Princesses vs. Transformers

OK, so I'm going to let you into a bit of my horribleness- not all of it, I have to have a shred of dignity to my name.  By the way, I totally blame my pregnancy hormones for the whole incident, but what happened happened.
 
Last weekend I was up at the crack of dawn with The Boy and The Baby Boy, who are both early risers.  That is not good for me- I am NOT a morning person, at all.  Yet nearly every morning between 5:15 and and 6:30 they are greeting me with "Mom, can you change my diaper?" . . . yes.  "Can we go watch t.v.?" . . . no. 

I'd like to say I'd be a more excited about seeing them  each day if it was "Good morning Mom, I love you."  But, truth be told, I'd probably still be a grumpy morning person. 

I must interject here that I've been reading a book with The Diva in her religion class over that last month or so.  It is called The King of the Golden City -

http://www.chcweb.com/catalog/TheKingoftheGtoldenCityAnAllegoryforChildren/product_info.html

It is an allegory about living a Catholic life.  Very good read- lots of valuable lessons.  It's not my first read; I've read it with the previous older 3 sisters.  It's funny how you can read something years apart and it can strike you differently each time.  God does His best work that way though, doesn't He?

This read through talked to me through the main character who was battling "Self"- our conscious- who wants to sleep in just a little bit later one morning.  See where I'm going?  She has to overcome her selfish desires and learn self control. It didn't go to well for her at first, and I'm afraid I had a comparable experience.

The family attended a Saturday Mass this weekend, so the plan was to sleep in on Sunday morning.  I'm sorry, that plan was for my husband and all the daughters of the house- not for me.  (Did I mention that I'm NOT a morning person?  That I treasure sleep- especially in the morning?  Oh yeah, I guess I did.) 

This time was going to be different though.  When the boys were to greet me in the morning, I was going to get up and spend some fun "Mom and sons" time with them.  Maybe we'd play with their trio blocks, maybe we'd play sword fighting.  Whatever it was, we'd have some fun before the rest of the kids got up.
 
5:45 AM and I squashed "self" as I got out of bed an followed the boys to their room.  We made their bed and I plopped down amidst a sea of  Hot Wheel cars.  Suddenly The Baby Boy handed me one of the toy Transformer cars that belonged to The Boy.  It was a bit banged up.  In fact, the two back fenders were popped off.  Not a problem.  I've battled this Transformer before (which if you have not transformed a Transformer, it's not too different than a Rubik's cube- only slightly easier).  So I made myself comfortable on the floor and set to work.

One hour and twenty minutes later, I was still battling "Barricade", and he was winning.  I sill hadn't managed to attach the fenders, and the boys had so moved on to something other than spending time with Mom.  Sadly, I'm not even sure what they were totally up to- I was too engrossed into the challenge that faced me.  I was in it for the principal of it.  No toy was going to get the best of me!  I didn't get a college degree or earn a few degrees in mothering 101 for nothing!! 

I was in so deep that I hadn't noticed The Diva came into the room.  The boys had moved onto playing with her.  They were having fun.  But I was NOT going to let this toy beat me!  They all 3 asked me if they could go eat breakfast.  I told them to go ahead, I'd be down later- after I finished.  

I know, you can so see "Self" was running this show.  I had failed; she was winning.  Not only was I not getting the toy fixed, but I was now in tears- completely aware of how I'd messed up, yet unwilling to give up.  Have you ever been there?  It's not a fun place.  I'd lost control.  I'd lost control over a silly little toy.

Slowly I made my way downstairs.  The 3 were sitting at the table eating and enjoying the Sunday morning.  I slunk past them, headed to the computer, looked up how to fix it, popped the the pieces in place - finished.  Somehow it didn't matter though. 

You know the great thing about life?  Forgiveness.  It is great to receive it.  It felt beautiful to hear my boys to say "It's okay Mom.  And hey, you fixed it!" 

It feels even better to receive it from the Lord.  I think the some of most beautiful words in the world are 
"I absolve you from your sins, In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

If you haven't heard them for awhile, I recommend meeting our Lord in a special place with one of his chosen men.  It's good for the soul!

Take two:

Monday morning.  7:00 AM.  I was sitting at the table with my boys.  We were laughing and having fun as they hovered over their sister's look and find princess book.  Not very manly, I know.  But, they weren't into for the dresses or crowns.  They saw a challenge and they weren't going to back down from it for anything!

Thant's my boys!

Surviving myself as I pick up the pieces and try to control Self,
Mary

Survival?

