Month: April 2015

This weekend we were in Brooklyn for Farm Clean up 2015!  The kids were beyond excited and couldn’t wait to get to the Farm.  Noomi kept saying, first we work and then we get to ride the horses!  Ajax agreed, though after the work he had no desire to sit on Frannie.  In all fairness she is incredibly tall.

I would say if it is one trait that describes my family and the characteristic that we most respect, it would be work ethic.  Hard work is very important to us.  It’s a trait that Dave had, and one that was tested when my mom and dad put him to work during his first visit to my family’s farm.  It is also a trait that my kids have and it makes me so very very proud.

My cousin Nick came out and trimmed up a large willow tree and then we gathered up the limbs, cutting some down, and building up a huge burn pile.  We did some tractor work, picking up dead limbs.  The kids helped muck and pick up poop (Noomi had a hard time using the shovel so she kept picking up the poop with her hands and then putting it on her shovel to put into the bucket).  At one point, all us adults (Dave, Emily, Adrian, Grandpa Gordy, Nick, and I) were tired and taking a break, talking, and the only one still working was Ajax!  That kid never stopped.  He stacked up piles of small logs to burn and organized the trailer.  He was happy and enthusiastic and so much fun to work with.

Overall, a productive weekend, but oh so tiring!  Noomi was in bed at 6:30 tonight, she was so tired.

Well we finally got a baby gate for Noomi’s toddler bed as the child kept falling out of the bed.  We really thought she would get better at sleeping in a bed, but she hasn’t.  The other night she fell out twice and that’s when I threw in the towel and bought a gate.  Noomi loves the little pink gate and after her first night using it woke up so proud of herself, saying – I didn’t fall out of my big girl bed.

Regarding Noomi’s shiner, when I picked her up from school on Monday the teachers were a bit panicky as I walked in because they thought she got it on their watch and no one knew what happened.  Noomi, herself, was no help as she kept saying that her friend Bear hit her.   I assured them that the shiner happened on our watch.  They were much relieved.  All the way home, however, Noomi kept telling me how Bear hit her and that’s how she got a black eye.  I told her that wasn’t true, but she argued with me all the way home.

The other day when I was driving home with Noomi she informed me that a wolf had bitten her on the leg.  She stated that it happened in her room and that there were about 2-5 wolves in her room.  She stated this was very upsetting and that she didn’t want to be bitten by wolves.  We had an extensive conversation about this topic.  I asked if maybe Ajax had bitten her and not a wolf?  She stated, no mom, Ajax is a VERY NICE BOY and he wouldn’t bit me- The wolf bit me!   When we got home Dave and Noomi examined her room for wolves and Dave gave it the all clear.

The next morning when we were driving to school Noomi again explained to me that she had again been bitten by a wolf.  She stated that it was Papa’s wolf (Papa is Dave’s dad).  I said that Papa didn’t have any wolves, but she insisted he did.  I asked if it was Mabel and she said no.  I asked if it was Millie and she said no.  I asked if it was Eli and she said no.  Well, that’s all of Papa’s dogs, no wolves.  But again, Noomi insisted a wolf bit her.  At school I explained to the teacher that Noomi was not bitten by a wolf and that we don’t even have a dog.

Dave and I believe that she is having nightmares about the wolves in the movie Frozen.  She hasn’t slept well in the past 2 weeks and has been getting up anywhere from 1 to 3 times per night, crying and upset, clearly having a nightmare.  So we’ve quietly put Frozen away for now, that Disney musical may be too much for Ms. Noomi.  The most action packed thing she watches is Elmo and Chugginton.

Another side note – Noomi has been crackign herself up lately playing a little game.  She will point to herself and say, you’re not Noomi,I’m Noomi!  Then she’ll laugh and point to Ajax and say, you’re not Ajax you’re daddy!  This always make’s Ajax mad.  She find’s it hilarious.  She also finds it necessary to introduce herself.  Thus far she has insisted on introducing herself to her teacher every time she gets a diaper change.  When the teacher gets her for a change, she says – Hi I’m Noomi!  The teacher will say, yes, Hi Noomi.  Every time to the same teacher.   The teacher says this has been going on for about 2 weeks now, lol.

What an enjoyable weekend.  The weather was perfect and sunny and we were able to spend most of it outdoors.

On Saturday, we took the kids to the MSU Science Festival.  We didn’t realize what a large event it was and ended up spending most of the day there.  We walked around campus and checked out some really cool exhibits, all of which were hands-on and kid friendly.  Ajax’s favorite thing was painting with insects.  The kids were provided with maggots which they then picked up with tweezers and placed into paint and then back onto their paper.  Ajax thought it was the coolest thing.  It was hard to tell what Noomi’s favorite thing was… she enjoyed looking at the turtles and gluing macaroni to a large collage of the state of Michigan.  Both kids were pretty beat when we got home.  Unfortunately, we missed Noomi’s napping window so she refused to nap.  The kids then spent the afternoon playing outside with the neighborhood kids.

On Sunday, we took it easy and did some cleaning and laundry.  The kids then spent the afternoon again running around with neighbor kids.  When it was time to come in for dinner it began raining, so that seemed to be perfect timing.  Overall, a very nice weekend.  Oh, Ajax also did a homework assignment with Dave. He had to write out simple instructions for a task. Any task, he was free to chose and then on Monday he has to present it to the class. He opted to show his class how to use his electric pencil sharpener.  I went ahead and bought a pack of pencils for the whole class so that they could all try it out.  He’s pretty pumped about it, lol.

Noomi is rounding off this weekend with multiple bruises and a black eye.  We’re unsure how exactly she got the black eye – it could have been when she fell down the last 4 steps into the basement while she was chasing Ajax (luckily she was wearing her bike helmet which saved her head from the basement floor), or it could have been when she randomly flipped off the coffee table and hit herself in the face with her own knee, or it could have been when she was trying to race past me into the kitchen while I was carrying a large plastic bin – she hit the corner of the bin and bounced into a kitchen cabinet. We’re not really sure, but any of the above-listed incidents could have been the cause.

It’s spring break I have the week off and I have given up potty training.  Dave pointed out that I was making myself crazy and Noomi simply isn’t ready.  I, however, feel she should be ready and like an over controlling parent have been pushing the issue.  This has not gone over very well and the household has been a slightly tense environment.   My type A personality needs to simmer down a bit.  I guess we’ll hit up the store and buy some more diapers.  I was so intent on potty training that I refused to buy anymore so we have very few left in the house.  I’m worried this starting/stopping will make it even more difficult to potty train Noomi later on, but goodness she is being so stubborn about potty training.  How can you tell between stubbornness and simple not-ready?  Maybe my memory is poor but I don’t recall Ajax being this difficult to potty train.

Here are some pictures of the kids playing in their dirt hole.  They were digging and digging and working so hard.  We were only able to get out for a short time as it’s been cold and rainy.