Category — family life

I don’t know who fed my kiddos naughty pills but the 3 youngest have been on fire the last few days. I guess it means that summer is over and they’re ready for the structure of school, but I’m not sure they’ll make it to next Tuesday at this rate. By 9am they had each stood in the corner and by 2pm I was so done that I put the 7yr old, 5yr old and 4yr old down for naps, closed and locked my bedroom door and told my 11yr old that I was NOT TO BE DISTURBED until I came out. I tell ya, I was ready to hunt scalps!

Whew!

If this keeps up I just may disappear for the long weekend and leave them in the care of their father. That’ll teach ‘em!

But now the house is quiet. The older girls are doing their “big kid” stuff for the evening and the lils are all in bed. I’ve had a glass o’ vino and am ready to get some of my own things done. I think I’ll make it till tomorrow. But watch out all you naughty lil kiddos! M.O.M’s patience is wearing thin!

Doing the Dance of the Children and I’m on the look out for the Naughty Ones~

Stop shaking your head and uttering, “Oh brother”.

Sometimes I have to wonder.

I wake up every morning with the very best of intentions and a list a mile long. Some days I tackle it head-on. But other days I let excuses creep in. I don’t mean reasons. Reasons are one thing and they come up around here ALL THE TIME. I’m talking excuses. You know, “hmmm…I really should do those dishes before I go to bed so I wake to a clean kitchen. Ack! I’m tired. I’ll do them in the morn.” or “Ok, I’m going to pack the kiddos up, go to the Y, work out for an hour and then take them to the park across the street. But look at all those dishes that need to be washed!” How ’bout-”HELLO mountain of unpaired socks! Come on with me to bed. We’ll put a movie on and I’ll get you all cozied up in pairs. Oh…bed feels so good! Forget the socks! The kids can forge for pairs on their own. I’m sure it creates some sort of good hand-eye coordination or vital foraging skills”.

See!

If I don’t have everything regimented out and stick to the plan it just doesn’t happen. Sometimes I wonder what I’d be like without the constant demand of keeping on task or organized. What if I didn’t have a houseful of kiddos? I’m thinking I’d let the Ol’ Gypsy Wind blow through my hair a little too much and get nothing done or be like Ferdinand the Bull and just sit and smeeeelllll the flowers!

I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and I believe this brood o’ kiddos was sent to me to keep me from being a lazy bum. ‘Cause Lord knows thats where my heart and tendencies lie.

Doing the Dance of the Children and Being Forced to Ignore my Draw Toward Laziness~

And that’s exactly what we did between 1 and 8am this morning.

JJ’s been in France since the beginning of August and was supposed to get to Portugal for a visit with my sister. But after she had been at the airport for a couple of hours and couldn’t find him and had no way of contacting him, she called here. Oh the ideas we came up with! There were literally hours of coming up with ideas for trying to get in touch with him or finding out if he got on his flight. Finally, at 8 am he showed up on Facebook! Yep! Thank goodness for social networking!

I don’t have the entire story, but he showed up (unknowingly) to the airport a day late for his flight and somehow made his way to an elderly couple who are familiar with boys from Saint Gregory’s Academy, spent an evening with them and then, somehow ended up with a classmate who lives in Paris. Small world?! He was finally able to get onto his computer (again, not sure of the details and timelines) and my sister had left him messages on Facebook and he IM’d her there.

He is safe, has had a remarkably wonderful trip and will be heading to Portugal tomorrow.

Way to follow that ol’ Gypsy Wind!

Honestly, I was more worried about my sister and her nerves than for JJ’s safety. He has a tendency to wander, miss deadlines/flights/buses and, somehow always ends up landing on his feet, quite comfortably.

My lil World Wanderer is enjoying his trip and, hopefully, won’t disappear off the radar again!

Doing the Dance of the Children from a world away~

“No candles? But don’t those cost, like, 2 bucks?” Yeah, well so does a loaf of bread. Guess where my last $2 went.

