Weekday Mornings

Many of you know that I am a morning person. I love being the only one up and curling up in a chair with a cup of coffee and a book. I love listening to the birds and hearing the neighborhood and house wake up.  I love having time to linger over my breakfast before work.

And then the kids get up.

My morning quickly goes from peaceful to stressful as the questions come at me in rapid fire. "Can I wear short sleeves? How come he gets to wear short sleeves and I have to wear long sleeves? Can ou get the toaster out? Can you help me spread my Nutella? I can't reach a cup! Can I have two Pop-Tarts?" And that is on a day when they aren't fighting.

Add in the fact that Wesley does not stop talking from the moment he gets up until he's chewing his food. Half the time he isn't even saying real words, just hyper, staccato sounds, as if being quiet for the 10 hours he sleeps is too hard on him.

And don't forget the pokey little puppy. I mean Ryan. The child who takes longer to get dressed, to make breakfast, to eat. Once he is downstairs I am constantly giving a countdown until we leave, trying to make him conscious of the minutes ticking by. And yet, I still find myself in the car when it's time to leave, waiting for Ryan to come out with his backpack unzipped and still putting his coat on.

Despite our planning (laying out clothes, packing lunches the night before) mornings become a contest of time vs my sanity with the peace I felt a short time ago shattered. But I'm trying to reclaim that early morning and weekend morning peace even on the busy days. I'm trying to take the time to pray before the boys wake up, to center myself and prepare for chaos about to descend. That doesn't mean I don't lose the battle some mornings. There are days I yell and go to work frustrated and already stressed. There are days I need that second cup of coffee like a blood transfusion, but I'm trying. 

And I know that someday, all too soon, this morning chaos will be gone and I'll wish the house wasn't so quiet.

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama.

I did not go to the drugstore and spend $15 on Russell Stover candy eggs for me and Duane with absolutely zero intent on sharing them with the kids. And I know I didn't hide them in my closet so the boys wouldn't see them.

I did not jump out of my seat at the skating rink and grab my friend so we could go dance to YMCA and completely embarrass our children. What kind of mom would do that?

I did not have to control my inner fangirl when I discovered that the dad of one of kids on Ryan's soccer team writes my favorite local food blog. And I certainly didn't have to talk myself out of cornering him just to talk about food.

I did not change my mom's ringtone on my phone and think to myself, "Oh, someone is playing my mom's favorite song," the first time I heard it ring, rather than think to answer the call. That would have been embarrassing - especially if it happened in a crowded set of dressing rooms and caused people to wonder why on Earth someone wasn't answering their phone. 

The Host With the Most

Ryan hosted his first sleepover with a friend last night. They were both so excited all week that I thought they'd burst before the sleepover actually had a chance to take place.

Two hungry first graders waiting for pizza

Got it!

Mommy and Wesley

Dinner with three kids under the age of 10? Sure, we'll call it a date night.

 

The bedtime fort the sleepover guys

Wesley tried it out first

Two sleepy first graders slept in the fort all night - from 10:30 - 7:30

Reading books in the AM

The night was a huge success! Ryan's friend is just the nicest kid and there were zero issues. I see more sleepovers in our future.

Sort of Spring

We've had a fairly typical early spring here in central Ohio - meaning that so far this week we have had an inch of snow, thunderstorms, 70 degree days and everything in between.

Last night was decent, a bit on the chilly side, but decent so the whole family went to Ryan's soccer practice. Wesley's best buddy is usually there with his little sister, so it's not a big hardship on him and Duane and I have several parent friends with kids on the team so we don't mind hanging around and chatting. Do men chat? I don't know. Women chat. 

Anyhow Wesley and his friends took some time to explore the ravine during the little siblings' soccer practice. Perfect spring activity for kids!

Look at those handsome boys!

Three little monkeys

Walk softly and carry a big stick. A really big stick.

After practice we stopped at an ice cream place to celebrate good report cards!

Ryan looks like such a big kid to me here. And a lot like his daddy.

And then we get this face in the next frame

I hope spring decides to stick around soon. I could use more days like this one.

The Best Lesson

When you are a parent you spend a lot of time second guessing yourself. Do I push too hard? Not enough? Do we sign up for specialized classes, or let them go with the flow? Is my yelling causing permanent damage to my kids' psyche? Do we do enough as a family? Do they have friends?  It's tough because even though you do the best you can, you have no idea how things will turn out in the end.

Duane and I work hard to teach the boys kindness and acceptance. We were watching tv the other night and one of the celebrities started reading mean things people had said about her online. The host of the show called the anonymous folks on social media out for cyber-bullying and Duane and I took the opportunity to talk to Wesley about it. We reminded him that when you are on Facebook or Twitter or anything on the computer, it's easy to forget that the people you are writing about are real people with real feelings. I told Wesley that my own rule is that if I wouldn't say it in front of the whole church or in front of my parents, I don't put it online. Wesley thought that was a great rule and I could hear him repeat "If you wouldn't say it at church, don't say it," but again, how much really sinks in? Can you teach kindness?  I don't know.

