Christmas Wishes

Can't believe Christmas has already come and gone! Our Christmas started off with a very sick Alex last week who had a stomach bug up until Christmas Eve. With the big snowstorm we got here, it was probably for the best that we didn't leave the house. Earlier in the day, Chris got his wish of using his new snowblower that he got as an early Christmas gift a few weeks ago. Doesn't he look happy?

It was the first and only Christmas Eve we have spent at home, just us, and it was quite peaceful. We decided to let them open the gifts they had bought for each other on Christmas Eve. Anna bought Alex some skull/rock n roll pajamas and Alex bought Anna a miniature bear playset. They both bought Sarah clothes and Anna got her a really fun stacking game that she figured out right away.

 

The kids were actually begging to go to bed by 6:30. We got our wish of an early, uneventful bedtime! But, not without a plate full of cookies for Santa, a note and some milk!

Christmas morning arrives! Alex and Anna were beside themselves with excitement. Alex was feeling better and was up by 4:30 begging us to wake up. We convinced him to go watch cartoons for a couple of hours until the more manageable hour of 6:30 arrived. Then, the chaos ensued!

Alex's favorite gift of Christmas morning was his deer decoy he received from Santa along with the mighty crossbow. Had to get the obligate dead deer shot :)

We spent the next couple of days with family and the kids got even more spoiled!

In the end, I think we all got what we wished for- a little time to ourselves, a little time with family and a lot of good memories. Now comes my favorite picture of the holiday- gotta read the shirt to appreciate it :) Merry Christmas!

Santa, Reindeer and the Gingerbread House

Just a random posting about our last few weeks of getting ready for Christmas. We took the kids to see Santa- although as you can tell from the pictures, only Anna actually spoke to him. Alex was in one of his moods that day and refused to talk to him and Sarah basically screamed and clutched onto me as I tried to pry her hands off and put her on this stranger's lap. It was then that I decided it was not worth the battle. We have always felt there are certain things in life we have to make the kids do- sitting on Santa's lap for a cute picture is just not one of them. Oh well, she was much more entertained by the "real life" reindeer anyways.

Speaking of the reindeer, Alex and Anna have been asking harder and harder questions about how Santa actually gets all of this done and can his reindeer really fly, etc. It has become more difficult to lie to them and I'm finding my own made up stories more and more pathetic. I think there is a part of Alex that secretly knows the truth but is afraid to say anything. Oh well, I will try and relish this Christmas because I think it may be the last one where Alex will buy the lies. It's sad that they have to grow up so fast!

In other holiday type news, I spent some time in Anna's classroom last week making Gingerbread houses. It was really fun to see her in the classroom setting and meet some of her friends and their parents. She absolutely loves school and was so proud to show me everything she has been working on. It was a far cry from earlier in the week when I chaperoned a field trip in Alex's class and he refused to sit by me and barely even acknowledged that he knew me.

Here's hoping for a very Merry Christmas!

Top Ten

These are the top 10 signs that your 7 year old has watched a few too many infomercials......

10. He thinks everything costs 19.95

9. He knows what the Sham Wow is and does and can use it appropriately in a sentence

8. He has the phone number memorized to order the Bendaroos

7. He has an ongoing memorized list of ordering websites and can tell you them instantly if you even mention an item

6. He knows several easy recipes for the Magic Bullet

5. He received a Snuggie after begging us to understand that his regular blanket just "slips and falls" and this would actually make doing his homework a "breeze"

4. He has attempted to order me the Buxton over the shoulder organizer on more than one occasion and whenever I am unable to find something in my current purse reminds me that if only I had let him buy aforementioned item for me, I wouldn't have this problem

3. Never misses an opportunity to tell us how dry and cracked his heels are and if we'd only gotten the ped-egg how this dilemma would be solved (note- we did purchase this item and it actually does work!)

2. Actually put on his Christmas list a request for a new mattress since his current one has "springs" that are "poking into his back" (nevermind that I don't even think there are springs in his mattress, pretty sure it's all foam)

AND....the #1 sign that your 7 year old has watched just one too many infomercials.....


