Lazy Days of Summer....

Bring on the lazy days! This past week we wrapped up our last two "big" summer commitments, so now we have very little to tie us down to a schedule in August.

The boys both had a week of Camp YKoda, with the bus picking them up at 8:00 and bringing them home at 4:15. It was nice having the week with just the girls, although Dayne was sick for the first half of the week so we were only able to squeeze in a playdate and the zoo at the end of the week. We need to look into getting our own exhibit at the zoo, because the girls got more attention than any of the animals. You know you're an attention-getter when the Gorilla Keeper says to the crowd "Forget about the gorillas, look at the triplets!" I wonder when the girls are going to get sick of it. It happened for me a long time ago. Sometimes it would be nice to just enjoy a peaceful outing with my kids without being stopped by every other stranger asking personal questions and wanting to take pictures of my girls. One day I'll post a blog with some of the funny and obnoxious comments and questions that we've gotten over the past couple of years.

After Camp YKoda, Cam had a day of rest before he and Scott went to Cub Scout Camp for three days. I really missed the big guy by time it was all over! He's never been gone for more than one night so the house felt really empty without him. There was definitely less foot traffic without their friends coming and going all day!

My mom and Kenny have "date nights" with the kids, where they take one of them for some one-on-one time and to have an overnighter. Last weekend was Ty's turn, but he wanted to bring one of his sisters (this was shocking for us!) so he and Tara had a sleepover together. Cam didn't want to sleep in his room alone so he slept in Tara's bed. Dayne and Dru were so excited about their new roommate that it took 2 hours to get them to sleep. In these 2 hours they were working poor Cameron like a dog. They had him changing their pajamas, getting them water, bringing them to the potty, etc. etc. I told him they were playing him for a fool, which he thought was pretty funny. On my last trip up to put the hammer down and get the girls in bed (again) Cam was wrecked! He asked me "Mom, can I please have an Ambien CR?" Ambien CR is one of Scott's drugs (he's a pharmaceutical rep) but I didn't think he'd ever talked to the kids about them. Amused, I asked him why he wanted an Ambien CR, and he said "Because it makes you go to sleep and helps you stay asleep." I asked if Scott had told him about it but he said no, that he just sees it on T.V. That's good marketing.

Earlier I had asked Cameron to brush his teeth before bed. I haven't had to help him or supervise him brush his teeth in a couple years now, so I usually just have to remind him and send him on his way. This time I had happened to be in his bathroom cleaning, so when he started to use his ACT mouth rinse I told him that he needed to brush first, rinse second. He said "Oh, I don't brush my teeth anymore. I just use this." Eeeewwww! I said "What do you mean you don't brush? How long has it been since you've brushed your teeth?!" To which he replied "A really long time." Double eeeewwww. So I decided that I needed to brush his teeth that night and his gums were a bloody mess! Boys are gross.

Ty had some deep thoughts brought on by a Children's Hospital donation dish at the store. It's one of those bowls that you drop a coin into and it circles around and around until finally dropping into the collection bowl at the bottom. After using up all of my coins he was pretty pleased with himself and said "That money goes to Jesus, right Mommy?"
Me - "No, it goes to Children's Hospital to help sick kids"
Ty - "No, it goes to Jesus"
Me - "No, the collection plate at church goes to Jesus, this goes to sick kids"
Ty - "But it also goes to Jesus"
etc, etc, etc, .....I finally let him have his way and believe that he just sent 17 cents to Jesus. Then he said something about God, I can't remember exactly what, but it turned into this..
Ty - "God died, right?"
Me - "No, honey, it's Jesus that died"
Ty - "Ooooooohhhhhh. That's so saaaaaaddddd. Jesus is one of our Presidents, right?"

Ouch. I'm so glad no one was around to hear that. It brought me back to when Cam was smaller and we went to my great grandmother's funeral. We were one of the last to walk in so the pews were full and the church was silent. We were getting ready to sit when Cameron pointed to Jesus hanging on the cross and asked loudly "Who's that?" At that time my grandmother thought that we went to church every Sunday, and I never corrected her, so he kind of outed me at that moment. I think I need to get my kids to church more often, ey?

After Ty's revelation about President Jesus, he jumped right into how babies are made. Nothing like throwing me from one fire into the next. Fortunately, he didn't ask any questions. He was more or less explaining to me his great knowledge of how babies are made. A better mother may have corrected him and fine-tuned some of the details, but I was perfectly content with him believing that the baby is always in the mommy's tummy, but it's when she eats a lot of eggs that the eggs go into her tummy and make a shell around the baby. Then the baby has to stay in there for a couple of days to grow before it comes out. Sounds good to me. He's only 5. The rest of the details will come in due time.

The girls are back in dance class and are adorable, if I do say so myself. I'm going to keep them in dance classes as long as possible so that they won't look like me on the dance floor. They don't have good dancing genes from either parent, although Scott can do a mean Backstreet Boys imitation.

Until later, enjoy some lazy days!

We have triple the triplets!

Welcome to the house of fertility! We are proud to announce the arrival of Tina-the-Guinea Pig's triplets. This picture was taken just a few hours after they were born. Look at how furry, cute and alert they are - and how BIG they are! How did they all fit inside of her? The kids haven't named them yet, as the determination of their sex is pending. With Ty giving Tina her name and Cam once naming a fish "Home Depot", the possibilities are endless. The second set of triplets are nesting in a flower pot on our front porch, though sadly, the smallest one died. The third set of triplets are upstairs sleeping in their twin beds. I don't know if it's something in our water, so visitors beware!

Our summer has officially begun. Though the boys have been out of school for 3 weeks now, it's been 3 weeks of running around from Safety Town, to swim lessons, to T-Ball, to baseball. We're now starting our lazy days of summer. This was the first week we would wake up and not have to rush to be somewhere, and we actually had to stop and think "What should we do today?" That's what summer is all about.

Ty had Safety Town each morning for the past 2 weeks. Safety Town is a great program for kids going into kindergarten where they cover every aspect of child safety, including bike safety, stranger danger, electricity, poisons, seat belts, playground safety, and animal safety. Cameron went to this program two years ago and came home paranoid that everything around him was surely going to kill him. I'm surprised he ever got the courage to leave his bedroom, because he was freaked out by the power boxes in our backyard, the cleaning detergents in the closet, the cars driving down the street, and the swings on the playground. He was rightfully fearful of the swings since a couple weeks later, at his birthday party, he broke his collar bone by walking in front of a swing in motion. Ty has taken his Safety Town training a little more in stride and is just more aware of wearing his helmet and buckling his seat belt, and I don't think he'll ever drink our dishwasher detergent.

The kids have been spending a lot of time in the water in the past few weeks. Scott's parents (Mimi and Papa) have a boat and the boys and Tara went tubing a couple weeks ago. Cameron is VERY brave in the water and loves it, and he's really turned into a natural swimmer. The boys tried kayaking this past weekend with Kenny and really enjoyed it. Cam is old enough to go out on his own, with the kayak attached to a rope so we can pull him in, and Ty went out with Scott. Tara, our water baby, has even gone tubing and kayaking. All the girls love the swimming pool, but Tara is the only one brave enough to leave the shore.

Today is the 4th of July and we're going to be going to our friend's house this afternoon before going to the Village (we live in a Village!) concert and fireworks. Dayne has a fever, so Scott and I will be tag-teaming staying home with her today. Fortunately our friends are our backyard neighbors, so we can bounce back and forth easily.

Have a great Independence Day!