The Sounds of Summer

MOM!  Maaaaaaaaaaaaawmmeeeeeee!   Muh-ooooom!  Mom?  MOM!  Momma? Moooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!  Mom-mom-mom-mom-mom-mom!  Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom?  MAMMA! Muh-om-meeeeeee!  Mommeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey? Mommmmmmmmmmmma!  Mom-UH!  Momma-momma-momma-momma-momma-momma-momma? Mom.  Momma.  MAMMA! 
Mom.
Mom.
Mom.
Mom.
Mom.
MOM!
MOM!!

Ugh.  I'm going to go soothe my nerves by listening to nails on a chalkboard. 

Where I've Been (alternate title: Ugh)

Wow, that's quite a gap - like, a month... and a half.  Fail.

I'm super duper annoyed with myself for being a slacker.  It's totally fair for you all to be annoyed with me too.  I can't really explain why I haven't been blogging much without sounding like Whiney Whinerson, so I'll try to keep it brief since I don't love crying into my blog like it's a hankie:

Some dudes royally screwed the pooch with our house (Remember? The gorgeous, monster house I love so dearly and posted about before?  That house.  Yup.) and we ended up with a basement (which is where the kids' rooms are) full of mold.  And, as it turns out, basement walls full of water.  And a bunch of douchey contractors that refused to acknowledge the scope of the problem until I took it upon myself to start ripping baseboards off the walls.  It's awesome.  No, like truly AWESOME.  That nonsense isn't fit for human habitation so I have all 4 kids sleeping in my bedroom.  Yup - all 4.  (On the plus side, hooray for a master bedroom big enough for 1 queen bed, 1 crib, 1 Pack 'n Play and 1 twin-sized bed!)  And remember my struggles with Chronic Laundry Buildup?  Imagine what CLB symptoms look like when I no longer have THREE closets in which to hang 4 children's worth of clothing and when I cannot fold the 894 onesies Peyton has into dressers or the 9,476 socks Jack possesses or the 88 pairs of pants I have for the twins are homeless due to dressers being in mold-infested places.  So I've brought the dresser drawers upstairs and they ALSO number among the orphaned furniture items now cluttering up my bedroom.  And I have essentially no time to do anything because I spend about 75% of my life on the phone trying to get someone to do something beyond painting Killz on some baseboards and expecting me to be happy with that. 

Dudes, it sucks.  Look:

 Nursing chair, Pack 'n Play next to my side of the bed (the night stand is full of baby PJ'S)...

 There's Jack's bed - the mattress covered in junk on the floor in the corner next to Justin's side in front of a door.

 There's the crib... and no, I don't think it's a good idea for 60 lbs of terrible two's to still be occupying a crib, but I have no idea what else to do with them.

 

 

There's the stacks of drawers... the brown ones are Jack's, the long white ones are Peyton's and the short stack of many drawers belongs to the twins.  It's super annoying. 

And this is what I found when I pulled the baseboards off the wall in Peyton's room.  Grody, no? 

So I've been a super delightful person lately and haven't really wanted to burden anyone with my anger and frustration - my poor kiddos get enough of it as it is.  (I think we're all just getting tired of me being on the phone and us being reduced to 900 square feet of living space and constantly sushing because someone is always sleeping nearby - usually Peyton or Justin if he's on night shift) and no one having their own space to go to get away from the others...

Blech.  Be glad you're not me.  Actually, be glad you're not the contractors working with me because I reduced 3 grown men to near tears yesterday. 

Or be glad you're not a baseboard in my basement because that would mean I had abused you with a crow bar. 

The Last Two Weeks: Photo Collage Edition

So, before my dad came, this was the state of my house.  THIS, and worse.  And for each step forward, I took to backwards... you know how it goes with us...

Grandma Gallagher sent down a care package that included awesome dress-up stuff for the girls and Jack, and dolls from their Uncle Jon and his fiancee, Amy!  So that was awesome, because it kept the kids occupied for about 30 seconds while I started a load of laundry...

