Experiencing the bad to know the good

You would think that taking your kids bowling would only result in a good experience, right? That's what I thought before I went to this activity for medical students and their families, WITHOUT Pete. John has been wanting to go bowling for a long time, so when a free opportunity came I jumped on it, even though Pete was out of town. Here's a little recap of all the best moments: Joe screaming multiple times when I wouldn't let him walk/crawl down the runway, having to bowl and help the kids bowl while holding Joe, who was crying half the time (not a good day for Joe), getting a strike and turning around excitedly to find that none of the kids were even watching (who can blame them?), taking John to the bathroom and coming back to spilled Rootbeer all over the floor, talking to another wife and looking up to see John hitting some kid on the other side of the room over and over, being the only one there without my husband, getting home to a messy house COMPLETELY exhausted. I guess that's a list of only the bad things... John did have a ton of fun... And there was free pizza... Yep, that was about it...



And now onto the GOOD! Don't want to dwell on the bad. I only write it because it made me appreciate Sunday night SO much. It was an average Sunday morning/afternoon. I came home around 2:30, all the kids were napping by 3 and didn't wake up until 6! And no, it was not the fact that they were sleeping half the day that made it a good one. We decided to have a movie night (since we knew it was going to be a late one), set up the blow-up mattress, made smoothies, popped popcorn, put on PJ's, and snuggled up for The Prince of Egypt. Pete got home from visits a little bit into the movie, and soon after he sat down with us Joe came over and laid on him for a good 5 or 10 minutes. That kid sure missed his daddy this weekend! He kept taking turns snuggling with me and Pete, while Dan cuddled up to me and John laid in between me and Pete. Pete and I kept looking at each other and I could tell we were thinking the same thing... we've got it good. These 3 little boys do test my patience and cause some serious exhaustion, BUT in the end, they bring me more joy than I could ever know otherwise. I love my boys! All 4 of them!

Babysitting group

My mom used to watch our kids every week so Pete and I could go on a date... and I think mostly so that she could spend time with the kids : ) So when she moved with the rest of my fam, we decided to set up a babysitting group, so that we could continue our dates. We and two other families take turns watching each others kids every other Friday. It has been SO nice to have a set night that we can go on a date, with free babysitting and all. We'll watch everyone's kids one Friday (which we have found is easiest to do at the church since our house has very limited space), then have two free nights of babysitting after that. Last Friday we decided to take advantage of the warmer weather and the mountains (since we'll be leaving them in 2 months!... wipe a tear) and went mountain biking. We wrestled the gully of pain, me walking half of it and Pete of course killing it. He didn't have to get off his bike even once! He's always telling me how out of shape he is and then goes and does something like this. Anyhow, it felt SO good to be on our bikes again! This will definitely be repeated.

One of those days

I swear every time I feel like I'm finally on top of things and that I'm being a good mom and wife and the kids are happy and I'm getting everything done that I need to and more, I fall off that high place and my whole world gets shaken up. Things somehow fall apart right before my eyes and I'm back at square one. Today was one of those days. One of those days where I wake up counting down the minutes until the kids will be in bed for the night. Where I'm running around in circles all day, not getting anything done that I need to. Where I'm breaking up fights and hearing words I don't want to hear for all but maybe 20 minutes of the day (John told Dan, "I'm going to kick your butt." Are you kidding me?!!! Where on earth did he learn that?) Where I'm trying so hard to be patient, then failing. Thankfully these days are far and few in between, but they're always a slap in the face. How do I avoid these days? If nothing else I guess they make me appreciate the good days when the kids play nice, I have fun things planned, and we actually get to see Pete. He was on call tonight so worked a 14-hour day. Yuck! BUT he doesn't have to be at the hospital until 10 tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a better day.

Grocery shopping with 3 little ones

Over a year ago, soon after having Joe, I discovered probably the best thing any grocery store has to offer... a PLAY AREA. This service has been a life saver. After shopping with all three boys for a few months I quickly found I was going to have to think of a better solution to shopping. John and Dan would sit in the grocery cart truck for all of about 3 minutes and then would want to "help." Needless to say our grocery shopping trips were getting very lengthy and I would return home exhausted. That's when I decided to try Smith's play area. You have to be 2 years old, so as soon and Dan was of age him and John went together. They were a little hesitant at first, but since then have grown to LOVE their time there. Cars, trucks, a play house, a wide selection of movies, pages to color, what's not to like??? They now look forward to going there... I'll tell them we're going grocery shopping and that they can play in the play area, and John and Dan quickly give their little cheer ("Yay! The play area!") So Smith's has won our business. And they'll let you leave your kids there for up to 1 hour, so I intentionally take my time and use up every minute : ) Thank you Smith's for making my life a little easier!

The institution of "Quiet Time"

Until 3 or 4 months ago, Joseph, Daniel AND John were consistently taking naps everyday. Well, my quiet, relaxing afternoons are slowly coming to an end. John is growing out of naps, and Daniel seems to be following in his brothers footsteps. With Joe waking up around 6 am everyday, days can get VERY long without some down time in the afternoon. So I've decided to start giving the older boys some "quiet time" when they don't nap. A lot of people I know have done this for their kids, but I haven't really needed it until now. So John and Dan went into different rooms today with a stack of books and some toys and played alone for an hour. And what a great hour that was! Definitely making it part of our daily routine. The house was quiet and I got some alone time with Joe while I cooked in the kitchen. The kids are constantly with each other and I think it's really nice for them to have an hour to breathe. And I'm looking forward to having my quiet afternoons back.