Moment Collector: Whatever It Takes

Occasionally people inquire as to what it's like to be a mom to three boys. Oddly enough this question most often comes up while standing in the check out line at the grocery or Target or any other time my children's best behavior is on full display. Really, who doesn't want to just sit at the bottom of magazine display stands knocking all the travel-size hand sanitizers, Find-A-Cure pens & AAA battery packs onto the floor while checking out all the latest mini lego toys on the market or gazing admiringly upon the brightly colored tubes of Chapstick or who doesn't want to pull in and out repeatedly the ADA-compliant check writing desk just so you can test how much force it really takes to slam back into the hidden compartment from whence it came? Really? Not you? This doesn't sound like your check-out lane experience? Hmm. Well, back to the original question, my response is the same as the one I write on every "words of wisdom" card at baby showers asking for some witty piece of advice for the new-mom-to-be, Whatever It Takes. Meaning, I have to be ready for whatever it takes. Some days we do enjoy a relatively quiet day at home playing with legos, Rescue Heros, lightsabers, dressing up like ninjas and dragging every pillow from the house into the front entryway to build a colossal fort surrounded by every plastic army guy (all (what seems like) 1500 of them) taking refuge under our roof. Other days, like today, are filled with a plethora of surprises and unexpected twists, but nonetheless an adventure on some level. My primary goal with boys is to constantly be on the look-out for opportunities to poison them with fresh air in effort to exhaust or, at a minimum, lessen their energy supply. Of course, this inevitably wears down my own energy supply so I often turn on my autopilot switch until the sun goes down and the little guys eyes hide behind their eyelids for the night. I immediately jump, although from all outward appearances it must look like a slow climb, into bed to crash for the night on a pillow of quiet luxury. Albeit exhausting, this routine does have it's upsides - a life full of daily adventures, a naturally built-in calorie-burning regimen that allows for ice-cream or Oreos whenever the mood strikes as well as little beaming faces that are 100% tuckered out when the sandman comes-a-callin'. Here are some of the highlights from today captured on film. (Some pictures reflecting the multiple times we lost them inside the maze-like wildlife center or the ones of them climbing in the restaurant window sills or the ones of them crawling under the dining table, may have been accidentally omitted, lest you get the wrong impression that all things are not under control 100% of the time in our testosterhome.)