Fall Shopping

 

Hoping this works.

We went through fall clothes the other day a little ahead of the drop in temperature--forecast in the 90's this week.  My daughters, who never grow, call it shopping since we are lucky enough to have so many hand-me-downs from my nieces.

My sons on the other hand have each grown two sizes it seems in the last year, and we had to give up and go shopping for real, which is not their favorite activity.  But when their pajamas fit like pedal-pushers, a mother must insist.

Some Days

You know how sometimes you walk around with something in your teeth or a smudge on your face and no one says a word to you about it?

Some days, you get in such a hurry in the morning that you go ahead and leave the boy in his pajama bottoms under his clothes. No one mentioned it to us until he showed us later that night. Good grief, it's too hot to be making these mistakes!

Being Benjamin's Entertainment

"Hey. Take a picture me."

(Click)

"Let me see that."

"Hey. Take a picture me."
(Click)
"Let me see that."

"Hey. Take a picture me."
(Click)
"Let me see that."

"Hey. Take a picture me."
(Click)
"Let me see that."

Digital cameras are so awesome.

I Must Be Tired

Alida has green pajamas? Green pajamas. Green pajamas. When did she get green pajamas?

Ben! Ben has green pajamas. I guess they favor each other more than I thought. (Thanks for the pajamas Lane.) The boys are now announcing their favorites of everything regardless of whether they have five of the same thing that is their favorite. The snake pajamas are currently Ben's favorite, and he could not imagine why I would not let him wear those pants to church Sunday morning. They were his favorites after all.

Christmas 2008

On Christmas Eve we shared a bit of soup when grandma and grandpa arrived from a long drive on their way to many other long drives because their children have scattered across the country.

Then we loaded up and went to church. The Stuber children made it through about 10 minutes before we made our way to the hallway to meet with the make-shift nursery that had accumulated there with all of the other children who had attempted to be good.

Then the children were tucked in bed and the stockings were hung with care because, well, we were scared the mantel would come crashing down really.

The tree was stocked.

And then the morning arrived in our new pajamas and a brisk bedroom since the upstairs heater had stopped working. The kids had the house warm with activity in no time though.

And a well placed hat made sure no one got uncomfortably cold.

Then I made these, which aren't really supposed to bloom out over the pan like that. And they certainly aren't supposed to drop piles of goo in the bottom of the oven that you forget about and then light on fire when you warm the oven to heat dinner. So the windows were opened, the heater was broken and the fire alarms started. Grandpa inexplicably disappeared to a bedroom to do a little "research" while we fanned smoke.

It didn't really seem to matter as we had much better, much newer things to worry about getting under feet with even with the cool breeze blowing through the kitchen.

And somehow the train made it through the day still working, although it didn't stay on the track very long.

Really, they didn't seem to mind the cold.

If they were old enough I would say that riding their fire trucks around the house was a bit of a jab at my cooking.

Elaine really didn't mind as long as there was fresh pineapple.

And thankfully grandma had come prepared with brand new, very warm blankets she made by hand because they came in handy during a very needed nap time.

And then we watched movies.

And played with grandpa's head.

because he knows to assume the position.

And the children were worn out and double pajama'd, and this is the most relaxed the day was.

We are waiting for the heater repair folks now.

Merry Christmas!

Yeah, Um

Guys? (led by your father)

I can think of a more comfortable bed. Why are you so obsessed with pretending to sleep?

Why do you mock me?

The Saturday Outing: Take II

Take II?

That doesn't look like a Saturday outing.

Here we are Saturday early evening. Dinner was mac'n'cheese, fish sticks, broccoli. It was a little early. And, there was lots of bribing going on in our house that night. If you eat your dinner, we'll watch Iron Man. If you go potty, we'll watch Iron Man. One more thing, we need to get in your jammies. I know, and then we'll watch Iron Man. Here brush your teeth. If you brush your teeth, we'll watch Iron Man. Ring the Bell! Let's pick up our toys so we can watch Iron Man!

Okay, so we can still get away with delayed bribing in our house. And finally, we all set up to watch Iron Man. Alida was obviously on the edge of her seat.

And then a wonderful thing happened called Charity.

Charity rang our bell. The kids were beside themselves although a bit confused at why their teacher was at our house. And he and I slipped out the door into the darkness for an entire evening of adult time. I cannot explain how odd it is to be in a car after dark. I cannot explain how odd it is to be out of my house without children and without a child's errand to run.

We gleefully counted past one hand onto the second hand the number of times in more than four years we've been out for adult time as a couple. We now have Charity to thank for one more, although she's not nearly as charitable as her name suggests since she doesn't hang around just for fun. Thankfully, we have Emily's parents/grandma to thank for the lion's share of those outings, which are always charitable.

(Four years? Iraq.)

Always Messing With Us

Someone go to sleep. Stop teasing us. please

Our Turn

With everyone dragging out the footed jammies, we decided to follow suit.

Ben has been dragging out the dinos from the closet all summer asking to wear them. And I finally got to let him do it. While I was getting everyone else dressed he disappeared and returned naked wanting the jammies I just put on Nicholas. Nope. You won't win that battle tonight. Wear your dinos, NOW! And enjoy it.

The fire, fire truck jammies that started the fight. Good grief.

