Lazy Days of Summer

We wait all winter for warm weather and sun, and when it finally comes...we are inside.  This weekend was so humid and muggy that we literally did not leave the house! We had fun relaxing and spending the weekend together but I am actually looking forward to getting dressed and applying make up tomorrow. I enjoy the kids quirkiness when they want to wear jammies or sweats all day. Ive been tucking Sloanes batman cape into his shirt for the last two days. Scarlett, decided to read the Harry Potter series this weekend. She did however let me know that her ADD (self diagnosed) acts up when she reads so she has to take lots of breaks. By "breaks" she meant times to bug and harass me for a new phone, shopping, new clothes, etc.

The real revelation that I have made this weekend is that my kids are actually very clingy. We all used to joke about my aunt Nancy because she always had her girls and a couple extras on her at all times. She would offer to pick the kids and me up and she'd show up in her little 4 door car with 5 or 6 already in it and promise we would all fit we would just have to squeeze! Well, my kids and I have quite a bit more Oster in us then I thought. I have noticed that the kids find me wherever I hide and then stick to me like a magnet. For example, this morning my wonderful husband brought home coffee and the paper. I nestled down in my favorite leather chair by the front window to enjoy the sun, drink my coffee, and read the paper in peace. Now, you might be thinking, you have six kids you know that its not really possible to have peace with all of them. Yes, that is true. I suppose my idea of peace and most peoples idea is probably different. However while sitting in that leather chair I had Sloane (2) on my lap alternating between rubbing the mole on my face and his new favorite my eyelashes. Then Stell (4) and Sage(8) want to snuggle and since I am trying to avoid playing favorites we make room for them too. I am now holding the paper up in the air on my good side (because my other eye is being rubbed to death). I remain calm for a while-until I realize how crazy my life can be at times. I start to get a little claustrophobic and iinsist everybody climb off with promises we will go watch a movie in bed as soon as I finish the paper. Aaaah finally, I take a gulp of coffee which is now cold and drooly because my kids want whatever I have, and sit back to read. At about that same moment, Soren comes in and gets on the chair with me like a 70lb dog that still thinks they are a lap dog. He starts begging me (in my ear) about his activities for the day (play with friends, not doing chores, avoid showering). At this point I am ready to lose it, I remind him to brush his teeth ASAP !

At this point I realize that my idea of a lazy day at home isnt exactly what Im going to go. So I decide to concede, take a deep breath and relax with the boys. We did have a lazy day, they all showered, cleaned, and stayed close (on) to me all day as we watched XMen, The Hulk, and Ironman. Tomorrow we will brave the humidity and definitely NOT have a lazy summer day!

Getting in Trouble????

Tonight the house was empty. Guy was working, Sage had baseball and we all left for the game...except Scarlett and Paola. I had a meeting at the house so I dropped Sky and the kids off at the game and headed home. When I got home the house was silent-it was heavenly! I didnt have much time but instantly was thinking about what I could do with my alone time. I decided to spend it sewing in my new studio (aka sun room). While I was sewing I could hear voices and thought Scarlett and Paola must be downstairs in her new room. I kept seeing odd shadows out the sunroom windows but figured it must be branches. After awhile, I realized that Scarlett and Paola were not down in her room but out on the side of the house behind the garage. My heart immediately dropped into my stomach-what were they up to? They didnt know I was home and were sneaking around the side house. I peeked out the window not sure what I would find. Had I been naive that they were still innocent little girls? Would they be into trouble like I was at that age? I finally peer through the window and to my surprise they were not smoking cigarrettes or engaged in illegal activities. They were having ANOTHER photo shoot! Thank God for instant photo gratification. Instead of looking to boys to boost self esteem these girls use photography and photo shoots as a form of entertainment and confidence. Thank you for this beautiful and vain daughter and her love of photography (or photographing herself)! May my camera continue to entertain her and keep her out of trouble!

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Stellen has his first sleepover with Ivy

Stellen is kind of a homebody. Most days he's content to be in his jammies all day. There have been many times when a friend has invited him over to play that his response has been, "No thanks". But him and Ivy play very well together and after an afternoon at the Mastrud they made plans for a sleepover. I brought his suitcase over with some of his favorite pajamas (see picture) and of course the bird tiger. He seemed a little nervous when I dropped off his bag so I though he would never make it all night. Then, when it started to storm I thought oh for sure he'd be scared and want to come home. I slept with my phone nearby waiting to jump out of bed when the call came that Stell needed me. I waited and checked my phone throughout the night but, no calls. My little guy is growing up and had his first sleepover :(

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"Getting Around"

Scarlett and Paola and I were talking about a girl they know that has had lots of boyfriends and I said, "Boy, she sure gets around!" All of a sudden Sage pipes in"Yea, one minute she is at Sears and the next minute she's at the mall". We giggled and all said yep you're right she gets around-too funny!

