Washington Monument

As is becoming a summer tradition in our house, we headed to the Washington Monument to "check it off our summer list" in August.  This time we added some friends and Graham and Harper were not in slings and could enjoy the sights themselves.  All the kids loved seeing "Daddy's work!" and the airport, river, Lincoln Memorial and seeing all the "bug people" way down below. 
Afterwards, they ran around, with flags flapping in the wind above them, and tried to "knock over" the monument by pushing, pulling and trying to lift it (little did they know and earthquake was coming weeks later trying to do the same!)

Preview

The girls are at Bible School this week from 9-12 in the morning.  This means that Graham and I are getting a preview week of what life will be like this fall once the girls are off to school and I have the little man alone everyday.  So far, so good.  I can't believe how much easier everything is with only one.  And this is taking Harper out of the equation, she's the easy one to begin with!  But only one set of seat belt buckles, one snack to pack, one to get across the parking lot, one in the cart, one treat to haggle over.  On top of that, there is no fighting.  Only one set of tantrums for the morning.  One person making messes (although he is the chief mess maker anyways, so I'm not sure I am off the hook here). 
We'll miss the girls, sure.  But so far, things are looking like they are going to be smooth sailing with me and the little guy.  (and just think of next year when they are all at school in the mornings- I'm almost giddy!)

Heard on the court...

- As Harper is coming upstairs, "I'll be right back Barbie." to which Harper, acting as Barbie with a very high voice, "ok Harper. I will miss you." to which Harper replies, "alright, I just need to go to the bathroom, gosh!"
- Graham in the toy department at Target, " Ahhhh! Bidaman! Kachow!" bidaman =spiderman
- "I'm getting really tired of being short and five"- Lucy, out of the blue

 We went to the new sprayground on Monday.  Harper jumped in,splashed for 15 minutes and then wanted to sit on the sides and watch claiming it was "too cold", the only one claiming that since it was 95 degrees while we were there.  Lucy loved it, but showed signs of outgrowing a sprayground and could have used a friend there to spice things up a bit.  Graham.  Well Graham would still there days later if allowed.  He loved every second of it.  He loved the water guns, the dragon, the water tables, the spouts, the bridge.  He loved it all.  He tried to figure out the patterns of the jets, always guessing wrong and getting sprayed in the face or the backside.  We'll be back sprayground.  On a hotter day, with a buddy for Lucy and with Graham ready to go!

Graham is doing great

Graham had tubes put in his ears this morning.  We discussed later how the whole experience really was a testament to what a great little guy we have.  He was so calm and sweet while nurse after nurse came in, then doctor and doctor.  He loved getting his hospital bracelet and was eager to show it to anyone who came into his room.  And we also know that Graham will be a funny drunk one of these days.  They gave him a potent little "cocktail" before the surgery and he got so giggly and silly and then limp and would answer questions with a giggle and a laugh.  Pretty funny to see.
He went back to the operating room calmly and only cried after the surgery when he woke up with only a strange nurse next to him.  A couple popsicles, a juicebox and a lollipop later, he was smiling, chatty and ready to watch his new favorite show, "Fireman Sam".  He was a little tired throughout the day but after a 3.5 hour nap, he was playing, jumping, and running around with his sisters as though nothing happened. 
Now he can hear, isn't in pain and surely his speech will become clearer and clearer.  Lucy is a little sad at that prospect.  She said tonight, "but will he still say all his words in a cute way?  That's how Grammy talks.  Will he still say cute things?"  To this Graham replied, "Yeah, Lucy.  Pretty cute!"

Big Winner!!!!!!

On Saturday night we attended Lucy's swim team awards, but let me back up.  Not ever having attended an awards banquet, Lucy asks that afternoon, "what sort of rewards will I get?"  I said, "I'm not sure Lu.  Maybe more ribbons or skittles, something like that."  Thinking that was "awesome" she bee bopped off into her merry little world, all the while I knew she would be getting a trophy that night.
And so the moment came.  We arrive at the pool and she sees it.  The table full of trophies.  Hundreds of trophies.  Some were for the tennis team.  But 171 of them were for the swimmers.  Yep, one for each swimmer.  She was elated and quickly ran off to find her swim buddies to eagerly await when their names were called and they were presented their trophy. 
It did not disappoint.  She was so excited and showed all her friends, their parents and all around her trophy (which all the other swimmers received as well, but who cares?!)
And then... they started announcing special awards.  MVP, Miss Tsunami, Mr. Tsunami, all stars, etc.  And then each coach began giving a little synopsis of a particular swimmer that they felt had stood out above the rest this season.  Coach Megan's went something like this, "This 8 and under girl never missed practice.  She never missed a meet.  She swam her hardest every day and improved her meet times with a personal best 3 times this season.  She grabbed the courage to swim a new stroke and led the entire way.  Some days she was a little mischevious at practice, and she loved to scream the loudest during the pep rally cheers.  This swimmer might be little but she made a big splash for the team this year.  This coach's award goes to... Lucy Jefferies!"  And there goes that little blonde ponytail bobbing up and down, jumping with excitement, hugging all her coaches and giving high fives all around.  Lucy didn't just get a trophy like the rest, she got one of the 4 that really mean something. Out of 171 swimmers!  As my friend said, "sure beats skittles!"
Lucy rounded out the awards banquet with a "paper plate award"- sort of the fun awards of the night" with a "Little swimmer, big fins" award in reference to her tiny feet not being able to keep on her big fins, even though they are the smallest you can find! 
Cake, a slideshow and then as we were packing up to go home, Lucy saw something that just blew her mind- older kids were jumping into the pool with their clothes on.  She had to give it a go.  And she grabbed her buddy Aimee and they swam like little river otters in the night.  The trophies were awesome, but I think it is swimming in her dress that really blew her mind!
The next day Lucy could be seen walking around with one of her trophies, usually the Coach's Award or just staring at them or telling me how "awesome" they were.  We are still trying to decide where to put them.  For now, they, as we, are on cloud nine!

