Monday, June 29, 2015

Samisms...Well Kind-Of

Sam is 13. Yep, a teenager and we have accepted the fact that his brain is developing and not working on all cylinders at all times.

Here are a couple of conversations we have had with Sam.

Sam wanted to wear a light pair of socks to track one evening. Sam and Jason wear the same size socks and have for sometime. Jason has even given Sam a pair of his shoes to wear at times. 

Sam: Dad, do you have a light pair of socks for me to wear?
Jason: Want don't you go grab a pair of my light weight socks.
Sam: Do you think they will fit?

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Sam has been working out this summer and has spent a bit of time in front of the mirror looking at his knew muscles. (heehee)

Jason: Wow Sam, your biceps are actually looking bigger!
Sam: Really? Which one?
Jason: Ummm.....Both.
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Sam and I were talking about how next year he will be 14 and can get a driver's permit. We discussed how that meant that he could drive, but he would have to have an adult in the car with him when he drove, unless he got a school permit, then he could drive to school and back.

Sam: So, if I get a school permit, I can drive to school?
Me: Yep. You can't pick up a friend. You can drive straight to school and back home. 
Sam: What will you do?
Me: What?
Sam: If I have to have an adult in the car, what will you do when I am in school?
Me: What do you mean?
Sam: Will you just wait in the car all day while I'm at school?
Me: WHAT???
Sam: Well, I have to have an adult in the car at all times. So if the car is at school, what will you do?
Me: Sam. If you have a school permit, you can drive to school and back...without an adult. I am NOT going to wait in the car for you in the parking lot while you are at school!!
Sam: Oh. OK. That's good,  I thought you'd get bored.
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And where this one says "Shoes" you can insert anything else that the boys wear...socks, hat, shorts...
 
Have a good one!!

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

My First!!

I was cleaning out a bin and came across this little gem AKA my very  fist scrapbook page!!

 It makes my laugh! I have some basic pattern papers, a border strip, some die cuts and stickers!  Good stuff in the day! Check out the scallop circle frame around Jason putting on his helmet. I did that with my fancy scissors!

Memory Bound (before I worked there) use to have a wall of these die cuts in little bins. You could get the same die cut in a variety of colors. I loved that wall! That is where I scored this fabulous bike!

This isn't a die cut, but a punch out!! 

A little journaling to go with my pictures. And it never fails, I spell a word wrong...can you find it?
This is one of my bike stories of Jason's!

Do you still have or oremember your first scrapbook page? Does it make you say, "I've come a long way!"

Monday, June 22, 2015

Samuel!!

I just had to snap a quick picture of the boys going to their first track practice together. I was so excited and so was Jack!!
Samuel! 
Stop acting like the teenager you are! 
You should to be excited that Jack is going to track with you! See how happy he is!! You should love that he is going to follow you around, yelling "SAM" and try to do everything you are doing and being right at your heels! You should be flattered and you should NOT have that look on your face!! UGH!!! 
(heehee)

Friday, June 19, 2015

Funny!!


I came across these little cartoons and they made me giggle! 
I will be honest, I can relate...
(I apologize if the language offends.)

This one is soooo true!! As I am writing this and Sam is watching The Simpsons...with Jack tucked in right beside him! Eeek!!
 

Jason actually said this before we had Jack!!!


And a personal favorite of mine....
 https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/8d/4f/bc/8d4fbc829b62d0e404d41bcf5febb3b6.jpg
blasphemy bonus panel



Happy FRI-YAY!!

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Crab Playing...

Sometime I need to share with you how Jack (or we) came to be the proud owners of three Hermit Crabs!

Let me introduce our pets:
Marge is in the pink shell trying to climb a tree.

This is Batman. He is huge and scary.

This is Superman. He loves to walk around and climb and isn't scary.
 Anyway, the boys love to play with their crabs. Have you ever wondered how you play with crabs?  (this just doesn't sound right.)

Well, if both boys want to play, they make a circle with their arms and let the crabs walk around in the center. If the crab tries to escape through an arm pit, the boys must readjust their arms. They also assign a crab to watch while playing.
The "theroy" is this helps the owners become use to the crabs feel, their antennas and claws, against your skin. It is to lessen your concern with getting pinched.

Though, I would suggest not doing this on hard wood floors in case you were putting a crab back in the cage and you thought it pinched you and you instinctively let go of the crab and dropped it on the wood floor.  Not a soft landing for a hard shell crab. I would suggest this "get to know you" activity on a rug or carpet. Just in case that situation may arise.

