I am just unmotivated to write anything. Nothing much is happening and I have not really taken any pictures. I took pictures of my friends kids, a friend of mine and my own kids for some holiday cards. I do love my friends pictures but I am not as thrilled with my kids pictures. I am sure it will turn out wonderfully, but we are our greatest critic.
The girls soccer is over so that has been nice to have some more free time. I am getting started on shopping and organizing for the holidays. One thing I dread is composing our calender and Christmas card. It is just time consuming and I feel like my time is so limited. I am also against the entire Christmas card giving. What do we really do with them after the Holidays? I actually do keep the picture cards and put them in my yearly folder to keep but the others I shamefully recycle or give away. It is nice to see pictures of everyone else's families that I do not see all the time so I guess that is the point of sending them. I am sure others feel the same way but enjoy seeing our family. It would be nice if we all decided to not send cards and instead send a holiday e-mail or some other way to share our family updates besides buying 80 cards and stamps. I just dread when the first cards come and it reminds me that I have to get started on the entire process. Usually mine are the last to go out so I am trying to be more proactive this year.
I am also working on a quilt for Mallory which if it was my choice I would spend all my time on but with all the other things going on I have to divide and conquer.
We have started renovating our house so we now have a large mud hole in our back yard where our screeened in porch used to be. They are pouring the foundation for the crawlspace this week and the next. So when I get those pictures up I will share them on the blog.
Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-using my limited "me" time to work on a quilt
-giving thanks to everyone who is supportive and responsive in my life.
-The kids giving me 10 minutes to blog while they are coloring at the kitchen table.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Halloween fun
We had a great Halloween with great weather, a little cold, and great company. My next door neighbor always cooks a pot full of chili and we bought over chips and cornbread. Our city celebrated it on Thursday, which I disagree with, but I guess the point is to not have the kids running and out on the streets during a weekend. Anyway, the kids went as a 70's hippie chick, a cowgirl and a Star Wars figure and I went as a pregnant women and D was a dad. Mallory woke up on Thursday morning at 4 in the morning and threw up she threw up again two more times. Needless to say she did not go to school that day and I was a little bummed because I knew she was going to miss her school parade and party. She was better in time for trick-or-treating. D stayed home with her since I had a conference and he worked on Friday and I stayed home half day.
Nathan was really cute while trick-or-treating. The first 5 to 10 houses he kept up with the kids as they ran between houses. After that he complained that his stomach hurt and wanted carried but only for a few seconds before he saw the other kids running up to another house. He hung in there for most of the night. Julianne went the entire time with our neighbors and Mallory and Nathan stayed with me at our neighbors house.
Off they go...
A neighbor's display
The high school band came around and played on our street. It was great and definitely added to the community theme.
I took Nathan to the zoo this week and we had a great time. He loved it and he talked the entire time. He was not as into the animals and wanted to leave each animal after about 30 seconds of viewing the animal. I on the other hand wanted to stay and watch the animals but I guess he was the boss that day. He really loved the train and was really excited when we got to ride it. It was a great morning at the zoo and it was nice to spend some one on one time with him.
Cheesy face
I tried to get him to lay on the floor and have him looking up at the bear like the bear was about to eat him but he was not into that picture. I think he was afraid that the bear would actually take a bite out of him.
Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-getting good looking maternity pants.
-my new spinning bike now located in my basement.
-Watching my kids run between houses gathering treats
Nathan was really cute while trick-or-treating. The first 5 to 10 houses he kept up with the kids as they ran between houses. After that he complained that his stomach hurt and wanted carried but only for a few seconds before he saw the other kids running up to another house. He hung in there for most of the night. Julianne went the entire time with our neighbors and Mallory and Nathan stayed with me at our neighbors house.
Off they go...
A neighbor's display
The high school band came around and played on our street. It was great and definitely added to the community theme.
I took Nathan to the zoo this week and we had a great time. He loved it and he talked the entire time. He was not as into the animals and wanted to leave each animal after about 30 seconds of viewing the animal. I on the other hand wanted to stay and watch the animals but I guess he was the boss that day. He really loved the train and was really excited when we got to ride it. It was a great morning at the zoo and it was nice to spend some one on one time with him.
Cheesy face
I tried to get him to lay on the floor and have him looking up at the bear like the bear was about to eat him but he was not into that picture. I think he was afraid that the bear would actually take a bite out of him.
Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-getting good looking maternity pants.
-my new spinning bike now located in my basement.
-Watching my kids run between houses gathering treats
Monday, October 25, 2010
Wow it has been awhile
Well I have been slacking on my blog. It is harder the longer I go between posts because I dread having to write a long post to cover everything that happened. But I always feel great after I do it and it kind of releases some memory in my brain because I was finally able to write all these activities/thoughts down.
