First S'mores!

This weekend the boys had their first s'mores experience. It was a lot of fun for them to help Mark build a fire and watch it grow bigger and brighter as the sky grew darker. They got to roast their own marshmallows, though they only had the patience to hold their poles for about 30 seconds before deciding they were too tired for such a job and handed them over to us. We let them stay up late so they could get the full effect of the fire, and also so they could watch the stars. Just one more thing we can cross off our summer bucket list.

Watching Mark start the fire.

As Mark stoked the fire, sparks flew up, which the boys thought were really cool.

Concentrating hard on eating their s'mores and watching the fire.

Back on the (Routine) Bandwagon

Now that our lives are getting back to normal after all the moving and house projects of the past several months, I've been finding more time and mental energy to get my life organized. Three  ways I do this are by setting up a daily routine, a weekly routine and with a habits chart for the boys. I'm sharing my routines and charts in the hopes that others might see some good ideas they can use. I've actually gotten many of my ideas from friends, blogs, or books, so I can't take credit for much of what you're about to read!

Daily Routine

It may seem excessively orderly for someone to schedule out their day, but there are several reasons why I've found I need to form a routine for my day and write it down:

• There are several things I'd like to do in a given weekday that if not scheduled will never get done, or at least won't get done with any regularity. Some 'necessities' I've scheduled in my day are reading to the boys for 30 mins, cleaning the house, and taking a walk with the boys (which all three of us desperately need daily!)
• It keeps the boys on a routine so they always know what to expect.
• It helps me involve the boys in my daily life - When it's time to clean, we are all in the same room working on different tasks. When it's time to make dinner, the boys are often in the kitchen with me washing or chopping vegetables or just playing. 
• It helps me set aside time to play with them - If I know I've already scheduled time to clean the house and do other things I need to do, then I can take the time to focus on them with a calm heart.
• It takes the stress out of figuring out what to do next or how to fill large amounts of 'empty time' in a day.
• By scheduling cleaning and other chores during the day and involving the boys, it ensures that I have naptime free. I always have a few things to finish up or pick up, but for the most part, the boys' naptime is my quiet time to sit with a book or Bible study and recharge for the rest of the day.

Finally, I should note that my routine has been made for me, not me for my routine. It is pretty rare that I follow the schedule exactly from one day to the next. But it is there for me if I need it.

Here are some helpful tips if you're interested in making a daily routine:

1. Pay attention to the chunks of your day that seem to flow well, and figure out why they flow well. Do you like it when you make it to the gym by 9:30am so you can head over to the grocery store before lunchtime? If that's important to you, schedule it in.

2. Pinpoint 3-4 main tasks you'd like to get done in a given day (such as going for a run, cleaning your house, spending 15 minutes quality time with your kids, family worship, etc) and structure your routine around those.

3. For some, it's ideal to schedule a routine around mealtimes. We like to aim to have meals around the same time every day, so it was easy for me to build my routine around those anchors in my day. 

4. Pay attention to when your children like to do certain activities. For example, I've learned that my kids are full of energy early in the morning after waking up, so giving them free play right after breakfast is perfect for them. After goofing around together for 10-15 minutes, they are ready to settle down for reading time. After 15 minutes of sitting still, they're ready to ride their bikes down the street.

Weekly Routine

It's taken a few weeks of trying  and tweaking routines, but I think I've finally hit on one that works perfectly for our family (at least for right now!). I arrived at this schedule the same way I arrived at my daily schedule: I decided on things that needed to get done in a given week (like cleaning the house, going to the grocery store, doing an art project with the kids, etc) and scheduled them into my week. Then I moved them around the week depending on other 'anchor' activities (such as a Wednesday morning Bible study and a Thursday Stay & Play). 

The best thing about scheduling errands and cleaning days is that I only have time to do them once per week. This means that I don't waste time making multiple trips to the grocery store in a week and I don't vacuum the floors every third day, because those things have a designated time. And just like my daily schedule, there are plenty of times that I deviate from this weekly routine, but I like knowing it's there to follow when I need it. 

Habits Chart

Almost one year ago to this week, I started a 'habits chart' with Tommy to help him learn to go through his morning and evening routines on his own. We've neglected doing this for so long, but I was recently encouraged both by a friend and by this book to get back in the habit.

