A New Addition

Our family doesn't really do pets.  Mostly because it sounds like a lot of work and young kids and animals don't really mix...

But everything changed last night when we brought home four goldfish after rescuing them from a youth group activity (that I probably should not describe here...tho I want to...because it was hilarious)  I thought goldfish would be a simple enough pet.  Like Dorothy in Elmo's world, we'd just get a cute bowl and let them swim around.  A few flakes in the bowl every day, periodic cleaning out of said bowl.  It would be fun and another chore to add to Darby's chore chart.

In the morning the kids were ECSTATIC to see the fish.  Darby named each of them and claimed the 'clean' ones for herself and said Ky could have all the 'dirty' ones (any fish with a speck of gray in their coloring)

Only one little mishap of Mommy walking away from the fish for a second and returning to screams and one of the bowls filled with chocolate cheerios.  Lovely. 

We didn't really have any bowls big enough for 4 goldfish (I had kind of counted on at least one of them dying overnight...) so off we went to the pet store to find a cute large goldfish bowl or tank.  (super easy errand with 3 kids...ha!)  Unfortunately the condescending and slightly rude employees informed me that goldfish needed at least 2.5 gallons of water EACH and really for 4 goldfish we should get them a 40 gallon tank.  Apparently in some countries goldfish bowls are banned because they are considered "animal cruelty."  I laughed out loud at the craziness.  Really?  These goldfish are normally sold as food for other fish.   


So meet the newest members of the family:  Clifford and Philadelphia Beta.

Darby insisted on a "girl" beta even if they weren't as pretty, and Ky was super excited about a red fish.
$20 for a tank, food AND fish that don't mind living in tight spaces.  Much better.

Please don't ask what happened to the goldfish.  I haven't decided yet.  Apparently if you can't release them in a pond (which they don't really suggest in case the fish are diseased), the most humane thing is to euthanize them.  Right.  Because that's practical.  I did read one suggestion that if you couldn't euthanize them, the second best thing was essentially to put them in a tube sock and beat them against a wall. 

Let's just say I'm a little confused.

Welcome to the family Clifford and Philadelphia.  Please live at least a week.

Welcome Fall

Well it doesn't feel like Fall here.  At least not the kind of Fall to which I had become accustomed with crisp cool air, crunchy red and yellow leaves, and cozy sweaters.  Here in Texas, the weather has just recently dipped below triple digits, the crunching under my feet is the dead grass in my backyard from a record-setting drought, and my boys ran around outside shirtless asking to play in the sprinkler.

Nevertheless, tonight we celebrated Fall.  Pumpkin pancakes, hot apple cider, and cinnamon pears.

Scrumptious

Forgive the blurry picture.  Wild one would not sit still all night and I needed to prove he participated.

Of course after dinner we had baths to wash off all the sticky.  I think I'm going to be sad when they're old enough to shower on their own.  Or relieved?  I'm not quite sure.

And after baths some family puzzle time.  Which was not as pleasant as it sounds.  Lots of brothers destroying puzzles, screaming, time-outs for screaming, Mommy reading to the baby to distract him from puzzle (which doesn't work even for a moment).  More screaming.  More talks about self-control and kind words and letting brother help.  Then puzzle finally completed to reveal....we're missing a piece.  Such is life these days.  But it's wonderful.  Life with these three.  Chaotic and wonderful.

The friend in the front left is 'Kiwi' the class pet Darby is taking care of for the weekend.

Dot Paint

With this crazy Texas heat, we've had to work hard to find ways to keep three kiddos busy in the air conditioning.  We've spent a lot more time inside than I anticipated this Summer.  I heard the high today was only 105 down from the weekend.  We're somewhere around 70 days over 100 degrees this Summer.  They're calling it the hottest Summer on record.  And still - I'll take it over a Philly winter any day.

These kids love to paint.  They love it. But, Ky doesn't fully understand how to use watercolors yet.  And I have a confession to make.  I HATE finger paint.  I hate it.  It makes a huge mess and it's gooey and they try to taste it and did I mention how messy it is?

BUT

While walking the aisles of Michael's the other day, I found....dot paint.  I'd forgotten such wonderful things existed.  It's less messy, no bowls of water to tip over, and Kyler can do it without help (which is important for Mr "I do it by self" right now).   So fun.

