Summer Prizes!

Today I decided that Abby and Dylan had been coped up in the house for too long so we went to the library to return some books and for the kids to turn in their summer reading charts. At our library they had a summer reading program where the kids had to keep track of how many minutes they were read to (in my kids case) and when they got to 300 minutes they got a half-way prize which was a fresby and today they got their finishing prize part of it is something we probably won't use. They got two coupons one for a free potato thing when you buy a taco at a loca resturant and the other is for a free child scenic cruise on a riverboat when you buy and adult one. And the part they got into was that they got to pick out a book from a shelf to keep. They were really excited about that!! They were looking at them in the car Abby was looking at the one that Dylan had choosen and said "Hey Mom, Dylan picked out a good one!" I was like "oh, do you like that book?" and she said "Yep, it's a good one!" She totally cracks me up! She talks so grown up sometimes!

"You are being mean to me!"

Abby was blessed with the talent of being able to stay strong and focused when she puts her mind on something and even more focused when you are losing your patience. Last night we put her in bed and she did the classic come-out-and-ask-a-question thing over and over. Now I know that we should be strong and not get crazy and put her in her room untill she gets it. The problem is that we don't have central air, just window units and in an effort to keep their rooms cool at night we leave their doors open with a fan in the hall. Dylan gets an elevated gate-can't climb over can't go under, so he is taken care of. Abby on the other hand feels she has to put her opinions in every conversation we have! She kept coming out and out and out and out. So I finally told her that I needed her to listen and obey and that I was losing my patience with her. She came over with her blanket and tears in her eyes and said "Mom, you guys are being so mean to me!" If I was weaker I would have melted and scooped her up and given her a hug, but you migh think me cold hearted but really I know my daughter and she was really tired and just trying to keep herself awake! So I told "Well I am sorry you feel that way but you aren't being nice to me when you don't listen and obey and when you don't do those things mom and dad reserve the right to punish! So she went into her room, NOT quietly, I shut her door and she went to sleep!

Lacey Vs. the Fan and Drumming in the Kitchen

Lacey discovered the fan this afternoon- you can decide who won! You can also see what I meant in the earlier post about Dylan thinking he can play with Lacey with the same abandon as he does Abby!

Why do we invest money in toys from the store when all you really need are some groceries and some chopsticks!

Dylan and ungrasped concepts

Poor Dylan, it has to be hard to be in the middle, kidwise. He and Abby will play on the floor and lay and roll and fall on each other and its "a fun game". But Dylan does not understand why he can't do these things with Lacey. He just doesn't get that playing with her is not like playing with Abby. It is quite comical to all of a sudden hear Lacey screaming for help and to look and see Dylan laying across her looking at you like "what?" He keeps expecting Lacey to wiggle out or play with him and doesn't undeerstand that at least for alittle while thats not going to happen!!! Poor little guy!

No Batteries

Well I have some funny pictures and videos to post but my camera batteries died and I forgot to get some more. I hate when I go to the store for something and come out without it! I forgot my rechargable batteries at my moms house so i am stuck buying batteries. So untill I can remember to put them in my cart you will have to settle for a little story! Dylan, I discovered today needs alittle lesson on compassion! Maybe that will be our next topic for Family Home Evening! We were in the car coming home from the store and Lacey was kinda crying/whining to herself. She is still is working on that tooth and was tired and trying to stay awake so she was making noises like "dadadada-ahhhhh-hahah" kinda crying at the end and then from the back of the car I hear Dylan "dadadada-ahhhhh-hahah" in a high voice-totally mimicking Lacey and then laughing about it! I was like oh man that is kinda funny but not good! So that is something we will be working on now!

Primary Activity

Yesterday we had a Primary activity at some friends house. This was Abby's first one so she was so excited! The day started out rainy and cloudy and since we were doing outdoor water things I was alittle worried! But the skys cleared and the sun came out and provided the heat so the water was a nice relief! There were 7 different activites all but two involving water. Each activites had a scripture story that went along with it. Like the tug of war went with the story of Moses and (everyones favorite) the water balloon fight was a Nephite/Laminite war! Even though Abby didn't really know what was going on and just kinda followed her group around she had a great time! Dylan even found ways to occupy his free time!

Outside Inside

Well now that the warm temps have made an appearance, the humidity has decided to make it a party! So in an effort to keep summer cabin fever at bay we have been doing outside activities inside! Abby just got a jump rope and is trying hard to figure out how to turn and jump at the same time and Dylan, at the moment is determined to do EVERYTHING his sister does, adds his own energy into his effort at mastering the jump rope as well! Abby unfortunately has a personality that is not very conducive to activities that require patience. She gets discouraged and even mad when she can't get the hang of something fast. I always have to tell her to calm down, get control of yourself, and try again. That speech doesn't really get a good reception from her but hopefully after a lot of repetition it might sink in!

Slow Going!

