How to Survive a Sleepover Without Really Trying

It was Belated Birthday Party Time for Nephew Nicholas this weekend. We picked out the cake he wanted: Strawberry cake with red icing ("So it will still look like a boy cake.") And the dinner menu was planned: quesadillas without beans (he doesn't like that I put refried beans in the flat burritos I often make and since it's his birthday, he called the shots) and a watermelon that Nick insisted we buy.

The fun started after Sunday Afternoon's nap with a movie of Nick's choosing and then we all trekked down to the pool for a swim. (This was key in the plan of success!)

It was quickly followed by dinner (picnic style) and cupcakes ("tup-takes" as Nick calls them) and the announcement that we would be SLEEPING DOWNSTAIRS!! There was much rejoicing. And then a photo shoot of epic proportion....



And from this photo shoot, an even MORE epic photo shoot commenced (how is that is even possible?!)



The evening ended with kids slowly and surely rolling over and falling asleep. We only had 2 wake ups in the middle of the night (not counting the one where Nate got up and woke up Daddy instead of me) and I was pleased to call the event a success when this morning Nick walked over to the computer to see the pictures and smiled at me when he said, "That was so much fun last night."

Ahhhhhh.

Zuh, Zuh, Zuh

I am a day behind with my Thankfulness list but if you really know me then you know that late is how I roll.

I am lucky to have no problem coming up with my list of Z's. In fact, consider this post a small introduction to the people I know and love...since many of them are the letter Z!

(in no particular order...really Well, maybe a teeeeny bit but only the first part. )

10. Zabrosky, David-He's the whole reason I get to write a Z in my name. He is my sweet hubby who loves me no matter what and who is so so so hot! (Really.) He says hilarious things and has such an intense love for his children that it blows my mind. He is a man of God and the leader of our household and I can't imagine trusting anyone more. Plus, he's hot!

9. Zabrosky, Nathan-He wrote his own book yesterday and it had great pictures and funny jokes. He is growing about an inch a week and I love it when he tries to convince me of things like how his mouth hurts and it is okay for me to take him out of school so he can go to the dentist. Because school doesn't really matter.

8. Zabrosky, Nicholas-I didn't know I could love a child so much who I didn't carry around for 9 months. He taught me so much at his young age and I pray that he will always feel like he has a place in our home-no matter where he lives. Plus he is possibly the funniest kid I know. That's right, I said it. And for bonus points: He will hug anyone who asks for it. And it will possibly be the best hug you ever receive.

7. Zabrosky, Lucy Joy-You wear dresses. You play tea parties. You give hugs and hand kisses when we cross the street together. You play dress up with your friend Lindsay and you watch musicals with me over and over and over. You really are the best. Even when you aren't.

6. Zabrosky, Ella Anne-My baby who started patting me and calling me "mama, mama" this week. She has brought hope to people she barely knows but when they look at her they can't help themselves-they are glimpsing the beautiful work of God the Father. Even the kind Scottish priest at the doctor's office couldn't stop himself from reaching out and giving her a blessing. And she is so hilarious when she plays with that kid in the number 9 spot.

5. Zabrosky, Elizabeth-My niece. I haven't met her yet but I love her so much! She is so smiley in the pictures we receive and I know that she is going to be a wonderful woman since she is being raised by two of the most wonderful people ever. Which leads me to....

4. Zabrosky, Susannah-...one half of that awesome parent duo! Aunt Zunah! She was over at our house the day I found out I was pregnant with Lucy and it was so cool to have her share that with us. And when Nick first came to us, she was there almost every day helping me adjust to the suddenness of having 3 kids under the age of 4 in my home. She loves God. She loves her Man. And she loves her family. And I love her.

3. Zabrosky, Jonathan, Gabriel-The older of the younger brothers. I hear the most hilarious stories and escapades from David that these 3 used to get into. Stories like starting up big bulldozers on jobsites near their home, taking bamboo and making slides out of them, and general sneaking around and getting in trouble games. Best way for boys to grow up.

2. Zabrosky, Klaus-The youngest brother who, for awhile, was such a mini David, I glimpsed what it might be like if we had a son. We had him spend the night sometimes, took him to Sea World and other places. He was a funny kid who wanted to be just like David. Now he is a young man and when David and I think about his actual age, we wonder what happened to the last 10 years?

