I've been tired, and the babies have started walking, so I've been more tired. And they are still teething so I don't get much sleep at night.
Haven't felt much like bloggin, but we're all ok here. just tired.
Here's what we've been up to:
math: on to Beta. We've done the first three lessons including inequalities, sequence and review of last year.
spelling: finished lesson 9, 15/15.
Reading: almost done the last reader in the series. She's reading really well now.
grammar: memorized the months of the year, our address, phone number and 2 new poems. Learned about action verbs and pronouns. Label nouns and verbs in sentences.
science: finishing up our unit on the forest.. almost done a lapbook.
History: haven't done much this month... been focusing on science instead.
religion: making a handmade prayer book for her morning prayers from CHC.
art: finishing up projects from her weekly art class. art show coming up soon.
Music: fall concert was a success, practicing for the Christmas concert and the downtown concert hall. Church choir ongoing each weekend.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Friday, November 02, 2007
Trying to put five kids to bed by yourself...
... is very scary.
baby #1 is acting tired and fussy, so I take him to his bedroom, turn out the lights and try to nurse him to sleep. Baby number 2 is happily playing in my bedroom with my battery-operated flashlight-alarm clock (probably changing the timezone on me again so I become very confused the next morning). Toddler, preschooler and 7 year old are supposed to be cleaning their room and getting into PJs.
Baby #1 is almost asleep, when a crack of light seeps into the room, and grows brighter, carrying with it the noise of the other four kids. In walks the 7 year old looking for me. I hastily wave her away, trying not to talk so my noise won't wake up the sweet angel who is almost asleep in my lap. She leaves without saying anything, (smart girl) and the door doesn't latch behind her. Now back to baby #1... oh no! What is that pit pat pit pat I hear coming down the hall way?
The crack of light seeps into the room again, followed by a smiling talkative baby #2. I quickly pick up the almost asleep baby #1, put him in the crib, grab the crawling noisemaker and exit the room. Phew! That was a close one... Baby number one is quiet. He must be going to sleep.
Down the hall, into the kids room, "Why did you come into the baby's room E?"
"oh, I just wanted to tell you I was done cleaning my room".
"What?" I'm surprised, since the room doesn't look any cleaner than when I left except for 3 pieces of clothing that were picked off the floor. "Don't come find me for silly reasons when I"m putting the babies to bed!!".
Not really listening to me, she replies "mom, did you put that other baby in JPs room?"
I'm too focused on my baby-sleep mission to think about what she just said, so I give her 'the look' and take baby #2, settle in the rocking chair and start nursing him to sleep.
"Funny," I think to myself, "I think that baby was just sucking his thumb... that's odd, JP sucks his thumb, not P...."
Then, it dawns on me that I have just put P in JPs crib, and was about to do the opposite in this room. Now how did that happen, I wonder... I take a moment to wonder how far back it was that I had them mixed up, trying to remember who was wearing what PJs and which one was crying through mass that night. Classic sleep-deprived mother of twins moment. Or maybe I'm the only one who does this?
Anyways, I had two options:
A) Leave the status quo, put JP in Ps bed as he was almost asleep anyway, and hope that I didn't get all confused in the middle of the night, like getting a sleeping baby in the middle of the night instead of a crying one, thus waking up both at the same time. That could result in a very sleepless night... or
B) Somehow switch P into his real crib without waking him up, and keeping JP sleepy enough to go to bed in HIS real crib when I could get back to putting him to sleep. The danger in this option is that they both wake up ready to go , refusing to go to sleep because the 3 min 'nap' they had just had was good enough for another 3 hours of playtime.
I opted for option B because a late bedtime is always better than being woken up for hours on end in the middle of the night. I gently picked up JP from my lap, carried him into the bright light of the hall, left him with the kids who were still supposed to be cleaning their room and getting into PJs,
"Why didn't you TELL me I was putting P in JPs bed??" I say to E.
