Tumble Dry Low

We basically celebrated the last real day of summer today. Our neighbor boys leave for vacation on Sunday and the neighbor girls start school on Tuesday. We're having a bbq/party for the neighbor boys tomorrow, so today was the last pool day with all five big(ish) kids. 

We will miss these summer days. What easier way to wear out a handful of kids than with a plastic pool and a garden hose in the hot sun. And I get to hang out in a lawn chair with an iced Pepsi and acquiring a nice tan and chit chat with my neighbor mom friends all the while. This fall/winter I actually have to use my imagination and energy and supplies to keep them entertained. Boo.


Though I suppose I could throw them into the pool when it's 40 degrees out and blowing 294mph winds. Wouldn't that make for an interesting blog post...and following jail visit.

And also today, Camden locked Jersey in the dryer. I didn't even realized he had done it until I walked into the kitchen and saw her wide eyed staring at me through the window.

Jersey had met her match

Pool Pirates

Calen was outside with his neighborhood friends for FIVE AND A HALF HOURS today in the hot sun playing in the water. Four hours of which were running down the redneck slip n slide (including using up two full bottles of dish soap to add to the "slip" part of the slip n slide). We retired that old painters tarp today, after two different multi-day slip n slide events with heavy use with five kids, two babies, a dog and one adult (I was totally that one adult. I was only one immature awesome enough to throw myself down it and nurse ice packs and Advil in the evenings), that tarp was torn and full of holes and it was time for it to hit the trash. But I think we got our $10 worth out of that thing.

After the non-ceremonial burying of the slip n slide, we pulled the also-torn-apart pool up to the front yard and Calen and Kyle continued their water marathon (the other kids had thrown in the towel by then). I'm pretty sure these two have grown gills and flippers after the countless hours they've spent in the water this summer. Today they had "pirate boats" (inflatable seat things) and had sword fights until one pirate would knock the other "overboard". 

Calen was so dumbfoundedly exhausted after I finally dragged him inside from overexposure to the sun/water/outdoors that as he ate dinner he threw up (thankfully, into his plate) after faking to gag on cheese covered broccoli. (Rolls eyes). I decided it was bedtime right then and there. We put on jammies and I laid in his bed to sing him a song and he was snoring by the time I had finished. It was 6:15.

Endnote: Kyle exclaimed to me that today was "such a good day" which then he later said that "it's the best day ever." Which to me filled my heart with joy. Because nothing makes me happier than giving kids fantastic memories. Especially if all it involves is painter's tarp, a cheap plastic pool and a garden hose. Awww, what a mushy mushy moment. 

Pirates. Calen actually won this sword battle and knocked Kyle off.

 

Wordless Wednesday (With Words)

It's my favorite time of day! 

Everyone thinks I'm crazy because the boys go to bed at 7-7:30 each night. I think they are just jealous because I have so much free time in the evening. Besides, if my kids are going to get up at 6:30am every morning regardless of whether they go to bed at 7pm or 10pm, they're going to go to bed earlier so I can have more time to watch Bones and waste an entire evening on Pinterest.

 

Legos and Used Watermelon

Nothing says "thank God it FINALLY decided to get back to summer around here (just in the knick of time for it to end) like another pool party with the neighbors and eating watermelon with your brother. 

Nothing says "eating watermelon" to Camden than stealing other kids' used watermelon rinds. Apparently used rinds tasted better. He even rejected a nice, fresh juicy slice of new watermelon for the used ones. Oh well, sharing is caring. 

Brothers and watermelon

And also, Calen really seems to be getting into his Legos lately (even more so than he already was). He's getting pretty good at it too, for a 3 year old with limited amount of Legos. Here's his castle he made today 100% on his own.

Did I mention how thankful I am that Calen is into Legos? Which means I get to play with Legos all the time again? YES. 

 

Not Your Mama's Tuna

Rain day four. Which means that today I finally surrendered and threw the kids in front of the tv for the majority of the day. Calen is fighting a cough anyways (and Camden was fighting a nap) so they had lovely marathons of Super Why, Shark Week and Finding Nemo while I cleaned the kitchen screwed around with Pinterest recipes. One in particular caught my eye today: Tuna Salad Wraps - but better!

