In Which I Assign a Monetary Value to My Sanity

We have Amazon Prime. I don't love paying the $100 a year for it but the rate at which my better half purchases books... The free shipping makes it worth it.

I'm more of the well I don't neeeeeeeed it in 2 days so just choose the slowest option and get the free e-book credit or this month its 5.99 toward Amazon Pantry - which I haven't tried but Subscribe & Save is pretty neat - except when I got a 12 pack of Mint Chocolate Protein bars that taste TERRIBLE.

Anyhow, I'm pretty much anti-paying-for-shipping. Case in point, earlier this summer when E got her racing bathing suit shipping was going to be $7.00 but if you spent $50 you got free shipping. So I stocked up on swim diapers for A (this season and next) and hit 50 and change in my cart and called it a success.

Okay.... SO GET TO THE POINT!

Two nights ago, A was up about 100 million times. Screaming. Not really hungry. Just looking for his paci. Which was usually on the floor behind the crib or under the bed but only locatable by turning on the big room light (thank you dark green carpet and lightish green paci). Then once I did find it, I'd give it to A, he'd settle down and then 2.5 seconds later he'd be sitting up and the paci would be on the floor... again.

And maybe the 2.5 seconds is a hyperbole but it just seemed like it because when you are lying WIDE awake at 2:30 in the AM and have been for the past hour and cannot go back to sleep and when you do get back to sleep A pipes up again, well, time is warped.

Just for the record the same thing happened this past (last) night... There were lots of prayers going up very early this morning because well, what better do to when you can't sleep.

Yesterday, I broke down and bought something that is super expensive for what it is... A stuffed animal and a paci. Should these two items cost $14? Heck no! But a combo sells for that soooooo... I'm rolling with it and hoping this helps solve part of A's paci problem. (We've NEVER has a Paci user since the girls are/were thumb suckers so this is an insanely expensive pacifying device). On top of paying way too much for this pacifier, Amazon gave me the option of next day shipping for a mere $3.99. The miser in me said heck no! Then the gears in my heads started turning.

It's my sanity/sleep worth more than $3.99?

Of course

But I still don't want to pay for it.

It's only 4 bucks and I don't want to feel like I need round 25 of coffee at 2 in the afternoon.

So what do you know, I bit the bullet. Swallowed my miserly pride and chose the next day shipping. 

I'll keep you posted on A's throwing abilities with this and my 1 am locator abilities of this thing...

Theme Thursday - Rule Breaker

Here's to participating but not following the rules...

Everyday during Advent is there is a #holylens prompt/theme/something you can take a pic of - which is being taken over by Theme Thursday for these final days until Christmas. I'm just going to fit my pics into the prompts for each day even though I didn't actually take them on the day because that's how I roll

Remembered:

Part of our Advent activity for week 4 (orthodox/ eastern Catholic Advent is 40 days - not 4 weeks), we went to say prayers at a couple graves of our departed family and friends. 

Tree

E's finished crafty homework project for the month complete with two kinds of pom-poms and Elsa and Anna stamps (aka ornaments). Thank goodness for the hot glue gun because we could have not formed the star or gotten the lights to hang on the tree without it. She's actually not too afraid of the glue gun anyone so she just tells me where she needs a dap and I make it happen. I'm not ready to completely wash my hands of the crafting yet because I think she'd go through a pack of glue sticks per art project if the glue gun were in her hands. 

Rest

The lighting in this picture is so weird. I think of Tiny Tim when I look at M. Fortunately she's just relaxing and resting : ) 

Angel

E's costume arrived for her school play. I got it from Amazon warehouse - which means that it had been opened and returned - so I got a discount on it. Outside of the small stain on the front - which came out with a wipe - and the halo needing a few daps of hot glue - it was worth saving the few extra dollars. Also, I got the 3-4 size and it fits perfect. Same brand as her All Saints Day Dress (which was enormous and needed way too may safety pins) and I imagine we'll be hitting them up for future costume needs. 

Daughter

Just enjoying the pretty fall colors on our walk this afternoon : ) 

There's way more to our story from the week and maybe I might get around to telling about it in tomorrow's quick takes. I make no promises. 

7QTs - Horses, Baseball and Soccer

Same old, same new... 

--- 1 ---

E was invited to a birthday party that was at a horse stable.... Aside from being super excited about the party there was much anticipation about...

