National Sleepyhead Day

Jeremy found out about this holiday yesterday and let me know.  In Finland, July 27 is National Sleepyhead Day.  Traditionally, the last one still asleep wakes up by being thrown into the sea or by having water thrown on them.  So in our home, after the older two woke up, we went to pay Jr. Jr. a little visit, armed with a squirt bottle and a water pitcher.

Don't worry.  I'm not that mean.  I had the kids pose for the picture, then took the squirt bottle and pitcher and this is what really happened among the children:

Much nicer, don't you think?

So, who was the last one to wake up in your family this morning?  How did they wake up?

Water Party!

Question:  What do you get when you take a bunch of Primary kids and throw them a Summer water party?

Answer:  You get wet. You get very very wet.

We recently had a water party for the kids in our Primary and it was so fun.  I helped with a couple games.  One was me holding mason jars while kids tried to squirt water guns into them.  Some of the kids intentionally missed.  Another game was throwing wet sponge balls through rings to/at a friend (usually me) on the other side.
I got soaked.  Seriously, I think I had one dry spot on each side of me.  My back and front were saturated.  You can see in the picture, my shirt and shorts are usually lighter colored than they are here.  Nichole was more interested in her popsicle than smiling for the picture.  Great treat after a party like that.

The instructions for the sponge balls came from the website that used to be for FamilyFun Magazine.  Instead of using 5 strips, I used 3 strips from 3 sponges, though (I still cut them into 5 strips, I just used 3 from each).  They worked fine like that.  The rings I cut from cardboard then wrapped duct tape around them.  I taped the two rings together (different kids have different heights) and taped them to the pole from the volleyball net where we were having our water party.
Later on I helped fill water balloons and since I was already wet enough, I just sat down in the puddle of water by the spigot. 
On a hot day like that was, I kept pretty cool by staying wet.  Thanks, kids.

I Did It Again!

When Jr. was 2 years old, he drew on his face with a sparkly pen.  I was so proud of myself for not losing my temper.  I don't always lose my temper (though I admit sometimes I do), but the kids don't always do things (when I don't lose my temper) that are blogworthy.
This morning, my current 2 year old did something that I'm proud to say I didn't lose my temper over.  We were cleaning off the kitchen table and there were some containers of poster paint to put away.  I put them back in the package they came in and figured I'd just set the package on my bed while I was working on other things and put them away in the closet later.  Off I went to do other things. 
At one point I saw Jeremy in the living room with the older two kids, but I didn't see Jr. Jr.  I checked in his room; he wasn't there.  I checked back in the living room; he wasn't there.  Hmmm, maybe he was in my room.  Why yes, he was.  The talented kid was able to get the paint containers out of the package, open them, and do some finger painting on our bed sheet and mattress and box spring, besides dripping paint on whatever was lying on the floor at the time.
I called on Jeremy for help and as he was leading Jr. Jr. to the bathroom to get his hands cleaned off, he reminded me to grab the camera.
So, here you go:

Even though we didn't lose our temper, Jr. Jr. was still upset when he had to get cleaned up.

Well, we still have a long day of cleaning ahead of us, so if you'll excuse me...

Catch of the Day

This is what my husband made for a family he home teaches.  A wearable balloon sculpture.  They had a yard sale today and were able to get some attention with one of their kids walking along the sidewalk wearing this.  At the yard sale, Jeremy also made small balloon sculptures for people.