Our night owl

Mr. 0 likes to have all your attention on him with laser-like focus but as the 4th this does not happen much during the day. His solution? Take a good evening nap and stay up late into the night so you have all the attention. And if you're smiling and cute, perhaps they won't mind too much.

I've tried to cut down the evening nap but he gets so fussy which is hard to manage when everyone else is fussy too. Oh well - his smiles are hard to resist.

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Mr. 2 knows best

I was reading Mr. 2 Olivia before nap and we got to the page that says "She got pretty good." with a picture of a huge skyscraper sandcastle. Mr. 2 stops me and says no. "That's now what it says."
"What does it say then?"
"Mommy you have to read the words."
"I am reading the words. It says 'she got pretty good.' That's what it says."
"No that's not what it says."
"Then what does it say?"
"It says 'Art is stone.'"
"Really?"
"Yes, that's what is says. I remember."
Who am I to argue? That's what it says.

Joy indeed

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Surviving another toddler

Mr. 6 was quite the strong-willed toddler. David and I both have memories of strapping him into the stroller or car to avoid any possible violence while he screamed because he wanted to dish the yogurt or take the lid off the water bottle. We definitely sighed with relief when we moved past that particular phase.

Until recently Mr. 2 has been a pretty easy-going guy. Sure he has his moments but overall he has been a very pleasant toddler. Last week while on vacation he had an epic meltdown involving 90 minutes of screaming no and finally a car ride to calm down. We thought it was likely just that he was tired - after all we had kept him up too late the night before. Unfortunately there have been other tantrums in the last week that have been rather unpleasant but today was really the worst of it.

It began when we sat down to do our read-aloud. Mr. 2 wanted to get down the marble race but I told him that we couldn't do that while we were reading but I would get it down when we were done. Commence screaming. As it is difficult to read over screaming, I decided to wait on the reading and we would just have an early lunch. Over lunch he decided he wanted milk after I had already poured him a glass of water. I told him that we were having water and so he poured the glass out on the table. He demanded a second yogurt and I told him he needed to eat his lunch which he refused to do. I asked him to go to his room so we could read some books and he simply screamed no over and over again so I carried him. Then began the "but I want to walk" over and over again to which I would reply. "Why didn't you get to walk?" "Bepause I screamed no... But Mommy, I want to walk." This woke up Mr. 0 so I went to get him with Mr. 2 following behind me yelling that he wanted to walk. Mind you, he is walking right behind me yelling that he wants to walk. His crying makes Mr. 0 cry and so I try to take Mr. 0 in the bathroom to calm down away from the screaming. Mr. 2 stands outside the door hitting in screaming no. At some point I get him almost calmed down but he decides he wants the lid off his water bottle - in his bed. As I refused to clean up a spilled bottle of water (and change his sheets) I told him no. I gave him the option of taking the lid off in the kitchen but that was unacceptable. Overall it was about an hour and a half with the older boys watching Mr. 0 for short periods but that typically ended with him crying because he was getting hungry, had been woken up, and there was a toddler screaming.

Of course once everything is finally calmed down, Mr. 2 instantaneously forgets the whole episode and wants me to read him books. I am not so quick to forget and grumpily read Harold and the Purple Crayon to him to prevent any relapse.

The only way we survived in the end was that he fell asleep soon after the book and woke up a much happier person. Of course he didn't want to go to bed tonight so we'll see what the new day brings. I don't know if I can survive this again if Mr. 0 turns out to be as stubborn as his brothers.

Afternoon wanderings

Somehow this afternoon we went from discussing Mayan culture to strabismus to Downs Syndrome to mitosis and meiosis. We then moved on to Aztec culture and chocolate and ended up watching videos on the cacao tree and how chocolate is made. Reading aloud became a much better time for discussion after the screaming stopped and Mr. 2 fell asleep.

