Saturday: gone

The last of our guests left tonight.  It was a really good vacation and it was sad to see them go.  Isaac also asked if we could do it again sometime, so I think both boys enjoyed it too.

I'll try to do a recap here soon.  I think I have several things to catch up on.  I'm pretending that I'll have more time now that I don't have to get ready for this vacation, but I'm not really sure why I think that.  There are still several things to get back to normal, several things that I've wanted to do for a while and have been holding off on, and then the normal things.

There was one thing I would have changed about the vacation though; I would not have put Flurry's water fountain in our master bathroom.  I moved it (and her food) so that she would be able to eat without braving the possible chaos.  However, it made me think that the faucets were running or the toilet was running all the time.  I apparently sleepily asked Ben several times if the toilet had actually stopped flushing when he came to bed.

Isaac and Joshua have moved out of their sleeping closets (which worked very well) and are having a sleep over tonight in Isaac's room before Joshua's bed gets moved to his room tomorrow.

Tuesday: happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!  We have friends over and I've been having too much fun to post.  There will be a summary post later.

However, today we went to Dutch Village (twice) and had some backyard fireworks.  Most people went to see the city fireworks, but Joshua and I stayed here.

Friday: end of the week

It's the end of a crazy week.  We're about to start another one, that I think will be crazy in a different and better way.

It was the last day of swimming lessons.  Isaac did fine.  He didn't progress as much as I had hoped, but maybe part of that is just that we're not in a pool all that much.  His sunglass goggles helped a bit and he wasn't quite as adverse to going under water as last year.  He also wears his goggles in the shower.

Joshua refused to get in.  The poor guy didn't get as much sleep as normal this week and is giving up naps and I think it was just a bit too much.  I counted calmly to 10 and then handed him in.  Once he was in he did ok.  He wasn't in the mood for everything but somewhat participated.

After a quick lunch it was cleaning time.  I have a lot of things crossed out on my list now; just a few things left for tomorrow morning.  Joshua didn't really participate, but also didn't deter.  He just played with Duplos.  And took a nap.

We had some problems getting the mower started tonight. :p  We finally got it though and I finished up the lawn.

Thursday: groceries

Today was grocery day.  A bunch of people are coming to our house next week, so I decided to bite the bullet and go to multiple grocery stores.  Usually I go to one per week.  If it is a week with mostly basic stuff, I go to Aldi.  If it has additional odd stuff, I go to Meijer.  Aldi is cheaper and much faster.  Meijer has more selection and donuts.  Anyway.  I called in reinforcements (Aunt C) because I was not going to go grocery shopping with two kids to three stores.  They all had a good time playing together and I finished all the grocery shopping in a little bit longer than a normal/large week.

It seems as though we now have enough food for an army, but my guess is that we'll have a lot of some things left over and need to go to the store for a few additional items.  It's hard to estimate how much food is needed.  I tried to get only things that we will eat after everyone leaves and that can last a while or be frozen.

Ok.  I have a grocery store rant though.  I've had this rant for a while and think about it every time I'm buying 12 packs of pop.  I usually plan on putting it on the blog, but then something more interesting happens and I forget.

Why are the boxes stacked on their sides so that I can't put my hand in the shelf, pop down the thingies to make the handle, and easily pull the box out of the shelf?  If it was stacked that way, I could get two at a time.  But they are stacked on their sides, so it takes me two hands to get one box and it's awkward to maneuver.  I just don't understand.

Joshua: 34 & 35 months

Joshua turned 35 months today.  I didn't do a 34 month update, but I did take pictures so I'll post the best of those today too.

(34 months)

colors:  he knows his colors, although orange and yellow sometimes get mixed up.  His favorite color is green

Numbers: I heard him count to 20 today, missing a few in the teens.

Alphabet: he can say many letters and sings some of the ABCs, but can't identify many letters.  We were talking about J and he remembered Joshua Jellyfish from school.

(35 months)

Dressing: he's getting better at dressing and undressing, but he still likes help or at least to be near Ben or me.  He's also much better about getting his sandals on, although shoes are still a bit hard.  He freaks out if one of the velcro straps comes undone.

Sleeping: Although he sleeps well at night (8pm-7am), he is in the process of quickly giving up naps.  He naps maybe once every three or four days.  It has made for a very tired boy some evenings.

Playing: The kid loves to play.  He makes things out of Duplos - birthday cakes, robots, port-a-potties.  I've eaten a lot of cake lately.  He's been enjoying playing with marbles and his science beakers.  He likes books.  He likes being a puppy dog and tells people that is what is name is.  He really likes to play with Isaac.  They have played together a ton the last few weeks.  There has been so much laughter (most of the time).  There is also a lot of running and roaring.

Eating: he still rarely eats his vegetables, but at least it is rarely instead of never now.  Treats after a meal are slowly starting to work better.  He love banana bread and donuts.

Screen time: he likes "playing" MarioKart with Ben and watching shows.  Paw Patrol is near the top, with Inspector Gadget as a new favorite.

Tuesday: port-a-potty

Amanda: I'm done grading!
Joshua: Now you can work on your port-a-potty!  I brought you all the pieces.

Ben, via e-mail: looks like it might be life-sized.


Today also included building the Eiffel Tower by Isaac.  (And knocking it down.)

And swimming lessons.  Joshua kept talking about Miss Annie, who is really Miss Anna and so it took me a while to figure out what was going on.

There was a new teacher today..
NT: what's your name?
Joshua quietly says something.
NT: Puppy Dog?  Did he say puppy dog? (looking at me questioningly.)
A: Probably.
Old teacher: that's what he told me yesterday too.
Nearby mother: my son did the same thing and didn't grow out of it until he was seven.

Monday: blah

Today was not one of our awesome days.

It started out fine...a little extra driving for an errand and then swimming lessons.  The day was cold (an expected high of 63 or so), but the pool heater was turned on and no one was shivering.  Isaac said he liked these better than the ones last year, although he missed the free time from last year.  Both boys had lessons, each a half hour long.  I like the half hour lesson.  Just when I'm ready to be done it is almost time for the lesson to be done too.

We made a quick Meijer run and got home.  The carpet cleaner was coming!

Joshua did not enjoy the carpet cleaner.  It was noisy.  Isaac asked a lot of questions though.  But our play space was limited and it was cold outside and Joshua was clingy and I was tired.  Argh.  We finally made it through, and the boys had their screen time and I had my nap.  It didn't help as much as normal though.

We had an hour before we had to leave for dinner.  I had two ripe bananas, so we decided to make banana bread.  However, I had no eggs.  Last grocery shopping trip I had two egg containers.  Well, one container had three eggs and one container had one egg and we used them all up.  (Luckily, there was a small grocers next to the restaurant, but it was still one more thing.)  While Isaac had been pretty good throughout the day, he often asked something and I'd give him an answer he didn't like.  So he'd ask again.  And again a bit later.  Most days I might not have noticed it, but today it drove me up the wall.

The boys did make a fort tonight and played, but they didn't seem to be having as much fun as last night.  I gave them a 10 minute warning earlier (although still way after their normal bedtime) and they said they were ready for bed then.