The time is flying by and I have been so bad about posting to this blog. We had an amazing Christmas. Sara is super easy and had only asked for American Girl things. Evan is a bit more difficult and wanted a few video games, a Lego, and football cards. Well in addition to their gifts we had purchases an American Doll and a Jim Kelly autographed football at the school auction in April. Needless to say the kids had a very exciting Christmas.
We had planned to go to Mass at 4pm on Christmas Eve, unfortunately that means arriving at 3pm to be guaranteed a seat. Well Evan had issues all day long he complained his neck itched and refused to wear a shirt. Well trying to get dressed for mass was a nightmare filled with tears. Finally we decided to go at 5:30 instead. Well the drama ensued and Marc and Evan returned home and we joined my mom for mass. In hindsight it worked out very well. The church was very empty at 5:30 and Marc finished cooking dinner while we were gone. Marc has never really practiced any religion. While the kids attend a Catholic school and I have always attended church he doesn't and I don't push it.
Christmas morning Evan woke up at 3:45 and I heard him talking at 4am, I told him to come into bed with me and he did not return to sleep. Well at 4:45 Sara woke up so our day began. By 10am Marc and I were exhausted and still in pajamas. I returned to bed for a nap and slept for a little bit. My Aunt showed up at noon with gifts for the kids. She likes to give them more gifts than my brothers kids so always stops by prior to going to my Mom's. We went to my Mom's at 1pm and fought stay awake for most of the day.
We did a few returns and cleaning the past few days and the kids are missing the snow. I am loving the lack of cold weather and snow. Today after gymnastics there was a snowy icy mix and the kids were ecstatic and I am happy it will all melt again tomorrow.
On another note the kids have been having a great year in school. Evans teacher told me his is the role model for the class and asked if she could challenge and push him harder. She keeps telling me how bright he is. We are currently studying for the national spelling bee. He amazes me he can see a word once or twice and be able to memorize it. Sara worked with a reading specialist for two months and now is doing very well. She struggled for a bit but once she started there is no stopping her. Sara was chosen for the student of the month for Determination and Evan for Discernment. They both love school and have great teachers. Sara has had the same best friend for two years and Evan has made a new friend this year.
Evan loves to play video games, read, play football and talk football. Sara loves to do crafts, play with her dolls, watch family fun packs on youtube, go to gymnastics and dancing. Our family room is constant handstands and headstands. Sara loves to be outside and even asked today when it was 26 degrees if she could go on her swing set. She is such a little companion. We often shop or run errands together. Yesterday we had the rare opportunity to go out to lunch together. The boys stay home and watch football and Sara and I get some girl time. I will be sad next week when our season ends and we loose this time. Evan is slowly discovering that football in Buffalo is very disappointing year after year. Last week the quarterback was supposed to be at a local restaurant for a tv show and autographs. Well I gave Evan a jersey as an early Christmas gift and his special autograph football and sent Marc, Evan and a neighbor. Evan was so excited until they arrived and it was cancelled. The poor kid was super disappointed and I wanted to cry for him!
Monday, December 28, 2015
Monday, July 20, 2015
Summer Fun
I love summer vacation and we try to do something each day. So far we had our Florida Vacation, many trips to the village pool, trips to the Gallagher Beach playground, weekends at the cottage, lots of ice cream, reading at the playground with our school, the Minion movie. We have had many playdates too. This summer the kids are so easy they are completely on their own in the pool. I am still watching with a close eye but they both go off the diving board and are confident enough to swim everywhere.
In Florida we caught Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer. In this movie Judy create a point system and if they reach 100 it is will not be a boring summer. Well Evan is very motivated by this. So far he has earned points for learning to dive, going off the diving board, scoring goals in soccer, going down the pool slide, trying some new food. He is playing flag football and soccer. I told him he can earn 25 points for learning to ride his bike.
He has the same coach for each of them and loves him. They are very small groups and the coach is very positive with the kids. So last week he scored two goals in the mini soccer game. He has never scored in a game before. Sara was bummed that she didn't score, maybe this week.
Evan is the youngest playing football but has lots of fun. The downside is it has been very rainy so the past two weeks we have been in a very hot gym for an hour and a half each week. Tomorrow he heads to the orthodontist to see what we will need to do for his open bite.
Saturday I thought we would go to the cottage but Marc wanted to do some things around the house. I had picked up 2 gallons of paint at Sherwin Williams and planned to paint our morning room. Well I decided to tape it off (I tape everything when I paint I used an entire roll!). Marc still wasn't done with his projects so I started painting. Sunday morning I finished the room. We have a high peak in the middle and its around 20 feet tall. So we have this mammoth ladder and I really couldn't do it during the week without being stuck with a ladder in the house all week. So it feels really good to have it completed. I think I will paint the spare bedroom next. The only rooms unpainted so far will be our bedroom and master bath, the living room, and the front foyer and upstairs hall. The front foyer has ridiculously high ceilings and I think we will need to hire someone.
I still need to complete some summer projects, doing a major cleanout of the upstairs bathrooms drawers, cupboards etc. Finish the mulch outside, clean the storage portion of the basement, wash and clean out the kitchen cupboards, and tag everything for the next mothertime marketplace sale. I usually procrastinate until the last week of summer and then go nuts but I have been doing pretty well doing a few projects each week. Hopefully I can stay on this pace.
We need to complete some more summer fun too, a trip to the beach, canalside, the zoo, the fair, Darien Lake, Maid of the Mist, the Canandian side of Niagara Falls, a trip to Letchworth.
We are almost done with our summer packets although we could spend more time reading. Evan is fantastic Sara needs more work. She is very stubborn and the only thing she lacks confidence in is reading. I am hoping it clicks in the fall. Evan had a slow start and then he exploded and became way above grade level. Hopefully Sara will follow suit. I do need to keep in mind that she is 10 months younger than he was at that age.
A funny Sara story the other morning I hear her yelling Mom it was almost 5am, I asked her what was wrong and she told me "I am all out of sleep", well I carried her to our bed and within a few minutes she went back to sleep until around 7:30. I don't think I am ever all out of sleep!
In Florida we caught Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer. In this movie Judy create a point system and if they reach 100 it is will not be a boring summer. Well Evan is very motivated by this. So far he has earned points for learning to dive, going off the diving board, scoring goals in soccer, going down the pool slide, trying some new food. He is playing flag football and soccer. I told him he can earn 25 points for learning to ride his bike.
He has the same coach for each of them and loves him. They are very small groups and the coach is very positive with the kids. So last week he scored two goals in the mini soccer game. He has never scored in a game before. Sara was bummed that she didn't score, maybe this week.
Evan is the youngest playing football but has lots of fun. The downside is it has been very rainy so the past two weeks we have been in a very hot gym for an hour and a half each week. Tomorrow he heads to the orthodontist to see what we will need to do for his open bite.
Saturday I thought we would go to the cottage but Marc wanted to do some things around the house. I had picked up 2 gallons of paint at Sherwin Williams and planned to paint our morning room. Well I decided to tape it off (I tape everything when I paint I used an entire roll!). Marc still wasn't done with his projects so I started painting. Sunday morning I finished the room. We have a high peak in the middle and its around 20 feet tall. So we have this mammoth ladder and I really couldn't do it during the week without being stuck with a ladder in the house all week. So it feels really good to have it completed. I think I will paint the spare bedroom next. The only rooms unpainted so far will be our bedroom and master bath, the living room, and the front foyer and upstairs hall. The front foyer has ridiculously high ceilings and I think we will need to hire someone.
I still need to complete some summer projects, doing a major cleanout of the upstairs bathrooms drawers, cupboards etc. Finish the mulch outside, clean the storage portion of the basement, wash and clean out the kitchen cupboards, and tag everything for the next mothertime marketplace sale. I usually procrastinate until the last week of summer and then go nuts but I have been doing pretty well doing a few projects each week. Hopefully I can stay on this pace.
