Left to their own devices...

The boys discovered that balloons will float above a fan pointing upward. I had given them balloons last week and a stick made out of rolled up paper bags and they got to hit them around a bit inside the house. We kept the balloons around for a few days and just let them play with them whenever they wanted. One afternoon when they were having some time in their rooms (some afternoons I have them go to their rooms for about a half hour for some time to themselves while Abby's napping), they excitedly called me up to see what they had discovered. They were both in Matthew's room and after spending some time with the fan on, blowing around their balloons while they kicked them and batted at them, they came up with the idea to lay the fan down on the floor, pointing up, and they discovered that the balloons would hover up above the fan on the column of air. They were having great fun and afterward they brought their fans downstairs so they could have more fun with the balloons and show Jason when he got home. After her nap, Abby didn't get into the action much, but she did pause long enough for a quick picture.

Sam is bigger

Sam woke up on his birthday (very early, I might add) and thought he was taller than he was the day before. It's really quite cute as he really thinks he gets bigger overnight before his birthday. He showed me how he could look on top of some shelves that he apparently couldn't see over before and walked around his room and the house looking on top of things and being very proud of his new age and height. 

Sam was all about the Planes movies for this birthday. It's his first birthday party since he was one which didn't involve Disney's Cars. He had a Planes picture on his cake (he requested an ice cream cake  with chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream, hot fudge sauce, Oreos and whip cream...yum, good choices, Sam!), a Planes banner above the window and some Planes presents among plenty of other presents. He also enjoyed playing outside with the cousins and Jason and after lunch and playing, laid down in the basement and said, "I'm exhausted!" His exhaustion was quickly overcome when it was time to open presents and he received many nice presents which have been thoroughly enjoyed this weekend (and even shared with Matthew). 

Matthew was in good form and didn't shed a tear during present opening which was traumatic for him last year when Sam turned 4. We had a discussion the day prior about how Sam was going to be getting a lot of presents and he wasn't going to get any and he "took it like a man" and really was a good sport at the party (although he did get one gift which has also been thoroughly enjoyed). Abby enjoyed lunch with us, then went down for her nap, only to awake when Grandpa Don and Grandma Sue and Grandma Marge left. The last picture is the kids watching them drive away. 

 Happy 5th Birthday, Sam!

Personalities

On Saturday Abby and I went to Iowa for my second cousin's wedding. The boys stayed with Jason to have some fun together. When I was getting ready to leave I was saying goodbye to Sam and he asked me to tell him if I meet any pretty girls. I asked him if he meant girls his age or girls my age and he said, "Well, just tell me if you meet any girls in pretty dresses." Hmmm. Isn't he too young to be saying things like this?

And on Friday night after I put the boys to bed I was trying on dresses to figure out what to wear to the wedding. Matthew came in after a few minutes and looked at me in a dress and said, "You look beautiful!" Now, I don't think he's learned this phrase from Jason...I thanked him and told him he needed to go back to bed. He left, then returned a minute or so later. I told him he was supposed to stay in bed, to which he replied, "I just wanted to see you again in your pretty dress." Awwww, Matthew. Where does he get this from? He is going to be trouble too.

And not to leave Abby out of the post, one morning last week, Abby took a bunch of stuff out of one of the drawers in the bathroom as I was getting ready. She does this often and generally just leaves. But she's old enough now to help pick up her messes so I told her that she  needed to put everything back in the drawer. She made a little high pitched noise of frustration, walked over to one of the objects, picked it up, and threw it. Wow. That kid has a temper and a mind of her own. She still put everything away, (after a stern instruction to put things back in the drawer) and she had made her view of the situation known to me.

Recent events

Two nights ago when Jason and I went up to bed, this is what I saw in Sam's room. On occasion we find that Matthew has sneaked into Sam's room and they were having a sleepover. So peaceful.

The other day I got out the paints for the kids to have some painting time. We've been doing a lot of painting lately and generally I just let Abby use markers, but this time I gave her some paint and a brush and let her paint. This is what she did.

Sam has become more intentional in his painting lately. I don't know whether he has in mind what he wants to paint from the beginning or if he comes up with a story after he starts putting paint on paper, but either way, each mark on his paper represents something. For example, one of the marks on his paper is a triceratops. He work is rather abstract at this point.

