Fall Festival Fun

Our church organized a fall festival ("extravaganza" might be a better word) yesterday, so we all headed over there just after 4 p.m. and closed the place down at 6 p.m.

I'm blogging from my phone, so I won't (can't) get too wordy, but the pictures pretty much tell the story anyway. 

Lorelei wore the Longhorn cheerleader uniform that Syd wore last year (although her official Halloween costume this year is Tinkerbell). Obviously, this girl is not a bandwagon fan; it takes a true fan to be seen in burnt orange what with the season UT is having (sorry, Mama!).

Sydney wore the princess cape that Grammy recently gave her (she was the only granddaughter tall enough to wear it, ha!). Syd's official Halloween costume is a witch.

Who doesn't love a bouncy house with a slide?

Syd LOVES getting her face painted. Lorelei does not, and therefore opted out in favor of playing games.

Lorelei was so adamant about riding the zebra on this tiny carousel that she let several children in front of her in line so that she could have first dibs the next time around.

(Look how smug she looks.)

There was also a fire truck.

And a train.

And more bouncy things.

It was a great evening.

Unfortunately, Bubby is running a fever, which is why he is not pictured (other than strapped to me in the fire truck picture). But here he is afterward, the third child to wear this beloved Longhorn candy corn Halloween shirt (he is also not a bandwagon fan).

Happy Monday!

The Rest of the Pictures from Casey's Visit

I said I would post them, so here they are: more pictures from our fun weekend when Casey and Levi came to visit (a huge thanks to Casey for texting them to me so that I could share!).

We were able to walk around a little before our Washington Monument tour, so we walked by the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial:

That wall is always such a breathtaking and heartbreaking sight; it's hard for me to wrap my head around the incredible sacrifice that it represents.  There were a couple of different groups of people there that day who were obviously looking for and mourning over a specific name (or names).

The kids loved looking out the monument windows:

View from the Washington Monument:

(Another) View from the Washington Monument:

The extremely kind tour guide went into great detail explaining this model of the cross section of the monument to the kids:

It was around lunch time when the tour was over and we were waiting for the elevator to take us back down.  The kids were starving (they downed approximately 4 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches once we got back to our stroller), and Lorelei had a hard time putting her hunger aside in order to smile for the camera (good job Sydney and Levi!):

We treated them to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle popsicles afterward:

Their mouths were stained bluish purple for a couple of days:

Four kids and four carseats in the back of the van (Bubby not pictured):

(I'm not sure why Sydney looks like she's about to jump out of her car seat; surely we had either just arrived at our destination or hadn't backed out of the driveway yet.)

Playing at the fountain near the library is always a big hit:

In the elevator at Harris Teeter:

Casey's view (of the Pentagon) from the airplane headed back to TX:

Finally Back

15 days is long enough without blogging -- I'm ready to start posting regularly again (have I ever actually posted regularly, or is my blog comprised of spurts?), and the time to start is now!  Also, I really want to do the daily thankful posts this November, so I need to get back in the habit.

Because I don't like deleting anything that I actually take the time to write, here's a post I started four days ago:

It's already been 11 days since my last post?!  11 DAYS?!  I'm going to go out on a limb and blame Chet for my spotty blogging -- he takes his professional engineer (PE) exam this Friday, and his books and binders are often spread out on the desk, making it difficult for me to...reach the wireless keyboard?  Who am I kidding.  It's none of Chet's fault and all of mine that there haven't been any blog posts.  But by saying that, I was able to covertly update you on his upcoming test.  He actually flies to Miami tomorrow (he is getting certified in the state of FL, so he has to physically take the test in FL), the test is Friday, and he flies home Saturday.  My dad is headed into town today to help me tame the crazy while Chet is gone.  Say a prayer for Chet if you get a minute -- he is ready to have the test behind him!

