Surrealism

Sophie drew this picture of me yesterday. She even labeled it, though that may have been unintentional. It occurs to me that if this is how she sees me, I must appear more tired than I realized.

Brotherly Bonding

Class of '98

This weekend is my twentieth high school reunion. Sadly, I am in Pennsylvania while the reunion is in California, so I won't be there. But a friend shared this picture, one I had never seen before today, on Facebook to celebrate the weekend. 

What you can't tell from looking at this is that I had a horrible sunburn. The morning of graduation we had an outdoor rehearsal and I didn't wear sunscreen. I put lots of makeup on my face to cover it, but I couldn't do much for my arms and neck. Every hug I got that night was painful!

Thanks to the magic of Facebook, I'm still in contact with half the people in this picture. And while it's hard to believe that it's been twenty years since I finished high school, it's even harder to believe that we're only six years from a similar picture for Peter.

Formal Wear

Side by Side

The Man In the Yellow Hat

"It fits!" Sophie, after placing this hat on Topher's head.

Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda

Peter spent the last week in Palmyra, New York at Boy Scout camp. We were nervous to send him so far away for a whole week, especially since he would need to depend on others for his food. Bryan and Peter spent the two weeks leading up to camp preparing. They made sure he had all the required camping supplies, sprayed all of Peter's clothes and sleeping bag with permethrin, and stocked him up with a week's worth of canned food just in case the food in the cafeteria was not a safe option.

Last Monday, Peter came in during the wee hours of the morning to say goodbye to Topher. I got a hug too.

Then Bryan and Cooper (because he wanted to see Peter off) delivered Peter to our church building at 4:45 in the morning.

Bryan and I worried about Peter and kept telling ourselves that no news was good news. On Wednesday afternoon we got a treat. The boys spent time on their own that day, praying and pondering in the Sacred Grove. Peter specifically asked one of his leaders to send this picture to me.

We missed Peter while he was gone. On Wednesday night Cooper told me that he was having trouble remembering what Peter looked like. I pointed out the many pictures of Peter we have around the house. Then Cooper said he was also starting to forget what Peter sounded like. I certainly felt his absence. Peter has become quite helpful around the house. He's great at cleaning the kitchen, he can hold Topher if I need him to, and he's even started changing wet diapers. I hadn't realized how much I've come to rely on Peter until he wasn't here for a week. I know Bryan missed hanging out with Peter in the evenings after the other kids were in bed.

By Saturday afternoon, we were all eager to have Peter back. Bryan sent me this picture from the pickup.

Peter was exhausted (he took a rare nap after church on Sunday, proof of how tired he was even after a full night's sleep), filthy (two showers were required), and sunburned. What he was not was covered in bug bites. Apparently two of the other boys had fifty bites each. Peter, who is usually a magnet for mosquitoes, had three. The time it took to cover everything in permethrin was well worth it.

Peter had a wonderful time. He did actually eat some of the food served at camp (breakfast and hot dogs) and also ate almost the entire supply we sent with him. He was able to watch the Hill Cumorah Pagent and have some sweet spiritual experiences. He's convinced that Sophie grew taller during his six day absence, but I think he's the one that grew. He seems older, a little more mature than when he left, more of a young man than a kid.

I suspect that's the true purpose of camp.

We Didn't Start the Fire

Looking for some excitement for your Wednesday night?

May I suggest smelling an electric/plastic burning smell somewhere in your basement? Not only will it keep you and your spouse on your toes as you search for the source of the odor, but if you're really lucky and have your home office setup in the area in question, you (or your spouse) might just get to take the entire thing down and spend the next several days slowly rearranging and plugging things back in one at a time, all the while sniffing to detect if the telltale (and still hidden) scent of something burning has returned.

On second thought, don't do that.

The Good Old Days

Yesterday as the kids and I took our new stroller for its maiden voyage at a local park, I felt a strong sense of nostalgia. When the boys were little, we spent most of our summer mornings walking to and from the park or strolling the neighborhood. That was before the time of chores and piano practice and begging to play video games. It was when they woke up wanting to go play at the park.

It's comforting to know we still have days like that. 

It's the Cheesiest

Each of the big kids is in charge of lunch one day each week. The rule is that everyone needs to eat (or at least try) the meal, even if it's not something they would normally choose. Sophie decides what we eat on Tuesdays. That means we will probably eat macaroni and cheese every Tuesday from now until school starts.

Summer Glow

Rollin'

This summer I signed the kids up for a free bowling program. Each child can have two free games each day, not including the shoe rental. We took a Saturday and went as a family. I held Topher in the Bjorn, so I didn't bowl, but we decided to pay for Bryan to join the kids. 

I hadn't realized that Sophie had never been bowling before; she was especially excited about this adventure. She rolled the ball exceptionally slowly, but still managed a strike. She also almost bowled down the wrong lane on one turn, so that was exciting.

The kids all used bumpers and the girls alternated between using the ramp and not. Phoebe got two strikes and let her fiercely competitive nature shine through each time.

After each roll, Cooper celebrated with a dance. That was quite possibly my favorite part of the day. The boy has skills.

It took Peter a bit to get into the flow, but he got two strikes right at the end and got the highest score of the bunch.

It wasn't until we were almost done that I discovered Bryan was trying to get the lowest score instead of the highest. He nearly succeeded. I think Bryan's favorite part of the game was changing how the kids' names showed up on the game screen.

We only used one of our free games and were ready to be done when that ended. After the cost of the shoe rental and Bryan's game, our free bowling adventure cost nearly $25. Now, that's not terribly expensive for a family our size, but it's also not a price I'm going to pay that often. I'm not sure if we'll go again, but it made for a fun Saturday.