We need to complete some more summer fun too, a trip to the beach, canalside, the zoo, the fair, Darien Lake, Maid of the Mist, the Canandian side of Niagara Falls, a trip to Letchworth.
We are almost done with our summer packets although we could spend more time reading. Evan is fantastic Sara needs more work. She is very stubborn and the only thing she lacks confidence in is reading. I am hoping it clicks in the fall. Evan had a slow start and then he exploded and became way above grade level. Hopefully Sara will follow suit. I do need to keep in mind that she is 10 months younger than he was at that age.
A funny Sara story the other morning I hear her yelling Mom it was almost 5am, I asked her what was wrong and she told me "I am all out of sleep", well I carried her to our bed and within a few minutes she went back to sleep until around 7:30. I don't think I am ever all out of sleep!
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Kindergarten Graduate!!
Wow I can't believe both of my kids are past kindergarten. My decision to send Sara to kindergarten was not a mistake. She has blossomed. She is full of confidence, she is reading. She is so excited to go to First Grade that she came home today and read a 34 page book about going to First Grade.
We had the most adorable graduation ceremony today. The kids came in individually saying "Read all about it" and handed someone in the audience a paper. The paper was the kindergarten news. The teachers had each student tell what they liked about Kindergarten and what they expect first grade to be like and then turned it into a paper. Well the first article was "I Love Mrs. Craig" said Sara. We also loved her teacher and having her for both kids was wonderful.
We had the most adorable graduation ceremony today. The kids came in individually saying "Read all about it" and handed someone in the audience a paper. The paper was the kindergarten news. The teachers had each student tell what they liked about Kindergarten and what they expect first grade to be like and then turned it into a paper. Well the first article was "I Love Mrs. Craig" said Sara. We also loved her teacher and having her for both kids was wonderful.
Monday, April 13, 2015
Double swimming
Today we started a 6 week session at a local middle school. The kids said the pool was cold. The natatorium was so hot. We will also have 3 more weeks of Michael Phelps swim school which the kids told me they prefer. Today the kids each swam about 15 feet without assistance and then grabbed the instructor for a moment and returned to the wall of the pool. Sara swims underwater and comes up for a breath when needed. Evan took his goggles off before his test and swam doggie paddle for the entire length. He if funny because he is like a sinking ship his head is barely above water. Half way through the lesson Evan had to go the bathroom ( I forgot to remind them before we left the house). The poor kid couldn't get the door to the locker room open. He went in and came out a few minutes later with a look of complete panic. Well I came down from the balcony and took him in the women's locker room. Well it was like a maze. The shower room, locker room and the toilets hidden in the corner. Poor kid has never been in a school locker room! When we came out Sara was sobbing hysterically I figured it was because she thought we left her. Well she refused to tell me and wouldn't calm down enough to return to the pool. She later told me it was something about thinking the lesson was done and going to get her towel, but she wouldn't finish the story. Evan even jumped off the diving blocks in the deep end. He is not my adventurous kid but over the past few weeks he has surprised me over and over again.
When we went into swimming it was 78 degrees, we haven't had temperatures that high since October. When we came out a storm came through and it was 53... brrr. To make matters worse I forgot Evan and Sara's underwear and Evans shorts!! Luckily I keep a spare change of clothes for each of them in my trunk. They begged for ice cream. This is the first year they have both enjoyed it so we have been buying it much to frequently. My best friend from grammar and high school and matron of honor at my wedding owns a ice cream shop and we stopped there. Last week she was generous and treated them and tonight she wasn't there but her employees did a great job! The kids love her ice cream it is much creamier than dairy queens. She told me hers has a much higher fat content (Exactly what Evan needs!!)
Last week we were off and didn't do a lot. A few shopping trips, lunches out, a trip to Bounce Magic, and the outlets in Niagara Falls. My big accomplishments were cleaning the fridge and our master closet. Our closet is huge and you could probably fit a bed and dresser in it and still have room. When Sara was born we moved our filing cabinets into it and it has become the catch all room. Well somewhere I heard the best way to clean it was to remove everything. I started this technique and was amazed at the dust on the baseboards and the corners of the closet. I spent almost 6 hours cleaning! I cleared out a few garbage bags of clothes, suits, shoes, belts, and garbage! It feels so good to have it so clean. I think its the cleanest part of our house right now! I also cleaned the linen closet (that is way to small) and put most of the winter gear away. Marc pressure washed the garage and cleaned and waxed my car.
I had planned to do some painting but it didn't happen. We have white baseboards and they are starting to look banged up. Sara is the fingerprint queen and loves to touch the walls. Evan can't stand having dirty hands so he has always been the easy child!
When we went into swimming it was 78 degrees, we haven't had temperatures that high since October. When we came out a storm came through and it was 53... brrr. To make matters worse I forgot Evan and Sara's underwear and Evans shorts!! Luckily I keep a spare change of clothes for each of them in my trunk. They begged for ice cream. This is the first year they have both enjoyed it so we have been buying it much to frequently. My best friend from grammar and high school and matron of honor at my wedding owns a ice cream shop and we stopped there. Last week she was generous and treated them and tonight she wasn't there but her employees did a great job! The kids love her ice cream it is much creamier than dairy queens. She told me hers has a much higher fat content (Exactly what Evan needs!!)
Last week we were off and didn't do a lot. A few shopping trips, lunches out, a trip to Bounce Magic, and the outlets in Niagara Falls. My big accomplishments were cleaning the fridge and our master closet. Our closet is huge and you could probably fit a bed and dresser in it and still have room. When Sara was born we moved our filing cabinets into it and it has become the catch all room. Well somewhere I heard the best way to clean it was to remove everything. I started this technique and was amazed at the dust on the baseboards and the corners of the closet. I spent almost 6 hours cleaning! I cleared out a few garbage bags of clothes, suits, shoes, belts, and garbage! It feels so good to have it so clean. I think its the cleanest part of our house right now! I also cleaned the linen closet (that is way to small) and put most of the winter gear away. Marc pressure washed the garage and cleaned and waxed my car.
I had planned to do some painting but it didn't happen. We have white baseboards and they are starting to look banged up. Sara is the fingerprint queen and loves to touch the walls. Evan can't stand having dirty hands so he has always been the easy child!
Monday, March 30, 2015
Eating habits, sunshine and misery
Well finally it seems like we are making baby steps in the picky eating habits. Evan is finally asking to try new foods. This week he asked to have a taco and said he liked the meat a little, he had a few bites of the meat and ate the hard shell. He then asked for an additional shell. He tried some lettuce but wasn't a fan of it and told me he would like the meat better without the sauce (taco seasoning). Tonight he ate pork chops without saying a word. Now if I could only increase the vegetables, get him to eat cheese, eggs and a sandwich I would be thrilled.
He finally is eating ice cream. This is big because our goal with him is to have him put some weight on. He is very slim 42lbs and nothing fits. We finally had to change to zip up, adjustable waist pants and no matter how I adjust them they fall down for his lack of a butt! Wish I had the same problem. He has been letting me add butter to his waffles. We still drink whole milk because he needs the calories. He isn't a sweet eater and will eat some nutella every day on a wpop (Wegmans rice like cracker). He rarely asks for candy or cookies. Although we always have these in the house and I don't restrict them he could care less about them. He isn't a big chip/snack eater either. This kid is never hungry. His favorite vice is lemonade and I buy a gallon of it each week. All of our friends are very strict with sweets but its not an issue at our house.
Tonight I attempted a lamb cake in my Grandmothers pan. I figured it would flop and it didn't so I put a light frosting on it and put it in the freezer. Hopefully it will be ok if I take it out Saturday and finish decorating it. Evan loves the homemade frosting I make so he asked for two spoonful's of it.
