(I know bloggy has been woefully neglected… I decided to take August off from worrying about blogging or scrapping or making loads of kits… I wouldn’t call it a BREAK per say, because… um well, I have FOUR BOYS people! But it was nice to sorta just focus on the “real world” and let the Internet keep on keepin’ on with out me cranking the wheel for a while… goodness knows HOW it ever survived without me!)

So onward to the news at hand! IT IS SEPTEMBER PEOPLE! Which means back to reality for the Clingerman crew. Not only that, but a whole NEW reality for us! This year, we have three little men in school. Not only did our Gareth go back as a THIRD GRADER, but Owen started kindergarten, and we also signed the irrepressible Reece up for 3 days of afternoon Preschool, in order to give him a little taste of the school world and learning to be a bit more of a listener/follower before we hoist him into the public school system. (not to mention that Reece and Owen are SO close in age/such little buddies, it almost seemed unfair to have little Reece at home alone for a year after having constant companionship).

Last night we sorted/tagged/and packed up the loads of back to school supplies, and got three little back packs all ready to go… I have honestly been looking forward to back to school time, the kids were getting restless, the house was seeming small, and my endless reserves of patience were really starting to run dry (hahahaha). I’ve actually been joking about how MUCH I was looking forward to being free(er) for a bit each week, but to my surprise… when I kissed my third grade son goodnight at bed time (actually I tried to get a kiss on my cheek from him, but he just started cracking up and informed me he had completely forgotten how to give kisses!) I felt myself tearing up a bit, mostly with pride… but also with a bit of wistfulness for the days of having my young children that have begun slipping through my fingers.

Today was the big day, and of course my punctual Gareth (his dads son for sure) was awake and watching the clock at 6am. He is so incredibly self sufficient at this point, he needs me to make him a sandwich for lunch and really that’s about that… We were promptly headed out the door for the bus stop with plenty of time, and he was SOOOO excited. It really is fun to see the way Gareth doesn’t stress about new things… he’s completely cool as a cucumber, I think he’s lucky to be born with that “its all good” trait, and on firsts like today it always works to his advantage.

Here he is expressing his excitement over the third grade:

And a close up… I swear, maybe it’s just me… but I swear this kid is gonna be a heartbreaker… he’s sooo handsome!

After Gareth headed off on the bus, Owen and Reece were SO amped up… they wanted to be on their way to school RIGHT THEN… but with afternoon kindergarten and preschool we had a bit of time to kill first…. First they decided to spend that extra time yelling at me… literally… at which point I told them I didn’t want to talk to them anymore and I was not happy… So then, they spent the rest of their free time trying to make it up to me – seriously, they were bringing me “gifts” out of their play room. And Owen even drew a sequence of pictures of him and I doing nice things together (my favorite was when we were running toward each other in a field to hug )

Finally it was time to eat our lunch and head out the door to drop each of them off at school.

Reece was SO stoked… he was seriously yelling something like “YAY SCHOOL” when I took these pictures:

He had absolutely no qualms about me dropping him off, and got right down to the business of getting busy playing!

Owen, had been a bit more quiet… I think he was a bit uncertain of what to expect, and even asked me at one point why I couldn’t just stay with him once we got to school. But as soon as we walked into his classroom, he totally lit right up, he was really excited about the things on his desk and he seriously would barely make eye contact with me he was so distracted by the anticipation of what came next! Here is the one picture I managed to shoot of him in his class, and notice he’s SO not interested in looking at me!

I was surprised at how hard it was for me to leave him… even though he was clearly happy… So after he shoo-ed me out the door, I walked out of his classroom (Tennyson in my arms, Reece at Preschool, Gareth in his third grade class) and for a short second I felt a bit… lost… BUT just for a second! The school secretary saw me, and said “Oh my gosh, you only have ONE boy with you!!!” and I realized, WOW! I was free! Then she said “Hurry RUN!!! go do something before you have to pick them up!”

