Reece, Our Cub Scout

 

Reece is signed up to be a Cub Scout. He is really excited about it. Benjy can't believe that he is already old enough to be the Dad of a Cub Scout - with lots of special memories of time with his Dad when he was one. This is my first experience around the whole organization, and other than getting lost in all the lingo, I am really impressed with it. Reece is super excited and it seems to fit just exactly the kind of kid he is....he is going to love it. His little brothers are sad that they can't be a part of it - which is a great thing in and of itself because it gives the oldest brother a little special distinction in having something to call his very own for now...and gives Chase something to have to look ahead to and anticipate.

Reece had his first opportunity to do a few outdoorsey things as a Cub scout. Here are a few pics of him learning to shoot the bow and arrow and the bb gun.

 

 

 

 

When Losing Your Cool Sets Off An Alarm

Let me give a little background information to the story...

I am not sure if it is simply their developmental age, and then I also imagine the transition we are in sort of intensifies things, but our older boys have been a little bothered by all of the fire drills, tornado drills and lock down drills at their new school. It makes them feel nervous and somewhat afraid, so especially in those first days of school, we had various conversations with them about how they are just practice and do not mean that the event you are preparing for is ever going to happen - it is just a "be prepared" kind of thing.

So......

On Thursday it had been one of those not-so-great afternoons, and then continued on into the evening. Kids had been at each other about everything, lots of complaining and bickering, and...well, to put it plainly, I lost my cool. I gave them my not so patient rant and sent them to bed rather harshly. I realize all parents have those moments (okay, please say you do too, right?!?!?). I don't like myself when I lose it and feel like it is one of those things I always need to work on.

Why is it that when you are not in that moment, it seems so easy to have the game plan in place. How you will keep your calm, know you will not overreact and not escalate the situation, understand how to diffuse the attitudes and grumbling, and on and on....but then, when the moment does arrive, all the theory is so easily discarded and you return to the not so friendly and mature ways of handling the situation. Why?? It is difficult to be consistent and "on" - and frustrating when you fail. I know that it is ineffective and hurtful to the boys when I do lose my cool.

Thursday's experience has given me a very real example to come to mind as an illustration of its alarming ineffectiveness.

A few minutes after banishing the older three to bed, I returned to the kitchen to clean up. I decided to turn the burner back on to reheat the bacon grease so I could remove it from the pan more easily and give it to our dog. So I did. Then I noticed Hudson's bib on the table and picked it up to discard it in the laundry basket down the hall. En route to the basket, I peered into the boys' room, was flooded with guilt and felt sad for sending them to bed in such an ugly tone and with no snuggles, prayers or kind words. SO I began the all important process of reassuring, loving and kissing each of them. I began with Pierce, tucked him in and then crawled into bed beside Reece. I whispered in his ear, and although I thought it strange that he smelled like burnt toast or something...I continued to talk to him....until... it suddenly hit me ------- THE BACON GREASE. I bolted down the hall and as I entered the kitchen - full of smoke - the smoke alarm began to do its job. And do it VERY loudly. Right outside of the boys' bedroom. I knew all was ok because it was just smoke. I turned off the burner. Removed the pan. Tried to fan the smoke with a cloth to no avail. The alarm continued. I could hear the boys crying and Benjy running to see what was going on. He quickly removed the battery from the alarm to create some kind of calm to the chaos. Let's just say - they were freaking out. Chase, on his top bunk, was holding his ears with his hands, had his eyes clenched shut and was traumatically rocking back and forth. Reece was doing much the same and stating that he didn't feel safe in the house and that we couldn't live here anymore. Pierce, was laid back and fine - just as he most often is in life. I gave lots of hugs and as the children's backs were turned away from him - my loving husband was clenching his fist at me as if to say - "what were you thinking?? I am gonna KILL YOU!"

It took us some time to restore any calmness. They all ended up going to our bed to fall asleep after a lengthy discussion of why it was actually a good thing that the loud beeper sounded.

We will be smelling bacon for awhile. Sheeeshhhhh!

