Back in the Saddle Again.

We started our homeschooling this year.

Our days are busy, but the extra structure seems to be helpful with the

end-of-summer-boredom that was setting in.

Somehow I have a first grader.

He is almost 7.

Fast, confident, and funny.

I also have a silly girl in kindergarten.

She thinks that she has to keep up with her big brother and she works hard to do it.

She loves to help her momma in the kitchen.

After years of saying she doesn't like peppers and tomatoes,

this summer she started to eat both.

Meanwhile, these two are quite the pair.

Luckily, they are cute.

The year of being two holds nothing to the months we've had so far of being three.

My heart stops just thinking about what the rest of the year will be like.

The kids are too fun together.

They laugh, cry, tease, tattle, and play hard.

All. Day. Long.

It is so fun to watch these little people grow and learn to love one another.

Once upon a time..

I dreamed I had a blog.

I would write down all the funny things that happened in my days.

I would record photos and witty sayings of my children.

I would charm grandparents and friends.

Then I woke up...

and tripped over the vacuum,

and nearly fell into a basket of laundry.. was that clean or dirty?

Someone was hungry, then the kitchen needed cleaning.

Then I had to contain/restrain the littles while teaching the older ones something school-ish.

Do I hear harsh words needing correcting?

Is that arguing from the other room?

I am off to handle it, then back to schooling again.

Kids are hungry again?

Eat, drink, wipe, kitchen tidy.

Is it naptime yet?

Make sure everyone goes tinkles, has their blankey and is tucked in...

ahhhh... quiet time....

I sit, I rest.

I breathe.

(Sometimes I even sleep!)

Do I hear footsteps upstairs?

Wake up time.

Hungry, again?

Apples or carrots.

What's for dinner?

Wash, chop, boil, season.

Set the plates and silverware on the table.

Helpers help set the table.

Re-set the table.

Find missing forks.

DADDY"S HOME!

Run, greet, kiss.

Dinner time.

Sit and eat.

More, please.

Wipe, clean, stack, load.

Running, wrestling and noise.

Soon it's bedtime.

Running, wrestling, and noise.

Brush teeth.

Running, wrestling, and noise.

Tinkles and jammies.

Running, wrestling, and noise.

Stories, kisses and prayers.

Lights out.

Talking siblings.

Mommy and Daddy can sit.

and breathe

and talk.

"Dave, you'll never guess what happened today..."

Time for bed.

Maybe I will dream about having a blog....

You know mama is sick when....

...you hear "Daddy, Can we watch another video?" and it's not even 8 am.

It's how I know he loves me.

The day after Valentine's Day is "Chocolate Day" at Dave's office.

It has been for years.

Which, by itself, isn't too odd, but if you look at the larger picture you see:

they like to celebrate with food.

A LOT.

For example:

St.Patrick's Day - Soda bread anyone?

Fat Tuesday - You bet there will be doughnuts.

Easter - There's more than chocolate bunnies.

Fourth of July - Home of the Free!

Cinco de Mayo - Pass the salsa con queso, please.

Halloween - Grab some of your kids stash to share!

Thanksgiving - Don't we already eat enough now?

Christmas - Cookie overload, folks!

Oh yeah - anyone having a birthday - bring your own treat to share.

Getting married? Having a baby?

There will be a celebration with cake (please note: Dave prefers if it's from Costco).

I am sure I am missing something, but I want to avoid exaggerating to make my point.

No, he doesn't work in food services. He is in corporate offices. Does this happen everywhere? Back in the day I was a teacher.

Now I know those elementary teachers can rock out the snack with all those kid birthdays - but at the secondary level it was less common.

But is this what all those business persons are doing all day? If so, go desk-work!

So, back to Chocolate Day.

I want to represent my Hubbs well.

No stopping at the grocery store to buy snack here. Homemade, baby.

So this year I made my husband Chocolate Whoopie Pies to share with the class, oh, I mean, his co-workers. They were tasty.

And how do I know my husband loves me?

This year, on Chocolate Day, he smuggled a Tupperware container to work, filled it with chocolate treats, and brought it home for his wifey.

Who says romance is just for Valentine's Day?

This boy knows the way to my heart.

He understands how I work.

He's picking up what I'm laying down.

After 10 years, this guy knows my love language: FREE.

Let it Snow!

Our first installment of snow:

The kids were outside even before the breakfast dishes were cleared.

The snow was perfect-o for building, so I joined them.

Lydia is our weakest link when it comes to playing outside in the cold. She's always the first to come back inside. She was none to happy as we were rolling snowballs for our snowmen. She kept crying that it wasn't getting bigger, but all of them were - just slowly. Caleb didn't buy it either and stomped on his. Now it really wasn't going to get any bigger.

What's a mama to do? I kept rolling mine until I was done, then I helped them. Lydia was still not enjoying herself, as we piled our snowballs to make our snowmen.

Then we put on the face and the girl was in love.

The crying stopped and she was hugging and kissing this pile of snow in our front yard.

Notice Lydia's leg and her smile - she was all about this guy!

Liam and Clara were happy that their snowman was taller than the other one.

They particularly loved using their own hats and scarves.

Liam was bummed that we weren't building a fort. He remembers the big snows from last year and has been a little disappointed with these piddly snowfall amounts.

The second installment of snow which came that evening dropped an additional 11" and we woke up the next morning to see that our snowmen had been buried. Not good for the snowmen, but there might be hope for Liam's fort after all.

On another note:

How do you get kids inside cheerfully when they are tired from playing in the snow and overdue for naps?

Give them empty bowls to fill with snow, add sprinkles, and hand out spoons.

My Little Over Achiever.

This girl is just the sweetest thing these days.

She is snuggly and loves her mama.

She chats it up and we can hardly understand her jabberwocky.

She loves her pigtails and cries when she thinks their quality has been compromised.

She is a potty-training champ. The other night (at 3 am) I heard something, and when I got out of bed I found this little over-achiever had taken off her footies (and the 2 pair of pj's underneath) and her diaper to tinkle on the potty.

She dresses and redresses herself ALL day long.

She can even get herself dressed and bundled in snow attire all by herself.

She loves her baby doll, skirts and tights and all things girly.

Speaking of over-achieving:

Mama made what was supposed to be snowman pancakes. Above are the girls, with pigtails, please don't confuse them as snow dogs.

And here are the 'boy' ones, complete with french berets.

Our only regret is that we used syrup instead of powdered sugar, because, hello! it's like snow! The kids are already asking for them again.

Go Team Mom.

It's POTTY time!

Because I didn't have anything to do...

or maybe because one little girl was SO ready....

I took the plunge last Monday and decided to toilet train the twins.

Lydia was very ready and I decided to include Caleb since it wouldn't hurt him.

A friend reminded me that toilet training is after all an essential life skill.

The end result?

Arguments over who gets to flush.

A lot more skin being regularly exposed.

Stopping into Wal-Mart last night for a date night and NOT having to pick up any diapers.

(We live a wild life.)

The first night in over SIX years where someone did not wet a diaper at night.

Terribly DIRTY toilets.

Lots of potty words - in and out of songs.

Lots of little undies around the house.

And so begins a new chapter in my life. I hope I know what to do with myself.