Monday: gymnastics

Last week, during Isaac's gymnastics session, a friend from college showed up.  She has her son in the same class with Isaac and a younger one too.  Awesome!  I had been meaning to try and get together with her soon, but this was extra happy.

We went to Barnes and Noble for a treat.  I didn't tell Isaac.

Anyway, we did the same thing today.  On the way there, she mentioned that they had bought a house in the last week!  Exciting!  She mentioned the street, and I said that it sounded really familiar.  I had a friend in that subdivision and did a lot of babysitting there too.  It was one of the houses in the cal-de-sac...she bought a house in a cal-de-sac.  It was a brown house...she bought a brown house.  Turns out that it was the same house that I babysat at.

We may have been two minutes late to pick up the boys. (Although to be fair, it was a substitute teacher who ended a few minutes earlier too.)  But they had gotten their coats on and Isaac brought down my extra bag...it was good to see them take care of themselves. :)

Saturday: half birthday

When we celebrated Isaac's birthday last month, Joshua was rather distraught that it wasn't his birthday.  So I told him we could celebrate his half birthday in a month.

Today was the day!  We used up a cupcake mix that I have had in the cupboard a rather long time, so I was happy about that.  Joshua was happy about the candles (and the frosting).  Isaac was happy for a different treat.  Ben was happy that everyone else was happy. :)

Friday: a teacher

Last night Isaac made a circuit puzzle that he was so excited for me to do.  I finally did it this morning.  Then he was going to make one for Joshua.  As they were leaving the room I called out to Isaac to make sure it was pretty simple.

Ben went out a few minutes later and found Isaac trying to teach Joshua about a very simple circuit.

It's a bit hard to see, but Joshua just has to put in one piece in the correct orientation.  Isaac was so patient with Joshua, trying to tell him how to turn in so that the contacts lined up.  I think they kept at it for at least two minutes; I'm not sure who finally put it together in the end.  

Wednesday/Thursday: spiderwebs

Two summers ago, one of the jar activities was a spider web.  Isaac loved it, but we quickly took it down when a mobile but not walking Joshua couldn't handle it.

Every once in a while he'd bring it up, and I'd usually say that Joshua wasn't old enough.  Well, he remembered again (it still surprises me) and Joshua was finally old enough.  We got some new yarn.  We made a spider web.  The kids loved it.

The parents, on the other hand, did not love it.  Yes, it was a great way for the kids to play.  But trying to get anywhere was terrible.  So it came down this evening.  Isaac was rather sad, but we'll do it again.  Possibly tomorrow, if he has any say in the matter.

Tuesday: Joshua 3

Joshua was fever free until about 4pm, when he woke up from his nap.  He was sad not to get to go to school, but he got a lot of Ipad time while I tried to get some work done and he was very excited to play the EE game with Aunt Allison.  He also wanted to play Candy Land with me and Isaac later; it was a game day for him I guess.  He was rather coughy/wheezy too though, so one more thing to watch.

In other news, both kids colored the same picture at school...

Joshua's actually is purple, but my guess is he only had one choice.

Monday: Joshua 2

Joshua came down with a fever this afternoon.  I was a bit surprised, but he was so out of it at lunch that I took his temp again.  We've been taking it, but it kept coming back ok.  Not this last time.

Of course, then came the process of trying to track someone down to watch him tomorrow for the few hours I teach.  Tuesdays are harder than Thursdays to find someone, but thankfully Allison came to the rescue.

Sunday: Joshua

Joshua has a cold.  It's stuffed up his nose, so last night was pretty rough.  I ended up taking him with me to "Big Church" today and he did amazing.  So much better than Isaac ever does.  However, he does seem to like music more and he is much more content to color and so we easily got through the service.  I might see if he wants to join me for the worship time again even.

He also gave Puppy Dog a concert.  He took the step stool from the kitchen and played his guitar on it.  I'm not sure if Isaac listened at all, but he was told to listen a lot.  (I know, it's not a great picture.  But I didn't want to interrupt.)

So far tonight seems to be going a bit worse than last night.  Maybe we'll be lucky and something will change though.

Saturday: warm

Today was warm, so after rest time everyone went outside for a bit.

Isaac got several good hits in, just not when I was snapping a picture.  There was also a lot of running.

Friday: wall

A friend of our made a Duplo wall when Trump got elected.  I thought it was a great idea, so we built a wall today to commemorate the inauguration.

It was tall enough that Isaac couldn't step over it in the end.

