Time Doth Softly, Sweetly Glide...

All the cribs are officially gone at our house! Well, one technically is still being used as a toddler bed but we have definitely moved on to the next stage...big kid beds and all the joys that come along with them. For the most part, transitioning to big kid beds has been really positive for the trio. Since everyone has their own bed, we've actually started having some individual reading time 25 minutes prior to bedtime. Each kid has a lamp and gets to sit on their beds and read. This gives Clark and I a chance to go into each room, read a book or two with each child, say individual prayers with each child, and sing a song. It's quite the process but I think the kids enjoy it just as much as we do.  We still need to paint or stain the beds but we're going to wait on that until we actually use them as bunk beds.

Of course big beds come with some big steps toward independence. We CANNOT help anyone up into their bed or else the whole process has to start over again. Let's just say it's really long to begin with. I try to keep my cool as each child climbs slower than molasses into their beds and creeps toward their pillows but I admit there are nights where I start to lose patience and get upset with the shenanigans. That's pretty much the case with everything we do now. I can't assist them in much of anything without them getting upset that I'm interfering. If I put a sock on, they've got to take it off, try to put it on themselves, then resort to asking me for help when all is said and done. Most parenting books say to plan extra time into the day for this new found independence but holy cow, sometimes I feel if I make one wrong move with these kids I can set off huge temper tantrums. Heaven forbid I try to help put their bibs on, pull a shoe off, or take a book out of a basket. Yeesh! Of course we give them lots of choices and options to try and get things moving but I've just learned that if I want them to do something, I'll ask them if they want me to do it. The answer is always an emphatic NO but then they are focused on the task and it gets done. The worst is car seats. I can't help them into the car or into their seats. I rarely can help bring the straps around their arms and they all insist on doing the easier part of the harness. This process has taken up to 25 minutes before. It's been a delicate balancing act  between allowing them the freedom they need but still exerting our authority on matters so they know that ultimately, mom and dad still control the show.

Enough of that.  A few weekends ago we headed an hour north of the metroplex to get away for the day.  We planned to build a fire, hike around, and possibly play in the water.  Eisenhower State Park is beautiful and the day could not have been nicer.  We bought all the kids some camping chairs so they could have somewhere to sit around the fire.  I told Caleb to smile to show off his chair and this is what I got...

Zachary spent time amongst the weeds and flowers and picked me a beautiful bouquet which he subsequently smashed into the cup holder of his camping chair.  He LOVED sitting and picking flowers.  It was so funny cause usually he's running around.

Once we got set up, we decided to go for a nature walk and happened to end up at this awesome, sandy beach.  We were not prepared with any of our water gear but the kids were so anxious to get in the water.  So Clark ran back to our picnic area while we did our ghetto thing and stripped down to diapers.  Not one of our finest moments as a family since everyone else there was totally decked out with toys, swimsuits, shoes, etc... but whatever.  On the walk back to our picnic area, Zachary AND Leah decided to take off their clothes in the middle of the street because they were so wet.  Plus no one had shoes on.  We looked like a hot mess as a family.  Oh well.  The kids LOVED the water although they didn't venture far.  We will definitely be going back.

After getting all the sand off and changing into dry clothes, we cooked some hot dogs and learned some valuable lessons in the art of camping.  Like not to use DuraFlame logs and to actually bring plates and silverware.  It was pretty chaotic for a bit but the kids were so good while we figured out the fire.  They all sat on the blanket and chowed down on watermelon and chips.  All of which Caleb threw up in the middle of the night.  His eyes are bigger than his stomach (just like Clark...Red Vines??) and because we weren't paying that much attention, I'm pretty sure he ate half the bag of chips and a quarter of a watermelon.  They all weren't hardly hungry by the time hot dogs came around but s'mores were a different story.  Caleb had about three of those too.  Poor guy.  Totally overindulged.  He also took a nose dive off the picnic table and hit his head really hard.  That could've contributed to the whole vomiting in the night.  I don't know.  They are all still talking about the marshmallows and how we cooked them so I think they had fun.  We've discovered that Zachary is a chocolate fiend and Leah absolutely despises it! 

So day camping was fun and the kids have enjoyed their chairs since.  Hauling them around the house for different activities and even eating some meals outside in them.  Let's hope they hold up for a couple years.

I always get a crack out of the fact that they love to wear glasses.  I can't imagine what people think when we're out walking and they see these three chillin' in their shades.  What sets it over the top is that Leah's are Velcro and go around her head.  Love it.

