Reflection

It’s hard to believe it’s Labor Day weekend and in just 72 hours summer will be officially over. Three of the kids will be in school (which is quite the change for us but all things considered hopefully the best choice for the current situation.), the competitive swim season is again upon us (practices have already been going on a week), the dance studio will be up and running, and fall sports start in exactly one week.

It’s an exciting time of year, a daunting time of year, a busy time as we all adjust to the hectic balance of scheduling, and time management that is our school year life. It’s also a time when we all look forward to the new school year’s adventures. But I must say, it really was a FABULOUS summer. The best I can remember.

We all made a conscious effort to spend less time in the “media” and more time in the outdoors, and I really enjoyed it. It’s amazing how much more time there is for relaxing, family time, and just getting things done without cable or internet interfering.

Yes, that’s right -- we got by without cable. Which, with the reception in our house, meant we didn’t watch anything that wasn’t on DVD or NBC. ;) And that was alright.

We spent at least a month incessantly gearing up for the new Harry Potter film by re-watching all the old DVDs. Jason and I were even inspired to read all the books. The kids made homemade wands with an old package of soda straws Luke found in the basement and it is rumored that you could occasionally catch me saying things like, “No Samuel, we don’t use the killing curse on our brother.” But I would never acknowledge the legitimacy of such rumors. ;)

Once our Harry Potter mania had died down we spent Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings with popcorn and lemonade, judging whether or not America really has talent. (Go Chicken Catcher!)

I’ll be honest, I missed being online, but far less than I thought I would and more for the friends I keep in contact with there than anything else.

Of course, the kids kept busy with summer camps and day clinics. Samuel went to a one week dance day camp at the studio for 4-6 year olds in June and performed as the firefly in the week end’s “Fairy Tale” Production, rescuing Miss Lindsay (an instructor) from the evil witch.


He also attended a week long soccer camp at the Jackson YMCA, after successfully completing the spring Tball season playing for the Rockets. His team did very well and he is really excited to get to play “real” TBall next spring for Southwest Little League. (He missed the age cutoff by days this year.)


Molly spent most of her summer as she spends the school year, dancing. She attended the week long dance camp at the Academy of the Arts in July, performing as a garden flower, a lobster, and a teapot in the camp’s Alice in Wonderland production.

She was also fortunate enough to take a once a week private ballet lesson with Miss Julianna at the studio. Miss Julianna had formerly danced with the studio, and Ballet Mag in Mississippi, and will be teaching at The Turning Point Ballet Company in Chicago this coming year. Molly loved her private lessons, and is looking forward to another great year at the studio, where she will be taking division two ballet, tap 2, and jazz. (We will be taking a break from Irish this year.)

When she wasn’t dancing, Molly attended both a three day cheer clinic at Jackson High, (put on by the Varsity cheer teams of both Jackson High and Lumen Christi High schools)
**insert cheer camp pics here**
As well as a week long cheer day camp at the Jackson YMCA, where she was given a medal for the “Always remembers the cheers” Award.



Finally, Molly tried her hand at swim team, practicing with Luke during the summer conditioning practices in July. While she made tremendous improvements in both her ability and endurance, Molly has decided not to pursue a career in swimming at this time. ;) (I.e. It was an important and humbling lesson for Molly to learn that there are some things in life that do not come easily to her, and also that there are definitely things which her brother can do with more skill. ;) )

Lucas, made every effort to spend the vast majority of his summer, lounging in front of the TV, and desperately trying to teach Samuel to play Pokemon. He did however continue to attend summer conditioning for the Jackson Orcas YMCA Swim Team four nights a week throughout June and July.

