Live from Tormville!

royalty in the house

I didn't have the heart to tell her otherwise.  After-all - totally on her own, she had the whole scheduled day off school all planned.

She started the day with a bucket full of papers on which were written things like......make a band, make crowns (as shown), do a puppet show, make bracelets, do each others hair (that proved tricky with her short haired brothers), pin the tail on the donkey.  Every time I turned around they were making another mess doing something different.  I slipped a few pieces of my own into the bucket - see how fast you can clean your rooms, sharpen all the pencils, play outside - but they caught onto me pretty quick.

 

It was a good full day.

I'm having a hard time keeping track of the days this week.  Monday = snowday, Thursday = scheduled day off, Hubby is working all weekend and my oldest has a full day of confirmation tomorrow.  No routine this week at all.

I'm already anxious for Monday - and hopeful for a routine week next week.

Hope is good.

Happy Friday!
(be good!)

**** fingers crossed that my oven gets fixed tonight.

meanwhile, back at the ranch....

I'm due for a good catch-up post. Bullet style.

Wendy

• Wendy had an extremely busy weekend last weekend.  A sleepover on Friday night (I'm told they stayed up until 2:30) her last soccer game at 1:00 Saturday, and swimming from 4-6:30. She was in bed by 8:00 and felt so punk the next morning that I let her sleep and she slept until nearly 11. I was actually worried that she made herself sick with her schedule, but she was fine after 15 hours of sleep.
• However, in this house, if you can't get out the door for school or Sunday school - you remain friendless for the rest of the day - so she had to turn away all the door knockers that day.  She was fine with that.
• A real punishment for her would be to tell her that she can't listen to anymore books on CD.  She has just about exhausted the library's juvenile selection.
• She enjoys soccer enough that she wants to pursue it a bit more even though the team she currently plays on is done for now. We'll sign up through the rec for the spring and maybe MAYBE try out for more in the summer. She's not quite sure yet, and either am I.
• She took on a role of peacemaker during recess.  It's an assigned position and they help resolve conflicts amongst the younger set.  This position apparently leads to some teasing from the older set, but that doesn't seem to phase her.  This is all new to her dad and I - they didn't have peacemakers when WE went to school.
• We haven't had any more issues with her foot - it seems to have healed fine
• She's been doing a lot of sewing on her sewing machine, a lot of drawings and seems drawn to fashion. She likes looking for fashion idea books at the library and drawing out sketches of outfits.  Meanwhile, she wears her boots that are almost worn through to the point of embarrassing to school, even though she has much classier choices sitting at home. Go figure. 
• She Still leaves a trail.  I'll never lose this girl.  She leaves doors open, lights on, mittens on the floor, boots in the foyer, papers on the table, never unpacks her overnight bags and the list goes on and on.  I could harp on her 24 hours a day and it still doesn't change. 
• That's Wendy. 
• She has a huge sweet tooth, and I need to find a new dentist for her pronto (I stopped going to ours due to insurance. She was complaining of an ache this week.

• She's still our biggest snowbunny.  
• She has a big heart. I found out last week that she's been writing kind letters to the teachers. One of them stopped me and told me to tell Wendy that she made her day with her kind note. I told Wendy then on our way home, and she was a little embarrassed that I found out, but happy that her words made someones day. She also sent a valentine to a new girl in another classroom 'because I want her to feel welcome and like she has a friend'
• She tears up easily like her mother
• She has a strong dislike for men's bare bellies. But she loves fart jokes. Go figure.

Allan

• Oh Allan.  He can have me pulling out my hair and banging my head against the wall one minute, and laughing and hugging him the next.
• He's 14.
• I don't share as much about him as I used to out of respect for his privacy as he gets to the age where more of his peers are reading/have access to what I write. But oh, the things I'd love to share.
• He began confirmation this past Saturday and he really enjoyed it. There are 42 kids in his confirmation class (they go every Saturday for five Saturdays, and then one full week over break)
• He loves to draw, to read, play Nintendo, and ski.  He would enjoy more soccer, enjoys floor hockey in gym, but has never been much for team sports.
• He's got a great sense of humor.  An example:  Yesterday he was spending the snow day with a friend and I had him call before he went over there to find out if he needed to bring snow pants. He knew before he called that he wouldn't, but he called anyway. Off the phone he says, "he's a bit of a pansy when it comes to snow" But we both agreed that we could overlook this because he's really a great friend otherwise.  Allan says, yeah - and it's good to spend time with the flowers sometimes too (Pansy)   It took me a second, and then I roared.  He says it so dead pan.
• He's still walking his dogs everyday after school.  It's been a wonderful blessing of a job for him.
• He's not a big spender.  He has never spent on small things/candy/nonsense.  He saves at least 1/2 in the bank for a car some day, and the other he tends to save for large expenses. He's currently saving for an ipod. 
• He likes when I play the same games as him on facebook so he can beat me, but he stopped playing Phase 10 with me because I beat him.
• He can start drivers ed in April. After we know that routine/schedule - he'll walk the town and see if he can find some more work.
• His stitches are healing fine.  We have him putting Bee Secret and Lavender on it everyday.
• He needs a haircut.  Again. I'm ready for this long hair style on boys to be done.

