Life Has Been Okay.

Our foster dog, Hope, was adopted this weekend. It was bittersweet. The house seems empty and quiet - despite the three kids, 2 adults and Will. Hubs keeps telling me to stop looking at the dogs and cats available for adoption/fostering at the shelter, but it's hard. Fostering is, I'm afraid, rather addicting. Time to nip that in the bud, right?

Besides Hope's adoption, son #1's birthday was last week and son #2's birthday is this week. Little Miss' birthday is in 3 weeks. I am a poster child for poor planning. Three birthdays less than eight weeks before Christmas. Crazy. Between Halloween candy, cake, ice cream, Thanksgiving, more cake, ice cream, and Christmas cookies....weight loss doesn't stand a chance.

The other day we stopped at an open house for a new development that is being built near us and that we've driven by I don't even know how many times. It was fascinating to see the kids' reaction to the homes and made us dream of moving. I'd never move into those particular homes - no yard, townhouses, etc. - but they were beautiful nonetheless. It was fun to dream. Hubs and I used to go to open houses at new communities almost every weekend when we lived in Arizona. There were so many communities springing up that we had years of exploring and visiting. I didn't realize how much I missed doing that until we stopped the other day. Free entertainment and, now that we know the kids love doing it too, something that we will have to do more of - just for fun.

Life has been okay. It really has.

Intervention, Support, Mid-Terms, and Driving.

In order to get our oldest the reading help that he needs, we decided to enroll the boys in a virtual charter school this year. It's a public school, funded by the state, and the lessons are online. I am considered the "Home Facilitator" or "Home Dictator" as the boys might say.

It's an interesting switch from being completely responsible for planning and implementing lessons, as now I implement only. And implement I do. The first month was challenging. Getting into the routine of it and finally figuring out what exactly had to be completed and by when was the most challenging.

The oldest now receives the exact same reading specialist support as he did when we were paying for it (the school uses the same curriculum) and his tutor meets with him in-person once a week. For a virtual school, this is, well, virtually unheard of. He has one lesson with her at the office and one lesson online via a chat room where he's got a headset and camera. It's quite a sight I must say.

He also receives Resource support, which, is basically, a resource room teacher who spends at least an hour a week helping him with anything he needs help with. She's been focusing on spelling and writing, because those are two weak areas for him. And if that's not amazing enough in terms of support, he has also qualified for math support. So, starting in a week, he'll be receiving an hour of private math instruction in addition to all of the other support. Crazy amazing!

The best part of all of it was when we checked both boys' mid-term grades today. All A's for both of them. And they've earned it. They've been working hard and have figured out that the more they argue and fuss, the longer it takes to finish school. The longer it takes to finish, the less time they have to go play with their friends. The power of the play incentive.

And what's Little Miss doing during all of this? She's got her own little routine of practicing her letters, writing words that interest her (the new favorite is "star") and copying my phone number down repeatedly. She also plays "library" and has a scanner that she uses to "check the books out" for her imaginary friend and constant companion, Braida. She's my mini-me except that she kicks my butt at Mario Kart every time. Crazy.

And that is a day in the life.

Freaky Tooth Fairy.

My youngest son lost a tooth today. You would think he'd be eager to stash the tiny treasure under his pillow in anticipation of pay day from the Tooth Fairy. However, tonight, it was quite the opposite.

Tonight, I learned that my son is afraid of the Tooth Fairy.

VERY afraid.

So afraid that he wanted to throw his tooth away rather than risk the Tooth Fairy coming. It made me think about what a Tooth Fairy really does and why it would be slightly traumatizing. While The Rock romanticized the idea (okay, maybe the romanticized part was just in my mind!) of the Tooth Fairy, in actuality, this stealthy night visitor is kind of creepy.

Think about it....would you put something under your pillow if you thought it would somehow call a stranger to sneak into your room through the window and stick their hand under your pillow while you were sleeping? When you think about it like that, the Tooth Fairy is one sick, scary story....especially to a kid who is afraid of the dark.

Well, the tooth eventually ended up under his pillow.....he is, after all, a big fan of shiny quarters. And that means that now I must sneak into his room, slide my hand carefully under his pillow and somehow exchange his bagged tooth for change. Or, I can ask Hubs to do it!

Traditions. Some New. Some Old.

Image via WikipediaAs I get ready to hang up birthday signs for the third child in the last three weeks, I can't help but to think about this crazy, wonderful tradition. Growing up, whenever it was someone's birthday, my parents would make signs that said, "Happy Birthday, 'insert name here'" or something to that effect. (Yes, they actually filled in our names and didn't write insert name here.)

