Keeping up with the Holidays

What a busy week! Tuesday was my b-day and I was spoiled. Chad got me a gift card to Nordstrom's Rack and I went and got a few things, then we headed to B.J's for dinner and saw the Harry Potter movie. I couldn't remember the last time we had a real date and it was nice to be just the two of us for a couple of hours.

Wednesday we celebrated my b-day with my family. We met up at Cheesecake Factory for dessert. It is hard to justify having a huge dinner the day before Thanksgiving!

Thursday we went to my mom and dad's for Thanksgiving. It was nice and very busy. We had about 25 people celebrating. I think we all ate ourselves silly and then ate some more!

I have to admit that this week was little hard on me. This is the week I would have been due with the baby I lost back in April. It was a thought that sat in the back of my mind. It made me a little sad. On the other hand, I don't know how we would have taken care of three with a strict budget, small home, during the holidays while potty training a two year old. I am seeing that maybe this was all for the best.

Anyways,when Friday came around we knew we were not going to be shopping. I am convinced that Black Friday is for nuts. Anyways, we got into our nasty garage and cleaned it out to get to our Christmas decorations. It took us hours and several insecticide sprays and bombs, but we did it! By nightfall, we were ready to light a fire and decorate. Decorating with a five year old and a feisty two year old is a lot less fairytale-like than I envisioned. Oh well, it all got finished and the kids seemed to have a good time.
Today, Brooklyn decided to use the potty on her own accord. She didn't actually go, but it was a step in the right direction. She even spent some time getting some quality reading in! I love how she still has her socks on.

The best day of soccer ever!

Those were Micah's words. He didn't have to dress in his uniform, practice or play a game. He showed up, got a balloon, trophy and cupcake. That is the formula for his best day of soccer ever!
He was so proud of his trophy, we even had to make a trip over to grandma and papa to show it off.

A bust

Let me begin this by saying I screwed up. These last two weeks have been really rough on us. All of us got sick with this nasty cold and Brooklyn got it the worst. Turns out she has pneumonia. It makes her cough until she pukes and she is sleeping like a newborn. To top it off, Chad has been working crazy hours. We are worn out!

So last night, we went out to dinner and B spewed all over the place. Once we got home all clothes went in the wash, cut to the rest of the night being a blur and another nearly sleepless night with Brooklyn in the bed. I wake up at 8:30 feeling like I had been run over only to realize that the pants Micah was going to wear for his Fall Festival are in the washer and we need to be out the door at 9:20! Well, at about 9:15 I pull out some slightly damp jeans and throw them on him. He was not happy, but we didn't have time to deal with it. Out the door we went!
Well, at least one kid was happy to be there.
This kid was not! If you didn't think that slightly damp jeans could ruin a performance, you were wrong. If I am trying to shrink him, I think it was less about the pants and more about me not validating his feelings. I wouldn't pay for my advice though. Either way, I felt bad!
Pretty much pissed off through the whole thing. Wouldn't even wear the pilgrim get up!
Micah and Simone (his little girlfriend)
Even at the "feast" they had after, he wasn't all that happy. Lessons learned: Never try to do last minute laundry, always have a backup outfit and most importantly, he could wear polka dots and stripes next time as long as he is happy to be there and sings his heart out. Sorry bud, mommy screwed this one up, but next time should be a winner. In the meantime, I hope that the trip to the mall, with the extended time in the toy store, the Disney store and Jamba Juice made up for it. Love you!

A Modge Podge

These kids are so fun! I won't lie, they aren't easy or always sunshine, but I enjoy them and they always make me laugh. Brooklyn throws a lot of attitude around. We are working on that. When she is in a good mood though, she is so fun. She giggles and runs and jumps.
Micah is the best big brother. As you can tell from the picture below, he loves his sister and lets her do just about anything. He shares all his toys and always looks out for her. I would say he is kind to a fault. My favorite has to be that if he is away from her he likes to call her and say "How's my favorite girl?" I don't expect them to always be this close, but I hope they always look out for each other.
Well, todya was a day of sunshine and sushi for us. Once in a while I treat us to sushi (the kids prefer rice, miso and edamame) and we head to the park to play. Al and her kids met up with us and we wore them out.
Brooklyn was goofing around. She isn't feeling top notch, so a lot of the time she just whined. At least she took a good nap!
OK, this is weird. Last night I was at my parents house since Chad was working late. I had Micah start looking through the Toys R Us Big Book of Toys and he said "Hey that looks like Brooklyn." He was right! Look what I found on page 64:
This little girl looks JUST LIKE Brooklyn. The picture I took doesn't do it justice. If you have the catalog at home, open it up and take a look. It is eerie! I stared at the picture for about 20 minutes trying to see if I could spot a difference. My stomach knotted up. It was so strange. Their eye shape, part, hair color, part and even the way she wears her bow. Well, she has a clone out there somewhere!

A Kindergarten Update

You may know that I really had a hard time deciding on whether or not to send Micah to school this year. It was difficult because he was five before the school year, but just barely. He had very little preschool experience, but knows everything needed for kindergarten. Anyways, I decided to send him.

