Safe and Sound

We survived Super-storm Sandy with only a small leak in the basement and a blanket of pine needles to show for it.  All trees are still standing, with just some small branches down.  We didn't even lose power which is miraculous considering the winds were estimated to be at 75mph around here.  Five of us slept in the basement.  Can you guess who was left up on the main level?  Me, but only because I couldn't sleep down there.  I gave up trying around midnight and left the "comfort" of the twin mattress I was sharing with Brian and slept on the couch on the "safest" side of the house. 

Everything shut down around here for two days, so Brian was home with us cooped up Monday and Tuesday.  Instead of taking these days to relax and slow down a bit, this crazy husband and wife decide, "What a great time to paint the living room!"  I don't know if there is ever a "great" time to paint the living room when you have 4 small children, but I am pretty sure it isn't during a super-storm.  :)  No really it was fine, but we are not yet finished.  My goal is to be finished by Saturday since we are getting our new couch that day.  We are taking it a little easy on the homeschooling front this week and doing more of the independent work part so mom can finish painting and still manage the household.  I have a ton to post right now, but we have an All Saint's party that I need to get ready for, but check back tomorrow to see my four little saints and probably a few more too.

You can't see the patio or the grass at all, and it's not like we just have never raked them up.  This happened in a 24 hour period.

Our hearts and prayers go out to all who were much more severely effected by Sandy.  I thank God even for the sorrows that I do not understand for I know he has a plan for us all.  

"For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope."

Jeremiah 29:11

Pinata Madness

Recently we went to a birthday party and when we arrived a pinata was sitting on the counter waiting to be hung and hit.  Drew saw it before I did and went straight for it pointing and signing "Help."  I told him he couldn't have it and he gave up eventually.  When the time came to hang it up, I was just sitting Drew in his portable highchair to feed him while we watched.  He completely refused to eat and was trying to get out of the highchair.  When that didn't work out for him, he tried standing up with the highchair attached to his bottom.  I gave up on feeding him and set him free.  That's when the really strange thing happened.  He took off running toward the pinata and grabbed a plastic sword lying on the ground on the way.  As soon as he had the sword in his hand he was swinging it in the direction of the pinata.  No one had swung yet, so how did he know that's what you were supposed to do.  He threw the biggest fits when I had to take him inside so he wouldn't get hit by the bat.  He refused to stay out from underneath it.  I made sure he got a turn, and he hit at it all he wanted once it was busted open and the kids had ransacked the candy.  He did finally get it out of his system, but wow he was obsessed.

Baby Jail

Can't put this guy down unless you are watching him like a hawk!

Brian came home early one day last week right as I was waking the boys to go pick up the girls from AHG.  So I left them with Brian even though he needed to mow and do yard work.  I suggested baby jail when Drew woke up.

My Little Superman

 Isaac loved his new "Clark Kent shirt" so much that he just had to wear it to soccer even though they were going to be indoors since it had been raining.  I thought he would be hot, but the "coolness" factor prevailed.  Drew has a matching shirt too, but he is not easy to get a picture of these days.  You know, unless he is trapped in the pantry or sitting in his spilled milk.

At a field trip to the nature center, Isaac raised his hands to comment after the leader had been describing the color of the turtle's eyes.  He said, "I have hazel eyes, but my mom says there is a little gold in them."  This got some chuckles from the moms in the back of the room.  When I told his daddy about it, Brian shook his head and said, "We're gonna have to do something about that."  He thinks he is a Mama's Boy.

Excuses, excuses!

 I have been really having a hard time keeping up with my blog lately.  If I don't write things down really soon after they happen then I usually can't remember them later.  This means that if I get so behind that I haven't even been getting notes down in my drafts that things get lost forever.  I don't like that, so I am going to make a concerted effort to get back in the business of daily blogging.  Not to make excuses, but to give an idea of what I have been doing instead of blogging, here is a picture history of the last few weeks.  Not that I haven't been posting at all, just not much, because I have all these projects going that I keep waiting to post about until I am finished.  Instead of waiting for total completion, I will post the pieces.

