Oh the Inanity...or, my week so far with the 3 Amigos

I miss Evie. She's been gone 3 full days now, and while her presence isn't obviously missed - now that she's older she spends time in her room alone or downstairs playing or just doing her own thing, and the other three do a bang-up job of filling up the gap - I do miss her frequent visits to share a story, something silly she saw somewhere, or her latest dragon drawing. Two more days to go!

In the meantime, I have the Three Stooges to keep me company. Oh my heck. I expect Sarah and Jason to behave the way they do, they are not quite 4 and 5 yet. But William? Still waiting for him to act more like the 8 he almost is and less like the 5 he left behind 3 years ago. (Does that make sense? I'm confused.) Anywho. Evie's been gone since Sunday afternoon, and the Three Amigos (that's better than Stooges, right?) have been bickering ever since. Not so much Jason - although he will punch you if he feels you deserve it - but William and Sarah have been picking at each other ALL WEEK LONG. I really should record the noises Sarah makes, but I don't really want to subject anyone to all that whining and noise. It would make a great montage though, all stitched together on YouTube! (note to self: start recording Sarah's meltdowns...)

So this morning the 3 were having breakfast - Jason with no milk, 99% of the time, and Sarah never finishes hers and then is HUNGRY!!!! 40 minutes later - and I decided to capture the moment instead of getting annoyed with their giggling. They'll appreciate this down the road, I hope :) Are mealtimes like this at your house? We have a lot of up/down from the table, sillyness, and general goofiness that can get irritating. I try to ignore it as best I can, but sometimes - mainly dinner - I'd actually like to have a conversation with Matt that doesn't have to be shouted over the din. We tried sitting next to each other so we could talk, but that left the four kids too close together & we couldn't talk anyway because they were all even MORE goofy. Sigh.

I have no idea where I'm going with this. Srsly. School starts in 3 weeks and I have to say I think I'm ready - not so much for the influx of papers/routine of homework/activities all the time, but the kids at this point need more structure than they get from me. And since Jason and Sarah have discovered Webkinz World and Lego Harry Potter on the Playstation, they've almost forgotten how to play and entertain themselves. I'm thinking maybe next weekend when we head to the beach, we should leave all electronics behind. Honestly? I could unplug all the tvs and live quite happily. Just don't touch my internet :) Apple/tree? Maybe.

It's funny, they're all sleeping now and looking at these pictures I'm overwhelmed with those mom feelings of love - aren't they cute? sweet? how can they get on my nerves so much? But as my sister has said - it's hard to share your house with other people, even your family. Between the holes punched in doors from them being slammed into the doorstop to the flooded bathrooms & sharpie on the carpet, it's hard. For me anyway. I like my things to stay bright and shiny and new, always have  - I remember being completely irritated at age 7? 8? because my younger sister wrote my initials on the corners of the posters I had hanging in our shared room - backwards. And she broke the heart shaped dish I'd bought at the beach one summer, because she was messing with it. Yes I still remember that. Grudge, anyone?

So school starts in 3 weeks, and I'm looking forward to a little break from all this togetherness. Sarah and Jason start preschool on the 29th, and after almost exactly 10 YEARS - I will have a few hours in the house to myself with no kids. I'm almost giddy just thinking about it. I know 3 hours, 3 days a week isn't much, but I'll take it. Even if I just sit in a chair with my coffee and enjoy the silence.