Last night one of the teacher's at the boys' school asked me if I had gotten a message she sent me via Facebook. I hadn't and we figured it probably went into my "other" box, so I checked it when I got home.  Sure enough, the message was there. And this is what I read:
 

"I have to tell you about Wesley this week! I changed his seat so he no longer sits near his best buddy, because they talk a little too much! Ha ha! I am just so amazed at his ability to adapt to any student and his kindness towards others. Many students are quick to judge others, but Wesley does not wear those glasses. He is sitting near a student who really needs positive attention from peers and I think he loves sharing his stories and jokes with this student and his peers at his table. I was walking a second grade student down to lunch the other day and this student was upset. Wesley was at the end of the lunch line and I asked him to tell this student some of his jokes to cheer him up and he happily did so! You have one amazing little guy and I love how he treats everyone fairly. Mrs. B.,  Y. and I always add books in to teach kindness and life lessons and Wesley already gets this."


I don't know if this is something we've taught or just how Wesley is wired, but I have to say, this note from a teacher means more to mean than any report card and any trophy he might win someday. Because in my mind, this kid is winning at what really matters.

The Good Ol' Days

Yesterday Ryan announced that he'd like to go back to Kindergarten.  Now, he likes first grade, so I was more than a little surprised to hear that he wanted to go back to Kindergarten.

"Why do you want to go back?" I asked.

"Because they get to do a whole bunch of stuff that we didn't get to do last year even though it's the same class and it's not fair!" he replied indignantly.

I'm sure the fact that he was totally in love with his Kindergarten teacher doesn't hurt either.

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama.

I did not leave at the end of a meeting, only to go back to it a few minutes later because I had a horrible feeling that the meeting wasn't actually over, and I had somehow walked out of it. And I was not incredibly relieved to discover that the people still in the room were just shooting the breeze and I was in the clear.

I certainly did not have my cranky pants on for most of last week. Even I know those are far from being my most flattering pants.

I did not spend part of a church event camped out in the youth director's office attempting to register my kids for summer camp, only to get shut out of the camp because the site kept crashing. Didn't happen.

I was not so keyed up by a night out with friends that I failed to sleep much after getting home. And I certainly didn't find myself sitting on the couch watching the Brady Bunch at 3:00 in the morning. And even if that I was true, there is no way I was disappointed that it wasn't one of the "good" episodes. 

Weekend Wrap Up

It seems now that Spring is officially here, our calendars are quickly filling up. Our weeknights are back to being stuffed with scouts, soccer, soccer, PTA, Zumba, ukulele lessons and more. And the weekends are just as busy.

Friday night the boys and I had a movie night while Duane worked on a cake for a friend of ours.

Ryan called this his "Ryan set-up" for movie watching

But it quickly morphed into this

And this is what Duane did while we watched a movie

Saturday was a bit of a whirlwind day.  We spent the morning at our church's Easter Family Fun Fest. Wesley is probably getting a little old for parts of it, but they still love the Easter egg hunt and the one at church isn't nearly as crowded or scary as the one at the local park.

Reading to pass the time until breakfast

For some reason, Wesley felt his Easter bucket would make a great hat

If big brother does it, little brother is going to do it too

Yes, he even wore it while eating

And while doing activities

Of course, in the midst of attempting to have some family fun, I was also attempting to sign the kids up for a week of summer camp at the local community center. I don't know what it's like where you live, but getting into the city run camps here is a super competitive and stressful event. I thought I was all set, but after logging on and getting kicked out of the registration process no less than six times in half an hour, I gave up. We are lucky and don't NEED the camp - it's mostly to give grandparents a break here and there, but it was still super frustrating. Lots of my friends said it took them over an hour due to the site crashing repeatedly, and even then, some of them ended up on the wait list.

We hung out at home in the afternoon (although it felt much busier than just "hanging out") and then got together with a bunch of our church friends for an adults only game night.  It was so much fun! I can barely remember when I laughed so hard!  I won't say I was very good at the games - in fact I "won" one of two Loser trophies, but it was totally worth it!

Today was equally as busy. We went to church, dropped Wesley off at choir, went to a store to find an Easter outfit for Wesley and coordinating outfits for our church portraits next week, picked Wesley up, dropped a friend and fellow choir member off at home, went to Costco to eat lunch and shop, went to Barnes and Noble so Wesley could spend a gift card, checked out a couple of stores at the mall, went to Duane's eye-appt, swung by the grocery store, put gas in the car and then came home.

I'm beat! I'm ready to go back to work to recover!

How to Drive a Librarian Mom Crazy

1) Wait until the middle of breakfast to ask where your school library book is.

2) Be unable to recall the title of said book, making it nearly impossible to find in a house full of books.

3) In the middle of the search (that has already interrupted breakfast) suddenly remember that you are supposed to chose a book to read out loud to the whole class today.

4) Be incredibly indecisive about which book you'd like to share 

5) Go back to nonchalantly eating breakfast, expecting your poor, librarian mom to deal with your newly created book crisis in the ten minutes left before everyone needs to leave for the day.

Good times

Kids Grow Up So Fast These Days

Ryan's going to need to start shaving soon! But in the meantime, he mustache you a question.

