Rest.

For at least a few minutes.
I've  been dragging lately.  I'm letting the kids watch the Backyardigans.  And I'm sitting.  Of course, I just can't sit and do nothing.  There is too much Schafranek in me for that.  You should see the projects I have lined up for the summer...

Just got a call from the MD and I'm anemic.  And I chalked up the fatigue to being in my 30s and chasing three active kids while the fourth one is cooking.  Nice to know that my desire to put my head down and nap at any given moment is justified.  =-)
Here are some pictures that we took recently and haven't had a chance to put up...

From our most recent trip to Camden Yards.  Turns out Orioles fans aren't as friendly as we thought...add a winning record and they turn into instant asses.   Entertaining asses, but asses never-the-less.  It's still more tame than Fenway Park - but then again it's a lot harder to get drunk on Natty Boh than it is on Sam Adams. 

Nakednedness and jammies were en vogue one night...

And from Sam's Nursery School Carnival / end of the year ceremony...

Delivery Agent Sam

As anyone that follows the blog knows, Sam has many diverse interests.  This can result in him assuming many personalities throughout the day, which can be confusing to the person that is not used to hanging around Sybil. 
For instance - if he is wearing his Red Sox had forward, he is Sam.  If the hat is backwards he is Pablo Sanchez.  If he his wearing a tie, he is a "delivery agent".  If he has his baseball glove on, he is Derek Jeter.  He generally is the superhero of the shirt he is wearing - if there is more than one character on his shirt, then it can lead to some confusion.  With one shirt we can go anywhere from Hulk to Silver Surfer to Iron Man to Captain America.  Yikes. 

And I thought staying home with the kids was going to be boring...

Knowing all that, Sam has really been into Superman lately.  Today he begged to be Superman all day.  This went over like a fart in church, seeing that this morning was his pre-school end of the year ceremony.  After pulling out my best negotiating skills, this is what we came up with...

  Like the tie? The only compromise we could reach was having him be "Delivery Agent Sam:. Which, when compared to Superman and how cute I knew the other kids would look, I gladly took. Our cute, quiet, demure little Sam more or less stole the show with his outfit and his antics during the ceremony. Nothing too, too crazy - just quintessential Sam. It was pretty funny.

Walkersville Day

Today was our first official Walkersville Day.  This included a tour of our fire station and a town-wide garage sale (be still my beating heart). 
Of course, we had T-Ball first (seriously crimping my shopping abilities), which went well.  They cancelled all the games at our home field because it is so close to Camp David.  I have a feeling the snipers up there are doing a pretty good job managing all the protesters...
Pops got some great shots of the game from last weekend.  But I can't find them on the computer. 
Story of my life. 
We did well at the garage sales.  All three kids made out like bandits.  Caroline got 8 new shirts, 2 skirts, 1 pair of shorts, a polo dress and 2 dressy dresses.  Nate got 3 new pairs of jammies, a new pair of khaki shorts and a polo shirt, I got 2 pairs of maternity capris (Q is a big boy and the belly part of most of my pants are getting uncomfortably tight) and Sam got a Cranky the Crane set.  All for a grand total of $14. 
Not too shabby at all. 

So Jim is outdoors doing some grilling - some 'taters and corn and chicken. 
The kids are running around outdoors and I am enjoying a few moments of solitude.
Ahhh....

This is what the kids looked like when they headed outside. 
Introducing...Poison Princess, Batman and Destruci-Nate.  

Do you like Poison Princess' grip on Destruci-Nate's hair to keep him in one place for the picture? 
He less than appreciated it. 

And yes, I am crazy letting her go outside in that dress.  But since Jim and I have a hat-trick going with the boys (and it's not like Sam is going to put it on because there isn't a cape attached), I figured she might as well go for it.  What good is something if I don't let her wear it (plus, it was super-duper cheap at a thrift store). 
Happy Walkersville Day!

Aha!

I figured it out!
Or rather, I figured out that I could get the answer from someone else that figured out how to convert a BMP file to a jpeg just by a simple Google search. 
So here we are. 
Today was a rainy, nasty day.  Jim went on a field trip with Sam and Nate to the Fountain Rock Nature Center, which meant that I got to catch up on the housework while listening to the soundtrack to "Natural Born Killers" (extraordinarily disturbing movie with an awesome soundtrack - Cowboy Junkies, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Patsy Cline and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - how can you go wrong?). 
That was more than enough to put me in a happy place.  Doesn't take much these days...
Then everyone got home from school being more than a bit tired, grumpy and pugnacious. 
Happy feeling gone. 
So I sent us all outside to play in the rain. 
It's amazing what a little mud puddle can do for the human psyche. 

