Boys

Wow. Things have been rough lately. Summer time just seems hard. I feel like I want to be one of those mothers who are SO glad when school is out, who LOVE all of the time they get to spend with their children and look forward to it all summer long. I TRY to feel that way. Honestly. But it is hard...
I've decided that maybe I just need to learn my limitations. And not say yes to things that I know might not go well. A large, unfenced outdoor area with surrounding woods is just not a good place to take 4 little boys, 2 of whom live for exporing, catchin bugs, digging in the dirt and other things that make it hard to not lose them in wooded areas. If we're on our way to a party or playdate and things are not going well - they will not get into the car, they are fighting, someone is crying - I should trust my gut and maybe just stay home. It isn't going to get better. Being stubborn and optimistic about it doesn't seem to help.
A friend (actually 2) told me today that I just look frazzled and stressed lately. I hated hearing that. I don't want to be a 'stressed out' mom. I don't want people to feel like they don't want to have me or my children over because it will be 'stressful' or sometimes insane. But I'm not really sure what to do about it either. Is there a magic formula for keeping little boys from fighting?? Or convincing them there are fun things to do in one small confined area? To make them turn on their listening ears when their mother is talking to them?? Do other mothers of 7, 5 1/2, 4 and 1 year old boys have these same problems??
Sigh. I'm tired of being embarrased and frustrated in front of my friends and family. Or even strangers. Maybe I should just keep them home until they get older?? Will that help?
Raising children is really a tough thing. If any one of the children had been a girl, I believe the dynamic would be different. Especially between W and E. A particular kind of evil seems to ensue when you put an 'energetic' 7 year old with an 'energetic' 51/2 year old. Jumping off of the dresser onto the bed, running off into the woods to keep from having to get in the car, whipping the cart around in wide circles in the grocery store - causing their mother to fear for the safety of their baby brother, as well as others, sneaking every kind of bug and amphibian they can catch into the car and/or house, wrestling each other down to the ground in the middle of the store, yard, other people's living room, etc.
So anyway, I guess I'm glad that school will start again soon. I'm ashamed to say it. But it's a fact. I'll miss them. And I'm sad that E is old enough for kindergarten. But it's about time...
On a side note - whichever sister gave the boys the Che Guevara T, it's very popular and quite a conversation piece in some circles. :) I just received another compliment on it today.
I've just been provided a gun (made of train-track pieces) so that I can 'protect myself' so that's all for now. I guess I forgot to mention how fun they are! :D

Summer Happenings

Here are a few things that have happened at our house over the last month or so.

Emmanuel's fish, after 6 months of life?? passed away on May 23rd. No one seemed TOO upset (least of all his parents) so it was handled pretty well. Anthony took the boys out to bury the fish and have a small funeral.

Wyatt had his end of school program.

Christian had his second skin allergy test. He took the test like a champ, only flinching as she applied each of the 6 plates. However that evening his eye swelled up so he could hardly see out of it and was still swollen the next day!

The largest red spot is peanuts. He also reacted to dust, tree pollen, ragweed, cats and only slightly to eggs. Sigh. Poor boy.
As I posted before, our anniversary was this month, but Anthony had to work all day. When he got home at about 11:30pm that night, he brought in this large box. Note the amount of plastic wrap on it! He LOVES plastic wrap. Must go through ROLLS at the restaurant.
At first I didn't pay any attention to it. I thought it was something for work. So he had to urge me to go over and check it out. This is what was inside!

Isn't that sweet!! So yummy too!! He knew EXACTLY what to get me. :)And finally, It's FATHER'S DAY!!! This is what the boys made for Anthony.
Jens 'helping'! Now we're off on a 14 hour trip to Minnesota. Fun! So there should be more posts to come. ;)

Congratulations...to us

Ten years. Today we've been married ten years! It's crazy. Seems like a milestone to me. Like it should really stand for something. Feels like I should have gotten a cruise?? or a trip to Europe?? or something after all these years? Oh well. Anthony spent the day at work, starting his summer menu, and I spent the day at church, at home with 4 boys and at a swimming pool birthday party. Great fun had by all.
Anyway, it feels like we couldn't possibly have been married so many years, but when I think back over all the things we done, I guess you really couldn't pack it in to much less. A summary:
Married June 12, 1999 in Mankato, MN. Lived there for a couple of years, in a little downstairs apartment, both working for McDonald's. Becky gets a job with Northwest Airlines in January 2001 and we make the move to Minneapolis - Burnsville to be specific. To a smallish 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with an underground garage. The best part! Have Wyatt in 2002 and Anthony decides to go to culinary school in 2003. So Becky and Wyatt move to Indiana to live with Minka and Grandpa and Anthony takes off for New York City and the French Culinary Institute. Have Emmanuel in November 2003 and Anthony returns, an FCI graduate, in December. Hang around in Indiana and have Christian in 2005. Move to Long Island the summer of 2006 and return to Indiana in December. And finally to Ohio in 2007, where Jens was born in 2008.
Wow, so that's 7 big moves, and 4 boys in ten years. And every year of it has been wonderful!! Honestly! I wouldn't trade a single day together for anything. I recommend marriage to anyone. It's the best!

