Potty Talk

Okay, so, Giz's "lazy parent" comment on her blog got me thinking about Jack and the toilet. Since he's the third kid an' all I could be potty training him now rather than waiting until three or so as I did with Isaac. I've been throwing the idea out to him for a while and today, after a week of pep talks (fair warnings), we began potty training. I won't bore you all with the details, but we had potty successes and potty failures...um, several. We were due to make the all important trip to the toy store for the highest reward of toddlerhood - the "poopy prize" - this evening, but Brian worked some unplanned overtime so the toy store trip will be tomorrow.

It's so funny how I forget the actual potty training process - what do I do again? You'd think by the third kid it would be second nature or something. Today, I said good morning and put his butt in underwear, reminding him of all our pep talks throughout the week. "See, no more diapers! You are a big boy in underwear!" - spoken in fake, super happy mom voice. Jack stood up, looked over his shoulder at his bottom then shot a famous Jack scowl my way as he crossed his arms, "Put me in a diaper! I don't want to wear these underwear."...and so our wonderful potty training experience began. Yippee.
By the end of the afternoon Jack was more on board with the process. Stickers (and lots of them) helped, as did M&M's and putting Cheerios in the toilet. Of course, now he thinks there MUST be Cheerios in the toilet to use it, but that's a minor detail we can work out later. (Why not keep a box of Cheerios in the bathroom, really? I have Cheerios everywhere else in my house...on the floors, under furniture, stuffed in partially opened doll mouths...What's one more room?) Stickers also helped with Isaac and Soph. Adhesive Supermans (Supermen?) and Doras rewarded them for distracting Noah while I supervised Jack's reluctant deposits in the potty. In fact, the kids even offered to clean up their toys for MORE stickers. I went through roughly 800 stickers in an hour and have a sparkling house from top to bottom - who knew they could alphabetize and arrange by size, shape and color?
Day One of potty training ended with sticker-covered children, a pile of foul smelling bedding and clothing size 2T and one mad little Noah who was sick of being distracted by his older siblings. The plan, as if I really have one, is to potty train Jack and wrap up the weaning process with Noah (he bites) ASAP. Then, with only one baby in diapers, I hope to switch back to primarily cloth diapers. The diaper money saved will be wasted on extras and suburban junk we don't really need and/or go into our heavily guarded emergency fund.

Extreme Makeover

Sheesh. Time slips by almost undetected these days. I wake up - usually to a whine, a yell or a foul odor...or a combination of all three - then after much needed diaper changes I whisk the kids downstairs to dine on a mildly sugary breakfast and I embark on my day of productivity (all pre-planned the night before). Go me! Usually by noon or so I settle for survival over productivity and set my aim to complete at the very least ONE task on my to-do list. Sometimes I get that one task done. No, really, I do. Sometimes.
This week a neighbor moved from our street and left me with a bit of mother-to-mother advice on her last afternoon in our circle. "You have four kids, you need to get over that." "That" being ownership of a home that isn't in shambles. She'd come by to borrow the telephone, like the whole phone complete with wires and everything, and noticed my slight panic as I scanned my disaster zone of a house that afternoon. Oh, why do people only come over when I decide to live dangerously and say yes to the restless natives, I mean, my children? "Why yes, you may use that mattress left on the floor by our semi-live-in-guest-uncle as a gymnastics mat. Yes, you can bounce toys off it, and each other off it and YES you may play with play-dough, eat pancakes drowning in syrup and use unwashable markers ALL AT THE SAME TIME! Yes, you may have all your toys down from the shelves, pretend you are a marching band and parade over the fresh carpet-like layer of toys AND the crackers Noah left behind on the floor. Yes, you may even eat the newly formed cracker crumbs. Yes, the pillows can be pretend islands scattered across the kitchen floor, I mean, ocean and look, the syrup mess helps them stay in place as you jump island to island! Wonderful! Yes, you may bring EVERY bug you find in the backyard inside the house to be your pets and yes, clothing is optional today and diapers are as well! Sure, eat candy for lunch, pull the files from the filing cabinet at lightning speed to make "rain" and don't forget to empty the bottom two pantry shelves as well. Yes, yes, yes!!!...Wait!!! What do you mean someone is at the door? Quick! Stomp on those bugs, pick up those islands and put on some pants!"
Why do mothers fall in to the two extremes: "hyper-clean mom" or "to-hell-with-the-house mom"??? With four kids it seems that many guests expect my house to be a trash heap while others think that with each baby delivered I'm endowed with more superpowers to juggle homemaking responsibilities, child-rearing and more with great ease, all with a couple hours of rest each night. Well, here's the truth - in our house we ebb and flow. We have good days and bad days - and we have a well, lived-in home.
So, yeah, before that phone was returned to my house the kids were bathed, the house was spotless and smelled of green, eco-friendly cleaners mixed with a garlic/lemon roasted chicken. The kids were lined up in order by height and were reciting memory verses and mathematical equations as I opened the door to my former neighbor.
"Get over it..." NEVER!!! (read "never" with first finger pointed high in the air and much enthusiasm). I will never get over doing my best! Some days my best is getting through the shower, but other days I can pull off an outing with all four kids, prepare a three course meal (I am married to a food-driven Italian!) and still manage to get to bed with a clean kitchen. "Best" is relative to the day, (and let's not forget, the children) but still totally attainable. I think a better term would be diligence, right?
So, what kind of mom are you??? I'm in the middle - not too hyper and not too hellish either. I used to be hellish...oh, the horror! I've never been able to reach hyper-clean status for more than half an hour and even then it was debatable.

