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

Our boys.  They play together, they fight together.  They are doing the brother thing all day every day.  Harassing, picking, being victims, being instigators.  Sawyer is usually blamed for things because he A) doesn't tattle on people, B) doesn't try to hide what he's doing, and C) will admit to doing whatever it is he has done.  Fischer.  Fischer tattles, screams, cries, lies, and sneaks.  But he has really beautiful eyes and can turn on the waterworks like an A-list actor.  Plus, he's younger and has only recently come into his own.  He gets away with a lot.  Instead of just reacting to his older brother, Fischer has started dishing it back a little. I got a text from Ross a few weeks ago that went like this: Fischer is hiding pretend (read: non-existent) eggs for Sawyer to find.  So far, Sawyer hasn't found any, but he's determined to.   Fischer keeps telling him he's close!    Poor Sawyer never did f...

A little girl lives across the street from our house.  She's probably nine-years-old.  To our five-year-old, that makes her a big girl.  And he LOVES big girls.  He's fascinated and a little.....okay a lot....obsessed with them.  Case in point, he met his cousin's older cousin two and a half years ago, and he still talks about her, wants to call her, invite her to his birthday, and visit her all. the. time.  He has met her ONCE.  She was sweet, truly.  But he begged to name his sister's after her, obsessed.      Anyway, this neighbor girl rode scooters with him the other afternoon.  That was her mistake.  I let it happen.  It was entertaining.  He shared all kinds of fun facts with her.  She now knows that he has a BB gun, rattle snakes can kill you, he can do wheelies, Black Betty is one of his favorite songs, sloppy joe's are really delicious, and whale sharks are the biggest fish in the sea.  ...

I love the contrasting sides of our children.  It's one of my favorite things that I didn't know I was going to love.  I think it's fair to say that when we have kids, we all know we will love the squishy babies, hearing kids laugh, seeing holidays through their eyes, and dressing them in the cute little outfits (I'm told boys don't wear outfits , but it's my blog). I didn't know how much I'd love seeing my loud, dirt loving, gun fanatic, wrestling maniac five-year-old turn into the sweetest and most gentle big brother while holding his baby sister.  He sits and quietly tells her stories about his fishing and hunting conquests unaware of anyone else in the room, and my heart absolutely melts. Then we have my slightly crusty, flannel loving, mismatching three-year-old that will choose a princess dress from the costume closet because although he likes sand and rocks and sticks and filth, he also likes and appreciates things that are beautiful. I lov...

I feel like a poser.  I'm working hard at doing this whole "adult" thing, but I'm pretty sure I'm over-aged to be this under qualified. I wonder why they teach Geometry, World Lit., Biology, Global Studies, and Physical Education in school, but they don't offer a class called Real Life.  I know a lot of 'real life' is integrated into these other classes, and you're supposed to glean life lessons alongside right angles, but I think I needed Captain Obvious Real Life as a core class in high school.  And because we are all idiots in high school, it needed to be offered again in college.  Maybe you weren't an idiot, but I certainly was, and I feel like some of that never wore off. As a kid, I thought adults had it all figured out.  They were beyond the insecurities and self consciousness of youth, they knew exactly what to do in any situation, and how to handle themselves.  Small talk wasn't a problem.  Matching clothing came naturally.  Pa...

I used to think I was a morning person.  I don't always enjoy waking up, but I do enjoy being  up, especially when the majority of the world (or at least our house) is still asleep.  That has happened all of never  times since our first born arrived on the scene five and a half years ago.  It's not entirely his fault.  I may or may not have trained him to be an early riser.  In order to run with friends, we had to get an early (read 4:45 am) start.  Eventually, that time moved back to 5:00 and then 5:30, but our boy really enjoyed the 5:00 am or before time frame because it took us four years to get him sleeping until something remotely close to 6:00 am.  He wakes up full throttle.  There is no easing into a state of wakefulness.  It could be singing or dancing or kickboxing, but if you are the sad sap that happens to still be in bed when he greets the day, you better protect your soft tissue.  For his sake, I hope he alw...

I'll let you in on a little secret: the happiest place on earth is NOT Disneyland.  When the booing and hissing subsides, I'll tell you what is the happiest place.  Wait for it.  Waaaait for it...Okay.  It's this place we affectionately call the "broken down house."  It might be a similar place for you.  Basically, it's the outdoors with no traffic, no screens, no play structures except those that occur naturally - you know, like trees and mud puddles.  It's magical.  We are going to live in this magical place soon and I hope the fascination and excitement stays with us long after the newness wears off.  The boys are free to dig, cut, climb, build, and imagine all sorts of creative schemes.  They've dug oceans, built spaceships, made monster truck tracks, and become very efficient loggers (with handsaws) since we started visiting this property.  They aren't the only one with imaginations at full tilt either.  Ross has his...

I love our kids.  I love them in a way I never knew was possible until I had them in my arms for the, well, like the tenth time.  The first few times I was pretty exhausted and a little delirious.  But since then it has been total and unconditional love - not to the "moon and back" because that line has been pretty well over done, but in Sawyer's words and the ultimate compliment, "as much as garbage trucks!"  I love them.  But sometimes, sometimes...I don't like them.  Today is one of those days. Oh, they are hard today.  We've all been there.  I hope.  They woke up looking for a fight, and despite my best intentions I gave them exactly  what they were looking for.  They are mouthy to me and ornery to each other.  Every activity they choose is either dangerous or destructive and everything is loud.  The fighting is loud.  The whining is loud.  The play is loud.  And I'm loud right along side them. ...