So... the last few weeks... where do I start. Well I can start with our trip to the local state park in the southern part of our state. It was great. We stayed in a cabin near the area and took the kids. It was nice to be in the wilderness and to appreciate it more than we usually do. The kids loved the cabin because it had a loft where they all slept in. It was also made of real wood so they were interested in the process of making a real log cabin. Outside there were some trails, fire pit, corn hole and woods. The kids made a house sign made out of twigs and rocks and we decorated acorns to look like little people. I forgot to take pictures of these activities but they really had a great time creating art with nature. We took the kids to see some caves and a waterfall, which was dried up. They really enjoyed the hike and we had minimal complaining.
Nice face Mallory.
Here is another try, but Julianne and Nathan are looking the other way. I can never get a great picture of all three of them together.
Julianne in a dark spooky cave.
Large pulled up tree.
Nathan did not get into the highlighted area. Not enough time to edit.
Nathan fell asleep on the way home so I brought him in the cabin and he slid down the futon. He stayed like this for quite some time.
The kids were obsessed with these caterpillars. We had lots of them in plastic containers before we convinced them that they would not like to be stuck in a plastic room.
Log cabin joints. Pretty cool how they are stuck together and what prevents them from slipping out.
The "men" tending to the fire.
On Sunday, our departure day, Nathan began his barky cough. He coughed pretty much the entire morning and afternoon. I did not bring his nebulizer since he just had one a few weeks before so I felt bad that I did not have anything for him. We were on our way home so I knew that we could do a treatment around lunch time. He was coughing so much and so hard that he threw up in the car like 5 minutes after we left. We got him home and gave him a treatment and went to Mallory's game. He was hot and tired at the game from coughing so much and having his body's antihistamines all revved up that he took a nap on the way home. We gave him another treatment and some Zyrtec and that seemed to help. He still had a little bit of heaving breathing that night but not too severe. So I think it was all the fall leaves and the surroundings that may have triggered his asthma. There is definitely a difference in his episodes of when he has a barky cough and just a regular cough. I am not going to make an assumption but I do have a hypothesis that his barky coughs are due to allergies and the regular coughs are due to colds/viruses. So I am going to observe this and see if it is true. I seem to concentrate on his heaving breathing and trying to figure that out but there is also some differences between the coughing that occurs beforehand.
Julianne had her soccer tournament last weekend and they played really well. They ended up winning second place within their little division. The great thing about that was she really earned her first trophy. She loves it and will not let Nathan touch it because she does not want him to break it. I think that all the teams get a trophy but she is especially happy about hers. She played defense most of the time and really likes that role. She was playing goalie for the first 5 games and she started to not like soccer. I kept thinking that the coach would switch her around but he did not so we finally talked to him and told him that she does not like play goalie every single game. Since they are so young we want her to still really like the game and to move to different positions. This talk did not go as we planned and the coach came back and said that he will not put her on goalie anymore. Which was not our point, and we tried to emphasis that, but she has not played goalie since that talk. So we are not really worried about it she still enjoys it and likes that she is not goalie anymore.
Some pictures of the kids while at Julianne's game.
My little nature girl.
She is cleaning out the pond.
More pictures of Julianne (she's white number 10).
Mallory's soccer is going well. It is great to see her play. She really enjoys it and still bounces all over the field with a smile on her face.
Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-Hearing Nathan say, "It's froggy outside." (instead of foggy)
-Enjoying nature with the kids.
-Having my husband home after 5 days of not seeing each other.
So... the last few weeks... where do I start. Well I can start with our trip to the local state park in the southern part of our state. It was great. We stayed in a cabin near the area and took the kids. It was nice to be in the wilderness and to appreciate it more than we usually do. The kids loved the cabin because it had a loft where they all slept in. It was also made of real wood so they were interested in the process of making a real log cabin. Outside there were some trails, fire pit, corn hole and woods. The kids made a house sign made out of twigs and rocks and we decorated acorns to look like little people. I forgot to take pictures of these activities but they really had a great time creating art with nature. We took the kids to see some caves and a waterfall, which was dried up. They really enjoyed the hike and we had minimal complaining.
Nice face Mallory.
Here is another try, but Julianne and Nathan are looking the other way. I can never get a great picture of all three of them together.
Julianne in a dark spooky cave.
Large pulled up tree.
Nathan did not get into the highlighted area. Not enough time to edit.
Nathan fell asleep on the way home so I brought him in the cabin and he slid down the futon. He stayed like this for quite some time.
The kids were obsessed with these caterpillars. We had lots of them in plastic containers before we convinced them that they would not like to be stuck in a plastic room.