Well, it has now been almost 2 weeks since we've replaced our carpet in 4 bedrooms, hallway, and stairs and I can say that I'm lovin' it!  And, since I'm am writing this, it means that we did survive the move of 3 twin beds, two sets of bunk beds, one queen bed, 5 dressers, 3 bookcases and I'm guessing somewhere close to 150 shoes and surely 2 tons of clothes (and that was just from the oldest 3 daughters' closets!) 

The great thing about this new carpet is that it is dirt color- meaning that I am enjoying that it hides things well.  Not that I don't try to keep a clean house, mind you - it's just nice to have a little camouflage to help me out!  Plus, we are each thrilled by the "puffiness" of new carpet and pad- so comfortable that I had many of the kids opt for sleeping on the floor instead of their beds. 

So, the labor of moving was worth it- and I have to say, even at 5 months pregnant, I was able to pull my weight and share of the help.  Who knew a very pregnant woman could lift a top bunk bed in place on the bottom one.  Well, okay, it didn't have the mattress in it, but still- not bad, huh?  Honestly though, if it weren't for the older 3 daughters and my father, my husband would have had his hands too full.  He put out plenty of hard work himself though- and I was quite impressed and totally relieved to have the excuse of being pregnant! 

I do have to share though that I am the type of person that hates disorder- enough so that it unnerves me to be surrounded by chaos.  You probably have heard of the show Hoarders?  I couldn't help but be reminded of this show as I sat in my bedroom surrounded by my children's stuff, with only a path to the bathroom and out of the room, just wide enough to fit my pregnant belly through- barely.  AGHHH!  It was mentally painful. 

Even better news about the carpet- it gave us the excuse to go though 3 years of build-up in the house.  Not much removal for my husband and myself, not much for the boys-the girls though?  Well, we are still delivering donation bags to the local second hand store.  It feels very refreshing to clean out and give to others. 

There was one item that I did take out of my own room, and although I didn't give it away, I did give it a new life.  I had a pillow that I had bought- the type that is like an armchair, also known as "boyfriend pillow' or backrest pillow-

It did look a lot like the above pillow- Target $14.99.  I bought it about a year ago to help me to sleep/take my husband's place in bed.  Okay, that sounds weird, but what I mean is that I usually sleep leaning up against my husband.  With him on second shift, and me getting older and unable to stay awake until he gets home, I needed something more comfortable than my fluffy pillows.  Hence- the boyfriend pillow, or as I affectionately called mine- Dwayne.  (yes, that would be Dwayne Johnson- aka "The Rock"- which is what this pillow was as hard as- a rock.  Which was a good thing!  While it didn't replace my husband per say- it did offer a good solid substitute- and if my hubby is reading this, he probably would get a kick out of me looking for something "rock hard" as a substitute to his biceps : ) You're the man honey!) 

But, due to a job change, my husband is now on fist shift and gets to bed a lot earlier - in fact he usually hits bed before I, so I get the bonus of a warm, full bed to come to each night! 

I really no longer have a need for Dwayne, and so I recycled him the living room, by the fireside, thinking that he would make leaning against the fireside much more comfortable.  He was to have a good retirement. 

That was the plan. 

I forgot that I have 2 boys.  Two boys ages 5 and 2.  Two boys who have no concept of respect for Dwayne. 

Poor Dwayne, he looks more like Nick Nolte now- worn out by kicks, punches and slams to the ground- and that was in the first day! 

From this:

to this:

I can only pray that the real Dwayne would be able to survive the horrors of two boys, age 2 and 5!  

I only know that there are to many days that I feel like Nick Nolte looks!  Yes, I can lift a top (okay, empty) bunk bed while 5 months pregnant, but there are days when surviving is the highlight of the day! 

Hoping to survive like (the real) Dwayne,
Mary

New Year, Old Me

Happy New Year!  I hope you all brought in the New Year safely last night.  I, along with the rest of my family shared a few "finger foods"  (which, being pregnant, left me tasting them the rest of the evening), dodged swords left and right as we watched the first Narnia movie (reliving the final battle right in my living room),  and the made a trip to the gym- knowing that it would be practically empty is an incentive for a pregnant woman- especially when she wants to try out the new stepper machine and doesn't desire an audience for it, and then we finished the evening with a chorus of snores as we slept in the New Year.  I would like to say that my excuse for sleeping in the New Year was because I'm pregnant- and that is a very viable excuse, but I also knew that 5:30 AM comes early every Sunday- which is the time I need to get up to get a shower and ready if I'm going to get everyone out of the house for 8:00 AM Mass. 