Redoing my bathroom took two weeks instead of the one weekend I intended to spend on it.  I had to put plaster/Sheetrock on all the walls, sand it, prime it, and then paint it.  It took longer than I thought and I will get a better picture up when I have a chance.  I love it though.

Of course, I have been schooling as always.  Things are going pretty smoothly, especially since I stopped rushing them and just laid out consequences for wasting time.  They have to pay me (through chores) if I have to spend time teaching them outside of our regular school hours.  No stress for me this way.  I was stressing because I had a million things to do, but now I know that if I have to spend extra time teaching them because they messed around that they will be doing those chores that I was anxious about for me.

All Saint's Day is coming up, so the mad rush to sew the costumes is on this week.  I'll make you wait to find out who everyone is going to be.  We have a carnival at church this weekend that they get to wear their costumes to as well as an All Saint's party for the homeschool group next week.  This year since I don't have a newborn I am sewing all the costumes from scratch.  Even Drew is going to be a saint!

Then there is keeping this monster out of trouble.

He loves to climb on the stools. He did a facer off of one this morning, in fact.

After dinner, he was ready for his bath, but Isaac was still eating and not paying attention to where he set his milk cup.  I almost got there in time, but...nope.

Really the main reason I have been MIA is that I have not gotten my Large Family Logistics act together this school year.  I just realized that we are on week 8 already, and so I guess I better figure it out and get started again.  Our schedule is different this year and I have been unable to commit to a new schedule for the housework due to the change in days we are out of the house.  I need to just make a decision and stick with it or change it if it totally fails.

Practice Makes Perfect

 This guy has always hated hats with a passion.  I crocheted him a football hat and had to totally trick him and be super fast to get a photo in it for his one year pictures.  He rips them off as soon as he can get his hands free no matter how distracted you try to get him.  But this week he saw a baseball hat and wanted to put it on.  So I thought we would practice wearing it around the house and see if he could get used to it because winter without a hat for him may be a little chilly since he has very little hair.  It has been working so far.  We practice wearing it and looking in the mirror.  He even wore his football hat this morning to and from Mass since it was in the 40's.  I was afraid that he wouldn't ever wear it!

Oh, and he is totally signing "Help," "More," "All done," "Drink," and "Please" all of the sudden.  He signs "Help" the most and for everything he could possibly want.  I heard it was normal for babies to overuse a new sign, but none of my others ever did that.  I am just so thankful he is communicating with us more easily now.  He also repeated "Bah" for sheep this week.

Sympathy Rips

The three big kids ride the bus to German school together every week.  When I picked them up last week, I was bombarded by all three of them telling me about Genna's ripped paper, how Isaac did it accidentally, and requests to tape it.  We discussed it briefly and then moved on to other discussions.  Later in the week I was looking through Isaac's backpack and discovered his paper tree that he made in class was also ripped.  I showed him and said, "Oh no, Isaac I think your paper got ripped as well."  He said, "No, it was a consequence, Mom."  I looked at him not quite understanding what he was talking about, but recalling Genna's ripped paper.  Hannah comes up and says, "No, it was a sympathy rip.  I ripped mine too.  We all did it to make Genna feel better.  It was my idea." 

My poor heart just about burst.  What a sweet and loving gesture!  So much of my time is spent disciplining and teaching them what is right that I sometimes feel that it is an impossible job.  Moments like these show me that God is at work in their little hearts and there is hope for these precious stinkers.

Pow!

This is just a mini update on Drewy.  Drew is saying "Pow!" now when he plays with toy guns or kicks his foot.  But what I am most excited about is that he used a sign all on his own, clearly, and without me prompting him.  He pointed at his cup of water which was out of reach and did the sign for "Help."  I made a huge deal out of it.  I hope this is the beginning of learning and using some signs.

I know he understands so much now.  He can follow directions like "bring me a book," or "show me your tongue," or "comb your hair."  I have also been happy about him initiating bringing me a book and actually sitting to listen to it. 

Also, he is in love with his snack cup (usually full of Cheerios) these days.  If I don't pry it away from him and hide it it is in his grip the whole day.

