Front Yard Play

Our back yard is about the size of a postage stamp.

So we mostly play in the front yard.

And, yes, since our little community is gated and very small, we often play in the street.  

I'm a very bad mother.

We'll have to teach Cry Cry at the new house that streets are indeed dangerous places.

We picked up this plastic car out of the trash and brought it home when Graham was little.

It's been a favorite of all of our boys at some point.  

Right now Nathan LOVES it.

The older boys usually play baseball.

Jopie is one happy pitcher.

He's the smiling-est kid I know.

And then there's this kid who thinks the whole world has done him wrong.

But I think it's just an act.

He can be just as happy as the next guy.

Happy Monday!

This and That

Here's what we've been doing around the house this last month.

Playing outside.

I'm pretty sure this is not a normal way to get shade, but he thought it was.

I just love when they sit and look at books quietly.

And when the bigger ones read to the littles... pure joy in a mother's heart.

In case you thought they always were reading.

What we often have for lunch.  Hummus on Central Markets wheat tortillas.  Mine has spinach, cucumber, red pepper, salt and pepper.  Yum.  Except I'm always hungry an hour later.  Then I have to have some cheetos and diet coke to counteract all that healthy food I had for lunch.

Graham's been a reading machine lately.  He's been into the Ranger's Apprentice series.  Just ask him.  He'll tell you all about it.

Hoops in the garage.  It's a competitive sport at our house.

Hot chocolate on the lawn.  What a nice Mommy I was that day.

They had made a nut store.

Yes, probably another thing that only home school boys do.

If you don't have these, get yourself some.  Hours of fun.  Thanks for the idea, Sarah.

Bonding brothers.  Sweet moments.

Warming up for the baseball season.

And lazy mornings by the fire.

Whistle While You Work

I'm about to tell you about my high-tech chore system.

Isn't it pretty?

Basically, I assign them a couple of areas that they are in charge of for the whole week.  When it's time to pick up, every one cleans their area.  It doesn't matter who messed it up.  If someone's job is overwhelming, then I assign him a helper.  Although, usually it's best for them to work alone.  When they try to work together, it often turns into a fight about who's doing all the work and who's not.

That's it.  There's nothing magic, but for right now, it's working.  And it gets the house cleaned pretty quickly.  We clean about 2-3 times per day.  To be perfectly honest, the house is not picked up most of the time.  We spend a lot of the day at home.  And while I home school the bigger kids, the little kids make a huge mess.  I would rather deal with the mess than have my kids in front of the tv or some other form of media.  Or that's what I tell myself when Jopie and Cry Cry pull all the pillows off every bed in the house and build a huge fort in the living room.  Or when I go in the playroom and it they've dumped several bins on the floor, so they can "find something."

I'm sure I'll have a different system when this one wears out.  But for right now this is simple, requires no maintenance, and works well for us.

What works for you?

Dailies

Boys and garbage trucks.

We spend a lot of time at this table.  Like it or not.

This is the one who was slower to pick up on the reading thing, but now is my most avid reader.

Teamwork.

Mandatory reading time.  They always groan when it's reading hour, but once they settle in, it's okay.

Piano.  Love to be able to play, but not so much the practicing.

Again, lots of hours at this table.

Doing one thing or the other.

Sometimes I even let them paint, but only when I'm feeling nice.

Cry Cry asleep with his blanket all wrapped around him. 

I need to remind myself to take more of these kinds of pictures.  It's fun to have great photos of the kids all cute and matchy, but even more sentimental to have these pictures of the typical dailies in our home.

Coffee

This one came out the womb loving coffee.  Maybe it's because one of the few sweet treats I could enjoy while pregnant was an iced coffee from McDonalds.  I had gestational diabetes with him and McDonalds was the only coffee establishment at our little country exit, so for $1.69, I could get a sugar-free vanilla iced coffee.  It was such a yummy treat in those months where every grain of sugar or flour that would touch my lips would make my blood sugar sky rocket.  For all you diabetics out there, it gave me an appreciation for the difficulty of the lifestyle decisions you have to make.  

Anyway, back to coffee.

This is Cry Cry at 11 months drinking his grandfather's Starbucks, just black coffee with a little creamer. The kind that puts hair on your chest.

Drinking it like it was water.

Even today, he begs for a cup when I'm pouring mine.

Being the good mother that I am, sometimes I give him a cup.  Now he asks for it "with milk."

I just love his chubby hands on that mug.

Good to the last drop.  

Always good to enjoy that morning cup with you.

Hope we can enjoy this tradition for MANY years to come.

Indoor games

This is one of his favorite games.

It works great on our slick wood floor.

And only sometimes results in injury.

But he still loves it.

Graham loves a good game of checkers.  Thanks, Mr. Anderson, for indulging him.

And there's always money laundering.

I love watching these boys play.

Saturday morning

What does your Saturday morning look like?

In the spring, ours look like this.

It takes a village to get these four baseball stars dressed and ready to go.

And a bag full of treats & cars to keep this rock star happy at the games.

Happy Wednesday!