Nephew Day

Wednesday is Nephew Day around here.

On Wednesday's, three year old Levi (known in previous blogs as Jr) and one year old Hunter join the fun over here.

Please note that Hunter had much fun drinking the water out of the bottle that got him this wet.

Levi arrives saying, "Hi, Guys! Hi, Aunt Niese! Hi! Hi, Guys!"

Hunter can't handle the chaos of all the boys screaming hellos and "how are you, buddy?".s and "Let's go play!"  But after a bit of time he adjusts and does just well.

I may spoil him with kisses.

Hunter gives the BEST facial expressions and even when he is fussy because it is hot he will laugh for you.  He is the happiest, easiest going baby ever.

I loved catching this...

All the boys reading.

S1 sort of watches over the group, keeping the peace.  S2 runs between wanting to take full care of Hunter, wanting to get Levi to play with him alone so his little brothers get mad and tattle and then deciding he is just going to play with S1...who does grown up things.  Like work in his shop.

Levi loves it here.

I mean, seriously, where else can you walk around with a dead snake?

AND get your picture taken with it?

I usually fall in bed exhausted on Wednesday nights, but Wednesday's sure are fun around here.

Snow Day!

This morning we awoke to snow.

Not tons of snow but snow timed to make the roads nasty and dangerous.

Giving us a SNOW DAY!

 Honestly, I didn't think we would get one.  I made the boys pack lunches the night before.  Clothes were laid out and showers taken.  But at five am I was awake checking my texts for word of a snow day.  I was watching the news...watching all the schools around us close but not us.

But then we did!

All winter we have had mild temps in the upper 30's and 40's.  I have to admit, I have loved it.  But if we are going to get snow, let us have the snow day!

We made waffles for breakfast and then shoveled off the vehicles and shoveled the walkways.  I fed all the wild birds that were flocked at the feeder while the two youngest boys went in to get warm and the two oldest went out to see if the snow mobiles were taking the trail in the back of our property.  When our tummies began to rumble for lunch, S4 suggested a picnic.  And then he set it all up himself.

 He was rather proud of his creativity.  He had everyone spots picked out (I was to sit between S3 and S4).  Dinner was tuna noodle, the food Daddy hates so we eat on all those "special occasions" when Daddy isn't home.

 Do you see the bunny behind S4's foot and next to the Angry Bird stuffed animal?  The bunnies.  Yes, those bunnies were part of the celebration of snow day as well.  They had breakfast with us.  They played hide and seek.  And at some point they hid so well everyone forgot they were there until it hopped up to you so you scratched it's little ears and it hopped away.  The bunnies, I believe, loved snow day.  I, on the other hand, believe I may not be liking that the boys left the bunnies in the house for so long today.  But back to our yummy lunch.

 Here I am sitting, enjoying the fun of the moment, thinking this is grand that we don't need to worry about a mess.  That's when I spilled my entire plate of food on my lap.  Go figure.  The boys ate without incident.

While S4 has a bit of cheesy grin here, he was truly happy with the way this all worked out for us.  He loves picnics and that everyone did just what they should do and sat in just the spots he chose and the bunnies were in on the fun...well, this was the best snow day ever for him, i do believe.

 After lunch S1 plowed the driveway with his snowplow he built for the tractor he and my dad built.  I don't think any boy has been happier plowing snow.

After we had cleaned the junk drawer - S4 now deems it the clean drawer, it only had 6 years of collection in it (haven't cleaned it since I was nesting last) - we took down the Christmas decorations.  My sister in law called and ended up stopping with her two boys on the way home from the vet.

My brother just purchased this adorable Pomeranian puppy for her.

 The puppy, you must know, is only two pounds.  Full grown she will be ten pounds.  She pranced around the floor and was a great delight to us all.  I believe I said, "She is just the cutest! And look at her cute curled tail!" a zillion times.  S2 was sure the puppy knew his voice and was just the most amazing puppy in the world.  Jr - my nephew - would then tell us all how to properly care for the puppy.

It was a really great time.

Even if this picture captures them all looking a bit crazy.

YOU try getting a good picture of six boys and puppy!

My husband arrived home from plowing snow exhausted and hungry.  He was going to bring us pizza but it got too late for that so we had leftover lasagna and birthday cake.  You really can never go wrong if your first thought for dinner is ice cream - and you then you have ice cream.

The boys and I stayed up late watching a movie all cuddled on the couch, bunnies tucked away in their home outside.  I painted my nails - because you all wanted to know that sort of information - a bright sparkly glitter pink.

Why yes, it was a rather perfect snow day. 

Camping with my Niece and Nephews

This 8 day camping trip we started out with Baby Backup (who, as you can see is not such a baby anymore) and Jr.  And my new nephew, Baby B

 Since Oma/G'ama was busy and Momma's needed a break, I got to spend a lot of time being the ultra cool An' Niese.  It's a great job to have.  You let them into your cool camper that has cupboards with food in them and a TV. An' Niese rocked.  Especially when I feed them as many cheese balls as they could shove in their mouth while filling teeny tiny cups of water for them.  It also helps if you are a girl and your An' Niese remembered to pack the glittery blue nail polish for you.

 But this cracked me up, my niece felt I may need a baby doll in my bed.  People, I haven't had a baby doll in my bed since I was a little girl.

 My niece, Backup, used to not like me....or anyone much....at all.  But that's changed. This weekend with them I had all kinds of fun with my Jr and spending time with Backup and B.  I don't get to see them often, as in, I can go months and not see them so to spend so much time with them was a real gift.

As well as a regular trip to get an excedrin.

But with little ones you get special gifts, like getting to braid Backup's hair.  And giving B a bath.....camp style.

Backup and Jr were a hoot to watch.  And they would do crazy things all the time.  Like when Backup decided that to properly sit in a chair you must lay on the ground.

 And Jr thought that made perfect sense.

They only stayed a few of the eight days but I am thankful for those few days so much.

And I think that this video will be one we will talk about for as long as we camp.

(And we'll try not to mention how big MY baby is compared to these little tykes.)

