She Did It!!!!

Kate can now officially roll over on her own! :) She did it last night while we were watching a movie in the basement and then continued doing it (even though she does not like being on her tummy too much!)

I am going to try and get a video of it and post that later! YEAH!!!! :) I can't believe how quickly time is going by!!!!

Update on Kate...

Kate is doing much better today! :) She is sounding better and she slept well during her naps! :) She is happier and is smiling a lot!

Thank you to all of you who were worried and checked on her! :) It just is never fun when a kid is sick and even though it was just a cold that had gotten into her chest it still is a little nerve-wracking for us!!!!

A funny story about this though....

A mom of a former student of mine called us tonight to check on Kate...BECAUSE there was a rumor going around among the kiddos at school that one of my kids had caught some horrible disease and that I would be out for 8 months! :) Hilarious! I guess they will be in for a surprise when I show up tomorrow, huh? Seriously...my class knows that I was gone due to Kate being sick but I also explained to them that it was a cold that had settled into her chest...but you know how rumors go....I just am sorry if anyone out there worried that it was more than what it was (like the kiddos at school apparently did!)...just some kind of bronchial thing...not life-threatening at all!!! Just a little nerve-wracking!

Whew! :) It was a cute story! :)

Anyway, Kate is just fine...the virus seems to not be getting any worse! :) WHEW again! :)

She is going to the sitter's tomorrow with Daniel and all is on the road back to normal with her!

Until next time!

Lots O' Pictures!

I have quite a few pictures and not very many of them go together! :) They are just a mish-mash of all of our moments together!

Kate is feeling the love from the toys that Daniel has brought her in the morning! This is becoming his new morning ritual...eat breakfast, get dressed, pack his bag, and then get his sister as many toys as he can find! :) We have put a stop to this now hopefully! :)

Chris's first soccer game this fall. He did a great job of running after the ball and really getting in there and kicking it! We are very proud of him!!!!!
Daniel just chilling and watching the game! :)

Throwing in the ball!

One night while we were playing outside, Greg took the opportunity to take a quick picture of Kate and I....We don't have too many pictures of us since I am usually the one with the camera! :) She is one of my favorite shirts of hers...although she has now outgrown it! :(

The same night that Chris learned to ride his bike, we decided to put together Daniel's bike. So how many people DOES it take to put together a little bike? :)

He then tried to ride it and he is SOOOO very close to being able to get the pedals all the way around. He is so anxious to do what Chris is doing! :) Give it time kiddo! :)

These next two pictures are my favorites in the bunch! :)

I don't remember what was happening but Daniel was not happy with someone about something! :) These pictures just make me smile because he was being so dramatic!

So there you have it...a mish-mash of pictures from the past week! :) Have a great one!

My poor little girl...

Poor Kate is sick. Her first big sickness...

What started off as simple teething turned into a cold which caused her ear infection (which she is currently taking antibiotics for) has now triggered this viral bronchialitis something or other...I don't know if that is even the right word...Greg said it was something with bronch- and itis....some random combination. What makes me nervous is that this is how Chris's whole thing started which then led to his asthma...but I'm not going to worry about it and just snuggle my baby and try and make it better for her...

Poor thing is coughing a lot, having trouble sleeping (although she has just taken a good 2 1/2 hour nap!!!!!) and is just kind of cranky! :( Poor little lady just wants to be held and there isn't anything we can do for her....no medicine to make her more comfy...just her humidifier, Little Noses and our love! :) The snuggling seem to make her relax and feel the best! :)

Just wanted to update everyone on how she was doing...and to let those out of town know that she wasn't feeling well...please keep your fingers crossed that it gets better!

I'll post some pictures later tonight!

2-wheeler!!!!

Well, it's now official. My little guy is not so little anymore! He is now not only in kindergarten, has lost 2 teeth and is starting to really read...he can now also ride a 2-wheel bike. Amazing! :)

All of these things seem to be happening at break-neck pace and it's hard to keep up with them! But here it is...my little guy riding his bike without training wheels or help! At first he was very hesitant but after a pep talk from Grandpa, he got on his bike and picked up on what he should do after a couple of trips up and down the street with help! He has even gotten the hang of braking, turning around while still riding, and starting on his own! :) Amazing!!!! Here is a video of the first time Greg let go (I still can't believe the video worked!!!!)!!!!!

