Pack-Up Tips - Road Trip Bags

So you've decided to bite the bullet and travel. Congrats! I, of course, am very excited for you and your kids as you go experience something different and new. I am also, however, keenly aware of the harrowing task that lay before you. No, I'm not talking about navigation, car sickness, or license plate games. I'm talking about packing.

We have taken many road trips with little kids of varying lengths and vehicle crowding, and there are a few consistent strategies to set you up for success. Or at least to take the edge off the imminent complaining.

First, start now.  Leaving in a few weeks? Great, start your travel bag prep. Which brings me to the best car ride strategy - Car Travel Packs. Each child needs to reach and manage some activities independently. So where should it be securely placed? A few options:
     1) A seat-back hanging organizer -  I love this idea for the kid right behind the driver in our big van. The series of small pockets keep their little treasures safe and *possibly* organized. All easy to reach and it's completely in his control, which is soothing to the Young General. A downside is that Young General has feet at the end of his growing legs, which have the habit of getting tangled in this hanging organizer. It takes a little attention and patience as they navigate those wiggling appendages.
     2) Book Bags - Sunshine (9) and Sass (10) are both old enough to be packing their own activity bags, after years of practice and experience, so they each have a book bag in which to stow their contraband. Upside: they are doing it mostly themselves and they are mostly bringing books which fit really well. In a book bag. Shocking. Downside: They are very hard for younger kids to manage. Younger kids can not see what's in there so they pull EVERYTHING out at once to look through before they decide what to use first and the rest of the supplies get lost making the kids cry and then float around your van until they are crushed forever changing the texture of your floor. *ahem* Lessons from experience.
     3) Basket/Bin - After much experimenting this method is my favorite for the toddler through young school-age traveler. Wide and secure and not too deep. Little young hands can flip through their treasures excitedly without emptying the darn thing, everything can *theoretically* be seen and dropped back in. Put one in between carseats for 2 siblings to share, which is especially helpful if One sibling can read to another and/or they enjoy similar activities. The downside is that it takes up valuable real estate if seat belts are already at a premium in your vehicle. If you can swing it, though, it makes all the difference. It probably saved my life on the 23 hr drive to New Orleans, for example.

So now secure your receptacles someplace where those darling little sticky fingers CAN NOT TOUCH until they are buckled in the car. I have a no-peek policy for about 2 weeks leading up to a big trip; this serves to both build anticipation and ensure that the treasures I'm collecting STAY PUT!

And what shall I put in the bags that I hide?

0-1: Your diaper bag at your feet since you're probably going to end up next to the little one anyway. Or in your diaper bag next to Big Sibling who will be highly motivated to keep Baby from crying for 6 hours. Teethers, bright shiny objects that jingle, and a softie. Don't overthink it.
1-2: TRICKY! Anything manipulative that they can not choke on -  Squishy moving toys, Small handles so they can hold it themselves but nothing that breaks apart. Small board books

TTT Europe - Setting expectations VS being Flexible

A friend who was in the middle of an extraordinary road trip across parts of Europe lamented that her kids were *shocked* each day when there was something else to go see and do.  Happily absorbing all of her wisdom I decided that we would talk to the kids ahead of time explaining a few of the expectations for our trip. Activities! Routines! Time rushes! Time zones!  Melatonin! Sleeping on the plane! etc etc etc.  I wanted the kids to feel a part of the planning but also to know that we were expecting them to follow along with our planning, too. I knew, of course, that this was not an "automatic fix" but rather just one more little way to tip the scales of willing participation in our favor.

We arrived in NYC on a cold and windy Halloween day, ready to burn energy before our red-eye flight. Adventure Awaits! Dropped our van, picked up rental van! Children's Museum! Park! Picnic! Jumping Jacks! Our Adventure! Walking through the city streets! Mass at St. Patrick's! Coffee! Dropped off our rental van and hauled our circus to the shuttle to the airport! Counting bags and kids the whole way, of course, each kid knowing their job! Expectations of Adventure!

Bursting with excitement and anticipation  we bustled into the airport and right into the check-in line and... the flight was cancelled. CANCELLED. The Flight. Was. Cancelled.

