No Doubting, It's Thomas

Saturday was our 11 year anniversary, so we decided to spend the day with our kids... and Thomas the tank engine. Can you imagine anything more romantic? I wish I could use a terrible pun and say it was "hot and steamy" but alas the day was actually a little brisk.
Anyway, there were hundreds of little kids there to see Thomas and ride on the train as well as participate in a scavenger hunt, play in bouncy castles, climb inside emergency and construction vehicles and watch magic shows. Our boys loved the whole experience. Benjamin was mesmerized by "Choo-Choo Tain!"
We got to watch Thomas coming down the tracks before boarding the train.

The boys loved watching the scenery and were pretty convinced that we had been magically transported to the island of Sodor because they readily identified several landmarks.

Even more exciting than the scenery, were the luggage racks. All four boys independently asked me why the train had monkey bars. Despite telling them the true purpose of those metal bars, we had to pull multiple children down off of them.

Yes, Benjamin, there really is a Mr. Conductor. All the boys liked getting their ticket stamped.

After the ride, we had a photo "opportunity" with Thomas. Opportunity means people took our picture and wanted to charge us a lot of money for them. We took our own opportunity to take some free pictures. You can't see Thomas's face, but there is no mistaking the blue engine with the number 1 on the side.

The railroad association set up some really cool model trains.

It was really too bad the day was chilly because Tobias didn't get to show off his thematic train duds. You can see his cute onesie in this pic, but it wouldn't be Tobias without a little spit-up as well.

I didn't take pictures of most of the other activities. We had our hands full trying to keep track of our five amidst the sea of small people, but the boys were absolutely crazy about the magician. The magic tricks were not fantastic, but he played well to a young audience, pretending not to notice silly things happening in his act. He reminded me of the Washington Post piece by Gene Weingarten about the Great Zucchini. If you've never read it, you can check it out here. Anyway, the most memorable part of the magic show for me, was when the magician's magic wand "accidentally" grew and went right up his nose. The boys howled with laughter and the magician said, "You all may think that's funny, but it's snot." I admit, I laughed.
Here is the last picture of the day. As I mentioned, there were emergency and construction vehicles that the kids could sit in. Most kids went in one at a time, but if one of our boys was going in, they decided they were all going in. That poor backhoe never knew what hit it. They thoroughly explored the inside and outside before we were able to round them all back up and pry their hands off of the shiny piece of manly machinery. My apologies to the kids who were waiting for their turn. We did our best.

An odd way to spend an anniversary? Maybe, but it wasn't entirely inappropriate. After all, there was magic.

Christmas in May

On our Cleveland bucket list was a trip to the house where they filmed the classic Christmas movie, "A Christmas Story."

We were so happy that our friends and fellow movie fanatics the Adduru family could join us on our adventure. Before we went to the house, we had some cheap Chinese for the complete "A Christmas Story" experience. (Fun fact, the actual Chinese restaurant from the film is in Toronto and is now a French Bistro.) While we enjoyed stepping back in time and acting out scenes from the movie, the trip was not without some stress and embarrassment. David John was in one of his stubborn moods, so we didn't get a single picture of him in which he is looking at the camera. We also had some boys fighting during the historical spiel about the house. Thankfully, the formal tour didn't last very long and no one said anything about our boys wrestling on the floor. Perhaps other patrons thought our boys were there to reenact the fight scene with the bully. We were grateful to make it out of the house without any of our children breaking any antiques not to mention "fragile" leg lamp replicas. :)

The Ricks and Adduru families (minus David John of course)

"Do you want to know what my son just said?"

Loved this detail from Ralphie's room.

Elijah is dreaming of a Red Ryder B-B Gun for Christmas.

David John listens intently to the secret message from Little Orphan Annie.

Benjamin helps decode the message with the Little Orphan Annie Decoder Ring. Unfortunately, we don't have any Ovaltine.

While this soap may not actually cause blindness (from soap poisoning) our tour guide did warn us that other visitors have put the bar of soap in their mouths, so taste at your own risk. Frankly, I'm surprised none of our boys tried it.

Gabriel poses with the "major award". The gift shop adjacent to the house sells leg lamps in a variety of sizes. Gabriel really really wanted us to buy one. I bought a postcard instead.