I designed this chart so that both Tommy (who is almost 4) and Ben (who is  2½) could use it with ease, and so that one routine could serve for both morning and bedtime. When they get all eight boxes marked (which is four days' worth of morning/night routines), they are rewarded with a family date to our local frozen yogurt shop. Right now I have to go through the whole routine with them, but the goal is that eventually they will be able to do the full routine on their own, and then the rewards will slowly fade out so that we're not having frozen yogurt twice a week (not that I should complain about that). Tommy is already able to do each 'habit' himself, but he still needs encouragement to stay on task. 

I know that charts and scheduling is not for everyone, but if your days are feeling disorganized and chaotic, it may be worth a try. And if you're feeling truly lost and don't know where to begin to organize your time, ask God for wisdom and He will be faithful to help you.

This Kid...

...has reached the age of guns. He will make a gun out of anything. Our best guess is that he learned about guns from watching Wall-E, where the EVE character tries to blast Wall-E with her laser gun. He doesn't realize yet that guns normally shoot bullets and hurt people (I think we'll leave that part out for awhile). 


In Tommy's world, guns usually shoot water or fire, and they're used against imaginary "bad guys", or the brothers will take turns being bad guys. I have no idea where he learned about the concept of 'bad guys' -- maybe just more innate knowledge that surfaces once boys turn 3½? This is his latest invention, a "water sprayer" made of Tinkertoys.

Weekend

This weekend we did a whole lot of nothing, for a change. We all slept in, made our way to the bagel shop, then moseyed over to the farmer's market. I didn't really need anything except a few pounds of blueberries to freeze before the season ends, but we went for the atmosphere: the sound of the local musician playing on the acoustic guitar, the smell of freshly popped kettle corn, people milling about and chatting, and the occasional toddler squeaking, "ButIwannacookie!" (not mine, of course. My children would never do such a thing.) The boys got honey sticks and played on the train tracks. The rest of the day was just as relaxing: some combination of naps, reading books together, a family lunch date to Chili's, and chasing each other around the house.


Sunday was a repeat of Saturday - the boys slept in while I made my traditional Sunday big breakfast.  We spent the morning at church and returned home for naps. In the afternoon, the boys helped me make dinner, and then played outside until bedtime.  It was a nice, slow, easy afternoon, and the ideal weekend for us.

How To Build a Sandbox...

...in just nine easy steps.

Step 1: Decide on a 8 ft. by 8 ft. area where you want your sandbox, and shovel out all the lava rock (about a half ton worth).

Step 2: After lava rock is cleared away, dig the area down 6 in.

Step 3: Pickaxe (and wife) may be required to break up rocky soil and tree roots.

Step 4: Measure, cut, and join framing together. 

Step 5: Tack landscaping fabric along the bottom of the frame to keep the sand up and the weeds down.

Step 6: Test the payload capacity of your truck by hauling 1.25 tons.

Step 7: Add brace benches while warding off children eager to play in sand.

Step 8: Dump in 1 ton of sand. Be sure to clear the area of children first.

Step 9: Play in sand to see how it feels. Decide you need another half-ton of sand.

Done!

How We Spent Our 4th

Eating popcorn and waiting for the parade to begin. Ben was a social butterfly and kept visiting all the people who sat around us on the curb.

The boys loved seeing the old car show that preceded the parade.

Fire trucks parade! 

Some dancing at home after naps.

And some wrestling on the floor. These boys so often remind me of puppies.

Sitting in the back of our truck waiting for the fireworks to begin. For some reason, popcorn was a very big part of the day.

We had a fun fourth enjoying some of the traditions we started last year with the boys. They loved seeing the fireworks, and Tommy kept calling them "rockets that go to space". Amazingly, they actually stayed awake for the whole show and didn't fall into bed until 10:30pm! 

Blueberry Muffin Boys

For the last few days, Tommy has been whining and begging asking to help me cook something. So, one morning I decided to have the boys help me bake these amazing blueberry muffins. Tommy is actually becoming truly helpful. Besides doing the normal measuring, pouring, and mixing, he was able to fill each cup with blueberry muffin batter, press the extra blueberries into the batter, and sprinkle the top with turbinado sugar, all without much supervision. Ben is not so helpful, that is, unless it's a help that he eats half a cup of the blueberries you need for the muffins. We made a double batch and distributed many muffins among our family and some friends we saw later that morning. (Note to those who may have received some of our muffins - the boys' hands were washed and they only licked measuring spoons after the ingredients were mixed. I think.)

 

Sneaking blueberries and yogurt 

Ben's 'victory smile' after sneaking some yogurt

Ben's job was sprinkling turbinado sugar on top of the muffins. He kept muttering "speetle, speetle", which is how he says "sprinkle". So cute!