Mark

• He's had two ear infections now that his tubes have fallen out. I think he's in line for another tube surgery in the future. He inherited my ears.
• Potty trained! Yes!  And dry at night too!
• He loves the snow much more this year than he has in the past. He'll play out there for awhile now, sometimes outlasting Brian (which is saying something)
• Still a complete and total goofball.
• Daddy's boy
• And still doesn't sleep worth a lick. I don't feel like Greg and I can leave the kids to get away ourselves for a weekend until this kid really sleeps. 
• His pronunciations are off - a direct result of his bad ears, I'm sure.  It's mostly his R's that are off.  Mark is Mowk.
• Loves story hour and swimming.
• A bit high maintenance when his siblings aren't around to entertain him.  Brian going to school next year could be interesting.

Brian

• Just a couple weeks shy of five
• Kindergarten round-up is coming up quick.  We're really hoping that our school offers half day again this year. (It changes yearly) I think he'd be a perfect candidate and I think I'd like the routine of daily. Driving one way wouldn't be a hardship for us since the school is a walk for us. Fingers crossed.
• He drops the S's on the beginning of his words, just like his dad did.  What a weird thing to inherit. Scrap is Crap. Scream is Cream. Scoop is Coop.  Sometimes I have to think for a second and figure out what he's really saying.  He can say them correctly if I have him do it slowly. We're working on it.
• Loves story hour and swimming, and we'll see how he likes boys baseball in the spring. We're also debating about signing him up for rec soccer along with his sister.
• Still a snuggler
• Went to the barber for the first time with his dad this weekend. (There's a place in town doing kids under 10 for $10) He was nervous, but did well and came home looking quite respectable. He has such a bushy nest of hair, it was well worth the $10.
• He often mentions missing his grandmas and grandpas
• Loves to color, play Play-Doh, cars, blocks and practicing his letters. 
• Another snowbunny. That snowsuit was by far the best thing I purchased at last years garage sales.
• He can throw a temper like our other kids couldn't. It worries me sometimes - and it's one of the reasons I'd like to get him into soccer - just to get him in more team environments and learning team skills.  He's gotten better, but can still throw a pretty impressive fit.
• If you ask him what he wants for his birthday - he'll tell you a skateboard.  This is the same thing he asked for for Christmas and didn't get.  There weren't any tears on Christmas morning, but he would still like a skateboard.  I'm debating.
• He's recently begun blaming things on magically appearing and 'that must have just slipped there' and oh, I didn't mean to say that.  We're working on it.
• He falls into the middle child trap a bit...competing for attention with his younger brother and fighting for rights with his older brother.  He'll stand up to his big, 10 years older, brother and throw a punch now and then - which infuriates the older brother to no end.
• He also gets his younger brother pretty well riled. I'm thinking within five years I'll have to remove all breakables. Last week was the first big shattering of glass when they hit a frame on the wall.
• He's the easiest of the kids to take on a tag-along trip to the store. He doesn't beg, loves the one on one attention, provides some good conversation and is all in all and enjoyable partner.
• Loves Uncle Scrooge

• And he loves his dad. Dad gets very little peace on the weekend.  (Brian's got a fresh haircut in this photo)

Dad

• Still carving
• Anxiously waiting for me to get his Etsy shop up and running (it's that whole resizing of five photographs per item that is slowing me down)
• Getting busier at work again. Two days after I made a plan for this coming Saturday he told me it looks like he might have to work.  Plain and simple, I can't make plans while we have kids at home to take care of.
• Rarely gets any peace from these two, and is thankful that he has a garage to escape to when they go to bed
• Constantly listens to books. Santa brought him a new mp3 player and he's a happy guy. He listens to books on his commute, and he listens when he carves at night.
• has on  his Tuesday honey-do list - Fix. The. Stove.

Our stove broke yesterday. I'm hoping that it's just a burnt out element, easily fixed.  It cooked pizza on Sunday, but yesterday it wouldn't preheat. I was making snacks for the kids lunches and nada. pfft. nothin'.