Sara has been my tricky eater lately. She wants to graze all day and then not eat at meal times. She eats apples, grapes, vegetables as snacks and then doesn't want them at dinner time. On Friday she didn't snack at all after school and then had 2 grilled cheeses sandwiches and some spaghetti! If only I could get that to be a habit.
On Friday I went took the am off and went to the kids school to help with the Catholic Charities carnival. The aide from last year approached me and told me how much she loves my kids and how they couldn't be more different from one another. She said she remembered last year when Evan was putting on his boots, coats, and hat and he looked at her and said this is just miserable just absolutely miserable. She said he always shocked her with his vocabularies and seriousness. Although two minutes later he was back to a happy kid. Sara is just a ray of sunshine and has everyone at the school wrapped around her finger. She blows kisses to her dance teacher who also teaches 2nd grade. Everyone knows her, I feel like I have a kindergarten politician when I walk in. She is a happy child even when she is sick she smiles and tells me she loves me after throwing up. She defiantly has her moments and can have lots of attitude but she is so dramatic and her facial expressions and eyes light up when she is excited.
He finally is eating ice cream. This is big because our goal with him is to have him put some weight on. He is very slim 42lbs and nothing fits. We finally had to change to zip up, adjustable waist pants and no matter how I adjust them they fall down for his lack of a butt! Wish I had the same problem. He has been letting me add butter to his waffles. We still drink whole milk because he needs the calories. He isn't a sweet eater and will eat some nutella every day on a wpop (Wegmans rice like cracker). He rarely asks for candy or cookies. Although we always have these in the house and I don't restrict them he could care less about them. He isn't a big chip/snack eater either. This kid is never hungry. His favorite vice is lemonade and I buy a gallon of it each week. All of our friends are very strict with sweets but its not an issue at our house.
Tonight I attempted a lamb cake in my Grandmothers pan. I figured it would flop and it didn't so I put a light frosting on it and put it in the freezer. Hopefully it will be ok if I take it out Saturday and finish decorating it. Evan loves the homemade frosting I make so he asked for two spoonful's of it.
Sara has been my tricky eater lately. She wants to graze all day and then not eat at meal times. She eats apples, grapes, vegetables as snacks and then doesn't want them at dinner time. On Friday she didn't snack at all after school and then had 2 grilled cheeses sandwiches and some spaghetti! If only I could get that to be a habit.
On Friday I went took the am off and went to the kids school to help with the Catholic Charities carnival. The aide from last year approached me and told me how much she loves my kids and how they couldn't be more different from one another. She said she remembered last year when Evan was putting on his boots, coats, and hat and he looked at her and said this is just miserable just absolutely miserable. She said he always shocked her with his vocabularies and seriousness. Although two minutes later he was back to a happy kid. Sara is just a ray of sunshine and has everyone at the school wrapped around her finger. She blows kisses to her dance teacher who also teaches 2nd grade. Everyone knows her, I feel like I have a kindergarten politician when I walk in. She is a happy child even when she is sick she smiles and tells me she loves me after throwing up. She defiantly has her moments and can have lots of attitude but she is so dramatic and her facial expressions and eyes light up when she is excited.
Monday, March 23, 2015
Swimmers
So the swim lessons are great they have progressed so quickly with only half hour lessons. We will have 9 weeks of lessons. The kids have had 3 lessons so far and Evan was attempting to swim using strokes last week. Sara was successfully floating on her back and stomach
I recently pulled up my shopper card information at Wegmans and it allows you to see how much you spend each month/year and it was shocking. So I have really been trying to cut back on how much I purchase and trying to go to Aldi's, Save-a-lot when time permits. Hopefully I can try to be more diligent with this. I have been trying to cut back the amount we eat out. Sometimes when its just the kids and I we do it as part of a day out. We usually have pizza every 1-2 weeks, the kids sometimes split a happy meal with extra fries, and sometimes I pick up chicken fingers at Wegmans. Occasionally we go out as a family during the weekends. Marc and I used to go out every weekend with other couples prior to having kids. Now that happens 2-3 times a year!
This weekend we helped to host a gift gathering party for the school auction. 6 families hosted the party at the school gym. We had appetizers, drinks, and desserts and invited 90 families. The party was a complete flop there were only 30 people who came including those who hosted it. The auction is held every two years and I think the parties were not well organized and many parents were invited to multiple parties. So I created a bow basket as a donation with school uniform bows and holiday bows and I figure the costs of the party were my other donation. We also will be attending the auction and that is not inexpensive.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
February Break
I am not a fan of having a week of in February. This week has been frigid. We started with a cold day last Friday the wind chills in the AM were 20-35 below zero. It really hasn't warmed up enough to do anything outside.
I took the kids for lunch to Red Robin, Evan had a free meal from his birthday. We were planning on going to Jim Kelly's Hunters Day of Hope on Saturday and it was cancelled. We went to Outback with Marc's dad and my mom on Sunday. Monday we didn't even leave the house. Tuesday the kids wanted to spend some gift cards and it was a balmy 12 degrees. I took Evan to the Ralph to go to the Bills Store. He told me he wanted to live there. It really is a beautiful store but we were the only customers in it. He purchases a mini Lego Fred Jackson figure. From there we went to Toys R Us since they had buy 1 get 40% off a Lego. We needed to pick up a birthday gift. Sara bought a diaper bag for her doll and Evan picked up a Lego Movie set. They both used gift cards but I was disappointed we weren't able to combine it with some coupons we received for their birthdays. They have recently added lots of exclusions to the coupons. Lego's are usually cheaper on Amazon or Target and I don't buy them as Toys R Us unless there is a deal. I treated the kids to McDonalds. I am able to buy a Mighty Kids meal and an extra fry and they will each eat 3 McNuggets and be filled up. Fortunately they are no longer interested in the prize.
Today my best friend growing up came over . She was recently diagnosed with Breast Cancer. So we caught up for a bit and then Sara and I had hair appointments. We both had trims and I had toner put on to combat some of the brassiness that occurs from the highlights.
Evan my non-eater came home and asked for two waffles, and then two more. This was around 3:30. I figured the kids wouldn't really want dinner since Sara joined him and ate 2 pancakes. Around 5:15 Evan said he was hungry again. So I made him spaghetti and Sara cheese and crackers. Although some days he is eating much more he still isn't gaining weight. He never sits still. He loves to play Madden on his xbox. He doesn't sit still though he jumps and runs around the entire time. At his well visit last week he weighed in at 42 lbs clothed (1%) and 47.5 inches ( I didn't ask what that was but when I checked the charts it looked to be around 45%). Our pediatrician has no concerns he is just so slender. We still struggle with pants that fit. He hates adjustable waist pants. This week he is going to have to wear his slim uniform pants. I had elastic waist pants that he had worn for 2 years. The were size 4 but they are finally way to short. The size 5's are huge on him. So he will be wearing 5slim's this week and it will not go smoothly. Evan does not do well making changes. He has always worn pull on pants so changing to zipper pants will be a struggle for the first few days and then he will accept it.
I had the chance to run around a bit without the kids yesterday. I went to Marshalls, TJ Max, Sears, Target, and JC Penny's. I picked up some new shoes for me ( I am not a shoe girl the more comfortable the better. Earlier in the year I splurged on a black pair of Coach loafer's I found at TJ Max and love the. I found a brown pair on clearance at Marshalls unfortunately clearance is what I would expect to pay for 2-3 pairs of shoes. Well I bought them and will be happy! I picked up new play dough for Sara, a few short sleeve shirts for Evan and a shirt for Marc.