I feel just a wee bit cheated having Christmas and New Years on a Sunday this year.  I know, I should relish celebrating the birth of our Savior on the Lord's Day and having the Feast of Our Lady on a Sunday too, but it seems like the vacation days were a bit "gypped" due to the weekend holidays. 

Now, if I were an organized homeschooling Mom, we'd hit Monday Jan 2nd off and running.  And if I weren't 5 months pregnant, I'd have the assignments laid out, along with the kids' daily lists ready to go.  Well,  let's just say that my kids are getting a little extended vacation due to the above mentioned and probably due to many other reasons- which I'm sure will not bring any objections from them! 

I am so thankful for the new job change that my husband has made.  He has adjusted to the 1st shift hours well.  I am also thankful that the change brought about an extra paycheck- which we were all to eager to spend on carpet for the bedroom and stairs.  It was so nice picking out the carpet, exploring the possibilities, imagining the floors not stained from 24/7 foot traffic (at least for a month), that I forgot how much work it was going to be to move furniture from 4 bedroom in just 3 days.   What was I thinking?!?  I told my husband that I would love to be the "he-woman" that I usually am and tear down bunk beds (2 sets of them), moved dressers, and clear out closets- but let's face it- I'm old and I'm pregnant.  Not to mention I'm always tired! And I'm pregnant and old.   (There is no excuse like being pregnant to get out of some things!!)  We'll see how this adventure goes- starts this week- you know, the week we are supposed to dive back into school, choir practice and symphony practice.  Nothing like dumping it all at once! 

But, back to my wonderful excuse- pregnancy.  I keep saying that I'm going to get a picture of the sonogram up.  I actually have 2 of them.  I may have to differ to The Jane Austen Want to Be for the technical side of that. I see she has already placed the "baby ticker" on the blog- which I swear makes the days seem longer than shorter-  14 MORE weeks!?!. 

You'll have to let me know if you can make head or tails of them (better not be any tails!).  I'm sure a lot of my readers have had enough experience with sonogram pictures that deciphering them is easier than grading 9th grade algebra!

God's blessings to you all on this New Year.  May you find multiple reasons to celebrate and praise the Lord for all He has done!

I'll have to update on the carpet install/likely husband with back thrown out saga.  

Overwhelmed but surviving myself,
Mary

Updating!

Hi everyone!   I've been messing on the computer while I'm on school break and saw this widget (to the left) and knew we had to have it - hope you enjoy! You can click the weeks and days on the widget and it swaps to how much time is left and how much time has past. 
   As much as I tried to convince mom that we needed a pink baby countdown, she said no.  But she is almost all the way convinced that it is a girl.
  Does anyone have any good baby names? We are right now leaning towards Sophia Mariel, but not 100%.  - and haven't sold Dad on it yet either.  Comment the names or e-mail them to us! (maybe we'll have a poll to decide? :) )
   Hope you have a great New Year!
Born in the wrong century,
Jane Austen Wannabe

Popcorn Night!

I love traditions, not just the Christmas ones, but the year around ones too! 

One of the traditions that I started with my family was what we dub "popcorn night."  It hits on Wednesday nights and consists of popcorn, of course, and playing a board game.  Over the years we have grown from Candy Land and Hi-Ho Cherry O to some really fun games that we've just recently purchased:  Quelf, Wits and Wagers, and Logo to name a few-all of which I completely recommend.

This tradition has been brought to mind lately because Christmas family gatherings, for us,  always mean board games.  This season we've just attended a few family gatherings, games in tow. and we have at least one more to gatherings to go.  While my husband is usually found off talking to adults, I weasel my way into the teen or children's tables with one or two games, and we generally start having so much fun that the adults in the area are soon joining in also.     

I think why our popcorn night tradition is so meaningful to me is because when growing up, I was always the one (out of the 6 family members) who wanted to play a board game.  Yet, in thinking back to all the times that we did manage to pull together as a family around a game, I only have memories of one or more of my sisters and  maybe- only maybe- myself, bringing the game to an abrupt end- because someone wasn't following the rules, someone wasn't fair, or someone was breathing on someone else!  (Close family time can be SO stressful!)   I do have to say though that growing up I can only recall two games that we tried- Monopoly and Clue.  Both of these games are a push to include parents down to ages four or so- at least without some kind of fight taking place.  All that considered, I am a sucker for board games and now have a closet full to choose from each Wednesday night. 

