Well, they really aren't all that new, just a continuation of things that are happening. Last Wednesday during Gwen's dance lesson, they had a picture of their spring recital costume. Holy cuteness. I don't mean to give away the surprise, but it is a red, white, and blue, stars and stripes tu-tu adorable costume. They were still working on the winter recital songs as their recital is this weekend so I have no idea what their song is going to be, but I have a feeling it will be patriotic of some kind.
Second thing, I let Trevor watch the Netflix Super Mario Super Show, although I moved it through to the cartoon because that is really all he was interested in. I remember now that because "Mario" was a former WWF wrestler, he often had other wrestlers that I recognize but cannot place the name. Funny thing, by the end of the first episode, Trevor was asking why the Mario and Luigi had their outfits reversed. Leave it to Trevor to notice. No, the green and red of Mario and Luigi were not switched, it was the shirt and overall colors. Luigi had green overalls and a blue shirt, and mario had red overalls and blue shirt. This was the design in the Nintendo and Super Nintendo version of Super Mario brothers, but now that the Wii version is out, they switched it to blue overalls and red or green undershirts.
Friday, after about a week and 5 days after the instructions said there was going to be "triops" in our triop tank, I finally saw one. Trevor was overjoyed. I guess we don't kill every pet that we get in the water. We'll have to see how long it lasts, as it seems to be a pretty lonely guy. At least Trevor has something to tell everyone he sees again.
This Sunday, we decided to host a Bears party. It was nice to see the family having been weeks...New Years I believe. Unfortunately, it was not a very good game...enough said. Bubba and Papa were missed, but they will be home shortly for the month. Of course, over the weekend Russ asked the kids if anyone wanted to go to Florida, and Gwen believes that is a signal to actually go RIGHT THEN. So since that point, I've been trying to give her some perspective on when we are going to Florida. She is just starting to get the concepts of days on a calendar, but doesn't get months or anything yet.
And today is another day off from school for Trevor. While I know it isn't the most consistent parenting, I decided to let the kids have at each other today, all the while watching and not being an active participant. They are now approaching a full hour and a half of playing. Yes, it is more like Trevor directing the playtime but I feel like it is slowly coming along. There has been more than a few instances of physical fighting, but it isn't one sided, so I'm not really sympathetic to either one if they get hurt...and by hurt it is more like whining to get the other one in trouble. Surprisingly, it has been a mostly smooth day. I don't even want to interrupt them to get Trevor to do his piano or reading.
Now if I can just get some motivation to finish this week's paper, I'll be all set for this week....
Monday, January 24, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
SCORE!
This post is going to be about the uses of the word "SCORE". The first part is my two trips in the past 5 nights to twice winning Gopher Basketball games. My first date night was with Russ, and my second date night was with Trevor.
With Russ there were guys in front of us that made comments as if they were coaches themselves. I am fuzzy myself on a lot of the rules of the game as I don't know that I have watched enough to remember what fouls are called when. But they were two good teams that night.
With Trevor, it was much more unevenly matched, but it was fun to bring him to the game. We got to eat Trevor's favorite meal: hot dog with popcorn. He discovered that there is a player who happened to be player of the game that night and he happens to share the same first name as he does. No comments please from the gallery on the lack of quality off of the court of this player. I did point out that this Trevor did need to work on his free throws. Anyway, I hope to continue both annual traditions if my dad keeps getting season tickets.
And the second score of the week....Trevor's second piano lesson. His teacher is a great fit for Trevor. After his lesson, his teacher told me that he (Trevor) is taking to it very well. He can tell that he has a good sense of rhythm and they introduced the metronome. Before the lesson Trevor was telling me that he was looking forward to showing his teacher how well and how much he practiced. And while the lesson was going on, I could not help but overhear how his teacher was trying to teach Trevor why and how he could learn to keep his eyes on the music and less on his hands. I was entertaining Gwen by having her watch a Netflix on the Wii, so his teacher saw that we had a wii. But he asked anyway, to Trevor: "Does your family have a Wii?" Trevor: "Yes." His teacher: "Do you know of the Mario Brother games?" Trevor: "YES!" His teacher: "Do you ever play Super Mario Galaxy?" Trevor: "Yeah, we have both 1 and 2!" His teacher: "Well, you know how when you are Mario and you see that you have to jump on the TV, you don't look down at the control to push the jump button, you just do it?" Trevor: "Yeah, like when you have to jump on top of an enemy?" His teacher: "Yes....well, just like that game, you should try to watch the music and use your fingers to play without looking down at them." Trevor: "Ok!" Score one for Trevor's teacher....and you will never guess what game Trevor wanted to play for his Nintendo time that day.....yep - Super Mario Galaxy.
In addition to that, for Trevor's assigned practice songs, he has been playing Old MacDonald. I know he read the title of the piece when he was practicing it, but when the song was recognizable to him, he wanted to play it over and over and over and ask Gwen to see if she could recognize it, and play it more and more and more....I knew that once he found a song he recognized he would enjoy it all that much more. And with the addition of the metronome, he has a goal to try to not only play the song, but play it at the correct tempo. I have a sneaking suspicion that it will be a huge goal for Trevor to keep playing it and practicing it until he can play it for his teacher at his next lesson. I wouldn't even be surprised if he goes over his allotted practice time, it actually appears fun to him. Score one for mom and Trevor :-)
With Russ there were guys in front of us that made comments as if they were coaches themselves. I am fuzzy myself on a lot of the rules of the game as I don't know that I have watched enough to remember what fouls are called when. But they were two good teams that night.
With Trevor, it was much more unevenly matched, but it was fun to bring him to the game. We got to eat Trevor's favorite meal: hot dog with popcorn. He discovered that there is a player who happened to be player of the game that night and he happens to share the same first name as he does. No comments please from the gallery on the lack of quality off of the court of this player. I did point out that this Trevor did need to work on his free throws. Anyway, I hope to continue both annual traditions if my dad keeps getting season tickets.
And the second score of the week....Trevor's second piano lesson. His teacher is a great fit for Trevor. After his lesson, his teacher told me that he (Trevor) is taking to it very well. He can tell that he has a good sense of rhythm and they introduced the metronome. Before the lesson Trevor was telling me that he was looking forward to showing his teacher how well and how much he practiced. And while the lesson was going on, I could not help but overhear how his teacher was trying to teach Trevor why and how he could learn to keep his eyes on the music and less on his hands. I was entertaining Gwen by having her watch a Netflix on the Wii, so his teacher saw that we had a wii. But he asked anyway, to Trevor: "Does your family have a Wii?" Trevor: "Yes." His teacher: "Do you know of the Mario Brother games?" Trevor: "YES!" His teacher: "Do you ever play Super Mario Galaxy?" Trevor: "Yeah, we have both 1 and 2!" His teacher: "Well, you know how when you are Mario and you see that you have to jump on the TV, you don't look down at the control to push the jump button, you just do it?" Trevor: "Yeah, like when you have to jump on top of an enemy?" His teacher: "Yes....well, just like that game, you should try to watch the music and use your fingers to play without looking down at them." Trevor: "Ok!" Score one for Trevor's teacher....and you will never guess what game Trevor wanted to play for his Nintendo time that day.....yep - Super Mario Galaxy.
