I am such a Klutz!!!

Some days it really takes a lot of effort to pick yourself up off the ground and still have a good day.  So after his 4 day weekend we were totally not prepared to go back to school.  We had everything together except for a hat and the bus drove past the house as I walked back to the door to go out and wait.  Since the bus stops at the next house I tried to run out into the yard where I could be seen and I tripped over my feet and skinned my knee and elbow instead. ((who does that three times in a year, really....ouch this is starting to really hurt)) Sometimes I do wonder if the bus driver is so relieved that Aiden is not outside by the road, that she intentionally doesn't slow down, just in case we are on the way out.  Needless to say I drove Aiden to school, bum leg hurting all the way there and back.  After Icing my knee for a couple of hours it stopped hurting as bad, so at least that weas nice...LoL... is it any wonder that my kids are so klutzy? LoL
 

Due to the snowstorm and Holiday, I was late registering Aiden for Kindergarten.... ooops....At least I sent the papers with him today and now all I have to do is schedule a physical for him and buy school supplies and he will be set. ((that doesn't sound too bad, LoL))  He also brought home his very first report card today.  It is 11 pages long and I was very proud to see that he has mastered the skills that took up the first 9 pages, there is 1 page of items he is working on, and 2/3 of a page he has not started to work on yet.  The other thing I found interesting is that there is a disclaimer on the  most children will not complete all of the pages by the end of pre-school as they are the milestones that should be hit by age 6.   I have wondered before if he is acting up in class because he is bored and it is more fun to do what he wants even if it does mean getting in trouble.  I have always been alarmed by the knowledge that Aiden gains daily and I am so proud of everything he has accomplished.
 

For J Spring semester started today, he got lucky and didn't have to start the semester with physics due to the recent snow storm, but tomorrow will be a big day for him.  I have not taken the chance to brag on J for awhile, but I want to say that I am sooo proud of him for getting Dean's List for this past fall semester!!!! Even with everything else that was going on, he still focused and worked hard and made it for a second time!!!  WTG Babe!!! I believe in you always!!!

The girls are finally getting used to having their freedom and are now laying themselves down for a nap when they get tired.  Today Izzy and Emma were fighting and telling each other off and the next time we looked in on them Izzy was passed out on Emma's bed ((usually she falls out in the floor)) Emma decided to give in today and laid down when she decided Izzy was sleeping rathre she liked it or not ((she did crash in the floor)) :)

and the chaos continues....

So yesterday I was talking about Aiden and the battles we are fighting and I would like to say that he was pretty good today.  We had a very full day and we were all up at the crack of dawn to get a lot of stuff done. ((imagine if you can - J walking out of the bedroom to be greeted by Aiden fully equipped with his new transformers bicycle helmet taunting his sisters through the gate across the hall... before 7am at that.... hehehehe makes me giggle to picture it)) After breakfast and getting dressed we headed out to Mom's to get an early start on her chicken coop project and get some errands taken care of.   J started working on framing up the remaining walls and I took the rest of the crew and Mom to the river house to pick up a door for the chicken coop, then we dropped off the truck tire to have a nail hole repaired and finally we went to Lowe's to get the rest of our supplies for the coop.  When we got back I helped to hold some boards in place as they were nailed together and mark boards for cutting so that we could make a real dent in this project. ((There is still quite a bit to do, but things are coming together, for now it will have to wait until next weekend before we can work on it again))  I was supposed to get the grocery shopping done, but forgot my card at home ((and of course didn't realize it until after we had already made one trip back for a door) and J had to go back out to do the shopping and then pick up the girls before coming home. ((I came home for work at 4:30 this evening)) Whew... What a day!!

I did get some pictures of our snow storm on 1/18/2013.  We got about 4-5 inches of snow at it's fluffiest ;) , which ended up being an icy 2-3 inches the next day.  Aiden had almost lost hope that we were going to be able to make a snowman when we tried one last time and it was the right consistency..... Our snowman turned out looking kinda dirty, but at least we got to make him!! ((and Aiden got to knock him down a couple of days later))  I think Aiden's favorite part of snow is catching it in a bowl and then adding juice to make a homemade slurpie.  He also loves throwing snowballs of course and just being outside and touching and exploring his world in a frozen state.  I am grateful that the  homeopathic cough and cold medicine and the humidifier seem to be "keeping the mucus moving" as the nurses put it and he has been able to enjoy the cold weather and it hasn't slowed him down at all.