The New Normal

My sweet sister-in-law texted me at the end of last week asking how the first week of Bryan being back at work had gone. It took me a bit to respond because at that point on Friday my brain was kind of fried. After the kids were calm and I was able to reflect and form sentences again, I answered her.

"Well, it had its ups and downs and I'm really glad it's bedtime on Friday night. We did make it to the park one morning and the kids did chores everyday, so those are wins. Of course, I'm so tired that I spent most of yesterday thinking it was Tuesday and it took a solid minute for me to remember the name of the town we live in, but that's normal, right?"

This week has been a bit different because we've been up and out of the door most mornings to get Cooper to Cub Scout Day Camp ontime. Here's the breakdown:

• We've hit the park or the grocery store each day. 
• Chores have suffered dramatically because both boys lost the chance to play video games, so for them there's no reason to fulfill those responsibilities now. 
• I made dinner one night and we ate leftovers, prepared frozen food, and cereal the other nights.
• We've done a load of laundry each day because Cooper had to have his one Day Camp shirt clean every morning. This means our playroom is covered in piles of clean clothes waiting to be folded and put away. And yes, three of the kids fold their own stuff. See the above bullet point about chores for further explanation.
• I exercised two of the days and napped on one.
• We stayed up late one night for a bike rodeo Pack Meeting. That means that the next day was rough on everyone.
• We want to have a family adventure tomorrow, but I keep thinking about the sleep that I could possibly get if we stay home and don't do anything, and I simply can't decide which I want to do more.
• My brain is still fried. I can't find words that I want and feel dull-minded. I was starting to wonder about early-onset dementia when I remembered I went through a similar experience when Cooper was two-months old. That's what led to the birth of this blog, so maybe there's something about two months of sleep deprivation that makes my brain feel mushy.
• I adore Topher more today than when he was born, and I adored him then too. I feel a happy sense of contentment when all five of my children are in the same room, like we're all where we're supposed to be.

I like to think that this week has been slightly easier than last week, but Cooper's been at camp for most of his waking hours, so that might account for the difference. No matter, I'll count it as progress.

Baby Mine

It is amazing to me how much all the kids love Topher. Maybe it shouldn't be so shocking, but they all genuinely want to hold him or kiss him or play with him pretty much all the time. Even big, twelve-year-old Peter is, thankfully, not too grown-up to come find Topher and kiss his forehead or scoop Topher out of his car seat when we get home from an outing, just to hold him and make him laugh.

I hope they never outgrow the affection they have for their baby brother.

Twins By Choice

The Cake is a Lie

Bryan had a birthday last month. The most exciting thing that happened that day was this cake.

For those that don't know (which is probably all of you) this is a replica of a cake from a video game called Portal. Bryan specifically requested this cake, so we made it happen.

It's a black forest chocolate cake with cherry and whipped cream filling, frosted with homemade whipped cream and chocolate shavings. I made the components, Bryan built it. According to Bryan and the kids, it was delicious and super sugary.

My birthday gift to Bryan was funding a trip for him and the four older kids to see Incredibles II. They had lots of fun and Topher and I chilled at home.

Happy birthday, Bryan!

All the Sleep

This little dude slept through the night from Saturday to Sunday! He had a hard time going down, so I expected to see him again soon when I put him in his bed at 9:43 on Saturday night. He woke up at 6:23 on Sunday morning! Of course, I jumped out of bed at 5AM to make sure he was okay and only slept fitfully after that, but it was better than not sleeping!

I don't expect this to happen again anytime soon.

Man to Man

Love Hurts

Sometimes the hardest part of the day is protecting Topher from Sophie's affection.

Ye Olde Bookshoppe

Did you know that we live within driving distance of the oldest bookstore in the United States?

True story.

Happy birthday, America!

The Big Girl

Sophie finally earned her big girl bed! She loves it.

And the girls love that it's big enough that they can both snuggle there.

Rollin' Along

Bryan goes back to work today. He's been home on parental leave for the last six weeks. It has been heavenly having him here. The kids and I are all going to miss him during the day. I hope we're all happy and coherent when he gets home this evening.

As a final adventure, we went to the park on Saturday to ride bikes. This might not seem like a huge deal, and it probably wouldn't be, except that before Saturday Peter was our only child that could ride a bike. Actually, before last week, Peter was our only child that had a proper bike at all. Sophie has a balance bike, and it's great, but it's a touch too small for her, so it doesn't count. The cub scouts were supposed to have a bike rally for the pack meeting last week, so, after planning to for ages, we finally got bikes for Cooper and Phoebe.

And then the bike rally was cancelled because of rain. It was actually a blessing, because Cooper would have had to walk his bike since he couldn't ride it. Saturday was supposed to be insanely hot, so we got to the park extra early.

Peter zipped around the parking lot, biking/walking trail, and fields. Sophie alternated between propelling herself on the balance bike around the grass and playing on the playground. I passed around water and sunscreen and carried a sleeping Topher in the Baby Bjorn. And Bryan taught Cooper and Phoebe how to fall off their bikes so they wouldn't be afraid to try pedaling, then he moved on to the actual riding.



Cooper focused, listened, and worked hard. By the time we left, he could ride around the fields. I was impressed with how quickly he picked it up. Here you can see Peter and Cooper in the distance, both rolling along.

Phoebe had a harder time. She's usually a quick study, so when something takes more than one or two tries to learn, she tends to fall apart. She did a decent job of learning to fall off the bike, after much murmuring. That's as far as she got though, so we'll need to find another time for her to try it again.

We finally left when the kids were so sweaty they looked like they'd had showers.

It was a good morning.