You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Play’ category.
Here’s a video of Sean skiing. He’s at the top of the hill at the beginning in the middle right, and he follows his instructor, Miss Jessica, in the blue, down the hill.
You’d think that with a mid-summer birthday, it’d be easy to have an outdoor party, right? Well, not so much in the Midwest. I believe it was Sean’s second birthday where we had to reschedule his outdoor pool party because it was too cold. Yup, too cold on the last week of July/first week of August.
This year, we decided to have Sean’s birthday party at a local park that has a sprinkler area for the summer. It’s been the perfect summer to be outdoors in water because it’s been hot. Record breaking hot at times. In fact, since I’ve lived here, I don’t remember a hotter summer than this one. On top of that, we’ve had a severe drought. Put those together, and you’ve got instant success for an outdoor party, and least that’s what I hoped. Of course, today of all days, there was a thunderstorm warning. Not only that, but it started right about the time when Sean’s party started. I kept updating the weather map online to see how the storm was moving. After e-mailing my husband, we decided to chance it.
Literally, as we drove up to the park, I could hear thunder. I saw the dark clouds to the east. I waited. Friends and parents started showing up. I hoped that it wouldn’t rain. The forecast was for the storm to move to the east of us and for it to be clear. We waited and listened. The kids played unbeknownst to the possibility that the party would be cut short. After about 15 minutes, the weather cleared up. Whew!
Oh, how the kids played! As their party gifts, I got the kids a pail and bucket along with bubbles. My original thought was for the kids to build sandcastles in the sandbox with the pails. I soon realized that most of them would be used to gather water. Some of the boys got a hold of the water and dumped them down the slide to make their own “slip and slide”. A few boys shot off that slide faster than anyone could anticipate. At one point, our friend said, “I saw Sean shoot off the slide and land on his back. I didn’t think that you could go down that fast on the slide.” Good times.
The kids ate cake, played some more, and then Sean opened presents. It was so cute watching all the kids huddle around Sean as he opened his presents. Each child was so excited to exclaim, “That one’s mine!” I’m so glad that he had such a good time. I realized that though it was stressful prepping for the party, that having it at the park was a good idea – no real clean up for my part, and the kids had plenty of space to work off their sugar (an added bonus to the parents).
After the party, we headed to Cracker Barrel, per the birthday boy’s request. He enjoyed his meal of shrimp, mac n’ cheese, lemonade, and a sundae. A meal for a champion, I say! 🙂 I don’t know about Sean, but I am tuckered out!
We bought a pool pass this year since we’d have to start paying for Sean to go to the pool. The pool opened this weekend and I thought it’d be a great time to take the kiddos to the pool with the help of Grandma! 🙂 So, after nap today, we took all three the kids to the pool. They were really excited to go, and they were a little too giddy as we were getting everyone in their suits and putting on sunscreen before we left.
My goodness, our kids loved the pool. I wasn’t quite sure how Karis would react since she seemed to hate the big bath the first week I put her in. She loved it! She loved being in the water. She loved splashing, and she loved grabbing the water that was coming out at the small fountains. She cackled and laughed, and she would laugh harder when she’d get water on her face. She was content sitting in the water or standing next to the water table. At one point, while Grandma was watching Karis while we took the boys to the tube slide, a mom was pointing out Karis to her 18-month daughter and showing her that she had nothing to be afraid of. 🙂
The boys jumped right into the pool. Jonas wasn’t a big fan of the slide because he didn’t like the splash getting on his face. Ironically, he loved to splash and run around in the pool just fine. Sean was just all over the place running, splashing, and laughing in the pool. We took the boys down the tube slide, and Jonas was apprehensive about it after the first time. Sean loved it. Well, Sean loved everything about the pool. It made me so happy to see all my kids so happy this afternoon. 🙂 It was also an extra bonus that we could share it with Grandma. 🙂
I daresay we have three water babies on our hands. I think our summer vacation with my husband’s family at the beach will be a hit with our family! 🙂
It wasn’t too long ago, that I was wondering when Sean would start drawing pictures. He’s been writing and scribbling for along time; he has a love and obsession with numbers and letters. I’m not complaining that he loves to write, but I was wondering when he would start drawing. Well, that day has come in full force. 🙂
Below, are pictures that Sean drew immediately after he got home and got this pad of paper for some research he did at a lab on campus. He sat quietly for more than ten minutes, drawing intently, and filling each page up. When he was done, he told me what he drew. Hover over each picture to see the description of the picture.
I’m going to start a mini-series of posts about each of the kids. In each post, I’ll talk about what each one has been up to. I thought I’d start with the “middle” child first, since he’s in the middle and usually doesn’t get the spotlight.
Last week I registered Jonas for pre-school. Yup, that’s right, pre-school. I can’t believe that Jonas is almost 3 years old and will be going to school next year already! I think that Jonas is definitely ready to go. He’s been excited every time he’s been able to go to school, whether it’s “See me at school” or just picking up Sean. When the weather is nice and we all go in, Jonas makes it a point to say goodbye to Mrs. R as we leave. If Mrs. R is busy talking to someone else and doesn’t hear Jonas, he keeps say goodbye until she acknowledges him. Jonas has also picked up on the snack prayer that Sean has taught out family from pre-school.
