Fun with Chores!

Caleb loves to help out with chores. He always has his own way of helping though. Today he helped with laundry. He brought the empty basket to the laundry room by sliding it down each set of stairs. I think if he had it his way, he would have been in the basket as it slid down the stairs. Then he vacuumed up the cat litter that was strewn on the floor as I switched the laundry over. He then decided he wanted to help sort the laundry. He did this by sitting in his laundry basket. I threw laundry at him and he tossed them into the correct basket. There were a few towels and he raced them into the linen closet. He had a blast and we got it done!

After chores we sat down for dinner. Terry and I have been working on the kids serving themselves. Today I served up spaghetti and green beans. I was a little nervous to be honest because the beans had liquid in them and well spaghetti...need I say more! Surprisingly they did a great job getting their own food. Kendall even politely asked me if I wanted green beans and passed the bowl. It was a wonderful dinner. 

After dinner I took Kendall out to teach her how to ride her two wheeler. She was not enthused about this prospect. We went to our local bike trail to practice. Kendall did an okay job. She was very concerned in making certain people knew that she was there, so she rang her bell often...over and over and over the second she saw someone until they passed her. Kendall has pedaling about down. She occasionally brakes when her pedals are both in the middle position and that can be tricky for her, but not too bad. What she does not have down at all is steering. How does one steer while constantly ringing their bell? They don't if you are Kendall. I let her run off the road at one point, but that back fired because it really scared her and she wanted to be done. So, next trip will be focusing on steering. I can't wait until both kids can bike. It should be a fun summer!

School is fun!

Caleb and Kendall both had great days today at school. Kendall was the star helper in class today. Honestly, I am not positive what exactly that means, but she came home with a huge star sticker on her shirt that she told me she had to keep on. I am guessing that she got to help with calender, be the line leader...that type of thing. She thought it was great!

Caleb also had a great day. He is learning about life cycles at school. They watched the life cycle of a butterfly. Yesterday the butterflies hatched from the cocoons, so today they released them outside. He was ecstatic about it.

Each night we spend a few minutes working on fine motor skills. Caleb draws a picture and tries to add some  writing. He has significant delays with his fine motor skills, so this isn't his favorite.task. I have found that doing this as a routine at the same time each day has helped. We read books in the living room, then we move to Caleb's room to reflect on our day. Today he was super sweet. He wrote that his favorite time of the day is when Mommy comes home. I am going to enjoy this stage while it lasts!

Errands

My kids love running errands, especially when my husband or I just want to do a quick run. Today our cat needed to go to the vet for her annual check up and shots. Terry decided that he would take the cat in. I planned on staying home and tiding up after dinner. Terry really wanted to go by himself. I have never seen my two children throw on their shoes and race like lightening to the car. Needless to say, they both went to the vet and had a stellar time. Later I asked Caleb why he liked to do errands, especially the boring ones. He told me it is because he loves to spend time with his Mommy and Daddy. Ahhhh...so sweet. Kendall told me she liked to spend time with her Caleb. haha. If it was Caleb asking she would have said something different.

We had a great evening afterwards. Caleb was exhausted and went to bed early. An amazing feat! Kendall and I took her very full laundry basket of clean clothes and put them away. I put things on hangers, but she did all of the rest by herself. She used a stool to hand up the hangers in her closet. She also put away all of her drawer outfits. I was super proud of her.

We read a very long book that her aunt got her. It was an anthology of Jamie Lee Curtis stories. Each of the stories has a song that goes with them. It was nice to have some one-on-one time with just Kendall. She also went to sleep easily. I wish every night would go as smoothly as tonight did!

Messy Rooms

Messy rooms are interesting things...they come out of no where, yet take forever to clean! The kids had a great time playing in their rooms today. They made tents with blankets, had all of their 'guys' out. It was great to see them playing so well together. Then came bedtime. Caleb actually did a great job cleaning his room. It is always interesting watching him clean up. He pretends to be a gorilla, slithers on the floor and is a snake 'swimming in water', etc. Hilarious. It takes him a bit longer than needed to clean up, but he does it with a smile on his face.

Kendall on the other hand is an avoider of tasks when it comes to cleaning. First she used her beauty tools and did her hair...rollers in, pretend curling iron was used, and hair was brushed. I went in and encouraged her to clean her room. Okay, by encourage I might have said I would take the toys that were left out away. She then told me to throw them all out. Of course I didn't because that is just what she wanted. With lots of tears and complaints her room is now clean. It was a very long hour! Kendall used to keep her room clean at all times. I really wish we could get back to those days!

