It is summer

and I appear to have lost all sense of time.

Which is why I'm about to do a 4th of July post, on the 7th of July.
(Note, when I first wrote that sentence I wrote the "14th of July" because that is what I thought was today's date. I momentarily panicked at the fact that I forgot my brother's bday and then realized I'm a week off. Seriously.)
Because I'm all slow like that these days.
And because I'm currently on the OBX.
(Which really means nothing except that I felt the need to put out there that I am, indeed, again away at the beach. But, I will make you feel less envious by telling you my husband is on the other side of the country in San Diego enjoying the gorgeous, sunny left coast and a few days celebrating a wedding with old friends and NO children. I'm not ENTIRELY jealous, but I am a bit pouty.)

Back to topic.
We had a fantastic 4th of July this year.

We missed most of our regular family, but did get to spend the day with the local cousins and some good friends. Josh was in boy-Heaven because he got to have Aiden AND Jack over on the same day. I was in Heaven because the grilled burgers turned out phenomenal and I had a new gazebo to sit under.

I should start at the beginning.
The annual Firecracker 5K that is a K family tradition.

Except this year I blasted my personal best record AND placed third in my age group. Which, I sadly didn't know until I got home, which means I missed out on my fancy bronze medal. I did get the honor of gloating over those in the family that I beat, who shall remain nameless. Oh, I'm still slow, just not as slow as I used to be.

171/360 (my place/total runners)
24:52 (my time) 
7:58 (my pace) 
3/12 (place in age group)  
31/116 (place in women's bracket)

Then the parade, which I find increasingly disturbing as a parent. I've decided the day is basically about teaching your child a very bizarre message: "IF YOU RUN INTO THE STREET STRANGERS WILL THROW CANDY TO YOU ". I'm not sure how to reconcile that with "DON'T GO INTO THE STREET" and "DON'T ACCEPT CANDY FROM STRANGERS". Nonetheless, Josh and Leah both LOVED the morning and the candy, which Josh doesn't eat and Leah eats with wrappers on when no one is looking.

Well, there was universal parade love, for the most part.

Jessie & our friend, Hannah, loving the parade

A 4th of July Miracle:
A family pic with EVERYONE smiling AND looking at the camera!
Take THAT Picture People.
We love the parade.



However, while I LOVE a good ol' Civil War Reanactment in the middle of the street every 4th of July...

ALL the kids, NOT SO MUCH loving this part of the parade!

Next, bbq. I already mentioned the phenomenal burgers that I created and Al grilled to perfection. (We're not generally a "good bbqing family" by reputation.) ;) There was also delicious steak, chicken and other yummy dishes. The kids decorated their own cupcakes and the old people ate water ice and ice cream. Good food. Good company. Good day. Bring on 4th Of July 2010!!

Hannah's Masterpiece

Oh.. I've so got her trained right...

THIS is how Leah has taken to carrying her babies around the house.



This kinda-crunchy-mom is so stinkin' proud!

A day in the life...

of a mom and
triathlete-wanna-be.

8:00am
Protein packed breakfast



9:30
Lace up sneaks



Load up kids into jog stroller



Run 5 miles



But, squeeze a quick park play date in mid-run to keep the kids from tossing each other over board.


12:00
Lunch
More protein and other stuff


12:30
Load up kids into bike trailer


Bike to the pool,
chill


Reload and come home


3:00

Sweet, fantastic peace throughout the house

OK, so that isn't EVERY day around here.
But, it is one of the best in recent memory.

Just add water..

If I had the energy I'd sit here and calculate to prove what I'm about to say is indeed true:

Since spr~ummer has bloomed into full-on summer, my kids have easily spent more time in water than out. It has been fantastic! Between our frequent trips to the shore, our pool and Sesame Place membership and our upcoming weeks down south they pretty much swim constantly.

Josh & Leah at Sesame Place
Waiting patiently for a stream of water to pop out.
It did.
And shot Josh in the eye.


Three moms, five kids, 120 miles, 242 beach toys, 42 applications of sunblock, 2 hours on the beach, 2 hours on the boardwalk, 115 tickets for rides, 10 scoops of ice cream, 1lb of saltwater taffy, 1,756 seagull attacks, 1 seagull hit, 15 minutes combined of random tantruming...

one of the best days I've had with friends ever!

Our play date at the beach!
(Yes, again, we went to the beach.)

RARELY SEEN PHOTAGE:
Josh and Leah willingly~almost posing together.




Josh and his absolute best friend Aiden.
Aiden's big sister, Hannah played too!