Ah, the budget. Forever in the forefront of my mind. Always being reworked, borrowed from, stretched and sometimes broken.

Back to school and Christmas are the hardest times on the ol’ budget and I’m neck-deep in back to school prep right now. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t still very real things that need to be celebrated and done, like birthdays. 2 days ago, we had just such an event. When the budget for the 15th was written, I requested an extra $100 for the upcoming bday. My request was fulfilled. However, I had NOT accounted for some uniform items that the girls starting their Frosh year needed. So, the bday $ went to buy 2 new, white, button-down shirts and 2 pair of black flats for Dress Day Uniform requirements. *Think, think, think* What was I gonna do about the bday? I kept being asked for a Birthday Party. My blanket answer was, “well, that’ll be a tough one, but let’s talk about it”.  And talk we did. He asked if he could, “please, please, please have friends down to the beach for a beach day”. Hmmm…the beach is free. I can do that! But what to do about the food and favors? *think, think, think*. Well, we’ll forget “favors” altogether. If they really need something to take home, they can roam the beach for shells, right? Which by-the-way, 10 & 11 yr old boys really don’t care about. Now food-*think, think, think*. Well, I earned $27 from a book I sold on Amazon.com. So, $20 for a cake at Costco and $7 for a 40-pack of CapriSun juice pouches. I’m GOLDEN! I knew I had a huge bag of carrots, and plenty of celery and peppers to cut up and ranch dressing in the fridge (had to attempt to add something healthy to the mix) and there was plenty of PB&J and bread. Another mom donated bags of popcorn and pudding cups.

And we had ourselves a party!

Now, the agreement was that if I did give him a party, that would be his present. Since I got off so inexpensively I told him I’d take him to ToysRUs to spend a gift card he received and if he needs a little help with whatever item he chooses, I’ll pitch in…but not until after payday.

I’m proud of our $27 party!

Doing the Dance of the Children and Staying on this Tightrope of a Budget~

Yesterday I loaded up the kiddos and headed over to Balboa Park to take advantage of the beautiful weather and the Free Tuesdays. I actually found parking quiet easily (talk about a surprise!) and we started across the grass toward the Air and Space Museum, which was our destination.

But surely a lil stop at this fun park, first, wouldn’t hurt!

Max tried this fun spinner…a lot!

Tristan mastered this, great, piece of equipment.

Lex couldn’t wait to try the fun spinner, like Max.

Tristan dug his way under the turtle.

Ok! Enough park fun! Let’s start walking toward the museum. We headed over a bridge and into…

The Butterfly Garden. Surely a few minutes of enjoying the flowers and the butterflies wouldn’t hurt! Look! Pretty! Ohhhhhhh!

Ok, ok, everyone was getting hungry, so we walked toward the Big Pond, found a shady spot and enjoyed our lunch, while watching kids from a day camp play games. Time to head toward the museum. We really only had about an hour and a half left before we needed to leave.

But on the way, we might as well walk through the Botanical Garden. Heck, it was RIGHT THERE!. We made our way through and I reminded them NOT TO TOUCH. Then it was out of the garden and, really, who can resist a stop at the Big Pond, to look for koi and turtles?

Not us! Lex enjoyed getting REALLY close to the edge of the pond and making me believe I was going to have to fish him out. Who can blame him?! Look how pretty it is!

The kiddos gathered together to watch this big one. See him?

Ok guys, seriously, if we’re gonna make it to the museum, we have to get going. So we kept walking across the park, past the Japanese Friendship Garden, past the Organ Pavilion and into the International cottages, where a few were open for looking through. Well, we might as well take a minute to see what the cottage from China has to offer.

Mmmm…tea and a fortune cookie!

Hey! Look! The cottage from Iran is open too. Wonder what’s in there.

Oh! And England too. Look, it’s pictures of Princess Diana. Yep, she really was a REAL princess.

Hey guys, we really, really better start moving along.

Wait, you know what? We better start making our way back to the car. There really isn’t time to even enjoy anything at the museum. But, didn’t we enjoy a ton of other things?! Come on, let’s go.

