Thank goodness for kids

It has been a long week.  I have that stress induced fatigue that makes me not really want to do anything.  However, with three kids, I really don't have much flexibility in the matter.  I can only let them watch PBS Kids so long and Molly doesn't really watch it anyway.

But, thank goodness for my kids!  My kids have given me a focus and have kept my mind off of other things.  They've provided me moments of lightness and moments of laughter.  All three are always ready with a hug even if I've been attempting to avoid them all day.  There have been moments that help me to see that everything going on now is fleeting and not worthy of the stress I'm allowing it to cause.  The most important things in life will still be there as all the other changes occur.

A couple of stories that I want to share and remember are Dominic centered.  The first happened a little over a week ago as I was making him lunch.  The night before we had soccer practice and Dom and another little boy played for a bit afterwards on the play equipment at the park.  It had been the first time Dom had played with someone his age in a long time.  He is happy to play with Will, but it was fun to watch him play with someone other than his sibling.  I commented to him as I was making his sandwich that it was a shame we had to move just as he was making new friends.  His immediate response:  "I'll make new friends in Florida!"

Here my son gave the answer that I should have been prepared to give him.  I will sometimes look at the amazing friends I've made here in Ohio and wonder if I'll ever have such a wonderful network again.  Of course, the answer is:  Who Knows?  But, if I don't try, then I definitely won't.  Dom already has that enthusiasm for the next place we will live and I'm glad I have such a positive example to follow.

The second story, which I already shared on Facebook, happened as I was sorting outgrown clothes.  Dom watched as I put various baby boy clothes and baby girl clothes into boxes.  He asked when we would have another baby.  This is a topic he brings up often.  To put him off a little I asked him if he would prefer a brother or a sister.  He said:  "A Brother...then another brother...then a sister.  That way we'd have a pattern:  Boy, Boy, Girl, Boy, Boy, Girl."  Dom has mentioned before that he wants lots of brothers and sisters so that he can have lots of friends.  Who knew he was formulating a pattern in his head that he wanted to complete?

Thank goodness for my kids.

For those who asked

The book series is Bella and Harry Adventures.  You can check out their website here:

http://www.bellaandharry.com/

The boys really enjoy these books and look at them constantly.  I like that they bring in a little bit of culture, language, and sights.  Both boys keep talking about "when we visit Europe".  So there you go.  Enjoy!

Oh, and for the record, we are continuing to learn about states and have a goal of visiting all of the state capitals.  So far we have visited 2, but Indianapolis and Tallahassee are in our sights!

International Travelers

Between Cars 2, the Tour de France, and the Olympics, the boys have become very interested in visiting various foreign cities.  I discovered a series of books at the library about a couple of dogs that visit various cities and talk about the culture and landmarks they visit.  I've really enjoyed the boys' enthusiasm for this new interest.  For example, today when we went to Cincinnati for the baseball game, we parked next to a church with a large bell tower that had a clock on it.  Will exclaimed: "Look! It's Big Ben!".  Eric, whose mind wasn't really present due to a left behind wallet, tried to correct him on his geographical mistake.  Will quickly replied: "No, Dad, I'm just pretending."

As we walked across a bridge to get to the ballpark, Will commented that "We're walking on Tower Bridge".  Now, many people (including yours truly) mistakenly think the famous looking bridge is the London Bridge, however, it is, in fact, the Tower Bridge due to it's proximity to the Tower of London.  I am tickled that the boys know this due to the book we read.  The current London Bridge is actually pretty boring looking.  Though that didn't stop Will from pointing out his own version of the London Bridge.  This was a ramp going up to the upper deck in the stadium.

At one point I thought that Eric and I would get away on a little vacation to go back to Europe to see some more sights on our own.  Now, I suspect, we will need to bring our progeny along with us.  Will keeps telling us how beautiful France is and Dom really wants to ride the train that goes underwater.  And both boys want to visit Stonehenge and the Eiffel Tower.  I don't see how I could ever convince them that they should stay behind.  Especially since Will has gotten a taste of Swiss Chocolate...And don't get them started on going to Tokyo!

