Go play on the road.

     I had taken the younger two boys and went to Saskatoon for a wedding.  We camped with my parents Friday and Saturday nights.  It was a really good time and the boys got good and dirty!  They played so hard all day and slept so good all night.  They even slept in even though the sun makes a tent trailer really bright really early by the end of May.  My parents we so accomadating, My mom even stayed in bed till the boys woke up even though she had to go to the bathroom really bad.
     On Friday night my cousins and their kids came to our campsite to roast marshmallows and play.  My cousin laughed and mmade a comment when she heard me say to the boys," you guys get away from the fire, go play on the road.  Of course it was a very quiet campsite road but it was kinda funnny, when else do you tell little kids to go play on the road?  Another things I caught myself saying was," it's okay if your hands are dirty, just wipe them on your pants". Once again, when else do I say that to my kids?  Whatever, things are different when you are camping.  The adults got to visit and the kids got to play outside till  way past their bed time.
     The wedding was on Saturday and durring the ceremony I was sitting by my little brother(6'9"), okay maybe just my younger brother.  Anyway I had Atley and Alex and he had Anika and Kiera, two 3year olds and two 19month olds.  I was pretty impressed that we kept 4 kids under 4 years old quiet for 40 min. till the wedding was over.  Good thing I bought Twizzlers and Sweet Tarts at the gas station on the way there!
     We were supposed to  go to the forestry farm on Sunday before we went back to N. Battleford but it rained so we didn't end up going.  I was kinda disapointed cause I wanted to see the boys reaction when they saw all the animals.  Oh well, I got to hang out with some friends in N.Battleford instead and catch up on who is dating who and all the other news going on around there.  My dad made a fire in the back yard on Sunday and we had a weiner roast and made smores.  Mmm smores!  I just couldn't believe Alex, he loved roasting the marshmallows and he didn't seem to mind eating them but he didn't want the stickyness on his hands.  Kinda funny considering my other 2 would be covered in white stickyness before they were done if I let them.
     The boys are all really good travelers and the driving part of the trip seemed to go extra smooth this time.  I think it was cause only one of the 2 boys I took can talk so they couldn't really fight.  Whatever it was it was nice and quiet most of the time in the van,  minus the times when we were "dacing" and singing to the Veggie Tales CD.  On the way home I really wanted the boys to have a nap cause the weekend was busier than normal and Atley had a soccer game when we got home.  Neither of them slept on the way home UNTILL we got to the stop light about 4 min from home!  I thought to myself, you have to be kidding me!  .  Little did I know there would be another You have to be kidding me moment when I got home.  It was when I walked into the house and every dish, cup and utensil that had been used over the whole weekend was either on the kitchen table or stacked in the kitchen sink.  But once again I just thought it and didn't say it out loud.  I did however verbalize those 6 words when I walked into the bathroom and found Anthany's Swimming suit and towel still wet and in it's bag from 2 days before.  REALLY!!   You have to be kidding me.  Glad I wasn't gone for a week!! 
     I had such a pleasant welcome aswell, NOT.  LOL  Anthany gave me a hug and said he missed me but right after that he asked if I brought him lots of candy and when I said no he spent the next half and hour pouting and being mad at me lol.  Oh  speaking of being mad...... hahahaha.  Atley woke up this morning crying and sounded upset.  I head my mom go in his room and ask him if he was okay and if he was comming out.  He was all upset and said, no mommy wont let me come out of my room".  I got out of bed and when in there and he was down right mad at me.  He didn't stop being mad at me for about 10 minutes.  I kept asking him if he had a bad dream and if that was why he was upset but he was convinced I had been in his room and had told him he ccouldn't get up.  My boys(even Brian) talk in their sleep so I don't have to imagine, I know some of there dreams are pretty good ones.
    Well the house is back to nornal if there is such a thing around here and we are all in bed early  so the first day of our week will be a good one tomorrow.

Do meals include tables?

