One HEK of a time

 Is there a more sure sign of spring then when the street sweepers get to work?  And is there anything more distracting to a toddler than a big machine? Or more exciting then getting to wear thin enough mittens to actually hold on to your handlebars? E has actually been able to do some braking finally and we’re having to start really walking at a good clip to keep up with her. Got to love that bare pavement! Side note: K has suddenly decided she no longer likes riding in the chariot if she is the least little bit awake. Wish us luck🤞

 There’s a few playgrounds in town that I would love to visit with my kids more often. But unfortunately everyone else has the same idea. My advice? Go during breakup season. All the fair weather families are still just getting the idea that is nice enough to be outside while my children are actively shedding mittens and questioning their jackets. things are WAY less crowded. We hadn’t been to this particular place for almost a year so it was fun to see how much more confident and capable H had become since the last time. Plus the up side of going to a playground once in a while is the chance to sit down on a real bench to try and nurse the screaming baby that was supposed to be napping 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️

 Sometimes you go to your kids room and remind them very clearly that it’s time for bed and there’s no room for negotiation. Then ten minutes later your husband spots not one but THREE moose in the backyard so you go back in to drag them to the window to watch. Best quotes from the window sill- E after a full minute of single unconnected words and babble because she’s so excited “it eating grass!!!” H “I think that we will have moose in our yard EVERY night because we have lots of grass” E “where baby moose? That baby mama moose!” Me “so are we ever getting to bed tonight?” H (calmly and very matter of fact) “I don’t think so”

 We were supposed to do a sandy, muddy beach day for digging with friends but it turned out we got 4+ new inches of snow. I went back and forth about if it was snowsuit weather or rain suit with layers weather. So we ended up with everything in the car which made for a bit of mess but oh well. It’s just that awkward time of year. Gear not withstanding the kids thoroughly enjoyed playing in the snow and climbing on to the ice chunks. The big hit though was when one of the older kids wandered back to the slope we had descended and started sliding. Pretty soon the entire group was there and had essentially created their own luge run! I was really impressed by how well everyone did taking turns, essentially there were zero crashes and really only the younger toddlers cluelessly kept getting in the way 😅 (I’m talking about you E!) The kids would give it a 10 out of 10 even with getting a little damp. Turns out H’s rain suit is not as waterproof as it once was and E…well she might have ...

 Best bike accessories for a kiddo? A basket! Bells break. Much to the devastation of the child who just got it and “loved that bell!!”. But a basket lets you put all the mittens and layers they want to shed during spring inside instead of carrying them yourself! Now I just need to remember to put the water bottle cages on for the season….

 The point of having multiple children is so you can dress them all matchy matchy correct? 😅 Also our Grovia diapers are still going strong 3 kids in!

Some days everything falls into place. The baby nurses and falls asleep (peacefully) just in time to leave her with the sitter.  The toddler is excited about your plan to have her go play in the back yard…. Without you! The preschooler actually tries (without hesitation!) and likes the new food you serve at dinner. Even the dog cooperates for getting out of the house. Ok so that one isn’t unusual but still it felt good😅 And instead of being able to enjoy it all you spend most of time waiting for 💩 to hit the 🪭. Sincerely, A mom with a little baby who finally slept a decent stretch at night and now all I can think about is if she’s coming down with something 🤦‍♀️

 The other day I realized my husband was waiting (while the baby napped even!) to start cleaning until I could get the kids out if the house. Yeah no. There are plenty of things that are mostly impossible to do with kids underfoot but vacuuming and cleaning the bathroom are not on the list. Especially since we’ve really been trying to press home to H that we’re having him do all these tasks (like hanging up his jacket and bringing dishes to the kitchen) because we’re doing other things for the household (putting away the dry mittens and washing the dishes). So we started cleaning the house and guess what happened? The kids ended up joining in. They quit running in circles (ok so honestly we told them to do this after E ran in to the vacuum but they clearly saw the logic 😅). They quit squabbling (mostly). And they honestly helped. E vacuumed up the crumbs by their kitchen and H took care of the area around daddy’s desk. He also had to cone join me in the bathroom after fighting wit...

 I’ve been trying to do more intentional activities and exposing my kids (especially 4 year old H) to the many Montessori materials I have saved up from teaching. I taught in the classroom for 7 years before staying home. Being in a classroom is hard. You have so many different children that you’re in charge of connecting with and helping to become the best little person they can be. No pressure. Oh and you have essentially zero control over the rest of their life and it has a HUGE influence. How much they sleep, what they eat, if they get enough cuddles, if they get a chance to run and play, etc. So I figured it would be easier to introduce materials and practice concepts with my own children. After all, I’m the same person who pulled it off pretty well with a class of 20 and I also get to start at a younger age and work with them all day every day (not like in an overkill way but in a take advantage of opportunities way). Plus I only had 1 child to worry about really. Yeah, total...

Ok so it’s not quite mud season aka breakup here in anchorage quite yet but temps near the 40’s mean it’s time to break out the rain gear to play. We got a recommendation from a friend about an access point down to the flats along turnagain arm and went to check it out the other evening. It was such a different play space from our usual areas. The big kids loved climbing on all the driftwood and digging in the sand once we got further out. Now I just need to perfect our dirty clothing system for the van 🤔