Happy Halloween!

I'll be the first to admit I was NOT in the mood for Halloween. It isn't my favorite holiday, but usually I'm ready to have fun with the pumkins, costumes, (candy), and fall-ness. . . . but not this time. First of all, my scrooginess may have had to do with the fact that we had no pumpkins, we hadn't been to a pumkin patch -- my FAVORITE part of the Halloween season. It isn't that we didn't try, but we had four trips planned that each got cancelled. Three of them due to the weather -- it was too rainy and muddy all month, and the other was because someone was acting up and the punishment was that we wouldn't go that particular day. Allen seemed to think my seasons were "off" and I wasn't in the autumn-mood because I've been cleaning as if it was spring. The other part was that the costumes for the kids were falling apart and very difficult to repair.

Allen and I picked out the costumes at the Grand Bazaar in Instanbul when we were there this summer. We thought it would be a great gift because the kids all love playing dress-up, and with Halloween coming up, they could wear them then. After wearing the costumes for about an hour when we gave them to the kids, the lack of quality was apparent as the stitching unravelled, the fabric frayed and tore, and I got frustrated. This past week, I've been trying all sorts of things to reassemble the outfits or at least get them to a presentable state for the few hours the kids would be costumed. I finally finished, but the efforts definitely didn't cheer me up.

I was really ready to just cancel Halloween. The little kids probably wouldn't have noticed, but I didn't really want to break Will's heart since he looks forward to Halloween starting with the end of the fireworks show in July. So we did it. I don't know what to say they were dressed as. The costumes were Turkish folk dance costumes, so were they my Turkeys? my Turkish Delights? I don't know. When they all tried them on the first time, Will commented, "Hey! We look like Aladin, and Genie, and Jasmine. Who wants to be the monkey?" The little boys, especially Jon in the red costume, reminded me a little bit of the cappuchin monkeys that dance with the organ grinders. [Photos below: Jon (red), Maddie (purple), Ben (maroon), Will (black)]

We got the kids dressed up, took the pictures, and meant to just go to a few houses, but ended up circling the entire neighborhood. And in the end everyone had a great time -- including me.

Allen and I both took the kids around to the neighbors, and most of the way, he just laughed at me. I guess I was too bossy? He said I had too many rules, but throughout the evening, he hollered quite a few, too:

• Don't start trick or treating before 6:00pm.
• Only go to the houses with porch lights.
• Wait for your siblings.
• Stay together.
• Hold my hand in the street.
• Say "trick-or-treat."
• Say "thank you."
• Don't go in the house, just stay on the porch.
• Don't shout in the open windows, "Hey! We're twick-tweating out here!"
• Don't ring the bell more than once.
• Stop ringing the doorbell -- that's enough.
• Only one of you can ring the bell.
• Don't fight.
• Only Will can ring the bell.
• Wait for your siblings.
• You get what you get -- don't get upset.
• Don't try opening the door just because no one answers. (We know it's locked.)
• Don’t ring the doorbell AND knock.
• Don’t run from the scary man that answers the door but
• Do run from the tiny little doggie that comes out and barks at you
• Don’t grab handfuls of candy from the bowl
• You don't need to discuss all 40 pieces of candy with the neighbor who tells you you've got a lot. Neither do you. . . or you.

The kids should be experts by this time next year. They were polite. Yes, they tried opening the doors. Yes, they shouted in the windows. Yes, we laughed a lot from the curb. One of the funniest times was when all four got the nerve (finally) to go knock on the door of a very spookily-dressed house. As soon as the door opened, a small dog barked, and the three little ones turned around and ran scattering like quails (as Allen put it.) As soon as the candy bowl came out, they ran back just as quickly. Another house wasn't as spooky from the outside, but a big guy in an ugly mask answered the door with another little bitty barking dog. Maddie screamed and cried and the guy guiltily took off the mask to soothe her, but she hadn't even noticed the mask since the dog was still yapping and she was frightened by the dog.