But here are the pictures from the Mother's Day Tea and subsequent preschool dance party...

Here are some from my Mom's camera / the rest of the weekend...

And on that note...good night. 

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my mother, mother-in-law and all the many other mothers in my life. 
Thank you all for helping me be the woman I am today. 
And extra THANK YOU goes out to my Mom and Dad, who sacrificed lots of sleep and burned lots of calories chasing around our urchins so Jim and I could spend some time together to celebrate our anniversary. 
We hope you get some sleep this week. 
Jim and I got to go to Camden Yards (the O's were playing the Rays 10 years ago when we went there on our honeymoon, too), had a very nice dinner and spent the night in the Inner Harbor.
We kept reflecting on all the places we had been in 10 years and how many adventures we've had.  Life has taken us so many places we never could have imagined.  We can't even start to imagine where the next 10 years may lead...

We had the Mother's Day Tea Party at Sam's school.  Sam was so excited that Nina could be there.
...There was going to be pictures, but I downloaded them as a bmp file instead of a jpeg and I can't figure out how to post them...
I'm going to work on Q's quilt instead. 
G'Night. 

Answered Prayers

Remember that whole prayer for many, many more decades of insanity?
Yeah?
Well...ummmm...God heard me.
This is what I witnessed at breakfast today. 

Okay. 
Maybe sometimes a little less insanity would be okay. 

10 Years.

I can't figure out if that's a long time or not.

But I've done the math.  In 10 years we:
-lived in 2 apartments
-owned 2 homes
-lived in 3 states
-relocated 4 times
-had 8 different jobs
-owned 5 different cars
-put >400,000 miles on said cars
-lost 4 of our grandparents
-found numerous kindred spirits we will always be friends with
-went on 4 vacations
-visited 6 different major league ballparks and 6 minor league parks
-attended 2 Neil Diamond and 4 U2 concerts
-posted on the blog 877 times
- lost countless blonde hairs (Jim)
-sprouted countless grey hairs (Karen)
-popped out 3 crazy...ummm...I mean wonderful children
-have the 4th kid cooking

Okay.
It is a long time.  And we've been busy.  Without  many dull moments. 

I was able to dig these up.  After 10 years, it's the closest thing we have to a wedding album.  I don't hold much hope on baby books for the kids...

Every time I smell lilacs or lily of the valley, it takes me back to that beautiful, sunny day in the park. 
I remember the men making out by the falconer statue, the lawn mower blasting and kids screaming on the nearby playground.  
I remember the little girl that came up to me from the playground and told me I looked just like a princess.  
I remember hearing the most beautiful rendition of "Ave Maria" I will ever hear. 
I remember saying, "What the **** am I doing???" as I went with my father to the rose garden and his calm reply of "Just keep walking." 
I remember forgetting the vows it took us so long to write and Lizzie trying to figure out what to say next.
I remember the dinner at Dabin where almost everything we ordered was wrong.
I remember the looks on people's faces when the waiters put trays of sushi out (when we specifically told them that everything was to be cooked).
I remember how many of our guests took one for the team and bravely tried sushi for the first time. 
I remember the champagne cork popping off and hitting people eating dinner on the other side of the room. 
I remember my brothers organizing a caravan to Wendy's afterward dinner to get some real food. 
I remember a lot of laughter and an amazing amount of love surrounding us.

I remember this all and then I smile.
And pray for many, many more decades of insanity.  =-) 
Because I wouldn't want it any other way. 

While Waiting...

...for my coffee to brew (I don't even like coffee, but today I need it), for Nate to wake up (double ear infections - what a good time) and to pick up Sam from school I figured I would post about "Crazy Hair Day" for Spirit Week.
Crazy enough for you?

Oh - and here is where I found Nate hanging out last night.  I think he must have been full from all the chips and just needed a place to rest. 

Ugh.

Taking advantage of a prime opportunity, while I was trying to do about 10 different things, Nate busted into the pantry (I WILL be putting a lock on it after this) and got his hands on the salt & vinegar chips. 
This is what I found.  

Can you say BUSTED?!?!

It's another one of those moments where I had to take a picture or else I was just going to lose it. 
And have I mentioned that the vacuum cleaner is broken?
Good Day. 

Saturday Night

Jim really needed some "boy time", so he got to go see The Avengers with our neighbor.  I'm a little jealous, but if it's good he'll go with me and see it again.  I never, ever thought I would actually want to go see a superhero movie.  Joss Whedon changed that (but oh, how I miss Firefly).
Guess that makes me a nerdling.
After almost 35 years, I think I'm okay with that.  

