Goggles, Imagination & Tickles

It used to be that if I wanted to get a shot of my kids doing something candid I had to sneak out and race upstairs and cross my fingers that they would still be doing it by the time I got back with my camera. I love that my kids are at the stage now that if they're doing something funny and I ask if I can take their picture they say "yes" and can't wait for me to return with the camera. I love capturing their imaginations on film for them to remember when they are "much to old" for this kind of stuff.

Here Johnny is practicing putting his head underwater with the aid of his new goggles. This is the first time he's gotten them wet, although he has been wearing them around the house constantly for the past few days. If I had taken my camera duty more seriously I would have pictures of him eating lunch, playing with his toys, and even sitting on the potty with them on. And for half of that time he had his water wings on as well. Here's hoping he likes the water now as much as he likes his accessories.

This was the first day when water wings were a must as well as the goggles. The slippers are there to help him fly (obviously). Any time he would cry the goggles would fog up and he would walk around practically blind until I noticed and was able to wipe them off for him. He loved it when I washed his hair and dumped water over his head and none of it got in his eyes. He's probably wondering why I didn't get him a pair years ago. Now we just need some nice weather to try them out in a pool!

And here's Alex best super hero impression. She was suppose to be in my room hanging up her Dad's shirts for me but she thought it would be much more fun to try them on instead. Go figure.

I have to say though, I learned a lot today about spending time with my kids. Today was a cleaning day and I was dreading forcing the kids into cleaning up their rooms. So for their incentive I told them to each pick out a couple of books and when we were all done we would sit down and read them. This got them very excited to be done cleaning the rooms, Johnny even likes to sit and listen to a good book now. Then anytime they did a little job like pick up all of the tools or blocks or dress up clothes I would give them a tickle. I've never seen a floor cleared faster in all my life. We finished with Alex's room and by the time I had her floor vacuumed they had Johnny's room all clean and ready to be vacuumed. They've never worked that hard when a physical reward was waiting for them but when a tickle is their reward they were asking for more chores to do. When I told them we were all done they were actually sad. How about that?

It's Only The Beginning

Preschool has ended. Two years of ABC's and 123's and they say she's ready for Kindergarten. I can't help but think about how soon it will be until I'm sitting here at my computer typing "Kindergarten has ended". Once you have kids of your own you can more fully comprehend how our lives on earth are just a blink of an eye to our Father in Heaven. If I sit and think about the past 29 years of my life it does feel like it's gone by so fast. And now my precious porcelain doll is getting ready to broaden her horizon beyond our little neighborhood haven. The other day after gymnastics she came home and later that night she told me (she had obviously been thinking about it for awhile) that when her class was standing in line one of the girls kicked another girl and then switched spots with Alex and blamed the kick on Alex saying "Alex is mean, Alex is mean". My first thought was, what is going to happen while she's at Kindergarten half the day every day? And what if some day she stops telling me what is going on at school and I loose the connection we've had for the past 5 years? I asked her what she did and she said "nothing, I just stared into space". She's not a fighter. Do I want her to be? No. But I don't want people to walk all over her either. We went over a few different scenarios of what she could have done and what she should do in the future. I pointed out that this is the kind of stuff she will be facing in Kindergarten and she needs to rise above it and not let it bring her down. We've been practicing for the past few months how to not let teasing get to her. She's had boys tease her before and she's even been on the other end of the teasing when she met a boy she wanted to be friends with but didn't know how to go about making that connection.

I'm trying to teach her how to make friends and what to do if she is in a room full of kids she doesn't know.

I'm trying to teach her how to "not care" what others say because they are only doing it to get a reaction.

I'm trying to teach her how to care for other's feelings and to make compromises.

I'm trying to teach her that just because everyone doesn't want to do what she wants to do, doesn't mean they don't want to play with her. Sometimes she just needs to do what they want to do and ask if they will play her game next.

But how does she learn these lessons? Through experience of course. The hardest part is that I won't be around to coach her through all of it, the experiencing will be happening away from the home. I just have to keep the lines of communications open when she gets home and wants someone she can talk to that she trusts. Hopefully I can always remember to be that person for her.

She is at her friend's house right now. Her first friend actually. She was 2 1/2 and she found a girl down the street that was so much like her and they have been best friends for the past 3 years. What is she going to do if none of her friends are in her Kindergarten class with her? What if she gets assigned a seat next to someone she doesn't know on the bus? These are thoughts that go through my head on a daily basis and I need to figure out how I am going to handle it because that makes a big difference on how Alex will handle it. I want to take her concerns seriously without becoming her crutch. Does that make sense? Anyway, I have a whole summer to keep her my own and I'm going to relish in her innocence as long as I can.