The instant thought of tuna makes my lips curl and my tongue goes a little numb. I'm so bored of tuna. We buy a lot of it because a) it's cheap and b) it's easy to prep and c) it's fairly healthy. And when I think of tuna, I think of the basic tuna recipe that everyone's mom/grandma/every relative in the history of ever makes: Tuna, mayo, pickles. If it's an especially exciting day, add cheese and bread. It's like eating a sandwich the consistency of cat food. Ugh, I'm so over it. And yet in my pantry sits no less than ten thousand cans of tuna that Brad and I both forget to eat.

Until I saw this recipe! It added lots of veggies and flavor and had the promise of helping all those cans of tuna disappear. I made this the other day. It was SO good and the amount of flavor was surprising! Today is the second time I made it, and I tweaked the original recipe, so here's my version of what I call Fiesta Tuna Wraps.

Please note: I also doubled the recipe so that I'd have a convenient insta-lunch for tomorrow. 

2 cans tuna
2/3 of a red bell pepper
2 tsp mustard
2 green onions
4 tbsp canned corn (drained)
2 baby dill pickles, diced - I know, the dill pickles seem really weird in this recipe. But trust me. It's good.
4 tbsp mayo - I make them heaping tbps. Because I am a mayo lover.
Lemon juice (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
Tortillas
Lettuce or spinach

what you need to make Fiesta tuna! (except for the clorox cleaner in the background. You don't need that.)

Slice and dice veggies. Throw into bowl. Open and drain cans of tuna and dump the tuna in the bowl.

 Put the drained tuna juice into the dog bowls to make them happy dogs. 

lusting over the tuna smell

 ....give some to the cat too. Talk about a peanut gallery.

Moocher.

Add everything else except for the tortillas and lettuce/spinach. Stir. Now that doesn't look like your Mama's tuna, does it?  

Lay some lettuce or spinach on a tortilla. Glob the tuna mix onto the tortilla. Roll and enjoy! 

Seriously, best lunch ever! The flavors really POP and the veggies add lots of texture. The calories would be low too IF you dared not put mayo on it. But mayo is where it's at in my house. And I count calories...all the way into my stomach!

 

 

New Recruits

I'm pretty sure it rains every weekend on purpose. So we didn't really do much today and even less to blog about.

Except at the end of the day when we went outside to watch the recruits march by like they do every Sunday. Then the neighbor boys came out and all three of them start marching up and down the sidewalk yelling "US COAST GUARD IS THE BEST!" I even saw some Company Commanders (drill sergeants) smile.

Future Coasties

Calenisms

Yesterday we are getting ready to go to Costco (a one hour drive). The portable dvd player is broken. Again. So it's going to be a long drive. Brad runs back in the house and grabs Calen's blankie and Puppy.

"Thanks! Now I won't be crabby. I just fine now."

Well thank goodness....

And then today, he is playing with his Legos. His favorite lego piece is a little cannon (he calls it a rocket) that shoots this little red missile thing. Half the time he doesn't even build anything, he just walks around with his "rocket" shooting things like a gun. Which is what he was doing today. 

"I put rocket in my pocket see?"

Nevermind that his pants do in fact have actual pockets. 

Gangsta with a gun in his waistband.

  

Costco Run

When we go to Costco, we make it count. After all, it's a million mile drive round trip. Or pretty close to it. 

Yes yes, there are many different wholesale stores closer to us that we could go to instead of taking the trek to Costco. But WHAT is the fun in that? Besides, I would miss my Kirkland Brand AND my $1.50 amazing-licious hot dog and free soda. Yummm. 

So that's what we did today when Brad got off work. We trekked to Costco to get two months worth of necessities. Sadly, we get excited about Costco runs. It's like a big fun family outing...to a wholesale store. 

P.S...TARGET is next door, hello? And since there is no Target within 45 minutes of Cape May, if I am close to one, I am required to go inside it. (And I did today, and I got Camden new sneakers for fall on clearance for $6.50! Sa-weet!)

Jersey investigates our Costco run. There's a lot more buried in that pile than the picture shows.

