Our Fourth is 4

A few days before Christmas Bridgie Rose turned 4 years old. Her day began with breakfast in bed and ending by going out to dinner to her choice of restaurant. She chose the Double T diner. She was incredibly excited for her birthday and especially the presents. She giggled her way through the unwrapping and we couldn't help but have a good time watching her delight.

Bridget was so excited to tell everyone who acknowledged her birthday all about what she received. A number of family members called her on her birthday and she was thrilled for the opportunity to share her excitement. She spoke so fast and excitedly I don't think most people could follow her. But they all got the gist. She was one happy little girl.

Bridget has decided that 4 is pretty big. We let her try chewing gum some time ago but she swallowed it so we put it off till the big age of 4. Well the day after her birthday she asked for gum and was so proud to be chewing it again. As she was chewing it and telling us that she wouldn't swallow it she accidentally swallowed it again. Her poor little checks hung so low with disappointment. 4 is big but maybe gum needs to wait a little while longer.

One other item that was to change with the turning of 4 was the guard rail on her bottom bunk. It has been on there since she feel out of bed at age 2 3/4 and broke her collar bone. She asked to take it off this summer and I told her to wait till age 4. I feel a little hesitant with removing this safety feature. A broken bone is a bigger deal than swallowed gum, but 4 is pretty big. Right?

Six and Stressed at School

Megan is an optimistic kid and enjoys life.  So when Megan began expressing worry about 1st grade and her ability to learn to read, my concern was peaked. She began complaining about headaches and stomachaches and was visiting the nurse pretty frequently. At first I figured that this was due to her teacher being pregnant and subs coming in periodically, then transitioning to a long term sub. It would take time for anyone to adjust to a new teacher, but Megan's stress seemed to be getting worse instead of better as time went on. When I talked to Megan she had 2 main worries- social interactions with other 1st graders and not being able to learn. I was really worried about Megan and was glad it was American Education Week and I was visiting the classroom.

It all made sense to me when I observed the class. There was no classroom management, and even though they kids are pretty good it was chaos. I doubt if any of the kids were learning anything. I wasn't impressed with her handle on the lessons either but the constant movement, talking and interruptions made focusing on the instruction almost impossible.

Megan was complaining about not being able to hear and after what I witnessed I was not surprised. I already had a conference scheduled for the upcoming Monday, so I contacted the sub and asked for the guidance counselor and someone from the administration to attend. The meeting with them went really well. I felt listened to, no one was dismissive or defensive, and they came up with steps to make changes in the classroom immediately. My part was to then come back to observe after 2 weeks time.

I went in and I was really glad to see that the long term sub was using more classroom management tools. It wasn't great but it was better. This visit allowed me to see more of the instruction and bluntly, it was horrible. Jim and I talked it over and we decided to ask to have Megan moved to a different class. Megan is still anxious and although the social aspect of her stress has gotten much better, she is upset about not learning. She wants to do well and she wants to understand things and I am grateful that she is aware enough to realize that she is missing things by no fault of her own.

I am awaiting a response from the school, and I am praying that changes can be made quickly.

Saying Goodbye to Neighbors

We moved into our house in 2000 to a neighborhood of mostly original owners, who were in their 70's. Within a few years the neighborhood began to shift to young families. In 2005 the house across the street from us sold and to our delight the family that moved in had 2 young girls. The oldest, Molly, was in Emma's grade. This was especially good because Emma, who was changing from our Parrish school to enter 2nd grade at our public school, would go through the transition with a classmate. The 2 of them have been friends ever since. Erin, their younger daughter, was in between Rachael and Megan's ages. Our girls played with Molly and Erin regularly. They came to our house and vice versa. Aside from riding the same school bus for 5 years, Em and Molly were also in the same Girl Scout troop and on the same field hockey team. In elementary school Emma was very emotionally attached to Molly, sometimes maybe too much. They grew up and by middle school they found a balance and a great friendship.

Between school and scouts, their Mom, Laura and I spent many mornings chatting and planning carpools. Laura and Rick are incredibly generous and thoughtful, and were always willing to loan a tool or carry a heavy load. Laura is an exceptionally creative person and always had something in the works, from giant bubble wands, to a miniature Mount Rushmore for GS camp. It was always inspiring to listen to her good ideas or just talk and vent about current circumstances. It was such a blessing to have another Mom across the street, to be an emergency back-up but also a friend.

Right before Thanksgiving these great neighbors moved to Pittsburgh. We knew it was coming for months, but it wound up being a warp mode move. The house sold in the first few days on the market and they were set to move before Thanksgiving instead of over Christmas like we were expecting. The lead up to the move was hard for Emma and she frequently threw in the fact that Molly was moving to any request to spend time with her. We made it a point to give Emma extra leeway and time.  Emma recounted their first meeting for me.

• Molly: Hi, my name is Molly.
• Emma: Hi, my name is Emma.
• Molly: My favorite color is purple.
• Emma: Mine too!
• Molly: Hey do you want to play Polly Pockets?
• Emma: Sure!

