Mid-Winter Break

We just got back from a week-long trip to Utah.  While most of our friends took off to sunny/tropical destinations we road-tripped to the barren wasteland of Utah so we could ski.  A few noteworthy things happened on this trip:
Landon learned to ski.  He conquered his fear of the ski lift and morphed into a fearless speed demon who zooms down blue runs, leaving his mom in the dust.
I, Mel, the non-skier among the bunch has improved quite a bit.  Unfortunately that's not saying much.
We crammed in as much as we possibly could in such a short amount of time that I barely saw my sisters.  'Le weep' as Linz would say.
On our way home from Park City we were caught in an awful snow/wind storm resulting in 3 1/2 hours spent in the car the day before my poor boys and I had to make the long drive home.  Not good.  But we are glad we are alive
Also, my boys rock at road trips.  We made the drive in a record breaking 12 hours (it usually takes 13) to beat the blizzard in Snoqualmie Pass.  Yes, that's the same pass we were stuck in for 6 hours on our last trip.  We didn't beat the blizzard but we made it through soon enough that we didn't have to chain up.  Hallelujah!
We arrived home to discover evidence of mice throughout our kitchen.  They played hard while we were away.  Now I've had the pleasure of unpacking from a ski trip while simultaneously washing/sanitizing every dish, cupboard, and drawer without setting off the plethora of mouse traps scattered throughout the kitchen.  It's like a war zone.  The pest guy comes today and I just might greet him with a big hug and kiss.

my boys know how to have fun in a pool

the hotel offered complimentary bacon, errrrr, I mean breakfast

skiing at Alta on a windy snowy day

Marcus pretending he's a pair of skis?  or maybe that he's the dying mountain climber on top of Everest (what a great movie by the way)

The first run of the day

The lift broke just as we were nearing the top.  So frustrating wasting perfect ski conditions just sitting there. But at least Uncle Toby and Megan made for good company

Eating lunch outside.  It really was the perfect day!

Landon at the top of the mountain before he cruised down it.  This kid can shred!

Randy's parents and brother skied along with us

We squeezed in a trip to the Provo temple open house

Grandpa treated us to ice cream at the BYU creamery

Playing the awesome top spinning game with cousins

more games with cousins

Parker got to hang out with Grandma Balls while we skied

more fun with grandmas

Rock climbing in Heber

Parker managed to sleep while I risked our lives trying to drive back to grandpa's in a horrible blizzard

every kitchen cupboard and drawer has been emptied out, wiped down, and it's contents washed, dried, and stacked on the tables.  what a way to end a vacation!

We are here!

Home sweet home in Washington!  We drove across the country, traveling through fourteen States, and arrived in Sammamish, WA yesterday at noon, leaving a trail of personal belongings at every hotel we stopped at along the way. 
Our first day started out bad.  Two hours behind schedule thanks to the slow and delayed closing on our house, and then lots of traffic and construction which turned our 8-hour drive into a 12-hour drive.  We stopped at Niagara Falls which was cool, but crowded.  The boys hit the jackpot in the parking lot as they searched for a license plate from every State.  We successfully found all 50 plates by the time we got to Montana.  North Dakota and Delaware were the last ones we found.
We stopped in Erie, PA and scored a sweet hotel with a huge indoor water park we enjoyed for a few hours, and then it was on to Rockford, IL just outside of Chicago.  We drove up through part of Wisconsin and then into Minnesota where we stayed with the Beus family, our good friends from our Boston days.  We took a whole day off from driving and enjoyed boating and hanging out while the 7 boys played and played and played.  It was so much fun and was the perfect break before hitting the road hard for the next two days.
We left Minnesota early in the morning in such a heavy rainstorm some of the roads were flooded over so it was slow going.  We stopped at Mt. Rushmore where the boys climbed around on every boulder imaginable.  Mt Rushmore is pretty awe-inspiring for being something man-made.  I'm glad we went but now that I've seen it I have no plans of ever going back!
We drove to our hotel in Wyoming and an hour from our destination pulled over at a gas station with a completely flat tire.  Naturally we had to unload the entire back of the van to get to the spare tire which woke up sleeping Parker and he cried through the whole thing.  We slowly drove the final hour to our hotel and Randy got up early the next morning and got a new tire (I had just replaced all 4 tires on the van before the drive.  Grrrrrr!) We started each morning with a prayer for safety and protection and are so relieved the only mishap was a flat tire.  It could've been so much worse!
The next day was long as we drove through Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and into Eastern Washington.  Each day our incentive was to get through the drive so the boys could swim in the hotel pool.  By the end of each day they were like caged animals with so much pent up energy we're lucky we never got kicked out of the hotel.  Randy drove almost the entire time.  He decided listening to his audiobooks with his earbuds cranked loud enough to drown out the noise from the back was a better alternative than sitting in the back with the boys.  Lucky me.  I watched more lame movies, built more Lego creations, searched for lost Legos, and picked up the same mess over and over again that the whole thing is kind of a blur.
But it was fun.  Long but fun.  And hopefully a memory that will last a lifetime. 
We closed on our house here so tonight is the last night in a hotel (Hooray!) and the truck is bringing our stuff tomorrow.  Randy starts work on Monday so we are hitting the ground running.

