Good Old Boys

Ahhh...sleep does wonders. I put the boys to bed early two nights in a row, and on Friday they were GREAT!

No tempers at all that day or evening.

We went swimming at the Y and it was fun.

We played an odd form of tag in the water. One person was a shark, the next one that was tagged was a whale, then it was a jelly fish. We were buzzing around the swimming pool trying to keep away from these dangerous things.

Then Isaak, Mica and I pretended we were Stay Puft Marshmallow Men from Ghost Busters. Daddy swam up to us and we all had our cheeks puft out. We were stomping around in the water. He's like, "What the heck?" Then I told him what we were.

Source

Sing, Sing a Song Saturday

I started doing what I call Sing, Sing a Song Saturday.  I'm going to post one song on Saturdays that the boys or I like. 

The song may be part of a movie, a kid's video or just a song we like. It may or may not include words. I'll try and include why we like it and/or the history of the song/singer.

We have a station here that plays newish music. I was listening to it yesterday. One song came on that I liked. I'm not sure if it's a well known song or not. I have never heard of it. The bands name is Of Monsters and Men.

I just love bands that play a variety of instruments. I also love different sounding voices. This band has both!

Of Monsters and Men are a band of day dreamers who craft, folk, pop songs.

Nanna, who began as the acoustic act Songbird, recruited extra hands to bolster her sound for a solo show. She liked how her vocals commingled with Raggi’s, so they started writing songs together and in 2010 morphed into Of Monsters and Men.  Some occasions, they cut out animal masks for the audience to wear, making them makeshift monster-men/women. “Iceland can be a very isolated country and that translates to the music," Nanna says, adding,"We get stuck in our little world".

King and Lionheart

Mountain Sound

Little Talks - They disabled their video for embedding, but it's so cool! Check it out here.

If you like them, they are playing in the US. You can find their tour dates here.

Pumpkin Patch

Daddy took the day off yesterday to go on a field trip to the pumpkin patch for Isaak's preschool. Isaak's in 2 preschools this year. I have a feeling we're in for a lot of field trips.

I wished they'd just charge us extra every month instead of forking up exact change. I wouldn't even care if I ended up paying more in the long run. Use it on school supplies for the next year.

With Mica we just told him, "Honey we won't be able to go on all the field trips." He was fine with that. All he cared about was going someplace special. Someone made it to most of them. I tried telling Isaak this and he was terrified. Daddy took the time to go. Then Isaak woke up yesterday and said, "I want everyone to go." I said, "Honey just be thankful that Daddy is able to go with you."

They had fun. It wore him out.

Isaak wanted to wear his "Davy Crockett hat". It looks like there is snow on the ground, but there is not.

They took a train, they picked out a pumpkin, apple cider, and brownies. The one thing they had trouble with was the trampoline. Isaak didn't want to jump on it with other kids jumping on it. Then when all the kids got off, Isaak wanted to jump on it. He's still in a funky stage. I'm hoping he moves on and becomes better about group playing.

Mica said, "I'm worried about Isaak going to Kindergarten next year." Daddy asked, "Why?" Mica said, "Because he's so worried and scared when he doesn't know people."

Signing him up for an additional preschool is good because he is forced to be around kids he doesn't know including his cousin that he knows well. He loved school last year and kept asking to go. Then there's that part of me that wonders if I made a horrible mistake with signing him up for another school because I'm making him feel insecure by being around kids he didn't know. Maybe he wasn't ready for that. He'll need to be for Kindergarten next year though. Parenthood decisions suck sometimes!

Discipline

I have to admit I was kind of nervous about Isaak's behavior lately. He's in a funk right now.

I've had a lot of emails come through today. Some saying, "My kid is experiencing the same thing!", others are saying, "45 minutes of crying?!" and a few saying that they think I handled the situation well.

Discipline is hard now a days. It used to be that adults didn't much talk to their kids. They popped them on the butt. Everyone went their separate ways.

Now if you are caught spanking a child people A) Applaud you, B) Stare you down, or  C) Call the cops on you.

