Five Years Later

Five years ago, I took this picture of two not-quite-two-year olds. You already know Will, and the pretty little girl is Marcella, the daughter of some dear friends of ours.

Her dad, Casey, went to high school with Allen and me, and he was one of the groomsmen in our wedding. He is a friend we don't see but every few years, but each time we get together, its just as comfortable as if we visited each other often.

Last time we saw the Smith family was when Christina was pregnant with one and I was pregnant with the triplets. Fast forward a few more years and here are Marcella and Will, both 6 years old.

Since the toddler picture, four more kids were born in 2006 -- their daughter, Theresa, and our kiddos, Ben, Maddie, and Jon. In 2009, Casey and Christina had twins -- a son, Eben, and daughter, Eleanor. And here are all the kids now!

We are thankful that we got to spend a bunch of time with them over Labor Day weekend. I am sad that we won't see them for awhile as they are moving overseas for four years. I was thinking that's a long time to go without seeing good friends, but that's how long its been since the last time, too. Now, I'm anxious to hear of all their coming adventures!

The Last Half

Where did August go? I checked my calendar to make plans for the week and realized that September is coming THIS WEEK!! Like a fuzzy white rabbit into a magicians black hat, August disappeared right before my eyes. How about a quick review of what the last half of August was like for the Kaisers?

Ben, Maddie, and Jon went to my parents' for about a week.

While they were gone, Will and I explored a new park, we made sunprints, we went to the children's museum with a friend, Daddy had to work a lot, and I had many meetings.

Will and I just made a half-moter with an electro magnet. At first it just wobbled and he said, "That's lame." When we made it spin fast, it made his face light up as he shouted, "That's AWESOME!" Then we made the bulb light up. Now, I need to dig through the garage so we can add a switch to the "invention" he is working on.

I spent a few hours (which turned into days)scanning lots of old photos, reading my grandparents letters to each other (c.1947), and reading the stories in their wedding book of how they met. A distant family member was working on a news article about my grandfather, and since I had all the photos, I got to search for the "perfect" ones. My end of the project took quite a bit of time, but I really enjoyed it.

The day after we picked up the little kids, we hit the road. We drove all the way to Enid, Oklahoma, one Friday. We stopped for lunch and a short playtime, but otherwise, we drove from 9am to 5pm. The kids were excited to swim at the hotel that night. The next morning we were up at o'dark-thirty to hit the road again. Since Allen and I were up before the kids, I was able to catch a glimpse of how they shared a bed. Maddie and Jon were in one bed, Will and Ben in another.

An hour and a half later, we arrived at our distination -- a little bitty dot on the map called Kiowa, Kansas. We had a nice time visiting with family, then we drove out to the cemetary for a hot, mid-morning memorial service for Allen's great-grandmother who passed away at the end of May. It was a small gathering, but it was neat to meet so many others from her family. We drove all the way home that night, driving through a bit of rain (check out the clouds!), and crawled into bed around midnight.

The last few weeks I have enjoyed watching the young bluebirds play in our garden. The blue is such a pretty shade! A few weeks ago when Ben and Jon stayed with Granddad, they built a bluebird house that Allen hung in the garden. Maybe next spring the birds will call it home.

Will started first grade. FIRST GRADE! He is growing up, all right. We are excited (make that THRILLED!!) that his teacher, Mrs. Mitchell, has already started working with him on some advanced work. Last year, Will's teacher didn't seem to put much effort into challenging him, and this year will be quite different. Mrs. Mitchell has a teachers aide and a student teacher, so she has enough help in the classroom that she is able to work with students at different levels rather than grouping them all together. She is also working closely with the school librarian to help Will find appropriate books. It has been quite a struggle for us, and she is noticing the same, to find books that he likes and that challenge him but are age-appropriate topics. It seems that right now, he is really interested in biographies. His favorite book being about "General Douglas MacArt" -- the price tag is over the "HUR" :).

The last two weeks of August, Allen worked a LOT. Long hours, long days, very little rest. When the little ones were at Waco, Will and I ate at least one meal a day with Allen in his office. When things calmed a little bit we cleaned house -- summer travelling had made piling too easy. My house is mostly clean and my liitle kids keep asking, "Who is coming?" After that, Great Grammie Vail and Nana came to visit for a day.

