Skiing

LBB skiing for the second time.  His big brothers decided to join and show him how it is all done. 

A Perfect Day

In my estimation, today was a perfect day.  Was there screaming, horseplay, crying, frenzied snack preparation, baby wearing, threats?  Yes.  But there was also so much more than that.  Today was the perfect culmination of sleep, home learning, me-time, excercise.  Could I have improved upon things?  Yup.  They spent a little too long in front of the TV this morning watching The Land Before Time.  And I didn't get a walk in.

So, what did we do?  I actually slept 8 hours and was only woken once for a feed.  I drank my tea undisturbed and caught up on a couple of my favorite blogs.  Everyone had their vitamins and had their teeth brushed.  We read books and checked out where various animals lived on the big wall map.  We read up on our pet - a Leopard Gecko named BoGo (Bo for 'Bob the Builder' and Go for 'Diego').  I washed, FOLDED, and put away 4 loads of laundry.  The kids went outside for an hour before lunch and cleaned up the branches in the yard from a recent wind storm.  Book Worm had a 3 hour nap, which coincided with after lunch rest time = I finally got to work on my resume (I am applying for a job as a Learning Consultant at a Distributed Learning School).  The boys and I pulled out some old socks and ripped apart an old comforter to make sock Dolls.  Builder and Animal finished theirs. Little Boy Blue disappeared near the end with the head and arms of his Doll, so his needs some final touches.  We headed up to my parents and swam for an hour.  I decided to forgo the dinner hassle and opted to eat out at a favorite restaurant.  The day was just too good to ruin with dinner arguments. 

It is just about time for books before bed.  My husband is on his way home.  The baby is waiting for me to get her out of the drained bath.  The three boys are dressed for bed.  The house is a bit of a mess from our afternoon snack and Doll making, but that can be remedied in 10 minutes.

A perfect day.

Things to Remember

-the pats on the back that Book Worm gives as she snuggles in for a cuddle

-an unsolicited, "I wuv uw mommy." from Little Boy Blue as we snuggle on the couch

-the "Mommy's are great.  They do everything." comment from Builder

-dinner conversation about future job ideas involving Cheetah videographer and Firework Manufacturer with Animal

-building Lego with all four kids for hours without a single fight while discussing life, dreams, and the wonders of the world

-listening to the twins discuss why Jehovah coloured nature the way he did in the back seat of the car while LBB and BW are napping in the middle row

-watching BW and cousin dance without music just because we said, "Dance."

-hiking up mountains with BW and LBB nestled on my back in the carrier


-reading books on the couch with four children all trying to get as close to me as possible


-repetitive squeals of, "Daddy's home!!" as my husband closes the door from LBB and BW

-the creative problem solving ideas generated by children

-the ability of Animal to climb on to a lap without the person really noticing

Life

It's a new year and I started things off with a cold.  We rang in the 10:30 new year with friends.  We had a great time, left early and were in bed by 11.  Wonderful.  The next day, I was sick.  Ah well. 

We left the ski hill a couple days early.  The kids were starting to go stir crazy.  We were ready to parent solo.  We were ready to get back to our rhythm.  Rhythm is good.  The kids just don't seem to sleep away from home.  And we fear that the lack of sleep will lead to illness, which will lead to hospital visits.  So, we left early.  Happily.  It is our holiday.  And it is nice to change things up as needed.  We had a great time, though.  We love the ski hill.  Little Boy Blue truly loves skiing.  The twins are amazing.  Builder seems to have lost some stamina, but perhaps that is a result of our month of illness.  Animal was a real keener, though.  He often stayed out an extra run or two.  Book Worm loved the snow.  She squealed with delight every time she headed out.  My husband took her sledding and skating, and she went for several walks in the carrier.  We all had a great time.

We are happy to be home.  Happy to be back in our rhythm.  The boys are in a very hands-on stage at the moment.  It is driving me crazy.  So, when they start and things begin to get carried away, I send them outside.  Yup.  Today I sent them out in the heavy rain twice.  After a few rumbles to the ground, they decide that digging in the sand box, the mud pit, or building in their shed would be a better use of their time.  I agree.  I realize that this boy man-handling thing is a part of being boys, but I need an out.  So, outside they go. 

