The Pirate Dinner

Aaaarrrrggghhh!

My friend Elizabeth gave me the idea to have a pirate dinner. She told her children that if they practiced good table manners throughout the week, that she'd reward them with a pirate dinner - where good manners are not required. The boys were so excited on Thursday night to have their own. We had rotisserie chicken (compliments of Walmart), buttered noodles, green peas (a favorite of Henry), kabobs of mango, pineapple, strawberries & marshmallows, crescent rolls & chocolate pudding for dessert. All to be eaten without utensils. No napkins, you were to wipe your hands on the tablecloth (a quilt). If you needed to burp, you went right ahead and feet on the table? No problem! Of course, you know my children, they can't do anything in moderation. Of course it got a little out of control. I'm talking rubbing deodorant on the mirrors on their closet doors. Yes, you give my boys an inch, and by gosh, they'll take a yard, maybe more. We had fun, and the mess wasn't too overwhelming.

Here is Henry sporting a tatoo drawn by yours truly, and I wore a moustache! Nate, of course kept his school clothes on, he's not one to get too wild & crazy.... he's so much like Bryan.

So, we start week 3 of Bryan's training....

Week 1 down, 10 more to go...

Well, I just survived the first week of 11 that Bryan will be gone (for the majority of the time) for training at Duke.

I have been dreading/agonizing over this since Thanksgiving and I really thought that the hardest part would be being lonely. I figured that I could handle the feeding, shuttling, bathing & bedtime for these 3 wild boys, and the hardest part would be after they all go to bed, just missing Bryan's company. Well, I was (naturally) wrong. The week was crazy. I did handle the days routine, but it

was tough. Bryan does a lot. And just knowing he's gonna do one of the things on my to-do list, like brush Henry's teeth at bedtime does a lot for my morale. (Sometimes that a difficult job!!) And, I was lonely at night. But, we survived and I think he missed us as much as we missed him.

There were only a few glitches in the week, including a meeting of my car with our house (Bryan wasn't happy about that) and possibly the least amount of sleep I've ever had in a week. We had a great weekend with Bryan that included some bowling, some Texas Roadhouse (Nate's favorite) and lots of books. So, we'll see what week 2 holds...

By the way, here is a picture of Luke with his first sippee cup of juice. Yes, I know he's a little young for this (5 months now) but we were having fun, and by baby #3, you just don't sweat the small stuff!!

Still with Delta????

So, I've had several people ask me how am I still possibly employed at Delta Air Lines. Here's how it worked out:

I went on maternity leave when I was pregnant with Nate. Before I was scheduled to return, Delta offered 5 year leaves b/c of the hit the airline industry had taken after 9/11. At the end of my 5 year leave, I was called back and I said "yes" I would return. Then I found out I was pregnant with Luke. They offered me a "delayed return" scheduled to return to flying when Luke was 6 months old. I haven't been paid during these past 6 years, nor have I taken advantage of flight benefits (other than our trip to Florida), and I haven't received any other benefits (like medical, etc).

While we were travelling this past week, I realized that I didn't miss the job at all. My life has taken a turn for the better. I'll gladly trade in long San Juan layovers, 24 hours in Honolulu or a 3-day in Madrid to watch my children fall asleep every night and then to be the one to greet them in the morning. Children give you a perspective on life like nothing else. They make you think about the things in this life that matter.

There aren't many things that we can take with us when we leave this world. But, I want to be making every effort, every day, to make sure I get to spend forever with my children.

Flying to Florida

Bryan & I have been wanting the boys to experience flying on an airplane for quite sometime. I am scheduled to return to work at Delta when Luke is 6 months old (next month) and I plan on resigning. How could I leave these boys for 3 days at a time? So, knowing that our days left to fly for free were numbered, we planned a trip to fly to Florida to visit Mark, Denise & Silas & a day with Mickey & Minnie! Other than Henry being sick the majority of the trip, we had a great time. It was especially nice to see Silas, the boys only first cousin. (That's him in the picture). We did hit Magic Kingdom on Friday, an experience that will be discussed in a later blog. Connecting in ATL wasn't nearly as stressful as I had imagined. The boys even pulled their own suitcases most of the time.

