March 31

Not a lot of formal "school" happened at our house today.

First, Eli didn't sleep last night. He was up screaming from 12:00 until nearly 3:00 this morning. Neither Chris nor I could console him, and that left me exhausted. Luckily, he slept in until nearly 7:30 this morning, but even that wasn't enough to make up for all of the missed sleep last night.

Then, it was a preschool day, so I had to get everyone dressed, fed, and loaded into the van to take Daisy to preschool. 

Once we got home from dropping Daisy off, Caleb and I put on our running gear, loaded the younger two in the BOB, and took off on Training Run #4. Today's run was much better than our last run, but still not good. We always run out 15 minutes, then turn around and run back home. with the goal of finishing our run in 30 minutes. Today we made it farther during those 15 minutes, and finished our run in 32 minutes, which means we ran faster. But we are still definitely not fast. I think the thing that is mostly holding us back is Caleb's grumpiness and lack of effort. He was fine during our first run, but has consistently been so whiny and wimpy during ever successive run that today I finally asked him point-blank if he still wanted to do the 5k, or if he wanted to stop.

He then informed me that he really wants to run the 5k; he just doesn't want to have to train for it.

Ha! I know the feeling, kiddo. Training stinks. If only we could magically be good at everything without ever having to work for it. 

I am still optimistic that this endeavor will be a powerful lesson for him on the importance of working toward a goal, and that it will be a great chance for him to develop his perseverance.

We finished our run, and I set Caleb and Lily in front of the TV while I put Eli down for his morning nap. He was asleep by 10:45, but I had to wake him up at 11:20 to go to Daisy's preschool for a special science event. They invited all of the families to come see how they learn science, and there was no way we were going to miss it, so Eli only got a 35-minute nap. I'd feel bad for him, but I was still bitter about all the sleep I missed last night, too.

The kids had so much fun in Daisy's classroom!

Just as it was time for us to leave preschool to eat lunch in the van before Speech Club, a giant peal of thunder shook the building. Then the skies opened up, and a torrential downpour swamped everything. We waited as long as we could for it to let up, but finally we just had to run for it.

We got soaked.

Funnily enough, by the time we got to the school 10 minutes later, the sun was shining, the skies were blue, and birds were singing. And we were soaked. Whatever.

We got home in time for me to stuff my face with lunch (I always remember the kids' lunches, but never remember something for myself!) and then put the little ones down for naps. Meanwhile, Caleb read another Magic Treehouse book. He loves them! By the time all three little ones were down for naps, my lack of sleep last night was catching up with me, and I persuaded Caleb to bring his book (he had just started his third Magic Treehouse book of the day) into bed and snuggle with me. I was surprised and delighted when he not only agreed, but he offered to read his book out loud to me! Of course, I fell asleep within minutes, but still. We spent about an hour in bed, and I got a nice snooze while he finished his book.

Then it was time to make dinner and everyone woke up and the evening chaos began. Caleb had Cub Scouts after dinner, so I was on my own with the little ones. We folded laundry, and I decided to document how they like to "help" me with the laundry.

Jumping in the pile of clean laundry is their favorite thing ever.

I don't know why Daisy Queen Elsa is screaming, but I'm keeping the picture so you can see that even Eli likes to get in on the laundry pile action.

Speaking of "action", here are some action shots of Daisy's laundry-leaping skills.

This one is my favorite.

Then I had to actually get to work folding the laundry, and - unbeknownst to me - Daisy grabbed my camera. These are her shots: 

This is a pretty accurate picture of me these days. Dark circles under my eyes, wild hair, and a crazy look in my eye. I suppose even that is worth documenting for posterity.

Lily and Eli "helping".

And Daisy's mirror selfie. I had no idea she took this picture, and I love it! I am clearly training her up right!

And at the end of the day, as I got Eli ready for bed, I discovered the cause of last night's awfulness:

Tooth #3 has broken through.

Finally.

