I guess sometimes things happen in threes....

I wouldn't have believed it unless it happened here first, but the kids were in for a doozy of a weekend. And by weekend, I mean Thursday - Sunday. As I wrote about earlier, Gwen had a crazy ear infection that except for the medicine you never would have known she had. She is so unlike Trevor with ear infections. It is a good difference, and maybe it is because by this time, Trevor also was trailing off of his ear infections.

So anyway, on Friday, Gwen and I were playing around, and she always loves going upstairs, sometimes to pretend to tell someone to go to bed as if she is the mom. Anyway, I heard a thud at the top of the stairs and I knew she was coming downstairs, not of her own power. I looked up to see her on her head flipping downwards. Thank goodness our stairs are carpeted or it would have been a much harder fall. She landed on her knees and fell forward to her face, but caught herself a bit. She was crying after she landed, but by the sound of the cry, it wasn't from pain, it was because it scared her. I double-checked and asked her if she hurt anywhere and she said no. I wonder if her balance was a little off because of her ear infection, but regardless, she wasn't hanging onto the railing, and I reminded her that she probably should be doing that. And now she does.

Then on Saturday, Trevor was able to go golfing with Russ and his family as well as to a Wild preseason hockey game. According to Russ, he was fine at golfing, and then when they got to the hockey game he was complaining about his stomach hurting. He didn't eat much at the game and was saying he was tired. They left after the three periods were done and stopped by McD's for some food because Trevor will never turn down McD's. He eats three bites and asks Russ to pull over so he can be sick. But he doesn't get sick. He is probably really zoned out by the time they get home and he changes into his pj's and goes to bed. When I get upstairs to get ready for bed at about 11:30, I can hear Trevor getting sick. I go into his room to find him on the floor, out of bed getting sick. I rub his back, put him back in bed, clean up the mess and go to bed myself. Nothing else happens that night.

The next day, I had him eating a bland diet of toast and noodles, and he wasn't really that hungry. But when I told him that he got sick last night, he didn't believe me. He told me that he felt like he was going to be sick in the car coming back from the hockey game, but he did not remember being sick that night in his room. Sorry bud, but I would not make that up. Anyway, he never was sick again, but does now seem to have a cold. Don't really know what that is about.

So things happen in threes for the kids this weekend. I'm done for another year or so, thank-you-very-much!

What is with ear infections, anyway?

So Gwen has had a cold for a week or so, and the coughing started a few days ago. Trevor and I also have the cold, but no one (including Gwen) was really run down all that much. No fevers to speak of. Gwen had taken a nap yesterday and woke up with her ears hurting a little bit. But no big deal, she woke up, we had dinner, we went to get Trevor's hair cut and came back home. No complaining at all. We made some chocolate chip muffins for dessert and all of a sudden she went down to her knees and cried out that her ear hurt a lot. It really freaked me out and because we recently changed clinics, I immediately started wondering if I was going to have to take her to the ER or if I had any other options since it was so late. Then I started thinking what I was going to have to do with Trevor.

But once I calmed down and called the nurse line, I remembered these times with Trevor way back when. Again, like Trevor, no fever, but didn't want anyone near her. I gave her some tylenol and let her watch some Super Why. I brought Trevor upstairs for his shower and bedtime when 10 minutes later Gwen yelled upstairs that her ear felt all better.

Unfortunate timing, I had to get Trevor down and attend my last class of this session, so Gwen going to bed had to wait until 10. She was able to stay awake no problem. The Tylenol put her in perfect spirits. After class we got her ready for bed and said goodnight. I thought for sure I was going to have to give her another dose of tylenol mid-night, and surprisingly I was wrong. She slept all the way until almost 7:30, but did wake up and say her ear hurt again. More tylenol and she was her normal self. I made an appointment for 9:45 this morning and called to say she wouldn't be in school. Trevor went to school and we went to the doctor shortly after. I think when we saw the doctor he was surprised at her normal attitude and lack of even pulling on her ears, but the second he looked in her ear there was no doubt.

I can't quite remember how long it has been since she had an ear infection. The last one I can remember for sure was at 18 months. I think I might have taken her in one other time to Urgent Care because I thought she had one, but she didn't. At least now she can clearly tell me that her ear hurts, and if she does, I know what that means. And because she has had so few infections, she is still on ammoxicillin.