We had a day or two of almost-Fall weather. The windows were open! I love the times of year when they can be open with a nice breeze blowing softly, the birdsong giving us a calm melody, the fresh scents are better than any scented candle. I LOVE IT!!!

I've had a few other projects I've been wrapping up. Some friends and I got all the news posted about our fifteen-year reunion coming up in October. I did a lot to get ready for MOPS. I am so excited about this year! Somehow in all the busyness, I've found some time to get back to my scrapbooking. It is still so fun for me to cut and paste, and that is generally what I've been doing as I wait for the kids to fall asleep at naptime. It keeps me close enough to them to enforce the rules, but doing something enjoyable takes some of the stress away for me. Last weekend, Allen took the kids to ride bikes. I'm going to get a few minutes to scrapbook. Its so nice when the house stays clean, then Saturdays can be fun and not all-work.

After naps, that afternoon, we took the kids to the rose gardens so we could check out the idea garden -- it is a neat little place that gave us some ideas for other plants that do well in this area. Our garden needs a facelift. It's taken two years to realize that what starts out as "Full-Sun" in the springtime, changes to "Lots of Shade" by mid summer. Sadly, our blooms all disappear without enough sunshine. Now, we need to find some that are part-sun so that we have color through the summer. Hopefully we can find some that can handle the full-sun of the cooler temperatures of springtime.

Sunday, at naptime, I spent about an hour making lunches for the week. That is one of my chores that I really do NOT like. It always messes up my evenings even though it is quite simple. I decided to take that stressor out of my weeks. In the one hour, I made twenty peanut butter and jelly (or honey) sandwiches and put them in the freezer (so they don't get soggy.) I bagged up grapes and goldfish, and separated all the packets of string cheese. So far, it goes quite smoothly to grab one of each and toss them in the lunchboxes every morning -- two minutes, tops, to make all four lunches. The days that the little ones are home, sandwiches are already made, so I'm not rushed when we get to lunch-time.

This week, the youngest three started preschool. It was a bit weird for me. I had a LONG list of stuff to do, and I was afraid it wouldn't all get done today. An hour-and-a-half after dropping them off, everything was checked off. It was pretty awesome to get so much done, and the kids had a blast at school!

Jon and Ben got to try out the mens' room. The teacher found they had both used the step-stools and were sitting side-by-side in separate urinals with their feet dangling. She got quite a laugh and had to explain it to them. Luckily she caught them before Jon attempted to go #2.

Guess Who?

Guess who has been visiting our home lately? We still haven't spied the tooth fairy, but there have been two silver dollars left in the pillow over the last two weeks.

Defining Decimation

I'm ready to drop back into my bad habit of avoiding blogging. Don't get me wrong, I actually enjoy blogging, but the awful cycle started again: I get busy, I get behind, I think about blogging but avoid it because there is so much to catch up on. . . . . hmmmm. . .  .that's what I've done with the housework, too.

The MOPS convention was awesome, and I am so thankful to our families for helping out with the kids since Allen was working! I went to Florida with four MOPS friends and I came back newly inspired to be a better mama, to dig into my Bible more often, and to share ideas with our MOPS group. It was a fun and educational experience, and its almost always nice to spend a weekend with girlfriends.

When I got home, I had more patience than I knew I had. . . on the first day. The kids were cranky, but I didn't catch it from them. I just loved them and did my best with the situations I was presented. I had to get some laundry and housework done, and the kids were content to watch a few cartoons. Ben missed his sister this weekend since they were at different grandparents' homes. It warmed my heart to see this as they were being couch tater-tots!

The second started out pretty well, too, so I was really excited that I was refreshed by the trip. After I checked that the kids were asleep at naptime, I had some precious quiet time to myself. I sat at the kitchen table and began writing stories about my granddad. After awhile Maddie joined me in the kitchen and we had some nice mama-daughter time with Polly Pocket dolls. I had a hunch that I should check on the "napping" boys, so I went upstairs. I was horrified at what I found.