The two of them have come a long way from playing Polly Pockets together. Now it is discussing cellphones, music and middle school drama. Emma misses having Molly to walk and talk with on the way to the bus each morning and to goof around with at scouts, but texting has certainly kept the 2 of them connected. They are lucky to have such technology.

We will definitely miss them and we pray that they have an easy transition.

Soccer Underdog

 Rachael was excited to play soccer this year and after winning the championship last year her hopes were high.  But from the start of the soccer season, Rachael's team was disadvantaged. They had a hard time finding coaches for the Under 12 league so team assignments were late. The coach that her team was assigned, backed out at the last minute. His daughter in-law stepped in and struggled to get Team England organized prior to the first game. She was able to get a practice together and happily there were a number of athletic players on the team. Rachael volunteered to play goalie. The league requires that players are in goal for a maximum of one half, so Rachael got a good balance of goal and field time. Team England won their first game.

   Ms. Kimberly, the head coach, was incredibly sweet and encouraging, but also soft spoken. The team wound up with another volunteer coach, and we were encouraged that she knew the game well and had a lot to teach the girls. Coach Janet's method and style was very aggressive and negative, not the casual encouraging style that Rachael was used too. Rachael didn't like being yelled at, and became a reluctant participant. We didn't like coach Janet's style either but we encouraged Rae to learn what she could and not to take her personally. It was difficult and Rachael stopped wanting to go to practice.

  At one practice Rae shot the ball on goal prior to the prescribed number of passes because they had moved so far forward. Coach Janet shook Rae by the shoulders and yelled at her asking Rae if she had a brain. Rae was of course offended. I didn't witness this but I mentioned it to the head coach the next game and she said she would talk with Coach Janet. I couldn't blame Rae for not wanting to go to practice, and  if weather was questionable we let her miss practice more than we would have otherwise. Rae was still eager to play the Saturday games. Team England played well but wound up tied or losing by a single goal for the rest of the season.

    They play a sudden death tournament at the end of the year. The head coach did not communicate with the team at all during the year and the families relied on each other for info. We hadn't received any tournament info on the Thursday prior to the Saturday playoff game so we were left wondering when we were scheduled. Luckily Jim and I were on another team's email list and we got the schedule and Jim forwarded it to the other families. We were lucky that we had just enough girls to play the first tournament game on Saturday.

     Team England played really well and despite Coach Janet getting a yellow card for using expletives on the sideline they won in over time. This meant they played in the 2nd round on Sunday morning. That game (with another yellow card) was also tied at the end of regulation time and I was torn that I had to head home to host Magaly's baby shower. They stay tied in overtime and went to penalty kicks. Team England triumphed again. Jim and Rachael came home to a house full of women to share the good news. They ate some lunch and then headed back out for the Championship game. I was sad to miss the championship game, which they won in overtime.

      Coach Janet redeemed herself in Rachael's eyes when she invited them all to the coffee/icecream shop that she owns and treated them all to smoothies. I am so glad that Rachael stuck with it and that even though it was a difficult season, it would up very positively.

Field Hockey Optimism

Emma played field hockey for the 2nd year, on a team of 7th and 8th graders in our local rec league. Some of the girls are very good and play throughout the year, but the rest are like Emma and do this casually. Our town has a handful of teams with mixed skills levels. The issue is that we play teams from other areas that have had leagues for a long time with lots of girls with lots of skill.

I had forgotten what an optimist our oldest was, but as I watched her go through this field hockey season it became obvious. Emma's team won one game and had a few close games, but wound up out-played and losing, but the majority were blow-outs. After each game Emma would be frustrated but also confident that her team could have won. When she gets on the field she gets out there to win, and if they lose she wants to get back out there and try again.

Yes, Molly it that much taller than Emma!

Emma really enjoys playing and likes being on a team. This year she was especially glad to be on a team with her good friend Molly, who lives across the street. Neither of them was a star of the team but they held their own and improved as the year went on. Emma seems to have a sense of her potential as a good player and I think if we were able to really commit to the sport that she could excel. But with everything on her plate something has to give. She already had piano, scouts, and religious ed on her schedule when she joined field hockey and therefor could only make it to one practice each week instead of both. It was tough to watch them experience some of the bigger loses ( 0-6, 0-5, etc.) and sometimes it was hard for Emma to acknowledge that some of these teams were just better than they were and it had nothing to do with a bad call or fluke goals. Emma just believes that it is always possible for them to win. I wondered though if Em realized that these teams run regulary and practice frequently, and should be given credit for their effort.

Right now I don't think Emma connects the fact that hard work really makes an impact and contributes to the likelihood of success. I hope that as she matures she will pair her optimism with the industriousness to do the work to help ensure that the could becomes more probable.  As she decides what activities to stick with I hope that she'll get to experience the sweet reward of putting in the effort and have it pay off. So many people fall victim to cynicism in the face of frustration, I pray Emma holds onto her undaunted optimism. It is refreshing.

