Summertime Fun

Another post with no pictures. Sorry, I will post some new pictures of the new bunk beds soon. We are all so excited about them and are awaiting a mattress purchase for Owen to move in. We are planning fun things to do with the room, and I am frantically searching for some bedding that won't break the bank. Alas, everything WILL be okay if they don't have matching bedding for a few months and if the room is not perfect. It has in fact been a mishmash since we moved in almost three years ago. I knew one day the boys would share a room, so I never really did much in the way of decorating.

And now the reason for the post. Warning: This will get long and boring-but I need to rest my feet, and I really like to get stuff like this down on "paper" for memory's sake and for the sake of the planner in me.

Micah is out of preschool for the summer. I have mixed emotions about that. I love that I get to spend more time with my sweet first-born. I love that he loves being home. I love that Owen has a built in playmate all day every day. The first week Micah was home, Owen ran around calling "come on, friend, let's play!" With Micah being home all day every day, however, I feel more pressured to have fun things for the boys to do. For one, they will surely end up creating their own fun if not, which doesn't always match my ideas. For two, they will free-play wonderfully together for sometimes up to an hour, but given an entire day, they begin to frustrate each other. And three, Micah has never been one for entertaining himself. He gets bored easily, needs to be constantly challenged, and will get fussy and mischievous if we don't keep him occupied. This is the overwhelming part for me. I tend to work well alone, always have a million things I would like to do, never get bored, etc. Owen is similar so that when we are home alone together, we happily go about our mornings doing "stuff." In an attempt to keep the peace around here, I am trying out a little summer schedule. This is our first real week of attempting it, and so far so good.

Mondays: We will clean the house-together! I have learned that I just can't keep up with all the housework now that I am pregnant, have only about an hour of uninterrupted time each day, and have constant mess makers with one more on the way. I am very picky about the house. I like it clean-very clean. I have leaned to let some things go for a little while, but too long and I start to get ansy, fussy, and stressed. I am a firm believer that children should help with housework. We are a team, and we will always try to teach our children to help us and each other. Really, the boys think it is fun. We spent one hour on Monday cleaning the upstairs. We dusted. I gave each boy a rag and then let them take turns spraying the spray. The boys wiped first and then I went behind them. The point is not that they do a great job right now but that they learn to help joyfully. Micah actually really got into the task. He is very task oriented. Give him a goal and a specific way to do something, and man that boy can really work! Owen got more bored with this activity. He is more like Matt in that he couldn't really "see" what it was we were doing. Owen's favorite was vacuuming. He followed me with his push-along jeep as I vacuumed the carpets and stairs. Micah learned really fast how to push the Swiffer, and he tackled the hard surfaces. Then, we did the boy's bathtub. I only like to use non-toxic spray in their tub because they actually sit in there, and I don't want to breath harsh chemicals while I'm pregnant. All that to say, I felt this was a safe activity. Matt was actually home this week for an extended lunch break, so he did this with them while I ran to the grocery. He said they did a good job. What boys wouldn't love water and rags to splash around? Of course there is much more to the house than those few things, but it gave us a really good start. I think every week, I will introduce them to a new chore. We got some dollar bills at the bank so when the chores are finished, we give each boy a reward of one dollar. They put them proudly in their drawer and are saving them for fun things. Owen wants a new garbage truck and Micah wants to go to the golf course.

Tuesdays: We will visit the library for story and music time. It lasts about 30 minutes and the boys really like singing along and listening to the violinist. One thing that is so important to me is reading. Matt and I have always loved reading, and we want to pass that on to our children. Our stand with tv is that it is okay-sometimes. We don't really allow the boys to have random TV on, but we do allow a DVD or video game. That way, we can carefully select what they are watching/doing. This being said, I much prefer reading-even though it means I have to be in on the action. I really love reading to the kids. Micah never had the patience for books when he was younger. It was never an option to not read, hence always having a reading time. He just never loved it. This is so ironic because the child learned to read when he was 2 1/2! I think he was paying more attention to learning to read than the actual story-there is that "always loves a challenge" part of him. Much to my delight, all this has changed in the last month. Owen loves to be read to, and Matt or I have always spent 30 minutes or so reading to him before nap time and bed time. Micah began to feel left out and started joining us. In no time, he has picked up a love for the actual stories. The boys now want to read all the time! Whoo hoo! This makes me so happy. We read while we eat breakfast, we watch some really great You Tube clips of our favorite books where they have animated the illustrations a little, we read before bed, and lately the boys even act out scenes from their favorite stories during their playtime. I am really hoping this continues as there is so much to read and learn and explore with their little imaginations. I have put together a list of books that I want to read to them before the summer is over. We select a couple from the list at the library and then I let them each choose a book. Owen wants to choose an old favorite, and Micah likes to choose an I Spy.

Wednesdays: Meet Dada at the park for lunch! This is a fun treat as we get to see Matt and get out of the house! As it gets hotter, or rains, we may choose Chick-Fil-A and let the boys play on the playground inside.

Thursdays: We will most likely stay home. I am trying to come up with a fun, new activity to do each week. It is always nice to have a day where there is no rush to get dressed, nowhere to run in a hurry. This week we learned hopscotch. This was a game mentioned in one of the boy's recent library selections/favorites: Big Little Elephant by Valerie Gorbachev. Micah was curious, so I taught him how to play. We grabbed some sidewalk chalk and headed out to the driveway. He loved it, and this led to other fun drawings with the chalk. All in all, it took up a good hour-my goal for the Thursday activity. Next week we are making "sand" with salt and food coloring. Then, we will layer the different colors in jars. I think Micah will really like this one too.

Fridays: I assume we will have to run errands at some point;) I will leave this day open for that. If there are none pressing, we might try the science museum or zoo. We have passes to both, so going for an hour or two is always an option. Of course this is a loose schedule. If the weather is going to be great one day and not the other, we will flip flop days.

Saturdays: Yes, this day needs a spot too as Matt works two of the four every month. I am not sure about this day yet, but I would like to do something fun. It is the weekend after all. We may explore some different parks or hike around Edwin Warner-it will depend again on the weather. I don't think of Saturdays as a work day, so we might get a fun treat for lunch like my new favorite-Penn Station! They conveniently have vegan bread and "real" french fries so Owen can eat there too!

Well, now that that is all laid out, and my ever-growing body has rested, time to tackle the second part of the day-post nap-duh, duh, duh. Anybody else have a hard time in the late afternoons?