The everyday conversation

Just about everyday on our way home from dropping off Alex at school (the bus driver of the bus Alex is supposed to take is not the cleanest looking person and insists on buckling the kids in their seats) Grant and I have the following conversation:

Grant: Where Alets doe Mom? (where did Alex go mom)

Me: Alex is at school

Grant: Huh?

Me: remember we just dropped him off?

Grant: Huh mom?

Me: Alex went to school?

Grant: Huh?

Me: Alex--school (thinking maybe fewer words will get the point across)

Grant: huh?

Me: I say nothing (sometimes its just easier to say nothing--this however does not work at the beginning of the conversation)

Grant: Alets at paygwoun (playground)?

Me: yes he plays at the playground until the teacher calls the class in.

Grant: oh ... Mom where Daedee (Katie) doe?

The conversation goes on and on. There are a few different variations of this conversation. Sometimes Grant substitutes the word huh? with why? We usually discuss where the whole family is before we make it home.

cleaning

I love Saturday mornings when soccer games don't start until 10. It means we have time for our one hour cleaning (a Smart Mama idea). The idea is that every member of the family cleans for one hour at the same time. We try to stay together to ensure that everyone is in fact cleaning and not putting their legos together before they put them in the box. Its amazing what 5 people can do in one hour. We haven't been counting Grant as a cleaner--he's still pretty good at undoing what we've cleaned in record time, although he is getting pretty good at staying out of the way. Here's what he was up to today while we cleaned.

He found Katie's lip gloss and carefully put it on ... and put it on ... and put it on while nobody was looking. The plan next week is to have him use baby wipes to clean doorknobs, wipe doors and scrub the kitchen floor.

napping

I'm sad to say that Grant is showing stronger resistance to napping. Yesterday after working on getting him down for about 10 minutes I went downstairs to work on the computer. I could hear him running across the wood floor. "Go to sleep," I said. Next thing I knew he was sneaking out of his room. A few minutes later I went searching for him and found him just a few feet away from me on the bottom step. At first glance I thought he was laying there awake, but as I got closer I found that he was completely zonked out. I had to hurry and take a picture before he rolled over and bonked his head on the tile floor.

music to my ears

this is obviously the after picture--so empty, isn't it great!

When Alex can't clean up his room for the 20th day in a row--its time to do some major dejunking and reorganizing. Though I dreaded this task, it turned out to be pretty fun. The music to my ears was when he said, "No I don't want that anymore, lets throw it away." I can't remember what it was--a dollar store airplane? a card? a box which had lost its contents? It doesn't matter whatever it was he got rid of it. Truly a breakthrough.

We had some pretty great conversation which is nice since Alex doesn't talk a whole lot. He commented on the different sound of his congested voice, "My voice is talking funny today." He also said, "Oh mom, these are my imaginary friends. I need to keep these." We made sure we put them in a safe spot. Besides these imaginary friend blank papers he also made sure to keep all the nice notes people have written to him. If you've ever written Alex a nice note, chances are you'll find it in his frog lunchbox.

TEN

Jordan turned 10 yesterday.

pictured here are Jordan, Katie, Alex and Grant anxiously awaiting the opening of presents. The presents were 3 packs of star wars figures (the games ones) star wars legos from grandparents, a star wars book and money from the other grandparents.

His meal choices were:

• breakfast: eggs and bacon
• lunch: Top Ramen-Carl made it into a Top Ramen casserole with cheese and crushed fritos on top. As if Top Ramen weren't unhealthy enough on its own.
• dinner: pizza, one with pepperoni, one with pepperoni and olive and one with pepperoni, olive, mushrooms and spinach.

Katie helped me make a giant cupcake for dessert.

happy birthday to a great soccer player, nice big brother, and all around good kid!

LOVIN THE SHUFFLE

Carl got me a little ipod shuffle for our anniversary. Its been the best thing. There's nothing like turning on the shuffle when:

• I'm out for a jog-I can't even hear myself breath, which I'm pretty sure makes me jog a lot longer.
• I need to make dinner-music makes the things I loathe a lot more enjoyable
• My two-year-old is throwing a fit-I can just watch and don't have to hear a bit of it
• I'm doing projects while Grant is sleeping-podcasts are great at a time like this

The kids also love the shuffle-pictured here is my nephew Titus. It seems he was listening to a very serious podcast.

Swing Therapy

A few days ago I took a last minute trip to the playground with Grant and Alex. The playground is usually a very BORING place to be (for me) but since we were with friends it was doable. After pushing the boys on the swings FOREVER I did some swinging by myself, totally ignoring their requests, "push me mom." I LOVE swinging. I have always loved it. After reading Raising Your Spirited Child and a few pages of Raising a Sensory Smart Child I realize that I need things in my day like swinging. Sometimes I find myself wandering around the house. I'm antsy and can't really focus on one thing. I go from playing the piano to doing a few dishes to sitting down looking at the mail. I never finish anything and can't seem to be satisfied with any particular thing. Its times like these that having a swing, going for a jog, playing soccer with the kids, or jumping on the trampoline can make a huge difference. Its like being recharged. It leaves me feeling happy and ready to focus on one task. Of course the kids need this kind of variety in activities too, especially when they are restless.