We are headed to Niagara falls tomorrow. It is supposed to be -4, with a wind-chill of -35 . I highly doubt we will leave the hotel. It has a Keg restaurant ( a really good Canadian Chain steakhouse), a big pool, and views of the falls. We also received vouchers for a Family Fun center that may be fun to do when we check out on Friday. Although Niagara Falls is less than an hour away we have only taken the kids to the American side once. It is so hectic with tourists. Hopefully this summer I will take them for a day trip.
When Marc and I were dating we would go to Clifton Hill each fall to go to the haunted houses, for drinks, and walk around. It was never that busy. Once the casinos came the entire atmosphere changed. It is not crazy all year long. On the other hand the American side is dead. Government bureaucracy has prohibited positive growth!
I took the kids for lunch to Red Robin, Evan had a free meal from his birthday. We were planning on going to Jim Kelly's Hunters Day of Hope on Saturday and it was cancelled. We went to Outback with Marc's dad and my mom on Sunday. Monday we didn't even leave the house. Tuesday the kids wanted to spend some gift cards and it was a balmy 12 degrees. I took Evan to the Ralph to go to the Bills Store. He told me he wanted to live there. It really is a beautiful store but we were the only customers in it. He purchases a mini Lego Fred Jackson figure. From there we went to Toys R Us since they had buy 1 get 40% off a Lego. We needed to pick up a birthday gift. Sara bought a diaper bag for her doll and Evan picked up a Lego Movie set. They both used gift cards but I was disappointed we weren't able to combine it with some coupons we received for their birthdays. They have recently added lots of exclusions to the coupons. Lego's are usually cheaper on Amazon or Target and I don't buy them as Toys R Us unless there is a deal. I treated the kids to McDonalds. I am able to buy a Mighty Kids meal and an extra fry and they will each eat 3 McNuggets and be filled up. Fortunately they are no longer interested in the prize.
Today my best friend growing up came over . She was recently diagnosed with Breast Cancer. So we caught up for a bit and then Sara and I had hair appointments. We both had trims and I had toner put on to combat some of the brassiness that occurs from the highlights.
Evan my non-eater came home and asked for two waffles, and then two more. This was around 3:30. I figured the kids wouldn't really want dinner since Sara joined him and ate 2 pancakes. Around 5:15 Evan said he was hungry again. So I made him spaghetti and Sara cheese and crackers. Although some days he is eating much more he still isn't gaining weight. He never sits still. He loves to play Madden on his xbox. He doesn't sit still though he jumps and runs around the entire time. At his well visit last week he weighed in at 42 lbs clothed (1%) and 47.5 inches ( I didn't ask what that was but when I checked the charts it looked to be around 45%). Our pediatrician has no concerns he is just so slender. We still struggle with pants that fit. He hates adjustable waist pants. This week he is going to have to wear his slim uniform pants. I had elastic waist pants that he had worn for 2 years. The were size 4 but they are finally way to short. The size 5's are huge on him. So he will be wearing 5slim's this week and it will not go smoothly. Evan does not do well making changes. He has always worn pull on pants so changing to zipper pants will be a struggle for the first few days and then he will accept it.
I had the chance to run around a bit without the kids yesterday. I went to Marshalls, TJ Max, Sears, Target, and JC Penny's. I picked up some new shoes for me ( I am not a shoe girl the more comfortable the better. Earlier in the year I splurged on a black pair of Coach loafer's I found at TJ Max and love the. I found a brown pair on clearance at Marshalls unfortunately clearance is what I would expect to pay for 2-3 pairs of shoes. Well I bought them and will be happy! I picked up new play dough for Sara, a few short sleeve shirts for Evan and a shirt for Marc.
We are headed to Niagara falls tomorrow. It is supposed to be -4, with a wind-chill of -35 . I highly doubt we will leave the hotel. It has a Keg restaurant ( a really good Canadian Chain steakhouse), a big pool, and views of the falls. We also received vouchers for a Family Fun center that may be fun to do when we check out on Friday. Although Niagara Falls is less than an hour away we have only taken the kids to the American side once. It is so hectic with tourists. Hopefully this summer I will take them for a day trip.
When Marc and I were dating we would go to Clifton Hill each fall to go to the haunted houses, for drinks, and walk around. It was never that busy. Once the casinos came the entire atmosphere changed. It is not crazy all year long. On the other hand the American side is dead. Government bureaucracy has prohibited positive growth!
Monday, February 9, 2015
7 Years Old
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| Loving his Buffalo Bills Football cards |
We saw a 12:20 movie and then didn't return here until around 2:40 and the party ended at 3:30. My saving grace was a Minecraft BINGO game I found online and printed. It kept them completely engaged for about 20 minutes, we had cupcakes, opened gifts (they could have cared less) and they played in the basement for a bit. My observation is that boys with brothers are much more wild than my children. There was many attempts at wrestling, some jumping on my couch, and some wildness. Girls are much easier!! Evan received a few Lego's he had already had and some Minecraft figures he had already. He also received Battleship, a PacMan game, and some gift cards. I returned some of the gifts to Target on Sunday and he said he barely received any presents. The concept of gift cards hasn't hit yet. Marc did take him to Toys R Us where he had $70 in gift cards and he didn't find anything he wanted. He wants these little NFL lego figures that are very pricey. I told him with the $40 he received from a friend and the $10 Grandma gave him that doesn't need to go in his bank account we could go to Ralph Wilson Stadium's store and pick up the figures.
The stadium went through some massive renovations this year and we drive past it every time we go to Target. The retail store looks amazing and never seems to be busy. While we are off next week on our February Break I will take him. I asked him what his favorite gift was and it was the boxes of vintage Buffalo Bills cards (Jim Kelly era) and the Riddell NFL tracker mini-helmets (to me they look like the helmets we could of bought in a gum ball machine when we were little). We used a mine craft theme and I had no idea what to do for a cake and did one on a whim and I ended up impressing myself.
One of the most exciting parts of turning seven has been a surprising change at dinner the past two nights. On Sunday I cooked pork chops and Sara asked if she could have Spaghetti so Marc made her a separate meal. Evan started eating pork chops, buttered noodles and peas and looked over at Sara's and told us that looks pretty good. Then he asked if he could have some. Whoa... this is a big deal because he never offers to try anything new. We gave him half of it off of Sara's plate which didn't make it look that attractive and he tried it and then proceeded to eat all of it and told us it was pretty good. We felt like we had won the lottery! Tonight I made cube steaks for the Sara and put it on Evan's plate, he has eaten these twice before and said they were ok. Well he didn't say a word and ate all of it along with mashed potatoes and broccoli and pineapple. He then asked if tomorrow we could have spaghetti again. Wow two new meals to the repertoire added in two days I am giddy and they are both easily made.
I wish I could figure out a way to easily add the pictures and video's from my iPhone to this blog I haven't been using my camera that much lately and my close up vision has been changing (Thank you 40's) and if I am not careful I often get blurry pics! Any advice??
Saturday, January 31, 2015
Another sick child
Sara can't seem to stay healthy after being out for 4 days prior to Martin Luther King day, she was out two this week.
Thursday at 1:15am, she woke up and I argued with her for a few minutes and told her to come sleep with me. Well at 2:45 she was still up and I became very short with her and told her to go to bed enough was enough, she started crying and said she was going to "puke up". True to her word she threw up in the toilet. I calmed her down and let her fall back to sleep watching Caillou on her DVD player. She woke up again at 4:45 and threw up again. At this point I was panicked since I had 30+ kids coming in to interview with a business professional. I asked Sara if she could stay with Grandma and she said yes. She woke up around 7am, and threw up again. She was running a slight fever. Evan went off to school and Sara went to Grandmas. I called home a few times and my mom said she had thrown up a few more times and was only taking small sips of water and ice chips. She was also asking for Mommy. I asked my colleagues to cover for me and came home at 11:30 to a very sick little girl. She was exhausted and threw up one more time at 12:15 and then started to keep some water, Gatorade, and a freeze pop down. I was able to get some Tylenol in her before bed but she woke up twice before midnight having hallucinations. Luckily Friday Marc was able to stay home and she was on the road to recovery but still only drinking.
