The Longest Days. The Shortest Years.

Unpublished Draft from 2011....

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Mon, 18 May 2020 20:06:00 +0000

Flora and Scout went on a scavenger hunt! This was a really fun activity for them that was really easy to plan. Actually, the "planning" was kind of fun too -- it was basically just me drawing pictures on a piece of cardboard.

So this was their scavenger hunt list (don't judge my artwork!). I put a big laundry basket in the living room and as they found the items on the list they put it in the laundry basket. They only had one list so teamwork was a requirement of this game.

As I suspected, Flora took control of the list and the marker. She sent Scout on assignments and he would bring items to the basket and she would check it off the list. Occasionally there were items that she wanted to get herself though. Mostly the girly things or the things she considered to be "grown up" things.

Once they checked off everything on their scavenger hunt list we went through the basket to look at the things they found. It was fun! A good rainy or snowy day activity for sure. We don't have any of those new Crayola Dry Erase Crayons and boards but I think those would be great for this game because then we could make scavenger hunt list after scavenger hunt list without using every piece of cardboard I own (I don't own a ton of cardboard).

Unpublished Draft from 2010.....

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Mon, 18 May 2020 20:00:00 +0000

"It sucks to be the middle child." (just ask Sara)
It also sucks to have a birthday near a major holiday. (again, ask Sara)

Scout turned 2-years-old last week. At least I think he did . . . it was a busy week and the poor little guy didn't get much of a birthday celebration. His birthday was Monday so we gave him a balloon and sang Happy Birthday to him that morning and he got a shot in the leg at the doctor's office that afternoon. "Happy Birthday, Scout, here's a Hep A vaccine for ya!" The nurse gave him a special birthday sticker though so it wasn't a TOTAL bummer birthday.
Tuesday night Scout went to Cabelas with Chris and Mike and Flora while I stayed home to clean house for our Thanksgiving guests. Honestly, that may have been the highlight of his birthday week. Cabelas has some really cool animals -- both alive and stuffed.
My parents and Shane arrived on Wednesday and Scout got some presents from them and opened his pinata. I think we will make pinatas a birthday tradition. Flora and Scout really enjoyed them this year!

Unpublished Draft from 2012.....

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Mon, 18 May 2020 19:57:00 +0000

Scout: Flora, hold my hand and I will dance you.
Flora: Ok (takes Scout's hand)
Scout: What kind of dance do you want to do?
Flora: A ballet.
(they ballet through the kitchen holding hands)

Flora and Scout looking at a Christmas book and talking about Christmas:
Flora: Scout, at Christmastime we will go sleep and when we wake up there will be presents under our beds! (under beds??)

Scout: Why does Santa Claus have snow all over his face?
Flora: That's his beard, silly!

About Last Night....

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 14:55:00 +0000

Sometimes something so incredibly ridiculous happens that I can't process it without writing about it. I'm putting this on facebook (bc that's where I put things), but if you are a parent of one of my kids' friends, please don't share this story with your kids. Scout and Timber would be embarrassed. Also, this is a puke story so don't read unless you're cool with puke stories.

Last night, I told the boys it was bedtime at 8:10 but they asked for “just one more minute, pleeeeeease” to finish their game. I said I would be back at 8:12 for bedtime. I got caught up in folding laundry and didn't look at the clock until 8:14. As I walked down the hallway toward their room I heard a soft *thud and opened the door just in time to see Scout start scream-crying and pointing accusingly at Timber, who is sitting wide-eyed across the room.

“HE THREW THE BASEBALL AND HIT ME IN THE EARRRRRR!”

“HE TOLD ME TO THROW THE BALL! HE TOLD ME TO THROW IT HARD!”

“IT HUUUURRRRRRTS!!!”

At this point, Timber starts scream-crying too. They're both hysterical, both irrational, and, honestly, both should've been asleep half an hour ago . . .

“HE HIT ME IN THE EAR!”

“HE TOLD ME TO!”

“HE HIT ME!!!”

“I DIDN'T MEAN TO!”

I feel like I've passed on some admirable traits to my kids, but one quality I wish they hadn't inherited is my strong gag reflex. Sometimes just the THOUGHT that something MIGHT'VE touched his food will trigger Timber's gag reflex. They've all been sick with colds this week. Colds mean lots of snot. Crying also means lots of snot.

Conditions were favorable for The Perfect Storm.

First Scout's scream-crying morphed into cry-gagging. “TRASH CAN!” I yelled, as I lunged across the room for their trash can. I shoved it under Scout's face just in time . . . just in time to hear Timber's scream-crying turn to cry-gagging behind me. “TRASH CAN, TIMBER! OVER HERE!” I yelled, but there was only one trash can. Sometime during these 30 seconds Chris had come to gawk at us. In his defense, I imagine we were quite a spectacle – all three of us gagging on the floor with me desperately trying to rally both boys over one trash can. I yelled, “TRASH CAN! WIPES! PAPER TOWELS!” at him and couldn't help laughing at how outrageous this moment was as I continued trying to get Timber to join Scout snotting and gagging over the single trash can. He almost made it. Chris had just thrown me a package of wipes and that package of wipes became my only line of defense between what was coming out of Timber and one of the few carpeted areas of our house. (At this point, the doorbell rang -- of course someone would show up at our house right at this moment. But that was not my concern. I was at battle.) The wipes held up just long enough for another trash can to appear, along with paper towels and more wipes.

