Go Girl!

Little A is such a fun, unique personality. She loves playing with all the boys in the neighborhood, has constantly messy hair from pulling out her hairbands, loves climbing and jumping, does "fighting" and "ninja" poses, and can out-eat everyone, yet is petite, loves Cinderella & glass slippers, adores pink everything, puts on makeup whenever she can, and loves to wear beautiful dresses like this: 

This is her pretending to go to school like her brother.

 Really, it was the start of an intensive day of potty practice.

 

Hair time in cupcake training underwear                       Snack & play area (love the upside down sunglasses)

Play with mom and eat snacks...what day could be better than that?...wait, why are you putting me on a frog for the 50th time? ...And did you really need to sneak a softened caramel onto the couch to show me that my doll had a poop accident? That really freaked me out, mom!







Mom's arsenal for potty practice day
(sweet & salty + lots of water)

And some positive results!

 Fun at an indoor playground...Little A is very active and loves to move!

She also loves to draw (but only in pen). When I'm not watching, ink has a tendency to end up where it's not supposed to...on walls, bed posts, dolls, pillowcases, and on herself.
If you look kind of upside down, you can see she was drawing herself (see the pigtails?). She loves drawing each person in our family and when she gets tired, she'll ask one of us to draw the family. It's actually very sweet and her drawing skills have evolved quickly...from single stick for a body with a circle for a head (1), to stick body, circle head with eyes and mouth (2), to stick body with legs and arms, and circular scribbles for hands and feet (often holding hands with mom or dad or X), a circle head with eyes, nose, mouth, and hair (3). I can't wait to see where she takes it from here!

 And I love her littleness that surfaces between all her rowdiness...the thumb sucking and hair twirling, the puckered kisses and long cuddles, the love of her dad singing Little Mermaid songs to her, and listening to her improvise as she "reads" her favorite books from memory, such as On the Farm.

Next up: X's journey through first grade!

Last Summer (2012)

Yep, so Xavier graduated from kindergarten a year ago. This was his last day walking to the bus stop. I loved the view from this house and wish we could have stayed forever. 

Ms. Jenny (Brown) was a wonderful teacher for X and I'm so glad she let me help out in the class as often as I needed to so I could stay connected to him. Jenny and I had worked together as AmeriCorps volunteers at the same school the year before, so I trusted her and knew she would be great! 

Following which, Xavier immediately turned six (mind you, this is from last year, so he looks little!) We did a Wii controller cake with life-size Angry Birds games, a Temple Run maze run through the backyard (we'd left the grass long then cut a maze through it), and a Mr. Freeze game to represent his ultimate favorite game...Lego Batman.

I used so much food coloring to make the cake as black as X wanted that it turned everyone's lips Goth!

"Mr. Freeze" froze all the other Lego Batman characters in a sheet of ice! The boys used squirt guns & warm water to free them.

And then we moved...for the 11th time in 10 years of marriage. This time we moved to the west side of town, moving us into new school and church boundaries. Our first dinner at the "Culligan" apartments with our legless table was thanks to KFC. This neighborhood has built-in friends for the kids to play with, which is a nice change from scheduling and arranging driving for playdates. Little girl climbed on the tree stumps all summer, singing, dancing, and bowing. X and friends (Trent, Ashton, Jovi, Daxton, Caroline, Savannah, and Dominique) were able to ride bikes around the complex and we attempted to teach him how to ride a two-wheeler with a little bit of success.

  

X got to play T-ball on the Nationals team, and it was so fun watching all the little girls and boys learning to run bases, hit the ball, and of course, watching the pile up as the entire team would race each other to catch grounders.

