1st Day

I am sitting here coffee in hand, snuggled with my Gracie girl and my computer, after having just dropped off the boys at their first day of school. With the boys gone, Grace had her choice of Netflix productivity and of course she chose Ninja Lego something (the boys have trained her well :).  

It was like the perfect morning *sigh*...(besides Matt's alarm going off at 5am and then 5:10am, making it so I couldn't go back to sleep, but hey when is life ever completely perfect). 

I finally got out of bed at 615am. I went and nursed da Hopie girl and then we woke the boys from their slumber at 630. The boys literally bounded from their bed in excitement to go to school. From there the morning continued without a single hiccup or in our case a single melt down, which should be documented as a Loboda miracle.  My Matt stayed with the girls, while I had the privilege of dropping the boys off for their first day.  We were greeted by the joyfully shining nuns saying: "What a beautiful day for the first day of school!"  And it was...

This is how she chilled on her way to pick her brothers up. 

Our first born

Last week we celebrated Isaiah's 7th birthday.
I don't know which is harder for me to believe that he is 7 or that I am 35!
I keep saying to myself: "Say what? 7 years, really? Where have the years gone?" Then in the next hour reality hits and the walls are closing in on me and I start thinking: "Yea, I definitely have been doing this for 7 years and here is a handful of hair that I just pulled out to prove it."

All hair pulling out aside, really what would I do without my sweet Zah. My first babe. He literally had me at waaaaah and then wrapped me around his little finger when he latched on within seconds. I then couldn't take my eyes off him for lets just say his entire first year of life. He was the cutest baby I had ever seen and even better than that-- he was all mine.

In life I have found that there is nothing like your first of anything. I mean I still remember the first Burger King whopper that ever touched my lips. Seriously, that whopper with cheese and extra mayo was the best thing I had ever eaten! So good that a mere 24 years later I can still conjer up my satisfied tastes buds.

Better than a deluxe cheeseburger though, there is absolutely nothing like your first born baby. Yes, I struggled from major post partum depression and yes my labor was a labor from hell, but still in the midst of that baby Isaiah was the best thing that had ever happened to me. And within minutes of him being placed on my chest I thought: I can't wait to do this again.

Isaiah is the sweetest, most sensitive little boy and our life is way better with him in it.

Now for the photo montage that I just know you are dying to see *wink, wink*.

My two morning, bright eyed and bushy tailed guys smiling for a bday pic. 

Isaiah requested to play a football game at his party. All of the guys were happy to oblige. 

Could life get any better when my mom offers to host my kids birthday party? Oh yes it can, when she makes the cake, grills the hamburgers, and bakes the french fries for the party too!

Emily and Mags took the kids to Lego Land, which was a gift from my mom and dad. They met up with their favorite friends. 

The 4 amigos.

7 Quickidy Takes

Joining the troops with Jen@ Conversion Diaries for another shot at 7 quick takes.

Before I begin, my typing fingers are insisting that I mention without hopefully sounding too, uh I don't know, weird that I was SO excited that Jen- the superstar blogger, speaker and tv star, made a comment right here at Team Boda. When I saw it in my yahoooo inbox, I nearly squealed that she would take the time to read my blog!!

And really for all you who make comments, there really is nothing better and they make me smile from ear to ear!

1. So, without further ado, I must start this here Quick Takes with one that I THINK ALL SHOULD READ, because I feel as if I have hit some sort of epiphany, which most of you probably hit eons ago, but still I must share.

Matt and I always thought that we would NEVER be one of those parents who would turn on movies every. single. time. we got in our car. Ridiculous, we thought! Our kids will read books, look out the window, talk to us and each other. Well, for the last 3 years we have done the exact opposite of what we thought we would do.

I was out with a group of moms a week ago for dinner and what did we talk about when we were kidless and carefree-- OUR KIDS, of course. So, one mom was sharing that although she has a dvd player in her car she never uses it unless they have been in the car for over an hour. When I heard this the lights went on and the bells started ringing and Mariah Carey's song All I Want for Christmas is Youuuuuuu Baby started playing in this lil' old brain of mine. Why Mariah's All I Want for Christmas? Because it is my favorite song in the whole wide world, of course!

