So I was sitting here waiting for Greg to get home for work and thinking about what I should be doing...cleaning my house, doing some laundry, grading some papers, etc...when I realized I hadn't blogged in a while so here we are! :) All of that other stuff can wait! I was going to play with the boys but I was informed that "Daniel and I can handle playing by ourselves mom!" by you know who so here I am!

So many little things have happened lately that I'm not even sure where to begin!

*Kate has started really picking her head up when she is having some tummy time (which she now is starting to like - thank goodness!) She is also responding to her name - or at least we think she is! She turns her head anytime someone says her name but we are wondering if it is just because she hear the noise...not sure on that one! :)

* Daniel has many funny things he has been saying but that are just too good to keep to just us! For example: "Yes am are!" Which means either "Yes you are!" or "Yes I am!" And if you ever ask him to spell something I can guarantee that he will spell it "ERT!" EVERYTHING is ERT...his shoes, his hair, his name, everything! It's very cute!

* Chris is doing really well in school. He is loving every minute of it and asked me today when I thought he would get homework! :) Everyday I ask him what he did and everyday he tells me the same thing: "We played outside, we ate lunch, we played at centers." This is not really different from when he was in preschool but for the first couple of days he was actually giving me details...now we are back to the old standard! However, he did tell me today that this week he has gotten 3 "Caught Being Good" tickets which he turned in today...these go into a container and they hold a drawing on Friday I think...I'm not sure though...that's just what he told me! :)

Everything seems to be going well here...we are on time in the morning (or at least most of us are!), everyone seems happy and I am glad to be into the routine finally...although I do miss sleeping in and having campouts in the living room...maybe this weekend we can do that!!!! :)

Hope you have a good one! Stop back by soon!

Well, just an update on what is going on up here!

Kate is growing by leaps and bounds! She has decided finally that tummy time is ok and is really picking her head up well! She is such a joy and she loves to smile! :)

Daniel has been pretty accident free since last Friday! :) YEAH!!!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will continue!!!!

Chris is still LOVING kindergarten! He loves his teacher, loves his classroom, loves his classmates, loves the work, everything! I have yet to hear him say one negative thing about it!

As for Greg and I things are still going well! I'm almost a week into school and life is finally settling into a good routine! I have to admit though that I cannot wait for this long weekend coming up!

I have some pictures to post later so be on the lookout! Hope everyone is having a good week!!!

First Day Pictures!

Here are some pictures from Chris's first day! Enjoy!

On our porch...

So excited to get in the van!!!!
At the bus loop just waiting for that shuttle bus!
Now this is not a picture of Chris on his first day or anything to do with Chris but these are the butterflies that have been painted on Kate's wall by a friend of ours!!!! They are finished and they are beautiful!!!! :)

Have a good night...more later on!

The First and Second Day!

So I completely missed the boat yesterday and didn't blog about Chris's first day of kindergarten....what a mom I am! :) But here I am blogging about his first AND his second...yeah! :)

Yesterday was the day. I cried when he got on the bus and he looked absolutely terrified...but all ended well! He got off of the bus after school just grinning from ear to ear and declared that yesterday was wonderful! :) He loves his teacher, his classroom, and his school. What more could you ask for?

Today was just as great. He was slightly upset because he didn't have time to finish his lunch but never fear...he finished it as a snack after school!

I have pictures from yesterday and I will get them off the camera tonight and post them for all to see!

As for me...I survived! They've been pretty good days...just tough to adjust.

Hope today was a good one for everyone! More later on!

Sneak-a-Peak!

So here are some pictures of Chris in his classroom! :) I can't believe that tomorrow is the day! What a big kiddo we've got now! :)

Chris at his desk!

Chris at the lego table...he insisted on getting a picture of this! :)
He got to pick his own cubby!

A picture of all three of us in his classroom! The proud kindergarten parents!

I also have some pictures of him with his teacher and him with one of his new classmates. I will post some pictures tomorrow of him on his first day!

Until then...have a great night!

Tomorrow is It! :)

Tomorrow is it! The first day of school.

Chris had the chance to go and meet his teacher yesterday and he is now so excited about it...but nervous all the same! :) He loves his teacher and even has some kids he knows in his class but he's scared of what the day will bring! He told me tonight that he just doesn't want any homework! Ha!

Anyway, while we were there, he got to pick out his cubby, he got to put his supplies away, trace his hand and cut it out, and just see what his room was all about. I have to say...the room was very interesting to me! :) I teach fourth grade so the way the rooms are set up is completely different! It was very neat to see!