WHY ARE THEY SO AFRAID OF TINY LITTLE DOGS???

Anyhow, riding horse was a hit and I will never understand the minds of my kids but I guess that goes with the parenting territory?

--- 2 ---

After such a great neighborhood gathering the night before we were supposed to have an end of summer pool party but the weather wasn't fantastic so we relocated to our house and just had a grandparental gathering : )

The girls and I made Rice Cream Pie... 

The crust materials

That's all the ice cream???

Deep in discussion over puzzle piece location 

The kids cannot get enough Berenstein Bears... Mama and Papa can so who better to read it than Jibbe

E and Grammy reading The Name Jar - it came up on Amazon when I bought a book for E's homework and she ended up really liking it

So good : ) 

--- 3 ---

E finished her second Kindergarten workbook - I think it was Brain Quest or something like that - and it was just over 300 pages. She's been working on it all summer and this is what she picked out for completing it: 

There was much thought put into this purchase. She ALMOST left it and was going to put the prize $$$ on a gift card so she could save up for a bigger set BUT you know how it is being 5.

She surprisingly did the bulk of it by herself. She still likes to skip a step or part of a step here and there and I'm wondering if that didn't happen this time. As you can see we had to 'engineer' the plane a bit taller in the middle (note the bottom of the nose and top of the tail have gaps) because the people did not fit in the cabin area. Well whatever... she has been playing with it and she was going to bring it for show-and-tell Friday but then we are getting off the exit for school and I hear "I forgot my show-and-tell"

A. Opps... forgot to check the calendar
B. Exactly right, you forgot it. Don't point the finger at me (though I do like to give a general reminder)
C. Can you find something in the van to bring? Haha... yes of course! Have you seen our van?

This was what the van looked like on Wednesday morning after we had church on Tuesday night and then we stopped for dinner and didn't waltz in the door until oh... say 9:50

--- 4 ---

Now if Saturday birthday party and neighborhood gathering and Sunday church and family cookout weren't enough... Monday was Labor Day and we (sans M who got to hang out with Jibbe) trekked out to a baseball game with some families from church. 

So stinkin' cute in the oversized hat

Waiting... Not so patiently for the gates to open

Big hat + big chair

Lee and I were quite impressed how much of the game they actually sat and watched

No baseball game would be complete without cotton candy (gag!)

Silly sisters

So terrified of the mascot : ) 

So we had a blast of a weekend which made getting in the groove for Tuesday's regularly scheduled school madness just that much more hard to get back to. 

--- 5 ---

See what I mean... 

R is very attentive to Olaf's nap time spot

You think it is hard being a snowman? Try being 3!

--- 6 ---

This is worthy of it's own post... 

R headed off to 3 yr old class... More pics on that later

--- 7 ---

And lastly... but not least-ly...

Soccer started this week. Practice was good until 2 of the 3 kids - that would be our kids - left the field in tears... Bets as to which one (ehem... the eldest). Also it was the first practice so it was a little crazier than usual. Fortunately Papa was there to corral in M for the bulk of practice but there are several other younger siblings on the team so she is in good company. 

Now how do you go about explaining being aggressive but not being mean about it to a 5 yr old? PLEASE... insight. E continues to be frustrated as she wants to score goals but so does every other kid out there - except for R who was messing with her shoes during our scrimmage : ) 

7QTs - Swings, Warm Milk and Cobras

In which I buy 5 straw cups and only 4 straws... #notlying #wishiwerekidding

--- 1 ---

E and I never got around to painting her footprint for her birthday earlier this year. I decided to mix it up a little bit... 

And do hand prints instead of footprints...

She did glitter background and glitter hand paint and this surprises anyone? 

I'm thinking handprint for Kindergarten, 6th and 9th grade and nix the footprint... 

At some point I'm going to run out of space to keep yearly foot prints and honestly its the baby footprints that are the cutest, right? 

--- 2 ---

We spent some of last weekend in Raleigh and feasted on grilled goodness and this: 

German chocolate cake made by none other than Grammy : ) 

Yes I did blow all the candles out in one breathe... just for the record

I think the week was catching up with E... Good thing Uncle Kev was there : ) 

--- 3 ---

So we made the not-so-welcome move of this girl into the big girls room... 

We put her down about 20-30 minutes ahead of the other girls which I can't say is helping the noise factor once everyone's in there. E is super frustrated that M likes to stand up and talk. The one night Papa was gone it was much noisier in there so I think they know he means business.

