TGIF???

I am feeling a bit naughty.  I spent this morning hiding.  Usually that's something I do on Mondays, after a "fun-filled" weekend with my family, but this time the need to hide came at the beginning of the weekend.

The kids are pretty good when there is just one parent at home.  Even Leon and Michael seem to sense that one person can only do so much and they need to wait their turns.  On Tuesday night Jeff coached a soccer game on the other side of town at 6:00 p.m.  I came home from work early so he could go, then the kids and I had a good evening.  Jeff's parents and aunt and uncle came to visit last weekend, and Tuesday was the first day without visitors.  Usually, the kids are horrible when guests leave, but this time they were pretty happy.

Despite being happy, I could tell the kids were antsy when they saw me, so I changed clothes and we immediately headed out for a walk.  I really should get Jeff to take a picture sometime, as I am sure we are quite a sight when I take the kids for a walk by myself.  Ree rides in the back of the double stroller so she can kick the child in front of her, rather than get kicked.  Leon rides in the front of the stroller and is the captain of our crazy ship.  Michael goes in the carrier backpack on my back because it gives him mommy-time, and he doesn't kick me.  (I think my kidneys are still bruised from the couple of times I let Leon ride in the backpack last summer.)

We didn't get too far on our walk before it started sprinkling.  I had promised Ree a long walk, and she was disappointed when I turned around, but she didn't get too upset about it.  It helps that we were playing her new favorite game.  She invents verbal games all the time.  In the current favorite game that she calls "Two Words," we each take turns describing a word that starts with a letter and the other person has to guess the word.  We usually start with "A" and a favorite clue she likes to give is, "This thing is crunchy and can be red, or yellow, or green.  It is delicious and you eat it for a snack."  Then I dutifully guess that it is an apple.  Then it's my turn to describe a word that starts with "A."  After she has guessed my word, we move on to her "B" clue.  She really, really likes this game, and at least it is a bit creative.  More fun than playing "I Spy" for the gajillionth time.

As we got closer to home, it started pouring.  Being in the back of the stroller, Ree had a canopy over her, but the boys got soaked.  Amazingly, they didn't seem to mind.  Michael even had his arm outstretched to feel the rain.  Even with the canopy, Ree got fairly wet, but since her hair and face stayed dry, it didn't really bother her.  (If there had even been a drop of water on her face or hair, she most likely would've had a massive meltdown. She really doesn't like them getting wet.  Even in the tub or at the beach or in a pool. Unless it is her idea.)  Thankfully, the temperature was in the upper 70s and we were already on our street when the crazy rain began, so we didn't have to go far in the downpour.

When we got home, I got everyone dried off, and the kids watched Super Why on PBS Kids while I made dinner.  The show is about reading, and is really most appropriate for Ree, but the boys like it too.  Michael is just a TV junkie and would watch the Home Shopping Network or reruns of old debates on C-SPAN if we let him.  We think Leon just likes it because the characters have crazy bug eyes like him.

At dinner, the kids ate and ate and ate.  Nothing unusual there.  The boys then played while I cleaned up the kitchen.  That was unusual.  That never happens.  Usually, if I get to clean up in the evening at all, it is around 9:00 and after the kids have gone to bed.  That's usually when I discover their milk cups from dinner still sitting on the table. Whoopsie-doodle.

After I cleaned up, I gave the boys a bath.  When I am the only parent at home, Ree likes to stop in and supervise.  Thankfully, we made it through the bath without her having to correct my parenting too many times.  Whew.  I have discovered a trick to give myself a few minutes to read and zone out while the boys are in the tub.  They think they have to get out as soon as I wash them, so as I rinse them, they desperately grab toys and start playing.  It's like they're thinking, "If she sees I'm busy, maybe she'll pick the other one first!"  So I've started washing them in the middle of their baths.  Then I stand by the bathroom counter and read for a few minutes.  It is a much needed mid-evening madness break.

After their baths, it was time for everyone to eat again.  (It has been almost an hour since we finished dinner.)  So it was time for more food madness.  Again, they ate and ate and ate.  With all the guests here over the weekend, they hadn't been able to eat their normal quantity of food.

