The Summer Begins

The fireflies are out in MI.  It is magical.  I was worried how our days would go, so I have over prepared and it has been paying off.  We have had a wonderful, and somewhat high raising, transitional first week of summer vacation.  I found a ton of ideas of fun things to do on Pinterest and made a shopping list including things like ivory soap, water balloons, shaving cream, pool noodles, glow in the dark paint etc.  We went out and loaded up on the goods yesterday morning.  I also bought sand toys and a slip and slide.  The Myrabo sisters; Lizzy and Abby came over and helped the boys blow up water balloons and then helped them throw them at each other in the afternoon.

 

Then we got the squirt guns out and had another water battle.  Later, Dee came over bringing a huge load of decorations for a beach party.  I told her about Joren's obsession with drinking coconut milk on a beach and that we were planning to throw a beach party.  She brought a blow up palm tree, hula skirts, leis, and straw hats.  I never imagined a blow up palm tree could elicit such excitement with anyone, but it had the right effect on my kids.  It was the first thing they wanted to do when they woke up and after our 1.5 hours of table time that I am going to insist on every day for the summer, we got right to work inviting friends for an impromptu beach party today.  We got three kids to come, which was a little less than ideal, but we drank coconut smoothies out of coconut glasses, had pop cycles and slid down the slide with the hose on it into the pool.  The best part was that I found some Hawaiian steel drums music on a new app on my iPhone.  It really set the mood.  We had a great afternoon, which we followed by a night at the movies seeing the new show Brave.  Paul and I loved it, but the boys were too scared,  Teig stayed at Lizzy's.  The bears were pretty scary, but Paul and I got to snuggle our kids tight and cover their little eyes.  Paul cried a little, he later told me, because our little guys won't always let us snuggle them like that.

 

Eirik braved the tropical storm after our beach party bringing in the last of our goods.

 

I got this great picture of Joren eating a turkey leg from the Father/ Son stake campout they went to last week.  Joren delights in being a "man"!

  

Tonight we had fish sticks for dinner and he said, "mom, that's not fish, it's coyote meat, and I killed it!" I also found him chopping wood in the backyard with the axe he made me lash for him with the wood and twine he brought to me.

 

He had it pretty rough today because the big boys kept making him be the bad guy or the zombie in all the games and they kept destroying him.  He also did not enjoy getting squirted with the water and he got hurt a bunch of times.  Then Tor knocked him off the porch onto his face and made him drop his soda.  He's been a really good sport about being Eirik's "minion" most of the time, but I think it might have caught up with him today. 

 Joren has some reading and writing goals for the summer.  He was very positive this morning, even encouraging Eirik who was not.  It was fun to see them reverse rolls for a minute.

 This happened just after table time when I turned my back for a minute.   I let him keep it in his hair all day.  I knew he was pretty proud.  It's his punk rock look.

  

This is the face Teig makes when you tell him to smile. :)

Today was all about Teig because it seems like he gets the short straw pretty often.  I could tell our extra attention helped and he had a better day because he didn't throw quite as many of his sensational tantrums.  He takes after Eirik in his talent for tantrums.  Impressive.  The kid will throw his head back on anything at 20 mph if he is mad.  I look forward to him being able to form a few more consonants!  He really understands us, but we sure can't understand him!  He sure is cute though!

Also, Paul covered for Grekin today by himself with 97 patients scheduled this morning.  82 showed up and he saw them all by himself.  That was just in the morning.  At lunch he went to the hospital for some paperwork and then up to Dr. Manz clinic where he did 4 surgeries.  Does that impress anyone else as much as it does me???

Miami 2012

Global Pathology labs in Miami invited Paul down to study slides for a week with them and guess who got to come along? :)  Paul was in Miami Sun to Sat and I met him Wed through Sat.  This felt like a real vacation. We sat in a hot tub, had a midnight dip in the pool.  We got to go out to nice restaurants like Sushi Siam where I had the best Thai dish I have ever eaten. I could not get enough.  Paul's sushi was amazing too. 

We got to walk up and down Lincoln street in Miami Beach shopping and enjoying the sights and people watching.  Thursday I spent 6 hours at the mall shopping.  I can't remember ever doing that before but it was great.  I found some great deals and I love my new clothes.  That night we went with Jesse to a restaurant called Nexxt on Lincoln street. 

We all ordered wonderful fish tacos and as we were finishing it started to rain.  A slight rain turned into a heavy rain which quickly became a howling torrential tropical storm.  We were more than 15 blocks from our car and we decided to run.  We were completely drenched and at one point we were running through puddles up to our calves.  It was a run we won't soon forget.  The next morning we spent a good 1/2 hour trying to find out the session times for the new Ft. Lauderdale temple, only to finally realize we could not find a phone number because it is still under construction!  It is not yet open, so instead we drove to Biscane Bay and rented a kayak. 

