Four kids.
Craig and I walk around absent-mindedly sometimes just repeating this statement.
WE HAVE FOUR KIDS.
We're learning that constant noise, constant questions, and constant runs up and down the stairs
are very normal these days.
One day last week, we started laughing hysterically with what all was going on at the same time. We had just finished dinner. I had a load of laundry in the washing machine. Our washing machine isn't balanced right or something, so lots of times, it sounds and feels like the entire house we live in is being shook right off of its foundation. And at this particular moment, it started its spin cycle and we all started movin' and shakin'. At the same particular moment, Maya was in her bouncy seat, moving her head 'round and 'round making her 'uuuuhhhhh ahhhhhh' noises, getting louder as her head moved around to the front and softer as it moved to the back. Daisee had gotten pretty furious about the TV not being on her favorite show, so she was just standing there, screaming. Gavin was sitting with his elbows propped up on the table, BEGGING me to let him get up, because he just couldn't eat ANY. MORE. And Ryan was just . . . well, he was just there, taking it all in. Please, people. Imagine this, will you? Craig and I just looked at each other. I mean, what do you do? You just laugh. Then you say . . . 'We have four kids'.
We're really beginning to learn what the new normal is like. Sometimes its hectic . . . oh, good grief, its always hectic. ALWAYS. Ryan is going back and forth to football practice, sometimes twice a day. He doesn't drive, so I'm usually the one going up and down the road. I'm SO THANKFUL that TCHS is just a little ways down the road. He loves being the team manager. The first few days he was interacting with the team members a lot, working with the kickers and the passers some. Lately, though, he's been filming the practices. Its been hot and I've been waiting on him to start complaining about the heat, but he really hasn't. He's made some new friends, and he's reconnected with old friends from his elementary school, so its been really good for him. He's about to promote again with Civil Air Patrol. He's almost halfway to completing the program, so from here on its gonna be a lot of hard work for him. His progress and promotions will slow down some because of that, but the dedication and hard work he's done with them will be successful and worth it in the end, I'm sure. Especially if he continues to desire a position with the Navy or the Air Force. As the days progress, I'm believing more and more that this is where he's headed. Although he's only fourteen, he's solid in what he desires to do with his life, and at this point, I think he's gonna stick with it.
Gavin got braces a couple of weeks ago . . .
He was pretty excited about getting them. Now I think he's pretty excited about getting them taken off. Poor kid needs lots of work done on his teeth, and this is just the initial stage of getting started. I hear the cash register bell dingin' away already.
We're getting ready to start school again. We won't start for another couple of weeks, 'cause there's a lot going on right now (see above description). We're gonna wait until Daisee starts back to preschool so there's only one other little kid here to take care of while we're taking care of schoolwork during the day. Sometime amidst the chaos, I found time to have already done a month's worth of lesson plans. I didn't do that many at a time even before we had an extra kid. I consider that quite an accomplishment, so YAY ME. I've never been much for artsy-type stuff before now, but we're doing lots of creative stuff this year. I went last night and got most of the things we need for our first month . . .
When you see the Plaster of Paris box, you know things are about to get good. That's not everything, but you get the idea of where I'm goin'.
Daisee is continuing to act like a 30-year-old. I don't know where she gets all of her 'stuff', but she's a priss. I was making her bed the other day and she wanted to know why. I told her that some people were coming to look at our house, and she told me how 'interesting' she thought that was. She loves to paint. Everything. She loves to paint everything. Not just paper. See? . . .
Don't miss the fact that my kitchen table is its own work of art. She's only halfway through here, so by the time she was done, it was hard to tell the table from the paper. She's excited to go back to school. Almost every year she's gone she's had to be PEELED off of me the first few days, but I don't think that'll be a problem this year. Craig and I have decided that from now on, including kindergarten, she's either gonna be the teacher's pet, or the teacher's nightmare. You've really got to appreciate the kind of personality she has to love her to death. But I do. She cracks me up . . . a lot.
And Maya.
Maya is doing really, really great. We're working on some initial home therapy exercises, and, weeeellll . . . it doesn't go so great most of the time. I think she still thinks a spoon is a creation of Satan, and tummy time isn't usually pleasant. We only spoon-feed and make her play on her tummy a few minutes a day, but I think we're all glad when that part's over. However, she's becoming a lot more responsive to being held and loved on. I even got a big smile from her this morning as she was laying on my lap . . .
She'll have her follow-up appointments with Dr. Chambers and Dr. Colvin next week to make sure that progress is definitely being made. She'll also see an audiologist to check her hearing. After that, I think we'll be done with medical stuff for a while.
We've shown our house once. Things are slow with that right now, but we're pretty confident that it'll sell. Maybe not this month or next, but somebody will look at it with the same eyes we did once and fall in love with it. We're hoping to move into a new construction somewhere, so we're keeping up with what's available around here.
So things are good. We're constantly trying to figure out ways to slow down, but we've about decided that's just really not possible right now. Craig and I talked just last night about the pace of everything, but I guess when it comes down to it, as long as everybody's generally happy and active in the things they're involved in, that's probably the point at where we're supposed to be. I can't wait for fall. Its hard to get out of the house right now when the air is as thick as butter. When that first cool front comes through, though, we'll hit the parks and learn to love the outdoors again. At least that'll feel like slowing down, if we can all get outside and just run a little bit, you know?
We have four kids and we're crazy busy, but we're thankful and enjoying our lives with them. They make us laugh, make us love, and make us want to bang our heads against a wall sometimes, but there's not a single thing we would change.
It's a crazy, wonderful, beautiful life.
Love,
Paige
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