The Dog Days are Over...

Well the kids are back in school and in the swing of things. Before the kids started school we went on vacation to the beach. The beach was great. It was relaxing, fun and we had tons great family time. It was great and we were sad to leave but we knew that school was just around the corner. Lindsay was fun but also a handful. She was not afraid of the waves and her motto was the bigger the better. If we were not helping her she would have been washed away. She was also funny because she would have some manic times where she was in the water for a long time and running along the waterline then she would stop and go back up to our spot and play in the sand. We were much better equipped this year. 

As you remember from last year we stood out like a family from Ohio traveling to the beach for the first time. Our tent was a disaster and hot and our chairs collapsed in the sand and our plastic shovel bent the first time we used it. So we bought a pop up tent, which was probably not suppose to be used in the sand because by the last day the legs would barely fold into another. The paint was chipping and I could of used some WD-40 to add some lubrication to the legs. Anyway, it worked much better then our tent. We also bought a plastic shovel with a wooden handle from the grocery store on day one so that helped with finding sand crabs. We also knew to set our tent out in the early morning so we would have a waterfront spot. So it was great to be better aware of what we were doing. I think that next year we will just us an umbrella because most of the time we did not sit in the tent and like I said it was a pain to put up and take down every day. So I think and umbrella will work better and be easier. Anyway, we had fun and the kids enjoyed the beach and undivided time with us.

 
Crazy Lindsay enjoying the waves. She was fearless and like I said the bigger the better for her.
Oh good she is sitting down.
  Mallory and Nathan wanted to bury themselves in sand. Nathan did not want to go up to his chest so he just got his legs burried.
Sweet picture of D and Lindsay...
 
We had one night where Lindsay was cracking us up. We were cleaning up after dinner and took it upon herself to help herself by eating the rest of the food. Here is her eating the leftover mac-n-cheese and dipping a piece of bread in Mallory's ketchup.
 
We loved Mallory's hair. It was long and curly at the beach.
 

 School and soccer season has started and it is good to be back in a routine and have the kids involved in activities. I do not like all the paperwork, fundraisers, etc. that comes along with having three kids in school and activities. Julianne and Mallory switched soccer teams this year and we both think it was a good move. For Julianne it was a chance to change teams and coach and to learn some new skills from a soccer coach. The atmosphere on the team is much different and the games are a lot quieter. I think she is enjoying it. She has not had as many breakdowns as she did with the other team but it still new so I am still hesitant to make that prediction. She is also playing a lot of different positions so we are also happy with that instead of sticking her in defense for the entire game she is moving between offensive and defensive positions. She is liking her grade and she was worried about all the homework she was going to have but it has not been that bad. She is also very efficient with her flex time at school so I think she takes full advantage of that time to get most of her work completed.

 Mallory's teacher is the same teacher that Julianne had for 3rd grade. She is very funny and outgoing and I think Mallory really likes her. She is getting into non-fiction reading and I remember that this was the year that we had the hardest time with Julianne because she was still not a great reader and they bring home a non-fiction page of reading every night. Mallory is struggling a little because, frankly it is not very interesting to read about these non-fiction short stories. So Mallory is doing much better at coping with the boardem of these passages then Julianne but it is still a struggle. I think it will get better and giving her a little background on what she is reading helps her get into the story a little better. 

Nathan is enjoying school. Like we predicted he did not have any adjustment issues nor did he shed a tear. That is completely different for us then Mallory and Julianne they had such a hard time going to kindergarden. So it is nice and Nathan gets to see them at school once in awhile so that helps. He has the same teacher that the girls had so that is great. The teacher just sent something home today saying that he qualifies for extra help, meaning he can go to school for the entire day and be in a special classroom when he is not in kindergarden. I have mixed emotions about that since first of all it is kindergarten, and secondly I like having him home during the morning.  The assessment was taken the first day of school which just seems wrong.  Mallory's and his preschool did not really drill down the alphabet/sounds as much as it probably should nor did we really practice with him. To me it seems like he knows a lot more than Mallory or Julianne knew going into Kindergarden.  Did they increase the kindergarden requirements or does he not really know more than they did?  Mallory needed extra help but they did not have this program when she was in school so she just went to a tutor in school.  So we will see what we decide, but come on it is kindergarden and he will be fine.
 Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-going on vacation for a week
 -writing in my blog (when I get a chance to)
-Experiencing school through my kids (Mallory is studying rocks and Julianne is studying Geography, both my favorites)
-Lindsay and her drive/desires/persistence.
-My great husband who is working hard to be where he wants to be and still makes it a priority to spend time with his kids and his wife.