Log cabin joints. Pretty cool how they are stuck together and what prevents them from slipping out.
The "men" tending to the fire.
On Sunday, our departure day, Nathan began his barky cough. He coughed pretty much the entire morning and afternoon. I did not bring his nebulizer since he just had one a few weeks before so I felt bad that I did not have anything for him. We were on our way home so I knew that we could do a treatment around lunch time. He was coughing so much and so hard that he threw up in the car like 5 minutes after we left. We got him home and gave him a treatment and went to Mallory's game. He was hot and tired at the game from coughing so much and having his body's antihistamines all revved up that he took a nap on the way home. We gave him another treatment and some Zyrtec and that seemed to help. He still had a little bit of heaving breathing that night but not too severe. So I think it was all the fall leaves and the surroundings that may have triggered his asthma. There is definitely a difference in his episodes of when he has a barky cough and just a regular cough. I am not going to make an assumption but I do have a hypothesis that his barky coughs are due to allergies and the regular coughs are due to colds/viruses. So I am going to observe this and see if it is true. I seem to concentrate on his heaving breathing and trying to figure that out but there is also some differences between the coughing that occurs beforehand.
Julianne had her soccer tournament last weekend and they played really well. They ended up winning second place within their little division. The great thing about that was she really earned her first trophy. She loves it and will not let Nathan touch it because she does not want him to break it. I think that all the teams get a trophy but she is especially happy about hers. She played defense most of the time and really likes that role. She was playing goalie for the first 5 games and she started to not like soccer. I kept thinking that the coach would switch her around but he did not so we finally talked to him and told him that she does not like play goalie every single game. Since they are so young we want her to still really like the game and to move to different positions. This talk did not go as we planned and the coach came back and said that he will not put her on goalie anymore. Which was not our point, and we tried to emphasis that, but she has not played goalie since that talk. So we are not really worried about it she still enjoys it and likes that she is not goalie anymore.
Some pictures of the kids while at Julianne's game.
My little nature girl.
She is cleaning out the pond.
More pictures of Julianne (she's white number 10).
Mallory's soccer is going well. It is great to see her play. She really enjoys it and still bounces all over the field with a smile on her face.
Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-Hearing Nathan say, "It's froggy outside." (instead of foggy)
-Enjoying nature with the kids.
-Having my husband home after 5 days of not seeing each other.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Mallory is growing up
Well we basically initiated Mallory participation in two new activities this year. She was hesitant about both of them but now she loves them both. Both her activities started within the same week. She is now a Daisy Scout and a new soccer player. She is really funny on the soccer field. She is actually very fast but she is kind of bouncy and she is surprisingly aggressive. She was not afraid to go out there and get into the game. She just keeps her leg kicking and follows the ball. She was a little clumsier this last game then her first game but she always has fun. She seems to always have a smile on her face. She also like Daisy's. She has only had one meeting and she actually chose to go to soccer and not Daisy's so she has only had one informal meeting. But she will like it because most of the time they make crafts and do other artistry activities.
She's a little distracted here.
The kids had an impromptu sprinkler party. D was watering his new seedlings and despite the colder weather the kids wanted to run through the sprinkler. The had fun and I am glad I grabbed the camera.
After two months of asthma free bliss Nathan had another episode last week. So it was time and this one made up for the several months of not having one. It started as the usual and ended within a few days. The bad part was that his worst day was on Wednesday with our babysitter. Our sitter is great and I knew that she would be able to handle it but I think that it did surprise her a little. The other bad part is that I had a prepaid conference that day that I had to attend so I could not meet her and talk to her about it. So D went over the basics and then I called her on my way and filled in the details. She also had to deal with Tucker. We took Tucker into the emergency vets that Sunday because his other eye was acting up. Sure enough he had a ulceration in is left cornea. So we caught it earlier enough that we did not have to do surgery but the bad part is that he now has 5 medications that need to be given 4 times a day 5 minutes apart. So it is basically a revolving eye medication door where all day I feel like I am putting drops into his eyes. So along with Nathan, our sitter had to deal with Tucker. She was a trooper and got it all done and seemed to do well with the extra chaos.
I took the kids to their first home football game a few weekends ago. They had a great time and they did not really pay attention to the game but enjoyed the food and the before the game activities.
Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-Mallory enjoying her own individual activities
-watching Julianne try her hardest at soccer
-Nathan's individual independence
She's a little distracted here.
The kids had an impromptu sprinkler party. D was watering his new seedlings and despite the colder weather the kids wanted to run through the sprinkler. The had fun and I am glad I grabbed the camera.