In addition to that, for Trevor's assigned practice songs, he has been playing Old MacDonald. I know he read the title of the piece when he was practicing it, but when the song was recognizable to him, he wanted to play it over and over and over and ask Gwen to see if she could recognize it, and play it more and more and more....I knew that once he found a song he recognized he would enjoy it all that much more. And with the addition of the metronome, he has a goal to try to not only play the song, but play it at the correct tempo. I have a sneaking suspicion that it will be a huge goal for Trevor to keep playing it and practicing it until he can play it for his teacher at his next lesson. I wouldn't even be surprised if he goes over his allotted practice time, it actually appears fun to him. Score one for mom and Trevor :-)
Saturday, January 15, 2011
There went another week
A crazy week at that. I had thought the day that I brought Gwen to the other room at preschool that I would have time to get some things done, or simply rest at home. Not so. This week was a typical week in that the kids had school on their normal days, we had Trevor's first piano lesson, Gwen had dance lessons, and both kids had swimming lessons. It wasn't that so much that made me feel busy, but then add to that a few "extra" events, Norwex party, Gwen in the other room at preschool, Trevor's school had a fundraiser event that I helped organize, and a Gopher Basketball game.
Looking back, most of these events went very smoothly, but put together it made for a very hectic week. Then throw in the fact that we have had toilet issues to add to the mess. Thankfully those problems are solved for the time being but when it rains, it pours.
Gwen went to the childcare portion of her preschool with huge excitement. When I came to pick her up 3 1/2 hours later, she was beside herself as I'm sure she was a flood of emotions at meeting all the new people, playing with all the toys, and learning an all-new routine. Then the next day she had preschool in her usual fashion. But when I picked her up on Wednesday, she really was not sure how she was supposed to feel and burst out crying when she saw me, but made sure I understood she had a great time.
Later that same day we went to Trevor's school for a Magic Show. It was a fun event to watch and hear the kid's reactions. After next week, with one more event the Fall Fundraiser will finally be complete. Just in time to think about signing next school year's contract. Word to the wise: Do not believe a "simple" committee is any less work than a "complex" one and that even a well run and documented committee takes many hours to keep up with organizing and responding to people's questions even months after the event takes place. Hopefully with my one year of experience under my belt next year will run more smoothly and I can plan the event and my part of it better.
Dance lessons for Gwen, also that night went a bit smoother than last week. I think Gwen is testing a little bit, the teacher's boundaries in what she is having the kids do, but I was glad to see that Gwen got her sticker for being a good listener and I hear their spring recital costumes come in March, so I'll be interested to see what she thinks of that outfit. I have a hard time believing that she will not want to open it right up and have it become part of her princess wardrobe.
On to Trevor's first piano lessons. He has been assigned to a young male teacher, who seems to be pretty laid back. But also does a very good job of listening and trying to gauge Trevor's tolerance for learning. I think it is hard for Trevor to understand, and me to tell him what to expect when neither of us knows exactly what is going to happen. I was able to do some cleaning while the guys were practicing the piano during the lesson but still able to hear what the lesson was teaching Trevor. I completely remember some of the exact same lessons. His teacher told him that he needs to practice 15 minutes a day on the days that he does not have a lesson. I'm happy to have heard that he specified that to Trevor and it is such an easy thing to add to our routine of also having to read for school before he gets any of his Nintendo time. He had his first practice time, but I wasn't able to sit down with him and I think he instead of practicing what he was learning, he tried to attempt a quick song I taught him as his practicing time. So from now on, I think I'm going to have to make sure he at least gets started on a good spot to practice.
So then Thursday evening, Russ and I headed out to the Gopher Basketball game against Purdue. It was a very well-played game, and we got a lot of commentary from older gentlemen about how the gophers were playing that game and during the rest of the season. I will go on another date night with my son on Sunday to another basketball game, this time against Iowa.
Moving to Friday, it was supposed to be low key day. Laundry should have been the most exciting event of the day, however with Gwen still battling yet another cold, I figured it was time she got checked out, just to rule out a lingering issue. Sure enough, she had an ear infection. The last one she had in September, she screamed to me that her ear hurt. This one was a complete puzzle other than the cold and lack of eating. Regardless, it is time she got better as I would like at least a few days or maybe even a week of a healthy household. I even disinfected both of the kids' rooms as a request of my mom's but I wonder if I did it too early or something. At least soon I'll be getting some reinforcing cleaning products soon from the Norwex party earlier that week.
So this week, Trevor doesn't have school on Monday, but we still have a pretty normal schedule. Hopefully it will be a better adjusted week. Maybe....I can keep hoping.
Looking back, most of these events went very smoothly, but put together it made for a very hectic week. Then throw in the fact that we have had toilet issues to add to the mess. Thankfully those problems are solved for the time being but when it rains, it pours.
Gwen went to the childcare portion of her preschool with huge excitement. When I came to pick her up 3 1/2 hours later, she was beside herself as I'm sure she was a flood of emotions at meeting all the new people, playing with all the toys, and learning an all-new routine. Then the next day she had preschool in her usual fashion. But when I picked her up on Wednesday, she really was not sure how she was supposed to feel and burst out crying when she saw me, but made sure I understood she had a great time.
Later that same day we went to Trevor's school for a Magic Show. It was a fun event to watch and hear the kid's reactions. After next week, with one more event the Fall Fundraiser will finally be complete. Just in time to think about signing next school year's contract. Word to the wise: Do not believe a "simple" committee is any less work than a "complex" one and that even a well run and documented committee takes many hours to keep up with organizing and responding to people's questions even months after the event takes place. Hopefully with my one year of experience under my belt next year will run more smoothly and I can plan the event and my part of it better.
Dance lessons for Gwen, also that night went a bit smoother than last week. I think Gwen is testing a little bit, the teacher's boundaries in what she is having the kids do, but I was glad to see that Gwen got her sticker for being a good listener and I hear their spring recital costumes come in March, so I'll be interested to see what she thinks of that outfit. I have a hard time believing that she will not want to open it right up and have it become part of her princess wardrobe.
