All I want for nighttime is four sleeping kids....

Some nights are easy.

Some nights are hard.

Right now, things are happening. I have a moment to sit at the computer (and I'm not working yet) and half the kids are asleep, one is wide awake, and one quarter is drifting off...

Tonight our three year old said (after being told to put pj's on. "It's o.k. mom, I'm ready for bed!" and was asleep within 5 min.

Our 6 year old read quietly in bed for a few minutes, and was asleep within a half hour.

Our 5 year old is wide awake reading books with the lamp on (But, she took a rare nap this afternoon, so this is explicable)

Our 1 year old is quite tired, but she doesnt' want to fall asleep. She finally took a nap today from 5 to 6, so, although she usually falls asleep around 7:30, it's an hour past bedtime and she wants up!

So, the BIG question is this: who will wake earliest tomorrow, and who will want to sleep in? We only have two weeks left before school dictates the morning wake up hour.

While you were sleeping...

I thought up the title for this blog while my husband was sleeping-in/napping (very much earned, mind you) this morning. [His job required him to wake up 4a.m. yesterday, and he wasn't able to compensate by going to bed early last night (see previous post) like he usually does). Since he has since gotten up and begun his morning routine, a better title might be "things I did this morning before breakfast", but some of this was indeed while he was sleeping... (not necessarily in this order).

Nursed our baby (at 12 months, she's not quite an infant, but still not weaned yet. I'm willing to wait till 24 months to wean, but none of my kids so far have made it that long).

Turned on and watched portions of Adventurs of Winnie the Pooh with children.

Checked email, composed a blog entry while older children were still watching said video (and youngest was eating a bananna).

Unloaded dishwasher.

Supervised/ Participated in making of waffles for the family breakfast (but, I had momentum and was in the process of cleaning, that I myself didn't join them as I typically do... so no breakfast for me yet.)

Loaded dishwasher.

Scrubbed down counters.

Picked up food from the floor (yesterday's snack?)

Picked up clothes off the floor (why were they there?)

Carried overstuffed laundry hamper into the basement.

Tossed a load of laundry in the washer machine.

Picked up toys off the living room floor (the joy of having all the kids take out 1 year old's toys, and then wander off...)

Picked up papers off the floor (I'm amazed how many papers ended up in my purse, and then got dumped on the ground - evidence that bringing pads of paper, pencils, crayons, markers do keep little hands busy during church).

Swept (o.k. not sweep everything, but piles left over from yesterday's cleaning actually made it into the trash can).

Took out the trash (three trash bags).

Took out recyclable items. (Doing my part to save the planet? or, at least filling up the recycle bin outside as well as the trash cans).

Changed a diaper.

Put ear drops in child's ears.

Read a book.

Coaxed potty training three year old to use the toilet properly (yay!).

Put baby-getting-to-be-toddler down for morning nap.

Referreed sibling conflict.

Encouraged second oldest to get dressed (and complimented oldest for doing it without being prodded).

Encouraged older children to make their beds (but didn't get around to doing mine yet, hopefully I'll get around to washing sheets today).

Picked up some shoes.

Directed children to pick up some shoes.

Cleaned up orange juice spill.

Wiped down bathroom sink (still needs to be scrubbed further).

Rinsed out coffee pot.

Wished I had more time in the morning.

Cleaned hands of 3 year old and 5 year old who got into paint...

Got items out of the van that needed to be washed (such as 1 year old's cup).

Listened to various stories.

Oversaw time outs.

Picked up towel off the floor (why did the bathroom towel make its way into the hallway??)

Sorted through one 'misc papers' container (so that the "I want to keep" papers from church had a temporary home).

-----
I've lossed momentum to do household chores, but, I think things are looking better than when we fell asleep (or woke up?). I was able to have a delightful morning -- I got to eat breakfast with my husband (just the two of us! sipping coffee too, having conversation too? When does that ever happen?).

Ok, now I hear commotion going on.. Now I'm off to "things I did after breakfast this morning"....

Something you don't hear everyday.

Yesterday, we went on a family excursion:

We took a short drive and drove down to Long Beach.


We figured that we could get the beach town experience, sans crowds since we were going late Sunday afternoon.

We did miss the traffic (lots of cars leaving, we were one of the few entering). Oh, except we did have a little congesion when we had to wait for the draw bridge, but that was worth it -- kids enjoyed seeing the "big boat".

So, we found a place to park (which probably wouldn't have happened if we had gone earlier in the day or a different day of the week).

And the six of us took a walk down to a cool restaurant my husband had happened upon during a business visit.

And, my husband says, "That looks like a girl I married".

I couldnt' help myself from laughing. He, of course repeated himself, "You know, the one I married last month".

I continued to laugh, because that isn't something a wife hears her husband (who's only been married to her) say!

Of course, I'm his only wife of the past 11 years, and we have a good marriage.

