Fall break

Bryce's one-week fall break started this week, and Brynn's is ending today.  Tomorrow she goes back to school and it will be a different kind of crazy.  I was actually kind of worried about having all four kids together all the time for two and a half weeks.  I kept asking myself what I was going to DO with my kids ALL day.  Then I'm not exactly sure what it was, but something changed my mind set and I was able to remember that this is what I want; to be home with the kiddos with no where we have to be.  I remembered this is ideal. So I made a big list of stuff I wanted to do, but then I ended up trashing that too, just so that I could keep things simple.  There has been little of simple around here lately.  Also, one of the things I was worried about was not keeping a routine.  My kids and I really thrive with schedules and routines, but then I figured that two and a half weeks was long enough to instigate a new routine.  The plan was to everyday continue their morning routine (jammies on, bed made, prayers said before they can eat), complete all their "sticks," clean floorboards in one room, extra practice time, extra reading time (like, tons).    HA!  Actually, I do think it was realistic - I just didn't feel like it! :)  What we really needed was some time to just be together and hang out without so much of Mommy pushing, pushing, pushing.  I could see that pretty fast. I also was feeling very ambitious about starting up our morning devotionals again.  We did those for years and I have missed them since Brynn has been in school.  But we only did those a few times, too.  I remembered it was not just a matter of her being out the door before 7:00, but it was also a crazy, whiny baby boy, and his fussy, nursing baby sister that put a stop to all that.  Sigh.  I need to figure that one out.

Anyway, the first week was very full of play dates, parks, and bike rides, and just getting projects done.  The second week was a little more laid back.  Marty's Dad had his big 70th birthday party in Utah over the break.  I agonized over whether or not we should all go or just fly Marty out.  In the end, I decided it is just too hard to get everybody out there as often as we do.  I'm always happy when we are in Utah, but every time something traumatic happens while traveling (as if 12 hours in a car with 4 kids isn't traumatic enough) and I say I am never making the trip again.  Last time the 2 and a half hour parking-lot-traffic-jam did me in.  So we decided Marty would fly out and take Gabe with him since it's Gabe's last month he can travel for free.  It was then that I realized Gabe accounts for about 90% of my work load during the average day.  No one was biting my bum (there, I said it) to get my attention while trying to cook, or unloading the dishwasher as I load it, or pulling all the books off the shelf, or throwing away shoes, or sneaking into the fridge to see what can be used as a ball, or scratching Bryce, or throwing food, etc, etc, ETC.  I couldn't believe the way so many things stayed clean.  And how quiet it was compared to normal.  But then of course I missed his cute cuddles and the laughs I would get (after banging my head against a wall, as I've mentioned before) out of all his crazy ideas.  Toddlers are so hard.  However.  Toddlers are SUCH a kick. :)



So Marty left to Utah on Thursday.  Two days before that my mommy flew in! (And, ohmygoodness Mom, you are so beautiful.)

She wanted to see the kids (but probably mostly the infant!!) over her fall break, which just happened to line up with ours, so it was perfect.  It was soooo nice.  Because of when Marty was flying out, she only got to spend one day with Gabe.  So we tried to just kick it around the house to make the most of the Gabe time.  Other things we did were flying a kite and playing at the park, making and eating yummy food, shopping, and we went to see a movie.  Every time the kids fill out their routine charts completely they get to pick from a list of "fun rewards."  They have been requesting the "play place theater" every time.  Harkins Theaters has a day care you can take your kids to while you see a movie which ends up a ton cheaper for us (only 6 dollars per kid).  When we count a long movie, a long drive to the theater, a long explanation to the baby-sitter, it's more economical.  We made very good use out of that just after Bryce was potty-trained (kids have to be potty-trained) and before Gabe was born.  Even after that we would bring him with us to movies and he was such a mellow baby and would sit there quietly on our laps.  But it was a pretty short span of time before Gabe outgrew that scene and we haven't been since.  It doesn't make sense for us to get a baby-sitter for the babies here and one for the big kids there.  Well, with Gabe gone, we decided to take their full routine charts (that we call tickets) and finally treat them to the movie play place.  It was SO fun to be there with my mom and both of us snuggling the daylights out of Camille, who was pretty darn good and happened to LOVE the music in Romeo and Juliet.

