Getting in the Groove

So, my house is clean and the children aren't trying to eat each other... thus? I shall blog!

OK, so now, since writing that first sentence, it's two hours later.  Why?

I have four kids.

That should answer everything, but in case you're really morbidly curious?

Lex brings in a blank notebook and wants me to help her write a song.  This involves spelling out the words she wants to use.

"Y-O-U"

Sayer and Caly get into a screaming match.  Lex screams to be heard over them, "HOW DO YOU SPELL YOU!?"

Sayer bonks Caly on the head.  More shouting commences. I try anyway,

"Y-O-U!"

Lex glares at her sister.  "MOMMY!  I CAN'T HEAR YOU! HOW DO YOU SPELL YOOOOOOU!?"

I break up the fighting duo and send them to different corners.

Baby starts fussing.  I sneak in his room to replace the pacifier. My sneaking was for naught... I have three little people in my wake, all seemingly uncomprehending the furtive "SHHHHHHHHHH's" that I'm doing.  Baby's awake.

I bounce the baby a bit to get gas bubble out.  He's cranky. Cries. Caly taunts Sayer with a book and then holds it over her head and says, "YOU CAN'T HAVE IT!" Sayer lunges towards her.  She shrieks and runs. He's faster, catches her, and when he can't reach the book, wacks her in the head again.

Once I sort out that mess, I turn back towards the computer.  I can type one handed, right?

I turn to ask Lexi a question in time to see Sayer lean on his bowl of cereal that he insisted he wasn't finished and send it careening onto the floor.  Being that it's dry cereal, it skitters all across the kitchen.

I change two poopy diapers.

The baby spits up on my otherwise clean shirt.

The 3 big kids and I take turns making the baby smile. Caly totally wins at this.

There's a brief scuffle over the rocking chair.  You know, the one that no one wants to use until someone else uses it.

(Why doesn't that work for eating veggies?)

We have an impromptu dance party.

I sneak away and eat a brownie.

When I turn around, Lex is in the doorway with her hands on her hips, "Mooooooooommmmy?  What are you doing?"  Caly appears and cuts to the chase, "Gimme a brownie."  I raise my eyebrows.

"Please."  She grins.

I share.

The kids hug my legs, inhale the brownies, and are off to some magical  land of imagination involving Bobo the dog, a cheese farm, dance class and a baby gym.

And here I am again.  Hiding in the bathtub with the door locked.

Kidding!

(Maybe)

Snowlellujia!

We have about 34 inches of snow on the ground outside of our house.  And all but about 4 of those inches are from one, massive, wonderful storm over this past weekend.

The deluge of white stuff rendered escape from our house impossible, so Shaun and I spent our time watching movies, playing with the munchkins, cooking comfort food, cleaning cabinets (me), shoveling (Shaun), cleaning the fish tank, eating, and playing online.

I love it!

My poor extroverted husband is going a little stir crazy.  I told him he could talk to the kids all day to ease his need for company and that would soothe my introverted soul too.  (Because truly, there's only so many games of princess dress up that one woman can play without losing her dang mind).  He didn't quite see my point there.  Something about adult conversation and company... and being among the masses.  Yeah, count me out.

At the moment, Shaun and Bean are outside digging paths to our neighbors' houses.  C is curled up next to me watching Sesame Street, (to save me from having to bundle her to high heaven for her to be outside for all of 11 seconds), and Sayer is taking a lovely nap.

We don't have many plans for the day, which is exactly how I like it.  I might grade some papers, make some bagels, or take some photos.  We're supposed to get another foot or so tomorrow, so I'm guessing we'll be marooned for couple more days at least.

(You won't hear me complaining)

The Apple Festival

This past weekend, our not-so-little-anymore family went to a local apple festival.  The rain held off long enough for us to be able to enjoy fresh pressed apple cider...

Then we cranked off the kernels on ears of feed corn,  (it was a true team effort... Sayer and I sat on the side and cheered)

 

Of course, we danced to a bluegrass band,

 

And said hello to an impossibly small looking Screech Owl, (looks like a distant cousin to Pidgwig)

 

It wouldn't be fall if we hadn't picked out some pumpkins, (with serious concentration)...

