The Great FB Migration, July 2012

July 1: Just home from "Brave," which we loved. It's not often we take the whole crew to the movies. The big screen obviously made quite the impression upon Elyas. After Dawson intoned, "Feast your eyes" in his best Scottish brogue, Elyas promptly pulled down his pants and diaper in order to moon us all. No prompting required. Oy.

It's happening!! A young man's voice begins to alter. . .

July 2: 1st meet of the season, Elyas perched upon daddy while cheering on Tucker.

July 3: To the vocal woman at the lab whom I chose not to engage in a debate: Given your very opinionated statements on the length of appropriate nursing time, number of appropriate children, and the amount of appropriate toys and activities, is it truly any wonder that your children are not interested in your appropriately timed visit offers?

July 3: Woot woot!!!! Our Big Red Bus has passed inspection with flying colors. It's a great feeling to go prepared to spend oodles and leave with just the cost of the inspection, the oil change, and rotated tires. On days like today, being a grown-up isn't so bad.

July 7: Woke up this morning with a bed full of Little Rutherfords. 4 to be exact. It was cozy!

July 7: As I am large enough these days to have my own gravitational pull . . . I must say that a pool which induces weightlessness is a Godsend.  The same pool providing activities all day for my children? Well that's just a taste of perfection.

July 9: Whew - I'm thinking it's going to be a tired day, regardless of the amount of caffeine I pump into my pregnant body. That poor, leeching boy. He isn't going to know what hit him.

July 9: 30 weeks

July 10: Conversation at the library tonight:

Rude Girl (approx age 4) to Abigail (4): "I don't like your skirt."
Abigail says nothing, so I choose to sit quietly.
RG: "And I don't like your shirt."
Abigail remains quiet.
RG: "I don't like your shoes. And I really don't like the little boot on your shoe. And I don't like your hair."
Abigail: "At least MY heart is beautiful." And she walked away.
Thanks for the valuable lesson tonight, sweetie. I needed it.

 ~ mom comment: I should note that after Abigail went to join her sister, I looked at the little girl and quietly said, "That wasn't very polite of you." Her mother swooped in and grabbed her daughter's hand before loudly speaking, "How dare you speak to my daughter that way." Hmm. Hello tree that produced the apple.
July 11:
6:30am: wake Isabelle & Tucker for math/typing before breakfast

8:30am: drop Isabelle at swim practice; return home to finish Tucker's school

10am: Tucker in the pool for practice

10:15am: Abigail & Elyas in the pool for swim lessons

11:00am: Tucker out of the water, Keats & Aidan into the water. 

11:45am: home for lunch, start twins & Isabelle's school.

1:45pm: take Isabelle & Tucker to piano lessons; Isabelle takes school with her & we go home to finish twins school

2:30pm: Scott leaves for double shift

3:15pm: pick up Isa & Tuck

3:45pm: kids make Spirit posters for tonight's swim meet.

4:45pm: be at pool for warm ups

6pm: swim meet starts

9pm: anticipated return home after meet & moonlight swim

9:30pm: tuck in swimmers $ write letters to Shelby & Dawson, who are at Camp Manatawny for the week.

10pm: pretend to read for a few moments before expected collapse into slumber.

Only 19 days to go!!!!

July 13: It's a wondrous thing when your son becomes your brother. Our Dawson was baptized tonight and while there were plenty of tears from others, Scott & I could only cheer for the sheer joyfulness of it all.

July 16 : Another Pre-Niner project is completed: coffee center stained to match the mug holder. We Rutherfords take our coffee consumption very seriously

July 16: "...then we got the call that Dawson was being baptised too, and I thought 'Aww. We can't be the cool ones for showing up, because now it's not optional.' "  Tacy to Sarah Gemmell, who was also baptized with Dawson.

July 19: Elyas is being a terror today. I actually checked for a fever, hoping to have something to blame it on! 

Another Pre-Niner project complete: the filing cabinet has been officially sorted. I go through it every year, but BOY does the paperwork pile up in that time! Between sorting, giving away, breakage, and warranty expirations, we have to empty our recycling bin.

Lowest Common Multiples take down another Rutherford. Grrrr.

When you find such a note on the white board, you realize that yes,
almost 4 hours on one lesson was time well spent.

July 20: I was putting the dribs from the batter bowl into muffin papers and it always takes me forever. I don't think I'll ever be able to wield a scraper with the deftness of my mother.