Tonight was my night to meet the kids. My class came in and got to meet me and put their school supplies away, etc. I have to say that I am nervous as well. Each year brings a different group of kids and a different dynamic to my classroom. I'm nervous that the kids won't like me and I'm nervous that I'm going to forget something crucial...but in the end I know that I am experienced and I know what I'm supposed to do...it will all come to me naturally (or so I hope!).

I do have pictures of Chris in his classroom and with his teacher but I can't get them off the camera because I don't know where the cord is and Greg is at Walmart buying formula...poor Kate has got to eat! :) So as soon as he gets home and we locate the cord, I will post some pics. I will also have more tomorrow as I'm sure I will be taking lots of pictures of his first day...or at least of what I see of him tomorrow!

Have a good one!

A Couple of Pics...

Here are some pics from today! :) Enjoy!

Greg feeding his little girl! She seems to be going through a growth spurt...she's been hungry all of the time! We have discovered that she does love rice cereal though! Yeah!

Look at the hair growing in! What a cutie!
So before the "flood" the boys used to play with their GeoTrax in the basement where they had tons of room to build with all of the track that they own...and trust me...it's a lot of track! Anyway, after much begging and nagging, Greg and I finally brought it in from the garage. Daniel is in heaven!!!! Unfortunately, we don't really have space for them to play with all of it right now...so they have created two very small loops for their trains to drive on in the kitchen...here is Chris's loop....

And Daniel's loop...I'm sure he's thinking right now...why me?? Why only a little space for my GeoTrax?? :( I told them they could build a little bit bigger track but they are sticking with these for now...poor guys!

And last but not least...Chris two missing teeth! It was hard getting this picture because he usually has his bottom lip over those teeth...I know this isn't the best picture but it's better than the ones that I took the other day! Try as I may we just couldn't get a good picture of it! :) But rest assured that if you see him any time soon, he will show you the hole where teeth should be!

That's all I've got for now! Hope your day is going well...I know mine is going considerably better than yesterday! :)

Have a good one!

....My Home

So Daniel is very big into "his home" these days!

This is his new phrase when he sees people...

Daniel: "My house is at my home!"

Way too cute! :)

He also tells everyone things that are at his home...."My train is at my home." "My daddy is at my home." and so on!

This is one of those things that I will be so bummed about when he outgrows it! But until then...just know that his house is at his home! :) Thank goodness for that!

Sorry for the sporadic posts lately! Getting things ready for school has been a little bit more of job than I originally thought! :)

So yesterday was the day. The day that I went back for teacher meetings and the kiddos had to go to the babysitters. It was way harder this time than it was the last two times...I teared up walking out the door and balled like a baby the whole way to school. Thankfully, we had a whole district breakfast which meant seeing people I haven't seen all summer or even some people that I haven't had a chance to talk to really since the last district breakfast! This provided a little distraction....

Greg took the kids to the sitter's with one exception. Daniel. The poor boy woke up running a fever and just acting miserable. So Chris and Kate went to the sitter's and Daniel stayed home with Greg....although I would have loved to take a day and stay home it just wasn't a good idea! So he stayed home with Daddy, slept, watched movies and just had a day to stay home....

But we made it. I cried off and on all day but I made it. I went to go pick Chris and Kate up and the poor girl was sleeping...but this poor mommy just couldn't wait for her to wake up so I picked her up and snuggled her...she woke up and looked like she was going to fuss until she saw who it was (she had the wrinkled up face and everything!) and then I got what I had been waiting for all day!!!! Her beautiful smile! :) This of course made me tear up again! What a day...I'm surprised my contacts held it together all day!

Chris was thrilled to see mom and the sitter said both of them were perfect all day which of course made me so happy! At least I know that if my kids are being poops for me (which has definitely been the case lately!) that they are being good for others! :)

So today is Saturday and I'm enjoying my family at the moment. I have things I need to do today but for now...I'm just snuggling and loving on my kiddos! :)

Monday will be another story...I'm sure it will be hard to leave again but hopefully it will be easier than yesterday! Plus all of my kids should be healthy by then!

I have taken pictures of Chris and his missing teeth and I will post them later on!

Have a good one!

Tooth Number Two!!!!

So last night while eating Subway, Chris lost his second tooth! I just cannot believe that he is old enough to be losing his teeth!!!! Although I guess he starts kindergarten next Wednesday and he is five and a half so I guess it is about that time!!!

Anyway, he found it and it was safely stored away until bedtime...the tooth fairy was almost late this time but thankfully she made it before anyone woke up! :) Chris swears that he heard her last night...I wish I could meet that wonderful fairy that takes care of the teeth! :)

In other news, teacher work days start tomorrow and I'm very torn about it. I know that I love my job and I wouldn't have it any other way...