Halloween 2010

I don't know what it is but we really do enjoy Halloween around here. Costume disscussions are a year round topic, with some ideas way more practical that others. I love making costumes but the Fall is a crazy busy time of year for us so we usually recycle or purchase some costumes and then we make others. This year Bridget was all about Princess Tiana so that was decided way ahead of time. Megan wasn't sure what she wanted to be but on an eartly Oct. trip to Target she spotted an Egyptian costume she liked and we picked it up. 2 down 2 to go.

Rachael expressed her desire to be a garden knome, which I thought was unique and doable. At the beginning of October she got it in her head that she had to be short to make it look believable and came up with the idea that she must walk on her knees to achieve this.  I told her no and Jim told her no and that we would come up with something else. We had the most ridiculous conversations about the danger of steps and just awkwardness this would cause. She finally relented and then insisted she would squat.  Our answer again was no. After about two weeks of frequent contentious conversations with her about this a co-worker suggested putting boots at her knees and greenery on her lower legs. Then the challenge was to make it happen.

We all made a run to the fabric/craft store and found green material for Emma's Kermit costume neck frill and feet, white hair type material for Rae's beard, and a leather look alike material for her boots and belt, plus felt for her hat. We had 1 1/2 weeks until they needed to be done so each night I put in a little bit of planning or sewing time. There weren't any patterns but everything turned out pretty well and I only had a few seams to adjust. Safety pins also came in really handy. Jim used them to attach the greens to Rachael's pants and she was happy with how it turned out.

Emma won most creative costume at scouts and the costume was so comfortable that she enjoyed wearing at all day in school on Friday. Bridget, dressed as Princess Tiana, and I went to the Elementary school to watch Meg and Rae in the parade. When 4th grade came by Rae and her friends took Bridget with them. Bridget loved the attention. After the whole parade went by I went up the Rae's classroom at get Bridge. Bridge looked really overwhelmed and relieved to see me but also happy to be shown off by Rachael to all of her friends. She and I then went down to Megan's classroom, where Megan set up a chair for Bridge to join her at Meg's desk. They had a great time and Bridget loved that the teacher gave her some Halloween pencils and treats too.

Saturday we ran around like normal but then on Sunday we relaxed to carve pumpkins then share dinner with the Brinks and of course Trick or Treat. We have been spending Halloween with them for the past few years and it has become a tradition that we look forward too. We all went Trick or Treating  to a few houses together and then I walked Emma over a few blocks to meet up with friends. It was a chilly night so I picked up a few layers at the house on my way to meet up with them. Our little ones got in PJ's and we all went to pick up Emma at a friends. It was a really late night for a school night but it was a great night. Plus there is a huge chocolate haul in a bowl upstairs.

Mouth full of Metal

Phase 2 of orthodontia is under way. Emma was scheduled to get full braces on Thursday but instead came down with really painful strep throat. We rearranged everything and moved the appointment to the following Tuesday. This gave her a chance to enjoy a weekend with her troop at a corn maze and then camping metal free.

She was not looking forward to it but was such a good patient. Jim picked her up at school and treated her to some preemptive pain medication and a muffin from Starbucks, and brought her to the appointment. They said that it took a really long time. They have spreaders they put in to hold the lips and cheeks out of the way but even with that another tech had to come over to help hold Emma's mouth open wide enough.  Jim also said one of the brackets came off and had to be reattached. It was quite the ordeal. Poor thing. I felt really bad for her.

Emma was miserable and in pain. They put in brackets that hold rubber bands as well as odd blue pieces on her molars called turbos to prevent her from biting down and popping the brackets off. She could only eat applesauce that day because everything else just hurt. Her saliva glands went into high gear with all of that stuff in her mouth, so she had to deal with that as well. That night religious ed had the living rosary and she had to lead a Hail Mary. She said she sounded bad but it didn't bother her.

The next day that same bracket popped off again so we had to go back in. Emma was so sore she was wincing at any touch and had a few tears roll down her cheek. Apparently that tooth is rotated so the bracket is on a corner instead of a flat edge. When our dentist saw her she decided that her mouth was way too stressed and that they wouldn't do rubber bands until December.  Emma's mouth needs time to get used to the braces and the wires will do some of the work and hopefully rotate that tooth in the mean time.

The extra saliva and the pain have eased. Em can eat most things again. The mouth full of metal is her new normal and on she goes. She is so resilient.

What is it that you are doing?

    My days get blurred as I move from one event, to a chore, to the next place to go or thing to do. I am afraid sometimes that we do too much and rush the kids around too much. But really I think the rushing and tasks impact Jim and I the most. I say this because the girls all seem to have plenty of time to create and play. In the blur of my day and their piles of paper and string, I'll get glimpses into their worlds. My interest and sometimes a sense of apprehension are piqued and I ask "What is it that you are doing?"

   I'll walk by Rachael who at some point between activities has turned a box into a loft bed, complete with ladder, bedding, desk and chair. She doesn't seem to need very much time to start on some new endeavor. Recently Rachael decided that she wasn't getting the result she wanted from her finger knitting so she made a loom, out of crayons, rubber bands, and a cardboard tube. With this loom she then made a blanket for Speckles. I wonder when all of this happened and I wonder too what else I missed.