Tomato Hornworm Rescue

We rescued a tomato hornworm from the garden last night. A quite creepy looking caterpillar that will eventually turn into a hummingbird moth. I objected to keeping the strange worm until we learned that wasps lay their eggs on the backs of hornworms. Brian saw an egg covered worm last week and was disturbed once again with the weird bugs found in the Midwest. We figured it was a caterpillar with lots of babies about to hatch - hundreds of hungry babies that would eat our tomato crop while we visited family over the weekend. Well, those eggs belonged to some mean little wasp and the hornworm was sadly the first meal. To save our new friend from a similar fate we dropped him into Isaac's Bug Habitat before bed. "Why would God make those wasps hurt those little caterpillars when they turn into a beautiful hummingbird???" Isaac asked this morning while watching "Thorny" munch on a tomato plant leaf. Yeah, so today we will be learning the difference between a hummingbird and a hummingbird moth. It will be a sad day in homeschooling if Isaac believes birds come from caterpillars! And, I must say I am happy that Isaac named his new pet "Thorny" as opposed to other similar names that could be given to a said caterpillar with a red horn.

Oh, and the picture above is not of our beloved Thorny but rather from this great informational site, VegEdge. Here's the link if you're just dying to learn more about hornworms: http://www.vegedge.umn.edu/vegpest/hornworm.htm.

Homeschooling Beginning

I'm gearing up for the start of our kindergarten year with Isaac. Our first official school day will be the Tuesday following Labor Day weekend. I am excited and hopeful that I can't screw this up as Isaac knows his ABC's and 123's fairly well already. What more is there???

Honestly, I've put a lot of research into our lessons and choice of methods. It is amazing the variety of styles we can choose from! Hopefully I'll have time to post about our lessons as we go along. I lean way more to the unschooling approach with more traditional methods mixed in to add some needed structure. I like portions of the Charlotte Mason approach and I pulled some aspects of Waldorf school styles into our eclectic homeschool as well. Monica is letting me borrow her My Father's World curriculum so I might use that for our bible lessons or even for Jack and Sophia (thank you Jenny for that brilliant suggestion!) to do a sort of pre-k thing for them alongside Isaac.

We have two good homeschool groups in our immediate area and a few more in surrounding areas. I'm going to shadow a friend this Friday to check out the one in our city. The groups offer classes for music, art, drama, science, dance and more. There is also a reading club and an open gym I heard about just recently to give kids a chance to do the sort of games all children learn in grade school - you just can't grow up without a red ball smacking you in the face during a game of dodgeball, you know? The groups also join together to have a kindergarten graduation and other ceremonies as the kids go up in grade levels in addition to holiday parties and concerts.

Brian and I want to make sure the kids have the best of both worlds - meaning we want a more tailored education for them and the special memories that we feel every child should have, like the first day of school, or shopping for new school clothes or decorating a Valentine's Day box and delivering handmade cards. My favorite memories of school were the hands-on lessons like acting out the meal shared between the pilgrims and Indians - excuse me, the Native Americans, or searching for the pot of gold candy on St. Patty's Day. I also value the challenging projects that I'd somehow pull off like a ten page essay paper or a difficult science project. Educating at home with the support of our local homeschool groups will be a good balance of all the things we want to provide for our kids and hopefully will help us avoid the things that frustrated us about public education as we grew up.
So, we'll be starting with kindergarten and go from there.

Also, I will be writing about all the crazy things that have been bouncing around in my head a little more freely now. I've read a couple amazing books, celebrated Sophia's fourth birthday and had a great time not floating on this past weekend's float trip. Much to write about, lots of good pictures but dinner won't make itself and Brian won't make it either so I have to sign off.

Oh, and welcome all you long, lost friends from Facebook! Was high school really THAT long ago?!?!?! And, weren't we all in the Bahamas like yesterday??? You don't realize how quickly life is going by until you look up one day and see your four children and husband from New Jersey staring at you wanting dinner and clean underwear!

One last thing

Imagine hearing your five year old son suddenly start speaking like a deaf person for apparently no reason in the middle of a major play session with his younger siblings. You, after a few minutes of careful observation, conclude he has not gone deaf. After questioning him as to why he's speaking like his ears and tongue are not working you get WHAT as the "duh, mama" answer...

Come on, guess!

As I was saying...

So, Wall-E. We started the movie with great success. All kids had drinks and popcorn. We had candy boxes open and prepared to quiet the first child that ran out of popcorn. Jack was interested through the previews and then he was pretty much done. By the end of the movie we were watching him make his way down the stairs toward the front of the theatre. Sophia preferred to stand as she watched the movie - thank you, Mom, for that genetic trait. Noah was kept quiet with Cheerios and the occasional hand off to Brian. Isaac was wonderful and attentive as usual. He's a good boy. Yeah, so the movie was cute. I liked it with all the fat people rolling around - don't know why that was entertaining but it was. I really like watching a movie every now and then. "Now" being Wall-E and "Then" for us will be in another five years or so.