If the guests read this, I know they are going to be disturbed.  I'm pretty sure my mother-in-law felt like she did nothing but feed the boys and clean their high chairs between feedings over the weekend.  Which is pretty true.  But they still didn't eat their full quantity.  And Ree isn't eating large quantities of food these days, but she eats s-l-o-w-l-y.  It takes her 45 minutes to finish a plate of food.  No partially chewed food there!  Even when she went to a birthday party two weeks ago, she was happy to sit and eat and eat and eat while the other kids played at Chuck E. Cheese.  Then, when she was done, she joined them.  And with guests, and with eating out, Ree never got her full 45 minutes to savor each bite, so she never got to finish a meal over the weekend.  She was way behind in her chewing for the week.

The kids finally finished eating their snacks, and we moved on to reading books.  Stories at bedtime are always interesting.  I read to the boys first.  Sometimes they both plop down and want to hear stories.  Sometimes they fight over who gets to sit in my lap.  Sometimes Michael wants me to read one book aloud while he sits next to me and flips through a different book.  And sometimes Leon just wants to run back and forth between me and the book basket bringing me books one at a time.  I am fairly certain that Leon believes he will never, ever have to go to sleep as long as there is another book to read.

I have no idea how story time went on Tuesday.  That was three days ago!  But I do know that by the time Jeff got home, the kids were ready for bed.  Of course the boys went nuts when they saw Jeff, and Leon was up for another hour, but Leon is ALWAYS looking for an excuse to stay up and party.

But that is life with one parent.  This morning we had two parents.  And the boys must've sensed it was the (kinda) beginning of the weekend.  I usually work from home on Fridays, but this morning I had to come in to work.  I am in the middle of a super gigantic insane audit (that would be the professional term), and I had to listen to a webinar, so I thought I would just do it all at once in my office.  That didn't stop the boys from wanting the weekend fun to begin.  They were ready for adventures with Mom!  After having an amazing week in which they slept through the night, they both got up twice last night.  Then they were up for the day at 5:55.  And Michael cried/whined continuously from that point until I left for work.

When there are two parents at home, a lot of crying and whining occurs.  The children and dogs all feel that with two adults, there should be someone to take care of them AT ALL TIMES.  Anyone not receiving attention is often in the middle of the Worst Meltdown Ever.  The dogs do eventually give up.  The kids are a bit more persistent. This morning Leon was crying because someone dared wake him before 8:00 a.m. (if things don't change, he is going to be oh-so-much fun in high school!)  Ree was doing okay, but was definitely annoyed that she was woken up at 6:30 by two crying brothers.  I can't say I blame her for feeling that way.

No matter how understanding I may have been, by 7:15 I was done.  I went into the bathroom to get ready for work.  Usually, Michael quietly plays while I get ready.  Leon is the one I have to watch because he loves to open drawers and look for treasures.  He is an especially big fan of glass bottles of cologne and of razor blades.  Thinking about Leon reminds me I need to color my hair again this weekend...anyway, Leon was still eating breakfast, so Michael decided to pick up the slack this morning.  By 7:20, I had to kick him out of the bedroom.  He was not happy.

I took my time getting ready, not that there was much to do.  Friday is casual day at work, and I just threw on jeans and a short sleeve sweater with some platform sandals.  My hair was a complete disaster, so I ended up pulling it up in a ponytail.  I threw on a little makeup.  What I realized, though, was that by the time I had done all those things, no one was crying.  In fact, I think they had forgotten I was at home.  They thought it was one-parent time again, and they were all happily playing in the living room.  Since I don't really have a Friday work schedule, I decided to take advantage, and I sat down and read a totally worthless but hilarious book.  (I'm currently working my way through the entire Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich.  Working on a college campus and across the street from the renowned Create Writing department, it's probably not something I should openly admit, but I do enjoy the books.)

After about five minutes, I started feeling guilty.  I hate guilt.  So then I actually went to work.  Which could be deemed more hiding.

Why I Heart My Daughter

Ree was so cute last night.  Every night before bed we clean her room, and every night it is a battle.  She is not opposed to cleaning, she is just easily distracted.  She will start to put Legos away and realize that they will fit better in the tub if she first arranges them in the shape of a castle.  Or she discovers that the doll house people really need to have a major renovation of their abode before going to sleep for the night.  We actually don't fight about it too much, we just try to keep her on task and either Jeff or I do most of the cleaning.  Last night when she and I got to her room, all of her blankets and pillows were on the floor, which wasn't unusual.  She likes to have "sleepovers."  However, last night, when I said it was time to clean she said, "Mom, you're sick.  You lay down and I'll do all the cleaning."  She even had a blanket, pillow, and "friend" out just for me.