 

Ice Cream Non-Social

It's the second day in a row where I have a massive headache, plus I'm running on four hours of sleep no thanks to Cam throwing a party in his crib in the middle of the night last night, so this is staying brief. 

Today was the Ice Cream Social on base. Basically a little family shindig thrown by the Wives to meet new people and give our kids free ice cream. 

We planned on attending but Camden was in the middle of a World Record nap (4.5 hours) and because of his extra-curricular activities last night, I wasn't about to wake him. But I felt bad because I had promised Calen ice cream on base today. So I asked him if it was okay if we had ice cream in our back yard instead. And he said okay. I probably could have told him that we were going to eat it on the surface of the sun and he would have said "okay," as long as there was ice cream involved. 

So, we pulled out the vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and sprinkles, and let him have at it. 

It was a nice little ice cream "non"-social. 

 

Puppy

Both of my boys (like most slightly normal children I'm sure) have "lovies". You know, those imperative random items that the kids have to sleep, eat, play, and travel with and God forbid you lose or forget said lovie, because then the entire day is ruined (until the lovie reunion happens). 

Camden's lovie is his snuggly white and blue blankie that his godparents gave him when he was born. He loves it SO much that we actually bought a second one to keep in the car or swap with the dirty one. 

Calen's first lovie is his nasty, torn up, older than dirt yellow blankie that was actually Brad's baby blanket. (and no matter how many beautiful, soft, adorable blankets I'd bring home, he'd still gravitate towards this one). But, it's so destroyed that I'm embarrassed to take it anywhere so we've managed to wean him off of it except during bedtime. 

But it's his other lovie that is the eyebrow raiser. His name is Puppy.

Puppy is...a puppy. A super soft, cuddly, floppy barely stuffed black and white puppy. Sounds normal, right? Except it's not actually a stuffed animal. 

It's a hot water bottle holder.

Puppy

My mom sent it to me almost two years ago when I was struggling with monthly woman pains. But I never got to use it for myself. Right out of the box, 18 month old Calen snatched up that puppy and never gave it back. Even though is has basically no stuffing and a velcro tummy, he just loved his new found friend that he named creatively, Puppy. And the older he got, the more he would leave his yellow blankie behind and get more attached to Puppy. It's ridiculous, but if it makes him happy and keeps me from having to drag around ugly yellow blankie all over Kingdom Come, then by all means, attach yourself to that water bottle holder!

Calen is old enough now where he doesn't have to take Puppy with him on errands or anything crazy. But long car rides and extended stays, forget it. Puppy is coming along. 

 

 

The First Date

I took a leap of faith and attempted Photoshop Lightroom. 


This is big for me. Photoshop and I have a very strained relationship. We hate each other (and Photoshop tries to kill me every other day or so) but we force ourselves to stay together (for the kids pictures, of course). But we've also agreed to an open relationship.

Lightroom is Photoshop's little brother and he and I had our first date today. It went well but now we're at that awkward point at the end of the date where we're not sure what happens next. Do we exchange phone numbers, do we go upstairs or do we run for our lives in opposite directions? Hmmmm.

This is my first attempt at Lightroom editing. We'll see if our relationship improves or dissipates as time goes on. 

My Camden. And Lightroom. And his eyes look green but are actually blue. Weird.

 

Consolation Prizes

I love driving 45 minutes to the nearest mall only to find out that the Disney Store (my destination) has shut down. Neat. And then I went on a search through various nearby department stores in search of a very specific sweater for Calen. Which apparently doesn't exist. Boo. 

But, I did find an awesome hat for Cam for $4 on clearance what what! And I got to go to Taco Bell and have the Doritos tacos which are AHmazing! AND Calen got to talk to his best "fwend" on the phone which was pretty much the cutest thing in the history of ever and I wish I could have recorded it. 

So I took said new hat and had Cam wander around the back yard while I took pictures. And of course all the best pictures were blurry because Camden knows when I'm about to take the best picture ever and he dodges right when I hit the shutter button on purpose. He's a turd. 

Tomorrow morning I plan on taking the kids and the camera and the hat to the playground to try again. 

