Happy with my Magic Number

One of my friends just had a baby.  We went and visited her and her newest little in the hospital and for the first time EVER, holding a newborn didn't make me want a new one.

Maybe it is because we had had a particularly awesome day.

My three little Curly's had cleaned their rooms to the point where I could actually vacuum without me standing over them or yelling, I just got to praise them (2 beans in ALL the jars!).

They voluntarily played in our yard for 2 hours without coming in and out or begging me to push them on the swing again and again and again.  They blew bubbles and made up games and just had a great time.  Came in all grimy and starving just in time for lunch - WHICH THEY ACTUALLY ATE.

They got along during quiet time, doing worksheets to help prepare for school (which is coming up SO fast) and stayed there until I said they could be free.
Then we went to the ice cream park.  This park is huge and awesome, mostly because they can run everywhere and I can sit on a bench and crochet.  Which is what I did.

For over an hour, my three played together, following my guidance of ignoring the nasty-talking 5th graders who were running around.
As I sat and watched them play, I thanked God for my THREE.  With three, they have all learned to play with kids of varying age and skill levels without leaving anyone out.  They've learned to share and have to wait an "extra" turn out while the other two do something. They've learned sometimes kids who are playing alone don't really want to be alone, but sometimes they do.
(A new little girl showed up and Curly Girl was trying to make friends with her.  The girl finally said "would you please leave me alone, I'm trying to find my friends." I held my breath to see Curly Girl's response, she adores making new friends and is hurt when others won't play with her.  I shouldn't have worried. She turned to her brothers and said "She just wants some alone time, let's go." And moved along.)

Plus, I got really great pictures like this:

(Curly Boy was taking Not Curly to the "secret entrance" into the playset)

So yeah, that's probably why that new little baby didn't fill me with feelings of longing.  I've got three little perfects to fill me up right here.

3 is the magic number... age... whatever

Oh three. You bring such joy through trials, and pain, and patience....

Not-Curly (Curly Baby as you began) I love you.  You're enthusiasm is endearing.  Your competitiveness is worrying and amazing.  You are full tilt no matter your decision, you do nothing by halves.  And while sometimes that causes disagreements, I know it is a strength you will need in life.  Growing up is hard, but you're doing a great job of it!
Keep your love of life.  Keep your love of cars. Keep believing that you know what is absolutely best for you, despite what people around you say.  Knowing your mind is powerful.
And now you're THREE!  My baby is gone, my toddler has ran, and my preschooler, who is SO READY for kindergarten (or maybe just to be in big school like sis and brother), has one more year at home.  I know it will be a year we never forget!  I pray for you too, Not-Curly, God's blessing and provision, and that you feel his hand on your shoulder all the days of your life.

 Bucky Bear is the ultimate friend, he even protects eyes from the camera's flash!

 Not-Curly insisted on being Larry-Boy for Halloween.  He was so proud of that costume!!

Running back to the sand box with a mini dump truck to fill it up again.  Nothing better than a day outside in camo-pants and matching sweatshirt!

I still don't have a car(t)

Somedays you just got to let them be kids.

Who needs one of those fancy kid carts with the wheels?  We're sledding through Walmart!

Curly Boy was holding the sugar and pepsi, so he decided his car cart ran off of sugar.

And yes, those are eggs in Not Curly's cart.  Terrifying, he has no sense of driving in a straight line! Or stopping before he hits something!

While this wasn't the fastest way through Walmart, I only needed 4 things, and I made several different employees smile at my two little boys laughing and giggling their way through the aisles.

Post title is a riff off of Ferris Bueller "She got a car, I got a computer..... I still don't have a car.... I could be the Walrus, I'd still have to bum rides off of people."  Love that movie!

Caterpillar Crunching

We learned when Curly Boy was about 18 months old, that night terrors are common in men on Mr. Curly's side of the family.
Curly Boy had them for several months, and still does. Though now they usually come when he's going through a growth spurt, had a traumatic event (tonsil surgery), or we've been travelling for awhile.

Not-Curly (my new name for Curly Baby aka Curly Boy 2, since his hair is decidedly NOT curly, unless it is long enough to mistake him for a girl) has had one or two episodes, but last night was a new one.