     What a day!  I got up this morning and had to shower first thing (that doesn't happen much anymore), feed the boys and got them ready and ate a quick bowl of cereal while standing by the counter on my way out the door.  I had the oppertunity to be parent helper in Anthany's French kindergarten classroom, thank goodness I recall some of the french I learned in elementery school or I would have been totally lost.  The kids are so cute and they understand so much for it only being their first year of this new language.  There was a little girl explaining to the class about a picture she drew.  She started talking about what was in the picture then when she got to the part about what they were going to do for the parents on the last day of school, without a beat be looked at me and said,"can you please plug your ears" and then kept on talking.
     When the kids sat down to eat their lunch I had to Drive home pick up Atley and take him to preschool  eating my lunch while I drove.  By the time I got back to Anthany's class lunch was finished but they did save me a cupcake that on of the moms brought for her childs birthday.  I think they should have nap time in kindergarten.  By the time 2:30 came alone I wanted to find a quiet corner and go to sleep.  When school was out we went and picked up Atley from preschool and ran some erronds before going home and having a snack and getting ready for soccer.  Me and the boys ate our supper on the way to soccer and by this time I really just wanted to sit down at the table and have a nice meal,  oh well there is always tomorrow. 
    Three and four year old soccer is so cute.  They run in a mob around the field and if one of them falls they all fall on top.  by the time the first shift is over there are usually a few kids sitting or laying in various parts of the field picking flowers, studying grass or visiting with each other.  I think it was their 4th game tonight and the ball was handled with their hand almost as much as it was with their feet.  Only in 3 and 4 year old soccer can a kid kick the ball to the net, pick it up so no one else gets it, puts it back down, kicks it and scores and everyone cheers. So funny.
     Anthany had come to the game with us and was playing at the play ground with his friends while I watched Atley play.  Every once in awhile I would look over to the playground and see if I could see him.  One time I had been looking for awhile and hadn't found him yet so I stood up to look and still couldn't find him.  I was about to go over there when one of the kids that were playing in the sand moved over and I saw only Anthany's head sticking out of the sand.  Yep that would be my kid getting really really dirty.  Oh well that was definatly one way to keep the mosquitos off of him.
     Wow, just now the dishwasher finished and the fridge stopped buzzing and holy cow it is quiet in here.  Ahh blessed silence....  Ya know I am just kinda wondering how come I am the one up so late cleaning up the house when I was barely home today???  My sisters step kid drew a picture for her of everyone in their house in bed except for her.  When she asked him about it he said, "well everyone goes to bed except you, you stay up and clean".  I don't know about anyone elses but that is what happends in my house aswell.
     Ya know how kids can just drive you crazy to the point that you want to hang them by their toe nails from the ceiling?  Well doesn't matter how crazy my house gets the cuteness factor always overrides it.  Today the boys were playing hide and seek and Anthany got stuck under the bed downstairs.  Atley came running up stairs and said, mom can you come?  Anthany is stuck under the bed."  I told him I would be right down to help him out.  Befor I even got down there Atley came running back up the stairs with a huge grin on his face and he was even kinda giddy.  He Said," mom he's unstuck.  He was stuck under the bed but I went back down there and he was unstuck."  Then as he was walking away he still had the huge grin and he said," That is sunny (funny)hey,  Ya that's mazing (amazing).  Atley is so adorable, it is really hard to give him heck especially when he flashes his smile.  One time he was being loud and causing a bit of trouble at Superstore, he was sitting in the front of the cart so he couldn't go anywhere.   As we were on our way out the door he saw still squirming and talking quite loudly.  Them he saw an older  an older lady sitting by the door and he instantly sat still was quiet then looked at her, tipped his head sideways just a bit and said in his cute little drawn out angel voice," Hi!".  You may have actually had to hear the voice for the cuteness factor to work.  But trust me on this one, IT WAS CUTE.
     I have half the van packed, I am taking the two younger boys and heading to Saskatoon tomorrow for a wedding.   I am looking forward to visiting with the family.   Hopefully I will come back with some good stories to tell.

my little girl.

Is it just me or do lots of moms let their last babies hair grow even if he's a boy?  I went shopping at Superstore yesterday and when we went to get a cookie club cookie the lady in the bakery told Atley to give one to his little siser.  I thought it was kinda funny, he didn't even have a hood or a hat on or anything.  Guess his hair is getting a little bit too long!
     Today was a good reminder that doing nothing with the kids is alot of times more work than doing something.  Nobody was awake till 8:00, including me so that was an awesome start to the day but my quest to make bun, bread and orange buns started while the boys were eating their breakfast and didn't end till mid afternoon.  I encouraged the boys to entertain themselves, they do afterall have a billion toys and other things to do.  The thing is when I have a plan and stuff to do they just want to do their own stuff but when I want them to do their own stuff all I hear is,"mom what do you want to do with us?"  or "mom can you play a game with us?"  Usually I can multitask pretty good but when my hands are full of dough it is hard to do much else.  I guess my point is that if I doing something with the boys or direct them to something and get them started the mess stays localized but if I do nothing the entire house is the mess.  It all worked out in the end, we had fried dough for lunch.  For anyone who doesn't know what that is it's bread dough that has been stretched thin and fried in a pan then butter, cinnamon and sugar is put on top.  Mmmm so good!!  My dad used to make it for us all the time when he or my mom were making buns.  I even had entertainment, the two little boys sat on their pottys and sang the alphabet song over and over while they did their business. 
     I love the look in a kids eyes when they learn something new.  I saw that look in Anthany today when he was sitting at the table doing "homework" (I get him to do printing or math sheets before he is allowd to play Wii).  I was saying words and he would have to spell them out on a paper like bat, mat, rat and so on.  Then Brian asked him to spell mate.  I explained that the "e" on the end makes the "a" say it's own name.  After he did a few of them he got the hang of it and every time he did another one he flashed me his big smile and I saw that twinkle in his eye.  I love it!
     I get to be parent helper in Anthany's kindergarten class tomorrow, should be fun.  Last time I was there I overheard a conversation between a couple of the boys while they were getting ready for recess, it went like this. First kid- "I wonder why these are called lockers?"  Second kid- " cause they lock and they are ers"  So cute, I love it.