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Girl Fun

In a house full of brothers, Scarlett and I try hard to make time together. For me, I usually have to pay for the experience, and often feel a bit used after. But, if I have to bribe my daughter with shopping and restaurants to spend time together I will! However, we just spent a mother/daughter night at the lakes making memories. I love to watch her interact with her friends and other adults and see the women she is becoming. She is so self confident, kind, and funny. I love how creative she is and can dance and sing without worrying who is watching. Of course I still get lots of sass talk and eye rolls but we can laugh and talk together too. I am so lucky to be her mom. I love you Gugu! You are the best daughter I could ever have!

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Crafting at the Lakes

Gugu and I enjoyed a beautiful day at the lakes with the girls. Very relaxing-the girls even sat and made friendship bracelets in between swimming and sunning.

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My New Bike

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Dinner and Bikes

So I had visions of many family bike rides this summer. I pictured myself on a cruiser, not too girly, biking around town, maybe running to the grocery store or for coffee, you know, like I lived in a small European village (You can blame house hunters international for creating this monster). Anyways, I insisted to Guy I needed it and he somehow agreed. Fast forward to today, to make this vision reality I had to buy a new bike, a basket for my bike (ok, two baskets, one for the front,one for the back-don't judge I'll need lots of groceries and Libby needs to ride somewhere!). I also purchased a bike seat for Sloane and one of those add-on bikes for Stell.
Luckily for my new vision, the weather was gorgeous and our good friends asked us to dinner on the patio tonite at the golf club close to our house. I knew instantly this was my first opportunity to bring out my inner European villager and we would ride bike. Again Guy agreed and I promised the kids we'd take a family bike ride (finally!) after dinner. So I get dressed for dinner, of course I want to look nice for dinner but have to bike. When I came down I asked Guy what he thought of my "sporty biker" look, he said, "You look good, but I don't think a long necklace, earrings and sandals are real sporty" He obviously didn't notice I was wearing my hair in a pony tail and my earrings were JUST hoops. We eventually made it the few blocks to the restaurant. We were both surprised that we were kind of tired and sweaty. We had a beautiful night looking at the golf course, eating good food, and good conversation. I'm pretty sure I was shiny and had a sweaty upper lip but nobody seemed to notice-those are truly good friends!
When we made it home the boys were all out waiting for the bike ride. They were anxiously waiting to ride but nobody had shoes or helmets on or knew where they were. After all the bikes seats were attached and tires pumped we were ready to try out this new Nelson bike train. We were one helmet short and somehow convinced anxious Stellen to go without it. As we're lining up to leave, Sky yells from the garage, "I found a hockey helmet will that work?" By this point the bugs are out and its getting dark. Of course Guy and I are stuffed from dinner and exhausted but I'm so excited to finally create this family memory I envisioned we forge ahead. As we are riding I am trying to keep the smile off my face to avoid bugs in my teeth, but I cant. My life is WAY better than any of those villagers on House Hunters International!

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Back to Reality

While vacation was fun, I was ready to come home to my babies. It was nice to have alone time with my husband, something we have never done before (on a trip). But really, I have the best of both worlds at home. I spend time with my kids, we spend time as a family, and we try to sneak time as a couple. It might be a text or email while at work, phone calls to check in, or maybe a quick lunch. The point is we both make an effort to connect! So, while vacationing together is fun, so is watching Cars with the kids for the 100th time or giggling in bed over a funny kid story.

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Sea World

On day five of our vacation without kids we decided to go to Sea World. I have to confess I am having a nice time on vacation and I'm enjoying time with Guy but as the days pass I am getting more and more lonely for the kids. Shopping isn't even really helping to ease the pain anymore. So I'm realizing in retrospect Sea World might not have been a good place for me to be when I'm missing my kids.
Of course Guy was estatic to realize the cost for two tickets versus the eight we usually have to purchase was MUCH easier for him to swallow. Now, for those of you that really know us you know that a hungry Guy is not a happy Guy. However, I am not a fan of eating then driving so we started the day with me convincing Guy that Sea World would be a wonderful place to eat breakfast. He agreed and I prayed I wouldn't have to feed him a corndog or cheese cake on a stick for breakfast. But, to my delight, they offer an all you can eat wrist ban for $ 30. Guy was pleased as punch and we headed off for meal # 1. While we ate he mapped out our day and most importantly, where we would eat. He was going to get his moneys worth and even make money on this deal. We managed to eat three large meals, carrot cake, chocolate cake, and cheesecake in a seven hour period. We even got to see some of the attractions.
Now, while Guy was all about the food deals, I managed to stalk every family with young children. If a child dropped a pacifier or seemed lost I would practically leap through the crowds to offer my help. I even smiled at strangers and started small talk so I could talk about being a mom or ask about their kids. During the shows that we waited in line for good seats close to the stage I was constantly nudging Guy to look at a toddlers curly locks or a newborn in a hat. You can imagine that children are NOT in short supply at Sea World so I was constantly pointing them out to Guy. Lucky for me he would just nod and smile because he had visions of free beverages, entrees, and desserts dancing through his head.