I am still getting over this cold, so have not jumped fully into our rhythm.  And I have a months worth of house cleaning and cooking to catch up on, so I think that home learning for the next while will revolve around character development.  Yup.  I think the twins are ready for another chore.  They already bring in the garbage cans, carry their plates to the dishwasher, vacuum (sort-of, or at least get it out and start it up) once a week, clean up their toys a few times a week, and wash the windows once a month.  Now it is time for them to start sorting and putting the laundry away.  Yippee.  I am happy to pass this chore along.  I despise putting away the laundry.  I usually let 3-4 loads pile up before putting it away.  Yesterdays attempt at making this a chore went well.  Today's, not so much.  I ended up putting BW to bed and their laundry sort (play session) was ended because her bedroom is directly below our family closet.  We will try again tomorrow.

Now it's time for my husband and I to snuggle on the couch while I finish reading World Without End for the second time and my husband watches yet another comic book movie.

Our 2011 Adventures

This year we tackled a lot of firsts in our family.  We truly mixed things up and made our lives uncomfortable, sometimes for the better and sometimes not.  So as adventures go (taking the good with the bad), the following is a list of our many, many firsts for 2011.

-the discovery of elanaspantry.com and cooking with almond flour: I have only had one true recipe flop.  This style of eating has truly transformed our gluten free lifestyle and has made it so that I am nolonger a short order cook.  We all eat the same thing.
-motor home trip: 4 kids, 4 provinces, 7 days, you decide
-5 hour international flight as a family + return: thank goodness we had help
-entire family attended a wedding in which my husband was in the party and he wanted to show off our delightful family (read: pulling my hair out difficult, not to be repeated.....unless of course their uncles ever decide to settle down)
-felting
-lip balm making
-beeswax candle making
-knitting
-foraging for food other than mushrooms
-unplugged Sunday
-major house renovation
-multiple appliance relacement: dishwasher, furnace, dryer
-cooking curry and acquiring a tast for it
-Pho
-new job as Sales Manager and more house responsibilities for me
-LBB skiing :)
-BW transitioning from crawling to walking and speaking a number of words: 'what's that', 'thanks', 'Nan',
-officially home learning
-went 2+ months without an illness (Wow.  Our crazy diet does work.)
-drove 8 hours round trip with 4 kids to visit my sister for 3 hours
-Animal can write his name without any assistance, anytime he likes

Skiing Hill

We are at the ski hill.  We are having a blast. 
Yesterday:
 I watched and skiied with all 3 of my boys.
I helped and watched Little Boy Blue ski for the first time.  He's hooked.
I played cards with all 4 kids. 
I cooked healthy cookies for the kids. 
I sat and knitted with my mom.
I read books with my boys.
I skied with my husband.
I walked to the village twice.  Once by myself.  Once with three kids.
I watched both my parents spend time with my kids.
I listened to my husband play trains with LBB over the baby monitor.
I snuggled with my husband on the couch when everyone was asleep and watched Big Bang Theory reruns.
I enjoyed a full-on, Nan-style Turkey Dinner.  Yum
Builder organized a 'dine' at dinner: lights low, heads down, candle, each say what was good about their day.

This is what vacations are all about.

We Survived

Well, these past three weeks have been long.  We have watched more video's than I care to count.  The toddler is a bear from being catered to and allowed to eat as he pleased.  We all contracted the Chicken Pox, except my Husband.  And we all contracted the Flu, except BW.  A few more days and I think we may be out of the illness scare.  Ya.  We survived. 

Having 4 children does increase the fun, but it also increases the sick days.  Now for some healthy vacation fun.  The twins headed to the ski hill today with Nan and Papa.  We have had to postpone their trip for three weeks now.  The have been counting down the sleeps.  Today, they started packing as soon as they awoke.  Builder was waiting in the front yard a 1/2 hour before my parents were set to arrive.  They were truly ready to go.  LBB was sad to see his brothers go without him, but we quickly remedied that with a trip to the library, a smoothie, and time playing Tonka Cars with just him, BW, and I.  We ate dinner late.  Played in the bath.  And he got to pick his night time video.  I think he was happy to say goodbye to his brother in the end. 

I will be busy preping for our vacation tomorrow and then we are off.  Wahoo.