Oh, and there were hardly any people in the theatre with us so it was no big deal when Jack yelled, "MY POPCORN, MY POPCORN!!!" every five minutes when he'd drop his mini-cup holding his snack. If the seats had been filled I would have stressed a bit more but after seeing that the few other families were much like ours - children outnumbering adults two to one or more - I was relaxed even as Noah bounced on my still chubby tummy when the Cheerios ran out thanks to Sophia who had run out of popcorn, candy, and soda...and my popcorn and soda. Ah, we made it to the end of the movie, unlike the family a row or two ahead of us - and they only had TWO!!!

Completely off the subject - what would you describe as a "good day" with the kids??? Really, what makes you feel like you're on a roll? Aaaaaand, what makes for a "bad day" or a less-than-all-you-wanted day?

With that - I'm going to bed!

WALL-E

We took the kids as a special little outing to see the Disney movie Wall-E after naps yesterday. Speaking of naps - Noah needs one...like NOW. I tried people, I tried.

to be continued...

Pray for Misty

Follow the link below and add your email to Darren's list. I found this on Giz's blog. Wow, what a family!!!

The healing service Darren writes about was at the church Brian and I attended while we lived in Jersey - which is also the church that took the youth trip to Florida where Brian met God and was set free from drug addiction.

Little side note - While still in Jersey, Baby Sophia had a tear duct problem when she was born. I'd honestly forgotten until I read about receiving prayer. Soph was going to need a surgery to open up her clogged tear duct so we went forward for prayer at church. Within one week her clog was gone and never returned. Healed. Just rambling now...but check out the link and pass it on through email or your blog.

The site is www.leblanclife.com

Sorry I can't make the link work right, so just copy and paste and away you go!!!

Garden Learning

Our contained caterpillars, Princess and Jake, have been in their chrysalis' for over a week now. Isaac's caterpillar, Josepher (yes, Jo-seph-er) stopped eating so we released him and much to our surprise Isaac found yet another caterpillar in the garden Then he lost him in a thrilling game of "spin-the-caterpillar" in which a five year old wildly spins his arm for the enjoyment of his beloved caterpillar. The game ends with a caterpillar soaring across the full span of the backyard and three children quickly scattering as a sort of search and rescue team. Even with much pleading and calling to the caterpillar, he never came home. So, three, to two, then three again, and after a little fun, we were back to two caterpillars behind glass on the kitchen counter. I used two pasta sauce jars to contain our new friends. They ate like pigs for days and then got very still on the sticks we propped up for them. The next morning we found two chrysalis' where Princess and Jake had been "sleeping". According to the books we picked up at the library we have three weeks until the butterflies emerge.

With the garden in full swing the kids are learning a lot about produce. Like how much Dada nearly cries when they pick all the green tomatoes. Or, then there was the afternoon that Isaac picked all the flowers off the tomato plants. We're hoping to finally enjoy a tomato from the garden this weekend as long as we keep chasing the kids away with success for another few days. Even with all the garden pillaging I just can't be upset with Jack. He sees a tomato - size and color doesn't matter - he plucks it and triumphantly marches to the patio - "I picked this for you!" Because Jack loves to pick pretty things we have to keep him out of the neighbor's flower garden as well.

So, we have carrots still growing SLOOOOOWLY, the cilantro died (Jack), there are some big watermelons hidden in the vines, the bunnies ate the bean sprouts, the spinach has yet to surface, and the green peppers are doing well. They taste great. Oh, and we have one red pepper plant in the middle that B got by accident. I love red peppers. The parsley is coming back from the caterpillars and the basil is amazing. I pull from it almost everyday. Oh, and our lettuce was bitter so we just let it go and it grew really funky stalks that flowered - and Jack for whatever reason will not pick the pretty lettuce stalks. Go figure.

Working, Standing, Sneaking, Pouting, Playing

So much updating to do...

Brian has been working mad overtime. He's running work for the shop now and brings the blueprints home to go over at night. I'm impressed. Really. Bri's come a long way since the flashcards he made in Philadelphia at the start of his apprenticeship.

Michael started as a temp for the shop yesterday. He'll be staying with us for a while as he gets settled in his new job and learns the area. We're happy to have him. Having a "guest" has given me some much needed motivation at home. I hope to get back on track with healthy meals and making use of our growing garden. The kids love having Uncle Michael here. I just wish they'd stop attacking him every time he sits on the couch!

As for the kids - when they aren't attacking Michael...

