There is no stopping them

This is what my kitchen looks like any given meal prep lately. The minute I step into that corner of a kitchen to get food ready, three little people make themselves fit into the corner with me and constantly plead for me to let them help. That is the older ones, though as you can see the youngest is following really closely.

So here we are, another season almost gone and still feeling like I'm trying to tame this monster of life. I am trying, yet again, to establish a functional routine around here. In the meantime:

Elena's favorite topics of late are babies and food. She has become quite an enthusiast about cooking shows, especially those with "girls" (Giada DiLaurentis & Rachel Ray, namely though she'll tolerate Paula Dean & Ina Garten if there's no other girl on at any given time). Her viewing sessions are usually followed by a very eager desire to help cook and she has enjoyed it thoroughly. Her next favorite topic is babies as she doesn't fail to remind me at least once a day that we need to have a baby girl. She is very sweet to her baby brother and it is a joy to see her love on him and enjoy him so much.

Adriana happily follows suit with Elena but only while she gets a better idea. She is a wiggly girl who can't seem to sit still long enough for anything. She will sooner be done with a meal only because "it's taking too long" even when she really isn't done eating. She is constantly climbing and figuring out different ways to climb on couches, tables, or any other surface that looks exciting and challenging enough to climb. She is desperate to do the same things Elena does but usually doesn't have the patience to finish them. She loves to sing and dance and whenever they play, she is the one that makes all sorts of voices.

Little Ben is just a joy. He loves to be around his sisters and usually chases them around. He is cruising quite steadily and though he's still an avid and enthusiastic nurser he has become very interested in food. He wants to try everything! He is still my snuggle bug and his huge smile still brightens any day! My sweet boy is 9 months already and keeps me on my toes with the cleaning because he will inevitably find whatever I missed when sweeping and mopping!

Ben has completely recovered from his pinky fracture and is now trying to catch up with all the work he couldn't do around the house after his injury. I am ever so grateful for such a loving man. I love that he loves to spend time with us, I love that he loves to spend time with me!

I am still dragging along a bit. Apparently, I am bound to catch every bug my children catch, so this year I got Epstein Barr. It has drained me, just like mono, and so more often than not, I need a nap, a really early bed time or a really late wake up time. Usually the latter is what works best for us though naps are still a big part of my day. I'm not crazy about this but rather rest and drink plenty than having to take medications, so I'll take it. My back is doing better and I keep believing that some day, some day (as Elena would say) I will enjoy having the energy of a regular healthy human being! However, I am grateful that I can still enjoy my family and my children and that my "maladies" need nothing more than rest and patience.

We have seen the hand of God in miraculous provision. We are loved and know it, we are spoiled and forget it at times and we are constantly trying to remember to live our lives honoring Him!

Summer...

We have had a very full, very busy, very fun summer. It hasn't stopped and just when I thought it would, it didn't... we are still looking at one more week of busyness ahead. I have learned so much and am still processing much more, but I will keep it light tonight and save the "meaty" stuff for later, when I'm not as tired as I am right now.

All that being said, what is the deal with life guards at water parks? or at whatever water "places" for that matter! Has anybody observed this before?

They sit high so they can see what is going on and they are usually holding, so very intensely, this long foamy-floaty thingy. They sit under the shade of an umbrella, yet they are always sporting tans. But let one unsuspecting individual dare transgress one of the rules and you will see them in action! That whistle goes off! The seriousness of the transgression will determine several things: a standing admonition or a sitting one; one long blow of the whistle or several short ones, several urgent quick hand motions or a slow explanatory one. Now, how do you decipher these messages? Especially in the kiddie pool?

The whistle goes off and every single parent in the pool turns to look at the lifeguard. The lifeguard points intently at the culprit and a handful of parents are looking at each other, pointing at themselves mouthing the word "me?", while the lifeguard keeps on blowing and gesturing in sinc with their hands. The culprit is identified, a young mother of twin toddlers who is (how dare she) just about to go down the slide with both little girls, tsk, tsk, tsk... The lifeguard continues the reprimand, and the guessing game continues as well.

The anguished and quite embarrassed mother looks at the lifeguard and gesturing with hands asks: "What?" and tries to decipher the whistle blowing and hand gesturing of the lifeguard (that hasn't stopped, mind you). "Oh, do I need to sit down?" More hand gestures and whistle blowing... "Oh, do I have to go with one girl at a time?" "What?" says the poor mother in desperation while the lifeguard still keeps on blowing that silly whistle and making some bizarre gesture with her hand that we all are supposed to understand yet nobody seems to be able to figure out. Finally, in one last attempt to make the madness stop, the mother says "Oh, I can't go down with them?" and really without waiting for a response (not that it would have been understood had there been one) she motions to the closest acquaintance to "catch" the now wailing (and probably traumatized) little girls as she scurries away.

As the afternoon wore down and we rotated around the different swimming areas of the park, I continually saw this kind of situation repeat itself over and over again. So what is one sensible parent to do in this case... is there a lifeguard language class that we missed? How does one master the hand gestures or whistle blowing of these characters? Don't get me wrong, I am very appreciative of them there. I am grateful to know that there is a trained professional who can save a life if it comes to it. I just want to be able to know how to correct my wrong behavior or what that wrong behavior may have been to begin with!