A sleepy Sunday

It is a slow Sunday in our house today. Two weeks ago Little N brought home a cold from Nursery. He was mostly better last Sunday, but then with afternoon church he woke up Monday worse... with goopy eyes and a low grade fever. Because we are at church Sunday afternoons, he doesn't nap, and our little guy needs his sleep. I never thought I would say this, but I am looking forward to the morning schedule next year. Because he is sleep deprived, his immune system in a little down, and if there are any germs to be caught in nursery, he catches them and brings them home to share. 

He is mostly better, with a cough here and there. My version of the cold progressed into what feels like a sinus infection. I recently won a fit-bit... so I have been tracking my sleep... It is not good. I am in bed an average of 9 hours and only asleep about 4-5. I knew I had restless sleep, but I didn't know it was that bad. Anyways, it is hard for my body to recover from a silly little cold. 

and then.... Nate woke up this morning, ugh! So... Sunday sick day it is. PJs and movies... and a pass the kleenex, which is really a toilette paper roll. At least we are in on it together. 

Other than two weeks of an off again on again cold, June has been pretty fun. Little N played in a splash pad for the first time, started soccer,  we celebrated fathers day, and my dad visited for a day... and... we've been sick. 

I found some old paint, so little N made his dad an awesome card for Father's Day. I asked him what he wanted to write it, and he said, "Dad, you are a goof!" So we did. 

For some reason I think Father's Day means pie. I think b/c my dad loves pie so much that we always had pie on FDay. We ran to the Farmer's Market on Saturday and got a pie. Nate also bought a few plants for the garden.

Soccer game #1. It was raining. We got there late. He was afraid to play with the kids, but he was willing to kick the ball with me on the sidelines. I thought, next time he will play.

Game #2. pre-game jitters. This was about how he felt the entire game. He seemed stressed and sad. He clung to me on the sidelines the whole game.

Game #4 Soccer (we skiped game #3)... ok... so... the experience overall is really stressful for the boy. He wont play with the other kids. Nate took him to the field early yesterday so he could warm up to the idea of kicking goals... but once the other kiddos got there he hugged the sidelines, again. It is too bad. I know he would have fun running up and down the field with the other kids.

Game #4

Game #4 - the spectator 

We visit the library about twice a month. We usually bring home between 15-20 books. He loves to read. I never mention nap time or bed time, but story time! Yes. The boy comes running. He loves story time, even if he is conscious that it is almost always followed by sleep time.

On National Donut day a women that I befriended was in town, and she took me out to this place for donuts. It is run by two ladies in their 80s and it is decorated with cat posters. 

I read a book called, "Money, It's Not Just For Rich People" <<< this is a link to the authors website, even though it is invisible. The book is called "Money, Its Not Just for Rich People".  I have made a few changes because of it. I first de-cluttered our basement and sold a bunch of stuff at a garage sale. Also, I raided our house for all of the pennies, nickels and dimes that I could find. Out of this pile, 10% went to tithing (life rent), 10% went to fast-offerings (philanthropy), 10% went in the bank for retirement (long term savings) and 10% went into a second savings account for short term savings. 60% went into our regular checking account. It is called the 60/40 rule. You live on 60% of your income and divvy up the rest as described above.  Since most people can't just start living the 60/40 rule, you start with everything "extra", until you are in a place where you can live the 60/40 rule. She called it "priming the pump". At some point I hope to live this rule with all of our income. It shouldn't be too hard to really start once Nate is done with residency... That means after this stage, we will just continue to live the way we do now... you know... we are comfortable, but not elaborate. It is my dream to be able to pay for cars with cash. The idea of buying a house with cash seems a little out of my league, but maybe? I have never been good with money, but I am going to turn this weakness into a strength, mark my words. 

covered in sunscreen and ready to dive into his friend's backyard kiddie pool. 

the day that he insisted I make breakfast for Cowie and Mooie. (His dad helped him name his cows) I know the picture looks cute, and like I'm such a fun mom... In reality, I was in a hurry and making sure Mooie and Cowie had breakfast and bibs and spoons was kind of annoying.  He is the sweetest kid, but he is also quietly stubborn. Once he sets his mind on something, that is it. I try to go along with it, you know, to give him power when it doesn't matter... to just take the power out of power struggles...  Hopefully he will give me a break when he cant have his way... which does occasionally happen. So far, so good... I think.

His first splash pad. He LOVED it. It took 3 days to wash the sunscreen out of his long baby hair.  Ok... so this is probably not PC, so I apologize. I want to put my son in environments where he can learn that there are all kinds of people in the world. We never talk about skin color with him. I guess it just doesn't come up.
Little N goes through phases. When we went to this splash pad he was really into colors. Everyday he would either tell me what colors he saw or ask me about colors that he wasn't sure about. Just wait, this is all coming together.
When we got in the car to go home I was talking with him about how much fun we had... I usually "process" with him by saying stuff like, "We got to run in the water... and play with the kids... It was so much fun. Isn't summer fun?"... to which little N replied, "We got to play with the black kids and the pink kids."
So, at least he knows that we don't live in a "pink-kid" only world. 

The hair. I cut it... He hated the process, but loved the results. He laughed and said, "My hair looks like daddy's"... oh, and for like 2 days he loved tofu. I was so excited about that one, but it didn't stick.  

My dad had the opportunity to help his friends move to Utah. On his way he made a 4 hr detour and stayed with us for a day. I am so glad he came. Little N loves his grandpa.  I wanted my dad to take little N fishing, because that is my dad's thing. I didn't realize the Bass Pro Shop didn't have their "catch and release" everyday... Anyways, visiting my dad's favorite store was fun anyway. It is like a stuffed animal zoo.  

After the Bass Pro Shop we went to Omaha's Botanical Gardens. That is another thing my dad loves, gardens. We took a tram ride, so the old man didn't have to walk the whole way... but the tram ride is the way to go if you are either too old, or too lazy to walk the whole gardens. Between the three of us we were a little bit of both. 

After dinner my dad played ball with the boy.

making a plan

the play

We had a family date last Friday night. Just 1 mile North of our home JOAN JETT was preforming a free concert at the Memorial Park as part of Omaha's 4th of July festivities. A part of me really wanted to be there, a big part of me. However, I knew it would be crowded and more of a hassle then fun. So...we didn't go. Instead we rode our bikes a mile west to Jone's Bro. Cupcakes. The weather was perfect for a bike-ride. We sat outside and ate our treats while listening to live music from the restaurant/bar next door.