Here is our whole family in replica hats from the movie. David John is in the picture, but refused to wear a hat that didn't cover his face. He is one scary little elf.

Just for your reference, here are a few stills from the movie:

The scary elves from "A Christmas Story" trailer.
http://www.sodahead.com/entertainment/whats-your-favorite-christmas-movie/question-3412449/?page=5

Ralphie, Flick and Schwartz prepare to run away from the bully.

Ralphie gets his mouth washed out with soap after saying "Oh FUDGE"
http://yomamamorris.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/ralphie.jpg

I've said it before and I'll say it again: We are really going to miss Cleveland. Where else could they make a wacky movie like this?

First Quarter

Tobias has been in our family for 3-months as of today. It's hard to believe we've had him for a quarter of a year already! He is doing so well and growing like a champ. He is very smiley and seems to be a bit of a David John clone. Here are some of my favorite T-Ricks pics from the past week or so:

Bucket List

We are slowly checking things off our Cleveland bucket list. Last Saturday, Marc and I conquered lunch at Saffron Patch and then an afternoon hiking in Holden Arboretum. This outing was my fabulous Mother's Day gift from Marc. Many thanks to Joey Tate for wrangling our other boys while we were hitting the town.
The buffet at Saffron Patch was delicious, it was unfair that I was only able to eat two plates before being full. Marc and I both found that the vegetarian dishes were our favorites. I need these recipes. Somehow I don't think I'll be finding as much fabulous ethnic food in ND.

It was chilly and overcast when we got to Holden, perfect hiking weather. The first plant collection we saw was the "Arthur S. Holden Hedge Collection". For some reason this really cracked us up. I guess it just seems a bit boring to have a collection of hedgerows named after you. Too bad I didn't have a wide enough lens to get a good shot of the wide variety of hedgerows. It looked like a landscaping catalog brought to life.

This was my favorite tree- a weeping beech. It formed a natural shelter. Best hideaway ever.

Lilacs are Marc's favorite. They smelled heavenly. He wouldn't mind this collection being named after him.

I was fascinated by huge lengths of cut bamboo laid out on one of the lawns. I'm not sure what they were doing with it, but I'd never seen such thick and tall stands of bamboo. Just beautiful.

I am already mourning the loss of the intensely green springs we have here in Ohio. I know it won't quite be the same when we move. I'll have to come back for visits in the spring just to drink in the vibrant colors.

We loved watching this redwinged blackbird. I never got a good shot where you could see the beautiful coloration on his wings, but I  liked this silhouette against the overcast sky.

The crabapples were glorious.

I'm also going to miss Ohio's state bird: the cardinal.

We followed this cute goose and gander who apparently liked the hiking trails and were leaving lots of little surprises that we had to carefully step over. They seemed like an affectionate old couple. The gander had a bit of a limp and a rumpled tail feather. We enjoyed watching them waddle around.

A flowering Buckeye tree. I don't think I'd ever noticed how pretty they are in the spring.

So happy with my Mother's Day gift.

It was too cold for the butterflies to be out and about in the butterfly garden but I loved seeing the charming ironwork on the garden gate.

I'll be posting more pics of our bucket list activities. Have I mentioned how much we have loved Cleveland? If you've never been, it should be on your bucket list.

Take This Job and Fill It!

Now that Mother's Day is over and I have had my good sentimental cry about how my babies are growing up so fast, I thought I should write about the tough parts of the job. It is therapeutic to think about the hard days and appreciate that while it is sad that these early years are so fleeting, having grown-up children will have its perks. For one, maybe my children will stop trying to fire me. This has been a problem of late. All of them, at one time or another, have expressed a wish that someone else would be their mommy when I have made a decision that they didn't like. However, in the last month or so I have been getting "fired" almost on a daily basis and for minor infractions, i.e. "I don't want oatmeal! If you don't make pancakes for breakfast, then you're fired!"
I don't get emotionally involved when my children say things like this. I know they don't truly mean it, although I confess that I was a little hurt when my 3-year-old suggested that I could be replaced by an apple. On rough days, though, my eyes glaze over and I imagine myself dramatically striding out of the house and calling over my shoulder, "You can't fire me! I quit!" then slamming the door in a most satisfying way. I'm sure the severance package wouldn't be that great, since usually they give you a percentage of your pay and any percentage of zero is, disappointingly, still zero. I could apply for unemployment benefits and get a raise! Heck, I could take a vacation!
Even in those small moments when I really want to throw my hands up and throw in the towel, I know I can't really quit. I jokingly told my mom on the phone one day, "That's it. I surrender. Raise the white flag. I quit." A minute later, my 2-year-old tried to get something off of the mantle that he wasn't allowed to have. Before I could react, one of my 5-year-olds tackled him to the ground. "Why did you do that?!?" I exclaimed, "You don't use your body like that!" He looked at me calmly and explained that since I had "quit" he had to take matters into his own hands. So I now know, if I ever really quit, my 5-year-old twins will instate martial law. It won't be pretty.
Even though I'll not be resigning my position, I thought it might be prudent to make up a questionnaire to screen applicants for my job should I ever truly be fired and they need to hire a new mom. So, here it is. All situations described are real. Even if you don't want my job, if you have good ideas about how to respond to some of these situations, I'd love to hear them.

