My Sweet Life (with Two Twinkies & a cupcake)

Week-end Wrap Up

2012-01-27T00:01:00.022-05:00

* All 3 kids had dentist appointments this week. I've never seen a kid so excited to go to the Dentist as Sarah was - she couldn't wait to get a new toothbrush and flossers...and a prize! Adam was not nearly as excited.

* We found out Jacob has 2 loose teeth! We're trying to decide what the Tooth Fairy will bring when the time comes...

* I actually made it to the gym 4 times this week! That's the most in over a month. It felt good!

* Today is my nephew's 4th birthday! Happy Birthday Luke!!

* Adam has actually used the potty this week! He still refuses to go at home but has gone 1 or 2x a day at daycare and is staying dry most of the day. Its a start and I'll take it!

* I totally jinxed myself at work this week. I told my student teacher that we we were having a great year with almost NO behavior issues...and within 45 minutes we were in the midst of one and had a repeat the next day! Sheesh!

* On the positive side, I should have my IEPs all done today, I crossed a couple things off my To Do list and Monday is a Records day so I can accomplish even more without students there!

* Jacob and Sarah have a play date this weekend at a friend's house (another set of twins from preschool). Its one of Jacob's best friends and they are SO excited to go!

* I need new running shoes. And a new coffee mug. Those are my weekend priorities.

* Jacob and Sarah have their 5 year check up on Monday.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Heartbeat

2012-01-26T00:01:00.062-05:00

Life has a rhythm. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow, often steady. We find that our heartbeat often matches that pace. It speeds up when we're excited. It slows down when we rest.

But most of all, a heartbeat centers us. It represents one of the first signs of life we can grasp and one of the last that we hold onto.

As a Mom, I have felt the immense joy of hearing my baby's heartbeat for the first time. I can remember the anticipation and excitement that came with it along with the reassurance that it provided, knowing my baby was safe and continuing to grow.

This week, I was lucky enough to hear the heartbeat of a baby at 14 weeks gestation. Not mine but one that I will love as much as my own.

Growing up, my best friend and I dreamed of marrying friends and raising our kids together. That fairy tale has become a reality in all aspects now as she is expecting her first child - one that she has wanted for many years. Hearing the news of this baby and hearing that heartbeat this week was just as amazing as the reality of my own experiences.

Lisa and I have been through so much together - friends for over 30 years - pretty much every up and down imaginable - and I'm so grateful for this gift she has been given. I'm also very thankful for her trust and allowing me to share in this journey with her.

Congratulations Lisa (& Ben)! I can't wait to spoil your sweet little one and watch him or her toddle along behind my kiddos!

Say What!?!?!

2012-01-25T00:01:00.006-05:00

We stopped at a traffic light last weekend and there was a man standing on the side of the road with a sign that read "Please Help Homeless God Bless" He was right outside Sarah's window so she naturally asked what his sign said. After we read it, Jacob asked "Does that mean he can't find his house?" When we replied "not exactly..." and started to proceed through the light, he then said "Well, I hope someone takes him home."

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I was washing dishes the other night and Paul came up behind me and gave me a hug from the back. Jacob walked in and says in disgust "Daddy, what are you DOING to Mommy?"

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The other day, while driving home from daycare, Adam saw a sign and said "That a Stop sign!" He then told me it was a red octagon and spelled the letters he saw. When we got home, I told him to tell Daddy what he saw in the car and he replied, saying the SOUNDS (not just the letters) "ssss tttt oooo ppp" My 3 year old SOUNDED out that word, from memory! Holy moly!

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Cousins & Birthdays

2012-01-24T00:01:00.000-05:00

We celebrated a bunch of birthdays this weekend with my family! We met at my parents house to celebrate Adam's 3rd birthday, Paul's birthday and my nephew Luke's 4th birthday. Adam and Luke are just 2 weeks shy of being exactly a year apart. It was low key but the kids had fun having lunch, opening presents, singing Happy Birthday and eating cake! All the cousins were together for the first time in a while as my brother's family wasn't able to be with us on Christmas day. I love seeing them all play together! They had a blast and played so well together all afternoon! I love how they are all so close in age (well, except Cody but he loves being the 'big cousin' too).

I got to snuggle lots with Owen, too! I couldn't believe how big he'd gotten already! He turned a month old on January 15th. Luke is being a great big brother and my sister is looking great! We had a great day catching up and hanging out at my parents. Speaking of which, my parents were awesome in grabbing a cake and subs so my sister and I didn't have to stress over food and such. Thanks again Mom and Dad!!

Trains and Cars

Birthday Boys!

Cousins

Jacob and Sarah (5), Cody (11), Owen (1 month), Adam (3) and Luke (almost 4)

Oldest and youngest cousins

Mike, Luke, Nicci and Owen

Cool Runnings

2012-01-23T00:01:00.005-05:00

We've really had very little snow so far this year. I think it snowed for only the second time all season about a week ago and that last time we got much snow was back in November. We finally got a few inches this week and Daddy has been trying to build up a sledding hill behind our garage where there's a small hill already. He's built up some pallets and dumped much of the snow that we've shoveled off of the driveway to add to the base and smooth it out. The kids have had a great time flying down the little hill - just the right size for our young ones!

Can you just hear that squeal of excitement?

He said he needed to close his eyes!

Even Daddy took a ride!

(Adam was napping while I had the camera out)

OH, and I just have to show off my big helper. Jacob loves to help shovel! We have a couple kid-sized shovels that he does pretty well with and is always eager to help out. We didn't get to shovel our driveway until a day later this weekend so some of the snow was packed down and I was using an ice scraper to get up some of the packed down snow and ice. Jacob wanted to help out with that too and he worked hard on scraping up the snow for quite some time! He told me he wanted to practice lots now so when he was bigger, he could help Daddy all the time!

And...as you can see here - we have a long driveway so that help will be greatly appreciated!!

Overall, we had a fabulous weekend - dinner out to celebrate Paul's birthday Friday night, a day with my family to celebrate birthdays on Saturday and then a leisurely Sunday at home, playing in the snow and doing laundry! Do I really have to go back to work today??

Twinfatuation

You know what does NOT Make my Monday though?? The fact that the temperature rose overnight and its pouring rain now so all our snow...and sled hill....is gone! Its currently 42 degrees but is supposed to be about 27 by the time I get back home from work tonight. Ick!

Week-end wrap up

2012-01-20T00:01:00.001-05:00

* TGIF! Thank goodness that despite still being extremely busy this week, things went smoother and the week went by really fast! My "To Do" list at work keeps getting longer instead of shorter somehow but I'm trying not to hyperventilate about it.

* I'm taking Paul out to dinner tonight to celebrate his birthday (which is tomorrow). We're going to this awesome Tapas place downtown and hope to check out a wine bar after dinner.

* Tomorrow we're headed to my parents to celebrate Adam's and my nephew Luke's birthdays. I can't wait to see my sister and nephews again!

* I have a substitute teacher today so I can try to knock out most of the paperwork for my students' IEPs which are in a few weeks. I usually have a good bulk of that paperwork taken care of by this point in time but have been so swamped, I haven't even started them yet. I'm trying not to freak out and hoping I get a lot accomplished today.

* 5 of my 6 students have their special education re-evaluation this year (which means more testing and paperwork). Our school psychologist was in this week to assess them all and I always find it interesting to observe the testing sessions. I can't give any prompts or help my students at all since they are being given standardized tests (its hard to bite my tongue sometimes!). Sometimes I get frustrated that they don't do as well as I know they can while other times they totally surprise me with how they do.

* A lot of my students have what we sometimes call "splinter skills." For example, one student can put the alphabet in order, match upper case to lower case, say and write his/her name, read some commonly used words, and write in a daily journal but he/she can not verbally spell his/her name to me or tell me what letters are in his/her name. It seriously amazes me when I look at the challenges they face with their cognitive disabilities and language deficits but still be able to do and comprehend so much. Seriously in awe!

* I'm currently reading Ellen's newest book. Its seriously funny and pretty short and I thought it'd be a super quick read...if I could stay awake long enough to read more than 2 pages each night! I had hoped to read 2 books this month but that is definitely not going to happen!

* My MoMs group does a fundraiser each year and we're trying something new this year that I'm really excited about! A Murder Mystery Dinner Theater! We're hosting it and bringing in a local theater group and having an 80s theme!! Its in March and I can't wait!!

* We booked 1 vacation this week and are planning a second one (waiting for confirmation on the dates). One is a weekend trip in March to Great Wolf Lodge and the other one is a week long trip to Traverse City (our favorite getaway place!). We are thinking about another trip somewhere but haven't decided yet when and where.

* My student teacher is still doing a great job and seeming to really like being in our classroom. I'm happy that my students have adjusted very well to her and are not out of sorts by the new addition to our room. (I credit the Social Story I made! ha!). She's planning a few lessons for next week - I'm anxious to see what she comes up with!

* Have a great weekend!

Questions

2012-01-19T00:01:00.006-05:00

Source

* Why is it that it always seems to be the same people who volunteer and agree to help on committees? Whether its at work, helping at the kids' school or in social groups, several of us find that its almost always the same people who step up, agree to help and actually DO something.

* Why is it that I can't say 'no' when it comes to things like that and suddenly I'm juggling 50 different balls and trying to keep them all in the air at the same time?

* Why won't my 3 year old use the potty?

* Why can't I cross off even 1 thing on my To Do list this week?

* Why did I wait so long to think of something for Paul for his birthday? (Its Saturday!)

* Why don't I go to bed earlier?

* Why can't I ever dust my house?

* Why did I just admit that I never dust?

* Why did I get so bummed last weekend that Jacob wanted Daddy to take him to his birthday party instead of me? (ok, I know why...I wanted to go to see/chat with the other Moms/friends...but why did I not set a good example for Sarah who was also bummed that she didn't get to go to the party?)

* Why does our den look like a bomb went off in it? Why are there boxes and piles of computer parts all over the place?

* Why don't I ever pick up the phone and call a friend that I want to talk to?

* Why is life SO busy these days?

* Why does this one guy at work weird me out so much?

* Why do all the meetings always fall in the same week?

* Why can't I get to the gym these days?

* When should we convert Adam's bed to a toddler bed?

* How many more days till summer??

Robots

2012-01-18T00:01:00.002-05:00

I blogged the other day about the Museum pass my parents got the kids for their birthday this year and our fun local children's museum that we've already been to a few times...but to make that pass even BETTER - it includes several other local museums! We took the kids to Sloan Museum for the first time in January to try to catch the Robots exhibit before it was done. There were Robots from the movie, scenes and lots of fun things to check out and play with! Some of it was over the kids' heads but there was plenty for them to see and do to keep them happy!

We figured we'd spend about an hour in the Robot exhibit and quickly walk through the rest of the museum which is mostly local history - nothing too exciting in the eyes of 3 and 5 year olds. Much to our surprise though - they'd recently renovated the middle section of the museum to incorporate more hands on kids play! It was like another children's museum in the middle of this museum! 2 large rooms full of fun things: a grocery store, a kitchen, a baby area and then another big room full of puzzles, board games, blocks, books, vehicles and more! It was awesome! The kids had a ton of fun in there and it was tough convincing them to leave! (My stomach was growling and we even promised a restaurant...but they wanted to keep playing!)

I'm really glad we made the trip, that it was FREE and we discovered the new kids area! We definitely plan to return very soon as the next exhibit is going to be about Dinosaurs!! Thanks again Mom and Dad for the great gift for the kids!! (excuse the low quality pics: cell phone in low lighting)

Rodney Copperbottom

Fender aka Jacob

Daddy and Jacob working with a real robotic arm!

The funny Gate Guard

Adam watching dominoes

Ride simulator, just like the movie!

Building robots for different environments

*Adam had this down!*

Building with big blocks in the new kids section!

The big game room

Cranking an old engine

Playing a quick game

Birthday Boy

2012-01-17T00:01:00.033-05:00

Our littlest man celebrated his 3rd birthday Friday! I still can't believe he's actually 3 years old! He's SO full of personality though - such an amazing mix of his siblings, Daddy and I.

Adam got to take treats to school Friday and was so excited to have his "cake" (which was actually blondies) with his friends. I hurried out of work and got there just as they were getting ready for snack and he got to help pass out treats. He was so proud and so cute!

We celebrated at home Friday evening - he got to pick what he wanted for dinner, which was pizza with cheese and olives. I had also let him decide if he wanted me to make a cake or if he saw one at the store he liked and a yummy chocolate one caught his eye so we took that home for his celebration. Grandma and his Uncle Dave came over for dinner, cake and presents and he had fun opening his gifts. Jacob and Sarah picked out a cool Cars rug that looked like a map of Radiator Springs along with some of the Cars characters to race around on it. Daddy and I got him some clothes, a big boy pillow and a Potty Time dvd, cd and watch (We can hope, right?). Grandma got him a fun remote controlled tractor and a musical card that he loved just as much! ha!

We had a quiet weekend at home and plan to celebrate his birthday, along with his cousins (and Paul's) next weekend at his other Grandma's house. The kids are all looking forward to it and can't wait to see Luke and Owen again!

We capped the long weekend off with his 3 year check up. I'm happy to say we had no concerns about his health or development and Dr was happy to see/hear how he's doing, also! The biggest thing was how well his skin is doing - his eczema is definitely still there but so very well under control! We haven't even had to return to the dermatologist since last winter, thanks to their good regimen! He passed his vision screening with flying colors (or shapes since that's what he had to ID on the poster down the hall...) and is at the top of the charts for his growth: Our 'not so little' little dude weighs 36 lbs and stands 38" tall! I need to look back to see how that compares to Jacob but I'm sure its not far off - I don't grow little kids!! (update: Found the Twinkies' 3 year stats here!)

Thanks to everyone who sent birthday wishes for our little dude!

I weady for pwesents!!

He loved his musical card from Grandma

Remote controlled Digger!

A big boy pillow!

Big brother and sister eager to get in on the action!

Mommy and me

His new Cars road mat

Birfday cake!

Make a wish!

Passport to Fun!

2012-01-16T00:01:00.000-05:00

This year for Jacob and Sarah's birthday, I asked my parents to consider a pass to a nearby zoo or museum in lieu of toys. My mom happily obliged and got us a family pass to our local children's museum (which happens to sit next door to my school!). The pass includes all 3 kids and any 2 adults and provides free admission to that museum along with several other local museums and similar admission or discounts to countless other museums around the state and country!

We had the opportunity to use our pass over Christmas break, not once, but twice! The first day we planned to go for a fun family day and then the following day, I had an eye appointment about a mile away and instead of sitting in the waiting room for 2 hours with the kids, Paul dropped me off at the Dr then swung around the corner and took the kids back for more fun! It was perfect!

Thanks again Mom and Dad/Grandma and Grandpa for the museum pass - we all LOVE it and I know it'll pay for itself many times over this coming year!!

Community Vehicles & Shadow Making

Firefighters, builders, mountain climbers and delivery people

Grocery shopping, muscle building, calling 911 and building a house

Fun, fun and more fun!

3rd times a Charm

2012-01-13T00:01:00.000-05:00

My baby is 3 today. Everyone always says how grown up and mature he was for a 2 year old (a couple of his new teachers didn't even know he was 2...they thought he was turning 4 this week!)...but to actually say he's 3??!?! That means he really IS growing up and I wish I could slow things down.

I clearly remember the day I found out I was pregnant again and the feeling of surprise and panic (I had 18 month old twins!). I remember even better how amazing it was the day he was born and all this his pregnancy and birth gave to me. I remember the many nights, sitting in his rocking chair, nursing him and cuddling him. I remember his first smile, his first moves, his HUGE grins, when he started to crawl, how much I loved having him close in one of his baby carriers, his dimples, his adorable baby giggles! (seriously, if you click on only one link in this post - click this one!), his dance moves, his first birthday, his first steps, his adorable baby curls, how much he loves trains, how bad his eczema used to be, his adorable voice...so much I want to remember and hold on to forever! (And times like this I'm seriously so thankful for this blog to have documented so much of it!).

Adam amazes me each and every day with a new skill or piece of knowledge that I realize he has tucked up in that (big) lil head of his! He is such a sponge lately - learning SO much from his siblings and at school. He knows most of his letters AND even most of his alphabet sounds! He is tracing his name pretty well and so eager to learn and try new things. He loves to play with his siblings and keep up with them. He still loves his Mama, above anyone else, but loves to be silly and rough with Daddy, too. He's sweet and affectionate. He has an amazing memory, loves to tell stories, likes to play games and likes to run away (naughty boy!).

He is So excited about his birthday today. He's been talking about it all week, talking about taking Brownies to school for his treat, singing Happy Birthday, eating Pizza with cheese for dinner (his choice), having a party and turning 3!

So, as I try to keep myself composed as my baby grows up right before my very eyes, I'll leave with one last smile. He's been trying so hard to tell everyone he's 3 tomorrow and those little fingers have just not been cooperating with him as he tries to hold up 3 fingers....God I love my kid!! ha!

Is this right?

No! THIS is it!

Hooray! I'm #3...er 1...!!!

Oh hell, who cares! Its my BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy Birthday Baby boy!!!

Things going through my head...

2012-01-12T00:01:00.003-05:00

I'm writing this Wednesday evening and I cannot believe how mentally and physically exhausted I am right now. My week has been going smoothly but I'm feeling extremely overwhelmed with a lot of things right now, both at home and work. I don't even know how my head is big enough for all that is running around through it at this moment.

My thoughts include....

...that my student teacher is proving to be fantastic, but its a lot of work right now. Showing her the ropes and helping explain things takes 2-3x longer than if I was just doing it myself. She's a super fast learner and she 'gets it' but there's just so much ground to cover!

...that my parapro has had to be absent a few days this week due to a sick child and having a sub for her is sometimes more work than just working by myself. Seriously...why are there so few GOOD substitutes? And why are so many of them SO annoying?

...That I have my IEPs in less than a month and I haven't even had the chance to start them. I will be working on them as much as I can the next week or two and teaching my student teacher how to do them...but again - that'll just take longer to do.

...We have Monday off of school and I'm so glad to have an extra day off...but that's one less day to work on my IEPs and that kinda stresses me out.

...We have Special Olympics Bowling Friday. Always fun but always chaotic.

...I have to choose and submit some of my students' art work and mail it before next week so they can have the opportunity to be a part of a state-wide art exhibit.

...I have to talk to parents and pick students to attend the State Games for Special Olympics in June. Its always a fun opportunity, especially since they are held at my Alma Mater.

...I weighed my own kids the other day (they love knowing how much they weigh). Get this: Jacob weighed 53 lbs, Sarah weighed 43 lbs and Adam weighed 36 lbs. There's a bigger weight difference between the twins than there is between Sarah and Adam, despite 2 years! Crazy!

...All 3 kids have their annual well checks coming up before the end of the month.

...I am more sad about Adam turning 3 than I was about Jacob and Sarah turning 5. He already seems so grown up for a 2 year old...but turning 3 just makes him officially older. :-( Where is the pause button to slow these kids from growing up so fast??

...I feel like I've been so busy and overwhelmed that I've barely had time to give Adam's birthday much thought. Its Friday and at this point, we don't have anything special planned. I still need to make his treats for school tonight (he said Brownies...which are thankfully easy!).

...At least I have his presents bought...Paul's birthday is next weekend and I've got nothing! agh!

...We're supposed to get a "big snow storm" tonight...It is ridiculous how much they hype up the weather these days...don't tease us teachers who often are hoping for a snow day as much as the students are!

...I started reading Ellen's new book and I was already laughing on page 2 and felt that I needed to read Paul half of the book. I am definitely in need of a good, fun read right now so I'm glad I've got it! Its fun to read it on my iPad, too!

...All 3 kids have a dentist appointment next week. It'll be Adam's first appointment!

...Did I mention I'm exhausted? I can't even think of anything else to think about right now...

Say What?!?! Smarty Pants edition!

2012-01-11T00:01:00.002-05:00

I'm constantly in amazement in the things my kids are learning these days!!!

