Bless This Mess

This morning I got the boys off to school.  Annabelle left for preschool with her Dad (she is so excited he is helping today) and Callie got put down for a nap.  I then cleaned up the house which has been growing into a bigger disaster all week.  It is now all picked and I sat down at the computer and had an email from my friend telling me to read the article, "Bless This Mess."  As I read it I almost got sad that I had just picked up my house.  Luckily I remember what was on the floor, so bear with me, I am going to do a little list of what it was and why I am grateful for it.

Books-I must have picked up at least dozen books.  From all four of my children.  Yes, even Callie loves books, even if it is just to empty her shelf of them.  I love that they all love books.  Most nights I don't care how late it is, I love to cuddle with them and read a book.
Ritz Crackers crumbs all over the kitchen-To me this show that my little girl is getting more and more grown up and can eat and crawl around and I don't have to watch her 100% of the time.
Dress up Clothes-I love watching Annie dress up and laugh and dance and play.  The other day she asked me to put one of her dresses on Callie and she thought it was hilarious.  She said, "Hattie has got to see this!"  We called her little friend up and it was so cute to hear them talk on the phone and then Hattie did come over to see how cute Callie was.
Stuffed animals-Lately Annie likes to pile a bunch of her animals up to cuddle with during a movie or to watch her play or even have a tea party.  I love her imagination.
Callie's toys were everywhere-She is mobile and now so are her toys.  She picks one up and crawls somewhere and drops it.  This goes on all day so toys are literally all over the house.  I love seeing her think and learn and grow.
Socks-Now I don't love finding dirty socks everywhere, but I do love that my kids are healthy enough to run around and play.  So I am thankful for the socks that they can wear and get dirty.
Games-Since I showed the kids how many games we have upstairs they have been playing them more.  I love it.  I love playing with them, or watching them try to play together.
Receipts-This is my bad.  Sometimes when I have a receipt I will just throw it downstairs knowing that the next time I make it to the computer I will pick it up and bring it with me to my pile.  I love that years ago my dad taught me about quick books and I now love keeping track of our family's money.  I am so grateful to Greg's job that allows me to buy the things that we need for our family.
Crayons, Pencils, and Paper-My children love to color and draw.  They love to make mazes and use stickers and glue.  They always present me with their masterpieces.  Lately I have been telling them we should mail more stuff to grandparents and cousins.  I love their artwork, and I love that they are okay keeping it for awhile on our "Look What I Did" board and then throwing it away.

I am sure there were a lot more things I picked up and threw away or put away.  I love my family and I love that we are active and healthy and able to do all that we do.  Next time I think I will let the mess last longer, or at least appreciate it more when I see what is on the ground.

Jumbled Thoughts

No need to read on.  This is just for me and my book this entry will some day make it into.  Today was a day for reading.  My house is a mess and we didn't have a fancy meal but I am okay with that.  I love to read.  I love to get into another world and take part of it.  I love that I can go anywhere and be anything and anyone in a book.  For the last week I have been reading, "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett.  I finished it a few hours ago and loved it.  It really stirred within me some crazy thoughts and feelings.  It is about the South in the 1960s.  It tells the stories of maids and the good and bad things they dealt with at that time in Mississippi.  The 1960s were not that long ago.  I really can't believe how different things were then, when my parents were young.  I am so thankful to how things are now.  I pray that I would not have been like any of the women in the book.
I also found time today to read 5 articles from the Power of Moms website.  Wow!  If only I can take all of the wonderful thoughts and ideas and apply them all to my life, right NOW.  Wouldn't that be nice.  My kids would be so happy, I would be so happy.  I plan on being a frequent to their website where I can learn and grow slowly but surely into the mom and woman I want to be.
One of the articles challenged me to watch my kids more and notice things.  Here is what I noticed today: Nathan is a great reader.  I love him telling me about what he reads.  He is reading Harry Potter 4 right now and I now just how he feels when he wants to read another chapter at 8:50 at night.  I love when it is quieter and he feels like he can come and talk to me.  I know that I need to make more quiet moments so he feels comfortable talking to me.  Ryan still needs me a lot, even though it can be annoying at times.  He needs hugs and stories and lots of love.  He is always wanting to make Callie smile and laugh.  He wants to help and be a leader for Annabelle, even though she doesn't want the help.  Annabelle dances everywhere she goes.  She bites faces into her salami and talks to it.  She loves to make Callie laugh but leaves the room when she cries.  She is so proud of her school work and loves showing it off.  Callie is still an enigma.  Right now she loves to crawl.  She will crawl one flight of stairs and go over to the next.  When she climbs that one she heads straight to the bathroom.  Thankfully not to the toilet, but to the bathtub.  She would sit in the tub all day if I let her-with or without water.  She wants attention and loves to see her family.  Gregory is amazing.  He can calm any one down, including me.  He loves me more than I deserve sometimes.  He loves to just hug me and cuddle while I read and read until Callie wakes up.  He knows when I need something and is right there fulfilling that need.  Hopefully I can keep watching and keep noticing.  
I am not a shopper.  But over the last 6 months I have received two 50% off coupons to a store and have decided that I need some new things.  Today I tried out their jeans.  I hate trying on jeans.  I have a pair of Mudd jeans that I bought forever ago that if I could find again, I would buy a bunch of pairs.  I love them and they fit me perfect.  I probably tried on 20 pairs of jeans today. I came home with 2, and I am not sure if I am okay with them.  Annabelle is so fun to shop with.  She was sad that she wasn't getting anything so I promised her she could pick me out some jewelry to wear.  She was so cute.  She picked out a lot of things that I had to politely say no to.  When I was finally checking out she just wandered around the jewelry racks.  She has already told me that when she gets married all of my jewelry becomes hers.  I have tried to explain that she will have her own, but I don't think it has worked.
Tonight at boot camp we did a lot of work with our arms.  My goal this time around is to do more "boy" push-ups.  Tonight I did 95!  Not all together, but still, 95!  I was so proud of myself.  I didn't go to my knees once!  Now I just have to work on getting down lower and lower.   Autumn is definitely pushing us harder this time around.  I love feeling sore.
Life is just so full sometimes.  I feel like I am being torn in so many different directions.  Probably my favorite time of the day is when Callie is happily playing on the ground and I am just laying there.  Relaxing.  I don't have the TV on.  I don't have music on (unless Annabelle wants to be dancing).  I just lay there and dangle toys in my baby girls' face.  Sometimes i feel like I need to get up and pick up the house, or make dinner, or work on a project.  But then I remind myself that I don't have much time left for laying on the ground and I lay back and enjoy my time.  I like just thinking about life and my kids and whatever else pops into my head.  The kids and I play games or read books nearly every day.  I hope they remember those times.   I pray every day that I can be a better mom, a better wife, a better woman and example for my family. 

