entertainment

I foresee phone limits in her future...

such the serious one...

Daddy's Boy

Have I already mentioned that?

"do it myself!"

That's her favorite phrase lately, including dressing herself (at least picking out clothes). And no, we aren't going on an arctic expedition. It's actually about 70 degrees outside.

"Here is Albuquerque...

...and here is Kansas where Uncle Brian lives. Much closer than Germany." (which we've been locating on the globe for the past two years) "But no, not close enough to walk. "

(conversation with four-year-old)

backyard camping

I have to admit, we did a lot more with one kid. We still went backpacking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing. But with three, well...campfires and s'mores are made in the backyard fire pit, where the tent is pitched. The middle baby made it in the tent about 10 minutes - she's now happily curled up in her crib. You do what you can. ;)

zoo train

I don't seem to venture out with three as much as I did with even two, but today (with the help of grandma) we rode the train from the zoo to the aquarium. I just bought a new wider angle lens from Chelsey and had fun playing with it today. I liked not constantly backing up to take pictures of the kids...

Donuts with Dad

(self portrait)

"uncle santa"

My next-younger brother was in town this last weekend. He just moved back to the states after 4 1/2 years abroad with his company, and it's nice to have him close. The kids, of course, love him. Uncles (especially bachelor uncles) do endless "airplane rides" across the lawn, and take you to Target to go shopping for toys. Bags of toys. Large, loud toys. Just wait, Uncle Brian - your time will come! ;)

when life hands you lemons...

...make peanut butter chocolate-chip cookies.



Ok, so life didn't really hand me lemons today. I didn't follow my own advice...I went to bed late last night, and then (shocker) had a hard time waking up this morning, so I was running behind this morning getting kids dressed, lunches made...then poor scheduling (on my part) of a dentist appointment made me late to pick up my son from preschool, and the two babies (who were done about an hour ago at this point) fell asleep in the car five minutes before we got there. Fortunately my friend hung out with the car while I ran in to get the oldest (thank you Beth and Michele - team effort!). But that was the nap for the day, which made for a cranky middle baby. The kids didn't want to go outside and play, so they just drove each other (and me) crazy all afternoon (and dad had a late meeting, so the rescue squad wasn't available when needed). Peanut butter chocolate-chip cookies to the rescue. Maybe not for the kids, but for mommy. ;)

Fortunately tomorrow is a new day.

April 12-18

I have to say that it was really interesting to jot down my daily schedule for a week. I have a planner, and much of my days are the same, so at first it seemed a bit redundant, but I did notice some patterns and had a few "a ha!" moments in there...

- afternoons are my tough times. Post-nap grumpies seem to happen more often than not, and I found the afternoon works better for me if we go outside and play rather than try to go to Target or run errands. You'd think I would have figured this out by now, and I did sort-of, but it helped to really identify that outside time after naps = happy time. Trying to get kids to behave in Target after naps = asking for trouble.

- I need time to myself. I really noticed when I went the whole week without down time, I was feeling it. My husband comes home Wednesdays to watch the kids while I got to tea for just an hour (really 1/2 hour when you figure in travel time for him to come home and me to get anywhere). This week I used that time to run errands, and I missed having time to relax. Good note to self.

- it's the little things that count. Cutting fresh lilacs from the garden and putting them on top of the table while we eat outside (which we always do when we eat couscous - otherwise we find it on the bottom of our feet for weeks. Yes, I know - cleaning isn't my strong point.), taking time to check out the rolly polly. A warm bath...

- I really do better when I get up earlier. I'm not a morning person, and love to eek out the last few minutes of just staying in bed while my husband takes a shower. But one day this last week I had to get up early to make cucumber sandwiches for our MOMS group tea, and my day went so much better when I was up and ready before the kids. I had time to just get them ready once we they were up instead of scrambling to get makeup on while refilling sippy cups, cuddling middle baby while she whined (she's less of a morning person than I am), changing diapers...

- in order to get up earlier, I need to go to bed earlier!

- I spend (read: waste) too much time on the computer. I don't watch much tv, but it doesn't save me any time because I spend so much on facebook, blogs (ahem, like now) and forums. And I don't spend nearly as much time as other people do (how on earth do you maintain a farm on facebook?). Not that I'm going to get rid of my computer, but I need to schedule time and stick to that alotted amount, which may keep me more productive on the computer rather than wandering aimlessly through blog after blog...