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Adam and I were playing Scrabble Jr. the other day and I was really impressed with how many letters he knew. He knew about 80% of the letters he played and those that he couldn't name - he was able to identify the sound or a word for it. He picked up a G and he couldn't remember it was a "g" but he did say /guh/ /guh/. He then played the letter A for the word Ape. He looked at the picture next to it then laughed and said "A not for monkey! haha!"

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On New Years Day, after staying up until midnight the night before, Jacob and Sarah were told they were supposed to stay in bed until 9am (its usually 8am on weekends but we pushed it back with the late night). I overheard them both in the bathroom around 8:30 am. Sarah checked the clock and said it was 8:31 and asked Jacob what was next. He said "If its 8:31, then it'll be 8:32 next, then soon 8:40, then 8:50, THEN 9:00."

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I was letting Adam play around with some of the Apps on my iPad the other day. He was really impressing me with his letter skills again as well as his sorting and understanding of concepts. I told him he was doing a good job and asked him "Where'd you learn so much?" Without missing a beat, he said "At home." Good answer, kid!

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Adam made up another story the other day while on our way to school. I forgot to write it down right away so I don't remember all the details, but here's what I recall: There was a monkey, sitting on the table, eating a hot dog with butter. Then he spilled his milk all over the floor because there was a Monster! He scared the monkey. The monster was red and blue and green and yellow. He ripped his shirt. Then he fell and bonked his head....

Where does he come up with all this!?! Love his imagination!!

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And to balance out all this 'smarty pants stuff', I have to share a shameful expression from Jacob this week.

He was playing a new card game, "Whack a Mole", when he joked and told his Dad that it was actually called "Whack a Beaver!"

Coffee Talk

2012-01-10T00:01:00.001-05:00

I totally stole this from Rebecca and saved it for a day when I didn't have anything else on my mind to share...She's been doing this each week lately and I think these questions were from several weeks ago, but thought I'd toss it out there today after a busy day at work and not much to share.

Let's get to know each other a bit...here are some questions I would ask you if we were chatting over a cup of coffee:

1. How did you meet your husband?
Paul and I met on a blind date, set up by my best friend and her (then) fiancee. We had a double date at Ruby Tuesdays. There was a crazy storm and a tornado warning while we ate. I was on crutches, just a month after ACL/knee surgery. We rode back to our friends house in almost silence. I wasn't sure there'd be a second date...let alone a future and family!

2. What is the one thing in this world that calms you down instantly?
1 of 2 things - getting on the treadmill or elliptical and putting my all into it....and hugs, kisses and an "I love you, Mama" from Adam. He's so sweet and affectionate lately and totally melts my heart!

3. What makes you feel more "put together?" A manicure? Pedicure? Great outfit?
A nice outfit or my hair done nice. (Manicures never last and in the winter - pedicures are hidden!)

4. Do you wear contacts or glasses? Would you get Lasik if you could?
I mostly wear contacts but was recently told by my Optometrist that I should try to wear my glasses more as my eyes are showing signs of corneal neovascularization. Its minor at this point, but could get worse. That scares the crap out of me. I've worn contacts since I was in Jr. High and am rather vain in not wanting to wear my glasses all the time. I'm interested in Lasik but scared to death to have EYE surgery!

5. If you wake up in the middle of the night, do you lay in your bed trying to go back to sleep? Or do you get up and try to accomplish something?
I will myself to go back to sleep. I HATE waking up in the middle of the night. I'm usually a pretty good sleeper but also wake up easily if I hear the kids (like yesterday at 5 am when I head "Mommy! I threw up in my bed.")

6. What is the most annoying thing in your house that you would totally get rid of if you wouldn't get caught?
About 95% of the toys around here (and all of my husbands 'stuff' in the den and garage!)

Past Friends and Play Time

2012-01-09T00:01:00.001-05:00

Paul was fortunate to be paired with a great roommate when he was in college. He and Carlos lived together all 4 years while at Michigan Tech back in the 1990s. Although they didn't see each other often, they kept in touch after college. Paul stayed in Michigan and Carlos moved to New York. Carlos, who is from Mexico, got married in Puerto Rico and Paul and I were fortunate enough to get to travel to see the wedding and meet his lovely wife, Damaris.

The last time we saw them was about 8 years ago when we visited them in New York (during the weekend of the big Northeastern blackout). Carlos still has family in Michigan but we hadn't had the chance to meet up any time they'd visited in the past few years.

Just before Christmas, I saw Carlos post on Facebook that they'd made it to MI and after a few exchanges, we figured out we'd all be in the same area the day after Christmas! We agreed to meet up somewhere for a short visit. Paul and Carlos got to chat for a while and Damaris and I recapped our holidays. With Facebook and the blog, we didn't have to fill in too many gaps in our lives. Our 6 kids played, along with their cousins and it was really nice to catch up and have a quick visit. I'm so glad we saw that they'd be in the state and we were able to make time for a visit! It was great to see them!!

College Roommates

Our Kiddos

Jacob and Luke coming down the slide

Luke - so adorable!

My sister and I!

(we had a nice visit over Christmas, too!)

Adam braving the tunnel!

Little Owen napped through most of it!

Silly Sarah

Week-end Wrap up

2012-01-06T00:01:00.001-05:00

* I have been wanting to go to Ikea since we remodeled our living room and dining room last Spring. We finally went on New Years Day! Our shopping trip was successful as we came home with 2 new pieces of furniture for the rooms: a storage bench for the kids' puzzles/games and extra seating and a new side hutch to store over-sized serving dishes.

* Adam turns 3 a week from today. I am in such denial...my BABY cannot be 3 already!!

* I am LOVING my iPad! I've found a ton of apps already that I like for myself and for my kids and students but would love to hear from anyone else what your favorite apps are!

* I got a call from my principal the other day - asking me if I'd be interested in having a Student Teacher this semester! Part of me is really excited but the other half is really nervous! I'm hoping I can do a good job teaching her good practices and approaches. I'm also hoping I can relax as I have to give up control after a couple weeks, too!

* When the reality sank in that I'd be mentoring a new teacher, I immediately wanted to call MY supervising teacher from when I student taught 13 years ago! Patty is retired now but we still keep in touch. I did my general ed student teaching with her but she was an amazing mentor and friend. I hope I can be a positive influence like she was for me!

* I'm just a few chapters away from finishing the latest Book Club book. I think I'm going to skip the next one so I can read one of the many I have picked out from iBooks. I'm super excited to read a book on my iPad!

* We have tons of birthdays coming up! The kids have a party this weekend, Jacob has one next weekend, Adam's birthday is next week, Paul's is the next and my nephew's the week after that!

* I had a dentist appointment right before Christmas. I was bummed to find out I had a small cavity. It was only my 2nd one and the last one I had was when I was in high school I think (I'm not even sure!). I was really nervous about it but was very relieved that it wasn't nearly as bad as I feared. I'm also very thankful for the great Dentist and staff. I have to take all 3 kids in a couple weeks - it'll be Adam's first visit!

Have a great weekend!!

Art Showcase

2012-01-05T00:01:00.000-05:00

The day before Christmas break was a big day for our students and theirfriends - we held a big art exhibit in our school's library to showcase all of their amazing art work from this fall! With the help of ourartist and our school's music teacher, we set up an awesome display ofall of their work. I think we had 45 students participate all togetherfrom 6 different classrooms (3 special ed rooms with 3 rooms of peerhelpers). Since we all had our own sessions and didn't each do the sameprojects, it was really great to see it all together and how each ofour classes differed based on the age and abilities of the students.For example - we all did Self portraits - but each class did theirsdifferently with a different art medium. Like wise, another week we alldid stained glass - but each one was a different image - shapes, TouchMath or Sight Words.

We invited all the staff and students in our school along with ourstudents' parents. We planned the event for the same day as the holidaymusic program and invited anyone there for that to walk through aswell. I was really appreciative that our Superintendent even took thetime to come! She spent quite a while looking at the art work, askingabout the students that made the pieces and showing her support. Thatmeant so much!

The entire art program was such an amazing experience and it wasreally neat for our students and their peer mentors to see their artwork showcased in this way for everyone to see their talents. It was alot of work to pull together but it was worth it to see it all cometogether in such an awesome way! While our art class is 'over' - thefun associated with it is not. Our students have the opportunity tosubmit their art work to several exhibits around the state which weplan to do. We also plan to stay involved with our peer mentors andplan a game day each week! We have a great thing going and want to keepthat for the rest of the year!!

Christmas at Crossroads

2012-01-04T00:01:00.000-05:00

We have a neat little historical village very close to where we live where you can walk through the gates and go back in time to some of the historical buildings from our area. They host a variety of special events through the year including A Day out with Thomas and Trick or Treating but one of my favorite things there is their Christmastime display!

We took a train ride to see all the beautiful light displays including a great display of the 12 days of Christmas. Santa himself was even along our path! We sang Christmas carols and tried to guess how many lights were on the huge tree near the station!

We saw Santa, had some hot cocoa, ate some roasted pecans, saw a baby reindeer, and stood next to 2 enormous trees, full of lights! My favorite was definitely the Tree of Lights (below) but the other huge tree was beautiful, too!

We were lucky to have a dusting to snow to make it even prettier but it wasn't too cold to be out that night. We all had a great time and definitely plan to make this a tradition!

Goodbye elves

2012-01-03T00:01:00.000-05:00

Amidst the excitement of Christmas day, there was a taste of bittersweetness, too. As Christmas got closer and closer, the kids remembered that their dear elves and reindeer would have to soon return to the North Pole with Santa Claus. They've only been gone a week and Sarah has already asked several times where they went and that she misses Isabella. They asked me to take pictures of them with their elves and reindeer before they left so they could remember them. Some friends received a dvd of pictures from their elves on New Years so maybe our elves will send a little something for our kiddos soon to help them remember them while they are gone.

Having Elves and a baby reindeer visit us again was such a special treat! The kids looked forward to waking up and finding them each morning - wondering what they did overnight. Adam was great about remembering to feed his reindeer, Dancer - who needed a special diet of nuts and berries - while Jacob and Sarah never forgot to leave out some crackers and water for their elves. They took great care of our guests and they must've done a good job since the elves relayed messages to Santa for some special gifts under the tree.

I'm sure next December will be here before we know it and we'll be making new memories with Kramer, Isabella and Dancer. We appreciated the gifts they brought us and the reminders of what Christmas is all about. Santa even left them a special note (see below) when he stopped in on Christmas Eve and again reminded us why Christmas is so special.

See you next Christmas!

10 in 2011

2011-12-31T00:01:00.012-05:00

Favorite book

I've always been a reader but the bug has really bitten me this year and I haven't not had a book going since last winter. Joining a book club this year helped keep that going, too and introduced me to some new books that I've really enjoyed but might not have otherwise chosen. Choosing a favorite, just from this year would be really hard so I'm going to start off with my Top 5 books: The Help, The Art of Racing in the Rain, What Alice Forgot, The Hunger Games trilogy, and Lift.

Favorite movie

I'd have to say Harry Potter and The Help.

Favorite TV show

I continue to be a fan of Grey's Anatomy and love Modern Family!

Favorite blog post

Bedtime Prayers and Bad Words

Secret Mommy Confessions

Autism Awareness Month

Favorite picture

Favorite way to lose track of time

Pinterest!

Favorite memory

Our family trip to Tawas this summer, Celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary in Traverse City in April and going to the Tulip Festival on my birthday.

Biggest accomplishment

Losing 30+ pounds and getting back in shape!

Biggest changes

We remodeled our living room, dining room, kitchen and added on a deck in our backyard.
Jacob and Sarah started kindergarten!
I took my health back into my own hands.

Plans for 2012

* Take the kids camping.

* Run more races

* Start planning a Disney trip!

* Remodel our bathroom

Personal Goals for next year

* Maintain my weight loss (and possibly lose more).

* Run the 10 mile Crim in August.

* Make a quilt with fabric I've had for years

Happy New Year!!!!!

Everyone was on the Nice list!

2011-12-30T00:01:00.001-05:00

We had a fabulous Christmas here this year! Everyone was healthy, got what they wanted and we were able to spend time with both families (although I was bummed my brother and his family couldn't make it). We spent Christmas Eve with my in-laws and the kids amazingly ate a good dinner and had fun opening their gifts from their Grandma, Uncle and cousin. Jacob loved his remote control car. Sarah was very excited about the Princess Story Studio from a cousin and Adam liked his remote control Thomas train.

On our way home, which is only about a 15 minute drive, Jacob asked us if we knew a shortcut home. When we asked why, he said "so we can hurry up and get home and in bed so Santa can come!" We checked the Santa Norad Tracker when we got home and all 3 were out like lights just a few minutes later.

I wasn't sure what to expect out of the kids over night or Christmas morning - I saw so many friends posting that their little ones were too excited to sleep and up SUPER early but amazingly our 3 slept great and stuck to their "8 am" wake up time like most weekends! Paul and I were already up and dressed before they came out of their rooms. We made Jacob and Sarah wait for Adam to wake up so they got dressed and were relieved when they heard their brother just a few minutes later. We opened presents quick, enjoyed breakfast and then hit the road to head to my sisters for a couple days.

All 3 kids got just what they wanted from Santa! Jacob was excited to see his race track and some sweatshirts along with some new tracks for Thomas. Sarah got her Doll House car, some Twinkle Toes and a very cool Barbie drawing set (her favorite gift of all!). Adam was excited about his Thomas coaches and Cranky the crane along with a sleeping bag! It was really fun to watch Adam get so into his presents and the excitement of the holiday! He is so amazing to watch and listen to, just soaking up so much from his siblings. What a great age!

Santa was good to this mommy, too! (REALLY good!!!) I got some new PJs like I wanted, plus 6th row tickets for Lady Antebellum in February AND an iPad!!!! I didn't even think Paul would get me a Kindle, so I was super excited and surprised about the iPad!!! I'm loving it! Daddy got lots of kitchen stuff including a digital scale, knives and a vacuum sealer plus new clothes and books.

We spent the next 2 days at my sisters, celebrating Christmas with our family, eating lots and watching the kids play! I got to snuggle again with my new baby nephew Owen and watch my kids and nephew, Luke, play all day long! Its great that our kids have reached a really great age for them to get along well and play together. Its so much fun to watch!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, too!!

Christmas favorites

2011-12-29T00:01:00.003-05:00

We had an amazing Christmas here this year! The kids were all at an awesome age to enjoy it all and keep up with our busy couple of days! They were spoiled like crazy but really good for the most part and we had a great time with both families. It'll take several days worth of posts to catch up on each of our festivities but here are a few highlights to hold you until I can get caught up!

Santa's been here!

I think she loves it!

My adorable nephews!

His own "leapster!"

Just what he wanted!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, too!

Say What?!?!

2011-12-28T00:01:00.004-05:00

I'm working on getting all our Christmas pictures uploaded and preparing a Christmas Recap, but until then, enjoy some little kid humor!

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My hair is naturally curly but I often straighten it. On Christmas day, when we arrived to my sister's house, it was straight, as it was still the next morning before I took a shower. After I got showered and dressed, I just scrunched my hair (its so much faster and easier...) so it was curly. My nephew, Luke, walked into the room and said "Aunt Barb! Why is your hair so crazy!?" I told him my hair was curly and asked him if he liked it that way...and he promptly replied "no."

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While at a bounce house that afternoon, Adam walked up to me and tugged at my purse.
Adam: "Mama! I need your purse!"
Me: "What? Why?"
Adam: "Mama! I need your purse!"
Me: "Why do you need my purse?"
Adam: I thirsty! (as he pointed to the snack bar...)
How does he already know that's where to go for money!?

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Our elves laid out all of our Christmas cards one night and we had fun the next morning looking through each card and at the pictures and talking about who each card was from. Adam was picking up cards and asking me to read them to him. He then grabbed one and opened it and in a confused voice said "There's no money in here!" At first I had no idea why he even thought there should be, but then I recalled his Grandma sent each of the kids a card with a quarter taped in for their piggy banks.

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At dinner, the day after returning home from my sister's house, Adam was caught playing with his fork. He was shoving it down the front of his shirt and when I asked him what he was doing, he said he had Baby Owen in his belly.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T00:01:00.001-05:00

The Perfect Last Minute Gift

2011-12-23T22:58:00.000-05:00

I've had a running list going of Christmas gifts I needed/wanted to buy this year and was lucky to have gotten almost everything taken care of by the beginning of this week. Kids were done. Family was done. Paul was bought for. Teachers were taken care of and stockings were ready to be stuffed. But as I drove home Wednesday afternoon, I was trying to think of something small but meaningful that I could get or do for my co-workers.

We haven't really made it a habit to exchange gifts amongst the 5 of us, but we often do little goodies or something cute for each other. I didn't want to walk away without something for each of them but I had an idea.

I got home and I told Paul what my idea was and asked him to help me figure it out. My original thought was to make a donation to a charity in each of their honor...but I couldn't decide which organization I would choose. I debated choosing 4 different ones or just one organization, but I couldn't decide which one(s). I thought "Wouldn't it be wonderful if I could make a donation, in each person's honor, but THEY got to choose what charity would benefit?" Paul agreed it was a nice idea and if we couldn't find something like it online, we'd surely develop the idea ourselves because it sounded perfect!

Well, visions of a new brain child washed away as we happily found several websites that allowed me to do just that! I was really excited about this idea and getting to honor each of my friends in a special way but still allowing THEM to choose an organization that was meaningful to them and feel like they were also giving a gift this season.

I thought I'd share what I found as its a great last minute gift AND you can make a difference in the lives of others. Can you give a more perfect gift?

One site I found and the one I decided to use was JustGive. I chose this site because it allowed you to choose from any registered non-profit organization. "JustGive's database contains nearly 1.8 million charities. The JustGive Guide includes 1,000charities that have met stringent public requirements. The charitiesare grouped into19 categories to make your search easier and faster." I loved that this allowed my friends to choose a local charity if they wanted to or a larger organization. It also allowed me to print beautiful cards from my computer or I could have e-mailed them to a recipient. The cards included instructions on how to use their gift along with how much money their GiveNow card was for.

Another site we found was Charity Choice. This site had a smaller list of organizations to choose from but with over 250 charities, you could still easily find something meaningful for just about anyone. Charity Choice said they "select charities based largely upon their recognition as highly rated,major charities by respected publications, as well as their beingsought out by donors for their well-known accomplishments towards theircharitable mission." Some of their charities include Autism Speaks, Special Olympics, Susan G. Komen and Toys for Tots.

I was so happy to be able to gift such a special gift to my friends and know that we could both make a difference this Christmas season and I wanted to share these sites with you in case you need a last minute gift or want to do something special for someone, too!

Thankful Thursday

2011-12-22T00:01:00.002-05:00

Today, I'm thankful ...

...that today is the last day of school this year.

...that I have all of my Christmas shopping done.

...that while jealous that he was off of work before me, I'm glad my husband didn't have to work yesterday and today so that he could do the grocery shopping.

...for my students' Art exhibit at our school today. We're really excited about putting it all together!

...that I get to see my baby nephew (and the rest of my family) again this weekend.

...that I don't have to work next week.

...that despite the fact that we won't have a White Christmas, we also shouldn't have to worry about bad roads while traveling on Christmas.

...that I was able to find something special and different to give to my coworkers to thank them this Christmas.

...that I have no idea what I'm getting for Christmas from my husband/kids. I didn't really give them many ideas and I like being surprised.

...that the elves will soon return to the North Pole. I'm running out of ideas and creativity!

...that today is the last day of work! Did I mention that already???

Say What?!?!

2011-12-21T00:01:00.016-05:00

At dinner the other night, I snuck a bite of Adam's quesadilla when he wasn't looking. When he turned around, he noticed a bite was gone. He said "Where my quesadilla go?" I said "In your belly!" to which he replied "Nuh uh! It in your mouth!!" I can't fool him!