On to Trevor's first piano lessons. He has been assigned to a young male teacher, who seems to be pretty laid back. But also does a very good job of listening and trying to gauge Trevor's tolerance for learning. I think it is hard for Trevor to understand, and me to tell him what to expect when neither of us knows exactly what is going to happen. I was able to do some cleaning while the guys were practicing the piano during the lesson but still able to hear what the lesson was teaching Trevor. I completely remember some of the exact same lessons. His teacher told him that he needs to practice 15 minutes a day on the days that he does not have a lesson. I'm happy to have heard that he specified that to Trevor and it is such an easy thing to add to our routine of also having to read for school before he gets any of his Nintendo time. He had his first practice time, but I wasn't able to sit down with him and I think he instead of practicing what he was learning, he tried to attempt a quick song I taught him as his practicing time. So from now on, I think I'm going to have to make sure he at least gets started on a good spot to practice.
So then Thursday evening, Russ and I headed out to the Gopher Basketball game against Purdue. It was a very well-played game, and we got a lot of commentary from older gentlemen about how the gophers were playing that game and during the rest of the season. I will go on another date night with my son on Sunday to another basketball game, this time against Iowa.
Moving to Friday, it was supposed to be low key day. Laundry should have been the most exciting event of the day, however with Gwen still battling yet another cold, I figured it was time she got checked out, just to rule out a lingering issue. Sure enough, she had an ear infection. The last one she had in September, she screamed to me that her ear hurt. This one was a complete puzzle other than the cold and lack of eating. Regardless, it is time she got better as I would like at least a few days or maybe even a week of a healthy household. I even disinfected both of the kids' rooms as a request of my mom's but I wonder if I did it too early or something. At least soon I'll be getting some reinforcing cleaning products soon from the Norwex party earlier that week.
So this week, Trevor doesn't have school on Monday, but we still have a pretty normal schedule. Hopefully it will be a better adjusted week. Maybe....I can keep hoping.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
A New Year, a New Schedule
Well, I knew the time would come where I was beginning to feel like I'm getting the kids involved in a lot...perhaps too much....of activities. However, I believe one of my strengths is the ability to plan and be organized. There are some times of the day and week where I consider it very close to non-negotiable. I also take great care to try to avoid activities being scheduled for the same kid back-to-back on a continual basis. There are also things that I can tell the kids would love to do, or get a lot of benefit out of, so I have to weigh all my options before diving in to activities.
Unfortunately, the new year has not exactly gotten off to the stellar start that I would have hoped. Trevor, then myself, and then Gwen all came down with a bad head cold as we were coming home from our trip to the lake house. Trevor did not go to school on Monday or Tuesday and seemed a little sad because of it. It makes me feel good that he is at the point where he does like to go to school. I took him in to the doctor, just to make sure everything was ok, and two doctors checked out his lungs and said that it had the soundings of beginning pneumonia. He had not had a fever of 100.4 or higher, so he could still go to school, although his energy level was why I was keeping him home, not because of a fever, and he did not wheeze, but that I was welcome to have Trevor go down for a chest x-ray. If I would rather, I could also wait for a few more days to see if he could fight it off himself, or not. The third option, which I chose was to give him an antibiotic because if it did become pneumonia, that is what they would give him anyway. With the option of either letting him get worse, or helping him get better, I decided to help him get better. That was on Monday. He still did not go to school on Tuesday because he was up a good part of the night coughing and didn't get enough rest.
Gwen did catch a cold, but it wasn't bad enough for her to be up at night, or have a fever, so she did get to go to school on Tuesday. So then I decided during that day to call and see what kind of new activities the kids could get in to. Right now we do have hockey for Trevor and swimming for both of the kids. I found a close and reasonably priced dance studio for Gwen to take lessons at which started on Wednesday afternoon. It is a half hour lesson for both tap and ballet. I washed all of her clothes that I picked up at Target, and when Wednesday came, she was so excited to know that she could put all of it on and do her dancing that I promised her after we picked up Trevor from school she could put it on. When she got all the gear on, she was in heaven. The smile on her face was heartwarming. During class, I found it interesting that she actually enjoyed the tap part more because the class was going to perform a show with their tap shoes at the end of the month. I did not sign her up for that show. However, I did get her signed up for the spring recital on our Anniversary weekend. I have a feeling when that costume comes in, it will be added to her wardrobe of princess dresses.
The other thing that I found was for Trevor. There was a daily deal for in-home piano lessons, so I took advantage and called to schedule that session. Those start next Thursday for a half hour. I explained it to Trevor, and he seemed skeptical. He has always loved his own playing of the piano, but I don't think he has ever understood that taking lessons would lead you to being able to play songs that you recognize and like. A few days ago, I showed him an easy song on the black keys of Mary Had a Little Lamb and since then that is what he wants to practice. I think he thinks he needs to be able to show his teacher that he knows a song on the piano. I really like this option because it is during a time when it won't interfere with other activities and we don't have to go anywhere. Perhaps it will even make me keep my house cleaner than usual.
The third and final change to our schedule is something I promised Gwen. At her preschool, they also have a childcare room. Gwen has been asking to go in there forever. They have guinea pigs, different toys, and get to eat lunch as well. So during the time when my mom is not able to come over on Wednesdays, Gwen will be going into the childcare room at preschool. I'll have another four hours to do things for myself on Wednesdays.
So big changes for our family are coming this year. Hopefully everyone enjoys their new activities.
Unfortunately, the new year has not exactly gotten off to the stellar start that I would have hoped. Trevor, then myself, and then Gwen all came down with a bad head cold as we were coming home from our trip to the lake house. Trevor did not go to school on Monday or Tuesday and seemed a little sad because of it. It makes me feel good that he is at the point where he does like to go to school. I took him in to the doctor, just to make sure everything was ok, and two doctors checked out his lungs and said that it had the soundings of beginning pneumonia. He had not had a fever of 100.4 or higher, so he could still go to school, although his energy level was why I was keeping him home, not because of a fever, and he did not wheeze, but that I was welcome to have Trevor go down for a chest x-ray. If I would rather, I could also wait for a few more days to see if he could fight it off himself, or not. The third option, which I chose was to give him an antibiotic because if it did become pneumonia, that is what they would give him anyway. With the option of either letting him get worse, or helping him get better, I decided to help him get better. That was on Monday. He still did not go to school on Tuesday because he was up a good part of the night coughing and didn't get enough rest.
Gwen did catch a cold, but it wasn't bad enough for her to be up at night, or have a fever, so she did get to go to school on Tuesday. So then I decided during that day to call and see what kind of new activities the kids could get in to. Right now we do have hockey for Trevor and swimming for both of the kids. I found a close and reasonably priced dance studio for Gwen to take lessons at which started on Wednesday afternoon. It is a half hour lesson for both tap and ballet. I washed all of her clothes that I picked up at Target, and when Wednesday came, she was so excited to know that she could put all of it on and do her dancing that I promised her after we picked up Trevor from school she could put it on. When she got all the gear on, she was in heaven. The smile on her face was heartwarming. During class, I found it interesting that she actually enjoyed the tap part more because the class was going to perform a show with their tap shoes at the end of the month. I did not sign her up for that show. However, I did get her signed up for the spring recital on our Anniversary weekend. I have a feeling when that costume comes in, it will be added to her wardrobe of princess dresses.
