Catching Up

* We're in the home stretch of the school year! We aren't out until June 12th but we're pretty busy so I'm hoping it goes quickly!

* Jacob and Sarah have their Kindergarten Celebration of Learning this week. I can't believe they are almost 1st graders!

* Last week, we had to request teachers for next school year. We had no trouble deciding to keep the twins in separate classrooms for this year...but they both actually asked to be together next year. After a lot of debate, we decided to keep them in separate rooms for next year but told them we could talk about it again next year when looking at 2nd grade.

* Sarah's first dance recital is in a month. I can't wait to see it!

* I found out last week that I'm apparently allergic to Morel mushrooms. For the 2nd time, I ate them and got sick within just a few hours. The last time it happened, I wasn't sure if maybe something else was the cause but the same thing happened last week. No more mushrooms for me!

* Poor Adam has been hit with some bad seasonal allergies this year! The poor guy has been miserable the past few weeks with a stuffy nose, swollen, itchy eyes, and lots of sneezes and sniffles.  Both Paul and I have some seasonal allergies so its no surprise but I feel so bad for him!

* Another tough situation with Adam is that he's also developed some major bedtime anxiety the past 2 weeks. Part of me wonders if its related to the allergy medicine he's taking. Or maybe its just because he has trouble breathing and has a hard time sleeping. Or maybe its just a phase....I don't know for sure what it is but its put me on this crazy line of being very frustrated with him and just wanting him to relax and go to sleep so I can get my homework done and get to bed myself....or feeling so bad and melting when he says "I love you. I miss you. I just want to cuddle with you. (in between sobs) and wanting to forget everything else I have to do and just lay with him all night, cuddled up and watching him sleep.

* Adam's daycare recently opened up a brand new facility, bringing all 3 daycares under one roof. The owner and staff really made the facility amazing and he's really enjoying his 'new school.'

* Remember that awful class I had last semester...well thankfully the group project I worked on got a perfect score!  I'm glad all the hard work paid off.

* I have 4 classes this summer. First up are 2 for Summer I.  So far they are decent and not too much work although I do have a big project to pull together that I need to get working on. I forget what Summer II classes are but they don't start till mid June.

* Jacob wrote me this awesome note on my board last week. "Mom I love you and did you know that you are really the best mom I ever had but I'm sorry that when I be bad I will still always love you." Heart officially melted....

* Paul and I had a date night a few weeks ago at one of our local/favorite wineries. They host a Winemaker's Dinner twice a year with amazing food, paired with wine for each of the 5 courses. We've been to several and always have a great time - the food is wonderful, the wine is great and we always make new friends!

Yum....

* My heart, thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by the tornadoes in Oklahoma tonight. I have several friends who live very close to the devastation. I'm so thankful they are all ok but my heart breaks for all the lives and homes that were lost today.

Color Run 2013!

I ran two Color Runs last year but each time, friends who had planned to go with me didn't make it so I ended up running with my sister and her friends. I still had fun but it wasn't the same as being with friends of my own. This year definitely made up for that! 11 ladies in our Mothers of Multiples group signed up to run the very fun 5k and we had a great time! Even better - 7 of us ventured down the night before and stayed overnight - I've only had a few nights away from the kiddos since they were all born and never out by myself...so this was a fun early Mother's Day treat to myself! (Thanks honey for being ok with me being gone!)

Some of the girls in the group weren't up for running so we actually walked most of the course but it was still LOTS of fun - definitely more fun to stick together in it all! We had a great time after the race - hanging out at the 'after party', dancing and getting LOTS more color on us! If you haven't done a Color Run yet - I highly recommend it - its such a blast! I'm already signed up to run again in August with a friend and our kids! Can't wait!

 Before - All squeaky clean!

 The start line is somewhere up there!

  Pink! Our first color!!!

 Having fun after Orange!

 The dude in Yellow was dancing away!

 Yes it does!

 After!!!

 Such a fun time!

Amy, Liz, Me, Dawn, Denise, Courtney and Brooke

 LOVE this pic!

A dozen at the diamond!

