Surviving or Embracing

I have come to the conclusion the surviving summer is all about attitude. I can dread the long days, the heat, having 4 children to entertain, lack of funds and no vacation in sight. I can complain about my kids, wonder what's wrong with them, their attitude and merely get through the summer. Or . . . . I can embrace it for what it is. A wonderful opportunity to spend quality time with my children while they are still young enough not to be embarrassed at being seen with me. I can enjoy them and try to figure out how their little brains work and attempt to shape them into the kind of adults that I will want to spend time with as well.

So my goal this summer is not to just get through it until school starts again - which by the way is exactly what I did last summer, but in my defense, I did have a new baby! - but to really enjoy it and plan fun things to do with my kids. They are growing up so fast and sometimes I feel like I'm missing the older ones because I have to keep such a close eye on the younger ones.

So this week is, by request, Pokemon week. They are obsessed with this game and collecting the cards and toys and role-playing. This is my most challenging week, by far because I really don't like this phase and I'm hoping that by doing it first that I won't have to listen to it all summer. In order to make sure our first theme week went well and to assure participation in future theme weeks I took them to the store yesterday and spent $42 on pokemon cards and toys. A total waste of money, especially when I'm trying to be frugal, but if it sets the tone for the summer (not that I'll be buying them toys every week!) then it's totally worth it.

OK - my cousin-in-law just called with an update on my cousin's cancer. It's not good. Bigger spots in his lungs and now some on his liver. Sort of makes Pokemon cards seem silly. But it also puts everything in perspective. Only God knows how long we'll be here. It's up to us whether we embrace the time we have or merely survive it.

Why I love facebook

OK - I know this is also off topic of the blog, but I'm feeling inspired. I love facebook! I have found people I played soccer with at age 7, people I went to school with, friends from every chapter of my life. I didn't realize how many closed chapters there were until facebook. People who I was once very close to and whom I considered best friends and forgot about. People I confided every thought to and thought I'd never forget. People who've seen me at my best and worst and who I thought I'd never lose track of, but somehow did.
I'm so caught up in the now - getting the kids ready for school, feeding the baby, homework, cooking etc. - that I had forgotten where I came from and who I once was. And I'm not saying I want to be that person again because I like the wisdom that comes with age. But who I was at age 20 or 25 or 10, and who my friends were and what was important to me then helped make me who I am today. And finding the people I was friends with then reminds me where I came from. Hopefully it will help me relate better to my kids in the future!

And if my kidsever read this in the future, I can group my facebook friends into these categories:

• Grade School
• Orange Grove Junior High
• Amphi High School
• UCSB
• U of A/AEphi
• Capital Camps
• American Income
• Tofel Construction
• Playgroups
• Catalina Foothills Church
• Cornerstone
• Family

Everybody is from one of these eras. I should maybe add a category for friends I met through Dave - but those are only a few. Almost all of those chapters are closed. It's probably one of those older and wiser things, but it's kind of cool to look back and see it all so clearly defined. It makes me wonder what the futute chapters will be.

How to wipe your tushy

I had the most interesting conversation with Ian(age 5) yesterday and thought I'd record it for future posterity (and laughs). We were driving in the car . .. .

Ian: "Mommy, my butt hurts."
Me: "Your what hurts?"
Ian: "I mean my tushy hurts."
Me: "Why does your tushy hurt?" (At this point I'm fully expecting him to tell me about a fall at school)
Ian: "When I go poopy, I don't always do such a job.."
Me: "OK, Ian let's go over this again. What's the first thing you do after you go poopy?"
Ian: "Well, you get some toilet paper and you wipe your butt, I mean tushy."
Me: "Where exactly do you wipe Ian?"
Ian: "Um, well, your bottom -"
Me: "No, Ian. You wipe the hole where the poopy comes out. Now, where do you wipe?"
Ian: "The hole where the poopy comes out."
Me: "Right, then what do you do?"
Ian: "Well, you put the paper in the potty -"
Me: "No, Ian. First you look at the toilet paper to see if there's any poopy on it. Then you put it in the potty. Then what do you do?
Ian: "You get some more toilet paper and you wipe your bottom -
Me: "No, you wipe the hole where the poopy comes out!"
Ian: "You wipe the hole where the poopy comes out."
Me: "then what?"
Ian: "You put it in the potty."
Me: "No, Ian. First you look at the paper to see if there's any more poopy on it."
Ian: "OK, you look at the paper then you put it in the potty."
Me: "Now what?"
Ian: "You get some more toilet paper-"
Me: "OK, Ian, pay attention. You get some toilet paper. You wipe the hole where the poopy comes out. Then you look at the toilet paper. If there is still poopy on the toilet paper you get some more toilet paper and wipe. Then what do you do?"
Ian: "Um, you throw it in the potty?"
Me: "No, Ian, you LOOK! If there is still poopy on the toilet paper, you keep wiping. You keep doing this until there is no more poopy on the toilet paper. When there is no more poopy on the toilet paper you have a clean butt - I mean tushy."
Me: "So where do you wipe?"
Ian: "The hole where the poopy comes out."
Me: "Then what do you do?"
Ian: "Um, you look at the toilet paper."
Me: "And if ther's poopy on it?"
Ian: "You get some more toilet paper and wipe again."
Me: "And if there's still poopy on it?"
Ian: "You wipe again."
Me: "Until when?"
Ian: "Until there's no more poopy."
Me: "That's right."

Can't sleep

I cannot believe how long it's been since I posted last. My only guess is that Kiera stopped being a sleeping newborn and I got busy. She's almost 1 now, I can't believe it. She's very independent and stubborn (wonder where she gets that from?). She has discovered her voice and uses it . . . constantly. Her favorite thing to say is Ah- da, usually at the top of her little lungs in the grocery store. She just repeats it over and over - it sounds to me like she's saying 'all done!' She also says da-da and has been known to get out a ma-ma when she's really upset. She is definitely a daddy's girl. The yelling starts if Dave comes home and, heaven forbid, walks by her to put his stuff down. She has a sweet little smile that's just for him.

Anyway, I don't know why I'm up in the middle of the nighttyping this - I should be getting some much-needed sleep. Every bit of me is tired, except my calves which are in knots and make it hard to sleep. I should just go take some tylonel and a hot shower and be done with it. I don't know why I'm not. Apparently I like being falling down tired . . . . the boys are croupy. Lucas and Ian woke up this morning sounding like seals. Lucas was worse so I kept him home. I probably should have kept Ian too, but it was his 100th day and he had this cute red t-shirt that we glued 100 googly eyes on for him to wear . . . . One of them is coughing now, i'm not sure who - hopefully I won't have to keep anyone home tomorrow!

OK, OK - I'm going to bed.