But I'm going to miss being at home with my kids...big time. It really hit me tonight...we were on our way to dinner and it really hit me. Tomorrow morning Greg will take my kids to the babysitter. Don't get me wrong...she's great. She's so nice and kind and I know that she will take care of my kiddos. I'm just thrilled that I don't have to take them...there is no way I will be able to keep it together. As it is, I'm going to have a hard time holding it together. It's going to be hard.

I've been home for fourth months now...there have been highs and lows and I'm thankful that I have been able to be home with Kate for that amount of time. I just wish it could be longer...especially if she is our last one. I'm so afraid of missing the little things that she will do...it has been so neat watching her grow these last four months.

I'm going to miss being with my boys too (even though they have been driving me insane the last week!)...I know I've said all of this before...but here it is...all hashed out again!

It's going to be tough...but it is what it is...

So if you read this and you are thinking of us tomorrow morning...keep your fingers crossed that I keep it together! :)

Update on Us! :)

Hello! Here is a quick update on what we've been up to and what is coming up soon! :)

Kate is now four months old and she got her shots this morning...she is not a very happy camper at this moment...poor girl! She now weighs 15 pounds, 6 ounces and is 24 1/4 inches long! Getting big! She has started eating cereal once a day and the doctor said that she can start some baby food if we would like! :) I think we might do this soon since she has been really fidgety with her bottles lately...I guess we'll see! I'm not sure what will happen! :)

Daniel is doing great as always...very opinionated and very loving! :) He is definitely two!!!! He keeps asking me when his "birfbay" is...a lot of our friends have had birthdays in the last couple of months and this has had Daniel thinking! :) He is also wanting to go to school. He's heard Chris talking about it a lot and so he keeps asking to go, but he's excited about going to the babysitter's too! :) He told us last night that "His house is at his home." How funny!

Chris is really gearing up for kindergarten! I'm completely not ready for this! He's got his school supplies, his backpack, his lunchbox, and his teacher so now he's ready to go! We did find out his teacher and he's thrilled! We get to meet her and see his classroom next Monday night...I'm sure that I will be crying after that! School starts for him next Wednesday...

I'm getting ready for school as well. It will be very bittersweet. I love my job...I love the kids...I love the curriculum...but I love being at home with my kids. I love snuggling them, playing with them, and just watching them grow up. It will be tough but I can make it through...things will settle down and life will get into a routine and it will be great! We will have the evenings to hang out as a family and to hang out with friends...plus there are always the weekends!!!! :)

Greg is working like a fiend to get ready for the beginning of Truman's year as well! :) There are a lot of projects that he is wrapping up, etc. He is also gearing up to put our basement back together! We are ready to fix the drywall that got torn out and then the carpets can be cleaned, etc.! We are planning on cleaning out some stuff as we put the basement back together! :)

So overall, our summer is wrapping up...

However, the weather outside is BEAUTIFUL!!!! Right now in Kirksville it is 78 degrees...and it is 4:45 in the afternoon!!!! :) On August 11th no less! It's supposed to be this beautiful for the rest of the week....what a wonderful way to end a wonderful summer!

Hope you are all enjoying your day! Have a good one!

Who Does This Baby Look Like???

So while writing the last post, I got to thinking about my three kiddos and whether or not they look like they are actually related. I think you can tell...but they are my kiddos and I am supposed to think that! :) While waiting for the pictures of Daniel and Kate to load I went and found pictures of Chris, Daniel and Kate at four months old...

Kate...

Daniel...
Chris...

So who does Kate look like? I just don't know...I'm really bad at these kinds of things! I guess time will tell! The boys each have characteristics of both sides of the family...although Chris does resemble Greg more and Daniel more resembles me...where will Kate fall? Who knows.

I'm just thankful that each of my kids are their own person with their own personality! :) I love my kiddos!!!!

Feeding Kate!

Feeding Kate is a big deal in our house! The boys are constantly wanting to feed her...I think it is absolutely adorable whenever any of the kiddos want to! :) It just makes me smile...I've been trying to get pictures of all of the kids feeding her and I think I've been pretty successful...I think I'm going to make a scrapbook page just of people who have fed Kate...just so she knows how loved she is! :)

Anyway, today was no different! Here are some pics of Daniel feeding her! I wasn't able to get pictures of one of our friends feeding her earlier...I will catch ya next time H!!!! :)

Kate trying to feed herself! :)
Where did that bottle go???

