Books

I've been meaning to make a post for a while on some of the kids' favorite books... and since I am asked frequently what are some of the books we enjoy, here it is so, enjoy:

... hmm, wait, this is actually a bit overwhelming... there's so many!  I'll have to categorize:

Raya/books for small children -- I have found books with animals are really helpful for this age, because before words there's sounds.. and animal sounds are so much fun to learn for a 1 year old.  Rhyming books are also helpful because they're attracted to the sing-song sounds.

I Love Animals - Flora McDonnell
Barnyard Banter- Denise Flemming ... I like a lot of her books
Please, Baby, Please - Spike and Tonya Lee
We're Going on a Bear Hunt - Michael Rosen
Who's Nose and Toes - John Butler ... actually all John Butler books, my kids are captivated by his illustrations
Sheep in a Jeep - Nancy Shaw ... kids love the sing-song rhymes, she has a series
Goosie - Olivier Dunrea ... these are really simple, but the plots are so intuned with young kids and the language is great for spatial concepts.. there's a large series
Polar Bear, Polar Bear - Bill Martin Jr. ... another huge favorite with our kids is Barn Dance, and of course Chicka, Chicka Boom Boom he's just a great author in general
Today is Monday- Eric Carle, basically all his books.  He's classic... From Head to Toe is another that has become a favorite
Tumble Bumble - Felicia Bond, kids love the rhymes.
Bear on a Bike - Stella Blackstone... she has a series as well
Duck in a Truck - Jez Alborough ... my kids love this author. A LOT.

What is great about these books is that they not only enjoy them when they're young but they work for beginning-to-read books when they're older.

I'll have to finish this book list later... but what I've been really focusing on lately is making sure that the kids are exposed to female protagonists that aren't overly stereotyped.

Knuffle Bunny - Mo Willems.  I love how the father is portrayed in this book too.
Brave Irene - William Steig.  My kids like a lot of his books... I love his vocabulary
Silly Sally - Audrey Wood.  She is one of my favorite authors, and her husband is one of my favorite illustraters... and they have a lot of books we love: King Bidgood's in the Bathtub, Quick as a Cricket, Piggies, The Napping House ...
Fancy Nancy - Jane O'Conner. A bit borderline for me... but the kids enjoy it and the new words.
Lily's Big Day - Kevin Henkes.  I just started reading this author and I love his books!  Lily cracks me up!

And I'll hopefully add more later, I don't want to forget all these books and good memories!

Look what I woke up to this morning:

He's so stinkin' cute!  Sethy at 7:00 am already for his first day of school... shirt tucked in and everything... too bad he had to wait until 12:30...

There he is, hair combed, teeth brush, shirt not tucked in, super excited and quite debonair.  We were at school way too early (because of Seth's frequent insistences that we leave) and Seth would keep peaking in on the teachers to see if they were finished with lunch so he could go into the classroom, and they would keep putting up there hand for five more minutes. Oh Sethy.

Jeff's first day of school (again), how many more of these days do we have again?

and Levi, because he's cute.

Matchy-Matchy:

exhibit a

I promise you I don't dress them the same.. they do it themselves, EVERYDAY.    

exhibit b.

Here's us (well.. minus me) watching the Lentil parade! (I love Pullman)

Raya just keeps getting more and more fun for the boys.

And she's loving all the attention.

Speaking of miss Raya, she's walking! Like three days ago she took a couple of steps at a time; she's up to six steps now!

The Best Weight Loss Program...

is having three kids 4 and under.

So today I realized that I've cut my pant size in half... I've gone from a 12 to a 6, which is even starting to seem a bit loose.  "What the heck? How is this happening?" Then... I realized... here's been my morning thus far (it's 8:30am at the mo)

