September 7: Boogies, bottles, and boats

September 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Fridays are fun.  I get to be a stay at home mom.  But this morning was absolutely RIDICULOUS.   I mean, seriously, seriously ridiculous.   I am getting sick and I slept through my alarm.   All hell broke loose this AM as I was trying to get four kids out of the house and drive on two highways to get Big Bro to school on time….  the rest of the day made up for it.

Highlights of the Morning:

  • Woke up at 6:55 AM to Red, Twin Crazy, and Cocoa.  Realized what time it was.  Sprang out of bed like a bat out of hell.
  • There were no clothes set out the night before… and loads of laundry that still needed to be organized, dried.  I grabbed clean clothes from the dryer onto the floor so I could put the wet stuff in – otherwise Big Bro would have a problem with shorts.
  • I tried to make myself coffee to get through this.
  • Twin Crazy was hungry.  There was no way I could put her off.  I try to do breakfast in the car but only when we leave at 7 AM.   Oh shit.  I had to make breakfast now too for everyone or else there would be meltdowns.  I made 3 oatmeals pronto.
  • Big Bro came out quietly, fingering two bills (a $5, a $1).  The tooth fairy came last night, for the first time ever.  I tried to make a REALLY big deal about this but it was more rushed than I would have liked.  Big Bro was silent but smiling.
  • Twin Crazy was having issues with her nose.  Sneezing and snot all over the place.
  • Red was having breakdowns over pants, …. or then over socks…. , but then she figured it out and was OK when I checked on her.
  • I was running around trying to get kids clothes together.  Never, never, never will I ever have them go to sleep the night before without picking out their clothes.  Ever.  I promise myself now.  EVER.
  • Big Bro was hungry and wanting to eat; he requested bread and butter.  I softened some butter for him in the microwave and asked him to spread it himself.  He did great.
  • Then the kids said they wanted toast.  F!!!    I threw in some bread in the toaster to take in the car.
  • Twin Husky is throwing a fit because he’s trying to get socks on by himself and is getting stuck.  I help him through it.
  • Oh shit.  I have to do Big Bro’s lunch.  F!!!   You know this again is something that could be done the night before damn it.  I cursed myself.  Soft foods for his teeth.  OK.  Leftover pasta, yogurt.   He also packed up two slices of bread and butter.   This is good.  He’s helping to pack his lunch.  Awesome.
  • Twin Crazy sneezes again all over the place.
  • I finally got my coffee together.   Kids with shoes on.   I remembered to pee.   Twin Crazy is screaming for her blanket.    Twin Husky is having problems putting two Tigers into his little backpack.  OK, out the door.
  • Twin Husky falls down a step because his shoes are on backwards.   He is screaming outside but OK after 1 minute.  He told me that he was OK but it was “scary”
  • Once we got into the car it was great.  I dished out the toast.  We talked about the colors of cars and trucks.  It was actually relaxing.  I actually enjoy this time with the kids.   We are able to talk about things, they joke with each other and me, and it honestly is fun.  I keep the radio off so we can talk and hang out.
  • Drop off for Big Bro happened right on time.  He left the van like a big kid and made his way to his class.  I told him again how proud I was of him and his behavior at the Dentist yesterday.  He had his two teeth taped up in a tooth-shaped container with him.
  • Drop off for Red was great.  We were laughing with her friends about the rules: 1) Learn; 2) Laugh; 3) Exercise your body.    Her teacher said she is doing great with her letters, doing Upper and lower case letters and writing extremely well.  My god do I love this kid.
  • On the way out I again bought some things at the “everything must go” sale… some Jenga and wood blocks, and a bingo game with little words in the grid.   Big Bro and I can play this together.
  • The ride home was uneventful.  We stopped for gas, then I stopped at Walgreens to get a nose plunger for Twin Crazy.  Twin Husky looked a bit out of it.

