Detour

What is it that is so interesting and lovable about a good old steam train? And as lovable as Thomas and his friends are, I'm sure the Reverend was just making use of an interest that already existed for children in the formative toddler years.

In any case, in our family steam trains have held the interest of our toddlers regardless of their gender, though typically the boys are more obsessed for longer. 

We've taken the kids on the new electric trains, and it's cool but not as fulfilling as we had hoped. In the town where we live the trains are still older, not steam but at least not space age looking. 

We drive right next to some tracks every day to pick up the preschooler. Some days the itch to see a train or drive over the tracks is just too great and the two youngest are clear and persistent in their burning desire. 

After parenting these two for years I have it pretty well figured out when they are STUCK on an idea and since the most likely collateral damage was a bit extra in gas we turned right instead of left. We wove back and forth each block west following the rail line and driving across it only to return to it's crossing a block later.

And I smiled.

Their excitement at each crossing as our van bumped over the rails was the stuff that contented sighs are made out of. 

Everyone has just enough of a cold to make me exhausted, since I'm feeling it too. So we kept the kids out of school today. I am writing because I need to note today's successes.
4 loads of laundry folded and put away.
practiced sight words with the kindergartener
taught the 9 year old (again) the correct way to form her b and d's, next up f
9 year old finished a book
2 year old and 5 year old took a nap
4 year old helped fold laundry
I made pancakes for second breakfast (what's that? when the kids get up at 7 with Dad and eat cereal only to be sent back to bed because they are all coughing, and when I get up at 9 after being up all night with the two year old, I make pancakes for everyone)
renewed the library books
practiced writing "e" (with the four year old who writes them as backward g's) and other letters in her name
identified the letters the 5 year old didn't know
read books with the two year old
read tandem with 5 year old
practiced shape identification with 4 year old
said yes (this is a big one folks, it just is)
helped the 9 year old finally put together the butterfly garden she got in June for her birthday
9 year old practiced piano
I made arrangements for supplemental help at tonight's youth activity
No TV has been watched (1 movie by the 5 year old before everyone else woke up)

Things I thought of while my child screamed all through check out...

To the two grandma age women who really should have been encouraging: First off I had the shopping isle right of way, so don't glare at me when you almost run into my cart with the child hanging off the front of it. I am doing the best I can, you of all people should appreciate that, or has it been too long since you cared for a little being? Or perhaps you are still bitter life dealt you a card you didn't like. If so, I am sorry on both accounts. Smile, your life will increase in sunshine, especially if you are the ones to smile first. 

To the grandpa age man who offered me a spot in front of him in line, just to get the check out over with faster: Thank you. It's too bad, (for everyone) that I couldn't take you up on your offer since the line I was in was really going to be faster. Your thoughtfulness is recorded in heaven and my heart.

To the young couple with the three month old boy: It's not always like this. Sometimes it is better, sometimes it is worse. That's okay, because when I get home and put the little boy who cried himself to sleep in his bed for a nap, I will look on his angel face and wonder what I did to deserve charge of such a cherished child of God. Seriously. It's amazing how quickly a sentiment can change when they are sleeping. Though it might sound crazy, I'd take that shopping trip again.

Here's why:

*The old man who smiled at me and the children in the prescription line, because yes, they are cute, and yes, I am a good Mom, thank you for noticing.

*Because that two year old was so excited to pick and count tomatoes and apples with me and I know that these moments matter when he's looking at me wondering where to go from #4 before he drops the imperfect tomato he could reach into the bag.

*And when we stop to pick out underwear with the 4 year old who will look at all the options but still know exactly what she wants (Hello Kitty) because she is confident and her very own unique personality, I can be happy because I was a big part of that.

*And it's because when the two of them are picking out juice they think about what flavors their siblings will like. It's because I am working to raise individuals who care about others who can reach outside of their own sense of entitlement that is so rampant today.

*It's the little girl who could tell Mommy was worn out but really wanted the princess squinkie on the horse. She knew she could use her hard earned allowance to buy it, and also knew she'd not been the cause of Mommy's stress and so she gave me her best puppy-dog-eyes and-fist-clasped-pleading and then accepted it when Mom said, "no," (I later changed my mind because I was able to translate what "my lowance" meant).

So if I seem distant or unconcerned, cold or uncaring while my two year old cried the entire 30 minute checkout... (Note to self: never shop on a Tuesday again), it's because I care SO much, I'm not giving up. I'm fighting this battle against everyone who tells me mothering is a waste of time, against every Time Magazine Article that says a life with out children is "having it all," against every cocktail carrying woman who looks down at my newborn in the stroller and says "Why would you have a baby?" against, everyone who says, "you are too young to have kids," or "# that's enough," or "you have your hands full" or that "children ruin your body" etc. I'm fighting against the women who say I am throwing away my college education by choosing to be a stay at home mom. I'm fighting against everyone who says family doesn't matter, or that it can be modified to mean something other than what God intended.

I'm fighting for the four little people who are growing and changing faster than I could have ever imagined. I'm fighting for their lives, their happiness, their essence and their destiny. I'm fighting for my family. I'm fighting for all the young women out there who understand how important it is to be a mother, or who are even interested in trying to understand. I'm fighting for the future.

