Odd in the Family

I have discovered that there might be a thing or two that goes on in my family that is a bit to the left of "normal." (I may have known this all along but somedays it is glaringly obvious.)

Have you ever had one of those moments when you look at the goings-on of your house as if you were a visitor to your own life and thought to yourself, jeez we are a weird bunch??

I had one such moment today...

My daughter was eating one of those round breakfast sausage patties and I watched her perform her usual routine:

1.  Consume sausage in small bites, stopping once it is halfway devoured.

2.  Assure each bite is tiny and precise, creating a wavelike pattern horizontally across the patty.

3.  Beginning from the left hand side, name each crest in your breakfast meat after a member of the family.

4.  Carry said piece of meat around for as long as your mom will allow, talking to Mommy, Daddy, your siblings, your grandparents and your aunts and uncles about their day. (Let me tell you, no more compelling tale could be told than a day in the life of someone living atop a piece of sausage.)

For the first time I observed this regularly occurring demonstration from the outside looking in and, in realizing just how eccentric it is, assured myself that this MUST come from my husband's side of the family.

Mommy's sorry for outing you McKenna, we both know that channeling family members through your breakfast sausage is only the tip of Crazy in our house.  Although as I type, your brothers are partially clothed in your wardrobe, attempting to carry you toga-party style on an oversized stuffed fish,

leading me to believe that you may just be the mastermind of the lunacy around here.

If you have not been scared away by our relationship with meat, please tell me I am not the only one.
Who adds a bit of odd to your family?
Spill it... if for no other reason than to make me feel better :)

My Favorites of 2010, I Think

So the year is a few days from coming to a close and I'm full of I can't believe it went by so fast's, the kids are getting so old's and I wish time would slow down's so it is a perfect time for me to sift through my year of blogging and laugh and cry with myself and reflect on the crazy journey life has taken us on once again this year.

I found a great idea over at Scary Mommy that gave me an excuse to pour myself a glass of wine, listen to the song that sings "Hadley" to me playing in my blog background and scroll through my collection of posts, trying not to be to critical while finding my favorites of the year.

Thank you for reading and for being the great commenters, followers, family and friends that you are.  This blog has truly become my outlet and an amazing source of support.  I look forward to seeing where it takes me in 2011.

My favorites of 2010 (I think... it is hard to pick from your own work and I'm terrible at making decisions.  This list may change if I continue to overanalyze myself.  Oh and I did better as the year went on so maybe just skip the first couple months, k?)

January:  Memoir of a Teenager

February:  Sparkly Shoes

March:  The Youngest

April:  Belonging

May:  One Last Visit

June:  For Sale

July:  Stick

August:  Once Upon a Time

September:  Denial

October:  Today- A Letter to My Daughter

November:  The Up Side of Autism

December:  Dear Daddy- Tales from a Public Restroom

So I Lied

I managed to leave the house to run errands the other day with only one child in tow.

Having brought the quietest, least apt to cause trouble and least likely to become bored to tears with my shopping, I was very productive which resulted in a few minutes too long at the register with a chatty cashier.

Here is how it all went downhill...


"Oh he is so sweet, how old?"

Thanks, he's eighteen months.

"Awww, is he your first?"

No, actually he is my fifth.

"Your fifth, wow, how old are your other children?" (I'm screwed at this point)

Fifteen and three 

(Looking at me like I have two heads) "So do you have two sets of twins?"

No I have a teenager and triplets (technically not lying yet)

"Wow, triplets???  That is amazing what do you have boys? Girls?  Who are they with while you shop?"

A boy and two girls, they're with my husband. (sort of not lying)

"What a brave guy managing all those little ones, I'm sure he is having fun."

Yep.  (the truth)

"Oh I bet your girls are adorable together, do they gang up on their brother, making him play dolls and dress up?"

Yep.  (aaaaaand off we go, I'm lying)

"How sweet.  (turns to the other cashier) She has three year-old triplets, can you believe it?  Her husband is home with all of them.  My husband would never survive!"

Yep, he's great.

(shoppers in each line are now talking about my amazing triplets as I envision crawling out of my skin)

"Oh you are just so lucky, what a great family.  You will have so much fun this year with all those little ones.  I can't imagine!  Merry Christmas"

(Zero eye contact, plastered fake smile) Merry Christmas

And I picked up my purchases, my baby and my big fat lie and left.