After which, with equal concentration, the girls painted their pumpkins...

Then they took turns trying out cowboy hats to find one for our scarecrow...

 

And of course, trying on the hats required some of their best scary faces.

Combine all of that with the deliciousness of apple fritters, apple dumplings, apple pie ice cream, corn chowder, kettle corn, apple cider, and BBQ sandwiches and I'd say it was a pretty nice day indeed.

My Three

There's a whole series of these and they all crack me up.  They're not the clearest pictures in the world, but they're too fun to pass up.  These two are my favorite.  Perhaps because they capture a hint of the insanity that three tiny people with three huge (and different!) personalities can bring.  Enjoy!

 

  

My kids are cool :) 

Adjusting - With a Bit of Sass

The four of us are slowly adjusting to life with our number five.  Shaun and I are obviously quite smitten with the little man.  Bean's been relatively blase about Sayer, as she's had more than her usual share of friends and family willing to give her undivided attention.  She does periodically peer over at him and tell me how cute he is or to check whether he's sleeping or not.  C, on the other hand, loves the baby.  LOVES him.  After saying hi to me, she inevitably follows by saying, "Baby?  Baby?  BABY!" 

Sometimes when she yells "baby!!" she sounds vaguely scary, especially when she runs over with both hands over her head to show him some "love."  She gives him lots of kisses and pats his head and only occasionally smacks him or drops things on him.  No doubt she loves him...  but sometimes?  Her love hurts. 

Out of all of us, she has the most adjusting to do.  But she's adjusting.  Just don't expect her to adjust without a C sized dose of sass.

 

She's bound to help make this next year a wild ride.  But as crazy as I imagine it's going to be, I wouldn't change a thing.  (Remind me of that when my sanity takes flight)

Reader Poll: Two Peas or Three Peas in a Pod?

So for awhile now, people have been saying that Bean is a definite mini-Mom and C has her Daddy's looks.  But check this out:

 

I can't stand the cuteness.  But good gracious, they look more alike than I had realized.  I do think that the real winners in the look-alike contest are these two:

 

I guess I should put myself in some of these pics for comparison's sake.  Meh.  Maybe soon. 

Anyway, what do you think? 

And taking bets now:  if we do have one of each, what's to become of this little one?  The missing blend?

Double Trouble

These two are going to get into rounds of trouble together. 

It's a darn good thing they're cute

Though I really think she might get into trouble all on her own.  As for her Daddy?  If she keeps up with this face, I'm sure she'll always be able to get him in there with her. 

And me?  I'm not going to be able to do a darn thing about it.  Cuteness.  I can't resist it.

At The Park

I'm feeling kind of glum today.  It wasn't even a full two weeks ago that we had balmy 70 degree weather.  Today?  Today it's snowing/raining with little chance that it will stick.  And it's COLD.

So.  I'm going to vicariously live through pictures of our park day a couple of weeks ago, (before Bean came down with the plague).  Because if I close my eyes and breathe deeply, I can totally smell...

A poopy diaper. 

Ok, really...  the sweet scent of grass growing, the fresh breeze drifting across my face. 

Yum.

OK, spring?  Hurry up.

The day at the park was lovely.   I'm thoroughly excited that Bean is big enough to do most things on her own.

And that's without a ton of fear... though some things were scarier that others

And that C is able to at least stand, which gets her down out of the stroller or my arms and lets her stretch a bit.

C liked that. 

Most of the time.  We had some tears and a bruised lip.

But that was nothing a little love couldn't fix.

We learned that Bean AND C both stick their tongues out when they're concentrating.  Thanks to me, it seems.

 

And then?  When the kids acted up, we sent them to jail.

 

Except, they really seemed to like it.  

 

All in all, a nice way to get a taste of spring.   

 

LiveBlogging 10 Minutes of My Life

Shaun and the girls are on the floor putting together a potato head family.  Rather, Shaun is helping Bean put them together, and gently redirecting C when she gets too close to the "family"

The "Mom" potato falls over and Bean threatens to burst into tears.  We right the falling potato and all is right in the universe.

Then C gets stealthy, goes around Shaun's back and attacks the "Bean" potato.  Under her attack, "Bean-Potato" loses an arm. 

