Lego Maniac

Yesterday was our Lego Maniac's birthday. That's no understatement. This kid eats, sleeps, and BREATHES Legos. Unfortunately for him, school has put a dent in his Lego time. I mean, it could be worse. At least they're an "educational" toy. Plus it's fun to see his creative side come out with all his fun inventions. And it's good for some quiet, focused time.

Jack's Lego affinity made birthday shopping really boring. We kept asking him, over and over, for some ideas that ARE NOT Legos! He didn't really have anything good. So we had to come up with a few on our own--a watch, a new lunch box (his old one smells like rotten green smoothie!), a NY Giants shirt, and books--mostly about Legos. He's also been asking for a Venus Fly Trap this past month, and we just happened to find one at Lowe's on Friday, and have been eagerly tending our new carnivorous plant ever since!

Jon worked yesterday and Saturday was supposed to be soccer (it got rained out) and a farm festival, so we ended up celebrating our birthday boy on Friday. He wasn't expecting it, so we all stood outside with balloons and yelled "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" when he got off the bus. Of course, as is fitting to our family, Lia's balloon popped right as the bus pulled up. Which kind of freaked her out. So while the rest of us and cheering and yelling, she's screaming her head off.

A similar situation occurred later that evening when it was time to open presents. Jack got a Lego set he's been asking for for months (but recently forgot about), and we knew he'd be pretty excited! So I wanted to take a video. Joci, on the other hand, was suffering from a too-short afternoon nap and fussed and wiggled the entire time. But that's life. In my head, I see things one way. In real life, there are screaming sisters and fussy babies. That's just the way things are right now!

You would think, with all this Lego love, that he would want a birthday cake somewhat related to that theme. But for some reason he's had his heart set on a "crane cake" for the last 364 days (he also already has his 7th and 8th birthday cakes planned out as well.) I was hoping he'd change his mind at the last minute, I mean, can't say I have any real affection for a crane, but alas, he was never more adamant.

And again, there was no Marmie to bail us out this year, so I pulled out the only crane I know--Cranky, from their Thomas the Train set, and set about making a pattern.

This girl--always near the sweets!

Like Julia, I let Jack pick out his own cake mix. I'm not really a cake person, I could try and make my own but who wants to make something they don't even want to eat? You can only imagine what he found. I think those bright tie-dyed mixes are purposely for foolish moms like me who let their kids pick out their own cakes. Add to that rainbow treat some gray icing and leftover gold piping from Lia's crown cake, and our creation was complete. I cannot speak to the taste myself, I haven't touched that thing with a fork, but Jack was pretty please. Although I did find out later that he did not mean Cranky the Crane, but rather a truck crane. You know! (No, Jack, I do not know my cranes!)

Anyway, back to the birthday boy. He's doing well. He still loves school, although sometimes he complains that his head hurts "because there's so much stuff he has to put in his brain." Of all the warnings I've received from others about Kindergarten, I think the most prevalent was how tired the kids get. We try to stick with a 7-7:30 bedtime in our house, and Jack's school doesn't start until 9:15 in the morning, so things have been going pretty well.

My children's feet--thank heavens we don't have carpet in this house!

But this past week was a bit of a trial. It seems that all the stress and exhaustion from the week always culminates at dinner time, and typically begins before Jack even reaches the table. Apparently,  he can tell by the smell of things, that he does not like what we're about to eat. Thankfully, Jon's been home for dinner this week and has been able to help keep things under control, because by that hour of the day I just do not have the energy for Jack's whining. I will say though, that for as intense as he can get in the thick of it, he can be just as intensely sweet when it all blows over.

So by the time he has finally cleaned his plate, and I get the table cleared and all the dishes washed, we're back at rights again and ready to snuggle up by the fire with a book. Because while Legos may be his first love, Jack will always be my book boy.

Boys and their bugs ...

He's lost a second tooth! And much like the first, his parents dropped the ball again. Jon has no idea where he put the old tooth (it's still missing) and I managed to run into Jack's room and stuff 4 quarters under his pillow just as he was waking up. Phew!