I'm sure somewhere in there I should have stopped the train wreck and explained that I only have two triplets.
That one of them did not make it to age three.  Or to two.  Or even to one.

I thought it might feel good to live the lie for a few minutes or at least be easier than telling our whole story.

I guess it only feels good if it's the truth and it is only easier if your story includes five children who are alive.

Small Things Saturday

</span></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Lucida Grande'" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; line-height: normal; font-size: 11px; "><a border="0" href="http://www.thewatson6.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i364.photobucket.com/albums/oo84/mcpahash/leaf-1.jpg"/></a></span></span></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Lucida Grande'" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; line-height: normal; font-size: 11px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; ">

This one is easy, the Small Thing I appreciate this Saturday is that it is after midnight, I have a quiet house, a glass of wine and two whole weeks of being less out numbered than usual.  I don't love Mark's work hours but I LOVE his vacation time.  

How scary is it that I'm even looking forward to cleaning this weekend just because they can climb on my husband's head instead of mine while I vacuum the floors and clean the sinks???

Oh and there is cleaning to be done.  

Did you see this?

or this

or this?

With two of us home there will not be one bit of drawing on themselves, peeing on the floor or massaging the table with yogurt.  

I'm sure of it.

These innocent faces would never repeat such behaviors when Daddy AND Mommy are home.

What is your Small Thing to appreciate this Saturday??  Join the blog hop or leave a comment...

Small Things Saturday

</span></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Lucida Grande'" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; line-height: normal; font-size: 11px; "><a border="0" href="http://www.thewatson6.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i364.photobucket.com/albums/oo84/mcpahash/leaf-1.jpg"/></a></span></span></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Lucida Grande'" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; line-height: normal; font-size: 11px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; ">

Today my Small Thing to appreciate is the fact that it is the weekend... not super creative but, as the holiday approaches and our "to do" list gets longer, I am looking forward to a weekend of a few plans here and there but with an added minute or two of sleep and plenty of time with these Crazies and their sister 

with the much needed bonus of an extra set of hands from Daddy.  

One week and counting until Christmas break.

What Small Thing do you appreciate today?  Grab the button and join the blog hop.

Happy Saturday,

Dear Daddy

Me again Daddy.  I guess you have figured out by now that if I'm writing it means two things, I've got material and Mommy's burned out.

So here is how we did her in today.

Since her little Mommy and Me mishap our Tuesdays are now wide open so today we went somewhere we have never been before... to one of those indoor germ factories play places.  Mommy heard this one was clean and good for little ones so we gave it a go.

I loved it Daddy, I climbed and played and tried to keep up with the Crazies but, well, you know how they run, I ended up just hanging with Mommy.  

The Crazies found a friend and sure enough it was a little girl just their size.  The Crazies just loved that little girl and they said they were a "team" and kept going down the slides together holding hands.  Mommy was trying to cheer for them but she couldn't because she had a lump in her throat and tears in her eyes, and I think she was telling herself that this is how life would be if Hadley was here.

I just let her keep holding me, Daddy.

Lucky for Mommy, more kids joined the "team" soon and she felt better.  But then (here is where Mommy got tears again) she heard someone say "watch out team, don't step in the pee pee" and she didn't even need to look, she knew that the person who belonged to the pee pee puddle belonged to her.   So Mommy climbed in and pulled Parker out and started to clean it up but the people at the front said they needed to do it and Mommy was secretly relieved.

Once we managed to quarantine the play area, Mommy changed Parker and we moved on to the cafe to see what damage could be done there.  We did pretty good, I sat nice (had no choice, she strapped me in) and the Crazies ate while they sat down, stood up, sat down, stood up... the usual ants in their pants routine.  Who could blame them though?  There was a big fat Christmas tree right in that cafe, those shiny ornaments are like magnets.  Parker (who else?) just could not sit in his seat and eat his grilled cheese so Mommy gave up and let him eat in front of the tree.

She packed us up and we left really nice.  Once we were outside and Mommy was hanging onto all of us like we might run (because we will) Mommy looked in the window and saw it... little piles of chewed up grilled cheese hanging right on that Christmas tree next to those ornaments Parker was loving.  Merry Christmas Play Place, Parker left you a present.