Ah Sweet Sleep

How it should look.
A quarter of the way there.Half way there.
Cute, until he wakes up at 4:00 in the morning and starts strumming on the return register there like it's a guitar.
Ah Ha!
(Look closely at our blinds. The boys are sleeping peacefully after the beat down (yes, that sounds much harsher than it is) over that. There are only two things left that I can take out of that room before I pad it and throw just one mattress in the corner. But if it comes to that, I'm moving in and kicking the boys out.)
Oh, never mind.
Half way once again.
Oh, forget it. How can you sleep like that?
We would take this.We instituted night-night guidelines last night that consisted of allowing the maniacs to be for 15 minutes. We then tucked everyone in and very sternly explained they were to stay in bed, and we advised said maniacs of consequences. Benjamin heeded the warning. Nicholas had to experience the consequences but only once. And all were asleep shortly after 8:00 in their own little beds. This morning Nicholas was asleep in Ben's bed and Ben was asleep on the floor, but they were at least asleep. We are counting it as a small victory.

Hey I Got An Idea

Let's get the kids in their Christmas pajamas and get a photo for the Christmas Card!




Their dad really is very good at humoring me; the children not really so much.(Yes, those are my man-arms up there made bulky by toting around four babies all the time. Such as in the mornings when you want to quickly and quietly whisk the toddlers through the upstairs hallway and downstairs before they notice anything distracting and start talking and wake their sisters. So you give in and carry the one whimpering one down the stairs stopping halfway to go back and also pick up the other one that just discovered that whining will get you a ride down the stairs. Alas, the novelty of woking down the stairs has worn off.)
Strikingly similar to last year only now we are seeing double/double.

2!

The morning began with a castle filled with toys. The last time we will likely ever see the castle built...
Because this is the first thing that happened when the toddlers arrived on the scene.
And then there was some climbing and knocking and learning to unwrap.
And then they found the chicken and the dog, and it was all over because naturally the loudest toys with the easiest-to-figure-out on/off switch were the favorites.
Later we watched a movie and had cake. Since the boys are used to being served too-hot food that must be blown on before inserting in your mouth by their mother who just wants them to sit down and eat already, it wasn't too hard to point out that the candles needed to be blown out. And yep, the boys didn't even get dressed on their birthday and stayed in their pajamas all day long and it was good.
Benjamin even allowed himself to get a little messy.
Nicholas, of course, needed no encouragement. They did get fresh pajamas before bed however.
And the two-year stats are as follows:
Nicholas:
26 pounds
34 1/2 inches
Benjamin:
27 pounds 12 ounces
34 1/4 inches
Both were incredibly well behaved and charming at their visit and got a good report from the doctor, who wouldn't stop complimenting their behaviour as she poked and prodded. Their tubes are still in their ears and as we all suspected, we're not worried about autism...

Is This What They Mean?

You know, in those parenting magazines, where they tell you to choose your battles and insist he eat some vegetables but let go and let the toddler express his fashion savvy. Yes, we have actually loaded up the car in this particular outfit; thankfully, we were headed for the drive through.

Not Thinking We'll Be Needing the Genetic Testing

If we ever screw up and put Elaine in a solid pajama and Alida in a print pajama, the whole balance of the universe will be knocked off allignment because it is NOT getting easier to tell them apart as they grow. Byt the time they can start exerting their will regarding their own clothing, I am hoping they have some hair so that I can start cutting it different lengths or just shave a letter into each head.

Oh, I Get It

The reason they don't remember the first couple of years is because their mother can really screw up the whole tradition thing a couple of times. Apple walnut oatmeal will not be part of the tradition. Staying in our pajamas all day and not going out shopping will stay on the day-after-Thanksgiving itinerary however. Well really, staying in our pajamas the whole weekend has felt like a pretty good tradition, especially since the girls seem to have forgotten how to sleep at night after a pretty encouraging start. We got the call at 11:45, 2:10, and 4:00 last night--for no apparent reason what-so-ever.

God Bless America

Three days,
Four babies,
One Mommy
Everyone in their pajamas and ready for bed at 6:00 in the evening.
So on what would be Patric's evening, the girls got up at 1:30 AND 4:30 to eat.

Thanks Lucy! From Everyone

That right there is my yucker (pacifier) sewn to my pajama top. Mom remembers that Lucy's mom did the same thing to her pajamas and decided to try it. Two nights ago mom and dad had to come upstairs and get my yucker for me three times; last night I couldn't get rid of the thing and they slept all night. Of course, now try to get my pajama top away in the morning. HA!

Father's Day: That means we get attention from dad ALL day, right?

It started with breakfast in our pajamas (or dad's lack of pajamas) before going to church.
Later that day we had ice cream. (And messed up dad's favorite outfits of ours.)
Man, did we have ice cream.
But, then we had to learn to brush our teeth because of all the ice cream.
Then, of course, we had a sword fight with dad.
And, we read a book.
And, then we decided to give dad his real present. For six months he's been trying to show us how this train works, but he always gets frustrated when we tear the rails apart as fast as he builds them. We thought that was the game. But last night, we calmed down just long enough to learn that the train rides on the tracks. That was a whole new kind of fun.

A Good Day

On Saturday we stayed in our pajamas all day, played in the yard,
fed the tree some peach iced tea, and ate Pizza Rolls.
And no one made us work!

December's New Pajamas

So yeah, Nicholas got a bit of a trim around the ears because of these pictures...