Jr Discovers How to Make FIre

Jr has been adorable lately, figuring out new things all the time. He totally cracks me up. Says words all the time. For instance....

"Don't eat that, it's nasty."

Jr, "Nasty".

"That's right, now throw it in the garbage."

Jr, "Bye-bye."

He cracks me up.

He also is extremely intelligent. Very much. I am always impressed with what he figures out.

Except today.

He was in the kitchen, eating an apple. I smelled a bit of smoke, but because we have a wood stove I didn't think too much of it....

Until the smoke got super bad.

All the sudden.

Very quickly.

Apparently, Jr has figured out how to use our toaster.

He had just pulled all our school notes off the wall so I had set them on the toaster to put back up later when he left for home...

And at some point, when he was eating his apple and sitting on his little stool, he pushed the toaster to "toast".

When I would check on him, he was sitting there, happy as a lark, eating an apple.

Until there were LITERALLY FLAMES LEAPING FROM THE NOW BURNING PAPER!

The toaster...IS MELTED!

We needed a new toaster anyhow, I suppose.

The crazy thing? Jr thought it was funny and S4, he never even noticed the smoke alarm, the smoke...nothing.

Coffee...I am looking for more coffee....

Camping Trip 2, The Food - the End

When my mom and I got asked about what we were looking forward to camping, we both agreed it was the food.

And now that we are home, we get asked what our favorite part of camping was and we still roll our eyes, get a dreamy look and longingly say "the food".

Let me explain.

Here is exhibit A. Hubby got me this spider legged camping Dutch oven for my birthday just before we left. This was my first time using it. I made peach cobbler and ice cream...the ice cream was just cream. Really, I can make GREAT ice cream...just not when we are camping. Next time, I am just throwing a gallon of vanilla in the freezer for camping.

Anyhow, this cobbler was supposed to take 45 minutes to take by using seven coals under it and eleven coals on it's lid in a checkerboard pattern. My brother - who spent a summer in the state of Wyoming as a guide for hunt trips and well acquainted with cooking in campfires - told me to stick it in coals and pile them on top. But I tried it the book way.

And then I tried it my brothers way.

It took SEVEN hours to get this made...but had we made it my brothers way it would have probably taken just an hour.

I told everyone to they had better like it even if it was awful. They all claimed it was wonderful. Then I didn't know if I believed them. But I had some, and it WAS good.

We tried Oreo S'mores because they were suggested to us. (Tara, this picture is for you.) If one needed a chocolate fix, this would be their s'more.

We don't usually eat S'mores when camping. I'll eat one and then be good for the summer. But we ate at least one of these a night, I'm pretty sure. And since we made it home, I have maybe had one or three or so. The secret, reece's peanut butter cups. Ohhhhhhhh, I may need (another) today.

I will print this picture and look at it in winter to remind me of summer campfires.

This is my brother. He's making breakfast in this picture but he was the brilliant one of us who said "Why don't you bring a grill when you go camping?' and we all looked at eachother and thought, "Why not indeed?" He shook his head in wonderment that we girls survive camping at all and brought his grill.

Then he had an even MORE brilliant idea to have us just chip in a bit of money and he would make ALL OUR MEALS. My mom and I nearly fainted. ALL our meals?

My brother is a very very very very very very very very very very good cook. That may be an UNDERstatement. Honest.

I kid you not, S3 and S4 were sure by the end of camping that their Moma and Oma did not know how to cook at all and if Uncle left, they would surely have to survive on marshmallows alone.

We. Ate. So. Well. I could never ever thank my brother enough!

And here is the thing about camping with my mom and my brother and my sister in law and Egirl and Jr and my boys....it's family. And family like that is wonderful.

I rarely get a chance to hang out with my brother. I see his wife every Thursday and Friday but rarely my brother and it was so nice to just spend time with him. He is a hoot. If I could write the way he tells a story...oh my, I shake my head because I'm not even sure how to put it into words. He is that great of a story teller.

And it's nice to be sitting at the campfire, watching my boys sort their tackle boxes and I say "You know what plastic worms make me think of?" And he chuckles and says "I was just thinking the same thing!" and that's all we have to say.

Camping with family means you aren't worried about making a good impression...no, we've all seen eachother at our very worst and our very best, and we just love eachother.

Camping with my family is the best. The very very very best.

I leave you with a picture and story of the beach. My husband is not a beach person AT ALL. But when we camp our day is breakfast, pack lunch, beach, campsite, shower and then do it all over again. We beach bum it every day. It's so splendid and summer perfect! Husband can't handle this.

But this particular weekend the humidity was 76 percent or some craziness like that. And he came down to the beach and we floated on rafts and laughed with the boys ALL DAY LONG.

I think he got tired of me saying "I love this day so much. It's so perfect with you here. I love you so much! Thank you for coming to the beach with us!"

My husband - and those of you know him will be shocked by this - relaxed. And it was grand. It was one of my happiest memories of summer. All six of us lounging at a lake all day long. Wonderful.

Ah summer, why do you have to end?

We Went Camping....Getting There

As I type this post to you, I am hunkered down in a camper with no internet available at all. I am technologically cut off. Because I am vacationing.

But I did bring my wonderful present from my super intelligent hubby, my little accer laptop. And with it I am pounding out a few camping highlights for you.

Only a few. And it's hard to choose just a few.

Really.

Our camping stories could be a reality show. I'm not even exaggerating.

We camp in an old camper, that is large enough to cram all six of us into it. But usually it is just me and the dog. My boys have left me for a tent. They love the tent. My hubby works and doesn't get any time off but Sunday's and an occasional Saturday. So I have a queen sized bed and a stocked fridge and a tiny little bathroom that has a toilet that works. It's rough to have that time alone, I tell ya.

But getting to the campground. Oh my. If anyone has any tips at all to getting a never fully clean house clean enough to feel one can leave it behind plus clean a camper so that you can trash it by the time you pack enough stuff for six people to live in it for five or so days without ever leaving the camp ground (this includes every bike, every tonka truck, every tractor, etc that the boys own on top off bikes for everyone to ride INSDIE the camper) all while celebrating a son's birthday and taking care of another puking son and do with with joy and calmness, call me. I need to know your secret. Because I loose it. I blow my top. I stress. It. Is. Not. Fun. EVER. And that is putting it ever so lightly.

