Fun with Family

Josh's sister, Vanessa has been in town this past week. So we've been out doing some fun stuff in the area. The kids have been having a great time with cousin Victoria. We went to the Henry Ford Museum. The kids' favorite part is the Oscar Meyer WeinerMobile area. The green screen pic is all of them dancing against a green screen and then the video monitor showed them dancing in an 80s MTV music video. They love to be the hot dog in the bun. We also went to a fun splash day where the city set up giant slip and slides and had a firetruck spray water down like a huge sprinkler. Lots of fun!

When in pain, organize!

So, as I mentioned before, Wyatt (our family dog) passed away a little over a week ago. He died on Thursday and on Friday Josh's mom offered to take the kids to Sidney to see my parents and play with their cousin, Victoria. We jumped on it because I thought that sounded like the perfect distraction after losing a pet. Plus, Josh and I are never going to give up a free weekend to ourselves! =) Also, Josh are I were kind of upset ourselves and sort of needed some to deal with losing Wyatt. (I know that sounds silly, it surprised us too. But he was just such a good dog!) Anyways, with a weekend with no kids and a little bit a grief, what would there be to do besides organize? So I did and my wonderful husband helped.

I had also mentioned in a previous blog that my kids NEVER clean their playroom. So I had taken away all of their toys for about a month. Seriously, ALL of them. I know this sounds cruel. But I needed to hit them where it hurt. And I still remember being 5 and my dad taking away all of our toys, puting them in garbage bags and sitting them on the roof for, I swear, like a month! (My mom doesn't remember it the same way, but i swear it happened) Needless to say, my brothers and I did not actually die of boredom, but we did learn that when my parents said "clean up your toys, or you'll lose them" ... they were serious! So my kids lost their toys for a while. I decided the point had been made and that is was time to bring the toys back. But I wanted to do it in a way that would make it easier for them to clean up so that they wouldn't get quite so overwhelmed. I sorted through all of the toys, got a couple boxes full to take to Goodwill. (I was serious about them losing some of them for good) And I organized the rest in a way that should be pretty manageable to maintain. The main thing is that I put all the buckets with lots of pieces and smaller toys locked away in a cabinet so that the kids have to ask to get them out. This way they can't just dump stuff. I also do picture labels on the containers and shelves so that the kids know where everything goes. Tip: I attach the labels with stick on velcro so that the labels can be removed pretty easily. This was very helpful this last weekend when I was reorganizing because I could move labels to different containers easily as I moved toys around based on our new needs (since I had gotten rid of a lot) The only downside to this system is that Isaac sometimes picks the velcro backing off the containers and has eaten a few pieces. So here is our playroom. I posted several pictures because some people have asked to see pictures of our house and I never really posted any because the house is kind of ugly, very 1961. So here is our playroom, notice all the lovely wood paneling? Maybe someday I'll post pics of the rest of our outdated crib. =)

sad day

Today was a tough day. Our 7 year old dog named Wyatt has been acting kind of lethargic lately. We took him to a vet hospital on Saturday because he was breathing rapid, shallow breaths. They said he just seemed anxious and sent us home. So this afternoon he started vomiting blood. We took him back to the vet and they did a chest scan and his lungs were full of cancer. He was struggling to breathe and there was really no treatment. So, Josh had him put to sleep. I'm so thankful Josh was able to rush home and take care of Wyatt. He was able to sit with him and hold him while they put him to sleep. The kids are having a rough time. I think Josh and I are having a rougher time. Wyatt was our kid before we had kids. And he was a really good dog. I took pictures of the kids with Wyatt before Josh took him to the vet, because I just had a feeling. And I'm so glad I did. I printed the pictures for the kids and they are holding them and it seems to have calmed them down. Seth just keeps crying and looking at his picture and saying "My good dog, Wyatt, your life will be treasured forever." (Seriously, is he five or twenty-five?) Anyways, I think it's going to be a pizza and movie night. And I will allow us all to eat as much candy as we want to deaden the pain. sigh....

True Beauty... and The Beast

Beauty:

So a couple days ago I was fixing Lilah's hair and she said (in her angelically sweet and deceiving voice), "Mommy, when you are done fixing my hair, I will be beautiful, won't I?" Now let me interject here by saying that Lilah is recently VERY into hair, makeup, jewelry, clothes, and anything girly and fabulous. Who can blame her really? But I want her concept of self to be based on who she really is as a child of God, and not so much on how she fixes herself up. So I thought it would be a good teachable moment to remind her of this truth. I responded with, "Well, you know Lilah, your hair will be lovely when it's fixed. But you are beautiful even when you don't have your hair fixed. It's not really hair, or makeup, or clothes that makes a woman beautiful. Do you know what is the most important thing to be beautiful?" She placated me by acting interested and said, "what mommy?" I said, "The thing that makes a woman the most beautiful is having a happy heart and a sweet spirit." Lilah did not even think about it. She immediately cocked her head to the side, stuck her hand on her hip, and looked at me while shrieking, "what?! Are you crazy?!"

I looked at my dad (who was in the room and had heard the whole exchange). His eyes were wide and he almost couldn't breathe as he worked to stifle his laugh. Apparently, I am crazy. I think we have a ways to go on this issue. =)

The Beast:

Isaac sleeps in a crib because he's only 20 months. I should say, slept in a crib. Yesterday I put him down for a nap and he never went to sleep. I could hear him babbling, but he was EXHAUSTED so I left him in there hoping he would eventually fall asleep. At one point I heard something hit the wood floor in his room. It sounded like a small toy, but I didn't think much of it because he sometimes has little toys that he hides in his crib. I figured he had just dropped a toy out of his crib, because he was still happily babbling. So I left him in there, still hoping he would fall asleep. About an hour later, I gave up and went to his room to get him out of bed. I found Isaac sitting on top of his changing table, wearing his shoes, and playing with a model car that was on the top of the built in shelves near the changing table. The changing pads were on the floor, as was a canvas picture that had been near his crib. My little (or not so little) beast of a boy had climbed out of his crib, used the canvas picture to climb across the wall to the changing table, where he put on his shoes and then climbed the shelves to get a car, after which he sat happily on top of the changing table for about an hour until I went up to get him. Seriously, it's like he's a 30 pound, wall climbing, beast baby that cannot be contained! So, needless to say, last night the crib got disassembled and stored in the basement. His room has been completely child-proofed. He is now sleeping in a pack n play because it's a shorter drop to the floor when he climbs out. We have put a video baby monitor in his room so that I can watch him and door knob covered his bedroom door so that he can't escape and kill himself on one of the stair cases while we sleep. An extra tall, vertical, and permanent baby gate has been ordered for the staircase and we will be looking for a toddler bed. My adorable beast baby gets me on my toes. As you can tell, I am not always ready to stay a step ahead of him.