We went to the dentist the other day... all three kids verse me. The dentists and I normally lose this one, but guess what??! The two older kids went back all by themselves! I had to sneak a picture while waiting for Paisley's turn. So exciting and sad all at the same time! I even had time in the waiting room to play plants vrs. zombies [free time may still exist in my future] and we only got into trouble once from a neighboring office during the wait. = SUCCESS!!
These kids and myself LOVE puzzles!
Such PRIDE in conquering a tough puzzle!!
Oh and we have the best Pediatrician! All three of my kids were under the table when he came in. So he sat with them on the floor and started the appointment there. Yay! For people who understand kids!
On Saturday my wonderful husband knowing I was in a "bad mood" told me I had an hour in which he would do whatever I wanted before heading into work. He also told me I could buy an outfit today; lol-I told him he could not buy my happiness! I was wrong I now think I will go ahead and buy a STORE. I put him to work and he was just about done cleaning up the basement insulation from last week mishap, what Demitri calls, "Carving pumpkins and making sleeping bags!" So it goes without saying Shane wasn't in the best mood at this particular point either!
That is when...
1.) a sharp crash came from Daphney's room. (Over Christmas we went to a white elephant gift exchange where kids are pretty much an anomaly. There they were kind/inexperienced enough to allow the kids to participate and kind/experienced enough to set the rule that you couldn't steal from the kids. However, my daughter of coarse chose the biggest Christmas bag I have ever seen and won two lamps, a couple bags, and a can of Lysol. A kind man tried to relieve her of that present, partly because he wanted it and partly I think to allow her to pick again, but Daph was embarrassingly in tears and holding firmly to the fact that she indeed was a kid and was not supposed to be stolen from.)
It was this beloved lamp that had broken by the wrath of Demitri. The glass lamp shade was now shattered across a dirty bedroom. We began cleaning that up, and in order to keep the kids busy and out of the glass I gave them the job to work together to carry a box from the bottom of the stairs up to the top. As we cleaned up the glass I told Shane about reading the Little Mermaid 2 with Daphney and how she thought Ariel was going to need to have a new baby because her daughter was not being obedient! lol I am glad she understands that concept!
That is when...
2.) Daphney and Demitri busted into the bedroom because Demitri had a bloody nose. Sure enough he had a bloody nose all over the walls and through the hallway and down the stairs. Apparently Daph decided she didn't want help carrying the box and pushed him. So I helped calm Demitri down in the bathroom and clean him up while Shane cleaned the floor. I had Daph and Paisley stay in Daphney's room so they didn't get into the blood.
That is when...
3.) a sharp crash came from Daphney's room (AGAIN!). I had set that blasted beloved lamp up high, and since it was broken the cord was hanging down rather than nicely tucked away and plugged in. Paisley grabbed it and pulled the lamp which crashed to the floor and now a shattered light bulb littered the previously vacuumed floor.
I NEED A BOX! A BIG BOX WHERE NO DAMAGE CAN BE INFLICTED.
I will slide in food, and release my kids when they are ready to reenter society!
PS. I love this life. Sure it would be nice to have fancy things that don't need a warranty, and silence at least while you are sleeping, but to have a partner and a team that sticks through and laughs together during these rough days is something to fight for! I am so LUCKY!!!
Harmonica Playing is in her BLOOD!!
All Day Baby!!
I heard someone playing the harmonica and was so impressed that I yelled into the other room, "Who is that Daphney or Demitri?" To which I did not hear an answer... that was the beginning of an all day jam session for this little jelly bean! I have now found a way to keep Paisley busy!
Demitri loves to play dress up, and his dad is not fond of him always dressing up with Daphney in her Sunday best dresses and bows to go to whatever "Ball" they currently have planned. But, we couldn't really say much because we didn't own any boy dress up clothes. I know sexist parents, but I am okay with that. We finally got this outfit for Demitri and he loves pretending to save the day! "Mom, I have to go save people from their problems!"
More Imaginative Play: He also recently got tools for his birthday that have been great for increasing pretend play. He is always trying to be like dad now with his tools. The other day his Velcro on his coat snagged my outfit and seeing my disappointment he quickly exclaimed, "It is okay mom I can fix it; I just need to go get my tools!"
Here he is using his tools and some of dad's tool to learn the tricks of the trade. He clambered into that claustrophobic cupboard under the sink as one of the happiest boys in the world. As I left the room I heard him say, "Okay dad just show me where to cut!" Luckily I knew he only had the pliers and not scissors!
The kids got to open a present early that came in the mail from their great grandparents! We got two envelopes that day both with stickers. Maybe the envelope shared stickers with everybody's mail!
The kids love their new stuffed animals, and the precious beanie baby tags lasted only seconds. But, believe me tag-less and all they are worth a ton to them!
The kids got the perfect animals to match their personalities, and they now have each gained a bed partner.
Demitri was showing the goose the Christmas lights on the neighbors' houses.
This has been one our favorite games to play with the kids, because it can be played in so many skill levels and you get M&M's!
Demitri's Level: ABC's!
Demitri really struggles with knowing the names of the letters, because he loves naming them himself. For example the letter E he calls a stick with three pokies. His imagination is so funny, because he is always right about what the letters look like, but I would never have seen that when looking at the letter. He is teaching me how to see things out of his eyes. Maybe he is the key to writing a best seller ABC book that relates well to little boys!
I love this black out game, because he is not good at recognizing the proper name for a letter. So we set the board up alphabetically. He finds the match on the board and then we sing the ABC's that he has memorized to figure out what the letter should be. Then when he is able to name the letter, he is able to eat the M&M. When a letter on the board is missing its M&M, it is his job to make sure and say the letters name while we are singing. We play till he is tired of trying to remember the letters, and then we stop. No Pressure to finish the whole board!
