4:30 rise and SHINE?

Isn't this something? I thought maybe just maybe my kids were up at 3:30 yesterday morning; went to bed at 8pm last night, they had to be tired, Right? Um, well they might have been tired but 4:30 must be the new 6 because here we are. I did everything except beat them to try and explain that it was still night time and would they please close their beautiful blue eyes and just sleep.

Yesterday, yesterday was something out of a pure horror movie at least in my opinion. Ok, re-reading, not a horror movie... just a comedy with a little thriller added in.

It started by me not sleeping, well I did get 1.5 hours but really and truly does that count??? Nope!! So off to the airport we went. We arrived on time but the LINEUPS were crazy. The boys and Em were fabulous to stand there as long as they did. We got the bags dropped off, we already had checked in online so 45 minutes waiting to drop off bags wasn't that bad right? Ok, so we go through security. Em and Lucas got selected for some drug screening thing. I am thinking PERFECT select a 13 year old and a 4 year old. The security personnel did apologize to us as it's not supposed to select 2 family members. You know it was really going well at this point. The kids were well behaved, crawling around on the floor still counts as behaved right?


Al righty then. I think it was probably 5 minutes before they called pre-board that I realized that I hadn't fed my kids or had them pee before getting on the plane. Yeah, I know, not smart. So on said plane, Emily is situated behind us, the boys and I are together. Emily is not happy that her tv won't work, we haven't been on the plane for 10 minutes. Logan is full out whining about the fact that Lucas is in the window seat hogging the window and that he can't see through Lucas' head. Lucas is belted in but is still managing to kick, shove and do any other physical type thing that allows the person in front of him to keep looking back.

5 minutes later, Logan's whining is giving me a headache. Time to give in. "Ok, everyone switch". Logan's biggest beef well we were now in the sky and that wasn't fair. OMG

Next everyone is hungry. Thank God for granola bars. I picked up the non-dye ones as I couldn't have Lucas acting out on the plane. So the flight attendants are coming around with drinks, not fast enough as Logan is again whining about not having Milk. Lucas has started randomly kicking the seat in front of him. I constantly remind him that it isn't nice, the man in front of him doesn't like it. I am having thoughts of the guy in front of us jumping over the seat. Stay tuned!

For some reason the tv monitors were not working. I dug deep into my bag pulled out my iPhone for Emily, and brand new Lego kits for the boys. Logan was thrilled. Emily was fantastic. Lucas was, well Lucas lost some of his pieces under the seat and had to get down on the floor and look for them. It seems he liked the floor more than his seat and I had to coax him back up. Thank God he didn't see the red life jacket pull cord while he was down there. Oh, you are wondering how I know about the red life jacket pull cord? Fast forward 45 minutes.... It's Logan's turn on the floor.

So, the flight continues... once the plane starts descending I realize I have NO gum. NOTHING. Lucas starts crying about his ears, he is now successfully constantly kicking the seat in front of him. The guy in front of us turns around, kneels on his seat and through GRITTED teeth says "HERE GIVE THEM GUM". It worked on the ears, not on the seat kicking.

Plane landed... I said thanks to the guy. He glared and got off.

So, thank God right! We are off the plane, on our way to PEI.

Yeah. So the plan was to call my dad the minute we got our bags. The boys loved the baggage carrousel they felt it was a good place to stand on. No matter how many times I told them to get off it, they got back on. Now, it wasn't moving and they must have been tired. Right? We got our bags. Got the cart, bags, boys, and us (Em and Me) out to wait for dad to arrive. And he did within 2 minutes.

Ok, off we got to PEI, well sort of.

With a trip to NS, comes a little bit of shopping to stock up on household Costco items. So, we went to my brothers and had breakfast.

My sister in law kept Logan and Emily (don't tell Lucas but she took them swimming and they had a blast!) while my brother, dad, Lucas and I went to a few MAN stores and Costco.

Lucas and I were having a great time, he made a few really good laps in Princess Auto. One lady even commented on how far his arms swung when walking. :)

Costco was next and my brother decided that he didn't want to come into Costco but would be staying in the Truck. Lucas decided that he as well wanted to stay in the truck. I told my brother I didn't think that would be a good idea. But he told Lucas that there would be no way they would be getting out of the truck and that he would have to stay with his Uncle. I said, ok, and off dad and I went into Costco.

Dad and I checked off all items on our list as quickly as possible while in the back of my mind I was hoping that my brother and son are doing ok together. They came into Costco a short time later, funny my brother wasn't coming in. However, he dropped Lucas to us and went back to the truck.

Ok, so far so good. Kids are ok and it is nearly time to get moving to PEI.

