Lifelines

Most mornings, my bedroom door is shut tight.
Even if I’m up, Luxe sleeps late and we don’t bother our sleeping babies.
But on Saturdays, soccer mornings, my door is wide open and this causes a sort of interesting occurrance among my other children.
I’ve remarked on it before.
But one by one, within seconds to minutes of one another, they will drift in and then…SWARM!

Watch…

Are you wondering what she is adoringly gazing at?

Sibling One has entered the room.

She knows this one is a WILD good time.

Suddenly Sibling Two arrives, having heard some sweet coos from my bed.

And then, before you know it, there’s THREE!

Last but not least comes Sibling Four.
(Fun being had somewhere in the house does NOT escape him–he’s a regular fun-seeking missile, he is!)

And he’s not afraid to bully his way in, mind you.

And as sweet as it all is, it doesn’t take long for Luxe to realize what a “captive” audience of one she is (heavy emphasis on “captive”) and suddenly, she wants the hell out of there :)
Smart little cookie, my gal.

Being adorable and stationary is a hazard to one’s health in this household–they are going to love this child to death!

Before you know it, we’re going to have a half-pipe in our backyard.
Sigh…

The soccer drama is over.

Charlie is coaching Rhyse’s team and while I’d like to say “There’s no way we could let an entire team of boys down,” I’m not really in that place emotionally.
We really couldn’t let Rhyse down.

Charlie came to me that night before he called the Coordinator back and said, “What do you want me to do?”
What could I say to that?
I REALLY don’t want to juggle Chas’s traveling soccer team plus all of Greer’s games on my own with Creux and Luxe along for every ride but I DID make this bed so I suppose I get to lie in it.

We decided that Charlie would agree to coach if the Coordinator agreed to pinch every other single person he could think of before sticking Charlie to it.
Unfortunately, he’d already done that and we were the very last resort (and the very last registrant) for this team in particular.

I must say though that it irritates me that all these other parents knew the situation as well and still no one else stepped up.
I’m not sure how on a team of 15 kids, when parents are notified that their child is on a team that’s about to be cut due to a lack of a coaching VOLUNTEER, that no one holds their hand up and says, “If no one else, then me.”

It’s always the same people who volunteer and frankly, it’s annoying.

Things worked out for Chas, he was able to sneak a spot on a team without us having to do anything other than the footwork.
Thank goodness because there’s just no way Charlie could effectively coach two teams as the middle schoolers in particular are a HUGE time commitment, especially with the traveling component involved.

And so, I will not only lay in the bed I made but snuggle in deep and get REAL comfy because it’s going to be a two-season long nap in there for me this fall and spring.

The very same day that this all went down, my friend Stacie emailed me to let me know that the 3:00 dance class we were banking on for our daughters was not going to be offered and so we needed to take an EVENING class.
Being that we have soccer every day of the week between the three kids, any other evening obligation SUCKS and it sucks BAD.
But once again, this is something important to Greer so we’re now stuck in a 7:00 pm class every Tuesday from August to May.
Nice.

(Stacie, Mrs. Straub called me on Thursday after receiving my registration to let me know that Janie is in the 5:45 class. She wanted to make sure I was aware of this as she somehow ??? knew we were friends and noticed that our girls were split up. BUM. MER. Are you firm on the 5:45? And Jenny and Mindy, are either of your girls dancing? AT SEVEN??? Um, please? :))

I’m going to pull hard on my mom and sister this fall (Mom and Brit, you’ve been notified) and Emily when she’s not in class as I have NO idea how we’ll manage this craziness but I’m gearing up for the challenge.

One day at a time.
That’s my fall motto.

On second thought, one hour at a time.
Yeah, that’s better.

Message to Arrivals desk at the Looney Bin:
Prepare my bed, people. I am a’comin’.

Haha.
That’s a very dry, not funny laugh.
That’s a very “I’m so screwed” laugh.

Frank just called me.
Which Frank?
Frank, you know, Frank–from WASA, from SOCCER?

