Starting School

So I am going to skip over the fact that  I have written NOTHING for a year and just start explaining what the past week has been like:


Last Tuesday, Alivia started first grade.  She  had not been to public school yet so it was a pretty big change from her kindergarden of 5 kids in Mrs Harwoods sunroom last year.  Mrs Gonczarow had invited her to her classroom with Matt and the other kids the week before school started.  She had played on the smart board and met the teacher and was excited for school to start.  On the first day, she wanted me to drive her to school and walk her to her classroom.  I was happy to do this.  As we walked into the school her grip on my hand tightened but she was very brave and walked right to her locker.  I helped her unload her things into her locker, took a few pictures and went into the classroom with her.  She sat at the desk for another picture and then it was time for me to leave.  She was fine, I DID NOT WANT TO GO.  I wanted to sit right beside her and watch what was going to happen.  It wasn't really that I was worried about her, I just wanted to know what was going to happen.   I wanted to learn all the kids names and see who would become her new friends.  I wanted to see what they did in the classroom and watch her enjoy the day.  I knew I was limited to knowing only what Alivia decided to tell me at the end of the day.  So, I kissed her and headed out.  In the parking lot I ran into three other moms that I knew.  We all just stood there like maybe we could just hang out in the parking lot for the day.  After some chit chat we all headed out and left our babies in the giant school.  I am sure that Alivia will love the school and that she will do great.  One week into school she loves Music and Art and riding the bus.  I hope she learns a lot and that the teacher can keep her busy and entertained.  She is so smart and good at everything she does.  It will be fun to watch her grow this year.  May it be school activities and not Lady Gaga that she is excited by as she learns about so many new things.

We had more places to go.  We had to take Molly to her Montessori Preschool open house.  She marched in and walked around like she owned the place.  The teacher was painting pictures on the children's arms and she sat and waited patiently to get her painting done.  Mrs Campanelli actually had to leave the painting area before Molly got her picture so Molly sat patiently for several minutes for her to come back and paint again.  Molly amazes me with her bravery.  It doesn't even occur to her to be afraid or hesitant.  She just jumps in does whatever it is time to do.  Now that she has been in school for a week, she still has not had one tiny hesitation about marching right into school all my herself each morning.  She loves it.  She is so proud to be in school like the rest of the kids.  I am proud of her too.

Marlin started Kindergarden at Mrs Harwoods today.  Yesterday was Sunday and Marlin was working on reading his BOB books and working on math on our chalk board.  I noticed that he was pretty intense in his studies.  He was insisting that I help him more and he seemed to be frustrated when he told me "Mom I am working on my math but I only know 1 plus 1 and 2 plus 2."  We sat down and I asked him if he was working this hard because Kindergarden started tomorrow.  He said yes and admitted that he was a little nervous about Kindergarden.  I explained that he did not need to know everything before school started and I was sure that he would do just fine. So, today when I dropped him off he ready.  He walked right in and cautiously put his backpack away and sat at his chair.  Within 30 seconds he was working away on a puzzle and I had trouble getting his attention to tell him goodbye.  That boy has some serious focus.  He is in his own world.  I hope Mrs Harwood can find her way into the world where Marlin lives and get him to focus on what they are doing in school.  I am sure he will have a great year with her.  When I picked him up and asked him how his first day of Kindergarden went he said "It wasn't as fun as I thought it was going to be.  I thought there would be all kinds of kids running around everywhere."  I am not sure what that means.  I sure hope tomorrow is a little more fun for my little man. 

Hair Cuts for Everyone

(this post has lived in Drafts for a year. Written in August 2010, posted august 2011)Molly's hair was very uneven so it became time for her first haircut.  Above and below are before shots...

During...

After.  Not very dramatic but the first hair cut is always a little dramatic for Mama so we went with a little trim so I didn't cry.

Next was Alivia.  She has been growing her hair long for over a year.  It has gotten so long that she can not brush it herself.  It was a lot of work and needed to be worn in braids unless we were up for hours  of detangling and screaming and yelling from both of us.  Just kidding about the screaming and yelling...no, actually I'm not kidding :

Before...