 Loudly exclaimed tonight that as soon as he turns 25 he is going to order the "penis pills" because everybody knows that after 25 your penis just stops working

Oh God, help us.

All About Me....and other "fun" activities

So, it is Alex's "All About Me" week at school this week. In preparation for this, he had to do a whole packet of homework describing his likes, dislikes, family, etc. We also had to put pictures in it to show the class. Pretty harmless and he's pretty excited for this week. At dinner tonight, we were asking him what else he gets to do besides share his book and his favorite toy. He proceeded to list off the following:

1. Count how many students are taking hot lunch or cold lunch each day- record on lunch sheet
2. Carry all of the cold lunches down to the lunch room
3. Sharpen all the pencils
4. "Tattle" on the other kids if they break the rules when the teacher leaves the room
5. Deliver all of the classroom mail
6. Bring all notes and other paperwork to the office
7. Take out the classroom trash

Ok- don't know about the rest of you, but sure doesn't sound like anything I'd be looking forward to! Oh, to be 7 again :)

The Stealth Ninja

The other day we asked Alex to watch Sarah in the living room while we were making dinner in the kitchen. He kept up with her for a little while......however, anyone who has been over lately knows that Sarah will keep you hopping. She is on the table, couch, over the gates, so fast you barely see her coming. The other thing about Sarah is she is very quiet- most of the time. She hardly makes a sound which makes keeping an eye on her from another room nearly impossible. Thus, why we needed Alex's help. After about 10 minutes of taking her down from the window sills, the table, the couch....Alex came to the kitchen gate with a huff of, "This is impossible mom, she is like a stealth ninja." Can't argue with that, she really is quite ninja like. It got me thinking about what a "stealth" ninja really is. Yes, many times I am schooled by my 7 year old. Or, in this case google. Here's what I found:

The ninja is a supreme master of stealth, able to vanish in a puff of smoke or change into a wild animal form in order to facilitate an escape.....hmmm....yes, definitely wild animal like and most of the time an escape is the goal....

The ninja uses the ever-elusive method of "silent movement". Everything must be approached in a subtle manner if ones endeavors are to remain a secret- most definitely has this one down...

Another ninja tactic is the art of using animals. This makes use of wild animals as a diversion. I wonder if Jazz counts as a wild animal and if Sarah using him to climb up onto things would count. Not technically a diversion, more of an assistive device.

So, now you are all schooled on what it really means to be ninja- like. And, we are keeping our heads above water, trying to manage the care of such a creature. Mostly, it's just a continuous mission to keep our little ninja from accidentally breaking her neck. Here is hoping the ninja likes turkey day!

The Lost and (sometimes) Found

For those of you who have followed the blog for any length of time, you are probably guessing this post is going to be about Alex. Actually, (now I'll probably regret saying this), he has had a good year. Aside from the first day when he lost his lunch box, all things are still accounted for. Anna, of course, hasn't even lost one crayon, but I'm not surprised. No, this post is about sweet litte Sarah. Looking for things where you last left them has taken on an entirely new meaning. Sarah is very good at "picking up". We actually play this game with her and encourage her to pick up her toys and put them away. She does and we clap. However, she also picks up everything else and shoves it in various places as well. It is not unsual to put on a shoe and find a pacifier or a stray toy of some kind in the toe. She also really likes car keys and has hidden them in some very creative places. The worst thing she hides, though is her milk cups. It wouldn't be bad if they were all empty, but sometimes there is just a little milk left in the bottom. Not so fun finding these in a drawer 2 weeks later. Disgusting. Ok, so what actually made me post about this was the phone. For about the past week, one of the cordless phones has been missing. We have taken apart couch cushions, toy boxes and looked in every drawer that Sarah could possibly get to. No phone. We've even asked Sarah where she put the phone. She just gives us a really cute look and puts her hands up as if to say, "I don't know what you people are talking about, but how could you possibly be mad at this face?" Well, today I was digging through the shoe closet trying to find a matching pair of shoes for Sarah since we had to go to Alexis' birthday party. The phone rings. It is in the closet somewhere. I start ripping apart the closet looking for the lost phone. After about 20 minutes and a missed call (I didn't bother grabbing the other one since I was so excited the lost one was nearly found) I located the wayward phone in a coat pocket. I'm guessing she shoved it in the pocket and then it got hung up in the closet. Probably the last place we would have looked. Just never know what you'll find at our house. I guess it's kind of like living in a real life hide and seek game all the time. I wonder if secretly Sarah really knows what she is doing and is taking some kind of evil enjoyment in watching us look all over for her hidden little treasures. Wonder what she'll hide next....