Day's End

 and there goes the Day

 jauntily marching out the door

 his laughter wears me

 as a badge, as a blow

 he d’n’t overstay

 ditching his mess upon the floor

 stranded, he’s left me

 there in a silent row

 evidence away

 try, rid the place of his decor         

 there’s a guarantee

 there will always be mo’e

 nothing left to say

 for perpetual is the chore

 and the confetti

 welcome Day, tomorrow
 

The Red Wagon

We got a red wagon in anticipation of taking the kids to Disney World for the first time.
If you are thinking the same.... don't. Buy it for another reason. About any other reason.


I'll tell you why. The van with 6 people in it can only hold so much. That wagon took up the trunk pretty effectively.

Imagine arriving at the park with 4 excited kids, 8, 5, 3, 2 who had never been, whose minds might literally e  x  p  l  o  d  e in the anticipation and getting that red wagon all loaded up with snacks, rain coats, lunch, sippy cups etc. Hauling the kids up to the Tram in the wagon and being told you can't take your pretty red wagon.

So we'd have to go back to the van, figure out how to carry all our stuff... and thinking ahead to tired feet and tired legs and tired bodies who would want to be carried, who wouldn't want to carry their own coats by wearing them and who would have no care for how much Mom and Dad were carrying already or how badly the bum-wheeled shopping cart messed up Mom's back the day before. All while the kids are asking WHY? and When can we go? and a myriad of other questions; so it makes it nearly impossible for Mom and Dad to think of solutions.

And imagine, because it would totally happen that the 2 year old would start wandering off in between cars and make a game of hiding... and inevitably someone (Dad) would raise his voice and some "concerned citizen" would call DCFS because Mom was hauling a screaming child away from a car door that he was desperately clinging too.

Then imagine that someone (Dad) threatens the kids that if they don't stop asking questions we are going to load back up in the van and go home. Of course they wouldn't stop asking questions and since Mom and Dad still don't have a solution and now are worn out already and are trying to stick to their resolve on following through on "threats".... They load the screamer, the crier and the angry and disbelieving kids in the van and try to then decide if they really go home or if they go buy ANOTHER stroller....

Hope you got a pretty good picture there. I sure did.

Thankfully, I did just imagine all this because Disney World does not allow wagons.

We discovered this the night before we left. Like 11pm.

What a blessing.

Staying up late deciding which to take (Stroller or pram) made for a much better day than if we had showed up at the gates with our shiny, new, red wagon, personalized and everything.

We ended up taking the pram and then for spring break the next week did buy a double/ sit and stand stroller. If Giddy could share the pram would have been great, but he's a super jealous youngest child and it wasn't happening.

"those" bloggers and Halloween

I've turned into one of those bloggers... you know the kind. The kind that shows up on your links and under the blog title it says last post was "3 months ago" "6 months ago" or "a year ago."

I've had lots on my plate and mind and figured I'd better just keep it all to myself until I was ready to selectively share. Hence the big gaps in posting this year.

Things are good with us. We enjoyed a full summer with lots of travel and fun things. We have made huge improvements on the property in the past year and feel like Florida is home.

"It's Halloween Day." as my 3 year old says.
As we have already taken in a few Halloween activities here are some pics. My oldest can't dress up for school.... except on red ribbon week. The week before Halloween they had theme days so on the career day she dressed up like a teacher. I like how she picked out shoes that made clack clack noises and added a pair of frames. (I think it's sad they don't let them dress up for Halloween so I made some plans of my own rebellion.)

 Nev, Giddy and Nev's best friend and a church Fall Fling.

 Gary as Timon (a pretty sweet costume his mom made when he was 17 for a play he was in)

 We couldn't keep the kids altogether so I took the photo ops with who I had.

 His mad skeleton pirate face.

 

 Purple haired Mermaid

 Olea witch, Gary, Coretta as an artist (totally last minute costume as we were packing kids in the van), Giddy Duck and Z pirate.

 Haunted Trails, we got there as they were winding down hopefully next year the two events won't be on the same day.

 Giddy was over it all by now and Gary took off his costume thinking that was his issue. Later I found out it was his toe being held down under his foot by a skewed sock. I did not put on his socks and shoes, for the record.

 Carving pumpkins

 Giddy getting out pumpkin guts. Zurich and Nev wouldn't do it.

 She kept making faces at me. I am not responsible.

 two finger pincer is all he would do with the pumpkin guts. Finished product.

 

 Next morning ready for school. See that lil witch hat she has on. It's a hair clip. It's all school dress code passing. Wanna see it closer? Check here: http://corettadeesign.blogspot.com/2012/10/witch-hat.html

egg thief

a boy
who shall not be named
was at a hotel for breakfast one morning
he had told his mom, who shall not be named, that he was done with breakfast
the family was gathering up to leave
the mom, turned around to see the boy eating eggs off of a plate on the counter
that belonged to a stranger
with his hand
mother and father were mortified and asked the boy to stop
while laughing and exchanging stunned looks
"I thought you were done eating."
"I wanted some eggs."
"I can get you some, don't eat those."
all occupants of the breakfast area had their backs turned
plate is retrieved by rightful owner and eggs consumed
family exits quickly
what the stranger doesn't know can't hurt them right?
:/

Easter Pretties

Decorating Eggs with Gary's help is SOOOO much easier and it's fun to have him around.