After a long swim season and Lucy recieving a boatload of trophies at her awards ceremony, Lucy and I decided that she should recognize Harper and Graham for their support of her through the season.  She thanked them for attending all her practices, meets, pep rallies and for being her best and loudest cheer leaders all season long.  And in this house, trophies are all well and good, but Pez might still be top honors!

The writing's on the windows

As a fun summer activity I let the kids write and color all over the back windows with window markers and crayons.  They thought this was just the greatest idea and all set to work very quickly.  We ended up with "maps", flowers, birds, butterflies, grass and lots of "coloring in". 

Max and Molly (and Aunt Lauren)

Max, Molly and Aunt Lauren visited for 3 days last week and the kids couldn't have been happier to have them around. I have to say, it can be a bit like running a daycare when they are all together, but we had a wonderful visit, with no fights, no sleepless nights and no illness, as usually is the case. The kids enjoyed visiting Aunt Taylor, the zoo, the pool and just playing in the backyard and in the house.   Graham thinks Max is the most awesome person in the whole world and they are becoming good buddies- watch out world, Max and Graham just might take over! And Lucy loved helping to take care of Molly and Harper pig ponged between the two gangs, getting into trouble with the boys and being sweet and calm, looking at books and playing with babies with the girls. 

We were sad to see them go, but know we will see them before too long and now that Aunt Lauren has made the trip by herself, maybe we can see them all the more often!

Butterflies

Year 3 or 4 and it was a spectacualr one for butterflies in this house.  We usually get 5 but this year we got 10 caterpillars and all turned into fat little chrysallis and all but one turned into beautiful butterflies.  The last one did as well, but its wings were messed up upon hatching from its chrysallis and it was not able to fly away like the others. 
The kids loved watching each of their stages and are already looking forward to next year's batch. 

Argggh!

Graham loves accessories and as of late, he loves hats.  It is pretty normal for him to come bounding into the kitchen with a construction hat on or a fireman's hat or animal ears, but today, he was all pirate.  Being a pirate means, to Graham, that you jump around, walk with your legs spread out, run from room to room and yell, "Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!" at everyone and everything.  Sometimes a foam sword is brought out, sometimes his little plastic retractable knife, but usually, just a hat and a bit of attitude.

Last meet, last chance

Lucy has been kicking tail in all of her swim meets swimming "25 freestyle" and at practice she chooses freestyle every time.  You see, she has been avoiding the dreaded backstroke.  And for good reason.  For  the first few weeks she a bit like a drowning victim than a backstroker whenever she gave it a go.  There was even a time when her coach held her in midair in the middle of the pool so that she could practice her stroke without actually hitting the water since it seemed that the water was what holding her back. 
So for weeks she has adamently denied any requests to attempt backstroke in a meet.  And I wasn't pushing.  But then the last meet was coming up and the drive for more ribbons took over.  She loves ribbons and ribbons are a great motivating factor in her swimming. 
She was nervous as we arrived at the meet.  She was jabbering about nonsense and when we found her team, my normally cheerful and excited swimmer was clingy and whiny.  I reassured her and told her that she could skip backstroke if she wanted.
She went out and swam freestyle and did great.  It was a close race and she got beat out of first and second by only a touch.  It was a busy meet so we had lots of time before backstroke began.  We went over to the concession stand for pizza with friends and overheard a friend's parents also trying to talk their daughter into doing backstroke.  And Lucy stepped in.  "It's your last chance to try for the season.  Don't you want a backstroke ribbon?  I'm going to do it, maybe we could try together." 
Her friend was not convinced, but now Lucy had made a declaration and began getting excited about her upcoming race.
And then it was time for her heat.  Never having started a race in the pool, she took her cues from her fellow swimmers and curled herself up into a tiny start position.  And then she was off.  She led the entire way until she tired out toward the end and gave up her lead.  She finished third.  But there was no struggling, no swerving, no running into the lane line.  She popped out of the pool pleased as punch, so proud of her accomplishment and eager to tell everyone she saw.  Not a bad way to end the season and we are all so proud.
By the way, Lucy finished the season with only first, second and third finishes.  She is one of the youngest in her age group so this is phenomenal.  Better yet, she improved her freestyle time everytime she raced but once, so her "personal best" ribbon collection is impressive as well.  We have another week of practice and Lucy is already talking about winter swim so I think we may have found something we can stick with for a while!

