Otis Asweep!

Here is another Knight story for you!

The Prince has a toy car that the Knight has just fallen in love with. It is silver and it kind of sort of looks like our van, Otis. Because of that, the Knight has named the silver car, you guessed it, Otis. Otis is a neat car, but he certainly is not the kind of car that you want a two year old to sleep with. The wheels could be easily bitten off, there are small parts, and I am a mean mommy. Before naps today, DadOf3 who was home for lunch, was trying to talk the Knight into handing over Otis the toy car. The Knight finally handed over the car and sat down to get a diaper change. As soon as his diaper change was over, he sprang up and sprinted back to Otis. I thought for sure that he was going to grab the car and run away with it, but instead, he had turned the car over onto its side. When I walked in, he looked up at me with his beautiful, innocent blue eyes and point blank said "Otis Asweep! Night night Otis!" It just melted my heart!

Rainy Day

It really rained last night. I am talking thunder, lightning, and the whole 9 yards! I am pretty surprised that the kids didn't wake up. In fact, it was one of the best nights in a while because the Prince has been getting up around 3:00 or 4:00 and coming down to get in bed with us. The last few times, we have just had one of us go upstairs with him and sleep in his trundle bed. It was still raining this morning when the Prince came down at a reasonable 7:30AM. DadOf3 had taken off about 7:00 this morning for work and I was indulging in being awake, laying in bed, and not hearing any sound but the rain. That doesn't happen just every day for this MomOf3! We had a good day. The Prince started the day out wanting to play some computer games. We like www.nickjr.com. There are character games for Dora, Diego, etc., and my almost 4 year old can really play most of the games by himself. While Prince was doing that, Princess took it upon herself to design her own playground. This was totally her idea so I am thinking I have a future architect on my hands! She made a big slide for the big kids, a little slide for the little kids, and a swingset. I am waiting for her to add a tire swing and a teeter totter! With both the Prince and the Princess occupied, the Knight and I read some books, watched some Dora, and got in some sunggle time. Since the Princess is almost 6 years old, I don't make her take naps anymore, but I do send her upstairs at nap time so the boys do not throw a hissy fit because she does not have to go. She has some quiet time, I get a chance to catch my breath, and the boys get to start their naps in peace. Today she came downstairs after about a half an hour. It gave me just enough time to call all of the families of the kids in my VBS class. We were instructed to call the parents and welcome them to VBS and to have them let us know if they have any questions. My co-teacher is calling the other half of our class, but I am glad to have my calls made. After Princess came down, we got out her Summer Vacation packet of things to do. It is pretty neat. It came with lots of art-type stuff, and a disk of reading, math, and science games. After painting, she played the new game for about an hour and a half! It filled up the entire naptime. I sat with her while she was playing the new game to see what it was like and to answer questions, but it will not be long and she will have it down pat! Tonight after supper, we went shopping at Academy. Usually this is a nice little outing, but the Prince and the Princess were egging each other on and being pretty naughty. I think Princess is worn out and Prince didn't want to be there. Oh well, DadOf3 got some new shorts, so mission accomplished!

VBS Kickoff

Tonight we had Vacation Bible School Kick-off! The kids had loads of fun. There were water jumpers and all three kiddos just got soaked! I picked up all of the stuff for my class. It is going to be very interesting to see how I do in a roomful of 15 four year olds! They didn't have the Prince in my class so I sent an email to see if I could steal him back. I want him with me! They had hotdogs and hamburgers for the kiddos to eat. DadOf3 and I opted out because we wanted to eat at home. The kids liked the hotdogs though and they especially liked getting a Sprite all to themselves! They don't get to have soda very often.

Tuesday of B and BZ's Visit!

DadOf3 had to go back to work today after having Monday off for Memorial Day, but he took a half day off! DadOf3 came home around 1:00. After going shopping in the morning, B and BZ went canoeing with DadOf3, the Prince, and the Princess. I didn't get any pictures because the Knight and I stayed home. The Knight was sad when they left. He kept going to the door to the garage and yelling "Otis come back!" The Knight and I had a fun evening. I let him take a nice, long bath. Usually we are rushing to get everyone through at bathtime so no one gets to play very long. The Knight got to play last night. :)

Monday of B and BZ's Visit!

