Friesen Talk

Writing about all the big & little things

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And she’s off! (to Big Sandy Camp)

Chloe has been eagerly anticipating her trip to Big Sandy Camp this year.  She has moved up to a full week of camp and not a partial week (since she’s finally old enough).  I know she’ll have a good time–especially since she gets to go with all of her cousins!  I love the memories that they’re making.

We’re definitely going to miss her and her lovely smile around here this week!

chloe R

Fun at the park

josiah playing R

The other day we were invited to a park playdate to see a bunch of Josiah’s preschool friends (who ever could make it that morning).  Josiah has SO much fun seeing his friends again and we were able to visit a park that has recently been totally revamped which was a nice treat!  This park (Lion’s Park) was actually redone in order to be more handicap friendly, so there aren’t any big steps to climb up or high towers or tall slides, but rather more interesting things, like low to the ground musical instruments, slides made out of pipes that spin around and a zip line that you can sit and get buckled into.  As we initially drove up I was disappointed by how it appeared, but after being there for a while I realized how unique and wonderful it really is.  And the bonus was that Madison was safe on virtually everything.

josiah and asher R

levi over his shoulder R

 

 

Alisa & Chloe

Alisa came over the other day (actually it was her and her Mom, Kumi, and Hunter) for supper.  Tim made his “famous” boneless wings and they brought a Birthday present for Maddie to open.  After eating Tim showed them the new patio he had built and then Josiah wanted to play some Mario Kart with Hunter and I enjoyed talking with Kumi.  I lost track of the girls for a little bit so I went looking for them and found Alisa and Chloe playing piano together in the studio.

It made me smile.

They took turns playing songs for each other and then they spent quite a bit of time playing duets together.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they played for at least 45 minutes together.  It was just so wonderful.  Chloe had such a good time laughing and playing; and Alisa seemed to genuinely enjoy being able to sit down and play again.  They dug out new books in the studio and Alisa played Chloe’s project song* for her and Chloe just soaked it up.  It also inspired Chloe the next day that she went to practice her piano.  🙂

*Chloe is learning to play The Spinning Song this summer as her big project.  I remember playing that as a kid and loving it!

The Great Room Switch of 2017!!!!

boys room R girls room R

The time has finally come to let the kids divide into a boys room and a girls room.  It has always been the plan to do so, but we were waiting until the summer as well as making sure Levi wouldn’t wake anyone else up in his room.  I knew this would be an exciting switch for the kids, but I didn’t expect just HOW exciting it was going to be for them.

They were basically counting down the hours until we could start the switch.  Which then was really tricky to try and do since we had to do all the moving in between naps (and at this stage of life someone is sleeping almost ALL the time).  So as soon as we had a nap-free window, we would scramble and pull things from one room to the other or try and get clothes swapped or get the bed from the garage back into the house, etc. It took us about two days to get everything sorted out and put back together.

For the most part the switch has been smooth sailing.  Levi is excited to have Josiah in his room so he’ll stand in his crib looking at him for a long time, but he’ll usually settle down and go to sleep just fine.  Josiah is doing exceptionally well.  He is so proud to be in the boys room now that I feel like he could burst with happiness.

Chloe had a little harder time with the transition than we expected–not so much having Maddie in her room, because that’s the same that it has been, but with the actually rearranging of the furniture.  She had built up a grand plan of how she was expecting things to be moved and look and basically none of it happened (due to the size of their room and furniture–there just aren’t a lot of options).  We also though we were going to have her bed lofted, in order to fit the toddler bed underneath, so she would need a new ladder built… but then after looking at the design of the bed and our options it really just made so much more sense to simply transition Maddie directly to the bottom bunk instead of the toddler bed.  Meaning she didn’t get her new ladder either.  So.  There were a lot of tears and frustrations.  But we got through it.  And now she’s totally fine with it.