   Today I went outside to check on the girls, to discover that Rachael was painting our little blueish green plastic rocking horse - brown. Water and dirt make a great brown paint.  She works so fast and changes projects so swiftly I can't keep up. I am in awe of her. It is humbling to realize that she works on a different level and at a faster speed than I do.

   Emma too blows me away. We were playing an online logic game called Civiballs from the site www.coolmath-games.com and the speed with which she visually solved these physics problems left me with my mouth open. You should try and let me know if it is just me who thinks these are challenging.

     I have to remind myself that God knows what he is doing and that He will give us the grace we need to parent them well. We just need to remember to ask. 

Little Bal - lal- let

     There are gobs of ballet classes out there but I needed one that fit perfectly into our life. It took a whole lot of effort but I did find a great pre-school ballet class for 3 and 4 year olds on Tuesday mornings. It is called creative movement and Bridget loves it. She and Sarah put on their leotards and pink tights eagerly each Tuesday morning and as soon as Rachael and Megan get on the bus we head out to dance class.

      Bridget has been talking about doing bal-lal-let, as she calls it, for a year now. She used to love to watch Megan during practice last year and knew since Sarah took dance she should be able to do dance too. It is a big perk for Bridge that she gets to take dance with her best friend and cousin, Sarah. They are amazing students, they pay attention to Ms. Elaine and follow her instructions well. I am so pleased with the class. They learn ballet positions and stretches while using their imaginations. They walk like flamingos with pointed toes and do plies pretending they are making diamonds and doghouses. She reads them part of a story that is a traditional ballet version of Sleeping Beauty, complete with pictures and then they get to put on wings and colorful skirts. They end with each girl performing her own dance and the others are the audience.

      When we get home and I start making lunch, the girls play ballet class in the living room. Bridget would stay in her leotard and ballet shoes all day if I let her, but she is willing to take them off so that they stay nice for class. She asks me most mornings if it is bal-lal-let day and is so excited when the answer is yes.

Fitting in time for the adults

   As I type on this chilly Tuesday, Emma is napping on the sofa. She came home from school early with a sore throat and I am waiting for a call from the doctor to see if we can get her in for a culture. This is easy to make a priority - obvious. It is the other stuff that is hard to prioritize.

   School started and we fell into the pit of over-activity. Between school, sports, scouts and religious ed our September had more "parent/back to" meetings than we wanted to attend, but of course did. Those are all done and now we just have to make sure the kids are dropped off, picked up and cheered on appropriately.

Frequently it is adult activities that get canceled. I have missed my, once a month, night out with the girls more than I've made it, Jim misses or is late to poker regularly and Jim and I are frequently taking time off work for kids' appointments. This season is incredibly demanding of our time and I know that Jim and I need breathers. So in this mix we squeezed in a poker weekend for Jim to hang out with the guys, and this weekend Octoberfest. I have brunch tomorrow with local moms and I am starting a ballet stretch class in the evening. Then Friday I go to Eucharistic Adoration with my sisters. Jim and I even went out together one evening while Emma babysat. I have to remind myself that it is not selfish to do things for our own benefit occasionally. I try not to feel bad that Jim is home with the kids, and I try not to resent the nights it is me home. We both need to reset so that we can be available and cheerfully willing to help with the homework, work through a fight, and create a Halloween costume all while figuring out what is for dinner.

Rachael in the Kitchen

Rachael being her creative self, has discovered the kitchen to be a great workshop. Rae has always been eager to help in the kitchen, especially enjoying the combination of ingredients. She has gotten more responsible and understands what is acceptable in the kitchen, so I have been letting her cook occasional items. This summer's constant refrain was "Can I make a smoothie?". I loaded up on frozen fruit and plain yogurt and our blender got quite a workout. All of the kids enjoyed turns at picking the ingredients and blending them into a chilly concoction. Rachael immensely enjoyed this and was always looking for a new combination to try.

The kitchen has been a real boredom buster for her. Rachael frequently asks to make lunch or snack and now that I am more confident in her skills, I will let her take the lead. Just this week I was trying to sew scout patches and badges on the girls' vests but it was very stop and go because of constant interruptions. Rachael asked to make dinner and suggested nachos. Why not? So with a little help she prepped nachos. It was too early for dinner and she was bubbly with eagerness and kept asking for other things to make. I suggested brownies and she was off. I didn't have to help more then tell her which bottle of oil to use. Start to finish she did it. She was covered in brownie batter, but I figure if you are going to live you might as well be covered in it. The brownies were great for dessert and I managed to get some badges attached.

Pineapple mango smoothie

This interest in cooking could prove to be very helpful.

Yes She has a phone

She got a phone. I mean Emma turned 12.