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all! We survived the cold, thankfully no rain or snow. The kids had a great time and are a bit hopped up on sugar. Hopefully they will sleep tonight once the sugar low hits :) Thanks to Beth, Brandon and Lindsay for a super fun evening and great company. Here are some pictures. Sarah didn't actually trick or treat, but she sure did look cute dressed up anyways. I even dressed up poor Jazz this year, it's hard to tell in the pictures but he is a karate master. Enjoy.

The Note

Well, for those of you who haven't heard, Alex's toe is officially broken. I knew it could not be good news when we got back from bowling last night and had missed not one, but two calls from the pediatrician. When I got a hold of them this morning they informed me that he had indeed broken his toe. Good news is, he doesn't need a cast, just some tape for now and a follow up x ray. No big deal. We can so handle this kind of broken bone :) So, we sent Alex off to school as usual today since they didn't give us any restrictions for him to follow I figured I didn't really need to inform the school. Well, apparently, Alex took the liberty to get himself excused from phy ed until his toe is healed. He comes in the door after school today and the first thing he says is, "Mom, you forgot to send a note". Now, with 2 kids in school, I will admit it's very difficult to keep track of everything they bring home and I figured I had misplaced a field trip note of some kind. So, I asked him, "A note for what?" Alex: "Well, a note that says I don't have to go to gym class, of course" Me: "Um, you are going to gym class, no reason you can't" Alex :" Well mom, my toe hurt really bad today and I told my gym teacher I had broken it and I couldn't participate in gym until it was better. The gym teacher made me show him it because he didn't believe me. Then he sent me to the nurse and said to tell you that you need to send a note." Couple problems with this scenario. 1) if you are feeling bad for the poor kid whose mean mom made him play in gym class with a broken toe- let me just paint a picture for you :) Just after this conversation, Alex went outside to play. He was seen scaling his hockey net and using a lightsaber as leverage to launch himself off of said net onto a table. From the table he then did a rolling jump into the leaves. This was repeated over and over for about half an hour. I somehow doubt the activities in gym class are more taxing on his broken toe than that whole performance. Problem 2) Alex has some kind of addiction to the school nurse. I can't get that kid to stop going there. Frankly, I'm getting tired of having to ask him how many times he went to the nurse each week. This is not going to help that problem. Dilemma 3) Should I send a note, and if so, what should the note say- "Dear Gym Teacher- my kid is a hypochondriac and is addicted to the nurse- please do not let him go there. If he whines about his toe, ignore him" Don't think I'll win any parenting awards for that. In the end, I think I'll just stuff him full of Ibuprofen and send him on his way.

In other news, Anna has informed us that she will not get swine flu because she doesn't really like pigs and she has decided not to play with them. Not sure where the occasion would have come up for her to actually play with pigs anyways, but I'm super glad I don't need to get her the H1N1 shot now :)

And so, life continues, one crazy day at a time. Chris and I aren't really sure whose running this show anymore but we are both certain it isn't either one of us.

SWEET- I got to see my BONES!!!!

Ahhh.....Fall- pumpkins, hay rides, apples, leaves and of course, broken feet :) Ok, so the last part is not usually a true part of fall, but at our house it seems nothing is "usual". First, let me say, it isn't actually broken but both the Pediatrician and I were ready to put money on us needing a trip to an ortho surgeon. Fortunately, it looks much worse than it truly is. Alex was wrestling around with Sarah and somehow managed to throw himself off the couch and caught just his baby toe on the end table. Ok, so no big deal, I figured he probably cracked it pretty good, but who hasn't done that before, right? Except that by last night it was a pretty shade of purple and black and the bruising and swelling went halfway down his foot. So, we were at urgent care before it opened. Alex, of course, thought this was the coolest thing ever because he got to see his insides on the computer screen. I think he was hoping it was broken so he could have a cast and use crutches. I'm sure this novelty would have worn off after a few hours. We are just happy it wasn't actually broken. The radiologist hadn't actually read it yet but the pediatrician said she looked really hard (because she was sure it was broken) but could not find anything. Phew. Here are a couple pictures of it- they didn't show up very well, but trust me, it does not look good. And, since I haven't posted any pictures of Sarah lately, I thought I'd throw a couple in here as well. Happy Fall :)

