The Sleep Pee'er Strikes Again

Jackson's sleep walking and sleep peeing are nothing new.  He did make it rain pee in the kitchen after all.

The sleep peeing has continued.  The other night I stepped in a puddle of pee underneath Jackson's bed.  He had peed on his box spring mattress and it had soaked through.  Last week I found Jackson standing in the hallway about to pee - and was able to interfere just in time.  And a few nights ago we found Jackson peeing in the kitty litter.  I'm serious.  Right in the kitty litter - through that little door in the cover.  Boy has aim I guess, even when he's sleeping.  Scooping my kid's pee in the litter was something I never imagined I would be doing.

Guess it could be worse.  I've been told some kids open their dresser drawers and pee right on their clothes.  But I did just find a bunch of wet clothes that he accidentally got wet last night and then stuffed back into his dresser while sleeping.  Awesome.  So, we are back to cutting the liquids out after 6:30 pm and doing more laundry.  I really might just make him a toga for halloween and he can go as a frat boy.

Stellar Mom Moment #132

Today I put Ryan down for his nap and set Jackson up for his rest time in the toy room.  Put on a movie so he could relax (OK, so I could too) during that hour.  Two of my friends were over and we got to watching some tv and catching up.

Rest time was over and I opened the toy room door and Jackson wasn't in there.  Searched the likely places and he wasn't there either.  Then I thought Josh must have taken Jackson with him to volleyball practice.  Left him a voice mail trying to confirm this. 3 minutes later I found Jackson sound asleep in his own bed.  Apparently my boy who no longer naps decided he needed a nap today after all.  Snuck upstairs and tucked himself in.  

After laughing at my newest stellar mom moment I realized I had just left Josh that message.  The second message was something like "don't worry.  I found Jackson.  In his bed."  Meanwhile, I didn't really know he was lost.  I thought he was with his dad.  Wish I could have erased that first voice mail.

Apple Picking Fun

September in New England means apple picking.  This is our first Fall in our new town so we decided to check out the local farm and orchard.  Our kids get so excited for these traditions and Ryan has continued to talk about apple picking for the last month now.


How can you say no to your kids asking you to pose with them?  You don't.  :)

And then it was off to the picking.  The best apples are always at the top.  This is how it's done Gray style.

And there's always some tasting.

And one really good picture :)

Until next Fall.  

October is here!

October is here.  While Caroline was at school Jackson, Ryan and I spent the morning with great friends at our place today.  In between bike, scooter and wagon rides in the driveway I snuck in a little craft.  Hand print spider webs.

Go on, break those paints out with your kids.  You can do it.  I know some parents avoid this stuff because it can get messy - but kids really LOVE it.  Washable paints, cheap paper plates and white string or yarn - that's all you need.  So, deep breath...and dive in parents!

Punch holes around the paper plates.  Let the kids choose the color to paint their plate.  Jackson chose blue, as he always does.  Ryan went along with orange.  Then paint their hand (minus the thumb) with black or brown and make two hand prints - overlapping the palms.  Glue some googly eyes (you can use white paint if you don't have eyes around) and let it dry.  Let your kids practice pushing the yarn or string through the punched holes (Ryan needed some help with his, but made a great effort).  I knotted and taped the yarn behind the plate to secure them.  

These make great Fall decorations for your home, or if you like, grandparents and long distance relatives love hand print crafts from the little ones they don't get to see often.  Happy October!


To check out the original link:  http://www.momendeavors.com/2012/10/halloween-kids-craft-handprint-spiders-in-a-diy-lacing-card-web.html