Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Everyday Adventures- Part 2

Yesterday, I started the everyday adventures post, but it got a little long.  Here are a few more worth remembering.

The Three Amigos
I thought life with two boys so close in age was crazy...add a third to the mix and things get down-right H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S. At the risk of toe-ing the TMI line...yesterday, after we came in from playing in the sprinklers, I sent the big boys to the bathroom to take a shower. After a minute or two I heard lots of giggling and then simultaneous shouting "Momma/Aunt A....we are all peeing at the same time". OH HEAVENS. They were so proud of themselves. BUT not nearly as proud as they were later that evening when Daddy/Uncle R fixed them up with these beauties of tatoos. Aren't they tough? Watch out for the three amigos. (Nobody tell them that they are way too precious to scare off anything, I need them to believe they are protecting all the ladies of the house).

A budding Engineer?
One of our favorite things to do when we are at home is talk to Nonna on the phone. Cbug was taking his turn recently and I suppose had heard about the risks of holding a cell phone too long. Maybe in an attempt to avoid cell-phone-cancer, or maybe just because he is Cbug, he invented this contraption. I walked into the laundry room to find him talking to his Nonna flat on his belly with the phone propped up in front of him. Budding engineer?


Our "class" at the Library
When my neice and nephews first came to stay with us, I made a mental list of adventures I just wouldn't be willing to try alone with six kids. I wanted to set some reasonable expectations for myself. But as time progressed, we've developed more of a system for traveling together and I'm more confident when I leave the house. High on the list of impossible adventures was the library. But last week I started asking what was the worst that could happen? We might have to buy a new book, we might be asked to leave if we got too noisy, it might not last long if I couldn't keep everyone contained. Maybe it was worth the risk AND it actually went really well. We didn't stay a long time, I didn't let the kids "wander" to pick out books like I did when there were only 3, and for the most part we just sat in the children's area reading stories like we would at home. BUT we did also find a few books on tape to borrow, and played with some dominos.

Two quick stories about our library time
PICTURE ONE: When I went to the circulation desk to ask about borrowing the dominos the man asked why wanted them. I'm not going to lie...I had a moment of panic. I totally couldn't tell him "um, my kids just like to see how high they can stack them" because it didn't seem "smart" enough for the library. Instead I made up something about learning about numbers and matching. It wasn't a complete lie- we always do some of that, too, but the primary purpose of the dominos at their age is building towers, making snakes or train tracks, whatever. I JUST WANT THEM TO SIT AT A TABLE AND PLAY WITH THE DOMINOS, ok? I knew I was busted when the man came walking over to our table with another lady. I totally thought we were in trouble for crashing our towers one too many times. Instead, he introduced me to "the assistant director of the branch" and said he just wanted to bring her over to show her how he had helped me with my "class". I didn't bother to tell them that these children weren't my class...they all live with me. Poor guy had been gullible enough for one day :)

PICTURE TWO: Another favorite library moment was when KJ went to find a "princess book" so that he could read to Lou. I love how he takes care of all of his little siblings/cousins. Really, he has totally stepped up to take on so much responsibility and done it with an amazing attitude. It is a very fine line, though, between being a good helper and him deciding that we need another parent in the house. He knows everyone's full names, and he isn't afraid to use them. We try to remind him to just encourage others to do the right thing...but we are a little outnumbered. I MEAN, not that we would let him parent or anything.

I hope to continue to document some of our everyday adventures.  It really does help keep perspective when I look back over these pictures and remember the fun times we are experiencing together- the crazy times, but filled with fun none-the-less.
ABL

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