Four in Five Years

I'm back!

2012-01-25T17:44:00.001-08:00

yes, I have been woefully remiss in my blogging lately. In my defense, I cannot type worth a hoot on my ipad, and therefore I just haven't been doing it. BUT, for the sake of preserving the cuteness of thing four, aka Claire, I am giving it a go.

Olivia: Hey Mom, if I don't drink enough water, I'll hibernate, right?
Me: Um, I think You mean dehydrate!
Olivia : Oh yeah, right.

Sammy is the only kid in his kindergarten class that can read. We still don't know his current DRA score because when his teacher tested him, she only had books up to a level 10 with her, and he read the 10 "with no problem, and with expression!". They have been studying the Chinese new year this week, so on that day, each of the kids got a fortune cookie. Regular box of fortune cookies. Sam's said "Leaders are Readers.". Awesome!

Claire loves to run around naked after bath time, necessitating that we chase her to get her Jammie's on. She also frequently pees in weird places at that time ( like the hallway or OUR BED) but that's another story. Anyhoo, tonight she went blasting down the hall and into Olivia's room with Sam and I hot on her trail. The door closed just in front if us, and we pushed it open and began searching for her in her usual spots...the rose petal cottage, behind the glider, in the closet, etc. and couldn't find her. We were both quite perplexed until the door pushed gently,and there was naked Claire, having stumped us both! Little stinker! And speaking of that, she was poopy right before dinner tonite, and when Ryan picked her up to carry her off for a much- needed change, she yelled "Eeeewwww, poopoo! mama, HELP!".

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Richmond, VA

October already, jiggidy jig!

2011-10-11T18:57:00.001-07:00

Wow! The time is really flying lately. There are so many things I want to remember, so many feelings and smells and sounds. The way the kids look each night when we go to tuck them in:Olivia, usually spread eagle, never any covers, mouth sweetly closed and head cocked to the side. The boys: usually off their pillows, blankets either unused or crunched up at the bottom of their heads...their room smelling strongly of "boy". Claire, all cuddled up in her crib, a very light sleeper that wakes almost every time the door is opened and reaches up for "mommom".
Sam lost his first top front tooth two nights ago. He has been hanging onto that tooth forever, it seems, to the point that it was hanging sideways for at least a week before he finally pulled it while he was in bed the other night. the tooth fairy brought pokecards, so he was over the moon about that. Ahe is excelling in kindergarten, as we knew he would, and I have loved having the opportunity to volunteer in his class twice already. Jack's class will be starting small group next week, so I am really looking forward to getting to know his classmates too. Last week when I went in to plant pansies, Jack's teacher told me a cute story. One of their spelling words last week was "dam" and she said she had stressed all week that it was the kind of dam that holds water. She asked the students to write a sentence using each of their words, and one of the girls wrote, "Damn, that's good!". Hilarious!
Claire has been so much easier lately. All the kids were remarkably good on our drive down to Florida last month, and enjoyed their time at Disney. Olivia met the princesses at Cinderella's Royal Table, and Jack got his fill of roller coasters. We both loved the Bigfoot roller coaster at Animal Kingdom, and alot of the shows were really cute. Nemo at Epcot was a favorite again, because of it's aquarium at the end.
But back to Claire...constant kissy noises, lots of sweet hugs, much better listening, and general pleasantness has made her a joy to be with lately. She has actually stayed in her seat in the cart two times in a row at the store, which is a new record, and she sits at the table like such a big girl! I know she can be challenging, but when I realize how hard it is becoming for me to carry the big kids, I know how fleeting this time is. I want to soak up every moment...the joys, the frustrations, the love and snuggles...all of it!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Virginia

Summer is ending...

2011-08-25T20:32:00.000-07:00

The end of summer is rapidly approaching and I cannot believe it! We have done so many fun things and yet it feels like we JUST finished the last school year! I am filled with such mixed emotions about it all. This year, Jackson will be in First grade, and Sam will join him at the elementary school in KINDERGARTEN! that means, 5 days a week, both my boys will be gone for 7 hours. I will enjoy grocery shopping with fewer kids, and running errands/ feeding and cleaning up lunch will certainly be easier, but spending so much time away from my boys sounds terrible! Not to mention the race of getting the boys out the door, getting Olivia to preschool, running around, volunteering, soccer, karate, ballet and tap! Whew, I am getting tired just thinking about it all! Routine is nice, and the kiddos have been getting to bed so late this summer, it will be nice to have evenings back to spend with my hubs, but getting up at 7 instead of 9 is not going to be fun! MAYBE I will start more regular blogging again. they have said and done lots of cute things, and Claire is really just starting to talk, so I want to record these moments. If only I could type better on my iPad and/or figure our how to upload pics from the iPad to the blog....

Summer 2011 (or man, my kids are spoiled!)

2011-07-03T19:40:00.000-07:00

So far, even though summer has only been going for two weeks, we have managed to do quite a bit! Olivia's fourth birthday was last Sunday, and she had a great time at her ice cream themed party! My sister Jen and her kids stayed on from Monday to Wednesday, so on Monday we met Shell and her kids at Chuck E Cheese for lunch, then grilled out burgers and hot dogs while the cousins played outside in the hose and slip n slide. Tuesday we took all the kids to Busch Gardens, but got rained out before the fireworks. Jen's kids haven't been to an amusement park in ages, so they had a ball! Wednesday we caught the dollar movie (Megamind) before the cousins headed for home. Thursday I took the day to clean up the house, and it was Olivia's actual birthday so the kiddos spent the whole day outside playing in the hose and slip n slide, making water bottle tornados, eating Popsicles and drawing with sidewalk chalk. We got dressed and hit Chick fil a for dinner ( birthday girl's choice) and came home pretty worn out after letting the kids play in the funky smelling play area! Friday Ryan was off, so we hit Busch Gardens again. The fireworks were great, but we didn't get home until 12:40, and had the kids in bed after 1!!! Saturday we took it easy, but Connor and Caden came over to play outside with the kids and then it was our first edition of Kids in the kitchen! Jackson helped make eggplant parmesan, slicing the eggplants, breading them and dropping them in the pan. He also helped pick the basil, and chopped it up with scissors, and added the salad dressing ingredients and shook then up. Sam was in charge of brownies and did everything himself, including putting them in the oven. Olivia made the pasta, salting the water, and adding the pasta, and stirring it, of course! it went much more smoothly then I anticipated, and the kids were very proud of all their contributions to the meal. Today, we went to church and then spent a lazy afternoon playing outside and on the wii. Ryan made hot wing and fries for dinner (or chicken on the bone as the kids call it!) and we roasted marshmallows for s'mores on the fire pit. We pulled put glowsticks and flashlights and the kids played beside the tent we (Ryan) set up in the backyard. they showered and got Jammies on outside which was declared SO MUCH FUN! And settled into the tent with daddy to play chess and read stories. All in all, it has been a fun filled summer and it has only begun!

Stuff

2011-05-24T17:53:00.000-07:00

Conversation with Sam:
Me: Sam, Mrs. Ray told me you have a big part in your end of year program.
Sam: Oh, yeah. It's a leadership position. ( quite serious)

Claire said "night night" clear as a bell today. Maybe she'll talk one day after all!

Olivia had her ballet recital about 10 days ago and still talks about it nonstop. She was mimicking some of the older girls the other day and shaking her hips from side to side while pushing her hair back on both sides and saying " dontcha think I'm adorable!". She also told me the other day that she wants an Alice in Wonderland birthday again. But don't worry Mom, I'll just invite different people!

Jack came home today with a recommendation from the school art teacher for a summer art program, which doesn't surprise me a bit. He loves to draw and I have seen marked improvement all year. maybe we have a budding architect on our hands?

Lots of cuteness

2011-05-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

The school year is winding down and I am so excited to spend time with the kids without the pressures of our crazy schedule. We ended up making a last minute trip to Florida last week as Ryan's grandmother is sick, and the kids were amazing despite spending about 30 hours in the car in a 4 day period. There was quite a bit of "are we there yet? How bout now? How.many.minutes.? That's a palm tree so we must be there NOW!". But overall they were incredible little travelers! Our schedule is so crazy that in order to be gone for 4days, we missed karate graduation, 2tball games (including being responsible for snack), 2 karate classes, 2 birthday parties, a field trip, and collecting for a teacher birthday!
Sam was so sweet yesterday at a birthday party as they blindfolded Olivia for a game and he whispered to the mom "make it kinda easy for her because she IS only 3 and a half."
I am seeing glimpses of the future like that from all of them. Yesterday after Jackson got off the bus, I was changing Claire's diaper when the phone rang. I asked him to bring it to me, and though I didn't recognize the number, I answered to hear "Is Jackson there?".
"Yes, he is. May I ask who's calling?".
"I wanted to talk to Jackson."
"Okay, who is this?"
"Easton."

Jack positively beamed from ear to ear when I told him the phone was for him and he wandered off talking to his friend from kindergarten. After about a minute and a half he came back and handed me the phone, shrugging. I took the phone and when I listened I could still hear someone on the other end. "Hello?"...."Easton?".
"Yeah?"
"Are you done talking to Jackson?
"Yeah."
"Okay, well I am going to hang up now."
"okay. Bye."

I asked Jackson what they talked a out and he said, " I don't know. We just talked for a while about some stuff."
My little teenager!

The kids played outside today with the neighbors and when it was time to come in, Olivia came cruising up in a kids jeep saying, "mama, Mason is driving me home!" while giggling and tossing her hair back. Terrifying!

On our way home from karate, Olivia asked for some of my lip gloss. Claire watched intently as Olivia pooched out her lips and carefully applied just the right amount. As she finished, Claire thrust her hand out for Olivia to give her the lip gloss, and with a serious look, tried to unscrew the lid while pooching out her own lips like Olivia and trying to apply the lip gloss! 14 months old today and going on 14 years!

Clarification

2011-04-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

Conversation at dinner last night:
Jack-we had p.e. outside today
Sam- No fair! You get to PEE OUTSIDE at kindergarten?
Me: No, no, no, NO! PE stands for Physical Education or gym class. Do not, I repeat, do NOT pee outside at kindergarten!!!!

I am so glad we had this conversation now before he dropped trou on the playground.

Sam registered for kindergarten today and the teacher said, "wow! He is just a WOW! The teachers are all fighting over who gets him next year already!".
I"m so proud of him. He reads very well, adds and subtracts, and knows so many things far beyond his years! I am quite sure he was the only child at kindergarten registration who, as he was reading a worksheet where you match the word with the picture on another part of the page, said "Well, I will draw a line from here to here, but it should actually say hatS instead os hat. because there are two of them!"

The teachers adored you Sam, but not as much as me. I'm so proud of you every day.

Soaking wet!

2011-04-06T18:10:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if the chaos has become so normal that it doesn't seem worth documenting, or if there is genuinely less hilarity around here, but it seems there just aren't quite as many funny stories to tell now that the three "big" kids are growing up. Tonight, however, I had one of those shocking, hilarious, only-when-you-have kids kind of moments. I had put Claire in the tub and begun scrubbing her hair when Olivia wandered in, having decided she would rather take a bath with Claire than a shower with the boys. She sat down on the potty and said " I forgot to be good today," with a pouty expression and downcast eyes. I looked away from Claire to focus my attention on Olivia, assuring her that despite her time outs, she was still a good girl and had been good much of the day. As Olivia and I Nuzzled and rubbed noses, I was shocked to attention by a sudden deluge of water flowing onto my lap. I yelled and looked up to see Claire grinning mischievously from the tub with a bucket in her hand. I was soaked all the way through my panties! And it made me and all three big kids laugh heartily at our rotten little miss Claire!

Silly kids

2011-03-04T19:23:00.001-08:00

Ryan was out of town for FIVE days at a conference in Las Vegas and spending time with his dad and brother, so the kiddos and I hunkered down here at home and made the best of our time together. Roger sent me a picture of Ryan and his brother in front of their hotel called the LUXOR and as Sammy walked by and saw the picture, he said "WHOA! Dad's in EGYPT?!" He kills me!

The other day after Jackson came home from school, Sammy started chanting "Jack's got Bieber Fever," over and over, trying to get a rise out of his brother. I don't think any of them actually know who Justin Bieber IS, so instead of getting upset, Olivia started saying "Oh no, Mommy, Look at Claire...I think she's got the fever too!!!!"

When Ryan arrived home from his trip, he went in to check on the kids, and Sammy woke up as Ryan rearranged his covers. He looked up at Ryan, then wrapped his arms around his neck in a big hug and said "Welcome Home, Dad." Meltingly cute.

One of our survival nights while Ryan was gone, I took the kids through the Chick-Fil-A drive-thru after karate to pick up free kids meals (with coupons!) for dinner. As we waited in line, Olivia began singing, to the tune of America the beautiful, "O Chick....fil......A, O Chick.....fil......A!"

At least she has loyalties, right?!

Today in the car as the kids were watching the NEW Peter Pan movie, Olivia said something about "Jinkerbelle" and Jackson scolded her with "It's not JINKerbelle, it's TINKerbelle, OLIVIA!" and Sam jumped to her defense saying "She knows what it is Jack, she just can't say it because she's still little and we're older than her." Cute, defending his little sister!

Claire is ONE!

2011-03-04T19:15:00.000-08:00

It happened. She really did turn one on Thursday. I just cannot believe she's really one, and yet as I see her personality emerging, I am so excited to know the person she is becoming. She clasps her hands together and chants along while we sing our "God our Father" grace song at meals, and claps for herself and her siblings! As the kids sang "Happy Birthday" to her on her special day, she swung her head from side to side, clapped her hands, and waited with wide-eyes and a cocked head for them to start over again when they were done!

I turned her seat around on the big day, and she has been much happier getting in the car. It's so strange to see FOUR little faces peering back at me from the back of the van!

The other night Olivia was taking a bath with Claire and began pretending that Claire was a baby wolf and I was the Momma wolf, and she was the sister wolf and we howled at the moon. Claire would get very serious, then tilt her head upwards, purse her lips together, and make a soft MMMMMMM noise. SOOOO cute! Her birthday party, just for family, the Wilsons and the Moores will be on Sunday with a PINK ladybug theme. It's pretty much a photo op for me, so I intend to douse the kitchen with pink and take LOTS of pictures of my adorable Claire!

She is not quite walking yet, although she has taken a step or two on her own, and is definitely capable, just not confident enough. She said "Mama," "Dada," "Uh-oh," and "Hi!" and I THINK has said a few other things, but nothing else consistent.

Happy Birthday to my sweet girl, even if you have been keeping me up at night for days on end! I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world! XOXO

February 2011

2011-02-26T18:51:00.000-08:00

So much has happened in the past month:

Olivia stopped using her pacifier. She just decided one night that she didn't need it anymore and that has been the end of it! SUCH a change from the traumatic taking away of the boys' pacis! I hope Claire's will go so easily! She has also worn her first french braids! Yay for her hair finally growing!

Claire's first birthday is in 5 days and I simply cannot believe she is about to be 1! She is doing so many adorable things right now, and more every day. I wish I had a camcorder with me every time I am with her so I can remember them all in detail! For some time now whenever she wants to get your attention, she cocks her head to the side and gets RIGHT up in your face, smiling all the way! It is certainly effective, and it makes her laugh and do it all over again! She is into ev.er.yth.ing! The other kids were deterred by the gate at the bottom of the stairs, but eventually figured out how to crawl under it and head up the steps. I think it took them a few MONTHS to figure that out. Claire took about 5 minutes. We started putting stools at the base of the stairs to block the opening under the gate, but she started moving those and heading up anyhow. She climbs into the kids' rocking chairs in the playroom so she can get into the toys on the table (all carefully placed there to keep them OUT of her reach, of course!) and is an unstoppable force when there's something she wants. I can't BELIEVE that she can lift my Le Crueset cast iron/porcelain cookware out of the cabinets, and yet she does it nearly every night while I make dinner. At this point, I worry more for the hardwood floors than anything else! She says "Mama" and "Dada" and "Uh-Oh" and just recently stood up to a balanced standing position on the back deck, spread her arms, beamed, and said "TAAADAAAAA!" She yells at the kids and bangs on the door if they are misbehaving and have to be reprimanded, and she loves to say "Numnumnumnumnum" to either indicate that she wants to eat or is thoroughly enjoying something she is already eating! She has taken a step by herself, and is perfectly capable of walking (doing it with toys, etc.) but just isn't quite ready to take that leap of faith. Her birthday party is going to be a pink ladybug theme, and I am so excited to get started, even if it is the last of its kind. Boohoo! I can't wait to turn her seat around in the car, though, and I think it will make her much happier to get into her seat. She is so happy, adventurous, and pleasant, loving to be spun, tossed in the air, or hung upside down, and if we could only get her to sleep all night, she would be the perfect little sweetheart!

