Cute Pic Post -- January 2019

Making Uncle Spencer proud.

When the behavior gets out of control and the room has an abundance of corners.

He was so darn proud of this, too.

Our Staycation, Homeschooly, PlayDates Spring Break 2016

We knew we weren't going anywhere for spring break, so I decided to spend the time finding a playdate every day for us (fun while staying home and not spending money) and then also doing some homeschooly stuff. I normally reserve the homeschooly stuff for summer, but we essentially had a week of that... no school, no BSF, no dance, no schedule. The weather involved pouring rain every day, so we couldn't spend much time outside and all the places to visit were packed because 1) rain 2) spring break. So 3 out of 5 days, we had a playdate and then did some activities too. I started us out small and increased the amount of "work" each day. Pretty much everything I did with them was a success. I forgot to take pictures during most of the playdates, but Major Thanks to Cyndi, Monica, and assorted ladies from the PTA who kept me sane!

Graham would have a bunch of 2-piece puzzles and Austin would have a 9-piece puzzle to do. 

Then we had to color the cap the color it was asking us to.

Next some writing practice--staying in the gray space and making a straight, dark line.

Each day, I had more work for them to do and an example of the increased load is that the number of 2-piece puzzles Graham had to do kept getting higher.

One afternoon we did a science experiment I had been wanting to do with them for quite awhile. Vinegar, food coloring, and baking soda in a flat pan.

I was so surprised by the fact that they didn't mix immediately.

Here's a video of the action. 

Here's a second video of the action.

The last day was tons of 2-piece puzzles for Graham. I had to take away all the green pieces because he was getting too frustrated. We talked about doing the ones you can do and then worrying later about the ones you couldn't do before. I gave the green ones back when he had done all other colors and he could easily complete them. Austin had more cutting than normal which then involved a game of memory which they are really good at.

He was very proud.

I love the faces he makes when cutting. ha!

The last thing we did was some drawing. I would draw something, piece-by-piece and expect them to follow me. It was an activity in watching and listening. I purposely drew people differently to have them follow my steps. I would say "In this part of my paper, I'm going to take my brown marker and draw a circle for Daddy's head." and then do that. etc. The boys did pretty well. 

The first page is of our family and the second is house, cars, and a tree.

Graham above, Austin below

Austin above and Graham below. 

Austin's house made him start crying because he was so upset with the quality.

I tried doing a similar activity with them just hearing what I'm saying. It did not go well. Certainly nothing to take a picture of. Guess we're too young for that skill yet.

The boys sat around in jammies for a long time Friday morning and then Austin dressed in Packers so I decided to try to get a shot of them all in matching outfits. Not sure they'll let me do that much longer. Graham was already throwing a fit over it.

The best he has ever done!

How Gum is the Same as Alcohol

Having worked in Higher Education for most of my career, I have a philosophy about the kids who show up at college unable to moderate their alcohol intake. It's one thing, in my opinion, for a college student to party and drink and make some bad choices (they are checking their boundaries in all areas), but it's entirely another for them to drink so much so often that they make future-altering decisions.

I've had to call the ambulance on people because we couldn't wake them up (once on a close friend while in college, actually).

I've had to talk to people standing on the stadium roof's edge, ready to jump.

I've had to decide on a consequence for a student caught doing yucky things at a football game.

I've had to deliver bad news to roommates.

So, though I don't have any research or statistics to back up what I'm about to say, I still believe it with all of my being. If something is touted as being super awesome and yet the participation in said thing is put off/held off/denied until a certain future time, once that thing finally attainable, it will be consumed as much or as frequently as is physically possible. This leads to students having a sort of "finally, no one is here to say I can't, so I'm gonna have, have, have, have." And, if they don't have experience with (or knowledge about) alcohol, they probably don't realize their tolerance is much less than they think it is. Those are the students who end up in serious situations.

The rule in our house has been that kids cannot have gum until they turn 5. We had heard lots of stories of kids getting gum on furniture or in their hair or on their clothes, and we didn't want to risk any of those situations, so we told the boys they couldn't have any gum until they turned 5. We've been saying this for years and we finally had to make good on the promise. It just proves that time actually does move, even though sometimes (especially with small kids in the house) it feels like it never does!

I bought Austin a bunch of gum for his birthday which he opened and was barely excited about it because I don't think he knew what it was or really realized the meaning behind it. Even though he had been talking about the fact that he would soon be able to chew gum, when he opened it, he was like "meh." I was excited! I assumed he'd chew some and it would be non-deal for him. AND THEN.

The next day, first thing, before breakfast (!), he was asking for some gum. I said he had to eat first and then immediately after finishing (which wasn't much because he was so excited to get some gum) he asked again. (This was just the beginning, but I didn't know it at the time and just chuckled at his insistence.) He asked before lunch. He asked the next hour. He asked if he could have some at dinner. He asked for some after dinner. He asked constantly. Seth made the mistake of saying Austin could have some when "Momma has some," (it was a way of putting him off--a poor one) and now any time I have gum, Austin thinks he's allowed to have some as well (Seth had meant it just for that one day). I rarely have gum, but in the weeks since he heard that, anytime I even look at gum, he thinks he's going to get some and loses control! There has been tears and wailing and gnashing of teeth.