And, luckily, the kids are adorable enough that I don't mind TOO much when they interrupt me, or worse - make a bigger mess to clean up in the middle of my cleaning.

Somewhere along the lines, I realized Addie has become a toddler.  She's a real, honest-to-goodness toddler, with two-piece jammies and who likes to wrap her dolly up in a blanket and give her kisses and rock her while she sings to her.  So I probably took about a day or so in the last 14 to spend time marveling at how quickly babes become kids become moms watching babes become kids. 

Then my dad got here!  The kids took to him right away (it was the first time he'd met the girls and maybe the 3rd time with Jack!) and we had a phenomenal time enjoying one another's company!

We went to our aquarium, of course, and loved every minute of it!  It was Dad's first experience at any aquarium, so it was really cool that we could take him there!

Jordan decided to ham it up for the camera...

 We also visited the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum to take a ride on a real steam engine.  Also a first for my dad and he absolutely loved it.  I let Jack have his own camera and he happily snapped away, photographing his favorite subject matter in the universe!  It was a tremendously cool experience and again, I'm beyond thrilled that we could introduce Dad to something so awesome.

That afternoon, we all went to the Southern Brewer's Festival in downtown.  Talk about fun!  There was beer, food, live music and general fun to be had by all!  I can't believe that we got lucky enough to have his trip down here coincide with the Festival.  Score!

We went for walks, ate an incredible amount of food, watched football, played with the kids, went to Mass, drove around the area and just really had a blast.  It was certainly a whirlwind of a week and I am so grateful that Dad made it out here!  He's never been this far east in the US OR south, for that matter, so it was certainly an eye-opener for him... There's just a different feel to life in the South than there is in his native Colorado, and it was really neat to see him learning so many new things and to introduce him to the way we live our lives.

But, things are calming down a bit and I'm getting back into routines and whatnot.  I've got a few blog changes that might be coming up, as well as some fun stuff to post about AND if you haven't noticed down below, I've got a blog button now!  I have no idea what to do with it or why in the world you'd want it, but if you do, it's yours for the taking!

I'm off to go get a very cry-y Jordan out of her crib and start dinner before the hubs gets home, but I hope you enjoyed my collages!

Making Nature-Girls

When Jack was little, we were constantly outside.  I think the fact that he walked at 9 months and that it was much cooler weather when he was learning to walk enabled us to walk around outdoors much more.  We also had a screened porch at the house we were in.  The girls, however, learned to walk during the hottest months of summer which made it much more difficult for them to spend a large amount of time just roaming around the backyard...  Additionally, we had nice grass when Jack was younger.  Now, we've got glorified weeds and rocks.  With no shade.  It's just a pretty abysmal lot and it's not a ton of fun for kids.

So that's what I'm going to claim as my defense as to how in the world I, lover of all things outside, have managed to raise two very prissy girls who pout and whine at the mere mention of grass.  They'll do water (though, Addie much more than Jordan) and the beach, but you can forget anything else.  Last weekend we tried to go for a lengthy walk to a park, play for a bit and head back.  They wanted nothing to do with it.  This past weekend we tried a different park, and I switched my tactics a bit.  Where I had previously thought fewer clothes would be better to keep them cooler, this time I put them in (way too big) jeans and shoes to insulate their delicate skin from the offensive... air?  Grass?  Bugs?  Sun?  Whatever... I also brought towels for them to sit on and lounge in the shade of a tree.

The result?  Slightly happier twins.  Though, even still, Jordan was far more adventurous than Addie who only ventured off the towels towards the end and only then because I was holding her hand.

So I dunno... what do you think?  Can I convince them that nature really is okay?  Sigh.  I'll keep trying.

Black and White Wednesday

You know, when I look at my husband, the father of my children, my best friend, I can't help but marvel at how stinking lucky I got. 