1. Zabrosky, Mom and Dad-they built a family together and raised the young man who is now my amazing husband. They didn't shoot down the 23 and 19 year olds who came to them with the "great idea" of getting married at such a young age and instead offered guidance and advice to them. And they love their grandkids. Which is apparent after spending time with either of them. I love you guys.

I am lucky to get to have the letter "Z" in my name. But I am even more blessed to that these last 10 as a part of my family.


The Thankfulness ABC's is starting back up again! Join my friends every Tuesday and remind yourself-and the world-that there is much to be thankful for! Head over to Beyond Black and White to see the other Z lists!

I Write These Down So You Can Appreciate Your Life Better

My Night Last Night...

8:30pm Nathan falls asleep after crying for over an hour. He is fried from a full day of fun with Grandma Sisi and Grandpa Tim.

All is mostly well and quiet on the homefront. But this is the calm before the storm.

2:30am Ella wakes up to eat. This was to be expected since she fell asleep earlier than usual last night.

3:15am Lucy is now awake. She wants to sleep in bed with us, "in a room with a Mommy and a Daddy and a Baby."

3:30am Lucy is still awake

3:45am Whew! Rubbed Lucy's head till she fell asleep-it worked!

3:50am Nope.

4:00am Tucked Lucy back in bed. Realized Ella and Nathan and I didn't have any clean clothes to wear to church tomorrow. Went downstairs to start a load of laundry.

4:15am And check my e-mail

4:30am Oh look! It's Lucy! She's awake!

4:35am Lucy is tucked back in bed. And I take a hot shower to try to clear the throbbing earache I have.

4:55am A nice peaceful shower. Everyone is where they should be. I lay down and David sits up to ask me if I feel better. He also scares the crap out of me.

5:00am Have listened to grumpy husband explain how Lucy was up twice AND she woke up Nathan who climbed into bed with Nick who was unhappy about all of that and was crying himself.

5:15am Ella is awake again.

5:35am I lay back in bed.

5:45am As I drift off to sleep, I am suddenly awoken by the crowing of a rooster.

Wait, that can't be right. I live in the city.

Oh! It's my DAUGHTER and she is CROWING LIKE A ROOSTER OUT AN OPEN WINDOW!

5:46am I find my daughter in Nathan's room sitting on his bed with Nicholas. Both Lucy and Nick are wide awake and trying to wake up Nathan who does NOT want to be up yet.

5:55am Ella is still awake from eating and is playing quietly in her crib. But if I climb into bed, she will see me and possibly want me to pick her up. I wait.

5:58am Ella fills her diaper....about 5 times.

6:00am I finally drift off to sleep. I hear kids getting up again. I ignore them and instead wake up my husband and beg him to deal with it so I can get some sleep.

8:00am After about 90 minutes of very interrupted sleep, I get out of bed and go to church.


I am happy to report the following...
-I didn't fall asleep in the middle of the worship set this morning.
-Although it meant I missed morning rehearsal, I had a delicious Iced Green Tea Latte and bacon breakfast sandwich-Starbys saves the day
-Lucy is still alive...but barely.

4 Looks Good On Ya!

This is what 4 looks like...so handsome! So charming! And there's even a teeny bit of mistchief too, yes?




January of last year our sweet nephew Nick moved in with us when he was 2 years old. It has been our pleasure to have this bright spot of sunshine in our home for about 6 months and then in our lives for the weekends on a regular basis.

If you were to meet him right now, he would do one or all of the following:
-Give you a hug
     (All you have to do is ask)
-Tell you a joke/sing you a song
     (Remember who wanted to name the baby "Fred?")
-Leave you wondering how such an adorable face can talk with the voice of an old man
     (I am so serious)

Now, he is 4 and has made the full transformation from toddler to BOY. I love it and it breaks my heart all at the same time.

We love you Nicholas.

The One Where We All Go Back

My feet are aching.
My back is sore.
My eyes are closing.
My gas tank is empty.

All of this means....we hit Disneyland again!

Today was not a solo mission. This time we took a whole gaggle of people including David, Nicholas, Alyssa and her beau Mark.

Because I am afraid this blog might be turning into "Zab Tales of Disneyland" AND because in between each sentance I type, I look up at the episode of "Friends" that I am watching and then fall asleep which then turns each sentance into a 2 minute task, I am skipping to the highlights only.

* Getting off the Jungle Cruise and the "cast member" helping Lucy off the boat said, "There you go, Princess!" She stopped walking, turned around and said, "Mommy! He called me PRINCESS!"

