The heat is on.

I'm always reluctant to blog when I've had a bad week. I'm afraid that I will sound like such a whiner (which I am) or as if I feel that the minor annoyances in my life are oh-so-awful and unjust (which I don't). But on the other hand, most of you know me so you are fully aware that I am no Suzy Sunshine and I don't want you to think that I am trying to come off as such. I'm keeping it real, sistas. Our family is completely nutso and sometimes we get on each other nerves. There are sometimes unidentified bad odors in our house. Oh, And Julia peed on the floor this week and didn't tell anyone until someone stepped in it. Twice. That someone was me.
I think my current bad mood can be attributed to the fact that we have entered the Dog Days of Summer. The heat is starting to get to us. We (meaning mostly, Ace and me) are irritable and cranky and the humidity does absurd thing to my hair. So, I find many excuses to stay home, close to my window ac and fans. 2 hours later as I pull out another handful or hair, lock myself in the bathroom to get a moment's peace, or say something snappish and mean to one of the kids I regret that decision immensely. It has just been a long, boring week. Even our day at the beach was no "day at the beach" thanks to my pissy attitude. I'm so happy it is Friday, I need Andy here for back up!
So, in summation, we are cranky. It is hot. I found something unidentifiable but certainly stinky under Ace's bed this week. Julia is not potty trained. We all feel a bit like this:



But I'm going to have a glass of wine and then I will feel more like this:





But I'll stop at one so I don't end up like this:

10 Months

"What?! 10 Months already?"

Julia's Law

Yesterday, as we were spending the evening playing tag on Grandma's front lawn:

Mommy: "Julia, did you have a good day?"

Julia: "Yes!"

Mommy: "What was your favorite part?"

Julia: "We're not done yet."

That is Julia in a nutshell, she truly believes that no matter how good, or bad, or great a day has been, it ain't over till it's over. And there is still room for more, bigger greatness to occur.

If you give 4 children 23 dollars and 73 cents....

and let them choose whatever they want to do with the money,

chances are you will end up in a place like this





...where you will probably spend countless quarters riding rides like these



...and laughing at your reflection in mirrors like this





...and riding this for the first time with your 10 month old who hangs onto you for dear life and wonders why on earth you would pay 2 dollars to spin around for 6 minutes



...and you will most likely love every minute of it, because 4 smiling faces, an afternoon where all the siblings get along and laugh with each other, and beating your husband at skee ball by 10,000 points are well worth 23 dollars and 73 cents. In fact, I think they are priceless.

After over a week of computer silence I kinda feel like I should churn out something read-worthy....
Friends, I got nothing.
I blame it on Summer Brain Shutdown Syndrome. I can think of nothing but the addictive smell of water from water guns (tell me I'm not the only one who notices the distinct smell of water gun water? Hello? Hello?), the joy of rinsing off the sand that is wedged in every crevice after a day at the beach, the late nights when my kids fall asleep before the end of the first song on their sleepytime CD because they have had such a full day and it is an hour past bedtime. Grandma's Barbeque sandwiches and potato salad, cherries, ice cream before dinner, PopIce popsicles for a snack. These are the things that are on my mind.
We had such a fun visit with Nifty Niece Naomi and Awesome Aunt Sara. We went to the beach, the pond, the park, the library, the 99. And multiple trips to the candy store. Naomi is 3 now and is so smart and self assured. I've decided to incorporate many of her habits into my own relationships. For example, when you offer Naomi 3 choices, she is most likely to choose option 17, which she came up with on her own. Example:
Waitress: "And what would you like on your sundae? Caramel, strawberries, or chocolate?"
Naomi: "I will be having blueberries."
Waitress: "Strawberries?"
Naomi: "I will be having the blueberries."

I can't even begin to count the number of things I love about Naomi, but this is one of my favorites.

Now our visitors are gone and I am sad. But tomorrow the pool awaits, I'm just hoping for a hot day, today it barely broke 70 degrees!

Lucy is...

Crawling
Cruising
Singing
Dancing
Playing Peekaboo
Laughing
Waving
Saying:
"Hi!"
"Mama"
"Dada"
"Bye"
Clapping
Brushing Mommy's Hair
Holding Hands of Many Siblings

Eating:
Meatballs
Eggs
Yogurt
Brown Rice
Fruit
Vegetables
Pasta
Key Lime mousse
Carrot Cake
But Mostly...
Mama's milk


Lucy is
9 months old

Lucy is
LOVED

In honor of Father's Day may I just take a moment to point out how handsome my husband looks in the 2nd picture in my last post? And I think if you looked up "Proud Dad" in the dictionary, that picture would be next to it.

Today was awesome. I gave up on my quest to buy Andy the Best Father's Day Gift Ever and just gave him beer. He was happy and I could relax and focus on the fun of the day. Mostly, eating. We threw a big barbeque for all the Dads in the family, my dad, Andy's dad, and of course, Andy. I didn't do a lick of cooking unless you count pouring a big can of baked beans into a pot and stirring them. Oh, and I boiled water for iced tea, poured it over the tea bags and the forgot about it for about half an hour. I really can't be trusted to cook and socialize at the same time because I get started talking and forget about anything I may be responsible for cooking. Andy manned the grill and my mother in law had already prepared a cake and potato salad so I didn't have to worry about a thing. Niice.
The kids were so well behaved. They even put on an impromptu concert for for the adults and they each sang songs and danced. Until Ace pulled out his diva attitude, threw his guitar and stomped off because his sister interrupted his solo of "Bad to the Bone".
I suppose the weekend is over but it doesn't matter for us this week. Andy is on vacation and Hayley and Ace are done with school so we are just going to sit back and unwind. Because that's what DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince have taught me that Summertime is all about.
Oh, and with Grandpa Alvin in town, some fishing has been done. Ace is quick to point out that HE caught the biggest fish.