Kendall's Dance Recital

Kendall had her dance recital this weekend. We had the dress rehearsal yesterday and the recital today. It was pretty cute to see! The recital was held at a local auditorium. They used a white screen and played a slide show behind the dancers. Kendall's dance was to a Tinkerbell song. Nobody told the girls about the slide show. So, of course all 4 girls stared at the screen instead of doing their dance at the recital. So, they had to try again after they watched the show. Very cute! I think Kendall's favorite part was the fact that she got her hair done and wore make-up. My sitter ended up doing her hair, after my disastrous tries!

After the rehearsal we me my brother and parents out for dinner. Kendall loves her Uncle Micah! She sat with him for most of the meal. 

Tonight was the real deal. Kendall had quite the audience...two sets of grandparents, parents, brother, and an aunt and uncle in the audience. She was super excited. I was the helper mom. All of the 3-5 year olds were put into a classroom when they were not dancing on stage. It was interesting. The majority of moms brought crayons, paper, snacks, and a movie. I brought blocks and a bin of princesses, dolls, and doll house furniture. Along with a big bucket of crayons, coloring books, stickers, and construction paper. It really was a hit. My girls really didn't watch the movie at all. They played and played and played. Most of the other girls hung out with me and played with the toys that I brought in. I guess being a kindergarten teacher came in handy. We had a long wait for the finale and I sang songs for about 20 minutes with the little ones as well. The girls had a great time. It was fun seeing new friendships and that all the classes interacted nicely. The girls were adorable on stage. Kendall forgot the dance. It was pretty funny; she would look at another girl see what they were doing. Then she would look shocked. Finally, she hurried up and copied the other girls. There was a lot of laughter in the audience because of her. The girls all thought they did great and did an adorable bow at the end. It was a wonderful time!

Cranky Day!

Wow, today was a cranky day! I had two kids who were tired and crabby. I didn't get home from work until 4:00. For the following three hours, I dealt with a series of melt downs all evening. Caleb was also in sensory overdrive. He was all over the place, jumping, running, screaming, etc. This would of course get him in trouble because he was either hurting myself, or Kendall, or putting himself in danger. Which would then bring on a huge temper tantrum. I always am curious about what the trigger is that causes these days. Caleb has hives, so that may have played a part. Maybe, the weather? We had thunderstorms going on tonight, so he wasn't able to get out and play. Diet? Sleep? Who knows. But, the cycle of being over excited, then have huge temper tantrums was exhausting. 

Kendall also had a rough day. She was just tired and crabby. from being out late fishing last night. She threw a few big tantrums tonight as well. In Kendall's case, all of her tantrums had to do with her not doing her part, and me following through with the consequence. For example, she chose to play in the sink instead of brushing her teeth and putting her pajamas on. Therefore, she missed out on her bedtime story. That caused a huge tantrum.  Hopefully lesson learned!

Nights like tonight, make me appreciate the happy and calmer days. Both of the kids have finally fallen asleep. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings us. Hopefully a much better day!

One-on One Time

After school today, Terry decided he wanted to go fishing. I had some errands to run. So, Caleb wanted to come with me and Kendall of course wanted to go with Daddy. Caleb and I went to a party store to pick some more things up for school. I have the kindergarten sing on Friday, and I wanted some cute plates and a table cloth for the occasion. We then headed to Dairy Queen for a special treat. Caleb was so excited. He chose a dilly bar and was surprised that it melted quickly...it was only 90 out! We then went to the park. Caleb did a lap around with his bike. During that time I bumped into a good friend and we were able to catch up a bit which was nice. He then played at the park. This picture was taken right before we went home. He was a stinky sweaty mess! When we got home Caleb took a shower by himself like a big boy...or so he told me. He sang away in the shower and thought it was great! 

Kendall went fishing with Terry and his father, her Grandpa. This was her first time fishing this year, and considering that she is just 3 I doubt that she remembers fishing last summer. She was so excited and told me all about it when she got home. I asked her if she brought any home for dinner. Kendall announced that, that would be disgusting. We should get our fish from a bag at the store. Too funny! 

I think it is great to have that one-on-one time with the kids. Caleb was so well behaved. We had a great time reading books without any distractions from Kendall. Kendall lasted on the boat fishing a lot longer that Caleb ever would have. We definitely don't do this often enough!