And then I wanted to throw my hands up and scream right there in the restaurant: "Oh my gosh, I am so sick of my kids yelling at me from the back seat to put a movie on, whining for me to change the movie that is currently playing, and fighting over the movie that they want to put in next!" Thankfully, due to my pride, I did contain myself and only screamed this in my head.

So, what did I do the very next morning as soon as the kids woke up? We had a team meeting and I told them no more dvd player unless we were in the car for over an hour. One child immediately started crying and stomping his foot, the other two looked at me dumbfounded.

Verdict after NO tv in the car for a week= Peace!!
And, I am loving it. We listen to music and half the whining that use to take place is gone.

So, I just had to share this gold mine that I have discovered, which again I am sure most of you learned long before going into 7 years of parenting.

2. The other day the boys and I were cleaning out their room and closet, getting rid of toys they no longer used, etc. After we were done they discovered a new secret hide out in upper rungs of their cleaned out closet. They spent the next 3 hours up there reading books, playing and even wanted to be served dinner in their new space. It was the best 3 hours of Matt and my life! (By "best 3 hours"-- I may be exaggerating a little, but not much.)

They let Grace bring her princess (primpress, if using Grace language) and join them.

3. This year I have been cooking and experimenting more than ever, which by most standards simply means cooking dinner every night. I attempted an "easy" strawberry pie, assuming I would post pics and a how to on this blog. But the pie was literally inedible by the kids and I (Matt was out of town, so it was thrown out before he could even try it). How does one mess up a pie with the main ingredients being sugar and strawberries? I really don't know. But I did.

This week Sahmy posted her super simple recipe for pie. And after reading her post, I knew I must take another stab at it, even if it was my final attempt of pie-ing in the kitchen.

Let me just say, it was the best thing EVER and only took me 10 minutes to prepare. As they say, the proof is in the pudding and Matt said: "I can't believe you made this. I will be a happy man if you make this for me on my birthday every year." So, if you like pie, you must GO and try it!

Matt was saying: "This is da bomb."

Am I embarrassed that Matt and I polished off over half of the pie by ourselves? Yes, VERY embarrassed. 

4. Our sweet little Hope has gone from baby to one of the kids in like days and I am really kinda torn up about it. She has become Little Miss Explorer in what seems to be a matter of minutes. She follows the kids on her knees to their rooms and really, really wants to play with them. She is climbing up on anything that is climable and wants to suck on all things not toys.

Look Mom one hand!

Grace and Hope playing together at the Mall playground, real sanitary I bet!

Even though she is super cute discovering all things new, I desperately want to go back to a few months ago to where she was just my little kangaroo and press the pause button.



5. I must show y'all this picture again, even though I posted it on Facebook. My kids have started CrossFitting at my gym.

I signed the boys up for a trial class, expecting Grace to sit with Hope and I, as she (Grace) is too young for the class. Well, what was I thinking! Because of course she wanted to be a part of the action, even though she was dressed in flops and wearing a scarf, pink skirt and big flower headband. The kids LOVED the class and it was so cool to see them learn how to workout.

6. I haven't mentioned this yet on da blog, but we are moving. I can't even believe I am typing those words out. Soon and very soon Naples will be a place that we just visit and Tampa will be our home. It is bitter sweet.

7. Lastly, I shall leave you with the cutest pic of my parents who are still in love after 37 years of marriage. Matt and I have been given such a great example. Love you mom and dad.

Have a great weekend everyone. 

Off to workout, all my love!

How we do school

This year with the birth of our sweet baby Hope the dynamics and intricacies of our team life have changed, of course all for the way-better, but equally for the way-crazier. One thing that has stayed the same and consistent for my two big boys is their school time routine. For the last 2 years Matt and I have chosen to put the boys in a Montessori school. Before I go on to explain how much I love the Montessori approach, it must be said that in my heart of hearts I am a homeschooling mom wannabe. But when being completely honest with myself, I am just not wired for being full time teacher as well as mom at this point in my mommy-hood. Babies= no sleep + toddlers= headaches and tantrums + homeschooling= no can do.  With that being said, the next best option (or better option however you want to look at it) for my boys has been the Montessori approach for their preschool and kindergarten age levels. In my humble opinion it has given them a huge love of learning and sense of community within their classroom and school as a whole.

