playing 'catch up'

November wasn't very busy around here. nothing major planned, aside from thanksgiving, but with the stuff we DO have planned, that is just a break in the madness. here's how we spent November:

There were many times we spent at the table doing 'art'. They like to make pictures for people, but mostly, they end up as clutter on my counter. Brynlee likes paper and scribbling. She is getting better and drawing circles and lines, but mostly ending in big blobs of color. Fletcher is really starting to make identifiable pictures. Most are of our family, but it is pretty neat to see how he interprets each of us in his drawings.

It snowed. Kind of. The kids were excited. I was not. However, it was minimal so I dealt with it. 

 Adam and Fletcher made some deer jerky from the meat we got earlier in the year. When it comes to helping, Fletcher is right there. He's not a great helper yet, but he sure tries. Sometimes, more often than not, he's in the way, but it means a lot to him to 'be involved'.

Gus made an early visit. There were two children who were behaving terribly, so I thought it would be best if Santa sent our elf early. They straightened up, slighly and were threatened on a weekly basis that there would be NO Christmas if they continued on like they were. It kind of worked.

 My brother and his family came down from Minnesota this year to celebrate Thanksgiving. I have no pictures of the feast my parents prepared, but I do have these to shots of our crazy, line waiting experience to get some cheap deals at the Pre-Black Friday sales. And that line at Target was just starting to enter as we were approaching. The line went all the way around the building and then stretched out along one side of the mall. We hopped in where there was a gap and got in with no problem. My brother got the Ipads he was after and my SIL and I had no problem choosing from a large selections of items we were after.

 My mom took my kids and my niece (and me) to Disney on Ice. The show included scenes from Lion King, Lilo and Stitch, Little Mermaid and Peter Pan. The kids liked it, I wasn't impressed though. I've seen much better shows put on. They get to go again in February as a birthday gift from their Aunt Lindsey...but it's a surprise.

Eggs with friends and the Easter Bunny

For the past three years, my friend Angie and I have gotten together to dye eggs with the kids. Its a chance for us to catch up on the latest happenings and the kids seem to enjoy playing together.

As the kids get older, the mess seems to get smaller and the job of dying gets quicker. They really have no patience to wait for the eggs to get bright and pretty. 

We had a good time and enjoyed ourselves. Thanks for having us over Angie and Payton. 

Since I hadn't taken the kids to see the Easter Bunny, I wanted to leave with enough time that I would be able to get to Bass Pro so we could stand in line for a few minutes for our free picture. We made it, but the line was much longer than I was expecting at 7:30 on the Thursday before Easter. We waited and I was talking up the whole experience because I didn't want to be "that mom". I was really just hoping for a quick picture with two smiling kids and no tears. I got one smiling kid and no tears so I was okay with it. However, Brynlee looks a bit unsure, but comforted by her brother.

Valentine's Day

A bit late, but that shouldn't be a surprise.

On Thursdays, brynlee and I go to library story-time while fletcher is at school. The lady had a fun project for the littles to do after she read to them and sang a few songs. So cute and so fun.

All week, fletcher and I worked on his valentines for school. I saw a Pinterest idea that was pretty cheap and didn't involve candy. Simple to make-my kind of project. The awful part...having fletcher write his name on twenty of them, by request if his teacher. He made out like a bandit from his party at school.

Keeping with tradition, I made a heart meal for supper. This year, heart pancakes. And they were pink. A crowd pleaser, so I was pleased.

Adam and I had a day date that in saying was our valentines treat. On the Sunday before, we took the kids to Dsm so my dad could watch them and we went to the home and garden show at the iowa events center. It was probably the worst 22$ we spent, as we were there for less than an hour. We really didn't spend enough time looking at the vendors. After we did a walk through, we went across the street to buzzard billy's for a late lunch. It wasn't a thrilling day, but we had a few hours, kid free which was nice.

thanks, santa!

Way late with this, but it needs to be documented.

santa came a few nights early, since we were heading out of town on christmas eve day. it's easy to do since the kids don't really know when Christmas actually is, with all the festivities we attend, I barely know when Christmas is for that matter.
Anyway, mr Claus and I talked up the evening and told the kids all the things parents say on Christmas eve, just to get the kids all excited. We decorated cookies earlier that morning. Before bed, fletcher drew on a styrofoam plate and signed his name (and brynlee's) and we left chocolate milk, a beer, cookies and also some carrots for the reindeer. Nothing like getting them all excited before putting them to bed.
So the children were finally asleep when the mr went out to assemble the kitchen and scooter for the wee ones. I did stockings and then had the pleasure of putting on all the stickers to the kitchen and getting the placement just right for everything.
The next morning when the kids woke up, they were excited to see what the big guy left. They were also excited to find gus, only to realize he went back to the north pole with Santa. But he was quickly forgotten when they saw the goods that were left.
Another good year from Santa, but we discovered that it is getting harder as fletcher starts asking for more bigger and complex things that are not quite age appropriate, but are cool with 'the big kids.' I'm sure sooner than later that he will be crushed, but until them...HO, HO, HO.