The second time dad let go!

Traveling down the street on his own! :) Daniel is trying to do everything in his power to keep up with his big brother!
It's getting dark but lets keep going! Daniel even tried his bike! :) We had to just about tear Chris away from his bike! It was also the first thing he wanted to do this morning when he woke up! What a great time!

So there we have it...until next time! Enjoy!

The butterfly!

So a student of mine brought in some caterpillars and two of them were for us to bring home. The boys have loved (as have I!) watching it turn into its cocoon, etc. Well the other day that cocoon was suddently a butterfly! The boys were SOOOOO excited! When we talked about how we were going to have to let it go and let it return to nature Chris got very sad. "But mom, I want to keep him!" We had to have a long talk about how it needed to find its other friends and family and that they were all going to have to leave soon when the weather changed. After talking for a while, we decided it was time to let him go....

Although after waiting outside for about 30 minutes and it still sitting in the cage we decided to let it just sit...and sit....and sit! :) Finally sometime overnight it flew away. We have seen a monarch flying around here and Chris swears that it is our friend! How sweet!

Proud Mommy...

So I am the proud mommy of three great kiddos....

Kate is now five months and is really growing! She is cutting two teeth right now but I'm really proud of the way she is handling it (for the most part!). The poor thing also has an ear infection at the moment so life for her is a little rough...but she continues to smile and be happy! Gotta love it!

Daniel is really getting the hang of his manners..."please" is still a little hard to come by when he needs something but for the most part he has "no thank you" and "excuse me" down! :) He is also trying to learn how to ride a "big" bike like Chris. We acquired it from my brother and his wife and have put it together for Daniel to try. His legs aren't quite long enough yet but instead of getting frustrated...he simply smiles and asks for help... :) He also let us try some new shoes on in the store a week ago!!!! :) So proud of his ability to keep trying and his willingness to try new things (unless it involves haircuts!).

Chris has accomplished something big this weekend....

He can ride a 2-wheeled bike!!!! This is very exciting around our house and he has been dying to tell...he learned tonight...like in 30 minutes. My dad and Greg just talked him through it and gave him the confidence to do it and he now loves it! Amazing. Simply amazing. And as his mom, I'm proud! :) I have pictures and I will post them tomorrow! I also have video that I'm going to try and post! :)

So there you go. One very proud mommy...three great kiddos. Do they have their moments that make me feel like everything I do is wrong? Oh yeah...but I am now gaining the confidence in myself to know that what I have been doing with them is good...and that they are well-meaning, sweet kids and that I'm doing what I think is best for them.

I'm proud of you Chris, Daniel and Kate! :) Never forget that! I am very lucky to be your mommy...I love you!

Pictures of the kiddos!

Here are some pictures of the kids from the last week! As I was uploading them I realized there were a lot more of Kate than the boys! I will remedy that this week!

One of Kate's new favorite activities is hanging out in her Johnny Jump-up! She only likes to be in it for about 10 minutes but when we first put her in it she lights up and just bounces and plays! I can't wait to watch how she grows into this in the next couple of months!

Tummy time!

We don't have too many pictures of this yet because it is not one of her favorite activities!

Just a cute picture!

The boys wanted to sleep together about a week ago and they decided together that they would sleep in Daniel's bed. Knowing how quickly Chris has been falling asleep these days I thought it would be ok! I knew they wouldn't be talking (due to Chris's new-found ability to fall asleep in 5 minutes flat!) so I let them and this is what I found about 15 minutes after we tucked them in:

Completely sweet...really touching for me to see!

Another cute picture of Kate...she's great at this picture thing!

Until next time...have a good one!

Basement Pics!

The basement is well on its way to being done once again! We have run into some road bumps along the way but we can get past those and get it done! :) Here are some pics of our basement as of right now! I took them just minutes ago....

The boys hanging out and having some fun... :)

The playroom....still has toys all over but well on its way! :)
My scrapbooking area...not even close!

The "movie room" as the boys call it.

And so there you have it...mess and all...please keep your fingers crossed that we can work and work until it is back to normal! :) I am hoping this will be soon!

Whew...