Noah is flying through milestones. He's so all over the house I've thought of sewing a dust swiffer (the washable kind) to the belly of one of his onesies and then "release" him on my floors - that way he can wipe up whatever dust bunnies he chooses not to eat. I am forever pulling Noah out of hard to reach places. He wedges himself into the smallest crawl spaces - behind furniture, under chairs, in corners, into closets, and under beds. He really needs whiskers or something - don't cats use their whiskers to determine if they can fit into tight spaces??? I remember learning that somewhere along the way. Of course, a baby with whiskers would look freakish, but not any worse than a baby with dust bunny "fur" on his belly. And, the little guy is pulling up to stand now. He is too funny because he pulls up on everything - like things that are on the same level he's on. Like a penny on the floor he'll try to pull up on. No, we don't keep pennies on the floor (choking hazard, we know, we know). Just imagine a baby with legs extended holding on with all his might to a toy six inches off the floor. Noah loves the crib side for his pull-ups the most. His big, blue eyes peek juuuust over the top of the rail looking for anyone who can set him back on his bottom so he can pull himself up again. It is a vicious cycle - and very adorable...even the fourth time around.

Jack is still my baby boy. He'll let you know if you ask him - "I is Dada's big boy and Mama's baaaaaby." He's remained cuddly even with the arrival of his brother and entering the terrible twos. Honestly, Jack is pretty relaxed as a kid so the twos - half way through - haven't been all that terrible. I'm trying to get Jack interested in the potty but he's insulted that I would even suggest he leave anything behind in the toilet. I'll have to get some pictures of Jack's amazing facial expressions. He has the best pouting lower lip. You could trip over the thing as Jack pops it out! - usually when he hears an unwanted "no" aimed his way. Our neighbor has a flower garden in her front yard with an ornamental watering can. Well, Jack is just beside himself with the need to touch this can and surrounding flowers. After Brian had chased him out of the neighboring yard several times one afternoon, Jack wandered back by the flowers just as our super nice neighbor was outside. She gave Jack a gentle "no, no, honey" motioning to her flowers. His big, blue eyes got all heavy with the start of tears, his little shoulders drooped and out came that pouting lip. Poor thing! He's such a good boy. Not terrible at all.

Sophia has shot up another three feet. Well, not really, but she has grown a lot taller this Spring. She's no longer chubby cheeks and baby fat - but is now a full on little girl. Soph is still all about the color pink. Her hair has grown out in the form of little blond ringlets - perfect for any professing princess. And, speaking of royalty, Sophia is the queen of fits at this age, or at least she tries to be. She throws her fists down to her sides with great energy - they stop just short of her knees as her face scrunches up with a "But, Maaaamaaaa!" squealed in an extremely high pitch voice that one would doubt could be human. And, usually her following statement is, "I don't want to (fill in the blank)". She's at the perfect age to use reverse psychology but since we don't want to mess with her little mind, we stick to the old fashion rules of doing what Mama and Dada say. Period. Soph is still a faithful napper though we just finished a phase of having to put up a baby gate at her bedroom door for nap time. I found her several times sneaking (and I mean, quiet as a mouse) out of her room to get into lotions in the bathroom. Every princess needs well conditioned skin, ya' know. The gate came out after she squirted a full bottle of bubble bath onto her closet floor. Ever try to clean up bubble bath from a wood floor? The bubble fun just never ends...not...ever. And, with all Sophia's grown up girl ways, she still pops her finger in her mouth and sucks away when she's tired. One hand at her mouth and one hand twirling a blond ringlet - just like she did as a baby.

Isaac just completed his first soccer season. He started out more interested in pulling up clover in the grass than the ball but with his last game this morning it was obvious he has made a lot of progress as a professional pre-school soccer athlete. As the ball was being thrown in from the sidelines Isaac was hit square in the head - he was only a couple feet from the six-year-old tossing the ball in so his head provided a target for the six-year-old. His coach (the beloved "Coach Steve") immediately convinced Isaac that he was the first kid in any of our games to "take a header". Wow! Isaac liked that idea and gave his coach two high fives (all caught on film...or digital memory stick, rather). Isaac is the best natured kid I know. Maybe I'm a little bias - a little. He plays hard and laughs a lot, always cheering on his team. "I kick the ball right down to the goal and let my teammate kick in it because I like to be nice." Yes, he's nice...and the fact that the older and bigger kids are able to reach the goal faster than he can helps him "be nice" I'm sure. His team plays again in the Fall - we aren't sure if we should keep him back so he isn't the smallest kid on the team next time or if we should keep him with his buddies and the all important Coach Steve. Ooooor, if we will even do soccer in the Fall. For now, we have summer to look forward to. And, Isaac, being like his father, wants to be outside every waking moment. He's a master on his scooter - impressing even neighbors with ornamental watering cans - and has many bumps and bruises on his legs to show for his mastering the razor scooter. He'll be starting kindergarten in the Fall and we can't believe our first baby is so big already. Where does the time go?

Speaking of time - this post took quite a bit of it. I should be doing something more productive...like hiding clutter from Michael or getting on to Sophia for having her finger in her mouth again.

One day I'll update on ME - for now, I'm doing the same thing as usual - diapers, dishes, laundry, and picking up toys - aaaand the occasional home cooked meal to keep Brian happy.

Jack MadGab

Ready?!? Let's play!!!

"He poot on your poodle." "He poot on your poodle."

Can anyone attempt a translation of this phrase from Jack this morning?

I'll post the answer in a bit...

The winner will receive my love and undying admiration since I don't have anything cool to mail out like other mom blogs.