Seriously though, what is with ear infections? They are so strange. I had heard one of our previous doctors say that ear infections can inflame in a manner of 15 minutes. Crazy.

Glad to know that she should be good by her birthday. Actually, she has had one dose of her medicine and she is her normal self again. Strange....

So what are the kids up to?

Before I remember to write what the post is going to be about, I just wanted to say what a fun, and even lucrative wine tasting we had at our house on Friday! It was really cool to see everyone's favorite wines of the bunch and to hear everyone say they wanted to do it again next year. Hopefully it will be a tradition for many years to come!

With birthdays and Christmas fast approaching, I think it is interesting to take stock of what the kids truly play with and how they play with it before new toys and games come into the mix. I have yet to really weed through the toys, but it is coming in about a week or so. I'm mostly getting frustrated with all the accessories of Gwen's toys that she can't even play with yet, and the dolls that go with the accessories are so beat up that she isn't going to want to play with them by the time she is old enough to. So that will probably be the biggest group of stuff to go.

First of all, Trevor has gotten rid of his rectangle tv of past, and while he does play out a few different Mario baseball games, or maybe they are Twins baseball games, he doesn't jump on the trampoline much at all. What he does do, when he remembers, is take a little notebook that Russ once used to write notes to himself, and create a batting order and field position for the Twins baseball team. It is pretty cute as he has been learning the why of certain positions in the field as well as your number in a batting order. Rather than have him go into the Children's Liturgy where he usually messes around, I let him stay in church with me and plot the next batting order or two.

Gwen, on the other hand has plenty of toys, and she does use her old stand-bys of dollhouse dolls, princesses and fairies, but what she is really interested in is her food. Not really cooking it, but using the food like a grocery store. She takes the food out of the grocery cart, and puts it on an arm rest of either the couch or recliner and wants me to take it off of the arm rest. That means she bought it. Then, I have to buy it back. I put the food individually back on the arm rest and she puts it back in the cart. This game literally can go on for over an hour. I have no idea why it is so interesting. Maybe I should introduce the bagging concept? I have a lot of little bags she could use. But really she just wants to keep buying the food.

Then today, the best thing happened....she started playing "preschool". I always thought it was the cutest thing when Trevor did it, and when I volunteered at his preschool I loved to see all the kids playing preschool. Today she was mimicking music time and library time. She said "Boys and Girls" a lot so I knew right away what she was doing.

So anyway, that is what the kids are up to for now. I'm sure it will change soon, but for now, it is what they enjoy.

So much to update

My classes are almost wrapping up and greatly increasing their projects and papers and such. Add to it PTA responsibilities and Fall Fundraising Chair stuff, it makes for a very busy time. It was the first full week of school and it has been flying by. I can't believe we are halfway through September. Practically two weeks until Gwen's birthday, then we have to get ready for Halloween. If I haven't said it lately, I love being crazy busy like this. I had a wine tasting party yesterday and I did some crazy cleaning for the previous 3 days and it was really nice because I know it won't be as hard to keep up for another two weeks, then another 7-8 weeks for Thanksgiving and Trevor's birthday as long as I can quietly and secretively get rid of the really little toys or pieces of toys that we don't even have the whole set for anymore.

I digress.... Gwen has become very attached, as has most of her class actually, to being in preschool. I went to pick her up on Thursday and she practically refused to leave. I did have to talk with her explaining again and again that she could not stay because school was "closing" but she also knows that they have childcare next door that she toured and it is obvious she wants to stay there after school is done, or go back so she can spend more time there. What is crazy to me is that while she is only at school for two days a week, and while I get anxious for her on Thursdays, having to wait and explain that she doesn't have school for another 5 days, but the time goes so fast, I don't think it really occurs to her to think it is something she is missing out on. We do grocery shopping on Monday, I have an envelope stuffing thing at Trevor's school on Wednesdays, and we run errands on Friday or just hang out with a friend if we can. She started library day on Tuesday and he brought home her favorite book from the lake house. Then when we read the book she wanted me to take out the folder that held the check-out card stating who checked it out. It is a pretty fun time for her to tell us what she learns in school.