Oh and on your way in today Daddy, could you grab Kenna's car seat?  She peed in it really proudly on the way home and Mommy is about done with this pee business for the day.

Thanks Daddy.

Love,
Sawyer

One last look at Fall

The photos over at Trendy Treehouse get better and better each week and mine, well, they just stay the same.  We received a "like" last week which is great but after looking over all of the entries I thought I should just give it up since I'm not a photographer and the contest is a little out of my league but it's another week and I'm delusional as I mentioned yesterday so here I go again.

I have decided that I just like the process.  I like finding out the topic and spending Monday nights pouring over the million pictures we have taken of our children's every move to find one that fits and also looks like I can manage a camera okay.

So with that long unnecessary introduction that I promise was not a ploy to get compliments on my photography skills (or lack thereof), here is my entry for {Fall}

Visit the real photographers here...



Happy Tuesday--- it's our Friday, hope it's yours too,

Dear Daddy

I remember the moment my not-yet husband told me that his future wife would not be able to stay home with the kids.

He was a teacher at the time and financially it just would not work.

For as long as I could remember I had wanted to go to college and then work in special education but only until I had babies.  Then my grand plan was to stay home just like my mom did (thanks Mom!).

I was blissfully ignorant and completely in love so I shrugged off his comment and told myself all would work out someday.

And it did.

The minute our children were born he changed his mind and I got my way.

So now, although my shifts do not actually ever end and there are times I wonder if this is what I signed up for, I would not change a thing.

Besides working hard to climb the public education ladder and putting in very long days for our happiness, I realize that my husband is missing out on a lot.  There are a few aspects of Mommyhood that I would be perfectly happy to miss out on too but there are also a million others that are priceless.   I decided to start capturing the good and the bad once a week or so in a letter to Daddy.

Here is our first entry:


Today we had our first playdate at our new friends' house.

I don't think they will be calling again any time soon.

Parker was so nice to the boys but he just could not stop opening all of their drawers and then he put the big kid's toy in their fireplace and you know how sometimes he lets his chewed food fall right out of his mouth when he is full?  He did that.

Next, Mommy thought McKenna had eaten her lunch really fast but she had not.  She had actually stuffed that big peanut butter sandwich into a little tiny pretend bottle of nail polish.  It was the little girl's favorite.  Mommy could not get it out.  It is soaking in the other Mommy's sink.

I really was not that good either, Daddy.  I was sweet and smiley as always but the stairs just kept calling my name.  The other Mommy had to get out the gates.  They don't use them anymore.  She put them up and all of our new friends cried and cried.

We almost got out of there without anymore trouble but then McKenna fell.  She cried and cried and Mommy held her.  Lucky Mommy was holding her because she caught all the pee on her shirt and pants so that it did not get our new friends' couch wet, only their floor.  So now Mommy was all wet and so was McKenna and you know Kenna, she wanted new pants right NOW.  The other Mommy tried to give her some pants but they were blue.  Mommy put us in the car while McKenna yelled "don't want the blue pants" over and over on the porch for all the neighbors to hear.

It was fun but we are all glad it is over, especially Mommy.
She is drinking while I type.


Love,
Sawyer

That Daddy

While cleaning up a mess worthy of a second shower for me and a bath for the rest of the crew, Parker looked over my shoulder out the window...

"Look Mommy the sun is coming up."

Awww, nothing like a child to make you stop and smile even while trying not to gag.

"It is Parker, isn't it pretty?"

"Yes.  Daddy put the sun up for us.  Daddy took down the moon and put up the sun."

Yes Parker, Mommy is on my knees putting your poo where it belongs but Daddy took down the moon and hung the sun for you.

The Sun-Hanger himself with Parker, McKenna and our nieces.

Oops!!

No one held up "Happy" but you get the idea...

My group shot didn't work too well either... how did I miss that huge crumb balancing on Sawyer's chin??

It's the thought that counts right?  (No, I did not glue them to the couch, I just happened to take a picture in the millisecond they were all sitting.)

Happy Birthday to one amazing Daddy and husband!!

Once upon a time

I met the most amazing man...

and he asked me to marry him.

We had three beautiful babies

and then one more

and we sailed floated off into the sunset to live our happily ever after.

Happy Anniversary Mark,
I love you more than the day we said I do and can't wait for the rest of our story.