In case you've wondered why I have not chronicled Ace's rise to fame as the 4th Jonas Brother, it is because he broke the computer (because that's how rockers roll, baby).
I'm currently typing one handed while furiously jiggling the power cord to try to charge the battery. I can't even pat my head and rub my stomach so this is quite a stretch.
Summer is slowly creeping in around the edges here in New England. But today it is nowhere to be found. In fact, the entire week is predicted to be rainy and cold. This doesn't jive well with my plans to start our beach bumming and poolside days.
Hayley still has a week left of school but despite the uncooperative weather and school, my brain has already switched over to Summertime Mode. I crave ice cream every afternoon around 3 and have found myself wanting to head in the direction of the beach when I am supposed to be dropping Hayley off at school. I have resisted the impulse thus far and we are enjoying the last days of first grade. Friday is the highly anticipated First Grade Hat Parade and that will surely be a highlight of this rainy week.
Ace finishes his school year this Thursday. Today was his last Lunch Bunch group while Julia, Lucy, and I met Grandpa at our new breakfast spot for pancakes, sausage, and Julia's people watching session. She loves going places where she can sit and observe people. If you add a blueberry pancake shaped like a mouse, all the better.
This weekend is the party for the end of T-ball and next week our first summer visitors will arrive. Andy's Dad, Mom, and sister will be here for a few weeks. We are all excited to have family visit and are especially looking forward to going fishing with Grandpa R.
So many transitions, endings, and beginnings.
Lucy is cruising around these days with the help of whatever furniture she can reach or improvise a walker out of. We gave her the Sesame Street walker that Julia used but Lucy prefers a laundry basket because it moves faster. She found a bite of doughnut on the floor yesterday and as soon as I made eye contact and she realized I planned to take it from her, she started crawling at top speed towards her laundry basket, pulled up on it, set the treasured doughnut morsel in front of her and hauled diaper butt down the hallway. Pbbfting and laughing at me the whole time. I laughed about it for the rest of the afternoon (but I still didn't let her eat the doughnut.)

Weekend roundup

It's early Monday morning and my house smells like Murphy's oil soap and Froot Loops. This combination makes me optimistic about the week.
Sunday was "spring cleaning day". I did some laundry in between chapters of my library book while Andy cleaned the rest of the house, the basement, the backyard, and the van. We are all about equal distribution of responsibilities in this house. The kids of course helped out. A good example of their contribution would be when I told Ace to put his bag of blocks in the playroom or I was going to throw them in the trash, he thought about it for a second and said "Okay, throw them in the trash then."
Anyway, the house is clean and Andy is still asleep on the couch where he passed out last night, perhaps because of inhaling too much oil soap.
Saturday was a big day as well. The base has a big community yard sale once a year and we went there in search of a highchair. We left with a tackle box, a bag of baby clothes, a stuffed loon, a robot, and a bumbo chair. But, of course no highchair. A successful yard sale in my opinion. Who doesn't need a stuffed loon, I ask you?
Later in the day we ventured a full hour away from home in search of bunkbeds. Because, seriously, Julia is done with the crib. We found a simple white wooden set that is pretty and sturdy and not too tall that will be delivered this weekend. I'm hoping that will begin a new era of everyone sleeping in their own beds through the whole night but I'm not betting on it. Friday night there were 5 of us sleeping in our bedroom, Hayley was the only one who stayed in her bed. That meant that when Ace woke up at 6:07am on Saturday morning yelling "I want to go back to the Children's museum" he woke up every member of the family except one.
Besides the 6:07 wake up call, it was a great weekend. And Sunday night was the icing on the cake. After dinner Andy took the 3 biggies downstairs to watch Star Wars on the big tv. Ace has been asking to watch it for at least 2 months so I let him check out the DVD from the library. He immediately called Andy at work and had this conversation "Hi Daddy, I was calling and hoping that you could come watch Star Wars with me. How about it?" So Sunday night was long awaited. Not a S.W fan myself, I opted to stay upstairs with Lucy but when I heard the end title music, I went downstairs to see who was still awake. I found Hayley, snoring away at one end of the couch with Julia sleeping on top of her. Ace and Andy both wide awake on the other end of the couch, still entranced by the screen.

Here is Ace's Review of the movie:

Mom: What happened in Star Wars Ace?
Ace:I don't know. Maybe the boys had their clothes and their pants and their shoes and guns. And the bad guy had the black clothes and the helmet. Can we go to Toys R Us?
Mom: Tell me more about the movie.
Ace: Well, guess what? The two guys were flying of a rocket ship and they were trying to fly to the moon first and they were fast but the rocket ship stopped. The bad guy was trying to win.
Mom: Did he win?
Ace: I think ya.
Mom: The bad guy?
Ace: The girl gave them hug at the end. Darp Bader was crying. Guess what happened to him? Because he wanted to win but he was on a different team. And he didn't win.
Mom: Did you like the movie?
Ace:Yay! Let's watch it again!*

So, there you go, two enthusiastic thumbs up from Ace.

*this is, by far, a more accurate plot summation than I could give of Star Wars and I've watched it at least 3 times with Andy.