Block party

Last weekend my children and I went to a block party that was about three blocks over. It was put on by a local church. A grassy place had a few games, a bouncy house, face painting, cookie decorating, balloon animals and prizes to go with it all.
W refused to play the games. He handed his ticket over to the girl in charge of the "toddler" game. He would not pick up a duck to reveal a number. The girl just sort of let him have at the prize box. He handed over all of his tickets, she let him choose what prize he wanted without playing a game. His favorite thing, a pair of toy sunglasses. He popped out the lenses so he would have glasses like the rest of us.

Q did not want to play games. He refused to take any tickets. He did however get a little shark with one of his sister's tickets. His most exciting part of the block party? The journalist from the local paper stopped us on our way to gets some refreshments. He asked if he could interview Q for the paper. Q told everyone for the next few days that he was going to be in the paper. :)

J didn't really seem impressed. Perhaps it is because she is getting close to becoming a teenager. Maybe it is because a lot of the games were geared towards the younger children. She did not seem to like the music; three local Christian bands were there playing. However, she did enjoy the sno-cones; these are a rare summer time treat (at least properly made sno-cones; she is use to not-so-great homemade ones that MeeMaw makes).

The boys are already looking forward to going next year.

The boys posing while taking a break from all the running around.

Her flower.

W with his "glasses"

Busy, busy, busy

It has been awhile since I last posted. The kids and I have been getting settled into our new place. The kids love having their own rooms! They like the location, the library is within walking distance. They have their own playroom. We are still getting sorted out around here but it is a little calmer.

Independence Day was a new experience. We now live right next to the parade route. In the morning we went to my parents' to pick up a few things. By the time we were ready to go home, I realized there would be no where to park by our place. So, we stayed at my folks' place awhile longer.

When we did get home the boys helped me to make homemade ice cream. They love this treat that they do not get very often. When it was time for fireworks we went outside, walked a half a block down, and stood on the corner. From there my children and I were able to watch the fireworks perfectly (bonus- we did NOT have to deal with the crowds!). Q stood back a little bit- afraid that the fireworks would get him, plus he does not do well with loud noises. J "ooh" and "ah"ed at every firework. W who was sitting on my shoulders shouted "Another one!" and did a little dance through the 30 minute show. My shoulders ached by the time the display was over.

Now every time we walk by that spot W says "Fyworks!" (fireworks).
I look forward to later in the month when the carnival will be held only two blocks from our place!!! The kids and I are going to have so much fun.

Waiting for the icecream

Watching fireworks.

Watching the fireworks. Well, Q was ready to leave.

laid up...

The other day J was riding her bike. She loves her bike, she will spend all day just riding around the one block that she is allowed to go around. She loves that she can go halfway around the block and speak to her great aunt and then finish coming around and is back here. Well, the other day I let her ride her bike after church. She was out there most of the afternoon. She came in to eat dinner then went back out. She was simply riding back and forth up the sidewalk in front of the house. W had fallen asleep in my arms for a late nap. J came into the house crying, "I fell and it hurts! It is bleeding, bad!" All of this she said through huge sobs.

I led her to the bathroom. I handed her a tissue then looked at her toe. I was panicked. I do not think I showed it. I hope I did not. It looked like part of her toe had been ripped off. I told her brothers to get their shoes on. Q was nice enough to run down the sidewalk, grab her bike and put it by the porch. I handed J the phone, she called Uncle and told him that she was on her way to the ER. Q ran into the hospital came out with a wheelchair. He pushed J to the ER. (Have I ever mentioned what a great brother he is?)

Uncle and his fiance both arrived shortly after we did. J pretty much threw herself into Uncle's arms. He had been working but came as soon as he got the call. They took the two boys out to the waiting room while I sat with my baby girl. She snuggled up to me and asked over and over if she was going to have to have surgery. I assured her that she would not need surgery nor would she have to stay overnight. The nurse came in to clean the wound, J started crying again. We were told right away that there was not enough skin there for her to get stitches .She had managed to remove a big piece of her toenail. She went down for an x-ray to make sure that she did not break the tip of her toe. Everything came back alright. She was bandaged and sent home.