The other thing that I found was for Trevor. There was a daily deal for in-home piano lessons, so I took advantage and called to schedule that session. Those start next Thursday for a half hour. I explained it to Trevor, and he seemed skeptical. He has always loved his own playing of the piano, but I don't think he has ever understood that taking lessons would lead you to being able to play songs that you recognize and like. A few days ago, I showed him an easy song on the black keys of Mary Had a Little Lamb and since then that is what he wants to practice. I think he thinks he needs to be able to show his teacher that he knows a song on the piano. I really like this option because it is during a time when it won't interfere with other activities and we don't have to go anywhere. Perhaps it will even make me keep my house cleaner than usual.
The third and final change to our schedule is something I promised Gwen. At her preschool, they also have a childcare room. Gwen has been asking to go in there forever. They have guinea pigs, different toys, and get to eat lunch as well. So during the time when my mom is not able to come over on Wednesdays, Gwen will be going into the childcare room at preschool. I'll have another four hours to do things for myself on Wednesdays.
So big changes for our family are coming this year. Hopefully everyone enjoys their new activities.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Our Four Christmases
I believe the last time I posted was to say that Trevor's final day of school was done before the Holiday break. He said that he had 12 days off of school and I asked him if he felt like it was a long time. He said that he did think it was a long time. Coming back from our New Years celebration and driving past his school, explaining that he was going back there in two more days, I again asked him if he felt like 12 days had past. He said no, he felt like he still had 12 days to go. I completely agree....our 12 days have flown by, mostly because we have been able to have multiple celebrations and such exciting events for the kids that it really hasn't seemed like much time has passed at all.
Our first Christmas was kicked off on Christmas Eve with Trevor waking me up a little after 5am. He totally had me fooled because I don't always look at the clock when he gets up. I explain he can go back and play in his room until I come to get him or he could go downstairs. After he decided to go downstairs, I then checked the clock. Our rules are not to go downstairs until after 7:00. I knew how he felt however, as I had been known to wake up extra early on Christmas morning because I was so excited. With his being allowed to bring down the donkey for Christmas Eve church service and the fact that our Christmases started that evening, he was the same way as I was, way back then. And asking him to try to go back to sleep was useless.
We went to church, enjoyed Trevor showing his donkey to the congregation and pose for his picture, and then he crashed. I had hoped that he would make it to the car so he could rest for a little longer, but I guess he took what he needed. Gwen was a hoot to have in church too as she would hear the priest talk about Jesus and want to chime in. They were learning about him in Preschool so she was quick to cue into the service being about Jesus.
We went from church to Grandma's house. We had our yummy dinner followed by the opening of gifts. It is always fun to start out the Christmases with them as I have for over 10 years now. We head home so that we can beat Santa home and put the kids to bed. Santa got some milk and cookies before the kids rushed upstairs to go to bed. I was interested to see if Trevor would pull another early morning the next day, but he didn't. Simply up at his usual time, a few minutes before 7. We waited until 7 to wake up Gwen who was really sad to learn that she didn't get to see Santa. She said she wanted to give him a hug. What a sweetheart. We then got downstairs and saw the kids' joy of celebrating Christmas in our own house. Especially given the fact that Gwen really didn't know what to make of it all. I will bet that she made a lot of good memories for next year.
We then made the trip out to Bubba and Papa's house for the third Christmas and my birthday. As is tradition, Christmas is celebrated first, followed by my birthday. The boys and kids got to go outside for a little playtime in the snow and I got to enjoy peace and quiet for a few moments. It was a good birthday surrounded by great family. Thanks to everyone for making it special.
Our fourth Christmas happened the next day, where we had more gifts and dinner at Grampa's house. We were so blessed to be able to spend that dinner with Great Grandma too. The kids got treated to ice skating after dinner which they really enjoyed.
From that point on, we have had random hockey practices, dinners, and a trip to the lake house before Bubba and Papa head to Florida. I just finished taking down our Christmas decorations so we are ready to head to school tomorrow. I'm also looking at starting Gwen on dance lessons and Trevor with piano lessons. It may just be a busy year for us, but it will be great. I'm looking forward to seeing what the new year brings us all!
Our first Christmas was kicked off on Christmas Eve with Trevor waking me up a little after 5am. He totally had me fooled because I don't always look at the clock when he gets up. I explain he can go back and play in his room until I come to get him or he could go downstairs. After he decided to go downstairs, I then checked the clock. Our rules are not to go downstairs until after 7:00. I knew how he felt however, as I had been known to wake up extra early on Christmas morning because I was so excited. With his being allowed to bring down the donkey for Christmas Eve church service and the fact that our Christmases started that evening, he was the same way as I was, way back then. And asking him to try to go back to sleep was useless.
We went to church, enjoyed Trevor showing his donkey to the congregation and pose for his picture, and then he crashed. I had hoped that he would make it to the car so he could rest for a little longer, but I guess he took what he needed. Gwen was a hoot to have in church too as she would hear the priest talk about Jesus and want to chime in. They were learning about him in Preschool so she was quick to cue into the service being about Jesus.
We went from church to Grandma's house. We had our yummy dinner followed by the opening of gifts. It is always fun to start out the Christmases with them as I have for over 10 years now. We head home so that we can beat Santa home and put the kids to bed. Santa got some milk and cookies before the kids rushed upstairs to go to bed. I was interested to see if Trevor would pull another early morning the next day, but he didn't. Simply up at his usual time, a few minutes before 7. We waited until 7 to wake up Gwen who was really sad to learn that she didn't get to see Santa. She said she wanted to give him a hug. What a sweetheart. We then got downstairs and saw the kids' joy of celebrating Christmas in our own house. Especially given the fact that Gwen really didn't know what to make of it all. I will bet that she made a lot of good memories for next year.
We then made the trip out to Bubba and Papa's house for the third Christmas and my birthday. As is tradition, Christmas is celebrated first, followed by my birthday. The boys and kids got to go outside for a little playtime in the snow and I got to enjoy peace and quiet for a few moments. It was a good birthday surrounded by great family. Thanks to everyone for making it special.
Our fourth Christmas happened the next day, where we had more gifts and dinner at Grampa's house. We were so blessed to be able to spend that dinner with Great Grandma too. The kids got treated to ice skating after dinner which they really enjoyed.