Oh, and on an unrelated note, I about had a heart attack today
when I realized that 4th of July is NEXT SATURDAY.
Seriously? What the heck happened to June?

Endless Blather, Part Two

Josh loved every moment of our vacation. He was in little boy heaven at the beach, on the rides, eating ice cream and hanging with family.

But, the absolute highlight for him was Lancaster.

We went to "A Day Out With Thomas", had dinner out with Joe and Carolyn and then hit Dutch Wonderland. This is where I will pause to tell you Josh has absolutely inherited his mother's love for all things "ride". The child has very little fear and pretty much loves every kind of ride.

Except one.

That turtle is as menacing as he appears.
Trust me.
We learned the VERY hard way.

He did, however, LOVE the "Thomas" show.

I will also say that "Dutch Wonderland" may be one of the most fantastic places for the under 10 set in the North East. Super clean. Awesome staff. Totally kid friendly. Just enough to do. Free parking!! Very affordable. Oh, and if you spend most the day there, and it rains, you'll get free passes to come back on a sunny day. Seriously!

There was even a ton of stuff for Leah.

Leah also flipped for "Day Out With Thomas". It was pretty cool to see her get so excited to ride the train. Since she has about a 5 minute attention span she even sat for the first half of the trip. Then she got bored and spent the rest of the trip trying to climb out the window. Josh LOVED every minute of it.

Waiting for the train to pull out,
clutching their new trains in one hand and tickets in the other.

Endless Blather, Part One

Summer
I'll drag it in kicking and screaming if it is the last thing I do.

Around here, it seems summer is holding out for some kind of special invitation.

And, to that end, you will now be inundated with an obnoxious amount of pictures from our week of summer vacation. Well, to be accurate, the vacation was over before summer really started, but "spring vacation" just doesn't sound as cool. I've sat down to post this blog about a dozen times, but then get guilted into cleaning by the mounting post-vacation chaos in the living room. The dining room. The kitchen. The kid's rooms. The basement. Yeah, pretty much all over.

So, I'll save you from my endless drivel and quipping. We had an absolutely fantastic week. The kids and I joined Pop-Pop K, Grandmom and assorted 'K' family members at the shore, left for a few days to go to Lancaster with Al and then went back to wrap up the week at the shore as a family.

Josh is nursing a nasty infection from an unfortunate fall at the shore. I'm nursing an unfortunate amount of post-vacation-I-ate-my-way-through-the-northeast weight gain. Al is nursing back-to-work-itis. Leah, well, she is still nursing because I'm still not movitated enough to wean her.

Still, absolutely perfect. Every moment.

But, despite all the nursing....
*Be forewarned, I was too lazy to edit these, so you get my totally raw-unskilled pics this time.

Tricia and Gwyn rockin' sun hats on the beach.
Which is funny, because I'm not sure we had any sun.
At all.



Three kids. Outdoor shower.
'Nuff said.


So, we didn't have an 8 bedroom house this time around.
The kids didn't seem to mind.


Jessie and Janet



In a rare moment,
Kids: completely happy, occupied and at peace together.
Me: butt in chair!



Leah & Pop-Pop K



Nightime on the boards!

A very excited 4 year old...

is trying to fall asleep, but has Thomas on the brain!

Tomorrow is 'Thomas Day'!

And Wednesday is "Dutch Wonderland" day.

And then back to the shore for the rest of the week.. WITH daddy!

What a kick butt way to start the summer!

For a limited weekend engagement..

we've got OC, NJ sand between our toes!

Even though..

I tire of the endless laundry.


(And yes, I know, a family of four doesn't generate THAT MUCH compared to most.)

I somehow manage to puncture my foot on Thomas or one of his cronies every dang day.



I read the same paragraph in a book twenty three times in a row before I actually have the uninterupted moment to finish one page, let alone whole book.


I can't escape a day without having my head butted, nose bashed, eye poked or foot stomped on

by an over-zealous toddler


or a well-meaning, albeit rambunctious, preschooler.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I still remind myself to never take for granted these two perfect Little People, their dad and the life God gave us.

Somewhere deep inside her..

is a little Picasso just busting out all over the paper, the kitchen table, the walls, the window, her booster seat, the floors, her clothes, her brother, his clothes, her fingers, her face, her belly.....

If you haven't...

You should.
We did.



Because there is not much better than...

*spending a few hours focusing on your spouse and your marriage


*a catered dinner, !SANS CHILDREN!, connecting with good friends in your church family



*topped off with a piece of divine chocolate TRACY CAKE



and, of course....

*Mike Seaver!!

A risk vs benefit analysis ..

Aka "parenthood".

