Spring Break

We did it!  Spring Break 2013 was a hit.  There was nothing better than having the boys home for a week.  When all was said and done I was pretty bummed to head back into our school routine.  If anything I’m looking forward even more to summer.  And yes, this might be the hormones talking since summer = home all day long with three busy boys + one newborn.

I’m such a homebody at heart.  To me there is nothing better than puttering around the house, digging around the garden, baking something each day and just being with my kiddos.  Allowing our days to be determined not by a schedule, {pick-up! drop-off! practice!} but by our own rhythm.  I also love watching the relationships between each brother grow.  Of course this also comes with our fair share of hurt feelings and disagreements.  Yet sometimes its as if I can actually see the threads of brotherhood actually weaving in and out of each interaction.  I’m certain that this is yet another reason I’m so insistent on always circling the wagons.  Keeping playdates to a minimum and just letting my boys discover their days together – as brothers.

This week we are back at it.  Yesterday I counted and I loaded and unloaded and buckled the kids into the car seven times.  {Truthfully I just buckle William and Henry helps with Charlie but I did herd and coral the kids all SEVEN times.}

Yes, I realize how silly I am.  Always wishing for something else.  Like for my sanity.  One less errand.  Or a sudden burst of energy.  Too much to ask?  Maybe.

Seen and heard.

Henry: “William what’s your name?”

William:  “William”

Henry:  “What’s the color of the sky?”

William:  “Blue”

Henry: “What’s the opposite of down?”

William: “up.”

Henry:  “William…blue…up!”  Add lots of laughter and giggles from the boys. And repeat. And repeat again…

william *did* his hair before school.

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typical before-bed antics.  love you Alex!

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“Bubble gum, bubble gum in a dish….”

or

“Enie, Meanie, Miny Moe…”

“and you are IT!”

That’s how we now decide who says the prayer before dinner.

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Cousin Anna to Henry:  “It smells like up dog in here.”

Henry:  “What is up dog???”

Loooong pause

“OOHHH, I get it.  What is up dog!”

Five minutes later.  “It smells like up dog in here.”

Repeat endlessly.

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Ah…life with boys.

It’s the little things.

After Christmas Charlie initiated a bedroom shuffle around our house.  We were happy to play along because, {A} it was still Christmas vacation and bedtime didn’t need to be strongly enforced and {B} we had always really wanted Charlie to share a room with one of his brothers…because…well it’s hard to explain but it’s a whole combination of: guilt, perception, building up his relationships with his brothers and well, I don’t know…

Anyhow, never in a million years did we think this new arrangement of Charlie and William sharing a room would work.  Over one month in and the transition has been flawless.  Henry happily moved into his own room and enjoys reading every night before bed.  Charlie and William read, snuggle and yes even play before bed in their shared room.  And somehow, this new magical arrangement has all three boys not only going to bed earlier, but sleeping in longer.  If that wasn’t enough, Alex and I often get to catch glimpses of our two little ones all snuggled in together.  The light still on, books scattered around them.  Two brothers, happy and content.  There is no doubt that it’s really all about the little things isn’t it?

Lunch

Lunchtime.  We rush home from pre-school, knowing that we have to squeeze in lunch, story time and naps before we have to turn around again and pick-up Henry in only a few hours.  It could easily be just one more daily task or simply a transitional part of our day, but instead it’s become one of my favorite hours.

I pull out all of the ingredients covering what seems like half of the counter.  Our go-to favorite is a turkey sandwich.  Each one of us has a different variation.  Lettuce and mayo for all, cheddar cheese for Charlie, rice cheese for William, and spicy mustard, sharp cheddar and avocado for me.  Fruits and veggies vary based on personal preference but we all agree that chips are the perfect side.

Sometimes we sit side-by-side going over the school day.  Sometimes the little ones eat on the run, playing with their toys and running back and forth for each bite.  On those days I sit quietly reading and eating.  There isn’t any rush to move towards nap time.  Somehow the clock always cooperates.

I realize that we aren’t always going to be eating this mid-day meal together, and this only makes me want to soak it up this time even more.

Happy New Year!

I realize that I’m about three weeks late with that sentiment but in my defense this is the first {ok, maybe second} *real* week we’ve had back in our usual routine.  The boys school vacation schedules were off so I was in part vacation mode/part real world mode for almost a month.  We {me} forgot more appointments and practices than usual and I probably spent more time in my jammies than I should publicly admit.  But somehow it was just what we needed.