Also, M has been getting up INSANELY early. First it was 6 then 5:30 and yesterday it was 5:15. When it's before six I go in there and tell her it's still nighttime and if she cries I'll put her back in the other room - and you know what, she doesn't cry. Don't think just because she's not 2 (or 3) that she doesn't understand stuff. She knows... she knows!

--- 4 ---

This is probably worthy of its own post but... 

R decided she was going to get this whole pumping thing down and ever since after church on Sunday she won't stay off the swing. She is so stinking proud of herself - and she should be. You see R is not overly motivated like her big sister so R really has to see the value in doing/learning something in order to give it much thought and EFFORT.

Well for whatever reason - was it the Friday playdate when the three older girls were having a blast swinging themselves - she got on the pumping train!

--- 5 ---

Yesterday was a bit of a rough patch for us... It started with this conversation I had with Lee in his office at 5:30 (in the AM)

Lee - Hi Chicky

Me - Hi

Lee - What's going on?

Me - Well... M's been up since 5:15 

Lee - Oh what's she doing now?

Me - Sitting in her crib and not crying

Lee - That's good

Me - And... there's no milk in the fridge? 

Lee - There's what?

Me - I thought you got milk last night

Lee - I did but... I could have... I remember putting on the shelf in the fridge

Me - It's not there

Lee - You're kidding... 

Warm milk anyone?

Proof I'm not the only one who is losing it? : ) 

After a 5:45 am milk run later everyone had some cool dairy goodness for breakfast. 

Aside from that, it was E's day to bring snack to school and I had it on the master calendar plus my phone plus I told E several times the night before to not let us forget her snack.

Well we didn't forget it. But getting everyone out the door was worse than normal, for some reason. Why is it when I tell people to get shoes on they sit by the shoes and hold their favorite animal????? EHEM! R.... COME ON GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm quite sure some morning I speak in tongues!

Me reminding/telling everyone to get shoes on is NOTHING NEW
ME YELLING BECAUSE I DON'T THINK YOU HEAR ME STRESSES ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE OUT SO PLEASE JUST GET YOUR SHOES ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The struggle is unnecessary. But the struggle is real. I promise.

Then there were the uniform compliant PE shoes for E that she said were 'tight' but they were a half size larger than she actual size so.... Hopefully they'll stretch????

Today, I firmly resolved to not raise my voice at departure time because I could tell a difference in E's demeanor when we got to school and I don't want my attitude/behavior to start her off on the wrong foot for the day

--- 6 ---

I have been scouring the Target aisles ever since school started to find these cups on sale. 

Why? Why? 

These cups hold ice nearly all day. 

They are nearly indestructible - M has dropped her cup on the floor so many times and I think it has damaged the floor and the cup is unscathed. 

They are dishwasher friendly

They are easy to assemble and disassemble - some straw cups are awful to try and re-thread the straw back - trust me... been there and cup is no longer in our house.

I thought they were leak-less cups because my OCD self cannot stand a leaky cup - and these are mostly leak free. For the ages they were made for probably 2.5ish and up because at 2.5 yrs old kids know it is not a good idea to turn the cup upsidedown and shake it. Well when you give a 9 month old this cup because its the only cup she wants then there will be leakage BUT the flow of the leaking liquid is pretty slow so you really have to not be watching (like we do) in order for there to be a HUGE mess - which has happened on more than several occasions.

Overall this is the cup of choice for our house but I won't pay $15 for them. I don't even like paying $10 on sale but there are some things in this world that make my life easier and these cups are one of them. Only having 4 in rotation can be tough when I leave them in the van over the weekend or forget one at church or you know, my life, stuff comes up. 

So I got 3 more for the girls. They've already divided them out because... sharing cups is not our forte. M claimed the Hello Kitty, E the princess and R the Doc McStuffins. Peace in my world. 

I got the Snoopy cups to make good on a promise I made to a family at church who saved one of our cups from a time when M left hers on the playground. And the other is for our godson who well... when you've number 6 of 7 I'll bet you don't have a cup to call your own so I'm plastering his name all over it before I send it off : ) 

--- 7 ---

I made another life simplification decision this week - aside from the cups. And really it was not the easiest of decisions...

