Before and After

Everyday before I get Emily from school, I get a few moments of silence. My boys are good in the car. I make myself a cup of tea or coffee and head off to the school 15 minutes early. We wait in a line of cars for the bell to ring. And herein lies my few moments of silence. I have a stash of magazines or a book that I keep in the car, and I get to relax.

But Stars, they aren't like us. I'm pretty sure that their days do not include stealing 15 minutes of alone time in a car before they do their part of carpool for the day. And I'm pretty sure that they don't have a 5 year old dressed as Spiderman hiding in the car.

That's what Ben does while we wait. He sits in every seat in the car. Whatever makes him happy and keeps him quiet works for me.

Then, the bell rings and I see my girl. In celebration of Read Across America and Dr. Seuss' birthday, she made a hat at school.

Which included dressing up like The Cat In The Hat.

I love that she is still so innocent and thinks it's cool to wear this get up at school. In a few years, she'll find this embarrassing.

And within minutes, my carpool kids load up and I'm driving home with the Ipod playing and 5 kids in the car all talking at once. I'm yelling at Emily to roll up the window and sighing heavily because Ben just spilled something that will need to be vacuumed when we get home, and I'm recalling how lovely the "before" moment of silence was.

Then Ben yells out "pull my finger" and burps. We all erupt with laughter and I realize the "after" moments are pretty sweet too.

Tied

When Ben isn't being a superhero, he hangs out with his brother during the day. Sometimes they do something simple like color.

Yesterday, they went to explore in the backyard. I walked out a few minutes later to make sure Noah wasn't eating dog poo. Instead, I found him at the top of the swing set with Ben.

Ben said he climbed the ladder. So, I watched and he did it again.

He was rather pleased with himself.
Then, he went down the slide.

I was impressed. Usually it's a process of getting them used to the ladder and teaching them how to go down the slide. He watched Ben and got it. He did it over and over and over. Fantastic.

So today when they went outside, I didn't think much of it. Until I heard Noah screaming a minute later. Ben didn't see what happened, but Noah was at the bottom of the ladder. This is what his face looked like after I cleaned off the sand and blood.

The score is now:
Noah 1
Ladder 1
Here's hoping Noah wins tomorrow.

One Door Closes...

...and another one opens.
Noah has learned to open doors.
I close them. He opens them.





And then he brings me everything from the pantry.
He thinks it's fabulous. I think it's more work for me. But he's cute and proud of his new accomplishment, so I indulge him for the most part.
On the list for this weekend is installing child proof door locks before he starts playing in the toilet for recreation.

X-Ray Vision

Ben got his glasses today.

He says he sees a lot better in them. Before when I patched his left eye, he couldn't tell how many fingers I was holding up and I was only two feet in front of him. Today with his glasses, I covered his left eye and he could see David holding a Cheeto across the room.

But he's still a little insecure and I know he will be nervous going into preschool tomorrow. I hope everything goes well. It can't be any worse than his mother making him pose for 100 pictures with his new glasses on.

I forgot they are transition lenses, so I thought we'd take photos outside but that didn't work out so great. So, the lenses are transitioning during the photo shoot. He looks so sweet and handsome.

Seeing Clearly

When I was five years old, I needed to get my tonsils out. Back then, it was an overnight stay in the hospital. I remember being scared. My Dad, who desperately needed to get his tonsils out also, said he would get his out with me. I felt so much better knowing that we would both be going through it together.

The morning of the surgery, I was prepared and ready to go. My Dad was not. I thought he would get ready after they took me back. I woke up sharing a room with a 9 year old boy who just had his appendix out. My Dad chickened out on me. I still tease him about it to this day.

Ben was very apprehensive about going to the eye Doctor. He asked if it would hurt and he thought it would be scary. I tried to reassure him, but he was still scared.

I had Lasik surgery on my eyes about 13 years ago. But the eyes will age as the eyes will age and I've noticed over the past few years that my eyes are...well, aging. At Emily's Christmas concert, I was watching the performance through the camcorder as I could see her face better through the zoom lens. We were only in the tenth row. Driving home from Phoenix a few months ago at night, I was happy that David was driving as I couldn't see great on the dark highway. I knew at some point I would need to get my eyes checked and get glasses for the few occasions where I might want crystal clear vision.