My little bundle twelve years ago has grown into a great young woman. She needs me less and takes care of herself and even babysits her sisters now, but she also needs me more. She hates it when I tell her what to do but she loves it when I help her understand how and why. Emma needs her space and closes her door but lingers and chats with me long past when she should. I am enjoying her immensely. I have to remember that the way I talk to her is more important than the what sometimes.  But when what she needs to hear is important, I have to find a way to put myself aside so she can hear it. I fail miserably too frequently but Em is willing to let me try again. It is getting harder to stay the biggest influence in her life but I see her looking to me to be just that at least for now. I am blessed to be her Mom. She is AMAZING!

Happy Birthday Emma Bug!

We will see how the whole phone thing goes. So far so good.

Taking a Day

Summer vacation came to an end and school has started for the 2010-2011 school year, but as this change dawned we decided to take a family day. On the last Friday of summer vacation Jim and I each took off of work and headed out to the state park for some time with the girls.

We packed a lunch, Jim and Rachael grabbed walking sticks and we headed for the great outdoors. Prior to lunch we decided cross the swinging bridge and to stick to a walking trail. Bridget was very leery of the cracks between the planks, clutched my hand and the cable railing, and bravely made her way across. The big girls encouraged her and helped distract her from her fear. Our goal was to stay on the path (read clean and dry) before lunch, and despite the river calling very loudly, we did it. We went through a tunnel under the train tracks and Jim found a bouncy log. After each of the girls took a turn on that we hiked back to the picnic tables. They all searched and found walking sticks along the way.

After our lunch we headed up. It was pretty steep for Bridget, but she was really into it and consistently refused any assistance I offered. Now that it was after lunch Emma was ready to get wet. She kept asking to go off the trail to the stream but nothing was safe enough for the whole family. Em had a response to anything we said. I appreciate her optimism in thinking she can convince us to do things her way, but she is 11 and it can be down right disrespectful. This created a tension and emotion in the day that disappointed me but we did all wind up at the waterfall and in the water. The girls and Jim all took off their shoes and waded in the cold water. It was a beautiful location to enjoy God's creation and the cold water felt amazing in the heat. Rachael did wind up falling in and enjoyed it. Megan and Rae played well together on the rocks and Bridget kept up with a little help from Jim and I. I think Emma would have scaled every rock there if she was given time.

We hiked ourselves back down and spent the rest of the day relaxing. It was a great way to end the summer.

Silly Bandz

I have admired Jim's skill this summer to use the newest fad for a productive cause. The silicon bracelets made in interesting shapes became the hottest trend this past spring and our girls became aware of them. They weren't asking for us to buy them but they were given a few from friends at school. This was right around the time of Jim's surgery and when we were out he picked up a few packs of the silly bands and put them in his sock drawer. Because of Jim's surgery he wasn't supposed to be lifting things and thats makes doing the trash impossible. So Jim asked the girls if someone would help him. He got a few takers and when the chore was accomplished he invited them to choose a silly band from the stash. The revelation of a potential reward certainly spurred more willing helpers as the need arose.

The regularity of chores provided ample opportunity for the girls to each collect a wide variety of colorful silicone bands. At the end of the year, Megan had a girl at school ask her for a band. Megan wasn't willing to part with it at the time but the next time she was given the chance she picked the duplicate of the band the girl asked for. Megan doesn't even know this girl's name but she is saving it for the girl until school starts again. Emma frequently sorted her bands in different color combinations on her arm, sometimes in cool vs. warm, or in rainbow order, or to match the colors she was wearing. I discovered her one day spreading her bands on onto the floor.

She made a color wheel.

Bridget has enjoyed the Disney packs of princess and fairy bracelets that Jim found.  Her wrists are so small though that they slide off and I find them around the house or in the laundry. She traded a unicorn silly band for a train with one of her cousins. The unicorn was one of her favorites so Jim was surprised and asked her about it. Bridget responded "I'm not that attached to it." And so as with any fad the appeal of the silly band is fading. I am just glad the passing of the fad coincided with Jim's recovery.

Play

This week was wide open. We had no camps or activites scheduled during the day and so the kids played. They decided one evening they should play Harry Potter. Rachael spearheaded the gathering of cloaks, ties, wands and "wizarding" school books and organized the cast of characters. It literally took hours to work out the details of this play time.  They went so far as to build a hippogriff, using the quilt rack, hobby horse, 4 chairs, pillows and paper for wings. As my sister pointed out when we were growing up, half of the fun was the setting up. Megan (Professor Sprout) assitied and Bridget (Ginny Weasley) tagged along. Emma stayed in her room with a pen and notepad, doing what I am not sure. Emma used to be the director of play at our house but she seems to be letting Rachael take the lead a little more often now. Emma did join the play once the action started as did the cousins. I am so grateful that they play and entertain eachother this way.

The girls also played Dog. They took turns being pet owners, pet supply store owers and of course dogs. It made me laugh to see the girls crawl through the house with stretchy collars on. Jim had to clearly rule out the use of real food and water during pretend play time. The Shumaker cousins were great additions to the production and they spent the whole morning at it. We did have drama when owner Rachael would not allow Megan to be a pug. Neither Megan nor Rachael would compromise on the type of pretend dog Megan would be and the playing dissolved into crying and anger. The other dogs kept at it. When the middle two could handle it, they joined the cannine cast again.