Sammy had his Nursery Rhyme day at school, and man is that kid growing up fast and right before my eyes. When I mentioned it to him at first, he said "NO. I'm not doing it. Nursery Rhymes are for BABIES!" I informed him that it was homework, and therefore he WOULD be doing it, and after he turned down all my other ideas, he finally agreed to let me make him a stenciled 3 Blind Mice t-shirt, but only if he didn't actually have to dress up as anything. Later that day when he asked me for a drink of milk, I absentmindedly handed him a cup and he said "Even though it's pink, I'm just dealin' with it!" He's way too manyly for pink, you know. He was introduced to the hilarity that is "Winter Wipeout" at his friend's house and now requests that all the time, and fell in love with Angry Birds on the same friends' dad's "Smarty phone!" He is easily reading 1st grade books now and takes so much pride in his accomplishment. I hope his enthusiasm for reading and learning continues well into the future. He is a Senior Green belt now in karate and will test for his red belt in March. T-ball for the boys starts next week, and our evenings are going to be crazy once that all begins!

Jackson continues to do so well in school. He is well-liked by his teacher and classmates, and excels in his reading, easily reading Dr. Seuss and other 2nd grade books. He has said he doesn't want to play sports anymore, but I figured we would let him try t-ball again and if he truly doesn't like it, he can quit to pursue his interests in art. He and Sam are at the same level in karate and I just can't believe they've been at it for more than a year and a half now. His second report card came home, and he improved in the few areas that required work, and amazes me every day.

I'm sure there are so many more things to record, but after the night I had last night, I am fading fast and just needed to jot down a few things before they are forgotten forever.

The things Sammy says...

2011-01-20T09:08:00.001-08:00

So this week was my "campout" in my car night at the preschool to secure a spot for Olivia next year. It was my FIFTH consecutive year, so I have it down to a science and it's really not a big deal to me. The kids thought it was crazy/funny that I was leaving after dinner to go sleep in my car, and I think they were a little concerned! After I had said goodbye and was heading out to the van, Sammy followed me to the garage door and began his interrogation:

S: "Mom, flashlight, check?"

Me: "Yep!"

S:" Sleeping bag, check?"

Me: "Check."

S: "Snack and drink, check?"

Me: "Check."

Pause...pause...

S: "Purse, check?"

Me: "Yep, check!"

Sam: "Alright then mom, see you in the morning!"

Is he really barely five?!

He had a playdate yesterday at his friend Gabe's house, who has a stay-at-home dad. Before we left he said, "I'm going to Gabe's house to have BOY privacy. Because his mom has to go to work, and his dad stays home, and since it's just me and Gabe and Mr. S, we have BOY privacy."

I love that kid!

New Year, New Resolutions

2011-01-12T10:28:00.001-08:00

It's time to buckle down. The baby is now 10 months old and not only sleeping through the night but on a regular nap schedule, so it's time to get back to my blog! Hopefully, this year I will do a better job of recording all the sweet (and not so sweet) nuances of the day-to-day life I share with my great husband and 4 adorable kiddos. Accepting how quickly time is passing is very difficult for me, but at least if I write it all down, it will be easier to revisit once my babies are grown. I was nearly brought to tears on Sunday when, during a family trip to the mall, I discovered the boys are now too tall for the play area. Granted, it is a nasty, germ-infested cespool and I should be grateful they can no longer beg for 15 minutes of running over the younger kids, but it is another marker that their toddlerhoods are behind them. We spent many hours when they were younger passing the morning at the mall, eating Chick-fil-A biscuits for breakfast, browsing Gymboree, and bribing them with the promise of 15 minutes of play area time at the end.
Speaking of time passing, we have had a busy coupla months! The time from Halloween until mid January is always a whirlwind for me, but this year in particular it was hopping! Halloween and its many festivities give way straight into Jackson's birthday (and the ensuing party at home, treats for the school, etc.), followed by Thanksgiving, Holiday shopping and decorating, Christmas (including teacher gifts for being the room mom for 2 of the classes, Christmas cards, baking, packing, etc.), and then coming home in time to take down Christmas and plan Sam's party in ONE week. I'm exhausted just listing all that! Toss in karate lessons twice a week, ballet once a week, doctor's appointments, elementary and preschool drop-off and pick-ups, and volunteering at the schools, and you have one crammed schedule!
Jackson chose a Star War Lego theme for his party this year, and after making his personalized invitations and creating/cutting out 25 character masks, I designed and made the mashmallow fondant cake, complete with chocolate legos and fondant light sabers, bought lightsabers for all, and designed tags for the bags full of sweet tart lego candy we send home with each child. Food included "Vader Potater Chips," "Yoda Soda," "Wookie Cookies," and "Hoth Chocolate." The kids and adults all had a great time, and I was forced to face the fact that my eldest is now 6 years old. Jackson continues to love school and excel, being selected as the highest reader in his class and chosen for an advanced reading program. His teacher has declared him to be sweet, consciencious and compassionate, although a bit too meticulous at times. He runs into my arms each day at the bus stop, and I love sweeping him up for a huge hug and kiss. It won't be long until he will be far too embarrassed to allow such a thing, so I am doing my best to enjoy it all now! Legos can occupy him for long periods of time, and he continues to be a fabulous big brother to Sam, Olivia, and Claire. He lost his first two teeth in December, and man, the tooth fairy had her work cut out for her. I can't even IMAGINE how hard it was for her to sneak in his room at night and pull out the envelope with the tooth without waking Jack OR Sam, and it must've been NEARLY impossible to put the crinkly bag of legos and dollar bill BACK under his sleeping head. I know that when I went in to check and see if she had visited, he was VERY quick to pop up and search for his goods. I think it took 4 tries and about 2 hours. Needless to say, it was a late night.
Christmas was filled with activities, like a family outing to see the James Center Grand Illumination, a gingerbread decorating party at the Rife's, a karaoke party for adults at the Borchert's, a night of popcorn and hot chocolate in pajamas as we took in as many of the tacky lights as we could stand, and a visit to the Children's Museum to see the Legendary Santa. We trekked to Williamsburg to spend a quiet weekend with Aunt Leah, Uncle Anthony, and Kinzie, and spent 9 days at Mimi's and our cousin's in Roanoke. We have had several good snows, and even missed a few days of school when we have blissfully hunkered down, lit the gas fireplace, and watched movies. Our elf on the shelf came back the night we were at the Grand Illumination and we found him on our Christmas tree when we got home that night. We found him each morning in all kinds of silly places, except a couple of times when it was either too windy for him to fly, or he decided to stay because we had been so bad he was giving us a second chance and wanted to be able to give Santa a GOOD report. *Snicker*
Sam has now turned 5 and his party was a Mad Scientist theme. I had ONE WEEK to pull it all together when we got home from Roanoke and it was a desperate dash to collect 14 white men's dress shirts and get them sewn in to little lab coats for all the guests. Ordering the science supplies from Amazon was easy, and Lowes was kind enough to donate 18 pairs of kid sized goggles so we could wear authentic scientist outfits. We made homemade lava lamps, played with instant snow, made water gel and a tornado, a yeast/peroxide volcano, and a diet coke/mentos geyser. We predicted and tested sinking versus floating, and the cake was an active volcano, complete with dry ice to create smoke coming out the top and sparklers for the fire. By the way, I had NO IDEA dry ice was such a pain in the toosh to store. When I picked it up on Friday for the party on Saturday, I was told it might dissipate before the party even started. I had to purchase 10 pounds of pellets, and store it in two coolers, tucked with towels and newspaper! The food included "Lime Slime Jell-o," "molecular structure cheese ball station," and "acid and base salsa and chips." The kids were sent home with their lava lamps, lab coats, goggles, and Pop Rocks. For once, they were actually engrossed in an activity the whole time, and it wasn't a free-for-all of wild kids running around my house! The Deeter cousins spent the night and the kids were in heaven! He now has his first loose tooth, which I CANNOT believe, and is starting to amaze me with his ability to read and do math. The doctor and nurse were very impressed at his 5 year checkup, not only because he continues to be in the 95- off the chart percentiles for height and weight, but because he knows far more than the average 5 year old. We figured out today, he'll be a karate Black Belt at 8! Crazy!
Olivia is a bundle of energy and so very loud! We have decided her only volumes are ridiculously loud and asleep! I'm not sure if it's just her personality (from her father's side of course!) or a conditioning from no one listening to her most of the time, but man it can make you crazy. Good thing she's so stinkin' cute so we haven't had to lock her outside in the cold...YET! We discovered last week, after months of her SWEARING there was a little girl in her ballet class named "Kikkidy" (and my proclamations that there is NO ONE NAMED KIKKIDY!) that there is a girl named "Kennedy" and she was confused! She also continues to love school and cheer for the days when she goes (just Tuesdays and Thursdays). She can now write her name and is starting to pick up way more street smarts than we are ready for!
Sweet Claire is now clapping, waving, and saying "Mama," "Dada," Nana" (banana), and "Nighnigh," (for night - night). She eats all sorts of things, preferring to feed herself to anything spoonfed, and is crawling military style and on all fours. She pulls up, cruises, and has just begun pulling things out of cabinets, baskets, and tabletops as quickly as she can get there! She still loves peek-a-boo, and nothing more than spending time with her 3 adoring siblings!
So there you have it! Can't wait to see what 2011 has to bring for our family!

Olivia, tonight, when served her dinner of soup and side of "Pirate's Booty" popcorn, said "Daddy, I didn't want any PIRATE HEINIE!" Haha!

And Sam, asking for "Eye of the Tiger" to be played on the Ipod said, "I need to work out my arms a little bit!" He also told me (as I tried on clothes to clean out my closet), "Oh, yeah, that's a keeper! You should wear that on a date!" Way beyond his years!

Sam's soccer party

2010-11-08T08:49:00.000-08:00

We had Sam's end of the season soccer party at Cici's pizza last night. I was trying to cheer him up earlier tnd his week while he was struggling about all the attention Jack was getting, and I said "Sam, you have your soccer party this Sunday."
"Mom, what's a soccer party?"
"Well, it's when you get your TROPHY and you get to eat pizza with your soccer friends."
"OOOh! I should get a REALLY BIG trophy cause I scored lots of goals! Remember that really cold game when I scored ALL the goals?!"

Modesty doesn't visit our house much! ;-)

Jack is six, and Claire is 8 months...

2010-11-08T08:03:00.000-08:00

Jackson's sixth birthday was Saturday. There were two solid days of festivities, starting with his celebration at school on Friday. He PROUDLY wore his birthday crown, accepted his birthday paddles and kiss from his teacher with blushing and shy smiles, showed off the poster we made covered in pictures of his family and favorite places and things, and ate light saber chocolate chip cookies with his friends. I took him Subway for lunch, and we chatted and enjoyed a rare time together with one-on-one time. Saturday morning at his soccer game, not only did he score two goals and get some bonus time on the field, but his teammates chanted "BIRTH-DAY-BOY!" over and over while he was on the field. His party was a Star Wars lego theme, and about 16 of his friends came to play and share in the fun! The kids played with light sabers, wore Star Wars masks, ate party foods like "Vader Patater chips," and "wookie cookies," followed by cake, ring cupcakes, and edible lego candy blocks. It was an all-around great day!
Last night when I was tucking the boys in to bed, I asked Jack if it felt different being 6. He said, "I don't know" with a shy giggle. I said "Well, you're practically a grown-up. Are you going to start growing a beard?" He laughed and said "NO...YOU are!" I said "WHAT?! I'm a GIRL!" And he started calling me "the bearded lady." Those kids!
He has his first two loose teeth...the same bottom two front teeth that Claire is just getting. Sigh, the circle of life I suppose. While brushing his teeth last week, I discovered that he had the new teeth all the way in already, so it won't be long now. And we get to call him "Shark Boy" temporarily for his multiple layers of teeth!
We had his first teacher conference last week, and his teacher adores him. Not only did he score a 99 on his pals test (when the benchmark is around 50!) but he was placed in the highest reading group! His teacher said he is very sweet, concientious, and attentive. She also said she wouldn't be surprised at all if he was identified for the gifted and talented program! Yay Jack!
I've been making Olivia wear a pull-up to bed for a while now because despite her ability to stay dry, she seemed to discover that peeing in her bed resulted in being moved to MY bed, and started wetting the bed every night. That particular morning when I laid out her clothes she said, "Silly Mommy! I alweady HAB panties on! I wore dem wast night and I keeped dem NICE and DWY!" She's so full of herself!
Sammy has had a hard time the last week or so with all the attention being on Jack's birthday. I think it is a combination of feeling like he's being left behind (now that Jack is in kindergarten and rides the bus and has friends Sam doesn't know and has loose teeth, etc.) and being jealous of all Jack's birthday fuss, but he has been a little sensitive lately. But man that kid can make me melt when he sings "O beautiful, for spacious skies..." and when I join in, he always says "They had that song when YOU were little, too?!"
Claire has one tooth all the way in, and another about halfway. She smiles her little toothy grin all the time, and has remained so pleasant despite her first little runny nose and cough. She is crawling, pushing herself up to sit, and trying all kinds of new solid finger foods. I have yet to find a food she won't eat, from a variety of baby foods and cereals, to fresh fruit, bread, and other snacks. She is pure joy all day long. I am so going to miss having a baby in the house.

How'd you get home?

2010-10-19T19:06:00.000-07:00

Last night at dinner, Ryan was telling me / us about his day at work. He had a big presentation, and said afterwards he just "crashed." The boys continued listening until he finished talking and then Jack said "How'd you get home, Dad?" Confused, we said "What?" "How'd you get home, Dad? After you crashed?"
So literal! We explained that he didn't crash the CAR, but he was so tired he wanted to crash his body into the couch! Gotta love the way kids' minds work!

Olivia's twang

2010-10-19T19:05:00.000-07:00

I don't know where it came from, but I don't want to forget that Olivia says "Sam" like it has three syllables..."SA-YA-AM" or the way she sings "We are the Champions" more like Chee-yam--peee--yuns." That girl, she is a piece of work!

Sam at school

2010-10-19T18:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was able to chaperone Sam's 4 year old class trip to the Fire Station. It always surprises me to see how different my kids are at school than at home, and that my fears of misbehaving are completely offbase. Sam was a perfect angel. He was quiet, attentive and raised his hand. He was polite, genuine, and respectful. But more than anything else, I was amazed to see his natural leadership traits emerge. When we arrived, the kids were told to have a seat on the couch. Sam ended up smack in the middle of a "girls" couch and I took his pic with 3 girls on each side! He decided he wanted to sit with the boys, and as they saw him coming, they made room for him. As the group was told to move to the next area of the fire station, Sam was ALWAYS right up there, leading the group to the next location, and there was a feeling that the other kids were waiting for him, EXPECTING him to lead them forward. I see great things ahead for that kid. And I can't wait to see what will happen next.

Time marches on

2010-10-03T18:38:00.001-07:00

Claire is 7 months old today. SEVEN months old! I can't believe it! She is still too cute for words, smiling anytime a smiling face looks her way, and her dimples exploding out of her cheeks! She scoots around quite well, is eating baby puffs all by herself, and drinking water out of a sippy cup. She babbles in the cutest ways, always trying to communicate with the big kids, who still delight in her every move.
Her two bottom teeth are just popping through her gums, and I am starting to mourn the loss of the gummy smiles, the newborn/young infant stage. I see pregnant women, and I feel jealous of the new life they feel inside, moving around, kicking, hiccuping and squirming. The excitement of wondering when the baby will come, what will the baby be, who will the baby look like? And although I think we should stop having kids now, with two perfect boys, and two beautiful and sweet girls, it makes my heart ache to think that phase of my life is over.
Each year, I see such changes to our routine and to my kids. This year, with the addition of kindergarten, I am running all the time. I feel most days like there's not even time to enjoy being home, for the kids to play with their toys or run around outside. There is school, and homework, soccer practice, ballet, and karate; back to school nights, girls night out, and Ryan's basketball. There is just never a break from the rush rush rush. Such a contrast from a few short years ago when going to Target might be the big outing of a three day period!
Taking Olivia to the children's museum without her brothers was bittersweet. She ran from place to place, playing wherever SHE wanted without me calling out for them to STAY TOGETHER, and we'll go where you want NEXT. She seemed to enjoy it, but she didn't light up the way she does when she shares those experiences with the boys.
The other day in the car, I was listening to the radio and the boys were talking in the back. I heard Jackson say to Sam, "SO, how do you like Mrs. Ray's class?" Sammy said "Good. I like the centers." And then I couldn't hear anymore over Olivia's bellowing "I DO CENTERS TOO! AND I LIKE GOING OUTSIDE! BOYS! BOOOOOOYYYYS!" I hope they are always this close.