Life

It has only taken 5 years, but my brother has finally warmed up to being an uncle.  He is even feeding BW.  He came over and we had our 3 month visit!!!  We only live an hour apart and yet never seem to see eachother :(

The other two children are missing from the picture because we are now battling the flu.  Yup, we still have lingering spots, no longer contagious, but now have the flu.  Yick.  Hopefully, this will all clear up in time for our vacation in 4 days.  At the same time, Builder seems to have picked up some mysterious allergy.  He developed hives all over his body yesterday that subside with Benedryl, but return after some time.  I thought he may be allergic to some new paint we were using, so I thoroughly cleaned his nails and he had a bath.  The hives still remain, though.  I am a bit baffled.

We are all looking forward to our week with Dad.  Hopefully, we will be well enough to enjoy ourselves.

Life

We are sick.  Not the normal cold/flu-asthma fear that we usually have going.  We have the Chicken Pox.  Ug.  Actually, so far the toddler, who from this point on will now be referred to as Little Boy Blue (LBB), is the only one sporting the pox.  It's kind of wierd to see what he will look like with his hormonal-teen-pimple face that he is sure to have inherited from me.  The baby, who will now be referred to as Book Worm (BW) because she absolutely loves books, has spent the entire day sleeping and has a low fever.  I expect her spots to emerge soon.  The twins, twin1 to be referred to as Animal and twin2 to be referred to as Builder, are still going concerns.  Life seems to be carrying on, except that we are no longer able to have social outings.  And I think the choir performance that we have been preparing for will no longer happen.  We will have to wait and see if the twins get sick, too.

The twins have been playing chase constantly.  I think this is a result of too much time spent in the house during these cold days.  I kicked them out of the house tonight, so I could prepare dinner without being the safety zone.  I am constantly saying, "Out of the kitchen."  It would be so much easier if they would just help cook dinner.  Usually LLB does.  But at the moment, everything he touches hurts.  Poor little man.

BW is walking.  Ya.  14 1/2 months old.  Way to go BW.

I am drained.  My husband has been covering shifts, or watching the super bowl, and I am on my third week of 6 full days with the kids.  He hasn't even managed his one early (1 hour) night a week.  Last weekend we unplugged for his one day off.  The kids really enjoyed this and so did we.  I think we are attempting this about once a month.  It is nice to have a complete family focus for the day.  The kids asked to watch TV while drinking their milk and we told them no because...  The were even phased.  They were happy to cuddle up and read some books with Dad.  We also walked up my parents mountain and went for an afternoon swim at the pool.  I am ready for these 6 day weeks to be over.  However, 2 more and we are on holidays at the ski hill.  Wohoo.

The reno is slowly coming to an end.  And boy am I ready for it to be over.  It seems as though the workers do something outside and muddy up the area and then decide to do something inside and track all the mud in.  I have been constantly vacuuming and washing the floor.  The counter top went in last week.  It is amazing.  We had a family dinner last weekend and dumped all the dirty dishes on it and there was still some usable space left.  Wow.  They did leave a huge mess that I came home to, though.  They must have done their cutting in the house, instead of outside.  Grrr.  Wood dust was everywhere when I came home from a super long day of visiting my sister, including 7 hours of driving time.  That was not what I wanted to come home to and had to spend the entire next morning making the kitchen livable again.  A necessity when I have to cook every meal.

We made candles today.  It was fun.  The kids loved it.  Especially lighting and blowing out their candle.  Fun.  We have some major mood lighting for dinner tonight.  And with that, dinner is ready.  Good Night.

Finishing Quilts

I finished up a couple of quilts lately.  The two above were made for the twins.  About a year ago, they both picked  out their own fabric.  Bob the Builder for twin2 and Safari Animals for twin1.  The are very appropriate.  I was a bit afraid that their interests would change while I finished them up, but their infatuation still continue.  I finished the opposing side of both with a pirate map theme.  Both boys are very proud of their quilts and so am I.  They love almost everything I make for them.  As I was finishing twin1's quilt, the toddler asked where his quilt was.  Since my mom has made him a beautiful quilt, I thought that I wouldn't make one for him.  I guess I was wrong.  I hope the store still has some more of the fabric to make the rainbow.

 Here is another quilt that only took 2 1/2 years to complete.  It was the second quilt I started and his a bit too intricate for my taste, although I love the pin wheel pattern.  The embroidery took the majority of the time, though.  The result, however, is beautiful.  This one was made special for my mother and father in-law.

I still have one more quilt for my husband that needs finishing.  It is all pieced together, but needs the filling, quilting, and binding.  Then, I'll have to get started on one for the toddler.  That will be a hard one because he doesn't really seem to have any specific passion.  I think he will have to go to the store with me!!