Things they say

1) You really have to see this one...Nellie walked up to me like this and asked, "um, has anyone seen my new toothpaste?"

2) Annie: [In bed.] We're scared.

Me: What do you possibly have to be scared of?

A: Monsters and goblins.

Me: There are no monsters or goblins. And even if there were, there's this thing with moms and dads where if we see a bad guy we get super strength and super speed so we can protect our kids.

A: Yeah! And God will get the goblins and they'll die! They'll die on the cross! [Hmm. We have some straightening out to do.]

3) DJ: Mama! [As of August 20.]

:)

Wishes

This story is courtesy of our wonderful babysitter, Steph. She took the kids to the mall to throw coins in the fountain yesterday--first of all, kudos to her for being brave enough to load and unload three kids in the car twice just to let the kids to something fun for a few minutes. Anyway, she gave Nellie four pennies and told her she could make a wish for each one. Here are her wishes:

1) that she could breathe fire,

2) for hands that can sprinkle magic (specifically so that when mom and dad say she can't have something, she can get it anyway),

3) that Dora would come and play with her, and

4) a toy for DJ.

Oh, Nellie

The first time we went blueberry picking, the whole family went and we had a great time. We left very hungry, so we stopped at the Charlotte McDonalds. They have a nice new Playplace, so we decided to go in. Now, eating at Mickey Ds is rare; going inside is more rare. So when we told the girls we were going to eat inside so they could play, Nellie said, "this is the best. day. EVER!" Then, very seriously, "actually, the best day ever will be when Jesus comes back."

Seriously, Nellie never ceases to make us laugh OR drive us crazy. The same girl, when we went back to do more berry picking the next weekend, refused to pick a single blueberry. Because she didn't feel like it. Never have I met a child more simultaneously lovable and aggravating. She's predictably unpredictable! And there's no way she got that from me...

Catchin' some Zs

Yes, that's a pirate eye patch.

Enjoying the tastes of the season

 Against all odds (meaning a very shady backyard), we've managed to grow and harvest some vegetables this year. We miss our large and fertile garden at the Holly Way house! But we've been enjoying BLTs and salads made with garden lettuce and tomatoes. And we went blueberry picking twice, because the first time was so fun and the bucket of berries lasted such a short time!

While Kevin was on his backpacking trip, I taught the girls how to make their own brownie-in-a-mug. When the cat's away, the mice can eat brownies for lunch dessert.

Mmmm, frozen peas. This is his "silly boy" trick, where he eats with no hands. :)

Vacation, vacation, vacation

A post I started on August 12, 2012 and never finished (posted 1/2/2019)! I think it's telling that the only highlight recorded was about eating.

Since 4th of July was on a Wednesday this year, there was no camp at Woldumar and Kevin got a whole week off. As a summer camp employee, I'm not sure that's happened in a few years! So we got to take a real summer vacation and headed up to the U.P. to visit John and enjoy Michigan and each other. Everything about it was lovely...the weather, the location, being together, not working. I tried not to be sad about coming home (and we were ready to come home when the time came,) but it really was a nice time.

For my future self planning a vacation, we left at Saturday around 5:30 a.m., left Sault Ste. Marie on Thursday morning, stopped to visit my family at Elk Lake for the day, and left for home around 9:00 p.m. The ride back was far worse, so leaving early in the morning is the way to go.

We've only been back a little over a week, but trying to catch up on work and all the 5-year-old birthday festivities have kept us going nonstop. Annie fell asleep at 5:30 last night and slept until morning! I think the best way to capture the vacation memories is to run through some of the highlights.

• We ate, and ate. And ate. Lots of whitefish, steaks, ice cream (three times), fudge. Picnic in the park, potluck for the 4th with John's neighbors,

My sensitive husband

Kevin: So...you want to watch a movie or something? Or we could just listen to the rest of the Tigers game. Or we could talk about our feelings. I had one today.

Jamie: Oh yeah, what's that?

Kevin: Hungry.

Touché

The girls are scared to go upstairs alone when it's convenient for them. Today, I asked Nellie to go up with Annie to get the piggy bank.

N: No, I'm scared.

Me: You're not scared. You go up there all the time. DJ even goes upstairs alone, and he's a baby. He's not scared.

N: Whenever DJ is upstairs alone he's sleeping or crying. [True.]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Annie: Can I have another cookie?

Me: No, you just had one.

A: You just had one, too.

Me: No, I gave mine to you.

A: But you had three before that. [True.]

Fake fall

Kevin got back from backpacking late last night and doesn't have to work today. It's 55 degrees, rainy, and windy, so we built a fire, made s'mores, and ate tomato soup with grilled cheese for lunch. I feel like we should be watching football and going to the pumpkin patch!

