Outdoor activities

 This past weekend we celebrated Will's First Communion.  However, my phone and the computer are having some communication issues, so I will tell you about a couple weeks ago when the kids participated in Field Day.  This is our second time participating and the event went much more smoothly this year.  It helped that John is a year older and that it was a very pleasant morning.

There was not an age group for John, but he made several friends close his age.  The ball we brought to keep him entertain tends to do that.  He really enjoyed the sack race, but I only had the energy to help him 'hop' a couple of times.  He was not thrilled when his turn came to a permanent close.

The other three did very well.  Molly and Will actually won their first heats.  Which was pretty impressive to me.  And..I think they came in last in the final.  But!  Many didn't even make it that far.

Will also beat his first opponent in the tug-o-war challenge.  Definitely an improvement over last years.

None of my children came close to winning the hula hoop competition.  The fact that they only get the hoop to go around about a second was not in their favor.  Also the fact that some of those kids are AMAZING!!  They could go forever.  It was incredible. 

I think everyone's favorite event is the obstacle course.  Dom came pretty close to winning his age group and has a goal to win it next year.  They had a basketball shot at the end and it was funny to hear the boys comment that "Kevin Durant" is definitely going to make his shot.  He did.

Overall it was a really fun morning.  We topped it off with Arby's and naps.  Win/Win/Win

Due to a cool spring, Mother's Day was the first day we made it to the beach as a family.  And, if it is any indication of how our beach trips will go this summer, it is going to be a fantastic summer!

After three years of a fearless Molly, a nursing John, and a toddler John...it was really wonderful to just sit on the beach as the older three frolicked in the shallow waves and John threw everyone's toys in the water.  Ok, so John still needs a bit of parental guidance, but at least his life was never in danger.  And it turns out, the other kids seem to enjoy chasing after things he tosses into the Gulf of Mexico. 

The water was a bit cold for my tastes, but these three didn't seem to mind.  Granted, Will's lips turned blue by the end.  Nothing a little rest on the sand couldn't fix.

They also enjoyed digging a giant hole.  Who doesn't? Personally, I love how seriously John takes his job of filling it with water.

Mother's Day was a really wonderful day for me.  It started with me in a bad mood (I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and we suspected the resident 2-year-old had hidden a Redbox BluRay), but between church, Panera's, the beach, finding the BluRay in our Easter box...natch, relaxing at home, and receiving "If you give a Mom a Cookie" illustrated by my eldest three, I ended up feeling quite happy and content in the position I've held for 10 years. 

Now...if this computer would just let me find Will's First Communion pictures...

Pictures from the phone

 I have a love/hate relationship with my phone.  On the one hand, I love snapping shots and being able to send them to family and friends over text and facebook immediately.  On the other...I have absolutely no idea where they will end up on the computer when I upload them so that I can blog...ok, so I now have some idea, but it was hours of frustration before I figured it out.  Literally hours.  Then, at the end, the quality isn't that great.  Maybe we should invest in a new digital camera (sorry, Mitzi, but I'm totes giving yours to Molly)

I have quickly discovered that selfies can keep 2-year-olds entertained.  But, that is a brief victory because they will then whine for more selfies the rest of the day.  These two pictures are for Ann, in the top, obviously way cuter of John and Molly...but, I look better in the second...what to do?  Post both.  Obviously.

Towards the end of March, the weather warmed up considerably, so I do what I always do...I bought several living sacrifices to the Summer Gods.

 I cracked open my Container Garden book that I have had for 9 years and picked out some that I liked.  Not too bad...and all are still alive.  I have a fern that is on life support, but we think it will pull through.  Apparently a case of severe dehydration. 

 We have had several toads and lizards around for a while, but we now have a frog that shows up from time to time.  And the leaping capability of this amphibian is a sight to behold.  Molly fell in love immediately, but we told her that he had to stay outside for everyone's good.

Speaking of spring, Florida has the nasty habit of providing two times of the year to rake leaves.  Fall and Spring.  Actually, it feels like the leaves fall all year through.  On the upside, our children got the opportunity to use their father's hard work for some memorable playtime.  We also learned that Will loves to rake leaves.  That kid is quickly become a favorite around here. 

 John's birthday turned into a week long affair.  Eric actually had to be out of town on his birthday which was a bummer, but we celebrated through the day here and there.  We put up his now pop-up tent, which was a huge hit.  Unfortunately, when I was putting it away, I must have bent the wire structure, so it is quite lopsided now.  It will stand okay with some heavy books pushing out the corners...but, I fear it isn't long for this house.

