June...and June Bugs

June 24, 2015

June...and June Bugs

Recently we had an in depth discussion about why june bugs are called june bugs when in fact they are around for much more than just the month of June. We also did extensive research into their eating and sleeping habits. It's funny what you get educated on once you become a mommy to a little boy. He has taken up a fondness for these annoying little beetles lately. He loves to make habitats for them inside boxes and various other containers and names each one of his new "pets." His most recent friend is named Funny Buggy. He's a clever one, that kid.

Harper, on the other hand, hates june bugs. She is melodramatic and runs off at the sight of even the dead ones. At first I tried to reason with her, but then literally mid-sentence into a lecture on how june bugs won't hurt you and there is no need to scream and cry, a spider scurried by us and it was my turn to freak the crap out. Touche', kiddo, touche'. Thankfully, Harper isn't the tiniest bit afraid of spiders and she walked right over to it and stomped the life out of it for her mama. That's true love right there.

And here is how we've been spending the rest of our June:

I've been trying to keep the kids entertained indoors as much as possible, because:

Actually, just being awake makes me feel like throwing up, but the heat definitely intensifies my misery. I learned this the hard way. At the beginning of the month, Harrison had his first physical therapy appointment at TCH. It went really well and since we were 5 minutes away from the zoo and haven't used our zoo membership all year, I thought we'd pop in really quick. Yeah, no. It wasn't even that hot outside yet but I just can't hang like I trick myself into thinking I can. We were only there for about 30 minutes before having to leave. The carousel is what what finally did me in. As soon as it started going around I immediately realized what a huge mistake I had just made...

new gorilla exhibit

she picked a dolphin so she could show her daddy...they have an inside joke about dolphins

and he picked whatever kind of bird this is?

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We ventured to Palm Beach since we also have a membership there. We went on a Saturday because I wasn't about to be brave enough to go by myself. I parked in a beach chair and watched the kids have a blast. I seriously love how close they are. They really are the best of friends and I hope that doesn't change as they get older.

holding hands and running around together :)

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I've been trying to find cheap things for us to do indoors when we (they) get too stir crazy to stay home. Cinemark has a summer movie club where they show older family-friendly movies for $1. We've gone to two of those so far -- to see the Lego Movie and Mr. Peabody & Sherman. I still don't understand how I can feel that miserable while sitting still in a dark, cool theater, but I somehow manage. It's really fun dragging your kids to the bathroom in the middle of the movie so you can throw up. Super fun! Thankfully they are really understanding and don't seem to mind. I think they are just happy to get out of the house!

Other really exciting places we've gone to kill time and get out their wiggles include Chickfila, McDonald's, and the mall to throw coins in the fountain. We sure know how to celebrate summer. :)

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On Father's Day we went to church and then headed over to Mom & Tim's for lunch and swimming.

such a great dad

evidence of a fantastic time

The kids made Rick their own cards and picked out a homemade ice cream maker for his present. They had a hard time deciding between a popcorn popper and an ice cream machine but ice cream ended up victorious. This was a completely selfless gift, of course. As was the gift certificate I got him for a couple's massage. Haha.

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The kids had VBS last week and had a great time. They were in the same group and loved their teacher and all the arts/crafts/music. The theme was Mt. Everest and on the last day they surprised the kids with a giant rock wall they had brought in. Harrison was the exact opposite of excited when we pulled into the parking lot and saw it. He got out of the car and ran and hid and didn't even want to go inside the building. Poor kid is not a fan of heights! I assured him it was 100% safe since he would be harnessed and that he controlled how high he wanted to climb, and that he didn't have to do it at all if he didn't want to. He finally agreed to go inside but he definitely had anxiety written all over his face. When I picked them up he was so proud to tell me he was brave and climbed up part of the way...only about 10 feet, but hey, he did it!

Dress in your team color day

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This little girl must be going through a growth spurt. She has rarely napped in the last year but lately she's been so tired. Maybe I'm rubbing off on her :)

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The kids have been increasingly pushing boundaries when it comes to behavior and disobedience. It doesn't help that things have been nowhere near our normal for the last several months. They have been given too much freedom and I haven't been as consistent with following through with discipline as I normally would be. We've given them a lot of grace and tried to be sensitive to the fact that there have been a lot of changes lately...but one day they finally pushed too far.

This is what happens when you make a giant mess and then repeatedly ignore instructions to clean up your things. Dad comes home, witnesses firsthand the blatant disobedience that has mom extremely frustrated, and decides to clean up for you after you go to bed. And the "toy room" quickly becomes just the "room."

I'm not sure if they were bluffing or if it's a sign that they have entirely too much stuff (or a combination of both), but when they woke up the next morning they didn't have the reaction I anticipated.

They were excited about all of the empty space and started making carpet angels. And talking about all the fun games they could play just using their imagination instead of playing with toys. Are you kidding me? Well played, kids, well played. But I have a sneaking suspicion they will be changing their tune quickly. They are currently grounded from all toys for a week (outside of books and stuffed animals). Then they will have a week to earn back each toy by doing chores. And whatever they don't earn back in a week gets donated to kids who will appreciate them. Hopefully having to work for their things will make them value them more?? We shall see.

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Our dogs are getting old and it's becoming more and more apparent that we don't have much time left with them. They are both over 100 in dog years and it is showing. Sydney started declining last fall when she had her vestibular episodes. She bounced back but not fully. She's now deaf and stumbles a lot. She's also extremely neurotic and clingy. Her arthritis is really bad and she has a hard time getting up and down. Just yesterday she couldn't get up in time and pooped all over herself and was stuck scooting around in it and looked so panicked. Ugh. So sad. And so gross. Getting old sucks.

You can see how bad her hips are here :(

Sadie has been the one who has always acted way younger than she really is. It's crazy since she's a dog, but she looks like she actually has a smile on her face and is always very chipper. Up until this last year people would always guess that she was 1 or 2 (she's 14). A tumor started growing on her face last year and after an expensive vet visit it was still inconclusive as to what was causing it. It's in her cheek bone so they pulled a few teeth to see if it was an abscess but it wasn't. The biopsy said it wasn't malignant, but then they told us to follow up with a cancer specialist to be sure. Um, as much as we love our Sadie, there is no way we were about to go that route for an elderly dog. It never seems to bother her or affect her eating so we decided to just leave it alone. But last week it was obvious that something was wrong with her. She wouldn't eat or drink and only got up twice all day. She kept having weird neurological episodes where she would tremble and even stopped breathing a few times where Rick and I thought we had just witnessed her dying. But then 10 or 15 seconds would pass and she'd start breathing again. Not sure if she had some sort of stroke or if it is cancer and spreading to her brain. She went 2 days without eating but then started to perk up a little. She's still not herself and it's such an awful feeling knowing that one day we are going to find her gone.