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Tomorrow is the BIG day!!!

aprilmomoffour — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 22:23:20 +0000

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow is coming. Can you feel the excitement/ the dread/the pure and ridiculous fear??? Oh, I’m feeling it.

Just what is tomorrow, you ask? Well, you should ask. Tomorrow is OUR very first day of Classical Conversations!!!! What the heck is that, you ask? It is technically a tutoring service, but the boys and I just call it “school.” This is where lots and lots of home schooling families come together, divide our kids up in classes…..you know……like school…..only we don’t get to leave them. : / Bummer. We don’t pay our tutors enough for that… This program meets every week, and it only costs $400/year per kid. Or was it $425? I don’t know. Something like that.

I am so insanely nervous. I think I am more nervous than my children. What is the deal? I’m new to this, see. I’m not just new to CC (That’s what we call it.), I’m new to home schooling altogether.

I wouldn’t be AS nervous as I am, but I’m also in charge of the nursery this year. What if a worker doesn’t show? What if all the parents decide not to use the nursery after all, and we can no longer afford the workers? What if John David screams and cries the whole time? What if everyone just hates the mom with all those rowdy boys? (Me. I’m talking about me.) What if everything just explodes, and there’s an earthquake, and a flood, and and and

Deeeeeeeeeep breath……I may need a little paper bag…..Don’t worry I haven’t told the boys I’m a nervous wreck/raving lunatic….Don’t you think they already know that anyway??? 😉

Okay, all kidding aside, I do have a few things I need to get together before our big day tomorrow,and the biggest thing I’m actually worried about is getting there on time. It’s really close to our house, but well…..I’m working a 4:1 ratio here, and I’ve never had to pack 5 lunches before. That’s right. At public school, you get to BUY a lunch. It rocks.

I remember the 1st week Joshua went to school. His sweet teacher sent me a note. “Josh isn’t eating anything at lunch. You may want to pack him a lunch.”

Oh, but no, I can’t pack lunches for a kid that can’t eat sandwiches. Have you ever found bread that isn’t made of wheat?

I sent her a note back, “He’s being picky. Let’s give him a couple of weeks to get used to the new foods at school.”

Best decision I’ve ever made. Yes, I say that about all of my good decisions.

Okay, so now you know what’s up with us. Here’s some photos of life around here these days:

School Days:

One-year-olds are a lot like cats.

Awards on Wednesdays

On Wednesdays, I award everyone with a “Well Done” certificate for what they’ve done well that week. So far they’ve gotten them for “Good attitude”, “100/A+s on Math Drills”, “100 on Spelling Test” you get the idea. They LOVE Awards Wednesday.

Only 2 weeks in, and I’ve already caved to letting Caleb wear pajamas everyday…. I know…..But let me say this: Caleb has ALWAYS spent every waking moment at home in his PJs. Last year at cub scouts, he proudly proclaimed to his den, “I collect pajamas!!!” PJs are unusually important to this little guy.

I thought this was the coolest book. I’m pretty sure the boys weren’t listening to a word of it, though…

Joshua and I had to learn this. I had personally never heard of a subrahend before.

Nursery school

What I’VE been reading:

Great book. Highly recommend. I never realized that 8-year-olds are technically pre-teens. These suggestions have helped. It would help even more if I would actually finish reading the book.

I also enjoyed learning more about the California wildlife in this book.

We received a surprise gift package from our wonderful Virginia friends Sean, Amy, and their children. Thank you so much!! Loved this! We got a real kick out of the Cracker Barrel map too! Alan and I ate at Cracker Barrels all across the country on our trip West. Unfortunately, California has NONE. Sad. I don’t think it’s that they are too good for the Barrel, though. There’s still a McDonald’s on every corner.

