Ordinary Time

I might have mentioned before that I am not at the top of my form while pregnant, and carrying twins just magnifies all the usual symptoms. Fatigue and lack of stamina are the most noticeable and overwhelming. I find it incredibly frustrating that I just can't do everything I want to do. Recently my standards have dropped to making sure we have food for dinner and that everyone has clean underwear. Anything more than that is a bonus. This is where my older children have really stepped into the breach to help out. (It is also where I'm very glad I've taught them to cook when I was functioning.) All three (M., B., and A.) have made dinner for me when I just can't. They also have helped care for the younger 4 when I've needed an extra hand, as well. A. and P. have become adept at making granola for breakfast, and A. keeps us well stocked in desserts. M. and B. have taken turns the last month going to the grocery store with me. It's getting to the point wh

but this isn't quite what I had in mind when we added the potty bucket to the piles of stuff we packed home from Vietnam. As you can see it is duct taped to one of the windows of the little boys' room. Yesterday, the temperature rose to above freezing for the first time in many, many days. Evidently our poor old roof just can't handle the ice and snow we've had and has developed another leak. I was in the middle of a planning meeting with the mothers from our history co-op when a couple of distraught little boys came running in to say yellow water was coming from their ceiling. Being in the middle of a meeting, I sent some older girls up with towels to see what they could do. They were quite resourceful as the picture shows. But even catching the water didn't appease the boys. Finally I said to D that it was fine, it was just melting water from the roof coming into the house. Immediately, D's face brightened and he went running off to inform the others. This is

K just makes us all laugh. Here he is with the plastic sink from the play kitchen on his head (he loves to turn everything into a hat), his blankie (which he calls, "BoBo"), and one of M's boots. What you can't see are the funny expressions he makes to go along with the adornments. He knows he is being funny.

Our lives seem to revolve around what show our children are in and those show's rehearsals and performances. We are having a lovely two week break, show-wise, since this past weekend was the performances for The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni. Don't beat yourself up if you've never heard of it. It is a Commedia dell'Arte play from 16th century Italy...very improvisational, very funny. M was Clarice, the ingenue of the play and B was a porter and a waiter. (He will have a much bigger role in the next show, Our Town .) They all did a great job. It is so fun to watch my young adults (the rest of the cast as well) on stage. They are so confident and sure of themselves on stage. It is youth theater at it's best, that is, youth theater I don't mind inviting non-related adults to. Here are a couple of cast photos: M as Clarice B as a waiter

K has become such a part of the family that I forget he has been with us for less than a year. That explains why I'm a week late with this post. Unlike with TM, I just don't keep track of those monthly anniversaries. K has made amazing progress in these last 8 months, which is good since he ages out of Early Intervention at the end of March. When we first met K he had some significant delays: low muscle tone in the upper half of his body (which included skirting of his rib cage and his shoulder blades not being in the right position), he could not sit up straight and looked like the letter 'C' when sitting, shaking of his hands and arms when doing anything involving fine motor skills, no language (we will never know for sure how much Vietnamese he understood, but he spoke no words and did no babbling), he was still being fed from a bottle and didn't know how to eat solid food, and he was extremely small for his age (our not quite one year old niece was bigger th

If a lot of snow has to fall, when better than on a day we don't need to go anywhere? The boys' music classes were cancelled, J didn't have to go to work, and I had gone to the store yesterday, so the pantry is full. It's snowed continuously since last night and it looks as if we've had at least a foot so far. Some pictures from the morning: P hiding in some trees. TM also hiding. K wondering what on earth he's doing outside. A, P, and D buried in snow.

As it was pointed out to me, I can sit and rest and write blog posts all at the same time...So, Miss P., here you go... As much as I didn't want it to, vacation has come to an end and we're back to our schedule. I always dread the first day back. It's hard for everyone to find their rhythm...math inevitably causes tears (especially when it involves long division), and things don't work as easily as they do when we're in practice. But having survived yesterday, today went much more smoothly. Not only did we cover everything I wanted to get to, those parties at war with long division seem to have conquered it. But it is January, and cabin fever is starting to set in, especially among the 5-to-6-year-old male demographic. They do go outside to play, but it is never for as long or involves quite as much running and jumping as they need. It was great when we had a lot of snow. They would happily play for hours outside and work off their energy, but bare ground and cold