Freak

Here I am enjoying my vacation. So at peace. I let my brain relax like no other time of the year. The ocean hypnotizes my hyper little brain cells into submission.

Most of the time my brain is doing things like this:

The other day I was thinking about how I am such a Control Freak. Yes, I totally admit it. I embrace it....BUT, sometimes I try to shut it down too.

So, I was in a situation where I REALLY thought I could do it better, fix it, smooth out the wrinkles...if only I was in charge. I kept up the self talk, "don't say anything, let it be, stop trying to control everything". I did this while biting my tongue and squishing my eyes closed. It did work. :)

Then while I was mentally congratulating myself for my self control I got to wondering if there are support groups for Control Freaks. I envisioned myself sitting in the meeting....getting less control freaky. Then envisioned how I would like to be in CHARGE of the meeting. Yes, the Head Control Freak.

Ugh.

Pop

I don't like pop. I don't want my kids to drink pop. I don't want my kids to like pop. Fail!

The only time they get to have pop is when we are out for dinner (and not every time) or for special occasions....or when Cam takes them to the store. Oh! Love my hubby but we don't totally at all agree on the topic of kids drinking pop. :)

 

Why do I not want my kids to drink pop? In case you are a pop drinking person and can't figure out why I don't want my kids to drink it. Seriously, pop is NOT good for you. The ingredients? Sugar and chemicals. Not good for your teeth or your insides.

 

Okay, so that's my soap box. Of course I don't mind the occasional (less than once a month) pop going down my kids' gullets. The kids would argue for more!

 

 

While on vacation we were walking the beach when Busy Guy spotted this rolling in the surf. It was like a gift from the sea....or God. He ran down to check it out. At first I thought it was an empty can and instructed him to grab it so we could recycle it. But nope...it was a full can. It was in pretty good condition...must not have been at sea for long. Oh, the kids were so excited! I  cringed but let them share it. Five kids, and 12 oz. couldn't be that bad for them.

 

 

They loved it. Fresh from the sea. I should send these photos to Coke!

 

 

 

How do you feel about pop? Do you call it soda or pop? What other foods/drinks do you have to work hard to limit in your kids' lives...and how do you do it?

On his heart

I've said before how Mr. P looks after Tuba. He is such a good brother to him. I know that when Cam and I are gone from this world that Mr. P will take care of Tuba.

The other day Mr. P was sitting on Cam's lap just snuggling and chatting. The following is the conversation they had.

Mr. P: Is it hard for you and mom to have a special needs child?

Cam: Yes, but there is also a lot of joy too.

Mr. P: What if I have a special needs child?

Cam: Well, you are so good to Tuba and you will be a good dad to your child too.

Mr. P: I think God is preparing me to have a special needs child.

Cam and I got all teary....and choked up and couldn't talk for a few minutes. How insightful of Mr. P that he thinks about these things. He feels it.

God does speak to us and we feel things on our hearts. I'm so thankful that Mr. P is listening and exploring what God is saying to him.

I don't know if Mr. P will have a special needs child but I do believe that there is a reason he feels that God is preparing his heart. I pray that he will continue to listen for God's guidance. What more could a parent hope for.

Feeling Crabby?

 

Crabby? No, not the mood but the food. Yummy food!

 

 

I was so excited to go get some crab. We stopped at this place where you can rent boats/traps and go catch them yourself....we didn't do that. Maybe next year! But, we did buy some crab to eat. They pull it out of tanks and cook it right there for you. I was brave and held my dinner.

 

 

Mr. P gave it a try too....no other takers. Those claws are big!

 

 

The setting was beautiful and the crab was delicious! I have to say I'm glad there are no photos of me eating. I LOVED it. Everyone else liked it fine but I LOVED it. I dug in with my crab cracker and happily broke open the shell and ate away. Long after the kids and Cam were done I was still digging out chunks of meat. I had juice running down my elbows and I was splattered in crab bits. Delicious! I went home a happy woman.

Little Bump

The only small bump in the road on our vacation was sick kids. But, I have to say that it really caused no problem. It was the perfect vacation to have kids get sick.

A couple of days before we left Busy Guy was the first to get sick. Little fever and cough. Then George got it the next day. Big fever which made him vomit. Oh, now at this point I was worried. I was imagining a 5 hours car ride with sick kids....potentially all throwing up and crying.

But, as it turns out George only threw up once and the car ride went fine. He still had a fever but Motrin brought it down and he was comfortable.

On the second day of vacation Mr. P got a big fever. He was very ill. Did. Not. Feel. Good. He laid on the sofa all day and slept or watched TV. It was perfect! We were able to sit out on the deck and play on the beach while he rested. I was thanking God that we weren't at Disneyland....where this would put a major damper on the fun factor.

