Tropical Pool

John is going to paint the twins room in the morning. I am a little nervous about a few things...
1. I liked the color Holiday Road-baby blue which is the third color down on the paint color sheet, but John likes Tropical Pool which is the second one down. He went and bought the paint tonight and got Tropical Pool. I hope that it is not too light!
2. I am going to have to entertain everybody tomorrow while John paints! Do you think that entertain means hog tie?
3. The twins will have to take their naps somewhere other than their room tomorrow. I am hoping that it will be across the street at somebody else's house! I would like to go on record as saying that this alternate nap spot is going to be a BAD idea. A very bad idea!
4. Wyatt is now convinced that we are going to paint his room pink and I am not sure that we are going to be able to talk him out of it!

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In other news Wyatt is keeping things interesting in his preschool class. Apparently last week as he was playing puppets with his teacher he made the puppet's mouth move and had it say "Hello, my name is pissed off!". I can only imagine the look on his teacher's face when she heard that gem!

3 Year Pictures Finally!

I finally got some pictures of Jonah and Sam that I like enough to use for their 3 year pictures! These pictures are going to go up in their bedroom. John and I are in the process of picking out paint to redecorate their room soon and I am looking forward to giving it some personal touches.

The Birthday Boy!

The birthday boy had a wonderful birthday today!

The best part about being one year old is that we can turn Shane's car seat around and let him face the front of the van! That will probably be a lot more stimulating than staring at the seat for hours on end! He probably has no idea how we get from place to place!

I am excited about turning the car seat because I won't have to continue to toss random questions at the boys because I can't see Shane. "Boys, is Shane asleep?" (I love it when 2 kids say "yes" and the other says "no" all at the same time!) "Boys, did Mommy remember to buckle Shane in?" (2 "no's" and 1 "yes). During particularly crazy days I will ask "Boys, is Shane in the van or did I forget him altogether?" Then all three boys will say "no", and I am left wondering which question they said "no" to?!?!?

The boys were playing on the floor this morning and Shane put some matchbox cars into a bigger dump truck while the big boys watched. Wyatt couldn't take his eyes off of him. Finally Wyatt turned to me and said "Mom, now that Shane is one, he knows how to play!" Too sweet!

Shane is allergic to milk and I had trouble finding a dairy-free cake so I made him a birthday cookie instead. I used Crisco in place of margarine and the resulting cookie was really soft and surprisingly tasty! Everybody wanted seconds...even Shane!

We finished the celebration with a bath, gift opening, and finally bed. I can't believe that the first year is over! It went by so quickly and took me by surprise! It's true what they say.. "The days go by slowly, but the years fly right on by!"

Happy 1st Birthday Shane!!!!!

This past year has been, without a doubt, the most wonderful year of my life! It is hard to imagine that a single baby boy could bring so much love and happiness into a family already full of boys! But Shane has exceeded my expectations one million percent!

It is bittersweet to see my baby boy crawl from room to room chasing his brothers and laughing as they try and run away from him. But it breaks my heart to hear him cry miserably when he can't find them.

I can't believe that, despite owning a single tooth, Shane completely refuses to eat any more baby food and wants to eat "big people food". The little vulture has even figured out that if he hangs out under the kitchen table he might get to eat some of his brothers scraps.

I am in awe of how much Shane loves his big brothers and of how much they love him back! He is never without a toy or a friendly face to smile with. These 4 boys have already forged an amazing brotherly bond with each other that will serve them well in life!

I am so thankful for each and every one of my boys, but I am especially proud of my little guy! He is such a special gift. He has the most amazing personality and spirit. He is everything that his Daddy and I could have ever hoped for in our last child, and it doesn't matter how many birthday's he has....he will always be my baby!

Perfect

Today was the perfect day. I slept in until 7:45 am! It doesn't sound like sleeping in, I know, but I will take that any day over a 6am wake up call to "wipe my butt"! I have told John on more that one occasion that we should video tape Wyatt at 6:30 am. He practically launches himself out of bed. He talks and talks and talks about nothing and everything. But best of all he NEVER stops moving. It is like waking up in the middle of a fire drill. There's commotion, chaos, and lots of talking and yelling! My plan is to save the video until Wyatt is in high school and wants to stay out late at night and then sleep in on the weekends...then I will slip a tv into his bedroom and play the video at 6am and then ask him to wipe my butt over and over again until he decides to wake up! That's just good parenting!

