www.micahandlindsey.com

Swim Time

Brit was over getting her lashes done by Tristen.

So I got the kids in the pool to have the best time — (and wear them out!).

While these four (all graduates of Gretchen Donahoo) swam there little hearts out…

…this one hung out on the couch.

Until he screamed for food.

And then he fed himself for an hour.

His dexterity has come a long way, and these snacks keep him entertained for quite a while now days.

Scout and Navy both earned their fishing poles from their CTR store. So in honor of putting them to use, Micah and I packed them up — along with bait, snacks and sweatshirts — and headed to the pier. RoRo came along, and we met Grandpa there. Our kids — especially Scout, had high expectations because he was with Micah one day in the harbor. While they were there, Scout looked down and pointed out to Micah a gazillion fish in the water. They told some fisherman down the way, and they moved over. They caught fish after fish, and even let Micah and Scout use a pole to reel some in. So Scout was stoked to go fishing.

Unfortunately we didn’t have the same luck. Scout, Navy and RoRo were decently patient for a bit, but then the pier excursion became a running/climbing/racing extravaganza.

Here is the group of fishers.

Poor little Dashy came along, but he is getting teeth or something, because my ALWAYS happy boy wasn’t so happy.

RoRo was on Navy’s fishing pole — obviously it is pink. I got them from the toy store, and died over them because they are so mini. They were perfect size for my kids to handle, and they worked great.

Scout liked his pole the best, but went over to check out on of the bigger ones.

I thin of the kids, Scout was into it the very most. RoRo liked it also, but he was more the “observer” type.

Navy liked it for .2 seconds, but then spent her time tickling people with her feather she found.

While the poles were set, I sent the kids on some running races. It occupied a bunch of time, and my kids are always up for a race.

I think Navy is telling RoRo that she is a princess, and that she needs to be respected. Notice that he isn’t paying too much attention.

I’m not sure the laying down on the pier was due to RoRo’s lack of respect, or a really exhausting run. Regardless of the reason, she had a bunch of bystanders cracking up at her. I just let her stay until she decided to pick herself up and head our way.

And once she did, she was up and checking out the fish along side Scout and Tim in no time.

I’ll admit that I loved fishing as I grew up. And this outing got Micah’s juices flowing. Looks like we will be heading to the pier a lot this summer. And what better way to spend time with your kids — but out in nature doing something fun and recreational. Sure beats fishing on the Wii!

Fakey

I told the kids that Micah was sleeping, and to play a practical joke on him. So they were loving plastering heart stickers all over him. And cracked up when he “woke up” to stickers everywhere. It reminds me of the time when my mom told us that our Dad had forgotten his pants when he went to a church meeting. She had warned him, and he came home and had his knee socks, shirt/tie and coat, but no pants on. We laughed so hard, I can still remember it. I didn’t find out until much later the truth, but it is still a great memory. (Okay — I guess the heart stickers don’t even compare to the no pants story, but the idea is still somewhere in the vicinity!)

NYC!

This is about our fifth time going to NYC on a sister’s trip.

This time, the sissy-in-laws were included.

And my mom — like usual had white envelopes for all of us!

Not that it is at all expected (although she has set quite the precedents), but it MAKES the trip!

It is guilt-free spending!

Just the way my husband and I like it!

The agenda included:

Shopping

Dinner at “Catch” — the winner from Top Chef’s restaurant

Bloomingdales

ABC Home

More delicious food

Macys

Union Square Shops

Becoming Famous

Saks

5th Avenue

Jersey Boys

FAO Shwartz

A little Time Square fun

Madison Avenue

M&J Trimmings

Tinsel Trading

and more shopping

Basically it was the perfect agenda!

Micah and Seth took the girls to Catch.

The food was amazing, and we had such a good time resting our feet and chatting it up.

Of course I hit up the artists in time square. I think for the first time in three tries, I didn’t get the new guy. (Must be me trying to get the lowest price possible!) He did a decent job, but did make me look a little too voluptuous. I might actually take the new guy’s “mug shot” depiction of me, over the pervert’s va-va-va-voom drawing.

