Fried-day

It's been a looong week. Nothing particularly crazy happened. Well, a lot of this:

And some of this:

(The above "this" being homeschooling, and that particular picture was of the kiddos watching an eagle nest cam. There was a camera streaming footage of an eagle family, who have one baby eaglet hatched, and are sitting on another egg waiting for it to hatch. Tirzah's face kinda says it all. But it was a fun deviation from our "normal" school day.)

We also had a little of this...which comes with the territory when you are a mom of boys. Particularly boys who are obsessed with all things superhero and ninja turtle. You never know where you might find an action figure. Another example: the other day while getting ready for a run, I realized Captain America's shield was being stored in my shoe. You just never know...

In the busy of this week, I have stopped and noticed just how much this kid is growing up, though. He offered to help me with random things for no reason, has cleaned his room without me asking, and is yet again growing out of all his clothes. It sometimes sneaks up on us fried busy moms...how fast these little reasons for our being fried are growing. (He didn't know I was watching...those always make the best pictures of hooligans.)

There was some cold sunshine...and thankfully the kids are so ready to be outside that they braved the cold, insisting it was SOOO WARM out there...right. (But it's quiet in here while you're out there, so help yourself.) I did end up being alerted by Billy that they had left their coats outside overnight, in the rain naturally, on one of these excursions. That was a muddy little surprise.

We did a little bit of extra-kiddo-watching Wednesday and Thursday, but that was fun and kept the kids busy...so I'm not blaming the below picture of what I ate for dinner last night on that. I'm blaming that, as well as every ounce of baby weight I gain, on Billy. He had a 12+ hour workday (not uncommon) on the day I was watching two extra kiddos, and figured correctly that I hadn't taken much time for anything but snacking and eating kids' leftovers, so he showed up with that at 8pm. I did manage to eat half the milkshake before the vultures swooped in. But they're scared of onions so I did get to eat all of those myself. I do occasionally outsmart them.

I'm looking forward to *fingers crossed* some downtime this weekend. It's been a whole lotta crazy for about a month. And next week, Wednesday to be exact, we get to go take a look at Baby Four and decide if Tirzah is going to continue to be outnumbered, or if the ladies are going to lay down the law around here. Either way, we are just hoping for a healthy happy ultrasound, where no kiddos break any expensive medical equipment. (We like to take the hooligans to the 20 week ultrasound. We tend to do things that are a little crazy, and remind our doctors who exactly it is that keeps them in business, and also why they'd like to retire early.) So stay tuned...we can't keep a secret around here (except for that time we didn't tell anyone Jericho's name until he was born. How did we manage that?) so I'm sure you'll find out about as soon as we do. Happy Friday, everyone!

Rabbit Trail Schooling

For the most part, we have finished up the official curriculum for this year. (Not sure how we ended up so far ahead...but Merrick is finished with his kindergarten work, and is moving on to some 1st grade material as well as working on some things that have given his some trouble over the year. Tirzah is just in preschool, but has worked her way through the whole alphabet, learning their sounds and writing them.) All this to say, it's been nice to have a little more freedom to work on fun stuff, and just let their questioning little brains lead us in different directions.

The other day, we did some "serious" work, and then a question came up about veins. (Random, I know.) So we followed that rabbit trail for a little bit. Then someone texted me and let us know about an eagle family you can watch online, waiting for their babies to hatch. So that led to about an hour of just answering questions about eagles, watching them in the nest, and googling for more information. The hooligans don't pay attention to anything for long, and I try not to force it. I want school to be fun for them, while also helping them learn that they need to work hard and use their heads. So when they have questions like they did today, or something off subject comes up, I try to go with it. I figure if they are getting some "undercover" learning in there and enjoying it, it's a win win.

We are still waiting on eagle baby number two to hatch. I joked earlier that if I can deliver a 9 pounder in an hour, Mrs. Eagle needs to get busy. But I guess I'll give her a break, since she's gonna have two on her hands. I also told the kiddos that maybe I should try sitting on them like the eagle does with her babies to keep them safe and warm. Tirzah's response was: "Uhhh...no. I think you would probably squish us. And I would scream." So that's out. I'll have to find another way to keep them out of trouble.