Well not too much has been going on here, mostly because I haven't really been motivated to get stuff done! My fault! My dad and Bryan are going up to the Boundry Waters with some others for a week long canoe trip and my mom is staying with us. So I have a ton of things that I want to get cleaned up and put away and have only crossed one thing off my long list! I know my mom wont care what is clutter free and what isnt but I want to be focused on having a good time and not on what needs to be put away-do you know what I mean? Anyway so I am struggling to find the pep to get it done as well as new organizing ideas for you know toys, books, craft stuff that actually work! Any ideas would be greatly appreiciated!

Lacey Laughing

We had some friends over for our pizza and movie friday night. This so funny, Jen was holding Lacey and Lacey decided to have a little fun! She enjoyed the attention of the boys a little too much!! She caught onto the game really quick and knew that if she pretended to drop the cup the boys would pretend to catch it. She is actually giving a real laugh so that is way fun to hear!

Lacey's idea of shopping

We were at the store and Lacey, who is working on getting some teeth so she is crabby and tired, decided that she was tired of shopping and everything else pulled the blanket over her head and went to sleep!

How Horrible Am ?!

O.k. this is kind of an embarrassing story about myself that happened today. Totally not cool! After the kids got up from naps we decided to go pick up Bryan from work and then go to the store. So Abby gets in, I put Lacey in her car seat and buckle Dylan in. Then we drive the 15 minuted to get Bryan, wait 10 for him to come out and then head to the store. We are getting ready to turn into the parking lot when Abby says "Lacey is standing up!" I turn around and Lacey is looking at me with a big smile like "Hey mom what's up!"! In my rush to get Dylan in and buckled I had completely forgotten to buckle her in. How horrible of a mother am I?! I can not believe that she even sat there for that long before she got up! So I grabbed her arm because I was driving and had easier access to her as she is behind the passenger seat and Bryan's arms don't bend that way. I have her arm so she can't go anywhere and she was just looking at me like "What the big deal and why are you holding my arm like that?!". Totally nuts! It can be funny because she was fine and didn't get hurt!

Clean Your Room?

Well this was just too funny so I had to share! Dylan was supposed to be going to bed but i guess in an effort to keep himself up as long as he could decided to clean his room. Or really I should say he changed the saying "clean your room" so it fit his need!!! Funny Boy!

Fireworks!

We ended up going to a friends house for a bbq. They have a pool but we didn't go swimming. We had fun talking with everyone that was there and eating some good food! We left from there and went to see some fireworks. We were alittle scared as to how the kids would react to the noise because neither of them are loud noise likers! Last year they fell asleep in the car so we decided to skip and just went home. This was Lacey first year and she did awesome! We waited in the park for a very very very long time! They kids were really good-I was actually surprised!

They of course found ways to keep busy. Even Bryan found something to occupy his time! Lacey unfortunatly decided that she was no onger afraid to be on the grass, so we had to chase her and bring her back. She has gotten pretty quick!

Then, the fireworks started. Lacey had taken a small nap but was wide awake for all the excitment. We put earplugs in her ears but those didn't last too long! One of the others didn't really seem to care and fell asleep half way through! It was really nice. No one freaked out or started crying! Dylan clapped and yelled "yea" after everthing! Even Lacey sat and watched them all, well I should say she was trying to keep herself awake so she didn't actually "sit" for the whole thing! So a big thanks to Grand Mound for the great fireworks show! Sorry no fun pics of fireworks-hard to take when your holding a 9 month old!

Happy 4th of July!

This morning we went to the parade here in town. We decided to support our little town and this way Bryan won't have to get into a fight of spots at the parade in "the big " city! Bryan's parents and his brother Kris and his family came up too. We had alot of fun! It took a while for Dylan and Abby to get brave enough to go after the candy that was thrown! But the got it and ended up with quite abit, it was almost like a mini-halloween! Abby was completely freaked out by all the sirens and refused to get any candy that wasn't within arms length of where she stood! Dylan on the other hand was all over the place once he realized it was candy he was looking for! They each had a bag full and were very proud of all their candy! Dylan was also very excited to see all the tractors! If you have ever been to a mid-west parade you know what I am talking about! We had every fire engine within 2o minutes of us which was like about 6 departments. A couple floats and tractors, tractors and more tractors! They probably make up at least half of the whole parade. It is pretty funny! Now a minute to vent-there was this boy next to us, he was probably around 8 or 9 and he would come over by us and take candy that was right in front of Abby and Dylan! One time it was like an inch from Dylan's shoe and the other kid tried to grab it before Dylan could bend over to get it so protective mother that I am grabbed it really quick and handed them to Dylan! That kid glared at me like I had walked over and pulled it out of his bag or something! So I just looked at him with a don't-take-stuff-from-my-kid look! Pretty proud of myself! But I mean come on if my kid was taking candy from a 2 year old I would be saying something! I guess next year I will just have to send out a flyer on Parade Etiquette!

Water Fun!