Not so adventures of the St. Clair clan...

 We met a group of friends for a playdate/mom date today, but before we left the house Fischer urgently asked me to send one of the mom's a text.  So I did: C an you ask your son to bring his handcuffs today?   After all, how can you play cops and robbers without handcuffs?  At the playdate, we concluded that this is the only phase in their lives where that request isn't weird.   The kids played hard and loud for two hours.  It was exactly what the doctor ordered after seemingly endless days of snow and rain.  While the kids played, the ladies and I went ahead and solved all the world’s problems.  You're welcome for that.  Then we gathered up our various offspring and headed back to reality.     Sawyer and Fischer sped through their school work.  The outdoors were calling.  They then had to re-do their school work because speeding doesn't actually get it done faster if you don't do it right.  Life lessons are har...

I posted this picture on Instagram today because I thought it was pretty.   It rained hard all day long today so the boys and I needed an extra project to do indoors.  Naturally, we made marshmallows.  Because, why not?  I made a hot chocolate mix courtesy of Martha Stewart and put it all together for an afternoon snack.  It sounds dreamy.  Even to me.   The reality is, in order to take this picture, I had to shove a tower of dirty lunch dishes into the sink, and do a substantial crop job to avoid showing my kitchen floor which was covered in toys and kinetic sand.  I was also ignoring my kids who kept calling my name.  Furthermore, that mug in the top corner...it got dumped in the sink because the kid who was supposed to receive it threw an enormous fit over his school work.  No work = no treats.   All this to say, don't believe everything you see. Also, it turns out, it's never too wet to go outside.  

 I think we may have accidently opened the wardrobe and landed in eternal winter.  I don't remember another winter when we have had as many snowy days.  When a window of dry weather presents itself, we are all busting a move to spend the time outside.  It's gotten a little stuffy and grouchy indoors.   Today, mercifully, was a day to get some energy burned off outside. I went straight for the garden.  The girls were napping, and the boys found themselves on our gravel pile.  They spent some time throwing rocks and chatting about who knows what.  Eventually, the rocks became bombs and imaginary bad guys hid behind trees and in the grass below them.  I heard an explosion, followed by "Got him!"  Another explosion ripped through the air.  Fighter jets flew overhead.  More gun fire was exchanged and another bomb exploded just out of range!  "They're coming," Fischer yelled. "I'll get them!" Sawyer responded throwing a gr...

 "I not want dinner," Carter told me tonight.  There were about six plain spaghetti noodles on her plate, a tablespoon of meat and mushrooms on the side and three tiny cubed beets.   She drank her milk.   "I not want dinner, I full," she said again. To which I replied, "You're full?  Then you probably don't have room for any dessert, like ice cream." "I have room here.  And here." She told me as she lifted each arm and pointed just below her armpits.   She is pretty convincing, but this isn't my first rodeo, so I told her she'd have to do better than that.  She ate a noodle.  Gagged on a beet.  Spit out a piece of meat her brother tried to convince her to eat.  She is stubborn.  So am I.  She didn't get the ice cream.   I think her brother's were more beat up about it than she was.  Fischer knows  what it's like to sit and watch everyone else eat dessert.  He was desperate to get her...

 We all need reminders from time to time.  In the process of homeschooling two kids part time, while trying to keep four kids out of the ER full time, it's good to be reminded of why we did this to ourselves...I mean, why we chose this lifestyle for our family.  Today, was a day of good reminders.   The boys had the larger portion of their school work done by 8:30 this morning.  We did some quick clean up around the house, and they headed outside while I baked a quick batch of scones.  Friends arrived at 9:45.  This is a group of kids we have been having playdates with since Sawyer was three.  Playdates are fewer and farther between now, but we are still able to make them happen in the middle of a weekday morning when schedules align.  It's a blessing. The kids immediately began building shelters and outdoor "latrines" (Sawyer's word, not mine).  They tracked animals and looked for a place to build a fire if they should be trapped i...