Y'all, I almost cried. I looked at our larger-than-average crew with corresponding baggage and those excited little faces and my heart just sank. Disguising the monumental effort this took, I threw a smile on my face, and said, "Well! Now we have an UNEXPECTED adventure!" I looked my 10-year-old-Control-Planner eldest in the eyes and opened my heart to her. I explained that this is less-than-ideal, that I was of course disappointed, as was EVERYONE there. But we had a choice - how would we respond? We can not change what happened. We can not control the change to our plans. What can we control? Ourselves. We still get to choose our attitude. So we both took a deep breath, said a little prayer, and turned to the others with smiles on our faces. She exclaims "Guys!  We did plan an adventure, but now we have a Surprise Adventure!" Daughter #2, my  Reliably Cheerful Girl turned it into a game and that sad row of airport chairs became Entertainment Central for 5 Bouncy Adventuring Kids as we awaited hotel confirmation and called our Oxford-living friends to let them know we would be a day behind.

And so we have here the lesson in NOT being in control. Travel takes planning and preparation and details, but travel also means being flexible and spontaneous. The world is bigger than we are. Life is full of surprises and mistakes and baggage cars driving into parked planes. The question is NOT "Will anything go wrong?" but rather "How will I handle it WHEN it does?"

I spend a lot of time planning and preparing and organizing for our adventures.  I have lists and systems and lots of mistakes from which to learn. Of course I will continue to do so, as it makes a huge difference in the ease of travel. But taking on adventure means embracing the unexpected, too. Many years ago when travel meant a backpack and a few days off from work the details weren't as important. But reflecting on that "easy" travel time I had not yet learned what it truly meant to be flexible. Oh sure, I dealt with delayed flights and walking to hotels, broken vehicles and remember collect calls from a payphone to your parents for a ride? Travelling with my Travelling Tramma Troop has changed the way I embrace the surprise. It is my example that teaches all these little Adventurers how to handle it; how I respond is how they will.

Our comedy of errors did not end there, either. The following night we arrived for our rescheduled flight, set to depart at 1:30 AM - 1:30 IN THE MORNING!  The gate was packed with nary a seat in view. As it turned out the flight previous to ours was delayed, which meant OURS was delayed, too. We finally boarded at 2:30 AM. Our people and bags and stroller and crutches were all spread out on the floor of the airport until 2:30 IN the MORNING.

Being able to laugh at life and alter your plans keeps travel enjoyable. We can not control life, but we can control our response to it. So we laughed our way to a free hotel stay with terrible food and an extra day in NYC.  Please let me clarify that is was not all easy, all fun and games. Of course we were disappointed, and would much rather have had the day in England with friends. I don't mean to paint a picture of a Miss Merry Sunshine Traveler. Rather, I want others, especially my kids, to know that when "Surprises" arise we have the control over our attitude. We can choose to let the unexpected ruin our trip or we can rename it "An Unexpected Adventure!"

TTT Europe - packing

"There and back again" as Tolkien would say.  We have returned from our first family overseas adventure! It is the morning after, with its equal quantities of laundry and coffee. This is a rough transition day as kids adjust to the time zone and adults are working on far less-than-adequate sleep, and yet we are still smiling! That's just how momentous this trip was!

Writing about the preparation for a trip is essential drudgery. Drudgery because we have myriad other more exciting stories to tell and the logistics of suitcases does not make the list of interest at this point. However, it is essential to work through the practical preparations so that I and others can learn from this AND to encourage anyone else contemplating an adventure that YES! You CAN do it!

First, a word about weather - you can't predict 100%, so stop pretending. Layers, y'all. Short sleeve, long sleeve, sweatshirt/sweater, windbreaker. Leggings can go under jeans for the Chilly Girl, and Miss Summertime wore her skirt and kept her jacket tied around her waist for most of the trip.  November is rainy season in Roma, and it's always Rainy Season in England, so windbreakers with hoods served as perfect rain gear. We did have one umbrella which was left at home on the one day it poured, of course. 

In preparation for the trip I became obsessed with the kids' feet;as in, what about their shoes?! Ironically, we had 2 pair of shoes fall apart in the course of our trip and had to buy a new pair. So much for breaking them in and trying them out. My takeaway lesson is that kids' feet are tired when they are tired but are otherwise much more forgiving than our old toes. For adults? Bring the best supportive shoes you own. At the end of the day your feet will thank you and at the end of 2 weeks they are all done thanking me. As I type this they are happily wrapped up in my slippers. 