Then, me, with four boys and two dogs and no hubby pull a camper loaded to the roof behind my John Deere license plated suburban behind my Dad and Mom who have a 1949 restored Panel truck pulling the cutest ever little 1953 Vacionette camper that turns everyone's head and gets lots of thumbs up. Behind me is GM, my sister in law, in my brothers red pick up with the camo windows.

No one notices us. Just Dad.

Which is fine. Because I have to concentrate on driving. Because I have four boys asking me “are we there yet?' and two dogs sure they need to give me directions as I haul a swaying camper down some of the narrowest, curviest hilliest roads in the county. The roads we take, they don't have names. Seriously. I always check. I say “we go down the road that only one vehicle can fit on and there is a swamp on either side and the road is paved but it should just be gravel” and the people say “oh, I didn't know people used that road” and I say “what's it called?” and no one knows.

But we arrive. My Dad reminds me to breathe. I literally peel my fingers from the steering wheel, we jack the camper up to make it somewhat level, the boys empty a camper in such a way you would think they were finding long lost always longed for treasured presents with every sand filled tonka truck and bike. It's sorta like a boy version of Mary Poppins magic carpet bag, if that makes any sense.

And anyone who has the camping lots next to us, well, they stare at us. And wish they could blink themselves back to their quiet home.

Let the camping fun begin.

Zoo Meltdown

Every year we take a trip to the zoo. It’s a huge deal. We love this zoo, the big high light is that this zoo has giraffes. And this year they have THREE baby giraffes. And you get to FEED the giraffes. It’s amazing.

This year was no different. My mom, my brother and sister in law and Jr and my sister and Baby Backup and two tagalong friends headed out with me and the boys. Yes, we were a sight.

After the thrilling train ride to enter Africa, after the thrill of feeding giraffes, we were off on long walk where kids take “ranger” tests to see if they would make a good African Ranger. The first test is a pull up bar, and they ask if you can do five pull ups.

S1 tried it and was thrilled when he did it, and then he did two reps of five. Sheer elation. S2 was not to be outdone so he finally pulled off one. He beamed. S3 wanted to try, and I helped lift him up. When he dropped to the ground he flexed his muscles and grinned as only a nearly six year old boy can. Then came S4, who was sure he could do it too. I lifted him up just as I had S3, but S4 was sure I had only helped him and he was determined to be just like his brothers. So he didn’t want me to help him, not at all, and without me helping him he couldn’t do it.

S4 crumpled to the ground, sobbing. “I am not strong!” he wailed. I tried my best to encourage him, tell him that he was indeed strong, but nothing worked. He wailed. He sobbed. He was louder than the annoying screeching birds.

We came to another “test”. A beam on the ground to walk across like a tight rope. He and I both saw this as our second chance, he jumped on with a little hesitation and began to walk across it, slowly a grin coming over his face. He looked up at me as he came to the end to show me his big beaming smile and then he tripped, slipped off the beam and fell flat on his face.

He wailed louder than before, his shoulders slumped, he just kept crying “I am not strong! I will never be strong!”

It was pitiful.

By the time we caught up with my family at the monkeys, all the monkeys stared at us as though we were the wild animals. My brother had heard us coming (how could you not?) and mentioned he was glad that screaming kid wasn’t part of our group, till he realized I wasn’t there, and then realized the screaming child was his nephew.

S4 was sure I was lying to him telling him he was strong so he put his chubby little hand in Oma’s hand and let her walk him out of Africa where he whined he wanted to go home.

We boarded the train home from Africa exhausted. By the time we had gotten off the train, S4 was his normal happy self, ready to conquer all the zoo again.

Boys.

Happy Adventures in a Grocery Store

I woke this morning with Jr sprawled more than halfway across the bed next to me, S3 sleeping as though he were making a snow angel and me with my head nearly hanging off the side of the bed. I did my best moves to slide out of bed and not wake them, sure my boys would sleep well today after the day we had yesterday.

For the same reason I was looking for coffee. Strong coffee.

Yesterday went great, don’t get me wrong. It was truly memorable. But even really fun exciting days require reoperation.

Yesterday I took six kids grocery shopping. And not just to the store, but also to the eye doctors for a quick run in, the grocery store, the gas station, the county office building, Wal-Mart, the library and the park all in about three and a half hours.

And we survived.

But the grocery store, I think the town is still talking about that trip. I had S4, a little girl I was watching and Jr in one car cart, you know the ones where the care is the front of the cart and there are two steering wheels? That one. S1 had the other cart and S2 managed to get his lanky self in one side of the car and S3 wasn’t budging from the other side of the car.

We were hard to miss.

And just in case you couldn’t see our parade of car carts, Girl and S4 suddenly felt transported to a Nascar racetrack. Truly. Complete with Nascar voices. They were shouting and driving and racing all while we were crawling along the store isles. Everyone did quick head jerks in our direction, and then couldn’t seem to look away.

Technically, the kids were doing great. Jr was sounding like a siren, cheerfully, waving to all those staring at us. Apparently Girl and S4 were having close encounters on the track but seemed to be in the lead. S1 managed to only bump one store display and had an uncanny knack to find empty isles to race down.

What I did not expect were the shoppers. We would be heading down an isle and there would be an older lady at the end. “Don’t hit me!” she’d cry as she pushed the cart out of view. The kids would shriek in laughter and the woman would peek around the corner to smile back at them. If we got behind a shopper, they would cheer how they had the lead.

I was stunned by the fun everyone was having.

After a forever-long pee break, I figured my mind couldn’t remember any more items (which means I forgot a lot) and we headed to check out. THE ISLES PARTED!!! We were suddenly the only ones checking out, everyone happily bagging our groceries. Not a “get out of the store and never return” bagging, but honestly giggling at us. The kids were treated with water to quench their parched race voices and popcorn for nourishment.