Finally today she asked for watermelon and a chicken finger from Wegmans. I was so desperate to have her eat anything that I ran to a very busy Wegmans to pick it up. She actually ate it. Evan had a birthday party today so Sara had a quiet day to recover. I certainly hope this is the end of her illness. The rest of us have been lucky and have only had minor colds.
Thursday at 1:15am, she woke up and I argued with her for a few minutes and told her to come sleep with me. Well at 2:45 she was still up and I became very short with her and told her to go to bed enough was enough, she started crying and said she was going to "puke up". True to her word she threw up in the toilet. I calmed her down and let her fall back to sleep watching Caillou on her DVD player. She woke up again at 4:45 and threw up again. At this point I was panicked since I had 30+ kids coming in to interview with a business professional. I asked Sara if she could stay with Grandma and she said yes. She woke up around 7am, and threw up again. She was running a slight fever. Evan went off to school and Sara went to Grandmas. I called home a few times and my mom said she had thrown up a few more times and was only taking small sips of water and ice chips. She was also asking for Mommy. I asked my colleagues to cover for me and came home at 11:30 to a very sick little girl. She was exhausted and threw up one more time at 12:15 and then started to keep some water, Gatorade, and a freeze pop down. I was able to get some Tylenol in her before bed but she woke up twice before midnight having hallucinations. Luckily Friday Marc was able to stay home and she was on the road to recovery but still only drinking.
Finally today she asked for watermelon and a chicken finger from Wegmans. I was so desperate to have her eat anything that I ran to a very busy Wegmans to pick it up. She actually ate it. Evan had a birthday party today so Sara had a quiet day to recover. I certainly hope this is the end of her illness. The rest of us have been lucky and have only had minor colds.
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Snovember 2014
Okay I know this post is a bit late but I realized that I really need to write about our epic snowstorm this year. As I watched the forecast for the worst blizzard anticipated to hit the east coast this week, I thought I really need to write about the once in a lifetime storm we endured.
So on November 17th we were forcasted to get some snow as I left snow there was a dusting on the ground. I was half way home and realized I forgot my iPad at school and when I picked up the kids at my moms I asked them if they wanted to go get it or if we could live without it for a day. Sara said go get it and Evan said we could live without it. Little did I know we should have traveled to get it. So it began to snow later that evening and our plow service came around 10pm, I heard him again around 3am and looked out the window, our driveway was down to pavement and it was a clear winter night. Well when I woke up it started snowing, schools were closed at 5:30am, and it continued to snow. Marc was in NJ and I attempted to clean the driveway. We have a very powerful snowblower and I do use it in between plows. The snow was heavy and sticky and the snowblower kept getting stuck. We also had another snowblower at our house that we had planned to sell to some of our adoption friends that weekend. Well that did the job a little. Our street quickly filled with snow and no plows came through. After snowblowing for an hour some neighbors and there two sons came over and the four of us cleared the driveway. Our driveway could probably fit around 14 cars, 7 in each lane, and its on an inline (the kids can sled down it). The kids came out to play because it had cleared out and they made it back to their swingset well as I was shoveling I wandered back to find them and Sara was back there with no hat, she had lost it in the snow and couldn't find it. Needless to say I sent them in the house. I later trekked back there to find the hat and couldn't and the snow was so deep I was huffing and puffing for a 150 feet walk!
Marc made it to a friends house about 30 miles away with his car carrier. His friend planned on driving him to their terminal and they finally arrived there almost 1.5 hours later after finding roads closed or impassible only to find Marcs truck so buried in snow that they never could have uncovered it since there was no where to put the snow. Well his friend was kind enough to bring him home, another long trip but he made it home around 7:30 on Wednesday. In the meantime a neighbor made a trip for gas and luckily I sent a gas can along and he filled it for us. Little did we know later that all the local gas stations ran dry!
Well the driveway was filled with about 4 feet of snow again the next morning and still no sign of plows. We watched as a few neighbors skied or snowshoe out of the neighborhood. Marc and I worked for hours to clear the driveway each day. One of us literally had to knock down a few feet of snow and the other had to snow blow it off the driveway, a very tedious way to clear the snow. Finally by Friday afternoon we had our driveway cleared. We had plenty of food in the house but the kids were crazing pizza and French fries. Marc and I set up the deep fryer in the garage and made French fries which Evan rated a 5 out of 10. I found some Pizza Hut breadsticks in our freezer and those made him very happy. On Friday the snow lightly fell but we were able to travel across the street and even down to my moms. The snow in the street was still 5-6 feet deep. So there were little paths through the street and I pulled the kids in the sled to Grandmas house. Our neighbors ended up at our house on Friday the kids were sledding in the driveway and all the parents ended up here. We sent all the kids in the house (around 12) with some middle school girls and let them play. Honestly at this point all of the parents needed a break. So the kids played and we had happy hour in the garage and turned on some propane heaters. I put out a ton of Thanksgiving and Christmas crafts and the kids had a blast. The boys played video games and the girls loved being with the big girls. It turned into everyone raiding their cupboard and freezers for mac and cheese and frozen pizza, bags of chips, cheese and crackers, and drinks.
Saturday we listened for the plow all day and finally Marc had a call that he needed to get his truck out since they anticipated flooding. Luckily a friend nearby had his street plowed and picked up Marc. He was able to get his truck but couldn't get home with it. The end of our street was a 10 foot pile of snow. The night before we were making jokes about who would have a domestic or fake a medical emergency just so we could escape. Not funny, but it was in sarcasm. Well it was around 2pm, Wegmans had reopened that am, so I sent Marc with a very long list. During that time Rochester came in and plowed the entrance to our street. Marc was able to park at my moms house and we picked up the groceries on a sled and brought them home. A few hours later a plow came through and we were determined to escape. We told the kids we were going out for dinner and Evan didn't want to go. I felt like after 5 days of being confined in the house I need an outing. So we went to Applebees the only place that was open. We ended up with 7-8 feet of snow, 6 days off from school. During the months of November and December my kids were only in school for 23 days!
So on November 17th we were forcasted to get some snow as I left snow there was a dusting on the ground. I was half way home and realized I forgot my iPad at school and when I picked up the kids at my moms I asked them if they wanted to go get it or if we could live without it for a day. Sara said go get it and Evan said we could live without it. Little did I know we should have traveled to get it. So it began to snow later that evening and our plow service came around 10pm, I heard him again around 3am and looked out the window, our driveway was down to pavement and it was a clear winter night. Well when I woke up it started snowing, schools were closed at 5:30am, and it continued to snow. Marc was in NJ and I attempted to clean the driveway. We have a very powerful snowblower and I do use it in between plows. The snow was heavy and sticky and the snowblower kept getting stuck. We also had another snowblower at our house that we had planned to sell to some of our adoption friends that weekend. Well that did the job a little. Our street quickly filled with snow and no plows came through. After snowblowing for an hour some neighbors and there two sons came over and the four of us cleared the driveway. Our driveway could probably fit around 14 cars, 7 in each lane, and its on an inline (the kids can sled down it). The kids came out to play because it had cleared out and they made it back to their swingset well as I was shoveling I wandered back to find them and Sara was back there with no hat, she had lost it in the snow and couldn't find it. Needless to say I sent them in the house. I later trekked back there to find the hat and couldn't and the snow was so deep I was huffing and puffing for a 150 feet walk!
