my 3 braybies

Friday, July 17, 2009

first haircut.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

a letter of complaint, or, mission: accomplished.

So the cleaning and decluttering I spoke of yesterday must be going well because today I received the following letter from Margaret. Signed, sealed, and delivered personally:

dear mom, you are driving me crazy

Moving right along, I discovered today that I had neglected to pay the proper attention to Lydia's fourth birthday celebration (June 16). The Birthday Girl requested a Barbie themed get-together with Nana and PopPop and her Uncle Jeffrey, with pink cupcakes and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. Now she is " 'dis many!"

Monday, July 13, 2009

back from the beach... now back to work!

So we are now back from yet another fun time spent at Sandestin. This trip was a little bit different in that it was a "Mommy-Kid" trip. Brian was there for the first half just because, but the second half was another Mommy and me and our collective bunch of 5 children.

5 children. Ages 6-and-a-half and under.

I left home last Sunday morning feeling optimistic. I returned home on Saturday afternoon exhausted. It was a rather trying week and when asked if I was willing to repeat the same trip next summer, my answer was "probably not!" Now don't get me wrong, there are worse places to spend my time, and I know we did have some very fun adventures last week. My girls and her girls were fine for the most part, it's when you toss a busy, oh so busy, toddler boy into the mix that things get hairy. And then there are the carseats, and 5 kids (and all their gear) crammed into the back of an SUV. And the fighting that ensues because "she hit me!", "she is being mean to me!", "I'm bored!", "I'm hungry!" Are we there yet?!

Oh, I will do the trip again, just not next summer. And probably not the summer after that either. Me thinks what works best for this mommy is to just wait until my kids have outgrown the need for carseats, naps, sippy cups, etc. All the things that tend to complicate your day when you are away from home, sharing a small-ish condo and one vehicle with another family. Soon enough... soon enough.

Any-whoo, now I am home and I have a list about a mile long to tackle. I am reading Throw Out Fifty Things: Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life (by Gail Blanke). I am already in the habit of decluttering each day, but the point of this book is that if you declutter your physical world, decluttering your mind, your emotional self, will naturally follow. I don't know about you, but I feel so much lighter after a good de-clutter. I did my kitchen and laundry room last week before our trip and on today's agenda: Margaret and Lydia's bedroom. My most trusted babysitter and entertainer of the Braybies is on her way at 9:00 this morning and she will be with me until 1pm*.

I need to get started!

*This? Is key. We must distract the children in order to sort through their, umm, "stuff".

Friday, July 10, 2009

turtles need love too.

Each and every time we come to Sandestin, Lydia is sure to ask to go feed the turtles that live in the lake- "my turtles", she calls them. She finds whichever adult is available and gathers up whatever little snacks she thinks the turtles might want to eat- bagels, corn flakes or Cheerios, and today, bread. She sits on the little fishing porch down by the lake and throws the snacks to "her" turtles...

Margaret seems to have outgrown this little part of our trips to Florida, and this particular day Jack was enjoying a much-needed nap.