I’m not too good for the McD’s. When you have a kid with a peanut allergy, you don’t have a ton of options, and our McD’s here gives us a 15% military discount, so I am sort of a fan…Spare me the anti-fast food messages. When you have several children and a desire to do something other than cook a meal, we’ll talk.

excitedly tearing into the package (Oh, and look at that painting on the wall, behind Caleb. Alan’s grandmother painted that at the ripe old age of TWELVE. Amazing.)

my Frozen Anna pin!! 🙂 Love!

Love his facial expressions! He was so excited about his Planes book. Do you see that book on the floor behind him too? It’s a red-headed pro wrestler. Daniel picked it out at the library, and he’s been running around our house with no shirt on “being a wrestler”–which has started a trend.

Beach Day!

Just for the record, this “super cold” water is nowhere near as cold as the water in Massachusetts.

“Me wet. Me cold.”

The other day he asked me, “Us go there?”

I said, “Daniel, can you say we? We go there?”

Daniel said, “Yes, we us go there.”

“No. I mean. We go there. Just we.”

“Yes, you come too.”

…..at which point I gave up entirely.

Tomorrow’s the big day!!! Ahhh!!!!

“Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.” Proverbs 20:11

“Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.” Proverbs 20:13

(Well, that makes me feel better about the problem of never getting sleep…..)

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The Latest Phase: The Sitting in the Tree Song!

aprilmomoffour — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 02:12:28 +0000

Yesterday I went to Target. I was supposed to buy Alan an A&W Root Beer while there, but I forgot….until I got to the check-out line. By that point, the A&W’s were all the way at the back of the store, and it was starting to snow outside. Oops. So I bought Alan a 20 ounce Dr. Pepper, and figured all was not lost.

But now it’s 4:30 pm, and I’m still beat from taking all four kids to the library, helping them with their homework, and dealing with some moderately bad news. (Don’t worry. All is well).

And right at this moment I just don’t have it. I don’t have the get-up-and-go left to cook dinner, and since the Dr. Pepper is the only soda available, and I view soda like many of you might view liquor, I drank it.

I drank Alan’s Dr. Pepper…..that I’d bought him…..because I’d failed to buy the A&W.

So now, not only am I tired and emotionally drained, but I am also filled with guilt and regret. I’m sorry, Alan, I love you. I think I just needed it a little bit more than you did. I will buy you another one!

*******

I actually managed to get a decent dinner of ham, green beans, and rolls prepared, and now I want to tell you about a strange new phase of life we have come to.

Our boys have reached the phase of teasing each other about…..dumdumdum……girls! I have heard this song so many times I could poke my eyes out if I hear it again: “Caleb and that girl sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g..” Ugh.

Today Joshua wrote it out on a paper, brought it downstairs to where Caleb was playing with a friend, and tried to pass it off as a note from this girl to Caleb. We’ll call her Marsha, but just know that no one in their generation is named Marsha, it’s a fake name to protect the children. ; )

Joshua was all, “Ooooo, Marsha wrote Caleb this note. She said she loooooves Caleb!”

Caleb fired back, “Heh?? What! NOOOO! Marsha loves me, but I HATE HER! Let me see that. You wrote that, Joshua.”

And just for the record: Caleb does NOT hate Marsha. He thinks she is an awesome friend, at least, and he talks about her frequently.

First, Caleb came to me crying. Then Caleb turned the tables on Joshua and sang it about Joshua and another girl. That turned the game into boys chasing each other and trying to whack each other. Oy.

Oh, then they started singing it about Daniel. Hello, he’s two. He doesn’t even know what a girl is.

Okay, that’s not exactly true. I don’t know how much he knows about the difference between a boy and a girl, but I can tell you that his method of getting a girl’s attention is HILARIOUS. He falls back on the classic boy method of “annoy and growl” to get a girl’s attention.

Literally, he growls at girls.

According to Mabby’s daughter, he also sometimes hits…..a problem we will certainly work on! I’ve seen him so many times spot a cute 3-year-old, there’s this one in particular that he sees when we walk to school, and he will turn himself around as far as he can go in his stroller to growl back at her and try to get her to look at him.

