E and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Morning

Mornings around here are usually pretty busy. Breakfast, brushing teeth, get dressed, pray, get out of dodge - the normal stuff. This morning was particularly hard though. And if for no other reason than wanting to remember how I felt, here goes...

E had American Heritage Girls last night and got home late - so she was tired to begin with. She woke up earlier than I'd like because I couldn't snag M before she woke E up. Then her neck hurt and her tooth was loose and her head hurt all before breakfast started.

Papa was packing lunch and he was about to pack a clementine.

E - Papa I don't want an orange
Papa - Why? You need it
E - I just don't want it
Papa - Its good vitamin C
E - But it means I HAVE MORE TRASH to throw away
#kindergartenproblems

Then she said her tummy hurt - as soon as she finished breakfast. Fearing the worst, I took her temperature and it was fine - 3 times. I told her to get dressed and see how she felt.

As we are scurrying out the door - and no further mention of the tummy - she informs me she'd like to take an AR quiz on a book she read last night.

A. I need to know this the night before
B. I have no extra forms anyways
C. WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE LEAVING

Next, she doesn't have enough room in her carseat.

Upon this I lose my cool and tell her that there are number of little girls who would love to have a carseat to ride in, and a school to go to, and etc etc etc... before the garage door closes.

Finally when I work up the nerve to speak - lest I regret something else - I mention that we have to return our books to the library tomorrow.

+++ INSERT FREAKOUT +++

Today happens to be library day at school and E did not get her book that was lying RIGHT next to her folder which she is responsible for packing.

Totally feeling bad for her because she is so, so, so distraught over this book. Even if I had time to turn around and get it (we were halfway to school) - I wouldn't because responsibility is a hard thing to learn. I've let her turn in homework without her name on it for the exact same reason. BUT it is still hard to listen to her be so sad about the book - plus the book really isn't that interesting so even I was hoping for a new one.

Book at her spot during lunch : ( 

Then she composes herself - barely - as we pull up to school. But not after telling me her tummy hurts. I tell her to wait it out until snack and if she still doesn't feel good she can call me and I'll get her. At this point, I'm thinking she just wants to skip library. Anyhow, she gets out of her seat and I ask her what coat she wants. Her winter coat or rain jacket? She wants her school coat which is... 

on the rack at home because if I carried around 3 coat options for everyone I'd end up with 12 coats in my front seat. 

She tearfully settles on the purple one and collects herself for one more time. 

Before we go through the carpool line I apologize for yelling at her - it is so hard and yet so powerful asking your child to forgive you. Then she gives me one more squeeze and she's off.

And I'm a wreck. For her sake. 

I'm sad for her that she's not having a great day - in fact her morning has been pretty mediocre. I hope that nothing legit is going on with her tummy. I hope that she's not thinking about me yelling at her. I hope that she doesn't shed a tear at the library. I hope she doesn't get cold without her coat. I hope she remembers her line for the Christmas program. I hope all these things so that she'll have a better day

I seriously wanted to drive down to the school just to check on her - but I know I can't. I just want to KNOW that she's fine and she's having a better day. I think about her all morning. I pray for her. I hope for her. 

I do know that one huge bright spot in her day is Jibbe and Aunt Mary going to have lunch with her - something that was pre-planned well before all this panned out. I give Jibbe a heads up about the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Morning.

Then at 12:31 I call for the coveted intel. 

No answer

A few minutes later my insider tells me E is doing fine and is having a great day according to the kindergarten herself. 

I knew she'd be fine but I just needed to hear it. 

When she got home from school she was in a good mood. I didn't hear anything about the jacket or the book or any complaints. Only that she had a good day and Jibbe brought her lunch. I made E give me three squeezes - because I just needed a few extra, which was so true. I needed those squeezes because  I had a rough day just thinking about her. 

Turkey Daze 2015 Round up

Here's how Thanksgiving week panned out... 

I made turkey cookies for 2 classes... 

