What have we been up to? So much stuff and nothing.

It has been awhile-- I have been totally slack in this area. Ok so what has happened?  Jack started 2nd grade!!   He has started reading chapter books by himself. He has always been a good reader, but has had a block against reading on his own. Finally, he did it. He read Esio Trot by Roald Dahl on his own and aced his AR quiz. Now he is reading Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Luke is taking an art class. It meets once a week for a month. They did printmaking-- small piece of foam that they drew on with a pencil to create a picture, then they painted over it, pressed it onto construction paper, and repeated. 

Luke and Thomas were tasked with cleaning the windows, but they used all the window cleaner so Pete made some with vinegar, rubbing alcohol and flour.  To make it look cool for the boys he added food coloring. The boys loved it and it worked well as window cleaner. We left them downstairs with it and went upstairs to get dressed. A few minutes later they bounded upstairs happy as could be because they had not only cleaned the windows, but they cleaned EVERYTHING!!!  Dismissing this slightly I said-- oh yeah, good job. Then when I left my room and walked into the hall I saw what they meant by EVERYTHING. They were so proud of themselves, and we did give it to them so we couldn't be mad.  They said-- Look we made the house like Frozen.  Yes they did. Food coloring may not have been the best idea.  

Luke starts pre-school next week. He had an open house this week and we loaded the whole family-minus Jack- into the car and off we went.  There were so many kids and parents. When you have Catholic families all going to preschool together there are a ton of little kids/siblings everywhere! Luke is pretty shy so it was a bit overwhelming. He kept his arms wrapped around my legs for a while then kept it close to the family after that, doing puzzles on the floor next to Thomas.  There will only be 15 kids in his class so that seems much more manageable.

The boys decided to collect mushrooms the other night and pile them up on our porch. These mushrooms looked a lot like penises. So the boys got a real kick out of talking about how they were collecting penises. They are still talking about it and every mushroom has become a penis to them.

One cute thing was when Jack found some mushrooms and yelled- Jackpot!! Then a few minutes later Thomas found some mushrooms and yelled- Thomaspot!!

I have been totally exhausted lately. I mean the whole fuzzy head, can't believe you didn't crash the car while driving, don't remember much of anything exhausted. I started writing this on Monday and it is Thursday. I don't even remember what I was initially going to write about, but at least our week has been busy so I have had stuff to add to it. I start to get tired around 2:30pm but there is no rest for mom because we have to pick up Jack at 3 then get his homework done, eat dinner, make Jack's lunch, and then start the bedtime process. Luckily, by 8:30 everyone is in bed and they stay there. I have been falling asleep around 9:30 or 10. Meg makes staying asleep difficult because she is the lightest sleeper in the world, and still likes to nurse multiple times at night. If she hears the floors creak she wakes up screaming, if a light turns on in the hall she cries, or if she just wants to nurse she cries, and I either let her cry which lasts about 25 minutes or I nurse her and then stick her back in her bed. This happens 3 or 4 times a night. I am starting to let her cry it out one of two of these times but that doesn't mean I am sleeping through it. We are debating moving her out of our room, but are having a problems figuring out where to put her. Right now Luke and Jack have bunk beds in one room and Thomas has the crib, with the side rail off, in his own room. Putting her with Thomas was our first thought- Meg has a pack and play that is her bed, and it can stay her bed, but Thomas is loud and likes to throw stuff at her when she is sleeping. Not the best roommate.  We thought of moving Luke into the crib bed and Thomas into bottom bunk but Luke thinks he is being punished. Right now we can't get a twin bed otherwise the best solution would be Jack with Meg because that boy sleeps through anything. Oh well. I am sure we will think of something- mostly because I just want to sleep.

I am ending the first trimester with this unexpected baby. The boys keep changing their mind on if they want a boy or girl baby. At first they said girl baby so Meg wouldn't have to just wrestle and play cars all the time. However, lately they have been saying boy baby. Luke-- who predicted this pregnancy-has been saying to me, strangers, and anyone--One more baby and then no more. We need to tell the doctor.  I agree and I did. That doctor knows we are done after this.