We met the Christmas season moving at a snail’s pace.  And by the time the little ones were out of school if Amazon wasn’t delivering then it probably wasn’t going to be under the tree.  I just don’t take my little ones shopping.  Target and the grocery only if necessary, but other stores are an absolute no.  I can’t make a decent decision for the life of me and they are miserable too.  So we just skip it all together.  This probably also explains why we know our UPS man personally.

Anyhow, Christmas was wonderful.  We left town for a week of skiing and Christmas celebrations.  We have done this for a few years now and love it.  This also allows us multiple early Christmas celebrations with other family members who aren’t travelling with us.  We get to celebrate together but we aren’t rushing around, we actually get to relax and enjoy our time together and the kids have the chance to savor each gift they receive rather than loosing them in the shuffle.

I also realize that with our growing family this might not always work.  Quite honestly while on the road we looked like an episode of Hoarders buried alive, the *on wheels* version.  With three kids, two parents, one uncle, ski stuff for everyone, food, clothes, presents, etc. and yes even a suburban with a rocket box on top and we were drowning.  Oh and our speedometer broke.  But don’t worry, there’s an app for that.  However, there was no app to fix our DVD player.  Which also broke.  Sort of.  It would ONLY play Elf and Home Alone.  Parents of the year we are not.  In our defense it was a 9-hour trip.

We had a blast.  And of course I’m going to share an overload of vacation pictures.

Alex skied two full-days.  I skied two full-days.  Henry skied five.  Go figure.  And yes he has officially passed almost all of us up.  He is fast and prefers the bumps.  Did I mention that he is fast?  It scares me to death.  He was however, also very protective of me on the mountain.  “I don’t want anyone to run into you mom.  You’re pregnant so you need to be very aware of other skiers.  Tell you what, I’ll just ski behind you to make sure you are safe.”  That of course lasted for five seconds, but it was the sentiment that I loved.  This also means that I have no pictures of Henry actually skiing.

Charlie and William also put in some quality time on the ski hill courtesy of the magic carpet.  They both love to be on skis and their giggles as they fly down the hill and even when they eventually fall are the best.

We went bowling.  This was a great family activity for all of our kiddos, even the little guys had a blast.  As for scoring I’m pretty sure William was right behind Alex, and Uncle Jimmy might have come in last.  And yes, we used the bumper guards.

And bless my parents hearts.  They still welcome our loud montely crew.  We take over the entire basement and you can be sure that our stuff spills onto the other levels as well.  No matter, they still feed us and genuinely seem to have a good time with the whole crew under one roof.  {It’s 2012 kids, and Pop-pop is reading the Night Before Christmas via iphone…}  And a special shout out to my brothers.  My boys pretty much think they walk on water.

A regular ‘ol school year.

I’m the first to admit that I’ve never really fallen into the *pro-grow* camp when my kids are concerned.  Not because I’m not looking forward to what the future holds, but because I’m always wishing time would slow down so that I can soak it all in.  To really appreciate who my beautiful babies are growing up to be, and who they are right now.  Without all of the rush and the duties of life.  Because obviously it all goes so fast and sometimes I feel like I’ve missed it while buried underneath a pile of laundry.

This year is different.  We’ve turned a corner and voila!  We have big kids!  Well maybe not BIG kids, but at least they all use the potty, so yes, bigger kids.  And each kiddo is thriving and growing and right where they need to be.

Henry has happily settled into our neighborhood elementary school as a second grader.  {Second Grade!!}  He has grown leaps and bounds since this time last year.   {In heart, mind, and yes, shoe size.}  We are constantly blown away by his independence, his strong work ethic and determination.  And each of these traits is nicely balanced by a heart overflowing with love and concern for others.

He’s obviously not a little boy anymore. He is a big kid and he’s got it handled.  He makes it easy to simply love him as he grows.  For this I am so thankful.

Charlie cutie.

We truly understand and appreciate the gift that a regular ‘ol school year is.  {Who would have ever thought it?}  And so we are basking in the goodness of knowing that each kiddo is thriving.

This picture is deceiving because William really does love school.  He however, does not like picture day at school.  Obviously.

I’m so proud of our little guy.  He’s learning new things.  He’s making real friends.  And I love catching him in his steady stream of talk – singing songs he’s learned during circle time, rattling off the days of the week, or pretending to be the teacher.  He’s been busy creating his own little slice of life that I don’t know about.  It’s kind of killing me a little bit.  In a good way.  I’m so proud of him.  And let’s be honest, I’m proud of me too.

