Today was Brielle Day, a craft fair in Brielle. We go every year. I told John that we were going and to get twenty dollars out of his little safe to put in his wallet in case he found something he wanted to buy. He did as he was told and I turned around and he was gone. He came back downstairs smiling. He said "I got another $20 for Gillian. In case she wants to buy something! She can pay me back when she gets bigger or never."
At Brielle Day, Gillian found a stand that had outfits and dresses that would fit her American doll. We found one that she liked and as I was asking how much to the vendor John came over. He pulled out his little wallet and handed the lady his twenty. I'm so proud of my little man. He's such an amazing big brother.
John had his annual camp barbecue tonight. His group got to stay after camp ended for the day. They had an extra swim and did some other activities. Then they ate dinner. We got to join John after dinner. Gillian was so excited to go to John's BBQ. She was jealous that he got an extra swim but still excited to see him. We arrived and couldn't find John right away. But Gillian found her counselor. She ran over to him and said "Hi Anthony!" She is definitely fitting in at camp.
We found John and explored the camp. The kids showed us all their favorite places to play. We made sand art and John got to go on the big zip line!
Gillian showed off her climbing skills.
We had dessert and headed home. Another awesome camp barbecue!
Tonight at dinner, we had the kids tell us about their day. Gillian told me how she sailed her little sailboat in the regatta and ate mac and cheese for lunch. She also said "I saw Johnny when he was shooting his rocket!" John said "Yeah. I know that already." I asked "Does she scream your name?" He just smiled. I said "I bet it's something like this 'JOHNNY! HI JOHNNY!'" I also waved at him. And he said "Yea. Kinda."
Sorry Johnny, Gillian is just excited to see you. They haven't been in the same school or camp over two years. Seeing John during the day is really cool for Gillian and I know she won't get tired of it soon.
Tonight on our way home from camp I hear, "Gimme a G! What? That's what cheerleaders say?!?" I could practically hear John's eyes rolling. Gillian said "Gimme a G! Gimme an I! Gimme a L L! Gimme a I. Gimme a..." John said "A." Gillian said "Yeah, A. Gimme a N! What's that spell?" John said in the driest, most bored voice "Gillian." She turns to him and says "You're supposed to say GILLIAN!" And put her arms up in a V over her head.
This year Gillian is going to Camp Briar Hill with John this summer. She is super excited. For the younger grades, they do pre-camp barbecue. It gives the kids a chance to meet the other kids in their group and check out the camp. Gillian was very excited. And John was too. He couldn't wait to show her around.
We arrived, met Gillian's group counselors, heard the camp owner talk, and then we were allowed to explore. Gillian wanted to go to the arts and crafts barn, but it was packed with people. We headed to the pirate ship jungle gym. The kids played and then Gillian wanted to try the zip line. She didn't hesitate. She jumped right on.
The kids also checked out a bouncy house and a train (they were brought in just for the BBQ). Next we went to the art barn and the kids made sand art. We had some Rita's water ice. Gillian couldn't leave until she rode the zip line a second time.
While we were in Myrtle Beach, we went to the beach twice. Both kids were super excited. John wanted to dig a big hole and Gillian wanted to search for shells. Once the kids were coated in sunscreen, they ran to the ocean.
Luckily it was low tide both days and the kids were able to play in the water. The beach also formed an awesome sand bar that created a canal for the kids to play in.
The first day at the beach, Gillian was searching for shells. She spotted one in the ocean and picked it up. But she screamed and dropped it. I quick bent down and picked it up. It was a big conch shell. She said "I thought there was a crab in it." I showed her that it was empty. She immediately put it to her ear and said "I can hear the ocean!" She was so excited. I got a video of her telling the story.
They built castles and buried my feet.
They made friends and tried to catch fish in the little canal by the "space bar" (as Gillian liked to call it). The next time we went to the beach, we stopped and picked the kids up some nets so they could catch some fish. I think this was their favorite part.
