Our Kids

So tonight after book reading and me getting them fresh water I asked the girls what they wanted to listen to. This is the same routine as every night. I have learned that I need to give them choices or I will become the all night deejay. The girls had a great day and ended it with friends over for pizza and movie night, I know they are tired but they don’t know it.

So it goes like this:

Girls, what do you want to listen to tonight, The Green Turtles or Clifford

Piper and Lela: Neither, we want something else

Okay so Lullabies it is.

Piper: BUUUUT that makes me fall asleep!

Hmmm…..bedtime music that makes you fall asleep….brilliant!

Of course I put on Lullabies and guess what?? They fell asleep:)

So for my birthday I am getting PING clubs from my hubbie.

Piper found a piece of gold cord tied in a circle with a bow (probably from and edible arrangement I got from my friend Shannon) and made an envelope and put it in it for me. The outside said:

Musdek
Paola
Haslup
August 2010

I love how she spelled out my name phonetically and I am wearing my pretty gold bracelet.

Lela made me a big envelope (two sheets of paper stapled along the sides) with a big 40 on the front. Inside was a pair of golf gloves! Ha! She traced Jason’s hand to make them. So sweet.

Landis got up to get a pink piece of paper that she had drawn on and then she told me it was for Erin (my neighbors) birthday and she could roll it and I could tape it for Erin. HA!

So this week with all its adventure has taken some toll. Lela had some trouble feeling safe and comfortable at summer camp the first two days (just for a bit at the beginning of the day) and was having trouble once the day is done. I think she gets so overstimulated when she is in school that she needs some serious downtime when she gets home. Downtime that includes quiet reading, listening to her music or laying on her bed…ALONE. She is such a visual child that she soaks up all that is around her and I think that makes her need downtime. She used to get that from TV but since we have not been watching for a couple months now we have to come up with other ways for her to relax.

Piper did not have any trouble transitioning in to summer camp. Her challenge is that she get so tired that she melts down at the drop of a hat and can be very, very loud. This means earlier bedtimes and anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows that bedtime is not her finest hour. We have had more success getting her to go to bed this week though.

Landis is going through her own transition. Most of all it is her sisters leaving her at the beginning of her day. This usually upsets her for a bit but then we get in to a groove and she enjoys helping me pack their lunches and she and I get in some playtime.

Phoebe has enjoyed the change or benefited from the change most of all. Her normal 1 hour morning nap has turned in to a blissful 2 hour rest for her and for me. Today is Saturday and her sisters are home so she had a terrible morning. Her nap was only an hour and then within 30 minutes she was fit to be tied. Finally after staying awake for an hour she couldn’t fight it anymore and had to go to sleep but she didn’t go easy.

Lucky for me I have my knight in shining armor to help me through helping all the girls through their challenges. He knows just when to swoop in and rescue his damsel in distress. Fate, luck or whatever you want to call it certainly smiled on me when they sent J my way.

Well today I turned 40, I think I am okay with it, I certainly don’t feel any differently. I have never thought much of age and maybe that is why I am handling the big milestone so well, or maybe because my days are filled with all the little things that need to get done I don’t have time to ponder what, if any, this milestone means to me. I can say without a doubt I don’t feel old except for those minor creaks and cracks in the joints that I never noticed before.

The real milestone and cause for celebration is that Phoebe is 6 months old. Can it be? Has time flown? Not only is Phoebe 6 months but Landis starts preschool and the girls start kindergarten. It is a bang up month for the Haslup family.

I am excited to see what all this change will bring to my lovely babies.

Well the girls have spent this week in summer camp at Desert Marigold. Lela had some trepidation on the first couple of days but she soon felt safe and now I have a hard time getting them to leave at noon:) Some of the kids stay for full day and I think Piper and Lela want to stay too.

A few of the things they have done this week include bead stringing, beeswax sculpting and animal care. Each morning they go out and feed the ducks, sheep, goats and chickens. They even feed and make a mud puddle for the pig to lay in. Both of the girls LOVE holding the chickens and yesterday Piper even fed one of the chickens and really got a kick out of it. They collect eggs if there are any laid too.

For snack time they all sit at the table and they take turns serving each other. This week they have had:

brown rice, carrots and pistachios
black beans, cheese, salsa and baked chips
bananas, peanut butter and homemade bread (the girls helped to make it)
flatbread, peanut butter and jelly
and today they are making dough for homemade pizzas with fresh basil from the 1 acre garden

Each day I pack the girls a lunch and we have a little picnic in the car on the way home. They get a real kick out of carrying a lunchbox and lunching in the car.

We are very excited for the school year to start and have our parent/teacher meet and greet on Monday.

The girls have been great about getting ready in the morning and the routine has not been stressful at all. It helps if I get up and get moving, lol! Jason has been taking them and dropping them off and that is working out well too, I get some alone time with Landis and Phoebe gets to take a nice long morning nap.