Marc made it to a friends house about 30 miles away with his car carrier. His friend planned on driving him to their terminal and they finally arrived there almost 1.5 hours later after finding roads closed or impassible only to find Marcs truck so buried in snow that they never could have uncovered it since there was no where to put the snow. Well his friend was kind enough to bring him home, another long trip but he made it home around 7:30 on Wednesday. In the meantime a neighbor made a trip for gas and luckily I sent a gas can along and he filled it for us. Little did we know later that all the local gas stations ran dry!
Well the driveway was filled with about 4 feet of snow again the next morning and still no sign of plows. We watched as a few neighbors skied or snowshoe out of the neighborhood. Marc and I worked for hours to clear the driveway each day. One of us literally had to knock down a few feet of snow and the other had to snow blow it off the driveway, a very tedious way to clear the snow. Finally by Friday afternoon we had our driveway cleared. We had plenty of food in the house but the kids were crazing pizza and French fries. Marc and I set up the deep fryer in the garage and made French fries which Evan rated a 5 out of 10. I found some Pizza Hut breadsticks in our freezer and those made him very happy. On Friday the snow lightly fell but we were able to travel across the street and even down to my moms. The snow in the street was still 5-6 feet deep. So there were little paths through the street and I pulled the kids in the sled to Grandmas house. Our neighbors ended up at our house on Friday the kids were sledding in the driveway and all the parents ended up here. We sent all the kids in the house (around 12) with some middle school girls and let them play. Honestly at this point all of the parents needed a break. So the kids played and we had happy hour in the garage and turned on some propane heaters. I put out a ton of Thanksgiving and Christmas crafts and the kids had a blast. The boys played video games and the girls loved being with the big girls. It turned into everyone raiding their cupboard and freezers for mac and cheese and frozen pizza, bags of chips, cheese and crackers, and drinks.
Saturday we listened for the plow all day and finally Marc had a call that he needed to get his truck out since they anticipated flooding. Luckily a friend nearby had his street plowed and picked up Marc. He was able to get his truck but couldn't get home with it. The end of our street was a 10 foot pile of snow. The night before we were making jokes about who would have a domestic or fake a medical emergency just so we could escape. Not funny, but it was in sarcasm. Well it was around 2pm, Wegmans had reopened that am, so I sent Marc with a very long list. During that time Rochester came in and plowed the entrance to our street. Marc was able to park at my moms house and we picked up the groceries on a sled and brought them home. A few hours later a plow came through and we were determined to escape. We told the kids we were going out for dinner and Evan didn't want to go. I felt like after 5 days of being confined in the house I need an outing. So we went to Applebees the only place that was open. We ended up with 7-8 feet of snow, 6 days off from school. During the months of November and December my kids were only in school for 23 days!
Monday, January 26, 2015
Mommy
Sara still calls me Mommy sometimes I think its been more lately than in the past. Evan rarely calls me anything except Mom. He seems so grown up and she is still my little baby. Many times throughout the day I hear thank you Mommy, or yes Mommy. I know that my days being Mommy are limited but I am going to embrace them as long as they last.
Today the kids got dressed for Buffalo Sports Day and while I was doing Sara's hair into a pony with a new red, white, and blue bow I made, Evan noticed her outfit. He was speechless!! He said I wish I was a girl so I could wear that. For my little future quarterback it really made me laugh. He kept telling Sara how good she looked in her cheerleader outfit. They even posed for me this morning. Sara loves to have her picture taken and Evan always tries to do an action pose or a tough guy face.
It is Regents week at school which is a time when some state exams are offered at the high school. Typically I proctor 2-4 and then have the remaining time in my room. Today I proctored an English Exam and a few kids stayed the entire 3 hours. (Ugh... says every teacher when this occurs). For the next three days I have Portfolio interview's. For these my students come in and present a portfolio of their business skills to a community member. It sounds good until I admit I have 54 students and there are a total of 83 of these happening. So getting anything done will be impossible. I will be greeting community members, calming down my students, all day long!! I am dreading this. There are only so many kids because of a major screw up by a former superintendent.
Tomorrow my kids get to walk to the local movie theatre to see Wreck it Ralph. The theatre is less than a block away. Sara is not excited about the movie choice. So I filled her pockets with Sour Patch Kids. Evan will be happy with popcorn. Sara told me she chose water and when I asked Evan he said he chose Pepsi. I think he didn't know Sierra Mist was the same as Sprite (which we don't make a big deal about but he sometimes has when eating out). He has probably had a few sips of Pepsi when Marc drinks it but has never had that much caffeine. It should be interesting!
I tend not to make a big deal out of sweets and candy and my kids don't gravitate towards them. I wish I could say the same. We still have a container of Halloween candy, I brought most of it to school in November but saved their favorites and it is still almost full. Sara will occasionally take a piece but they usually ignore it. We have had the candy dish filled with candy since before Christmas and the kids don't touch that either. Evan likes cookies or cupcakes, Sara prefers candy or gummies. She buys a snack at school frequently. I put .75 cents in her lunch and some days she buys a fruit roll up or a bag of popcorn. There is plenty of food in her lunch but she likes to buy something. I think its an excuse to get up during lunch. Evan on the other hand has never asked to purchase anything and I used to give him money and he never used it. I mentioned it today and he acted like he could care less. He loves to socialize with his friends at lunch to the point he forgets to eat his lunch. I despise packing lunches!! I rarely pack my own, I run home, run errands, or eat a yogurt for lunch. I think when I worked as an accountant we went out most days and then I skipped dinner or just snacked I would be much happier with that arrangement again. Luckily I can run to Wegmans or Tops on my lunch.
We saw Disney Princess and Heroes on Ice this weekend. It was adorable all of the princesses were in it and the last 45 minutes was all Frozen. We avoided buying the overpriced toys, but bought popcorn, French fries, and hot cocoa instead. $10 parking, almost $20 on snacks and $120 on tickets, ouch!! Today I bought a groupon for a Niagara Falls Canada hotel overlooking the falls, it included a pass for the family to visit a fun center, and a $30 vouch to the Keg (which I haven't been to in years but used to love). A mom I met through Evan is coming with us she has kids the same age. I am not sure if Marc or my Mom will join us. Marc would have to take 2 days off of work to go.
I am watching the weather channel and am giddy that it is not us getting this storm!! We have had 7 snow days already and if we have anymore we lose days from April break. Something I do not want to do even though we don't have plans.
Today the kids got dressed for Buffalo Sports Day and while I was doing Sara's hair into a pony with a new red, white, and blue bow I made, Evan noticed her outfit. He was speechless!! He said I wish I was a girl so I could wear that. For my little future quarterback it really made me laugh. He kept telling Sara how good she looked in her cheerleader outfit. They even posed for me this morning. Sara loves to have her picture taken and Evan always tries to do an action pose or a tough guy face.
It is Regents week at school which is a time when some state exams are offered at the high school. Typically I proctor 2-4 and then have the remaining time in my room. Today I proctored an English Exam and a few kids stayed the entire 3 hours. (Ugh... says every teacher when this occurs). For the next three days I have Portfolio interview's. For these my students come in and present a portfolio of their business skills to a community member. It sounds good until I admit I have 54 students and there are a total of 83 of these happening. So getting anything done will be impossible. I will be greeting community members, calming down my students, all day long!! I am dreading this. There are only so many kids because of a major screw up by a former superintendent.
Tomorrow my kids get to walk to the local movie theatre to see Wreck it Ralph. The theatre is less than a block away. Sara is not excited about the movie choice. So I filled her pockets with Sour Patch Kids. Evan will be happy with popcorn. Sara told me she chose water and when I asked Evan he said he chose Pepsi. I think he didn't know Sierra Mist was the same as Sprite (which we don't make a big deal about but he sometimes has when eating out). He has probably had a few sips of Pepsi when Marc drinks it but has never had that much caffeine. It should be interesting!
