The Start of A New School Year

This year I have a second grader, a kindergartener, and a preschooler. I have to admit I was a bit overwhelmed when the boxes of curriculum came. Two big boxes and I pulled book after book out. However, I was also excited at what my kiddos would be learning. Thank goodness for the teacher's manuals so I can help them correctly learn. :)

Kassie is all excited about going through her books and is already asking if she can do more! That is where Charlie was until he actually HAS to do it! LOL They are doing well so far - still trying to find a decent schedule. Dan is home during the morning to keep the girls busy will I work with the boys and then we usually find time while Tessa is napping to finish if we hadn't already. Tessa even has to do stuff too......

Needless To Say....

So Charlie says to me the other day...."Mom, I need to go to the eye doctor." I asked why? He says, "Because we have no carrots in the house and the flashlights in my eyes are going out because you know that carrots are the only thing that recharge the flashlights in my eyes." I asked if I could just go shopping for carrots. He said, "Yes, I guess that would be fine." Needless to say, this morning's trip to the grocery store included carrots...

Yesterday, this was overheard...."You are not a robot, you are just a regular old girl." Kassie was pretending to be a robot and Charlie wasn't happy with her, so he told her she couldn't be a robot. Needless to say, she didn't listen.

The other day, I took out some lego kits the kids "lost" and now the quote of the morning is: "Can this day get any better?" Needless to say, they left them laying around and lost them again. That didn't take long....

Last Saturday we went on a bike ride and had a couple friends over after for supper. I gave the kids freezies afterwards and Kassie shimmied up next to Wayne and asked, "Do YOU want a freezie?" It was hilarious how she did it. Needless to say, we all got a good laugh out of it AND Dan is polishing his guns more because his little girl - who only turns three at the end of the month - is already flirting.

Como Zoo Trip

Took two of my nieces with me to Como Zoo with some friends of mine...the kids had a blast. We had a nice picnic lunch and then walked around to see the animals. It was a little on the warm side but not too bad. Most of the animals were on the lethargic side and not very active.

T was in the stroller sleeping when this pic was taken that is why she was not in there.

K says she loves the giraffes, I think they are her favorites...but the orangutan mother came right down to the glass in front of her and she thought that was cool too. The boys both loved said they loved the polar bear but they both just kinda laid around...wish they had been swimming...then they really would have thought they were cool. It was a great trip - looking forward to going again...maybe this time in September or October.

Updates on the Family....

We have a very busy summer ahead of us already! Most of our weekends are booked with two, three and four things to do...choosing is going to be hard and we will try to get everything in that we have planned but hopefully we can find some time to relax and enjoy it as well. Here are the updates and current pics.......

Dan just got back from a shark fishing trip with his family - still waiting on pictures (will post when I get them). He caught two sharks - not the dangerous kind :) And is now looking forward to his new job - see previous post.

D is finishing up Kindergarten...if I could get him to do more than the minimum we could finish up early but it is like pulling teeth most days. He knows what he needs to do and can do it quickly but gets "bored" with it. He is already using the "bored" word - anything but art is boring to him - he already went through over one ream of paper for drawing in less than six months.

It is great to see them get along with each other (for the most part!).

C is loving playing with the Dragon toys and being Batman. He is very into SuperHeros (along with his brother) - that is one thing that I didn't expect to have to know when becoming a Mom - all the SuperHeros! Everyone plays a role... He loves his little sisters and is very protective of them. Super Brother!!!

K is amazing me everyday with the things that she is learning. She can recognize a lot of the letters and can count (with some help) past 15. Now if she could figure out that everything isn't yellow we would be good. ~JK~ She is a girlie, tomboy(if possible) who loves to wear dresses and walk on her tiptoes but also loves dinosaurs and dirt. She graduated from the crib to the big bed - currently in the same room as the boys since her room still needs to be finished.

T is almost four months! She is smiling and cooing - she loves her swing and just watching the rest of them run around. She loves her big brothers and the kisses and hugs she gets from them. It is so fun to watch her interact with K - they will both sit and giggle at each other! Can't wait until they are best of friends...