Whew! So now that the frantic PROTECT THE CARPET push was over I concentrated my efforts on calming the boys down. They were both still crying-gagging-puking into their respective trash cans and again I found myself laughing. I think that surprised them a little and they looked at me, looked at each other, and then started laughing too. For a few more minutes they alternated between crying and gagging and laughing and it was all complete and utter ridiculousness.

The life lessons here are 1) Don't ask people to throw baseballs at your head, 2) Don't throw a baseball at someone's head, even if he asks for it, and 3) If you say you're coming back at 8:12, DO NOT WAIT UNTIL 8:14 to show up. It might be fine . . . or it might result in a snot-gag-cry-a-thon that could've been prevented if you'd JUST SHOWN UP AT THE DOOR 10 SECONDS EARLIER!

FloFlo.....basically

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 17:12:00 +0000

I can't believe how grown up Flora acts now. Well.....most of the time. She still likes to dance around in her underwear and cry on the floor sometimes and crawl under the table if she's not a fan of dinner -- but then again, there are probably a lot of grown ups who do those things too.

ANYWAY.

Flora was sitting with me on the couch working on a project. Scout started yelling for her from his bedroom. He wanted her to come see a new level he had achieved in Angry Birds. He yelled and yelled and she ignored and ignored until she finally put down her project with a big sigh and bounced back to his room. A couple minutes later she returned to the couch and told me very matter-of-factly, "Well, two things just happened: First of all, Scout got to a new level. Second, I just wasted my time."

ALSO.

Flora told me yesterday that she and her friend Kivrin had started a secret club at school. "Uh-oh," I thought, "here comes the clique phase." But then I was really happy when she described her secret club, The Friendship Club, as a club where all the members get points for being nice to people or helping someone and they all try to get at least 10 points per day! Isn't that adorable!!?? So then she and Kylie (friend, neighbor, pseudo-sister) decided to make a poster for the club so that when it warms up she can go around the neighborhood asking kids if they want to join (again -- ADORABLE!). They finished a rough draft of the poster before it was time to leave for school and I laughed when I saw it in her room later. Along with the name of the club and some fun graphics, there were the words "STARRING FLORA AND KIVRIN" with the word "STARRING" crossed out and replaced by "HOSTS." Even in creating a club to help other people Flora can't help but cast herself as the star.

AND.

Flora's favorite word right now is "basically." She basically puts it in every sentence. Basically she just uses normal words except for "basically" and occasionally she'll throw in a "technically." Talking to Flora is basically like talking to a grown up now that she understands basically everything.

all the lunches....

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 21:14:00 +0000

Timber and I were sitting across from each other eating lunch today when I started thinking about all the lunches I've prepared for my kids. It's one of my least favorite "Mommy duties" and yet one that must be done every. single. day. So many lunches.....so very many lunches have been prepared over the past seven years.

I thought about lunches three years ago when Flora was 4, Scout was 3, and Timber was 1. Those lunches were repetitive but always very healthy. Lots of fruits and vegetables cut into tiny pieces for little fingers to put into little mouths. Always something from every food group crowded onto their small plates. There wasn't a lot of chatter but usually plenty of giggles and goofing off. Messy faces and messy hands. Half the food on their plates left untouched.

Lunches now are much quieter. On school days it's just me and T and we eat whatever we feel like eating that day. Sometimes we'll go out for lunch and sometimes we'll eat at home. Sometimes he wants yogurt and fruit snacks for lunch and sometimes I just shrug my shoulders and give him yogurt and fruit snacks. He talks nonstop about Angry Birds or he eats quietly while lost in thought about whatever has captured his little mind. Flora and Scout are eating their lunches in a noisy cafeteria surrounded by friends and classmates. Half the time I have no idea what they're eating for lunch....but I know they will come home starving.

And then I thought about what lunch will be like next year. Next year, Timber will be at preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays so it will just. be. me. eating lunch. Maybe I will read a book and use a butter knife to hold the pages flat like I used to watch my Grandma do. Maybe I will meet friends for lunch or maybe I'll forget to eat lunch and just snack all day. It will be very quiet. We will all eat our lunches separately. And I felt sad about that.....but not unprepared. Because we've had our lunches. We've had years of lunches -- lunches with giggles, lunches with tears, lunches in front of the tv, lunches in the car, lunches with runny noses, lunches outside, lunches downstairs, lunches at the park, lunches at the zoo, lunches when it's raining, lunches when it's snowing, lunches in costume, lunches with friends, lunches with Daddy.....all those lunches.