Outfits take a healthy level of obsession in the packing process, but they are not complicated. I mentioned layers, and choose wisely. I had the kids try on each pair of pants to make sure they were favorites and comfy. No weird colors; everything had to match everything, everyday. Oh, speaking of which: If you have pre-teen girls or other children who tend to go through a lot of laundry this would be a good time to introduce them to wearing the same pair of jeans multiple times. I had NO idea this was a problem until we were packing. Oh the horror! My girls, ages 8 & 10, do most of their own laundry and thus I was regrettably unaware of just how many pairs of pants come through each load. Guys, this is travel time. Pick something you love so much you could wear it every day. Because you will. Conversely, the conversation with my boys was the opposite. Yes we DO need to pack enough clean underwear. And we'll be throwing that shirt away by the end. 

ALL CARRY-ON:

1 suitcase for the middle boys to share

1 Suitcase for girl + disposable room

1 suitcase for girl + toddler's clothes

1 for Mama and 

1 for Daddy

1 for diapers, shoes, and Toddler's pillow in case he wouldn't sleep

1 for Gram

BACKPACKS:

Mine was my camera case and diaper back combined, and ain't nobody messing with that. It was perfect.

Daddy-Man can carry anything, so he did. Souvenirs, jackets, umbrella, water, whatever. 

The 4 big kids each carried their own size-appropriate with their own jacket, water bottle, sunglasses, pencils/crayons, notebook. They were light and spacious because once they carried them they were stuck. I was not going to accumulate heavy backpacks in the middle of the day. 

The Lessons:

The suitcases were all carry-on because we couldn't check bags. We paid for 8 seats, so we could claim the baggage space! This of course has downsides, mostly the spectacle and chaos of making it through the airports/trains/shuttles. However, it was more than enough room for everything we needed, so I don't regret it for a second.  Which begs the mention that yes, this was more room than we "needed" but I chose extra room intentionally. I am not a big souvenir person, but I made the conscious decision that I would say yes to the kids when they found something special. We had room for their special finds without going overweight on anything. We could easily have condensed our space if desired. 

Carseats are a necessary evil of car travel with your children, like it or not. We have never used them on the plane, or taxis, or buses... but or the first week of our adventure we had a van. That meant we hauled them around otherwise, but had no opportunity to check them or send them home. It just was what it was. But MAN! what a pain. 

SNACKS EVERYWHERE. At home snacks are reserved for very active days and weird schedules. But on the road they were with us at all times. The moment someone started complaining we put a granola bar in their mouth. This serves 2 purposes of course; food solves a lot of grumpy attitudes, and if they are chewing they can't whine. A double-win! And Toddler didn't eat much, as seems to be pretty normal for his age in a new environment, so snacks bought us a lot of happiness and perseverance. 

I'll probably think of more as I go along so I might come back and edit this post later. For now, however, my brain is done. Time to slather some peanut butter on crackers and shoo the I'm-Not-Tired! kiddos into a siesta. There's no need to abandon our European traditions ;-)

Bella Marie, Updated

Bella: Age 9, going on 15.  Being the oldest makes her The Pioneer: forging her way through the jungle of growing up, crossing the expansive wilderness of her parents' inexperience with her current age.  Personality, temperment, birth order, family life all collide in this exciting and sometimes explosive package.

 But here's the thing about this girl - She Loves Deeply.  She feels and thinks and loves in the depth of her soul.  She is fiercely independent... and wants to be tucked in a night.  She writes angry letters when she's hurt... and soul-cleansing apologies afterward. Her words are fiery and biting... or affirmative and consoling. There is nothing lukewarm about my Bella. I can be certain about that.

Another thing about her, is that she thrives on being in charge.  Not just steps up, but THRIVES.  The gleam in her eyes, the confidence of speech, it's there just waiting to be tapped. In that role she is a fantastic teacher of littles, leader of games, coordinator of rules.  Most of her outbursts could be traces to a feeling of loss of control and feeling overwhelmed; however, the best antidote is to put her back in control of something.  Like helping a sibling or deciding a schedule. Or cooking. I tell her regularly that I think she will serve God is great ways... if she continues to stop and LISTEN.  Thankfully her prayer life is strong, her desire for Christ runs deep.  Yes, this girl will do great things for the Kingdom... as long as no one tells her no.

Ordinary Time - the Time Between

I need Ordinary Time.