Here are a couple of family pics from a recent trip to Munsinger Gardens....

And that is the update on our family - we would love to hear from you for an update on yours!

Wisconsin Dells Fun

Sometimes I think that I never want to go on vacation - because I usually need a vacation from my vacation. And, while I still feel like I need that restful time after the vacation, we had so much fun going to Wisconsin Dells. I invited some friends of ours to join us in going because that way the kids would have someone to play with - and so would the BIG kids. I am so glad that the Pedersons could join us...we had so much fun.

We arrived Sunday - at the townhouse at Christmas Mountain in Wisconsin Dells - too late to do anything except unpack and order pizza - then try to get the too excited kiddos to bed - not going to happen but at least we could sleep in. Here are pictures of the kids and my big kid playing in the pool at the resort.

Daddy and K going down the big slide.

C going down the froggy slide all by himself.

D playing in the water as always.

K had lots of fun but also got a little banged up...she was running from Daddy when she tripped and landed on her nose - poor girl. That and almost drowning a couple of times and she was done with the water.

We also did some cookie decorating, went to Mt. Olympus, played at the playground, kite flying with Daddies, and hanging at the townhouse. I will post some more pics later...

My Boys are Bilingual...

With cartoons like Dora, Diego, and Kailan how can your kids not be somewhat biligual right? Well, D has been making up words and then saying, "That is my spanish for ________ (whatever he is talking about at the time)." So, I have gotten used to him making up words. Well, the other day, C was talking and he made up a word - I asked him what that meant, and he said, "That is my way of talking Chinese."

Now because of the cartoons, yes, they do know a few words in each of the languages. They have just expanded on their knowledge to make words of their own in the different "languages."

Homeschooling...

C finished his preschool book...he refused to stop at only a couple of pages per day...he would do as many as 15 in one day. He loves it so much that he doesn't stop. I have a drill book for him to do and another book from Walmart for preschool that I will have him do for the rest of this year but what do I do to keep him busy next year. He technically is not in Kindergarten so maybe I can just do the Walmart Kindergarten book with him and then do the actual Kindergarten books the following year. Crazy!

D on the other hand, I struggle every day to get him to do anything that he doesn't want to do. He will whine and complain about everything except Art. Now he is interested in Science so it makes it easier. I bribe him with the Arts and Sciences if he does the other subjects. I guess he is excited about his phonics since he is actually reading sentences and stories. It is the other stuff that is so "boring." I told him he is going to have a hard time in school if he thinks that way now!

Yesterday we went on a Field Trip to Cabela's - he thought that was lots of fun since that is his favorite store. And, he is looking forward to tomorrow though...we are doing some experiments with the five senses. Should be fun...I am sure that C will even get into it. Hopefully K and T will cooperate!

Falling Asleep Anyplace....

These two can sleep anywhere, but I guess that could be the case for any kid who is very tired. K fell asleep while eating lunch and C took a nap in the corner under the chair in the living room. I was looking for him and could not find him...finally D showed me where he was. I knew he was tired but usually he just keeps busy so he doesn't fall asleep. It was a nice couple of days with the naps.

Super Heros Living At My House

My boys have been into Super Heros lately...C has a Batman costume from Halloween that he now wears everyday and where ever I let him go to in it. They are into the Fantastic Four and I hear "Flame on" all day long. K has even gotten into the mix with singing "NaNa NaNaNa Na Ba'Ma'." It is too cute. She even loves putting on the head piece and cape...I'll have to get a picture except the batteries are dead in my camera right at the moment.

The only problem is sometimes D decides to be a bad man and C will go after him. C usually wins and K tries to get in on the battles too. It wouldn't be so bad except the other day I had a dream that C broke his arm and I had to take all four to the ER because Dan was gone. Now I am the Mom that keeps telling them to be careful and stop wrestling. Not a fun way to spend the day.