 

The YAR! Sale

We had a yard sale today with our new neighbors. Because nothing says "welcome to the neighborhood" like throwing all our unwanted junk together on a tarp in the front lawn and stare at it for five hours discussing each item's entire life history while waiting for some sucker passerby to buy it for two dollars (if we're lucky). 

Yard sales are a big no-no for my kids. They are forbidden to step foot outside during the sale. Because if they did, this would happen:

"OOHHH! Mommy! Yook at all deese toys!! Mommy I 'ave dat and play with? Puhweeeeze?"

Even though he DOES "'ave dat" already. It's been sitting in the toy box for the last eight months without budging an inch. But if he sees it on the sidewalk glistening in the sun (and more importantly, available for some other kid to snatch away), it's suddenly new, fascinating and imperative that it go back in the house. 

So since my kids were absent (and so were my neighbors - for the same reason), and our older neighbor boys came out to investigate, we kidnapped them and used them for slave labor gave them a (to them) fun job of yelling at cars that there was a yard sale. 

Actually, this was their idea. But we didn't stop them. 

Then buddy Kyle decided that he was going to make a "yard sale" sign and tape it to his scooter and ride up and down the sidewalk. You know, mobile advertising. Smart kid. So he disappeared for a while to make his sign.

Future marketing director. Poor Kyle didn't even know why we were giggling.

And then he came out. Buddy Kyle forgot the "D" in "yard" so he paraded around the neighborhood with his sign that said "YAR SALE". Which I giggled about because in my head I envisioned a pirate yard sale where they sell old eye patches and hats and parrots and booty. Every sale should be a YAR! sale, they're much more exciting. And the remainder of the sale I would randomly say "YAR!" to myself and give myself a laugh.

Because that's how immature I am.  

------------------------

In the end, we did okay for a little throw-together YAR! sale. I made around $15 and my neighbor friend made over $30! Especially thanks to this old man and his CRAZY Puerto-Rican wife who came back FOUR times to buy things. We must have had some good stuff. But no pirate hats. Boo. 

 

 

Sidewalk Paint

Today was another cloudy rainy day (in the morning anyways) where it was too cold to swim or go to the beach, there was no one home to ride scooters with outside and the sand box wasn't especially enticing for whatever reason. And four hours into the day inside with the boys, we were all starting to get a little stir crazy.

I'm not really sure how we're going to survive this winter with my always-outside-three year old. It's cold and especially windy here so there's no real possibility of going outdoors. It's going to be ugly. One of us will probably end up being tied up in the closet. And it isn't going to be me. 

So today ended up being another one of those times where as the kids are whining, beating each other with toy trains and begging to go swim (okay so only one kid is doing that) I in a desperate leap for sanity throw open my laptop and try to find a quick Pinterest project that takes basically no effort. 

Here's an easy one that took literally five minutes to set up. 

Take a large bowl. Toss a box of constarch into it. Add water. Make a thick liquid out of it. Pour into squeeze bottles. Add food coloring. Go outside, squeeze on the sidewalk. That's it!

Please note: this is a play-clothes/swim suit activity. Food coloring stains something fierce! Especially when putting it in leaky squeeze bottles. 

Sidewalk paint

The sidewalk paint was a big hit. Calen made multi-colored puddles, shapes and squiggles. Then he and daddy ran with the bottles to make "roads". We made two full bottles so it lasted quite a long time for a quick project, maybe 25 minutes or so. 

And the best part is that just as quickly as it's created, it can be washed away by the garden hose or the next rain. Simple. Fun. Done. 

 

Super Calen Spider-Man

Calen lately has really been into dressing up as "Super Calen," involving his cape, mask, and very necessary super armbands. 

He can ride his bike now very well, but it's still not his favorite activity, probably because he still has to work pretty hard to pedal. But I still try to get him to practice every other day or so for a few minutes, with the hope that maybe by next spring we can take family bike rides around town. 

Today I tried to convince him to ride today but he really didn't want to, until I mentioned he could be a super hero riding his super hero Spider-Man bike. And I could be a bad guy and he could chase me. 

Done.

Jaws On The Beach

This is late tonight. And let me tell you why.

