Little Tails

Yesterday was, as always, filled with several very entertaining moments. But there was one in particular that I thought I would share.
Much of my days are spent changing diapers. 3 kids in diapers, 10 work hours, thats atleast 15 diapers during daycare hours. It's a pretty menial task now that doesn't require much thought at this point. Yesterday, while I was changing the youngest boy, Mckenzie came over chattering away as always. Only this time she happened to glance down as I removed the diaper. She stopped mid sentence "Mom, why does he have that little tail?"
I explained (or atleast tried to) that it was not a tail, but was what made him a boy. "But it will fall off when he gets bigger, right?"
"no Kenzie, it will stay with him forever"
"Ewww Mom, thats gross"

Guess I don't have to worry about her for a while longer!

And so it begins

This is the busy time of year for our family. EVERYTHING that we participate in starts between September and October, so we go from having plenty of free time to do whatever we want, to scheduling just about every minute of the day. What, you may ask, is it that has us so busy this time of year? Leah has started her 4th season of hockey (moving up from mites to squirts.....I swear that didn't make me tear up!!) with practices on Tuesday and Thursday nights (Thursday nights also happen to be manditory hockey mom night, YAY!) and games on either Saturday or Sunday. Justin helps out on the ice with Leah's team (and possibly McKenzies too). McKenzie starts her first season of hockey, a 4 week learn to play program, which meets for an hour on Saturdays. Natalie and Leah start Odyssey of the Mind, with team meetings for one on Monday and the other on Wednesdays. And oh yes, I coach both of their teams....and possibly one other...... and of course we have the families all time favorite past time- Portland Pirates hockey with games scattered throughout the week and weekends. You may think that last one is an optional thing, but you are wrong. In our house it is more like a religious movement. All major events are planned around the Pirates season- our wedding, for example, and the birth of our youngest 2 daughters. Of course, Alyvia didnt really cooperate. There was a whole weekend of away games that she could have been born on, but she had to wait around for a game filled weekend! It worked out though, Justin and the girls made the game the day after she was born, and the whole crew, Alyvia and myself included, made the game the day we were released from the hospital. Everyone has hockey game outfits- Justin and I wear jerseys, McKenzie and Alyvia wear their dresses I make for them each season, and Natalie and Leah have decided this season to break with tradition and wear whatever they want. Such rebelious girls.
All of this is in addition to school for the girls and work for Justin and I. So when I say almost every minute of the day is scheduled, I really do mean it! With everything going on, sometimes it gets to be a little overwhelming and we all have our moments of irritability, which usually result in everyone shouting it out, a few tears (Justin is such a cryer!), and then we move on.
This year we have learned a few tricks that have helped streamline the process. We make a menu for the entire month, breakfast lunch and dinner, so we know what to shop for, what needs to be cooked when, and everyone knows what to expect to eat (I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to not have to answer the "whats for dinner?" question a bazillion times a night. I just point at the menu and keep going!). The calendar hangs right in the kitchen where everyone can see exactly what is scheduled (or they would be able to, if I could just get better at writing everything down...) and everyone pitches in to help get things pulled together when its time to go (note: I never once claimed that this was done without a fair amount of grumbling). The major difference I see is that everyone just seems to know what to expect more, and that seems to make it go smoother.
So this year, as in every other year, we find ourselves running around crazy as usual and still just as happy as ever about it (even the grumpy pants, though he won't admit it!)

Vacation review

Today marks my first day back to work after over a week of vacation. I thought I would really dread getting up, getting ready and hearing the knock at the door this morning, but I guess the reality of it is that "vacation" and "work" aren't all that different when you are the mother of 4 and run a daycare. I think the one major difference is that I can't spend the day in my pj's on work days.

I can't say that we did anything really exciting or interesting over our little break, but we did get a lot done! The kitchen cabinets are all finished and look amazing! I got some Tastefully Simple stuff taken care of, did some curriculum planning, and hung out with my girls. On Thursday I took miss McKenzie and miss Alyvia into Portland to run some errands and we stopped in to watch the Pirates practice. McKenzie was so funny! She had to be down near the glass so she could see her buddy,Migor. However,  once she got down there she wandered back and forth using Caitlins signature hair twirl, pretending she didn't notice him. Every few minutes she would bound back up the stairs and ask me if he saw her. I was both amused and upset that my 4 year old daughter would be so interested in a boy already.
Thursday night found Justin and I pulling porcupine quills out of poor Gala's nose and face into the wee hours and again Friday morning. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love that dog and can imagine how much it was killing me to see her hurting. Somewhere in the middle of the night the combination of lack of sleep, stress, adreneline, and seeing my poor puppy in pain pushed me over the edge and I had a minor emotional breakdown. What fun. Gala is doing well now, the only sign of her scuffle is a little puffiness near one of her eyes.
Saturday we (finally!) got to see some hockey in Portland. Regardless of how the games end, I love going to see them! Its a great family activity for us (even if the older girls spend the whole time plugged in) and its a nice stress reliever for me. And since I generally like people and like to be around them, it is a great chance for me to get out and talk to other grownups and socialize in a way that doesn't bug the heck out of my husband (Justin sits and watches hockey, I watch hockey in between walking Alyvia around the lobby and chatting with whomever I run into).
Also this past week I decided my once wonderful language skills had been left to ruin for far too long and began the quest to relearn all that I have forgotten. I found that Spanish is still where I am strongest, Korean is still in there somewhere, and that my Russian skills are so sad it makes me want to cry. I also found that learning languages at 31 is no where near as easy as it was a 16. So I have been obssesively studying: making flashcards, watching videos, doing online courses. I HAVE to get these skills back!
Natalie had her final 2 cross country meets over my vacation so I was able to go see her run. It was amazing! She has definitely inherited her mothers flair for the dramatic, crossing the finish line in tears both times (thats my girl!).
And finally, Leah started her 4th season of hockey yesterday. Watching her skate, as we have every practice ad every game for each season, Justin turned to me and said "When did she learn to skate like that?" It seems our little girl isnt that same tiny little thing we first sent out on the ice having only ever skated twice before. She can hold her own out there now!