March 29

Our school district's Spring Break is over now, so life as usual resumes today. We dropped Daisy off at preschool, and returned home for a playdate with my friend Jill and her girls. Lily was ecstatic; "No-me" is one of her favorite friends. (Her only friend? Whatever.) She told me she was excited to play chase with No-me.

I took some pictures of Lydia and Naomi, and then we headed outside to play.

Caleb desperately wanted to take the girls back to his "secret hideout" in the trees behind our house, but Jill and I were too lazy to supervise and the girls are too young to go traipsing about with just Caleb. Instead, he pulled them around in the wagon. I know there's a shadow over Naomi's face, but can you tell that she thought it was the coolest thing ever?

I love this picture with all my heart. Caleb was trying mightily to push the girls up a hill, but it just wasn't happening. He is such a good big brother, and so sweet with the little ones!

Lily and Naomi thoroughly appreciated Caleb's hard work.

Meanwhile, the babies were sharing a swing.

It will be a sad day when the children are too big to share the bucket seat!

Lydia is a month and a half older than Eli, but look at how much taller she is than him! Jill and I decided that I breed skinny little things, while she breeds Amazon babies.

Then the girls decided it was Caleb's turn for a ride in the wagon. 

This was so, so funny. Look at Naomi's face. She thinks it is the best game. Meanwhile, Lily is pushing from behind with everything she has, and the wagon was barely moving.

Caleb didn't care. He loved it all!

Then it was time to go. We left to go pick up Daisy, and there was a stressful confrontation with a dad in the parking lot that I don't wish to discuss right now. After lunch and naps, Caleb and I got to work.

I love practicing spelling words with sidewalk chalk! Yay, spring!

Chris had a late work event, so I was on my own for dinner with the kids. We had gluten-free noodles, and Eli and Lily were in heaven! 

He is my only child who will eat tomato sauce. The other three refuse it. Lily demolished her plate of noodles, cheese, and meat in  the time it took Caleb to take four bites. I'm not even kidding. The girl was ravenous, and it was one of her favorite meals. And Eli was just happy. He ate most of his food, and let me know he was finished by throwing the rest on the floor. Thanks, kid.

Then it was time for our 5k training run #3. Chris and I discussed postponing it until tomorrow and making today a rest day, because he wouldn't be home to watch the little ones while Caleb and I ran. But I decided to go for it.

I buckled Eli and Lily into their spots in the BOB, Daisy got comfortable in the footwell, and we were off! I'm not going to lie; the hills were hard. But Caleb was moving at a turtle's pace, which made my job a bit easier. We ended up running two miles in 32 minutes. That's a 16-minute mile. I'm pretty sure I could power walk a mile faster than that, but whatever.

This was our post-run selfie. Caleb is feeling discouraged because he hasn't gotten stronger and faster yet. I totally understand, and that's why I'm glad we've committed to this 5k. I'm hopeful that he will learn firsthand the value of perseverance, and that growth is better than perfection. I'm also hopeful that a rest day tomorrow will boost his spirits, and that our next run can be just the two of us. I think he craves that special alone time, and perhaps that was part of his disappointment? We'll see.

I also ordered him some red athletic shorts today. Those should put a little bit of pep in his step!

March 28

Today started really poorly. I woke up with a pounding migraine, and could barely find the energy to tend to the children. Every noise they made pierced my brain, and I found myself contemplating drilling a hole in my skull and scooping my brains out.

I hadn't even been awake for two hours when I threw up.

Though I have never before had migraine-related nausea, I am 100% confident that was what happened today. In the end, I'm glad it happened because it gave me the motivation to call Chris. Without missing a beat, he told me he would wrap things up and come home, even though it was only 9:30 am. What a good man I have.

He arrived home to find Eli napping, the three big kids watching Sid the Science kid in our big bed, and me sound asleep next to them. I slept all morning, and didn't get out of bed until well past lunchtime. Chris handled everything, even taking Caleb out on training run #2 for our 5k. 

This was right after I got up, around 2pm. Yes, Eli is still in his jammies. Guess who cares? Not me.