We spent last week in Myrtle Beach with Mimi and Poppy. On Father's day, we took the kids to Captain Hook's Adventure Golf. We separated into two groups, boys against girls. The girls went first. Gillian is an excellent mini golfer. She understands the rules, but doesn't have much patience waiting for everyone else to go. She also takes a lot of strokes. After the third or fourth hole, Gillian must have heard me ask Mimi what she shot. So Gillian started to tell me what she shot. But every time, it was a two. Didn't matter how many strokes she took.
Here Gillian is teeing off on one hole.
And here she is finishing and she tells me what her score is.
We spent last week in Myrtle Beach with Mimi and Poppy. On Father's day, we took the kids to Captain Hook's Adventure Golf. We separated into two groups, boys against girls. The girls went first. Gillian is an excellent mini golfer. She understands the rules, but doesn't have much patience waiting for everyone else to go. She also takes a lot of strokes. After the third or fourth hole, Gillian must have heard me ask Mimi what she shot. So Gillian started to tell me what she shot. But every time, it was a two. Didn't matter how many strokes she took.
Here Gillian is teeing off on one hole.
And here she is finishing and she tells me what her score is.
Today we picked up Gillian's new glasses. She is very excited and very proud of them. On the way home, she looked at John and said "Do they make me look smarter?" He said "Let's test them! What is Pi?" Gillian took a moment and then said "Pie is something you eat. It's in the grain family." He said "Mom, tell her what Pi is!" I explained "Pi is a number it starts 3.14 and goes on forever." Gillian was a little disappointed. But John said "But you did talk about the health stuff. That's good. Don't think it comes from the glasses."
We installed a new hot water heater on Friday. When I say "We" I mean Daddy. As soon as Daddy brought home the new water heater, John asked for the box. Saturday morning, we put the box on the back deck and let John go crazy.
John spent hours working on the structure of the fort while Gillian decorated the outside. I had John show me some of the features of his fort.
Once again, I'm impressed with John's craftsmanship. He never ceases to amaze us.
We haven't had a screen door on our slider for a long time. Duncan put a hole in it and we never put one back on. This weekend Daddy installed a new screen door. Monday night, Daddy told me that John nearly put his foot thru the door. So that night at dinner, I explained why we had a new door and how to use it.
Yesterday afternoon, the kids and I had a snack on the deck. John was done eating so I told him to go inside and wash his hands. He got up and walked right into the screen door. He hit it so hard that he bent the frame and ripped the screen. I was stunned and so angry. The door was only there for 3 days. John was very upset. He knew Daddy put a lot of work into installing the door. When Daddy came home from work, he told John that John needed to pay for the replacement door.
Daddy and John went to the store tonight and got a new screen door. John took the money out of his wallet and paid the cashier for the door. Daddy explained "He broke the last one. It's his responsibility to replace it." The cashier said "My Dad made me do the same thing." At dinner, John told Gillian and I that he bought a new screen door. John said "I think we should put a sign on it. So we know it's there!" I love John's idea. Hopefully it will help the kids to notice the screen door.
We will be transferring money into John's bank account to cover the cost of the door. He needs to be held accountable for his actions, but we don't really expect him to pay for the door.
Yesterday, Daddy got the kids home from school. They were playing in the back yard while Daddy did a little yard work. We don't have a screen door on our slider and Daddy saw a little bird hop into our kitchen. Daddy watched the bird, hoping that she would just fly back outside. She didn't. She flew into the living room towards our bay window. Don't mind the mess on our windowsill, but if you zoom in you can see the bird by the corner of the window next to the headphones.
Daddy called the kids inside so they could see the bird up close. The kids came inside just as Daddy was able to catch the little bird. Gillian took a quick picture of her.
The little bird didn't like being held and she squirmed away from Daddy. As she flew up in the air, she pooped on Gillian! The bird flew around the kitchen and then out the back door.
The kids and Daddy were so excited to tell me about their visitor. Gillian kept shouting "And the bird pooped on me!" I just love that it was a female Cardinal that came to visit. Thanks for visiting!
A few months ago, Daddy took John to the library to get his very first library card. Our town library is very small, but John loves to go and pick out books and use his very own library card. John is an avid reader and the boys go to the library every other weekend.