Jack continues wander around his classroom and etc., so his teacher plus the guidance counselor have come up with an idea of getting a large carpet square and putting it under his chair so that he can wander around within the perimeters of the square. He will even be allowed to stand up as he does his work so long as he stays on the carpet square. They even asked him what his favorite color is so that he can have a carpet square in his favorite color. I am glad that the school is so willing to help work with Jack. We hope to have a meeting with his teacher next week to see how things are going. To help at home with homework we have developed a homework chart, but we wanted to also incorporate his at school behavior chart so we think we have done it. His homework chart lists all his usual homework assignments and we have stickers that say things like: great job, good job, or try again. Attitude, actual completion of assignment, and effort put into assignment gets hime points: great job sticker is 2 pts, a good job sticker is 1pt, and try again is 0 pts. Each assignment gets it's own sticker. The behavior chart from school gets worked in because on Friday we will look to see how many greens he has received from the teacher and those will equal iPad minutes. 5 greens is 10 minutes, 4 greens is 5 minutes, 3 greens is 2 minutes, and fewer than that is currently zero minutes.  It all comes together because if he receives 5 greens then for every point on his homework chart he gets 10 minutes. He has the possibility to really rack up some weekend iPad time. He isn't allowed to play iPad during the week and the weekend is based solely his behavior/how well he completes his homework. Hopefully it works or at least helps.

Finally, Meg is starting to hang out by the stairs just trying to will herself to climb up them. With help she can get up a few, but I haven't seen her do it by herself yet. She is also starting to pull up and then let go. She is falling down every time, but I know it will be soon when she lets go and is just standing. She just wants to move and be independent.

You want news? I've got your news.

I have a new title for our life. What?  Don't you have a title for your life? It is like your personal theme song. Here is my life in one new title. Whatever Doesn't Kill You, Just Makes You Crazy. I think I will have it painted on wood in a beautiful and fancy manner and hang it in my house. It will be like those uplifting quotes that people put up in their houses, only true.

Now I know it will be a few weeks before I post this. I will add to it here and there. So bear with the randomness.

I bought a Ergobaby carrier from Zulily a few months ago. It was a great deal, but still more money than I usually spend for that sort of thing. I felt a bit guilty since Meg was our last baby. We have a Baby Bjorn so there was no need to get all above our station with this fancy organic baby carrier. Well as luck would have it I am pregnant again, and so I shall not feel guilt any longer. I will get to use it with two babies. In fact, the $88 I spent is well worth it now. I mean I should have actually planned to get pregnant one more time just to have an excuse to use it for longer. Never-mind the fact we will have to get a bigger car, and a bigger place to live. Now I definitely get $88 worth from my Ergobaby.

You know how you are nursing a baby who isn't eating solids yet and not yet sleeping through the night, and this means you are nursing every 3 hours?  Maybe a 5 hour stretch at night once or twice. Then you start wanting to eat Doritos for a late night snack, but here's the thing, you don't eat late night snacks and you only eat Doritos when your hormones are all up and down. So you eat the Doritos and think nothing of it. Then the next afternoon you just can't help yourself, you walk to the pantry and grab the Doritos while your children are napping and you just eat and eat and eat. Again, not really your normal style.  There must be a reason for this debauchery, and it has to be your period. You wait for it. The next night you go to the Snickers Bar hiding place to discover that your children have snuck into your hiding place and have eaten all your candy!!!!!! They must die, but first you should probably cry because you really wanted that candy. You know there are old chocolate chips in the shelves and you grab a handful but they are gross, but you don't care you need something sweet!!!!!! Still you are waiting for a sign, a reason for all this madness. Then one afternoon you think-- NO, surely not. It isn't possible. You pee on a stick and find out it is possible. You remember you told some friends that as long as your husband planning on getting a vasectomy was a reliable method of birth control then you were all set. Haha- turns out the joke's on you or in this case-- me.