There was enough time to try climbing this bamboo, walk all the way back to the car and get to the school to pick the girls up on time.

What a great afternoon, museum or not!

We’ll have to try again. Maybe next Tuesday~

The only mistake I made was turning my back. I thought I’d covered my bases and set everyone up to be occupied while I tried to pack us up to enjoy an outting. How could I have been so silly?

Lex used his unsupervised time to “draw the way  the AppleTV so that everyone could watch Bugs Bunny”. Thanks for the clearly marked pathway. Geesh!

Many, many walls in several houses have been decorated by these 9 children of mine. Yet, I still wonder why they do it. Have I not provided enough drawing paper? Color books? Writing pads? The walls? Really?! Do they think I won’t notice? That they won’t get in trouble?

~sigh~

The mind of a child can be a mystery, no matter how many times you’ve walked the path.

Well, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and I have been good friends for a long time. I guess it’s time for a date. But guess who’s not going to find convenient parking at Balboa Park today.

Doing the Dance of the Children, with Plenty of Elbow Grease~

Yesterday marked the beginning of Arianna and Maddi’s High School careers and the first day of Mariah’s Senior year. I liked listening to them get ready and offer each other make-up, hair and uniform tips.

Everyone was dressed and loaded into the van to get them to school. It meant starting the day earlier than what the little kids have gotten used to over their summer break, but it’s good to get the schedule broken into. We have 2 more weeks of summer vacation for the 4 youngest kiddos and before I go back to work. So once we were back from the school, we got to decide what to do with our day.

We chose the beach!

So, onto Day 2 of the school routine. It’s 5:30 am, the lunches are packed, 2 of the 3 morning showers have been taken, the coffee is being enjoyed, bagels are waiting to be handed to the lil kiddos when they get into the van, and it’s time for M.O.M. to get put together for this day.

I think the lil kiddos and I will check out what’s happening at Balboa Park today. Do all you locals know about Free Tuesday’s at Balboa Park? Each Tuesday a different grouping of museums offers free admission. Maybe we’ll see you there.

Doing the Dance of the Children and Trying to Keep up with the Rhythm~

Summer…over! Where’d it go?

Between summer school, trips and guests, it flew by! I still want it! I’m not really ready for the whole school routine. Guess I better GET ready, because when I wake up it’ll be staring me in the face-wake up at 4, pack lunches, listen to 3 girls bicker over the 2 showers, fight for my own shower time, make sure everyone eats something-even if it can’t be considered breakfast, load everyone into the van, fight the morning traffic, drive 15 miles and fight the traffic back. Yea!

I can’t say it hasn’t been a good summer. It’s been different from what I’m used to, but it’s been good. We’re all a lot tanner and there’s a light dusting of sand on the bathroom and laundry room floors, so we obviously enjoyed the beach and parks. Can’t complain there!

Ok summer, I’ll say good bye. But only because I know that in a blink of an eye, you’ll be back~

Somedays I feel so overwhelmed that I can’t move past the mountainous list of To-Do’s. Now that sports have started and the 3 girls are gearing up for school, there’s a constant flow to my inbox and I simply can’t keep up with the little kiddos, who are still enjoying summer vacation and the bigger kiddos whose heads are in school mode and keep handing me papers to sign and lists of needs/wants/must-haves. I end up feeling like I’m in a dark tunnel with nothing to look at or think about except the next “must do” task. AND I’m trying to do it all on a teeny-tiny-super tight budget. ~breathe~

To keep sane and somewhat on-budget today, I loaded up the 4 lil kiddos when I had to take Arianna to her tennis practice at the school, which is 15 miles away. I decided that to save gas, we would stay by the school and explore the parks available to us there. So I packed snacks and off we went. We had a little more than 2 hours to kill and ended up visiting 2 parks. One without a bathroom and one with (note to all city park planners-BUILD BATHROOMS in ALL parks!).