Cape May city offers FREE movies on the beach every Thursday night in August. Which means you bring a beach chair or blanket, plop your butt in the sand, and watch a movie out in the open with the ocean right next to you. And you know what they were playing tonight?

JAWS.

What better movie could have they picked to play on a beach in a beach town? We live in our own little Amity Island here, basically. So when I heard that I could watch Jaws will sitting 100 feet away from open ocean, I was like "Where are my flip flops let's DO THIS".

My new neighbor friend and I went kid-free. And it was awesome. Definitely the most awesome way to watch Jaws, ever. 

Jaws on the beach! Except you can't see the beach. But it's there! To the right.

And the best part was as the credits rolled the Mayor of Cape May got on the microphone and announced "and for your information the beaches WILL be open tomorrow...." 

Good one Mayor, good one. 

"We're going to need a bigger boat." And also, a better camera phone.

And also: please forgive the absolute horrifying BAD quality of these photos. I forgot my camera and had to use my worthless camera phone. Boo. But proves I was there. 

Wordless Wednesday With Words

And this is how we watch Where the Wild Things Are. With train tracks. On our heads. 

my little Wild Thing

 

The Tampon Thief

I woke up this morning, opened Calen's door and found this.

Tampon Thief

 
Calen apparently had dug through the hallway closet. He had very carefully stacked as many tampons in the bed of his little pickup truck as could possibly fit. He promptly told me that there were "logs" in his truck. I didn't really know what to say except "yep, they sure are...".

Later in the day after the tampon raid we went to the local Farmer's Market. Unfortunately I'm a spoiled little Seattle brat that is used to very large farmer's markets all around the area and if those leave me unsatisfied, I can always resort to the nation's market mecca of Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle. So, this little Jersey market was kind of....sad, compared. But, I'll take what I can get, and I what I get is cheap, fresh veggies and a fun hour out of the house. 

Market fresh

And this is what I got for ten dollars! Three ears of corn, a large squash, four peaches, five jalapenos and half a loaf of homemade Italian artisan bread (with cheese, tomatoes, and herbs). Actually, the bread itself was $6. But, it was all that is divine and I would have paid $20 for it. What can I say, we love our carbs.

 
 

Funny Faces

These three (Hailey, Kyle and Calen) kept attempting to jump off the chairs and into the pool at the same time for a picture. It never really worked out, but in this shot all three of their faces is priceless.

And that's basically what we did today. We swam. We ate watermelon. We swam some more. I love summer.



 

Sand Babies

Today was another beach day blah blah blah fun in the sun blah blah blah our lives are terrible blah blah blah.

Actually I was extremely grateful for a beach day because the entire month of August has been rainy, stormy and generally poopy. Looking at the extended weather forecast, it's going to continue to be generally poopy, so for all we know every beach day could be our last of the season. 

And let's face it, there's nothing more enjoyable in the world New Jersey than swimming in the ocean on a beautiful summer day. 

My little sand babies

 

Cabin Fever

Yet another rainy stormy day today. What is going on around here? There has not been a clear sunny day yet this month. Outrageous. 

The weather did fool me though early in the afternoon and the clouds broke up a bit so Calen and I ran outside to play on the giant Slip n Slide I made a couple days ago. But, by the time his friends came out to play with him, the clouds rolled back in and the thunder had resumed (and a little too close for comfort at that) so all ran back inside. 

Time to once again dig through the Pinterest treasure box to see how I can entertain my bored preschooler that's trapped inside. 

Where WERE we without Pinterest??

This one was super simple and quick to put together. It's one of those "why the hell didn't I think of that?" projects. 

Take a baking dish (or some other kind of deep tray) and pour a layer of baking soda in it. Then take a few small dishes and pour small amounts of vinegar in each one, and put a few drops of food coloring in each one. Then give your kid an eye dropper and have them squeeze drops of colored vinegar into the baking soda and watch it bubble and fizzle. (also is a great fine-motor-skill project).


Note: Since we're dealing with food coloring, kid should be stripped down to underwear and have a smock or apron or some sort of anti-mess apparatus.

Fun with baking soda and colored vinegar.