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He's finally learned the right word for them but up until about a week ago, Adam kept calling candy canes "Candy Lanterns."

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Thursday night, while talking to Jacob and Sarah about their new baby cousin, I told them we would be able to visit them this weekend and maybe they'd get to hold Owen. Sarah said "But he'll be too heavy!" and Jacob said "But, mom! He'll get my Leapster all slimy!"

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We had a trip into the community on Monday with my students. As we got back into the van after lunch, Rhianna's song "We Found Love" came on the radio. One of my students started to sing along but he changed the lyrics to match some of his favorite places (that he kept hinting to us that he wanted to go...) I can't remember all of his variations but he had us cracking up!

We found love in a....Chuck E Cheese!
We found love in a .....Game Stop place....

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On our way back to school, we took a little detour and drove through one of the nicer neighborhoods near our school. As we came around one corner, a man was running along the side of the road. I moved over to the side of the road to get out of HIS way but 2 of my students yelled "Get out of our way, Man!" (thank Goodness our windows were closed! sheesh! Apparently we need some more work on manners!)

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He's finally learned the right word for them but up until about a week ago, Adam kept calling candy canes "Candy Lanterns."

Art and Friends, Part 2

2011-12-20T00:01:00.030-05:00

Earlier this fall, I shared about the awesome Art program my students have benefited from. We had 8 weeks with an Artist in Residence through Very Special Arts and got to work with a variety of mediums. My students worked with some general education 6th graders so not only did they get to have this fun art experience, but they made some friends, too!

I was excited about this opportunity when we were told about it in September but it was even better than I imagined. First, we had a fantastic Artist. She was creative, patient and worked great with our students. Second, we had some AWESOME general ed peers helping out! All 6 students were so patient, helpful, fun and understanding of my students. They have since taken the time to say hello to my students when they pass them in the hall and we've already talked about continuing our partnership through the rest of the school year with game days and activities for social skills.

We did some really neat art projects this fall including:
* A color wheel spinner
* Self portraits
* Patchwork Pumpkins
* Stained glass Numbers (Touch Math)
* 3D Cornucopias made of clay then fruits and vegetables made out of paper bags and painted
* A large Safety Sign mural

This week we'll culminate our experience by hosting an Art Exhibit for our students' parents, our staff and the students. They'll get to show off their hard work and creativity and we'll get to thank our supporters. Its a really nice way to let them see the products of their efforts as well as allow them to interact with those coming to see the exhibit. I'm really proud of them for how well they did with each project and working with their peers and I'm so very grateful for VSA and all they give to our students!!

Step 1 of Stained Glass numbers

Cornucopias

Safety sign mural

Merry Monday!

2011-12-19T00:01:00.001-05:00

Ok, this weekend was top notch and with Christmas next weekend, I imagine it can only get better!!

Friday night included a fun night out with my coworkers for our annual staff Christmas party. As my husband says - teachers really know how to have fun!! We had a blast with big laughs including the phrase "Put your teeth in!" and me trying to walk in 3 inch heels. I also got huge compliments from my building principal which was just awesome!

Saturday wasn't anything super exciting but we did make it to church that afternoon and all 3 kids behaved themselves very well - which is a HUGE accomplishment! After church we took the kids to see The Muppets! They enjoyed it but I think a lot of the laughs and references were better appreciated by Paul and I.

Sunday was the highly anticipated road trip to see my new nephew!! He is just about perfect and he and my sister are doing great! Owen has been a perfect little angel so far and his big brother Luke is one proud boy! I'm so glad we'll be back there next weekend to visit and snuggle some more!

I couldn't wait to get my hands on him!

Jacob was ready and willing to hold his new cousin

It took Sarah a while to hold him but she finally took a turn

So sweet!

Now lets see if the next 4 days can fly be so I can have some time off of work!!!

Twinfatuation

Week-end Wrap Up

2011-12-16T00:01:00.001-05:00

* First off - BIG news!! I am an Aunt again!! My sister had her baby last night. Owen was born around 5:30 pm. 7 lbs, 4 oz, 20 inches long! We'd all been (very) anxiously awaiting his arrival all week but once he decided to make his exit, he came fast! They weren't at the hospital more than 15 minutes and he was born! I can't wait to see him this weekend!!!

* One of my former students is becoming a star artist at our school. She is a talented cartoonist and draws great caricatures of people. She's been drawing pictures for all the staff and I'd been dying to get one of me from her. (I love this girl - I had her in my class for 5 years and still keep in close touch with the family.) I finally got my portrait yesterday and I LOVE it!

* I'm having a huge Mommy Guilt moment. Jacob and Sarah's Kindergarten class are decorating Gingerbread houses today. Their teacher asked for parents to come in and help and the kids both asked me to come, but there's no way I can (My para has to be out today for a funeral and we don't both miss if at all possible). We are all bummed but thankfully Paul thinks he can make it.

* Tonight is my work Christmas party! I'm excited for a night out with my hubby and friends (and adult beverages!) I could have used those beverages last night though after a rough day at work!

* I see that Blogger is suggesting to update my interface. Has anyone else done this? I'm scared to switch and lose my blog posts!

* I am not excited that I still have 4 more days of work. I wish we were done today! I hit the wall and am ready to be done for a bit...we have a really short break. This is my mantra for the next week:

* We have a hot tub. It hasn't worked in 5 years. Paul made a call this week to see if it was repairable and it was an easy fix! The heater was replaced and its good to go! Yeah!!

* We had our annual MoMs Christmas Party last night. The kids saw Santa again and did great! Sarah almost chickened out but the boys went right up to him again!

Merry Christmas!

The reason for the season!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Sweetest Smiles

2011-12-15T00:01:00.001-05:00

I tried to get ahead of the game this year and ordered Christmas cards using photos of all of us from our fall weddings (we clean up good, ya know?) but now I kind of wish I'd waited and taken pictures of the kids dressed up for Christmas or with the tree. We had that opportunity this weekend at our Santa lunch but since the cards are already out in the mail, these pictures will have to settle for our little blog.

Say What?!?!

2011-12-14T00:01:00.005-05:00

I bought myself a new winter hat last weekend. I'm not much of a 'hat person' but this one caught my eye and I thought it was cute so I went with it. I wore it for the first time on Friday and when I put it on, Adam said "Mama got a hat! You a police man, Mama?"

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Adam woke up from his nap this weekend and when Paul opened the door to his room, he was greeted by a not-so-pleasant odor. Paul said "Who's stinky?" to which Adam happily replied "ME!!!!"

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Silly Little Elves

2011-12-13T00:01:00.001-05:00

At the end of November and as the Christmas season approached, the kids started to recall their Elves (Kramer and Isabella) who visited them last Christmas and wondered IF and when they would return. They tried to remember some of the funny things they did last year, like decorate the tree with their underwear and a parade of all the kids' toy vehicles and they started wondering what their elves might do THIS year!

Much to their excitement, their elves arrived the morning of Jacob and Sarah's birthday at the end of November. They woke up to find the elves in bed with them...AND they had company! Santa trusted Adam to take care of one of his Baby Reindeer this winter so Dancer is living with us until Christmas, too! All 3 kids are having so much fun feeding them each night and waking up, excited to find them and see what they might have done over night.

They've been helpful by putting the lights and garland on our Christmas tree and looking through catalogs to give us ideas for what the kids might like for Christmas. They've been sneaky by hiding in the cupboard, in the plants and in the kids' closets. They've been silly by turning our milk green, playing games and making a dance video of the kids, dressed as elves. And, of course, they've been a little naughty by unrolling toilet paper through the house and trying to peek in presents.

The first thing out of Sarah's mouth almost every morning is "Mom!? Did you see the elves yet? I wonder what they did!?" The kids race to get dressed and ready for school each morning so they can be the first downstairs to look for the elves and see what they've done. Its so much fun to have our elves here and we hope they'll continue to visit each year for a long time!

Check out the kids' dancing like Elves! Cracks me up every time!
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/MUK2W1YBBaN16pPw?cmpid=ey_url

Picture Perfect Santa

2011-12-12T00:01:00.016-05:00

If you're a long time follower of my blog, you likely remember that our past visits with Santa haven't been very successful. Both Jacob and Sarah were terrified their First and Second Christmases. Jacob was brave, Sarah was willing but Adam was terrified the next year and last year. (Sarah and Jacob have been hit and miss the past 2 years.)

We had the opportunity to join some of our Twin friends at a Lunch with Santa this weekend but we had to make reservations a few weeks ago. Before deciding, we all talked about whether the kids were really up to visiting much with Santa and whether they'd want to be in the same room with him for any length of time. Jacob and Sarah both said yes and seemed excited and Adam followed suit. As the day approached though, I had my doubts whether they'd all really go to Santa without any tears.

Much to my amazement, we were 3 for 3, complete with SMILES and time on Santa's lap! Jacob and Adam even went back for more as the party wound down! Jacob and Sarah both told Santa what they wanted for Christmas while Adam needed a little prompting to find his voice and tell Santa his wishes. They each received a candy cane and small gift along with their visit and a tasty lunch. Plus we got to share the afternoon with some good friends! It was a really nice afternoon and definitely something that we'd like to do again next Christmas! (It sure beats waiting in line to see Santa at the mall plus you get a decent lunch with it!)

Here's hoping you all have some smiles with Santa this Christmas season, too!

First time EVER without tears!

So excited this year!

Like a pro!

Picture Perfect!

Week-End Wrap up

2011-12-09T00:01:00.001-05:00

* Sarah's facial blemishes continue to haunt her. Just as her most-recent infection cleared up, and the day before School Picture retakes - she got pushed on the rug at school and got a big floor burn on the side of her face. We still had pics taken - we'll see how they turn out!

* I got really excited one day last week when I heard that Adam actually peed on the potty at daycare!! He did not seem that excited about it and has refused to go since. His teacher thinks he just couldn't hold it any longer. I'm starting to worry about where I'll be able to find size 7 diapers...

* My school's student council is having a Door Decorating contest. I found a fun idea on Pinterest (LOVE that site!). Our door isn't quite done but I can give a sneak peak of it!

* We are having Lunch with Santa tomorrow. I hope its fun and doesn't result in tears for any of our kiddos!

* My sister's due date is December 23 but from the news of her Dr. appointment yesterday, I may have a new nephew sometime within the next week! I'm so excited!!!

* We got most of our Christmas shopping done for the kids last weekend but I'm not sure when I'm going to get to shop for Paul and stockings.

* I wish I had time to quilt again. Its been a long time and I have fabric that I'd love to make quilts with!

* I'm ounces away from hitting another weight-loss milestone. I weigh in each Friday for a Biggest Loser competition at work. I slowly continue to go down and am VERY glad for that, but would really LOVE to clear another number!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!

12 years

2011-12-08T00:01:00.002-05:00

We are already 1/3 of the way into another school year here in Michigan and I can still barely wrap my mind around the fact that this is my 12th year of teaching. 12 years??? AND...this will be my 8th year at my current school with my teaching partner/para-educator. (I'm very lucky to have a fantastic partner (in crime) - she's one of my best friends and great to work with and does an awesome job with our students and will do just about anything I ask!)

I am so happy to say this school year is off to a great start and I think it'll be a great year all the way through. I have a good group of students, a nice group of parents and no daunting behavioral challenges at this time. I love the school I've worked in the past 8 years, appreciate the working relationship and friendship I have with the teacher next door, and am seeing my students learn and progress on a daily basis!

But 12 years? 12 years!?! How in the world have I been teaching for 12 years already? It does not seem that long ago that I walked into my first classroom, terrified and wondering who in the world was going to trust me to run a classroom for students with Autism? Fresh out of college, no experience actually working with kids with Autism and here I was - a teacher. When did I become someone who actually knew what the heck she was doing? When did I become someone that others actually look to for help and ideas? When did I become a Veteran teacher?

When I was hired by my district, I was the first brand new, fresh out of college teacher that they'd hired in a long time. Most other teachers were ones that had transferred in from other districts or had come back with a 2nd special education degree. I was at least a decade younger than any other teacher there. (Thankfully that started to change and other new teachers were hired shortly after I was.) With that memory in mind, its so crazy to realize I'm now one of those teachers that is more than a decade older than the new teachers!! (that might explain these gray hairs, too! ha!)

I've learned so much in the last 12 years. To think back to the lessons I've taught, the staff I've worked with, the situations I've encountered, the challenges I've faced, the victories I've had....it has made me who I am as a teacher. Experience shapes you. Its shaped me.

I teach a crisis and behavior management class for the districts in our county. I recently taught a class where I was told afterwords that I had a lot of really great examples of behaviors and interventions. I honestly told her that not a single situation was 'made up' - that I had truly encountered each of those things and one way or another, had to figure out how to handle it. Its crazy to think that I've had that much experience to be able to say that!

I am fortunate that my class sizes are small - some years as few as 4 students. The most I've ever had was 7 at once. (In Michigan, its typically a classroom of around 5 students with 2 staff in classrooms for students with Autism.) Our program isn't 'graded' so we often have age ranges and keep students for several years during that time. Some students may come and go quickly but I've had some students for as many as 4-6 years in a row. With that, I've actually only directly taught about 36 students over my 12 years. (that's soooo weird to realize!)

I always felt like I'd found my niche when I started working at my school, but to sit back and look where I'm at - that I'm respected by my peers, trusted by my administrators, and liked by my students' parents...whoa. Its what everyone hopes for...but wow!! I'm there! (I'm not trying to sound cocky or arrogant...I hope this doesn't come across that way. I'm actually very humble.)

I've been encouraged a few times to apply for Teacher Consultant positions or consider administration, but for now, my heart is still in the classroom. (I have no desire to go into adminstration!) Someday, I'll likely take the leap into a Consulting position, but for now - I'm truly happy where I'm at. I'm in a great school, I have great teaching partners, I'm not burnt out yet, I still appreciate the challenges and love to celebrate the little victories! I like working directly with my students - getting to know them, getting to know their families, watching them learn and grow over the years. I like knowing I have a direct impact on 6 children every day and I love seeing them down the road, maturing and continuuing to learn.

I'm proud of what I do and seriously know that this is where I was meant to be!

Storyteller

2011-12-07T00:01:00.015-05:00

I seriously think my usual Say What? Wednesday post is my favorite one to do all week. I love archiving the funny things my kids say - a different snapshot to remember them by.

Adam is our star today! He's been talking so much lately and I love it! I am constantly having to scold Jacob and Sarah to not talk for him - that he can speak for himself these days!!

Innocence (don't let him fool you!)

His self portrait!!

Silly Monkey!

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My parents stayed with us this weekend and we used the leaf in our new dining room table for the first time. Jacob asked us to "break the table" Tuesday evening so he could see how it came apart. As we unlatched it and got ready to pull it apart, Adam started to cry and yell "Mommy! Don't bweak da table!! Pwease don't bweak it!!"

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While getting ready for bed last night, Adam asked to read a book. It was past bedtime due to reading a long book before their bath so I suggested we make up a story while we got him dried off and dressed. So, with nothing more than me asking questions such as "what is the story about?", "what did he like to do?" and "What else?"....this is what he came up with, all on his own!!

Once upon a time, there was a snowman named Snowman. Snowman had an orange hat, an orange shirt and orange pants and shoes. It matched!! He lived on a farm and liked to play with and catch chickens. He liked to eat turkey and grapes. He also knocked our dinner off the table and onto the floor.
Then he went on an adventure! He went camping, in a tent, in the dark and in the snow. Then he fell down a hole! But Adam saved him! He used a rope to pull him out of the hole and back onto the snow!

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Another night, he made up a story about his Reindeer. When I asked him what it liked to do, he said "Weindeer play games!" When I asked him what kind of games, he said "Monkey games! With da Elves, in da twee. And the monkeys was on da weindeer ears!" At first I thought he had quite the imagination and then it clicked that he was telling me about how he'd found his Reindeer and our Elves one morning (playing the game Tumbling Monkeys). His memory is so good!

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Speaking of our elves, one night this weekend, our elves took markers and made funny faces on all our pictures. (Thankfully it was dry erase markers!) Jacob and Sarah found the elves and saw they had a marker but didn't notice the drawings on the pictures at first. I asked them if they'd made a mess on anything and told them to double check. They came running back upstairs to tell us they'd drawn on the pictures and as they walked back out, I heard Jacob say "Those elves are going to be on Santa's Naughty List now!!"

Welcome Christmas!

2011-12-06T00:01:00.000-05:00

Last Friday, we attended our little town's annual Christmas Candlewalk. We missed the parade but got there just in time for the tree lighting and the other holiday sights. We climbed on snow piles, talked with friends, wandered the tents and made history.

Yes, people - mark Friday, December 2, 2011 as a day to remember:

All 3 kids were in the same room as Santa Claus.

All 3 kids were standing close to Santa Claus.

All 3 kids were even touching Santa Claus....

And NOBODY cried!!!

Jacob even gave him a hug before this!

Sarah and Adam hesitated but went through with it!

The lighting of the trees!

Hot Cocoa

Caramel apples

Warming up

The Nutcracker

2011-12-05T00:01:00.000-05:00

While I don't have the most vivid memories of The Nutcracker ballet when I was younger, I do still very much remember that I went with my Mom and Grandma and how much I loved it. The music, the ballerinas, getting dressed up and having a day with just us girls...definitely an experience I'll likely never forget.

I'm hoping my own daughter will say the same thing, years from now, as I got tickets for her and my Mom and I to see the ballet this weekend. My mom treated us to lunch before the show and Sarah was so excited about it all! We all got dressed up, dined at Red Robin and then made our way to the theater. Sarah's face just lit up as we took our seats - she loved the GIANT ornament that graced the stage curtain and was in awe of the theater and orchestra.

She asked lots of questions about the story as the ballet danced on. She was curious about it all and really enjoyed the story in the first half. She was a bit antsy after intermission and not as tuned in to just the dancing as the Sugar Plum Queen's court danced for Clara and The Nutcracker Prince, but she said she loved it in the end.

It was great having a special day with my little girl and getting to share it with my Mom, too. I know us adults enjoyed it just as much as Sarah did and we truly valued a day together with just us girls.

Playing along with Makes my Monday at Twinfatuation.

Week-end Wrap Up

2011-12-02T00:01:00.012-05:00

* Our Elves, Kramer and Isabel, came back to visit us this week! The kids have been so excited they are here again. And...Santa sent a Baby Reindeer for Adam to take care of, too! I love our elves!!!

* Jacob and Sarah started gymnastics again 2 weeks ago. They've moved up to a "beginner" class - the 3rd level they can be on. So far, so good!

* Sarah's infection in her nose came back last week. You better believe I immediately called the Dermatologist and he thankfully called in an antibiotic right away. Its looking much better now but I'm terrified this is going to be a recurring thing.

* I'm not excited that I have to work up until Dec. 22nd.

* I didn't go to the gym for 10 days over the week of Thanksgiving - just too much going on. I ate well and didn't gain anything but I feel like a blob!!

* I used the Wii Active for the first time in forever the other night when I didn't want to go back out late to the gym. I have a new found respect for the workouts. Despite being in pretty decent shape, I was sore the next day. Damn Jump Lunges.

* My mom and I are taking Sarah to The Nutcracker ballet tomorrow. I am SO excited!!!!

* We are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new nephew. My sister is due Dec. 23rd but we're guessing the lil guy may arrive sooner than that.

* With his arrival, I realize Adam won't be the baby of our family anymore! He's definitely not acting like it lately - he's talking so much - his sentences amaze me! - and he's been so much fun! And...*sniff sniff* he is moving up to the Preschool room at daycare already! Now if only he'd give up those diapers....

* My students have been pretty grumpy and squirrely this week. I'm so glad its Friday!!!

* We're going Christmas shopping tomorrow night. I'm hoping we can get most, if not everything, on our list!

* Christmas cards are ordered and here already - now I just need to find time to address them and get them in the mail. I'm anxiously awaiting our first card of the season...I wonder who it'll be!?!?

Have a great weekend everyone!!!!