So fall soccer is upon us. I have coached the last I don't know how many seasons. Bebe #4 is throwing (a welcomed) loop into the coaching of said teamS. Yes E and R play in different age groups - like they did last season - that was no cakewalk in May.

Speaking of walking with cakes let's envision this season. E's practice followed by R's game/practice coupled with Papa's Bible Study (which he swapped nights so he and E can try out AHG -more on that later) thus leaving M supervisor-less as Jibbe goes to BS AND AND AND let's not forget bebe #4 thrown in the mix come sometime in October. Sounds like a recipe for DISASTER when not coaching. When coaching or co-coaching or being somewhat involved in the practices and the games? Yeah, I'm crazy but not THAT crazy.

I knew fall soccer coaching involvement would be tricky - but I ACTUALLY LIKE IT so how to be involved but not overcommit?

That was pretty much decided for me in a way I wasn't thrilled about but I'm willing to give it a try.

The league we play in low key league (very parks and rec league, nothing like the kind of soccer my parents let me play in) but this season they went to dividing out the girls from the boys - which I wasn't crazy about and I'm not totally sold on yet.

I mean I get it. The fact that the girls drop out after about 7 or 8 is an issue and I can see how if you track girls to play with girls and keep playing with girls through middle school then they might stick with it longer. I get it. I've seen it. Even last year with the 4-5 teams the boys are much more aggressive and the girls tend to shy away - maybe because they can or maybe they are legit intimidated (I've seen one single exception - one CONSISTENTLY aggressive girl who pays no mind to the boys).

So my option was this.... Leave E as the only girl on her team and only girl in the boys league OR put her on a girls team. Some girls may have done really well but knowing E's personality, Lee and I agreed she'd probably get pushed further into the 'I don't need to do anything on the field because the boys are running around like crazy.'

Girls team it is for her. Then there was R. I knew practice/games without Papa would be MISERABLE. Coupled with the fact there wouldn't be any huge 5.5 yr old boys running and kicking the ball 100 miles an hour AND knowing R's participation level at the 4-5 practice in the spring was much better than at her own practice - we made an executive decision to put her on the 4-5 girls team with E. One practice a night. One game a weekend. Life simplified.

Now the judge/fairness-keeper in me is super irked by this because R should be afforded the opportunity to play with her age group - just like E was.

BUT, I'm going to take a nod from Kathryn and others about not getting burned out, overbooked and super-stressed about extracurricular activities and maintain as much as our collective family sanity as possible.

Here's to the Cobras this fall.

If there had been hot pink jerseys we would have been the pink Cobras but after SO MUCH STINKIN' debate we will be bronze. Because the color of the uniform and the team mascot are just as important as what's for snack after the games!

7QTs - Bib-free-bebes, the final weeks of summer, cross-state trips

Just floating through the last weeks of summer... These will be random so apologies : ) 

--- 1 ---

This is how I found R asleep one day during her rest.. 

Yes that would be comfortably under the unoccupied - but soon to be occupied crib

She and E sleep in the CRAZIEST positions ever... 

This is an old one but still? Cannot be comfortable. I am sure of it!

--- 2 ---

We tried peach smoothies with some of the peaches I froze a few weeks ago from the Farmers Market and they tasted way better than the frozen peaches from the store

I'm starting to reconsider my position on smoothies before school but that's a whole other post... 

--- 3 ---

M enjoying Grammy's homemade popsicles... 

Did I mention I believe about zlitch-o in bibs? I hindsight I probably should have just taken this outfit off but I mean really? Anyone else in the bibs-free-bebes category? 

--- 4 ---

These girls...  

They are going to miss each other ALOT in the afternoons when E starts school. E was tearful when she realized she's not going to be home for lunch but I quickly reminded her that we would come eat lunch with her some days. 

--- 5 ---

We survived Transfiguration vespers... and celebrated with white and bright Oreos. 

Last year I did a much better job of keeping our food white and bright for Transfiguration - really just as a fun way to remember the feast.

--- 6 ---

I have a whole post to do on updating my summer bucket list... 

And I probably could do an entire post on just trying to get out the flippin' door on time. Seriously getting people fed, dressed and motivated is NO JOKE!

--- 7 ---

Oh and we have been literally across the state - NC is a longer one... In less than a day

Papa? At the beach? 

Babymoon/business trip in the mountains? 

Maybe I'll recap those trips because as with most things around here... There's always a good story : )