Highlights of the Afternoon:

  • Twin Husky was in a foul mood.   I decided to feed them.  That worked a bit, but not really.   I looked at his face… his eyes were bloodshoot.  He said he wanted to take his Tigers into his room and go to sleep.   He put himself to bed after I gave him some Motrin.  Something is going around with these kids and I’m not sure if he’s getting something.  I thought it was so cute how he put himself to bed.  He slept for 3 hours.
  • In the meantime, me and Twin Crazy had some time to ourselves.  I plunged out her nose and she gladly let me.  It didn’t really work.  I taught her how to blow her nose.  We had fun with that.  That worked a little.  I gave her a haircut and cut her hair into bangs and angled the sides so she could see better with her “long hair”.  I watched her play castle and use her imagination with the dolls.  I took movies of her doing this.
  • We napped.   I felt like crap too.
  • We all got up, snacked, and I packed for the rest of the day.   The kids were excited and looking great.   I packed some bags, but this time much more leisurely.
  • The ride was completely traffic-free.  We talked about the water in the distance.  We got to Big Bro’s in plenty of time.   We picked up Red no problems.    We were off on our afternoon adventure – I had three hours with them before transition time to co-parent’s.
  • We were missing two waterbottles so we went to CVS.  The list was:  2 waterbottles, and a bottle of water.  The kids know about my lists.   That means we cannot get ANYTHING else.   They stopped me several times in the store from buying other items (it backfires on me but I can live with that).
  • We headed to a playground that I’ve never been to with the kids.  They had a blast.  Twins were sliding down slides and catching each other.  Red was running around.  Big Bro was talking on the phone (Nana, co-parent I think), taking pictures, and taking movies.   We snacked.  I enjoyed relaxing, eating fruit, watching the kids, and running after them.  It was a great afternoon.
  • Then the real adventure:  “Ferry-ride to nowhere”.  I took them on the commuter ferry and we headed to the city.  Stayed on the boat and then headed back.   A one-hour trip in total.  Kids were great.   We talked about boats, the bridge, the pelicans and how their beaks are big enough for an entire fish to go in there, the sound of the boat, the feeling of the waves… the kids ate graham crackers and drank from their water bottles.  They shared water and shared seats.   Big Bro and Twin Crazy were the best behaved so I gave them the tickets to give to the operators.  This made Red mad at me.
  • Drop off to co-parent’s was great.  We had a lot of information to exchange – dentists, teeth, who is sick and with what and at what time their last medicine was given, Red’s letters, Twin Crazy’s haircut, how great Big Bro was at the Dentist, the tooth fairy…
  • I made sure that Red was not mad at me anymore.  I talked with her at my car.  I said it was OK for her to feel mad at me.  I said I knew she still loved me.  But she needs to talk about it… get it out of her body.  I asked her a question, “Are you mad at me because I did not give you a ticket?”   and then I nodded her head for her up and down to say “Yes”.   She started to laugh.   She decided to get out of the car and asked for a piggy-back ride.   She was all smiles.   I told her how important it is for her to talk about her feelings and I asked her if we were “OK” with each other now.   She was all smiles.   Whew.   Last week I had a bad day with the kids because they were not listening to me and I swear those next few days were brutal for me.   I promised myself never to leave any of the kids with either me being mad at them or them being mad at me.   Never.  Ever.

I’m feeling like shit physically – sore throat and headache.  But I honestly am so full inside – little by little I am making my way at having one-on-one time with each of the kids; maybe not EVERY day, but at least weekly I am able to carve out good, quality time with each of them.   I’ve had them since Tuesday night and this morning was a nightmare.  So I’m ready for a night to myself.   I will see them tomorrow afternoon at 4 PM.   I’m looking forward to a good night’s sleep, hopefully getting rid of whatever germ is inside of me, and seeing them tomorrow afternoon.

Have a great weekend all –

– Mama K

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August 30: A sick kid

August 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Big Bro stayed home today, along with the siblings (who did not have daycare today).   Big Bro stayed home because he was sick.

