Category Archives: Kids
Carnival reward!
The kids have been doing pretty good on our new summer schedule routine (no whining, picking up, keeping organized, doing schoolwork, following rules) so their weekly family reward was a trip to the local carnival!
We met friends there.
Bumper cars!
Katie wanted to go on the little coaster. Owen did not. 🙂
Owen’s list of cars he wants.
He used to just have two on it. I’m not sure what happened recently. 🙂
Someone got a timeout at the pool today.
One of the rules for going to the water park and being able to run around on their own is that they MUST come and check in at each safety break. These happen every two hours and are announced on the loudspeakers—and they clear the pools. We’ve had a few issues with them not remembering and they’ve been given warnings. Today was the last day for warnings, so Katie had to sit out for 15 minutes (past the end of the safety break, for a total of 30 minutes). I figure that’s small payment for the stress she caused me having to go hunt her down (and not finding her on the first go-round).
Look at that cute toothless face!
Katie lost her first tooth!
She was a hot mess when it happened—she was afraid it was going to bleed like a bloody nose. I literally had to hold her and have her breathe deeply to calm down. But then she was happy!!
Getting her tooth pillow ready!
Who wants to come for ribs Saturday night?
We might have just discovered that Owen left the basement freezer open. Who wants to come for ribs Saturday night? Not kidding. We have four racks of ribs in the sous vide.
I told them they better not tell me they’re bored once this week.
Kidisms 47
We were out and about and Tom was revving the engine and taking the corners fast to make the kids screech and laugh. Right as we were getting off the ramp onto the highway, Owen started to say he didn’t like to go that fast and Katie, seeing no one in front of us, says “But look at all the room we have to go fast!”
“Look at Ray! She’s having a soak tub!”
Me: Katie do you need to take water for lunch?
Katie: Nah, I can survive without it.
At the playground, Katie showed me how she could slide down the pole. I said I’d never done that.
Katie: Oh that’s right. You might break yourself.
He loves to interrupt my selfies.
So I included him!
Katie’s shoe sorting.
I buy too many shoes (on sale) for Katie to remember what styles and sizes I have so I have to keep a photo collage to reference when I’m out shopping. Today we had to redo it since it hasn’t been done in about 2-3 sizes.
Owen is harder to buy for—here’s what was in his closet. 🙂
A girl and her dog.
Look who we ran into at the park!
They were just getting done with morning camp and we were just arriving to go to the playground!
Katie loves the pole.
They still like the baby swings. The only rule is that they have to get in and out of it themselves because I am too old to be picking them up, putting them in, and trying to wrangle them out.
Two cuddle bugs.
Tech-free summer is even longer now…
So Owen snuck into our bedroom and was caught using the iPad that had previously been taken away twice, including for the rest of the summer (and then lying about it). Owen was the actual guilty party but Katie knew he’d done it.
I want to take away the new Xbox they’ve been promised, but after some discussion with Tom, we’re not taking it away but the date they get it back will get pushed out if they keep making bad decisions. (Owen has had two major bad decisions since. I’m hoping he gets it by Christmas.)
We’re not even a week into summer break and I’m done.
The weather cleared so a bunch of this happened.
I love that she’s not afraid.
She came home like this.
Katie was playing at the neighbors and came like this—they were doing hair and dressing up. She loved the earrings.
Welcome to my personal hell.
Okay, one of my personal hells: A garage sale. Last minute. In the rain.
This is a community-wide sale that we only found about Thursday so we didn’t put much effort into it. And since it was rainy we didn’t really have much to do anyways so I sat there and worked on business and blog stuff the whole time.
I did have a helper for a bit.
And a cuddler.
A Katie quartet
She needed to change her clothes to go to the dentist and her first attempt didn’t cut it (bike shorts that are meant to only be used as undershorts for dresses) so I suggested the skirt. Then surprised her by suggesting her Tangled heels. She was so damn cute…
Waterslide!
The perfect suit for her.
An early birthday for Katie.
Grannie and Papa wanted to celebrate Katie’s birthday since they won’t see her on her birthday so the kids helped make rice crispy treats!
Owen and Papa
Is he 9 or 16?
Sock sorting!
Granny took on the huge challenge of cleaning up both kids rooms and switching out too-small and seasonal clothes…and one of the last things for Owen was a sock matching party.
Surprise! Cousins!
When your stepsister texts you at 10:30pm and says they are in town and wonders if you can meet the next day for dinner? Of course you say yes. And invite them over for a home-cooked meal and campfire with s’mores.
Last day of school!
Last day of kindergarten and third grade!! 😳 and 😭
Owen agreed to let us walk him to the bus stop since it was the last day of school.
Katie’s turn:
My last day of freedom!
Papa and grannie bought the kids balloons to celebrate when they got off the bus!
Before—a kindergartner and third grader:
After—a first grader and fourth grader:
First day and last day:
He still has a ways to go to catch up to me.
She might have softened my heart just a bit.
But they’re still not getting the phones back. #stilltechfreesummer
*Katie said Owen helped write the first note. He wrote sorry and things we did.
*The second note says: And I am sorry Dad for all the things for stealing the phone.
Kids + smoke bombs = excitement!
We went to the neighbors for drinks and ended up getting out some fireworks for the kids. They had a blast!