This was a huge hit with Calen. He'd squirt it into the baking soda and then yell "WHOAAAA!! Hahahaha!" as it bubbled. It kept him occupied long enough for me to dust the living room and prep dinner (like 35 minutes) which is a long time for him when it comes to projects. 

bubbling and fizzing

And the best part is it's easy cleanup. Rinse everything off and throw it in the dishwasher. Done. (We also had put some butcher paper in the project area to prevent a larger mess)


We'll definitely be doing this one again. Maybe next time practice dropping it into shapes or letters or something. (And when he's older, explain the science of it).

It Rained Today So....

....This is what I spent my day doing.

Home made salsa! My first canning experience ever (I really hope I don't open it six months from now to find it green, moldy and smiling at me). My mom used to can peaches when I was a kid so I really hope I make her proud! Or at least moderately impressed.

Recipe:

- 10 bazillion tomatoes (from my yard)
- an onion
- jalapenos (I put in three. That was one too many. It was too HOT. And I like hot.)
- tomato paste (to thicken it up)
- a small amount of salt
- a spoonful of sugar (helps the medicine, go down!)
- a squirt of lemon
- cilantro 

Don't you love how exact I am? Hey, I'm not writing a cookbook here. I was literally just cruising through the cabinets and saying "hmmm, that looks interesting" and tossed some absurd amount of it in. 

I chopped up and threw everything (sans tomato paste) into the slow cooker and cooked on low for 3 hours. Then I blended. Then I added the paste because it was too watery (and I like THICK salsa). Throw in jars. Put in boiling water. Pray that it actually sealed. 

I actually did unscrew one lid and held up the entire jar by it's little flat lid part thing. So I'm pretty sure that means it's sealed. And I did follow canning instructions on the internet and the internet never lies...

How To Make a Redneck Slip N' Slide

Sometimes I impress even myself. This wasn't even a Pinterest project, just something that randomly popped in my head. I should give myself a raise! Or something.

Slip n Slides are fun.

They've been fun since I was a kid. Now, they come in various shapes, lengths, styles etc and some even come with accessories. 

Usually though, store-bought Slip n' Slides are cheap, but mediocre, short and boring. And they usually don't last more than one summer anyways. 

We totally have a store-bought Slip n' Slide and it's awesome only because it's Disney Cars themed. Otherwise It's kind of blah, at least for big kids (it's still amusing for my 3 year old). Why don't they make BIG Slip n' Slides for grownups or BIG kids?

Which got me thinking, why the hell shouldn't I MAKE my own Slip n' Slide? How hard could it be? It should only take a few simple steps to make your own epic slide. 

Step 1: Find a hill. So you don't really need a hill. But a hill makes it faster and easier to slide. Which is more fun. Conveniently we have a nice little hill or landfill or something on the side of our townhome.

Step 2: Find some plastic. I bought a 2-pack of thick painter's plastic at Home Depot for $18 (plus military discount, holla!). I used this stuff earlier this summer for a different awesome project and it's slippery when wet and can withstand a ton of abuse from kids. We used 1.5 of the rolls completely unfolded (though because I'm cheap and lazy I didn't cut the last half of the second roll off, I just wadded it up and turned it to the side of the slide to make a barrier). 

Redneck Slip n' Slide and neighbor buddy Kyle testing it out

Step 3: Barrier for the bottom. Because let's face it, no one wants to drag their wet bleeding child to the ER in the middle of a Slip N' Slide fest. This was tricky and took some trial and error for us. We ended up taking our cheap plastic pool (the kind with the ridiculous wobbly stiff walls) and folding down one side of it to create an opening to it. This way, the water collected in the pool, the kids would slide into it and the back side of the pool would stop the momentum. Brilliant.

Step 4: Water. We used two garden hoses, one attached to our stupid store bought Slip n' Slide on the side of the main one (because it had a built in sprinkler that sprayed water on the big plastic piece), and the other attached to a large sprinkler head at the top of the slide that oscillated and continuously poured water on the plastic. No constant water = Slip N' Bleed From Your Everything. 

Accessories are fun too. Like boogie boards.

