In a Year

Maddie and Jon playing in our backyard.
April 30, 2008 -- Jon had not started walking yet, Maddie had been walking for about a month, and was helping Jon get to the sandbox. April 24, 2009 -- A year later, they both run circles around me, and show no signs of slowing down. They still push each other around in the Tonka truck, and it still is awesome to see

them cooperating. They still play barefooted, Maddie's hair is longer, and Jon fills the truck more now.

March, two, three, four, . . . five, six, seven, eight

We did it! All six of us plus my mom- and dad-in-law walked in the March of Dimes this weekend. Although we had hoped for pretty weather, it rained, but we went anyway. I was thrilled that others on our team came, too. All in all our Mothers of Multiples (& family) team had a group of 24 trying to stick together and at the end we were recognized for being the #2 family team bringing in a total of $3065 for March for Babies. Thank you to all our friends and family who helped us reach our goal.I had a wonderful time -- instead of being blue about the weather, I just had to remember that all of our romantic vacations are to rainy places, then I had a blast, and so did the rest of the family.

Sadly, Allen had to work a lot this weekend. But on a positive note I had wonderful help and double the (adult) company since his parents were here for the weekend. After the kids woke up from naps on Saturday, Randy, Shelley, and I walked them to the park. They played hard while I snapped pictures.

Overall, it was a good weekend, but I can't wait to have Allen back to working his normal hours -- the kids and I really miss him.

Housework?

The day started with Jon washing dishes while I made the beds. That sweet little boy found a gallon of distilled water in the cabinet, and dumped it on all the paper plates. It took two beach towels to mop it all.

Next, darling Ben helped with the laundry. Full bowl of dog's water dumped on a pile of clothes doesn't quite end up in a load of clean laundry, but it did add two more beach towels to the mop-pile.

Not much longer and the refilled dog dish was upended again. Will was a trooper and managed to help me by putting all his clean laundry away and dusting. . .sort of (I am calling it "done" anyway.) Then Prince Charming returned and asked, "What else can I do to help you, Mama?"

Miraculously, all four kids napped at the same time today, which meant I was able to grab a few Zs myself. When I heard them up and about, I went to the nursery to find all the clean diapers spewed on the floor and about 90 wipes scattered about the room. Maddie and Jon had managed to sanitize Ben and his crib with a big bottle of Purell. I know God was watching the entire fiasco and thinking of me fondly, because the powder wasn't opened and the tape was still on the roll. I am a bit worried, though, because I still can't find the fingernail scissors. Those two stinkers were so proud of the mess they made, but Jon ran away as fast as he could.

I managed to get the vacuuming done with help from the little boys. . . . really, they did help. It seems that is a new trick they do now, but they didn't learn it from me. (Thanks, Allen!) But silly mama went upstairs and forgot to do something. . . . When I came down all the kids were watching PBS. Will was on the couch, Jon was next to him, Maddie and Ben were sitting on the kitchen chairs. . . the two I forgot to take off the kitchen table when I vacuumed. I never thought I would ever say my kids were hanging from the chandelier, but that was sure close. Ben was sitting on his knees swinging the light back and forth (yes, the one on the 20-foot chain suspended over our table.)

After I got those two down from the chandelier, I found Ben stuffing a bunch of clothes into the washing machine. Since he didn't get to the buttons yet, I still haven't seen what is in there. I suppose I should go do that now. I just wanted to get this all recorded so one day when I wonder what I did with myself all day, I can look back and know why I lost my marbles.

Get Well Soon!

You know I just could go another week without seeing that man. The one with the thinning dark hair. . . the glasses that need to be pushed up a bit. . . the one with the sweet Southern drawl. . . After more than a year with absolutely no contact, I started seeing him again. Four times within a two week period, was just not enough. I just felt lost without having seen him this week, so I found a reason to return.


Have you realized yet, that I'm talking about the pediatrician. . . In my mind, the pediatrician's office is a black hole that sucks time out of the day. No, I really didn't want to go back, but I had to write it in such a way that it sounded better than it really was.