Last night around 11 Not-Curly came in asking to sleep with us.  I let him into bed for about a minute, then took him back to bed, sang is lullaby and kissed him good night.  Not 10 minutes later, he was back in my room asking to sleep with me again.  When I said we all had to sleep in our own beds, he answered "No, sleep on couch with you."
I thank goodness for his verbal skills, because when I asked why he didn't want to be in his own bed he said it was because of the caterpillars.

I recruited Mr. Curly's help at this time, since he was still awake.  We took Not-Curly back to his room, where Mr. Curly crunched up all the invisible caterpillars that were on his bed.  We sang and prayed with Not-Curly and went back to bed.

He didn't have the greatest night, but I was thankful that going along with the idea that his bed was full of caterpillars helped him calm down and get back to sleep.

Great Acoustics - The Bane of My Existence

This event actually happened before Thanksgiving, but I didn't have a chance to blog then, so here is our story now.

It was the community Thanksgiving service, held at St. Joseph Catholic church.  This was our second attendance, and we already knew it was mainly an older generation service, but we took the whole family anyway.  If Mr. Curly is going to be part of the local ministerial association, than our family is going to participate in local community church events.  Right?  Right.

I should've known it was going to be bad when I herded my three young curly kids into the side entrance where we were greeted by a statue of Jesus.  "They have a Jesus statute here!" Curly Girl exclaimed.  Curly Boy found it pretty amazing too, pointing out the holes in Jesus's hand to Curly Boy 2 (who might start being called Non-Curly, but that's another post).

We made it to, well, in our church we call it the foyer, where we greeted some other pastor friends.  Curly Boy commented on the "stink" of the church - it was either incense or air freshener, I really couldn't tell.  We were waiting for Mr. Curly to park the car and join us.
He finally made it in, and we went into the sanctuary to find a seat, only Mr. Curly got stopped by another pastor.

So I was left with 3 small children who had never been in a Catholic church before and were suddenly met with the holy water fountain.  And huge stained glass windows, and the stations of the cross.  And the best acoustics you will ever find.
"Look, a fountain!"
"Yook, yook, water!"
"Where are the fish?"
"See how the water falls, momma?"
"See those windows! They're huge!"
"What is that statue thing on the wall?"
"Mom - you gotta see this place!!" (this last one was my particularly amazed 2 year old)

I finally shepherded them into the last row, well, second to last row, the last row is for handicap access.  I hushed them, Mr. Curly came in where it started all over.
"Have you seen this?  What are these?  Look at the water!" (Thankfully they didn't see the Catholics blessing themselves with the water, that would've been a whole new thing to exclaim over!)

Have you been in a Catholic church?  A whisper carries all the way to the front.  Well, my children were NOT whispering.  Which means every single person in the place heard all those announcements.

Including when Curly Boy 2 wanted to run the aisles, when he needed to go pee and poop, when Curly Girl complained that the church was too big and she couldn't see the person talking....
And to top it off, Curly Boy was bored so he counted the lights, much like his father once did during a concert of Handel's Messiah that I dragged him too.

I know, I know, they're kids.  Pastor's kids at that, which means they are particularly comfortable in a church building.  And they had never been in a Catholic church before.  But I'm pretty sure I looked like the perfect Christmas ornament with my green shirt and bright red face.





Other titles considered for this blog post:
1. Why I Will Never Go To A Catholic Church Again
2. Why yes, those are the pastor's kids swimming in the holy water
3. Gee, can't you tell we're from a small protestant church?

Living in the bathroom....

This isn't gross like the title sounds.  I just really couldn't think of anything else.

And before I even begin, please understand this: I am NOT complaining in anyway that my 2.5 yr old Curly Boy 2 decided to potty train himself just after his second birthday.  It was a huge blessing and I'm very very proud of him.  I also know he's a complete fluke and don't expect it from anybody else.

THAT being said, I REALLY wish he could figure out this clothes thing by himself!  My day sometimes FEELS (but isn't really) like this (my responses in italics):

Hey Mom, I just ate, I need to poop.  Ok, let's go to the bathroom.
I just took a drink, I need to pee.  Alright, go to the bathroom.

I"M PEEING!!! (because he doesn't know his verb tenses and he was playing hard and suddenly realized he really really really needs to go).  RUN TO THE BATHROOM.

I'm hungry.  You're not eating right now, the next meal will be soon.
I'm not hungry anymore.  I just made that food, please at least lick it.

I licked the food, I need to poop.  Go to the bathroom.
I took a drink, I need to pee.  Ok, go to the bathroom.