  • Everyone was eating breakfast, “Chocolate Thursday”, and Big Bro was still in his room, complaining of a stomach ache.
  • I got everyone together…. dressed, vitamins, shoes, tigers, blankets, etc.    Big Bro was still going in slow motion.  Still not eating.  I felt his head.  Warm.  But it was hot outside.   This is the benefit of having four kids:   I grabbed some other kids to compare temperatures.   Big Bro was definitely warm.   I grabbed two thermometers.   Both not working.  Trashed.   I looked at Big Bro.  Bloodshot eyes.   Refusing chocolate thursday.   I medicated him and sent him back to bed.  He actually slept.
  • So, its his first week of first grade, and he’s already missed one day of school.   This reminds me of his first week of daycare… he was kicked out by Thursday… his fourth day… for fever.  Seems like we are repeating history.
  • Big Bro lounged about the entire day.  He was feverish and needed alternating ibuprofen, Tylenol, ibuprofen, …. … all day long.  He ate little.   He fell asleep for the night at 6:30 PM, a first.
  • The rest of the kids did well today, and played quietly.   Lots of coloring, building Legos, taking care of Cocoa.   Red was SUPER helpful and cleaned up her entire room, put away her and her sister’s clean clothes, and even started vacuuming up the house.   She helped set and clear the table for dinner as well.  She was amazing today.  And I told her so.
  • So, right now Big Bro is isolated from the rest.   I set up a small sleep area for Twin Husky in the girls’ room.  And the girls let him in there since they all sort of bonded today.    Everyone was sound asleep by 8:15 PM.  Another first.

It was a relatively good day all things considering, but I really felt bad for Big Bro.  He seemed so out of it.  And I’m not sure what tonight will bring.  Hopefully nothing too eventful.

Wish us luck tomorrow.  Hopefully he sleeps this off, and did not pass it to anyone…

Til tomorrow –

– Mama K

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May 16: The chair

May 16, 2012 by 1 Comment

I worked a 1/2 day and from home today. I then spent an hour or so at my NEW home and made it back in enough time to pick all of the kids up early. I was solo tonight and looking forward to spending this time with them.

Highlights of the Morning:

  • The Twins were ready to stroller to Big Bro’s school. We talked about grass-seed and new grass growing as we were waiting for the other kids to get ready. Big Bro was in the pack and enjoying his new bike. I went in to talk to his teacher and tell her about our discussion from last weekend about “Two Homes”. She looked upset/concerned. She was glad that I told her. I said there were no tears but lots of questions so he really doesn’t “get it” yet. I let her know that we were going to take the kids to see the house this weekend and that it might start to sink in more then. She said she would be on the lookout for any issues. She said that he mentioned two houses this week so I know it is on his mind.
  • I dropped the Twins off at their daycare and both looked good. Even Twin Crazy. They both have a routine where they take off their shoes in a certain spot. I helped Twin Husky unzipper his jacket [sortof] by himself. I walked back home with the empty stroller feeling a bit empty myself.
  • As soon as I got home I loaded up the van with as many boxes as I could fit. I need to get to the house today since I have a TON of stuff arriving and don’t want the things sitting outside for too many days.
  • My doorbell rang and it was my neighbor with an AWESOME wooden rocking chair that she wanted to get rid of. I was completely looking for something like this — I’ve always loved front porches — the kinds in the south that are sweeping around the houses… well, my front porch is REALLY small but I do have flat yard that runs along the front. And in the afternoon, the shade kind of hits the house in a way that it feels like there is a front porch. So I put the rocking chair right out front in the mulch. It may look silly to some, but I love it. It is completely overlooking the view of the front yard – and I imagine myself sitting there while the kids are playing in the front. I hope we spend time out there – it makes the house inviting to the neighbors and helps me to transform the house into a home.

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    Highlights of My Working Day:

  • I had a conference call with a previous client to “really” close out the work this time.
  • I started to re-work the discussion document from our big meeting yesterday — adding in some content and highlighting things that were discussed on the call.
  • I had an internal call related to the forums that I help to manage. We have a lot of sales efforts going on through these forums that I feel good about. We have some work to do but all is manageable. I took the call on the road and also had some of the call as I was unpacking the shipping boxes from Amazon.

    • Highlights of the Rest of the Day:

