Lost

Someone please tell me that it will get better.  That I will stop losing things.  I mean, I was a moderately organized person before I had 3 kids in 3 years.  But now...

Last night I texted my husband because I can't find the superhero mask.  I think we are normal married people, each believing the other is keeping track of "stuff." I finally texted, "I want to sell all our stuff because I'm sick to death of looking for stuff!"

For example, the following things have gone missing in just the past month:

1. The dino hat. It was found at my in-law's.

2. The Roku remote.  After a month, it was found under our bed.

3. Hubs' winter coat.  Still MIA

4. A $20 bill...forever MIA.

5. Two library books.  Found on the shelves at the library after I turned the living room inside out.  They didn't "check" them in electronically.  Thanks.

6. A 5 gallon bucket.  Found in Aunt L's trunk. 

7. M's grey striped glove.  Found in his locker at preschool.

8. Two kids' toothbrushes.  One was found in the living room behind the toybox.  Red one is MIA.

9. M's superhero mask.  MIA.  Last seen Sunday night.  Both M and hubs say that it is "on the counter." Have you seen my counter?  So now I have one hour to clean it off, find the mask, get myself ready to be a preschool Halloween party mom and get back to school.

Not to mention most of the time I'm looking for my cell phone or keys....

Is this a sign of future dementia?  Or is it normal for a mother of 3 aged 4 and under? 

At least I haven't lost a kid....wait a minute.

I did that once, too.

Ugh.

UPDATE: 1:30 pm. I cleaned the counter, even scrubbed it.  Put away (okay stacked up on Hubs' desk) stuff from last month. NOTHING.  Defeated, I drove to school, then back for the snacks the kids needed for their friends' treat bags, then back again with no mask.  With a brave face, I helped the boys into their costumes HOPING M would keep it together and be okay with no mask.

And a miracle occured!

It was rolled up in N's costume, inside a plastic grocery bag, inside N's backpack.  Why didn't I think to look there?

"Praise the Lord!" I cried in the hallway.  Thank you God, for answering our tiniest prayers.  And saving the day for one little superhero.

Phone pics

I might have just figured out how to "stream" photos from my phone to my iPad. See, sometimes I forget the camera and sometimes I take quick snaps with my phone to send to hubs throughout the day. So he gets them as texts just to see what we are doing. It's wayfarer aster than uploading from the camera, to the desktop, and writing a blog.

But sometimes they are really cute and I want to post them on the blog. So I would email each one to myself, then open my email not the iPad, then upload the pics from its photo album. But that didn't work toady. I thought, there must be a way to send photos from one device to another? (Which I'm sure was invented in the Stone Age of technology, which was after I became an adult with limited capacity to learn technological advances). So I experimented with streaming an album.

Lo and behold, it worked! Well, I still need to actually post this! but here are a couple of phone pics I sent to Hubs last week. 

This is C, about to strew the garbage around the kitchen. I usually have a broccoli rubber band on the knobs to deter him, but I was attempting to clean out the fridge...you know, the gross kind where you dismantle and wash the shelves? He was not helpful and wound up getting strapped in his high chair with graham crackers and juice shortly after I sent this. And the fridge was cleaned!

This was also on Friday! when the boys brought their school pics home. O my goodness they are so handsome! I was very pleased because like I told you before, N said he was "a little sad" when he got the picture taken. I bought a frame with 3 slots on Saturday to become my official school picture frame. 

This might have been Friday too. N built that block robot all by himself, then brought him downstairs when I called the kids down from their playroom for lunch. "Robot-y" wanted an orange, so he ate at the table with us. Sometimes I am just flabbergasted by the things they can do...without me. 

So let's see if this posts? Playroom time is breaking down, lunchtime draws near, so it's time for me to go. Have a great (if cold) day!

