Playtime

Jax and Daddy
Shea Bug (who has begun referring to herself as Shea Bug)
Dex

Some days...

start like this...


but end up like this. :)

When the weather's right...

A walk around a local lake proves a great way to spend the morning. Of course, keeping all three kiddos within 100 feet of each other proved a bit more challenging. :) One little boys wanted to explore the lake, one wanted to explore the trail and Shea seemed to want to wander around collecting sticks and flowers.... Luckily, they are all great at staying where I can see them. Dex, Shea and Jax

JaxJust a little stroll...

I love the things that the kids do on their own. The three of them were swinging around a street sign after church on Sunday and it was the most gorgeous sight. It's often the times when I'm not trying to get them to do what I have in mind that they surprise me with the cutest, most innocent ways of entertaining themselves. When Dex and Jax started tiptoeing around this lamp post, it reminded me of an old Robert Doisneau photograph... little boys climbing. I guess little boys have always been climbers.

Dex, examining his treasure map.

Shea's sticks

At one point, I decided to wrap the kids in a jumprope to keep them all in one place. Naturally, they thought it was hilarious. Hee. Just another mom, out walking her kids.

Jax

Jax

Dex

Definitely a fun morning... even watching Dex wade two steps into the algae-covered lake when he didn't believe me that the algae was hiding water underneath. Hee. Of course, then there was the issue of cleaning his shoes... :)

May Clips

A few of my favorites from May.

May Fun

I just found a few May photos that I neglected to post.... Dex and Shea enjoying a light saber duel.

Dex (grey shirt), Jax (white shirt)
Shea and Daddy
The rainy day we spent making model trains. Total fun... We had a pretty long train by the end of the day!
Fake smile Dex
Fake smile Jax
I love how the boys go through little obsessions. We had about two weeks in May during which they would spend countless hours making mosaic designs. It was a great way to spend chilly days inside and they were clearly quite proud of their work. So funny.

Missing our buddies

Maren and "Nonah" are gone this week, which means the playgrounds outside our home feel a little emptier than usual. A few pics of a recent get-together... Jaxon and Maren, above.

Dex and Maren


Jonah and SheaThank goodness for Daddy's who are willing to sit and play Monopoly Jr. It seems like we had a good two weeks where we had to play that game every single day!! Aren't kids' phases funny?

Father's Day

I could easily do a gushy post listing the million reasons that D.R. is a fantastic dad... instead, I'm going to describe the cards that the boys made him. When I asked them what they wanted to get D.R. for father's day, they told me they wanted to get him something that he could play with them, because that's what he does best. It made me smile (they opted for a Star Wars-themed board game). Then, they sat down and made him some cards. Despite the fact that I had a bazillion crafty ideas on sweet and touching Dad-cards, I decided to sit back and see what they would come up with.

Dexter wrote:

"D.R., I love you! Love, Dexter" (Cracks me up that he wrote "D.R." instead of "Daddy")

Then he drew a picture of D.R. holding hands with Dexter. He was very careful to make sure that D.R. was much taller than he was and then, at the last minute, he decided to give his daddy two extra arms ("so he can hold my hand and keep doing lots of stuff"). I think my favorite part of his card, however, was the fact that he added a framed picture hanging above them that depicted Dexter and his daddy having a light-saber duel.

Jaxon wrote the exact same thing, without peaking over at Dex... what funny boys.

"D.R., I love you! Love, Jaxon"

Then he drew a picture of Daddy and Jaxon holding hands. In his picture, however, he was intentional to make himself much bigger than D.R. I asked him about this and he said, "I want to be taller and taller and taller than Daddy in my picture. And it's MY picture!" Okay, then! My favorite part of his card is that he gave D.R. a light-saber that was bigger than both of them and that he added a camera in Tall-Jaxon's hand, so that he could take pictures of Daddy posing with his light-saber. :)

Oh, the love.

Story Time

Dex and me, as photographed by Jaxon.
Dex and Anakin
The real Anakin
Anakin's mask
Blue clone trooper's squiggly mask... no eye holes... he's a clone trooper. Dex tried explaining to me that clone troopers don't need eye holes because they can see through their helmets. Aah...

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The boys have always enjoyed a good story. Bedtime, snacktime, even mealtime... basically, any time during the day that requires sitting still is about when we start getting requests for stories. I love it. I love that they enjoy escaping into imaginary little worlds and I love that we get to be apart of that.

Shea, however, has taken story time to a whole new level. This little girl would spend nearly all day looking at books, if given that option. When D.R. or I take her up to bed, we almost always find her with a stack of 8-10 books, saying, "Read books NOW, please?" I never dreamt I'd one day find myself saying, "No more stories, dear. Sorry."

