Still No Yard

So another week has gone by and nothing is done. Well actually, someone in the past day has set out a few stakes for the concrete pad and tied string for three sides, but I guess they didn't have time to do the fourth side. Andrew did use some of the mud from one of the last rains (it seems to rain just as the dirt is starting to dry out) to try to divert the water towards the neighbor's grass and it has helped with lessening the amount of mud that gets into the street. So that helps a lot, but if you can't tell, it is starting to get pretty frustrating.

Other than that, we've just been getting into the groove of summer. We finally took our first family bike ride the other night. Jackson decided he needed to wear his new flip flops, so we had to stop at least 5 times for him to put them back on. Ellie really enjoyed it too. Andrew told Mike LaBeth that you really had to be confident with your manhood to take a bike ride on his beach cruiser with the baby seat on the back.

I'm trying to get Jackson used to performing his daily "chores" so we set up a chore chart with train pieces that each have a picture of the tasks his is supposed to do each day like eating breakfast, brushing his teeth, making his bed, getting dressed, and putting his dirty clothes in the laundry basket. When he is done making his train, he gets to watch some cartoons and gets a check mark. He can also get check marks for other things like putting away his laundry, cleaning his room, etc. When he gets enough check marks, he gets a prize. He can also get check marks taken away. Today was our first instance of that. We signed up for the summer reading program at the library and today was their first activity. I told him that if he was good throughout the activity, he would get a check mark and if he wasn't good, he would lose one. They had a puppet show that Jackson and Ellie both found amusing for the first 15 minutes, but after 45 minutes, they had had enough. Jackson started throwing a fit at the end because they were giving away prizes with a drawing and he wasn't winning-hence the check mark being taken away. The library has always been a battleground for us. We tried going when he was 2/3 but all he wanted to do was play with the train table there and he wouldn't listen to the stories, so we quit going. I decided to brave again the other day and took him and Ellie there to get a few books and movies. He was actually pretty good, so I thought the reading program would be a good idea. Now we'll have to see how next week goes.

Jackson has also had a couple more tee ball games. He didn't do so hot Tuesday night because he claimed he was tired. There was a lot of laying around on the field and similar behavior. So after a little discussion, he was much better tonight. He ran fast and paid attention a little bit better. I told his Papa that I don't think we have an Eckstein on our hands. At one point he was playing second and I think he saw it as his social hour because he started a new conversation with every player when they got to second. Maybe he thought he was distracting them. I really wish I knew what he was talking about. The other team had a boy that was huge and he always hit the ball way on past all the kids and it would take some time for them to get to the ball and get it back to the field. Everyone agreed that he had to be older than six. It was pretty amusing seeing him stand next to Jackson.