Xan-Man has shown an interest in learning how to read lately, so I decided to resurrect our long lost “lessons” on Mondays and Fridays (when he’s not in preschool) and focus on sight words with him. I found this great packet for sight word practice on Pinterest, and he went right to town and LOVED it so much that he asks to do it every day now. Go, Xander!
Jonas decided that it was Pooh Bear’s birthday today (he’s turning 6), and he made him a little birthday hat and set him up at the breakfast table with a feast of honey, fruit, and sweets. Happy birthday, Pooh!!!
We’ve been taking it really easy this afternoon. The big boys intently worked on their cardboard box creations while Daddy organized the garage; and after Roman woke up from his afternoon nap, he very much enjoyed giving Ah-Ah a ride on his tricycle. While Daddy and Roman visited with a friend who stopped by to say hello…Jonas, Xander, and I took an impromptu walk in the rain and then went for a nature walk, collecting acorns in our butterfly net and piling them up for the squirrels.
Jonas worked REALLY hard on his first project for kindergarten…a shoebox shop in a nursery rhyme town that he named “Jonas’ Jelly Beans”. Xander, Roman, and I had fun picking up some fun crafting supplies for him to work with (foam stickers, glitter glue, and rick rack), and Jonas picked out bags of jelly beans and rainbow striped peppermints to really give it that candy store feel. He was very specific in what color construction paper he wanted to use and where, how he wanted the front door and counter top to work, and the patterning of stickers and candies. It was so cute to see him doing that excited walk run into school with his special creation in hand.
Xander and Roman and I drove out to the Sprayground downtown this morning for some water play with a few friends from our moms’ group. I was so glad I wore my bathing suit because it was such a hot morning and so fun and refreshing to play in the water with the boys…they loved splashing me and pouring cups of water over my head. It was the perfect splash pad for little ones especially, as the water sprayed up from the ground in varying degrees of height and strength and there was plenty of room for kids to spread out and do their own thing (even when it started to get more crowded). I can’t wait to go back…hopefully before they close for the summer…and take Tom and Jonas. We even got an Icee from the concession stand on the way out (I hadn’t had one of those since I was a little girl…my Grandpa used to buy them for my dear cousin and I when we stayed with him and my Granny for a week every summer). Yay for bringing back and making childhood memories!
Xander and Roman had fun helping me wash my van and Tom’s car this afternoon (it brought back a lot of sweet childhood memories of driveway car washes with my Daddy).
The boys and I went blackberry picking this morning. We tried out a different blackberry farm close to home. It’s their first season open for picking, and they were super laid back. The farmer was really sweet with the boys and had them all fascinated by and taking turns holding a shiny green bug before they even set foot on the blackberry fields. It was just us out there which was so peaceful. The blackberries were wild, so it took some getting used to the thorns. Roman was the least into it, wanting to be carried and saying, “Don’t prick me, blackberries! Them pricking me, Mommy!” We brought our own containers at the request of the farmer, and we left with two sand buckets and one Easter basket…each filled about a quarter of the way full…not bad for a morning’s work of picking.
The boys decided to turn our sandbox into a beach this afternoon. Roman was right in the middle of it and ended up sopping wet and covered in sand (poor little buddy is such a good sport, getting right in there with his two older brothers even though they play rough sometimes).
When we went to Target this morning, I let each of the boys choose something from the dollar bin. Jonas picked out a sand painting kit, and he and Xander and I had fun playing with it while Roman was taking his afternoon nap.
Jonas and Xander have had SUCH a good run at swim lessons this summer!!! They did three two-week sessions. Although they about gave me a heart attack doing anything and everything but staying on the platform during their lessons (even when it wasn’t their turn), Coach Betsy went right with the flow and took Xander from crying to smiling and from hugging her tight in fear to fearlessly diving in the water and swimming to her AND took Jonas from wild man to wild man with a purpose in the water. What special people teachers are…especially teachers of children.
We missed VBS at our church this summer as we ended up going on vacation the same week (next year I’ll double check that before we book anything), so the boys ended up going this week to a little church down the road. It was much smaller and less overwhelming, and there were lots of familiar faces from our neighborhood. They learned about the twelve tribes of Israel and had a blast doing it. (I was so excited that Xander actually went…when the sweet girl who babysits for us saw him when we were picking up Jonas on Monday, she asked him if he wanted to be in her tribe for the rest of the week and he said yes!) Here my big boys are with their precious tribe leaders (both of whom I taught in the library years ago).
While Jonas and Xander were playing with the Lego table (we bought a few Lego plates and Tom used them to convert the top of a car/train table into a Lego table for the boys), Roman and I had fun making some painter’s tape roads on the kitchen floor for his cars. We used a big salad bowl as a hill and small popcorn bowls as car garages. Xander and I enjoyed adding a few more twists and turns to the roads, and even Jonas couldn’t resist tweaking the road design a little bit.
In the time that it took me to run back inside with Roman after weeding in the garden to find my phone and call Tom to thank him for adding on to our garden space soon and grab a few Gogurts for snacks, Jonas and Xander had turned our baby pool into this…
What, might you ask, is it? Well…a baby pool full of mud soup, of course.
The boys and I had fun playing train this morning…we took turns conducting and taking tickets…we stopped at Ah-Ah Land, Friend Land, and Candy Land…and we picked up friends and pretend sweet treats along the way…fun times just hanging out at home.
The boys had a BLAST at the NVFD this afternoon with a load of other kids from our moms’ group…checking out the fire trucks and playing in the water from the fire hose. It was so fun (and hot) in fact that several of the moms and dads joined in as well (including Tom and I). Here’s a picture of the boys with Daddy on the fire truck.
Xander helped me pick another round of fresh ripe vegetables from our garden this afternoon!
We’re getting pretty good at the hanging out thing this summer. Ha! When we got home from dropping Jonas off at camp this morning, Xander and Roman amused themselves for a while with the water table, baby pool, water guns, garden hose, and paint bucket in the driveway. It’s amazing the things that become toys and games with the boys in general…but especially when there’s time to just hang out.
The boys and I went blueberry picking this morning with our moms’ group. Most of the ripe ones were up a little high, so I took turns lifting each of the boys up so they could pick their own blueberries and picking handfuls myself and dropping them into their buckets. Either way, a lot of blueberry picking (and eating) was done…the best parts were that it was just down the road from our house and that we shared it with friends.
Jonas, Xander, and I went to the Lego Club at the library this morning (while Daddy spent some one on one time with Roman). It was really cool to see so many boys and so many Legos all in one place. The boys created and built to their hearts’ content and had fun doing it…we will definitely be going back!
Jonas, Xander, and Daddy ran a Gatorade Stand this afternoon in our driveway (while Roman helped Mommy make some “basagna”). The beautiful sunny day, super low price, and contagious waves and smiles from three cute boys made it a success!!!
