Pictures

It has been a little bit of a trying weekend.  Lots of stuff going on at home, too many hours at work.

I caught up on a bunch of the mundane tasks today, and my mom came over to help with the kids.  I even ran a sub 8 minute mile!

I had so much done that I thought I was maybe going to actually be able to tackle some "special" projects tonight, but then I remembered that I had some online education I had to do for work.  I fought with my computer for awhile and got the project 25% done.  Unfortunately the content was not that interesting, and I was falling asleep.  Might have to finish that during the day!

I was going to write a blog post, but a couple things happened that added to me feeling a bit snarky, a little disillusioned and fairly passive aggressive.

And so, I decided to just post some pictures instead:

Deacon after his 1 mile kids run last weekend!

We ran a 9 minute mile!

Everyn loves to be included when Berean plays!

Berean seems to like the company!

Everyn and her Grandma!


I suppose one of these days I will have to bribe the middle boys so that I can get some pictures of them too...

Time

When I was home with only my little boys, it felt like the days were so long.  Older women would tell me, "the days seem long, but the years seem short", and I would agree.

We would go to the park, we would go on walks, we would do puzzles, we would have play dates.

I took them to classes, activities - even gave them naps and yet that hour before Daddy came home  still seemed eternal.

My youngest boy turned 5 today.  Happy Birthday, Lincoln!

Time has gone fast.

Now they aren't my little boys, they are my big boys.  They dress themselves, carry things, ride their bikes - they can even make themselves breakfast.  They help their sisters and help their mom.

And no longer are the days long.

At the end of every day I find myself wishing for more time.

More hours.  More minutes.

And even though it surprises me to say it, I am not just craving more time after they go to bed- although that would be nice too.

Today I didn't fit in time to play catch with Deacon.  I wish I had an extra 15 minutes for that.

I didn't have a chance to get Everyn into the bathtub or to search for an exersaucer for her.

I wish I had 10 more minutes to have a tea party with Berean, and to have done a puzzle with her.

It was Lincoln's birthday, but I didn't have time to sit and cuddle with him reading his favorite stories again and again.

I would have liked to hang with Roman, listening to the new Odyssey on the radio.

But I didn't have time.

I didn't have time to run this evening or to go to the Y.

I didn't get my whole garden planted, or to fix the garage door.

It wasn't that we didn't do anything.  

We worked on school this morning.

I read them books.  I did laundry.  I fed them.  

We delivered Meals on Wheels

The boys drew.  I admired their work.

We played outside.  We worked outside.

We played with the neighbors.

I pushed people on the swing.

We went out to supper.  We talked and ate.

I played at the park with the little ones.

We watched Deacon play baseball.

We talked some more about the day.

They went to bed.

I wish there was more time.

Everyn- nearly 5 months

a girl and her sock monkey

Boston Part 2

Saturday morning dawned bright and clear.  Well, actually it didn't.  It dawned cool and foggy.  The fog was crazy.  You can even see it in my pictures... I am letting the fog take the blame for both the fogginess of the pictures as well as the overexposure problem that our camera was having.  We didn't bring our nice camera on the trip because we didn't want to lug it around.  Even though I am disappointed in our pictures, honestly, I am glad we didn't bring the big one.  We had enough to carry, and it would have been just one more thing to worry about.

We got up late and got ready to experience the Freedom Trail.  Our plan was to walk to the "start" of the trail from our hotel, but we ended up walking past some of the sites before we actually got to the Boston Commons Visitor Center.

We really liked the below building- the Old State House.  I like to look at this building and ignore the skyscrapers behind it, the streetlights, street signs, traffic lights and 2012-garbed pedestrians.  Instead I add in crowds of cheering 1776-garbed Patriots who are listening to the Declaration of Independence being read (in Boston) for the first time - right from that little balcony.  Those same people then pulled down the Lion and the Unicorn and burned them.  

The balcony was funny.  It was so small and narrow, really completely useless for anything but making poignant speeches.  