It's a simple thing really, but seeing those signs first thing in the morning....that was something special. They'd be all over the house and stay there for a few days afterwards too. They made us feel special and loved and, really, that's the best thing to feel no matter how old you are.

When Dan and I started dating, I did the same thing for him. He thought I was insane, but I think he was secretly thrilled. At least, that's what I'm going to believe.

Now, we hang signs all over the house for each other whenever anyone has a birthday. The kids expect it, look forward to it, and go around reading every single sign for days. It's our birthday tradition and it's a keeper.

This year we started some traditions and continued with old ones. We get Christmas ornaments from the places we go...Cape May Zoo, Ocean City, Dutch Wonderland, and Lancaster are on our tree this year as new additions. We'll also be adding a new, special one after the new year. I can't wait!

We went to Ocean City the first week of June this year....going down every year is a tradition the kids are begging that we start. I'm okay with that really. It was a great vacation. One of the best ever really.

We also grow more vegetables than we can eat and plant things that we know only our elderly neighbors eat, because it's good to have a tradition of giving to others. The kids look forward to giving our neighbors veggies from the garden almost as much as they enjoy planting them.

We have other traditions too....some were just ours when we lived in Phoenix. Like a Christmas Eve service and a spaghetti dinner every year. But sometimes traditions have to adapt like the rest of us and Christmas Eve finds us rushing here and there. This year, we're determined to take the day back for ourselves. I cannot wait.

I hope you have your traditions too. Ones that make your heart happy and give you peace. Ones that when you wake up on your birthday....or any day...remind you that you are loved. We all need those kinds of traditions.

The Kids Are Sick.

The kids are sick. Puking sick. Puking sick on me, because I am, after all, the one who is usually holding them when their stomachs revolt. After being thrown up on three times in less than two hours tonight, I was, however, ready for the puking to stop.

I was also desperately in need of a hot shower.

When they are sick though, I am often reminded of just how fragile our health is. One moment they're fine, the next....not so much. We often take for granted feeling well and moan when we feel less than stellar. As humans, we are so unappreciative of the gift of health until we don't have it.

Tonight, as I watch my soon-to-be three year old snuggling with her daddy in the center of our bed, I am thankful that her fever has broken somewhat. Her oldest brother's fever is still going strong. And I appreciate the fact that I can pray freely for them for healing. Because when I asked the toddler if she needed anything earlier, before she fell asleep, her response humbled me.

"Pray for me, Mommy. That will make me feel better."

Out of the mouths of babes.

Things That Bother My Children.

I cant help it, I'm a mom and you're just going to have to put up with my snippets of conversation with my kids. Or you don't. Really, it's your call and that's fine either way. But these gems are the quirky things that bother my kids and make them uniquely themselves. And they make me laugh...not out loud at the kids of course, but inside where they can't hear the chuckles. (Don't tell Dan, because I am certain there's some sort of mental health diagnosis for that.)

Ready?

- Belly shirts. Hugely disturbing to the boys that their sister can wear a shirt that doesn't cover her bellybutton. They insisted that daddy had dressed her in clothes that don't fit....again. When an explanation was attempted, the 6 year old put his hand up and said, "Stop, just stop. I don't care what you say about them, I find those shirts highly inappropriate and disturbing. And also, I'm very glad boys don't have to wear them." Point taken.

- Food that may or may not have been touched, breathed on or looked at by someone else. If they don't know for sure, they're not touching it. Except for the toddler....she'll grab the food right off your plate and run away squealing with laughter. She has issues, apparently.

- Skip counting songs. Drives them up the wall. "That song is like torture to my ears."

- Dog eye boogies. Okay, really, they gross me out too.

- Chocolate milk that isn't chocolatey enough. "Why should I even bother drinking it? It just looks and tastes like milk that someone didn't care enough about to give it the chocolate attention it needed." Sometimes I just have no words after they come out with things like that.

- Naps. Forget it, unless they've been running for the last three hours, there is no way they're going to sleep. And that includes the toddler these days....gosh darn it.

- Being too hot/being too cold. One son wears shorts all year long...even when we had Snowmageddon in February...he was wearing shorts inside. One son wears hooded sweatshirts and sweatpants as soon as the temperature drops below 80. The toddler just wants to wear what she wants.

And there's more for some other time, but I'm exhausted and have to make 4 dozen muffins at 6am. Oy.

Some Useless Stuff (with a dash of humor on the side).