On Monday we finally made it to the Wine Festival. Believe it or not, they actually had some fun things for kids too! Before we headed out though, Uncle B got a chance to fly our little helicopter. It was fun! The kids really love that thing. We thought maybe we had broken it the night before. BZ and I were flying it with the kids , the Prince and the Knight were both running for it, grabbed it, and broke off two chunks of the helicopter. DadOf3 was able to fix it though and the helicopter flew again! BZ cut my hair that morning and I was SO happy! She did a wonderful job and I think it looks cute. There is a picture of DadOf3 and me and my new haircut. What do you think? Uncle B did a great job of entertaining the Knight while BZ cut my hair. As we were driving to the Wine Fest, it started to pour down rain, Princess started singing her "Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Golden Mr. Sun" song and just like that! it stopped raining and the sky turned blue! It was pretty amazing! The Wine Fest was a lot more kid friendly than I would have expected. They had a nice water fountain for the kids to jump in (OK, I think we made this "attraction" for ourselves but other kids were doing it!) They had inflatable jumpers, and they had face painting (arm painting). This woman was absolutley wonderful and I took her card for a future birthday part! It was a nice day outside with fun for everyone!

Sunday Of B and BZ's Visit!

Sunday was another fun day! We were planning to go to a wine festival but it rained too hard. For lunch we celebrated BZ's graduation and Princess's graduation from Kindergarten. Instead of the wine festival, we drove downtown and took a tour of our fair city. We took B and BZ to one of our favorite places to eat. Then we went for a hike to a very pretty area of our fair city. Since it was rainy, the kids had some fun stomping around in the puddles. It was quite a steep climb for the kids but they all did well. DadOf3 carried the Knight. :)

Saturday Of B and BZ's Visit

We had an outstanding day on Saturday and even more fun on Saturday night! We took the kids out to play in the backyard and they had fun playing and showing off for B and BZ. That night we got a babysitter and went out. It was so much fun! First we went out to eat and then we went to a show called Ester's Follies. The show is kind of a live version of Saturday Night Live. It is very political and very funny! We plan to take other visitors to this as they come to visit us! (Hint hint hint!) It was a great double date night Saturday night!

Friday of B & BZ's visit!

Our house was in an uproar on Friday! The kids were so eager to have Uncle B and Auntie BZ arrive that it didn't even seem like the first day off of school for the Princess! During naptime, Princess got her tent out so I could wash sheets in her room, the room that would be B and BZ's as long as they were here. They arrived even earlier than expect and we were ready! Princess had jumped into the bath and wanted to dress up to the 9s that night. After playing with the kids and getting them to bed, we grilled some steaks and played some cards. We didn't actually finish our game but we had an interesting intermission. DadOf3 and Uncle B decided to call Auntie J. We woke her up so they were in deep trouble! It is so nice to see family!

Duck Stew Anyone?

Well, my naughty little Prince got in big trouble this afternoon. After picking up the Princess from school and having some celebratory chocolate cake left over from DadOf3's and my anniversary, the Princess and the Prince wanted to go upstairs and play. Honestly, I was ready for a break after fighting through the crowd of other well-intentioned parents picking up their children on the last day of school. It was shoulder to shoulder walking into the school today. The Prince didn't like it one bit and started crying so I picked him up and snuggled him while we were waiting for Princess. I digress...

The Prince and the Princess went upstairs to play. I had to holler at them a couple of times when I heard them jumping on the bed or jumping from the bed to the couch in the Prince's room, but, all in all, they were doing a good job of playing nicely together. After about 45 minutes, the Princess came rushing down the stairs breathlessly saying that the Prince had broken the sink. Upon further investigation, I determined that the cause of the sink's state of "broken-ness" was lots and lots of toilet paper sitting in a sink full of water. When pressed to explain what could have possessed him to put toilet paper in the sink (and not to mention stirring this concoction with the Princess's toothbrush), the Prince merely said that he was making Duck Stew. His motive for being so naughty was confessed at the supper table and DadOf3 and I had to literally bite our lips (ouch!) in order to present ourselves as the the stern parents that we needed to be at that point in time. Duck Stew! Ha!

Summer Time! Summer Time! Sum-Sum-Summer Time!

