Lifelines

Creux has been un-diapering himself and aside from one very unfortunate pooey on the floor (on a day Charlie was home! yippee!!), it’s just been pure eye-candy for this mama!

See, I love Creux’s massively round and dimpled tushy. If it were MINE, I would not love it so much. (And that’s putting it mildly.) But he can get away with it and I work hard to keep him well-fed just so that I can strip him down and watch his fat little heiney wiggle and jiggle as he runs far, far away from me.

Creux’s entire bottom-half makes me both cringe and giggle. I cringe because he’s got these short, fat, little legs, topped off by that ample Baby-Got-Back rear. Yikes. It’s a body-type unfamiliar to me so I stare in wonder and amazement and curiosity. And I giggle because I find it all irresistibly delicious and perfectly packaged. Mine, all mine– to squish and squeeze and nibble. (And I do so unapolegetically, much to his annoyance.)

I can’t keep my hands off his exposed fleshy bits and will chase him down just so I can have some all to myself.

I was walking through the kitchen the other night and happened to catch sight of this. I nearly took out two other kids on my mad dash for the camera.

I almost have to sit on my hands from wanting to reach out for just one more pinch.

I don’t think it’s nice to name-call.

But I also don’t really care about nice right now.

I just wanted to say that publicly.

The one good thing about all this cold and snow is that at least we’re getting our schoolwork done! (And really, that’s the ONE good thing I can think of. And I had to think HARD.)

My boys spend the months of January, February, and March plowing through their courses. We don’t mess around–it’s a known fact that as soon as we complete our subjects, our summer break begins. So if that falls on, say, May 5th, then guess who gets an extra month of summer? WE DO!

It’s an incentive for them (and me) to not succumb to the winter blahs and daily I say, “Let’s do this now because when spring arrives, you’ll want to be outside…” Luckily, this is usually a successful motivator.

We had a really difficult time coming back to things from Christmas break. The boys had three weeks off and while it seemed like a grand idea at the time, I’m not sure if we’ll do that again or not. Three weeks was long enough for them to get nice and used to enjoying gobs of free time. They, I came to understand, did not want to participate in any form of schoolwork come January-Whatever-The-Start-Date-Was. Neither did I. (Cringe.) Chas and I clashed every darn day for the first two weeks we were back in session, arguing over whether or not an assignment was “necessary”, and about the degree of stupidity involved in a math lesson. (Him: “I will never use this! I hate this! It’s stupid!” Me: “Probably not. Me too. No comment.”)

Rhyse, being a first grader, has far less of a workload and luckily seems to pick up most skill-sets easily, allowing us to put in shorter amounts of time but making great strides progress-wise. And because he knows I won’t keep him long, he doesn’t typically hassle me too much. (Though it should be said that he can’t sit still for longer than 35 seconds at a time and has already lost his Chair On Wheels that he received for Christmas due to spinning around and around in circles while I try to teach him why Susan B. Anthony is a note-worthy gal from long, long ago.)

On this day, Rhyse decided to read a story to his “teacher”, “learning coach”, whatever the hell the people are called who check in to make sure that we’re actually doing schoolwork and are not just out building snow villages all day. (Though, sometimes THEY are, the kids…me, never!) She kindly agreed to listen to him, probably thinking he had a quick two minute reader book in mind. NOT SO! He raced upstairs and pulled out the story of “The Tortoise and the Hare” and he read and read and read to her over the phone. I considered interrupting a few times, (”Ok! That’s good!) but then decided…you know what? She can stop him if she wants to. And if not? I have crap-piles of laundry waiting for me to sort through… :)
(She did not interrupt, for the record–a good teacher, she is!)

I took these photos last night while we finished up our math unit on money. This was all review for him so we scrapped all the workbook pages, hauled out some real coins, and I made up my own lesson plan for him. We had a “Chas” pile and a “Rhyse” pile of money and worked to make them even, swapping out different coins to make the same amounts. He did just fine so long as he always started with the bigger pile of money. (Does the sibling rivalry stop ever? Just for ONE minute?)

He hates not having enough money, even if pretending to buy something. His dismay is visible. :)

Anyway, this is what we’ve been doing for the past three weeks. School. And more school. Jealous, aren’t you? :)

I know, I know. Problems can not be solved by buying a slinky new pair of high-heeled BCBG boots. I know this. But my, oh my, I definitely feel a little better, all things considered.

Charlie and I spent all afternoon yesterday shopping–which was HIGHLY unusual. The idea was to buy an outfit for a dinner out. And that little assignment took about four hours. FOUR HOURS!! For the first two, I just couldn’t get into it. I tried all of the places that I normally go and miserably picked items off the racks, headed for the dressing rooms, and left empty-handed. Repeatedly. To his credit, Charlie never sighed or deserted me in frustration (I would have deserted me), he just acted really cheerful to spend 45 minutes in Ann Taylor. (Much appreciated.)