Week in Review

1. We talked Aunt L into going to the apple orchard with us on a chilly Wednesday afternoon! After the field trip, the kids received a coupon for a free cider slush and admittance to the playground, so we went.  We were the only ones there and even though it was a wee bit chilly, we had a fun time. Until I lost a $20 bill...then the free activity cost me a small fortune because the cider donuts (the only reason an adult would go there) aren't cheap.  Oh, well, it was time well spent with Auntie. 

Aunt L pushes M on the horse tire swing...trickier than it looks!

We all loved the piggie...but did not photograph the "sleeping" duck.  Rest in peace,duck.

They are all smiling!  Could it be the Christmas card photo I've been waiting for all year?

C stopped at every board (26 alphabet boards) and said "Cheese!"

Hee, hee, hee. 

2. My cousin B invited the boys to his place of work to check out the "mighty machines" on which he works.  My kids have a fascination with all kinds of trucks and have high hopes to drive cement mixers, bulldozers, and the like.    They got check out cement pumper trucks and ride in a skid steer!  Thank you, B, for a grand tour!  They all loved it!

In the shop...I think one of the big trucks started up.

N is all smiles here

saety first! my kids love hearing protection.

C liked it too!

in heaven

3. Family Fun Fest...Hubs took the boys to church last night for the annual Family Fall Fun Fest.  It was the boys' first chance to try out their costumes and get candy this week.  N still refused the superhero shirt and cape (that's all it is) so we compromised with a "this T shirt is my costume" shirt and dino hat, like I expected.  Basically, if it is a T shirt, he will wear it.  Anything else, not without a struggle.

Cutie and mommy stayed home last night.

M is a superhero.  N is not cooperating. 

But they had fun and brought home just a moderate amount of candy.  Whew!

4. I met a friend of my husbands' family on Saturday at a shower, a man I've known for years but don't know very well.  He greeted me warmly and asked about the kids, saying he reads my blog, even referencing our orchard trip. He reminded me that my blog reaches farther than I think. So to all you silent readers, I'm thinking of you. Whether you're reading from your office desktop, your living room smartphone or tablet, or on an airplane, know that my snotty little toddler is howling out his love for you right now.  And the banana bread is baking, the towels are tumbling, and all too soon, the preschoolers will be home, arguing over the remote, the play-doh bulldozer, and wether we have PBJ or bologna for lunch. Because thats what we do when we are not having the above adventures! have a blessed day friend!

Morning Musing

1. Where have I been?  I am going to tell you then I'm going to quit feeling guilty about it.  Taking care of my kids.  I started blogging 4 years ago when the twins were napping 3 hours a day.  That's a lot of time for a recently unemployed person to think about things to write.  Now I'm working 13 hours a day straight through - because the twins are home from preschool when C takes his afternoon nap. Maybe next year I will have time to write more....

2. Hubs told me last night that the church's preschool director told him that our boys are very polite and respectful, a joy to have in class.  What a relief!  Remember I told you last entry that all the grief they give me disappears as soon as we get to where we are going?  Thank you, Lord.  (They are still giving me grief, I'll have you know.  One bit his twin yesterday over a tow truck toy dispute.  He got in BIG trouble.)

2.5. I'm inserting the pre-school-picture photos I snapped the morning they were going to be taken.  M said he smiled "like this" and pressed his lips together in a line, and N said he "was a little sad," so we will just have to see how they turn out!!

"Cheese!" Hope the school photographer was better than me.

C tries to blow dandelions.  Don't you just love the corn and the silo?  Michigan really is beautiful.

Aunt M's going away party...we will miss you!

M and me...miss her already.

3. I've finally convinced our early bird M that Tuesdays and Thursdays are "sleep-in" days, when we don't have to get up and be anywhere.  Last week he woke us up at 6:40am on a sleep-in day.  NOT acceptable, especially because I have to shake them awake at 7:15 on school mornings!  At exactly "seven-oh-oh" this morning, he woke me up, because we told him he can't come in our room before that.  I wonder how long he stares at his digital clock waiting for it?!

