I've always been a planner, even to the point of ridiculousness. I even remember one of my brothers making fun of one my to-do lists as a kid because first on the list was "wake up", as if I needed to plan that.
Anyway, so I'm planning a lot right now. First, in scheduled order, I am planning a Mardi Gras party for our homeschool group. I knew this is a Catholic custom but I didn't know anything about the holiday so I thought planning a party would be a great opportunity to learn about it, and I was correct. Yesterday I ordered necklaces, masks, and decorating materials from Oriental Trading, and last week when I bought Happy's birthday supplies at Dollar Tree I grabbed a few paper goods for Mardi Gras as well, and today I spent over an hour working on gathering information about the holiday to share with the group. I've been looking up recipes for "King's Cakes" finding coloring pages and word finds to share. It's actually been one of the more fun parties to plan because I'm learning about it as I go. This may become a tradition.
With the end of Mardi Gras comes Lent and so I've been planning Lenten activities as well. Shower of Roses and Catholic Icing have helped me come up with a number of Lenten ideas and activities. For starters I printed out a Lenten calendar for kids which looks like a game. Next I printed out the words "Pray/Give/Fast" to hang on the wall and I'll put corresponding activities below each word. Among those I'm planning on having a charity box that we will put one item in every day of Lent for the poor, as well as fill the Rice Bowl Mr. Sloth will bring home from CCD. This year I'm also planning on doing 40 bags, in 40 Days in order to purge my home and heart of things. (The real trick will be to NOT bring anything into the home) A friend of mine did this last year and gave me the idea. As for prayer, at brunch today Mr. Sloth and I were practicing the "Hail Mary" in different languages*** and I thought it might be a good idea to spend meal times teaching Demand and Happy some new prayers during Lent.
Being a late start to Lent this year we're getting close to the Feasts of St. Patrick and St. Joseph. There's so much I want to do for the Feast of St. Patrick that I've decided to make it an Irish WEEK. I bought one book on St. Patrick off Amazon and found one at the library (along with a St. Valentine one I WANTED to buy but didn't.) We even have a playdate planned for a mini-feast and I ordered some shamrock/Trinity crafts with my Mardi Gras purchase.
Two days after the Feast of St. Patrick is the Feast of St. Joseph, in fact the whole month of March is for St. Joseph. Wanting to sell/buy a house I want to make it a big celebration this year so I am going to try and make a traditional Italian St. Joseph's altar. Could be fun, could be crazy. I bought a beautiful St. Joseph's statue on Saturday while Demand was in ballet. I think the kids and I will spend the two weeks prior to the feast day getting the altar ready. Tuesday I think we'll make those hand print lily flowers again, so appropriate.
And to complete Lent, one of my favorite friends is a Jewish convert to the Catholic faith so I asked her to teach us how to have a Seder dinner. She agreed and I couldn't be more excited! If we don't do it on Holy Thursday we'll do it the week prior. So exciting!
That brings us to Easter which I am not prepared for, but that's what's Lent is for, right? With Lent being so late this year I've already started some of my Lenten reading and can't wait to start my Lenten resolutions. You know Catholics, we just love our suffering. ;)
Oh, and Demand has the planning-gene too. She's always planning her next birthday and she now has it narrowed down to a Tatoo party (yep you read that right), a Strawberry Shortcake Party, or a Pinkalicious Party (my vote), then again she did tell me over coffee/juice this morning that she wanted me to make the castle cake again only this time add a staircase and a spinning wheel (Sleeping Beauty)" because I didn't do that last time" (said disapprovingly) so who knows what late June will bring us.
***Planning for Demand's oral presentation next month I thought she could learn a prayer, perhaps in another language. I know it in German and Latin which started the conversation at brunch this morning. Mr. Sloth knows the Our Father in Latin but not the Hail Mary which then prompted us to looking it up on youtube.
The Sloths
Lazywife, Mr. Sloth, Demand, Prophet, Rooster, and King
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Happy is 2!