She gives me 'the look'.
I quietly walk into JPs room and pick up the sweet P who is half asleep and carry him into the bright hall (why didn't I shut out the light??), and into his own room. Placing him in his own bed causes him to start crying sorrowfully, so I sit back in the rocking chair and nurse him back to sleep again. Phew!!
Back to JP who is wide awake and having fun in the messy room... I take him into his right room this time, and try to settle in the dark to nurse him, taking time to quietly pray for the grace to make it through the night and the following day.
Bang!
What was that? Those noisy kids.
"MOMMY!!" the preschooler yells...
"Have you seen mommy?" he asks his 2 year old sister. "Where's mommy?"
"MOOOOOMMMMMMYYYYY!!!!" She yells for him.
"MOOOOOMMMMMMMYYYYY!!!" again, louder this time.
"MOOOMMMMYYYYYY!!!" She is very good at yelling.. I wonder how she learned that?
At this point I cover the baby's ear, and bite my lips stopping myself from yelling at them to be QUIET ALREADY!! because of course that would defeat the purpose of telling them.
Finally, I give up, put the baby in his crib hoping he'll just go to sleep and open the door (letting the bright light stream into the crib again... why didn't I shut that off?) to deal with the kids.
Turns out, it was very important that I come into his -dark- room and see his glow-in-the-dark batman PJs. urgh!
Amazingly both babies are now asleep, the bedroom is almost clean and everyone is in PJs except the two year old who is almost always naked anyways. I'm about ready to go up and read them some stories, brush some teeth, say prayers and put them to bed (about 6 times in the 2 year old's case).
Say a prayer for me tonight -- goodness knows I don't have time to.
baby #1 is acting tired and fussy, so I take him to his bedroom, turn out the lights and try to nurse him to sleep. Baby number 2 is happily playing in my bedroom with my battery-operated flashlight-alarm clock (probably changing the timezone on me again so I become very confused the next morning). Toddler, preschooler and 7 year old are supposed to be cleaning their room and getting into PJs.
Baby #1 is almost asleep, when a crack of light seeps into the room, and grows brighter, carrying with it the noise of the other four kids. In walks the 7 year old looking for me. I hastily wave her away, trying not to talk so my noise won't wake up the sweet angel who is almost asleep in my lap. She leaves without saying anything, (smart girl) and the door doesn't latch behind her. Now back to baby #1... oh no! What is that pit pat pit pat I hear coming down the hall way?
The crack of light seeps into the room again, followed by a smiling talkative baby #2. I quickly pick up the almost asleep baby #1, put him in the crib, grab the crawling noisemaker and exit the room. Phew! That was a close one... Baby number one is quiet. He must be going to sleep.
Down the hall, into the kids room, "Why did you come into the baby's room E?"
"oh, I just wanted to tell you I was done cleaning my room".
"What?" I'm surprised, since the room doesn't look any cleaner than when I left except for 3 pieces of clothing that were picked off the floor. "Don't come find me for silly reasons when I"m putting the babies to bed!!".
Not really listening to me, she replies "mom, did you put that other baby in JPs room?"
I'm too focused on my baby-sleep mission to think about what she just said, so I give her 'the look' and take baby #2, settle in the rocking chair and start nursing him to sleep.
"Funny," I think to myself, "I think that baby was just sucking his thumb... that's odd, JP sucks his thumb, not P...."
Then, it dawns on me that I have just put P in JPs crib, and was about to do the opposite in this room. Now how did that happen, I wonder... I take a moment to wonder how far back it was that I had them mixed up, trying to remember who was wearing what PJs and which one was crying through mass that night. Classic sleep-deprived mother of twins moment. Or maybe I'm the only one who does this?