Jack brings home a new library book each Friday. And with the BookIt! program (anyone from my generation remember those pins and free personal pan pizzas?!), we use a phone app to time our daily reading and earn gold for his "dragon." Plus, he has a weekly book and project to do for homework. And finally, with Jon often at work during bedtime, books are my favorite way to wind the kids down before they go to sleep. So there has been lots of reading around here lately!

This week's book was the ancient classic "Choo Choo." Jack's first question was why weren't there any colored pictures.

Of course, I'm grateful that he's so interested in books and words and now, writing! He comes home from school with the most interesting papers. The other day I found a list of his classmates names in Kindergarten scrawl, but the very last line said, "I *heart* U SAW"--I asked him who SAW was but he claims that he DID NOT write that! Hmmm...

When you're learning to read and write, everything is fair game, including the back of a Sprite.

Yet another reminder that I will never fully know what's going on during the majority of my 6 year-old's day. And while we're on that subject, Jack "hobbled" off the bus the other day with this shoelaces knotted together. I came to the door to find Jon carrying him into the house because he couldn't walk. All we could get out of Jack was that an "older kid ... not older ... 5 years old but taller" ... crawled around the floor and tied his laces together when he wasn't looking. Or something like that.

Like the newbie parents we are, we immediately jumped to conclusions about who and how it happened. And how on earth a teacher would allow a student to "hop" out of the classroom, the whole way down the hall, to the bus. Or why a bus driver would ever let a kid "hop" in and out of a bus without attempting to offer a hand ...

I shot an email off to his teacher that afternoon and she quickly apologized that she never noticed and said she'd look in to it the next day. And so the next day she emailed back to say that Jack had confessed to tying his laces together himself and was too afraid to tell us for fear he'd get in trouble. And also according to his teacher, it happens every year. Really?!?

And so, the humbled parent award for the first month of school goes to Jack's parents, for immediately thinking that our kid had already made enemies and that knotted shoelaces it's just a sampling of what we're going to deal with this year.

"Me eating 'Old McDonald's' and I got a hex bug."
You guys, I took him to McDonald's ONCE this year, he didn't even eat his food, and now his teacher probably thinks I keep him on a steady diet of pink slime nuggets. (Okay, maybe I'm overreacting a touch,)

Truth is, that's as bad as it's got so far. We have had a few questions from Jack about who "Chucky" is --seriously, what elementary-aged children know about "Chucky"?!? And he went through a phase of saying, "Oh, my God!" for a few days, which I tried to explain isn't respectful and not something we say in our family. So I'm sure he went in to school the next day and told his classmate, Drew, (who I'm guessing he picked this up from) that very same thing. Kind of like telling that poor, unsuspecting kid on the bus that he's not your dad's son because he likes the Ravens. And because that's what life is like for a Kindergartener. So I can only imagine what stories his teacher hears about ME!

This is a picture of his entire class playing at the playground. I'm a little disappointed there's no translation because I cannot figure the caption out!

I can only guess that so far it's been nothing bad. Or she would have contacted me, right? And for that same reason, I'm assuming Jack is doing well in school. Because she hasn't told me otherwise. And it seems to me that he's doing well at home, too. He's growing, his mind is growing (all that STUFF he has to keep in there now, you know?), and even more important, his friendships are growing--a lot has changed since those early days of preschool!

"Me go on the bus."
He nailed this one, right down to his bus driver's long, straight hair and curly bangs. :)

We're so thankful for our 6 year old. He fills our house with so much excitement and anticipation--always on the look-out for something new to build or play. And we're so looking forward to watching him learn and grow in the coming year. Happy birthday, buddy!

Three cheers for three years

Or thirdborn turned 3 today! I'm going to miss being able to blame all her antics on "the terrible 2s" but I'm sure she'll live out this next year with just as much vim and vigor. This isn't exactly an easy age, per say, but it is certainly an entertaining one. This girl brings so much joy and laughter into our home! And despite the fact that I totally went back on my promise to never do the "princess" thing with my girls, I have to admit that her girlishness and unabashed femininity is much appreciated (especially coming after two rough and tumble brothers.) I love that she can wear a princess dress, hold a baby doll, and watch a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show all at the same time ... and it all makes sense in her world. And I'm so curious to see that world continue to unfurl as she becomes a young lady.

