Broken

JULY 9, It was a day like most of our good summer days, I did something out of the ordinary to make they day fun. I had filled up water balloons plus given them some buckets of water with cups and squirt guns to splash the water around. Robin and Laura were frustrated with Jacob because after the water balloons were all used he jumped in the bucket of water and wouldn't move. Being the good mom I am I went outside and ordered him out of the bucket then proceeded to dump it over his head so he couldn't continue to play in the water either. Jacob didn't let that ruin his fun, he began to splash it the small puddle before it evaporated. Robin was making faces and mocking him for no longer having the bucket to sit in. If Jacob has a bigger puddle of water or a squirt gun still he would of shot water at her/the window, but in their absence he threw a rock that was in his hand. CRACK...crackle...the door was broken. On the up side it was only the outside pane that got destroyed and it didn't fall out. Sadly, the door needs to be replaced which means the whole things must go because you can't replace only the broken part. For the price were are paying for a new door we could buy a new appliance or have replaced the carpet or kitchen floor...something like that at least. We are making Jacob pay a very small portion of the price out of his savings and, when I remember, I have him help with extra work/chores. He almost didn't get to go to Laura's "congratulations on learning the potty" party, but his not attending would mean someone else had to miss out too....I really, REALLY wanted to get to see the movie and I think I deserve one movie seen at the theater. My mother-in-law pointed out that the broken door was a great way to give a FHE lesson about the atonement because only through the power and love of another could Jacob fix what he did wrong. I really doubt that Jacob has learned to not throw rocks, but whatever. His sisters, mostly Laura, won't let him forget he did it. We keep the blinds closed and won't allow them to bring over friends or play outside until it gets fixed.  A custom sized door take time to make and ship...maybe at the start of school it will get done...over a month stuck playing inside.

Hello Again

Where to start....my kids are still around. Don't think that you, the reader, has missed out on anything special because I haven't updated since late last year, my life is just so full of the same old thing that I forget to add any updates. My kids are getting bigger on me and I don't really notice until I look back and see the differences.

Jacob has only a foot to go until he is as tall as me and then I will lose all ability to tell him what to do. Let me rephrase, encourage him to follow along with what I say. Lately he has decided that we never do anything nice for him. When the girls went with their Grandma Nancy for a sleepover we took Jacob to Dairy Queen for lunch and a blizzard. Fun stuff right, a nice treat you say...well you are wrong. The whole thing was ruined for him because he didn't get his OWN $5 meal or blizzard. He wants to be treated like a big kid, meaning we don't tell him what to do and he gets his own everything (sharing is for babies I guess). He is right that he is getting older and we need to give him some privileges/allowances, but he is still young and needs to learn...well... more. The teenage years are striking too early. School is another struggle for him, not the learning just the doing. On the positive side, Jacob is really good with Devin and he loves caring for him. They sleep in the same room at night, so Jacob will bring him to me in the morning. Jacob helps in the bath, feeding, playing with, takes a turn holding him, and more.

Robin LOVED kindergarten and is looking forward to entering first grade in August. She can't get enough of learning and gets really frustrated when stuff doesn't click immediately. With so many school subjects Robin is superior to Jacob and I think it is all attitude (Robin wants to know more and Jacob doesn't want to be there). Robin is starting to get interested in being really girlie: make-up, nail polish, and always having a dress option. Well, lets be truthful, she has always enjoyed being a girl and the only new addition is make-up. You let a child play once in your stuff for fun and then she pesters you forever to do it again and more. When Jacob had his turn with Grandma Nancy for a sleepover the girls got a chance to decorate themselves with mommy's make-up; it was a glitterfest which just doesn't show up on camera very well. If I ever decide to paint my nails I better be prepared to paint two other sets of fingers and their toes too. I think earrings would be a good addition, but that would turn into another thing for me to be in charge of ...under her supervision of course :) Robin is also good with Devin, but she requires a lot of supervision herself when handling Devin. She just always looks like she will drop the baby...and she invades his personal space a little too much for me or Matt.

Laura...hmm...is much as always. This little girl is either happily playing by herself or hanging off of Robin, begging her to play with her. I am not sure who is more girlie, Robin or Laura, but Laura loves to have dresses, nail polish, and get into my make-up whenever she can. She has recently achieved potty trained level (and was taken to see Minions Movie as a reward!). I know, she is way too old to be only now reaching this accomplishment. I kept waiting for definite signs that she was ready, but she was perfectly happy in a diaper.  Like with Robin I had to take away the privilege of diapers, except at nighttime and wouldn't you know it she never had an accident at night. It was slow going at first, of course, and there were too many accidents to my liking, but really it only took her four months to earn her reward. Now is constantly asks me why babies always poop and pee in their diapers...like she doesn't know.  Laura is only now, six months later, starting to interact with Devin. It wasn't that she didn't like him because she likes/liked him fine, it is just that now six months later she is trying to have anything to do with him. It was like, "you are here and I am okay with that." Now I have to teach her to touch nice.

Devin is such a sweetie. It took him a few months to decide that being awake wasn't a bad thing and sometimes he doesn't understand that no one can hold him. Maybe I just know the ropes, but Devin seems to easy compared to the others. Devin enjoys to eat (except unsweetened applesauce), doesn't mind other people, slept through the night at four months (never slept less that three hour stretches), and of course has the most adorable giggle. Right now he is working on figuring out the crawl. He gets up on his toes/knees and hands, but can't get the motions down for crawling so he simple slithers across the floor or pushes with his toes.