No Time to Blog

And that is just one of the things that is not getting done around here. Even with Grandma Mary here diligently cooking and cleaning and helping out wherever needed, I still am not getting organized and when she and Grandpa Bob left for a few hours to visit some friends nearby, I realized just how much of a mess I am.

Perhaps this is partly attributed to the fact that I was still expected to carve pumpkins (an activity I am less than enthusiastic about) and felt that this was the only week I could potty train Avery. School right now is happening in random occurences. The kids never know when I'll get a wild hair and throw some history at them or recently a tin whistle lesson which I realized my kids were miserably behind in at co-op on Tuesday. I think I need a day to just sit and plan out how life is going to go from here on out!

Here's some pictures from the week.

Alayna has two wimps for parents. Neither of us can handle pulling teeth. Alayna had one that appeared super loose. I did attempt to pull it with some jewelry pliers, but my worst fears were realized when the tooth didn't come out and there was a lot of blood and crying as a result. The poor girl finally pulled it herself the next day.

Here is a potty training scene. Alayna is all about Avery getting potty trained and has been on me for weeks to get it accomplished. I have to admit she was a big help while spending the whole day in the bathroom. She totally takes over if you let her and is more than willing to escort Avery through the process whenever she thinks it's about time. She also tells me mistakes I'm making such as when I lazily ask, "Do you need to sit on your potty?" Instead of commanding him to do so.

Aubie is three weeks old today. He's growing fast (still sleeps a lot). We're thoroughly enjoying him!

Thankful for Grandparents

My Mom has been here for 10 days and a huge help the whole time. She cleaned, cooked, did untold loads of laundry, changed diapers and waited on me hand and foot when I needed it. Grandpa flew in to join her a couple of days ago and added a lot of fun to the house. Now their visit is winding to a close and I'll have to go it on my own. I can do it, but that doesn't mean anything will get done around here.

Yesterday, they took the older two on a field trip to Mount Vernon - George Washington's beautiful estate. I was grateful to be able to count a day of school without actually teaching!

Tomorrow we'll go to a Harvest Festival at a large farm before taking Grandma and Grandpa back to the airport. We'll be sad to see them go!

The Voice of Truth...that can't be silenced.

Alayna has always been one to say just what is on her mind. Her latest observations over the last couple of days regarding my post pardomness are blog worthy.

Yesterday as I lay passed out in a sleep that can only come from heavy doses of pain medication, Alayna commented on my apparent snoring habit I have picked up since coming home from the hospital.

"Dad, if Mom were a princess and a prince came to kiss her, he might say, "Ewww, are you sure she's the right one?"

Then regarding my still protruding belly later that day, "Mom, people are going to say hey when did you get that baby, and then they're going to say, hey when is your other one going to be born?"

Sigh...

Baby is Here!

He's Finally Here!8lbs 4oz
20 1/2" long
Welcome to the Family Aubin!
We Love You!

A Mind Always in Motion

Alton is the busiest kid on the planet. I have never seen him bored really. He is always, created, scheming, reading, or planning. A lot of you know that he aspires to be a comic strip writer. This is not necessarily every mother's dream for their child, but I encourage the creativity it takes for him to produce all the comic strips each day that he does. His main character is "Dingo" who happens to be a dog. Lately however, he has given Dingo a break and taken on some new inventive comic ideas such as "Shaggy Wolf" (my personal favorite) and this one called "Rat a Tat." I posted it because I thought the drawings were really cute and actually funny.

Obviously, I did not help him edit spelling or punctuation on this one. For school assignments he usually does well, but all is thrown to the wind for his own creations.

Chinese Checkers Champ

I'm sure most families have a favorite game like we do. For Rob and I there are two; Blockus and Chinese Checkers. I realize that Chinese Checkers is not one of those new hip games going around, but for some reason, Rob and I love to play it. One thing to note: I always win or at least I used to, until a new champ recently came to town.

This summer Alayna learned to play. Since she has bad sport tendencies (she's actually gotten a lot better lately), I told her from the beginning that I would only play her as long as she realized that she would never beat me; that it just wasn't possible. She agreed and we spend countless hours this summer playing three to five games a day. I taught her all my strategies and tricks. One day, suprise, she beat me. It was by one move, but she won. I was astonished because I did not help her. A couple of days later, she beat me again and then a third time. It was starting to annoy me except that I was totally amused by the thought of her playing her Daddy who was completely oblivious to her new skills at the game.

The next week, I casually suggested that Rob should play her a game of Chinese Checkers. He was all for it and I stifled a smile as I cleaned the kitchen and watched out of the corner of my eye. Sure enough, she beat him by about 7 moves. His jaw was on the floor. Rob is extremely competitive and as much as he loves his daughter, he cannot handle being beaten at his favorite game by a 6 1/2 year old! This brought on the obsession. Every night at the dinner table he would play her over and over and over and get so mad everytime she beat him. He couldn't beat her once.

Finally, after a couple of weeks of this, he figured out a new strategy and was able to beat her. Then of course, he wanted to try it out on me, and won again which was annoying. He hasn't played either of us since, but Alayna and I continue to play often. She has been beating me often now and I don't know which is more annoying, that I am not winning against her or the trash talk that she deals out (I don't mean foul language; I mean pure arrogance). This I did not teach her. I can guess who probably did.