The Foot "Assage"

One night a while back, I gave all the kids foot massages and cut their toenails. Lately Charlie has been climbing up on my bed in the evening and pulling his pajama pant legs up and saying, "I need a foot assage." (Foot massage). I HAVE to do it. You cannot say no to that. It is so adorable to hear a 2 year old say the words foot massage, that there is no denying him. When he learns of his power, who knows what he will be saying and what I will be doing for him.

Chores

Why have I not caught onto the needs of my household. It seems I am always surprised on the weekend how much laundry there is, how messy the basement is, how many socks are just ALL OVER the house, how many toys are strewn everywhere, how many groceries I need to get. We have busy weeks of fun things to do, lunch with friends, appointments to be at. But I think I need to begin to schedule in my household chores during the week, because I'm tired of doing them on the weekend. But in a household of 7, it ALL needs to be on the calendar. So, plan for today - schedule in my chores. Yuck.

A few little tidbits

I dropped my son, Scotty, off for school today and as he was walking away holding the page in the book he was reading in one hand, and holding his backpack on his other arm, and as he turned and waved a couple times, I nearly got tears in my eyes. Just for joy. Joy that he is such a neat, genuine kid, and I get to know him. He is just so "Scotty" all the time, never trying to be someone he is not. Jack walked in the door from the library after school today and he hugged me and said, "I am just so happy I can hardly contain it, and I don't really know why. I just feel really happy!" Whatever he ate or drank...we need to buy plenty of it! Elaina had at home OT today. Her cousin Josie was over. Eventually the therapist let Josie come in too. Elaina was THRILLED to share her lesson with her little cuz and she referred to her to her therapist as "such a good girl." And she kept making sure what they were doing wouldn't be too hard for Josie.

New Years Resolutions

We asked the kids what they wanted to do this year to make our family a better family; closer, happier and more healthy and more fun. Everyone wrote down their answers and then we read them. "play more board games together" was very high on the list. Which is great, because I had that same idea, for us to play more games together rather than watching so many movies. We love movies, but I think the games would be better for us as a family. We have a TON of board games. Really fun and creative ones, all those Cranium games, Pictionary, Monopoly, Clue, Chess, Connect Four, Checkers, card games. You name it, we likely own it. So, why haven't we been playing these games regularly? I m beginning to realize that logistics seem to rule the roost in our house. Simple placement of the board games geographically in our home could make the difference. We have them up very high in a closet. No one can really reach them, and when you do try to get one down, many game pieces and such fall right down on your head. I have recently moved some puzzles to a more accessible locale and so I have been seeing kids doing more puzzles. If I put big white clean paper out on the art table and take the basket of crayons out of the art closet and put it in the middle of the table, my kids WILL draw without me even mentioning it. So, my plan has to have a strategy. The games need to be in an accessible, luring location, but not be reachable by the 2 yr old. This may require some moving of books, some relocation of videos and some reorganizing of the downstairs shelving, BUT in the end it will be worth it. After all, if I set up a game, they will come! And if that is all it takes to fullfill the New Years Resolutions, then I can handle that! (project for tomorrow - relocate the games : ) Also I don't want to forget: -took Scotty and Ben and Charlie to the mall today. Ben kept wanting to do this trampoline thing that seemed too scary for him. We talked him out of it by talking him into doing some other fun stuff, but maybe I should have let him try it - you never know how brave they are if you don't let them try I guess. I, personally, was probably the one who really was scared for him. -Ben is starting to try out "being a stinker" a little bit. nothing terrible, just making me say things more than once to him, burping really loudly, being a bit hyper. All normal 5 yr old stuff, but on Ben it is surprising, because he has been so easy for me. Truth is, I kind of like this side of him, it seems that he is becoming a bit more extroverted. -When we were at the zoo yesterday, a squirrel jumped into the prairie dogs home. I said, "Hey look that squirrel is like, "Hey I would like to live here too." and Charlie goes, "Squirrel says, wank you. (thank you)" He is funny.

