Catch Up

I wanted to put up some pictures from the past week or so before getting lost in the shuffle of Holiday Craziness.

Because I thought that baking bread with 5 kids was a *good* idea...

Caroline before leaving to see "James and the Giant Peach" with Jim and Sam. 

Poor Nate fell asleep watching "The Wizard of Oz".  I was struck by how much he still looks like his baby pictures in this photo. 

Cheese!!!!!

Thanksgiving

We had a lovely Thanksgiving yesterday.
We took a new adventure and then joined some friends locally for a feast.  Caroline spent the night...so we're down a kid.
I went to WalMart at 2:30 to finish up Christmas shopping.  I'm not in to the whole Black Friday thing - I went mainly because it's the middle of the night, the store is quiet and I can bring things in the house without being accosted by four crazy urchins.  There is such little time between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year that I feel like everything is more frenetic than usual.  There really isn't time to shop when I consider what constitutes the feeding and watering of 4 kids, 2 upcoming birthdays, the Christmas pageant, homework and everything else that will come up...
I'm tired, but now that it's my normal wake up time, I'm getting my second wind.  I can't bring myself to get on the treadmill quite yet, though...

Yesterday morning we ventured down to Arlington National Cemetery.  I had a talk with the Olders the night before about what kind of behavior is expected in a place like Arlington.  They appeared to understand.  Caroline informed me in the morning that she didn't want to go because in her dream, we went and Nate misbehaved and the "soldiers got him".
I feared this wouldn't be too far from reality - so we had contingency plans,in case anyone's behavior went awry.   ;)
But the kids did very well and BOTH Sam and Caroline requested to go back and explore some more.
We hit some of the highlights there, but nowhere near what we could have.   We'll go back when it's a bit warmer. 
We saw
-The Tomb of the Unknowns from the Civil War
-The Challenger Memorial
-The Kennedy grave sites
-the Lee House (which appeared to be in general disrepair)
-The Tomb of the Unknowns from WWI

The kids were picking out names and figuring out where in history the people were that were buried.  They were looking at symbols.  It was neat to see them start to put some pieces together.  They told me  why Arlington Cemetery is where it is and the strategic importance of that position (what a view!) during the Civil War.  "Wait, Mom.  You're telling me that a Confederate General married George Washington's grand daughter?!  How did THAT happen?"...interesting stuff...
Nate was fascinated with the guards at the Tomb of the Unknowns from WWI.  He just stood and watched.  Without moving.  I can't say that I ever remember him being so still for so long as he was  yesterday.  "Wow.  I wike da solders, Mama."  He was excited and totally respectful at the same time - interesting behavior for a three year old.   Especially Nate. 
It was nice to see them engaging and exploring and taking interest in having an adventure.

It put a new perspective on Thankfulness.

Nathanael No Nap.

That's what I'm calling Nate from now on. 
Nathanael No Nap. 

He's overtired.  He *needs* to nap.  But to enable sleep, on must stay at least relatively still for at least a short period of time. 
That ain't happening.  At least not today. 
He is playing quietly in the toy area with his bear Rookie and the Legos - so I'm not complaining. 
Benjamin woke up this morning pretty miserable.  The doctor could hear wheezes yesterday - but could NOT hear his ASD - so that is great news. 
We'll just have to keep watching him.  He is one of those kids that has a hard time breathing when he gets a cold. 
Compare that to a hole in his heart and I'll take the nightly nebulizer treatment. 

Nina & Pops sent down a VHS copy of "The Sound of Music".  That, paired with "The Wizard of Oz" (or the Lizard o' Oz, as Nate says) are the latest obsessions here.  It's awesome. 
The kids line up in front of the TV singing and dancing.  :)

Nate is getting excited to play "a horsie" in the Christmas Pageant

Here are the Youngers "helping" me make some pumpkin muffins. 

The families in our neighborhood gathered on Tuesday night to watch the launch of the Minotaur Rocket from Wallops Island, VA.  We had a good view and were able to see the different phases of the launch.  Because we live so far in the boonies, we have great views of comets and launches and such. 
It's great to be surrounded by such cool people to share moments like this with. 

