The Hormonal Fuse

The hormonal fuse is oh so short these days. My poor kids...really. I hope after this pregnancy I have a more loving approach.  And hopefully this pregnancy doesn't do too much emotional damage that they end up needing counseling because I can't handle them smacking their food, talking all day long, and their need to be fed...every single day...several times a day. Future Owen, Amelia, and Simon...please know I feel as crazy as I appear. I know you are just being kids, but sometimes I react before I think and let's all hope and pray that once Becket is here your mom will be a little less crazy. I do love each of you, dearly.

I feel your pain, Simon.

As you know Chris is leaving the last 2 months of this pregnancy for ALC. And we will begin homeschooling August 4th. I'm excited and nervous. I think this will be great to start while chris is gone. Something to keep us all busy. But the crazy!!! I am worried about this hormonal fuse that seems to be a little bit shorter everyday. It's just kindergarten, Nicole! I know. But I already feel the third trimester drag that makes me want nothing more than to lounge on the couch. I hope to push through. I will be rearranging our schedule since we are no longer moving next month. So, I am going to rethink our approach to each day.  Then I will get everything copied, laminated, and prepped as needed.

Yes, your mom is nuts, Owen!

I have a little mental list of things to get done this weekend with Chris home. Mostly homeschooling prep...some baby prep (washing car seats)...Oh I can't wait for the end of this pregnancy.  I get to snuggle the newest Lockhart. This fall and winter will be the best, yet. More love to go around to keep us warm here in Northern New York. 

Sleep through the pain, Amelia..Simon she's not hungry.

Sorry for all the rambling. I am full of lots of conflicting and quickly changing emotions lately and the best outlet I have is here with you lovely readers.  You're awesome! Anyway. That is all for now.

Day 9 of Sacred Heart of Jesus Novena.

Okay, I am going to keep this short and sweet because I am just in an erratic head space.  Tonight we will complete our first family novena.  Chris and I have done novenas together in the past, but this was the first time that the kids were apart of it.  They are remembering the basics though.  We are praying for nine days to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for Chris's selection into flight school. Owen has been awesome at remembering what day we are on.  Day 5 I totally thought it was day 4, but he was right.  Amelia is picking up the prayers rather quickly.  I think Owen is too, but he's less confident.  We even found this at a thrift store on day 2 for $.99

Before we hung it on the wall Amelia would hold it above her head for everyone to see it while we prayed.  Presh!

Well, today on Day 9 we will be praying in thanks giving.  Results came out a day early and Chris was selected for flight school!!!

Q-S means Qualified - Selected!

I am so proud of my husband.  He has worked very hard for everything leading up to this point.  We are thankful for all the support and mentoring he has received in the past 5 and a half years in the Army.  We are beyond thankful for all the prayers that everyone has offered up for us.  Flying has been something he has been working towards when we first started dating 12 and a half years ago.

This man y'all!!! 

The NC Excursion

The 4th of July vaca!

I have worked on this post on and off for the past few days so if I'm talking about what I'm currently doing, that is what I was doing in that moment it time.  I preface this post mainly because I'm eager to post this I didn't feel like editing. So bear with me. You're the best!

I'm not sure if I like the Blogger app or not. Mainly because I am not very good at proofreading, and I tend to have more errors when I'm typing on my phone. However, I do like being able to get a little bit of a head start on a post if I have some down time while I'm out and about and all I have is my phone. Maybe one-day I will grasp proper grammar and have the skills to proofread appropriately.  Until then my grammar geek friends suffer and endure, but know you're much smarter than me. For realz!

Well we are wrapping up our trip here in NC. Currently, we are relaxing at my in laws.  My father-in-law has the day off and my mother-in-law has the day off tomorrow.  The kids are in and out of the house. Chris is dissembling the swing set so we can drag it back to New York with us. He's a hard working man that I don't deserve, people. I'm not even exaggerating.

I am super excited about having a swing set in our back yard.  Even with a little playground walking distance from the house can be a pain when I am wanting to get things done around the house...or if I just dont feel like sitting in the heat for a couple of hours. I'm a total wimp that struggles with suffering silently...it's a flaw I'm trying to correct.  But it will feel like luxury to sit outside for a little bit, step inside when I'm hot, go outside again...and so on. Also, having the potty in close proximity!  Potty training is a part of parenting that completely eludes me. I feel that someone needs to go every 20 minutes. With the swing set in our yard I don't have to gather everyone up to take a child to the bathroom. I am so excited about this generous hand-me-down. 

Yea, yea, yea....you get it. I'm lazy.

Doing "homework". Writing their names.

