July 1st the boys went shooting with Dane. It was Hinckley's first time shooting a BB gun.
He had an excellent line coach.
The next day we headed up to Utah right after church. We had a week of fun ahead of us.
On Monday, we went to the Freedom Festival in Utah County. It was awesome! We were able to check out the Military History Days section, which was all about World War II (which we had been studying in June!) Atticus was on cloud nine.
We also checked out the Colonial section. We learned so much and had a blast.
That evening we headed up to my dad's house. After dinner we were able to go to the "concert in the park" that Plain City holds every year.
Lucy especially loved the music and got to dance with my dad. Watching her brought back such fond memories of being a little girl and dancing with him.
The next morning was the 4th.
We got decked out in our red, white and blue before walking over to the park to watch the kids' first parade.
Hinckley was in a pretty rotten mood but cheered up when he found a (pretty disgusting!) ball in the gutter.
My dad was playing with his band, so we got to cheer for him.
After the kids had filled their hats with candy, we packed a lunch and headed to a nearby town's festival (my step-mom's daughter was in charge.) It was a blast!
We got there just in time for the "fish scramble."
Then Atticus randomly joined a pie-eating contest and got 2nd place. He was pretty proud of himself.
The kids played in the carnival and had an especially great time playing in a foam party.
That evening after a BBQ with some of Terree's family Atticus got to see his first real firework show in person. That, alone, was worth the whole trip for me. The others were exhausted and had gone to bed. Poor Hinckley was a sick little guy for most of this trip.
We spent the next day at Willard Bay. It was delightful.
That evening we got some quality time with my family and sang some songs. It was then that I noticed I was losing my voice.
The next morning my voice was completely gone! We headed back to Bob and Marti's house for a day of rest before heading home. The kids enjoyed their giant bathtub.
When we got home poor Hinckley was exhuasted. He hadn't been himself the entire trip and he was having another meltdown as we unloaded the car. I walked into the room with a load of luggage and found the scene you see in the picture below: Atticus trying to calm him down by reading a book to him. It worked. I wish I could say this happens all the time. It doesn't but I am so grateful for when it does.
It had been an amazing trip but we did pay for it. Whatever illness little Hinckley had had ended up making its rounds through almost all of us, including sweet Baby Israel. I lost my voice for a week and all of the kids struggled in many ways. Thankfully, the illness passed.
About halfway through the month Hinckley asked me to color him so he could look like a tiger. I told him no, I didn't want him to have all that marker on him, especially the day before Sunday.
The next thing I knew, he looked like this. He had recruited Atticus for his help, who was happy to oblige.
The next thing I knew, he looked like this. He had recruited Atticus for his help, who was happy to oblige.
Pretty soon the kids looked like this...
Atticus was a wolf and Lucy was another ("Pink!") tiger. They were so cute with their play for the next hour or so. The bath water, on the other hand, was anything but cute that evening!
This month has also been a big one because two of our favorite families came to visit.
First the Belluses came through so we got to see them a couple times.
Then the Whitakers came through for a longer stay.
McKay had a baby 6 days before our little Israel was born and it was so fun to meet her!
Liza Jay, we love you!
The kids were able to hold a lemonade stand together and boy, was it hot! Fortunately, people were very generous again and so their hard, hot work paid off.
One of the last times we saw them we had poetry tea time together. It was SO much fun and the boys all wrote and illustrated poems afterward.
Israel got his second tooth on the fourth of July! He also started rolling (on purpose) the second we put him on the floor at Bob and Marti's two days earlier. He had always rolled by accident before then. I guess the long car ride gave him an extra boost of energy... or frustration?
This month he also took off with his Johnny Jump-up He LOVES jumping!
He turned 5 months on the 21st. We've tried a fair amount of foods and he's liked pretty much everything so far. His tummy doesn't always agree with them later, but he's very enthusiastic about trying them and licks his lips all the time when he watches us eat.
He's had his fair share of pool time, too. He didn't love it the first time he got in the big pool but he seems to look forward to it, now.
Here he is, side by side, with another little friend, who is just a week or so older. Their personalities are so similar right now, it's hilarious to watch them together.
Lucy took off in the pool this month. She has always loved the water and since it has been so hot and hard to go anywhere between Israel's naps and her big nap, it was just easier to jump in the pool with her. We ended up swimming just about every day at least once and it paid off. She is so confident now that she can make her way to and from the deep end without help. She still needs a LOT of watching but it is such a relief to see her swimming so quickly and taking little breaths here and there.
She is still not going on the potty consistently. It can be a little frustrating but, especially after seeing how she taught herself to swim, I feel strongly that if I push her she will push back. So, for now, I let her choose if she wants undies or a diaper. We'll see what August brings us in this department.
I may have mentioned previously that her favorite princess right now is Cinderella. Well, the other day she wanted to "wash a floh-ahs" and I let her. It was the cutest thing. We turned on the "Oh, Sing Sweet Nightingale" song from the movie and she scrubbed the kitchen floor for a good half hour. She made it look so fun that Hinckley joined her.