A Beautiful Autumn Monday

We had to take advantage of the gorgeous weather today.
We walked to the duck pond, but all the ducks have gone South.
Instead of trying to catch crayfish like Nate wanted, we played on the playground - even with all the mulch - SO much cleaner.  :)

9 pm.

Really?
Already?
As in only 8 more hours until 5 AM? 
Ugh.

We got our new washing machine yesterday after our old one, after years of faithful service, bit the dust. 
The kids were enthralled. They thought it was like "watching a TV with channels."

Whatever works.
I'll take it. 

Schedules

If you know me, you know how I like schedules.
I adore them.
Predictability.  Routine.  Standard Operating Procedure.
Somehow, it makes things easier for me to enjoy if I know (more or less) what's on the horizon.
I am a *write it on the calendar if you want it to happen* sort of girl.  

I realize that life isn't like that.
At.  All.
Especially in a house with four children under the age of 8.  

Recently, there has been a lot going on and I've been getting overwhelmed with housekeeping.
Not the spotless, Martha Stewart housekeeping...but the "let's get up the stairs without tripping on anything" kind of housekeeping.
I realized if I keep on top of the every-day stuff, the craziness that pops up is easier to manage, too.

So the past few weeks, I've been trying to keep up with a cleaning schedule.
I know, I know...it sounds so very rigid and so very Donna Reed.
BUT...so far so good.
I've found that if I know exactly what I want to do that day and get it done first thing, the rest of my day is just so much more enjoyable.
I get a lot more done and am able to spend more time just *being* with the kids.

Nate is a big help during the day.  I'm finding the more I ask him to do, the more he does willingly.  He also seems to like helping me more.
Good stuff.

I know (oh - I KNOW) that this won't always be like this.  But the focus/schedule is helping for now.
Yay!
I need all the help I can get.  

Nate's school had an Art Show last night.
Here is Nate with his *not so scary* scarecrow.

And we'll end with a photo of the crazies.  :)

DC

We don't always appreciate where we live. 
We celebrated two years of living in Maryland by taking advantage of the gorgeous Autumn weather and going to the Museum of Natural History and exploring the National Mall. 
Every time we go, we see something we haven't seen before! 
The kids were extremely proud because they turned in their chore chart stickers for money and had enough to each buy a little stuffed animal at the Smithsonian.  Cool to see them begin to understand that there are good things that come from their hard work and chores - in fact, the best part of each of their days (each reported independently) was using their own money to get their "prize". 
It was a good day. 
We are grateful. 

Game 6 (continued)...

...So.
As I left off. 
Game 6.  Fenway Park.  Lots of TUMS. 
Visions of Buckner, Boone and Dent swirling in my brain. 
Three runs in the bottom of the third.  Are you kidding me?!
Then I got a text from my Dad. 
"OMG"
I had received a similar message in 2003 just before Aaron Boone stepped to the plate. 
The reply was.  "TOO SOON."
Three more runs in the bottom of the fourth.
"STILL TOO SOON?"
Answered with, "YES".

After having a small heart attack in the top of the seventh when Farrell left Lackey in, I allowed myself to entertain the thought that the Sox just might win in Boston.
Top of the eighth.
6  -1. 
It's time to wake up the kids. 
Our amazing neighbors left their front door open and their television tuned to FOX, should we have the need to come down and watch the end of the game. 
So it's 10:30.  We rouse the four kids out of bed and march them down the street.  I'm carrying Benjamin in one arm, a bottle of champagne in the other arm and a head full of "Oh - if they blow this am I scarring my kids for life?". 
But they did it.  They really did it.
Tear were shed.  
Champagne was enjoyed. 
And children (eventually) went back to a very happy slumber. 

I've listened and watched the game multiple times just to make sure. 
We decided it would be best to stay here instead of heading up for parade.  A tough decision to make - the parade may be a once in a lifetime opportunity.  It is what it is and we watched on WHDH. 
Tears were shed then, too. 
I am grateful we have friends here that, no matter where we go in the future, when we see clips of the 13 Series, we can remember exactly where we were, what we were doing and the people we were able to share it with.