Busy Month!

I was just looking at my calendar on the refrigerator last night and realized how full it was. We aren't really used to having such a full calendar. I suppose life will just get busier and busier as the kids get older.

In the past week we had two t-ball games. We also went to the Shrine Circus, a musical production of Willy Wonka, and the kids went camping (and WE had a date!!). Wow! No wonder I'm exhausted.

This upcoming week will be a little bit less full. On Tuesday I am taking the day off to go on a field trip with Julia for the end of Head Start. Then we have two t-ball practices that night (so yeah, Tuesday is going to be exhausting). On Wednesday, Julia has a t-ball game, and then that is it for the week! Of course, the 4th of July is on Saturday, so there is a get-together on Saturday, but the week itself is relatively calm.

I am hoping we will hear back on the appraisal early in the week. My parents are leaving for a trip just before my birthday, so I would like to know where everything is going to go with the house before they head out.

Speaking of birthdays, no plans as of yet. I suppose I should continue to think on that! (Julia's is the day after mine.)

Well, I just finished a scrapbook page from the circus so off to my gallery I go to add it!

Thanks for checking in,
Melinda

Am I talking to myself?

Sometimes it really feels that way. I know that my husband and I both feel like we have to say something about 5 times before our children will really listen to us. They might hear us the first time, but they don't always listen.

Right now, we are really struggling with Julia. Julia hasn't been listening much at all (and she's also been flipping on the whine a lot too). It is extremely frustrating.

Recently Julia disappeared out of the house and went three houses down to a friend's house. At 8:10 pm when Blake came in from working outside with Tyler, I asked him if Julia was coming in too. Blake said Julia wasn't out there, and that the last he'd seen her, she was at his friend's house. While I checked all over the house, Tyler went for a walk. Sure enough, Blake's friend's house is exactly where she was. Julia was immediately sent to bed. She has been told repeatedly to stay in the yard and to stay on the sidewalk, and we both feel she understands the rule but is disregarding it anyway.

Then yesterday while Tyler and Blake went to get rid of some yard clippings, Julia was playing outside while I was trying to get Chase down for a nap. Julia came inside while I was doing this, and I told her she could stay inside and watch TV (so that I'd know where she was). Very shortly after the doorbell rang. It was the neighbor coming to tell me about a problem they've been having with her. She has been going into their house without waiting for anyone to answer the door. He said they've talked to her about it 10-20 times already, and they weren't going to tell us about it, but today she'd walked in while they were napping and it was just enough.

The whine factor is another recently flaired issue. I have a new method with this, though, and it has so far been working. I point out to Julia that I don't like the way she is talking. (Recently I gave her a job of washing the dining room walls when she was particularly whiny/having a fit. I told her I'd find her a job to do each time she gets whiny.) She changes her words/tone immediately. Whether it sticks is the issue, and I will find her a job to do each time she can't find a better way to solve her problems.

What do you do when your five year old is totally disregarding long-established rules?? Time-out is not working, and grounding feels so pointless. She doesn't remember why she's stuck at home ... just that she is, and mommy is being mean. So what do I do "in the present" to stop this?! Any ideas?

2,5,8 and sometimes 3 and 6

What are those numbers? Those are the numbers that CHASE can recognize! Yes, Chase! I was pleasantly surprised when we were looking at the "My First UNO" cards and Chase pointed to the 2 card and said, "Two!" I thought maybe it was a fluke, so we went through some more cards, and ran into "Five!" Later I picked up my telephone and pointed to the numbers on the key pad to see what he knew, and he also picked up 8. Just amazing!

Flipping the card over, Chase recognizes the letter O.

I think it's ok for me to brag about this! I have no idea where he learned this (Noggin?), but I am so proud of him!

~Melinda

I Can Fly, Mommy!

I was inspired to create this page... posted it last night in my gallery at Gotta Pixel. Didn't it turn out pretty?

Kits used: Lovey Buggies elements and papers by Kristin Aagard, and clouds from More than You Know by She's Full of Scrap -- all at Gotta Pixel.

And today I've created:


with Kisses from Heaven by Armina Designs - Gotta Pixel

No more teachers, no more books ...

Today was Blake's last day of Kindergarten. Julia had her last regular day of Head Start yesterday. (Julia will have Summer Camp for one week in a couple of weeks also, and then a field trip to Como Zoo like Blake did last year on the 30th.)

I took yesterday and today off from work. It has been nice, even with having to get up to get Julia on her bus yesterday, and taking Blake to and from school today. This house has been a disaster area, and I've only skimmed the surface, but I'm starting to see some progress. Not as much as I'd like, but I will keep working at it over the weekend. Tyler is going to be working overtime hours tomorrow, so I should be able to get some stuff done then. I wanted to vacuum this afternoon in the living room, but Tyler was watching Animal House so I decided to wash dishes instead. I'm thinking about trying the FlyLady site again. I should go check it out. I have to adapt quite a bit of how it works because it's intended for a stay-at-home-mom, really ... (some of the day's first steps that I remember are getting dressed to the shoes. Yeah, I do that every day to get ready for work, lol).

I dressed Blake in the same shirt that he wore for his first day of school. I didn't realize it until after I'd handed it to him, and then I smiled because of how appropriate it was. I restrained myself from making him stand by the same tree I took a picture of him in front of on the first day of school, aren't I nice?



See the drink holder? You aren't seeing the prettiest side, but that was my first attempt at a hybrid project. I'm going to be making another one for Julia's teacher for when she finishes Summer Camp. I will share a picture of that then. :)

Blake will be a first grader in the fall, and Julia will be in Kindergarten. She'll be a young 5, where he was almost 6 when he started. I talked with our neighbor, and her daughter will be in Kindergarten too. She already knows who her daughter's teacher is due to allergy concerns and that teacher knowing what living with allergies is like. Good for her. Blake's Kindergarten teacher told me at his Exit Conference yesterday that Blake and Emily S will not be in the same class next year. She thinks that will be good for him. Apparently she really distracts him! LOL! I saw her picture in the yearbook ... she's a little cutie! And a blond like him. :)

I've just signed up Blake and Julia for swimming lessons in August. Who knew you could do swimming lessons in the evening? Swimming lessons will start at 6:45 pm, so we'll even have time for supper before going. Yay! So, we have T-ball through the end of July (including the Youth Days) and then swimming starts August 3rd. NO rest for the weary! LOL!

And I think we'll do soccer in the fall ... that starts in September. That will give the kids a chance to try out some different things and see what they like! :)

Well, I've walked away from this post several times ... I guess I better post it! I'll come back and add a picture of Blake with his teacher, soon. (ETA: DONE!)

Scraps

I made a page with one of the static electricity smiles from the other day:

Kit: Spring Time by She's Full of Scrap

And I made this one with the photo from Memorial Day:

Kit: More than You Know by She's Full of Scrap

Aren't they pretty?