We went to the library yesterday. When we walked in the librarian asked "Are you here for story time?" We said "No. But we can be." The kids joined the group and listened to the stories. Daddy and I were ready to go. But after story time it was craft time. My kids enjoy a good craft and it was a Mother's Day craft too! John was so sneaky. He held his little bag and said "It's nothing." The library is small, and I could hear that they were working on a Mother's Day gift. But I didn't spoil it.
When it was time to check out our books, John was so embarrassed. He left his wallet at home with his library card in it. But the librarian was able to look up John's card and check out his books.
Yet another fun trip to the library. Until next weekend!
Saturday was the nicest day of this past weekend. After dance class, I told Gillian to get dressed and when she was done she could play outside. As she was getting dressed, John and Daddy arrived home. Daddy wanted to run some errands so we all headed out. When we were done we had lunch and then Daddy told the kids that they needed to pick up sticks before they played. The kids got their gloves on and picked up sticks.
Once they were done with their chore, they were free to play. Gillian spent the rest of the day playing on the swing set. I saw her swinging and noticed she was wearing a winter scarf. I asked Daddy, "What's with the scarf?" He said "I told her she didn't need to wear it. It's too nice out. She said 'But it looks good.' Hard to argue with that!"
Tonight was Gillian's art show. The boys stayed home to work on John's book report, so it was just the girls. Gillian was so excited! We ran into her art teacher and she told me all about the projects they have worked on this year.
A little over a year ago, Daddy and I made the hard decision to put Duncan the family dog to sleep.
He was ten and a half and surgery was risky. Not a day goes by that I don't think of my pup. I guess I don't realize how much the kids miss him too. Today when going through John's backpack I found a little story he wrote about Duncan.
After reading it, I complimented John on his well written story. He said "It was hard to write. I miss him so much." Me too Buddy. Me too.
John is reading a new book series called "Nick and Tesla." They are eleven year old twins that solve science mysteries. This month's book report for John's class has to be a mystery book. We were very happy that John was able to read one of these books for his report. Book reports for John's class normally involve some sort of special project to go with it. This time, they have to take a shoe box decorate the outside and then put five objects that go with the book inside. John read "Nick and Tesla: Robot Army Rampage" for this report and in the book they actually give directions on how to build the robots in the story. John and Daddy spent some time and built two of the robots.
The first one they made last weekend. He is a friction robot made with some parts from Radio Shack, a paper clip and the head of a tooth brush.
They made the second robot yesterday. He is made out of a computer fan, wire hanger legs and some other parts from Radio Shack.
Tonight, John, Gillian and I went to John's school for the annual art show. John was so excited to show Gillian all around the school. Here are some of my favorite pieces that John created.
This is a piece where the kids "stomped out bullying." He stepped on clay and then painted it.
This was another work made out of clay. John was a little disappointed that the tail broke off. I think he's cool.
John told me tonight, "When I grow up, I'm going to still wear glasses. I'm not going to get contacts. But on my second pair I'm going to make guards that would flap down and cover my glasses. I would still be able to see, but the guard would block the smoke. You know when I'm building stuff." Gillian said "Or you could just take the working glasses in my room." John looked at her like she was crazy. She said "I have glasses in my room that you could put over your glasses and they would stop stuff from flying at you." John said "Gill, my invention is for smoke!"
I love that he has created a solution to a problem he hasn't experienced yet. And that Gillian solved it with simple logic.
Gillian wanted Pez for dessert tonight. She had a brand new lamb Pez from her Easter basket. She couldn't open and asked me for help "Why do they make it so hard to open?" I said "I don't know." Then she asked "Why do they put instructions on the back?" I said "I don't know. It's so easy." She said "Yea. It's like putting a pickle in the oven." Never heard that analogy before.
Friday afternoon, I found Gillian glueing construction paper together in the laundry room.
I asked "Gilly, whatcha doing?" She looked up and said "I'm making a dress!" Don't know why I didn't think of that. I left her alone. Later I asked "What made you decide to make a dress out of paper?" She said "Remember when we were doing crafts this morning? That's where I got the idea!" Earlier in the day the kids spent time in Monmouth Museum's art studio creating. She glued all her paper together on Friday and left it to dry.
She continued working on her dress on Saturday.
I helped cut a whole for the head. But she added ribbon and made the straps all by herself.