Before...

After...
What happened to my baby!?!?!!!!

Then Marlin Man put in his own special request.  He wanted a Mohawk!  We went with a mild cut that could still be a non-mohawk when we didn't use gel.

So far, we have used gel every day.  He loves his Mohawk and I love his sweet face...even with the Mohawk.

She Reads, He...I don't know what he does.

Alivia has been sounding out words lately.  Friday night we were leaving Cindy's house and I was talking about something and spelled the word STUPID.  From the back seat Alivia said "Stupid?"

Uh oh...time to start watching what we spell.  We told her she was right and she was so proud that she knew what we spelled.  Matt suggested that I spell another word just for fun to see if she could figure it out. 

I said "I don't even know what to S-A-Y"

Alivia responded "Shit?"  "Did you spell Shit?"

When Matt and I got done with our front seat silent laughing we explained to her that shit is in a level way above stupid and shut up and she REALLY can't say that word. 


Marlin also has been doing a lot of things.  He started taking gymnastics with his sister and although he is half the size of most of the girls in the class, he struts all over the gym having the time of his life. 

My mom took him to the movie on Thursday and then she was driving Alivia to Romney so Matt could take her home.  On the way Marlin kept asking to go to my mom's house first.  She said they were running late and they couldn't go to her house.  Finally Marlin said, "Grandma, I really need to go back to your house because my penis is pointed the wrong way and I need to fix it!"

Marlin turns 4!

My little man is four years old.

He has been ready for his birthday for months!!!  About 6 weeks before the big day, he woke up one Saturday and sneaked slowly down the stairs and with his sweet little smile he looked at me and said "Is today my birthday?"

When it finally got here, we had a great birthday week.  On his actual birthday I picked the kids up.  Matt was planning on going swimming with all of us when he got off work but he was working late so we had a little time to kill.  I asked Marlin what he wanted for dinner.  He could have anything he wanted.  Of course, he chose McDonalds, but he wanted to go all out for his birthday and eat AT the restaurant.  The kids and I ate dinner at MickyD's and then went swimming.  After swimming we bathed the kids, put them in their jammies and gave them snacks in the locker rooms so we could go home and go straight to bed.  On the way home Birthday boy was still pretty fired up.  He was telling us all the things we were going to do when we got home.  I told him that we were going to bed when we got home.

Then Marlin said "NO, I don't want to go to bed.  I want to be four."

I said "Marlin you will still be four tomorrow when you wake up."


"I will?" He said and he was much more willing for bedtime.  I guess telling him that he was going to be 4 on his birthday had been taken a little too literally by my little guy. 

For the weekend party, Marlin wanted "a house party."  So we had a Spiderman party in the back yard.
Cousin Marley got her first tatoo and all the kids played all day.  It was a good time.

I can't believe my little man is four.  Marlin, thanks for being the sweetest, funniest best son a mother could have.  I love you one hundred fifty thousand and one!

Armed and Dangerous

The Walmart Chronicles

We have had a few adventures at Walmart lately.  I honestly shop at Walmart about once a month.  This month I went twice and I paid dearly for it.

I took all three kids to Walmart because we needed groceries and non grocery items and I wasn't in the mood to buckle everyone up, unbuckle everyn, unload the kids from the minivan, shop with the kid, load the kids back into the van, buckle the kids into their car seats, drive, unbuckle the kids from their car seats, unload the kids from the minivan, shop with the kids again, load the kids into the minivan again, buckle them in again...you get the idea (aka: haul all three kids to two stores)

So we had a very successful trip, the big kids rode on the side of the cart and Molly was ok with sitting in the seat of the cart.  We played "find the food" and "all aboard (the cart is ready to move)" and filled the cart to the top with much needed items.  We were almost done, in the very back at the milk and orange juice.  I opened the refrigerator door to get out some orange juice and hit Marlin in the head with the door.  It didn't feel like I hit him that hard.  I didn't even turn around to look at him until I had reached in to get the orange juice.  When I turned around he was holding his forehead and crying.  Blood was running down his face.  It did not look good. 

