Random Stuff We Did

Baked cupcakes with Grandma

Complained about mandatory outdoor water play. They got fudgesicles out of it. 

Building with cardboard

Elias wanted to make a zip line. I was impressed. Levi helped by being an anchor. 

Wrestling with brothers. 

Uncle Bob made us a perfect house number sign! I can’t believe how such a small detail makes a house so much homier. (Is that even a word?)

Delivered a sign to two friends who graduated with their masters degrees!

Made some sensory bins for a birthday girl and delivered them on her birthday. 

Levi Being Cute

Trying New Things

Levi found our snack bins and was miserable for over a week due to eating a tiny bit of peanut butter. We had to come up with a new plan. These bins are the new plan, but it’s not a good one. The old bins held four snack for the DAY. Eat them when you want to, but that’s what you get for snacking for the day. The boys are sure they need each section of these bins filled morning AND afternoon so snacking has been out of control. New plan again. Not sure what it will be. 

I’ve been reading about sensory processing in children and I think I’ve got a few boys who struggle with it, so we are making some sensory retreats around the house. This one is Lewis’. I want a turn(s). 

No matter how cool of a track I make, nobody is very impressed. Trains and tracks just aren’t our thing. He played about 5 minutes. It took me 3x that long to make it. 

Levi LOVED this. He will be exploring all kinds of sensory activities while the boys do schoolwork this year. 

Homemade basketball. I didn’t love it, but they did and nothing/nobody got broken. 

He’s super into the truck book - it’s our second copy because we wore out the first one - and blowing spit bubbles. 

Augustine made an entire LEGO city and it’s by far - in my opinion - the COOLEST thing he has made. I want to watch his imagination with it when he plays. 

We’ve been desperate to find things to do other than drive each other nuts, especially the past four days while Logan had long days at work. Playing Pictionary boosted everyone’s spirits! It makes them giggle like crazy. 

Finding More Stuff To Do

Spray bottles have been very entertaining this summer. Graffiti on the fence, spray fights, spider hunting, bubble popping, and cleaning the garage are just a few ideas they’ve come up with. 

Elias has been sacrificing screen time so the big boys can watch a show that scares him. In exchange for his sacrifice, Augustine let’s him play with his LEGO creations. 

This is one of the boys’ favorite water activities. We hadn’t set it up all summer so it was extra fun. 







My boys just aren’t super into train tracks, but once in a while I can talk them into playing it. 

Every Saturday the boys get to pick a prize from our prize chart IF they’ve completed their daily reading all week long. We’ve only had one boy not complete his reading once all summer long. Elias chose “bake with mom”. Grandma Kathleen was a bonus. :)

I had to peel Augustine away from Legos after days and days of building all day long. We played in the water because it was horribly humid out, then had fudgesicles. It was just so humid that it was barely fun. 

Logan mowed on the super humid day and cleaned out some boxes from the garage. The boys insisted on playing with them. Not sure what the game is, but they’re enjoying it. 

Toddlerness

I can see his little mind at work every day. Playing new games, paying more attention to detail, longer attention span, favorite things. 

He is in the final stages of nursing. I can tell he is slowly weaning. One of the hardest things for me to do is throw away stored milk. It’s been in the deep freeze for over a year, so it’s time to part ways. So very hard to rinse my hard work from the wee hours of so many nights down the drain. I keep telling myself better to have had it and not need it...

He found the markers right away when I rearranged the art cupboards in preparation for homeschooling. Had to rearrange the rearranging. 

He quite enjoyed wearing these slippers at G&G’s when I forgot his shoes. He sat down, grabbed the slippers, and hit them against his toes to tell me he wanted to wear them. It has taken him months to learn three signs - more, all done, and help. He says the same words as he did months ago - dada, mama, ball, bird, and a quick slightly pathetic “uh-hmm” for yes. 

It took some courage, but once he got in the tent he had a great time. 

Still loving the peg board and will fight any brother to give it back. 

His favorite is still the doodle board, which MUST be in music mode. 

He doesn’t mind cuddling during a little screen time. 

Sunday Walks

Last week we had some unbelievable weather. Sunny, cool, breezy. 

(I couldn’t get a picture without a blink.) We took the opportunity to walk down to the Sunken Gardens. I haven’t been there in a long time because this lovely garden is at its peak in boiling hot summer months. I don’t do boiling hot summer months. 

I went there as a kid, so it’s fun to take my kids there now. 

Each boy has different interests. Levi likes the fish. Elias likes the waterfall. Lewis likes the fact that there are planted pots down in the ponds, and also the mechanical parts of the ponds. Augustine likes the mechanical parts of the ponds as well. 

Ninja Costumes

Ninjas are all the rage since Grandpa Mike helps them and LEGO makes shows about them. We found some quick projects to make ninja costumes on Pinterest, and with Grandma Susan’s help they turned out very fun!