Summer Break Day 42

Wow, day 42. Is it almost over?

Coop went to Camp Invention today. It is so peaceful when one son is away for the day. I took the little brothers to the park. We played tag. Man, am I slow and old. It was demoralizing. How can I not catch a 4 year old and a 6 year old?

We made fun snacks. Bananas dipped in yogurt then rolled in frosted flakes. We put them in the freezer and they were so yummy when we ate them for a snack later in the day. We also made pretzel stick kabobs with cheese cubes, deli bites, and grapes. Playing with food is fun.

Day 42 Life Lesson: Run, Forrest, Run...

Resurfacing Weekend

Corey resurfaced the driveway this weekend. It's a really dirty job. I made him go shower at the car wash after he finished. Ok, not really, but I so wanted to.

I have a confession to make. I cheated on my husband... with ICE CREAM. That's right, I did it. But before passing judgment you should know that I had his best interest at heart. It's also not my fault. It's my friend's fault. She introduced me to the root beer freezes at A&W and I can't stop buying them. Back to my husband. He is trying to cut back on sweets. So, when I go run errands, I stop for a root beer freeze and finish it before I get home. But I'm so bad at sneaking around that I, more than once, mind you, left the A&W cup in the van for him to find. Maybe I wanted to get caught.

Summer Break Day 41

I no longer fear Franklin Street. In fact, I purposely turned onto it twice this week. I love that new stoplight. I think a whole new world has opened up to me. All because of a well-placed, long overdue, arterial. Life is good.

After much research, I have come up with the number one reason NOT to turn on the TV with my three sons in the room. E.D. That's right, erectile dysfunction. If I leave the TV off when my boys are in the room, I will never have to explain erectile dysfuntion to them. That is a really good reason to leave the TV off when they are around.

Speaking of screen time, the picture in this post is Kyle, on the computer, staring at the TV. It's a very proud parenting moment for me.

Day 41 Life Lesson: Take the road less traveled sometimes.

Summer Break Day 40

My three sons and I went on an adventure with Snaps. The view from Buena Vista Park was fantastic. The boys had a blast climbing down the rocks and hiking through the woods. We are so lucky to have a fun friend. Thanks Snaps!


Day 40 Life Lesson: Enjoy the view.

Summer Break Day 39

My niece and nephew were with us all day today. 5 kids together (especially these 5) has the potential of getting really ugly, however, the day went very well. Lots of playing inside since it is still pretty warm these days. Olivia cleaned a lot, as usual. Great for me but the boys hate it because then they can't find their "duff". I folded laundry all day and watched cooking shows until I got bored and shut the TV off.

Did you ever notice that boys like to pick up people? I mean, even total strangers. Kyle will walk up to someone and say in his most studly, 6-year-old voice, "I can pick you up. Wanna see?" So what do girls do? Do they want to do everyone's hair? Hmm...

Day 39 Life Lesson: When momma's happy, everyone's happy.

Summer Break Day 38

Very tired today. Not sure why. Maybe I am still recovering from the weekend.

Kyle had a tee ball game tonight but I stayed home and let all the boys go with Corey. Went to bed early, very early.

Day 38 Life Lesson: Early to bed, early to rise... doesn't seem to do much for me.

Summer Break Day 37

I used my iPhone for this shot. This hawk likes to hang out on this post guarding traffic.

The day was filled with painting. My mom's friend Shirley, a most amazing artist, shared some tips and cool painting supplies with my three sons and my niece and nephew. The kids had a super fun time being Picasso-like. The pieces they painted were beautiful.

Coop had a busy day of painting, photography class and karate. Poor kid was exhausted by the end of the day and so was the mom. We were all in bed by 8:30, leaving Corey to some peace and quiet and total control of the remote.

Golfing is normally a sweet event for me but doing it in 500% humidity is not so appealing. Thank goodness the sun wasn't shining. Really? I was thankful the sun WASN'T shining? Brutal winters and brutal summers. Minnesota is hard to love sometimes. But aren't we all?

I did have a good time hanging with my friend on the golf course for extended girl time. We golfed horribly, lost a lot of balls, got really stinky sweaty, but it was SO much fun. I know, its crazy, isn't it? And LB parred the last 2 holes and I mulligan parred the last one so now we think we like the game and might actually be able to conquer it so we'll play again on Thursday. That's even crazier.

Should I be worried that my 6 year old came up to me last night and in his most sarcastic, sassy voice asked, "Really mom? Really? You leave my room, tell me you'll be right back and then you don't come back? Really mom?" It's about the tone for me. Granted, he was absolutely right. I do this all the time. I say something but then I get distracted and often don't do what I said I was going to do. Women are supposed to be good at multi-tasking but I am not. Last night was all about the whole "what goes around comes around" thing because it was my sassy, sarcastic voice coming right back at me. Ouch!

However, my voice also came back to me in my 4 year old when he said to LB and I as we went off to golf, "Don't have too 'mut' fun 'witout' me, okay? And you two be good 'littners'." Now that's redemption. The good stuff coming right back 'atcha. I think I'll just hold onto that one. It will make me think I can conquer this mothering thing and I'll come back for another day.

Day 37 Life Lesson: What goes around comes around so be careful what you put out there.