Picture Perfect......and Behind the Scenes

Here's what I wrote back in August: I've been thinking lately about our stories and our pictures and what we choose to share or not share with others. I notice that many pictures out there in social media portray the most beautiful parts of life. And that's okay. It's nice to highlight the lovely and focus on what is beautiful. But sometimes, I look at those pictures and wonder if there's more to the story.

At the time I shared this post.

So here we go again. I'll show you a lovely picture, where all is wonderful and calm. Then I'll share with you the real story of what happened just before or after the picture was taken. 

....................................................

You guys. A miracle happened yesterday. We were EARLY for story time at the library. Yes, you read that right. Not only were we on time (instead of flying in about 10 minutes late, and getting seats in the way back where you can hardly see or even hear the story). No friends. We weren't even just on time. We were EARLY.

This was no less than a Thursday miracle. Do you know what it takes to get five kids out of the house, most of whom aren't fully independent yet? It takes a miracle. We are rarely on time for anything.

We had to actually wait, at story time, for the lady to bring out the carpet squares and the name tags. We hung out in the parent chairs, as seen in this picture and eventually made our way to the front row. That's the choice you have, when you arrive, FIRST, thank you very much.

I mentally patted myself on the back. Look. At. Us. We have got our stuff together this week. Well, today at least. Or, this hour at least.

Story time was great and if I only posted the above picture with a capture, "Early for story, just another Thursday", you might think we really do have our stuff together. But that wouldn't tell the whole story.

 Because after story time, things started to disintegrate. Fast. One child got heavily stuck on finding a "mickey mouse book" (God bless the librarian who scoured the shelves finding the very last one available). Then, they boys wanted to go down the snack bar for apple juice which, for a variety of reasons, just was not going to work out today. I said "no" to getting apple juice.

This did not go over well. One of my sweet boys completely, momentarily lost his ever loving mind. Tantrum city.

We got off the main floor elevator and while everything else was pin drop quiet, my child could be heard screaming, "But I wanted apple juice!!!!!!!!!!!"

People were looking.

I however, had my eyes set on the door. One step at a painfully slow time, we made it to the doors. I could see our mini van parked just outside. We were almost home free. It wouldn't be long until we were in the van, and on our way home.

Only, as we walked through the doors, alarms started going off. Let me say that again, ALARMS, STARTED GOING OFF, at the library.

Apparently I hadn't check our books out properly. I thought about just making a run for it and never looking back. Or, dropping the books first, then running. But instead I looked in my periphery and could see concerned librarians motioning me over. And so we went back and over to the counters. And a certain 3.5 boy kept on tantruming.

And people kept staring.

"Did you even check these out??" she asked accusingly.

"No, I was actually trying to steal Pete the Cat." (okay so that's just what I said in my head). In real life I tried to hold back tears and said, "Yes I did check them out but maybe amidst everything going on, I did it wrong"

This is the point where I turn to search for the hidden cameras because maybe just maybe I'm on  candid camera.

Nope, this is really just my morning,

Finally, we properly checked out our books, waved goodbye to the library and made it to the van. Eventually, we all re-calibrated and life was smooth again.

And you know what? Darn it all. We were still EARLY to story time. We'll always have that.

A Family Bike Ride and the Car Trip it Helped Me (almost) Forget!

We tried to take a family bike ride last week and Owen was too tired/ cranky/ not feeling it at all, so we turned back. After getting everyone ready, it was about a 5 minute ride! 

However, tonight we tried it again with success! Owen was awake and happy for the first half of the ride and then fell asleep for the second half. I put him in the trailer with Carter because I knew that Carter would take special care of him. He's good like that. :)

It was a chilly but beautiful evening and we had the best time riding together!

Ready to roll!

Carter and Owen

We can't pass a digger without stopping! That would be crazy, right?

Funny side note to this post. We'd had such a great first ride as a family of seven, that I knew I wanted to blog it tonight, to remember this lovely evening. It's only now, after posting the above photos, that I'm remembering our hellish afternoon today. How could I've forgotten already?!