I ended my pregnancy with Meg weighing in at a glorious 163. My goal was to get to 115. I worked my ass off. I worked out hard and often and I got back into my size 2 pants and I got to 118 lbs. I had lines on my stomach that were the beginnings of -well if not a six pack than a 4 pack. My thighs got smaller and I felt good in my body. Turns out that was the problem.

Today I made a pie. It is a blueberry and peach pie. While making this pie smell overwhelmed me. What is it with pregnancy and smell? I couldn't figure out which ingredient or combination of ingredients it was, but I did not like it and no longer wanted to be making that pie. I forged on and with minimal gagging made the pie.  I ate a slice, and it tasted quite good, but now writing about it I can smell the the crumb topping and want to gag again. So I guess I know it was something in the topping.

I have gained weight. Amazing I know-pregnant and gaining weight. Only I don't even know how far along I am and last time, even though my stomach pooched out immediately, I didn't actually gain weight for a few weeks. I figured since  I was nursing a baby and growing a baby that I wouldn't put on actual pounds right away. Wrong.

Every time I breastfeed Meg I feel nauseous. I didn't know this was a thing. Apparently it is. I was nursing Luke while pregnant with Thomas but not every few hours like I am now. Note to Meg:  See how much I love you-I am willing to feel sick just so I can still breastfeed.

I started having cramps. Of course I was worried. But they were just cramps and nothing else. I mentioned them to Pete, took Tylenol, and kept going on with my day. This lasted a few days and yesterday the pain was UNBEARABLE!!!!!!! I thought this is definitely level 9 pain on the smiley face chart. I got shaky, dizzy, felt like I was going to throw up, couldn't pick up Meg, and just wanted to crawl in a corner and rock myself back and forth. I called the OB nurse because I didn't know what was going on. I haven't had an appointment yet, I don't know my due date, and there is just pain. Since it was just cramping-- JUST CRAMPING!!!!!---and I am nursing my teething baby every couple hours I was told I need to up my water intake. Water??  Really? Not drinking enough water is causing me to want to die??? I had already started drinking more because I craved it, but even more?  I would basically have to have a huge gallon jug of water that I drank out of and refilled numerous times all day to drink as much water as they were suggesting. So I got a heating pad, got a lot of water in numerous containers, carried them all upstairs, propped myself up in bed, watched House of Cards, and drank water constantly for 3 hours. You know what? It started working. The amount of water I consumed was not human. Today I have kept it up. Not to quite the same degree, but still far more than I thought humans really needed consume, and I haven't had cramps. Go figure. Water. A crap ton of water.

Hot flashes while in the first trimester? I am thinking being pregnant so soon after having Meg and while still nursing all the time has made me a hormonal mess. I go from one extreme to the other in minutes. I will be freezing cold shivering and then stifling hot and sweating. It is crazy. Also, kind of gross.

First things first-- I had an ultrasound and now know exactly how close in age the babies will be. Are you ready for it?  They will be 13-13.5 months apart!!!!!  I was 6 weeks 5 days at the ultrasound and there was a heartbeat. Awesome. Still a year. I mean -come on!! We are definitely going to be looking into permanent forms of birth control. We are clearly too irresponsible/lazy to handle anything less.

Oh and the due date is March 11. In case people were wondering.

In the past during my first trimester I have relied heavily on scrambled eggs. Not this time.  I made beans, rice, and scrambled eggs wrapped in tortillas for dinner tonight. The pickiest eater in our house, Jack, was actually eating, but Luke, our biggest eater of everything, kept telling me it was disgusting.  I took two big bites and said, " No it isn't. It is good.  Oh no, I am gonna throw up!" Yeah, that didn't go far in convincing him that it was good.