Happy's birthday party went well last week. My only complaint was that Pax was difficult to get to sleep all day and sure enough he fell asleep just as the guests were arriving, which wouldn't be a problem if his bed wasn't directly above our front door. Happy too was power napping. He slept until 5:30! So due to the sleeping babies upstairs people were restricted to downstairs which meant we had 21 people in our living room/kitchen.
It was a "Finding Nemo" theme and we had a taco bar for food. I thought it would be a super easy route to feed people, inexpensive at least. It was more work than I thought but that's O.K. Demand helped me plan the party. We both decided clown fish and 'bubbles' hanging from the ceiling which I made from scrap paper would be fun. I bought our plates, forks, etc from Dollar Tree (love that store!) and then I found a few 'clown fish' items on clearance at Party City (cups $1.25 and a platter $0.99) I maybe spent $8 on decorations. I spent around $50 on food but fully knowing we'd have left overs for a few days....which we did....and loved.
Being on an anti-THING kick we only bought him three gifts. A BOY big wheel (we have a girly big wheel, and two girl bikes) and a bathtub faucet toy, and then as toppers to the cake we bought him Nemo figurines. (Which he loves!)
The party was rather humbling in that we needed the only space we had for eating to hold all the food. (As it is we can't all fit at our dining room table for dinner for a weeknight dinner) So I spread some blankets on the floor and that was our dining space. Eating went well though. We could eat Mexican food every night and our kids love it and it seemed everyone else did as well. It feels good to serve a meal children will eat. Mr. Sloth and I were also a bit embarassed that the only drinks we offered were juice, beer, and water. We just didn't want our kids begging for pop so we didn't even have it as an option.
Happy had a great time though. He loved all the 'Nemo's' and he LOVED his cake. I even had a cupcake just for him to blow the candles out because children spitting on cakes freaks us out. His favorite gift was probably the Little People Airport from Mena and Papa, but that was no surprised as he was obsessed with his cousins' at Christmas.
So Happy Birthday Happy! I can't believe my baby boy is two. You're such a joy and we love you very much!
It was a "Finding Nemo" theme and we had a taco bar for food. I thought it would be a super easy route to feed people, inexpensive at least. It was more work than I thought but that's O.K. Demand helped me plan the party. We both decided clown fish and 'bubbles' hanging from the ceiling which I made from scrap paper would be fun. I bought our plates, forks, etc from Dollar Tree (love that store!) and then I found a few 'clown fish' items on clearance at Party City (cups $1.25 and a platter $0.99) I maybe spent $8 on decorations. I spent around $50 on food but fully knowing we'd have left overs for a few days....which we did....and loved.
Being on an anti-THING kick we only bought him three gifts. A BOY big wheel (we have a girly big wheel, and two girl bikes) and a bathtub faucet toy, and then as toppers to the cake we bought him Nemo figurines. (Which he loves!)
The party was rather humbling in that we needed the only space we had for eating to hold all the food. (As it is we can't all fit at our dining room table for dinner for a weeknight dinner) So I spread some blankets on the floor and that was our dining space. Eating went well though. We could eat Mexican food every night and our kids love it and it seemed everyone else did as well. It feels good to serve a meal children will eat. Mr. Sloth and I were also a bit embarassed that the only drinks we offered were juice, beer, and water. We just didn't want our kids begging for pop so we didn't even have it as an option.
Happy had a great time though. He loved all the 'Nemo's' and he LOVED his cake. I even had a cupcake just for him to blow the candles out because children spitting on cakes freaks us out. His favorite gift was probably the Little People Airport from Mena and Papa, but that was no surprised as he was obsessed with his cousins' at Christmas.
So Happy Birthday Happy! I can't believe my baby boy is two. You're such a joy and we love you very much!
Friday, February 25, 2011
So proud
I told Demand a while ago that when we got through lesson 15 (of 30) of her Math curriculum we'd go to Caribou just me and her and she could order whatever she wanted. Well we finally did it! Would have been done sooner if I didn't have a newborn or take the month of December off.