So our basement is back together (well, at least everything is down there - I think - although it may not be in the right spots yet!)!!! YEAH! I will have to take some pictures and post them later on. It is thrilling. I cannot even imagine how we lived in this house before without the basement being done...especially when we had visitors. Of course as Greg likes to point out we only had 2 kids and they didn't take up quite as much space as they do now! :)

Although I have to say that we did have a scare yesterday morning. We have been getting a TON of rain again...it rained almost non-stop Friday into Saturday and when we woke up Saturday morning our sump pump would run then stop for three seconds...yes only three seconds and then start up again. The water was coming in the sump pump so quickly that it was really quite stressful! Greg and I even went down several times during the night Friday night to check and make sure all was still well. How horrible that would have been! But thankfully, the rain stopped or really just slowed down on Saturday and all is well. WHEW!

The kids are thrilled to have their basement back as am I! :) Our new couches have been delievered and the shelves are now assembled and filled with the kids' stuff! Almost everything is out of the garage (thank you R and M!!!!) and I feel our house slowly getting back to normal! Kate even has her room back (and I'm sure she is very excited about this on the inside!). :)

In other news, Daniel is now fully potty trained! :) YEAH!!!! That's all I have to say about that!

Kate has started on cereal and some baby food...which she LOVES! :) We have discovered that she loves peas and bananas! :)

Well, I will get on a little later and post some pictures of our newly put back together basement and some of the kiddos for everyone to see! :)

Hope everyone is staying healthy and safe and we will be seeing you around!

Daniel's Plans...

In the car this afternoon Daniel told me:

"Mom? Get fireworks for Christmas!"

Me: "You want fireworks for Christmas?"

Daniel: "Yes!"

PLUS while at lunch Daniel tells us that he would like to play in the "no"...meaning the snow...

Think my little man is a little confused? I think so...

Have a good one!

I Wash-a My Feet!

Side note: A couple of days ago we got quite a bit of rain...needless to say I had left some stuff on the back deck that got wet. One of these things was a pink bucket (or at least that's what we call it!) which had quite a bit of water in it.

Ok...so the story. We all got home a couple of nights ago at the same time...this very rarely happens but I am thankful when it does so that Greg can help out with the kiddos and the dogs, etc!!! Daniel walked into the house and walked straight to the back door. After standing there for a couple of seconds, he insisted that the back door needed to be open.

He tried in vain to open it himself and when asked what he wanted to do he kept talking about his feet! Completely confused! He then sat on the floor and took off his shoes and socks! Even more confused!

So Greg and I opened the back door just to see what he would do...now as you look at the pictures, keep in mind that it was not exactly warm outside. It was about 56 degrees....

Yup...Daniel went outside, proceeded to put his feet in the pink bucket and with a big grin at us said, "I wash-a my feet!" It was just too funny! I asked him why he was washing his feet and he just kept saying "Cause it cold!"

While he is doing this it is drizzling and surprisingly he is not wanting to come in (he does not like getting "rained" on!)...and when he finally did his feet were cold, his jeans were wet but he was completely proud of himself!!!! "I wash-a my feet!" was repeated over and over for about the next hour!

What a silly man!

What an Amazing Sight!!!!

The big thing at RME this year it seems are the caterpillars...and it may not be all over the school but in my classroom and the one next door. Some students brought some in and it has been really cool watching them crawl around and do their thing. Some of them have even already made their cocoons and we are patiently waiting for the butterflies.

Well, in my room I have 2 caterpillars in a jar in my room that a student brought in and Chris and I got to experience the neatest thing with one of the Tiger Club classes. They were both hanging from the top of the jar in their neat little J...I had been told that this was a sign that they were getting ready to create their cocoons. I had been watching them off and on all day just waiting...not really wanting to miss it.

Amazingly, after school, Chris and I were talking when I decided to get up and check the caterpillars and lo and behold...one of them was just wiggling all over the place in its little J shape...then I saw it...the green started to come around it's body!!!! HOW AMAZING! The Tiger Club class came over from next door and we all (Chris and I included) watched it turn from a caterpillar into a cocoon!!!! HOW COOL! I'm still amazed at what I saw.

I know...some of you may be sitting out there kind of shaking your head and wondering where in the world I came from to think this is so cool...but it really was! I never saw anything like this when I was in school and for Chris to see it actually happen was better than any science lesson. He is STILL talking about it! :)

Now we are just waiting...Chris is now very anxious for the butterflies to emerge...he is convinced that he will be able to see it actually come out of the cocoon...I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he can be that lucky!!!!

Lunchtime...