  • I pulled up to the house and OMG there are WEEDS EVERYWHERE. The multiple terraces of mulch are now over-run by weeds. OMG. How long is it going to take me to pull these suckers? And how fast will they grow back? Will it be like plucking those pesky hairs from my chin, face, and eyebrows? A never-ending project? Will I need to go to Amazon now and find a wide brimmed hat, super heavy-duty gloves, and a wheelbarrel????????
  • I unpacked lots of shipping boxes: one bunkbed (in parts), 4 mattresses, 4 barstools, a Blue-Ray DVR plus sound system, a landline telephone system. I’m excited. I filled up my NEW recycling bin. Pickup days are Wednesdays so I just missed it!!!
  • I unpacked some moving boxes with some pictures – I put them up but unfortunately they are only of Big Bro and Red… and they are old. They were all packed up from when we moved to our “temporary” house two years ago. So I feel the need to get some pictures up of Twin Husky and Twin Crazy so that they can see themselves too when they first visit the house.
  • I disassembled the bunk bed box in my driveway and brought the bed inside in parts. Otherwise I never would have been able to drag the whole box inside. I thought of Big Bro as I was carrying in the pieces labeled “A”, “M”, etc. I thought it’s just like a Lego set. I wonder if he would be interested in helping me put the beds together….
  • I decided to start on a bar-stool project. I opened up a box to discover that you don’t need any “real” tools…. its the hand tool/wrench thing that it comes with so I had what I needed to get started. Assembling these will be easy. It’s important for me to have SOMETHING ready and set up for the kids when they see the house for the first time. I figured the four bar stools would be a good thing for them to see… to relate to. I made it through 1/2 way of my first stool when I received a phone call…

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  • Twin Crazy still had a fever and was upset. She needed me. I quickly locked up the house and headed straight for daycare. I held her for a bit and she calmed down immediately. She said she was sick in a meek voice. Twin Husky looked fine. I took them to the drug store to buy more Ibuprophen and Tylenol. I asked them if they wanted to go right home or get the rest of the kids. They wanted their siblings. So we picked up Red and Big Bro too.
  • It was like a chinese fire-drill with everyone in different seats. It was cute. I looked back and Twin Crazy was holding hands across the van with Big Bro. I love seeing things like this. Big Bro and Red used to do this several years ago when Red was a baby/toddler. I’ve always thought it amazingly cute. Big Bro is such a proud Big brother and although he does have his occasions of being mean, he really is good to them the majority of the time.
  • At home we played a bit. I was waiting to cook dinner for co-parent. Then the kids told me that he was leaving for the airport straight from work. So I started the dinner. There was a request for mac-n-cheese, chicken nuggets, and carrots. I obliged since Twin Crazy seemed interested in that. Big Bro and Red helped me make dinner. They all ate EXTREMELY well – even Twin Crazy, considering.
  • After dinner I played “wall ball” with Big Bro while the 3 others were upstairs playing quietly. Suddenly, they came downstairs and apparently they were playing “dress up” — the twins were in matching frilly dresses (pink and blue) and Red came down laughing her ass off. They were all loving the attention and Twin Husky was SERIOUSLY liking the dress. It did feel great. Not crinkly/itchy at all. It felt soft and frilly. He loved it.
  • Then the little ones played some games together while I sat with Big Bro watching a movie.
  • I started bed routine with the Twins. They love the book “The Hairy Toe”. Each knows the words. They were both reciting the book to me as I read it. I make it scary which they love. I tried to get them down but they did not want to go to bed earlier than Big Bro/Red. So we had some ups and downs and at one point I had two twins in my lap, Big Bro laying across my feet, and Red taking care of Twin Crazy as I was singing “Twinkle Twinkle”. The Twins wanted “more” singing and the bigger kids wanted me to STOP singing (I don’t blame them). Red put her hand over my mouth and I was over-garbling the words on purpose and they were all cracking up. Then I had 4 kids with hands on my mouth and they were all smiles. They eventually went to their beds. They are now all sleeping and there is no crying from upstairs at all.

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    I had a good night. I’m looking forward to my own space but am concerned about the kids and am hoping this weekend goes well. I’m hoping they will grow to be comfortable there even though it is new to them. I’m going to try my best to make it their space too and help them integrate into the neighborhood.

    We were talking tonight about Red joining us on our bike-ride to school tomorrow. I asked Big Bro first if he thought it was OK and if he would want her to join. He said yes. So I asked her about it and she’s excited. I’m looking forward to the morning with them.

    Til tomorrow –
    – Mama K

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    March 27: Lots of rain but no heat.

    March 27, 2012 by 1 Comment

    Rain! Rain! Rain! I’m moving slowly this AM. A bit from the rainy gray day, and also lack of sleep. Red was up crying last night at 1 AM and co-Parent was barely getting out of bed. She went right back to sleep but the heat was not on!!! [How much money does it really save to keep the heat off during the night?] It was 62 degrees in the house! So we were moving kindof slow today, and now ALL FOUR KIDS are sick. Sneezes, runny noses.