The county fair.

We channeled our inner country as Henry insisted that we all wear some form of cowboy attire.

We ate.  We played.

We saw all kinds of animals.

The boys soaked up every single minute.

Guess who loved riding the ponies?  This was especially exciting as Charlie starts his hippo-therapy lessons this Thursday!

Guess who might be a little too big for the ponies?

I even got to join in the fun and ride the caterpillar roller coaster.  Wheee!

We’re pretty sure William only met the height requirement thanks to his big hair.

We *may* have made a questionable parenting decision.

At least we left with everyone alive and in one piece.  That was a relief.  {For the record Henry had a blast but Alex and I might have suffered minor heart attacks from the sidelines.}

Whew.

Later that night Alex and I went back to the fair for a hot date at the Craig Morgan country concert.  You know International Harvester right?  No?  Anyway, I wore my best flannel shirt and cowboy boots.  My real cowboy boots.  Have I ever shared that story?  Last summer {2011} on our tenth wedding anniversary Alex and I decided to treat ourselves to custom Lucchese cowboy boots.  I knew that this spoke directly to Alex’s country-loving side and heck, if anything they would be a cute addition to my closet.  So we picked out our boots and had a good laugh while our our long and skinny feet were measured.  Five months later they finally arrived.  My boots fit like a glove.  Alex’s not so much.  Oh boy.  Not knowing what to do, he called the store and asked them what his options were.  The store {one of our faves} didn’t hesitate to take them back and offered my hubby store credit.  And what did my darling husband purchase to commemorate our ten years together?  A shotgun.  A camo shotgun.  So ten years in and we have a pair of cowboy boots for me and a shotgun for him.

William goes to school.

{toy gun and jammies aside, this is the most recent photo of William I have.  And yes, he is always this cute.}

Sometime at the beginning of September William started pre-school.

I should know the exact date, but honestly my brain isn’t functioning quite right these days.  I’m blaming it on all of the excercise I’ve been doing {four days worth} but clearly I’ve lost my mind.  There is no way you can convince me otherwise, because this morning I FORGOT that my cleaning lady was coming.  I wasn’t home and the house was locked up tight.  Insanity.  You just don’t forget when someone is coming over to clean your house.

So yes, the exact first day of pre-school escapes me.  Besides that there were 8-10 gradual start days and one meet the teacher day.

Anyhow.

Henry was settled into 2nd grade, Charlie was happily back in his Montessori pre-school class and William was ready.  Walking into the school William happily announced that “this is finally my school mommy!”  His entire life he’s watched one of his brothers walk into a Montessori classroom and it was finally his turn.

To commemorate the big day, I broke out a pair of hand-me-down pumas, declaring them “Your new school shoes!” He totally bought it.

He marched into his classroom like he owned the place.  The first day {well, the meet the teacher day, see why I’m confused?} he got to know the classroom and was introduced to some of the work.  His teacher was demonstrating a station, and asked him to stand next to her watching, with his hands behind his back.  A few times he reached out to touch the work and was corrected, “William, please stand and watch for now.”  Finally, it was William’s turn to “work” and he sat down while his teacher stood by his side.  Without missing a beat, William looked up at Miss Jocelyn and said “You need to stand with your hands behind your back while I work please.”

I giggled while also trying to look serious.

So yes, I suppose he really is ready for school.  It doesn’t seem possible – it still doesn’t, but seeing him at work in his classroom makes me think he really might be old enough for this.  Of course this does nothing to stop me from asking his teacher almost daily if she thinks this is a good fit.  “Do you think he seems tired?”  “Maybe he’s too young for this?”  And every time the teacher assures me he is ready.  That he is adjusting well.  I’m happy to hear this, but I’m also ready to swoop in and take my baby home at a moments notice.

But he’s growing and learning.  Each day he doles out precious bits of information like, “We had circle time” and “I did recess!” and “I licked the play dough mommy!”  He brings home paintings daily.  And every single time I pick him up he exclaims “You came back mommy!”

I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t painful for me to let go.  But it’s a gift to watch him grow and thrive.

As for me, I now have five mornings a week on my own.  Honestly I have no idea what to do with myself.

Anything is possible.

As long as it happens between the hours of 9 am and noon.