I also used my free drink that I’d earned at Chauo Chocolatier, that just happens to be in that area. I don’t know about you, but I try to keep *free* coupons and earned items on hand for when the budget has been emptied out. This way I always have little perks to look forward to, even when I’m out of cash. Do you guys do that too? Come on, we all belong to groups and clubs that keep us earning free items. Do you save them up for the lean times?

So there I was, sipping my spicy, mayan mocha, in a beautiful park, watching my kids run around, play games and enjoy the summer day and I realized I needed to count the good things that were going on instead of mope around about my overwhelming schedule, looming to-do list and dwindling budget. Come on! I live in a fabulous place, my kids are in great schools, I had a free drink in my hand and the gorgeous park was open to my kiddos. ~sigh~ All good! I closed my eyes, said a silent, “thank you” and soaked up a little sun.

Yep, I’m back at home, where the ever-present work is waiting, but it’s ok. I can’t change the demands of this life, but I CAN try to change the focus.

Boy do I ever do a lot of self-talk. Gets me through though. Share your tips and tricks for remembering to count your blessings and face the sun.

Doing the Dance of the Children~

Here we go!

Today is Freshman orientation. The girls had to show up to school in their “Dress Day” uniforms at 8 am for yearbook pics & spending the day on campus to get acclimated to the campus and their schedules. It jogged my memory of what the school year schedule is like. Starting next Monday, the 3 girls will be back in school and we will be leaving the house at 7 each morning to fight the morning traffic, drive the 15 miles to the HS and then get back home to get the day going for everyone else. But that’s just the beginning-once the other kids start (Sept. 7th) I’m going to have to have 8 lunches packed, 7 kiddos dressed, homework in hand, dinner in the crock pot, myself dressed & ready and EVERYONE out the door by 7. I’ll get off at 12:15, take Lex with me to the gym, get a workout in (I’m pushing for this!), pick the kiddos up from school & begin the afternoon/evening of sports, homework, dinner, writing and the bedtime routine.

Yep-I’m trying to savor the last fleeting days of my semi-hectic summer before it gets turned up to full speed. Yikes!

So, I better get to the shower, clean this house, keep the kiddos entertained, work on the paperwork and try to remember that these are the easy times

Doing the Dance of the Children and easing back into the routine~

Today’s lesson-
Sometimes life gets in the way of your best intentions and well-laid plans.

I knew I wasn’t going to be able to make this morning’s 6am Kraze Boot Camps class, so I had let Aaron know I’d be trying out the evening class. By 1pm, everything had changed. Mariah got called into work and Arianna needed a ride home from tryouts. So, M.O.M. had to put my plans on hold and make sure that everyone got to and from where they needed.

But the lesson in it is to not get discouraged and to start right back into it again tomorrow. Starting this program meant breaking old habits and starting new/healthier ones and in the past, if I got out of a routine, it was always hard for me to jump back into it. I’d feel like I might as well expect for things to come up and just not plan time for myself. So, in keeping with my better/healthier attitude, I need to wake up tomorrow morning and jump right back in.

Tomorrow, I do believe it’s abs/core & cardio. Gettin’ ready!

Remember last week, when I asked about anyone who had a child with a friend that blames your child for the bad behavior that the other child is actually responsible for? Well THIS week I ask you to share your experiences of YOUR child allowing their friend to take the blame for the bad behavior that your child is actually responsible for. And how was it handled when you found out?

Doing the Dance of the Children, one day at a time~

My camera was MIA all weekend. I missed taking pics of Kateri leaving to go back to school and snapping pics of the 3 different St. Greg’s boys that we’ve encountered since Friday. We had 2 boys overnight on Friday and one is staying until Wednesday and we met up with another at church on Sunday. I can’t believe that they are all visiting while JJ is away!