In July Luke also competed at the City of Jackson Parks and Recreation City Meet at Ella Sharp pool in Jackson. This was Luke’s first outdoor meet, and his first meet in a 50 meter pool. (He typically swims in a 25 meter pool.) It was also my first un-coached meet. Meaning, I was responsible for registering him, and getting him to his races on schedule, as well as talking him through warm ups etc. Needless to say I have a much higher appreciation for what Coach Sean does throughout the season, being both the mom and the coach was exhausting. Despite my qualms, and best efforts to convince him otherwise, Luke insisted on swimming the 100 meter IM (individual medley) instead of the 25 meter freestyle sprint. In the end he made a good choice and wound up qualifying for the state Park’s and Rec. Meet in all three events he swam, finishing first in the 50 meter freestyle, second in the 25 meter butterfly, and first in the 100 IM.
In August we traveled to the state meet in Ypsilanti, where Luke again impressed finishing with two medals in the 50 free, and the 25 fly, and a ribbon for a fourth place finish in the 100 IM. Even more impressively he took 42 seconds off his qualifying time in the 100 IM. We were all very proud of our State Champion, and looking forward to another exciting swim season.

Luke also decided to try his hand at flag football in July, attending a one week sport day camp. He seemed to really enjoy it and has been enjoying practicing with Jason ever since. Mom can’t say this is her ideal choice of activity, football is dangerous to a mom, but dad insists a “normal” part of a “typical” boys growing up years. I am still looking for some kind of evidence that Michael Phelps opted out of this whole “football thing” as a child -- I need some kind of amo in my back pocket when the discussion comes up with Luke! (So if you’re reading this Debbie Phelps -- help another mom out!)


As if all of that weren’t enough to keep us on our toes, the kids and I spent much of June and July thoroughly cleaning the house out and gearing up for our annual yard sale. And yes, I mean the kids AND I. Molly has become quite the expert at guiding Samuel and Teague into picking up their bedroom toys, and Luke has rather unwillingly learned to cycle out the laundry, and be the “bathroom fairy”, cleaning up the laundry left on the floor there and sweeping. Even Samuel has become my “Sock Buckaneer” when sorting laundry.

No, this was not achieved easily, and yes, it would have been faster and more efficient had I just done all these things by myself, as I have in the past. BUT in the end it would not have been as valuable as having children, who with a little prodding now actively participate in maintaining the house, and who knows where all that participation may rub off? As I type this Jason has spent the last two Saturday mornings, cleaning out a cupboard and sweeping the garage. What was it they say about old dogs?

So sure, Molly was once overheard screaming down the stairs “The boy’s toys?! I just made them clean that yesterday, everyday it’s the same!” (hee.. Hee.. Um.. Welcome to my world kid!) And Luke and I had a heated discussion about whether or not grown ups have kids “just so they can make them clean for them.” But all in all, I have a feeling I will be reaping the benefits of our summer cleaning for years to come. If nothing else they will all have spouses someday who should appreciate my hard work. ;)

For what it’s worth, our yard sale went off remarkably well, given the economy here in Jackson. We were slammed with customers in the morning, hit our goal of being able to book hotel rooms for the fall Frankenmuth trip with our earnings, and even went out to eat at Applebee’s that night. In the end we sold nearly ALL of Molly’s outgrown clothes and a great deal of the boys. We packed up five kitchen garbage bags of items to donate to the Goodwill and brought VERY little back into the house. (Only a single baby doll, that Teague walked up to at the sale, stared at for moment, thoughtfully inspected, and then ripped the price tag off of it and ran away into the back yard clutching it and yelling “my baby!”)


Finally we took the month of August off all of our activities and “stay-cationed” right here around home. We attended a cruise in downtown, took a family outing to the Nixon Water Park here in Jackson, visited the Cascades water falls with friends,drove out to Battle Creek to see the baby giraffes, and watched a Civil War Battle reenacted at the Civil War Muster just down the street. (Where else can you live in a northern state and have the quiet peace of your neighborhood disrupted one weekend a year by canons and artillery fire? )

We even communed with all kinds of creepy and slimy things at Reptile Weekend in Binder Park Zoo. How it is that two of my kids will run screaming in terror from a Chihuahua but willingly pet an Anaconda is beyond me! They simply MUST get it from their dad.

We also took three “day trips” to other local attractions.
One bright Sunday morning we drove out to Saint Joseph’s on Lake Michigan and spent the day impersonating beach bums. (There will be tons of pics to upload of this in an upcoming post)
We drove down 23 to the Toledo Zoo and did our best Polar Bear, and elephant impersonations.
And Jason ,Samuel, and I took in a winning game at Oldsmobile Park in Lansing, cheering on those Lugnuts.