All the lunches we've had together make me feel okay about all the lunches we won't have together. And so even though making lunch will never be one of my favorite responsibilities I'm glad that I've had the opportunity to spend so many lunches with my favorite little kiddos.

pulling teeth

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 21:11:00 +0000

(Hi Sara! Lol....I think you're the only one who still checks this blog.)
;)

As "Mommy" I do a lot of gross jobs. I can handle puke and snot and all sorts of bathroom scenarios, but I've always drawn the line at pulling teeth. I never pulled my own teeth and I had no intention of pulling anyone else's either. In fact I told Chris early on that pulling teeth was totally his department.
So last night when Flora's front tooth was bleeding & dangling sideways in her mouth and Chris was gone for a few hours I faced my greatest hurdle as "Mommy" and asked her if she wanted me to pull it for her. She emphatically told me, "No, I don't want you to do it because you're not a professional." (Apparently Chris is the "professional" because "he's done it before.")
So Flora tried to pull it by herself.....unsuccessfully. And it started bleeding more.....and it was way after bedtime.....and I was afraid she would swallow it if it fell out during the night......so I took a deep breath and gave it a pull.
I screamed.....she screamed.....we were both very unprofessional. And also unsuccessful. So I put her to bed and said a prayer for the tooth to stay put until morning.
This morning she woke up early and Chris pulled her tooth very professionally and very uneventfully.

The moral of this story:
If you know you cannot pull teeth then don't try to pull teeth.
It's literally like pulling teeth.

boys (let it go)

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 05:39:00 +0000

I judged. I know I did.
I would see little boys yelling and jumping and crashing and booming and pretty much spinning out of control and I would think, "I'm glad my boys are so calm. I'm glad my boys are quiet and reserved."

They were. They really really were.

But then they turned into boys.

And now I finally realize that the best parenting, the best nurturing, the best intentions will not stop boys from being boys. They will be too loud. They will not sit still for long. They will whoop and holler and wrestle and race and I will be tempted to yell at them to stop. I will be tempted to regain a sense of control by calming their madness. I will be tempted to put in headphones and lock myself in my room with a chocolate bar while mayhem ensues in the rest of the house.

But I won't.
(Well....I might have that chocolate bar....)

What I will do is realize that boys are loud and that's okay. Boys have tons of energy and that's okay. Boys play rough and that's okay. Boys stink and laugh at toots and want to play with worms and dirt and that's okay.

I will try my hardest not to shush them or calm them unless it's absolutely necessary that they be quieter or calm down. Boys are just crazy bundles of loud energy. Boys are also curious and adventurous and brave and eager for new experiences. They calm down and focus when new and interesting things capture their attention -- not when I say "calm down." What does "calm down" mean to a 5-year-old anyway? (I'm pretty sure Scout thinks it means "keep doing what you are doing but do it in slow motion and include some slow motion sound effects")

I'm tired of saying "calm down." Do I want them to sit politely on the couch when we have guests and make small talk with the grownups? Well, sure, that would be cute for a while. But they're made to play and explore and show off and have adventures and compete against each other for who can do the best jump. They will have hours upon hours of "calm down" time once they're in school -- and they've both shown that they can behave very well (very calmly) in a school setting. I'd like for home to be the place that they can cut loose and be boys and not be stifled.

So....
New parents, parents of girls, parents of boys who are still in the sweet little toddler or baby stages, parents of only one boy (a boy's energy multiplies in the presence of other boys! MULTIPLIES!), people who aren't parents, old parents who've forgotten what little boys are like, and everyone else that we come into contact with on a regular basis -- I apologize in advance for those times when my boys are jumping and yelling and bashing into each other and eating their boogers and squashing bugs and smelling like dirty laundry and looking like dirty laundry.
They're boys. And most of the time I'm just gonna let it happen.

This is a new resolution on my part. I thought blogging about it might help me remember to stick to it. It's so tempting to try to control the Boy Madness.....why can't they just play My Little Pony or draw quietly for hours like Flora does??? Nope -- just gotta let it go and choose better battles. A calm boy does not equal a good boy.

swim lessons (i blogged!!)

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Tue, 08 Jul 2014 03:38:00 +0000

I should blog more.

I should also floss more. Exercise more. Sleep more. Sleep less. Clean more. Volunteer more. Recycle more. Pray more.

But anyway.....

Swim lessons! The kids are finally in swim lessons! I've thought about swim lessons for years but it was always a scary idea for me and I just never put forth the effort to get them signed up. Welp, it turns out swim lessons are fantastic! Kinda.

Scout is not afraid to try anything. Whether it's a weird new food or dunking his head underwater, he's game to try it at least once. And it turns out he's really good at going underwater and learning to swim. He's like his Aunt Sara used to be -- a fearless little fish. The pool is his playground and he doesn't see any reason why he shouldn't be able to swim all over it.
At the beginning of the lesson, the instructor was assessing everyone's ability levels. She asked who could put their whole heads underwater and I watched in awe as Scout raised his hand and then dunked his head. He's been in a pool less than five times in his entire life! But he instinctively knew how to hold his breath and even opens his eyes underwater already. Amazing! He LOVES swim lessons and learns something new every day. He is swimming through hoops underwater, diving for objects at the bottom of the pool, learning to "flutter kick" across the water with a pool noodle, and practicing floating on his back. I love his fearless attitude toward the water!! So brave!!