Darby still opts for watercolor sometimes.

One of her paintings.  She wrote "Pappy" all by herself.  She was so proud.  I had to take a picture so that we could give it to Pappy and still preserve the cuteness of the upside down and backwards lettering.

Where was Carson?  Trying to climb on top of the table and eat the paints.  He has discovered that he can climb on the dining room table.  Awesome.

Preschool

Our big girl started preschool last week.  She's been counting down for about a year.
She's only going 2 mornings a week, but I think it's perfect.  Cherishing every moment with her before 'real' school starts. :)

When we got in the car to drive to her school, I heard her take a deep breath and say "Wow, I'm really going to preschool."
Couldn't have said it better myself.

Baking Cookies

 

Because cookies taste better when they're made with tiny fingers.

And because there's nothing more fun than helping mom in the kitchen.

And because a house full of special memories and the smell of fresh cookies is the best kind of house.

Family Planning

"Hey Mom, if you need us, we'll be right over here making each other laugh."  Darby told me this morning.

3 kids in 38 months.  Is it what we planned?  Nope. I distinctly remember a conversation with a friend who loves having her kids so close in age and smiling and listening to her talk about how wonderful it is and thinking in my head. "Nope, that's not for me."  I love the baby stage.  Love it.  I wanted to spread our kids out so that I could fully enjoy and cherish each and every moment and stage of each child.  Make sure everything was manageable and still keep my house clean and stay involved in adult activities and relationships.

It's funny now when I remember how much time I spent thinking about what the perfect family dynamic would be and exactly how far apart I wanted my kids and how many I wanted and even which gender should come first....

So much pride.  Thinking I knew what was best for our little family.  Forgetting that the One who knows the end of the story...I should really leave that kind of planning to Him.  Sure there's wisdom in planning, but sometimes I hold on to those plans with white-knuckled fists.  And He smiles and slowly loosens my grasp finger by finger . . . because He loves me.  And He has better plans...

And I whine about how crazy my days are and how little sleep I get sometimes and how hard it is to get to know people when you can barely finish a sentence...And when I hear the "you have your hands full" about 8 times a day...and when I crash into the couch in my toy-covered living room after bedtime...

Children are a blessing.

 And it is hard.  Really hard and now that the baby is 13 months old I'm just starting to get close to feeling in control most days again.

I am so thankful that in the midst of the crazy days the Lord knew that these were the 3 precious children He had for us and they came exactly when He wanted them to and I can trust His plan.  And I look at their beautiful faces and I realize just what a blessing they are. And what would my life be like without them?

I sure am glad I'm not the one writing the story.   I wonder what else I would be missing out on.

3 lasagnas

And completing some of the unfinished posts from July.  :)  Have I mentioned it's been a crazy summer?

I know I am not the first to think of this.  I know it's something that more organized, disciplined moms have been doing for decades.  But for me...this was groundbreaking.

I made 3 lasagnas at one time.  Yes I hear your jaw dropping, so impressed with me right? 

I've never actually made lasagna from scratch before.  It always seemed like so much work when Stouffer's makes a perfectly good one.  But when I considered making 3 at once and freezing a couple, suddenly it seemed worth the effort.  It really wasn't that bad.  I just tripled the recipe, bought those little foil baking pans, then cooked one and froze two.  Tonight I plan on doing the same thing with a favorite chicken casserole recipe and Conor has requested a triple recipe of Shepherd's pie later this week.  Again, I know some of you do this all the time, but the idea of making the mess just once and having the night off later in the month is what finally motivated me to get it together.  PLUS a few days after making my lasagnas one of my friends needed a meal - so I just grabbed it out of the freezer and brought it to their family.  So easy.

But I must add that the best part of all?  Being able to say "I made three lasagnas today." It's an amazing trump card.
"Oh honey, no you don't have any clean work shorts to wear tomorrow.  But I made three lasagnas today."
"The playroom's a disaster and I'm not at all in the mood to clean it.  But I made three lasagnas today."

See how that works?  It's pretty great.  I'm going to defrost some chicken now so I can play the "I made 3 chicken casseroles" card tonight....and maybe tomorrow too.