I Just Want to Sit.

There are dishes in the sink.  Clothes in the dryer.  Clothes on the floor waiting to be folded and put away.  Toys to be picked up.  Dinner to be made.
But both boys are asleep and while I can fold clothes and make dinner while holding an infant, writing a (semi)coherent thought is near to impossible without everyone under the age of 8 sleeping.

The sleeping is to be celebrated.  Benjamin, since he has come home from the hospital, as decided he no longer likes to sleep.  We're getting chunks of 2-3 hours at a time now at night and we're lucky if we get an hour during the day.  He has started on solid food and that doesn't seem to be helping.  The boy is hungry and eats a lot, so maybe it's a growth spurt.  Regardless (or, as Caroline likes to say...irregahdless), I am pining for my good little sleeper.
Nate has also been having nightmares.  Caroline just doesn't sleep, which, we're told is normal for children like her.  I asked her what she did the other night and her reply was, "Oh, I read the Chronicles of Narnia."  I asked her if she read the first or second book and her nonchalant answer was, "Oh - I read them both.  They were really good."
For the past few weeks, with all of this, we've been up at least four times a night.  Thank goodness for Sam, our good sleeper.  Who thought we would ever say that five years ago?!?

Today has been a lather...rinse...repeat...kind of day.  It seems as soon as I'm finished with one thing, it's time to do it again.  I got done with the kitchen right before story time and then it was time for lunch.  The kitchen is almost done after lunch and already it's time to think about dinner.  I do at least one load of laundry (wash, dry, fold, put away) a day... so that's omnipresent...but today I just want to sit.

Story time at the library was fun.  We read a book written by Jimmy Fallon (Sam's favorite) and Miss Adrian was unaware of Jimmy's singing abilities - so Sam took it upon himself to educate her.  Not that "Naughty By Nature" has ever been sung in Walkersville...but still.  She was unaware of his "Reading Rainbow" parody.  We'll have to be sure to send that along. 

Oh - and in the "She really can't make this stuff up" category...THIS is what I witnessed at lunch today. 

Sometimes he got his mouth.  Sometimes he didn't.
He didn't even want to take off the helmet for naps.
The more boys I have, the more I think is lost in translation between XX and XY.

And now Benjamin is awake.  Vacation is over. 

The Goal.

Our goal on most nights is to be in bed and ready to sleep at 9pm. 
Yup.  We're party animals. 
We'll see if everyone cooperates to have this happen tonight.  Nate is less than thrilled that no one is in his room.  CJ, Sam and Benjamin are chilling.  I hope it stays that way.
 
Luckily, they're replaying Game 5 of the 2000 World Series, so I don't have to stay up listening with baited breath to find out who wins. 

Today Benjamin had his first taste of peas. 
Here is the before:

 ...and the AFTER.  He was less than impressed. 

 But, in typical Benjamin fashion, he recovers quickly. 

Today, Caroline decided that we should dress up and have a party for Sam, since he behaved so well this weekend (and she did NOT). 
So we got all gussied up for dinner.  We even had dessert because the kids figured out that Sundays don't count during Lent. 
Always looking for loopholes, they are...

We did have some other pictures of Benjamin's exceeding cuteness...

Phew!  25 minutes to spare. 
Good night. 

Herkimer Diamonds

There are dishes in the sink.  Clothes in the dryer.  Clothes on the floor waiting to be folded and put away.  Toys to be picked up.  Dinner to be made.
But both boys are asleep and while I can fold clothes and make dinner while holding an infant, writing a (semi)coherent thought is near to impossible without everyone under the age of 8 sleeping.

The sleeping is to be celebrated.  Benjamin, since he has come home from the hospital, as decided he no longer likes to sleep.  We're getting chunks of 2-3 hours at a time now at night and we're lucky if we get an hour during the day.  He has started on solid food and that doesn't seem to be helping.  The boy is hungry and eats a lot, so maybe it's a growth spurt.  Regardless (or, as Caroline likes to say...irregahdless), I am pining for my good little sleeper.
Nate has also been having nightmares.  Caroline just doesn't sleep, which, we're told is normal for children like her.  I asked her what she did the other night and her reply was, "Oh, I read the Chronicles of Narnia."  I asked her if she read the first or second book and her nonchalant answer was, "Oh - I read them both.  They were really good."
For the past few weeks, with all of this, we've been up at least four times a night.  Thank goodness for Sam, our good sleeper.  Who thought we would ever say that five years ago?!?

Today has been a lather...rinse...repeat...kind of day.  It seems as soon as I'm finished with one thing, it's time to do it again.  I got done with the kitchen right before story time and then it was time for lunch.  The kitchen is almost done after lunch and already it's time to think about dinner.  I do at least one load of laundry (wash, dry, fold, put away) a day... so that's omnipresent...but today I just want to sit.

