I Forgot to Shiver My Timbers!!

Pirates & Princesses Party

I decided for this event since Riley has an amazing pirate costume that I would be a princess. I originally intended to wear my Halloween costume, but it needs some alterations. So, I did what any absolutely insane person who loves costumes would do...I put on my wedding dress. I borrowed Roo's crown to complete the ensemble. I love how we matched! It took some engineering to drive in, but I adore that dress and I was happy for an excuse to put it back on.

It was a wonderful afternoon of treasure hunting, dress up clothes, pirate-y snacks and sillyness!

Pirate Event at the Library

One day of pirating is never enough, so the next day after a lunch of pirate shaped macaroni and cheese we set sail for pirate fun at the library! We met a silly pirate captain, who thought Riley was "a bonny lass" and learned that the best treasure is inside books (of course!). They read us How I Became A Pirate which not surprisingly Roo had heard before. I quite enjoyed it. We sang pirate songs, made a treasure chest necklace, ate an adorable pirate snack and played pirate games! Roo's favorite games were popping bubbles with a sword and walking the plank!

Summer Camp Week 6

Miss Roo

On Sunday night I asked Riley what this week was going to be and she replied without hesitation: "Lego Mania!" When I pressed her (assuming she was just making something up) she insisted, "Lego Mania, mom we'll play with just Legos!" The calender reveled it was "Game Show Mania." Hence the confusion, Roo has never seen a game show. When we tried to describe it Roo said, "You mean like Wild Kratts on the Kindle?" We told her no, that was a game not a game show. Then she said "Oh, like Wild Kratts on Netflix." We explained that was a show, but not a game show at which point she got bored and left. I had a few moments of feeling old at that point, who watched Game Show Network? I loved those cheesy 70's shows.

They learned about being good sports, trying new things, working as a team and playing fair this week. Riley explained how team apple won and got to pick from the treasure box and then later team orange (her team) won and "only got stickers." We discussed how we should be happy for our friends when they win. She was super sweet about it.

Isaac

Isaac spent some time watching documentaries about storm chasers and making a robotic hand. He also finished the library's summer reading challenge and collected his invitation to the end of the summer party! We also saw a rather impressive magic show at the library this week. It was quite humorous and the magician explained some tricks to teach some scientific concepts. Isaac also wrote an interesting story about living in a colony Mars that I quite enjoyed.

Week Six Video Wrap Up

Weekly Wrap Up Questions
1. What did you learn that you didn't know before?
2. What was the worst part of your week?
3. What was the best part of your week?
4. What was your favorite meal?
5. What was the weather mostly like?
6. What was your favorite activity/project?
7. How many books did you read?
8. What were they called?
9. Which book was your favorite?
10. Where are some places you went this week?

Sorry about my shaky camera work, gang.

Summer Camp Week 5

Miss Roo

This week was Eric Carle week! On Monday, Roo insisted on her rainbow leg warmers for some color as a nod to the theme. I got a few books from the library so we could read some of the books we don't own at home during the week too. She's holding Pancakes, Pancakes! in the picture which is one of her favorites. They read it on Thursday and made pancakes for their cooking project! They made sunflowers when they read The Tiny Seed and bear puppets when they read Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?

On Tuesday, Roo got the Super Camper award! I took this thumbs up picture and we all went out for breakfast for dinner. She says it's because she made "the best-est choices ALL day." They had Wet Wednesday and broke out the sprinklers again! Roo got to wear her awesome new dinosaur bathing suit.

Speaking of new clothes, I found both kids a new octopus shirt! The stars aligned and there was a shirt that suited each of my kids on clearance at the same store. On Thursday, they happily donned their cephalopod attire. Adorable, right? They got compliments all day. On Friday, I kept Roo home and we celebrated Cow Appreciation Day. We dressed as cows and went to Chic-fil-a for free food. It's becoming a yearly mother/daughter tradition.

Isaac

Isaac made his usual rounds to the library, my appointments, and the normal errands with me this week. On Monday we discovered he had his first library fine. Honestly, I felt more sentimental than annoyed. We took steps to make sure it doesn't become a habit. He checked out some nonfiction books to fulfill the final requirements on the library's summer reading chart. He completed his second Tenmarks goal early in the week, earning a movie trip next month (Yay!). Later in the week, he ran into some difficulty with on Tenmarks. He'll talk about it in the video, but I always find it fascinating the way intelligent children react to a challenge.

Speaking of challenges, Friday afternoons Isaac is supposed to mop the kitchen. We have a steam mop and a tiny kitchen so it's about a 15min job, at the most. This week I heard Isaac moving the small kitchen rug and step stool out of the kitchen followed by heavy sighing and muttering. He came to me with a look of exasperation and stated, in his favorite completely general way, "Mom, the mop can't work." I pressed for details, but he remained resistant to specificity, so I suggested trying again later when he wasn't frustrated. He was happy with those instructions and went off to read a book for a while. About 20min later he came to report that it still wasn't working, but this time he had the presence of mind to add "I noticed the handle isn't moving very much." With a steam mop you have to pump the handle to get the steam going. Mike came in for lunch instantly diagnosed the problem. The cord was wrapped tightly around the hooks from being stored and was preventing the handle from moving.

The whole episode was either a stall/avoidance tactic or being confronted with a problem caused frustration and shut down. He'll attack a problem on occasion, as long as he views it as a challenge AND important to him from the onset. Neither the online math program nor that mop had caused an issue before so he wasn't willing to invest any time. Granted moving up a level and earning badges, games and rewards on the math program ranked head and shoulders above a clean kitchen floor, but he was only willing to invest what had been required to this point. At least that's my theory.