Application for Mom Position in the Ricks Family
Please answer all questions honestly and completely.
1. Can you tolerate large quantities of spit-up aka baby vomit on your clothing? Specifically, can you tolerate spit-up in the front of your shirt, down your back, on various areas of your pants including areas which make it look like you didn't make it to the bathroom in time? Can you tolerate spit-up on your blouse, skirt, sweater and the jacket you weren't even wearing at the time, but the spit up cascaded down your skirt and onto the jacket which was laid on top of the car seat carrier? Furthermore, how do you feel about spit-up being projected over your shoulder and onto your clean and folded pile of laundry?
If you answered "no" to any of these questions, please don't bother filling out the rest of this application.
2. You are alone at a church function taking place in the chapel. All of your children seem to need some attention. The baby just pooped in his diaper. The 2-year-old is climbing over pews like an olympic hurdler. The 3-year-old is doing a headstand on the bench and kicking his feet wildly in the air in hopes that one or both of his cowboy boots will come flying off and possibly beam someone in the head. One of the 5-year-olds is trying to be good by looking at an I-Spy book, but is practically shouting at you to tell him what he needs to find next. His twin has been stealthily climbing underneath the pews and collecting the hymnals from several rows. He is now constructing a large and rather impressive edifice with them. It is taller than the back of the pew and occasionally a book slips and loud thumps ensue. How do you triage this situation? Which child do you attend to first?
3. Your children have requested Ramen Noodles for dinner. You are exhausted and your husband is working overnight so you gladly acquiesce. After everyone is seated with their dinner, you make a badly needed run to the restroom. Upon your return, you notice that the portion of Ramen Noodles that was still in the pot is now strewn in an artistic arc across the kitchen floor. Four of your children are now standing on the kitchen table. They have turned the ceiling fan on. They are throwing handfuls of noodles at the spinning fan with interesting results. Please describe which anger-management techniques you will be using. Also, outline a discipline plan. Remember, no two children can be placed in the same room for time out. That just leads to all of the furniture in the room being relocated in front of the bedroom door and all of the clothes being dumped out of dressers. You may have to climb in a window to gain access to the room.
4. Please attach a report from your doctor stating that your are able to react quickly and run fast. Specifically, can you, upon witnessing that your two-year-old has climbed the fence and has escaped the backyard, put down the baby you are breastfeeding, arrange your clothing so as not be charged with public indecency, locate a pair of shoes and sprint outside to intercept your toddler before he reaches the street?
5. Are you able to continue doing your job in the face of extreme criticism and unpopularity? Tell us about a time when you had to mete out some consequences that were not well received but you persevered. I.E. the time one of your twins spit water all over his brother's pants so you made them switch pants or the time that one twin severely scratched the other so you drew on the offender's face with red marker when the perpetrator insisted that the scratches "weren't hurting anymore" so it wasn't a big deal.
6. Essay
Please describe your experiences with crowd control and your understanding of mob psychology  Allow these experiences to inform your answer to the second part of the essay: What would you do if three boys, upon a predetermined signal, ran in three different directions in the library, began climbing shelves and throwing the shelved books on the floor? Please keep in mind you are carrying a baby in one arm at the time and are foolishly without a stroller.

I hope we get a lot of applications. I will probably get fired again tomorrow and I want to have my replacement all lined up. Like I said, it's a tough job. Sometimes I want to quit, but the remuneration,  paid in smiles, hugs and chubby hands holding yours, is hard to beat.

