A Hot Date

This week has been torture - to say the least.

Flat Tire, Flood, Leak in the Garage, Mid Terms, Potentially Bad News, Primary Program Practice, A much needed bang trim, and only 31 hours of uninterrupted Nathan time.  Nathan has had to be on call and work weird random times all week. Last night 11:09-11:58pm.

But through the thick of it all - Nathan STILL managed to get the floors done! Woods AND Carpet!

I got to look at this...

and paint some more, which is my favorite thing to do.

Then we slooooowly got stuff back together...
Here is just a peek at what we have up or sleeves.
Grey and Orange. Sounds weird, but it is coming together so nicely.
The kid lounge is almost complete. I am so happy that the kids will have a better place to do homework/school stuff and a place to hang out.

Today on the list is stairs, picking out the couches, the toy storage, and putting it all together.

I can't wait to show the big reveal. House projects seem to take my mind off the hard stuff - which is just what I need right now!

5 year old ears

There once was a time when I was younger (like a kid) and my parents would argue (gasp) and I would listen and have my own take on things.  I would decide in my head who was right and often times I would weigh in at the worst moments or later on after the fight was over and of course that would hash up the old wound.
There were also times in my life where I would listen extra hard to the grown ups 
because I felt we were equals.
No Joke. I really thought I was one of them, a smaller version perhaps but still one of them.
My parents would decide to take us out to dinner and then I would be so excited I would ruin the surprise or blab too soon because at the time I was TERRIBLE at secrets.

I often remember my parents saying the street names of the places we would go so I couldn't figure things out, or even worse SPELLING the places we would go because again, I was a surprise ruiner.
Not to be mean, but because I wanted to be the giver of good news.
Then once I got good at that they would use stock abbreviations or just the initials of a particular place.
Like TRU for Toys R Us, etc.

Funny thing about all this is that I married my true match, 
because Nathan's mother has told me similar stories about him. HaHa.

I chalk it up to my favorite excuse in the book: 
We are  both first borns

Well, we are experiencing similar things in our house now.
A certain boy in the house who is VERY smart picks up on things and then comments on them later.
Sometimes he is right on, and other times he has his facts jumbled.

My least favorite time is when I am on the phone with Nathan trying to go through conflict resolution and Lucas only hears half of the conversation. So when I am explaining something in a slightly louder voice (haha) than normal Lucas thinks I am mad at Nathan.

This skill that the boy has picked up from both sides of the gene pool also makes for hilarious stories.

Like today.

I was packing up some clothes and Lucas asked "what are you going to do with those boy clothes?"
I told him we were going to save them until we have another baby and know if it is a boy or a girl.
He then asked "Who are we going to give them to?"
I said well, baby Sydney (RV's daughter) gave us clothes for Juliet. 
We will give your clothes to Baby Philip (ST's son).

his response was awesome

"But if you give him all of my clothes, he will steal my identity!"
(he was refferring to a conversation I had about why some people go private on their blogs, and then are so open about their address  and info on facebook.)

This boy is so perceptive and smart and sometimes says the wrong things at the right time too.

Yesterday he told me after a really rough day 
"Thanks mom for keeping your cool"

How do you get mad at that?

Nathan and I are learning to be more aware of the little ears around us. 
Not that we argue, no not us (haha)
but who knows what he is telling others?!?

His poor Kindergarten Teacher thought Grandpa Horn LIVED with us because that is ALL Lucas writes about in his journal at school. 

No matter what quirks he was *lucky* enough to get he is a special little man and we are so glad he is in our lives.

Scrappy Scar

This little girl is something else. She usually looks GREAT in the morning and then...

...she naps. And when she naps, she naps HARD.

Here she is AFTER Preschool Pickup:
 Scarlett can ride the trike faster than anyone ever could.
 She never wants help with anything. Often you hear her say "No! All MySelf!"
 She is the scavenger of the family.  I often find her trying to bust open the #10 cans in the basement to get a snack. Haha.  One time I watched her pound an entire handful of dehydrated refried beans without blinking an eye.  She is the most inventive and eager girl in the house, and is willing to give ANYONE a run for their money.  But then at times she is so sweet and expressive and huggable - it truly is remarkable how different she is than her sisters.