Sunday night, I was feeling the cough coming, then I got a quick fever, then I felt like my throat was on fire, then I couldn't quit coughing, and by morning I had no voice. That is a very frustrating thing for a sick mama who was up all night with a sick kid. It's hard to voice my frustrations without the voice. I coddled Ben, because I knew how much he was hurting. Allen stayed home a bit later that morning so I could rest. Then the kids and I had a lazy day -- I couldn't move much, Ben wasn't wanting to move, and the others were fine playing nearby. Then I started to feel better little by little. Fast forward to this morning, and I had to wake Ben up and I couldn't get him to eat. Since it was the last day I'd get a chance to take him to the doctor without struggling to get everyone there, I made an appointment, and we were there about an hour and a half. Turns out his cold turned into bronchitis.


Here is what tomorrow looks like for nurse mama:
7:30am feed kids breakfast
8:00am breathing treatment for Ben
8:15am breathing treatment for Jon
8:30am antibiotics for Maddie, antibiotics and cough meds for Ben
11:30am feed kids lunch
12:00pm breathing treatment for Ben
12:15pm breathing treatment for Jon
12:30pm antibiotics and cough meds for Ben
1:00 pm naptime for all kids
3:00 pm feed kids snack
4:00 pm breathing treatment for Ben
4:15 pm antibiotics and cough meds for Ben
5:00 pm start dinner
6:00 pm dinner
6:30 pm antibiotics for Maddie
8:00 pm antibiotics and cough meds for Ben, breathing treatment for Ben
8:15 pm breathing treatment for Jon


Hopefully, I won't miss any doses for anyone.
Hopefully, I'll get a full night's sleep tonight.
Hopefully, my head will quit hurting by morning.
Hopefully, Allen will get to come home at a regular time and join us for dinner.
Hopefully, my in-laws will arrive safely.
Hopefully, the weather will be pretty for the March of Dimes walk this weekend.
Hopefully, everyone will be healthy enough to participate.


As tough as my days can be, even with a troop of sick kids, I am so very, very blessed to have them in my life. Overall, they are healthy, and we thank God daily for that blessing. I am walking this weekend with a team of mothers of multiples and our families. Our small team raised nearly $3000 for March of Dimes, and we are all excited to introduce our families to each other and to walk together to support March of Dimes. I'll post more after the walk. . .


Today was Ben's day, but we spent most of the day at the doctor's office. We did get to have lunch with Allen and that cheered Ben up so much. He had been asking all day: Daddy? Daddy at work? Daddy at 'finery? See Daddy? Daddy hungry? Daddy lunch? Daddy work? So we made sure he got to see Daddy. Our next stop was to the pharmacy, and that was the day.

Yesterday was a bit more fun. First, I took the kids to the elementary school and enrolled Will in kindergarten. We dropped off the little ones, Will and I had brunch at IHOP, then we went and saw Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D. What a day for a Mama. The events of the day compared to no other at making me feel like Will is growing up too fast. While I enrolled him in school for the fall, he sat on the couch in that office reading books to Ben, Maddie, and Jon. He helped me get them into their classroom at the church. When we got to IHOP he insisted on holding the door for several ladies, when they thanked him, he politely responded, "You're welcome." When we were seated, he read the menu and ordered for himself. We had a nice conversation, and then some people sat at the table next to us and Will smiled a polite "hello." He turned to ask me a questions and it came out like this: "Mama, why do. . . never mind. . . we'll talk about it later. I had a question for you but I don't want to be rude. (whispering) I was gonna ask why some people are fat." I told him that he was right, we should talk about it later, and I tried to explain how proud I was at his decision-making process. When we got in the car, we finished that conversation. Putting all that together made it clear to me he was growing up quickly.

As I mentioned, we did see Monsters vs. Aliens. Let's just say the movie what you would expect of a movie with a title like that. Will enjoyed it, and I enjoyed his company, but I didn't care for the show. The grown-upness disappeared when I said we were going back to get the kids. He wanted "just one more errand with just us." Part of me was frustrated with the tantrum, but part of me cherished the little-kidness that is still left. We don't have very many more Wednesdays alone, and I hope to make the best of the two we have left.