I was going to wait and post this closer to the 10-13 week mark instead of the 8 week mark, but my body isn't shy about sharing the news with the general population. I try to wear baggy clothes and I have Meg strapped to me most of the time, but really one big clue is that I haven't been to aerobics in a couple weeks.  :(  I keep meaning to go even just to have social interaction, but I have been too tired. Of course, letting Meg go about 6 days with an ear infection before picking up on it didn't really help much on the sleep front. I was also going to wait because it is comforting to have that first appointment out of the way but I did have the ultrasound and it looked great. Plus, I have this family thing in a week or so and like I said, you can tell. Maybe they wouldn't know because I could claim I hadn't lost all the baby weight from Meg, but I have been pretty vocal about losing it so....  I just wanted to tell people on my terms and not have them stare at me and wonder.

Free stuff rocks, until sometimes it doesn't

When summer comes to our apartment complex many people move out, and this year our whole strip of townhouses was vacated, minus us of course. We got a free weber charcoal grill out of it, some alcohol bottles that were never opened came our way, and then we saw a mattress propped next to the dumpster so we decided to go for it. Our mattress is 10+ years, covered in baby urine, it dips in certain spots, there are coffee stains, and well, it is old. This mattress was white and the people who left it had only lived here for one year so it was new. Score!  Not wanting to rush into anything we propped it up in our entryway to see if it stunk or if there was stuff growing on it. After a week we thought-ok nice. So then we moved it to the middle of the living room to see if it was comfortable. The boys decided to test out the jump ability of it by using it as a trampoline, wrestling ring, and floor mat for dives off the couch. After all three boys played on it all morning it was time for naps. When Luke woke up he was complaining about his belly hurting, not a stomach ache but the skin hurting. Hmm...  I had him take off his clothes and there was a massive head to toe rash with welts. I checked out the other boys and nothing. Luke's skin is by far the most sensitive, he gets cold sores, rashes, welts, and hives quite often. Thinking over what we had eaten and played with the only new or different thing was the mattress! So while it was a lovely thought that we might get a newish mattress for free, it was not meant to be. Pete and Jack took it back to the dumpster.

Meg has decided that this week will be her week to accomplish quite a lot in life. She has the very tips of her first two teeth poking through the gum, she has learned to scoot, has started to eat rice cereal, and she can get herself into a sitting position.  Side note, the pink ball behind her-free because we found it on campus and there were no other kids around so we took it.

Thomas and Luke were sent outside to play today. They were not happy about it. Can't we just watch tv? Fine, I will just sit in bed. I want to eat. I forced them out. I gave them bowls with water, I gave them hulk fists, I gave them nerf dart guns, and I gave them little wooden catapults. After much pouting Luke and Thomas went for the wooden catapults. They are a little difficult to use and Luke quit almost immediately.  Thomas stuck with it. With just a little guidance from me, he figured it out and was pumped every time he launched one of the tiny bean bags. Of course, I heard him mutter, stupid toy, every time he didn't get it. He is so funny.

Luke decided he was going to use the hula hoop, another free thing we got when people moved away. He had fun getting it to go around once, and wasn't too bothered when that was the only time it didn't fall straight to the ground.

While at granny's we took the training wheels off of Jack's bike. This didn't go over too well, but I told him they weren't going back on. So today we will try again. Hopefully soon I can say he has it mastered. He and Luke both do Tae Kwon Do, and at this point Jack is the one who really loves it. He got his sparring gear recently and is now able to actually participate in the second half of class. He gets to spare with everyone- which means even 1st and 2nd degree black belts who are over twice his size. He can't always get the kicks or the hits in, but one thing everyone has said about him is that he is unshakable and persistent. The smallest boy in the class with the lowest belt rank and he is unyielding in his position and will often back his opponent into the corner.

Oh, and while at G and P's, Jack was given the task of using the punk to light fireworks. He loved it! I was nervous, but he did a good job. The boys also went blueberry picking. Luke learned that he loves frozen blueberries and refuses to eat them any other way.