J is my most active child. She loves to dance, run, ride her bike, and walk. Now, she is not allowed to play outside until her wound is healed up. Aww, how do I tend to make this easy for her? I am not completely sure!! Last night we looked through crafts and were talking about how to decorate her new room. She loves flowers so we are looking for creative ways to decorate her room, things she can help make.
Today, I took her to the local toy store. The owner is really nice. He has games set up for the kids to play. We went in after she watched a bit of a tap dance class and she started playing a game while I walked around looking for ideas for upcoming birthdays. W was looking through the toy animal bin as he always does. The owner even has a chair that he leaves there, W uses it to climb up so he can reach into the bin. This toy store is truly the most kid friendly one I have seen since I have had kids. The owner invited us back later in the week for a special event.
It looks like I will be getting out coloring books, crafting supplies, and picking up a lot of books at the library these next few weeks. J read an entire book today. Ahh, the library will be seeing even more of us!
Any suggestions for what we can do while J is laid up in the house recovering from her fall?

Q and J at the hospital waiting to get to go home.

College 4 Kids

J has been going to a summer program called College 4 Kids. She has three classes. Project Runway, Step-up and Dance, and Forensic Science. The science class was actually one that I had talked her into taking. She keeps saying that she wants to be a vet or a doctor, this was the only science class that they were offering. It was not one of her top picks, in fact it was the last on her list. The other classes that she wanted filled up rather quickly.

Every day I take her to school. She hops out of my car all excited about another day of fun and learning. "Have a good day. I love you." I tell her as I watch her get out of the car.

"I love you too." She always says then takes off running for the school doors. Her flip flops just about making her trip, as she does a little dance spin midway to the entrance. I shake my head, that girl is all about music; dancing, singing, humming, playing instruments.

When I pick her up from C4K she usually has something to show off to her brothers. I get to peek at it after the boys try to get her to give whatever it is to them (W only wants the things because Q wants them). She has made a few bracelets, a ring (she gave that to me), a wallet, a necklace, and an apron for a barbie doll.  She shows off some dance moves. She learned the jazz box step ( I didn't even know there was such a thing).

Yet, she talks the most about science. "Guess what we did today, Mom. We learned how to tell things by looking at a person's handwriting. Did you know that Mark Twain use to underline his name? If you underline your signature that means that you think you are important. Oprah writes her name on top of each other and underlines them both."
"What does it mean if you sign your name big?" I often sprawl out my signature when picking up medicine for the kids when they are sick. I am thinking to myself that it means I am holding a sick crying two year old while I have two other kids begging for toys or candy, and trying to sign for my payment; AHH!
"That means you want attention. Small writing means that you don't." I just about laughed; When I do sign in a big sprawl it is after I have waited in line for at least forty-five minutes on a medicine that I was told would be ready in about fifteen. I suppose at those times I was wanting the attention of the pharmacist!

Now she is all excited because they are doing a mock crime scene. She thinks she has the crime all figured out already. She'll discover the truth tomorrow.

I am so glad that she is enjoying this learning experience. Her classes during the regular school year do not offer science like this. She is learning that this is something that she enjoys; looking at things then piecing it all together.

J "reading" with Mark Twain at the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium

Are your kids in any special summer academic courses? Was is their idea or yours? J about begged to get to go to this, I was more than happy to sign her up.

Who did you spend Father's Day with?

Father's Day, just the name suggests that you will spend it with your father. About a week before Father's Day I would get a little upset because my kids are being raised by me. J and Q's dad calls them during the week but he does not see them at the moment. W's father never really wanted to be in the picture. He does not even call. So, with all of this I was a little worried about how the kids would deal with Father's Day.

Before church they went to give PeePaw his card. They each had one special reason why they loved him. He really liked his card. After church the family got together sans my sister and eldest brother. My kids were so excited to see their uncles. Bubba (my younger brother) and his three year old X was there. Uncle (my older brother) and his fiance were both over also.
Sitting on the front porch of my childhood home I watched my kids give Uncle a gift. He opened the card and read "Thank you for being a great 'step-in' dad" (he does everything for my kids; takes J to father/daughter dances, teaches Q about tools, and just plain plays with W..I don't think he has E.V.E.R missed a school concert.) He opened the gift, it was a mini tool set. His fiance said the card was the sweetest thing. He had a man-to-man talk with Q about tools and him needing to be responsible so that he could get some come his birthday.

I love family gatherings. I love how my kids and my nephew have the best time together.