We then stopped at Dunkin' Donuts- right outside of the Pi Ally Parking Garage.  Finding a "Pi" parking garage was pretty cool for my Physics Major husband who also celebrates "Pi" day.

Next we saw the first of many cemeteries.  I love cemeteries.  Everyn wasn't super interested in learning about grave symbols, however, so we didn't stay as long as we might have had we been alone.  In a way, it was probably good she was along.  We didn't have a lot of time, and we probably would have been sad to discover we had spent our whole trip in cemeteries.

Finally we arrived in Boston Commons.  There we saw a playground that looked very similar to ones in our city.  At that point one of us commented that stopping at that playground would have been the boys favorite part of the trip so far- and at that very same point we realized that we did the right thing by leaving them home.

They would also have liked this frog.  And his can of worms.  I wonder if their love of the frog would have sustained them for the rest of the day?  I am thinking no.

We wandered the paths of Boston Commons for awhile, and then looked around the Public Gardens.  We glanced over at Beacon Hill and then decided to do the Freedom Trail first and just try to walk around that area later in the trip.  Of course I never did get back.  I was disappointed in Beacon Hill anyway because it didn't appear to be very elevated.  I am always a bit leery of flat hills.

Oh look!  After looking over the capital (which has a gold dome that looks incredibly fake), and walking past Park Street Church we went to...you guessed it!  Another cemetery.  (why does cemetery have so many "e's" in it?  Seriously, I want an "a"!  Just one!)

By this time Everyn had just about lost it and so we found this nice modern building with a nice little wall to sit on.  This is where Everyn had her lunch.

 We continued to follow the red path on the sidewalk which meant that we were on the Freedom Trail.  We had to take a slight detour, however, when we came across a large group of people, bagpipes, police officers and barricades.  Turns out the President of Ireland was in town.  Who knew?

And that ends the first part of Part 2.  Or maybe Part 1 of Day 2.  Or maybe just Part 2: The Next Morning.

To Boston

It took me 8 1/2 years of being a mother before I had the courage to take one of my kids on an airplane.  Maybe it was not lack of courage so much as it was lack of opportunity, ambition, interest and purpose.

Our parents and most of our siblings live in our city, so we don't need to fly anywhere to see them.  Besides that, I am just not a huge traveler.  Traveling by air requires time, money and well...getting on an airplane.  My personal opinion is that if you can drive somewhere in less than 10 hours, you are better off just driving instead of flying.  I feel weird when I fly- like I am going to pass out or something.  Besides that, it is so annoying!  All of the security, shoe removal, stuffing your bags in overhead compartments, paying to check luggage- all of it is just annoying.  After driving to the airport, parking your car (or arranging for drop off/pick up), getting through security and your gate and then doing the same on the other end, well, it still takes most of a day.

I also get annoyed by people who break the rules when they fly, making it inconvenient for everyone else.  All of these people have gigantic carryons, which are bigger than the printed measurement rules.  No one cares, however, and the airlines just let them get away with it.  Those of us who don't fly very often and think that the rules are rules and not negotiable, bring smaller carryons and then have to try to stuff them between these huge suitcases.

But I digress.

Noah had to go to Boston for work, and so I decided to bring Everyn and go along for part of the time.  I did look into bringing all of the kids and driving, but that seemed like too daunting of a task.

It took a lot of time to get a schedule/babysitters lined up for the kids and to get everyone packed and ready to go.  I worked Thursday night shift, got home and we finished packing everything up and preparing for the babysitter.  We gave instructions to the babysitter and were off to the airport (yes, without any sleep for me. Yet.)

We had decided to park our car, but of course we were out of gas.  There was a moment (or two) of panic as we realized that we needed to stop, or else I would have to try to find a gas station at 2300 when I got into the van to go home.  There are not very many gas stations around the airport, but we finally found one, parked the car and took the shuttle over to the airport.  That was our first time getting baby, stroller, luggage on and off of public transportation and it wouldn't be our last.  Thankfully we were still in the midwest and so we had friendly, helpful, tolerant people around as opposed to serious, unhelpful, hurried folk.

