Summer doldrums

I miss school. I never thought that would happen, but I do. I miss the kids getting up at a reasonable hour - at the same time – and getting themselves ready for the day. I miss the structure, and being able to shop for an hour without 2 extra kids in tow. I miss not feeling guilty that they were wasting the day. They definitely do that now. I’ve been so lazy. I’d say it’s because I’m pregnant and I feel crappy (which is true) but I know other women who are pregnant don’t let their families go to pot. I had this grandiose idea that I’d set out their “summer learning” and a note about chores, and they’d do their work, chores, and be clean and ready for the day, including having eaten breakfast by a reasonable hour…. Everyday. Yeah, well that hasn’t happened. I did it last summer, but it takes work to write up the note, put out the homework, come up with a chore, come up with a possible reward, AND worst of all carry through with the reward. I used rewards like going to the park, or ikea, or Mcdonalds playplace, or playing a game last year. This year I’m just too pooped! I just want a nap! I have no incentive to get my kids up and going early most days, except that I want to go to bed early as well as sleep in, and that’s hard to do when you hear the pitter patter of untired little feet sneaking about.

On another pregnancy related note, I soon won’t be able to travel with Mike anymore, and it’s probably a good thing. Pregnancy seems to have eaten up my brain. Maybe my body decided that it didn’t have enough raw material to make a new baby brain, and it would just be easier to plunder my head directly, or maybe I’m just so sleep deprived I’ll never regain my short-term memory. (you try sleeping with a 30 lb. basketball strapped to your tummy!) Whatever the case, I can’t remember things worth a darn... On this last trip to San Jose I forgot only 2 (crucial) things: Diapers, and MY swimsuit. It turned out ok though. I used swim diapers to hold Thaniel over during the day (thank heavens I remember the spare outfit!), and Mike was able to go with us to swim. I was sad though, because if I had remembered my suit I could have gotten in the pool with all of them, and perhaps gone back later in the evening for a night swim with the boys when we wouldn’t have had to worry about sunblock.

On a similar note… I can’t find my camera. I’ll give a quarter to the first person who can find it for me… :)

Michael is my great little helper right now. He loves playing on the computer, and is willing to help out a great deal, but even more so when I promise him computer time for it. He says his favorite part about summer is to go swimming in the hotel.

Josh also loves the swimming, and began asking when we’d get to the pool before we even left the house to get on the airplane for the hotel pool.

Thaniel is becoming quite the little chatterbox. He will often (but not always) attempt to repeat what you ask him to say. He’s also started talking in sentences in the last few weeks, although not all things he says are “real words”. The funniest part is sometimes everything he says is just babble to me, and he’ll look at me expectantly waiting for my response, verbal or otherwise. Sometimes he gets mad at me for not understanding him, and I just have to tell him I’m sorry that mama’s not smart enough. One of his favorite phrases is “Mah-tee pay bang!” Roughly translated this is “Michael, play bang!”
“Bang” is what Thaniel calls trackmania – a racecar driving/ track building computer game. He’ll often call for Josh to “pay bang!” too. The boys are all to happy to ask mama if they can please make Thaniel happy by playing the game for him.