I'm sure that non-parents get tired of hearing parents say that kids grow so fast, but seriously, three years seems like an awfully long time ago. And in that time, this girl has grown and changed more than I could recount. So I won't. But I will tell you about her special day.

It started very early. Probably earlier than she should have woken up, but Joci was being loud and as I was attempting to escape their bedroom with just the baby, Lia started to rub her eyes. And then once she noticed her bed, there was no going back to sleep. "Daddy put balls in my bed!" she yelled. Which, of course, woke the boys. And so at 6:30am all four kids were jumping on Julia's bed and throwing balloons. Now that's good morning.

Thankfully, Daddy was home today. While working nights and 12 hour shifts certainly has its drawbacks, there are some perks too--like three days off in a row. Then again, it's hardly three days when you're recovering from being up all night. Now that's he's finished up two weeks of working 4pm to 4am, he'll start working 4am to 4pm. So in order to help him adjust his sleep schedule, I decided to leave him with three kids at 8am.

Actually, Jude's preschool had a field trip today. This is our fourth year with this preschool and I've never been on a field trip, since it's kinda hard to work that out with all these children. But since Jon had off, and he offered to stay home with the others, we could actually make it work this year. So it was off to the pumpkin patch to meet up with a bunch of other preschoolers and their parents.

Honestly, I was a bit disappointed. Our extremely short hay ride ended in a "fake" pumpkin patch (the pumpkins were obviously dropped there instead of grown). And here is Jude holding the biggest pumpkin he could find:

Now how are we supposed to carve a face in that puny little thing??

I was feeling bad that he got gipped and so after we got home and had lunch, we decided to take the kids to a nearby farm to pick out some better pumpkins and to complete our annual purchase of mums. Oh, and Julia picked out her own "birthday princess" outfit today. It's a good thing, because she was very easy to spot at the pumpkin patch!

After we got home, the kids played outside while I prepped the special birthday dinner. Okay, just kidding. I really didn't plan a special dinner. I wasn't really thinking when I did my menu plan earlier this week, otherwise I might not have chosen a not-so-kid-friendly meal. But perhaps it worked in our favor anyway, since we were able to convince the kids to eat quickly and thoroughly with the promise of cake for dessert and presents afterwards!

I made a bad meal last night. Not a complete failure, but not exactly a winner. (But apparently much-improved with barbecue sauce as the entire container of leftovers was gone by the time I woke up this morning...) So I was hoping to redeem myself with these Shrimp and Pork Cabbage Wrapped Dumplings. I knew they'd be good. The ingredients were good, it smelled good while cooking, and it tasted good when I took a sample. So I was super-excited to make up everyone's plate and call them all to the table.

And then Jon took a bite and his mouth twisted and he said something about it being "sour." I tried mine and it tasted fine to me. So he took another bite and could barely keep his eyes open. By now, I'm starting to wonder if there's a problem with my sense of taste. And then it dawned on me. The lime juice. I had thought it was odd, when I washed the dishes before we sat down, that the lime juicer was empty. I was almost certain there was a good amount left since I'd only used 1 T. of an entire lime. And I vaguely remembered Jude "helping" me with the plates. And Jon's plate was located right next to the juicer.  So yes, apparently Jude dumped the extra juice on to Jon's plate. Poor guy could hardly finish his dinner (the untampered one) after that. And I was so hopeful ...

We were a little sad that there was no other family to celebrate with us this year. My husband assures me that our kids do not need relatives at every birthday. But we were really missing our Marmie when it came time for cake. I let Julia pick out a cake mix at the grocery store a while ago--it was pink and on the scratch-and-dent rack for less than $1. We decided a "pincess" crown seemed like a safe enough choice for this non-cake-person.

I let Jude and Julia help decorate, so I can't take credit for the entire creation. And at the end of the day (after the piping and "gems" were starting to slip off and one of the spikes was already falling down), the birthday girl was more than happy with it. And that's all that matters.

My little family's singing abilities are pretty much awesome and embarrassing all at the same time.

Someone else was a little enthusiastic about the cake too.

