The Zoo, Charleston and Ben’s Birthday, In 35 Words Or Less

So yes.  I am a bit behind on reporting around here, but I’ve been busy!  Losing my keys and stuff!  (which,  by the way, I was able to retrieve with minimal embarrassment to Caitlin.  Matt was spared.  This time.)  Also:  I realized that next time-and we all know there is going to be a next time-it would be okay to call a friend for a ride, or sympathy, or both.   BE READY.  So since I am so backed up…you get the quick and dirty on what we’ve been up to in the last two weeks of July:

We started out with a trip to the G’ville zoo thanks to the kindness of a great friend (love ya, Leah!) who provided us with FREE PASSES!  FOR ALL OF US!! WHICH IS KIND OF A LOT OF PASSES!! It was a great trip and a great way to break up the five hour drive to Charleston.  Here are the highlights:

 

Matt and Ben, checking out the GI-NORMOUS elephants.

Matthew loved the reptile house!  Mommy loved the thick glass that separated us from the reptiles in the reptile house. 

Token picture on the iron lions.

See ya, guys!

Taking a break from the animals to play

The lion was RIGHT next to the glass.  Glass, which once again, mommy was grateful for.  He had some big chompers!

The monkeys were definitely the highlight-we got to feed them the zoo crackers (minus the ones Ben ate).

After the zoo, we were on our way to Charleston!  The drive was pretty uneventful aside from the inevitable traffic 10 miles from our hotel. 

When we got there we really tried to go through and see as much of Charleston as we could.  We saw the Market, the Battery and checked out lots of possible restaurant sites for Caitlin’s Café. We also went by CofC and saw the house I lived in in Charleston (fondly called The Brothel.  Not for what you think!  It’s because when I lived there Charleston had a weird ordinance that decreed that any house where 6 or more girls lived was considered a brothel.  We had seven girls!)

Hannah was a bit sleep deprived.  She refused to smile for the camera.

On the cannon at the Battery

Playing under the live Oaks at the Battery

At “RB’s”…a great little seafood restaurant at Shem’s Creek.  They had an aquarium at our table (behind C and M) with an EEL in it!!  Matthew kept showing the eel the menu.  I think the eel was scared to look in case he was on it.)

The Boys

The Girls

We also went over to Isle of Palms so we could get our beach fix in:

Ben loved the shallow water for kick-splashing. 

Cute shot of Pea and Daddy

One of the coolest parts about our hotel was the pond located directly behind it-which was fully stocked with turtles!  Who evidently love white bread:

The kids had a blast feeding them from the free breakfast buffet-

Eventually it was time to go home-but we really had a great time.  Charleston was so much fun and we will certainly go again!

When we got back, it was time for TheBen to officially turn two (he’s been terrible for some time now).  We had  family come over for swimming, cake and presents.  The theme was Mickey Mouse Clubhouse…which is Ben’s favorite

Dee kindly helped out with the present opening.

And, as a special bonus…

we let Ben go pants-free for his party.  Just what he always wanted!

 

Tomorrow is the bigkids first day back to school, and Pea starts preschool on Tuesday.    I will have some first day of school pictures to post soon.  I also anticipate my sanity returning soon (YAY!).  Talk to ya soon . 

This Is Your Brain on Four Kids, a Dog, a Cat and 2 Hamsters.

I don’t even know how to start this one.  So I’m just going to jump right in. 

Today I lost my keys somewhere during Caitlin’s open house and after hunting among 50 bajillion people and 85 hundred rooms, I gave up.  I decided to walk home with the four babies.  Fortunately it is only a half a mile from the house.  I’d grab the spares and head back to the school to pick the van up.

I’d only gotten about halfway home (which took 35 minutes due to a very tired Hannah, and a Ben who needed to be carried the whole-half-mile-uphill-both-ways-in-the-snow) before I realized that I would not find the spares at home because…get ready…I left them in the (LOCKED) van. 

That’s right.  I keep my spares locked in my van so they won’t get lost/stolen.  (Because of course…MOMMY BRILLIANT)

Sigh.  Oh!  And since I am obviously so responsible?  I locked the house…the key to which is with my other keys.  Lost at the school.  Sadly it wasn’t the first time I’d had to break into my own home…I’m considering a career in housebreaking. 

I don’t know what my next move should be…I mean, I really don’t want to call up there and ask if they’ve found my keys and then have them find out this early in the year that Caitlin’s mom is SO scatterbrained (which they will inevitably figure out, but I usually like to wait until at least the third week of school.) 

But I really really need my keys!!  I think I’ll make Matt take care of it when he get’s off work. 

Today

I suppose I should be thankful that after eight years and four children, today was the first time we had to rush a child to the urgent care center for a head injury.  And I also suppose that I should not be surprised that it was Ben who had to go. 

