Month: April 2016

Drew loves to go on what he calls “adventures”.  Last Saturday he wanted to take his dad and I down to the creek where he goes to play when he’s at Grandpa and Grandma Ward’s house.  I used to go down to the creek when I was a little girl – I could sit for hours and watch the water flow by.

 

I loved watching Drew and his dad playing in the water.

Every little boy should have a creek to play in!

 

Thank you Drew for the adventure!

I love these kinds of adventures – they don’t cost a thing yet are so much fun.  Any time spent outdoors is time well spent and spending time with Joe,Dad, Mom and any of the kids is priceless!

My five-year-old is a very strong willed child.  He has been a challenge from the day he was born.  Any discipline that worked with his older siblings is not going to work with him.  So – no times outs, no taking away toys, no yelling, no sending him to his room.  What worked before, does not work now.  So, I should have known not to get the fingernail polish out.  I haven’t used polish for a couple of years knowing that usually out of sight is out of mind.  Drew loves polish and he wants to put it on himself.  He isn’t happy with an adult putting it on for him.  So I would rather not use it than have to fight Drew over it.  But . . . the weather was nice, out came the sandals, and toes look so much better when polished.  That was last Sunday.  I made two mistakes – I used the polish in front of him and I didn’t have enough time to polish his toes too. Again, I should have known.  So then the polish was put away and forgotten about.  Or so I thought.  On Wednesday, Drew decided to polish his toes.  And his carpet.  And I thought he was playing with his dinosaurs!  So . . . how do you get half a bottle of polish out of carpet?  With the help of Pinterest I now know that baby wipes, rubbing alcohol and lots of elbow grease does a fairly good job!  I should have taken before and after pictures but at the time I was simply working on staying calm and getting the mess cleaned up – not on taking pictures!  So, Drew and I have pretty polished toenails.  Drew’s carpet is saved.  And I will wait another year to get the polish out hoping that in another year he won’t want to use nail polish like mommy anymore.  I’m learning to pick my battles and unpolished toes are a small price to pay to keep the peace.

Yesterday morning was spent in the timber with my parents and Drew.

I know spring is here when the bluebells bloom and this year they are absolutely gorgeous.

The timber was a blanket of blue – pictures don’t come close to the how pretty this scene is – a sea of blue blanketed the whole timber!  When I was young I would wander down to the timber every spring and pick a bouquet of bluebells.  They are such a delicate and enchanting spring flower!

My baby is five – and he is loving it!  He was so excited to spend his birthday evening at Grandpa and Grandma’s for a weiner roast this year.  The weather cooperated for once and we had a great time.  First we walked down to the timber to see if the bluebells were blooming.  I always know spring is here when the bluebell have turned the timber into a beautiful sea of blue!  Then hotdogs over the fire.  The only way I will eat a hotdog – there is just something about cooking on an open fire and being outside that can make almost anything taste good!  Of course lots of ketchup and mustard helps too!

And then present time – and Drew’s favorite present – a vacuum cleaner!  He has always been obsessed with vacuum cleaners.  He can spot a vacuum cleaner anywhere – and he loves that he now has his own.  I think he has the cleanest bedroom carpet of anyone, anywhere, right now!

Funny what little ones take an interest in.  His other love is dinosaurs! It was a nice, relaxing evening.  Today we are going to Des Moines to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate on a little bigger scale – with lots more family to help celebrate being five!