Anyways, I had two options:
A) Leave the status quo, put JP in Ps bed as he was almost asleep anyway, and hope that I didn't get all confused in the middle of the night, like getting a sleeping baby in the middle of the night instead of a crying one, thus waking up both at the same time. That could result in a very sleepless night... or
B) Somehow switch P into his real crib without waking him up, and keeping JP sleepy enough to go to bed in HIS real crib when I could get back to putting him to sleep. The danger in this option is that they both wake up ready to go , refusing to go to sleep because the 3 min 'nap' they had just had was good enough for another 3 hours of playtime.
I opted for option B because a late bedtime is always better than being woken up for hours on end in the middle of the night. I gently picked up JP from my lap, carried him into the bright light of the hall, left him with the kids who were still supposed to be cleaning their room and getting into PJs,
"Why didn't you TELL me I was putting P in JPs bed??" I say to E.
She gives me 'the look'.
I quietly walk into JPs room and pick up the sweet P who is half asleep and carry him into the bright hall (why didn't I shut out the light??), and into his own room. Placing him in his own bed causes him to start crying sorrowfully, so I sit back in the rocking chair and nurse him back to sleep again. Phew!!
Back to JP who is wide awake and having fun in the messy room... I take him into his right room this time, and try to settle in the dark to nurse him, taking time to quietly pray for the grace to make it through the night and the following day.
Bang!
What was that? Those noisy kids.
"MOMMY!!" the preschooler yells...
"Have you seen mommy?" he asks his 2 year old sister. "Where's mommy?"
"MOOOOOMMMMMMYYYYY!!!!" She yells for him.
"MOOOOOMMMMMMMYYYYY!!!" again, louder this time.
"MOOOMMMMYYYYYY!!!" She is very good at yelling.. I wonder how she learned that?
At this point I cover the baby's ear, and bite my lips stopping myself from yelling at them to be QUIET ALREADY!! because of course that would defeat the purpose of telling them.
Finally, I give up, put the baby in his crib hoping he'll just go to sleep and open the door (letting the bright light stream into the crib again... why didn't I shut that off?) to deal with the kids.
Turns out, it was very important that I come into his -dark- room and see his glow-in-the-dark batman PJs. urgh!
Amazingly both babies are now asleep, the bedroom is almost clean and everyone is in PJs except the two year old who is almost always naked anyways. I'm about ready to go up and read them some stories, brush some teeth, say prayers and put them to bed (about 6 times in the 2 year old's case).
Say a prayer for me tonight -- goodness knows I don't have time to.
How are those twins anyways?
For all you twin-curious folks: here's how the boys are doing lately: (they are 13 months old, 11 1/2 months adjusted, around 18 pounds)P took his first steps last month. big boy!! He will walk two steps at a time, but preferrs to crawl everywhere as he has perfected the 100 metre dash with crawling. JP is a little more cautious, and will only walk while holding someone's hand.
Both of the boys have gotten their top two teeth and bottom two teeth and are now working on a molar in the back. Strange, I know, but just another clue to me that they are indeed identical and not fraternal. They get the same teeth in the same wierd order. This has made for some very sleepless nights for mommy.
JP has joined his brother in the mischieviousness contest. He has the grin to go with it, and they both get into loads of trouble now. They spend their days pulling books off my shelves, unrolling toilet paper, unloading the dishwasher, climbing stairs, chasing each other around, sneaking into bathrooms and eating anything they can find on the floor, and not much of what they find on their highchair trays. "you little TURKEY!" is a common phrase heard throughout the day at our house. Thier favorite foods are frozen blueberries, frozen peas, raisins, corn, almond butter and jelly on toast, and french fries... oh, and don't forget mommy's milk. You can imagine that with a diet of frozen peas and almond butter, they get pretty messy. Especially since I don't have time to feed them carefully with a little spoon. The ammount of laundry I do in this house is crazy. But that's a whole other story... (in fact anyone want to come over and help me out? Just think of the nice blog post I could write about your thoughtful service)
At church, they are becoming quite the handfuls. They can be distracted for a few minutes with a board book or two, but then it's back to talking loudly to the priest or the reader, singing with the choir, or singing their own solos after the choir is done, trying to escape onto the floor and under the pew behind us, or just making cute faces at their adoring fans all around us. We are well known I am sure, as we sit in the second row. Good thing there are two grownups in this family!!There are so cute movies of the babies (you might have to click through to my website http://www.catholicmom.blogspot.com/ to see them, if you are reading this somewhere else).
