Redux

I was all set up to blog.
"Finding Nemo" is playing and I ask Sam to get my netbook upstairs.  After 13 minutes with nothing procured, I send up Caroline to find out what's going on.
This results in a brawl, taking 5 minutes to deescalate.  Sam then brought down Jim's computer, NOT mine.  So I start blogging on that machine, only to have it run out of juice and power down.
Then, after taking an hour to put him to sleep, Benjamin woke up from his 20 minute nap.
I get everyone all cozied up, only to notice Benjamin standing on the kitchen counter, "I need a Bubba, Mama."
Now the movie is on, Ben has a bubba, snacks have been obtained and I am hoping for at least 6 minutes of quiet.  Hopefully I can update that post Blogger ate last night. 
It's only taken me 40 minutes to get this far.
Fun stuff. 

Soccer today was fine.  Walkersville is certainly one of the weakest teams in the league, but the kids are getting  better.  When Sam was playing I witnessed some of the worst parenting ever.  The team we were playing was bigger, faster, better and more aggressive.  There were kids on the other team a full head taller than Sam!  In Sam's defense, he did get his feet on the ball, which is much more than he would have a few weeks ago, These kids were good players.  Their parents were awful spectators.  One mother proclaimed her son a "failure" if he didn't score, especially against "these" kids".  Yelling things like "Get OPEN.  Come ON! Be aggressive!" as the kid pummeled into a teammate with the ball, trying to take the ball for himself and issuing reminders such as, "You only have 1 more minute to score!  MOVE IT!!!!".  The poor kid didn't even look like he was having fun. 
Sam, on the other hand, who is one of the weakest players on the weakest team, runs off the field with a huge smile saying, "Did you see that, Mom?  I kicked the ball!  That was awesome!"  I realize the kid won't be getting any soccer scholarships or even realistically play soccer past elementary school, but at least he had a good time. 

I am realizing how much I haven't been writing down recently.

Last week Caroline was on the altar serving during Mass.  It was an extra long service and after almost 70 minutes, Benjamin was cooked.  We were sitting in our normal spot in the front row, which happened to be right in front of CJ.  The boy wanted nothing more than to be on the altar with his sister.  While Monsignor was doing the announcements, Benjamin eluded our grasp and ran up onto the altar, grabbing Deacon Tim's hand.  Caroline's face turned fifty shades of purple in pure mortification.  As much as we wanted to save her, we knew that getting him would cause a MAJOR disturbance and Deacon winked to say it was fine, so we let it ride.  We picked him up at the back of church after the recessional. 
It took CJ a good day to calm down.
We'll have a good laugh about it years from now, but not until Caroline exits the "I can't believe they were looking at me!" phase...

I finally finished the skirt I was working on for Caroline.  It took me about 8 hours to finish by hand.  As my Mother so nicely reminded me, that makes it at least an $80 skirt, right?  ;) 
Hardly. 
But Caroline loves it and it's longer than anything I can find in stores for girls her age.  I have plans to start another one with the leftover fabric, but it's nothing I have to do right now.  All I needed to know was that I could sew a skirt by hand, it may be a while before I take on another project. 

Now it's nice to have an afternoon to chill.  I'm trying my hand at freezer crockpot cooking tonight with a couple of my friends.  We'll see how it goes. 

Ice Cream Social

There was a nice long post to go along with these pictures.
However, Blogger went flaky and didn't post it.
Grrr.

Halloween, 2 Weeks Early

It seems to me like all holidays are getting extended out.
There has been Christmas stuff in the stores since August and Back to School supplies out since June. 
I can deal with these, since they require pre-planning.
Halloween, however, is something I cannot abide going on for 2 weeks. 

Because of some scheduling conflict, Trunk or Treat at Sam & Nate's school was last night.
Too EARLY.
I cannot stand the candy being in the house for this long. My willpower and my waistline can't handle it.  
And don't for one minute think that I wasn't tearing about the house yesterday looking for stuff we could use as costumes.  I am grateful that people brings us lots of cool dress up clothes and that I just bought a 200' long roll of aluminum foil. 
So I present to you the 2014 Halloween Edition of the Watson Crazies...

Benjamin being fresh.  "I swish my tail at you!"

Cobweb Skeleton Man, a Knight in Shining Armor with is Trusty Dragon and a Fairy.

 

 Sam had a soccer game today.  He's doing better getting in on the action and showing off his moves. 
Good job, Sammy!

Saturday Morning, 7 AM

It's not that early. 
Most days, either Jim or I is up at 5 to get the day going.  It has become such a habit, we're even awake on the weekends, too.
So Jim is doing work and I'm blogging, waiting for the rain to let up so I can run.  Benjamin is on my lap, of course.  Because the Little Boy that sleeps until 8AM every weekday so I have to drag him to the bus stop in his jammies *wants* to move and groove at 6 on a Saturday morning.

With Benjamin being the youngest and a very enjoyed baby, he now has some habits that we're trying to break.  The main habit being his binky.  The boy loves his bink.  He knows we're trying to get them, so he has taken even more to squirreling them away.  Caroline typically lectures Benjamin about how "Dr Love says that you can't have any more binkies or your teeth won't grow straight".  In these instances, Benjamin typically does one of three things...
1-Ignore her
2-Throw a binky at her and then retrieve one from his hidden stash to replace it
3-Bite her. 
I mentioned he has a few habits we're trying to work on, right?