This is where the boys come back in to play. Now, when Shea wakes up from her nap, the boys will run up the stairs and take turns reading her storybooks, as she waits in her crib for me to come up and get her. Yesterday, I heard Jaxon gently saying, "Don't worry, Shea. I'm just going to read you a few books to make you happy. You're not alone anymore." Her post-nap whimpering stopped and she happily sat and listened to her big brother read to her. I LOVE these interactions. D.R. has also started taking advantage of the boys' willingness to help out by having them read Shea her bedtime stories. Most of the books she enjoys the most are at their reading level, which boosts their confidence and endears them to Shea... it also makes bedtime a little bit easier for Mom and Dad, so we all win. :)

Speaking of storybooks, the boys have a new favorite series and I'm enjoying it about as much as they are. We've been working our way through the Magic Tree House books and we couldn't be happier. Last week, we stayed up to read an entire book and then the next morning, the boys insisted we read it all over again. Then, later that afternoon, I heard them out on the playground reenacting nearly the entire story. I still get a kick out of how willing they both are to be girls in their pretend play. On this particular day, Jax was Jack and Dex was Annie. They even brought out a backpack with a folded up book that they created out of typing paper that magically transported them... it was pretty awesome to witness.

Let's hope they're always so willing to dive into books.

At times like this...

This is how I feel right now... upon opening our freezer this afternoon to grab a few much-needed ice cubes, I discovered a completely thawed freezer. Apparently, our deluxe student housing appliances have an expiration date, because we're quite regularly losing the use of one burner after another on our stove, too. The freezer, however, is a bit more serious. After cooking up as much food as I could possibly salvage and tearfully tossing out the rest, I am ridding myself of my frustration as I pour over more photos that remind me how lucky we are to live here... in spite of the fact that carpet peels away, radiators shed rust and kitchen appliances are fading fast. :)
The boys and a few of their neighborhood pals, hunting caterpillars and other creepy crawlies.

Shea and "Nonah"... hangin' out.
Jax, Maren and Dex... working on a plastic bottle habitat for their insect friends.
Loving the fact that children so readily share with each other here.

Juice break!
This photo just makes me smile...



As do these...

A few other things making me smile, lately...

The other day, after a morning of playing outside, I told the kids it was time for them to come inside. Jaxon, wishing to remain outside told me he wasn't able to peddle his bike, so he'd have to stay outside. If I wanted him to come inside, I would just have to push him. Dex and Shea, however, had already returned their bikes nicely to our coreway and were waiting patiently for me to unlock the apartment door. I told Jaxon that we were going in to eat lunch, that no, I would not be pushing him and that if he chose not to follow us he would be very hungry when he came inside. He's fully capable of peddling his bike when he's playing outside, so I didn't think it was too much to expect him to peddle his little bike home! I completely expected him to run after me the second he realized I was serious about leaving him outside alone, but... NO.

I watched him from our window for a good ten minutes, sitting on his bike, stubbornly refusing to move. Eventually, a dad we know came out to check on Jaxon, so I ran down to explain why he was out there alone. Jaxon was sadly telling this neighbor that he couldn't peddle anymore and his mommy wouldn't help him. What a stubborn little boy! Luckily, our neighbor could see quite well this had everything to do with a four year old's desire to remain outside... so he joined me in saying good-bye to Jaxon and wished him well in his protest. I was outside for a good 5-10 minutes, the whole time watching Dex and Shea watching us earnestly from our living room window. When I returned inside, I heard the sweetest conversation between the two of them. Dex was explaining to Shea that Mommy was outside looking after Jaxon and that he would take care of her while I was gone.

"Here, Shea. Why don't I show you my legos. You like legos, right?" (showing her one little model after another, with very detailed descriptions of each...) Then, putting his arm around her, Dex said, "Just remember, Shea, I love you forever and ever. I'll show you ALL my legos. And if you want to hug me all day long, you can... all day, because I love you. Then, when you wake up from your nap, we'll have fun together again, won't we?" Shea was just eating up all this great attention. I was loving the opportunity to see Dexter playing the role of big brother all by himself.

Meanwhile, it was starting to rain. We watched Jaxon look up at the window and then solemnly pull his little hood over his head and tighten it around his face. After several more minutes, he had finally had enough of the wind and the rain. He stood up, got off his bike and, determined to stand by his word that he COULD NOT peddle, he pushed his bike all the way home. What a funny little boy!

Naturally, after a good lunch, he was outside peddling again without any trouble. :) And for the rest of the day, Shea and Dexter were inseparable.

** All three children share this determination. I do firmly believe that in the long run, it is going to serve them well. In the meantime, I choose to see the humor in these situations, as much as possible. They'll certainly be good stories to tell them later on!