Memorial Day weekend....Why do I torture myself?!

I don't seem to learn from my mistakes. Last year we went to camp for Memorial Day weekend with a 1.5 yr old and a 2 month old. It was miserable and there were many times I wanted to just go home (which is only 20 minutes away from the campground). This year we did it with a 14 month old and a 2.5 year old. Different ages. Same story. What is wrong with me? First of all we had mice in our camper that we THOUGHT were cleaned out. (see this post). On Friday night, James turned on the heat and it wasn't blowing out the ducts and made the entire camper stink. No heat for the night meant that noone slept well and the girls woke up cold at 5:45 am. James spent an hour cleaning out one of the ducts and realized that the other 2 were clogged as well. This meant that naptime was interrupted so James could tear the camper apart for the afternoon (since our morning was already busy doing something else). No baby mice were found, but the nests were fairly large and difficult to get to. The job took him ALL afternoon. Catie got a decent nap at my parents' cabin and Lydia slept off and on in her stroller. It was a hot day, too, and that didn't help with attitudes. (Mine or the girls'.) Saturday night, with the heat working, we slept very nicely...until.....5:45am. This time it was the dog with his face in Catie's, needing to go out. Once she was awake, so was Lydia and the rest of us. UGH!! dumb dog! Lydia ended up sleeping from 7-9am and then again while at church, and again that afternoon...she was exhausted. We decided to skip Catie's nap (crazy, i know) since my parents were having a picnic that afternoon. We just figured we'd put her to bed extra early or we'd just simply head home that night after the picnic. It didn't work that way. I know...none of you are surprised. At about 7pm she fell alseep on Grandma's couch while reading books. That lasted about an hour and eventually we decided that she would spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house (they are the camp caretakers/managers and live on the campgrounds). We packed up the next morning and headed for home. Family Camp is coming up in a month and we have decided that we might not be there for the entire 10 days. It's too rough to try to do that with such small children. We'll go up for the weekends and the girls and I will spend the days there while James is working, but sleeping there for 10 days is out of the question.

We did enjoy some time around the campfire and at the playground while there, so I guess it wasn't all a waste.

progress...

A few weeks ago, James worked diligently on the playset for a few days in a row...at the expense of the lawn. The slide is now in it's proper place next to the climbing wall and not attached to the porch (although the girls loved using it as a quick exit from the porch.) We have chosen to forgo putting up the monkey bars since our girls are much too young to even think about using them. Instead we blocked that opening with an old toddler gate. Every morning Catie looks out into the back yard and gets excited all over again that she has a playground. She was very upset, though, when it was getting wet by the rain. And, today, she started to tell the birds to leave it alone, but decided that it would be ok to share her playground with them. :)

Catie is a pro at the climbing wall, but struggles with the slide when there is a bug on it. She's such a funny little girl. We are debating the sandbox....Lydia would LOVE it and it would keep her occupied on the ground instead of climbing the ladder (which she does quite quickly), but I'm not sure I want to deal with the mess. We'll probably just go ahead and get the sand. We do have an infant swing that Lydia would spend all day in if I let her.

Which is better...?

Option #1: Going to the grocery store in the morning when there are few people there, but having to take the girls with me. This means using one of the carts with the little car in front. They are extra long, difficult to turn. And it also means fighting with the girls to stay IN the car while my pregnant self pushes the cart and longs to sit down every 5 minutes.

Option #2: Going to the grocery store after James gets home from work @ 3:30pm without the girls, but fighting the ridiculous crowds made up of ridiculous people. People like the lady who nearly cut in front of me in line for my fu-fu coffee treat. I was obviously standing there. She did notice me when I took a step toward the counter after she got in front of me. SHEESH!!! Or people like the middle-aged man carrying a basket and completely oblivious that there are other people walking down the aisle as well. He'd just stop directly in front of people and take his sweet old time. I ended up going the opposite direction as him down multiple aisles. I coudln't seem to get away. Then there are the people who are strolling along like it's a walk in the park. They obviously don't have small children waiting for them to bring dinner home. "Excuse me, can I get past you, please?!"

What's your preference?

I did it.