So for Trevor, I have spent a good chunk of my time at his school. I am a volunteer that stuffs all the kids' weekly envelopes on Wednesdays. I am the chair for the school's fall fundraiser. Thankfully the previous chair is sort of helping me out with my job since it has almost been done for most of the year. I have set up 3 display cases at school prior to school starting, picked up the envelopes and applied labels to them with each kid's name only to find out that because of our enrollment increasing over the previous year, we don't have enough packets. Minor problem, but had to get the vendor guy on the phone to drop more off the morning of the first day of the fundraiser. We had a PTA meeting that evening to boot. Between the weekly envelopes, labeling the extra envelopes and attending the kickoff for the kids, I was at school a great deal. I think Trevor got a big kick out of seeing me at his meeting and his teacher let him say hi to me afterwards.

Our fundraiser is unique in that they don't offer individual prizes for the kids, it is a group goal that the principal offers things he will do for the school. It is pretty nice, he likes to promote the team feeling.

Trevor has been doing well, settling in, and seeming to have a good time. He came home with his first math homework on Friday, which he tried to convince me he didn't understand it. So we are slowly remembering the old routine. I heard about the whole Silly Bandz craze a while back, and Trevor has never shown an interest. We got a note from the teacher that she is considering banning them from her classroom because they are causing a lot of distractions for the class. I asked Trevor about them, and he says that there are a lot of kids getting in trouble but he isn't one of them. Mostly because he doesn't care I'm sure, but it is such a welcome change for the way last year started out for him. Another change from last year is that they are having teacher conferences in two weeks so that we can talk about year goals now rather than in another two months of school. I think it is smart.

I'm trying to get a sense of Trevor's school life, and it is pretty hard. It seems like he sits with different kids at lunch and plays with different kids at recess. He always tells me which of his former classmates he sees during the day. I'll be interested to see what his teacher has to say about the social side of class. She called me after the first few days of class and said that he is such a sweet kid. That day she had given him a kleenex because she thought he might need a tissue. Later that day, she had a few sneezes and after their math lesson was done, he told her that he didn't use the kleenex but that she might want it for her sneezing.

It will be interesting to see where the next days go.

First day of school time!

I have to say that it was pretty special to have both kids start school yesterday. I think it was that much more special for Gwen to be able to head over for her first day of school right after Trevor. She was very tired at the end of the day, but she could talk about her own first day of school and teacher right along with Trevor. It will be another few years before they have their first days of school on the same day again. Kindergarten starts a day later to avoid the craziness of the other kids on the first day of school. Makes sense, but she is not going to be the same day because of it.

I had to wake both kids up, although Trevor was already up, he just didn't want to get out of bed yet. On those cold mornings, neither do I. Gwen was pretty happy to get up, which is a change for her. Trevor took a bag lunch for his first day because I wasn't sure that he would like whatever they had for the first day. I had also sent a few papers with him to bring to school. I dropped Trevor off first and had to head out to drop Gwen off right away. We were a little later than I wanted to be because it was a little tricky to get both kids smiling together. This is the best I could do:

Gwen only has 11 kids in her preschool, and I got a good report for her on the first day. No crying or anything. She was happy to know she would be going back again soon. It was nice to have a few hours of quiet time that day. I didn't really think about it, but when Trevor first went to preschool, I had about 3 weeks before I had Gwen that were those quiet hours to myself. I think I was too preoccupied to actually enjoy them. But now they are back.

Trevor had a great time at school as well, although I wasn't really worried about it. He was able to talk to all his friends, and talked about how he saw all of his Kindergarten classmates at lunch and recess. We will be working on the new schedule and doing things like bringing papers to class. I asked him where the papers I sent with him ended up and he doesn't remember. They could be in his desk, they could be somewhere else, but they are not in his bag anymore. Also, he said he couldn't find his snack that I packed him. Of course I put one in where he had had snacks during his summer classes, but he didn't look there. So we'll try again next time. He also wants to do lunch today. I explained that we still don't have a menu so I'm not sure what it will be. He explained that he is sure he can find something. We'll see what he comes up with after today.

It's time to get ready for day number 2!