On the rare warm day that he actually gets to see her at the park, he will march all the way up to her, stomp his feet and roar at her, face-to-face. I had to rush over there and do damage control.

Dear future girls that they will meet: I promise to teach them good etiquette. They will learn how to flirt without insulting, compliment without making you nervous, and talk about things other than poop and cars. I promise.

*******

Major Event: I booked myself and John David (age 7 months) a flight to Alabama to see my folks this Thursday, and now they are predicting a serious snow storm for Wednesday night here, enough to effectively cancel my trip for Thursday. I am sweating this out!!!! Prayers please, and maybe I should start thinking up a back-up plan, really! It’s not like I’m not being warned. I was SO EXCITED to get away for a weekend.

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Amusing Kids Quotes

aprilmomoffour — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 02:57:00 +0000

Alan took both boys out to shoot BB guns over Christmas.

Alan said that while Joshua wasn’t holding it right at all, he hit his target dead on.

A dad taking his boys out to shoot. That’s a tradition as old as time. I guess originally it would’ve been the dad taking the boys out to use sticks and bows and arrows and the like. Either way, the bonding and learning is the same.

They were both a little nervous about participating. Being raised in the city doesn’t really lend itself to these type of activities.

Psychology goes a long way though. I asked one of them that was trying to back out, “Do you want to go shooting, or do you want to stay here with Mommy and the babies?”

hehehe They aren’t into the whole “mommy” thing so much now.

Joshua informed me on Saturday, “I’m not a baby anymore, so you’re just Mom and Dad now, not Mommy.”

I forgot this when I went to get him from Jacob’s house. I said something to him and referred to myself as “Mommy”, and he quickly corrected me. “No, no, it’s Momma. Not Mommy.”

I just corrected myself, “Oh! yeah! I forgot. Sorry.”

I’m telling you, this year has been new territory with Joshua.

Tonight Joshua said something I thought was cute.

“I really like all gross stuff, except for kissing on the lips. Stuff like hang-y eye balls and skin falling off. I really like gross stuff like that.”

Short bragging parent moment:

We were excited, after a semester of worrying over the boys’ problems with paying attention in school, when Joshua received a letter in the mail from the school, congratulating him on his good grades. He got all 3s and 4s the first quarter (equivalent to old school A/B Honor Roll), and received a “golden soar card” as his prize.

He was so excited. Wahoo!!! Yay Joshua!

Alan and the boys, in the woods, in Alabama

Sweet home Alabama!

We overheard this conversation tonight between Joshua and Caleb:

J: You love *Dora* (name changed)

Caleb and *Dora* sitting in a tree!

C: No!! NO!! Actually, yes. I like *Dora*. I’m going to kiss her on the lips tomorrow. Actually, she always kisses *Arthur* (name changed). Girls kiss him all over the face.

Both boys laughed, and continued on this theme…

After a while, Alan and I came down stairs. Then we heard a commotion, so we went back upstairs to check on the boys. We found all THREE oldest boys laying in Joshua’s bed together.

“Can’t we please, please all sleep together and have a slumber party???”

Absolutely not. School starts back tomorrow.

Last quote:

Joshua explained to me that a crush is when someone likes someone else. He seemed to have a good grasp on the subject. Caleb, on the other hand, chimed in:

“Yep! I’ve had lots of crushes on you, Mommy!”

🙂 Ah, Caleb, thank you so much for still being so young and so sweet.

Okay, one more!

Every now and then, when other children come to play with our children, everything goes really well until it’s time for them to go home. There’s the occasional buddy that doesn’t want to leave. Sometimes they run. Sometimes they hide. Sometimes they just flat out tell me they don’t want to leave yet.

So this is what I do:

I firmly tell them, “Huh? Oh, no. I have four kids and way too much to do, so come on because I do not have time for that.”

This seems to make sense to everyone, young or old, and it hasn’t failed me yet.

Have a great week!