Don’t be jealous that I was up in Times Square before you!

Tristen was.

So she tried to one up me, and get a better shot.

Too bad I got the last word!

And the there is Miss Patriotic who actually got a few cheers from the crowd when her picture showed up!

The shops were as good as ever. I hit up a new favorite — Fish’s Eddy.

All in all, I think ABC Home and Bloomingdale’s were the two hits this trip.

During our escapades, we hit up the local farmer’s market for some sugar snaps that were amazing.

In the end, we did some serious damage — here’s my pile to prove it!

I thought it was going to be insanely difficult to leave my kids. I’ll admit that I didn’t like to be without them, but it was amazingly easy to navigate/shop and eat without them. The vacation was awesome, and fruitful. The best part was knowing that my kids were in good hands at home. And when I got home, I had an entire art gallery to walk into.

There were about 75 original pieces of art hung around the entire house.

This picture doesn’t do it justice. When I took down all of the pictures, this stack was a few inches thick. I loved being so welcomed back home. When the car came to the airport with the kids in the back — excited to see me, I knew that I was exactly where I loved to be. Amidst crazy, wild and sweet kids/husband.

Because just like Scout drew in his picture of the two of us — home is where the heart is!

Although, NYC is where the best stores are!

Thanks Mom!

(Thanks Meegs and Brit for the pictures. Life is especially nice when you aren’t lugging everything - including you camera - every step of the way!)

Mr. Mom

While I was gone, I received the following Email from Micah.(The first part has a few reactions from me in parenthesis after what Micah wrote.)(Be warned that I just cut and pasted, so the spacing and sizing is all a little off.)

We Miss Mama:

This week Lindsey went to New York with her mom and all of her sisters. While the girls get to shop all day, Daddy gets to stay home and play Mr. Mom.

A few lessons learned so far:

Scout CAN get to school early every day (Of course he can when you are in charge for only one week.)

Before school, all of the kids can eat, get dressed, brush their hair and their teeth, and walk outof the house with a smile (Yep — You are right. I taught them that.)

It’s possible to make every meal, for every kid, with food that’s already in the house �?�? withoutusing the microwave (Micah took on the challenge to not buy one speck of food while we were gone. He only used things in our pantry and fridge/freezer. He said it was easy, and I congratulate him on a job well done. And to his credit, the kids loved pancakes, crepes, bacon, cereal, mac and cheese, more bacon etc. When I asked Scout how it was, he said all of the food was really good. But then he said, “Mom, but do you think you could buy me some fruit at the market tomorrow?”)

The box of diapers lasts way longer if you only use one a day (Amen.)
Dash and Navy both need naps; Scout has a great imagination during quiet time (Agreed. Even if it is only for a little personal sanity. And yes, Scout’s imagination has always been to die for.)
None of my kids ever cares to watch TV (Sometimes bad, but mostly good.)
The house CAN stay clean for an entire week (Great — you just got yourself the job!)
The car CAN stay clean for an entire week (Another job!)
The highchair CAN stay clean for an entire week (And another.)
If your kids get lost, just stay put and they will eventually find you (Awesome. What happened?)
The clothes dryer works great if you clean the lint filter (No Duh. I clean the filter before I dry.)
If you don’t lock the front door, there aren’t burglars hiding in the bushes ready to sneak inwhen you leave (Not willing to test this.)
If you don’t lock the front door, there ARE neighbors who will come in and play with your toyswhen you leave (Obviously Vince.)
Even three�?year�?olds can separate the recycling (I’ll save the world after kids.)
If you only fill the baby’s bottle up 2/3, you don’t always have 1/3 of the bottle left over (Note taken.)
During the week of May 20�?25 none of my kids has allergies, eczema or ADHD (Wasn’t allergy season, Dash’s eczema is under control due to the tub of Cetaphil you were putting on him, I’ve never mentioned ADHD in my life. You must be getting mixed up with OCD — the acronym you suffer from.)
If you load the dishwasher properly, everything gets clean and dry (Agreed.)
If you’re not cooking or cleaning, you probably should be (Agreed.)
My kids have way too many clothes and they are all too small (Good thing I am NYC on a shopping trip! I’ll use the AMEX.)