All said, the summer was practically perfect, and not nearly as busy as it sounds all written out here! Besides, I’ve found we’re a family that likes busy. Believe it or not there was still plenty of time for family barbeques, (although if Jason doesn’t get a new grill by next summer he’s sure to blow up the neighborhood! Lol..) chasing fireflies, smores in the yard, staying up late, walking to the playscape, catching up with friends, and eating ice cream from the truck. So when I’m sitting at the fireworks tonight, waiting for dusk, eating my elephant ear, and trying to keep an eye on the kids running amuck in the field as they use their glow-stick necklaces for Frisbees, I just might hear the words of Louis Armstrong in my ear “and I think to myself… What a wonderful world.” Of course that could always be a hallucination brought on by the over powering fog of aerosol bug spray…..

Summer Education

Top 25 Lessons of Summer

1. Ice cream from the ice cream truck is apparently a delicacy. It costs more than The Parlour and is nowhere near as satisfying. But there is something about that Pink Panther…..

2. Spray on sunscreen sucks- unless you enjoy tanning and/or burning like marble art.

3. Minor League baseball is far more family friendly than major league baseball, and a whole lot more affordable too.

4. Rain is for the weekends. At least that’s they way it seemed!

5. Do not let your two year old get his own bag of cotton candy. Trust me. Just. Don’t. Do it.

6. If you make plans with someone else’s kid KEEP THEM. Even if your kid got a better offer, or turned into a demon spawn, your idea of “equally acceptable” leaves someone else with a devastated and disappointed child. Not cool to your fellow mamas! Save the emergency cancellations for actual emergencies and illness. Sure stuff happens, we all get that -- but don’t make it more likely than not to happen!

7. Life is more “accomplishable” without the internet.

8. Play in the sprinkler with your kids at least once a summer. It’s so simple and yet so innocently fun. Besides, before you know it they won’t want to do it anymore.

9. They should require some kind of merit badge to use the self service checkout at the store. You must pass some basic skills and IQ test or something, because I swear it is really not that hard!

10. On the same note, check writing in the express or u-scan should be banned.

11. God Bless a town with a free fireworks display three times a year.

12. Family night at the Cascades Falls is the most affordable, enjoyable, and little publicized event in town. $5 for the whole family, and that includes any “tag-a-long” family members, grandparents, etc. The falls are pretty, the music always family friendly, and the kids have a TOTAL BLAST running up and down through the fountains on the stairs. They even have characters weekly.

13. Some days it is to hot to cook. That is why God invented the $5 Hot and Ready Pizza.

14. Spend as much time as you can outside, it keeps the house clean.

15 I can’t take credit for this one but: There is good food, and then there’s FAIR food. (originally spotted on the outdoor sign at Roxy Café, N. West Ave, Jackson, MI)

16. Fresh Strawberries and fresh sweet corn from a roadside stand are a little piece of heaven.

17. If you take your kids to the zoo so they can be amazed by things like a state of the art African Elephant exhibit they will spend the entire time in front of it going “Hey mom! Look there’s a chipmunk in there!”

18. Teach your kids to do the laundry and die a happy women.

19. Let your husband play with charcoal and lighter fluid and he will die a happy man.

20. Catch fireflies- enough said.

21. If you borrow someone your yard sale table for a weekend they will keep it a minimum of two weeks.

22. Call it a muffin the two year old will scream. Call it a breakfast cupcake and they clap.

23. There is something to be said for quiet Sunday afternoons.

24. You know your 7 year old has watched to many commercials when she steps onto the hot sand and yells -- “those little red guys are giving me that foot sickness, I can feel it burning.” (Picture the cartoon germs in the athlete’s foot commercial! Hee, hee)

25. Summer is short. So stay up late, and get up early.

Technical Difficulties

Due to some issues with our computer the blog will continue to be down for at least another week. Miss you all!

Wednesday

And I still have a house full of sick wads.

UGH -- Teague is now starting with the fever and I am in a panic as he has surgery scheduled for Tuesday. Trying to find the bright side in all of this.......