We layed in the 7" hot water on the sandbar that felt like it was in the middle of the ocean for a long while as the gentle waves lapped over us.  It was sensational.  We went to Coconut Grove shopping district for lunch and had Gyros and walked around for a bit.  An antique store there was quite interesting.
Our next adventure was awesome!  We stopped at Vizcaya, a mansion built by James Deering in 1916.  We got to tour the house and gardens.  It was incredible!  It was an amazing mix of my favorite Spanish Colonial style with a Miami/ tropical twist along with strict period rooms like neoclassic and rococo.  It was captivating to learn the history of the house and gardens and to imagine what it might have been like to be around when it was being built.  When we went into the dining room Paul said, "It feels a little weird in here."  We went out of the room and Paul repeated his statement to one of the tour guides and she said, "oh yes, it is haunted in there."  Paul went back in and the hairs on the back of his neck lifted again and he said he could definitely feel a strange feeling.  He left the room and it went away and went back in just to have it return 3 times.  We later looked it up and the website we visited said Vizcaya is like the holy grail of haunted houses.  Many sighting shave happened there.  It was an amazing place.  We bought a book about it because we wanted to learn more and we want to model our gardens after parts of the gardens there.  They were so stunning!  (I found these pictures on travel websites.)

 

That night we got to eat the meal I have been craving for 10 years- authentic Cuban food, shredded pork, yellow rice, black beans, caramelized onions and sweet plantains.  It was perfect!  Afterward we got Cold Stone Ice cream and watched TV in the room.  It was such a perfect weekend.  I love my Paul and it was a very nice way to celebrate Father's Day with him.

Playing Survivor

When my sister Amy was in town three weeks ago we watched Season 1 of a show called "Out of the Wild" about 9 people who volunteered to be dropped off in the middle of Venezuela and backpack out with no assistance.  The goal was to survive and find civilization. It made a great impression on me.  I think I spend an excessive amount of time thinking about survival and preparedness, even though I would not consider myself a very eligible candidate for one who would actually survive some kind of disaster.  Anyway, I told the kids about the show and they decided they wanted to watch it so we turned on season two about surviving in Alaska.  After 3 episodes they decided they needed to play Survivor so we had to dig up the winter clothes (because Alaska is cold, right?) and get out Paul's hiking backpacks, which I made heavy by secretly adding gallons of Apple juice, and we set off to survive in the wilderness. The woods behind our house has become a great sanctuary.  It is magical back there.  We have built a pretty impressive little stick fort.  On our expedition we hunted moose and bear and hung them up to make jerky and we foraged for berries and nuts and made a stew over a "fire" we built.  I made a snare and taught the kids how to make their own too.  Then Paul gave us a Survivor 101 class.  It was a lot of fun and we made plans as a family to go on lots of real outdoor adventures.

Can I drink out of a coconut shell when I grow up?

For months now Joren has been asking me the same question: "When I grow up, can I go to a beach and drink coconut milk out of a coconut shell and lay in a hammock?"  The kids remembered the one I made for them in the old house so they asked me for a sheet.  I told them we did not have any trees close enough together but I challenged them to try to come up with something anyway.  They went outside and thought of hanging it on the swing set!  Brilliant.  It worked great.  It's awesome when the ideas don't all have to come from me!  Of course I felt guilty being in Miami last weekend laying on a beach looking up at coconut trees above us so when we got home I did my best to try to make a bit of his dreams come true.  I made some coconut/ lime smoothy and encouraged him to lay in his  hammock in our backyard and turned on some Hawiian music and let him relax for as long as he wanted.  I think he really liked it.  You can see here, he is winking at me!  What a little charmer.

Joren in May 12

Joren has been insisting that I make him a vest and belt and headband out of pampas grass so he can go play with the monks.  Now, I'm pretty good with costumes, but I told him pampas grass is out of my expertise. After a few days and some discussions on the issue, we settled on making him a koonskin hat and a fur vest.  He is crazy about it and wore it to preschool for crazy hat day.  He also got to wear it to the Father/ Son campout.  It was a hoot.

For weeks Joren has insisted that his preschool class and family call him by his chosen name of hte day.  For many days it was Bill.  Then it was Lars and lately it is Chuck.  He gets really mad when someone forgets.  He says, "I SAID, my name is CHUCK!"  He also locked himself in the dog kennel yesterday and told me he was my pet panther and that he had a pet worm named Torin.  