I sometimes feel like my not-so-proud-but-I-survived moments of mothering are all about risk vs benefit.

For example, tonight.

Al was out grilling dinner.

I was in the kitchen cleaning up and getting our meal put together. And for once, in a rare occurrence, Leah wasn't screaming at me, trying to climb into the dishwasher, trying to wrestle a snack out of the cabinet or trying to jam herself strategically between me and whatever I was doing. Josh wasn't filing a loud, preemptive protest over our "outlandish" dinner choices.

They were upstairs. Alone. Thus "risk" (2 unsupervised kids) vs "benefit" (me making dinner in peace).

I am fully aware there is a risk involved when a 4yo and 20 mo play mostly unsupervised out of sight. However, the payoff, a quiet empty kitchen was worth it, I decided.

I could certainly hear them, which is always a good sign. If I have learned one thing in motherhood, quiet is never, EVER good unless they are sleeping in bed or confined in a carseat. I digress. I heard them because they were laughing, playing and there was no cries of torture. There was a lot of banging, however.
(RED FLAG*RED FLAG*RED FLAG)

I actually spent a few minutes mentally calculating what they might actually be capable of.

Working to my advantage: They are both quite short and can't reach too much. Leah can't get into the bathroom on her own. Our bedroom door was shut. They can't open windows yet. We don't own anything particularly valuable.

Working to their advantage: Joshua isn't normally naughty, so I never see it coming from him. Leah is frequently naughty and we've gotten quite proactive, which has compelled her to be more crafty. She is also basically a spider that can scale walls and furniture with little effort and great speed. Joshua is very much into "creative, active" play.

The analysis:

*Twenty minutes of peace begat fifteen minutes of clean-up, netting five minutes of benefit!

The damage:

Every single item not too heavy to move, in Leah's room, was hauled into her closet because Josh wanted to "bury her" in there. (Which, by the way, she thought was hysterical.) This includes, but was not limited to, every book off her shelf, every dopey stuffed animal I keep meaning to pitch, every toy, the contents of her sock drawer, the contents of her small toy bin & her train set (conveniently disassembled). From the smallest block to the grocery cart, it was all there.

When that wasn't fun anymore, they resorted to playing IN the toy bins.

No matter.
I got to make dinner in peace and
Josh & Leah got a little lesson in "natural consequences".

It all started with a pothole...

and thus began my most unlucky streak in of all time. Ok. I don't really believe in the idea of "good luck" or "bad luck". But, call it whatever you want... it all started Thursday.

Thursday, 3:00pm:
I get on my bike for an hour ride. I'm all geared up, ready to go and head out. I'm cruising like Lance Armstrong minus the fancy bike and failed marriage and feeling fantastic about how far I've ridden, how good I feel and how I'm almost done. I've snaked my way 10+ miles through beautiful tree lined streets on an absolutely perfect afternoon and with just about 15 minutes to go in my 60 minute workout, I'm ready to shoot a straight shot home.

FAIL #1:

STUPID POTHOLE

My back tire blows. Not just seeps a slow leak. But POP! Blows. I am now about 5 miles from my house, where Al is home with a napping baby. Hmm. Two choices. Walk 100 yards to the local bike shop and see if they will repair it with the plea that I'll return with payment or find a way to call Al to get me. I let my pride get the better of me and decided against what would have been the wise choice.

FAIL #2:

HOW MAY I DIRECT YOUR CALL?

I walk about 1/4 mile to a train station with a payphone, where I realize if I'd carried my cell phone and/or a bank card of some kind, I'd be in much better shape right now. I am forced to do the unthinkable, COLLECT CALL ON A PAYPHONE using the debit card number I've committed to memory. This will hitherto be referred to as HUGE DUMB MISTAKE. I get a ride from my super-sister who gets my deflated bike and grumpy self home in one piece.

Friday, 8:00pm
I head out to tackle some birthday gift shopping and a huge grocery trip to my little slice of heaven on earth, Wegmans. I'm looking forward to a few hours of kid-free bliss while getting some errands done and indulging in my ONCE A MONTH TREAT: Wegman's Hot Cocoa with way too much whipped cream.

FAIL #3:

DECLINED

Stop 1: Dick's Sporting goods for birthday gifts,

"I'm sorry miss, you card has been declined." This is where HUGE DUMB MISTAKE catches up with me. Uh. What? I'm the money person in the house. I KNOW how much money is linked to that account down to the penny. That simply can't be possible. So, utterly humiliated I pull out the cell phone and ask if I can put the purchase on hold while I figure out what is going on with my card. I start out kind of annoyed. I move quickly past annoyed to stewing and then rapidly to angry in the 15 minutes I spend on hold with the bank. All while standing there as each customer passes me by giving me "the look". You know.. "Ohhh.. your card is... DECLINED!"