(repeat that cycle 3 or 4 times)

Let's go take a bath.  OK!!  Go to the bathroom.  Come on, let's hurry.  Bath water is getting cold.
Let's pee.  No.  YES, go potty BEFORE you get in the tub.  Ok.
Alright, out of the tub.  I have to potty.  Ok.
Time for bed.  I have to potty.  You just did.  I need to again.  Hurry then.
Alright, here's your kiss goodnight, I love you.  I love you too.  I need to potty.

It feels like we spend a good part of every hour walking back and forth to the bathroom.
But in-between the bathroom times we read, we play, we have fun, I clean, he makes messes, we grow.

But I really REALLY wish he could figure this clothes thing out!

Two down, one to go

That picture there?  That's my little man Curly Boy walking into his first day of preschool with his Daddy.

I haven't cried about it.... yet.

Now that Curly Girl is in school all day, and Curly Boy is gone for about 2.5 hours a day, right during Curly Boy 2's naptime, I should have it made, huh?

But it doesn't seem to matter how much I rearrange my day, I'm still not getting a lot done.  Makes me kind of sad that my kids are gone. 

Ok, makes me really sad.  I mean, I love when they come home excited about something they did that day, but I miss my kids.  Not so much as to homeschool or anything. I enjoy my down time.  And I know that they will learn better away from me.

Next year Curly Girl and Boy will be gone all day. It will be just me and Curly Boy 2 at home.  That terrifies me!  I have a feeling we'll spend a lot of time running to events where his friends are so he isn't bored at home with just Momma to play with.

I suppose we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

After all, I've made it through two....

Camping in style...

Last Friday, Curly Boy loaded up his camping vest (a gift from Grandma and Granddad) in preparation for camping with Granddad over our vacation.
Of course, because we were so excited about it, Curly Boy 2 decided he also needed a camping vest.

While I didn't have the budget for an official, I have made vests before.  I also had some D-hooks, a pair of khakis, a measuring tape and imagination!

After about 2 hours of work, this is the final result (and yes, I took this picture before I got all the loose thread pulled off the front, sorry!)

:
It's a more basic vest than Curly Boy's, but I think the elasti-loops to hold cars was a nice touch.  Makes it more personal to Curly Boy 2, who, of course, didn't want to wear it right away.  But I think he'll come around.

A day alone...

Friday Mr. Curly took all three kids fishing.  I spent 7 hours alone at home.  Guess what I did?

If you thought anything that included sleeping, eating, tv or pinterest, sorry.  I'm much more of a mom than that.

I cleaned.  For 6.5 hours, I cleaned my children's rooms.  Rather than talk you through it.  Here are the before and after pictures.

BEFORE

 

 

 

 

AFTER:   

I moved their shelves to the empty closet space and added command hooks so I could hang up all those big tails those Curly Boys think they just have to have (and I love to make, honestly)!

Our "we're going out" center - hats, coats, shoes - and oh yeah, any dirty laundry from the day!



I used command hooks to hang that pink basket just a few inches
off the floor.  All Curly Girl's pots and pans are under it, food in it,
dishes stacked on top.  It looks SO CUTE!

Another 'head out the door" center.  Curly Girl LOVES having a designated place to keep her slippers!

 We are now all set for a summer of fun!  I'm hoping this new organizational system will help my kids clean their rooms quickly so we can move on to just enjoying the free days!

Monkey Trouble

Our Curly Boy #2 is now TWO!  The little monster (as he's been nicknamed since the day he began moving) wanted to be a monkey at the Whale party, so he was.

Love you, Monster!

Potty Training?!

Curly Baby has decided he wants to potty train.

And while I love our prefolds and wool covers, they inhibit his independence when trying to get to a potty all by himself.

We can't to AIO (all-in-ones) because, well, because 1) I refuse to buy  new diapers for potty training, but more importantly is 2) Curly Baby's skin does not get along well with PUL.
And I don't want to spend money on pull-ups, since his desire to potty train hits a bump anytime he's in disposables.

But I do have lots of prefolds, lots and lots.  And a good friend let me have her leftover PUL when I helped her make training underpants for her girls and nieces and nephews.
With this, and some pinterest research, I came up with my own little diaper-trainer of sorts.  I'm calling it the Curly Special.