Hello 60 cookies!

I learned that the ONE darker pan we have cooks at a much faster rate than the lighter pan...

Me - My last batch of cookies overcooked and they were in the oven for several minutes less than my other batches.

Lee - That's weird

Me - Yeah, I cooked them on that dark pan

Lee - Oh... well that pan cooks stuff faster

Me - WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT! Now I have 15 overcooked sugar cookies. 

Lee - I thought you knew that Chicky

When will he learn that my kitchen skillz are at the pre-K level. 

I'm bound and determined to get better sugar cookies. I might just even have to make them from scratch because while I only overcooked 15 - all of them were flat and I would prefer fluffy turkeys. Someone hit me up with a fluffy sugar cookie recipe - I'm going to guess its got some baking powder and soda in there to make them stand up

We are slowly be surely getting through the Jesse Tree. The morning of the turkey cookies Lee also had to figure out how to place 4 sheets of cookies in the van without them getting trampled on OR moving around too much! - He was successful!

R had her party at school and nothing says party like Cheese Balls. I still have a bunch left in the jar so hopefully they won't get stale because E has called dibs for her snack day in December. 

Wednesday Lee and I both had to work - we worked in shifts since schools were closed. Then Thursday we packed up and headed for the hills. I tripled checked our 4 bags, with 4 outfits, 4 changes of clothes and 4 sets of pajamas. 

There was lots of food and good times with my family. 

This could be the first family of six photo that's been taken - thanks Uncle Bill!

I really only took a few pics

4 tables of people... 

So very ready to eat. R had lots of fun with my cousins kids.. Hello piggy back rides!

YUM!

Then we loaded up and headed back to the Mount because the next morning was 2nd day of Turkey

A finds the most unusual positions to fall asleep in - and stay asleep!

Lee's masterpiece :  )

Gravy anyone? I know there are different schools of thought on gravy. I did not have chewable gravy until I met Lee. I will admit it is growing on me!

Let's see. Again I clearly didn't taken enough pictures. But the girls had fun with their cousins which is awesome. It was actually a bit lower key because we were missing some cousins : ( but they will be here for Christmas so : ) 

On the third day of Turkey, Lee took the big girls to the movies - first time - to see Peanuts. M and A and I headed to a friend's house. Then we headed to Jibbe's for leftovers!!!!!! Probably the best part of Thanksgiving is the leftovers. 

On the fourth day of Turkey, Jibbe and Aunt Mary came over for dinner with turkey hash - which I'm still not a huge fan of (I can do the country gravy but the hash still needs to grow on me).

Then we said to heck with the turkey because it was all gone except for the bones which Aunt Mary was going to use for soup!

Week in My Life - Sunday

One. More. Day

The documentation of our days has gotten increasingly bad and probably boring so my apologies

Getting ready for our early church departure. Complete with milk cups for breakfast and supplies to complete our Advent activity numero 2. 

We eat breakfast in the parish hall so that means I've got to pack three four sets of church clothes, shoes and jackets PLUS we were going over to Lee's brother's house after so pajamas were in order as well. 

Loaded up. I've only forgotten crucial things like socks once and fortunately I was able to rummage some up from someone's bag.

Living an hour away from church is just normal to us now and the kids do surprisingly well in the van - no TV around here. Usually there's lots of singing, some minor spats, and silly game playing - like hide and go seek? Yep, the girls have played that more than once while strapped in their carseats : )  

Bread that Papa makes for church... 

Sleeping bebe = easier breakfast

We found that taking breakfast for the girls and having them eat in the parish hall is way better than rushing to eat it at home. That gives them plenty of time to eat and gets Papa to church is more than enough to do pre-liturgy prep as part of his deacon-duties. It only took us three weeks to figure this out when our service time was changed, we have been doing it for over 2 years and it makes Sunday mornings way easy. 