On Labor Day, we had the extended Kirchhoff family over for some fun and all the cousins had a great time. Here's Abby enjoying herself with Josh. It's a nice change to have Abby enjoying herself around our extended family rather than crying and screaming and clinging to Mommy as she used to do when she was just a bit younger. She's come a long way...

Time outside

We haven't been spending too much time outside lately. It's been extremely hot these days and this afternoon when I went to get the mail I noticed it didn't feel quite as bad as it has been. So I looked on the computer and saw that it was only 91 outside, and the humidity must have dropped some as it just felt better, so I told the kids it was time to play outside. We tried going outside to the sandbox yesterday. I got an extension cord and hooked up a large box fan on the edge of the sandbox so were able to tolerate about 30 minutes outside. But then the fan wasn't quite strong enough to overcome the extreme heat and humidity so we went back inside for some more time in the cool basement.

But this afternoon it really felt nice. Nice in a way that only can be experienced after having a few days of a heat index around 100 degrees. It was cloudy so we were able to play in the driveway as it generally is quite hot with the asphalt on a sunny day, but the cloudiness made it bearable. And it was a lot of fun. The kids raced (on foot or various self-powered wheeled vehicles) from the garage to the edge of the driveway and went back and forth and around and around. Oh, how nice it was to be outside and not be dripping with sweat even when sitting still. The kids still got sweaty, but we had a grand time outside for about an hour.

Here's Matthew upset that he can't play with the jump rope (Sam was playing with it). The boys don't really jump with the rope, they use it to hook things to their bikes or as a rescue rope when one of them needs rescuing and the other comes over and attaches the rope to their vehicle and tows them to safety. It's quite a tough game, but they have a lot of fun with it.

Sam is posing for a picture after some serious racing. His fastest time from the garage to the end of the driveway is 7 seconds and he is fastest on foot. Hmmmm.

And this is the face Abby makes when she is asked to smile for a picture. You're better off just taking a picture rather than saying, "Smile, Abby!" because this is what you will get.

And here's a senior-photo like picture of Matthew when we were resting on the steps after some hard playing. The boys were putting on shows on the sidewalk in front of the house and the other kids and I were watching from the steps.

Abby after dark

Last night after the kids were in bed I was doing some cleaning up in the kitchen. After about 15 minutes, I heard Abby making noises on the monitor. I turned it up and realized that she was singing..."Ah-yeah-you-ah, Ah-yea-you-ah! God will save the day!" We had been listening to the kids' vacation bible school music CD earlier in the day and apparently she wanted to sing some to herself before falling asleep. She sang on and off for about 10 minutes. We listened to the CD more today and Abby is very opinionated about the music. "Not dis one!" she yells when she doesn't like the song being played. She also will yell, "Nother one!" when there's a break between songs. "Nother one, nother one, nother one!" she yells until the next song begins. Sometimes I sing along and often she doesn't like it. "No mommy," she says, shaking her head. "No sing." Ok, Abby. We knew from the beginning that she was quite opinionated and she is beginning to show her opinion with regard to her taste in music. So it begins.

"Vacation"

We just returned from our annual vacation up north with the Reese side of the family. The term vacation has taken on new meaning for me lately. Before Jason and I expanded our family, a vacation meant a good number of days relaxing, maybe some sightseeing or hiking, but generally enjoying a break from the everyday work of life. These days a vacation involves visiting places and people, and watching the children experience new things and new places. Relaxing isn't really a big part of it anymore (at least while the kids are little and while we travel with the kids), and it takes a bit of time for us to recover from the lack of sleep associated with travelling with the kids. Regardless, we had a good time with family and enjoyed swimming, playing on the beach, fishing and riding in the boat and eating lots of good food. The boys also enjoyed sharing a room (which was part of the lack-of-sleep problem) and Abby slept like a baby in her cave or tunnel as she calls it, waking a few times during the night to call gently, "Mommy?" to which I responded, "Yes, Abby, night night."

Here are a few pictures spending some time around the "camp", which is the area between the two cabins my family stays in. We set up two tables and arrange chairs around the outside. In the first picture, the kids are coloring pictures on a beautiful Minnesota morning.

 Abby is spending some time with Great-Grandma Verna.

We were able to go swimming and play on the beach every afternoon. Jason and the kids built a fish mountain, a volcano, a stegosaurus, and many, many towers for all the kids to destroy which they heartily did so.