I was stunned.

The kids had a blast. They can’t wait to go back again. What were they most excited to get? Band-Aids. I worry over this, as if they are planning on many band-aid injuries in the days ahead.

But for now, I am sitting here sipping my French pressed coffee and still in amazement at the fun we had at the grocery store..and all day..yesterday.

Mom Competitive Sports, Part Two

Can you walk a dog and make a baby laugh?

I can.

Here's how I found out I had this great talent.

We got a dog, Sadie. She needs to still be walked on the leash because she hasn't figured her name out completely yet, she likes to chase chickens and I don't have the athletic ability to chase after her...or the want to. They just covered the surrounding fields in manure. I would have to think long and hard about chasing after her if she took off in that nasty super covered in poopy slimy field.

But I also have this adorable ten month old baby I am watching. Who doesn't like to take a nap all the time. But the dog, well, she needs to go relieve herself regularly. What's a girl to do?
Walk the dog, with the baby of course!

I did take a moment to remind God how much I love my arms and would rather keep them if it was fine with Him.

And then we were off.

I figure we must have really looked the sight. Me looking like I am about to face certain doom and must protect Jr at all costs. Sadie, all black, basically walking on her hind two legs. Jr, bouncing along for the ride.

Sadie was so excited to be out since I had been putting her off thinking Jr would nap but he hadn't and Sadie has to pee and she wanted to run and she wanted to sniff and she wanted to run and she wanted to play and she wanted to run!!!!!!!

My arms screamed.

Jr laughed. He laughed and he laughed and he laughed and he laughed.

And when Jr laughs, you just can't help but laugh too.

So we jogged, got hauled around, didn't fall, didn't trip, I kept my arms (although I took some Motrin) and all was wonderful in the world again.

So, in the Mom Competitive sports category, I survived...with laughter.

Poop on the Face

Jr has a double ear infection right now. Poor little guy! He is just as happy as can be just as long as you are holding him. Put him down and you know you put him down. He cries and cries and cries. Pick him up, coos and smiles.

The medicine gives him nasty diapers too. If you 'think I just heard something', you better check his diaper. And you will probably find something there.

The thing is, he finds the diaper changing spot THE spot to just explore and knowing he won't be there long he squirms and turns and does all sorts of weird moves to get off the changing table or sit up on the changing table.

It's a challenge, to say the least.

Well, I got him all changed. I threw the nasty diaper away. He cried and rubbed his eyes and buried his head in my chest but would not sleep so I bundled him up, set him in the car seat and headed with S4 for a quick “this will make him fall asleep” drive.

As we got in, S4 looks at me oddly. “Moma,” he points to my cheek, “There is something on you.”
I look in the reviewer mirror. Something about the size of my pinky finger nail and completely brown was on my cheek.

POOP!!!!

I quickly wipe it off, totally disgusted. Nasty!

It's then I realize, it's peanut butter. Not sure how it go there, none of us had eaten peanut butter, but none the less, it was.

Which helped ease my gag reflex and pounding heart.

Why I Haven't Blogged Lately

I just haven't found time.

And I hear my husband groan, “you were on facebook today”. I need to talk to adults every once in awhile and facebook sometimes just gets you by.

All this week I have been watching adorable Jr and I have been watching another little boy MC too. S2 is sick. Sadie is feeling at home, tearing the place apart and melting my heart all at the same time. Hubby has been working late..as in eight pm. I get up at four am. We don't really see each other much. Right now I should be folding laundry. Getting dinner ready because I have to make something other than hot dogs, mac and cheese, sloppy joes, etc for dinner at some point this week.

I love watching Jr. (He got his first tooth yesterday) I love watching MC. I am thankful to be home. But this morning I was literally thinking I would need to tape my eyelashes to my fore head to keep my eyes open.

This is how the morning goes......

3:45, wake up.
Make hot cocoa.
Drink water.
Say hello to sister in law.
Peek to see Jr is still asleep.
Lay out hubby's clothes.
Make hubby's lunch.
Run dishwasher.
See Jr is still sleeping peacefully so I go back to bed.
Alarm goes off.
Hubby wakes up.
Light goes on and off at least four times.
Sleep.
Wake up at 6.
Shower. Blissful silence.
Make coffee. Wonderful concoction!
Wake boys.
Sadie jumps with glee.
Boys head to kitchen looking for food.
I make insta oatmeal.
Boys call me in to show me how much they just peed.
S3 asks me to turn heat on so he can cuddle next to heater vent.
Notice Sadie ate the vacuum cord.
S4 asks if he can go to school 'jammie naked' (this means wear his jammies instead of clothes)
Write note to teacher to ask for S2's homework.
Realize we have ten minutes to before we have to leave.
Ask S1 to walk Sadie. He does. Then he plays basketball.
S4 freaks, he has no shoes. At all. They are all gone. All ten pairs of shoes, boots, barn boots, summer shoes. Gone.
S3 is still cuddled next to heat vent. He suddenly remembered he needs to dress like his favorite character in a book today.
Jr. wakes up. He's hungry.
MC arrives, with a house for giggly, his favorite stuffed animal. MUST NOT LET SADIE EAT HOUSE OR GIGGLY.
Dress S3 in character and take picture.
Tell everyone we are now late, MOVE.
S2 wakes up.
Grab coffee and phone, put in suburban.
S4 is screaming. NO SHOES.
I tell S4 to go barefoot.
S4 hangs head and cries crocodile tears for his sure to freeze feet.
Load up Jr.
Make and sorta little bit heat up a bottle.
See S2 standing in the middle of the driveway, sobbing.
Find out S2 let Sadie out.
Sadie is chasing every chicken we own.
S1 drops basketball to run after Sadie.
S2 is still crying.
S3 is buckled.
Run into house. S4 is still searching for shoes. Every shoe we own in on the porch. He never looked on the porch.
See S1 and S3's lunches on table, grab them and bottle for Jr.
Sit in drivers seat.
S2 stands in door of vehicle. He doesn't know where to sit. He always always sits in the exact same spot. Always.
Drive to school.
Breathe.
Arrive to school 1.5 minutes before the bell rings.
Drop kids off to classes.
Take four boys back home.
Drink more coffee.