Love Rox

Sunday Billy and I were able to do the Love Rox Half Marathon here in RVA. It was kind of up in the air whether or not I would be able to do this race, which was a bummer because I had so looked forward to it. I ended up deathly ill (ok, maybe not that bad...but I was miserable) Thursday night, and Friday. I had a fever and major congestion and stuffy nose, etc. (The kids finally managed to give me their germs. Sweeties.) Thankfully, while I know colds tend to linger, the worst was over by Saturday and I was feeling well enough to attempt it, much to my mother's dismay. ;)

I am not one who likes attention, but it makes me laugh the looks a person gets while wearing a baby bump and a half marathon bib. I don't mind it too much, but occasionally I do consider running only laps around my yard until the baby is born. Ok, that would be awful. Just kidding.

This was one of my favorite views from the race. I ran this bridge several times during marathon training in 2012, and its always a breathtaking view of the city. Like I said, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to run the race at all, so I had promised myself (and my mom and husband and various Facebook friends) that I would definitely take it easy and walk if necessary. So I took the chance to pause for taking a lot of pictures of the city. (At one point I was even chatting on Facebook. Haha. I know I know, I'm probably an embarrassment to all people who have ever "raced" before.) I had 3.5 hours to finish, so it was definitely walk-able if need be.

Since I had decided to just let go of any goal but finishing before they remove me from the course I took plenty of time to stop, talk to random strangers (totally not like myself...I'm blaming the gorgeous weather), take pictures, eat and drink stuff at all the water stations, and did I mention take a ridiculous amount of pictures? I had a serious blast running this race. I told Billy I think it was the most fun I've ever had during a race. It's amazing what removing my self-imposed pressure to kick-my-own-butt does for my mood. (Who knew?) I know, Billy, shut up. ;)

I started out planning to run the first 6.5 mile loop slowly, and walk/run the second loop or whatever I ended up feeling well enough to do. I ended up walking through all the water stops and walking about a half mile from mile 10.5-11. I felt surprisingly great, and kept my pace slow and easy, and just took time to enjoy myself. I ended the race really feeling great, but that might have been that they were handing out Oreos and chocolate chip cookies at the finish line. My time was 2:23:04, which I was really happy with considering I had decided not to care about my time. Billy finished in 1:55:30...which was awesome! He did really well pacing himself, which always gave him a little grief in previous races.

This picture below was us laughing about how ironic it was that I'm wearing a 'Love Rox' bib and medal over a baby bump. ;)

Thanks to Billy for taking the finish line pics!

I'm really grateful that this pregnancy is treating me well, and I know I'm only about half way in, but I'm glad to be feeling as well as I am. No major aches and pains yet, but I know I still have plenty of time for that. ;) So I'm just taking it one day at a time, and enjoying each and every run I'm blessed with. All my babies have done lots of miles (except for Tirzah...she kinda got away with a little laziness) and I'm hoping this kiddo will do the same. I know running through my pregnancies has kept me (and my husband) sane, and helped me keep my energy up and stay less achy and bounce back faster afterwards. This was my first pregnant half marathon, and I have to say I loved this distance. I can't wait to run more half marathons after delivery...I think it may be my favorite race distance so far. Not too far, not too short...just about right. (Although I do love a good marathon, ya know.)

I may be doing a bit of waddling tomorrow due to soreness, but I'm pregnant. So I can totally blame that on the baby I think and no one will even know the difference. These baby bumps really do come in handy sometimes.

Best Seat in the House

We recently got a little bit of tax money back...always a huge "yay!"...and were able to pay off our credit card ("Four" is already an expensive little booger) and have a little bit left over to finally get a second couch. (We've only had one couch since we moved several years ago, and with 5 (soon to be 6) butts trying to sit on it heaven forbid anyone come over to the house and try to sit down. So it was time...and to The Dump we went. (We'd looked at Haynes and I'd looked at Craigslist for literally about 2 months and couldn't find a single thing that fit the space we had that didn't look like someone's dog used it for a snack.)

