Future Firefighters of America???

First off, no more toys...just send us your cast-off boxes. I think Luke was pretending this was a bucket-wheel excavator and M & A were just happy to ride in the cab. Okay...here are the boys actually working together! Hooray! You can see in the distance the beach ball sprinkler we had for about 9 hours before I left it outside and it blew away.

The boys are getting to be really good friends (when M isn't snatching something out of L's hands and/or L isn't yelling at M because he is pretending the wrong things...)
I don't have much time to write this since F has already left for work (he has alert today and tomorrow, boo!). The kiddos are happily reading books about various machinery while Mikey is pretending to pour out his milk in Anna's cup...I'm sure he will make a mess somehow very soon.

I have been struck by a few funny little thoughts that I wanted to write for you about the kids before I forget them.

• Twitter was made for Anna. If she could read, write, and type, she'd be all over it! She gives us updates on how she is/what she is doing/what the boys are doing/how they are doing about every 3 seconds. Also, she generously provides running commentary on all the goings-on in the household...
• Luke doesn't like the heat. He asked me when summer would be over and I said, "It'll probably cool down in October." He is trying to figure out how long it is until October...he wants to come to Maine for summer, he says...
• Mikey has perfected the flying toddler tackle...he uses it to take L down every day, several times a day. Perhaps he has a career ahead of him in the WWE
• Anna keeps trying to put her brothers (and mother) in time-out when they are obnoxious or when she does not agree with their behavior. She says shouts, "Time-out!" ina really, loud, shrill voice. Perhaps SHE has a future in totalitarian dictatorship.
• All of the children are ridiculously determined (read: stubborn). I got a new, smaller tricycle at a consignment store for A because she is too short to reach the pedals on the one Auntie S gave us. Yet again, I have been laid low by my naivete. Silly mother, buying another trike will not make them happy, nor will it cut down on the fighting by giving each 2 year old their own bike. It will just kick start the non-violent (and violent) resistance to letting the other twin try out the new bike. M generally stands in A's way, preventing her from making forward progress, while shouting, "Mikey, Mikey, bike...SHARE, SHARE, SHARE!!!"
• M can be quiet for about a tenth of a milli-second. Especially early on weekend mornings.
• The children think we are deaf. If we don't respond immediately to their demands, it must have been because we didn't hear them. Their response is to rapidly repeat each request at a rapidly increasing volume. Charming, no? It's like having a bunch of American tourists in your house and not being able to speak English.
• L & A are obsessed with "Go, Diego, Go!" There are plenty of episodes we watch from Netflix that have Diego saving various whales and other preferred marine animals. Anna now says, "Help! Anna in trubbah" which is not what life guards want to hear when the kiddos are at the beach, I find...L is determined to be a construction worker who travels the world rescuing animals when he grows up.

Well, I have to make a stuffed penguin a bed out of a hand towel, so I'd better stop writing this. I hope all is well up there in New England!

Videos that Make Me Chuckle...

I took the kids to the zoo alone the weekend before last (I think...time just blurs all together for me) and Anna seemed to be REALLY excited to see the monkeys. Until she saw them. Then she ran and cried. I'm not sure Mikey even sees that he is around animals...he just runs and runs and runs. Luke likes the zoo a lot...but he is rather confused as to why they wouldn't have a whale exhibit as whales are so clearly awesome...

These two videos are from last weekend...it was the first weekend in at least a month that F was here and had time off. He wanted to take the kiddos to the zoo, so we did. On the way there, I had to capture Story Hour with Luke and Mikey (note the annoying Elmo music in the background...at one point, Mikey sings along, saying, "Beep, beep, yeah!". It was just so funny because every now and again, Mikey would echo the words he knew as Luke was telling the story of a worksite that he plans on building when he is older)...this is a tame level of noise, actually. Usually it is much louder..MUCH louder!

An Ode to F for Father's Day...

F with the kiddos when he moved us to our current place...he did most of the heavy lifting...

F and L in the jet....L said, "I'd rather stay on dry land, Daddy!"F pulling the twin-mobile with a rope that washed up on the beach....

Daddy horse!!!! All the kiddos smiling...