O Christmas Tree

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Mr. 2's sign

On the way home from cutting down our Christmas tree we stopped at a local bakery and took our snacks to a nearby park to explore. The boys were quick to run across a field to the hill of rocks beyond. It was a bit steep, especially for Mr. 2 who was right on on older boys heels, and David followed behind to lend a hand.

On the way down they noticed a Private Property sign and David explained that next time they needed to not climb in places with signs like that. We got back to the car and Mr. 2 ran over to the sign at the entrance to the park. "This sign says go wherever you want." he told us. Just as all signs should say in his mind.

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Thanksgiving

Just us still makes 6!

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Thanksgiving thanks

For the love of games (at all ages).

For bundled babies.

No way to win

This morning I ran down to throw in some laundry while the boys were eating breakfast. Just as I finished putting the clothes in the washer Mr. 2 wandered in, spoon in hand, and asked if he could put the clothes in the washer. I told him that it was done but he could turn on the washer. My reasonable offer was met with despair and suddenly there was a pool of distraught toddler on the floor. The screaming continued as I ran upstairs to check on the infant and big kids and when I ran back down he told me his pants were wet. So now I carry a wet, crying toddler up the stairs to change into clean clothes. When we get to the bathroom he starts crying even harder. "I wanted to go up the stairs myself."

Of course when I told him "no", that wet, crying kids cannot climb up themselves, he started in with a whole new round of wailing. In fact, he's still wailing now. Is there any way to win these arguments? Mr. 2 is not one to accept fact or choose one of two options if he doesn't like either. He just asks for new options.

An update: After putting on clean clothes, I decided the spoon that had taken the tour (including an unexpected trip to the bathroom) was no longer fit for breakfast. Of course that did not go well either. Should I just let him use it? This is going to be quite a day.

Funny conversation

Mommy to Mr. 2: "Are you going to eat your dinner?"

Mr. 2: "It's complicated."
-----
Mr. 2 appeared in the living room without pants.
"Mommy, I love you even when I have poop on my hands."
-----
Daddy to Mr. 2: "You can finish your dinner and have dessert, or be all done, and not have dessert."

Mr. 2: "I need new options."
-----
Mr. 6 told me out of the blue: "Mommy, Droidworld doesn't have an official religion. Should it?"
I'm not sure - should a futuristic, highly robotic, pretend world have an official religion?

Ready to explore

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Fall in the park

It's hard to get outside these days. By the time I round everyone up, change Mr. 0, take Mr. 2 potty, find hats and shoes, round everyone back up because they've wandered away, get Mr. 0 into the carrier, and walk down to the park, it's been 45 minutes. As it's dark at 4pm it seems not even worth it some days and yet I never regret being at the park, watching the boys climb trees and explore, and seeing friends. We'll get faster - until snow starts and I have to add snow gear to the process.

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A visit from Nana and Papa

Chromatography

Science in action

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Fall

A cold morning turned into a beautiful fall day.

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All dressed up

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Pooh

Mr. 2 told Nana that he wanted to be Pooh for Halloween and that Mr. 0 had to be Tigger. So being the wonderful Nana that she is, we received a box in the mail with costumes for both. Mr. 2 loves his and happily wore it all night Friday (including the hat which I had thought wouldn't last long). He's a bit of a toddler sumo wrestler which his plush middle. He loves to run and jump into your arms and roll along the floor. For the next few weeks I think this might become daily attire. I suppose we'll have to invest in some honey.

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Bouncy fun

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Today's chemistry lesson

Today we talked about polar and non-polar molecules and how soap works. I even tried to throw in cell membranes and the phospholipid bilayer but I think that may have been a bit too much. The experiment worked well - water and oil in a jar and then added in soap. I love kitchen chemistry.

We are going to try a nutrition unit following chemistry (Mr. 8 wants to move on to physics but agreed when he found out there was no quantum physics) - a good transition but I have no idea how to do it.