This morning I decided that we needed to do some de-cluttering.  I got the big kids to help and we started cleaning up Hannah’s room.  While I was sifting through the closet (more like wading actually) I came across this sweet blanket that my neighbor crocheted for her:

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Hannah was so excited to have it back and carried it around the house.  Meanwhile the kids and I were getting more and more involved in organizing Hannah’s room..(It felt like that story about giving a mouse a cookie…one mess led to another)  Pea is downstairs throwing her new blanket up in the air and catching it, much to Ben’s delight.  Then I hear her yelling to me something jumbled about stuck blanket and mantle clock.  I told her I’d be down in a second (fatal error) and pulled another box down from the closet. 

All of a sudden I hear a loud crash, and MAJOR crying from the two littles.  I rush downstairs to find Hannah panicking and Ben standing next to a smashed mantle clock with blood dripping down across his forehead.  A LOT of blood (come to find out later that head wounds bleed a lot…regardless of severity).  Turns out, Pea had thrown her blanket up, caught it on the corner of this clock:

(SUPER POINTY!!) and then in an effort to retrieve her blanket, had pulled it and the clock, directly onto Ben’s head. 

So I panic, grab lots of paper towels and comfort Ben.  Then I called Hailey (nurse thank heavens) who heads out our way for a consult-she takes a look at the boo boo (which is right above his hairline and about an inch in length) and she recommends that we head to the urgent care for either stiches/staples or glue.  She and Nana are there to watch the kids so I head out to the urgent (snort) care place near our house. 

Three hours later Ben is strapped to the “papoose” which is essentially a surfboard with strong velcrow straps getting three shots of lidocane followed by three staples.  He was screaming so loudly that one of the extra nurses came in just to make sure on one was getting killed. 

Eventually it was over but my gracious it was terrible.  The poor boy was so upset!!  I felt sure that he would come home subdued, take a long nap and need lots of snuggles this afternoon.  Unfortunately that does not appear to be the case.  He not only is not napping, but he has also been to time out twice for whacking siblings and stealing toys.  Little delinquent.

(Not to be gross but you can kinda see where the boo-boo is…right on the top of his head.)

However it does my heart good to see him back to normal so quickly…After seeing all that blood I was so freaked out…certain that TheBen was broken.  I suppose alls well that ends well…but today sure was a Monday!!  Nana and Hailey..don’t know where I’d have been without y’all….thanks a million!!!  Margaritas in return?? 

Who’s That Girl?

   
…That would be Caitlin.  After an “Alter-Ego” party…she got all glammed up and was pleased as punch with all the curls, glitter and accessories.   Isn’t she purdy??

Mommy Brilliant

After four kids, I consider myself pretty capable of handling whatever the babies throw at me.  Which, I should be, right?  I mean, I’ve been doing this for a while now and I would hope that I’ve gained something from this (besides the undying love and gratitude of my four children, of course).  So, a few months ago, when Benben started taking off his diaper before every nap/bedtime (which almost always resulted in a wet bed.  At best), I just knew I would come up with some amazing, creative, brilliant solution to the problem.  Here’s how it all went down:

Brilliant Idea #1: Put the diaper on backward. 

Why it Failed: Backward diapers do not phase TheBen.  He still took it off.  (Also:evidently boy diapers are less absorbent in the back.  So the time I backward-diapered him when he was asleep (SUPER FUN) the diaper soaked through so the bed was still wet in the morning).  

Brilliant Idea #2: Put TWO diapers on the baby.

Why it Failed: Two diapers do not phase TheBen.  Kept him busy for longer?  Maybe. But also wasted two diapers instead of just one. 

Brilliant Idea #3: Packing tape.  (packing, only because I couldn’t find the duct tape).  Around the top of the diaper.  ALL the way around it.  In such a way that the ends of the tape overlap thereby making it impossible to locate the end and pull the tape off. 

Why it Failed: Packing tape with overlapping ends do not phase TheBen.  Give him something to stick on the walls and subsequently peel back off along with 2 feet of wall paint?  Yes. 

So at this point, I’m going bonkers.  We have gone through so many diapers in a very short amount of time, and Ben is no closer to understanding the phrases, “Do not take your diaper off”, “leave your diaper on”, “Sleeping nekkid is for losers” and “Take it off and I’ll feed you to the dog”. 

So a few more days go by, and I’m cleaning out Ben’s clothes-getting the outgrown baby clothes out to make room for more of Matthew’s old clothes (new to Ben!) and I come across this crazy looking baby outfit.  With, like, snaps at the bottom?  Made just for babies??  For keeping shirts tucked in and DIAPERS ON? Y’all know what I’m talking about??  THE ONESIE.  It seems that maybe someone, at some other time a long time ago, had this same problem with the diaper thing, and decided to come up with a practical solution.  One that doesn’t involve duct tape or difficult diaper changes.  Brilliant!!  Once again, I decided to take the long way around the problem, when the answer was three feet away.  MOMMY BRILLIANT.  Ben now wears and onesie to bed and stays diapered until the morning.  So. Much. Better. 

