Our hockey player

Mr. 8 went to his first hockey practice this morning and said it was better than screentime (high praise in this family).

What a night

Thursday are always a little crazy for us.  Mr. 10 has math club and everyone needs dinner before we go.  I have clinic all day and am generally running a bit late (and a bit tired after a busy day) so we're not at peak efficiency.  I met the boys and our nanny at the park minutes after Mr. 4 had taken a spill off his bike.  I helped get everyone home and was in the bathroom trying to convince him to let me wash the gravel out of his arm when Mr. 8 shouts "oh no - honey!". Now Mr. 8 generally talks in an impressive volume but honey?  I ran into the living room to find Mr. 2 gleefully squirting honey all over the couch.  I grabbed the bottle away and he ran away, covered in honey.  Before I could get to him he had grabbed a library books and covered it in honey as all and ripped out a page as I was trying to away from him.

Dinner was delayed due to honey clean-up and Mr. 10 wasn't feeling well so my usual second-in-command was off his game.  I ended up just giving the kids hot dogs which is always a popular choice.  While we're clearing the table Mr. 2 got the mustard and squirted about half the bottle on the wet couch I had just cleaned.  When I got him he was gleefully rubbing it on his belly.  Into the bath with him.  It turns out mustard is much harder to clean up than honey and while I was doing damage control a naked wet baby streaked by.  Sigh.

Weekend walks

Our weekends are often packed with good activities and good time with friends, so those rare quiet mornings when we can ramble together to the park and then around the neighborhood are special.

This morning Mr. 8 and I made monkey bread together.  After a little too much sugar for everyone, we headed outdoors.  There had been some ups and downs with tired kids who had been up way too late last night and we needed the fresh air.  It turns out it was just what we needed.  David and Mr. 10 played frisbee, Mr. 4 and Mr. 2 rode their bikes, we swang on the swings (I introduced Mr. 4 to spider swinging which was a huge hit).  And then we walked out to check whether the new boardwalk was finished.  Mr. 2 insisted on pulling the wagon rather than riding but we made it out to the path and it was open!  (well, the gate was sort of open and so I'm sure they were fine with a few people trying it out)  It's a great new path to add to our rambles and we made it home just in time before Mr. 2 fell asleep in the wagon.

Add to the list our first birthday party without kids in years and it's a great day!

Bedtime with Mommy

Evenings here are often hard these days.  It's a tired crew with only one parent to usher everyone through the bedtime process.  Between dinner and baths and pajamas and teeth brushing and books and songs, it's hard to find to slow down and just only time together.  And when Mr. 2 was sick last week, it was rough.

But we're trying to get to the other side.  Mr. 2 loves to brush his teeth and will run with glee to the bathroom and try to drag his toothbrush down himself.  Mr. 2 and Mr. 4 are now going to bed together and Mr. 2 is happily sitting through the longer books Mr. 4 picks out.  Mr. 2 loves to pray and folds his hands and says thank you for everyone in our family by name and then "amen".  And once the younger crew is down, the older boys and I have been playing games together or reading Peter Pan out loud.  We're there but, as with any big transition, there was a bit of mourning that we had to get through to start seeing the new as good.

Apple picking

It's not fall until we've been apple picking (usually 2 or 3 times).  Our first apple picking outing was with a group from David's work on a gorgeous fall day.  Mr. 10 had a chance to spend the afternoon with a friend (and how can you pass up the chance to spend time with a 10 year old who loves programming as much as you do, especially when there's also pizza and time on the Wii) so it was just the 3 younger brothers with us.  After filling up on hot apple cider and cider donuts, we headed out into the orchard.  Mr. 8 loved climbing the trees...  until we were told that wasn't allowed.  There were still plenty lower down so we filled our bag up before nap time caught up with Mr. 2.

Celebrating Mr. 2

Mr. 2 turned 2 in late August but due to all the craziness around here we waited to celebrate until mid-September.  It was a beautiful fall day and we spent the first half of the party at Mr. 2's favorite place.  His favorite friend, who he calls "Ba-Ba" was there and the two had a great time racing around together.  Then it was inside for pizza and apple caramel cupcakes (the other boys wanted chocolate but I thought apple caramel went better for a fall day).

The best part of the day was just having the opportunity to celebrate our Mr. 2.  It was fun to watch him realize that the day was really all about him.

Hiking with friends