So basically being a mom is pretty easy. All you have to do is spend every minute you’re awake doing something for your kids.

A Day in the Life:

The calm before the storm. All of the kids are sleeping. I’ve just returned from my run and finished cooking oatmeal for breakfast. My plan is to take a shower while they eat.

But instead of eating breakfast, Scout decided he was going to make my bed.

And when I go upstairs I find him making Icka’s bed.

And then off to Nonnie’s. Navy gave some moral support. Scout was so proud and told me he was “going to be the best boy for me all week.�? How much can you love your son?

After we got home from picking up Scout, the kids disappeared upstairs while I fed Dash and made lunch. A few minutes later they came down with a wrapped present. Navy had supposedly made it for Scout. They definitely worked on it together, but I’m still not sure how they did such a good wrap job.

Scout acted genuinely surprised to receive a bottle of “massage lotion�? and told Icka that he was “sooo excited to have his feet and his back massaged.�? Then they disappeared again while I finished making their lunch.

I caught Dash feeding himself and he was really surprised. But not as surprised as I was. First Scout makes the beds and then Dash feeds himself. I was starting to wonder if I even needed to be there.

He’s not as messy as you might think. And once I secured the bowl he was good to go. This gave me plenty of time to put away the clean dishes while Navy put away the silverware. Scout asked to go swing on the rope in the front yard and I told him it was OK as long as he stayed on the grass.

But the little tricker was actually putting away the garbage cans. When I took this picture he didn’t even know I was there and man was he hustling.

When I snuck up on him, he was really bummed because there was still one left at the curb and he wanted it to be a big surprise. I think when I leave to work Lindsey just hangs out while the kids do everything. That must be why she doesn’t like for me to work from home.

And this just confirms it. When we got up to the garden, Navy turned on the hose and started watering the plants. She even turned off the water between the beds so the ground didn’t get wet.

Scout grabbed a shovel and started digging up the bee’s nest so we could install our bee trap. At this point, Navy was wondering if I was planning to do any work or just take pictures all day. I mean seriously, it was almost dinner time and I hadn’t lifted a finger.

After all of the day’s work was finished, I took the kids over to the park so they could let off some steam. They loved going up and down the slide together. Dash likes to jump off when he gets to the bottom. He also likes to nibble on the wood chips.

We went to the park a few times. This time, the two kids put on matching yellow shirts so I could find them easier. Navy can cruise all the way across the monkey bars like it’s nothing.

They both made it to the top of the rock wall. Navy tried a few fake cries for help and then darted up to the top when I strolled over to check her out.

Scout loves being the King of the Mountain.

The kids definitely earned their bedtime cookies. Mama told them they could have a rainbow if they were good and a heart if they were sweet. Scout saved his for later since they had already brushed their teeth.

A few minutes later and they were fast asleep.

More notes for Mama:On Tuesday we made an awesome chalk race course in the street. There is a big path with scary obstacles the entire way. At first it was a bike path, but now there are too many obstacles to avoid—hot lava, fire, a brick wall, land mines, a number puzzle, boulders, barbedwire, electric lines, a monster, a tidal wave and a bunch of little somethings that Navy created. There are no pictures because I video taped everything, but that camera stopped working. The course has been used hundreds of times in the past few days (the neighbors even drove it in their car) so it’s barely visible now, but I will try to get some pics tomorrow.-
Just a side note—Skylar is messier than any of our kids.-
Today we picked up Scout from school and headed straight to the garden. When we got back in the car, Scout took off his shoes because they were dirty. We like to keep our car clean.

