Nohe 5

Spring Is Coming, Let's Get Organized

I have a major case of Spring Fever and this extra day of February is not helping.  I long for longer days filled with happy, warm sunshine.  I am tired of gray trees and want to be surrounded in green.  I would like to walk out the door with my children and not have to play Musical Coats (the prequel to Mom Hold My Coat I'm Hot which is played as soon as we reach our destination).  I know that we aren't far from sandal weather which means that there will be less socks to fold.  Soon the children will be able to play outside in the evening instead of playing Get Under Mommy's Feet while I'm making dinner.  We will be able to open the windows and breath fresh air all day long.  Forget Christmas, we need a little Spring right now.

However, since I can not force the hand of Mother Nature, I am doing all that I can to prepare for Spring, which means trying to get organized.  Marty has been working on organizing the basement for literally months.  We all have that space where things go when we don't know where they belong.  Our is a room in the basement and we call it Away.  "Where are you putting that?" Away.  "I know we have one of these things.  Where did you put it?"  Away.  "We won't need this until next Christmas.  Where should we store it?"  Away.  You can see how it got its name.  It is just so easy to put things Away, that Away has gotten a little out of control.

Since Marty has taken on the basement, I am trying to organize some other areas of our lives.  First of all, I am trying to get a handle on getting the chores done around here on a more regular basis.  While the "Holy Crap I haven't seen the carpet in three days" method does lead to an exhausting cleaning session, it just doesn't last.  So, I am trying to do a few chores each day and try to maintain a level of clean instead of just spikes of clean.  Also, I have enlisted the children to help out.  They are responsible for their rooms and the family room.  They must have both cleaned up before dinner of they don't eat.  OK they do get to eat, but they must straighten up first.

Also, I am working on getting us on a more whole food less processed food diet.  I tried the raw thing last summer and while I felt great, it was a lot of work.  I was the only one eating this way which meant that either I was eating healthy and the rest of the family was eating crap.  Or we were all eating alright, but it wasn't raw and all the raw stuff I had bought was spoiling in the fridge.  In the long term, this dueling diets just wasn't going to work.  On the upside though, it made me more of a label reader.

So for our first step, we have cut out high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners.  Let me tell you, that cuts out a lot of what is in the grocery store.  Also, my mother bought me a bread machine (actually two, but that is a separate post) and I have been trying to make our bread instead of buying it.  Have you ever looked at what is in a loaf of commercially made bread?  It boggles the mind.

I know that the we are about a month away from the opening of the farmer's markets and soon we will start prepping our own garden and this whole food diet will become cheaper and easier.  Until then, I have bread baking, homemade granola bars in the oven, and I am off to do my daily chores while I wait anxiously for Spring to arrive.

Why My Favorite TV Show Scares My Husband

John & Kate Plus 8 is my favorite television show (Mondays, 9PM, TLC).  It is a reality show that follows a family that has 7 year old twins and 3 year old sextuplets.  I feel like such a dork, but I totally would love to sit down with Kate and have a cup of tea and chat.  Not that either of us would have the time.  Their family is a lot like ours, just add in 4 more kids.  There is always chaos and noise, everything takes planning and preparation, and their number one priority is their family.

Some people have told me that they think that Kate is a bit of a control freak, but these are usually women with only one or two kids.  The more kiddos you have, the more you think Kate is right on the money when it comes to being organized and staying one step ahead of the chaos.  I know, I've asked around.  Just seeing how much laundry this woman has to do puts her in the Mom Hall of Fame for me, but I have issues with laundry.

Marty will watch the show with me, but he says that it always makes him a little nervous.  First, he claims that I am obsessed with enjoy shows about extra-large families and he just knows that while I am watching I am thinking how could we fit four more kids in this house because big families look like so much fun on television.  Second, he said that he sees a lot of my behavior in Kate and it just freaks him out.  Unfortunately for Marty, I shares Kate's control freak belief that I know best organized mindset, but not her drive for a clean house.  However, on the upside for Marty, whenever I watch the show I am inspired to clean the house.  So by Tuesday night the house is looking pretty good.

I think that what I like best about the show is that I can relate to it.  They don't sugar coat what it is like to be a stay at home mom or what it is like to have a big family.  Like Kate says in the intro, "Today I could very well lose my mind." and what mother, especially a mother who is totally out numbered, hasn't felt like that.

Get Out Your Winter Wiggles

This is how we get out our winter wiggles when it is too cold to go outside.  I put on some music and the children get their funky groove on.

Stop Your Jibber Jabber!

There is an M&M commercial on these days that shows a melt in your mouth not in your hand piece of deliciousness getting a mohawk at the barber shop.  Well, every since Nicholas saw it he has been asking for a mohawk.  Then on the computer he found a game that lets you build a computer version of yourself and, you guessed it, he gave himself a mohawk.

So yesterday, I aquiessed and let him get a mohawk.  Now all I want to do is give him about 20 pounds of gold chains and listen to him say "I pity the fool!"  I keep watching the horizon for a black van to arrive drop off the rest of the A-Team.

We have agreed that he won't keep it forever, but that it is fun while it lasts.

This is just for fun.  It cracks me up that he fakes a cramp in the middle of the video.  Teddy just loves to jump with his brother.

