Who Can?

One afternoon, the house was in disarray as usual.  I was trying to motivate the troops to pitch in and help without much success.  As I stood on a chair trying to straighten out a high cupboard, I glanced around the room and asked, "Who can put the shoes in the shoe basket?"

Joaquin quickly spoke up, "I can!", dropped what he was doing, and suddenly the shoes were being picked up.

Since he was busy now, I asked, "Who can pick up the orange eraser and put it in the drawer?" expecting someone else to volunteer.

Quickly throwing the shoes in the basket, Joaquin yelled, "I can!" and he ran off to put the eraser away.

I wondered if this could continue for much longer.

"Who can fold the blanket and put it on the couch?"

Again, "I can!" from Joaquin.

I smiled at Isabela and we both had a little giggle over how hard Joaquin was working to be the first to complete the task.  He ended up cleaning the entire living room in a few minutes with me asking "Who can..." and him replying, "I can!"

But all good things must come to an end.  I pushed my luck with, "Who can put the dirty dishes into the dishwasher?"

"Not me!" shouted Joaquin.

I asked, "Where did 'I Can' go?  I want 'I Can' to come back."

Joaquin stated that he was both I Can and Not Me.

I asked Isabela what her name was and she replied, "I Can't".  No, Isabela try again.  "I Won't?"  No, that won't do either.  Isabela said, "I know.  My name is I Shan't."

We ended up giving Diego the name of 'I Will', Joaquin is still 'I Can' (and occasionally, Not Me) and Isabela somehow stuck with 'I Won't'.

I said that I had the most important name of all.  I Did.

Who made dinner?  I Did.
Who washed the clothes? I Did.
Who went to the grocery store? I Did....

summer update

I think we're hitting the dog days of summer about now.  How do I know this?  Yesterday, I banished the kids from the house for 45 minutes.  How did they pass the time?  Sneaking around to different windows and doors trying to find a way in.

Despite making good progress on our "not bummer summer list", we have yet to complete a row.  Plus when asked what they've been doing over the summer, the kids seem baffled and look to me with a questioning look....oh well.

Bowling was a huge hit!  Way better than the hot as blazes putt-putt game.  (Isabela and I took 'six' on the last two holes just to get the heck out of there.)  Somehow though, 'kids bowl free' costs around $18.



Diego almost beat all of us with his amazingly super slow ball that would knock down almost every pin, every time.  He celebrated each throw, and his enthusiasm was contagious.



Joaquin had one thing on his mind.  He used his own money for snacks and video games, then cried on the way home over how he shouldn't have wasted his money.  ( I feel the same way all the time!)



We got outside a lot towards the beginning of summer...definitely, the 'play in the rain' spot on our list was a huge foreshadowing.   The thunderstorms seem to know exactly when we're getting ready to leave the house.  It's quite amazing.



We have yet to leave our footprints on a beautiful sandy beach.  This is as close as we've come....



.....play dough!  We made it with whole wheat flour and it looks just like the real thing.



Joaquin made a sand dune obstacle course.



And Isabela made a turtle and seal enclosure for an aquarium.  The seal could even be trained by a ball on a stick.



When it's too hot to play real soccer, how about a table top version?



Joaquin thought up cutting out the advertising signs to line the field.  He wanted to add bleachers so his trashpacks could be spectators, but there were some technical difficulties and he gave up on that idea.



The straws are used to blow the cotton ball into the goals.  I think the boys also used them as hockey sticks.  Later, Joaquin and I just forgot the sticks and blew the ball back and forth....which is super hard to do when you are laughing hysterically.



Joaquin's big project this summer has been to build a go-kart with his dad.  They researched a lot of YouTube videos, then gathered some scrap wood and spare bicycle parts from the old bikes in our shed and spent several weekends firing up the power tools.  Right now it's looking more like a rickshaw than a go-kart though.



