Mother's Day and all the little gifts....

It's so amazing how the definition of the word "gift" evolves over the years, as we grow older and find the real meaning in the little things that mean so much more than big ticket items. There must be a "new mommy" fairy that invades all of us when we are still too tired and dazed-shortly after childbirth- that sprinkles magic potion on each of us that suddenly transforms our old idea of what a gift is into something else.

The potion creates a love for things like macaroni necklaces, hand print Christmas wreaths, and anything our darlings are able to scribble their name on...all by themselves.

Today is Mother's Day and while many mother/daughter combo's gather at fancy brunch locations or (gasp!) maybe even day-spa's, my day has gone a little something like this:

4:17 AM (thats AM): ....."mommy, I gotta barf again".... - Ethan. In his bed, jumping up into a heaving all-fours position ready to hurl. Again. I run for the towels, realizing this kid aint going to make the toilet.

6:00 AM Repeat above. Shorter this time. Cleaned up and back into bed. Everyone else is still asleep. It's Mother's Day, mind you.

At around 8 the entire house is up and going, and so far no more barf episodes from Ethan. Fingers crossed.

To clarify: this does NOT qualify as a "gift".

Dave walks up and hands me a sweet Mother's Day card that  he actually took time to choose, and it has a Starbucks gift card in it (that is what I asked for)..with a "Happy Mothers's Day, hon", he gives me a kiss.

Gift? Most definitely! I am so thankful for my wonderful husband. Somehow he is missing just enough marbles to have put up with me for 13 years and counting....

I think about each of our four kids, and what gifts they really are to me. Each one has grown my heart and its capacity to love even more than I ever imagined. Ever since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted to have a big family, and every day I remind myself how lucky I am to have them all.

Before I go on, I do have to say that there still is a small period of time, usually when I first awake on Mother's Day before everyone else where I feel the pain of missing my own mom. I wish I had her here to take to brunch or to get our toes done like my friends do with their moms...the list of wishes is endless but I only have memories. In some strange way, these feelings give me strength to make the best memories with my own children, and to never take a single moment for granted.

Back to my gifts, they go a little like this.....

Katelyn Rose, my sweet sweet girl and first born. What an amazing gift she has been- she is deeply caring, intelligent, and humble. But get her in the car and put the windows up and she will belt out her favorite songs at the top of her lungs...with me of course...and can somehow cast a spell over her younger brothers to get them to do whatever she wants.....most of the time. She can also orchestrate quite the "family dance show" in the evenings,  and has a contagious silly side that's all her own.

Katie sitting out by her little teeny pool at age 3. Such a chubby sweet face!

this is what you will most likely find Katie doing out in the backyard...she has always been our little scientist.

Ryan David, our first boy and what an entrance to the world he made. Ryan was born with several complications, but LONG story short, despite his disabilities has been such an amazing gift to us all. This is one of those unexpected gifts....the ones that take a little while to see exactly why they were given to you. Ryan is proof that God has a plan bigger than what we are doing....and that His plan is good. Ryan has brought a level of patience, understanding, and tolerance to me that were never as deep before he came along. He has introduced me to people I would have never met and some of those people are among my closest friends today. Ryan has brought our family closer together and gives each of us more character because of who he is. For the gift of Ryan I am so grateful.

Such an inquisitive face on that dude! Age 6

At age 8, he is our mini Fred Astair...always loving to put a hat on and dazzle....

Ethan Michael, our second boy and a little thunderbolt. Had the doctor not just pulled him from my belly, upon seeing his brown furry body I would have called "birth mix-up" right then and there. The kid was fuzzy from head to toe...and shoulders and back too. Six pounds of screaming monkey-ness. And what a gift his humor, spite, spunk, and super-loving side is to us all. He is my master cuddler, rad dancer, and the mommy's boy out of the three. He may not like reading that part later, but I had to put it down. He is also the comedian of the family, coming up with the funniest sayings and questions ever. We even had to start writing down these "Ethan-isms" to be sure we didn't forget them all.  He just asked me the other day if daddy married me because I do a really good job of doing the dishes. Ahhhhh.......

Fuzzy wuzzy was a boy.....here is  Ethan at just a few days old. Ah, how I miss the smell of a newborn.

Just because you are only two doesn't mean you get out of watering the back lawn. :-)


And last but never least, Owen Scott. Boy numero 3, child numero 4, knew he needed to be one thing for sure: patient. And boy is he...he has been the easiest, happiest, and yep-most patient baby of all. What a joy he brings with his huge gap-tooth grin. He is a blooming dancer, I can see it already by the moves he busts out in the living room...Ethan may have competition there. It is so fun watching him develop into his own little "self"...and at 20 months old I am still seeing new things every day with that little dude. Owen- slow down, you are growing tooooooooooo fast!

Mommy and Owen...he is a couple hours old and I am in LOVE....

He will be filling those shoes WAAAAY too soon....ugh!