From that point on, we have had random hockey practices, dinners, and a trip to the lake house before Bubba and Papa head to Florida. I just finished taking down our Christmas decorations so we are ready to head to school tomorrow. I'm also looking at starting Gwen on dance lessons and Trevor with piano lessons. It may just be a busy year for us, but it will be great. I'm looking forward to seeing what the new year brings us all!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
And that brings us to Winter Break
Trevor just got out of school and that starts his Winter Break. He's obviously very excited for being so close to Christmas but this past week has been very interesting as well. Last Thursday we went to the golf course where they had a Santa Bingo night. We had dinner there because kids eat free! Yay!
I had never stayed for Bingo before, so I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. They had one of their staff who had dressed up as santa. Her name was Brooke, and Trevor right away was asking why it was a fake santa. Gwen still says it is a girl if you ask her. There were some real ringers playing the game as they did charge $3 a card, and some people had 3 people each with 6 cards each. But we actually won a game. The kids decided to pick out a tiny billiard table. And they would not be talked out of it. Gwen wasn't really into the game after the first one, so we decided to leave before the game was done.
Saturday, I was able to get out to go bridesmaid dress shopping with my soon to be sister-in-law, in-law. Or however that works out. It was so nice to be out away from the kiddos. I even bought myself clothes. I seriously don't think that has happened before in years. It was very peaceful and nice to be out with an adult and not have to talk about the kids even. Now if I can find time soon for Russ and I, I'll be set!
Sunday Trevor, my mom and I went to the performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I don't remember the exact year I saw it with Donny Osmond, but it was another great show. Trevor said he enjoyed it as well. We had great seats for viewing, but not great seats to catch the streamers that were thrown at the end. It was very nice to get to see that story again and start a new tradition with my own son.
Monday was almost a typical day. Gwen didn't have school for the rest of the week, but we were able to hang out and organize the house a little bit.
Tuesday, I went over to visit Ethan and Kelsey while Gwen was at my mom's house. He's at the cooing-smiling age, and very fun! Yet I was able to hold him while he slept too, which really works for me!
Tuesday evening was our Benihana birthday dinner for me. It. was. awesome. We sat at a table with 3 other people, one of whom was a boy, the same age as Trevor. They yelled across the grill at each other for a lot of the dinner, Gwen was actually mesmerized by the chef and ate a bunch of shrimp with shrimp sauce for the first time. It was a chunk of change like it always is, but when you use the big coupon they give you for your birthday, it was well worth it!
Also Tuesday evening was the end of my school term. I am not sure of my grades yet, but I'm happy to have them done. It was a big "to-do" off my list when Wednesday morning came.
And now today, Wednesday, I helped out with Trevor's class party. I was in charge of the games so I organized snowman bowling and pin the carrot nose on the snowman. It seemed to be a big hit and it was fun to see the dynamic of the class. Trevor decided he wanted to get all spiffed up for the party and asked me to do the same. I tell you, that Trevor is a pretty cool kid when he wants to be. I'm pretty sure he's off Santa's naughty list this year.
So now the real craziness begins. Trevor has 12 days off from school, hopefully we won't be driving everyone crazy. I have started to use helpful hints of the book called "Siblings without Rivalry". It's all about how to encourage good relationships between siblings and promote your own feelings about the kids in a more positive manner. Gwen of course is fighting me the whole way, but I think the kids really are starting to work together more often than they used to.
Case in point, this week Trevor came up with an idea of feeding all of Gwen's baby dolls. She has recently gotten two princess babies as rewards for potty training. These dolls came with musical bottles. So it works out since that each of them can have a baby bottle and feed all dozen or so baby dolls that they have lined up on the couch. HA Trevor, if only that were so easy, although thankfully I've never had to take care of more than one bottle-feeding baby at a time. Anyway, I was quite surprised when the next morning, Trevor asked Gwen if they could feed the babies again. They also like to play a delivery game with the train setup around the Christmas tree. They each sit on one end of the tracks and put an object to be delivered to the other side of the tracks. I know it isn't probably related to my changing habits, but I'm going to try to promote any group activities for the kids that I can so that maybe they can always have a playmate. Who knows in this parenting thing....
I had never stayed for Bingo before, so I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. They had one of their staff who had dressed up as santa. Her name was Brooke, and Trevor right away was asking why it was a fake santa. Gwen still says it is a girl if you ask her. There were some real ringers playing the game as they did charge $3 a card, and some people had 3 people each with 6 cards each. But we actually won a game. The kids decided to pick out a tiny billiard table. And they would not be talked out of it. Gwen wasn't really into the game after the first one, so we decided to leave before the game was done.
Saturday, I was able to get out to go bridesmaid dress shopping with my soon to be sister-in-law, in-law. Or however that works out. It was so nice to be out away from the kiddos. I even bought myself clothes. I seriously don't think that has happened before in years. It was very peaceful and nice to be out with an adult and not have to talk about the kids even. Now if I can find time soon for Russ and I, I'll be set!
Sunday Trevor, my mom and I went to the performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I don't remember the exact year I saw it with Donny Osmond, but it was another great show. Trevor said he enjoyed it as well. We had great seats for viewing, but not great seats to catch the streamers that were thrown at the end. It was very nice to get to see that story again and start a new tradition with my own son.
Monday was almost a typical day. Gwen didn't have school for the rest of the week, but we were able to hang out and organize the house a little bit.
Tuesday, I went over to visit Ethan and Kelsey while Gwen was at my mom's house. He's at the cooing-smiling age, and very fun! Yet I was able to hold him while he slept too, which really works for me!
Tuesday evening was our Benihana birthday dinner for me. It. was. awesome. We sat at a table with 3 other people, one of whom was a boy, the same age as Trevor. They yelled across the grill at each other for a lot of the dinner, Gwen was actually mesmerized by the chef and ate a bunch of shrimp with shrimp sauce for the first time. It was a chunk of change like it always is, but when you use the big coupon they give you for your birthday, it was well worth it!
Also Tuesday evening was the end of my school term. I am not sure of my grades yet, but I'm happy to have them done. It was a big "to-do" off my list when Wednesday morning came.
And now today, Wednesday, I helped out with Trevor's class party. I was in charge of the games so I organized snowman bowling and pin the carrot nose on the snowman. It seemed to be a big hit and it was fun to see the dynamic of the class. Trevor decided he wanted to get all spiffed up for the party and asked me to do the same. I tell you, that Trevor is a pretty cool kid when he wants to be. I'm pretty sure he's off Santa's naughty list this year.
So now the real craziness begins. Trevor has 12 days off from school, hopefully we won't be driving everyone crazy. I have started to use helpful hints of the book called "Siblings without Rivalry". It's all about how to encourage good relationships between siblings and promote your own feelings about the kids in a more positive manner. Gwen of course is fighting me the whole way, but I think the kids really are starting to work together more often than they used to.