But more about our vacation.  It has been slammed packed full of late nights, early ish mornings, and limited diet monitoring.   And my kids have managed to keep it together so far.  My sister was generous enough to leave us with the coolest niece for the week. She lives about 3 hours away. We arrived at 10:00 Saturday night and with all the excitement and energy that needed to be burn no one fell asleep until 1:00 ish. And we were all up and ready for 9:30 mass Sunday morning.

The kids always seem to behave better for others.  Less squirming than normal.  Chris and I sat behind my parents and the kids.  After mass the kids played at the house until we headed to my in laws to swim for a few hours. And we returned to my mom's house for dinner.  My kids got to catch fireflies for the first time which was very exciting, and enjoyed playing in the mud that Pop-Pop made for them.

Mud in the wheelbarrow.

Monday we took it easy with some playing outside until we headed to my in laws to swim again. Tuesday was the same other than going to $1 kid movie before going swimming.

He LOVED being thrown.

Don't be fooled.  He's not crying.

Wednesday we took a break from the pool. My dad came over while the kids played. Chris and my dad hauled some things away for my mom. I mowed some pretty tall grass.  And picked up some rock my mom needed for the patio wall her and my dad are building. It was an enjoyable full day around the house.

I think Simon looks just like Chris.

Thursday my mom was off so we did a little bit of shopping. The kids and Chris went home half way through because they just couldn't hang. Wimps! We went to La Hacienda for dinner and watched Saving Mr. Banks after the kids went to bed.

Friday was the 4th. We hung around the house for a bit and let Simon take a nap before we headed to my in laws for a little party. The kids swam. Hamburgers and hotdogs all before we headed to see fireworks. I attempted to paint the kids' faces. They liked it well enough. We left to see fireworks...ok the fireworks themselves were awesome! We had great seats. No one was around so the kids were jumping around with excitment. And the presentation was really great. Parking wasn't even that bad other than people driving without any sense. We parked on the side of the road and started walking to the park. People were driving really fast in my opinion considering how many people were out specifically with children.  And Amelia can not walk a straight path to save her life.  I know this to be true since I had to grab her several times to avoid being hit by a moving vehicle. There aren't any sidewalks...just ditches with terrible weeds and scary wildlife. So managing the 4 kids while carrying chairs and a blanket and dodging cars was quite stressful. On the walk back we did have my parents' help but it was really dark. People had been drinking and a fight had broken out in the middle of the street. The good thing about the fight is it stopped traffic making it much easier to make our way to our truck. Silver lining?

Happy Birthday USA!

Saturday we went to the zoo.  I took my camera to NC and didn't use it once.  (I kept forgetting to charge the battery.  So I have some ok pictures from our phones.) The zoo was fun. A little stressful because it was a Saturday and a holiday weekend but we made it through. My friends Libby and Laura met us there with their families.  We walked so much. The kids did awesome! Very little whining. No melt downs. A few tears that quickly ended. We even chose to skip the shuttle back to our parking lot. It added another 1.5 miles (I think don't quote me) of walking. Everyone was sweaty and sore by the end.  The kids slept HARD and so did the adults, but we still managed to wake up and go to 9:30 mass on Sunday.

He LOVED the turtles...and the polar bear.

They climbed on everything!

I considered going to a later mass but Chris was dissembling the swing set later and my mother-in-law was taking the kids shopping so we got up and went at 9:30. The kids were pretty good other than Simon yelling Amelia's name loudly when he saw her sitting with my parents. And after communion pointing at the door and yelling "GO"! I was stopped by a lady (I didn't know) that seemed overjoyed about our fourth baby. She just thought it was wonderful and was very happy for us. It's reassuring to receive joyful comments. We did shop, and later had dinner with all the parental units.

Monday was a slow easy start before we headed out to my in laws again. My father-in-law had the day off and Amelia and Owen were staying the night. Chris loaded half the swing set into the truck and we took it home before heading out to dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Greensboro.  It was delicious.  I burnt my mouth because I wasn't patient enough to wait for my skillet bowl to cool down.  After putting Simon to bed my mom, Chris, and I watched Austenland.  Funny!

About to enjoy some Japanese food!

Tuesday we picked up the U-haul trailer before heading to pick up the rest of the swing set. When we got to the house my dad had started pressure washing the set that was already there. It took nearly 4 hours to wash the whole thing. Chris and I ran to his aunt's house to pick up some furniture that goes with the bunk beds she had already given us. And we had everything loaded in the truck and trailer by 11 pm that evening. 