She is so proud of herself and she should be, she worked really hard, especially this past week.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
***Breaking News****
Happy asked to sit on the potty today! I was changing his diaper and when I went to put his clean diaper on he said, "No". After some discussion I asked if he wanted to sit on the potty and he said, "OK". And he did for about twenty minutes. It was most exciting! The after dinner he ran up to me saying, "Oh, no, I poot, I poot!" I then asked him if he wanted to go potty and he said, "OK." and ran upstairs. He then sat on the potty for 30-45 minutes. He had already gone but he was determined to try and go on the potty. Unfortunately in the excitement I made the poor decision to give him copious amounts of juice to keep him motivated and Demand brought dessert in to share. (Dessert on the bathroom floor...I just had to look away and pretend it wasn't happening.) Finally he wanted his diaper back on.
Due to the high amounts of sugar getting to bed was most aweful...actually we're still dealing with the drama of it all as I write this. Having him sit on the potty inspired both Mr. Sloth and myself to think about bringing the potty chair to Mass with us. We're desperate, aren't we?
God bless him for trying!
Due to the high amounts of sugar getting to bed was most aweful...actually we're still dealing with the drama of it all as I write this. Having him sit on the potty inspired both Mr. Sloth and myself to think about bringing the potty chair to Mass with us. We're desperate, aren't we?
God bless him for trying!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Our Lady of Lourdes/ St. Valentines
Finally getting around to posting about our resent feast day celebrations.
Last Friday was the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. I read the kids the short version of the story during breakfast, later Demand and I colored pictures and made dessert. We made "pools" of blue jello to represent the springs of water .Since I didn't feel like leaving the house Thursday I had to be creative and decided to make "dirt" for dessert as well since St. Bernadette was told to dig in the dirt and drink of the spring and eat of the weeds there. (Demand seemed very disturbed by this) For dirt we had chocolate pudding topped with crushed oreo cookies.
In the afternoon I put on "Song of Bernadette". I had my doubts that Demand would like it but she did, despite the disturbing idea that the entire family dwelled in ONE ROOM and the fact that it was "gray" (Black & White).
Sadly I didn't get a chance to part-take in dessert. The last few hours of the day were crazy and dinner didn't get made, we were about to order take-out when Obscure (who had already eaten) offered to watch the kids so we could go out.
Vrooom!
We were gone. The kids had the pudding when we got home but I was putting Pax to bed.
Even though the appearance of Mary in the apparitions is pretty important, I let Demand color her the way she wanted to...ahem, insisted.
Again, making last minute plans I dug through what books we had and found these. The statue was Mr. Sloth's grandfather's who found it buried in his yard when he was a kid so it''s well over a hundred years old. (and I LOVE it)
And now for the Feast of St. Valentine! Demand was disturbed at the hearts I hung in her doorway while she slept but pleasantly surprised at the decorations in the dining room. We had pink breakfast while I read the story of St. Valentine to the kids. For breakfast we had strawberry milk, strawberries cut like hearts and heart shaped pancakes with walnuts and strawberries inside. In all honesty, I measured the pancakes wrong and they were not good. Sorry kids! Who wants chocolate for breakfast? As a gift the kids got slippers and candy. I had my doubts as to Happy liking his (super clearance after Christmas sale) slippers but he LOVES them and Demand keeps thanking me for them. After getting a late start we rushed around getting ready for the big homeschool party. Mr. Sloth helped me get out the door after he got home from Mass. I really should have packed lunches and laid out clothes the night before. Lesson learned (I think).
The party was...exhausting! The first part is in a huge field house. These poor kids haven't seen grass in months so everyone was going crazy and Happy kept running into full blown soccer games. I think his Guardian Angel knocked Pax unconscious the whole first part so that I could have my hands free to do sprints and catch Happy.