Elizabeth's Baby and So Much More

Elizabeth had her baby girl! Click my "Giz" link to see the first posted picture of Penelope Grace. So cute! Yes, an Italian/Midwesterner mix makes for beautiful babies.

When I saw her picture I sighed and said "Oh, seeing that baby girl makes me want to have another baby girl!" Isaac sighed as well and said, "Yeah, when I saw all that ice cream on Barney this morning it made me want ice cream."

Sophia smiled and covered her mouth at the very idea of a baby sister. Isaac, on the other hand, spouted off with big hand gestures, "But, I don't even like Jack! He annoys me and keeps me up all night!!!" I looked to Jack - he nodded his head and said, "Yep. I do." Jack has recently moved into our big boy bedroom with Isaac so Noah can sleep in the nursery. The adjustment has been interesting to say the very least. Last night Isaac got up to use the bathroom and Jack worked himself into a fit in less than a minute because he thought Isaac was up playing and had left him in his crib high and dry without a toy in sight. Then he heard the toilet flush and a tired Isaac wandered back to his bed. Jack was willing to lay down again but kept one watchful eye on his bigger brother as he fell asleep. No one, and I mean, no one in this house is going to be playing with Thomas trains or Hotwheels without Jack knowing about it.

I hope Isaac will get used to falling asleep while being watched. I figure this on some level is a payback for all the late nights I had with Isaac when he was a toddler. The child didn't sleep unless Brian or I were in the bedroom with him. Now he has the personal monitoring he's always wanted in the form of a little brother. "I-dit, Iiiiiii-dit!" - and someone to softly sing him to sleep as well.

Rain-out Hotline

We have Isaac signed up for soccer. We had to sign him up for at least one season of some form of athletics to blend in with the locals. It is an unstated rule that every suburban child must participate in a sport of some fashion from pre-school age on up. Our choices were narrowed down to tee-ball and soccer. We were given the options of going through the city, the county, or through some private school. We opted for the city.

Isaac LOVES playing soccer. With the rain and working around recent scheduled camping trips and funerals he's attended one practice. The forty-five minute practice was life changing for him I'm sure. I know my life has changed - from a stay-at-home mom to now a soccer mom. What does this mean for me? It means that on a rainy Saturday morning my kid has a game scheduled at dawn. Since it is raining I have to call the all important "rain-out hotline". I call for half an hour solid. I get a busy signal three hundred and twenty-four times so I turn to the internet after I get Noah resettled in his crib. Noah slept through the night for the first time last night so he was starving and was passed to me as Brian headed out for work - B's getting in a little overtime today. So, I have a starving baby that wants to eat and I need to know if this game is on or not but every suburbanite in the area is calling the same stupid number. The one single phone line with the say on how my day will go on this rainy, overcast Saturday is locked in a busy signal. Why is there only one rain-out hotline? WHY?!?!?!

I managed to quick-feed the baby and finally make it downstairs to check the website. You know what it says? "Call the rain-out hotline"!!! Forget it. I called the coach at dawn on a Saturday. I woke the man up. You know what he said? "Call the rain-out hotline".

As he read off the number for the hotline I'd been calling since the first bird was tweeting this morning I was thinking to myself that this stupid. "The game has been rained out by the way..." I mumbled a polite thank you and apologized for waking the guy up though he's the coach and was holding out on me. Who knows, maybe someone tried to call us as the first rays of sunlight were coming through the scattered rain clouds. But, I didn't get the call. You know why?!? I was calling the rain-out hotline like every other suburban mother in our city!

Now, I will be known as the mother that calls in the coach in the early AM. That's one step worse than the mother that calls after 10:00 pm and during dinnertime. That's even worse than the mother that forgets to bring the team's snack on her scheduled weekend. Crap, when is my weekend??? I bet the coach isn't back asleep yet. I'll just give him a quick call...

How did you spend your first hour and a half today?

Earthquake Tremors and Personal Ramblings

I woke up early this morning (4:37 AM to be exact) wondering how my house ended up on a railway. Our bedroom was shaking side to side and our bed was going along for the short ride. Brian and I looked at each other with our heads still on our pillows. Shock. "An earthquake," my husband stated and we bounced out of bed to scramble for the kids who amazingly enough stayed asleep. If I stand outside their bedroom doors and look at them they wake up. An earthquake shakes our entire house, and they snore away. Amazing.

Brian made better time escaping our bedroom than I did as I had to find my glasses so I'd have the ability to see and the ability to grab a child rather than a large stuffed animal - man, imagine making it outside to safety only to discover Sophia was actually a fuzzy Easter Bunny about her size. That would be devastating - and nearly impossible to do as anyone who has ever picked up Sophia knows. I got my glasses on, threw Noah under my arm and headed for the bedroom door after Brian to get the Easter Bunny, I mean, Sophia. The tremor stopped.

What would you do at 4:37 AM after experiencing an earthquake for the first time? The Weather Channel. We turned the TV on just in time for our local on the eights. Nothing earthquake related. Crap. Well, should we to get out of the house, and grab survival supplies on the way out? Or, sleep? Hey, the kids were still out - we would be stupid to waste an opportunity like that.

