Week 5, Round 2

This week went much better than the last one, but we still had a few bumps along the way.  I am happy to report that I am still not yelling and I am slowly learning to let things go around the house---allowing myself to focus more on having fun and keeping everyone happy. 

Our Thursday started out pretty normal with speech for Lincoln and swimming lessons for both of the kids.  Corinne and her swim buddy looked like twins that day with matching suits, googles, and pig tails.  They were the perfect pink duo and had a blast with their teacher.

Lincoln can almost swim independently on his back now, but has a slight problem with his butt sinking.  I can relate to that, as I used to have the same problem as a child, my mom would always say "I don't know why you can't float?  You must have a led a$$."  Then of course I had kids and packed on some extra floatation devices.  Floating is a breeze for me these days!

We laid low the rest of the afternoon and tried to have a relaxing day.  Lincoln decided to have a battle between his playmobil pirates and the lego duplo ship we built together.  He even let me snooze on the couch in between helping set up fighting scenes.  It was short and sweet, but I will take any 15 minutes of rest that I can get.  I was so thankful that he cold play quietly on his own while Corinne and I rested.  

We ran errands on Friday, and then headed over the Mabel and Lukey's house for a delicious dinner.  We decided to bring along a dessert Valentine's Day craft project.  So we made white chocolate dipped spoons with sprinkles and other yummy decorations---perfect for stirring hot cocoa! 

The kids did more sprinkle eating than decorating.

But the final product was ever-so-yummy in our hot cocoa.  Thank you Family Fun Magazine and Nana!

The kids were fighting off a bit of a cold this weekend, so we laid low most of the weekend.  Corinne was more than pleased to wake up to find that ABC Family was showing both episodes of "The Princess Diaries" on Saturday morning.  She decided that she was going to have a "pirate princess wedding".  Luckily, Lincoln was up for playing along.  So they put on their favorite costumes and danced the morning away.

 He helped "pirate princess Cinderella" with her glass slippers.

 And they wed with a "big wedding smooch like Uncle Warren and Miss Jenn" at the end of their dance.  Ahhh, I love it when they can play nice together.  It is moments like this when I cherish having two children so close in age. 

We spent the rest of the day doing lots of projects for Dad.  Oh, he is in for a treat in his next box.  By the end of this deployment he should have enough artwork from the kids to fully wallpaper the entire tent.  Lincoln practiced his cutting skills.

And Corinne mastered the glue stick.  Perhaps I will be brave enough to hand her over a bottle of Elmer's next week.

 Lincoln was so exhausted and worn out from his cold that he volunteered to take a nap on the couch.  I thought "yeah right" as I went upstairs to lay Corinne down.  By the time I returned, he was passed out on the couch.  I couldn't believe it.  I took the opportunity to catch up on laundry, dishes, and cleaning.  I actually got bored with both kids sleeping, and I was able to watch a bit of tv that wasn't a kids show for a change!  Then I suddenly realized why this deployment seems so much more difficult---Lincoln no longer naps and all of my "me" time to get things done and take a few moments to relax comes at the end of the day after the kids are in bed.  Translation---when I am completely exhausted and running on E.

 With all my chores done for the day, I took the evening to do something fun for Corinne for Valentine's day.  I found this cute, plain pink shirt at Hobby Lobby for $3, and I picked up a package of doily hearts.  Add some fabric paint, a glue stick, and foam brush....

Ta da!  The blue smudges are the glue residue that should wash out after it cures for 72 hours.  Thank you again Family Fun and Nana!  Stay tuned for February posts to see the Pirate Princess model these doily duds!  I am still working on ideas for Lincoln's Valentine's Day shirt.  He requested a "rock star heart shirt", but it is sort of hard to make hearts manly.  Hopefully I will tackle that project this weekend.  

Not wanting to share our germs with our friends, we skipped church.  I was a bit reluctant to let Lincoln outside with a cold, but Nathan happened to call at that moment, and convinced me to let the kid have a little outside time.  So he packed on his "worker man" tools and did a little back yard construction.