We're baack

Mark is back to work.
The kids are back to my schedule.
And I am back to blogging.

I hope I didn't lose too many readers due to my slacking off during the month of July.

Since I know Mark is missing the kids like crazy and I have lots of family going through picture withdrawals I though I would post our day in pictures today.

Breakfast time

As soon as I made a move for the camera Sawyer decided he was feeding himself and yes, McKenna is wearing a pajama shirt AND a dress on backwards with her head and arm both through the same hole.  Under that she is wearing a ruffly skirt, pajama shorts and a pair of skorts.  I had to adjust the straps in her booster chair to fit it all in.

Parker showing off his latest boo boo, a centimeter long scratch that he is obsessed with 

Playtime

Parker and McKenna taking "Penny" and "Hippy" to school via the fish.

And that's it, 9 a.m. and my dream of a day in pictures is over.

This is as far as I got before the novelty of being home with just Mommy again wore off and I remembered just how busy I am when Mark is at work.  

Soon after this shot Parker broke into the corner cupboard for McKenna who promptly served them both  sprinkles with a dash of paprika and Sawyer decided his only method of transportation today would be walking... which is really great, just really dangerous since the top half of his body moves much faster than the bottom half and there are two crazy toddlers circling him every 30 seconds making his path an ever-changing obstacle course.

I really do LOVE being home with the kids though and as Mark had to return to work I reminded myself for the millionth time how lucky I am to be able to stay home with them each and every day.  

Staycation

I haven't been blogging lately because we have been spending all of our time doing this...

Mark is off for a few weeks and we have more kids than pack-n-plays so we are spending our time at home in the water.  Oh and don't worry, my toddlers are not tubing, Daddy attached the "inkertube" to our dock and they are floating around while the lake is quiet.... exciting bunch aren't we :) ??

I'm off to put on my suit, put in a load of laundry, load the dishwasher, get the baby up from nap, cover him with sunscreen, make lunch then head out on the water.

Reality is the only disadvantage to a staycation.

The Proposal

I had to do "Show Us Your Life" from Kelly's Korner this week because I love the topic--- Proposal Stories.

So here is how our fairytale :) began...

After we had been dating for about a year, Mark took me to Chicago for Valentine's weekend.  Our second night there, Valentine's Day, we went out to dinner at a great seafood place and then ended up in a really neat, jazz bar with amazing live music.  There was a piano player and singer who sounded just like Frank Sinatra and we were having a great time dancing.

I have to stop here to brag for a second... among all of the other things he is good at, my husband is a phenomenal dancer.  He has amazing rhythm and can swing, salsa, waltz, you name it and is that guy who everyone is asking to dance with.  Me, not so much. I'm not bad (I don't think) it is just not my favorite thing to do.  I think I have always been a little too self conscious to let it all go and just dance.  We always laugh about how I, one of the few women who doesn't like to dance, ended up with Mark, one of the few men in the world who actually can.

Anyway, back to the Chicago... so we were dancing and "The Way You Look Tonight" came on and before I knew it he was down on one knee and we were the only two people in the world.  To this day I still have no idea what he said because the music was so loud (and he won't tell me!) but I'm sure it was amazing and I do know it ended with "Will you marry me?"  I said yes of course, and the whole bar cheered and clapped for us.  Everyone came by our table to congratulate us and see my ring and since we didn't have a camera, one of the waitresses took our picture with a camera they had behind the counter.

We called my parents to tell them and then headed to the top of the Sears tower.  When we got back to our hotel room it was filled with dozens of roses and champagne.  I still have no idea how he pulled all of this off without me suspecting a thing but it was an amazing night.

The next morning I sat at breakfast with a phonebook on my lap trying to find a jeweler in the area who could size my ring immediately.  I was determined to wear it, fitting perfectly on my finger, home.

We were married August 5, 2005 and it has been a whirlwind ever since... some may say more like a tornado or a hurricane but the one constant has always been how much we love each other.  We never could have imagined in our wildest dreams, where we would be today and the five years we have to look back on but I absolutely love him more this minute than I did the day we said "I do."

Oh, and months went by after our engagement and we never did receive that picture the waitress took of us after we were engaged.  I was so disappointed.
Two years later, pregnant with the triplets, I received this in the mail...