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School for Mr. 2

Mr. 2 often sits at the table with us and wants to do "Asher school" so we've been doing a letter a week but I hadn't spent much time really putting anything together. I made him a few things (a felt dinosaur map, laminated letter cards), bought a few things (white board and markers, beads to lace, little dinosaur puzzles) and printed out some alphabet coloring sheets but wanted a bit more. So last night I spent some time on the trusty internet to get a few ideas.

I got out the laminator this morning (what a useful gift this has been the last few months) and laminated and cut out buses of various sizes to sequence, small, medium, and large leaves to categorize, sheets to trace, and puzzle pieces to put in order. I also plan to have one book each day and some small activity to go with it (the internet really is a great thing). Mr. 2 (and Mr. 6 who helped laminate) had a great time.

Of course this was the happy part of the morning. I decided not to take pictures of the cranky, wailing Mr. 2. Hopefully a nap will help (assuming he actually takes one) or it will be a long afternoon.

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Grudge match

For some reason Mr. 8 has been asking me comparison questions about King Kong (likely inspired by our recent New York trip), the Yeti (from Tintin in Tibet), and Godzilla (I have no idea). Who is taller, who is stronger, etc. This turned into grudge match at lunch.

If the Yeti and King Kong fought who would win, Captain Kirk and Darth Vadar, Luke Skywalker and Kirk, Kirk and Picard, etc. The boys came up with great reasons why one would triumph over the other and everyone was laughing at the craziness.

Not something that I ever particpated in growing up (Rainbow Bright vs. My Little ponies?) but very fun!

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When you don't get what you want

Today at dinner Mr. 2 was told he had to eat his enchiladas before he could have lemonade.
"No," he told us. "That is not an option."
He then sighed in frustration and ran his hand through his hair just as his Dad does.

After watching an episode of Star Trek (the older brother choice), he told us he wanted to watch Thomas. We told him that it was time for bed.
"I want to watch Thomas. Actually I mean it."

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Four kids

I'm sure all families with 4 (or more) kids get this but just to answer the questions I was asked so many times in the past 2 days. Yes, we have four boys. No, I really wasn't trying for a girl and really was not disappointed (what would we do with a girl). No, I wasn't trying for a basketball, baseball, soccer, etc team and thanks for letting me know how close I am.

And thanks to all the people who told me what wonderful boys I have, talked to them, held doors, helped to carry a stroller up (and down) stairs, and smiled at our antics. You more than make up for the others!

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Continuing our exploring - with a bit of help

David took the day off so we had a day all together in the city. Mr. 6 was up bright and early as always so we left Mr. 0 and the sleeping Mr. 2 and Mr. 8 with Daddy and headed out in search of breakfast. We walked two blocks over into Hells Kitchen and found a great little bakery and corner grocery and brought back an assortment of fresh breads, fruit, yogurt, cheese, and juice (and a really amazinf coffee but I only shared that with David). Hells Kitchen looks surprisingly like Brooklyn and it made me nostalgic for our visits to Park Slope of long ago.

After breakfast we headed to the Met. The boys voted for Medieval Art (yeah homeschooling) and the collection the Met has is amazing. After spending some time looking at the armor and swords, Mr. 6 discovered the guns and would happily have spent much more time there if not for needing a bathroom for Mr. 2 and a spot to feed Mr. 0. We ended the visit in the 19th century European painitings. The boys really wanted to go to Central Park but humored my request and actually seemed to enjoy it. Mr. 8 especially liked Picasso and the two paintings from his "Blue" period. He spent dinner readind about Picasso on my phone (we love Wikipedia). Then it was out to Central Park where there were great adventures in many lands and times. Mr. 2 loves being a part of the brother adventures and kept running over to tell us what the brothers were doing.

We walked all the way back to our hotel, stopping to watch the remote control sailboats (Mr. 6 wants one for Christmas), fill our pockets witn rocks (Mr. 2 must have gained 10 lbs), pretend we were in our own adventure game (Mr. 8 wrote rules on the notepad from the hotel), and slowly meander through a gorgeous fall day.