Having the week's schedule open also allowed for an importu play date for Rachael and one for Emma, as well as a playdate with the Gaithersburg Jauquets too. I could get used to this.

Oh wait, school starts in 10 days.

Checking things off the list

Some things require a deep breath. We accomplished 3 of those things in the past week.

      School supply shopping

      Back to school clothes shopping 

      and dentist appointments

Heading into the school supply isle with 3 lists and 4 girls was not an easy feat. Emma and Rachael each took charge of their lists but asked Jim and I questions intermittently. Jim was occupying Bridget while I helped Megan. At one point Bridget came over carrying a shiny pink princess backpack (Tiana was on it) to show me and ask to buy. I felt bad telling her we weren't going to buy it, but so happy it wasn't going to be added to the multitude of bags we already own. The store was crazy and I felt like all of them talked to me at the same time and could feel pressure building in my head before we were 3/4 of the way done. Jim had an overload look on his face as well, but after a number of deep breaths we made it out with only 2 items not checked off.  The big girls did slip in a number of things I know were not on the list. I don't think they were expensive.

The school supplies are still in the bags sitting on the floor of the dining room. Partly because there is no where else to put it and partly because I haven't completely cleared out the backpacks from June. The morning after shopping Bridget started talking about the princess backpack and then suddenly sobbed over her cereal bowl. She was afraid there wouldn't be another princess backpack to buy when she was big enough to go to school. The big sisters were so kind and assured her that there would be a princess backpack for her.

Maryland had a tax free week and I had coupons so we also did clothes shopping. Megan needed new jeans and was very satisfied to purchase 2 pairs. Rachael has a hard time finding clothes she likes. She prefers her clothes unadorned, and upon seeing plain long sleeved t-shirts she grabbed one in every color. At $5 each I was happy to get her 4. Pants are more difficult. She doesn't wear jeans. She likes cargo pants but they have to have some elastic in the waist, and they can't be low cut. She does a squat test in every pair to make sure it doesn't go too low in the back. (I wish everyone did this.) We did find 2 styles that she approved of and we purchased 2 colors of each. I didn't let her take the tags off. We will wait and see if she actually is willing to wear these when the time comes. Emma loves shopping and found lots of things she liked. She likes the more modest junior styles but being "fun size" struggles to find things that fit. She was very happy with the purchases we made.

At lastly... Deep Breath... I took the 4 girls to the dentist office for cleanings, 2 hours. The girls were good, but 6 months will go by too quickly.

The Sound of Bedtime

This evening Bridget was very tired after a day with the Kurek cousins and obviously needed to get to bed at a decent hour. We have gotten rather lax about bedtime this summer and some mornings it shows. Bridget's sleepiness encouraged me to slide back to our school night bed time and I started the routine before 8:00. Bridget was pretending she needed my help in changing into pj's, when Megan challenged her to see who could do it faster. Lo and behold Bridget won, and I was happy have avoided the "helpless" act.

I read Meg and Bridget a few Dora stories on the sofa, with Megan's help. After prayers I tucked the 3 younger sisters into bed in their shared room. Bridget asked me to stay with her after the lights were out and hold her hand. This is a pretty frequent request and I am happy to oblige. She doesn't need me to stay long and sometimes will even dismiss me after a few minutes and tell me I can go. She asked for me to sing Twinkle, Twinkle tonight so I did and then I added a number of song prayers. As I was singing "Jesus Remember Me" Bridget was dosing off but all of a sudden started twisting my hand and trying to turn it over. This was uncomfortable for me because of my position leaning over her guard rail so I asked her why she was trying to force my hand to a different position. She said "if my hand is on the bottom, it will let go if I fall asleep." I explained that that would be ok, but that I would still stay after she fell asleep if she wanted me too. She relaxed again and rubbed her Lamby tag on her top lip and promptly fell asleep as I started singing "Hail Mary".

Changing tunes- GS Camp, CO Vacation, and Vegas Anniversary

We had a fabulous vacation! Prior to that though a few things happened that I want to get down.  Emma and Megan attended a GS day camp. Emma for the first time was not a camper but instead was a Program Aid in Training or PAT. Emma loves getting to be in charge of activities and especially people. She loves to be in charge and she is pretty good at it. The night before she asked if I could come for the pinning ceremony on the last day of camp. I was really bummed that I couldn't be there but it was the last day of work before vacation and I had lots to do. I know she understood but still hoped. There was a fleeting glimmer of disappointment but she let it go and moved on to more stories of the fun she was having. She looks forward to being a PA next summer. Megan, who got to attend this camp for the first time, came home covered in dirt each day, exhausted and happily singing ridiculous camp songs. She loves the PA's at camp and was so happy to have a picture of her group so she could point everyone out.