Poor Gabe woke up to a lost voice and lots of congestion. An afternoon doctor's visit yielded the pink Amoxicillin stand-by and a trio of Mr. Potato Head stickers. And two creepy guys at the doctor's office who kept chatting up Shae. Back away from my daughter, misters, or I WILL take you down.

Seriously, what kind of crazy person tells a 2 year old who they're not related to, or KNOW for that matter, to come give them a kiss?!? If you're the Hangman playing type, I'm thinking of a word that's 7 letters, begins with a P, ends with a T and has E, R and V in the middle.

Unfortunately, the pink bubblegum atrocity, also known as, an antibiotic did nothing for Gabe except make him throw up tonight. Nice. Poor kid is still in there wheezing away with a hot pad on his chest, a vaporizer by his bed and a slathering of Vicks Vapo Rub so thick I'm getting loopy from a room and a half away.

I hate when the kids are sick. I'd rather be sick for them and hear them laughing and playing. The random bursts of screaming I can do without, but laughing and singing is fine. Although, if Shae sings The B-I-B-L-E one more time I think my head just might explode. Fair warning.

Well, onto other useless news...the kids came back to get the bike locks around 8 tonight after they were finished with football practice. There were 4 of them who needed locks, so I was glad I had picked up a couple extra. You could have heard a pin drop when one of them asked me, "Do, you like, make bike locks or something? Is that why you have them?" and I replied, "No, I bought them for you so your bikes don't get stolen." In that moment I had four big, dumbfounded young teen boys standing on my doorstep. Imagine, some woman they don't even know buying them bike locks simply because they need them. It had to be a first for them. Then huge smiles broke out, followed by "wows" and "thank yous" and "I really appreciate this". One even asked me to show him how to work the combination lock. Imagine that. Good times. All they need now are bike helmets.

Although, it did make me wonder...do I really look so handy that I could actually MAKE a metal chain and bike lock? Really? Because if I do, someone really needs to tell me. I could be missing out on a calling I didn't even know I had.

Speaking of callings...I think I hear my bed calling for company...or it may just be the echo of Kato snoring. It's hard to tell sometimes.


Question of the day: Cut it or let it grow?
My hair is getting long again...mid-way down my back long which is good for the curls, but not so good for the heat...can't decide whether I should get it cut or keep it long. Although, truthfully, by the time I manage to actually GET to the salon it could be down to my lower back - so keep that in mind when responding.



P.S. - Yes, Mom, I think it's a FABULOUS idea to go to WDW next summer. Just in case you missed my response in the last post, because I wouldn't want you to think we don't want to go. ;-)

Just an Everyday Kind of Weekend.

It was a productive weekend filled with lots of work and lots of snuggles. We knew Gabe was feeling better on Saturday morning when we awoke to him laughing - loudly! - in the hallway at 5:30. That boy only has one volume and it's LOUD. When he didn't make hardly any noise on Friday, we knew he wasn't feeling well. But by Saturday, he was fine (and back to being loud!) and Shaelyn was adamant that she too was feeling much better. Thank heavens!


Dan took the kids with him to his mom's house on Saturday morning, so I could work. A blessing indeed! Out of the 53 articles that I wanted to get done this weekend, all but 8 of them are now completed. Since the other ones don't have deadlines until the end of the week, I'm thrilled. Here's hoping that my eyes find sleep before 2am every single night this week!

Saturday night found me relaxing while watching Cops and eating popcorn. Yep, really.

After church this morning I napped with Shaelyn and awoke to find it raining. The kids slipped on their flip flops and made a mad dash for the front door where we stood watching them as they jumped in puddles and ran around like crazy. The rule of the house is that playing in the rain is a given unless there's thunder and lighting. Today's rain was soft and warm; a perfect summer rain for playing in the puddles.

Back inside for a Sesame Street movie and a dose of Veggie Tales they went, while I hopped on the treadmill for a run. This time I remembered to shut the "Shake to Shuffle" option off the iPod before the run, so it was much easier to actually listen to music. Imagine that.

Then bedtime saw an ample amount of snuggles with the kids. They look so sweet - and QUIET - when they're asleep. Quiet is NEVER a word we can claim to have in our house, so we appreciate the hours of silence when they occur and cherish the sound of their voices when they're awake (and after we've started the coffee iv drip for the day).

Nothing too exciting, but sometimes those are the best weekends of all.

The ABCs...2 year old style.