Jonas is looking less like a toddler each day and more like a little boy. He’s thinned out and is starting to grow out of his 2T clothes. Jonas is also talking a lot more. His recent phrases that really make me see him more like a little boy are “kay” (okay) and “it naw working” (it’s not working). He is using more complete sentences, and it impresses me to see hear him speaking so well. There are still times where we can’t understand what he’s saying, but for the most part, Jonas is communicating with us much better. I think a big milestone is that other people can understand Jonas not just us.
Remember how Jonas used to be a destroyer of things? Well, that has been much improved. Almost every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, when Sean is at school in the morning, Jonas is playing with the bin of cars. He is lining the up on the big couch, and he is very meticulous about it. He’ll drive each car along the same path, and then park them in a straight line. He doesn’t want anyone to touch them or help him line them up. I’m amazed that he can occupy himself for so long playing with the cars. I’m also amazed that he doesn’t get bored doing the same things over and over again. Jonas still enjoys having some good destruction time, but I’m glad that it’s not all the time. I think that this has really helped having the boys play better together recently. They are both building something together, rather than Sean building something and Jonas destroying them.
It’s been fun watching the sibling relationship grow. Sean and Jonas are typical brothers. They have moments of fighting, of course, but there are more and more moments when they are playing together. Jonas adores Sean and wants to be able to do everything that Sean does. One thing that Sean does well is wanting to include Jonas in various activities. Sean will often ask if Jonas wants to play with him, and they’ll do an activity together. Some of the more common activities are drawing together at the table, playing with the Duplos, riding around on the tractors, playing outside, and playing cars. Jonas definitely has his own opinion of what he wants to do, so it’s not always the case that he will agree to play with Sean, even though Sean wants him to. Jonas is starting to play with Karis more, and taking the initiative to do so more. Before, Jonas would play with Karis because he saw Sean doing it. Now, I’ll find him coming up to Karis and talking to her or giving her a hug or a kiss. It’s really sweet to see the relationship develop. I’m actually surprised that Jonas hasn’t played with Karis more given by the fact that he is enamored with all other babies. He loves going up to other babies and watching them.
Another area in which Jonas is developing is in his fine motor skills. Jonas is now able to draw. He really likes the magnadoodle, but he does also like using markers and crayons on paper. He is able to draw shapes, and he actually drew a car that looked like a car! Jonas is also learning how to use scissors; don’t worry, they are special scissors for 3 year olds that aren’t very sharp. I’ve often found small pieces of construction paper all over the floor.
Well there you have it, the latest greatest news on Jonas.
Sean and Jonas were playing football this weekend. Sean pulled down Jonas from behind around his collar. My husband’s response, “No Sean! We don’t tackle like that. That’s a horse collar, 15 yard, unsportsmanlike conduct!”
Yeah, we watch lots of football at our house. Yup, our boys like football. 🙂
Last week was Fire Safety Week in our town. As part of Fire Safety Week, the local fire departments hosted a couple of events. One event was at the local mall from 9AM-3PM all week long. They had all sorts of events within the mall, and they even had fire trucks inside and outside the mall. They had a special event on Wednesday night in the mall with free pizza. The other event was also on Wednesday night – an Open House at the headquarters of the local fire station from 6-8PM.
After discussing it with it my husband on Wednesday afternoon, we decided to go to the Open House since it was closer to us. I told the boys about it before dinner, and Sean was very excited to go. We ate dinner quickly and headed out. The Open House was held in the bay of the fire station. They had setup the food on one side – pizza, cookies, and drinks with tables. The other side of the bay had three fire trucks and one ambulance. There were fire fighters standing by their trucks and paramedics in the ambulance to answer any questions. They had a variety of goodies for the kids – coloring books, stickers, magnets, hats, clips. They also had Rusty the fire dog. It was quite the event!
Sean and Jonas didn’t know what to do with themselves when they walked into the bay. We walked around, and Jonas was most excited about the ambulance or “meh nah”. Sean was pretty excited about seeing everything, though he really wanted a cookie halfway through walking. Before we stopped for refreshments, we met Rusty the fire dog. Rusty is trained to smell accelerants. The trainer gave a demonstration by having some kids sit on the floor with a can in front of each child. Rusty would lay down when he found “something”. Sean got the can with the accelerant in it, so Rusty laid down in front of him. Jonas was more excited about petting Rusty than seeing his trick.
We got some pizza and cookies, and then continued to walk around. My husband and I had to split up because the kids went their separate ways for awhile. The firefighters were kind enough to let the kids sit in their trucks, look at their equipment, and answer questions. My husband learned that one of the firetrucks with the large ladder is taken out when they think a building has structural damage. Surprisingly, that truck gets taken out 5 to 6 times a day. That same truck cost $1.5 million. Wow! We also learned that one of the pumper trucks can hold 500 gallons of water. It only takes 2 minutes for the 500 gallons of water to be used up before they have to connect to a hydrant. I know my husband would have liked to stay to ask more questions, but our children weren’t quite as interested in asking questions.
