The Things They Say #417

Benjamin loves bread. He most likely inherited that from my dad, who - as my grandma use to tell us - would walk out the house on his way to school with a pieces of bread in each pant pocket. 

The other day Benjamin was asking for a snack and he asked if he could have “Nothing Sandwich”. Norm asked him what kind of sandwich that was... to which he replied “Bread stuck upon one another”. Had to give it to him... how can you turn that down?

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We went bike riding the other day and when we got to the green field Nico didn’t want to take off his helmet.

Nico, it’s time to play. Let’s get your helmet off

No!

Why not?

Birds will fly up and land on my head!! Need my helmet to protect my head!!

So he kicked the ball in the green field with his helmet on.

Monkey

Dear Monkey,

Earlier this month, Benjamin turned 5 years old. And on his birthday he pointed out that I didn't do a good job at sewing you back together the last night your head started coming apart from your body.

Casually (mainly because I am running out of techniques to sew your head to your body and succeeding) I said: Benjamin, you are turning 5 today... maybe it's time that Monkey becomes a decoration?

Benjamin hesitated for a moment and then said "Yes, he can be a decoration now". The moment those words came out of his mouth I noticed the look in his eyes and my heart broke a little. Benjamin's baby years are coming to an end and I am not sure if either Benjamin or myself are ready for it (I know you are, Monkey).

Monkey, I have no idea how you've made it 5 years and we haven't lost you. Perhaps because you belong to Benjamin. Nico's giraffe didn't even make it 2.5 years before we lost it and had to buy a replacement.

Although you are supposed to be on the shelf now, I still see Benji cuddling with you - I am so sorry you are about to be decapitated... in case you haven't noticed, your head is literally hanging by a thread - and I will let it be because he still needs you and I know you will faithfully be there for him until one day you will for real stay on the shelf, but Benjamin will be the one to make that call, whenver it is.

Jack of Multiple Trades

Because extreme situations call for extreme measures and my children's hair was beyond extreme, I decided to tackle haircuts today. I had tried this a while back, I don't remember exactly when it was, but I do remember attempting to cut Benjamin's hair in the backyard... it must not have gone over very well considering I've been paying someone to do so ever since.

After watching a couple of  YouTube videos until I found the one that was easiest to follow (which I am linking on this post mainly so I can reference back to it when it's time to do this all over again), we now have two civilized-looking little boys!

Here are some before and afters: 

Although I sharpened our hair scissors with Norm's knife sharpener, it was still quite dull. Need to go ahead and order a new one on Amazon so it can get here by the time we have to do this all over again.

I'm pretty proud of of how their haircuts came out! And so proud of them staying still with minimal complaining (all thanks to PBS Kids).

Easter Rocks

For a few weeks now the boys have been asking to paint Easter rocks and do a rock hunt (instead of eggs...). After much turning their suggestion down and them insisting, I finally asked: How are we going to stuff an Easter rock for the hunt? You just hide the rock and the candy or special treat next to it, Mom!

So we finally gave in, because honestly egg supply is limited and therefore rationed so I much rather eat them for breakfast than paint them. And also because, why not? The whole world is upside down at the moment, so why not embrace Easter Rocks? Besides, Jesus was buried and rose from inside a rock... so it all ties together.

We decided to completely embrace it, because if you are going to do something you are going to be in it 100% and not half-ass it.

We went down the street and got rocks.

Yes, she was trying to eat the rocks so we moved them out of her each... she still tried to lick the dust ...

Then we washed them when we got home:

  

And also yes, Nico stuck his hand in the water stream and splashed us all. 

We had to let them dry for a couple of days

I ordered paint online for curbside pickup (starting to fully embrace this not going inside the store lifestyle).

Then we painted them!

  

 

So next we get to hide them about the yard and place a piece of candy next to them (according to Benjamin).

The Things They Say #632

Today I went to clean Nico’s nose and he became particularly upset by it. I asked him why he’s upset to which he answered “ That is MY booger. You CANT take it from me!”

The other night the boys were horsing around before bed and Nico fell and hit his forehead... after he had calmed down and I was tucking him into bed, I asked him “how’s your forehead doing?” He looked at me a bit, stuck his lip out, grabbed his forehead where he had hit it and said “not perfect”

This afternoon we were walking down the street when Benjamin stopped at a house, stared down at yard sand said “uhm, they are growing flowers out of their grass” (referencing thedandelion  weeds that has bloomed...)