Then the chaos hit...

Alivia saw the blood (that Marlin was un aware of at this point)  Alivia screamed and panicked and started freaking out. 

Molly decided that there was a lot going on and she was missing it so she didn't want to be in the cart anymore and started screaming to get out. 

I needed something to wipe the blood off so I could decide if this was a bandaid emergency or a stiches emergency.  I was thinking it would be stiches.  So I pulled the cart with Molly screaming and arching her back, Alivia freaking out and Marlin crying with blood all over his face and hand down the isles to the bathroom area where I ran into a Walmart employee who ran to get me a first aid kit.  As we were headed to the bathroom I remember thinking "even if we have to go to the hospital, I am buying this stuff first because I am not taking all the kids back here to do this shopping trip again."  I'm such an ass but hey, I have three kids.  If it would have been my first or second trip to the emergency room I would have probably skipped the check out lane. 

Once we got the blood cleared away I saw that we did not need stitches.  I thanked the lady for her help and her tiny bandage and I hauled our circus to the first aid supply isle.  We sat down in the middle of the isle and opened antibiotic cream, butterfly bandages and spiderman band aids and fixed my little man right up.  No problemo.  Did I listen to the Karma gods and stay away from Walmart?  Nope

The next week we returned to walmart where we needed to buy some non grocery items.  We were in the toothpaste isle.  Everyone was picking out  new toothbrushes and new toothpaste.  I decided to try the blue mouthwash for kids.  The idea is that you rinse before you brush and then you have to brush the blue off your teeth.   Brilliant (btw the bottle is still full and in my bathroom if anyone wants it).  So as we walked along Molly was riding in the back of the cart and throwing things out of the cart.  No big deal, the big kids pick the things up and it keeps them all entertained.  Then she threw the blue dye mouthwash out of the cart and everything started moving in slow motion. 

As the bottle hit the floor I saw it split open and start glugging blue dye into an enormous puddle on the floor.  At that exact moment Marlin was stepping forward and he stepped into it, slipped around for quite some time and landed face down in the puddle.  It was on his face, his sweater and his tan pants.  Marlin was crying, Molly was laughing and Alivia was freaking out because she thought we would be in trouble.  I thought that too but I didn't care.  I was hoping someone would notice and help but they didn't so I dragged the crying blue Marlin to the laundry detergent isle and sprayed him down with Shout stain remover.  I needed to buy some more stain remover anyway. 

I threw the stain remover in the cart and headed to the check out lane.  On our way there I passed an employee that  noticed my blue child and I said "we made a mess in the mouthwash isle, you might want to check it out" and then I jsut kept on walking.  I have not been back to the store since.  I'm not sure they will let us back in. 

Marlin's "Carf"

Three years ago Alicia made scarves for me, Alivia and Marlin.  The kids have played with and worn their special scarves all year for the past three years.  Marlin was 5 months old when he got his "carf" and he refers to it as his "pecial carf."  Marlin takes his carf everywhere but it is getting a little small to really do any good as a scarf. 
This weekend he was at my moms and he told her he needed a new carf.  He wanted it to have noodles on the end like his old carf but his new one needed to be bigger.

Four days later Grandma had a new carf and matching hat at our house for little Marlin.

Speaking of carfs and missing s's.  Marlin plays spiderman and batman everyday. He has recently been explaing that he is piderman because he was bitten by a pecial pider.  Im going to miss his little boy voice someday.

The magical train station

Retro Post 5

We stopped by the train museum on the way home from grandma's one day.  This place is tiny but it was filled with Christmas warmth.  There is something about old trains and christmas that makes me want to sing songs and drink eggnog.  We watched the old train sets as the trains circled through the hills and scenes.

Then we talked to the Jolly Fat Man.  Alivia is not in the following pictures because she stayed a good ten feet away from him the whole time.  Marlin and Molly went up with Matt and told Santa what they wanted for Christmas.

Then Little Miss "no-Fear" sat on Santa's lap.

