Spring Break 2013

The babies were in rare form... a Spring Break mold to be exact. They giggled and filled in the blanks of their Mad Lib stories from the back seat of the car as we went from excursion to excursion. Most of it consisted of vulgar little boy words like poop, ugly, and hairy. I got not only the delights of my children during this time, but nourished my olfactory sense with a few favorite smells... orange blossoms and the pages of library books. What a sweet break it was. I didn't get as much time with the boys as I usually do, but it felt like just the same. The boys told me tonight over limoncello gelato how great it was to them, as their eyelids were half shut because of how tuckered out they are.

This evenings sleepiness could account for the lengthy skating today and football practice, but I have a feeling it had to do with a little something else as well. Their last night of Spring Break hoorah they decided to have. The boys got one last sleepover with their good friend and what I like to call my third son. After church the creativity and melty beads came out of the game cabinet which they all decided to make swords out of. This developed into making personalized emblems and keys to go with. The kids made-up a game of some kind with their creations that incorporated bases... and I still have one taped to the wall somewhere around here.

They chased girls afterwards outside and played basketball until their feet were black, then took a pause to eat Mom's grill goodies. I thought they all went to sleep, they were at least when I went. About 3:30am I flew out of bed with a high heart rate. I heard my son faintly- it was a muffled wailing cry that sounded very far away. I ran fast across the house barely dressed and flung the door open not knowing what the heck was going on and if everyone was ok. There sat the guilty three of them behind the closed door, sneaking and playing a little midnight Wizard 101 when they should have been in bed. Some how the Sergeant's fist bumped into Benny's nose during this sneak event. I didn't care to figure this one out at this wee hour and the boys sensed it after I demanded a quiet and sleeping house as my heart rate came down.

When the boys weren't having a sleepover with friends they made lazy headquarters in Benny's room consisting of fluffy blankets, many pillows, all of the stuffed animals, Kevin, and Calvin. This is where they slept at night and took any necessary breaks during the day. They made interesting late-night snacks. I found evidence of popcorn covered with melted cheddar cheese and salt in a bowl.

We had a visit from Laura, her charming finger and family. I think she was trying to show me how we were twinsies with our glitter polish...

This paired with the pool and mommy drinks made for fabulous girl time while the kiddos played. I always look forward to the season of slipping into my bikini. The sun was so spirited this break we actually got many pool days and the babes were able to head down numerous water slides already. Coming from the pools one day I had a popular song on and a car full of boys who thought they would school me on the lyrics as to what poppin' tags meant. I said, "skin tags?" They looked at each other puzzled and I already knew they had no thankful idea what that was, but it was funny to me. It means, shopping.

One of my best spring break moments was at the movies. We were at my favorite theatre watching Jack and the Giant Slayer, a twist to Jack and the Beanstalk. I couldn't decide if it was because they served me my favorite glass of wine with delicious pizza or because I was relaxed with my baby boys snuggled nearby. Then I decided it was a cumulative effect, topped with all of us thinking the movie was great.

It is time for the kids to go back to school... I'm feelin' it. I know this because Benny told Stink today to quit looking at him with chinese eyes at the table and if he could please stop breathing so loud at night. They are sick of one another. But how wonderful it is to spend time with each other to get them to this very point... and have a blast along this Spring Break way.