Kindergarten

2010-09-06T17:43:00.000-07:00

My dear, sweet Jackson,
Tomorrow you will embark on a new adventure. Your first adventure without me or Sam by your side. I have such mixed feelings about this day. I am so excited for you to learn new things, make new friends, and discover more about who you are. At the same time, I am so sad to think that this era of our life together is over. There has been so much time for me to spend with you...only a little time with you alone, but so much time with you and your siblings. Me and my kiddos heading to the Children's Museum, the library, the mall, the grocery store...playgroups and preschool. It just won't be quite the same with one missing link.
You are my "big" kid...the one who generally settles disputes between Sam and Liv, loves to sit and color or practice writing, disappears into a quiet corner to build with Legos, or watch a movie. You are so sweet and so genuine. Always trying to be polite...an avid people-pleaser like your mother. You are quick to say thank you, (for making dinner, for buying slushies, for taking you to the pool) and always quick with a smile. Lately, you are also always looking for and finding change on the ground...seriously, its a strange but intriguing knack that you have!
I know you are going to be great at school. You will be a good listener, a good helper, and an enthusiastic student. But I hope that you will also be a leader, staying true to yourself, and not worrying about being a "guy's guy" cause that's just not you. I hope you will find friends and be a good friend. I hope that you will find out what you like and don't like, and have the courage and assertion to say how you feel. I hope that even though disappointments and heartache are inevitable, you will learn from them and know that God is with you and has a special plan just for you. And I hope you know now and will always know how very much I love you. YOU. Exactly you, and just the way you are. Go get 'em, baby.

Summatime 2010

2010-09-06T17:33:00.001-07:00

Busch Gardens...lather, rinse, repeat 5 times. Emerald Isle times one week. Pool multiplied over and over and over. Visits with family, both at our house and elsewhere. New deck = bad garden this year but lots of time outside this fall! Hot, hot hot. Temps regularly over 100 degrees. Olivia's third birthday. Karate twice a week- graduated to blue belts. Vacation Bible school for one week. Swimming lessons for Olivia. I think that covers most of it...

May and June recap

2010-07-06T10:32:00.000-07:00

We wrapped up the end of the school year in May with lots of school parties, outside playing, and Jack's preschool graduation (sniff, sniff!). Our plans for Memorial weekend of going to Nags Head with Ryan's family had to be cancelled when there was a chicken pox situation, but we made the best of it staying home and hanging out at the pool. June was a trip to Roanoke (b/c Mother's Day visit was cancelled from Sam running a fever) and an extended stay through Wednesday of that week. Olivia's swimming lessons were up next, followed by her Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter tea party birthday celebration, and summer was in full swing. I have been filling the days with running errands, taking the kiddos to the pool, Busch Gardens, and the free summer movies. July 4th weekend was bliss! Friday the whole fam went to Busch Gardens for the day, concluding with a spectacular fireworks display, and filled with lots of rides and eating- 11 hours' worth, to be exact!! Saturday we lounged at home and the pool, and Sunday we worked around the house and cooked out with our good friends and neighbors next door. We attemped to view more fireworks, but wound up parked in exactly the wrong spot so that trees obstructed the show! Oh well, the kids had a blast running around in the warm evening with their buddies and glow sticks, so all was not lost! The day ended late for us again with a glow stick bath and bed for the kids at midnight! Monday Ryan was still off, so we headed out to see Toy Story 3 (sooooo cute- and I cried at the college room scene with his mother), lunch at Cici's, more playing at the pool, and finally smores in our firepit with friends. Packed full, but so much fun!
Claire now....still our angel baby. She smiles all.the.time. , giggles when tickled, sleeps peacefully, and tolerates far more than most, both from beibg dragged all over kingdome-come in 100 degree heat with the fam, and from all the "love" she gets from her adoring siblings! At four months now, she has been rolling both ways for a month, is very vocal and communicative, sleeps with or without her paci, and actually plays in the exersaucer for periods of time. Since turning three months, she has actually been USING the toys on her exersaucer, which is amazing!
Olivia at three is still not remotely potty- trained, and is growing more difficult by the day...testing, testing, testing! She is also growing cuter by the day, and the end result = stinker! She plays very well by herself, and can often be found roaming the house in a pull-up, high heels, and tiara. Very fitting. Princesses, pink, shopping, and all things girly are right up her alley! She plays with the boys more these days, but only if she can be the "pwincess". Swimming lessons did not go as planned, and by the final day she was refusing to even get in the water, Ridiculous, of course, b/c she goes under all the time when we are there to play, especially with her new ariel "gobbles"! She went for her first haircut at a salon, and is now sportin' a super-cute stacked bob. Love my baby girl, even with the 'tude!
Sam has backed off a bit with the constant Claire kisses. Maybe it's because she started punchin and scratchin! He still says the funniest things and is very wise beyond his four years. He is excited about playing soccer in the fall, and despite claiming to not like karate, excels in balance and kicking! He sounds out words like a champ now, and still loves his soy butter and jelly sandwiches all the time. Helping in the kitchen is one of his fav pastimes, and Phineas and Ferb is the reigning choice for tv. He is definitely growing up right before my eyes.
Jackson's new favorite is legos right now, and he can usually be found either building a new ship or playing his DS. He loves the privelege of 15 minutes of quiet time at night after we read to him, when we leave the lamp on and he gets to look at books on his own in bed. He is very much looking forward to kindergarten,but we'll see how he feels when its actually here. Loves the pool, his whole family, and fast amusement park rides. Big brother, all the way.

Sam loves...

2010-04-28T18:01:00.000-07:00

Addison from school because "she doesn't talk much. Only when Mrs. Hunter calls on her. But when she does talk, she has a beautiful voice." That kid is gonna be trouble and I mean SOON!

I survived 4 days alone...

2010-04-28T17:54:00.000-07:00

with a 5 yo, 4 yo, 2.5 yo, and 7 week old! I may need to have t-shirts made that say just that! Ryan was in San Diego from Sunday at 4 am until Wed nite at 1 am. Major obstacles: getting the kids ready in the mornings (but my wonderful Tammy came and helped with that), karate lessons, gardening, and Sam getting diarrhea/projectile vomiting. But hey, I survived, I planted most of the veggie garden, I kept the house picked up, I cleaned out my closet, and I did Tons of laundry to completion....and most of all, I didn't kill ANY of the kids. So, rock on me! Rock on with yo motherin' self! ;-)

Edited to add:
That diarrhea/projectile vomiting incident turned into "Puke and Poopapalooza 2010" in our house. The three older kids ALL got it, and we endured 5-7 days of endless shifts on the cleanup crew. Finally, after a solid 5 nights of getting up and changing sheets because every night SOMEONE had thrown up or had diarrhea IN THEIR BEDS, Ryan was getting ready for work when Olivia started crying because she had more diarrhea IN HER BED. Ryan took her to the tub while I nursed Claire, and then Jack came running into our bedroom because Sam had thrown up ...wait for it...DOWN THE STAIRS. And you know what? My husband BAILED. He looked at me and said "I gotta go to work." I stood there with a newborn in my arms, surround by stench and funk and stinky kids and he said "If I stay, you're just gonna have one more person to clean up after. I gotta get outta here." And just like that he escaped! We survived though, and I like to think we are stronger for it. At least that's what we keep telling ourselves. *Shudder*

Sweet baby smells and sweet baby coos

2010-04-28T17:46:00.000-07:00

Claire,
You continue to be such a sweet baby. I love to hold you and just stare at you. You are growing cuter by the minute, and now that you smile those huge gummy smiles, that make your dimples ridiculously deep and your eyes completely light up, I am powerless against your every wish! You coo at me and the kids, and find very few things to complain about...perhaps a diaper that has been soiled too long, an occasional desire to be held while you sleep, a car ride that you just don't want to be on, or hunger. Overall, you are just so pleasant. You smell like baby, and I could just soak you up all the time, knowing in my heart you will probably be my last baby. My last one month old, I say to myself as that month ends. My last two month old I am saying as that date approaches in 5 days. As I see you outgrowing the 0-3 month clothes, I will be so sad to part with them, knowing I won't need them again. My friend Jayne posted a link on Facebook last night, "The Gift of an Ordinary Day" by Katrina Kenison and it all rings true. It made me cry, but it also made me a better mother by reminding me that when mothering so many little ones, the days are long, but the years are fleeting. Sigh.

Kindergarten registration

2010-04-28T17:44:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten registration for Jack was last week. I was a total stresscase about it, and totally went all Monica from "Friends" with the competitive spirit I tend towards. I drilled him with his phone number and address and date of birth, because as we all know, the kindergarten readiness test is SOOOOO important! He did a fabulous job, scored VERY high, and the teacher that tested him said he is absolutely a joy and totally ready for school. Way to go preschool teachers! and WAAAAAH, ma BAYBEEE is growing up!

Blame game

2010-04-28T17:42:00.000-07:00

The boys were goofing off at bedtime the other night, and I went upstairs to reprimand them. I had already been up once, and told them NOT to get out of bed. When I opened their door, Sam was still laying in his bed, but with a stricken look on his face, and Jack was standing frozen next to Sam's bed, half smiling and half afraid of my wrath! Sam said right away "I stayed in my bed!" and Jack pointed at Sam and said, totally seriously, "But HE made it fun!"

My silly kids

2010-04-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

We have been overtaken by tiny bugs. Terminix has come once, but the bugs will not go away! They are some kind of tiny shelled bug, and they appear at every doorway all day long. Yuck. No one in this house hates bugs like Jackson, and yestday after discovering some in the laundry room doorway, he wanted me to get rid of them. I was busy getting Claire and Olivia, both asleep, from the car into the house, and as I snapped a pic of Liv with my cell phone to text to Ryan, Jackson came to the doorway and said "What are you doing, Mom? It doesn't really seem like you're doing anything about this bug situation."
Good observation, and yet... ;-)

Angel baby

2010-04-01T19:32:00.000-07:00

Oh my poor, sweet, child number four...there are no pics posted here yet, and no posts about your size, what you're doing, etc. The camcorder is rarely pulled out, and the camera (which was used daily with our first, despite the exorbitant cost of developing at Ritz, the two unemployed parents, and the fact that it was a film camera) is used only a few times a week. It's certainly not that we love you less, because that could never be true. You are beautiful, you are sweet, and we love you very, very much. It's just that there are so many kids now, and we are outnumbered and crazily busy! My day today was a race from getting ready this morning to taking the boys to school, taking Liv to ballet, running errands, picking the boys up from Lucky lunch after school, baking/decorating cupcakes for Jack's class party tomorrow, cleaning and finding a sitter for tomorrow morning while washing the karate uniforms, dashing to karate class, then off to the CFF fundraiser at Friendly's until we were home and I showered with the three older kiddos and had them in bed by 9:30. And that is not really so terribly busy of a day. Life is just that way right now, and I love it, despite being exhausted all the time.
Dear Claire, you were four weeks old yesterday. You are spending more time alert and have "smiled" at the kids, though I'm not entirely sure we have seen a genuine smile yet. You aren't fussy at all. Your Daddy has named you "Angel baby" because you have yet to keep us up at night. I don't think you have cried at all at night, and you are so pleasant 99% of the time. You are holding your head up so well, and your siblings continue to ADORE you, smothering you with kisses all the time. Even though it may seem at times that you are being shortchanged, just remember how many people you have to love you and look out for you, and you will know you are so very lucky.

Bathtime adventures

2010-03-15T19:04:00.000-07:00

Overheard tonight during bathtime
Sam, to Jack: "I smelled your heinie and it smells like pineapple a....n....d (thoughtful pause) GLUE."

Jack, incredulous: "REALLY? Try it again!"

I laughed until I cried. Kids, gotta love em!

Claire Allison is here!!!

2010-03-15T18:59:00.000-07:00

Claire Allison was born Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 6:42 p.m. at 8 pounds, 14 ounces, and 21 inches long. Labor was LOOOONG, starting at 8:15 am and stalling out several times. But in the end, getting from 7 cm to holding a clean baby in my arms was approximately 30 minutes, so she made up for it!
So far, she has a very sweet temperament, tolerating the older kids with ease, sleeping and eating and pooping just like a baby should. Nights have been relatively easy, and she has had absolutely no day/night confusion. (KNOCK ON WOOD!!!) The siblings ADORE her and smother her with adoration and kisses all the time! Olivia calls her "My cutie pie" and "My pooh bear" and I have to PUSH Sam away multiple times a day. He is very protective of her, asks to hold her ALL the time, and kisses her all day long. Hopefully things will stay this way, but we'll see...

D day

2010-03-02T18:02:00.000-08:00

The due date has come and gone, and still no baby. I am two days late right now, and the back pain, contractions (but without rhythm) and discomfort is becoming debilitating. I am scheduled for an induction on Thursday (March 4) and while it is nice to know there is an end in sight, I also feel some sadness at missing out on the spontaneous labor experience; the excitement of the first regular contractions, the race to the hospital, the unknown. But the planner in me loves the fact that my mother arrived tonight, the kids' clothes have been laid out for the next three days, their schedule has been written, backpacks packed, laundry done, and house all cleaned up. Going into labor on my own in the next 36 hours would be perfection. But we'll see! I have grown increasingly tired of the anxiety of everyone around me about the arrival of the baby, and want to scream "I WANT HER TO COME MORE THAN ANY OF YOU, and if I knew WHEN it was going to happen I would be a billionaire!!!! BUT THANKS FOR ASKING!"
The kids have grown with excitement each day and while I know there will be jealousy, I hope they will love their baby sister as much as they think they will!

Mmmmkay, time to get my heinie back in gear!

2010-02-23T17:58:00.000-08:00

SO much has happened since my last post. We've had oodles of snow, Christmas, school parties, Sam's birthday party, Valentine's Day, and Livi started school and ballet. We have redone the nursery in anticipation of baby Claire, gotten back our precious next door neighbors who moved to Nashville for 6 months, and had tons of fun!
And with the best intentions, I will for SURE go back and update to include all that stuff, complete with pictures. And fairies will sprinkle pixie dust all over my house, which will be clean and organized, and my kids will behave. Oh yeah, right. None of that stuff is actually gonna happen, so I guess I should just vow to do better from here and begin again.
SOOOOOO, Claire is officially due in 5 days. I was 2 cm dilated as of this morning, and Dr. Wiles attempted to get the ball rolling, so we'll see what happens from here. This pregnancy has been a fairly easy one, once I got past the treacherous first trimester when I couldn't eat...or get off the couch...or survive. BUT since then it has been pretty easy, and even here at the end, I think it has been easier than my others, but I am just ready to Have.This.Baby.Already. I thought that since this is most likely my last baby, I would feel more sadness at the end. But not so much. I'm sure it will come with a vengeance after the baby is born, but right now I just want her to come out, meet her excited siblings, and be able to hold her in my arms.
Olivia talks about baby "Cwaiwa" all the time. I think she will eventually love having a sister, so that in the moments when the boys are playing the wii together and Ryan and I are working on a project, she won't have to disappear into the playroom alone like she does now, but will have her own partner in crime to share her tea parties, fill her dollhouse, and wear princess costumes. Right now, she tells me I am her "best fwend in da whole wowod" and melts my heart. We have "girl power" together, and we comb each other's hair. We sing princess songs, paint our fingernails, pick out adorable clothes, and love pink. I look forward to sharing those things with Claire, and having a special relationship with her, but at the same time hope Olivia and I don't lose our magic.
She loves school and adores her "bawaweena cwass" (ballerina class), and is such a joy in so many ways. For her second day of school, she was so concerned that the boys might make her late for school, she made them get dressed, put on their shoes, and get in the car. I turned around from pouring my coffee and all three kids were in the car waiting to go...a full 25 minutes early. She loves the boys, takes care of them, and demands that they take care of her too. On Wednesday as I chatted with another mom in the parking lot after picking her up from school, she was tugging on my arm, pleading with me to hurry up "I want to see my BOYS! Come ON Mommeeee, I need to see my BOYS!" They carry things around for her, hang up her towel, make her bed, and help her use the computer.
Jackson has changed so much since turning 5. He is definitely seeking some independence, and tends to be a bit more difficult than he used to be. He is sent to his room alot more, and struggles between wanting to please, and wanting to take care of his younger siblings, and being terribly jealous that they get their way so often. When he wants to be sweet, he is painfully sweet, but when he wants to be rotten... well... he excels! He still loves art, and will sit at the table to draw, color, and write for long periods of time. Olivia often joins him, but Sam...not so much. The boys have become rather obsessed with video games since getting the Wii from Grandpa for Christmas, and DS's from Santa. While I welcome the quiet time it provides for ME, I know we need to be firmer with our limitations on screen time.
Sam has been a sweetheart lately. He definitely is all boy and tends to get a little wild sometimes, but genuinely wants to help and make others happy. Anytime I need someone to bring me something, he's my man. He does his bath by himself, wipes himself, and is so looking forward to "the new baby sister." He loves karate (especially dodgeball) and continues to thrive at school. He is so smart, and so funny, and definitely keeps us on our toes.
SO come on out, Claire, and meet your family! Here's hoping for a baby soon!