Chaos is King...and I like it that way!

In our house Chaos rules. It seems that no matter what we attempt or how well we try and plan, something always comes up and throws it all out the window.
For example, this weekend was all about chaos.
It started Friday night, around midnight. We had a house full of kids (our 4, plus 2 of Natalies friends) and had finally coaxed them into sleeping and were very ready to crawl into bed ourselves when we discovered that our darling Gala (the almost 12 year old german shepherd) had peed in our bed. And not just a little tinkle, it was like she had saved everything in her for a week and unleashed her bladder right in the middle of the bed. So a couple of hours and some steam cleaning later, Justin and I found ourselves sleeping on the airmattresss. The next morning we were suppposed to leave for Emilys baby shower (which started at 10) no later than 830 so we would have time to make a couple of stops and our guests were going to be picked up about the same time. But now we are working on just a few hours of very uncomfortable, Anna-was-only-willing-to-spend-$20-at-walmart airmattress sleep. Coffee is brewed as fast as possible. The girls seem to shed clothing and belonings in the middle of the floor and you can barely tell that the livingroom is not actually carpetted in clothing. There are cabinet doors still drying around the kitchen, a heaping pile of dishes await placement in the dishwasher and 6 children run around the house playing hide and seek and periodically eating. Alyvia has decided that since there are no cabinet doors between her and food she shall consume everythign in her reach and has a breakfast of cold pizza, animal crackers, pretzels, 2 bananas, and 1/2 a loaf of bread. Somewhere in here one of Natalies friends mom arrives to pick her up. Imagine what the scene must look like to this poor woman who has come to pick up her child. As we stand there, her all ready for her day and me in my pajamas with my hair still halfway up in a ponytail and pillow creases still in my face, Alyvia decides its time to feed the dogs. I help her scoop the food, but she misses the bowls and sends dog foor scattering around the floor and our friends feet. Her daughter comes down stairs, clean, happy, and well fed and they head out the door. A few minutes later the next mother arrives to similar chaos and claims her daughter as well. At this point we are well behind schedule. But somehow in the next 20 minutes we manage to get 4 kids and ourselves dressed and presentable and out the door.

I won't tell you about the trip to walmart. But let me say that it involved myself and 2 tour busses of technologically challenged elderly folks all attempting to use the photo machines.

This is the kind of chaos that can drive many people over the edge. Sometimes I am pretty sure my husband is one of those people. But it works for us. There is usually a fair ammount of chaos involved in everything that we do. We are usually late for things. There is usually a bit of yelling involved in getting us all out the door. And sometimes (ok, 90% of the time) when we finally get where we are going, McKenzie will announce that she doesnt have any underwear on (why do I never rememeber to check before we leave?!). But by the time we all get in the car, buckle up and drive off we are happy, chattering and looking presentable. Our house may never be picture perfect clean, but its generally tidy and somewhat maintained (i.e. no you will not have to sit in a pile of laundry, but there is a pile of laundry sitting in front the washer downstairs waiting its turn to be washed). The fridge is covered in school work, the calendar is covered in a plethora of activities, there are usually a few toys on the floor, the dishwasher is usually running, the washer does a couple of loads of laundry a day, and I am almost always asking someone to pick up their something that they left in the place it doesnt belong. But its all part of what makes our family tick.

I have often found myself feeling embarrassed by the state of my house when parents come to pick up their kids, or people drop by unexectedly. But I have recently decided that that is not ok. My children are happy, healthy, intelligent, well loved, well behaved children. Anyone who spends any time with them can tell you that they are bright, engaging, talkative, and humorous. So if you come to my house ready to take pictures for better homes and gardens, let me save you some time. There is no ammount of editting software that will make those pictures work for your magazine. But if you want to come over and feel relaxed and comfortable and have a nice home cooked meal and some good conversation, please stop by any time. We love guests and I love to feed people! And I wouldnt change a thing.