Okay, so this isn't really going to be an ode. I don't remember all the rhyming schemes of odes (plus, the only one that is coming to mind is "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and I hardly think that is appropriate)...so it'll just be a long post that praises the attributes of the man I am lucky to call husband and the father of my children.

F is infinitely more patient than I am. Also, he actually enjoys reading stock information and investment strategies...he can add 3 digit numbers without needing some paper. He is a very good driver...he is very, very steady emotionally and usually pretty logical and even-keeled. He doesn't panic easily. He has self-confidence that is nothing like arrogance. He doesn't brag (unless he is trying to goad me into running faster or giving up coffee)..in fact, he will rarely tell people he does what he does for a living unless they ask him directly. Not because he is ashamed, but because usually, he tries to let other people talk (is this why we are together? I talk and he kinda listens?)...

Lest you think I married a saint, please know that I am aware that he is not perfect. I am not building him up to be anything he is not. He is the most honest, genuine, least-manipulative human being I have ever met. I am lucky he is generally on my side. And he is kind to me when I screw up. I think kindness in marriage is often over-looked. I have dropped newborn babies (well, one) on the floor, ripped the side mirror off the van backing out of the garage (at the time, I was wearing my swimsuit inside out, it was over 80 degrees in VT and we had no a/c, and all the kids were screaming), horribly dented his beautiful pick up (I hit a fence...then I backed up, turned the wheel the wrong way and proceeded to scrape it deeper into the side panel, then I turned the wheel a different way and did it again), etc... and he has never made me feel bad about it. Nor has he ever brought it up later in an unrelated argument just to make a point about how I suck (even if I'm trying to say he does). He forgives me and then pressures me into forgiving myself. He doesn't always understand me or my struggles, but I think it is safe to say that he does try to get my point of view.

We are a happier family when he is home. We can make it on our own when he is working or deployed, but we are all happier and more relaxed if he is about. The kids know he is their ally and their hero. He is the rare man who, after working for 3 straight weeks without a single day off (I'm talking 13-14 hour days), doesn't ask me if I mind if he golfs when all the guys are going...not because he is afraid I'll be pissed, but because he genuinely would rather spend time with the kiddos (and give me time off if I should want some) he hasnt seen. I am blown away by his dedication to this family.

I'm getting too gushy, so I'd better stop. Just thought I should say thank you to him in this blog because in life I think I don't do it enough....now if I could just get him to give up the dream of living on the frozen tundra in Alaska with just a hatchet and perhaps some grizzly bear blankets, I'd really have married the perfect man!

Ready to Work...

Last Friday afternoon, I said, "Luke, let's go to the beach when the babies wake up." He said, "Yaaay! Let me go get ready." This is him ready for the beach... Surveying the work site (aka Fort Monroe Beach)...note Mikey has his hard hat on backwards and Anna's rain boots..ahem...work boots on his feet (read: Mama was too tired to go bring everyone upstairs to get his boots out of the closet, so Anna's boots it was!)...

Mikey loads his truck...

Anna is not part of the working party...she was screeching, "Mama! Anna cook-ah dinn-ah!"

I have a confession: I like that my children are a little bit strange. Or, I guess you could call it unique. Sometimes I do look at the other kids who are so adorably attired in clothes that both match and are properly worn...and then see my little PJ/rain boot/swim trunk-wearing-cuties and I think...man, we really DO look homeless! But most of the time I get a big ol' kick out of it. I think it shows a strength of character, an undeniable self-esteem that I hope they always have. Luke wants to wear his pants backwards so he can carry tools more efficiently. He doesn't worry about what other people think. It makes sense to him, so he does it. Anna wants to wear "fish-ah pants-ah" (Mikey's Nemo swim trunks) even on days when there is no water in sight (umm...and where did she pick up her Italian inflections???). No self-recrimination, no anxiety, just pure confidence. It's cute. It's more than cute, it's wonderful(thank goodness I've managed to hide that cow costume! WAAAY too hot for this weather). They are individuals!!! They aren't bowing to societal norms, dammit. They don't even realize society HAS norms. I am proud.