Security was fun.  Shoes off. Pockets emptied.  Stroller collapsed. Luggage Pushed through.  Baby carrried.  On the other side: shoes on, pockets filled, stroller expanded, luggage collected.

We grabbed overpriced airport food because we realized that in the rush of the morning we hadn't eaten.  I dozed while we waited to board. Finally we got on the plane and the plane started to move.  Everyn wanted to eat so I nurse her, but it took so long to actually finally take off that she was done before we had left the ground.  At least she was quiet.  She nursed/used her pacifier most of the flight and I lightly slept for part of the time.  I sat by the window, Noah sat in the middle and then this young boy sat next to Noah.  Turns out that the boy is actually the son of a lady that Noah plays broomball with, so they chatted a little.

We had a short layover and boarded our next flight which was also uneventful except for the fact that Everyn nursed and nursed and I didn't get much sleep.  We landed in Boston and found the correct bus to get to our hotel.  That was another interesting public transportation experience while carrying all of our stuff.  How do people do this on a daily basis?  I know that they aren't carrying luggage all over, but still!  Getting on and off of buses with babies and bags is hard!  I kind of like my minivan.  And my garage. And parking lots.

We got to the bus station place and walked a couple of blocks to our hotel.  It was so nice to arrive and put everything down!  Everyn enjoyed laying around on the bed and kicking her legs.  Noah went out and got some food and brought it back to our room.  I was extremely exhausted due to not really sleeping for 36 hours, so I crashed pretty quickly after that.
End of Day 1.

 

Losing 4 pounds in 4 Days!

Yes, friends, I made it down to my prepregnancy weight and it only took a 4 day trip to Boston (with a 4 month old) to do it!

I imagine that I will probably get a couple of those pounds back, but for now they are gone :)

It was a good trip.  Thanks to Grandparents and friends who held down the fort at home!  We really appreciate you!

I will blog about my trip (with pictures) after I get my head above water here...

Day In The Life: Spring 2012

I love doing these "Day in the Life Posts" along with Laura and company!  I don't know why I like to read about the days of random strangers, but somehow it is therapeutic.  Or something.

Noah- husband

Deacon-8

Roman-6

Lincoln-4

Berean-2

Everyn-4 months

SATURDAY

Whoo-hoo!  It is my weekend off!  I always have tons of things that I want to get done and I always want to get an early start...unfortunately, when Saturday morning rolls around I am usually exhausted (I work Thursday night shift so Friday night sleep is "catch-up" as well as maintenance).

At 8:58 I decide it is probably time to get up.  Noah is already downstairs and Everyn has been in bed with me for about a 1/2 hour for her morning nursing session.  The boys are running around the house and Berean is just waking up.  Berean hasn't been napping, and her night time sleep has been lengthening.  

Hanging with a sweet baby is a great way to start the morning!

Everyn usually stays awake for maybe 45 minutes in the morning before jamming her fingers in her mouth and going back to sleep.

I head down to the kitchen where Noah is cooking.  The boys are ready to head outside.  Too bad it is a cold and miserable day.  Deacon asks me for a hair cut, so I grab the clippers and we head out to the deck.

The 2 younger boys are traumatized by the clippers and prefer their Grandma to cut their hair with a scissors.  Deacon is brave, however, and sits nicely for his hair cut.

Meanwhile, Roman pokes around the kitchen.  I wish he would unload all those dishes while he hunts for food!

Deacon with his crew cut!  I like my boys to have short hair.  Not only does it look nice and neat, but they swim a lot and the chlorine is pretty hard on their hair.

The kids had already eaten their eggs, cereal and toast for breakfast.  This is a half eaten bowl of the fabulous egg/mushroom/onion concoction that Noah made up for me.  I love that he cooks.

0945: Deacon and I head out the door so I can take him to his choir practice.  I drop him off and return some library books and mail some letters.  Then I drive around trying to figure out where our oil change people moved to.  I have an appointment, and I know approximately where the new location is, but the lack of a sign makes it a challenge.