The Last Hurrah

Well, it is the last day of Summer Vacation, and we all made it relatively unscathed. Surprisingly Gwen is a little more anxious/bonkers than Trevor has been. The past week has been kept busy by going to the State Fair, Back to School night, and taking one more trip to the cabin for the summer. I went with the kids to the State Fair on Wednesday. We got into the grounds at 9:00 and left after 1:00. It was my first time going solo, so rather than even attempt the rides this year we just walked around leisurely. We did go on the sky ride, the big slide, and sat down to eat, but otherwise the kids were on their own power walking around. They both did really good. I think we are starting to get a good routine down where we do the animals and a few snacks first, then end with the kids rides. By the time we were going to do the kids rides, I could tell the kids were running out of steam. But it will be a good goal to have for future years.

Then on Thursday evening, we were able to go to the back to school night at the Elementary school. I had already introduced myself to Trevor's teacher earlier in the week, so it was nice to know that I didn't need to try to talk to her for longer to get to know her more. As is normal Trevor, I'm pretty sure he would have chatted with his teacher forever, but he was easily distracted as soon as he saw a few of his former classmates. I think it is really going to be a different situation with him really knowing a few of his classmates, knowing his school, and being really excited to be at lunch and recess. That and I'm sure he has matured since last year too. Gwen was surprisingly timid and a little scared by the whole thing. I think she wanted Trevor to go back to his old room with his old teacher. We put Trevor's supplies in his desk (first year for that!) and picked up his paperwork and then headed out to the cabin for the weekend.

We had been really lucky this summer to get such warm weather at the lake. Both so we could swim and that the water temperature was so warm. We were hoping to be able to swim one last time this summer, but no such luck. Looking back over our family Labor Day vacations up to Brainerd, we never had warm enough weather to swim, or at least it was rarely. I will take the summer weather we had over being able to swim on Labor Day anytime. Although I am sad to be chilled and have to get out the long pants and shirts for fall.

So this closes another summer vacation. I know we will have many more adventures in the next year. Here we go!!!!

Maybe I will get more time

Once both kids are in school for a total of 4 hours a week, I will have more time to run errands. I am worried about the time I'm going to lose when I need to go pick up Trevor from school and then wait to put Gwen down for her nap. But we will have to see how it all works out. Right now I'm just trying to get things done on my mental to-do list.

Last weekend, we were lucky enough to run up to Derek's and Kyrsten's house to say hi to the pets before heading out to Dave and Busters. The kids had a blast, like I knew they would, but both were a little questioning when I said it was like Chuck E. Cheese. They had been to that place before, but never a Dave and Busters. It was a little too old age-wise for Gwen, but she still found her favorite places to be and pretend to play games. Except for Deal or No Deal. She knows how to play that one, and had gotten the top two prizes out of the 3 times we played. Trevor probably could have played all day. When it came time to pick out prizes, Gwen immediately found a Sleeping Beauty nightlight that she wanted. Lucky for us it was the last one, and the lady felt bad giving it to me without a box. I think it would have been worse if it would have had a box because she wanted to play with it right away. Trevor got a Twins teddy bear and Viking's mini helmet so we were set with the prizes.

Then on Tuesday this week we headed out to the waterpark of America. It is right near the Mall of America and we had never been inside it before. Tracy and Kyrsten were generous enough to go with us, so with a ratio of three adults to two kids, we were golden. It says on their website that they keep the air and water temp at 83 degrees, but when they have the fans blowing, the water by the fans seems much cooler. We were swimming for over an hour before we took a lunch break, and the air temp in there was even cooler. Gwen had just begun to get chilly before lunch, and the break didn't help her. Although she did get a bit dryer. When we went back to the water, I think she only lasted 15 or so minutes before she was blue and shivering. I had found a nearby pool where she couldn't touch, but the water was much warmer. She could tell and she pinked up within 5 minutes. Not only that, but by a few more minutes she was asking me to let her go underwater after she jumped in from the steps. I have a feeling if the water temp is warm at the lake again, she might be jumping in by herself without jumping to anyone. Trevor also enjoyed the pool area so he could do his somersaults and such. While I know he feels safer in the lake with his lifejacket on, it gains his confidence when we are in a pool that he can touch and practice swimming in shallow water.

Yesterday we split the kids up and my mom took Gwen to the Children's Museum and I took Trevor to Edenborough Park, an indoor climbing gym. He went at it for over 2 1/2 hours. From what I heard from my mom, both kids enjoyed their day.