Step 5: Slippy stuff. We wanted it more slippery so we used an exact combination of a bottle of Dawn dishsoap and a large can of Dollar Store shaving cream. Uber fast. Uber awesome. (especially when you smear shaving cream all over yourself and morph into a speeding human boblsed. And the good news is that you will be really, really clean). 

THESE three know how it's done!

And there you have it. It ain't pretty, but it it's extremely effective and FAR more fun than any stupid store-bought slide.

You wouldn't believe how many people were slowing down in their cars to watch us. We're quite a circus act. Can't say I blame them. You don't see that level of awesome every day.

AND I totally threw myself on this giant slip n slide multiple times, and it was a blast even for grownups. (I would like to announce that I was the ONLY grownup awesome enough to go on it.) Now as I'm sitting on the couch covered in ice packs and taking double doses of Advil, I remember that I am 28 and no longer five. Pain. But worth it. 

Today's slide crew. Calen, Kyle, Sydney, Hailey and Tyler

 

Wordless Wednesday...With Words

I'm SO glad it's Wordless Wednesday. Brad is still in recovery, the kids were extremely agitated about the entire world today and this is the first time I've sat down since 6:30am this morning (it's 9pm) and I'm so not interested in blogging.

We went to the beach with friends. And we had fun.

And this is how Camden likes to watch the dolphins. 

Strange.

 

Post-Op and the Upstairs Party

Brad had outpatient sinus surgery today. Which believe it or not isn't a big deal, we've done this rodeo once before. His nose is all bandaged up and he's on pain meds which make him super happy and talkative. Which is a lot like me except he's medicated and I'm not. Which makes me giggle. 

Doctor's orders were for Brad to rest, sleep upright, drink lots of water, take it easy blah blah blah. Which to me translates to: keep the kids away from Daddy while he recovers on the couch. 

But kids have built-in sonar radar for people who need peace, quiet, relaxation and not to be bothered. And that sonar radar triggers some sort of guided missile of energy that sends said kids straight to whoever is sick/injured, and assaults them with incessant questions (about nothing) and a thousand attempts to leap on them or use their defenseless bodies as a stadium or habitat for their monster trucks and dinosaurs. 

Which MEANS that I basically am tasked with keeping the kids completely out of the living room for the entire week.

Yee-haw!

We started off with running errands this afternoon, and while I tried to take my time in the stores (the longer we aren't home, the better), Camden was getting crabby so I finally had to surrender and go home. 

Once we got home I immediately shuffled the kids upstairs with the promise of having an "Upstairs Party" (whatever that means). So I locked the baby gate at the top of the stairs, locked the bathroom and master bedroom doors, and let the kids have free range of both the boys' rooms and the hallway.

Usually, the boys do not go in each other's rooms except right before bedtime so the prospect of being allowed to screw around and play was particularly exciting for them.



We spent most of the time in Calen's (larger) room. We set up the ball pit and the boys took turns running across the room and throwing themselves into it. (this is why boys are awesome). Calen and I colored in a coloring book and Cam had fun running from one room to another. I'm pretty sure Brad didn't actually get any "peace and quiet" downstairs, because it probably sounded like the entire second floor was going to collapse on top of him.

The boys kicking balls at each other

Then Calen looked out his window and saw his neighbor friends having a water gun battle outside, and said "LOOK! My FRIENDS I go play water?" Conveniently I had just purchased him a small Super Soaker on clearance today. So we ran outside and had an impromptu water fight. 

Drive by shooting.

Once that was over we went back upstairs and played with Calen's big quarry/construction site (and the boys even shared and were all nice about it), and then I pulled out this fun little Pinterest project for Cam that I had been saving for a rainy day. 

Construction Zone

Several months ago I bought a bag of maybe 50 very small colored foam blocks at the Dollar Store. I then took an old baby formula can (the big wholesale ones) and on the lid cut out a square hole just slightly bigger than the blocks, so that it's not impossible for the blocks to fit through the hole, but it still takes a small amount of coordination. The idea obviously is to put the blocks one by one through the hole and into the can. It's supposed to help hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills blah blah blah. I figured it would either frustrate Cam or bore the crap out of him within 30 seconds, but it was worth a shot. 