The couch we bought was more a loveseat sized contraption, which is what we needed in our not-so-huge living room. (But we have more space in other areas of the house, so I'll take a smaller living room any day!) The kiddos were pretty excited to spot it when they got back from their stay with Billy's parents, and it's quickly become the spot where they all need to sit. (While the other, larger, closer to the TV couch sits empty.) The other night I sat down on the new couch to write a few blog posts and pay a few bills, literally the first time I'd sat down all day, and the first time I'd actually sat on the new couch other than to make sure it wasn't terrible to sit on when we bought it. This is what happened:

Suddenly this was THE spot to be in the house. I secretly felt pretty darn important, even though I had zero elbow room to type in, as I noticed the other big couch sitting over there all by its lonesome. Love that these two handsome guys wanted to smoosh into the loveseat to snuggle instead of having their nose in the TV. I'm a pretty lucky lady, and definitely have the best seat in the house.

Crossdressing Cowboys

The hooligans spent the last weekend at Billy's parents house. It was probably the first time I'd been able to get any rest since we started moving. It was sooo awesome. I always miss them as soon as they walk out the door, or at least as soon as Ive cleaned up all the mess they left on their way out the door, but it was really awesome to spend Valentines weekend just doing not much. (Ok, there was one 10 mile run in there, but I wanted to do that so it totally doesn't count.) They always have a great time staying with Nanny and Pop, and it's always awesome to be able to wake up slowly (I'm horrible at being abruptly woken up, even after 6 years of kids.) instead of woken up by one, or as as many as three, people screaming my name.

I was so excited to have them back home though. We went to pick them up from my mom's house (kinda the half-wayish point between Billy's parents and us) and it was great to be greeted with screams of excitement.  (That isn't always the case...anyone who has a kid or two knows that a lot of times it's "no mom!!! i don't want to leave!") It was so great to see them that I didn't really care that Jericho was dressed up as a cowgirl, who as you can see from this picture is shooting himself in the eye. He wouldn't have lasted long in the wild west I don't believe. I'm glad we don't have to deal with shootouts anymore...because it would have definitely been his eye getting shot out. Never a dull moment...and I'm glad to have their brand of chaos back in my life. I'm much more boring without them. ;)

Little Valentines

The other night, while we were doing a classic bread and milk run before the snow, I decided to make rice kripies treats on a whim. (We weren't really doing a bread and milk run...I just happened to need to be at Walmart at exactly the worst possible time in the world...before a snow storm in the south.) I'd never made them before, but they seemed pretty impossible to mess up, although if anyone is up to the challenge of a kitchen disaster I'm your girl! I even threw in some food coloring and sprinkles for fun. (You can't tell so much from this angle, but they were pink with red sprinkles for Valentines Day. I'm a HUGE sucker for Valentines Day. Although awkward displays of emotion are totally NOT my thing...so it makes no sense. It's gotta be the candy...that's the only thing I can figure. Chocolate makes cheesiness perfectly acceptable. And the fact that red and pink really aren't supposed to go together. I like rebels...and Valentine's Day's color scheme is definitely marching to the beat of it's own drum.)

The kiddos all liked them, which is not a common occurrence. Someone always doesn't like something...and when it comes to sweet stuff usually it's Tirzah. Freak. ;) And when I say kiddos I count Billy too, because he ate more of these than he would probably like me to publish on this blog. He used to always make these in high school...although probably not covered in sprinkles and red food coloring.

I think I've passed the Valentines Day excitement down to the kiddos...who are all excited about celebrating, (and by celebrating I mean getting a surprise and eating candy) and extremely disturbed by the fact that we do not have a gigantic flag hanging off our house with hearts on it like our neighbors. I do have to draw the line somewhere, ya know.

Spectators

They say as a mom, you're never alone. They probably didn't know just how right they were when they said that...whoever they are. I can probably list on one finger how many times I've been alone in the last month, and obviously shower time is not it.

Disclaimer: I got a little flack when I posted this pic for "showering with my phone". But as clarified when I posted it, I always shower phone-free. Honestly I often have to ask a random kid where my phone IS. It happened to be on the bathroom counter, (and in the lifeproof case I got for Christmas) so as with most of our moments...it got documented with a pic. Apparently making me the weirdest person in the history of ever. ;) Now that we have that out of the way...

Jericho used to try to get IN the shower with me, but ever since I invested in this handy dandy see thru shower curtain liner, he can make sure I haven't disappeared, or gotten sucked down the drain, all without getting wet. I highly recommend it to any mother, especially those with a baby who can't leave you alone for .5 seconds. Cuz you know...privacy really is overrated. Well, at least in the minds of the people I gave birth to. I still think it's nice. But I also eat broccoli, and that also makes me the weirdest person in the history of ever as far as those particular people of mine are concerned.