NaNa NaNaNa Na - Ba'Ma'

T's First Doctor Appt

T had her first doctor appointment today. She gained a whole pound in just 10 days. I knew that she was gaining weight but didn't think it was that much. She definitely looks bigger to me. She is now up to 5 pounds 15 ounces and is 18.25 inches long. Which also means that she grew an inch since she was born. Though if you look at her percentiles she is in the 1 % for weight and the 0.1% for height. It is a good thing that they adjust them for her gestational age, then she is in the 10% for weight and the 25% for height. I like those measurements better.

C had to come with me to the doctor appointment. I originally told him he needed to stay home but he started crying and said he wanted to go with T. He is so protective of her and so gentle with her. He still to some degree is like that with K - when he isn't falling down in front of her to "stop her from going." Then we went grocery shopping and of course spent way too much...

Dan's Surprise!

Dan surprised us all by coming home on Friday night - actually early morning on Saturday. I would have posted that sooner but our Sprint wireless is not working very well...it is hit or miss. Supposedly we live right next to a tower but we have never really had great service. The one guy told Dan today that we live too close to the tower - like that would make a difference. Now, they are saying that we have faulty equipment and need to exchange it...however we can't do that at the place that we bought it from and it could take up to six months if we send them back to get new equipment. Anyway, I will post more on that depending upon the outcome of what happens.

Now, back to Dan's surprise...I actually knew he was coming home that evening but I kept it from the kiddos to surprise them. They were very surprised because we were just talking about how it was going to be a while yet before he came home. D came into the bedroom to ask me what his surprise was and when Dan said, "Good Morning." I thought I was going to have to pick up his jaw off of the floor. When K woke up I sent her out and she gave Daddy the longest hug ever. C takes a little longer to wake up but he came right away and crawled up on his lap and sat for the longest time.

It is good to have him home and it was even better since Saturday morning I was not feeling very well at all...lets just say both ends were busy. It is great to all finally be home together though it has been almost four weeks since all of us were here together and now Baby T is added to the mix. She is such a good baby...eats, change diaper, goes back to sleep until next time I eat. K still sits and giggles at her - blowing kisses and waving Hi to her. C still says she is so cute and loves to hold her. D will pay attention to her once in the while but usually in his own little world.

Baby T on her way HOME!

Updates from this weekend....

Jan 23rd: I got great news when I came in today...The doctor ordered them not to gavauge (again - don't know the spelling) T and see if she could tolerate all her feedings by mouth for 24 hours. If she could then she could go home. WOOHOO! I didn't tell because I wanted to surprise the kiddos. So, she was doing all 8 feedings by mouth and she had gained 46 grams (2 ounces).

Jan 24th: She gained a whopping 96 grams (over 3 ounces) last night at weigh-in. She is taking all her feedings by mouth and she is ready to go home.... The doctor knew I was anxious to get going so he did her discharge exam before rounds and we where on our way!!! She weighed 4 pounds 8 ounces when she was born dropped down to 4 lbs 3 ozs and now leaving the hospital weighed 4 pounds just over 15 ounces.

I went to Mom and Dad's to pick up the kids (they were there for the weekend)...Mom opened the door for me but went back in to finish up some stuff in the kitchen. I walked in with baby T and said I had a surprise. Everyone ran to see - they were very surprised because last I had mentioned she wouldn't be home until tuesday which is what I was originally expecting.

The other kiddos were so excited to see her...they only saw her in pictures and for two minutes through the window of the NICU. Here are some precious pics....
D was all smiles when he saw her...so gentle and wanting to be so helpful. He is definitely a proud big brother. He kept saying that he loves his little sister....

C was so excited too....he kept saying, "She's so cute!" Which is what he said about K and he is very careful to take care of her. Hopefully that will carry over to his new little sis. I think from the picture you can see that it will.
K seems to love her little sister now...we shall see how long that will last :) She keeps pointing to T and giggling. So cute! She loves to point out her eyes, ears, mouth and nose but has to be watched very closely. She is Grandpa's girl but didn't get jealous when he held T...she just went off to play with other things and when Grandpa's lap was empty she went to sit. She loves T's passy and tries to steal it...I will have to watch this one carefully - not that she would mean harm but it might just find her.