It is officially Summer Vacation here in FamilyOf5Land! The boys and I picked up the Princess from school this afternoon, and per her report card, she is officially promoted to First Grade! It was a mad house at the school today. Princess's school has a tradition (that I didn't know about) to parade all of the outgoing 5th graders through the hallway the last day of school. The kids attend 6th grade at another school. Getting to the Kindergarten hallway was crazy with the Prince walking and the Knight in a stroller! The Prince was quite overwhelmed by the number of people in the hallway. I picked him up so he could see better, and he just snuggled with me! The Knight was quite content to sit in his stroller and say "Hewwo!" to anyone who caught his attention. Princess was in her classroom, and we picked her up and drove her home! She made one last trip to the Treasure Chest today and got a neat Princess Frisbee! I think all of the kids got one last visit to the Treasure Chest - a nice way to begin the summer. It has been a wild Kindergarten year! On to 1st Grade!

What Does a Stay At Home Mom Do All Day?

This was Carolyn Hix TELL ME ABOUT IT column today. I have never seen a more apt description of being a stay at home parent:

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Carolyn:

Best friend has child. Her: exhausted, busy, no time for self, no time for me, etc. Me (no kids): Wow. Sorry. What'd you do today? Her: Park, play group . . .

kay. I've done Internet searches, I've talked to parents. I don't get it. What do stay-at-home moms do all day? Please no lists of library, grocery store, dry cleaners . . . I do all those things, too, and I don't do them EVERY DAY. I guess what I'm asking is: What is a typical day and why don't moms have time for a call or e-mail? I work and am away from home nine hours a day (plus a few late work events) and I manage to get it all done. I'm feeling like the kid is an excuse to relax and enjoy -- not a bad thing at all -- but if so, why won't my friend tell me the truth? Is this a peeing contest ("My life is so much harder than yours")? What's the deal? I've got friends with and without kids and all us child-free folks get the same story and have the same questions.

Tacoma, Wash.

Relax and enjoy. You're funny.

Or you're lying about having friends with kids.

Or you're taking them at their word that they actually have kids, because you haven't personally been in the same room with them.

Internet searches?

I keep wavering between giving you a straight answer and giving my forehead some keyboard. To claim you want to understand, while in the same breath implying that the only logical conclusions are that your mom-friends are either lying or competing with you, is disingenuous indeed.

So, since it's validation you seem to want, the real answer is what you get. In list form. When you have young kids, your typical day is: constant attention, from getting them out of bed, fed, clean, dressed; to keeping them out of harm's way; to answering their coos, cries, questions; to having two arms and carrying one kid (or 3 kids!), one set of car keys, and supplies for even the quickest trips, including the latest-to-be-declared-essential piece of molded plastic gear; to keeping them from unshelving books at the library; to enforcing rest times; to staying one step ahead of them lest they get too hungry, tired or bored, any one of which produces the kind of checkout-line screaming that gets the checkout line shaking its head.

It's needing 45 minutes to do what takes others 15.

It's constant vigilance, constant touch, constant use of your voice, constant relegation of your needs to the second tier.

It's constant scrutiny and second-guessing from family and friends, well-meaning and otherwise. It's resisting constant temptation to seek short-term relief at everyone's long-term expense.

It's doing all this while concurrently teaching virtually everything -- language, manners, safety, resourcefulness, discipline, curiosity, creativity. Empathy. Everything.

It's also a choice, yes. And a joy. But if you spent all day, every day, with this brand of joy, and then, when you got your first 10 minutes to yourself, wanted to be alone with your thoughts instead of calling a good friend, a good friend wouldn't judge you, complain about you to mutual friends, or marvel how much more productively she uses her time. Either make a sincere effort to understand or keep your snit to yourself.

Princess's Last Day Of Kindergarten

Today is Princess's last day of Kindergarten. From what I have heard, going to First Grade is a reality check for students and parents alike. Kindergarten was a lot of fun, Princess made some good friends and had an awesome teacher! She got up this morning really well. DadOf3 drove her to school this morning in the truck and I am going to pick her up with the boys after school. She was very excited to not have to ride the bus. It gets pretty hot in there. One good thing is that although she is one of the first kids to be picked up in the morning, she is also one of the first kids to get dropped off at the end of the day, when it is a lot hotter. Princess likes to have her "Bubba" with her for breakfast. This winter she used to get cold in the mornings and wrap her blankets around her. She kept the habit even though it is warm enough in the mornings now that the A/C kicks on. She is a cutie pie. DadOf3 took over my reading duties with Princess this morning so I could grab a quick shower before they left for school. Our normal reading time is between 6:30 and 7:00 in the morning. We will need to find some new quiet time this summer, most likely when the boys go down for their naps. I took some pictures this morning (go figure!) so I will post them now.