You wouldn't know it, but I did everything I wanted to do yesterday. My kitchen was clear of dirty dishes. I put away multiple loads of laundry and I cleaned the camper toilet, floor, and carpet. I even went the extra mile to pick up the girls' rooms and put away some laundry that was sitting out up there.

Just the thought of putting away laundry gives me ulcers...I hate that part. Oh, and that load that was left in the washer b/c I'm too lazy at night to switch it....it's fine. no smell. I love my washer. it gets so much of the water out; the clothes are practically dry before i put them in the dryer.

So, what do I have to do today, you ask? Well, clean the kitchen; wash, fold, and put away laundry and, yes, work on getting ready for camping. Deja vu. Oh, and on top of that, I desperately need groceries. Do you know how unmotivated I am to go grocery shopping on a dreary day with 2 small children and a pregnant body that just wants to sit down every 5 steps? Not to mention Lydia has been working on her 1 year molars and sleep has been interrupted for the past 2 or 3 nights. *sigh.



Here's what James has been working on:

Eventually it will become this:









...and b/c I've been told I need to post more pictures...

they love being outside and I'm looking forward to the playset being functional and the weather being beautiful!

the day's to-do list.

pick up kitchen...twice. (The dishwasher was running by 8 am...i'm not one of those mom's who can't go to sleep with dirty dishes in the sink/counter/stove/floor/highchair/drainer/and anywhere else they might land.)

fold and PUT AWAY 2 or 3 loads of laundry, including the one that sat in the washer all night and might smell...might have to wash that one again, but probably not b/c I have the most amazing washer in the world!!!


clean the camper. again. This cleaning includes disinfecting the cabinets/counters/sink/and anywhere else the mice might have gotten to since the last time I cleaned up their mess. I will also be taking my Spot Bot (which, by the way, I LOVE.) out to clean the carpet. The toilet needs a good scrub and the linoleum floor needs some attention as well.

this is after we cleaned out most of the stuff they got into. They even chewed through an unopened plastic honey jar. When I say they got EVERYTHING, I'm not exaggerating. (Well...the Jiffy Pop was untouched, and the Pam cooking spray was left alone.)

This is the nest we found under the sink.

This is one of the 4 little guys we found in the nest.

Needless to say that will take up a chunk of my time...probably naptime. So now I just need to be kept accountable for these things. It doesn't sound like much, but I think it will fill my day quite well. I hope you have a productive and happy, mouse-free day as well.

P.S. I folded and PUT AWAY one load of laundry while these pictures were uploading...multitasking at it's finest!!! :)

Happy Mother's Day

On Saturday evening I went to a Mother-Daughter Banquet at my mom's church. We had a lot of fun. Here are some pics from the evening.

Me and Lydia

Me and Catie

Mima and Lydia

Maggie, "Enen" (Aunt Aaron), and Catie. She loves her Enen.

Next year I will take 3 little girls!!!!

2 year old genius?

My husband showed me a video this morning of a Brittish girl with a genius IQ who is the youngest member of some geniuses-only club called Mensa. I find it ridiculous. I won't say she's not smart, but I'm not sure that naming capitals of countries demonstrates a genius brain. I could teach Catie the capitals of every country in the world of every state for that matter. Repetition is what matters at her age. Give us a month.

I'm not one of those parents who thinks my child is the exception of the exceptions. I do think she is smart, but time will tell how intelligent she is. I will tell you, though, that she was able to count to 10 by the age of 2 (with the exception of forgetting "4" sometimes). She speaks in COMPLETE sentences. (She does not say "I want snack", she says "I want a snack" while enunciating her words.) She is learning colors, shapes, and counting. She has learned what we have taught her.

I believe this to be typical of children her age. They are sponges. If they get regular interaction they will pick up on things. Some may take a little longer (Lydia certainly isn't talking like Catie did at her age), but they can ALL be taught facts by memorization/repetition once they become verbal.

I don't have any scientific proof of this theory. I'll even admit that I could be wrong, but when I was watching this little 2 year old genius from Brittain I was unimpressed. She's smart, but my child could do the same things she's doing in the video and yours probably can too.

I wonder what that girl will be doing in 20 years....