Never Too Busy for Cuteness

It's been a busy couple of weeks...but not too busy for me to notice how ridiculous this baby is. (I know I know, he's really NOT a baby, Billy.) He has spent the last couple busy weeks getting into the usual amount of trouble, causing the normal amount of fights, and irritating the typical amount of family members. Nothing new here. Same story, different location.

Is there anything as ridiculously cute as a freshly bathed kiddo? I think not. And unfortunately, said kiddo knows how handsome I think he is, and uses his looks accordingly. His daddy is not amused.

Well...his daddy WAS amused about the above picture. He had stuck a "mustache" on Jericho, much to Jericho's horror. It's a sticker, kiddo, calm down. You don't have to worry about shaving for years yet, I hope.

I had felt really sick Saturday night, and ended up missing church because me and the baby bump spent the night throwing up our dinner. (I think it was just something I ate, or the fact that I'm growing a human...because I felt fine afterwards.) But Sunday when Billy and the kids got home, the above pic is what greeted me. If that doesn't make you feel better, nothing will. But laying in bed in the quiet until noon also probably helped. Wow...after the last few weeks we have had that was much needed and appreciated. I'll have to puke more often. Eh, maybe I'll skip that part.

On that note, I need to go figure out how to get him out of my bathroom. He's learned how to lock himself in it, and it's become his new favorite hobby. Happy Monday, people!

No Worries

I was a little worried that poor Merrick, my mountain goat of a child, wouldn't have anything to climb on at the new house. I know I have a few friends who have expressed their concern as well. ;) I mean, the kid loves to climb...it's like putting a killer whale in a bath tub. Just wouldn't seem right.

The older two kids share a room upstairs. Their room looks like it was once an attic that was made into a large bedroom with a bathroom/closet. It's a pretty fun room...so far they love it. It has these stairs with no lights as well, which is kinda odd...so I hung some Christmas lights as a way of keeping them from falling down the stairs. Ok, really it was to keep Billy from falling down the stairs. Anyone who knows him knows he falls down the stairs about once a month.

And here we get back to my original point...now that there is light in the stairs, Merrick has found his first climbing spot in the new house. See? Nothing to worry about. I mean, other than him falling and breaking something. But that's a fairly routine worry around here.

It's Actually Wednesday...

Yesterday I spent all day thinking it was Monday, when it was actually Tuesday. Now that we have slowed down...just a bit...after the giant moving flurry of the past week and a half, I'm having trouble keeping up with what day it is. We packed and moved stuff, and cleaned the new house all week last week, and spent the whole weekend unpacking and moving the big furniture and trying to get settled. (I'm really OCD about being able to be comfortable in my "space", and have spent the last few days driving Billy absolutely crazy making sure everything is clean and neat and put away. I'm a self-admitted neat freak, and have never been able to relax in the middle of a mess. So I knew the sooner I got it all done the better for all involved.)

Well, it's done for the most part. We do still need to paint/clean at the old house, but thankfully my ridiculous need to keep a house clean has made cleaning up the old place look like a piece of cake. ;) And according to my husband I'm not allowed to paint...so I get to skip that part too. I guess that's a win win for me. (Our previous landlord wants the whole place repainted white...I guess he doesn't appreciate hot pink walls in the master bedroom. haha.)

We are all enjoying getting used to the new location. It's come with some ups and downs...downs being realizing Jericho loves to lock himself in my bathroom, and that Merrick and Tirzah having their own claim to the upstairs means living under what sounds like a herd of elephants playing drums and setting off fireworks...ups being a lot of things, but mostly that its way bigger. The washing machine is even bigger. Oh and I don't have to hand wash dishes anymore. Dishwashers are pretty awesome. ;)

So grateful to have all that moving stuff mostly behind us. Looking forward to getting a little bit rested (if that can actually happen when you have 3 kids and are pregnant) up and back into the swing of homeschooling and normal life in general. (Thankfully we only missed about 3 days...the kids told me this morning, "but we thought we were never doing school again, mom?" Uh, negative on being a kindergarten dropout, thanks.) I'm sure there will be a lot more real camera pictures of the new place to come, but my camera back in in the closet and getting it out right now feels too much like unpacking. ;)