A time lapse video of putting up most of the wall.  There is one picture every five minutes.  My phone ran out of battery about a half hour before we finished and I didn't realize it.


Next on the list: get Flurry to pay for the wall.  I figure she owes us about $1000 in labor and parts.  Shouldn't be hard to convince her to pay.

Thursday: chasing

Thursdays are my long day, and after work Ben and I went to a kindergarten meeting.  So we crashed on the couch.  The boys came and went, but then they played this game of chase for five to ten minutes.

Wednesday: doctor

I finally went to the doctor for my cough.  It's been annoying, but really only a cough and no other symptoms.

She said it just goes away in four to six weeks.  I was glad that she didn't give me an antibiotic just to give me one.

Tuesday: dogs

Who needs a real dog when you can take Puppy for a walk?

Monday: pipe cleaners

Joshua pulled out his Christmas pipe cleaners tonight.

Puppy Dog got a collar, leash, and crown.

Ben and I both got crowns; Ben also got a mustache.

Joshua ended up with glasses, although he had a crown at one point too.

Sunday: Love

My children like to say my name, especially Puppy Dog.  "Mom Mom Mom Mom Mom Mom..."

They like to say it when we're waking up Ben and trying to be as close as possible to me. "Mom Mom Mom Mom Mom Mom..."

They like to say it when they're happy, running, or hoping I'll stay a few extra minutes at bedtime. "Mom Mom Mom Mom Mom Mom..."

It was a bit annoying, until I read this verse from Psalm 113: "Just to speak [God's] name is praise" (The Message) and I suddenly got it.  God is beyond words, and so sometimes trying to put words to why he is worthy is pointless.

To a much lesser extent, that's what my boys are doing.  They just want me to know that they love me.  So much that they don't have the words.  It makes the repetition more bearable and understandable.

However, I will still laugh when they try to get closer to me for one second before we get up to go read together at night because they can't stand to be apart from me for even that long.  Or in the mornings when they try to snuggle even closer then close.

Saturday: circuit

I accidentally made the circuit we've been trying to make...where one light is on and then you flip the switch and the other light is on.

Of course, Isaac then wanted one, so I had to figure out what I did.  The resistor is the key.

Friday: Betsy

Today was a fun filled day, much of it spent with Betsy.

We brought the kids to the aquatic center.  Isaac had a good time, although I'd be hard pressed to tell you what he did except swing for ten minutes.  Joshua stuck very close to me.  He went down the slide once at the beginning, but that was all.  He didn't seem bored though, just a bit overwhelmed and was taking it all in.

This evening Betsy and I went to see Hidden Figures.  It was excellent.  The crowd reactions to some of the segregation removal was interesting...not only where they happy it was happening (obviously), but there was some cheering and snapping and clapping.  Not too much, but I'm not sure I've heard that much in a movie theater before.

Wednesday/Thursday: CD player

Aunt CC brought the boys an old CD player.  It has lots of buttons and the kids are thoroughly enjoying it.  Isaac was so excited when he discovered the handle and the antenna.  They've also put socks in the tape player part...

Tuesday: back to work

Or back to school, with new backpacks, as the case may be.  They were both rather excited about their backpacks.  Joshua puts his own hat on.  He gets it on, so that's what I care about.

Work went well too.  It was the first day and I was pretty prepared, so I didn't feel too rushed.  Thursday will be a bit harder as I have a class in the morning too.

Monday: things I never thought I'd say

Here's the next installment of things I never thought I'd say...

Amanda: If we agree on something, we're not allowed to fight about it.

(Joshua didn't want me to cut his sandwich.  I agreed and put the knife on the other side of the kitchen.  He screamed at me not to cut it.)

Amanda: I got a bad ticket because I called you Isaac instead of Puppy Dog?

(I got three bad tickets today and one good ticket...)

Sunday: busy day

Today was a rather busy day as we hosted Life Group (aka Bible Study) at our house.  The kids played together very well in the morning though as food was prepped and the house cleaning finished.  They spent about 20 minutes playing with the exersauser, taking all the toys out, putting them in upside-down, and spinning each other around.

Saturday: growing up

A few days ago Joshua got a tray like Isaac's.  He's been doing a good job staying on it until he's done eating.  And he was able to get his own treat after lunch!  He is just as wiggly as Isaac is, but as long as their torso is on/over the carpet square they can wiggle away.

