Field Trip and Trick-or-Treat

Last week Gramme and Poppa from NH came for a visit.  Hannah had a field trip to the pumpkin farm.  Gramme got to come on the field trip, and Poppa stayed home with Smush for his nap.

hay ride

feeding the pigs

"train" ride

The class lined up by the corn maze for a picture.  Just as I was zooming in to get a picture of Hannah and her little buddies, I accidentally caught a picture of her falling into the cornstalks.

She fell all the way down, swallowed by the corn stalks.  She was totally fine, of course, and it was pretty funny.

slide into the corn pit

Another great advantage to having my parents here was that my mom basically made Micah's costume for me!  I already had the materials, and I helped cut out the pieces, but she did the rest.  She was able to do it in a fraction of the time it would have taken me, but with much better craftsmanship. 

 Here's Micah, the cheetah.  Hannah is.....well, it depends on when you ask her.  It could be "fairy princess", "queen", or "frozen".

Matthew slept through trick-or-treat on Sunday, but he wore his cheetah costume around the house a little bit this week.

Little Bits

On Monday, Smush decided to start talking.  (Up to this point, the only words he says regularly are "all done".)  In one day he started saying "uh-oh", "sit", "yes", and "map".  Oh, but he doesn't say "yes" and "map" to me; obviously, he only shouts them at the TV in response to Dora's questions.  :)

Yesterday I traded babysitting with a friend.  Smush got to be the big kid for about an hour.  :)

Today I was helping Hannah and Jackson clean something in the basement.  I guess I left Smush alone for a little too long.  When I came back upstairs, I found him in the pantry, collecting a stash of granola bars.

what?

Speaking of Hannah and Jackson, they have been having a lot of fun together this year.  Today I was impressed with their teamwork and perseverance as they figured out how to build a cube from these floor mats.

Lastly, here are a few older pictures of playing outside.

Smush in Action

Keeping this boy alive is a full-time job.

Top 10 Things I Didn't Know About Parenting

I have seen plenty of “Things no one tells you…” or “Things I wish I had known…” posts about parenting.    They seem to either err in the direction of super-sappy (“I had no idea my heart would be split in two yet also multiplied and while exploding rainbows and sunshine….”) or overly obvious (“No one told me I would perpetually be wiping snot and changing diapers.”  Really?  You didn’t know that was going to happen?  Have you ever seen a baby before?). While many of the ideas postulated can be funny, sweet, or true, they usually miss my sentiments slightly.  Thus, I decided to start compiling my own list.

1.  I had no idea that someone so small whom I love so much could make me SO angry!  I’m not an angry person (at least I wasn’t pre-kids), and it still mystifies me how my adorable, precious child can provoke me to unexplainable rage.  WHY ARE THERE #@! TOYS ON THE KITCHEN FLOOR!?! [Please do not get worried and stage an intervention for me.  I am not a harm to myself or my children.  On my worst days I just excuse myself to the garage or my bedroom and have a good scream.]

2.       Stickers.  There are stickers everywhere -adhering to the bottom of my feet, going through the laundry, stuck to my chest while I’m in public, etc.  [EDIT: moments after I wrote this, I was wiping a child’s little bum and found a heart sticker firmly attached to one cheek.  I’m not making this stuff up, people!]

3.       Playing with babies and toddlers gets boring real fast.  I knew life as a mom would be busy and challenging, but I never anticipated the mind-numbing boredom of doing the shape-sorter 8,298,832 times (and having to feign happiness about it).

4.       I didn’t anticipate that I would care about things being clean.  Growing up I caused my parents all sorts of aggravation because my room was always a disaster, and I had no problem with it.  Now, one of my greatest desires is just for things to be PUT AWAY!  [Feel free to psychoanalyze what this means about my need to control my environment.]  On a similar note, as a teenager I would do anything to avoid tasks like washing dishes.  Now I would do anything to get the chance to wash the dishes without interruption.

5.       I had no idea how ignorant I was about nutrition.  I had a vague idea of what was “healthy” and what was “junk”.  Now that I’m responsible for the health of other people, I’ve become aware that I actually know almost nothing.  Organic, GMO’s, food coloring, too much sugar, artificial sweeteners, whole grain, fiber….it’s overwhelming.

6.       No one explained to me that pregnancy/motherhood alters your chemical makeup permanently.  I knew it would mess with my physical attributes.  But since I never had a “bikini body” to begin with, it’s no great loss.  But those hormones, oh the hormones.  They never return to what they once were!  I miss my days of emotional stability and general callousness.  Now violence on tv makes me cringe, I tear up at stupid things, and all the emotions are just more….there.  (See #1)  Not cool.

7.       I can’t do everything “the best”.  I assumed that I would be able to make the best and most well-informed decisions about everything I do in parenting, but I can’t.  Should I choose to be more frugal, or should I choose to buy the healthiest food?  Should I try to have my children well-dressed, or should I encourage independence while they dress themselves?   There is no way to know what all “the best” choices are.  And even if there were, I can’t do them ALL.   I can’t focus all my attention on education AND sports AND culture AND discipline.  (And if you can, I don’t want to hear about it.)  I have to prioritize the things that are most important to our family, and be satisfied with everything else just being “good enough”.

8.       I did not know how prevalent miscarriages and infertility are.  I also didn’t know how many stupid or insensitive things I say and do.  I am so sorry if you’ve had these trials.  And I humbly apologize for all of us who have unintentionally hurt you more.

9.       My mom is a saint.  I mean, I always knew I had a good one, but now I can see she was amazing.  And she still is.

10.   My husband is the best father I’ve ever seen.  Now, obviously I believed he had the potential to be a good dad when I picked him, but he has far exceeded my expectations.  He is fun and silly, but also intentional and serious.  He supports my parenting decisions and lets me take the lead in many areas, but he also complements my weaknesses.  From the moment he steps in the door each evening (often even before he steps in the door, because they ambush him in the garage), he is 100% daddy, giving them as much energy and attention as he can muster.  He also acknowledges how hard my job is, appreciates and supports me, and gives me tons of grace for my shortcomings. (I got teary while writing this one.  See #6)

So, there you go.  My own top ten list.  I’ve only been doing this mom job for about six and a half years, so I’m sure there are still plenty more things I don’t know that I don’t know.  But I’m well aware about the snot and diapers; I’ve got that one covered.

Smushers

He's like a 24 pound kettlebell and a personal trainer all rolled into one.

Big sister wanted to paint, so we tried to keep Smush busy.  I gave him a paint-with-water picture at his own table.  He was proud and excited.

...and then he drank the water.

reading some books

 He's been doing this for a long time, but I finally took a picture:  When we sit down to dinner, he folds his hands to pray.