Six!

This year for Buddy's Birthday we had a 'beach party' in the basement.

Being the good, timely, on the ball parents that we are, we sent invitations out.... five days ahead of time.  oops.

Since invites went out so late, I let the boy invite 14 of his closest friends... expecting to have only a few show up.  Of course, almost all of them came, and including Buddy & Cuppa, we had a full basement with 13 children.

Each child got a Hawaiian lei upon arrival

And I was very lucky to find a free beach printable pack online to decorate with:

(Buddy helped cut out some of the smaller circles)

We had games, like fishing:

Pin the flag on the castle:

And everyone's favourite, the limbo.... they limbo'd under, they jumped over, they just kept going around & around 

A pinata, because we just didn't learn last year:

(The pinata is fun, but the kids just can't break it.  And inside, it was slightly hazardous)

Food, of course:

Where, despite having 13 children on a mostly white carpet, there were no messes..... we had a 'picnic'

And floats:

And all of his friends brought him some great presents:

It was an exhausting two hours, but well worth it.  Despite having planned activities,the kids mostly kept drifting into the toyroom to play, which was fine.

The kids each took home a loot bucket with treats and beach toys:

Which served the secondary purpose as a place to put the pinata treats and any prizes won throughout the party.

It was a fun & exciting two hours for all of the kids!

We interrupt this project for Beaver Buggies!

So this post was supposed to be about routering out the number line rail, but instead I'm sharing Beaver Buggies. Why? Because Beaver Buggies are cool, and Buddy made one, and because its freezing in the garage right now so I need to buy time on the whole woodworking thing until its warm enough that I can actually stand being in the garage working.

So here is Buddy with his Beaver Buggy:

He made it all by himself.

So Beaver Buggies are like cub cars, except that all the kids can do for customization is to add stickers and paint.  The rules are super simple... Beaver Buggies are not to race, they are just to drive down the pinewood track. They are for fun, and are non-competitive. I embraced that spirit and actually let Buddy do his car on his own. All I did was to attach the nails that hold the wheels on - and even then, he did two of them while I held the buggy.

Apparently I am naive.

The Beaver Buggies were lined up on the Pinewood track for a non-competitive run, and the kids were encouraged to cheer on their buggies. Dads stood on the sidelines in anticipation. There was a countdown and the non-competitive buggies raced down the track. The father who had aligned wheels and straightened axles on his son's buggy was particularly vocal, shouting to his son that they won EVERY RACE!!!

After a couple more whoops like that the scouter running the non-competitive event started doing silly things with the cars, like turning them sideways on the track, or running them backwards, etc.

Good guy scouter knew where it was at.

After 20 minutes of running cars down the pinewood track, everyone switched spots, and buddy got to go into the story station to hear stories and try to get his pinewood drivers licence. Then it was into Beaver Buggy Bowling where the buggies were mercilessly smashed into Spongebob figures to see who could cause the most destruction in 20 minutes. This proved to be much fun.

We went home tired and happy with new badges and a slightly marred Beaver Buggy. Next year I'll be bringing more tools to beaver buggy building night though. The non-competitive event is a little more fun for the boys when their buggy is competitive.

On Potty training.

As parents, I think we have done a pretty good job with our boys. They are engaged and interested, respectful and have good manners. They set the table and play nicely and can sit still if taped to the couch, but there is one area where, as parents, we have some learning to do.

It is not uncommon for our boys to not feel like peeing in the toilet. We'll be sitting at dinner, and that aroma starts to rise, and I know right away that someone is enjoying their meal more than they'd enjoy a trip to the loo (my darlin'). What is more mystifying is that between the two boys, the older one is the most likely to make an appearance with a circle of shame in his crotch. The younger one is more likely to yell "HAFTA PEEEEEE!!!!!!!!" as he goes charging down the hall. I can't figure out where we've gone wrong with the potty training.

I would expect that most people's five year olds would struggle with counting backwards, but have mastered going to the bathroom. At our house it is the inverse. We've got smart kids who just don't care about pee(r) pressure.

We have tried nearly everything on this front. Rewards, hugs, treats, privileges, negative reinforcement, shaming, etc. and we just can't get that breakthrough to our kids that this actually matters. Especially in the privacy of our own home where they are comfortable and unjudged. If you want to see wet pants, come watch TV with us for half an hour.