I don't really like it, honestly.  I hate taking down the Christmas decos and the cessation of endless carol singalongs. There are no twinkling lights to break the darkness of a cold winter night, and I'm out of excuses to bake endless trays of goodies under the pretext of sharing. The first week of liturgical green leaves me feeling... bored. Already.

But this is the way life goes. This is the way life is SUPPOSED to go, with fasts and feasts, penance and rejoicing.  But the time in-between? What of this time in between?

This is when we have to live out what we have learned in our fasting and celebrated in our feasting. I need the normalcy of the day-to-day to practice my vocation in the mundane and allow Him to turn it into greatness.  The same old boring hymns, the routine of our school day, the fussing over chores and the uninspired healthy meal planning is when I have to listen the hardest. Perhaps this ordinary life in Ordinary Time is the Stillness. The reliable structure that should challenge my soul to grow.  When the festive trees and bright poinsettias have left the church we are left with - The Tabernacle. Just Him. He shines in the Ordinary.

God asks great things of mothers, but He offers great graces. We see them overflowing in the miracles, the celebrations, and times of great trial and suffering.  We Pray to see them, at least.  We pray to be open to them.  But it is hardest to see them in the Ordinary. We need Ordinary Time to refocus, to open ourselves to the Greatness of He who is in the mundane day-to-day. He is not contained to the  celebrations.

If the Eternal God of the Universe chose to humble Himself to partake in an ordinary family in an ordinary world, perhaps I can humble myself to an ordinary life in Ordinary Time.

Food, of course

We really love food around here. I mean, more than just the love of eating, we love FLAVOR. So we cook a lot.  It's isn't always something exotic or grand, but it is always tasty. Lately we've been working on low and slow carb-ing it, so our quest for great taste has been particularly..desperate. I mean, determined! Yeah.

So in the interest of blogging about something that does not require me to fight with the camera card, here are a few of our latest favorite meals.

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Beef Bourguignon.

Just do it. This stew is SO amazingly rich and delicious in a way-too-good-to-be-allowed-on-the-diet sort of way. It is NOT gluten free, but it did fit a low carb high protein profile.

~

Smashed cauliflower with coconut milk. A pinch of cinnamon and a tablespoon of crushed cashews seal the deal in this Surprised-the-heck-out-of-me dish .I HATE cauliflower.... except for this. Just so we're clear on the level of surprise.  My husband made me promise to make this at least once a week. Last week we had it twice.

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Meatloaf.  booooriiiinnnggg.Stuffed Peppers, BETTER! And if you jam pack lean meat with fresh chopped spinach, grated carrots, onion, garlic (duh), canned (but drained) tomatoes, and some seasoning then then it is transformed from YAWN to YUM in 30 minutes bake time. I used some no carb BBQ sauce in it, too. My kids LOVE this dish.

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Mussels. So cheap! Who knew? Around here they are about $4/lb. Steam in white wine and, garlic, red onion and chopped tomatoes. Or steam in red curry paste, red onion, and coconut milk. Serve on the side of pretty much anything. So far a hit for most. My only problem with these is that the broth just begs for some bread to sop it up. 

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Thai Pumpkin Soup. It gets even better the next day. 

~

Have I bored you yet? I am getting hungry just typing it all out, so I'll stop here. Time to go defrost the chicken for tomorrow's Chicken Taco Chili!

Lucky? Me?

!!!!!I WON HALLIE'S GIVEAWAY!!!!!!

Please don't think I'm gloating; I really don't mean to. It's just that I feel the need to shout it from the rooftops because I hardly ever win anything, let alone anything this truly awesome. I am SO excited!!!!

Here's my problem, yall:

I have no idea what to pick!!!  Shabby Apple has so many darling, classy, delightful dresses that I simply don't know where to start! I sure could use some good advice, if anyone's up for it. Feel free to tell me your absolute favorite. I am truly hopeless in the fashion department. And when I say "hopeless" I mean I've seen my wardrobe on the before section of "what not to wear."

 Disclaimer, though: my shape could be described as "pear", but this "pear" has had 4 babies in 5 years, so maybe something more like a bunch of grapes. Anyone have advice?

Andrew Gabriel, 6 Months

Yikes!  I simply refuse to believe that my little teeny tiny newborn is... not such a newborn.  That whole "I blinked and he grew up" motherhood thing? Totally cliche, totally right.