So, Tennyson and I went to target, and wandered aimlessly, relaxingly, quietly. I browsed the clearance isles (and no one tried to climb under the clothes racks). I tried on some shirts (and no one said anything to the effect of “ewww boobies!”). Tennyson even fell asleep in his stroller! After I felt like I’d wandered to my hearts content (and found a few dang good deals on some tops!) – I went and got a coffee…. It was divine! Then I drove back a bit early and just waited for Reece’s school to get out listened to the radio in peace and felt… well calm! Life is a good many things with 4 sons, most of them wonderful…. but what it usually is NOT is calm.

After we picked up Reece and then Owen (no busses for Kindergarten this week, but next week that starts up) we came home and Gareth met us a few minutes later after having ridden the bus. The boys all had such wonderful days they were just thrilled, and they spent a good 15 minutes in the living room with me, telling each other about their days. It was a moment for the memory banks.

Now, its a regular, normal evening around her… but it is also sort of the dawn of a new era for us…. And although not every day will be so peaceful (I do have better plans for my time on a regular basis than spending money at Target), it is nice to watch our little family evolve to this next step. I really am impressed with the ease with which all three of them are growing and changing and moving into this next phase – and with pride seeping out through my tear ducts, I can’t wait to see what is to come for my amazing little men!

Gareth (totally deadpan) - Why?

Me (increasingly sentimental) – Well sometimes I see all my boys together and my heart just grows really big in my chest from loving you guys sooooo much.

Gareth (quite excited now)- And then…. your chest explodes!

We had 4 friends over, in addition of course to my own four (yes Tennyson counts!).

It was a really fun time, lots and lots of video gaming, DS and Gameboy playing, lightsaber fighting, hysterical laughing, crazy boy wrestling, more video gaming, and of course Pokemon movies – the party was a total success!

They were having so much fun that it was almost hard to get them to take a break from playing to eat their pizza and cake! My favorite part of the night I think was when they all surprised me while we were singing “Happy Birthday” by adding a VERY loud “CHA CHA CHA” to the end of each line – notice the little arm shaking dance they were all doing:

It was by far the most exciting rendition of happy birthday I’ve ever heard (poor Tennyson was REALLY not a fan of it, he burst out into tears from the shock of it all!)

When it was time for winding down we laid the sleeping bags out in a row on the floor and turned on “Pokemon Rise of Darkrie” (one of Gareth’s birthday gifts) and I was just sure that since it was after 10, they’d all drop off to sleep during the movie. Much to my surprise 3 hours later at 1 am all of them were still going strong, and even a full hour later, at TWO AM there were three of them (including my dear son) who were WIDE awake!

They were really being great, just watching movies, laughing and playing their games, but I was starting to feel a bit sleepy myself! Finally at 2:15 I told them it was time to turn off the tv and really get some rest, and they all dropped right off to sleep (it is amazing how fast they just zonked!).

We were relieved though, and amazed, when everyone slept past 8 the next morning, and we even had to wake some of them up to feed them a bacon and egg breakfast before their parents came!

All in all we survived it! It was a really fun time and easier than you might expect, it was nice for me to be able to do something like this for Gareth, since the poor little dude misses out on a lot as the oldest of 4 boys, so many times I don’t have the time or the energy to make the classroom snack, or take him to all the school activities, and I’m SOOOOO not the mom that is making home baked cookies for the moment he walks in the door. But having his buddies over, playing and hanging out, and staying up till the crack of dawn now THAT I can do!

Still, you’d better bet after all that, and then another full day on Sunday, that I was REALLY REALLY tired by last night!

Can you believe it!?!  My baby is all big and stuff!

Tonight in celebration, we had ice cream for dinner and pizza for dessert (as requested by the birthday boy) and then we did what this kid has been DYING to do for almost a year now – we took him out shopping for his very own Nintendo DS.