Then I told him he could watch cartoons (so I could pee and get dressed!).  Unfortunately, we forgot to change the channel back to PBS and he watched the Today show segment about a school shooting.  When I came to check on him (maybe 8 minutes later) he asked, "why was that teacher killed?" Ugh.  What a way to start the morning.

I did my best to explain that there are bad people who want to hurt others, and that teacher died protecting his students from the bad person (never mind the killer was a student himself, I wasn't going to try to explain that).   Then I assured him that he is safe in our home, at his school and his church, that our whole town is safe.  Even though I know that I may not be able to protect them from a random shooter at all times, I pray daily for their safety and choose not to live in fear.

60 years looks great on them!

4. On a lighter note, we celebrated my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary with a Sunday lunch together last week.  When asked the secret to a long marriage, my grandpa simply said, "Yes, dear!" What a wonderful man.  M's middle name is Wilfred, my grandpa's name.  Happy Anniversary!

M gives Great Grandpa an anniversary card (we wrote "happy anniversary" on a piece of school art. Voila!  Cards!)

Singing and cutting the cake...grandpa is behind that guy's head....oops

5. Also, we celebrated Hubs' grandpa's 80th birthday with a lunch party!  That was another fun family gathering!  Also, it was an eye-opener.  When that part of the family gets together, there are 7 little boys under age 5 and a baby girl on the way!  All the grandchildren and great-grandchildren wore "I Love Grandpa" t-shirts to surprise him.  Happy Birthday Grandpa!

C's t-shirt was like a dress!

Uncle A and hubs keeping 3 of them busy at the 80th

6. My other grandmother was hospitalized for an entire week with a lot of ups and downs.  She was released Sunday but needs physical rehab.  She seems to be improving, but it's been a rough week for my family with grandma's illness and prepping my sister to move to TX (next door to my other sister, can you believe that!) We are praying for safe travels and grandma's speedy recovery.
7. I'm taking a bit of a Facebook break, so if I don't reply right away, don't worry.  In reference to no. 1, and in light of all the other numbers, I just don't have time for it.  I'm using that time I used to spend reading, trolling, and commenting to pay better attention to my kids, and at night, to crochet an afghan.  I hope to eventually make each one of my children an afghan that they will keep for years...and that their children will use to make living room forts, just like they are using the afghan my grandma made me for my high school graduation.  She started crocheting many decades ago, when my grandpa was working late nights in the farm and she was alone with sleeping kids in the farmhouse.  Sounds kind of like what's happening here, but my hubs isn't on the farm...per se. Only 49 more years till our 60th...

8. I just set the kids up playing play doh at the kitchen table (ironically, a 60 year old wedding gift to my grandparents!) so perhaps I can attach some photos.....that lasted less than 10 minutes so the photos are kind of wonky, please for give me.  Have a blessed day, friends!

Apple Orchard Field Trip

Field trip day!  They are just in preschool, but I cannot believe I'm accompanying them on field trips.  I love to watch them in their school element, lining up with their classmates, following directions, answering questions and playing with friends.  Even though I get to spend every day with these fellas, watching them interact with the world outside of our home in such "big kid" ways is refreshing...you know, all of the grief they give me about, say, putting on their own jackets and zipping them up AT HOME just disappears at school.  (Pats self on shoulder Good, job, mama)

It was a crazy Monday, getting us all ready, including baby C, fed and out the door on time, to school, watching the fellas (and C) play with their friends in the classroom, drop off the baby at Aunt L's (thank you!) and head over in the chilly damp morning to the apple orchard. 

Load 'em up and move 'em out!!

But what fun!  No pics of the haywagon/mud-bogging tractor ride, because we just barely made it in time due to dropping off the baby - but I'm so glad I did - it was NOT going to be a stroller friendly day due to the huge amount of MUD!  Thank goodness they had their boots on!

"Cheese!" "They're leaving!" N worries and M freaks as the class lines up while I try to take a cute shot under the apple tree!

Watching the apple polishing machine

depositing apples into the cider press

Fun on the playground

 M was having fun on the slides but he was so fast the photo is literally a blur!