So, Shaelyn loves being taped on my phone. It's her favorite thing besides pickles and black olives and rice. We made a few videos today...this one is her singing the ABCs. Sort of. She was trying to keep smiling and singing at the same time....didn't work out all that well. She also gives new meaning to the phrase "Hit it, sister!"

What a $100 ER Co-Pay Looks Like

Soooo, Friday morning at 5am, as I was driving up to Connecticut for a meeting, the boys decided to play. "Play" as in "fool around & be unsafe by doing things like, oh, falling off the bunkbed and scraping your eye on the corner of the bed."

Yeah.

Soooo, Super Hubby took all 3 kids to the ER by himself at 5am on Friday morning.

And this, my friends, is what a $100 ER co-pay looks like...


Keep in mind, this was two weeks to the day that we had this $100 ER co-pay for Little Miss who decided to topple her tricycle in the house, while sitting still...



Thankfully, both the 6yo and Little Miss are just fine. The injuries definitely look worse than the scrapes they were/are, but really, I'm glad January is over.

Dread

Dread. That's today's mantra as I stare at the clock and know that in about an hour I'll be sitting in the doctor's office while Little Miss gets her check-up. She's fine, aside from a bump the size of Montana on her forehead (another story for another time), but she's going to have the "S" word. Probably a few.

Shots. Ugh.

There is nothing I hate more than having to hold down my children so a nurse can stab them with a needle and inject them with...things. I hate it.

Ugh. Dread.

Conversations from School

Some tidbits of conversation from school today...

8yo - "Do spelling words count as math?"
Me - "No, spelling words count as spelling."
8yo - "What if I count the syllables and letters in each word, would it count then?"



6yo - "I don't know why I have to do this. I never see you and Daddy doing fact families for fun!"
Me - "That's because we do it when you're asleep."



8yo - "Mom, Shae has stickers on her face!"
2yo - "No, Aid, it's makey-uppy."



6yo - "I love this book. It's like a story in my head!"


8yo - "Look, I can make this pencil disappear! Close your eyes!"
6yo - "Can you make it disappear if I keep my eyes open?"
8yo - "No, you have to close your eyes so I can hide it."
6yo - "I don't think that counts as making them disappear."



6yo - "I need help!"
Me - "I'm not telling you the answers. You can do the addition on your own."
6yo - "Well, if you're not going to tell me the answers, just forget it. I can do them on my own!"


Somedays, my friends, there is just not enough coffee in the world.

Newest Goal

My newest goal for the first 100 days....

Don't be hard on myself for not accomplishing anything on the list.

Ha! ;-)

These have been busy days complete with a head cold and dripping nosed children. Getting back into the routine after our Christmas break is proving successful, but alas, time consuming.

Cake Decoration...Not My Forte

I would like to be one of those moms who make gorgeous homemade birthday cakes for their children year after year. In fact, my own mother is one of those moms and I have pictures of her Holly Hobby cakes from my early birthdays to prove it. Alas, the cake decorating gene apparently skips a generation and my children are left with my pathetic attempts to create cakes that don't terrify or nauseate.

All three children's birthdays happen during a three week time span between mid-November and early-December, so I had my work cut out for me. Here are the results....


The guitar cake. Approved by the oldest only because of the immense amount of candy and sugary icing.

The pirate ship cake. Famous for its running M&Ms and horribly minty port holes.

And, finally, the Monkey Face cake. The only part of this cake that Little Miss wanted was the donut ears and Peppermint Patty eyes. Smart girl.

Of course, all three did turn out better than the pink Elmo cake, Spiderman giving the bird cake and the lopsided pink balloon cake. Isn't that a scary thought.

Progress As We Know It

Well, I am happy to report that Day 1 of my hundred day challenge saw me showered (yes, you're quite welcome) and exercised. My husband was aghast that daily showers had to be on my to-do list, but seriously, getting things done alone with 3 kids, especially with one of them being 2 years old, is sometimes more effort than it's worth.

Laundry was done, dinner was planned out for tonight (we're having meatloaf, baked potatoes and green beans, by the way) and I didn't yell. Not once. Imagine that.

We also sat down as a family at breakfast and came up with our top 5 personal goals for the year and our top 5 family goals, as well. The boys were actually very into it and the 6 year old listed such things as "Learn to read and write better" and "Learn how to play better with my little sister." The 8 year old said he wanted to "Learn how to make cakes and cupcakes" and "Learn how to play the guitar." Even Sweet Pea got in on the list making and said she wanted to "Go potty in the potty." Really. And I didn't even pressure her. Honest! Daddy said he wanted to "Plant a soup garden" and "Grow fruit." As a family we came up with things like "Weekly game nights" and "Read together more." It was a tradition I'd like to continue every year.