Paul and I celebrated our 12th anniversary in April. We didn't get the chance to do much the weekend of our anniversary but we made plans to make it to another Tigers game the weekend after along with dinner afterwards. My parents were gracious enough to stay with the kids all day.

We were blessed with a beautiful, perfect day! We've had snow up to even just a week or so ago and TONS of rain...but Saturday, April 27 came around and it was sunny and 65! Just gorgeous for the afternoon game!!

We had great seats - we splurged for just the 2 of us - right behind home plate. I was excited that the Tigers were playing the Atlanta Braves. There was a time where I was more of a Braves fan than  Tigers fan - back in the 90s when John Smoltz pitched for the Braves. Smoltz grew up in Lansing and my oldest brother went to school with him and was friends with him. His sister was my basketball coach in school and I grew up with some of his cousins. We watched him pitch many great games for Atlanta and followed the team closely back in the day. The Braves are not who I used to watch - didn't even get to see Chipper Jones before he retired - but it was still a fun game to see - not just a team I had no interest in.

The Tigers played great and won 7-4. We had great seats, great weather and a great day!

Even better - I have a great husband! One that is supportive, respectful, hard-working, honest, sweet, kind, funny and the most amazing Daddy to our children! I'm so lucky to have him and all that he does for us! Happy anniversary Paul! Thank you for ALL you Do and ALL you are! Here's hoping for several dozen more years!

First pitch!

2012 Triple Crown Winner - Miguel Cabrera!

Home Run!

 A great view from our seats!

Tigers Win!!!

Say What!?!?!

Adam has a new topic he likes to ask about lately. Here are some recent questions/conversations:

Adam: Mommy? A duck lives in water right?
Me: Yes and on land.
Adam: But if a duck gets out of da water, it DIES, right?
Me: Ummm.....no.

***

Adam: Mommy? Do owls kill children?

***

Adam: If a bear catches fire, it will DIE!
Me: Umm...yeah, probably.
Adam: I don't want the firefider to spray the bear with water because I want it to be on fire and get DEAD!

***

Adam: I squashed the bug and it was DEAD!

***

These are just a few examples of this weird obsession with dead things right now. Anyone else ready to call an exorcist? My first thought that the source of this was the death of recent goldfish. It was the first thing they could see and understand (partly) being dead. But in his recent talks, the way he emphasizes the word DEAD, I had a flash back to The Croods movie - he says it just like the Dad did at the start of this trailer...




And now?...my kid is obsessed with death thanks to a kids movie...

Chess Champion

Believe it or not, Chess club is a pretty popular extra-curricular activity in our district. Jacob learned how to play last year when Paul found his old chess set. Paul took the time to teach him and Jacob got really interested after hearing about chess club from a friend. Winter came around Jacob and his friend Liam were the only two kindergartners from 3 schools to sign up to play. They were paired up against other 1st and 2nd graders to play games in a tournament each week.

The first week went well but we almost didn't make it past the 2nd week after a meltdown. The promise of a pizza party and a possible trophy at the end was enough to get him back in the game and he enjoyed the club the rest of the time. I can still remember his excitement one Friday when I picked him up "Mommy! I beat a first grader!! I check-mated him! I can't believe it!" The rest of that night, he had a HUGE smile on his face and just kept saying "I can't believe I beat a first grader!"

This has been a great experience for him - he's learned the rules to a pretty complicated game, he's learned new strategies and he's learned about sportsmanship and honesty. He stuck to something he wan't sure he wanted to at one point and made it through. His perseverance paid off - he and his buddy, Liam, both walked away with BIG trophies! As the only kindergartners, they took 1st and 2nd place respectively and they were both so proud! I'm really proud of him for trying something new, especially by himself and when he was one of the youngest. I'm glad he had a friend to be there with him - I think they both helped each other through it a few times. I'll be curious to see who continues the program as the PE teacher that's run it for the past 30 years is retiring. I'm guessing he might still come back and volunteer for it but we'll have to wait till next winter to see!

 Getting his trophy

 Liam (2nd place) and Jacob (1st place)

 Adam wanted in on it, too!

Close up!

His own personal cheerleader!