A Stinky Butt and Only One Diaper Left In the House

I order my diapers from Amazon.  They are the cheapest I have found, they don't charge for shipping and they ship them to me on a regular schedule.  Well, I got the e-mail earlier in the week that our order had been processed and we got Jack's diapers yesterday, so I was reluctant to buy any more for Teddy.

Well, today we were down to our last diaper and Teddy was smelling a little stinky.  On my way up to change him I check the porch for deliveries and, wonder of wonders, there was the box of diapers.

Only one diaper in the house...now that is what I call living on the edge.

Jumping Jack Flash

Jack has a new dance, The Booty Butt Dance.  It cracks me up every time.  After he dances, he chase you around with his crazy booty.

In other Jack news.  My mother-in-law loves to tell the story about how when Marty was in Pre-School he got very upset the first time they finger painted because he didn't like to get his hands dirty.  Apparently, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Often Ignored Piece of Our Collective Past

This weekend we had the opportunity to attend the grand opening of the Lucasville School as a Historic Preservation site.  The Lucasville School was the black school in Prince William County during the time of segregation. 

I think that it takes a great deal of bravery and thoughtful reflection to choose to memorialize this period of our nation's history.  It would have been easy to let this tiny school house slip through the cracks in favor of preserving less controversial and grander historic sites, but that is not what Prince William County did.  We took this relic from our past and restored it so that future generation can learn from the mistakes of our past and therefore not be doomed to repeat them.

When we entered the very small school, Rachel wanted to know if it was the classroom for the Kindergarten or the first grade.  She could hardly believe that this was the entire school.  All the students of every grade studied in that one room heated by a pot belly stove.

Earlier in the week, I was trying to prepare the kids for our trip to Lucasville School and trying to explain segregated schools.  I might as well have been telling them that the black kids had to go to school on the moon, because it would have made just about as much sense to them.  How could children, who see a white boy and a black boy sharing a bunk bed every night understand that there was a time when these same children would not have even been allowed to share a classroom?

Rachel has become fascinated with the Civil Rights movement.  She loves to hear about "the lady who wouldn't sit in the back of the bus" and for her birthday she has requested a t-shirt with Martin Luther King Jr. on it (in Rachel's world you aren't anybody until you are on a t-shirt).  It amazes her that a little girl her age, Ruby Bridges, integrated her elementary school.  Even more though, it amazes her that the other children left the school instead of being in Ruby's class.

I must say that at a time in her life when Rachel is building her racial identity I am so proud that she identifies more with Ruby Bridges than Beyonce, she thinks more highly of Rosa Parks than Little Kim, and Martin Luther King Jr. is her hero, instead of Martin Lawrence.

Have You Ever Had To...

Have you ever had to clean up an entire box of shredded wheat off the floor?

Today I did.

Have you ever had to figure out how you are going to extricate a poop covered child from his pajama bottoms that also containing the poopy diaper which he was trying to help take off without taking off his pants first?

Today I did.

Have you ever had to call the doctor to ask if the child that you just caught sucking down a tube of toothpaste is in danger of having poisoned himself?  Could you hear the doctor chuckling when she asked, "So Jack got in to a tube of toothpaste today?"

Today I did.

Beer me strength!  It is only noon!

This Is Why the Christmas Season Starts in October

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day.  As a kid, I remember picking out valentines and writing my name and the names of my classmates on what seemed at the time to be a thousand card.  It was probably more like 20.  We would decorate shoe boxes and exchange cards.  Usually someone's mom would bring in cupcakes or cookies.  It was all very low key, but still a lot of fun.

Even today, Marty and I celebrate with the kids in a very low key way.  We have pizza and watch an old movie.  Our goal is to spend time together, not fight crowds or make up for a year of neglect with one super romantic night.  Well, this year there won't be any romance because Marty has a meeting on Valentine's night.  What Lonely Heart-Breaker reschedules a meeting to Valentine's Day?!?  I mean really!  We don't do much, but I like our tradition and I am protective of it.  But I am getting off track.

What really concerns me about Valentine's Day is how much it has changed in the kid department.  It used to be an add-on activity at the end of the day.  Not a big deal, just a little something special in the middle of winter.  Somehow, like so many things for kids, it has become big business.  Simply sending in a card is sooooo 20 years ago.  Now kids come in with candy and toys to give to their classmates.  Are they kidding?  No, sadly they are not.  Rachel will come home tomorrow with about two pounds of candy, several heart pencils, little toys, etc.

Call me the Scrooge of parents, but that is just a little out of control for me.  Rachel will be bringing in cards.  Regular cards.  To splurge, we got three different types of cards: Hannah Montana (of course), High School Musical and Enchanted.  Each is signed and sealed with a sticker (apparently envelopes are so 20 years ago also).

I can't help feeling that when everything is blown out of proportion and made to be super special, then nothing is really special.  So in the Nohe household, we keep things smaller and more under control.  That way, when a big milestone is reached or we get to do something really special, it seems just that...special.

Jack Is In The Doghouse Big Time for This One

I knew I just should not have gotten out of bed this morning when I woke up with an eye spasm that made it absolutally painful to open my right eye.  Then a diaper got mixed in with the laundry and exploded in the wash leaving everything covering in clear gel.  Then I checked my e-mail while the boys were watching the Great Muppet Caper only to return to find that Harold and the Purple Crayon Jack and the Grape Smelling Purple Marker had visited the family room and kitchen.

Needless to say that all of this activity has left Jack squarely in the doghouse for the foreseeable future.