That wasn't how that was supposed to go...

How Monday was supposed to work:

• Get up and get the boys out the door to school with Dave
• Get Max ready
• Head to Target and Toys R Us to finish shopping for Seth's birthday
• Pick Luke up from school
• Go home to clean and decorate for Seth's birthday
• Pick Seth up from school
• Do homework, hang out together,  prepare and consume Seth's birthday dinner
• Open gifts and share treats with Grammy and Grampy

How Monday actually worked (?):

• Get up just in time to get the boys ready.  Struggle to get them to focus on getting ready (early) after two weeks of spring break.  Get them out the door (early) to have breakfast with Dave before school because it's Seth's birthday and Dave's mom is having surgery on the other side of town making it highly unlikely he'll be home before bedtime. 
• Get convinced by a 2 year old (who has been missing his solo mommy time during spring break) that it's time to snuggle.  He walked the older boys to the door, slammed the door behind them, and ran for my bed.

 

• Call pediatrician and make appointment for Luke who tripped on a book Saturday night while running through the upstairs and caught himself on our footboard.  With his face.  [This picture looks pretty good.  As with most bruises, it is now darker purple with some green peeking through, covering much more of his eyes.]
• Call pulmonologist and reschedule Luke's appointment Wednesday as I'm not sure he's breathing right anyway post face smashing.
• Get myself ready.
• Get Max dressed.
• Go to Target where they have NONE of the toys Dave and I decided on on-line Sunday night.
• Head to Toys R Us and get a few toys while Max whines that he is "so so so thiwsty!"
• Run into Walmart to look for what Target didn't have.  Max whines more but since Walmart didn't have the toys either and I was running late to get Luke from pre-k I didn't have time to stand in line to buy a bottle of water.
• Pick up Luke and his friend from school. 
• Take his friend home and chat with his mom.
• Run to Meijer to look for the toys that Target and now Walmart didn't have.  Score at Meijer!
• Realizing I don't have time to get home, unload the boys and the car, and get them lunch, choose to stop at Chick Fil A instead. 
• Eat lunch.
• Take call from Dave who is supposed to have an appointment on the other side of town at 2, after which he will go to the hospital to be with family during his mom's surgery.  Instead, his earlier appointment ran late and later appointment got cancelled.
• Meet Dave in a parking lot to give him the gifts out of the back of the car and have him decide which ones Seth gets now and which ones will be saved for later.  Dave takes them home and decides then he heads up to the hospital.
• Max and Luke (did I mention it is now Max's naptime?) head to the pediatrician's office.  I adore our ped.  She's pretty laid back and I actually texted my sister and said, "I'm guessing she will laugh and we will be done."  Joke was on me.  She looked him over and had him do some things and said we needed x-rays as it might be broken.
• We leave the office and head to the car.  Once at the car I fielded a text from Seth's teacher re: the ingredients in the brownies I made for his school birthday treat (I get this as Luke causes the same questions).  I called my dad to ask him to pick up Seth.  I texted the teacher again to let her know Grampy would be getting Seth.  Then I called the insurance to make sure I could get the x-rays where the doctor suggested.  Except that I didn't have a name of a place, just directions to the place.  So I had to hang up from the first insurance call.  Once there I realized the building was empty so I looked it up on my phone (the name was on the empty building), figured out where they'd moved to, drove there and called the insurance back.  By now, Max is thirsty again (and letting me and the woman from the insurance company on the other end of the line know and thus drinking my coke leftover from lunch) and Luke has uncharacteristically fallen asleep in the back seat.  After what felt like forever, it was determined we could indeed go inside for x-rays.  Unfortunately, this meant waking Luke who was not interested but finally relented if I would carry him inside.
• Once inside he was a trooper (after a bathroom break during which they were calling our name and waiting for us to come out of the bathroom).  Three x-rays later we were done and on our way.
• Another Target was just across the street so two overly tired boys and one strung out mama headed inside to check one last place for Seth's birthday presents.  No go.  But everyone got a bottle of water and we headed out to get Seth.
• Arrived at Grammy and Grampy's and told the younger two that they were NOT getting out of the car as G&G would be over a little later.  SO thankful that my dad had Seth do his homework!
• Finally we got home, about 5.  I begged the boys to clean up some of the mess around the house before G&G got there.  Everyone, including me, was miserable so that ended in yelling and sending the birthday boy to his room for a little break while I at least cleaned up the kitchen enough to make the next meal. 
• Fielded a call from the doctor's office that the nose is, thankfully, not broken.  Fielded some texts from Dave re: his mom's surgery starting late and taking longer than expected.
• Started Seth's requested dinner of chocolate chip pancakes.
• My parents came over and I headed up to wrap Seth's gifts (I like to do these things way ahead of time - ha!).
• Finished making dinner.  Seth refused to eat.  This was a bit frustrating.  And confusing.  He sat at the table with my parents and the other two boys and looked at some strawberries while being very rude to my dad.
• I finally took him for a little chat where he broke down sobbing and let me know that if dad was there it would be okay but nothing was okay without Daddy.  Trust me, bud, I was feeling it too but he was where he needed to be.  I told him that Daddy had met me and picked out which gifts he should get and was waiting for Seth to call him at the hospital.  More crying. 
• Finally I got him calmed down and brought the gifts down and he started unwrapping.  There were quite a few toys to play with so he was sufficiently distracted.  We did call Dave and they talked for awhile.

 

• Finally it was time for treats.  I bought the coolest candle/sparkler.  It was shaped like a number 7 and we lit it up and Seth announced it was going to explode and headed for the other room.  Max sat across from it and cried and said that we would NOT be doing this at his birthday.  I'm pretty sure Luke never even came into the kitchen as he was so busy playing with Seth's new toys (cue the eventual wrestling match).

• Finally, I got everyone ready for bed one at a time while my mom and dad attempted to help me/entertain the overly tired others.  I promised everyone that Daddy would come and check on them when he got home and they all went to bed.  Aaahhhh...
• I think I heated up a pancake about 9pm.  Dave got home around 10 and I collapsed onto the couch with a dirtier house than I had started with that morning.

 

 

Why do I share this?  Mostly for the humor purpose.  And so that I can look back on it someday and think, wow, glad today was SO much easier. 

 

Today

We interrupt the regularly scheduled (and somewhat repetitive) vacation posts to bring you...

today.