Sensory Overload

Anyone who's been reading my blog long enough has probably read about some of my daughter's 'sensory issues.' They go back to when she was a baby - rocking and bumping (which yes...she still does!), crawling out of her skin, hating certain clothes (jeans are her worst nightmare!), and preferring as little clothing as possible (some days I'm amazed she hasn't asked to join a nudist colony). It can't be too tight...or too loose...or too itchy...or too big...or too heavy... Many of my students have sensory issues...but I'm not exaggerating when I say my daughter's tolerance (or lack of...) is worse than most of the students I've worked with over the years.

Winter time is the worst for her - more clothes, more layers, less of what SHE wants/prefers to wear. For the most part, I've really tried to be more accommodating. I let her pick out her clothes 98% of the time. I try to buy things with all of her preferences in mind (comfy sweats, soft tees, dresses, etc). I don't even offer jeans...but some days nothing works. Mornings can be VERY frustrating - yelling, crying, rolling around on the floor...just to get dressed or because her 2 favorite pairs of pants aren't clean and I refuse to do laundry midweek. I try to pick my battles carefully and ultimately, if she's going nuts about something, I tell her to make a choice - "Put it on and calm down or choose something different."

There are times though when I make the choices for her and decide what she has to wear. Sometimes for a special occasion but also for dance class. She choose to do ballet/tap this year. She enjoys the classes...she has fun and does very well...but...getting ready? Putting on tights? NIGHTMARE! In the fall when it was warmer, I let the tights go - she didn't need them to keep her warm and recital was far enough away to not worry about that battle yet. Well, once winter came - I said tights were not optional - she needed them to keep warm AND to help her get used to them because she HAS to wear them for recital.

Oh. My. Word...you'd think I was asking her to chop off a limb each week. We've been late for class countless times due to her 30-45 minutes meltdowns over putting on tights. She often screams she doesn't want to go...I even gave her the chance to quit (again...she quit last year after 1 month). I told her she had to decide before I paid for her recital costume. I didn't want her to quit - but I was tired of fighting the same battle every. single. week! I couldn't decide what I wanted more...her to finish it out despite these weekly battles or quit because I was so tired of the battle. She decided to stay in dance and to "try" to be better about getting ready. I tried different kinds of tights and did find one brand/pair that she likes better but still fusses over putting on and getting comfortable in.

I've agreed with her - tights AREN'T comfortable (I don't like to wear them either)- but sometimes you HAVE to wear them (but you don't have to scream and roll around on the floor about it!). She HAS to wear them for recital so I have stuck to the idea she HAS to wear them for class, too.

I've second guessed my self every single week. Is it worth the fight? Is having her 'get used' to them helping at all? Should I have let her quit? Did I make the right choice in saying she should stick something out? At one point, I even said "go ahead, quit...but I'm taking the money out of your bank account that I've paid so far...I don't mind paying when you go and do good and have fun...but if you quit after half a year? That's wasted money just because you don't want to wear tights." (She didn't like that idea at all! Husband was ALL in favor of it when he realized how much it was costing though....).

Just over a month left of dance and then recital is here. I'm kind of terrified of how she'll be getting into her dance costumes - tights AND scratchy tulle/sequins? I'm expecting epic meltdowns. Lets hope the tears dry before pictures...

Random Phone Pics

A former co-worker gave the kids a backstage pass to the new bakery in town. Her husband owns the bakery and she was helping out over spring break. We stopped in for a treat and to say hi and the kids got to watch him make donuts!

Lighting it up Blue for Autism Awareness Month!

Future BFFs!

MY BFF's sweet thing!

Angry Adam?

I LOVE that J&S can read to their lil brother!!

A unicorn! 

The Easter Bunny visited our classroom!

  We've had a LOT of rain around here the past few weeks! The average for mid April is about 1.6". We've had more than 5-6". Our local park, across the street from my school floods easily. It was under water for days...

Sarah and I had a mani/pedi sorta day at home last weekend. 

Love my Autism Awareness Jamberry Nails!

All this from one tiny scrape after a fall. 

Sensitive skin + sensory issues = trouble + multiple Dr visits

(This picture doesn't do this justice - its been awful! Its only one of two spots, too!)