I also wanted to make note of the times she has snuck into my makeup bag. For the longest time she has been putting lipstick above her lip (so it looks like a red Hitler mustache.) I didn't understand why until this month. When I asked her, "Why do you put it above your lips?" she replied, "I cahn't see it!" So I pulled out some darker lipstick, put it on her lips and asked if she could see that. She could, and the next time she snuck into my bag she came out proudly wearing that darker lipstick on her lips. I know what we're getting her for her third birthday!
Listen to Lucy:
- "I just... I just... I just want to DANCE!" (At the concert in the park up in Plain City.)
- "Mustache Guy." (Uncle Corky)
- "I want big ulcicorn." (Unicorn.) ("What about this [stuffy]?") "No! I cahn't squeeze it!"
- "I have milk in my tummy." (Holding her stuffed unicorn under her shirt, pretending to nurse him.)
- "This is owie brush! I don't like owie brush!" (Throws the comb across the room. This happens daily.)
- "I love beetos!" (Burritos)
- "I love Dad." ("Do you love Mommy?") "No. I love Dad."
- "I high." ("Do you mean tall?") "Yup."
Hinckley officially tied his first bows this month. He still needs practice to get them every time but he's done it successfully quite a few times.
Man, has he had some mean, mean moments and days this month.
One evening we were waiting for him to brush his teeth so we could pray before they went to bed when we heard a thud from the bathroom. He came back into the room, furious, and pointed at me, yelling, "THAT WAS YOUR FAULT! YOU put the stool in the WRONG PLACE!" and stormed out. It was like that way too often. Especially for a little guy who can be so pleasant.
As you can see in a lot of these pictures, he ordered a new Spin costume and it took a while to get here, which caused some frustration. Then, when it came, the mask didn't fit right, which led to tantrums and losing the costume for some time. Then there was a hole in the toe, then another hole in a finger... the list of reasons for tantrums went on and on. One day, his tantrums led to him missing a swim lesson, which he had to pay for.
It was an expensive life lesson for him and an exhausting day for us.
Thankfully, as I'm writing this in August, we've had three very good days with Hinckley, in a row. I don't have it 100% figured out but I think I understand a few of the reasons he was struggling so much and I hope to be able to have more and more of these good days in the weeks to come.
Atticus has decided that he is the "General" of his army club and takes that role very seriously. He'll wear Dane's beret around the neighborhood and I've seen him "inspect" and "drill" his soldiers. It's so adorable.
While he is far from perfect, he was so much fun to take in Utah. He used his tickets in the carnival to be in the dunk tank and was such a good sport about it.
He has been spending a TON of time at practices and games with his new club team. It's been strange not having him there at night when I put the other kids down for bed. Sometimes I'm grateful that they can get more of my attention, other times we all miss him. We're still getting used to it. But he says he loves his team.
Atticusisms:
- "How can I make some easy money around here?" (To Bobba when he first arrived in Utah.)
- "Hinckley, it's not my fault that you don't love America." (When Hinckley grumpily ripped off all his patriotic gear on the 4th of July.)
- "Watch out. You're going to faint and a homeless person is going to pee on you." (When he heard his dad was going to go running in the heat.)
- "But that's communism!" (When I told him that we'd split the money from the lemonade stand evenly.)
- ("Are you going to wear that [beret] to your lesson?") "I don't care. I'm fearless. I'm a general."
A very sweet story I'd like to share involves both of the boys, so I'll put it here.
Hinckley was taking swim lessons and since they were at the same time as his good friend, he was getting a ride with them every week. Well, one week his mouth must have gotten away from him because he spread a pretty nasty story about his brother to the friends in the car.
I overheard what had been said and asked Hinckley to come and talk to me in his room. When I confronted him he denied that anything had happened at first Then he made excuses, telling me how mean Atticus is to him all the time, which isn't a lie. Finally, he admitted it had been wrong but felt so afraid to make it right, telling me that Atticus would beat him up.
After a good ten minutes, he finally worked up the courage to tell his brother. As he told Atticus, he started to cry and Atticus rushed over to him and hugged him, saying, "I forgive you." I teared up, watching the whole thing. I want to be able to forgive people so completely and lovingly. It was a huge learning experience for me.
A half hour or so later Hinckley ran up to me and said, "Mom, I told Atticus the truth!"
I replied, "I know! Doesn't it feel good?"
I'm pretty sure he agreed as he ran off to play some more.
Homeschool this month was focused on Russia and Eastern Europe.
We watched Anastasia, An American Tail and Fiddler on the Roof. We read a bunch of Russian folk tales and had beef stroganoff, which is always a hit over here. We also made Goulash, which also a favorite and originated in Hungary. We listened to Peter and the Wolf and works by Tchaikovsky. We also had a lot of fun listening to the Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2 and watching different cartoons in which it is featured.
I had intended to study the Cold War up until the present day but we ended up learning even more about World War II. We watched a documentary that I highly recommend, titled World War II in Color.
Now that August is here we get to start our yearly rotation again, and I can't wait! I'm especially excited because this year we begin a new, incredible program- Belle Ame at Home.
I'll let you know how it goes in a month.
