Groceries

I know we've all seen the meme's going around about how people always try to bring in all the groceries in one trip. Something about going back and forth, back and forth, is just not fun. (Not like anything about grocery shopping is fun.) But no one wants to make more trips than absolutely necessary.

Recently the hooligans daddy was away on a business trip for 5 days. I had taken them to see my youngest sister, their auntie Ali, play softball in the state championships. (They did SO awesome...they missed going to the World Series by one game. So proud!) The hooligans did really well too...only nearly getting hit with one foul ball. Getting them out of the van when we got home was a different story, though.

I got home, and they were ALL passed out. No way I was getting those groceries in the house in one trip. I ended up carrying all of them but one in, one at a time. I'm not going to complain too much though, since the ride home was so peaceful with four snoring babies in the back of the van.

Wolverine goes Streaking

It's pretty typical around here to see someone who has lost a few articles of clothing. It's usually Jericho at this point. He likes the shock factor and making his sibling scream. It's not every day though, that Wolverine is running around without his pants on. Jericho spent a good 30 minutes running around like this, because he didnt want to go downstairs to find his underwear.

It's kind of an after bath tradition to make crazy hairdos with the kids wet hair. There have been a few times where the hairdos didnt get straightened out before their hair dried, and they ended up looking like they needed another bath. (Dont' worry...I fixed this one before he went to bed.) I do think if I had left it though, he might have helped keep bats away. I'm sure bats are scared of Wolverine, right?

Dracula

So by now I'm sure most of you have heard of the bat fiasco we had at the Barron household the other day. I typically think of myself as a non-squealy girl (except when it comes to bugs...those make me scream every time), but it was surprisingly traumatic to have a bat flying around your house. At first I tried to stay calm...I am an independent woman and can totally handle this bat myself, right? Right. BUT, then he stopped just sitting calmly on the curtain and began flapping all around the living room.

(Disclaimer: I was NOT as close to the bat as this looks. I was using a zoom lens.)

I didnt even notice him at first, chilling on the living room curtains. Merrick says, calmly: "Um, Mom. Theeeeeere is a bat. On the curtains." I started thinking of ways to get him out, but then the middle two kiddos spotted him and LOST it completely. I spent a few minutes trying to calm them down, but that's when the flapping around started. Everyone started screaming. The kids were screaming, I was screaming, if bats can scream I'm sure he was probably screaming too.

I got the kids all out into the mudroom and closed them out there so that 1) they wouldn't get attacked by a potentially rabid bat (ok, he was probably not rabid...but ya never know) and 2) so they would stop screaming and not wake up Amaryllis who was trying to take a nap. Priorities, people. They still screamed in the mudroom, yelling at me to "Call Uncle Cam. Call Uncle Cam right now he will get him out." (Daddy is out of town for several days, and they obviously have faith in Cam's bat removal skills.)

So we did call Uncle Cam. He and my sister came right over, bringing a rake with them. Cam rigged up the most ridiculous looking contraption I've seen in awhile, and proceeded to chase the bat around the living room a little bit, knock a few things over, incite some more screaming from children, and ultimately escort our little friend out the door. He flew away unharmed. We were pretty thankful for Uncle Cam...the kids especially. Who had NO faith in me whatsoever when it comes to bats.

I, of course, managed to take some pictures. It's not everyday a bat flies into your house. I used to think bats were cute, but the way this guy creeped along my curtains with his creepy little bat fingers was, well, creepy. He also kept looking at us. Have you ever stared into the eyes of a bat? I didnt think so. I'm pretty sure he was plotting my doom. (Tirzah hid behind me and sobbed, "Mommy, make him stop looking at me!") I'm glad the bat made it out of this unscathed. But as for the rest of us, I'm pretty sure we need counseling. ;)

Grumpy Cat Plays Guitar

Jericho loves to pretend to play guitar. He has a toy guitar that makes plenty of noise. He also loves to play it at the most inopportune moments, like when people are watching TV, or trying to hear anything in general, or trying to just rest for five seconds...

In this video I had tried to lay down for just a few minutes, which rarely happens. He decided to pick up 'the stick' (something a lot of runners use on sore muscles) and serenade me to sleep by singing Blake Shelton's "Sangria". There wasnt a lot of sleeping going on, but I guess its the thought that counts.

Let Them Eat Cake

 My two girls had a great two-day birthday celebration. We had a little party for them, and there was lots of giggling, balloons, pizza, and cake.

Tirzah seemed extremely bothered by being the center of attention. Right. ;) She ate it up, and it was fun to watch her enjoying having so many friends surrounding her. It seems like overnight she went from being a little baby, to a little lady.

And speaking of little babies, this munchkin was none too impressed by said cake. We got her a little cupcake of her own, and she spent more time poking it like it was going to bite her that actually biting it.

With a little encouragement we finally got her to pick at it a little bit. She mostly just smeared it all over her face and belly. She also made sure not to smile too much, so that I had to really work to make it look like she didnt hate every second of her first birthday party.

It was so much fun celebrating these two little ladies. I love them more than I ever though possible. I mean, I love them enough to let a hoard of little girls who've had too much cake and ice cream run through my house for hours. If that isn't love I don't know what is. ;)

My Birthday Girls

I find it incredibly hard to believe that one year ago today, this adorable bundle of baby was placed in my arms for the first time. I remember thinking, the first time I saw her, that she was one of the prettiest babies I've ever seen. I still think that.

Her labor was pretty short and sweet. I did my typical "am I in labor...I don't even really know?' routine in the middle of the night before she was born. We went to the hospital just to be safe. She was born not long after that with barely even one push. (Knowing her as I do now, it was totally fitting her personality. She has places to be and things to do...don't get in the way or try to slow her down.)