I think the boys were more excited about presents than Julia. We continually had to remind them that she was more than capable of unwrapping gifts herself. I was holding Joci (who was holding a regurgitated piece of cake and smearing it on my jeans), so my pictures are somewhat limited. And I really wish I had taken a video, because this girl has the "pincess" gasp and "oo's and ah's" down pat. She opened the long braid first. It was inspired by our visit to "friend Regan's" house a few weeks ago and she immediately knew what to do with it. (I did something like this, if you're interested.)

And since my husband was working this week and I had nothing better to do after the kids went to bed, I decide a second birthday craft was in order--a doll-sized Ergo. I've been wanting to get Julia one of these since Joci was born, but couldn't really justify the $25 price tag. I don't know why I didn't think about making one before, perhaps it just seemed too complicated (like this amazing child-sized replica). But this one (made out of a pillowcase and metal belt loops) only took maybe a total of 3 hours over two evenings. I was going to make it a bit more realistic, with a hood and buckles, but I didn't want to waste time and energy on something that I wasn't sure she'd actually like or use in the first place. Well, the good news is, I think she likes it. And I'm looking forward to the two of us taking our "babies" out more often!

Well our birthday girl is long in bed now, all tuckered out from the days festivities. We let her take four balloons with her, because no one likes to see a party end. I'm sure there will be lots of mini-celebrations over the next few days. In the meantime, I'm going to attempt to recover in time for our next October birthday and new 6 year old!

Jude the Second Born Dude

Well Jack's not the only one to start school this fall.  Jude went back to preschool on the same day that the bus picked up Jack. In typical second born fashion, his first day kind of got overshadowed by his older brother.  But there is a slight difference between one's very first day of Kindergarten and one's first day of their second year of preschool.

We had absolutely no issues this year. Jude was more than willing to march off down the hall to his new teacher and class. He dodged the clumps of moms trying to catch final glimpses of their little ones and those same little ones crying and trying to escape the room--walked right on by with hardly a wave goodbye and left me and the girls standing there trying to figure out what to do next.

Jude has this strange habit of always lifting his arms when I take a picture.

We've fallen back into the preschool routine so handily that it's sometimes easy to forget this is a special time. Of course, Jude is quick to correct us. While we regularly ask Jack about his day at school, sometimes Jude has to remind us to ask him too. Or if we pray at bedtime for Jack's kindergarten class, Jude will quickly chime in about his school as well.

Then there's the supply list, lunch-making, and meetings and open houses involved with Kindergarten that aren't required in preschool. And I think my little second born was starting to feel a tad left out. If Jack's my "words of affirmation" guy, then Jude is my "physical touch" kid. And I'm learning that when Jude goes through phases where it feels like he's constantly touching me--wrapping himself around my leg, crawling up onto my lap, asking for back scratches, and just leaning against me if we're standing anywhere--it probably means he could use a little extra attention.

So one day last week when Jon was off of work, Joci was taking one of her rare amazing naps, and Julia was distracted by the TV, I suggested Jude and I go on a date. And by date, I mean I decided I could really use some Starbucks for the afternoon and a Redbox movie that evening, and invited Jude along.

Picking flowers for Mommy ... the kind that fall apart all over the floor within 5 seconds.

He was beyond giddy. Jude has absolutely no "inside voice" but he tried very hard not to draw Lia's attention to the fact that he was putting on shoes and walking out the door with me (we were successful, she never even missed us!) And then, just like a real date, we took Daddy's car. So first Jude wants to know just what "date" means--it's when just the two of us do something. And then he wants to know why Daddy's car goes so fast, and can I make it go faster? And "when I'm a grown-up I'm going to have a car like Daddy's."

So we pulled into our destination, i.e. the grocery store down the street, and I attempted to hold Jude's hand through the parking lot, because that's what you do on dates, am I right? Well, not Jude. He was not interested in holding hands. But he did open the door for me because "that's what you do on dates, hold doors for grown-ups."

The thing with multiple children is sometimes your two year old asks for green eggs for breakfast and sometimes your four year old just isn't in agreement. Kids, this is not a restaurant, I am not a short order cook.