Flora, on the other hand, is just like me. She was so excited for swim lessons and envisioned herself jumping off the diving board by the end of her first lesson. But then she actually went to a lesson and her swimming fantasies were quickly replaced by swimming nightmares. The water was too cold, the chlorine hurt her eyes, the city decided to test the tornado sirens (conveniently located right next to the community pool), and the instructor wanted Flora to GET HER HAIR WET. Unacceptable.
There were tears. Many, many tears. But she hung with her first lesson right up until the tornado sirens started with 10 minutes left in the session. At that point, Flora calmly walked away from her class, sobbing, and came to sit with me while Scout and Timber finished their lessons. She was just done. And I totally understand that feeling.
BUT, I'm proud of her for going back to the next lesson and doing a little bit better. There were fewer tears and she stuck it out until the end. It's coming harder for her than it is for Scout and I'm sure that's frustrating to her so it makes me extra proud to see her keep fighting. Despite the fact that she cried several times during today's lesson she hopped out of the pool asking how soon she could go to bed so she could wake up and come to another lesson. Brave little girl.
Her instructor recommended buying swim goggles for tomorrow's lesson since putting her eyes in the water pretty much reduces Flora to tears every single time. Hopefully the goggles will help! She practiced in the shower tonight.

Timber is always tricky to handle. He's like a wild animal. Or like a very delicate pastry. Or like anything else that you have to be an expert to get "juuust right." I'd like to think I'm a Timber Expert by now. So this is how his swim lessons went down:
On the first day we all gathered in a large group and they called the name of a student and showed him/her which teacher to go with. They did the little kids, the AquaTots, first so Timber would be the first of the siblings to get called away. I realized that this might not fly very well with him. So, they called his name and I initiated Operation Evade Timber. I chirped and smiled and skipped him over to his teacher and then while he was distracted by her introduction, I disappeared. I'm not ashamed to say I totally hid behind another mom. I was literally peeking over her shoulder to watch him. So his teacher started to lead the little class away and he turned to run back to me -- BUT HE COULDN'T FIND ME. So his only option was to FOLLOW HIS TEACHER or be left by himself. BWA-HA-HA! (Evil genius mom laugh.)
I watched from my hiding place as he reluctantly followed his teacher, looking over his shoulder often with a big grump face and muttering things that no one could hear. I can guarantee he was saying, "Timber don't want to swim. Timber want to be with Mommy. Timber don't want to have a teacher." I know it sounds cruel but I really knew that this was the best way to make this happen. I had already assured him that I would be sitting right next to the pool during his entire lesson so he knew I wasn't gone. He just couldn't run to me.....because he couldn't find me......and so he stayed with his class. And within five minutes of being in the water he was laughing and playing and having a blast. He couldn't have cared less where I was at that point. He loved his first lesson and said he was excited to go back. Success!
Of course, on the morning of his second lesson he threw a big fit at home saying he didn't want to go and he wanted to stay with me. I prepared for a battle at the pool but as soon as he saw his teacher and the water he forgot all about his protests and jumped right in for another day of fun in the water! His class doesn't really learn to swim....they learn to play safely in the water. It's great. I really wish I'd started Flora and Scout in the AquaTots class when they were younger.

So there we go! I blogged! Hooray! Maybe if I could learn to write shorter blogs I'd feel like I have time to do it more often. ;)

stress fractures

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 21:37:00 +0000

I managed to give myself a stress fracture in mid-December. My leg hurt when I walked, throbbed on the stairs, and scolded me loudly every time I carried a child. Silly leg didn't seem to understand (or care) that these are things that I can't just stop doing. It seemed like it would hurt forever and honestly it made me cry a few times -- not because of the pain, but because I was SO frustrated that I couldn't do some things I wanted to do and the things I had to do were painful and mainly because it just seemed like it would never end. And maybe the most frustrating part is that there wasn't anything to DO about it. Wait.....wait......wait.....and I am not good at waiting.

There are other "stress fractures" in my life too.

Timber's temper tantrums. I know he will outgrow them. I know that there is very little I can do to calm the storm once it starts. But it's SO frustrating! This morning he spent an hour and a half crying because he wanted blueberry oatmeal and we don't have any blueberry oatmeal. He's sick and he's hungry so I know he's not thinking straight. What would make him feel better? EATING. Just like the Snickers commercials where the bear turns into a person (or something like that) after eating a Snickers bar. But what does he refuse to do? EAT. I've learned that even providing the blueberry oatmeal is no guarantee he would eat it when he's in this mood -- he would find something wrong with it. So what do I have to do? WAIT. Because eventually he will get distracted from his irrational fit and accidentally put something in his mouth and -- voila! -- the angry bear turns into a sweet little boy. So not only do I wait wait wait for each tantrum to pass but I also wait wait wait for him to outgrow this phase. Impatiently.