My delayed picture post

At last I have uploaded my pictures and I can now post them.

 

Nathan, Mallory and Lindsay had Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. It started with Nathan, he had a high fever and sore throat over a weekend. So on Monday I took him to the doctor and she tested him but it came back negative. So she sent it off to the lab. I also mentioned to her that he had a rash on his legs but it was not very bad. Well she did not think much about it especially since he has sensitive skin and it always breaks out. That night I noticed that it got worse and it was all over his body. Mallory also started to get a sore throat. She had a few bumps on her feet. So then I knew that it was Hand, Foot and Mouth. Julianne had it when she was about 2 but hers was all over her face, hands and feet. That is why I did not really get it with Nathan, his was all over his body execpt for his hands, feet and mouth. Lindsay also started to get some bumps. Mallory and Nathan had a few nights where it really itched. I felt really bad for them. Mallory only had a few bumps on her feet and hands but they really itched. Julianne never got it, I think because she already had it. I should have thrown a Hand, Foot and Mouth party at my house for anyone interested in getting the virus.
 We pulled out the slip and slide and a few days where we really needed it due to the excessive heat in this area. The kids enjoyed it and it was Lindsay's first time on it. The kids would take turns pulling her off of it so that they could slide down.
 

Nathan had a great summer. He learned how to swim and can now go off the diving board and swim to the edge without floaties and he learned how to ride his two wheeler. The swimming came after two sessions of swimming lessons. He was very proud of himself and it is great to see him swim to the side by himself. It is great for me because I now only have to really worry about Lindsay. I can trust that he can swim "good" enough to be on his own with me just watching him versus me having to hold him. His bicycle riding came after weeks of trying on his big bike (pictured). That bike was too big for him to first learn on. So I borrowed a smaller girl bike and he worked on for a few hours and got it. He was so proud of himself. He was really determined and taught myself. We tried together but he really did it himself. So he learned on the little girl bike and once he figured it out it was an easy transition to his big boy bike. He is a happy rider and it was timely because after he learned he took safety town summer camp. So he learned all the rules of the road and it helped him learn how to have better control while on the sidewalk and on the streets.
 
Lastly Nana and Gigi were in town and we had a great time with them. It was over the 4th so we went to all the holiday activities with them. It was great to have everyone together and we had lots of great times.

Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-great family mediation nights
-fun in the summer
 -Having Nana and Gigi in town
 -Nathan and his big summer accomplishments.

Schools out for good

School is finally over the and kids have mixed emotions. Mallory was really sad and said that she cried when she left her teacher, and Julianne was glad that her school year was over. Nathan was confused and did not understand why he was not going back to school. The kids have done pretty well over these first few weeks of summer break. They had a basketball camp which Mallory loved and Julianne did not appreciate. So that may be the last time we sign her up for a sports camp. She claims that sports camps are boring but she likes art camps. So that will be good for next year to know. We really don't have much planned for this summer. The girls are taking a few art camps, Mallory is taking a hors back riding camp, Nathan is doing a mini soccer season and he is doing the local safety town. So that is about it. I think they will be starting their local soccer season before we know it but I am glad that most of the activities are behind us.

 The girls just finished up with their softball season and surprisingly they loved it. They both really enjoyed it and had a great season. Mallory improved a lot during the season and the coach said that she has the best batters stance of the league. Julianne also really improved and really like playing catcher. She is also thinking about trying to pitch next year so that is great to see her take that initiative.