When we got home, I tried to ask Scout to take in his shoes and backpack but he had already darted inside to make some toast. I grabbed Dash and headed in. By this time, Scout could hear me and came running back out of the kitchen. He stopped and looked at me and then turned back around to make his toast. I heard him mumble something about Icka and when I turned around I saw Navy waddling into the house holding his backpack and shoes (and her blanket and Elephante). She had a huge smile on her face.

A minute later Scout came out with two pieces of buttered toast. One for him and one for Icka.

-
Tonight I told the kids they could say something to you in your letter and Navy said, “I love you.�? Scout said, “I miss you so much and I want to see you tomorrow.�? I got it on video.

-
We’re doing great. The kids are amazing. Everything has been really smooth so far. I hope you are having a great time and enjoying your freedom. I love you. You are an awesome mom.

—-

I’ll admit that Micah did an amazing job while I was gone. The kids were in heaven, he loved getting to spend one-on-one with them, and he put me at peace while I talked with him from NYC. When I came home, I came home to a perfectly spotless house with laundry completed and organized cupboards. Talk about impressive! But the very best part of all was the next day when he disappeared for four hours taking a nap. I’ve never complained that being a mother was hard. But I’m glad that he can understand that it is a never-ending job that at times gets a bit exhausting. But in his words, he “had the best week!” And aren’t I lucky that i get to have “best weeks” every week. Thanks babe for working so hard to allow me to stay home with the three best kids on earth.

(As a sidenote: I always wonder if what I am teaching my kids is getting through. Without me there, are they hard workers? Are they nice? Are they good? I loved seeing these pictures of Scout. The very best part of my trip was when I got these pictures and saw my kids — specifically Scout — act exactly how I would want them to. I was extremely proud of him.)

NYC

My mom is treating all of us sisters and sissy-in-laws to a shopping trip in NYC. I can’t wait — but want to throw up leaving my kids. They are in good hands with Micah and Skilly, and I have left them as prepared as I possibly can.

The clothes are out and separated.

The reading material is set.

Wish all of us luck.

Me in the good old stores of NYC.

Them - in general.

Navy & Dash Cuddle

I have a bunch of picture of Scout and Navy cuddling.

But now days, Dash is making his way into most of the morning time pictures.

Of course he’s smiling.

Navy was still groggy, but this is how she holds his hand on many a morning.

But this morning — she wanted me to snap a picture of her full body “like a princess”.

And then, she wanted me to take a picture of this facial expression.

She was loving the results.

I loved them too, but I’ll be honest…I have mixed thoughts.

This particular facial expression is the one I get multiple times a day if she is being stinky or whiny.

So although it is cute, I would usually pass on it!

Our Backyard Fair

Every year, we can’t wait to see the rides go up around the corner from our house — because that means it is Fair Time!!!

This year, we had the Tackys and Seastrands over for an afternoon of swimming, then a jaunt over to the fair for rides, games and artichokes, and then back to our place for dinner and more swimming.

It was a hit, and definitely a new tradition.

(The fair was already a tradition, but the swimming part is the added bonus that made it even better!)

Here is the crew of kids at “tree corner” on our walk before we hit the fair.

Here we are on the “Tornado”.

It was Scout’s favorite ride by far!

Then we headed to the slide. Here I am helping Navy, Broccoli and August out.

Scout waited patiently at the bottom — because he didn’t choose the slide as one of his rides.

Actually - he didn’t pick anything but the Tornado!

Broccoli and Navy cruised down together — and obviously had fun.

Then Navy went on the dragon ride with RoRo.

Look at them looking like a couple who is a little nervous!

But they obviously are warming up here.

Whoa! Put those brakes on!

J had his eyes on them while he rode the dragons with Grey.

Not to worry — as soon as I asked them if they had fun together — unsolicited, they both made a face!

The fair is honestly one of our favorite weekends. It is so close and so easy, that it makes it fun. And now that we make a full day out of it, it has turned out to be even better!

Dash’s 6 Month

Even though Dash will be seven months next week, they still took him for his six month check up. I told Carruthy that I was trying to give him as long of a break from us as possible — seeing as we were basically regulars just a few months back.