Frequent Changes

Today was one of those days where at the end of the day there is a huge pile of dirty clothes and shoes in the family room. All used in one day.

Does this happen to other families, or is it just me?

Today was sunny, then rainy, then sunny. And 70-ish degrees the whole time. So the kids played outside, then came in, then went out, then came in, then went out, then came in, then went out, then came in. Isaiah needed a pants change after jumping in the mostly-deflated pool. Then Naomi got her sleeve muddy and changed her shirt. Asher soaked his shoes I don't even know how. Sweaters were worn, then shed. Etc, etc. etc. Just change after change. I feel like my laundry load tripled today alone.

But, hey, the kids had a great day. And mostly I did too since they were so happily engaged outside for most of it. It's just that now that they're in bed and I'm surveying the daily damage, I see the piles and piles. ... Guess I have some cleaning to do... Luckily, Richard isnt' home yet. So I'll turn on an old episode of Gilmore Girls and enjoy the peaceful cleaning time.

'Night.

Mental Images

From today's life:

Asher squeezing his eyes shut in bliss as he swings - he just learned how to pump all by himself.

Isaiah laying down outside for a cuddle on the currently-deflating backyard pool.

Naomi cuddled up on my bed watching a movie during naptime as a special treat because I love her.

Asher running full-tilt and screaming (with joy) straight at our friend "Baby James" on a playdate today. I waited for poor Baby James to start crying, but instead he laughed.

All three kids playing happily together in the backyard for an hour.

Naomi running in from the backyard to beg me to come out because "there's something you've gotta see!" And it turned out to be red leaves on the tree. She loves Fall!

Asher telling me this story: "I dropped some Mac n Cheese on Naomi's paper at the place with the balloons {translation: Friday's}. And Naomi said to Daddy, 'Asher just dropped some Mac n Cheese on my paper!' And Daddy cleaned it up but Naomi was still sad." Right after I was reading about how I can help my Preschooler by giving him opportunities to tell stories.

The look of horror/joy on the kids faces this morning at breakfast when they saw the shadow on the table made by the bat I hung under the light yesterday. (Yes, I already decorated for Halloween and it's still September. )

Fog of Busyness

I can't believe I haven't blogged since Monday! There's just so much going on! But none of it is any big deal, it's just life. I'm still getting the schedule confused and having to rearrange things regularly. Here's why:

6:40 Wake up Naomi, get her dressed and hair done
7:00 Wake up boys, scripture study and prayer
7:10 Breakfast for all
7:30 Naomi off to the bus - Richard usually takes her
Dress the boys, dress myself
9:00 Asher to Preschool, Isaiah throws a fit because he doesn't want to leave Asher
- here I have an entire hour and a half for errands or cleaning or the gym whatever -
10:30 head home to meet Naomi's bus
11:00 Meet Naomi's bus
12:00 Pick up Asher
lunch
1:00 Naptime

I suppose to some of you (Ang!) this doesn't seem like too much. But last year I planned my days so that I never had more than one thing planned for any given day. Two things in one day was busy for us! I am not the kind of person who thrives under pressure. I hate pressure. I hate having somewhere to be all the time. *sigh* But I guess there's no use in complaining about it. This is how it will be this year. And for several years after that. It's just going to take some adjusting.

I don't mean to sound whiney, I'm just expressing why I'm currently feeling somewhat overwhelmed by life. But, I'm sure it will get better as we get used to it. (*Side note* Is it "used to" or "use to" in this case?)

Isaiah's First Day of "School"

My 2-year-old started "school" today. Really, he just had his first day of Speech Therapy today, but he had to be officially enrolled in Rolling Ridge Elementary to do that. Isaiah will be going Monday's and Thursday's for half an hour. We really like the Speech Pathologist he's meeting with and feel like it is all coming together finally.

Today at school, Isaiah played with Play Dough and worked on P, B, T, D and M isolation. His homework is to keep practicing those. He has a particularly hard time with T.

I struggle between feeling that he's way too sweet and little to be formally enrolled in school, and feelings of great joy that this was all relatively easy to get set up and it will help him so much. This is definitely one of the times when I can be thankful for the blessings that modern life bring to us.

In Which I Become a PTA Mom

I joined the PTA at Naomi's school. I'm a PTA Mom. I'm so cool!

And then I volunteered to help on Picture Day. I'm so cool!

And I totally am BFF's with the ladies in the office.

I can't surpress my feelings of having finally hit the big-time in Mommy-hood.

*giggles*

The Winds of Change STINK!

Look! Just look! Look at what that stinker Isaiah did to the cupcakes I made for Young Women's tonight! So much for "it's going really well". So much for "no major catastrophes". Grrrrrr! *sigh* I guess setting things on the dining room table so they'll be safe and out of the way isn't a good plan anymore. *sigh*

The Winds of Change

We took down the gates!

