You Mean Like on Vacay?

Matt and I took our troop on a little getaway to visit his Mom and Stepdad. What is normally about a four hour drive turned into a five and a half hour drive. That is a lot of extra time as far as little people are concerned. The best thing about the drive was that no one threw-up! I think that is the first time in a very long time that someone has not been sick. We even left the boys in their p.j.'s just in case they did get sick. Thank goodness for Dramamine. We did a few mad libs, and sang our favorite songs really loud to be certain it would bother dad as much as possible! When that noise became too much for him to bear, we put in a movie. Road closures aside, we made it alive and well to grandmas house. We unpacked the car, wait, I mean moved in, and then grandma had snacks ready for the masses and they acted as locusts usually do and ate everything! I was ready for my first, second and third drinks, and boy were they well deserved. Our boys ran around the house searching for the things within their reach they could throw and eventually destroy, but grandma was prepared. However, they did manage to find the things we thought were not going to be a problem because they brought their dad a can of wood stain one night, and Brenden seemed particularly fond of a can of sardines. It is unbelievable how nice it is to be away from home and all the things that go with being at home...laundry, dishes, cooking, etc. It will be great to get out again, soon!

Things Our Kids Break

Recently I came across a website titled, "S*#t My Kids Break". This site can help most parents to feel better when their own children have broken something of theirs. I saw mothers with broken noses and fathers with missing teeth because they were head-butted by their little ones. There were also the pictures of the paint can that had been pushed down the stairs and the kiddos that had not only painted themselves but thought to include the t.v, wood floors, sliding glass doors and the living room furniture. In our own home we have not had a shortage of broken items. From the littlest of things such as the toys they claim to love so dearly to the drinking glasses. By the way, I was looking in my cupboard for an actual glass and had to settle for a plastic cup with princesses dancing all around painted on it. I could have used a wine glass I suppose! We can move on to picture frames that have been knocked off walls and dropped when they are not supposed to be in little hands. They have broken windows and numerous electronic items. Our latest broken item was our tv in the living room when Garhett thought it would be a good idea to "cheers" the other little guy on the tv show. Matt did keep his composure and handled things well. Whoever said dogs were mans best friend was wrong. From what I saw when my husband had to replace his tv, I would say that is a man's best friend. Maybe if dogs came with a remote control they could regain their position on top. Let's not forget the things the kiddos break that belong to them...jewelry, beds, bones. Oh, and on numerous occasions I have thought they may have broken my ear drums! Brenden has a squeal so high pitched it can make your skin crawl. When he lets out that god awful sound my spine starts to shrivel! If I have to listen to that for much longer, I am going to start praying for puberty to come early!

Crazy Hair Day

This week at school has been spirit week. The kids get to celebrate being done with CSAP, for this year anyway by doing something fun each day. Yesterday was twin day and Alexys thought she actually needed to explain to me what that meant. I said, "yes, honey I think I am familiar with what twin day is!". Today is crazy hair day. I had the honor of doing both of the girls hair this morning. Lexy wanted three pony tails with funny hair ties. When she turned around to show me how it looked, I thought she looked kind of cute, probably not the response she was hoping for! Next, Apryl had a vision in mind and I think her inspiration came from her inner nerd. She wanted a high side pony tail but with a small weird thingy in the front. She kept some hair out in front to make a separate pony tail on her forehead. Even if it is crazy hair day, she still must have a lot of confidence to be okay with going to school looking like that!! And we all know how mean kids can be, she did not seem to care! I am glad they are having so much fun with spirit week. Tomorrow is pajama day and that should help us get out the door on time! We are lucky that our mornings go as smoothly as they do. I keep thinking it is already Friday, but of course it's not. I guess I am ready for my work week to be over, and the girls are ready for their spring break which starts next week. It will be a well deserved break for all. We have zoo passes and I am looking forward to going to the zoo next week. Then we can take some of their animals back that have been living with us for a while now! I am certain they have been missing at least a couple of monkeys!

Inside My World

As grateful as I am to be able to stay home with my children, I am just as grateful to get out of the house without them! Today I have talked to Addy's hand puppets more than I have talked to other adults. In fact I haven't spoken to any adults since my hubby left for work and that is stretching it! Addysen acts as if I am her best friend, which is really sweet but she doesn't seem too interested in my troubles with moodiness and my laundry situation. Being a three year olds best friend means nothing is really about YOU, it is all about them! I like to have a drink or two with my girlfriends and talk about why our significant others are making us crazy. The closest thing Addy has to a significant other is a doll named Jack, and seeing as how Jack does not speak he can't be that much trouble! Although her brothers can drive her up the wall sometimes. Addy can be good for some conversation though. I usually do not get too many words in, and the subject lately has only been about the same thing over and over. She has become very intrigued with the solar system. When she finds me she says, "let me talk about the planets with you." She has been looking at the planets on the computer with me and likes to learn new facts about each of them. "We have Mercury, Venus...," she continues with "Mercury is hot, and Saturn in cold." Then I get, "Uranus is very gassy." I actually could have probably had some of the same conversation with my girlfriends!