6:00 Levi wakes me up to cuddle
6:30 Rise and shine, feed Levi
6:40 Straighten up living room
6:50 Rise and shine, feed Seth
7:10 Rise and shine, feed Raya... nurse Raya then some solid foods
        Say bye to Jeff as he leaves for work
7:20 Clean kitchen: dishes, wipe counters etc
7:30 Start Crock pot for dinner
7:35 Move laundry out of dryer to be folded
7:37 Go to straighten up boys' room... find that Seth has wet the bed (this hasn't happened in a year atleast)
7:39 Start more laundry
7:42 Clean bed
7:45 Get dressed
7:45 Levi needs to use restroom
7:46 Raya's screaming from lack of attention and wants in the bathroom
7:49 Get Levi dressed and Raya dressed
7:55 Put kids in the playroom and shut the door
7:55 Try to get ready: deodorant, teeth brushed
7:56 Levi needs to poop/ Raya starts crying again to go into the in the bathroom
7:57 Get Levi dressed again
7:58 Comb my hair
8:00 Raya pooped -- take diaper to trashcan
8:05 Levi has an accident and has peed on his bed skirt
8:08 Clean/Dress Levi
8:12 Move over Seth's bedding to dryer and start a new load of soiled laundry
8:15 Clean carpet
8:20 Wash hands for like the 7th time this morning... and try to have a bit of breakfast.

... I can go on, but I'm going to stop because...well, Raya's crying.  At least I'm losing weight, right?

Speaking of Independence

Thank you to all you wood-knockers.  Levi is doing really well, and ever since we let grandma potty train him over this last weekend he hasn't had any accidents!

This time around has gone so much better ... there was a lot more preparation involved.  Also, Levi keeps me sane with his potty humor:

"I can't quite poop yet because my poop is in its home and doesn't want to come out yet."

Levi begins hopping up and down,

"So I need to jump!"

Levi is hopping around the house, and I start getting concerned... could jumping really help make him poop? and if so should I just have him sit on the toilet?

"And I jump my super ballet jump!"

___

Mommy: "Just poop Levi."
Levi: "Mommy I can't, the poop is stuck in the bus ...... ow."

Raya cont.

I forgot to add that Raya is also... playing independently and just has had an increase of curiosity and self-sufficiency.

Also, "uh-oh" needs to be added onto the list of words she frequently says.  She says this one the most, I don't know why I would forget it... every time she drops a cheerio from her highchair... "uh-oh," .. then her spoon ... "uh-oh," ... then her cup ... "uh-oh," you get the idea.

What the? Raya's 11 months!

It can't be! She's my baby, I love my babies and Jeff wont let me have anymore. Raya stop growing!
She really is getting big... and such a helper:

-Raya loves standing and doesn't need surrounding objects to prop herself up.
-Words she says often: thank you, baby, dada, mama, and ball
-Raya's favorite toy is a ball.  She loves to throw and then chase it around the house.
-She's insanely quick, and much more fearless than I remember the boys being.
-She's super sensitive and if you raise your voice in the slightest she'll bawl and even if she's doing something wrong (like.. lets say getting into the trash) you end up just comforting her for like 10 minutes.
-Loves giving kisses, and likes to attack people.

Love you Raya!

Pets, Kids and Pinworms

Guess what I get to look for?

mmm.... you're lucky I didn't upload the picture of these little buggers in poop.

Ok, I'm just going to throw it out there: I dislike pets.

Said it, over, done.

Can someone please explain to me why they are so popular? Why you can't live without them?  It's really not the pets I dislike but the owners... more specifically the irresponsible ones which I think make up about 90%

I have a dog that is pooping in my FENCED yard. A dog pooping in my GARDEN.  And cats using MY KIDS sandbox as a litterbox (so now I get to check my kids' poop for pinworms  AND throw away about 75 dollars worth of awesome blue sand).

Besides the poop nonsense my kids are scared to check the mail in fear of dogs running and barking at them, I'm seriously considering getting dog pepper spray, so pet owners watch out!

Can you see why I might not like pets?

Having a pet would make me mentally ill, besides the pooping, barking and biting,  I would form a complex picking out the fur on my couch.

Can someone please explain to me why pets are so popular?

Why there is a dog park, but not a kid park in my neighborhood?

I don't get it. 

Life as a college student strikes again!