Apparently this is the best little game in the history of Camden's short little life. He sat on the floor and carefully put the blocks into the can one by one for probably two hours. Once he filled it up, I would take the lid off and empty it out, and he would sit down and start over again. He was having so much fun that even when I came upstairs with a picnic dinner of grilled cheese and peaches for the boys (their favorites), he refused to eat and continued playing. I attempted to take away his "game" to see if he would eat. 

"BRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!" 

Translation: "STAY AWAY FROM MY FAVORITE GAME WOMAN!!"

Whoa, okay! Give the man his block game back! (and this is why Cam has a Hulk toothbrush. Their personalities are fairly similar. You don't like me when I'm angry!)

The best game in Camden's entire life.

I gave Calen the option of sleeping in his ball-pit tent tonight (minus the balls) and he was like "heck yes!!" (no, he didn't say "heck") and as of half an hour ago he was still sacked out inside the tent surrounded by pillows and blankets. I wonder if I will ever be able to get him to sleep in his bed again.

"Mommy! I sleep in tent!"

So I successfully kept them away from Brad for ONE day, with FIVE more days to go!

What the hell am I going to do tomorrow? 

Don't Cry Over Cut Curls

It happened today. I can't believe it but it happened.

I cut Camden's hair.

Before you spit in my lemonade or plant a bomb in my mailbox know this. I did not want to cut his beautiful, curly hair off. I loved his hair. However, we had house rules about his hair (yes, in some households, there are rules specifically pertaining to hair). And once those rules were broken (or met), it was time for it to be cut off. 

Actually, the rule was put into place as a negotiation tool to keep Brad from shaving it off in the middle of the night when I wasn't looking. He HATED Cam's curly hair. But he agreed to not slaughter the curls until the criteria of the Rule was met. We shook on it. In a Target Parking lot. Which makes it official, you know.

Camden's Hair Rule: It had to be cut if Cam was openly mistaken for a girl three times, OR, when he turned 2 years of age, whichever came first. 

I don't remember where Strike One occurred, (somewhere public and stupid I'm sure), Strike Two occurred in North Carolina last month and the Third and Final Strike happened on Coast Guard Day. As soon as I heard that wench (whoever she was) say "she", I cried a little inside. It was over. 

Technically Brad didn't hear it so I probably could have gotten away with it. But we shook on it in a Target parking lot. I probably would have been turned away at the Gates of Heaven for withholding that. 

"Remember in 2012 when that unspeakable woman called your son a girl and you didn't tell your husband? That was deal breaker. You may not enter."

What the hell was I talking about?

Oh yeah, his hair.

In reality, it really was time. While it used to be super cute with clean, extremely tight curls, over the course of the past month the curls have become less tight and more like some sort of frizzy unkempt homeless man curly hair. 

A month changes a lot. Adorable hair in July, frizzy hippy hair in August.

So I strapped my poor victim to his high chair and slowly trimmed it with scissors. I will be the first to admit that I did cry a little over his beautiful locks falling to the floor. Yeah. I cried over HAIR. NO, I'm not pregnant. But I AM on my period so maybe I'm a little hormonal. My new neighbor had just taught me how to cut hair without using a buzzer. Since this was my first time, I had to cut it pretty short in order to fix all the screwups I made. At one point I didn't even want to finish, it made me so sad. But then he'd be stuck with a full blown mullet and no one in 2012 wants to see that unless they're in Walmart or a NASCAR race. 

The "before shot." Goodbye curls.

He actually was very patient considering it took me about an hour and a half before I was un-satisfied with his haircut. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the applesauce, lollipop, animal crackers and pretzels I bribed him with. 

After. I'm already anxiously awaiting his curls to return.

I was pretty excited to see his ears for the first time in like a year. He has cute ears. But now he's all big boy-like and has boring normal hair and it makes me sad. His current haircut still hints at the possibility that it may grow back curly, if I'm lucky. 

And I am one of those creepy people that took some of the curls and stuffed them in a sandwich baggy. I couldn't help it. It was like mourning a loss in the family. (Did I mention I'm on my period?)