He's also still in his pajamas because he loves his pajamas.  He seems to take after Ben that way. :)

Oh!  And he was in underwear last night.  That's one of the reasons he was in pajamas all day...we didn't need to change him out of his pull-up.  I think he's only been wet once or twice in the last month, so it seemed like time.  I think he kind of realizes that if he doesn't have accidents then he gets to keep his pajamas on longer.

Friday: early riser

Last night I checked Isaac right before going to bed. I was a bit noisy, due to a messy room, but didn't think much of it as he is a good sleeper.

I looked at the monitor about fifteen minutes later and notice that Isaac isn't there any more. I scan the camera and find a fully dressed boy.

He thought his clock had turned green and that it was time to wake up. He was awake, but still a bit out of it. I helped him back into his pajamas and put him back to bed.

I love this boy.

Thursday: serious business

In other news, Joshua's still doing great with the toilet so we ordered him some new underwear.  If this trend does continue it would be interesting, because then both boys would have gone from semi-toilet trained to almost fully toilet trained in the month of January.  Perhaps they have (had) some New Year's resolutions that they didn't tell us about.

Isaac still enjoyed his puppy treats today.  I also played more fetch than I have in a long time.  It's an easy game though, so I went with it.

We went to Meijer today for groceries.  It was rather cold, but it made the store rather empty!  We were the only ones returning pop cans, so we could use three machines and do it faster.  The checkout lines were also wonderfully empty.

Wednesday: treats

Joshua has figured out that if he goes to the bathroom he gets a treat and has been taking advantage of it.  I drew the line at getting another treat after one minute, but have still let it go for the most part.  The up side is that we haven't had any accidents in three days.

Isaac decided that some of his toys are puppy dog treats and has happily been doing chores for them.  I won't complain one bit, although I do wonder how long it will last.

Tuesday: this and that

We might need to work on his form for catching a ball.  Isaac can catch it about once every three times or so.  We started the catching thing since hitting the ball with a bat doesn't seem like a great option inside, but this has been working really well.


I also had one tantrum today because I cut Joshua's sandwich and wouldn't put it back together.  I even asked him twice before I cut it, and he watched me cut it.  Then reality set in.  He ended up eating lunch on my lap because he couldn't quite calm himself down enough to eat in the booster seat.

I continued decluttering today.  I cleaned up the bib drawer - Joshua isn't using bibs every meal any more, so I threw out the ones with non-working velcro and removed the smaller ones.  There are a few left because we still use them with some meals, but it is much easier to open and close the drawer now.  I also got rid of six rocks.  I counted each one of them as an item because they have been in the house too long and weren't moving.  I threw them back into the landscaping.  So easy, but it took me so long.

Monday: at home

The picture was from July, but it just made it to me a few days ago.  :)

Today we just hung around the house.  We played some games, did some exercising, and took down most of the Christmas decor.  Surprisingly, I was ready for it to come down.  Usually I feel like I drag my heels and take a little down at a time, but today I was ready.  The winter lights are still up and I kept a string that is half dead out...the half dead part is hidden.

Some friends are doing a challenge in which you remove 2017 items from your house throughout the year, trying to declutter.  This comes out to about five or six items a day, and that is just too much for me right now.  However, for the past year I have been thinking that some serious clean-up needs to be done as things are hanging around for too long.  So I'm partially joining; I think I'll see how many things I can get rid of, but will not try to hit the 2017 mark.  I'm currently at seven.  I got rid of some Christmas stuff that hasn't gone up for years and is not going to go up again.

In other news, Joshua has started to call Isaac "Puppy" and it's really cute.  I'm not sure if he'll understand that sometimes Isaac is Isaac and sometimes he's Puppy...we'll see how it goes.

New Year's weekend

Nathan and his family came up for the weekend.  We did Christmas presents and enjoyed being together.


Friday, Isaac's birthday, started out with a Clifford visit.  Joshua was rather scared, but we took the picture anyway.

(They were twins.  Grey shirts and black pants.)

Although stopped promptly, the older kids enjoyed bouncing on Dad and Pat's couch. :)

We went to the Noon Year's celebration on Saturday.  Rather busy, but everything kept moving.  A bit boring for the adults, but the kids seemed to enjoy it.

We opened presents after nap time.

The kids played together extremely well.  Joshua was a bit worried about Jameson taking his toys, so he hid them in assorted obvious places.  But at one point Jameson had Joshua's grabber as Joshua had been busy elsewhere.  I told Joshua to wait.  Joshua waited, even though you could see in his face that he was very worried about his grabber.