Hanging out

Hanging out. Something we are getting good at. I have found that being busy with these little ones is rearranging my life. I used to love going out and having play dates and being busy every other day or so out of the house. Not that I don't love play dates but they just wont happen as often anymore.

Now I am good with one outing a week, or less. I am sure I will get stir crazy eventually and want a night or two out, but I am good to go on those alone.

We are just so busy in our own little life at this stage that it would be crazy to go doing even more. I am sure that once reno's are done and packing is done and we are moved and settled things will change, time will tell.

I have realized that we have a lot on our shoulders with raising these little people. We are the ones instilling values and morals and shaping the will. Going out too much messes with that and then we take three steps back to unlearn garbage that they pick up. Oh yes, we can chalk it up to learning experiences, learning how not to behave or how not to talk or dress or whatever the example might be. 

But also teaching them what is right takes a lot of time, we have stubborn natures by nature so it is interesting enough here at home. 

I am not saying that we don't have good friends to hang out with, we have amazing friends, this is some of what I am learning by watching them. I value less stress and am learning that if I do less and focus on what is really important I have less stress. I might miss seeing friends really regularly but I don't love them any less, maybe more because those times spent visiting become more precious.

Getting to know these little guys that God has trusted us with is so cool. Watching their little minds churn and grow, awesome. 

Like Ethan and Kaitlyn when they play bakery. These kids love to watch cake shows, a few in particular and one is Cake Boss. Ethan likes to be Buddy, the main character and he puts on an accent, builds cakes out of pillows blankets and whatever else is laying around. He then gets Kaitlyn (She plays the sister Mary) to help him carry it down to his delivery truck which is made of stools and a fuzzy chair. They then deliver it and collect money and sever the cake. Suddenly Ethan turns into a transformer and is a boat or a robot and he is done with the cake making business. Kaitlyn starts up her own dialogue as if she is playing both parts and brings in a few babies and a bag of random things that she likes to carry around. 

They are better than TV or a book any night.

But then sometimes I feel like I am going to freak. Like I just want to scream, swear a lot, pull my hair out, eat chocolate and guzzle coffee. Like this afternoon. I had to take a few moments to breath and get centered. Pray a little, read a scripture or two, blog a little, tune out a little, twitter. I still wanted chocolate though, and had to put in a call for the husband to stop on the way home.

There was apple sauce spilled on the floor at the same moment that another child dumped a full bag of gold fish at the same moment that another child happened to start screaming and needed to be nursed while the supper dishes were on the stove and the husband wasn't going to be home until really late, oh and another child was somehow mysteriously naked.  Oh and did I mention that we have been living (all our play time) in the living room since our basement flooded in the kids play area a few weeks ago. The 6 x 12 carpet in our living room is feeling rather small. 

I shouldn't complain though, I have not been given more than I can handle. It could be worse, heck it might be some day. I am ok with it 98% of the time, there are just these occasional moments that I just want to step outside, snap my fingers and have the place back in order. I secretly dream that I can be Mary Poppin's for a few moments. Especially after dinner. The kids love to cook. Ever stinking meal!

I try to hide the fact that I am cooking sometimes because I want to eat within an hour. However there is usually a chair pulled over to the counter within a few moments with excited little voices begging to help. So they do. They do all the cooking. This if fun though, for the most part it is actually really fun. However the mess. Oh, the mess.

I wish my mom could come over every morning to deal with what is left behind after supper.

I so wish for Mary Poppin's magic as I walk out!

And then I sit and smell my baby. Baby smell and kisses are intoxicating, they make you forget everything else. I look around and remember that this is a small phase in time and I release the stress and am content to deal with mess for now.

Taking a moment here and there to breath, step back and drink in the situations gives me a different perspective. Suddenly everything going wrong at the same moment appears kinda funny. 

Like a bad joke, but still funny. How I react in these moments is the key. Do I freak out over the accident or quietly clean it up and comfort the children.

This balancing act is getting tougher all the time and I thought I would have it all figured out by now. Hello, I am almost 30!

