First Day

No backpacks this year!  Today was the first day of school at North Carolina Connections Academy and the boys wanted to wear their headsets for pictures since they don't have backpacks this year.  Also, we do own shoes, but we didn't need those for most of the day either so no one bothered to put them on for the photo shoot.  

And no, I didn't realize that neither Ben nor Michael had matching socks on until I looked at these pictures this evening.  

Socks: the battle I stopped fighting years ago.

In any case, day 1 was rather brutal.  We kicked Jason off his job search computer for the day (just today) and he did day long Isaac duty.  So, a short note about how NCCA works.  The kids are each in 7 classes, but they don't have lessons for all of them every day.  For example, Ben and Michael do math and language arts every day, but science and social studies only 2-3 times a week each.  Other classes (used to called specials for them) like art and health are only once a week.  When it is all said and done, normally their schedules are set up to do 4-5 lessons a day and that comes out to the required 6 hours a day.

NORMALLY.  However, some bureaucratic GENIUS (at the state level, not the school) decided that to keep our enrollment active, on the first day of school every child had to do one lesson for each class.  Because the lessons were pretty introductory for elementary school, that still came to about 6 hours for Ben and Michael.  For Josh, however, that meant about EIGHT hours.  We started at 8:30 and he wasn't done until after 4;30pm.  And none of that was "meet the teacher" or "get to know you" or "let's kill time while I hand out textbooks" time.  

Am I a little bitter? Yes.  And exhausted.  I probably should have waited until tomorrow to write this blog post.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Event Planner

Much of what I do could fall under the category of event planning.  Three-day trips, day at the museum, going to the grocery store - all of them take an obscene amount of logistical planning at this point.  Which sometimes makes me just want to lock all the doors and never leave the house.  But then I am trapped in a house with the minions and after a while (okay, about 5 minutes) that isn't pretty either.  So, out and about we go!  However, it has been a learning process.  Having dealt with a variety of ages and allergies over the years, I have worked out some rules for leaving the house.

Don't tell them about any fun plans until the plan is in motion and all attendees are present.  Sure, if you have to buy tickets for a week at Disneyland or a cruise, knock yourself out and break the news.  But if you are going to meet their friends at the park and something comes up and you can't deliver - forget it, you're toast.  Did you schedule a playdate but the other kid gets the stomach flu?  Were you going to meet up with the cousins at IKEA but then the worst snowstorm in 100 years hits the area and the roads are covered in 3 feet of ice?  Did you tell the kids you would take them to the pool but it is closed for emergency cleaning??  They. don't. care.  Children are no respecters of circumstances out of your control.  And they. will. remember.  You will be driving down the road a couple of years later when a little voice will pipe up from the back of the car and say, "Do you remember that one time when you said we could go to the park....."  At which point your eye may start to twitch.  Don't worry.  That's totally normal.

When planning an activity/trip outside of your home, set your expectations low.  Now lower still.  Loooooowwwwweeeeeerrrr.  Basically, if your expectations are higher than the simple survival of you and your kids, then you are shooting too high.  Now let me tell you why.  No matter how much time and effort and thought you have put into it, one of your kids is going to whine and complain the entire time.  Or, at the very least, they will take turns whining and complaining.  Worst case scenario, they all whine and complain the entire time.  But you, stalwart parent, will push through determined to have a meaningful family experience.  On the outside you will keep repeating, "Isn't this fun!", but on the inside you will be grinding your teeth down to the root and vowing never to do this again.  Exhausted you return home having aged 15 years over just a few hours only to have the kids start talking about how much fun they had and how it was the best day ever and when can we go again?  At which point your eye may start to twitch.  Don't worry.  That's totally normal.

Know your destination.  Your destination determines your packing.  Going to the grocery store?  You can wing that with all the kids and just your keys and wallet.  Grocery stores carry just about every item you might need in an "emergency".  No diapers?  Buy them.  No wipes?  Buy them.  Ran out of baby food?  Buy it.  Hungry?  Buy a snickers bar.  And frankly, most people shop at stores not too far from home, so when in doubt, leave and go home.  But, going hiking in the mountains?  Pack for the end of the world.  Prepare your inner sherpa.  There are no camping stores (that I know of) that carry Huggies or onesies.  Very few carry allergy friendly food.  And it is probably illegal for them to stock Epi-Pens.  Because you really, really don't want to find yourself two miles into a hike with no wipes and a poopy diaper.  Or with a toddler whose blood sugars are crashing and no granola bar or crackers in sight.  So start packing.  At which point your eye may start to twitch.  Don't worry.  That's totally normal. 

Lists are your friend.  When you travel places with children, your brain is going to slowly dribble out of your ear.  Unfortunately, it doesn't ever come back.  The first thing to go will be your memory.  Lists may be your only hope.  And don't think that anything is too obvious or simple for the list.  Consider adding such items as your keys and the names of the children.  Lists can prevent you from leaving on a three day trip with a baby and no pack-and-play.  That translates into two nights of co-sleeping.  At which point your eye may start to twitch.  Don't worry.  That's totally normal.