All night long I dreamt that someone was trying to break into wherever I was.  It didn't look familiar so at least it wasn't home.  However, that really doesn't make for a restful night's sleep!  Then, because it was so very cool at 7am (80 or 85 degrees - brrr), I decided to go for a little walk/jog.  It was rather toasty but it felt good. Minus the throbbing headache and recurrent hip pain after, but oh well.

This afternoon Luke decided he would sleep better on his floor (logically, right?) than in his bed.   I had that crazy headache so I just really wanted him to lie down somewhere.  As he was pulling the blankets and pillows off of his bed and onto the floor, he said, "Whoa, this is trippy."  HUH?

Seth likes to argue.  And negotiate.  I think it's a classic case of the attorney and the banker/salesman mating gone wrong!  This evening I was complaining about it still being hot in the house.  Seth, in all seriousness, looked at me and attempted to explain the workings of "that thing on the wall."  Aka the thermostat.  Back off little boy, Mama's hot!

And then during dinner Max stopped eating, looked at Dave and said, "Back."  Then waited for Dave to scratch it.  Apparently Dave stopped too soon (and I have much better back scratching nails), so he turned to me next with the same demand, "Back."  He is ridiculously funny (especially when he thinks he's being serious). 

Finally, I'll be watching my mail for my invitation to the Mother of the Year Awards.  Sure hope it doesn't get lost!  Seth and Luke were beyond whiny tonight so they went to bed a little early.  I needed to water [just our flowers and veggies, no violating the water embargo].  Max loves the outdoors and he had napped earlier so he wasn't ready for bed so he came out with me.  He was already in his jammies and was having fun just walking around the yard telling me what to water next and "helping" me pull some weeds.  I was thinking about what a great time we were having hanging out together.  I pulled the hose around and I looked back to make sure that I wasn't crushing flowers with the other end of the garden hose, when Max started screaming.  Uh, yeah - mom of the year soaked her pajama clad little guy.  He was screaming and crying and wouldn't even let me pick him up.  He did, however, agree to go inside and get changed and warmed up to me pretty quickly.  Then we snuggled in bed for awhile.  Oh, and to appease him I let him play with some of Seth's Legos.  Which he promptly threw and demolished.  Thankfully, Seth isn't too uptight about his Legos (I mean, he plays with Luke after all).  But I'm sure I'll still hear a bit about it from him. 

Be sure to watch the blog for fabulous pictures of me accepting my MOTY award.  Ha ha ha.

It was a dark and stormy night...

[Okay, not really, but it's been so long since I blogged regularly that I thought I might need to lure some of you back to read this...]
It was actually just a normal Sunday night, preceded by a beautiful and above average temperatured Saturday.  A Saturday during which I enjoyed a long walk with a good friend and came home to find my little boys "helping" my hubby clean the garage, mostly by drawing with sidewalk chalk and blowing bubbles.  Saturday evening we went out to dinner with family.  Napless Luke is always a bit of a handful so he was extremely rowdy and I was horrified, but attempting to be calm.  It was just pizza, right?  Not a 5 star restaurant.  Saturday night we gave him some Benadryl after listening to him cough for awhile in bed.  Anytime Luke plays outside during the day, Benadryl is a bedtime companion.  I asked the doctor about this, coupled with the fact that I think he sounds really short of breath sometimes when he plays really hard outside, but she told me that as long as he recovers quickly it probably just means he needs to be more active.  I understand what she meant, but it made me laugh a little to hear her suggest Luke needs to be more active. 

Fast forward to Sunday morning.  We dropped the boys in their classrooms at church, then Dave and I attended the first service and went on to our classes that we teach for second service.  Partway through that service I got paged by the children's department to "please come."  This is not the first time I have been paged like this and I will confess that I was praying for a very minor injury or perhaps just that Max really needed his mommy.  No such luck.  At the end of my 'walk of shame' was Luke and his teacher, waiting for me in the hallway.  She explained that he would not sit where/when instructed, was defiant, and finally started kicking at people.  Oh, lovely.  Now, I'll take him back to teach the 1st graders that other  parents have entrusted to me.  Clearly they have no clue what a bang up job I'm doing with my own child!  But he just seemed off.  I couldn't really explain it.  [And I'm NOT doubting that he did all of those things that he was dismissed from class for doing, nor am I excusing his behavior.]  But, he didn't want me to pick him up.  He seemed to really just want to be left alone - which is NOT like Lukey at all. 

He got to hang out with Dave and his class until church was over.  Then we headed home, had lunch, and got everyone settled down to rest.  Except that Luke would not settle down.  Dave tried laying down with him but even that didn't encourage sleep.  I wasn't really too surprised as the more tired Luke is, the harder it is for him to fall asleep. 

Then at dinner he was goofing around (or so mother of the year) thought and making strange wheezing noises when he would cough.  I think I even yelled at him for it at one point.  Allergy moms do not see humor in wheezing noises.

We finally got everyone settled in bed and finally sat down ourselves when I heard Luke open his bedroom door.  It's very loud when it opens, which is good because he spends a lot of time trying to escape.  Dave got up first and went to check on him.  He had already had Benadryl but was still coughing.  I heard Dave asking him if he was okay so I went to join them.  He was sitting at the top of the stairs and I could hear him wheezing down at the bottom of the stairs.  NOT good.  Having had a nearly $400 ear infection (and not the best service at that) last year because I jumped the gun and ran to the ER (what am I, a novice?), Luke and I set up camp on the couch where I could console, love, listen, find stuffed monkey and his little pillow, and generally be awake most of the night worrying.

So, Monday morning (March 26th) Lukey got to visit with one of his very favorite people in all the world - his pediatrician. I am SO thankful for her and her patience with Luke.  He loves to chat up all the people who work in the office and answer all of their questions for me.  The doctor came in, listened to him breathe, and said, "Wow, he's really wheezing."  Boo.  Bummer.  Enter a nurse with a nebulizer and our first ever breathing treatment. 

 He got to spend a week doing breathing treatments every 4 hours and taking a steroid.  Her diagnosis was 'seasonal allergy induced asthma.'  Ick. I didn't really even think to ask what this means long term.  Luke was busy with her stethoscope, trying to listen to HER breathe, and I was trying not to lose my mind begging him to stop poking on the doctor. 