 I'd gone to see my parents, who live two hours away, for a quick overnight visit. Chris stayed back to finish our bathroom renovation. 

Making this two hour trip alone with the five boys is usually fine. I try and time the trip around nap time, play a movie and the younger boys almost always drift off. Two hours seems manageable.

However, today, it turned into the trip from hell! I missed a turn, which added time and then we came upon construction traffic and proceeded to move at a snails pace for almost an hour. If you have a baby, then you know, keeping momentum is key! If the car is moving and your baby is sleeping, you don't want to stop for anything! Any yet, today, there was no choice but to stop and join the hundreds of  cars not moving. 

As predicted, Owen woke up and started crying.

After about twenty minutes of hardly moving, I had visions of hanging a sign out the window saying something like, "take pity on me, I've got five kids in the car and one won't stop crying!!" and then screaming up the side shoulder, passing everybody. But, I didn't.

Then, when I thought things couldn't get more stressful, I noticed that we were on empty when the empty light actually came on. 

"Are we going to run out of gas?" Colin asked while Owen continued to cry.

We made it to the gas station. At that point, the trip had been so long, that little boys (and myself!) needed to use the restroom, so I piled my five little guys into a dirty gas station bathroom repeating over and over, "DON'T. TOUCH. ANYTHING!"

Then I loaded them back up, strapped them all in their car seats, nursed Owen a few minutes and then took off again. Owen cried until he fell asleep, which broke my heart but I didn't see another option. 

Finally, we made it home safely and somehow the enjoyment of our family bike ride together, made me *almost* forget all about the earlier trip from hell.

Funny how that happens.

I dance like J Lo

Earlier today, while Carter, Finn and Everett were napping and only after Colin watched 'Peep and the Big Wide World', he let me watch highlights from American Idol last night. We ended up dancing our fool heads off to J Lo's performance of 'I Luh Ya Papi'. True story.

After a few minutes he turns to me and says with absolute conviction, "Mommy, you dance exactly like her!!"

Her, being Jennifer Lopez.

So there you have it folks. Five years olds don't lie. I dance exactly like J Lo.

I thought to myself, "This is the BEST!"

And not three hours later this same little darling's head hit my nose at incredible speed when he slammed into my body. Not on purpose. He was just trying to escape a lion (Carter) but I wasn't expecting it because I'd been looking at Owen and wondering if he was hungry or tired. In all seriousness, I thought I broke my nose and sat with ice on it for as long as I could.

I thought to myself, "This is so HARD!"



But before I knew it, it was almost 6 p.m. and this was was the scene around here:

Finn chasing me with a hairbrush and brushing my hair into my face. Then I'd surprise him and once he laughed so hard he little literally fell over. It doesn't take much to make Finn laugh.

Colin, watching a little T.V upside down and intermittently right side up to work on a bristle block creation.

Owen and Carter playing a game of "Grab my leg and laugh"

Everett, settling into his usual spot during meal prep. That kid steals so many bites of whatever I'm preparing! There's only one main counter space though so I have nowhere else to go. Sometimes it really bugs me but mostly I think it's cute. And I like that he keeps me company.

Lot's of kids around us,

Which is a blessed way to end a day and start the weekend, for sure.

P.S: Tomorrow is Chris's birthday and I can't wait!!! I'm very excited to give him my gift and I really hope he likes it. If you want to follow on Instagram, I'll likely be posting some pictures from the day.

Have a great weekend everyone!

The key to not losing my mind, is somewhere at the farmer's market

Let me set the stage.

We are just leaving the farmer's market. I've fed Owen just enough to tie him over until we can get home and I can nurse him more comfortably. We get the boys out of the stroller, load them up, buckle them in and unload all of our fruits and veggies. Jordyn lifts the 10 ton stroller into the back of the van.

It's noon so the boys are hungry for lunch. It's been somewhat of a trying morning so I too am looking forward to lunch.... because lunch is followed by nap-time and nap-time is when I re-fuel.

