Backyard camping

Daddy finally had (most of) a weekend off so he bought [an unnecessarily large] tent, a couple flashlights, a lantern (that ended up nearly catching fire), and s'mores supplies to take the boys camping in the yard.
As soon as he was off work, he set up "camp" and lit the firepit.
The boys of course insisted that we do the hotdog roasting since it "takes too long" and they didn't want to get smoke in their eyes.

Still-sick Poppy was a hysterical mess. Torn between not wanting to be left out of the fun her brothers were having and feeling like $hit, she just wailed and whined and screamed the entire time.

Except when I gave her a little chocolate from the boys' s'mores.

Pitiful.

I took her inside to give her a bath (while she screamed). Got her dressed (while she screamed). Gave her some medicine (while she screamed some more). And finally rocked her to sleep (no screaming, just exhaustion).
Between all the screaming from the baby, whining from the boys (it's hot! Can we get a fan? I don't want to pee outside, there's bugs!), and swearing from Jason and I, it was quite the glamorous experience.

Eventually the baby was down and Jason's phone stopped ringing (work of course), so the four of us went out to the tent in the dark with our flashlights to tell ghost stories and read Jason's old Bill Wallace novels.

I totally rocked the ghost stories.

I think we only kept the neighbors up till 11. I brought all the sweaty boys wet towels to drape on their faces, Jason took a couple glasses of water out, and I convinced them to pee in the yard when I shined the flashlight down and told them to aim at the light on the ground. Riley refused to turn his flashlight off.

I slept inside to check on Poppy and wash all the bugspray off (in the bed and air conditioning--no shame). About an hour after they were down, I peeked out the window and there was no movement--just a single flashlight beam shooting straight out the side of the tent. 

At 3:30 I heard Riley crying in the hallway. He said, "Daddy made me [sob] come inside [waaaahhhh]". I took him to the potty, then led him back out to the tent. I woke Jason up and asked why he sent Riley in. 

"I told him to go out in the yard and pee so he wouldn't pee his sleeping bag."

Clearly, Riley takes after his Daddy and has no idea who he is, where he is, or what's going on when he's woken up.

Everyone went back to sleep.

Around 7, they shook Jason awake and told him, "DADDY DADDY it's LIGHT outside!! It's awake time!!"

And they all came in and had cinnamon rolls to celebrate staying out there the whole night.

Anticipating kindergarten

We're down to the wire. A little over a week left of summer break.
This morning I got up at 7:45. Not terribly early...unless you're me. I hate mornings and the beginning of the school year is always a challenge for me for that very reason. So I'm starting slow. 7:45 this morning. Maybe 7:30 tomorrow? Like late-sleeping detox. I'm cutting back.
Ever since the school system sent out their little newsletter, I've been thinking of little else than school. We're already armed with supplies, new backpacks, and a few new clothes. I have a list of lunch-packing ideas so we don't get stuck in a rut of PB&Js. We're looking through the list of extra-curriculars, trying to decide on just the right class/club/sport/activity. We're cutting back on tv watching. Planning out morning routines and car-rider routes and homework time.
Of course, he's not thinking about any of that...

He's more concerned about filling every paper in the entire house with superheroes.

He'll tell me he's nervous. Scared about making new friends. He'll tell me his little expectations of how school will be, which ranges from "Spiderman art school" to something exactly like his last preschool class was.

I am so nervous for him.

Curious for him.

Excited for him.

I ask him questions about what he's excited about, hopes for, wants to learn.

And I try to keep my nervousness under lock and key until after the kids are in bed. Then I look at Jason and go, "AAAAAHHHHHHHHH our baby's about to start school and I'm FREAKING OUT!!!"

Visit with Grandma

It has been a happy weekend around these parts. Grandma visited from Tennessee and we have been go go go since last Thursday.
She arrived Wednesday evening after a 3-week-long countdown from some eager little boys. Poppy must've smelled the cookies because there was no hesitation when she went right to her. On the couch, she got right up in Grandma's face and said, "Mamawww!" She's been calling her that ever since! Hilarious.