The other thing I have to think about is how this is going to alter Johnny's world. When she left to play with her friend he started sobbing and chanting "I need sissy, I need sissy". So I gave him her stuffed elephant that she sleeps with at night and put him down for a nap to pass the time until she gets home. One summer, I have one summer, just a few months until my world gets turned upside down. Here's hoping the transition goes smoothly.

P.S. So far today "pancake love me" and "red lego love me". Johnny is so loved.

Lover Boy

This is Johnny at 6:30 last night crashed on the couch with his trusty Howie the hippo cushioning his head. I love this boy with all my heart but what I wanted to write about today is how much he loves everyone and everything and how he's quite certain they all love him too.

Yesterday we attended Alex's Kindergarten open house and Johnny was bored so he was kissing me on my cheek over and over again with a loud smooch every time. I had to move to the back of the crowd to be less distracting. We were outside listening to "Buster" the school bus instruct the kids on bus safety. Buster is a 3 foot tall talking robot bus and of course Johnny knew that the "Bus love me Mom".

Alex is going over to ask her friend Alayna to play, Johnny perks up, "my love Layna". And of course "my love Morgan", and "my love Maddy", Johnny loves all of Alex's friends.

Johnny: "going Mom?"
Me: "just to Wal-Mart"
Johnny: "my love Walmat!"

Anytime I mention Nana or Papa
Johnny: "my love Nana, my love Papa too"

Brad squishes a spider for me
Johnny: "spidey love me"

A snake startles us in the garden
Johnny: "nake love me"

Going to see our cousins
Johnny: "play Ethan?" "my love Ethan" "Ethan love me"

And my favorite:
Driving in the car past a cow pasture.
Alex: "eew, it smells like poo"
Me: "it's probably the cow poo we're driving past"
Johnny: "my love cow poo!"

And of course he is often declaring "my love Sissy" but he just came up to me crying and I asked him if he wanted to go downstairs and have a muffin.
"Yup! No sissy mutin, sissy stinker Mommy"

I guess the love can't last forever.

Love,
Me

Bret and Jolene Weston

This past weekend we were in Utah celebrating the marriage of Brad's sister Jolene to her now husband Bret Weston! I can't believe this weekend has already come and gone. We love Bret and are so excited for them to be together. Congratulations Bret and Jolene!

Here's a breakdown of our festivities. I left on my own Thursday because Brad wasn't able to take the extra day off. He had a one way ticket to Utah later that day. I had to be there early though so I wouldn't miss out of the manicures and pedicures Jolene was treating the girl's to. Yes, I had my first pedicure and I loved it. My pedicurist had another appointment go late so I had to wait. She felt bad so she gave me a free paraffin wax. But I had a massage chair, a foot spa and no kids, I was in no hurry. I've never had a french manicure on my toes before. Thanks Jo!

Since the wedding was in Midway and just down the street from Brad's Grandma Robin we got to stay with her for the weekend. What a treat, she and Uncle Louie (I'll explain later) are the most kind hearted, fun loving couple you'll ever meet. They have more energy than I do some times and they have such a love for our kids. We had the best time staying with them in their Swiss Chalet in the mountains!

I feel like I should explain why they are Grandma Robin and Uncle Louie. When Brad and his twin Brian were babies their parents got very sick and so with 3 kids and a new set a twins to take care of Robin took the babies under her own care and became a great friend to his parents. From then on Robin and Louie were family. Robin was quickly adopted as "grandma" however Louie felt he was too young still to be a grandpa so they called him "uncle". So even now that they have 2 great grandchildren of their own, they are still Grandma Robin and Uncle Louie to the Day family. We all look up to them so dearly and are grateful to have them in our lives. As Brad puts it, if we're lucky we'll all get into heaven if we hold tight to Grandma's heals. She is an angel on this earth and I'm so glad my kids were able to get to know her better this weekend when they were kind enough to open their home to us and keep us well fed!

Ok, so back to the wedding. Friday morning we got the kids dressed for family pictures. Jolene wasn't going to waste any time getting Bret into our family picture, good on you Jo. So we got the kids dressed up in their brown and white and tried to keep the white, white, while we waited for everyone to gather. Not an easy task while they're running around in the dirt and around the pond at our meeting place. At one point Alex was looking around for Bret and couldn't find him anywhere even though he was the one standing right in front of her. So I lifted her up to his eye level and she got shy and put her muddy foot up on his white shirt. Jolene let out a huge gasp as Bret brushed it off and assured her you couldn't even see it. Oops, I guess Jolene will be standing on that side of him for pictures. Jolene was very relaxed however throughout the entire weekend and I have to recognize her for that. She was obviously very well prepared and walking on clouds as she should be. Our bribe for getting the kids to smile during pictures was that we would take them swimming afterward if they did good. So a quick change and off to the indoor pool there on site. Johnny mostly hung out in the huge hot tub that was half the size of the pool and had a ledge all the way around for him to walk on. He wasn't too inclined to go out any further into the water. And any time we tried to take him out he would hold tight around our neck and lick our face as a punishment until we brought him back safely to the side of the pool. I'm not sure how he's going to do in swimming lessons this year, we'll see.

