Cloudy with a chance of Star Wars

D: No stars; the clouds are for the sky.

Me: Yeah, it's cloudy and we can't see the stars today. 

J: I need-- I need Star Wars! 

Me: Good man!

Poor bubba, J turned on the in-house radio down in the kitchen and I didn't realize the boys' radio was on full-blast up in their room.  
D: I scared in my bedroom.  I scare of my radio. My radio is LOUD!

Deedles can't even this morning.

D: It's loud at Sarah's house.
Me: Is it loud because you were there?
D: No, the loud is at Sarah's house.

C: I want to do screen time in my office!

Me: Remember yesterday when you used up all your screen time right away and then were bored the rest of the day?

C: Yeah, but I have something really important to do and don't want to forget!

Me: You won't forget.

C: But Mom, I have a really horrible memory.

Me: Not when it comes to screen time!

(4/21) Work day for Dad & me and Sarah had the boys.  She very nicely met me at the gym after work, but traffic was so horrendous that I was late getting there and then got paged *8* freaking minutes into a run.  Today was not my day.  Though not a stellar run, it was still a run and I managed to recoup the tiniest smidgen of sanity.


(4/22) Poor Dad was feeling really awful today and ended up staying home.  I took the littles over to Gymagine and met up with Sarah & the grands, and tried to stay out as long as possible so Dad could sleep. The littles had a blast at Gymagine and then we hit the park.  Love my Wednesdays!  The teen was shocked to see us both home when she got home from school, and we had a really nice, low-key evening.


(4/23) Work day for me.  Dad stayed home again today because he didn't feel any better.  His parents were in town today, so we arranged to have dinner.  Dad and I didn't communicate very well and he ended up feeding the kids before his folks and I got there.  The kids happily joined us for a second shift at dinner, and got Opa cookies "with chocolate inside it!" C's second grade concert was tonight, and the teen stayed with the boys so we could go.  And of course we had to go for ice cream after!  His concert was darling and we all enjoyed it, even if C doesn't care for the singing stuff so much.  The stinker didn't even bother to tell us about the concert and I only found out because I emptied his backpack the morning before and found a flyer.


(4/24) Work day for me and Dad had the kiddos.  The teen arranged to go out with a friend this evening and the rest of us stayed and played at home.  The teen hadn't appeared by the boys' bedtime, and had conveniently lost her phone this morning. Then she didn't answer calls and texts to her friend's phone about being way over curfew.  Luckily two of us were home so one of us could go fetch....but UGH.

(4/25) I had a lovely morning catching up with some running friends, one of whom was in town all the way from Hawaii. He's kicking off his second round of doing a marathon in every state. A true Maniac!  By the time I got home, the teen had left for her visit and the littles were ready to go down for a nap. Dad cooked us up a delicious dinner of Korean tacos and the gaming group came over in the evening to play D&D.


(4/26) The teen was very put out today that I wasn't excited about driving her back over to the scene of the communication failure from Friday.  Gee, I'm not sure why.  So I heard about it and heard about it.  Yeah, yeah, I'm in the running for Worst Mom of the Year.  I get it.  For the most part, we had a stay home day.  I did exciting things like mudded a wall and re-caulked the shower and got the kids to do their homework.


(4/27) Off and running again with another busy week.  Work for Dad & me, Sarah has the littles and Granddad has the bigs.

Sun & Sausage Rainbows

D: I spy the sun!  Mom, cover your eyes!
Me: I can't, D, I'm driving.

J: A rainbow!
Me: That's sausage.
J: Sausage rainbow!
Me: Yeah, please hand me the sausage rainbow.

D: Sarah!  Look!  An EXCEPTIONAL bubble!

D: See you next time, JJ-sir!
J: Bye, DD-sir!
D: Thanks coming, JJ-sir!


(4/14) Work day for Dad and me, school for the bigs, and Sarah had the boys. She graciously met me at the gym with my herd so I could run after work. Just what I needed after a long day.


(4/15) Work day for Dad and I had the kiddos.  I took the littles to the library today and then to the park.  We got home a bit late which meant a late nap.  Fortunately, the teen walked in just as I was about to head up to wake them and I asked if she minded staying with sleeping boys while I went to go get C.  She didn't, so they got in some quality sleep. Nanan came to play bubbles with the boys this evening so the teen and I could sneak out for her appointment.  We hit Michael's afterward for these "divider things" the teen was looking for, which after hunting around, we determined she was looking for file folders. Oy vey.  But the trip was successful in that we brought home ice cream, so huzzah for that.


(4/16) Work day for me, school for the bigs, and Sarah had the boys.  Traffic was so horrible tonight that I only caught 30 minutes of Zumba, which is definitely not enough of an attitude adjustment (for me!).  The little boys were being such boogers tonight. J was sobbing about not getting the digger jammies he wanted and D was bouncing all over, so eventually I just gave up and walked out.  When I came back, D was passed out sans jammies. I just put a blanket over him and assured JJ he would be fine. J made sure to tell Dad first thing the next morning that D still needed jammies.  Dear boys: please nap at nap time and don't be so bonkers when it's bedtime!