The point of the story is not my inability to multi-task (ha! that could be a whole other story), but rather, something quite obvious. There are consequences to losing your cool. Maybe it isn't always something so marked as a fire alarm. But the hurt it causes the kids. The way it disrupts the environment in your home. The cycle from frustration to guilt to reconciliation. It isn't healthy and it isn't the standard I want to set for my children.

I believe this experience has taught me more than just preferring not to smell like bacon grease. I want to choose the higher road in dealing with my frustration. I want to be prepared - I want to get better at knowing my strategy a little better and acting on the game plan before the alarm has to sound.

And I know, I know. We all have our days. I just want to have less of them.

Raising Readers...

Can I just say that I am absolutely amazed at the experience of watching my kids learn to read. It is an incredible and nearly magical process. I am fascinated with how it seems to unfold before your very eyes.

From pregnancy on we read to our boys. Reece was only months old when we began the routine of reading the same few books to him daily. We have always made it a point to have many books available in our home. And then the older brothers participated in "reading" to the younger ones and so on and so on. We have done what we could to prioritize reading.

So why does it come as such a surprise when you see your little ones figure out how to sound out a word, and read a sentence and before you know it, take off reading chapter books? Pretty fun.

Reece has been reading confidently and enjoying it for quite some time now. Chase was in the beginning stages last year but is really putting it together quickly right now. It is so fun! I love the little giggle of accomplishment as his confidence grows. I love seeing it come together for him and feel like he is stepping up a level in his growing up. And Pierce is a shadow of his big brothers - he is far from true reading but in his mind he has arrived! He will patiently page through the pages of novels or chapter books without pictures and claim he is reading them.

For all three this new experience of the public library is a huge hit. We sign out a lot of books every visit. And the school boys bring library books home from school all of the time. There are a lot of books to keep track of!

When we moved into this house we wanted to get them something special to establish some routine. We opted for this simple idea of a reading lamp/clip lamp for each of them. They each picked out their own and were chanting in the shopping cart "clip lamps, clip lamps" - it was a funny sight). They were more than excited - (I love it when kids get amazed at simplicity!!!) They LOVE them and they USE them! In fact, they consider it an offense if the night has grown too late and they are denied the use of the clip lamp on any given school night.

Here are a few cute boys making their brains a little smarter :)

 

 

 

Raising Readers

Can I just say that I am absolutely amazed at the experience of watching my kids learn to read. It is an incredible and nearly magical process. I am fascinated with how it seems to unfold before your very eyes.

From pregnancy on we read to our boys. Reece was only months old when we began the routine of reading the same few books to him daily. We have always made it a point to have many books available in our home. And then the older brothers participated in "reading" to the younger ones and so on and so on. We have done what we could to prioritize reading.

So why does it come as such a surprise when you see your little ones figure out how to sound out a word, and read a sentence and before you know it, take off reading chapter books? Pretty fun.

Reece has been reading confidently and enjoying it for quite some time now. Chase was in the beginning stages last year but is really putting it together quickly right now. It is so fun! I love the little giggle of accomplishment as his confidence grows. I love seeing it come together for him and feel like he is stepping up a level in his growing up. And Pierce is a shadow of his big brothers - he is far from true reading but in his mind he has arrived! He will patiently page through the pages of novels or chapter books without pictures and claim he is reading them.

For all three this new experience of the public library is a huge hit. We sign out a lot of books every visit. And the school boys bring library books home from school all of the time. There are a lot of books to keep track of!

When we moved into this house we wanted to get them something special to establish some routine. We opted for this simple idea of a reading lamp/clip lamp for each of them. They each picked out their own and were chanting in the shopping cart "clip lamps, clip lamps" - it was a funny sight). They were more than excited - (I love it when kids get amazed at simplicity!!!) They LOVE them and they USE them! In fact, they consider it an offense if the night has grown too late and they are denied the use of the clip lamp on any given school night.

Here are a few cute boys making their brains a little smarter :)

 

 

 

Our Life Stage....

Sometimes it is nice to go to the real Zoo....even though it feels like we have one of those in our very own home :)

Dear Benjy,

At times, we might want to pretend that we have it all together and that every day is a calm sequence of orderly events...then we get back to reality... look around us... and remember what life stage we are currently signed up for. It is nothing less than a zoo at times. But at least we are in it together. I love you! Thanks, babe, for being more than just a spectator in raising these little animals!