Now we are getting upset because we don't have the bottle! Who does she look like when she's upset???? :)

When Daniel was finished feeding her...he went back to his golf ball. This golf ball has become one of his favorite things...interesting, huh?

Thanks for stopping by!

What a Day!

Poor Daniel has had quite the day...he is currently on his third outfit of the day...he is missing his brother and wants to go get him NOW...his nap wasn't long enough...we don't have Cars fruit snacks (we ran out the other day) and he keeps tripping over EVERYTHING...even things that aren't there.

Poor guy...I can only hope that things get better for him!

We are going to go pick Chris up tomorrow and after nap we are heading to the wading pool...so perhaps tomorrow will be better! :) Only time will tell!

More later on!

Daniel and "the word...."

So this morning Daniel has been walking around the house talking about something that was in the basement. It has taken me all morning to figure out what it is (until about 11:15 to be exact!)...

It all started when someone came to pick the fans up that were in the basement...this seemingly reminded Daniel of something important in the basement...except for the life of me I couldn't figure out what it was...I would type how it sounded phonetically but I don't think I can even figure that out...

I started off by asking him if it was a ball that he thought was downstairs...his response? Yes...so off we went to find the ball in the garage (where almost everything from the basement is being stored for now)...only to find out that that wasn't what he was talking about at all...

Next I aimed for elbow...that's kind of what it sounded like...you just can't even imagine the conversation that followed that because of course he told me "yes" to that as well! Our conversation headed towards the ridiculous at that point! :)

The subject was dropped for a little while and then he started talking about what was in the basement again...me being completely stumped, I called Greg. Greg listened to what he had to say and asked Daniel if he was talking about a table that had been downstairs...again Daniel said "yes." So after we got off the phone with Greg, we went on a hunt for whatever table Daniel was talking about...guess what??? Not what he was aiming for at all...

Feeling defeated and like the worst mom in the world because I had no idea what my kid was saying I went and sat in the living room. Daniel followed me and again started talking about whatever was in the basement...but then FINALLY a key word came out of his mouth..."Game."

Me: "Do you mean your hippos?"
Daniel: "YES!!!"
Me: "The hungry hippos game?"
Daniel: "YES!!!"

FINALLY! The minute Greg stepped in the door we told him of our discovery and he went down to retrieve the game...

Man...what a morning...poor Daniel is probably still wondering why in the world his mom can't understand what he is trying to tell her...especially when it is this important!!!!

Update...

Here is an update on everything going on around here! :)

The basement is dry...finally!!!! We got to turn the fans off yesterday and the dehumidifier was taken away over the weekend. Greg is going to start replacing the drywall he needed to cut off, replacing the baseboard, the local company has to come in and clean both sides of the carpet and then they will reinstall it for us. Then comes the fun part...putting it all back together again...which seems like it is forever away. Greg assures me though that it won't take too long...I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he's right!

The insurance adjuster came yesterday and told us what we already knew...insurance isn't going to help us out at all...that it did indeed fall under some endorsement that we didn't have (we do now!). Oh well I guess...the next time we get 13 1/2 inches of rain in 24 hours we know our basement will be covered I guess! :)

However, FEMA is coming in next week and is going to look at the damage in Kirksville and decide whether or not it is a disaster area...so please keep your fingers crossed that they do (odd request I know!). Apparently if they do, then there may be money for those of us who got flooded...and any little bit will help!

IN OTHER NEWS:

Kate has discovered her right hand (the left hand is still an unknown at the moment!) and she is figuring out how to grab at things with it! It's really cute because she just concentrates on it so hard! She has started eating a little bit of cereal and has done a much better job with it than her brothers did...no gagging on it at all! It's hard to believe that we are already at this stage!!!!

Daniel has become quite dramatic in the last couple of weeks and it is really starting to wear me out. He is really trying to exert his two year old opinions on everyone and listening just isn't what it used to be. He LOVES to "nuggle" and is such a sweet kid...just hitting some road bumps lately! He now knows all of his letters (although he does get some mixed up) and he has been requesting daily to go see some mountains!!! Think he loved Wyoming??? I think so!

Chris is in Des Moines with his grandparents this week and we are missing him here at home. The house seems oddly quiet without him here! He is getting all geared up for school to start. He can find out who his teacher is on Friday and I think he is excited about that! School starts here for him on the 20th! He has of course picked out a Transformers backpack (the obsession STILL in our house!) and oddly enough he has picked out a blue camo lunch box! It was an interesting choice to say the least!