July 21: New level of movie-nerdness. Leaving for Sam's Club:
Self: What would you like to listen to on the iPod? 
Kids: Lord of the Rings the Two Towers. 
Self: The book?
Kids: Nope, the movie. We want to see if we can quote the whole thing.

July 23: So the secret to getting Elyas to do everything during swim lessons he'll do when playing with the fam? Have Keats & Aidan join him so he competes. Boys.

July 24: So I've recently discovered my penance for my flirty school ways. It is NOT that I have boy-crazy girls. It is that I have the Swoon-worthy son.

Cousining at the dive meet

July 25: Elyas learned to swim!  And t wo Little Rutherfords made it to counties: Tucker for diving and Dawson for freestyle! Popping buttons! 

I have fully enjoyed our afternoon "off." After making certain our afternoon was free for another activity, we learned that it wasn't going to happen. Instead, we lounged about in new sleeping bags, read, played piano, and FBed. It was a lovely change.

July 26: Thunderstorms, Harry Potter 7 Part 1 on BluRay, baby sampler to stitch, and tea. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. Bliss.

July 27: Project to project to project.  Just keep swimming . . . Thank goodness for Dory and her ever cheerful encouragement!

Busy weekend ahead, so we've stocked up on Rutherford Fast Food: lunch meat, store bought bread, carrot sticks, & cold cereal. The kids all said they feel like they're on vacation!

July 28: 2nd Place Best Girls Camper at Manatawny for our Isabelle, 7th Place Diver in the County for Tucker. Banner Day for the Rutherfords!

Tucker, post ceremony, clutching his trophy but already
asking how much longer til he registers for Camp!!

July 29: Dawson was 3rd Place Best Boys Camper for his week at Manatawny!!!!! (It was pointed out that in our joy over Dawson's baptism, his other achievement was overlooked.)

After changing a really gross diaper, Scott scowls at my lounging self and says,"Next time, I get to be pregnant!"

What is it that has enthralled the Little Rutherfords this Olympics? Gymnastics, swimming, cycling Nope. Female weight lifting. Weirdies.

Stand Up Paddleboard, Manatawny style

July 30: Last swim meet of the season tonight. A few more practices to go before Counties on Saturday and then our schedule slows waaaaaaaaaay down. I'm quite ready.

July 31: From women's weight lifting to white-water canoeing. These Little Rutherfords have bizarro likes. We're finding their favorite olympic coverage is constantly the final 60 minutes of every day.

The Littles have retired to the basement to watch Disney's "Robin Hood" on the usually-reserved-for-exersice-only-TV, leaving Isabelle, Dawson, and I to watch some normal Olympics together. We were left with strict instructions to call them for any weight lifting or fast water sports or anything else that just doesn't look normal.  As Keats says, "Mom - I AM a swimmer. Why is that so interesting to watch?"

The Great FB Migration, June 2012

June 1: Vacuuming the house with 9 children is it is sort of like trying to patch the first hole in the Titanic while it continues to hit the iceberg. Sigh.

Tonight's reading list? Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Taming of the Shrew, & the Kenmore Front Loading Automatic Washer Use & Care Guide.  There is something to be said for eclectic variety.

June 2: Wondering what the possibilities are that I'll be the sweet granny who gives the grand kids a cookie and then follows them around the house with a Platinum DustBuster.

June 4, photo shoot with Shelby.

June 5: How does Scott remember our niece, Dylan's birthday? Why, it's the same day he received his new Weber Genesis 310 Grill. Priorities, people!!

June 6: Piano and finish your papers day! Glad to be wrapping this school year up.

How you know your homeschooling is working: Your 9 year old can be heard exclaiming loudly at breakfast, "I can't wait to try my new math today!! Mom, you are going to load it, right? You're not making me wait until next week, right?"

June 6: Elyas and his trusty iPad hiding behind the curtain.

Final paper completed and 4 portfolios nice & official, ready to go. About 50% of our next year's paperwork & set-up is complete. My eye is twitching, but we did it!!!

June 6: Elyas pooling it.

June 7: It's hard to believe that it's been 12 years since our darling Isabelle joined our family. She has added so much to our daily lives. Thank you, Isabelle, for the gift of you! Happy birthday, kiddo!