Thursday, November 01, 2007
PIctures from halloween
This is a slide show of the fun night. You might have to click through to my blog if you are reading this in a reader.
The kids had a great time, it was just mommy who was tired and overwhelmed :-)
We had a little St. Margaret of Scotland, St. Adelaide (a princess), and St. Michael the Archangel. Funny thing, there were many princess saints and knight saints at the party. All the boys were sporting swords. It would be fun to make a book of knights and princesses for Jesus. I"ll get right on that LOL.
All Saints Day
As Catholics, we celebrate All Soul's eve, better known as halloween, on october 31st. The whole idea of the holiday is great, especially when you combine it with All Saints day that follows the next day. We learn about the saints, have a party with our friends, get dressed up, and eat candy, stay up late...
However, having experienced this whole 'halloween' thing for seven years and counting with my own little kids, I have realized that this holiday could never have been created by a mom... or if it was, she was certainly sorry the day after. Let me tell you, for those of you without kids, that little children, lots and lots of candy, dark, and a late bedtime are not the best ingredients for happy well adjusted children.
Sure, the tv shows and commercials that show beaming kids going from door to door paint a rosy picture, but they don't show what goes on in the moments before and after.
Before the whole event, there is the mad rush to put on the costumes, find all the necessary pieces, whine about having to eat real food when there is a perfectly good bowl of candy right by the door, and cry because their jackets make their costumes look 'dumb'.
Then at each house there is the shyness that erupts from some of them who refuse to say 'trick-or-treat', walk up to a door all by themselves, and the sheer terror that ensues when said door opens to a view of a very excited dog (who has been worked into a frenzy by each new doorbell). The party goes over well, until it's time to go home of course, and then the 'go to bed and eat your candy tomorrow' battle goes on and on into the wee hours of the night.
Unbelievably, my two year old greeted me in bed this morning at a lovely time of 6:45 am to let me know it was morning and she was ready for her candy!! And now, all day they eat candy, get hyper generally make a mess with chocolate, candy wrappers and fight over who has more of this candy and that candy.
Uh-oh, they are all here begging me for breakfast so I can drag out the bags... wish me luck!!
However, having experienced this whole 'halloween' thing for seven years and counting with my own little kids, I have realized that this holiday could never have been created by a mom... or if it was, she was certainly sorry the day after. Let me tell you, for those of you without kids, that little children, lots and lots of candy, dark, and a late bedtime are not the best ingredients for happy well adjusted children.
Sure, the tv shows and commercials that show beaming kids going from door to door paint a rosy picture, but they don't show what goes on in the moments before and after.
Before the whole event, there is the mad rush to put on the costumes, find all the necessary pieces, whine about having to eat real food when there is a perfectly good bowl of candy right by the door, and cry because their jackets make their costumes look 'dumb'.
Then at each house there is the shyness that erupts from some of them who refuse to say 'trick-or-treat', walk up to a door all by themselves, and the sheer terror that ensues when said door opens to a view of a very excited dog (who has been worked into a frenzy by each new doorbell). The party goes over well, until it's time to go home of course, and then the 'go to bed and eat your candy tomorrow' battle goes on and on into the wee hours of the night.
Unbelievably, my two year old greeted me in bed this morning at a lovely time of 6:45 am to let me know it was morning and she was ready for her candy!! And now, all day they eat candy, get hyper generally make a mess with chocolate, candy wrappers and fight over who has more of this candy and that candy.
Uh-oh, they are all here begging me for breakfast so I can drag out the bags... wish me luck!!
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