Cal and Ike in Lincoln Square

My mom lives in Lincoln Square where they have bands play weekly. On Thursday night, there was a sultry Mexican band. Calvin's moves amaze me. Ike is playing the fake piano near the stage.

Upset on Chesapeake Bay

We are at my aunt and uncle's today. Calvin and Isaac are having so much fun playing with their cousins (my cousins' kids). This morning, they were running around the house playing hide-and-seek, playing outside in the pool and we even got to eat cake for dessert after lunch.

After the cake, the kids ran off again. I realized I hadn't seen Isaac in a while and started calling for him. Nobody had seen him. I ran outside first to check in the pool- no Isaac. Basement? No Isaac. Bedrooms? No Isaac. Finally cousin Kasey looked out the side window and yelled, "I see him. There he is!"

I ran outside and the neighbor lady asked, "Is this your little boy?" I still didn't see him, but responded, "yes." She said, "I almost called the cops because I've never seen him before." I was, of course, embarrassed, but asked, "Umm... where is he?" She looked around and said, "He was just here." I finally heard a little voice and asked, "Did he go in your house?" She walked up her deck and inside her house and gave a little laugh, "Yes, here he is."

He came outside, naked, holding his swim shorts. With snot all over his face. I said, "I'm very sorry" to her. Isaac said, "I peed" to me. After a series of questions, I found out he peed in her yard (not in her house, thankfully).

The End.

Cal's best friend, Sammy, said....

"Please hurry up. You go your way, I'll go mine. We've all got our own plans." Sammy to another kid, trying to hurry out to make the start of Sonic's 2pm Happy Hour. Overheard by his father.

I stole this off of Sammy's blog because I think it's the most hilarious thing ever and it is SOOOO Sammy.

So different

Here is a conversation we had in the car today. This is a great example of the differences my kids have.

I was on the phone with my friend, Bekah, and she told me she quit smoking. I asked her if she cheated yet. When I got off the phone...

Cal: Why did you ask her if she cheated?

Me: Well, Bekah just quit smoking and it is very, very hard to quit smoking because her body wants another cigarette so bad. So when I asked her if she cheated, what I was asking was if she smoked a cigarette.

Cal: Why does your body want more cigarettes?

Me: Because there is a drug in cigarettes that makes you want more and more. It's called an addiction. Your body doesn't feel happy without it. So when people start smoking, it is very hard to quit smoking.

Cal: That's why I will never smoke.

Me: Someday, Calvin, you may try smoking because you will think that it looks cool. But it will make your breath stinky and your insides sick.

Cal: No, I won't. I will never smoke cigarettes.

Ike: [loudly] I smoke sometimes, Mommy!

If I had a picture of Ike smoking, it would go here.

Just for fun

School

So, for those of you that are wondering...

I have decided to pull Cal and Ike out of preschool this year. Here's why-
* Our property taxes went up $300/month. We found out this is only temporary because of some assessements that were added in. The assessements were stupid things that happened when Ike was first born and we couldn't catch up with life (icey sidewalk and dirt in the driveway. blah!).
* We would have to pay $3,200 for the year for stinking preschool. I'm having a hard time justifying that amount of money for something the kids don't REALLY need. I mean, c'mon. It's preschool.
* I'm seriously contemplating homeschooling and since Calvin is academically ready (but not mature enough), I'm going to give an attempt at a sort-of pseudo, very-relaxed kindergarten this year. That's why I'm not just pulling Ike out and leaving Calvin in. I want to give this a chance.

Notes on homeschooling:
* We haven't decided for sure that this is what we are doing. I am very excited about it and am loving what I'm reading on homeschooling. Eric is much more skeptical but is eager for me to start this year to see how it goes (since Calvin would not really start kindergarten until next year).
* I still don't know what style of curriculum I'm going to use so we are probably going to get a late start. I'm leaning toward the Charlotte Mason method, but would love to incorporate the classical approach as well. I know plenty of women who mix these two methods and love it. However, it seems that kindergarten would be much more relaxed and I may not need to buy very much material.

Notes on other stuff:
* I'm ecstatic that I'm joining the YWCA next month. I'm planning on going 3x a week. I'm going to start the kids on swimming lessons and I'm hoping to become so strong that you will be afraid of me.
* I'm also enrolling Calvin in an art class every Monday. He will be dropped off with his friend, Sammy.