He was a champ about the treatments and the meds. I even mentioned to someone that he was sleeping all night long since he had the treatments - no waking up crying, no showing up at my side of the bed at 4:30, etc.

Fast forward to this last Sunday night - exactly 2 weeks off meds.  Wheezing.  An offer by us, and initial refusal by him, of a breathing treatment with a little boy begging just to go back to sleep (even though he got up on his own and had come all the way downstairs).  An attempt to give Benadryl which ended with the stuffed monkey taking more Benadryl

We continued breathing treatments all day Monday and Tuesday.  By Tuesday afternoon he was done and so was I.  Crummy sleep for all Sunday night and Monday night, plus more and more coughing.  I made an appointment for Wednesday morning for him to visit, again, with his pediatrician.

There we got the diagnosis that didn't surprise me but kind of disappointed me.  Asthma.  She said it's tough to diagnose the first time because one of its characteristics is recurrence.  However, a second visit in three weeks seemed to seal the deal.  She also said the waking up at night is indicative, as is the coughing more after playing outside.  So, this week we are back to oral steroids, the nebulizer and the first medicine, and now a second.  The second will continue indefinitely - twice a day.  So, "have breathing machine, will travel" seems to be the new motto.  I feel a bit like I should sign him and his epi pen and breathing machine up for boy scouts - he's always prepared! 

Finally, he was really wired when he started on the breathing treatments a few weeks ago.  His doctor apologized warned me that this might be an issue.  After the second or third one there was a clip on the television about one of the dancing shows and he was enthusiastically convincing me to try out the moves they were doing.  Thankfully the jittery super hyper [must dance] post-treatment behavior subsided.  However, now that we are mixing two meds, he is back to uncontrollable crazy.  Our bedroom is a decent size and from there you walk into the master bath and on into the walk in closet.  It's a long straight shot.  I was putting on makeup and fixing my hair this morning and every once in awhile he would just jet past me from one end of the bedroom to the other end of the closet.  I'm hoping this subsides soon.  I'm also hoping for a good night's sleep that lasts longer than 5 hours (for me) sometime soon!

Hi

Hi, my name is Cara.  I used to have a wildly popular blog.  Well, okay, if you're my mom or sister or maybe pseudo-sister, or a distant cousin, it was wildly popular.  If not, you're not reading this anyway, right? 

Not sure what the issue has been but I just haven't been very interested in posting lately.  I used to drive down the street and my mind would wander to what to post about next and I would start to mentally compose blog posts.  And then I guess I just started thinking of  other things when I was driving down the street and I quit blogging.  What else could I possibly have to think about, you ask?  When to finish the "test" for a little online course that I am taking?  Whether to attempt to sell some wreaths at a craft fair?  How to teach my wildly uncoordinated son to tie his shoes?  Are the steroids for the scary wheezing making another son's tummy upset or do we have other issues?  Is it okay to let another son watch Elmo on my iphone, mostly just because he cuddles like crazy when he's in the Elmo trance?  How much fighting amongst brothers is "normal?"

But, alas, those questions don't all have neat tidy answers so I've decided I might as well think about blogging instead.  Or at least I'm hoping to be a better blogger. Not so much for you all (sorry), but because it really is a big part of how I document our life.  I need to recap a few very special days - birthdays of two of my very favorite peeps - and then maybe just give a little picture recap of all the fun in between.

So, stay tuned.  There's more posts where this came from... [But, of course I'll leave you with a picture of my now 4 year old and now 6 year old.]

An anniversary of sorts...

Two posts in two days?  Guess I'm off the hook until March, huh?

Well, If I'm being honest, today has been "one of those days."  My heart wasn't really in it.  The older boys got up early early and then neither could settle down during nap/rest time.  By dinnertime there had been no quiet moments in the last 12 hours.  Add to that that Luke, who is always adventurous, was doing crazy things - trying to hammer a screw into the wall, unplugging the phone charger and swinging it around the house, dumping out the toys the second we got them picked up.  Seth was whiny.  Crazy whiny.  To the point of, "Mooooommmmm, Luke's pretending to eat pizza soup."  AND??  Anyway, my hour and a half on the couch with Max, reading, playing with kid books on my Nook, and finally snuggling with a blanket, was just the reminder I needed of why I do what I do.  Wow, that's a hefty introduction to this post. 

Things I never realized when I left the magical mystical world of being a government attorney to be a stay at home mom...

-My husband would no longer leave work, pick Seth up at daycare, run to the grocery store, and then cook dinner while I finished up "just one more thing" at work. Oddly, there was some expectation that *I* would figure out what to cook and (gasp) cook it.

-The cleaning fairy no longer showed up once a month to clean all the things I just didn't enjoy cleaning (aka everything). Again, strange expectation that *I* do this. Sensing a pattern?

-Dave's dress/work shirts no longer visit the dry cleaners and come home wrapped in plastic and ready to wear. Instead they accumulate in the "pretty" hamper in our closet until *I* wash them and then (double gasp) iron them. Again, it's really all about me, huh?

-There is no more daycare. Those days off from work where I would take Seth to daycare for a few hours, get all sorts of things accomplished, then pick him up and hang out, yeah - they no longer exist. Now I have a two or three man (boy) entourage for any errands I must run.

-How much time I would spend in the bathroom, watching other people do absolutely nothing whatsoever, but begging of them to please please please just "go."

-How many drinks could be poured into sippy cups - juice, milk, water, a very occasional lemonade.

-How many (fake) peanut butter and jelly sandwiches could be requested, prepared, and consumed. Or for that matter the number of options on which to make this sandwich - regular bread, thick bread, toast, skinny bread, tortilla, bagel, round crackers, rectangle crackers, even waffles.

-That I could watch the same Dsney movie over and over again and still get excited because it's so fun to watch the boys act it out along the way.

-That a kleenex-less mom with a sneezing child could fix the obvious problem by wiping the snot off with my own sleeve and then just rolling it up another roll.

-That there could be so many "ouchies" that would need kissed and that I would get to do all of that kissing.

-That all your priorities fly out the window when the sweetest 21 month old runs to you and wraps himself around your knees.

-That mornings are great times for cuddling a lovely almost 4 year old, and trading in fancy coffee and bagels isn't really a big deal when the trade off is Curious George and a fleece blanket.  