Ballet, etc.

2009-12-10T19:03:00.001-08:00

I signed Olivia up today for a ballet class in the Spring semester. Then of course we went right out and bought her a ballet skirt to wear with her leotard and white ballet slippers. She can't wait to be a "bawaweena!"
Jackson asked "What is ballet?"
I answered that it's a class where mostly girls learn to dance.
J: "Well, I wanna go to ballet. How will I learn to dance?"
Me: "You already do karate. Plus, it's dancing mostly for girls."
Sam jumped in at this point to say, using his hands as he talked for emphasis "Yeah, cause Jack, boys do stuff that is cool or maybe scary. And girls do stuff that is sweet."
At the age of three. Where does he come up with this stuff?!

Tonight at bathtime Jackson told me he doesn't want to grow up like Daddy. When I asked him why, he said "Because I want to stay little forever and make things for you."
So, so painfully sweet.

Advent activities

2009-12-03T17:52:00.001-08:00

The tree is up, it's December 3rd, and we are well on our way to the holiday festivities. We have already made and decorated with paint and glue some clay ornaments that the kids proudly display on the trees in their rooms, and have read Christmas stories for a week. We have had hot chocolate and candy canes, watched the Polar Express, and oohed and aahed over the smatterings of Christmas lights we've passed in the dark. We've taken the pics and ordered our Christmas cards, and I am ALMOST done with my shopping. On Saturday we will have breakfast with Santa, and our holiday will be officially underway. Hurray!

The magical marble jars

2009-12-03T17:43:00.000-08:00

We have had a few behavior problems here lately in the house, particularly with Sam, our pronounced MIDDLE child. I am hoping that when he shares that role with Olivia in about 3 months, he'll get over it, but I won't hold my breath!
I discussed the situation with our pediatrician who recommended a jar with marbles, where the kids earn marbles for good behavior, and lose them for bad. It is very visual and they can redeem them for rewards. We've done it for two days, and it is AWESOME! It managed to take care of two problems at once. The boys got a Wii from their Grandpa for Christmas, but since he was in for Thanksgiving (from Alaska) and won't be back for Christmas, they received it last week. They could basically forgo food and sleep and play Mario Kart All.Day.Long. if we let them. Asking them to take a break results in an eruption of whining and crying, and gnashing of teeth. Plus, I'm a weenie and it IS kinda nice to be uninterrupted in the afternoons while they zone out.
We actually convinced Sam the other day when he had a nosebleed that his brain had turned to mush from playing too many video games, and was leaking out of his head. We told him he needed to take a break before it ALL leaked out and he couldn't think anymore, and that if he didn't play for a while, it would have time to harden back up. I asked him what day it was and when he didn't know (which he never does if it's not a Tuesday or Thursday when they talk about it at school!) I gave him the old "OH NO! That part must be the part that already leaked out!" - Yeah, we're totally prepared to pay for therapy, let's just hope not playing too many video games makes up for it with a scholarship ;-)
ANYHOO, I digress. The marble jar. The kids earn marbles by playing well together, staying their seat at mealtimes, sharing, using good manners, being good at school, etc. etc.
When they accrue 10, they can redeem them for ONE hour of Mario kart, during which time they cannot earn marbles, but can still lose them for bad behavior. They can earn one if they are good when it is time to turn OFF the game.
We love the marble jar, oh sweet peacemaker among siblings. You, marble jar, are my new best friend. We'll see how long this friendship lasts.

Sam continues to mess with Jack...

2009-12-03T17:35:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday when I picked the boys up from school, we were on our way home when Olivia said "Mama, you have a spider on your hair." I of course, began freaking out and trying to swat the supposed spider from my head, frantically asking the boys if THEY could see anything.
They assured me nothing was there and Jack said, "Mom, a spider couldn't be on your head anyway, right?"
I corrected him to say that yes, a spider could be on your head. It could fall from a tree, or climb up, or sometimes even jump from one surface to another.
Out of nowhere Jack said "Mom, what's a tick?"
"Um, it's a bug...why do you ask?"
J- "Because I had one on my HEAD one time, REMEMBER?!" (Obviously I'm a moron!)
S- "Yeah, ticks can jump on your head like this....boing, boing."
J- "How do YOU know, Sam?"
S- "Because we talked about Ticks today at school. We read a story about them, and learned facts about them, and I even drew a PICTURE of a tick jumping onto a person's head. I call it 'A tick on a cloud.' "
Jack, obviously impressed, proceeded to ask Sam questions about his newfound knowledge of ticks, and Sam repeatedly answered without missing a beat.
Throughout the day, Sam continued to rattle off random bits of "tick trivia" to Jack, who soaked it all up like a sponge. At dinner, Jack asked Sam a question about ticks and said "Did you learn about that today too?"
Sam, grinning like a cheshire cat said "Nah, we didn't actually learn about ticks today. I was just kiddin' ya."
Jack was very upset, yelling "MOOOOM, Sam LIED about school today."
After he composed himself he said "Well, I made a Christmas tree at school today."
Sam barely glanced up from his plate and said "No you didn't. You're just saying that to trick me because I tricked you."

Yup, he's still THREE. We are so screwed. ;-)

Jack and Olivia's Thanksgiving Feasts

2009-12-03T17:34:00.001-08:00

The week before Thanksgiving Olivia had her first official class business at the preschool, with a luncheon to meet her classmates. She LOVED it and I can't wait for her to start!

Jackson's "feast" was also an adorable program, where they wore custom shirts and sang some super cute songs. Pics to come!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-10T17:38:00.001-08:00

We ended up with two Peter Pans (the boys), a Tinkerbell (Olivia), a pseudo Captain Hook (daddy), and me with a Pumpkin on my burgeoning belly. I had joked for weeks that I would be "naughty Wendy," what with the obvious pregnancy...

Wendy: "What did you expect, MOTHER?! I had strange boys coming in my room at night, and you and Daddy left us home with a DOG for a babysitter! Of course I'm pregnant!"

However, when push came to shove, I just decided I couldn't pass up my final opportunity to BE a pumpkin for Halloween!

We trick-or-treated for THREE hours, and I kid you not. We left our house at 5:30 and came home at 8:55. Yeah. I had blisters and my feet were fat and swollen. But man have I had a ton of delicious milky ways and twix bars in the last coupla weeks. So there's that.

Jack's 5th birthday party

2009-11-10T17:25:00.001-08:00

Jack chose a Halloween theme for his birthday this year. We threw a costume party with all the fixin's and he said it was his best birthday yet! Having the party two weeks before his actual birthday totally blew his mind, though. In the two weeks between his birthday party and his "Actually" birthday, as he called it, he kept saying things like "Why am I not five yet? I can't wait to have another party on my actually birthday!" and "Wonder what everyone will get me for my actually birthday!"
So on the real day, we took cupcakes to school, went on a field trip to the firehouse (with his class) and let him choose dinner- "chips and salsa place." Sam had been diagnosed with a potential case of flu/swine flu the day before. Sudden temp, red eyes, and a persistent cough sent me running to the doc. BUT, since the kids had gotten the mist H1N1 vaccine 9 days before, the flu test was inconclusive because it could potentially have been registering the vaccine as the actual thing. Who knows. Anyhow, his fever improved that evening, then spiked again around midnight, when he came to our room and crawled in bed. I wasn't about to make him go back to his own room knowing how sick he was, but after dosing him up with Tylenol, he was like an oven pressed against my back, so I thought quick and woke up Ryan to ask him to bring in the toddler bed from the guest room so Sam could sleep beside me but not on top of me. Sam became distressed as I told him it wasn't a good idea for him to sleep with Mommy because he could give me his sick germs, but that he could sleep right beside me, and as Ryan brought the toddler bed in the room Sam said (from his position plopped right in the middle of our bed) "How are you both going to fit in that?"
Totally cracked me up! Stinker thought he got our bed and we were moving! Haha!
Anyhow, back to Jackson's birthday dinner at the local Mexican joint- they did the whole song and sombrero and whipped cream on the face bit, and Jack loved it all!
Then Sam threw up in the parking lot. (and we rejoiced because hey- not in the car, not in the house, not even on his clothes----score!)
Then we went home to have Pumpkin pie (Jack's requested dessert) and popcorn while we watched "The Sword in the Stone" that he received for his birthday. All in all, I think turning 5 was a great experience for him and one that he will hopefully remember!

Disney 2009

2009-10-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

We finally made the 12 hour trek from our house to Orlando last week. My mother in law lives in Orlando, and we've been wanting to get down there, but it just seemed impossible with the small ones to survive a drive that long! However, the kids were as good as gold, and we made it with only two short stops to eat each way! Wow!
On the way down, I showered them with NEW.STUFF like Disney pez dispensers, Search for object books with magnifying glasses, magic ink books, candy, snacks, and the Game boy I had put away for about a month before our trip! On the way back I was far too tired to care, made absolutely NO forages into the back of the van, and they did just as well as on the way down with only endless DVDs for entertainment. I was VERY pleasantly surprised!
We spent the first couple of days of our trip at my MILs house, where the kids swam in her pool, played Wii, played with the dogs, rolled the pool table balls into finger-smashing games they made up as they went along, and spent hours creating new potato-head families out of the kit Grandma bought them from Costco.
On Tuesday, we went to downtown Disney to shop and look around, and bought the boys their "build your own" lightsabers. They were thrilled, and actually Ryan may have been more excited than they were! Olivia chose a princesses toy kit as her souvenir, and in light of their renewed love of potato heads, we filled a box with Disney-inspired potatohead accessories (like a Peter pan hat, Mickey ears, and the piece de Resistance- Ariel hair and mermaid bottom- HILARIOUS!).
Our trip was packed to the brim and we literally ran from park to park with the kids strapped in the strollers. Wednesday morning we checked in to the Grand Floridian hotel and I swear that is the cleanest hotel ON EARTH! The monorails were down, so we took a ferry from our hotel to the Polynesian for our character breakfast with Lilo and Stitch, Mickey, and Pluto.
Entering the Magic Kingdom was truly magical, and the kids were besides themselves with excitement! Olivia's favorites right now are Tinkerbell and Ariel, although since our trip, Cinderbella is making some swift strides! We rode tons of rides and stuck around that night for the parade and fireworks.
Thursday morning we headed back to the Magic Kingdom to finish up, then dashed over to Hollywood Studios for our character lunch with The Little Einsteins and Jojo and Goliath. The rest of that day was pretty laid back, and there wasn't terribly much for our kids to do at that park.
Friday morning we set out for Animal Kingdom, where we checked out the Lion King musical, the safari that was chock full of wildlife, a walking tour of animals, and A Bug's Life.
Another jog to catch transportation to Epcot where we had dinner reservations at the Biergarten German restaurant and hung around for a few rides and the Illuminations fire and fireworks show.
We were EXHAUSTED by the end of the trip, but it was definitely worthwhile and magical for the kiddos. We can't wait to go back!

Just kiddin' ya

2009-09-16T17:23:00.000-07:00

The other day Jackson came to me looking for his "blue guy gameboy game."
"You mean Sonic?"
"Yeah, that one. Where is it?"
"Well, I'm not sure so you'll have to look for it."

A few minutes later he came back and said "Mooooooo-ooooom, Olivia put it in the air conditioner in the playroom (The dreaded vent hole)." I went to investigate and after questioning Olivia, who nodded her head vehemently in confession, I reached my hand into the abyss to find....crayons, paper bits, lots of random crap...no game.

So Sam jumped in on the action and with his finger to his chin in an obvious sign of thinking and remembering said "Oh, RIIIIIGHT. I saw Olivia with it in her hand and she dropped it in THIS vent," pointing to the one in the foyer. I questioned Olivia who once again, confessed with an emphatic nod. I reached in to that vent and found more debris...no game.
Sam to the rescue again! "OH, RIIIIIIIIGHT. Cause she had it in her hand when she went back THAT way and put it under the ottoman."
Grinning to the side as he watched Jack scramble to the ottoman and frantically search underneath it and come up empty handed, I was suspicious.
"Sam," I asked, "do you REALLY know where it is?"
He grinned sheepishly as he said "Nah, I don't. I'm just kiddin you guys!"
Jack of course went into orbit, reaching new octaves with his cries of injustice and frustration. I went back to the laundry, chuckling to myself at how my three year old was "punking" us all out, until I heard bins in the playroom being emptied.
"Come on Olivia, it's in the BOTTOM!" I heard Jack yell as the two of them worked together to dump out a box of blocks.
"SAM! It's not in here EITHER," Jack yelled.
"OH, RIIIIIGHT because then I saw her...."

He successfully had those two following his every move. His OLDER brother was duped, and the younger sister he was pinning it on was also believing she had done what he had said. YIKES!
I found the game...in my purse...a week later!

Funnyisms from the boys

2009-09-16T17:16:00.001-07:00

Sam, while staring at me as I sat on the couch over the weekend...
"Oh, so when your belly gets bigger, your boobies get bigger too, huh?!"
I swear that kid is gonna be a "boob man" and by the way, thanks for noticing! KIDS!

Our nightly ritual lately has been a family round or two of uno, then a coupla stories, then tucked in and each choose a song for mom to sing (Almost ALWAYS "Somewhere Over the Rainbow") and then off to sleep. But each night as I leave the room Jackson says "Mom, will you check on us?" and his favored response is for me to say "I always do." Any variation results in some kind of comment on his part and a general unsettling until I say "I always do."
Tonight as I left the room we proceeded with our new ritual, and when I responded correctly Jackson smiled and said, "That's my girl!" Cutie!

Perhaps this one is TMI, but it's for posterity (no pun intended!) so whatever. The other day as i was peeing, with Sam looking on as usual, he said, "You have to wipe your heinie after you pee, right Mom?" I gave an absentminded "mmmhmmm." Then he said, despite our MANY discussions about this, "Yeah, because you pee out of your heinie."
"No."
"Oh, yeah right, you pee out of your 'gina....(then chuckling and shaking his head a little) 'Gina sure is a funny word for penis."
Apparently I'm NOT.GETTING.THROUGH.