If you are wondering if I pay attention to my children, don't ask me to my face (you will likely not survive.) I check on them about every 5-minutes during the day since they are loud and they play hard. I have to make sure they aren't actually climbing walls, or dressers, or windows. I have to make sure they aren't sword fighting holes into the walls. I have to make sure they aren't finding ways of burning the house down. When they are awake, I am constantly checking on them as I go about doing the rest of the tasks to run the house. So the few minutes that their blond heads are on pillows, their angelic lashes are tight against their cheeks, and their breaths slow as they slumber, I sit down. I take a break. Sometimes I read a book, sometimes I fold laundry, sometimes I snooze, too. And sometimes, . . . .I'm clueless about the disaster that is in the works. The mess you see was made by Will, Ben, and Jon as Maddie and I were playing. They decimated a mattress!

 dec·i·mate (ds-mt) tr.v. dec·i·mat·ed, dec·i·mat·ing, dec·i·mates

1. To destroy or kill a large part of (a group). 2. Usage Problem

a. To inflict great destruction or damage on: The fawns decimated my rose bushes.

b. To reduce markedly in amount: a profligate heir who decimated his trust fund.

3. To select by lot and kill one in every ten of.

They emptied the closet, dumped two or three buckets of out-of-season clothing, tore open and flug eight (EIGHT?!?) packages of baby wipes, they took apart Will's baby book and newspapers from the day he was born. They climbed to the top of the closet and took down some of my old dolls, blankets, and extra parts of the window blinds. As for that crib mattress . . . the vinyl cover was shredded into little pieces, the foam padding was shredded, and I discovered (as did they) that there is a layer of Saran-wrap-like plastic all around the mattress under the foam. I found the remains of the mattress being jumped on -- did you know that the springs are covered in a brown fiber that looks a lot like coconut fibers? See, I had this notion that I would never, NEVER, see the inside of a mattress except in a mattress shop with the little "sample" they have to show you the construction.

I was mad, but somehow I kept it all together again (like in the last story about the diaper cream.) I told the three boys they would clean up the mess and I went to get a trash bag -- a BIG trash bag. I calmly left them to take care of it, and they got nervous. I have discovered the calm-Mama can be a whole lot scarier than the one who yells. I did end up helping them just to make sure the things I wanted didn't end up in the trash, and an hour later the mess was cleaned up. Since I had planned on making dinner in that lost hour, the boys got Cheerios and an early bedtime. I did snap a few pictures to show Allen (and you) but the trash truck hauled away all the evidence the next morning. And now I have another story for my grandkids to enjoy.

24-hour notice

I gave notice today. I'll stick around for another 24 hours, then I'm done. Just DONE (for a couple of days anyway.) Today did not end on a good note, and tomorrow I'll start travelling to get to the Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) convention. I'm taking Jon and Ben to stay with my Dad (Mom is with my brother's family who now has a new little boy!!) Then I'll take Maddie and Will to Allen's parents. After that, I'll meet my girlfriends at a hotel and we fly out bright and early Thursday morning. Allen is still working long hours. :(

I decided to write to remember it. Someday, maybe 20 or 30 years from now, one of my kids will call me to vent frustrations and complain about a rough day with my grandchild. This will be one of the stories I bring up and laugh and think to myself, "You deserve it." Today's "Event" (that's what we'll call it for now) started after nap time. I was returning an email to a friend and loving that my kids were upstairs playing so nicely together. It had been about 20 minutes since anyone had gotten hit or bit or pinched, so I was enjoying the quiet.

I decided to go tell the kids how happy I was that they were playing nicely, and I found Ben completely naked kneeling on top of the dresser (about 4 feet tall). The other three were on the floor meowing at him and cheering him on (to what? I'll never know.) I discovered white and orange gunk everywhere, and here is what I learned.

A full tube of diaper cream goes a really long way. It is enough to make two little boys have gray spiked hair, enough to cover two twin-sized comforters, enough to cover three shirts and two pair of shorts, enough to make a large pattern on the carpet in two rooms, enough to coat part of two walls and three bed posts, enough to cover most of a bathroom counter and slick the tile floor, enough to make two diapers completely disappear. White I was cleaning it up one of the missing diapers didn't do its duty, so I had to clean up another mess.