Ever since we moved into this house, there have been two gates on the main floor. That way the kids were confined to the family room, kitchen, and one hallway. It was wonderful. I baby-proofed the heck out of those rooms and only had to worry about the rest of the house a little bit. When I went to take a shower of whatever, I knew where the kids were. Their trouble-making was limited.

But I decided it was time for them to go. Last night for Family Home Evening we talked about how the gates were really for babies who don't know how to follow the rules. And we don't have any babies anymore. So we don't need the gates anymore, right? Right? Because you can all follow the rules? RIGHT? ... Then we went on a tour of the house and when we were in each room we talked about whether playing in that room was allowed. Family room, yes. Mommy's bedroom, no. Boys room, yes. Naomi's room, only if she says so. Etc.

So far it's going really well. No major catastrophes. At one point this morning Asher yelled up the stairs to me, "Mom!?!". "What?" I asked over the banister. "I just flew my airplane into the living room!" "Is that allowed?" I inquired. "Nope." he replied and went back into the family room.

Wish us luck!

Ew Ew Ew Ew! (said with your lips puckered)

Translation from Isaiah-speak: Go, Diego, Go

Asher and Isaiah are completely obsessed with Diego right now. Naomi is not totally immune to his coolness, but she's not quite obsessed. Go, Diego, Go is on TV twice each day. The boys beg for the new episodes like ... like ... I can't think of any analogies that aren't drug related. Like some drug. They watch with an unprecedented focus. When Diego asks them to repeat something, those boys repeat it! When he tells them, "Louder!", they get louder. Even Isaiah, who can't speak, will grunt the appropriate syllables and inflection. When Diego asks them to run or jump or flap their butterfly wings, they run or jump or flap. And they do it with intensity! Naomi even sings the entire theme song, including the Spanish parts (which I'm pretty sure she's not saying right, but what do I know?)

The kids and I spent about an hour at a park on Saturday. Almost the entire time the kids were pretending to be in Go, Diego, Go. Asher was Diego, Naomi was Alicia, and Isaiah was Boots (who is actually from Dora the Explorer, but since Dora is friends with Diego, I guess Boots was on loan for the day). They rescued baby elephants and found new homes for butterflies. They explored and used their "Rescue Packs" (which, for you non-Diego-ers, is a magical/high-tech backpack that can turn into whatever you need from binoculars to rope to a kayak).

The really great part is that today at lunch Asher said to me, "Octopuses eat crabs. You know what else eats crabs? Birds!" I guess Diego isn't too bad a subject of their infatuation.
Ok, so I'm kinda rambling on. The point is, it's adorable.

Richard the Rock Star

Richard just got back from 4 days in Boston at the big JQuery conference. He looks forward to this all year because 1) He gets treated like a rock star 2) He sees all his friends that he usually just talks to on the phone or computer 3)Did I mention he's famous with this group? People actually brag about getting their picture taken with him!

Look at all the praise from people who were in his lecture. And check out this groovy schedule that he designed for the conference. He's so cool! Can you believe I get to hang out with him whenever I want? *swoon* What a guy!

He works so hard so much for our family, I'm glad he has these brief moments of fame so that he can see how great he is. And on top of all his computer-programming coolness, he's a great husband and Dad!

Miraculous!

The speech pathologist at Rolling Ridge Elementary school called me today and scheduled her first appointment with Isaiah and I for only next Friday! Holy cow! Something that happened relatively fast! It's a miracle!

Still Trying To Cheat

Apparently, I didn't learn my lesson last time about trying to cheat with sewing. So I tried it again last night. But before I tell you all about it, look at my new craft area! I'm still getting it organized, but just having a desk set up just for me is a big step!

OK, so for Cheater Sewing 101 today, we'll be turning this teen tank-top thingy (bought at Target on clearance for $4) into a little girls' skirt. Just trim off the top maroon part, leaving just about an inch to fold over for the waist band. Sew one straight line (the "straight" part is optional) around leaving an inch opening to put the elastic in. Feed the elastic in and then sew the two ends of the elastic together.

And, voila! Naomi's new skirt. She is, in fact, wearing it at school right now! (Pardon the tennis shoes with the skirt, it was a rainy day so she had to wear practical shoes) She loves it - and longer skirt are so hard to find in stores.

Since that went so well, I thought I'd give it another shot. I also bought this strapless sun-dress (at Target on clearance for $6) to turn into a skirt for me. Same basic idea. I just chopped off the top part, made a band, put the elastic in, and sewed it up.

A larger skirt was a little more tricky - the finished skirt's hem is a little uneven because I didn't measure and such while I made it - but it works.

No picture of me wearing it because I was too lazy to change outfits entirely just for a photo shoot. The skirt goes to my knees and is a little loose around the waist (I might go back and tighten it or I might be too lazy).