I tend not to make a big deal out of sweets and candy and my kids don't gravitate towards them. I wish I could say the same. We still have a container of Halloween candy, I brought most of it to school in November but saved their favorites and it is still almost full. Sara will occasionally take a piece but they usually ignore it. We have had the candy dish filled with candy since before Christmas and the kids don't touch that either. Evan likes cookies or cupcakes, Sara prefers candy or gummies. She buys a snack at school frequently. I put .75 cents in her lunch and some days she buys a fruit roll up or a bag of popcorn. There is plenty of food in her lunch but she likes to buy something. I think its an excuse to get up during lunch. Evan on the other hand has never asked to purchase anything and I used to give him money and he never used it. I mentioned it today and he acted like he could care less. He loves to socialize with his friends at lunch to the point he forgets to eat his lunch. I despise packing lunches!! I rarely pack my own, I run home, run errands, or eat a yogurt for lunch. I think when I worked as an accountant we went out most days and then I skipped dinner or just snacked I would be much happier with that arrangement again. Luckily I can run to Wegmans or Tops on my lunch.
We saw Disney Princess and Heroes on Ice this weekend. It was adorable all of the princesses were in it and the last 45 minutes was all Frozen. We avoided buying the overpriced toys, but bought popcorn, French fries, and hot cocoa instead. $10 parking, almost $20 on snacks and $120 on tickets, ouch!! Today I bought a groupon for a Niagara Falls Canada hotel overlooking the falls, it included a pass for the family to visit a fun center, and a $30 vouch to the Keg (which I haven't been to in years but used to love). A mom I met through Evan is coming with us she has kids the same age. I am not sure if Marc or my Mom will join us. Marc would have to take 2 days off of work to go.
I am watching the weather channel and am giddy that it is not us getting this storm!! We have had 7 snow days already and if we have anymore we lose days from April break. Something I do not want to do even though we don't have plans.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Football Stars and Princesses
They have a Disney store now and I lucked out and it was an additional 25% off sale items. So I had planned to get something that lit up for Disney on Ice this week but there wasn't much to choose from. I bought her Elsa shoes, and found a Belle costume, tiara, shoes, and wand. The total for all of the Belle things was $26. I also found some great birthday gifts, a beautiful plush Sophia blanket, a Star Wars art kit, and some pajamas for upcoming birthdays. This is the beginning of the birthday season for Evan's friends. The gifts are non-stop for a few months now.
I have a supply of summer clearance toys in the basement but needed a few more things for the winter season. We sent out the invites for Evans birthday. He decided to have 7 boys join him to see the SpongeBob movie. Its not cheap to go the the movies, but we learned to bring our own drinks, candy and bags for the kids popcorn. If we buy large popcorns we get free refills. Going this route we don't have to do pizza and everything else either. Evan wants the kids to return to our house for some games and playtime afterwards. Crazy me is inviting our families over that evening too. I figured one long crazy day and it will be over.
I am so excited we ordered a sectional couch in November and it is getting delivered on Friday. We purchased a Broyhill couch in 2007 and it is falling apart. I will never purchase that brand again. My cousin is a single mom with two kids and only has a loveseat so she is excited to take the couch. The bad part is Marc and I will be delivering it next weekend.
Sara has recovered after having a fever of 105 on Wednesday night. She still has a cough but other than that she is back to her smiley self. Evan talks about football nonstop. He reads the newspaper, online articles, football cards, football books, anything he can. Well he hates Tom Brady and the Patriots. So Sara and I always tease the Tom is so handsome and we want to kiss him. Well the doorbell rang on Wednesday and there were flowers in there with a note from Tom Brady (aka Dad) telling her to feel better and he would try to score a touchdown for her. Well Evan figured out it was from Marc but didn't tell Sara. She is still talking about it and part of me wishes he would have told her it was really from him. I can just imagine what she will tell everyone.
Tonight we went to dinner with my Mom, 2 Brothers, Sister in law, and nephew and she proudly told them about her flowers.
Monday, January 12, 2015
Germs have hit
Well Sara woke up crying last night that her throat hurt. She sounded very croupy. Luckily she fell back to sleep and I had to wake her for school this morning. She started the day with a freeze pop. Had a little breakfast, but didn't seem to bad. Well my phone rang at 1:15 and the nurse wanted me to pick Sara up. So I called the peds and had a 3:15 appointment. She has swollen glands and very enlarged tonsils. She was very whiney and teary. They did a strep swab and it came back negative which shocked me since we had it twice last winter. The think its a virus and suggested I give her Motrin. I wanted to hold off as long as possible to have it last through the night. I finally gave her a dose at 5:30 and she then ate pretzels, pancakes, an ice cream cone, macaroni and cheese, and strawberries. She was starved every half hour she asked for something else. The Motrin seemed to work very quickly with her.
I am hoping she will be better tomorrow but made sub plans just in case. Evan also spent some time at the nurses today, he slammed his finger in the classroom door. When it rains it pours. Its been a few weeks since they have visited the nurse. Early in the year it seemed like Sara was there daily. I felt so bad for the nurse that I sent her a Christmas gift! Evan is fine and was genuinely concerned for Sara. He gave her a few hugs went and found her beanbag, pillow and a blanket. I had promised her a small stuffed animal for being brave at the doctors. Strep tests are like torture for Sara. So Evan asked if he could give it to her.
Yesterday we did get outside with our snowshoes. Both of the kids had a blast
I am hoping she will be better tomorrow but made sub plans just in case. Evan also spent some time at the nurses today, he slammed his finger in the classroom door. When it rains it pours. Its been a few weeks since they have visited the nurse. Early in the year it seemed like Sara was there daily. I felt so bad for the nurse that I sent her a Christmas gift! Evan is fine and was genuinely concerned for Sara. He gave her a few hugs went and found her beanbag, pillow and a blanket. I had promised her a small stuffed animal for being brave at the doctors. Strep tests are like torture for Sara. So Evan asked if he could give it to her.
Yesterday we did get outside with our snowshoes. Both of the kids had a blast
Friday, January 9, 2015
Another snowday
This is officially our last snow day before we have make up days. Well, we did have two makeup days the week of Christmas. All of the Thruways were shut down and Marc is home too. Yet, it really isn't that bad out. We are all still in our pajamas. I have been cleaning, washing bedding and playing with Sara.
We baked pretzels in the easy bake oven this morning. She told me the ones at the mall are better. I would never recommend this toy. It comes with one mix. I bought 10 more mixes for $15, but did find recipes online. One mix makes about 10, dime size cookies! We also stared a 500 piece puzzle, I could be happy working on this all day.
Marc and I cleaned the basement a bit more this morning. We have lots to purge on the storage side and I came up with two more boxes to donate and two bags of garbage. Meanwhile Sara is pulling out old baby clothes for her dolls. Yep, another mess to clean up later.
I stopped at Hobby Lobby yesterday and they had Christmas 90% off and picked up some replacement bulbs, the prelit tree we have keeps burning out lights. Since Marc was home later I ran to Rite Aid, CVS, and Walgreens. Rite Aid had pillow pets I grabbed one for a birthday gift, Walgreens had Christmas 90% off and I picked up some tags and gift bags and CVS I picked up some root touch up (the joy of being 40!)
Sara was chosen to do a reading at church on February 6th. Each grade takes a turn celebrating Mass on Fridays. Well she has a difficult reading to memorize. It will be our task over the next two weeks. It does work out well because its the day I would have brought treats to school for Evans birthday so I will take the morning off drop off the treat and then I promised to bring them lunch too. Hopefully they will stay healthy and I won't have to take a ton of sick days this year. I love being able to use them for fun events!
We baked pretzels in the easy bake oven this morning. She told me the ones at the mall are better. I would never recommend this toy. It comes with one mix. I bought 10 more mixes for $15, but did find recipes online. One mix makes about 10, dime size cookies! We also stared a 500 piece puzzle, I could be happy working on this all day.