Seriously??

This morning I was reading a story about a mother who is suing her four year old daughters pre-school to get her tuition back because they were only teaching her about colors and shapes and not preparing her for the Ivy league! First of all the tuition for this particular school is $19,000 per year!! That in and of itself is RIDICULOUS!! Addysen is a year younger and has known her colors and shapes and even her letters, upper and lower case for at least a year now. In fact we have been working on the early stages of reading. My point you ask?? Perhaps we should start with our kiddos at HOME! I am not prepping her for the Ivy league and nor would I know how. Why is there even an Ivy league prep course for a four year old to begin with? I fully understand the importance of preparing our children for the "real world", but why does that have to come at the expense of their childhood? Secondly, if we did have that size able of a bank account I could surely find a few better ways to spend it. I am a big advocate of allowing our little people to act as little ones should. They are loud and messy and they act silly on numerous occasions. I am not ready to have them sipping tea with their pinkies in the air while discussing their latest stock trades. Let's be honest, that is the last thing my boys would do. In fact, yesterday Brenden made certain to let me know that he is indeed not ready for his Ivy league prep course by throwing "sand" at my head. I was downstairs playing with them and he ran by me and threw sand at me, he even said, "sand!". I began to think, "where did he get the sand??". I didn't get up right away because I wasn't too concerned. When he decided to to do another drive by sand throwing, I started to investigate where he was getting his "sand" from. Of course once I saw where he was running back to my mouth dropped. His sources were coming straight from the cat's litter box! Isn't that great I thought. Why can't these things dawn on me before we are two or three throws into the game?? From the article this morning and Brenden's actions yesterday I have concluded that a $19,000 a year pre-school is just not ready for my resourceful son!

It's Always Something

There are times when a mom starts to feel in need of a vacation more than others. I think this weekend pushed me closer and closer to wanting to run away and hide from everyone! We started out pretty good, with friends over to BBQ and drink some wine. It didn't take long for moods to sour and attitudes to blossom. While Matt and I were cooking and entertaining we asked our oldest daughters to play out back with the boys. I can't remember when playing became a chore, but Apryl copped such an attitude I felt like smashing her pretty little face in her food! Nothing seemed to please the boys however and they screamed about every little thing. That is a sure fire way to have guests NOT come back! Garhett was so over the top that I had to take him inside to try and calm him down, it was embarrassing. Then, while I am in the room with G, my husband is looking for Brenden. I happen to be walking past the front door and see two people walking up with my son!! He was standing in the middle of the street! Talk about feeling like a crappy mom! The scenarios about what could have happened start flying through my mind and I get to feel guilty the rest of the weekend. Yay!! It didn't help that the woman in the car shouted to me about how I am an awful mother and need to keep an eye on my children. There is obviously no good excuse for why he was in the street, but she doesn't know me! Finally we are to Saturday. It started with a plan of going to the park to hike around Clear Creek and feed the ducks and to also play at the playground. We were all in the car ready to go and the car won't go!! After a few minutes we do get the car in gear and out of the garage and we are on our way! The kiddos had so much fun running up and down the trails without having boundaries. We get to hike through the trees and on the bank of the river, and the little people get super excited to see the ducks, and quack at them! It was a fun morning. The little gray cloud looming over our heads has started to turn black and even rain on us when yet again the car will not do what it is supposed to. We made it to my mom's for poker, but that is the last place we drive to other than the repair shop! :( so awful! I hate vehicles just for that reason. Now, I am housebound for a few days until our new TRANSMISSION is put in our car! Why can't it ever be something simple?? As of now we are taking donations...not really! The work will get done and I will be back on the road soon enough!

Ring Leader

When listening to the three little people it is at times hard to tell who is in charge of what. Addy thankfully has stopped calling her brothers idiots and now says, "come on brothers, lets go play." She likes to take them in their room and play with their toys. When I hear her ask them to join her they usually run in the opposite direction of where she wants to go and laugh and giggle until she finds them. This always makes her mad. Addy will try to gently persuade them into joining her and if this doesn't work I have even seen her dragging them by their arms down the hallway. The boys are then shoved into the desired room and Addy slams the door and goes to get the other little guy. She shuts the door as hard as possible reinforcing that she is in charge! Also, the boys are not able to open the door from the inside of their room since they have to pull it open...Addy knows that too. Soon she has the other brother and is dragging him to the room. I am always surprised how both boys seem to find this treatment so funny. She dragged Garhett down the hallway to me just the other day because I mentioned I was needing to get his clothes on, the only thing was that he was totally naked. When he finally got to me his back was covered with dirt and crumbs of all sorts. "Here you go mom!" Addy says. All that said, the boys also manage to get their fair share of in charge moments as well. The difference being Garhett and Brenden use a little more force. Yesterday the entire family was tormented by a little wooden toy hammer. Brenden is now brandishing weapons to get his way! He clobbered his brother on the head leaving quite a lump. So, I guess the person with the concealed weapons wins the battle over the person with the wit.

