1 Nice Day + 3 Kids + 1 Swing Set

Warm spring days are a rarity enough to capture on film.  This is from last Monday.

I can’t push Kyla high enough on the disc swing.

 

Piper, too.

 

Wesley learned to climb the ladder.

 

The reward—sliding down with Piper.

 

Bad Childrening, A Confession

Mama:  Kyla and Piper, I am going to read Wesley a story and put him down for a nap.  You two may NOT whine, complain, hit, or fight for five minutes.  [Grrrrrrr.]

Kyla, whining: Five minutes!? But, Mama, that is too long! 

 

Update:  You know the day hasn’t gotten much better when you tell your children, “I only have a few minutes of patience left and it will take us 3 minutes to get home.  No more questions or comments from anyone.”

Bad Parenting, A Confession

Piper was working my last good nerve this afternoon.  Without asking, she poured herself some juice (Costco-size bottle, almost full) and naturally spilled a lot on the floor.  To give her a little credit, she did try to clean it up a bit.  But when I saw the mess, I asked her to clean it up more.  She just didn't do it.  By the time I asked her for the 4th time, and she was just trying to hang the towel up on the fridge with magnets, I was done with her, so I laid her on the ground and mopped it up myself...with her.  Dwayne laughed out loud when he pictured me using Piper as my mop.  Neither Piper nor I learned anything from this, but it may be funny when she is a mom herself.

An Afternoon Stroll—And A Milestone?

After a wonderful morning at our hometown parade, we all took a bit of a rest.  Daddy was still resting when the kids were all up, so the girls and I all got out our strollers and our babies and we went for a walk.

This is the first day of parenting that I noticed my kids following prescribed gender lines.  The girls wore tutus and put their babies in the doll strollers and Wesley carried a ball.  It was a little disconcerting for me, I have to admit.  I’ve read Pink Brain, Blue Brain and really believe most of the annoying (um, princesses and guns) traits of gender division is mostly environmentally created and enhanced.  This wasn’t a life-changing moment for me, but I do find myself blogging about it a few hours later.

 

Kyla and Piper were rarin’ to go…

 

….but the Boy With a Ball and His Own Agenda kept going the other way.  “Come back, Wesley!”

Herding cats, I tell you.

Finally, I put him in his own stroller and he held on to his ball all the way to the school yard.  He liked it better than this picture indicates.

 

Piper’s baby, named Baby, loves her “new” stroller ($5 at a consignment sale—and it’s a double!)

 

Okay, forgot about my earlier angst.  Wesley finally got a hold of Kyla’s stroller and pushed Teddy around for a while, giving them both an off-road adventure.

 

All done now!

 

Our neighborhood school has a special Kindergarten playground that we all like.

 

Time to go home! 

 

Daddy was bringing back dinner for the babysitters when he passed us, so the girls took the easy way home.  I got home a lot faster, too….

 

Thanks, Babe!

All Fools’ Parade

I love our hometown.  The Saturday before April 1, we have a very home-grown local parade and party.  This year was the best ever—the rain didn’t start until the parade ended! 

We made it a family event.  Over her regular clothes and raincoat, she wore a pink tutu and her brand new angel wings.

 

Piper wore a pink ballet tutu over her clothes.

 

I wore a Grade A Baby Wesley, who sacrificed his morning nap for this.  His discovery of kettle corn made this worthwhile for him.

 

The boy liked the parade (and he tried to join the Toddler Group marchers).  He actually got beads and a small football, which he thought tasted great.  Dwayne bought us kettle corn and Wesley was hooked!  He stayed near Daddy most of the parade for the steady supply of treats. 

 

We cheered for all parade entrants.  This little guy was pretty charming.

 

I took a picture of this so I can—eventually—recreate it in my own yard.  Wow, Molbak’s!

 

I have no words for this one, other than I thought it was worth a spot on the blog.

 

My favorite—the Papa Murphy’s Pizza Slice on a unicycle.

 

We accidently sat near the beginning of the parade route, where the most candy was distributed.  The girls got more treats here than on Halloween!   They both have balloons, lollipops…. and their parents’ love.

 

The girls took occasional took breaks from the candy to eat kettle corn.  Wesley just really never stopped eating the corn.  You know, the choking hazard for children under 3?

Northwest fairies must wear raincoats and rubber boots when gathering firewood while waiting for Mama and Daddy to finish talking to the lady about Green Energy.

 

Could an ethereal creature be a little sugar buzzed?

Spring has Sprung

First, if you will be so kind, please notice the freshly mown lawn.  I’ve given both yards their first mowing of the year and now can take the mower in for it’s yearly tune-up before it’s real work begins.

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Today was just a beautiful day simply apologizing for the entire winter we had.  I mowed the lawn with Wesley and Piper while Kyla stayed near the house feeding the 800 ponies we acquired last month.  (Luckily for us, the ponies and their poop are both invisible.  Possibly imaginary, but further studies will need to be conducted.)  Kyla came down when her barn chores were done and said, and I quote, “Wow, Mama, this lawn is nicely mowed!”  Ah, my efforts had been appreciated.  I melted.

The kids can swing for hours. I want to get either a tire swing or a glider soon, so at least two of them can be on the same swing.  See, it is all about efficiency.

Piper loves all three swings—baby, big kid, and disc.  She’s versatile and clearly adaptable.

Wesley will take off in that rocket someday.

This girls could be pushed on the disc swing for approximately all day.  She loves high and twirly.  We don’t raise no cowards here at the ranch.  Not much in way of manners, either, but no fear.

 

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The kids all love the log cabin playhouse, too.  It often serves as a home or a restaurant (with a drive-thru window) for the girls, but Wesley is just discovering how fun it is to open and shut the door and play peek-a-boo in the windows.

 

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I was helping Wesley climb this ladder early in the afternoon, but I caught him going up completely solo before we went in. Go, Wes!

And why does a baby climb a ladder?  To get to the slide, of course! See you at the bottom, boy!

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Kyla figured out how to cross the monkey bars on her own today. (It involves stepping along the side of the slide when she needs to.)