I Still Love Watching People Watching Us

I went to show the woman the receipt to prove we paid for these as we walked out of the store. 

With a smile: "Oh Dear, I've been watching.  We all know you paid for these."

And in another effort to recreate my own childhood, I tell the boys: "Go away.  Get on your new bikes and go away.  Go to the park.  You can handle this, can't you?"

And they are coaxed out of the house and on to the bikes.  The huge world in front of them, permission to cross that big street and go to the park, the forest, wherever their little legs take them.

Failure: They return after half a hour, with full tales of their adventures. Super excited, and back within 30 minutes.

Weren't they supposed to go away for hours?

Coming and Going

Patric and I have been meeting each other coming and going for these past three months with a hand off and kiss, if there is time. And so it was, as we stared at the calendar the other morning, finally figuring out that we were both scheduled to be out of town while the kids were on spring break, that our stomachs dropped.  

Thank you grandma and grandpa airplane for saving the day, and providing a safe place for the kiddos while we both have to be away.  And I scurried off to make a three-way plane ticket with stops no where near home. And Patric left early to make a conference call.

Benjamin: "How come you two always get to go on all of these vacations?!"

Our New Lawn Furniture

Saturday: We arrived to an empty, new home.  Excited to get our stuff on Monday, but prepared for it to be delayed to Tuesday.  We were fresh, and ready, and excited.

Sunday: Hurt a little getting up out of the air mattress in the morning, but the thought that our stuff  might arrive tomorrow kept us going!  So we took advantage of our free day to go shop lawn furniture sales. 

Monday: Morning sprung, but we hadn't heard that our stuff would arrive.  No worries, we put up our lawn furniture in the sun room.  A cute, multi-purpose lounging and eating/gathering room for the next day--just till our stuff arrived.  The Internet was connected, so who needed anything else?  A pan to cook, please--we had some frozen meals.  My back hurt a little from the air mattress, so I opted for sleeping on the floor.

Tuesday: The moving company called yesterday, and the truck was still in Houston on Monday for routine maintenance.  We'd get our stuff on Wednesday.  We decided to pass the time at a local home and garden store.  I bought a tree, and added it to our little furniture collection. One more night on the floor, no problem.

Wednesday: I awoke to my daily double Alleve, thanked Patric for insisting that we take the coffee pot with us in the car, and then I threw a little sarcastic thank you at him for moving us here.  No worries, our stuff would come today!  Then the moving company called: the truck was broken down, in Houston.  After a few words flung here and there and everywhere, I went for a drive because I love my family, and I didn't want to kill them.  I bought the candle and added it to our little furniture collection/everything thing we own. Oh, no they didn't have a date yet when we would actually get our stuff.  After my calming drive, I suggested to Patric that he try pulling the cushions from our lawn furniture and sleeping on them.  We put a Transformer twin sheet around three of them to hold them together, and his snoring kept me awake on the floor.

Thursday: I clawed the Alleve from the bottle before attempting to sit up. Drank two pots of coffee.  Took the kids to register for school, where we found out they wouldn't accept our records, started a week earlier than we thought, and have to wear uniforms.  Then we got kicked out of an on-post laundry facility, went to the airbase, snuck into another laundry facility, washed our collective five pieces of clothing, and may have eaten popcorn for dinner.  We huddled around the computer on our lawn furniture after figuring out how to watch DirectTV online out of desperation. The moving company called that day, they may be there Friday, probably Saturday, don't be surprised if it is Monday.  Whatever.  As we drug our lawn furniture cushions to the bedroom, Patric suggested that I give them a try.  It may have been the wild look in my eye at this point.

Friday: I awoke with no hope, but I had slept.  We put our lawn furniture back together, ate breakfast around it, watched the news, watered our plant, lit and blew out a candle, swept up the floor around our lawn furniture and cleaned it up. And then Patric took the children out to buy them stuff to make their own fairy gardens, because we were running out of ideas and our lawn furniture was not that exciting anymore.  The moving company called.  They would be there at 8:00 am the next morning.  Whatever.