Eli loves playing with these blocks! They're a combination of sturdy cardboard nesting boxes, and soft fabric blocks. Usually, his favorite game is knocking over towers of blocks. But today, he did something new.

He built his own tower! It was the first time I've ever seen Eli build a block tower on his own, without any prompting.

Bonus: knocking over the tower he just built. Can you tell how happy he is?

I laid on the couch for a while while Chris did some school with Caleb. Daisy decided today was the day she was going to stop taking naps, so she was up, too. She noticed that I wasn't feeling well, and when I told her that my head hurt, she ran to the freezer for an ice pack. She found a cloth napkin, wrapped the ice pack, and placed it on my head. She knew just what to do, and she was so happy and proud to be able to help me. That girl is a spitfire, but she is something special.

By 4:00 my head was feeling better. Chris took Caleb to baseball practice, while I stayed home and fed the little ones dinner. The boys ate when they got back, and then I brought out something we didn't get around to doing yesterday: their Easter baskets from us. 

I didn't even photograph them, because they weren't anything special. I was intentionally low-key about them this year, so they contained sidewalk chalk, bubbles, some pencils, and socks. Plus, the older three each got kites, and Eli got a ball. They were all very happy with their bounty, and immediately wanted to go outside to blow bubbles.

Eli loved the bubbles.

LOVED them.

(also, look at those teeth. Can you believe he is 14 months old today, and still only has two teeth? I think one or two are getting ready to come through up top, but nothing is imminent.)

I love that so-happy-it's-ugly face. Daisy made that face a lot when she was a baby.

Speaking of Daisy... 

Isn't she sweet?

She's really good at blowing bubbles now.

This guy is pretty good at bubble-blowing, too.

He enjoyed taking this photo. 

I didn't enjoy having my lens splattered with bubble juice.

Meanwhile, Daisy was doing this. 

She is seriously funny.

Seriously.

This photo cracks me up.

I bought Lily a spill-proof bubble jar, and she was happy to be able to participate.

Her wand didn't work quite as well as the big kids' wands. I wonder why.

My crazies. I love this.

(Yes, it is nearly bedtime, and Eli is still wearing his jammies from the night before. No, I still don't care. Yes, we did put clean jammies on him before bed.)

He found a piece of chalk and immediately began writing on the ground with it.

Hi, happy boy! I can't believe you are 14 months old!

Oh! No, no, Eli. We don't eat chalk!

What? (looking at Daddy)

I'm not eating chalk. I'm writing with it!

This kid is something else.

March 27

We had a happy, busy, joy-filled Easter.

Unfortunately, I took over 300 pictures and I'm too exhausted to sort through them right now. So for now, this:

My silly and sweet family, celebrating the resurrection of our Savior.

We have much to be thankful for!

March 26

We filled this Saturday to the brim!

I rolled out of bed at 7:15, threw on some clothes, and met my smaller-small-group ladies for coffee and Bible study. We finished up in time for me to rush home and put Eli down for his morning nap. 

Sweet sleeping baby. Sometimes the nap struggle makes me want to jump out a window. But when it works, it is glorious and worth the effort.

While he slept, Chris took the older three to ride their bikes at the neighborhood playground. Meanwhile, I got to work on Easter prep. They came home, and the kids and I filled eggs for an egg hunt tomorrow. Eli woke in time for lunch, and then I headed to the grocery store. I got home just in time to attempt to put Eli down for his afternoon nap, but he decided I was a fool. Then it was time to wake Daisy up from her nap so that she could get ready for a preschool friend's birthday party.

It was a gymnastics party.

Daisy was shy at first, but once she warmed up she had so much fun! 

Daisy told me she was nervous to do the high balance beam at first, but once she realized she could jump off, she wasn't scared anymore.

I don't know why this picture looks like this, but she had so much fun!

We got home just as Chris was finishing dinner prep, and we all enjoyed breakfast for dinner. Now that spring is here and the kids are playing outside more, they are eating so much more than normal. I love it! Now I just have to start making more food!

Caleb and I have decided to train together to run a 5k on April 30th. That's 3.1 miles, and the race is only 5 weeks from now, so we started our training today. I've been busting my tail at the gym nearly every day for the past two months, so I think I am ready to get back to running. Our first run went better than I had anticipated; I felt great, and Caleb was a champ. He definitely has the enthusiasm to run 3.1 miles. Now I just have to help him learn how to pace himself, regulate his breathing, and build his endurance. That's definitely attainable in 5 weeks. My guess is that we'll run a 30-minute 5k.

After our first run. Look at how happy my boy is!

(Side note: I tried my best to encourage him to wear more appropriate clothes for running, but he insisted on his red ensemble. I also promised him that once he completes 10 training runs, I will take him shopping for serious running shoes.)

I should also mention our support crew: Chris ran alongside/behind us, pushing the BOB with Eli and Lily buckled in and Daisy riding in the foot well. That's 80+ pounds of children in the stroller, and he still paced us. That man is made to run, and I'm glad he is supportive of Caleb and me as we embark on this goal!

Runners!

You can't see it, but Lily kept running through the frame while Chris was taking these pictures. Finally, we scooped her up for her favorite thing: a Lily sandwich.

Sweet girl

After the run, it was time for pjs and bed. Caleb took a quick shower, then asked to snuggle in my big bed. How could I say no? As we snuggled, he told me that he was really glad we were running together, because I'm a really good teacher.  It warmed my heart, but more than anything I was happy that his love tank was clearly overflowing at that moment. That will keep me going for a long while.

March 25

Yesterday was a quiet day; we stayed at home and did school. Today was another stay-at-home day, but we did some Easter prep, too. I finalized the menu for our Easter dinner, made a shopping list, and the kids made place cards for our meal. It will just be family, but even without Chris' out-of-town siblings, we will have sixteen people. Plus, I wanted the kids to feel involved. So I opened up Word, and Caleb chose a font and color and typed everyone's name. We printed the names on cardstock, I cut everything out, and the three older kids all decorated the place cards. Some are fabulous, some are sweet, and some were clearly decorated by Lily. So it goes.

We also made Resurrection Cookies this morning. There are a million sites with recipes and directions, and one popped up on my Facebook feed this morning, so we decided to try it. The kids were really engaged, and had a lot of fun!

Beating the pecans, just like the soldiers beat Jesus.

Caleb read the scriptures for each step. This was where we added vinegar, and each of the kids tasted a little bit of it while Caleb read about how the soldiers gave Jesus vinegar to drink.

Lily got a turn with the mixer. She clearly doesn't know what to think. I don't know what's up with that tongue.

How many children does it take to use the mixer? Apparently three. One to hold the mixer, one to stabilize the mixer holder's arm, and one to hold the cord.

Dolloping the cookies on the pan. Are you guys proud of me for letting them do this all by themselves? Don't be too proud. I already filled a pan with cookies myself, and this was extra batter. It's the only reason I let them do it - I'm much too controlling to let them do the whole thing themselves. 

And again with Lily's tongue.

I really tried to keep them from licking spoons and then dipping the spoons back in the bowl, but I don't know if I was 100% successful.

Lily definitely enjoyed herself!

Then we put the cookies in the oven and taped it shut. The kids were devastated that they didn't get to eat the cookies right away, but what a delicious surprise they'll be tomorrow!

After naps, it was sunny and beautiful out. Since the forecast for Easter is cool and rainy, I decided to attempt to take pictures of the kids in their Easter outfits today.

It did not go well. I don't think there's a single picture that is even worth really editing. This was one of the best: 

Daisy is crazed and enthusiastic, Eli needs to be forcibly held down, Caleb is so cooperative but that hat and that hair?, and Lily is just completely annoyed and uncooperative. I even bribed her with candy, but it was a no-go. Maybe I'll get something better on Easter. Hopefully.