We had a crafty afternoon today since it was so muggy outside. We’ve had quite a few days this summer that are kind of like winter (because you’re stuck inside) except we’re in shorts & t-shirts. Anyway, I digress. The boys wanted to make something with the Popsicle sticks in my “craft box” so I suggested puppets. They picked the colors, I cut the shapes, they did the gluing. Both of them had a blast. Then we sent photos to their grandmas & daddy. I love my day job.
Apparently my boys were craving some lake fun today. I was painting the shed and all of a sudden I heard Lincoln shout, “Hit it!” Then Nolan turned the crank on something that made a clicking sound.
I turned around to find this: a striped sheet was tied to the upper part of the playset (the ski rope,) the lawnmower (the boat ignition/throttle) was laying on the playset platform, and two tennis rackets were next to each other on the grass (skis.) Good to know they’ve picked up the ski/tube lingo.
Nolan reenacted the scene so I could capture a couple of pictures.
Jake took the boys to see the annual Antique Car Run that finishes at a park near our house. They brought their chairs, bucket hats, and road trip books to pass the time until the cars came. Looks like they also picked up a few refreshments to keep themselves hydrated while they waited. 🙂
This afternoon I was sitting in the living room with Little Miss and talking on the phone with my friend, Sarah. Meanwhile, the boys were sitting at the dining room table coloring “hidden pictures” pages with markers. Sounds innocent enough, right? I mean, I was in the adjoining room and could see their heads over the back of the love seat. Unfortunately, it blocked my full view of them. If only I had known they were not only coloring hidden pictures, but were using their own bodies as canvases.
Check out the detail on Nolan’s feet!
For the record, I waited to take photos of them because I couldn’t let on that what they had done was absolutely hilarious! While they were technically using markers labeled “washable,” this particular set is hardly that. I ended up Googling “remove marker from skin” and found a suggestion for rubbing alcohol. That, combined with a super bubbly bath, seems to have done the trick. Of course all of this happened while I was single-parenting tonight. Jake missed out on all of the fun!
My mom took the boys for the day so I could get a few things done around the house – like putting my furniture back in order after our new front window was installed last Friday. While they were there, they captured a mouse (or shrew) that had somehow gotten into the house. Nolan saw it first. It wasn’t until the little thing scurried out from the corner and down the steps, that my mom caught a glimpse of it too. The rodent managed to find its way to the “fort” room under the stairs and was essentially trapped. The boys danced around in the doorway and sang “No, mouse, no!” to keep it from getting out of the room until my mom came back with a butterfly net to catch it. They released the frightened animal in the backyard and had quite a story to tell Papa (my dad) and Uncle Tony when they had dinner together that night.
While Nolan was re-telling their adventures from the day, he got to the part about the mouse/shrew going downstairs and how apparently “There’s just all this crap along the wall” down there. At that point, my brother just about lost it. Not only did Nolan use the 4-letter word correctly in context, but he said it so nonchalantly that my mom had to ask my brother if he said what she thought he had said.
Unfortunately, I’m to blame for letting that one slip around the kids. A few too many toys pushed me to the brink a while back and I uttered a phrase similar to the one Nolan used. Guess he filed it away for a time such as tonight. At least he was with family 🙂
After dropping off some of our windows at Settergren Hardware (to be re-glazed,) Nolan asked me: “Mommy, when I get older, can I work for Uncle Mark at the hardware store?” Lincoln chimed in, “I want to work for Uncle Mark, too!”
Lincoln takes after me. He loves pickles.
We had great success growing cucumbers last summer and I tried making pickles for the first time. (I made and refrigerator-canned several pints, but didn’t get to enjoy many because one of my sons decided to tinker with the basement fridge temperature knob and turned the entire thing off without us knowing…but I digress.) They were ok, but I want to try another recipe the next time I attempt to make them again. Anyway…Lincoln is extremely excited about the cucumbers we’re growing again this year. He’s so anxious for them to grow that when we were in the produce section of the grocery store today, he told me, “My pickles haven’t hatched yet!”
We had our first wasp sting of the summer tonight.
The boys were playing outside, eagerly anticipating the rising waters in kiddie pool, when Nolan started screaming while holding his neck. Lincoln followed suit soon after. We shuttled both boys inside and quickly determined that Nolan had been stung by something (and Lincoln was screaming sympathetically.) Jake went out to the swing set and discovered that wasps had built a nest inside one of the pipes.
He came back in to check on the boys and before going out to take care of the nest, told Nolan, “I’m going outside because the wasps are afraid of me.”
Nolan responded in complete seriousness, “They’re afraid of me too and they tried to eat me!”
Jake could hardly contain himself!
There are a few downsides to becoming more mobile and trying new things. Ingrid had an unfortunate run-in (more like flop-on) with one of the plastic toy bins this afternoon. She was attempting to pull up on it from a slight kneeling/tummy position, lost her grip, and hit the edge of it with her cheek. I wasn’t able to catch her in time 🙁 Poor baby girl. (Good thing it was a rounded edge, but still…) She has now joined the shiner ranks alongside Nolan and Lincoln.
So it seems our little miss has really taken off on her moving & climbing. She gets where she wants to go by rolling everywhere. She is very close to crawling and has been pulling up on things like the laundry basket and just tonight, was I found her kneeling next to her crib rail. I had placed her in her crib (sitting) while I went in to her brothers’ room to kiss them good night and when I returned to our room, there she was, smiling with her little head poking up over the rail. She was so proud of herself 🙂
Now I have to keep her up up long enough for Jake to get back from the gym so he can help me lower her mattress. Her eyelids are getting heavy…not sure she’ll make it!
