tim and lisa cocking

Micah is not so good at impulse control. (Of course, what 5-year-old is?)  I scolded her after she took something from Bethany. She replied, “My bwain tells me to do things. I have to do what my bwain says!” I told her that when her bwain brain tells her to do things that she knows are wrong, she should pray and ask God to help her do the right things.

Bethany had a simpler plan, though: “Micah, you should never listen to your brain!” In Micah’s case, it might not be bad advice.

Ellie, 11:45 am:  “I’m NOT tired!!”

Ellie, 12:00:

Yeah, right.

People keep asking me how we’re doing with Tim gone. The answer is, pretty well! We’re keeping very busy with friends and outings, and outings with friends. Today we met up with some friends at Sea World. It was very hot and sunny when we arrived, but within an hour or two it was pouring… which was great! It was cooler, less crowded, and who cares about getting a little wet? We ended up staying much longer than we expected to (and quite a lot longer than our friends) and had a great time.

…or, “When will they get it?”

I just spent quite a bit of time consoling Ellie over her lack of crayons. Ellie LOVES to color. However, like many kids she does not love to clean up her crayons.

My kids were each given a box of 24 Crayola crayons some time ago. I actually wrote each girl’s initial on EVERY SINGLE CRAYON in every box. Think I’m anal beyond belief overly organized? Not if you knew how much my kids bicker, fight and argue over every single item in existence. Either they’re fighting because they want to claim whatever the item(s) may be (”That’s MINE!”), or they’re fighting because they don’t want to pick them up (”But SHE got them out!”).

So as I was saying, Ellie loves to color but not clean up. When she’s finished coloring, instead of putting her own crayons into her own craft box she tends to just throw them into the first available space. This may be her sister’s craft box, the communal craft drawer, or who knows where. I occasionally go through the crayons in each girl’s box and re-sort them, but I avoid the big drawer o’ junk and don’t make much of an effort to find their missing crayons.

I re-sorted crayons the other day. As a result, Micah has a nearly complete set of crayons. Ellie does not. Ellie tried to insist that some of Micah’s crayons were hers, despite the big black “M” on all of them. Great amounts of whining, crying and general unpleasantness ensued. But no matter how much I try to force it into her get it into her head explain gently that if she put her things away carefully she’d be able to find them when she wants them, she just doesn’t seem to get it.

On a related note, I have not had great success in getting the girls to pick up their playroom. About an hour ago they were running wild in the living room. When I suggested they go up to their playroom, Micah explained, “But it’s too messy!” Nice.

Cause and effect. A simple concept. Or so you’d think.

Here’s a good summertime (or wintertime) activity with the kids when things get a little dull. It gets pretty messy with my kids, so I always do it outside. Maybe your kids are not so messy and you’d be willing to try it inside, but do so at your own risk.

Shaving Cream Prints
Supplies:

• A can of shaving cream (not the gel type)
• plastic knife (one per kid)
• liquid food coloring
• toothpicks or skewer
• baking pan or sheet, a little bigger than your paper (one per kid)
• plain white paper (printer paper works fine)
• a piece of cardboard with a straight edge.

Also helpful:

• a hose (for rinsing hands, pans, etc)
• paper towel
• garbage can or bucket

1. Cover your paper plate, pan or whatever with about an inch of shaving cream. Use the knife to spread it evenly, so the top is reasonably flat and smooth.



2. Put single drops of food coloring on top of the shaving cream, with a lot of space between the drops.



3. Using a toothpick or wooden skewer, gently trace lines through the food coloring to make interesting, marbled patterns.



4. Carefully place a piece of paper on top of the shaving cream, making sure you don’t slide the paper around. Pat gently to make sure that the entire surface of the paper has come in contact with the shaving cream, with no air bubbles.



5. Carefully remove the paper and scrape the shaving cream off with the piece of cardboard.



6. Let your creation dry!

You can make multiple prints from the same shaving cream/food coloring. When you no longer like how your prints look, just add a new layer of shaving cream on top and start over!