Crazy Kids

Callie has discovered our tubes.  She loves to crawl through them, or just sit and read a book.  Twice I thought she was sitting inside a tube but she had somehow managed to climb out the other end and get half-way up the stairs before I realized it. 

The older kids decided they wanted to crawl like Callie. 

Ryan made this sign the other day.  He worked on it for a while and was very proud of it.  It says, "The Crazy Show.  Today at 11:00.  Have Fun!"  And then the word "tickets" with an arrow pointing down.  He made about a dozen tickets (no idea who they all were for) that said "Ryan's Show."  So around 11 that day he had me turn on music and he danced like crazy.  We all got into it and had fun being goofy and crazy together.  I love the expressions the kids make and the props that they decide to use in their crazy dances.

Annabelle loves her sister.  Have I said this before?  I know I know, I am always putting pictures of them in here.  I just love Annie's look in this one.  I love my girls!

Boredom No More

On Monday the kids were off from school and after they finished chores I let them play video games for about 2 hours.  I then told them to find something else to do.  They grumped around the house and were just not too pleasant.  I told them to go get a game from the game closet to which they responded that there wasn't anything in there.  So I got a pad of paper and made this list:
Playdoh                          
Puzzles ~30                    
Playful Patterns
Perfection
Dora memory
Hungry Hippos
Robo Champ
Opposites
Kerplunk
River Crossing
Folder Games~20
Racko
Creationary
Connect 4
Twister
Chutes & Ladders
Green Eggs & Ham
Yahtzee
Crazy 8s
Pretty Princess
Connect 3 sponge bob
Nemo Memory
Over the Hedge
Sequence
Go Fish
Coloring Books
Seek & Find
Paint
7 ate 9
Airplanes
Crafts
UNo
Quiddler
Jenga
Charades
Water Color
Maze
Frogger
Pigs
Brain Quest
ThinkNThrough
Shape by Shape
Paper dominoes
Flashcards
Cookie Bingo
Risk
Checkers
Chess
Cooking Cookies
Mousetrap
Candyland
Cariboo
Scrabble
I Spy
Raceway Game
I CAN WRITE
HI HO CherryO
Science Experiments
WacAMole
Blokus
PopUp Pirate
Stadium Checkers
Qwirkle
Topple
Guess Who
Rummikub
Monopoly
Cloud 9
Pictionary
Dominoes
Clue
Mastermind
Uno Attack
Cat & Mouse
Bingo
Electronic Fish
Scattergories
Pandemic
Scrabble
Balderdash
Carcassone
Lost Cities
This isn't even complete.  There is no way that they can tell me there is nothing to do...ever again.