Before we hit the bed again, Brian searched online and learned about the quake miles away. A 5.4. Not too shabby for a first earthquake. Wouldn't mind it being my last. We faced each other on the bed. "We need some sort of plan, don't we?" I asked. "I'll get the boys, you get Noah and Sophia," Brian said with eyes already closed. "Yeah, and you grab the filing cabinet, too." I have my life neatly organized in that cabinet - my memory files filled with cards, drawings, keepsakes and lots and lots of papers I should toss but insist on keeping so I don't forget what the kids were like at age blah, blah, blah. I was only kidding about the cabinet for all you serious types reading this blog. Brian and I have a standing joke about emergencies no matter the situation: terrorist attack, fire, flood, earthquake or a midnight craving for ice cream. The plan is we'll grab the kids and the cabinet that weighs a million pounds. So simple and so perfect - unless of course, you are being tossed like a rag doll from the earth shaking. Hmmm, we need to improve this plan in some manner. But, again, the kids were sleeping and I was wasting precious time thinking when I could have been in restful bliss. Brian was already snoring.

Aftershocks came mid-morning. So surreal! It was one of those "Did that really just happen (again)?" moments. I watched the garage door rattle and saw the lights flicker - and it was done. I had just enough time to stand to my feet nearly dropping nursing Noah and tell the kids to "get up!, no sit on the couch, no...wait, it's over...sit down...where's the phone...?" Yeah, there is a reason I'm not a volunteer firefighter. I freak out mildly when my house shakes around me (AND when the kids choke momentarily on food they didn't chew properly and they make that "I'm choking" face with their mouth wide open and tongue sticking out and you know something really gross is about to come up in whole form, slightly chewed). Big houses shaking are scary. This is another good reason for living simple in a hut somewhere. A little grass and hardened mud never hurt anyone. But my ceiling falling in on me would cause a bit of pain I bet.

After the earthquakes, I spent the remainder of the day cleaning up poop. The kids have had yet another round of a gross virus this week. Jack had a fever this morning, Isaac is bouncing off the walls more than usual and Sophia has had her finger in her mouth nearly all day sucking away her upset tummy. We've flown through a full box - not a container, but a BOX - of wipes this week. How, oh how, did I survive before baby wipes? Expensive, yet so versatile. I see a bunny trail and I'm going to follow it...I really should get back to cloth diapering. With my overuse of baby wipes this week I made a discovery. I think I just may be allergic to something in our current brand of baby wipes. I've been testing different things to find what on earth I developed an allergy to after Noah was born. It would be a lot easier to go to a doctor, but who the heck has time for that?!?!? Maybe a switch back to cloth is in my near future. Or, maybe I'll make due with my swollen hands and occasional banana lip so I can avoid diaper pails and washing diapers.

Well, I'm rambling and Noah is very unhappy in the baby swing yelling "Bababababaaaaaah!" at anyone who makes eye contact with him so this post is over.

I will be posting about the older three kids in greater length soon, but for now, they are all just about the same...just taller and less baby chub on each of them. My babies are big kids now and life is so full...and really, really busy. Sometimes I feel like my head is spinning...or is that an earthquake?!?!?

She's Got Personality

My grandmother holding Mom as a toddler. I think that's Aunt Mildred behind them.

This weekend I found myself asking Mom about my grandmother. I wanted to know what her personality was like.

"She was a lot like me," Mom said as she showed me her latest sale finds now displayed in her China Hutch. "She wasn't very learned. She wasn't exposed to much (small town life)."

"So, she had common sense?" I asked, not knowing what a small town mother in her sort of home environment would be like from day to day.

"She knew how to survive. She wasn't giddy, maybe more serious."

Mom told me about life lessons her mother had passed on to her:

When my grandmother's eighteen year old sister died six weeks after having her baby girl, Vera, the dying girl's husband promised to never marry again. The young mother passed away leaving baby and husband. Vera was raised by my great-grandmother and her father moved to Kansas City but visited often. He stayed involved in his daughter's life and he remained alone for years and years. He eventually married when he was in his fifties, but he lived most of his life with that promise to never marry again. "Never make promises to someone who's dying," my grandmother said.

Because small towns are at times difficult places to live if you are poor and "live on the wrong side of the railroad tracks." Cruel words can be a heavy weight if you carry them. "Like water off a duck's back," is how to react to such words according to my grandmother. Let them slide right off. This is useful for any weight someone tries to place on you with their words or judgments. My mom has often asked me, "Lori, have you ever seen water on a duck's back?" And, I know she's telling me to just let it go. People say unkind things but we don't have to carry them. If we do, we'll drown in them. It is best to stay above them.

My Aunt Mildred, Mom's older sister, was a "scrappy" child and would often find herself in a fight of some sort. One day while Mildred sat at the end of the long table in Mom's childhood home my grandmother was trying to explain to her how to "say what you got to say, but with tact." Mom was observing Mildred talking over her mother not listening to the gem she was trying to pass along to her daughter. Mom was sitting on the step at the kitchen threshold taking in her mother's words though they were not directed at her. She's told me this story many times. Hmmm, mabye I need "tact" as well!?!?!