Thursday morning we loaded up the car with floaties and buckets, picnic lunches, towels, an umbrella, and a roller cart. Everyone slipped in their suits and sunscreened up and we were on our way!
We spent the day at Tybee Island, swimming, sunning, and building sandcastles. When babies were tired, sandy, and brown enough we headed home for ice cream.

Friday showers brought us to the mall for playtime at the soft area and a ride on the carousel. Then we stopped by Target for school supplies and brand new backpacks for my big school boys.

Saturday we went to Forsyth Park downtown to play at the splash park.

And run around on the playground.

The farmer's market was still going on, so we checked it out and picked up some frozen fruit pops and peaches. We lucked out on our timing. As soon as we got back home it started pouring.

Mamaw kept the babies Saturday night so Jason and I could go on a date to celebrate our anniversary. We went downtown and ate at Moon River Brewery. We walked a few blocks over to Lulu's Chocolate Bar for some amazing dessert--Jason had a B-25 coffee (kind of like a loaded Irish coffee) and I had a chocolate-covered-cherry martini (fabulous!) and we split a Milkyway cheesecake. After we walked around a little, enjoying Savannah at night and burning off a fraction of that cheesecake, we headed to the movie theater to see "Grown Ups 2". When we got home, everyone was out. All the pizza and "Lady & the Tramp" must have had them beat. 

Sunday we planned to go back to the beach to tour the lighthouse, but got rained out. We took the boys to get their hair cut instead.

Last night while the boys were supposed to be sleeping, I found James wide eyed in his bed staring at the ceiling fan. He said, "Tomorrow's going to be a saaaad day."

Today's the sad day.

James has been moping and frowning since he woke up, knowing that it was good-bye day. 

Poppy's called for "Mamaw" a few times.

Riley's just aggravating his siblings with the occasional, sad, "I miss grandma."

These days are always hard, reminding us how far we are from family.

So I just try to remind them of all the fun things we did and that it won't be long till we'll visit again.

And when all else fails, 

there are cookies.

Where did you get that crayon?

Crayons are the bane of my existence.
You would think with my long-time history of art appreciation that I would love them. That I would adore seeing precious masterpieces that my children create. That I would adore the creative nurturing they provide as a first medium for tiny fingers.
Don't get me wrong--I love that my children share my love for all things colorful and crafty. I love seeing the [millions] of Optimus Prime pictures James draws and the accidental letters and lines Riley scribbles out. I love that Poppy can sit quietly for an eternity with the broken waxy pieces she sneaks away from the boys, proud of little marks that come out on the paper.
But I freaking hate crayons right now.

First of all, they reproduce.

Literally.

One minute there's a manageable box of six crayons, wrapped in paper so as not to make huge unsightly marks on whatever they fall or get stepped onto.

Then all of a sudden the kids realize they can rip that obstructive, protective layer off and delight in their "nakey" crayons.

As if life couldn't get any better than naked crayons, they discover the power of breaking them.

Yes, you now have a million crayons! 

Epiphany!!!

I can only imagine they feel like Jesus and the loaves.

Now EVERYBODY can have crayons!! We don't have to fight over who gets blue or who gets orange or who gets stuck with the unwanted pink crayons!

Only they still fight. 

Over whose crayon piece is bigger.

I'm constantly stooping to pick up broken pieces, carefully trying not to smudge it into the damn carpet (inevitable) because my iron-clad law about "crayons stay in the kitchen, on the table, out of reach until supervised" pretty much got crapped on. Just when I think I've picked up all the pieces of what used to be six crayons, I trip over another. Or find them in the couch cushions. Or bedsheets. I should probably change the blog to "wheredidyougetthatexpletivecrayon.com"

I also have a rule about "crayons only go on designated sheets of paper or coloring books"...

This is my fireplace.

It is blue.

It wasn't always blue.

I rest my case.

If I try to hide the crayons, in a bag of course to keep them all in one spot, my squirrel children start hoarding them. James sneaks a few into his lunchbox/shoebox/purse/backpack/whatever he's keeping his toys in for the week. Riley probably buries them into the carpet. 

