Over So Soon??

It's already the last day of July.  Kids go back to school in 2 or 3 weeks.  Although the warm weather will probably stick around for another month or two, I feel like summer is already winding down and there's still so much we haven't done.  We haven't been to State Farm pool.  We haven't had enough play dates with school-age friends and cousins.  We have yet to make it back to bicycle Safety Town.  We've barely been to the Farm park or the zoos.  We just put up our blow up pools in the yard for the first time today.  Where is our time going???

I guess it's been going to...

 



The Kid's Fun Run at State Farm Park

 

A few outings to local zoos and parks and the Eureka 4-H Fair

 

Making costumes for a costume ball that Staley planned

(Doesn't everyone do that in the middle of July???)

 

Just hanging out and enjoying the fun

 

Play dates with friends

 

Sprinkler time in the backyard

 

There has also been story hour and the summer reading program activities and a sleep-over with Lila and plenty of trips to the library and lots of outside play time.  The St. Jude Run is this week-end, Staley will have Vacation Bible School next week, we have a few more play dates planned, and Staley's weekly summer acting/creativity class will culminate in a little production.  We have definitely had a fun summer so far, but I just feel like it's going by really quickly.  Before we know it, the pools will close, the pumpkin farms will open, and I'll wonder, yet again, why time insists on flying by so quickly.

 

So I'm trying to just enjoy these days before they are gone.

 

 

 



 

 

A Typical Conversation in the Life of Staley

The conversation Staley and I had before lunch today:

Me:  "Girls, it's time for lunch.  Clean up your toys and wash your hands."
Staley:  "Can't we just leave our toys out so we can play with them later?"
Me:  "No.  We're going to clean up now, but you can always get your toys out later if you want to play with them after lunch and rest time."
Staley: "Can't we just leave them out?  Please????"
Me:  "I said no."
Staley:  "But I said please."
Me:  "I appreciate the manners, but it's time to clean up.  Right now."
Staley:  "Maybe we could just leave out some of our toys."
Me:  "No.  We are picking up all our toys."
Staley:  "Can't I just leave out 3 toys?  Just 3?"
Me:  "I am not going to argue about this and I am not going to change my mind.  We are picking up ALL the toys."
Staley:  "Okay.  Just one. I will just keep out this one toy."
Me:  "Seriously!  I don't want to hear any more about this.  Put it away!"
Staley:  "I will just put this one toy on the window sill until later."
Me:  "Put that toy in the box where it goes or there is going to be a consequence."
Staley:  "Okay.  I will just put it next to the box.  How about that?"
Me:  "If you don't put that toy away like I asked you to or if you say one more thing about it, you will not play with ANY of these toys for the rest of the day.  Do you understand?"
Staley:  (with a big sigh as if SHE'S the one thoroughly exasperated by this conversation)  "Fine."

There's always an angle.  There's always an agenda.  There's always a different idea.  There's always her own opinion or plan.  And sometimes all I really want is for her to say, "Okay."  And then just do it.  Quickly.  The first time I ask.  Is that too much to ask?

 

I sure do love this girl, but sometimes she wears me out.

 

Question of the Day

Why is it that you can sleep 10-12 hours at a time one night and then only 3-5 hours at a time the next night?

 

I guess it could be worse.

Consistently not sleeping through the night would be worse.

Not going back to sleep after eating in the middle of the night would be worse.

Taking a long time to nurse, thus keeping me up longer, would be worse.

Screaming and crying and waking up your sisters would be worse.

 

I guess all things considered, it's not so bad.

I'm thankful it's not worse...but still hopeful that it gets better soon.

 

 

Still Rolling

Since Briggs has mastered consistently rolling from his back to his stomach, in the past few days he is now rolling more and more from his stomach to his back.  He's rolled himself off his blanket and play mat on several occasions.  The last few mornings, I've gone in to get Briggs up to find him lying on his back, happily playing with the base of his mobile or with his feet.  Of course, now he's also rolling onto his back in the night as well, so when I hear him talking in his crib at midnight...or 4...or 6, he's less likely to fall back asleep on his own because he's lying on his back.

It's so fun to see Briggs develop new skills and learn new things.  Rolling is good, but I'd be okay if he started working a little harder on sleeping through the night consistently.

That's Just How We Roll

On Saturday of this past week-end, I took Staley and Adelie to a birthday party for one of their friends at church.  The party started at a park for play time/snacks/gifts, and then ended with a pool party at the local swimming pool.  My girls wanted to wear dresses for the party (of course), and then we just changed into suits when we got to the pool.  So while most of the kids were just wearing their bathing suits at the park, Adelie was wearing her favorite "super duper really twirly" dress and a matching necklace.  As we were walking from the park into the pool, a lifeguard stopped us and, looking at Adelie, said, "Oh, this must be the birthday girl!"  I responded, "No.  Just birthday guests."  The lifeguard replied apologetically, "Sorry.  She just looks so cute all dressed up, I thought it must be her party."

It was an honest mistake.  I didn't have a chance to explain to the lifeguard that we don't need a birthday, or even a party, to bust out the tutus and twirly dresses and jewelry.  This is just everyday wear at the Sancken house.

"Super duper really fancy"...that's just how we roll.

 

Who's The Boss?

The other day, Staley was being bossy with Adelie and we had this conversation:

Me:  "Staley, you aren't in charge of Adelie."
Staley:  "Well sometimes I am."
Me:  "No, you're not.  You're the big sister.  Mommy and Daddy are always in charge."
Staley:  "Well, when we're with Grammie and Grandpa, since they don't know the rules, THEN I'm in charge of Adelie."

And the other evening, we were out in the driveway as a family.  I was helping Adelie put on her bike helmet and was inadvertently holding it backwards.

Zach (to me): "That's backwards, dear."
Staley (to Zach):  "She knows that, Dad.  You don't have to tell her.  You're not the boss.  Mom is always the boss here."
Zach:  "So what's that supposed to mean?"
Staley:  "It's supposed to mean that Mom is here and when Mom is here, then you don't have to do her job."
Zach:  "What's her job?"
Staley:  "You know.  Telling people things."

So according to Staley, the family hierarchy of being in charge goes something like this:

Mom is always in charge.  (Smart girl.)  If Mom isn't here, then Dad can be in charge.  Sometimes Staley's in charge.  And if it's Grammie or Grandpa day, then all charge duties automatically fall to Staley.  It's a tough job for a 4 year old, but if anyone can handle it, it's Staley.

On a Roll

Briggs is an official roller.  Now whenever we place him on his back, he immediately rolls over onto his stomach.  Over and over and over again.  However, once on his stomach, he hasn't figured out how to consistently roll back onto his back.  When he gets tired of tummy time, he just puts his head down and sticks his thumb in his mouth.  I guess that works too.

 

On his way...

...and he made it!