Which means I have to revise this weeks menu plan.  The red skin baked potato dish I was planning to have this evening just isn't going to happen.

And I think I keep you pretty updated on me. 

:)

Happy Tuesday that feels like a Monday!

How to entertain four kids in a small examining room

My kids think that large roll out paper on a sit upon desk is AWESOME!  The trick is to remember enough writing sticks

Other ideas:

• The alphabet game - great place for finding Q's and Z's - those sometimes difficult letters on the freeway
• I spy
• hide and go seek (this one is for Mark who loves to hide in the empty cupboard under the sink
• practice counting and colors with the younger set
• Play clapping games - my 4 year old learned 'This old man' because of frequent trips to the doctor
• write lists (this one is for me)
• practice tying shoes - for the younger ones

I'm always filling that time with little somethings - hate wasted waiting time.

Today's diagnose'es: 

Mark - gets new meds because the amoxicillin isn't working on him
Allan - ear infection
Wendy - who I brought in and told them she seems fine but she's sneaky and if I don't have her seen today, guaranteed I'll be in again tomorrow - ear infection.  The doctor was shocked.  He flushed some gunkities out of her ear and then peeked only to find red inflamed ears.  He says - you were right! I didn't expect that!  She's sneaky.

Maybe tonight I'll get some sleep.....

Also got Allan's bloodwork while there - all negative. He's had a few more slight dizzy spells in the past two days.  They keep me on my toes.

Back to the laundry.....

Overheard

Overheard, originally uploaded by Torm1.

13 year old: WHY are you calling that dog "Fisher Price" (said exactly as you would imagine a 13 year old brother talking to his 7 year old sister)

7 year old: Hello! Because - that's what it says on his dog collar (as in - Duh!)

there you have it.

ah - the first day of school

And my third annual - good golly, the light really stinks at this time of the morning, mom, could you please hurry up (even tho he's the one that reminds me to take this shot each year) I want to get going - bad photo of Al.  I'm okay with that.

First day factoid - he was originally intending to wear a shirt that came in a hand-me-down bag over the summer - a shirt that said, see no homework, hear no homework, do no homework.  It totally fits him and his humor.  Pa was a bit leery about it.  I happened to mention it to a friend on the phone last evening and she said when her daughter wore that shirt to school, she was called to the front of class (kind of humiliated, really) and told to explain the shirt and share what it meant to her.   I shared that story with Allan this morning and told him the decision is still his, just be aware.  As you can see, he changed. And woke up his youngest brother in the process.  *sigh* 

Another fun factoid - Allan had been trying to get ahold of the neighbor boy all weekend (they went camping) to arrange first day bus stop or riding plans.  He finally called back at 9:15 last evening so I went up to tell Allan (lights go out at 9:30)  He already had his lights out.  You're sleeping??? I asked.   I'm trying, he said - I want to be refreshed and have a good nights sleep for the first day of school.  Love this kid.  He suffers from just a bit of anxiety and this is the first year that he took it upon himself, more aware, to get more sleep.  He's growing up.

(why does the first day of school have to be on garbage day - sheesh)

Wendy was so excited, she couldn't sleep last night - she also wants to be like Allan this year and make her own lunch.  More power to her, I say.  But I'll be spot checking - this one has a sugar tooth like none I've ever seen before

And as per norm, we ended up rushing out the door in a hetta (hurry) only to be a few minutes early anyway.  One of these days I'm going to synchronize our clocks.

And once again, this is my morning view.  It's a good thing.

Today - they are adjusting....they are so used to having the big kids around. 

For me, today is about lists, getting myself into a new routine, proofing photos, grocery shopping, hanging a load on the line.....that sort of thing.

I'm hoping to have a layout to share by the end of the day too - I have a fun guest designer gig this week, and it was supposed to go up yesterday - so I'm still waiting to hear word on that (cuz it hasn't gone up) I'm assuming that the hurricane might have something to do with the delay.  I'll keep you posted.  (Mom...you'll like this layout!)

be good!

My kids are a product of their hand-me-downs

We've been very blessed.
One of the reasons (besides the obscene price of petro) that we haven't done any garage saling yet this year is that we've been extrememly blessed in hand-me-downs.  We.love.hand-me-downs, flame shirts aside. 