When you google "how to get friggen crayon out of everything", e-how articles come up with some really great tips. Like: Place a paper grocery sack over the stain and on a low-setting melt all the crayon onto the bag. Then use dry cleaning solution, blot, WD-40, blot, soak your carpet with water, blot, dish detergent, blot, water, blot. Dance in a circle. Blot blot blot blot blot.

Listen e-how, I don't have time to blot the crap out of my carpet. And I don't know who has dry cleaning solution just lying around their house.

So here are my tips for getting crayon out of your house:

Don't buy them.

Don't let anyone else bring them in your house.

Pour lighter fluid on said stain, and set it on fire.

Drink some wine. The stain will look blurrier and less noticeable.

Get rainbow colored carpet installed.

Start coloring it yourself. It'll look less fun to the kids.

And finally, just screw it. You won't be tripping over crayons forever. At least it's only crayon wax you're scrubbing and not bodily fluids. 

Unless, like me, you're also cleaning those up too.

Summer bucket list

I imagined what it would be like. This last summer before Kindergarten. Before "real" school starts up and we're ball-and-chained to the calendar. Where my #1 will be gone all day long and the evenings will be a blur of homework, boy scouts, sports, clubs, dinner and bedtime routine rushes.
Now it is here and I'm not real sure how that happened. It's painfully, awfully, cliche-fully (is that a word? it should definitely be a word..) true when they say "the days are long, but the years are short".
So like most moms in this age of blogging and Pinterest, I've constructed a mental bucketlist to accomplish this summer before all our time isn't ours anymore. Unfortunately since school starts suuuuuper early for this county, our summer is halfway over already. I have to figure out some balance between forcing fun and making the most of it.
We've checked a few off our list already:

Picking berries with friends at the local farm.

The heat was a little too much by the end...

We followed up with Monsters University at the movie theater (Poppy's first!).

We've painted and muddied up in the backyard.

We've picnicked and built sandcastles at the beach, visited with family and friends, been to the pool, had ice cream playdates, played and had a nature scavenger hunt at the park.

We've visited the library and downtown Savannah. Planted our own veggies and fruits.

Read stories, sang silly songs, practiced our abc's and counting and writing.

We've built with legos and watched hours upon hours of Transformers.

We've roasted s'mores, flown the kite, and had watergun fights.

Still to do:

see a movie at the drive-in 

go to the farmer's market

find another whole sandollar

watch the fireworks

"camp out" in the backyard

go to the Jacksonville Zoo

take a day trip/weekend to Charleston, Hilton Head or Jeckyll Island

go to storytime at the library

catch lightening bugs

 go fishing

try alligator (our shrimp shack sells it 10.99/lb!

throw an ice cream sundae party

go bowling

visit the art museum

 put the boys in swim lessons

make giant bubbles

go to a fair

visit a lighthouse

put up a clothesline

have a waterballoon fight

put the boys in VBS

harvest from our mini-garden

watch the sunrise, maybe on the beach?

feed the ducks

go canoeing/kayaking

visit a civil war battlefield

go hiking

maybe horseback riding?

 do one-on-one parent/child dates (like my mother's day date with James a year ago)

paint a chalkboard wall and build a lego table for the playroom

and my own personal two:

finish 5 books

run 8 miles again. Maybe 10! 

Summertime happenings

Summer has arrived in Coastal Georgia! It feels almost like its been here since we moved back in February, but now we're getting to experience those super fun storms, mosquitoes, scorching heat, smothering humidity, and abundance of fast-growing weeds. It's not so bad though. I'd rather take all that than snow!

So much has happened these last few months! 

We bought a house! And moved again, after only 3 months. Our shortest dwell time in one house--which is saying a lot considering this is the 8th house we've lived in in the 6 (almost) years we've been married.

We got a niece! Sophia Marie Page was born June 11. I'm an aunt!!

James went to Kindergarten Orientation. My big boy is going to be a SCHOOL kid in 2 months! He was so excited to tour all the classrooms, cafeteria, playgrounds, computer centers, music and art rooms. He was just upset that school didn't start that day! He misses his old pre-k class from Columbus so much. He asked me the other day, "Do you think they're praying for me?". Sweetness.

Jason got promoted! He's worked (working!) so hard to get where he is. His online classes have started this month, so he's busting his butt on those, plus taking on a million different tasks at work. I'm so proud of him!