-That after signing your own name nearly 100 times a day, seeing your five year old write his name like he's been doing it forever could nearly reduce me to tears.

Yes, today is the 4 year anniversary of hanging up the heels and hosiery and trading them in for jeans, comfy pants, and casual shoes.  Usually at least one of those is covered in snot and/or food.  It's not easy, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

11 Good Things from 2011

I have NO idea why I start posts and nearly finish them and just ignore them for weeks at a time.  It is so cruel to my loyal readers mom and sister.  So, weeks late...

I have heard a LOT of people commenting that they are glad to see 2011 go.  So, I thought I would share some kind words about the year 2011.  Following are 11 good things from 2011 - silly, serious, certainly random...

1.  As mentioned in the last post, my picture a day album.  Of course, it became more of a week by week album as there were just days that weren't photo worthy.  But, still it's nearly a complete a book.  It feels good to not be another year behind in scrapbooking.

2.  My Nook.  WHAT a great little toy.  [Thanks, hubby.]  I don't read nearly as much as I would like, but I do read more now that I have it.  I can borrow a book from the library at 11 at night in my jammies.  How much more convenient does it get?

3.  Songs.  I love the song "Do Everything" by Stephen Curtis Chapman.  If you are a parent, you can relate immediately.  Win-win, he made a silly little video that the boys love to watch, so they are entertained and I get a good reminder! 

4.  I participated in a Beth Moore Bible study this summer.  I know some people love her.  Others are not so enamored.  I enjoyed the study.  Something she said really stuck with me.  God doesn't make all new things.  He makes all things new.  We have to remember enough of where/who we've been to appreciate where/who we've become.

5.  Seth and kindergarten.  He LOVES LOVES LOVES it.  His teacher is fantastic.  He is learning to read and I think that is terribly exciting.  I love to read and so much want the boys to love it too. 

6.  Luke's new allergy doctor.  I love that he works only with kids.  He explains things in a way that just makes sense.  He is up on the current research.  Riley is an incredible place.  Of course, it doesn't hurt that he gave us some potential good news relating to at least one of his allergies.

7.  The iphone.  I know - two technology references.  But, it's really great.  There are fun photography apps and some games and books for the kids.  It's nice to have a little something to distract them with in a pinch.

8.  Max is the perfect baby of the family.  I'm not saying he's perfect.  Although he is pretty awesome.  But, he is perfect at being the baby of the family.  Seth and Luke will settle in to watch a movie and he spends most of that movie running from one to the other and messing with them.  He's also getting quite good at screaming in their faces when they take "his" toys. 

9.  This quote from the pastor at our church a few weeks ago - "God meets you where you are."  Again, I've heard it time and time again, but I'm a person who thinks everything has to be in perfect order before I can start a project.  As a result I spend a lot of time preparing things and not much time doing things.  I think I just needed to be reminded that God doesn't expect me to be in a certain place to spend time with Him.  Just do it.  No prep work needed, so to speak. 

10.  "My" word - commit.  It really was a neat concept, having one word to make you stick with something and strive for some things.  2012's word to come...
11.  My husband.  This is not unique to 2011, of course!  I kept asking him to contribute a couple of 'good' things from 2011.  Let's just say he's not been very serious about his responses.  But, I'm incredibly thankful for him - for working hard to provide for his family, for being a loving dad to his boys, and for supporting whatever insane idea I have this week. 

Alright, now that it's almost February, time to move on to 2012!

24 hours...

I once had someone (who was not a mom) ask me what I could possibly do all day with no job.  So, I think I'll share a recent 24 hour period.  Of course, this isn't the norm.  But then again, there really isn't a norm.  Sure, there's often a routine and certain things that need to happen at certain times, but flexibility might be the key to being a stay at home mom.  So, here goes. 

Friday
noon - finish cleaning Max's room - vacuum, mostly w/Max standing at his crib (outside of his crib), sucking his thumb holding onto the wrinkle in the sheet through the slats of the crib OR hanging onto my legs OR attempting to vacuum with the ball popper

12:30 - pack diaper bag with items to amuse Luke and Max; load up cake pops to take to bake sale at school; run thru drive thru and grab food for everyone; eat sandwich in car

1:00 - arrive at school; take bake sale items to bake sale person; set boys up with lunch (and attempt to convince Luke that it's a game to keep all the crumbs in one area); attempt to help with some set-up of chili supper for later in the day; talk with Seth's teacher and her assistant; attempt to keep Luke out of the class (Seth's) that is playing with playdoh in the gym/cafeteria area.

2:40 - leave school having accomplished very little; bring all three boys home; pick out clothes for the boys for the chili supper; put a very tired Max and Luke (who had been up since 5:40) in bed; let Seth stay up but negotiate a deal where he must help me pick up before he eats his leftover treat from lunch

3:15 - continue to remind Seth he's picking up, not playing; help him pick up toys just to have it done; clean up the kitchen, again (we finished making the bake sale cake pops at 11:51 Thursday night so it was still a bit of a mess); talk to my sister for a few minutes

4:45 - do happy dance when hubby comes home with bogo Starbucks; chat with him for a few minutes while Seth tries to simultaneously share all about his day; change clothes, touch up make-up, brush teeth; try to help Dave calm Luke who woke up screaming (he does this a lot); let my dad in and suggest he lay low while Dave dresses the boys so they can all come to chili supper together (mom was out of town)

5:20 - leave for chili supper (solo, thus driving the truck); nearly take a header out of truck upon arrival at school; work the PTF dues table (not nearly as painful as the other committee members had assured me it would be); greet my only family who flits by me to their table in the back

6:00 - chili supper starts

6:30 - Dad hangs out at the table with the boys; Dave is nearly next in line for food so I sneak away from table where I'm working and help him carry food for the boys to the table; finish up at my table; get myself food; try to corral kids for way too long; kiss everyone goodbye and stay to help clean up

8:45 - figure out that I'm not much help with clean up and leave; get home, help Dave finish up baths and dress boys for bed

9:15 - sit down - such a life of leisure! ha ha; realize the boys' jerseys aren't clean for their games in the morning (oops), thus, start more laundry; make Thanksgiving menu, weekly menu, grocery list, look for coupons (all w/Dave's help); get jerseys into dryer

Saturday
12:15am - collapse into bed, realizing that the contact solution that takes 6 hours to neutralize is probably not an option tonight