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Calming Down

aprilmomoffour — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 17:42:00 +0000

He got all ready to bat, but when he realized I had the camera out, he put the bat down and came over to pose. Such a cute little poser. : )

Dan has been keeping me thoroughly entertained as the big bro of the youngest set. I do think of my children as two sets of two. There is such a gap between Caleb and Daniel. I tell you, if you can handle two little ones, you can handle four children. By the very nature of it, there are still only two little ones, so it isn’t vastly different than it was when I just had Joshua and Caleb at this age. The biggest change is that I have to constantly drag the two babes out a lot more in order to get Joshua and Caleb out to where they need to be (mostly school).

John David’s naps have been a joke since school started back, and I do feel so badly about that. He is constantly being yanked from his bed to go pick someone up. Poor little thing.

So this is our new baby monitor, my newest toy. Thanks, Mom and Dad! The boys used to carry around the regular auditory monitor when I was in JD’s room so they could always hear me, isn’t that sweet? I’m a little less joyful about their new ability to spy on me while I’m in there, though.

JohnDavid and I had our own little photo session last week. I had to document the fact that I had actually managed to shower, fix my hair, and put on make-up, all before noon.

my little hand-sucker, chilling with Daniel’s toys…

I’m a little concerned about Dan and his toys that I’m trying to hand down to the baby. Joshua more than happily handed any and everything down to Caleb. Dan is way way more possessive. He is constantly yanking things from the baby and saying, “No! Mine!” : /

I do recall Karen telling me to watch out for third children because Hillary could be a real pistol when she was a toddler. I remember Joshua, as a toddler, didn’t stand a chance against her when competing over the toddler car at Alan’s grandparents’ house. I guess Daniel is just following that rule.

Cute things I’ve seen and heard:

Dan now enjoys riding his scooter, only his endurance and speed aren’t great. He wants to ride it to school, so what I’ve been doing is sometimes packing the scooter in the stroller in the morning and letting him ride it from the park to the house. It slows us down a lot, but it’s good training for little Dan.

A couple of days ago, he was scooting down the sidewalk, when he spotted a worm. Of course, he stopped and picked the worm up (I squashed my urge to say “ew”). He held it for a minute. Then he put it back down, got back on his scooter and started scooting, but he turned around and said, “Bye, Bye, worm!” and blew it kisses. : )

That’s why we love two-year-olds.

Sunday Caleb told me that he liked my dress. Then he said that I look so good in dresses that I should wear them every day. : ) Sweet, but dresses aren’t very work-friendly when you have to bend over 20,000 times/day and spend lots of time sitting in the floor. Maybe when the kids are older.

********

Joshua is really getting back in touch with his inner book-worm. When he was a toddler, he used to insist that we read him book after book after book. I remember DaddyO babysitting and saying, “He made me read him 11 books in a row.”

Over the years, that love of reading has faded a bit, but this year his teacher really pushes reading, and it’s working beautifully. One night I realized that Joshua had been reading for an hour, and that is straight- up weird for the King of the Trampoline.

I need suggestions for age-appropriate books that he will enjoy, though. He is currently reading a Diary of a Wimpy Kid book. It seems just right for his level, and he thinks it’s pretty funny. If anyone knows any great books for little boys, let me know! I don’t know his exact reading level, but he is in the second grade.

*******

The other day Alan and I were eating dinner, and Alan said, “Wow, you seem so calm. What happened today? What’s different? I like it.”

……..Wake-up call. Apparently I need to chill. I have felt more calm this week, but I don’t know why. School starting back did really stress me out, but now we’re settling into a routine.

And by the way, skipping fall sports is the best decision we have ever made!

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Luke 12:6-7)

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Back to School

aprilmomoffour — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 17:12:00 +0000

The boys have begun a new school year, and my house is strangely quiet. It’s weird that so far today there has been no Joshua jumping on the trampoline, no Caleb running frantically down the hallway from Joshua, screaming, no Caleb begging me to play on my computer, nor even the sounds of little boys snacking. I actually sort of miss it. Sort of. Instead, Dan is asleep, and JD is beside me, having cut his nap short, refusing to be tired…I had really had my heart set on a nap……but alas, it was not to be.

