Really, one more month till school starts?!

I don't know how I feel about school not starting for another month. Part of me is glad for lazy mornings and no need to get dressed until whenever, but part of me longs for the kids to get the hell out of here. Individually, they are all awesome! Combined into a unit-- maybe not so much. We have limited money, space, means, stuff, and etc., so we have always consistently stressed sharing. It is one thing we do all the time. You share food, toys, drinks, clothes, and whatever else there is to share. It turns out this has not taught our children that sharing is a lovely wonderful trait, it has taught our children to get what they can when they can, I believe it has made them selfish. Hmm....sharing = selfish. If there is a sharing soda in the car, the take a drink and pass it rule turns into take a drink for 2 minutes or until my brother complains or mom and dad notice my drink has taken longer than the normal amount of time. This is the case with everything these days!!!! I am going insane. Also, one-upping is at an all time high. Really, I don't care if you can eat your hot dog faster, if your car is 'more awesomer', if you slept longer, stayed up later, have a better shirt, like the better super hero, or anything. I really just don't care!!!!! Another thing that has started is the whole - you are not my buddy- conversation. This started out last year as super cute- the brothers would spend a Saturday or weekday afternoon hanging out and there would be hugs and a brother saying- you are my buddy. It was cute. No, not anymore. Now I say-- we are  not doing buddies!!! No one is anyone's buddy, you got it?!!  It is a threat, a way to say I am mad at you, you can't play, you aren't wanted, they say-- You are NOT my buddy! Followed by tears and tattling. Poor Thomas is 3, and this age is now my least favorite. He whines day and night. Really, he walks into my room at 6:30 am and in a very whiny voice says- I am hungry, when are you going to make me cereal?! It doesn't stop until he goes to bed, and Thomas, so far, is the one child who needs very little sleep so even though I put him down at 7ish, he is still awake at 10 and coming down the stairs whining that he can't sleep for any number of reasons, one being- Mom, but I love you and just want to give you a hug and kiss because I need to. So, of course, when I tell him-No, No you have to go to sleep right now!!! - I become some mean mom who doesn't want to kiss her kid.

Meg is a mess all by herself. If you tell her no she cries. Period. It has gotten to the point where I hear  myself saying to the brothers--Don't tell her no. Just don't say no to her. Let her do it. Great parenting I know. The best way to raise your daughter is by never telling her no and letting her fits win. Man, she is just so loud, it is instant, and she throws herself on the floor. I don't have the energy to deal with her. If she wants that Hot Wheels Car then sorry brothers, you are giving it to her. She doesn't want to drink water or milk and when I say no and she sobs for 30 minutes, I say fine have your juice I don't care. She is stubborn, she may be more so than me, and that is saying something. I stuck to my guns two days in a row about the whole not just drinking juice stance, and she barely drank anything for two days, and barely peed too. What?!! Really?!! She is also a dare devil, wild, crazy, and has already hurt herself more than her brothers ever did. She has chipped both her front teeth, she has fallen off the patio chair and had her nose catch her, she climbs up and over everything. When she is tired she pulls her hair, slaps herself, and always manages to position herself in a place where she is tripped over and stepped on. If anyone has food she will cry until she gets it too. So, now I say - if you are getting food you either have to give some to Meg or get her some too. She is too much.

Rob is still good. Lovely baby. He just has crazy hair. We have decided the best way to dress him with his crazy hair is to put him in onesies with suspender or bow tie pictures. It seems to work.

That is life here, and what life here will be like for at least a month more.

Suburbs

Living in the suburbs is a new experience for me. I have heard of the suburbs and figured it couldn't be much different than living in a small town, which is what I have done most of my life. I will say that it is much like that and also different. I have posted on Facebook a lot of pictures of the pond that is basically part of our yard, the geese who come into our front yard to eat the leftovers from the mulberry tree, and the abundance of trees (and weeds) that are in our backyard. These glimpses make the city or anything associated with the city seem so far away. Yet, we are reminded of the city because every few minutes we see and hear airplanes (though you do get used to the sound, so you eventually tune it out, am I right UofL folks?) Often we will even see two overhead going in opposite directions. We live near O'Hare.

A new sound to me is that of a regular train whistle. I have lived in towns where there are railroad tracks and you get the occasional train, but here the Metra comes and goes on schedule all day. We hear the whistle while playing in our backyard, and to go most anywhere in town you drive by train. Thomas was very excited because one day there were a few John Deere cars being pulled. We also drive Pete to the train station and pick him up daily. He has stories about life on the train: conductors, tickets being punched, drinking being allowed, missing the train, taking the wrong train and ending up in places you never meant to be, Blackhawk fans, and enjoying not being stuck in traffic while being able to reliably get where you need to go. Right now, Jack's biggest wish is to ride the train.

Jack also has seen a new form of advertising floating above our backyard- the blimp. This was a blue DirectTv blimp that was right overhead but had already gone quite far by the time I could get a picture.

While driving in the suburbs you drive 10 minutes in any direction and you have driven into a new suburb but continue on or turn down a different road and you might find yourself back in your suburb. The names all jumble together Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, Elmhurst, Villa Park, Lombard, Downer's Grove, and Oak Brook. All the same and yet different. I have only been to a few of these, and currently my favorite is Glen Ellyn- it just looks so quaint and picturesque. In Downer's Grove and Villa Park we have eaten at Portillos, which is now Pete's favorite food place outdoing Skyline and Qdoba. In Glen Ellyn we tried malts and ice cream at Oberweis- the best malt I have ever had. I heard they delivered milk still and they totally do- see Glen Ellyn is so Mayberry. We had pizza from a couple places, no deep dish pizza, but still delicious, but too expensive to be something that we do regularly. We went to the Willowbrook Wildlife Center in Glen Ellyn, and Jack loves it there. He loves animals anyway, and wants to work in some capacity as a scientist with wildlife animals. There was a young man volunteering, and Jack has decided when he is old enough he will volunteer there as well.

Jack, Pete, and Uncle Danny went to a Cubs v Cardinals game at Wrigley Field.

Jack and company rooted for the Cardinals, and the Cubs fans jested and joked, but welcomed the new and young baseball fan. I heard it was an awesome experience for all 3, and I am glad they got to share it with one another.

When leaving the suburbs you get to drive into the city, and the city looks like this. We were very excited that we received our I-Pass and did not have to get all the way over and scrounge around for change.

Since we just moved and didn't want to overwhelm the kids with moving and lots of summer activities we have just been slowly driving around checking things out when we get the urge, and eating popsicles on the patio.

So far we like it here, and we haven't even made friends yet. I take that as a good sign. There are only a couple things we don't like: Mosquitos and allergies!!!  The mosquitos are HORRIBLE!!! They are everywhere. Poor Luke and Pete - all over their face, neck, ears, arms, legs, and back!! Allergies are bad for all of us, but Jack tends to get bloody noses, and since we have been here he has had one bloody nose episode almost daily. Luke says, despite this, he loves this town and wants to raise his own kids here. Jack says, he loves it but doesn't want to raise his kids here because there are too many bloody noses involved. Thomas says, once we have all the adventures there are to have here it will be time to move someplace new with new adventures.