And Isabela's doing a great job earning money with her lemonade stand.  The first weekend, we had three customers and earned $6.50...thanks to the corn muffins she whipped up to sell, as well.  Last weekend, she sold for Anthem's LemonAid and only made $4.00.

There are some great lessons being learned out there, too.  We had one customer who the kids fought in front of, tried to pick a bug out of her cup, then dropped the second cup all over the ground as they were handing it to her.  We gave her a free bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies for her troubles.  (I hope there was no hair in them.)



And Carmen's just been along for the ride.  She seems oblivious to all the summer bickering and is just as smiley as can be.  She is the calm for all of us.  Love that baby!

one long day

Too much in one day?  Too hot of a day?  I'm not sure.  But I did end up in the hospital.

Let's recap.

We crossed the foot bridge to Belle Isle.  I was really surprised at how many people were there on such a hot day.



It felt somewhat like a sauna...maybe tropical jungle?



But we had no idea the river looked like this.  There would be no rock jumping that day.  I guess you could say we've had some rain.



Isabela, Carmen, and I waited for the boys, who were off galavanting through the woods.



A short break for some cold water.  Did I mention it was hot?  Diego couldn't decide which one to drink out of.



We actually didn't last too long on our little hike...maybe an hour and a half.  But the big plan was to head to the drive-in theater.  A first time for all of us.



You have to arrive early to get a spot.  That's how they get you...since there's no food allowed to be brought in, and you're there early, you have to buy theirs.  So we filled up on popcorn, soda, and burgers.

And here's the best time-filler game I stole from another family we sat near on the fourth of July:  all you need is something to throw.  We used a super tiny water soaker ball for the pool.  And you just start throwing it to each other, counting every throw.  When someone drops it, you have to start back at one.  The fun is trying to beat your record.



Corn dog on a stick, makes me sick just looking at it.  And my, doesn't Joaquin look like he's growing up?



The best part of the evening for me...the beautiful sunset.



So I left out the hospital part?

Oh, yeah.  Well, I didn't feel good the whole movie.  I figured it was something I ate.  I didn't even watch the movie...sat in the front seat and wished it would be over quick so we could go home.  On the way home, my stomach hurt worse and worse...we actually had to pull over...just don't get too close to any guardrails.

We weren't home ten minutes before I said I needed to go to the ER.  It was bad.  I was sure it was my appendix.  It wasn't.

Any guessers?

It was a kidney stone!

Thankfully.  (Can you be thankful for a kidney stone?)

Anyway, by late the next morning, I was good as new and carrying on as usual.

"God heals, the doctor takes the fee."   Benjamin Franklin.

He sure was wise.

happy cow day!

Friday morning, Carmen slept in until 10:30am!  I didn't get out of bed until after 9:30am...the other kids were watching cartoons.  They've gotten in a crazy habit of waking at the crack of dawn and running in the big room to watch cartoons on netflix....and by crack of dawn, I mean 5:45am!  I had to make a new rule that they can't leave their rooms until 7am, and if I'm not up to enforce it, they'll break it.

Anyway, Friday we woke up with NOTHING to do.  I had no great ideas on how we would fill the day.  So I checked my 'go-to' sites to see what was happening around town...nothing much...but then I saw that Chick-fil-A was giving away free meals if you dressed like a cow.  Nothing better than free, so we all got to work.

There was plenty of bickering and fighting over scissors and tape as the morning rolled on and it neared lunch time.  But we finally finished and each one ended up with a costume that fit their personality!

Diego cut his out himself...except for the last minute milkshake sign I made to cover the design on his shirt.  He added a smile to his nose (which he thought were two eyes...he loves to draw smiley faces.) He was totally into his costume because he thought he looked like a viking.


Isabela printed out the one from the webpage.  She suddenly got embarrassed when we entered the restaurant and didn't want to wear the nose, even though everyone else in the place was dressed like a cow, too.