Ok, back to real time.  Chet's test IS behind him!  He took the test yesterday (8 hours of testing), and flew back home this morning.  More specifically, his plane landed in D.C. before 9 a.m. today, so I'll let you go ahead and do the math and guess what time he had to wake up in order to get to the airport on time.

Chet is currently singing a made-up tune about how inconvenient it is for me to be blogging right now (Ford fussing, Lorelei rearranging the house, Sydney running the streets, and dinner preparations in full swing), but I'm afraid if I don't blog now I'll never blog again (not really).

Anyway, there is a huge weight lifted from our household right now.  Preparing for that test was no joke, and even though he won't have the results for a couple of months, it is SO NICE to have it done.    I feel so burden-less that I don't even know what to do with myself.

Papa John is still in town (I'm SO glad he was here while Chet was gone), which means that we are eating delicious dinners and not having to wash a single dish.  Whenever he leaves I always end up staring at my first full sink of dirty dishes as if I've completely forgotten how to deal with them.

Okay, I really can't concentrate.  Lorelei has stuffed herself and all of her toys into Chet's empty suitcase, and the smell of dinner is making my stomach growl (country ribs, corn on the cob, spinach salad, and garlic bread).

Here are a couple of pictures to tide you over:

Lorelei on the scooter she got for her birthday.

Papa John and Bubby.

Syd at dance this past Friday.

Because I want to post SOMETHING...

(I started this post Thursday night; I'm finishing it Friday afternoon.)

I don't have anything monumental to write, nor do I have much time (Chet is currently dressing Ford in his pajamas, and I am pretending that the girls are not making a gigantic mess in the living room right behind me, minutes before bedtime, as I type this...).

Chet is home early this Friday afternoon, thanks to Christopher Columbus.  He will still go to class Saturday and Sunday, but he's off work Monday, so it's almost like a real weekend!  A week from today is Lorelei's 3rd birthday, and my dear friend Angela and Chet's parents will be here to help celebrate.

Let's see, let's see...I know I'm boring all of you, because I'm boring myself.  I'm trying to think if the kids have said anything funny lately.  Oh, wait, here's something funny that happened Thursday morning at church (I was there for my weekly women's Bible study).  When Bible study was over and I was retrieving Ford from the childcare room, there were several other mothers also picking up their babies, so it was loud and a little hard to hear.  I thought the woman holding Ford said, "She took a little nap."  At first I wasn't sure if the woman actually called him "she," but even if she did, I wasn't going to correct her.  Then she asked me, "Is this hers?" (holding up a pink headband/bow).  I just smiled and said no.

Here is what Ford was wearing that day: a white, grey, and navy blue onesie that said, "Captain Adorable" and a pair of orange pants.  And dark socks.  It's the yellow teething necklace around his neck that really throws people for a loop ;-)

Happy Friday, everyone!

Saturday Musings

I was going to call myself "The Monday Blogger," because I have only been posting on Mondays lately, but this Monday I did not blog because I actually made it to the gym!  (Not to mention that today is Saturday, and Monday was five days ago.)  The downside to going to the gym was that it cut into my usual guaranteed blogging window, but it felt awfully good to work out on a Monday morning.

There's much to catch you up on, but I'm not in a catch up mood.  Chet and I have been in parenting Hades lately; Sydney is acting like Paris Hilton (spoiled -- sorry, Syd, but you are acting spoiled, and I'm not sure why), and Lorelei is exhibiting the beginning signs of 3-year old behavior (which, in my opinion and limited experience, is worse than 2-year old behavior).  Joy.  Ford, on the other hand, is a perfect angel, and will never do wrong.  (Remind me of this false statement in about a year.)

