working girl

Ryan just loves to call me his working girl and I went back to work on some Saturdays at Hurdles Jewelry this spring, so he could do just that.  I had worked there for many years when I met Ryan and until we moved to Kansas.  One of their current employees had a maternity leave that I helped cover for a few months.  
It was really fun to have a break from mommy-hood and I actually saw some of my most favorite previous customers.  In a perfect world, I would work there two Saturdays a month,  but the the other employee is back from her leave and I'm thankful to have Saturdays free for travel.  I have another Saturday scheduled in September to look forward to.  
The thing that was the most shocking about going back to work was that it wasn't WORK at all compared to what I do on a daily basis.  I found myself quickly getting stir crazy and looking for busy work.  I also realized I have less patience for adult ignorance than I used to.  I have all the patience in the world for my three-year-old, but apparently if you're a less than brilliant adult I will struggle to handle you. :)  All in all, it was really fun to be back and the extra money made the travel and gift heavy spring easier on the family budget.

7th annual Sparks will Fly on the 4th of July!!

One of the best things to come from us moving to Kansas was that the short-lived (read: 2 years) 4th of July party tradition we had begun in Longmont quickly and forever moved south to the Lineberry's abode.  They continue to do it bigger and better than I ever would or could and for the kiddos, the fun is NON-STOP!! Water slides, pools, and bouncy houses transition to snow cones, a bike parade, a watermelon eating contest, home-made ice cream, mentos-shooters and fireworks.  Oh, and don't forget the gator rides.  
We had a delightful family morning with a run and visit to Ben's school playground on the way home.  Unfortunately the run left me with a headache that bothered me the whole day so I handed off my watermelon-eating-contest crown and didn't compete.

Nana and Papa got Ben this adorable hat and the shirt he wore later but he never wore them together:(

Luke was DONE part way home from our run

This year the weather promised to be HOT but a torrential rain for a bit cooled everything off and the late afternoon and evening were quite pleasant.  I quickly changed out of my swimsuit as I'd planned to cool off right along with the kids. 
I was lax in the picture taking this year but still captured a few pics of the fun had by all.  I will always remember this year as the one I taught Grace all about "house-cup," as she waited patiently in line for the ice cream she had carefully made.  I only hope her parents quickly forget and don't try to teach Ben something worse. 
We did more fireworks this year as there were no burn-bans in effect.  I do enjoy a big fireworks show and will have to seek out a way to have that be a part of this day for Ben.  There are many clashes, civil wars, and strife going on around the world and it makes me all the more thankful to live in a safe country where much of my life and well-being is within my control.  America the beautiful is far from perfect but there aren't many places I'd trade it for.  Happy Birthday America!!

Bikes needed to be pre-decorated this year so I stopped on the way. :-/ 

 Ben DID NOT approve of the balloons on his bike.

Papa Alan's home-made ice cream

smart man cruising with an older woman with a hot car

 

snuggles and fireworks make me a very happy mama

gettin' down in a-town

Today we finally ventured to the new playground and splash-pad near MeeMee's in Arvada.  This area used to house a large ice arena and apparently an outdoor pool but always had major drainage issues.  An $11million upgrade fixed the problems and added two new playgrounds, a very large splash pad, and lots of shaded picnic tables.  We arrived around 11:30 am and crowded was an understatement. Ben had a blast and tackled a VERY LARGE slide on repeat after his first attempt took all fear away.   He was quite focused on the playgrounds after an initial "wet-down," but enjoyed the splash-pad again for a while to delay leaving.  No trip to MeeMee's would be complete without a trip to DQ and the afternoon was ended with a cherry on top. 

That kid in the red shorts chatted me up at the playground.  He asked why Ben couldn't easily do certain things and I explained that he was only 3.  The kid exclaimed, "what! He can't be 3! He's as big as me and I'm 6!"-ha!

 

Ben refused my log-climbing friendly footwear option.  He would have done it all barefoot had I let him.

the BIG slide

pride and joy at his accomplishment

There were mountains to climb aplenty

...and this neat roller-slide.

My little fish can also seek out and sun himself on a warm rock like an aged lizard.

sight words

Like all kids, Ben excels at some things and struggles with others.   His attention span is a bit lacking, even for a three year old, and some of his motor skills are behind.  He does take a little more motivation than some kids to take part in "un-preferred activities," and things he struggles with.   We use the iPad to encourage (force) him to do un-favored activities in order to earn his iPad time.   Ben excels for his age in most rote academic areas so it's a delicate balance of helping him keep up and working harder on the tougher things like coloring and writing. While the Zingo sight words game might be quickly becoming a preferred activity, he's doing really well with it.   We don't actually play against each other.   I have Ben match the tiles to the words on the cards and then read them off.  I have been shocked at how quickly he's started memorizing some of the words.  When I learned to read, phonics was the big deal but we all certainly still memorized many words.  I think this new combined learning is great and realize lots of kids can memorize words by sight long before they can sound them out.
I was a very proud mama this day as he completed the board all by himself and read them all aloud correctly except 2.

I've added sight word apps to all our electronics and like that each app and game has different words.  I hope our upcoming road trips will allow some quality sight word flash card time and hope it all pays off in the end by making reading easier for our big little man.