I was totally planning to have it all figured out by now!

(P.S. that is the garden above, all done, dug up and picked just days before the frost hit big time!)

Anyway I am learning that no matter how old I am I still feel like the same old me, I am just way more comfortable with being the same old me with more experiences and more patience.

And more children.

And less me time.

I miss me time, but wouldn't trade it for anything right now. (I have my moments though, believe me!)

But this is why God makes little kids and  babies smell good and have skin so soft and so snuggly. So you can't help but love em and want to munch their little cheeks.

I can't remember where I was going with this post now. Oops, I think I was going to talk about homeschooling and renovating two places at once and having a baby and then a basement flood and some other stuff. Hmmmm, next time I guess!

I am going to find that baby and snuggle his little rolls right now!

My faves in shades of b & w

(One week old)

Post #2 for today. (Making up for the non posting of the past month.)

Week one...a month ago now!

It's been a month. I know. I am sorry. Sorta. I was tired. Really, really tired. I never knew that when you lost a lot of blood that there was such a recovery. I had good long naps whenever I could and then would fall asleep putting the children to bed. I needed sleep.

Of course that is not all that has happened over the last month, my gosh, can you imagine if it was all about sleep, that would have been great if that was all I was reporting! However we have had a busy month so I will try now to get out a few posts to get caught up. Here are some shots from one afternoon a week after Ronin's birth.

Oh and right off the bat did you notice that we changed his name?

From Roanin to Ronin. How we had it originally for the first two days of his life. People were pronouncing it all wrong so we hit up the vital statistics office when he was 5 days old and had it switched back. I never realized it would be so easy....and free!

Anyway, here is our little photo shoot from that first week. I still have editing to do on the pic's but I am not getting around to that right this minute so you see them as they are so far.

Five years old now and all charm and character. Just yesterday she wanted to play Cinderella and of course she wanted to be the evil stepmother. Why? So she could boss me around and tell me (I was Cinderella) to wash the floors, feed the children, get groceries and do her laundry. It was hilarious. She really does love when she can have control.

Kaitlyn is also learning the graces of a young woman and although she has her moments of displeasure with her brothers or situations she is blowing us away with her thirst for knowledge and urge to help. Her imagination and playing (in character) is forever entertaining. And then there is her style. Five going on fifteen and yet so full of joy.

Ethan. Four now and witty to boot. We are still going to speech therapy and working on sentence structure and sounds and this is going well. There are still some behavior patterns that we don't quite get, like the order of how we get in and out of the truck and how important this order is to Ethan, but the charming puns and whit this kid has more than makes up for those moments. He is the guy that cracks us up. Don't ask him a serious question and expect a serious answer. He will find a way to sneak in something goofy instead.

Hudson. Hudsy bear. One and all mischief. He will raise an eye brow and do exactly what he has been told not to do. Then he will smile a crooked little smile and cock his head a little. All you want to do is swoop him up and smother him in kisses and snuggles rather than discipline him.

He is trouble and yet so adorable as he does it. Like when I have a bath and he creeps into the room with a toy car. He looks at me and then throws the car into the tub. I say "No, no cars in the tub." He walk off and comes back with another car. This time he stands by the door and looks at me with a sort of sad look. Then he takes a step forward. I tell him once again that there are no cars allowed in the tub. He takes another step and looks me in the eye and gives a little smile. Then he pitches the car into the tub and runs off with a giggle.

Trouble I tell ya!

But then he loves to love too. Kisses and pats and hugs all around. More trouble.

Ronin. The first baby that we have had that actually makes a peep. Not really fussy but not as content as the rest of em. He likes to suck non stop and is the first one that has taken a soother and loved it from the first moment. Who knew?!

He is a good sleeper and is chubby and soft and so insanely cuddly. Love him.

And that is our crew. So much for getting a decent group shot, this was the only good one of oh, 20 or so before there were no kids left in the shot at all.

I love you munchkins,

your Mama.