Rehobeth Beach

It still feels like winter but the family can wear coats to the beach, right?



We loaded up the kids to take advantage of free room and board at an entirely too nice spot for our posse. Check out Cade and Ruby in their robes toasting a room all to themselves.



Ashton wasn't feeling too bad about his situation -- his room adjoined ours and since he didn't have Cade and Ruby to contend with, he controlled morning cartoons.



Wyatt thought he'd spread in my king size bed. That lasted ten minutes. But look at how he's clapping, he's so excited to be given the chance.



We scootered down to the boardwalk.



Cade built this big sandcastle for two hours, hoping it would withstand the surf.



He didn't count on Wyatt jumping and thrashing it.



Ashton combed the beach looking for things unusual and disgusting -- giant molted crab shells, seaweed that looks like beetles...



And Ruby added to her seashell collection and got so warm in the process she ditched her coat!


Every night we stayed up late, putting the kids down in shifts, and playing games with those who remained. The kids loved it.

Jeremy and I can't believe we have kids big enough to play nertz with...that we've graduated from Candyland. Taking a trip like this reminded me of how fun and funny my kids are. Sometimes it takes leaving the cooking, the mail, the housework, the schedule, the phone, and the computer to discover just who my family is. And I like them. A lot.

Highlights

We made it through the week, or should I say month, of an absentee father.
I don't know how he does it. The first two weeks he was commuting to New York. The following two weeks he was working until four in the morning every night in a row to write some opinion(s) or something. It was crazy. I'd stir in bed sometime around one, two in the morning and find him still not home, start to worry about his drive back, then fall asleep. He's a superstar.

But on Friday the case settled, he picked up the kids from school (SURPRISE), and we're a real family, on our way to the beach to use up some of those exclusive suites the firm reserved for the trial that is no more.

We limped through the last week with the normal excitement:


CADE took second place in the pi number contest. I don't know how; I never saw him practice or memorize a thing, but on Friday he recited 43 of the decimal numbers that follow 3.14.....He came home with a candy bar (that Ashton snuck and ate this morning) and a whole lot of pride.


RUBY worked on her to do list (which I secretly found!)
1. Help mom around the house
2. Play with Wyatt
3. Clean my room
4. Be shy
5. Pretend not to like HIM
Explanation: new boy from school, Ruby thinks "shy" is the way to get his attention (?!?What?!?); room is never clean, ambitious plan to help mom around house.



ASHTON has no money to pay back Cade for eaten candy bar.


He steps in wet paint and denies it. After checking everyone's feet we find paint on the bottom of his cowboy boots, and paint everywhere he has walked including climbing into Jeremy's car. Steals Wyatt's blanket and runs. Freaks out during a family card game because he never gets the Rook card...This is only Saturday. Dare I count backwards and reflect on his week?



WYATT ate a bar of soap and taught himself a lesson. Don't think he'll be doing that again. It's hard to cry with so many bubbles coming out of your mouth.

Wow

Jeremy and I watched Ruby in Oliver this past weekend with wonder and amazement.

I could hardly believe that was My little girl up there acting and singing away, comfortable as can be, shaking her head, pounding the table, stomping her feet, licking up imaginary gruel...wow. What an orphan.



Sure, I've seen the drama before.



Like here. Right before we left for the performance. Her quesadilla wasn't hot enough.

Or how about when we were leaving rehearsal last week the asst. director told me she's had the hardest time getting Ruby to stop crossing her legs -- she's so feminine. And she just won't stop smiling. I loved it.

But when we got in the car, Ruby was in tears. "Maybe I just shouldn't be in the show if I can't even act like a boy. I must be no good." blah, blah, blah.

Loving and compassionate mother that I am, "Yeah. I guess you just shouldn't do it, huh?"

So...I had an inkling she had it in her, that she would love the experience, the camraderie of a cast, the growth that comes from an audition and multiple performances, but wow.



And then the second best part of the show was the finale; all the orphans walking out for their bows, all in a line, all staring blankly toward the crowd, EXCEPT for Ruby, smile stretching across her face like it was a beauty pagaent. She just couldn't hold it in anymore.

Playing Favorites

There's been a lot of love going around the Anderson home thanks to Wyatt.

Every morning he wakes up with a designated favorite family member. The person whose name he calls from the crib must pick him up. No one else can. Then that lucky person lugs him around all day, eats meals by him, and is the only person who can give him his sippy cup, pacifier, or whatever else floats his boat.


Funny that all the kids go crazy when he picks them for a day.

And this morning he picked Ashton for the first time.


He must have forgotten how Ashton colored on his forehead with a highlighter as he sat helplessly in his bouncy seat at two months old. Or how Ashton will unlock the wheels of his highchair and spin him in circles until he screams. Or all the weapons Ashton has fired point blank at this soft little body. Wyatt's most repeated sentence is something to the tune of, "Ashin. Stop IT!"

But this morning Wy awoke yelling for Ash, his "broder" and it's been "broder Ashton" all day.

Ashton loves the attention. When I picked the boys up from child care at the gym the worker said, "Wow, that boy (Ashton) just can't stop kissing his brother. He's so tender and sweet." My kid?

Then this afternoon Ashton made the two of them a fort out of sofa cushions and read Wyatt a story. The magic continued until bedtime.


Tomorrow will probably be back to normal. But I'll take a break where I can get it.

Creativity

Jeremy left for NYC for two weeks and I drove straight to HomeGoods...had a little fever burning in me to finish some projects, decorate the house, and CREATE. Came home with a mirror for my bedroom and three lamps. I thought I was going to give myself a hernia getting that 100 lb. monstor over the dresser and onto the anchors I screwed into the drywall, but not one to wait for Jeremy -- I did it! Looks luverly.



Next I HAD to do something about our ceiling light. Hated it when we moved in 3 1/2 years ago so when I painted the ceiling last summer I threw away the shade. I thought staring at three bulbs and a garrish gold stem would compel me to find something new, but I couldn't. Been searching high and low for the right fixture with no luck. So back to Homegoods I went (they should be paying me for this free advertising) and bought a $30 lamp, disassembled it, and reworked a fixture for my ceiling. Then I painted the stem and ceiling plate copper. Voila!



Feeling the taste of sucess I next moved to Ruby's bathroom wall, an area studded with nail holes and looking quite lonely. I found an old frame, spray painted it pink (cause that's the color I had in the garage), and then printed this cool image off an online Japanese calendar onto linen paper. Cute Cute.



Next I decided to hunt Goodwills until I found this awful $10 chair.



But three coats of glossy white and some awesome fabric found at www.jcarolinecreative.com later. Love my new kitchen desk chair.



All this was done just in time for the Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet, "the Magic of Cub Scouts." It took me entirely too long to track down the pieces for these centerpieces and I never could find black plastic top hats (thus the black buckets), AND thid Being Delaware of course I had to traverse six party stores to find enough blue tablecloths, but sucess.



I through all the commotion I re-realized I really love to create. Love seeing the patterns and texture of a fabric and having ideas spring to mind. Love finding new products that make creating easier/more professional looking. Love the feeling of satisfaction when I do something myself. And love the ways these ideas translate into house and into me.

Still to come: baptism dress for Ruby, invitation to baptism, and a baby blanket. Can't wait!