After gleaning these stories, Mom told me about her cousin that had seven or eight kids and a rather vocal mother-in-law who thought her grandchildren were unruly. In the MIL's opinion there were too many kids in the family. The family was Catholic and this cousin's view on family life was "you get married and you have children". Many people think Brian and I are Catholic with our turn around of children! Anyway, this cousin was fed up with all the comments about her many children and their behavior so she asked her MIL, "Just which kid do you think I should have never had?!?! Show me and I'll just knock them in the head now!" Mom heard this story from an aunt when she was a child. Years later when my sister was getting married an engagement announcement was put in the local paper. An elderly woman who lived in the area called Mom saying, "I think we're related!" Mom in the midst of the chaos in her own life at the time went to visit this older lady. While there she heard firsthand about her aunts from this cousin and was amazed when the woman said, "And, so I said, 'Just which kid do you think I should have never had!?!?! Show me and I'll knock them in the head now!...'" Mom had met the woman she heard about so many years before as a child. I told Mom next time we get an ugly response to our little crew of children I'll tryout this response.

So, it was getting really late as Mom and I were standing in front of the China Hutch talking. She said I was falling asleep standing up, but I was totally awake. Totally. I told her I wanted to write all these stories down. She said we wouldn't get to it. HA! There you go, Mom. I wrote it down.

The next morning I asked Mom whose personality I have. She said, "You have your own. You're just greatly influenced by your mother."

Family Update Part I - Noah

As promised a week or more ago - here's a start on an update on our little family:

Part I: Noah -

Our smallest guy is now crawling. Actually, it is more like hopping on his belly. He gets his knees under his tummy and then throws himself forward, usually planting his face right into the carpet. But, as unusual as his first crawl is, Noah is moving from toy to toy on the playroom floor without a problem...other than a mild carpet burn on his nose. I'm glad he's crawling - I think. He's been breaking out of all our bouncy seats for months now. He wiggles and twists backwards out of any sort of strap or buckle that keep less motivated babies safe and snug in their seats. Noah is all arms and hands these days. He reaches for and attempts to grab everything around him - from toys and clothes to Sophia's hair if she sits close enough to his exersauser. He's a talker with all sorts of sounds and very emotional squeaks and grunts. Keeping him quiet during the other kids' naps is nearly impossible unless he's eating. And even then he's figured out as of last week that he can make noises while eating. The kids love talking to Noah and getting such energetic responses from him. I love watching him explore and interact with the older kids but the best is when Brian gets home from work. Noah yells, squeals and reaches for Brian until his gets picked up and then once on Brian's shoulder he dives his head into the small of Brian's neck. I LOVE baby hugs! My most favorite thing with Noah at this age is having him grab my face. He laughs, smiles and kicks just over his new found ability to grab my nose. And kissing his chubby little neck to hear him laugh is another favorite. The boy is so ticklish it is unreal!
Noah's second tooth just poked through yesterday. The first came through on Good Friday, so it wasn't such a good Friday for him. He is a great baby all around. Happy as long as he's fed, has a clean diaper and snuggled a bit. He's six and a half months old and I can't believe half a year has already gone by since his arrival. The newborn phase really, REALLY does go by too quickly...but I'm enjoying my adventuresome, chubby baby just as much as that tiny newborn I had just yesterday.

What happened to January?

Wow, so January ended a very long time ago. Man, has it been THAT long since my last post?!?!? NO WAY! Not totally surprising to me as time goes by so extremely fast with four babies. I stay busy, Brian stays busy and we talk on the weekends. The kids are growing like weeds - sprouting overnight. I'll post a family update later this week. This one won't be long since the kids are fighting over plastic Easter eggs - who hid them, who is suppose to find them and any other way to disagree over colored, fake eggs - and Noah is late for his morning nap.

Goals of New Blogs

Can you believe January is nearly over already? I'm still adjusting my mind to the idea of "2008". In January I usually inventory the previous year and kick it up a notch in my journaling...setting goals, defining dreams - anything to put my brain in overdrive to get me through to Spring. But, with four kids the inventory process is slightly underdeveloped. No big deal, though. The goals are rather simple for the most part - all centering around faith, family and home.

One goal I'm excited about pursuing (unlike the goal of losing my pregnancy weight - oh, dread!) is about our family history. In all four branches of our family (Manley/Mann, Purl, Biggers, and Alvares) there are family members that have collected and recorded that line's history. Our family goal this year is to collect what we can from each family line in the form of four blogs linked to this one. After a season of collecting we hope to have the information - the pictures, posts, and comments - printed so we will have four volumes of our family history to pass along to the kids and even to extended family members that are interested. Brian is excited about this goal (unlike the goals of finishing the million house projects that were started in 2007 - oh, dread!). I'll be working on setting up the blogs this week and making the first posts so hopefully by January's end we can send out an email or letter to invite family to participate.

If you have any family pictures or interesting family articles please scan and email them to me. The blog formats will be very simple - with a picture or story posted and then a place for family to login and make their comments. Hopefully, family can comment about who is in an old picture and what the occasion was, or finish a story we've only heard portions about. Family history is so interesting and every family has a story to tell. With a blog, everyone can add to the story and less pieces are lost or forgotten. Anyway, that's just ONE goal for 2008.

