We met Ursula today at the beach!

We took the kids to the beach today for some fun and sun.  The kids were having a blast-  Sam, Michael and Molly were playing in the water, and Ben was building sandcastles and smashing them with his monster trucks.  Then there was a blissful moment when all were playing in the sand nicely together and Chris and I actually got to sit down and watch.  Ben spotted a flock of seagulls and started chasing after them and yelling.  He did it twice.  Then this lovely lady yells at us "would you please make him stop yelling and chasing the birds?"  To which my wonderfully calm husband said "he's three!"  The lady then proceeds to tell us that she didn't act that way when she was three, she was well behaved because her parents wouldn't let her behave like that.  Me, being an occupational therapist and knowing how children *should* behave at every age said, "he's three and he's at the beach, this is exactly how he should be behaving."  She then had the nerve to say "he's acting like he's retarded is how he's behaving."  Now I was just dumbfounded that someone could be so insensitive and cruel (to a three year old nonetheless) but Chris once again calmly said "that's just not nice to say to anyone" and she stammered out "oh, so now I have to be politically correct?"  It's at this point that we decided that it wasn't worth it to get into an argument with an idiot.  After all, we had four kids that we were trying to set a GOOD example for.  I thought of quite a few politically incorrect things that I could have said to her, but didn't want to go there.

You know what irritates me about this situation the most?  Well, I guess there are a few things.  Really, I get it, you are old and crotchety and want peace and quiet.  Then don't come the the beach and surround yourself by a bunch of families.  Guess what?  Kids?  Outside?  In the summer?  That is EXACTLY how they should behave.  They should explore, and have fun, and chase birds, splash in the waves, and get sandy.  So what if they are a little loud?  They are outside, it's not like they are sitting next to you at the library or in a restaurant.  Now a days, kids spend enough time sitting at desks, sitting in the car, sitting while their siblings are at an extracurricular activity, sitting at the doctors office.  All the while they are expected to be quiet and well behaved.    Little boys (and girls for that matter) need to get that energy out sometime!  

Then there is the fact that she was name calling with a THREE year old. A name, as a therapist, that makes me absolutely cringe.   Luckily sweet Ben was oblivious to the whole thing and had never even heard the word, so he could care less.  But who knows what other families were sitting around us, that maybe would get their feelings hurt.  You don't have to be politically correct, but how about a nice human being?  We had a nice talk about the incident on the way home with the big kids, about how even though she was being mean, what was more important was the way that we responded to her.  We didn't have to be mean back.

And you know what?  On the way back to the car?  The kids chased a crab.  So take THAT grumpy old sea bitch witch.

It's all about poop....

And other potty words.  The current favorite words around our house poop, pee, barf, and fart to name a few (and the various noise sounds to go along with it).  It may not help that Santa brought a few Despicable Me 2 Fart guns for Christmas.  Anyways, here are a few recent happenings around our house:

1)  When giving friends a tour of our new house, Michael proudly points out the "barf bucket."

2) When said friends teenage son was here, Ben goes up to him with the fart gun and makes a noise, then proceeds to say " I gonna poop you in the butt"

3)  Michael had his whoopee cushion today playing with it and Ben gets upset and cries "mommy, where's my poop balloon?  I want my poop balloon too!"

4) Ben was trying to get up too quickly from a diaper change,  and I told him he needed to wait until I got the poop off, because if he ran away it would fall on the floor and make the house stinky.  He says "and if the poop makes the house stinky the fireman will have to come and clean it up?"  (no idea where this came from)

I suppose I should just get used to it since I have three boys in the house.

The F Bomb

*Sorry if anyone finds that title offensive.  Evidently some people do…

So, I need to record this "milestone"  for posterity, but first I should give you a little back story.  Sam and Michael watch Minecraft videos on You Tube, to get ideas for things to build.  They especially like this series of videos by "Stampy."  Chris has all of our devices set to supposedly weed out questionable videos but evidently it's not 100% effective.

We were at the National Zoo and had just finished looking at the lions.  We go over to a different area to see a different kind of big cat, that Ben was very excited about.  I had no idea what type of cat it was, so I asked Michael and Ben, who were standing there what kind it was.  Sam runs up and says "That's a fucking tiger!"  Wow!  That's something you don't expect your almost 8 year old to say.  I took him aside and told him that it was a very bad word and that he was never to say it again, while this older lady stood with her mouth gaped open over the incident.  He honestly had no idea what he was saying, and Chris and I had a good laugh about it later.  But clearly we need to monitor what they can access on You Tube.  No more videos by Stampy!