Monday, June 15, 2015

A Track Meet...

The boys have been trying out their feet in track this spring. Actually, Sam has been doing quite a bit of running and Jack went last week for a couple of times. Sam has experienced a track meet, but this was Jack's first meet.  They both had success in their races! I apologize for the terrible quality of my pictures. I took them with my iphone and learned that I will definitely need my "good" camera for the next track meet!!

Sam started out the day running the 400. He got a personal best in his time! Yea, Sam!!
Sam finished fifth overall in the 400.

Up next, was Jack running the 100 yard dash. This is Jack first time running in a competitive race...EVER! He did really well and finished second overall!!
 He is looking back to see how he did. Look in the background...do you see Sam (in the purple shirt) clapping for Jack!! Love that!!

 Look at his face! He was sooo excited, but trying to keep it "calm."


Jack then ran the 200. He got first in his heat and finished fifth overall!

Sam also ran the 200 and finished fourth overall!

Jason and I enjoy track and so we had a blast watching the boys today and I think the boys enjoyed themselves, too!
 Oh my...is Jack's chest actually puffed out?

Friday, June 12, 2015

Today!!


I saw this saying and fell in love with it right away.
I would like to make it into a tee-shirt with my cameo!

 

And then I saw this, and reality came back very quickly.
 

Have a fun weekend!
Yay!!

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Officially Summer...

Jack and I stopped at one of our favorite ice-cream shops and decided at that point it was officially summer! We love not only the ice cream, but the candy eyes that come on your cone!


Where was Sam you ask?
He was spending the day with friends (this summer is all about his friends!) at Adventureland

(Where you can ride the Tornado, see a family show and hear a rock-n-roll bad. There's always something at Adventureland!) If you are a local, you will have the theme song going through your head for hours!! :)

Anyway, Sam has transparent skin and so it is very important for him to put on sunscreen. He needs to put sunscreen all over his arms, legs, face and head (yes, his head...he has a buzz cut.) At times, Sam will forget one or two parts of his body and it is bright red and it infuriates me!! So, going to Adventureland, I stressed he HAD to put on sunscreen or NO GOING TO THE POOL THE NEXT DAY!!

So Sam sends me a picture of him while at Adventureland.
Looks like he is enjoying himself!
But, wait, doesn't he look a little peaked?
Oh, no...that is just the amount of sunscreen the kid put on!! Made me laugh!! Check out how it's a bit heavy on the one eyebrow!! Jason said he looked a bit spooky and just may have put on a bit too much sunscreen! But, he did not get burned, had a great time and is now off to the pool with his friends!

This is what summer is all about!!

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Summer Rules...

So the boys are out of school and this summer they are getting a bit more freedom and independence, which I think is good for them.

 We tried it out this new found freedom the other day while I was at work. Before leaving, I sat down discussed all the "rules" for the day. My mom graciously stopped by a few times to check on them, unannounced, which worked out nicely! The day actually went very well. I was pleasantly pleased and happy with these fine young men! Over dinner, I asked them what they had done that day. Sam shared how he had text a friend for 6 hours and Jack told me how he watched an entire mini-series of Minecraft on the computer! 

Uh. Oh.
That's not going to work. 

If they spend the summer doing all that screen time, their brains will definitely rot out and drip out of their noses. I gave them a "pass" because it was the first day of summer, reminded them to carefully blow their noses, because their brains just might be draining a little and decided to come up with a Plan B.

Now, I will admit (here we go again) that Jason and I have a liberal policy when it comes to screen time. A few rules we try (hey, we aren’t perfect) to enforce are no phones at dinner, limited screen time when friends are over, limited screen time overall and ummm, welllll...you get the idea. 

My entire idea is not to say no to technology, but for them to realize there are other things in the house, around them and in the world to do besides texting for 6 hours and watching Minecraft videos. 

Plan B started with me going to Pinterest for ideas. If you go onto Pinterest or the internet there are thousands of summer ideas/bucket lists...from taking a hike, helping out an elderly neighbor or playing a pool party. (easy peasy!) There is even a web site that will give you a weeks worth of ideas on a theme. For example, this week all activities will be based around ice-cream. They provide activities, play ideas, science experiments, recipes, etc. etc. You can check it out here. Wow!!