Case in point, this week Trevor came up with an idea of feeding all of Gwen's baby dolls. She has recently gotten two princess babies as rewards for potty training. These dolls came with musical bottles. So it works out since that each of them can have a baby bottle and feed all dozen or so baby dolls that they have lined up on the couch. HA Trevor, if only that were so easy, although thankfully I've never had to take care of more than one bottle-feeding baby at a time. Anyway, I was quite surprised when the next morning, Trevor asked Gwen if they could feed the babies again. They also like to play a delivery game with the train setup around the Christmas tree. They each sit on one end of the tracks and put an object to be delivered to the other side of the tracks. I know it isn't probably related to my changing habits, but I'm going to try to promote any group activities for the kids that I can so that maybe they can always have a playmate. Who knows in this parenting thing....
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
The Big Snowstorm
I guess I need to record something about the giant snowfall and blizzard that we had last Saturday. It amazes me that although I can get through a week or so of having the kids home because of breaks from school, one day where we could not really go anywhere as everyone was confined to the house, and it seemed like everyone got the crazies.
As luck would have it, Russ was scheduled to touch down from his return flight to Minneapolis around 1:45 or so. On Friday, I emailed him a story about the projected weather for Saturday. Thankfully he knew he wouldn't have to wait for that Saturday flight in order to get his work done. So, he decided to call Delta to see if he could go standby on the flight that left California at midnight. They said that it would require a change fee because his flight was still on time. After he had checked with his company to make sure it was ok to change his flight, and then called back, strangely enough his flight for the next day was delayed 15 minutes. By their definitions, the flight status had changed, so he could change flights without a charge. The flight was slightly late taking off, but it arrived only a half hour later than scheduled here in Minneapolis at 6:15 or so. It had snowed a few inches, but he still got a taxi and made it home a little after 7:00. The next flight due in from California missed the airport closing by 15 minutes and was re-routed to South Dakota. Russ's original flight was then cancelled.
Trevor's basketball was cancelled on Friday, and hockey was also cancelled during the day. So we were all stuck in the house for the day. I did my gingersnap cookie baking for the family that day. They are all gone as of today. I stuffed my Christmas cards and wrote our Christmas letter. I tried to get all the last online orders I could that day as well as some homework for school.
In the end, what really amazes me is the plowed, drifted, and huge piles of snow. I remember them when I was younger, but I don't think there has been this much snow this early for a very long time. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that the grass will remain hidden now for the next three months at least. It sure does make for a long winter.
As luck would have it, Russ was scheduled to touch down from his return flight to Minneapolis around 1:45 or so. On Friday, I emailed him a story about the projected weather for Saturday. Thankfully he knew he wouldn't have to wait for that Saturday flight in order to get his work done. So, he decided to call Delta to see if he could go standby on the flight that left California at midnight. They said that it would require a change fee because his flight was still on time. After he had checked with his company to make sure it was ok to change his flight, and then called back, strangely enough his flight for the next day was delayed 15 minutes. By their definitions, the flight status had changed, so he could change flights without a charge. The flight was slightly late taking off, but it arrived only a half hour later than scheduled here in Minneapolis at 6:15 or so. It had snowed a few inches, but he still got a taxi and made it home a little after 7:00. The next flight due in from California missed the airport closing by 15 minutes and was re-routed to South Dakota. Russ's original flight was then cancelled.
Trevor's basketball was cancelled on Friday, and hockey was also cancelled during the day. So we were all stuck in the house for the day. I did my gingersnap cookie baking for the family that day. They are all gone as of today. I stuffed my Christmas cards and wrote our Christmas letter. I tried to get all the last online orders I could that day as well as some homework for school.
In the end, what really amazes me is the plowed, drifted, and huge piles of snow. I remember them when I was younger, but I don't think there has been this much snow this early for a very long time. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that the grass will remain hidden now for the next three months at least. It sure does make for a long winter.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
A Giant up and down week
Thankfully the week is ending on an up swing, but it was a crazy week here. We were planning on Gwen's preschool program on Wednesday night, swimming lessons on Tuesday night, but things quickly became more busy as the week went on. Gwen's program was great, she made it through the entire 30 minute-or-so portion of the kids program. There were the older preschool program and 3 kindergarten kids that also go to school there involved in singing. Gwen was front and center for all the world to watch as she did the typical waving, dancing, and fidgeting as is a typical 3 year old. She even called out to Trevor and I on occasion during a song or two. Guess that must be a hereditary thing as well.
On that very same day, Trevor lost his first upper tooth. While Trevor has always talked about all of his loose teeth, this one really came out quick compared to all the wiggling that he had done with previous teeth. It came out over the course of three spoonfuls of Cheerios. He was totally excited that he would get to put a tooth sticker on a chart for December in his classroom. Additionally, he came home that day with enough stickers to finish his sticker chart in order to go to a water park. Later that night, Russ had to rush out to California on business for the rest of the week. It was a shorter week than usual as he was planning on being back on Saturday.
Then on Thursday, it all went downhill. Actually, it was all isolated to one event, but after the great high of the previous day, I took it pretty hard. At 2:45 I got a call from Trevor's school that he had to sit in the "quiet room" based on an incident on the playground. Trevor then got on the phone and explained that he had punched a girl in the stomach. He also quickly noted that he lost all of his stickers. I was able to keep it together with him in order to understand that he had apologized to the girl, and that he was pretty devastated after he did it. But after his teacher called me that afternoon to answer any questions I might have, it really hit me. Boy did I feel like the world's biggest failure. I understand that it was a choice that Trevor decided to make, and that since that time a big light bulb finally went on in his head, but the big hit that I felt was just a big deflation after the great day we all had the previous day.
Friday came and went without incident. Trevor drew an apology card to the girl and we decided not to allow him back out for recess that day. He instead spent the time reading a book in the lunchroom by himself. We will be continuing to discuss his thoughts and choices he needs to be making, but it was pretty obvious from our continuing talks that he is pretty shaken by what happened. I guess I am happy at his reaction for this whole thing, he didn't claim that what he did was justified. He feels horrible for it. And from what I understand, he isn't at the age yet to completely control all of his quick responses to situations. But of course none of this justifies anything. We are trying to find more and more ways to make up for the act. I think next up is to take some of his money and buy a gift to donate to Toys For Tots at his school. He came home on Friday to show me that he got three of his stickers back because he had a perfect report.
Because of the impending blizzard I told Russ he might want to consider coming home on an earlier flight. Because his flight was already delayed, that was able to allow him to switch flights free of charge, and actually be booked, not on standby. He arrived home at 7am this morning, well before the blizzard conditions. Hence the upswing of the week. I'm pretty sure we'll be confining ourselves to the house today.
