Afternoon bear hugs

It's been mentioned before that these two have a really special bond.  Their personalities are more similar, so far they have favored each other physically and her innate mothering has bode well for the 'new' baby in the house who enjoys the extra attention.

Every day for picking up Katherine we go through the car line.  I doubt I need to go into details about why getting 2 boys out of their car seats for a whopping 5 minutes is not the best option for our family, so thank goodness for car line!!!

Every day I also get to witness sheer, innocent, raw joy when she enters the car.  She is ever so excited to see Brandon and he is bursting out of his seems to see her.  She usually ditches the book bag, lunch bag and water bottle at the closest location to bend over and hug him and he does a fabulous job of hugging her back with all 4 limbs while still strapped into his 5-point harness seat belt.  Tightly.  While grunting.  And smiling from ear to ear.

I love watching this little act every day and it gives me goose bumps to watch them love each other.

And if you're wondering, every now and then Nathan will ask for a hug from her.  She obliges.  It's usually short and semi-sweet.  They just don't have the same chemistry as the other two.  I wish they did, but it's just a little different.

Repelling Rears

Please tell me I'm not the only one who has felt the desire to do this and actually followed through with it.

Background: My two older children, and soon to be youngest, have severe problems with staying in their seats while eating.  If I say "sit down" one time while they attempt to eat a puny half sandwich, I say it AT LEAST 30 times.  I get tired of hearing myself say it, so I know they do also.  After the first time, I've turned into Charlie Brown's teacher.  Waah waah waah waah waah.  They are unable to decipher any words coming out of my mouth.

The good news is there is a scientific phenomenon occurring in our dining room and I think I've figured it out.  Their little behinds react to the flat chair surfaces like similar magnetic ends by repelling each other.  See?

 

Child's rear end                        The chair         

See how that works?  (You can thank me later for the illustration.  I know middle school science class was long enough ago for us all to appreciate a little picture reminder).  I'm pretty sure I just proved that they're NOT CAPABLE of sitting for too long for fear of hovering OFF THEIR CHAIR.

Well yeah, that's gotta be it!

So, my answer to the repelling problem is: dining room chair seat belts.

a.k.a.: Daddy's belts

Here's what I do that I need help knowing other loving, caring and considerate mothers have done also.  BEFORE I've asked less than a dozen times for them to sit down, BEFORE I'm ready to pull my hair out, I'll ask the children if I need to go get the belts and they start screaming.  Oh stop it!  Not like that!  They're screaming out of sheer joy and excitement.  They love the seat belt idea!

My children are weird.  Here's the proof.

Even though it would be fairly easy for them to get out of, I really do think the restriction helps steer their little bodies to be still for a micro-second.

And keeps Mommy happy. ier.

  

Brandon, is just along for the entertainment.  He still sits in the high chair, thank goodness, but I can see his wandering wings starting to spread.

 

I'd like to take this time to thank Mrs. Brydon, my 9th grade science teacher who probably, maybe, heck I don't know, taught me about magnetic attractions and repulsions.  Because of you Mrs. Brydon, I was able to figure out the annoying scientific-related phenomenon occurring in our dining room, solve the little problem and retain the shreds of sanity I believe I have left.

Brotherly Love

I just happened to capture a precious moment between brothers that didn't involve wrestling, sword-fighting or arguing.  Nathan is reading to Brandon.  AND.  Brandon is listening.

Like catching lightning in a bottle.  The circumstances were just right for them, I just happened to see it and had time to get my camera.

I love those little men.

A little Country

My entire life, I lived in the country.  Well, except for a 1-year stint "in town", which technically wasn't within the city limits but certainly in a subdivision.  I would consider my growin' up years to have lived in the rural parts of Marion County.

It was where I became comfortable holding earthworms, created a new home away from our play area for those pesky ants, learned quickly about the circle of life, had many opportunities to run, play and get dirty, imagine I was just a talent-scout away from Broadway and most importantly - felt safe.  We had chickens, a pig, a cow named Molly, more dogs than I can remember, cats, horses, ponies, roosters that liked to chase little toddler boys around the yard, unwelcome snakes, moles and plenty of mosquitoes and ants.

