Better Day!

I don't like leaving my last post hanging out there like my life is in ruins, so even though I don't have anything too enlightening to say today I wanted to say SOMETHING. What a difference a good night's sleep can make for all of us! We had a great day today. The boys played well over at our friend's house this morning and I was able to get lots of work done for a client. We spent the afternoon swimming at our neighborhood pool with grandma and we had a fun enrichment night learning to make delicious pies. I've never had to take the kids to the babysitting at enrichment before. The dads are SO nice to help out in there and let us enjoy our girl time.

My boys were very sweet all day and I have nothing but good things to say about them. I know that days like yesterday happen, but it is so good to know that they are not the norm and days like today happen too (days which are also not the norm... but equally as good as yesterday was bad!).

Love is a Battlefield

Wanna see my scars? Seriously.

You know it is going to be a bad day when it starts off with a crazy outburst from a two year old wanting candy before breakfast. He got a no answer (shocking, I know) and was furious. He ran into the kitchen and came at me with a steak knife! I couldn't believe it. I asked him to give me the knife as it could hurt someone, so he threw it at me. The tip of it caught my elbow and the thought of the ordeal breaks my heart.

I'm fairly certain that it is related to the sun shining for far too many hours in the day. Jackson has been refusing to go to sleep at bedtime and we've been doing the bedtime patrol for over an hour, sometimes two every night. He wakes up between 6:30 and 7 no matter when he goes to bed, as that is when the sun rises. Lincoln has taught him that "we don't have to go to bed until there are stars out." That worked great when the sun went down at 7. June is not a friend to this theory.

Here are the things I have tried:
-Regular bedtime routine, stories, prayer, etc. - no go
-Sweetly singing lullabies - he likes this, especially the super slow version of Popcorn Popping, but a no go
-Laying down with him, rubbing his little back, etc - although his favorite, still a no go
-Putting him back in his bed repeatedly - no go
-Screaming - just made us both sad
-Rocking - usually a favorite, still nothing

This picture was NOT taken today, as this has not been a position I've found him in. Despite his very obvious signs of fatigue, he took only a half hour nap and woke restless and screaming for an hour after that. I've used up all of my tricks. I'm at my wits end and husbandless for a couple of weeks.

Anyone have advice for me? I almost went for the Nyquil. I'm that desperate. Don't worry, I didn't. What works for you?

Lincoln Stories

At the nature park we were looking at a tree that had termite trails in it. Lincoln said, "It looks like a motherboard." Whoa, there really is a nerd born every minute!


Today at the park he made friends with a little girl. They were playing together and really enjoying one another, even holding hands as they went from one part of the park to another. The little girl came up to me and said, "Hi. I'm Lincoln's friend." I asked her name and she told me it was Bria (sp?). I asked Lincoln if he knew her name and he said, "Princess." I smiled and said, "Her name is Bria."

Bria replied, "Thank you for naming me princess. You can call me princess, or Bria."

Little heartbreaker.

A great daddy among us

I wanted to do a special post for Jeff because he is a great dad. He is very willing to help me out when I am exhausted at the end of a long day. I think this is one of the sweetest scenes a home can have... a loving father reading to his kids (who are actually sitting there together and reading along!).

The boys love to spend time with their daddy. So do I!

We love you Jeff!

My front garden

I wrote week or two ago about my caladium bulbs. Here they are! Don't they look great? I'm blessed to have almost all of the rest of this garden already here for my enjoyment. I've add a heuchera (dark red leaves behind the caladiums) and the begonias in the window box. Otherwise, I just have to maintain... sweet!

Dalton's visit

Jeff's good friend from his school days is in town for his high school reunion. He is staying with us and we are really enjoying having him around. The kids are very drawn to him and the poor guy is constantly being attacked by one by or another (or both!). We took him to our favorite nature place in the morning yesterday. All of the boys (big boys included) had a great time skipping rocks into the stream. When that got slow, the started finding rocks as big as they could carry, sometimes two man rocks to toss in make a big splash. Very manly. I just took pictures. We also found a buffalo tooth.

For lunch we stopped in at a newer Oklahoma iconic type place called Pops. It is a gas station/diner that has over 500 kinds of soda pop to choose from. They have a very contemporary style and we really enjoyed it. The food was yummy and the atmosphere was really fun.

When Dalton left for the afternoon and evening the boys kept asking when he'd get back. They will be sad when he goes. This morning they told him he should just stay and be their new brother.

Daylilies

Here is a bloom from some daylilies my mom separated from her garden and gave me for mine. I'm so excited they are actually blooming! Can you see the little insect strolling along on the petal on the left?

Fathers

To all of the important dads in my life...

Thank you so much for the amazing influence you have on me and my children. Thank you for all of your hard and dedicated work to support your families. Thank you for your love and devotion to your children. Thank you for kind words and lessons learned. Thank you for a listening ear and time spent together.

Thanks for being a great dad.

Happy father's day!

Love,
Christine