Things that don't surprise me....

I blog so I can remember this time with kids that seems so busy I can't even breathe. I don't have time to dig out the baby books to record all of this stuff, I have tried a journal by my bed to write before I go to bed, but by the time to get to that point, I can't keep my eyes open. I have found this to be the easiest way to record the day and my thoughts.

So yesterday, Isaac hit me off guard twice....I am not surprised at all with what he said. I know I will always remember that he shocked us from time to time....this is a perfect example. So, I am sitting in the living room feeding Eli his bottle. Out of nowhere, Isaac says to me "So, why don't you use your boobies to feed him anymore" Trying to keep it cool, I explained that this way I could let other people feed him when I'm not home since he is a little older. Isaac says "Oh, so when we move into our new house, you'll use your boobs again?" I had to distract him from the conversation, as I was all alone and feeling a bit flustered! Oh, Isaac!

Then last night, we went to Home Depot to order our tub and get a shower surround. We are in the bathroom stuff and suddenly I hear Isaac......ppppssssssssssssssssssssssssss...I look over and he has his shirt pulled up and a toilet seat from one of the displays up and he is pretending to pee. Thank God he didn't have his pants down and thank God he was only pretending! And seriously....he NEVER lifts the seat at home!!

Here are some pictures of the house last night.

Front of the house.

Front door and side with the boys' bedrooms.

Back of the house. The sliding glass door needs to go in after we get the bathroom showers in.

The boys standing in their bedroom.

Looking from the kitchen into the living room. The small window on the left is the dining room window and the three big ones are in the living room.

And this is what Isaac does most of the time that we are at the house....Are you wondering what is on his finger????

Here you go, It's his dead fly!

My Job...

So, from the other room, I hear Isaac trying to give Evan a time out. He counts "1..........2................3................now you have a time out. Get to the chair." I walk in and try to explain to him that it is not his job to give his big brother a time out. His reply: "Well, your not doing your job so I have to!"

Guess I better pick it up before I get fired.

11:02...

The time when all three boys were finally in bed for the night...

I guess two good nights is all we get. Tonight was not a successful night...for some reason the older boys seemed to be "off" all day. I don't know if they were both overtired or what, but it was a rough day. Isaac had a particularly rough day....not sure if he is getting sick or what. He spent a good portion of his day screaming (mostly at me) and throwing major tantrums. Not sure what was up, but I am really hoping tomorrow is better. Not sure I can have a repeat of today. There were moments when both we just as sweet as can be. Then the other moments they were literally monsters....almost like someone flipped the switch on them. We went to Grundy today to attend the summer reading program at the library, just as we do every Wednesday. I am not sure if the boys were just in the mood to stay home and not travel or what. I guess I can't do anything to change the day....I can only hope that tomorrow is better. I think it will be.

Eli had a good day. He was his typical happy self....getting into everything and loving every minute of it. He is so close to crawling on all fours. He still army crawls around everywhere, but he is really close to crawling "for real".

Tonight when we were going to bed (for the first time) Isaac prayed for the people in Parkersburg. He prayed that they weren't in the tornados and that the "struction mans" (Construction) helped them fix their houses. We drive through Parkersburg when we drive to Grundy and I think that was on his mind. The boys have really had their eyes opened to the tornados and flooding this summer. Yesterday when they were playing in the sandbox, they had their matchbox cars all lined up and they were pretending that the other side of the sand box was flooding and they were trying to get out.

I am exhausted. Now that I have taken a half an hour for myself, Ben and I have to talk about the house and make some plumbing decisions...seems to be the only quiet time that we are both home together and can communicate.

Two nights in a row....

the kids went straight to bed. They played hard today in the little pool and then ran errands with me. They crawled right to bed and we didn't hear a word from them. Two small success...really two big successes....we have had some rough nights lately. It is so good to not be totally stressed out by the end of the night. They were actually perfect for me tonight. Ben was at class and then roofing the house so I was alone with them.....We stopped at a friend's house to visit for a while, went and ate at McDonalds and went to Wal-Mart then up to Nashua to check on the roofing progress. They had a good night.

I totally forgot about this stage....

Eli is in to EVERYTHING! There is no stopping him, and it is impossible to keep him out of the boys' toys. By the end of the day, I am exhausted!

But really, how could you be mad...this is the face the I follow around the house all day long and get out of danger.....Could he be any cuter?

Small Success...

We have been having a terrible time getting the (big) boys to bed at night. When I say terrible, I mean sometime close to 2 hours to get them settled down. Before we moved to Clarksville, they did such a good job getting in bed and going to sleep. Some nights we would go down to their room and they would be all cuddled up together in the same single bed. It was just adoreable. Because of that, when we moved in with Ben's folks', we decided that the double bed in the room that would be theirs would work great. They slept together almost everynight anyway and this was a bigger bed. Things have been disasterous! We end up losing our patience and not displaying the best parenting strategies. We are at our wits end. This last week when we were in Grundy, they did great. They each had their own bed and we didn't have any issues. Last night we decided to get an air mattress out and see if that would help the situation. One kid on a bed....
Last night was identical to the nights before. The only difference was the kids would bounce off of the big bed on to the air mattress like a trampoline. Great idea mom and dad :) Because of this, they were not allowed to fill their new baby pool up with water today and play.

