Author: eaumaison (Page 65 of 207)

For the four minutes that it lasted, the boys were very still and happy.

Last night we dropped the kids off at the rec center for date night.  We all love using their babysitting.  The kids get to play on the indoor playground, have pizza and a snack for dinner, watch a Disney movie, play in the bouncy castle, and get changed into jammies, ready for bed.  Meanwhile Ben and I have four hours of conversation and quiet fun. 

Neither parents not kids wanted the night to be over 🙂

7:20 am

Last weekend was extra long because Jack had a day off school.  The weather looked good so I packed up the boys and took them to visit my parents in Grand Junction for Valentine’s Day.  It was a fun packed weekend, as usual.  Lots of playing, lots of food, lots of attention for both of them. 
I have more pictures on my photostream, but here are some highlights. 

As soon as we arrived the boys ran a muck in their office.  Their new space has a great kid waiting area.  They also loved watching and feeding the fish.

That night and many other afternoons they played in the neighborhood playground.  Sam is far to adventurous for my liking.  Jack likes to play “Prison” with Grandpa.  Sam laughed his head off when we played “Surprise Kick in the Backside” on the swings. 

While the folks were at work on Friday a neighbor kid came over to play.  I found Andy’s old Ninja Turtles in the basement and they were fascinated.

The boys are really good at messing up a house in no time at all.  Some of their favorite activities are:

Two hour long meals in front of the big TV. 

Banging on the piano:

And fighting over a some obscure toy when there are literally hundreds of other toys around them.  (In this case, a plain black rod that must be part of a frame to something larger)

They also took the chaos outside for tower building and chalk drawing.

On Valentine’s Day they each got an obscene amount of candy.  These boys don’t mess around when it comes to enjoying a cupcake either. 

Jack did the Lowes Build and Grow project with my dad while Sam and I and mom shopped for fabric for the musical.  Then we went downtown for my birthday present – a bike and kid trailer!  I was wondering if that might be a fun and easy way to get my kids around to schools and playgrounds once the weather is warmer.  I HATE car seats, and while strollers are nice, Jack doesn’t have much endurance for walking and there isn’t much storage space on them.  We went to Brown’s Cycling to try some bikes with a trailer and it’s actually so fun!  We found a comfort style bike that’s more upright and cushy (I hate traditional biking posture) and they had a used trailer on sale that we hooked up.  The boys’ faces melted into smiles when we pulled them around.  It was surprisingly effortless too!  Mom said the bike order is ready today and they will drive it up to me when they come out for the musical.  I’m so excited to use it! 

I had planned to return to Denver Monday, but there was a bad snow storm in the mountains and holiday skiing traffic to fight with.  So we stayed until Tuesday, when we had an easy drive home.  Jack was sad to miss a day of school, but by the end of the day was thrilled about everything we did on this “bonus day.”

• Bookstore trip with me to buy a couple new books
• Dinosaur museum in Fruita
• Lunch at Mickel Donnulls
• Paddington movie with Grandpa
• Cook orange marmalade with Grandpa
• Fly a kite in the front yard

It was a wonderful weekend.  Thanks Mom and Dad for all your help and love to the kids. 

In case you wondered how the next couple days fared – was up all night Wednesday with Jack retching and having explosive diarrhea.  Thursday was better, then Sam tangled my knitting and cracked my ipad while I was preparing dinner (a yummy variation of this).  So, not great. 

Can’t wait for this week to be over.  Hooray for Friday! 

I snapped these precious moments for you all this morning.

What a week.  Things keep falling apart.  I keep telling myself that it could be much much worse, and that keeps me sane. 

Bad thing
During our movie date Saturday Jack started vomiting.  Continued through night.
Good thing
He woke up completely fine, no one else caught whatever he had.

Bad thing
The heat broke Monday.
Good thing
It was a simple fix that only cost a service charge.

Bad thing
I lost my wallet Monday.
Good thing
The grocery store found it and called me to pick it up.

Bad thing
 The van in front of me suddenly braked and turned. I slid in the snow and crashed.  Cracked my bumper.
Good thing
Very nice gentlemen, no damage to their car.  Very minor, slow moving accident on almost empty street.  No injury to me or Sam.  My car still works.

So I think I’ve had my fill of bad luck for February.  Bring on Valentine’s and my birthday and happy times, please!

This is old news, but I finally got good video of Sam sliding.

Meanwhile in Colorado:

We were fed up with dinners.  Jack had a narrow range of acceptable meals to him, and the range was getting smaller all the time.  Foods previously enjoyed were now shunned with a side of whining.  Dinner was a stress-fest of anxious questioning from Jack while I cooked, declaring he didn’t like and wouldn’t eat it before I even served it.  During meals we tried all the usual tactics – modeling, disguising, offering, ignoring, negotiating, cajoling, bribing, and threatening.

Ben and I were sick of eating the same foods over and over, and sick of dealing with the dinner wars.  After losing two disastrous battles (dubbed the Spaghetti Meltdown and the Teryaki Incident) we parents came up with a new strategy.  The Dinner Game.

You start each meal with three tokens.  You lose a token for each rule you break.  The person/people with the most tokens at the end of the meal get a sticker on the chart towards a reward of their choice.  The rules are:

• Wait until after the prayer to start eating
• No complaining about what is on your plate
• You must try everything on your plate
• “Try” means either a single bite that is chewed and swallowed, or three separate licks with your tongue.
• Take turns talking (no interrupting)
• Sit properly in your seat unless excused
• BONUS: You can earn back a single token by finishing your whole plate

 Did it work?  OH MY GOSH THIS WORKED SO HARD MY LIFE IS RENEWED AND THERE IS JOY IN THE WORLD.

I honestly can’t believe how well this worked.  We’re talking like night and day different.  Eating together is pleasant!  Jack looks forward to dinner and enjoys it!  I enjoy cooking for us now!  Everything is so much better.

Let me add that I started a second change at the same time.  I went back to cooking dinners from recipes instead of memory and improvisation.  I spend time finding new things to try and making meal plans.  I mostly have used the Blue Apron Cookbook and the new Mark Bittman “How to Cook Everything Fast” book.

• Pork and sweet potato/brussel sprout hash
• Schnitzel with beet salad
• Chicken tacos with queso fresca, avocado, and lime
• Spaghetti with vegetable-rich meatballs and broccoli

We ate that last one tonight.  YOU GUYS.  Jack ate broccoli.  BROCCOLI!  I don’t know why.   He tried it, grimaced down a bite, rubbed his tummy and declared it good.  Then he choked down the rest of it with copious water, “This is just to help swallow it down to my tummy.” He doesn’t have to finish everything.  But he DID.  He loves this game.  He’s going to make the missionaries play it when they come to eat this week.  Sometimes we declare “special rules” at home, meaning casual, no prayer, watch tv, eat how and what you want dinners.  He was sad when we did this on the weekend because it meant no dinner game.

I asked him to give the game a better name.  He said “Dad and Mom and Jack and Sam’s Sweetest Dinner Game.”  We’re calling it “Sweetest Dinner Game” for short.  Feel free to play your own at home 🙂