5:55 - wake up to two oldest boys waking each other up; sleepily beg them to stop fighting, whining, picking at each other SO early in the day; turn on television to buy a few more minutes of quiet; finally convince myself to get up and get ready

7:30 - breakfast for Seth and Luke; get jerseys out of dryer; pack diaper bag and Max's breakfast for the games; encourage/beg boys to get ready for games

8:15 - get sleepy Max up and dress him; load everyone up and drive to the games

9:00 - Seth and Luke both have practice then games, both starting at 9; Dave is co-coaching Luke's team so Max and I are outside with Seth the whole time; 45 degrees is REALLY cold when there is no sunshine and you're 18 months old and eating your dry cereal trumps the wearing of gloves/mittens

10:15 - Luke and Dave join us for Seth's trophy "ceremony;" I breathe a sigh of relief that flag football is done, at least for the time being; drive home and get grocery list, which of course, I forgot because every week I forget something (does it count that I packed a diaper bag for two kiddos, breakfast for Max, my purse and my camera, a hat for Max, and gloves and a hat for Seth?); potty breaks/diaper changes for all; load everyone into car again

11:00 - head to grocery store - all 5 of us (yes, all 5 of us the Saturday before Thanksgiving!); rip the list in half, as well as the kiddos - oh wait, just kidding!  Although that also involved a strategy meeting: "Max and Luke both must ride in the cart.  Thus, one person cannot take both Max and Luke and also get groceries.  Who do you want?  And who gets Seth?"  Let's just say I took the one who partway through was sucking his thumb with his head nearly leaned on the side of the cart.  Dave took the other two.  And perhaps won't do it again anytime soon (don't I say that everytime??)

And that concludes our 24 hours together, well, technically 25 because we didn't finish at the store until about 1.  Hope no one asks me the "what do you DO all day" question for awhile. 

Record...

Wow.  Two blog posts in October.  I think that might be a record.  A record of my patheticness.  I'm not too sure what happened.  Life, I guess.  Let me attempt to make some excuses.

Dave is working a lot.  A lot a lot.  It's great that he's busy.  It's tough to complain as I don't contribute whatsoever to the family income.  Just the opposite, in fact.  ["David honey, we need this.  David honey, I need that."]  But, the boys are harder to manage when they are missing Daddy.  I am harder to be around when my helper in the evening isn't home to be helpful.  Then the things that I do while we're tag teaming in the evening still have to get done, only after the boys are in bed instead of before. 

Then, I am attempting to start a very teensy tiny business.  I am trying to avoid the urge right here to call it silly.  It's just for fun.  And, I guess, somewhat to have something that I can call "my own."  I always thought moms were a little goofy when they said that, but I'm starting to understand what they mean.  Just something that is mine.  Something to be proud of (hopefully).  Something totally independent of the rest of my world.  But, in doing so, there's lots of researching - prices, quantities, buy here or order online; set up a tiny shop online; find time to make a few of the products; figure out pricing; etc.  Watch for more info regarding my cute little adventure in the days to come.

And I really desire to be involved at the boys' school.  Welll, right now it's just Seth's school, but at this point, it is our plan for it to be all the boys' school one day.  It's not easy to be involved with two younger kiddos at home, so right now I'm on a committee that is meeting once every couple of weeks to get some events planned for the year.  It's fun and it's nice to be involved and be with other parents.  But, it means throwing together a dinner and running out the door some nights.  One night I heard Dave turn the key in the lock and I picked up my stuff and we passed with a hello/goodbye kiss at the door. 

Nevermind that our boys are young boys.  It's been awhile since I've devoted a post to each of them so I'll work on that in the next few weeks.  But, let's just say that a lot of work goes into parenting a 5, 3, and 1 year old.  And I'm pretty sure I'm not doing something (or many somethings) right.  For one minor thing, my boys seem to think that 5:45 is a perfectly fine time to get up for the day.  Even though there is no need for them to be up before 7:00am.  I am dreading daylight savings time tonight, when their little internal clocks don't have a button to reset and I hear them waking each other at 4:45 in the morning.  Maybe I should go to bed now? 

Not sure whether this turned out to be a list of excuses or just a list of upcoming posts or a bunch of whining. Either way, I'm still here, just a little overwhelmed by life at times (and I KNOW those of you with older kiddos are probably laughing at how my life is so calm compared to yours).  But, it feels good to share anyway!

***On a side note, I started this post a few days ago and when I signed back in to edit today I noticed I have about 10 unpublished posts that I thought I would go back and edit.  So, there may be a lot of posts over the next few days as I clean up my old posts.  Or I might just delete them - if they weren't worthy of posting the first time...

Blip...

Since I'm dreadful about posting anything of substance (you should see the number of non-published posts I have just waiting for me to tweak them with an edit or two), maybe I should just plan to procrastinate on fixing dinner every night by sharing a little blip from our day.  Here's today's...

I picked Seth up from school today.  We got about 5 minutes down the road and he announced he was going to marry [little girl in his class].  Umm, okay.  This is the first time he's mentioned marriage so I perked up a bit.  Nevermind that generally I'm attempting my best cross examination to get any information out of him and by about this point in the trip he announces that he just needs some quiet.

So, I asked why they had decided to get married.  He responded that they both had gardens at home - a generous description on Seth's part of some tomatoes and not so healthy looking onions, but I digress.  Anyway, they both have gardens and liked them and figured they could be farmers.  Together.  If they can find each other again when they are older.

I let it go, as Seth doesn't like when I dwell on any one subject for too long.

So, once we were at home I waited awhile and braved the conversation again and asked how the two of them decided on this plan.  I was just trying to figure out how we got from produce that Seth refuses to eat to a lifetime commitment.  He looked at me and said, "Mom, we walked into class together."  As though this meant automatic bethrothal. 

So, I'm still a bit perplexed.  But, Seth's not always overly nice to me.  Perhaps a fiancee will soften his attitude toward his Mama?

True Story...

I have a meeting for Seth's school tonight.  Dave worked all day and then went to the gym on the way home.  We will pretty much be passing each other at the door.  I've been working finishing up a couple of little projects this afternoon.  So, dinner becomes a hodge podge of, unfortunately, junk - more or less. 

So, my conversation with Luke went like this...