This is a prefold, cut into a contour shape.  I suppose it is rather like a fitted, because there isn't really a way to adjust it, and there is no elastic.  I added some velcro on either side, but you can just pull it up and down.  I put PUL down the soaker area.  As you can see, it does not go all the way up in the back, so that it doesn't touch his skin there.  And then I lined the edges with cut up wool covers that weren't our favorites.  This allows PUL to go all the way up the front and to the edges of the legs, but doesn't allow the PUL to touch his skin.  The wool "bias tape" basically acts as a wool cover would, keeping any moisture in the diaper, and not on the clothes.

And here it is in action.  He LOVES the owl print, asks for it, as well as the monkey one.  I'm hoping this love can translate into "you can wear it longer if you keep it clean!"

And just for those who wonder, since he isn't yet 2, this is completely child-led.  In fact, I fought it for 2 months before bringing the trainer potty down from the attic.  This boy is ready to go!

Surf's up!

This is Curly Baby (with some seriously sleep-frizzed hair) dressed up in his big brother's swimsuit.  Now, to be fair, those pants he is wearing are fleece lined and puffy, but yeah, big brother's swimsuit, too little for baby brother.

We did NOT point this out to Curly Boy.

Oh Almanzo!

I don't know if I've mentioned before my love of Little House on the Prairie.  I have the entire series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and when young, loved the idea of wearing braids, dresses, and bonnets every day.  In grade school I even attended The Laura Ingalls Wilder Elementary School for a few years.

Anyway, my little Curly Baby's hair is beautiful right now.  It looks just like Almanzo's from the TV series.  Which of course means Mr. Curly wants to cut it.  Sad, huh?  Check out the new header - Curly Baby's hair is curly!  And here is what it looks like:

 This is honest to goodness how this picture came out of my camera - doesn't he have the most beautiful little set of curls back there?  And those highlights!  Someday soon, probably while I'm off getting my haircut, Mr. Curly is going to attack him and all those curls will be gone!

A little Halloween preview

We never did Halloween growing up. I can only remember 2 years wearing costumes to school.  There was a church Halloween party once.  But usually my mom bought a ton of candy, apples and caramel, and we'd stay home and watch movies.  It was fun, I enjoyed it.

 

Mr. Curly, on the other hand, had very traditional Halloweens.  Costumes, trick or treating, the whole nine yards.  So we do too, kind of.  We limit the trick or treating right now, our kids are little after all, and we guide them in costumes (which we will always do, those "sexy" costumes are ridiculous).

 

This year, Curly Boy went back and forth between a crocodile and batman, finally settling on Crocodile (with angry blue eyes, red tummy, and red spikes down his back).  Here is Curly Girl and I holding him in place for a picture of his completely homemade costume:



 

 

 

Curly Baby is Peter Pan, though once the outfit was all together, it looked more like Robin Hood.  Anyway, he's a guy in green with a little knife belt and felt knife and a cute little hat with a felt red feather.

 

Curly Girl decided she wanted to be a pink tinkerbell.  This picture is from her birthday party.  Being just a month before Halloween, she has always had a themed outfit to wear for her birthdays (1st birthday - lions, 2nd - fish, 3rd - Dorothy, 4th - Ariel, 5th- TinkerBell).  Mr. Curly's aunt made this outfit out of leftover material she had from ice skating costumes.  It is SO fantastic, and we re-used those brand new tights and expensive dance shoes from her dance class!  The leaves in her hair were part of the party favors - leaf crowns for all the fairies at the Great Fairy Campfire birthday party we had.

 

And then we carved pumpkins.  Top Row - Mr. Curly, Mine.  Bottom Row - Curly Baby's, Curly Girl's (She came up with that face all on her own!  And helped Curly Baby with his tiny face), Curly Boy's.  

 

Curly Baby's has a bigger face on the other side.  Shortly after these were placed outside Curly Girl's rotted and fell over, so she got to do another one.  She chose a bigger pumpkin and put 6 eyes and a smiley mouth on it.

Haven't you noticed your sauce is always flat?

Last week at some point, my family was sitting at the table, and we were enforcing our "eat four (or three, depending on age) bites" rule, when suddenly I said "The key is seasoning, haven't you noticed your sauce is always, how shall we say, flat?"

Mr. Curly thought I had lost my mind, the comment came out of nowhere to him.  For me, it was the culmination of my train of thought (and a great quote from a Jungle Jam radio story).