August at the Buschelmaennerhaus

 This is the third in a string of posts.  We have had a very active last few weeks.  The Olympics has played a big part in that we are either watching it or pretending we are participating in our favorite events.  Diving off the couches, anyone?

 Dominic's ability to color has continued to amaze me.  Maybe when he is a senior in high school, I will stop being amazed.  Though, I don't know, Grandma Liz, now that your son is about to earn his doctorate, does his ability to color in the lines still impress you?

 Dom caught a cricket and we released him to the wild using his handy-dandy bug collector thing (official title).  Ok, actually, I captured him and I released him, but the boys were there at all aspects and gave me the encouragement I needed to complete the task.  It was a total team effort.

 At the beginning of August, we loaded up and took one the shortest road trips we have ever taken.  We drove the three hours up to Ann Arbor, Michigan to accompany Eric as he presented some of his research at a conference.  Lucky for me, there was children's hands-on museum within walking distance of our hotel.  We visited all three days for a few hours.  The rest of the time the boys were basically doing some variation of the above and below activity.  Yup.  I had a great time...

Though, it was nice to take a bit of a break from the regular routine.  As Eric pointed out, I didn't have to cook or clean-up after meals.  And staying in a hotel is fun when you look at it through the eyes of your children.  Despite the disappointment of not having a pool, the boys and Molly loved riding the elevator and going through the rotating doors.  Oh, and the fact their mom let them watch hours of cartoons.  Exactly what else are you suppose to do when you want to keep two kids quiet while the third child sleeps? (and you need a nap yourself...)

I think I blinked

Six years ago I was in my third trimester of pregnancy with an unknown child.  All of the sudden that child is old enough to play on his own without me constantly watching.  To help me with his siblings.  Not to mention how he is learning to read, add, and learning new facts every day about different states, presidents, and countries.  Where did that time go?  

 Dominic has been pretty busy this summer.  We've done some traveling, but he has also participated in a soccer camp, and just recently started soccer practice for the fall season.  He loves it and has a great attitude about it.  Something I'm constantly checking, because I love watching him and don't want to mistake my enthusiasm for his.

 During the Tour de France, Dom renewed his interest in riding and racing (along with his brother).  They will race each other around our corner over and over again.  One day, I had the great idea that I would follow them around the entire block pulling Molly in the wagon with water.  We were the team car.  The boys loved it!  And, I'm pleased to say that my little mommy workout has paid off in a couple of pounds shed.  Because we did not just go around our half-mile block once.  Oh no, not these hardcore riders.  We went around 5 times.  Sometimes, I would be hauling a couple of kids as we were re-enacting the time trial...
  After watching several bike races, Dom expressed interest in learning how to ride a two-wheeler.  We purchased one this weekend and he has a great attitude about learning how to ride.  He actually counts down for Eric to let him go on his own.  He falls immediately, but jumps right back up to try it again.  The bike is on the big side, so we may look for a slightly smaller one for him to gain a little confidence on.  Though, I think if we just work with him every afternoon, he'll get the hang of it in no time.

 Eric's enthusiasm for soccer is contagious and Dom loves to watch the games.  There is an area soccer team that we've watch a couple of times.  Last night, the boys and Eric attended their last home game of the season and brought home some paraphenalia.  Dom requested I take the above picture, then decided he needed a better outfit.  Can you guess what the color is for the Dayton Dutch Lions?

We have let Dom and Will stay up for as much of the Olympics as they can handle.  This means they have been falling asleep downstairs around 9:30 every night.  Will sleeps in in the morning and makes up for his lost sleep, but Dom tends to wake up early and then can start dragging the rest of the day.   However, he is old enough to acknowledge that he needs to rest a little when he starts having a bad attitude.  I will often find him in his bed just having a little quiet time.  Last week he actually took a 4 hour nap, which he needed.  Unfortunately, that meant he was not in any way ready to go to sleep even at 10 when Eric and I were falling asleep.  He stayed up a little later looking at a book.  But the next morning he informed me that it had been a bad idea to stay up so late and he would need a nap later on.  Sure enough, he laid down when Molly did and got up ready to ride around the block a few more times before supper.