Bean flips out, dives over Shaun and snatches the arm back from a very confused C.

C's confusion turns quickly to rightous indignation and she starts screeching. 

Bean is still distraught over the loss of the arm and is shedding a lone tear.

Shaun notices C's nose is running and asks Bean for some toilet paper to wipe her nose.  (We're out of tissues). 

Bean goes into the bathroom and comes back with half of a roll.  Unraveled.  We now have enough to wipe the noses of a kindergarten class for the entire day. 

Bean commendeers the bathroom, determined to go by herself in order to get a highly coveted jelly bean.  Whenever Shaun would open the door to check on her, she'd screech, "NO!!!  DON'T COME IN HERE!" 

C took the opportunity to destroy the potato family and gnaw on the pieces. 

Chaos erupts and culminates with Bean trying to poke C in the head with a plastic baton.

All in a day's work.

A Year Ago

It was over a year ago that we took Miss Beanie Bean to San Diego for an awesome vacation complete with me being able to touch a REAL. LIVE. DOLPHIN. 

My brain almost exploded at that time.  It still makes me giggle with glee to think about that trip. 

Anyway, I happened to be looking through some old picture files and found this one: 

She's holding an orange, freshly picked from an orange tree in the backyard of our gracious hosts.  I was just getting used to my new camera at the time, hoping to get good enough to take some pretty shots of the baby due about four months later. 

Bean was entering into that delightful stage of curiosity and glee over everything. 

It was one of, if not the best vaction I've ever taken.  I remember stressing a bit about the new baby's arrival, wondering how I'd manage, how I'd love both of them equally. 

I was pregnant enough to show a smidge, but not enough to be completely uncomfortable. 

I wasn't sure life could get better.

It did. 

And I know that next year with our new little family member, I'll look back on the pictures from this month and think the same thing. 

And that?  That's awesome. 

Thankful

Some things I'm thankful for:

*  Delicious baby smiles first thing in the morning. 
*  Hearing the words, "Mommy, I want to hold you and snuggle!"
*  A husband who takes the time to make each of us smile and laugh every day.
*  Wonderful, supportive friends who walk the path of motherhood with me and those who cheer me on as I go.
*  A place to watch the snow falling while wrapped up in a giant blanket.
*  The heavy weight of a baby asleep on my shoulder.
*  A quirky family who loves each other even when we get on each other's nerves.
*  The smell of crisp leaves and fires rolling through the air
*  Mashed potatoes.  And cranberry sauce.
*  These guys:

 

  

I'm blessed.

Have a lovely Thanksgiving, everyone!

Homeward Bound

We're packing up to head back home tomorrow morning. 

Ever wished the world would shrink enough so that everyone you love could be in the same place? 

(Well, not the exact same place...  that'd be a little uncomfortable).

But yeah, it's like that.

Anyway, we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming come tomorrow.  Or maybe Sunday.  Well, hopefully soon.

Have a great weekend :)

The Cuteness of Self-Expression

The four of us each got some seriously awesome Little Mismatched socks from Shaun's parents.  (Thanks Meme and Pawpaw!) 

Bean has been wearing hers ever since.  In fact, she's been wearing a pair on her hands, too.

I can't get over how fun they are.  Better yet, they're high quality.  They stay up, they're thick, and they have grippers on the bottom.  I'd buy more in a heartbeat. 

Next up?  The four of us with our socks on, all lined up.  For now, I couldn't resist sharing their cuteness.

How I Became a Monkey

Each anniversary, Shaun and I trade the responsibility of planning what we'll do to celebrate.  By far, Shaun is more creative and more inventive as to what we tend to do. 

This year?  This year I win.  Because this year, we did this:

Yup, that's Shaun up there.  No, not in the pink pants. 

We went to trapeze school.  We learned to fly like circus monkeys.  And we loved it.  Here's my graceful flight to fame:

I think we might have a future as a circus troupe.  Wouldn't you say?

 

That's my family in the rest of the pictures.  They came along and flew with us.  It was amazing...  if given the opportunity?  Take it.  As they say, "Forget Fear, Worry About the Addiction"  Word.