We all had fun and when we got home, we let the kids eat candy until they were sick of it. Yes, we are parents who do that. The dentist said that was a good way to do it -- after that we get rid of a lot of it, freeze some for later in the year, and the kids are sick of it and don't ask for it anyway. The weather was beautiful, so I'm ready for fall finally. Tomorrow is supposed to be another gorgeous day and we'll head to Canton and meet Allen's family.

Over the weekend

Friday -- I dropped off the little kids with Dad and he took them to Waco to spend the weekend. I got back home in time to meet Allen for lunch, visit a few antique stores (just because I could, not because I was looking for anything), finished painting the blue wall, picked Will up from school, went shopping for Halloween decorations, then we went to dinner at a Japanese steakhouse so Will could see what it was like. He had asked for a Samurai meal a few weeks ago, and we were afraid the little ones would be frightened of the fire at the table, so it was perfect for Allen, Will, and me.

Saturday -- We slept in a bit, had breakfast together, taped off the boys room, painted the walls, primed the blue wall for the mural, finished the first coat of orange in Maddie's room, had a quick dinner, then went to the drive-in movie to see Cloudly with a Chance of Meatballs. I've decided that is my favorite way to see a movie -- I had full control of the volume and sound balance, the car was fairly comfortable, we could pick our own snacks, no stranger-germs, we could let Will run and jump through the grassy lot before the show started, fresh air. Perfect. And the movie wasn't too bad, either.

Sunday -- We had another really busy day. We finished the orange room second coat, put on the second coat of green, hung the mural, took off the tape, went shopping for ceiling fans (out of stock), and searched for the curtains and beadspreads. Went to Carino's for dinner, then crashed.

Will, from atop the ladder, informed us that he knew which company made the ladder. . . "Notastep."

Monday - the little kids are still with Mom and Dad. I've spent two hours looking up and my neck is getting sore. I'm touching up all colors. This evening Allen helped me get both rooms reassembled.Falling asleep last night, I counted all the paint colors in our home. I guess I really have all my colors now -- a full rainbow!

From left to right: dining room (red), Maddie's room (orange), living room/kitchen (yellow), little boys' room (olive), living room (pale green), office (aqua), little boys' room (blue), master bedroom (gray/lavender), master bath (light gray/lavender), all other rooms (taupe) and I didn't include the white that is on all of the trim everywhere.

Monkey see, Monkey do

Yesterday, as I was thinking about dinner, I watched the kids playing in the yard. Maddie was running and tripped, falling right into the mud. Her hands were suddenly in dark brown gooey gloves, and her face and hair had been splattered with the muck. She did NOT like that and set out to screaming about the injustice as the boys ignored her and ran off to the play-set. I brought her inside, peeled off and stain-treated her clothes, then set about to wiping the grime from her tear-stained cheeks. With her bottom on the side of the sink, we soaked her fingers and toes in the warm water as I used the lavender-scented soap to make her feel pretty again. . . . then daddy came in, her face was instantly brightened as she bragged about her muddy adventure. As Allen went to change clothes, I looked up to check on the three boys and was horrified by what I saw.

I screamed for Allen to come quick because I didn't want to be the one dealing with the atrocity I laid my eyes upon. . . and anyway, I was still playing with lavender bubbles and my little girl. When he got around to hearing my distressed calls, he came running, saw what I saw, and he had the NERVE to chuckle. I asked him (calmly) if he would please deal with the three bare butts facing me as the boys (um...) "watered" the tree at the back of the yard.

Allen finished changing while Maddie helped me unload the dishwasher. By the time he was ready to go out to check on the boys, Jon and Ben were gleefully sliding bare-butt down the slide, giggling, then scrambling up to do it again. Will had disappeared. As it turned out, Will taught his younger brothers how to take aim at the tree, but then he squatted to finish his business. When we asked him why, he said because Mama locked the door so we couldn't go in to do it. The biggest problem was discovered later when he told us he needed new undies because we don't keep Charmin next to the tree.