It's not all bliss.  There are still arguments.  There are many times when at least half of us are just not into playing a game.  There are times when the game gets canceled altogether and a movie takes its place.  Yes, there are complaints about someone breathing on someone else!  (I know, I'm too touchy!) But, we are all together with a common goal. . . so, I love it!  Now that my husband (as of this past week) has taken a job on first shift, he too will be included in on the tradition- despite the fact that he is not a big game player.
Too bad! 

I never knew that this traditions meant much to my kids as it did to me until once when The Bookworm  was staying a couple of nights at Grandma's and was very insistent that she return home by Wednesday so as to not miss popcorn night.  (Warms my heart!  Guess all the arguments that accompany tradition are worth it.) 

Now that my kids are growing up, taking on jobs, committing to outside activities, it gets harder to hold popcorn night.  But we do our best, even it it means having "Popcorn Tuesday."  I hope that as they continue to grow and move on that they will know that the door is always open on Wednesday night and the popcorn is popped and waiting!  And who knows?  Maybe someday I'll drop in on one of my childrens' houses and find the same tradition occurring, complete with "Mom, make him stop breathing on me!!"

Surviving myself on each and every popcorn night,
Mary

(Don't) Let it Snow!

 It's cold outside.  The sky is typically gray.  It's winter time.  Humbug!

I wish I were the type of person who anxiously awaits the cold season.  Take that back, I'm glad that I wouldn't want to live in Alaska, or any place North for that matter.  I enjoy a fire, but I like the ones that actually put out heat, not the ones you have to crawl inches away from to feel any temperature change.  I do love a white, serene, spotless snow cover, but I hate the mud trampled dirty snow that sits in my back and front yard, leaving bare mud spots to slowly, but surely take over my entire yard all year around.  (We are definitely the scourge of the neighborhood when it comes to lawns!  If it's not that I'm sharing my cottonwood leaves with the neighboring 3 or 4 houses on each side, it's that I do grow a fine mud patch- while other yards are beautiful green.  Of course I understand that this is because I have 7 kids trampling around- no make that more, the neighbor kids are playing at my yard too. Hmmmm, their yard looks beautifully lush and green. . . ) 
Boy am I a humbug!  But, I really wouldn't trade any of my swamp like, snow trampled yard if it meant no kids.  Although I kind of doubt that my neighbors are sitting in their houses saying "Wow, it should would be nice to have kids livening up our yard and leave it looking like the tar pits of old!"  It's a unique look that is all ours- thus making it easy to find our house.  Bonus for holiday visitors!
Back to snow though.  I feel very vulnerable while driving in the snow.  Yes, I've had a number of accidents in the past that play a huge part into this, not to mention a lot of close calls.  But this year I have the Jane Austen Want to Be out on the roads at least 4 times a week by herself.  This is more than unnerving.  My mother hen instincts kick into red alert. 

Yet, as I sit by my window and humbug, I do have to say that I'm not looking at anything white- no snow, no mush, not even any ice,  To which I say THANK YOU LORD!  You see, The Jane Austen Want to Be's college class ended yesterday- which means she made it though the first semester of the half hour each way drive by herself without having to deal with snowy roads!  That was something we had prayed about, and ironically enough, there was a forecast for snow yesterday to come a 3:00- the same time her last class ended.  (It didn't come- but I'm okay with that.)  Never mind that her next class starts up on January 4th and that date is still in the winter season : P  (I'll deal with that worry later.  Just enjoying the blessed feeling for now!)

Other snow- yes, snow comes in forms other than wet precipitation. 

I was standing in the shower today, enjoying the hot water, when a pelt of "light snow" hit the door.  It always starts as a little rap of tiny 2 year old knuckles on the lower part of the door.  However, within minutes, I'm being bombarded with the "snowballs" of teen pounding.  Oh, it wouldn't be so bad if each knock was followed by "Mom, just wanted to tell you I love you!"  or "Mom, while you are showering, we've decided to clean the whole house!"  But no, sadly, these snowballs are always accompanied with "Mom, so and so is doing this.. . ."  or "Mom, make so and so stop. . . "   To which I always reply some non-audible nonsense that I later blame on the inability to understand them over the shower water.

Please DON'T let it snow!

It's funny, I attended Mass yesterday and the priest had everyone clap for the 2nd graders who just make their first reconciliation.  I heartily applauded that, but still snicker at various priests' comments that hearing 2nd graders' first confession like being pelted with popcorn.  I love this analogy!  I am going to make it a fond wish that all my confessions were just a sprinkling of popcorn (or a light rap of snowballs) and never to excel to a mound of snow drifts! 