He's such a tender and loving father... and he's such a caring husband.  And he's a ton of fun to be around.  I am just blessed... and so are my children.  I think if I can claim credit for giving them nothing else, I'll always be proud to have given them Justin as their Daddy. 

...Well, actually, I guess I should say instead that I'll always be grateful to have been given Justin as their Daddy... Because, truthfully, I'm pretty sure that's how it works.

There are other great black and white shots (who doesn't love black and white?) over at Lisa's blog... check them out!

Whirlwind...

Phew!  That was a fantastic visit from the grandparents!  It left me utterly exhausted though... and the kiddos, too (as evidenced by the fact that for 2 days in a row they slept past 9:30)!  We had a different activity every single day of the week that they were here... we went to the beach a few times, and to the local children's museum, and to the aquarium, and we took a ride on a train, plus played at a park downtown and rode a carousel... Every single day, the temperatures soared above 100, but we managed to have fun anyway!  We made some awesome meals and even did a clam bake and a Lowcountry Boil on Saturday - a while bushel of clams!  (Don't even ask how much that  costs when you live in a land-locked state...)  We ate gourmet cupcakes and porterhouse steaks and more than a few McNuggets.  We had a blast!

Addie fell asleep on her raft with Pawpaw on the lake, and Jordan determined she's much more a spa-day kinda gal than a beach kinda gal.  Jack didn't stay in one place long enough for me to snap many pictures of him.  I packed 9,745 sandwiches and loaded and unloaded the car about 1,349 times and filled and refilled about 16,384 water bottles and sippy cups and Grandma changed about a trillion diapers.

There was much laughing and much excitement and lots of playing.  I think Grandma and Pawpaw are going to need a week or so to recover from their vacation... I know we're recuperating down here ourselves.

So I'm taking this week to relax a little bit and get the kiddos back on a routine since Jack starts preschool next week and then we're going to start gearing up for my dad to come visit at the end of the month!  Lots to look forward to this month!  I've got some fun posts up my sleeve for you, as well as a guest post on Amy's blog next Tuesday.

And that, my friends, is why I wasn't around last week.  Thanks for sticking with me!  What have you been up to?

Pssst...

I'm still here!  I just have family in town and we're making the absolute most of every single minute we've got together... and finding ourselves utterly exhausted each afternoon from too much sun and too much fun... I'm still reading yours (but not always being able to comment... it doesn't work well on my mobile browser) and I hope you'll come back soon because I have fun stuff to share!  Please don't be mad at me - I just had to prioritize a little bit this week! 

Thanks for understanding and I hope you're all enjoying the last drops of summer too!

Black and White Wednesday...

We had a fantastically fun weekend involving the beach on Saturday and church (which was a HUGE success - love it when that happens!) followed by a trip downtown on Sunday.  The city has so much fun stuff to offer and we're still enjoying discovering all of it.  We have been talking about walking across a big pedestrian bridge and spending some time in one of the many parks.  It was raining when we arrived so we ducked into a gourmet cupcake (two words that are nearly holy when placed next to one another, in my opinion) bakery to snack on super amazing carbs for a few and wait for the storm to pass.  It did and we loved the bridge - it was stunning!  Apparently the city recently re-did the wood planking and updated the bridge... it's so beautiful and welcoming and the two shores it connects offer so much - shopping and boutiques and restaurants and museums and parks and artwork.  Amazing. This place rocks.

Here are a few more fun shots from the weekend!

Today, while you're looking at other pictures on Lisa's blog, I'll be taking the kiddos out and about to enjoy more new things around here.  Excellent. 

Caterpillar Rescue Society

Total members of my new club: 1.  Maybe 1 1/2.  Jack is on the fence about whether or not he wanted to rescue the caterpillars or play with them to... uh... "sleep".