The girls seem to have decided that if they get to choose,  morning starts when the sun thinks about coming up.  I am not real excited about this, but I think I am going to give in and see how hard it really is to adapt to less sleep.  I am definitely more tired close to the end of my shift, so winding down may take less time at least.  Anyone that knows me, knows I have never EVER been a morning person, so maybe a pre-morning schedule will be better... LoL.... one can only hope anyways.   If nothing else I can at least look at the light at the end of the tunnel -- when J is done with spring semester there will be a chance for a change of pace. ((Poor guy even tried letting the girls stay up later.  They just got up earlier))  For right now though we are about to dive into a new semester and for the first time J will be taking classes 5 days a week and we will hardly see each other.  I am hoping to celebrate surviving those 15 weeks with a much deserved date for our anniversary.  We are almost to the 6 year mark and on our way to 12.5 years as a couple :)
 

Now, I know I have been complaining about Aiden a lot lately and not saying much about the girls.....and no they are not being perfect little angels like they should be.  They have been behaving for a couple of days again, but we are still battling to keep clothes on them.  I even tried putting their sleepers on backwards with the zipper up their back and Emma just tackled Isabella to unsnap and unzip her sleeper for her.  Isabella was at least kind enough not to return the favor, which did seem to miff Em just a little... LoL.... They have started trying out new words and can count to three, which is something pretty cool their Daddy taught them.  It is so cute listening to Emma trying to say her colors and new words, but she is particular and does not perform on command, she will only talk when she feels like it.  Isabella seems to annunciate better than Emma does, but alas she doesn't perform on command either...LoL....

Ok I getting super tired and almost delirious so I will go for now and I will try to come back and visit again tomorrow ;)
 

Chaos, Chaos, everywhere!

Things around here have been so chaotic I don't even know where to start this time. Let's see, last week started with Aiden not feeling good and acting out at school. From what I can get out of him, he didn't really get to join his classmates for any of their daily activities and was sent to the principals office 4 times in 1 1/2 days at school.  That was followed up by a snow day on Friday and a Holiday on Monday, making a long 4 day weekend. ((I even had to miss work on Friday, due to the internet being out)) Things do seem to go better at home when Aiden is allowed to stick to one of us like glue and be allowed to be involved in everything we do, but we really want him to be able to entertain himself, as well as be able to play nicely with others.  Take this morning for instance, I got up and got breakfast for all of the kids and laid back down for a cat nap while they got their grub on.  After they finished eating Aiden discovered a bottle of baby powder low enough to reach and proceeded to dump it over his sisters, their booster chairs and the living room as well.  Now I was not happy with Aiden's choices, but I was very proud when he came in to get me back up and said "Mommy I did something that I know I should not have done."  For one I am ecstatic that he admitted his mistake, he did not lie and he realized it was wrong.  Those three things show me that he is starting to think about his actions and is growing and maturing, too.  Maybe there is some hope for that kid after all ;) LoL  He can actually be two totally different kids at times.  Sometimes there is the mean spiteful Aiden that hurts and acts ugly and then there is the innocent, sweet Aiden that is just curious about the world around him.  Take for instance, the incident this morning.  This afternoon Aiden looked at me and said "sisters and I had fun playing with the baby powder, Mommy." in a very meek sincere tone.  When I asked him about it, they all had a good time and Aiden realized he was in serious trouble when he looked around at the mess they had made.  Isabella took the brunt of the baby powder and looked like a china doll  with dusty white hair and powder white skin.  I would love to be a fly on the wall sometimes, to see if he targets her or if she provokes him with her enthusiasm. 

I am super excited to see that my blog is almost up to 5000 views since I started it!!! I hope everyone has enjoyed the pictures and stories and I hope ou keep coming back for more... I am tired and have a full day tomorrow working on helping to design a chicken coop and a few other errands, so I will be back again later, but for now, Have a great day!!!

Monday, Monday !

Yay! for another Monday!  For me this means one more day of work and I get two days off.  Wednesday and Thursday make an interesting weekend schedule when you mix it into the family chaos, but it works and I am happy that my weekend is almost here again. Monday also means that we get the preschool newsletter for the upcoming weeks focus and last weeks news. 