I need time to recuperate from all this before I can blog!

Just writing this blog, S4 and MC were hungry. S2 needed water. Cold water with ice cubes in his deer cup. S4 and MC decided they didn't' need food, they needed to go outside. S4 cant find clothes. S4 can't find a coat. MC decides not to wait for him. S2 asks to watch a movie. MC lets Sadie out. Sadie chases all the chickens. Chickens can fly high. Catch Sadie after being run into by her and running around the whole yard, a few times. S4 finds a coat (on the porch) and goes outside. MC comes in to go potty. S2 decides on a movie and wants me to put it on for him. MC calls me to wipe his butt. Wipe MC's butt to see he did try to wipe his butt and he flushes the toilet, clogging it. S4 comes in to see what is taking so long. Boys decide to watch movie with S2. Sadie is barking like crazy from the tie out chain she is on.

Any blog post I can write is just plain amazing, that's all there is to it.

Morning Mishapes

As most of you know, I watch my now ten month old nephew on Thursday and Friday's. He is sooo super cute. Adorable. To watch Jr, I get up at four in the morning and watch him till some time after lunch. He is a huge joy in our family for the few hours we get him.

Today, the alarm was going off when Husband bolted straight up in bed. “Quick, get up! The alarm is going off!”

We had overslept by all of about five whole minutes.

But the way we woke up left me disorintated as I stumbled for the bathroom. It was worse as S2 came tumbling down the steps to ask me if he could do his reading homework with me right then. At 4 am? He had gone to bed early the night before and hadn't gotten it done and obviously it was heavy on his mind...still.

I sent him to back to bed. He had FOUR hours before school began!

Sadie was ecstatic for the company after hours of being left alone at night. She was circling me and wagging her tail excitadely. I have found her tail to be quite the weapon.

My SIL showed up and Jr was sound asleep so I chatted with her, made hubby's lunch, got his coffee ready to go for him, picked up a bit of the kitchen and seen I could easily go back to sleep for about 45 minutes.

I take any extra sleep I can get.

So, I snuggled down into bed. Where the alarms went off for hubby to get up for his day at work. But since I had crashed in bed the night before way before hubby had come to bed (I mean, he and S1 HAD to watch the Red Green Show before they could go to bed) we had a bit of catching up to do, I was headed to lunch, he was working with some new people, you know, daily chit chat we usually do over coffee at night, when I am not so soundly sleeping that when he tickles my feet I don't move (and do you think that is all that sweet to do to your precious wife? Tickle her feet as she soundly sleeps? Good thing I was so soundly sleeping.....)

Hubby took Sadie for a quick walk and when he brought her in, she leapt for joy upon me, kissing my face and letting me know she was indeed in and she was indeed happy to start a new day and she fell between the mattress and the wall where she was stuck. I laughed as I helped her out and thought about just getting up at this point, being all awake now after my wake up 'kisses'.
At which point S2 came down the stpes again to do his reading homework, again. So, I stayed in bed to hear him read and being the wonderful, caring moma that I am, I fell asleep. His story dealt with Miss Spider and one of the words he didn't know was 'dung'. And I recall wondering why 'dung' would be in such a kids story....but I must have thought bed was warm and cozy and I fell sound asleep.

Sound asleep.

To be awoken at 7:05, to the sound of four boys coming down the steps to get cereal.

How does this happen to me?

How do I manage to have a full day BEFORE seven in the morning?

At least this morning I had coffee in the house. And I made it super strong as I flew around making sure we were all indeed in the suburban before we left. And we did, indeed, make it to school on time before the bell rang and with no tears.....THAT is an accomplishment!

And this, folks, is just a few hours of my life...in the morning, the time when I need the most quiet and darkness and caffine to slowly wake up. Welcome to my wonderful life!

At Least We Left them Laughing

(warning:this is a long post. I have been working on making them shorter, really, but this was such a bad trip it only could be told long. It could have been longer.)


Today was a day I wish I could just forget. Instead, I will write a blog about it...so you all can laugh along with the workers at Arnies.

When this is written, I am off to bed. With a headache.

Today S3 had a dentist appointment. He was sooooooo thrilled to get to go to school, drop off his back pack and then LEAVE school. This was a BIG deal.

I had Jr with me today. And because Hubby was worried what our Sadie girl might do in the house alone for that long, I had the adorable big five month old puppy with me too.

And S4, of course, who I always have.
What could possibly go wrong?

Because I was going to the CITY, I dressed up a bit. High heeled black boots, fancy black sweater I scored at a going out of business second hand shop and fancy top I wear usually on fancy Sunday's. I shocked everyone when I dropped the boys off at school, I usually am in old jeans, slip on shoes and a hooded sweatshirt.

When we arrived at the dentist, a good 45 minute trip away, I thought it would be good to walk our dog since she has started whining a bit when we were right in the city. When I took her out, she was shaking so badly I was afraid she might be sick. We walked the perimeter of the property, which is really a very pretty wooded lot in the middle of the city, she was shaking so badly. The boys were climbing up the snow banks and falling in them and thinking this was the greatest time ever. I was sinking in the mud, my high heeled boots disappearing.

I had to lift my puppy back into the suburban to take S3 in for the appointment. Doing so got me a bit muddy. From lifting her, sure, but mostly because the boys let go of the leash and she darted, panicked and I had to lunge to save her. At least I was wearing black.

Jr has a cold. He didn't want to be held, couldn't crawl around, and wasn't too bad but wasn't too fun either. It was about this time that I realized I didn't really eat breakfast, just one pop tart at four thirty this morning and that had long done its sugary job and I was starving.