Next was the Valentine exchange. There were about twenty kids in the 4 and younger group. I gave Happy a sucker to keep him from running away while we did the exchange and he followed us around just fine. However when we got back to our spot I noticed that his sucker was gone. I had to apologize to everyone that if they received a half-eaten sucker in their Valentine's box it was our fault. Oops!
Next was lunch. I packed heart shaped cheese sandwhiches, craisins, fruit punch, goldfish...the standards. Just as we were wrapping up I discovered that Mr. Sloth had arrived. Just in time for a dirty diaper via Pax.
Next was ice skating. Mr. Sloth was there to take Demand ice skating while I watched the boys. CaRAZy. Happy just kept running away and the place was freezing , plus I was asked to watch a boy while his Aunt skated with his brother. Since Happy kept running and then coming back I let it go, and then one time he didn't come back. For ten minutes he was lost and I was supposed to be watching another child. I discovered that there was a secret exit I didn't know about so I enlisted two moms to help me. Soon Happy came trekking around from the other side of the rink (where I didn't know you could fit let alone go) looking as though 'he'd been places'. He was happy to see me, but it didn't stop him from running off. Next stop was being strapped in the stroller.
Happy in his "Buzz Lightyear Rockets" and discovering the joy of chocolate for breakfast.
"Chocolate for breakfast is so funny, Momma!"
Pax wondering where his Valentine is...err, catch you next year kid.
Fun in the fieldhouse.
It was a really fun day. Hope yours was too!
Last Friday was the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. I read the kids the short version of the story during breakfast, later Demand and I colored pictures and made dessert. We made "pools" of blue jello to represent the springs of water .Since I didn't feel like leaving the house Thursday I had to be creative and decided to make "dirt" for dessert as well since St. Bernadette was told to dig in the dirt and drink of the spring and eat of the weeds there. (Demand seemed very disturbed by this) For dirt we had chocolate pudding topped with crushed oreo cookies.
In the afternoon I put on "Song of Bernadette". I had my doubts that Demand would like it but she did, despite the disturbing idea that the entire family dwelled in ONE ROOM and the fact that it was "gray" (Black & White).
Sadly I didn't get a chance to part-take in dessert. The last few hours of the day were crazy and dinner didn't get made, we were about to order take-out when Obscure (who had already eaten) offered to watch the kids so we could go out.
Vrooom!
We were gone. The kids had the pudding when we got home but I was putting Pax to bed.
By the way, Demand STILL doesn't like jello. (She just think she does)
Even though the appearance of Mary in the apparitions is pretty important, I let Demand color her the way she wanted to...ahem, insisted.
Again, making last minute plans I dug through what books we had and found these. The statue was Mr. Sloth's grandfather's who found it buried in his yard when he was a kid so it''s well over a hundred years old. (and I LOVE it)
Demand, proudly showing off her picture of the "Immaculate Conception".
And now for the Feast of St. Valentine! Demand was disturbed at the hearts I hung in her doorway while she slept but pleasantly surprised at the decorations in the dining room. We had pink breakfast while I read the story of St. Valentine to the kids. For breakfast we had strawberry milk, strawberries cut like hearts and heart shaped pancakes with walnuts and strawberries inside. In all honesty, I measured the pancakes wrong and they were not good. Sorry kids! Who wants chocolate for breakfast? As a gift the kids got slippers and candy. I had my doubts as to Happy liking his (super clearance after Christmas sale) slippers but he LOVES them and Demand keeps thanking me for them. After getting a late start we rushed around getting ready for the big homeschool party. Mr. Sloth helped me get out the door after he got home from Mass. I really should have packed lunches and laid out clothes the night before. Lesson learned (I think).
The party was...exhausting! The first part is in a huge field house. These poor kids haven't seen grass in months so everyone was going crazy and Happy kept running into full blown soccer games. I think his Guardian Angel knocked Pax unconscious the whole first part so that I could have my hands free to do sprints and catch Happy.