Alan and I are experiencing a sleep deprivation treatment this week. After a summer of kids sleeping nicely, and JD learning to sleep through the night, our children have suddenly conspired against us to form this nightmare up-all-night scenario. The night before last it was JD a couple times, plus Daniel kept invading our room. Last night Dan wet the bed, Joshua had a nightmare that sent him to our room for the rest of the night, and JD woke up for a feeding at 2am.

Plus, did I mention I now have to get out of bed by 5:30 just to get by? Yes, 5:30. I actually got up at 5:15 this morning. That way I do get 20 minutes of kid free reading and coffee time. If this is something your life is missing, I highly recommend it.

Meanwhile, I feel as though I will never be well rested again.

We are in a very serious go-all-day, work never stops, phase of life right now. You don’t even want to know about the laundry, and I will never admit how much money I spent at Costco last week!

How did the boys do on their first day? Good, I think.

I can see in Joshua’s classroom, through a window, after I drop him off in the mornings. Yesterday, I peeked in (It’s a large window, and you can’t not look–I promise I’m not being crazy stalker Mom), and I saw Joshua, all smiles, proudly holding up his clipboard. This is the first year he’s had one of those. He said he even tried out a new peanut table–when you sit at the peanut allergy tables, there aren’t a lot of different options–but this year he said, “I sat at a new table, in the very back, with little Jack and another kid I don’t know,” and he seemed rather pleased with this. His only glitch was at the end of the day when he went to the wrong door to meet me, which is really my fault for not explaining to him that he has to meet up with Caleb on the other side of the school because I cannot be at two different doors at once to pick them up. Thankfully, my friend Susie caught Joshua and helped him find us.

Caleb was happy about his first day too. I am a little nervous about his year though. There’s one little boy in that class that Caleb tends to get in trouble with, so I was rather dismayed to discover that he is in Caleb’s class again, and that Caleb has already gotten in trouble two times–on the very first day.

So if you want to pray for us, I’d say pray for Caleb to learn how to stay out of trouble…..and for my nerves in dealing with any problems that may arise!

I am still feeling optimistic about the school year.

JD changes daily. He can now grab toys and hold them. I’ve even seen him bring a toy to his mouth a couple of times.

Alan had him laughing the other night, but every time the camera would flash….he seemed to not like that so much.

Look at how much he has grown!!!! 11 weeks!

2 weeks

My children just do not stay small for long.

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Managing Breastfeeding Stress

aprilmomoffour — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 02:19:00 +0000

Tomorrow is the first day of school for Joshua and Caleb (Dan starts next week), and I am a bundle of stress and nerves.

What is the deal? Why should I be bugging out? I’m not going to school. I don’t even have to walk with all four of them in the morning because DaddyO and Nonna are here to keep the little ones.

I’m taking Benadryl to make sure I do not suffer insomnia tonight. That stuff is an awesome sleeping pill, as any allergy sufferer can tell you. I’m setting my alarm clock for 5:30am. If all goes well, maybe I can work up to scheduling a super early workout in the mornings too. But not tomorrow. Tomorrow I will just consider it success to be on time for school.

Having a nursing baby adds about 45 minutes to my old routine.

No one tells you when you’re moving into “big family” territory that every simple thing is suddenly going to take a whole lot longer with each child that you add.

The boys are handling it quite well. They have their clothes laid out and everything. Joshua says that tomorrow is a “dumb day,” but he seemed quite happy to pick out his clothes and pack his school snack. I think he’s secretly just as excited as Caleb. I don’t know if Caleb will be quite so excited when he finds out there’s no show and share, no kitchen center, no painting center, and no Lego center in the 1st grade. Joshua grumbled that, “In the 1st grade all the centers are about learning stuff.”

