Weird obsession

My kids have this weird obsession with cemeteries; they would walk around cemeteries for hours if we let them. I suppose maybe I created this obsession several years ago.  If I would have known how excited they get when I say something like "I was looking on google maps and found a cemetery right in the middle of a neighborhood" I may not have encouraged the stop over.

A few years ago while trekking to the beach, we saw many signs in the South Carolina country that marked historic sites.  I kept saying "we need to stop at one of these and see what is there."  So, one time we did.  It was a very, very old church that had a cemetery behind it.  It was completely abandoned but we had a good time looking a piece of history and the kids became obsessed with running around the headstones looking for the oldest one.
"Dad, this guy was a general in the confederate army!"
"Mom, this one is from the 1800's!"

An obsession was born.  Now our trips include phrases like "come on, we need to stop at that cemetery."  "Please mom, it'll only take a few minutes."

Emily has learned how to look up cemetery records online and can tell you the oldest grave and then like a scavenger hunt she needs to find that grave.

While I admit that finding the resting place of people who helped shape the city you're from is kind of cool, it is still a bit weird and I try to keep a button on their lips while out in public.
"Mom, let's go that cemetery we saw on the way here" tends to raise a few eyebrows.

PPD- Phone Photo Dump

Summer Movie Series

Alternately titled:
Where I listen to toddlers shriek, get kicked in the back and smell poopy diapers to save a few bucks.

It always starts the same each summer.  I get excited about the FREE movie series shown each week during the summer and convince the kids that it will be fun.  They turn up their noses at most of the movies because they've already seen them or those are "too baby" but I can get them to commit to a few we skipped during the regular showings.

We pack a backpack with juice boxes and snacks because a free movie means free; none of this $5 kids pack from the concession stands for us.  We are simply here to watch your DVD on the big screen, thankyouverymuch.

First, you must arrive at least 30 minutes before the movie if you want your party of 5 to sit together.  Don't try to save seats because every mother coming in for the next 30 minutes is going to give you the look of death for robbing her and her children the opportunity to sit together for the free DVD showing.  If you do arrive after most of the seats are taken, be warned that now every mother sitting in the seats with an empty one near them will give you the look of "don't you even think about parading yourself and your 4 kids down this row, this seat is saved."

Very important- Look who you'll be sitting in front of.  This is the free movie full of 2-legged chair kickers and boy do they put on their practice shoes each week.  Try to sit in front of the parent accompanying the 2-legged chair kickers.  If the accompanying parent needs to make a bathroom run, be sure to use that opportunity to tell the 2-legged chair kicker to cut it out.  Nicely, of course.

Hopefully the movie will start on time because entertaining children for 30 minutes gets a bit difficult, even for the best mothers and daycare providers.  Finally, the lights go down and the movie starts...after the operator figures out how to switch over to the computer playing the DVD.  It can become quite comical to watch someone else navigate a computer while 200 people watch in anticipation.

Thirty minutes into the movie the toddler behind you starts asking about his shoe that fell off his foot.
"mommy, my shoe"
"my shoe, mommy"
"my shoe"
"mommy"
"my shoe?  mommy?"
"where's my shoe?"
"mommy, my shoe"
"my shoe, mommy"
Repeat this for the remainder of the movie.  I was about to offer up my own shoe for the kid.

Just as your thinking that the end of the movie needs to come soon or your chiropractor will be getting rich tomorrow, you smell it.  The smell of 100 toddlers and babies that all ate breakfast about two hours ago in one windowless room.
First kid: "mom, what is that smell?"
Second kid: "dude, who stinks?"  (This is a boy, of course)
Third kid: "mom, I think it's that kid right..."
Mom: "stop it, they are babies.  you pooped too, ya know."
Mom:  "dude, that stinks.  that's awful, what'd you feed that kid?"

And then you make a bee line out of the theatre as soon as the credits roll.

I'm going to suck as an old person; or senior citizen as I make my children say.

While Mom's Away

I'm squeezing my beauties a little tighter this morning before they run off to school.  Why?
Because I'm leaving this morning for the weekend with just the ladies from my family; my mom, sister, grandma, aunts, and cousins.  I'm so excited to shop all day for 2 days with some of the ladies closest to me.

Are the kids worried about me leaving, or sad that I won't be here when they get off the bus today?
I don't think so based on Matthew's realization the other day.

Matthew: Mom, so you are leaving and we're staying home with dad?
Me: Yes
Matthew: And how long will you be gone?
Me: 2 nights, 3 days  (I'm thinking he's worried that I'll be gone long enough for the house to run out of toilet paper or something.)
Matthew: (as his eyes are rolling around to indicate he's thinking hard)  All right, that means we'll have enough time to eat at all the places you won't let us!  Mom, did you know that Dad takes us to eat where you don't like to go while you're gone?
Me: Yes, I know that
Matthew: (covering his mouth) Oops, maybe I shouldn't have told you that!

So, my kids aren't disappointed at all that I'll be away from them for a couple of nights.  Nope, instead they are already dreaming up the milkshake concoction they will be slurping from Steak and Shake in the very near future.

Adding a 4th

What happens when you add a 4th child to the family?

You have try even harder to get all sets of eyes looking at the camera and that task alone makes you give up on everyone smiling. All 4 together in one location? Get the camera and snap while you can!

Up all night...

And unfortunately it isn't followed by "sleep all day."

Yesterday I was back at the doctor's office for this awful rash that has consumed my body. I was given a powerful antihistamine and was warned it would "knock me out" for 6-8 hours. I was apprehensive to take it because I have to get the kids up for school in the morning so I took it earlier than my bedtime so there was plenty of time for it to wear off.

Bedtime rolls around and I'm pretty awake, OK wide awake. I'm one of those weird people who has an opposite reaction to a medication. If I wasn't worried about waking people up I could have used my time productively and cleaned. OK, I wasn't really worried about anyone waking up; I was just being lazy and spent my time surfing the internet and updating the adoption blog in complete silence.

The best part of being awake all night? No, not all the noises that the house makes which I normally don't hear, and no, not the infomercials on every channel (did you know they have an adult toy home shopping show?! Who knew!).
It is the opportunity to see your children in their most angelic state of the day- ASLEEP.

Berry Picking

I found a pick-your-own berry farm nearby so the kids and I set the alarm and got up early to go pick berries. Oh my, you can get way more berries than you intend when you have 3 kids picking! We ended up with 2 pints of raspberries and 8.5 pounds of strawberries! So right after picking we headed to the store in search of jelly jars and pectin. Emily and I spent the afternoon making 4 jars of raspberry jam and 8 jars of strawberry jam. It is seriously the best jam I have ever tasted, and not just because I made it. I'm really thinking about going back and picking a ton more berries and making jam to sell it; we are always looking for ways to raise money for our adoption.

Raspberry picking



Strawberry picking




All of our wonderful jam!

Your reward

Thank you to all the family members who will soon be receiving three seperate post cards, all containing the same information. Every year at school the kids bring home a packet of post cards to address to friends and family with the hopes that they will be suckered into buying a magazine subscription with money coming back to the school. Some years I'm able to quietly dispose of them, but not this year. An assembly and promise of a great toy made it impossible to wrangle these post card packets out of their dirty, long fingernailed (yes, I say that is a word) hands this year. All three of them were so eager to get their straw glasses.

So, without further ado...I give you your reward for accepting three offers of exactly the same thing and so lovingly disposing of them, for me.