Fake fall in summer is almost as much fun as fake spring in the winter. Almost. I will be happy to welcome summer back for another month!

This is what Annie looks like when you catch her playing with the fire poker.

A day in the life

Kevin's backpacking on South Manitou Island for camp, and I didn't work today, so today was the first day in awhile that the kids and I were home ("alone") together all day. I thought it might be fun to track what we did today on what was a very typical day.

5:00ish a.m.: Nellie climbed into bed with me, which she's done every night for the last few nights claiming "scary dreams" but I think she just likes our bed. I also have photo evidence that Annie sleeps with her foot on Nellie's face, so I'm sympathetic.

6:30: DJ wakes up and against all odds I get him to go back to sleep.

7:17: Annie is crying on the steps looking for me. For such a happy kid, it's surprising she wakes up every day crying. DJ wakes up.

Through 9:15: Get milk for both girls, make toaster waffles for everyone (except DJ, who got baby oatmeal with some kind of baby fruit and veggie blend mixed in). Watch one Dora episode (Annie's choice) and Sesame Street (my choice) on the Roku. Clean up breakfast. Take everyone upstairs to sort through laundry, take the sheets off the bed, put clean clothes away, and get DJ and Annie dressed.

9:15: Put DJ to bed. Nellie throws a fit about getting dressed (there is nothing to wear!) and pulls out every item of clothing out of the drawer.

9:20: Lots of threats about throwing all the clothes in the garbage or giving them all to her cousins. (Not my finest moment.) Fold and put away all the clothes, minus a few that really will go to cousins or in the closet to wait for Annie to wear them.

9:25: Nellie gets dressed in a very cute dress Steph got her, which she never complained about the rest of the day.

Through 10:45: Play outside - catch, swings, soccer. Putter around the garden, picking herbs, lettuce, and a lot of green tomatoes (Annie.) Read Bible verses. Annie gets hurt three times, but only one requires ice. Girls eat cherries and goldfish crackers and I try to drink a cup of hot coffee. Let the dogs out and give them water and attempt to get Connie to take her pills. Work on laundry. Fold towels.

10:45: DJ up. Change his diaper and play downstairs until lunch - noodles with sauce, ham, and garden basil. Mashed peas for DJ.

11:30: Make "brownie in a mug," which I promised the girls they could do while Kevin was gone. Added homemade whipped cream. Delicious.

12:00 p.m.: Take a walk. Annie pushes her baby in the pram, I push DJ in the stroller. Nellie just runs "to get her energy out." It's hot; we stop in the shade and sit on the sidewalk for awhile.

12:45: Home, pick weeds and grass in the driveway and sweep up dirt for fun. Girls move the sweeping fun to the backyard while I put DJ to bed.

1:15: Girls start rest time; we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and My Grandpa and Me.

1:30: I sit down to work on slides for the upcoming advisory board meetings for work.

2:00: DJ starts waking up, but by some miracle goes back to sleep.

2:30: Nellie's up, watches an episode of Wonder Pets.

3:00: Wake Annie up, girls play while I answer emails.

4:00: DJ wakes up after his super-long nap. After he's changed and fed, head out to Meijer. Buy groceries to last us through the weekend, including a blueberry french toast dish that I want to recreate from the amazing breakfast mom and I had in South Haven last weekend. Grocery shopping goes remarkably well, except for needing to carry DJ through the store WHILE pushing the enormous bench-cart because he's not sitting well enough to really sit in the seat.

5:15: Home. Put groceries away, feed the dogs, make dinner (mac and cheese - yes, pasta again - chicken nuggets, frozen veggies, and salad. Well, the salad actually had to wait until after the kids were in bed.)

6:15: Put clean sheets back on the bed. Baths and showers for all. DJ to bed by 7:00.

7:15: Everyone in bed, I run down to clean the kitchen while the girls read. Okay, they watched My Little Ponies in bed on the portable DVD player.

7:45: Read from Nellie's chapter book she picked out at the church library. It's admittedly a little beyond the girls, but it puts Annie to sleep!

8:03: Lay on the girls' floor and read my book about math ed reform in California and listen to the lullaby station on Pandora. Girls read until they're sleepy so they read, and read, and read...

8:45: Nellie starts to get silly, so she goes to sleep in on the futon in the playroom.

9:11: Everyone is sleeping!! I go downstairs and listen to the end of the Tigers game while typing notes on math ed reform in California (getting ready for comps).

10:45: DJ is back up. Feed him, he goes back to sleep. Switch laundry, eat cereal, watch Drop Dead Diva.

12:00 a.m.: Bed.