June 9: 4 Little Rutherfords all in a row.
Out to the garden, they started to go.
Mama said, "Wait - you don't look quite right."
Thermometer said, "You just lay down and sit tight."
Tylenol, Advil, popsicles galore,
It seems that their misery increases the more.
TiVo and Redbox, they help do the trick,
When so many Rutherfords wind up sick.

June 10: Kid's closet set up and moved in.

June 10: Kid's closet complete

June 11: Yay!!! Portfolios complete, evaluated, and ready to be handed in. And next year's paperwork will be handed in at the same time. Now to enjoy the next 12 months learning with the crew. Contented sigh.

June 12: Family Favs Playlist: Jonas Brothers "Love Bug" followed by the theme to "Robin Hood:Prince of Thieves" followed by The Bee Gees "Staying Alive" followed by Ray Charles singing "Georgia" rounded out by the theme from "Jaws." Gotta love hearing the mish mash of personalities shining through our music!

Just discovered that Dawson (born Aug. 17) & Abigail (born Aug. 25) were both due Sept. 15. And just when is Niner due? Sept. 15. Drat. I'll bet we have another August birthday coming.

June 13: Pardon me, dear children, exactly why is our brand new, heavy duty,
child-proof curtain rod ripping the screws from the wall?"

"Why Mother, were simply playing Tarzan. We thought you would approve due
 to the literary reference and increased imagination required!"

June 13: This was taken in one of our favorite alley-way cut thrus in Annapolis.

June 13: Boys' Room Redo. 5 beds and counting.

June 14: Doing my plank stance tonight and I realized my stomach is not too far from the ground. Time to pull out the pregnant yoga DVD!

June 17: Dawson just received a one-way ticket to summer dullness. Major ankle sprain has now ended all his swimming and running for the next 6 weeks. He's coming home from the ER with a fresh set of crutches. Looks like his newly purchased Nook was God's own timing!

June 18: Vindication. The ultimate definition is watching my calm, cool, and collected husband lock, load, and fire on the kids when he finally understood just how much havoc they wrecked during their two hour mess-fest on Saturday morning while systematically repairing everything today. And he just thought I was over reacting . . . (See curtain rod pulled out picture for more information.)

June 20: Oh my!! Not the best day for our AC to stop working.

June 21: Miserable night here in the castle. Hot and sticky, Elyas also seems to have caught a bug because he began vomiting about 3 am. Several of us wound up in the living room with the back door open and a fan to pull in any air whatsoever while watching The Return of the King. I may just kiss the AC man when he arrives in 45 minutes!

June 21 family walk

Note to self: I don't care how hungry you are. Three pieces of pizza plus a baby does not a comfortable midsection make.

June 22: I think our kids (well, maybe the Brannon crew too) are the only ones who hear "Why don't you go watch Lord of the Rings for a few minutes" and they react as if you just offered them the most decadent dessert of all time!

June 23: Systematically throwing/pushing each Little Rutherford into the pool was surprisingly therapeutic. It also makes me wonder what the heat did to their brains since all of them were surprised and it's not exactly like I'm stealthy these days.

June 24: To the dorfwad who was driving at .5 MPH while animatedly chatting on you cell phone, my children say thank you. They appreciate greatly that I was yelling at someone who was NOT THEM. Seriously: a green light means go, not mosey while you finish your thought.

comment from Uncle Scott~ Thanks to the exasperated mom who has challenged us to up our games when coming up with non-sensical, kid-friendly names to call people who suck at life.

June 26: 

Totally busted at the OB appt yesterday. 

1. I forgot to up my water intake before the appointment, so they were well aware that my only fluids were a cup of coffee that morning. 
2. I didn't do my labs. When I stated that none of the other pregnancies have resulted in gestational diabetes, I was given "the look" and told to get my labs done. And Scott is going to be checking to make sure I actually do it. 
3. It doesn't matter that I think I can wait until August to begin my every 2 week visits. It's the doctor's thought that count. 
Geesh. So much for being cagey and experienced.

My husband rocks. Seriously. Lying in a semi-comatose state while listening to him learn to play guitar and I'm struck yet again with the awareness that he.is.awesome.

June 28: I just had to go into the boys' room to chastise their naughtiness. They paused their Audio CD book of Harry Potter to listen. 
Self: "If I must come in a second time, your tape is off for the night. Understood?"
Murmurs of yes ma'am. Then: "Mom, what's a tape?"

June 30: What do you get when you have, Pink, Adorable, and So So So beautiful???
Dylan Grace Dubach.