Marc and I cleaned the basement a bit more this morning. We have lots to purge on the storage side and I came up with two more boxes to donate and two bags of garbage. Meanwhile Sara is pulling out old baby clothes for her dolls. Yep, another mess to clean up later.
I stopped at Hobby Lobby yesterday and they had Christmas 90% off and picked up some replacement bulbs, the prelit tree we have keeps burning out lights. Since Marc was home later I ran to Rite Aid, CVS, and Walgreens. Rite Aid had pillow pets I grabbed one for a birthday gift, Walgreens had Christmas 90% off and I picked up some tags and gift bags and CVS I picked up some root touch up (the joy of being 40!)
Sara was chosen to do a reading at church on February 6th. Each grade takes a turn celebrating Mass on Fridays. Well she has a difficult reading to memorize. It will be our task over the next two weeks. It does work out well because its the day I would have brought treats to school for Evans birthday so I will take the morning off drop off the treat and then I promised to bring them lunch too. Hopefully they will stay healthy and I won't have to take a ton of sick days this year. I love being able to use them for fun events!
Monday, January 5, 2015
New Year Goals
I am not one to keep resolutions but I am trying to keep our house neat. Over the Snovember storm and Christmas break I have managed to do some major cleaning. After taking down the Christmas tree I even cleaned all of the blinds and washed the window treatments in our Family room. We ordered a new couch during Thanksgiving and anticipate it arriving in the next month.
I am determined not to let the clutter catch up with me again. So my new goals include making the beds every morning before school. I have been trying to do this the past month and it does make the upstairs look much neater. The kids are getting better about taking the dirty clothes out of their rooms. I like all dirty clothes to instantly go the laundry room so I let the kids throw their clothes over our bannister and then take them to the laundry room. I bought Lysol Tap Tops on a deal at Target and love it in the bathroom. I have been wiping down the counters every morning. Something I also have been a slacker about. Some mornings it is crazy getting out of here on time.
We cleaned the basement that has all of the kids toys in it. I brought 3 garbage bags of toys and stuffed animals to Goodwill. Unfortunately there are still many toys to part with. I will sell lots of them at the next Consignment sale in March. My Christmas is all put away, but the storage portion of our basement still needs to be purged and straightened up. Our storage side has a ton of decorations, supplies, and extra pantry items. I really need to get this under control this winter. The kids are starting to be so much easier. Evan is happy to play with Sara or play on his xbox, he loves Madden 15 and football. Sara is happy coloring and doing crafts and they both will occupy themselves for long periods of time. It makes life so much easier to complete the little things.
Today we all returned to school. As tough as it is to leave the house, I think we were all happy to be back. I am crossing our fingers that we can all stay healthy. I came home today with a slight stomach bug but it seems to have passed already. Sara was exhausted and crying and whining by 7:30, she was fast asleep by 8pm. Evan and I just finished reading Junie B. Jones, we are half way through the series. As silly as it is I find myself laughing out loud to it. He wanted nothing to do with it when I introduced it last summer, but once his teacher read the first book he was hooked. Sara is reading Biscuit books and Sophia the first books. She hasn't fully caught on to sounding things out and rushes through her attempts and often guesses at the words. She knows many sight words but her attention span after a full day of school is a challenge. I remember Evan being the same way in Kindergarten, he hated homework and fought me many evenings. This year it almost seems to easy and he is done in less than 5 minutes with his math and spelling. He is supposed to read ten minutes each night. He likes to read the sports pages in the paper, any articles online about football, and can read anything I put in front of him. So we don't consistency read together each night. His spelling and reading are way above grade level, so I have no concerns with him.
Today it was frigid and looks like it will be the same for the rest of the week. We received snow shoes for Christmas and Sara and I ventured out last week. For having never done it before she put them on and grabbed her poles and was like a pro. She fell twice and instantly used her polls to pull herself up. Sara is very athletic and agile. She has already told me next year she wants skis. There are two ski resorts close by and they have wonderful children's programs. The cost of skiing is what has held up back. Marc and I skied until we had children. I wouldn't say we love it but it is something to do over the winter. I am not sure we are ready to make the financial and time investment in it quite yet. Sara wants to enroll in the next learn to skate session. Evan claims he doesn't want to do it. He did it 2 years ago and cried through most of it. I really thought he would be willing to this time but he says no to it. He will have to come along and watch Sara so I am still on the fence about signing him up. Its $80 per child plus either skate rental or the purchase of used skates and a helmet. Evan has a helmet and Sara can probably wear his old skates. If both of them enroll it will be another $70-$90 for helmets and skates.
I am determined not to let the clutter catch up with me again. So my new goals include making the beds every morning before school. I have been trying to do this the past month and it does make the upstairs look much neater. The kids are getting better about taking the dirty clothes out of their rooms. I like all dirty clothes to instantly go the laundry room so I let the kids throw their clothes over our bannister and then take them to the laundry room. I bought Lysol Tap Tops on a deal at Target and love it in the bathroom. I have been wiping down the counters every morning. Something I also have been a slacker about. Some mornings it is crazy getting out of here on time.
We cleaned the basement that has all of the kids toys in it. I brought 3 garbage bags of toys and stuffed animals to Goodwill. Unfortunately there are still many toys to part with. I will sell lots of them at the next Consignment sale in March. My Christmas is all put away, but the storage portion of our basement still needs to be purged and straightened up. Our storage side has a ton of decorations, supplies, and extra pantry items. I really need to get this under control this winter. The kids are starting to be so much easier. Evan is happy to play with Sara or play on his xbox, he loves Madden 15 and football. Sara is happy coloring and doing crafts and they both will occupy themselves for long periods of time. It makes life so much easier to complete the little things.
Today we all returned to school. As tough as it is to leave the house, I think we were all happy to be back. I am crossing our fingers that we can all stay healthy. I came home today with a slight stomach bug but it seems to have passed already. Sara was exhausted and crying and whining by 7:30, she was fast asleep by 8pm. Evan and I just finished reading Junie B. Jones, we are half way through the series. As silly as it is I find myself laughing out loud to it. He wanted nothing to do with it when I introduced it last summer, but once his teacher read the first book he was hooked. Sara is reading Biscuit books and Sophia the first books. She hasn't fully caught on to sounding things out and rushes through her attempts and often guesses at the words. She knows many sight words but her attention span after a full day of school is a challenge. I remember Evan being the same way in Kindergarten, he hated homework and fought me many evenings. This year it almost seems to easy and he is done in less than 5 minutes with his math and spelling. He is supposed to read ten minutes each night. He likes to read the sports pages in the paper, any articles online about football, and can read anything I put in front of him. So we don't consistency read together each night. His spelling and reading are way above grade level, so I have no concerns with him.
Today it was frigid and looks like it will be the same for the rest of the week. We received snow shoes for Christmas and Sara and I ventured out last week. For having never done it before she put them on and grabbed her poles and was like a pro. She fell twice and instantly used her polls to pull herself up. Sara is very athletic and agile. She has already told me next year she wants skis. There are two ski resorts close by and they have wonderful children's programs. The cost of skiing is what has held up back. Marc and I skied until we had children. I wouldn't say we love it but it is something to do over the winter. I am not sure we are ready to make the financial and time investment in it quite yet. Sara wants to enroll in the next learn to skate session. Evan claims he doesn't want to do it. He did it 2 years ago and cried through most of it. I really thought he would be willing to this time but he says no to it. He will have to come along and watch Sara so I am still on the fence about signing him up. Its $80 per child plus either skate rental or the purchase of used skates and a helmet. Evan has a helmet and Sara can probably wear his old skates. If both of them enroll it will be another $70-$90 for helmets and skates.
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