A typical week

All in a week's time. . .

X - Plant more seeds (mostly salad stuff)

X - Let all four kids watercolor with new paints

X - Scrub red and purple stains off the table after painting

X - Get rid of new paints that stain table

X - Wash & dry two loads of laundry

X - Dance class (waltz)

X - Go to grocery store

X - Listen to first CD of Learning Conversational Greek

X - Wash & dry load of sheets & towels

X - Book shore excursions for cruise (thrilled to get into Santorini's cooking classes)

X - Attend MOPS meeting about living green

X - Assemble and start using compost bin

X - Wash & dry two loads of laundry

X - Enjoy picnic lunch with Allen & kids at Children's Park

X - Watch kids play in water at the park

X - Explain to Jon that the rocks don't have to be taken out of the stream

X - Watch Ben throw all the rocks back into the stream

X - Catch up on American Idol and Dancing with the Stars (Adam and Gilles are still my favorites)

X - Wash & dry another load of laundry

X - Check on Maddie when she woke up crying

X - Take Maddie to pediatrician for check-up and ask about the ear she said hurt her

X - Find out Maddie weighs 25 pounds and is 35 inches tall

X - Get passport updates mailed

X - Pick up amoxycilin for Maddie's ear infection

X - Take Maddie to the rose garden's on her day out

X - Let Maddie pick out her own new outfit at the store

X - Watch in amazement as the kids play for hours in the muddy sandbox

X - Move onions, chives, and morning glories from the mini greenhouses to the big garden

X - Wash & dry two loads of laundry

X - Fold one load, sort another load of laundry

X - Take kids to Barnes & Noble for story hour

X - Watch Ben figure out how fast to spin the rack to make books literally fly off the shelf

X - Put books back on spinner-rack

X - Watch Ben spin it faster

X - Put books in neat pile next to the spinner rack

X - Get Ben away from the other shelf

X - Apologetically ask B&N employee to clean up our mess (Ben was pulling them off faster than I could return them, and I just needed to get him out before he tore something.)

X - Get kids into car without a Mommy meltdown

X - Hold Jon's & Maddie's hands with one hand and carry Ben out by the backpack handle. (When he quit kicking & screaming, he pulled his feet up and looked like an odd-suitcase.)

X - Get walker forms collected for the March of Dimes

X - Ask Ben to get down from the window to watch the rain

X - Wash & dry another load of sheets

X - Wash & dry another bunch of muddy clothes

X - Go back to Barnes & Noble alone to enjoy it

X - Meet a friend for coffee & hours of delightful, uninterrupted conversation. . . about our kids

X - Work on instructions for scrapbook classes

X - Figure out how to get through several dark, stormy days

X - Roll out paper over the entire kitchen table for the kids to color

X - Giggle that the kids are thrilled to picnic on the floor while we watch Singing in the Rain

X - Sit down to enjoy reading Guideposts

X - Read Guideposts aloud as 3 kids sit on my lap and show me the ladybug and cat in the ads

X - Listen to the kids order lattes when they play restaurant (Ben ponounced it lah-pay -- they've never heard me order one since I've never ordered one.)

X - Upload pictures

X - Update blog

X - Update 365 project blog

_ - Consider folding all the clean laundry I washed & dried this week (. . .yeah, right)

Happy Easter!

For some reason, I just can't seem to stay caught up on my blogs this season. Here's another "In the week of the Kaisers" edition. Tuesday (yes, seven days ago) I had a crazy idea -- after we dropped Will off at preschool, I took the triplets to ProCuts to get all the locks trimmed. It is the first time I've had more than one child, by myself, to get a haircut. They each got a lollipop for behaving so well. We survived, in fact, the kids were great! It gave me enough confidence, that Wednesday afternoon I braved the zoo with all four on my own.

