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

Richmondy 5th Anniversary

Last weekend the Officer and I celebrated 5 years of wedded bliss. We like to really celebrate our anniversary (or as the Officer calls it every year our Honeymoon), and this year it was my turn to plan it. The Officer and I met and dated for 2 1/2 years in Richmond, and we think it is one of the best cities. Even though we spent 2 1/2 carefree college years dating in Richmond, there are so many awesome Richmond things we have never done. We are the kind of people who find something we like and keep doing it over and over again. Boring? We like to call it loyal and committed. So this year I planned a Richmond anniversary full of all kinds of fun Richmondy things that we hadn't done yet. I'm also the frugal one in this marriage, so most of this day was cheap or free (we splurged on dinner). 

We started the afternoon with lunch at Joe's Inn (we had actually both been there before, but never together). Richmond has so many great little hole-in-the-wall places, and the food at Joe's Inn does not disappoint. The Officer enjoyed a Richmond brewed beer to continue our Richmondy theme. 

Then we headed to the Capitol, which I'm ashamed to admit it, but neither of us had ever visited the Capitol before. It was wonderful. 

The Capitol, which was designed by Thomas Jefferson, is beautiful, and so many of our founding fathers stood in those rooms making history. The Capitol has free tours every hour, which we hadn't planned on doing, but I'm so glad we did. The tour was really interesting, and everyone in Richmond should go do it. 

Then we went to the Canal Walk, which I had always wanted to do. The weather was perfect, and the path was pretty empty. I love that Richmond is never very crowded. 

5 years and 5 babies later (1 in that growing tummy, 1 in Heaven, and 3 I get to hug every day), and we are much happier than we were the day we married- and we were pretty stinking happy at our wedding. Wow it's been a busy 5 years, but we wouldn't change one second of it.

We walked down to Brown's Island and hung out there for a while before walking back downtown. When we first started dating the Officer and I got to know each other during long walks around the Fan. It was so nice to go on another nice long walk around Richmond for our Anniversary. 

We ate dinner at Millie's. Neither of us had ever been there, and we thought it was great. I got the steak and oh my goodness it was delicious. It's a small and pretty expensive place, but it is a cool atmosphere and the food was great. If you're looking for a nice dinner in Richmond you should try it. 

We stayed in a hotel downtown and walked to the 3rd Street Diner for breakfast. The food was good, and there were still college kids out drinking there at 8am when we went for breakfast.... so Richmondy. Then we went to pick up our kiddos who had been having a great time with their Aunt and Uncle. 

We had another fun Anniversary and here is to many more happy years of marriage! 

Hide and Seek

The girls love playing hide and seek, and it is awesome the watch. Belle and Bug are always so good at hiding. Sometimes they even tell each other where to hide. The other night they played with the Officer, and Lettie and I enjoyed sitting on the couch watching. 

Can you find Bug? the bins of summer clothes that I was organizing helped hide her a little.

Next round I think Bug improved her hiding skills slightly

there aren't many good spaces where the Officer can fit

Next round Belle was very original in her choice of hiding spot

Daddy's camo is very helpful when blending into the kitchen floor

I love these kids and all the fun we have.

Six Miks

Guess what?! Little Lettie is a big sister! She might not look too excited in our Easter picture, but she will be thrilled. She is a little social butterfly, and she will love having another playmate. Lettie will be 15 months when this baby is born, which is a bigger gap than between Belle and Bug. We think it's been pretty awesome for our kids to be so close, so I'm excited for our newest set of buddies to grow up together. 

We are now a family of 6. The strangers who see me pushing my crew through the grocery store might not understand having 4 kids so close (or ever), but goodness look how cute our babies are! We sure do love our little munchkins, and when we lay eyes on this little babe I just know I will think, "wow I can't imagine our family without this child". I know I'll think that, because it's the exact thought I've had 3 times before, as each newborn was put in my arms. We are so excited to meet this newest blessing in October! 