He called for Charlie and Chas took the message.
“GASP! Maybe that was a coach for you!” I said to Chas, scooping up the paper with the number on it.
I was going to call him back and cut out the middle man.
“No, he asked if I was Rhyse and then I said it was Chas and the man said, “Oh, the other one.”
Meaning that whoever was calling knew I had two boys here playing soccer.
Weird.

Well, NOT weird when it’s the U10 coordinator.
That’s who Frank is, by the way.
I called him back.
I thought maybe then he was Rhyse’s coach.
That’s what I asked him.
“Are you Rhyse’s coach?”
“No,” he said. “I’m the U10 coordinator.”

Uh. Oh.
My mind scrambled.
U10, U10,…why is the coordinator for U10 calling us?
Coordinators just don’t call regular people, coaches do.
I was thrown because I was expecting to talk to the MIDDLE SCHOOL coordinator, not the one for Rhyse.

“I’m afraid I am going to make some people in your family very unhappy,” he said.
I squished my eyes shut because I knew what was coming.
“We lost a coach last night and if we don’t find a replacement, we’ll have to drop a whole team of boys.”

“Oh,” I said.
This is bad for my family for two reasons: one, it means Rhyse is on that cut list.
And two, they’re looking for CHARLIE.
Meaning…they need a coach and they need one fast.

If you scroll down and read the “Four Weeks Later” post you’ll understand the predicament that’s about to be launched at my family.

Well, here, I’ll save you the trouble: I screwed up bad. I missed the soccer registration deadline and Chas was waitlisted. If we couldn’t get him on a team, we were going to offer up Charlie as coach.
Now we’re REALLY in a bind as it really appears that both of our boys need us to do something in order to play and I just don’t see how we can help them both.

Man, I really did mess this one up.
Y-I-K-E-S.

My kids were driving me NUTS today.
You know how it is when you plan something fun and they make it so agonizing with their bickering that you wonder why you even bothered?
THAT was my Monday.

I’d decided to take them swimming during the day, which we haven’t done because I can’t take Luxe out (Emily stayed in the house with her this afternoon so that I could), because I thought it would just be…fun.
Right now we swim in just small chunks in the evenings and I thought getting out during the day would be a nice change of pace for everyone.

But JEEZ.
They fought and whined and cried and fussed and argued, argued, argued to the point where I finally yelled, “STOP! That. Is. IT! I’ve had enough! WE ARE GOING HOME.”
That part I might have actually bellowed.
I was…Not Happy.

I stood up and started packing my stuff but then I spied this:

And then something inside me stirred, something wicked and ornery, and I can’t explain what or why but I picked up that hose–that hose which was dumping out icy cold water–and I opened fire on my children.

By the end, we were all soaked (I sprayed myself just as much as I sprayed the kids) and we were breathless from laughing.
It was MUCH better than dragging their heineys out of the pool one by one and screaming at them (you know, the “You Don’t Appreciate ANYTHING I Do!” speech/screech).

And it was WEIRD.
Whereas they’d been pecking at each other almost non-stop for 45 minutes, they spent the next hour laughing and playing together like they’d been best friends all along.
My annihilation seemed to change the whole atmosphere and it ended up being a wonderful day!

Who knew what one little hose could do!

Sooooo…do you think this method works on cranky husbands???
(Thinking it would be SUPER fun to try but then also thinking how easily he could rip the hose from me and make me pay, pay, pay. Unfortunately, I can’t stick him in timeout!)

I didn’t even make it out of the car with her before we were swarmed by her band of brothers, all anxious to get a peek at their new sister.
They piled into the back of our Yukon, where mama and baby were sitting together and they clambored all over each other, little hands reaching here and there for a first touch.
Oh, it was sweet.

When we finally convinced them to let us out, we brought her inside and let the lovefest begin…

***Greer is not pictured in these photos because she was napping.
***Rhyse was the first to hold Luxe because Chas was the first to hold everyone else. These kids are paying attention apparently!!

It’s the best day of the week as far as I’m concerned–Chore Day :)

I had an off day yesterday myself, not sure what the deal is with my Saturday collapsage of late but I really have been quite unmotivated to do much of anything.