I've been battling a mild case of the flu since Sunday, and I didn't fight her.  Instead, I laid down and closed my eyes.  Surprisingly, I heard cleaning sounds.  I somehow managed to resist the urge to check on things.  I waited a few minutes and then asked if she needed help.  She said, "No thank you.  You just get cozy."  So I did.

And somehow, miraculously, the girl who can't pick up her toys managed to clean her entire room in under 10 minutes.  I suppose I shouldn't use this against her when it's time to clean up tonight.  That nap on the floor was awfully nice.

Adventure in Hair

Just so you know, this has nothing to do with the kids.  You've been warned.  Bwahaha!

Yes, the evil laugh was necessary.  It's been one of those nights.

So women are always changing their hair in order to be more attractive and to better reflect their personality.  I am personally guilty of this.  Through the years I've had a few hits and a whole lot of misses.

During college, I changed my hair pretty regularly.  I had numerous hair styles - bobs, shags and, of course, long hair.  I was a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead.  I had phases of crazy, product-free (translation: super frizzy) hair and phases that required considerable time spent with a hair dryer, curling iron, and arsenal of products before I could walk at the door. 

Post college, my hair has mostly been long and blonde.  There was a brief period while I worked at Toilet in which I had a crazy, spiky short style.  It involved lots of layers and assaulting myself with a can of spray wax each day.  Although "fun", maintaining that 'do was pricey, not-so-eco friendly, and a bit disturbing.  It was a lot of work and coughing (spray wax really hangs in the air!) for what was essentially bed head.

As I've gotten older, my hair has gotten longer and blonder.  The insanely dry winter air here and a lack of time and desire to care for it led to a nasty, frizzy disaster.  I also frequently forget to get my haircut for months on end, which doesn't help the situation.  Over the past couple of years, I've had a few haircuts where I asked the stylist to cut off split ends and dry part.  The result of all those trims was that my hair still looked about the same.

I decided to give my hair a break, and I dyed it light brown just before Christmas.  I decided that was boring, so I dyed my hair chocolate brown after New Year's.  I was really excited.  My hair would be low maintenance (no coloring it every 4 - 6 weeks!  The roots would magically blend in!) and the color would be sexy.  I would be all Angelina Jolie or Megan Fox.

That might've worked if I was tan, actually remembered to put on makeup, and tried a little.  But I'm not and I forgot and I didn't.  So rather than being a goddess, I was more mousy librarian.  And with my hair all dark and brown, I started noticing grays.  Yikes.  Definitely not the look I was going for.

So I'm ready to go blonde again, but my hair is just not in a good place.  After failing to get my rear to a salon for the past few weeks, I finally took the scissors to it one night last week after the kids went to bed.  The plan was for just a little trim.  I would cut off all the nasty, fried layers.  I ended up cutting off six inches in parts.  Oops.  Perhaps it was a bit more than a trim.

But it really doesn't look that bad.  Really.  (Humor me.  I'm tired.  And I really believe it doesn't look THAT bad.)  Perhaps it is an awkward length, it's just past my shoulders, but it will grow.  And I noticed too that it makes me younger, especially since I keep putting it in a ponytail to deal with the strange length.  Not that it is necessarily good younger.  I'd say it's makes me look like a crazed middle school who needs to lay off the booze and get some sleep.  But it may have contributed to what was clearly the best unintentionally funny moment in my world last week.

Most nights I take each of the dogs for a short walk after the kids go to bed.  The walks usually take place between 8:30 and 9:00, and it's definitely dark out then.  It was warm when I walked them on Wednesday, so I just wore a t-shirt and athletic pants, and I had my hair in a ponytail.  I walked Max first, and as I'm walking him, I hear a kid screaming.  I was about to investigate when two boys about 12 or 13 come running out from behind a house.  Apparently they were playing hide-and-seek or something and were just generally taking advantage of the fact that one of the kids' parents wasn't home.  They weren't paying attention and almost crashed into me.  I decided not to be the weird old mom yelling at them to watch where they were going, and I kept on walking.

I took Max home and set back out on the same route with Pru.  The two boys were sitting in the other kids' driveway when I came around the second time.  As I'm walking I hear, "Hey red shirt!" (That would be me since, well, I was wearing a red shirt and I was the only other person out in the dark.)  "How old are you?"  I stop and tell them, "Old."  So they ask, "14?"  and I told them I was a little bit older.  So then they jokingly asked, "27?"  I replied it was something like that and just kept walking.