I loved the kids Easter outfits this year. I always make them pose for a picture on the front steps. This year they really got into it. Here are some shots from our little photo shoot.
Last night, we put the kids to bed. But it didn't take long before Gillian was out of bed and standing in our room. She said "There's a bug. A little bug." Neither Daddy or I said anything. So she kept talking. "Well not a little bug. A medium bug. On my flower." Daddy went with her to investigate. He came back and said "There was nothing there. But I got rid of it." Daddy saved Gillian from the medium bug.
This morning Daddy found John downstairs watching TV. John is an early riser and he is allowed to watch TV on weekends (or spring break) without having to wake Daddy or I. Daddy told John, "Turn off the TV, go upstairs and get dressed we are going to the dentist. You are having all your teeth pulled." John got very worried and a little scared. Daddy quickly said "April Fools!" John said "Good one Dad!" He didn't hesitate and said "We gotta do the water thing to get Mom!" And the two of them went upstairs and John tied a rubber band around the sprayer on the kitchen sink.
Later that morning I went to use the kitchen sink and got sprayed. I knew immediately who was responsible. I called John upstairs. He had a huge grin and said "April Fools!" He was so happy that he finally was able to trick me!
Daddy and John went to the library tonight to pick up some more books. John found a new series he likes and he is currently on book three. Daddy took John tonight to get the next book and to take a look at some new books. John came home and showed me his latest library books.
I read the cover and said "John you don't like anything in this book." He said "Let's take a look. Mom, is a mystery! And there are gadgets you can build!" Yup, the perfect book for my little man.
We don't always make it to visit with the Easter Bunny. I asked Daddy "Should we take the kids to see the bunny?" He said "I don't know what do you think?" So Daddy asked the kids "Do you want to see the Easter Bunny?" John said "Yes! It's tradition!" Gillian said "I like bunnies. They're adorable."
We got them all dressed and went to see the Easter Bunny! So glad we went. Not sure how many more times I will be able to convince them to do this.
John says to me tonight "Mom, do you know there's a fat and a P H phat?" He's been learning about homophones in school, so I wasn't surprised by his question. I said "Yes. Do you know the difference?" He said "No, not really." I told him "P H phat is another way to say someone is good looking." He said "Well that's silly. Why would someone invent that? You can just tell them they are good looking. And what if someone thinks you called them fat? That's not nice!"
This weekend, I was working on decorating Easter cookies. Gillian really wanted to help so yesterday morning I told her we could make chocolate chip cookies together. She was so excited and said "Your World Famous cookies?!?" I said "Yes!" After I ran all my errands I called her upstairs to help. Gillian did everything. I simply handed her the ingredients. She even scooped cookies onto the tray! After the cookies were done Gillian came running to taste her famous cookies. She shared with John too!
I think these are some of the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made. I asked Gillian "Did you put in a special ingredient?" She said "I just put in a little ungredient. Just a little extra sugar!"
Two weeks ago after Religion Class, Gillian said to me "Mom, we are having a spring party next time. Can we make those chick cupcakes?" I am constantly surprised by Gillian's memory. My mom bought me a decorating set where you can make cupcakes look like baby chicks. She bought it last year. I had intentions of making cupcakes for school or something but never did. I was going to just use the pieces for my cookies. Gillian had other plans. I told her "Yes. We can make some cupcakes for your class."
This past Saturday, I made the cupcakes and I had Gillian decorate them. I think they looked great.
Since the set only made 12 cupcakes and I baked 24 cupcakes, I let Gillian decorate the remaining cupcakes however she wanted. Let me just note that I have moved most of my sugars, sprinkles and assorted cookie decorations to a lower cabinet and Gillian used this to her advantage.
The last Sunday of February, Daddy and I had to spend some time at the dealership counting inventory. Since the dealership was closed we brought the kids along to hang out while we counted. The kids were so good. On our way home that night I promised to buy them something as a reward for their good behavior. John picked a Level Pack for his Lego Dimensions game. Gillian wanted a new Lego set.
This past weekend she started her new set.
I helped only to sort the pieces and if she had a question. But besides that she built the whole thing by herself. I am so proud. This is the first set she made without any help.
