Football Stars and Princesses

I finally took a trip to the new outlets in Niagara Falls.  It is only 30 minutes from our house.  Over 60 additional outlets opened at the end of October and I hadn't had a chance to go there during the holidays.  I decided to go up quickly Saturday morning.  I left at 9:30 arrived before it opened and then at 11:15 Sara called crying that she wanted me home.  After being home sick for 4 days, I knew she really wanted me so I came home. 

     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. 

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

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!

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. 

5 Year Check up

I usually do checkups close to the kids birthdays but this year I am a month late.  Sara went today and I gritted my teeth the entire day there.  I am so nervous about this crazy flu going around.  Everyone I speak with says they have it over a week.  So we arrived armed with Clorox wipes, sanitizer and strict instructions not to touch anything.  Sara is such a good listener! She even wanted to sit on my lap because she didn't want to touch anything. 

The benches in the office are covered in fabric cushions and they just scream germs to me.  So I told her not to even sit on them.  Well she measured in at 37lbs fully clothed (28%) and 42 3/4 inches (52%).  She is completely healthy and her vision and hearing was fine.  Evans will be in a few weeks he is still only 41 lbs!  Finding pants that fit is still impossible and he hates adjustable waist pants. 

We had a busy day we started by taking my car in for some minor issues.  One thing that didn't get resolved is the hands free on my car is not compatible with the iPhone 6.  After waiting forever to get a smartphone I am really annoyed that it doesn't since with my Accord.  I do love the phone though, but it is a huge waste of time.  The kids asked if we could go for lunch and Sara chose Moe's.  We picked up a Wendy's chicken nugget meal for Evan and Sara had a cheese and lettuce taco and I had a chicken salad.  From there we headed for a haircut with Evan and had a long wait.  We came home for an hour and then I headed to the Pediatricians with Sara.   After that Sara and I went to Target to pick up a few Cartwheel deals and a few 70% off Christmas deals.  Sara is making crafts as I type that we picked up for $1.50.  We also bought Evan a few packs of Football cards. 

He is obsessed with football, he is reading the sports pages in the paper each day.  For Christmas he received a Buffalo Bills helmet, jersey, and football pants.  He has worn this everyday.  He had me put Jim Kelly's #12 on the back of it.  On February 14th, Jim Kelly holds an event in memory of his son, called Hunter's Day of Hope.  So we already have it on the calendar he is so excited to meet Jim.  My first accounting job our firm prepared the taxes of lots of Buffalo Bills and I had the chance to meet many of them.  At one point I almost dated one, but decided to stick with Marc!  Now  he is very bald and lives in the Midwest.  I would have never survived living that far from my family!   Evan loves to hear about the super bowl days of the Bills and what players we have met.  Orchard Park and Hamburg are a small community and we often run into players on our trips to Wegmans or Target.   I don't usually know who they are but there presence is obvious.  The diamonds on the wives usually stand out too! 

Evan is busy playing Madden 15 and building legos.  Sara is busy with crafts, playing school, playing board games and playing with Evan.  Yesterday they played so well upstairs with Evan's football cards he sorted 150 cards into the teams that I actually had an hour nap on the couch!  Progress in our household.

Snowdays in November?

All teachers love snow days, but after 7 last year and 2 this week, I feel like its just one long winter and its only November.  Lake Erie is dumping lake effect snow on Western New York.  I haven't seen a plow since 3:30am on Tuesday.  I attempted to snowblow yesterday and wasn"t successful.  The snow is heavy and deep, and was blowing.  Tomorrow they are predicting 2 more feet. 

Evan is disappointed he missed both of his gym days this week and they are playing hockey.  Sara is just happy to play and do crafts all day long (read between the lines create mess after mess}.  So yesterday I made Minestone and a roast in the crockpots, baked chocolate chip cookies, and made 3 batches of frosting for Sara's birthday. 

Her birthday falls on Thanksgiving so we are having a friend party at Bounce Magic on Tuesday night.  Sara only has 5 other girls in her class, so we will have a total of 9 kids at the party.  It is not cheap to have the party, but I figured we are not doing a family party. and last year by the time I purchased pizza for both parties, drinks, snacks, decorations my expense is pretty simple. 

Happy Holidays

These days go by so quickly.  Even with a 13 day break last month due to snow and almost two weeks this month, I feel like time is moving so fast.  The kids are growing up so quickly.

Santa visit



5 Teeth gone so far!

Evan is turning into a young man and outgrowing his little boy stage.  He shows such gratitude for little things and he makes me so proud.  When we had our snow days I allowed him to stay up and watch a Monday night football game and he has thanked me numerous times for this.  He catches me off guard with his gracious behavior at times and makes me so happy.  Prior to Christmas Sara was asking for everything under the sun.  Evan would say Mom I can wait for Christmas as Sara would be begging for a toy or something at the store. 



Cheerleading with the Varsity cheerleaders

Sara also has her moments of kindness.  We visited the zoo this weekend and Evan dropped his box of popcorn on the way out and Sara said "its ok Bud I have lots left and we can share".  The bud comes from me calling him it all the time.  For all the drama and arguments they have they are still best friends.  A few weeks ago , Sara spent the night at my Mom's and Evan was very upset that she would be gone for the night and teared up over it. 

Christmas was exciting and magical.  The Sunday prior to Christmas Sara and I went to mass and they announced they needed volunteers to clean and decorate the church.  Sara looked at me and said she wanted to help.  So we returned to the church after dinner and scrubbed pews.  She was a trooper. 

The kids had so much fun looking for Gordon the elf.  I even ordered a girl elf from Macy's for next year.  She was 75% off so since these innocent years won't last much longer I decided to make her happy.   All year she said I wish Gordon was a girl and I could of named her.  I also picked up 2 skirts for her at Barnes and Noble. 



Student of the Month - Character trait Hospitality

Evan and Marc have been playing xbox Madden 15 football together and having a blast.  Sara and I have been playing school everyday.  She is also enamored with the American Girl doll we gave her for her birthday. 





Sara's Christmas party

We have one more week off and the flu is rampant with lots of our friends.  I had planned on taking her to see Annie this week but am a little nervous about sitting in a movie theatre.  I am trying to avoid it.  Each year we have Marc's cousins over and they have had it for 2 weeks!  Stomach and respiratory and they have a bad habit of coming sick and getting us sick every year.  This year after hearing they were at the Doctors on Friday and planning to come to our house on Friday I asked to postpone it a week.  Hopefully it works!

We have had such a warm Christmas break, its been in the 50's every day.  The kids are disappointed.  We all received snow shoes for Christmas and they are eager to try them out.  Tomorrow Evan and I are going to head to BJ's for a few things, unfortunately our local BJ's was damaged during the storm and isn't reopening until March.  So we will have to go to the one 30minutes away to stock up on the bacon the kids love and Cascade!  I bought a membership on Groupon that I need to redeem before the 31st.