He was so wonderfully excited asking for the red one at the store, and as we walked out of the mall he was seriously giddy over it all – he couldn’t wait to get home and start playing “Mom, in all my 8 years of existence, I’ve never played on my very own DS” big big stuff I tell you!

Here he is with the new beloved DS:

Can you feel the excitement???  And check this one out, probably this is the way he’ll be looking at me, with the DS between us for the next few days.

Gareth is such a good kid, I couldn’t be more proud of the boy he’s grown to be.  G keeps reminding me, we are halfway to 16 now!  akkk!  But you know what, I have a feeling that with this guy the best is yet to come!

This little man is my first born, he’s taught me so much about being a parent, about having a family, and more than anything: about what really matters in this life – I can’t believe he’s 8 years old now, because that means that I’m 8 years old now as a mom!  It makes me feel so old, and so young at the same time.  I just can barely wrap my mind around how much he’s grown, how much I’ve grown, and how different our little family is today from what we were, practically just two kids and a newborn, 8 years ago when he was born.  Life has been good to us, God has been good to us, and you know, my first born Gareth, has been so good to us too.  I can’t wait to see what is ahead of us as we enter this next chapter of childhood with Gareth, I only hope I can get it kind of sort of right…. reguardless, Gareth is the kind of kid thats pretty gracious, I’m sure he’ll be patient with me while I learn how to be the mom of an EIGHT YEAR OLD BOY!

Happy Birthday Gareth Shawn!  We love you so very much!

Movin’ - Well this weekend was BIG in my word, because the kids have been asking to play on the computer more and more, we have been trying to figure out the best solution for how to make that happen – add to that the fact that I’ve started playing with my paper crafting again, and it was starting to take over the living room a bit – so we decided it was time to move g’s computer out of our room and set it up so the boys could use it too – Friday we hit up IKEA, and picked up a desk and chair so we could set up a space in our playroom/family room area:

Also, because Gareth is out of school for the summer, the timing couldn’t be better to set up a new activity for him and a new rewards system to encourage good behavior and doing chores. So I set up a little rewards system where the boys can all earn time for playing on the computer or for playing video games:

The boys were very excited about decorating their own envelopes, and so far it has been great, especially for Mr. Gareth who in all his almost 8-year-oldness needed a bit encouragement to get his attitude in check about doing his chores. Each little ticket is worth 30 mins, and they earn them by doing the chores I ask them to do (with 1 warning/reminder or less) after 2 short days, I have to say I’m feeling rather impressed with my idea – I think it will be great for us this summer!

As if that isn’t enough – I now have MY OWN SPACE at the desk in our bedroom, AND I was able to take all my poor neglected craft supplies out of hiding in the garage, and set up a craft space for myself again! Look at this great space:

I can’t help but feel inspired looking at it all, and I’m SOOOOO anxious to get to play with my paper more now!!! Hybrid scrapping here I come!

Changin’: Well believe it or not, as I type this, I have only 26 minutes remaining until I am a mother to an EIGHT YEAR OLD! I just can not believe that I’ve been at this mom thing for so long! Well on Sunday we met my parents for lunch, because it is my Dads birthday too (today happy birthday dad!) And they decided spur of the moment to take our 3 older guys (poor little t is too young still to go!) The boys had a blast, and my Gareth got roller-blades for his birthday! Also, Grandpa taught him to ride his bike with out training wheels! We haven’t done a ton of bike riding because Gareth is always glued to his scooter, but now that he has a taste of the two wheel action he is HOOKED!