Next was the Valentine exchange. There were about twenty kids in the 4 and younger group. I gave Happy a sucker to keep him from running away while we did the exchange and he followed us around just fine. However when we got back to our spot I noticed that his sucker was gone. I had to apologize to everyone that if they received a half-eaten sucker in their Valentine's box it was our fault. Oops!
Next was lunch. I packed heart shaped cheese sandwhiches, craisins, fruit punch, goldfish...the standards. Just as we were wrapping up I discovered that Mr. Sloth had arrived. Just in time for a dirty diaper via Pax.
Next was ice skating. Mr. Sloth was there to take Demand ice skating while I watched the boys. CaRAZy. Happy just kept running away and the place was freezing , plus I was asked to watch a boy while his Aunt skated with his brother. Since Happy kept running and then coming back I let it go, and then one time he didn't come back. For ten minutes he was lost and I was supposed to be watching another child. I discovered that there was a secret exit I didn't know about so I enlisted two moms to help me. Soon Happy came trekking around from the other side of the rink (where I didn't know you could fit let alone go) looking as though 'he'd been places'. He was happy to see me, but it didn't stop him from running off. Next stop was being strapped in the stroller.
I scrapped together decorations using Dollar tree paper doilies, twine, red bed sheet.
Demand, excited about her "Hello Kitty" Valentine.
Happy in his "Buzz Lightyear Rockets" and discovering the joy of chocolate for breakfast.
"Chocolate for breakfast is so funny, Momma!"
Pink Breakfast
Pax wondering where his Valentine is...err, catch you next year kid.
Fun in the fieldhouse.
It was a really fun day. Hope yours was too!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Busy, busy
Busy, busy, busy.
I'd love to tell you that I haven't posted because I've been keeping my house spic & span while keeping the children well entertained, educated, and happy, however, I cannot lie. I haven't posted because I've been overwhelmed.
I've reached the point in our home cycle where I need to find another solution. Even if I clean the house to perfection, within two hours it's destroyed. We are just out of space but have no where to go. It's too frustrating. I feel bad, Demand is also desperate to move. She's even brought us her piggy bank so we could buy a new house. One night, way past bedtime, she completely broke down because we weren't moving the next day. If she only knew how much we wanted to move.
So my house has suffered but I've grown in patience and things are getting better with Happy. I've accepted that the house is going to be messy while the kids are conscious. (Which with Demand is typically 5:50am-9:30pm) Happy has grown so much in the past month. I'll explain more later next week when I do his birthday post, but he's gotten so much better at communicating and understanding that it's really solved a number of problems.
Homeschooling hasn't so much happened recently. For a week Pax was in the wonderful habit of only wanting to nap in his crib but now he's refusing his swing and crib, and only wants to nurse perpetually. Considering that mommy has an abundance of milk to start with ,over nursing leads to over eating, which leads to days of upset tummies and wardrobe changes. Also he's not as 'regular' as the rest of the Sloth clan (Happy holds the title of at LEAST 3 BMs a day...yep, I said BM) so, when you are full of breastmilk but only have one exit available......
Anyway, ideally, homeschooling happens while the boys nap, but I've had to spend a lot of my time with Pax which I don't mind because Pax has also been keeping me up all night so I'm completely exhausted and in need of a nap. Which by the way, one of the triggers for Pax spitting up is me drinking coffee so I can't drink coffee.....you see the vicious circle that is laid out for us, right? (We did manage to get some work done over the last few days, and Demand is only four, so it's not like we're behind by any means.)
Oh, before I forget, this past weekend Happy had a fever so we spit up for Sunday Mass. Mr Sloth took Demand to 10am Mass and I went to the 11:30am Tridentine. I had gotten Mr. Sloth a Latin Missal for his birthday in July but I myself had never used it. He showed me how just as I was walking out the door and I have to say. I LOVE the Mass. Such a difference. Anyone who says the Novus Ordo Mass is more involved hasn't really tried this Mass. Having a missal makes all the difference. I truly felt as though I was entering INTO the Mass and that is was an offering made on my behalf. So beautiful.