Other than that, the last week has been all about preparing for our families to visit this past weekend to celebrate Ben's, Maddie's, and Jon's third birthday. I made banana monkey cupcakes with chocolate icing and the kids liked them a lot. We had a fabulous time with our families, and the kids have napped well ever since. I wonder how many days until they are back to "normal?" Here are some of the pictures of the kids from the weekend:

Cold and colds

Right now I am using Allen's laptop at the kitchen table. The kids are surrounding me with giggles, squeals, and a bit of whining as they color. Ice Age is on the TV, but since no one is watching it, I really should turn it off. We are aiming to have a calm (aka: lazy) Sunday morning inside while it is cold and misty outside. We are not going to church this morning as planned because Will is on the second day of a 102-degree fever. He was up at least half a dozen times last night because he was cold, or hot, or coughing, or nauseous, or thirsty, or tired, or uncomfortable, or lonely. . . so that means I need more coffee to get through the day because I was up as many times, too.



This past week I feel like I've accomplished a lot. Yesterday (another "lazy" day with a sick kiddo) I even cozied up on the couch with a blanket and just read a book. I didn't even feel guilty because there wasn't much I HAD to be doing. The weather is cool enough that the house is a bit chilly, but mostly comfortable. I had fall scented candles melting while the turkey roasted and the aromas definitely shouted that it is fall . . . this weekend, anyway.



This week we decided on the color we'll paint Maddie's room, and the little boys' mural arrived. It is a jungle scene with many colors, and finding the "right" one to put on the walls has been a bit of a challenge. By the end of this week, the Sherwin-Williams employees won't even need to ask me my phone number to pull up our account. I've put three different colors up on the walls, and maybe (just maybe?) I put one on this morning that will be the winner. Sadly, it looks disgusting in the can, but on the walls it is quite nice -- warm, neutral, and calm.



Allen went to WalMart to stock me up on a few paint supplies -- somehow we seem to have left our paint roller and tray in Kansas, but we brought lots of brushes and roller pads with us. I plan to spend my Mother's Day Out this week painting one room or another, and hopefully we will have the little kids' rooms done before Thanksgiving. With the right circumstances, I think I can get most of the work done before Halloween, but hanging the 100-square-foot mural will be the challenging part since I'll need adult help with it and another for the kids.



Next weekend the triplets are turning three, so this week I went on a grand adventure -- to the Party Store for decorations. And to make it even more exciting, I was crazy enough to take the three birthday kids. I am glad to say I survived it, but there were times I was wondering if they would. Somehow we left only with the things I intended to buy, but there were a few tantrums because we didn't need 8 dozen cups in four different shades of pink and two shades of purple. Maddie settled on a pink party hat and one package of purple cups. Another fit happened because I suggested Jon pick a different party hat other than the silver sequined cowgirl(?) hat with the white maribou trim. He settled for the green polka-dotted one. And yes, Ben had his fit, too -- I insisted we get blue plates and he didn't think we needed any. Every time I put them in the basket and turned to move on, he'd put them back on the shelf. I can't say I had fun, but I intended to. Next year, I will either take more adults or fewer children, or maybe I'll plan ahead enough to just order the supplies online. The last few days I've been strolling through miles of photos we've taken of the kids over the last three years. Ben, Maddie, and Jon are going to be three next weekend and with all the family coming for our party, I hope to create a slide show to see how far they've come since they entered this world. It's been hard for me to look at the NICU photos because no parent likes to see their newborn full of tubes and IVs, but its been nice to see the changes that we don't notice because they are with us every day. It's been nice to see the circumstances we've overcome, lived through, and learned to enjoy. Until I get more photos uploaded, I leave you with some recent ones of the kids.
This is Ben sleeping in the car. He woke up long enough to get out of his car seat, but fell back to sleep on the way to the door. He didn't come out when the other there came tumbling out, and when I looked for him, I found him asleep again -- on the floor of the van with his head on the seat. He has always slept in some strange positions, and here is another one for the books. Here is Will's toothless grin.
And this was snapped just before Ben, Maddie, and Jon went for school pictures. They each chose their own outfits, and Maddie insisted on pigtails. Since what they pick is so much about who they are at the moment, I let go of the fact that the photos might not match on the wall (yes, I'm a bit silly about things like that.) In the end, the proofs turned out adorable and the teachers even posed them together for a picture. I can't wait to get the pictures back to share!