Benjamin is funny.  He tries to be funny.  We can't remember another kid purposefully attempting comic relief at this age.  His latest trick to diffuse a situation, usually when he's in trouble or when we're doing something he doesn't want to do is to throw himself face up on the floor, close his eyes and announce, "I died". 
Quieter than a tantrum, I'll admit, but the situation can escalate quickly.  Especially as I'm picking him up to remove him from the middle of the snack aisle at Safeway and he's screaming, "NO! NO! NO!  I DEAD!  I DEAD MOMMY!!!"  This strategy works well for him during Mass, too. 
We've got our work cut out for us. 

Benjamin loves playing with the duplo blocks.  His favorite things to build are blasters and light sabres, used mostly to cut his siblings down to size.  He enjoys action figures and little stuffies, like Beanie Babies.  The four kids play Vet Office or Pet Store quite frequently and Benjamin is excited that he is no longer the pet. 
Last night, the Gang was playing horse races with the curtain ties I had just taken down from our bedroom.

Always an adventure, I say. 

I am trying to blog more. 
The past couple months have been active ones for everyone.  I'm also piecing together a skirt for Caroline.  Hand sewing can be tedious, but doesn't require punctuation, grammar or good spelling skills.
Sewing has been winning over blogging because I can turn my brain off while accomplishing something. 

Weather has cleared. 
Off to run.  Then to Wegmans. 
Caroline has to put together a menu for a presidential meal from the state of Maine.
She is going to take pictures of the lobsters, potatoes, broccoli, clam chowder and to get some whoopi pie mix to make today.
We found Moxie yesterday. 
God Bless the Mainers that can drink that stuff.

Calm

Benjamin and I have had a busy day.
Because of his refusal to nap we have caught up on laundry, cleaned a bathroom, vacuumed, set the table  and made dinner.  Sometimes Benjamin is helpful.  Like when he took all the chairs and organized them upside down while lying on top of them reading.  Right before I was to vacuum that room, of course.
I hope the bugger falls asleep in the car and stays asleep through everyone's activities.
A girl can hope, right?
Otherwise, we have a grumpy night in store for us.

Yesterday we had a blessed day of white space on the calendar.
We ventured down to Fredericksburg to explore.
When learning about the Civil War, you hear people talk about the terrain and tactical advantage.  I thought I knew what they are talking about, but I think you almost have to see to start to appreciate.  I don't know how many times I have read and listened to Shelby Foote teach about Fredericksburg and how Marye's Heights influenced the battle.  Seeing the Heights was a total *DUH. I GET IT NOW* moment.
So cool.
We're looking forward to exploring Chancellorsville, Spotslyvania Courthouse and the Wilderness.
There is so much to do here.  Exploring is the best part.  

Don't Judge.

It's Friday afternoon and the boys are glued to the screen watching the "Cash and Treasures" episode that's all about Herkimer Diamonds.
They're feeling like adventurers and are pretending that they can have their own tv show, too... "Hey!  We've been there!  We know how to do that!" 
Kind of neat. 
The better part is that Caroline got a ride home from "Little Flowers" and we don't have to be anywhere or do anything until tomorrow. 
Amen. 

I would be lying to you if I said I hadn't thought about opening a beer. 
I'll wait until 5. 
Jim has been away and the kids have not been sleeping.  I've also managed to somehow re-aggravate my sore leg.  Grrrr.
It's new opportunity.  It's a time to learn.  A time to do new things. 
But sheesh.  I wish it were easier. 

We survived the first month of school.  We're in a routine.  We've done a decent job sticking with the "One Kid, One Activity" mantra...except with Caroline, who earned an extra one time per month activity by improving her grades. 
Homework is going okay.  First grade homework is much easier than kindergarten.  It's spelling words and reading.  That's it.  I'm not complaining...Sam is a lot more independent and needs much less help...
Third grade homework includes 30 minutes of reading per night (they're reading Robinson Crusoe), spelling words (the last batch included the words "decaffeinate", "exoskeleton" and "interior") and math facts (multiplication).  Caroline loves the reading and word studies.  She HATES the math.  My hope this weekend is to copy the "Schoolhouse Rock" songs onto CD so she can listen and help her learn that way. 
Nate *loves* school.  He and Sam both wore a pink t-shirt on Oct 1st for Cancer Awareness Month to impress girlfriends in their class.    It was adorable. 

The boys are now sluicing legos and pretending to find emeralds.  It's pretty cool to see them use their imaginations this way. 
It has been a tiring past few days, though, especially with Jim gone.  There has been more than one occasion where I've wanted to lock myself in the bathroom with a glass of Jack Daniels and Little Debbie  snacks. 
Who am I kidding?  I DID do that. 
It was an awesome three minutes until the fingers started reaching under the door and voices where inquiring, "Mama?  What you doing?"

We went up to Cunningham State Park last week to play.  The kids spun in the tire swing so much I thought they would puke.  I was fearful for the interior of my car on the ride home, the kids thought it was fantastic.