A Lesson in Teamwork

Remember the post a few months back about my limits? I have limits, and when those limits are reached, I can, on occasion, snap. Today, I snapped. The girls have such moments...moments when they are the best of friends...moments when they bicker and fight. They seem to bring out this selfish streak in each other. For a couple of weeks now, as we are still adjusting to being back in school and everybody is crazy exhausted, the girls have been so selfish and rude to each other. They could not be in the same room at the same time, which poses a difficult situation when you share the same room and it needs to be cleaned. So after a couple hours of relentless tattling, my limit was reached and I snapped. A lesson in teamwork followed. I taped them together to teach them to move together, to help each other. About an hour in, Emma was starting to figure things out, but Briley is a bit more stubborn (I honestly don't know where she gets that from...). Bri just sat there, angry and pouty while Em did her best to clean with this dead weight attached. About 4 hours in, Briley finally got up, though she was still speaking rudely and dragging Emma around (which Emma didn't take too well). About 6 hours into the day, they finally started working together...

and after 8 hours they finished, lessons learned and with smiles on their faces! Ahh, sweet success!

Citizen of the Month

Emma's teachers (she has two teachers for first grade) just love her. They always tell me that she is doing so well with her classwork, finishing neatly and quickly and that she is such a doll, so helpful and compassionate (I asked if they would send that kid home and they had this disbelieving look). Because of her outstanding behavior she was awarded Citizen of the Month at school this last Friday. Great Job, Emma!

Principal's office already

When I picked the kids up from school one day last week, Cam says, "Hi Mommy. Today I had to go the principal."

"Huh? It's the third week of kindergarten, Dude. Why are you in the principal's office already?"

"Umm, I peed on another kid."

"Would you care to explain that, please???"

"Not now, Mommy. I want to talk about it at home."

So we get home and the other kids get their snacks and my conversation with Cameron continued. He was embarrassed and knew he was in trouble. He was busted and he was mad so he wouldn't really tell me much. So I did most of the talking and he had that stinky look on his face the whole time. But the next morning I finally got the whole story. As it turns out, the other kid was a peeping tom in the bathroom and it made Cameron mad. So, he peed on the kid to shoo him away. Try having that conversation with your four year old without laughing! I have to give him credit for creativity in solving his own problem. Needless to say, we did talk about other solutions. But I bet that kid never peeps on Cam again!

Saturday Fun

We decided to try something a little different on this Saturday afternoon. We brought a picnic and headed up to the gliderport.
We sat and waited for the wind to be just right...
and then we got what we had come for! It was fun watching the paragliders and hang gliders fly. The kids thought it was great. I think they are nuts jumping off a cliff like that, but it would be pretty amazing to be so free in the sky. Of all my kids, I pick Logan. That kid will jump off of anything at any height. Nothing about high places scares him. Give me about 15 years kid, and I just may have prepared myself enough for that cliff you will jump off of!

'Twas the night before school...

...and not a child was stirring, not a girl or even a boy. They all laid out their clothes
and made their little lunches; they said their prayers and climbed into bed. The excitement was high but they fell asleep fast, with dreams of new friends and new teachers dancing in their heads. They each arose in the morning with butterflies in their tummies; not a one ate breakfast because the butterflies were too much. Except for the littlest one because he never misses.
And off to school they went, holding hands to be brave. Soon they were in their new classes with grins on their faces, all except one who cried only a little. And mom and dad went home, wondering, what do we do now?
But they all came home, as happy as can be. No more tears and no more butterflies. Even mom and dad found a way to be happy too.

Final Bash of the Summer

Each year, during the final weekend of summer, we have one last big activity. This year we decided to take the kids on the ferry across the bay and get some ice cream at the ferry landing.

Cam is so funny when it comes to the things he is apprehensive about. The rail that Logan is leaning against is right up to the edge of the dock. Logan was so excited by the boats, especially as he watched the ferry coming in. He went right up to the rail, no hesitation, anticipating the arrival of the ferry. Cam was a bit nervous. He took one look down and saw the dirty water several feet below and would go no where near the rail!

On the other side of the bay, we couldn't but help posing for a family picture! I can't believe just how tall Briley is getting. She hit another big growth spurt a couple of weeks back. She comes just below my collar bones when standing in front of me. She complains regularly about her knees hurting. And that brings back memories for me. I grew so fast as a kid, hitting 5 foot 3 inches by fifth grade. My knees always hurt too. Hopefully she will stop (or at least slow down!) soon or she is going to out grow me in only a few short years!

Oh so many choices!
We had a little bit of time before we had to get back on the ferry. So we let them burn off some of the sugar they just ate!
Any guesses as to what is going through Logan's mind at this moment? He jumped right on top of the pile! The girls weren't so impressed by that, but we thought it was hilarious. As did he! Check out his grin!


It was such a fun night!

The highlight of his day

Today we went to the beach. It was a great day playing with friends. While there, our friend who is a police officer came down to the beach in the department's new toy.

Cam loved it. He has put his firefighter dream on a shelf for now and wants to be a police officer. So this was a big moment. But the highlight of his day was not going to the beach or seeing our policeman friend in uniform in the rhino.

The highlight of Cam's day was watching his daddy play softball. He was so excited and it was all he could talk about when he found out we were going. He sat and watched the game much longer than his attentions span usually lasts. Then after the game he drilled Andy on every play, good or bad. All the way home it was question after question concerning this at bat or that fielding play. He is (im)patiently counting down until he turns five so he can play too. I think he likes baseball. Do you?

The saga of the little hunter...

...continues. This little guy is always on the hunt. Sometimes fish, sometimes lizards, sometimes flies? Today he wanted to catch a fly. There was one buzzing around the house and he determined he would catch it.
After several minutes of intense concentration...

...he actually caught it! He captured it against the glass and I helped him keep the fly in the bottle while pulling it away from the glass. He then got the lid on it. He was so excited!

Cousins came to visit

Earlier this summer, many of the little cousins came to visit. It was fun to be able to play with them! One of the nights they were here, we had a picnic at one of our favorite places. And these are some of my favorite pictures from that evening.

Our summer at the beach

We spend so much time at the beach. During the summer it was at least twice a week. I guess I can understand the kids in Hawaii a little bit better. When we went to Hawaii for my dad's wedding, the kids just wanted to hang out at our resort swimming pool. When my brother and his family came, my nephews wanted to go to the beach. My kids were trying to talk their cousins into going to the swimming pool because we spend so much time at the beach! We love the beach. The fresh, salty air; the friends and cousins; the sand between my toes; the joy on my kids' faces; the bright colors; life is a beach!