On that very same day, Trevor lost his first upper tooth. While Trevor has always talked about all of his loose teeth, this one really came out quick compared to all the wiggling that he had done with previous teeth. It came out over the course of three spoonfuls of Cheerios. He was totally excited that he would get to put a tooth sticker on a chart for December in his classroom. Additionally, he came home that day with enough stickers to finish his sticker chart in order to go to a water park. Later that night, Russ had to rush out to California on business for the rest of the week. It was a shorter week than usual as he was planning on being back on Saturday.
Then on Thursday, it all went downhill. Actually, it was all isolated to one event, but after the great high of the previous day, I took it pretty hard. At 2:45 I got a call from Trevor's school that he had to sit in the "quiet room" based on an incident on the playground. Trevor then got on the phone and explained that he had punched a girl in the stomach. He also quickly noted that he lost all of his stickers. I was able to keep it together with him in order to understand that he had apologized to the girl, and that he was pretty devastated after he did it. But after his teacher called me that afternoon to answer any questions I might have, it really hit me. Boy did I feel like the world's biggest failure. I understand that it was a choice that Trevor decided to make, and that since that time a big light bulb finally went on in his head, but the big hit that I felt was just a big deflation after the great day we all had the previous day.
Friday came and went without incident. Trevor drew an apology card to the girl and we decided not to allow him back out for recess that day. He instead spent the time reading a book in the lunchroom by himself. We will be continuing to discuss his thoughts and choices he needs to be making, but it was pretty obvious from our continuing talks that he is pretty shaken by what happened. I guess I am happy at his reaction for this whole thing, he didn't claim that what he did was justified. He feels horrible for it. And from what I understand, he isn't at the age yet to completely control all of his quick responses to situations. But of course none of this justifies anything. We are trying to find more and more ways to make up for the act. I think next up is to take some of his money and buy a gift to donate to Toys For Tots at his school. He came home on Friday to show me that he got three of his stickers back because he had a perfect report.
Because of the impending blizzard I told Russ he might want to consider coming home on an earlier flight. Because his flight was already delayed, that was able to allow him to switch flights free of charge, and actually be booked, not on standby. He arrived home at 7am this morning, well before the blizzard conditions. Hence the upswing of the week. I'm pretty sure we'll be confining ourselves to the house today.
Monday, December 6, 2010
A New Tree
I guess I will still have a few surprises in store for the years to come. Through the past few days, a lot of things have happened that make me want to write them down and remember them. Last year, our Little People Nativity set was used mostly by Trevor, or at least in the year's previous, but this year, it was all about a new "house" for Gwen. We have a 2ft tall Fisher Price Dollhouse, that was a quick grab for $1 at a garage sale 3 years ago. The family that lives there is our family, with Elizabeth and baby Sam as the additional kids in the family. We have a Little People dollhouse that is used by any other dolls or figures that appear in the house. They can be princesses, little people from various toys, like we have a carnival playset and Noah's ark. We have two castles for the small princess dolls. Yet she still loves to have anything that might be like a house used as one, hence the excitement with the nativity set. She is learning about baby Jesus in preschool and Mommy Mary and the angel but the animals seem to travel among the houses. I remember when the nativity was used for Lightning McQueen and his friends.
On Saturday, we went to our usual tree place, and I was quite unhappy with the selection. We have a vaulted ceiling so we can and do usually get an 8ft + tree. I was surprised not just at the lack of height in trees, but usually I can find a few that have a good girth to them. Not so this year. Pretty much all of them I could wrap my arms around no problem. The one we got is no exception, but I guess it is better than some of the ones I saw. I did also settle for the 7ft one, so I did save about $20 on what I usually get.
Sunday after church we decorated the tree. Gwen had found the Cinderella doll-like ornament when I brought all the Christmas stuff upstairs and had been playing with her like a doll. Except after a while I think she realized that she wasn't meant to be as a doll because she didn't have any legs. After that experience, I figured that a lot of the ornaments she would see would become dolls, similar to how Trevor had played with all vehicles and toys that he liked to play with, rather than put them on the tree.
Not so: she loved opening all the boxes for the ornaments and having me put them on the tree. She didn't care at all to play with them and keep them off the tree. Trevor's annual tradition has continued though. All of his Star Wars ships, Luke, and Toy Story ornaments are not on the tree because he would rather play with them. I tired to sneak one on, but he found it and took it off the tree. As if that weren't enough, the ornaments he does play with he will put them on the tree, not as ornaments but as if they are hiding. I guess the tree is part of the game now. So other "ornaments" are now on the tree. He has lego ships on branches, our Super Why vehicles, and even a Luke figure that he got for his birthday that looks identical to the ornament we have of Luke.
Gwen, on the other hand takes or asks to have ornaments taken down to be played with and then put back on the tree. Her favorite are: what looks like a wedding topper with Russ and my anniversary date written on it, a stuffed crocheted Christmas tree in the shape of a small rectangle that Gwen uses as a pillow for her dolls, and my dried clay figure of when I graduated from High School in 1996 - she calls it the red doll. She does not bring these upstairs, and once she is done she asks to have them put back on the tree. She will also spend time just looking at the ornaments she can identify and talking about them: Look, that's Trevor with his nuk from when he was a baby. That's Mrs. Potato Head. That's my name with a crown and a princess.
One other tradition that has been recently re-started is Elf on a Shelf. For those of you that don't know, you can buy a book with this elf that sits on a shelf in your house. Once you name him, he travels to Santa each night to report to him how the children in the house have been. On Christmas Eve he reports for the last time and does not reappear until the next year. Last year was our first year, and Trevor named our elf Frankincense. We weren't sure when he was going to reappear, but he did right after we got our tree. New to our tradition is that Trevor has been giving Frankincense a piece of chocolate from his advent calendar to eat every night. I don't think he understands the concept of bribery yet but I do wonder if he thinks it will get him better reports.....
Then on Sunday afternoon we went as a family to watch the movie Tangled. Very well done movie. The kids would have done fine but they each had their own bathroom break during the movie. Gwen asked me today if we could watch it again, so I know she liked it. Plus her miniature Rapunzel doll has a whole new life which she can reenact. Trevor thought he wouldn't like it because the main male character is sort of a bad guy, but he said afterwards he was going to be unhappy if he would have died, but otherwise I think he did like it.
So that's it for now. Less than 3 weeks to go! I have to start checking things off my list!
On Saturday, we went to our usual tree place, and I was quite unhappy with the selection. We have a vaulted ceiling so we can and do usually get an 8ft + tree. I was surprised not just at the lack of height in trees, but usually I can find a few that have a good girth to them. Not so this year. Pretty much all of them I could wrap my arms around no problem. The one we got is no exception, but I guess it is better than some of the ones I saw. I did also settle for the 7ft one, so I did save about $20 on what I usually get.
