We have been busy doing fall around here. After a totally boring and blah summer we are working to make up for it with an awesome fall. We started out in September by picking apples. We love to pick apples and returned to our lovely Indiana to do so. It was an apple orchard just outside Chicago, and it wasn't as great as our old apple picking spot, but it got the job done. However, next fall we will look for a different place. Maybe go more north?
We had been postponing signing Jack up for TaeKwonDo for various reasons, but after some behavior issues in school and then an email asking if we were still interested in the classes, I took it as a sign, and signed him up. He has been a bit nervous getting back into it, and the emphasis on certain aspects are different than what he is used to, but he is starting to get back into the swing of things.
We went to Lombard Fall Fest one weekend and it was a nice and fun diversion. They had a pumpkin patch, a decoration stand, games, pony rides, and a small petting zoo area. Each kid left with a pumpkin that they decorated. We came home and lined them up in a row-- our five little pumpkins.
Jack wanted to sign up for Boy Scouts. He wanted to last year, and we didn't really want to mess with it, but since he wanted to do it again this year, we figured ok we will see how he does. We signed him up and before he even had any meetings he had to sell popcorn and meet fundraising goals, so off we went to Ace Hardware and asked all kinds of people to buy popcorn. Jack was so nervous at first, but then he really got into it and did a great job. By the end of the day he and his co-seller sold to more people than anyone else had so far. Way to go Mr. J!
I decided that it had been far too long since I had hung out with my siblings, plus my dad had not met Robert yet, so I figured it was time to go back to Kentucky. Pete had to work so I did it all solo! We spent most of the car ride to Henderson listening to Adventures in Odyssey. Honestly, they did an amazing job, and so did I really. We went to a pumpkin farm and it was a blast! They had ladder golf, corn hole, a corn maze, tractor ride, john deere kiddie cars, slides, water pump duck race, corn kernel pit, and of course a pumpkin patch.
Then we came back to enjoy Spooktacular here in downtown Lombard. It was fun. The kids wore costumes, got some candy, played a few games, we had some delicious pizza by the slice, chicago mix popcorn, and free cotton candy.
Thomas has been complaining that we don't get out enough to play while the boys are at school, so each week I have tried to do one thing outside with Thomas and kids. We went to the playground one afternoon and Robert enjoyed his first swing ride. I got to push all three kids at once. Lucky me.
The next week we walked to downtown, which is just shy of a mile from our house, and then walked back a different way taking pictures of all the houses decorated for Halloween along the way. A lot more houses here decorate for Halloween than any other place I have lived. It is pretty fun, and the kids love it!
Most recently we went downtown with cousin Tricia. We were able to ride the train with mixed feelings from the kids: Luke did not like it, Thomas thought it was awesome, Meg handled it well for awhile but then wanted to stand up and move around, and Jack thought it was interesting but liked it better once Pete showed him the map and how he could tell where we were based on it. We went to Maggie Daley Park and on the way we ran into people handing out Kefir smoothies so the boys loaded up and then even went back for more. Once at the park they were having a Halloween parade and giving out sour gummy worms so the kids loaded up on those too. They are gonna want to go back downtown every weekend if they think they will be handed free stuff every time. On our way back to the train we stopped by the bean and saw the giant head sculpture.
We have been having fun for sure, but it hasn't been all mother of the year over here. I have struggled with my ability to parent Jack. We don't always see eye to eye, we don't always agree on the best way to solve problems, and I become very frustrated when he ignores me and continues to act like a crazy man. He has been having issues in school and trying to find a way to help him is frustrating. It gets to the point where he and I both feel like I am only reprimanding him, which isn't very helpful to our relationship, and makes him ignore me more because if he can't make me happy why even try? Luke isn't a traditional learner and it takes a bit longer for him to process and retain the information, and he is the exact opposite of Jack in that he follows all the rules and doesn't make a scene at all, which makes it easy to overlook him and see that he needs more encouragement. During these moments I wish Luke had a little bit of that crazy Jack in him. Pete and I are discussing various ways to help Luke have a more successful school experience. Pete is going to take lead on it since he knows what he wants and won't back down or be easily swayed. Meg is now a big girl and a handful. She decided she doesn't need a booster seat at meal time, she doesn't want a sippy cup, and she has finally started talking or trying to talk. She has also decided to throw herself on the ground and cry, take off her pants in public, scream loudly in protest, refuse to move, or (when it comes to Pete) say please and smile real big to get her way. She knows how to manipulate each one of us in just the right way-- TROUBLE! Robert is still very good natured, he can crawl and pulls up all the time, but he can't get down so he is in that 'just fall down' stage so there are a lot of tears. He has also developed a bad habit of being unable to sleep at all at night unless nursed to sleep and sleeping right next to me the whole night. If he is asleep and I move him he screams and cries, if he manages to cry himself to sleep it is only a short lived sleep that results in more crying until he is in bed with me again. I can't be too mad though because it is the only time he ever gets upset-ever.
We are just trying our best here. Sometimes we have lots of fun, sometimes we are totally boring, and sometimes there is a lot of screaming and fighting. I guess that is what happens when you live in a house with 7 people and 2 pets.