The kids worked really hard to raise money to get a rock wall installed in the gym this year and last week the teacher had reminded all parents to turn in the permission forms so she could allow them to play on the rock wall.  When I asked Aiden if he had gotten to play on the rock wall ((as suggested in the newsletter)) I was told " No, my teacher said I couldn't play because I am mean" and when I looked over he looked sad.  Now Aiden does play rough and most of the time when he "hurts" someone else it is an accident or simply that he does not quite understand the impact size has on strength, but sometimes when he is mad he will lash out.  He is a kid and he is still learning why that is not ok.  It makes me wonder if she directly called him mean or if he has decided that he is mean based on how he is being reprimanded.  Either way it is sad and concerns me.  I will have to remember to ask her about this one day and work on really praising Aiden when he is nice. 

We also got information on Kindergarten registration in Aiden's book bag today.  It is pretty cool that we don't have to go to registration since he is already a student in the preschool, but for the other parents in Roanoke County that have a child entering Kindergarten it should be sometime this week.  For Glenvar Elementary it will be on Thursday and Friday this week from 9am til 3pm. ((January 17th and 18th))  Even though Aiden has already been in preschool for a few months now, all day, at school and rides the bus even.....It still makes me take pause when I think about him really starting school.

Now for the "Freebies" that the local momma's watch for ...... Mark your calendars for the "Tons of Fun" event at Tanglewood mall.  This year there will all sorts of free activities starting at 10am and running all day til 4pm.  There will be indoor games, karaoke, rides, costumed characters, hands-on activities, entertainment and more suitable for all ages. This year there will also be a "Camp Fair" that will allow parents to meet with representatives of summer camps throughout the region and get information on  camps that you might be interested in for the upcoming summer break.  Last but not least..... There will also be door prizes that will include free weeks at camp.  So come one and come all ((and make sure to bring your kids)) for a day full of fun and activities FREE with door prizes, how can you beat that deal???

Mommy Won this round!!!

So far we have survived a few napless days and a few late nights with toddler beds, but this morning when the pitter patter of little feet started before the sun came up, it was not a welcome sound.....They didn't care.  They were awake and soon the rest of us were too ((They even got up before Aiden did and after working til 2am and winding down til 3am I was not impressed)) :( grrrrr grumble grumble grumble.....((not only did I work late, I also got up and worked 11:30 am - 1 pm for some extra hours))... Since it has been so hard to keep the girls in bed at night time, we haven't even been attempting naps.  Those often turned into an extended time-out rest period where no one was fighting with anyone else since they were all isolated in their own little space.  For the past few days, nap time has been some time in their room for the girls and since Aiden has been sick, either tablet time or TV time.  Today though, since the girls got up so early and they had started to get cranky early, I decided to give nap time a try again and this time I was more persistent.  We started at 1pm, I would lay them down, walk away, walk back, lay them down, walk away, walk back, on and on and on, til I finally gave up after an hour and told them they still had to stay in their room for nap time.  Though this does not provide them much rest because they are stubborn, it does give me a break......most of the time anyway.  As I sat down to take in an episode of One Tree Hill while Aiden played on the tablet, I heard the indistinguishable sound of little feet coming down the hallway.  After putting the girls back in their room several more times I took away the toys that they were standing on to make climbing  over the gate possible, or so I thought.  So what do they do next next? They just climb over the gate with no assistance. ((of course they do))  At this point I am at my wits end trying to figure out how to win this battle, when I remembered how we got Aiden to stay in his room when we had this battle a few years ago.  I had Aiden stand guard at the gate while I went down to the basement.  When I came back to crying babies they calmed momentarily as I approached, until they figured out Mommy was adding another gate.  As mean as it seemed, they found out Mommy was the boss when I stacked two gates in their doorway to be able to keep them in their room. I WON!!! After a lot of crying and screaming and fit throwing it started to get just a little more quiet.  Izzy gave up first and laid down across a pillow in the floor, out cold.  Emma was upset that Izzy gave up but was rubbing her eyes.  All it took was putting her in the bed one last time and Wa-La we had peace and quiet for exactly 10 mins. LoL 

