Happy July 4th from our family to yours!
Category Archives: caroline
Our Daily Schedule
I know it’s summer and it’s supposed to be a carefree anything goes time but I need to have some sort of timeline for the day.
Here’s a rough sketch of what our day usually looks like:
7:30 – 8:00 Wake up and eat
9:00 Swim practice
10:30 Snack
11:00 Play a board game as a group
12:00 Eat lunch
12:30 Play
1:00 – 2:00 Quiet time – reading, playing in room (Mommy’s time on computer)
2:00 – 5:00 Play, pool, movies, friends, tv, games, video games, errands
5:45 Dinner
I am totally open to this being flexible but at some point of the day MOMMA NEEDS HER QUIET TIME.
Before the kids are allowed to do anything tv, computer, or video game related they need to do their chores.
They already bring their dishes to the sink, bring their clothes to the hamper, as well as other tasks so the chores I’m talking about are extras.
Having a simple chart has made completing chores no big deal. And let’s face it, there’s only two chores per day per person.
Is it a fancy chart that involves stickers, puffy paint, and ribbon?
H*LL no!
It’s written on paper each week by me and it works just fine.
Take a look at last week’s chart:
The big exciting change on the chart this week is that there are no chores scheduled for Saturday. We are usually exhausted from day long swim meets so I figured what’s the point.
Don’t worry, I’m not finished filling this weeks out yet. But I think you get the idea.
Do you have anything that’s making your summer a little easier?
Growing Up Too Fast
The other day I noticed the house was quiet.
As a parent you dream about these moments but when they occur you just know someone is up to something.
As I walked into my bathroom to investigate, I saw this…
I sneaked back to grab the camera and only managed to catch her fleeing.
“What were you doing?”
“I was trying on your nipples.”
I’m trying to decide whether the next 14 years will go slowly or very quickly with this girl.
Personal Stylist to Preschoolers
There are children in preschool who dress one hundred times cooler than me.
Cute little capri pants, newest JCrew sweater, and the shiniest little flats.
At times, I want to steal their wardrobe. However, I think the 3T cardigan might look a little off on me.
The thing is though, I’m not sure preschoolers should look like a littler version of their moms. How easy is it to climb the jungle gym in patent leather flats? Do you really need that jean jacket when playing in the sand?
I think there must be some tough mornings for preschoolers and their mothers.
And in this house, it’s just not worth the battle.
Caroline chooses her own outfits and I’m okay with that.
Most of the time.
This little diddy was by far her most inventive.
Yep, she’s rockin’ stripes, leopard, and polka dots.
She even insisted on doing her own hair.
As we were walking into preschool on this particular day a parent said, “Ahh, looks like she won the battle today.”
Actually there really is no battle.
What’s happening is individuality and confidence.
And smooth mornings.
We Were Saved in the Pantry
After dinner the other night, the kids were amusing themselves with something so my husband and I went on a hunt.
“We need dessert. We need dessert.”
And then we spotted it in the pantry.
“Eureka! It’s a miracle!”
Do you see it? The mother of all hidden candy?
Cue the angels singing.
Oh yes we did find that hiding.
Bless my children and their complete failure to remember they have any holiday candy three days after they collect it.
Swimming Girl
In May, when the water was cold, & I didn’t really want to get in the pool, I swam on 15 different days.
Why?
Let me show you why.
“Mommy, can we go to the pool?”
Gets me almost every time.
The kids are finished school today as of 3 pm so I’m pretty sure my 15 days of swimming in a month will be doubled this month.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Our Newest Dance Song
Today I thought I’d share one of the songs the kids and I are loving right now.
It’s…The Piano Guys with Alex Boye and their version of Coldplay’s song Paradise (Peponi)!
While driving in the car or playing in their rooms, I’ll hear little bits of the song from the kids, “Pepo, pepo, peponi!” Makes me smile every time.
Hope you love it as much as we do!
16 Years & A Bike Race
Over Memorial Day weekend, my city hosts a bike race around the town square.
Although we have lived here a few years, we’ve never had the opportunity to attend until this year.
The cyclists whip around the corners at frightening speeds and accelerate even more on straight aways.
I considered it a win that we only saw one cyclist with a blooded and torn up hip.
The kids found the racing fascinating while I just prayed it hadn’t inspired them to take up the sport.
Since we were also celebrating our 16th anniversary the night of the races, we took the kids to eat on the square and had a little celebratory gelatto.
It was a wonderful night that hopefully we can replicate next year… the only change being I’m having a whole cone of salted caramel ice cream, not just a half.
Definitely a good night.
I’m Back & Thankful
Well, I didn’t plan on being away from here for a week but that’s just how things turned out.
My husband and I were furiously finishing a project I had said yes to (more tomorrow) and only finished about 30 minutes before the completed products were due. Nothing like cutting it close here 🙂
A week ago the awful tornado in Moore, Oklahoma struck and killed so many.
The following day, the meterologists were telling us to expect huge storms with tornadoes a real possibility. Needless to say, everyone around here was on edge.
Before school, the kids and I brought a mattress downstairs and placed it by the tub. We then practiced getting into the bathtub and placing the mattress on top of us. It wasn’t exact but we did the best we could.
We also gathered bike helmets, important papers, a first aid kit, and a pair of shoes for everyone. We always have our bike helmets handy when it’s tornado time, in case things start to fall on us. It’s probably silly to have them but it always makes me feel better knowing they are around.
Around 1 pm things started to get rainy. At 2 pm Caroline and I headed over to the elementary school because the wind was picking up and really raining. Apparently, every other parent had the same idea since it took me until 2:30 to get the boys. By this point it looked like a hurricane outside and my middle one started to cry. He was saying, “The tornado is going to get us.”
In our run from the school to the car we got soaked so everyone changed clothes once we got home. We turned on the tv and ate ice cream. Hey, it seemed incredibly reasonable to me, if the power goes out, the ice cream will go bad. Hence, we must eat the ice cream. After all, no one was in the mood for a frozen tuna patty so we went with next best thing.
I sent the kids to play while I continued to watch the weather reports on tv. All regular programming was ignored for constant weather reporting which just added to my nervousness.
Thankfully, there is no big ending to this story. The weather passed us by 4:30 pm, my husband came home at 5:30 to ask if it had even rained at the house. I will disclose here that I was ready to slug him at that point as my nerves were just about shot. We had frozen pizza for dinner, again ignoring the frozen tuna for something better, and continued on as normal.
Everything was normal except for the fact that my four year old whining,”I wanted the tornado to come,” and I was busy pricing portable storm shelters online.
A Dog, A Girl, and a Leash
“Sophie, come here. I need to put your leash on.”
“Sophie! Come here. We are going for a walk. I want to put your leash on you.”
“Sophie, come here. 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! Sophie I counted. Come here.”
“Mom, I’m getting frustrated. I’m trying to put her leash on but she keeps walking away.”
“Sophie, you need to listen to me right now.”
“Sit Sophie sit.”
“SIT SOPHIE SIT!”
“SOOOOOOOPPPPPPHHHIIIEEE SSSSIIITTTT!!!!!!”