We even had a midnight visit from a raccoon that made one trip around the house and hopped off the trail.  Sam, (not sure if it was Sam #1, Sam #2 or Sam #3) our beagle hound, caught the scent and commenced to howling to let the calvary know he was on a trail.  He was a great howler, like beagles are supposed to be, and he was doing a fabulous job of following that trail.  The one area of the trail he missed was the part where the raccoon left the house's perimeter.  So our house in the country's midnight treat was to listen to and witness Sam #who-knows howl around and around and around until my dad eventually had to physically pull him off the trail.

You just don't run into that kind of fun living in The City, you know?

Fast forward a hundred years or so and now we're raising yungins that are growing up in The City.  Paved streets, curbs and gutters, less than a 10-minute drive to a grocery store and other people's houses close enough to sometimes hear my "mothering" are what I consider, The City.

So, hopefully it comes as no surprise that I'm feeling like I've kind of let down my rural roots by raising our children here.  Don't get me wrong, there are wonderful opportunities they're experiencing by living here that I never had, but I still ache for them to experience living on the other side of the tracks also.  It's a huge grey area.  Like a grey area the size of a beautiful, oak-tree-lined, secluded piece of 10 acres nestled just outside the city limits.

I remember wishing I didn't live so far out.  I liked the idea back then of living in town, having friends down the street that could just walk over and just plain being closer to everyone and everything.  Nobody from the youth group ever wanted to visit our house because it was such a long drive.  But I also enjoyed the space, green and quiet also.  Even as a kid.

A business report I wrote for a college class at UF, Food and Resource Economics 1101, taught me one very important lesson: if you ever want to make a business in agriculture successful, you have to have the land practically given to you.  Every business model myself and my classmates presented, showed that one common thread.  Land is extremely expensive!  Which also goes for just wanting to raise a family on a couple of acres.  It's still extremely expensive!  Not very cost effective.  Not in our budget.  At least not now.

It doesn't help that I've been completely out of work for 4 years.

The good news is, Jim does a great job bringing rural life here as much as he can.  He had some tomato plants left over from an experiment and he taught our kids how to plant them like he has done many times before.  Twelve, healthy tomato plants, six on one side, six on the other, planted by brown-toed, knee-scratched cuties in the previously landscaped area we cleared for just this occasion.  It's our answer to not having the land to do it on a larger scale.



Tomato plant update:

The slacker in charge of watering didn't do a very good job and now all the plants are either brown, shriveled or have been turned into some type of mini weapon.  For the sake of not embarrassing those who were supposed to be in charge, I will not mention any names.  All I'll say is: she's been known to have butchered a meal or two.

I'm just sayin'.  Might take a little more than land to make an agricultural business model successful or even a yummy taco-topper if this slacker's in charge.

Indiana Jones Boyer

   Notice any similarities?

His new favorite hero is Indiana Jones.  We let him watch parts of the edited-for-TV version and he fell in love hard and fast.  Daddy quickly found a rope outside for a whip, he had a gun in the playroom and while the hat was on order, the sun hat he used as a toddler would do.

Sister is very instrumental in preparing these costumes for him.  She does a pretty good job assembling all the pieces, helping him get dressed and talking him through the process.

This new adoration led to an Indiana Jones themed birthday party.  Coming soon.

Indiana Jones BDay Party

 

Well, I thought I swore it off after Katherine's BDay party.

Planning big parties, that is, for little people that will most likely NOT remember the shindig I've worked so hard to create.

But apparently not.  It's in my blood, I can't deny my party planning desires.  It's too fun.  I enjoy it too much.

 

Nathan's latest hero is Indiana Jones.  We let him watch an IJ movie edited for TV and he quickly fell for the fedora-wearing hero.

 

Indiana Jones, Fall and the colors they share worked so well together.

