Progression of a Piano Lesson

 While they play, we wait.

Like Heaven

"They're soooo good! They fill your heart and taste like heaven!" -Sophie, describing for Peter the wonder of a chocolate filled croissant.

Time Marches On

School starts three weeks from yesterday. (Imagine I inserted a sad face emoji here since I don't want to actually add one.) Phoebe marked the calendar "1st day of school!" She's excited enough for all of us. I am not ready to say goodbye to summer. I never am though, so it's not a big surprise. But this year I have a few additional reasons to want to hold on to the lazy days of summer.

The kids have been exceptionally helpful while they've been home. In addition to doing chores (which still aren't always completed, but the house isn't in total chaos so I think we're doing pretty well), they've played with and read to Sophie. This has made it possible for me to hold Topher. And while that sweet baby is really improving when it comes to nighttime sleep, he cannot seem to figure out daytime sleep, unless he's held or rolling in the stroller or car. Thus, having my days available to sit and hold him has been important. I'm not sure how we're going to handle not having the big kids here to help each day.

Also, Peter is moving to Middle School this year. Now, I've been told that this Middle School is actually amazing and a wonderful place of learning and positive peer interactions (outlier middle school?), so that's not what has me worried. Nope, the thing I'm anxious about is the start time. Instead of leaving the house at 7:25 in the morning, he'll need to be out a whole hour earlier. He's finally embraced the wondrous concept of sleeping in, just in time to wake up super early. And that means I'll need to be up super early too, probably after not much sleep the night before. I guess it'll be good practice for high school and early morning seminary in a few years.

This week we began the process of getting ready for that early wake-up time. We were out of the house and at the park not long after 9 o'clock yesterday morning. So all we need to do is shift that two and a half hours earlier and we'll be golden.

Give Me Your Biggest Smiles

Thanks Aunt Leah and Uncle Jordan for giving us the game that made this picture possible!

Gaining Control

Our sweet littlest boy has been reaching some big milestones. Tonight, while the rest of us watched a movie, I kept Topher occupied (and turned away from the TV, as is our practice) with a soft, colorful book. He gazed at it, then slowly reached for it. He succeeded twice in grabbing that squishy tome, which tells me it was intentional and not a random accident. The other kids were so excited at his accomplishment that they watched him instead of the movie. But lets be honest, they probably would have done that anyway.

And the second milestone? This is how I put him down in his bed each night, with his head toward those stars you can see on the left.

I did the same thing a few days ago because I needed both hands for a few minutes. He did not want to be in his bed, so I imagine he wriggled in protest. When I came back in just a short time later, this is how I found him.

He's started doing the same thing on his play mat. He's also gotten up on his side a few times and yesterday during tummy time he tried to get his knees under him. None of my other kids have been interested in moving at such a young age.

Do you think he's trying to catch up to the big kids?

In Sync

This is a Triumph

Yesterday was a big day for me. I took all five kids to Costco, without Bryan's help. The trip included:

• an epic, yelling, screaming, flailing, scratching, name-calling, ultimatum-throwing tantrum from a tired four-year-old who didn't want to ride in the shopping cart or hold anyone's hand or walk
• two shopping carts to accommodate, in addition to our regular groceries, two boxes of diapers and one box of wipes and zero boxes of pull-ups (woot!)
• putting Peter and Cooper in charge of that second cart and sending them to get those diapers and wipes without me
• lots of faith that Peter and Cooper would find the correct items and wouldn't crash into anyone or anything
• lots of faith that Peter and Cooper would come back, period
• bouncing and moving so Topher would first go to sleep, then stay asleep, while in the Baby Bjorn
• a visit to the restroom that required me to take the girls and Topher in and leave the the big boys out to play a supposedly unintended game of bumper cart

We made it home with our groceries and our sanity. 

Although, at one point Cooper announced that he'd lost his marble, but he literally meant a marble he kept in his pocket.

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.