Random (very random) Thoughts

Fingernail biting.... nature or nurture?? D and I do not bite our nails, but G now bites constantly. He is down to the point where they hurt him all the time and he doesn't like to touch salty food because they are so sensitive. Yes, I tried the hot pepper stuff from the store that should make him stop. Yes, he enjoyed the spicy taste and licked it all off.

Why don't stores make summer prints in flannel PJs? Those of us here in the Pacific Northwest who sleep with our windows open feel quite silly still sleeping in PJs covered in snowmen and penguins in June. Just a few cozy pajamas with some surfers or big summery flowers on them. I suppose I could get up and close the window in the middle of the night, but that would take effort.

Using the blog: did you know that if you click (or double click) an individual picture that you can see it in a larger size. After 2 months of blogging I figured that one out. Pics in the center of the page tend not to maximize and pics that I inserted as MED or LRG sometimes do not blow up.

Where did M get all that super blonde hair? We are actually not cutting it right now because it is so pretty and because his scalp burns right through it because it is so light. This week I have been training him to wear a hat. He has to put it on before he is allowed out to play and if he takes it off he is carried to the laundry room where he puts it back on or the shoes get taken off (the threat of staying inside). Yesterday when we got ready to play I opened the door to go out and he started whining and pulling at the hat drawer. What a smart boy! Now if I could train the other two to clean the playroom......

Sorry for such a lame post but it has been a busy week. G has swim lessons, I cleaned house with all 3 home, we ran the usual errands, went on a nature hike (paved path so actually the big kids took their scooters and I strolled M), played outside every day, and had a very nice first full week of summer vacation. I will try to post some pictures soon. Maybe our neighborhood bear will wander by and I can get a pic of him carrying off one of the children.....

This morning on the way home from a playground I gave them each a drink from the same cup. E was last so he got to hold it for the ride home. After a few minutes of M turning to look at E in the van, M finally said "li li dink! li li dink" I interpreted as 'Eli Eli drink' because he wanted the drink and was mad. G said maybe he was using another word he knows and saying ' eli eli stinks'. It is just the most fun traveling with them some days.

love and hugs and have a super weekend!
B

Smurfy Friday!

It finally happened---- my first call to poison control!!!! YIPPPEEEE!!!! It was nearly time for us to leave for the pool this morning when E called down "Mom, there's something wrong with M you need to come here." I could hear M at the top of the steps so I ran up to see him and encountered the blue-est mouth and hands you have ever seen. I hauled him into the bathroom and began trying to wash it off; he just wanted to get away from me. It was not coming off without a fight. I sent the big kids to figure out what he had gotten. E found a stamper (missing its ink part) that had been chewed on and G eventually came up with the bottom piece that was supposed to hold the tiny ink pad (size of a dime) but the felt ink pad part was gone. Guess where..... so I called poison control as a precaution. They were quite nice and reassured me that it was probably not poisonous since it had been intended for children to play with and what symptoms to watch for. My seven year record for not needing emergency services consult is right down the tubes. M was soaked in the tub and his teeth and mouth were brushed several times. We are expecting some smurf-a licious diapers later today. By the way, during the punishment segment of our tail I found out I have a hoarder on my hands. G was told to empty his bed of everything (this is where M found the hand stamp); in his bed were rocks, a million animals, money and a wallet, multiple key chains, millions of books,tissue box, a pair of scissors (hopefully we have saved a trip to the ER by finding those sooner rather than later) oh yes.... and at some point there was a stamper.

M does seem to be just smurfy considering the adventure he has already had today. Here is a pic of his tongue after multiple brushings.

love and hugs and have a smurfy weekend!

B

Bombers!

The boys went to see some World War II bombers that were at the small airport here. Here is a guest blogger (E) to tell about the experience:

The bombers were cool. We went inside the B24. What I liked inside was pretending to shoot the guns (see pic of the jolly gunner) My favorite plane was the mustang.

Our friend came to see the planes too. Here is a picture of all of us together.

It sounds like the boys had a good time. Definitely a boy activity.