Look Ma, no training wheels!

It was a summer goal of Lucy's to learn to ride her bike without training wheels.  She sees the kids at the pool cruising up on two wheels, looking very cool, and really wanted to be part of that world who just glide up, slip out of their bikes, leaving the wheels spinning in the grass, as they casually toss it aside and stroll into the pool. And now, she is part of that very biker-chic crowd. 
It took a bit of mind trickery.  We took the trainers off and then the bike sat untouched for days.  Then she finally got up the courage, as did I, to take her out into the court to practice.  It was not very fun that first day.  She crashed, cried, cried, crashed.  She was so worried about crashing that she wouldl crash because she would twist her bike into some contortion trying to show me that "her bike just does that!" But without her realizing it, I would let go and she would cruise past one house and then the other until she would suddenly realize that I was running beside her and twist her bike and crash.  If it weren't for all the gear she insisted upon- bike helmet, knee pads, elbow pads and gloves, it would have been a bloody scene.  Eventually, the night ended up with her throwing a tantrum in the middle of the street because, she insisted, her bike was making her crash.
We skipped a few days.
Then Aunt Lauren, Max and Molly came into town, we had a gorgeous night that might prevent me from being a hot sweaty mess and I casually asked Lucy if she wanted to go out for a try.  She was happy and eager.  She loaded up on gear and we were all out the door, with many short little cheerleaders following.  They made sort of an obstacle course, everytime Lucy got going, Max or Molly would jump in front of her bike and she would swerve to avoid them.  Distracting? Yes, but it also made her determined to show them what she could do.  Finally, I ran with her as she got going and let go and then ran beside her.  She was crying and carrying on like it was the most miserable experience ever.  But she wanted to keep trying and eventually, the nerves died down and she got a feel for her balance and she was off.  She rode up and down the cul de sac, showing us how she can stop on her own, steer away from parked cars and distracting cousins and even, GASP!, smile while riding her bike.
Now it is all she wants to do.  She goes out and rides back and forth, faster and faster and only crashes when she forgets to slow down on a turn.  And yes, she has ridden to the pool with that cool crowd.  She went with a friend and thought it was the most awesome thing in the world.  We'll remind her of how cool riding your bike is when she is 16, and then I'm sure the crying and carrying on will pick up once more.

Are they here yet?

I know how it is when we are in the car heading to Kentucky and the kids ask "are we there yet?" but today it is all about Max and Molly's visit here. They left Kentucky at 7 am and by 9 am my kids were asking where they were. Harper threatened to only eat dinner and skip lunch "because they will be here if it is dinnertime!" Lucy keeps asking "how many minutes?" and Graham comes running to me and yelling "Max here!"
Let's just see how long until they all get into a brawl over a toy. But for now the anticipation of cousins is pure bliss.

Tantrum

Harper throws, uh, we'll call them tantrums. The thing is, they are very hilarious since they are always unexpected and she goes to great length to yell, as loudly as possible, something totally absurd. here are our favorites:
- heard as she went running down the hall to her bedroom "then I just won't eat any breakfast!"
- heard, while I was still sleeping as she was inches from my face, "then I just won't wear my fish shorts!"
- heard as she was playing in the basement, "I never get to see the dead cricket!"
Our dear Harper is very emotional these days and these outbursts always include a stern crossing of arms or frantic running away, tears and utter noncooperation. Good thing she's cute, and ridiculous.

Pretty Boy

A few months ago there was Internet hub bub about a JCrew ad that showed a mom painting her sons toenails.  I didn't hear about this until the day Graham showed up at school with painted blue toenails.  Oh, and a blue beaded necklace.  And his sisters' pink striped sunglasses.  And a ponytail in his hair. 
Folks asked me, "does Ian care?"  Does Ian care?  In short, no.  He doesn't care.  We are pretty sure that our head butting, wrestling, tackling big boy is pretty secure in his, uh, manhood.  He really just wants to be like his sisters, who he thinks are the greatest people on Earth.  When they put on jewelry, he puts on jewelry.  When they line up, assembly-line style, to have their hair done in the mornings, he lines up to. He used to settle for just a hair brushing.  Then he would ask for a hair barrette which could easily be swiped out of his hair without him even knowing.  But now we are on to the ponytail.  Not as easy to discreetly take out, but he likes it and that's all that matters for now.  Happy boy makes me a happy girl.  And Ian is just fine with that!

Let's hear it for the boy!

 Needing a diaper change, Graham happily went with Ian to the van for a quick clean up.  Upon their arrival back to our table at the pool, Graham was overheard chanting, "Grammy!  Grammy!  Grammy!" Not sure what we were cheering, but we all joined in, much to his delight.