Mark and I right after I said yes

and waltzing to "The Way You Look Tonight" at our wedding.

Love you Mark!

Craziness

To call the last week wild is an understatement.  

Wednesday morning, Mark called bright and early on his way to work (he never does this, in fear that he might wake us on a day that the kids decide to sleep later than the crack of dawn).  What is it that causes them to wake so early as soon as warm weather hits?  In the winter they will sleep until 7:30 or so but the minute it starts getting warmer the whole house is up by 6.  

Anyway, back to Mark's call... apparently, while he was driving he heard an extremely loud noise and his entire sunroof shattered and came crashing down on him.

He was not hurt, or so we thought, so he came home, changed out of his glass-filled clothing and took the van to work.  By mid-afternoon he noticed he was losing vision in one eye.  He headed to the ER, while I stayed home with the kids freaking out that he had some sort of head trauma.  

To make a long story short, after a night in the ER and two long days with an eye specialist, they finally found that he has a form of retinopathy caused by the pressure of the explosion of his sunroof.  Thank goodness he is fine and that laser surgery will hopefully correct the damage to his vision but can I just say that we are very tired of hearing "I have never heard of such a thing before" when it comes to things that happen to our little family.  Seriously, we have had one medical mystery after another for YEARS now and wouldn't mind just a few, normal, run-of-the-mill months.

Speaking of medical mysteries, I realize it has been ages since I have updated on McKenna.  She is doing better than she was after her initial illness in March but still has poor coordination and strength in her lower body.  She was fit for braces on her legs last week which I thought was going to be a hugely traumatic event but ultimately turned out to be an "everyone is fussing over my feet and showing me new shoes and I love it" appointment.  So her braces should be in this week and my fingers are crossed that she continues to enjoy them as much as she did when she tried them on.  Most likely I will be posting next week about the fights that have ensued over her new shoes since these days ANYTHING that someone has someone else wants.  At least if they fight I know a timeout will be had since punishing her siblings is McKenna's new talent.  I have caught her twice this week disciplining Parker and Ashlyn.  Here is her strategy in case anyone is looking for a new one:

McKenna (in a long drawn out tone) "No, you do not say that.  You have three seconds or you will go to time out.  ONE, TWO, THREE.  Now you go to time out until you are ready to say sorry."

We have used counting to three, time outs and sorries but not all together, I think I like her technique :)

Of course, this sweet little boy will never need a single time out...

Especially with such an innocent brother to look up to...

(He may look like he is part of some sort of strange toddler tribe but it's just the combination of fixing his own hair, lots of sunscreen and one of Daddy's tools.)

Memorial Day

My wonderful husband served in the Air Force.   We spent a great day with him today remembering how lucky we are that he and so many others have made the sacrifice to serve our country.  

I have a feeling years ago, when he was traveling around the world in camouflage, he never thought he would be spending a Memorial day in a plastic baby pool but I know he wouldn't have it any other way.

We love you Daddy!

Working hard

Parker did lots of "man stuff" in the yard today with Daddy.  He is Daddy's little shadow and during the week while Mark is at work he will head off to a wall, do a little banging and turn to McKenna and I and explain to us that "Parker's doing man stuff" because we just would not understand since we are girls.  Then he goes back to his invisible job.  

He is available for house calls but generally breaks much more than he fixes :)

Our little boaters

Boating

I got the kids up after nap today and surprised them by telling them Daddy was home early AND we were heading out on our first boat ride of the year (Sawyer's first ever).  They were completely tickled and happily got into their life jackets.  McKenna informed us that we were "all going to hang out together" and off we went.

Here are the pictures of us "hanging out" on the boat and yes, my teenager went too but headed to the other end of the boat as soon as we got out the camera.   

Sawyer wondering what in the world was happening

Daddy and the kids, no idea why they look like they just ate lemons 

(the kids, not Daddy, he looks great as always). 

Little Man

One benefit of being two and a half an only weighing 22 pounds is that you can still ride in the baby backpack.

Parker had a blast cutting the grass with Daddy today and didn't mind one bit that we couldn't find his sunglasses so he had to wear his sisters.  I put his coat on over the carrier so he looked like we had just glued him to Daddy's back.  I hope he knows that someday he will grow out of the baby carrier.  Actually, by then he may be old enough to cut the grass himself.