(4/17) Work day for me and Dad had the kiddos.  I had book club this evening, so snuck out the door pretty much right after work.  There was more venting than book chatter tonight, but I enjoyed the book and am curious to see what other authors have written in the same Kindle World.  C had movie night at his school with Nanan, where they watched Big Hero 6.  Nanan took him home for the weekend and I know he'll have a great time!  The teen went out for a movie too, but ultimately ended up at a friend's house watching Not Another Teen Movie.  Appropriate choice.


(4/18) Today was lovely.  We both got out to the gym and got the shopping done in the morning.  The teenager had a visit, so she left for that and Dad and I took the littles out for lunch.  They had snacked quite a bit this morning, so weren't terribly hungry.  I put them down for a nap after we got home D decided not to sleep. He's going to be fun tonight... We got them up to take them to Sarah's, where her daughter watched a small herd of children while all the adults went out to play.  We went wine tasting at Woodstone.  And what goes best with wine you ask?  Margaritas!  Mexican it was for dinner.  Yum.  We got home pretty early and promptly put the twins down and popped in a movie.  We watched Mockingjay Part 1 and the Imitation Game.  Both were really good.  Can't wait for part 2!


(4/19) I really shouldn't ever plan anything... The original plan was to meet Nanan up at the Camano beach, but C got sick and instead spent the morning sleeping.  Sarah and I went out for coffee and then I took the littles out to play in the back yard and sat in the sunshine with my book.  I put the littles down after a backyard picnic and offered a couple of swimming options up for the afternoon.  We settled on the lake - while not what I had in mind, did the trick just fine.  We took a picnic dinner and played until everyone got too cold. I bribed them all with hot showers and ice cream and we left for home.


(4/20) Work and school for us bigs and the littles are going to Sarah's.

So Long and Thanks for All the Fish

Dad: JJ, are you being a butt?
J: Yes, I butt!

Me: The boys like the gym.
D: And I like the Starbucks! And the Sarah. And Jamie. And of course, Jordan.

Me: You need to go brush your teeth.
C: And give Mom a noogie!
Me: No...
C: What? It's on my daily to-do list!

D: I need hexagon kingcomers!  (cucumbers)

J: I play narbles!  (marbles)

S: Where's Dad?

Me: At the gym.

S: Dad? At the gym? 

Me: Yes, I know. He joined a gym!

S: I'm so confused. 

The boys love the 'zeum!

D: JJ wants to get off.

(4/7) Work day for Dad & me, and Sarah had the kidlets.  She met me at the gym after work and I caught the last 40 minutes of Pump before heading home.  Such a nice way to end the day!  

(4/8) Work day for Dad, and I had the kids.  I took the littles to the "zeum" (children's museum) and then brought them home for lunch and a quick nap rest.  I got happily hollering twins up so we could go get C, and then we headed to a play date at the lake with some old friends from C's preschool.  It was bright and sunny, and turned out to be perfect weather for it.  I didn't bring swim stuff, but probably should have, or at least a change of clothes for them all.  I just monitored the boys so they didn't get too wet as they played.  We stayed for a few hours and then I rounded them up and took them all home.  I didn't hear a peep from the twins after I put them down for the night and they were sound asleep when C went up, which is a rarity for sure.

(4/9)  Work day for Dad and me, school for the bigs, and Sarah's for the littles.  I had a baby shower at work to go to, and ended up getting off a little early.  I raced over to Sarah's to grab the kids and made it to the gym for the last 40 minutes of Zumba.  Dinner was a little late tonight because of it, and the conversation in the car was pretty funny.  J wanted trail mix, and D kept saying "No snacks! I need dinner. I hungry. I need dinner." allthewayhome.  Yes, D, I know.  Sorry, bud.

(4/10) Work day for me & Dad had the kids.  Dad got left with a grumpy, cooped up teenager since someone got home way past curfew last night.  He took the kids to the library so the teen had something to read at least. She's hooked on Harry Potter now, which they're reading in class, and really wants to go to Hogwarts. She and I watched The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy tonight and she now knows the importance of always carrying your towel. The big boys went to go see playoff hockey and we won 5-3.  Way to go, Tips!

(4/11) I spent a lovely day with my mom today.  We went painting at the Sip Dip n Doodle to celebrate her birthday and had the place to ourselves. Then we walked over and had lunch at Tablas Woodstone.  And then finally coffee to cap off the day.  After we got home, the gaming group had mostly arrived.  The teen and I went to a movie since the boys had gone out the previous night.  We went to see Insurgent.  I really liked it, though I totally don't remember the book enough to compare and am feeling the need to re-read it.  

(4/12) Today sure fizzled out. It started strong with a gym trip for Dad & me. We had a beach trip planned for the afternoon, but as the afternoon creeped along, it got darker and colder.  Add to that, spending four hours on homework, and having yet another argument, and my patience was fried.  Marathons of the homework variety are not my thing, and are about as exhausting.  The twins conked hard and I had to wake DD at 5pm, so all-in-all, it was probably good that we stayed home today.  The kiddos played "narbles" not-so-quietly while I got dinner together and then wanted to keep playing during dinner and/or be all all done in two bites, so they could go back to playing. Then it was on to bath / bed / pick-up that makes up our normal Sunday routine.

(4/13) Back to work and school with us today.  Busy week on tap.  Helmet on & .... GO.