Pumpkin Pick Up

These are just a couple of funny videos of Drewy.  The second one explains the title of this post.

Drewy is 13 months old today, by the way! He is finally giving real kisses instead of the headbutts which I love.  He even initiates them on occasion.  He is saying "banana" and we think "Hannah" too this week, but I have to admit it takes me a while to catch on because I am so used to him not talking, just babbling.  He had his regular adventures this week, sticking his hand in the toilet, getting locked in the pantry...you know, the regular stuff.  He seemed to be having a particularly "busy" week this week going from one "no no" to the next so I am trying to get him interested in some of the activities that I used to do to keep Isaac out of trouble.  This week he really enjoyed playing with ice cubes, a spoon, and some containers.  He has a very short attention span compared to my others, but he played with the ice until they were almost all melted (basically, the whole time I was cooking dinner) which was amazing for him!  They mostly stayed on the tray too which is also amazing for him.

Throwing a bone

Snack Time!

I am throwing a bone to my readers here since we have been really busy and my blog is feeling it.  Here are some pictures that I thought were cute.  I am determined to slow it down around here soon so I can get back to posting more.

Trying to get all four looking at the camera is not so easy.

Isaac thought I could see him from there.

Still in love with balls!

Isaac, again!

I know that my last several posts have been about Isaac, but I had to put this video of him reading on here.  I did it for the big sisters when they were learning to read. 

He is doing really well, and I am so proud of him.  Lately, in fact, he has been showing up his sisters in memory work, history, and German.  He knows answers they don't remember.  The four year old mind is like a sponge, and apparently the 6 and 7 year old minds are not so spongy anymore.

After a boy spins around for a few minutes...

After a boy spins around for a few minutes he might ask, "Do you believe the house is spinning?"  If you ask in response, "Do you believe the house is spinning?"  He might answer, "Yes," with a giggle.  You might then ask, "Are you dizzy?" and he would give you an even stranger response saying, "Yes, and so is the house!"  

If all that happened when a boy spun around for a few minutes, then that boy was my son, Isaac.  Pretty cute boy, right?

I guess he does listen in Mass afterall.

As we are getting out of the car to go into the store, Isaac asks me, "Why did the priest say that if a man hits you on your cheek you should tell him to hit you on the other cheek?"  I especially liked the "tell him to hit on the other cheek" part.  That was an interesting conversation.  I tend to be like my dad and go into way more detail than they actually want.  When I ask if something makes sense and I get a "Mom, look at the leaf I found in the store!" then I know I have lost him.  It's time to move on.

I love this trouble maker!

Who wouldn't?

He beats up on everybody, gets into everything, and refuses to regularly communicate with us, but he's cute enough that we'll keep him anyway.  Plus, he learned this week how to take his dirty diapers to the trash, and he is the only one of the children who didn't complain about my Weight Watchers Noodle-less Zucchini Lasagna that took almost an hour and a half to make.  He ate it all right up!  He has even been looking at the books when I read to him and pointing occasionally when I ask him to do so.  To top it all off, he is cuddling with his stuffed horse we gave him for his birthday when he sleeps.  I love that!

I see the resemblance.

The only other real news is that he is down to one nursing a day, this was mostly his doing, and I can tell he is not that interested in the last nursing left (first thing in the morning.)  I was going to nurse him longer, but it looks like I don't have much time left.  My main reason for nursing him longer than the rest was because he never cuddles me and it is the only time I get with him while he is still in my arms.  However, lately he has been a lot more cooperative during his bedtime routine and I am getting a little bit of cuddles then.  Why must they grow up so quickly?

The Progression of Isaac's Arts

 I recently realized how far Isaac has come in his drawing skills.  I have here a random compilation that shows the progression from Jackson Pollock to Picasso...well, sort of anyway.

I didn't have a date written on this one, but it was more than I year ago I think.

This was Isaac's standard person for a long long time, no body, just a head/face with arms and legs.  Many times, like in this picture, the person was crying.  This was just after he turned 3 years old.

This is Isaac's drawing of a bird a couple of months ago.

This is a recent drawing of pirates with torches all around them.  See they grew bodies and even giant fingers and toes.