"Boys are found everywhere—on top of, underneath, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around or jumping to. Mothers love them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers tolerate them, adults ignore them and Heaven protects them. A boy is Truth with dirt on its face, Beauty with a cut on its finger, Wisdom with bubble gum in its hair
and the Hope of the future with a frog in its pocket."
Author: Alan Beck


Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Powerless

Just look at him.  His dimples are the size of craters, and they melt me.  He looks so innocent, doesn't he?  One would never guess I found his pockets full of corn skewers just yesterday.  I would give $100 just to know what his intent was.  It was malice, no doubt.  Like always, I'm sure his plan was well constructed.  
A pocket full of corn skewers!
 (I'm crazy about this kid) 

We overslept big time this morning.  A true rarity.  A blessing in disguise that leaves me feeling crooked for the entire day.

How does one feel crooked?  I'm not quite sure myself.....

I usually drink my first cup of coffee upstairs as I am getting ready.  Today I felt incredibly rushed and opted to skip it.  Big mistake.

A typical morning consists of me serving up 5 different breakfast orders to 5 different boys.  Their first meal of the day often includes requests such as, cereal, toast, yogurt, eggs, bacon, sausage, and your occasional grilled cheese sandwich.

This morning, however, I honored their requests and then reached for my first cup of coffee.  As the fog lifted from my brain, I took first notice of what I had agreeably served them for breakfast-

Popsicles,
Bacon,
Leftover Cheesecake,
& Popcorn
Nice.

And then I sat and watched as they successfully rearranged every ounce of furniture in our family room as to make the couches and chairs more suitable for their jumping purposes. 
Couch to couch, chair to chair, they bounced.

I just drank my coffee and giggled as they flew through the air.  Without my normal fuel intake I was powerless.  Like a shark smells blood in the water, my boys have the amazing ability to detect
 my level of endurance.

The rest of our day has continued in much the same fashion. 
Together, they've created a force that I can't battle. 

Today I choose to raise my white flag. 

I'm resting up for what tomorrow may bring.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Seldom spare moment...

3 of my boys are playing at the neighbors, which gives me a few minutes to put laundry away, empty the dishwasher, clean the birdcage, and try my best to sneak in a post on the blog.

Here goes....

Yesterday I took the boys to the farm.  Like always, we had an amazing time.  It's funny, the farm is the one place I can take 5 boys by myself and not become overwhelmed with stress and anxiety.  There is so much for them to explore, which keeps them out of trouble.  We were there over an hour and the *entire trip was incident-free.  Anyone with boys knows that by saying incident-free, I am referring to the following:

-hitting, tripping, teasing, punching, poking, wrestling, head locking, etc.

*The entire outdoor portion of the trip was incident-free.  This shall not include the part where I had to take them inside to use the bathroom.  I sent the three oldest boys into the men's room and was forced to wait outside and listen to the horror that took place less than 2 seconds after they went in.  Think potty jokes echoing throughout the building, think screaming and think misuse of the electricity.  I was left with no choice... I boldly went in and  forcibly removed them from the facilities. 

Our trip yesterday was full of excitement.  Bessy, the farm cow, finally had her calf and we enjoyed meeting him.  One of the peacocks had a flock of baby chicks that were the cutest things I've ever seen.  Have you ever seen a baby peacock?  Add it to your bucket list - you won't be disappointed. The goats had to be moved from one pen to another, and the rancher deliberately ran them right past the boys.  When I say ran them right past, I do so without any exaggeration.  I was instantaneously placed into rescue mode as I saved my boys who were so stunned at the sight of 60 goats headed their way, they froze in place and began a game of chicken.

All boys need to learn that hungry goats move for no one.

As we made our way back to the car, we said our usual goodbye to the farm, which goes something like this:

"Goodbye farm, we will miss you.  We love you, farm.  See you next time, farm.  We'll be back, farm.  goodbye."

As we drove away, I had tears in my eyes.  Crocodile tears over leaving a farm and heading home to life in suburbia. 

I've been wondering for the past 24 hours if my obsession with farm life is healthy. I quickly found my answer

as I came across this picture I took during our visit yesterday.
 
Healthy?  You better believe it.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Refreshed

Last Saturday night, I was lucky enough to get the chance to go out to eat with my darling hubby.  We went to an amazing Italian restaurant that had the most gigantic gluten free menu I've ever laid eyes on.  When I think of Italian food, I think of the two times I've eaten at North Beach in San Francisco. 

Talk about amazing food. 

I've been GF for almost 5 years now and have never had a true Italian meal since.  All of that changed on Saturday.  As soon as we were seated, and before we were even handed a menu, the waitress asked us if we would like "regular bread, or gluten free?"

I almost fell out of my chair.  GF bread with oil and vinegar?  No longer do I have to salivate as my husband devours an entire loaf of bread, dipping each warm bite until it's dripping with olive oil. On Saturday night I was given my own loaf.  The rest of the meal was much too fabulous to describe, as I am currently starving.  To my beloved North Beach in San Francisco, you have met your match.

As if the above didn't make me lucky enough, I also got the chance to escape for a few hours on Monday with my BFF.  We went out for 'drinks', but talked so much that we never made it past one beverage.  Next time, we need to take a vow of silence until the first drink has been consumed.  We are blindly robbing ourselves.

Lucy always gives the most thoughtful advice, insight, and gifts.  Lately, I've been spending the spare minutes that fall in between chasing, dressing, bathing, changing, scolding, feeding & loving 5 boys to read this (just one of my birthday gifts from Luc)-

It's a magazine that I'm sure was published solely for me.  From cowboy purses to sexy tractors, this is MY kind of mag.  (if you'd like to get me a subscription, please....feel free.)
My two favorite pages are this-

And this-

And that is how my week is going.  Lots of snow cone making, lots of playing, lots of preparing for a new term to begin at school, but never, not even for a second, forgetting about my farm.

I know I'll have it one day, and I intend on arriving prepared.

PS-I'm feeling refreshed, can you tell?

LOVE,

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Another month....

 
We spend our days practicing our wall climbing abilities.


I've been trying, really I have. 

There have been several times throughout this past month where I wondered if I would ever blog again.  I think back to the times when I used to write several times in the same week.  I remember how the words just flowed, and how I never needed to think about a topic, yet choose from the outpouring.

And it felt so good.

I took a look this morning at the old blog.  I smiled and laughed as I read posts from the past few years.  And then I wondered if I would ever be able to write like that again.

Suddenly I feel as if my creative side is lost.  Of course, I could find several topics to write about - how college is harder when you're in your mid 30's, how challenging it is to get an entire bottle of 'sunscream' out of your carpet, how I wonder if my children are the only ones who eat ALL DAY LONG, how my kids find random push pins & tacks and chase each other with them when I can't even find a pen, how I've never been this exhausted in my life, or how my three year-old locked me out of the house twice this week.

And those are the reasons why I haven't blogged in so long.  Who in their right mind would ever want to read something like that?  Whining...in writing form. Something I made a vow to never do.

And so I sit.

And try to think of a way to write like I used to.

Hoping it will all come back.

Soon.