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Sea World, SanDiego

I don't like getting my picture taken but when you are on vacation as a couple you have three choices: take pictures together, take pictures of each other, or take pictures of scenery. I tried all three, but I'm not sure the pictures of birds and beach will mean much on 20 years (that's if they ever make it off my phone and into some sort of album).

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Bird eating my fry at beach cafe

This photo is an example of option # 3-pictures of objects. I'm usually lucky if I find time to take pictures of the kids at games and rehearsals but here I am shooting pics (yes, I took more than one) of a cute bird eating a french fry I dropped. Who am I becoming?

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Guy hiking in Sedona

This is an example of option # 2-taking pictures of each other. Guy made me hike all the way until we could touch rock formation. So, his punishment was posing in the 100° heat until I got the picture just right!

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Pool Time!

I'm on my way to lounge by the pool. Pretty sure I haven't lounged by water in many years! I don't have to bring life jackets, water wings, or sun screen. Its just my kindle and me. Hopefully their will be some kids in the pool I can watch/listen to so I don't get too freaked out!

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Vacation!

Guy and I are on our way to the airport for our first vacation alone. Of course I am excited and looking forward to some adult time! But I think "guilt" is a mothers curse. I already feel guilty for leaving them for a whole week! I know my sister can handle the madness and that they will all survive but then I feel guilty for asking her to stay with them for a week! AND, while I'm stressing about leaving the kids I feel guilty for not being as excited as I should be to spend my first week ever alone with my husband. At some point I just have to throw my hands up and realize we will all survive, take a deep breath and enjoy the ride! (I'm hoping lounging by the pool with a cold drink and a good book will help!)

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Another Pic- We did his bathroom too!

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Skys Birthday Present-Room Makeover from Noel and his Family

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Lets try that again!

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Soren looking cool on his way to the pool!

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Okay, so maybe not everyday is filled with excitement around here...or maybe we are just "used" to crazy now. We were all very excited to wake up to heat and sun today. Stellen (age 4) had his first tot ball practice. Of course he is our only leftie and his glove was nowhere to be found. So, I did what any normal mom would do in a pinch-sent him with a right handed glove. He was in a panic as he got ready. "Do I need a nut cup?" "Do I have a water bottle?" "How will my coach know who I am?" Luckily, he was ok with the glove. He believed me that he didnt need a nut cup for tot ball and I bribed him with kool aid when we were done. Whew! We made it the two blocks to Longfellow and we were only a few minutes late. I coaxed him onto the field and turned to spend an hour sweating in the bleachers with a cling two year old who has practically transluscent skin. I only mention the skin because you guessed it...I forgot the sunscreen!

We all survived the first practice and I will be better prepared (hopefully) for the next few games. The kids went on to enjoy the afternoon at the pool with Noel while Sloane napped off his heat stroke and I cleaned my closet and put away the never ending supply of laundry. We ended the day with Sorens game on a beautiful night! We didnt win, however the highlight was realizing when we arrived (5 minutes late of course) Stellen had on the shortest, tightest pair of shorts I have ever seen on a 4 year old. When my aunt Julie arrived to the game she said,"My Stellen, you are getting so big, look how long your legs have gotten!" Now, if this wouldve been my 1st through 3rd child I wouldve died of embarrassment! But now I can see the humor in the crazy things that happen. I had to fess up that I didnt notice when we loaded in the car that he had grabbed Sloanes size 24 month shorts on accident. Oh well, at least his legs are cute!!

After a busy night we are home and I managed to make scrambled eggs and PB&J's and the kids are all nestled in with full bellies and sunburned cheeks watching the totally inappropriate Austen Powers movie...but at least they are all quiet!

Welcome!

We are all so busy just living life that my goal with this blog is tell cute/funny/crazy stories from our day to day life. Im hoping to use this blog as an outlet to vent, a venue to record our crazy days, and a chance for friends and family to follow us. Im hoping to post often through the summer when I am lucky enough to stay home with my kiddos!