So here's the synopsis, since I'm sure that's all the time I'll have while he's sleeping anyways.

The Stats: 14 lbs 4 ozs. That is pretty much the "Tramma Par" as my pediatrician calls it. He's tiny -so tiny we had an extra weight check just for fun.  The funny thing is that Bella was just a few ozs more at her 7 month weight check. I'd say that's genetics.

Sleep: say what? when?  Actually, although the past few nights have been rough, he does in fact sleep quite comfortably as long as he's within a 4 second access to the Milk Source. He's been sleeping in the cradle at the foot of the bed, but now that he pulls himself up that has to end. I'll crawl into bed and snuggle up with a good book or a good husband and the little head will pop over the top of the cradle and there's his sweet little elf face grinning at us. One day he woke up before we were in bed and we found him looking all around trying to figure out which way to face whilst he screamed.

Temperment: I actually am not quite sure. He is mostly happy, he's very playful, and very adventurous. That being said, he does get quite angry quite quickly when life is not as he thinks it should be. Volatile? geesh, just what we need around here. Raspberry blower often and thumb sucker sometimes.

Food: Sir Andrew, the Great Lover of Food!  That kid chews tiny bits of chicken like a champ, and he still doesn't have teeth. He's yet to meet a food/taste/texture he doesn't like. Particular excitement over cheerios and rice crispies.

Activity: My. Good. Heavens. The boy crawls like he's perpetually running a race. His arms and legs are moving before he touches the ground. All. The. Time.  He can get himself back to sitting, which is one of my favorite stages of babyhood. They are just so happy when the can make themselves comfy with a toy. But was he happy to stay at that stage? Nope. Darnit.

Life: We are all hopelessly head-over-heels in love with this little boy!  I say that and everyone smiles as "of course, duh" smile, but what I mean is that Andrew shines from the showers of attention. Bella makes him laugh, picks him up to bounce him, brings him age-appropriate toys (and then is shocked when he's more interested  in her pencil). Anastasia is always singing to him and making him laugh. She can make him grin in the middle of a screaming fit. Joey loves to fall down right in front of Andrew's face just to look at him and let Andrew grab at his nose. We are reveling in the joy and happiness that surrounds a baby who can't irritate them yet.

Andrew, it has been a fast 6 months with you around here. You are really good at being Baby #4 - always happiest when surrounded by activity and people! 

Quick Takes

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Sickness. Last week some nasty head cold invaded and conquered several members of the Casa di Tramma. Poor Joey, for having been a ROCKSTAR with normal sickness last year, is having the hardest time. This is the second time in just 2 months that he's been on nebulizers and steroids. The rest of those sicky munchkins are just whiny and sad, so MORE TV for EVERYONE! 

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Speaking of TV, now here is your public service announcement:  MR. ROGERS IS ON AMAZON PRIME INSTANT VIDEO!!!!  Happiness can be bought, at least in the kindergarten and under crowd.
~~~~~

So often during the week I have a bouncing braincell inspire me to write, thinking what a great Quick Take, or blog post, or just memory for our own sake I have. Just bouncing around waiting to be immortalized. And then it disappears into thin air just as quickly. I spend a lot of my prayer time throughout the day just hoping and praying that my kinds end up remembering some of these fun things we do without the help of baby books for reference.

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I just recently rediscovered our bread machine, and what a lost gem!!! As I type this the delicious smells are filling the house with their promises of the perfect dance partner for tonight's soup. The bread machine is my idea of a perfect kitchen appliance. It increases my feelings of domesticity exponentially, while feeding my overall laziness by equal proportions.

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Apples, Apples everywhere and not a moment to process. We will... WILL! be making applesauce and apple butter. What century, though, I'm not sure.

~~~~~

Best links I've read lately:

Why You Can't Read Twilight: a Letter to My Daughter
and
Books You Must Read to Your Daughter, (or How To Keep Your Daughter From Ending Up Like That Horrid Girl in Twilight

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Remember  my bragging about having the world's most perfect baby? Friends may remember how I joked that "it took me four tries to get one, though" and maybe have even been jealous of my washed and combed hair all in the same day? I recant. That darling Boy is screaming his face red while I hide upstairs leaving my husband to try to convince said Baby that said Baby DOES like to sleep for Daddy. Andrew has decided that what he really likes is to only fall asleep nursing and that he should try it again and again every hour and a half or so.

