Don't Try This At Home! Try It At A Friend's House!

Well, as long as today's theme is water I thought I'd set up this video for you. It was pointed out to me by my Sis, Chronicler. You see, she is the mother of three daughters. I have three sons and two daughters.

The thing with boys is this, they discover things, they have adventures, they act before they think things through. They freeze amphibians because they have watched one too many National Geographic Videos ("Beaver Pond" - I don't recommend it.)

If these were my boys I can tell you right now, things in this video would have been different. After each of the boys involved had a trial run, things would have been kicked up a notch. Say, surf style (standing up), or after dark with sparklers. I know, because when we had the advantage one summer of living where a pool was in the back yard and accessible, swimming was JUST. SO. BORING. yawn. No , we had to figure out ways to propel our bodies into the pool from various and sundry vantage points, like the roof. Or fence. Or off a moving bike. The diving board was just a means to an end, an additional tool in the arsenal of dangerous toys. Anything that could float was employed as a surfboard. Including your best friend. Contests and feats of strength were invented, and commentary was sometimes pre-scripted as to make sure nothing got left out. Boats were made, slides were invented, rules were constantly changed to promote manhood and the growth of chest hair. And the loss of cousins. kidding. I think.

We only lived in that house one summer however, so learning and testing had to take place in other arenas. Little sisters were also used as tools or physics experiments. Their smaller bodies lent them to be used as keys ("Shove your hand through the hole and turn the nob!"). Their cat like legs begged to be dropped from trees to see if they too (girls) landed on their feet. Or as human propellants ("As soon as you get this high...JUMP!) Poor little things were flung across the yard, into pools, off of trampolines and skate boards, and onto old mattresses or boxes (...like in the movies!)

One summer our then 16 year old was at his best friend's house. No parents. No sisters. Just the two of them. They had spent hours and hours filming each other trying out the newest tricks on their skateboards and decided to go indoors. One thing led to another and they began to wrestle each other while on the boards, in the house, in the living room (probably while eating something). My kid lost. He went elbow first through the fancy glass coffee table severing all the muscle systems, the ligaments, the tendons, and chipping the bone in his dominant arm about two inches above the elbow. When I first saw it, his arm muscle looked like a red sea urchin. Lovely. His brother drove him to meet me at the local ER and I have been informed that along the way the injured one managed to flirt with a girl in the car next to them at the stop light. (Never miss an opportunity.)

Long story short, he also severed the nerves, so he wasn't in pain, but that night he had an 8 hour appointment with a neuro surgeon who had to reconnect all of the above. He had an amazing recovery (one for the books actually) and a few months later had a "ligament transfer" (read: The neuro plastic surgeon harvested the extra ligaments in both of his arms and rewired his hand so that he could use it again, like the bionic man, only without the cool noise and slow motion, and um, six million dollars paid by the government.) He had 33 "entry points" in his one hand and after 130+stitches we stopped counting. Again he had a miraculous and amazingly quick recovery and he was the youngest patient to ever have this procedure at the time.

So yeah. Boys. I could go on, but suffice it to say, keep your eyes and the first aid kit open, never leave them alone for a second, and if you do, make sure your medical insurance is paid up!

Oh What Do You Do In The Summertime...

When all the world is green? Do you fish in a stream, or lazily dream on the banks as the clouds go by?
Do you swim in a pool to keep yourself cool, or swing in a tree up high?

Do you march in parades or drink lemonades, or count all the stars in the sky?
Oh what do you do in the summer time, when all the world is hot? Do you drive with Grampa, pet a bear with big claws? or pretend to be Dan'l Boone? Do you you to the park before it gets dark and see the log cabin there? Do you eat M&Ms, and make cool new friends and wish that the day never ends? Is that what you do?

So do I.

all's well that ends well -or- we all do stupid things in our youth

Note the rocky shore line. Note the irregular wave sets. Note the shark like fin of one rock. (o.k. so I pointed that out yesterday, I still think it's cool.) Note the "triple dog dare you". Note the idiotic look of "where'd my board go?" Note the "What the hell, chicks dig scars" attitude.

Note the tale this is going to grow into over the summer... just don't tell mom.

TIMOTHY

Here's another set, this time for a little guy named "Timothy". He is a huge fan of the movie "Automobiles", so his parents wanted his letters to reflect that theme in his room.

Luckily for me, this was a 'freebie' job so they didn't complain about the way the cars actually came out. Yikes! I need to work on drawing cars more often...these are a tad funky.

Tomorrow: Not letters but a recycle project!

NATHAN

I hope you don't mind, but here goes some more of those projects that have been keeping me busy.

A while back I did two sets of nursery letters. One thing leads to another and it seems that I am getting a bit of business decorating wood letters now! This is way fun! This set spells out "Nathan" whose mother said loves all kinds of animals, so we have the following in his name:

a shark, a lady bug, a skunk, and a peacock "eye".

a turtle shell, flamingo feathers, and giraffe skin.

an orca/killer whale, snake skin, and cheetah print (his personal favourite).

tiger , zebra, brown bear, and alligator skins.

butterfly wings, brown cow, raccoon eyes, and a clown fish.

a toucan, an elephant, a honey bee, jaguar and dalmatian skin.