Lately, instead of smiling, Tommy gives me his 'monster face' and growls at me. Lovely.

Father's Day

It's Father's Day here in the commercialized industrialized world. Yes, I'm choosing to celebrate, even if it is a 'made up' holiday, to take advantage of the opportunity to point out to my boys all the ways their daddy is special. Of course I do this every day, but it is fun to single out one day to pay extra special attention to their dad, and do fun art projects aimed at making Daddy feel extra appreciated.

Just like my Mother's Day post, I chose an assortment of photos with parent and child for this entry. But unlike my Mother's Day post, I had different reasons for choosing these photos with Mark and his boys. Here I chose photos that reminded me of what a loving, hardworking, and faithful father Mark is.

I love this look of pure joy as Mark holds his firstborn son, just about two minutes old, for the first time.

I selected this photo not because it looked like Mark was having fun as a dad (he wasn't), but because he was being a good dad by letting the boys climb all over him at the end of a hard work day, when all he really wanted was a nap.

Sleeping with baby Ben while I got things done around the house.

No cute story behind this one. I just think Mark looks cute holding his little buddy. :)

Snuggling a sick Benji at the doctor's office. Mark has gone to every single one of the boys' doctor appointments, well checks and sick visits alike.

Being goofy with Ben - I love that Mark is childlike and silly with his kids.

From our vacation in Carmel, which was at the time a very unpleasant experience since we had a 20-month old and a 5-month old. But Mark was cheerful and patient throughout and made the memories of the vacation enjoyable to recall.

Mark and Tommy, sitting together in their favorite chair, after doing yard work together. Actually, Mark was doing all the work, and Tommy was just crawling around in the dirt, dragging a rake behind him. To this day, Tommy still loves to "help" Daddy do yard work and is actually starting to become somewhat of an actual help. Mark takes the effort to include his boys in whatever work he can, and finds small ways they can help (even if they're not really helping).

Happy Father's Day, Mark! I'm so proud that you are the father to my children. Our world needs more fathers like you.

Don't Ever Wonder...

why boys get hurt so much. I found Tommy and Ben doing being quite inventive with some of their toys this morning:

Father's Day Preview

As I was sorting my photos from this past weekend, I found one that looked familiar. The top one is from August 2008, the bottom from June 2010. 

Ben - 2 Years, 4 months

My last update about you was six months ago, at 22 months. Looking back at that entry, I see that not much has changed. You still love the color green, still love Goodnight Moon (which you call "Nigh' Boon"), still hate veggies and love meat. You still are in love with Bambi and you still love to stack things. So what's new?

Your Hammer - With the exception of Blankie, your toy hammer (seen in this photo below, with the orange handle) is by far your favorite object in the universe. So many times during the day I hear, "Where my hammer is?" You like to bang on random objects throughout the house to hear the sound they make and to see what my face looks like, depending on what the object is.

Your Mommy - For some reason that Daddy and I haven't been able to figure out, you can only be comforted by me. You love to wrestle with, be chased by, and be tickled by Daddy, but when it comes to boo-boos, you don't want anyone else to pick you up except me. This normally wouldn't present a problem, except for when Daddy is the one who has to discipline you...then being chastised by Daddy and comforted by Mommy is not an acceptable scenario. To try to fix this, we've been having Daddy-Benji and Mommy-Tommy dates on Saturday mornings. You get Daddy all to yourself for 1-2 hours while Tommy and I hang out together. The change in your relationship with Daddy was immediate and noticeable. There is still lots of room for improvement, but I'm happy that we're on the right track.

Your Cuteness - Oh, my, you have somehow mastered the art of being cute. This makes discipline challenging because you know when you're doing something wrong and you know just the cutest face to put on when I find you out. Your Cute Face never succeeds in saving your bottom from its judgement, but it has come close many times, and I often have to use all of my willpower not to smile when you're being naughty.

Your Curiosity - Speaking of being naughty...you have a funny way of getting into everything. You don't even seem to realize the path of destruction you pave as you track dirt all over the floor as you look through the house for me, spill water everywhere as you help yourself to a drink from fridge, break a potted plant as you try to "help" it by moving it to another windowsill, upset Nemo's bucket of dog food while trying to "help" feed him, scatter rice across the counter as you try to "help" me measure...I could go on. You're such a curious little guy and even your messes bring a smile to my face and delight me (even if they may not in the moment).

You're my sweet Benji and I love you so much. I'm looking forward to seeing your personality shine through as you grow nearer to three years old.