I set up some 2 L bottles with sand in them for Joren to bowl.  He got so excited and bowled for a long time.  He told me lots of times that he was an expert bowler.  The next weekend we were invited to a birthday party at a bowling alley.  I have not seen Joren so excited except when we go swimming.  I took a video of him dancing around.  

Joren's preschool hosted a Mother's Day tea party this year it was so fun.   Joren put make up on me and did my nails and we potted flowers in a pot he had painted for me.  We had a little tea party with cucumber sandwiches at apple juice and tea and cookies and then we danced to Louis Armstrong. Joren decided to wear a cowboy outfit instead of "tea party" clothes.  He wore his cowboy hat and boots with his funky cowboy shirt.  It was adorable!  Mother's Day is my new favorite day!

When asked at preschool what he was going to do for his mom for Mother's day, Joren told the class that he was going to invent a three armed robot to help mom do her chores.

"Second's up mom." Joren


"What is happiness Joren?" I asked, to which he responded, "Happymess?"

Oregon meetings

Paul has been in Oregon this weekend.  He went to meet with Dr. Denman, Dr. Goodkin, Dr. Young and Dr. Hale.  3 out of the 4 want to sell their practices to Paul next year.  I think it is UNBELIEVABLE that three doctors are looking to sell at the same time in the same place.  We would be fools to look anywhere else when there is such a need and we are practically being handed whatever we want all wrapped up in a bow.  Unbelievable.  Honestly.  How are we so blessed?  Now, we have the hard choice of which doctor to work with and how much to pay etc.  Paul said the farmers market in the area is unreal and there is a artists community college that he says I will love.  I am really excited.  I am glad I will get one more delicious Michigan May!

Money in my pocket

 "I've got a headband and a light saber.  I am ready for anything!"

 Always watching and learning

 Teig's "smile" face as he pours vinegar into baking soda and food coloring.  This fizzes up and makes great overflowing eruptions.  Very fun!

 Lunch party and slip and slide at Annie Christensen's house.  Kids are Annie's twins, Nicholas and Alexander and Tiffany Hillam's twins, Zach and Mae, and of course cutie Teig.

 Teig and Tor-  loving friendship

Teig has figured out that money is what it is all about. He is crazy about having coins. He puts them in his pocket and takes them out over and over again to make sure they are safe.   He carries them around all day!  This morning when he woke up I pried open his sweaty little hand to reveal a handful of coins he had clung to all night. 
I picked up a book about potty training at the library.  He has been practicing sitting on his potty chair and wants me to read him the book every time.  So far he has not gone potty in the toilet but he has wanted to sit on the toilet many many many times I think were getting close. 

Mother's Day!

Yesterday I went on a long bike ride around the island with Teig in the basket seat behind me.  The goslings were out on East River and we saw muskrats, squirrels and birds and I sang Teig songs, and it was the most perfect weather.  It was glorious.

Joren's preschool hosted a Mother's Day tea party this year.  It was so fun.  Joren put make up on me and did my nails and we potted a flower in a pot he had painted for me.  We had a little tea party with  cucumber sandwiches at apple juice and tea and cookies and then we danced to Louis Armstrong.  Joren was so cute.  He decided to wear a cowboy hat and boots.  It was adorable.  On Sunday Morning, my boys all snuck out of bed and surpised me with crepes, strawberries and blueberries complete with a flwoer and a water and a straw  for breakfast in bed.  They honestly did not wake me up until they brought the food in.  (Quite an accomplishment.)  Eirik brought home a darling card and a poem printed with Eirik's silhouette and they all just soaked me in love.   Mother's Day is my new favorite day!

carpenter ants

Joren just went to his cave so that he could turn into a panther and grow claws.  Then he came out stalking us.
In the mean time, Teig was chasing around a carpenter ant and picking him up, letting him crawl all over him, squealing and then flipping him off just to do it all over again.
Such good, crazy boys.

I'm not a liar

Eirik had a dream last night.  In his dream he was playing on the playground, but it was not his real playground.  His dad came to the school, but it was not his real dad, it was a big buff guy (sorry Paul.).  His dad did something..... ( can't remember what he said)  and then somehow his dad found out that Eirik had been telling lies, like that he has science class at school and that he made up the songs that they learn at school.  Then they put a sign on him that said, "liar" and all the kids and teachers started pointing and laughing and taking pictures and videos.  He felt so bad and when he woke up he repented.  He said he thinks it was the Holy Ghost teaching him in his sleep not to lie.

Joren 4 yrs.

Joren has started insisting that I call him Lars instead of Joren.  "I'm not Joren, I'm Lars!"

