Weekend Recap

 

Oh my!  What a lovely weekend it was.

One for the record books!

(or, you know, this blog.)

Anyone else wish that their husbands could somehow get paid to be your helper/companion full time?

It started out with a surprisingly pleasant dinner at Red Robin, where the boys used some gift certificates they “earned” from swimming lessons.

We ate outside, and the boys were able to play while we waited for the food.

Then, to the park for ice cream and playground time

 

 

Saturday, I woke up to this cute little profile next to me,

(and an arm that was asleep from holding him for hours)

And later we met my cousin halfway between our houses- at a lovely little campground/day use area. 

Our moms used to force us to visit here when we were little so that they could look at wildflowers.  Just what every pre-teen wants to do, yes? 

FYI: Warm summer forest is one of my favorite smells of all time. 

To top it off Sunday, we had church, rest time, a walk through another woods nearby, and then Brian and I staying up way too late talking about the future of our little family.

I love weekends!  Especially weekends in OREGON.

and I love my family.  (even when the children drive me absolutely crazy- like…today)

I am so blessed!

Friday video: Blossom shower

 

 

I’m not going to say that I will do a video EVERY Friday, but maybe some Fridays?  Or, you know… today, which is Friday?

I will start small.

 

 

 

These pictures are from a little over a month ago;

who can guess what my boys are doing in this photo?

Did you guess that they are about to jump and hit our blooming tree with their swords to create a “blossom shower?”

Because that is correct!

I know that my boys are at the age where they won’t really remember these days when they are grown

(some for Joseph)

(probably none for Isaac)

(I will pause to cry with exhaustion and let that sink in)

But my dream is that they will remember the spring of 2013 as a swirl of blossoms

 

PS:  My neighbors had to (got to?) see me in my robe so that I could capture this video.

PPS:  What was more embarrassing is that it was about noon.

 

Somewhat emotional ramblings from a pre-school Mother

(you’ve been warned)

The schools in this area let out for the summer next week.

As these final “school year” days draw to a close, I can’t help but think about how, when they start back up again, we will be a part of it. 

Kindergarten!

These are my final days with all of my little birdies in my nest, while the rest of the world buzzes by.

And I know that I will miss it.

But, what, exactly, will I miss?!

(too bright!  Poor little lambs)

Will I miss the lazy, non rushed mornings?

The days when I don’t have to worry about getting any makeup on because I will not be seeing anyone?

Having all of my children safe and within hugs reach?

The parks, museums, and zoos to ourselves while everyone else is in school?

Or will it be something else that I haven’t thought of and am currently taking for granted?

I also know that, someday, I will miss having these three very little boys around all the time!

It is one of the things that strangers love to tell moms with little children;

“You are going to miss this!  Enjoy it!”

Well, miss what exactly?  Enjoy what?

 

Is it the sweaty smell of their little boy heads?

Their little hands in mine?

Their fierce, unashamed hugs?

The laughter?

The thumping of little feet?

What??!!

Or, is it everything?

 

But, please, don’t say everything, because how can I enjoy EVERYTHING?

Maybe there is a reason that all of these things seems so sweet in retrospective.

Do people not remember that sometimes those little sweet heads smell sweaty because the little head-owner just screamed for 20 minutes straight?

Or that the hugs can turn into a noose around your neck while you are just-trying-to-get-dinner-in-the-oven-for-Pete’s-sake!

The laughter can be from passing gas on a screaming/protesting siblings face? (true story)

That the thumping can wake up baby brothers?

And have they forgotten the mind-numbing-boredom and the fact that no one seems to sleep, stop producing bodily various bodily fluids, or hold still ever, ever, ever, ever?

Will I forget this too?

Will the hardness of three at home fade along with the exact feeling of Joseph’s hand in mine?  Or Isaac’s hard hugs?  Or Samuel’s two-toothed grin?

Where am I going with this?  Why do I feel so panicky, nostalgic, overwhelmed, and under qualified whenever the house quiets at night?

I don’t know how to wrap up all of these feelings.

 

So, lets reign it in for a summary:

 

 

1)  It is almost summer, and in a few short months I will embark on a 20+ year journey of children in the school system.  And it is…strange.  Let’s say strange.

 

2)  Should you tell me what you miss most about little children so that I can ponder and savor?  Or is it too varied and tied to personal experience?

 

3)  Be careful when you tell strangers that they will miss these days and that they should “enjoy their little children.”  They are (hopefully) trying to!  But little children are HARD, and sometimes less than enjoyable.