I discussed Cow Appreciation Day with Isaac and wasn't at all surprised that he declined to dress like a cow in public (even for free food). That morning after Riley was in her cow costume I was finishing my costume (and my coffee). I heard the kids playing together in Isaac's room. They were saving Mario World from Evil Koopa (It was a Lego game). Far be it from me to prevent a world saving mission (conducted with sibling cooperation). I left it play out before I collected my little cow. After Roo and I returned (and napped) I loaded both kids into the car for free Slurpees! This synchronicity of two of the summer's best freebies lead to some spectacular memories!

Week Five Video Wrap Up

Weekly Wrap Up Questions
1. What did you learn that you didn't know before?
2. What was the worst part of your week?
3. What was the best part of your week?
4. What was your favorite meal?
5. What was the weather mostly like?
6. What was your favorite activity/project?
7. How many books did you read?
8. What were they called?
9. Which book was your favorite?
10. Where are some places you went this week?

Isaac would like me to state that we do lots of fun stuff over the weekends that we don't discuss in weekly wrap ups. Today there was a failed attempt to release a crow with an injured wing we rescued in our pool right before the kids got out of school. We also attended a glow-in-dark bowling party where Isaac ended his last two frames with strikes!

Ready, Set, Read!

Every summer the library launches a summer reading campaign. They have special shows and activities to encourage kids to check out and read books. They even have an incentive chart school age kids can fill out to earn prizes! The kick off event this time was an awesome science demonstration complete with liquid nitrogen, fire and rockets!

It was a great show. It was sponsored by the science museum I had just taken the kids to over Memorial Day weekend. Those are my little scientists front and center in the pink and green. They really enjoyed themselves! After the show they had a raffle and gave 10 lucky kids a brand new chapter book! Guess whose number was the first one picked!

Isaac got a new Geronimo Stilton book called Curse of the Cheese Pyramid. He was over the moon! That's the second time he's been the first winner called at a library raffle, lucky boy. Riley didn't get called, but I had just given her my last free book from the Kellogg's rewards free book program. It's a Ready Freddy series book about Sharks. She had been looking at it on the way to the library so she was ok not getting called. Oddly enough they called the number right before and right after hers.

After the raffle Riley made a rocket ship with shiny star stickers while Isaac read his new book. I've said it before and I say it a thousand more times, I love the library! Where else can you have this much fun for free? Aside from the fun summer programs and shows the kids and I agreed we'd visit the library once a week this summer (at least).

Summer Vacation Day 1: Pat the Bunny

First stop the first morning of summer...the library! We were there when the doors opened. Yay! Riley turned in her Halloween books and picked out a few new Disney ones. Isaac got a few of the best looking options from his summer reading list. I picked up the play I requested for my audition in July and then we colored for a bit before we left. We were off to visit Grandpa and his baby bunnies!

We said hi to Grandpa and his dogs first. After a nice visit inside we went out to see the bunnies and chickens. Grandpa's bunnies had three babies. They're adorable. They're also without forever homes, but Mike says I'm not a lot to bring any home. I so want one with every irrational little kid part of my being. I think it would have to be the little brown guy whose ears point opposite directions. He came right up to me while his brothers/sisters huddled in the back of the cage. Sigh...

We had a lovely visit. After a long, fun morning Roo insisted on taking her nap "in a nest." It was a dinosaur nest!

February Recap

I was debating which post to publish next and feeling completely unsettled about there only being one post in February. This morning I woke up with a painful swollen ankle. It's been bothering me off and on, but I'm starting to think it's tendinitis. Anyway, it seemed like my cue to stay in bed and write a recap!

I got this pedicure at the end of January, but I wanted it to be the first image. A little bit of pretty to start me off (Never mind my spastic toes). I went to a boring but necessary appointment and then before I went home I decided to have a pedicure. It felt so self-indulgent. They were having a 20% off all services special so I got a great price and they had amazing new message chairs. These were the first massage chairs I've ever encountered that slide forward. Short people there's hope! You can put your feet in the water and your back against the rollers! I had to get used to having my feet touched without jumping, but before I moved in with my husband I had pedicures twice a month. Since we're been together (almost 7yrs) I think I've had six pedicures. I treasure them a lot more now. Mike even joked about my "yearly pedicure." I love pretty toes.

Nerding it up! My kids are booth big readers and we have always made regular visits to the library. I always made regular visits as a kid and when I was single. I will never forget how grown up I felt when I got my very own library card. It was Isaac's turn! He was so proud.

Valentines day festivities! Riley signed all of her valentines this year!

Parties & Dress-up

Housework interrupted by cuteness

I had a birthday. It wasn't a huge significant birthday. I had a good time celebrating, but birthdays aren't as fun as they used to be. I'm not worried about aging in the typical "never ask a woman her age" way. I've always looked (and acted) younger than my age. It's about my body in a different way. Most people are born young and healthy and their bodies gradually react to wear and tear as they get older, but not me.

I started out tight, spastic and limited by my body from the moment I was born. It was always something I dealt with. I can't remember (aside from being hit by the bus) ever being laid up or having to skip something in my 20's. Since having baby I feel broken down more often. I hate that I'm sitting in bed right now because I woke up with a messed up ankle. This never would have happened five years ago. It's frustrating because I'm broken down and bemoaning the cleaning I can't do. When I was twenty I walked large cities and worked jobs on my feet for 8hrs and still managed to wash the dishes at the end of the day. Now, I take care of the kids and the house and then I break down. I'm not saying it's not a physically demanding job I just think when I was having adventures that would have been worth a day in bed I didn't need them.