My poor boy is still feeling icky :(

Aiden is still sick today, but even when he is sick he doesn't slow down.  His fever was down to a high of 100.5, mid-day today, and a dose of Ibuprophen kept it away for the rest of the day.  However, he was bouncing off the walls with cabin fever.  Lucky for all of us we had really nice weather today and I was able to let him get some fresh air for about 30 mins.   Being the boy that his is he spent most of his time catching and messing with the elder bugs on the front of the house.   Even sick like he has been Aiden has actually been behaving more frequently than before ((knock on wood)).  I was super impressed at Aiden's good behavior today!! Though he did have his bad moments ((roaring at his sisters, teasing them, going in their room while he is sick, getting bath water all over the floor,)) he also had a lot of good moments today too.  This morning while I was getting cereal for the kids Aiden saw that Emma had snagged a coloring book and a crayon and that Izzy didn't have either, so he took his drawing pad and one of his twistables to her so she could color too.  It was a really sweet gesture especially since he is very possessive most of the time.  Poor guy has been pretty bummed that he is sick and is not being allowed to interact with his sisters as much as normal. ((as much as he as pretends not to like them it is apparent his misses playing with them))  We did give him more cough and cold medicine before bed and put the Vicks Humidifier in his room to help with his horrible sounding cough.  So hopefully, he will feel better in the morning.

As for the girls, Izzy is ok with this bed thing, and very thankful for the blanket and pillow that she falls out on several times a night.  It is sooooo nice that she only resists bedtime for maybe 30 minutes and then gives in and lays down.  Emma on the other hand is very persistent and will get up several times before she gives in and lets us claim victory.  We are being very steadfast and consistent and I am hoping that once they get this down they will be more agreeable with this process in the future and ready to tackle the next challenge.   After this comes the potty training of two at once.  I am really hoping that one is going to catch on really fast and teach the other one what's going on.  Maybe? Could we get so lucky? At least they will always sit and pee and I won't have to worry about the additional chance of sitting on a wet toilet seat! ((That really has to be one of my least favorite things about having a little boy that is not concerned about aiming!))

Time is flying by again!

I am starting to work some extra hours and soem nights I don't have the energy to polish off a good post, so keep watching and I will put out more stories maybe just not as often as before.  I have noticed that my life has been very chaotic lately and I am hoping it will slow down a little one day, but since that is not in the cards for any time soon I love that I still have time to blog fairly often.  So anyways, it has been a few days since my last post and I had a lot on my mind. I hope you can look past the length of the writing and enjoy hearing about some of the precious moments in my life.

My girls are growing up so fast, it really seems like just yesterday that they were babies and now they are in toddler beds. Yup, that's right the bars have come down and freedom has prevailed over danger.  Last night was our first night with no side rails.  It took about an hour For Izzy to give up and go to sleep, Emma proceeded to cover her in toys and whack her about the head until she woke back up again.  Luckily Izzy went back to sleep quickly and Emma gave up by the end of the second hour.

As we go through this transition with the girls it takes me back a few years to when we were doing this with Aiden.  I remember taking the rail off his bed and fighting with him for several days just to put his crib back together again.  I am hoping that the girls are not going to follow in the steps of many multiples and cause us to lose our minds through this transition.

Poor Aiden got sent home from school after getting sick at lunch on Thursday.  He is on day two of fever (around 101-102 when it gets high) and a horrible sounding congested cough.  It has been rough on him to be semi-quarantined, but after the last round of stomach whatever that went through our house we would rather not move on to the next illness quite yet.

Where does the time go... it seems as each day goes by we can understand the things our girls say more and more often.  Though Emma doesn't seem to annunciate as much as Izzy, she is definitely louder.  Just this morning Aiden ran off with his new twistable crayons and Izzy chased after him saying "Hey, you, bring that back here,"  now you had to be listening to hear it, but her words were crystal clear and she was very matter-of-fact sounding, just quiet.  Obviously she also loves to color and has taken to saying "color" when she is done with breakfast to let you know that is what she wants to do next.  Once they are given a coloring book and a crayon, they will color for a good little while sitting at their table in the living room (Izzy can sit still and color for a lot longer than Emma, but she comes back after a quick dance or expedition to the kitchen and back).  Emma's current favorite phrases are "Thang-Ou" (thank you) and  "OkAy" and of course "Derrygo" (there you go- be careful though she might just hand you a booger!! LoL -- can't wait till we get to the full on tissue stage)  Her favorite thing to do is run into the kitchen and play with all the magnets.  We even have a leap pad thing that you put the letters in and it sings a little song or the alphabet and she will play the songs over and over and just dance around the kitchen. Izzy has also taken up Aiden's habit of saying "No"  much to our dismay, now most of the time she runs off to do what she was told, but really was it necessary to say "No" first?  