Mealtimes. Feeding kids is the worst. Today they love mashed potatoes and hate chicken. Tomorrow one of them hates mashed potatoes and the other two suddenly love chicken. Next week they will all despise mashed potatoes and chicken. And a month later they'll eat all the mashed potatoes and chicken off my plate but won't touch it if I fix it for them the next day. Ditto that to every food I've ever given them. If I had to identify a specific "stress fracture" in my day to day routine it would definitely be dinnertime. Even when we fix things that I think they'll really like it's never 100%. There's always one that doesn't like it. I know that they will eventually be good eaters (Flora is already much better than the boys -- maybe going to school boosts a kid's appetite?) but in the meantime it's SO frustrating to fix their plates and then hear the usual whining/complaining about what they don't like. So it either requires a gargantuan effort by me to stand over them and insist they eat their food bite by bite or I don't force them to eat their dinner and pay for it at bedtime when they start whining about how hungry they are. There's probably a better answer......but I don't have it. My current plan of action is to put reasonably healthy food in front of them every night and wait for the magical day when they all clean their plates. Wait wait wait.....I'm not very good at waiting.

So I know I've been pretty whiny -- "my leg hurts.....Timber is irrational.....the kids don't eat what I fix for them......boo hoo......" -- but I've been thinking a lot about the parallel between a physical stress fracture and "stress fractures" in life that you just have to wait out. The trick is to 1) give the fracture the time it needs to heal naturally, but 2) put just a little bit of pressure on the fracture so as not to completely disrupt daily life, and 3) avoid unnecessarily stressing the fracture further (which could result in a break).

I could have listed several other non-physical stress fractures but they're not the kind of things that needs to be preserved forever in blog format. Hopefully when they fade away I'll completely forget that there was ever a problem. Hopefully someday I will read over this post and laugh to remember the complete absurdity of Timber's tantrums. Hopefully someday I won't be able to imagine a time in which the boys weren't eating everything in sight! (I've heard that getting teenage boys to eat isn't usually a problem.) Hopefully I'll wonder what those other stress fractures I referred to were. Hopefully. But, of course, I will have a whole new set of stress fractures that I'll be waiting to heal at that point.

Ok, I needed to write all that. Maybe I'll need to read it later. Sorry for anyone else who actually read the whole thing. Sometimes blogs are just for myself. :)

The good news is that my leg is so much better now! I've started walking on the treadmill again, although still a couple more weeks before I can run on it. And I learned a very important lesson -- build up slowly and if something starts hurting then STOP RUNNING ON IT.
I lack patience.....and apparently quite a bit of common sense too. ;)

2014 -- i yam

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 17:12:00 +0000

I'm going to start 2014 by getting two things off my chest. Two things that I have recently accepted about myself.

1. I am a messy person. We are a messy family. Our bedrooms are rarely clean. And though I do my best to keep the living room/dining/kitchen areas presentable the truth is that they're usually pretty messy too unless someone is coming to our house. I've abandoned my lofty ambitions of keeping all the bedrooms clean and the guilt that visited every time I failed -- they'll get cleaned every week or two and I won't care about the mess in between. Because, really, why should kids have clean rooms?? A tidy house is a boring house. I mean, where's the thrill in opening a closet if there's not a chance that something will fall on you?? ;)

2. I like to stay up late at night and sleep late in the mornings. I thought this would change once I had kids. And then I felt like I should change those habits because sensible adults go to bed early and wake up early. But now I've realized that I don't have sensible adult sleeping habits and there's really no reason I should. I will stay up past midnight any time I want and on the weekends I will sleep as late as the kids will let me.

This is going to be a good year. :)

So, now, back to the kids ---

This year we decided to celebrate New Year's Eve with the kids. We knew Timber wouldn't last but were fairly certain Flora and Scout could stay up until midnight. We built a fire, played The Game of Life, watched some tv, and ate ice cream cones as we waited for the big countdown. As predicted, Timber crashed around 10pm.

With a few minutes until midnight we instructed Flora and Scout on the proper way to carefully toast with glass cups and poured some sparkling grape juice into two little whiskey glasses for them. We started counting down from 20 seconds, shouted HAPPY NEW YEAR at midnight, and clinked our drink glasses. There was jumping and dancing.....and by 12:04 Flora was fast asleep on the couch. Chris was asleep soon after Flora and I was left with a crazy-eyed wide awake Scout.

I read somewhere on facebook that the way you ring in the New Year is a predictor of how your next year will go. If that's so then 2014 will be another year of silly, sweet kids and barely controlled chaos. Good times....

One of my 2014 resolutions is to blog more. That doesn't mean I will blog more but a girl can hope, right?? ;)

showers

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Sun, 22 Sep 2013 17:04:00 +0000

Before kids, I didn't put much thought into showers. I took a shower every morning -- easy peasy, no big deal. I could wake up slowly and start the day at my own pace.

But now I have kids.....

So I set my alarm early and HOPE that I can make it through an entire shower without interruption. If it's a REALLY good day I make it through my shower AND get completely ready before any of the kids wake up. But it doesn't always work out that way....

Here's a quick recap of three of my morning showers THIS WEEK:

Shower 1. Timber came to our room while I was in the shower. It was very early. He was still very tired and grumpy. He sat on the rug outside the shower and cried, "No shower, Mommy! Get OUT of the shower!" during my entire shower. It was awesome.

Shower 2. I made it through my entire morning shower with no kids showing up! Hooray! But as soon as I turned the water off I heard Flora yelling for me from her room. When I got in there she said, "Um, I feel wet." Yep, she'd peed her bed and apparently the feel of pee on her skin renders Flora completely helpless. It's been over a year since she's had a nighttime accident but of course it happens right AFTER I get clean.