Happy Mother's Day

Every Mother's Day is a reminder to me of just how blessed I am to be a mother. It is always bittersweet because I remember the years when Mother's Day was the hardest day of the year. I still feel some pangs of sadness as I think about the wonderful women I know who long to be mothers but are not yet or would like to be mothers again as they wait for more children to join their family. However, we got to celebrate a happy ending today with our neighbors on her first Mother's Day and attend the dedication of their baby boy at their church. I feel grateful for all the mothers in my life. I couldn't ask for a more amazing mother or a kinder mother-in-law. I am thankful for all my friends who are mothers and give me help and encouragement when my own mothering experience gets a little rough.
Yesterday, I asked my boys what it takes to be a mommy. Elijah said mommies are just born, but Gabriel said you have to be blessed and baptized before you can be a mommy. Elijah said, "What!?! You mean before they get blessed and baptized everyone is a boy?" I laughed and explained that everyone is born a boy or a girl but not all girls are mommies. Gabriel then added, "Yeah! Some of them are Aunts and Uncles and Grandmas." Oh dear, I can tell we have explaining to do about how families are made.
This morning, Gabriel and Elijah made me some beautiful Mother's Day pictures without any prompting from Marc. This is Gabriel's picture. I'm in the center, surrounded by happy faces and hearts. I like the sky which has a sunshine, clouds, rain and rainbows. Gabriel still draws me with a ponytail in all his pictures and keeps asking me when my hair is going to grow back. He likes my ponytail better.

Elijah's picture has a big rainbow with three flying butterflies and one butterfly perching on a flower. The garden includes roses and bluebells and pumpkins with happy faces. I just love it.

Here is our family at the Kirtland Temple last Sunday. I love all these boys, the big one and the 5 small ones. Some days are hard, but I love being a mother.

May the 4th Be With You

We had a very happy Star Wars weekend, starting with dinner at Melt for Marc and me yesterday. Going to Melt again was on our Cleveland bucket-list and the force was certainly with us yesterday. Normally, a visit to Melt means parking a quarter mile away and waiting at least an hour for a table. Somehow, at 6:10 PM on a Friday night, we snagged a parking spot 20 feet from the door and were shown to a table as soon as we walked in. This was no normal visit. Normally, we would just order one entree and share it because they are gigantic, but we couldn't help salivating over both the monthly special and the limited edition 3-days-only Star Wars themed sandwich: The Wookiee Melt.

In case you can't read the sandwich description on the picture, it says:
Carmelized banana, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, sweet cream cheese, crispy battered and deep fried to a golden wookiee brown. Covered in rich chocolate and peanut butter glaze and covered in toasted coconut. Mixed berry preserves for dipping. No slaw. Double fries because it is a known fact that wookiees do not like cabbage.
Yeah, we ordered them both. We couldn't help it.

The Prime Time Melt with Au Jus was delicious.

The Wookiee Melt was amazing. Let's be honest- this was no sandwich. It was a decadent dessert.

We brought home a lot of leftovers. We bid a fond farewell to Melt, one of our Cleveland faves.

Before picking up the kids, we went to the Lego Store so Marc could drool over $400 Star Wars sets. Maybe someday....

The fun continued today. Marc and the 3 older boys all wore their Star Wars shirts and the boys played Star Wars trivia at breakfast. We also let them watch an episode of the animated series Clone Wars. This is a special treat, because watching Clone Wars tends to foster a mood for violent play among our boys. Benjamin and Tobias don't have shirts yet, but Marc plans to rectify the situation for future May the 4ths.

Finally, I wanted to share our vehicle decals since they are thematically related. These were a gift to all of the boys in our family at Christmas time and Marc put them on the cars in January. For the figures on the van, each child got to pick his own then they collectively selected the one for Tobias. From left to right that's Daddy-Han Solo, Mommy-Princess Leia, Gabriel the Jawa, Elijah the Padawan, David John the Ewok (or baby Chewbacca as he says it), Benjamin- Yoda and Tobias the droid.

The Camry features Daddy-Darth Vador, Mommy- Padme and 5 little storm troopers.

The boys adore these decals and all things Star Wars in general. They are already making plans for "Star Wars Day" next year. May the 4th be with you.