Me:  Luke, do you want chicken sticks or a corn dog for dinner.
Luke:  Light orange.  [Seriously, that was the answer and I have NO idea to what question!]
Me:  That's not an answer to chicken sticks or corn dog.  You have to choose one or the other.
Luke:  One or the other.

ugh

Some days are easier than others...

I know I have a great "job."  I know there are many many people who envy me (well, not me, but stay at home moms in general).  I have three sweet and wonderful boys; a husband who works hard so that I can be at home with these awesome little people; a house to live in; food to eat (even if I HATE the grocery store); and on and on.  But, some days are just better than others.  Yesterday fell into the 'not so hot' category...

It started like any other day.  Got up, got the older two boys up, got their breakfast, supervised tooth brushing and dressing, got shoes on, and sent Seth off to school via the Daddy school bus.  Luke watched some television while I mopped the kitchen floor and cleaned a few other things.  Then I got myself ready.  Next up, I cleaned out some of Luke's clothes that are too small and put them in a tote.  Finally, I got Max up and fed and dressed, and eventually we headed out to pick up Seth at school.

Dave had called and said gasoline prices were going up (he'd driven by two different gas stations, one with prices about a quarter higher), so to fill up if I needed to and could still find cheaper gas on my way to get Seth.  The cheaper station was on my way to get Seth so we swung by their and it had already gone up.  Knew I could find another on the way home so we went on to school and got Seth.

Drove by another gas station, already the higher prices.  Drove by a third - they were all basically on my way so I wasn't really insanely driving the gas out of my car to save a couple of dollars.  My third and final option had the cheaper gas.  And most of the southside was there filling up on gas.  I pulled right up to the pump and got my gasoline.  No problem.  It was leaving that caused a small problem.  There was a lady that really wanted my pump.  But she blocked me in.  So, I sat.  This was no big deal - she finally moved.  But, Luke's observations were hysterical.  He said, "Oooh, she's grumpy."  I asked why he thought that and he said, "Her mouth is gruuuuuuuuuuumpy!"  And he was right - she had the biggest scowl.  But, it was funny to hear a 3 year old calling her out.  (well, not to her face, as that would've been rude and not amusing)

So, we head home.  This is how returning home from picking Seth up goes:  Every. Single. Day.  I pull into the garage.  Seth is in a booster seat, using a regular seat belt so he can just unstrap and jump out.  Luke is in a carseat and needs help unlatching it - there's a lever on the side, etc.  So, Seth jumps out of his seat and Luke puts his feet up to block Seth so that Seth can't get out first.  Seth breaks through while Luke kicks and screams.  Seth runs to the back of the car and checks to be sure the van is in far enough to close the garage door.  Luke folds his arms across his chest and pouts (making it nearly impossible for me to unbuckle him), because HE wants to check that the car is in far enough.  Every. Single. Day.

This day, after above scenario played out, we headed inside and the boys started playing.  I think Seth and Luke really miss each other all morning and they are currently obsessed with the bigger lego blocks so they immediately started building.  And then they both wanted one particular block, which there are probably 20 of, but the other 19 would not do.  Then there was fighting and screaming and crying.  I don't know who had the block first.  Nor do I care as the blocks are plentiful.  But, Luke (yes, the younger one) came after Seth (yes, the older one) and sent Seth into an [I'm tired because I've been at school learning and playing all morning] tailspin during which Seth announced that he would like for Luke to be sold at a garage sale.  Ugh.

I threw together some lunch, clinging to the hope that everyone would just eat and then go rest peacefully.  I was noticing that the earlier mopped kitchen floor was still not clean so I wanted to mop again but there are no doors to close everyone out of the the kitchen so I can't do it when everyone is up, especially not Max.  So, I got the boys their lunch.  Luke had his head down on the table part of the time and I let myself get all excited about how he was going to take a great nap.  Max always naps and Seth plays (semi) quietly in my bedroom, so I was looking forward to some quiet mopping time.  How pitiful is that that I was looking forward to mopping time? 

Anyway, I got everyone settled into bed and it became apparent that Luke, who chose to go to bed in only his t-shirt and underwear, was not going to sleep.  And that's okay, but we are really working on Luke staying in his room quietly for awhile.  It's a good break for all of us and he can be in his room looking at books or playing quietly with cars.  Luke just isn't good at staying in his room.  I had to stop mopping/tidying multiple times to get him back into his room.  Finally, I could hear him (there's a monitor in their room) talking and playing.  I was so glad he had finally settled down and was staying put in his room.

Then I heard his door open.  I went to the stairs and saw him standing at the top of the stairs.  My view looking up from the bottom of the stairs?  Luke.  In a t-shirt and underwear.  Slathered in shiny oil.  Looking like a well-greased three year old body builder.  Holding the bottle of Vitamin E oil.  Giving me his sheepish grin and a little, "I got some on me."  Uh, ya think?  I told him to march back into his room.  Then it occurred to me that he was going to get everything in his path greasy.  I quickly ran up the stairs to his room and told him to stand still.  That's when I noticed he had pulled the tote of clothes over to his dresser and stood on the tote to get the basket of band-aids and first aid supplies.  He opened maybe 25 band-aids (checking out the pictures, I assume).  There were at least that many more unopened all over the floor.  I grabbed baby wipes and started wiping his legs - only to discover that it was doing absolutely nothing except sliding down his leg.  Bathtime!  I ushered him to the bathroom and got him undressed.  I didn't think to take a picture until then and it wasn't appropriate so we skipped it.  I bathed him and put him in my room with Seth, turned the television on and instructed the two of them NOT to move.

Next, I went down and googled how to get the oil out of the carpet.  Dishwashing liquid was mentioned repeatedly so I grabbed a plastic cup, some Dawn, hot water, and an old towel.  I was down on my hands and needs scrubbing the oil out of the carpet when his little face appeared in the doorway.  He looked at me and very sweetly said, "I think I have poop in my underwear."  WHAT?!? 

Back to the bathroom to clean up again. 

Back to the bedroom to finish scrubbing the carpet. 

Next up was Seth's I-don't-want-your-help-with-my-homework.-I-wan't-Daddy-instead rant.  Oh goodness.  He's five.  It's kindergarten.  It's writing his name four times.  What will this scene look like when it's algebra?

We made it through dinner and Seth was in an oddly agreeable mood for that.  Thanked me for making dinner and raved about how great it was.  He even told Luke that Luke was missing out by not eating it.  It was meatloaf.  Bizarre.

