Monday: freezer meal, bike, rain

I was looking at the schedule for the day and not really sure what we were going to do.  So I had Isaac draw something out of the jar: make freezer meals.  It was perfect!  I had actually been thinking that we should make curry again soon, but this made it happen.

I have two boys that both like to help.  It's a bit of challenge keeping both of them occupied, but we managed.  Joshua did things like take potatoes out of the bag (and then put them back in after he took out all the potatoes), put the chopped potatoes in the bowl, and then put the assorted frozen food scraps in the blender to feed to the worms.  He really enjoyed the blender.  Isaac is getting much more independent, and was able to put carrots in the blender, get the spices, put the spices in the pot, stir the pot, put veggies and water in the pot, get the flour in the pan, and mix it with the curry.  I can often give him an instruction or two and then he can do it all, freeing up my hands to do other parts.

This activity also provided several play times while waiting for it to cook.  Here's Isaac, Mom, Mr. Mean, and People.  (People is a single person.  He goes with Grill. (Girl)).  Isaac wrote Isaac and Mom.

Then we went out in the garage to put on the new bike seat for Joshua.  It went pretty well, although my tires were so flat I needed to get out the air compressor...the bike pump caused a few moments of tension.  I've only ridden it in a short circle, but it wasn't in the way too much.  Tomorrow's the big test.

It was raining while I was putting the seat on, and the boys enjoyed it.

Sunday: unexpected

Many unexpected things happened today.

Joshua went poop and pee on the toilet.

Isaac and Joshua were dropped off at Ben's parents' house for a few hours and we got this super cute picture.

We got home close to 9pm, and hour after bedtime.  Isaac was dragging and went right to bed.  Joshua, on the other hand, and singing and talking and having a grand old time.  He kept saying, "Where's Dad?" on the drive home.  When Ben stopped responding he just started singing and making funny noises.

Oh, that reminds me.  Apparently at church Isaac went on a pretend bear hunt during Sunday School.  So on the way home from church he kept growling.  Then Joshua would say, "Bear!"  When we got home Joshua said, "Quiet!  Bear!"  and "Listen!"  Isaac would provide periodic growls to keep the game going.  It lasted much longer than I expected and was so cute.

Friday: on why it takes me an hour to unload the top of the dishwasher

At 5pm today, I had a simple goal: finish unloading the dishwasher.  I only had to do the top; I had done the bottom earlier and Isaac did the silverware.  It went something like this.

I unload one item.
Isaac needs help opening his new game.
I unload one item.
Isaac wants to play his new game.  (It turned out to be more of a one person game, which was perfect.)
Joshua is playing outside on the deck; he gets a quick check.
I unload one item.
Isaac needs help.  I move him to the kitchen and help him.
I realize the high chair really needs to be cleaned before dinner and bring it into the kitchen.
Isaac solves the puzzle and would like help getting the next one set up.
I clean the high chair tray.
I help Issac with the next card.
I glance at Joshua.
I take one item out of the dishwasher.
I help Isaac with the next card.
I hear Joshua yell, only to find that he had released all the water in the water table.
I go down to turn on the hose.
I go up to refill the water table.
I go inside, only to find out I didn't fill it up enough.  I fill it up more.
I go inside and get Isaac started on the next card.
I go downstairs to turn off the hose.
I go upstairs and get three items put away from the dishwasher.
I help Isaac with a card he's stuck on.
Joshua is done, but needs a diaper and clothes change.
I get Isaac started on the next card.
I put away one item.
I check Joshua and decide I should spend some time with him.
I help Isaac with the next card.
I put away the last of the dishes.

It was about 5:50pm.

In other news, all our stuffed animals got put to bed this morning.  Both boys enjoyed this game.

We went to the library after playing at a playground and got the Chico Bon-Bon stories again. (Monkey with a tool belt, Monkey with a tool belt and the loud noise)  I read them both twice, Isaac read them himself at least once, and Ben read them both once.  Oh Chico...I have a love/hate relationship with you.

Thursday: downtown Zeeland

This morning we went to Zeeland bakery with Pat and then walked around downtown Zeeland for a bit.

After the bakery we stopped by the game store and enjoyed one of their demo games along with the train track.  Joshua and Isaac loved holding Pat's hand (especially Joshua).  We stopped by the bike store as we continue to try and figure out the best bike carrier solution and then did one more circle with the boys in strollers.  It was hot, but very nice.

Wednesday: addendum about Isaac

1. In the middle of the afternoon, as I was doing some stuff in the bedroom I hear Isaac say, "I'll catch you if you fall. I'll catch you if you fall." I knew what Joshua was doing and was pretty sure he could handle it, but it was nice to hear that Isaac would help him, probably getting hurt in the process.

2. Ben was in Isaac's room and asked what some new looking rubber bands were for. (They went with one of his new presents.). Isaac responded that they were for shooting at the fan, and when you hit the fan it would fling it somewhere else. Ben asked if it was a mom-approved activity, and Isaac responded, "no, Iapproved this activity during little rest time."

3. Isaac, "is Joshua going to be more fun to play with when he's two? What if I say 'no thank you' and Joshua still doesn't listen to me?"

Wednesday: some of it went well

The day started out fine.

Then Joshua accidentally caused my phone to fall, and the screen shattered.  As I was trying to figure out if it still worked (it did) and give myself two minutes to think about what to do next Isaac would not stop talking to me.  After the third time of telling him to wait because I just needed a few minutes and I'd get back to him shortly, I cry yelled at him.  He laughed.  Yes, I'm sure it was amusing.  However, that was the wrong response.  He went in time out.  That let me have my time out.  (It finished...we hugged, we talked...all the normal stuff.)  But blah.  (I found a place to fix the screen, but it will be a few days before they can get the part.)

Anyway, next we went to get the boys haircuts.  It was Joshua's first professional haircut and he did a great job.  He just sat in my lap, not saying a word.  He moved his head a bit, but not excessively.  The front still isn't as straight as I was hoping, but the rest of it is thinned out.  I don't have a picture since he was sitting in my lap.

Ben and I played racquetball tonight.  I really played quite poorly, but I did have one awesome shot which caused Ben's shoe to come off.

Oh, and Joshua left this for me.  Maybe he's trying to tell me that he would eat some steak?

Tuesday: zoo and a problem

Ben had the day off today, so we went to the zoo.  We had a good time...it was pretty empty when we got there and we were just finishing up when the boys were done.  We went to an Indian restaurant since we were in a city that has Indian food.  (It was ok.  Not great, not bad.)

Joshua loves birds, so I thought he'd enjoy feeding the birds.  Not so much.  They got too close and freaked him out.  I had him leave the cage before the food was gone.

This afternoon we took our weekly stroller/bike ride to water the flowers.  Only to find out there is a serious problem with my plan - the plan was that Isaac would learn to ride his bike and then we'd have a nice stroll to water the flowers.  Well, it turns out that once they figure out how to ride a bike they go rather fast.  Even when Isaac wasn't trying to go fast he went faster than me.  So I was running half the time.  Isaac can now get himself started from a stop, which was the biggest problem he had last week.  I think I'm going to get a bike seat for Joshua so that I can bike with Isaac...because running is not fun.