But I found the camera again and decided to snap a pic of the project I was working on. Gabi brought home this “Beautiful Butterfly” a few days ago and promptly dropped it on the ground, while trying to show it to one of her sisters. I scooped up the pieces and told her I’d buy some Super Glue and get it put back together. I should’ve known better! I’m classically clumsy-it’s just a fact! And why I thought I could take on anything that had to do with broken glass AND a super-strength glue, I simply don’t know. After successfully gluing the first piece of the wing on, I was feeling pretty confident. Then I cut the tip of my finger on a sharp piece, dripped the glue all over my hand and the other pieces, effectively glueing them (let me rephrase-SUPER GLUING) them to the bowl and having to throw the entire thing away, bowl and all. Of course I hid it all under other trash and had it taken out. Not sure what my explanation is going to be.

How this house has stayed intact and these kiddos have thrived under my butter-fingered guidance, I’ll never know.

~sigh~

So…it’s the week before my high schoolers go back to school. This means sports tryouts. Arianna is trying out for tennis and volleyball. Her first passion is volleyball, but she wants a back-up plan to keep her moving. I give her a TON of credit! She hasn’t played tennis since 4th grade! I LOVE her drive and self-confidence. I wish I would have had it at her age. She tries new things all the time, gives them her all and is largely successful! I’m so proud of her!

My lil kiddos head back to school in a couple of weeks and that means back-to-work for M.O.M. I’ll be aiding in the preschool again. I really enjoyed my time there last year and can’t wait to get to know a new group of preschoolers! Of course this means I’ve got to get used to the crazy schedule of crockpotting every dinner and having everyone (myself included) dressed and ready for the day before 7:30 am. Whew! Doing the Dance for sure!

So, I’m going to try to enjoy my last couple weeks of morning Boot Camp and the “Lazy Days of Summer” (anyone seen those?) and then jump into the whole routine like a pro double-dutcher.

Wish me luck!

It’s Thursday of another summer’s week gone by. There are only a few weeks left and I have a mountain of housework/school prep/paperwork to get through. There are kid’s physicals, sports tryouts, school shopping and the last of the summer house guests to keep me Doing the Dance. But I wanna play! The beach is RIGHT THERE and it’s screaming to me and the kids. The pools are sending out invites and wondering why we’re not lying in the San Diego sunshine in lounge chairs by their clear, blue sides. The parks are whispering of shady trees and picnics. I’m so torn!

For today I’m working in the house for a little while longer and then packing up my bickering brood and heading for the pool, book in hand. But I know I’ll come home this afternoon, look around at all that’s waiting and wonder what magical thing is going to happen to make it possible for me to get it all done.

Why, oh why are there only 24 hours in each day? This M.O.M. needs more. More of everything! More time. More help. More solutions to my inner tugging between work and play!

Grab some time on these fleeting, summer days and try to enjoy it before it’s gone. The work, well, it’ll still be there. I promise

Doing the Dance of the Children and trying to keep my balance~

Yesterday afternoon we packed up and headed over to the New Children’s Museum. We decided to take advantage of the Target Free Second Sundays.  Every second Sunday is sponsored by Target and admission is free.  What a great place!  7 of the kids came along, ages 4 yrs.-16 yrs. and everyone had a great time.  There was truly something for everyone to enjoy!

Max had fun trying on silly appendages.

Luke-Xavier tried riding the chariots (he had more success going backward than forward!)

Tristan making a clay creation

Mariah and Maddi didn’t hesitate to get into the paint.

After we’d spent awhile exploring the museum, we decided to go across the parking lot to the playground.

Gabi trying out the climber.

Mariah, Maddi and Gabi used team work to have fun on these pieces of equipment.

Even I got into the fun. Mariah and I had fun trying this one out. It’s not often M.O.M. gets to play too!

It was a beautiful San Diego, summer’s day and thanks to Target and their dedication to supporting the arts and to the New Children’s Museum and all the wonderful things they have to do and explore, we had a great afternoon! If you haven’t had the chance to explore the museum yet take a few hours and go have some creative fun! If you’re on the lookout for inexpensive or free family fun, head over there on the Second Sunday of the month!

Doing the Dance of the Children and trying to keep summertime affordable~