Tonight went AWESOME! Granted it was late when they went up there because we had to read some books and design bugs for the summer reading program at the library. Of course we left it to the last minute! Evan read Isaac and I a book, they said their prayers and we didn't hear a word out of them. I am not getting my hopes up yet, but am very encouraged that it went so well. Yesterday Isaac had a much needed nap because we were out late the night before. Today he did not, so that could have been some of the problem. He is right in the in between stage of napping. He falls right asleep if we make him take a nap, but he is not tired at bedtime. If he doesn't have a nap, he seems to go to sleep a little better at night, but is a bear around 5-6 p.m. We are just going with the flow. If he is having a bad day and we need a break from each other, he takes a nap, otherwise we tough it out.

Really, when I think about all of this bedtime drama, I can't totally blame the kids. They have had a rough summer...we packed up all their belongings and put them into storage. We left the place they have lived all their lives and moved to Grandma and Grandpa's. It has been excitement overload but a lot of confusion as well. It has been hard to function as a normal family right now with the stress of building a house, fixing up Nanny's house and being displaced. We are working through things, but there are many bumps along the way. The kids are doing pretty good despite all of this. It is so hard to remember what they are going through too.

Today we had a blast outside. It was beautiful out. The boys had their squirt guns out. We tried to get some pictures of Eli in the grass. We (Evan and I) were not too successful. Everytime we put him down, he crawled away. He is a mover! He loves to be on the go....here are some fun pictures from the day.

House progress...

They hung rafters this week. Things seem to be progressing right along. Ben should be able to shingle next week. Hopefully the weather stays as nice as it has been this week.

Ben and I picked out all the plumbing stuff...never knew a dang faucet cost so MUCH!!

Time flies...

...when you're having fun? Well, things around here have been pretty stressful....time is flying, but it hasn't always been fun lately.

Flooding has caused major problems for everyone in the area. Last Monday morning, we woke up to find the river just a few blocks from our house in Clarksville. I packed the boys up and quickly headed out of town while there was still a road open to get out. I spent the week in Grundy with the boys. Luckily the flood water never reached the house, and we had no damage here. Unfortunately, Ben's grandma was not so lucky. Her basement flooded and it also managed to get to the main level as well. We have spent the rest of the time taking drywall, carpet and other belongings that were ruined. It has been a very stressful and emotional time. We feel lucky that it isn't as bad as some people, but sad to have to deal with it at all. We keep reminding ourselves that this is just stuff, and everyone is safe and healthy. The boys have been pushed to the side through all of this, and are doing pretty well despite that. Thankfully, mom and dad have been able to give them the attention they need and deserve. Hopefully soon things will start to return to normal again....we have forgotten what normal even is!

On to other things....

We may ship Eli to Grandma and Grandpa's each week. While he was there, he learned to play pattycake and he started eating food much better! He is so proud of himself when he claps his hands together...next week we are hoping Grandma Sally can teach him how to make his own bottles!

He is so fun right now...he tries to communicate and is just a giggle-box! He is happiest when he is in the middle of the older boys' toys as you can see from these pictures.

He is into everything! We tried to ship him to Texas but he chewed his way out of the box :) Sorry Jessi!

Isaac is happiest when he can play in the dirt and mud. He loves playing with his trucks outside and creating "struction".

Evan is happiest when he is riding his bike and playing t-ball. He keeps saying that t-ball is his favorite sport now. He is getting so grown up and always has an idea about everything. Tonight he said that he would like to be a tow-truck driver when he grows up.

Let's get the H*ll out of here.....

We have been going for bike rides with the boys. Evan is getting very good at riding his bike so we have gone down to the bike trail a few times. The other night, after it had rained, there were snails all over the trail. Isaac had quite the collection by the time we came home. Luckily for all of us, he was able to put them in his frog habitat that he got for a birthday present. While we were on the trail, we decided to stop and look at snails and other nature type things. The mosquitos were out, so I told the boys we should go before we got bit up.....

Evan says, "yeah, let's get the hell out of here...." Ben and I about died! He obviously didn't know that was bad, because the minute we told him (after we laughed very hard) he felt terrible for swearing.

Isaac went through quite a few snails before he realized he isn't supposed to pull them out of the shells and tear their antennas off. Once he figured out that they die when you do that, he was much nicer to them.

Eli is keeping us on our toes. He is in to EVERYTHING right now. He isn't crawling, but he has figured out how to get where he needs to get. He mostly just wants to be in the middle of whatever the boys are doing. He was feeling very left out with all the birthdays going on. He was determined to get at the wrapping paper and presents.

He did get something new of his own....a new bathtub. He thought that was the funniest thing ever. He loved to splash and splash!

The other night while I was making supper, he moved across the living room and had himself wedged under the chair and had a hold of the lamp cord under the coffee table. He is TROUBLE already! He is still working on those teeth too...every time we look at him, he has the goofiest look on his face...It must feel good to chew on his tongue because that is what he is doing every minute of every day!

Evan had his first t-ball game tonight. He did a great job. He is very serious about it...and very focused. He had two very good hits. He even got to play catcher. I have been helping coach the boys...someone referred to it as herding kittens...they are exactly right! It is mass chaos and no one knows what to do, but they have a lot of fun!

House progress

front of the house...looking from the garage.

Looking at the back side of the house...master bedroom side

Picture window in the living room.

Front door on the left, stairs going down, and the door from the garage.

Sliding door view off of the dining room

Backside of the house...dining room, living room and bedroom.