Here is my sweet 14 month old Giddy miracle. We are so thrilled how well he is doing. He has been spitting up though again. I assume it is a weak stomach sphincter. We'll see.

Gary got the boys matching little 3 piece suits for Easter. This is not normally a thing a guy does is it? Well, it was the first time here as far as I can remember. I mean it wasn't like I saw them, Gary pointed them out and had their sizes and everything. I was so impressed. :)

Anyway the girls saw them and Olea said, I want an Easter dress Mom. I had just bought a few yard ends in the bargain bin of this smocked fabric in different prints thinking of making Nev some light summer dresses since she hates clothes so much. When I saw the Blue Ariel Fabric, I saw potential for double use. There wasn't any in the ends bin so I had them cut me a few yards. I made a few dresses from the other prints and to test out sleeves. The girls liked them so I started on the blue Ariel fabric and had Gary pick up a few extra yards so I could make a shirt for myself. :) Girls were happy and we all were matching, seriously who doesn't love a matching family? If you don't, I don't care. :) I do.

While Gary hid the Easter eggs I took pics of the kids. I even planned ahead to Mother's and Father's Day. So I kept those under wraps but here are some pics of them.
And then the Easter hunt.
Oh so cute. I love my babies! We got a very sweet compliment today about them, one of those kinds of indirect compliments that says nice things about you and your parenting. A parent needs those every once it a while.

Teaching the kids about the resurrection of Jesus Christ again is always interesting. Olea is starting to get it more, that Easter isn't about freakish bunnies and candy and such, but about Christ and His love for us, His power and our reliance on Him.
Obviously we participate in some of the fun traditions, childhood is good that way.
I want my children to have a good childhood but the balance of true teachings and a foundation of faith.
Happy Easter!

The Tooth Fairy

The Tooth Fairy at our house is forgetful and sleep deprived. Seriously.
Last night she almost put a $20 bill under a pillow for a tooth. That would have been a serious mistake. Thankfully at the last minute she noticed her failure and corrected it.

The Tooth Fairy here also forgets when the tooth owner is being a brat. The last lost tooth was under the pillow for almost a week before the tooth fairy got around to visiting.

But here is something that the Tooth Fairy at our house is pretty proud of: keeping track of those lost teeth. She collects the teeth in little baggies and puts them in a Book of Secrets (teamed up with Santa etc) and lines them up in the order they were lost, where and what payment was made.

Look at those tiny cute little suckers. I don't know what she'll want them for... but a good tooth fairy keeps inventory. (I have my lost teeth still)

Olea has lost a few teeth at school. So I thought it would be a good idea to thank her teacher properly for helping out the Tooth Fairy. I need to remember this for all my kid's second grade teachers. It's easy and handy as I am sure more than my child has lost a tooth at school. I have a bunch of 1x1inch ziplock baggies in a larger bag and I tied a note, "For the Tooth Fairy's Helper."


Carry on.

Summer's end: The End

We are now deep into school with Olea. It got kinda crazy there at the end.
But here is how we finished it out.

WEDNESDAY
Today we worked on a collaborative watercolor. Since we have very different ideas and skill levels I am glad we picked up Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzburg at the library Monday. Here is a fun read along.

Olea was very concerned with Zurich's painting style juxtaposed with hers on the same piece of paper. She totally chilled after we read the book and I took the board the water color was taped to and turned it and it started dripping all over itself thanks to Nev's awesome wash job.

What made this special to Olea was being able to use my watercolors and not their crayola washable water color. After they had had their fill of painting (well they probably could have kept going till it was all mud, but we do have to move on at some point) they got to sprinkle it with salt and place pieces of saran wrap on it. We also sprinkled some of the glitter that Nev dumped out last week that didn't get cleaned up.

Let it dry. Peel off saran wrap. Scrape off salt.

Hoping we didn't loose too much glitter. Stay Tuned....

THURSDAY

Olea has been dying to make something with the ceramic clay. I have been re-hydrating some remnants from our last build. So I gathered them around while Nev was napping and Olea made a dish and Zurich a bowl.

It's hard for me to make anything with the kids because they either want to help on mine or need help with theirs. So I was surprisingly happy with the little whale toothbrush stand. I thought for fun I would try to make a shuttle. I didn't think it would work for use but tried to make it for it anyway. Then as I was cleaning up Zurich had a desperate desire for a spaceship. So I tried to hurry and put one together on a cork we had for use as a piggy bank.

Then let them dry for two weeks up high on the cupboards.

FRIDAY
I got a very fine tipped Radiograph pen and the watercolor and gathered the kids around and asked them what they saw and then I drew in the outlines and details they described.

Here are some details of it:


I love it! I need a frame! :)