Road Trip to Iowa 2008

I am happy to say we all survived 32+ hours in the car together for the trip to and from Iowa. I must admit that as a mom of three I was a "little" apprehensive about the car ride--that's a lot of time in a confined area with little to do! But my kids surprised me because not only did we survive the trip, I think we even had fun (in the car, that is, I KNOW we had fun in Iowa...but I'll get to that in a minute). Ok, there were a few stressful times in the car when Emilia was just tired of being in her carseat and would scream for 30 minutes or so, but other than that, things were good. Who knew it could be so good? In fact, we're already planning the next road trip up there!

While we were in Iowa we had a BLAST! The boys went swimming almost every day, got to play with toy guns with great-grandpa, played games with the cousins, went to the playground at Camp Okoboji and stayed up waaaaaaay past their bedtime every night. We spent one evening at Arnold's Park, but next year I think we'll spend a whole day there because none of us were ready to leave but it was 8:30 and we hadn't eaten dinner yet! John and the boys went paddleboating on the lake, John and I went kayaking, and we tried to teach Josiah how to play "PIG." But the highlight of it all was getting to spend the week with family. We had such an awesome week. John was surprised at how much fun it was, afterall, what is there in Iowa other than corn? (which, by the way, we saw TONS of, but didn't eat any) But he's even excited about going back again next year.

My favorite part of the week was watching the boys play and just be with my grandparents. I love my grandparents because they're just awesome, but also because I have so many great memories of being at their house and being silly, eating cookies and just being loved on by them. It was beyond words to watch my kids getting to experience the same things. And I know they felt it, too, because when we were coming home Micah asked to go back to their house because "great grandma and great grandpa's house is fun-er than our house." And every night when we left to go to bed Micah would start to cry and say he didn't want to go home. I would tell him we were just going to the house we rented to sleep and we'd be back at great grandma and grandpa's tomorrow and just like that he would stop crying and say, "OK" and be fine. Josiah is already coming up with list of things he wants to do next year....Oh, and he wants to go to Riley's house tomorrow. If only she didn't live in Idaho! But he assures me that "Riley's mommy....what's her name again?" she said that they were going to come over. And beyond all of that, how many kids have a chance to play with their GREAT grandparents? It was awesome. I'm kicking myself for not taking any video while I was there, but I've got lots of pictures that I'll try to get into a slideshow to post tomorrow.

AND...a very, very happy SIXTIETH wedding anniversary to my grandparents!! How amazing is that? I love you both so, so much. It was so good to get to spend the week with you.

Group Therapy

We have been having some attitude issues in our house. Everyone warned us about the "terrible" twos, but let me tell you, the twos were nothing compared to the fours. In fact, I'd say the twos were terrific compared to this! These have been trying times for us. One of the biggest issues of late is helping Josiah find an acceptable way to express his anger and/or frustration 'cause what he's been doing needs to stop. ANYWAY...long story short: we got a punching bag yesterday. It hasn't been used for anger management yet, but last night after John got home the four of us (you can guess who was left out) stood in a square with the "bop bag" in the middle and hit it around. Now what was great about this, other than the boys LOVED it, was that they don't have the fastest reflexes yet and so sometimes when John and I would hit the bag it would hit them in the face--don't worry, they never got hurt, in fact they were laughing the whole time. But John and I decided it was good group therapy because, admit it parents, there are times when you just want to smack your kids for what just came out of their mouth! So, we all got to release some of our frustration and in the end we were all laughing and having a good time playing with each other. Who could ask for more?

Mr. Comedian

Josiah is interested in jokes...only he doesn't really GET jokes. I've tried explaining them to him, tried explaining the concept of a punch line, but he doesn't get it. He will someday, but what's happening in the meantime is something that cracks me up more than if he really "got" jokes: he keeps telling "jokes," even though he doesn't know how. And this is what we get:

"Daddy, what kind of mouse can jump over a barn?....All of them--barns can't jump!"

"Mommy, what did the one banana say to the other banana?....Why don't you banana me alone!"

"What happened to the clown when he jumped...oh wait, the clown has red hair. What happened to his red hair when he jumped into the green water? IT TURNED GREEN!"

What did the one egg say to the other egg? You break me up!

All of these jokes come from real jokes that I have told him to try to help him understand jokes, he's just changed the wording a bit. And part of what sends me into hysterical laughing while Josiah is telling these jokes (and while John is rolling his eyes at us) is that after every "punch line" Josiah laughs at his own joke as if he really "gets" it even though there is nothing to "get." And then, of course, I'm laughing which just encourages him to continue telling these really, REALLY bad jokes, which he is now convinced are funny. Last night, I was thankful to find out that I am not the only one amused by his joking abilities. We were at my Mom's house and she was laughing as hard as I was. In fact, at one point Josiah threatened to stop telling us jokes because, "I don't like it when girls faces turn red."

STAY IN BED!!

As most of you know, the boys share a bedroom and for the most part, it's great and the boys love it. BUT, we have been having a huge problem getting them to go to sleep at bedtime. They talk and play and get into all sorts of "shenanagins." Nothing was working...not spankings, not taking toys, not later bedtime, not earlier bedtime, NOTHING. Thank goodness for blogging, though, because after reading someone else's blog, John and I decided to come up with a new plan of attack. Two nights ago we put the boys in bed at their earlier bedtime and told them they could talk quietly until one of us came in and told them it was time to be quiet. They stayed up talking for about 20 mins or so before John told them it was time to be quiet and go to sleep. AND THEY WENT TO SLEEP (after another trip to the potty). Last night was the second night of our new plan and after we put them in bed they didn't talk AT ALL. Not a peep. They told me, "We didn't talk because we were both tired." Now trust me when I tell you that has not happened in a looooooong time. I guess maybe talking at bedtime lost it's appeal because it's alright to do it now?? Who knows. I just hope this lasts!

What A Josiah Does

We went to a friends house this morning and about 10 mins into the drive Josiah asked, "Mommy, are we almost to Kate's house?" I told him we were about half-way there. Less than 2 minutes later he says, "Mommy, in a little bit I'm going to ask if we're there yet." (thanks for the warning) I said, "Oh, let's not do that. We'll get there when we get there." He responded, "But Mommy, sometimes I do that. Sometimes I ask if we're there yet. A Josiah does what a Josiah does."