I'm such a color palette nerd.

 So, I looked online for IJ-themed BDay party ideas and I came across some very cute ideas.  All of them were cheap inexpensive and I was able to do from home.

I was fortunate enough to find cowboy hats at the dollar store.  They were too wide to look like fedoras, so I cut 2 inches off around the brim and viola!  A fedora hat and a soft whip for every Indiana Jones treasure-hunting child!

The premise of the party was a treasure hunt.  One very extra special treat was that Uncle Willet, a real archaeologist who was dressed up like IJ, arrived and led the kids through the Treasure hunt.  He even showed them how to crack his whip within feet of the crowd (much to some anxious mothers' dismay).

Here I am, being my normal bossy-self, explaining to the kids the background story about IJ, Belloq (the bad guy trying to steal the treasure) and what's going to happen.

The listeners.

BDay boy.  (I can't believe he's 4)

The treasure hunt started in the Mummy Gallery (the front yard crepe myrtles).  This station had directions and the next clue was hidden, waiting to be found.

Mummy Gallery

Wrap up like a mummy, in case you want to hide,

For Belloq’s soldiers dropped the clues that might be hidden inside.

Kids, KIDS,   s e t t l e   d o w n   n o w!  Can we not get so excited about this?  Slow down and listen to Uncle Willet, er uh, I mean, Indiana Jones, read the clue so we can go find the treasure...

Some were very interested in being wrapped up like a mummy.

Is he adorable or what?  This is Jackson, by the way.  He's a little friend Nathan met during his reluctant stab at playing soccer.  Jackson and Nathan hit it off that season and us and his parents connected also.  Great family and fun to be around.

Anyway, I digress.

 

 

BDay boy wasn't so sure about being wrapped up in toilet paper.

The clue Clay found inside his toilet paper roll was:

Snake Pit

A Belloq soldier dropped a clue, when by a snake he got bit,

You’ll find the clue if you make a way to carefully get through it.

So the next station was the Snake Pit.  Sturdy little piece of wood construction if I say so.  Not really.

The next clue was found at the end of the Snake pit by Walker and it said:

Creepy Jungle

An action-packed ride aboard military trucks left some clues behind,

Creep your way through the jungle and more clues you may find!

So, off they went through the Creepy Jungle, i.e. the legustrum shrubs in the back yard.

 

I'm so glad those whips were soft and harmless because they were used often during the entire party.

 

 

 

 

Uncle Willet did such a great job of reading the clues and leading the kids to the next station.

 

Pankot Palace Banquet

Plenty of food was left behind inside each delicacy dish,

Fish around to find more clues for the treasure that you wish. 

 

This was one I thought the boys would LOVE.  It was an area where they had to stick their hands inside a bucket without seeing what they were touching.  The Baby Snakes were slimy fetuccini noodles.  The Eyeball Soup was peeled grapes.  The Monkey Brains was jello.

The boys weren't that interested.

Thank goodness Uncle Willet was brave enough to reach inside the Baby Snakes and pull out the next clue.

 

Airport Hangar

Belloq’s men escaped by plane but they took the wrong box,

The authentic treasure is safely hidden among the many rocks.

The treasure was found!

 

You see who ended up wearing most of the fedoras.

 

 

 

Uncle Willet did a superb job dressing up in  IJ clothes while it was 80 degrees outside, leading the kids through the Treasure hunt, and being a supportive uncle to our kids and their friends.

 

 

Grandpa made it at 90 years old.

 

Hey, I thought this was an Indiana Jones party!  Who invited James Bond?

It was a beautiful day for a birthday party.  We had great guests, fun activities, yummy food and 2 hours of listening to the IJ theme song.

There were even a couple little boys that wanted to be IJ for Halloween.

Something tells me I'll plan more birthday parties.  This one was one of my favorites to plan and the kids had fun also.  Who knows, I might not be any good at pre-teen parties and this will be it for my party planning days.

DOUBT IT!