So, I guess I'm still trying to sew by cheating. I really do plan to actually get a pattern and give it a shot ... one of these days... I just couldn't pass up these cute fabrics in the store. But at least I didn't totally fail this time!

The News

... And now the news ...

Isaiah has been officially declared "eligible" for speech therapy funded by the state. Next step: waiting for the speech therapist at my local school to contact me and set up yet another "evaluation". From there she and I will decide how much speech therapy and how often for Isaiah.

Naomi loves school, but not as much as she loves riding the bus.

I have realized that Asher is no longer the biggest trouble maker in my home. That honor has been passed down to Isaiah. I guess those two's really are terrible.

Richard is out of town until Monday. ...An entire weekend without him makes me shiver with fear. And then curl into a little ball.

I have a desk in the basement! My very own, just for me, nobody else uses it, desk!

First Day of School

Phew. We did it. Naomi and Asher both had their first days of school today.

Naomi was so excited to ride the bus. She got dressed with enthusiasm and was ready to go. Richard walked her to the bus stop and off she went. Alone. Without me! It was a little weird for me, but I was so excited for her that I was OK. At the end of the day, Naomi said her favorite part was "everything".

Asher was not really as excited about starting school. I could tell he was a little stressed about it because he had several mini-meltdowns over silly little things this morning. But after a quick heart-to-heart chat in the parking lot, he walked into his classroom ready to go. And he had no problems that I know of while he was there. At the end of the day, Asher said his favorite part was "The basement" - which means the rainy-day-play room in the basement of the church where his Preschool is.

That left Isaiah and I with two whole hours to ourselves. I was thrilled with that! Isaiah was not! It took me two tries and about 20 minutes to get him out of the Preschool parking lot. He did not want to leave without Asher. But eventually I bribed him with the thought of cookies at the grocery store and we made it. We went grocery shopping, unloaded them in peace, read a couple of books, and then it was time to pick up Naomi from the bus. Having only one child is so gloriously easy! (compared to three, anyway)

And here's my happy Kindergartner arriving home.
What a day! All in all, it was a total success.

OBX

Long, long ago, Richard and I kept seeing these bumper stickers that said "OBX". And we had no idea what it meant. At some point in our transition to becoming true "Easterners" we learned that OBX was short for "The Outer Banks", and that The Outer Banks are a strip of islands along the shore of North Carolina. And we learned, most importantly, that we really wanted to go there - as every true Easterner does.

This past weekend we finally went! My sister, Ruth, stayed with the kids. Richard and I left at about 3pm Friday. The 5 hour drive took us 8 hours because of heavy traffic... but who cares? We had no kid with us! We were headed for sandy beaches! We giggled about things like that we could both go into the bathroom at a rest-stop at the same time without taking turns staying with kids in the car. We stayed at a great motel right on the Ocean side of The Outer Banks. We took deep breaths of the Ocean air, listened to the waves, and slept soundly that night. But the next day we were up and at 'um. We had rented boogy boards and rode the waves. We sat in beach chairs under an umbrella and stared at the ocean. We ate whenever we wanted. We laughed with each other. We rented waverunners and came out with crazy, wind-blown, 80's hair. We ate crab legs by the pound. We were attacked by "sea lice" which sent us running back to our motel room for a frenzied shower. We learned what those yellow flags on the beach mean - dangerous currents - and that they're serious about that. We watched the sun set and rise from our motel balcony. We shopped. We bought a bumper sticker that says "OBX" just because we think it may be against the law not to own one - and to prove our coolness. We decided that all future family reunions ever should be at The Outer Banks because it is so close to perfect. And we drove home understanding why beach-bums are so laid back and chill - because we felt the same way.

We were only gone for like 55 hours, but it sure felt good! The kids had a blast with Aunt Ruthie, and Richard and I were reminded of how much fun we have together. *sigh* Can we go back tomorrow?

Pictures will come later. We forgot our camera so we had to buy a one-time-use one. It will take a few days to get them developed and digitized, then I'll come back and add photos.

Footie's

Just thought you might need a little break this morning with a little boy in footie pajamas. Who doesn't love a little boy in footie pajamas?

Girl On Fire

This is what I did yesterday. All day. As much as possible. I read every possible second from 8am until 9:15pm when I finished it. I went to the gym, took the book, and sat on a bike for 45 minutes while I read. Then I stretched while I read. I propped it on the kitchen counter and made PB&J for lunch while I read. The kids played outside while I read. I took the kids out to dinner because I hadn't even unloaded the dishwasher yet, let alone loaded in the breakfast and lunch dishes. And while I ate, I read. It's a good thing Richard didn't get home until nearly 9:30, because I probably wouldn't have talked to him anyway.

And it was sooo worth it, folks. That's one seriously good book. If you haven't already, you should really go read the first one, The Hunger Games, and then move on to this one.