If you're a scrapbooker you might have noticed that my boys tend to dress like Steph's earlier pages (thank you Steph) Wendy is decked out incredibly similar to those girls that don Janet and Sue's pages (thank you!) and Allan, who I never find things for at garage sales anyway and never dreamed I'd get hand-me downs for, just landed gifts from two directions at once (thank you Angie!) and a neighbor.  The flame shirt came from the neighbor.  It's not exactly my style.  It's nice and all that, as far as flame shirts go - it's just not me.

In cases like this, when the child really loves it but I don't - I sometimes relent.  With conditions.  I get veto power on where it can be worn.  Period.  If they can accept those conditions, they can keep the apparel.  This type of apparel, for some odd reason, also is very slow to make it thru the laundry cycle.  *wink*  Don't give me away, okay?

We are grateful.  We are fortunate to live in community that is just as fond of hand-me-downs as we are - and we just continue the passing until it's completely outdated or threadbare.

It works, and in this economy, we work it as much as we can because every little bit helps.

Speaking of every little bit - Mr. Flame Wearer up there got another job.  His last one expired pretty quickly as the house was completed and put up for sale, he just got a few jobs out of that deal - but now he's dog walking regularly for another neighbor.  He's like my side of the family in that he's a little apprehensive to begin something new, to persue that initial contact - but once he got started it's all good. He's very conscientous - it's been fun to watch.

And with that - all the kids are up.  And whining.  Again. 
And it's rainy.  Again.

I'll be keeping the computer off for the most part of the next few days while I catch up on a few things around here.  I've got to draw a diagram for the boys closet - we're hoping to do that this weekend, and I've got some major cleaning and creating to do.  It's all fun - I just need to work myself out of this funk mood I've been in the last few.

Maybe jumprope would help.....

be good

On Fog

On the way up north, it was just Wendy and I and the two little boys.  We stopped. a lot.  I think Markie blew thru at least ten diapers on the way north, it was not our best time.  Even with all those stops tho, I couldn't resist stopping just once, for me.  I could see that wall of fog on the lake there around Munising and I just had to get in for a closer look.

Wendy's response?  I think, "mm" was her exact choice of exclamation.  As in, 'this is the most boring thing ever, can we just go? I make a very conscious effort never to compare the kids to one another, to enjoy each one for the person they are - but in this case I couldn't resist saying - "well, hmph, Allan would have enjoyed it"

mm.

Which takes us to the drive home and Allan was with us.  In our drive down Quincy Hill heading towards Hancock and Houghton - again, there was a beautiful lay of fog coming over the hills. I poked Allan out of his book to have a look.

"Wow!"
"I love how it dips into the crevices and how its like a solid, but it's not"
"The mood is so cool"
"I like where it transforms from the fog into the not fog"

And he goes on and on - I don't do his exclamations justice, he throws out words left and right to describe what he sees - he's really fun to listen to sometimes.

And Wendy?  mm.

The annual report

At least, it feels like it's been a year since I've given an update on the kids.  They grow so quick and with Mother's day just a couple days behind us - it seemed like a good time to give a little note to what the kids are up to these days.

Al's growing up on me. It's hard to believe he's going to be a teenager in just a couple months. I had to sit down the other day when I was talking to my sister-in-law on the phone and she mentioned that Shane will be going to drivers ed this summer.  Drivers Ed???  But he plays with Al!

yikes.

He's growing up on me. He's grown a lot as a person this year - he's had a few rough spells in school, he can't seem to find his place at times, but he's doing great. Progress reports came home yesterday and it was the best one yet - now to keep it there.  His biggest problem is organization and actually turning papers in...it's so hard for me to see a grade plummet when the paper is completed in his binder - it's been our biggest battle.

But his teachers think he's brilliant.  It's probably true - the stuff that comes out of his mouth goes way over my head, I know that. He talks constantly of inventing things, of putting this theory and that theory together, he talks about things of which I have no clue. His science teacher told me - while we were discussing his poor organization habits over the phone, that he'll raise his hand in class (and that alone is an improvement - he Never did that in grade school...not enough confidence then) and answer questions, answer them correctly and more in depth then the text book covers, and the rest of the class is looking at him like, huh?

I shared this bit with Allan in a conversation meant to boost his interest and drive a little bit and he answered very matter a factly, "yeah - that happens in Social Studies too"

I worry that he's bored.

Math was always his weak spot - we had him tutored for four years? five?  I don't remember.  I blame the whole spiraling math for part of that - but this year things really started clicking - he had one after school tutoring session with the teacher the beginning of the school year and has been an A/B math student ever since.

His pastimes are artistic.  He loves to draw, he loves to carve - he doesn't like to miss carving class - he's been going for what, three years now?  By far his longest stuck to it passion.