Cooking takes seasoning, and consistency.  Bread dough must have yeast (or baking powder or whatever you're using) mixed through it consistently to rise properly.  Sauce must have seasoning stirred throughout to taste right.
Parenting takes consistency.  We have to work discipline into our child's life, and yet season it with fun to ensure a good end result.

Lately, I feel as if my sauce is a bit flat.  We've been attempting to have fun, but really are just working more on discipline.  Which isn't much fun.

For those of you who follow me on facebook, you know that I made Curly Boy bag up toys to throw away on Friday because he refused to clean.  And I refuse to raise a lazy, ungrateful child.

Throwing them away didn't phase him in the least.  So that night, while he was at a football game with Mr. Curly, I went through each bedroom, sorting toys, getting rid of what we've outgrown, what is broken, what is ignored.
No, I didn't really carry through on my threat to throw things away, but they do all have fewer toys now.

I am frustrated, to say the least.  My kids ALWAYS listen to Mr. Curly, the first time.  It is a constant fight to get them to listen to me.  I tell Curly Girl to put her shoes on while I'm helping Curly Baby into his shoes and jacket, I go get my shoes and jacket, and find Curly Girl on her rocking horse, her socks off, her shoes nowhere to be found.  And she has no clue why I'm upset.
I ask Curly Boy to pick up his toys, I even hand him toys to put away, and he throws himself on the floor screaming "I don't know how to clean!"
Curly Baby, well, he just thinks running from me is funny, so does it regularly.  That I don't mind so much, because he will also clear his dishes from the table, AND his brother's and sissy's without me asking.

I'm trying to work discipline, responsibility, through my children's lives, while also seasoning them with fun.  I'm trying to teach them gratefulness and contentment (which is REALLY hard when you're planning a birthday party and every time you're at the store they say to everything they see "I want that for my birthday!"), for what they have, while still encouraging them to dream of better things.

Kids are like cooking - consistency and seasoning are key. 

I'm not the greatest cook, I've chronicled that here - but I keep trying.  I'm not the world's greatest mom, but I'm trying.

I just hope this season of discipline and consistency passes quickly - I don't want my sauce to be flat anymore.

Curly Kids Unplugged

Yesterday I banned the kids from all electronics.

It probably wasn't the smartest move - I had gotten up at 5:30 to go walking again and at 7:30 was already craving a pepsi, or bed, or both.  But Monday they had spent all day either in front of the TV or the computer screen.  Yes, I got a lot done, but it wasn't so great for them.

So Tuesday - no TV, no computer.

Which also meant no cleaning, because being creative also means being messy.

BUT we had fun anyway (for the most part, school was another issue) so here are the pictures:

The new store window we created out of the bunk bed boxes - in this picture it is a pet store that specializes in grooming and training.  I wanted an animal that had oposable thumbs I could train to cook for me and Curly Girl informed me that the monkeys are for old people, but offered me a nice cat.

After we painted, we moved on the stamping and cutting.

Curly Baby's First Painting!

More of Curly Baby's work - with no VeggieTales, and thus no music to dance to, he decided to shred all the styrofoam from the bunk bed boxes.

Curly Girl teaching Curly Boy his letters - Z is for ZIPPER!!

What my kids love to do....

This is the Curly Kids's new favorite screen time.  Curly Girl will play games on pbskids.org or abcya.com for 30 minutes, while Curly Boy and Curly Baby watches.

Then they play musical chairs and Curly Boy plays for 30 minutes while Curly Baby sets in the office chair with him and Curly Girl sits on the extra chair watching.

It should probably bother me..... but Curly Boy's curiosity about letters has jumped way up the scale since he figured out how to use the mouse, and Curly Girl's counting/math skills are improving daily.  And, quite frankly, it keeps Curly Baby away from whatever area of the house I am trying to clean at the time.


Plus, look at that girl's glorious hair!

The tears come so easy now....

I am NOT a crier.  In public anyway.  Mr. Curly will tell you that.  My biggest irritant on reality shows is how much everybody cries!  You're on TV - pull it together!  Or, as my mom likes to quote "Put on your big girl panties and deal with it!"

I do NOT let people see me cry.  I do my best not to let people see me get angry, because inevitably, the anger causes tears.  I try to remain calm, even somewhat humorous in tough situations.

Other people can cry, that is fine (except those tv reality people, come on, now!).  Sometimes people need to cry.  I just like to stay more in control of myself.