Tuesdays

     There are many reasons why I love Tuesdays.  To me Tuesdays may a swell be the first day of the week.  Anthany goes to school all day, Atley goes to preschool in the afternoon and Alex sleeps for an hour while the other 2 are gone.  The 2 little ones play nice together while I clean up the house and they even help me vacuum.  I do find it amazing that by the time I have vacuumed the whole house I can go back to where I started and it needs to be done again.  By the time lunch times comes the laundry has been washed, dried, folded, kicked over, folded again, dropped on the way to the bed room and stuffed into the wrong drawers.  The dishes from the night before are now out of the dishwasher and it is almost full again but at least the counter and the table are clear (well mostly).  And after lunch means that I take Atley to preschool and I get look over my shoulder while I am driving home and see the cute little creases on Alex’s forehead as he fights to stay awake but is almost always sleeping by the time we get home.

     Now if the morning has gone as planned this Tuesday afternoon is my first quiet time of the week.  I can make and eat my lunch with no interruptions, I can sit and watch 2 episodes of Family Feud and actually hear all the answers (the best part of that is the sitting).  I can get supper prepared in half the time I would be able to if I had 3 kids running around the house.  And now that I am blogging I can sit and share some stories will all of you.

     Today after Anthany’s  soccer game we went to Atleys preschool Graduation.  So cute!!  How can a bunch of three and four year olds singing songs and waving at their parents not be cute.  Atley even yelled out from the stage,”  mom are you taking pictures of me?”  Atley looked so adorable in the white sweater and blue jeans he was wearing but not such a good choice on my part considering there were snacks after that included chocolate cup cakes, chocolate squares, chocolate cookies and chocolate Tim Bits along with everything else.

     Guess what I learned how to do today.  I learned how to unhook the cables from a car battery and attach it to a charger.  We were on the way out the door this morning to take Anthany to school and the van wouldn’t start.  The lights that the boys play with in the back of the van had been left on too long and the battery was dead.  It really is amazing how quickly I can change car seats and boosters from one vehicle to another when I really have to.  And the other day I learned how to take the winter tires off the car and put the summer ones on.  Mmm what will my next C.E. (continuing education) credit be?

     I am kinda excited!  The current owners of the house that will soon be ours has agreed to let us in the house tomorrow to take some measurements.  Windows, little nooks stuff like that.  I think I am more excited to order the boys bedding sets and curtains than they are.  We are also looking at some really nice antique furniture!  Less than a month till we move in!

     Alright, I am off.  Time to go check the battery charger on the van and get the house in order.  We have friends coming over tomorrow to make buns with us.

    

first post

     So many times throughout the day I hear my boys say things and see my boys do things that I would like to write down and remember.  There are also times I feel a certain way or think a certain thing and wonder if anyone has been in the same place as I have.  There seems to be so much pressure to have the perfect child.  Cute, smart, well mannorred and obediant and when they are not those things we have to make excusses for them and maybe even feel like it's our fault as a mother that they are not.  I think that expecting a child to be perfect is like expecting a partly done painting to be a masterpeice.  They are growing and learning and kids will be kids.  Isn't it my job as a mom to DO MY BEST with what I have and what I know to raise these children God has blessed me with?  Doing my best is really hard.  It is like working overtime every day and going to school ful time.  Cooking, cleaning, laundry, teaching, ect, ect. plus studying each of my three boys to figure out what they need.  How they each learn best, what is their love languages and what type of disapline works best for each one at each stage they aregoing through.    This continuing education inludes many other ways of learning including reading book and talking with friends.  There is almost nothing that I enjoy more these days than hearing a story or reading a book about a mom that is not perfect.  The reason for that is because I am not a perfect mom!  I like to hear that it's okay to make mistakes, it's okay to have bad days and it's okay that I don't always know how to fix things.
     This blog is a way for me to share, and sometimes vent, things that are going on in my life with whoever cares to read it.  Talking (or typing) about things helps me to sort it out in my own head and may also help someone else realize that it is okay not to be perfect.  I will warn you, you may get a good laugh out of some of the stories aswell.
     When I was a kid I loved playing with and looking after younger kids, it was fun! Believe it or not I even asked if I could change the babies diapers.  Don't get me wrong.  I still love kids and everything that comes along with them but now I actually know what comes with them and I couldn't give them back even if I wanted to, CAUSE THEY ARE MINE!!  All three little boys and my husband make four.  I love them all to peices and wouldn't trade them for all the gold in all the pots at the bottom of all the rainbows there have ever been. 
     I read a saying on a picture frame the other day.  It said,"Remember, to everyone else we look like a nice normal family."  Hopefully this blog wont change that!  We will still be a nice normal family with many imperfections as we strive to do the best we can...