All of the girls reveled over Jolene's beautiful dress and took turns holding her bouquet.

Johnny's favorite part of the day was the dancing. He was out on the dance floor as soon as he heard a good dancing beat and stayed there until he admitted to us that he was tired and ready to go home and go to bed. He never admits when he's tired so we knew he must really be beat. He had the moves though, from disco to break dancing he was wooing all the ladies on the dance floor.

The next morning we were in no hurry to head home so we headed back over to the homestead where the wedding had been and checked out the Crater on the grounds. We walked to the top and looked down the hole into it and then walked around and got to go inside. The lake inside is very deep and always warm, even in the winter, so they use it a lot for scuba diving lessons. And sure enough there were scuba divers popping their heads up out of the deep blue water. It was pretty cool to see. Too bad we couldn't take a dip for ourselves.

And that about sums it up! We had a lot of fun. Now we just have to focus on our trip to Puerto Vallarta in two weeks!!! Yeah!

Bedtime Hysteria

Last night they kids were a little exhausted so we put them to bed a few minutes earlier than normal. When tucking Johnny in he started saying "ging gone, ging gone" over and over. Trying to avoid a tantrum I tried really hard to figure out what he was saying and when he said "Mommy ging gone me" I realized he wanted me to sing him a song. So we worked for awhile on making the "S" sound which he has down because he calls Alex "Sissy" all the time. So I'd have him say sing, "sing" then song, "s-gong". We'll have to work on that one some more. So I started singing him a song and apparently it was the wrong one, so he cut me off and requested "goodnight sweetheart". He had been smiling and laughing up until now and as soon as I started singing good night sweetheart his mouth turned upsidedown and he starts to sniffle as he builds up a cry. I stopped right away and asked "you don't like my singing?" and he started laughing. He does this every time I start singing to him at night, I thought it was because I usually only sing him a good night song when he's having a hard time and he's been crying anyway. So I started again, "goodnight sweet" and his mouth turned upside down and he started sniffling again (his eyes are tearing up). We both started cracking up laughing, I had tears coming down my cheeks as I worked out the last of the song through my hysteria so I could kiss him goodnight and get out of there. I wonder to myself every day what he is going to be like in a couple of years because he is the most animated little guy I've ever met. He loves to laugh and to make people laugh. I'm sure that will never change.

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Oh and this morning Alex was frustrated because she "knows Brayden and Logan and Rogan and Hunter" but she can't remember her two girl cousin's names.

You mean Lizzy who we just spent the weekend with?

No, I know Lizzy. I mean the big one and the little one.

You only have two girl cousins, Sarah who is older and lives in Arizona and then Lizzy. I know there really is someone who you're thinking of but I also know that they're not your cousins. Where did we last see them?

When we went to their house. One is 5 like me, one is little like Johnny.

Do you mean Grace and Ruby?

Yeah!

We miss you Sarah! And Grace! And Ruby! We kind of even miss you too Jake. :o)

Flying through the ZOO

Well a couple of weeks ago we had planned on going to the zoo for preschool and with the crazy weather we've been having it kept getting canceled. That doesn't mean my kids were going to forget about it, so last Friday we took a trip to the zoo by ourselves. They both felt inspired to wear flying attire so Johnny dawned his Superman cape and Alex a pair of pretty pink butterfly wings with matching antennae. I don't know if it was the costumes but we really did "fly" through the zoo, I don't think we spent a whole minute on any one animal. I don't know that it was the zoo that had them so excited or just the fact that they were out running around, can't wait for some consistently warm weather to come our way. I have to say, they did manage to stand out in the crowd though; every head turned as they walked by. One little girl was sad that the butterfly exhibit was closed and so the Dad pointed to Alex and said "there's your butterfly" and the girl's face lit up in a smile. Most of the girls asked their Mom's if they could be a butterfly and the boys were calling Johnny "Super Boy". I knew I had to capture it on film and my battery was dying quickly so when we came to the bridge and no one was on the other side I asked the kids to hold hands and walk slowly over the bridge. Luckily for me they are well trained and knew that if they didn't, they would have to try again until Mom got the shot she wanted. So it only took one shot and when my battery died I was almost relieved that I could put the camera away and just walk around the zoo without trying to capture it all on film and knowing that I already had the shot I had pictured in my head when they decided to wear their costumes to the zoo. I love my picture editing program!