Bed Head

Grace is like Marian in just about every way.  She looks just like Marian did at this age.  She talks incredibly well for her age, just like Marian did.  And just like Marian, she is my best sleeper.  

She'll sleep anywhere.

And the best part is that she stays asleep.  Something Grant, Lucy, and even Jack haven't quite mastered yet

Perhaps her impressive sleeping skills are the reason for her equally impressive bed head.  

Sit back, relax, and enjoy Grace's presentation of "bed-head"

Enjoy!

...and your welcome

"I'm so excited about my hair!"

"I'll just rest for a minute and look even cuter"

"Excuse me while I zone out for a minute"

"I dare you to brush this out"

"Yep!  My hair looks awesome in the mornings!"

And we're back

We've been back to school for over a month and the kids are in the thick of it and mostly loving it.  We lucked out in the teacher department which always makes a HUGE difference.

Jack could barely pause to smile the first day of school he was so excited to go.  He has the same teacher he had in 2nd grade and we ALL love her!

The particulars about which Pughs were actually going to school were of no interest to Grant.  He wore his Thomas the Tank back pack several days in a row in hopes of getting to go to school.  No luck.  He does however often escape with the school crowd to run (sometimes dressed sometimes not) to say hello to our crossing guard friend down the street. (Thank you Valaine for keeping with you till I notice he's gone.  And thank you for not calling DCFS)

Evidence to suggest that Jack and Marian don't fight EVERY second they are together.

I'm still not totally convinced.

Marian informed me this was the one day of the year I could put a bow in her hair.  Bow or not she is the cutest 2nd grader I know!  The fact that she LOVES to pose for pictures is a bonus.

love Love LOVE that toothless grin!!!

Lucy started Kindergarten a few days later!  She loved the first day so much, she asked if she could go again!  After going again...and again... and again... her enthusiasm has waned a little but once she gets there I think she really likes it. 

 Lucy is in the afternoon class so she has all morning to mother her little babies who love her so much!

This face kills me!  I am never too keen on getting character backpacks (except Thomas the Train apparently) but Lucy was so in love with this Doc McStuffins number I couldn't resist!  I'll have to get a picture of the back side so we can remember it in all it's glory.

Jack, Marian, and Lucy are at school, the babies are napping...were napping, Grant just came down to express need of a diaper change and the end of school bell is about to ring which means I'm about to turn back into a pumpkin so here's to a great year and hopefully a few more months of the twins napping.  Grant, I'm talking to you my friend!

I don't want to forget...

There seemed to be an extra amount of cuteness and sweetness in our home this week.  Maybe I was just paying better attention or maybe the stars aligned.  Either way I want to capture it here because I don't want to forget the little things that happened like...

• Lucy, standing in the hallway doing the "hula" with her eyes crossed in an attempt to make me laugh while I was rocking Gracie to sleep.  (Lucy totally succeeded)

• Marian spending hours,  and I mean HOURS people in front of the mirror trying to extract her loose front tooth without inflicting any pain on herself.  She was adamant that no one could be in the bathroom with her while she was working on it.  I swear it was the loosest  still attached tooth ever.  She finally lured that tooth out and Marian's toothless smile is about the cutest thing ever.

• As I was cleaning up dinner this week I casually said to Grant, "ok buddy let's go take a bath".  He threw both arms into the air and yelled YES! with as much enthusiasm as a 2 year old can muster.  (for those of you who aren't familiar with 2 year olds...that's a lot of enthusiasm

• Jack has been cooking up a storm and for two days in a row has been  whipping up delicious fresh off the stove quesadillas for lunch.  He eats about 8 himself because apperently he is getting ready to grow about 2 feet.  The boy has been a bottomless pit lately!

• Grant came into his room this week just after I'd converted his crib into a toddler bed (being in the crib contained him for about 0.5 seconds then he'd spend the rest of the night crying on the floor because he couldn't get back into the crib...so it was time)  He immediately climbed into the bed, lay down on the pillow, pulled the blankets over himself and began to snore a very convincing snore.  (I think he's been listening to Chad.  Sorry babe it's true, you totally snore).

• Before heading to the BYU Blue and White game we stopped at Ripples in Provo for burgers and hot dogs Friday night.  Marian was completely devastated to find that they had put ketchup mustard AND relish on her hot dog.  Oh the humanity!  Without saying a word Jack took her hot dog, scraped off all the offending condiments, and sweetly coaxed her into eating the entire thing.