    Highlights of the Morning:

  • Chocolate Tuesday!! Twins were happy eating, even though they were sneezing intermittently.
  • Red and Big Bro were still upstairs, slumbering. It was hard to get Red up. She was moody. I had trouble with her picking out her clothes [this should be done the night before]. She had issues with the shirt, the pants. I sat with her and talked with her. I told her I felt tired. And a little bit sick. And that sometimes its hard to get moving in the morning when you feel that way. But I said I was going to eat breakfast to give me some energy (I usually don’t eat at home – lack of time). I asked her if she could help me pick out my breakfast (cream of wheat packets) and that I would eat if she would too. That seemed to work. She embraced me and we went downstairs together with her pile of clothes.
  • Red picked out my breakfast and she got ready for Chocolate Tuesday.
  • I took Twin Crazy to the potty for positive reinforcement. I told her how proud of her I am. Her face squishes up in a big smile whenever I say that. She is doing soooooooo good with potty training. Hopefully she does well today.
  • I next went to work on Big Bro. He was upstairs still in bed. I mentioned Chocolate Tuesday. He still wasn’t moving quickly. I talked about last night and how he went to sleep late and that’s why he must feel a bit tired this morning (and I do too). Then we started talking about the funny things from last night… how Red was asking in the monitor “[Big Bro], where are you?”…. and “Mommy….. I’m scared.” And we talked about how I hear them at night when they are talking to each other as they go to sleep and how I laugh when I hear them laugh and say funny things. We both were laughing at that. I put a pile of clothes together for him (favorite pair of jeans) and gave him privacy to get changed upstairs by himself.
  • I ate breakfast!!!
  • Got Big Bro’s breakfast
  • Dished out the vitamins for all of the sick kids
  • Helped Big Bro with his sneakers (our little together time)
  • Helped Red get changed; she had her backpack ready.
  • Found out that the Motley Crew was still going to RIDE today so we got Big Bro’s helmet on and off he went. I text with the other mommy which makes things really easy in the morning.
  • I packed up the Twin bag and Co-parent dropped off Twins.
  • I dropped off Red and we made a quick pit-stop to the bathroom to wipe off the chocolate off of her face. I like this one-one time with her. I took my time wiping off her face and was gentle with her. We talked about how Twin Crazy likes to wipe our faces and laughed about that. We walked into her classroom and again she was proud of her HUGE backpack. Once we got there, I realized that she showed up to school with FOUR jackets…. two spring jackets, one fleece, and one raincoat. All but one shoved in her backpack. Too cute.

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    I arrived in the Ferry parking lot a bit early, was able to get a parking spot without a problem. Then the rain started. I sat there for a bit since I was early. I checked my email. I wondered how Big Bro’s ride was going and that hopefully they reached the school in time.

    Now I’m on the ferry and it is bumpy. It’s supposed to rain the rest of the week. I will be busy again today. I have seven meetings today and am overbooked for two of them — 3 related to forum planning, 2 related to client project, one performance review (mine), one firm-wide staff meeting/conference call. PLUS I need to still get work complete for a different client project. It will likely be quite impossible. I’ll have to lug that binder back home and focus on that tomorrow, I betcha.

    Highlights of the Working Day:
    Another busy day —

  • 2 planning meetings for forums;
  • 1 interview with a potential speaker – we are going to bring her in for the Fall, but not for the Spring since her data will be more relevant then
  • 1 primary interview for the client project
  • 1 status meeting with the client to preview initial insights from interviews and our refined thinking of the quantitative analysis
  • my annual review. It was OK. 2011 sucked and my review reflected that. But my new role with the forums is working and they will continue to focus me in that area, while allowing me the time to cultivate client relationships/project sales, but also reducing my direct involvement with project delivery. I have to keep myself focused on work and on the kids. I need for both of these aspects to stay on track – I will worry about myself later. Overall I’m pretty satisfied with the discussion.

    • So now I’m on the ferry and it is a completely rough ride. We are tossing and turning all over the place and its actually quite fun. We’re hitting big swells and I’m getting that negative g-force feeling in my stomach. Fun.

    I’m looking forward to an evening with the kids. Not sure about dinner – I have not planned that far in advance. Maybe fish since that cooks up quickly in the oven, even frozen.