Pride Cometh Before the Fall

It was a hot Saturday.  We had soccer games throughout the day so we couldn't do a beach trip but we did squeeze in a quick run through the sprinklers.  The boys were having so much fun that I ran inside to grab my camera.  As I was taking pictures and laughing at their cuteness I pridefully thought to myself, This is the life.  The neighbors had a lawn guy working close by and even he kept watching the boys and smiling.  
Well those happy, smiling moments were over almost as soon as they began.  I don't know who caused it {probably Marcus or Landon} but suddenly there was crying, screaming, and pretty much a full out brawl.  The party was over and I quickly got the boys inside, embarrassed that the lawn guy would think I was raising a bunch of wild animals destined for the nearest juvenile detention facility.  It was that bad.
I got my revenge, okay that sounds too strong.  I felt vindicated when I made Marcus and Ethan sit on a step together, right next to each other, and weren't allowed off it until they had each said what they did wrong, apologized, and hugged.  This punishment could've ended in seconds but not for my boys.  Ethan quickly said what needed to be said but then Marcus refused to hug him, even after Ethan begged and pleaded, "Puh-lease, Marcus!  Just hug me!  Why won't you hug me?  I'm begging you!" Meanwhile Marcus had his arms wrapped around the banister, holding on for dear life saying, "Don't touch me!"   I was upstairs listening to the whole thing and was laughing so hard I had tears.  Finally Marcus said what he needed to say in a way that Ethan finally found acceptable but then Ethan refused to hug Marcus.  After all, one good turn deserves another, right?  After about twenty minutes of "bench time" {or stair time because I don't have a bench} they finally worked it out and hugged it out.  In my heart I forgave them for acting like heathens outside because of the entertainment they gave me as they put in their time.  Eventually they'll wise up and realize the whole thing could be over in seconds if they'd just swallow their pride but until then I'm going to enjoy the whole drama as it plays out.  Next time I'll have to record it.  It's that funny.

The End is Near

We were only gone three weeks but it was long enough that the house feels different.  I feel different too.  At first I thought it was just the exhaustion of vacation mixed with a little jet lag but I was wrong.  I caught a glimpse of that not-so-distant "light at the end of the tunnel."  You know, that big moment when you no longer have a baby and your kids are grown and independent and suddenly you have to completely redefine who you are?  Yes, that light.  It's there and it's suddenly much closer.

I realized this after we flew back to Rhode Island.  Despite the late hour {one a.m.} and a long day of travel, the flights were a breeze.  A total walk in the park.  I never had to squeeze into the tiny bathrooms on the airplane to help someone go to the bathroom {because the older boys can go by themselves and Marcus helped Landon when necessary}, or pace up and down the aisle with a fussy baby.  I didn't even have to hold Parker on my lap!  Parker sat next to me and watched movies or played with his brothers and I was actually able to do a little reading.  Marcus took things to a whole new level by taking off for our departure gate by himself as soon as we walked through security.  He got far enough ahead I couldn't even see him until we got to the gate where he was patiently waiting for us and had reserved a row of seats.  This boy showed me he is ready to travel by himself which basically means he doesn't need me anymore!  This is a good thing, but still evidence that the "light" is closer than I realized.  But before I let myself go into panic mode and start wondering what I'll do as an empty-nester, Parker reminded me that he still needs me {although Marcus and Ethan are such good helpers even that need is diminishing daily}.

This was Parker's way of reminding me he still needs me.  I'm thankful!

Getting Real

This post is for Cheryl, my best friend and roommate from my college days.  Like me, she also has four boys but she's got a set of twins to make things extra chaotic.  We were talking on the phone the other day and she said my blog makes it looks like everything is great and my kids must be very well-behaved to host so many things at my house.  While I think I do a good job of capturing the chaos of our lives, you'll never really understand how chaotic things are without video so you can appreciate the sound of chaos.  It is loud.  Dinners are loud.  Getting out the door to go anywhere is loud, especially if it's getting out the door to go to church.  I'm working on that one.  Mornings are loud and busy while I make breakfast, pack lunches, monitor jobs, help with piano practicing, and constantly shout out how much time until the bus comes.  My kids are generally pretty good in these moments but someone is always upset about something and depending on the kid that means someone is either quietly pouting {Marcus}, sobbing {Bean}, or throwing a temper tantrum {Landon}.  Parker is a toddler so he can do all of these at the same time. 
Whenever we're out in public and someone says something like, "Wow, you have four boys!  Are all of them yours?"  My sarcastic response is, "Yes, and our house is sooo quiet!"  This always gets a laugh.  Our house is never quiet.
 I like to host things at my house for a few reasons.  First, because Parker can have his nap or go to bed if we stay here which allows me to enjoy socializing without a tired toddler.  Second, I've discovered that if I don't plan something then most often nothing happens, or I wonder if someone else planned something and I wasn't invited, and the third reason is that it gives me an excuse to clean my house.
I've also learned that having boys is like having dogs.  You've got to feed them, walk them, and make sure they get plenty of sleep.  Boys have to get their energy out or things get really bad really fast.  The trampoline saves me when the boys get so wild someone or something is bound to get hurt.  Last Sunday I sent the boys outside just as it was getting dark and it was probably fifteen degrees outside so they could get their crazy out.  I'm sure the neighbors think I'm nuts letting my kids play outside in the freezing darkness but whatever.  No one got frostbite and I got the kitchen clean. 

Our basement is never this clean and now there's a huge basketball hoop thing taking up a ton of space but it's a boys paradise and my saving grace

I also banish the boys to the basement a lot.  It's a beautiful thing to have a place where they can run wild and I pretty much don't have to hear them do it.  Parker can sleep through all this noise due to my most favorite baby invention ever. . . the noise machine.  Get one, it is life changing.  It plays lullabies or different types of white noise, and also shines moving images on the ceiling which is a great night light.  This little machine has accompanied us on every trip or late social event since Parker was born.  I adjust the volume according to the noise level so Parker can sleep blissfully unaware of the chaos outside his bedroom door.  A happy, well rested baby makes for one happy mama.

here's the link on amazon.  buy it now!