* Taking all 3 kids on "Pirates" and both boys telling me they weren't scared at all when we were done. (Know that I did make an inappropriate joke about bringing the Ziploc with grandmas ashes nice and loud for the amusement of the Disney people. I wondered if they'd stop the ride and question me. They didn't.)

* Cherry sours

* While waiting for Lucy and David to go on Dumbo, Alyssa went to grab some lunch so Mark and I took the boys on "Mister Toad's Wild Ride." As we were standing in line, I told Mark that I couldn't remember the last time I'd been on. In fact, my parents never took me on it when I was little. He told me that his parents didn't either! How weird was that? In fact, he wondered if he'd ever been on it! We marveled at our parents' oddities and laughed, ha! We got on the ride and I continued laughing inside. Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha-uh oh. Mister Toad had been a bad boy. Nathan noticed the darkness of the scenes around him and was no longer steering. A scary judge (was he a badger or something?) loomed above us and shouted the words "GUILTY!" And it was then that I realized exactly WHY my parents hadn't taken me to Mister Toad's Wild Ride. Because the ride that's for kids SENT ME TO HELL!

Please excuse the words for which this acronym stands, but: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!?!?
What is up with the story of Mister Toad?!
OK, moving on.

* Having a 4-3 Adult to kid ratio. It completely rocked.

* The final moment of the day: The boys were on the "toilet ride" (we tried calling it that all day to make going to the bathroom sound exciting but they didn't buy it once) and Lucy and I were waiting outside. We saw Pluto walking across the street and as we chased him down, we stumbled upon Mickey and Minnie and Goofy all posing for pictures. I called David and told him to bring the boys over and we walked over to get in line. The "cast member" standing at the back of the line said he'd sneak us in as the last person to see Mickey for now. (Calling Lucy "princess" again, much to her delight.) We thanked him and waited our turn. As we stood there, Minnie Mouse was going away. Lucy called out to her and waved. She was sad Minnie was going.

It was our turn to see Mickey, the boys were with us and everyone fell on Mickey showing him their new badges (lanyards) and telling him EVERYTHING they'd done that day. I reminded them that Mickey had to go so lets take our picture. As we lined everyone up, who comes over? Minnie Mouse! Lucy was extatic! She walked right over to us and I now have the most wonderful, magical picture of my 3 babies and Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

It's so silly, I started crying. I was standing there, taking pictures, crying at such a simple sight. But for me, it was the perfect end to a wonderful day. A moment that brought me such abundant joy, I honestly thanked God for it.

Pictues coming tomorrow.
Good night.

Fun Day Friday!

The weekend before Halloween, I swiped an idea from a friend of a friend who's blog I read. Her son had painted his small pie-sized pumpkin and I loved the idea for my little monsters.

I had a ton of acrylic paint leftover from painting Nathan's nursery and hoped the paint hasn't turned into solid blocks in the last 4 years of non-use.

David was quite skeptical at the idea of our young children using acrylic paint INSIDE but I was confident my idea would work.

We filled 3 muffin tins with all kinds of colors of paint and then left two with water, gave each kid 1 brush and we were off!

We enjoyed watching each child's painting technique. Nathan went with faces, letters and names and then one he ran out of room, he just painted over what he'd already painted. Lucy took her time and made short marks but strategically placed and colorful. Nick would pick 1 color, say yellow for example, and paint his whole pumpkin with that 1 color. Then he would pick 1 more color and paint right over the first color. that went on and on till he was left with 1 big grey pumpkin. Somewhere in the painting process, he'd just paint with his very grey water. To each his own, right?

Here are a couple of pictures but it was hard to pick my favorites so you can see the full set here.

The concentration in the room was high.

The methodical artwork of The Goose.

My Pumpkin Painting Hitler Look Alike.
When he saw the paint on his lip, it took a long time for him to stop laughing.

Should you be at a party where I bring the cupcakes, worry not. These pans received a VERY thorough washing after all the painting was completed.

Well....Poop.

I will let you all know that Nathan's hand/fingers are doing much better today. We are down to needing only 1 band aid for his "tall finger" (middle) which he will hold up all on its own for you to look at.
Just try not to laugh.

This morning, I woke up to the realization that for our adventure yesterday, I had used all 4 of the very last pieces of bread (including the heels) to make sandwiches. Therefore, I had no bread for Nathan's lunch at school today. This being the day I gain 1 more child, the extra hour of "two kid-ness" that lunch bunch gives me was a necessity. I decided to compromise my morals-that's right, I said MORALS-and purchase for Nathan a.......gulp.....Lunchable. Ugh. These things have something like 3 times the daily sodium required for a salt block licking cow. Their general nutritional value is almost non-existent. But, the hour was needed. I was desperate.