Sunday after church we decorated the tree. Gwen had found the Cinderella doll-like ornament when I brought all the Christmas stuff upstairs and had been playing with her like a doll. Except after a while I think she realized that she wasn't meant to be as a doll because she didn't have any legs. After that experience, I figured that a lot of the ornaments she would see would become dolls, similar to how Trevor had played with all vehicles and toys that he liked to play with, rather than put them on the tree.
Not so: she loved opening all the boxes for the ornaments and having me put them on the tree. She didn't care at all to play with them and keep them off the tree. Trevor's annual tradition has continued though. All of his Star Wars ships, Luke, and Toy Story ornaments are not on the tree because he would rather play with them. I tired to sneak one on, but he found it and took it off the tree. As if that weren't enough, the ornaments he does play with he will put them on the tree, not as ornaments but as if they are hiding. I guess the tree is part of the game now. So other "ornaments" are now on the tree. He has lego ships on branches, our Super Why vehicles, and even a Luke figure that he got for his birthday that looks identical to the ornament we have of Luke.
Gwen, on the other hand takes or asks to have ornaments taken down to be played with and then put back on the tree. Her favorite are: what looks like a wedding topper with Russ and my anniversary date written on it, a stuffed crocheted Christmas tree in the shape of a small rectangle that Gwen uses as a pillow for her dolls, and my dried clay figure of when I graduated from High School in 1996 - she calls it the red doll. She does not bring these upstairs, and once she is done she asks to have them put back on the tree. She will also spend time just looking at the ornaments she can identify and talking about them: Look, that's Trevor with his nuk from when he was a baby. That's Mrs. Potato Head. That's my name with a crown and a princess.
One other tradition that has been recently re-started is Elf on a Shelf. For those of you that don't know, you can buy a book with this elf that sits on a shelf in your house. Once you name him, he travels to Santa each night to report to him how the children in the house have been. On Christmas Eve he reports for the last time and does not reappear until the next year. Last year was our first year, and Trevor named our elf Frankincense. We weren't sure when he was going to reappear, but he did right after we got our tree. New to our tradition is that Trevor has been giving Frankincense a piece of chocolate from his advent calendar to eat every night. I don't think he understands the concept of bribery yet but I do wonder if he thinks it will get him better reports.....
Then on Sunday afternoon we went as a family to watch the movie Tangled. Very well done movie. The kids would have done fine but they each had their own bathroom break during the movie. Gwen asked me today if we could watch it again, so I know she liked it. Plus her miniature Rapunzel doll has a whole new life which she can reenact. Trevor thought he wouldn't like it because the main male character is sort of a bad guy, but he said afterwards he was going to be unhappy if he would have died, but otherwise I think he did like it.
So that's it for now. Less than 3 weeks to go! I have to start checking things off my list!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
He's 7 and it's Christmastime!
Wow...I had no idea this weekend was going to take so much out of me. For some reason I was so on top of Thanksgiving, I thought that I could handle Trevor's birthday just the same. Not so. Compared to Thanksgiving, I was a disaster. I forgot to get half of the things we needed for the party, the cake fell apart, and because it was on a Saturday, there wasn't a whole lot to do. It seemed as though Trevor didn't notice, because he seemed to have a good time regardless. We were able to watch Toy Story 3 and some of our guests had to leave early. Russ got the kids ready for bed before he had to leave, and although it was 7:30, both kids asked to get to bed. Usually, Trevor asks me to read stories up until 9:00 if not later, but when I was done a little before 8:30, he didn't complain at all. I guess everyone was a little tired from the busy weekend.
The day after Trevor's birthday is usually the day we bring up Christmas decorations. We won't be getting the tree for another week or so, but I still get the movies, CD's, stockings, and toys out. It was a very different feeling from last year. Trevor was all gung-ho about getting the stuff out, and this year he seemed almost bored by it all. Maybe because the books are now too young for him, and the Little People Nativity set is really too young for him. I have a feeling when we get the tree out and decorated, it might be more of the same for him. Gwen loves to look at any Christmas tree decorations, and I remember last year how she loved to give me all of the decorations, one by one. Trevor likes to look at them, but doesn't really care a whole lot about getting them on the tree.
It seemed to be a little better with the turning of the calendar. Perhaps a little chocolate motivation was needed. Gwen keeps asking if she can have more chocolate, and the kids seem to be ok switching off with our Mickey Mouse Christmas Calendar.
I do have to admit I have found my weakness this season. Last year and this year we are using amazon's wish list for our Christmas wishes. I keep getting notifications for a free amazon prime trial, so I figured I'd try it this year. I never thought about it, but they often price match with Target, and they don't charge sales tax, plus free two-day shipping with this trial membership. I think I've ordered at least 8 or 9 different orders. It ROCKS.
On a slightly different note, I believe my 38 month old daughter is completely day-time potty trained! I knew it was all about letting her do it herself, and motivating her with sticker charts, and she has done it. Gotta love the decreased cost of diapers about to head into the house, or at least be dramatically less.
So it has been quite the busy time. I only have 3 more weeks of classes then this session is done. And I will be very close to being done. Hopefully I will be able to organize the house like I want it to be. Maybe there can be a light at the end of the tunnel!
The day after Trevor's birthday is usually the day we bring up Christmas decorations. We won't be getting the tree for another week or so, but I still get the movies, CD's, stockings, and toys out. It was a very different feeling from last year. Trevor was all gung-ho about getting the stuff out, and this year he seemed almost bored by it all. Maybe because the books are now too young for him, and the Little People Nativity set is really too young for him. I have a feeling when we get the tree out and decorated, it might be more of the same for him. Gwen loves to look at any Christmas tree decorations, and I remember last year how she loved to give me all of the decorations, one by one. Trevor likes to look at them, but doesn't really care a whole lot about getting them on the tree.
It seemed to be a little better with the turning of the calendar. Perhaps a little chocolate motivation was needed. Gwen keeps asking if she can have more chocolate, and the kids seem to be ok switching off with our Mickey Mouse Christmas Calendar.
I do have to admit I have found my weakness this season. Last year and this year we are using amazon's wish list for our Christmas wishes. I keep getting notifications for a free amazon prime trial, so I figured I'd try it this year. I never thought about it, but they often price match with Target, and they don't charge sales tax, plus free two-day shipping with this trial membership. I think I've ordered at least 8 or 9 different orders. It ROCKS.
On a slightly different note, I believe my 38 month old daughter is completely day-time potty trained! I knew it was all about letting her do it herself, and motivating her with sticker charts, and she has done it. Gotta love the decreased cost of diapers about to head into the house, or at least be dramatically less.
So it has been quite the busy time. I only have 3 more weeks of classes then this session is done. And I will be very close to being done. Hopefully I will be able to organize the house like I want it to be. Maybe there can be a light at the end of the tunnel!
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