Rainy Balls, Driving and Dirt Angels

Today we got to use the rainy ball.  A couple of weeks ago when Jr2 finally noticed umbrellas, he decided to name them himself.  Rainy balls is what he came up with.  It does make sense.

Jr went driving for the first time today.  He said it was not quite as scary as he expected, but harder than he expected.  It was not as much like the video games as he thought it would be.  He did great -- no wrecking!

Jr3 apparently likes to play outdoors as much as Jr2.  Her daycare teacher said that today while they were playing outside, she looked over and Jr3 was making dirt angels.

Sr continues to go to work.

I worked out at the local Baptist Family Life center.  It's free, it's close, and it's shaded.  Working out at this point means I walked one mile.  I'm so out of shape that counts as a workout.

Stairs

Sometimes I wish our house didn't have stairs.  Sr was sweeping the stairs yesterday.  Jr2 saw this and decided he should sweep the stairs as well.  He does pretty well at climbing the stairs on his own (with a parent following right behind), but he is not to the climbing without parental supervision stage yet.  Well, he might think he is, but he isn't.  So to add sweeping to an already iffy skill, jumped our blood pressures just a bit.

Then Jr3 also decided stairs are cool.  So she crawled over to the stairs and crawled up the first one.  Only the first one, since there was a gate on the second one.  However, since her forward momentum was stopped, she decided to go vertical and pulled herself up to standing on that stair.  Yes, the gate was quickly moved down to the first stair.  The joy of stairs.

Also, we got back the pictures from the daycare.  It seems like they are always taking pictures.  They are very cute, thanks to help from Auntie Moo's help with the children's attire.  We'll see if we get any prints or not.  The plan was not.  But the pictures are sooo cute (to my prejudiced mind).  But then there are just too many good ones to choose from, so the budget may be safe yet.

Crawling

Jr3 is now crawling. Jr2 finds this somewhat dismaying, since Jr3 frequently chases after his blanket and other items. Jr3 likes it, because now when Jr2 steals her crackers when we are not looking, she can go after them herself.

Jr2's favorite word of the moment is "Mine." In order to get the opportunity to say it more often, he will hand something of his to Jr3. Then he will take it back while firmly declaring, "Mine!"

New Word

Jr2 is learning all sorts of words and even saying small sentences. Tonight when we asked him if he did something, he responded, "Yes, I did." Later he tried a new word out on us while we were driving in the car. He kept repeating the word "money" and no, it was not "mommy" it was "money". I finally figured this out and asked him, "What do you want the money for?" His response? "Candy." Yep. Definitely a child of mine.

Stuff

Jr2 currently loves his Papa or Bampa, however you want to translate it. He always wants to call him on the phone. Papa has been a good Gramps and talked to him on the phone a couple of times this week. Jr2 has not always got to call Papa when he wants to, either.

He has been home sick. Kind of home and kind of sick. Not at the daycare and mostly sick, but still managing to run wild and crazy through whatever store we might be in. The monkey backpack is going to become his new best friend, again.

He also got a hug for the doctor today when he went and moved our coats from her chair so she could sit down, without even being asked to do it. (He is also the one that put the coats on her chair before she came in, without being asked to do it.) Then when he got a sticker, he picked one out for Mommy as well.

I taught him a new trick that Farm boy would be proud of. Something I won't describe here.

Jr3 is very close to crawling. Much swaying and scooting backwards. She also loves her brother and the fabric I bought for a new dress. She squealed excitedly about it when I picked it out. Of course she did that for a lot of things. She's growing up fast.

Jr2's favorite meal

Jr2 loves sweet and sour meatballs and they are soooo easy to make. He eats 5 - 7 meatballs every time and will even eat them when they are leftovers (He's not a big fan of leftovers). Here's the recipe.

meatballs, about 5 each (we buy them at Sam's club)
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
1 can pineapple, chunks or rings, with about 2/3 of it's juice
2/3 bottle barbecue sauce (so far Kraft original has worked well)
some green pepper slices (about 1/4 a pepper, but more or less to taste) (we freeze the rest) (optional)
Basmatti rice (optional)

Put the meatballs in a sauce pan. Dump in the rest of the ingredients. Stir. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for 20 - 25 minutes. While it's cooking, we cook the rice in a separate pot (the rice cooker actually).

Jr2 even licks his fingers and makes mmmm noises. Sr says his taste buds might not have fully matured yet. I say they have. Jr3 says she wants some too. Jr2 is willing to share (at least the rice).

I should be sleeping...

I should be sleeping. Everyone else is. Since I'm awake, here is an update on everyone.

I went to weight watchers this last week and weighed in. Only gained 1-2 pounds. Since I haven't been in a month and have been eating whatever I wanted, that is not bad. I have decided to do things in steps. For example, last week I exercised 3 times. This week I am trying to exercise 3 times and drink all the waters I am supposed to every day. In a month or two I will be to the point of starting to track my points. Small steps.

Speaking of steps... no, Jr3 is not walking or even crawling, but I think I will try and enter an official 5k sometime this fall. I guess I better keep up the exercising.

Hubby is working hard and being an excellent help with the kids. He is trying to get in some schooling in those rare spare moments.

Jr1 is enjoying physics and once he even called his dad for help.

Jr 2 is in a new class at the day care. When I asked the other day what he did, he said "Play". He seems to really be enjoying this class. He is also picking up all sorts or new words from his mom and dad, such as "Gross" and "Booger" and "Book". He loves Gordon B. Hinckley's "Stand a Little Taller". I think because it is his Dad's, is just the right size for his hands, and has water-marked pictures in it. He has also been enjoying the "Gobble, Gobble, Moo Tractor Book". Right now all his toy animals like to run, especially over the top of people, with a lot of force. They all seem to say "Moo" as well. Potty training is currently a thing of the past and will have to be revisited at a later date.

Jr3 is also learning new words. She has "Hi Dad" down pretty good. She is now working on "Bubba" and "Bye-bye". She still takes after me when it comes to food. If she's hungry, she's cranky and nothing will change that except for feeding her. Otherwise, she is very good natured and sweet. She and her bubba like to play together some and she is learning to hold her own. She can already pull hair better than her brother, as he has found out a number of times. She loves jumping, especially on her toes like a little ballerina.

Now for a funny story. Since I can't think of one, I guess you all will have to post some of yours instead.