Story time at the library was fun.  We read a book written by Jimmy Fallon (Sam's favorite) and Miss Adrian was unaware of Jimmy's singing abilities - so Sam took it upon himself to educate her.  Not that "Naughty By Nature" has ever been sung in Walkersville...but still.  She was unaware of his "Reading Rainbow" parody.  We'll have to be sure to send that along. 

Oh - and in the "She really can't make this stuff up" category...THIS is what I witnessed at lunch today. 

Sometimes he got his mouth.  Sometimes he didn't.
He didn't even want to take off the helmet for naps.
The more boys I have, the more I think is lost in translation between XX and XY.

And now Benjamin is awake.  Vacation is over. 

Laura Ingalls

Well...I suppose the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. 
Caroline decided she wanted to be Laura Ingalls for Museum Day at school.  She already had a dress, so I had her make her own rag doll.  I cut and pinned it.  She did all the sewing.  I thought it came out good, but Caroline's remarks included, "Mom.  She has no hands, skinny legs and her head is a square.  Do you really think I did a good job?" 
Yes, I do. 
And I think we'll be making more of them because the boys are intrigued about sewing now. 
Boys and needles.  How bad could it really be? 
Don't answer. 

Jim ended up getting the Noro virus after Caroline. 
Then I got it.  Jim totally took one for the team by staying home and doing my job when I was so sick I couldn't even entertain getting out of bed (except to puke, of course). 
Fun times.  Hopefully we're done with that now. 

5AM comes earlier and earlier these days.  Trying to get my long run schedule in sync with my race in a few weeks.  But mainly it's the 5AM part that sucks. 

Update.

Ummm...in case you were wondering. 
Yup.  Things are definitely back to normal here. 
Since I finished the last blog post an hour and a half agao, Caroline has thrown up four times. 
Gonna be a fun, fun night. 
And I used her fork at dinner because she was nice enough to offer me a bit.  
Very fun, indeed. 

NORMAL!!!

We're back to normal.

The crazy, frenetic, I-don't-have-a-clue-what is-going-to-happen because-we -are -going--5-directions-at-once, chaotic normalcy that can only happen in a household with four children under the age of eight.
Hooray!!!

Nate had a brush with the Noro-virus earlier this week that had us all on edge, just waiting to puke.  But, thankfully, nothing became of it.

I am pleased to say that return to craziness is kicking my butt
.  
We decided yesterday that we would take the kids into the Smithsonian today to finish up their research for their science projects.  We had a wonderful time.  In fact, the kids were so well behaved, I found myself wondering if we really had our kids with us.  They did a great job.

Minimal whining.  Minimal fighting.  Nate actually stayed in the stroller.  The kids actually learned stuff.
Things don't get much better than that.  

We took in the Museum of Natural History.  We spent most of our time in the Gems & Minerals Exhibit and (duh) with the dinosaurs, but were also able to spend some quality time in the Ice Age and with the Egyptian Mummies.
We got back about 8pm and everyone was toast.
My toasty-ness was compounded because with going into DC today, I didn't have time for a long run, so I got it in yesterday afternoon.  But only after I did my Friday regular morning workout.  A grand total of 28,009 steps and over 13 miles on my pedometer.  Nine of those miles were run in 104 minutes.
Nine miles is a lot.  My legs are continually reminding me of this today.  I don't think I've ever looked forward so much to a recovery run as I am for tomorrow.  =-)

So, before I pass out, here are some pics from today:

Sam and Caroline had a blast riding the Metro

Nate, however, was less than thrilled that he didn't get to sit with his older siblings.  Took him about 4 stops and he was over it. 

Caroline found a cross section of the KT Boundary that she is studying for her Science Fair project on the second mass extinction.  I did not know about the KT Boundary OR that there were TWO mass extinctions until educated on them by my first grader. 

HERKIMERS!!!!!  Sam and Nate were SO excited.  They are really looking forward to going diamond hunting this summer. 

See?  He got over the stroller on the Metro!  Nate and Ben did great today. 

Under the big Blue Whale

Watching the paleontologist do her work in the lab

Taken by Caroline. 

Taken by some random lady that felt bad for Caroline trying to figure out how to use my camera. 

Pooped out after a looooong day.  

They've already asked to go back to the museum on Monday.  :)

Catching Up

Finally. 
I hate getting behind because it's so hard to try to catch up.  There is always work to do here and sometimes I'm better than others about tuning it out to do something I enjoy.  During the day, I usually only feel justified sitting down at my computer if the house is picked up, dinner is made and laundry is folded and put away.  Well...dinner isn't made (creamed peas & tuna on toast...Mmmmmm) and the laundry isn't folded and put away - though it IS clean. 
Benjamin is playing in his exer-saucer and Nate is awake, but not coming downstairs after his nap.  He knows if he comes down, I put him to work, so he has been choosing to rest a little longer.  \
FINE WITH ME!!!