Twins vs. Gender Dynamics

2011-12-01T00:01:00.055-05:00

Lately, I feel like I'm sitting in on some Sociology experiment. Twin Stereotypes vs Gender stereotypes. As my 3 children grow and develop their own personalities and interests, its been really interesting watching how they interact with each other.

Twin relationships are always an interesting topic for people. People always wonder do they have a special bond, do they do twin talk, do they complete each others' sentences, can they sense emotions? etc. I think having twins of any kind - but in my case - fraternal boy/girl twins - has been an interesting experience as a parent as you try to avoid gender stereotypes, try to give them their own unique opportunities and encourage their own individual personalities. It is special to watch the friendship that my two share - how they get along, how they take care of each other, how they play together, how they are stronger together. Its even more interesting for me, now that they are in school, to hear from others on how their relationship is perceived and what other people observe about them as individuals and as a duo.

When Adam came along, part of me wondered and worried if he'd ever feel left out - would Jacob and Sarah build up a relationship so strong that he couldn't join in? I think their close age has helped avoid that - they don't really remember life without Adam in it. But what I didn't really think about was how would they all mingle together? We've heard "2's company and 3s a crowd...." - is 3 a tough combination to handle??

Well - its been interesting. I'm very fortunate, that at this age/stage - all 3 kids get along very well together. Sure, we have plenty of moments where Adam is into his siblings' stuff and they don't want him to touch it...and other times when Jacob is rough and tumble and too much for Sarah...and many times where Sarah is bossing the other 2 around. But in the big picture - all 3 play well together, help each other out and generally have fun together.

There are times when all 3 are engaged together - some game or make-believe scenario - but many times - they end up in a pair and a singleton and its interesting to observe at those times.

Many times, its Jacob and Sarah together - making up some more elaborate story or game, something that requires more complex imaginations and vocabulary where Adam just can't keep up so he wanders off and does his own thing. He doesn't seem jealous. He's content to grab a book, play with his trains or play a game by himself (his new thing). He will occasionally try to work his way back into their 'game' and see if he can figure out what they are doing and where he fits in. They usually allow him to enter, but at times do gang up against him and get upset that he's in the way of what they're doing. He retaliates as the pesky little brother - grab their toy and run.

Almost as often, I find the boys joining forces - in very gender-stereotypical ways. If either boy wants to play trucks or trains - they ask the other boy - not Sarah. Jacob is more likely to ask Adam to play outside with him because he seems to know Adam is more into the running and climbing than Sarah is. She'd rather be inside, near me, coloring or playing a game. Sarah does join in once in a while during those times, but again, she doesn't seem to feel left out or worried about the boys doing their thing. I have also noticed, if she does try to join in, they are not resistant like she and Jacob sometimes are to Adam.

Its pretty rare to find Sarah and Adam joining forces. If they do, its in a 'motherly' way as she helps him do something. Adam invites Jacob to play with him more often while Sarah is more his 'backup plan' if Jacob isn't interested in what he wants at the time. Sarah seems more likely to ask Jacob to do something with her. Jacob seems to be in a win-win situation as he has good options either way, depending on what he wants to do.

It'll definitely be interesting to see how their relationships evolve as they get older. I hope they all continue to be close friends and not just siblings - especially when they're older.

Say What?!?!

2011-11-30T00:01:00.004-05:00

The other night, Paul was getting Adam ready for bed. He was playing with him and going to eat his toes but Adam thought he was aiming for something else and squealed "Don't eat my butt, Daddy!"

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Paul and I enjoyed a glass of wine with dinner the other night after he opened a bottle to cook our fish in. As I took a sip, Jacob asked me what it was called again. When I told him, Adam blurted out, very enthusiastically, "I LIKE wine!!!" We asked him not to blurt that out in public!!!

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Paul took Jacob and Sarah to gymnastics yesterday so I had Adam to myself for a little while after daycare. I told him we needed to get home so we could make dinner for Daddy, Jacob and Sarah. He said "Me, too, Mommy! Dinner for me, too!"

When we got home, he rushed to get his shoes and coat off and went to the kitchen saying "Mommy! I help you make dinner! I get da Wanch (ranch) and the Fwuit!" (sounds like a great combination, doesn't it!?)

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I loved listening to him on our drive home. He didn't have to compete with his siblings to talk and chattered away the whole drive home (its only about 5 minutes). He loved seeing all the Christmas lights up. "Look Mama! The Wights shine in da dark! It so pwetty! Oh! Look! Cwistmas Twees!! And Candy! I WIKE Cwistmas Wights!"

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One of my students overheard a staff member tell another staff member something was "stupid" yesterday. He immediately confronted her..."Ohhhhhh! You can't say that! You never say that at school! That's a bad word and you get in trouble for it!" She apologized and thanked him for the reminder. (And wow...I'm glad that I've taught my students that 'stupid' isn't nice to say! Proud teacher!)

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I had to borrow this from my teaching partner because this exchange actually happened the other day when I was teaching a Professional Development class and not in my classroom. Theywere reading a book about Squanto and one of my boyssaid "Miss. Andrea, why he ain't got no clothes on?" She said, "well, hedoes have some on but he's Native American and they didn't wear clotheslike we do." He said, "Man! Put some clothes on!!!" (if you could hear his voice, this would be even funnier - I could totally hear this in my head!)

The Season for Giving

2011-11-29T00:01:00.010-05:00

The other night after dinner, I was glancing at the newspaper when Sarah looked over my shoulder and asked what the boy in the picture was doing. I read the caption and it was a story about a little boy whose family relied on a Food Bank this holiday. She asked what a Food Bank was and I did my best to explain what it is and how it works as well as WHY they are needed.

Source: Parade Magazine

We talked with Jacob and Sarah about how lucky we are that both Mommy and Daddy have a good job right now, that we have a home, a car, warm clothes, plenty of food and lots of toys. We talked about that sadly, many little boys and girls don't have a warm house to go home to - or don't live with both their mommy and daddy - or that they don't have money for dinner every night, let alone new clothes and toys. We are really, really blessed to have what we have and there are many other families that are cold, hungry or alone.

The talk really hit home with Sarah. Jacob asked questions and said he wanted to help 'those kids' but Sarah really seemed to think hard about it. She snuggled up to me, saying she was glad she had her Mommy and Daddy and house and wondered what we could do to help the kids. I told her how each year, Mommy and Daddy give money to our local Food Bank so that they can buy more food for people who need it. I even happened to have the envelope sitting on the table, ready to be filled out and sent in. We looked at how much money helps buy so many meals.

Another thing we talked about was the Angel Tree that our church and daycare put up each year. The kids did not remember that they'd chosen tags off the tree last year and helped shop for them but they were excited for the tree to go up this year. As luck would have it, when we got to daycare to pick Adam up yesterday, the tree and a few tags were up and ready for takers. We each picked a tag for Family 1 and Sarah was told that Family 2's tags would be up later this week and had a little girl. She asked if we could get tags for that family, too. There was no way I was saying no.

I know that my family is so blessed and I am thankful for the opportunity to be able to help others. What are some things you and your family do during the holiday season (and year round) to help others? I hope we are able to continue to to share our blessings with others and instill in our children the true meaning of giving and Christmas.

Things that'll never get old....

2011-11-28T00:01:00.001-05:00

...hearing my kids' giggles.

...being told "I love you."

...wearing new clothes.

...talking with my BFF.

...Christmas cards in the mail.

...having someone acknowledge my weight loss.

...reading stories to my kids.

...art work that has my kids' hand or foot prints on it.

...a good glass of wine.

...hearing my favorite song on the radio.

...weddings.

...a good book.

...Christmas lights.

...macaroni and cheese.

...capturing a perfect moment on film.

...date nights.

...organization.

...crossing things off a To do list.

...hearing someone you know is pregnant.

...being able to help others.

...smiles on my kids' faces.

...tucking them in and giving my kids kisses while they are sleeping.

...catching up with friends.

...Crab legs.

...snow days.

...weekends.

...my husband and children.

An Interview with Sarah, age 5

2011-11-25T00:17:00.001-05:00

How old are you? 5
What's your favorite color? Pink
Who is your best friend? Corrin
What is your favorite animal? A Giraffe
What do you want to be when you grow up? A teacher.
What is your favorite movie? Strawberry Shortcake
What is your favorite book? Princess stories
What makes you happy? Mommy
What makes you sad? I don't know...
What is your most favorite food to eat? Carrots
What is your favorite song to sing? My Little Pony
What games do you like to play? Candyland and Memory

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!!!

An Interview with Jacob, age 5

2011-11-25T00:01:00.005-05:00

How old are you? 5
What is your favorite color? Blue and Green
Who is your best friend? Devon, Ethan, Cole, Ashton and Sarah
What is your favorite animal? A Kangaroo
What do you want to be when you grow up? A Daddy
What is your favorite movie? ones about Fire trucks, Police cars and Ambulances
What is your favorite book? Race car books
What makes you happy? Daddy
What makes you sad? Adam, because he messes up my toys (and this was said before Adam destroyed one of his birthday presents just minutes after getting it...ugh!)
What is your most favorite food? Broccoli
What is your favorite song to sing? "All the other kids" (aka Pumped up Kicks by Foster the People)
What games do you like to play? Hide and Seek

Happy Birthday Buddy!!!

Where did my babies go??

2011-11-23T00:01:00.065-05:00

2 more days. Just 2 more days and my 'babies' will be 5! How did I blink and go from hearing the words that I'd be having twins to celebrating their 5th birthday already?? It just doesn't seem possible!

As we approach this big milestone, I'm so thankful for many things since they made me their Mommy:

* For their healthy arrival, despite their unexpected, early birth.

* For their bond as twins - they are so sweet and good to each other. Even their teacher commented that even when they get upset with each other, they work it out themselves. Also, now that they are in bunk beds and can't 'see' each other once in bed, Jacob has wanted to make sure he gives Sarah a kiss and hug each night before getting into bed. *sigh*

* For their sense of humor, eagerness to learn and curiosity.

* For who they are as a pair and yet for their own unique personalities.

* For their development, growth and health over their 5 years.

* For the way they treat others - that they have lots of friends and are liked by others - kids and adults - reflects that they are good kids!

* For all they are to me and all I know they'll someday be. They make me proud, they make me happy, they make me who I am more than anything else today!

1 week old

1 year old

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old

Visit Twinfatuation for Way Back When-esday!

Bounce House Birthday

2011-11-22T00:01:00.013-05:00

When we decided to let Jacob and Sarah have their first friend birthday party this year, we were going to offer them a few choices of where to do it but before we could even suggest some ideas - they both agreed upon a nearby Bounce House place that they love! It worked out great since it was so close to us, had a good package for parties and it would mean minimal effort on our part for putting it all together!!

We let them each pick 4 friends and they chose friends that were all from their preschool class this past year. It worked out really well since of those 8 kids, only 1 is still in their class at daycare now. A few they still see most days at daycare, but are in different groups and then several of their friends don't attend the daycare now - so it was great to have a chance to bring them all back together! It was like a little reunion! A bonus of the invite list was that we had to leave 1 spot open for Adam...and one of the boys Jacob invited has a little brother that is frends with Adam...so his buddy got to come, too!

The party went soooo smoothly!! The kids all got to play and bounce for a little while then we all got together for presents and cake then they all went back out to play some more. We had the 'party room' for 1 hour but there was no time limit for how long they got to bounce, so that was really nice. The kids had a blast and I'm certain they all slept good that night because they were running and jumping nonstop for about 90 minutes!

The day was just great - relaxed, fun and easy!! Our friends, Mr. Jason and Mrs. Leah (remember the Newlyweds?) helped out in a big way! Jason made and decorated the kids' cake for them - be sure to check out the pictures of it - he is so talented! Jacob wanted Toby the Tram engine (from Thomas) and Sarah wanted a Barbie cake (Fairy Secret). I asked Leah to help me capture photos of their day, so I didn't miss anything. Pictures in this post are from my camera but I can't wait to see what she got! The kids' other PreK teacher joined us and helped out, too - it was a great reunion of their friends and the special people in their life!

I really could not have asked for a better afternoon! The kids had so much fun, there was no stress and we really enjoyed ourselves, too. It was great watching the kids with their best friends. As the group of us moms watched and talked, we all agreed that this is a great group of kids (and Moms!). Despite the fact that they are all a little split up from their original group, they all fell right back in with each other and had a blast. We agreed that we should try to make it a regular thing - monthly play dates for our bunch of kids.

So, thanks to everyone who joined us and helped to celebrate Jacob and Sarah's 5th birthday! They are looking forward to celebrating with our family later this week but they will surely be talking about this party all year!!

Now that's more like it!

2011-11-21T00:01:00.005-05:00

After a long, frustrating weekend last weekend - I'm happy to say this weekend pretty much rocked!!

Highlights included:

* A fun morning of volleyball with my BFF and her husband for a charity event for a church campground. Paul and I played while the kids ran around the other half of the gym. They were super good and we all had a fun morning followed by lunch at our favorite smoothie place!

* A productive Saturday afternoon - laundry, tidying up, vacuuming, etc!

* An invitation to see a friend who will be in town from out of state later this week - looking forward to a fun night out with friends, drinks and catching up!! (also thankful to find a sitter on short notice!)

* The promise of a 3 day work week!! Lots of family time and more birthday fun ahead!

* An AWESOME birthday party for Jacob and Sarah on Sunday afternoon. I'll post more pics and share more details tomorrow but I just had to share a couple of my favorite captures of the day!

Birthday Kiddos!

Silly boys

(Somehow we missed 1 of our friends here! oops!)

Mommy and Daddy being silly!

Their awesome cake made by our friend Mr. Jason!

The girls

And my favorite one of the day!

Soooo funny!!!

Some Words and a bit of Eye Candy

2011-11-18T00:01:00.001-05:00

This was supposed to have posted yesterday but for some reason it didn't...so I'll just update for today!!

Yesterday was one of the longest days ever!! Worked the usual day, then Parent/Teacher Conferences until 6:30 then my MoMs group meeting right after that. I left my house at 7:15 am and didn't get home until 9:30 pm. I talked to my kids on the phone between conferences and my meeting. Jacob sweetly asked if I would give them hugs and kisses (while they were sleeping) when I got home. God I love that kid! Thank goodness its almost the weekend and next week is only a 3 day work week! We need some quality family time!!

On a positive note - I had 100% turnout for Parent/Teacher Conferences last night!! The best turnout I've had in several years!! I have a really good class this year and a nice set of parents. Its been a really good year so far! All the parents are happy, all the kids are making progress and things are going smoothly!!! Yeah!

Next week, I get to be the Parent for Conferences. I'm looking forward to hearing more about how Jacob and Sarah are doing in Dev. Kdg this year! We'll also be starting to take them for some assessments to gauge where they are at, academically, to better target their learning this year. I'm anxious to see how they do!

It seemed I had more pictures than I knew what to do with a few weeks ago but life has been pretty busy, but not exciting and my camera is starting to collect dust. Its a good thing Thanksgiving and Birthday celebrations are right around the corner! When I got my new cell phone last week, one of Jacob and Sarah's biggest concerns was that all their pictures were lost...so they wanted me to take their pictures right away so I'd have new pictures of them on my phone! I swear, this is the most cooperative they've been for a photo in a looong time!

Here is the end result of the bunk bed that consumed our days last weekend. They both got new sheets and a comforter. Jacob has Thomas, Hot Wheels and ABCs and Sarah got Tinkerbell, Princesses and ABCs. They are loving their new beds and Jacob can't wait to sleep on the top bunk next week! I cringe at the color clash here of the walls with their comforters but we'll wait to decide whether to paint when Sarah and Adam swap rooms next year.

And I realized last week I hadn't had my hair done since before school started - like mid August! I finally found time to get some new color and hide those grays. I kept the dark base and blond highlights and added in some fun purple for fall! I LOVE it! (and I love my hair dresser!) I wish this photo showed the purple better.

Sarah was saying her nose was hurting again last night. Dear God please don't let that infection flare up again!!

Did I mention that I'm sooo glad next week is only a 3 day work week? I can't wait to see my family, too!

My MIL thinks she needs to make 2 turkeys for 11 people on Thanksgiving. 3 of those 11 are my children who won't eat enough turkey to even equal 1 adult. 1 of those 11 people is a vegetarian. 2 of those people just lost a significant amount of weight and surely won't be stuffing themselves at dinner. 1 of those people might have to work and 2 of those people are in their 70s and eat like birds. So the way I figure it, Paul's going to have to eat a whole turkey by himself....

Sunday is Jacob and Sarah's birthday party. They are SO excited!!! A week from today, they'll be 5....omg!!!

Thankful

2011-11-15T00:01:00.001-05:00

So after a long vent yesterday, complaining about my stolen cell phone and stressing over school decision for the kids - I feel like this blog needs a little Pick Me Up today! So many people have been doing daily posts on blogs and facebook for what they're thankful for. Needless to say, I'm way behind that trend but figured now is as good a time as any to look at all the things in my life that are amazing and worth Thanking the heavens above for.

* My wonderful husband - he does so much for us here at home - from cooking wonderful, (mostly) healthy dinners, tending to the yard and garden, keeping all the technology in this house running as best as he can, helping raise our children and being supportive of me - I could not ask for more. He is amazing and I hope he knows how much I appreciate him! (I honestly try to tell him often!)

* My beautiful children. Yeah - I said beautiful. I might be biased. I might also say they are smart, fun and (usually) well behaved. I am so blessed to be their Mom and watch them grow into 3 unique individuals. From Jacob's frequent, random affection to Sarah's creativity and intelligence to Adam's silliness and affection towards his Mama - I love them all so much!

* For my job - I'm lucky to have a job I love and know that I make a difference, to some degree, every day. I'm also very thankful for my co-workers! They make the job fun and tolerable when the going gets tough!

* My parents - they set a great example of how to be a good parent - loving, firm and hard working. It means a lot to me when they tell me I'm doing a good job as a Mom and that they are proud of me.

* My siblings - I feel like we haven't had much time to talk or see each other this year, but I love them for all we've been through and am looking forward to spending more time together over the holidays. I also can't wait to meet my new nephew - arriving sometime around Christmas!!

* My BFF. I'm thankful for our weekly morning phone calls on the way into work and knowing she'll always be there, despite our busy lives. I wish we had more time to spend together but I'm so lucky she's still my BFF after all these years (30+ years!).

* Health - I'm grateful that my own children and immediate family members are healthy. My heart and prayers go out to extended family members who are fighting serious health issues at this time. I'm grateful that I've taken my own well being to a better place this year by eating better and exercising more. My weight loss isn't just about looking and feeling better - its about being healthier and I'm glad I finally made that commitment to myself.

There are so many more things in my life I am thankful for today and every day but these are the biggest ones. Maybe next week I can have some fun for all the little things that make my life easier!!

What are you thankful for today??

One thing leads to another....

2011-11-14T06:11:00.000-05:00

Alternately titled: Things never go as planned...
Also alternately titled: Warning! Long, frustrating post ahead ...

Last weekend, Paul and I went shopping for Bunk Beds for Jacob and Sarah. The beds, along with new bedding, was to be their birthday present this year. We paid for them last weekend and Paul was going to pick them up some time this week and store the beds in the garage until closer to their birthday (2 weeks away). We had hoped to set the beds up when they weren't home (we had not yet figured out when/how we were going to do that...) and surprise them when they got home.

Well, as life and work goes, Paul was swamped at work and the weather did not cooperate to be able to pick the beds up anytime during the week. We talked Friday afternoon about just taking the kids with us this weekend to pick them up and surprise them when they saw the bed in the store.

Saturday arrived and we had a leisurely morning (we realized later a little too leisurely as we got a pretty late start heading out to get the beds). We finally got to the store only to find they'd already dismantled the bed so the kids weren't able to see THEIR bed on the floor, but we showed them a similar model. They were happy and excited. We stopped for lunch on the way home and finally got back home around 3pm. We cleared a path through the house to get the furniture in and started to unload things into the house.