Happy Birthday Nate!

I can't believe Nate is 6 years old! Here is a picture from the day he was born. He was the most beautiful thing I'd ever laid my eyes on! I love you Nate!

A Very Special Day for Luke!

Today was Luke's baby dedication at church. This was a special day not only for Luke, but also for me & Bryan, Nate & Henry and all of Luke's family.

A dedication is different than a christening. We present Luke to the Lord and ask for wisdom and guidance while we raise him. We also pray that one day he will committ his life to Jesus. The rest of the family and our friends promise to help us raise Luke to be a Godly man. Our Pastor did a wonderful job and the service was so touching. He even wrote a letter to Luke, to be opened on his 12th birthday. Wow, I hope I can make it 12 years without peeking inside! You know how curious I am.

I hope Luke knows how much he is loved, not only by his immediate family, but he is loved by so many more.

Nature vs Nuture

Luke is so happy. He really is. If you (as a stranger) take the time to speak to him, he will smile. Almost guaranteed. It's like he's saying, " I have 2 brothers, I love them but they drive me crazy. They're always waking me up with loud noises and poking my cheeks. Thanks for being nice and speaking to me." I'm starting to wonder: how much of a good disposition is born in a baby and how much is what we teach/do to them.

Possibility #1 - They follow our lead. I'm a much happier Mom this time around, I worry less about little things, like changing peepee diapers (I just don't do it, I wait until there's poop), or do you feed them at 3 months, 4 months or 5? Maybe babies get vibes from us. They pick up on our moods & imitate them.

Possibility #2 - It's all in their nature. They're born happy or they're born fussy & grumpy. I have definitley had 2 fussy babies. Nate & Henry couldn't have been more difficult, but with Luke it's just going fine.

Possibility #3 - We teach them how to behave. They become so used to being waked from their naps, feedings disrupted & being left in the crib to cry while you attent to "more important things" - the breaking up of big fights, the wiping of hiney's, or turning off the bath water before it overflows - that they grow to be more tolerent.

Joy's verdict - #1 & #3 may be true, but #2 is out. Luke sleeps 2 hours at the most at nights. I feel okay every morning, maybe because I've discovered Red Bull, but maybe because I've adapted. So I think nuture has more to do with disposition than nature.

Lesson I've learned- while having 2 brothers has it's drawbacks, a big perk is that you become very tolerent of many of the problems you will face in life.

I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of men my boys turn out to be.

Welcome 2009!

Well, the tree is down (actually it was down the day after Christmas) and the toys are (almost) put away! I am very excited about 2008 coming to an end. It was a great year seeing that we added Luke to our family, but I am excited to see what exciting things await us in 2009. Nate, Henry and Luke had a great Christmas. Santa managed to squeeze down our chimney and left lots of goodies for good little boys. Hope you had a good one!

A Robot that cleans my floors!

Well, Santa knew just what to bring this year! I have a new best friend. Mr. Roomba has been all over my house cleaning up dust bunnies, crumbs, etc. When he is working, I have a new motivation to clean. And it really works. This morning I locked him in the laundry room & my closet for about an hour and returned to find a clean floor! Amazing. I love this guy.

Thanksgiving

I love this time of year. I look forward to putting up my Christmas tree, I enjoy shopping on Black Friday (even Walmart at 5am), and I love making my Christmas card. Since Bryan and I got married (1999) we have made a Christmas card with a picture of our family. Until 2003, it was just me and Bryan and the cats, but now we enjoy taking a family picture to share with our friends & family. Each year, it becomes more of a challenge to get everyone looking at the camera & happy. Here are a few of my failed attempts at this year's card.

Laid Back Luke

Luke is so precious. He absolutely adores his brothers. The mere mention of their names brings a smile to his face. If they are touching him, he's happy. But, suprisingly he is a very light sleeper, which isn't good considering the noise level at home. And he's not the easiest baby - but we are enjoying every minute of his babyhood.

Nate

Nate...