In my last post, I talked about how it was nice to see Jonas grow up with a big brother. In this post, I’ll talk about how Jonas is as a big brother.
Last Friday, we headed to the park with Mrs. S and her two boys Eli and Evan. Eli is right in between Sean and Jonas in age; turning 3 in November. Eli is 9 months old. Mrs. S and I were talking at the picnic table. Jonas was done with the sandbox and decided to join us for awhile. Mrs. S decided to let Evan crawl around, so we sat at the picnic table and watched as Evan crawled away. Jonas was very concerned. He started following Evan. Evan crawled further. Jonas started pulling on his clothes to get him to stop. Evan kept going. Jonas was more concerned. He started pushing down on Evan’s back to get him to stop. Evan kept going. Jonas got upset and started crying and saying “No!” while trying to sit on him. At this point, Evan was upset because he was being tackled, Jonas was crying because Evan wasn’t doing what he wanted. Mrs. S and I ran over to the boys. Mrs. S asked, “Jonas, did you not like that Evan was crawling away from us? Was he too far?” To which Jonas replied with his grunt of “uh”, which means yes. The whole time, Jonas was saying to us, “Do you see that Evan is trying to crawl away? Hello! I’m trying to stop him. Do I have to be the parent here?”
A few days later, on Sunday, we had small group, and Mr. & Mrs. S were there with their family. After Mrs. S finished feeding Evan, she gave him some puffs. Jonas was intrigued. He started feeding Evan puffs. By “feeding” I mean shoving the puffs in Evan’s mouth, and not necessarily at the pace he wanted. 😛 After Evan was done, he was getting a little fussy, so Mrs. S gave Evan his pacifier. Jonas wanted to help Evan. He grabbed the pacifier and tried to put it in Evan’s mouth. Evan wanted to put the pacifier in his mouth by himself, and he wanted to chew on it rather than suck on it. That was not ok with Jonas at all. He grabbed the pacifier away from Evan and tried to put it in his mouth again. They went back and forth like this a few times until Evan got really upset. Jonas tried again as if to say, “Hey baby Evan, calm down. I’m trying to help you with the pacifier. Let me help you (shove pacifier in mouth). No, don’t do it yourself, I’m here to help you. I’m the older one, you see, and I know how this is done!”.
It’s been pretty funny to see Jonas interact with Evan this way. I think that Jonas has taken it upon himself to be the big brother than takes care of Evan. It’ll be interesting to see how his relationship with his sister develops in the next few months as she starts moving and eating.
Nothing makes a day go faster when you have a friend come over! 🙂 Mrs. Jaime called right when I walked in the door with the boys after working out. She wondered if Zach, Rissa, Nathaniel, and she could come over this morning because they had a showing at their house! Of course! 🙂 Yay for having their house being shown, and yay that we could have friends come over! 🙂
It was pretty exciting having all the kids at our house. The older children, Zach, Rissa, and Sean enjoyed running around the rooms, jumping on the beds, and playing with the toys. Jonas tried to join in the fun with the big kids, but eventually started playing on his own. Mrs. Jaime tried to put Nathaniel down for a nap in Jonas’ crib, but he would have none of it when there was so much fun to be had outside. 🙂 Mrs. Jaime read some books to the kids, and the kids took turns playing various toys. Later in the morning, I turned on Word World and Super Why for the older kids. I thought they would settle down, but surprisingly, even Sean was running around through some of the shows! 😛 I was happy to see that there was very little fighting between all the kids, and they were well behaved while I made lunch and Mrs. Jaime kept watch.
We had a delightful lunch of mac n cheese for the kids and sandwiches for the adults. Throw in some carrots and apples, and I’d say it was a pretty successful lunch! The kids ate quite a lot, and it was actually quiet for a few minutes while everyone was eating! After lunch, Mrs. Jaime and her kids had to go home for their naptime. It was quite an eventful, but good morning! 🙂
I think our little Jonas is going to be in the destruction business. The boy loves smushing his crackers with the big dump truck or his sit-and-ride tractor. Twice this week, I’ve e-mailed or called my husband to let him know what he was doing, and both times, my husband laughed. It is pretty funny except that I usually clean it up. I guess I should be thankful for wood floors!
Yesterday, I had a plastic bag full of goldfish crackers. Jonas wanted the bag, and after he took a goldfish, ate it, and didn’t spill the contents, I let him have it. I forget what I was doing, but I lost track of Jonas. Then, I heard his tractor rolling, then stopping, rolling, then stopping. Usually, if he’s just riding his tractor, it’s just roll, roll, roll, so I knew that something was wrong. I look behind the couch, and there was Jonas, rolling over goldfish that he scattered all over the ground. The little boy was concentrating very hard, making sure he was smashing as many goldfish with the wheels of his tractor and feet. I pushed him out the way as I swept most of the crumbs. It was quite mess! Alas, I should be more careful when I give Jonas crackers.
Our Sweet Ts 