 The coach (Davidson?) did drills like throwing/catching practice before each game. His little boy was on the team, and I think that made him extra supportive of every kid.  He never got upset or competitive during games, even when all the kids were constantly asking to be "first." I was grateful.Here's X attempting a catch:

Even though the catcher's mask was hot, X loved this position. Oftentimes, the mask was more distracting to the catcher than paying attention to the game, and the ball would roll by them or lay for quite a while before they would notice (if they noticed...:))

It was a really hot summer, and X got his first case of heat exhaustion after one particularly hot game. The whole team was sluggish in the heat, and, in hindsight, I should have just pulled him into the shade for the last half and made him drink a bunch of water, but I didn't do that long enough, trying to be loyal to the team and coach's efforts, and ended up with a very sick kid that night...clammy skin, vomiting, the works! Unfortunately, once a person has heat exhaustion one time, it is much easier to get it again, so we had to be careful after that. I learned to hydrate kids a few hours BEFORE they go play in the sun for long stretches and to keep them hydrated throughout. I hope to never again forget to fill our waterbottles on the days the team plays on the field with no shade!

Our driveway consisted of one paved block and one "rock pit" that was the magnet for the kids in the complex all summer and fall. Our little girl wanted a full body sensory experience, I guess!

A sad moment near the end of summer... We found a fun playground nearby but after playing for a while, our little girl got two bee stings on her fingers at the same time. End of playtime. She wanted nothing more than to sit like this at home with her hand wrapped to hold the sting relief in place.

Really? Has it been that long?

So, it's 2:30pm.  I haven't showered. My glasses are smudged. My lunch consisted of a few handfuls of chocolate chips. I haven't heard back from my awesome job interview in over two weeks now and it had been so good!  I just noticed that I haven't blogged in 7 months. The house is more of a wreck than it was this morning and I haven't done even one thing on my To-Do List. In case you're curious, here's the first part of today's list:

Monday's To-Do List
*Clean my bathroom, especially the shower and floor.
*Clean my bedroom, especially...everything. Reserve at least 2 hours!
*Iron clothes so Joe doesn't have to go to work wrinkly again for a few days.
*Think of something yummy to fix for dinner & pull out what we'll need.
*Swish all the toilets and swipe all the sinks (anybody else a FlyLady?)
*Do one load of laundry.
*Work on condo advertising, schedule housekeeping, and contact incoming guests.
*Look up class holiday party ideas, make a 12 Days of BoxTops thing, and email X's teacher about a class gift for her.
*Return stuff to toy library, regular library, Kohls, Macys, Wal-Mart, and Dollar Tree.

I'm thinking, perhaps, that my list should be a little simpler,  especially since I hardly ever actually do what is on my list, or at least make it a little more realistic,...Today's list could have looked something like this:

To-Do Today If I Can (but not a problem if I don't)
*Get showered & dressed with makeup on within 20 min of waking up.
*Say good morning to spouse & make sure he has something for lunch & a relatively unwrinkly shirt. Kiss.
*Answer every phone call. Wait 10 min to return a text.
*Do something, any one thing, toward my personal goals/current projects.
*Invite the neighbor kids over for a BoxTops trimming "party".
*Pick up 10 items that don't belong in my bedroom and put them in a bag. If there's extra time, put away 10 pieces of clothing that shouldn't be where they are.
*Plan on making spaghetti every Monday (no need to plan!).
*Wait for someone to need (and ask for) socks or pants before starting a load of laundry.
*Pick up X from school (don't be last!)
*Pray for patience with potty training and 2-yr-old tantrums.
*Do one thing for the condo.
*Do one return.
*Snuggle in new flannel sheets whenever it feels like a good time to take a break or go to bed.
*etc, etc.

I may not have it all together today (or any day really), but I'm feeling okay because this is what I did do: I cheered for A during potty-training time, bringing her water, cleaning up her accident, and supplying stickers, book readings, and chocolate chips as needed.  I trimmed a few hundred BoxTops to send in for X's school fundraising efforts. I talked to my sister about Christmas plans and future desires. I made the house smell like cinnamon from craft time with A when we made Christmas tree decorations from 3 Tbsp of applesauce and 3Tbsp of cinnamon (1/2  of a spice bottle!), thanks to a recipe from her new Strawberry Shortcake book. And she and I both got some sunshine while I scraped and painted the trim on two garages and two regular doors in the hopes of making the outside of the apartment look a little less run down. I even let the UPS guys know our neighbor was home, and waved hello to several neighbors. Now...agh! Now I'm late picking up the X-man!