    Dinner and Bedtime:
    Rain, rain, rain…

  • I picked up Red in a downpour. She wore her cute little cat raincoat.
  • We picked up Twins next. And then Big Bro. Big Bro and I ran through the rain to get his bike. We were both soaked by the time I loaded it into the trunk. Looks like we’ll be dropping him off tomorrow – we’re expecting rain the rest of the week.
  • I got everyone home and started dinner. Red was having multiple breakdowns. Crying and not talking. Not communicating the issue. She gets that way sometimes. I think the lack of sleep and feeling sick are impacting her today.
  • We found two different spiders and the kids went nuts looking at them each. I was brave and got some paper and collected the scared creatures and returned them outside. I probably drowned the poor things – they were probably escaping the rain; we rarely see spiders at all inside the house.
  • Kids ate reasonably well. Red had one or two tantrums.
  • Twin Husky has been crying on and off all night too.
  • Big Bro has been teasing a bit.
  • Co-parent is playing with the kids on the floor. He’s actually awake. No… wait… he just put his head down and is now snoozing with the kids around him. Typical. He’s just laying on the floor with his eyes closed with all of these kids surrounding him. It makes me ill.
  • Twin Crazy just came over to me for a visit. I’m going to play with her now.

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    I’m sitting down, feeling like crap. I can barely swallow. My head is pounding. My throat hurts and my nose is running. I’m achy. I want to curl up and make this go away. I can’t stand the sound of his voice.

  • I had bedtime with Big Bro and Red. It was really fast. Twin Crazy paid us a visit and sat on Big Bro’s lap for a bit during booktime. Big Bro was trying to get me to read a second book and I wouldn’t give in. Red was acting playful despite the lack of sleep. Big Bro looked exhausted. I tucked them both in, gave them their kisses, and headed out the door.

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    So I’m downstairs now, feeling like poop. I just ate a huge bowl of ice-cream with Rice Krispies mixed in (my favorite). This is not a very healthy living environment. I feel like this is my bear den and my cubs are upstairs too far away from me. I want to fast forward. Red is crying. Let me go to her.

    After talking, reassuring, laughing, more hugging, and I love yous, it is now 9 PM and this child has started to cry again. Wish me luck tonight.

    Til tomorrow –
    – Mama K

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    December 9: Tantrums, sickness, lack of sleep X FOUR

    December 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment

    Happy Friday! Today is a “stay-at-home” day with me and the Twins. It has been a bit of a rough day so far…

    Highlights of the Morning and Early Afternoon:

  • I woke up a big hungover to three kids in my bed – Red, and the Twins. What was absolutely adorable was Red was reading to each of them.

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  • Big Bro put on a t-shirt and shorts. Mind you, it’s 37 degrees outside. I pleaded with him to think about the cold outside and think about pants. The problem is that it does actually warm up during the day, and he is very hot-blooded. So my pleading went ignored – but I left it up to him to make his own decision.
  • Everyone was a bit cranky this morning. The Twins both are sick. Sneezing and big red rashes all over the place. Roseola? Not sure. But they are cranky and clingy. Big Bro is whining about everything. Red starts her whining when it came to her socks. By the time we were on her jacket, she was in full-fledged tantrum. I think the Twins’ bad moods for being sick kindof rubbed off on the older two who maybe didn’t get enough sleep last night. Anyway, all four of them were not very enjoyable this morning. Or, maybe was it the wine I drank last night??!?!?!?
  • Big Bro scootered to school while I strollered the Twins. We were extremely late. By the time we got there he was the last one in but at least we caught up with the group. He then runs outside to me in tears because he forgot his library book. I said I would go back and get it. I looked into his eyes and he looked terrible. I’m putting these kids to bed early tonight.
  • On the stroller ride home with the Twins, I took it slow. We talked about things that we saw. I miss this with them. When Big Bro and later Red were small and we were living in the city, I would stroller them to daycare which was in my office building. So at that time, I had the opportunity to talk about so many things with them – it was city living so there was just a lot to look at and teach. Water fountains, big buildings, lights (and counting the lights), going into building lobbies and talking about the holiday decorations, pointing out the flags, etc. Now with the Twins, we commute primarily by mini-van. On days that I stroll with them, particularly on Thursday and Fridays when we are coming back home, I really want to take it slow with them. I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do with these two. We talked about the crows and how they fly away and how big their wings are. We saw two dogs playing so we pulled over to watch them play and we talked about how funny it is to see dogs and how they play and wrestle and run around in circles. We talked about the holiday decorations that we saw. Twin Husky initiated conversation about the playground and the slides. Twin Husky is still pointing out all of the basketball nets. We talked about the busier road and how cars drive fast on that road. We talked about flowers and spent some time looking at them. I talked with them the whole way home and felt better that I am doing more now to teach them about the world around them.