I was having a really hard time and having major mommy guilt for putting him in because the feedback I was getting from his teacher was not so good. If you don't recall, she at one point asked if I thought he had a condition. Yeah, that didn't go over so well. Then about a week or two ago when I asked how he did, she told me that he tried to steal the rhythm sticks from the music teacher. Micah was right next to me as she said that. He and I have had talks about stealing before and needless to say he was very hurt. He immediately said "No I didn't!" Poor kid. This teacher seriously has no tact.

Anyways, with day after day full of negative reports I was feeling pretty bad about putting him in. Let me clarify though, all the reports had to do with Micah either being on his own schedule, going ahead on the assignment or asking the teacher why he had to do this and that he didn't want to. Never was he mean or belligerent or flat out disruptive. Well, I had to go in and see what was going on. Last Tuesday I went into his class and watched them all day. Micah would lay on the carpet instead of sitting straight up in a square. He didn't have the patience to do the math assignment with the whole class. He was on three while they were still on one. Another thing that he would do is not tune in to where the conversation was going. As the rest of the kids were guessing what the favorite animal was, Micah felt the need to compliment the kid on his drawing of a motorcycle. He was also the kid that stood up in music class and took the rock star stance and said "Are you ready to rock!"

Well, at the end of the day, although I wasn't thrilled with his behavior, it really wasn't all that bad. I realized that all the teacher was reporting to me at the end of the day were the two or three things he did wrong and not all the times he was listening or kind. Oh well, at least I know better now. As for the teacher, I thought she might have been singling him out and I was wrong. If anything, she was too nice. She would just ask things of him so nonchalantly whereas I would be more direct and firm.

Well, it just so happens that my parent teacher conference was the next day. I was a little anxious to hear what she said. Right off the bat, she told me how bright he is. She told me he is definitely the type to think out of the box and those tend to be the most creative kids she has had. She said he was the type that turn into the Bill Gates of the world! Yay Micah! She then went over the standard test scores and he blew them out of the water. The first test, he only needed an eight and he got a nineteen. The second one they want the kids to get to a forty by the end of the year. He got a sixty four on the first one of the year! She told me he is a quick talker, articulate and even said that he told her he thinks different than the other kids. I think she threw in a Rainman reference in there somewhere, but I let that one fall to the waysides. Overall, he is as smart as a whip, but this year, we are concentrating on getting him to behave well in class. Honestly, I think he is one of the coolest kids I have ever met. Such a fun and unique personality. I hope he can still be who he is and also learn to be a part of the class.

A Halloween Away

This weekend we went away to spend Halloween with Chad's parents in Utah. We had a great time and got so many pictures, I can basically write this blog in pictures...so I will!

Ghee and Papa were ready for us with a pumpkin to carve. Papa being the contractor, made his drawings first before cutting.
Brooklyn and Micah loved it and I even got to enjoy the pumpkin seeds. It was Don's first time trying them.
Then these two decided to take me golfing. I have NEVER golfed before and so I was learning as I went.

Chad wanted me to edit this picture so that the golf ball wasn't still sitting there on the grass ready to be hit. It's OK, I had many more swing and misses.
Here I am trying my hand at it. If you golf, don't tell me how bad my form is. I know. I suck at this game, but apparently, this is a widely accepted idea for golfers. Most of them suck and they are OK with that. I don't understand why you would play just to suck. I guess I am too competitive.
By the way, look at where my ball landed. On the first tee no less. Oh well!
By the time night fell, the jack-o-lantern had a candle in it. Can you tell the kids liked it?
The next day we all went to Staheli Farms. This place blows the Laguna Hills pumpkin patch out of the water! Five bucks a person and you can do everything in this place! We were ready to roll!

The kids enjoyed the maze.
Look at him go! He actually went through the maze twice, trying different routes.
There were these giant swings. Isn't that sky amazing?
There was a petting zoo with all kinds of animals.
Brooklyn loves animals and is still talking about the pigs.
There was this rope swing thing. We are not country enough to get it right the first time around.
The pig races were so much fun. Those things are fast and the kids were glued to their seats!
Then we were off on a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch.
Micah asked the driver to take a picture with him. He cracks me up!
The pumpkin patch was huge!
I think these two are the cutest pumpkins in the patch!
Walking with Ghee and Papa to look at all the pumpkins. It is funny that it is a real patch with the pumpkins actually growing on the vines. They aren't pre-picked and sitting in a bin or in rows like they are around here.
Brooklyn picked out a favorite.
My handsome boy. Even as sick as he was with a nasty cold, he had a blast and you would never have known he was sick!
On to more rides at the farm. These tire swings were Miss B's favorite. In fact, when we finally had to leave, Chad had to peel her off kicking and screaming.
The next day was Saturday and since we were in Utah, that meant it was Halloween! We got the kids all dressed up and headed to the mall to see the Wiener Mobile and trick or treat at the stores.
They had so much fun and even after the mall the fun wasn't over. We headed back to Ghee and Papa's house and trick or treated door to door. The kids loved it, but might have liked giving out the candy even more! We had a great time in Utah and loved spending a holiday with Ghee and Papa. Thanks for having us!

This video makes me laugh every time. I don't think that the turkeys are all that funny, but the kids reacting to them had me in tears!