Back on Mother's Day, family and I planted potted herbs, including parsley.  Recently, while I was watering said parsley, I noticed this little face staring back at me:

Super cute, huh?  Well, he and two buddies had taken up residence in my parsley.  Jack and I were overjoyed by their presence (...and Justin just rolled his eyes.  I didn't tell the girls because they eat things.) and spent a bunch of time watching them crawl amongst the leaves. 

One little fella was perched up high on a stalk munching away on a leaf and let Jack pet him a couple of times:

See?  See how delightfully plump and... stripey they are?  Love them.  In attempts to get a good shot of the third of the bunch, I noticed this weird little thing...

See those orange things coming out of its head?  Apparently they pop out and squirt stinky stuff into the air when the caterpillar feels threatened.  I didn't not know this until later.  Nor do I know why it felt threatened when I put my hand near it and Jack could pet one with no problems.  Apparently he has a "way" with caterpillars.

These, by the way, are black swallowtail caterpillars.

Anyway, after we took our pictures of them, Jack and I left them alone, hoping they'd do their pupate thing.  When I went back later to check on them, I realized that the one Jack had been petting wasn't around.  My guess is that he made some birdie a very delicious breakfast.  Womp, womp.  Well, I wasn't about to let my new-found buddies (even if they DID want to squirt stink at me) meet with the same fate as their companion, so I snatched the parsley pot and took it inside, much to Justin's chagrin. I placed the pot on a stool near our front door so it could get plenty of sunlight but the 'pillars would be safe from predators.  And Jack.

The accommodations apparently didn't suffice because they kept trying to escape the pot.  In search of what, I don't know.

Each escape attempt necessitated I gingerly pluck the caterpillar off of whatever surface onto which he'd wandered (door jab, door knob, wall, stool, pot, floor) and place him carefully back on the parsley.  Each time, I got sprayed with those annoying orange things.  And it really really smells foul.  I didn't even notice the smell outside, but indoors, it's very potent.  And it lingers on your skin.  It's pretty gross. 

I was annoyed.  I was just trying to help them and all they could do is spray me with stink.

Finally, I got smart and put my (slightly) higher functioning brain and opposable thumbs to work for me and built an enclosure out of pantyhose, kebob skewers and a mesh laundry bag.  I had cleverly thwarted their plans and that night, they attached themselves to a skewer and a parsley stalk and went about forming chrysalises.  So, there they remain for the next couple of weeks.

I can't figure out how to photograph them through the mesh, and I'm worried that attempting to move the mesh might damage them, so I'll post pictures of the butterflies when they eclose!  Stay tuned!

Keeping Cool

Apparently the whole world is roasting.  Or braising.  Maybe baking... I don't really know what the distinction is.  But I do know that I had been getting a bit miserable and have been cooped up quite a bit because keeping up with the kids has been super challenging with Jordan's walking taking off... add to that ensuring they're all hydrated in 100 degree heat... ugh.  Not to mention a few of our favorite spots, like this one:

are too hot to touch by the time we get there.  And serene scenes like this:

are all but gone as they become over-run by boisterous crowds with boats and jet skis.

So we have had to come up with a new way to cool off.  And since we live in an awesome place with no lack of great stuff to do, it didn't take long...

I mean, Jordan's cool, but that's not what I meant.

I'm talking about a totally free, totally fun, easy-as-pie (though, to be fair, I think pies are pretty difficult to make) way to beat the heat.  At the aquarium downtown, there is an amazing water feature that is part artwork, part heritage, and entirely available for kiddos to enjoy.

And we enjoy away! 

See?  Addie's saying, "Finally, a sista can cool off a little!"

She looks absurdly like a mini adult here.  Yikes.

I can't tell you how exciting it is to not only have found something like this, but to have it be so accessible is just icing - summer with kids is unlike anything else, and I was getting majorly bummed about not being able to participate.  So if you don't see me post for a little while, you can count on me being downtown with my feet in the water, watching three little people scamper around!