We are on the brink of refinancing our mortgage to a 4.375% rate and a three year term reduction. Who knew that could be so easy. Next week, we will hopefully be golfing with a couple that we both know at the golf course we play at. Then maybe going to the fair one day. After that, bring on the school! It is almost time for summer break to be over.

Trevor's behavior recently has had it's ups and downs, and right now we are in an up stage, so I almost don't want to jinx it. But he has been doing a lot better with completing tasks that I give him. Or maybe I've just been better at sticking to my promises. Either way, I had to give him a big hug today for all the help cleaning up that he has been doing when I ask. He has even been reading an occasional book to Gwen if it is a book I know he can read. Pretty cute I must say.

Now Gwen, I'm pretty sure she can sense a big shift in schedule coming up. She has been fighting going to bed, especially her naps. She has developed a screaming fear of bugs, any and all. So that is what happens for her day-naps. She gets into her room and she thinks there are bugs on the ceiling, in her bed, if she is outside and sees one, she screams. Poor girl. I've been combating it every way I know how. I even told her that Prince Naveen (the stuffed frog that she has from Princess and the Frog) loves to eat bugs, so if she sees one, she can tell Naveen to eat the bug. She got a chuckle out of it, but I wonder if it doesn't calm her down a little bit.

Now if I can just stay ahead of the homework stuff....

It's been a week?

A week ago we were at the lake for an extended week-end. The weather was so nice and hot. The water was so nice and warm. Even Wednesday afternoon when we got there, the kids didn't want to get out of the water for dinner. It was calm and so warm that Gwen could swim and swim for hours. We did it again on Thursday after Trevor, Russ, my dad and Dave were golfing. I was so surprised and had really forgotten what it was like to swim while the water was like bathwater.

There was no air conditioning in the cabin, but as everyone knows, I like that. By opening the door to the bedroom and the windows as well, a breeze blew around in the room so it kept it non-sweating at least for me. We had a really fun shower, mom you really can throw a good one :-)

We came back early so Russ and I could play in a couple's tournament. I guess my luck finally ran out when it comes to golfing. I played as bad as I had all year. I hit two balls out of bounds, and I hadn't done that all year...honestly I can't ever remember hitting a single ball out of bounds on these two holes ever. I made it over one water hole, only to hit three balls in a row off of trees and backwards. I had a 10 on one hole and an 8 on another. I was nowhere near close to where I wanted to be on my round. It would have been nice to play with a couple we knew, but maybe next year. It seems we have a pattern of winning one year and then losing the next. So we are due next year.

After that horrible round, my attitude stunk. The kids were crabby and so was I. Trevor has been taking the bus to his sports camp this week, but after Friday we are done with activities. Hopefully he will behave for the two weeks until school starts.

I played golf again on Tuesday, and had a very good round, so I guess that improved my mood a bit. I haven't even started my reading for class, which is very unlike me. Someday soon, I'll have lot of catch-up to do. My two professors this session have been very absent the last week. So I haven't gotten a lot of information on how I am doing in the class.

Wednesday, I met with some of our PTA officers because I had gotten my responsibility as Fall Fundraiser Chair. They were stuffing envelopes, and we ended up staying over an hour after they were all stuffed sharing ideas for the next year.

My mind is a flutter with lots of random things to get done soon. While school is just over 2 weeks away, I can't even get there yet mentally. Thank goodness I have already gotten the school supplies or that would also be grinding on me.

On to a few more things to try to check off the list....

There went the weekend

Well, at the end of the week, I could tell that Trevor really enjoyed his Tennis lessons put on by the Summer Spectrum group. He had the class with a few kids he knew, and got to ride on his bus for the entire week. We picked him up on Friday and headed to my parents house for the weekend so Russ and I could golf. I was excited that the weather was going to be hot, although there was a good chance of rain, which is never fun to play in. It never got called off, so all that meant was that there wasn't any lightning.

On Saturday, I was playing in the rain until hole 12. I shot a 99 and was tied for first place after the first day. Then on Sunday, the heat and humidity really kicked in. I don't know why I tried to make it through without taking an electric cart. But I did. And I was pretty exhausted after that round. I shot a 105 that day, which ended up winning my flight. I feel kind of bad because I didn't care at all if I came in first or last. As long as I shot under a 110 both days. Russ came in a tie for 2nd in his flight, so he did well as well.