"Umm, where are the car keys?"

We look everywhere in the car. The keys are nowhere.

We unload the massive stroller and search it completely.

No keys.

Where could they be?! And seriously, what kind of mother am I that I can't keep track of car keys. I see no other mother in this parking lot unable to leave because she's lost her keys. No question that I'm not the most organized mom on the block... not even close. Never will be. But I should be able to take my kids to the farmer's market without loosing the car keys! Right?!

"Boys, do any of you know where Mommy's keys are??"

"Farmer's market?" Two of the triplets say. Colin and Everett say nothing.

"What does that mean, farmer's market? Where in the farmer's market? Did you see the keys??? Tell mommy." But I know it's useless to try and ask these questions of a two year old! I'm getting nowhere talking through this with them so I venture back into the market.

I return to every vendor we bought from (which today, were a lot!). No one has seen the keys.

I run over to the grassy area, where I nursed Owen and the boys ate apples on a picnic blanket. Surely the keys are in the grass somewhere. I'll pick them up and we'll be on our way.

But they're not there. They're literally nowhere to be found.

Finally, I'm directed to go into the Civic Center, which is next to the market and where lost and found items are often turned in. I race in (hurrying because I'm just sure the hungry boys are a mess waiting all this time in the car). Once at the office I ask if anyone has turned in keys.

"Sorry Ma'am, no keys here. Do you want to leave your name and phone number in case someone turns them in?"

I am on the verge of tears at this point. I speed walk back to the car and see Jordyn standing outside the van rocking and bouncing Owen who is now fussy. The van is rocking with boys ready to go home.

"They're nowhere Jordyn" I say feeling completely defeated.

"This is SO weird! How could they just disappear?!"

The boys are all staring at me wide eyed. Perhaps they are wondering if this is the moment Mommy loses her marbles.

"Guys, you don't have Mommy's keys do you? Of course you don't... they wouldn't even fit in your pockets....." 

and then I see the bulge in Finley's right pocket.

"FINLEY JOSEPH DO YOU HAVE MOMMY'S KEYS IN YOUR POCKET?!?"

I don't even wait for the answer.... in a second I am lunging across the car seats and my hand is already reaching in his shallow- but- apparently- big- enough- to- hold- my- van- keys, pocket.

The keys!

The keys were in Finley's pocket THE WHOLE TIME.

I have no clue how he got them or how he squeezed them into his pocket. Nor do I think he was purposely not telling me that he had them either. He's two.

Oh Finn...... :-)

Finn loves to pretend to be asleep....

but he's not.... he thinks it's the funniest thing in the world....which to us, it kinda is.
(and that's my arm holding a pacifier in Owen's mouth on our trip two weekends ago)

Tell me I'm not the only one who has these kinds of mornings.

Owen, smiling over the weekend

I awaken to Owen next to me in bed and I hear the boys with Chris, running around downstairs. They sound like a herd of elephants. "How do such little feet make so much noise?", I wonder.

I look at Owen and he smiles at me. Oh how I love the "first smiles" stage. Makes me optimistic about this day.

This is going to be a good morning!

We head downstairs and I bring the older boys their clothes (score one that I found clean clothes in less than 5 minutes). Chris heads downstairs to his office and our nanny Jordyn arrives.

I make an announcement:

"Let's go to the farmer's market! There will be story time and an animal exhibit, just like every week! It will great!!"

This is going to be a good morning.

The boys begin fighting over what to wear. Finley just wants to go outside without clothes. Nobody wants a diaper change. There is lots of chasing to get them dressed. Two year olds are fast!

Colin is running around naked from the waist down until I finally realize that he's waiting for underwear. Why didn't he just ask me for underwear?

Where are Finley's crocs? The ones that are a size too small but that he loves. "Finley sweetie, can you wear one of the five other pair of shoe options right here by the door?" The answer is a resounding "no". So we hunt for quite a while as tears of concern run down Finley's cheeks. Everyone always takes their shoes off at the door, so it's a real mystery as to where these crocs could have gone.