It seems lately though, that crying is my default.  I think about Curly Girl starting preschool, I cry.  I watch my boys (BOYS, I don't really have a baby anymore....) play together and it brings tears to my eyes.  I watch Mary Poppins and I cry.  I lose it at my kids because I'm telling them for the 10th time to PLEASE PICK UP YOUR BOOKS and I cry.  I see my husband tossing the kids around after work and I cry.

I've always felt that whatever emotion you have the most of, is the one that will come to the surface during high emotional times.  Which is why these tears bother me so much.

I am NOT sad.  And I don't want to be crying all the time when I'm trying to convince my kids THEY don't need to cry over every little thing ("i can't find a pen" "my tv show is over" "the books have to go back to the library" "i love this song").

My life is very very blessed.  I told the Curly Kids this last night (as they whined about not having juice with their fajitas, that they didn't want to eat because they were sure they didn't like them): We have a blessed life.  We have all the food we need, we have plenty of clean clothes to wear that fit us.  We have a nice house, we have an awesome yard to play in.  Daddy has TWO jobs, even Momma has a job!  We have family and friends that love us.  We have a God who provides.  We do NOT need to whine over inconsequential little things.  You don't need juice tonight - we're going out for ice cream after this for Daddy's birthday.  So here's the deal - I'll remind you of all the good things when you are crying for no reason, and you do the same for me, ok?  When I'm angry, or frustrated, or crying over something silly - you remind me of something good, and together we'll help each other be more happy."

I think Curly Boy actually got it - because when I was frustrated over putting the train track together for the 15th time (Curly Baby is trying to learn how it works, which means pulling it apart... a lot), Curly Boy looked at me, smiled and said "I love you, Mom."

You guessed it - tears.

*Sigh*  Maybe it's an aging thing....

Oh what a beautiful morning...

Today is absolutely gorgeous.  72 degrees, breezy, sunny - it is SO Stinkin' beautiful!

Curly Boy had his last swim lesson today.  He did so great.  The first day (two weeks ago) we had to promise him ice cream if he would go with his teacher and not cry.
After meeting his teacher, he was in Lu-uhve!  Every day he woke up excited to see Miss K - to show Miss K what he could do - to have Miss K help him swim across the pool.

The fourth day we promised him M&Ms if he would put his face in the water when they played Ring Around the Rosie.  It was a great game - instead of "all fall down" they would say "We all blow bubbles" and they would stick their faces in the pool.
Curly Boy didn't want to do it because "mama says not to drink the water."  But once we explained that the swimming pool was fine to put your face in (and gave the promise of M&Ms) he did great.

And then we spent time out in the yard.  I am so loving our yard.  And Curly Baby has learned to climb up the slide and just has a blast running with his little golf set.  Today we played frisbee and basketball.

This weather makes me want to pull out the fall clothes and go school shopping.
Considering it is only August 12, the fall clothes might be a little early.  But tomorrow, while the boys nap, I think I'll leave Mr. Curly in charge and take Curly Girl out to pick up her school supplies.

Waiting for the boys to wake up from their naps (Curly Girl is currently painting pictures in the newspaper) so we can deliver today's paper.  It is going to be a gorgeous walk.  I'm thinking of letting Curly Baby out of the stroller!

Playing, playing....

So I've given myself this little 30 minutes of play time a day challenge.

Friday (June 1st) we had a tickle fight and read books.
Saturday.... honestly, most of Saturday was filled with garage sale stuff and then getting ready for Mr. Curly's sister to show up, and at this point I honestly can't remember what I specifically did.  So maybe the 30 minutes wasn't there.  But I did let the kids have strawberry ice cream for helping out with cleaning up the house.

With Mr. Curly's sister here, the kids are pretty enamored with her and her two dogs she brought along.  This makes them less likely to need/want things from me.  Which is making these few days pretty interesting.

I did get to play with them in the bubble bath and read them books last night, and this morning we made a worm puppet out of a brown sock and had a few minutes of giggles at breakfast.  We'll see what else we can fit in.

Part of the challenge, at least for me personally, isn't really to have a full 30 minutes at once, but just to be more willing to get down on the floor and play or dance or whatever they want.  To join their play with Curly Boy and Girl start nit-picking on each other and help diffuse the situation that way, rather than separating them or turning on the TV.
And to not put off their games until I'm done with my stuff, because by then, it is usually time for naps, or baths, or meals, or bed.

On with the games!