Friday afternoon Fuller and I returned from VBS and started the fun of packing. Soon after we arrived home, Damon was there and packing turned into a sprint so we could get out of the house sooner.

Since Fuller had such a busy week, I knew he was tired. So we wouldn’t allow Fuller to watch movies in the car until he had his “quiet time.” Fuller threw his blanket over his head and slept for a good two hours.

Because Grandpa Albert and Grandma Linda would be leaving on Saturday to pick up some of Fuller’s cousins, we thought they would not be at the lake house when we arrived. But we were able to leave two hours earlier than we had planned, so when we arrived, it was a surprise to the sleeping grandparents.

Fuller went into the house, found his Grandpa Albert napping on the couch and woke him up. Albert was a bit disoriented, not sure if he was dreaming or not.

It is the way a great vacation should probably begin, napping and resting. Yesterday I took a two or three hour nap while Fuller and Damon worked on projects.

And now, I think we can have a lot of fun this week, since we are properly rested.

Since VBS is over I can say Thursday (Day 4) was the only day Fuller didn’t fight going to VBS. I’m not sure what excited him on that particular day, but he was happy to get in the car and go. His craft that day was making jewelry. He got to string beads into a necklace and apparently he was very good at it, surprising Amber when Fuller didn’t need any help.

When Damon came home in the evening, Fuller was able to remember a lot more about his morning, sharing details with a smile on his face.

After the struggle of getting Fuller to church, he once again was fine being at VBS. I’m not sure what the hesitation was, but he made it through the week so I was happy.

The final day of VBS had Fuller dancing and making sandals out of carpet samples (which are now part of his dress up box). At the end of the day the kids performed for parents, singing songs and saying their Bible verses. We wrapped up with a cookout and tears from Fuller when we had to leave.

I am so happy Fuller was able to be a part of VBS this year and am even looking forward to next year! Maybe Fuller will too.

If you’re a frequent crumleyBlog reader, you’ll recall our family participated in Free Comic Book Day, back in May. You may also remember that Fuller won $100 worth of free comics for his Speed Racer costume, and that about a month ago, we went back to the store and used Fuller’s winnings to start a very respectable comic book collection (for a 3-year-old).

In one of those comics, Spider-man battles Doctor Octopus. After being read that issue, Fuller developed a fascination with Spider-man’s 8-appendaged nemesis. So much so, that he would sometimes make Mommy or I pretend to be Spider-man so he could do battle as Doctor Octopus.

Since we’ve been trying to steer Fuller towards the virtues of super-heroism, not super-villainy, I was a little unsure of what to do. Ultimately, I decided that occasionally experiencing the world of superheroes from the antagonist’s point of view could be helpful if channeled properly. So, I decided to make Fuller a Doctor Octopus costume.

I drew up a quick list of supplies for Alli to procure from the thrift store and Lowes:

• 1 - child’s backpack
• 1 - adult-sized jacket, lab coat, or dress blazer
• 2 - 6′X1/2″ foam pipe insulation tubes

I knew I’d also need some zip-ties, black electrical tape, and some copper wire, but since I already had those, there was no need for Alli to buy more. (Interesting note: we purposely didn’t tell Fuller about the costume, but as he and Alli were purchasing the pipe insulation, he remarked, “those are Doctor Octopus arms.”)

Alli took photos of the construction and posted them in a new Flickr album, here. With the exception of the jacket (which had to be altered a bit), the construction was very easy and only took about 20 minutes (it took an extra hour to hem the jacket’s sleeves, remove some of the back panel and add slits for the extra arms).

While it’s may not have quite the polish of Rob Cockerham’s Doc Ock costume, Fuller still thinks the world of it. And since you could probably count on one (non-mechanical) hand the number of 3-year-olds who have one, he’s kinda right.

Through the magic of Ikea, glue, nails, stain, and extra poplar wood in our storage shed, Damon has made us a pretty nice craft cabinet.

A while ago we went to Atlanta’s Ikea to buy six of the Fira small storage boxes. The one configured for nine small drawers reminded Damon of an apothecary chest, so he thought he could put together several of them to put our craft supplies in.

Damon put them together, attached them into one big piece, and then added some embellishments to give it a mission look and some legs to raise it off the floor. The drawers are stained this dark stain on one side, and a natural stain on the other. We have versatility as well as function.

I think it adds a nice touch to our living room, and I love knowing exactly where to go to find my scotch tape.

Technorati Tags: Ikea, Ikea hack, craft cabinet

We are still having problems getting Fuller out of the house for VBS in the mornings. But once he is there, all the struggles of the morning (”you need a new shirt…” “please put on your shoes…” no you can’t take Speed Racer…”) were gone.

Some of his morning was spent pretending to catch fish. At least, that is what I figured out from the imaginary fish we brought home from VBS. I think it is still swimming in the “water” in our blue chair. (This brought back a VBS flashback of my own- I think one year we all got goldfish to take home?)

The past two days Fuller has not had an afternoon nap. His quiet time is spent in his room playing all kinds of imaginary games- building cities out of blocks, fixing things with his tools, and racing his cars. It is fine if he doesn’t nap, I just make sure he is in bed at 8 p.m. sharp.

Today however, the activities caught up to him. He played well for about an hour and half, but when I went to get him at 4, he was fast asleep. So he slept for about another hour and woke up with his “Grumpy Fuller” persona. I pretty much counted the seconds until he went to bed this evening.

Fuller started out this morning telling me he didn’t want to go to Vacation Bible School. But since I had to be there, he wasn’t going to win that fight.

He fussed when we got there, but eventually warmed up to the idea of being with his class and moving through the morning fun. He liked the games and snack, but was reluctant to remember anything else that happened.

Apparently during craft time he said to his leader, “I think I hear my mother calling me” and then made motions to come over to my tent where the boat craft was happening. Tomorrow I won’t be sticking around to take pictures, but dropping him off and taking off. Maybe without me being around he might be more interested in what is going on and can give us a better idea of what he is learning.