I have been thinking about her a lot because this time last year she was ONLY 18 MONTHS
A ton has changed since then.

This little cutie came into our lives...

and so much more.

I love my little tom-boy, rough around the edges, but likes skirts kinda girl named Scarlett.
Her name was ALMOST Lindsey but you know what? Scarlett fits her WAY better!


In totally unrelated news Lucas drew this today outside ALL by himself.
I will name all the PLANETS for you:
VINS = Venus
MRS = Mars
JUPTR = Jupiter
ERF = Earth
NEPJIN (pronounced Nepjune) = Neptune

Awesome huh?

First Day of 3School!

That is what I am calling it anyway. Thanks Stef Mc!
Bridget, my very social almost 4 year old gets to go to PreSchool.
I swear she poses herself this way. 
I sometimes put her in the category of "less brilliant" because she isn't an on command answerer.

For instance.
I ask her colors, numbers, letters, etc. ALL the time at home. Usually she says she doesn't want to play or she says she'd rather do something else, and because of this I don't push it.  The sad part is that most of her life Lucas is there to say the answers and now that he is at school, Scarlett has quickly filled the Lucas void.
"Bridget, can you spell your name?" Before she can answer Scarlett blurts out "B-R----" I have to stop her because I can see in Bridget's face that she acts like she doesn't care but in fact, she does.

Well. When Bridget met Mrs. Lovely. Yes, that is her teacher's name Bridget walked in like I had never seen.
She came in and I sat back and just observed. A lot of the kids were shy and clingy (thank GOODNESS I have never had one of those kids) and Bridget walked right up to her and gave her a hug. The teacher asked if she knew what her name was on the chart and Bridget was quick to answer: 
"Right there! B is for Bridget, and its the only one on the chart! Its my name!"
My eyes BUGGED out of my head. WHAA--?
Mrs. Lovely asks Bridget do you know what color your name is?
"Yep! Lellow!"
Mrs. Lovely told her that yellow is where her cubby is and where she will sit and where her spot on the sharing time mat was.
Bridget was so happy and sat in her desk ready to learn.
In my WHOLE life I had NEVER seen Bridget act so grown up.
It was completely out of left field.
Bridget looked at me and begged me to stay.

This my friends is why I send my kids to school. One of the many, but you get it.
Bridget is going to get something completely different out of PreSchool that Lucas did.
Bridget is going to learn self discipline, and self confidence (in education) because we all know she has PLENTY of self confidence...haha. Bridget will have no problems making friends and picking up the basics because she already knows those things. But she is going to get something I can't teach her at home and for that I am grateful.  I am so happy she got into this program and look forward to the many changes that are ahead.

Instead of Good Luck I wished her a Good Day.

After school she told me EVERYONE's name in her class.
She told me everything that she did, and that she can't wait to go back.

Her teacher told me she was very patient (WHAT?!?!)
and very friendly (YEA OKAY)
and very helpful (YEA OKAY)

She also told me Bridget was the most confident and seemed very ready for school.
I even found a someone else that we know there and so I can arrange carpooling! SCORE.

Half Fail, Half Success

Well - Nathan had great intentions. He planned everything beautifully - what he didn't plan on was Juliet catching something nasty.  I think it was from the dust from the MAJOR reno we are currently in process of. She was all snot bubbles and watery eyes so we left our awesome family hike...no pics. *gasp* I know and headed home so I could give her a steam bath and clean that poor baby out!

Still determined to take on this weekend. he said to get in the van we are heading out again. The kids lit up and were pumped for another attempt at an adventure.

He decided Berry Picking would be the best option, so to the local farm we went...
 Seriously - if you haven't met Juliet yet I feel bad for you. She is the happiest baby EVER.

