Being a parent can be...

AWESOME! Like last Sunday afternoon when we didn't make any plans for dinner and didn't feel like cooking, we had crackers and cheese for an appetizer and then two huge bowls of popcorn and orange julius for dinner. It's kind of fun to be able to be the one in charge and decide what's for dinner.

DIFFICULT! Like last week when Jamison got pink eye, McKinley threw up on Tuesday night, Gavin wet his bed three out of five nights, and all three of them had fevers at different times throughout the week.

AWESOME! Like Jamison learning to feed himself and loving to eat.

DIFFICULT! Like when Jamison throws handfuls of food at you and then takes his whole plate and throws it, and the remaining food on it, as far as he can.

So as you can see from our recent activity, being a parent has its ups and downs. There is usually something exciting going on! We have a lot of fun with the kids. I love playing with legos and needed a good excuse to buy some again. McKinley, Gavin, and Jamison all like to play with legos. They make any easy birthday present (hint, hint). We got an origami calendar for Christmas two years ago and are still working on it. There is a sheet for each day. We've had fun with it. Our lastest favorite is jumping frogs. Here is a link to make your own!

http://seagrant.wisc.edu/frogs/origami_instr.html

I bring home scrap paper from work for the kids to color on. We have a drawer set just for the kids to store paper, crayons, scissors, glue, tape, stencils, construction paper, little scraps of paper that have been cut up into tiny bits, and other stuff. I get regular 8.5 x 11, 11x17, and big 36x48 sheets. It's fun for the kids.

Like I said, there are ups and downs to being a parent, but its a good thing. Kids can be really funny. Just borrow ours for a day and you'll see what I mean!