I drop the car off and briefly talk with my neighbor who is picking his car up.  Interesting how the place has a new location but they still have their old humorless personalities.  I get my ipod cranked up and leave the oil change place on a run.  Due to some boring logistical details, and the fact that I hadn't brought my phone (because I didn't want to carry it on my run), I ran home (2.7 miles) stuck my head in the door and told Noah that I was running back.  Then I ran back (2.7 miles) and picked up the car.  It wasn't the 8 mile run I was planning on, but there are hills involved and it still turns out to be a good workout.  I pick Deacon up from choir practice and we head for home.

Meanwhile, Noah gives Berean her bath...

 plays some Pokemon with the boys...

and pulls Berean off of things.

It cracks me up when the boys come together after being apart.  Here they are in the living room chatting about all the things that happened that morning.

I nurse Everyn and talk Pokemon with Deacon.  Lincoln and Berean play Memory and Everyn joins them when she is done eating.

Deacon spends a lot of time reading now and that is fun to see!  Roman is wandering around somewhere or playing downstairs by himself.

Ever just hanging out in the middle of everything!

Noah has been busy cleaning up the kitchen, and calls out that the sink is clogged.  Too many eggshells.  Good thing I am an expert at unclogging the sink, since I have to do it a lot.  I take the pipes apart, get everything unclogged and running smoothly.  Noah leaves on his run.

Lincoln is sent out to bring the compost to the compost pile.  He loves feeding the worms.

Everybody eats lunch and we get the presents together  for a birthday party for one of Deacon's friends.  Deacon makes an origami penguin for the card.

1345: Time to go to the party!  This time Everyn comes with Deacon and I.  We drop Deacon off at his friend Josh's  house and I get to see their new countertops and backsplash.  Fun!  Everyn and I then head over to Kohls to spend our Kohl's cash.  I pick up new minimalist shoes for Deacon and a present for my niece's birthday.  Today is car maintenance day, so next it is on to the tire place.  The wait is an hour and a half, but I decide to do it because waiting with just Everyn beats going on a weekday with all of the kids.

The tire guy is chatty about Everyn.  Tire guys are often not chatty about babies, but this guy and his wife had just had a baby so he was all into names and cuteness etc.  Of course we need new tires, so I ok all of that and we sit down to wait.  It actually is a nice wait.  The baby nursed and dozed, I read a book and make a couple of quick phone calls.

At 1615 the car is done.  I gotta get Deacon by 1700 and his friend's house is right by the tire place.  I read in the car a little and call Noah to check in and then head over to get Deacon.  Deacon had a good time at the birthday party- they had gone to one of those indoor trampoline places and that kind of thing is right up his alley.

At home I get the report that Berean had napped, and the boys and Noah had played some more games.  Screen time had commenced and Deacon joins right in.  I check email/blogs/facebook.  Yes, this is my messy office corner of our bedroom.  I need more space!  There is so many of us living here...or maybe I just need to be neater...

We eat supper (maybe hamburgers on the grill?  I can't remember)  and I propose a 20 minute clean.  The whole family, minus Everyn, cleans for 20 minutes straight.  I had boys unloading the dishwasher, vacuuming and picking up toys and Noah was busy scrubbing bathrooms.

It looks so nice!

Lincoln showing off his work.

Lincoln jumping on a mattress.  For some reason the boys spent the weekend sleeping on their mattress on the floor.  They like to change it up periodically.

Oh, here are Deacon's new minimalist shoe.  He loves them.

Berean is just hanging out.  Her job was to line up the shoes, which she did with great zeal. I was concerned about her elephant purse strangling her, so I tied some knots in it (after this picture).  She was not happy.

Cleaning up the kitchen.  I sweep the floor about 5 times a day.  It should be 10.

After everything is clean, Noah and I put the girls to bed. Then Deacon and Noah and I sit down to play Settlers of Catan while the younger boys play Wii.  Deacon picks up on the game very quickly and actually ends up beating us.

We end the evening with a snack of brownies....

and then after a jumping chestbump, the boys head off to bed.

I forgot to document what happened after the picture, but I am sure we probably stayed up too late. Maybe we watched a movie.  I just can't remember...