Ok, so this weekend.
Tomorrow is my feast day! Our Lady of Lourdes, Pray for us! (more on that some other day) We also have a field trip to a Nature Center tomorrow morning where we will learn about "Bones". Demand is excited, she likes bones.
Saturday. Demand has ballet in the late morning and then we are babysitting for friends who have our identical family in the evening.
Sunday. Average plans for the day dinner with friends from college and their family just north of here. They have five girls and are expecting their first boy! How exciting!
Mr. Sloth is bummed that he can't cook/grill this weekend but we'll survive. Next week, he'll only have Sunday since Happy's 2nd Birthday Party is on Saturday and we're having Taco Bar. (Yummy!)
I'll try and let you know how the feast day goes tomorrow. Here's to hopefully a better night of sleep! Haven't had one in a long time.
I'd love to tell you that I haven't posted because I've been keeping my house spic & span while keeping the children well entertained, educated, and happy, however, I cannot lie. I haven't posted because I've been overwhelmed.
I've reached the point in our home cycle where I need to find another solution. Even if I clean the house to perfection, within two hours it's destroyed. We are just out of space but have no where to go. It's too frustrating. I feel bad, Demand is also desperate to move. She's even brought us her piggy bank so we could buy a new house. One night, way past bedtime, she completely broke down because we weren't moving the next day. If she only knew how much we wanted to move.
So my house has suffered but I've grown in patience and things are getting better with Happy. I've accepted that the house is going to be messy while the kids are conscious. (Which with Demand is typically 5:50am-9:30pm) Happy has grown so much in the past month. I'll explain more later next week when I do his birthday post, but he's gotten so much better at communicating and understanding that it's really solved a number of problems.
Homeschooling hasn't so much happened recently. For a week Pax was in the wonderful habit of only wanting to nap in his crib but now he's refusing his swing and crib, and only wants to nurse perpetually. Considering that mommy has an abundance of milk to start with ,over nursing leads to over eating, which leads to days of upset tummies and wardrobe changes. Also he's not as 'regular' as the rest of the Sloth clan (Happy holds the title of at LEAST 3 BMs a day...yep, I said BM) so, when you are full of breastmilk but only have one exit available......
Anyway, ideally, homeschooling happens while the boys nap, but I've had to spend a lot of my time with Pax which I don't mind because Pax has also been keeping me up all night so I'm completely exhausted and in need of a nap. Which by the way, one of the triggers for Pax spitting up is me drinking coffee so I can't drink coffee.....you see the vicious circle that is laid out for us, right? (We did manage to get some work done over the last few days, and Demand is only four, so it's not like we're behind by any means.)
Oh, before I forget, this past weekend Happy had a fever so we spit up for Sunday Mass. Mr Sloth took Demand to 10am Mass and I went to the 11:30am Tridentine. I had gotten Mr. Sloth a Latin Missal for his birthday in July but I myself had never used it. He showed me how just as I was walking out the door and I have to say. I LOVE the Mass. Such a difference. Anyone who says the Novus Ordo Mass is more involved hasn't really tried this Mass. Having a missal makes all the difference. I truly felt as though I was entering INTO the Mass and that is was an offering made on my behalf. So beautiful.
Ok, so this weekend.
Tomorrow is my feast day! Our Lady of Lourdes, Pray for us! (more on that some other day) We also have a field trip to a Nature Center tomorrow morning where we will learn about "Bones". Demand is excited, she likes bones.
Saturday. Demand has ballet in the late morning and then we are babysitting for friends who have our identical family in the evening.
Sunday. Average plans for the day dinner with friends from college and their family just north of here. They have five girls and are expecting their first boy! How exciting!
Mr. Sloth is bummed that he can't cook/grill this weekend but we'll survive. Next week, he'll only have Sunday since Happy's 2nd Birthday Party is on Saturday and we're having Taco Bar. (Yummy!)