  We enjoyed a great party with family friends on Saturday and had to go home much sooner than we usually would have because we still had a lot to take care of before taking our 3500 mile road trip. We went to our usual Mass on Sunday and then loaded up the car for the drive to CO.  The girls each had a bag packed for the road and were amazing roadtrippers. Emma and Rachael both knew what to expect and how to entertain themselves. They were set up in the back seat with new lap desks that they helped Jim build. Meg and Bridget needed some packing guidance and lots of help keeping there stuff under control in the middle seat, but they played and traveled well. It was fun hearing Bridget make her toys have conversations. I was proud of the ease in which Megan completed her K - grade 1 workbooks. Reading is really starting to click. I think there was one back seat fight and only one middle seat fight during six days of driving. And no DVDs were NOT playing the whole time.  Poor Jim did get food poisoning from our lunch at Sonic on the drive out but hung in amazingly well.  We were grateful that Kanas had newly paved I70, and were flat and fast. After a night in the hotel, he was on the mend when we arrived.

 
  
Bridget got to see Grandma Kate and PawPaw's real house. The last time we vacationed with them we went to a beach house together and for a year she has considered the beach house to be Grandma Kate and PawPaw's. I think she understood now. We were all so happy to see each other and the girls were really excited to meet the new dog Laddy. They hit it off despite fear on both sides. Jim's parents are amazing hosts. Bill came over most every day and the girls love to have his attention. We got some time to relax and see the local Littleton Museum, play mini golf, swim at the rec center and my favorite was an afternoon hike. The weather was super hot but we hiked a great trail for kids. Lots of amazing vistas, rocks to climb and wildflowers.

     Jim's parents graciously agreed to keep the girls for 3 nights while we went to Las Vegas to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. It was so nice to be on vacation with Jim, just the 2 of us. He showed me a number of places since this was my first visit and we walked all over the place. It was really hot, like 112 degrees hot, I could feel the heat intensify as it radiated back off the blacktop whenever we crossed the street. We shopped, and ate, and enjoyed the pool, and saw shows. It was a great time. We also took a tour to the Hoover Dam, this was the only stipulation I made when we decided on Vegas as our destination. It was impressive. We both missed the girls and were happy to see them when we got back.

     Jim's parents and brother had kept the girls busy while we were gone with a zoo trip, visit to Tiny town and more swimming. Rachael had a blast taking pictures of the things on our trip and was so excited that Grandma let her use her camera while we were away. Now that they are getting older they handle us being away with less stress and Em and Rae were able to help Bridget when she was sad. We ended our trip in CO with family portraits, a Colorado Rapids game, and fire in the back yard with smores. It was an active vacation but it was also relaxing and provided a different pace and tune.

 

Summer Rhythm

Our first 2 weeks of summer are already behind us and I wonder if our house will fall into a comfortable summer rhythm. School is over but Jim still works and Becky and I still work, so our daily rush to get ourselves and the kids to where they need to be continues. I have found that we have a better summer when the girls are engaged periodically in organized activities, so I look each year for things for them to do.

Last week was the first week of vacation so I thought it would be nice to be unscheduled. And it was. We visited Heather and the 2 cousins for a day of play. Even though my big kids are much older then William and Lily they were engaged and playful. Emma gave Ben and Lily the occasional ride on her back around the house. Rae, Sarah, Megan and William played in the toy kitchen and entertained each other. It was an easy, low-stress visit in which I got to enjoy conversation and connection with my sister in law. I hope we find another day between our vacations to do it again.

The rest of the week the girls enjoyed our hazy, hot and humid weather by playing in our pool for hours. Emma and Megan both came down with fevers at the end of the week. It was planned to have all of the girls at Becky's on Friday but since Jim was working from home, Emma and Megan stayed home. They were both out of commission all day. Jim said that each time he went to check on them, Emma was asleep on the sofa and Megan who had pulled out her pillow was asleep on the floor. They were still in the same spots when I got home.

Friday was also our 15th wedding anniversary. We will be celebrating by going to Vegas in July so we had only planned to go out as a family for dinner. We scrapped that idea because of the fevers and had a great night playing Apples to Apples with the kids, the fruit of our marriage.

In contrast this past week has had a full schedule. Rachael started Camp Invention, which is an all day week long camp. She loves it. She gets to re-purpose hallways full of recyclables into aqueducts, sports equipment, a town, instruments, and a creature that she also got to mechanize to move under battery power. She is in heaven. This camp was a birthday gift from Jim's parents and is a huge hit. When Rachael had a fever on Tuesday when I picked her up I was so afraid she would miss most of the week. She was very conscious that she wouldn't be going sick. But sure enough, my Rachael was feeling better after dinner. I think she beat the virus, that knocked her sisters out for 2 1/2 days, in a few hours just on shear determination or maybe it was prayer. The fever didn't come back and we let her go to camp when she woke up the next morning feeling excellent.

The weeks schedule also included morning swim class for Matthew and Sarah. They belong to the community pool and are taking lessons for 2 weeks. We load everyone (expect Emma) into the van and head to the pool for the 30 minute class. Megan, Bridge and Ben hang out or play on the playground at the pool. Megan though is itching to get into the pool and struggles each time when we head home and she is still dry. She asked constantly when we could be members and swim there. I explained the 2 year wait list that we are considering getting on, but finally I had to tell her to stop talking about becoming pool members. After lunch I then loaded everyone into the car again and drove Matthew, Sarah and Megan to vacation bible school (VBS). They love this and it is perfect timing in the afternoon. It is just the right length for the little ones to get a nap and then head to go get Rachael from camp before picking the other 3 back up from VBS.  Megan came home with a CD of music from VBS and was so excited to sing along to it in the van as we made our rounds today.