I was excited that it was my scheduled walking night.  I'm a stress eater and the donut holes and I had had a rough afternoon.  See above.  We decided to do our usual - Gretch picks mom up, they drive to my house, we all walk mom a couple of miles back to her apartment, and then Gretch and I walk back to my house - usually through some neighborhoods, etc. 

Gretch came in the door and said it was National Chocolate Day and we should just go for coffee.  I have really been wanting another Salted Caramel Mocha since I tried it last week and the idea didn't sound half bad!  I think we all wanted to, but no one wanted to be the one to opt for high calorie drinks rather than exercise.  So, we set out for our walk.  It seemed really dark.  Darker than usual.  Maybe just because it's getting darker earlier and it used to be a little light when we started.  But last night it was not light at all.  My neighborhood was fine.  Next we have to walk on a main road.  There's a little stretch with no sidewalk and I forgot my tiny flashlight.  No big deal.  We got over to the part with the sidewalk just fine.  The sidewalk is pretty far off the road so the traffic isn't a problem.  But there are not many lights on the main road.  Actually, when I drive home that way I often think about how dark it is and how crazy we must look. 

We were not far down the road when a car drove by and honked.  We get a lot of that.  Usually rusty old beat up clunker cars whose drivers must have nothing better to do than annoy people who are out exercising.  But, this horn sounded odd and when it drove by it was a police car.  And not a beeping horn but more of the siren/horn.  We were annoyed that a police officer would honk to annoy us.  And then he started shining his spotlight ahead of us on the side of the road, in the trees, on the sidewalk, etc.  The dark and the police freaked us all out and we took a vote and opted to turn around, avoid the area where he was shining the light, and head back to my house.  We walked 1.25 miles.  Whoo hoo. 

I was so mad that we got scared by a police car.  And a police spotlight.  And then after a little visit in my kitchen, sans coffee, my sister took my mom home, where there were multiple police cars at the entrance to my parents' apartment.  So, it's back to the indoors and the treadmill for us!  My parents move starts this week so we are hoping their new neighborhood might be better lit and more suitable for walking. 

All that to say, some days are just easier than others!

13.1

Pre race:

Our "little" adventure started Friday afternoon when Gretchen and I headed downtown to pick up our race packets. We talked on the way about our concerns - oversleeping, the heat, and finishing last. There was no line to get our bibs (were we planning to drool? no, silly - it's the big tag with your number on it) and shirts (to wear that day? oh, no way, as they are long sleeved and it was H!O!T!). It was an all female event and they had some students from a local beauty school there doing free manis and hand massages, etc. so we took advantage of the mani. [Side note, when I got home Seth noticed my nail polish color had changed! I ALWAYS have on nail polish so for him to notice the color difference was funny to me!] We made plans to text each other at 5:15 in the morning, hoping we would worry less about oversleeping that way.

I can't recap Gretchen's night but mine wasn't what I had hoped. I didn't get dinner until almost 9pm. And I definitely didn't get to bed quite as early as I had planned. Once in bed I slept okay for awhile. Then something woke me around 4. I looked at the clock at 4:15 and then I laid there for what felt like forever, thinking of the heat, my two experiences of passing out when I was too hot (when I was much younger), and how much faster everyone else would be than me. It felt like I had been lying there forever. I checked the clock again. It was 4:20. Argh! I laid there until 5:15, never really sleeping again. At 5:15 we texted each other.

My text to her: Good morning?
Her text to me: Hello Sunshine!!

Clearly she seemed more enthused than me. Turns out she was just trying to psyche herself up! We met at my house at 6am and my dad came over to drive us downtown. Thanks, Daddy! It was great to not have to worry about parking (downtown is like one big orange barricade) and not to have an extra car to drive home after it was over.

Race:
There was an opening ceremony at 6:30, but we were too nervous and thought it was a good time to hit the bathrooms one last time. I knew there would be portable toilets along the route. I also knew that if I stopped moving completely after about the halfway point, I wouldn't be able to start walking again!

The mayor started the race at 7am. There were less than 2000 participants so they didn't divide up into runners/walkers. It was a little intimidating as all the runners ran by and I started to feel like I was already in the very back (my fear of being last). After a few blocks though it seemed that we all got a bit more spread out and we were able to pass some people, which was a little boost to the ego. The one mile mark came really quickly. And then we figured out it was the actually the one km marker for the 5k race. [Their course was different so that was the only marker that was confusing]. You can see the course map here. There were volunteers at each mile marker calling out the time and we were pleased to find that we were right on pace with where we wanted to be. We were actually pleased for the entire race. There was also water or gatorade at every mile. We started out in the dark and it was overcast for a little while but it didn't take long for the sun to come out and it to get really warm, then really hot.

We picked out some women who were jogging and walking and decided to just sort of try to keep up with them. They got pretty far ahead of us at one point so we jogged to catch up and it felt really good to use some different muscles for awhile so we kept it up for just a little longer and passed them and we never saw them again. But there were some others that we set our sights on after that and just did the same thing of trying to keep up. Toward the end someone passed us and said she'd been pacing herself off of us the whole race so that made me feel like we were doing okay.

Around mile 10 we were walking through a downtown neighborhood and some woman was standing on the side of the road passing out ice cubes. I know, don't take candy from strangers. But, I wasn't putting it in my mouth, just holding it for a moment. I'm not even sure she had anything to do with the race itself, but she was very popular!