So, things are kind of hard around here, especially with Chet gone on the weekends, but, despite these growing pains, I can actually feel us growing.  I feel myself stretching (in a good way) as I learn from my mothering mistakes, and even though it's often one step forward, fifty steps back, I can at least sense progress.  When a 4- and 2-year old are talking back to me and screaming over one another and ignoring me (all at the same time), and I would like nothing more than to shout my head off and gain control and prove to those little monsters angels who is in charge and to force them to obey me...I find myself choosing not to yell and attempting to handle the situation the way a patient person might (I am not, by nature, a patient person).  Be not mistaken: I do not choose the high road every time, only sometimes, but, for us, that is progress.  I swear, when I take a moment to breathe and gather my thoughts in the heat of the moment, I can hear God whisper, "Grace, my child.  Give them the grace that I give to you."  I know in my heart of hearts that any harsh reaction to the chaos never, and I mean never, yields positive results.  I'm thankful to (finally) be learning, and it's all still so hard, but that's okay.

Okay, let's lighten things up.  The kids and I are alone this weekend, but last weekend my friend Casey and her little boy Levi flew in for a visit!  I recently realized that Casey is my oldest friend (as in, we have been friends for 20 years); we met when I was in the 4th grade and she in the 2nd grade, and I'm so thankful our friendship has survived this long.  We had a great time during their visit.  Here was our itinerary (the highlights):

Thursday
We threw caution to the wind by skipping naps and heading to Ikea with four kids in tow (it was raining, so there wasn't much else to do).  And wouldn't you know it, there wasn't a swinging soul in Ikea on a Thursday afternoon!  It was amazing, and Casey got some great ideas for her house (they're currently remodeling).

Friday
We had a 10:30 a.m. tour at the Washington Monument, so we loaded up, made the short drive into D.C., parked on Constitution Ave., and broke out two double strollers.  (I feel like you get lots of looks in the D.C. area when you have more than two children, so you can imagine how many looks we got with four kids, ages 4, 3, 2, and 9 months.)  The tour was great (you ride an elevator to the top of the monument and get to look out the windows), and we were able to see a few other monuments as well.  We headed to a hot dog/ice cream stand for a snack before heading back home.

Saturday
In the morning we introduced Casey and Levi to the Del Ray Famers' Market and a park where my kids like to play.  In the afternoon we showed them the cute little area with the library, fountains, smoothie place, and Harris Teeter (Casey's first time in a 2-story grocery store).

Casey and Levi left early Sunday to get back to real life, but it was such a breath of fresh air to have them here!  Casey was snapping tons of pictures throughout the trip, so I took that as an excuse to be lazy with the camera.  Here are all the pictures I have, and perhaps I'll post more if I get them from Casey:

Traveling Circus

Duck Pond

Ford wants to play.

The Washington Monument

View from the top (from Casey's phone)

(From Casey's phone)

(Casey's collage -- I am not this talented or creative)

(Casey's collage)

Happy Saturday, everyone!

Catching Up

This is bound to be the most confusing blog post in history, but I have lots of thoughts and updates swirling around in my had that I need to put onto this virtual paper.

It's Monday again!  The weather is crisp and the wind is blowing at just the right speed so that there's no doubt it is autumn here in northern Virginia.  I love it.  And just like last Monday, here I sit, blogging and eating candy corn (the last of it) while Ford naps and the girls are at preschool.  I planned to go to the gym (I even made a childcare reservation!), but Ford seemed really tired and in need of a good crib nap (as opposed to a short carseat nap), and the house looks like it imploded, so I decided to stay home and get caught up.

We all seemed out of sync this morning and were almost late to school, which is probably why my bed's not made, why there's still applesauce smeared all over the kitchen table from breakfast, and why there are two adult-sized sleeping bags, among other "treasures," littering the floor upstairs.  Random, right?  Lorelei is the queen of random, and of Making Messes, and of Rearranging the House, and when left to her own devices, is usually the main culprit responsible for an imploded house on a Monday morning.  Or any morning, really.