God is watching out for us and I know his plans are at work! ;)

Update

So we ended up in the emergency room last night. (I know you are all likely getting tired of my hyperemesis updates) I probably would have toughed it out with the dehydration and the vomiting but I was getting really dizzy from all of it and then I started having some cramping that was getting worse as well.

The good news is that we are guessing the cramping was simply caused by the severe dehydration. The baby looked fine via ultrasound, as did everything else. We got to hear the heartbeat (163 beats per minute) as well. I felt like such crud at the time I didn't really enjoy the moment until later on in retrospect. I got several IV bags of fluids and an IV drug cocktail of Zofran and Phenegran that seemed to work as well. I ate a bowl of cereal this morning and some toast last night -- all is well so far. I have a prescription (again) to fill today for the Zofran so I am hoping to be over the hump.

The bad news is of course that Luke AND Molly are home today with sore throats and fevers, so I am headed into the pediatrician's office, even though all I really want to do is rest.

For those of you with good memories, yes, Zofran is the medicine that ultimately enabled me to eat with Lucas.

And if you look in the picture above, the chicken mcnugget shaped thing in the middle of the "empty space" is the baby. (It is not shaped as weird as it looks -- at the top where it looks like an "Arm" or whatever is sticking out is where the dumb ultrasound tech typed the word "baby")

Mommy Woes

Why can't they just STAY this little?

Well it's Monday. And after a very long weekend of being sick I am waiting for the Dr's office to open so I can call about a new prescription. I am trying to keep my thoughts up -- I have done this two other pregnancies (albeit not recently) and I can do this again. If I can avoid the hospital I am in good shape. And I know in the end, it will all be worth it.

I tried to keep my mind off of it on Saturday by working on plan's for Samuel's Circus party in June. (Yes I know his birthday is in July) He is excited for it, as it is his first big birthday party.

Oh yes, and I have to see about adding a panel to Molly's tap costume because of all things -- it's to small. Yikes! I am used to altering her costumes because they are to big, to long, whatever, but I have never had one be to small before. I am a little nervous about it.

Teague Pretending

Teague being a "truck-vroom, vroom" (and attacking the camera!)

This is what TEague did most of last week. He would put one pair of socks on his feet and one pair on his hands and be a "meow" -- it was so stinking cute!

Teague being "Nemo."
Do I see another swimmer here? :)

Yep...

it's Saturday, not Friday. And no, I haven't sent any blog updates yet. There really isn't much to update. I am still trying to find a drug cocktail that enables me to eat again, let alone drink. Being sick and pregnant is the strangest sensation in the world. You can be puking and starving at the same time, go figure? I do not think I am dehydrated to the point of needing fluids yet, I don't feel that sickly yet. (Although Jason questioned this morning if I am just so use to this routine that I don't notice I feel that ill.) I don't think so though, it's been almost six years since I was newly pregnant with Samuel and I had no hyperemesis gravidurm with Teague. (That's what this lovely stage of my pregnancies are called!) Anyway, I am hoping to get to Monday without needing IV fluids and then the Dr will likely switch my meds again. The good news is the only thing left to switch to is the Zofran (my miracle drug), the bad news of course is that the only thing left to switch to is Zofran (gold in a bottle price wise)

On a side note, Jason took Samuel to his soccer game this morning, and I feel much worse about that than I do the puking. I have never missed a game of Samuel's, or a swim meet, or ... you name it. I never miss. Hopefully he isn't scared for life...... ;)

Weighing school options....

Ugh, it's that time of year again. I am really trying to give a fair and balanced look at all of our school options for next year, homeschooling (which would really need to include everyone next year I can't do the half here, you here, you there thing anymore) public school (God help me!), school of choice, charter schools, private schools... I just don't know what to do. All of my usual argument about any of these choices are compounded by my stress about Jason's work situation, my present health (which is sucky at best right now), and trying to gear up how I am going to feel with the pregnancy next fall,and a baby in winter. I wonder if I can do it at all.