He's so much like his Dad. He pays attention to detail. He has to know exactly how it works. He loves the science behind things. That is probably why his favorite thing to watch on TV is "How Its Made" on the science channel. He doesn't like chocolate, he loves raw vegetables. He will pick a pepper or a tomato off the plant and bite in.

He loves milk and vanilla wafers and it is crazy about his new brother.

I miss him so much while he is at school, and so does Henry. Luke misses him too, he just doesn't realize it yet.

O Henry

Henry has beautiful eyes. He is changing so fast right now, turning 4 was huge for him. He actually slept in his bed all night 2 nights this week (not consecutive nights). He is so loving. He wants to fall asleep with my arms wrapped around him. As I'm trying to teach him to fall asleep without me, I keep reminding myself that 10 years from now I'll probably give anything to get to fall asleep with him in my arms. Oh, in this picture he has on 3 pajama shirts, and I wonder why I have so much laundry...

The shower

It's a big event. The first time you (as a Duncan boy) get to take a shower with Dad. We have pictures of Nate's first shower, then Henry's first shower, and finally Luke's first shower. Luke seemed to like it, despite all the squealing & shouting. Although he does look a little nervous in this picture.

Luke has been sick this week. We spent 3 mornings going to the Dr. It started with a cold, then the croup, then a fever of 103.4, finally a really nasty ear infection. He's doing much better now. I guess he will catch every cold that comes through our house because Nate & Henry can't keep their hands off him! But what's a little bad cold now & then when you've got so much love from your brothers.

Luke at almost 3 months.

Settling into 3

Life here at the Duncan house has been pretty crazy lately. Blogging is very high on my list of priorities, and as you see, I am not getting to blog very much. These boys are crazy. I know it's not gonna get any easier, but I am expecting to get better at handling this chaos. Halloween was lowkey with a little trick or treating in the neighborhood. We were in bed just after 8. Outage at Duke Power means Bryan is at work most all the time. Nate & Henry are pulling out all the stops when it comes to trying to surprise me. I never know what I might find when I walk in the room. But, I keep reminding myself that one day, when I'm old & can sleep all I want and long for company, I will say to Bryan, "Bryan, you remember that day that the boys drew all over their faces with permanent marker? They drew moustaches & beards and even ear hair. Now wasn't that funny. Those were the good ole' days, right Bryan. Boy, I sure do wish I could go back & do it all again."

Maybe I will say that one day, maybe I won't. Maybe I'll just be enjoying the peace & quiet.

Henry you are so funny

Kia for sale!

I have done something many of us say we will never do. I bought a used minivan. I love it! I still have all 3 boys in car seats/booster seats and we were busting out of the Kia. I couldn't even fit the stroller. Now, I have so much room. I even have a DVD player. We may just spend the afternoon hanging out in the car. Take some cookies & milk, put on a movie. I don't like minivans anymore than the next person, but once you try one, it's hard to not drive one. Yippee! Be on the lookout for the blue Honda Odyssey.

brushing teeth?

I vividly remember a particular day 5/6 years ago - a few weeks after Nate was born: I was driving and suddenly realized that I hadn't taken the time to brush my teeth that day. I was so "floored" by this fact that I called my mama on the cell to say, "Oh, what a crazy morning it's been with little Nate. I am almost to Seneca, and I just realized I didn't brush my teeth! How could I forget to brush my teeth? Hahahah..."
Well, this morning, as I was delivering Nate to kindergarten, then Henry to preschool while Luke was yelling in his car seat, I thought to myself how often these days I not only forget to brush my teeth, but I don't even realize that I haven't until much later in the day.
My point is, if you call my house and you know I'm home & I still don't answer, don't get mad. Or, if I don't answer an e-mail promptly (or ever), be patient with me. I am loving this life, but it is really crazy right now.

Sweet smiles

Henry is such a big boy now. He's lost that baby face and has changed so much in the last few months.

Nate is a school boy now & is so grown up. I can trust him with Luke & actually leave the room when Nate is watching him.

And here is Luke with Silas. I love this picture because I can just image the 2 of them together next year this time. There will be no stopping these guys.