Lessons Learned

It has been an interesting weekend at our house. Sarah has not been sleeping for about the past 2 weeks, getting up several times a night, sometimes crying for up to an hour and a half in the middle of the night. We attributed it to her just being difficult since her ears are fine and she hasn't been sick. I thought she might be teething, but the top teeth didn't even seem close to coming in yet. She only has the bottom 2, so logically the next in line should be the top 2. Well, tonight, I was brushing her teeth (which is quite an event in itself since you practically need the jaws of life to keep her mouth open) when I noticed she now has a third tooth on the bottom. Go figure. Out of order, but I guess teeth don't know what order they are supposed to come in, right? Hopefully sleep will return, especially for Anna who has had to spend many nights on the couch to escape Sarah's tantrums.

Alex has learned a few lessons himself today. This morning he was taking a shower when all the sudden he started screaming, "Mom, come quick, I'm BLEEDING!" Well, sure enough he was bleeding. When I asked him how a chunk of skin seemed to be missing from his knee, he said, "I was kneeling down and there must have been glass in here". Hmmm...I don't think so. So, I asked him, "Did you use my razor?" Alex said, "Well, I think it fell off the shelf and cut me". So, needless to say, Alex will not be shaving his legs again anytime soon. After he was dried off and I was trying to fix his hair, I noticed that a large portion of his bangs were, indeed, missing. Granted, he does need a haircut, but I wasn't really thinking of letting him do this himself. Oh well, guess I'm just glad picture day has come and gone already.

Never a dull moment around here :)

A day in the life of a 14 month old....

Sarah is a busy little girl. When she is old enough to read this, I thought she may appreciate a summary of what her typical day was like when she was 14 months old.

6:45 Ok....I'm awake...where is everybody??? I must scream at the top of my lungs until they come to get me.

6:46 Clearly not screaming loud enough, I now must throw all of my stuff out of my cage.

6:47 Hey- you- over in the bed telling me to be quiet- why don't you get up and let me out of here????

6:50 Well- finally- there is that mom person, I must continue to scream and cry until she gets me out of here just in case she thought she could try and lay me back down.

6:51 Alright, new diaper time. After she gets this wet one off of me, I am going to make my break for it. Ok...here I go, screaming must commence and I must twist around and try to muscle my way out of here.

6:52 Damn, didn't work, guess I'll wear this dumb diaper again.

6:55 Ok, food time. I love this part. As soon as mom puts me in my chair I will immediately start banging on the tray and hollering. This makes her go faster. Ah....milk and oatmeal, yum.

7:00 It seems I can't get out of this chair yet. Mom has given me those round crunchy treats that I like so much. Ok, I'll sit here and eat. Oh, here comes the dog- he looks very hungry. One for me, one for Jazz, one for me, one for Jazz.....

7:15 Finally, I am let out of the chair. Now I must scream and beg for more food while Alex and Anna try to eat their breakfast. Oh- yogurt- Alex let me have a little taste, now I will stand by his chair and holler at him continuously until he feeds me. I love my brother.

7:30 Bath time. I'm taking a bath with Anna today. Yipeee- I get to splash water all over her. I have learned to crawl into the bathtub by myself. Someone keeps shutting the door though so I don't get to do this very often.

7:50 Time to get dressed. Again, I will squirm and wrestle while mom tries to pin me down and dress me. Boy, she is strong. Guess I'll wear this stupid looking outfit with the cat on it. Why must they make me look so ridiculous? She really shouldn't have bothered with the socks because as soon as she lets me go, I will be taking these off and shoving them in the first thing I see.