Add all of this to the ISD wanting Teague to go to preschool to be able to continue to get his physical therapy for his legs and the fact that IF I were to send Samuel to school, pretty much ANY school, he would have to go full day as half day kindergarten no longer exists it seems. (which is beyond crazy if you ask me, there is NO real reason for full day kindergarten)

School is just a nightmare decision for me, I often feel like I know what the *right* choice is for my kiddos but I don't think that I can actually achieve it. UGH... vent over.

Two down, two to go.

Molly got her second recital costume yesterday, jazz. It's pretty cute and I can totally see her trying to wear the shirt with jeans about town. lol... I will post pics as soon as I can. We only got to bring the shirt home, the pants need to be hemmed. Now, I was more than willing to hem the pants myself as we have in years past, but the teachers marked all of them and kept them so I am guessing the studio wants to do it themselves????

Easter thoughts.

So Easter was yesterday, it went pretty well. I really thought we did a good job scaling back the Easter baskets (Jason didn't want to do them AT ALL!) and still making the kids happy.

I spent a little while last night thinking about the old saying "God doesn't give us more than we can handle." I have heard that a thousand times over the years, but to be totally honest, I usually feel like God has a much higher opinion of my capabilities than I do. It seems like everyday I fall short of being the wife and the mother that I want to be, that I am pretty sure God wants me to be. I am to tired, or to stressed, or just plain overextended.

But what does my reaction to stress say about my relationship with God? What is it saying when I take this life that God has blessed me with and say "I can't handle this! I can't do this." Is that somehow saying that I know better than God? If God thinks I can handle this, is it my place to tell him I can't? Surely not, so the question becomes when I say "I can't" am I really saying "I won't"?

I'm not sure, but its something I will be pondering this week. I certainly don't FEEL like I am defiantly saying "I won't." Mostly when I say "I can't" I tend to feel desperate and defeated. Hmmmmm....

An apology.

The blog was poorly kept us this week. This pregnancy thing is kicking my butt. I think I forgot how easy I had it with Teague compared to say Samuel and Luke's pregnancies. So instead I am grateful to have gotten lots of pics this week, and I updated below a description from each day. Next week I hope to do better, and to feel better. Hopefully things will work out.

"B" Day

So Thursday was "B" Day, or Brace Day, for Teague. The day was a long way coming, and it's a good thing. I have to keep reminding myself of that -- it's a good thing. Jason, Samuel, and I took Teague to the University of Michigan hospital on Thursday morning and picked up his braces. Truth be told, we both cried, Teague and I. They are cumbersome to him, he can't run in them just yet, although the doctor says they shouldn't be hurting him in anyway. For anyone who is interested they are twister cable suspension AFOs. (at least I am pretty sure that is what the chicken scratch on the order says)

The hardest part for Teague seems to be that he seems to do okay with them in spurts, once he forgets that he is wearing them. As soon as he remembers though, he starts hysterically screaming and trying to rip them off. Last night we caught him trying to throw them in the garbage.

The hardest part for me, was watching the way other people looked at him, even in the hallways at U of M, as though there were something wrong with him. I really wanted to take them off of him myself.

We are hoping to only need them for 9 months to a year. We are calling them "Buzz Lightyear" legs -- that seemed to work for a little while yesterday afternoon. The large belt at the top goes around his waist, the shoes are attached and the other belts go around just below his knee.

He is wearing them in these pictures with the Big Bird statue in Mott's, although it is hard to see because of his coat.

Thursday

Thursday was a long day, thank God I was finally feeling better. I still had my moments but I would have never gotten through the day had it happened on Tuesday.

Jason and I had appointments literally all day long with Samuel and Teague. And when our appointments were over Jason went off to work in the evening. Leaving me with a ballet lesson, a swim lesson, a swim team practice, and a soccer practice to coach. I am tired again just typing all that. Thursday evenings are insane around right now, as we have a couple of "seasons" that have overlapped.

I actually had the camera in my bag still at dance so I took some ballet pics of Molly. I have to tell you, when I looked through them at home I was shocked. I have tons of pics of dance classes over the years. Cute little toddler belly in a pink leo pics, preschoolers with bit hair ribbons and a leo pics, lots of pics of little girls pretending to be "ballerinas". But all of a sudden, that is not what I had pictures of. Sure, they were still pictures of a little girl doing ballet, and stretching for ballet, but all of a sudden it looks like pictures of a real dancer. Not toddlers in tutus, you know? It reminded me how much Molly has grown up this year, and matured in general, not just at dance.

