Before I move on….

Some pictures from my sister Ashley’s visit a couple of weeks ago

Rae’s birthday party

  

  

Saying goodbye

 

I think I might have the most gorgeous nieces and nephews on the planet.

Like a school girl

I always had a thing for athletes.  Not sports (no sirree), but athletes, yes.  All my crushes were on boys who played one sport or another well. I even have a journal entry written in elementary school about playing soccer against one of those crushes and “accidently” running into him.   

I had sworn off crushes by my freshman year in high school, but when Chad arrived on the scene, playing baseball, soccer and football, my heart did a little thump.  After we started dating, I would sit in the stands and hear comments all around me about what a great player he was, and my face would burn a little, and my heart would do a double thump.

14 years  later, and he is playing in a soccer league again.  The kids and I went to watch him last Thursday. Holding our little doll in my arms, the boys running around behind me, I heard one of the other players say, “Chad is playing well today.”

Blush. Thump thump. 16 all over again.

School Shopping

I still remember my mom taking me on a special shopping trip for clothes before I started kindergarten. I took Colin on a similar trip when he started (man, that boy was so little and cute in that post!), and last Friday was Gabe’s turn.  I took all the kids, but Gabe got to decide where we would eat breakfast to gear up.  This was definitely the highlight of the trip – not the shopping.  He immediately chose IHOP.  We have never been there, but I think he has seen commercials for their funnel cakes.  He was so excited to get them.  

Do you see all of Gabe’s food?!  Don’t worry, he was splitting it with me and we didn’t even finish it.   And yes, Oliver chose mac’ and cheese for breakfast.  That is SO Ollie.  When his Grandpa Coleman was visiting, he thought it was hilarious that Ollie often requested a “meat sandwich” for breakfast, and just this morning Ollie requested leftover spaghetti for breakfast.

Colin got the “Breakfast Special” and bet me that he could eat it all.  About a quarter of the way through the pancakes he started moaning that he was getting soooo full.  Amid many a joke about “Man Vs Food” my very-sensible boys gave up and we took a lot of leftovers home.

The shopping started out fun.  Gabe chose a very sensible black backpack and a black lunch bag “to go with it.”  Oliver strutted around with a backpack on, telling people he was going to school. Colin kept track of everything we needed.  But school shopping for two kids at Walmart on the first day of tax free weekend?  It got old pretty quickly.  We stuck with it,and I think I found everything on their list expect white erasers.  We will go shoe shopping sometime soon and I will make sure I have gotten enough for their uniforms, but I think we are pretty set.

While we were shopping, it started thundering and then pouring outside.  We were hoping it would clear up before we made our exit, but it was still going strong after we bought everything.  I considered leaving Colin with the kids right inside the door while I ran for the car, but wasn’t comfortable with that…and then I realized…wait, it is still pretty warm, none of us are going to get cold or anything, our school supplies are all in bags, and HELLO, these are boys.  We made a run for it, laughing the whole time (Carina was covered in her carseat). 

Oliver doesn’t like thunder. Can you tell?

Here is a little sampling from the school supply list.  The teachers will also send out another list when we get their class assignment.  I have all of this stuff sitting in my computer room.

• Kindergarten

2 – plastic pocket folders with 3 prongs (labeled with name)

4 – 125 count boxes of tissues (plain tissues – no antiviral or lotion added!)

6– 80 count baby wipes boxes

20 - Small Elmer's glue sticks (this brand only)

1 – Kinder mat (for resting)

1 – Modeling Clay

3-500 sheet pkg. of copier paper

1-pack of white erasers / Hi-Polymer Pentel (this brand only)

2– pack of construction paper (not bounded) colors sorted

1- pack of yellow 2HB pencils (12)

1-Kindergarten Appropriate Size backpack - no wheels!

• 3rd Grade

6 -- marble composition books

1 -- 150 sheets filler paper (wide rule)

1 – pencil pouch (please not pencil boxes)

2 – set of colored pencils (for English and for classroom)

1 – 5” pointed Fiskar scissors 3 -- glue sticks

3 -- bags of #2 pencils 2 -- erasers

1 -- pencil sharpener with container

2 -- box of tissues 1 – 80 ct. baby wipes

1 -- plastic pocket folder (any color for English)

1 -- dry erase board (small enough to fit in desk)

2 -- dry erase board markers

1 – rag/towel/old sock for cleaning dry erase board

3 – 500 sheets copier paper

1 – ruler with both cm and inches

1 – backpack (please do not send rolling book bags)

1 – refillable, reusable, plastic water bottle with a sport cap

1 –box of Ziploc bags (Quart size only for last names A-L)

1 –box of Ziploc bags (Gallon size only for last names M-Z)

German, Japanese, and Chinese students only:

3 -- plastic pocket folders (green, red, blue)

 

How about all of you?  Anyone have to do school supply shopping?  Do your kids have pretty similar lists?