I mean really, I just need some basic guidelines here. I don't want the boys to spend entire days on the screen, but I do want them to do other things, that are "easy" for them to decide and have control over. I also want them to start prioritizing their days and helping out around the house a bit!  I finally came across a list titled, "No Screen time Until..."

(I have absolutely no idea why things suddenly became highlight in white.  Please excuse this glitch from the wonderful Blogger program!)

Bingo!
I adapted it, changed it up and planned it out with the boys. I must say this is a work/test in progress, but so far, it's been good ( I know it's only been a week.) The boys have bought into it, and I think that is because they have control over it. 

So here it is our list:


Summertime Rules
No Glowing Screens Until
You have eaten breakfast and cleaned up it up.
Water and fed critters.
You have read for 20-30 minutes.
You have checked that you room is tidy:
meaning that the bed is made, clutter put away, laundry in its place and waterbottles/glasses are brought downstairs.

You have played some sort of math,
learning or brain game of some sort:
×         Can be on the computer with ok from me!
×         Board Game
×         Brain Game books, crossword puzzles, suduko

You have played, built, crafted or have done something creative for
45 minutes to one hour.

You have finished one chore.

Later in the day you will:
Do something productive/creative/active
(practice baseball, lacrosse, basketball, guitar)
Pick up anything in the house that is yours and put away.
Read before bed.

(You have weekends off from this routine.
You may still need to help around the house.)

*********************************************************************** 
The wording for the list is done for Sam and Jack, so if some of it seems phrased in a younger manner, that would be for Jack. 

To explain the chore part. The boys need to chose one chore for the day. Some are quick and easy and take 10 minutes max. A few others are a bit more involved. Jack numbered small squares and then chooses one out of a bucket and does the corresponding chore. No problem. His bathroom gets cleaned once every two weeks. Perfect. So does his sheets...you may think they need to be cleaned more often,but right now I will settle for once every two weeks!

Is it to much? We will see. When the boys are home all day, I really believe they can kick in and help out and keep the house picked up. The "list" is very easy to do in a short amount of time. 

Here's our Chore Choices:
Pick a Chore
1.       Clean your toilet
2.     Clean your bathroom
3.     Dust tops in your bedroom: Move items off of dresser, bed frames, top shelves and desk in order to dust.
4.     Change sheets.
5.     Vacuum your bedroom.
6.     Clean a bathroom of your choice.
7.     Vacuum a room of your choice.
8.     Dust a rom of your choice.
9.     Go to the grocery store.
10. Run errands.
11.   Dust shelves: move items on shelves
12. Dust walls in room: frames, pictures, lights, etc.
13. Dust items in your room.
14. Freebie: you choose
15.  Binge clean a drawer or shelf in your room.
16.  Empty dishwasher (if available)
17.  Fold and put away towels (if available)
18. Plan a meal.
19.  Make a dessert


Will there and have there been adjustments...yes! If the boys are asked to go to the pool or Adventureland, will the HAVE TO FINISH THEIR LIST BEFORE LEAVING???!!!! Absolutely not. If they are at the pool, they are in motion and not sitting in front of a screen for 6 hours!!! And that is the point of "The List." 

On our first trial run day, no complaints.(again, I know it's only been a week!) For the 45 minutes of being creative, the boys actually got out one of Sam's Lego sets that he has had for over a year, but hasn't built and worked on it for almost two hours!  Sam searched the app store to download brain games, which he loved doing! That day, the first time Sam and Jack got on their video games was 4:30 in the afternoon. Did Sam text during the day, he did, but he was building with Jack (my little multi-tasker) and at one time, he was cleaning up his room. I'm ok with that, because he wasn't sitting on the couch locked into the screen.

Will there be days that "The List" gets done quickly and they have 6 hours opened and end up on the computer? Yes. As long as "The List" gets done, they are free to look at that lovely glowing screen of their choice until chunks of their brain starts to fall out of their noses. (Just don't get it on the carpet, because they will have to clean it up.) 

But what I have noticed is that they go are going outside to start  playing a game, with their imagination. They start to build Legos and don't stop until the structure is built...and if it isn't done, they go back later to work on it some more! They have both gotten into reading books that have been on their shelves for some time! The best part, is that they boys have been actually getting along!!

So giving them all the time they want on the screen, has actually lessened the  time they are on the screen. 
Hmmm...will definitely keep you updated on their progress!!