Signage

We make signs for things... we make "labels" for things... we make nametags for things...

Here are a few snippets of the signage around here:

Jonathan made this sign (and asked for my help to finish it) one day when he was feeling territorial about his lego creations.  Do you understand why we have sibling disputes around here?  We are never lacking for teaching moments about sharing and the like.

Dad's Night

Jonathan's lovely preschool had a night when the fathers attended a fun evening with their children.  They had a grand time!!  Jonathan answered the following questions about his dad prior to the evening and gave them the sheet that evening:

My dad is 26 years old.
His hair is black and his eyes are green.
My dad likes to wear shorts and short sleeves.
He loves to eat pizza.
He is smart because he knows about dogs.
My dad works hard at the garden.
Daddy always tells me he loves me.
It makes my dad happy when the Hawkeyes win.
I really love it when my dad plays with me.
If I could give my daddy anything it would be $100.
My favorite thing about my dad is he is good at playing with me.
Love, Jonathan

Just to be clear, James is not 26.  I am not 8 years older... he is 26+10.


Caleb and I had a "date" the evening of "Dad's night".  We went to eat at a nearby restaurant that has delicious fried pickles and sweet potato fries.  He ate those and drank some orange soda.  It was a lovely date with such a sweet little guy.  "I like to go wif you, momma."  Me, too.  I like to go with you, Caleb.

Fun Dog Walker

We have an entrepreneur in the house... Jonathan decided one day that he wanted to start a business: dog walking.  He named his business: "Fun Dog Walker" and made fliers with Jamie advertising his business.  One time around the block for $0.25.  Call Sarah Guild if interested.

We got a call from the owner of possibly the best dog ever: Grayson.  Grayson is a lovable, fun, obedient golden retriever who the boys and I walk each Wednesday.  Last Wednesday Jonathan informed me, "this is the best job I could have ever picked.  I love walking Grayson."  The boys just love that dog, and I must admit: he has won my heart, too.

Jonathan is also scheming other "fun" jobs for the summer.  In the works: selling a little bit of garden produce (I have high hopes that we might produce something) beside a lemonade stand.

New things

Several transitions for our little family this month:
 - Caleb rarely naps anymore as a nap results in hours spent awake at bedtime.
 - The elimination of the pacifier for the littlest Guild went surprisingly well.  There was crying and whimpering during the first two nights but after that... he is sleeping well and life is moving on.
 - Jonathan's finger sucking time drew to a close as we decided to eliminate Caleb's pacifier.  He tapes his first two fingers each night and has put away his blankie.  In his words, "the blankie makes it too tempting to suck on my fingers."  He, also, did much better than I thought he would.

We are gardening, again.  This time I sought out a bit of advice from my Uncle Steve, who has tomatoes that anyone would be proud to claim.  We built raised beds and started some (OK, way TOO many) seeds inside.  After realizing that we have way, way too many "plants" indoors and that often seeds do better when just planted in the ground... we will approach things differently next year.  However, our indoor extravaganza is doing well and we are looking forward to some good time spent in the dirt and playing with the hose this summer. :+)

 Hee Hee... we have eighty little seed starters with plants in them.  We realistically have room for about 20-25 plants.

 Oh, such nostalgia about these plants.  Would love for these gems to grow and flourish.

 The children helped extensively with the seed distribution in the the little squares.  It is recommended to have no more than two plants per square: we're averaging between 7 and 10 plants per square.  So, we've been thinning.

Hoping my black thumb turns green and we have lots of good eats to show for our fun.

Just a Little Construction

James built the boys a puppet show/store front/whatever else they think of stage last weekend.  The boys helped a great deal while all decked out in their Home Depot aprons.  They love working together with their dad.

After a Lovely Day...

We had a lovely day.  James had the day off so I could go to an appointment.  We spent a lot of time outside, got our seeds planted in the "seed starters".  We are gardening, yet again.  I am stubborn and am insistent that I will figure out this coveted skill sometime and have something to show for it.

Now, however, we are in the process of getting rid of Caleb's pacifier.  Yes, I know he is three and some of you will likely think that three is too old for a pacifier.  Think what you want, things were going along in a spiffy manner until the dentist told us the thing had to go.  Based upon Caleb's bite, he knew he had a pacifier before I even told him.  The fact that his teeth are totally out of whack in a certain way was a clear give-away.  Uugh.  So, bye bye, pacifier.  These transitions are not easy and no amount of "proper" preparation was going to make this easy (except not giving it to him in the first place... not an option we considered :+).

On the bright side, once the pacifier is gone, his teeth should go back to a somewhat proper placement within six months given that we get rid of the thing now.

Happy Birthday, Dear Grampie

My dearest dad celebrated his 70th birthday with us last weekend.  Seventy years.  This momma couldn't have had a better father if I could have dreamed him up myself.  My boys share in the fruit of something God did a long time ago in drawing that man to a life of walking with Jesus.  We had a whee of a time celebrating... some of his favorite foods, fun outside, 70 things we love about Grampie/Papa/Dad, and some of the most laughter-inducing memories from his siblings from "growing up Iverson".  We all laughed harder at some of those stories than we have laughed in a great long while.

 Grampie and Caleb were pegged as the "cheering section" for the "Royals (aka Jonathan)

 "The Royals", up to bat

We love you, Grampie, Dad!