The Pandemic

Here we are practicing social distancing by staying in our house all day everyday... except for when we have to go out to do “contact-less” deliveries of Mighty Meals.

After the first 10 days of the voluntary quarantine (as of today, it is “recommended” in our area and not yet mandated by government like it is in Atlanta and Savannah) with Norm trying to work and me trying to work along with all kids being home we nearly lost our minds. So  late one night we implemented COVID Academy.  Norm would be teacher in the morning while I dedicated (mostly) uninterrupted time to work. Then we’d have lunch, kids nap and I’d become teacher in the afternoon while Norm focused on the business. More details to follow regarding COVID Academy on another post.

I am so grateful for having found Sarah Knight and having listened to this book just a few weeks before the pandemic struck. Without her and her anti-guru advice, I would be a complete, walking , freak-out episode after the next.

You see, the word "pandemic" just means widespread. But because it sounds like "panic", I think people automatically tend to freak out. I have chosen to focus on what I can control within this pandemic viral infection and I do so by brushing up on excellent (an a bit neurotic) handwashing and instilling these habits on my children. And also by lysoling all the things and wiping all the things. I respect people that need to be distanced, like my mom, to avoid risk of becoming sick. And I applaud business such as Aldi that are making every effort to establish the 6' distance between people.

We have been doing all sorts of activities via the internet, just like pretty much every single human in the country, therefore the internet runs slow when trying to stream. According to Nico, when their shows won't load, he says we are "out of internet".

Today, and last Sunday, we were able to participate in Mass straight from the Cathedral of Savannah via their live stream. Last week we had technical issues and had to watch it on the laptop..

But today we hooked up the laptop to the TV via HDMI and got it on the big screen.

Due to the extreme tempation, we did have to hide the toys located directly behind us.

After Mass, Benji tried to set up the TV to watch their shows and he couldn't figure it out becuase the TV was still set to HDMI connection. So he came and asked Norm for help because "Mass just used up ALL the internet"

Later on this week we will start Kindermusik via Zoom. And just like that we are slowly adjusting to this new (however temporary long) normal. 

Today

Today is Saturday, March 28 and it has been exactly a long time since my last post. Good grief so much has happened. We had a gender reveal party for baby #3 and found out we were expecting a girl... although deep down I honestly was rooting for a boy (girls scare me), at least we already had her name picked out - Sofia Grace.

She was born on September 19, which would have been my parents 49th wedding anniversary. We got to pick her birthdate since she was born by c-section. I am totally head over heels over this child. 

Norm quit working at the hotel... it became too toxic and tolling on our family life.

Norm and I attended a Retrouvaille weekend retreat (all the way down in Orlando) when I was 7 months pregnant and since we have been heavily involved in the ministry.

We started our own business, Mighty Meals, while we were in the hospital during Gracie’s birth. 

I ended up in the hospital while pregnant due to the very weird pain I (used to) get on my side only to find out there was nothing wrong (insert lots of frustrating, hormonal tears and a $2,500 bill).

We celebrated Benjamin and Nico’s birthday at the park and it was Blaze and the Monster Machines theme, we got fancy cookies.

 

We brought my dad's Trooper home from the shop it had been sitting at in Putnam County for the last several years.

Benjamin started Pre-k in the fall of 2019 and he is such a wiz - he is better at math than I am. That’s why I plan events and requiere a calculator to tell you what 20% gratuity is off your total bill.

Nico ended up in the NICU when we went to the beach over Labor Day... we were only there one night, but we were quite ill prepared and I was 37 weeks pregnant and not to mention an evacuation order of the SC governor due to the on-coming hurricane.

OBVIOUSLY all these things, and lots more, are kotnlisted in any kind of order except for the one it came into my head. I would add more pictures but I realized earlier this year that lovely Apple decided to create (AND default) a new picture format that is not compatible with Microsoft... or the rest of the world for that matter.

And now we are in quarantine due to COVID19. It is wild. It is overwhelming. It is scary. But we just keep washing our hands and I spray all the things nightly.. so far I haven’t had to access the black market to purchase disinfectant products.

So, mainly because we are living in the making of history, I figured it was my responsibility to record it - and because I need an average of 27 hours a day to try to make it through each day of this mind blowing reality, I decided it was time to make the $2.99 investment and purchase the app so I could try to record life on the go. Don't hold your breath, just be pleasantly surprised when you see a post come through... whenever that is.