Later, I found butt cream that had been squeezed onto the top of the door. The door was then shut, so there was cream on three sides of the door and three sides of the molding. Unlikely as it is, it was later explained to me that Jon had a foot on each of the doorknobs (inside and outside the room) Then the kids pushed the door all the way open and that's how cream got onto the wall adjacent the door. It doesn't explain how it ended up about three inches above the door. Jon just isn't quite that tall (about seven and a half feet from the floor.)

I asked each of the kids separately what happened and got eight different stories between the four kids. But you know what REALLY scared them? When I discovered all this mess and the many explanations, I smiled and calmly told them to clean it up. I smiled when I told them calmly that the disciplining would happen later. I smiled and calmly told them I needed to calm down (that REALLY confused them, and I could tell they were getting worried and they don't even know what "insane" means.) Then I smiled and calmly went to call a friend. I really needed to calm down.

I bathed the kids, fed them, and put them to bed. I found cream on the bottom of pillows, in the armpits of some stuffed toys, under the bed, on other wall. In the end, the cream that was supposed to put a protective coating on chapped rears didn't really soothe their sore butts.

A Piece of Quiet?

This morning, the kids were playing quite nicely, so I sat in my glider with my laptop and attempted to get some work done. Not five minutes later, Will was at my left side with his hands on the arm rest. As he gently moved the chair back and forth, he pleaded with me to let him watch a movie. Enjoying a little bit of quiet, I responded with a negative. Before I finished the sentence, Ben was on my right side, also moving the chair, also asking for a noisy something else to do. I shut the computer, closed my eyes, and took a few calming breaths. I was frustrated. I just want a few more minutes of quiet. I have a few things on my to-do list that I'd really like to cross off. As I concentrated on not getting upset with my boys for interrupting, I realized I was irritated that they were moving my chair. I gently pushed them back from the chair just as Shadow rested his furry graying chin on the top of the computer. It isn't just the kids who need attention around here, the dog and cats seem to want more than I have to give. My deep breathing was not effective with dog-breath pollution. I nudged Shadow back, exclaiming to them all that I needed some space. It was that moment that Shadow chose to start coughing, hacking, and snarling to get something out. I was dreading the second that it would all come up because it would likely start the fifteen minutes of cleaning dog barf. Hack, hackety, hack and up it came. Shadow licked his lips and deposited, on my computer, the sticker he had tried to swallow. I was really thankful he didn't throw up, but the soggy sticker sat on my computer staring back at me all in one piece. I couldn't quit laughing at the canine fortune-telling vending machine that told me to

"Eat Mor Chikin?" Now I wonder how long it will be before I can set foot in a Chick-Fil-A without remembering my black and white dog choking on that sticker.

Conversations About Number 2

Potty training is still going.

Maddie is mostly potty trained. She still has accidents occassionally, but not very often. Jon and Ben? They go through phases of doing well, then not caring. Yesterday, unfortunately, was one of those care-free days. After naps, both boys came and asked me to change their dirty britches. Here is how the discussion went:

Me: Hey! I thought you two wanted to be big boys like Daddy. Big boys don't poop in their pants.
Jon: I DO want to be big like Daddy. I want to be big so I can cook in the kitchen and stay up really late.
Ben: I want to be big tall like Daddy, and I want to be a Daddy who poops in his pants. I like it! Hahaha!

Me: How does Mama feel when you don't use the potty?
Jon: Angry?
Me: I'm frustrated. How do you feel when you don't use the potty?
Jon: Sad.

Me: Ben, how does Mama feel when you don't use the potty?
Ben: Mad.
Me: How does Daddy feel when you don't use the potty?
Ben: Sad.
Me: How do you feel when you don't use the potty?
Ben: Happy.
Jon: No! You feel sad.
Ben: No, I feel happy!
Jon: Sad!
Ben: Happy!
Jon: Sad!
Ben: HAPPY! Bwhaaaaa (sobbing, crying) Jon said I'm sad....
Me: If you're happy, why are you crying?
Ben: Because Jon said so.