Shower 3. Today I showered later since it's Sunday and we don't have to get up before sunrise to get ready for school. So all three kids were wandering in and out of the bathroom the entire time. Timber whined and grumbled about me being unavailable. Flora asked a lot of obvious questions ("What are you doing? Why are you taking a shower? Do you have soap in there?"). And Scout had to poop. He announced that he had to "go" right after I'd gotten into the shower so I just told him to go in my bathroom toilet which is conveniently located right outside the shower. He "went" (with Flora, Timber, and me for company in the bathroom) and I wiped his little bum from inside the shower. Seriously.

On the bright side, only three bad showers means that I had four UNinterrupted showers this week!

And in case you're wondering why I don't just lock the bathroom door --- our master bathroom is open to the master bedroom (whoever thought this was a good idea should be banned from designing homes forever -- I mean, c'mon, WHEN WOULD THIS EVER BE A GOOD SETUP???). I could lock the bedroom door but that would just result in the first kid awake crying and banging on my bedroom door and waking up the other two.

So, that's the way it is. But it's temporary -- and actually quite amusing if I can keep a good attitude about it. I mean, how many people get to start their days with such exciting and unpredictable showers??

today

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 02:25:00 +0000

TIMBER

Me: Timber, how many days until your birthday???
Timber: THREE!!!
Me: Yes! And how old will you be?
Timber: THREE!!! And then in ten days I will be TEN!!!

Hm....points for logic, but still totally wrong.

SCOUT

When I picked up Scout from preschool today his teacher pulled me aside and told me a funny story. Apparently their little CD sings an alphabet song and uses the word EXIT as the X word. Scout informed his teacher that "EXIT doesn't start with an X -- it starts with an E." She was impressed and amused. He's kind of a know-it-all with anything that has to do with letters.

FLORA

Tonight I watched covertly as Flora danced around the room singing Taylor Swift's We Are Never Getting Back Together into a hand mirror. I'm not even sure how to process this..... All I know is that her teenage years are going to be interesting.

this and that -- funnies

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 22:43:00 +0000

Flora: Mommy, our class got on the school bus too early and we had to wait on the bus for TWO HOURS! Or maybe two minutes....I can't remember....

*****

Scout: Mommy, when you paint all day I just think that you don't love me anymore. (During the week that I was painting the exterior of the house)

*****

Timber has started calling himself "Imber Wimber" and he calls Scout "Outy Outy"

*****

Timber: My pepperonis are too spicy.
Me: Flora, do you want to eat Timber's pepperonis?
Flora: No way, pepperonis are TOO spicy.
Me: But you ate yours already. ??
Flora: I know. I just ate them because I didn't want them on my plate.

*****

Scout lost a race and threw a fit. I was trying to explain why that is not the appropriate way to act when you lose. Flora chimed in and said, "Besides, Scout, the game is not special. It's Jesus that's really important."
Well played, Flora. I bow to your wisdom on this matter. :)

*****

"A Joke" by Flora
Flora: Why did the water bottle get a water bottle?
Me: I don't know. Why?
Flora: To get a water bottle.

scout starts preschool!!

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 15:28:00 +0000

Scout started preschool yesterday. He was SOOOO excited until bedtime the night before school started. Then he started asking questions like, "What if I miss you?" and " What if I get sad?" So I wasn't sure how drop off would go -- and since I was going to have Flora, Timber, and Logan with me I knew I wouldn't be able to handle a meltdown very well.

But he did great! He woke up excited and couldn't wait to go to school. He walked right to his classroom and gave his teacher a hug. I said goodbye and quickly left while he was searching for the backpack hook with his name on it. Then I sat in the van watching in the window until I saw his little red head bopping around the classroom.

And we left. And it was that easy! Yea!!

Scout's favorite part of preschool: "Naptime." Hmm...
Scout's least favorite part of preschool: "Nothing. It was all good." :)

Timber gave Scout a BIG hug when he got home from school and Scout told him all about his day. Then we ate the special after-school cupcakes that Scout had picked out and gave Scout his first-day-of-school surprise (an Angry Bird toy).

A very good start to the school year.

The only problem? Now Timber wants to go to school and he still has two years to wait until he starts preschool. I might just let him pick out a lunchbox to feel included. If I'm packing two lunches in the morning it probably wouldn't be too hard to go ahead and pack three. ;)

So that's where I am now. Packing school lunches. Checking backpacks for homework. A big change from the days when synchronizing three naptimes was my top priority!

i love it when they talk about "grown-up" things

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 23:11:00 +0000

Flora: I was the first one of us who was born.
Scout: Yeah, and you're the only girl Mommy bought.
Flora: Scooouuuut, you don't BUY babies.
Scout: Yes, you do. You buy them at the hospital.
Flora: No, the hospital just finds a way to get the babies out of the Mommy's belly
Scout: Oh. I wonder how they do that....??
Flora: Well, sometimes they have to cut you open but if you're a grown up it doesn't hurt. Hospital people are just really good at things like that.

babies and big kids

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 21:45:00 +0000

Baby James was born last week! In fact, it was last Wednesday, so HAPPY ONE WEEK BIRTHDAY to Baby James! It's shocking to see a newborn when you haven't seen one in months. He was much smaller than I remembered newborns being -- exquisitely tiny. Were my kids ever that small?? Really?? Well, I guess, technically, I never saw Timber that tiny but they were all much, much smaller than they are now.