 We had our family reunion last week and everything went pretty well. We stayed at a local water park hotel and that was great for the kids. I must say that Lindsay is a crazy girl in the pool. She just wanted to walk of the ledge of the pool and go in without me holding her. She was crazy. I put a life jacket on her because of that and she screamed the entire time it was on. She is too small to swim alone with the life jacket and it was too big so I still had to hold her and she was also not thrilled with that. She would have drowned if we were not there. She was so persistent on going in by herself. So we ditched the pool and went to the water park where there was a zero entry point and she was much happier with that. She wants to do things on her own, in her own way and does not want to be told otherwise. I took her to a soccer meeting last night at the local library and she wanted to run around the entire library. If we went to go and grab her she would scream bloody murder. We would carry her back to our meeting and she would run like there was no tomorrow out of the room, up the stairs and into know man lands. I would have loved to let her go where ever she wanted and see how she reacted. Would she ever stop to see if I was behind her. At what point would she become scared that she did not know where we were. I don't know how she would react but she sure has a mind of her own.

 Well we have some wired virus going on around this house. Nathan had a fever this weekend. I took him to the doctor thinking he had strep because he had white bumps on his throat. Then he broke out in a rash and it got worse last night. He was so itchy. Mallory is feeling the same way. The doctor is suppose to get back in touch with me since the overnight test did not show strep either. So I don't know if it is hand, foot, and mouth disease or not. Julianne had that when she was about 2 and it started on her face and hands. So this is a little different, so who knows. Well I have pictures but I have not put them on photobucket so I will try to get them up later.

 Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-seeing my entire family every year
-everyone getting along and feeling less negative energy/judgements
-Lindsay and her go getter attitude
-meditating with our family every night (we started this a few weeks ago)

Mallory's birthday

Well once again it has been a long time, over a month. Wow, that might be my longest stint away from my blog. Work has been crazy, life is crazy what else can I say. I know I always start this way but if I had more time for everything I would blog more. Oh well. Our month of April was great. The kids were all busy with activities and it is just now coming to an end. This upcoming weekend is another crazy activity weekend but after this weekend things settle down (thank goodness).

Nathan just finished soccer and he did really well. He is really talented and good at soccer. I can even tell that he just gets it. He can take the ball and score, he sees the holes within the kids and gets through them with the ball and just moves really well. He coach said at the last game that within 15 years he will see Nathan at the local professional soccer stadium. Nathan did really get what he was saying but it was nice.

Mallory is progressing in her soccer. She is not very aggressive or possessive during the game but she can have a lot of fun and try. She is getting better at that and D is helping her with that. He said that if he can help her improve on her aggressiveness then that is great. She has the drive and most of the skills but sometimes could care less if the other team takes the ball. That sounds somewhat familiar to how I was in sports. So I understand. She also has her first dance recital this weekend. We are excited to see her. She really likes tap and is going to try ballet this summer. Mallory is also playing softball this spring. It is her first year and so far I think she likes it. I played softball for one season but really did not enjoy it. I remember playing catcher and I hated that the ball came right toward me. I also broke my arm that spring so I ended up not finishing the season, which I was OK with. Mallory just had her friend birthday party this weekend and had a great time. D and I both had a great time because it was not a sleep over. We had the girls over from 5 to 8 pm. and they mostly played outside. They made their first initial of their name so that took up some time but other than that they played outside with each other. She is supper sweet friend and did a great job of playing with everyone.

Julianne is finishing up with soccer this weekend. She has a tournament this weekend that I enjoy watching but I think the coach puts too much emphasis on it. The last tournament the girls were in tears after their third game because they did not win. We are looking at switching her teams this upcoming season to give her a new coaching perspective. So hopefully she will make the other team, but if not she has this team she can continue to play for. Julianne is also playing softball this year for the first time. She does not love it but is trying it. So her first game is tonight and I think her perfectionist self is worried about how she will do. So we will see. She is doing great in school and loves trying hard in school. She is also going to try ballet this summer which will be interesting because she really wants to jump around and to leaps and dances but I keep emphasizing that beginning ballet is all about positions and the details of the positions. But taking it this summer will be great because she can try it without it becoming a big commitment.