 The kids quickly went to work.
 Scarlett had trouble last year not eating every berry in sight. This year she was a lot better.
 Juliet was laughing the whole time. Literally.
I am told that when I was a baby I loved being on my dad's shoulders.
There are several pics of me looking JUST like this on my dad!
 Nathan helping Scarlett get the top ones.
Again - look at Juliet. She is such a crack up.

 We come to this farm a lot. This was the first time I had seen such a beautiful array of flowers in the pick your own bushel area.

Love these people.

The kids had an amazing time! 

We picked 2 watermelons one with a red sign and one with a yellow sign. We found out why when we got home...

-But -

Believe it or not the Yellow watermelons were so sweet and delicious and fresh - like you barely had to use a knife! They were tender and so juicy I had to wipe the counters 2x!

The red ones were just as good but there is something about trying a new thing that
I just LOVE about my kids.
Never do they wince or declare NO I won't try it - they always try and usually like the new item.
Today was no different.

We came home for lunch and Nathan took the older 2 on bike rides. Since they both are on 2 wheels now it is more fun to go on Daddy rides together. They were gone a whole hour! 
He said they went over 5 miles!
So impressive!

After the bike rides we piled back into the car and he surprised the kids with Bowling. They ask to go ALL the time and he thought they would love it! They did!



Lucas bowls like Fred Flintstone. it is hilarious.

He won both games AND got 3 strikes! He refused to use the rail helper, so it was all on him!

We came back home I made Chicken Tostadas - seriously loving the lime flavor right now.
We went on a family walk and then Nathan and the older 2 cleaned up the back yard.
It was in dire need.

To keep Scarlett from crying (since she is slow and not very helpful back there)
we came in and made raspberry crisp! 4 to be exact. We delivered 2 ate 1 and are sending the last one to work tomorrow. :)
It was really good and a fun end to our "trip"

Last week was really rough on me. The kids were more rambunctious than they normally are and being by myself for 13+ hours with no relief was starting to wear me down. Plus I haven't been feeling like my full of energy self lately so that has been hard too. I cried and felt like a terrible snappy mom which I hate and told Nathan I needed a break, a vacation from this terrible week and he sure delivered. 

Our kids really thrive on living in a 2 parent home and love their daddy so much. 
Looking back I really wasn't a fair or nice mom to them like I should have been and I am looking forward to this "short week" as a way to make it up to them.

I would like to report that the kids only earned 12 pennies in the yell jar...so it could have been worse. LOL

My goal this week is to appreciate them and show them how much I love them, even though I am stressed its not their fault...its Nathan's. Just Kidding. Hahahahaha

A surprise...

Nathan woke up after 11 hours of ripping carpet, tearing down baseboards, priming, painting, putting a new floor in and watching me use a table saw...yikes.  

His left hand bandaged because he was stabbed in the hand with a very dangerous... 

...Pencil.

He made french toast this beautiful and cold Sunday morning - our house was 59 because we left the windows open. Another oops by me.

He said to wear jeans and to get in the car.

So we did.

He said we'd be back tomorrow.

I'll let you know what we did - this is one of a few times I haven't planned something and he has taken the reins. Good bye Technology. : (


Strolling

Nathan walks ALL the kids to school M-Thurs.
Friday is the day he walks JUST Lucas.
This is Lucas's favorite day because no girls. :)

No matter what, every day I get to pick Lucas up with this crew...




Its great and all - I mean it forces me to get completely ready and fully dressed every day.
My favorite.  Blarg. :/

Some of the time the girls are friends:


but to be honest most of the time they are foes.

Which is why Juliet is always FULLY strapped to the stroller.


Because Bridget - to stop bugging Scarlett is in charge of the pushing.

Juliet doesn't mind a bit.

Its fun walking 428 steps to pick up Lucas each day.

I think we will even brave it in the snow.
With my double stroller and stool insert all 3 girls can fit in it!
I will also wear the family Wiggy's boots since my feet are
bigger than everyone Nathan's we got them in my size. Hahaha.