Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day! I'm forever grateful for all of the brave men and women who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom.

We didn't have any exciting plans this weekend. No visits to any memorials and no barbecues. The Officer worked all weekend, so the girls and I pushed through the weekend at home by ourselves. Two of the girls were sick most of the weekend, and in the brief moments the Officer was home I got to enjoy about 15 minutes total of adult conversation, but much to my surprise I really enjoyed just relaxing at home with my girls.

The weather was beautiful, and Belle and Bug spent every free second playing outside. Belle is happy to spend hours riding her bike in circles on the driveway, and Bug is happy to ride alongside her best friend anytime.

Lettie never appreciates when I keep her inside with me while her big sisters play on the deck, so whenever that happened this weekend, she was perched in her usual spot at the door just begging to escape.

And of course there is no way to resist a Lettie smile and "Mamama", so it didn't take long for her to make it on to the deck with her buddies. Unfortunately, that meant I was forced to sit on the sunny deck and watch these three cuties play, while the dishes didn't get washed. Rough life I live.

the fake twins

God bless the men and women who have died, so that we can continue to live this beautiful life.

My awesome kid (one of them)

A few days ago Belle and I had a tough day together. Belle was being whiney and threw a few tantrums, and I was being grumpy and short-tempered. It felt like a long painful day. Whenever I have a rough day with one of my kids it's usually more my fault than theirs. So the next day I woke up and took the girls to their favorite park to play all morning, and I was just present for them without trying to vacuum the house, do grocery shopping, talk on my phone, check email, or the other million things that so often get in the way. We had fun.

As Lettie and I sat on the bench eating cheerios and watching the big sisters play I thought about how lucky I am to have Belle as my daughter. Oh we have our moments and even our days that are difficult, but she is an awesome kid. She is independent, smart, fun and creative. She finds joy in everything.

She is an incredible big sister, and a huge help to me. She would do anything for her sisters, and we are blessed to have her in our family.

As I sat on that bench watching her push her little sister over and over on the swing (what is that thing called??), I thought "wow how can I ever be mad at that kid." Of course I've already gotten mad at her since then, but wow I'm a lucky Mama. Today Bug and I had quite the day of tantrums, so tonight I need to sit back and think about the millions of things I love about Bug. There is always someone in this house keeping me on my toes. I just hope I always remember how much all of the good outweighs any of the bad.

7QT survival mode with limited screen time

Sometimes there are days that you are in "survival mode". You just gotta get through the day and take care of your family as best you can. I usually go into my survival mode during my first trimester, but even in survival mode I still have to take care of my 3 young kids.  During these hard days I'm always tempted to turn on a movie so I can sit on the couch not moving, but if my kids spend too much time in front of the tv they become super whiney. This pregnancy my first trimester lined up with Lent, and there were a few people in my house (who are holier than I am) who gave up tv for Lent, so we did survival mode with no screens, and guess what.... we survived. Here's how I took care of the kids during the tough days without using screens....

1. Audio Books: Sometimes when you are really feeling sick just reading a book to your kids is difficult. Books on CD are perfect. Make sure they have page turn signals, and then your kids (who can't read yet) can independently sit and turn the pages while listening to the story. We get a few of these every time we go to the library, and my kids love them. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is 13 minutes long, so I can get a nice little 13 minute nap =)

2. Outdoors: get them outside whenever possible. I hand my kids a few shovels to dig in the dirt for hours, and I can happily sit back and watch. The less time my kids spend in front of screens the happier they are playing on their own and using their own imaginations. 

3. Crafts (that need no parental help): My kids have a little table in our kitchen that has become their craft table. In recent months it stays covered in stuff all day... they have coloring books, markers, colored pencils, crayons, watercolors... available all day every day. Sometimes I'll pull out the play dough, some stickers, the aquadoodle, or scissors, and then they get really excited... wow I'm fun :)

4. Independent toys: I love toys they can play with by themselves and keep them entertained for a long time. Magnatiles and Megablocks are two favorites. I mentioned board games before, and a lot of ours the girls are old enough to get out and play by themselves. Also a few dress up clothes and some more imagination. 

5. Independence: A big step for me this pregnancy has been just letting my kids grow up a little and do things themselves. I have started trying to let go of my Mom control and let them do as many things as they can on their own. At this age Belle and Bug love being given the independence, and the more I let them do things on their own the better they get at it. Especially independent Belle loves being asked to help with everything all day- put away the clean laundry, vacuum after meals, wipe the table, empty some of the dishwasher... and letting them help is making my life a lot easier. 

6.  Accept/ask for help: I've always been so lucky to have such great family and friends around to help with my kids when I need it, and the Officer always goes above and beyond helping around the house and taking care of the girls.

7.  Siblings: This one might be a bit of a contradiction, since almost all of my survival times are because I'm pregnant or have a newborn, but siblings are the absolute best thing during survival mode. Nothing keeps kids happy like having a playmate (sure it often means arguments, but most of the day it means a buddy), and as they get older they can help take care of the little siblings.

Really everyone just needs a Mother's Helper aka Belle

So that's how I survive taking care of the kids on tough days, now if I could just learn some tricks for cleaning and making dinner on those tough days.

Joining This Ain't the Lyceum for 7 Quick Takes