She spent the next few months of her life SCREAMING like a maniac over her acid reflux. Praise Jesus that is just a memory now. But the screaming still carries on. I think she got accustomed to screaming so much during her infant days that she just decided why bother with being quiet? Amaryllis is, in a phrase, pedal to the medal. She screams when she's happy, screams when she's mad...screams all the time. (You can't hear these pictures obviously, but she was screaming in most of the shots, as well.)

She is intense, doesn't like to sit still long enough to snuggle, and will put you in your place...even if you are a 40 pound 3 year old named Jericho. But she is also intensely happy...her squeals of laughter fill the house (and pierce my eardrums) and my heart. It hasnt been easy, mothering this wild baby...but I love the little spitfire that she is. People always say of their daughters that "daddy will need a shotgun to keep the boys away"...I like to think that Amaryllis wont need any help taking care of herself and will be the one telling future boyfriends how it's gonna be.

As intense as she is, our love for her is just as intense. We are so grateful for her, and how full of life she is. There are times when I look at her precious face and imagine, wonder, and weep over the part of her, and the part of our hearts, that we lost back not too long ago. Milestones like this 1st birthday I feel the loss of her twin sister, our Charis Eden, so vividly. Amaryllis is, and always will be, enough all by herself...but that doesn't mean we won't feel the loss. I'm sure we always will.

It's also not every day you decide to be born almost on your big sister's birthday...just for fun. Tirzah wasn't a fan of Amaryllis the first few days of her life. I'm not sure if it's because she tried to steal the birthday show, or if it was just weird for her to have another girl in our family. Tirzah spent the first few days of Amaryllis's life pretending she didn't exist. She wouldn't look at her or acknowledge her at first. As time went on she warmed up to her, though. And now, our other birthday girl, heaps what we call "Tirzah love" on Amaryllis to the point of making Amaryllis throw one of her screaming fits in self defense.

Tirzah is in the same category as Amaryllis when it comes to intensity. (I have NO idea how I ended up with such intense, emotional daughters. Nope. None.)  She feels things in a big way...it's like her feelings are way too big for her little body and they just explode all over the house and any bystanders. (#tearsofshae, anyone?) It's something we are working on, but I do hope that she always has such big feelings. I think life if better when you feel it, and Tirzah definitely has all the feels.

She is one of the most loving people I've ever met. She loves to love people. She loves pretty much everyone but her brothers. And even them sometimes. ;) And as much as she loves, she can also do a pretty good job of putting 40 pound 3 years old in their place as well. She is no pushover, and holds her own in the middle of that brother sandwich. She loves to spend time reading and writing and drawing, but can also be found in the middle of a pile-up wrestling with her brothers. I love the complexity and depth of her personality, and pray that she never stops being who she is.

She is so smart, and misses nothing. (I can sometimes pull the wool over the boys' eyes, but nothing gets past Tirzah.) She is witty and surprises us constantly with the things she says and understands. I can always count on her to keep us all straight. While her birthday isn't until tomorrow...I wanted to take this chance to celebrate both of my girls' and their special days. So close to each other, but yet still their own. I think it worked out just right.

I love watching these two beauties grow, and hate it all at the same time. They are beautiful inside and out, and I cannot get over the blessing I have in being a part of their lives. Watching them from the start is going to make seeing the women they become even more precious. I just hope that I'm able to guide them and instill in them a deep sense of just how much they are worth. They are irreplaceable, and I cannot imagine my life or this world without them. Happy birthdays, precious girls. You make this world so much more colorful, and we love you so much!

Hooligans Island '15

We are all back safe and sound, with no shark bites, from our trip this past week! It was SO much fun...way better than I was anticipating with 4 kids. Amaryllis wanted to nap at all the wrong times, but it usually worked out that we were all able to get to the beach or pool together without nap-time interrupting. She is pretty flexible with the naps....she may scream like a banshee, but she is great at naps.

The older three hooligans did GREAT in the water. The older two were doing great with learning to swim, and were swimming short distances above and under the water before the week was over. So proud of them! Jericho spent a lot of time bobbing around the pool in his float taunting people, but that's to be expected from a terrorist. When he wasnt doing that, he Amaryllis even loved the water, and splashed and squealed whenever she was in it. Sand wasn't her favorite, but she handled it without any fancy meltdowns.

What was I saying about naps? She naps like a pro, and even fell asleep in the middle of the beach, in our huge crowd of 45 people, on several different days. Jericho fell asleep on me one day as well...but I have so many weird tan lines from running that I figured what is one more weird Jericho-shaped tan line going to matter? I came home a lot more tan, but still managing to rock my runner's tan. I'm pretty sure as long as I run outside I'm going to look like I'm wearing a pair of white shorts around.

The kiddos definitely seemed to prefer the pool to the beach, I think it's much easier obviously for them to play in the water at the pool, but towards the end of the week they were spending a lot of time playing in the waves. (While I anxiously watch for shark fins in the water like any good mother who is petrified of sharks. I don't blink when my kids climb the side of a beach cottage, but get a shark involved and I'm over-the-top.)

We did other fun things like go out to dinner with almost all of the family, eat too much ice cream, play volleyball and spikeball, fish on the pier (or watch our cousin fish anyway), and build various sand castle-ish creations that Jericho made his business to stomp on. It was a really fun time, and I'm glad we were able to get away as a family after two years of no vacations together. The kids are all tan and exhausted...which I think is probably the best way to end a beach vacation. Till next year, OBX!