I already wrote and posted quick takes this week. But it turns out I am bursting with takes. So here we go again . . .
The husband took the five big kids to our homeschool group ice skating trip. The kids were abuzz about it all week. SO excited.
How Anita feels about ice skating before going ice skating:
How Anita feels about ice skating while ice skating:
In case you love her hat, I made it out of fleece, using this tutorial. Then I made two long tubes of fleece, stuffed them, wound them into buns, and sewed them to the hat. I also added a little gather for the part.
Of course, you could always get someone on etsy to make it for you!
Adding to the challenge was the fact that Frankie wasn't quite 100%. And I'm not even talking about that shiner.
Five kids off ice skating left me trapped in 2004 with an infant:
and a toddler:
and NO big kids to help. Whew. I had forgotten how hard that is. Or maybe I had blocked it out.
It was 9am and I had a sleeping baby in one arm and was standing in my closet in my pajamas deciding whether I shouldn't just wear my maternity jeans because I thought I could probably get those on one handed. But then, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. So I opted for regular jeans, not buttoned. Reeeeel classy.
It was a good reminder for me of how things are for you gals in the all-little-kid trenches. Also, I'm thinking I shouldn't let my big kids do stuff any more.
You may recall this post in which I mentioned that we had a bit of a stomach thing over Thanksgiving weekend. Well, just about every day since then, we've had "the barf of the day."
Seriously. Nearly every day. Usually in the wee hours of the morning. One kid barfs. But then, they usually feel better by mid morning and we carry on with the day. One day it was me. Never have we had a day in which two kids barfed.
I have no idea what's going on. Who will barf tomorrow? Will it ever end? What does it all mean?
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| here's how we did it when it was baby Frankie |
But then sometimes I think, hey, what about unschooling? I could put some books out for them and shut them outside for "nature time" and, ya know, if they want to learn stuff, maybe they will.
Thomas Jeffeson for the win? No, not for us.
But it totally wasn't. It is so sweet. It makes me sad that I have to wonder if most people in America would even get it. That feeling of being so overwhelmed and still so happy to do it all again.
Kathryn from Through a Glass Brightly points out that the mom's expression indicates that she doesn't know what to think. She's waiting for her husband to react. And unlike the husbands I discussed in this post, he reacts beautifully. He gives her permission to be happy. Even though.
I love it.
I have to admit, I did not foresee this problem.
So now I have to say "Lou-EEZE" very carefully, but even that doesn't always work. I hope I haven't doomed this poor girl to a life of having to spell her name for everyone. I hope she likes her nickname.
We all nearly died of heat exhaustion at the Rose Parade, which we went to because it's our family tradition and we're not much for boycotting.
We did not go to the football game, which is just as well, since Stanford lost.