeing between the two of them.  This goes on as I try to sneak in getting some chores done and paying a bill or two.  I usually am on toy standby ready to transform BumbleBee or help them put on a costume or fix something that broke . . . like Spiderman's head "accidentally" coming off his body.  Sometimes, we take a break and watch a show related to whatever they are playing--today we skipped the show, but, yesterday, we took a look at how skunks spray that smell.

4:30  By the end of the day, we transition to the outside where they come in every 30 seconds to tell me something.  What people don't realize (or forget) is that it is a miracle that dinner ever gets cooked to any form of completion.

5:30/6:00 or whenever dinner!  We usually wait for Erik to come home for dinner.  Today, we needed to eat without him.

6:30  The boys are screaming with excitement.  This is a sure fire indicator that Erik is home.  Each time he comes through that door, it is as if the boys are watching fireworks for the very first time.

After dinner:  we run errands, go on walks, practice baseball, go to baseball games, play boardgames, get some chores done.

Today:  a walk through the neighborhood.

What makes the walks successful is our "ticket" system for crossing the street.  Merritt is, uh, enthusiastic when it comes to crossing streets.  Our rule is you have to have a "ticket"--one of our hands--and then you look both ways.  Once we cross the street, we squeeze the boys' hands and make a clicking sound as if we are punching their tickets.  I am so that that works!

8:30 Boys are in bed.  Lots of songs, requests for stories, COLD water, and we "blankie" the boys.  I visit Merritt's room until 9:00 as he has a hard time winding down.

Chills and Thrills

Baseball, swimming, baseball, swimming, baseball!  That is was our week was last week.  Evy's last game and plenty of time spent watching the Rough Riders.

A Food Fight.  Awesome!  My first ever.  The boys keep asking to do it again.

Our computer is in the hospital.  No pictures until we get her back.  I miss her.  Because of the computer/tv setup, I can do my work while my kids watch their show.   Bam!  I am with my kids, talking about their stuff, while I pay my bills.  I miss being able to do that and it has only been 3 days.  Poor me.

This week is busy with swimming and experimenting with recipes.  I'll post more on that later.  I've been very busy.

The boys are doing so well with me during school time.  We are having an amazing time.  Everett loves learning to read.  Merritt works so hard to complete the projects that we tackle.  He has matured so much in the past couple of months.

While tucking Evy into bed this evening, I asked Evy--

Me:  Did you have fun this evening?
Evy:  Yes.
Me:  What did you like about it?
Evy:  I took my mitt to the game so that I could catch a ball and give it to a friend that doesn't have a ball.

(he didn't catch a ball; so, I waited for him to finish)

Evy:  I didn't catch a ball.  But, I have a dollar.  Do any of my friends need a dollar?  Can a dollar help a friend?

He just amazes me.   He is so gentle with his brother, most of the time.  He always tries to help when Merritt has difficulty.  "Don't worry Merritt.  When I was three, I had a hard time catching the ball, too.  Just wait until you are five.  It will be so easy!"

Today's Inspiration

http://colormekatie.blogspot.com/

Just scroll through.  You are welcome.