Saffs: what doing?: February 2015

I need to be to look back and laugh at the craziness of some of our days.

Yesterday David took the red-eye back from San Francisco. He was supposed to come home on Sunday afternoon and spend Saturday with his brother but yet another snow storm was due to hit Boston so he cut his trip short and headed home (for which we were all so grateful). He arrived home tired but we were so happy to see him!

I had let the kids stay up late the night before with friends and then everyone was up early and the effect became evident pretty quickly. Mr. 12 had his mind set on one activity and when I told him we were all going sledding, full-scale grumpiness set in and it took quite a while before we were able to get back on track and get out the door in full snow gear. We all had a great time (especially Mr. 12). After sledding down the smaller hill, Mr. 12, Mr. 10 and I headed over to the big hill while David stayed with the younger crew. Mr. 3 did well until he face-planted in the snow and totally fell apart. This was a momentous occasion for us as Mr. 3 hates the snow and even getting him into snow gear is a battle. We regrouped and had lunch at a local diner where X-Men was playing on the screens. Lunch consisted of a constant stream of questions about X-Men which was actually a pretty fun discussion (until we had to pry everyone out so we could get Mr. 10 to hockey practice). The rest of the day continued as our days do - Mr. 3 playing trains, reading books and drawing (all while wanting someone to "watch me"), Mr. 5 and Mr. 10 played Besieged on the computer, Mr. 12 read all the books (I got everyone new books for Valentine's Day and he's already read his book and Mr. 10's book). After dinner, there were baths and showers and Mr. 3 headed to bed. He had not napped and was falling apart. David called a family meeting and we discuss bedtime and attitudes and everyone chimes in. Once decisions are made, we play a new game with the older brothers (Aztack which I bought as something to do on yet another snow day) and then read aloud The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making before praying and sending everyone to bed. I fell asleep on the couch (due to Mr. 3's 3am awakening the night before) and David cleaned up. When we finally went to go to bed, we discovered the door to the closet had been shut and Reason had peed on our bed. On our brand new comforter that had arrived that morning. Sigh. Strip bed, replace sheets, and fall into it.

I woke up at 6:45am this morning to discover Mr. 10 in the living room. He's been awake since 6:12am and is using the laser maze laser to entertain the cats (who had been banished from the bedroom). I tried to quietly sit with my coffee but he had many things to tell me. Around 7:15 I hear noise from the bedroom where Mr. 3 sleeps and discover he has stripped off his poopy pull-up and there is poop everywhere. I threw him in the tub and left the room as is since Mr. 5 was still asleep in the top bunk. After bathing and dressing Mr. 3, I throw in the first of many loads of laundry and Mr. 3 and I settle down to read some books. David and Mr. 12 emerge and we start breakfast. Around this time Mr. 5 wakes up and I see the true damage on the room. The bed has to be stripped and the carpet is a mess. Luckily we own a spot carpet cleaner as this is not the first time this has happened. After cleaning up the room and changing laundry loads, we actually get ready for our day. The boys get dressed and start chores, I take a shower, and David shaves.

Time for another family meeting to set the schedule for the day. It worked last night so we give it a try to help set expectations for a snowy day. The older boys head downstairs to do some stop motion animation and Mr. 3 and I decide to make muffins while David heads out to shovel. Mr.3 quickly loses interest in making muffins and reads books in his room. I move on from muffins to pumpkin latte syrup and foccacia bread dough (you have to bake on a snowy day). Mr. 3 moves on to trains and duplos after eating many pumpkin muffins. I start lunch and call up all the boys. Everyone is full of energy and craziness and the number one rule of meals gets forgotten (you're either helping get ready or waiting at the table) and there is some yelling. I end up tying Mr. 3 in his chair with a scarf as he threw up on the straps last weekend and they are now clean but not reattached. Without some form of restraint I will spend the entire meal chasing him down and putting him back in the chair. The boys turn it around and are super helpful the rest of the meal and help clean up. Mr. 10 offers to put Mr. 3 down for nap and I do the dishes. Mr. 5, Mr. 10, and Mr. 12 have quiet time and Mr. 3 stays in his room for 45 minutes but never naps (of course I sang to him at least twice during that time hoping he would sleep. Oh well, time to get outside.

We play in the snow in the backyard, even Mr. 3 seems to enjoy it. There are now 2 snow forts and multiple sledding runs. The fence is no longer visible and we have to the other kindergarteners in the yard 2 houses down. Mr. 3 finally decides it is to windy and "wants to go home". I take him inside, strip off his snow gear, and he happily reads and plays while I head back out. David and I take turns checking on him but he seems fine and the backyard is the best part of the day!

We head in and everyone grabs a screen. Mr. 12 plays Broken Age, Mr. 10 Besieged, Mr. 5 Amazing Alex, and even Mr. 3 takes his first try at Starfall. In the background, the bread is baking. In the relative peacefulness, we make dinner - broccoli cheddar soup - and caramel popcorn for a movie night. We convince the boys to watch Toy Story which Mr. 5 and Mr. 10 find a bit scary and need some encouragement to make it through to the end. The end of the day, with read aloud and bible reading and prayer, follows our new schedule and everyone is in bed on time. Hopefully a good night's sleep will make for a great day tomorrow.

It was a good day, full of the ups and downs of being a big family. A family I like (except when poop is involved).

A few weeks ago, Mr. 12 had the day off so I decided to take Mr. 10 and Mr. 5 out of school for the day and go skiing. David kindly stayed with Mr. 3 (who is not fond of the snow) so we could go. We got off a little late and then there was a bathroom emergency on the way so by the time we got close we were running late. Unfortunately my mapping was to the top of Crotched Mountain and not to the ski lodge so we ended up completely lost with no phone connection. After a bit of panic and 20 minutes of driving around in circles, we found our way there - a little late but ready for a day in the snow.

Mr. 5 was in ski school for the day so I suited him up first and dropped him off and then got the older boys settled. Turns out Mr. 12 and I wear the same size so when the first set of boots didn't fit I just gave him the ones I had gotten for myself. We had a great morning skiing with our friends (Mr. 10 did fall apart due to the cold right before lunch but warming up in the lodge and new mittens helped). I picked up Mr. 5 for lunch (lots of pizza) and he decided he would go back for the afternoon. He did a great job and even took his first lift and skied down his first green circle run! By the end of the day he could ride the magic carpet and ski down the little hill by himself. The boys did great and we headed home tired and happy.

Unfortunately I still had no connection and no map until I had one. The directions our friends gave us helped but we still got lost. Once we had a map back we were still a ways from home so we had some dinner and listened to The Secret of the Mansion to keep spirits up on the long way home.