I realized at this point, I had not yet given the kids their new sheets yet, nor washed them, so they opened up the (unwrapped) boxes to see their sheets which I promptly tossed in the washer. I realized I had about 4 loads to do before bed time now as I needed to wash sheets, mattress pads and blankets. agh!

We started to take apart their toddler beds and Paul headed out to the garage to grab a tool and didn't come back in. After about 15 minutes, I went looking for him, only to discover he'd discovered an oil leak in our brand new riding lawn mower. He was laying down newspaper and trying to figure out the source of the leak.

THEN...we realized it wasn't the lawn mower at all...but our van! And by the looks of our garage floor - it had lost a LOT of oil. He checked the dip stick and despite the fact that I just got an oil change that week, the oil level was almost empty. We immediately called the service station and were lucky enough to catch the manager. The good news is that he offered to come to our house to check it out and arrived within 20 minutes. The bad news was that it was a serious issue and we needed to take it right back in to be fixed.

So, I took the van in while Paul stayed home to work more on the beds. The service manager was awesome and made sure the problem was fixed right and quickly (a cracked gasket). I got home about 45 minutes later hoping to find Paul ready to haul the rest of the beds upstairs and build them...only to find him outside planting trees instead. He discovered there was no way the large section of the bunk bed stairs would fit up our staircase corner so he'd have to completely take it apart to get it upstairs. We also realized it was dinner time, the kids needed baths and there was no way we'd get the beds built that night. Instead we just tossed the mattresses on the floor and told the kids we'd finish it tomorrow.

Sunday arrived and we hoped that things would go quickly and smoothly. Not so much. Taking apart the big section of stairs for the beds was not an easy task - they were put together with a weird mix of screws, staples and nails so Paul basically had to rip the thing apart and then once upstairs, completely reconstruct it! This took forever. Once the stairs were back together, the rest went together pretty easily thankfully. While we worked on this, the kids got to have a lazy day of watching movies. Thank goodness they are all at an age where they'll actually sit and watch 1 (or 2) full length movies contently. They thought it was great but I felt like a bad mom for (1) not spending any time with them and (2) letting them watch tv all day.

We finally got the beds all together and the mattresses in...when realized what we thought would be a good amount of railing height to prevent falls out of the top bunk - was nonexistant since we bought nice, thick mattresses for them. The mattress was flush with the top of the rail - leaving nothing to prevent someone from rolling off the top bunk. So just when we thought we could finally relax - we had to quickly take showers and hit the stores at 5pm on a Sunday night, in hopes of finding bed rails. Oh, did I mention we hadn't eaten yet either? And that we had a meltdown over "Who gets the top bunk first?"

3 stores later, I finally found a bed rail but had lost my temper with Jacob in the car and had promised nothing but PB&J for dinner instead of eating at a restaurant. Thankfully he settled down after that and I felt bad because I knew the kids were tired, bored and hungry so I called a truce and opted for dinner at BW3 instead. We had an enjoyable dinner while watching a football game then hurried home to try to get the rails on the bed and get them to sleep on time.

It all came together but nothing else was accomplished this weekend other than building bunk beds and 362 loads of laundry. It was nice weather so I know Paul would have liked to work in the yard before it gets any colder and I needed to get groceries and had planned to go to the gym both days. None of that happened. On top of all that, we discovered our laptop has a nasty virus or something on it and its rendered useless right now, just a few days after my desk top monitor died (and after replacing my $$ cell phone).

The week ahead is busy and I hate starting the week off feeling tired and overwhelmed already. Thank goodness I have a hair appointment tonight so I can sit back and chat!

Please tell me you had a better weekend....

Week-end Wrap Up

2011-11-11T00:01:00.000-05:00

Paul and I went birthday shopping for Jacob and Sarah last weekend. We decided to buy bunk beds (they are currently still in their toddler beds - I think Jacob's feet stick out one end.) and bedding for them. We found a set we liked, paid for it and were so relieved we got a good deal on a clearanced set - when we realized we didn't get mattresses. They cost more than the bed itself! Sheesh!

I also bought a new cell phone (with insurance) that night. It was one seriously expensive date night. Thank God we had a gift card to use for dinner!

We are letting Jacob and Sarah have their first "friend" birthday party this year. Its next weekend and they are SO excited!!

Between birthday and Christmas, we've been asking the kids what they want. Just like last year - Jacob has one specific thing in mind and he's stuck to it every time we've asked him. And...also just like last year - Sarah tells us something different each and every time we ask her! This girl is hard to shop for!! Anyone got any great ideas for a 5 year old girl???

Sarah's infection has completely cleared up. Thank goodness!! She still has a slight pink discoloration on her cheek where it was the worst, but we are hoping that will fade in time.

I bought myself a pair of leggings and skinny jeans a few weeks ago. I never thought I'd get myself into a pair, let alone think I look decent in them! I love my tall black boots that I wear with them, too!

Last week, I hit the 30 lb milestone!! SO excited about that. Some of my size 14s are loose! Woo hoo!

I thought I wanted an E-Reader for Christmas but I have so many books in print, waiting to be read, that I don't think this is the year to go that route. Also, since I just spent so much money on a new phone, I can't even think of anything else I need or want (other than new clothes).

Today is Veteran's Day. 'Thank You' just doesn't seem enough to all the men and women who have served, protected and sacrificed for our Nation. Love you Dad and Andy!

Just when you think you have it all figured out...

2011-11-10T00:01:00.001-05:00

If you read my blog regularly, you'd know how long we thought about and how much I stressed about making the best decision for Jacob and Sarah and when they started school. After a lot of debate, advice and discussion, we felt confident with our decision to have them do a year of Developmental Kindergarten this year and then do regular Kdg next year.

2 months into the school year, they are doing great. According to their teacher - they are the 2 of the smartest kids and most well behaved in the class. She said she has had her hands very full this fall with a challenging group of kids. And that is where her concern lies...

We've had a few brief conversations where she has expressed concern that Jacob and Sarah may start to pick up on some of the poor behaviors and that she hasn't been able to adequately meet their needs/abilities or challenge them. For example, where Sarah has started to read, some of the other students don't even now their letters. Or Jacob has told me that one student gets mad and has to hit a pillow.

With that in mind, she has been talking to other staff, including the principal and social worker, about the possibility of moving them up into regular kindergarten. She had hinted at this possibility a few weeks ago and I've been stressing over this ever since. I've been trying to get more information out of her but each time I asked about it, she said she wanted to talk more but she needed to have a few observations done and talk more with the principal.

Meanwhile, I've been talking to other parents and Kdg teachers to weigh the pros and cons of staying in DK or moving up to Kdg at this point in the year. Advice was split down the middle. One friend/teacher said she'd move her child up if in the same situation while another - who actually HAD almost the same situation last year- opted to say and was so glad she did. While the concerns being expressed were valid, the thought of moving them up was so opposite of everything we had agreed upon this past year about doing DK.

It finally worked out yesterday to sit down with their teacher, the social worker and the principal to discuss this possibility. It was interesting - while their teacher shared the biggest concern with them staying, the principal was more of the opinion that they should stay and the social worker was very neutral - weighing pros and cons of both options. Honestly, for me, hearing the principal advocate for them staying in DK came as a big relief. Last spring, when he and I talked about putting the kids in DK, he encouraged me to put them in regular KDG. At this point, he felt it was too far into the school year to make such a big transition and that they were doing fine within their current placement. The principal suggested assessing the kids to see where exactly they are are performing academically so that the teacher can differentiate her lessons so that she can challenge them and meet their abilities and needs.

After hearing each opinion and option, we all came to the agreement that it is in their best interest to stay in DK. It came with a big relief to know we don't have to prepare them for another transition. It also meant a lot that there was a team of people looking out for my children's best interests. I am hoping the things we discussed help keep them on the right track and prepare them for their years ahead. Next year will include full day kindergarten, so that in itself will being another big transition, along with another new school. Its nice that the principal from that building is already involved with my kids and they are familiar with him. It helps set some groundwork for them next year when they move from the Early Childhood building to the Elementary school.

I will also say its such a different experience to be the parent in discussions like this. I have been the teacher many times in meetings and this was our first big 'school' meeting as parents. We have Parent/Teacher conferences in a few weeks and we need to work to get Jacob and Sarah in for the assessments they suggested. Hopefully their classroom will settle down and settle in and everyone has a successful year ahead!

Say What?!?! & Way Back When-esday

2011-11-09T00:01:00.001-05:00

The kids watched Mars Needs Moms this weekend. After the movie, while eating dinner, Sarah asked where Martians come from. I told her Mars, but then added that no one or nothing really lives on Mars. I added that no one lives on any planet other than Earth. Without missing a beat, Jacob immediately replies "Well, Miss Leah lives on another planet!" (he did clarify to say "earth" but now I'm wondering what planet he thinks WE live on!)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

One of my students was playfully arguing with Andrea, my teaching partner, the other day. She was telling him to do something and he was laughing and saying "No!" back to her. She kept saying "yes" and he finally put his foot down and said. "No! D-O (spelled out). No!" We then had a quick spelling lesson! ha!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

That same day, one of my other students was doing his work at his desk and I could tell he'd done some of it wrong so I tried to correct and help him. He pushed me away and said "Get out of here!" I told him that wasn't a nice way to speak to an adult, especially when I was trying to help him. I gave him a minute to try again and then tried to show him what was wrong with his work. He started to again say "Get out...." when I reminded him to use nice words. He then paused, looked nicely up at me and said "Hi Miss Barb. I want....get out of here Miss Barb, please!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And a quick look back...we are only 2 weeks away from a big milestone here...Jacob and Sarah's 5th birthday!! So hard to believe they are this old already!! Especially when I look at these photos and clearly remember them like they were this little yesterday!!

November 3, 2006

Just 3 weeks before they made their early arrival.

I was about 31 weeks here.

4 days old

First time holding them both!

Embarassing moment #382

2011-11-08T00:01:00.007-05:00

This past weekend, my school hosted our annual Craft Fair as a school wide fund raiser. One of the things we have to do to contribute to the event is make some baked goods to sell so we were busy at the end of last week, baking multiple items to be sold. I have my students help with the cooking to practice their reading skills, measuring, safety and the many other skills that are involved in cooking. (I also do it so I don't have to do all the baking myself!)

One of the yummy treats we made last week was S'mores on a stick. Simply: marshmallows, dipped in chocolate, dipped in graham cracker crumbs. (yum!!)

So we made the treats and started to clean up. There was chocolate left in the bowl but we always try to set a good example to our students of not passing germs, especially while cooking, and I resisted the temptation to 'lick the bowl' when we were done. I poured out the excess chocolate into the trash and saw that some of the chocolate was already hardening around the edge of the bowl, so I squirted some dish soap into the bowl and onto the spoon and headed down the hall to the kitchen to put the bowl in the sink to soak until lunchtime.

As I got to the kitchen, I took one look at the bowl and the spoon, still covered in chocolate, and thought "yum!" My students couldn't see me so I decided to treat myself with a big lick of chocolate off the spoon.

My first though was "that didn't taste as good as I thought - what a waste of calories..." and then my senses kicked in. That wasn't chocolate I was tasting...it was DISH SOAP!!! (remember? I had generously squirted soap into the bowl before I left my classroom!)

BLECH!! Ick! Yuck! Gross! Gag! Agh!!! WTF???? (I'll spare you the rest of the gory adjectives that described what followed.)

I immediately tried to spit it out in the sink but had already swallowed a good amount. I gagged and tried rinsing my mouth out to no avail. I ran to the drinking fountain and took a big, long drink, but all I tasted was soap. Nasty, nasty soap.

I hurried back to my classroom and grabbed a juice box out of our fridge and took a big drink. OMG! Have you tried those things?? DISGUSTING! It was honestly no better than the soap and I spit it right back into the garbage. I gulped some chocolate milk then and drank half a bottle of water...STILL no better.

Seriously THE most disgusting thing I've ever done! I can't believe I did it!

I tasted the soap in the back of my throat ALL. day. long. No matter what I drank or ate, it was still there. I swear, it was like a diet booby trap saying "see? you didn't need that chocolate!! ha!" Finally...after eating dinner at a friend's house that night - complete with rich Fettuccine Alfredo, bread and wine - the taste of soap finally started to disappear. I kept thinking I was going to start burping bubbles that afternoon.

So, just in case you are wondering - dish soap and chocolate do NOT taste good together. And...if you ever threaten to 'wash your kid's mouth out with soap' - I recommend Dawn dish soap - its nasty!!!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-07T00:01:00.001-05:00

Jacob and Sarah had their first field trip for Kindergarten last week.I took some time off of work so I could join them for this milestone and I'm so glad I did. They were really excited for me to come along and it was nice to see some of their new friends and teacher.

We got lucky and had a pretty nice day for it. The forecast predicted 40 degrees, clouds and a good chance of rain for the day. While it was pretty cool when we first got there, the sun came out and we had a nice morning. The field trip included their DK class along with 5 or 6 preschool classes so there was probably 100 kids along with almost as many parents! It did work out really nicely though to have those Preschool classes along as some of the kids' best friends (from daycare) are in those classes and their moms (friends of mine) came along, too. We got to enjoy the hayride with them and it made the trip even more fun!

We went on a hayride through the apple orchard and to the pumpkin patch. They got to pick a small pumpkin from the field, see lots of fun decorations along the way, visit the petting farm and see how the Cider Mill works. We finished the trip off with some fresh donuts and cider! Yum!

I'm really glad I took the time to join them that day. The kids want me to spend a day volunteering in their room a day, too but I told them I'd have to wait a little bit as work is busy and I've had to take a lot of time off already this year. Its tough to balance the chance to be a part of this new adventure for them while staying committed to my job. I'm doing what I can and hoping that they'll remember the moments I AM there with them.

Seriously?!?!?!

2011-11-04T00:01:00.001-04:00

Wednesday was coming along nicely - I'd gotten through most of another test with another student and he'd done well. My principal had observed me during that time and everything went good - my students were well behaved, things went as planned and I was glad to have that done. I took 20 minutes while I ate my lunch to finish book #2 of The Hunger Games trilogy and then was gearing up for the afternoon. I was making progress on my To Do list. I wasn't even stressing out over all I had to get done this week.

We were cooking that day and I needed to wash some dishes so with about 5 minutes left before my students came in from the playground, I walked 2 doors down to the kitchen and left my door just barely cracked in case my students got back to the room before I did. As I came back down the hallway, I noticed my door was more open but my students were not back...which I found very odd...and then I had a sinking feeling. As I hurried towards my desk, hoping it wasn't true, I started to panic.

The one time I don't shut my door tight when I leave the room. The one time I leave the room and don't have my phone in my purse (locked up) or in my pocket. The one time I left my door open and left my phone on my desk....

Someone noticed an empty room and a nice Android phone.

And they stole it.

Pissed doesn't even begin to describe it. I'm mad at myself for not being more careful. I'm mad at who ever took it. I'm mad they haven't given it back, despite the offer of a reward. I'm mad I lost all my pictures on there. My calendar. My music. My apps. My contacts. I'm mad I didn't have insurance on it. I'm mad they were smart enough to turn it off right away so I couldn't call the phone or track it via GPS.

I'm even more mad that I have a very big suspicion of who might have taken it. A student who even admitted to being in my room in that 5 minutes but tells me that he saw another kid in there and he told him to leave. (I'm not buying it.) A student I've mentored for the past 3 years. Who I've been good to. Who always likes to play with our phones when he stops in at lunch. Who even his friends think did it. But he denies it and we haven't found it.

My kids are sad that someone would steal from their mommy. They're sad that their favorite games they like to play on my phone are gone. They are sad the pictures are lost. They are sad the music they like to dance to is gone.

I felt lost at the gym this week - No music to listen to. No Cardio Trainer to track my progress, calories or distance. No clock to check the time.

I am not sure what events I had on my phone's calendar that I don't have written anywhere else. I'm not sure that even though I suspended all service to the phone, if anyone can access some of the information I had on there.

Sure, a newer, better phone is always cool and nice - but I'm not excited about it now. I just want MY phone back. I don't want to have to figure out what new phone I want. I don't want to have to pay for a new phone when I had a perfectly good one. I don't want a new phone that isn't full of my kids' smiling faces and the soundtrack to my life.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!

** I know in the big picture, losing a phone is not that big of a deal - no one is hurt, no permanent damage was done - but it ticks me off that an elementary kid (most likely) would do this to a teacher. And I'm mad at myself for not being more careful....ugh!

To Do List

2011-11-02T00:01:00.032-04:00

Today
* Observation by Principal, 10:30 am
* Assess another student with the MI-Access test (this would be test # 8 for me and I still have more to go)

* Start Progress Reports (they're due Friday)
* Start Medicaid Billing (techincally was due Monday)
* Collect, organize, count and record the 100 raffle tickets I'm expected to get back today and need to turn in for our school's fundraiser
* Finish putting price tags on all the student crafts we're selling in our school's annual Craft Fair this weekend
* Figure out what other crafts we have left to make for the Craft Fair
* Begin cooking with my students - we need 5 baked goods by Friday for the Craft Fair
* Finish up lesson plans for next week
* Collect picture money for tomorrow
* Squeeze in a workout after school
* Pick up kids
* Pay Bills
* Have kids finish addressing their birthday party invites

In the very near future
* Matte/Frame 3 weeks worth of student Art projects from our VSA experience at school
* Board Meeting Friday night for MOMs group
* Shop for bunk beds for the kids' birthday (sitter scheduled for Saturday evening)
* Work Saturday afternoon at above-mentioned Craft Fair
* Update MOMs website - figure out technical issues
* Fill in all the bubbles on the MI-Access answer sheets - that's 40 bubbles per test x 9 tests....
* Order new boots for myself
* Mail invites for upcoming birthday party
* Order cake for Jacob and Sarah's birthday party
* Teach behavior class next week

What's on your agenda today??

What my kids don't know about Halloween, won't hurt them!

2011-11-01T00:01:00.000-04:00

We've been really fortunate to have had a lot of Halloween fun the past few years for our kids in safe environments without having to venture far or into unfamiliar territory. Each year, my Mothers of Multiples group hosts a family party complete with games, food and treats. The past few years, we've taken advantage of a local shopping village that invites kids to Trick or Treat through the shops (its a beautiful little outdoor plaza) the weekend before Halloween. And each year on Halloween, the kids' daycare hosts a party for the kids and invites Parents to set up their cars for Trunk or Treating at the end of the day.

If you've never heard of Trunk or Treating - its where adults (often churches or community groups) decorate their trunks or tailgates and the kids walk through the parking lot to Trunk or Treat instead of going from house to house. This is nice for us since we live in a semi-rural area where there is no trick or treating like many neighborhoods offer. Its even better when we do it through the day care because we know all the parents and its not crowded by tons of other people we don't know.

And honestly? My kids have no idea that most kids go from house to house to Trick or Treat. We've never done that (they're pretty little to do that anyways) and since no one around us passes out candy (kinda hard to do that on a 55 mph road...), we just call it good when we are done with their Trunk or Treat at daycare. We were home by 5pm, had dinner and our usual evening after a busy, hyper, sugar filled day! Win Win! (Although I totally know that they'll soon learn and we'll have to upgrade our Trick or Treat experiences!)

Most years I'm busy in my own classroom and arrive just in time to see the kids finish up their festivities but I decided to take some time this year and decorate a trunk for the afternoon. We all talked this weekend how we should decorate - spooky or fun? The kids agreed they wanted fun and we took on a Pumpkin theme! We turned the back of our van into a Pumpkin Patch, complete with our own carved pumpkins and lots of bright ribbon. It was a hit and I have to boast - I think it looked really cute!

Jacob and Sarah had just as much fun handing out candy to the littler kids as they did getting treats themselves. As for their costumes - Sarah was a Flower Girl and Jacob was Sir Topham Hatt...but not many people figured that out, especially if Adam wasn't with him - and everyone just thought Jacob and Sarah were a Bride and Groom! Thankfully he didn't notice or get frustrated and everyone had fun!