I feel like the return to walking 2 miles/day and getting back to a more scheduled life in general will be good for us. If nothing else, it will be good for my post-pregnancy waist line. : )

We are sending summer out with a BANG though. This weekend there has been a Gettysburg trip, a boat outing, and even some putt-putt golf. I even managed to finally cash in my spa gift card and get a pedicure.

A few photos from our last weekend of summer:

My sunbutter/cheese ball creation for the BAMA game

(got this idea from Pinterest and actually made it!)

Dan is the only one of our boys that loves the boat.

DaddyO

funny DaddyO

Daniel, Daddy, and I thoroughly enjoyed the football treat.

Bring on the new school year!

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Open House

aprilmomoffour — Sat, 31 Aug 2013 02:16:00 +0000

Do any of you get as excited about Open House as I do? Our school held Open House yesterday, where all the parents show up, pretty much at the same time, and push right over each other, with children in tow, to see THE LISTS. They are hung up on the wall by grade. You hold your breath in anticipation to find out the big question: Who’s class will my children be in this year?? It’s all very dramatic.

In my head I had a basic idea of what kids my children would like to have class with, as well as what children they are anxiously hoping will not be in their class. Sometimes I even have an idea of what teacher I want to get, or, as was the case with Caleb this year, I have no idea which teacher to hope for.

Well, the results are in, and I am hopeful–hopeful that all will be well.

Joshua’s teacher has an excellent reputation, so I’m pleased as punch about that. I was also so excited to see that Joshua’s buddy, Mikey, is in his class. I think Susie (Mikey’s mom) and I were more excited than Mikey and Joshua. They seemed so nonchalant about it all, but I think they were really just too nervous to act excited. I could definitely tell that Joshua and Caleb were a bit anxious, as they stayed very close to me and acted like calm, quiet children the entire time we were at Open House. In one month from now, it will be a completely different story.

For Caleb, I would have been hoping for Joshua’s 1st grade teacher, except that she retired. I haven’t heard anything negative about the others, so I had no idea who to wish for. Caleb got a new teacher, but she’s only new to our school. This isn’t her first year teaching, which is good. There are several of his friends in his class, so he’s happy. I’m also happy because these are kids that I also know and like their parents.

It sure was a hot and sticky walk to school and back–good reminder to dress them accordingly for a while. That may mean a few getting dressed battles with Mr. “I love sweat pants”….which by the way, he did wear his sweat pants to Open House. That poor child was drenched in sweat by the time we got home.

So was I. Sherry and I were so exhausted and sweaty after being outside in the 90 degree heat in blue jeans, we literally came inside, dropped into chairs in the living room and just sat there for about an hour. It’s always fun to visit with Sherry.

The whole day turned out to be quite refreshing for me. After a summer of being cooped up in a house with four little boys, I was just happy to see so many of my friends again. Margret let me know that a lot of our ‘buds were meeting up at the pool after the Open House, and as much as I knew I should be making preparations for Nonna and DaddyO’s arrival, my old social nature kicked in, and I headed to the pool…..with all four children in tow.

Don’t worry. We were fine. I knew with so many friends there, I would have someone to hold John David while I followed Daniel around. And sure enough, my wonderful friend Amy spent some bonding time with the baby, allowing me to take my first dip into the pool of the whole summer. Daniel was so happy to have me in the pool with him.

What would I do without my friends? God has blessed me abundantly.

So I never did get the house as spick-and-span as I would have liked to for my in-laws, but they seem to be at peace with us anyway. : ) Alan and DaddyO are having a great time, planning their big trip to Gettysburg. We’ve all been dutifully researching ancestors that were present at the great conflict. Alan and I both had several. If you are my cousin/aunt/or even in-law, you did too! It’s surprisingly interesting to read about when you realize how greatly it affected all of our ancestors. …..Now if they can only get Joshua and Caleb to share in their excitement. They are going along for the ride.

School starts Tuesday!!!!! Judge all you want, but I am SO excited!

A few pics of the littlest ones:

I just love seeing Alan all dressed nicely for work, like this. : )

Have a great Labor Day Weekend!

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