We really felt okay most of the time. We used our energy gel around 3 miles and it made me feel a little strange for just a few minutes. It has caffeine and I get a huge headache when I drink caffeine, but usually not right away. It was more of a spinny head feeling, but only for a little while and then I was good again. We had planned to do it at 3, 6, and 9 miles but we felt good at 6 miles, knowing the halfway point was so close so we skipped it then (probably not smart on our part). We both knew we were getting some blisters on our feet. And we were really warm but took advantage of the drinks at nearly every mile (small drinks to avoid that bathroom stop). But by mile 12 we were really having to work on the mental aspect of it all. We started to count down the blocks after the 12 mile marker. At about 12.5 miles a race official was on the side of the road alerting all that the race had been black flagged and we could "continue at our own risk." I hadn't seen anyone having a real issue with the heat and my mind starting racing to "are they all passing out at the finish line?" Or, "Is it the people behind us?" And then my countdown wasn't helping much anymore. Thankfully, the finish was very near where I had worked downtown so I knew that it was about a block to the turn and then after the turn it was a really long city block and then the finish line. Gretch wasn't as familiar with where we were and at about 12.8 miles she said, "I don't want to quit but I'm not sure I can make it." HUH??? I remember praying - a lot - that she could just hang in. I was worrying about the heat and she was feeling crummy so we slowed down a bit. My goal was to cross the finish line upright, not speed, so just getting there was all I cared about. I told her if she needed to puke, just to do it! But, she said she was okay. We rounded the corner and could see the finish in the distance. About halfway down the block, Gretchen spotted Matt and the kids and I think that really helped! Then I saw Dave and our boys and they were waving and smiling. They turned the clock off on the finish line just about the time we got there (because technically the race was cancelled/black flagged) and had to scan our chips for our time, which was annoying. They gave us our medals, a rose, and a bottle of water. My hands were so swollen that I couldn't get it open and I really considered asking any random person I could find but somehow Gretchen got hers open (her hands were equally swollen) so I had her open mine too. Then we got back to Matt and Dave and all the kids and our Mom.

As it turns out, our spectators did see people having to be helped across the finish line while they were waiting for us. Selfishly, I enjoyed watching some people finish after us, just so that I could say I wasn't last!

When we started the race I felt a little teary - as they said, "go" and I thought, "wow, I am doing this!" I really thought I might cry tears of joy when we were done. Turned out I was so exhausted it didn't even occur to me. Gretchen confessed partway through that when I suggested, earlier in the year, that we do this race she thought I was crazy. But, that being there and doing it, she no longer felt that way! I didn't ask her around mile 12 as I'm guessing she was back to thinking I was insane.

Finish line!

Melting.  The car thermometer read 95 degrees on the drive home. Ick.

With all the kiddos except Max, who was very content in his stroller.  It was really special that our hubbies brought the kids down to see us cross the finish line!

Post Race:

I'm glad to say that other than my feet I felt okay the next day. Two toes hurt and I had one real blister. Other than that, I was sore, but not in a bad way. Dave was awesome. We had plans Saturday night so he let me/made me rest in the afternoon. Sunday we had my parents and Gretch and her family over for a little celebration lunch. Then later in the afternoon we all napped. It was rainy and cool and perfect for a nap!

Now, time to get back to it. Unfortunately, my little toes are still very sore. They hurt a lot when I wear my walking shoes. Boo!

PTSD?

Well, the computer has been down more than it has been up lately.  I have been frustrated, annoyed, and now scared to even use it for fear of breaking it again.  Argh.  As a result, there are many fun things to catch up and, probably, some honest thoughts to share.  But, for the moment, this is what's on my mind (or in my gut). 

Six years ago Hurricane Katrina ravaged the southern portion of the US and every news story was about the death, destruction, sadness, etc.  I was barely pregnant with Seth and so very sick - puking many times a day for weeks and weeks.  Ick. I didn't realize how much these events were linked in my head (gut?). 

But now as part of the country braces for a possible hurricane, everytime I see a hurricane related news story, I can feel that same sick feeling in my stomach.  I am not (I repeat am NOT) pregnant.  And I do not feel sick to the point of actually puking.  It's just very very odd to me that just a news story can cause those sorts of feelings.

I am not minimizing 'real' post traumatic stress whatsoever.  Actually, as long as I'm sharing...

When I worked for the prosecutor's office, one of our courtrooms was this little tiny oddly placed room.  We were all in court one day.  The judge sat at a long narrow table just one step up from everyone else.  The bailiff sat to his right and the paralegal sat immediately to his left and I was seated the next seat over, at the end of the table.  The prosecutor (not me, I was still in school) stood in front of the judge with the parties.  As we sat there we could hear glass shattering.  It's a busy building and that seemed odd but didn't directly affect us so we just went on.  Then all of a sudden there was a loud disturbance in the room next to us.  That room was accessible via a never-used door right by my chair.  There was a different door that was actually used by the public to enter our courtroom.  At that point, the prosecutor - a big guy - walked over to open the door and see what was going on next door.  From my chair by the door I had a front row seat of a handful of deputies, guns drawn, attempting to apprehend the defendent (from a different courtroom) who had just ran through a locked glass door and was attempting to throw himself out of a closed second story window. 

All that to say, for the longest time any kind of breaking glass absolutely freaked me out.  And no, neither of those stories has any point, but it's my blog - I can do that, right?  How about you?  Any PTSD you'd like to share?

I'm here, I'm here....

Yikes!  I guess it's not really been that long since I last blogged.  It just feels like forever because I was unable to, maybe?

See, my computer died.  And while I could spend lots of time here droning on about how much I dislike the company that makes our computer or our internet provider, I'll skip that and opt to be a nicer person.

So, what have you all missed in my absence?  Not much really.  Dave got his little vacation/escape/guys' trip to the lake.  I actually found it was MUCH easier for me to solo parent for those few days knowing that Dave had just survived the same thing.  However, in addition to Dave being gone, my sister and her family went on vacation and my parents joined them for a couple of days.  All of these vacations overlapped so I was completely solo for a few days.  It was during that time that the computer/internet stopped working!  Argh - no one to call and I couldn't even socially network.  Thankfully, Lynette and her kiddos came over one day which definitely broke up the boring (thank you!!).

So, now we're up and running and I have about seven posts swirling around in my head, which will likely never be posted.  Maybe written, but never posted.  I do a lot of that - therapeutic writing, only to delete it later.  Who knows?  Maybe someday I'll get brave and post them. 

But, for now, I'm just going to share some photos of a recent outing (?) that the boys enjoyed with David...

Setting up camp.  Notice the extremely rustic conditions of our backyard.  Hey, the boys didn't care where the tent was, just that it was a tent!

Welcome to my humbe abode...

Really?  I thought dirt was required in a tent.  I guess in my story it's the Prince and the Pea.

Time for bed!  Please ignore that the boys are wearing Christmas pajamas.  Oh, and I'm sorry I forgot to photograph myself, sitting in my bed, painting my toenails and reading while Max slept in his crib in his bedroom and Dave texted me from the tent.  Guess he's not used to a 10:00 bedtime (a little late for the boys, but I guess they were all compromising).