It wasn’t until hour three that I hit my stride.
Mmmmm, and I hit it in a major friggin’ way.

I wanted a new pair of boots–dressier than my Uggs, something I could wear while being out-and-about on days where I’m more Angi and less Mommy. I saw them sitting there on the table, just waiting for me. I had to have them. I rarely “have” to have things but those boots, we needed each other. BADLY. And despite the sticker shock, I agreed to being their new owner. (I may be frugal-ish in my circle of friends, but I’m still a girl, for God’s sake!)

So just like that, my spirits lifted and I embraced my inner Shopping Queen. I indulged. I didn’t apologize (though I did stick to the sale racks, it was the only way I could bear the onslaught of Pretty New Things). Charlie was my partner-in-crime for that little excursion and he never complained, only encouraged and carried (the bags, that is, which had started adding up quickly) and co-bought. And though I thought we weren’t done, I eventually hit a point where I said, “I can do no more.” No more Pretty New Things for me. It was time to go and I think we both were happy to stop the bank account bleeding (which had turned into rampant hemorrhaging).

I have a confession though: we did it again today; just a little, not quite as bad but still gobs of fun. All our hard work resulting in a neat wardrobe over-haul and a chance to forget about the mundane for a bit. We welcomed it.

I came home today and requested my Pretty New Things to be placed in my bedroom because I was already itching to start decluttering. And while he hauled them all upstairs, I began cleaning out my dresser and closet. Due to my influx of new items, I decided to weed out the clothes that I no longer wear often and to set them aside for our monthly round of donation to the Kidney Foundation. (We call this easing the conscience.)

I think I did a great job, ending up with two big bagfuls! I definitely gave up more than I brought home and my Pretty New Things are now perfectly folded into my tidy dresser or hung up in my (somewhat) organized closet.

Hopefully my no-longer-loveds will be someone else’s Pretty New Things.

And me? I think I’m good on Retail Therapy for awhile, though that proved to be a smashingly good-timey little prescription for a case of the winter blues!

I have been living in my robe around the house. My mom bought it for me for Christmas and it’s just about the most comfortable thing in the world. I’m not a huge fan of robes in general, and I only wear them for about three months out of the year anyway. But right about this time in the cold winter season, my kids and I haul them out and snuggle up inside.

Last year, it was Chas who just positively LIVED in his all winter long. I never saw him without it on, never. And tonight, when Greer was inspecting my night-time wardrobe (she pays very close attention to the Ways Of Mommy) she requested her super-girly pink princess robe to match mine.

I thought she was darling and she made me smile as I watched her enjoy her new-found robie-ness:

Guess who recently figured out that crayons weren’t actually a food group???
Yep, Creux has finally seemed to grasp the concept that you don’t eat the damn things, you grip one in your fist and make slashy marks all over everything with them!

After I took these photos, I caught him sneaking one up to his crib at naptime to do a little afternoon doodling. Luckily, I wrenched it from his paw before he knew what I was up to and listened to him yowl in anger at the loss of his artistic tool.
(His room is unpainted. I think he was going to try and liven things up a bit.)

And I have no doubt that this wee Picasso will happily decorate my walls for years to come–just look at how he enjoys his newfound hobby:

I suppose that I really start to appreciate the benefits of homeschooling right about this time of year. Why? Because we don’t have to go out in the frigid snowy weather if we don’t want to (but they end up always wanting to). My kids sleep late, staying in their warm beds until…well, until they’re done sleeping! When the snow comes down, they bundle up and head outside to play. We school later; we still get our stuff done but I use, with relish, my freedom to do it whenever we feel like doing it. And often right now, we choose to do our schoolwork in the late afternoons, early evenings or just before bedtime. They’d rather enjoy the first fun days of snow, before the excitement of it all wears off and I’m happy to give them the time to romp outside.

If there’s a heavy snowfall, the boys are up and out early to find those friendly neighbors who will agree to pay two little boys to shovel their walks and driveways. They made a killing last winter, bringing in almost two hundred dollars (which was a small fortune to them!) and so they’re anxious to head back to “work”. Greer’s even been in on it this season already–all pink and shovel-wieldingly adorable.

BUT, they’ve been positively begging me for some hot chocolates to top off their outdoorsy outings and finally, Greer and I got busy in the kitchen making some together. Though she makes me (really) nervous around the stove, she’s a super little chef and loves taking charge with a pot and a whisk.