I am trying to get Meg interested in the mother/daughter selfie, but she isn't very interested. She likes to be solo in her pictures.

Status update -what's next?

So many friends and family have kept us in their prayers over the last year that I feel not updating our status would be unfair. I admit I don't particularly want to update you because it is still pretty raw. It also has to do with the fact that while I process life by writing about it here or other places, Pete does not.

Well, here it goes. The application process for academic jobs ( math postdocs) starts in the fall. The applications basically are finished by Christmas and then you wait. The first thing you hear back from is the NSF grant in January and then the trickle down effect starts happening as the weeks go on. By March you more or less know. I will say frustration ruled in our case. First there was not good news with the NSF grant and then there continued to be a lot of bad news as the weeks went on. However, people who knew Pete and his CV were sure that he would get a job because he was a very strong candidate. He went and talked to various people who all said there was almost no way he wouldn't get something. Of course, they added you can never be 100% when it comes to these things. They offered up a host of reasons why there may be a delay with some schools offering positions, and advice was given that Pete postpone May graduation in favor of August graduation to give a couple extra months for things to get sorted out. We went into the summer with plans to graduate in August. Pete has done 7 years of graduate school, and the policy here is to basically kick you out by cutting off funding after your 7th year. It boiled down to him having to graduate no matter what. Once summer really kicked off and things began to settle down he again went to talk to some people that he trusts and there was an idea that he could get something called a limited term lecturing position. This would allow him to graduate in August but still get paid by Purdue for an extra year while working on applications again. It wasn't awesome but it was the best we could hope for.  He talked to the people in charge of setting this up, but was once again faced with disappointing news. The position would pay only $100 more a semester and there would be no insurance- this ended up not being an option for us. Faced with a deadline to defend and to make our plans known to the graduate department within a day we were lost.

 To apply to industry takes a few months and as we have lived month to month for 7 years there isn't savings to allow us the luxury of being without income. Also, Pete had an industry job before but quit it to follow his dream of becoming an academic. To get so close to that dream and then walk away wasn't something he was ready to do, especially since he had and still has numerous people telling him that he should have gotten a postdoc. Of course, this doesn't really make him feel better at all. During all of this he has had one professor that he trusts above all the others and he is who Pete sought out during this moment. However, the professor was not in his office and had not returned Pete's email. Then at 7:30pm Pete's phone rings (and he answers it, if you know Pete this is a big deal) and the professor found Pete's number and called him knowing that his advice was much needed.  He had also called two other professors before calling Pete in order to discuss options. It was decided that there wasn't a lot to do at this point in the game, but what could be done was that Pete could petition the graduate program for an 8th year and he would get it since the people who make these decisions are the people Pete has been talking to all summer. In the next few weeks he will formally ask for his 8th year and come the fall semester he will start applying for jobs in academics and in industry.

There you have it. Our year in a glance. Pete's year in a glance. There isn't much else to say. Thank you for your support of us as we have struggled through and thank you for your continued support as we try one more time.

Summer time madness

The children are enjoying the freedom we have given them this summer. We open the door and let them play outside without a parent just sitting there watching. As a child this happened to me all the time, but it seems that doesn't happen as often as it used to. I feel for my kids, they don't the luxury of awesome neighbors like I did, they only have each other. They take a bowl of water to refill water guns, they take bikes, scooters, and whatever else they can find and out they go. They still come inside far more than I would like(mostly because they like to leave the door wide open!!!) They don't go far-- they really can't because living in an apartment complex sort of limits your exploring boundaries, but still it is a small taste of freedom.