All they need now is a ribbon and to be placed on the wall!

Tomorrow: More letters!

Gramma Camp

Day One:
We went straight to the park and played a "round" of golf, (with rules adjusted slightly), raced so many races Mogli decided he was "done with races gramma!", scaled all kinds of play ground equipment, and went home so Rafiki could take a nap.

While Rafiki napped, Mogli and I made all kinds of noodle necklaces, played a few games, and watched Stuart Little. Rafiki woke up and Mogli fell directly to sleep!

When everyone woke up we went in search of hot dog buns and bird seed. After baths and family prayer Rafiki went to bed and Mogli and gramma made wild bird feeders.

Today (day two) we got up (6:30!), ate Mickey Mouse pancakes with "French Toast stuff (confectioner's sugar) instead of syrup please", dressed, and made a trip to the car wash, which was closed, grrrr. So off to the fish hatchery! Neither had been there before and let me tell you- they were amazed! We strolled up and down each isle and saw how they grew from tiny baby fish into big grampa fish! Lucky us, we also got to meet the workers as they were in the process of cleaning the "tanks". Interesting at any age; the only problem being that once the machinery had dredged through a "tank" it was very murky and difficult to see the individual fish. Luckily we had seen most of the fish before it got to that stage.

Back home for Rafiki's nap and then back to the park in the afternoon. We hung our bird feeders in the lowest branch we could find (gramma is practically a dwarf, small limbs make it difficult to reach the taller branches). Then we filled a jug with water and set out to make a sand castle! The wind was particularly strong this afternoon, so we plan to try again tomorrow morning. Instead we worked through the equipment again and met some other children who were waiting for a bus transfer. They kids had a blast and ran poor gramma to near extinction!

We coloured pages and pages, made a few other things, and had "yo-grit" at snack time. Read a couple (dozen) books, sang songs and did a bit of dancing. Bath time, phone calls to mommy and daddy, and tomorrow we start it all again.

We've done three loads of laundry in two days and finished off the oatmeals cookies and a fair share of strawberry milk straws. The best thing of the day today? When Mogli sneaked off down the hall to look at the family hand prints. Measuring each one he found a perfect match...his own daddy's! He was so excited they fit and he insisted on a photo moment, which of course we did. So cool.






Bird-feeder Update: We went back to the (freezing) park this morning and the bird feeders resembled a Denny's in Sun City on a Saturday morning! There was actually a small line of birds hanging out at the Giant Claw machine, just waiting for their table to open up. As we left I think I heard a pigeon shout: "Quail, party of three, Quail, party of three..."

Got any good ideas for S'mee?

While I wait for some unsalted butter to thaw I am blogging!

In a few weeks I will have charge of my two little boys for a few days, what to do? Well, I am gearing up for "Gramma Camp!"

Mommy and daddy will be attending a wedding with their brand new baby sister (crossing fingers she arrives on time!) so we'll have sleep overs and other fun. Gramma has been busy preparing all sorts of fun. But I need more! This is where you come in! The following are some ideas I already have, but I need more, HELP! Please read through and then in the comments give me some of your successful ideas for fun with toddlers!

There are new "Gramma Camp" outfits (post is coming on this project -soon!).

First day at camp we'll be planting some flower seeds. Some to stay at Gramma's and some to take home! Also, starting some sprouts to put in salads and sammiches!

I want to have some cookie dough ready made and in the freezer so the little guys can bake their favourite -raisin oatmeal cookies. (making dough this afternoon!)

We'll be taking a few field trips, the trout farm, the rescue zoo, perhaps a museum or two.

Scissors! We're going to make a few crafts! A wind sock, a wind chime, and maybe a kite. (can you tell it will be windy while they are here?)

We're going to play with plastic straws and learn some fun science tricks! We'll see how blowing through a straw can make things move, make cool bubbles, and how you can lift a piece of paper with a straw and your mouth, and then when we're all done experimenting we can cut the straw and make a necklace.

We're going to make magnet cars and have a race!

One day will be spent under a tent in the living room where we'll build a fort with blankets. Picnic time and fun games, reading books and singing camp songs!

Fruit Loops and Cheerios will help us count, give us wheels for a cookie car, and help us with our aim as we line them up on marks, string them, drop them into holes and and match them by colour! When we're done with them we'll add some M&Ms and raisins and have a snack!

Gramma is finding cool family photos to make finger puppets with; and also a 'concentration' type of matching game.

Gramma will also prep "magic paintings" for the boys. I'll take a wax candle and draw a 'secret' picture on paper and when they paint over it the wax will resist the paint and show the surprise!

We'll 'paint' the porch and sidewalk with water. If the weather is warm enough I plan on a water balloon toss and other water games.

I have some wood blocks for making simple cube puzzles, and photo puzzles.

This is about all I have planned so far. If anyone has cool games or activities for little boys ages 2 and 4, PLEASE put in a comment! I will thank you ahead of time! Thanks!!!