On Saturday I made a last-minute decision to take Brynn to Little Women at the Hale Centre Theatre.  I knew the show was closing that day, and even though I really wanted to take her I just didn't want to shell out the money for a 6 year old.  But as the morning went on, I could tell I was going to feel REALLY bad if I didn't take her.  She loves the movie, and I happen to think Little Women is so very praiseworthy.  And Brynn being musical and dramatic like she is, I thought it'd be right up her alley.  She did really well, and loved it, but she was definitely a six year old.  As into it as she was, I had to remind her not to stand up, or flip her hair, or snap her fingers.  I think we'll wait a little while for the next one.  She acted very cute and star-struck when we met the actors after the show!

It was surreal though, because I wasn't all that much older than her when my mom and grandma started taking me to the Hale with their season tickets.  It was seriously one of the highlights of my icky middle school and junior high life. :)  So to be there with my own daughter...I just had to pause now and then and breathe in where I actually am in life - I have a KID who is old enough to go to the HALE with me??  Heart.  Grandma took Bryce on a date for ice cream, and while Brynn and I were gone, she and Bryce and Camille went for what I heard later was a very exciting walk.  Sadly, Camille got pretty upset that Mommy was gone.  That makes for every baby-sitter we've ever had.  If she even gets mad for Grandma, I am afraid I am very much in trouble with this baby.  I really, really need to be able to pass her off sometimes. :(  Grandma and the kids also did the most adorable ghost craft with the kids.  All in all, it was so very, very pleasant.

After making the decision to stay back in AZ, sometimes I questioned whether I had made the right call.  But not after finding out about Marty's plane ride home.  In all, the flight was delayed about 6 hours.  Past security.  In a tiny airport where the holding cell is a small room with not even enough seats for everyone. With a 22 month.  And two of those six hours were spent in the plane on the tarmac.  Marty came home saying we are now a once-a-year-to-Utah family.  I'm not kidding, we never seem to have smooth travels anymore.  I am so glad I stayed home and had such a pleasant time.

Brynn and Bryce seemed to get closer and closer with each day home together.  They've always been good little buddies, and as all siblings do, they also have
their battles.  As much as they love each other, I figured that by the time break was over, they'd be ready to kill each other.  But it was quite the opposite. Last night I couldn't bring myself to call them in for dinner because they were playing so cute, so they got a cold dinner an hour and a half late, but didn't seem to mind.  Tonight it was the same thing.  With Brynn going back to school, I wanted her to go to bed especially early, but I just kept waiting for someone to come in whining, or crying, or even just bored.  But I finally had to go outside and round them all up much later than planned.  That feels so good.  Today I took them to a park while Gabe was gone at his baby play group.  I took them there because last time we lasted about five minutes at this big, elaborate jungle gym where I climbed up multiple times to rescue Gabe - who refused to be rescued by anyone else - WITH Camille in my arms.  Today we gave it another try and I couldn't believe how much they played together.  There were tons of other kids at the park and B&B are such social little butterflies, but today they just wanted to play with each other.  I even caught them holding hands a couple times and I melted.  So I guess, the fall break I had originally worried about turned out amazing for all of us.  And don't feel too sorry for Marty and his awful plane ride - he did get to go to the BYU game, drop off Gabe at Grandpa O's while he played with his brothers (which mainly includes staying up all night and sleeping in all morning), and go to his Dad's big party.  

On another note, tonight Brynn accidentally kicked Bryce in the face and now his cheek is quite red and bruised.  In order to calm him down, I told him it was kind of like having a black eye and black eyes are cool.  That one is really going to backfire on me, isn't it?