What's Gonna Work?

Farm work!  What's gonna work...team work.  We have a wood burning furnace and that means that Matt spends a lot of time cutting and stacking firewood.  Sometime, if we want to see him on the weekend we need to help out.  We look forward to having three strapping children capable of unloading a truckload of wood in 2 minutes flat but right now we will take what we can get. 

For the princess, the proper clothes for the occasion are always required

The little princess doesn't miss a thing.  She truly believes she is as big as everyone else and she is right in the middle of the action in every situation...including stacking wood.

When it is her idea, Alivia can work hard and be very helpful already.  Im proud of my 5 year old "farm girl"

I am also proud of my 3 year old "farm boy."  Marlin worked and worked to get a good sized (for him) log to the wood pile.  He dropped it several times and finally got it stacked on the pile.  Then my little son swelled up and strutted off to get his next log. Its hard to describe how his entire posture and expression turned from a struggling little boy to a serious bad  ass. 

Party at Barbara's

Retro Post 2

Halloween was pretty big this year.  The kids wore their costumes to three different events.  The first Halloween event we attended was a party at Barbara's house.  We love Barb.  She planned a very fun evening for all of us.

Here is Barb and baby Lily. 

 

The whole gang

Alivia holding Lily for the first time.

Cortney and baby Lily...we love them too!

 

The party picked up its pace after the sugar was handed out.  People were dancing on furniture, drawing on windows and running around the house without their pants on.  It was CRAZY!

Thanks Barb!

Four Month Old Jack O Lanterns

So I took a four month break from this blog.  I don't have any excuses I am just busy.  During those months we had Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  I am declaring this retro week and will be catching up on some of the highlights that I missed blogging about.  Hopefully by next week I will be caught up and can have more current posts.

October---

The big kids got pumpkins from a pumpkin patch that their school took them to.  They drew faces on the pumpkins so we could cut them out. 

 

Outside seemed like the best option for this messy project.  Molly was sleeping so she did not get to join in the mess but that made things a lot more simple.

When we were done carving them we put them on the front porch.  That evening we went out to light our Jack O Lanters and see what they looked like in the dark. 

When I took the picture of the Jack O Lanterns, Alivia and Marlin were screaming because it was dark.  So, I used the flash for the next picture and got this shot below.

Very Scary

A Sledding Story by Alivia

Alivia: "Me and marlin had lots of fun.  We went sledding in our back yard before we went sledding at the cabin."

Alivia: "That's when we went sledding at the cabin.  It was really fun.  We liked it a lot and we had hot chocolate when we got home.  And we had snowball fights and made a big snowman when we went sledding." 

Everybody Ready....

GO!

Alivia: "Don't tip Daddy!"

Laughing out Loud!

Molly was laughing the whole way down the hill everytime.  She wanted to go over and over again.  When we headed back to the cabin she let out 2 seconds of crying and then leaned back and fell

asleep in the sled. 

I tried to lay her down in the cabin but it didn't work.  We came outside and built a snowman.

Molly did not participate.  She was DONE!

 

My Arms are Full

Molly woke up at 3:30 am.  Nothing was wrong with her, she was just awake.  When I got out of bed Alivia (who was sleeping with me)  also got up and followed me around the house.  I woke Matt up off the couch and sent him to bed with Alivia so I could have the couch with Molly. 
  We watched a little tv together and she rolled all over me and eventually fell asleep.  I was into a show at that time so I stayed up, holding my little girl and watching her sleep.  When I finally decided to get up and put her back into her bed I cradled her tiny sleeping body in my arms and stood up.  I watched her little mouth squirm.  I noticed how much her hair has grown lately and I just breathed in the moment and tried to lock it into my memory.  So sweet and so amazing. 
After putting Molly back to bed I crawled into bed where Alivia rolled over and cuddled my head.  (its like sleeping with a cat)  I cuddled back and thought to myself how full my arms are all the time.  Not just during the day but 24 hours a day 7 days a week I am surrounded by little loving people. 
When I got up this morning.  I woke Marlin up and we sat on the couch together snuggling under his ball blankie and talked. 
I am sooooo tired today. Instead of being grumpy I am grateful.  Grateful to be surrounded by so much love.  Who cares if I never get a full night's sleep agian. 