Popsicle has pigtails. Her hair is long enough now to pull back. She's a mess, all girl. She 'dresses up' in my closet, fights with her brothers, is saying more words, showing interest in using the potty (what??), knows how to use the boys' leap-pads. I'm just trying to keep up!

Right before we moved, my folks came down from Tennessee to explore Savannah with us. We ate at Paula's (meh), played outside, bought fresh shrimp, and they got to do the walk through of the new house and get a glimpse of it.
Granny and Kelly came right after to help us move in and unpack. We took a few fun breaks to go to the pool and beach.

The boys also spent a week in Tennessee at "grandma camp", that they just came home from yesterday. It was super quiet in this house without those wild ones running around and they are making up for lost time. It was a good reset for all of us, giving them a change of scenery and giving us a chance to get more unpacking/painting/settling done. Poppy was a little lost without her big brothers. She kept wandering into their room and climbing up onto their beds, snuggling into batman pillows.

For Grandaddy: your girl knows how to hold a gun. She had this watergun, making appropriate sound effects and holding it correctly.

We also found a WONDERFUL church. We found it by chance after our preacher back in Columbus mentioned a church in the Savannah area. We started going to Gateway the Sunday after Easter and never looked back. We officially joined a week and a half ago.

It's been a wild year! 

One year

It's been a busy time. Moving. Traveling. Unpacking. Visitors. More traveling. Planning yet another move--albeit only a short one--and we haven't had time to spit. Military life with three kids doesn't exactly include a lot of down time, but it's definitely been one of those way crazier than usual times.
In the middle of all this chaos, Poppy had a birthday! Yep, my sweet girl is in toddler territory now. A year old.
She's eating table food entirely now and finally chunking up a little. We haven't even set up our medical care here yet, so we'll still have to wait to see how much she weighs now, but the bathroom scale is reading about 18lbs. She loves peaches and yogurt, bananas, strawberries (she even picked some herself when we went to a local u-pick farm here). She's finally eating some meat, but she still prefers her carbs--pasta, potatoes, bread--she eats her weight in those!
She's wearing the same 12 month clothes, size 3 diapers. Drinking like a champ from her sippy cup. She's starting some whole milk, but prefers the mom-made stuff. We're heading into weaning territory some days and others she's still jumping down my shirt.
She's talking, a few words anyway. She says bubba (brother), bye, hey, uh oh, dada, mama, nena, James, baby. She gives kisses and hugs if you ask for them, waves goodbye, blows kisses. She can pet the puppy (gently..mostly). She can also wrestle with and attack her brother, while growling (poor Riley takes most of the heat).
She's hilarious. She makes car sounds and growls and grunts, keeping up with her brothers. Where they go running, she's following loudly behind. She loves dancing and breaks it down whenever she hears a happy song. Her brothers love her so much. When we went to the beach Riley jumped around blocking her like a basketball player "so she won't go too close to the water". At the Easter egg hunt we went to today, when she only found one egg, both boys gave her one of theirs to put in her Easter basket.
She loves being the center of attention. And if I'm holding Riley or James is in my lap she comes right over and starts whining.
She loves socks and underwear. Seriously. My weird little child digs through piles of laundry (clean or dirty) , pulls them out and put them on her head or wears the socks as a scarf/shawl around the back of her neck. It's equally gross and hilarious.
She's still a water baby. Loves the beach. Didn't even fuss at the freezing ocean water washing over her toes or when a wave knocked her down in it (came out of nowhere!).
She's a great sleeper, down to only one nap a day (I really miss that second nap), usually from 11-1. It kind of sucks because the boys nap at 2 in the afternoon so I'm trying to work some merging naptimes magic. Some days it works, some not so much. But with the huge backyard here I can send the boys out to play while she's down, get some things done, and they're worn out by the afternoon and I get one on one time with her.
She's been adjusting really well to the constant wrench thrown into our routine. Made to be an army brat, just like the other two.
It's amazing how fast time has sped this last year. How much she's grown. How much they've all grown.
Happy (belated) birthday Poppy Jane. We love you so much.