We all had a good time and I'm glad we got to help out this year. It was fun seeing almost 100 little kids walk by in their cute costumes! Jacob and Sarah took their jobs seriously - Sarah made sure all the girls got treats while Jacob handed them out to all the boys. Sarah's favorite costume was her friend Ethan's little sister who was dressed as Snow White. Jacob said he liked Ethan's Blue Power Ranger costume. Adam just said everyone's costume was "stinky feet," thanks to him learning "Trick or Treat, smell my feet"!!!

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T00:01:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween everyone!!! We've already had lots of fun celebrating this spooky holiday but we're filling the day with lots MORE excitement!

As always, the kids' costumes are getting some mileage due to many fun events near us. Last weekend, Daddy took Jacob and Adam to a local shopping village that has Trick or Treating (Sarah wanted to go but we were stuck in the ER too long to make it. Thankfully her brothers & Daddy got candy for her, too!). We had our annual Mothers of Multiples party Friday evening with games, a pumpkin walk and plenty of treats. Then Sunday, we finally got our pumpkins and more apples and carved our Jack O'Lanterns.

Today will be busy with Jacob and Sarah's first Kindergarten field trip to the Pumpkin Patch. The kids will each have a party with their daycare classes in the afternoon, followed by Trunk or Treating at their daycare as well. I'm certain we won't need any more candy after all that so we'll probably call it good after all that excitement. We don't live in an area where anyone trick or treats so unless we see some lights on our ride home, I doubt we'll stop at any houses.

The kids each came up with their own costume ideas this year. Sarah decided on being a flower girl long ago (before she knew she would actually get to be a REAL flower girl earlier this month!). Jacob and Adam both wanted to be Thomas so we helped them agree for one to be Thomas and one to be Sir Topham Hatt. They've both loved their costumes! Its been fun to see Adam really get into it this year and understand how it all works! He's more than ready to get out there and Trick or Treat!

Hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween!!

It got worse before it got better

2011-10-28T00:01:00.005-04:00

Over a month ago, Sarah tripped, fell and smacked her nose on her bed. Our biggest worry was a broken nose and a black eye. Little did we know that the small cut she got during that fall would turn into a much bigger issue.

Within a week, we noticed that cut under her nose was not healing well - in fact, it looked infected. We took her to the pediatrician to discover she had developed Impetigo. A round of oral antibiotics was prescribed.

As she finished that prescription, the infection had not improved - in fact, it seemed worse. We made a weekend visit to the clinic for another round of oral antibiotics and a topical antibiotic ointment. Thankfully that combination seemed to help and we hoped she was on the mend.

Unfortunately, as soon as the 5 day cycle of topical antibiotics was done, the infection started to flare right back up and the oral antibiotic wasn't seeming to have any impact. We returned to the Pediatrician, worried it was MRSA and hoping for another course of action. The Dr. took a culture, changed antibiotics and suggested an over-the-counter ointment. (I wasn't thrilled that she went with a weaker approach at this point....). That was last Wednesday.

2 days later, I was told her culture was negative for MRSA but the Dr. didn't like that the new (3rd round) antibiotic wasn't helping so they switched to a 4th antibiotic. By Sunday, we were in the ER. Her infection continued to spread and worsen - her whole cheek was swollen and red, the rash had spread to her chin and eyelid, and she had trouble opening her mouth very wide. She looked like she had a baseball shoved in her cheek, she cried whenever we tried to clean it or apply any ointment on it and the rash was 'weeping.'

Sadly, after 3 hours in the ER, we didn't get far. They did explain that it was likely that the soft tissue underneath the skin was infected now, too. They opted to keep her on the current antibiotic and re-prescribed the topical antibiotic ointment that had been effective during Round 2. We did not feel satisfied with that, especially since it seemed to worse by the hour...so we took the advice of several friends and family members and got her into a Dermatologist the next morning.

Finally - we got some answers and sense! We were quite disappointed to hear the Dr say right away that this WAS likely MRSA. Just by nature - 4 antibiotics and no improvement? yeah - resistant. PLUS...since she was ON an antibiotic when they took the culture, it would give a false negative. WHY didn't anyone else realize this and treat it more appropriately?? Meanwhile, my poor baby was miserable!!

Thankfully the Dr. went straight to a strong oral antibiotic and said to continue with the topical antibiotic. We disinfected every major surface in our house that she had likely touched and hoped to God that she hadn't infected anyone else in her path. She spent a couple days at home as we waited for improvement and we were SO relieved when the infection started to lessen.

Its been 4 days now since the Dermatologist and while she still has a ways to go, there is definite improvement. Her cheek is not as swollen, the redness is less pronounced and its dried up. I'm so thankful that she is finally improving. I was quite frustrated with the fact that several doctors dropped the ball during this whole situation but am so glad she's finally getting better.

Thanks so much to everyone who offered advice and prayers!

Arts & New Friends

2011-10-27T00:01:00.002-04:00

My students have been very fortunate this fall to get to be a part of a great program called Very Special Arts (VSA). VSA provides art experiences and education to individuals with special needs. Each spring, we participate in a big art festival but this fall, we have our very own Artist in Residence!

An artist comes each week for 8 weeks and works on art skills, concepts and more with our students. We've been able to work together to collaborate what concepts we work on during that time and even better - we are working 1-on-1 with peer mentors! A group of fantastic general education 6th graders are working alongside my students and the experience has been awesome!

We've done some awesome projects already and the remaining lessons and projects promise to be just as great! The first week, we did Self Portraits and then last week, we made textured pumpkins. All of the artwork turned out awesome!

I'm really proud of how the 6th graders have worked with my students and am SO proud of my students for how responsive they have been to the help and guidance of their peers. The art work is awesome and I'm loving every part of this experience!

On top of all this, there's another awesome story in the middle of this. One of the 6th grade students who is working with us has some significant special needs of his own. He has some physical and health challenges but is smart as a whip and such an awesome kid to know! His positive attitude and smile is contagious! Everyone that meets D loves him! Anyways - when he was chosen to work with my students, he had to ask his mom for permission. She hesitated at first, concerned about him missing an hour of class each week. He pleaded with her how much he wanted to do it and argued "Please!? Everyone is always helping ME...and for once - I get to be the one to help someone!!" How could she say no to that?? He's been fantastic with my students!! Its been great to watch.

At the end of our first session, D told my student good job and put his hand up to give him a "fist bump." My student, who is quite street smart, responded appropriately and they exchanged a great "bump." After they were done, D giggled a bit and shrugged his shoulders, saying "Oh! I hoped he didn't think I was going to punch him!" Ha! Priceless!

Here are a few highlights of their art work from our first 2 sessions!

Self Portraits

"Painting" a new way

Blending colors

Textured Pumpkins

These turned out beautifully!

Say What?!?!

2011-10-26T00:01:00.007-04:00

Sarah and I were doing a "scavenger hunt" in the living room the other day. She'd had to do one for shapes for her Kindergarten homework this weekend, then they'd done an outdoor one with their babysitter on Saturday while Paul and I were on a county-wide road rally....so it seemed to be the theme for the weekend! Anyways, I tried to stump her by telling her to look for something "up in the sky." She looked around and wasn't able to find anything obvious (plane, bird, etc). Then she held up a cow. I questioned her answer and she cleverly replied "The cow jumped over the moon! That's in the sky!"

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This weekend, we told Jacob and Sarah that they would be having Picture Day at Kindergarten on Monday. Almost immediately, Jacob said "Oh no Mom! What about Sarah's face!?!" (poor girl!) My reply was "retouching" but she didn't even end up going to school that day. Oh well!

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OCTOBERS

2011-10-25T00:01:00.000-04:00

I resolved a long time ago not to get caught up in ads and such on my blog and have turned down a handful of requests to advertise or review something here but something caught my eye last week that I couldn't pass up. As many of you know, I'm a sucker for a good book. I love to read. My kids love books. I almost always give a book as a gift, especially to kids.

I recently read about an awesome looking new book series on Super Mom Suz's blog, Steece's Pieces. Suz is a fun spirited Quad-Mama and I've read her blog for years. I was excited last week when I read that her long time BFF had just published a cool looking book series for young boys. I immediately ordrered a set, a perfect Christmas gift for someone special! As I told my husband about the books, both he and I agreed that we were interested in reading the books ourselves - they sound so cool!

(All concept illustrations by J.R. Fleming)

These magical books, by J.H. Reynolds & Craig Cunningham, are set in a world that is always October.

When Halloween night ends, the calendars turn back to October 1st, and the enchanted wonders begin again.

These first four books go through the same October four differenttimes, but through four different perspectives until the reader solvesall the mysteries. The books are geared toward 9-12 year olds, but I wouldn't hesitate to read them myself!! I've even recommended them to another friend who I know her husband would appreciate this story line.

Here is a quick synopsis of each book:

Book 1 is The Time Crystal - Notch Cricklewood is bored by his life at the Museum of Wonders, wherehe lives amongst statues and relics from the distant past. Though hisfather and grandfather hope for him to apprentice with them at theMuseum, Notch is hungry to live his own adventures and make history.

Book 2 is The Hermit's Mansion - Boy-genius Starflyer Stevens is tired of living in the shadow of hisoverprotective parents. He isn't allowed to go to school with the otherkids, he can't be outside after dark, and worst of all, he is forbiddento go trick-or-treating every Hallows Eve night in a town that's alwaysOctober. His only friend in Hobble is Botty, a homemade robot.

Book 3 is The Watchtower Secret - Scooter and Stokely Scabbins live on a pumpkin farm with the otherdozen members of their family. Always up to mischief, they've nevergiven much thought to being twins. But they soon discover that theirbond gives them unique powers.

Book 4 is The Protector's Emerald - Twelve-year old Moony Jarman has worked hard all his life, sweepingfloors of the Candletin Inn, shoveling hay in the stables, and takingcare of his family. All the while, his remarkable abilities have goneunnoticed...until this October.

There's even a Volume 2 in the works - The Dark Circus!

The paperbacks are $5.99 each, and the ebooks are $2.99. It is suggested that you buy all four books since they are all part of thesame story, and the reader won't solve all the mysteries until the endof the fourth book.

There's a special promotion going on right now - you must go to: www.theoctobers.com and follow the links to the Amazon.com sales pages (or Barnes and Noble if you are buying an ebook for your Nook). If the buyer puts all four paperback books into their shopping carttogether and checks out, then Amazon.com will give them the fourth bookfor FREE! (I already bought one set for someone for Christmas and am considering buying another set!)

So, its not too late to order these before the magical month of October is over...and its perfect timing to get a jump start on your Christmas shopping!!

Good news vs. Bad news

2011-10-24T00:01:00.015-04:00

The Goods news: Sarah's culture came back "negative" for MRSA on Friday.
The Bad news: Her infection continued to get worse over the weekend. A LOT worse. It started on her nose and has spread to her cheeks, chin, lower lip and towards her eye. Her whole cheek is swollen and painful. The photo below was taken at 10am Sunday. When she went to bed, it was even worse - spreading all the way up to her lower eye lid and her chin.
The Bad news: School pictures are today.
The Bad news: She's probably not going to school today.

The Good News: We didn't have any plans for Sunday and hoped to have a fun family day for picking out pumpkins and attending the Scarecrow Festival and Trick or Treat parade near us.
The Bad news: Daddy and the boys went while Mommy and Sarah sat in the ER for 3 hours, just confirming what we knew but at least getting another stronger topical antibiotic.

The Good news: Saturday was a super fun day, spent with our best friends on a road rally. We were in the lead almost the whole way!
The Bad news: I looked right past the last clue and another team caught up to us and finished less than 2 minutes ahead of us.
The Good news: They didn't actually 'win' either due to points from 'extra credit' (the 3rd team in ended up winning).
The Good news: That means we don't have to plan it next year! whew!

The Good News: I finished the sewing for Jacob's costume and it looks good!
The Bad news: I'm so torn over what to do on Halloween - be the teacher or be the Mommy.

The Good news: The kids let us sleep until almost 10 am on Sunday.
The Bad news: They woke me up about 3x over night and sleep was pretty choppy between 8am & 10am as they kept coming in to ask things or were noisy playing.

The Bad news: I was overwhelmed and stressed and mentally done for by Friday.
The Good News: After a fun day Saturday and the promise of a fun day Sunday, I felt SO much better.
The Bad News: By noon Sunday evening, I felt so frustrated again, worried about Sarah, bummed about our plans not working out and worrying about all that will be waiting for me at work again this week.

Please let this be a better, calmer, less stressful week!!

Week-end Wrap Up

2011-10-21T00:01:00.001-04:00

* This has been the longest week! Meeting after meeting, extra events and extra responsibilities! Sooooo glad its Friday!

* I'm REALLY proud of my students lately!!

* I can't find my desk at work this week - its piled under so much paperwork and 'stuff.'

* I have to do a Self Evaluation for work. I did it myself and then asked my teaching partner to evaluate me also just so I could see how I rated myself compared to what she thought. I figured if anyone can evaluate me accurately, it'd be her - we've worked together for 8 years. She felt I was "highly effective" in almost every category!

*We are in the middle of giving our students a (not-so-standardized (in my opinion)) Standardized state test. I have so many issues with this assessment. I hate having to give it each year.

* I showed up to a meeting (that I thought was mandatory) the other day, only to find I was the only one who showed up from my program and was then appointed to be "Program Representative" and "Chairperson." When I told others I'd help but couldn't do it alone, the immediate responses I got were "I'm really busy." Um yeah...so am I!!!!

* Sarah went to the Dr for the 3rd time this week for the infection on her nose. It still hasn't cleared up. She's on her 3rd round of antibiotics. They took a culture. I'm scared its going to be MRSA. Her poor nose looks so00 bad and she says it hurts really bad, too.

* School pictures are Monday. We'll be paying the extra $6 for touch ups on her package.

* I'm really frustrated with the lack of communication from the kids' teacher. We have received very little information this year and so I finally emailed her this weekend with several questions. I have yet to hear back from her. This delay/lack of response is not helping my attitude.

* Although I've heard good things about this teacher from others, this issue, along with some other things I've heard about their classroom, is making me 2nd guess our decision to do DK this year. I hate that!!! It was hard enough to get to that decision...but even worse now when I'm not feeling ok with where we're at.

* Realizing how frustrated with the lack of communication from my kids' teacher makes me want to work even harder than I already do to stay in close contact with my students' parents. I plan to call each one this week to touch base and tell them something good about their child! (I write notes/daily reports at least 1-3x a week.)

* It also makes me wonder if I'm just the crazy parent.

* I still need to sew part of Jacob's costume. He might need it for Sunday. I have no idea when I'll do it. Maybe tonight??

* I feel the need to apologize for this big vent. Sorry if you're still reading.

On a good note:

* Paul and I are doing our 2nd Road Rally/Scavenger Hunt with some of our best friends. Should be a very fun day! Can't wait!!

Photo Drop

2011-10-20T00:01:00.003-04:00

Life is good. Life is (VERY) busy. My cell phone has seen lots of action lately! Here are some favorites from the past month or so!

Sarah and C at her mom's wedding

The new Patio walkway

Didn't Paul do an awesome job??

My desk at work, showing off my kids' art work!

Showing off my new boots! Love 'em!!

Optimus Prime at the Super Hero Run!

Trying on a dress. Decided against it.

The black one hanging up was the one I loved but was too short.

Flu shot drama

(be glad there's not sound with this!)

Sarah's coloring. She does so good!

An amazing table at a Bachelorette Party a few weeks ago.

An old plate glass door, now stained glass.

Isn't this beautiful??

My hubby is an amazing cook!
He surprised me with Sushi (& edamame) the other night!
Yes...he MADE sushi!!

Sarah and Jacob's self portraits!
Soooo different!!

Say What??

2011-10-19T00:01:00.014-04:00

Adam got a flu shot last week. The next morning, when I picked him up, he winced, pushed my arm away from his thigh and said "Ouch! My leg hurts, Mommy!" He was so cute and pathetic - limping around, not wanting to bend his leg and making me hold him a different way so as not to bump his thigh. I gave him some pain reliever and when we got to daycare, I picked him up for one last hug and he said "Mama! My leg all gone!" I wasn't sure what he meant at first so I reassured him, his leg was still there. He said again, "Yeah! My leg all gone!" and patted his thigh. I clued in then and said "oh! your leg doesn't hurt anymore?" and he confirmed "Yeah - my leg all gone!"

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The day that Adam got his flu shot, Paul picked him up and took him to the Dr.After I was done with work and the gym, I picked Jacob and Sarah up from daycare, like usual. When I turned onto our road, Jacob said "Oh no, Mom! You forgot to get Adam!" (he is at a different daycare). This is something along the lines of how the rest of the ride home went: (I can't remember who said what so I'll just put J/S)

Me: Its ok, we'll just get him tomorrow.
J/S: No! We have to go get him! He'll miss us!
Me: Nah. He'll be ok.
J/S: No! You have to get him! He'll be hungry and want dinner!
Me: He can just get some snacks - he doesn't eat dinner half the time anyways...
J/S: No! He can't reach the cupboards where the food is!
Me: Well, maybe he can order a pizza?
S: No! He doesn't know how to use the phone!
Me: Well, he'll be ok. He can eat dinner tomorrow.
J/S: NO, Mama!! You HAVE to go get him!!!! NOW!
Me: Nah, I don't feel like turning around (ironically, Adam was with Paul directly behind us coming down our road).
Jacob: Mama! I'm going to count to 5 and if you don't turn around and get him.....
Me: What? What will you do?
Jacob: I mean it Mama! 1!......2!......3!.....Mom! You better turn this van around RIGHT NOW!
Me: giggle
Jacob: 4!!.....5!!!.....MOM!!! YOU HAVE TO GO GET ADAM!!!
Me: just think, if he doesn't come home, you won't have to share your toys with him.
Jacob: but I'll MISS him!!

At this point, we pulled into the driveway and he is SCREAMING and his eyes were welling up with tears. It was a mix of funny and so sad/sweet. I loved that they said they'd miss Adam and were truly worried about him not coming home. They were very relieved and happy to realize that Daddy had Adam with him!!

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At dinner the other night, Jacob asked me a question about something. I gave him my answer and he asked "How do you know that? Did you learn that? Or is it just in your brain?"

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And Halloween is just around the corner!! Sarah and Adam's costumes are all set and were relatively easy...but Jacob's making me work to make his! I've even got to dust off the sewing machine ASAP to make one piece of his costume...agh! (I can do it...but its been a while!) I thought I'd take a glance back at our costumes the past few years and play along with Way Back When-esday!!

2007

Dorothy & The Cowardly Lion

2008

Mickey & Minnie

2009

The Flintstones

Pebbles, Bam Bamm & The Saber Tooth Tiger

Playing along with Way Back When-esday at Twinfatuation!

The Party

2011-10-18T00:01:00.001-04:00

Ok...can you hang in there for one last picture post from the wedding? Or more specifically...the reception. Weddings are always nice but the reception is when the fun really begins, right??

For having never been to a wedding reception just 2 months ago, my 3 kiddos are pros at the party fun now! Its surely been nice that each event has included some of their own friends along with many adults that they are familiar with - it makes it more fun for them and more relaxed for us. Adam had a ball that night, running between our table, the dance floor and the table where some of his teachers were sitting at (all while hoarding all the little silver bells!).

Sarah was already on Cloud 9 for her day as a "Feather Girl" but the night just made it better! She danced with her brothers and friends and then, when it was time for the bouquet toss, she and one of her friends made sure they were right up front...and wouldn't you know...she caught it!!!! She was SO excited and sweetly asked Mrs. Leah if she could keep the bouquet.

Jacob took a spill early on at the reception but thankfully he bounced back and didn't let that ruin his evening. He had fun dancing with his friends and made his own (unsuccessful) attempt to make a catch. Despite the busy day and no naps, we somehow set a new record for late night parties and stayed very late. Thankfully the kids slept in a little bit the next day so that even mommy and daddy could recover from being up past our bedtime! We all had fun and I'm sure the kids will all remember a fun and special day with Mr Jason and Mrs. Leah!