2009-08-24T07:13:00.000-07:00

Jackson declared this weekend that he had an "ear election."
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Yesterday, as I played video games with the boys, I whispered, "You know what? I love you?"
Jack said, "That's not a secret!"
So I looked at Sam and said "Did you know that I love you?"
He said, "Yep!"
"Hey! How does everybody already KNOW that?" I declared indignantly.
And Jack replied "Because you tell us all the time!"
******************************************************************************
The boys earned their white belts in karate on Saturday, and will receive them at graduation on Thursday. They got progress reports from it, which they tried diligently to decipher by themselves. It took some reassurance that they did a great job! I can't wait to see them in their little belts!
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I had my house professionally cleaned last Tuesday for the first time ever. Bliss. My entire house has never been clean at one time before. It was fabulous. And now it is not clean again. Not even for a week. Sigh.
*******************************************************************************
Ryan threw a surprise 30th birthday party for me last weekend, complete with boat rides and out of town friends. It was great. BUT there were nine kids at my house with one 17 year old babysitter. See the professional cleaning above!
*******************************************************************************
School starts 3 weeks from today! HURRAY for fall!

Piggy bank

2009-08-19T06:56:00.000-07:00

The boys have been finding coins around, and they LOVE to put them in their piggy bank (which is actually a football, and a gift from their Aunt Leah!). Yesterday morning, when Jack was the only one with me, I found a dime on the desk and handed it to Jack. "What is it, Mom?" "It's a dime, so it's 10 cents!"
"Wow, we have alot of money now, and if we keep saving, we could buy anything we want, right Mom? But I would share my money with you, and that way Daddy wouldn't have to share HIS money with you, and we could all stay home together."

Awwww, so sweet!

The new baby...

2009-08-05T19:39:00.001-07:00

Jackson, upon arriving at the beach, excitedly told my sisters, "Aunt Jen and Aunt Shell, my mommy has a baby in her tummy."
"Yes, we know. Do you want a boy baby or a girl baby?" they asked.
He thought a moment and said "I hope it's a girl. But if it's not a girl, I hope it's a boy."
Yep, we're definitely hoping for a boy or a girl! ;-)

Swimming lessons, karate, and cousins, oh my!

2009-07-22T07:38:00.000-07:00

The summer has been so full! The boys have taken swimming lessons, and are now doing great at the pool without any assistance, which is LOVELY! Even Olivia is swimming with her water wings, and there are days I don't even have to get in with them! Hurray!
This week marks the second week of karate lessons for the boys, which they adore! Playing dodgeball at the end is their favorite part, and getting their uniforms yesterday was so exciting! There have been lots of "yes SIRS" since it started, and I'm looking forward to watching them develop more and more confidence and independence as a result.
Not only were their cousins Becca, Kiki, and Josh here the week before July 4th, but their cousins Leah, Emmy and Matt were here last week, and Ryan and Jacey were here over the past weekend. The kids don't know what to do with an empty house now, but with beach preparations in full swing, we're definitely filling the days. It's time now to start buying school supplies, enjoying our beach vacation, and soaking up the last of the summer fun!

Scene from yesterday

2009-07-11T19:33:00.000-07:00

The kids were hungry, and it just so happened there were four yogurts left in the fridge. Peach was about all I could stomach, so I doled out the other three without checking the flavors. Sam ended up with mixed berry, Olivia got peach like me, and Jackson got mango. He looked at the front and immediately the complaining began:
Jack: "I don't like this kind. That's not fair. I like the other kinds, but not FLAMINGO!"
Me: chuckling, "Flamingo is a bird, Jack, and they don't put birds in yogurt. That's all there is so stop complaining and eat your snack."
Sam: "What kind is it then, Mom?"
Me: knowing that saying mango would be a death trap at this point, "It's tropical."
Sam: "Mmmm, I like trockipal!"
Jackson immediately corrected his pronunciation, and Sam agreeable said
"Well, sometimes I say stuff wrong because I'm a kid, right mom?"
So right, Sammy, and I'm going to miss it someday! Love you, buddy!

Olivia's 2nd birthday party

2009-07-11T18:58:00.000-07:00

The "fast-poke"

2009-07-07T08:43:00.000-07:00

The other day as I was buttoning Sam's pants after he used the potty, I felt some moisture on them. "Sam, why are your pants wet?"
His reply, "Oh, yeah, well my peepee was a fast-poke."
As opposed to a slowpoke, you know. Too fast to make it to the potty! Silly goose!

Four 5 and under

2009-07-07T08:41:00.000-07:00

I'm officially pregnant again, so I'll have to change this blog to "Four, five and under" unless it's twins in which case there will probably be no blog (seeing as how I will be fleeing the country ALONE!)
Nauseous, tired, grouchy, and irritable...how do I always forget between pregnancies what it's like? First dr's appt is on July 13, so here's hoping for ONE healthy baby!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

2009-06-23T18:34:00.000-07:00

Since it's been so long since my last post, here's what's up RIGHT NOW (seeing as how it's too overwhelming to cover the last 3 months!):
The boys are taking swim lessons at the pool. They have had 6 lessons, two to go. They are swimming with a noodle for support, and able to stay underwater for a few moments at a time. I'm hoping they'll be diving for stuff (in the 3 ft end) by the end of the week, but we'll see!
I sing for them each night as i tuck them in. They each choose a song, but 9 times out of ten, Sam will choose "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and the other day he sang the whole song for me out of the blue. I teared up immediately and MUST remember to get it on tape!
The favorite movies of the moment are "The Golden Blaze" and "Bolt" and we have seen both a jillion times already this summer! The pool, the garden, the scooters, and the power wheels truck have been the main diversions, and I am going to have to come up with some new material here soon!
Olivia is more of a handful than ever. She is fully speaking in sentences, very intelligible, and also VERY bossy! She knows most of the alphabet letters and their sounds (thank you LeapFrog DVD's!) and is Crazy about babies! She'll be two in a week (WHAT!?!) and I'm in the middle of planning her party- a pink, chocolate, and polka dot theme- which will take place this Sunday.
Some of her current catch phrases - "Dat's it!! I 'pank a heinie!" "Hop up, Mommy, come here, mommy, RIGHT NOW!" "I wuv YOU, mom"
Oh, there are too many to remember them all. I'll have to do a better job of posting now that I've let go of catching up and decided to start over!

Place to update for the last 2.5 months!

2009-06-23T18:33:00.001-07:00

Here is where I plan to update and post pics of the last 2.5 months. Eventually. Maybe. When you're all five and in school...
At least now I can hopefully start posting again without thinking about how I can't post until I'm ready to fix the backlog, and I'm just too tired for that...blah blah blah, excuses, excuses. Back to our regular programming!

Umm, hello, April, where did you go?

2009-05-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, I knew I was a slacker but letting a whole month get away- not cool! So here it is May and I have lots to go back and document. Easter, playdates and birthday parties, school events including Mother's Day teas at school, my garden planting, etc. etc. etc. Hopefully the coming week will be a little slower and I'll actually get my pics uploaded onto the computer. Maybe not. We'll see! I've had 6 kids who aren't my own in and out this week (along with my three) and I am watching a neighbor's baby on Monday too. We'll see how it plays out! BUT, to my kids, I loved you as much in April as in March and in May and I'll try to tell you all about it soon! (as soon as you leave me alone for more than 30 seconds!)

Boys will be boys!

2009-03-30T19:17:00.001-07:00

Today the kids let me sleep a freakish amount! Not ONLY did they let me sleep in this morning, even shutting my bedroom door as they crept out to play in the hallway, but I took a TWO hour nap from 12 to 2 on the couch, which means they didn't make me get up to give them snacks, drinks, toys, wipe bottoms, etc. Awesome. As I lay in bed this morning, Jack had come into my room complaining that his throat hurt. When he came back later, he said "Mom, my throat feels better. It's broken!" I was totally confused. "It feels better? What do you mean it's broken?" I asked. "The spell is broken!" was his enthusiastic response. Apparently there was a magical force causing his sore throat. Nasty witches!
When I came down the hallway where they had been playing, the scene was too funny. All of their jungle animals were arranged in particular manners. The giraffes were all eating from play trees, the elephants were grouped together, and the tigers and lions were in a circle, all eating from a GIANT clownfish. Apparently they were craving seafood!
Finally, the other night as we were reading stories, Jack was sounding out the words, and Sam was choosing to just listen. Until he said "Jack, that's a comma. You're supposed to pause there." Ryan and I looked at each other, smiling, and Ryan said "That's right, Sam. And what is that called?" Without missing a beat, he said "Punctuation. And at the end, that's the pyramid." Really it's a period, but hey, I'll take it!

Jack is now officially a grown-up

2009-03-20T17:37:00.000-07:00

Today on our way home from the grocery store, out of nowhere, Jack said "Mom, what does beer taste like?" I was all "HUH?, Whaddya mean? It's for grown ups."
He said "I know, but what does it TASTE like." I was kinda stumped and the best I could do was, "Well, it's hard to describe but it's kind of tickly and spicy like soda, but sour instead of sweet. Mommy doesn't really even like it much, but Daddy does. Maybe one day Daddy will let you taste it just so you can see what it tastes like." And Jack said, "And then if I like it, I can have it ALL THE TIME!"
"Well, no you can't have it unless you're 21."
"Or if I'm 22, right Mom?"
"Right. You have to be AT LEAST 21."
********************************************************************************
We went to the library this afternoon and Jack found a Lightning McQueen wallet attached to his bookbag in the car. On our way home, he said "Mom, can I put money in my wallet?"
I said, "Well, do you HAVE any money?" He responded "No, so can you give me some money to put in my wallet so I can buy toys and stuff?"
I told him he would need to do some work if he wanted money, just like Mommy and Daddy do. He was quiet for a second, then whined and said "Can't you just give me like 3 or 6 dollars? I don't know HOW to have a job." And after I chuckled, thinking to myself that the asking for money has already begun, I said, "Then you're going to need to learn because someday you will need to have a job and pay for things by yourself like Mommy and Daddy do."
When we got home, I threw the lasagna I made earlier in the oven and called the kids to settle in on the couch with me so we could start reading through the stack of books we selected. Jack said "Sorry, but I can't right now. Mom, I need to use the computer so I can do some work." Fiddling with the mouse, he said "MOOOOM, this isn't working and I can't do my JOOOOOB."
*********************************************************************************
Ryan had a beer with dinner, and Jack said, "Daddy, Mommy said I could have some of your beer." Ryan looked at me with a raised eyebrow, ever skeptical since I am the definite prude in the household, and I recounted the conversation we had in the car. So Ryan HANDED HIM THE BOTTLE, to which I said, "Well, let's just put a sip in a cup and you can taste it."
Jack took a swig, nervously smiling and said "Mmmm, I like it!" Then throwing an arm into the air and having it land in a finger pointed at me, he said "I TOOOOLD you I would!"
Sam took his sip and said "MMMM" as it was touching his lips, but the cringe on his face said otherwise. Neither finished their sip.

At the ripe age of four, Jack has a job and an evening drink. 4 going on 40 maybe!

The complexities of motherhood

2009-03-13T10:05:00.001-07:00

Last night, I heard Sam coughing from his bedroom. I crept into the room to watch him sleep, to make sure he was safe, secure, and asleep. Jack was laying horizontally on his bed, so I gently righted him, laying his head on the pillow and smoothing the blankets back over him, snug and warm. He didn't even open his eyes, but curled back up on his side murmuring "Thanks, Mom" in his sleep. I checked the thermometer in their room to make sure it was a perfect 74 degrees, and then sat on the edge of the bed staring at these little people that encompass so much of my world now. I thought to myself "How is it possible to love someone SO much? Has any child on earth ever been loved this much?" And as always, I began to think of the children who were not asleep on soft beds, who had not eaten dinner, taken a warm bath, put on clean pjs, read stories or received a kiss from their adoring parents. I think often of those children as I stare at my own, wishing I had enough time, enough energy, enough resources to give those children the life they deserve. And then I began to wonder if other mothers feel that way. Is it motherhood that makes my heart ache for those other children; being a woman perhaps, or maybe even just being a human.
A vision flashed back to the morning preschool rush; pushing the kids out the door, racing down the road, running into the building, flying back for pickup. As I sat in the pickup line waiting for Jackson, I saw three older women leaving the church, slowly and laboriously walking, limping, towards their cars. The sounds of their voices was mingling with the sounds inside my minvan, those of Sam and Olivia talking and babbling, the Leapfrog DVD playing AGAIN. I thought about how nice it was to have the leisure of standing in the parking lot, taking their time going places, chatting for a few moments, obviously no need to hurry anywhere. The mixed emotions I felt were both not wanting to grow old, not wanting my kids to grow up, leave me, and lead their own lives, but also having a lifetime of memories to carry with me. I began picturing these women having their morning coffee on a sunfilled porch, napping in the afternoon, and spending the evening with their children and grandchildren over a comforting homecooked meal in the house that is filled with their memories. Suddenly, being old didn't seem so bad through my rose colored glasses.
Sam woke again, interrupting my thoughts and making it clear I would need to sleep in their room after all. I snuggled in next to Jack, Sam placing his hand inside mine, his new favorite way to fall asleep. Not JUST holding hands, but hands intertwined. I kissed the chubby dimples on his knuckles, whispered an "I love you" and tried to close my eyes, but their smell was intoxicating and I once again feared the day when I will no longer sleep between them in a bed, feeling their soft skin, stroking their smooth cheeks, and running my hands through their tousled hair as they drift. I will no longer hum "You Are My Sunshine" over and over or answer random questions like "Mom, when I lose a tooth will I still be able to eat crunching things sometimes?" in the glow of their nightlight. Soon Jackson won't lay in bed sounding out words, and trying to spell them... "P-p-p-pig. Starts with P! P-I-i-i-i. Then I! P-i-g-g-g-g. Then G! PIG!" Soon I won't be a goddess, a magician able to produce lost toys, make favorites foods out of nowhere, and make boo-boos disappear with a simple kiss.
I love being a woman and I love the gift of motherhood. I hope it lasts.

Shush, mama

2009-03-10T20:04:00.001-07:00

Whenever I sing now, Olivia waits a second, gets a serious look on her face, cocks her head to the side, points her finger at me, squints her eyes and says, "Shush, mama." When I laugh, she throws her head back and laughs maniacally. Today she would tell me she wanted to hear the ABC's and then when I would sing, she'd say, "Shoosh, Mama." I would feign hurt feelings, and she would say "Ohhhh, HUG?" reaching out to comfort me with a hug before the whole scene would begin again.
Whenever anyone gets hurt she says "Wha happened?" in the sweetest, most concerned voice, almost always holding her head to the side and gently rubbing her hand on the person's arm or back. SO.CUTE.

My boyfriend

2009-03-10T19:58:00.000-07:00

Jack has been really into drawing lately. Letters, people, trains, houses, you name it, he wants to draw it! The other day he came running to me with his latest creation and said "Mom, I drew a picture of your boyfriend. What's his name?" I chuckled, only half listening and said "Well, I don't know." He quickly responded "Oh, right, cause you have a boyfriend but you don't know his name, right?" All I could do was laugh and HOPE TO GOD that he hasn't told his teachers that! It only got better when he showed me the picture...a stick figure laying on a BED! He added "So, there's your boyfriend laying on the bed. But you don't know his name, right Mom?" I decided I better set the record straight before it went any further and said, "Well, actually Daddy is my boyfriend." He answered, "Oh, okay. Well I'll show Daddy this picture when he gets home then since it's him and he'll like it!"
He liked it alright...and thought perhaps he should have a heart to heart with Jack about what goes on when he's at work! Heehee! Good thing he knows I don't have TIME for an affair because the story and picture Jack cooked up looked pretty incriminating! Gotta love their imaginations!

Snow 2009!

2009-03-03T18:37:00.001-08:00

NYC wedding...Swanky!

2009-03-03T18:27:00.000-08:00

We had a great time in NYC, and thankfully there was NOT an anvil rainshower. We did return to a snowshower, but more on that in the next post! The wedding in NYC was AMAZING; Fabulous location, food that was unbelievably good and delivered in copious amounts, perfect couple, and good friends. Can you really ask for anything more than that? Here are a few of the bajillion pics I took that night...

Katie was one of my best friends in college. We met our freshman year when we lived next door to each other in the dorm. We became sorority sisters right after that, lived together in NYC for a summer (there are some tales to tell from that!) and the rest is history. She married a great guy, and I'm so very happy I was able to go and be a part of their special day. I did a reading of a poem by Nikki Giovanni called "Love is", who in addition to being a famous poet, was one of my favorite professors in college. Katie was absolutely stunning and radiant.

Circus (and not the one at my house!)