So although I was REALLY looking forward to having some time to myself this fall (2 days a week for 4 hours each), I am excited about this new plan. Please pray for us during this endeavor. For unity between Eric and me as we make this decision, for the boys to acclimate well to the Y and not being in school, for a peaceful home for us despite the business and lack of a break for me.

If you are still reading this, you are my best friend.

Sneak Preview

We have been on vacation with my whole family this week. We met in Winneconne, WI (near Oshkosh) and rented a house on the lake. Highlights have been boating, fishing, golfing, reading, sitting by the fire and eating.


Eating a chocolate frozen banana that Aunt Cheryl made for him.

Cal was driving and I was a little nervous.

Uncle Scott.

I thought Jas and I looked like real golfers. Surprisingly, we did not play like real golfers.

The dock off of our house. The kids ran around on this the whole week.

Part of what I did today...

Update on bed poll

I really want to keep the queen bed because a) It's ridiculously comfortable. 2) We already own it 3) and who cares about space to put crap?

Eric wants to get a twin trundle bed because a) he wants to put extra crap in there and b) doesn't want our guests to be too comfortable (just kidding about that one).

Ike's Hair (see new poll on right!)

New Poll!

Eric and I are in disagreement over our guest room. See right.

Shoes

These shoes were Mado's but she wouldn't wear them because apparently "Black is NOT my favorite color!" Cal loves them.

The Mighty Mississippi

We rode our bikes to the Mississippi River and let the boys play in it. It looks really clean and beautiful here but this was a disgusting part of it. It smelled like fish and I felt dirty. I was anxious to leave but tried not to show it.

TV

Cal and Ru wanted to watch an instructional magic video. The guy shows kids how to use their props for magic. I warned them, "Are you sure this is what you two choose? I think this will be boring." Cal responded, "Mom, it's TV. We're kids. It can't be boring."

The dog park

We went to the dog park a couple weeks ago (yes, I'm behind) with some friends and their dogs. We didn't bring swimsuits for the kids and thought they may just put their feet in. Not so much....


Here's Vica (short for Victoria). Vica, her mom Lisa, and her sister Kaia, are all in a playgroup with us. I took this photo because she was cracking me up. She looked like the Little Mermaid and pretty much spent the whole time lounging on this rock. Her mom, Lisa, is a tomboy, but Vica is... well, she is very princessy.

Ike in time-out for throwing rocks near people.

Tootie, my awesome swimming dog, who loves to fetch and swim.
The dog park had lots of trails.

And here we found some sort of bonfire pit. At a dog park. Weird.

Uncle Jason Visits

Ike cuddled with Jas when he found out he was leaving to go back home.

Chillin' while Eric and I were at church.

This is why they were chillin'. Jason was worn out.

Jason and Zach came up to go to the boundary waters. Here they are just coming out of the wild.

Note to readers: Aunt Becky and Aunt Cheryl were up here that same weekend, but I didn't have our camera. And Becky took a ton of really great pictures, but lost it somewhere (in our house? On our lawn? We still don't know).

What I Never Thought I'd Hear...

From the bathroom, "Mom, after I finish wiping the poop off my butt, we can play hide and seek! Isn't that a great idea!?"

Is homeschooling really for me?

Cal: The Mississippi River is the longest river in the world.
Me: It's the longest in the United States. The Nile river is the longest in the world. It's in India.
Cal: No it's not. It's in Egypt.
Me: Um... let's go look it up.

St. Paul Saints

The Johannsens (Brad, Sarah, Atticus, Dietrich and Lincoln) invited us to the St. Paul Saints game. As you can imagine, we didn't really watch the game and we left after the fourth inning.

Blogger doesn't let me organize my pictures very easily anymore. It's so not worth 1/2 hour. So here they are in no particular order:

Here's where the kids played a lot of the time. Sometimes I make Eric take pictures of me so that my kids will remember what I looked like when I die. Here is proof that I was, in fact, there.

Does he know too much?

Cal drew this the other day: Take a close look at the tadpole thingies at the bottom.

Cal explained his drawing to me: These are sperm with ideas. The ideas they have are "Calt." Except for this one (pointed to left sperm). His idea is just "Cal."