Dom just reminded me to add that he, Will, and Molly went to a track on Friday to run some races like Usain Bolt...their times were slightly slower.  He would also like to add that our track is not as nice as the track they ran on in Kansas.  That would be the new track at Lawrence High School.

No wonder he is tired.  It's not just lack of sleep, he's constantly moving!

Our Little Princess

Another collection of snaps of our precious daughter.

 Molly loves putting on shoes.  She does a pretty good job of putting on her own, but prefers the larger shoes of her parents and brothers.  One evening we heard loud clomping around the upstairs.  She was walking around in some of my highest heels (though, as they are mine, they aren't that high).  Unfortunately, the pictures came out fuzzy, but I thought I would add them anyway.

 A couple of weeks ago, Dom took part in a soccer camp.  Will, Molly, and I went to watch three of the days.  William did an amazing job of sitting and coloring or making up games.  His favorite game was to hold several crayons and then ask me which was the highest.  He was always very complimentary of my ability to deduce the correct one.  Molly preferred to wander around the entire field.  Will, being a very helpful brother, would track her down for me and make sure she stayed out of danger.

 On the last day of the camp, Will and Molly were exploring when they came across a mud puddle.  As I came up to collect them, Molly did her best impression of Anne of Green Gables attempting to herd her cow out of her neighbor's cabbage patch (skip to the 4 min mark).  She was pretty muddy and we only had a shirt of Dom's to put her in.  When she got home, she also put on Will's shoes.  Of course, I would not have let her go out in public looking like this, but around the house I thought she looked very cute.

 And just a few other pictures of our little girl.  Molly was the only one willing to touch a huge caterpillar we found outside our kitchen window.  Quite the brave little girl.

Just a side story.  A friend recently posted something about what we say to our children becomes their inner voices.  I commented that we know how successful we've been when their inner voices become their outer voices.  Now that we have a couple of talking children, I've heard phrases I've used repeated back in their conversations with one another...for better and for worse.  Obviously, I'm not about to share a case of "the worse", but the other day as I was driving I heard Dom talking to Molly and he said:

"Well, how are you today, Precious?"

I get a kick out of it when they pick up the nicknames we use for them.  Which leads me to one more story.   I will also occasionally call Molly "Sweet Pea".  I picked this up from my sister, Katie, who called her eldest daughter that when she was born.  This was shortly before Eric and I got married, and I would use this pet name with Eric and he hated it.  He also did not allow me to use it with our sons.  And I can respect that.  Anyhow, a few weeks ago, Will overheard me call Molly "sweet pea."  He then proceeded to ask if I called her that "because she leaked out and had accidents in her diaper".  Now, I can no longer use it even for my sweet daughter.  Men!

William's Birthday Recap

 A few weeks ago we celebrated Will's birthday in a relaxed way that is the Buschelman household's fashion.  He opened presents throughout the day and celebrated with ice cream sundaes with his playgroup.

 There was a definite Cars 2 theme to the day as he received his dream gift, a 10 race car car launcher.  Known as the "Cars 2 box".  He also picked up several race cars for his collection, a sleeping bag, and several coloring items.

 I had intended to make him a race track cake, but when I ran out of powdered sugar to make the white icing, I improvised.  Will and Dom are very interested in National Flags, and since Will's favorite race car hails from Italy, and because I just happened to have red, white, and green sprinkles, we went with the Italian national flag as cake decoration.

 This picture is actually a re-do as I only took video of the original lighting of the candles.

 We ended up just having cake for his birthday dinner as it was so hot that none of us were that hungry.  Though, Will did manage to polish off a pretty big slice.