I let the camera tag along to swim lessons, and swim team too!

Finally I had to coach soccer and I have to say -- I didn't feel good afterward. I was tired, and cranky, and then I started to feel crampy. I layed down on the couch and after a few hours it went away, but this same thing happened after the last game so I am thinking I may not be able to finish the season. I really hope to make it -- we have only three weeks left.

Wednesday

Wednesday I still felt miserable, but it was helped by the fact that Jason was off from work for the rest of the week. I was able to sleep more in the morning, and generally just relax more. At least it helped for awhile.

Teague had an ENT appointment that day, and it looks like he will have surgery to place ear tubes on April 28th, barring unforeseen disaster. More on this later.

By Wednesday night we were planning on going out to eat, we had a gift certificate for the Outback. (This is how Jason's employer gives out "safety" awards--you get gift certificates every quarter with no accidents... they used to give cash!) However, we had one child that had a particularly difficult day behaving, and one that insisted they didn't want to go -- Teague didn't have an opinion either way. So in the end, we got a sitter and Jason and I took Samuel out alone. It was fun, and nice for Samuel to be the center of attention for a bit.

After our meal, he got up to "dance" to the music. lol... I couldn't resist sharing.

Tuesday....

If I felt exhausted and sick on Monday, it was nothing compared to how I felt on Tuesday. (I think it was the worst day of the week for me.) I tried as hard as I could not to leave the house at all. All the "sickness" left me dehydrated giving me a killer headache, in addition to the everything else. Molly even skipped jazz because I was to exhausted to leave the house. (Which most of you know, we RARELY skip dance.)

Teague was being so helpful in my illness that he tried to make himself "smell good mama" with the baby powder. Um... yeah... who'd have thought the smell of baby powder could make one nauseous?

Happy April!

So it snowed last night. A LOT of heavy, wet snow. Which, while seemingly ordinary in Michigan is really quite a feet for April. Every school district in the county, including JCC were cancelled today. Yes, you heard that correctly, Luke extended spring break by one day for a SNOW DAY. (He was not thrilled, he actually likes to go to school!)

Overall the kids were pretty excited with the day, I was feeling a little bit frazzled. Having woken up to Teague declaring "Mama! It's Christmas!" after seeing the snow himself, I felt a little off all day. I had planned to be back in the swing of the things today after break, and now I felt on hold. Samuel went to the Dr today with an infected eye cut, and I felt generally "sick" all day. I gave myself a migraine driving without my sunglasses (I underestimated how bright that much snow was) and then I was exhausted the rest of the day.

The kids were good though -- Molly even forced Samuel into helping her clean the upstairs bedrooms. And Luke returned to swim practice today after 5 weeks off. (I know, I know... summer conditioning starts in April.)

In the end I am forgoing the menu tonight -- even though I know it will throw the rest of the week's menu off as well, and ordering pizza for the game. I don't feel like cooking, or eating pasta. In fact, I think I will settle for english muffins and peanut butter for myself. (One of my friends on facebook just suggested that and man does it sound good! You know who you are and if I end up wanting to eat it daily I am gonna blame you! ;) )

So it's Friday

And spring break is almost over. I didn't get done nearly all the cleaning I had intended to. Of course, we did do a lot of fun things. The kids have been to the park, the zoo, and today we are headed to see Monsters vs. Aliens with Becky and Jason.

It's been a relaxing week, which we all needed. A pleasant change not to be racing the clock, and racing through the schedule. The only "thing" we had this week beyond church was Samuel's soccer practice last night and only two other players even showed up. (Not even the other COACH grrrr....) But even that felt quiet and in control. It was nice. :)

This weekend Jason and I are going on a "date" (yummy! I want Bravo pasta!) and we are getting the boys bed.

Have a great weekend everyone, and thank to all for the many well wishes and congratulations.

I may have traumatized the boys yesterday.

