Hustling, hustling, holidays are here!

Things have been a whirlwind lately, with my MIL in town Monday through Friday, followed by my FIL in town Sunday and Monday, my Dad and stepmom Monday, and then a trip in to my mom's on Wednesday through Saturday for Thanksgiving. Then my FIL back at our house for a Thanksgiving meal on Saturday evening, and he'll be leaving tomorrow. Toss a small virus, no sleep, and Black Friday shopping from 4 am to 3 pm in there on top of all of the chaos and you pretty much have my past two weeks!
Today we put up the tree and other indoor decorations, I gave the kids their new Christmas DVD set to watch, and we spent the evening driving around to see the "Tacky Lights Tour" in our area. The highlight of the night was the house that has its lights coordinated to a radio station so the lights appear to "dance" to the music. It is really wickedly cool. The kids were laughing and clapping and kicking their feet! But the true highlight of the evening for me was when Jack came up to me when we got home and said "Happ...Merry Christmas, Mom" and gave me a hug. Love that kid.
I put a small colored lights tree in the boys' room and let them decorate it with all the ornaments they have been given. They LOVED that, and when we got home tonight the house was aglow with only the light of the Christmas decor. Sam came upstairs, peeked into their room and said "WOW, our tree looks GREAT!" Too cute. I can't wait for all the Santa fun to come. Hooray for bustling holidays!

Sam's corrections

My father-in-law arrived yesterday, bearing gifts as usual! One of the things for the kids was a pack of ocean creatures for the bathtub. The boys wanted to take them with us for lunch so we had them in the car. As they would inevitably drop them, I would pick them up and hand them back. I handed Sam one and said "Here you go, here's your seashell." He responded "No, Mom, that's a clam!" He was right and I'm not sure how he knew that because none of us had told him. Then a few moments later, Jackson was fussing because he wanted some of the toys Sam was holding. He said "I want that WHALE!" Pleading with Sam for peace I said "Sam, can Jackson please trade and have the whale?" He said "Yeah, but it's a dolphin. See that fin on top?"
Of course he was right again. How the heck does he know this stuff? Noggin? Preschool? Omniscience? All I know is we're in trouble when he starts reading!

Overheard tonight in our bathtub

Ryan: "Sam, get your nose out of your sister's heinie crack!"
Me, coming in the room and laughing:" WHAT?"
Sam: "Mommy, I put my face right up in her heinie."

Ewwww! Maybe it's time to start separate baths!

The things Olivia can say

With Jackson and Sam I kept some records of what they could say at different ages, so here's a short list of Olivia's current vocabulary at 16 months:
"Cheeeeeese" cheese when having a picture taken, totally hammed up and in front of all cameras
"Peeeeese" please
"Day doo" thank you
"ba" ball
"bacee" paci for pacifier
"bundee" bunny for her lovey which is a pink bunny
"ACK "Jack
"boyzzzz" boys for when she is calling her brothers so she can further boss them around
"wharyou" where are you?
"mohr" more
"baby"
"ducky"
"Mama "
"Dada"
"Hi"
"Bye bye"
"yuh you" love you
"sohsee" sorry
"mine"
"uhoh"
"pilled it" spilled it
"down"
"Mimi" my mother
"caca" cracker, not poop ;-)
"poopoo"
"poddy" potty, which she sits on now every time I go, and then wipes herself with tp
"ear"
"nose"
"eye"
"mil" milk

I think those are the main ones in circulation right now. She repeats alot of other words, but those are the ones she says unprompted. She's such a stinker right now. She puts herself in time out if you tell her no, and also pretends to be in time out if the boys are there. She sits beside them and cries right along with them. Cute, but LOUD!
She loves to help clean up, and if you sing the WonderPets little song "What's gonna work" she'll add the "teamwork" part almost every time. We love it and do it to her all.the.time.
Yesterday while helping me fold laundry she got mad at me and spit, her main mode of anger expression these days. When I scolded her, she said "Sohsee" and came over to hug me. She turned away and then turned back to spit again and apologize and hug before I could say anything. She did it over and over and over.
She claims to be poo poo all the time, whether she is or not, and will bring me the diapers and wipes if I mention ANYONE being poopoo.
She fakes getting hurt to blame it on the boys, throwing herself down in front of them and then crying and pointing her finger in blame. My neighbor witnessed that today and it cracked her up!
She acts like she doesn't understand what you're saying until she hears what she wants and suddenly everything is clear.
She blows kisses to everyone, says hello as though she has never met a stranger, and adores her brothers more every day. It's so cute to see her mimicking their every move and seeing how much she wants their approval. I can't believe she'll be 18 months at Christmas. Sigh. I love that little manipulator. Snotty nose and all.