8:15 Oh yes- Anna left our bedroom door open again. I now proceed to take out all of the clothes from my dresser and bring them to mom. She is trying to do something in the kitchen. I'm such a big helper!

8:45 time for Alex and Anna to leave. I will help by taking all of their stuff and hiding it in various places around the house.

9:00 I have the house to myself. Now, where is that dog. I must chew on his bone and torment him by waving it in front of his face. Damn, mom took it away already.

9:10 time for the morning carbon monoxide test. When I push the button on this little white box in the wall, it screams louder than me! Then I scream and cry and the dog whines. Mom comes and shuts it off and mumbles something about how I never seem to learn.

9:30 Nap time. Ok, paci and soft pink blankey- where are you? We must turn on the sleep sheep and snuggle into our cage.

12:00 Ok- I'm awake and still trapped in this cage. HELLOOOOO!! Oh good, there's dad. Get me out of here!

12:15 Clean diaper time again, repeat previous routine.

12:20 LUNCH- yum yum. I love to suck on my food and then spit it out, spread it all over my tray and then lick it up like a dog. Boy, this is fun.

12:45 Ok- while I was napping, daddy left his glass of water on the end table. Here I come, water. Oh- that was cold! Now mommy is coming with a towel and mumbling something about how I create more laundry than anyone she knows. Oh well, at least I don't have to wear the dumb outfit with the cat anymore. Onto the one with the giraffe- so much better.

1:00 Ok, someone forgot to put up the gate to the kitchen, I love this cupboard full of toys. Even better is it is right next to the bowl of dog water. I think I'll help by rinsing them all off in the water.

1:10 Busted- out of the kitchen I go. That's ok, seems like daddy forgot to shut the snack cupboard, I'll just take out a few snacks for me and the dog.

1:15 Sorry Jazz- we weren't fast enough, they have taken them away again.

1:20 Ok, I guess I'll play with my toys for awhile.

1:21 All done- onto better things. Oh, here's mommy's cell phone, wonder who I should call today?

1:25 I'm so proud of myself- I can climb onto my rocking chair all by myself. Ooops, over I go, why does my head seem to hurt all the time???

1:35 Daddy is in the kitchen banging around pots and pans. I want to join him, but these dumb gates are too high. Instead I will just stand at the gate shaking it and screaming as loud as I can. If that doesn't work, I will shove all of my toys through the bars on the gate.

2:00 Cartoons- what are those? Ok, I've lost interest

2:01 Nap time again. Good thing because I am getting tired!

3:30 Ok, up again- let me out of this cage!

3:35 Diaper changing- repeat above.

3:40 Snack time. I think today I should like a bowl of small round crunchy treats so I can leave a trail of them all over the house. Jazz really likes snack time. I like it too- when you step on the treats they make a cool sound and the powder that sticks to your feet feels funny.

4:00 Ok, Alex and Anna are home. I will stand at the door and holler at them until they come in. Then I will go through their backpacks and rip up all the hard work they have done today.

4:30 Alex and I are playing shooting. I smack Alex in the face with my toy gun. I am really good at this. Oh look- someone left the bathroom door open- oh yes! Shoot- I'm all wet again and mommy says if I need a new outfit, it's pajamas for me this time.

5:00 Dinner time! During dinner I usually scream the loudest. They try to feed me my food, but I just spit it out and scream unless they feed me their food on their forks. Alex sits next to me. He says I give him a headache.

5:30 Anna wants to play babies with mommy. I want to play with mommy. I follow mommy around crying and pulling on her pants until she picks me up. Ha ha Anna.

6:00 Story time. Alex takes out his book from school and starts reading it. I take it away and try to rip the pages. I always have to get off the couch during story time. Guess I'll see what the dog is doing. Oh- he's eating dinner and someone forgot to put the gate up. Well, I share my food with him, so I'm sure he won't mind. Yummy......oh no, mommy took it away and washed out my mouth.

6:30 Time for pajamas. This is it- this time, they will not stop me. As soon as that diaper comes off, I'm outta here.