And when I got home I laughed and laughed as I spent the next 45 minutes trying to wrestle three car seats into the back of the car.  So when all else fails, when the kids are screaming and the dogs are barking and appliances are breaking, at least I know I've still got it.  At least in the eyes of the the junior high crowd.  In the dark.  But maybe I'll keep those details to myself.

No longer MIA

I'd like to have a great reason for not writing anything for the past two weeks.  I'd like to say that it's because my parents came to visit or because Michael ran a 103-degree fever all last week.  And both are true, but they really weren't why I didn't write.  I'd like to say it's because we've been busy enjoying the spring and are spending time each day running around in the backyard, which is also true.  But again, this isn't why I haven't been writing.

The truth is, I just haven't been able to get myself organized.  It's been so weird.  Normally, I am on top of things.  When asked at interviews about my greatest strengths, organization and time management popped up at the top of the list.  But these days, not so much.

Which leads me to wonder what the heck happened.  If anything, I should've had more time than ever to write.  I did not work a full week in the past four weeks.  The first week doesn't really count.  We had that stomach bug from hell, and I stayed home from work on Monday, Tuesday, and half of Wednesday.  The following week, I just worked half a day from home on Monday since I had the flu and Michael had all those new teeth.  Realizing how run down I was, I worked another half day from home on Friday. 

Three day weeks are nice.  So nice that I decided to only work three days the following week.  I had been planning on saving vacation, but my parents were coming in town, and with our crew, it takes an entire day to accomplish anything, including cleaning the house.  So I took off a day so that Jeff and I can clean the house and he could do some much-needed yard work.  (And one of the reasons I love my husband so?  He did almost all of the cleaning while I took care of the kids.  Ahh.  Some days I know I married the right guy!)  

My parents arrived late that afternoon, and then I had a real three day weekend to play.  It was wonderful. I think everyone had a fabulous time.  It was definitely our best visit with guests since the boys have been born.  We managed to squeeze in everything that everyone wanted to do.  We went to the beach, swimming at the indoor pool at my parents' hotel, and shopping.  My parents took off on their own and got to take care of some things they wanted to do.  Jeff and I even got to have a date.  Part of the reason we did so much was that we were constantly shuffling schedules around naps.  That resulted in us going out on a date at 9:30 a.m. on a Saturday, but hey, WE GOT TO GO ON A DATE!  Perhaps I used up all my time management skills for the month that weekend.  They were working overtime.

I certainly can't blame my disorganization on a lack of sleep, at least not for the usual reason.  Leon has been sleeping through the night.  Yes.  Really.  LEON IS SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT.  Crazy stuff.  I think it's because of the amount of time he spends outside.  Both boys love outside.  Leon defines any excursion outside our house as "bye bye," and he regularly beats on both the front and back doors asking "bye bye?"  If he really wants to turn on the charm, he'll thrown in his version of "please" which sounds like "peez" and his fake smile.  His fake smile is hilarious.  It's really hard to say no to a little guy begging, "bye bye, PEEEEEEZ???" and grinning like a mad man.

When he gets outside, he runs and runs and runs.  On Saturday, the first time we went outside, he ran in circles for 10 minutes screaming, "eeeeEEEEEeeeeeeEEEEE," the whole time.  He was one happy little dude.  When he comes in, he eats and eats and eats.  And then he sleeps well.  It's great.  And, yes, I realized I have completely jinxed his sleeping.  But it's been great while it lasted.  And at least we know he is capable of sleeping.  And development.  Since he started sleeping, his vocabulary and social interaction skills have just exploded.

But since Leon is turning into a functioning human being, that means it's time for Michael to fall apart.  He just hasn't been right lately.  He really did have that nasty fever all week.  He also got five new teeth to go with it.  What we'll never what was really wrong.  The poor little guy may have had the flu too, which would explain why he had to be held 24 hours a day for four or five days.  Jeff held him all day.  We would take turns holding him from the time I got home from work until bedtime.  The one not holding him would be running around like mad trying to take care of Ree, Leon, Pru, and Max and at least meeting their basic needs.  Then I would do most of the holding at night.  That was crazy.  I'm blaming that on my inability to get organized last week.  We were only sleeping three to four hours a day night in short bursts.  That wore me down.  Whew.

But then we had a fabulous weekend.  Michael still didn't feel great, but he wasn't horrible either, and we had a lot of fun.  Maybe my brain was just on strike. 

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.