2009-03-03T18:19:00.000-08:00

We went to the Ringling Bros. Circus a few weeks ago, and here are the pics to prove it! Being the cheapskate that I am, I brought our own dollar store light wands, lollipops, bags of goldfish and cookies, and juice boxes to try and ward off the gimmies. Unfortunately those darn circus toys and treats get more fun every year and it was SO hard to say no. Jackson was fine with it. Sam, who we later found out was battling a case of the flu, was a little less grateful. We went out for pizza afterwards, and made some great memories.

Away

2009-02-27T11:55:00.000-08:00

I am typing this from a computer in NYC. Ca-ray-zy! It's so strange being away from the kids. At moments I actually ache for them. Leaving them wasn't as hard as I expected, but Sam cried and basically broke my heart. Ryan said if he had known it was going to be so difficult for me he would've made me do it sooner because it's healthy and blah blah blah. Anyhow, now that I am actually away, it feels nice. But I have an irrational fear that an anvil will fall suddenly on both of our heads and leave our children orphaned. Scary stuff. And if something were to happen to me, just in case anyone needed to know, my will and trust are on top of the washing machine (there's a file holder there waiting to be hung on the wall) and my kids need to know that I loved them more than life itself. There. I feel better already. Off to have fun with my college girlfriends at one of my best friends' weddings. Pray that anvils won't rain today or tomorrow.

We've been hit!

2009-02-24T19:22:00.001-08:00

Ugh. We've been hit with the flu! Sam and Liv have been running a fever off and on for a week, and the doc and I finally decided it was time to check it out yesterday. Because of Sam's egg allergy, he can't get the flu vaccine, so she decided to do a flu test. In her words, it came back "ragingly positive" with an ear infection to boot. A DOUBLE ear infection for poor Olivia. But 24 hours on antibiotics, and everyone seems to be on the mend. Makes for some LOOOOONG nights, lemme tell ya!

Olivia

2009-02-15T17:13:00.000-08:00

Olivia is changing and growing up so quickly now. The things she says just crack me up, and I wanted to document a few before a. she stops saying them and b. I completely flake out and forget them!

1.) Sammy = Hammy and it is SOOO cute to hear her say it. Especially when she's bossing "hammy" around.

2.) She came running out of the playroom tonight with the kitchen timer in her hand yelling at the top of her lungs (and topless, no less!) "IN A MINUTE!" - too cute!

3.) We were playing patty cake today and she was loving it! Hearing her say "padee tate" and doing all the motions melts me. And if Daddy is anywhere nearby, she has to call out to him so he can watch her as she beams. love it

4.) She is a complete helper now, and shockingly REALLY helpful. She helps unload the dishwasher and correctly matches sippy cups to their lids. She also tries to wipe me after I go to the potty, but we won't dwell on that. Eww.

5.) She sings her ABC's all the time now and is fairly accurate. It's good enough that other people can tell what she's saying and are amazed.

6.) She also sings Happy Birthday all.the.time. but it goes like this "Hap bir-day to ew, Hap bir-day to ew," and that's it. Then she just dances for the rest of it (because of course we all join in as soon as she starts!)

7.) She hangs out with the boys more than ever. She follows them, imitates them, and loves them all the time. That is, when she's not wagging her finger at them, screaming like a banshee when they come near, or head butting them when she doesn't get her way.

8.) She and Sam are like my siamese twins right now, constantly competing for real estate as close to me as possible, be it my lap, being held, or just being RIGHT next to me. Sometimes it makes me feel good. Most of the time it annoys the crap outta me.

9.) When we were in Roanoke 2 weeks ago, she began playing with my neices (11 and 9) and two of my nephews friends (girls, age 6) and they turned on music. She immediately started dancing and the 5 of them formed a circle. Either Olivia would lead and the girls would crack up at her dance moves, or she would imitate them, VERY accurately, which would also make them laugh hysterically. And of course that only egged her on more. She was in full on hammin' it up mode. I hope I never forget it.

10.) I love to listen to her say thank you "day doo", you're welcome "you walcum," and sorry "soshi" all the time. I love to hear her say something new, like wandering into the kitchen to ask for soup, or chips, or cookies. I love every time she does something that lets me know she "gets" a whole new concept. I love the way she sometimes hurts the boys or me deliberately just so she can say she's sorry and snuggle us. I love (and hate sometimes) that she is so loud and bossy and full of herself. I know one day soon I'll miss it more than I can imagine. I only hope the memories remain vivid as she gets older.

Olivia, you are definitely the light of my life. Having a girl is different from the boys, and although I love them the same as you, they have each other and so our relationship isn't the same as the one I have with you. I love you more every day and I'm so glad you're my daughter.

Valentine's 2009

2009-02-15T17:07:00.000-08:00

Last week was filled with activites for the kids and me. I spent pretty much every evening getting ready for their Valentine's Day parties at school. I bought 30 of those cute tin mailboxes from Target and bunches of craft supplies to decorate them. We made about 35 of the chocolate covered marshmallow lollipops, not to mention the regular Valentines that needed to be ready to hand out to their friends! All in all, I spent a FORTUNE (which is so unlike me) but there were just so many cute things that I wanted to make and do this year!
Wednesday, we attended a Valentine's party for the kids on our street. Thursday was the parties with both of their preschool classes. Friday we had a playdate come over. And Saturday was the big day!
It was relaxing and totally lazy. Ryan got me 2 dozen roses, and the kids presented me with a jar filled with nice things they had said about me that Ryan typed up and actually made cute! I know it took alot for him to be so crafty! My mom and stepdad and Ryan's mom sent care packages filled with goodies, and my dad had a flowers.com gift box of yummies sent, even though he's currently living in Italy. It was a great surprise! We ordered Papa John's for dinner, and generally just rested, watched movies, and read books all day. Couldn't have asked for a better day.

Manners...or not!

2009-02-07T18:50:00.000-08:00

The kids and I spent the last couple days at my mom's house, and while my sister and I were out shopping, Sam needed a bit of an attitude adjustment. SOMEHOW, pointing that out to him only made him madder. But after a few minutes of stomping behind me, he began sweetly saying "Excuse me, Mommy. Mommy, excuse me. Excuse me Mom," because my sister and I were talking to one another and he knows it is rude to interrupt two adults. When I turned and said "Yes, Sammy" I was expecting to hear an apology for his attitude, or some other sweet revelation, but instead he looked me right in the eye and said "I don't like you." Humph. At least he used his manners. Kind of.

Sam's third birthday party

2009-01-24T20:37:00.001-08:00

All in all, Sam's safari party was a complete success! I was thrilled to use fondant for the first time in a cake decorating attempt, and it actually worked out pretty well. I made binoculars for each of the kids out of toilet paper tubes, and they went on safari for animals with their names on them that their parents had hidden around the house. They also played "Simon says" with jungle animals, and we danced to some playlists that included Jungle themed songs like "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and songs from "The Lion King" and "Jungle Book." The themed food included "Warthogs in a blanket," "Tropical fruit kabobs," "Ants on a log," and "Chips with quicksand" and I draped the entire first floor in green streamers (intended to look like vines, but whatever!) My good friend did face painting for the kids, and Sam had a blast. Time to start planning for next year! Happy Birthday my sweet big kid 3 year old boy!

SERENITY NOW!

2009-01-14T18:35:00.001-08:00

New Baby Brother Jonah

Crazy friends camping out with me for
preschool classes ;-)

I loved that episode of Seinfeld, and could totally use a dose of it right about now. My week has gone like this thus far:
Sunday: go to 10 stores in search of a coveted party favor for Sam's upcoming safari birthday party. Come up empty handed
Sunday night: get picked up at 8:15 to spend the night trying to catch sleep either on the ground in front of the preschool or in the back of a minivan in the preschool parking lot. Have big plans to organize coupons, synchronize calendars, solve world peace, etc. etc. Accomplish nothing, including sleep.

Monday morning: arrive home at 7:45 having successfully registered all three kids for preschool to a quiet house with sleeping kids and a showering husband. Talk to hubby for a few minutes before he dashes off to catch a 10 plane, handing you a paper before he leaves to take care of for him. Paper is a traffic ticket, for which the court date is TODAY at 9:30. Call to make payment and discover payment cannot be made over the phone. Make mental note to kill husband. Call neighbor to come to your house and feed your kids frozen waffles while you run to a friend's house to fax necessary info to the courthouse with a 45 min deadline. After several failed attempts, success at last! Catch husband on cell before he boards plane to threaten that if this ever happens again, jail will be preferable to living with extremely pissed off wife. Husband understand and apologizes profusely. Run home to shower and get kids ready to get in the car. Drive an hour and a half to sister's house to meet Dad, stepmom and new adopted baby brother for the first time. Spend the whole day there and leave at 8:00 still functioning on no sleep and listen to Olivia yell "MOOOOMEEEEE" over and over the whole way home. Fall asleep on the floor of the boys' room at 9:30 and sleep there all night.

Tuesday: Rush to get the boys to school on time, then run errands like a madwoman. Pick up boys from school and run home to make lunch/put Olivia down for a nap. Talk to neighbor (and best friend!) who needs you to caulk her ceiling TONIGHT cause she has a showing on her house tomorrow and it has to be done. Decide to run errands with kids in the afternoon instead of after bedtime because that time is now allocated! Come home to make dinner and begin crafts for Sam's party. Finish around midnight and collapse into bed. Comfort Sam who crawls in my bed around 4:30 am and begins coughing. Medicate him and fall back to sleep with him sharing my pillow around 6.
Wednesday: Get up late and finish crafts for the birthday party. Clean and organize upstairs and down, make frozen pizza for lunch, and prepare for a playdate in the afternoon. Playdate comes, house is trashed again. Invite playdate to stay longer while making salad for a neighborhood girls' night birthday event because why not at this point, and hope hubby gets home soon!
Dash out for some fun and wine, and come home to a house retrashed. Do dishes and reclean playroom. Current status: sitting in the glider waiting for Jack to fall asleep and listening to Sam cough. Thinking anxiously about all that still must be done and the 3 other social obligations in the next two days, not counting school. Sigh. No wonder I'm so tired. I need a vacation!

WHAT did he just say?

2009-01-09T11:04:00.001-08:00

Last night after bathtime we were getting the boys in their pjs. Sam wanted to put his shirt on by himself, but he was putting it on backwards and all twisted up, so I helped him straighten it out. After he got it on, he said "Mom, I sure do have my shi* together!" Ryan said "WHAT did he just say?" I said, "He said he sure does have his shirt together!" But when Ryan started laughing I realized what it sounded like to someone who doesn't speak "Sam"ese as fluently as I do! So no, he didn't swear...it just sounded like it, and the context was too perfect!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-06T16:35:00.000-08:00

That's what Sam said to Olivia when he kissed her goodnight tonight....um, yes, it is January 6th!
Since turning three, Sammy has been hammin' it up even more than ever! Today was the boys' first day back at school, and I made cupcakes for Sam's preschool class. When I picked him up, his teacher returned the basket I used for the Christmas favors, and I had to ask about the cupcake container.
Me: Is the cupcake container still downstairs?
Her: What cupcake container?
Me: The one I used to send in the cupcakes for Sam's birthday today?
Her: We didn't get any cupcakes today.
Me: Um, are you SERIOUS? Cause I sent in a dozen cupcakes with the teacher with the little raccoon puppet this morning!?!
Long story short, they were left in the wrong room and I'll be sending cupcakes again Thursday! HOWEVER, she also said when Sam got to school he wanted to sing the "Shake, shake" song. She said "Sam, I don't know what song the Shake Shake song is" and he said "You know, the shake your booty song!" Heehee! I still don't really know what that means.
For Christmas Santa brought him the geotrax airplane track barn and Loopy Loco the airplane, so when I asked him what he would say if his teachers asked him what Santa brought, he said "He brought me a stable, right Mom?" and proceeded to chant "Stable, stable" while dancing in his car seat. Too funny!
Then tonight after bathtime he was running around in a hooded towel. Ryan said to him "Oh, are you a little baby" and he said "No, I'm a wedding one." I guess he meant a bride! Our naked little bride...

Christmas 2008

2008-12-27T18:35:00.000-08:00

Pics to come!
We had a great Christmas day at Mimi's house. We left home Wednesday morning (Christmas Eve) and arrived here in the early afternoon. We unpacked and then headed out for the 5 o' clock Candlelight service at church. Of course I spent the entire service chasing Olivia, and then Olivia and Sam in the vestibule, but the boys absolutely LOVE doing the candle thing.
They were so excited waiting for Santa, and Jackson had a hard time falling asleep. But once they were out, Santa did indeed come and left them quite a haul!
The next morning they were VERY patient and waited until Mimi and Grandma came downstairs to watch them open their presents.
The rest of the day was eating, spending time with their cousins, and opening the rest of their presents.
Today I was savoring my last day with Sam being two. Tomorrow he will turn three and I simply can't fathom where the minutes, hours, days, and years are going. Must.slow.down.

Olivia whispers sweet nothings...

2008-12-21T16:11:00.000-08:00

The other night we had manwiches for dinner. They are a superyummy homemade recipe (we can't even eat the canned stuff anymore!) and Olivia loves them. I cut one sandwich into fourths and after Olivia ate two of them, she was still clamoring for more. Jackson didn't like his so he gave his fourth to her, and she began devouring it, stopping only long enough to shove some pears into her mouth. Once the pears were gone, she picked up her manwich (which looked just like plain bread), turned it over, and upon finding some manwich stuck on the bottom of the bread, whispered "Day doo" (thank you) softly into the air before cramming the whole thing in her mouth. Such appreciation for the lost manwich meat! That girl LOOOOOVES to eat!
Her other thing right now is saying, in a very indignant voice, "HEEEEEEY! Das MIYNE!" It cracks me up every time.

Yeah, he likes it

2008-12-18T20:04:00.000-08:00

I picked up a "Cookies for Santa" plate and cup at Target today and when I brought it home, Jackson said "I am going to hold it up in the sky for Santa to see it." He was clad in his underwear and dress shirt ala "Risky Business", and he headed to the back sliding glass doors and held the plate up while looking up into the gray clouds. He turned back to me with a nod and said, "Yeah, he likes it."

Jack's Christmas concert

2008-12-18T12:17:00.000-08:00

This morning was a whirlwind as I delivered the teacher gifts, ran errands, and had to be back at the school by 11 to help set up the cookies for the reception after the 3 year old Christmas concert. My friend Emily saved me a front row seat, and I got out my trusty camera and set Ryan on the job of camcording. For weeks Jack has been singing his little songs and doing the motions, sometimes for us and sometimes just when he's by himself. I wasn't really sure how he would do once he was in front of a crowd, but my fears were confirmed. He smiled shyly as he marched in with the others.
He didn't sing the first song, but dutifully rang his bells, and then when the applause began... he crumpled. At first you could see the tears welling up and his face beginning to struggle to maintain composure. I know that feeling SOOO well, having had it myself many times as a child. I have never been particularly shy, but when I get embarrassed, I can feel my face start to burn, and then the tears come. The more I try to push them away, or if anyone notices and tries to comfort me, I lose it completely. Apparently so does Jack. He tried to hide behind his friend Charlie, but then when Charlie hugged him, he was already too far gone. The teachers let him sit on their lap for the remainder of the program, and I cried too. Seeing him struggle in the limelight like that was so very hard for me. Harder than I expected. Whew, this parenting thing is so tough!

Olivia IS my girly girl!

2008-12-14T17:55:00.000-08:00

The love affair she has with shoes just keeps getting worse and worse. Then, Friday afternoon I decided to paint my finger and toenails in preparation for our weekend plans. She went over to the cabinet, selected the color she wanted (a very tasteful mauve, might I add!) and then sidled next to me on the floor, sticking out her feet and her hands. I painted her little toenails for the first time and she actually sat still and blew on them until they dried. Sigh. They are just TOO cute.