 

4)  Additionally, if one more person tells me to “just wait until they are all teenagers…”  I will hit them with my overflowing clothes hamper.  Or with some wet superhero sheets.  Or with a screaming, flailing 3 year old. 

Maybe it will be harder, but that boggles my mind.

And, in this case, ignorance is bliss.

What You Need To Know

 

(note: I use the term “need to know” quite loosely. You don’t really need to know any of this.  But I choose to tell you anyway!)

About Joseph:

- Somehow, he has turned five and a half!   

 

- He drives his little brother crazy, and enjoys it.

- He loves his baby brother fiercely. 

He is always on board to talk to him/tickle him/snuggle him, and he tells me, literally, every day how “Lucky we are to have a baby in the house” and how he thinks “Samuel is the cutest, chubbiest baby in the whole world!”

 

- If you let him, he will play computer all. day. long. (we don’t let him)

- If he didn’t have a brother who wants to talk, and a Mama who institutes “Talking breaks,” he would talk  ALL THE TIME!

And about SO many things things! 

Boba Fett, God, math problems, the human body, “Do ninjas really live in China?”, “How come they chose those words to put on money?”…no topic is off the table. 

 

-He has an incredibly sweet, tender heart.

 

-On a related note- he sleeps with about 20 stuffed animals. (His current favorites are super soft kitties of various colors and sizes.  If you want to make him smile- buy him a stuffed kitty!) 

Some of them he is not so attached to anymore, but he doesn’t want to boot them off of his bed because “it might make them feel bad!” 

This came out after I made him choose an animal to put away (he had just gotten a new one) and I made the chosen exiled pet wave to him and say, “I will miss you, Joseph!” 

Tears ensued, and he cried, “That’s what I was afraid of!!”

Mom fail on that one.

 

-He sleeps with two “soft blankies.”  Not ONE….TWO.

 

- Also don’t forget to turn on the bat signal, the hallway light, the moon-to-sun night, and crack the door, or be prepared to come back and set things right.

 

- Sheets must be smoothed.  No tangles or wrinkles.  Smooooth.    A nice “cover fluffer” before bed will delight him.  Don’t worry, he will wake you up later if he gets tangled again!

- He also needs a tuck in kiss and hug from his Mama.  If his kiss on my cheek doesn’t land right, he will redo it several times.

 

- He loves morning snuggles.

 

- EARLY morning snuggles.

- Starts almost EVERY sentence with “Mama?…”

 

- The only main dish meal items he likes are:  Hamburgers (no lettuce/tomato/onion and EXTRA pickles), macaroni (sometimes), pbj, Double Noodle Soup, Chicken nuggets (if you have lots of ketchup), plain noodles, homemade bean/cheese burritos (easy on the beans),  pbj, pancakes/waffles, and white rice. 

Fruits: All of them!  Although watermelon can be a bit messy, so that is sometimes rejected, and oranges can “seem strange” to him (direct quote)  (I don’t know what it means either) if they are not peeled correctly.

Vegetables:  Cucumbers in circles with lots of ranch.  Corn on the cob, cut off (until he gets some in his teeth- then it is SO OVER).  Carrots in ketchup.

Sure glad that I started him out with vegetable baby food so that he would have healthy eating habits, love veggies and not develop a sweet tooth! (I read an article, see…)

(Samuel is getting bananas first.)

- Prefers showers to baths.

 

- Cries/whines about showers….cries/whines about having to get OUT of showers. 

 

- Always up for earning money.

 

- Crusts on.  Triangle-cut preferred.  Chunky peanut butter if there’s an option.

 

- Skin on apples.  Sliced.  Or whole until, you guessed it, skin gets stuck in his teeth.

 

- Bananas sliced and served with a toothpick for spearing.

 

-  Smells food first to see if he likes it.

- Calls slivers “slithers”.  Please don’t correct him of this adorableness!

And HEAVEN HELP YOU if he ever gets a “slither” because you will have to either try to remove it on the spot (He would prefer this be done without ACTUALLY TOUCHING the slither)   (yes this is impossible), or have everyone wonder why you dragging a screaming, limping, potentially physically disabled child to the car.

- Prays to himself.

 

- LOVES Legos- but not if Isaac is playing. (I don’t blame him)

 

- Reads at least 10 books a day.

 

- Tells me that he loves me 20 times a day.

 

- Plays chess with himself.

 

- Told me the other day, “When I am a parent I am going to be waaaaay nicer than you are.”

 

- Told me today, “You are kind of chubby, Mama.  And its cute, like Samuel is chubby.”

 

- I LOVE him so much it hurts.