Reception highlights

A few left overs from the wedding:

Love the one of Sarah admiring the prisms on the bouquet.

Family Photos!!

We clean up well, don't we?

Fall Family Fun

2011-10-17T00:01:00.001-04:00

We've been needing to visit my parents but have been so busy, we were having a hard time finding a day when we could make it. We have seen my parents a few times over in our area, but we hadn't been to my parents' house since early summer and we hadn't all been together as a family since the 4th of July.

It just so happened, on the day we were finally free to visit, my sister and her family planned to go, too...and my brother was free for the day, also! How perfect! So we all met at my parents and visited for a bit then headed out to the nearest Cider Mill! Uncle John's was where I always went as a kid - the place is HUGE!

We had a gorgeous fall day - sunny and in the upper 50s/low 60s. The place was packed but we still had fun with a wagon ride, some time in the bounce houses, some play time in the Kiddie Coral...and cider and donuts, of course!! The kids were all really good (which I was thankful for because Paul wasn't with us!) and we all had a fun day. I love visiting places that I remember as a kid with my own children.

Wagon Ride

Fall fun

My kiddos!

Daddy wasn't able to join us that day so we hope to be able to visit a local pumpkin path to do a hayride and get pumpkins (and more cider and apples!!).

Week-end Wrap Up

2011-10-14T00:01:00.001-04:00

* I woke up Monday with what felt like Pink Eye. Great way to start the week, huh? Thankfully, by mid day it felt better and the Dr guessed it was more of an allergy issue than an infection. A couple days of drops and I'm all good. Whew! I seem to get Pink Eye at least once a year and it takes forever to clear up!

* I remembered how much I hate wearing my glasses instead of my contacts.

* Tomorrow is my Mothers of Multiples big Mom 2 Mom sale! My living room is currently full of more than a dozen huge boxes of stuff - all just for fall and winter! I sold much of my spring/summer stuff at the last sale. Its nice that between the last sale and my summer garage sale, I don't have an BIG items to take and sell (although that means less $$). Can't wait to get rid of more stuff, clear up some space and put some $$ back in my pocket!

* I had a sub teacher in for me on Monday and then another teacher visited my classroom on Wednesday. I received a great deal of compliments from them both. So nice to hear that from other colleagues!

* I have a serious book addiction lately. Despite the fact that I don't have a lot of TIME to read, I'm accumulating books at a fast rate. I have picked up so many books lately that sound good! I have a pile on my dresser, several checked out from the library and several on the way from Amazon.

* I really want a Kindle Fire or iPad for Christmas! (I wonder if Paul has taken the hints! ha!)

* I've lost a total of 27 lbs since late April and am down 2 sizes!!! I'd still like to lose another 10-15 and am feeling confident I'll get there!

* I got a new dress for the wedding last week. It arrived in the mail just HOURS before the wedding. I loved how it looked and felt!

* The Tigers just need to hurry up and win the ALCS and then sweep the World Series! Staying up late for all of these games is really catching up (not to mention the stress of close games).

What are YOU doing this weekend???

The Wedding (of the century!)

2011-10-13T00:01:00.002-04:00

Its hard to believe that the whirlwind surrounding Jacob and Sarah's part in Leah and Jason's wedding this weekend is over. Less than a month ago, we were just going to be guests at their reception...and then suddenly our children were being invited to be a part of the wedding, thanks to Leah's kindness and generosity.

The theme for the wedding was Peacock feathers. Leah and Jason created many of the pieces and decorations and it was beautiful! The main piece of Leah's bouquet was a stunning stained glass peacock. I loved Sarah's headband and instead of dropping flowers as she walked down the aisle, she dropped feathers.

Jacob and Sarah were emotional roller coasters most of the day but when it came time for their big part - they did a great job! They walked down the aisle well together and stood nicely up front during the ceremony. If they were nervous at all, I couldn't tell!

The wedding took place in Leah and Jason's backyard with the beautiful fall leaves as a backdrop. The sun shone down on the late afternoon ceremony as they were surrounded by their closest friends and family.

I loved the blue that Sarah and Jacob were dressed in. I might be a bit biased, but I thought they looked adorable!

The day was wonderful and so special. Even though the day has come and gone, I am still amazed at how sweet Leah and Jason were to ask Jacob and Sarah to be a part of their wedding. As Leah said when we were talking about it before she asked the kids, I'm sure its something they'll remember for the rest of their lives. I printed off a couple photos this week so they could take them to school and show their friends and teacher. They even took the pictures into the library the other day to show their favorite librarian!!

So once again - Congrats to Leah and Jason and Thank you!!

Say What??

2011-10-12T00:01:00.009-04:00

I took Monday off of work due to an eye infection and used the day to grocery shop and clean up the house a bit. One thing I tackled was cleaning up the living room, which was littered with toys...on the floor, on the couch, on the side tables, piled on the coffee table and on the table. When the kids got home, I told them to look in the living room. Both Jacob and Sarah immediately cried "Oh no!!! What happened!?!?!"

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While on our ride home from daycare the other day, Adam was telling me what he did at school that day. He's used to hearing this conversation take place on a daily basis with his siblings and is excited to be able to share more about his day now that he's talking more, too!
Me: What'd you do at school today?
Adam: I play with Carter!
Me: What'd you do?
Adam: Play dress up! For Halloween!
Me: What do you do on Halloween?
Adam: Get candy!
Me: What'd you dress up as?
Adam: A bumblebee!!

In the middle of that conversation, Jacob blurted something out while Adam was talking, to which Adam yelled "No Jacob! Adam's turn!!!!" And as soon as he told me he was a bumblebee, he said "Ok Jacob's turn now!"

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Clueless or Stubborn?

2011-10-11T00:01:00.037-04:00

2 years ago, I potty trained boy/girl twins all while juggling and nursing an infant. It wasn't quite as tough as I imagined it would be and I figured when it was time to potty train Adam, it'd be a piece of cake!

Fast forward to the present. Lets just say potty training Adam isn't going so smoothly. Sarah was potty trained by the time she was 2.5 and Jacob about 3 months later. Adam will be 3 in January and hasn't even shown any signs of potty training.

I've been holding back for a while because he just hasn't seemed ready. He's afraid to sit on the big toilet, doesn't want to stand at the toilet and the few times we've been able to get him to sit on the little potty, he just doesn't seem to understand what to do with his body. He sees his siblings go. He sees his peers at daycare go. But he just doesn't seem to know what to do.

Not wanting to push him when he wasn't ready, we've just held back and been waiting for signals that he was ready.

Lately though, we've been noticing some new things - things that make us thinks its not that he doesn't 'get it' but that he just doesn't 'want to!" At daycare, he'll stay dry ALL morning and not pee in his diaper or go on the potty at all. Until he falls asleep at naptime. He's often dry overnight, but then refuses to sit on the potty in the morning and will cry, scream and fight when we try to get him to go potty.We've offered underwear, rewards, stickers, praise, books and more...but nothing seems to encourage him to try and go.

We never faced this with either Jacob or Sarah and now I'm stumped as to what approach to take. Keep trying? Or wait it out some more? We've debated trying the 3 day potty training 'boot camp' with him...if we can find a free weekend to do so!

Anyone else face this reluctance or stubbornness with their toddler? Got any advice?

Feather Girl & Ring Bearer

2011-10-10T00:01:00.000-04:00

The big day finally arrived!! Miss Leah's wedding! What a way to culminate the string of weddings we've had this summer and fall...3 right in a row and the final one meant the most - Jacob and Sarah's opportunity to be the Ring Bearer and "Feather" Girl for their preschool teacher, Miss Leah and her husband Jason!

Leah and Jason could not have asked for a more beautiful fall day for their outdoor wedding! The private ceremony was held in their backyard, beneath a beautiful, bright red Maple tree. The sun was shining for the 5:30 pm ceremony with temps close to 80s degrees - which is usually unheard of here in Michigan in mid-October. (Heck - I ran that 5k last weekend when it was only 43 degrees!!!)

Jacob and Sarah were very excited. When Jacob woke up Saturday morning, he told me he'd dreamed about the wedding that night. None of the kids would settle down for a nap that afternoon because they were too excited!

Miss Leah looked beautiful and Mr. Jason was so handsome! The "Peacock" theme and colors looked great (hence the "feather" girl - not a "flower" girl reference). I've got tons more pictures to share but wanted to get a couple of my favorites up today for you all (I know my Mom is dying to see more pictures!).

Congratulations Leah and Jason!! Thank you so much for including our children in your special day - it meant so much to them - and to us! You are both very special to us and we are very excited for your marriage!

All dressed and excited!!

Sarah and I

Starting their walk down the aisle

** LOVE ** their glance at each other!!!

Mrs Leah!!

Jacob with Jason and Ian (best man/Jason's son)

Another special moment!!

My family

*Love*

Week-end Wrap Up

2011-10-07T00:01:00.001-04:00

* Tomorrow is the big day!! Jacob and Sarah will be in Miss Leah's wedding!

* The wedding is a private, outdoor ceremony. The forecast for Saturday is beautiful! Sunny and 80. In October?? What a blessing!

* I ordered a new dress for the wedding - something different and fun. As of now, it has not arrived yet! The estimated delivery is Saturday. I have a bad feeling it won't be here in time. The tracking site had it leaving CA on Tuesday but it hasn't been tracked since then. Boo!!

* After Sarah's face plant a few weeks ago, her nose got infected from the cut she got. She's been on antibiotics for week but she keeps scratching at it and it doesn't look much better. Hoping for it to miraculously clear up before tomorrow!

* Next weekend is my MoM's group's big Mom 2 Mom sale. I haven't had any time to make sure all my stuff is ready. Thankfully I priced it all for the garage sale this summer so I should be pretty well set, but I need to purge closets and the house before next weekend to see what else I can sell!

* I've been very torn this week. Watch fall TV shows vs. Watch Tigers baseball vs. Read my book. I did finish my book, have watched at least part of each ball game and caught up with a few tv shows thanks to DVR.

* These games are not good for my blood pressure! (I'm writing this in the middle of Game 5 vs. the Yankees). midnight update! Woo hoo!!!! Tigers beat the Yankees!!

* I had a really great experience with my students and some of their general ed peers this week!!

Have a great fall weekend!!

Is Dad Invisible?

2011-10-06T00:01:00.002-04:00

Does this happen to anyone else?

The kids are in the living room, Paul is in the same room with them. I'm on the phone but they come to ME to ask for help/a snack/permission to do something.

The kids are downstairs. Paul's in the kitchen. I'm in the bathroom but they walk right past him to come find ME to ask for something.

The kids are in the dining room. Paul's coming down the stairs but they walk right past him to look for me, while I'm in the shower, to ask for a snack or a toy.

We're both still in bed on a weekend morning. The kids wake up and every. single. morning. they come to MY side of the bed and wake ME up to ask if they can go downstairs/read a book/get dressed/get a snack.

It doesn't matter if Daddy is in the same room or sitting right next to the kids, he seems to be invisible and they come find me, no matter what I'm busy doing and what corner of the house I'm hiding in. They've literally walked right past him to come bug me in the bathroom, shower or bed. There's even been times when they have asked him first, but still came to find me to ask the same question!

Does anyone else's kids do this? Forget that Dad is completely competent and capable of helping and answering questions and but just bug Mom?

Say What?!?!

2011-10-05T00:01:00.021-04:00

A few weeks ago on the way to school, Adam noticed it was foggy and asked what it was. You may remember this conversation:
Adam: "Look Mama. What's that?"
Me: Its Fog.
Adam: No, Mama. Its wind!
Me: No, it's fog.
Adam: No Mommy! It da wind!

This past week, we had an even funnier conversation:
Adam: Mama! That the foggy?
Me: Yes, it is foggy. Good job remembering that!
Adam: Foggy go Ribbit Ribbit?
Me: No silly! Not FRoggy...FOggy!
Adam: Froggy Ribbit Ribbit!
Me: No - FOGGY, not a frog!
Adam: Not a froggy? It a turtle?

As if this whole conversation isn't funny enough on its own, the suggestion of a turtle didn't come out of nowhere. He has a small toy turtle in his car seat that he often calls a Frog. Whenever he says he has a frog, I say "No, that's not a frog, its a turtle." So....apparently, anything that "not a frog" must be a turtle!

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I let Jacob and Sarah each choose 1 book out of the Scholastic Book Orders last month. Not thinking about the time frame, I let them look at the catalog long before I was putting the order in for my students so they've been asking for a while when their books are coming 'in the mail.' They finally arrived this week and they were excited to read their new books. Sarah remembered exactly what book she had chosen but Jacob wasn't sure. I reminded him he had chosen a Cars book. Sarah then reminded him "Yeah, you got the Lightning McQueen book but first you wanted the Clifford books but Mommy said she couldn't read Spanish so you couldn't get them." It took me a minute to think about that, but I did vaguely remember that conversation - back in very early September!! I asked her "How do you remember these things?" and she replied "I don't know. I just remember a lot of things!"

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Sarah still was not eager to go to dance again this week. While trying to figure out WHY she didn't want to go, she said she thought it was 'boring' and "I don't like to hold my arms up for so long." Um, huh? Perfect reason to quit, don't you think??

Fall Harvest

2011-10-04T00:01:00.000-04:00

If you've read my blog for a while, I'm sure you know by now that we love our city's beautiful treasure - Applewood Estate. The beautiful estate sits on the grounds of our community college and opens once a month from May to September for the public to explore and engage in a variety of fun activities. Each time they are open, there are some staple activities but there is also a great variety of things for people of all ages. We love to go, see the beautiful grounds and see what fun things they have cooked up!

Some highlights for the annual Fall Harvest included:
* Johnny Appleseed singing and drubbling (juggling/dribbling basketballs)
* Horses, chickens and calves
* Homegrown, organic treats made from local produce and products
* Pumpkin carving
* Pumpkin decorating
* Crafts
* Gardens and produce
* A beautiful day on beautiful grounds!

Applewood never disappoints us - the kids love whatever is around the next corner and Paul and I love strolling through the grounds and seeing the beautiful landscape. We all got to sample a variety of heirloom apples (including a 22 oz apple variety!) and freshly made cider. Adam loved the calves - he didn't mind petting them and standing near them (although he remembered he was afraid of the "noisy" horses - they startled him last time when they whinnied). Sarah loved the crafts - decorating a little pumpkin and making a medallion. Jacob loved the apples and giant bubbles.

The season is over and we'll have to wait until next spring before we can visit again. We can't wait to see what they have in store for us next year!!

Things that make me happy!

Pumpkin carving and decorating

The guy doing the carvings has been on Food Network!

These very cool medallions were made out of a plastic dixie cup and a toaster oven!!

So neat!

I did it!!

2011-10-03T00:01:00.025-04:00

Aside from my weight loss goals, I've had a goal to be able to run 1 mile and a 5K. I accomplished the 1 mile goal a few weeks ago and then decided to dive right into attemping a 5k before the running season was over. My friend Lisa and I looked to see if there were any races coming up that we could both do and found a perfect one - a Super Hero 5K Fun Run to benefit a local Child Advocacy Center for Child Abuse. There was no entry fee - just requested donations/pledges - and it was fun and casual - not even a timed event. I thought this would be a good, easy way to give it a try!

So, we donned our Super Hero t-shirts, some capes and hit the streets! The moring was pretty cold! Only about 43 degrees with some good 20-30 mph winds! (Thankfully no rain though!) The course was a good one for beginners - no steep hills and an easy route through downtown, the university's campus and back.

We started off all together with the plan to do 2:1 intervals the whole way. I was feeling pretty good to start so I kept going and ran about 5 minutes straight before taking a break but continued the rest of the run doing 2&1s. I'd done a 'practice run' last weekend and did 3.3 miles in about 40 minutes. I think it helped (a) having other people to help pace myself and (b) no little ones telling me to slow down because I did the whole 3.1 miles in 33 minutes! I checked my splits (via the app on my phone) and I perfectly averaged 10:59 for each mile! Not bad for my first race. Certainly no where near the fastest but definitely not the slowest. I was really proud of myself!

Source: MLive

And we're off!

Coming down the home stretch!

I made it!

As I neared the end of the route, heading back through the campus and into downtown, I wondered if Paul and the kids would be at the finish line. I'd told him it'd take me between 30-40 minutes, but it was cold and I wondered if they'd all gone inside to warm up. I was so excited to make the last turn and immediately see Sarah's pink coat standing next to the Finish Line!! They cheered as I came down the street and I had to fight tears. I was so glad to see them and have them there cheering me on and I was so proud of myself that I'd actually done it!!

Finishing the 1K

While I was running, the kids got to walk/run in a 1K event, get their faces painted, make magic wands and have a snack (bananas and popcorn). Sarah kept saying she wanted to run the race with me but thankfully seemed to settle for the 1K (Paul said she thought that was long!).

Super Heroes!

Silly Photo Booth

Batman and Batgirl

Thanks to everyone who encouraged me and sent well wishes my way! I plan to keep running over the winter (on the treadmill) and hopefully get to be able to run a 5k without walking - and then meet my big goal of the 10 mile Crim next August.

Twinfatuation

Wrapping Up the Week

2011-09-30T00:01:00.030-04:00

* I'm running my first official 5K tomorrow. I did a trial run last weekend and did pretty well! I'm a big mix of excited and nervous.

* The run isn't an 'official race' but a fund raiser for a local Advocacy Center. Part of me is bummed that we won't be timed but I'm also a little relieved that it'll be more relaxed. I'm glad my friend Lisa is running with me!

* The theme is Super Heros! I got a fun Bat Girl t-shirt to wear!!

* I felt like a super MEAN Mom last weekend when I did my 'trial run.' Jacob and Sarah went with me to the park and rode their bikes. They were really excited about it and at first wanted to run with me. I told them they had to ride their bikes as it'd be hard to run 3 miles. After about 1.5 miles, they started to get tired and by the last lap/mile, Sarah was almost sobbing saying "My legs and feet are too little to keep going! My heart is beating! I can't do it!" They made it through but a lot of tears were shed on the last lap. I know my daughter can be a drama queen but I felt bad that I was pushing them to keep riding so I could finish my run.

* Ironically, I would have expected frustration over a long bike ride from Jacob a few months ago...but he did great! He's really getting stronger and showing very few signs of the motor issues he's had over the years!

* I'm taking Sarah to the Doctor today to have her nose looked at. Its been 8 days since she fell and its still pretty swollen and a little icky. Just want to make sure its ok. Poor girl doesn't know she's getting a flu shot, too. She'll just stress all day over it so I'm waiting till its time to do it.

* Sarah went to dance this week without any tears and only a small hesitation. I'm proud of her!!

* Next weekend is the wedding that Jacob and Sarah will be in. I can't wait to get them all dolled up for it!

* September has been crazy busy for us and October will be even busier!?! Then we're on to birthdays, holidays and more! When will life slow down???

Have a great weekend everyone!!

"I Do" #2

2011-09-29T00:01:00.000-04:00

After only 1 wedding in 4 years, the kids are seasoned pros after this year! Last weekend was wedding #2 out of 3. The Mom of one of Sarah's best friends from preschool was married and her friend "C" asked if some of her friends could be there for her. Jacob and Sarah were delighted and loved every minute of it! (other than the 10 minutes during the ceremony where Sarah looked longingly at C and wished SHE could be a flower girl!)

I didn't think it was possible but I think they had even more fun at K&R's wedding than at Miss Danielle's last month. I think they were more relaxed as they knew what to expect and it was a smaller crowd. Adam ran around the reception like he owned the place and Sarah and C were attached at the hip all evening. K (C's mom and the bride) had her daughter and friends in mind and had a fun table just for kids near the dance floor complete with toys, coloring books and bubbles. What a great idea!