WOW

That's all I can say. It was the last day of school today. I feel like we slid in, holding our breath, and somehow made it to the end. And this is only year 1!!! of like many, many, many!!! I panic at the thought of real homework and 2 in full day school next year. But we have the summer to chill before we have to worry about that... rriiiggghhhttt. I feel like our summer is totally filling up already. Garage sale, VBS all next week, festivals at church, trip to Minnesota, 4th of July parades, Anthony and Jens' birthdays, PTO meetings, sister's moving and a wedding. The time is going to FLY by. I know it.
So they had field day during the morning at Wyatt's school. Jens and I went to help out and it was so much fun! I was the only parent that showed up to help his teacher so I got to be in charge of leading 20 1st graders through super crowded hallways from one activity to another. I found that I could do it! And first graders are kind of fun!! And they are up for doing almost anything you ask of them. They jumped as far as they could from a line of tape on the floor. They cheered each other on in the sack races. They threw rings at a post that was WAY too far away. And then they turned around a drew beautiful pictures of things they did throughout the year on a big piece of poster paper. It was awesome. It's great how they can just redirect from one thing to another and then throw themselves completely into it. I had to leave after the freeze pop station - which was everyone's favorite. :) Except one little boy - he turned on the projector in one of the rooms so he didn't get a freeze pop. I felt bad. You could tell he felt bad too. That's why I'm not sure I could be a teacher. It would break my heart to tell a kid they had to sit out of Field Day because they stuck their little finger out and popped that switch on the projector... He looked so scared right after he did it. Wyatt's teacher is great though and she did the right thing. Wyatt said she was crying at the end of the day. :( But he gave her a hug.
I am going to miss seeing Christian's teacher every day too - shout out to you!! :) She did such a fabulous job this year and forgave me EVERY time I forgot something. We won' t see her again next year :( but hopefully we'll see Emmanuel's teacher. We were so blessed with teachers this year!
Sigh. So now I'm sitting in total darkness, except for the tv and computer, trying to get the boys to finally go to sleep (Wyatt's first comment when he got in the car was 'now I get to stay up all night') and keep the baby sleeping. And there are how many more days left of summer??

Soccer is over

Well spring soccer ended last week. It was great fun. We took Emmanuel's team out for ice cream at DQ after his last game. Wyatt's team had a party on Friday. They both got trophies. Very exciting stuff! :)

Here are some pictures of Emmanuel playing soccer.

Chillin' in between quarters.

Get that BALL!!

Leading the pack! GO EMMANUEL GO!!

More Soccer!!

Here are some picture's from soccer - as promised. We had games Monday through Thursday last week and then Monday and Tuesday this week. Sigh. I'm so happy for an evening at home. Now if only the boys would go to sleep...

Anyway, here are pictures of Wyatt. He and Emmanuel have been playing at the same time lately and as Anthony is coaching Emmanuel's team, I've been watching Wyatt. But Emmanuel has a game on Saturday morning so I'll take some pictures of him then. I guess he's getting quite good.

Diving for the ball!
Super stellar kick! As Emmanuel would say 'very impressive.'
This is absolutely the cutest thing ever. They have to 'take a knee' if someone gets hurt. There are other times when they are scattered around the field down on one knee. I'll try to get a picture of that. It's just so cute. And I'm glad they're being taught to be considerate.

I have a picture exactly like this from when he played his first season. It's amazing how fast they're growing! You should come down and watch them play! They are getting good! :)

Another one bites the dust

A friend of mine (you know who you are) recently said she 'laughs in the face of disaster.' Well this is me laughing hahahahahahaha. Our vacuum has bit the dust. I'm pretty sure for the final time. Now I'm sure you are saying to yourself "THIS is a disaster??""Isn't she being a bit dramatic??". Well, anyone who lives with any children, let alone 4 boys!! knows that the lack of a vacuum borders on disaster. Add to that an old but small apartment that is fully carpeted and I'd say that tips the scales into the disaster field.

Do we have a funeral? That is the question. This vacuum that we've been using has been in my family far longer than I. It has made the family rounds and was given to me finally by my father. Very generously. I'm serious - it was nice of him. It was a great vacuum too. It could probably suck up a small child, it could blow up air mattresses and the cord could get sucked back into the machine for storage - like it was made that way. Way cool. It did weigh about 25 lbs but I still made the boys haul it around when they made messes on the floor. Sigh. Here's a picture.

May it rest in peace. The vacuum end came off and won't reconnect to the hose. I'm going to have to confess to my father...
SO, then Anthony brought home this vacuum -
Certainly doesn't look any younger does it? It does have a stand up attachment that weighs about 10lbs and won't push forward, forcing you to vacuum backwards. No folks, I can not make this stuff up. So out of total desperation, I was forced to vacuum the ENTIRE apartment with the hose function. Ahhhh. I don't know when we'll be able to buy a new one - so I guess I'm stuck vacuuming this way, or backwards.
A sad funeral is definitely in order.