I'll Take My Jello To-Go!

As a mother of four, multi-tasking is a way of life. And during a typical day it all usually escalates during dinner time. I'm usually found swirling around the kitchen chopping, boiling, microwaving and stirring all while helping with homework, quizzing for spelling tests and settling a quarrel or two.

In the summer, it eases up a little that we don't have official homework and we don't have such an exact time schedule. But we still have to eat by a certain hour or the walls come tumbling down. So I can still be found swirling around the kitchen, I'm just usually in my swim suit and cover up.

One such summer evening, we were actually down at the lake enjoying a full day of boats, sand, water and of course, tractors while Daddy-O was up in town at a meeting.  That was our last evening at the lake so after an early dinner we were packing and driving up to town.  Packing bring's its own challenges as my "helpers" typically unpack things that I've already packed.  So in the midst of all the normal dinnertime busyness and lake trip packing I was doing the dishes and I over heard Fletcher sharing his train of thought... (this is where having a more extraverted child is helpful because you get a glimpse inside their brains to hear their inner thoughts!)  ...as I heard him say "I'm going to put my jello in my pocket!" almost as if it were a song.  I paused from my rinsing and scrubbing and wondered, "Did I just hear what I think I heard? Did he just say what I think he said?"

And low and behold, YES! He had actually successfully put his orange jello into his pocket! You see, I have this "special family recipe" for what I call, "Pick Up Jello". A friend's mom used to always make it to bring to the lake and she called it Knox Blox, the box calls them Jigglers, but it's basically extra firm jello that you can pick up and hold in your hand and it wiggles.  "Watch it wiggle, see it jiggle..." ok, forgive me, but it was such a catchy slogan.  Anyhow, Fletcher evidently hadn't finished his jello with his gourmet dinner of jello and hot dogs and he decided since we were packing to leave that he would just put his jello in his pocket and take his to-go!

Oh, to be a newly three year old boy!  You never know what you'll find in those pockets!

See the orange squish? :)

When Life Gives You Lemons

As the old saying goes... when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

I've always been an optimist, a half-full kind of gal. Most the time, that is.  But for the most part, I'm able to see the silver lining. The rainbow through the storm.  In fact, I'm teaching my children, (at least I'm trying!)  that you have to choose to look for these bright spots in life.  Being that they're still relatively young we talk about "Are you an Eyore or a Tigger" as in, do you choose to be downcast and dreary like Eyore or are you upbeat and bouncy like Tigger.  When it's all said and done, it's a choice.
So yes, sometimes, we even need to choose be thankful for the lemons that life gives us.  And the one thing in life we can control is how to respond. It's not always what you're given, but what do you do with it that counts.  So add a little sugar, a little water, maybe a bit more sugar, stir... and enjoy!

Pool Daze

Summer is finally here!  Puffy white cloud days are my favorite! And we've been fortunate to be having several of them so far this summer! We've been swimming nearly every day since we opened our pool. We've had friends over to splash around with us, too. I'm very diligent about managing kids in the pool and though I don't count heads like my mom used to (and still does at the lake, or parking lot or anywhere!) But I have this mom-sense, that I just can tell where my kids are. I use all my senses - I obviously watch them with my eyes, but when you have four and you're in the pool helping the youngest stay afloat you can't always watch them from a lifeguard chair so I also heavily rely on my hearing and listen for them to splash, come to the surface and breathe.  If one slips out of the pool and disappears for a moment, I usually know that they're behind the bush taking a pool potty break - an advantage of all boyz and a private backyard! But I still ask them to tell me where they're going so I can keep them on my mom-sense radar.

The other day, I needed everyone to get out to take a potty break and Kiefer just quips, "Why don't you  go potty over there?" I had to explain that Mommy's don't go potty by a bush unless we have to!

Anytime we get out of the pool, for a potty break or our favorite, an ice cream break! I always make everyone get out and sit on the deck.  When Carter and Kiefer were little, I'd close the pool every time we got out. But I've relaxed a bit and try to rely on them to help me shepherd the little ones and keep them on the deck while I go inside.

Well, Tuesday was one of those terrifying, spit second, "Oh My Gosh!" moments!  I'd been inside passing out ice cream treats to the little hands through the kitchen "ice cream shop" window, as is our custom. They were all on the deck enjoying their treats, as is their custom!  I joined them and we sat on the deck to get a little sun. When they were ready to get back in the pool, I said "Just a second" and went inside the kitchen to throw the trash away. Literally TWO SECONDS later I came outside and saw three of my four boyz near the edge of the pool and Fletcher was bobbing up to his eyeballs right off the steps of the pool with this look of panic as his mouth and nose were under the water.  It's a moment I've had nightmares about! I started screaming, "Help him! Help him! He needs help" I think because the other boys were closer to him that I was, but I wasn't really expecting them to help him. I then proceeded to try to walk on water to reach him and I ran into the shallow end of the pool, torquing my right ankle as I hit the bottom.  I got to him in a splash and lifted him up and he was fine, thankfully!  I exhaled and said out loud, "Thank you, God!" And I've been thanking God every minute since.

It only takes a second. But we all learned a valuable lesson.  I need to continue to be diligent about closing the pool when I go inside and Fearless Fletcher learned that he only knows how to swim when he has his life jacket on.  (I also learned not to take it off when we have our ice cream breaks!)  I talked to them all about the gravity of that moment and it's one I hope we never forget, though I wish I could erase that haunting visual from my mind.

Now the remaining pool days that we have will be an even heightened mom-sense.

Griffin Doodle in the pool (or poodle?!) 

Big Guy Carter struts after a dive

Fearless Fletcher peers over the edge (life jacket on)

Fletcher doing his pool dance

Singing and dancing

Griffin's on the run

Griffin jumping in the shallow end

Griffin swimming steadily with life jacket on

Kiefer mid air on a potential belly flop

Kiefer's all smiles and no teeth this summer!

Carter goofy mid air!

Big splash on his "pencil dive"

Here comes Kiefer! 

Big splash!

Little ones lined up when the ice cream store opened

Griffin

Fletcher

Carter & Toothless Kiefer

Is it hard to eat a popsicle without teeth?

All on the steps (K, C, G & F)

Which way?