Change

Warm weather is so energizing. More so to children I think. Yesterday was spent pretty much like the day before...outside. My kids love it. Sure they love the first snow and playing in freshly fallen leaves but the love of warm air and sunshine never seems to fade like the formentioned. The only downside I can think of is I realize now we are back to a bath everyday for the boys! No, I do not bathe my offspring everyday all year round. I did that with Britt and Shane and I am quite sure that constant bathing has something to do with their fear of dirt! We bathe the boys ...they are quite independent...we tell them it is bath time and they do the rest (except Luke needs help washing his hair) every other day or even every 2 days and yes...there has been the occasional span of time when Ben and I look at each other scratching our heads as we try to remember when they had a bath last. And of course when they were dirty they got a bath.....or a good wash cloth scrub down at the very least. But somewhere in the past 6 years bath time became a chore for me. I try to keep positive...my boys still think baths are a treat and a reward for good behavior. But deep inside I dread bath time and will pass it off on anyone who is willing! Ben is great, we usually share the task he takes one night and I do the next. We (parents) need something to make bath time fun for us. There is tons of stuff for the kids but what about us? What is out there that for the bathers of the bath that I don't know about? My friend Chrissy at http://stayathomechristianmom.blogspot.com has some great bath time tipsfor little people.

Much ado About Nothing........

Today has been one of those days. Well...another one of those days. You see it's spring, but it's snowing................ and freezing rain...... and cold.....and....vacation! So we have been cooped up in the house all day. No one wants to play outside, no one wants to do a craft and no one certainly wants to do any chores! So what do we do? Well since noon we pretty much pester each other! Will and Luke that is. So my strategies for dealing with pestering boys this afternoon included...


1. Hour long bath...for each of the kids ...not me(I can only wish) This ate up 2 hours. Works great for separating the kids.

2. Snack time.....4 times today. Usually only 2 times a day but desperate times call for desperate measures. Besides I secretly cut there usual snack in half so they didn't get any more food. That consumed another hour total (4-15 minute sanity breaks), instead of the usual 1/2 an hour.

3. The ever faithful movie. I pulled one out from the way , way, back. Listened to their complaints when they saw my choice. Once it was playing they were totally engrossed. Time spent 1.5 hours. Yeah!!

4. The not-so-popular quiet time. Luke napped from noon-1:30. From 1-1:30 was Mommy quiet time. AKA On the love seat with a magazine and knitting. Will was on the other love seat with a magazine. The only rule is to be...QUIET!!!!

Okay so 5 hours of manageable time, I made it!!!! There were the in between instances of bickering , crying and yes, (I am human) an occasional shout from MOM...but we made it . Tomorrow is another day....

Amazing

I am still amazed. My kids constantly amaze me. Take this morning for example, Luke is winy. I check his head for a temperature. I always want to think that my child must be sick if he is misbehaving. Sure enough he felt warm and had a runny nose. So he is a 40 pound 2 year old so I give him a teaspoon of Motrin COLD. As he takes his medicine (all by himself from the little cup -AMAZING!) I check his temp with the ear thermometer (he lets me -AMAZING) Sure enough he has NO temp. Too late... he already swallowed the medicine. About 2 hours pass, Luke has had snack and watched a Blues Clues video for the second or third time while I get some office work done -AMAZING! I notice that the house is quiet, no video, no rustling in the playroom...just quiet-AMAZING. I check the time it's 11:30 am I go upstairs to see what Luke has gotten in to, guessing probably my make-up. Well I find Little Luke curled up in his bed sound asleep, covers on , and house shoes neatly at the bedside. UTTERLY AMAZING! I didn't know Motrin DID THAT!

Mom on Duty 24/7 plus overtime

Fun at Camp
Originally uploaded by nhfamilytimes.

MOM ON DUTY...that is my sign. Glowing 24/7 like a neon diner light on route 66. How come there is not a sign that reads MOM OFF DUTY....? BECAUSE we are NEVER OFF DUTY!!!!It's the hard truth. Even when Dad is home...even when we are at camp and everyone is miles away on the snowmobiles...Moms are still on duty. When our kids are with us we take charge..it's automatic. When are kids are not with us we worry....also automatic. There is no off duty switch. So let me share my weekend being on what I'd call overtime. We all went to camp this weekend. We made the 3 hour trek up north with Britt, Scoot(boyfriend), Will, Luke, Mali, Ben and I all in the same vehicle, packed in so tight it was difficult to make an accurate head count. The snow mobiles in tow we headed up the highway taking in the scenery (mostly brown grass and patches of mud). We got plenty of odd looks...you know.."where are those fools going to snowmobile?" or "It's a long way to Alaska, and your going in the wrong direction!" . Well when we got to camp guess what! There WAS snow! I was skeptical. We could not trail ride but the 50 acres around camp was scattered with snow, enough to ride. An the weather, what a bonus! 50+ degrees. It was sunny and clear, just beautiful for riding! So we enjoyed a weekend of snowmobiling, good old fashioned sledding (we did ride the snowmobiles back up the long hill) lots of napping and eating. The overtimes comes into the picture now.....when we are at camp everyone stays up late and gets up early. I know...doesn't make sense does it? The other thing is that the first night at camp no one gets hardly any sleep. Understand now why there is so much napping(only by the big people nap...little people are too excited to nap) So instead of 10 or so hours of sleep for the kids it gets reduced to about 6. This makes little people cranky. Which in turn makes big people cranky. So Mom gets cranky.....and hence...overtime, working extra hard extra long hours. We are working on this, we got home unpacked, gave the boys PB & J for supper a good bath and it is 7:32pm and they are off to bed! Still I can smile when I reflect on this past weekend...and we all came home in one piece...Despite Will's driving lessons on
the snowmobile. He hasn't quite got the hang of how hard to squeeze, or not to squeeze-the accelerator. Despite... Ben's cooking (just kidding) Despite Luke's constant inclination to leave the porch when no one is outside with him. Despite Brittni's thoughts on how to handle spiders, chamber flies, porcupines and other camp critters.

O' The Joys of Boys

Moms Handsome Boys
Originally uploaded by nhfamilytimes.

It just isn't going to happen. I may as well give up! I am the only girl in the household now that Britt has moved out, so I need to just accept the fact. Its really not a big deal...well...until I have unexpected company. If I know I am having company I can plan...or I could just scrub the toilet EVERY HOUR ON THE HOUR..........NOT!!! I cannot keep the bathrooms clean. What do I do ? My vote is to have them all go outside. But we live in town...probably not a good idea. I could hire someone...too expensive. What else? I did invest in Clorox wipes. These handy wipes come in a nice tub that I keep under my sinks. Every time I use the bathroom I pull them out so I can wipe everything down before I sit down. They work quite well. Now I just need to train everyone else to use Clorox wipes. My Mother visited recently and I just told her where the wipes were and to use them . That's what I could do!! I'll post a sign in the bathroom for my guests!! Something like: This Home is Inhabited by Untidy Animals - Prior to Using This Bathroom We Suggest You Wipe Down The Seating Area With Clorox Wipes Located Under the Sink. I'll let you know how it works out........