And now, I’d like to take a minute to demonstrate how the Ben has survived for so long in spite of all the badness:  Pure, unadulterated cuteness:

 

Daily

Y’all, this post is going to be boring.  Mundane.  Probably of no interest to anyone. (except my grown up children, for whom I write this blog…love y’all!!)  But I don’t want to forget the way things are right now.  So faithful readers… bear with me and I promise I’ll be back with something marginally more interesting in a few days.  For now, I want to document each child’s daily routine, and the quirks that go with it, so that I have plenty of blackmail for prom night (still love y’all!!) . 

Ben:  Every morning, regardless of the time he is put to bed(usually 7pm) Ben gets us up around 6:14am.  He wakes up, and lets us know that he is awake by opening his door and yelling, “MAMA!! DJKSOD:FJDKSL:JDFSK JUICE!!!”  (translation: mommy get your lazy behind down here and get your tiny, superthirsty lil’ man some JUICE!  RIGHT THIS MINUTE OR I WILL WAKE UP ALL THE OTHER SMALL CHILDREN LOVE YA MAMA!”).   And when I come downstairs I realize that not only do I have to get the little man juice, but I also have to get him a diaper.  Because he’s taken it upon himself to do the first half of a diaper-change.  (i.e…he’s TOTALLY NEKKID). Once diaper and juice are procured, the little man is perfectly happy discussing his cars, “fwaings” (airplanes. shut up we can’t help the south of the mouth), and “side” (which, inexplicably means Mickey Mouse…..).  

After the morning routine, Benben spends the rest of the day tormenting siblings…either by pulling their hair, throwing fwaings at them or just yelling in their general direction.  His talking is coming along well-he tries to say most of what the siblings say (“yes ma’am” is one of my favorite Ben-Phrases.  He has absolutely no idea what that means, but because the big kids are saying it, he’s saying it).  His favorite foods are spaghetti, soup, toddler meals and skittles.  He still loves his blanket (which he calls “hnnnnmmm” (???)).

Then, it’s Bedtime. (I capitalize it because' Bedtime is so wonderfully important with this kid.  When 7pm rolls around Matt and I start singing ‘It’s the most wonderful time….of the day”). We brush teeth and then walk him to his room.  He insists upon ‘raw-raw’ (rock rock..where he gets rocked for a few minutes before bed).  And after this he is given the “STAY IN YOUR BED AND DON”T YOU DARE TAKE THAT DIAPER OFF I LOVE YOU” speech.  The door is closed and bedtime commences.  ahhhhh…..

Three new diapers and raw-raw’s later, TheBen finally falls asleep.  ‘Til 6:14 the next day…

Pea: The Pea (who does not like being called Pea anymore), is a different morning person.  Matt and I typically get up around 6:14 (THANKS BEN!!)…Matt' showers, and I run down to make his lunch and feed TheBen.  By 7am, Caitlin and Matthew have cleaned their rooms, gotten dressed, brushed hair and are ready for breakfast.  Around 7:40, Matt leaves. 8:00 rolls around and by 8:20, Pea makes an appearance.  She will come downstairs with MAJOR dandyhead and rattle off some big story about ‘stretchy’:

“Mommy iyz try to sweep and stretch beeez so NAUGHTY!!  He always dooz dad sing where he beez naughty and telling me to yell and go in machews woom and make a mess and I jus get so mad at strechy because Iz a good hannah and hez a BAD BOY!!  And I sleep wich strechy every night.” After 15 minutes of discussing Strechy’s behavior, we finally get around to breakfast and hair brushing. 

During the day, Hannah’s favorite activities are playing ponies, brushing ponies hair, drawing ponies and making things for her ponies.  (see a trend here?  Girlfriend is obSESSed with My Little Ponies.)  Yesterday we had a Pony Tea Party and she was so happy… 

She still loves riding her bike but since it’s been so hot here, we’ve not spent too much time outside.  Ben is the bane of her existence (except when they are best friends) and torments her mostly by arbitrarily throwing himself on top of her and laughing hysterically.  “BEEEE-EEEEEEEEEEEEN!!!! OOWWWW!!!!!!!”, she is always yelling.  She is excited to go to preschool two days a week this Fall and I think she is ready.  She is ms. social…she will go up and talk to anyone about anything…and not stop talking until they walk away (though sometimes she will follow them and keep talking.)

She is hard headed and wants to do what she wants to do, but in spite of this, she is a little sweetie. 