Winning Readers

Our school did a Read-a-Thon as their winter fundraiser this year. Today the top readers and the top earners for each grade were announced. Wesley and Ryan were each top earner for their grade!!!

I'm covering up the other kids' faces because I don't know that their parents want them on my blog. But since we are the "All Stars" I thought the star stickers over their faces was kind of ingenious.

That means that in addition to raising a lot of money for the PTA, each of my boys is getting a gift card to spend at Barne & Noble (Wesley) or Target (Ryan). Wesley is planning on buying an origami book and paper, and I'm sure Ryan will spend his on Legos.

On Friday we'll find out if the kids at the school read enough for their principal to pucker up and kiss her prince (shown below)

Won't they make a cute couple? Hope Mrs. B's hubby isn't the jealous sort.

Even if there is no frog kissing this time, I'm really proud of Wesley and Ryan for all their work on the Read-a-Thon.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Just a few pictures of my favorite little leprechauns on this holiday.

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama.

I did not somehow manage to turn the alarm off in my sleep, causing me to wake up twenty minutes late on a school/work day. I pride myself on being an early riser, so there is no way that could have happened.

There is no way that I willingly tried almond milk and and actually kind of liked it on my cereal, but putting it in my coffee may or may not have caused me to dump out a full cup o' joe.

I did not walk around without my wedding and engagement rings for several days while they were repaired, but even if that rather mundane thing did happen, there is no way on earth I checked my ring finger several times each day and momentarily panicked when I noticed anew that the rings weren't on my finger.

I did not absolutely dread going to mall for something when there was a time I would have thought going to the mall on a weekend was the best thing ever.

Happy Birthday, Kirk

Yesterday was my big brother's birthday. We are so lucky that our family lives nearby and we get to celebrate birthdays with them!

Aunt Cathy, Ryan, Kei and Wesley

The boys. Doesn't Sho look thrilled. He's such a teenager!

My own wild children

Wesley learned how to play the Imperial March on the ukulele as a present for Uncle Kirk.

Ryan hamming it up with Uncle Kirk

The birthday boy ready to make his wish

Wesley sampling the icing stuck on the candles

Kirk and Susan

Me and my sweet boys

I look exhausted in the picture (and I was) but I love these boys so much, I had to post it anyhow

In Great Shape

The radio station I listen to while taking the boys to school plays a game called "Beat the Toaster" every morning. In this game, the caller selects a category and tries to give a certain number of answers before the toast pops in the toaster (usually about 8-10 seconds).

Yesterday the caller had to name at least four shapes with four sides before the toast was finished.

"Square!" I immediately called out. "Rectangle! Octagon!"

Then Wesley chimed in, "Trapezoid! Rhombus!"

And suddenly, Mommy didn't feel quite so smart anymore.

That's My Boy - Take Two

The other day Ryan and I were sitting together as I was working on my tablet. I don't remember what I was trying to do, but I do know that I messed it up and said, "Oh! Dang it!"

Ryan looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "Did you just say the 'D' word, Mommy?"

I figured I'd try to keep my youngest son innocent a little longer, so I answered "Yep. I sure did. Sorry about that."

Turns out that I'm the innocent one because Ryan very casually replied, "But I thought the 'D' word was 'damn.'

That's My Boy!

Wesley's scout den is working on their whittling achievements and Wesley came home from the last meeting with his very own knife. He already has one scout knife, but this one is much cooler (in my opinion) and it has his name engraved on it.

Since I wasn't at the meeting (Duane has banned me from nearly all scout activities because of my poor attitude) I asked Wesley to show me his knife and tell me what all it does.

"Well," he said proudly while opening various parts of the knife. "Here's the screwdriver and one of the knife blades. And here are the scissors, and the can opener, and the wine opener."

"Um, that's called a corkscrew," I reminded him. 

"But that's what it's used for," he insisted. 

I have taught my child well.

A Loving Surprise

Wesley has been working very hard to learn something special for his uncle Kirk's birthday this Friday. Wesley is so determined to get it right that he was practicing before school this morning.  After several minutes, Wesley turned to me absolutely beaming and exclaimed, "I did it! I did it by memory! I know it in my heart!"

If he knows it in his heart, you know it's going to be one special birthday surprise for Uncle Kirk.

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama.

I am not so excited about the dining room furniture we purchased (to be delivered next month) that I have been showing people pictures of it as if it was a new baby.

In the span of two days, I did not have to show my child who is "gifted" in reading and math how to operate the toaster, shut down the computer correctly and cut a pat of butter off the stick. No way.

I know I didn't find Ryan working on Wesley's homework - and he certainly wasn't doing it more quickly than his big brother. Even if I did, there is no way I was both proud at Ryan's ability and a little sad that he's growing up so fast.

I did not ask one of my kids to bring me a "decaf" soda. That would have proved that I actually needed the caffeine quite badly.

I did not start to miss my dad desperately when he went on vacation for a couple of weeks and I know I didn't start itching to hear his voice when I hadn't talked to him in less than a week. That would mean that, even at 41, I am still a daddy's girl.

There is no way that two different people at two different stores complemented Duane and I on how well behaved our children were and that we "must be doing something right."