There are many discipline techniques out there. That's what makes it so much more confusing. Some use "Time Outs", some use "Tough Love", some use "Talk it Out" and I'm sure there is more. In this generation parents are judged.

I have two co-workers that spanked their kids. Their kids are now teenagers. One has 7 kids, one has 3 kids. I don't spank. Do I think their kids are going to grow up to have issues? Not really. Their kids seem pretty normal to me. They on the other hand most certainly judge me for not spanking. They say, "Spanking just ends it. You spend too much time dinking around with techniques that take too long to discipline. I usually go my own way.

Today I was telling them about Isaak and Mica at the grocery store last night and Isaak's crying episode two nights ago. One of my co-workers said, "Good for you!" My mouth just about dropped. Usually I hear, "I'd just pop them one!" I said, "I feel bad..." One said, "Don't feel bad." I said, "No I don't feel bad for putting them to bed so early and missing out of the Y. I feel bad for them acting like jack butts to begin with."

One said, while the other shook their head up and down, "They will test you over and over again. Usually there is space of time where they won't and a time where they will again. It's part of growing up. They are just testing their boundaries. You're doing a good job of letting them know their behavior isn't acceptable by taking them home instead of letting them go to the Y."

One said, "I think it's wonderful they went home and admitted they did wrong at the grocery store instead of blaming you for not being able to go to the Y." 

The other one went on to say, "I like that time Travis took Mica's bedroom door away for slamming it. I would of just popped my son one, but you guys were a little more creative with the punishment."

I feel better knowing that they don't think of me as a piece of carpet that my kids are walking on. Not that their opinions matter a whole lot, but it's nice to know that they aren't talking behind my back about me being a horrible mom or something. Do you ever feel like you are being judged as a parent?

Christmas is Coming!

I don't know about you, but I can't wait for Christmas to get here. It's my favorite holiday.

It's been on my mind because:

A) I started my shopping. I want to get the bulk of it done before it gets freezing cold outside and snowy and icy.
B) Because it did start getting cold I got in the mood for Christmas shopping.
C) I have a few relatives that have birthdays right around Christmas, which makes things expensive. I feel inclined to start early.

So far what have I gotten:

I haven't gotten EVERYTHING by no means. Just a little bit here, and a little more there.

• Awhile ago I got my youngest nephews and sons reusable superhero sandwich bags. That's just part of their presents.
• Our nephew Evan gets a Volcano Science Kit. I got that at Hobby Lobby. Always check their site for a 40% off coupon!
• I haven't decided who I'm giving this to: Isaak and our Nephew Elijah are getting mini portfolios from Hobby Lobby. They are 9 x 12 and were only $2.99! They came in industrial colored plastic. I bought mini metal rulers with cork backing, mini triangles. I plan on filling them with stencils, paper and colored pencils. - Or I'll give them to Isaak and Mica from Santa. If I do this Mica's will have a scratchboard set in it. I think he'd love that. Especially the rainbow one! I just have to decide if it will be for the 4 year olds or to our boys from Santa. Decisions! 
• Daddy wants to get the boys Nintendo DS systems. YIKES! Ya we haven't owned anything like that, so it will be interesting. 
• I got Mica and Isaak building kits from Fat Brain Stores. I can't remember the exact kits, but they were cool when we picked them out! 
• I got Daddy 1 thing, but I can't say what it is on here. 
• My niece Kailey is almost in college. She needs money. I'm thinking of getting a big box, small balloons and putting money in each of the balloons. 25 balloons = $25. She's gotta have fun still, right? I may do the balloon thing for our nephew that lives in Missouri and my oldest nephew Ethan that's getting hard to shop for. Cheap to ship because it's so light. 
• I know I have random other things in the closet. It's just a matter of looking.

YAY for Christmas!

45 Minutes!

Being a parent is rewarding sometimes and difficult other times. 

Sometimes the difficult times I just want to hide. It's like I'm thinking at that moment, "That's not my kid. That's an overly emotional kid that isn't mine right now." Reality sinks back in and I say to myself,  "They are mine."