He can go thru spells of moodiness - often taking it out on his sister in the form of name calling - but it doesn't last long, just long enough to get a rise out of her and then it passes.

He's a keeper

And this is Wendy. Wendy, I said, after she arrived home from a traipse around the block during spring cleaning weekend - clutching a new bag that was monogrammed with an A. Wendy - it's your brothers name that begins with an A - not yours.

Trala-la - People will just think it's my nickname bag - she replied, and she's carried it to church with her the past two Sundays.  While it's true she has nicknames - I can't think of a single one that starts with an A.

This is Wendy.

I'm still in awe of how much school has had an impact on her by way of movements, language, silliness, likes and dislikes - everything.  Completely opposite of her older brother who always stayed true to what he liked no matter what anyone thought - this one aims to please.  "I want to wear my hair like Hannah"  "I want to get a jacket like Gabby" and on and on and on....

She's slightly airy-headed at times. 

I've recently had the thought that I should bring her in for a hearing check - she's often messing up words, has been forever.  A stapler, for instance, she calls a stampler. A bun in her hair? That's a bundle.  Now with the talk of her aunties wedding I learned that it's the Bride and the Broon.  And you can't argue with her or correct her because she knows she's right.

She's always right.

She wants to grow her hair down to her butt (I want to cut it short), speaking of which, she's still very much into butt and fart jokes....too much, she's the center of attention in our neighborhood - this is where the kids flock to, she's carefree, giggly, silly and she loves loves loves.

But she can throw a good temper too, most often at bedtime.

Yee-haw Cowboy!

We're not sure where he picked up that line, but he says it everyday this past two weeks.  Yee-haw Cowboy! Cracks us up.

Brian's getting there. 

He's still up on his feet, the recovery from his spica cast is taking awhile - but he's getting there. He's been very very very very very very very moody lately tho, a result, I'm sure, of what he's been thru and perhaps adjusting to the sudden drop of undivided all day attention and packages. Yesterday, for instance, he cried - sad cried, for three hours straight.  He wanted nothing but to be held.

Which is all lovely and sweet - but hard to keep the house running and take care of the others - so I feel like I'm working on weaning him.

I've heard that this is normal and could take two months to get thru.  Three weeks down -

This one also loves to draw, listen to books - Curious George is his favorite, and play-doh.  I'd also have to say that as far as preschool activities and learning, he's learning much faster than the other two did - he's pretty good with the abc's and counting, and is still two years away from school.  The other two told me quite firmly that they weren't going to learn that stuff until they went to school - so this fascinates me.

He spends hours in the sandbox. Hours.  It was his biggest heartbreak that he couldn't go in there with a cast on.  Can you imagine?  Sand down the cast? ick.

He's back to crawling into our bed at 3am - a battle that I'll save for another day at this time. We're doing all our battles over again - potty training, sleeping, all of it. 

Getting there...

And then there's Mark.  Hard to get to sit still and get a good picture of, Mark.

When speaking of this one, we can most often be heard saying - 'we've never had one like him before'

He was our youngest walker, by several months
He's our biggest digger
He's our climby-est climber
He doesn't listen or comprehend - "no!"
Truthfully - he just giggles and laughs when we say it and insantly does whatever sassy or climby diggy thing he was into - again.
He's the one with the biggest appetite - he eats circles around the other 3 at the dinner table

We've just never had one like him before. He's broken all our preconceptions, broken all the molds we thought our kids fit into.

He's a joy.

He's smily, giggly, up all night long so we can enjoy him that much more... a joy.

He loves the sandbox, loves to eat dirt, loves to climb on the kitchen table, and has learned that he can now run faster than his brother so he loves to steal his toys and get him riled up and make him play chase.

It's also fun, now, seeing the difference in him since getting his tubes in.  He's building his vocabulary a little at a time.  Yesterday, both Pa and I dropped our jaws when he said, very clearly, "banana". Sweet!

We've never had one like him before......

I call this one....

I'm still smarter than Markie - hahahaHAha!
(he figured out how to leap from the couch into the fort yesterday and he just laughs when we tell him, "no!") 

subtitled - boy, I can't wait to get this house back to normal and dig into spring cleaning....

I should strap some floor rags to their stomachs

Brian gets a little restless staying in his fort all the time.  The biggest problem in coming out tho is the 14 month old.  Our most active, climbing, energetic, busy, 14 month old to date.

Today they're learning to get along outside the fort - Brian is learning to swing his hips a bit to shake his brother off and Markie is learning his bounderies.

Here Mark is hoping for a ride......lol...he kept trying to latch on to that dowel.

Enjoy your Saturday!
be good