So here are these pictures...capturing what is a daily occurrence for us. Going to the beach in rain gear and hard hats. It makes me think of those good old days when Luke carried his plastic tools around in an old Guiness six-pack carrier. And when he went through his cow rain boots phase. They like what they like...they pursue what they like and to be honest, they don't even notice if someone else doesn't agree with it (I mean, really...why WOULDN'T you want to prance around all day with a Mike's Hard Lemonade Box on your head so you can be a sperm whale/cab-over truck???). I hope this outlook lasts forever, but I know someday they will all be awkward teenagers who are desperate to fit into some group (perhaps the nerdy future marine biologist/mechanic/bunny lover-group???) and to adopt that group's singular uniform. One day, someone will come home and announce a burning desire for, I don't know, jeans four sizes to big, belted at the knees, boxers proudly showing, or a micro-mini skirt and say, "But all my friends have these!!!" Sigh. I hate it that they will inevitably grow up and spend at least a little time buying into what society thinks is normal/important. Until then, I will revel in this easy confidence, appreciate it, and try not worry about the future (oh, and if you see a plush cow bathing suit in a size 2/3T, please let me know)....

What we did last weekend...

At the Williamsburg Farmer's Market last Saturday. The kiddos are eating home-made (not by me) bananna bread while listening to the fiddle/guitar duo in Merchant's Square. Taking kids out in 90 degree humid weather, makes them cranky, by the way. Luke is handsome, no? That is Jack the Blue Whale in his hand...because you can't go to the market without your trusty baleen whale, can you?
To make up for the heat at the market (and to avoid taking them to the beach), I stopped at the Peninsula Town Center fountain so the kiddos could cool down. The boys LOVED it! Anna preferred to sit in the stroller with the shade down, periodically leaning out to glare at me accusingly...fun!

Mikey gets ready for work at the Marston Family Work Site. Luke shouted, "No high heels at the work site, Mikey!" He figured his balance wouldn't be compromised as long as he only wore ONE ridiculous plastic high heel, I suppose. And his hard hat, of course. When I started this blog, I had such high hopes for it. I figured I could definitely manage to update it at least once every three days or so. Hah! Two weeks after my last post, I have finally buckled down and posted these pictures to try to give you a sense of what we've been up to (also, this serves to jog my memory as I have a hard time remembering what has happened). F has been gone a lot...either working long hours or traveling for work, so that makes it especially hectic. I often wonder how I can be in the middle of everything, totally taken over by these little people and still have a hard time experiencing it. I guess I can take a hint from the fact that I am rarely in any of the pictures that are taken to document our lives (because I'm the one who takes them)...I'm here, but I'm so busy keeping people alive (and keeping others from whacking siblings with trucks, sticks, etc) that it is hard to be entirely conscious of this life. And now I must go as Anna is throwing a tantrum again while laying facedown on the floor (she got in trouble for stealing Mikey's book and throwing it as far onto the table as possible so he couldn't reach it).

A Day at the Park (the twins talk!)

A rare moment of non-combative twin-closeness...and yup, those are Mikey's PJs....

Chatty Anna...our animal lover!

Mikey talks! Okay, probably only his Mommy can understand him, but I'm nearly always with him, so I can act as his interpreter. I don't mind!

This was a couple weeks ago (I think..I really have no concept of time anymore). I took the kiddos to the park on Fort Monroe while Luke was at school. We had a great time...nobody even wandered too much or too far. To top off the day, we got caught in some sprinklers that came on full-force while we were playing tag. It is so funny how different these two are: Michael laughed hysterically and then kept running into the jets. Anna shrieked and screamed, "Mama, no WET! ANNA NO WET!!! ANNA HOLD YOU HOLD YOU HOLD YOU!!!" (she pronounces it "mamahoju, hoju, hoju". I was wearing a white shirt. I had to go into the water to pull Mikey out so we could pick Luke up on time. By the time I managed to get the two of them down the block to the car, I had grass/dirt stains on my belly (read: wet white shirt) and dirty handprints on my face. Then I showed up at school to get Luke...I can only imagine what those teachers think of us...I show up all soaked and bedraggled to pick up my son who purposely wears his pants backwards (also the two little ones are forever in their PJs). We are a family of hobos.