Emma meanwhile is hanging out in her room. I poke my head in on her frequently, but I also try to give her a little freedom. She usually has a pen in hand. She has been working on an island nation. She sketches it, but also works out demographics, industry, and the trickiest she found was creating a good seat of government. Another day she was working out issues with gravity and the mass of planets. She was super excited about some concept about gravity and I encouraged her. And also this week she was turning over the idea of magnet powered vehicles. The science in her head is immature right now but I know she will be fluent in geek speak on these subjects some day. She also loves to sketch clothes and told me this year many times that she wants to be a fashion designer. After one of her recent science musings I told her that she might offer more to the world if she went into science instead of design. She was so excited about the ideas in her head that I think she really agreed. All I know is that she is NOT average.

Today, Thursday, is my stay at home day and I knew it would be a taxi kind of day. It did not start as expected, instead of an alarm it was Bridget saying that she should wash off in the tub. When I touched her I knew she had the virus. She was supper hot and woke up because she wet the bed. She was right washing off in the tub was exactly what she needed. I gently rinsed her off in a bath, gave her medicine and then snuggled with her in our bed. Thank goodness for waterproof sheets, the bed linens would wait. Whenever her temp went up she just wanted me to stay with her. I did. Fevers are always a waiting game. Waiting until the medicine kicks in or the immune system finally gets the edge. It worked out that she was feeling well enough whenever we needed to head out for a taxi run. We will see what tomorrow morning holds.

Friday is the last day of Vacation Bible School for Megan, and the last day of Camp Invention for Rachael. And coming up next week will be a whole different schedule and mix of kids. The dynamic will shift again as Emma and Megan have girl scout camp. Emma will not be a camper but instead will have Program Aid training. Rachael's age group was full so she is not going, but Megan will be going for the first time. I am sure there will be a rhythm in the week and it will be loud enough to hear when the week is under way. And after that is Colorado!

School's out for Summer

   Our weather sent me through a time warp. We had a very consistently cool spring and then all of a sudden the heat and humidity blanketed Baltimore. The coolness kept me in winter mode, so when the heat did hit I felt quite behind on summer plans and fall registrations. Every summer requires multitudes of forms and calender checking for vacation and camps and a plan for daily activities, and it takes weeks in the spring to arrange all of this. The spring is probably also the most expensive time of year for us because I am constantly writing checks for summer activities and the fall registrations of sports, scouts and religious ed.  All of those things are now set and school's out for summer.
 

    The last few weeks of school are always a little out of whack. There are lots of special events and things to bring in, and then special schedules. In the midst of this Megan came down with a fever and aches. Headaches and tiredness started while we were camping and by Monday night it turned into fever and all over body aches. She felt fine when she had pain medication but would whimper and lay down as soon as it wore off. On Thursday I scheduled a Dr. appointment for her but as it would happen about an hour before we went I noticed a bullseye rash on her shoulder. It all came together, I had thought I had seen a tick on her the prior week (it was gone by the evening when I looked for it) and in that same spot I had noticed a big red spot 3 days earlier, and with the bullseye in the same spot I was pretty sure it was Lyme disease. That was confirmed at the appointment and because it was classic progression he didn't even make us do the blood work. Megan is in the middle of her 3 weeks of antibiotics and is doing much better. She did miss 3 days of school but was well enough to enjoy the last few days before kindergarten promotion.

    Emma's 6th grade bowling field trip was on the same morning as Megan's promotion so Emma did not attend but the rest of us packed in with happy families to see the kindergarteners sing and receive certificates. Megan had been practicing her songs for a month and did a great job. Rachael was eager to take pictures so we sent her to the front with our camera. The battery was getting low so we asked her to turn it off till Megan got her diploma. Poor Rachael got flustered with turning the camera on and zooming when Megan was called and completely missed the picture. Luckily a friends dad got a shot and emailed it to me. After the promotion we went to lunch to celebrate.

Friday was the last day of school and Jim's birthday. To celebrate we went to dinner at an English pub and then we went to the opening night of Toy Story 3 in 3d. We tried to fit in the opening of the Harry Potter Theme Park at Universal Studios but it was too far. The movie was a lot of fun although a bit scary for Bridget. Em, Rae, Meg, and I all got teary at the end. It was well past bedtime when we got out but hey it was summer vacation.

All of the girls did really well in school. Emma got on the honor roll every quarter while taking GT classes. Rachael finished with straight A's again. Megan doesn't get letter grades yet but made huge jumps in her assessment and ended in the highest categories in most subjects. And Bridget is accident free, even wearing panties at night. We are so proud of all of our girls.

And what did they do this first week of summer vacation? All 4 of them played school. I can't get over the irony.