FAIL #4:
HUGE DUMB MISTAKE

HUGE DUMB MISTAKE "collect call company" is some kind of bogus sheister who has put several holds on my account from several different states over the past 2 days, which flagged my account and caused my bank to freeze our money. A fact they apparently couldn't actually communicate to me until I went to use the card. So, while I let them know that I am indeed alive, well and still in possession of my card, they let me know that I'll have to figure out what charges are legit and file all kinds of disputes and claims to get the other charges lifted, which will no doubt take nothing short of a congressional act to iron out. Sigh. The good news, since I do have the card in hand, they will unfreeze the hold.

Fail #5:

Pretty Princess Ice cream

Stop #2, Wegman's Coffee Bar, 8:45
I can't blame them for having one person working at 9:00. It certainly seems reasonable. However, unreasonable is the 7 year old princess who has insisted on a spoon sample of all 12 gelati flavors. And while I love children dearly and have vowed to NEVER judge what another parent has to do to survive shopping with a child, I am a bit perplexed as we all stand by while Pretty Princess Ice cream samples every single flavor, one by one by one by one by one.

I admire the patience of the one worker who hauls each tub out, digs a sample on a teeny plastic teaspoon, hands it over, awaits the reaction, rinse lather repeat.. twelve times. FINALLY we all celebrate her selection of "Coconut" as drool drips from my chin because I'm gazing at the fancy machine that will whip up my ONCE A MONTH indulgence. Then, when I think I may get my turn, her dad says he has to find the mom to get her flavor choice. Oh for Heaven's sake! Get the poor woman a chocolate and make it large. Lord knows she'll need it if Pretty Princess Ice cream has anything to do with it. Ten minutes later.. my turn! I order up my large, whip cream topped hot cocoa and precariously roll out to the produce section.

FAIL #6:

My Coordination

Yes. I did. For the first time ever in the history of Me, I spilled the stinking 24 ounces of chocolate dreaminess and whipped cream delight all over. Everything. I didn't just slurp a little over the edge. I dropped the entire cup. On my produce. On my bag. On my "go green" Wegman's bags. All 15 of them. And best of all, on the ground, a lot of it. I stood there horrified as the three teen workers all kind of gaped and snorted. Then, I about died when they actually reached for the phone and did the whole "Uh.. clean up in produce" drill. And, I only got a few measly sips before I pitched the darn thing overboard. Meh.

On a moderately good note, I managed to get through the rest of the shopping trip without any other catastrophic FAILs.

FAIL #7:

The Vinegar Bottle

As I'm rocking out hard core to my "Miss Saigon" soundtrack, in my slammin' Sienna on the way home, I noticed a smell that does not seem to fit. Not the usual 'kind of stinky kid-inhabited diaper/goldfish/summer feet' type smell. No. This is DISTINCTLY white vinegar. Now, I happen to love this smell. I love it so much I clean with it. As a matter of fact, I bought two bottles tonight. Huh. That is pretty funny. I'm REALLY smelling the vinegar AND I happen to have two bottles in the car. Huh. Thinking.. thinking... calculating.

Oh for Pete's sake one of the bottles is leaking, moron! It doesn't smell THAT good THROUGH the bottle. In the one good stroke of luck over the past 24 hours, the bag happens to be within reach and the bottle happens to be on top. I'm able to secure the lid without plowing anyone off the road or missing a beat of "It's Her or Me". At least the Sienna smells good. It's all chocolate and vinegar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I shouldn't be surprised that the
grocery store played a big part in my streak.
It's not the first time I was struck by
bad mojo at the supermarket.

And that, my friends, is likely the longest streak of bad luck in my recent memory.
(And the longest Little Footprints blog entry of all time.)

Here's to an uneventful weekend!

An annoucement nine months in the making...

It is finally back.

Josh has been very patiently waiting since last August.
He is napping like a good little boy because he knows he gets to stay up late tonight.
He has been talking about it pretty much every day for two months.

That's right....

WIPE OUT!!


And if you thought this was a different kind of 9 month
announcement you are all kinds of CRAZY!

Random Picture Challenge

inspired by 4 Little Men & Girly Twins.

August 2008
{my 16th picture folder}
28th picture

Josh and Leah hanging out under the kitchen table.
Because they're a little weird sometimes.

Happy Memorial Day!

Bumping from Memorial Days in the past....

This year the kids and I will be chilling together since Al is stuck working.