Now back to the "art appreciation" fairy I mentioned earlier. You want to see some wonderful gifts? Here are mine for this Mother's Day.....

A duct-tape rose pen-topper from my super artsy Katie....

Ryan made this flower for me with both hands...even lefty got in on the action! He also wrote his name on it.

From Ethan it was a hand-colored flower with rainbow petals and a random number 9. He is standing here as I write this and asked me to say that "Ethan worked really hard on it". :-)

And then Owens gift. A GIANT smile upon waking from his 2 hour nap...ahhhh.....this kid knows what a mommy wants :-)

And finally...I am going to just add some random photos because each of these have special meaning to me, whether its a group photo or individual, these are what life is all about.

For God's great gifts, I give thanks.

Christmas Morning...little bed heads scrambling to see what Santa has left...

A newly-anointed big brother takes a moment in with his baby bro.....

My beautiful gift of a daughter, one who I look forward to many girly times together as we grow older...

Ryan, who shows us every day how God's plan is bigger than the one we devise for ourselves.

To Disneyland, Legoland, and back. There's NO place like home!

Websters dictionary defines vacation as:

va·ca·tion  noun, often attributive \vā-ˈkā-shən, və-\-"a respite or a time of respite from something" 


Well, I am sure that definition works pretty good when you envision a romantic getaway with your one and only love to a remote island where tiny umbrellas don your margaritas each night. However, how many of us (moms) use that word..."vacation"...when travelling with our family and do not realize how incredibly misleading it really is?!  Respite? That's what the definition says..but really, who are we kidding here...I know there was NO respite to be found in Southern Cali the entire time we "vacationed" there this past week. There was, however;

*several occasions of bribing small children at restaurants so as to appear to have well-mannered kids.

  then hurrying to eat your food before the meltdown occurs.

* about fifty six trips to the various (nasty) roadside restrooms, toting a small child's potty seat in and out

   each time.

* four complete meltdowns, mostly prompted by the words ,"OK, guys, its time to go back now"...

*several bad hair days (for mom-who in the packing process for everyone else always manages to forget the

  important things for herself).

*seven nights of rib-jabs, kicks in the stomach, smacks in the face, and a giant bar across the hide-a-bed that

  somehow lands right on moms back. Why is mom in the hide-a-bed and not the cozy hotel king size bed?

  one word...VACATION!

All that being said, it may sound like this trip was horrid. Actually, it was pretty darn great. Because we parents go in to these family "vacations" fully expecting and knowing that it is for our children, we are (mostly) prepared for what comes our way and know to keep our expectations low, resulting in awesome family moments and memories.

I have to say, modern society has afforded us with some great inventions...and I have to say I really wonder how our parents made these long road trips with us in the back seat. I recall a drive to Disneyland when I was six and me and my older brother, who was 8 1/2 sat in the long back bench seat of whatever huge car my mom had at the time, and we didn't even have seatbelts. And we survived. And so did my mom. Amazing. No DVD's, no Nintendo DS's, and no iPhones to play on. Pure together-ness...whew! That must have been challenging. Glad we are in this decade because as we rolled out of the driveway here is what our car looked like:

Dave recently got me a new minivan and can I just say I LOOOOOOVE it so much! I have had a minvan in the past, then we got a Tahoe, thinking it was bigger and just as roomy. WRONG! After about a week in the Tahoe, I was wanting to get back to my old minivan days again. Two DVD screens, lots of legroom, and way more storage room in the rear....we had a great ride both there and back. I am so grateful for my new wheels...and for my husband who recognized I really did need another car, I wasn't just being picky.

So without further ado, here are some highlights from our trip...our first stop was Legoland in Carlsbad, Ca.
Ethan, being an avid Lego-lover, was probably our most enthused of the bunch, but by the end of the day we all had a really great time there.

You don't say! Legos AND Star Wars...those are two of Ethans all time favorites! But Owen...not so much. Check his face out. This face will reappear throughout our journey as he meets more life size creepy characters.

 So cool...EVERYTHING was made out of Legos...look at the entire cityscape we are in front of. Amazing!

 Ryans all time favorite..Batman himself. (well...in Lego version at least) I love Ryans pose here. Such a fan!

Ethan and Darth...who he said "is the coolest but meanest guy ever."


Legoland also has a few rides...mostly geared for younger ages, which was perfect for our clan. Katie and dad command much respect as they aim to hit the opponents here...

 I love Dave and Ryans faces in the above picture...totally dedicated to soaking the enemy ship.

 All my family on a boat...notice Owen and I stayed back for this wet ride. Gladly, too. :-)

 ...I got in on the fun with Ethan on this ride. Also a bit of a watery ride, but not so bad. We got Katie a few times..hee hee...

                               These kinds of smiles makes the trip worth every cent.
                   
                        Ethan was so pleased...check him out- what a great day at Legoland!

There were not too many rides Owen could go on at the ripe old age of 19 months, so I hung out with him while the others rode rides...and we found this super rad water park, where Owen had an absolute BLAST...