Then John took the boys outside to play while I cleaned the house. And I really cleaned the house...from top to bottom!

After lunch I went on a run outside with my ipod and my new running watch. It was great to be outside in the sun without any kids getting some exercise in the middle of the day! My sister and I are going to meet for a weekend and run in a half marathon in Washington DC in March. My Mom is going to come and be our cheering section. So, I am putting the final touches on my training so that I don't fall flat on my face in front of the White House!

Then John made dinner while I entertained the kids. It was a spicy Chicken Jumbalaya that was awesome!

Everyone was in bed by 7:30pm!

And it doesn't get much better than that!

Visitors

Grandpa and Grandma are here for a visit. It is nice to have some extra hands around to help out with the boys. I am not sure who is more tired though?!? The boys were in bed by 6pm tonight. Grandpa and Grandma both took naps today but were still in bed by 10pm!

Finals Week

Finals week at Michigan State was always such a mixed blessing. I loved being on campus in the spring when all of the lilac bushes along Shaw Lane were in bloom. The smell was amazing! Walking to class was actually relaxing. Campus was beautiful and all I wanted to do was spend time outside. But I needed to be studying. If I spent time enjoying the sights and smells of springtime in East Lansing I always felt guilty that I wasn't doing enough to get ready for my exams.

People were stressed. The study rooms and library were packed with glossy eyed disheveled looking people. It was a depressing time to be on campus.

I used my study breaks to pack up my dorm room into one of the thousands of standard issued collegiate milk crates. I had piles of books to sell back to SBS so that I could get approximately 10% of what I paid back for them. I had to take apart the loft so that it would be ready to pile into a green bin and haul out to the van as soon as my last final was over. The carpet got rolled up. Clothes were packed and all of the pictures came down.

It always seemed like I had the last final on the Friday of finals week before everyone had to be out of the dorm for the summer.

I always felt rushed at the end of finals week. I spent all of this time preparing for something and it was over just like that. I never got a chance to enjoy anything except what was right in front of me. I had tunnel vision. Finish final exams, pack, go home. Mission accomplished.

I have a feeling that this parenting-thing could be a lot like finals week. This past week Wyatt didn't have any preschool and was home every day. EVERY DAY! It was absolutely beautiful and amazing outside. The snow drifts were towering and the sun came out almost every day. But there was so much snow that we were all but trapped in the house all week. Even if I did manage to get all of the kids outside I was feeling guilty because Shane was inside napping and I didn't want to be out of reach if he needed something.

Each night I would spend all of this time preparing activities for us to do the following day in case were were trapped at home again. And we were. Every day last week.

And as the week went on I found myself figuring out how to get to the end of each day. That was my goal. Wake up...get the kids in bed, mission accomplished.

But about halfway through the week I took a step back and realized that I wasn't taking time to smell the lilacs. I wasn't enjoying the sights and smells of being a Mommy. We were not walking to class and enjoying the plethora of snow that descended upon us. I was trying to finish, pack, and go home.

So, I made a change. We played and created and played some more. We enjoyed our time trapped in the big snow. We had fun together and made a lot of memories. And I know that I ended up enjoying our snow days a lot more that I had expected. The kids did too! So I know that I won't get the results for a while, but at the end of the day I'm pretty sure that I aced that exam!

Snoverkill

Um yeah, another 10 inches of the white stuff! Ms Donna called during dinner tonight to let me know that there will not be any school for Wyatt again tomorrow. They haven't had school all week! I managed not to swear directly into the phone, but I must admit to losing my grip on reality for at least 15 minutes afterwards!

I verbally assaulted anyone within earshot! John made the mistake of laughing briefly and then quickly fled for his life! It wasn't pretty.

I have a game plan for tomorrow though I think. We are going to start with some shoveling. Then we will move on to sledding in the back of the subdivision. Next is cookie decorating. Then lunch.

Then there is NAP TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This will last until approximately 5pm.

Shortly thereafter, John will arrive home and I will go somewhere! Anywhere! Alone. The End.

Claustraphobia

There are few things worse than being trapped inside a house for 4 days with 4 kids under the age of 5 years old.

I am not sure what they are though.....

I am prepared to drop the kids off at whoever in our school system's house it is that keeps canceling school. They just might have a change of heart if they had to spend all day with my boys. They might start to say to themselves..." Hmmmm, there really isn't that much snow. The kids can wear layers at the bus stops. Who cares if there isn't electricity in some areas? I need to let these mother's drop their kids off at school! What is that sound? It sounds like something was just flushed down the toilet? Where are my car keys? Why is everybody laughing?"