Here’s a picture of Him zooming along:

And, the boys all together I have a feeling our summer will be filled with lots of scenes like this:

And as if that isn’t enough changing for this poor mama’s heart with my oldest turning 8, riding bikes, finishing second grade, and roller-blading around, my youngest is also changing on me! Today Tennyson is officially FOUR MONTHS OLD! He had his four month check up and the Dr. said (and I quote) “He is absolutely perfect”

Here is all 14.2 pounds of him at the Dr’s office:

and a little “hi, I’m four months old” face for you too:

Poor little guy got 4 shots and is not as happy with me now as he was earlier in the day, I know it is short term, but I hate to see him all sad! I’m hoping he feels better tomorrow!

and finally Shakin’: So, although I had a bit of a snag with my whole treadmill fiasco – we are lucky to have some great weather again, and I so tonight I jumped into week FOUR (that means I’m almost half way to 5k!) It was the hardest run yet, but I felt GREAT afterwards…. I guess we will see tomorrow what my poor body thinks! I am feeling very proud of myself though, not only am I still working hard and running, I also am down 16 pounds now since I started working at it at the end of April, and I feel GREAT…. I am as thin as I’ve been since I had baby 2, 3 and 4 – I still have a bit of a ways to go, but my goals seem really with in my reach now!

Since I’m all picture-y in this post I thought I’d share my picture I took tonight after I came home from my first day of week 4!

I think the flash was a bit intense because you can’t tell that my face was BRIGHT RED, but I really was feeling pretty dang good!

Well there you have it! things are moving right along around here! Tomorrow is gareth’s 8th birthday so I’m sure we’ll keep ourselves busy celebrating, and of course there is designing to do, and kids to feed and a house to clean, so I guess getting some sleep would be called for. I have to say, I’m not really one for things getting predictable and the same day in and day out. So one thing I love about having a big family and being a mom in general is that things are ever changing, and really don’t “settle” (funny how they call it settling down!) I’m sure tomorrow will bring all sorts of action I can’t wait to share!

One big goal I have had for this week, aside from trying to get some fun activities for the kids squeezed in, is that I really needed to get the three shaggy headed brothers in to get haircuts – usually I do this myself, but seriously three haircuts is not something that we just do in 10 mins and get done, it is quite the ordeal with bribing and begging to sit still, not to mention the mounds of hair EVERYWHERE to clean up afterwards… I have to admit, although I’m feeling pretty good, and getting ALMOST everything that is vital squeezed into my days, I just don’t have it in me to face the whole home hair cut fiasco.

Well today it was soooo nice out, very much like spring should be, and the boys were so kind to tennyson and I this morning, letting us sleep in (thank you very much to the new pokemon video!). So feeling rather well rested, I decided to bathe all the boys, put Tennyson in the stroller and take a walk down the road to great clips and get my boys hair cut (let THEM clean up the hair and deal with the wiggles this time).

Here is Tennyson all ready to go:

The boys were all about helping push – it was sweet, they really take such good care of him. Here are all four brothers together:

I hate the home haircuts because the kids will NOT sit still and they whine and all in all it is miserable for everyone. But ofcourse, when we go somewhere, it is like three totally different children! They were soooooo good, and even my Reecey, who has quite a bit of spunk in him, was a total angel – I couldn’t believe how still he sat, I don’t think I’ve even ever sat so still for a haircut.

Afterwards, they were sooo handsome They were proud too, even posed (somewhat) for a picture together!

After haircuts we all shared a tuna sub at the Subway next door, then we all headed home – I was feeling so pleased with my four sweet boys. Tennyson was so peaceful – he loved being outside and fell fast asleep, and the three big brothers were really good for me. I was a bit nervous about our first walk together with all four (and with my worn out postpartum body) but instead of it feeling stressful, it was so refreshing. I was so pleased with how good the kids were for me, and we all had a really great time.

As I was reveling in my wonderful outing with the kids, they totally put the icing on the cake with this little scene:

As if that wasn’t enough, then they all started yelling together “WE ARE THREE BUDDIES” seriously – one of those moments that make a mommy smile from ear to ear.

Then Gareth yells – MOM turn on your video camera (uh yeah, I’d forgotten my camera did this…) So, it would make Gareth very happy if you click HERE and see them in action (i still need to figure out a pluggin that will let me embed these things here on my blog).

All in all, it was a beautiful day – we got home with out a hitch and I breathed a deep sigh of relief… and then another sigh, because life is so darn good!