So today I ate lunch with Chris at his school. This was pretty neat because it normally won't happen (next year it will be completely different!). His lunchtime just happens to be at 12:05 and on Fridays I am lucky because our counselor picks my kids up from lunch recess (at 12:00) and then takes them to Library (at 12:30) so I take my kids to lunch at 11:40 and don't see them again until 1:00. Beautiful. It gives me the perfect opportunity to go eat lunch with my little man! I was excited to find this out!

So today we took that opportunity and Chris ordered me a lunch at the Primary School and I went over there to eat with him. It was so cute to walk with him through the line and watch him following the rules and the procedures and listening to him tell ME how to follow them!

When we got to his lunch table (his teacher was very sweet and arranged it so we could sit on the end and have a little more room...plus it was easier for me to get on and off the bench!), we sat down and proceeded to eat our lunch. He proudly showed me how he could open his milk carton and then said to me: "Mom? Do you want me to open your milk carton for you? You know...they can be kind of tricky." Well, how could I resist that? So he helped his old mom out and opened my milk carton for me...and the milk carton of a little boy across from him! So sweet!

While eating, I got to watch him interact with different kids who were sitting near us and other kids as they walked by to take their trays up and line up with their classes...he knew quite a few kids and I came to realize what a little boy he has become.

I left the school today with tears...after watching my little man walk down the hallway with his kindergarten class...a bubble in his mouth, holding his tiger tail (that's what they do to stay quiet and keep their hands to themselves in the hallway) and acting just like I always hoped he would when he entered school. It hit me today that this is it...he's not a toddler and he's not a preschooler...he is now one of the "big kids." The ones that go to school, make friends that I don't know and whose moms I don't know. Man...it was great to see and I was kind of sad to see it as well. But at the same time...at the end of the day...he was still my little guy who got off the bus, came to my classroom and just wanted his mom to snuggle him for a little while...while he drank his juice box and ate his goldfish....

I knew it would happen and I thought I had already experienced that the first day of school...but oh no. Today was the day...thank goodness for lunch!

Lots of Pictures!!!! Very Random....

So as I said in the title I have a lot pictures to share...and here are some of them! :) They are very random but all cute (at least in my opinion!) Enjoy!

As I've mentioned before Kate has really gotten into her toys. Her favorites are the linking rings and these teething toys...although she did really play with a book at our friends' house on Friday! It's just so neat watching her discover all of the new things in the world! :)

I love watching her sleep...she so cute and sweet and peaceful! :)
My boys! Need I say more??? They were feeling particularly photogenic this night!

That night the boys also decided to help Greg take a look at my van! It has been dripping in the back for just over a week now and we aren't sure if it is anything to really be concerned about...it seems to be water of some kind so probably condensation...but anyway, Greg decided to really take a look and Daniel jumped right in to help!!!! It was really fun to watch him talk to Greg about the van and everything!

We have had a very busy three day weekend around here. I always love Labor Day because it sort of symbolizes the beginning of fall for me (one of my favorite seasons!) but I am also always sad to see it come because it means the end of the summer carefree feelings. So in order to help celebrate this wonderful and yet sad weekend we decided to turn the sprinkler on!!!!! We had our best friends' kiddos over for a sleepover and turned the water on! The kids had a blast and the neighborhood kids joined in as well!!!! Even Kate joined in the fun (thanks D for the swimsuit!!!!)

This weekend also contained a first for Chris. His first piece of homework! And oh my goodness, you would not believe how excited he was about it! He had just been asking me earlier in the week if "there would EVER be homework in kindergarten!" I assured him that eventually there would be but he had been in school for only 6 days...give it time! So when he came home on Friday he was COMPLETELY excited!!!! He had homework!!!

His homework was to decorate a poster all about himself. He went right to town...we spelled some words out, he colored in the tiger paw, he put stickers all over it along with some pictures of himself and the family and then when it was just right...he deemed it done. I was then informed that I should take a picture of him with it so that I could scrapbook him with his first piece of homework!!!! :) Do you think my kiddo knows me very well????

So that is the first round of recent pictures I have for you...I hope you all had a very wonderful and relaxing Labor Day weekend! I know I did...I had a blast!!!! A sleepover, anniversary present shopping, hanging out with my family and my friends, and a BBQ picnic out at the Lake...it was a fantastic weekend! :)

Have a great week!