When we got to school, Nathan saw his friend Caleb in the parking lot. "Hey Caleb!" He called out, in his loudest of voices. "I don't have my lunch bucket today! Mommy bought me a lunch like Sally and Joey* bring. you know, the ones that are bad for your insides!"

Sigh.
And then, in the same breath, best announcer voice possible he continued: "Caleb, see my band aids? I didn't get an owie from falling down. I got it because my Mommy slammed my fingers in the car door in the middle of the night at Disneyland!"

Double Sigh.

Continuing on with the story of my day...

The little kids were eating lunch when the announcement was made by Nick that he had to go poop. He was released and sent on his way. When he called for me about 10 minutes later, in tears, I checked on him. And without going into too much detail, lets just say that almost every inch of toilet seat, stool used to reach said toilet seat and large sections of floor were covered in the poop. He was terrified and had clearly tried to clean up whatever it was had happened in there that I think might involve his adorably short legs and difficulty getting his pants in the proper pooping position. He got a baby wipe bath, Nemo chonies (yay!), and a big snuggle from his B-Anthony.

Only 2 hours passed when Lucy and I were sitting in our chairs and reading books when she all of a sudden stood up and said, "Mommy, I have stinkies in my Thinking Chair."
Huh?
I found myself again in a bathroom (this time the upstairs one) with a slightly embarrassed (and yet slightly delighted at the delay in her fast approaching naptime) child. She also got a baby wipe bath, Princess Pull Up and a snuggle from Mommy.

I was on the phone later with my friend Michelle (mother to 2 very pre-adolecent boys) as we laughed about this story when she said it: "It's when I hear stories like this from you that I am glad I never had the baby I thought I wanted 2-3 years ago."

I am so happy to provide such a service for her.



*=names changed...maybe their family has a severe sodium deficiency and Lunchables are needed to keep them alive?

Friday Fun Day!

Fridays in the Zab house are Fun Days. We get our nephew Nicholas on Friday mornings. He and Lucy get some time to play without being bossed around by a certain 4 year old and then once we pick that certain 4 year old up from school, the non controlled chaos begins.

Adding a 3 year old to our mix increases the decibel levels of our home exponentially. It is deafening. I remember one time, when Nick used to live with us full time, I was on the phone with the doctor's office when the kids were running around with capes saving the world. The receptionist, after hearing me apologize for the noise level, asked if I ran a day care. I told her it was just my 3 kids. She was stunned into silence and simply said, "Wow."

Now, the noise is fun. Partially because it is purely the joy of 3 kids who love each other and partially because...well, I know it will end on Sunday when Nick goes home. Ha!

So now on Fridays, we try to think of something fun to do in the evening. Sometimes it is a movie night but most of the time it is a project of some kind. One of our more recent ones-and stand by easy favorites were decorating cookies.

I buy the cookie dough pre-made. I can't make cookies. I make cakes. I make sweet breads. I leave cookies to the experts like Sooz and Michelle. Add in small bowls of sprinkles and you have kids who are so happy to decorate cookies that they will, get this, SIT STILL and -there's more-NOT YELL and even-hold on to your hats-NOT RUN AROUND for possibly even a whole hour!

Tips for Mama's wanting to use this idea for their own Friday fun? Bathe kids AFTER the fun. Not before like I did. Also, buy a whole seperate package of cookies to make for you, hubby and any other adults that might like some cookies. Because after watching a 2, 3 and 4 year old push their sticky, licked, icky fingers inside those raw cookies, you will NOT be joining in the fun of eating them. (Ugh.)

The Next Picassos? Jackson Pollocks? Dogs Playing Poker?

A few weekends ago, I had all 3 kids with me and no husband in sight. So I filled our Saturday chock FULL of activities to make the time pass as quickly as possible.

Thankfully, David ended up staying home but that didn't mean the fun was going to slow down! Aunt Kristy came over and gave an art lesson in the fine art of finger painting. The twist on this standard pre-school activity? We painted the sliding glass door! This is something my mom used to do for us at Birthday Parties and it was perfect this day too! We painted and filled the window up, wiped it all down and started all over again! It was a beautiful day, the weather was perfect and we had a TON of fun!

Anyone notice in that last picture how Lucy is now taller than Nick? when did THAT happen!?!?