Things are getting  back to normal after last week.  I had started a blog post about that, but never got around to finishing it. 
To summarize:  Benjamin had a severe case of croup and RSV.  He got his first ride in an ambulance and his first stay in the hospital.  We are getting our boy back now, he is playing and interacting.  He still cannot cry (too much effort to get air in and out) and is having difficulty managing his secretions (which results in difficulty feeding).  But on the whole, our boy is on the mend. 
Thank goodness. 
I think Jim and I aged about 5 years in 5 days.  Benjamin came home on nebulizers every 4 hours.  Realistically, he needed them every 3 and then required a lot of help getting back to sleep since he was uncomfortable and stoked from the neb.  It was like having a newborn again.  We had forgotten how difficult that is.  Benjamin spoiled us.  
We're almost back to our sleeping routine, which makes a huge difference in everyone. 
Benjamin got back to the doctors today and his lungs sounded great, the RSV just has to work its' course.  We've been doing regular chest PT with him and will continue that.  He will probably have some sort of breathing problems when he gets another cold and we will do nebs prn.  He will probably also be more prone to respiratory infections.  We go to the cardiologist next month to see how his heart is...
I keep telling Benjamin that it's a good thing he's cute because he's making me old before my time.  I then get flashed that million dollar grin and all is well with the world again. 

The kids are all signed up for sports and ready for Spring. 
Caroline will be playing soccer.  Not sure how this is going to go.  I'm thinking she will hate it because she won't be very good at it.  Even if she doesn't have that much fun, it will teach her perseverance and all those other lessons that no one enjoys. 
Sam is doing t-ball through our town, which is hard core.  They have these kids on track to play Legion Ball starting at the age of 4.  No joke.  It's that serious.  Granted, it's a small town and an excellent program - Walkersville hosts the State Tournament frequently and takes great pride in that, so I wouldn't expect much else.  We'll see how it goes. 
Nate is jones-ing to play t-ball as well.  "Mama, when I go peepee on the potty 5 times in 1 day, then I play t-ball, right?"  Right. 
I'm putting in somewhere between 25-28 miles/week, which keeps me on track for a 1/2 marathon in May.  I'll be glad to get 10 miles under my belt in March. 

I'll add more pictures later...sitting vacation is over!!!

She's Wacko.

For Flacco.

She has succumb and is enamored with Joe Flacco. 
Suppose it can't be helped, this IS where we live, after all.  I should be grateful - she resisted the Tom Brady mania for all our years in New England. 
A friend let her borrow a jersey and she won't take it off.
Purple looks good on her, too. 
Maybe she DOES know what she's doing. 

Surf's Up

It's 28 degrees out on February 1st.
Wind gusts to 35 mph with some nice, brisk air coming at us off the Blue Ridge.
Perfect day to surf, right?
So we all got in our bathing suits and had a beach party in the living room after school.
Never a dull moment, I say.  ;)

- We figured out why Nate has been such a bear the past few weeks.  Double ear infection.
Good stuff. He told the doctor this morning, "My ear boten."  That's pretty articulate, I think.  Especially for Nate, who's powers of destruction have been out full force this week.  He DID get into the preschool here in Walkersville.  I warned them to per-emptively start their Novenas now. 
-Sam decided at STEM night yesterday he wanted to do his Science Fair project on Herkimer Diamonds.  It's not the best time Upstate for prospecting, but we'll plan a trip for the summer.  In the meantime, getting our hands on some kid-friendly geology books has been a tough go.  I love the power of Google, but I want the kids to be able to think beyond that for doing research.  I called both mines in Middleville today to no avail.  We'll come up with something.  It will have to be easier than doing a project on Megalodons, like he wanted to.  Sharks are made from cartilage, which makes poor fossils.  I'm on board with the new choice.
Today he got to bring in his PillowPet Triceratops for  the teddy bear picnic at school.  *Total* facepalm moment when he ran up to his teacher and yelled, "Hey!!!  I got Horny!!!" and proudly displayed his pet. 
-Caroline has done a much better job in school this week with her organization and focus skill.  Hooray for her!  We have been working on these a lot - it's nice for her to see the fruits of her labor and have others notice, too.
-Benjamin has started to babble.  He does say, "Dadadadadadada" mostly when Jim is around, but I'm not convinced there is a clear association.  It's as cute as all get out, though.  He is beginning to move himself towards desired objects.  Only about a foot or two now - he can get up on his knees but his upper body isn't strong enough to support that much weight yet.  Soon, though.  Too soon. 

 Caroline tried on Nina's wedding dress in honor of Nina & Pop's anniversary.  She love every minute of it.