sleeping arrangements

This weekend we decided we would set up our new (last year) tent that we have only used once in the basement. Kind of a practice run. Of course, the kids love it, and the inevitable question came which was could they sleep in the tent. We decided to try it out. We were hesitant about this. Last summer, when the kids slept together it was not really a fun deal. At Aunt Laci & Uncle Ryan's, it took forever for them to go to sleep, at Grandma's house on the 4th of July, they woke up at like 5 in the morning, and the one time we did go camping, sleep didn't really happen at all... I tried to have them sleep together at home before we did these things, but that never worked either.

So, we decided to try it, if it didn't work out, well we'd just put them in their beds. It's funny how different they are. Finn is quiet and falls asleep pretty quickly. Burgundy, on the other hand, lays in her bed and talks, and yells, and sings (loudly) for an hour or more before she falls asleep. Last year, Finn got pretty frustrated. This time, we told him, baby likes to talk to herself before she falls asleep, so you just try to ignore it and go to sleep anyway. And that is what he did. She had an hour-long conversation (more like a musical, bursting into song every now and then), but he was fast asleep. Once she fell asleep, they both slept great and didn't wake up any earlier than normal. Good news!

So they slept in there all weekend. They loved it. Tonight, they are both in Finn's room. And as far as I know, they are both asleep. This is a good thing. This makes me feel like we are finally to the point where we can go more places. They are really good travelers, just the sleeping thing has always been a worry, and how often does someone have 3 spare rooms when you visit them? Not often enough. So the fact that they can sleep in the same room, and the thought that we could sneak in there and go to bed a few hours later, well that just makes my heart happy.

It makes me recall all the times it just didn't work. Like camping last summer (although if I'm being honest, I loved it. Finn & Cody slept fine on one side and since I never sleep the first night of camping anyway, Burgundy and I just lay in bed all night with her little hands rubbing my cheek. Precious). I am reminded of going to Montana with Finn in a pack-n-play, not sleeping a wink due to my nervousness for the duties I had to perform the next day as well as my discomfort of being 7 1/2 months pregnant in a hotel bed and afraid to move because any sound would wake up the boy. And earlier, Finn, at just over a year old, sleeping at my parents' house in another pack-n-play. Me sitting there in the dark, waiting for him to fall asleep because if I got up to leave he would start screaming and I would have to start all over again. Ahh, memories.

here's an idea

When I was in school, my mom told a little white lie every year, in order to avoid it coming true. At the beginning of every year, she wrote a note saying I had a shoulder injury and that I needed a duplicate set of textbooks to keep at home so that I didn't have to lug 50 pounds of books to and fro every single day. That was great. I had a set of books at school to take to class, and a set of books at home to do my homework. Now, they have fun inventions like e-readers:

So, maybe for my kids' kids, or even their kids' kids, depending on how quickly the school system catches up, I bet each student will get one of these and all their textbooks will be on it. I think that's great. I bet it won't be commonplace by the time Finn starts needing to lug 50 pounds worth of books, but if I can get his textbooks on one of these, I'd be willing to buy one
just for that reason. Heck I'd buy one for each of my kids if they could use it in that capacity every year. I just think that's a cool idea.

Also, we finally got Cody's guitars up in the basement. I got him these hooks for Christmas. They look pretty.

what's happening

Well, the summer is almost upon us. This weekend Cody & I worked outside and now everything is beautiful. The garden is in, I even have some pretty pots full of loveliness decorating my back deck. It makes me want to spend more time outside! Today, although it wasn't quite warm enough, we pulled out the little plastic pool & the slip n slide. Let summer begin!

Finn has about one more week of school, then he will no longer be a preschooler. Lately, it has seemed like he isn't hearing us as well as he should. I am trying to figure out if it is selective hearing or an actual physical problem. We have tried to test him, like when he doesn't hear us, saying something like, "Finn, do you want a piece of candy?" and usually he doesn't respond to that either which tells me there could be something wrong. So, I am taking him in on Thursday to have them check it out. Paula said Cody had the same issue at the same age and it was due to fluid in the ears from him being sick all the time. I buy that. Especially since Finn has been sick way more than I'd like this winter. So we'll see what the doctor says.

What else... I need a bike rack. Here's my current bike rack:
It would probably be easier if I had one that hooked onto the back of my car rather than having to pull a 20 foot trailer everywhere I go. Yeah. I need a bike rack for sure.

I am still working on my goal of 50 books in 2010. I am on number 20 right now, and seeing as this is the 20th week of the year I'm doing pretty good - right on schedule (see the list on the right hand side of this blog).

If you read my last post you know we had to get rid of our dog Rigby. That was a sad deal. I was going to do a big long update about that, but it made me too sad. But the good news is, the lady we gave him to emails me pretty much every day to let me know how he's doing. She has another Schnauzer who is 2 years old and they seemed perfectly matched when we brought Rigby over there. Apparently they are, she says he is doing extremely well, he follows her dog around everywhere and they just play and play all the live long day. So that makes my heart happy to know that he is doing so well and that he is in a place where the people are very excited and happy to have him. We definitely miss him, but it's the best possible situation for him right now.

Next month, Finn will be starting baseball and we will have swimming lessons at the end of June. There's never a dull moment around here. That's all the news I have at the moment. I will update again soon!