So here's the next challenge:

"After a (few) week(s) of self-monitoring, sit down with your diary or your notes and begin to analyze them. You may find..that at work, despite stress and hassles, you felt better about yourself than when watching television. Or, conversely, that most of the time when you were at work you felt listless and bored. Why were you so irritated with your children? So impatient with the people you work with? So cheerful when walking down the street? Perhaps you'll find that you should change your job. Or that you should be outdoors more often, or find ways to do some more interesting things with your children."

I'm going to implement some of these changes this week and then report back. Anyone else keeping track of their schedules? Let's hear about it!

week in the life

Still working on my creative exercise...I'll post it here too, cause the link color is impossible in the last post:

"Our circadian rhythms are to a large extent controlled by outside factors: the rising sun, the commuter train schedule, a job's deadline, lunchtime, a client's (or child's) needs. But it is also possible that the schedule you are following is not the best for your purposes. Can you carve out some time for yourself when your energy is most efficient? Can you fit sleep to your purpose, instead of the other way around? there are probably best times to shop, to visit, to work, to relax for each one of us; the more we do things at the most suitable times, the more creative energy we can free up."

Pick out a cute notebook, journal or daily schedule. Get creative and decorate it in a way that will inspire you to actually use it! Start keeping track of your schedule and paying attention to how you use your time. For one week, program an alarm in your home or on your cell phone to go off every few hours.
When it goes off, stop and write down what you were doing and record honestly how you felt at that moment.

"Once you know what your daily life is like and how you experience it, it is easier to begin getting control over it."

Well, I have to admit that I didn't make a pretty journal - I'm just writing down my schedule (or racking my brain to remember it at the end of the day) on a piece of typing paper. I did find some fun ideas for documentation on Ali Edwards' blog. A bit too much scrapbooking for me (I was overwhelmed just looking at her plans), but if you're a slacker like me then we can just pick out a few ideas (like the little journaling cards - those are cute). And writing down what I actually do in a week is drawing my attention to some interesting patterns. I'll post some photos and explanation this weekend when I'm done. Can't wait to see who else is doing this! :)

March's family self-portrait, late...

...even though we took it the first weekend of April. Edited (again - the first time it didn't save) to include updates on our family that I forgot...

March came in like a lion and out like a lamb for us...the month started with all three kids sick at the same time, and the baby on a neb. It ended with sunshine (most days), a new water table for the backyard, and getting out of our petri dish of a home (which I think helped alleviate some of the colds rotating around).

The oldest is going through a cheesy smile phase (see below) but seems to have turned a corner in getting along with his little sister (insert sigh of relief). Fortunately, he's always loved his baby brother, who is getting chunkier by the minute! We just packed up winter 3-6 month clothes, and packing clothes always makes me want to cry, I think because I know they aren't just going in the garage - they're going away. The middle baby is approaching two, as evident by the calendar and her little attitude - she has a mind of her own! But she's still my little cuddlebuns (is it bad to wish she'll suck her thumb and play with my hair for the rest of her life?)...

While I don't think physical spring cleaning is a reality this year, I do feel like I'm beginning to clear the cobwebs in my head a little. Winter was hard this year, with the cold weather outside and so many colds...I even went shopping last weekend with my hubby and bought a much too expensive outfit in an attempt to shed the frumpy sweats and big jeans for wedding season at least. ;)



And I'm ready for another creative exercise for the week - see here. I found many of these creative exercises in an old Simple Scrapbooks magazine, and love them. I'm almost out - anyone else have some good ideas? Anyway, this seems right up my alley at the moment...getting control of my schedule.

meow

alternative title: "how I entertain my children while putting on my makeup."

Another one...

Are you sick of photos of the baby yet? Cause I got 8 months to go, and of course every time I see him smiling I just have to take another one.

chunk of love...

"Mommy, will you take a picture of Lightning McQueen?"

bubbles

four months old

I have a photo of his older brother in this same outfit when he was four months old. in sepia.

Happy Easter

Courtney made these cute t-shirts, and I've been wanting to do our monthly family self-portrait with them, but it's been so yucky and windy outside and...I know: excuses, excuses. Soon! Anyway, here they all are in their shirts at least. Thanks, Courtney!

unsuspecting

"Hey, Buddy - do you want some milk?"







I try hard not to laugh as he tries to drink the frozen milk in his cup and can't figure out why it's solid.



"Mommy, this milk doesn't work! I want a new one in my Lightning McQueen cup!"




April Fools! ;)