I talked a bit about getting our finances under control this year and figuring out exactly where we stand.  There are a lot of you out there that figured I would know that sort of thing, but in my case I seem to be the person that has some big medical issue at least once a year and for whatever reason no matter what I do I always end up in the ER because we have not had a family doctor.  This gets expensive and extra money is not something that is common in our household.  So one change we are making is to establish a family Dr. and hopefully this will prevent future visits to the ER, thus lowering our medical expenses.  J is also insisting that we get the kids a local pediatrician.  At least it will save some time and gas money, but if there was ever a pediatricians office I would recommend, it would be the one in Radford Dr. Wallace and Dr. Preedom are excellent Dr's and are very easy to talk to .  I have never had to take the kids to the ER and have always been able to get answers from a doctor whenever I was concerned no matter the hour.  So in an effort to hold onto some momentum our major change for January is going to be getting a family Dr. for J and I.   We are also working on organizing everything, but that process is slow and sometimes a bit overwhelming. 

I have started in on Valentines Day now that we are starting into the 3rd week of January.   I pulled out the wallpaper books again today and Aiden and I cut out hearts in green, purple and pink.  The scrap triangles went into the shape sorting boxes and I realized it is time to clean out the closet again and reorganize our arts and crafts supplies.  Aiden and I had fun making Valentines crafts and gifts last year and I am working on finding some new ideas for this year.

Well, it has finally happened

Well, it has finally happened.  Up until now when the girls decided to remove their diapers at least they were just pee-pee diapers.  Now we knew that the girls had been in the mood to take their clothes off early on in the day and when they were laid down for bed not only did they have full body sleepers on they were also wearing a onesie on underneath.  This is usually enough to deter them from stripping down, but not last night.... Oh No, not one bit. In fact I woke up to the hubby (rather calmly) telling me we had a baby in the next room over covered from head-to-toe in poop.  Not only had she removed the sleeper, she then proceeded to unsnap the onsie so that she could remove and apparently play with the soiled diaper.  At least with the pee-pee diapers she has only shredded one of them, most of the time they are just tossed in the floor and if we are lucky we are there to put a new diaper on before they have to go again. J said she has officially inherited the nick-name his Grandaddy so lovingly bestowed upon him "shitbirt".

After cleaning up the poopy kid and poopy bed we settled back into our normal morning routine, breakfast and then some free play time and dancing to youtube videos.  After dancing and holding babies I became curious to know what their stats were and boy was I shocked.  Now I knew that Emma was taller than Izzy (34" vs. 33") but I was surprised to find out that Emma weighs 26.6 lbs. vs Izzy's 25.4 lbs. Now I know 1.2 lbs. should not really make that much different, but there is something about the way Izzy sits in my arms that she just feels heavier than Em.  I also find it interesting that they started their lives the same height and now the little sister has become the bigger sister.

Aiden went on a road trip to Dayton!!!

Some days being a parent can be an overwhelming job.  There is always someone that needs something and always some sort of chore that you should really be doing instead of relaxing.  The days that even one of the kids is away still feels like it is missing something, but it good for them to get the chance to do special things with their Grandma's.

This weekend has been different for me, because I haven't seen my little man very much of it at all.  On Friday night he got to go out with his Grandma to see his very first movie in theaters (Monsters Inc 3D) on Saturday I worked some extra hours and then he got up Sunday morning and took a road trip with his Grandma Dee-Dee and Uncle Michael to visit his Great-Grandma Peggy, Aunt Cara and Grace all day. ((Merry Christmas -- I hope you enjoyed your gifts and seeing Aiden, wish the rest of us could have come, but hopefully we will all be there next time.))