*****

Sure, we live by the three dumpsters with broken razor wire dangling above them, but I'm starting to think that, in general, home is what you make it. I've never had a landlord until now that lets us put nails in the wall so after a few months of hesitation (is it really okay?), I pulled out our hammer and nails and went to it! It is wonderful to have our pictures on the walls. I've also become a fan of wall stickers and put up a cute nativity wall sticker set ($8!) and love it.

The Screen-Free Ski Lesson!

This is the very happy face of a boy cashing in on a well-earned reward - his first ski lesson!  

Xavier really wanted to try skiing this year and we wanted him to have that experience too, so we made a deal that if he earned $15 toward the trip, we would pay for the rest.  Of course, it's not easy making money when you're five, and I had been wondering how to let him monitor his own screen time each day, so I came up with a plan that helped with both.  First, I made a "screen-time cup".  Then I told Xavier that each morning I would put in 12 nickels.  Each nickel was worth 10 min of screen time (the total was 2 hrs of screen time - the daily max recommended by professionals).  If he wanted to watch TV or play a computer game or do anything involving a screen, he had to decide how many nickels he wanted to use.  If he ran out of nickels that was the end of screen time for the day.  If there were nickels left over, he could add them to his ski lesson cup.  Every few days we would use a chart of traced coins to exchange small coins for bigger ones until he had a dollar.  He still had to ask for permission to watch tv each time because sometimes it was bad timing (like when it was dinner time) but most of the time it was just fine.  After a few days he got really good at negotiating short amounts of game time and skipped lots of TV.  I loved it and he was getting richer every day!  After several weeks and as the end of ski season got closer, we had a few "dime days" to help speed up his savings.  :)  And here are pictures of his well-earned reward!

1. Pay for your lesson & get a tag.

2. Get fitted for ski boots & put them on

3. Model your new look & practice walking with limited ankle movement. 

4. Eat a big hot dog from the outdoor vendor so you won't be hungry during the lesson. 

5. Check-in and meet your teacher.

6. Play follow the leader while you learn ski techniques like how to stop and go! (X was lucky, there were no other kids in his level there that day so he had a 2-hr private lesson!)

7. Ride the "Magic Carpet" up the practice hill.

8. First ski run!

9. Occasionally fall down and get back up. 

10. Graduate to the ski lift!

(This is what August did while we waited for X to come down the mountain. She went up the Magic Carpet on foot and then slid herself down.)

(Then we found a sled, which was another good distraction for her)

11. Watch Xavier come down the hill.  He was a natural!  

12. Do it again!  (and again and again!)

13. Go home happy (and ready to ski again!)

It was really impressive to see him take to skiing so quickly.  I hope we can let him do more next year!  What a great day!

Bears, Hearts, & Snow

X has a great time finding things for Joe and I to play with him.  The other month, he found a book about teddy bears (by Build-A-Bear) and decided he wanted to make some of the "bear-y" cool stuff he saw in it, like the camping scene.  So we made a tent out of a grocery bag, found two little bears, made a campfire out of rocks, twigs, and paper and X set up the bears with twigs for roasting marshmallows.  I cut out some fabric to make sleeping bags and we had a blast doing this all while the baby was napping.  It is so nice to be able to have quality one-on-one time with each child.  

 I've been rocking A a little extra some nights just for that one-on-one with her as well, 

just reveling in her "babyness" and smelling her baby shampooed hair.  Since she's getting more molars, she likes to bite and hold my finger on her gums to make it feel better.  One of my favorite times with the kids is at bedtime when I get to cuddle and talk and sing with them, rub X's back, and listen to what he remembers about his day.  His mind jumps around a lot like mine and I have to ask him to clarify so I can keep up with his train(s) of thinking.  

This year, I tried to let Valentine's be a reminder of love on more than just Valentine's day.  I listed 30 ideas of little things to show love to Joe and the kids after seeing (on Pinterest probably) the idea of "Love 'em up!" or showing love to your family for 30 days.  I made it through the 14th or 15th  and that felt successful to me!  I did things like stick hearts on X's school shoes, made cinnamon buns in a heart pan for breakfast, decorated with crepe paper streamers (this was a hit!) and showed the family how to make heart hats out of paper plates for FHE.  