We have been reading Maisy books for the past year and the kids have enjoyed them all. They love all of Maisy's friends and talk about them frequently while playing.  They received a Maisy matching game for Christmas and some Maisy episodes to watch which have also been well-loved.  They are starting to lose interest now since the books are pretty basic but when I saw Maisy was going to visit the library, I knew we had to be there!  I also knew that although the kids said they were excited, they were going to be TOTALLY freaked out by a real life Maisy.  I had little to no expectations going in which, I believe, made for a fun time.  There were some Maisy stories and a video before Maisy arrived and the kids enjoyed that. 

Then the big moment arrived....

and this is how they all looked...

Oh man.  I was laughing and got some video of their fearful reactions.  They acted the same way with a life-sized Easter bunny and Santa Clause so it is what it is.  There was a little craft that we grabbed and decided to do at home.  Panda is Maisy's bear and the kids loved putting their own Panda puppets together.  They are always so patient with crafts like this because I have to do all the gluing and they just sit and watch until it's their turn.  Those are the times I wish I had a few extra arms attached.

We attended another library activity that was a puppet show of a book the kids like.  The puppet show was totally disappointing and boring but there was a cute Mother's Day craft that was handed out.  We did it right there on the floor and the kids loved it.  The craft was tissue paper and a sticky craft paper in the shape of a flower.  Each kid had their own bag and pulled the tissue paper out very purposefully and carefully to stick on the flower.  It was fun to watch.  Sadly, they all said their flowers were for Dad so I totally got jipped on getting a flower.

However, I wasn't worried because Clark built me wonderful flower boxes equipped with a sitting bench in between.  Each child chose their favorite flower for me and Clark filled in the rest with white and yellow flowers (wish I knew their names).  Considering we have killed EVERYTHING we have planted in our yard, the flowers are doing remarkebly well!  I've made a special effort, because studies say so, to touch the flowers and talk to them while I water them.  We'll see if it makes a difference.  I am determined to keep them all alive because it is just so pretty back there with all the colors and I can see Clark's love and effort in the project.

Mother's Day was pretty terrific this year.  Besides the flowers, Leah and I painted our nails for the first time, I received chocolate covered strawberries from a Young Woman fundraiser at church, I got to sit through Sacrament meeting by myself (this was really by default because all the kids were sick), and Saturday night I stayed the night at a hotel by myself!!  This sickness has hit our whole family and Clark has recently been gone for a week out of the country.  There has been lots of crying in the night, midnight dirty diapers, and visits to the bathroom for Zachary.  To top it off, our neighbor is temporarily watching her sister's dogs that bark up until 11pm some nights.  I felt just as sleep deprived as I did when the kids were first born.  I needed a night of uninterrupted sleep.  A night where I didn't wake up in a panic because someone was screaming.  A night where 630am would come and I would just keep on sleeping.  I actually got the idea from a motherhood book a couple years ago but had never thought twice about it until the week before Mother's Day this year.  In fact I couldn't stop thinking about it so I told Clark, if possible, we should make it happen. And we did.  It was great.  Might be a yearly tradition.  :)

Basically Clark out did himself this year so I am feeling the pressure for Father's Day!  He deserves some special treatment so I'll see what I can come up with.

His business trip to Brazil was a bit stressful because we couldn't contact each other easily but he had a great time so it was worth it.  Surprisingly I had a GREAT week with the kids while he was gone.  I think mentally I knew I didn't have any help so I had to be on my A game.  Time passed quickly, the kids were SO well-behaved, and I really don't remember feeling any tension or stress the entire time.  I truly believe it was a tender mercy from Heavenly Father because our lives are not usually like that.  You know, some days time can seem to move so slowly with the kids and me trying to find ways to entertain them.  But while Clark was gone, there would be some afternoons where I'd sit on the floor to play with them and all the sudden two hours had passed.  Truly a blessing.

I was driving home from church on Sunday singing "Love at Home" because it was the closing song in Relief Society.  I sang the line, "time doth softly, sweetly glide, when there's love at home."  I couldn't believe I'd never noticed that line before because it rang so true to me at that moment.  Time can be painfully slow and the days painfully long sometimes as a mother of toddlers, but those are the days I'm impatient, annoyed, distracted, etc...  Time really can sweetly and softly glide if I just choose to share more laughter, smiles, and love with the kids.  They make my world incredible and if I just let myself be WITH them in their world, the clock is irrelevant.

Mother's Day 2013 is certainly one to be remembered.