Funny guys

My three children crack me up. Just little things, every day. I have already forgotten 1,000,000,000,000,000 things they have said that made me either laugh or smile. Here are tww that happened today.

Marlin made a wreath at preschool. It is the classic paper plate cut out with some fall color, construction paper, leaves on it. He is so proud and he informed me that he is going to take it home and hang it on his "nor dog." (read - door knob)

Alivia sang a song from Mary Poppins in the back of the van on the way to the babysitter's house today.
"It's a jolly holiday with Mary"
la la la la la la la
"When Mary takes your hand, you feel so grand. Your heart starts beating like a big brass band. Its a jolly holiday with goober." (should be "with you Bert")
She sang it over and over again.

Bath Time

My little monkeys can scale up the bathroom counter like it is a ladder.   They use the drawer knobs as steps.  I'm sure the knobs will fall off soon but for now it works.  They scale the cabinet and sit on the counter to do their toothbrushing, handwashing and mirror looking.

Last night it was bath time but Marlin wanted to wash his hands first.  So I stood with him while he climbed onto the counter and washed.  He looked at me and said "My teachers know how to wash their hands."  Then he proceeded to give me a lesson.  "You get your hands wet, then you get some soap and rub your hands together"

(I've been telling him these steps for years and he never listens but instead of telling a 3 year old I told you so, I decided to just take pictures with my camera)

"I can do it better than my teachers, watch this move"

"Oh look a mirror behind me aren't I cute"

"Then you rinse them like this"

After my handwashing lesson we sat and talked about halloween for a while.  Marlin has been having trouble deciding between Batman and Spiderman.  He let me know last night that he will be Batman for Halloween and then when he grows up he will be Spiderman.  Im glad he finally decided.

Aliva came in and asked us what we were doing (in her gymnastics outfit because she had been practicing)

Then I gave them a bath and when they got out they were so cute with their wet heads and their big blue eyes so I decided to get one more picture.  Unfortunately, Alivia gave me her "picture face"  and Marlin watched, learned and imitated his big sister. 

A Group Effort

Ah the grocery store.  The place where we go to get all the things we need to eat.  The place where I continue to foolishly think I can do EVERYTHING and I bring my three children with me to gather food. 

In the first picture you can see Molly holding the "ba" (ball, aka orange)  Notice the food stacked in the seat of the grocery cart and the child in the back.  Anything wrong with that picture.  She won't sit down.  I can't get the strap tight enough to keep her from standing up so I give up and let her be in the back of the cart where she can stand up, eat and smoosh the groceries and throw anything out of the cart that she doesn't think is worth purchasing.  Is she my major challenge in the grocery store?  Well, its a three way tie.

Still in the first picture, note my sweet Alvia...with my purse.  Three minutes before I took this picture I heard her talking to someone and when I turned around to look, she was wearing my purse and talking to her dad on my blackberry.  How old is she? 5? or 15?  Sometimes it is hard to tell.

She is actually helpful at the grocery store if she is in a good mood. 

Remember the nursery rhyme...

There was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead.

When she was good she was very very good

and when she was bad she was horrid! (see next picture)

Actually, in this picture she is just making that face for the camera.  She likes to make the worst face possible when I take her picture.  It's awsome, NOT

Does your grocery store have jungle gyms?  Ours does.  You pick one up right inside the door and push them around with you the whole time you are in the store.

Three kids can climb at once.  But they can also tip it over.  I spend most of my time at the store saying "Get off the cart." 

For some sick reason I actually like to take them to the store. (In theory anyway) After I get there I always wonder what I was thinking but I do it over and over again.  Every third or fourth time it even goes smoothly and we all leave happy and eating chocolate rewards.


***This is not because Matt will not watch them and let his poor wife go to the grocery store.  I'm just nuts and voluntarily do this to myself all the time.