Four year old checkup

Jack had his four year check up today at the doctor's office. My friend and neighbor "Ms. Tammy" mercifully watched Sam and Liv so I didn't have to wrangle all three at the visit. Jack was great, although VERY quiet and shy with both the nurse and the doc. He passed everything with flying colors, having grown 3 inches and gained 4 pounds, landing him in the 50th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height. His hearing and vision were perfect, and he passed not only the four year old milestone assessment for development, but most of the 5! Hurray! He didn't even cry when he got his flu mist, finger prick, or vaccine shot. He was an absolute trouper!
There are so many things he can do now. He identifies pretty much ALL the colors including "morning blue" and silver! He counts consistently to 14, then it's all a gamble what will come next. He knows all his shapes and all his letters, and can draw/write most of them. I really think he's ready to start learning to read, but I don't really have a clue where to begin. That and I'm kinda lazy. I mean busy. ;-)
Still no pics cause the hubs is gone tonight and I need his work computer to upload. Bummer. C'mon black Friday, bring on a laptop deal!

Jackson's Lightning McQueen party

Today was Jack's birthday party. I spent the last three days doing pretty much nothing but party stuff. There was a homemade Lightning McQueen cake, ritz "wheels", chocolate covered race car pretzel "dip sticks," apple slice racers with grape wheels, and other yummy car inspired treats. There was a pinata, and a bubble machine for the "car wash" and several cars to zoom around the backyard. The weather was sublime, and saved the day (and my sanity) by allowing all 20 of the guests to run around in the sunshine and not trash my house! My nieces led a fabulous round of red light/green light that the little kids all LOVED, and Jackson got some great art supplies, books, and other fun presents. Now their cousin Josh is sleeping over in the new Cars sleeping bag Jack got for his birthday, and I'm pretty sure contentment is filling the air in their sweet bedroom. Happy birthday my precious four-year old boy.
Pics to come, I hope!

The end of an era

Tomorrow Jackson will turn four. And it just occurred to me that after today I will never again have a 3 year old, a two year old, and a one year old. Melancholy as I lay here in bed, feeling not terrible, but certainly not 100 percent. I am thinking about the million things I need to be doing, and my blood pressure rises as the stress takes over. But then I listen to the noise from downstairs; boys playing, bikes going over the hardwoods, playroom doors opening and closing, laughing, crying, Olivia calling "DAAAADAAAAA" and it makes me smile. And the million things I have on my to-do list are much less important than getting better so I can spend time with my little babies. Can you call a four year old a baby? I think I will anyway.

Sammy's song

I am sick today (like I have time for that!) and while Ryan was peeling an orange for the kids, I overheard Sam singing a made up song that made me smile:
"I love oooorrranges,
but I don't like pasghetti on them,
I like them with the not pasghetti,
for diiiiiiiiiinnneeeeeeer,
or for snaaaaack."
*pause* "Dad, is this snack?"
*without waiting for an answer* "Or for bweeeak fast!"

By the way, we voted this morning and apparently they are still confused. During breakfast the boys asked for a rice krispies treat and I said they could have one when we went to vote. Sam said excitedly, "JACK! Mom said we can have one on the BOAT!"
Me: "No, Sam. We're not going on a BOAT. We are going to V-V-V-VOTE."
*taking out his pacifier*"Yeah, vote. That's what I said, Mom."

Ookee

That's Olivia's new thing. When asked to do something (if she's feeling agreeable) she will say "Ooookeeee" and nod along. SO cute.

Sammyisms

Tonight the kiddos and I were on our own at dinner, and as we dined on spaghetti we chatted about the week ahead. I asked the boys if they knew what tomorrow was, and after guesses like "Our museum day!" "My birthday!" "Mimi's coming!" etc., I said that it was election day. They nodded as if they knew that all along, and I asked if they knew what it meant to go and vote. They said no and I gave an example that if I asked who wanted dessert tonight and they both said yes and Olivia said no, we would have two votes for yes, one vote for no, and dessert would win!
They nodded knowingly some more and then Sam said, "But Mommy, if you get on a boat we will be vewy vewy sad."
"I'm not getting on a boat, Sammy."
"No? You gonna stay here with us?"

I sure am. Even though the whole election day thing went right over your heads!

Then Sam said to me as we ate, "Mommy, you dwiving me cwazy!" I laughed and so did he and I said "Who says that?"
He said "You do, Mommy!"
I smiled sheepishly and said "And to whom do I say that?"
He smiled back and said "You say it to us when we're being WILD!"
Then we both laughed together and he said "That makes you laugh, huh, Mom!"

It's a good thing they're cute!