The boys dental hygienist came out to inform me S3 had some cavities. This woman, I am sure, may in fact truly be a nice lady. But she takes the whole “teeth cleaning” to a new level. I, personally, despise going to the dentist. I would rather do most anything else than go there. Really. I hate it. It's why I brush my teeth with a one hundred dollar spinning toothbrush just so I don't have to go. The boys leave her scared to death all their teeth will fall out because they aren't taking proper care of them. I don't think anyone could really take the 'proper care' of teeth the way she thinks they should. And she REALLY doesn't think I know what I am doing to ruin my poor boys teeth...one day she came out of the office to find the boys eating donuts and nearly hit the roof telling me what awful things the sugar was doing to the boys teeth.....but that's another story.

So, I didn't take the advice she had for me well. But I do try to be nice.

And I hope she never finds out about this blog or this post.

I asked the boys if they had to pee, they didn't, and we were off.

To celebrate S3 surviving her cleaning his teeth, we stopped at Biggby and I got them the biggest kiddie drink ever. I have NEVER done this with them so they thought they were just the coolest, and as a mom, it's fun to watch their eyes get huge and realize they are being super spoiled and just enjoy the moment. I have planned this moment since I knew we were going to the dentist.

About ten minutes down the road, S4 starts crying, then wailing, he has to go 'guck' (poop). Bad.
At the same time, Jr begins to really wail. I think he secretly loves coffee and thinks he should have gotten some too. But his bottle was going to have to work, and I couldn't' get it to him.
I pulled into Arnies. All who know Arnies is cheering that is a great place to stop. It's a yummy restaurant, a wonderful bakery, and is one of the cleanest places and prettiest bathrooms.
S4, who always seems to need to get out and in the suburban via the drivers side, suddenly decided he needs the other side. He is standing in the suburban crying and moaning while I am unbuckling Jr and holding Sadie back from jumping out.

I told S3 he could look at the donuts while S4 went potty. S3 took this as meaning he could bring in the pies that he thought looked good and show them to me.

Now just picture him, ripped red coat because it's his favorite, not because he doesn't have another one, dentist gloves on his hands, glasses making his eyes look big and adorable, shoes on the wrong feet...opening the bathroom door to say “this, Moma, I want this!”

All the while, S4 is sitting on the toilet, explaining in great detail to me that the gucks are coming out, that they have to fall out of his butt, why its taking him so long, etc.

S3 had not shown up in awhile so I went out to check on him, who was wandering around, checking out what he needed to show me next. S3 is the kind who would just follow a stranger around talking with them or unintentionally getting lost. He is accident prone. All the time.
Between me checking on the S3, jiggling Jr in the mirror to keep him happy and trying to rush S4 along, I was at my wits end.

I bough three treats for us when we left (2.32, that's CHEAP) just to make up for the commotion we caused. All three workers were laughing and smirking and trying to be professional but not able to pull it off.

It gets worse.

We get to the suburban where Sadie has decided she can't sit in the back anymore and must sit where S3 was sitting. S3 moves his car seat to the very back, then he hands his donut up to me (why?) and drops it. Then he moves his car seat back to the second seat and works on the leash that we realize is caught between the seats. Then he releases the leash, gets the car seat and moves it back to the last seat. Then he needs his donut.

I go to take a sip of my extra shot coffee only to realize that it is spilled all over the lid and every time I take sip it spills over me. There is something defective with the lid. So I look for a straw. I don't have one.

We get on the highway and my purse leans, LEANS, against S4s foot and he has to tell me about it and insist it get moved. I change lanes and his water bottle gets stuck under my foot.

About this time, I see my husband has called me twice. I call him back. He wants to know what has taken me so long today and why I haven't called him yet.

Since my 'good wife' tip is to not bombard your honey with bad news first chance you get, I tell him I am on my way back to school right then.

I'll spare you the ride conversations and minor issues to the school.

I came home and wrote this blog.

And now I can't nap. The extra shot has kicked in.

And my dog is fine and sleeping on the couch and sweet again. And S4 is napping because he informed me he is really really tired.

And I made a lot of people at Arnie's laugh today.

For All You Moma's of Little Bitty Babies.......

I was mixing up goulash today. The sun was shining thru the windows and my husband was sitting in the totally-couldn't-live-without-it-best-five-dollar-garage-sale-find-cheery-yellow-chair chatting with me as Jr clung to my leg.

If some of you have just joined in here, Jr is my nine month old nephew. And he is truly the cutest nephew in the whole world. Truly. As I felt his little chubby fists grabbing my jeaned pant legs and my knee length sweater I had on I had a quick “take me back in time” memory that I shared with hubby.

I am pretty sure it was S3 who was a bitty baby, but really, it could have been S4. They kinda blur together at times (and for all of you who think that would never happen to you, I was SURE it would never happen to me, blurred memories of my precious little ones days). I was making cream of asparagus soup. It takes a lot of time and it involves a lot of continual stirring to get it to not burn, not clump and get the right creamy consistency. I had waited until my little guy was sleeping soundly before I began. But he didn't nap very long. At all. And even though I was holding him, he was not to be soothed and was just screaming in my ear.

So, standing there mixing up soup, I started nursing him. Imagine the sight, sun pouring in the windows, cluttered dishes (this was before a dishwasher, the best gift ever) all over the counter, soup steaming on the stove, me leaning against the stove to stir with my right hand while my left arm was holding my baby boy as far away from the stove as I could and still nurse him. And I recall the boys coming in to ask for a drink or a snack or to tattle oblivious to the fact I had run out of arms and energy to deal with them.

It was there, standing there, that I wondered how I would ever survive.

But I did.

It wasn't easy. Remember, I said it was all a blur, but to all of you out there in that position, you are a wonderful moma and, honey, you will make it through. It'll be a blur, this eternity you are now in, but it will pass.

And you will look back with some fondness.

And be extra thankful for a nice long through the whole night sleep.

Hang in there.

Jr is on the Move

For those of you who follow the blog regularly, you realize that there are two days a week I watch my little nephew, Jr. He is eight months old now and has recently learned to crawl. Fast.
I used to think our home was kid safe. I mean, it's always filled with kids, right? I have long ago gotten rid of any pretty thing I had out. Either it was broken for me or it is tucked away to be rediscovered later in life. I have a beautiful tea set from the Netherlands, the true old country of my family, and it's on the highest shelf in the house and even there I worry over it.