Now this new freedom comes with the need to work together, figure things out, and stop asking mom and dad to be referee. They come inside whining and crying about not sharing, not taking turns, some one was pushed, another was tripped, and so it goes. We now say-- go back outside and you guys figure it out. They were uncertain at first, but they relish their outdoor time so they quickly learned to work it out or at least make an attempt. There has been one incident that did involve a parent stepping in. Luke found a rather large rock, it was bigger than my palm, and he threw it at Thomas' head. He got him smack on the forehead. Immediately Luke ran off and hid behind a tree. Jack stepped up and took on the role of caretaker. He got Thomas a pillow to rest on, some water, he sat next to him and read him a book, and told him he was sorry that he had such a bad owie. After getting the ice there was nothing for me to do. 

I am the strict one you see- the one that says rules are rules and they must be followed. My job is to be the one that is not fun at all. I enforce all the little and big rules. Bedtime falls into this area. I am very strict on bedtime.  The summer is no excuse to be lax because when it is time for school to start things will be hell,  and if bedtime is not adhered to then the summer days will be hell because of the overwhelming crankiness. However, I have worked very hard on being a little more flexible. I also surprised them all when after Tae Kwon Do one night instead of saying it was time to start getting ready for bed I said-- who wants to go to the pool? Our complex has a pool so I took the boys to the pool. Just me. I let them jump to me, I talked about random stuff, and for once I felt like the cool parent.  

I have spent the summer reading. So far I have read three books.  Right now I am reading Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. I really like it. Of the three it is my favorite. I go through stages. Sometimes I binge read, sometimes I binge on TV, and other times I spend my evenings doing crossword puzzles. I hadn't read since before I was pregnant with Meg( minus one book), so it was about time. It was the longest I had gone without reading. I was just having a hard time finding something to start. Now I am on a roll. 

Picture time:

The kids weren't really on board with pictures. We might have to try again.

Being silly works, right? Nope.

Thomas didn't want to be there at all

This was sweet 

Taking a break 

Jack swim lessons

Luke swim lessons

Thomas summarizing summer in one picture

The main thing is-- you just gotta show up

I was reading an article/blog entry on the top 30 things you need to know if you are a mom of boys. I mean I have 3 so that totally counts. Most of the stuff you know and do anyway,  and I am thinking to myself-- oh awesome, I do that, not that, but I do that--when I hear a thump from upstairs and know something/someone has fallen. I pause for a second waiting for a noise but hear nothing. Still, I figure since all the kids are in bed, I should check it out. Turns out Thomas has fallen out of bed and is quietly crying. I pick him up, give him a kiss, hold him tight, and rock him. I rock him until the crying lessens and then I get him a drink of water, kiss him again, and tuck him back in. I think to myself, I don't need to read an article on how to raise my boys-- I just need to raise them in a way that feels right to us. I am not always an awesome mom. Sometimes I spank, sometimes I threaten to spank(even when I have no intention of doing so) just because it makes them hustle a little faster, I yell a lot more than I should, I have lost my temper and cussed at them or near them, I have had my days (weeks) when I am just tired so my parenting skills are limited to just keeping them alive- none of this fancy crafting, baking, coloring, playing, imaginary games stuff. That is ok. I accept that is ok. The main thing that I have learned from being a child and having children is that showing up is probably one of, if not the, most important thing. Just show up in their lives, be a part of their lives in some capacity, and your children will feel it. I say I love you all the time, I hug, I ask questions, I sit and look at them, I go to their school when possible to help, I read to them every day for naps and bedtime, and I listen when they need/want to talk. I'm not perfect, but they don't need me to be. At the end of the day they know I am on their team, and that means a lot. 

I also surround them with family that loves them. This weekend Meg and cousin Lily were baptized by their great-grandfather-- how amazing and special.  There was a lot of extended family and my kids were blessed with their presence. I did not take any of these pictures- they were taken by a beautiful cousin who was able to capture so many special moments of us just being together. 

Thank you to everyone who just showed up. It meant a lot. 