6:45 I lost, again. Ok, where is my blankey? Now I get to have this crazy little brush shoved into my mouth and rubbed against those 2 little sharp things in my mouth. My mom is really weird!

7:00 Good night- I am exhausted!!!

Poor Mr. Firsten

This is an appreciation for the poor janitor at Carver school, Mr Firsten. Alex loves to tell us the "worst" part of the school day. Unfortunately for the janitor, it usually involves him. Here is a list of some "exciting" things that have happened in the first grade classroom just this week:

Someone (still not sure if this was Alex or not since he won't tell me who did it) put the pencil in the sharpener eraser side first. This, of course, rendered the sharpener completely unusable and warranted a call to, you guessed it, Mr. Firsten.

Another distress call went out when the kids thought it would be funny to use all the bathroom stalls, lock them and then crawl under them. I'm guessing Mr. Firsten didn't fit quite as well when he had to crawl back under them all and unlock them. Plus, the thought of crawling on an elementary school bathroom floor is enough to make me want to use an entire bottle of hand sanitizer.

A stray Pokemon card somehow managed to get shoved down the toilet. Poor Mr. Firsten had to put on gloves and dig it out.

And the absolute worst happened yesterday. One of Alex's classmates threw up inside of their desk. Mr Firsten was summoned to dump out the contents of the desk and clean it all up. This, of course, was the talk of the dinner table last night.

Mr. Firsten, wherever you are- THANK YOU and I'm sorry :)

Sarah does the ELMO

What a cute little monster....oh and Elmo is pretty cute too I suppose : )

A Mini Endorsement for the NRA

I know, I know, not great parenting to let the baby play with a fake gun. All I can say is if you don't approve, don't watch because that is what you'll see. For the rest of you- enjoy- I think she'll be our little hunter :)

When I grow up.....

It seems Sarah is quite fond of her big brother. From the beginning, he has always gotten the biggest smiles and the loudest laughs. Could be she is a little less fond of her big sister because she is always "accidentally" knocking her over and taking away her toys. Oh well, hopefully someday they will be the best of friends. In the meantime, Sarah has taken to copying much of what Alex does. She even knows how to pretend to shoot things and knows what to do with a golf tee, ball and club. Here's some pictures :)

All I want for Christmas.....

Yep- they're gone- both of them on the same day. I FINALLY got a picture of the toothless grin- super cute! Picture day is coming up soon, can't wait for the missing front teeth picture. He really does look like a first grader now!

Move Over, Make Room

Here is what Sarah is up to while the big kids are away. Poor Jazz. Good thing most of the time his kennel is behind a baby gate, but today I had left the gate open while I was cleaning and I came in to find them both "locked up". Too cute.

Maffematics

In honor of the start of another school year, I challenge all of you blog readers to a math problem....

If train 1 leaves the station at 8:05, traveling at 50 mph and train 2 leaves a different station 65 miles away at 8:10 traveling at 45 mph, and Alex leaves our house at 9:02 with a perfectly packed lunch, at what time will he lose his lunchbox?

Here's another one.....

If there have been a total of 2 days of school and on 1 of those days Alex took hot lunch, what is the likelihood (expressed in percentages) that he will lose his lunch box?

Give up?

The answer to #1 is undefined, because the lunchbox has been lost- sometime between 9:02 and 4:10.

The answer to #2 is 100%. If you ask Alex, he'll tell you, "Give me a break mom, it was my second day of school." Nevermind that he actually only took the lunch box with him ONE day.

And....let the fun begin :)

Big Kids

We officially have 2 "school age" children now. Where did the time go? Seems they grow up so quickly, even when you see them everyday.

I took a few first day of school pictures. Although, I will be honest in that it is actually Alex's second day of school, but he refused to let me take pictures yesterday. As you see in these pictures, he's sooo much happier to have his picture taken today :)




Anna, on the other hand, hardly slept last night she was so excited. That certainly made it easier on me, I didn't even shed one tear. She was just so ready and happy you couldn't be sad!




And, what did Sarah think of having the house to herself? Well, right away she went into her room and stole Anna's sunglasses and wore them around for awhile. Seems she is pretty happy about getting free run of the house while the other 2 are gone.