If summer could have a theme song, well then I think this would be  mine for the summer of 2010.

Slow down, you move too fast.
You got to make the morning last.
Just kicking down the cobble stones.
Looking for fun and feelin' groovy.

Ba da, Ba da, Ba da, Ba da...Feelin' Groovy.

Hello lamp-post,
What cha knowin'?
I've come to watch your flowers growin'.
Ain't cha got no rhymes for me?
Doot-in' doo-doo,
Feelin' groovy.

I've got no deeds to do,
No promises to keep.
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep.
Let the morning time drop all its petals on me.
Life, I love you,
All is groovy.

Last year was a busy one here at the circus… it was my first year as a home schooling mom and I was pregnant on top of that.   I struggled with how to balance it all… the house work, the school work, friends… and the place that gave was friends (not that the other 2 were handled perfectly mind you).   But, we didn’t spend much time with our friends last year.

Summer has been so refreshing… like one Countrytime Lemonade commercial after another.   We’ve had so many fun get togethers with friends and I have found myself (a devout introvert) refreshed by the times spent together. 

With July almost behind us and August waiting eagerly around the corner, I find myself wanting to slow time down and “make the morning last”.  How I love snuggling my little guy and watching my big 3 play in the back yard.  We’ve got one more month to kick down the cobble stones and feel groovy.  Then school returns and with it soccer practice (x2 this year), gymnastics (x2 this year) cub Scouts and Karate classes…. I do believe our theme song for the fall will be something along the lines of “the wheels on the minivan go round and round…”

Until then I must force myself to do all I can to savor and bottle up these care free days.

Can you believe how quickly he is growing?  Slow down little man… your moving WAY to FAST!!!

 

  Our third born has literally been on the fast track since birth.  I swear she was born holding her head up and eagerly chasing after her older 2 siblings, not wanting to be left out for even a second.  She was clearly not meant to be the “baby” of the family.

Most of the time when my kids celebrate a birthday, I find myself reflecting on how quickly time passes and marveling at how could they be so old so fast. 

Not so with her.

Scott and I joke that maybe we got her birth date wrong b/c it just feels like she’s been three for months already.   Finally the big day arrived.  And what better way to celebrate then by having her friends and family join her at the park for a picnic and swimming on the hottest day of the year.   We had a heat index of 110!  But it didn’t spoil her fun in the least!

Happy Birthday sweet girl!  Thank you for bringing so much joy and laughter into our lives.

Math has never been my strong suit (except in 3rd grade, I did awesome with the multiplication tables and was the class champ at around the world, but that was b/c all I had to do was memorize facts and not understand the process)

Anyway, as I was saying… math has never been my gifting… and math at 3 am is certainly not my gifting.  So, I calculated the hours again.

Could it really be true?

7 hrs

Yup, I’ve done the math multiple times.

I fed my little guy at 8:15pm and I went to bed at around 10pm.  He didn’t cry to be fed until a little after 3am.   8-12 is 4 hrs and 12-3 is 3 hrs…add them together and you get …

7 hrs

Now I can’t yet bank on this happening every night, but I’ve got a feeling that things are going to get a bit easier around here.

While capturing this “precious” Father/Son moment the other day…

my mind instantly flashed back to a similar “bonding” moment between father and son which I captured 6  years ago…

Seems both my boys enjoy sticking their tongues out at dear old Dad!!

This picture cracks me up every time it pops onto our screen saver.  Not only do I look incredibly tired and less than thrilled to have my picture taken, but in the background you see Potty= Privacy.  What gives, you ask?  Why was this dry erase board in your living room for 3 weeks?

Allow me to shed a little light to the back drop of this picture…

Scott took a week off from work after our son was born.   After about 2 days at being home, he noticed I got a bit edgy during nursing time.  I found myself almost claustrophobic and just begging for space…meanwhile the kids saw nothing wrong with coming over and kissing their baby brother while I was feeding him.

So, one afternoon he brought the dry eraser board up from the school room and sat the kids down.  The kids were quite curious and sat down in a row completely quiet waiting to see what he was up to.  He then made a rule list with 3 rules for the kids to follow to help Mommy and the new baby.

Rule 1.  Potty= privacy

Rule 2.  When Mommy is feeding the baby, she needs space.  He drew a picture of mommy on one side with a blanket and lil feet sticking out and on the other side you see the three kids (far from nursing Mom) bringing her a drink or diaper.

Rule 3.  No rough housing/fighting around the baby.  or ever.

I wish I had a picture of the sign.  I guess something about having just birthed a baby and adjusting to round the clock feedings, left me a bit off my blogging mojo.  I kept meaning to snap a picture, but sadly didn’t get to it before it got horribly smudged and eventually erased.

I loved this sign. 

It worked amazingly.  I was never walked in on in the bathroom again.  That fact alone is truly a miracle in itself.

Every time they crowded me while nursing all I had to do was say, “What’s the rule?”  My youngest daughter would chant in a sing songy voice, “Rule Number 2… Give Mommy space when she’s feeding the baby.”

I’ll add the dry erase list as just one more reason my husband totally rocks.