The next day Mr. P was well and then whammo it hit Tuba. Poor guy. Big fever and no appetite (any time Tuba won't eat we know he's getting sick). He laid in a deck chair all day and rested. We neglected to sunblock his face and unfortunately he got a sunburn on one side of his face.

Later that same day Sis was running around playing and then suddenly stopped...held her head...and whimpered that she had a head ache. I felt her head and sure enough it was burning up. I gave her some Motrin and sat down with her to cuddle. It was lovely. She snuggled into me and sat for a good long hour. Then BANG, fever was down and off she went playing again at warp speed.

 

 

 

More Vacation

Let's have more vacation. My cold is horrible. I had to go to Costco today and my eyes were all watery, nose all red. All my mascara was running onto my face, and I sneezed about a million times....some of which caused me to try not to pee. Pretty huh? Misery loves company and I had a sick Baby George along for the shopping trip. He's not super sick but his nose is doing the faucet thing. Despite our colds we had a fabulous time together. He's such good company!

On to vacation now.

This picture just cracks me up. The beach house had two little toddler chairs. We drug them down to the beach for Sis and BG. But, Tuba plopped down right in it. It was a tight fit but he didn't mind. We spend a lot of time just looking at the ocean and listening to the waves rolling in. So peaceful.

 

 

A ton of time is spent combing the beach for sticks.

 

 

But don't call it a stick because you will be corrected. They are guns, bazookas, grenade launchers....

 

 

Lots of snuggle time too. I love to sit in the sun and cuddle my babies.

 

 

Lots of laughter and tickling and more kissing.

 

 

I always make the family get together for a group shot. This one isn't the best. I look plump, BG's face is hilarious, Mr. P is washed out and Cam looks un-enthused. The best is saved for our Christmas card. :)

 

 

The boys also sneak in a little game time on mom's phone.

 

 

Okay....more tomorrow. I have so many pics and it's hard to limit them. Why even try? I'm off to blow my nose and have some more Motrin now. Soup and bread for dinner.

 

One more thing. This has been nagging at me. Should the description of the picture come before the photo or after? Which do you prefer? Leave it in the comments.

 

Vacation Review

I'm sitting here today with a terrible cold! Ugh! Those back to school germs have caught up with us already. Five of the seven of us have sneezy, runny nose, cough, ick!

So, it seems like a good time to post about our wonderful vacation to the ocean. Maybe I'll feel some of the calm return to me. Calm is healing....right?

We love the Oregon coast and really missed not going last summer (new house trumped it). This year we rented a house we have never stayed in before. We LOVED it to say the least. Our requirements for a beach rental are the following: Right on the beach, nice beach access, on our favorite beach Rockaway Beach, after that we require beds, a kitchen and a washer/dryer. This house had all of that and the bonus was an amazing deck that sat at the perfect height to look at the beach and ocean. AMAZING deck...and Adirondack chairs....and picnic table....oh, the view!

 

We had great weather the whole week. Sun and very little wind! My favorite.

 

 

Awesome deck! We will be staying at this house again.

 

In the morning we would sit outside and drink tea. So fun!

 

 

And play on the beach.

 

 And play with Kali....she LOVES the beach too!

 

And play on the beach in our pj's...well, it is vacation!

 

 

And enjoy the view with a brother.

 

 

And have some great up close and personal time with each other.

 

 

Basically our vacation to the beach is the most relaxing time you can imagine. We put our feet up and enjoy each other's company. I don't cook either. Bonus! We stock the fridge with snack foods...and plenty of junk food that the kids only get on vacation.

 

More pics to come.....

 

 

 

 

First Day of School

I'm so behind in my posts but I feel the need to get the back to school photos up. Our vacation actually happened before school started but this post is shorter so it will have to go first.

Everyone is very happy to be back at school!

Tuba started his junior year of high school. He was ecstatic when the bus pulled up.

Mr. P is now in 3rd grade and Busy Guy is happily attending school all day now as a big 1st grader. They come home very tired but so happy. Learning is hard work!

Sis and baby brother both started preschool this week. They are in separate classes this year. Sis is in the pre-K program and George is in the preschool age 4 group. They are going four mornings a week!! Did you just hear my heels click together! I'm enjoying some of that quiet time I needed. I do miss them too. That absence making the heart grow fonder is really true. My heart aches for them and I'm so happy to have them back in my arms at the end of the three hours.

My driving routine is so nice this year. Especially when I consider that THIS is what it used to be like. Yikes!!

I get Tuba on the bus at 6:45
Leave house at 8:35 with the rest of the gang.
Drop two at preschool at 8:45.
Drop the other two at school at 9:00.
Pick up at preschool at 11:45.
That's it. Tuba comes home at 2:10 and bus brings him to our house. Other boys ride bus home and walk a couple blocks to our house! Yeah!!
 

Loosin' It

Busy Guy has patiently waited to lose a tooth. Well, a tooth other than this one. He was one of the only kids in Kindergarten that did not lose a tooth.