Ben's eye doctor apprehension presented the perfect opportunity for me to pony up and get my eyes checked. Ben came in the room with me and saw everything. I think he was reassured that nothing scary would happen at his appointment. My vision was 20/30, not terribly bad but enough to get the glasses that I needed.

I took one for Ben. Although, I'm just now realizing that the relevance of an eye exam and a tonsillectomy is hardly comparable.

In any case, my glasses came in yesterday and I love them.

And I'm absolutely shocked how much of the world I've been missing.

Leaps And Bounds

When we moved to this house, Emily was 3 and Ben was 18 months. About a year later, we started doing a growth chart in our bathroom on the door frame. I choose the door frame because if we ever move, I can take it with me and replace the frame. At first I was just randomly measuring the kids a few times a year. Then, I decided to start doing it on their birthdays. With Ben in February and Emily and Noah in August, it ensures each kid gets measured twice a year. And it just so happens that it's exactly 6 months apart, so we record the whole and half age for every year.

When Ben turned 5 two weeks ago, Noah got his first measurement at 18 months.


I measured Emily and Ben too. I was surprised that Ben wasn't taller than Emily was at 5. Then in the past 2 weeks, he looked like he suddenly grew. His pants seem too short and I can see his socks. So, I decided to measure him today, just two weeks after his fifth birthday. He is the little black line above "Emily 5".

He grew over an inch in 2 weeks.
And he gained a pound and is at 39 pounds.
He may just break 40 by his sixth birthday!

Easy Cleaning and Easy Money

The kids have a dry erase easel that they love. We've had it for over 5 years and it's held up great. Until Noah recently put his grubby little paws on it. He took a permanent marker to it. I tried all the usual tricks to remove it...crayon cleaner, Mr. Clean magic eraser, nothing worked. This wasn't your basic sharpie. This was dollar store industrial crap magic marker. Nothing was taking it off. Then, I read a blog about using Colgate Whitening Toothpaste to remove magic marker. And wouldn't you know you, the stuff disappeared like magic.

Now if I could use the combo of the toothpaste and brillo pad on my teeth, I'd have a perfectly white smile. Another bonus...the easel smells minty fresh!
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David told me last night that the one piece of advice that I've given him which he takes to heart is "don't eat the calories if you aren't completely enjoying them." I do live by this. I like dessert...A LOT! But if I try something that just doesn't thrill me, I won't eat it. Why eat it just to eat it?

The one piece of advice that David has given me that I love is "line the oven with Reynolds wrap". Cleaning the oven has got to be the #1 most hated chore by everybody. Then, I started doing what my husband suggested. Every 6 months, I throw out the old Reynolds wrap, put down new Reynolds wrap and wipe down the rest of the oven. I only do the huge easy off self cleaning about once every 5 years.

***Do you spot the piece of baking stone in the first picture? I love Pampered Chef's baking stones. I've had 2 and after several years they both cracked in the oven. This happened the other night and we didn't even notice that a piece was missing. Now, I need to buy another stone. Those things are the best.

If the Reynolds wrap won't stick to the bottom, a little squirt of water and it's good as gold or silver rather. I cleaned my stove and toaster oven today in 13 minutes.

And I probably would've gotten it done a lot quicker if I didn't have "help".

Then he wants to eat the dirty rag. Actually, he was sucking the water out of it. Gross.

And yes, he's wearing a Halloween shirt because it fits him now and won't when it's Halloween. This is what happens when you get hand me downs from your brother who was born 6 months earlier. Well, 3 years and 6 months. In any case, different seasons.
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My report on my grocery spending for February is $299. Unfortunately, we had about $450 worth of medical expenses with Ben's glasses and David, Ben and Noah all going to the Dr. and getting 2 antibiotics. So, I won't be seeing a light credit card bill this month. But, I'm just happy that I saved so much money in groceries that we won't have to dip into savings to pay for all those medical expenses.

And I got that Colgate toothpaste that I used to get rid of that magic marker for free with a coupon and sale. Gotta love it!