The latest Jackisms and other business

2008-12-14T17:33:00.000-08:00

Tonight Jack is EXHAUSTED and lost the privelege of his bedtime story because he was misbehaving. Then, when I was reading Sammy's, he kept asking a million questions and I kept saying if he would listen and stop talking he would hear the answer. Finally, the answer to his biggest question was coming on that page and I could tell he wasn't listening. When I said "Are you listening, Jack?" he stuck his tongue out at me and so I sent him to bed without hearing the rest of Sam's story. He immediately went into his usual dramatics, crying and writhing on the bed, but instead of going directly into the "Everybody hates me," routine he said "I'm a stupid little boy." We have a rule in our family that we don't say the word stupid, and it's about as close to a swear as our kids have ever really gotten. My sister's kids, however, aged 9, 7, and 2, say it a million times a day. I can only imagine that since they spent the night last night, he heard it a bunch of times. For some reason it cracked Ryan and me up!
Yesterday morning I got up early and baked pans of homemade cinnamon rolls to take to all the neighbors. When I got home from my delivery route, we started to eat the pan I kept for us, and Jack took a bite and said "Oh, Mom, these taste DELIGHTFUL!" Heehee! Ryan nearly fainted! I guess it's not enough that he loves pink!!!

In other news, things are plugging right along towards the holidays! I think I'm just about done with everything, and we only have one more holiday dinner to attend before we head to my mom's on Christmas Eve. Last night my sister came to spend the night and babysit so we could attend Ryan's work party and then a fabulous catered party that some friends host each year. I think for posterity I should say that Ryan was pulled over on the parkway on our way from party 1 downtown to party 2 on the southside. I had JUST said to slow down, and our Garmin GPS was showing that the speed limit was 55 and Ryan was going 75. So after I nagged for a second he slowed his pace. Then, there's a split in the highway where an exit takes two lanes, and he had to make a sorta quick lane change to keep from taking the exit we didn't want, and the blue lights began flashing behind us. When the cop (from the unmarked car- ugh) came up the window he said he had pulled us for 2 reasons, but first, did we know what the speed limit was? Ryan said "Yes, 55." He said that no, actually there is a brief period where it drops to 45. I said "REALLY? Cause our Garmin said it was 55 and I had just told him it was 55 and that's REALLY tricky" in a pleading, semi-whiney voice. He then said Ryan had also made an unsafe lane change and failed to use a signal. Right before he left, I pleaded with him again and said "Is there ANY way you can give us a warning? We NEVER get out of the house and we have a sitter tonight and that was really tricky and we would just REALLY appreciate it..." He looked torn but then just said "I'm going back to write your summons. I'll be back in a minute."
When he came back he said "Well, you should thank your wife because I can relate to the never getting out thing and I decided to let you go with a warning for the speeding and the lane change. I'm just writing a ticket for the failure to use a signal, and that's a very minor infraction." I was SOOO happy and immediately said "Oh, thank you SOOO much! We have three kids and our oldest is four, so we really never get to do anything!"
He was really nice and I can't help but feel it was a little something of a Christmas miracle! Heehee!
We spent the morning playing with their cousins, and I made some hairbows for the girls, did makeup and gave them haircuts, complete with a blowout and rollers. They were some stylin' cuties! After they left, the boys and I did some online games to decorate Christmas trees and Gingerbread men, watched the Charlie Brown Christmas special, and made a few crafts: paper snowflakes, glitter paint window snowflakes that should be window clings when they dry, and styrofoam (recycled take out container) airplanes to fly off our balcony.
Then this evening, we went to our friend Ainsley's fourth birthday party today which was a really cute Gingerbread house decorating party. There were whole houses for the 4 year olds, and large Gingerbread men for the younger siblings like Sam and Liv. The decorations were adorable, as were the chocolate Gingerbread man-shaped cake, the homemade apron the mother and two daughters were wearing, and the stenciled Gingerbread shirt on her teenager. Too cute, and the kids had a ball! Then we grabbed a fast food dinner on the road so we could take the kids to see some more of the great Christmas lights in our area. The "dancing" lights that are set to certain radio stations are still their absolute fav, but we saw some other doozies!
All in all, it was a great weekend. Packed, but so much fun and definitely memorable. I love that.

Christmastime! Yay!

2008-12-08T06:17:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I attempted the ever elusive Christmas card picture. Luckily I got a decent one of each of the kids separately, but definitely NOT one of the three together! Maybe someday! The kids are so excited about Christmas, and we've been doing some Christmas activities, reading lots of Christmas books, driving around to see some great Christmas lights, and watching "The Polar Express" pretty much every day!

Yesterday after baking 6 dozen cookies for our annual cookie exchange, I went upstairs to wrap some presents. I brought them down and put them under the tree and the kids went crazy! They sorted and resorted them about a million times and it was adorable to hear their little voices saying "Oh, here's a J, this one's yours Jack" and "Here you go, Sammybear. Merry Christmas, this one is for you!" I had very few things for Olivia so the boys were letting her play with their wrapped gifts and saying, "Here Olivia, we don't mind!"

And after the way they behaved during the morning and early afternoon yesterday, I'm tellin' ya it was DEFINITELY a Christmas miracle!

Friday night Jackson went to Jacob's house to spend the night, and I was a little worried about how the boys would do being separated. To be honest, it was GREAT! There was no fighting, no competing, no arguing, and very little vying for attention because with 2 kids and 2 parents, there was plenty of attention to go around. Jack had a great time and came home with yummy sugar cookies he had made and decorated. Jacob came back with him so we could do our annual holiday fondue dinner with his parents, so the kiddos were all up really late two nights in a row. But I'm not complaining cause we didn't get up until 8 this morning, and Olivia is still in bed now at 9:30. Yep, we had some TIRED kids. I did have to laugh when the boys got out of the bathtub on Saturday night and the scene went like this:

Sam- "Heehee, Jacob has a siwwy (silly) penis. A curwy (curly)one!"

Missy (Jacob's mom) - "Did he just say a GIRLY one?"

Me, laughing - "NO, he said a CURLY one!"

I'm still waiting for our new laptop to arrive and am hoping to pick up the pace with the blogging then. It should be here any day! Yay!

My current quirky laptop decided to recognize my camera cord yesterday (it knows it's days are numbered!) so I can finally post a few pictures on the old posts. Hurray for Christmas miracles!

Hustling, hustling, holidays are here!

2008-11-30T18:47:00.000-08:00

Things have been a whirlwind lately, with my MIL in town Monday through Friday, followed by my FIL in town Sunday and Monday, my Dad and stepmom Monday, and then a trip in to my mom's on Wednesday through Saturday for Thanksgiving. Then my FIL back at our house for a Thanksgiving meal on Saturday evening, and he'll be leaving tomorrow. Toss a small virus, no sleep, and Black Friday shopping from 4 am to 3 pm in there on top of all of the chaos and you pretty much have my past two weeks!
Today we put up the tree and other indoor decorations, I gave the kids their new Christmas DVD set to watch, and we spent the evening driving around to see the "Tacky Lights Tour" in our area. The highlight of the night was the house that has its lights coordinated to a radio station so the lights appear to "dance" to the music. It is really wickedly cool. The kids were laughing and clapping and kicking their feet! But the true highlight of the evening for me was when Jack came up to me when we got home and said "Happ...Merry Christmas, Mom" and gave me a hug. Love that kid.
I put a small colored lights tree in the boys' room and let them decorate it with all the ornaments they have been given. They LOVED that, and when we got home tonight the house was aglow with only the light of the Christmas decor. Sam came upstairs, peeked into their room and said "WOW, our tree looks GREAT!" Too cute. I can't wait for all the Santa fun to come. Hooray for bustling holidays!

Sam's corrections

2008-11-24T07:55:00.000-08:00

My father-in-law arrived yesterday, bearing gifts as usual! One of the things for the kids was a pack of ocean creatures for the bathtub. The boys wanted to take them with us for lunch so we had them in the car. As they would inevitably drop them, I would pick them up and hand them back. I handed Sam one and said "Here you go, here's your seashell." He responded "No, Mom, that's a clam!" He was right and I'm not sure how he knew that because none of us had told him. Then a few moments later, Jackson was fussing because he wanted some of the toys Sam was holding. He said "I want that WHALE!" Pleading with Sam for peace I said "Sam, can Jackson please trade and have the whale?" He said "Yeah, but it's a dolphin. See that fin on top?"
Of course he was right again. How the heck does he know this stuff? Noggin? Preschool? Omniscience? All I know is we're in trouble when he starts reading!

Overheard tonight in our bathtub

2008-11-19T16:59:00.000-08:00

Ryan: "Sam, get your nose out of your sister's heinie crack!"
Me, coming in the room and laughing:" WHAT?"
Sam: "Mommy, I put my face right up in her heinie."

Ewwww! Maybe it's time to start separate baths!

The things Olivia can say

2008-11-12T16:59:00.000-08:00

With Jackson and Sam I kept some records of what they could say at different ages, so here's a short list of Olivia's current vocabulary at 16 months:
"Cheeeeeese" cheese when having a picture taken, totally hammed up and in front of all cameras
"Peeeeese" please
"Day doo" thank you
"ba" ball
"bacee" paci for pacifier
"bundee" bunny for her lovey which is a pink bunny
"ACK "Jack
"boyzzzz" boys for when she is calling her brothers so she can further boss them around
"wharyou" where are you?
"mohr" more
"baby"
"ducky"
"Mama "
"Dada"
"Hi"
"Bye bye"
"yuh you" love you
"sohsee" sorry
"mine"
"uhoh"
"pilled it" spilled it
"down"
"Mimi" my mother
"caca" cracker, not poop ;-)
"poopoo"
"poddy" potty, which she sits on now every time I go, and then wipes herself with tp
"ear"
"nose"
"eye"
"mil" milk

I think those are the main ones in circulation right now. She repeats alot of other words, but those are the ones she says unprompted. She's such a stinker right now. She puts herself in time out if you tell her no, and also pretends to be in time out if the boys are there. She sits beside them and cries right along with them. Cute, but LOUD!
She loves to help clean up, and if you sing the WonderPets little song "What's gonna work" she'll add the "teamwork" part almost every time. We love it and do it to her all.the.time.
Yesterday while helping me fold laundry she got mad at me and spit, her main mode of anger expression these days. When I scolded her, she said "Sohsee" and came over to hug me. She turned away and then turned back to spit again and apologize and hug before I could say anything. She did it over and over and over.
She claims to be poo poo all the time, whether she is or not, and will bring me the diapers and wipes if I mention ANYONE being poopoo.
She fakes getting hurt to blame it on the boys, throwing herself down in front of them and then crying and pointing her finger in blame. My neighbor witnessed that today and it cracked her up!
She acts like she doesn't understand what you're saying until she hears what she wants and suddenly everything is clear.
She blows kisses to everyone, says hello as though she has never met a stranger, and adores her brothers more every day. It's so cute to see her mimicking their every move and seeing how much she wants their approval. I can't believe she'll be 18 months at Christmas. Sigh. I love that little manipulator. Snotty nose and all.

Four year old checkup

2008-11-12T16:53:00.000-08:00

Jack had his four year check up today at the doctor's office. My friend and neighbor "Ms. Tammy" mercifully watched Sam and Liv so I didn't have to wrangle all three at the visit. Jack was great, although VERY quiet and shy with both the nurse and the doc. He passed everything with flying colors, having grown 3 inches and gained 4 pounds, landing him in the 50th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height. His hearing and vision were perfect, and he passed not only the four year old milestone assessment for development, but most of the 5! Hurray! He didn't even cry when he got his flu mist, finger prick, or vaccine shot. He was an absolute trouper!
There are so many things he can do now. He identifies pretty much ALL the colors including "morning blue" and silver! He counts consistently to 14, then it's all a gamble what will come next. He knows all his shapes and all his letters, and can draw/write most of them. I really think he's ready to start learning to read, but I don't really have a clue where to begin. That and I'm kinda lazy. I mean busy. ;-)
Still no pics cause the hubs is gone tonight and I need his work computer to upload. Bummer. C'mon black Friday, bring on a laptop deal!

Jackson's Lightning McQueen party

2008-11-08T17:09:00.000-08:00

Today was Jack's birthday party. I spent the last three days doing pretty much nothing but party stuff. There was a homemade Lightning McQueen cake, ritz "wheels", chocolate covered race car pretzel "dip sticks," apple slice racers with grape wheels, and other yummy car inspired treats. There was a pinata, and a bubble machine for the "car wash" and several cars to zoom around the backyard. The weather was sublime, and saved the day (and my sanity) by allowing all 20 of the guests to run around in the sunshine and not trash my house! My nieces led a fabulous round of red light/green light that the little kids all LOVED, and Jackson got some great art supplies, books, and other fun presents. Now their cousin Josh is sleeping over in the new Cars sleeping bag Jack got for his birthday, and I'm pretty sure contentment is filling the air in their sweet bedroom. Happy birthday my precious four-year old boy.
Pics to come, I hope!

The end of an era

2008-11-05T10:18:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow Jackson will turn four. And it just occurred to me that after today I will never again have a 3 year old, a two year old, and a one year old. Melancholy as I lay here in bed, feeling not terrible, but certainly not 100 percent. I am thinking about the million things I need to be doing, and my blood pressure rises as the stress takes over. But then I listen to the noise from downstairs; boys playing, bikes going over the hardwoods, playroom doors opening and closing, laughing, crying, Olivia calling "DAAAADAAAAA" and it makes me smile. And the million things I have on my to-do list are much less important than getting better so I can spend time with my little babies. Can you call a four year old a baby? I think I will anyway.

Sammy's song

2008-11-04T11:45:00.000-08:00

I am sick today (like I have time for that!) and while Ryan was peeling an orange for the kids, I overheard Sam singing a made up song that made me smile:
"I love oooorrranges,
but I don't like pasghetti on them,
I like them with the not pasghetti,
for diiiiiiiiiinnneeeeeeer,
or for snaaaaack."
*pause* "Dad, is this snack?"
*without waiting for an answer* "Or for bweeeak fast!"

By the way, we voted this morning and apparently they are still confused. During breakfast the boys asked for a rice krispies treat and I said they could have one when we went to vote. Sam said excitedly, "JACK! Mom said we can have one on the BOAT!"
Me: "No, Sam. We're not going on a BOAT. We are going to V-V-V-VOTE."
*taking out his pacifier*"Yeah, vote. That's what I said, Mom."

Ookee

2008-11-03T16:04:00.000-08:00

That's Olivia's new thing. When asked to do something (if she's feeling agreeable) she will say "Ooookeeee" and nod along. SO cute.

Sammyisms

2008-11-03T15:56:00.001-08:00

Tonight the kiddos and I were on our own at dinner, and as we dined on spaghetti we chatted about the week ahead. I asked the boys if they knew what tomorrow was, and after guesses like "Our museum day!" "My birthday!" "Mimi's coming!" etc., I said that it was election day. They nodded as if they knew that all along, and I asked if they knew what it meant to go and vote. They said no and I gave an example that if I asked who wanted dessert tonight and they both said yes and Olivia said no, we would have two votes for yes, one vote for no, and dessert would win!
They nodded knowingly some more and then Sam said, "But Mommy, if you get on a boat we will be vewy vewy sad."
"I'm not getting on a boat, Sammy."
"No? You gonna stay here with us?"

I sure am. Even though the whole election day thing went right over your heads!

Then Sam said to me as we ate, "Mommy, you dwiving me cwazy!" I laughed and so did he and I said "Who says that?"
He said "You do, Mommy!"
I smiled sheepishly and said "And to whom do I say that?"
He smiled back and said "You say it to us when we're being WILD!"
Then we both laughed together and he said "That makes you laugh, huh, Mom!"

It's a good thing they're cute!