Additional benefits of this game is I can talk colors with him. I initially thought he might be colored blind when he was younger, but he is the best color blender ever. I am excited to see what this boy paints in the future!
Daphney's Level: Sight Words!
Daphney loves playing this game! She sits on the other side of the table so that she can do her board while Demitri does his and I can help them both at the same time. However, I have to keep her from constantly wanting to help Demitri.
For Daphney she reads the word before finding the word on the board. While she is looking for it on the board I will talk ordinal numbers with her for example: look in the 3rd column or 5th row. So, she is learning that vocabulary at the same time.
*Helpful Hints: I love using the plastic paper sleeves, because as you can see in the movie slobber can get on them from the candies and be easily washed off, But also after we play we just insert the slips of paper back into the sleeve so they are safe till next time! Lastly, if he gets bored and daph is still doing things he can use a dry erase marker to trace the letters on the board.
This year we were "Little Red Riding Hood Characters".
Shane:Woodsman Katie: Grandma Daphney: Little Red Demitri: Big Bad Wolf Paisley:The Basket of Goodies (Although I never really sold her on the basket so more of just a cupcake.)
Family Celebration:
For our family Halloween celebration we went to a park and had the kids go on a treasure hunt following clues to find a basket of goodies (cupcakes). Daphney was sure that Pirates had made the cupcakes and left for us! Daphney and I made her basket out of newspaper and then painted it. Harder than it looks online but a fun memory.
See not her favorite place to sit in the basket!
Clearly a daddy's girl! Look at that smile while with him!
Love this picture of Demitri and Shane- One SCARED wolf!!!
Trick or Treating Experience:
All three kids had a blast at Halloween. Daphney sprinted from door to door and Demitri took in every little detail of every decoration so it was hard to keep the two speeds near each other.
BIG BAD WOLF:
Demitri kept calling people names when we would leave and luckily most people could not understand him when he would shout, "YOU CATERPILLAR!" -or they didn't know to be insulted. I had to explain to him not to do that because that is not their name and that is being mean. So instead at every house he had to ask them, "What is your name?" - and then in turn of course introduce himself. He could be our next president (of our neighborhood at least) because everybody now knows him.
LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD:
In Iowa they have a ridiculous study that says like for the last 80 years 911 calls have been down 50 percent because some politician started the tradition of kids telling jokes at Halloween for their candy. That somehow discourages the vandalism and chaos, because they have already gotten their orneriness out telling that funny joke. Anyways clearly I think it is silly and did not fight Daphney when she said she was "not telling jokes!" At each house they would ask for a joke and she would stubbornly reply, "I don't really tell jokes at houses." Finally a lady said, "fine I will tell you a joke then... What is the world's largest pencil? Pennsylvania.." After leaving that house Daphney said, "Hey mom, I have a joke for you! Why did Heavenly Father give us stores?" "I don't know Daph, Why?" Aghast she responded, "Well I DON'T KNOW!!" I don't think she quite has the joke thing down yet.
OUR LITTLE CUPCAKE:
Paisley loved trick or treating! I felt kind of sheepish letting her trick or treat but I wanted her to experience it. She would walk right up to the basket and take handfuls of candy and people never complained because she is so baby cute! She would even fuss if she thought she wasn't going to get a turn. This picture is from a library's Halloween dance party. (The egg is a shaker not an Easter prop!)
Fun October Halloween Celebrations:
Halloween seriously was just a month of parties and candies. Every library and business used it to attract people. A little ridiculous and maybe next year we will try to use restraint and not try to go to them all. But I had to share this picture.... I mean really have you seen a happier boy riding a pony! I told the kids that we were going to get to do a pony ride and they looked unimpressed at least confused why I was so excited. Then Daphney asked, "Are they real ponies?" Me:"Yeah they are REAL!" That is when she nearly swallowed her tongue; - "THEY CAN TALK!!!" Me: "Aw, no. I guess you are right not that impressive..."
Another party we were pushing the closing time in line for the tallest, largest obstacle course bounce house slide. I even had to lift him up to get through the entrance. It was no surprise that Daph came down the giant slide head first and on her belly.Well of course they decide it is time to close while Demitri is still in the bounce house. He is taking forever and they keep turning off the lights. So he is doing all this big kid climbing in the dark. I was so proud that he finally made it out. I thought it might have eaten him!
Oh and lastly Shane would have never let Demitri go out in a dress (I didn't even have to ask), but while he was at work we had a fun time dressing him up as a wolf in Grandma's clothing!
Does every parent wonder if the world is full of kids with strange habits or do your own kids take the cake? Someone has to have the weirdest kids / "coolest kids".
First there was Daphney... despite many complaints and raised eyebrows I have allowed my daughter to fall in love with this ferret puppet that we essentially own without custody of because he is the library's. Currently he couldn't smile in the picture because he is sleeping and couldn't be woken up.
It is very weird to love a pet ferret more than any other animal she could check out and after a lengthy stay of three months we return him only to again place a hold on him the following day. Click to view past post on pet ferret.
WEIRD FRIEND?
Demitri's is even better though....
See that big fluffy lion behind him?- that is not his new best friend. No Demitri has been carrying around ZuBah; said with three syllables and a strong B sound. But he also goes by "fake worm" (Pictured in his right hand). My sons new favorite friend is a fake fishing worm that he found in his dads tackle box. Fake worm has done everything with Demitri the past few days- except anything to do with water because of a fear of drowning.
I think we need to get a puppy before Paisley decides to top these two goons.
Just recently Demitri accidentally pulled the worm in half... it was a major breakdown. The band-aid really pulls off the worm look though!