The wedding ceremony was beautiful and I loved how they included C within the whole ceremony and reception. After R said his vows to K, he got down on one knee and had vows for C, along with a beautiful heart ring for her, too. C was then incredibly adorable as she walked back over to the Bridesmaids and went down the line, showing each of them her ring. So cute! K's dad then sang Butterfly Kisses as all 3 (K, R & C) poured sand together in a vase. I've seen this alternative to a Unity Candle before and loved how they used 3 colors to include their daughter. Later in the evening, as they had their first dance, K&R also pulled C in with them and danced as a family. So beautiful!

Later in the evening, the family all wrote blessing and wishes on Lanterns and launched them into the night sky. It was so cool to see the colors glowing in the night sky and drifting upwards. The kids remembered the lanterns from Tangled and thought it was so cool (as did I!). It was a perfect touch to a great evening.

Congrats to K, R and C!

Say what?!?!?!

2011-09-28T00:01:00.017-04:00

While telling me about daycare the other day, Jacob told me they had Bible Study. I asked them what they did during that time...read a story? sing a song? recite verses? He replied "No, we just sit there and do Bible Study. Its just kinda boring."

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While visiting our friends the other night, Jacob cracked me up. Anna and Megan are 7 year old twin sisters who probably look less alike than Jacob and Sarah do! Anna is several inches taller with straight brown hair while Megan is petite and has long wavy blond hair. Their teachers thought they were cousins, not twin sisters. So, while playing the other night with Anna, Jacob said "Anna? Megan? Wait which one are you??" ha!

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Jacob and Sarah have been unfortunate to be stuck on a very long bus ride between Kindergarten and daycare - up to 90 minutes some days. I was able to make a few phone calls and work out alternate arrangements for 4 out of the 5 days so that they are only on the bus for about 10 minutes from Monday - Thursday. We were telling the kids about the new schedule and Sarah asked us one morning "Is today the day we ride the Short Bus?"

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One morning, while taking Adam to daycare, it was very foggy outside. He said "Look Mama. What's that?" I told him it was Fog and he said "No, Mama. Its wind!" When I told him again it was fog, he again insisted it was Wind.

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While walking next to one of my students the other day, I could hear him chatting but he often talks to himself so I wasn't really tuned into what he was saying. Suddenly, I felt a tap on my elbow and he said "Hey you. Um, is your brain hearing me right now?" When I admitted no and apologized, he replied "Yeah, I didn't think so."

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I haven't linked up to Way Back When-esday at Twinfatuation in a long time so I thought I'd dive back into my archives today and see what I could find! I went back 2 years to late September 2009 - look how little everyone was!!! Its hard to believe that Jacob and Sarah will be 5 in just 2 months, that they've started school and how big Adam is getting!

Adam - 8 months old

(Adopted) Family Day

2011-09-27T00:01:00.001-04:00

My best friend Lisa works for a company that each year hosts a Family Fun Day each year. Lisa has been kind to invite us and our kiddos to join them the past 2 years. Last year the day was quite rainy and cold but this year, the weather was perfect and we had a great time!

The grounds were full of bounce houses, carnival rides, fire trucks, Monster Trucks and motorcycles. We enjoyed lunch and cotton candy, crafts and fun. It was a really nice day as a family with our closest friends. Jacob LOVED the Monster Truck and Adam still talks about it. He'll line up his little cars and grab a Monster Truck and "Crush" them!

We finished the day off with the kids at home with a babysitter and us adults going out for Hibatchi to celebrate Lisa and Ben's birthdays. It was a great day and one that we don't make time for enough!! Hopefully we can do it again soon!!

Monster Trucks and Wheely-popping Motorcycles!

It was cool - Lisa works for a company that make steering parts. Although she works in the offices, the plant obviously has assembly lines. They had a Fun Factory set up for kids to make bracelets and the station had assembly line instructions, 'machines' and rules. We were cracking up at the Health and Safety guidelines!! I wonder if the same rules are posted in the plant??

A Little Girl's Dream Come True

2011-09-26T00:01:00.000-04:00

Last week, I said I had a little secret. I was amazed that I didn't have anyone giving me any crazy guesses. I couldn't share what was up because it was a secret involving my kids and until they knew what it was, I didn't want to let the cat out of the bag.

So, as I've blogged about, we've had several weddings recently. The one we had this weekend was the Mom of one of Sarah and Jacob's friends from preschool. A few weeks ago, Sarah asked me if her friend, "C" would be there and I told her definitely, that she'd be the flower girl. And with that, began a wish.

"Mommy. I want to be a flower girl. When can I be a flower girl in a wedding?"

I explained to her that I didn't know if that would happen - that all of our family and most of our close friends are already married. She was disappointed at that thought so I suggested she be a Flower Girl for Halloween. It was obviously not her top choice, but she was willing to settle for it for now.

So last weekend, I put a message on Facebook, looking for a used dress for her to use. The kids' preschool teacher, Miss Leah, saw the post and thought it was cute that she was so caught up in the weddings to want to be one for Halloween. I then explained to her Sarah's wish to be a flower girl.

Did I mention that Miss Leah is getting married in 2 weeks herself??

She responded with "That makes me want to find a dress for her for mine...." to which I quickly told her "No! she'll be fine...."

BUT....Leah wouldn't take No for an answer and about 30 minutes later, she messaged me again, saying she'd talked to her fiance' and that she'd look for a dress that night. Oh...and they didn't have a Ring Bearer so she wanted Jacob to walk Sarah down the aisle, too.

WOW!!!

We were fortunate to find a dress that night and the wheels were set in motion. We just had to let Sarah and Jacob know. Leah decided to ask them Friday night, while at the other wedding.

Leah was so sweet - nervous to ask them and hopeful they'd both say yes. They did - Sarah was so excited and Jacob was, too! The wedding is less than 2 weeks away and it will be a bit of a whirlwind to get them ready but I know it will be fun!

I can't stop thinking about how blessed our children are to have so many people in their lives that love them. That a friend and teacher cares for them enough to want to include them in her wedding. That another of their former teachers took the time to thank her for taking good care of them. So blessed!

I know this will be a day Jacob and Sarah will likely never forget!!

Friday Night Leftovers

2011-09-23T00:01:00.002-04:00

Sippy Cups are Not for Starbucks

* Sarah and Adam are having "My Mommy!" wars. Both are very possessive of me and very dismissive of Daddy. If they are both near me at the same time, they start yelling at each other. If Daddy tries to help with one of them, they just run away, yell or get mad at him. Adam screams and cries. Lord help me keep my sanity!

* I'm going to run a 5K next weekend. I think I can...I think I can...I think I can...

* I tried on a dress for an upcoming wedding the other night. I loved it. But it was really short. I keep thinking about it and wondering if I could pull it off.

* We have a wedding tonight and then I have a Bachelorette party tomorrow. Fun weekend!

* Sarah is doing dance again this fall. She is really excited about it until its time to go in. There has been uncertainty and tears. I think I figured out why...its the first thing she's ever done without Jacob.

* The other day when we dropped her off at dance, she calmed down and went in before Jacob got the chance to tell her bye. She ran back, they hugged, kissed, and said "I love you" and "I'll miss you!" I think I heard a collective sigh from the other Moms in the room.

* Poor Sarah tripped the other night and fell face first into the frame of her bed. Her nose took the impact. I wasn't home when it happened and felt so bad I wasn't here to (a) comfort her and (b) help Paul. Her cute lil nose is quite swollen and bruised but is not nearly as bad as I thought it'd be.

Have a great weekend!

Say What?!?!

2011-09-21T00:01:00.030-04:00

For a while, Adam will exclaim "Oh man! Bar nuts!!" when he's bummed or frustrated (and sometimes just being silly!). I had no idea what he was saying until I told a friend the other day and she figured it out. Any ideas what he is meaning??? ;-)

************

Adam was naughty at daycare the other day. When we got home, I wanted to see if he could tell Daddy what happened. While I was not happy with his behavior, I was pretty impressed that he was able to clearly explain what happened.

Me: What did you do to Amanda today?
Adam: Amanda cry.
Me: Why did she cry?
Adam: She got a boo boo?
Me: How did she get a boo boo?
Adam: (lowered his head and in a quieter voice) I bite....

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Jacob and Sarah read Goldilocks and the 3 Bears in school the other day and Sarah drew a picture of the story and recreated some of the story. After drawing, she cut out her pictures and then glued them together on another paper. I was noticing how well she was using the glue bottle - just the right amount with little dots of glue, evenly spaced out on the paper.

Me: Good job with the glue Sarah. Did they teach you that in Kindergarten?
Sarah: No.
Me: In preschool?
Sarah: No, Mom. I just know these things.

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The kids had yogurt the other day that had "tongue tattoos" in the package. Jacob was getting ready to put his on and I told him to put his tongue in and lick his lips before putting the tattoo on and he said "How can you lick your tongue when you only have one tongue?"

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Sarah was telling me about a story they read in school Friday (Silly Sally) and she snuck in a big word. "Apparently, when she went upside down, you could see her underwear." Apparently??? ha!

Things I'm loving right now

2011-09-20T00:01:00.050-04:00

1. Reading - I've read so many good books in the last 6 months and have so many more good ones lined up to read. I just finished Rules of Civility. I'm diving in to The Hunger Games trilogy and can't wait to read What Alice Forgot for my book club.

2. Fitting back into my 'skinny' clothes. I don't think I need to explain that one.

3. Fall flavors and scents: pumpkin, apple, caramel, pear, etc. Yum!!

4. Cooler, crisp days with sunshine.

5. Jeans. I could live in jeans and long sleeve t-shirts!

6. Wearing my hair more natural - scrunched and down.

7. The Detroit Tigers!! I've watched a lot games this summer (while running at the gym) and love that they already clinched the title and are just on FIRE the past few weeks!!

8. Compliments - I'm feeling so much better about myself these days - but who doesn't like hearing that they look good from others?!?

9. Pinterest!! So many great ideas - recipes, art projects, clothes, home decor, etc!!

10. Sharing lesson planning each week with my teaching partner - we take turns each week planning our art and cooking lessons. Its nice to have a break from the planning and prep and also fun to see the ideas she comes up with, too!

11. My Cardio Trainer App. Its nice to monitor how I"m doing and awesome to see accumulated totals of distance and calories each month!!

12. Finally getting the chance to sleep in a little bit on the weekends. The kids are often up between 7 and 8 am but have been good about going downstairs to play and letting us snooze a bit longer. They do come in a lot to ask for help or permission to do something but this past weekend, we dozed off and on till about 9:30 both mornings!!

13. File Folder activities for my students. I've been making them in mass quantities lately! Totally customizable for what skills I want them to work on!

14. I have a secret. I can't tell it yet but it involves the kids. I think they are going to be so excited!!

15. That it looks like our bus issues for the kids will be resolved this week! They'll go from a 75 minute bus ride down to less than 15! They'll have 1 day each week when they'll still be on a long time, but we can handle one day!

16. That its my BFF's birthday today!! I seriously thank God for the day she was born - we've been friends since I was 3 years old and although we might not see each other as often as we'd like, we talk every week and know we'll be there in an instant if we need each other. Happy Birthday Lisa!

And things I'm NOT loving these days:

1. The continued negativity towards teachers and schools and all the cuts we keep on taking.

2. Twitter - I'm just over it. I get a few mobile updates and I hear the beep and just clear the screen. I only read it if I'm really bored.

3. I never seem to have time to go grocery shopping. And when I do...I barely have time to pull coupons together.

4. Waking up with a sore neck and shoulder Every. Single. Morning. Ugh! I need a new pillow!

5. That after having several months of great looking skin and high hopes that maybe Adam's eczema was starting to fade....as soon as the weather turned cooler and he showed signs of teething, his chin is breaking out again and the spots on his elbows are coming back, too. Hoping we can keep it under control this winter!!

Rowin' Down the River

2011-09-19T00:01:00.000-04:00

Last summer, Paul went kayaking with some friends and has been wanting to go again ever since. We had talked about going earlier in the summer but it didn't happen. Then we found a canoe/kayak launch not too far from home and finally found time just before summer's end to head down the river.

It was my first time kayaking and I'll admit, I was a little nervous. I'd canoed countless times but for some reason, the idea of being in a kayak, by myself, made me really nervous. As we met the Kayak guy at the park and drove to the drop off point, I sat quietly in the van, wondering how deep the river was, if I'd tip over and how hard it would be to paddle myself down the river.

The first 15 minutes gave me some time to get acquainted to the paddles and kayak and I started to relax, pick up speed and realize I was going to be ok. We had a beautiful morning - started off in the upper 60s with lots of sun and hit the 70s by the time we got off the river. We were the only ones on the river, got to see some wildlife and had a chance to just enjoy nature and each other. (Plus it was a great workout!)

We were on the river for about 2 hours then had a nice lunch at a quaint little Crepe place we'd been wanting to try and then caught a movie before we picked up the kids. (We made a date of one of the days they were in daycare before I went back to work.) We had a really great time and definitely hope to do it again next summer.

Getting on the river

Proof I was there too!

A beautiful morning

Turtles!

Some of the wildlife included this beautiful White Crane

We were told there was a Bald Eagle's nest along the river but we never caught sight of it.

Getting back towards town and passing the ferry boats

Water Lilies

Picture Pages

2011-09-16T00:01:00.001-04:00

Does anyone remember the Picture Pages segment that Bill Cosby used to do? Can anyone else still sing the jingle that went with that? Did I totally just date myself on the fact that I do recall that and some of you that read this don't have any clue what I'm talking about?

Anyways....

Its late and I'm tired but just thought I'd throw out some random photos from the past few weeks since I don't think I can put any intelligent thoughts together after working all day, going back to work for Open House and then heading to my Moms of Multiples meeting. Left at 7:15am, home finally around 10:15pm. *yawn*

Sarah's drawing of the 3 bears from Goldilocks. The heart shaped things in the middle are their pillows and the stuff at the top right is the sky. She drew beds, chairs and bowls on another paper, cut them out and glued it all together.

Our yummy Asian Pear tree

Paul is putting a new brick walkway from the driveway to the deck.

Love these ladies!! Jacob and Sarah's last day of Preschool with Miss Danielle and Miss Leah.

Photo complete with blue lips due to snow cones!

Mama's boy

And Mama's girl

Tired, cuddly buddy

Look out Luke! Adam's going to eat you!!

My fellow Moms of Multiples - our board for this year.

What a great bunch of friends!

Running (wo)man

2011-09-15T00:01:00.002-04:00

So, I have this weird desire to be a runner. Not to just run for exercise, but to be able to say "I can Run x# miles. Without stopping."

Source

I'm not really sure why this is a new goal of mine. I've never been a good runner. Even back when I was in the best shape of my life in high school, I couldn't run any distance for any length of time without stopping and I was never fast enough to beat anyone in a sprint either. I was always an athlete - basketball, volleyball, track, etc - but never a runner. I've never had any endurance and now with a bad knee - its even harder to accomplish. (I tore my ACL in college playing IM basketball.)

But...yet...my latest goal (along with losing weight and getting in shape) is to run. To be able to run 1 mile without stopping (and in a reasonable amount of time). To complete a 5K race. And ultimately? To run in the 10 mile Crim race.

Our city hosts a huge 10 mile race every August. It just celebrated 35 years of success and it just keeps getting bigger each year. Its pretty amazing, really. Kenyans come to run in it! So many people I know and work with run or walk it each year. The course goes right by my school and the blue race line is a frequent reminder of my desire to one day do this race. And I don't just want to walk it - I want to run it!

Source

I've been walking on the treadmill all summer and steadily increasing my pace and distance. I tried running intervals earlier this summer but my knees didn't want to work with me so I gave up on that idea for a while. But recently, I've been feeling stronger and trying to run more again. I'm up to doing intervals: 2 minutes running and 1 minute walking for 20-30 minutes and I'm feeling pretty good! I'm running at a 6.0-6.2 mph pace and then walking around a 3.5 mph pace to catch my breath. I'd really like to increase the time and distance and eventually see if I can cut out those 'walk' periods.

I got in 2.5-3 miles the other day doing that pace in 30 minutes. It definitely felt much easier than it did even a month ago. And? My knees felt ok! I figure if I keep training all fall and winter, I could do a 5K in the spring and then seriously get in the Crim next summer! Can I really do 10 miles? I don't know but I really want to try!

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Soo....I actaully wrote this post the other day and had it ready to post today - but something happened. I was at the gym yesterday - I only had 25 minutes to get on the treadmill before I had to pick the kids up from daycare. I planned to do 2:1 intervals again but then thought "Maybe I can try for 3 minutes and see how I do...." So I did.

And then I thought..."I'm doing ok - maybe I can keep going and make it 4 minutes..." And I did!

5 minutes? Nah...I probably can't keep going to make it 5 minutes. But...I did!!

6? Doubt it! Oh wait, I can!!

Then when I hit 7 minutes...I was at .79 miles and Soooo close to a mile that I couldn't stop then!! So I didn't!

And within 11 minutes - I hit 1 mile - running non stop!!!

I know running 1 mile, nonstop, to some people is just a warm up - but for me this is a pretty big accomplishment and I'm super excited!!

source

Say What?!?!

2011-09-14T00:01:00.038-04:00

There's obviously been a lot of talk about kindergarten around here the past 2 weeks. Poor Adam so wants to be a part of this exciting new adventure with his big siblings. He's thankfully doing ok at going to daycare on his own and hearing about school, but he keeps telling us "Adam go to Kindergarten, too! Adam ride the school bus!?"

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Speaking of buses...poor Jacob and Sarah have been stuck on their bus for some long periods of time. Their morning ride is about 45 minutes and their afternoon trek has been about 75 minutes so far (I'm told it'll get better.) Jacob told me the second day that he was tired and "asked driver for a bed." Sarah told me "the bus ride was sooo long and sooo boring and I was sooo hungry and tired. I almost fell over asleep in my seat."

Another day, she told me she was really tired and wanted to go to sleep but was worried they'd forget to drop her off at daycare. I told her their teachers would call if they forgot and that the bus driver should remember. Plus, Jacob rarely naps so he'd likely be awake to remind the driver to stop for them. Plus, he told her she'd wake up "when the REALLY LOUD doors open!"

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This past Friday night, the kids and I were invited to a Bridal Shower/kitchen party for their Preschool teacher, Miss Leah. At first, I was just going to take Sarah, but Leah suggested I bring Jacob too as another friend of his would likely be there. PLUS...they were making a giant cookie. I asked him if he wanted to go since his friend would be there. He seemed interested but when I told him about the cookie? He replied "Boooiiiinnng!" Of COURSE I want a giant cookie!"

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Adam has not been interested in bedtime this past week and put up a fuss several nights. One evening, Daddy put him to bed and he was mad because he wanted Mommy to put him to bed. He was crying and yelling for me for several minutes and then? the crying seemed to get louder...and closer...and there he was - standing in the hallway. (He's still in a crib.) Paul put him back in his bed and about 5 minutes later, he climbed out again and came looking for me. The next night, I put him to bed but he was mad because I wouldn't let him take a library book to bed with him. Once again, he cried and yelled for me: "Mommy! come back!" Mommy! Come Back!!!" and then proceeded to climb out of bed and wander into the hallway. The next morning, he climbed out as I was in his room, getting his clothes out for school. He climbed out and then said, very proudly: "Mommy! I cyimb outta bed! Yeah! I did it!" I had to burst his bubble and tell him it was NOT a "yeah" kind of thing!

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Jacob and Sarah were awake before we were Saturday morning and while I lay in bed, dozing on and off, I heard them playing "school" in their room. (So cute!) I heard them re-enacting parts of their day, one being the teacher and telling the other to sit on the carpet and remember the rules. Then I heard Sarah say that after they read a story, they'd go to the gym to "extracise."

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We went out to dinner with some friends this weekend and Miss Leah watched the kids for us. When we got home, she told us that they'd been playing trains downstairs and Adam brought her "Mighty Mac." She asked him "Why does he have 2 faces?" to which Jacob replied "That's how God made trains!"