After compiling my goals, writing them down and starting a plan to accomplish them I asked Brian if he had any goals for 2008, "Yeah, to not get you pregnant.". And, when I asked the kids what I should wish for before blowing out my birthday candles this past weekend Isaac said, "Wish for another baby boy!!!". HA! - and, no, I'm not pregnant. I'm pretty content with four at the moment.

With that - I better go. I have to convince Jack that the box of Cheerios does not contain strawberries like the picture on the box.

If You Can't Beat 'Em

If you can't beat 'em (as in "can't win")...bring 'em downstairs, give them cereal and some milk.

It is juuuust about midnight and me, Noah and Jack are hanging out. Noah had shots today - way too many freakin' shots for one little body in my humble opinion. (Five?!?!? Are you kidding me?!?!?!?). Jack has had an explosion of his eczema this week so after the realization that all the lotion in the world isn't cutting it I brought him downstairs. He can join me and Noah for some midnight fun. Fun being some soggie cereal and watching the weather channel. Woohoo!

One note before I return to my little guys - I got a cabinet!!! Yes, the craigslist is a good thing! Okay, baby crying...and a snow storm is on the way.

My Most Favorite Hobby

A quick overview of my day before Noah wakes up -
Isaac woke me up soon after Brian left for work this morning to let me know that he wet the bed. Understatement. - To let me know that he created a small pond complete with a soft stuffed shark in his bed. Though he really needed a bath I opted for a super fast (and cold) wipe down with baby wipes from Noah's baby supplies. I tucked the nearly dry, semi-freezing Isaac in to Brian's side of the bed hoping I could get some sleep before sunrise. Enter Sophia. She heard the commotion, "Isaac be quiet, it isn't THAT cold..." and realizing Isaac was allowed the luxury of sleeping in Dada's spot she felt jolted. I explained that it wasn't a sleepover and that Isaac's bed was now a major fishing spot in the Midwest so he couldn't sleep there - he'd drown. Of course, that early in the AM all reasoning with a three year old is out the window (hmmm, can you EVER reason with a three year old???) - Sophia threw a fit, but she did return to her bed. She was juuuust loud enough to wake Jack. By that point the rays of sunlight were peaking in the window and Isaac was trying to play with the sleeping newborn Noah next to him in our bed. All attempts at gaining more sleep were lost. The day began against my will...and so it seems the entire day was against my will.
After a morning of temper tantrums from an overtired Sophia we ate lunch. I mean, I ate lunch. The kids mutilated their meal into a fine powder and managed to cover not only themselves but any and all nearby furniture and flooring. Yes, I was in the room. Yes, in horror, I watched and objected as the mess was created. How can three tiny people make such an expansive and difficult to clean up disaster from meat, cheese and sweetened bread?!?
Fast forward to the end of naptime...
Brian was on his way home from picking up our finally fixed minivan when I went up to get Sophia and Jack. I was on a good roll - dishes done, rooms cleaned up, clutter was minimal, dinner planned. I was planning on diving into a craft of some sort after dinner. Oh, to use my brain and complete a project! Then, I opened Jack's door and knew I had a change in plans. Picture a layer of large legos and Mr. Potato Head parts scattered across a small bedroom floor. No big deal - common in my house. Now add small bits of poop into the mix of toys. In fact, picture poop all over the baby crib and all over the toddler as well. No, I would not be crafting this evening. I freed my evening so I could deep clean Jack's entire bedroom. Deep clean, the scrubbing and cursing sort of cleaning.
I decided to break the task before me into two phases. Phase One was the child. Into the shower he went. Out came a clean and hungry Jack. Phase Two was accomplished in that little block of time after dinner and before bedtime - the bedroom, bed, bedding and tiny toys were scrubbed. I soaked the toys in the bathtub while I scrubbed the crib, mattress and floor. I finished just in time for Isaac to dive into the toilet. No joke.
Brian was helping Isaac along to bed and had to remind him to flush the toilet. Isaac somehow went from the stepstool in front of the bathroom sink to having one leg and one arm in the toilet that was full of pee. No, the toilet wasn't full for very long. That's right, it went all over the bathroom. Floor, tub, mirror - and formerly clean tiny toys that were in the bathtub. The toys got a second washing, the bathroom was cleaned up, and Isaac finally got the shower he needed first thing this morning. Then, since I have this thing about all my kids being equally clean I put Sophie through the shower as well. Bedtime ended with clean, dry bedding and clean, dry children after a short lesson with Isaac on why we don't smear boogers on the walls of our house.
What a day! If only I could convince myself that cleaning was my most favorite hobby in the world! If only...
I'm ending my day checking out the craigslist for a craft cabinet of some sort so I can move my supplies to the main level of the house. Then, when I'm not doing my most favorite hobby, CLEANING, I could do some less favorite things without a lot of fuss.
Noah is waking up and I need to eat a bedtime snack...and I need to get to bed anyway. Tomorrow I'm going on an adventure - the doctor's office with four kids ages four and under. Awe, our first outing in the fixed minivan with our newest little guy. It should be fun. In fact, I think going out with all the kids is my second most favorite hobby...!