So desperately in need of a cleaning break yesterday the kids and I took off for Potter Park Zoo in Lansng. It was the only zoo open within an hour of the house and I didnt feel brave enough to dare Toledo on my own. Yes it was only 50 degrees, and sure it was windy. But it also meant we got in super cheap and had the place almost entirely to ourselves.

Overall it was a good trip. It was the first trip of the season, and definately Teague's most "interested" trip, being over two now and familiar with lots of animal names and sounds. The river otters were really active, which all the kids loved, and Samuel also announced that they had "found Nemo!" in the coral reef display.

Teague was a little baffled when he came across the Capybara, which if you didn't know is the world's largetst rodent! He looked at it, looked at it me, cocked his head to the side and said "Mama! Look - it's a bah-bunny-woof!" :)

All the kids especially loved the petting zoo. Only some of the animals were out due to the weather, but we got to see the Yak, and the reindeer (the ho-ho's, as Teague called them) and feed the goats and the llama's. (and yes for all our OCD readers I had hand sanitizer!)

My little Diego lovers especially got into the Spider Monkeys, and Teague yelled "Move it, move it!" (think Madagascar previews) when he saw the Lemurs!

Now I know what you are thinking -- this doesn't sound so traumatic. But wait. The last thing we did was go the large "cat" house. The way this zoo is set up it has both indoor and outdoor viewing of the large cats depending on if they are in or out. We saw the tiger and the snow leopard (baby jaguar if you ask Samuel!) outside and headed in to see the smaller monkeys and the African Lion. (Yes I know they keep the smaller monkeys in there with the Lion!)

As soon as we got near the lion cage we could see that it was in the far corner of the enclosure eating. But then Samuel and Teague ran up to the glass and the thing dropped its food a CHARGED the glass. Jumping on it, banging it with it's paw and growling at them. I will be honest -- it startled the crud out of me. And by the time I had finished my "jump" the little boys were rooted in place screaming and crying in fear. A zoo employee was in the building and came over to try and calm them down, saying it is apparently a new lion, and when it sees small children it tends to think they are lunch. Was that supposed to be comforting to them? Meanwhile the lion is still banging on the glass and the glass is actually shaking. Now I know the glass wasn't gonna break. The zoo employee kept reminding us that it would only look like it was going to, it was to thick to actually break. But still. I am trying to pick up Teague and route Samuel and the others out the door as quick as I can because Samuel is starting to make the gagging sound when he cries that I know means he is about to vomit. Which he did -- as soon as we got out the door. Clearly we left after that. :( The entire way out of the zoo Teague clutched my neck and cried "no animals" and Samuel was sobbing until we left the park. He kept yelling at me on the way back to the car (I was trying to carry Samuel's backpack, push the stroller, and carry a sobbing Teague, not to mention drag a reluctant Luke and Molly) that I was not going fast enough. The poor thing was trying to run out of the zoo. :(

Samuel now says he is never going back to that bad zoo, with the bad lion again. I am hopeful Teague wont be afraid of every zoo.

I did try to make it up to them by going to Pizza Hut for dinner last night! (I love the book it program!)

Procrastination

Is the name of the game folks, and I AM the grand supreme champion!

That said, I am posting this now because I will have other time to post today. The kids and I are off on a secret mission.

;)

Breaking news.

Spring Clean Day 2

So I am hoping for better luck today. Yesterday was hard going. It seems I am burnt out by the afternoon these days and having nothing to do makes getting the kids around a task and a half. Who would have thought an empty schedule would be a hindrance?

Today I am making up "chore packs" for the older three to accomplish and am hoping that doing so will keep us more on task. I have told them that if we meet our "goals" for the day tomorrow we will get out of the house and do something "fun". (Don't ask I have no idea what that will be yet!)

I will update this with some cleaning pics later.

Spring Clean Out - Day One!

School is out for spring break this week, the dance studio is closed and even the Y is off! So we are planning to use the week to really clean out the house. Everything needs a good going through, sorting out, and polishing. I am hoping to get everything re-organized and giant yard sale heap at least ready for weeding, pricing, and sorting.