And Joaquin worked meticulously on a cow mask he found online.  He used cups and plates to make perfect circles and would only color with sharpies.  I whipped out a onesie for Carmen real quick so I could get a meal, too.  The back said, "COWZ ROOL, BABEEZ DRULE"....


...and the front said, 'EAT MOR CHIKIN'.


Here's the whole herd:


Free meals for all, and free time well spent.

play planner

A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled across NurtureStore's play planner.  It's a week of different activities laid out for you....and right up my alley of good intentions and procrastination.

At first, I thought, "They're never going to like it...or do it."  But I was wrong!

One of the first activities was cutting circles in various sizes and colors from craft foam...later to be used for patterns, grouping, etc...early math lessons.  But I thought they looked like cookies and had always wanted to make one of those tissue box monsters, so Diego and I got to work.  He carried that monster around with him the whole day, feeding him cookies and almost getting his fingers nipped off!

Do you see a resemblance?



Another day involved setting up a "Three Bears" sensory box.  All three kids played in it!



And another day was a sun weaving project for summer solstice.  I never thought Joaquin would go for this, but he did!



Not all the activities are crafts.  One day, the play planner suggested we simply 'take it outside'.  Reading or painting, just do it outside.  So it took a few minutes to set up, but it was a beautiful cool morning and kept us outside for almost an hour.  I laid a drop cloth down, before I laid the quilt, just to keep the dew from soaking through.



Carmen watched the clouds float by while the boys got to work.  (Isabela was busy relaxing at her morning 'spa' camp!)



Diego's masterpiece involved Mario somehow, someway.



And Joaquin created a Fetch treasure map.  Yes, we're doing our fair share of TV watching around here.



If you're interested in receiving the play planner from NurtureStore, you can sign up HERE.  It's kept us busy, creative, and happy.  It's not the kind of activity the kids will look back on and say, "Remember when we did this, it was so much fun!"  But more of the lazy, relaxing, quite summer of years past... where you make things out of stuff you have and imagine things because you have the time.

boost!

Finally, our membership to the Science Museum of VA has paid off.  Each year we debate about joining.  It's a nice place to go when it's too hot, or when there's a new IMAX you can afford, or when there was a new temporary exhibit....but other than that, the kids knew all the exhibits and it seemed that half of them were always broken.

But Friday, they unveiled their newest permanent exhibit...stating it had been 10 years since their last one.  Well, about time!

We went to the members only preview. (Note to self: if you're not doing the members only stuff, then there's really no point to being a member.)

The first thing you see when you walk in...a tight rope!



The kids must have done this one hundred times.  See that green glowing light behind Diego?  To me, that's one of the coolest parts...you are given a chip when you enter that you have to scan each time you do an activity.  When it's green, you can start.  The chip collects data about how fast you can do the challenges, and then you can better your score, or compare yourself to others.



The kids did this singing station briefly, but I don't think we really got it the first time around.  You can make your own music video and then watch it.  I took this photo because these two have been getting along AMAZINGLY.  Much less fighting than I expected so far this summer.



Juggling scarves, who knew?  It's so much fun and even I can do it!



Check that out, Mom!



Loved this quote on the wall.



This musical section is so cool....you can make your own beats using the screens, and the instruments mounted in front of you and up high will play according to what you've programmed.  Loud and fun.



Don't do it, Joaquin!  I thought they should have some alarm or shock or something if you push it, don't you?




Healthy eating is also a part of the exhibit.  Here, Diego is trying to make trays of food on a conveyor belt...it spits out the pieces at the end.



Carmen hung out in her stroller and even managed to fall asleep for part of it.



There's lots of visual games, too.  The boys hogged this one where you had to memorize which tiles were lit up on a grid.



How small can you make your body?  Joaquin could fit into a surfboard case.



There's even a yoga challenge.  The best part is how active each exhibit is.  Each time you do it, it will be different for you.





We left happy after two hours in only this one part of the museum.  That's a first for us!  I'd say the new Boost! exhibit is worth it!