Wednesday we hit the road an hour earlier than we did for our way down and made it home 30 minutes later than we did arriving to NC. Coming home was a rougher trip. My kids are generally very good in the car. I'm sure our rough trip was much better than people who have kids that don't travel well, but it was still off putting. Simon serenaded us with his whine/cry/scream while saying "get out, get out". Amelia dramatically needed to poop when no restroom could be found. Once we did make it to a restroom miraculously she no longer had to poop. Owen wasn't too dramatic but did feel the need to instigate throughout the trip. But we made it home safe and sound so really that's all that matters.  We did take a gamble on a local pizzeria for dinner somewhere in Pennsylvania.  It was really good and they had $.30 wings that were delish....I just wanted to roll around in them.  

When we got home Chris immediately started emptying the trailer and truck into our garage, and he took the trailer back.  I can say that my house was clean for a week and a half...of course we weren't home.  The children are back to their tearful protests.  C'est la vie.

We had a wonderful time.  These "vacations" are never long enough.  

Some extra pictures for your viewing pleasure!

7QT #18: Mainly poppin' tags

I am going to attempt to keep this short and sweet, mkay? I will add some pictures of the kids so it's not a complete waste.

1 ~ It has been raining for the past 3 days and I am so glad. Mainly because it is washing away the pollen. I still have a cough, but I don't feel like a complete train wreck. The puddles have a nice yellow topping, and I have some energy back.  No complaints!

2 ~ Owen had his end of year field trip to the Watertown Zoo. It's more like a life preserve if you ask me. Compared to the North Carolina Zoo that I use to, it's a bit of a disappointment. It rained most of the time we were there. But as always the kids had a great time. Owen got a bag with all of his stuff from this year and a certificate.  Owen really likes school.  He was telling me that he has to draw in his journal everyday. I really hope this transitions well when we start homeschooling.  He will have to journal in writing curriculum, and I am going to start a art journal for him to draw images of stories we read. I think Amelia will engage fine, and I'm hopeful Owen will, now.

3 ~ Most everyone knows me in real life and has probably seen my recent Facebook statuses and Instagram updates on my recent thrift store finds. See below

4 ~ A magazine caddy that will be used to hold children's books.  I spray painted it.  I hope to find a few more so I can place them throughout the house...their rooms, living room, and the wherever we end up schooling.

5 ~ This large frame. It is still in the works. It was holding some type of art. I plan to putting the Stations of the Cross in it.  I found the idea on Pinterest here. I have several stations books so I used one for its pictures to frame. I painted the frame purple for the Lent season. Yeah, I'm aware we have a while before Lent.  I'm late for everything ;)

6 ~ This crucifix. It's big and heavy. Needs a little bit of touching up, but it will be perfect for our school room. The kids loved it. I'm so glad Chris spotted it.

7 ~ Continued prayers that Chris is selected for flight school. We are very excited about Alaska, but we will have no problem sacrificing it for flight school. It's the dream, people.  Have a blessed week!

Make sure you hop over to Jen's for more Quick Takers. 

Dinosaur Roar!

Sorry for the neglected blog, I'm sure most of you just wait for me to post to Facebook which is all good.  Just a little heads up that this is going to be a bit photo heavy of a post :)

Nothing much has been going on since my last post.  We have narrowed down the baby's name to two names.  I'm going to have to figure out how to post a poll to see the popular vote.  I always think that is fun.  So yea to the meat of this post....taking these three chuckle-heads to an over priced (in my opinion) dinosaur exhibit.

I won't bother you with my complaints about the price and whatnot because in the end the kids did have a really great time.  Owen LOVES dinosaurs but refuses to show much excitement for the camera.  Amelia was panicked when we first arrived but quickly got over her melodrama.  And Simon was TRILLED and has been roaring with toy dinosaurs all evening.

We revisited this dinosaur a few times.  When we first walked in Amelia was in the middle of her melodramatic break down so clearly this the picture of her was our second visit after she composed herself.  And that is about the happiest picture I have of Owen.  He really was thrilled to be there, but clammed up whenever I asked for a picture.

Here was the Dino-Dig.  Have been making plans for our drive to Alaska.  One of our planned stops is a Mammoth Site in South Dakota.  After the fun that had at the little sand table I think they will really enjoy the Mammoth fossils.

Okay Owen, contain all of that excitement please.  We can only take so much...Man that kid is like his father...On the other hand, Amelia is just like her mother.  The picture below is her "afraid" of the dinosaur behind her.

There was some mini golf, a dinosaur ride, and some inflatables.  We also did a scavenger hunt where we the kids left we a few trinkets.  Overall we had a great time.  And if you missed it I'm now 24 week along and here's a belly from today.