In the Groove...

We're back in town and all is, well, pretty well. As you may have read, Kees went to the emergency room on Saturday night because he couldn't breathe. It was scary but he is fine now.

Because of my late night on Saturday, Sunday was really hard. I was almost dopey with exhaustion. It was a gorgeous day to say the least. It was about 65 with bright sun on the front deck. We agreed that out of the past 3 weeks this was the best weather we had experienced. We love Portland and the northwest. We unpacked and basically hung around the house. We did go to Costco because there was nothing to eat in our house. At least nothing fresh. At 4:30 our friends the Stewarts came over for dinner. I was tired but we needed our friends. It had been 3 weeks or more! The kids were all happy to see one another and the grown ups were too.

When it came time to make dinner Julie just looked at me and said, "What can I do? Why don't you come in and talk to me and I'll cook." Usually I would have said, "No, no. You're my guest." This time I just gave in. I was afraid if I welded a knife I might have dismembered myself. I was that tired. We had dinner, Julie made a great potato salad and there were some other fruits and fresh veggies. Honestly it's like a dream, I barely remember what we ate but I know it was fun.

Monday was the first day with out daddy in a while. The kids all woke up and were really confused, "Where's daddy?" Me, "At work" And them, looking like I was crazy, "WHY?" Ahhhh, perhaps to pay for all that fun we just had? Hummmm?

I packed a little lunch and we went to the wading pool across the street. The kids were so excited you'd think they never got spend time in the water, you know, like the past 3 weeks in the greatest pools in the world at the Atlantis! Of course their excitement made me really happy that they enjoy being in our neighborhood so much. At the wading pool there is a lot to do. There is an arts and crafts table with different things every day. There are board games and big games like table tennis and tennis racquet's to play on the courts right there. There is a big play ground and then the usual stuff, reading, chatting with friends and splashing in the wading pool. It really is great. Sometimes they bring a climbing wall. Those are exciting days!

Later in the day we went to pick up my friend Jennifer (Niebergall) Noreen. We were friends from high school and I saw her for about 15 minutes, 10 years ago, once. This does not change the fact that she is my good friend and I have missed her. We picked up where we left off only now we had new subjects to talk about. Family, work, life, goals etc. She marched into my house like we had never been apart. I asked, "Have you had lunch?" She said, "No" She peeked in the fridge, said, "Chicken and cheese. Oh, can I have some potato salad?" (left over from the night before. Thanks Julie. She loved it.), she walked to look at my pictures in the hall and said, "Lettuce, mayo, tomato and onion if you have it." I was laughing so hard to myself. Seriously, like we'd never been apart. And she knew inherently that I was happy to do it. We had lunch, sat out on the deck and talked for a couple hours. She is hoping to move here from Texas. That would be great.

Monday night???? I don't remember. It WAS two days ago.

Tuesday.... The kids got up again and were still confused , "Where is daddy?" Same conversation as the day before about work. Sophia finally got to see her buddy Claire....for an 8 hour play date. The boys were with me. My buddy Mary Ann tried to take them to the park but they were whinny and Coulter claimed he was going to throw up. When I saw him I said, "Go ahead and throw up." He didn't. I think he was faking. It got him so much attention the week before in the Bahamas. They were good at home until Kees fell apart and had to take a nap. Coulter got to watch some TV. This is a big deal in the middle of the day at our house. I was in the kitchen making some staples for our house. The tomato part for Bruschetta, tzatziki, hard boiled eggs, tuna salad. You know the basics. I was glad to be back in the kitchen. I also did 6 loads of laundry and made a great ginger, soy chicken for dinner. Yum... Later the kids went swimming, I read my book and it was a quiet night. We folded laundry and reclaimed our bedroom.

And today.... I was hoping to sleep in a bit. The kids are still on East Coast Time and that is not good for me. Sophia was up first at about 7 and the boys followed shortly after. I started hearing rumblings at about 7:30. There was some sort of disagreement. Coutler came running up stairs to report, "Sophia, is...." And then he went into some sort dolphin talk whiny noise. I have no idea what he was talking about but obviously Sophia was the jerk (in his mind) that started the problem. I called Sophia. She said that she wasn't going to get him cereal in a bag because he could get it himself. I was NOT happy with this. I told her to get him some because it was much harder for him because he couldn't reach it. 3 minutes later more squeaking noise, dolphin talk. I yell, "SOPHIA!!!! COULTER!!!! GET UP HERE!" I tell her to help Coulter. This time. Get this... Coulter brought the cereal and set it in front of her. She tried to turn the channel with the remote but couldn't because the cereal was in her way. She told Coulter to, "Move the thing, the thing, the thing." He didn't know what the thing was. She was yelling, "The THING." You need to know that the THING was a foot in front of her. Just a mere bend of the waist would have brought her close enough to the THING to rectify the problem or perhaps moving her hand to the left or right to go around the THING. I storm downstairs and shout in my biggest voice, "STOP IT!!! YOU ARE MAKING ME CRAZY" (Let's be honest. I was crazy before but this is really pushing my over the edge.) I used everything they taught me when I was singing opera. Projection, full volume, fill the room...I did. They knew I was serious. The punishment for their being brats was TV OFF for the day and if they complain THE WEEK! This is a bummer because we are going to the beach today and they'll be in the car for 2 hours with no TV. Torture just like when I was a kid.

And as I write Kees is upstairs crying. He dumped out all the Tinker toys and is now refusing to pick them up. He has been consistent. He's been up there for almost an hour crying and saying, "I can't do it by myself." and my favorite, "Why do I have to do everything?" That is hilarious. Wait....wait.... He just came down and said, "I did it mommy." Coulter went up to inspect and said, "Oh yeah baby. You did really good." Then, "MOM HE DID IT!!! HE DID REALLY GOOD." Progress.

My kids were totally indulged and are now in recovery. Like a 12 step program for coming off of too much fun. Cutting down to the basics is great but the stress on me is awful. They act like I am a total jerk. I can see the light though. Sophia is writing a story and the boys are playing in their room. I am getting my kids back instead of those spoiled crazy kids I don't know. There always seems to be a lot of screaming and crying that goes on for a couple days but I can see improvement and this makes me really happy.

Next beach time and no TV. If they're not back to their regular selves after this I may have to hire the Super Nanny. I pray we're getting back in the groove.