Tyler has been bucking naps off and on for a while now.  It is sooooo obvious that he still needs some extra rest/sleep/quiet time so we are dealing with that all the time. 

 

What has me shaking my head and laughing is that Tyler refuses to sleep in his bed.  He would rather sleep on the floor next to his bed, in his tent, on the floor next to his tent, in a turned over old carseat, or in the rocking chair.....

...yes, I said in the rocking chair in his room....now that is a 3yr. old with some serious determination to control his environment and enough fatigue to stay there all night, on a lot of nights.  Phew!!!! 

Tyler, Beth and I were all stopped by our local police officer at a bright and early 8:30 am this morning and Tyler got a "ticket"! HA!   I start with the "shocker" on purpose......

 

Picture this:  8:30 am.  Tyler on his trike. Beth in the stroller.  I am holding on to both of them because our driveway has a big incline (for little ones with wheels).  We are almost at the bottom of the driveway...our pupose you ask, well, we are going to walk to a local park before the heat of the day (yes it is finally summer in MN).  And a police officer is casually driving by.  I ask Tyler if he would like to wave ("Look son, a police officer, let's wave").  Tyler waves....and the cop stops.

 

Hhmm.  That's interesting.  Must be a slow day if he wants to stop and actually roll down his window to say "hi" rather than waving.  Well, we have a brief "HowDoYaDo?!" and he gets out of the car and gives Tyler his "ticket"......an "I Got Caught" paper.    HA!  The paper actually says "I got caught...Congratulations! You were found: (there are 3 choices but here is Tyler's) Wearing your safety helmet while riding your bike.  Take your 'Be Our Guest' card to any participating McDonald's restaurant to receive free Apple Dippers."  And there is a coupon attached.  Needless to say Tyler was beaming!   And I am jumping for joy internally because we have been attempting to work on various safety and health habits and sometimes that involves explaining what the police do to try to make our point more clear.  This "run in" with the cops helped to solidify some of our teachings. 

 

And, I was so super excited for the coupon....who knew this program existed!?!?!  Turns out that it is sponsored by AAA of MN and IA, McDonald's, Channel 45, Channel 5 Eyewitness News, MN Chiefs of Police Association, and the MN Sherriffs Association.  WHOA!!!

Actually Crazeee Daisies!!!  Our back yard is a Daisy Wonderland!!!  (I am very relieved that the white stuff is not snow but rather pretty white flowers. )

Here are some pics for 'ya.

 

....IRIS.

 

 

Had to run a few errands yesterday.

Went to the YMCA (had a good workout), went to Kohl's and then to Michael's to pick up random things that have been on the "to do" list for a while. 

 

Usually my kids don't mind shopping....they usually like to take in the sights and chat.  Unless they are hungry or tired, which is probably universal to the whole human race so we roll with it.  Lately Beth, my "I love swings, wagons, strollers, and carts excessively Girl", has only enjoyed the carts at the grocery store because she sits side-by-side with Tyler (Da-wer) and eats a free cookie.  She has been boycotting carts at just about any other store and choosing to walk next to me or help me "push" the cart. 

 

Yesterday was really no exception overall, but she was in the cart for a little while...which meant Tyler had to walk and he took it upon himself to entertain his sister with his rhyming skills and silly songs.  Not usually a big deal, but we are at Kohl's and it seemed exceptionally quiet....and I am having a hard time finding things (why it was so hard...I don't know...but things were messy, no staff person was available, stuff I thought they sold were pretty much non-existent....I was tired....do I need to go on?).....and it was kind of warm in the store....and I am thinking about the next store and lunch so we have got to keep this trip movin' to get everything done....or maybe not, I am just tossing ideas all around my head....until I notice Tyler's voice getting louder...."Beth you're a sitch, stich, kitch, pitch, B*&#@....!!!"  Beth is laughing....Tyler is going on and on and repeating himself....the B word is the loudest of them all!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE MY EARS!!! NOW WHAT?  Ok. Don't panic...He doesn't know what he is saying!?!?  AHHGGG! I can't take it anymore that is the 4th time the B word has come out!  So, rather than stay calm and ignore it or just redirect him to other things to rhyme, I told him that some of the words he was saying were mean words with meanings that he didn't know about and he had to stop.  That pretty much took care of it...(Phew)....that and the fact that Beth was demanding to get out of the cart which is where Tyler wanted to be in the first place. 

Moving into our new house in the winter time has meant that every season, month, and day is pretty much like Christmas all the time as far as our yard is concerned.....we get to see more and more of it (bye-bye snow), explore it (playing outside), get to know it (identify various plants), take care of it (we are on our own now for lawn care), see the patterns of things (the rain drainage is horrible by the swing set).....and since our spring this year closely resembled an identity crisis, things have been put on hold until very recently.

 

Examples:

1) Finally got a lawn mower.  Great Job Nathan!

 

2) Noticed clumps of things around...some turned out to be hostas and then this clump was heart shaped...hmmm.  We shall see what that becomes...a friend said it might be tulips...but as of yesterday, we think we have our answer....More pics to come later

 

3) Daffodils and Lilacs have come and gone...those where nice.

 

4) Got some Crazy Daisy pics to show you later too.

 

5) Got funny stuff growing in our grass...or it is just funny grass.

 

6) And the kids have been showering me with flowers.  Awwhhhh.

 

...so much so that if she hears the clanging of dishes, smells the first hint of food,.....she comes runnin'!!