Love, Care

"You are somethin' else"

Yesterday morning at the breakfast table, out of nowhere, Pierce, looks at his baby brother and says, "Hudson, you are something else". It made me laugh. But really, it is such a true statement.

Hudson is growing and changing every day - it is crazy how fast the time has flown - he is 10 months old today! He is crawling and into everything. It is not an understatement to say that we lose him several times day (always inside the house, don't worry) He has absolutely zero interest in anything that is actually classified as a toy. Forget it. He quickly passes any toy within his reach and head straight for trouble. It is a full time job to keep him away from the many things he shouldn't get to. He is beginning to recognize the "eeeehhh, eeeehhhh, eeeehhhh" sound when he has a hold of something he shouldn't - he usually smiles and raises it to his mouth anyway... every once in awhile he obeys and drops it.

He still only has 2 bottom teeth but there are about 4 top ones that are on the verge of popping through any time now. He seems a little irritated by them but not too bad. He thinks he is all grown up in the eating department too. Never has wanted anything to do with any kind of mushed up food - he prefers the small, diced approach of real table food. He believes he has already graduated beyond Cheerios for a snack - yikes, baby, slow down!

I am happy to finally report that he is becoming a much better sleeper. Hallelujah! There are a few random nights here and there when he will wake up once before 6 but usually he is sleeping from 8pm until 6am. He loves to wave bye-bye, loves to clap, he smiles often and big, and he is in a super sweet cuddly stage. He has more hair at this point than any of my boys have had - and it is in that so cute, growin' up - needs-a-cut-but-Momma-ain't-anywhere-near-ready-for-that-yet look! He has this cute little laugh and is just a really special boy. Here are a few recent snapshots to show you what he is looking like and doing these days!

Here is the big boy in his month-to-month shot in the dump truck. We started with a lot of dump and a little newborn baby boy and now we are getting a lot of boy and no so much truck. Doesn't he just look sooo big?

He likes banging things around - ha! what boy doesn't!

So he invited big brother Pierce along for a bigger band!

Happily cheering big brothers on at their first soccer games!

Crawlin' around and looking for anything but toys :)

Me and my blue eyed cuddly baby - we spend a lot of time together - and I wouldn't have it any other way!! He is, after all, something else!

A New Launch

A new chapter of life. A new blog in its' honor. Seems appropriate.....

I am excited to finally be sending this new blog out into cyberspace, etching our fun family memories onto a screen for my sentimental safe-keeping, and sharing them with you because... apparently you care! Thank you for your patience and your occasional gentle reminders that you miss reading about our life happenings - makes me feel loved.

As you can imagine, we have had a crazy few months. We have climbed and crashed and sat stationary and sped and coasted on the roller coaster called "major life transition". It has been a journey - and it ain't over. We left our Mexico Querido mid June, rain pouring down as we took the final drive out of Mexico City, tears softly blending with the very perfectly timed music playing in the background. I am just that way - breathing in the moment, trying to experience it fully. It is now mid September and we have felt and experienced a wide range of emotions through these "re-settling" months. All in all - we are well - we are adjusting - some days are easy - some aren't quite. Most importantly we are together in it. We miss many things about Mexico on a daily basis and yet we are finding good in the "today" as well. Four boys keep life hopping and so we are regularly called to the reality of living in the moment. There are always things to be done and normal, routine-ness of daily activity. That is a good thing.

As I said, lots has happened and is always happening that is worth remembering. I have several posts long written in my head about funny things the kids have said and done since last blogging. Doubt the time is to be found to sit down and get it all "caught up" in one evening, so we will just have to see how it all comes together "poca a poco"...

I believe that at the heart of most blogs is simply a place for the author to write - to think out loud - to record special things. This one will be no different. Nothing all that profound, yet perhaps, at times, in its simplicity, very profound. Profound and unique because it is me, writing about mine. That matters. To me at least. And if you want to read and smile and laugh and reflect alongside me, you are invited to do so! My four boys have - and will always - teach me and remind me and challenge me and call me to the important things in life...and tonight I am thankful for that.

May the blogging continue...