Everyone gets dressed for church after breakfast - this is usually a bit more rushed. E usually hurries through breakfast so she can catch the last few minutes of Matins and get organized for liturgy. If she has her own music stand and stands with the choir she is bound to have much better behavior. 

Speaking of behavior, I will say that Sunday mornings at church are some of the most the difficult 90 minutes of parenting each week and this week proved no different. I'm not going to throw a pity party here just want to have some solidarity moments here of taking young kids to church. 

Okay, so Papa was ordained (Deacon Joseph - since there is no saint Lee; and I probably really should refer to him as DJ more often - I'll work on it) when R was 3 months old. Prior to that he was a subdeacon and prior to that he served on the altar every week. So I've been eased into solo parenting 4 kids at church - which doesn't make it any easier - I just know what I'm up against. I think the hardest part about taking young kids to church (there is no nursery option, and if there was I doubt I'd send them) is that I really want my kids to behave plus be semi-tuned into was is happening. When that doesn't happen - this week case in point - it is because A need to be bounced and fed, M is taking off her shoes and scratching wax off the floor, R has decided she's not going to sing and wants to stand right in front of E try and be cute, and E is distracted by R. Some Sundays are awesome but I'm not going to sugar coat, some Sundays I leave church annoyed with a high BP. I will say this, I used to even question why I bothered bringing them to church - even though I knew the answer - but I don't ask myself that anymore because I am quite sure it is the devil trying to plant seeds of doubt and despair. 

Moving on... 

We hit up Target for our Advent Activity for Week 2. 

Packing shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child

It is probably my favorite Advent activity to do with the kids... I'll post on that separately (maybe : ) 

Dear Target - your new shopping carts do not allow the infant carrier to fit in the normal spot! WHY?!?!?!?

Then after a few more errands we headed over to Lee's brother's house for an afternoon of family and football and food. The girls LOVE LOVE LOVE going over to their cousins house and we usually end up leaving in tears because we cannot handle being apart from all the fun. 

Some of the 2.5 minutes A was not in the Beco because he just couldn't stay sleep anywhere else 

#ihaveproblems - except really not.

Then we packed up and headed home after dinner, threw the troops in bed and called it a night

While we were driving home and I was thinking about all the posts I had done for the week and all the things we had done (and not done) and how all the gears turned to make our lives function the way it does I can make a few claims:

1. It is nearly impossible to raise your voice when your teeth are clinched. I have been trying ever so hard to not yell at the kids and whenever I start - I clinch my teeth and then say what I want to say and my volume isn't nearly as loud. 

2. There are so many people who help make our world go around. Our family, our schools, our friends. Sometimes I think our lives couldn't get crazier and then I realize that it could be. If the family didn't bring E home from school - how would I finagle picking her up with 3 other kids and working in the afternoon? If one of the preschool teachers didn't help me out and let me drop R and M off 10 minutes early, how would it be getting home 25 minutes later for lunch? Two examples of how people go out of their way to help us and honestly I don't know how we'd do it without them

3. Our family is awesome. Aside from the fact they help us out a lot - we really enjoying spending time with them. The past two Sundays we've spent with Lee's family and my family. It is so nice to have family close by and to have the kids have cousins they spend lots of time with and grandparents who are deeply involved in their lives. Having grown up seeing my grandparents about once a year, because of distance, our kids are extremely fortunate to have grandparents this close. 

4. School. Yes we did seriously toy with the idea of homeschooling E this year and I can tell you I believe we made the right decision not to. I think we are exactly where we need to be. And while E claims she 'does SO MUCH seat work' and 'NEVER gets to paint', Lee and I are more than happy with her school situation. I remember this being such a huge weight (on me especially) this time last year. 

5. Work. Some people might ask why in the world do I work. I really enjoy what I do and I am fortunate to have two really flexible employers who let me bring the babies to work, work from home and take off when there is no school. It is the best (and let's be honest, hardest) of both worlds being able to work part-time and being at home in the afternoons. 

Week in My Life - Saturday

I don't think I'll get tired of waking up to this view... 

