Saturday, March 17, 2012

Happy St. Patrick's Day

So, being the traditional folks we are, we celebrated St. Patty's Day by going to the beach. Okay, so actually I was just dying to go because we haven't been since, I don't know, July. And it turned out to be a perfect day to go let the kids play. The temperature was in the upper 60s or low 70s, it was overcast, and there was almost no breeze. And because everyone else was watching the St. Patrick's Day parade, at the semi-annual enormous library book sale, or just sleeping off their basketball hangover, we pretty much has the beach to ourselves.


The seagulls were out too.


And they weren't shy.


Natalia loved them. Almost as much as she loves the ceiling fans in our house. Almost.

When we got home from the beach, I got Natalia tucked in for a nap while the big kids ate lunch. After lunch, Jeff snuck off for some basketball and Guiness. The big kids and I made some super easy mint chocolate chip cookies.



We were still rather nontraditional, but at least they were green. And tasty. The dough looked like a giant bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream.






Continuing our cultural confusion, we are having fajitas for dinner, which feel like the perfect end to a day at the beach.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Visitors

Jeff's parents were in town for 10 days, and we were busy. Maybe I'll catch up on writing soon. Hey, a girl can dream! For now, here's a picture from one of our first adventures. An outing to  Barnes and Noble.


Thursday, March 8, 2012

The Eww Factor

I am truly grateful for my life. Over the weekend, three of my best friends shared the actual real problems in their lives - problems with their health, their parents' health, and their children. News like that always helps put everything in perspective. I have healthy, normal(ish) kids. I have a husband who loves me, a roof over my head, and I know where my next meal is coming from. (Well, okay, so that's a debate between cooking and grabbing Chick-Fil-A, so technically I don't know, but you know what I mean!) But, really, is it so bad if I dream of a day with fewer bodily fluids in my life?

This post is going straight downhill from here. It would be safest to stop reading.

I will refrain from truly sharing any stories, but I will say that Jeff and I have realized that the daily poop report is an important part of our marriage. It stems back to when Natalia first started taking steps. I was so excited to witness them, only to learn that he had seen them three days before. I asked why he hadn't shared. He said it hadn't crossed his mind, yet he'd texted me multiple times that same day to let me know whose system flushed what and when. He is such a guy. Rather than fight about it, we had a good laugh. We realized the poop report has been in place for a long time, at least since Ree was born, and possibly since we got Pru. And it's not going away anytime soon. We just have a name for it now.

But the fun isn't limited to the daytime while I am at work. Last night, as the kids were eating their bedtime snacks, I asked Jeff if there was any room in the house that did not have visible poop or else just stink. He could honestly reply, "no." And this was after my poor mother-in-law spent two days cleaning our house. (We are mean to our houseguests and put them to work. No lie. But we are grateful. That counts for something, right?) These were all post-dinner disasters. But we did get everything cleaned up before the kids went to bed.

It was a quiet night with no emergency diaper changes or potty trips for any child or dog. Always good. But just before my alarm went off at 6am, the fun began again. Michael and Leon needed to go potty, which was understandable since they did make it through the night. As I was tucking them back into bed, Pru wandered into their room. Pru normally stays out, and I quickly realized she was coming to get me because Max was emptying his stomach all over the living room rug. Again. And, thus, another exciting day began at our house!

But I really do love my kids and my dogs and am grateful for them. I am also grateful for soap and water and windows that open.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Someone Has a Case of the Tuesdays

While taking a bath tonight, Ree was trying to figure out the day of the week. She finally realized it was the "boringest" day. The thoughts she shared with me:

On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I have school.
On Thursday, I have gymnastics.
On Saturday and Sunday we do lots of projects and eat lots of junk food.
But Tuesday is the boringest day. We just sit around and watch TV and be bored.


It's a rough life.

And for the record, just before her bath she was complaining because they didn't watch any TV today. The kids were too busy going to the mall and McDonald's with Jeff and his dad.