He decided yesterday that I was his owner, and he was my pet panther.  He lives in a cage and has a pet worm named Toren.

I set up 2 L bottles with sand in them for Joren to practice bowling.  He got so excited and bowled for a long time.  We went to a birthday party the next weekend at the bowling alley.  I have never seen Joren so excited except when we go swimming.

"monks are kinda like people, except they are very wise and vey meditate a wot.  I am friends wif de monks." 

He is so random! 

Today Joren asked me to make him a coonskin cap like Davy Crocket.  He has been balancing a piece of fur on his head for weeks so I made him a cap and a vest.  He looks pretty cool.  He asks me all the time if he can be a caveman or an indian or a wild woodsman when he grows up.

Today at preschool all the kids got to say what they did over the weekend.  Many of the kids talked about what movies or what video games they watched or played.  I loved that my son could say, "we caught a giant frog and a baby bird."  For some reason that makes me really happy.

Goslings on East River

  Yesterday I went on a long bike ride around the island with Teig in the basket seat behind me.  The goslings were out on East River and we saw muskrat, squirrels and birds.  It was the most perfect weather.  

I picked up a book about a new potty chair for baby at the library she has been practicing sitting on his potty chair and wants me to read him the book every time he brings it up to me when he wants to try so far he has not gone potty in the toilet that he has wanted to sit on the toilet many many many times I think were getting close!

 "When I am a gadget engineer I'm going to invent a force field that will keep all the animals out of your sunflowers.  It will have a remote control to turn it on or off."  Eirik Oct 2011

"In the middle of the night I wake up, steal your things, turn on the lamplight and put on your glasses.  Then I do mad scientist laughs and do mad theories and experiments and stuff.  I made a  whole secret lab and I chart my experiments that I'm going to do when I'm a mad scientist."  Eirik Oct. 2011

Friends over

We had the Whiting kids sleep over.  It was one of the first warm weekends and the butterflies were out in abundance.  We spent the good part of the first evening catching butterflies and putting them in jars.  The next day we were lucky enough to catch our spectacular pond frog and the kids all got to play with him.  The funnies part of the weekend was when Brynlee came inside for dinner and said, "excuse me, I have to go wash nature off my hands."

Life is so good when you can be outside all day long.  I got to plant my garden this week.  For 4 days this week we were outside 80% of the day.  70-80 degree days!  To say I have been a happy girl is an understatement.  I read my new square foot gardening book and found out a few things I did wrong the past few years and tried to correct those and then I planted.  I learned to compost this year and used my own compost in the soil.  I also bought a drip hose and hay.  I am very interested to see if my garden will do better this year.  I planted (2) 4 x 4' gardens and 10 pots and hollyhocks and lavender in the flower garden.  I hope they will all do well.  Paul went to Oregon this weekend. (more details about that to come.) and I watched two Davis boys for two nights while he was away.  We played outside and had sleeping bag sleepovers each night.  We set up the tent, did bobsledding on the lawn with sleds and Tor, set up the pool and water slide, made homemade bubbles, played in the forest fort, had a read-a-thon in the tent, ate lots of pop-cycles and ice cream, and caught a baby robin and a huge bullfrog.  (This was obviously the highlight.)  The Davis boys and perfectly mannered and great to have around.  It was really fun, and they were all so good.  May is pretty much perfect.

 I learned how to make homemade bubbles and let the kids go to town.  They really liked that!

 On another day we had Nate Hillam come play.  He came on the very first day it was warm enough to get the sprinklers out.  They had so much fun!

Home Depot

 Hammering, gluing, sanding, driving a tractor, running around in the parking lot... a perfect spring morning at Home Depot.

Frogs in the car

 Paul and I took the kids on a nature walk and were lucky enough to find a toad for each kid in graduating sizes, small to large, just like the boys.  They were so giddy.  It took Teig a few minutes to get over his nervousness, but as soon as he did he wanted his own toad and did NOT want to give him up.  He tried to keep him in his pocket, but we explained that he would get smashed to which he did not respond well.  We explained to all the boys that the toads would need to be let free to live in the wild before we got back to the car.  Again, we did not get a good response from any of them.  We insisted and they all let their frogs go, Teig with a tantrum, Joren surprisingly pleasantly, Eirik, obediently.  On the drive home we suddenly heard Paul cry out, "What was that!?" as Joren's toad leaped out of the boot he had hidden him in!   He's a sneaky one, that Joren!

 Joren is always talking about living in a tree. Today he got to try to fit inside one.  He tried and tried, but it was a pretty tight fit.

 "my bone cowection!"

 A little nervous, but willing...

 Brave baby, caring brother