And on that note, I should go rescue him. The Daddy, of course!

Thanks for hosting even us late comers, Jen!

Well it seems I got all enthusiastic about the blogging bandwagon a little prematurely. My computer decided it was opposed to reading my SD camera card = no pictures. No pictures = no visual references for the goings-on around here. No visual reference = significant decrease in writing motivation. Because we all know that I'm just not that funny without a pictures of a naked toddler in cowboy boots.

 "Oh I could tell they were yours; they totally look related to you."

Wellll.... damn. I guess I have to stop pretending I don't know them when they're climbing backwards across the top of the playground equipment.  Last week we were at the park  (same routine, but different park!) and a lady was there with 5 LITTLES. Turns out they didn't look anything alike because she was a home-day-care lady, whose own are in school. We had a delightful friendly chat and not once did she glare at me for letting my children run and climb like feral cats. What a great day.

 Right up until we had to leave, except I was the one throwing the temper tantrum this time.  Andrew had a check-up  and shots at the pediatrician, and Daddy volunteered to take him so I could eat lunch. The real reason, though, was because the next appointment of the day was for ME at the DENTIST. It was okay, though. I used the nitrous and then self-medicated with Mudslides at home.


Meanwhile, back to today...

Within ten minutes of sitting down at the computer the older 3 had woken up from naps asking for and receiving a snack, the Baby nursed back to sleep, and fresh milk was poured and cleaned up. I really had intended to actually write a coherent, fluid post today. I wanted to write about the beautiful challenging life with Bella the  Attentive Kindergartener, Anastasia the Spritely Preschooler, Joey the Impish Toddler, and Andrew the Smiley Babe. But not today. Today I'm busy being mom, and haven't figured out a way to BE that and WRITE about it at the same time.

Hello?

Hello? Hello? Anyone home? 

I think I'm coming back. I miss writing in my little corner of the blogosphere. I also miss watching for comments, and connecting with other people across the net. I think of a hundred things about which to write every week, but the actual sitting down time is just not happening around here lately.

See, I have FOUR KIDS now, and while that's not many for some families, the number 4 seems to have caught us quite off guard.  Oh don't get me wrong, he's PERFECT in every way.  I think just the adjustment to 4 has been different then we expected, and so it took a little longer to pick my head up this time.

Before Andrew was born we used to joke that after Joey this baby would be easy!  "We'll take colic if all major organs are intact!" With this perspective, having Andrew has been easy. We are all together, and he's almost 5 months and his heart hasn't stopped once! YAY! :)  It's just the normal transition of having another baby is taking longer.  So we'll be patient  - with ourselves and those around us. We're learning about the new family dynamic right within our own home, which has been wonderful and challenging, and the new dynamic with those around us as well.

And I have SO much to write about!  Homeschooling! Cooking! Finding my living room floor! Becoming a Lay Carmelite! Chasing that toddler BOY! What I do with all my spare time! How delusional I am! 

So if there's anyone still visiting this humble little corner, stop in and say hello. I'm here. Really.

Celebrating to the Max!

Today is my birthday, and to celebrate I'm going to clean my bathroom and change my sheets. 

I could say something insightful about how I was born to fulfill my vocation of serving others in the mundane...

But really, my mom gave me some new luxurious bath stuff and I plan on indulging this evening. 

Snuggles!

Everyone wants a piece of this baby.  He's just that cute.

"Mama, can I hold Andrew Gabriel?" ... "Again?"

"Mama, I'll sing to him and give him his pacer!"

 "MY BABY!"  (have to watch that older brother. We play a lot of defense to Joey's attempts to play ball with his new little brother.)

Introducing!

Well look who finally showed up!  The Latest Model seems to have inherited Mama's sense of timing, since he arrived a week LATE!  But arrive he did, which ultimately is the important part. 

And our lives are better now. More complete. A hole that we didn't even know existed has been filled with joy and wonderment. He is perfect.

         He is Andrew Gabriel.

38 Weeks

38 Weeks means that in a very short time we will meet the Latest Model. In just approximately 2 weeks we will hold, snuggle, sniff, and cuddle a precious newborn.