But TODAY, I was ready.

When I emerged from my slumber, I carried down with me three Grit Lists–one for Charlie, one for Chas, and one for Rhyse.

My kids despise their chore lists and I really don’t give a damn, if I’m honest.
Any complaining gets additional jobs tacked on–I really have a very low tolerance for bratty behavior and not chipping in on family work is bratty behavior in my book.

I think at the base of it all, I truly believe that my kids have an amazingly blessed life and so, I don’t feel bad for expecting them to pull some weight around here.
Plus, I simply can’t STAND the thought of raising boys that will become men who will sit around, watching tv and drinking beer all day long.
It’s a thing with me.

I grew up in a household where “50/50″ was goal for my mother.
She worked, she had a new husband, a baby, and a teen…and all the things that go along with that stuff.
She also had a man who LOVED him some sports watching.
And so, I listened to her every weekend, complaining IN VAIN, about this elusive 50/50 division of housework.
Did she get it?
Not even close.
What she got was a housekeeper, a whole lot of pissed-offedness, and eventually a divorce.
And in turn, I came to really despise the weekend ball game t.v. marathon thing.
“NEVER!” I vowed.
Lucky for me, Charlie isn’t a big sports fan.
Maybe that’s by design–I’ve been stealthily gobbling his free time since about 1993.
The boy never had a chance…. :)

So we’ve spent the day working hard around here today and it feels GREAT!
With Chas tackling most of the maintenance work (vacuuming, dishes and a load of laundry), I was able to help Rhyse in his room where help was MUCH needed, and that left Charlie free to attack the list of things I requested that he do (four of the six things involved the word “hang”).

And now I’m all tucked into bed, the kids are off playing, Creux is sleeping, and Charlie is doing his Charlie things for a bit.

As for that baby?
Seemingly as happy as can be, wrapped up tight in mama!

So in between reading and napping and plotting future checkpoints on my Grit List, maybe I’ll catch up on a bit of blogging, too.
Once my baby arrives, you might as well forget the “Here’s what we did on Tuesday” posts!
It’s going to be all baby, all the time, at least for the first however many days that it takes for me to get some of it out of my system.
I’m about to have fresh mamarazzi eye candy and I plan on getting my sweet toothy fix in a MAJOR way!

My boys were all in the creek this morning, all three of them.
And my littlest hauled in the sweetest rocks.
Yes, I said rocks.
He brought a fish net into the house, all drippy and creek-gooey and in his net were two big stones.
And he had the BIGGEST smile.

It was decided that we would keep those rocks, which was fine because we obviously couldn’t kill them like we manage to do all of the OTHER stuff they drag in from the depths of the creek, and that we’d sit them out in the sun for a bit because we had an idea.

Oh yes.
We had BIG plans for that monster and those rocks.

Rock painting!
A wonderful way to keep Creux busy for twenty very messy minutes!

And that’s pretty much how it went down.
Though, I have to add in here how lucky both Creux and I are that he has a terrific older brother, one who, at the very teenish age of 13, is still willing to sit down and spend some time with his youngest sibling.
I for one am GRATEFUL for the help.
Chas dug out all the paints, let Creux pick out the six colors he wanted, PUT THE PAINTS BACK, and helped him get started outside.
It’s just super nice to not have to do all of that myself…and to not have to beg Chas to “be a part of the family, please.”
I know this is the age of some of those types of changes and we are feeling a bit of it but for the most part, he’s still our sweet Chas.

I love that I captured this!
This photo is so indicative of Life At Our House in general.
One kid starts doing something and another wanders over, curious to inspect what kind of fun they’re missing out on.

(This goes for snacks, too. We’ve had to seriously crack down on random snackage because I end up fixing food all day long, all because one wanted a mid-morning bowl of cereal or a quick yogurt. Then suddenly I am beseiged by multiple, whiny requests one hour after I’ve cleaned up from breakfast and one hour before I’m set to begin the lunch round. My neighbors will attest that my “KITCHEN IS CLOSED!!!!” between the hours of 10:00 and 11:45 and 1:30-3:30. They can attest to this because I’m sure they can hear my big mouth bellowing it nine thousand times a day.)