And finally, Maddie got the prize last week for my favorite quote: ". . .and Mama, don't call me pumpkin! You can call me Princess."

Fall cleaning and other details

Now that autumn is here, I am excited. Maybe its because I get fresh air blowing through the windows all day or that I'm getting ready to be inside a lot more with the cooler weather, but I have been busy as a bee nesting. While many people talk about spring cleaning, for me, NOW is the time for decluttering and deep-cleansing. This poor blog has been neglected. As you can imagine, life with a kindergartener and three (almost three-year old) toddlers is busy. Here is the quick version of what's been going on lately.


Since the girl-friend talk Will has had over two weeks of (almost) excellent behavior at school. We aren't sure if it was the girl, or the bribe that he could buy his lunch after several good days, or the fact that he missed his favorite classes the last time he was in suspension, but its all good now and we are all happier because of it.

Two weeks ago, I had a delightful day with Ben. We went to the wildlife museum and then to Einstein Bros. for lunch. He napped in the afternoon, so it was perfect!

We experimented and had a family camp-IN. We had grilled hotdogs and smores for dinner, the kids went skinny-dipping in the pond (bathtub), and we hot chocolate just before bed. The kids started out sleeping in the tent that was pitched in our living room and we even left all the lights out the entire evening, using only the flashlights and campfire (candle). It was fun for awhile, but eventually most of them were sent to sleep in their real beds because they wouldn't quit jumping on siblings. Ben is the only one who fell asleep in the tent and he stayed there all night by himself.

Will lost his first tooth, but he double lost it. After he lost his tooth, it disappeared (probably down the toilet, as he tells it.) Luckily, the tooth fairly accepts letters as well as teeth, because she came that night and left him a dollar coin.

Ben, Maddie, and Jon love to sing. It brings me such joy to hear "Jesuth loveth me this I know. For 'da Bible tellth me tho. Little oneth to him are long. They're weak and he isth stwong! Yesth! Jesuth LOVES ME!!!" and the other favorites now are Eensy-Weensy Spider, ABCs, Row Your Boat, Mary has a little lamb, and Twinkle Little Star. I love to hear them sing, and it makes us giggle to hear them correcting each others' lyrics. Just last week, we were driving home from Bible study and Jon started belting out his version of an oldie. . . "Oh, oh, oooh, its MAGGOTS!! You knoooo-ooo-oow. . . " and all these years I've been mistakenly singing "Magic." Thanks for straightening that out for me, Son.

Last week, my MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) table took all our toddlers to the zoo. The weather was perfect and we all had a good time.

This weekend, Ben climbed up toy bins to get the little key and unlocked a room that we keep locked to keep the kids out. Ugh -- now to find a new place to hide the key since now that doesn't work either.

Two weeks ago, I was busy getting stuff ready for the local childrens clothing consignment sale. We cleared a bunch of space from the garage because we sold three highchairs, a Bumbo seat, the triple-stroller, and a double-stroller. I also prepped a lot of baby clothes and sold most of them. I got my check in the mail this weekend for $325 so it was worth the trouble. The money is going to be used to buy the paint and mural to do the little kids' rooms this fall.

Other projects we've completed this weekend: organizing ALL the kids' clothing and packing it to be used and not forgotten, unloading a ton of clothing and other stuff to GoodWill (finally), cleaning out the vegetables from the garden and laying down new mulch, cleaning and organizing the garage, cleaning up/organizing/getting rid of toys, reorganizing the linen closet and the kids closets. Now I have another bunch of boxes for GoodWill, but we are making progress and it feels great! The toys and kids' clothes were taking over our house and one of my new years' resolutions was to get a handle on them. I feel like I can mark it off the list (for this year) after working bit by bit over the last few months.