Last night Isaak cried hard for 45 minutes. Why? Because I opened a snack bar wrapper for him. Yep 45 minutes of sobbing over a wrapper. REALLY!

Mica pulled tantrums, but I don't remember experiencing anything like this. Usually it was over a toy I wouldn't buy him. Not a wrapper. 

Of course this tantrum was while I was driving. I pulled over twice. I said, "Do we need to get out of the car and go for a walk?" He'd stop crying and say, "No!"

Then the crying would pick back up. We were on a busy street by that point. I tried my best to stay calm, so I wouldn't get in an accident. I turned music on to SORT of drown him out.

He continued to cry when we got home so much so that he couldn't breathe. He was coughing like he was going to throw up.

He was acting really ridiculous. 

I did apologize once for opening up his wrapper in the beginning when he showed his first tears. After that I showed no sympathy. 

He had a time-out.

He came out  of the time-out chair and said, "I'm sorry" and ate. Just like that, his cry switch got turned off.

Then I got out peanuts to make our own peanut butter. He told me that he wants to make peanut butter for a job when he grows up! :)

I put him to bed early at 7:30!

Tonight was better. But not perfect. Maybe something is in the air. The switch of seasons is making me tired to.

We were going to head over to the Y for Family Fitness; after a quick trip to the grocery store.  The boys wouldn't stop chasing each other and giggling. I went straight home. They went to bed at 6:45. They didn't even argue. They just went right to bed. I didn't hear, "Mom why won't you take us to the Y?" I did hear them say to Daddy, "We messed up and can't go to the Y."

Hawk

Today when I got to work, this is the scene in front of my car:

I think he was only 6 feet away. He didn't fly away when I shut my car door.

I don't know what he killed. I thought it was a rabbit, but now that I look at the pictures it looks like some kind of bird. I see feathers.

He looks ashamed! I know he wasn't, but he looks that way.

Remember to enter this low entry giveaway to win a pop up fan if you get a chance.

Isaak's in a Tumbling Class

He likes it, but likes Family Fitness more. I think he likes Family Fitness more because we do things with him; verses him him doing and us watching.

They practice the balance beam, bear walk, camel walk, bunny hop, they dance, try doing the bridge, attempt cartwheels, somersault and handstand.

It's funny because the kids are just learning, so most of them are not talented at any of the things they are learning. The kids still demand claps out of the parents.

I do have to say that Isaak's a pretty good sport. There are some kids who cut in line, don't get in line at all or tell their parents they are done all together. Isaak hasn't done any of the above.

Here's his climb up the wall handstand.

His somersault looks painful. In fact most of the kid's make this look painful!

This is what I call his 1/2 attempt cartwheel. For the record, I never got the cartwheel down. To this day I can't do one.

WW: Date Night With Elvis {Linky}

This weekend I had a date with Elvis.

He looks a little jaundice in the forehead and what's with the red net eyes?

Holy Underwear

Isaak had to go potty, while we were in line at the grocery store. I hesitantly said, "Mica will you take him?" I knew Isaak wouldn't go in by himself, but he also was being a punk to Mica. What's a mom to do? 

Mica agreed to take Isaak potty.

Mica came out of the bathroom and whispered to me, "Mom there's a problem."

I said, "What is it honey?" Thinking that Isaak pushed him, or tried to wrestle with him in the bathroom.

Mica whispered, "Mom, Isaak has holes in his underwear!"

I said, "Really where at?"

Mica said, "On his hip."

I said, "It's ok we can just throw them away at the end of the day."

At the end of the day:  

I said, "Isaak just throw your underwear away. They have holes in them.

Isaak said, "No mom I want to keep them. I like these underwears!" -Yes he calls them, "Underwears".

I said, "Isaak just put them in the trash. You have a whole drawer full of underwear." 

He didn't throw them away, so I did.

The next thing I knew they came out of the wash. He must have picked them up out of the trash and put them in his hamper basket. They are back in the trash now.