From what I hear they had a spectacular time!  Not only did they get to visit and check out bunches of cows (Aiden even let a calf suck on his finger) and play in the snow.  Aiden even managed to get his Great-Grandma in on the snowball fight. I am so happy that he was able to go on this excursion, but even though it was my idea to send him, I still thought about him and waited for him to come home all day long.  It was great to see his smiling face and get a good report from his Grandma Dee-Dee to boot.
 
 

Recently J and I have started watching One Tree Hill, an awesome TV series BTW, from the beginning after catching the last few seasons of the series on air. It has been neat to go back to the beginning of the whole story and find out how things came to be and the sequence of events that lead up to each change.  If you have never seen Tree Hill, I would recommend this show whole-heartedly.  ((I will warn you though that once you are hooked it's gonna take awhile to watch them all.)) :D

Let's see, what else? The kids are growing by leaps and bounds. Aiden grew like 4 inches in 4 months, I know cRaZy right!!! Izzy and Emma love music as much as their big brother and are too adorable when they dance.  J and I got our first tablet for Christmas and we love it sooo much.  

We have decided to try an electronic calendar now that we have the tablet.  I have always carried a schedule book in my pocketbook and had a calendar in the kitchen, but now that I don't drive to work I rarely seem to have my planner and the calendar ran out of months. Oooops.  I remember when I was a child everyone sent out calendars, we literally had calendars running out our ears by the end of January.  Now, not so much.  So electronic calendar here we come.... I have started with the basic Samsung Calendar App which was already on the tablet... So far I like it ok, but I am thinking there may be better options out there.  I may have to do some research into this.
 

Tonight I have scattered pictures, courtesy of Momma, of their trip to Dayton, VA from January 5, 2013! Thank- you so much for sharing your fun experience with all of us. :)

I am back!!!

So Aiden got a snake that you put in water and it grows.... the catch is it takes 5 days to get to full size.  Now since I don't have a water trough I have it soaking in the bathtub instead. (we just leave some water in the bottom between baths and showers)  I wonder if I should have told the Hubby that it is there... kinda hoping it scares him just a bit... LoL -- Thanks Larry ;)

Aiden had 2/3 good days at school this week and has been good on the bus ride to school every day.  I am proud of him and have seen a lot of progress with good behavior since we have started using a reward system.  It has been tough for him to accept that he doesn;t get a reward that we buy, but he really enjoyed going to the movies ((for the first time ever)) with his Grandma tonight. They went to Salem Valley 8 and got to see Monsters Inc in 3D.  How awesome and he even behaved so well he earned 3 smiles just during the time he was with her.

Aiden's been singing new songs!

Aiden and his cousin Logan on New Year's Day 2013! They are finally growing up and learning how to enjoy each others company.  Aiden has been going around singing some of his favorite songs and I wonder sometimes if he sings them at school too.  They are all country songs, but I kinda wonder what his teachers might think of some of the lyrics coming from a 4 year old.  At least he isn't cursing, I guess. Here are his top 3 favorite songs. I love 'em and so does J and sissies too.

"Homeboy"

"Creepin'"

and "Drink in my hand"

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!!! Welcome to Aiden's can castle.  Surprisingly enough this entertained he for about 30 muntes and he organized the cans when he put them away too!!! I bribed him with smilies for his behavior recognition notebook to clean up and organize, but hey I can still find thngs in my cabinets... LoL :D

I can't wait to go to Mom's for lunch tomorrow! We will have a traditional meal of corned beef and cabbage!  ((you're missing out Christy))

Aiden got so messy with his Diamond Hill chili dog, but he loved every bite.  **Funny story: I was making lunch today and I made the girls a PB&J sandwich and Aiden informed me he does not like peanut butter.  To his dad chagrin he loves peanut butter and pickle sandwiches, problem solved... It's been a favorite of mine for years too.

I was excited to hear that the bill to prevent us from falling from the fiscal cliff is almost ready.... I'm not holding my breath, but on a more serious note, I have decided that this year my resolution is to figure out where I am financially and get a better understanding of what we spend our money on and see where we can save.

I am also going to start studying photography by reading some books and trying out the techniques I can with the limited equiptment that I have.  I want to learn about lighting first and how to adjust it properly.

Happy New Years!!!! Welcome to 2013!!!