Then there’s Maddie… we knew this would be a whole new world with Maddie moving out of her crib.  But we were also feeling the crunch of space and it just made the most sense to let her move up.  I intentionally started this process this past Wednesday, so I had all the way until Monday to be able to keep a close eye on her (because I teach on Mondays and Tuesdays in the summer and I need her to stay in her bed while I’m teaching in the afternoon).  The first day was not good.  She was enjoying her new found freedom way too much.  There were warnings and jumping and playing and touching the window blinds and consequences then tears and finally I just ended up laying in the room.  HOWEVER, I’m happy to report that she’s fully transitioned now.  She climbs right into bed and lays down and doesn’t get up until we come to get her.  Yay!  That was a long 5 days, let me tell you.  😉

So, we now have a boys room and a girls room.  And the only switch that will have to happen in another year or two is getting a bunk bed for the boys.  But that is so far in the future right now.

Josiah’s New Skateboard

 
new skateboard (2) R

This was a very big week in the Friesen household.  Josiah purchased his very first skateboard (and safety gear: elbow, knee & wrist pads).  We discussed it and it was decided that if he really wanted it, he would have to use his own money and he would have to also purchased the safety gear to go with it.  So he very carefully checked his bank to see if he had enough and lo-and-behold, he had the exact amount.  This is the first big thing he’s ever bought, so it was a big deal.

When if finally arrived (it took a few days) Tim took both kids out and gave them a lesson on how to learn how to ride a skateboard.  And then Tim pulled me aside and grimly warned me that I need to prepared that Josiah is bound to hurt himself sooner or later.  Even with the safety gear.  Plus, Josiah has a bit of trouble with coordination and general clumsiness, so he’s more susceptible anyway.  So, I’ve been warned and he’s been prepped and off we go!

new skateboard R

Nothing could damper his spirits as he climbed onto the skateboard for the first time.  He was over the moon.    It’s going to take a while for him to get the hang of it, but it’s good for him to start learning to control his center of balance.  This is shaping up to be a pretty fun summer!

josiah skateboarding R

 

Happy Birthday Maddie Mae (2 Years)

maddie R

Today is Madison’s 2nd Birthday.

She is really starting to act more and more like a little kid these days and less of a toddler.  Her vocabulary seems to be growing daily and she’s started stringing many words in sentences now.  She’s also quite keen on being a big girl and doing things on her own.  Oh and she loves to climb.  Recently she learned how to climb out of her crib, but luckily we were able to catch that immediately so she’s stopped.  (whew!)   But I do think we are nearing the end of her crib days.  The tiny toddler bed is about to make it’s comeback for the 3rd time!

I am enjoying her at this age so much. She’s cheerful and social and helpful.  All wonderful qualities.  She can play outside with the other kids mostly unattended.  Plus she lets me do her hair without complaining and can buckle herself into her high chair on her own.  Now don’t get me wrong, she’s IS also 2 and a bit stubborn at times and has recently started fake crying if she doesn’t want to do something (like pick up her shoes and put them away).  But that’s to be expected, right?

Fun filled Birthday weekend

We had a full weekend of Birthday activities–none of which were actually for our own family.  We hosted a Birthday party for a friend of Tim’s from church on Saturday and then we attended the Birthday party of another friend of ours (for her daughter, Makaiya, who just turned 2 yesterday).   Makaiya and Maddie are friends–well, forced friends, since we think they should be friends.  Because let’s face it, how many 2 year olds actually have real friends at this point in life… I remember that her Mom went into labor on my due date and I was happy that at least SOMEONE would be able to have a baby on that day.  🙂

The Saturday party here involved a bit more work since I had to clean the house and prep the food and help Tim prep some games.  The weather turned out to be a bit strange (raining then sunny then raining again) but overall it was great. We had loads of fun playing silly games and just hanging out.

donut eating R elephant game R fruit by the foot R

On Sunday we went to Makaiya’s house and the kids enjoyed playing outside while we socialized.  Then there was a delicious meal followed by cake and presents.  The weather was much more agreeable–although a tiny bit cool and windy–but no one seemed to mind.

boys R chloe pulling wagon R levi R

bean bag toss kids R

Coming up on Tuesday it’s Maddie’s Birthday (turning 2!) but she’s too young to really understand or anticipate it coming.  Since she’s so young we’ve decided to skip throwing her a party and just enjoy a low key day.  I actually teach that day too, so we’ll do cake at suppertime and open just a couple presents and that’s all.  She’ll have plenty more Birthdays to really go all out.  🙂

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