We're headed home, likely to arrive after midnight with no place we have to go tomorrow. We have questions to answer (how exactly was Central Park made) and school to do but it was great to have a break. Poor Mr. 0 - he's joined quite a crazy clan. Luckily (for all of us) he seems to take it all in stride.

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Exploring

We spent the day exploring New York City today. And by we I mean one mom and four boys out on the town. David had to come for work so we tagged along. I was worried about being out all day with one so small but it turned out to be a great day.

We left Daddy at the hotel and walked in the rain to the Empire State Building (2 avenues and a few streets - how far is that?). We were told repeatedly that the visibility was zero and Mr. 8 started getting a bit annoyed. There was no line - it was completely deserted - so we went right to the top. The guys up at the top were super nice to us and for about five minutes the fog cleared and we could see the cars and people below as we stood out in the swirling rain and wind on the 86th floor but the boys LOVED it. Mr. 8 told me he would never forget it and took great joyin telling all those nay-sayers what he saw with "zero" visibility.

Then we hopped the train and went to the Museum of Natural History. Getting to the train was a bit of an adventure as our little stroller does not fit through the turnstile and no one was around to let me through the gate. A little creativity though and we made it.

The Natural History Museum has an amazing collection of dinosaurs which Mr. 2 was super excited about seeing. He ran from one to the next but was particularly excited to see his favorite, the pterodactyl. Soon after that he fell apart, his midnight bedtime catching up with him. Mr. 8 took charge of the stroller carrying Mr. 0 and I picked up our screaming toddler and dragged him off to the bathroom to calm down. While we were inside Mr. 6 and Mr. 8 watched a movie about how the dinosaurs and other prehistoric fossils were arranged by evolutionary development and explained the cladogram with branch points. The boys thought this was great and were excited to follow the path through the rest of the exhibit with Mr. 2 strapped into the stoller and Mr. 0 strapped into the carrier.

By the end of the museum Mr. 6 was ready to collapse and kept asking if he could take a nap. I had to tell Mr. 8 that we were leaving and there were no more last things. We made it back to the hotel in the rain and somehow Mr. 6 made in on his own power. After collapsing on the couch for some well-deserved TV time (quite a novelty for us - Mr. 2 didn't understand why we couldn't pause it so he could go potty) I convinced the boys that we had to eat dinner and dragged them out with the promise of pizza. Our hotel was in the heart of Times Square and mesmerizing for the boys but a litle too exciting for me with tired, easily distracted kids and screens in every direction. We found pizza and chocolate for dessert and headed back to watch Times Square from our 35th floor room.

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Hanging out

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School at Walden Pond

Actually more swimming, digging, and exploring than real school but we did go to a presentation about pencil making (did you know Thoreau's family made pencils as their livelihood) and saw the replica of his house from Walden. And we'll get to the other school stuff later. At least we did our math before we left and practiced our verses in the car.

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micah's first concert

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Smiling

Smiles make even the most sleepless night okay.

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Two chins

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Mr. 0

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Molecules move

Subtitled How I Got a Green Toddler

We typically do our chemistry experiments on Thursday afternoons. Mr. 2 has so far been napping so it's worked well. Today he wasn't interested in napping so he joined us. And Mr. 0 was rather fussy so I was relegated to a more advisory role. First we looked at how molecules move with food coloring in water resulting in green water which everyone wanted to taste. Harmless so everyone tasted and Mr. 2 was excited to discover it just tasted like water. We then moved on to pH and I left the food coloring on the counter. Mr. 2's experiment for the day - no matter how much food coloring it still tastes like water.

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Wassup

I came across the old video on a blog never guessing it would be such a hit with Mr. 2 who happened to overhear it. Note to self - he hears everything.