Craft time - look at the concentration!

Of course we all had cider and donuts for snack, as well.  M and I thought that was the best part, but N said, "all the parts!" were his favorite.  Take a good look at the last photo.  It's a small board from an old apple crate with a clothespin attached.  They are decorating it with foam stickers to make a "recipe holder" to which they will clip an apple crisp recipe in minutes.  Cute, right?

So I hung them both up on the knobs of the cupboards (because I have to display everything for a little while, right?). About 2:00, M asked for his, then handed it to me and said, take this part (the clothespin) off so I can use it for a ramp for my cars!  How clever is THAT?!  So I obliged, he thanked me, and scampered off to drive his cars up a ramp. 

Repeat one minute later.

That's when I decided THAT was the best part of the trip...my fellas using their imaginations to create toys!  Such little engineers. 

Also?  I don't have to figure out what to do with that craft in the future.  (They had been slated for Christmas gifts.  If you give my child a gift this year, be prepared to receive something fabulous in return!)

Another also...keep an eye out for N's green dino hat he's sporting.  Its last known location is exactly in that craft room, but only because that's its last photo.  It's his halloween costume because is SO not down with wearing a costume of ANY sort.

September Recap

Like every month, September was busy!  The kids started pre-school and I've spent almost every day catching up on cleaning while they're away.  Here are a few of our fun events (where I remembered the Nikon;)

Saginaw Children's Zoo with Aunt L and Grandma A on a beautiful Thursday afternoon. It was nearly empty, felt like we had the whole place to ourselves!  The boys love it there, it's just the right size for my little ones.  They don't ask "Where is our zoo?" anymore.

This was the best shot of all 3.  N and C ran away!

The conductor blew the whistle too loud!

 As it would turn out, September was a beautiful weather month and we have spent nearly every afternoon outdoors, much to all our delight!  Hence, I've had very little time to blog.  Also I haven't blogged because I've been locked out of our google account since Hubs tried to access it in Ecuador and Google decided it was unusual activity.  As you all know, my husband travels extensively for work, so Ecuador wasn't unusual at all.  Google locking us out of our account was, though!

C is growing some curls in the back

N's beautiful green eyes

M is an old soul I think...sometimes you can see him as a teen.

 M chose a prize out a basket at church for reciting his September memory verse.  N got a chinese paper finger trap, valued at about a nickel I'm sure, M chose the Snoopy bicycle airplane toy seen above.  A quick ebay search valued the antique 1971 still-in-package toy at approximately $30!  Ten seconds after that, M tore the package open. (Sigh) So we attached Snoopy.  Three weeks later, he's hanging by a thread...he's not going to make it to next spring.

They get SO dirty every day.  I'm sure my water bill will be unusually high due to constant bathing.

 We took the boys the the ReMax Midland Hot Air Balloon Festival.  It was just about the only chilly day we had, so the boys are sporting their new fall crochet hat patterns. 

I think they really enjoyed watching the balloons inflate and take off.  Thank goodness the wind died down so they could go! 

 Then we had a 99th Birthday Party for my Great-Grandmother.  It is our family's annual tradition to have a party for her on her birthday weekend each year.  Besides 2009, when we brought the twins to Michigan for her 95th, I've missed them for most of a decade.  Plans are in the works for her 100th next September, and we are all sure she's going to make it...she's still living in her condo on her own. 

Happy 99th Birthday!

My birthday was last week, and I got just what I wanted: Hubs to take a day off and hang out with me and the kids, my mom to keep the kids overnight, and a romantic date at a nice restaurant. 

I see that there are more pictures of M than normal...maybe that's because he's been a wee more active lately, jumping in front of and hamming for the camera?  I would find some of N, but the peaceful moment in which I was writing is over, the baby is poopy, and it's beautiful outside so I'm going to take them to the park...after I change that diaper.

Happy October!  Enjoy this beautiful fall weather we are having!