My father made the comment last night that the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas rush by in such a hurry.  I responded that this was because he was old.  What I mean was that he is not awakened daily by The Boy and his 4 year old innocence that makes him ask "Is tomorrow Christmas Eve?!?"   I could give him an exact number count of how many days he has, but it wouldn't really matter- he lives in the here and now and tomorrow might as well be 10 years from now.  I did set up a Jessie Tree to show the countdown of the days to Christmas; I even have the advent wreath in a prominent place with only 2 candles on it as it's supposed to be.  But each morning I have to again face the snowballs of "Is it Christmas Eve yet?!" 

Forget it, I'd rather waken to that then to The Baby's greeting of "Mom, change my diaper!!" 

--That's more like waking up to a blizzard!!

As you are counting down the days to Christmas, I hope you are finding joy in the snow storms you are facing.  I pray that the Lord blesses you with the right tolerance to face all the precipitations of life.  And, if you happen to catch the Lord's ear, please whisper to Him to NOT send any snow my way!

Dodging snowballs while surviving myself,
Mary

Happy Thanksgiving!

It is now 11:55 on Thanksgiving Day and I am not standing in front of the oven.  I am at the table, but the only thing on the table is carrots, celery, and ranch dressing- and I'm not THAT hungry!  I just might have to crash the kids table-which is ladden with Cheetos!  Personally, I think that we should replace the chubby cut carrots with the Cheetos and see how long it takes the kids to notice : P

So, I am thinking about all am I thankful for.  There is so much to my list.  Of course I am thankful for my faith, family, friends and health.  As I sat in Mass today, I didn't have to think hard about those top 4.  I do have extra things on my list this year though and I'll be happy to share. . .

I am thankful for my sister Susan and brother-in-law Dan who hosted Thanksgiving at their house this year.  Although I could probably do without the 4 hour trip here- I like to look on the bright side of such a long trip- which is I know where all my kids are for the next 4 hours, my husband is a great driver so I am going to sleep.  Yes, for the whole trip. 

Speaking of sleep- I am thankful for naps.  Long ones over short, but naps in general are great.  Being pregnant gives me a great excuse to take them often, and believe me, I try to get in as many as possible.  Today I will find the nap extra nice because the small boys in the house (2 nephews and my own 2) decided that 3 AM was the time to be up and running in the house.  Honest.  As I look at the 2 other people who, like myself, couldn't find sleep easily after that, and see them yawing now, I am dumbfounded that the boys are still running non-stop.  What I wouldn't give to be able to capture and market their energy!  I wouldn't have to work- which would leave more time for naps!!

I am thankful for being pregnant on the Thanksgivng.  There is never such an excuse to eat as there is when you are pregnant!  Of course, I'm constantly reminded by those pesky birth and baby e-mails that my daughters signed up for, that I'm techanically not eating for two- but I say use pregnancy to the full advantage.  Don't ask me about this in 6 months though- don't even bring it up!!

Oh, back to my sweet sister and brother-in-law.  These 2 wonderful people gave up their master bedroom to let the pregnant woman have comfort for two days.  That's love!  Especially since my sister JUST got off the plane (yesterday morning at 5AM) from a Europen 10 day trip-thus not having the comfort of her own bed herself even.  Wow, even I wouldn't give that much- pretty sure about that. 

I've heard of a couple of families that decided to make this Thanksgiving a electronic free holiday.  No phones, wii, computers, etc.  (this as I'm sitting here typiung my post. . . : - O)  And I say- good for them!  Which will lead me to my last thankful for for this day.  I am thankful for my brother-in-law losing his wedding ring.  I know, that is terrible.  It didn't go over well with my sister either!  Did I mention that this is the 3rd time he lost his wedding ring in 15 years?  So-why my joy?  Because for at least 1 straight hour- maybe an extra 1/2 hour than that, most of the 12 kids were busy looking for the wedding ring.  Inside and out of the house- busy kids, not plugged in to anything : P  (Thus I had a chance to steal the laptop!)

Bad news, the search was lost- and so is the ring still!  Who knows, maybe there is still time to find it. St.Anthony???    Maybe he's taking Thanksgivng Day off?


Well, turkey's on- hope you and all yours are enjoying the day and finding extra to be thankful for!

Stuffing and surviving myself,
Mary