Jinxed

Remember a couple of days ago when I said that Callie was healthy and not too fussy even though she is teething.  Well, I totally jinxed myself.  She is now got a yucky cold and getting another tooth and miserable.  Last night was a dosie and I am praying that my 30 minute cat nap will get me through boot camp tonight.  And praying even harder that we all get some better sleep tonight.

Snow

Sometimes I think I am starting to like the snow.  I DO think that it is pretty when the world around me is covered in white.  I love when the kids are all having fun together playing outside in it.  The sun was shining and it felt a little warm so I took Callie outside and she really liked the cold stuff on her tongue.  

Ryan pulled her and Annie on the sled for a little bit and I was just about starting to think that snow wasn't so bad.  Then Annabelle picked up some snow and starting looking at it, right over Callie's face and sooner than I could get to her, her face was covered with snow.  The sun went behind some clouds and it got really cold again.  We hurried inside.  And just today the kids were inside with friends running around the house and slamming doors and yelling (girls vs. boys) and I SO wished they were outside having the same battle.  So instead of liking the snow, I now detest it again.  I almost, almost was able to say I liked it.  Happy Human Right Day!

Crazy Callie

 

 Wow, the next year or so are going to be tough.  I sort of forgot that when babies get mobile they get hard, really hard.  I forgot that I won't be able to look away without her falling over and bumping her head or rolling down the stairs (she was SOOO close to doing this yesterday).  I forgot that when they learn to stand in their crib taking naps is a harder and longer ordeal than before.  How could I have forgotten the joy of pulling books off the shelf?  Or how exciting it was to find the stairs?  Thankfully Callie is as cute and healthy as ever.  When I do find her in her crib standing instead of taking a nap she is almost always happy and sometimes she dives down and lays down because she knows that is what I want her to do.  It is REALLY cute.  She has sprouted a tooth and not been overly fussy about it.  She loves food and bottles and basically anything she can get her hands/mouth on.  She also loves music and will either calm down or get excited when she hears different types of music.  I love both.  Her siblings are learning to keep things up higher or little Callie will find them and show them her love-her mouth.  Annabelle is having the hardest time and even got a little angry at her beloved sister the other day.  We keep reminding her that she did the same thing to her brothers.  So here is to the next year full of keeping up with our little one.

 

 

Enjoying Our Christmas Gifts

 We got a bunch of games for Christmas: Creationary, Charades, Chess & Checkers (the boys loved this one) and pictured above is Jenga.  I guess Nathan has a set of these at school and prefers to build with them instead of play game, but we did play it the right way a few times.

 I made this doorway puppet theater.  We have had some fun and funny theatrical performances.  I was hoping to buy a bunch of puppets but they are pretty expensive and so we only got a few.  No worries.  The kids get creative with what we have.

Like I said, the ZhuZhu pets are a hit.  Notice Callie in her high chair watching the little furballs.  I made these tunnels for the pets and Annabelle loved watching her little guy go through them.

We got a few Lego sets but the boys seem to like making their own designs more than the boxes,  We have had this Lego table for years.  It comes in and out of the basement.  Every time it comes out it is a huge hit and the kids all love to play on it. 

 

We wanted to go rollerskating/blading all week but with all of the snow and icy streets we just didn't make it.  Finally on New Years Day we ventured out and were pleasantly surprised at how the rink was not crowded and the kids all did great.  Well, Callie didn't love the loud noise, but we can't please everyone.  I used to skate a lot as a kid.  I love the feel of skating around the rink.  I love the music to shake to.  I love sharing this pastime with my kids.

 

Callie hit the 8 month mark on the 1st.  I can't believe how old she is getting.  She can crawl, pull herself up, and she eats just about anything.  She is a pretty good sleeper at night and takes 2 wonderful naps during the day.  We left her with a non-family sitter for 4 hours the other day and was told she wasn't too fussy (granted she slept for ~2hours).  The kids are still smitten with her and love building towers for her to crawl over and knock down.  We have lowered her crib and she loves to pull down on the bumper to see who is in the room.  She is so happy and healthy and is a great finale for our family.

 

Greg got me a dehydrator for Christmas and we have had a lot of fun trying new things.  We have done pineapple, apples, bananas, strawberries and Greg did a batch of jerky.  All the kids love it and it is fun to have something new to try.

Tomorrow school and work starts.  We have had 2 weeks of fun and relaxation.  No homework, no deadlines, no schedules.  Lots of movies, jammies, snacking, Wii games, naps and reading new books.  It will take a little adjusting to get back to our busy routine, but I think we are all ready.  I think Callie is going to miss everyone the most.  She has loved all the attention.  I have loved having freedom to get things done because there are other people to watch Callie.  It was not as painful as I thought it would be.  I actually enjoyed everyone and am so glad that I am married to such a fabulous man and have four wild and crazy kids.  Happy 2011!!