Is blogging on a Saturday night pathetic? (never mind don't answer that) Jeff went to the office after the kids were in bed and I mopped the floors (ok, that's lame).  So I uploaded pictures in my down time from cleaning the house... voila

Sethy is a book fiend... he wakes up to books, he listens to books, he ... really only watches reading rainbow now a days.. and he goes to bed reading books.  He's starting to read chapter books... and that seriously freaks me out.  He doesn't start kindergarten for another year... how can I send him to school to learn his abc's when his reading level will be like in 5th grade by next year... ugghhhh.  It stresses me out (a lot). (deep breath).

Levi got his first black eye... it's worse in real life.

Love this face. 

PIGTAILS!

Another face I love.

So today didn't turn out at all how it was planned, and that's ok.  We were originally going to pick wild huckleberries and have a picnic... but the huckleberries were all gone ... so we were going to do the u-pick.... that wasn't available.  We ended up going to the Moscow farmer's market and letting the boys put blueberries in their pails :) -- then went out for Mexican food... then Wawawai Park (picture above). 

Hiked around a bit.

Or in Jeff's case... skated our kids down on the stroller....
(this streak is made from Jeff's foot being used as a rudder/break)

Said good-bye to the wheat fields.  The farmers were out on their combines.

And last, but certainly not least... (oh Levi,) we went swimming at Reaney.

At least we made up the lame night with an excellent day.

Hold your applause, please.

Levi pooped in the toilet! (not what you quite expected, but hey if you're a parent you are more than clapping your hands you are -- running down the lengths of your house in hysterics, maniacally laughing, thrilled and hands in the air outstretched toward heaven-overcome with joy).  I think I've told everyone I've met today.  Seth shares my excitement, he even told his swim instructor! Oh how I wish I was there to see the look on that poor single man's face.

So this marks the day for Levi's potty training to begin -- someone please tell my sanity that I will meet up with her in about six months.

He did really well today, and... no accidents.  (everyone who is reading this KNOCK ON WOOD, with our combined knocking maybe I can come out of this unscathed).  But I think Levi will do really well.  He loves being a "big boy" and wearing underwear, using the toilet and as Levi puts it, "making brown."

Anyways.  I uploaded pictures too:

The library finale at Reaney Park... is summer really over?? I love summer (have I mentioned that before?)
The concert was really fun, the kids were dancing, it was a beautiful night.  Love Pullman. I think I should make a shirt that says, "I love Pullman." Anyways,

Same night ... last knitting group with its founder Annie.. (sad).  Ok, so the one thing I don't like about Pullman (Ok, I don't like that there isn't any freakin' slurpees or a target close by, but anyways) the one thing I don't like about Pullman is meeting so many amazing people and then saying goodbye. Bye Goates, miss you already. And I didn't take a picture of Annie's farewell BUT here's Jeff drinking the left over fondue:

Random: Thank you boys for another fit of laughter you put your father and I in. We peeked in on them and they were camping out on the floor of their bedroom.  They're so cute.

If you ever wonder what 2:30ish at the Ritter's looks like, here it is:

Seth

Seth: "I want to be a scientist in outer space, and I want to live in outer space when I'm an adult."
Dad: "In a space station?"
Seth: "Yes," pause for reflection, "And I want to walk on the moon, BUT, I'll never jump on the moon."

Seth: "Hey Levi do you want to be a scientist in outer space?"
Mom: "Maybe Levi would like to be a different type of scientist, or maybe Levi would like to be an artist?"
Seth in a incredulously droll tone, "Levi ... do you want to be an... artist?"
Levi: "Yee-ah"

... time passes...

"Hey Mommy! Levi WANTS TO PAINT IN OUTER SPACE!"

_____________________

On our way to the Snake River.

Seth: "I don't like winding rivers.  I want to go to the Wolf River because it's straight."
Levi: "Are there any wolves in it?"
Seth: "No, no it's in a part of Asia where there are no tigers and no wolves."
Jeff: "Then why is it called the Wolf River?"
Seth: "Oh, because it is more fun than the Snake River."

_______

"Hey guys look at the the golden wheat field on Levi's side!"
Seth looks out his window, "I wish the wheat field on my side would hurry up."

Seth: "Wheat is pretty fun to look at because it reminds me of farmers, and bread.   I sure am proud to look at wheat."