November!

Wow.  November already.
We made it through the 1st quarter of school, Tball and Halloween.

I won't apologize for not blogging.  I can only say that I'm doing the best I can with what I have. 
And that sleep is a very beautiful thing. 

I'm hoping the same monitoring device is not on the computer chair that is on the toilet seat. 
You see, every time I sit down on the toilet, it alarms the kids to come in screaming, pounding the tar out of each other or bleeding. 
So far...3 minutes minutes blogging without an interruption...that far surpasses any toilet time that has been had in the past 10 years...
;)

The time change is wonderful. 
The past two nights the kids have been in bed by 7:30. 
I was in bed last night at 8:06. 
Glorious, indeed.
People have been waking up in good moods, even.
On Monday morning, coming in from my run, I was greeted by the sounds of Caroline practicing flute at 6:15. 
This morning, after running, I was greeted by 3 and 5 year old zombies that proceeded to bite me and suck my blood.  They were confused, but happy - so I can't complain.   

To celebrate this gorgeous weather, the kids are outside. 
We are finishing off our basement and adding a bathroom, so they took the huge box that the shower came in and made a fort for toads they are finding.  

Hold on...
...7 minutes...Benjamin came in asking for a piece of cheese.  But he wasn't crying or bleeding - so that's something. 

I have no pictures of Halloween of all 4 kids.
Nina and Pops were down for the weekend and Pops got all the pics on his camera before we went out trick or treating. 
I was able to get a shot of "Dr Jones" before the pre-school costume parade, though.
Nate loved his costume and has worn either a bow tie or a fedora each day since.  

All the kids loved their costumes. 
We sure could use some pictures for the blog, though (hint, hint Pops)...
We ran into a little boy named Maverick who wants Sam's costume "when he grows up". 
Luckily Mav is only 1...so Sam will have plenty of time to enjoy being a pilot. 

We had a day of Blessed White Space on Saturday when Nina and Pops were here, so we dragged them up to Harpers Ferry. 
Pops and Nina got all the pictures of that, too...but they did send us a few.
Just don't be surprised if you see them on a Christmas card. 
To be totally up front - yep, there is candy in Ben's hand. And I'm totally giving Nate a wedgie to get him to stay in one spot. 
Bribery and coercion are the only ways to go while trying to take family pictures.  

We were busily preparing for Nina & Pops' arrival last week.
Since there has been construction in the basement, there is a thin thick layer of dust everywhere that I have been unsuccessfully trying to fight.
Normally, it wouldn't be a big deal, but the dust seems to trigger reactive airway symptoms in Ben - so getting it under control has been a priority. 
Kind of tough because they've been working right next to the furnace and it works very well sucking up the dust and distributing it throughout the house. 
But we did have time and clean space enough to make some apple crisp...

And finish a second set of pajamas for Caroline...

And have some impromptu dress up sessions and dance parties...

There was also a day that Benjamin declared he was done using diapers. 
He did great all morning in underwear, going pee on the toilet every hour or so.
Until...
I was making some butternut squash soup and was up to my elbows in squash innards when I realized I hadn't heard from Benjamin in a while. 
Then I hear screaming.
So I scraped the vegetable entrails off my arms and hightailed it upstairs to find Benjamin.
And I found him standing on the carpet in the middle of his room.
In a pile of poop.
With poo footprints leading from him to his closet, his pile of diapers and his wet wipes. 
Dumbstruck, I extricated Ben, cleaned him up and then steam cleaned the rug at nap time, cursing sometimes not so silently at the previous owners who laid down white carpet and fantasizing about the hardwood floors I left behind in Worcester. 
I didn't take any pictures that day. 
But...hardwood floors have moved up higher on the priority list. 

Then there was also the day I made apple-pie-oatmeal in the crockpot for dinner.
It was so good.
Ben, Jim, Caroline and I were eating it.  Sam doesn't eat much of anything, which wasn't a surprise.
Nate expected to like it.
He took a big bit and started making funny faces.
He as gotten in the habit of trying to spit out food he doesn't like, usually on the napkin of the person sitting next to him. 
In an attempt to dissuade him from doing this, I insisted that Nate swallow the oatmeal, even if he didn't like it.  After about 3 minutes of Nate making pretend gaggy-faces and me getting angry, Nate won the stand off.
The kid threw up.
All over his plate.
Didn't take pictures of that, either.
In his defense, I remember doing the same thing when my parents tried to force me to eat salad as a kid.
In my defense, it's friggin' apple-pie-oatmeal.  Who the heck doesn't like that?!?!

In other news...
We survived another season of TBall.
Seriously, this was the best group of kids and parents that I have ever worked with.
I wish I could bottle them all up and have them every year.
ALL the kids hit off live pitching the last game.
NO ONE had to use a tee.
They even made 5 put outs on defense.  Some at bases other than first!
It was great. 
(pictures courtesy of Pops)...

That all being said, I've had MORE than my fair share of time to blog today.
Time to call the Urchins in and eat dinner.