You really can't underestimate the power of one-on-one time.  We go to the grocery store every week, it's certainly nothing new. But just me and my second born, driving "fast" in Daddy's car, with the windows down and sunroof open--and then there's pushing the buttons on the Redbox machine and watching the DVD come out the slot--well that just made my preschooler's day. We got drinks and shortbread cookies from the Starbucks counter, sat down, and two seconds later Jude had to use the potty. So we ran to the other end of the store.

On the way back we passed a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle puzzle on clearance that clearly needed to be purchased to round off our afternoon. And since I only had one kid, our obvious recourse was to utilize the self-checkout--yet another way to impress a 4 year old. By this point, Jude informed me that he didn't really like his pricey Starbucks drink. I felt like I needed to redeem the edible part of our outing, so I conceded to a second drink from the refrigerator and yet another round through self-checkout. And while none of this seems very significant to me, Jude couldn't have been happier with his first date. He still talks about it a week later. And so when it comes to making the second born feel like #1 for a moment, I'd say mission accomplished ... for now.

We're working on being a team player and not getting upset when things don't go your way in a game.

Now while preschool isn't anything new for Jude this year, soccer is. Both boys are playing soccer this fall, but they're in different age groups. Which means two soccer practices and two games each week. It wouldn't be such a big deal if it wasn't for this new schedule of Jon's. Whenever he is working or sleeping during soccer time, I'm on my own with the four littles.

First game of the year and he scored two goals!

Oh, Jude.

 Take last weekend, for example. Jude's games are at 10:30 and Jack's games are at noon, with about a 30 minute break in between them for us to grab a quick picnic lunch. The forecast said there was a chance of rain, and I was secretly hoping it would so we could all stay home. But it came time to leave and all was still sunny and dry.

Picnic in the rain!

Jude doesn't exactly run out on the field, he prefers to skip. 

This kid, so much personality even in the middle of a game.

Example of working on that team player attitude when things don't go our way ...

We made it through Jude's game without too much drama. It was starting to sprinkle by the end so we decided to have lunch in the car. By the time Jack got out to his field to start warming up the rain was coming down a bit more steadily. It wasn't a big deal, or at least it shouldn't have been, but according to Julia "princesses do not like to get wet." So she just huddled under the blanket whining and crying. And then she got louder when Jude tried to get under the covers with her. Right about this time I sat Joci down next to me to fix the blanket and the team next to us kicked a ball and whacked her right on the head. Now I have two soaking wet, crying girls and one annoyed brother. (Jack was having the time of his life out on the field, by the way.)

Scoring goals their first game of the season!

It was at about this point that I decided we'd continue watching the game from the car. So Julia and Jude played in the van while I stood under the raised trunk with Joci, who had conveniently just pooped in her diaper. Then Jude had to go potty (these are dirty porta-potties, mind you), then Julia, then Jude again, then Julia said she had to go again and I just brushed her off. Next thing I know she's standing next to me in the parking lot with a trail of yellow rainwater puddling at her feet.

Soccer in the rain. Laugh it off, Mama!

I will say that I was able to catch 2 of Jack's 3 goals that day. He made sure to look up at me and give me a wave each time. So thank the Lord that his game just happened to be on a field near the parking lot and that I just happened to get a parking space up front. I'd be so sad if he had no one waving back.

Back home, bathed, dressed, warming by the fire with roasted marshmallows and hot molasses milk.

But that was last weekend. This past weekend I not only had Daddy to help out but Marmie, Poppa, Uncle Micah, and Miss Carrie. So between Marmie and Poppa's snuggles, Jocelyn actually got a morning nap. And thanks to Miss Carrie's back scratches, Jude got to feel a little extra love too. And I got to watch both my kids games without distraction.

Okay, so I'm never completely free of distraction. Not with this cutey running around.

After a difficult loss (except we don't keep score), getting his love tank filled by Miss Carrie.

Out cold.

 And now we can put all these "firsts" behind us--first day of Kindergarten, first day of preschool, first Jude/Mommy date, first soccer game, first time taking all four kids to soccer by myself ... and enjoy the familiarity of secondhandedness for the rest of the fall.