I'll try and let you know how the feast day goes tomorrow. Here's to hopefully a better night of sleep! Haven't had one in a long time.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
We're getting there
The kids are in bed and I'm having a glass of wine before Mr. Sloth gets home from CCD. This is when I convince myself I'll clean the kitchen, fold the laundry, and pay the bills as soon as I'm done, but in reality I will probably just spend the rest of the evening sitting here.
Today was our second attempt at a Children's Theater Field Trip. Why? You ask. Because I can't sit around my house forever and practice makes perfect or at least tolerable. I didn't tell Demand where we were going today but she did know we were going somewhere. Today was Wednesday which happens to be my day for morning Mass, but it's a later Mass, 8:30am and doesn't end until around 9:15am. I ended up leaving a hair early since I had to leave the house by 9:15am to get there. Arriving home at 9:12am I found the children without socks, coats, hats, or gloves, and rather fussy. Apparently they gave Mr. Sloth a hard time in the hour I was gone. The Sloths dashed around the house getting ready to leave. Chasing toddlers, shoving babies into snowsuits, and asking four year-olds for the tenth time to put their boots on while they sat there and stared at you.
Finally we were on our way. This time I had previsions. Last time I didn't know we could have snacks in the theater and I didn't think to have Happy run around before the show to get some energy out. We were running late but I finally decided half way to the theatre (a 20+ minute drive) that I wouldn't stress about it but just let it go and whatever happens, happens. Oh, yes, I forgot to mention that I didn't actually have tickets to the show. You see you can buy lap passes the day of the show and my friend convinced me to go and buy four lap passes and then she would give me two tickets and take two lap passes since she had little ones too. Since I was running late and the group wasn't expecting us so they would go in without us if we were late.
Anyway, I accepted that we were running late and went with the flow. Just as we got in the lobby doors (which was empty by the way...a bad sign. Our group leader was just leaving the ticket counter, saw me and turned around to tell the cashier that I was with them and could have any of the seven tickets that weren't claimed. Sweet, free tickets!
When we joined the rest of the group upstairs gathered outside the theater entrance. I was calm, unstressed and flexible. Much different than last time. I let Happy explore and romp, only having to fetch him twice. Now in general over the past two months he's gotten a lot more mature which makes things easier, but I've learned a lot too. I was a little nervous when we were seated third row center seats (as opposed to the end for quick exits) but again I went with the flow. I kept waiting for them to seat the rest of the audience but I figured they were waiting until just until the start. Happy decided to explore the stairs, which was fine, get the energy out now. Then the show started. Last time the theater was packed, this time it was only eight rows or so and 95% of them were homeschoolers. This was getting easier by the minute.
I forgot to mention the play, it was "Babe". Being live action and about farm animals Happy was engaged the entire time. He didn't leave his seat the entire first act. He loved it! In fact when they first brought out the sheep character, all was quiet until Happy declared "Ship!" (Sheep). It was so cute. Pax was almost asleep just as the first act ended which was a little frustrating but again, going with the flow. A lovely twelve year old fellow homeschooler offered to take and watch Happy during intermission. I was SO grateful! She took him out to the lobby and let him run around while I tried to get Pax to sleep. Finally I just decided to change Pax's diaper (false alarm) and met up with Happy. By the time we got back to our seats the show started again. Happy made it a good way into to the show before leaving his seat but he only climbed down and up onto his seat, no big deal, and he started to munch on some snacks. Finally, Pax had had enough, he desperately wanted to nap but his many attempts to nurse to sleep only left him over fed not sleeping. So I headed to the cry room before it got out of hand. Happy followed me. After five minutes in the cry room we headed back to our seats for the last few minutes of the show and that was it, we survived!
Now where was Demand you ask? Well she was there, sitting next to me but also next to friends. While she liked hanging out with her friends she was only partially into the show. I never really saw her get into the show and she did ask to go home a few times. Later she told me she didn't want to go back again. She thinks it was scary. Well then I guess that settles our plans for the next one. Pax was asleep before we got the van, and Happy fell asleep on the drive home.