Wednesday was Will's day, and after we dropped off the little kids at mother's day out, he and I went for his annual pediatric check-up. Two for two in the healthy-boy category, but I'm not surprised. Will is 43 inches tall and weighs 41 pounds. After the doc visit, we went to some plant nurseries searching for birdbaths and garden ideas. Our next stop was lunch with Daddy at a Mexican restaurant -- Will requested it for the tortillas that he really likes. We had time for a quick hair cut, and Will convinced the lady to style it in a mohawk for the afternoon (mentioned only because it is now forever on his zoo pass.) After we picked up the little kids, we went to the zoo . . . . Somehow, I survived it, but I don't plan to go with all four anytime soon by myself. I had the triplets on the backpack teathers, and Maddie kept wanting to sit or stall, while Jon was determined to run. Needless to say, I was quite sore from bring torn in multiple directions. Overall, it was a fun trip, but it was challenging for me without the wagon. I signed Will up for a week-long day camp at the zoo, so I'll get the chance to try this again in two months.

Thursday was Jon's day, and again, we went to visit the doc for a check-up. Jon is 34 inches tall and weights 24 pounds. Afterward, we went looking for birdbaths and finally hit the jackpot, finding some faux-metal birdbaths -- I was thrilled to find something sort of pretty, but since they are lightweight plastic, I don't have to worry about the kids hurting themselves if they pull it over. Worse-case scenario, they get wet. We went out for a quick Whataburger lunch with Allen, and then stopped by a tropical fish store just to look at the fish. Jon enjoyed the fish, and when I asked Jon, "Are you happy?" he answered, "No, Mama! I Jon!"Finally, we got the other kiddos and headed home for an afternoon in the backyard.

Allen had Good Friday off and we definitely made the most of the extra day. We tidied the house a bit, then set off to fill the car with garden supplies: garden borders, fencing, gate, and tiller. While the kids played outside, Allen tilled part of the new garden, and I finished some indoor projects and kept up with the kids. My parents arrived Friday night and we all worked on the garden all day Saturday -- rephrased, Allen and Dad worked really hard on the garden, I'm not sure what I did, Mom played with the kids. Allen and Dad redid the sprinkler system to be more garden-friendly, they tilled the rest of the beds, and installed the fence. Mom and I helped by moving grass clippings from the compost pile to the garden, and Will and Jon even helped using the Tonka dump truck and wagon. Ben was content to lay on his tummy watching bugs, and Maddie enjoyed sliding on the piles we were creating.

Saturday afternoon was the best opportunity for an egg hunt, so while the kids napped, um . . . the Easter Bunny visited. Since I didn't want the eggs to be full of sugar, um . . . the Easter Bunny provided a few treats (Teddy Grahams and fruit snacks) and lots of new undies. My Dad told me what an awful idea that was, but I thought the kids would like them. I was right to an extent, and they were thrilled to open eggs and find Elmo, Cookie [Monster], Spiderman and Princess undies. Later, we overheard Will on the phone with Nana saying, "Easter was really crazy this time. . . we all got underwear!" Before we knew it all the edibles were eaten, so I'm glad there wasn't lots of candy.

Will's goodies were in orange eggs, Ben's in blue, Jon's in green, and Maddie's in pink and purple. This was a bit of an experiment of sorts, but also my way of making sure everyone got the same number -- I planned to divide by color after all the eggs were gathered. It happened just as I figured: Will gathered whatever he could find, but the triplets divided the colors on their own. Since Ben usually gets blue (cups, bowls, shoes), if Jon or Maddie found a blue egg, they ran over to Ben and put it in his basket. Ben and Maddie immediately gave Jon the greens, and the boys brought the pink eggs to Maddie. The only time I saw anything different was when I was pointing out an orange one to Jon, and he couldn't reach it. Maddie helped by not only getting it, but promply turning to Jon and handing it to him saying, " 'ur welcome."

I am glad we did the egg hunt Saturday because Easter Sunday was stormy, rainy, wet, and muddy. We had a pancake feast (thanks to Allen) and then spent the morning playing and reading. After my parents left, we napped, I watched the recorded church services, and we all went out for dinner and returned for a walk around the neighborhood. It was an awesome weekend! It was great to visit with family, I loved having an extra day with Allen, the weather was pretty (most of the time), and we accomplished a LOT! Our perennials are supposed to arrive sometime this week, and the flower beds are ready and waiting.