Finally this summer....a wiggly tooth. On the first day of school he came home with it hanging. He had a LONG day at school and was tired. His tooth was making it hard to eat. We tried to get him to yank it, tie it to the dog....to a door....to mom. But, no. He would have none of that.

But, a couple hours later out popped the tooth! Oh NO! That was my first thought. If you don't know about our lame tooth fairy you can read about her HERE. She's not so great.

She's made LOTS of mistakes along the way. The first child in this family didn't care at all about getting something from the tooth fairy. Personally, I kind of like it that way. But, when child number two started losing teeth the tooth fairy got very fancy and went WAY overboard. She also felt sorry for the younger brother and brought him a gift too. Yes, that's right I said GIFT! Not a few coins or a couple of dollars but gifts like Lego's or action figures. Very cool gifts. Very expensive and hard to come by at 9:00 pm gifts!

Then the tooth fairy realized the stupid mistake she had made. This was realized around the same time that the children began writing notes for the tooth fairy telling her what they would like. Huh? I'm sorry to say that this is true. But, that smart tooth fairy she wrote them back a note and told them that she was shaking things up and no longer leaving gifts. She also had to break the bad news that no more siblings gifts would be given either. You see, the tooth fairy realized that there were now five kids in our family....you get her point.

So I was a bit shocked when BG lost his tooth the other day and quickly sat down to draft his request letter to the tooth fairy. The memory on that kid is insane! He was disgruntled but ended up leaving his tooth in a glass of water (something our sitter taught the kids) on the kitchen counter (my rule since the tooth fairy shouldn't have to remember to do something that isn't in plain sight).

In the morning he was (sort of) happy to receive $3.00. He's been carrying it around the house with him...just in case he finds something for sale. I'm sure the dollars will be more exciting when he gets to spend them.....on candy to rot his teeth or a plastic piece of junk that will break in two minutes. I'm kind of cynical about the whole tooth fairy thing.

I did however just read a great idea! On Dalai Mama's blog a friend left a comment saying that it is an Ethiopian custom to throw the tooth up onto the roof and make a wish. Genius!! I love it and will be doing this with the next tooth that comes out.....even if the tooth fairy also leaves $3.00.

My office

This lovely photo is from our recent vacation. Beautiful. Really just picture fluff for this post. But, if I could have this deck and view for an office I would be thrilled!

I'm home alone...right now...as I type! The house is blissfully quiet. The dog is cuddled up next to me. I'm eating dark chocolate. Happy times.

It's a very rare occurrence that I am ever home....alone. In the year we have lived here I have spent less than 5 HOURS home alone. Yep.

Tonight Cam took the troop over to a friend's house for a bonfire and smores. Not even a delicious smore cooked over a fire could tempt me. You see, I realized that if I didn't go with them....I could be home alone. Genius!

After spending a very fun, very busy, jam packed summer home with the kids I have been needing (ie: eye twitching, nerves jumping, fantasizing about a quiet office with my name on the door) some alone time.

Yes, yes, school is back in. Glorious school! The savior of my sanity! Seriously! I love my kids and I love being a stay home mom. BUT, in 8 weeks I left the house ALONE only a handful of times. I am in need of some alone time.

I've been thinking how I should have done things differently. When my kids were babies I should NEVER have taken them in the bathroom with me. EVER. Listen up all you newbie mamas! Do not let them cross the threshold. EVER. Also, maybe the laundry room could be just mine....no entrance allowed. I could go in there and regroup, breath, fold laundry and meditate. If I had started this when my kids were babes then I would have at least two places to go in my house when I needed to be alone.

As it is now I constantly have kids coming in the bathroom while I'm showering (you can't see through the curtain) or using the toilet. One large problem is our bathroom off our bedroom has no lock on the door. Its a pocket door...with no lock. How inconvenient. My big kids know not to come into my bedroom with knocking. But, instead they have taken to yelling, "MOM, are you naked?". Seriously. Sometimes I say yes just so they will go back downstairs. That can be our little secret.

Also, anywhere I go in the house I have a group of followers. I can settle in any room to work, read, clean, you name it and within a few minutes I'll be joined by kids. It's nice to be loved but, MAN I could use a wee bit of quiet time. If I could just get 5 minutes of quiet I could clear my head. I'd be a better mom! Do you hear that? 5 minutes!!!

And let's talk about when I need to make a phone call! I know all the parents out there are shaking their head in agreement. It's impossible to talk on the phone without kids talking to me, yelling at each other, starting WWIII.....etc., etc., etc.! I have actually checked my kids into to daycare at the gym and then gone out to the lobby to make phone calls. Yes indeed....I have also sat in said lobby drinking coffee and surfing the net. It's the closest I can get to a quiet office.

So, alas here I sit in my cushy bed in total peace and quiet. Watched the sun set over the water. Lovely. Much needed.