A Long Overdue Update

I'd like to say we've simply been busy loving life since my last blog update.
We've kept busy with lots of life-loving activities, but there's been plenty of craziness, too.

The boys have been adjusting to their days of male bonding since Daddy's out of school for summer.  They have tons of fun together but also miss us girls and are super happy to see us when we get home each evening!  And actually, Lucy just dropped down to 3 days a week at school so she's been joining in on their fun a couple of days each week.

Speaking of Lucy - she's been a bit of a handful at bedtime lately and we've really struggled there.  She's become quite argumentative in generally and it really flares up when we tell her it's time to potty and brush teeth before bed.  There have been plenty of nights where she screams and flails while Max raises his eyebrows and stares and Dave and I try to keep our cool...
We've started a chart for her behavior and she has the opportunity to earn prizes.  For other behavior besides the four categories listed, she has the opportunity to lose or win back "friends" to sleep with at night.  In two weeks of charting, she earned two prizes and managed to lose all of her friends one night but has earned a couple back here and there.
Looking at her chart the other day, she pointed to a day with all X's (BAD!) and said, "I love that day!  All x's!" 
I just stared at her and very quickly she said, "I was just kidding!"
I think we're going to have our hands full (overflowing) with that one for a looooooooong time...

When we first started the chart, I told her she could earn her first prize by getting one whole column (4 stickers).  Dave thought it was too easy and we'd be giving prizes out left and right but I wanted to get her invested with a quick "payoff."  She'd had her eye on a bubble Tinkerbell doll at Kroger and while it was a bit more pricey than I intended these bedtime behavior chart prizes to be, she was super excited about the potential of getting it so I thought it was worth it.  And boy was she excited on Tuesday morning when we lavished her with praise and told her how great she'd done and that we were so proud of her...her teacher said she talked all day at school about the Tinkerbell she was going to go buy that evening.  That night the momentum got her through another day of stickers but we increased the prize-earning time frame to two straight days and as you can see, it took and entire week for her to get to the next prize...it's a work in progress but I truly think this chart is helping.  Dave and I have also committed to reacting less (no yelling, no pleading or trying to rationalize - we simply mark the X or take the friend out of her bed).

Last week we attempted a "family fun" night at the Florence Freedom game. 
Overall, it wasn't quite the magical night I had hoped for but it ended well as you can see in the photos below.  It was "Princess Night" at the ballpark so Lucy got to meet and greet all kinds of beautiful princesses.

Since Rapunzel is my favorite princess, Lucy wanted to get a picture of me with her, too! 

My girl wasn't shy at all and talked to every princess there (except Tinkerbell...we didn't make it over to her for some reason, though we talked to her grouchy friend Vidia) and practiced her princess posing all night.

Max was all over the place...we wouldn't have minded letting him down to roam but he kept heading straight for steps, roped-off areas - basically anywhere dangerous or where he shouldn't have been...

He did have fun over in the play area but he quickly found the wettest spot in the mulch and planted his booty so it looked like he'd taken a nasty dump for the rest of the night...I guess it could have been worse - he could have actually taken a nasty dump!

Here's some recent fun had by the Meyers family:

On Memorial Day the girls went to the Bellevue parade with GranJan & Grandpa, Granny & Great Gpa, the Hicks family, Auntie Ema & Lukey, Aunt Terri & Uncle John and Amy & Charlie.

After the parade, the boys met us for a picnic at Donna's house.  It was a rainy morning and a slightly cooler day but it didn't stop the kids from playing in the water!  Charlie, Lucy, Luke and Max had a great time playing together!

 

Muscle Man Charlie!


A day at the Newport Aquarium - us four plus Auntie Ema, Lutey and GranJan:

Lucy got her face painted!

Lucy and Daddy braved the shark walk!

Summer lovin':

  

Wagon riding at a softball game

 

This guy is crazytown...I bought this snail sprinkler at the end of the season on clearance at Kroger last year and just discovered it packed away in the basement recently so we got it out.  Max kept putting his face right on the stream of water and though he'd struggle to blink and breath, he wouldn't move his head!  Goofy boy...he was loving it!

I love when they play together...when she's in "big sister" mode, it's the biggest cuteness overload ever!  I could cry over how sweet she is to him!  And he loooooves her!!!

Cute kids being cute:

I can't say enough good things about our library!  We love it!  They have so many wonderful programs for kids.  We went to the Summer reading kick-off party and were a little late so we missed a lot of the action but still had so much fun.  Max especially loved the water table and bubble center.

Lucy said her favorite part was these cute chairs for her and Max to sit in together

A few weeks later, Sunrock Farm visited the library so Max and Lucy got to meet and pet several animals - goats, sheep, baby chicks and a bunny.  Max loves animals and was hugging and petting them - so sweet!  We still have to work on being easy because sometimes he grabs at their fur...

Father's Day fun:
We met up with our friends Christa, Claire bear and Karli one night to eat dinner and paint presents for their daddies at Paint & Bake Ceramics.  The girls had such a great time being creative together!

Lucy painted a penguin for her daddy and I helped both kids put their hand print on a plate for him - he loved his gifts!

Max had fun eating snacks and watching the girls!

Dave got to meet Lucy at school one afternoon at snack time and have a little hot dog grill out!  She loved having her daddy at school with her!

On Father's Day, Dave got to golf with his dad in the morning and then we all went to Granny & Great Grandpa's house for dinner.  The little boys had a lot of fun splashing in the garden fountain!

Happy summer, friends!