8 months

Hello 8 months!  Isaac has hit a number of milestones this month.  He can crawl (pray for us). 

 He can pull himself up to the standing position (why? why? WHY????). 

He can actually sit unassisted for a little bit, but frankly that position bores him.  He'd rather be on the move and tracking down some colorful toy or electrical cords.  If he needs to be still, he much prefers to kneel as it gives him better access to whatever is in front of him.

At the beginning of the month, he had this hysterical laugh that looked like he was hyperventilating.  Just recently he has learned how to grunt.  And in between, he has perfected screaming, screeching, squeaking and babbling.  He is a child with a lot to say.

This is not a cuddly baby.  This is a man on a mission and parents are simply vehicles to get either to a different place or to a different altitude.  Don't get me wrong, he loves us.  He just doesn't stay still unless he is asleep.

But we love him so much.  So much that we have dedicated over half our front room to Baby Toy Row.

I joke, but really we are so grateful that he is a healthy and (mostly) happy little boy.  No teeth so far.  Eczema still our persistent foe.  Soy perhaps our arch-nemesis.  And pacifiers our best friend.

Pullen Park

On Rachel's last day here, we met up with our cousins and some of her friends from high school at Pullen Park.  I had heard about Pullen Park from people in Virginia - a whole state away! - so I figured we should check it out.  It didn't disappoint.  

Well, it didn't disappoint me.  Josh's feelings were another matter entirely.

We are reaching an awkward in between age where sometimes parks are super duper fun and sometimes they are SUPER LAME.  Today was a SUPER LAME day.  I am not sure whether it has anything to do with the actual park itself or the ages of the kids playing there or the alignment of the planets, but some days are much harder than others for Josh.

Regardless, he has three younger brothers so his park days are far from over.

Michael and Ben enjoyed themselves more and spent a great deal of time in the sand pits.  Ben was determined to dig to the bottom to see what was underneath.

Michael's goals were pretty much the opposite:  to build up.

There is also a fun train at the park, but this is the best picture I got because Isaac was bound and determined to get a hold of the camera and I was bound and determined otherwise.  I won but at the cost of a decent picture.

We also rode on the carousel where my camera decided to make the horses sharp and the kids blurry.  Operator error for sure.  But I did get a decent picture of Steph, Sabrina and the back of Ezra's head.

And this fun shot of Rachel and a slightly worried Isaac.

We had a lovely time with Aunt Rachel and hope she comes again soon!

Pope

With Rachel in town and some time to play, we decided to go somewhere we can only go with someone who has a military ID and check out some planes.  

Also, play catch.  

Also, find enormous pine cones.  

The first two were planned; the last was an added bonus.  

Also, get more mosquito bites: neither planned nor a bonus.

Good times.

Family Dynamics

I see in this picture the dynamic likely in our family for years to come.  Poor Isaac.

Family dynamics are a funny thing.  They can follow you your entire life.  The baby is forever the "baby" and the oldest tends to be the one to take charge.  And the middles live their lives as the most emotionally balanced of the set.

Or so the stereotypes go.

Jason and I are both the oldest in our families and I think it shows.  It has been interesting for me to watch the boys interact and see how birth order affects (and doesn't affect) them.  Josh definitely views himself as the enforcer.  Michael is a peacemaker.  And Ben fights for the right to hold his own as well as be treated as an equal and get special treatment for being the youngest all at the same time.

Of course, Isaac complicates the whole situation.

The older boys really love him, but they are their own group, their own cohort.  Even with the five year gap between Josh and Ben, they all share many of the same interests, play with the same toys, and often have the same friends (although that may end as Josh hits high school).

Isaac will likely have a very different toddlerhood than his brothers.  So many hands to help him and so many people to cater to his whims.  I imagine we'll skip the Dora the Explorer phase and head straight into Wild Kratts, bypass building blocks and go right into Legos.  I foresee him always trying to catch up to his big brothers and it being years before he manages to get there.

Poor Isaac.

Getting Ready for School

We're doing something a little bit differently this year when it comes to school.  That shouldn't come as a huge shock as we've done lots of things a little bit differently this year.  

No, no, not home school.

But almost.  We have enrolled the boys in an online charter school.  They have teachers and classmates.  The school provides textbooks and workbooks as well as science and art gear.  And, surprisingly enough, yoga DVDs.  

I found that last item very amusing.  The boys, not so much.

I like it because it gives us flexibility this year when things are a bit up in the air, but I don't have to be mom and teacher.  

Also, they send big boxes in the mail so it's kind of like Christmas in August.  The boys were very excited.

Ben wanted to bust out the headphones/microphone combo immediately.  We told him he'd have to wait.

Michael wanted to play with the fake money right away.  We told him he'd have to wait.

And Josh wanted to devour his Social Studies textbook in one sitting.  We told him he'd have to wait.

There are worse things than three kids who can't wait for school to start.