Little Sisters

Sisters are the best, and I love watching my girls be sisters to one another. Belle and Bug might as well be twins. They do everything together. They adore each other, and they argue like twins. They spend almost all day playing together...... 

Then a new little sister entered their lives, and wow they can't get enough of her. Now that Lettie is on the move she is already trying to keep up with her sisters, and so far her sisters they don't mind at all. Belle and Bug worked to build a lovely castle ("The Castle of Cair Paravel"), and Lettie happily played dumb two feet away from them..... 

I reminded Belle and Bug that Lettie loves knocking over Magnatile towers, so there was a good chance their castle wasn't going to last long. Bug decided she would run interference and protect the castle..... 

Lettie was not pleased that her plans were thwarted

So Lettie just charmed her sisters with her sweet personality. They were distracted..... 

Coast is clear..... 

I missed the picture of Lettie plowing through their castle. The best part was that her big sisters just laughed and didn't mind at all. I'm so glad these girls have each other. 

kid board games

The Officer and I have always loved playing board games, and recently we've loved playing them with our girls too. Belle and Bug have both gotten old enough in the last year to really enjoy games. I thought I'd give a little review of our favorite and not-so-favorite games for little kids. The preschool teacher in me loves all the learning that is done during games. Most of these games develop counting, one-to-one correspondence, memory, fine motor skills, and sportsmanship. Now I'll take my teacher hat off and review the games as a Mom who likes to have fun with my kids.

We started off our collection with the typical chutes and ladders and candy land. These are classics, but honestly not my favorite. I can't stand playing chutes and ladders with my kids.... it takes forever. Just when you think someone is close to winning, what do you know, there are slides strategically placed all around the end square so that nobody can ever make it to the end. The board is also not designed well, because the kids can never figure out which way they are supposed to be moving their piece. I almost always decline playing that game with my girls. Candy Land is slightly better since the end does not drag on and on and on. Still not the most exciting game, but the kids like the characters.

Here the Officer and Belle are literally wrestling over a Zingo tile.... not competitive at all

Okay enough complaining about games, here are our current favorites for a 4-year-old and 3-year-old. Belle's (4 year-old) absolute favorite right now is Zingo. You take turns sliding the Zinger to reveal picture tiles, then you race to cover your bingo board with the pictures. We all really enjoy this simple game.  It's pretty quick to set up and quick to play. Even the Officer and I are always happy to play it.

Bug's (3 year-old) current favorite is Sneaky Snacky Squirrel. This is another fun game that is quick to play, and it takes no time to set up. It's a cute game with a little squirrel that picks up colorful acorns that you put in your log. The first to fill their log wins, but watch out for the storm that takes all your acorns or the sneaky squirrel who can steal one of your acorns. Everyone has fun with this game.

Another family favorite is Busytown. This game takes a little longer to set up and play, but it's fun and the kids love it. This is a cooperative game, and I didn't know if our super competitive family would enjoy that, but we absolutely do! Everyone is working together to get to the end of the game board before the pigs eat all the food, so you are still competing against "the pigs". Nobody is counting, but we almost always win ;)

The girls received this Frozen 6-in-1 game as a gift, and they always enjoy it. It is perfect for their ages, and we like it so much we gave it to a friend for her third birthday. It contains matching/memory, which is one of my favorite preschool games. It also has Bingo, Crazy 8s, Dominoes, Go Fish, and Four-in-a-row. The games are all pretty fun, but matching is my favorite, and if your kids like Frozen they will love seeing all of the characters in this game!

The girls recently got this I Spy Preschool Game, and Belle really enjoys it. The directions have a few different game suggestions to use with the cards, but we mostly just play matching with it. We love matching games, and the girls enjoy I Spy pictures, so this is a good game for us.

So there is our game collection so far, and I would definitely recommend all of these favorites to families with young kids. They keep us busy in the evenings after dinner, and Belle is able to set all of them up by herself and play with Bug on their own. Did I miss any other preschool-aged favorites?!