Garden Update

Here's a picture of the garden, just about one month later. Isn't the change incredible? Some of the plants look a little wilted because it's the heat of the day right now. But they all perk up as the sun goes down. That's the pumpkin that is pouring off the side of the planter box. And the tomatoes are growing tall in the back. The only thing I'm worried about is the sunflowers, the plants growing out of the pot in the middle. I read yesterday they often have roots which grow 9 feet deep. Oops. We'll do them differently next year I guess!

The lure of the diving board

Yesterday we went to a birthday party that was at a neighborhood swim club. When we arrived, it was adult swim only, so the kids headed over to the wading pool. But a short while later the big pool opened up and the kids descended on it. I was in the shallow end with Emma, with a vague idea of where Hubs and Grant were. After chatting with my friends and playing with Emma, I started to look around and noticed a line of little boys extending from the lower diving board, and and equal number of dads in the pool along the wall. A boy would walk out onto the board, the corresponding dad would swim out to catch him, they'd swim to the wall together, and then the next little boy and the next dad would take their turn. Mixed in with the boys and dads was Grant and Hubs. Over and over and over again the little boys would jump off the diving board, pop up with a smile on their faces, and ask to go again. 30 minutes later dinner came off the bbq and many a tired dad climbed out of the pool to refuel for the next jump-a-thon.

Movie Night: Take Two

Hubs is out of town this weekend, so we borrowed Toy Story 2 from a friend and had another movie night. Once again we compromised with Emma's table and Grant's chairs in the living room so the kids could eat dinner while they watched. The menu was string cheese, popcorn, apple slices, blueberries, and ICE CREAM! They each chose the Ben and Jerry's single serve chocolate fudge brownie and yummed their way through dessert. It was a fun evening, and the kids have been pretending to be Woody and Jessie the cowboys ever since.

Swim lessons

Well the first round of swim lessons is over and everyone made progress. Both kids had private lessons with a friend who has at the same level. Grant is infinitely safer in the water than he was before. He started putting his face in the water while kicking around, and using very rudimentary dog paddle. He went down the water slide 2 times yesterday, and jumped off the diving board 3 times.

Emma is working on real freestyle instead of dog paddle, and jumping off the side in the deep end. She learned elementary back stroke and water rescue. And she swam across most of the short deep end! She chose not to ride down the water slide or jump off the diving board, which was no surprise.

They are signed up to start their second session on Monday, Emma in private lessons with the same friend, and Grant in the Otters group lesson (which only has one other kid enrolled right now).

Yum!

This was dinner tonight:

Balsamic Skirt Steak

I paired it with the wilted garlic spinach you can see on the left of the plate, and some crusty bread from the bakery. We all four loved it, although Grant had a hard time chewing it unless I cut it into itty bitty pieces. This recipe also solidified my love for Cooking Light magazine!

Father's Day

We had a chill Father's Day this year. Hubs took the kids up to his Dad's house to bbq and swim, and then I joined them after church/ work. We spent most of the afternoon there, then headed home to tuck tired children in for an early bedtime. I joined my Dad and brother for a nice outdoor dinner along the river. We each liked our meal and we stayed so long we were the second to last people to leave. We had to slink out the patio gate to get to the parking lot!

Liar liar pants on fire

That's what I find myself wanting to chant to the kids just about every day. The lying around here has gotten out of control, with the kids casually dropping lies multiple times a day. They lie over ridiculous things like whether they've brushed their hair and they lie about big things like who threw the dirt clod at my car. And they've both perfected their poker faces so it's nearly impossible to tell if they are lying or telling the truth.

I feel like I've tried it all - direct confrontation, time outs, ignoring it, lecturing on trust and lying, lecturing on not lying to your parents (and teachers, and friends, and finally, JUST DON'T LIE!), pitting them against each other (with the dirt clod incident they both sat silently, back to back, on the driveway until Grant finally confessed it was him who threw the clod). What's a mama to do when summer is just starting and both kids are lying?

Finally, after a morning full of petty lie after petty lie (who threw water on the mirror, who left the toothpaste out, who slammed the door, who left the book in the hall), I sent them to Emma's room with a paper and pencil and told them to work together to create a list of consequences for when they lie. Based on the nagging to come sit down and stop playing that was occurring, I think Emma shouldered most of that task. Their list includes the following:

1. Take away too stuffed anamals.
2. Not watchen TV for the whole day
3. Not haven a stoy at bedtime
4. Takeen a way a favrite toy for the day
5. To have a 5 meunet time out.

So basically, when I catch them in a lie, they walk, with their heads hanging, over to the list, peruse it while repeatedly assuring me that they'll never lie again, and then grudgingly decide on a consequence. So far Grant has had a 5 minute time out and Emma has lost a bed time story.

They also remind each other not to lie or they'll have to chose a consequence, a nice little side effect I hadn't planned on. We'll see how much longer this is effective.