I end up finding them upstairs in the corner of the bathroom. Of course, because that makes sense.

I tell Jordyn that I'll feed Owen and then we'll be off! Story time at the farmer's market! Let's do this!

Owen is too sleepy to eat. Hmmm..... Well, okay. He's not hungry yet so I'll pump and feed him a bottle during story time. That might actually work better. Things are falling into place.

Now we're off!

As we pull out of the driveway Owen starts wailing. He's hungry. Now he's hungry.

I pray that he'll fall asleep as the car continues moving but he doesn't. So five minutes down the road we pull over and feed him the bottle. I thank the Lord for t.v's in cars as the boys happily watch Winnie the Pooh and wait. 15 minutes later, we're off again.

Owen starts wailing. Again. Is there anything worse than an infant crying at the top of their lungs?

He needs a diaper change. Okay, no problem. We can deal with that.

I forgot diapers. He is my FIFTH child! How do I not know to bring diapers?! How do I forget that essential??

Finally we make it to the farmer's market. The boys fight over who will sit where in the stroller but Owen settles into the Ergo carrier and falls asleep. We head over to story time!

Only there is no story time today. No animal exhibit either. Maybe it was an off day, or maybe I got the time wrong (a distinct possibility).

Awesome. Now what???

We walk around the farmer's market and buy blueberries but it is ungodly hot. "I'm hot!!!!" the boys all say. Again and again and again.

So I make the only decision that seems to makes sense at this juncture.

"Let's go to Target"

I mean really, when all else fails, who doesn't enjoy a trip to Target? Target my friends, might just be the answer to everything.

We make it to Target and then just as I walk in the door I notice that my milk has started running. My shirt is soaked.

This is getting embarrassing.

You'd think that I'd get everyone back in the car and head home but you'd be wrong. Go ahead and stare people, I'm getting my Target shopping done!

Thankfully, I was able to shimmy the Ergo carrier to cover some of the issue... but not all of it.

So that was our morning.

Tell me I'm not the only one who has these mornings?

It was THAT kind of day....

This is a picture of me that I took just after I finally put the triplets down to bed.

Just look at me. Wearing stretch pants and a tank top that has been stretched out by little arms (stronger than you'd think!). It's had noses and tears wiped on it. There are also bits of breakfast, lunch and dinner on that shirt. My hair = not even brushed today + pulled numerous times. Carter thinks that pulling my hair is the newest, most hilarious trick around. I feel like I've gone 12 rounds in a boxing ring.

Other things to note in that picture. The toilet paper in the sink. Quickly unraveled by someone before bath. So I just threw the unraveled roll into the sink! Also, notice the shower curtain folded up? Carter thought peek a boo in the bath was a brilliant idea. It was. But then Everett and Finn literally jumped on the idea and I was sure the whole curtain + rod was going to come down. Once I pried 30 little fingers off of the curtain (not so easy), I decided to get it out of the way.

This day could be summed up as kids- 4, mom- 0.

Here is a picture of Everett that I managed to take with my phone that also kind of sums up the day.

Caught red handed

I'd left the room for literally only a few seconds to put out another fire in the playroom. When I returned, Everett had climbed up onto the kitchen table and was pulling out flowers from the vase! These kids are fast, curious and seemingly unstoppable in their quests! I'm no match! I just can't keep up with all of them.

This morning I took the four boys outside, and in thinking ahead, I placed a bunch of really cool toys that we don't play with much onto the lawn. Novelty + interesting toys= fun outside. Right? Well maybe not. As it turns out, one boy wanted only to pluck the buds off flowers and eat them, another wanted to play in an empty flower pot that was filled with disgusting rain water and yet another thought putting wood chips in their mouth was the most interesting option out there.

Back inside we went.

Everyone, including myself, was in tears. (well, not Colin. He was just disappointed that he couldn't finish "mowing the lawn") Luckily, he got time for that later, with Chris.