Then we played Wii bowling together and I slammed my right index finger into the edge of the computer hutch. My first Wii related injury has left my finger swollen and the Tylenol bottle two pills lighter.

Ouch.

Tennis Camp & Walking - Get Your Game Face On!

My oldest son started Tennis Camp today. 3 hours a day, 5 days a week for 7 weeks. Guess how much it cost?? Guess?!

Ready?

Sixty bucks. For the entire seven week camp. Isn't that awesome?! Sometimes it pays to live in a town where most of the people are low income. Go us!

So, as an added bonus it's a 15 minute walk there and a 15 minute walk back - built in exercise! Wahoo! Of course, the oldest son asked to be picked up in the van tomorrow because his feet were killing him at the end of the 3 hours. Poor kid. He's going to sleep well tonight!

So, I'll either be getting 30 or 60 minutes of great walking in 5 days a week. Wahoo!

2 Miles of Snakes, Tracks & Spandex

The kids and I went for another walk at our local nature park this morning. It was not raining, thank heavens, for the first time all week and we needed to burn off some energy. Well, let me rephrase that. THE BOYS needed to burn off some energy. I would have been fine curled up on the sofa with a good book and coffee while paying a nanny to corral them. No, not really, but it was a thought.

So, we went and walked/they ran 2 miles. We stopped and admired some fresh animal tracks. Discussed what type of animal they may have been from and all sorts of school-ish things that made me happy to be homeschooling.


We stopped, had a snack, and discussed other school-ish things....like the slope of the farm land, irrigation, camouflage and animals, the wonderful smell of honeysuckle, poison ivy, composting, trout farms, ant behavior and why overweight people should not wear spandex. I think that just about covers everything they need to know about walking in public, don't you?


We also saw an awesome snake who posed ever so nicely for us. We named him George and promised to visit again some other time.


It was a good walk. We were all properly energized and slightly sore at the end, but our constant investigation of the nature around us eased the majority of possible discomfort. It's supposed to rain for the next 2 days, so let's hope this helped to curb some of their energy for the next 48 hours.

We're Walking!

We started our Walk Across America program this week. I'm joining my mom and her older sister, aka, my aunt. My mom and I decided that maybe calling one another at 6am every morning was not going to be the best plan. Things might happen, like we oversleep, or in some cases, just catch up on sleep. No, the 6am wake-up call was just too much pressure and way too early.

So, the kids and I went for a couple of walks at our local parks. There's one that's particularly fun and although there is no play equipment the boys love the natural surroundings. We spent some time discussing and watching caterpillars, bird watching, and talking about irrigation. It was a solid day of lessons and exercise. Did I mention the boys ran almost the entire two miles? Where they get the energy is beyond me. I thought for sure they'd want a long nap that afternoon. Apparently, I was mistaken. I was ready for a nap, but they were ready to play.

Here are some pictures from our jaunt. As you can see, I am, for some reason, having fun taking pictures of flowers lately. Go figure.

Pics from the Park

We spent some quality time at the park this weekend for as long as we could stand the heat and glaring sun. It was a beautiful day, but very, very warm for May. Since our kids are pretty much translucent, they were looking like heat-exhausted lobsters (even with a generous slathering of sunscreen!) after about 15 minutes. Here are some pics...

Snow, Soap & Ooey Gooey Fudge

Oh, how the days go by! It seems like just yesterday that I updated and, alas, it's now February. Where in the world did January go?

So, I've been having contests with myself at night when I work. Slightly pathetic, I know, but true. I keep trying to beat the previous night's steps. Apparently, my self-imposed challenge has been paying off, because I got another one of those, "Hey, have you lost more weight? You look great!" comments this weekend. I love those. In fact, I love those so much it makes me want to celebrate. With cookies and brownies and ooey gooey fudge. Not to worry. I refrain from the self-indulgence and simply say thanks. But I think about it.

The soap is going well. Last night's lip balm review from the ladies at work was phenomenol! "You should sell this!" Um, yep, that's kind of the point, thanks. (Don't worry, I didn't say that. I just smiled. And thought about cookies. And ooey gooey fudge brownies.)

I'm also on Facebook these days. Under a name not formerly known as Prince. It's funny to see how we've all grown. It's even nicer to see how friends from kindergarten have remained the same. You know who you are and you know I adore you.

Okay, it's time to shovel or just play in the flurries with the kids. Good cardio, right? =)