It was actually quite enjoyable. The Sloths are making progress! Friday we have a playdate at an indoor playground. Happy will LOVE that! Should be fun.
Today was our second attempt at a Children's Theater Field Trip. Why? You ask. Because I can't sit around my house forever and practice makes perfect or at least tolerable. I didn't tell Demand where we were going today but she did know we were going somewhere. Today was Wednesday which happens to be my day for morning Mass, but it's a later Mass, 8:30am and doesn't end until around 9:15am. I ended up leaving a hair early since I had to leave the house by 9:15am to get there. Arriving home at 9:12am I found the children without socks, coats, hats, or gloves, and rather fussy. Apparently they gave Mr. Sloth a hard time in the hour I was gone. The Sloths dashed around the house getting ready to leave. Chasing toddlers, shoving babies into snowsuits, and asking four year-olds for the tenth time to put their boots on while they sat there and stared at you.
Finally we were on our way. This time I had previsions. Last time I didn't know we could have snacks in the theater and I didn't think to have Happy run around before the show to get some energy out. We were running late but I finally decided half way to the theatre (a 20+ minute drive) that I wouldn't stress about it but just let it go and whatever happens, happens. Oh, yes, I forgot to mention that I didn't actually have tickets to the show. You see you can buy lap passes the day of the show and my friend convinced me to go and buy four lap passes and then she would give me two tickets and take two lap passes since she had little ones too. Since I was running late and the group wasn't expecting us so they would go in without us if we were late.
Anyway, I accepted that we were running late and went with the flow. Just as we got in the lobby doors (which was empty by the way...a bad sign. Our group leader was just leaving the ticket counter, saw me and turned around to tell the cashier that I was with them and could have any of the seven tickets that weren't claimed. Sweet, free tickets!
When we joined the rest of the group upstairs gathered outside the theater entrance. I was calm, unstressed and flexible. Much different than last time. I let Happy explore and romp, only having to fetch him twice. Now in general over the past two months he's gotten a lot more mature which makes things easier, but I've learned a lot too. I was a little nervous when we were seated third row center seats (as opposed to the end for quick exits) but again I went with the flow. I kept waiting for them to seat the rest of the audience but I figured they were waiting until just until the start. Happy decided to explore the stairs, which was fine, get the energy out now. Then the show started. Last time the theater was packed, this time it was only eight rows or so and 95% of them were homeschoolers. This was getting easier by the minute.
I forgot to mention the play, it was "Babe". Being live action and about farm animals Happy was engaged the entire time. He didn't leave his seat the entire first act. He loved it! In fact when they first brought out the sheep character, all was quiet until Happy declared "Ship!" (Sheep). It was so cute. Pax was almost asleep just as the first act ended which was a little frustrating but again, going with the flow. A lovely twelve year old fellow homeschooler offered to take and watch Happy during intermission. I was SO grateful! She took him out to the lobby and let him run around while I tried to get Pax to sleep. Finally I just decided to change Pax's diaper (false alarm) and met up with Happy. By the time we got back to our seats the show started again. Happy made it a good way into to the show before leaving his seat but he only climbed down and up onto his seat, no big deal, and he started to munch on some snacks. Finally, Pax had had enough, he desperately wanted to nap but his many attempts to nurse to sleep only left him over fed not sleeping. So I headed to the cry room before it got out of hand. Happy followed me. After five minutes in the cry room we headed back to our seats for the last few minutes of the show and that was it, we survived!
Now where was Demand you ask? Well she was there, sitting next to me but also next to friends. While she liked hanging out with her friends she was only partially into the show. I never really saw her get into the show and she did ask to go home a few times. Later she told me she didn't want to go back again. She thinks it was scary. Well then I guess that settles our plans for the next one. Pax was asleep before we got the van, and Happy fell asleep on the drive home.
It was actually quite enjoyable. The Sloths are making progress! Friday we have a playdate at an indoor playground. Happy will LOVE that! Should be fun.
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