After two months of asthma free bliss Nathan had another episode last week. So it was time and this one made up for the several months of not having one. It started as the usual and ended within a few days. The bad part was that his worst day was on Wednesday with our babysitter. Our sitter is great and I knew that she would be able to handle it but I think that it did surprise her a little. The other bad part is that I had a prepaid conference that day that I had to attend so I could not meet her and talk to her about it. So D went over the basics and then I called her on my way and filled in the details. She also had to deal with Tucker. We took Tucker into the emergency vets that Sunday because his other eye was acting up. Sure enough he had a ulceration in is left cornea. So we caught it earlier enough that we did not have to do surgery but the bad part is that he now has 5 medications that need to be given 4 times a day 5 minutes apart. So it is basically a revolving eye medication door where all day I feel like I am putting drops into his eyes. So along with Nathan, our sitter had to deal with Tucker. She was a trooper and got it all done and seemed to do well with the extra chaos.
I took the kids to their first home football game a few weekends ago. They had a great time and they did not really pay attention to the game but enjoyed the food and the before the game activities.
Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-Mallory enjoying her own individual activities
-watching Julianne try her hardest at soccer
-Nathan's individual independence
Monday, September 20, 2010
Nathan's first day of school
It was finally Nathan's first day of school. He was so excited about going and about an hour before it was time to leave he kept asking if it was time to go now. So he did really well. He went right in and started playing and I kept waiting for him to feel sad and cry but he did not. I must admit I was a little sad that he did not whimper a little bit, however, it was also nice to have one of my kids excited and independent enough to leave me. He has really matured these past few weeks. He seems to be older and more mature. He is up for any activity and goes into it full force and generally has a great time. I have enjoyed my two days with Nathan. We chill out in the morning, organize the house and running errands. I try to plan some sort of activity during the day and then we pick up the girls. Today we were on a task to find some buckeye trees. We found one and managed to get about 20 buckeyes. We also changed our rock tumbler grit. So we are on the last week of the four week rock tumbling odyssey. The rocks are looking great so I am sure that this will be enough tumbling for these rocks.
Julianne had her friends' birthday party this past weekend. D took all Julianne and her three friends to a local water park. The girls had a blast and D had a good time with them. The girls were much calmer this year, I don't know if it was because one of the girls feel asleep early or they just matured. They did not have any crazy, coming upstairs screaming and running. After they got home they watched a movie and played Clue. Then we sent them downstairs and we think they fell asleep around 12. They did not get up until 8 which I thought was pretty late for the girls.
Not the best picture, but you get the idea.
Funny Julianne face
Other random pictures
Mallory lays out her clothes before bedtime. It is so cute because she is starting to match hair bows and bracelets with her outfits.
So since I had my camera upstairs taking pictures of Mallory's outfit I thought I would take pictures of the kid's sleeping
Nathan's new bike. He looks adorable riding it and he can sure ride it far for being so small.
Mallory on her roller blades. She lasted for about 5 houses, then we had to turn around because it took her about a half an hour to get that far.
That looks like it hurts (her bow legged feet)
Oops she fell down again.
Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-seeing a hawk out my window on Saturday morning. The kids and I watched it for about 5 minutes before it flew off. It was stalking our squirrels.
-Watching Mallory make cardboard, rose petals cards for everyone at Julianne's birthday party and Nathan, myself and D. It was super sweet of her to make these cards and then pass them out to everyone.
-D willing to take the girls to the water park and actively participating in the kids birthday parties.
Julianne had her friends' birthday party this past weekend. D took all Julianne and her three friends to a local water park. The girls had a blast and D had a good time with them. The girls were much calmer this year, I don't know if it was because one of the girls feel asleep early or they just matured. They did not have any crazy, coming upstairs screaming and running. After they got home they watched a movie and played Clue. Then we sent them downstairs and we think they fell asleep around 12. They did not get up until 8 which I thought was pretty late for the girls.
Not the best picture, but you get the idea.
Funny Julianne face
Other random pictures
Mallory lays out her clothes before bedtime. It is so cute because she is starting to match hair bows and bracelets with her outfits.
So since I had my camera upstairs taking pictures of Mallory's outfit I thought I would take pictures of the kid's sleeping
Nathan's new bike. He looks adorable riding it and he can sure ride it far for being so small.
Mallory on her roller blades. She lasted for about 5 houses, then we had to turn around because it took her about a half an hour to get that far.
That looks like it hurts (her bow legged feet)
Oops she fell down again.
Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-seeing a hawk out my window on Saturday morning. The kids and I watched it for about 5 minutes before it flew off. It was stalking our squirrels.
-Watching Mallory make cardboard, rose petals cards for everyone at Julianne's birthday party and Nathan, myself and D. It was super sweet of her to make these cards and then pass them out to everyone.
-D willing to take the girls to the water park and actively participating in the kids birthday parties.
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