38 weeks ALSO means:

~ Anything that falls below waist-level ceases to exist. It is off my radar. Please watch your toes walking across my floor; I have no idea what's there until I step on it. Unfortunately for them, my kids are short and also fall into this category. *oops I knocked them over again!*

~ I have reached an unprecedented level of insanity. I broke down and cried when Patrick announced he needed to mow the lawn. I may or may not have flipped out trying to defend my sanity about wanting the house to be at least slightly ordered. *ironic*

~ I. Want. Wine. ...and a rum and coke. ...and a big-a$$ margarita. Not all at once.

~ My girls are running around in ballerina dresses and winter boots, and it doesn't even phase me, even in public.

~ I am starting to get nervous about the fact we haven't picked out names. We have our list of preferences, but have not settled on a good first/middle combination. It is starting to keep me up at night, even though this dilemma NEVER has before.

~I have trouble completing sentences or thoughts. Hence the no-blogging.

~ This lent has been rather quite fruitful, despite myself. I chose the "since I'm not giving up any sort of food while pregnant then I guess I'll just commit to more prayer time and let God hand me sacrifices throughout the day." Warning: it can be very dangerous to give God permission to work so openly. My will has experienced a good overhaul, my prayer-life is refocused, and I have had LOTS of redemptive suffering opportunities. I should write more about this, because it has been really a beautiful time of detachment. (I probably won't, though - see above.)

~ Gram arrives NEXT WEEK!!! The girls are over-the-moon excited! This Mama is over-the-moon excited, too. We LOVE her visits. In fact, every time they talk about Baby it is tied closely to Gram's arrival. I'm not sure about which they're more excited.

~ I have been confirmed in my previous statement that my personal super-power is gestating for 40 weeks. Went to the doc yesterday and everything looks great, but there is no early labor in my sight. I am blessed that my body has the right baking-time for growing kids, but it is this point where I wonder wwhhhhyyyyyyy??????? can't I be done????

~ On the other hand, I have a to-do list for BEFORE baby. This never works out in my favor, but I make them and cry over them anyways. Pray for my husband!

~ Finally, 38 weeks also means that I sure could use some prayers. We are SO happy and excited, and every mom knows there are nerves and emotions that are WAY out of control at this point. I pray for peace of mind and heart, to make a little extra room for a newborn, and to get maybe just a little bit extra sleep.

Snowbunnies

We have been ready for months. Waiting, watching, and wanting - but to no avail. It seems that the seasonal facts to the toddler and preschooler were getting complicated. Yes, it was still winter even though we didn't need jackets. Really, I promise.

And then what a glorious surprise! Bundling up quickly, so so desperate to just get to that wonderland finally outside our front door.

Bella was first to burst through the front door and immediately set to work. She is so focused, barely taking her eyes off enough to giggle. And when her brother broke onto the scene and saw a tower to knock down? Giggle she did!





















Anastasia is quite the little imp; one minute she is dancing around and taking tastes of the cold wet fluffiness, and the next moment she is trying her best to launch a snowball at her Daddy.





















This was Joey's snow-debut, and it did not disappoint! Adorable snowsuit that kept his hands warm even without gloves? Perfect and useful. Him rolling around on his back unable to stand, saying "UP!" repeatedly? Priceless.























After running and rolling and building a bigger snowman,




the girls were not even ready for hot chocolate, instead opting to go sledding with Daddy and some neighbors, which left Joey and I to snuggle and warm up by ourselves.

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

Oh blessed slumber, oh heavenly rest. How long you did elude him! How long you escaped our grasps! But not anymore. No friends, the little prince is finally sleeping WELL in his OWN BED! All Night! (*Of course, he is a toddler who's sleep is subject to change with every sneeze or cough, at any moment without warning for an indeterminate amount of time.*)

Joey loved our bed a lot, but he did not like to be crowded. Actually, I'm not sure how much he liked having us in our bed. It was time for him to learn how great his crib truly is! Not only did it go rather quickly, but it has been a while and he doesn't even fuss at bedtime. Oh glorious mornings! With my little boy greeting me happily and well-rested around 7am, everyone in the house is thrilled to see the sun.