 To make up for the demise of his main birthday gift, I found a basketball hoop on Craigslist for $5, which Eric selflessly picked up in the pouring rain after landing back in the area.  What a guy!  John was thrilled and has used it quite regularly since.

 John has been practicing for his birthday for months.  He calls all fire "Birthday".  He likes to go over to the statue of Mary at church, sings Happy Birthday, and then blows out a candle or two.  Don't worry, I re-light them so that the prayers continue for the special intentions.  He was so excited when we lit his candles that he immediately blew them out before we had a chance to sing again.  If anyone would appreciate those trick candles, this would be the kid.

I think he liked his cake, too.

 Another aspect of Florida is that there is sand everywhere.  It is a little boy's dream.  At least this little boy.  There was a stretch of days that I sent him outside and he played in the sand for hours.  He had multiple baths (which is still a win for him) and multiple clothes changes...but, he was outside and happy and not causing problems in the house.  Which now that he is 2, he seems to do more and more.

But, he is awfully sweet when he does.

 Will and Molly and John have great imaginations and will create toys out of just about anything.  I went ahead a purchased several more characters from Mario World, and they have been played with non-stop. 

 Molly wore this ensemble to a baseball game and enjoyed telling as many people as she could all about Mario in her Toad voice.

 I do not make hot breakfasts during the week.  But, Eric does.  Molly asked the whole week he was gone if I would make "splash eggs" and I refused.  The first morning he was back, you better believe she was up bright and early and ready with her special plate.  Actually, I was, too.  He makes really good splash eggs.  (Splash eggs are fried eggs.)

 My good friend, Ann, came to visit with her fantastic 1-year-old daughter, Ella.  I've traveled a lot with kids, so I give a pretty good behavior curve to other travelers.  Ella was off the charts.  And she was super cute, so she got bonus points for that. We had a great time during her visit with lots of card playing and getting one shot at the beach.  Shortly before she arrived, Will wanted to know if she would make pancakes.  I knew she made some pretty good pancakes, so I just assumed that was what he remember.  Wrong.  Turns out Ann makes awesome shapes, too.  There was Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and KC for the Royals.  And John had a ball...that looked suspiciously like a regular pancake.  But, he was thrilled.  I personally had the sun.  Which is my favorite planet.

 John on his way to a baseball game.  He was probably falling asleep when I took this picture, but I liked the curls sticking out the front.  Still has not received a haircut, and as long as it is humid, that is not a problem.  We'll probably get through the summer just fine.

Our Molly-girl.  She generally disappears during the ballgames with another little girl.  Which is fine as I'm chasing John.  I got in a mile during the first game I was able to track.

We finally had a weekend where we could get in some needed trimming.  Molly took advantage of the clipping to recreate her version of The Pioneer Woman.  She was so proud of the salads she made.  And I was proud of the way she cleaned up her mess. 

Happy Mother's Day!

One of my favorite things is watching John enter a room.  The more crowded, the better (though the vast majority of times I'm just in the kitchen or in my bedroom folding laundry).  He will look around for a bit and may even look a little confused.  I wait until he finally catches sight of me.  His eyes light up and he gets a beautiful smile and I see him say: 'Mom!'  I get down to his eye level and he runs to me, puts his arms around my neck, and I swing him around in a circle while he laughs. 

 I love it.  

One of my favorite things is taking walks with Dom.  He will tell me about his latest interests and we guess what teams might win the current tournaments.  We may discuss various current events and he will ask what I think about things.  I know he is processing it all and I hope that he knows that he can come to his own opinions.  He is a people pleaser, so I try to push him to do what he wants and not what he thinks we want.  When we come to intersections, he picks up his pace and grabs my hand to make sure we all cross the street together safely.  Sometimes, he just keeps holding my hand.

I love it.

One of my favorite things is hearing William explain how he decided to do something.  Sometimes it is the order he chose to do his schoolwork, or how he did a math problem, or how he cleaned the bathroom, or how he developed the intricate game he played out in his imagination.  He is extremely thorough and if he even miss-speaks slightly, he will go back and correct himself.  Nevermind that absolutely no one knows that he miss-spoke.  At the end of it all, he will look at me with his dark eyes and want to know if I agreed with his process.  He is so earnest and he always wants me to validate his conclusions with a "Right, Mom?" 

I love it.

One of my favorite things is seeing Molly meet new friends.  And she meets them everywhere we go.  She will talk to anyone...which is a little scary.  Though, the vast majority are other small sized girls.  She will cheer them on and lavish compliments on them.  I like to overhear these girls tell their moms about their new friend "Molly".  Recently she helped one girl get over her fear of falling in a sack race by saying she had fallen over "200 TIMES!"...but she was still going to compete.  At the end of these brief relationships, Molly will tell me how many new friends she made.  I will tell her that I love her and she quickly replies: "I love you MORE!"

