Home of Douglas Loots

One of the things we have consciously tried to teach our children is the effect of gravity. Brayton especially, since he has really not had a fear of anything to date. Lauren on the other hand really has not experienced the effects of gravity since she’s mostly been crawling around her entire life. When Brayton was younger, it stunned me that the kids had no concept or fear of falling. I’m not sure why this perplexed me so, it should be obvious.
Since we don’t want them to get hurt, we have purposely tried to let them fall from time to time in controlled situations we know they won’t get hurt. I can’t recall the first time we let Brayton fall, but he learned the effects of gravity quickly. He learned big time when he was playing with Drew and Ava in the crows nest of the swingset last summer and got accidently shoved off. I saw him fall from the other side of the yard, he fell about five feet and miracously didn’t have a scratch on him.
The other day, I came home from work and Colette informed me that she had the opportunity to teach Lauren a little bit about gravity. Both the kids had been climbing onto the chairs they got from Grandma and Grandpa that are in the foyer. The were climbing up and rocking around to the music that was playing on the stereo. Colette could tell that Lauren would likely fall, so like the good mother she is, she moved the chairs in to the living room where at least the floor is carpeted.
Sure enough, after a short bit, Lauren promptly fell off the chair. Even in these controlled situations, I always worry things won’t go well and they will get hurt. But in this situation it was quite comical and Colette actually captured it on the camera. Watch closely as you see the biggest grin on Lauren’s face just before falling off the back of the chair. Then after falling, she promptly climbs back up and starts all over again. Enjoy.

One of the games we’ve always played with the kids is “Bank.” Some time ago, Grandma Bernadine gave Brayton a little train bank, I think it was Easter of 2006. At some point we found out that Brayton loved to put the coins in the little slot. This became a game, we’d dump out all the change and B would put the coins back in. It was also a learning opportunity, by the time he was 1 year old B could identify the differences in pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. We’d say, “put a dime in” and he’d choose a dime out of the pile. He couldn’t say the names, but he knew the difference.

Some time later, I bought a jug of pub mix at Costco. The container was clear plastic with a screw on lid. I cut a hole in the top of the lid and this became our new “bank”. I was concerned that with our kids increasing activity the train bank Grandma had given us it would eventually get broken. At least this new bank was plastic and if it was broken we wouldn’t care so much.

Lauren over the past few months has really taken to playing “bank”. She doesn’t know the difference between all the coins the same way B did, but she loves playing. We also think it’s good to help the kids tune their fine motor skills. With Lauren, she really loved putting the coins in her mouth so it took us a little while to get her to the point she wouldn’t put the coins in her mouth.

The result of all our playing bank was captured this morning before Mass when B was upstairs with me while I was getting ready for church. Colette and Lauren got to play “bank,” uninterrupted by big brother.

As I just wrote about, here’s a little video clip of Brayton and Colette going down the giant slide at the fair. I still can’t believe how expensive this silly ride was. But I guess it’s not about the cost, it’s about having a good time and getting some film to publish for all to see.

I’ve not been very good about posting the past ten days. I have been wanting to put up some clips from the state fair, but have been sort of lazy and just didn’t get this done like I wanted to. I blame the Olympics being on TV. We’ve been watching pretty fervently since one of the Olympians (Shawn Johnson in gymnastics) is practically our next door neighbor. Consequently we have been glued to the TV and staying up past our normal bedtimes.

So, about 10 days ago, it was Wells Fargo day at the State Fair. All employees get in for free and we get vouchers for $20 worth of food. We probably wouldn’t go to the fair if it wasn’t free, the crowds are insane, it’s usually extrememly hot, and the kids don’t last more than an couple of hours there before they are cranky.

Sunday, August 8th, we made the trip out to the fairgrounds. We walked around and saw all the cattle, horses, sheep, goats, chickens, pigs, and every other animal there. We saw the biggest bull of the fair 3000+ lbs of him. We took some time to eat cotton candy and carmel corn. We wanted to try a funnel cake, but no vendors could tell us if their cakes had eggs or not. So we didn’t get any funnel cake.

We also took a little bit of time to try out some rides. We put Brayton on a little motorcycle ride. The first couple times around he was okay, but as you’ll see in the video, about the third or fourth time around he decided he didn’t like it at all. We tried to get on the ride with him, but the operator wouldn’t allow adults to get on. So, we had to stop the ride early and get him off. It was good there wasn’t any other kids on the ride.

The second (and last) ride we tried was the giant slide. Colette took B all the way to the top of the slide and B had a great time going down. This wasn’t nearly as scary as the motorcycles, probably because Mommy was right there. Once he was to the bottom, Bratyon immediatly wanted to go again. I would probably have let him, but it was $12 for one trip down the slide. I believe this has to be the most profitable ride at the fair.

Last night I was talking to Brayton about the fact he was going to Grandma and Pappa’s this weekend. I told him how he needed to be be a good boy and not whine, cry, or tease his sister while he was there. I told him how he needed to eat a good dinner every time, and not cry when Grandma put him down for naps and at bedtime.

Just to make sure he was following along with our conversation, and to be repetitive I asked, “B, where are you going this weekend?” He said, “Grandma Coke’s and Papa Allan’s.”

I said, “What are you going to do there.”

B said, “Eat emmies!” (M&M’s) “Pappa keeps them in his pocket.” “I’m going to eat emmies and watch a movie!”

Well, it’s obvious how important those M&M’s are in Grandpa’s pocket. I bet I know a little girl who will also remember that Pappa keeps those M&M’s in his pocket too…

After picking our sweet corn in the garden Tuesday night, Colette had the opportunity to cook it up for supper tonight.

This isn’t the first time our kids have had the opportunity to eat sweet corn. Colette had bought some at the store for supper one night last week. It didn’t work out the way we had hoped, the kids were not the least bit interested in that corn. Lauren had sore gums from teething, and B was just not into eating the corn that night. So, Colette and I ate about six ears each.

Tonight was a far different story. Maybe picking the corn on Tuesday night solidified the fun of picking our own corn and then eating it. Maybe Lauren’s gums weren’t so sore tonight from teething. Not sure what got into them, but they both ate all their sweet corn tonight.

Colette held the corn for Lauren, and B ate his on his own. They both really cleaned up and seemed to enjoy the corn. I have to admit it was pretty good too. I think we’ll plant more next year.

Tonight we had the opportunity to finally get in the garden and pick some sweet corn.

Brayton had helped me plant it earlier this year, he actually tossed the seeds all over the place when I gave them to him to put in the furrows, but nontheless some of the corn came up and did fairly well.

I reminded him of when we planted it, I’m uncertain if he actually remembered but hopefully he did. He just looked at me with a blank stare.

We went out and picked about a dozen ears, but only eight were any good. I think I didn’t plant enough of it for it to fully fertilize itself. I thought about bagging it but never got around to it.

He really seemed to enjoy getting in there and picking the corn, I think he just liked being in the garden and pulling the ears off the stalks. We proceeded to shuck the corn together and tossed the husks in the compost pile. Not sure he fully understands why we did it, hopefully I can get it to sink in tomorrow when we eat the corn for dinner.