I have vacuumed, I have swept, I have scrubbed....and still that little stinker finds things. He finds dirt in the cracks of the wood floor. The boys have caught themselves some tadpoles (I know, weird winter, we have tadpoles and what will I do when they turn into frogs? Well....S3 says our house is the best house for frogs. I don't know if that's a compliment or not.) and Jr found one that was dead....gross. I caught him finding it immediately. But still, the thought. The fact that I had just cleaned there....

So I keep cleaning. And it's not like he can get into the sink or the fridge or anything like that but I have even scrubbed those spots too.

I have to admit, it is really nice having a clean house. Exhausting, but so nice.

All this cleaning and scrubbing and …. well, my house hasn't been this clean in, well, years.
Really.

And do you think any one has stopped over? No. Not one single person. No one.
So this is what will happen. I will be burning something on the stove, the smoke alarms will be going off, the dog will be barking shrilly, I will be makeup less dressed in some get up I pray no one will ever see me in, screaming at the kids who are screaming the house stinks while the phone is ringing and the laundry will be piled so high I can't see out the window to see that someone has stopped over. You know, normal life. That is always when someone stops over.

And my brother is reading this rethinking having Jr stay with me so much......

A Promised Afternoon with S4

After a busy Thursday with much to do, I promised S4 I would play with him all the next day. I would play with him and Jr until GM came to pick him up.

S4 did not let me forget.

I'm not sure how he could have. Every time Jr (8 months) fussed a bit I would say “can you play with him a minute?” and soon they would be laughing together. I had a cake to bake and cupcakes to make and dinner to put together and laundry to hide from guests. And I pulled it off, by ignoring my boys are barking orders.

When the end of the day had come Thursday S4 had asked me what time he should wake up. He wanted to make sure he didn't miss any moment with me. “I have to get up at four,” I told him.
“I'll get up at three so we can cuddle,” he informed me and then he trotted on up to bed.

As it turned out, I did get up at four and he kept sleeping. Certain the six inches of fresh snow outside would at the very least delay school, I did a few odds and ends but then went back to sleep too. And was awoken by S1 saying “should we get ready for school?” twenty minutes before we had to be on the road. We woke up S4 after the suburban was warmed up and everyone else had been loaded in.

When we walked into the house S4 curled up on the couch to watch Bear do the cha cha cha and I began the tedious job of cleaning the dishes from the great get together the night before, thinking of all the laundry I had to fold and all that. Suddenly, S4 was in front of me saying “So, you ready to play blocks.” Almost knowing I would say 'just let me finish taking care of these dishes' he added the “YOU PROMISED, REMEMBER?”

And I did.

So, with a grinning Jr in tow, we built wooden block roads. When Jr continued to break those, we built wooden block towers to knock down. We got a bouncy ball and rolled it back and forth,

which brought huge giggles from Jr. We literally crawled on the floor next to Jr to watch everywhere he went and what things fascinated him...I have much cleaning to do in places I didn't know existed in the house! We watched our tadpoles swimming about. We playing bowling with wooden blocks and bouncy balls. When S4 wanted to watch Spirit with me sitting beside him, I did. Not because I like digging through backets of clean clothes to find socks for my kids, but because I had promised him and this was the MOST important of the day. Jr snuggled up in my arms and fell soundly asleep. It's been a long time since I have had a baby fall asleep in my arms and I found myself wishing GM would be really really late.

She wasn't.

After GM left, I got to work on this and that until Spirit was done and there was S4. “Well,” he said, “it's time to play bouncy balls.” So we did. I have no idea how this was played all I know is that S4 always won and I needed to learn the correct way to throw the bouncy ball every single time. I hope I am not that critical of my boys.

At one thirty in the afternoon S4 cuddled up on the couch to watch a movie while he 'rested his eyes', freeing me of promised obligations. So I wrote this. I haven't showered yet today, my kitchen is a disaster, there are wooden blocks scattered all over the floor and it has been one of the best, funnest days in a long time.

I am so happy S4 held me to my promise. I guess he knew what he was teaching me after all.

The Great Christmas Play

The boys were in a Christmas play for our church this Sunday and I could tell you that it went off without a hitch and it was perfect and all went smoothly.

Then you would look at the title of the blog to make sure that you were, in fact, reading the correct blog and then you would believe it had been hijacked.

But it DID go very well. The play went perfectly. The boys were great......
Well....
Sorta.
Here is what happened.

You recall my bad day that wasn't so bad. Yes, well, the glass places are closed until Monday so we did not have the suburban. But we had the great to the rescue cab and half, nice and cuddly close, plow truck.

On Sunday, the day of the play, we had church, we had dinner and then I had a little tiny bit of time to clean a big huge mess. And cook. And bake.

But I had a great plan. I made the cookies and then when husband brought the boys to church for their last practice at 4:30, I would clean the floors, wait til then to clean the bathroom, and be ready to go by 5:15 to be to church by 5:30 to get a great seat and cheer on my handsome fellows.

I have great ideas.
They just rarely work.

As I was getting the boys their shoes and socks (this is a big deal, they all had socks on!), I told S4 to go in and wash his face. He was gone a very long time. He came running out of the bathroom grinning. “See my hair, Moma?” he asked. “I cut it just like Daddy does!”

And he had. A big huge bald spot right in the very front of his head.

You see, Husband cuts his own hair. He buzz cuts it, along with the boys hair. But he trims his goatee with scissors, it gets singed by the hot wood heat so often he usually trims it every few days. And always always always when we are headed out to church or some other look nice event.

What do you do? I just sweetly smiled and said “Wow...how about we not use the scissors again though, okay?” His hair is so short I am hoping no one notices the bald skin....but I will.
Not long after the boys had left and I was jamming along to great Christmas music, the phone rang. It was husband. “Honey, please tell me that JM is home with the extra set of keys to the Dodge.....”

JM plows with Husband.

“Um, I think so.....” I said, straining to see if she was but not seeing her car. “Why?” I asked afraid of the answer.
“Somehow we locked the truck. And it's still running.”

