Othello

Cameron and River sat down today to play Othello. I don't believe they'd ever played this game together before. Cameron took the chance to teach River the rules. It was a choice Father/Son moment.

River likes nothing more than spending time with his dad. Cameron is actually with the kids a ton of the time, but it's less often he is able to devote complete attention to them -- especially one at a time. It was really heartwarming watching them play.

I love how patient Cameron was with River, too. He even helped him learn strategy. Of course, River won.

River's going to be great at these games when he gets a bit older. Family game night gets more fun every week, too. I can just picture the fun it will be when we have older kids.

Fruit Kababs

The kids and I are having a great time doing the activities at the Ultimate Moms' Club. Today was Kids Cooking. The kids made Fruit Kababs. It was simple, and a lot of fun. River, our fruit lover of the family, was in heaven!

I love how simple of an activity it was, and yet they all enjoyed it a lot. Maddy and River were the oldest there, and were pros and threading the fruit and filling the plates so everyone could have a taste. What good kids they are.

So far it seems like two or three visits per week will be our average. There are usually a few fun organized activities to participate in (that motivate us to arrive earlier than we would have otherwise), then the kids can free play for another hour or so. I've found that I have a lot to get done at home so I like to be home by lunchtime. We'll see if that remains the case through the summer.

Maps

The kids went to an activity at the UMC (Ultimate Moms Club). They learned about maps and how to use them. We arrived while they were reading a book about maps. There were quite a few kids there. The mom in charge explained a lot about maps and the different things associated. Maddy's pretty good with maps already, but I hope River and Britta listened. I plan to have them navigate our next cross country trip. Maybe.

They also did a cute little craft of the state of Texas. Maddy's favorite place at the club is the art room (by far). She spends most of the time we're there in that room. I think it's great there is a place for her creativity to blossom.

The favorite part of the day was the treasure hunt. At the end of the hunt they found the treasure box. There were suckers inside, along with pretend pirate treasure! My kids call gold coins, "goubloons". I know it's the kid version of "doubloons", but it's too cute to correct. Maddy and River each took handfuls. Maddy ended up with 45 coins and River took home 30 or so. Britta had 3, but she left them in the kids' club house in the backyard at the Mom's club.

The big kids have a lot of fun. In the meantime, the little guy lounged around in his favorite seat. Not bad at all.

Baby Church Clothes

One of the fun things about having kids on a Sunday is the chance we have to dress them up all cute and fancy. With the girls I love all of the frilly nice dresses that they aren't allowed to wear any other day unless there's a special occasion. With the boys it's seeing them all dressed up in their Sunday best, white shirt and tie, slacks, and preferably a little suit.

Kingston is a bit young to wear a suit coat, but we have done our best to dress him up from the first time he went to church. My mom and I found him a onsie that looks like a white collared Sunday shirt, but it doesn't come untucked. Brilliant! I paired it with a pair of black corduroy pants and voila! He looks like a little man!

I got a picture of him on his first day going to church back in late April. It was so strange to see him in his church outfit in contrast to a baby sleeper outfit. It really gave him that "old man" look. I love it.

Today we snapped another picture of him in his Sunday best while he was napping (it lasted about half an hour). He does look older. He is 8 weeks old today. He's growing, but thankfully this outfit still fits him. I need to grab another fancy church onsie for the next size and the one after that. It really is fantastic.

The Ultimate Moms Club

I love Austin. There are so many neat things going on here. I can't even count them all. I am often surprised at the cool experiences I find going on around town. Unfortunately, I'm not always fabulous about getting out and doing those things. I do have four children after all. I have to be feeling very energetic (or stupidly optimistic) that particular day. That's not a comment on my children's behavior. Most days they are extremely well behaved in public. Sometimes though it's hard to keep up with them. The baby adds a new element, too.

I have been thinking recently that I want to provide my kids more opportunities to play with other kids. They do play with the neighbors a lot, and that's great and all, but sometimes I feel like they need a change of scenery and more stimulating things to do.

I was reading a post by a fellow mom on a yahoo group I belong to, and she mentioned something that perked my ears. It is called "The Ultimate Moms Club".  After doing some research I was even more intrigued. There is a house on 5 acres of land that moms can bring their kids to anytime they want from 10am to 6pm Monday through Friday. There is a ton of stuff to do for both kids and moms. There's a pool, a club house, a trampoline, an art room, a kitchen (that anyone can utilize), a play room, chickens, goats, fun planned activities, and more. It provides an opportunity for the kids to learn through exploration. It also provides a chance for moms to get together and enjoy adult interaction. A commune without the crazy religious zealots. Fabulous.

Last Friday we went as a family to their open house to check it out. We loved the premise, but whether or not we wanted to join depended on how well it was executed. If it was a group full of crazy dirty people in a yucky messy house, then obviously we would not be returning. However, what we found was quite pleasant. The women we talked with were very "normal" in that they didn't make us uncomfortable and we found we seem to have much in common. Everyone was very welcoming. Also, the kids had a great time. Maddy's favorite was the art room. I love the idea that she could do projects whenever she wanted in a room dedicated solely for that purpose. Heaven for her. I was impressed. Cameron was even more impressed I think.

We talked about it a lot over the next few days. Would it be easy enough to make it out there with one car in the family (it's a 20 minute drive)? Would it be easy to take the baby and not have it just be stressful? Would there be enough older kids? Would it be worth the membership fees? Most importantly, do I feel comfortable there? 

After a lot of deliberation, we decided to go for it. We signed up today for a summer membership. The calendar is full of great activities that I'm sure the kids will love. I'm determined to make it out there at least twice a week, if not more. The kids will love it, and it will take some of the stress off of me to plan all of our activities. There are built in things for them to do! I'm really excited about all of the prospects. I will definitely be reporting back on our experiences.

After August the schedule there changes a bit. At that point we'll have to determine whether we want to continue membership. Cam and I are a bit concerned this may incent us to purchase another vehicle. I do hope that's not the case... unless it's a nice car.

Swaddled

I've never had a baby that needed to be swaddled in order to sleep. I'm pretty sure I swaddled each baby at least once, but I know it tapered off pretty quickly. Kingston is the first child I've had that requires swaddling for consistent and elongated sleep periods. His startle reflex must be pretty strong. Poor little guy.

He will be 8 weeks on Sunday. I bought a SwaddleMe straight jacket -- err... swaddle sack... from Walmart on a desperate evening when he was a couple of weeks old. It was a miracle worker. It was like I brought a little piece of home to the baby. He was used to being all snug inside my belly. He was also HUGE while inside so he never had much room. I think it was probably a relief to him to return to that feeling of security.

I tried a Halo sack, too. It didn't fit him as snugly and he was more easily able to wriggle free. I returned it and, after waiting a week or so to see if the baby still needed swaddling, and to see if he outgrew the size I bought already, bought a three pack on Amazon. Best purchase ever (next to my digital video monitor of course).

It's amazing how much better he sleeps in one of these things. I snapped a few pictures of him sleeping in his swing. Usually if he's in the sack though, we'll put him directly into his crib. He sleeps better in there. He looks like a little pea pod. Cameron says he looks like a crazy baby (straight jacket and all).