Here's E's Lego creation that she was saving from R's potential destruction. It is on Lee's major todo list to make a Lego table for upstairs. If you have any brilliant ideas let me know otherwise to Pinterest I will go... 

It is Saturday so you know what day it is around here? Laundry day. Usually I'll employ the girls to get their clothes separated but E was leaving and I wasn't up for a battle so I just did it.  

E and M have really taken to A. R is still mostly doing her own -almost-4-yr-old thing so she is usually not paying him much mind. I think M is on the phone with Grammy and Grandpa Joe. Now when they call all the girls want to talk so the conversations can be a bit lengthy : )  

We did our Jesse Tree before Papa and E headed out. We really have not been on top of it like we were last year so we definitely need to do better at planning 5-10 minutes in the morning or evening to do it. 

E and Papa were heading out to the campgrounds where her American Heritage Girls had spent the night and were spending the day. Neither of them really knew what to expect. Here's to a father-daughter adventure!

That left me with the youngest 3. And I get constant reminders there is a 2 yr old in the house. This is the girl who I had to call Poison Control for because she ate an unknown number of my Tums, she is bound to get a hand or foot smashed in the van door because she will NOT stop closing them herself (I've seriously considered turning off the buttons) AND the other day she stuck a fourth of a cashew up her nose and it was pretty well lodged up there - but I got it out before it require medical extraction. 

She's really cute though... And she loves taking pictures

In between R and M's antics laundry was done and Rumba was run. It is nice to be able to tell the kids to clean up their room so I can run Rumba and they know Rumba means business. We have migrated most of the toys upstairs except for the Duplos, some baby stuff and MagnaTiles so clean up is not too terrible. 

A and I were treated to a solo shopping trip because Jibbe took the girls to the park for lunch. They are savoring the waning not-so-freezing days. That was a huge help to not have 2 extra helpers while shopping. 

The view after a shopping trip and note the pile of clothes that needs to be folded. Shopping trips can mess with my laundry schedule but I did manage to get the bulk of it done. 

The girls came home from lunch and then hit the hay for rests - or quiet time as R calls hers.

I watched the second half of the Carolina football game and I still cannot believe they actually won because the last few minutes of the game were pretty terrible.

The girls got up and a neighbor came over and we chatted it up while our girls played. 

Then I got a text from Lee saying that they'd be home - so that gave me 30 minutes to feed R and M, shower them and tidy up. It was a success since I had a pretty unproductive afternoon. 

I got the scoop from E about her time at the campgrounds and she was so tired she gave me a skewed report about how there was 'nothing to play on'. The girls were tossed in bed because it was late and well Sundays are Sundays around here. 

I got the scoop from Lee who said they went on a hike, cleaned up a few campgrounds, and went to the nature center and they heard a talk on hibernation. Overall I think it was a success. But a word to the wise - before you start going to trash talk someone or some group of people it would be best to know who is in earshot of your conversation as you never know who is listening and what you are saying might be quite hurtful to them. 

Theme Thursday - Portraits

Taking a break from Week in my Life...

I took these pictures the day before Halloween. These are the ones from my phone but I did bring out the real camera... These will suffice for now

These were our fall pics from last year - In fact it was a Theme Thursday post but the sun was much better. This year I was desperately late and didn't have my act together thanks to a 3 week old : ) 

Getting four kids to look at the camera is nearly impossible so cuteness tends to make up for it

I've always taken each kids picture in this pumpkin outfit for their first Halloween. Considering M wore it last year and she was a few days shy of one, you might imagine that A was swallowed by it. 

Now, these won't be our Christmas card pics unless a get super desperate and the bribes of Sweet Tarts (because they are small and not messy and 2 yr olds can eat them while pictures are being taken) don't work. 

My all time favorite Christmas card outtake is from 2012 - and I've never snapped one as fantastic as that one. 

Here are our previous Christmas cards:

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

Happy Advent!