Lindsay is in an interesting phase. She is supper grouchy most of the time. She wants to do everything that she wants to do and definitely throws a fit when her way is not our way. Myself, her lovely or anything else does not easily soothe her. She is not a snuggler or a lover, but I think Nathan was this way for a while and now he is. So hopefully that will change with time. She is definitely a hoot. Her stink faces make me laugh and her inability to laugh makes me try harder to get her to loosen up. She also acts like is about 2 going on 4. She goes up the big playground equipment and really wants to go off the edge like bigger kids would when they go down the pole. However if she did it she would drop 10 feet. Then she gets mad when I take her off that equipment. Crazy. Anyway, it is all normal behavior but very tiring all the same. We are having fun with the kids and I know that D is enjoying all the kids sporting activities. It will be great to have a break this summer and to slow down our crazy pace. I miss hanging around our house.
 
My quilt I finally finished for D's office. Now I am working on Nathan's.
Stink Face
 
Nathan and his mad soccer skills
 
Our local family baseball game, where we always somehow always pick up another kid or two from the park.
 
Mallory's party with friends
 

Things I am grateful/thankful for:
 -Watching the kids enjoy their activities (or semi-enjoy them)
 -Seeing Mallory interact with her friends
-Lindsay's stink face.
-My wonderful husband and his great Mother's Day activities

It's been awhile

Well it has been awhile. We have been really busy with the kids and work has been crazy. So my free time has been spent working and keeping the house organized. I know when I have been busy when my quilting is on hold. Nathan's poor quilt is still in pieces on our dining room table. I worked on it this weekend for about 30 minutes. So I keep plugging away but as my time is consumed with other priorities my sewing takes a back seat. That is OK because I am still doing things I like to do so I am not really complaining but sometimes I feel like I could use an entire week to catch up on everything that I want to do personally. As parents our hobbies and interests take a back seat to the everyday activities our kids lives take up. I know that at some point in the future I will have time to do the things I always wanted to have more time to do, like sewing, photography, house and lawn projects, walking the dogs, and develop other hobbies. For me it is worth it to have less time for me right now knowing that it will come at some point. Our choice to have four kids limits our free time for now and sometimes it is hard but most of the time I know it is worth it. So my point for going on and on is that the less free time I have less often my blog posts become. I would like to write more but like I said there are a lot of things I would rather be doing then cleaning up the kitchen for the 5th time today but it is all worth it.

We had a great Easter. The kids had fun and Julianne is still gung ho on participating. I noticed that our neighbor, who is the same age, was not participating in her families Easter egg hunt. So that is great. She did not even question it. She is definitely a late bloomer and is not afraid to be young.

We also had a great time skiing in Utah. We had a rough start getting there since our first plane ran into a bird and had to come down 5 minutes later but fortunately they still got us to Utah with all five of us traveling together. The kids enjoyed skiing and Nathan skied for the first time and loved it. He went down a few blue and we got stuck on a double blue but he still plowed through it. He only lasted a few hours but we took the girls and ended up skiing the rest of the day with them. We had fun doing the moguls and skiing through the trees. Lindsay was not too happy that she was spending the day at the local daycare. She was grouching before that so that did not help. She refused lunch and when she took a nap she wanted to stay in her bed and not go with the caretaker. So that was hard but I knew it was temporary and she would have been a grouch at home so I was kind of glad I did not have to deal with her. She is feeling much better now. I think her ear infection is gone and she is no longer screaming "die, die" at the top of her lungs. I did not take any pictures with my camera but I did have my iphone. So if I can figure out how to easily upload those I will share them soon.



Lindsay was not cooperating...



Mumm...lots of chocolate. I can't keep it in my mouth.




Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-being able to go skiing with the family
-making it to Utah after our plane adventure
-Having Lindsay back to her sweet self
-planting lettuce
-time to myself.