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Comfy spot

Yesterday was our best school day yet. We revised our schedule after a school meeting (Mr. 8 had lots of opinions on school and how it should run. Mr. 6 really just wanted to cut out all writing activities and just do math, spanish, and history.) I also assigned each of the older boys a playtime with Mr. 2 which worked great (we cut that out today as Mr. 2 wasn't feeling well and was a bit too cranky and snuggly). It also helped that our upstairs friends invited Mr. 2 for a playdough playtime so we had some extra time. Mondays are our busiest days (there's no other activities unlike any other day of the week and everyone's fresh so we do more writing and the other assignments for the day are a bit longer) and despite this there were good attitudes and hard-working kids.

The only person not so cheery was Mr. 0. He's reached the age where he spends most of the evening being cranky and yesterday was a rather good demonstration. So Mr. 8 made dinner while I walked Mr. 0 around and around. He did a great job and thanks to him we had a delicious dinner of cheesy mushroom polenta and steamed honey carrots ready when David came home. While making dinner, Mr. 2 found a comfy spot to rest and I found him snuggled in the swing when I went to investigate the quietness.

Under the weather

Mr. 2 woke up this morning feeling a bit warm and saying his body hurt. He was happy to snuggle on the couch with Andy, Pooh, and the "Blanks". Mr. 2 has two blankets that are special to him - Stripy Blank and Car Blank - and are needed at extra comfort times. Both are needed and are typically joined by at least 2 other friends. Not necessarily low maintenance but all together likely smaller than AAA or Shamu which were Mr. 6's special items.

He chose Get to Work Trucks and Car and Trucks and Things That Go, classics in our house, and read quietly for quite a while - too quiet for any normal 2 year old. When not on the couch, he's been snuggled on my lap. Not always enough space for both Mr. 2 and Mr. 0 but we're making do. School was a bit more challenging with the small ones feeling cranky and we ended the morning with the kids playing a viking game on the BBC History website and Mr. 0 in the carrier so I could make lunch.

Playing with toys is hard work.

A new day

We're enjoying a new day with more smiles, love, and patience than grumpiness. Ups and downs as always but today they're manageable.

What made the difference? Having some down time this morning (I actually took a walk by myself) is key and trying to relax about the small things. And having better rested kids makes a huge difference.

Our morning started with our verses and then some math. Mr. 8 finished up fractions and is on to geometry which he wa excited about and Mr. 6 reviewed his times tables (which he happily does on the iPad). We did a bit of geography (we're on to Charlemagne's empire) and Mr. 6 and I read The Kitchen Knight with Mr. 2 which we really enjoyed. Wednesday is letter writing and Mr. 6 happily wrote his without whining (although not so with his worksheet). Mr. 8 read Beowulf and made maps and worked on his play whenever he had a break.

Now we just have piano lessons, spanish, and some reading and our day is done. Tonight there's karate and Birds of Prey at the library. Always busy!

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Grace

Today was one of those days. By about 9:15 I wanted to lock everyone in their rooms (including me) for the rest of the day but as the grown-up (and teacher) thought I should probably stick it out. Mr. 6 whined his way through the morning, telling me every step of the way that he didn't want to do it. Mr. 8 was distracted. And Mr. 0 spent the morning crying, eating, or insisting on being carried upright around the house (preferably while I sang to him). Only Mr. 2 seemed self-sufficient although it did involve getting out a huge number of toys. My own patience, worn thin by sleep-deprivation and a headache from crying and whining, was dwindling and I'll admit to quite a bit of my own complaining (under the guise of correction). I finally decided we would just take and a break and I would read aloud to them while they played legos. This and a snack did help and we made it to lunch without too much yelling - although Mr. 0 did cry when I had put him down long enough to make lunch.

The most ironic part is that I had read this morning about grace, particularly showing grace to your children as a reflection of God's grace but within minutes it was gone and I couldn't make it through the morning. And of course the verse we're currently memorizing is James 1:22-25. I managed to forget what I looked like as soon as I walked away.

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