What Can We Do Now?

The newness of summer has worn away to the continuous refrain of "I'm bored" when the boys have more than 26 seconds of unoccupied time. Yet, when I make suggestions they are quickly snubbed and dubbed "the worst." Noah informed me that he would like to do something he has never done before. Lets see, 48 days until school starts. Third grade will be new.

Today was unusual in that none of the kids in the circle were available to play. The boys are so tired of each other that they apparently can't invent anything to do unless other kids are involved. Today was the ultimate in boredom though (It had to be because all I saw them do was build marble mazes, read, toss beanbags, kick stuffed animals up in the air and catch them, play video games, wrestle, play monopoly, watch tv, draw and play with Chino.) until the doorbell rang during dinner. It was music to their ears. They rushed to the door as Noah yelled, "Finally, the new neighbors are out!" After assuring their friends they would be out in a minute, they were back at the table to finish eating. I sat prepared to perform the Heimlich as my sharks shoveled in the rest of their curry shrimp - no chewing necessary when friends are waiting. So much for enjoying dinner as a family. It was probably boring anyway.  

What are we going to do tomorrow night Brain? Same thing we do every night Pinky...

The Bowlers

The boys have had a blast bowling their brains out in Elkhorn with the Kids Bowl Free program this summer. No turkeys yet but is that really possible unless you're Wii bowling? 

We have bowled with cousins or just the brothers. It is so enjoyable to do something with the boys and not have any complaints or fighting (Dare I say relaxing?). They love doing it and I truly love seeing them have so much fun. Today they upped the bowling challenge by playing the first game without the gutter rails. Joshua will be ready to join that bowling league before summer's end.

**Joshua came out of his room dressed like this and said these were his bowling clothes. I'm not sure what inspired this bowling look, but it cracked me up. 

Something New

Trying this new (to me) site for creating videos. Go to www.animoto.com to give it a try yourself. Thanks for sharing Jen!

The Future's So Bright...

Noah came in from outside and announced that he has three life goals. I waited anxiously to hear what amazing ways my 7 1/2 year old planned to contribute to society and this is what I got: 

Noah's Life Goals

1. Wipeout

2. Ninja Warrior

3. American Gladiator

He plans to compete on all of these shows. He then said that his "kid goal" was to complete an over 5,000 piece lego set. We couldn't be prouder.

Joshua, on the other hand, is making plans for when Rich and I are gone. He thinks that we have to die for his dream of having a convertible and a corn snake to come true. Every time we see a convertible he asks when we're going to get one. I finally just said never, in hopes of ending the discussion. Instead, this led to the "if you're dead" theory.  

He is right about the corn snake though, I would have to be dead to live with one. 

KidZui

For the past month my kids have been trying out a web browser for kids called KidZui. This is a free, downloadable web browser found at www.kidzui.com that only allows kids to access parent and teacher reviewed websites, games, videos and more. A unique log-in is set up for each child and parents receive weekly e-mails of what sites their kids are looking at the most. 

This has been perfect for my soon to be third grader who always wants to Google something. Now he can use KidZui to his hearts content like yesterday when he found endless amounts of information about black holes. He reported to me about his findings while I worked on something else. He loves being able to search independently and I like knowing he's not going to access unrelated or inappropriate sites. So much better than constantly reading over his shoulder.

Another KidZui plus is that it takes over the whole screen. This means that when your six year old uses your computer there isn't  the "accidental" opening of things or lost icons from the dock. There are extra benefits available with a KidZui membership, but there is plenty available without it. I would definitely recommend this for elementary age kids and younger.

What Would I Do Without My Older Brother?

I just heard this exchange...

Joshua: You crack me out.
Noah: It's up. You crack me up.

Silence

What's funny about this to me (besides the obvious) is that they were playing a video game and neither one was laughing. Maybe Joshua meant you crack me in because he was laughing so hard on the inside? It was nice that for once Noah corrected Joshua without being rude. Score one for video games - they distract you to the point of politeness.

Snarfing

Thanks to the book Snarf Attack, Underfoodle and the Secret of Life: The Riot Brothers Tell All by Mary Amato my boys have been trying to snarf. What is snarfing you may ask? That would be trying to make your opponent (brother) laugh while drinking his milk. In fact, you want him to laugh so hard that milk actually comes out his nose. Thankfully, they've taken some liberties with the definition and just want to make milk come out their nose. This is better because instead of snarfing at the dinner table (which I prohibited) they took mouthfuls of milk out onto the deck and tried to make it come out their nose. Noah found it more difficult than Joshua and was not able to get the milk out. Joshua however, was proud of himself for being able to snarf once. It looks like we might have a new talent for the talent show next year.

The Lincoln Girls

Last night Charity and I spent a little time in Lincoln for Maya's preschool graduation. Almost as exciting was that we went without our children. My boys were not happy about being left behind until I reminded them that we were going to be spending the weekend in Lincoln. With guilt averted, I was able to leave the house alone. 

Here are a few pictures of the Lincoln girls. Unfortunately I was not able to capture Owen's blur of activity. Maya, the soon to be kindergartner, was giggly and adorable. 

Here she chats it up with Ava after the ceremony.

While here she attempts to find the proper graduation pose.

Happy Birthday Ava! - She celebrated her 6th birthday Tuesday. We are ready to rock out at your party on Saturday.

Stella - Cautiously watching for the next Owen attack.

I am thrilled that summer is almost here and that means more time with Lincoln cousins!

The Helicopter Seed

Noah came home from school this week with a helicopter seed and every intention of growing a "helicopter tree" in our yard. Before I knew it he was showing me where he had planted it in the middle of the grass in the backyard surrounded by four bricks. I told him we didn't want a tree growing in the middle of the backyard and that he needed to put the bricks back.

While I was making dinner I heard things like "uh-oh" and "oh no." Noah came into the kitchen and told me not to get mad but a little dirt got in his bedroom. When I asked why he mumbled something about it falling out of his shirt but since I was trying to get dinner on the table before going to 6:00 soccer practice I didn't think much about it. 

When we returned home this is what I discovered:

A trail of dirt and dirt balls leading to Noah's room.

Dirt over a mess of things on the floor.

Dirt all over his table and DS. (That would be his rock collection on the table - mostly from the school playground.)

More dirt on the floor - I particularly enjoyed the shoe outline.

Finally, the helicopter seed planted in the dirt that made it into the container, drowning in water, sitting on a pile of books, with a nightlight to help it grow. 

When I saw all of this I told Noah that there was too much water, that a nightlight wouldn't help a plant grow and that he couldn't keep it teetering on a pile of books. His response: "I never said I was an expert at gardening." 

Add gardening to our list of summer projects.

Jackets: Friend or Foe?

Our outdoor "weather station" currently reads 47.4º. Anything under 60º and I make the boys wear a jacket. I'm just mean that way. Apparently once you start wearing shorts your little boy brain tells you that jackets are never necessary again. Of course, this means there was moaning when I said " you need jackets" even though Noah was sitting under a blanket too cold to brush his teeth just moments earlier. 

The jacket conversation continued in the car when Noah informed me that he wears his jacket to school but then doesn't put it on again the rest of the day. This is where I made the mistake of trying to reason with him by telling him he wouldn't need it by the end of the day, but it would be cool this morning and he would want it. His reply, "I'm already BLAZING hot!" Too cold to brush teeth to blazing hot in less than five minutes. My in head response - whatever Noah. Yes, I'm mature like that.

Still not prepared for these around the clock conversations once summer hits. Last nights dinner conversation: If the world was made of chocolate...