What has been successful was the most ridiculous reward of all. Points.

At some point, when Cuppa was on the toilet, I gave him a high five for peeing and shouted out "Ten Points for Cuppa!!" He beamed from ear to ear, jumped down and ran to tell Buddy that he had ten points. After that, the kids would come to me soliciting and negotiating how many points their pee or poo was worth. I don't know what the points are supposed to add up to. I don't think the boys know either. As long as they go pee in the toilet, I don't care. We negotiate a point value, have a high five, and everyone is happy.

At bedtime, whoever has had dry pants all day gets to snuggle in Dad's bed for a book and a treat. Most nights one boy snuggles with me. We are still working through the Halloween candy we collected back in October. It makes good treats. Advent and Christmas undermined this tradition since there were Christmas specials and stories and treats galore all through December, but I think things are starting to get back on track.

We've been reading Captain Underpants for our bedtime stories lately, and since they are chapter books (with much silliness) the boys are hooked on finding out what happens next every night. I think that missing a chapter is an issue to them. Last night Buddy said, "I better have dry pants tomorrow!" after a particularly suspenseful end to a chapter. I guess they know what's supposed to happen, but its just not clicking.

Night training is a complete and utter loss right now. the other night poor cuppa soaked his 'bedtime underpants" (pull-ups) and his sheets and comforter. I heard him whimpering in the night, and when I reached his room , he was shivering away on a corner of his bed, curled up in a ball, trying to stay warm. We changed him and his bed, Momma snuggled him for a while, and in the morning he oblivious to the whole thing. So much for the school of hard knocks.

I have no idea how to get into night training when we can't get decent traction through the day. We've tried sleep-pees and timers. We've tried with and without pull-ups. They just sleep right through the event(s) every night.

This is frustrating to me. When Chuck was toilet trained, she was 3. We sent her to Grandma's house for the weekend, and she came home wearing big girl panties and proudly peeing in the toilet. In a weekend, dammit! No night time issues, nothing. The only time she wet herself after that was on camping trips when she couldn't get out of her sleeping bag. And she was embarrassed and woeful then, not ambivalent - even proud, like the boys. Maybe I suck as a parent. Grandma tells me she just told Chuck to pee in the toilet and that was that.

I worry for the boys. Cuppa is starting to show signs of skin problems like rashes and eczema, and sleeping in urine can't help that. Buddy is hiding wet underwear and finding ways to sneak away when he pees himself, both at home and school, and I don't want sneaky kids. Momma is up to 5 baskets of laundry a week. The 2 boys make up 4 of those baskets.

So I'm looking for input. After 2 years of trying, how do you move your kids to a fresh start, or get them to understand the need for decent bathroom habits? What worked for you and what were your challenges? What strategies are there to get kid with a chronic bedwetting problem to move into the world of the dry? Please share - I'm getting desperate!

Investiture Night!

Tonight Buddy said his Beaver Promise, Law, and Motto, and received his Beaver scarf and woggle

This Year's Halloween line up

The boys out front getting ready to leave....

Cuppa goes as a giraffe (and this is the first year he has worn a costume not previously worn by Buddy)

And Buddy goes as a ghost…. no a witch… no Mama, a ghost…. but maybe a witch….really mama, I just want to be scary.

 Either way, he & Daddy had fun making this one together :)

Halloween Lights

For Halloween this year the boys & I made 'mummy lanterns.'

They were very easy to set up, make and clean up, and the boys and I are happy with our results.

we started out with a 500ml wide mouth mason jar, they each had a small tub of modge podge, and a paint brush.

Paint the modge podge onto the jar.

wrap the jar in gauze (we had old first aid gauze that we used, but if you used self-sticking gauze, you could probably skip the modge podge).

Add a pair of googly eyes, and put a tealight inside!

Somebunny Came to our House (Easter recap)

This year with two little guys & one big girl, when the bunny came, he brought baskets for everyone, but the littles did the hunting, then shared with their sister.

In just about every photo of the little guys they are a blur…. No time for pictures Mom, there's treats to be found!

Cuppa, after leaving his room, finds 'evidence' in the hallway.

Buddy brings his basket up from the living room to show us that "The Bunny JUMPED up into my closet and got my basket and put it downstairs!"

The crazy rabbit made a phone call!

Apparently, chocolate bunnies in the hands of little boys make great action figures