The Zoo

Why is the zoo so darn fun? Is it because the kids look at the prairie dogs and think, "I'm like a prairie dog, I just sit here looking cute and ignore those calling to me" ? Is it because the kids look at the penguins and think, "I'm just like a penguin, chasing my brothers and sisters with no end in sight, round and round" ? Is it because the kids look at the monkeys and think, "I'm just like a monkey, picking my nose not caring who is watching me" ? Is it because the kids see the birds in the bird house and think, "I'm just like a bird, so much energy, ready and willing to fly, but not aloud to" ? Is it because the kids see the tigers and think, "I'm just like a tiger, waiting to pounce when no one is ready for it" ? Is it because the kids see the snakes and think, "I'm just like a snake, scary looking at times, but not always dangerous" ? Well, it could be because I see my kids in these animals, but more likely it is because I see the big differences: Would an animal ask if he could spend his allowance to get all his siblings a gift from the zoo? Would an animal urgently stop his brother from leaning too far over the railing for fear that he may fall in the prairie dog pit? Would an animal marvel at the sound the birds make and imitate the way they walk? Would an animal thank his mom for a great day at the zoo? Probably not. So today I thank God for a super fun day at the zoo with my little group of humans. They were a lot of fun!

The goings on...

Scotty and Jack really stepped up while I was sick. Very nice the way they helped out and complained less. Elaina saying to me - I love you to the very most. I love you more than cake. Ben saying - Jack hurt my feelings. And then he began to cry. He just wears his little heart on his little sleeve. Jack saying - Mom, I wish I could be sick instead of you. Charlie - telling us he loves us and likes us very randomly out of the blue. Scotty tells me daily how much he loves his Nook he got for Christmas (from Santa). The dopp kits: Today while sort of secretly watching my big boys using their loaded dopp kits they got for Christmas, I heard the following... "How does my hair look" and after I said, "Using both different kinds of deodorant spray may be a little strong scented" Jack said, "But That's what the ladies like!" "What's this stuff?" (referring to the mouth wash I think) "I keep my hair gel in that little upper pocket with the zipper." Scotty combing his hair. Seriously adorable how very serious he was about it. Jack's face as he sprayed his deodorant. His eyes big as saucers and he says, "Ooooo, that's so cold! I LIKE it!" Considering the little tiny scissors. "What do we do with these?" I tell them they can trim nose hairs with them. "Ok, we don't have any of those yet. " The first day Jack used his little grooming kit he came downstairs and asked me, "Notice anything different about me besides my new shirt?" I say, "I don't know..." He splays his fingernails in a dramatic flare and says, "CUT my OWN nails! and put on some smelling good spray, and used hair gel. Also, I thought my sideburns were a little bushy, so I used those tiny scissors to cut them a bit." (I had to nonchalantly fix that one, but was so impressed with his whole hygiene initiative, I didn't want to discourage!) Oh, my babies are growing up...and smelling so grown up too! Today I heard Elaina saying this: "Charlie do you want bear bear to frow up all over the place? You better put your food in the sink or bear is going to get it and get sick." She also came to me with this request: "Mom, I need the potty seat for charlie. I'm going to help him go on it." My plan has been to get this potty training going when the kids go back to school. Maybe she can just potty train him...

Missing Christmas

When I am sick my kids come through. I gotta say, I feel terrible for not being more doting on my kiddos when they all had strep for the past few days. I mean of course I took care of them, and let them lie around and watch movies, but now that I have strep myself, Oh my gosh I should have pampered them to no end! I feel really crappy. Anyway, my kids have been awesome. They bring me drinks, bring me medicine, pat my head as they walk by me as I'm lying on the sofa. They ask me how I'm feeling every time they see me. So sweet. I felt terrible when my daughter said, "Mommy, are you going to be sick forever?" "Of course not, sweetie!" Poor kiddo, I must look really crappy. But it has only been 2 days that I have been sick, so that just shows how time seems to move so much slower for kids. When I was little it seemed like eternities between Christmases. I would hate when Christmas ended, and even more hated taking down the Christmas decorations. Today, as a grown up, the Christmases sure seem to be getting a lot closer together. One Christmas ends and I begin thinking about the next Christmas right away. And when the next Christmas comes I feel like we just had Christmas. So, since I hate for my kids to be sad about Christmas ending, I like to try to give them something fun to look forward to. A couple years in a row when we had a fake Christmas tree we would leave it up and decorate it for Valentines Day. We get a real tree now, so we can't do that. But this year I was thinking about working on some Christmas projects throughout the year to be ready for next year. So, maybe I can have the kids do the same thing, just in case they feel the same way I did when I was a kid - missing Christmas. We are supposed to "keep Christmas the whole year through" so maybe this will remind them to do just that. Now I just have to get creative and think of their projects...