Halloween and other tidbits

2008-10-31T18:22:00.000-07:00

I'm going to have to come back and post pictures because apparently our laptop is dying a slow and painful death and I am having to store my pictures directly on the backup drive. And to be honest, I'm far too lazy to even consider going upstairs to the desk to do that so.....pics to come!
We had a fun Halloween celebration yesterday and today. Yesterday at the preschool the kids dressed in costume and the parents stayed for a fun parade. My two little supermans were fabulous and marched right along as they should. Then as room mother for both classes, I provided the treats and favors for Sam's class and stayed to help with the party in Jack's class. It was so much fun to be able to watch him in action. He's quiet, but not too quiet. I was pleased to see him thriving there. And I have learned SO much about food allergies this year! In Sam's class the treats have to be Gluten free, egg free, dairy free, and peanut free, so it has been an interesting challenge. But I enjoy a good challenge and so for the first teacher birthday we had colored rice krispies treats made with gluten free rice cereal, dairy free butter, and gluten free marshmallows! For Halloween I made a trail mix with the gluten free rice chex, dairy free butter, marshmallows, dates, dried apples, and raisins with a cinnamony, sugary, appley flavor. It was actually pretty good! Much better than the way too sticky rice krispies treats. I offered Sam a second one when we got home from school that day and he said "NO, I don't want those. They're TOO STICKY!" Well, thanks kid. That's appreciation for ya'!
This morning we went to a local outdoor mall that does trick or treating, hayrides, and a petting zoo. Then we grabbed pizza. On our way home, I told the boys that Halloween wasn't over and when it got dark we would trick or treat in our neighborhood.
"AGAIN?!?" Jackson asked incredulously.
Ryan and I laughed and said yes.
Jackson began explaining to us complete with elaborate hand motions all about trick or treating in the daytime and THEN trick or treating at night. When Ryan and I laughed again, he got mad and said "Hey, guys, STOP laughing at me."
I said "Jack, we're not laughing AT you, we're laughing WITH you." He paused, deep in thought and was quiet for a moment. Then he said "BUUUUT, I wasn't laughing AT ALL!" Which of course made us laugh AGAIN and further agitated him!
They were troopers out trick or treating, but by the end of our street, Jackson was DYING of thirst, so we headed one street over and then cut back through our backyard.
Each time I took off Sam's costume, both yesterday and today, he would say "And now I'm turned back into Sammy!"
Olivia marched up and down the streets, trying to trade candy with the neighbors, politely saying her "Thank you" which sounds more like "Day doo" in a sing songy voice that I LOVE! She was a hit and charmed everyone we met. I think I was threatened with kidnapping about a million times today! My adorable little supergirl! I'm not sure who loved them being the "Superteam" more- Olivia or the boys!
Jackson's fourth birthday will be Thursday and I simply can't believe that's possible. And while for the past three years I have gone pretty much ALL OUT on his birthday, I had made some elaborate plans this year and was staring to laze out a little on them. UNTIL yesterday. One of the projects he brought home from school was a long strip of paper with his handprints on it. It said "My family is special because..." and he responded "We have good birthdays." And suddenly all the HOURS I have poured into their birthdays in the past are all worth it. And I can't wait for his party this weekend. It's going to be the best one yet, buddy. I promise.

Bizarro World

2008-10-25T17:49:00.001-07:00

I think I have spent the last two days in bizarro world. After a couple weeks of the kids driving me nearly mad, it seems they have become DIFFERENT kids.
I think Olivia has been teething or something because she has been an absolute monster for a few weeks. She wants up, no down. She wants every toy her brothers pick up. She wants her milk AND their milks AND my coffee and don't you dare tell her no. The theatrics she pulls, OH the theatrics; she throws herself down (carefully of course) looking over her shoulder between wails to make sure someone is watching, screaming like a banchee, nose dripping snot. Her most used word has been "MINE" and anytime I am trying to accomplish something, aka a phone call, cleaning, or dinner, she wraps her arms around my legs screaming "MOMMEEEE" over and over until I pick her up. I mean, she's been a REAL treat is all I'm sayin'!
The boys have been fighting like cats and dogs. Screaming matches, hitting each other, stealing toys, you name it, they've been doing it.
But for the last two days, the three of them have been heading into the playroom TOGETHER, without being asked, and have played happily and quietly together for HOURS at a time. I kid you not. It has been AWESOME but also totally freaky. I'm starting to think there's been some kind of alien abduction/substitution prank pulled on me. We'll see what happens. Perhaps the Halloween sugar implosion will bring back my usual holy terrors. Only time will tell! Until then, I'm gonna LIVE IT UP! Woohoo!

One fine day

2008-10-22T16:55:00.000-07:00

The kids and I had a really good day today. We woke up pretty late, snuggled under the warm covers watching tv for a while, and then finally snuck downstairs for some breakfast- if you can call fudge covered granola bars and milk "breakfast!" The kids played away the morning, peacefully if you can believe it, and Olivia took a decent nap. When she woke up, we headed out to McD's for some lunch, then headed to Target to browse, and finally hit the library for a new stash of books to snuggle up and read together. Of course at Target we found more than the items I planned to buy, including some Halloween flashlights with little disks that change to witches, or pumpkins, or ghosts. Those have been tons of fun for the boys today. We also found these little spider craft kits that I assumed (because they were called RACING spiders) included two full motorized spiders that you decorate and race. However, when we got home, my sister called and I had to take that call and give fondue ingredient advice. Sam threw a fit and I sent him to his room where he promptly fell asleep, and my neighbor called to get an opinion on the new paint color for her kitchen. The kids and I ran over there for a bit, in the meantime getting a call from Ryan that he had a last minute black tie dinner to attend and did I mind if he went? Not really, so when he got home to change clothes we were at the kitchen table making our "racing spiders" who turned out to SHARE a motor, so only one would go at a time. The boys handled it well, but were disappointed, so we hopped back in the car and ran back to Target where we got not only the last spider box, but also some monsters and skeletons to do another day! We grabbed Arby's on the way home (or the curly fry place as the boys call it- yeah, not a banner day for health food around here, but whaddya gonna do?) and as they heard me order the coveted Jamocha shake, cheers erupted from the back of my van- the silver rocket. Jackson said "Mom, this is a great world. And this has been a really great day."
We wrapped it up by coming home to eat, and the boys drank the shake while I put Livi to bed. They played with their new racing spiders and flashlights while I cleaned up the kitchen and put away toys, and then they took a lingering warm bath. We read 5 new library books, and they are now peacefully resting in their beds waiting to drift off to sleep.
I couldn't agree more, Jack. This IS a great world, and it was a really great day.

Apparently my boys think I'm BEEEUTIFUL!

2008-10-21T16:06:00.000-07:00

Sammy one day while playing with my hair and piling it up on my head: "There, Mommy. I covewed up all the owange, and now you can onwee see da bwack." Um, time for highlights, ya think?

Jackson yesterday while we snuggled in bed first thing in the morning. He went from lovingly stroking my face to saying in a concerned way, "Mommy, your eyes are cracking. Like eggs. There and there and there." as he pointed out all of my wrinkles.

So thanks, guys. I'll do better. If you'd let me sleep!
Love, Mom

The potty playdate

2008-10-14T19:04:00.001-07:00

Today Jackson had a friend over to play after school. This particular friend is in his class at school, and his babysitter lives on our street, so while his parents were out of town, I offered to take him to preschool with us, pick him up, and bring him home to feed him lunch with my boys. My sister called the day before to say she and her kids were coming for a while that day as well. I picked up Aidan on our way to school, ran errands and did some cleaning while the boys were at school, and then headed to the pick up line at the school. I went to the playground to collect Sam, and we sat in the car with the battery on until it was time for Jack and Aidan to come out. BUUUT, when I went to start the car it made a wierd grinding/cranking sound instead of starting. I freaked. I was the second car in line, so this was going to be a problem. Luckily, there happened to be a mom AND dad in the car in front of me so the dad used my jumper cables to jump the car. Fine. Done, and thank heavens. Started up, and on our way. Turned out Jack had left his light on for a few days and drained the battery. Oops!
After we got home and ate lunch, my sister and her crew showed up and I decided the boys should go out and play, but Sammy was poopy. So I started across the living room to change him and as I glanced out the window at Aidan and Jack, I was shocked to see two bright white pairs of buns staring back at me from the back of the yard. I did a double take and sure enough, the two of them had dropped trow, and were totally peeing all over my mulch bed and bushes. EEEEWWW! So of course I opened the door and yelled "HEY! What're you DOING? STOP THAT!" at which point, Aidan made a beeline for the house, pulling up his pants as he came, and ran to the potty to finish his work, and Jackson penguined back to the house, complaining the whole time that I startled him and made him pee on himself. Well that's what you get! And do you wanna know what Ryan asked when I called to tell him at work? "Did you get a picture?" EW, no. Didn't stop to grab the camera. I had enough flashing for one day, thankyouverymuch!

Right now...

2008-10-08T07:10:00.000-07:00

the house is actually pretty peaceful. Jackson is quietly watching "Cars" while Sam and Liv play pleasantly together in the playroom. The last few weeks, however, not so restful.
Last Tuesday the boys decided to guzzle some Robitussen while I was in the shower, so I had to call our doctor, poison control, and once determining that they were fine, tell their teachers at preschool that they might be a little "off" because they drank cold medicine that morning. Yikes! I think I scared them by crying and saying they could die, because for the rest of the morning everything was "I will go really quick and then sit back down at the table so I don't die" and "Oh No! I finished my breakfast but Sammy didn't so he's going to DIE!" Dramatics- I can't imagine where they get that from!
I am in the midst of my sewing class, which has meant multiple trips to the fabric store, and Tuesday evenings are completely tied up with that. Add to it practicing during the week and completing "homework" for the next week and it's a little more work than I expected.
As the room mom for both of the boys classes, I have two Halloween parties to plan, party favor bags to make, and a teacher birthday party to take care of.
Jackson's birthday is in the beginning of November, so I've been trying to hash out the details of his "Lightning McQueen" party, making invitations, gathering materials, and ordering supplies. On one hand, the way overboard thing I do with their birthdays is tiring, but I know I only have a few years to do these things before they don't want it anymore, so I'm trying to live it up and make some fabulous memories for them while I have the chance.
I have seen a million adorable Halloween decorations online, and I've been dutifully heading to Michael's on Tuesdays and Thursdays to gather craft materials to make some of those things. When I'll have time to actually make them- who knows?
Halloween costume decisions have changed about a million times and I need to head back out to take care of that. The first round didn't fit, and now we can't seem to decide what to be! I wanted to do a little theme or something (like the three little pigs and Big Bad Wolf), but the boys are pretty determined to be superheroes. Occasionally monkeys or bears, but mostly superheroes.
We had a yard sale last Saturday, so most of that week when I had a few extra minutes I was working on getting ready for that.
I know all these little things shouldn't be enough to make me feel swamped, but man they do!
Hopefully things will settle down next week!

Jackson's new favorite game...

2008-09-24T10:06:00.000-07:00

goes like this:
Jackson (out of nowhere): Hey Mom, how 'bout a bunny on top of a car on top of a cake?!? (chuckle, laugh, snort, hand over mouth that's just SOOOOO funny!)
Me: Hey Jack, how 'bout a bunny on top of a car on top of a cake on top of a POTTY!?!
Jackson: (HAHAHA! SNORT, cackle) Hey Mom, how 'bout a bunny on top of a car on top of a cake on top of a POTTY on top of the OCEAN?!? (hahaha, squeak, snort, hilarity ensues)
Me: Hey Jack, how 'bout a bunny with a dirty diaper on his head?!?
Jack: (in a silly Adam Sandleresque voice) Aw, man, how can you even TALK about that?

Apparently dirty diapers are going too far. Who knew?

Aunt Leah's wedding weekend!

2008-09-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

Ryan's sister, Aunt Leah, got married this weekend in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We left Friday morning with my sister Michelle in tow to help with the kids, and drove down to start the festivities! Friday was a long drive, a rehearsal at the aquarium, and a celebration dinner at Aunt Leah and Uncle Anthony's house. The food was delicious- shrimp and steak kabobs, salad, sweet potato rolls, and cajun rice. Mmm, mmm! The kids played in the coolers on the driveway "fishing for ice" (and cans, if you must know) but at least it kept them occupied for the greater part of the evening. Our accomodations were blessedly free since my sister has a good friend with a beach house, and everything went smoothly. I played flute for the wedding, and Ryan was a groomsmen so my sister was a lifesaver. The kids enjoyed dancing, especially Olivia who literally danced the night away, and the boys loved browsing the aquarium checking out the alligators and sharks. At once point, Jack was missing and we found him at the "touching" station with a blonde worker on each side of him! He's his Daddy's boy, that's for sure! He loved exploring the ray tank and the hermit crabs and starfish.
Sunday was Ryan's employee day at Kings Dominion, so we spend the day there (after another long ride in the car) and the boys rode their first roller coasters! I was shocked to discover that Jack was more of a thrill seeker than Sam, but they stayed true to my expectations in the bumper car arena. Jackson sat with his hands at 10 and 2, diligently going AROUND all the other drivers, and deliberately staying on the outskirts. Sam, however, took great pride in his battle cry as he rammed EverY.sINGLE.Kid. in a bumper car. He came out yelling "Mommy, I crashed into EVERYONE, I was bam, bam, I was crashing all over the place!" He didn't like "the mountains" on the roller coasters, though. He thought they were scawy.
Jackson's favorite ride was the Scooby Doo haunted house, and we had to run back across the park for him to ride it one last time before we left for the night.
Olivia was a trooper, and wasn't scared of a single thing, person, ride, etc. She rode her first merry-go-round, and a number of other small kids rides without blinking. In fact, after the first ride she screamed when we took her out because she wanted to go again. I'm sure I can find some pics of me at her age riding the rides, since apparently that was right up my alley!
There was no time for adult rides, and even thought I love roller coasters, I was okay with that. It's funny how easy it is to just WANT to do everything for your kids, isn't it? All in all, the weekend was a success.

We had a perfect butterfly!

2008-09-24T09:50:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we woke up to a beautiful butterfly fluttering around in our bowl! The boys were so excited! Unfortunately we were running late for school and didn't get a chance to release it until we got home, but he flew away while we stood at the door and waved goodbye. Watching my two sweet boys wave good-bye and call out "Good-bye butterfly, Good luck" brought about almost too many metaphors to bear.

said the elephant...

2008-09-15T18:11:00.000-07:00

This morning as I was playing animals/dinosaurs with Sam, he had the baby elephant and I had the mommy elephant. After he said something cute (I can't remember- already!), I smiled at him and stroked his cheek. He looked at me and said gently yet emphatically "Said the elephant" like, that wasn't me talking mom...that was the elephant. DUH!

The first day of preschool

2008-09-13T18:21:00.000-07:00

The boys began preschool on Tuesday. I spent the night before getting the teacher gifts ready, packing their snacks and change of clothes, and going over all the information before the next morning. I am so excited to be the room mother for BOTH of the boys' classes this year, but we'll see how I feel about that in May ;-)
The morning was rushed, and I made a special smiley face breakfast with mini peanut butter waffle sandwich eyes, half a banana for a nose, and bacon for the mouth. They also asked for blueberries and milk, so all in all it was a pretty solid breakfast. We were running late because the ONE THING I didn't pack the night before was socks, and I could not find TWO matching pairs that went with their clothes, so Sam ended up wearing sandals.
When we got to school, I loaded Liv into the stroller and the boys put on their backpacks and we marched up to the front door. They took the stairs and Liv and I took the elevator and met them on the bottom floor. Jackson was a little timid about going into class, but once he realized 3 of his playgroup friends and 3 of his classmates from last year were already in there playing, he dove right in.
Sam was basically like taking a 12 year old to school. He went in, put away his bookbag, said good morning to his teacher, and set about playing with his friends. He didn't tear up, he didn't look back, he had absolutely no fear. I love that about him.
In the completely opposite way, I love that Jackson DOES tear up, that he wants to be reassured that I will be back soon, and that he still "needs' me. He actually asked on Thursday on our way in to school if he could just be in Sam's class with him! Um, no cause he's 2 and you're 3!
At pickup, Sam was happily kicking a ball with his teacher, and was thrilled to see me. We picked Jackson up in the car line, and he looked so small and yet still so grown up standing in line with his bookbag on his little back.
I think it's going to be a great year.

Sammy the sidekick

2008-09-08T18:07:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning the kids were driving us CARAZY inside, so we shooed them out and then joined them on the back porch with the newspaper. I sipped my coffee, read the circulars and comics, while Ryan read the actual paper. The kids went to the sandbox for a while, then to the treehouse, then to the garden, then kicked a ball around, making their way back to the deck after each activity. At one point, Jackson came up the steps and wanted a chair to sit in. I told him to just sit on top of the two that were still stacked. "What?" he said. "You want me to sit on the DOUBLE?"
And then he yelled "Sammy, WHOA-EEE-EEEEWWWW-OOOOO" in this strange call to sidekick sort of thing. "Look, Sammy, I'm sitting on a double!" Ryan and I both started laughing- I think I may have gotten coffee up my nose. BUT I may have peed my pants if Sam had A. responded with a similar yell, acknowledging the call of his leader, or B. gotten up from the sandbox and started running toward Jackson. Look out, Batman and Robin- there's a new team in town!
Aaaah, good times.