He would chew a piece and spit it out to be replaced every 5 minutes all day long if I would let him. He would stuff his cheeks to the brim if we would let him. He would partake in gum way more than is healthy if we would let him. I think that this INTENSE desire for the gum is partially our own fault. I think it's because we had unintentionally built up how big of a deal gum was and yet held it out as awesome and special and something he couldn't have. If he had been having gum for years, I don't think we would have ever experienced such a strong onset of gum desire.

The same is true, I think, when kids aren't exposed to alcohol until college. Now, I'm not advocating for drinking underage. The WI alcohol rules are fairly notoriously lax, and so I have been consuming alcohol at special occasions since I was in my early teens. My parents would take me to a local supper club and I would get a grasshopper after dinner. I knew people who drank in high school. My parents and family and friends drank. I was surrounded by it my whole life. I saw people consume too much and knew how awful they felt/the pain it could cause, and so when I was able to drink legally, I did so with some caution. I hadn't been formally sat down to discuss alcohol, but my life experience had been my education. Sure, I have had my nights of poor decision-making, but those weren't call-911-serious.

Austin's begging for gum has faded over the last few weeks and I'm sure it will only continue to do so as the years go on, and because he's still here under our roof and his gum intake is being monitored (it's in a place he can't get, so he can't just consume whenever he wants but has to ask for it), I'm not worried about him going wheels-off with it. This is unlike when kids go off to college and can access as much alcohol as often as they want because they no longer have their parents/family around.

Sure, the college kids eventually fade in their desire or they learn the hard way or they realize alcohol has negatives to go along with all the perceived benefits. When something is withheld from you, you have this major sense of missing out and go a bit overboard when you're no longer missing out. I just hope that the college kids come to their sense and learn healthy boundaries with alcohol before they have a serious future-altering situation occur. I think that if we had conversations about alcohol like we have The Talk and like we do about driving and bike-riding and college applications and all big-life-things, kids wouldn't get to college with no parental guidance (such as Austin currently has with his gum usage) and get into situations that are bigger than they can handle.

I'm not saying that if your family doesn't drink alcohol, your kids are sure to be wheels-off and in danger when they get to college. But I am saying, that if your kids are not surrounded by situations where people drink socially and maintain good decision-making skills (or even if they are!), that you might want to sit down with them and explain alcohol to them. The reasons people partake (it's yummy, it's a social thing, it can be fun), but also the negatives (having too much literally poisons your body, it can become addicting, don't drive when drinking). Go over the pros and cons with them. Expose them to it, even if they aren't actually consuming it.

If you want more information about talking to your kids about alcohol, one of my favorite bloggers has posted several posts about the #TalkEarly campaign that Responsibility.org is doing. Responsibility.org has tons of good resources for parents/families/people to help you get the conversation going and has lots of good statistics which is more than I can say for my post. But, if having a conversation with your kid now prevents a serious, future-altering decision later, then do it! Especially since you can control their consumption and (partially) their choices now. Because you won't always be around to guide them and help with these types of decisions.

Easter Season 2015

NEW TRADITION

This year, I finally bit the bullet and bought us some Resurrection Eggs. Each day of the 12 days leading up to Easter, you open an egg to reveal a part of the Easter story. It's like doing an Easter Path or other such activity, that reminds us why we celebrate the holiday and is fun for the boys. We had them take turns, every other day opening the egg for that day and Austin especially really seemed to get the connection. I'd highly recommend it for like ages 3+.

PAINTING EGGS
Instead of dying eggs by dipping them into the containers full of dye, we use brushes and paint the dye onto them. This is a little sloppy as it's essentially painting with water (I only pour vinegar in the container) which runs quickly on the surface of egg. It makes for some pretty cool eggs, though!!

Sena's

I'm not sure who painted the above and below eggs. Sorry, fellas. Momma just doesn't remember and we all know how much help your Daddy is in situations like this. 

Seth's

EASTER MORNING
One of my favorite memories from my childhood are of Easter Mornings, doing the scavenger hunt my mom set up for me to get to my Easter Basket. One year a bike was waiting for me at the end! I was adamant that we would start this year as I felt the boys were old enough to sorta understand what was happening. The enthusiasm was completely missing and I couldn't understand why they were acting so weird. It wasn't until the next day when we learned that Austin had strep and that Graham was up most of the night throwing up that we understood their behavior. I'm hoping next year goes better.

After we found baskets, we had breakfast (cinnamon rolls, of course!), got ready, and went to church.

Here is a video of Austin looking for his basket.

Austin's

Here's a video of Graham looking for his basket.

Graham's

These bubble guns were super finicky.
Graham's expression is how we all felt.

Poor Georgia Mae

EASTER EVENING
The family celebration is at Spencer & Cheryl's house now and is an evening event. I enjoy this because we get to have an afternoon of quiet/naps and then get dressed again and head up to see family. It was raining in the morning, but it cleared in enough time for the egg hunt to be outside. That's also one thing I was glad to have changed recently. I didn't have to buy stuff and fill a bunch of plastic eggs!! Both of them did a great job hunting up the eggs and they also really enjoyed smashing cascarones later in the evening. The boys' outfits came together last minute (the day before!) and I'm thrilled with how they look. Probably my favorite Easter outfit yet!

I was absolutely miserable that day and spent most of the night curled up on their couch because I was so sore and feeling 10.5 months pregnant-rotten. I went outside to watch them hunt eggs and then I went right back inside to the couch and only left it briefly to eat dinner.

Sweet Boys

lol

Presents from Nonnie & Gramps

All Five Grandkids, Easter 2015