The best part of course is how he established his OWN routine. After months of trying to introduce a "lovey" for comfort and him not showing any interest, he has chosen a stuffed dolphin he received at Christmas. After months of rocking and singing he has decided he no longer really needs the songs. What he does love to have is his Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer pillowcase, and anything with Frosty on it. He lays down on his side pointing and snuggling his 2 buddies. In the morning he tries to hand me everything in his crib, and I am unable to oblige and carry him at the same time! One morning Daddy carried everything down with Joey to discover that Joey expected Daddy to snuggle him with all of it!

I just adore how much he loves to snuggle during the day. It's always in brief, fleeting moments, and he rarely tolerates me interrupting his games, but it's soft and cozy and very, very lovely. And now that I get my own space at night I can soak it up joyfully during the day!

Art Day

We call it Multi-medium Art Experience.

This is the first time The Boy has shown any interest at all in coloring/paint. He really got into it, asking for specific different colors (with points and "yes/no") and thoroughly enjoying the dot paints!

While most of our art days are pretty free-form and self-directed, I do sometimes offer pre-prepared projects or directed activities. This time I prepared shapes for scissor practice. Both girls loves scissors, but Bella is ready for a little challenge to build her precision. She loved it! Each of the 3 papers introduced a slightly bigger challenge - the shapes got smaller, and then a few more complicated.

Note that Bella, in the background, is using left-handed scissors. An absolute must for my little lefty, and a big thanks to her Gram for sending them!We love art around here. All mediums, all formats, as often as possible!

Someone's Little Curl

For the rest of the story and more pictures, check out Joey's Blog. I am much more emotional and overly-dramatic about this hair cut over there.

Quick Takes

For the first time in a long time I actually remembered it was Friday!

1.

I have been watching WAY too much HGTV lately. I walk through my house narrating the design styles in each room. "Clutter, with a sense of lived-in comfort." "Attempted to take on influence of global travel with positive results in the mis-matched aspects." "A distinct 'hand-me-down and thrift store' aura, with bright splashes of random colors."
I love color, and I love design, and so many of those shows leave me wanting to pick a theme for certain rooms in my home. How to get there from here? I have no idea!



2.

Curious, restless, with a few minutes to spare/procrastinate? Try www.findyourspot.com for some fun! We live in MD, along with all of my brothers, their families, and our parents. What ideal place does this quiz have for me? Upper Rocky Mountains. Plenty of snow, lots of outdoor activities, lakes, and open sky! LOVE it! Not that we're moving, of course, but the open air definitely calls my name. Other top spots for me included Southern Blue Ridge mountains. I want more snow than that, but the Southern mountain air always does a body good, too and that's probably more my kind of outdoors - as in, warmer than freezing for the greater part of the year.

3.

I have a cold, Joey has a cold, Anastasia has croup, Daddy has a cold.Multiple children coughing and wheezing all night. Can I start feeling sorry for myself or do I have to wait until someone throws up?


4.

As I type I am staring at our Christmas tree, willing it to clean itself up. There is a great sense of cleanliness, refreshment, and openness that comes immediately after putting away all of the Christmas decor. The actual act of putting it away is a painstaking task, which is why our tree ornaments hang there mocking my tired, lazy self.

5.

Speaking of a tired, lazy self - 26 weeks down, 14 more to go! Wednesday was my *second* ultrasound, since the images from the first disappeared before the doc wrote his report. While another hour scan was not tops of my excitement list, it was pretty neat to see the drastic changes in Baby since my last scan. SO so active, with big cheeks already! We're pretty excited!

6.

Best music my husband bought me this year: Colin Raye's His Love Remains. I have always loved his voice and this collection of songs is mostly old school and heartfelt hymns.
The weirdest music my husband bought me this year: Bella Fleck and the Flecktones Christmas album. Odd, but he does have to work around my already expansive and eclectic Christmas music selection. It did kind of grow on me, in a thank-goodness-I-can-shuffle-this-whole-playlist sort of way. Musically, it's pretty cool.

7.

I think we finally have a great laundry "schedule" figured out. 3 times/week, and EVERY single load I do contains underwear. Jeans? yup. Towels? yup. I just can't risk it. If the day turns crazy and I only get one load all the way through the dryer and put away, at least I can be guaranteed that there are a few pairs of little girls' panties to carry through the next few days. I know you're laughing at the simplicity and mind-numbingly elementary truth in this, but in my world, this is a major accomplishment. In other news, I will have a New Baby in just 3 short months and this schedule will not matter one bit.

Your weekend will be that much better if you stop on over at Jen's for more Quick Takes!