Here are all the kiddos...what a good looking family if I have to say so myself :) It will be interesting to see what kind of personality Ms T will have...the others have such different personalities. Only time will tell.

Oh, well...I am just glad that we are all home here together again. That was getting a little wearing on all of us. I appreciate all the help from my family and friends during this time when T was in the hospital. I never could have done it without all of you - I knew that my older three were being well taken care of and I didn't have to worry about them...I could concentrate on T and getting her home. Now we are just waiting for Daddy to get home and we will all be together again....One Big Happy Family!

Snow pictures

I finally got a bunch of my pictures downloaded so I could post them. This is one of the first big snowfalls we had. K loves it outside and gets very upset if we have our coat on and she can't come with. She got new boots and the first couple times she wore them she kept tripping and falling because she was watching her boots and not where she was going...

I love the contrast of the pink against the snow...

Group Shots....Daddy was trying to help...

I love the contrast of D's jacket and the white of the snow...

C was all tuckered out afterwards but very deep in thought yet.

Pictures from the Water Park

Here are a few pictures from the Water park on C's birthday. As you can see the lazy river was a big hit for the little two. D spent as much time as he could in the Cub Tub - little kids hot tub - he likes floating on his back in there.


Sorry, the pictures are not very clear because they were taken with my phone...the camera was forgotten at home and the hotel didn't have any disposable cameras. They did have fun though...

Pictures of the Sleigh Ride

Here are we all are - ready for the sleigh ride - covered in blankets to stay nice and cozy. The weather wasn't actually too bad. The big wet snowflakes were kind of fun although C didn't really think so. K loved the horses but couldn't see them from where we were sitting so she had a few fussy spells but overall did great. D was worried about the wolves coming out of the woods to get him.Here we go...it was about a half hour ride. The horses really did work hard pulling us through the fresh snow. They deserved extra hay that night....

Well, I guess I survived another one...

Not that I know where my blood pressure is but I survived another Christmas season. It was way too hectic and things will be done differently next year but I guess you are always learning. New Year's Eve was fun - I hosted a Murder Mystery Party called "The Good, The Bad and The Guilty." It was lots of fun - especially because everyone got into dressing up to their part even though I didn't get their information to them way late. Here is a group "shot" of the motley but interesting crew....

Yesterday was the boys' birthday party along with my nephew's. It was a great time - they had lots of fun playing with their cousins...Here are a couple of pictures of their day...

K loved the cake too - at least the frosting...

I just downloaded pics of Christmas so I will have to post some of them later. I forgot the camera on Christmas Day and at the hotel for C's actual birthday...but I guess that keeps it even for forgetting the camera on D's birthday. I do have a few pics on my phone of water park so I will have to get them too. And, hopefully Uncle Bob with email me some from the sleigh ride....More postings to come...

Most of the Painting done!

Yeah! Most of my house is now painted...no more white. I love it - though the blue in my laundry room is a little brighter than I like but I think I will get used to it...The room has no windows so I wanted something that was a little brighter. The only ones left are the kid's (main) bathroom, boys bedroom and K's/baby's bedroom. I am doing murals on these though and so it will take more time - maybe have to wait until after the new year - before baby...hahaha!

I am so not ready for Christmas - though not really in the mood. I went shopping this weekend and got a lot of it done except for my kiddos because they were with. I just don't know what to get anyone anymore and I don't like giving gift certificates. We are going to be so busy from now until probably the end of January that it is just going to get crazy. Hopefully my blood pressure cooperates with this baby.

Dan's brother is coming up on Friday, Sunday is D's birthday, Monday is Dan and my anniversary, Wed is my ultrasound and Doctor appointment, then Christmas eve and Christmas day, then Saturday is C's birthday. We are doing a Murder Mystery party with friends on New Year's Eve and on New Year's Day we are having a birthday party for my two birthday boys along with my nephew whose birthday is on the first. Whew, I think I need a nap just thinking about it. Oh, yeah, my house is still a mess and not ready for company...guess I should go put the kiddos to bed and get busy....even though I would rather hit the hay too....

No rest for the wicked!

Busy last week...