I still have a few projects I'd like to keep working toward. Our goal is to get the little kids' rooms done. We've picked our paint color for Maddie's room and already have the bedding. We've picked the mural for the boys' room and are waiting to get it to pick out the paint and bedspreads. We still need to find some beds for the guys, too, but that takes some effort and isn't imperative (yet). The little kids have been napping in three separate rooms so they won't play, so this bedroom project has moved to the front for now. I'd like to get a few mums for the garden and hopefully plant my bulbs. I'd like to get a few more picture frames on the wall and start thinking about how I'll decorate the playroom. My pantry needs to be cleaned out, and my craft space needs a few days of hard labor (and purging.) I have the energy now to work on it all, and I want to get as much done while I'm "in the mood."

He knows me well

Last night Will was having one of his all-out-need-to-sleep-now tantrums whileI was getting the little kids ready for bed. Jon was the last one up on the changing table and he studied my facial expressions as we were forced to listen to Will's tirades.

Jon looked at me and innocently asked, "Wha's wong, Mama?"
I calmly replied, "I'm frustrated by the noise."
Jon's eyes got really wide as he questioned me again, "Are you cwazy yet?"

Running for Office?

*** BEEP! BEEP *** Now that I have your attention . . . this is a story written by ALLEN!!

Will’s disciplinary plan at school uses a “Green-Yellow-Red” system for behavior. They start the day on Green and if they misbehave they get moved up the scale. On the day we had a parent-teacher-principal conference concerning his behavior, he got moved from Green to Yellow. He also didn’t get a “Token” – a special achievement the teacher said she’d begun using for Will and Nathaniel (another boy in Will’s class who’s [apparently] needed some emphasis on following rules).
Our practice at dinner has been to discuss with Will what he’s done during the day – what work he’s had, letters learned, books read, etc. and then move on to his behavior. The conversation moves along pleasantly that day, until we come to the behavior part.

Me – “How was your behavior today, Will? Did you get your token?”
Will – (reluctantly,) “I got on both Green and Yellow today.”
Which was it? Green or Yellow?
Both.
(realizing that this won’t go much further) And what about your token?
That’s a long story. We don't need to talk about it now.
I have time.
No. It’s a really long story. I don’t know if you want to hear it.
Son, I want to know why you didn’t get your token so I can help you understand how to make better choices.
OK. If you’re sure. The first part – do you know the story about the tortoise and the hare?
Yes, I know it.
About how slow and steady wins the race, but fast and not steady doesn’t come in first? But it seems like fast and steady could win, but that's another story.
Yes.
How the hare is fast and the turtle is steady and that’s why he doesn’t get behind?
Yes. Is this why you didn’t get your token?
No. OK. Part two – now the tortoise and the hare were having a race. And the tortoise went slow and steady and he won the race but the hare didn’t.
I see. Part three? What happened with your token?
OK part three. See Nathaniel and I were doing letters and he was going slow and writing too small and I was writing fast and scribbling and that’s why he didn’t get his token.
OK. Why didn’t you get your token? Is it because you were scribbling?
NO I said “me” not “he.” ME was going slow and steady.
So is that why you didn’t get your token? Were you not following directions?
OK part four – See he was writing too big on his paper and scribbling and that’s why he didn’t get his token. I was doing it and the teacher said that’s why I couldn’t have his token.
What’s Nathaniel’s writing have to do with your token?
Part five – he was writing fast and scribbling and I was doing it too small and that’s why.
So you were writing small? I thought he was writing small.
No. I said “he” not “me.” He didn’t get his token because he was writing small.
So you were scribbling?
No. I said “me” not “he.” Why are you getting so confused? Are you ready for part six? I'm on six, now, right?
Yes, Will. Why didn’t you get your token?
He didn’t get a token because Nathaniel wasn’t doing it right.
Doing what? Were you not following directions?
No, see, Daddy. In part seven I’ll explain it to you.

And that’s why he didn’t get his token that day. He never really changes the subject, but is already a master at deflecting juuuuust enough that he’s sliding out of it. I think he has a career in the Senate ahead of him. Lord help us all.