So here’s a moment in one of our recent cozy afternoons: one reading, one playing, and one up to her eyeballs in hot cocoa. :)

It’s things like this that I love the most about having kids. Because this stuff just tickles me to no end–like finding a bunch of bananas in the front hallway. Why are they there? Because that’s where Creux dragged them off to! My guess is that he wanted one, managed to snag them off the counter, and went off in search of a banana-opening relative but got distracted along the way. So on my way to take up a load of laundry, I stop and stare and then start laughing. I run for my camera.

Also tonight, I found two wooden cookies in my refrigerator. I can’t pinpoint which Little probably did this but it made me smile when I pulled them out.

What DOESN’T make me smile is Creux’s fascination with the toilet. Every damn thing goes into the potty these days. He’s tossed in my Burt’s Bees lip balm and I’ve been using soggy deodorant for three days, after having fished it out of the water. I’ve found wooden puzzle pieces, a puppet, matchbox cars, books, dolls–you name it, I’ve scooped it out of the crapper. I’m desperately trying to keep on the kids about a) closing the potty after using it and b) shutting the bathroom doors, but someone always forgets. (I do it, too.) Creux can open toilet lids and can somehow squish his fat little fingers into the door cracks so he’s able to sneak inside so it’s rather hard to conquer his Love Of The Potty Pool. Yeah, I know I can install locks on everything but then I’d get join Greer on her 265 trips to the loo. Soooo not happening and I’ll tell you why…

Because I hate those stupid locks. I’d rather empty my house of everything non-child friendly and completely re-arrange cupboards and pantries and anything else so long as I don’t have to mess with those child-proofing locks. I’m sure they are very useful for many families but not for mine. I forget they’re there and nearly rip my fingers off when I try to throw something into the trash, which is hidden in a drawer. Half of my kids plus my mother can not properly manipulate them so it makes my life more aggravating. And it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Creux just ripped the doors off instead. He is not one easily distracted and he’s strong as hell. Trust me. I battle with him on a daily basis and have almost not left the house because I can’t wedge his furious self into his car seat if he doesn’t want to be wedged.

Case in point? Here he is at dinner, LOCKED INTO HIS CHAIR. Does it stop him from climbing onto the table, in search of everyone else’s food? No, it does not. He just drags the damn chair right along with him.

We’re in a boatload of trouble with this one.
Boatload.

Greer has been a busy little girl since Christmas day! Beginning that afternoon and now still in heavy rotation, these are the things that seem to have “staying power” and are the activites that she (we) love the most:

This little sandbox is, by far, her favorite play-thing to haul out. Jenny brought one of these to co-op last year and let Greer dig around in it and since then, I’d been meaning to pick one up but just hadn’t. I found this one for her during my first round of Christmas shopping at the Learning Express toy store in New Albany and she’s been in purple-sandy heaven since opening it. There’s a few different options for both boys and girls (Greer has the Princess Dreams version) and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a mermaid one in her Easter basket. :)

I picked up these stampers by Melissa and Doug for Rhyse and Greer but it seems that he has no interest (at all) in spelling out words for fun! But Greer, she totally digs them and she’s starting to learn her letters so this has been a fun way for us to explore the alphabet. Here’s she’s stamping out the letters of her name:

I’ve never been a big fan of finger-painting, but I’m also only now realizing that there is a HUGE difference between letting little boys do it and letting little girls. HUGE difference. My table, chairs, floor, and walls do not have neat little primary-colored handprints swiped all over them; only the paper does! This is a new thing for me! I last tried finger-painting with Rhyse when he was three and after that adventure, I used a four-letter word followed by “that” and meant it.

But Greer just loves this activity and (bonus) really hates her space being messy so she sticks to just being creative right where she’s supposed to be. And I don’t even have to hover: she’ll call me when she needs her nose scratched, a new piece of paper, or has decided that she’s finished. (And she doesn’t use her outfit as a towel! Imagine that!!)

A sucker for cute displays, I picked mine up and Pottery Barn Kids, along with some finger-painting paper but God knows you can probably find the same thing at Wal-mart for like $2.00 (literally).

Finger-painting, if done right (and for an hour and a half), is exhausting; my girl was positively art-ed out!

More letter fun with this cute one-side-magnet/chalk-board-and-one-side-dry-erase activity set–of course, we now only have about 16 letters and four numbers and NO chalk but she loved it while it lasted! :) Only kidding (sort of). The letters are around here all over the place (expect for the ones Creux either consumed (??) or tossed in the potty) and the chalk was ground into a fine pastel-y dust on my lovely wood floors (which then doubled as an art/science project). What’s not to love about this toy??

I’ve been really pleased with the kid-stuff I purchased for them this year! We’re low, low on tv time these days and it’s important to me that they fill their days with worth-while activities and these types of “toys” keep them entertained–and me happy!