Hurt Feelings

This morning I took Addy with me to the doctors and left the boys home alone. They were fine while I was gone, I'm sure of it! Not really, they were at home with Daddy. I thought that would be fun for them to have a morning alone with dad, but Garhett had other ideas. As soon as he saw his sister getting her socks and shoes on it meant we were all going somewhere. I kept trying to humor him by going ahead and helping with his shoes but I think that may have made things worse. I was trying to sneak out the garage without him noticing, and of course that was not happening. Garhett had his eye on me everywhere I went. I put Addy over the gate into the kitchen and followed her to the door only to get to listen to the sorrow coming from my little boy. Now that they can talk it makes leaving even harder. "No Mama!!" he is yelling out between sobs! That is a sure fire way to tug on a mother's heart strings, talk about feeling guilty. It's not as if Addy and I are going out for ice cream or to the park, we are going to the doctors office! After I start to back out of the driveway I can see Garhett and Brenden in the window watching me leave, so much for sneaking away. Poor Garhett has a bright red face and tears are still streaming down his little cheeks. Not the send off I was hoping for. I read somewhere that kiddos are sad because the person they love is leaving and it is a sign of social maturity. Well, that is all well and good, but what about the part how the mom gets to feel like crap until she is back at home, is that also a sign of social maturity? Another thing, I thought leaving the kids would have gotten easier by now seeing as how I am on numbers four and five! The greatest part though is the return home and the little men are jumping up and down and cheering for mama! It must be similar to what Oprah feels each day when her audience stands up and cheers for her. I think I am a lot like Oprah in that regard. I definitely have my very own little fan club and I wouldn't trade places with Oprah if it meant only strangers cheered for me!

Catching Some Z's

Prior to getting on the computer and deciding to write, I was trying to get in a little nap. Not that a mom should need an excuse as to why she may need a few extra minutes of sleep, but I was having a headache. I waited until the boys were in bed napping themselves before I even attempted to lie down. My hubby left to go to his "softball practice", and our girls were playing a game in the living room so things seemed right for mom to sneak away. Of course, within minutes, Addy's spidey sense goes off and she is suddenly aware that her mom isn't cleaning something and the world is not right if I am trying to take break. Sure enough she ends up in bed with me and wants to have an hour long conversation about the solar system of all things! "The Earth is the planet we live on." she says. I was doing my best to appease her and make her feel that she is getting my full attention, but in reality, I was thinking of a way to get rid of her! "Why don't you go and tell Apryl about the planets?" I say. Fortunately, she likes that idea and hops out of bed to find her big sister. This gives me enough time to actually fall asleep. Long enough anyhow for her to think of a new question she must ask me right now! You know when you are sleeping and you start to get the feeling that someone is staring at you and when you open your eyes that person is standing directly in front of you, this is where I found Addy three times during my "nap". Each time I opened my eyes she would say, "are you awake mommy?". If she had been a few years older I probably would have slapped her, umm...duh, no I am not awake!! I somehow manage to still find a way to get back to sleep only after letting her know that she is not to come back in my room again until I say she can! I watch her leave the room with her head hanging down, but I am determined not to let her get to me. I can hear her somewhat telling Apryl how mean I am. I can take mean, I figure there is much worse coming my way as the years go on. In the end, I did not get much of a nap. After the Addy saga was over for the moment,, I kept hearing a door in the hallway opening and closing. I was thinking, you have got to be kidding me. Alexys had opened a window in her room and the wind was blowing the door open and shut over and over. This pretty much was the end of my napping experience. Especially since the both boys are once again awake and on the move!! I am thinking I need to leave my house to get a nap in!

What Time Is It?

Well, for this guy I would say it is bath time. That is Brenden after eating a chocolate cream puff, and keep in mind it was a SMALL cream puff. What I began wondering today after I told the little guys that is was their nap time was when do things we do throughout our day stop being followed by the word "time". As soon as the boys are awake, we are on a schedule filled with time to do this and time to do that. Starting with breakfast time. The boys always have a banana and a waffle followed by a glass of milk. Then comes time to take the girls to school, snack time and lunch time. Lunch is pretty consistent as well, they all like chicken bites and fruit of some sort, or the old standby PB&J. When the little people are finished with lunch time, it is nap time. Of course this is also Mom time! One of my favorite parts of the day as long as I don't have to fill it with cleaning. When nap time is done we are on to time to pick up the girls from school. We have time to play outside when we get home and probably another snack time. One of the most important times is dinner time! If things are still going well by this hour, everyone can actually get in a word or two about their day and maybe even be able to hear the music we play during dinner time. Appropriately, bath or shower time comes after dinner, hence the picture. By the time all this is finished it is time to get ready for bed. First it is time to brush teeth and read a book and put on p.j.'s. Let's not forget a very important time, time to give Mommy a kiss! After all five kiddos are down for the night, it is Mom and Dad time! Or maybe alcoholic drink time!