But we had to feed them. So we stopped in Truro and grabbed Burger King and kept moving. I wasn't sure that dad wanted to stop knowing that he really wanted to get to the boat but the kids were kinda famished and really and truly needed food. With bellies full we arrived at the ferry terminal. The lineup was long and Dad was saying he wasn't sure that we would get on.

Dad seemed a little overwhelmed (Lucas had been kicking the back of his seat since Truro) so I decided to take the kids out of the truck and for a little walk. We got down to a half gated area where my boys tried to climb the chain link fence but were reasonably safe. There was a woman there who was talking to me for 3 minutes before Lucas took a handful of rocks and pitched them at a bunch of "International Students". Bet there are laws against that type of thing where they come from. So I grabbed his hand and marched him away from that area.

After a few more tense type moments. We had the boys down near the water and... I didn't want to swim at that point.

We made it back to the truck. Now just a visual for you. We still have the clothes on that we left NL in that morning. Lucas is in lined pants (not his mothers smartest day) Logan has on a polyester jogging suit, I have on a sweater and heavy jeans. Emily was the smart one and changed into a tank and shorts. So in the truck at 23+ degrees we are starting to melt. A certain child is kicking and pushing on a certain grandfathers seat. It was at that point I had an epiphany. The kids and I would walk onto the ferry, just in case Dad didn't get on. He says, I already thought of that. I wonder why? I was sure he wanted to spend another 2 hours in a cramped space with his daughter and three lovely grandchildren.

Once the vehicles started moving we realized that we would get on the ferry.

The FERRY... yeah, not the safest place for running, jumping, etc. And for two little boys who had been on the go since 3:30 am, and was 3:00 pm. Ha! I think poor Dad was spent by this time. Lucas was exhausted but his energy wasn't limited. Emily was a saint. Logan was hyper but doing great. There were a few tense moments on the boat, when Lucas needed to walk up and down the stairs on his own, or was that Logan? When Lucas was hopping over the chairs. Or when he struck his nose after doing a face plant on one of those seats he was hopping over.

The call to return to our vehicle was the nicest sound I had ever heard.

Mom and Dad's house was only 5 minute drive from the Ferry and the kids were excited.

I had figured out the seating arrangements when we got into the truck for the final time. Emily sat behind Dad, Logan in the centre and Lucas behind me. Too bad I hadn't thought of that one before.

The first

I will be the first to tell you that I COMPLAIN about my kids A LOT! Most of the complaining is based on my lack of sleep. We do not have a family bed, in fact, family beds DO NOT appeal to me. I like my sleep, at least I used too... many many moons ago. My daughter, now 11, spent her first 5 years in my bed. Breaking this habit didn't take too long but it took YEARS for her to sleep through the night.

"Mommy..." This tiny little voice, has been heard many a night. Each child taking their turn and sometimes all three in one night! While my husband snores peacefully on his side of the bed.
There was a night recently when I decided to count how many times my 4 year old came out to my bed. 8. I counted 8. Each time, I would sweetly take his hand, walk him back to bed, cover him up and say, "I love you". I believe the very last time around 5am, I left off the "I love you" and was consciously grinding my teeth and trying not to cry.

I have asked coworkers, friends and strangers for advice as how one keeps their children in their own rooms, asleep, ALL NIGHT LONG! I have heard suggestions of talking with them and explaining that we all need a good nights sleep. Didn't work. I have had suggestions of night lights, radios, tvs, and glowing objects on the ceiling (we tried all at once and each one seperately). Didn't work. The suggestion of letting them cry it out. Full out temper tantrums at 2am are not good! They wake all other occupants and don't seem to accomplish anything.

So tonight I have taken a moment to realize how sweet they are. No I have not been drinking, I have not watched any sappy movies and I have not yet climbed into my own bed, yet...

My younger kids go to bed at 6:30pm most nights. Usually by midnight I have been visited by at least one of them at least two times. Tonight, I was blessed with a little visit from both. Normally I complain, oh boy can I complain! Why can't my kids sleep through the night? Why is it that I have an 11 year old, 4 year old and 3 year old and NOT ONE OF THEM knows how to sleep????

But tonight, I realized. I realized that for a couple of seconds they needed me, they needed my touch, they needed to know that they were safe. In this strange world we live in, my kids just needed me. Sure we go through day after day of "MOM" this and "MOM" that and I am frustrated with how needy they are. But tonight, when I walked up over the stairs and saw my youngest all sleepy with his arms out, it made my heart melt. I cuddled him, tucked him in, and kissed him. Of course twenty minutes later, I heard a little noise again and as I walked up over the stairs there was my 4 year old, all arms and legs, all 55lbs of him. But he just needed a little cuddle, a kiss and to be told he was loved.

And it was this that made me think, I want to blog. So who knows where I will go with this, who knows... but this is certainly a step.