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  • I started looking for Big Bro’s library book and found it. I threw 2 diapers and a small package of wipes in my handbag. Also two little cars to keep the kids entertained. I’m taking them out to breakfast! I went to drop off the book, and Big Bro’s class was not there – so I left a present for him….

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  • Then we headed out for breakfast. I parked and decided NOT to stroller them, but to walk the two blocks. The kids had a great time and Twin Crazy almost looked proud to be walking with me, holding my hand, and crossing the street like a big girl. While at breakfast, our table was close to all of these holiday decorations and the board underneath a HUGE penguin kept getting pushed in by Twin Husky, therefore leading the penguin to almost coming crashing down on us twice. He is such a boy. He needs to touch everything. The penguin incident happened TWO times so he didn’t even learn from the first time. We had a good breakfast nonetheless, and the twins had lots of fun things to look at in this greasy spoon of a diner.

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  • Once we got back I had to care for sick twins. Both were extremely cranky. I had snot to deal with, red skin to deal with, sore noses to deal with, and medicine to give. It took about 15 minutes for the caregiving to kick in and after that they were much more pleasant.
  • We headed upstairs and I read them books. I love how they get so excited over the books. They each run for a book for me to read. Sometimes I read to them, and sometimes they read picture books to me. They love it. They love turning the pages. They love making the sounds that animals make. They love talking with me about what they see on the page. Once I say that the books are done and its time for their nap, they don’t even fight it. They welcome it. I kiss them and they grab hold of their stuffed animals and blankets and begin to doze.
  • They’re down for a nap now and I am getting some things done around the house. I enjoy this quiet time where I can focus on things that I normally would not be able to. The sun is out and I’m feeling good. The twins are quiet so it seems like they are busy sleeping.

      • The Rest of the Day:

    • The twins both woke up in foul moods. Twin Crazy was having a hard time sleeping the entire time because of her stuffed up nose. They’re both sick and struggling. I packed them up, picked up Big Bro, and headed out to a friends house who had a HUGE hand-me-down dollhouse and lots of hand-me-down clothes for all of the kids.
    • The dollhouse was bigger than expected. I thought I’d be able to slip it in the back and cover it up quickly before Big Bro would see it, that way it could be from Santa. No such luck. This thing was HUGE. Four feet tall, at least. I think 4 floors. It wouldn’t fit in the trunk of the mini-van. I tried over and over to shove it in. Of course Big Bro saw it. So I tried to get one of the seats to fold under to give more room. It was stuck. Me and Big Bro were trying to figure it out. He noticed that his car seat was in the way. I eventually got it. Both of us were excited and proud. What a team!!! The thing took up a big part of the van on the way home. Too funny.

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    • Hubby picked up Red while I cooked dinner; Flat Meat with chicken and I did a marinade with mango jelly and basil. Big Bro was throwing tantrums left and right. He was really, really difficult to deal with tonight. The dinner was very good. The kids ate well but it took them awhile to get started — again, their crankiness was a bit too much to bear. I started to drink a Guinness..
    • After dinner we brought out the dollhouse and Big Bro, Red, and Twin Crazy had fun cleaning it. The three of them seem really excited about it. I would have loved it if I had it when I was a kid. Maybe Santa can get Red some proper dolls to play with it, and maybe some more furniture.

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    • There were huge tantrums tonight with the older kids about graham crackers, going to the potty, etc. I just think that both of them were way too tired.

      • So, today was great in that we have all of this new “loot” in the house – clothes, dollhouse, etc. But honestly ALL of the kids were so hard today. All the result of too little sleep and being sick. I really need for Big Bro to nap this weekend. And I hope the kids sleep in a bit tomorrow. Because I know I’ll be moving slowly…

      Have a great weekend everyone –
      Til next week –
      – Mama K

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