five!

 this is what this morning looked like at approximately 6:30am.

this little boy turned five on me.

he doesn't like to smile for pictures.

and that is ok, because i know there will be a day that he will.

he is the toughest kid i know.

not that i am proud of that,

but i sure am proud of him.

so, five things about elias at five:

 he almost never wears a shirt

 he is a hopeless romantic and is already engaged and has practiced "wedding kissing" with said lady

 he loves telephones, even when made of cardboard and tape

 he poops naked

and he has more charisma than any kid, ever.

i sure do love you elias!

happy birthday my boy!

october.

october was busy.

and it didn't stop there.

our weekends have been filled with obligations

both wonderful 

and daunting.

fortunately i am typing this one-handed

and exhausted.

so, 

for the memory books i will mostly include just these pictures. 

without many words, we will all remember these hectic days with fondness.

 this guy is three months.

i adore him more than words could describe.

if only he would sleep...

 these guys love halloween.

ada carved her pumpkin all by herself.

when was seven so grown up?

 elias and i used the drill on the pumpkin.

i got major brownie points with him.

 the wrath of saul finally ended in sleep.

 they all chose their own costumes.

they weren't easy.

i spent alot of time sewing with one hand while nursing a baby

(a skill i am not good at!)

 then we headed to charlottesville, va for beautiful wedding.

it was soooooooo much work.

but so worth it.

 this girl is seriously part monkey.  

 we rented a little house downtown.

seriously, what could be better than getting to jump on the bed without getting disciplined.

 the sky was gorgeous.

 and the kids' table was pretty darn awesome.

 the kids disappeared and we found them on the roof of the garage.

seriously, couldn't they just keep jumping on the bed.

november is proving to be just as full at october.

wish me luck

and sanity

and sleep.

now that's a lot of kids

these may be the first pictures of the whole family since saul was born.

i can't believe that he is already two months old!

see all these smiling faces?

they are alot of work.

but they are also everything to me.

despite all my parenting failures,

they sure do look happy!

fall. (or falling.)

these past few weeks have not been my finest, y'all.

i have had several, no, MANY parenting fails.

i wander to and from school pick ups with my eyes half-opened.

i seriously think i am averaging 3 to 4 hours of sleep per night.

i am actually surprised we even get to school most mornings, and we haven't even been late!

however, i am usually walking them in wearing a slept-in, milk-stained t-shirt.

in any case, my kids and/or life are winning.

i am not.

i believe that hanna has averaged about ten lollipops per week lately.

i wish i was kidding (they do keep her quiet though!)

elias and his BIG personality are getting lots of unneeded attention at school and soccer.

i wish i could exaggerate how naughty he can be.

ada is not a fan of school and hates homework.

she cries and sometimes throws it at me when i ask her to do it.

she is only in second grade, couldn't she have waited until third?

my post baby body is not for the faint of heart, and certainly causes me much distress.

but sit ups while nursing are not my forte

(but i may have tried it.)

i am almost an expert at serving cereal for dinner 

with a screaming baby in one arm and a screaming two year old in another.

and, almost all of my laundry is clean

but none as been folded.

instead, i run from room to room throwing unfolded, BUT clean, laundry in kids drawers just so they are not empty.

my list of insufficiencies could go on

and on

and

ON.

but, i can still see humor.

in mischief,

in my muffin top,

in potty talk.

and just so i can remember these sleep deprived days

-at a nice restaurant hanna was asked what she would like to order and she started chanted "chocolate penis, chocolate penis!"

-the other day i asked hanna to go potty before she went to bed.  her response to me was "i not need to go potty mommy!  i just went pee pee in your shower!"

-elias got in trouble for sticking his tongue out at a teacher at school.  when i asked why he did it he replied "i don't think i did that mom.  i don't remember feeling the air touch my tongue."

-today the fire truck visited elias and hanna's school.  elias was chosen from the crowd to demonstrate stop, drop, and roll.  when he got home he asked me "mom, can we set the kitchen on fire? i want to show you what i learned today."

he was serious.

happiness is...

this kid's a keeper, i tell you.

he may not sleep at night,

but he fills my heart with so my happiness.

i love you solly-boy!

back to school

school is in full swing and, by golly, it has been a rocky start.

don't get me wrong,

i knew it would be hard.

i knew it would be hard to get ada to school at 7:30 with all the others in tow (we have no bus.)

i knew that hardness would be compounded by also trying to get elias and hanna to preschool by 9.

but

my two year old has lost her mind since saul arrived.

and my four year old consistently shows bad judgement.

(at least he is consistent, right).

things are a little harder than i thought they could be.

the first day of preschool

elias walked up acting "cool".

he shredded his name tag and practiced ninja moves on everyone in sight.

when i asked him later about his behavior he responded

"i had to go through all my emotions to reach awesome."

really? did he really just say that?

i didn't have a comeback.

hanna cried.

she cried the entire first two days of preschool.

when asked how school was by others, she happily responded

"i cried the whole time!"

i have to physically pry her off of me and hand her to a teacher.

and she reminds me that she doesn't want to go each night at bedtime.

awesome.

then, as i headed to pick up hanna a little early today 

(she had been crying. a lot.)

i passed elias' classroom and saw him in a corner

with his shirt half off

trying to teach a few other boys how to do armpit farts.

the teacher saw him too.

awesome.

so, to wrap things up, we have been pretty awesome around here.  i have aged about seven years in the past five weeks since my tiny baby  arrived.  and speaking of saul, he is incredible, and the incredible shrinking kid with incredible fast growing hair. after many visits to the doctor, he is still below his birth weight.  evidently it is hard to feed a ten+ pound newborn when you have to have surgery two weeks out, and have to take care of three other kids. go figure!  we are working hard together, me and him.

but really, we are awesome.

because today marks nine years since i got to marry the love of my life.  and we are up shit's creek without a paddle together.  and that is all that really matters.  it is a big adventure and there is no one i would rather be in this adventure with.

(yes, this picture is over ten years old.  be nice, please tell me we still look just the same!)

amen.

a last hurrah!

we ended summer vacation with a little juant to the beach.

four kids

in one minivan

can get loud.

but the stress and anxiety were worth it.

everyone had a blast 

and even slept through the night in a hotel suite.
(that does not include me and solly)

it was a perfect way to celebrate a very eventful summer.

and now a new school year begins!