1st Day of Music Camp

We decided that Aidan needed some enrichment programs this summer in addition to his summer preschool. Because Aidan loves music so much we thought a music camp would be a perfect fit of additional learning fun this summer. I enrolled him for one week of music & art camp and today was to be his first day. I was so excited for him and he seemed excited too. We packed his Thomas the train backpack with his lunch, sweatshirt and hat. He was so pleased with this, he couldn't stop talking about it. The camp is about a 20min drive from home, and he must have asked at least 20 times on the way there, "Are we there yet?" I thought this was a good sign, drop off was going to be a piece of cake. I was sadly mistaken. We arrived on time, I filled out the necessary paper work, we did our introductions, I took one step away from Aidan....and suddenly he was pale white, he turned and lunged at me, gripping onto my thigh with a mighty death grip and screamed "don't leave me here" The camp director and I worked together in trying to calm him but he just kept on. I stayed an hour and half with him, I participated in the circle time, name game, rhythm beats, he was introduced to percussion instruments then came snack time. I thought here is my time to break for it. He just wasn't going to let it happen. The director and I once again met with him alone in a room, we listened to music, talked about his feelings specifically "being scared" she brought out a violin and when he realized this was all a ploy to try to get him to stay, he started to heave almost to the point of hyperventilating, his eyes were now puffy and red rimmed. It was such a pathetic sight, it broke my heart to see him like this. To my disappointment and Aidan's relief we called it a day and left.

Daddy and I spoke with him this afternoon about trying another day. We've even made it a sweeter deal for him by adding a little bribery. He has been asking for 'Peter Sam' another Thomas train character, so we bought it today. We told Aidan if he made it through the rest of the week of music camp that he could have 'Peter Sam'. Now I'm not sure that bribery is the best method of parenting but if it works this time, I'll be satisfied and deal with the consequence later.

Zoo Membership

Some memberships are worth having, the zoo membership is one of those. We've had a zoo membership for 3 yrs now and our kids have yet to tire of it. I'm sure there will be a time when they finally out grow it but Aidan is soon to be 5 and still enjoys it, Miles and Liam 2 1/2 love it of course. We never get through the zoo in one visit, one day we see certain animals and another time I try to make it a point to see different exhibits. I think this helps keep trips to the zoo exciting. We talk about the animals and what they're doing, sounds they make etc. I'm always amazed at how interactive these little discussion get between us. Aidan gets really involved in these discussions and I think this encourages Miles and Liam to participate too. It's truly a wonderful teaching tool, not only do the kids get to see the animals, but they get to engage in conversation, focus attention, and appreciate nature and other living creatures. This membership holds much value to our family and I plan on renewing it as long as my kids continue to enjoy it. Oh and of course they never tire of the amusement park especially the train ride.

4th of JUly BBQ fun

Well it was a successful event, 5 families, 5 sets of twins and 2 singletons, kids all 4 and under and only one major owie event at the end of the evening. Of course with that many young kids you have tears here and there, it's to be expected but it was still a fun day for all. We set up the jumpy house for the kids and the adults got to lounge around, well for the most part while taking turns manning the jumpy house. Max made a fab pitcher of margaritas, that I enjoyed...I think Susan did too. And lots of yummy food, I joked that Rachel co-hosted the event because she brought over so many delicious treats including the patriotic flag cake that everyone ooooed and ahhed over. For someone who claims she doesn't cook, she sure did a fabulous job. Well we didn't make it to the fireworks but we played, we ate, we laughed, and had a great time. Maybe next year we'll make it to the fireworks.

Gummy Bears

Little do they know that these are vitamins. I recently started giving them these "Lil Critter Fruit & Veggies" gummy bears from TJs, apparently they are one whole serving of fruit and veggies.

Cull Canyon Fun

Lots of fun was had at Cull Canyon Lake with Rachel and her kids. The kids played well, we got to enjoy some fun in the sun (ok I got a bit of a sun burn) and the kids built a "mountain" according to Liam. I think this is one of our favorite places right now. A man-made lake with filtered water and small beach area, water is shallow enough and clean and it's only a 20 minute drive away.

Mmm Meatballs

Another quick and yummy meal the kids dig! The truth is 2 out of 3 of my kids are extremely picky eaters so when I find something they like, I'm thrilled. I know my boys like meatballs so I've made them several different ways. Tonight's meatballs were made with ground turkey and rice, added some garlic, soy sauce, white pepper and salt. I browned the meatballs,
stir fried one of those prepackage stir fry veggie mixes from TJs, added the meatballs to the veggies along with some chicken broth, white cooking wine, soy sauce and cornstarch, lowered the flame, covered it and simmered for another 5 minutes to make sure the meatballs were cooked through and the broth had thickened. Added this to some soba noodles and....
whaa lhaaa happy boys eating dinner. Yay, I call this a success.

These Things Happen

There are days when I'm moving so fast and multi-tasking to complete the mundane household chores plus any other errands needed for daily living, all while having 3 kids making separate demands of me, that I wonder how did I manage all that. During days like these, things sometimes happen. Usually, it's something inconsequential or with little ramification if at all...a forgotten phone call, misplaced sun glasses, an unscooped litter box (gross I know). Other times (not often thankfully) ridiculous debacles occur. So you're asking, what does this have to do with the photo of my trash? Well, if you look closely at that photo, you'll see it documents a narrow escape of one more preposterous mishap. There in my trash, I managed to throw away my blue tooth.

The circumstances around this were like this, I had just unloaded the boys from the van, was now unloading misc. stuff (books, shoes, and trash, ohh and blue tooth) while trying to blow up a balloon for Liam (who was crying), listening to Aidan tell me what DVD he wanted to watch, and Miles demanding a snack, just as the home phone began to ring, and my bladder was saying it could wait no longer to relieve itself. I dropped the shoes in the shoe basket, books on the coffee table, trash and blue tooth in the garbage can, tied and handed Liam his blue balloon (which he immediately decided it was not the right color balloon he wanted and continued to cry), ignored the telephone and Liam, and ran to the bathroom to relieve myself. Read those circumstances again at full speed and see if you catch the mishap...what mishap right? Well that's how it happens. Thankfully, some synapse fired in my brain and said "something's not right". Honestly I didn't figure it out right away, I was just left with a nagging feeling that something was wrong. Then I went to tie up the garbage bag to throw it out and I spotted it, the gleam of something silver in the trash. No, not the granola bar wrappers, but my blue tooth slightly hidden behind a juice box and I thought to myself " Oh my god, close call!" all the while, poor Miles was still waiting for a snack, Liam was now riffling through a bag balloons to pick just the right color, and Aidan was still demanding to watch a DVD.