Just like last year.
And the year before.
:(

*Memorial Day 2006

*When I think of Memorial day, that is usually the first memory that comes to mind. Growing up we'd all haul over to Pop-Pop K's house for a big, family picnic. It was one of many "K" family traditional get togethers. But, for me, it was one of the best. I mean, sure, Christmas had all the gifts and Easter had the egg-dyeing and the baskets chock full of candy. Memorial day, though, that was like the kick off to summer. The 'big kids' would play wiffle ball and the 'little kids' would just run around getting in the way. Pop-Pop would faithfully man the grill while Dad and Uncle Skip caught up and handled "cousin conflict". The great aunts would sit in their assigned seats and talk to kids as we flew by.

Years have gone by and some traditions have faded. It got me thinking about "Memorial Day" and legacies. Our nation has a tremendous legacy of soldiers making the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and protection. I am the child of two veterans and the grandchild of one, too. This legacy that continues to be written in our nation and our family, even today. Thank you to those who have served and those that continue to serve our country today!

This Memorial day weekend I also found myself reflecting on our family legacy. The "K" family has yet to acquire great fame, riches or material wealth. Well, there is that one Fantasy Football trophy and anyone who knows our family understands that it is definitely part of our "legacy". However, for the most part, the "K" legacy is far more about our family and shared faith. Mostly, when I think of our legacy, I think of our Spiritual legacy.

My grandparents, for all their quirks, raised their children to love and serve the Lord. On Monday, all the local "K" family will travel to PA to celebrate a special first birthday day, Memorial day, and in part, our legacy. Josh will be surrounded by a gaggle of Uncles and Aunts, all who continue my grandparent's legacy. We've each grown up in the Lord, married spouses who love Christ and have determined to pass that legacy onto our children. Josh will play with all the cousins, like I did growing up. Each one growing up in homes where God is alive and centric. For as many who are there on Monday, there's even more who can't be there. Josh has 8 cousins (and one more arriving any minute now!) that he sees regularly who share in the legacy of the great-Pop-Pop most of them never had a chance to know. It's my hope and prayer that each of those cousins faithfully continue that great legacy (& the tradition of bbq).

Pop-Pop K in 1976.
(I can't imagine who that fussy child might be...)

Have a Happy Memorial day, everyone!

Because I'm a cool mom...

I let Leah color with markers.

Because Leah is a toddler....



it often looks like this.






Oh, and "washable" is something of a subjective term.

I'm a liar..

or something like that, because I believe I said somewhere, at some point, that I'd never go to the Jersey shore on Memorial day weekend.

We did, had a fantastic blast and "the sheeple" weren't even that annoying. Couldn't have asked for a better day, even if it was the busiest weekend of the summer.

My dear, sweet boy is officially an addict.
He loves the water. He loves the boardwalk.
He even went on his first roller coaster today and loved it!

Josh and Uncle DJ in the slightly less than bitter cold water.


My blog is about to get it's own spin-off called "Josh and Thomas Train" blog because a train is in his hand every waking moment of the day and I think it'd be funny to see Thomas trekked up and down the east coast.

I'd read it.




Leah still isn't totally sold on the water part,
but did get into the sand with Nana Nelson.

Some days you're just in "the zone"..

the "Super Mom Zone".

Today was one of them.

We decided to do something different thanks to my good friend, Amy, who is always up for an adventure. So my sister, our friends and I loaded up our small hoard of seven "4 & unders", a battalion of strollers, bags, cameras, water bottles, sunblock and a picnic lunch and headed out on our morning adventure.

We started in lovely downtown Camden, and 287 stairs, 2 VERY NARROW walkways, 1 mile of bridge over the great Delaware river later....

we wound up in the spectacular Franklin Square Park.

The park was a hit. The kids loved the carousel and the playground was great. The whole crew played so great together. You know you've done well when the kids willingly climb into the strollers for the trek home and even ask for nap! (Not that he actually did nap, but he asked, so that is something. I guess. Oh and, this is where I will also pause to tell you that you can indeed fit three 30+lb boys and one 20lb nineteen month old on a sit and stand stroller. Oh and one other thing, those Camden City Parking Authority officers don't miss a beat. Or an expired meter.)

Josh, not so sure about the carousel

Josh, very sure about it



Hannah and Jessie loving it!



One tough guy..



and one tough girl who will not be outdone
by the big brother!



The babies of the group who are both rapidly approaching..
TWO!!
Molly & Leah

My kids occassionally...

drive me up the wall.

Sometimes I willingly go there myself!




If you've never climbed, you simply must!
Take a bunch of your closest friends.





And then go out to eat afterward.


It will be a great time!!