• Grace has become a bit of a parrot.  It's especially hilarious when she mimics Chad while he's on the phone with someone.  Grace does a great Chad impersonation

• Every week when we walk into our church's sacrament meeting Grant immediately starts yelling for his 10 year old cousin Abby who is in our same ward (congregation).  Grant loves Abby.  We all love Abby. If you knew Abby you'd love her too.  Just not as much as Grant does.  We quickly made it too our seats with only a few shouts of "Abby!!!" from Grant before he hurried up the aisle to where Abby was sitting.  When he got to her he couldnd't contain his excitement any longer and let out one last ABBY!!!  only this time it was so loud the entire congregation started laughing.  Including me.  It was awesome.

My Motherhood Manual

Every once in a while I have a major mom melt down.  By every once in a while I basically mean once a week.  At least.  I keep saying to Chad I wish I could just stop time for a week while I catch my breath, recharge my batteries and get organized!  A girl can dream right?

If I could have a manual to refer to on how to successfully navigate all the ins and outs of mothering these 5 wonderful and wonderfully exhausting children..that would be awesome.  Sometimes I feel like I totally relate to the Old Woman in the Shoe!  If only a bit of broth, bread and a kiss before bed did the trick.  Although there is a lot of wisdom in that now that I think of it.  Feed them, give them a little love and affection and then send them to bed.  Not a terrible strategy but I need more guidance.

 There have definitely been bits of wisdom and good advice that I have gleaned from watching and learning from amazing mothers and I've decided it would be helpful to me if I compiled that wisdom in a list.  This is by no means a comprehensive list and it is most definitely not a list of things I always do.  Rather a list of things I have done from time to time that ALWAYS gives positive results.  My own "How to raise 5 Pughs" manual if you will.

Here it is:

1. Sit down and read to my kids.  Reading to them in their bed is the best for some reason.
2. Do crafts with my kids. Lucy's favorite thing to do with me is color!
3. Play games with my kids (Jack is in love with Stratego right now.  Marian loves Farkle, Lucy is always good for a game of UNO and the babies love a round or 2 (or 200) of hide and seek
4. Lunch dates.  Magic has happened when I've taken Jack, Marian, and Lucy on a 1 on 1 lunch date.  Corner Bakery has been our restaurant of choice.
5. Tell 3 things I loved about them during the day.  Jack is in love with this little ritual and it guarantees we end the night on a happy and positive note!  Plus I'm pretty sure I'm always low on the positive to negative comments ratio so this is a good reminder to me to look for the good and mention it!
6. Pull out my charm necklace with all the kids names on it (I'm usually wearing it) and go through the names and kiss the charm with the name of the child in my lap.
7. Love you beads!  Marian has a few bead necklaces and bracelets and occasionally I'll sit her down on my lap and go through the beads saying one thing I love about her on every bead.  This also works great using their fingers instead of beads.
8. 1-2-3 Magic!  Best parenting book for me.  When I really follow it I am SO much better at keeping my cool.  Less talk, more action!
9. A hug and a kiss and an I love you!  My Grandma Jean started this tradition and my kids love it!  I notice my kids seem to melt into my arms when I remember to do this before they leave or when they come home.
10. Write them notes!  Marian and Lucy write Chad and I several notes every week...clearly a way they show love!  They get so excited when we write them back.  Even though Jack isn't much of a note writer...I found out last week that he keeps ALL the notes I write him so I think it's safe to say he likes getting them too.
11. Pray with my kids and listen to them pray before bed.
12. Rub their backs.  My kids get so calm when I do this so heaven knows why I don't do it all the time!
13. Prepare my kids for events and expectations.  Things seem to go much more smoothly when I let my kids know what we are doing and what it expected of them.  Even short car rides to Grandma's house can be disastrous if I don't remind them not to fight, yell, or scream at each other during the epic 15 minute drive.
14. Have dinner early...like 5:00 or 5:30.  Then there is time afterward for the bonding bedtime routines.  Otherwise 8:00 hits, no one is in bed and getting everyone into bed as fast as possible is the only thing on my mind!
15. More screen time usually leads to a major melt down when the screen is turned off.  For some reason with my kids it's like trading what I want most (cheerful happy kids) for what I want at the moment (peace and quiet).  I rarely regret taking a few minutes to get them interested in something else...or better yet spending a few minutes with them myself!  Someone once told me, if you give your kids 15 minutes of attention, they will give you an hour of independent play!

I'm sure I will add to and change this list many times.  But it already feels good to have it as a reference for the next time I feel totally overwhelmed. You know...like tomorrow!