Please wish me luck on that first day of school! It's going to be a rough one! Sending Kate and Daniel to the babysitters...sending Chris to kindergarten....meeting a whole new class of kiddos...I'm starting to feel a little sad and stressed and excited all at the same time! I'm going to miss my summer days hanging out with friends, kids and just having some fun! And of course I'm such a dork I always worry about how things will change when this time of year comes around...I like things to stay the same and I like to know what to expect and where I stand.

Other than all of that, things are pretty steady in our lives. I will be a much happier camper once our basement is put back together and all of our stuff is out of the garage and Kate's room...poor girl! :)

The important thing is that we are all healthy and happy and loved. :)

Well, Kate has decided that she is not happy in her current state so I must log off here and figure out what is going on! My guess is the diaper...poor girl cannot stand a wet diaper!!!! Should make potty training easy, right? :)

Have a good one!

Parent Teeth...

We drove Chris to Ottumwa on Friday to meet up with his grandparents and his cousin. He is spending the week with them and they were kind enough to meet us so that we didn't have to drive the full three hours to take him to their house! :)

Well, while we were sitting in Arby's eating lunch, Chris told me there was something funny in his mouth. After making sure we were clear to peek in is mouth, I asked him to point to where this "funny" thing was and he pointed to where he had lost his tooth just weeks before and what was there?

But his new tooth!

I told him that his grown-up tooth was coming in and that that was what he was feeling!

He then proceeded to tell me that it wasn't a grown up tooth because he wasn't grown up...but that it was a parent tooth because it was taking the place of his baby tooth! :)

So for all of us out there who believe that we have grown up teeth...surprise! You actually have parent teeth! :)

Have a good one!

Daniel and the Haircut!

Well, it's done. The haircut that is.

I decided to cut it at home this time to avoid the embarrassing screaming that goes on anywhere we go. Some of my friends now know when we are at Walmart and Daniel is getting his haircut because they can hear him screaming from almost any given point in the store...sad.

Well, I took the process slowly...I talked about it a TON in the morning! Come dinner time I decided it was time so I pulled the clippers out and showed them to him...this promptly started him fussing at me. This caused me to make something funny out of the situation. I told him it tickled...I touched the guard to my hand and then jumped like it really tickled...I even got Greg and Chris in on the act until Daniel finally thought he wanted to see what this was all about.

When I touched the guard to his hand he started laughing!!! We slowly progressed to the clippers touching his head so that he could see how it tickled his head! Finally, he was ready for a haircut...he still fussed at me the whole time and wanted to be done...but there was no screaming and he actually sat in the seat by himself (he usually has to sit on someone's lap during this process!!!!).

The most amazing part??? The next day Greg pulled out his beard trimmer to see if he could get around Daniel's ears and the back of his neck (two very sensitive places that he didn't want me to touch the day before!) and he let Greg...he actually turned his head and told Greg to do the other side!!!! AMAZING!!!!

Perhaps we are making progress!!!! YEAH!!!

I will keep you posted on this development!

Even MORE pictures! :)

So I told you that I had TONS of pictures from Wyoming...overall we took around 400 pictures. As I have also said before...I LOVED it! :)

We went on this trip with our wonderful friends...they both grew up in Wyoming and we hear stories about it quite often. I have always been curious about Wyoming and hearing the stories and descriptions just created a wonderful picture in my mind. I can also say that Wyoming lived up to everything I pictured in my mind! :) So when this trip was proposed we were definitely on board for going!!!! We got to see Laramie where they went to college, Sheridan where M grew up, Thermopolis where they went to hang out sometimes, and of course Casper. All of it was wonderful and I can now really put images to the things I know!!!! :)

All I can really say is that it was such a wonderful trip (I know, I know...I've said that before!)...

So here are some more pics! Enjoy!

Driving along the highway!

Some of the beautiful scenery!

The beginning of the climb...to the top of Independence Rock!
They made it!

We were along the Oregon/California Trail...very exciting!!!!

Chris and Daniel checking out the dinosaur bones being worked on...

The suspension bridge in Thermopolis!

Beautiful...

More to come later on! Have a great night!

More from Wyoming!

Here are some more pictures from Wyoming! Enjoy!

The waterfall we went to see in Casper...absolutely beautiful!!! The water was FREEZING!!! Here is a picture of Chris in front of the waterfall.

Greg and Kate at the waterfall.
Daniel and I in front of the waterfall!

The morning we left Wyoming, there was a balloon race thing going on. The balloons came so close to the house!!!! It was so fun to watch them!

While on the trip, Kate figured out how to grab her rings and play with them! :) She is getting so big so fast!

More pictures will be on their way soon! I have TONS more! This was an amazing trip with amazing friends...I loved every minute of it! :) And I have the pictures to prove it!