Love and hugs,

B (and E)

Sunrise....Sunset

We are still waiting for summer weather, but the length of our days are summer-like. The sun rises at around 5:00am; which means at least one child usually rises at this time as well. The difficult thing to adjust to is the sunset. It is beautiful and it is at 10:00pm . The pic above was taken at 10 from our patio. Dusk at 10. The 8:oo bedtime is a bit of a joke for the munchkins--- they end up sitting in their beds reading books for 45 minutes unless they are worn out. M doesn't seem to care if it is light or not because he still naps during the day (although he is shortening naps). D and I are staying up later and later because it feels quite silly to get in bed at 9:30 when the sun is up. D read that we have an average of 17.5 hours of sunlight during the summer. This changes gardening a great deal as well; areas that I thought would get an hour of light before sunset are getting 4-5 hours of light. It also seems to confuse animals that hunt at dawn and dusk. We had a bobcat on our patio one morning. It was small but still very surreal to walk to the window to see whose cat is there and see the "cat" with tufted ears and a bobbed tail running away. It makes me wonder how many times we missed him; E has said several times at breakfast that "Something just ran across the patio" but we wrote it off as squirrels or imagination. There aren't that many squirrels here, or housecats that are allowed to wander, or rabbits (no loss there)and between coyotes that we hear at night and our friend bobcat I think we know why.
love and hugs and think of us when you see a sunset or a bobcat,
B

I Need a Weekend.....

.....to recover from our weekend. Soon (in nine days) when I am home with all 3 everyday we will long for something to do and somewhere to go. After this weekend I would just like to sit at home and do nothing.

FRIDAY: We had a nice afternoon playgroup at a neighbor's house. It poured rain in the afternoon, but E's school carnival went on as scheduled. By the time we got there the rain was down to a drizzle so we ended up staying a couple of hours and having a good time. E and G were delighted playing games and bouncing in the big inflatable jump-y things.

SATURDAY: This weekend was our town's maritime festival and blessing of the fishing fleet. The kids got to see their first parade; nearly every group threw something to the crowd (candy, balls, bubbles, frisbees) and the kids came home with bags of "treasure". M was super good the whole time--- I am sure it had nothing to do with eating his first lollipop.

After the parade we walked over and looked at the antique boats and went on a wooden tugboat and a fishing boat.

After lunch 3 boys went down for naps (D, G, M) and E and I put together the kids new sand table.

SUNDAY: After a slow start we ran errands (so maybe the week can be more relaxed) before hitting the harbor for the festival again. We sampled food from harbor restaurants we haven't tried yet; Surprisingly the Australian meat pies were the biggest hit for the whole family while the lamb stew from the hippest spot in town was a loser. We watched the blessing of the fishing fleet and the boys made a wooden boat craft.

On the way home we stopped at the State Park for a walk on the beach. We watched people dig for clams and found our own wildlife treasures :sand shrimp, little crabs, sea cucumbers,and star fish. Of course you can guess who wouldn't get near the crab and who I had to watch very carefully to make sure it didn't end up going home with us. G would have taken every creature home. M fell down in a tidal pool and ended up soaked. E complimented D on not throwing things at him ( see Memorial Day post if you didn't catch that reference).





It really was a fun weekend. I thought about it several times during the weekend and I think part of our doing so much here is that it is all so new and different and part is that the kids are at a good age for going and doing. For now I am tired of going and doing and would just like to sit for a while.

love and hugs and just sit for a while.....

B

One last pic of me with the 3 little boys on the path through the woods to the beach at the park. It is very rainforest like with a complete understory of ferns under huge evergreens. Super beautiful!

A Gray Day

No, not the weather. That was yesterday---- we got an inch and a quarter of rain. Huge for this time of year and a large amount all at once for us.
Today turned into my day with Gray. After getting E off to school, we headed for the Y for G's swim lessons. He swims like a fish! He has no fear about putting his head under and blows bubbles like a pro. He trusts enough to lay flat on his back in the water for his teacher. Hopefully he will pass Pike class and move on to Super Pike. After he swam he went to play in child care with M so I could work out a bit longer. After the Y we headed toward home through the harbor where the farmer's market is held during the summer. We stopped and got cinnamon twist bread for breakfast tomorrow and went out on the public dock. I was carrying M so it was a struggle to keep him in my arms. Right now the noon low tide is four feet lower than usual so when you walk out you can see things usually not exposed at low tide. We saw plenty of kelp, clams, oysters, crabs, minnows, a BIG starfish, something that looked like a sea slug, and anenomes. When we got home G helped get crock pot vegetable soup ready for tonight by dumping in all the ingredients and stirring it up. (loved it when we got to the bay leaves--"Mommy we can't put leaves in the soup!") After lunch he also helped me stir up a cake. We then made this video of just G. I will try to do a video featuring just the others in the next week or so. Sorry about the traffic noise.

What have our kids learned from Mommy having a blog? Well, yesterday I was dancing around the kitchen singing "Juice Box Hero" (to the tune of Juke Box Hero; would be a terrific Juicey Juice commercial with Jack Black starring) and G pretended to click a camera and said "Now I am gonna put you on the computer and everybody will see it." When they get older I will have to hide my camera so I don't end up as a regular on YouTube.

love and hugs to all and watch for hidden cameras so you don't end up on YouTube acting silly (or on my blog for that matter),

B