Gabe’s first loose teeth

Last Friday night we were getting ready for bed, and the boys were, once again, best friends.  When it is time for sleep, all the day’s conflicts are forgotten  as they unite against Mom and Dad in a hyper, last-ditch battle to stay awake.  Colin was on the top bunk, Gabe was on the bottom bunk, and was apparently trying to pull Colin’s blanket down with his teeth, when he let out a cry of pain.  I went over to investigate, and found that not only were his two bottom teeth loose, the adult ones were already cutting through behind them.  Tears were immediately replaced by giddy Gabe grins.

Gabe has been so excited to lose his first teeth, an excitement that had only been building since his cousin Elizabeth, who is four months younger, beat him out a couple of weeks ago.

He had plenty of time the next day to show off his lose teeth at Rae’s birthday party, and the next evening, the first one came out while we were having dinner at my parent’s.  Exciting times!  The second one then came out yesterday.                 

                 

Two teeth gone and kindergarten later this month.  (sigh)

In other Gabe news, he is selling homemade balls (made of masking tape). Any takers?

          

Keepin’ It Real Wednesday

 

Yesterday we stopped by my parent’s house to say goodbye to my sister Ashley, who had been visiting with her family from Missouri.  I brought my camera to snap some pictures of Carina with her cousin Claire, who is one month younger than her.  We said our goodbyes and went home, where we had a fairly uneventful afternoon – rest time and a trip to the pool.  As I was getting out of the pool, I realized my arms felt very weak holding Carina.  Then my whole body started to ache.  Within a couple of hours I was laying in bed, aching all over with the chills and some other “womanly” pains. Mastitis. Oy.

I went to bed early only to be woken by a very fussy baby.  Her nose was so stuffed up that she couldn’t catch her breath lying down.  We shuffled around the darkhouse, looking for the bulb syringe, and she screamed as I cleared it out.  It wasn’t enough though, and I ended on the recliner downstairs so that she could sleep upright.  Me with my achy body, her with her stuffy nose, waking up sweaty every couple of hours to nurse and reposition ourselves.  After one such session, I lay awake, listening to her wet breathing, and these pictures kept skating across my mind.

 

I had laughed as I lay Claire on top of Carina and snapped away, but in my sleeplessness last night, all I could picture were the germs oozing off of Carina to Claire. 

  Sorry Ashley!  Here’s to hoping Claire is immune to the results of her Aunt’s foolish photography whims and fancies.

4 Months Old

Length: 25 inches, 75 %

Weight: 13 lbs. 5.8 ozs 50%

Head: 42 cms 75%

This first photo was actually taken by Ollie.  It really cracks me up!

 

I think she looks so much like me in this picture.

 

   

 

Martha Rivers Park and Mary Jo’s

I wanted to do something with my mom and the kids, so I decided we would try out a park that I saw on my friend Shyann’s blog.  Martha Rivers Park is a bit of a drive from our house, but the kids sure did love it.

I had to steal a picture from the city website because I forgot to put my memory card back in my camera before I loaded it up.  It was a little warm this morning, but the kids stayed happy, running around all the staircases and discovering all the fun different details in the castle.  My mom, Carina, and I got to sit in the shade while they played in the sand.  Carina was passing out her best, wide-mouthed, drooling  baby smiles for my mom and me.  Again, no pictures:o(

 

After the park, we hit up Mary Jo’s, which is an incredible fabric store not far from the park.  The first time I went there last summer, I was completely overwhelmed.  You walk in to rows and rows of just about every time of fabric your heart could desire.  I don’t actually sew much at all, but I want to when I go there.  A hundred possible projects spring up in my head and I slowly meander through.  (sigh).  Anyway, can you believe I took three boys and a baby girl there?!!  They were pretty stinkin’ good in the beginning, because I let them each choose some fabric for pajama pants.  They were completely fascinated by the idea of this fabric being eventually made into a piece of clothing. Gabe had question after question….”Oh, so is fabric like cloth?”  “How do you get the holes in?” (meaning arm holes and leg holes) “Why isn’t the fabric shaped like pants?”  After the chose their fabric they got restless and tried running up and down the isles and I had to pull myself away a lot more quickly that I normally would have.

So, here is the fabric they each chose.  Can you guess which fabric belongs to which boy?

To the brothers, who sometimes forget

My dear boys, here it is.  The proof of your love for each other.  Last week, Oliver was sick.  With him in bed, you realized you actually missed that mischievous grin.  During one of Oliver’s little naps, we decided it was craft time, and surrounded by paper scraps, Gabe had the idea of a get-well card for Oliver.  The idea was seized and a gigantic six page card was created, beautiful and thoughtful enough to have your mom grinning all afternoon.

Deciding that he needed further cheering up, you put together a little puppet show that was silly enough to have the sick little guy grinning all afternoon.  Gabe and Colin, the happier you made him, the happier you also became,  and it was a boyish little love fest. 

 

 

And me? I took pictures.  For proof, of course

 

(and yes, Ollie is wearing pink pajama pants.  all three boys have worn them, I will have you know )

Sunday Afternoon – through Ollie’s lens

Sunday Afternoon- through my lens

 

Keepin’ it Real Wednesday

This pretty much sums up the day we are having over here.