After running out to stock up on Vicks Vapor plugs we snuggled up the rest of the day.  Lincoln and I watched the latest "Harry Potter" while Corinne napped.  He reminded me that, "everything in the movie is fake, Mom.  You don't have to be scared.  But I am here to protect you if you do get scared."  It was nice to get a little Mommy-Lincoln time in, even if he was a bit under the weather. 

We spent Monday morning working in our project books.  Lincoln practiced his numbers in dot-to-dots...

While Corinne made matches with opposites puzzels.

Monday afternoon was full of excitement with Lincoln starting his first science class with Ethan.  It is a nice small class--only six total, and so far only boys.  They loved every minute of it. 

The "cowboy" as Corinne referred to him, taught them all about magnets.  They even got to play with huge ones that would hold up metal pieces between body parts. 

They learned about how fire makes its own wind, and that is why forest fires get so out of control sometimes. 

They talked about bones and fossils (one of Linc's favorite subjects) and planted a tropical plant.  I hope to keep it alive so we can plant it outside this summer. 

They turned a nail into a magnet with a battery and wire.

The highlight of the class for Lincoln was learning about refractive indexes--how water, air, and light distort images.  First, they drew a design on plastic cardstock and placed it in the bottom of a container.

Then they added clear polymer balls.  Lincoln calls these "bubble balls that are not real bubbles, but the sort of bobble in the water, but not on top of the water".

With the "bubble balls" on top of the image, it can't be seen clearly.

Add a glass of water...

And magically, the water "camouflages"--as Lincoln says, the polymers and the image can be seen clearly.

He loves these little "bubble balls", and we hope to keep them around until dad gets home.  We have had a few casualties so far, but after reading up on them online, I found that they could last for years if we keep them hydrated.  Hmmmm, just what I need right?  One more thing to take care of and water!

Tuesday, we went to speech and spent the rest of the afternoon playing with cars and building multiple race tracks.  I was pretty impressed with myself and Lincoln for getting this Hot Wheels track put back together.  I should have paid closer attention when Nathan and Lincoln put it together the first time.  I try to help out in these building projects, but Nathan regularly pushes me aside, taking great delight in assembling the kids' toys.  Check out Linc's face here.  This is one of those "I wish I didn't have a sister so close in age" moments.  We had to move the track to a different room for him to get some alone time with his cars.

Everyone felt well rested on Wednesday morning.  The kids ditched me and their usual morning snuggles with me in my bed for cuddle time on the couch together.  Yet again, I was reminded how nice it is when they get along. 

Wednesday was full of sunshine and the kids were more than ready to get out of the house after being couped up with the rain and sniffles.

We headed to a local park to meet Ava and Jake for some scooter fun.

This little monkey was happy to be out and about once again. 

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

Quote 1:  While Lincoln was playing "Gold Rush" in the backyard.

Lincoln:  "Oh no, my gold!  I dropped it.  Now we are going to have to move out of this house.  I am sorry mom."  Real tears here.  "I don't have enough to save us and get money to stay in our house.  We are going to have to move while Daddy is away fighting the bad guys because we have no money!"

Me:  "Oh pumpkin, that is only on the show.  We still get paid while Daddy is away.  We won't have to move." 

This kid takes reality TV to the next level.

Quote 2:  While watching a Jellyfish show on the "Discovery Channel" a lacey looking jellysfish floats by.

Corinne:  "Look Mom, a wedding jellyfish!"

She is all girl!

Quote 3:  While trying to get the kids ready for bed.

Me:  "Come on, it's shower time."

Corinne:  With a dirty face, complete with a milk mustache..."Mom, Pirates don't take showers!"

Quote 4:  After watching "Cinderella"

Corinne:  "If I were Cinderella, I would just kill those mean old step-sisters!"

Me:  "That is a little extreme don't you think?"

Corinne:  "Didn't you see how they tore up her dress!"

This only makes me more certain that she will be a true hellion in the teenage years.