It's such a blur. I remember each of them being born. I remember celebrating birthdays and changing diaper after diaper . . . I remember silly moments and frustrating moments; watching them sleep and watching them play. I just don't remember watching them grow up. Even Timber, my "baby," is walking, talking, feeding himself, and holding his own in wrestling matches with Scout. Definitely NOT a baby.

But big kids are fun too. A lot more fun than babies, actually. It's good for other people to have babies so that I can touch super soft baby cheeks and snuggle with a perfectly content newborn but I don't need any more babies of my own. I'm having fun with the big kids in my life now! They're so silly and always so surprising!

And they're starting to think like adults, which can be scary --
Last night Timber was upset because Scout found a toy guitar that he had been looking for. Scout was playing with the guitar and refusing to share, Timber was crying because he wanted the guitar, and suddenly, Flora points to the kitchen and yells, "Hey, look! Donuts!" Scout and Timber ran into the kitchen only to be disappointed at the absence of donuts. I asked Flora why she said that and she answered, "I was hoping that Scout would drop the guitar to see the donuts and then I could get it for Timber." Haha, not the ideal solution to the situation but I definitely gave her props for originality!

Baby picture after eating. He's so peaceful. It makes me sleepy just looking at him.

Big kid picture after eating. Notice ALL of their mouths are open telling me something -- once they start talking it really doesn't stop. Although I've heard that the talking drops off significantly once they hit the teenage years.

Baby picture after a bath. His skin is practically glowing with softness. All ready for a cuddle.

Big kid picture after bath. Again, mouths open. I think I told them to roar for this one though (because Scout's towel is a dinosaur).

testing, testing...

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 01:49:00 +0000

Trying out the new Blogger app on my phone.
Here's a few Easter pics to make this post worth your time:

sleepovers

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 21:39:00 +0000

Hello blog. I have no excuse for not blogging more often . . . well, maybe I have some excuses but none of them really excuse how badly I've neglected the blog. Oh well....

So, sleepovers.

The kids LOVE having sleepovers. They would all sleep in the same room every night if I would let them but since they always stay up SUPER late together I only allow sleepovers on Friday and Saturday nights. Here are a couple really sweet sleeping pics I've snapped over the past few months:

pieces of 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 22:00:00 +0000

Goodbye, red van. Preschool. Olympics! Snip, snip -- no more Borkert babies. Gotye. Alphabet. Hot, hot summer. Colorado vacation. Arkansas lake vacation. Goodbye Hope, hello trust. Tebow Time. Change. First Wednesdays. Sara's pregnant!!! iPhones. Forwa, Out, and Imber. South Dakota (sunsets, sickness, boat rides, crazy thunderstorms, Shipwreck Bar & Grill, "Lim and Jynn," Star Trek, Keurig, bunk bed, birds, rest). Astro. Fantasy Football Super Bowl. It's a BOY! Cedar Ridge Christian Church. My Little Pony. Newsletters. PEYTON FREAKING MANNING! Chronological Bible reading plan. Pandora. 5-yrs-old, 4-yrs-old, 2-yrs-old. Bathroom remodel. Baby Logan. E-books. Flora's girly room. Block party. Birthday in the hospital. Soccer. Fridays. Girls Weekend! Johnson County friends. Coffee. Pinterest. Neighbor fire pits.
Call me, maybe.

warning: brag blog

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 16:13:00 +0000

Flora is our little artist. She LOVES "artisting" and is really very good at it. This is a picture she drew for our new baby neighbor, Logan. She was trying to draw a dog like the one on her sketchbook cover. I was amazed at how well she did.

She's also picking up many "grown up" words and phrases. She has learned the days of the week and some units of time. And she asks the meaning of EVERY word she doesn't know -- even some words that she knows how to use but doesn't exactly know the meaning. Like "probably" and "pretty" (as in pretty good, pretty big, etc). She keeps me on my toes! Some of those words are hard to explain!

Scout loves letters. I think we all know that by now. And he's basically taught himself to read. Seriously. I bought a package of 70 sight words in the $1 Spot at Target thinking it would be a fun thing for us to practice while Flora is at preschool. He already knew half of them.....sounded out most of what he didn't already know......and I had to help him with about 10 words. I was shocked. I knew he could read some words but had no idea he was THAT good.

Yellow and Exit were two of the words he already recognized. He's been interested in numbers lately too. He held up a 42 and asked if it was "forty-two." Then he switched the numbers to a 24 and asked if it was a "tooty-four."

Timber's most obvious skill right now is copying Scout. If Scout runs in circles, Timber runs in circles. If Scout sings a song, Timber sings a song. If Scout eats a banana, Timber eats a banana. Consequently, Timber is also very interested in letters and numbers. He recognizes about half of the alphabet and can count to 10.

If Scout wears shoes and pants and no shirt, Timber wears shoes and pants and no shirt. This could be very useful when potty training time comes around.