J and Q talked to their dad for awhile. Q talked about his upcoming birthday, he's getting excited and already planning his party. J told her dad about all that she had done in the past two days since she had talked to him.

I called W's father that morning, no answer. I had my baby leave a message.

A friend at church looked at me and said, "Happy Father's Day." I am glad that my children have wonderful male role models in their lives. They have my brothers and my dad who will do just about anything for them.

Uncle and Q having a man-to-man talk



J getting Uncle back.

Monkeys!!!

W and X with Uncle.


I hope that everyone had a great Father's Day!!! Who did you spend your Father's Day with?

Lightning bugs, baby bluejay, and a cat

The past few days here have been interesting. J was playing under the tree on Friday morning when she was dive bombed by a blue jay. She did not think anything of it, did not even mention it to me. That afternoon when she saw her grandparents, she told them. She went back out to play, I continued to hold my sleeping nephew whom I was babysitting. She came back in and said, "Another bird hit my head!" My momma checked out her head for me, then they all went out to see what was going on. Turns out my daughter was playing under the bird's nest, not knowing that there was a baby blue jay in the tree.

This evening I allowed my kids to stay up pass their bedtime so that we could enjoy the beautiful evening. There was a nice gentle breeze, the sun was just setting a beautiful golden color. W jumped off of the swing that we were snuggled up on and ran towards the sidewalk. I look over, jump up and ran. There hopping, flapping tiny little wings in an attempt to fly was the baby blue jay. There was my W about to catch it. I grabbed him and told him that he could watch but not touch. We watched as the tiny bird tried so hard to fly from the ground. It made it over to the garage where it got off of the ground only to fly into the garage door. W and I watched it softly saying, "Come on baby blue you can fly. You can do it." It managed to fly to a tiny branch about a foot from the ground. I turned to walk away.

"Look, lightning bugs. Do you want to go catch some?"

"No, no baby blue cat eat." W said in hushed tones as if he did not want to scare the baby bird.

"You want to watch the bird to be sure the cats don't eat it?" He  nodded his head and set his big blue eyes on the bird watching it try to fly.

Finally, I was able to get him to go to the yard to play with his siblings. They laughed and chased lightning bugs around. I heard J scream and Q yell. A cat was stalking baby blue. I ran towards them and chased off the cat. I tried to get baby blue but it was moving faster. We chased the cat off again as baby blue did a combination of hopping and flying right into the neighbor's garden. It took refuge under some vegetation.

J cried as we walked away. I explained to her that wild cats eat wild birds but I also told her that I think baby blue would be alright. She stopped crying. Q was just quiet, I think he was worried but did not want to say anything. My W was in my arms seemingly content.

That was our Saturday evening. How was yours?

Library fun!!

Remember when you were a kid and you would go to the library? You were always told to be quiet and if you had to talk to talk in a whisper. When I was a teenager I would  hide out in the poetry section of the library. It was on the second floor close to the balcony. Nobody was ever over there, I would grab a book from the shelf, sit on the floor, and read for hours. It was a place I could hide away, it was quiet.

Fast forward eleven years and the library has transformed. The second I walk in my children go to the childrens' section. I drop off our books in the return pile (we tend to get about twenty per visit) and head back to the children's section. There are large no back cushion chairs in odd shapes on the floor. A play house, three train tables, rocking horses, and several toys. My children play with other kids while parents look for books. Some adults sit at tables reading newspapers or talking with friends. More adults and teenagers at the computers working or playing on the Internet. The childrens' librarian seems to know every child by name. She knows mine; I have been taking my children to the library for their reading program since the oldest two were just little toddlers.

No longer is the library ONLY for quietly reading or researching. It is now a great place to spend time with your kids. A place where they can play. A place where your older kids can play miniature golf after hours for a special summer activity. It is still the best place to pick up books.
When we walk out of the library about an hour later; it only takes about ten minutes to find the twenty or so books and check them out, W looks at me and asks for a book. "Book!" He will hold a book in his hands on the way home eager to read it.

I love the library! I loved it when I was younger and I had to be quiet. Now that I am a mom I love it even more because our library has managed to become child friendly. Everyone in town knows that on certain days the library will probably have more kids then the park, so it will not be quiet. That is alright, I think everyone just enjoys the fact that so many children are enjoying the library. Hopefully, going home and enjoying the books too!

What do you think of your library? Is it a favorite hangout for you and your family?