I love it.

My favorite thing is being a mom.  

I love it.

May is Here

What we are watching:
  NBA Playoffs, we have an agreement with Dom that he can only watch 'Do or Die' games.  And really only if it is The Thunder.  At the young age of 9, he is already a little exasperated at how long the playoffs go.  He has his brackets up, but only gets to move a team around every other week.  It takes F.O.R.E.V.E.R!!!

Speaking of drawing out that word, we showed the kids 'The Sandlot'.  They loved it.  We had a friend over for dinner a few days later and the kids all started chanting the word: "Forever" like Specs from the movie.  Sounded a bit cultish, but I thought it was hilarious.  We also heard a lot of: "You play ball like a girl!" being yelled around the backyard for a while.  The funny thing is, Molly uses the paraphrase: "you play ball like a boy!" to also insult.  So...#genderequality?

We've been watching a lot of soccer and as much of the Royals as we can get.  Pioneer Woman is Molly's show of choice.  The kids have also rediscovered Mario.  And I'm pretty sure that John has learned some of his letters thanks to Super Why!  One day, he just pointed at a book and started excitedly telling me: It's an 'H', Mom! An 'H'!  He will point at a few other specific letters too when he sees them.  'P' was noticed at Panera the other day.  Those are the only two he will say unprompted, but he can pick out a few more from a line-up.  Thanks, PBS!

What we are doing:
  Currently the older three are in the garage playing "Mario World".  Not the video game, but jumping around and using weird voices with their new stuffed dolls.  We are now the owners of Mario, Luigi, Toad, Princess Peach, and Yoshi.  The older three have had to give in to John more often than I'm proud of in order to not deal with the screams of a 2-year-old.  But, he will learn to share.  Just not at the end a long day with no nap or probably not enough to eat...The hours of enjoyment though have way outweighed any issues with hoarding.  Princess Peach did have a Toy Story moment yesterday when her arm came apart (what I get with going with the cheap option), but I sewed her back well enough to be played with (Think Andy...not the pro).  But, Will has already informed me that she may be replaced with his own funds.  Poor Peach. I failed you.

When he isn't running around with Toad, Yoshi, Mario, or Luigi, John has been fascinated with the marble run.  He will literally spend an hour just putting marbles through it.  Frankly, it holds his interest better than most tv shows. There is some statistic about how much of physics a child knows by 3, John probably is a year ahead on that.

We've also played a lot of the game The Great Dalmuti.  It is a card game that Dom absolutely loves.  Will and Molly play, too...but, I wouldn't say they love it.  Will likes to declare that it is unfair.  And it totally is, that is the point (and written into the instructions).  He gets it.  Molly is surprisingly good even though her strategy is completely unorthodox.  Anyway, plan on playing if you ever come to visit.  We've introduced it to a few people with mixed reactions. 

The boys are finishing up their rookie season.  I have come to really enjoy the half-innings when we are not batting.  Both Dom and Will have made important outs.  They don't get the hits, but they are very helpful on the other side of the field.  That being said, there have been some exciting last minute heroics on the batting side as well.  Maybe we'll get that elusive win, yet.  But, even if we don't, our boys have loved being on the team and that is what is promoted in this league.  Oddly, I'm totally okay with that. As a nice bonus, John helps me get my steps in for the day during those games.  I tracked my steps this last weekend and got over a mile just chasing him around the stand.

Speaking of steps, now that I've figured out how to charge my fitbit again, I'm trying to make the 10000 step goal everyday.  It helps when John and I and any other willing child goes on a walk with me in the morning.  So far, the only other taker is Dom.  It is a treat to spend that time with my oldest and youngest.  John just quietly watches everything go by and Dom tells me all of the newest baseball trivia he has learned or asks me questions about life.  Today we discussed how much tiredness effects our moods and patience levels.  Which is why sibling arguments and fights generally happen at the end of the day as opposed to the morning.

With that update, I need to go herd my children back to the table.  We have finished up the curriculums for the year, but I still have them working on math concepts and writing.  A couple of weeks ago I started giving them timed Multiplication facts.  They love it, actually.  We figure out how many they do each minute or 30 seconds and look at a graph of their progress.  Dom is very consistent throughout the sheet, while Will starts out super fast and drops off in the middle and then finishes strong.  Yesterday, we used it as a way to see who got to unload the bottom rack (in their minds, easier rack) of the dishwasher.  Will beat Dom by about 15 seconds.  Only the second time that has happened.  We'll see how they do today.  I'm giving them 8's.