Dorisa forgets how to be a person

Ice cream on a hot and windy day.

And then it was July. Just a warning, this post is a mess. Hopefully the pretty pictures will distract you from the terrible writing.

The hardest week of the year recently came to a close. It's the week where Dan leaves on a youth trip and I'm left alone with the kids. Luckily this time they headed to grandpa and grandma's for a few days. I was a single lady without kids for 2 days and I gotta be honest with you, I kind of don't know how to be a person anymore. What do people do when they don't have kids? There are so many hours in the day! And I had so much energy! If I didn't have kids oh man I would get stuff done. Don't get me wrong, I do not regret any part of having children and I got pretty rocking kids too, but I do have hobbies and goals and I wish I had time for them too. Alas, they will have to wait.

Apparently neither of my kids eat chocolate chip cookies. Elena pulls out the chips and eats them, and Oskar hates chocolate. At least they have each other, together, they can eat a cookie. 

I love this picture.

I tried to have a productive weekend without the kids. Part of that productivity included me trying to Drylok our basement to actually get it suitable for visitors down there. I had good intentions, I really did, but all the spiders of the world have teamed up and apparently they don't like me in their lair. We've come to the understanding that I will stay upstairs and they will stay downstairs. That's how we're going to live now. That's it. They've won.

Oskar and Elena have been a little obsessed with Shrek the Musical. And "a little" isn't quite the right term. They are so cute singing it together in the car. I love it. One of my favorite things is when they learn something and apply it elsewhere. I took the kids to Pizza Ranch (this happens on Tuesdays when Dan is gone because kids are free) and Oskar looked at his food and said, "I'm gonna be on you like a fat kid on cake." Oskar knows this from Shrek. Pop nearly came out of my nose. He was just so serious. 

That's no camera trick. She is that white.

Easter Sunday, as always, was a bit sucky. I feel bad saying this because Easter is generally a fantastic holiday. But it is harder when you are a pastor's wife. It is harder when you have kids. It is harder when you have two (or was it three?) songs to play for bells during the service. It is harder when your daughter gets a new stuffed animal in her Easter basket, takes it to church and loses it before the service starts. It is weirder when this new stuffed animal is a mole because she is obsessed with the mole in the Bear Snores On series. Then Oskar found the mole during the silence before communion and Elena yelled out, "My MOLE!!!" and made everyone behind us crack up. This led to a discussion post service about why my daughter is so excited about an uncommon woodland creature. And no, it was not easy for the Easter bunny to find a stuffed mole. They are apparently not very popular.

In April, Oskar lost his first tooth. I had no idea how loose a tooth could be and still technically be attached. It was nasty. And he was not thrilled about it. It was hurting him so badly which led to him not eating much for a couple days so then not only was he in pain, but also hangry. This was one of the few times when his attitude was brought out in preschool and his teachers got to see some of his true colors. During an agonizing dinner it fell out and he was all smiles after that. The second one will fall out within the week and then we only have 18 more to go... this is going to be fun.

I'm sorry, but this is just too cute.

Some of you might be happy to hear that potty training is going better. She is trained in the day, but still wears diapers at night. The picture above might be one she is mad at me some day for putting online, but she is the cutest thing and she was so punchy that night it was hilarious.

I don't know what it is about her, but she gets so serious when eating ice cream.

We've been lucky to get up to the cabin a couple times so far this summer. Not sure if we'll make it up there again this year, but the kids LOVE being there. Especially if their cousins are there. We were up there for a beautiful memorial day weekend and then a couple weeks ago for my dad's birthday. Oskar said,"This is the best birthday party ever!" and his cousin was quick to say "Oskar must not have been to many birthday parties." I'm pretty sure that any time we are at the cabin is the best day ever according to him, so that easily translated into the best birthday party ever.

Yep, that is Oskar using a straw to get the ice cream out of his cone.

When packing for the cabin I've learned to just throw all of Elena's clothes in the suitcase. Between the forgetting she's potty trained while at the cabin and the sheer amount of dirt that girl gets into, we not only use all her clothes, but even have to do laundry while we are up there.

Skip to 0:29 or so. I love her reaction to seaweed in this video. "No. No.No"
That's nature, not nurture people. She has never seen my
reaction to seaweed, alas, she feels it in her heart.

The kids and I went up to Minot in April. It was a good trip, but 4 days in a row with 4+ hours in the car each day was trying even for my travel champions. Elena and Oskar loved running around the farm and Ellie got legitimately stuck in the mud. I picked her up and her shoes were left behind. Those shoes were NOT easy to get out of the mud. I love that the kids get to spend some time with their great-grandpa and aunts and uncle out there, but sometimes I wonder if they don't bring a little too much excitement to the farm. Children literally running in circles isn't exactly the norm at the farm.

I just started watching Supergirl. Not going to lie, I love it. I get what the hype is about. Favorite line so far, "If that pot sticker isn't in my mouth in 2 seconds I will melt your face." I also love that the newscaster is Perd Hapley, but a competent Perd.

When Elena was one, I did a temperament survey on her. I read it and put it on a pile in the closet and recently I rediscovered it. It is amusing, and crazy accurate:

"Emotional reactions for Elena may be loud and dramatic, even those reactions relating to minor concerns. Even though you may sometimes feel overwhelmed by the noise and energy generated by her, she needs you to react without emotional intensity of your own. The problem is not more important because it is loudly expressed. Consider what the problem is - not the volume at which it is communicated. When you feel overwhelmed, be sure to take a breather. Intense children often have a charm and charisma which makes them very appealing."

I'm thinking about putting it on a poster. Or maybe a tattoo on the back of my hand to give myself a reminder of how to deal with her. She is hard work, people.

Girl likes to fold, but apparently is not a fan of stacking.

That's all for now. I will try to be better and post more often, mostly for my sake because these take forever to write when I wait so long between them. But also for you. Thanks for reading!