So one wanders over to inspect and suddenly, we’ve got a joiner!

Creux was really very delighted for the extra help as both of the boys would whip out a shaped sponge or doodle something cool on the top, things that small hands couldn’t quite do on their own.
I always say it but my Littles are lucky to have such wonderful big siblings.

And one last thing–
THIS is what summer is about for me and what I am so happy to be able to provide for my kids.
We are no longer bound by the restrictions of schoolwork, which I know goes for all school-aged families, but perhaps I notice it differently because…if my olders were in school, I would have the time and energy to craft away with my small ones and I would certainly be doing a lot more of that in general.
As it stands, I can’t always slate “free time with rock painting” above the coursework I am expected to do with my bigger boys.
So right now, I am indulging in this with them.
There’s no tv time going on, very little Playstation…just a whole lot of open-ended, “sure, why not?” type of kid play.
And it’s been so good for my soul.

Finishing what I started earlier.
Now where was I?

Oh yes, some kids were liking it more than others.
And I totally wish I could have captured sound effects here for you because this shot came with a resounding “WHACK” as it was launched into the back of Rhyse’s head.
Hey, I was impressed.

This one, too–it made a great, juicy “SPLAT” on Colin.

So proud of himself, this one.
And so very…clean!

Ah, here’s those photos of Adrienne and Rhyse.
Remember I said she must’ve had enough of him or something?
I meant it.
And obviously, she did too!

Still meaning it here…

Well, and here, too…
(Rhyse, you need to be nicer to Adrienne, son! She’s truly had it with you!!)

All in the name of fun, right?

Then we hosed them all down and threw them in the pool for the afternoon!

It was a terrific ending to a fantastic week!

I’ve had the most annoying of days.

And maybe what made it so annoying was that it was supposed to be a fun day out with friends.
Oh, but we had an exotic baby rash to deal with.
Creux came down with something funky last night on his neck and by today it had spread down his back and legs.
I knew Angie’s kids were sick when they were here, one with a high temp, so figuring that it was a shared virus, I thought it prudent to haul him in for a once over with the ped.
Since Creux isn’t vaccinated and since I’m getting ready to deliver a baby, I didn’t feel like waiting it out.

This ain’t the time to pooh-pooh funky rashes.

And so, instead of a fantastic COSI outing with friends, I found myself driving out to Upper Arlington with my spotty boy in tow.
Jenny was kind enough to take Rhyse and Greer with her so that I didn’t have to drag them to sit in a waiting room for ages.
And in the end, it really was just an exotic baby rash.
Something viral and annoying but otherwise harmless.

Did I mention that it WAS annoying?
Grrrr.

Digging in my archives a bit because I’m too lazy to reach over and upload new photos off my camera.
It’s been THAT kind of day.

I took these photos last Friday when we wrapped up our music camp with Miss Cathy.
She had a special project set aside for them: making kazoos out of disposable straws.
The variation in straw size produced a variation in sound.
For most.
For Rhyse, it produced an opportunity to play Funny Man.

You’ll see what I mean in a sec.

Here’s Miss Cathy, trying to organize this rowdy bunch of wee musicians:

And here’s the finished kazoo that they were supposed to make:

Some actually accomplished this feat:

And some found other interesting things to do with the instrument-to-be:

A few more snapshots, most taken by threat of the loss of something.
Meaning, they didn’t want to smile.
But were forced to :)
(At least I KNOW this was the case with Rhyse and Colin.)

We’re taking a break with our music lessons until August so this was truly a finale-for-now for my gang.
I swore I wouldn’t run all summer but as it turns out, I lied.
This week, which was supposed to be relaxing but wasn’t, was my only Home Week until my due date.
(And actually, the boys will be soccer camping the week of my due date and Greer will be art camping the week following.
Insanity.
I couldn’t avoid it–I felt heartless.)

Thanks again, Miss Cathy, for putting on a fun camp and thanks again, Jenny, for hosting!