In addition there are a few home repairs I am hoping Jason gets to, and it looks like we will be purchasing some furniture next weekend. The little boys are getting bunk beds! Finally we will be putting new carpet in Luke's new "pad" and finishing hanging his decorations. Whew -- I feel exhausted just reading it!

A Soccer Monster

So after this mornings game the Y youth director informed me that she thinks we may need to move Samuel to the 5 and 6 year old division next season, instead of the 3 to 4 age range. This after he scored 8 goals... in the first quarter. :)

Congratulations Samuel!

Samuel has passed the EEL level at swimming and moved on to RAY/STARFISH (the highest level for kids 3-5) at the YMCA. Way to go puppy!

Weekend Update

And no, this won't be funny like Saturday Night Live. ;) It's Friday and the week is over, school is off for spring break so we are "breaking" here at home as well. We have a couple of tumbling classes this evening and then we are on hiatus even from dance. Swim team will begin back up again in a week. The only thing we have going next week is a solitary soccer practice Thursday night which I wanted to cancel but Samuel missed last night so we are going to go. (I'm the coach so canceling is my prerogative!)

We have a busy weekend ahead, which I am only feeling so-so about. My head is killing me for the third morning in a row (I think have a sinus infection), and the week-- although it has some great highs, had some serious rough patches. We have weight check at the pediatrician's today, two tumbling classes this evening, and Samuel has a 10 am soccer game tomorrow. Of course, it's picture week at soccer so we will have to be there by 9:30. I was invited to a mom's twilight viewing party on Saturday :) but I don't think I will be going as it conflicts a bit with my schedule. We also have church on Sunday and our couple's bible study Sunday night, which I may be going to alone this week because Jason has to work Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night. Ugh.

Samuel-isms.

So Samuel is dropping off at school this morning and sees the sign designating it a "smoke free, weapon free, drug free" area. The sign also has symbols-- a cigarette, a gun, and a needle. He points it out to Teague and says "See, no smoking, no shooting, no flu shots." :) Sometimes I love the innocence of a 4 year old. Actually, I think I always love the innocence.

Quiet Evenings.

Confession time, we skipped out on church last night. That is really rare for us on a Wednesday night, but I was cold and had a headache. (Yes I know it wasn't cold yesterday, but I was cold. I think I am coming down with something...) So we came home, the kids had Long John Silvers (yuck!) and I had mashed potatoes from the chicken place. It was kind of nice to spend an evening at home, with the TV off, quietly decompressing from a busy weekday. I wouldn't trade Wednesday night service for it on a regular basis (I need that spiritual re jolt midweek to much!) but it was nice for a change of pace. Samuel and Teague built a Thomas puzzle about a dozen times, and Molly and Luke played Chutes and Ladders, and Monopoly Jr.

One more belated birthday thought.

Yesterday, my little sister turned 16. My baby sister. Wow. First of all -- that makes me old. lol.. Second of all-- wow, that makes her old! Well, at least it makes her "big" And that's kind of hard for me to wrap my brain around. I still think of Sarah as the little girl with the long blond hair who used to dress up as "Princess Goldenaria" and go to the bagel store with me. She always used to get a choc chip bagel toasted with butter. :)

Already being "older" when Sarah was born she taught me a lot of things. How to change a diaper, burp a baby, keep track of a running toddler at the park. More importantly Sarah taught me how to not be loved, but how to love someone else unconditionally. I loved Sarah so much in those early years that when I was pregnant with Lucas, before we knew if he was a boy or a girl, I used to cry (because I was hormonal!) but also because I was "afraid" that he would be a girl and I wouldn't think she was as pretty as Sarah was. Now that I am a mom 4 times over again I know better -- that's just not the way it works. But at the time it was a real fear!

So Happy Birthday sweet Sister! (a day late on here I know!) I hope you had a great day.

The Birthday Boy (part one)

It's Jason's Birthday today, and I am going to take this moment to be thankful for the generous husband, and the fabulous dad he has grown up to be. :) And I can say that because we were barely grown ups when got married, and the dad thing didn't always come so naturally. (As expected of an only child who was never really around babies, or siblings!) When Luke was three weeks old Jason asked me if he was "Slow" because he wasn't crawling or anything. hee, hee,... but you would never know it now: