Sunday, January 8, 2012

Happy 2012!

So far, so good!  We have obviously been a bit remiss in our postings, but hope to do a better job.  It's not so much a matter of not having enough time in the day because we're busier with four kids as much as it's that I have no patience to sit down for the 10 minutes or so that it takes to write a cognizant blog.  I've discovered that the whole family is much more harmonious when the little ones are allowed to play in the playroom/office/guest bedroom/laundry room/storage/basement while I'm doing laundry and some things on the computer, so I hope to do a better job :)

The girls are loving school and will be starting cheerleading towards the end of January.  They started off at the new school not wanting to ride the bus but as they have discovered that several of their classmates live on or close to our cul-de-sac, they have decided that riding the bus might be a lot of fun.  Though I prayed for a boy when I was pregnant with Jack, I truly am enjoying the girls!  They were subjected to their first spongy rollers Saturday night and of course looked adorable Sunday morning.  They have agreed to let me dress them in coordinated, not matching, outfits for the time being.  I find that all of those years in the Martha's Miniatures dresses (heart buttons and cancans with a velvet bow and bell) have made me especially fond of dressy dresses.  They're just too stinking cute when they're all dressed up.

The little boy is starting preschool this week and will hopefully be ready for Kindergarten by the fall.  He's a hoot and we're diligently working on letter recognition and sounds.  He is currently playing hide-and-seek with daddy and is sitting her by me "hidden" while keeping up a running commentary about how hiding makes him need to tinkle but he doesn't want to be found.  Any seeker worth their salt would just follow the constant flow of chatter!  Oh, now he's moved onto strumming the guitar:)

Jackson is....adjusting to being immediately surrounded by three younger siblings.  He is, as usual doing great in school, reading tons of books, and progressing nicely through his karate belts.  Now if he would just relax and let us be the parents thereby relieving the self-imposed pressure to keep the little ones in line, the whole household would breathe a sigh of relief.  He has glowing moments of being a great mentor and fine young man, frequently interrupted by tattling, bossing, and being fed up with the constant invasion.  Apparently it takes a while to establish pecking order, but oh, how I wish they would pick it up!  The deal is: if he acts like a little kid, he goes to bed at 8:30 when they do; if he acts like a big kid, he gets to stay up for an hour and a half with mom and dad and enjoy relaxing like old times.  I did poll my middle-school kids this morning and every firstborn said that they always get in trouble for trying to parent their younger siblings.  So as we resolve to become impervious to bickering and such, please keep us in your prayers:)  As an only child, I've never had experience with it and because there are so many years between Stephen and his siblings, he has really never had the experience either.

Stephen and I are getting there.  I don't think I'll EVER be done with the laundry EVER again in this lifetime, and I'm pretty sure Stephen will have a permanently wrinkled forehead:)  We've learned to adore the couple of hours after the kids go to bed.  Now if I can just master the art of resisting sleepiness while putting the kids to bed....