I have no idea how clean or dirty this water is...but he was just so darn cute...

Remember I mentioned meltdowns as part of a "vacation" in our family? Well, when it was time to call it a day...somebody was none too thrilled...I wont mention names here, but

We actually got video of this tantrum. It was THAT good. Aren't we great parents? :-)

After spending two fun filled days at Legoland, we headed up to Los Angeles and Disneyland. We all made it to our next destination safely, the only problem was....so did the rest of the world. THAT PLACE WAS NUTS...super crowded. Spring Break is definitely not the best time to visit Mickey and his pals....yikes. However, thanks to Ryan and his awesome "special pass" due to his disabilities, we were able to bypass much of the lines and we had a great time there.

We have arrived!

 Owen didnt mind Mickey Mouse as much, he even got brave enough to touch his ear....

 Random cute picture of Ethan...excited.

 Katie is always our navigator when we go places. Map in hand, she usually is the one with the plan.

 Random cute picture of Ryan...sporting his Disney shirt he loves so much.

Awww....can this boy get any cuter? Love the big gap in his teeth.
We got to see our LA family too while we were down visiting...I seriously think the kids enjoyed that as much as Disneyland itself...

 While at Disneyland, we stayed at Paradise Pier Hotel, and they host a "breakfast with characters" in the mornings...we had to try that out just once. FUN!

 Katie enjoys her Mickey Mouse waffles....

Minnie comes to the table to  meet Owen!

Ryan loves this photo...he keeps asking to see it. It cracked him up when Pluto "ate" his head.

After all the walking, running, and riding...our nights usually ended up looking  like this....

So...we really did have a great time. In fact, on the LONG drive home, Dave and I remarked that someday when people ask us "what were the best days of your lives?", these days..as hectic and non "vacation-y" as they are, will certainly be among them.

For God's great blessings we give thanks.



  

Superheros and Science Camp

So Katie and her dad returned from her 5th grade Science Camp trip a couple days ago and Katie is still raving about what a great time she had. Dave too...as a counselor for a cabin of 5 almost-pubescent boys I think he just jumped a couple notches in my book, because he also reports having a blast. I have yet to receive the photos of the "girls group" shenanigans, but rumor has it Katie let a nasty banana slug crawl across her face for more than 10 seconds. Ahhh...my dainty little princess Katie- ha ha.  They were gone for four days total, which means that left me at home with the three boys...completely outnumbered. 
Here are a couple shots of their time together, which, by the way, is something every dad and daughter should do someday.

...and I am pretty sure all the "big kid" dads didn't need to have their arms twisted to go on the zip line either...heres Dave as he jumps off the cliff---how fun does that look?!!

So I also knew I would have to get a tad bit creative because Katie is typically the master orchestrator in all things fun around here, and so the views at our home during that time were something like this,

A laundry basket (full of laundry, of course) is only as good as the person pushing it REALLY fast around the house. Hold on, Owen!

 Barista Owen serves up a cold one...

Now its Ryans turn. Who knew the old box from daddys lawnmower would still be getting play?

His face looks like mine after I am handed my mocha in the morning :-)  

It's really interesting how when you remove one or two family members from the routine the whole dynamic gets tossed up in the air, and its quite fun to observe. Ethan, always being reminded by Katie that he IS the little brother, and quite often put in his place to remain as such by her B.S powers (thats Big Sis, by the way, although it could stand for another appropriate acronym at times). Ethan quickly identified the missing link and seized his opportunity....its time for Superheros, fast blanket rides down the hallway, and....well, anything else HE wanted to lead the other two into. He had four days to exercise this power, he was not wasting a moment. Now, we all know Ryan is really the "next in line" as far as age goes, but Ry is one of those amazingly cool kids that doesn't care who the leader is, he is happy to join in and follow. Bless that boy.

Sometimes the Superheros donned attire and conquered various missions around the home...Ryan and Ethan LOVE the costumes Nana and Papa got them for Christmas, and Ethan even likes to mix it up a bit and be a little of everything.

Ethan is eating a true Superhero PB&J sandwich.
And then, once in awhile, even Superman needs to pause and plan his next move....

And Owen was busy the entire time too, not surprisingly, doing things like

this....

(lasagna, its whats for dinner)

and this....

(yogurt, he heard on Oprah its good for the hair)

...and he even joined in on some of the dress up fun with his big brothers...

My sweet dudes. Ethan needs to move a bit away from the big sword Ryan is holding, however, if he wants to keep his right ear.

And there actually WERE some quiet moments when I would let them watch TV...the scene would soon be quiet and look like this...for just a little while...

....so we all survived Katie and daddy's departure, but were so happy to have them back home. Katie quickly resumed her role as head honcho and Ethan gladly stepped down from his thrown, and was just happy to have his sissy back, even if it meant not being in charge.

I guess watching Katie play on the iPad is fun? Hmmm....the power of a big sis. Dont quite get it, but it kept him happy and quiet for a good while.