Happy New Year!

Well, I suppose I kept up with this blog somewhat over the last year so I guess I'll call that a successful resolution.  I owe several updates that will most likely come after these kiddos get back into school!  It's been a crazy month!  But a quick synopsis:

This guy turned THREE:

We had a whirlwind Christmas:

And these two monkeys turned SIX!

In other news, this year I've got a few different resolutions, one of which, is to take a photo a day.  I would like to say that I will have time to post them here, but I know that I probably wont.  SO.... If you'd like to keep up with the pictures, follow me on Instagram- AMYBOYLE75 (I know, I'm sooooo creative with user names).

Neurology Appointment

Hello All,  I deleted my last blog post about having Arnold Chiari Type 1 Malformation because my wonderful husband said he would prefer having all the facts before sharing it with everyone on the internet.

I had my Neurology appointment today.  I was slightly optimistic when he first read my file because he said Chiari Malformations are over diagnosed these days.  After looking at the MRI results, he did confirm I have it.  It is a condition, where part of the cerebellum (the tonsils) hang farther down than normal, going through the base of the skull.  The further down the hang, the increased chance of it restricting the flow of the cerebral spinal fluid.  He says that mine appears to be a mild case, and that the MRI shows that the cerebral spinal fluid is flowing freely everywhere it needs to be so it's not at all obstructed at this point.  I asked why this didn't show up years ago when I got an MRI.  In most cases of Chiari, you are born with it, but it doesn't manifest itself until later in life.  He says most likely it was just because MRI's have obviously gotten more advanced over the years and pick up more now.

He also said, it may never progress any further, or it might.  We just need to monitor it yearly, or sooner if I notice a worsening of symptoms.  In the mean time I just need to restrict high impact sports (not a problem), running (rarely a problem- unless I'm being chased), roller coasters (bummer), and heavy lifting.  All of those things can potentially cause symptoms to worsen.  The symptoms that I do have are fairly minor other than the ringing in the ears, which I will just need to learn to live with.  And since I've been dealing with migraines for the last 20 years,  we've got a pretty good plan in place for that. Most of my migraines, by the way, are not related to this, as they usually are in the front of my head and Chiari headaches are usually in the back.

Let me know if you have any questions, I'll try to answer them!  Thanks for the support!

"Baby" Ben

The other way on the way home from swim lessons, we were discussing the fact that Ben is becoming such a big boy.   Chris said, "Ben, are you a big boy?"  His response was "NO, I a Baby!"  Chris insisted again and said "No, you are a big boy!" and he said, "No, I'm Baby Ben!"

So fast forward a few days, and I am reading him his stories before bed.  I said "I love you Ben!  Do you love mommy?"  He laid his head down on my  lap and said, I still baby Ben."  "Baby loves you."

And then I dissolved into a puddle of goo and read him like 5 extra books.

Hi, I'm Mommy and I'll be your cruise director...

I don't really feel like we put our children into too many activities.  The ones that they participate in are all areas where their interests lie, and/or it's good for them.  It's just the fact that we have four children participating in different activities, that kind of bogs us down.  It's funny, now that all four kids are in school during the week, Chris was wondering what I will do with all of my free time.  It is nice, i have to admit.  I have 4 hours, three days a week to myself!  My big plans are exercise, cleaning the house and going grocery shopping.  By myself!  But other than that, here's our schedule.

Monday:  School, Michael-OT, Sam- Tae Kwon Do
Tuesday: School/Preschool, Molly- Ballet/Tap
Wednesday: School/Preschool, Molly-Soccer Practice, Sam- Tae Kwon Do
Thursday: School/Preschool, Michael- Gymnastics, Sam, Cub Scouts 2x per month
Friday:  School for the big kids,  but other than that, NOTHING.  Thank goodness!
Saturday:  Sam Tae Kwon Do, Molly Soccer

You may notice that Ben has no extracurriculars.  That's because he's the fourth born, and his extracurricular activity is watching his siblings participate in extracurricular activities.  And he is becoming quite the little tap dancing ninja who likes to kick balls!