Wednesday: this and that

This morning Joshua wanted to draw.  He drew on paper, then on the chair, then on himself.  Happily, we used ultra washable markers and everything cleaned up easily.

We decorated Isaac's cake.  Well, I frosted, Isaac sprinkled.  We're collecting quite a collection of sprinkles, since it seems we get a new bottle every birthday along with some at Christmas.

Joshua worked on his "circuit" for about a half hour.  He needed help getting the pieces on the board, but did a lot of the other connections and all of the designing.

We also got the birthday balloons today, which were a hit as normal.  However, at dinner Ben mentioned that Helium is actually a non-renewable resource and that at current usage we have a surprisingly small amount left.  (Some estimates put it around 15 years.  It was shorter, but they just found a large deposit.  Hence why he knew this.)  I thought it was renewable/easily made...I'm not sure if we'll get any more helium balloons.  Party balloons make up 5-7% of the current usage, but it was unclear if the balloon helium is left over from the purification process for important applications or if some of it is used directly for balloons.  I know it's a small statement in a large economy, and might not even matter, but we can find other fun ways to decorate.

Tuesday: bike, yesterday

Here's the family picture from yesterday. :)  I really like it.

Today we went to water the flowers by one of the association entrances.  Isaac rode his bike.  He did a pretty good job; he needed many pushes, but could keep his momentum pretty well.

On the way to the gym, we had the following conversation:
I: Will you be happy when you go to Jesusland?
A: Yes!  I'll see Jesus and Grandma Julie.
I: What if you and Dad die but Joshua and I are still here?
A: You'll live with Uncle Nathan and Aunt Liz.
I: In their house?
A: Yes, with Evelyn.
I: Someone else will be in our house?
A: Yes, it will be sold.
I: I won't have to go to the gym anymore?
A: Well, you might have to run and bike more.

...anything to get out of going to the gym.

Monday: ice cream

Today we started out with some light yard work.  I say light, but to Isaac it wasn't.

He didn't chop up the whole pile, but probably spent a good fifteen minutes cutting up the branches for me.  Joshua enjoyed playing.

The activity of the day was ice cream, so we went out for FroYo again, after the tree branches were all taken care of.

I told them it was time for ice cream, and after that about once every two minutes Joshua would say "Ice cream!"  ...just so that I didn't forget.  He also knows the sound of the ice cream truck, even though we've never gotten any from it, and likes to remind me about ice cream when he hears it.
The video is a bit hard to hear and understand, but then so is Joshua even when he says it "clearly"

Tonight the adults went out to celebrate Cheryl's birthday.  It was a lovely night.

Saturday: nap time

Friday: J day

Today's activity was to have a J day.  Inspired by Joshua.

We did some jumping.  We ate jelly beans, pb & jelly, juice, and made some Jello.  We sang Jingle Bells and I've got the Joy Joy Joy Joy down in my heart.

And we made Duplo Js.  Isaac took pictures of them.

Thursday: gymnastics final

Ready for a picture/video overload?  Joshua stayed with Cheryl so I could watch Isaac better on "Parent Day".  Isaac seemed so grown up.  He wasn't really all that good, but he understood what to do and gave it a good shot.

The time started with stretches.  (He's in the middle of the picture with his back to me.  Black shirt, orange socks.)

Then to the vault.

Next station was uneven bars

The thing I noticed here, although I saw it some at the vault, was that Isaac interacted with this other little boy.  Quite a bit, actually.  This might have been one of my favorite things to see.

Next up, floor and tumbling.  I missed getting the summersault, but then there were log rolls.








And finally the balance beams

Blooper:
Isaac does a dive off the vault.  Too much of Ben in him I guess.

Wednesday: life

Today.  Isaac wanted to play the hop-hop-whee frog game that I took a video of Joshua doing last week.  I told him it would be boring, but he really wanted to.  So we went to the store after gymnastics.  Afterwards he told me it was boring.  We played one other game, but Joshua was ready to leave so it was we had to do it quickly.  We stopped at the bakery for cookies, and then Isaac didn't want to walk back to the car.  He pretty much had a meltdown.  He's never had such a bad one in public before.  But he walked back, possibly with his eyes shut half the way in a pretend sleep.

When we got home the painter had started.  Isaac again watched quite a bit.

We finally made a compost bin.  I just ordered the worms, so we'll see how it goes.  Both boys enjoyed helping me drill holes, and it was a good project because the holes didn't have to be in an exact location and it was easy to make the holes.  I might have to think of more things to drill.

It currently has a few veggies/fruit/egg shells, but it is mainly paper and cardboard right now.  The website recommended getting the stuff in the bin a week or so before getting the worms.

Isaac wanted to squirt the junk mail.  I thought it was hilarious.

Hmm, I didn't say much about Joshua.  He climbed into his high chair while I was washing the tray and almost gave me a heart attack, but did a successful climb.  He enjoyed his bagel for lunch, but then was really hungry at dinner because he had only eaten his bagel.  The boys were helping me make dinner and it was Joshua's turn to add the water.  Joshua flopped it in, barely keeping it in the bowl and Isaac and I both laughed.  He also played a game with me where he would take a puzzle piece, run away and put it down, and come back.  I'd ask, "Where's _(the fire truck)_?" And he'd run and get it and put it in.  Over and over and over.  It was a pretty easy game on my part though, so that was nice.