Still A Work In Progress

Our house remodel is still not complete, but here's what it looks like today:


But since life does not stop in order for us to get stuff done around the house, here's some of the other stuff we've been up to...

On Monday we went to the Science and Energy museum out in Oak Ridge. The boys learned about electricity and states of matter...I learned about trying to keep up with a 2 year old in a museum that is designed for older children. (She did do a good job of keeping herself entertained while the boys were in class...she just didn't stay in any one place for very long!)






On Tuesday and Wednesday we went up to Wilderness of the Smokies waterpark. Me, four kids and a waterpark...go ahead, call me crazy. I knew I was crazy the whole time I was packing to take us up there! The kids love it there, though, so when my dad called and said they had a time share there and we could go for two days, I knew I had to do it, even at the expense of my sanity. The first night there Emilia had a little friend and those two were so cute! They would go down this one waterslide and wait for each other at the bottom. Then they would scream and flap their arms around before holding hands, walking back around and doing it all over again. For at least 45 minutes, these two 2-year-olds did this over, and over, and over again. 'Til at last we mean ole adults said it was time for dinner. The next morning I got them all up and ready and packed up all our stuff and loaded the car and checked us out long (being a relative term) before the 10 am check-out time and got to the waterpark for some morning fun before we headed home...only to find out that the park opens at 10 am, not 9 am as the lovely front desk people had written on the map. Thankfully, I wasn't THAT early (only 15 minutes) so we took some pictures while we waited.



Audra didn't really like the water, so she spent the whole time in my arms...







Too much fun and too little sleep, though, makes for a grumpy family. I knew things were bad when twice this morning Emilia looked at me and said, "I'm grumpy." Hopefully after taking it easy today and after a good nights sleep tonight, we will all be feeling better tomorrow...at least that's my hope!

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Happy Friday!

Ahhhh...

I am a miracle worker.

Today, I got all four of my children to take a nap and actually sleep AT THE SAME TIME.

That was after I laid with Emilia and rubbed her neck until she fell asleep.

And after the boys told me they were ABSOLUTELY. NOT. TIRED. And there was NO WAY they could fall asleep.

I said, "OK. I'll stand here for 20 minutes. You lay there with your eyes closed and if you are still awake in 20 mintues you can get up." Micah fell asleep in just under 30 seconds. Seriously. I counted. Josiah took a bit longer. About 3 minutes. Nope, not tired. Not at all.

I had 30 minutes of peace and quiet and time just for me. What did I do with myself? I read a book.

I feel like a new woman. :)

So Much

My friend has a blog about her family and in the little sidebar description she has written, "Life never stands still, neither do they." Oh, that is so true! And so much of what I have been feeling the last couple weeks (months, maybe??) But here's some of what's been going on and why there hasn't been much time for posting on here. As always, I will try to do better!

About a month ago I bought a piece of fabric that I intend to make into a dress for Emilia. Well, she found it, asked what it was and when I told her it is going to be a dress she insisted on wearing it...for two days...like this:


I take that as a good sign that when I do actually get around to making a dress that she will like it! And do you like that knot on her head? She does her best to keep up with the boys, but sometimes it just doesn't work out so well for her.

A couple weeks ago, Audra was congested. I feel so bad for my babies when they are like that because there just isn't much I can do for them...aside from suctioning out their noses, which isn't really that great of a trade-off! Audra, though, kept me laughing through the ordeal because she kept making this face:

I guess all that congestion felt funny up there!

This next picture is for my mom. She brought this dress back from Brazil for Emilia just before she turned 2. Emilia wore it for her second birthday, but it was still a little big back then. Now it fits perfectly and she is such a beautiful little lady in it!

And that's a tattoo on her cheek in this picture, just fyi.

There was, of course, the big SEVENTH birthday in the midst of this. But that deserves a post all of its own, so we'll come back to that another time :)

Then there is the thing that has been occupying most of our waking (and sometimes sleeping!) hours recently: taking out a wall in our house!! Oh, it's going to be so nice when it's done, but it has been CA-RAZY these last couple weeks. To help cut costs we did most of the demo and are doing some of the redo. My mom and Sue are and have been a HUGE help in making this happen. They spent 5 days straight here working and helping and I'm sure would have done more except they left last Thursday to go to Houston to watch my brother's kids for awhile. I've been taking daily pictures to show the process, but I'll warn you--it's a mess! Everything is!

Day 1


Day 2


Day 3


Day 5


Day 7


Day 9


Day 10

(And by the way, John and I made that cabinet! We still have to make the doors, but we LOVE the way it turned out!)

And if all that weren't enough, the boys have also started soccer! They were suppose to start on the 11th, but the games got rained out, so both of them had their first games on Saturday. They loved it! They both played really well. Josiah did awesome at getting back to protect the goal and Micah scored 2 goals for his team--one with his left foot, even! I am a little disturbed after learning that our league has a "5 goal rule" which basically says that no team can be more than 5 goals ahead. If you are, you are not allowed to score again and if you do score they take a goal away from your score. Personally, I think that is so stupid for many reasons but it's where we are for the season so I'll try not to dwell on it. On a brighter note--here are some pictures!





That's going to have to be it for this morning. I've got to go get us packed up to leave when Greg gets here. Happy Monday!

This Week

This week is a bit chaotic. If I had to choose something to summerize for all of you what the kids and my life has been like, it would be this song:

Meltdown
by Justin Roberts

Brother and me were in the living room
Busy coloring chairs that we lay on
No signs of gloom, a quiet affair
That is until I borrowed his crayon
I cannot lie its the one he loves the best and
I don't know why I put him to the test
But I had no idea he'd get this distressed

Now he's having a a meltdown
Didn't know that he felt down
A meltdown

Then mom walked in and stared at us in awe
Couldn't quite understand what the deal was
Or what she saw. I took my brother's hand
Gave him his crayon and said sorry 'cause

I was aware that we were in a bind
Mom's antique chairs were covered in crayon lines
And I guess she's not a fan of those rainbow designs

Now she's having a meltdown
Didn't know that she felt down
A meltdown

I'd stop the world and wait for you to KETCHUP
But it turns and turns and you must be heard you
MUSTARD, MUSTARD, must be heard

'Cause you're having a meltdown
Didn't know that you felt down
We're all having a meltdown
We're all having an M-E-L-T-D-O-W-N

And I know that this might sound outrageous
But a meltdown is contagious, contagious
Now mom and me were having an M-E-L-T-D down
Mom and me were having an M-E-L-T-D down

And I'd stop the world and meltdown with you.

-------------------------------------------------

So, to summarize, there's been lots of fighting this week. We're all off schedule. We're all tired. We all have very short (sometimes non existent) fuses. It's not been pretty. It's not been much fun, either. I am VERY, VERY thankful for all of the work that is being done in our house, but I am ready to get back to our usual routine, too.

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Happy Friday!

300

Meet the silkies. Flowers and Corners, specifically. These are Emilia's blankets and she has slept with them every night and at every nap since she was a baby.

Tonight after the kids were in bed and I sat down on the couch, these were next to me. She didn't notice. She never asked for them. She went to bed without her silkies and didn't even notice. She was too busy tucking her baby in next to her, I guess. :)

All I want to know is when did kids start growing up so fast? Because I KNOW my childhood did not pass by so quickly.