Saturday: Not really excited, but at least rested, I hugged my lawn furniture cushions before rolling out of bed.  We didn't bother to wake the children, because we didn't really believe our stuff was arriving.  So when it did arrive, we were pretty much still in our pajamas with skeptical looks in our eyes.  As things rolled off the truck, we realized it really was our stuff, and so started three days of unpacking and rearranging.  The lawn furniture is now where it belongs, on the patio, getting soaked in the rain.  Hallelujah

Good Stuff

Check it out, we're famous:

The Good Stuff Guide

and I am apparently long-winded when being interviewed...

This is a great site to spend some time clicking around in. It really is good stuff: organization, travel, home tours, thoughts on life with kids. And then we showed up...

Thank you Heidi for spending some time with us and letting us share our story.

GOOD MORNING!!!!!

This morning, the first e-mail I read was something like this:

"Good Morning,
Today is going to be a good day! I'm starting out with a very positive attitude.

Blah, blah, blah, work stuff.

Thanks. Have a good day today :)"

Um, I changed three, yes three, poopy diapers before we left the house this morning at 7 ish. Dealt with one melt-down because I wouldn't let the princess wear her play shoes. Dealt with another melt down because I was accused of losing a piece of paper that one boy child dropped in the seat of the car. Dealt with another melt down because I was mean enough not to carry everyone into daycare in my arms, on my back, clinging to my legs--whatever way they could get a ride. Then I hit traffic. I got another sad e-mail from Patric this morning about a soldier losing a family member in Afghanistan. And, what on earth is going on that EVERYONE beat me to work this morning and took all of the good parking places. I'll be leaving early as well to take Elaine back to the specialist.


Right now, I just want to do like Nicholas: sit alone at the table and eat my breakfast of a tube of Girl Scout cookies alone in peace under an umbrella.

Just Try It

Making dinner with four helpers.

Just Try It

Sometimes many hands do not make light work. For example, changing the sheets on your bed with ten hands.

It Is Legal, Right?

Aside: I read once that if your kid falls asleep immediately in the car every time you drive off, she probably isn't getting enough sleep. If she falls asleep, and then you heave her out of the car, and then she continues to sleep in your arms when you get to the park even though it is freezing and there are kids running around screaming and even poking at her, I think it's safe to say the girl needs to go to sleep at night.

On to matters of legality.

I have an obsession of sorts with finding the perfect school playground in our area.

They are always empty on the weekends.

(Nicholas rethought launching himself off of this.)

We found one last weekend, and the kids loved it.

Oh, Alida, you woke up. Join the party.

But I always have this little walk-a-mile-with-me speech prepared and waiting for the moment the police drive up and tell me we can't be on the school property or something. I think it is the absence of other people that makes me think we're breaking a rule I don't know about. But they're open (we don't go if we have to jump fences or anything), and I do pay taxes, so it's legal right? I just never see anyone else there...

Yes, she is running around the park with a play hammer. That might technically be legal...

Randomness: Coping

We have been taking a lot of meals here lately. They'll eat; they'll stay quiet; I just act as the waitress.

You were the cutest ones in the Halloween parade--no doubt about it.

Happy Veteran's Day

I'm sorry you have to work.

Here Alida is making a "castle."

Sometimes I just give up and figure toys are really more expensive than a box of Kleenex or a box of wipes, so why do I care if they want to play with them now and again.

Last night Nicholas told me all about the garden of corn he was going to plant in the backyard--down to how it had to be put in rows in a garden, not just all over the yard.

I still have tomatoes on the vine I haven't gotten around to harvesting; now I guess I need to get a combine too.

I love this little house at the Botanical Gardens. It is loud and fun and they love it. And they are banging on things not in my house.

The weather has been beautiful, and I've been leaving the door open for you all to come and go outside. Benjamin came out and made a castle, and then I joined him and we made a moat and he put in the bridge. And then he asked for a flag. Easy enough. I found a couple of flag stickers and put them on top of a straw, and he was tickled.

The problem. The second that Ben got a flag from me, the other three immediately stopped doing what they were doing and attacked me for their flags. Then someone broke their flag; and two of them fought over their flags; and then Nicholas didn't like the way I made the flag; and in the end someone knocked down the castle. It is so hard to have simple moments.

Dora and Diego.

I love you.

Please come live at my house.

Alida was apparently not having anyone climb on her house.

(That's the neighbor kid--he's an awesome distraction. We encourage him to come over anytime, even if he tries to teach them to climb on top of the playhouse.)