Well, I skedaddled, grabbed the extra set (we so are making hidakeys after this!) and jumped in the big mean Dodge with the hunking huge v-blade and raced to be the hero.

It's kinda fun being the hero for Husband for once.

Except, the gas light was dinging just as soon as the Dodge rumbled loudly to life.

But I talked to Dodge, told him how to shift correctly and warned him of the predicament he'd put me in if he left me stranded with no gas and made it to the rescue, and then Husband and I celebrated by rolling into the gas station.

We are very romantic.

This put a HUGE crimp in the getting the house ready for the Christmas play party but I figure they are family and they are forced to love us anyhow so we raced to the church and arrived five minutes before the play began, when our family was all there already, waiting for us.

The play went off without a hitch. S1 had a speaking part and he has been grounded from all hunting or target practicing until he memorized his lines and since he said them correctly I am sure hunting will be in the very near future. S2 grinned perfectly, stood perfectly, sang perfectly. S3 was hard to see because he was on the far side of the group and I could only catch glimpses of him from where I was sitting. Then there was S4.

This was a big deal to S4. He was finally old enough to be in the play with his guys. He knew every sang every line with determination, a constant bop of his head to keep time. “Gloooo,oooo,ooooo,oooo, ria” was a fun one to watch him sing. Every new “o” was a new bop. When the play would start up again after the song, he would turn and watch it, I mean, why not, that's why everyone was here. And since he was at the end of the row, why not get comfy? Here's a few poses.

GM, my sister in law, and I especially liked when he was up on his knees waving his butt in the air like he had a tail. And then there was time when just the girls talked in the play and who wants to listen to girls? Apparently not him, because he just laid right down on the middle step in the middle of the stage and waited for them to be done.

But when it came time to sing, he stood up straight and sang proudly.

GM and I giggled through the whole play. Husband, at the other end of the pew, couldn't see him. So only half the church seen S4's antics.
Which is good.

(after the play, S4 didn't get the mic during the play, thank goodness!)

Afterwards my parents, Husband's Mom, my brother and sister in law and Jr and my sister and her husband and baby Back-up all came back to the house to eat the cookies and sloppy joes I had made and we ended up having more food than we needed and having more fun than expected.
It was a great night.

That went perfectly.

Too Busy with a Perfect Day to Blog

Sometimes I am just too busy to blog because it’s a perfect day.

Here, where we are, the H1N1 flu has hit our community hard. We have numerous school closings and we know three children who are down with the flu.

We are also experiencing the coldest, wettest fall we can recall. It is looking like we are in for a doozy of a winter. They are comparing it to a winter I do not recall, having not been born yet, but I have heard stories and as soon as I mention the winter to those older than me, they all have stories upon stories upon stories of how awful it was.

All of this was preceded by a cooler than normal summer. Truly disappointing, even our crops had a hard time growing not to mention the beach days we missed out on.

But back to H1N1. Many of the local schools have closed to help kids get over the flu. R.C.’s kids’ school was closed and she called to see if I could watch her two boys, CC and MC. Since CC and S2 are on the same soccer team, the same church class and so on and so forth, they are good buddies. MC is S4’s very very very very bestest friend, and he gets along great with S3. So, the boys were ecstatic they were coming over, until they realized they would be in school.

When we watched the weather, we seen that after days of spitting snow flakes, thirty and forty degree temps, we were going to have a day that was nearly seventy degrees. Seventy. That is darn near tropic.

Hubby has been working third shift all week long and that night as I called him to tell him goodnight I all but begged that the boys could have a skip day of school. “I’ll have RCs boys and it would be so much easier if I had our boy’s home too. Especially when I watch Jr later in the day. They all would play so well and, well, it’s going to be the very last nice day of the year!”

I nearly fell when he said “Yah, I guess they could.”

They have never ever had a skip day.

All the boys were in bed already so I never told them till they awoke me in the dark morning to find out if their school had been closed too…three of our closest schools in the area were closed from the flu already. “You get to have a day off today, and be sure to thank your Daddy.” I mumbled to them.

They shrieked in glee. They can shriek very high pitched and it’s even louder when you haven’t even been awake for a full 60 seconds yet!

As I stumbled to the kitchen I was surprised to see it was raining. Rain had only been a very slight possibility. And here it was all drizzly and dreary out. But there was no turning back now.

We made chocolate chip pancakes; CC and MC were very impressed. By the time it was all cleaned up the rain had about ended. Just when the boys were getting a bit rowdy, the sun was coming out. I sent all six boys out to play.

And play they did.

They played football, soccer and catch. They gathered wood to make a pretend campfire only to realize that they could make a fort….and that is when the fun really began. At the thought of making a fort, well, that was a lot of boy power!

The day reached nearly seventy. By the time Jr arrived at one in the afternoon, I had been outside most the morning clearing out all sorts of dead flowers from my front flower gardens. When had I let them get so bad? I can now use that front door, without letting grass in. It cost me getting poison ivy on my arm, but it was defiantly worth it!

When the bus arrived to drop off the renter’s (IM, fourth grade along with his sister, high school), the boys gleefully waved to their friends stuck on the bus on such a sunny day. IM got the low down on the new fort and it wasn’t long before all seven of them were out to build it up some more. When they were tired, they played soccer or football. Because, when you are tired that’s what you do, right, run around playing? When Jr was awake from his nap, we went out to check out the fort. I pushed him around in the stroller. It was as if even a five month old little boy could appreciate the gift of the day.

Dinner time came and I made sloppy joes, fried potatoes and left over mac and cheese from lunch. Never have I seen food disappear so quickly. I was finishing making Hubby’s lunch while they scooped out food. Five minutes late to the table and I was literally scrapping the bowl to make a sandwich, usually we have enough left over make lunch for two more days!

All throughout the day, one of the boys would comment on how beautiful it was, how nice it was out, how great it was to be home, how this was the greatest day ever.

And it was a great day. A treasure day. A day to not soon forget.

It was a truly perfect day.

But perhaps these photos will help you realize why there are days in a row why I just don’t have time to blog. But I assure you, it was worth it!