Triplets today....sheesh!

Today was a "Gloria & Max" day but I also was doing a favor to a friend who just had her second baby so we had Aine stay with us for a while today. So, we had a 3 1/2 year old and 2 2 1/2 year olds. The girls did AWESOME together. Max - not so much. He is getting better but we did have a couple of meltdowns. Once he got passed the fact they weren't "going back to their homes" he joined in the fun of the building blocks and helping to "fix" them when they "broked apart". He got out his trusty tools and tried to screw and hammer them back together. That was the highlight of fun today. They got quiet and chowed down on some tomatoes, apples and fish sticks and then asked for seconds. Guess I wore them out. Max and Gloria still sleeping. Mommy showered and relaxed and getting ready for the Eclipse premiere tonight. Yeah!

What a day!

Max spent part of the morning at "Camp Summer" (a/k/a summer camp at our clubhouse) where they dug up dinosaur bones and various other "stingys". He jammed on his headsets in the car, came home to go swimming and while I was trying to pull his bathing suit off the floor, a scorpion runs out of it. He jumped, I screamed and jumped on the chair and beat the HELL out of his swimtrunks with a water gun because it was all I could grab. I killed it and we both shuddered at the same time. Poor kid - I'm trying not to traumatize him with my bug phobia but I just can't help but spaz out! We battled wasps for the next 2 hours but managed to swim and have fun doing it. He crashed on the couch watching Wall-E with his goldfish and grapes perfectly balanced on his knee. I'm going to Bunco so now daddy can take over!

Popcorn Wednesday

We decided to make Wednesday nights in our house popcorn night and watch old Looney Tunes. Max had a great time using the air popper to make the popcorn and I think he ate the entire bowl by himself pretty much. I prefer lime chili salt on mine while the boys eat regular old popcorn.

Haircut

Max got a buzz today. His locks were getting too shaggy for me so we cut it short. He was entertaining himself by making silly faces in the mirror and then told the barber "I peed all over myself because I couldn't make it to the potty!" Not sure what that had to do with getting his haircut but apparently it was a moment for him. He later kept asking me in the "Mom, do I look handsome with my new hair?" It was comical. He had fun this morning at - as he calls it - "Camp Summer". We are off to swimming lessons in a few minutes.

Beach Buckets & Hats

Gloria joined us again today. The kids had fun decorating their own beach buckets and hats. Max is still having a few problems sharing his toys but today was a bit better. He seems to respond to being put in timeout while we continue to play. I'm going to keep going with that tactic for now. They ate their lunch and then enjoyed eating the lollipop the bank gave us this morning. They kept trying to "share" their suckers. Now, if I can only get him to be that sweet with his toys! I should mention his toys are his prized possessions. He sleeps with at least 2 toys in either hand al night long. At night when we say our night-night prayers, he always starts with "Dear God, thank you for my toys."

Sportball

We started Max in Sportball this summer. It's a program designed to introduce kids to the various "ball" sports. Todd and Max started last weekend (I had to teach my class so couldn't go). Max did great last weekend with Todd. This weekend however was a different story. I think this will definitely be a daddy-Max thing and not a "mommy" thing. I ended up doing the class for him basically. However, he can dribble the soccer ball, "trap" the ball and seems to enjoy the "popsicle" course (a/k/a obstacle course).

The Cool Kids

Everytime we get in the car Max and Gloria argue over who gets to wear the sunglasses. I remedied that today by stopping at Walgreen's on our way home to swim. They didn't seem to care I couldn't take the tags off right away. Gloria is such a girl, I picked her up and she had on bracelets and cute shoes. She got to our house and still had the bracelets, went to my closet for my shoes and has kept her sunglasses on most of the day. They are both sound asleep now.

Max and I are going over to see Brenda and Victoria tomorrow. We haven't seen them in a while and are anxious to play.

Granola Bars

Today Max spent the morning at mother's morning out at our clubhouse while I took care of stuff around town, errands and such. This afternoon we made homemade honey granola bars to take to "Nana Phoebe" to say thanks for babysitting last night. Max wanted to eat the fruit out of the bowl before I could get it mixed up but they turned out tasty! We are off to swimming in a few minutes. Hopefully he can stay awake.

Adventures with Max & Gloria

Today was our first day keeping Gloria, my friend's little girl. Gloria is 2 and will join Max and I on Tuesday's and Thursday's this summer. We managed to get through Target without too much trouble but I did end up letting them "split" a chocolate milk from Starbucks so I kind of cheated but you gotta do what you gotta do. They learned about sharing in the cart when a rogue tube of toothpaste managed to find its way out of the basket. They were very proud of each other and both kept saying "Say please." "Look, we are sharing." We came home did some painting and had a healthy lunch of fish sticks, banana, green beans and milk. Max is still doing his "Any Baby Can Read" DVD's and books so Gloria liked some of it but was up playing before too long. We will have some issues with "sharing" toys. Max not quite sure what to do when Gloria grabs one of "his" toys. Buzz Lightyear and Woody both ended up on top of the refrigerator and as seen in the picture where both kids are under the table, Gloria is trying to calm Max down and coax him out. They both crashed at 1:15 and are sleeping peacefully. I had every intention of taking them swimming today but last night I cut half of my fingernail off and didn't really want it sitting in pool water all day. So, we will go on Thursday instead. Day 1 was a success I do believe!

Fun with a Dumptruck!

Thankfully this week is off to a much better start. He had a great time at church yesterday and lots of fun swimming with Bradley, Brenna and Gavin. Today we had some of our MOPS friends over to play in the pool and he did very well except for the last 10 minutes but by that time, it was definitely naptime. We took some friends dinner tonight who just had a new baby and then came home to play in our dumptruck. He was wheeling it around like a wheelchair. He's not wrestling with daddy and trying to get batteries into his Lightning McQueen car.

Challenging Week

Well, nobody quite prepares you for the antics of a 3 year old. I must say this has been one of the hardest weeks of being a stay-at-home mom EVER! He has been in timeout more this week than not and has had a couple of swats across the rear. We are ranging from hour long tantrums to throwing food across the room. Not to mention his toys have suddenly become like weapons of mass destruction and most of them have been taken away. Dinner and bedtime have been battles every night this week. Last night Max was about 2 minutes away from being sent to bed without his supper. Finally, he figured out we weren't kidding and he sucked it up and ate his supper. Bleh...I'm glad it's Friday.

All of that aside, we had a few good moments this week. He played happily with his Playdough and he and daddy made "foo-man-chu's" for each other and of course he was pleasant during a picnic I made for he and I yesterday. He also started a new semester of swim lessons and was amazing to watch. I was so proud of him. He starts Sportball tomorrow with daddy. Here are the happy moments from this week!

We are alive...

No, we haven't dropped off the face of the earth. It's just been a crazy couple of weeks. I honestly can't find my camera so that's part of the problem as I have no pictures really of Max. I guess the silliest thing he's done this week is put on a box and act like he was Buzz Lightyear. Other than that, he's been a little three-year-old-terror. We are spending most of our afternoons in the pool where it is cooler. He is going to go to a couple of 1/2 day camps in our neighborhood in the next few months. One of the camps is about cooking, another about digging up dinosaurs and another about stuff in the bottom of the ocean. I hope it will be a nice break for him.