Dear Son,

When you grow up and notice that every time you talk people kinda take a step back from you… its not your fault.

You will have come by these socially awkward close talking tendencies quite naturally.

Blame your older sisters for your lack of personal space.  Because they can’t seem to talk to you without their face literally centimeters from yours. 

Waking or sleeping, car seat, or bassinet or bouncy seat or swing.  It doesn’t matter.  Your poor little eyes can barely focus as you see their face come into yours as they tell you hello and how much they love you.

I try to protect you.  Honest I do.  “But Mom,”  they tell me, “we’re just saying Hi…” 

They can’t help themselves.

And I am afraid after years of experiencing life like this, you won’t know any better. 

And you, dear son, will grow up to be a bit of a close talker. 

I’m sorry,

Mom

Divide and Conquer

That would be the name of the game lately at the circus.

I’ll take the youngest two to the grocery store while Scott takes the older ones with him to build the new to us play set.  Or Scott takes the big 3 to the year end baseball ceremony while I stay home with the babe.

At this stage of the game, tag teaming has seemed crucial for surviving and for attempting to keep the household running somewhat smoothly.  

Last week we seemed to take the whole divide and conquer strategy to a new level, though.

Maggie, our patient and honestly quite often overlooked dog, was overdue for a vet appointment.  I don’t care how over due she was, I was not bringing her and the 4 kids to the vet by myself (remember last years visit with just 3 kids?).  So, I scheduled an evening appt for her so Scott could take her.  Unfortunately the night that worked best also happened to be the night of a deacon meeting for Scott.  He didn’t have time to take her to the vet and back home before heading out to church for his meeting. 

So, he came home from work, grabbed the dog and headed to the vet.  I then followed with the kiddos about 15 minutes later and waited in the parking lot.  Scott came out with the dog about 10 minutes later stuck her in the back of the van, gave me a quick kiss and as we parted ways… him on his way to church, me back home with the circus crew… I had to chuckle…

Now we’re even tag teaming with the dog!!

In other news.. my little man is 6 weeks old…time is flying fast and my laundry seems to be piling up even faster!!

This would be why more than one of my children thought chicken came from cows…

 

Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A is a tradition here at the circus.

We start them young with our indoctrination!

Because I am used to the chaotic and crazy lifestyle I live, I sometimes forget how it can look to the outsider.   It feels normal to me to walk down the street with a gaggle of kids surrounding me, fighting or singing or playing (or all of the above).  And when I combine my circus life with that of my close friend (whose blog could also easily be called Life At The Circus as she has 4 boys ages 5, 4, 3 and 3 months) well the chaos only multiplies. 

We’re accustomed to it though and unless one of us takes a step back and observes, we often forget how crazy we look are.  I can recall a trip to Einstein Bagels a few years ago.  We sat at the table enjoying some adult conversation while the kids chewed on bagels.  Only when I got up to refill my drink and stepped away from our table, did I realize how incredibly loud our table was compared to the rest of the restaurant.  Embarrassed, I quickly went back to the table to quiet our troops. 

Last week her husband was crewing on the same boat as mine and we decided to go together to watch them sail into the Annapolis Harbor.  There we were walking down the streets of downtown Annapolis, me with my babe strapped to me in the bjorn, her pushing  her little man in a stroller and the other 6 holding hands around us.  We looked like a summer day camp out for a field trip.  All we needed was the long rope with knots for the kids to hold. 

City dock was  not ready for the circus times 2.

I don’t think I have ever gotten so many stares in my life.  We eventually met up with our husbands and then decided to go for ice cream.  The line was out the door and rather than add 12 more people to the line, we decided to send part of the crew with the dads while we ordered the ice cream and brought it to them.  As I left the ice cream shop holding my 3 year olds hand as she held her cup of ice cream in her other hand, and I juggled 4 cones in my other hand, multiple people stopped to ask me what I was going to do with all that ice cream.  The looks and the comments were never ending till I met up with my circus and handed off the goods.

As we headed back to the car, an hour after bedtime with our youngest ready to nurse,  I found myself quite tired and perhaps a little on edge.   Scott suggested that maybe we tried to cram too much fun into one summer evening (watching the race, going to the playground, and going out for ice cream) and perhaps some of those looks were justified b/c we just might be a little crazy for taking all that on in one outing. 

Still I am thankful for friends whose lives are just as crazy as mine and who are willing to come along and share the adventure with us!  They make the ride to insanity all the more fun and memorable!

What were my kids doing on the quilt in that picture yesterday?  Were they tracking an escaped ant from their ant farm? Were they studying the quilt pattern in preparation for making one of their own?  Were they praying over their baby brother?

Not quite

Believe it or not, underneath that pile of circus cast members was our youngest child…

You kinda get a little glimpse of him here…

We were attempting some tummy time, but I don’t think the poor guy had any room to lift his little head with all the smothering encouragement from his older siblings. 

So instead he laid his precious little head down on the quilt and fell asleep.

  Sweet dreams little man

Anyone care to wager a guess as to what is going on in this picture??Winner gets bragging rights