Number one sign you have a 2 year old boy in the house.
Nothing is safe. He will drag chairs to the counter to score out of reach cookies, he’ll fill cups with ice only to dump them on the floor, he’ll drink soda, coffee, whatever he finds left sitting out with reckless abandon. And he’ll sunscreen my dining room furniture.
I had even seen the sunscreen lying out earlier and moved it to the center of the dining room table, “just incase”….
I remember vividly the first night we spent in our house. We were first time home owners.
And we were giddy. As we lay on the floor in our bedroom looking up at the ceiling I remember Scott commenting on the ceiling fan. “Look at that ceiling fan! We own it!” I on the other hand couldn’t get my eyes of the red blinking light from the smoke detector…. wondering how would I fall asleep with it constantly blinking.
For the past four and half years, this has been her “go to” position for comfort.
As a baby it was great… she totally self soothed… no pacifiers to chase down or beloved blankey to snuggle. Just pop her index and middle fingers in her mouth backwards and start rubbing her ear (or twirling her hair) and she could instantly calm herself to sleep. We knew of course this would have it’s trade off.
This past week our oldest son turned 8. As quickly as that time seems to have flown, it is frightening to me to realize in just as little time, he’ll be waving goodbye as he backs a car out of the driveway. AACK! In the midst of this busy stage of life, I want to take time to reflect on who he is now at this stage, so I can cherish and savor it for years to come.
She pretty much whips me at this every Monday and Wednesday… and I wouldn’t trade the sweet memories we’re making for anything in the world.
While we didn’t plan it like this at first, Sunday ended up being date day for each of our 4 kids. Each child ended up with some one on one time with either mom, dad, or Aunt Karen. Good times had by all!
One of the duties of our church deacons is to unlock the church on Sunday mornings. When Scott became a deacon 3 years ago, he started taking one child with him on his deacon duty mornings.
This afternoon my smiley, mild mannered, easy going baby suddenly channeled his inner Dennis the Menace and went all toddler boy on me for 30 minutes. First I looked over and found him standing on his tool bench (oops look who forgot to put away the advent calendar with her Christmas decorations)
I got him down and shortly after realized things had been mighty quiet for awhile and went searching for him.
Now that my oldest 2 are at their tutorial two days a week, I find myself with just 2 children at home on those mornings. It is a truly odd feeling and a dynamic I am not yet used to. Though I am sure it is nothing compared to the strangeness I’ll feel next year when I am left with only my lil man two days a week. I am hoping to use this time to
6 Flags Amusement park offered a free ticket to any K-6 grade student that registered for their Read to Succeed program and completed 6 hrs of non school required reading. As a bonus, the teacher who enrolled the student also got a free ticket. So, that meant this home schooling momma got a ticket for herself and her son to 6 Flags.
I kept track of his reading in the spring and when he completed 6 hrs of recreational reading, unannounced to him, I registered him for the free ticket.
My daughter is a fierce competitor. Everything, and I mean everything can be turned to a competition with her. Last weekend when we were driving back to the camp site from training camp, Scott and I drove my parents van and let my parents follow us with the kids in our van. We pulled in to Dairy Queen as a fun surprise and she says to my dad, “Now’s your chance to beat them… keep driving Papa!