One of the reasons we chose their specific Montessori school is because the principal has allowed us to send the boys 3 days a week, which I absolutely love (well in the spirit of honesty, I should say most days I love, because some of those non school days you can find me hiding in my closet with a bag of M&M's pulling my hair out wondering why the heck they aren't at school everyday).

But really, it has given us the best of both worlds. Tuesdays and Thursdays are full of "home school" and play at the parks, museum and zoo with all 4 kids in tow. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday the boys are off to school out of my hair learning away, while the girls and I take time to play girly princess tea parties, grocery store shopping, and bible story time.

Grace teaching Hope how to be a princess warrior. 

One of the reasons that I especially love having my kindergartner Isaiah home more days of the week than not, is because it has given him and Isaac this unbreakable bond. On the days that they don't have school from the moment they wake til they go to bed they are playing. Yes, sometimes there are tears involved in their play, but I feel so blessed that God has given them each other as built in playmates. They often times walk, run, and play in sinc, which is so fun to witness. I mean how can you play football by yourself and isn't it always more fun to have a bike riding partner. Gracie girl just seems to tag along always a couple of feet behind with her purse and baby doll in tow. And Hope always gets plenty of undivided lovin' for all her siblings throughout the day.

The Montessori approach to schooling has affected our entire way of life and play at home. We turned our dinning room into to a school room, where the boys can pick out their activities and learning tools for the day. At times I will leave new random lessons (this weekend puzzles) and I will let them discover them for themselves so that their work is self initiated.

Puzzles have taken over our school room for this week. 

Grace was in on the action too. 

Next year will change, as each new year will, but hopefully my kiddos will always know how much I truly love spending time with them. Of course I also hope they will forget the times they catch me hiding in the closet with a half eaten bag of M&M's rocking back and forth.

Isaac and I start most of our mornings off  with a friendly game of checkers. 

Isaac doing his work of choice.

Isaiah with his "work" of choice. 

Park fun 

Isaac working on his letters at school. 

Another Montessori lesson.  

Isaiah showing me a lesson about biomes. And yes, I could not remember ever learning what a biome was before he told me. I felt extremely smart.  

Some sort of marble, building lesson. 

Legos

I seem to have a love/hate relationship with these wee, little blocks. It's really hard to believe that Legos have become such a major part of my life. I say my life because I am either helping my 4 year old put his together (which takes me longer than if my 6 were to help him), cleaning up legos, stepping on legos, or finding legos EVERYWHERE- on the floor, in the couch, under the bed, and I dare say in the toilet.

Best Brothers, except when fighting. 

I was actually excited when my 6 year old, Zah, developed this huge interest in Legos and even named it as his 6 year party theme. I thought-- wow, we are really entering into the "big boy phase".

I only add this pic, because I was quite proud of making our own Lego goodie bags. 

Lego games in the pool

My Sweet Oldest

The problem came when his 4 year old brother followed right in his footsteps, just two years too, too early. Lego's are not for 4 year olds; I repeat, not age appropriate. At least not for my 4 year old, if I want him to build and follow the directions on his own. If he misses one step, looses one piece, its o-o-ver.

But then somedays or the next moment the boys will be building for an hour and Isaac has not one complaint about finding pieces, putting something together, etc...... thus, the love/hate.

Busy at work

Hope loves watching the boys. 

On another note, Hope and I had some time together by ourselves (sigh, giggle, so very nice), so we took some pictures...

Bath and outfit change. 

Wasn't she just this big like a day ago??!

Altar boys

Father Zyg is in from Rome!!!! I can't put enough exclamation marks to express how happy this makes us all.  We just love having him here, especially when he stays in Naples with us.

We were able to celebrate Mass with him in home 3 times. Talk about blessed.

And Father Zyg allows the boys to be altar servers, which makes this mamma super happy. Now Mass with our kiddos is always a challenge. We try and try, threaten and threaten, bribe and bribe, but it seems to end the same way-- 2 very frustrated parents! But, Mass in our home seems to make the boys behave, thank God. As for Gracie-girl, she spent the last half of Mass in her crib in timeout. Can't beat those 2's. :)