Mommies make messes too

"Mommy what are you doing?", Liam looks up from his PB & J after he hears my shriek.  "Oh just cleaning up a mess I made," I say.  Actually I just dumped my muffin tin full of blueberry muffin batter across the top of the stove.  Arrghh!  I had just thought to myself "this is so easy, I should make muffins more often" and not a minute later, splat! 
You know I scooped up that batter and threw it back into the muffin tin.  We'll see what happens...meanwhile, what's that burning smell?

Summer slush brain?

What's that saying about the "best laid plans of mice and men"?  I don't know if we are the mice or the men, but all my plans of summer study have gone awry.  Since the spring I have been reading tips on maintaining academics over the summer, articles on how much knowledge kids lose over the summer, and how to avoid it.  I have workbooks for Liam, had planned reading time for Owen, and even planned out how the study sessions would go: the babies would nap in the afternoon at which point the boys would convene at the kitchen table (I would of course teach Owen the meaning of "convene" as well as its antonym... and the meaning of "antonym").  I would have milk and cookies to motivate them, then we would learn for an hour or so.  Very idyllic, no?  Well it hasn't happened yet.  I console myself with throwing the occasional question at Liam - what shape is that?  How do you spell your name?  What letter is that? etc.  Owen is reading everything, including what I don't want him to read (like the fat-free ranch dressing bottle: "it's not fat-free, it's regular", "yes it is Mommy, it says 'fat-free' on the bottle").
We still have three weeks left of summer.  Do we cram, or do we continue with our current schedule of scooters, popsicles, and playdates?  I think the answer is obvious.  I do love a good popsicle :)

A moment in time

Right now I am experiencing something unusual: it is quiet in the house, even though the youngest three are home.  Both babies are napping (which is something they haven't wanted to do at the same time for a few weeks now), and Liam is playing Legos by himself.  When I have these rare periods of free time I feel like a chicken with its head cut off.  I can't choose what to do.  I've written about this before, but lately I have more hours like this every week.  It happens so little that I can't count on these hours, but often enough that I don't feel like I have to treasure it.  Funny, right?  Mostly I am loving that Liam is playing by himself.  The two older boys have recently gotten into the "real" Legos (vs. the Duplos) and they can play for, well, not hours, but certainly 30-45 minutes at a time.  I've actually started rewarding them whenever they play nice together with a "blooming flower".  We have six stems on our whiteboard every Monday and whenever they play together nicely for 30+ minutes a flower blooms on the stem.  When they argue/hit/yell at each other, a flower withers away.  If they have all six flowers in their "garden" on Saturday then they get to choose a reward, say a movie or ice cream outing.  This week they are working towards "Hop".  We'll see, but here's hoping!

I could, but I can't

There are only so many hours in a day right? Well a mom has extra hours because we don't sleep ;) However I think about my days and see that I didn't make the homemade granola, or crochet a winter beanie for Chloe-girl, or any of the other hundred projects I have pending. And sometimes I do have a spare 30 or 60 minutes that could be put towards one of these projects, and I think I should update the kids' baby books, or make a cardboard kitchen (one of the many projects I've clipped from a magazine and filed in my "Project Binder". Which also needs to be updated). Instead I read a book, or have a snack and read the paper, or catch up on my blogs. So basically it's, "I could do [insert project name here] but I can't because I need some time that is only for me". All of my projects are fun and I'll enjoy doing them when I finally get to them but sometimes I just need to do nothing. Don't we all?
Now where's my crochet bag? I have a winter beanie to finish, right after I check my facebook :)

It's A New Year

My only new year's resolution is not to make any. Or that is what I planned. Instead I added all the usuals: workout, eat better, save money, and I've included write more. I love writing, it's one of the few times I actually use my brain for something other than coming up with a new kind of consequence when time-outs don't work (for instance -a mini chore like scrubbing the kitchen floor. Seriously. Except the kids thought it was fun. Sigh.)
Another one I'd like to add is to get rid of all plastic toys that go off in the middle of the night when you accidentally step on them. Hearing "Where's there's danger, there's a space ranger" at full volume at 3am is not fun. Especially when Baby hears it too :(

Expectations and misery

Two more days. That's what left of our old life before we move in to the next phase which we will probably call "How many hours left until bedtime?". I think it's safe to say we have little idea what we're getting into with newborn twins. We can believe we are ready because we have two bassinets, and two of almost everything else but...there won't be two of me. Thankfully L will be off for two weeks, and my parents are coming to help. I'm a little afraid of what's going to happen when I'm all alone with four kids. Mom might not be going home as soon as she thinks. Is a year too long?

Neglected, nay abandoned!

I haven't written in weeks. The tag sits there on my bookmark toolbar making me feel bad for not writing. I have stuff to tell, really, but it's the putting it into coherent sentences that daunts me (can I say something "daunts me" or is everything only "daunting"?)

Much going on in our realm. Loren has taken over bedtime duties (doodies?) and so far so good. I have to hide out in the shower while they are reading and going to sleep otherwise they come find me to read just one more story, or sing one more song. But let's face it, I am definitely getting the better end of that deal. Sitting in the tub with a book - heaven! It could only get better if I had hot water. See Twins - what I give up for you already.

Actually Loren is becoming candidate for Dad of the Year. He is making dinner half the week, he does all the kid duties (and doodies) when he gets home from work, and he gets up early on the weekends so I can sleep in while he makes homemade pancakes for the boys - guts and poops for Owen, blueberries and guts for Liam. Extra points for remembering who gets what.

Admittedly I felt a little mom-guilt at first but I am slowly realizing how much I will have on my plate come September. I stopped reading all the twin books because it was starting to freak me out a little. So much can go wrong but I can't stress over all that or it will go wrong. It's a circle. But I am reading a little bit about after the babies are born and while it's not scary per se, it's stuff I want to know before the hurricane hits. Bad to compare twins to a hurricane but I am a realist. I want to know the worst so I can prepare, even while hoping for the best. I guess I am an "optomistic realist". Eleven years of marriage (almost), two boys, plus twins on the way gives me the right to choose my own label, yes?