Anyway, one reason we may be so out of sync is because, last weekend, Chet started a prep course that will get him ready to take the Professional Engineer exam at the end of October.  The class convenes every Saturday and Sunday, for five weeks.  ALL day Saturday (9 a.m. - 6 p.m.) and most of the day on Sunday (8 a.m. - 3 p.m.).  This means, quite obviously, that we don't have much of a weekend.  In fact, Saturday is the longest day of the week for us, because Chet doesn't get home until nearly 7:00 p.m. after class, whereas he is usually home from work around 5:30 p.m. during the week.  "Yikes" is one word you could use to describe the situation.

Anyway.

I'm glad he's taking the course, but let's just say that two Saturdays in a row of taking three kids to the grocery store is not exactly my idea of a good time.  Although, this past Saturday's trip was a minor success, in that Sydney spotted "flutes" for sale on a grocery store aisle (you know how they have random items hanging from the middle of the shelves? like straws or oven mitts or devices that will make your sandwiches in the shape of a heart? that's where the flutes were displayed).  By the way, they weren't real flutes, they were cheap plastic recorders.  But Sydney has been saying for weeks that she wants a flute for her birthday, and I wasn't sure how to go about dealing with that.  But she solved the problem herself when she spotted those "flutes," and I'll be a monkey's uncle if those puppies (flutes) didn't only cost $2.88 and are the sole reason for Sydney's and Lorelei's immaculate behavior for the rest of the shopping trip.  No matter that the recorders were bright yellow with Spongebob Squarepants painted on them; they were an answer to prayers I didn't even know I was praying.

My plan was to update you with some pictures from our TX trip and talk about Chet's and my trip to Myrtle Beach a couple of weeks ago, but I really need to get to it.  And by that I mean I need to get busy stuffing sleeping bags back into their tiny little cases so that no one (me) breaks their neck tripping over them.

Happy Monday!

This shall be short...

...maybe.  I really need to get laundry going, dishes washed, and I have big plans to make several peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the freezer (something I've never done before), because I think the bread's about to turn.

But I digress (already).

The house is quiet, because the girls are at school, and Ford just went down for a nap.  During these quiet moments I find myself relishing the semi-eerie silence.  I never turn on music, the TV, a podcast, etc. because the silence is so delicious.

Almost as delicious as the candy corn I bought at Target yesterday and am currently eating as I type this.  I always buy the "Autumn Mix," which is a mixture of regular candy corn, chocolate candy corn, and the pumpkins.  Any flavors or shapes other than the three I just mentioned are too new-fangled for me.

I also bought pumpkin spice M&Ms (haven't tried them yet) and caramel apple pops.  I noticed that there are several brands of caramel apple pops these days, but I like the ones made by "Tootsie" (as in Tootsie Roll).  I told myself when I bought all this candy that it would mainly serve as fall decoration, but let's not kid ourselves.

Speaking of candy corn, I think Ford may be a piece of candy corn for Halloween.  We shall see.

And speaking of candy corn again, my original plan for this morning was to go to the gym instead of eating said candy corn.  But as soon as I started scaling the mountain (also known as a "street" here in northern Virginia) on our way to school this morning, with 17-ish pounds strapped to me in the front (Ford), and pushing 60+ pounds ahead of me in the form of a stroller and two daughters, I changed my mind.  There's always tomorrow.

I ran out of random thoughts momentarily, so I'll go ahead and wrap this up, leaving you with a few pictures.

Ford and Didi matched the other day (more on why Didi was in town later); Ford was, obviously, not in a photographic mood (still cute though).

Lorelei singing to Ford.  "You WILL listen to me sing!"  And always wearing a bathing suit.

Sydney is physically able and willing to push the double stroller, much to my delight (seriously).  And cat ears only make her that much stronger.

Chewing on keys and wearing a dinosaur hat.

At dance class the girls always get to dress up in a costume at the very end and come out and show us.  It thrills every last one of them.

Bathing suit again, this times with doctor glasses for good measure.

You don't watch TV at 7 p.m. while wearing sunglasses?  Huh.

Sitting in the buggy for the first time.

Happy Monday!