So, most of you reading the blog, will know the solution to this riddle: my husband was requested as a minister to do a Beach Wedding (In Long Beach), and officiated the ceremony. So, he did marry someone who frequents Long Beach, and who probably was that girl we saw walk in the opposite direction. Just, he wasn't the groom.

Oh, the business visit mentioned earlier did have to do with the rehearsal dinner for said wedding.

Oh, and we did have a delightful evening at a beach restaurant, and a fun run through the sand, chase seagulls, and poke our toes in the Atlantic Ocean.

I guess there are advantages to living on Long Island.

Fireworks, anyone?

This past weekend, we went to a fun family bar-b-que and fireworks. (A scant 40 miles away, but, being that it was on the OTHER side of NYC, it did take almost two hours to get there.)

The kids enjoyed running around in the LARGE yard (size of about 5 of our yards put together). Kids enjoyed the wading pools.

Kids enjoyed the food.

Kids (except 11 month old who slept through them) DID NOT enjoy the fireworks. It was too loud for those little ears. "Why did we have to go see them?" "Why?" "I just want to go home". "Are they over yet?" "How much longer?" "Please hold me mom".

Moral of the story: Next time, I'll bring ear plugs... prepare the kids... bring comfort things.... and try to have Daddy come with! Aunts and Uncles (and Cousins) tried to help me console the 3 older kids (while I had sleeping baby in my arms with blanket to shield the noise).

Or, maybe I'll do what I've done every other year: try to honor kiddie bedtime, leave before the fun walk to the park for the firework display, and deprive my kids of the American pastime of watching firework display.

Just another ER trip..

Today started with my three year old being "sick". (Long story short, potty-woes. someone is reluctant to use "the potty".. so holds it.. and feels a little sick until getting the gumption to actually confront that this is a fact of life that can't be avoided...)

After taking my 3 year old to the Dr's... (he said the right thing, and we are much better.. I dread the bill though)... My 5 year old started fighting on the way out of the Dr's.

Of course, this brought about a time-out when we arrived at home. (Manners are important, and not having good manners merits a few minutes to reflect. Isn't that fair?)

Of course, no one wants to stay in time out.

So, My five year old repeatedly pressed the boundaries, getting out of time-out...
And, in the process... got more rambunctious and angry...

This led to a "push" (I'd use the euphemism of a 'bump' but it really was a push) against older sibling 'cause the 6 year old was tattle-tailing that the 5 year old got out of time out (again).

BUT....
This didn't happen without consequences.

My six year old was standing next to a closet door which was left ajar.
The "bump" caused a head collision with the edge of a door. "MOM, IT HURTS" oh, yeah, and blood splatter.. and then blood-soaked paper towel.

Then the debate: where to go? I tried to get phone and get ahold of the dr who we had JUST SEEN. (Ironically, if it had been for the SAME kid, the receptionist implied that we could get in, but, we were told to go to the ER).

We chose the Not closest ER (1 1/2 miles away -- That one has terrible wait times), and when to the one 21/2 miles away.

Turns out we made a wise decision -- from triage time until exit time was about 2 hours. (Not bad! last ER visit was over four hours if memory serves me correctly). Although the Adult ER was swamped, the pediactric ER had empty beds, and we got great service.

So, at the end of the day, One Dr Visit, one ER visit, 3 staples in one kid.

All stories have happy endings (eventually). Drum roll...

I have four kiddies in bed. And, I even have a few spare minutes to post a blog entry!

There's a farm in New York City!

Would you believe that there's a farm in New York City?
(Oh, and what other farm gives directions based on subway and bus routes??)

Back 'in the day' there used to be several... now there's only one.

Proof that everything is so dense here: I had heard about it, but it took living here for two years to actually drive that "far away" (about two miles, took between 10 and 15 minutes).

The kids LOVED the experience!

We got to see chickens, turkeys, cow, sheep, goats, peacocks, pigs, ducks, goose, apple orchard, fields. The kids (except the 11 month old) even got to go on a hay ride!

I want to return on a weekend to get a tour of the historic farm house (The Queens County Farm Museum dates back to 1697).

How can you go from Starving, to stuffed without really eating?

Ok, so my kids claimed they were starving.

We had a large lunch at the mall (a treat)

They had munchies (i.e. samples) at Costco while shopping (again, a treat)

They had a real snack of (Costco-bought) granola bars.

When we arrived home. "MOMMMMMM, You didn't give us snack, we're starving!!!"

I gently reminded them, they had eaten, at which point they stopped complaining. But they said they wanted to eat dinner soon.

Dinner was cooked and served.

Yummy pizza (I was hungry - I hadn't had all their snacks, It tasted good). They barely touched their food.

When asked by their father "why aren't you eating"

"Dad, we're stuffed... we had too much to eat"

go figure.