Back to school appreciation

This morning went surprisingly well. I must admit, I was expecting a very slow morning with a lot of "hurry-ups", "don't be pokey" and all the other "have you ......'s?" that go along with a typical morning. To my delight, things moved smoothly. I even got the back-to-school picture with all 5 kids! Never any easy task especially with Simon's dislike for group shots.

Supplies were labeled last night and backpacks filled. This morning lunches were made and children fed and not once did anyone (that's me) lose their cool. Woo Hoo!

The kids walk to school, so although it was drizzling a bit we were out the door (without umbrellas, they are on my to-buy list) by 7:55. Only had to step over 2 piles of dog poop on the sidewalks (seriously people, clean up after your dogs) and 1 pile of puke (poor little kid must have been really nervous).

Simon, Mary Kate and I came into a quiet house (well with the exception of a barking dog) and sat down for some breakfast. I checked my email and had a wonderful note from hubby that made me cry.

Just wanted to tell you that you are a Very Very Good Mother and Wife! Our kids are very blessed to have you as their Mom. Getting our elem school aged children out the door fully prepared, while offering to help the teachers, while entertaining the youngest, while getting them to after school sports, while responding to calls and emails from friends, while making my lunch and coffee, no complaints....etc.We are all blessed to have you and you should get a big dagum gold star. I love you. BP

I had been holding things together so well watching Andrew lead the pack as a 5th grader and Riley venture into a new building as a 3rd grader and then little Nolan, how did he become a first grader? The kids are all growing up so quickly and it was this morning that I wish I could make time stand still. Can't I hold them close a little bit longer? Do they really need to grow up? Thankfully, all the boys still seek out a big hug and kiss from me and like to be tucked in at night and snuggle on the couch for a good movie or sit at the table for a competitive game of cards. I pray the days never come to an end. OK fine, someday they'll have to snuggle on their couch with their own kids, but I hope to be held in their heart as they do these things with my grandchildren (gulp!).

Now as I sat at the kitchen table typing, Simon and Mary Kate have been sitting across from me with paper, crayons and scissors quietly playing together. All of a sudden, I felt this very strong tap on my shoulder and I looked up to find Simon cutting Mary Kate's hair!!! Now I believe this tap was Mary Kate's guardian angel. I said a "no" that had to have been 5 syllables long to Simon. He got the point and put the scissors down a little shocked that I would stop his hair cutting. Fortunately, not much was cut and it really isn't noticeable at all, but enough to warrant me taking a picture of the clump I collected.

Here's to a continued good day with creativity on paper rather than hair :)

Mary Kate may have a future in Mary Kay

After dinner tonight we were all sitting in the family room watching The Flintstones movie. Mary Kate was sitting very quietly on my lap (well actually it was more like lying alongside my hip). It wasn't until I looked over at her that I saw what was keeping her quiet.
It was most definitely a picture moment. Thankfully, the camera was charged and hubby was able to find it.

Would someone please tell my daughter she's a girl

I knew it would be tough raising a little girl to be girlie when she has 4 older brothers, but some days I wish I could go back to the times when she would let me put the frilly dress of my choosing on her. The day usually begins with her removing her pj's and putting on whatever pj's of her brothers that she finds laying around...

Then once the boys are off at school or camp, she likes to raid their rooms for a little change of clothes. Most recently that entailed going into Andrew's baseball basket and putting on his baseball socks to have with her morning cup of yogurt....

At least I got her past the stage of wearing Andrew's football cup all the time (can't find the picture of that one) and of putting Simon's pull-up over her clothes...

There are many a day that I'm just thankful she's wearing something, because she'd certainly prefer to live in her birthday suit. Why be restrained by clothes?

I think the picture that most accurately captures my little girlie-girl is when she was outside swinging Easter morning with her dress flying in the air as she was grabbing her gun....

MK's chicken is my kitchen.

Me: "Good job getting undressed Mary Kate. Where does your pullup go?"
MK: - walks into boys room and throws it on the floor -
Me: "No Mary Kate, it goes in the trash"
MK: - surprised look - "Oh da twashhh"
Me: "Yes in the trash in the kitchen"
MK: - questioning - "In da chicken?"
Me: "In the kitchen, the trash can in the kitchen"
MK - "Oh, ok. In da chicken"

She continued to mumble "in da chicken" the whole way down the stairs.

Don't mess with his Mary...

...no matter how much she stinks! I took Simon and Mary Kate on some errands this afternoon and then rewarded them with a stop at a McDonald's with a play-land. There was another little group of boys around the same age that were playing there. Simon and Mary Kate were happily chasing each other throughout the play-land. About 10 minutes passed when I heard the other little boys laughing and pointing.

Simon: "HEY STOP TALKING ABOUT MY MARY!!!!"

The boys continued to laugh and point. Mary Kate was oblivious to their teasing and went on about her business of flirting with another little boy that had just shown up.

Simon: "I SAID LEAVE MY MARY ALONE, YOU ARE BULLIES!!"

OK now I figure I should see what's going on.

Me: "Simon what's wrong?"
Simon: "Mom those boys are calling Mary Kate stinky monster"
Me: "hmmm, do you think she pooped her diaper?"
Simon: "ummmm, yeah"
Me: "well I'm thinking it's time to go 'cause she is a little stinker, but those boys should have not been teasing her like that and we shouldn't make fun of people."

Now this is where I am REALLY proud of myself because when I looked up, I saw one of the younger boys in the group wearing his sisters princess shoes and I didn't say "hey Simon look at the little girly-boy". Now THAT would have been setting bad example wouldn't it?

At least Beamer won't have cavities

Well we know Beamer has an affinity for sweets, but the good news is he's trying to practice good dental hygiene.

These tooth brushes were found a few hours after the "little" syrup mishap. It's not as if the kids leave them laying around on the floor, but Mary Kate is known for going into the bathroom and brushing her teeth with whichever tooth brush she can get her hands on and then passing it along to Beamer. She likes to share, we just need to focus that towards something other than the kids tooth brushes.

The "hair cut" that made me run

Simon: "Hey Mom, Mary Kate is cutting my hair!"

I turn around to find that Mary Kate is "cutting" Simon's hair with the egg covered fork and knife that were on my dinner plate (see previous post regarding my dinner). Great! Go figure he had JUST gotten out of the bathtub too.

Don't worry though, Beamer was sure to help with re-cleaning Simon's hair. I was sitting on the couch reading a pile of books to Nolan, Simon and Mary Kate (OK, well she was actually just getting up and down off the couch while everyone else was trying to listen to the book), when Beamer perched himself up behind Simon and was licking away. He too liked my poached eggs :)

Nuggets with a hint of lavender

I was emptying the dishwasher this evening while also dishing out the kids very nutritious dinner of chicken nuggets, doritoes and grapes (ok so there was some nutrition in the meal) and calling them to the table. Once the kids were all seated and debating whether or not Ri would eat the nuggets, I found something I never thought I'd find in a dishwasher. Apparently, Mary Kate must have wanted a little more flavor washed into our dishes because she put 2 lavender scented fabric softener sheets in the dishwasher. I must say they held up pretty nicely though during the wash, they were still in once piece at the bottom of the dishwasher.

Buon Appetite!