The boys are in their beds.  Caroline is passed out next to me ("Can I play with your hair, Mama?" - I figure I have to take it while I can - she is not going to want to hang out with me for much longer).  She was so tired she practically fell asleep in the tub tonight.
Her first t-ball game was today.  She did great.  All the kids did great.  We were only able to get in two full innings in the allotted time.  It was enough.
Instead of daisy picking, the kids got more and more into it as the game progressed.  By the end of the game, they were swarming like yellow jackets on the ball - which is good and terrible, but I'll take it.  They made some defensive outs (I was floored) and I am very happy with everyone's effort and behavior and ability to engage.  Our parental following is awesome, which is helpful beyond words.  I am very grateful.
I did have flashbacks to my youth when I had everyone play with their shirts tucked in (everyone knows a real ballplayer has a tucked in shirt) and no backward caps.    Funny how stuff like that sticks with you.  Thanks, Dad. 
Coach hung in there, too.  =-)  Coming from a hardcore baseball background, it can be difficult for me to wrap my head around t-ball rules (something between Calvinball and cat herding).

Like with most things, I am still learning.
I really should be used to that by now. 

Onto other things...
We were able to go out to The Black Hog to celebrate Jim's birthday.  It was good.  And made even better by the coupon that I stumbled across.   =-)

We discovered the boys like corn bread.  So much that we made a batch the next day.  It was gone less than 12 hours after coming out of the oven.  It's good to have something so easy to make like that in my back pocket for snacks and such.  Of course, we had to call them "corn cupcakes" to get Sam to eat them.  The boys were so excited to eat that they sat in front of the oven to watch them bake.  Which gave me about 15 minutes of down time.  Amen. 

Q is a very active boy that is currently trying to kick the laptop off my lap.  The elastin is definitely setting in and things (like rolling over in bed or getting up off the floor) are starting to get a little challenging.  The worst is sitting in one place for more than ten or so minutes (good thing I don't get much opportunity).  After that amount of time I generally feel like my coccyx is somewhere between my scapulae.  Like now...so G'night.

May

Really? Just seems like April started. Actually, it just seems like we got here and school is already winding down. Field Days, Mother's Day Tea, Trips to the Nature Center, May Fair, conferences, solidifying school situations for next year...Not quite sure how we're going to keep up. We got ourselves in a nice little routine and now we're talking about summer vacations! Doesn't quite seem possible. And it's not like we have any changes coming this August, either.

 Caroline is enjoying T-Ball immensely. I had a weak (okay - downright crazy) moment and volunteered to coach the team. Thankfully our team has a passel of very supportive parents that are a HUGE help and keep daisy picking to a minimum. I have to admit being more than a little nervous about the first game coming up this weekend. I just hope the kids are learning something. I know I am.

Grampy and Grammy were nice enough to send the kids marshmallow blasters to play with. It was a bunch of fun to launch the mini-mallows. They did pose too close of a resemblance to the white rocks used for our landscaping, though. I can't tell you how many rocks I had to fish out of Nate's mouth.

The other morning, somehow all the kids ended up with spatulas and decided that the new ottoman was a "bad guy" (or in Nate's words - "pad duy"!). So they kept themselves entertained for at least ten minutes screaming at and beating the ottoman. Ten minutes is almost an eternity in "Mommy work time". I was grateful for the extra time to get stuff done - even if it must have sounded like someone was being tortured to the neighbors.

I pulled out the weeds and relinquished the front patch to Caroline for her garden.  She put in all deer-resistant (for some reason this was very important to her, even though we haven't seen a deer since moving to Maryland) plants that attracted butterflies and hummingbirds.  She also put in some Shasta Daisies because she said they remind her of Worcester (sigh).  The kids had  good time planting. 

Here is to a more consistent blogging month. Baby Q is kicking my butt a little, but I consider it "pre-gaming" for the third trimester. The bugger is mostly messing with my blood sugar and blood pressure (just like Nate did). But it is far, far too early to be complaining about anything - so I won't. I love feeling him wiggling around and kicking. I finished the stitching on his quilt. I just have to do the backing. But before I do that I'm going to have the kids sign their names in washable marker and then backstitch their (and our) signatures on the blanket. I think that might be cute - even if it's not on the pattern. I'll put up pictures as we get closer to finishing. I think I might be bored after the quilt gets done and am trying to come up with some new projects. I plan on making laundry detergent and I suggested to Jim that I take some sewing classes so I could make more stuff for us and the kids. After the "Hold on, Laura Ingalls" comments from Jim, I realized that I DO have enough to keep me busy for a while. =-) Ya think?
 G'night.