Although we do have the Easter Bunny visit, we make an effort to teach our kids about why we celebrate Easter. This morning, before Will even got dressed, he came into the office to draw an Easter picture (no prompting from me.) He brought me this drawing and said, "Mama, this means a lot to me."

When I asked him to explain what he drew, he told me the three crosses were for the men who died -- the middle one was for Jesus, the one on the left was for the good guy who loved Jesus, and the other was for the bad guy who hated Jesus. He told me the sad people were the crying women, except for the one on the right who was a sad man giving Jesus a sponge to drink from. Will told me the sun was shining at first, but then the storm came when Jesus died. . . . I think he's been listening to the story. After I took a deep breath and held back my own tears of joy, I pulled Will close and told him it meant a lot to me, too. We talked for a bit about how sad it is that Jesus died, but that we rejoice and celebrate because He arose and He lives. When asked why we celebrate Easter, Will confidently proclaims, "Because Jesus lives!"

Doc visit #1 - Ben

Thursday was my day with Ben, and I finally got him to the pediatrician for his 2-year check-up. He weighed in at 25 pounds and was 35.5 inches tall. All in all, he is a healthy little guy who is at about the 5th-percentile for two-and-a-half year olds with his weight, and about 35th-percentile for his height. We were told that our preemies would catch up to their age group between ages two and three, and now he is on the charts. Over the next two weeks, I'll be back to see the doc three more times with the other kids (insert a sarcastic "yahoo!" here.) After we saw the doctor, we went to the Children's Park, which is a beautiful garden park dedicated to children. Throughout the gardens are plaques and statues in memory of little ones, and even though the wind roared and traffic zoomed around the edges of the park, it was serene. Ben romped over the teddy-bear statues, stared at the waterfalls, threw rocks in the streams, and smelled the colorful blooms. My nose was cold, but my heart warmed as I watched him take it all in. It was one of those moments that stopped time, and I realized how very, very blessed I am to have four healthy children. While I kept a close watch on Ben, my mind wandered in thankful conversation with God. We got cold, but I just wasn't ready to leave yet, so we climbed into the car and I just held Ben close while he told me stories I couldn't comprehend and held my cheeks in his little palms. We had lunch with Allen and then drove around the azalea trails; Ben watched the flowers, and I kept hoping he'd catch a few Z's before we had to get the other kids.

Friday, I was home with the kids, and we spent the morning inside coloring and reading books about gardens and spring. Jon got the bug that the other three have had; he had problems breathing so I started the breathing treatments again. It's been about a year since we've had to do any for him, and now he sits calmly with the mask over his face and holds the tube. What a difference a year makes! The treatments helped a bunch and now he is on the mend. The afternoon was pretty enough that we all spent a lot of time outside; the kids played with the sand and on the slide, while I worked on rolling the sod we had cut last weekend. We traced each other onto the porch with colored chalks, and got soaked playing with the watertable. I had everyone bathed and in PJs before Allen got home for dinner.

Saturday, Allen and I worked on getting the rest of the sod moved, then we went to Lowe's and Home Depot finalizing some plans for the yard. We all had a pleasant dinner out, then came home and got the kids in bed. Sunday, Allen mowed and vacuumed while I worked on the huge piles of laundry, paid bills, and worked on our taxes. In our spare time, we started playing with the new camera FINALLY!!

Class samples completed

I've been scrapping a lot lately, and I finally have all my samples for the classes. Here are a few of the pages I've scanned from the huge pile I've completed. There are all part of a 10-layout class I will be teaching at Chasing Rainbows on National Scrapbook Day (May 2nd). I'll post the other samples as I get them scanned (oh, I wish I could scan an entire page at once and not have to merge four scans together.)Here is a glimpse of the mini-album class I'll teach. This project is also going to be my travel journal when we go the Greece and Turkey this summer. I like having a journal with me to record things as they happen or at least at the end of the day. So many things get forgotten if I wait until I get home and get around to scrapbooking the trip. I still haven't finished my scrapbook for my trip to Belize (2005), but since I kept a journal, it's all ready to go when I get around to it. And if I don't ever get to it, the photos and the words are together.