The Questions and other ways I get information

I am in the habit of letting the car be my zone out place. I turn on the radio and just drive in silence or maybe poorly sing along to a song. One reason for this is that my hearing is really very bad- no joke I really should get it tested and get a hearing aid, it is on my to do list- so talking to the kids in the back of the van is almost impossible. Another reason is that poor Jack has inherited my awful hearing. When we talk in the car it goes a lot like this:

 Me: "Jack, so what do you think the weather will be like tomorrow for your field trip?" Jack: "What?" Me: "The weather for your field trip-- do you think it will be nice?"

 Jack: "What?" Me: "The weather?" Jack: words I can't hear Me: "Huh?" Jack: "What?" Me: "Oh never mind." 

Now if he starts the conversation imagine me with all the whats and huhs. It is frustrating. Finally, I am not great at the conversation thing in general. Pete is good at it. He can just come up with a topic and talk and talk about it and engage the kids. Me, not so much. So a few months ago I came up with The Questions. As soon as I pick Jack up from school I ask him these questions. 1. What was the best part of your day? 2. What was the worst part of your day? 3. What is one thing that you wish you could redo? 4. What is the craziest thing that happened today? Sometimes I throw in other ones like 5. Who was the nicest to you? 6. Who were you the nicest to? 7. Who was the meanest to you? 8. Who were you the meanest to?  I get to find out more than if I just asked- How was your day? I learn a lot about the kids in his class and how he interacts with them. Now how do I hear him? Sometimes I don't. There is a lot of yelling. A lot of waiting until the car is stopped at a red light. However, since he knows the questions I ask he can sort of pick out a few words and know what I am asking, and since I know what question I asked I can kind of fill in the blanks if I miss certain words in his answer. 

 The car gets me certain information, but I get a lot of knowledge about his life because I read to him at night. He gets a bit chatty at night. I learned a friend of his told him that Pokemon were baby. Jack really enjoys Pokemon, he even brings stuffed Pokemon toys to school. A lot of kids in his class bring dolls or stuffed animals to play with at recess. Jack has invented Pokemon tag which is sort of like freeze tag but people are holding Pokemon plushes. (I think). However, the day after telling me that this friend called Pokemon baby Jack did not bring his Pokemon to school. He took them out of his backpack and instead brought a football. It made me so sad. Peer Pressure. Grr. I attempted to tell him not everyone is interested in the same things and he shouldn't stop enjoying things just because someone else doesn't like it, if you like it that is what matters. Alas, I do not think I am very good at motivational speaking. This combined with a few other things lead to the talk about what a friend is and what a friend isn't. A friend doesn't tell you to miss words on your spelling test, a friend doesn't threaten to and then actually kick you in the balls whether you spell the words correctly or not, a friend isn't mean, a friend isn't hurtful, a friend doesn't try to make your other friends sad, a friend doesn't say obscene things even after you tell him you don't like it, and etc. So I guess it was more of a what a friend isn't talk. 

It is probably good the summer break is fast approaching. It will give him time away from this friend. However, it will mean that I have to find ways to entertain him. Argh!!!!! I feel like I will be saying-- go outside and entertain yourself-- quite a lot. 

In other Weigel family updates-- Meg is a rolling machine and is even beginning to scoot. She gets her butt way up in the air and then kicks her legs some to move forward. It isn't very graceful but she is starting to get around. Thomas is in a phase where he wears his pajamas practically all day and he changes into all of his pajamas at some point during the day. He will even wear all his pajamas/clothes at the same time. Luke still likes to draw, play play dough, he loves Superman and all DC comic guys, and he is still a very tactile person. Pete told me I had to stop saying that Luke was a sensual person and start saying tactile. Fine. He likes to touch, kiss, hug, and get right in Meg's face. However, when he keeps his distance she really loves it when he gets her to say goo. He is very patient with her too, so she ends up talking to him and smiling a lot--which he loves.

Picture time.

Thomas wearing most of his pjs. Yes, there were even layers of pants.

Pete made steak with wine sauce- Luke had 4 helpings and asked to have his picture taken with it.

Jack being crazy

The only picture where her hair is tame