I love being a mom. I love my boys more than anything in this world.

But man, motherhood is tough sometimes. Sometimes you end the day looking and feeling like you've gone 12 rounds in the ring.

Some days I feel under qualified and underpaid.

Lucky my employers are so stinkin' cute. They woo me back to the job every morning and always give me another shot to get it right.

Olive's day at the Amusement Park

Our last day with the cousin's, we decided to take the kids to Dutch Village. In a nutshell it's a small theme park for kids. They have a merry-go-round, a petting zoo, a swing ride, a large wooden shoe for kids to climb in and slide down, people dancing in clogs, all the while highlighting the Dutch heritage that Holland has.

Chris couldn't go because he had to work so it was my brother in law, sister in law, their two boys and my four. However we drove separately (can't all take one car when there are six kids in car seats!).

Getting out of the house was the same old mad rush of getting all four dressed and into their car seats and going through the mental list: "Did I remember diapers? Do I have the stroller? Do I have their hats, sunscreen, drinks, a snack in case they get cranky, my coffee so I don't get cranky?," and on and on. I was in the car ready to back out three times before putting the car in park again and running in for something forgotten.

But then we were off and I must say I was feeling pretty good about myself. We were out of the house, everyone was happy, we left with a good amount of time before the trips would need their nap, I was pretty sure I'd remembered everything...... I gave myself a mental pat on the back and re-affirmed to myself, "See you CAN do this."

We pull into the entrance to the park, I roll down my window and smile at the lady, dressed in her Netherlands attire. When I talk to her, no one in the car is screaming in the background and this also feels like a win. The day is going great.

Me: "Hi! I need one adult ticket and one child ticket. The other three are under two."

Lady dressed in Netherlands attire: "Okay, wonderful. That will be ____ dollars."

Then Lady adds: "Oh and she's so cute. She can go too, just be sure she stays on a leash"

WHAT THE??? What is she talking about.....

OH MY GOD!!!!

There on the passenger seat sits Olive, our dog, plain as day. Only I hadn't noticed her until this very moment. She must have snuck into the car while I was running in and out of the house loading kids.

AND I NEVER EVEN NOTICED HER.

Now what do I do? She wasn't wearing a collar. I didn't have her leash in the car. There was no time to go home, no where close to buy a collar and leash. I was racking my brain..... and mentally taking back that pat on the back. Who takes their kids to a theme park and doesn't even realize that their dog is riding next to them the whole way?! But going home wasn't an option. Just like on this day, I'm determined that once we've made the huge effort to get out of the house, we are not returning without doing something! Today was no different. I wasn't about to make the drive home just because Olive was with us. Although given the heat index, leaving her in the car, even with the windows cracked wasn't a safe option.

Then I opened the trunk and found our solution.

These leashes that I'd bought for the triplets following a scary moment at the zoo earlier in the summer. I've always thought that those kid leashes were pretty ridiculous. That is until one day at the zoo when the trips wanted to get out of their choo choo wagon to peer into an aquarium full of fish and in the process of helping them do that, they took off running on opposite directions.

Ten minutes after that scary incident, I found myself in the zoo gift shop purchasing three leashes.

They work, FYI.

The trips love them,

But people stare,

And judge.

However, these leashes saved the day yesterday! I put the monkey backpack/ leash on Olive. It fit almost perfectly, and off we all went.

Olive also spent time in the stroller.

At one point, both Carter and Olive were on leashes meant for kids.... !!!

THE LOOKS I GOT! Wow.

I held my head high.

The kids and even us adults had SUCH a great time and that's all that mattered!

We left hot, tired, a bit cranky but with great memories and lots of reasons to look back and remember this trip to Dutch Village.

My sister-in-law, who has a great ability to see the best in any situation, suggested that I write a children's book entitled, "Olive's Day at the Amusement Park".

We had a good laugh.

The boys and I entering the park. Couldn't manage without our Valco and Ergo carrier!! 

I thought this was hilarious and just calling out to us for a picture.