Matthew and Caitlin’s daily routine is pretty much the same and goes like this:

Wake up, get dressed, brush hair, clean room, eat breakfast, brush teeth, play one round of the wii.  Do daily chore (Monday: clean bathroom, Tuesday: get floors “vacuum ready” Wed: entertain littles while mommy washes the floor, Thurs: clean out the van, Fri: go grocery shopping with mommy) and go to the pool/playground.  Lunchtime, followed by “quiet time” while the babies nap, during which they usually read, draw or play the DS.  After quiet time we usually go back to the pool or find things to do inside until dinner.  After dinner they shower, and then relax until bedtime (8:30). 

Here is a little bit about each of their personalities:

Matthew:  As obsessed as Hannah is with my little pony, it is nothing compared to Matthew’s obsession with the Wii…Mario Kart specifically.  I really think he would play 24/7 if we let him.  He has mastered all of the races and f(or those of you who speak MarioKart Wii), he has a gold medal and rank star on all the races including the mirror races.  When he is not playing the wii, he loves being outside and checking out the creatures outside.  This summer he got to keep a swallowtail caterpillar and watch it hatch from a cocoon (chrysalis?) and become a butterfly.  He loved it!  (it was pretty cool..)  He named it “frito” and made up little stories about it for a week after we let it go.  He has a very compassionate heart and while he is sometimes a little stink to his siblings (he is very good at antagonizing them while maintaining an innocent face), the minute someone is hurt or sad he is right there to help them.  He has gotten into baseball and I think he will continue to play once Fall rolls around.  Overall, he’s a good boy and I’m so proud of him!

Caitlin: Caitlin is my little reader.  She reads and reads and reads!  We have to make 2-3 trips to the library to keep up with her.  When she is not reading, she is either drawing or writing interesting stories.  She is still a little fish and is the first into the pool and last to get out regardless of the temperature.  She has had several sleepovers this summer and has gotten over the anxiety she felt at the first one (she didn’t end up spending the whole night).  She loves dogs and when she grows up she is determined to be a “chef in Charleston and have lots of dogs”.  I’m all for it and tell her I will be there every weekend to eat and see the puppies.  We have decided to take a trip to Charleston at the end of this month so that she can see the city, which she is so excited about.  Mommy is excited to go back as well . 

Caitlin continues to be my little worrier and before bed every night Matt has to say the following bedtime litany:

“I’ll be in my room or downstairs, I’m not going outside, I’ll be up for a longtime, you can get me if you need me and there are no monsters”.  Sometimes Matt will throw in a “there are lots of monsters” just to see if she is paying attention but she catches him every time! 

Next year she will be going to a new building for school..here they split up the elementary into two separate places-Pre-k through second grade are in the elementary building, and third through fifth are in a different building.  She is, of course, nervous about the change but I know she will do fine. 

The “babies” are all different, and I love each and every one of them very much-Matt and I feel so blessed to have such a sweet little family.

Happy July 4th!

Here at The Shoe, we are thanking God for our freedom and for those who have bravely fought for it.  We are so grateful.

In honor of the holiday, my babies created the above Fourth of July masterpiece.  Which is not only beautiful, but it’s also delicious!  Nana and Dee came over today to install some much needed blinds around the house (here’s what it looked like in our living room.  I think they could have squeezed in another ladder..what do you think?:

We are hoping that by putting blinds up in the living room, we will be able to reduce our crazyhuge power bill.  The blinds in the bathroom were installed at the neighbors request). 

BUT BACK TO THE CAKE.  So, Dee comes in the door with a 50 (or 10.  Not sure which) foot ladder to hang blinds, and Nana, in typical fashion, comes in with A Project.  The cake, complete with ingredients and instructions.  I love that woman.  So while mommy got to sit on the couch and eat bonbons, Nana and the kids made this delicious 4th of July cake…slicing strawberries, counting blueberries and sneaking tastes when Nana was not looking.  They had a blast!  And the cake?  WAS SO YUMMY!…I mean..is so yummy…because…there’s still leftovers.  Yeah.  We totally did not eat the whole thing already.  Ahem.  Here are some action shots:

 

Tonight, since Matt doesn’t have to work tomorrow, we decided to go down to a friends house to watch some fireworks they were setting off.  The kids have never been able to stay up late enough to see the fourth of July fireworks so we decided to bend the bedtime rules (just this once!)  We headed up there around 8:30. Unfortunately, by 8:45, Mommy and TheBen had hitched a ride home on a neighbor’s golf cart to get the boy away from all the scariness.  Turns out Ben is DEATHLY afraid of both loud noises and bright colors.  Fireworks?  Notsomuch for the kid.  He absolutely freaked out at the first big ‘pop’ and it was downhill from there.  Mommy kindly took him home to his nice warm bed and quiet room where he passed out after 35 seconds of ‘rockrock’.  Poor kid…maybe next year he will be ready. 

Gotta run now…Matt and the other kids should be home any minute and I’m dying to know what they thought of all the fun…Happy Fourth!