Chris can shave! Who knew??? He actually knows how to use a razor and shaving cream. I think the only time I've seen Chris clean-shaven was once or twice in college. And I'm positive the kids have never seen this sight before.

I'm pretty sure this won't happen again for another 10 years so I took a picture -- just to remind him that it IS possible.

And I can do this. That's right -- crossed eyes AND fish lips. You know you're impressed.

Haha, this is another one of my I-was-so-bored-in-the-hospital-with-Timber pictures.

Ok, brag blog is over. In summary -- we're awesome and we know it. :-)

uh, yeah, i think so

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 20:10:00 +0000

"Mommy, are you sure your potty can handle a 5-year-old bum?"
~Flora, age 5~

know your options

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 00:18:00 +0000

So, we received the bill for Timber's hospital stay. Wow. If I had known they were charging that much I might have requested a few more free coffees and granola bars. Thankfully, insurance will knock a good chunk off the total. I decided to have some fun with what was initially a very disheartening number.

After scouring craigslist and ebay, I've compiled a list of things you can purchase for the price of a 5-day/4-night hospital stay:

A Pair of Small Cast Bronze Indoor Outdoor Giraffe Statues

a.k.a. Ridiculously Overpriced Tacky "Art"

A Hermes Birkin Bag

Someone please punch me if I ever pay this much for a purse.

A Fine Large Traditional Stained Glass Church Window

Yes, a LARGE stained glass window. If only I knew someone who had recently purchased a church....

Ancient Roman Marble Male Lower Torso

Because you can never have too many of these on display in your house, right?

Victorian Style Cast Iron Beautiful Gazebo

Hm, well it looks more spacious than our hospital room.

Lowe 180W 115HP Optimax with Side Imaging Sonar
I'm pretty sure Chris would have taken Timber to the local medicine doctor and bought the boat instead if he'd known....

2003 Prostreet Custom Chopper
Yes, it's pretty.....but where would I put three car seats???

2010 John Deere 2520
Ah, this is more like it. There are tons of places to attach car seats on this one! But would it fit in my garage?? And exactly how long would it take us to get to the grocery store??

2003 Glastron, 22ft, with extended swim platform
If the fishing boat wasn't your thing then how about this pretty piece of marine machinery?

And my personal favorite way to spend $19k....

2005 Challenger 5th wheel w/3 slides
Seriously....how awesome is this????

We could sell our house, travel the country, and grill every night. What a life!

So next time the doctors recommend hospitalizing one of my children (well, hopefully there is no "next time".... but if there is.....) I'm going to ask about my options first. Is hospitalization really necessary? Could we possibly treat him on a custom chopper or in a cast iron gazebo instead?

to do

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 18:13:00 +0000

After playing in the front yard for a while last night, we all came inside to eat dinner. As Scout reached the top of the stairs, he dramatically fell to the floor and moaned, "Mommy, I don't want to grow up! I don't want to be 20! And I never never want a wife." Totally random, totally unprompted, totally out of the blue.

What do you tell a 3-year-old who doesn't want to grow up?

"Uh . . . okay," I said, "but you still have to wash your hands before dinner."

He seemed okay with that. It made me think about how overwhelming the big picture can be but it's always manageable if we just focus on the next step. For example, after grocery shopping and running errands with the kids this morning I came home to a horribly messy house that needs to be cleaned before our guests arrive tomorrow. I wanted to fall to the ground dramatically and moan about my messy house. Instead I wandered around the house for about 20 minutes trying to get started but not sure where to start. Finally, I made a very detailed list and was able to get some things done once I had very simple action steps down on paper. "Put away groceries," "unload dishwasher," "sweep" . . . I can wrap my head around those commands much easier than "clean the house."

Of course, blogging was not on my list. Neither was chatting with my cousin on gmail or googling "why can't I keep my house clean" (apparently many other people have the same problem -- I'm not alone!). And I forgot to put "Make the kids some lunch" on the list so it's now 1pm and they're asking for food.

BUT, I did put away the groceries! CHECK!

what's up with us

noreply@blogger.com (Stefanie) — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 19:48:00 +0000

Timber has been very interested in playing "Doctor" since his stay in the hospital. He knows exactly what to do with all those medical instruments in his play doctor's bag now! Chris is a much more compliant patient than Timber was though.

Flora has a birthday in three days!!! I just can't wrap my head around the fact that she will be 5-yrs-old. Wow. She doesn't know it but her cousins Callie, Ellie, and Toby are coming up to surprise her Thursday after school. She's going to be SO excited!!! She also has her first preschool field trip on Thursday. Since she'll be out of the building Thursday I sent birthday cupcakes to school with her today. I saw a sunshine cupcake craft on pinterest that I decided to copy. I think they're cute!

Scout is an attentive student of his wise friends, Sheep, Squirrel, and Unicorn. If he knows anything, it's because Sheep told him. He has learned how to read and spell many words because Unicorn taught him. Squirrel tells him why the stars are in outer space and which month it is. Sheep plays letter games with Scout and Unicorn teaches him how to add numbers together. I'm really beginning to wonder if there's more than stuffing inside these little guys.