We have had quite the busy week. I worked Wed - Fri, so that has consumed most of my day. Leaving early in the morning and coming home late at night then getting the kiddos ready for the next day. I fall in bed exhausted but unable to sleep.

On Tuesday, I noticed that K had what I thought was a spider bite. I squeezed it to see if anything came out and then we soaked it in the tub with her bath. Afterwards I put neosporin and a bandaid on it. The next morning before heading to work I put some more on. When I got to work I noticed that it was bleeding and getting red. By afternoon it was hard, warm and very sore to the touch - poor girl. I took her into the clinic and it was diagnosed as a skin infection. Now, recently I heard of quite a few people with staph infections and so this scared me (dreams about her being seriously ill in the hospital!). She was given antibiotics and I was told to hold warm compresses on it. WOW! what gross looking stuff came out with just the warm compresses - I was amazed! It is much better now - but I am still keeping an eye on it...

Then, I felt horrible yesterday. BAD headcold...I have not felt like that for a long time. I was hoping to get lots of rest last night but that didn't happen. Dan called me at midnight to wake me up to give K her meds (every six hours), then C crawled in bed with me, then K was up about every hour and a half. Finally I put C back in his bed and brought K in with me. I am much better today despite my lack of sleep but I think the rest of us are coming down with colds. Hopefully that is all it is with Thanksgiving coming up.

Creative KidStuff

Today, I had the opportunity (thanks to my friend Lisa) to check out a new store before it opened up to the public. It was great! We were allowed in an hour before it opened, they had breakfast yummies, a goodie bag and we were allowed to play with some of the toys that they had set up. The store is called Creative Kidstuff (located in The Shops at West End, 1665 West End Blvd, Minneapolis) and that is exactly what they sell. All three of the kiddos loved it and I will have to go back without them and do some Birthday/Christmas shopping.

This new store location allows children to explore, learn and grow while playing with their favorite toys. It has hands-on learning and playing areas along with a huge party room where they have more toys set up for play. I thought the store had very reasonable prices on all of their items. It was all very educational as well as fun to play for them to play with. D loves to crafts and they had lots of art, drawing and craft items. There were lots of fun games and homeschooling/supplemental books and toys for a variety of ages.

My boys loved the kitchen set...they had little chef hats and aprons to go along with a little kitchen and lots of kitchen accessories. They then raced around the rest of the store yelling back at me that they NEED this or that - which was everything. K loved the fact that she was able to get down and run - which is exactly what she did. She was playing in the books, by the kitchen, with the poppers, on a bouncy dog, and much more. I wish I had brought my camera but I will take some pics of them with my purchases...D wanted the chef''s hat (but was later mad because we didn't get the apron, spoon, pans, and all the other kitchen stuff), C wanted a king's crown (he would not pose nice with it so I took a picture of K with it - she loves it too), and I got K a book (she loves books and right now most of them are packed away).

I'm back and we've moved!!!

Did you think that you would ever hear from me again??? Don't know if anyone has checked up on me since I have been gone, but a lot has changed in my little world.

First of all, I am pregnant with number four! I am 27 weeks along. It was a little surprise but we are very happy. This is by far the best pregnancy...not that I was sick or anything with the others but my bloodpressure is more stable and actually on the low side. The kids are excited - at least D and C. I don't think K has any clue what is coming her way. The kiddos are all getting big on me.

Second, we have started home schooling. D is doing Kindergarten and C is doing preschool. Both are liking it. D gets a little bored with the repetition and C doesn't want to stop half the time so he will finish his book way early, but that is okay because I have picked up some other books for him to work on.

Third, we have moved. We got this big house that needed a little bit of work to get going and will eventually be a great deal...if we can ever get it finished. I wanted to paint before we moved everything in but we are waiting on some drywall stuff to be done before I can do that. So, we are living in it with just the minimum stuff out so that we can move it when they do the drywall and we paint. It is a nice area - too far from my friends - but I am used to driving. I like the fact that there are trees here too. BIG PLUS!

Well, hopefully I will be more faithful in posting...I can't wait to get my faster computer now that I don't have dial-up anymore!!!