 I also got to help X get ready for Valentine's day at school .  X loved this little Yoda card that Joe found so we printed off a bunch of "Yoda one for me" cards. Then we bought juju hearts and put them in little heart baggies which I had found brand new for 25 cents at a thrift store! I wanted to be there for X's school party, and even though I hadn't heard anything about a party from the room mom's or the teacher, I showed up.  I figured lots of moms would be there but I was the only one.  X's teacher really doesn't like having parents in her room, so she just doesn't invite them.  If they ask to come help, though, she always says yes. Anyway, his teacher really downplayed the whole day and just had the kids one-by-one go put their Valentine's in each others' bags while they worked on various worksheets. Then we stapled them up for them to take home and open. It was a little dull to me, nothing like a room filled with moms, cookies, frosting, and hyper kids walking all over trying to find each other's boxes to put the Valentine's in, like I remember!

Valentine's at the elementary is also the day to learn about manners.  The whole school dresses up really nicely and the kids go have a snack and learn about good manners from volunteers.  The PTA did an Angry Birds theme (Valentine edition) for decorations this year.  Why?  I have no idea, but the kids loved it.  A kind of funny/sad thing the night before the Valentine's Tea was when I was having my bedtime chat with X.  He told me that he just wasn't going to drink ANYthing at the manners lunch because he'd been told that if they spilled the juice on their clothes it would NEVER come off.  He took it so seriously he was almost in tears.  I told him not to worry because I knew he would drink carefully and even if he spilled, I had a special spray that would take out any stains. It was really cute to see how relieved he was at that and he was very proud after the "tea" when he announced that he hadn't spilled anything!

The crepe paper streamers between the kitchen and dining room were a favorite decoration for both kids and my cute niece.  They would all just run around and around through them and thought they were so much fun!

X wanted to help me wash dishes one day and when A saw him playing with water in the sink, she wanted to be a part of it, too!  So I plunked her on a stool and they had a great time and were totally soaked by the end!

This is often how I find the baby girl during the day.  Plopped down somewhere with feet stretched out in front and a big book on her lap.  She loves to look through books now that we put a book basket down on the floor.  Her favorites include the Humpty Dumpty part in a nursery rhyme book and a page about kids helping their parents find food at the grocery store in a book called Thank You.

Cute Valentine outfits on Sunday.  X made sure to wear a red tie.  August wore her red bumblebee dress.  Both kept dancing and sliding around on the floor and doing funny poses.

Okay, this winter has been the mildest winter we've had out of the three here so far.  The snow melts so quickly after each snowfall BUT we did get a couple of sled-worthy snows.  For one of them,  Joe made a sled run from the balcony stairs, which was great!  The kids went down it a million times and I was sad it melted so soon after.

Once the baby girl was too wet and cold, we watched Joe and X sled from the window.  :) Then we all had hot cocoa. Yum!

It's hard to believe we've been housesitting for two-thirds of our time already.  We've really enjoyed living in such a nice house with a great view and in a friendly neighborhood.  I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for the fact that we  will be back to renting a much, much smaller place in just a few months.  I really wish we were ready to buy a house, though.  I'm a little nervous at how the kids will adjust, since baby girl has her own floor here practically and gets to sleep in quiet and seclusion for naps and bedtime.  X likes being really close to us, but there's no guarantee how the room setup will be at our next place.  I've been starting to pack since a Home Depot moving book suggests starting to pack up pictures and non-essentials starting three months ahead.  Usually I wait until the last month and then get completely stressed out, so I'm starting early this time (although it would be nice to know where we are moving...within the city?...to another state?)   So far I've only gotten through infant items and taking down some pictures, but I think the momentum is starting to build.  Next up?  Toys! These will have to be done during X's school hours and discreetly put in the garage.  Thankfully, toys from the owners' kids will still be here to keep the kids entertained and we don't have to pack up essential furniture like the tables or couches! Yay!  Wish us luck!