The kids seemed to have a blast as they always do when they are with their extended family. They got to go to the county fair, teddy bear park, and play in the sprinkler. Trevor also lost his 3rd tooth there. I knew it was a possibility, but I forgot to send his tooth "pillow" with him so he had to make do. It is a bottom tooth, but it still changes his smile. Looks like his top two teeth might not be out for a few more months. Maybe it will be a Christmas time event. Then he can sing the song, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth."

Trevor's attitude seems to have slowed down over the past week. I wonder if it is getting him back to the park for a few days, or just his cycle. Gwen has turned it on in the mean time, but I seem to have more patience with her because I know she doesn't get it yet. But today, when I came downstairs this morning, Trevor had turned on the FSN channel and they were recapping yesterday's baseball scores. Trevor was loving it. He was able to tell me scores and what was going on around the country. I thought it was really cute. I would have thought he would have been tired out with baseball by this point, but it sure doesn't sound like it!

We are off today for a longer weekend at the cabin. We are celebrating the new nephew coming into our family! That time sure is getting close!

Hoping to give myself a break

It has been a little better week all around, with a little trouble from Trevor, but I'm actually confident that I'm letting him make his choices and if he wants to keep making not good choices, it will lead him to not getting things he wants.

It has been a pretty good week from the perspective that I've been playing a lot with the kids. While I don't get all the other things I need to take care of done, it at least relieves some of the mom guilt I have.

Gwen has been wanting to play food or babies all the time. So that is where I have been spending most of my days. While she is starting to imaginatively play, she can't quite grasp the concept of naming something. I think she thinks that things either already have a name or that whoever is playing with the toy, inherits the name. So we have mommy baby, baby, and daddy baby that we play with. She plays with them similar to a real baby, we dance, we change diapers, we put them to bed, we give them bottles, but she is not the mom. She is Gwen. I am mommy. Because it is my name. Now she gets that my mom and other people call me Krissy, but my name still is mommy.

We went school supply shopping for Trevor, (more on that later) and at the end, because the kids were good we headed over to look at the toys. Gwen is starting to understand that you need to get something in order to take it out of the store. So she is starting to ask to get things. Target just set their toys that will be in the stores for Christmas, so they have a bunch of new toys. The one she found that she really wants is the one fairy that she doesn't have. She was kind of a "bad" fairy in the first one, and not even in the second one, but I hear she has a bigger part in the new movie coming out. So when she saw it in the store, she wanted it. Now is the time she needs to learn how to wait for her birthday. It is under 2 months away, so she won't have long to wait, but she now is asking to have her birthday so she can get the fairy. What I thought was a cute sidenote: Trevor asked in a quiet voice if he could get that for her for her birthday. I thought it was a nice gesture, so I think we will be doing that.

So we brought Trevor's school supply list to Target last night and I read the list off while he searched for the items. We found everything we needed, so we are all set. I could see his excitement growing, and he even said it himself - yes doing the wrist flap and jumping up and down - I'm so excited for school to start! I thought it was another moment of cuteness for him. Or maybe I just like remembering what it was like to be in his shoes.

And one more cute moment for Trevor, but this has to be something that is not teased because I know it could easily be. Hopefully those that would think of teasing will remember the many times where they themselves could have been teased for what they enjoyed doing. Anyway, after Gwen went up for her nap, I left it to Trevor to decide what we were going to do. Sometimes it involves a game, a card game, me watching a Nascar race of his, or playing Cars. That day, he wanted to play with Gwen's Fairies. I wonder why he chooses things like that, and I think it is because he likes the Tinkerbell movies, and always likes to act out or slightly change the stories in the movies. I acted out whatever Fairy he asked me to be, and I think we had a good time. Not having a sister around screaming at you to stop playing with your things is nice for him from time to time. There isn't going to be much more time of that, I don't think. I'm not sure how much time he will have to himself once he is back from school.

So this weekend, the kids are going to the fair with Bubba and Papa. They are both really looking forward to it, and I hope the weather is good for everyone. I have plenty of homework to get done in addition to having some fun times at golf. Hope everyone has a great weekend!