Now I have some addresses to look up.....

Snow Bound

We got pounded with snow last night. It was the kind of snow storm that I remember having as a kid where the drifts were taller than me!. It was even hard to tell where the road was in front of the house!

The kids were fascinated with how much snow we had. They could barely eat breakfast because they were so excited about getting into their snowsuits and going outside. And they weren't the only ones!

John was beyond excited to be able to use the new plow on his four wheeler! He plowed people's houses from 8 am until about 3 pm. He even had to come home and get more gas!

John and I had plans to go out for dinner tonight and scheduled a babysitter, but almost all of the businesses in our town were closed for the inclement weather. Luckily we found a great restaurant that was still open and then did some grocery shopping afterward. We were not going to let a mere 2 1/2 feet of snow spoil our date night.... come on we're from Michigan!

A Bug

Jonah and Sam have a stomach bug. They puked all morning. All over the place. It was chaotic.

Wyatt went to preschool. My friend drove him and then ended up keeping him at her house all afternoon so that I could take care of the twins.

Shane was locked in the playroom for most of the day. Because all he wanted to do was find piles of puke and crawl through them!

I did 4 loads of laundry today and cleaned the entire downstairs floor on my hands and knees.

I am exhausted. I am going to bed! I am hoping that everybody is feeling better tomorrow...especially me!

February 2

Tonight after all of the boys were in bed I heard somebody talking upstairs. So I quietly went up the stairs and listened outside the boys doors. The sound was coming from Wyatt's room. When I listened carefully at the door I could tell that he was singing...."February Second...It's time to come out!" over and over again. It must be something that he learned at school because I have never taught him that song. Then as I listened he started singing another song..."Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday , Sunday" to the tune of 10 little indians. And then he went back and forth between the two songs for almost an hour trying to stay awake. His little singing voice was actually pretty cute....it almost made me forget how many times he was in time out today!

Not Our Best Showing

We had kind of a rough day. It started out with the kids throwing a bunch of beanbags into the toilet. The toilet was filled with pee. Yummy! Luckily, I caught them before anything got flushed down, but I knew that our day was going to be super fun!!!

Then I drove with all of the boys to check out a pool that I was thinking about joining. We all got out and went in to meet with Sally, the membership person. Unfortunately, Sally doesn't work there. I got mixed up and wrote down the wrong place. We drove to the wrong place and I had no idea where I was supposed to go. We missed our appointment by a long shot! Of course I left the correct paper at home, so we may not be joining that pool after all!

We also went grocery shopping this morning. Wyatt was OBSESSED with the lottery machine at the front of the store and harassed everybody that came in to buy lotto tickets. He wanted them to buy him tickets or let him hold their tickets or see if they won any money. He did not believe that he couldn't get tickets by putting money in just like a gumball machine, so finally I took him up to the customer service counter and made him ask the people there how old a person has to be to buy lotto tickets. When they told him 18 years old, he finally gave up his mission to win the Pennsylvania State Lottery!

At the grocery store they were giving out samples of Doritos. I let the kids each get a little cup while we were walking around the store and they were all happy. Then I happened to look down at Shane in his stroller and he was chewing on something. I screamed at the kids "did you give him any Doritos?". Wyatt said that he gave Shane a "little piece" and I freaked out (the poor sample lady almost croaked). So, I frantically pulled everything out of his mouth and got it all out while screaming "Oh My God....Please don't have swallowed this" over and over! There were a few tense moments while I reviewed my epi pen instructions, but there must not have been any milk proteins in the chips because he didn't have a reaction. That was fun!

Later in the grocery store I had an old man come up to me, look at all of the boys, and jokingly say "What do you do with all of your spare time?". I said "sleep"! But I really wanted to say "drink...especially after today"!

We went to Chick Fil A for lunch. It was supposed to be our breakfast out this morning, but I was too mad after the beanbags so I told the kids that we were not going out for breakfast. Lunch went well. The kids love eating out at restaurants and I love not having to clean up after them! It was a nice ending to an otherwise tough morning.

Tomorrow is a school day. I figured out what pool we need to visit. We are not going grocery shopping. And we are eating lunch at home. So I expect to have an very uneventful morning tomorrow.....as if that could ever happen!