christmas, a month later.

christmas day, we head to my parents' house for the day. this year my brother and his family were there, so all the grandkids were present, minus the oldest. it was a full house with everyone there, plus, my grandparents and aunts and uncles came for a while to join in the paper flinging fun of gift opening. 

we sit in families so we can assist our kids, which means we never get pictures of our own kids. i had a brilliant idea this year, that my sister and i should give each other our discs, and snap pictures of each others kids. when we swap discs back, we have our own kids opening gifts, and a few other snapshots. genius!!1

 momma got a kindle fire. 

 all the grandkids, minus the oldest. (22 months-19yrs)

christmas traditions

everyone grows up with some sort of family tradition. they are something that i look back on and have great memories of. i knew i wanted to carry on some of those same traditions with my kids and that i wanted to create new ones. as the kids get older and understand more, it is much more fun to see these traditions continue. in keeping a few, we have also added a few. 

one thing my family always did, was make christmas candy. my parents make fudge and caramels that people rave over. i remember always being in the kitchen when my mom was making caramels and my brother and i would fight over the 'tester' piece. when they were set and cut, we would sit around the table and do the dreaded wrapping. as a kid, it wasn't fun, but it is something that i enjoy being a part of as an adult. i didn't get the caramel making gene, but i do enjoy making other types of christmas candy/treats. one of my favorites is the pretzel, white almond bark and m&m's. very easy and with littles around, a pretty quick task. cookies, grinch treats, and apple bread was also on the list.

i always had an advent calendar growing up. the one with the days numbered on little doors you opened on that day and then there was a little chocolate inside. my mom has searched and i have searched and we can't find them, so i came up with my own version of an advent calendar. i saw it on pinterest last year and just put my retired elementary teacher/crafter skills to work. it's cute for now, and the kids love putting on a cotton ball each day. the only problem, they both think they need to do it. i have a few other ideas for the future, but this will work for the next few years. 

along with the advent calendar, i did a little thing with the twelve days of christmas this year. for each day, we had a christmas book that was wrapped and the kids took turns each day unwrapping a book and then we would read it. sometimes i read during snack time. sometimes at bedtime. sometimes we even forgot and then opened and read two the next day. this was fun, but maybe a bit advanced for their ages. as they get older, i'm sure the books will hold their attention better. i had many of the books from my teaching days, but some of them i checked out from our library. i just had to make sure they were opened sooner than later so i could return them on time. 

and my favorite tradition that we started in 2011, is the elf on the shelf. when i bought him, i wasn't sure how well i would do, but i really do love finding a new place for gus and using him to make fletcher behave a little better. it's also great to see the kids try and find him. brynlee really got into it and sometimes found him before fletcher even had a chance. i've had to be a bit careful with my placement of him, since baby girl likes to not listen and touch when she's told not to, which makes a little boy flip out because he gets it more than than she does. some of the ideas on pinterest are too fun not to do, but until i have two children who will 'play' along with the rules, those fun things won't be happening. 

Visiting Santa

As the second week of January is upon us, I feel like I should post about our December happenings. Here goes...

Our zoo does a meet Santa thing each year. Since there was going to be a REAL reindeer there, I thought I'd take the kids. The day I was going, I was picking the kids up from my parents' house, which mean they are off MY schedule. I didn't even think about early naptimes, long lines and uncooperative toddlers when I had this great idea.

As we pulled in the parking lot, I didn't think there where very many cars, until I saw the lines. As we got in line and proceeded to wait for over thirty minutes, I was asking myself, 'why the heck did I do this by myself?'. It was awful. Brynlee was so tired and whiny that I just wanted to leave, but I knew that Fletcher would be disappointed.

At least the reindeer kept Fletcher amused for our wait and the annoying kids behind me were entertaining. Their dad did a great job of coming up with ridiculous responses to their questions and I just smiled as I thought of what my response would be. I may or may not have mumbled a few times. I was that annoyed with the situation.

We finally got to Santa and Fletcher went up to him without hesitation. Brynlee on the other hand clung to me like a baby monkey holding on for dear life. I at least got a picture of him. The missing sister will explain how the year went when we look at Santa pictures in the future.

As we were leaving u really tried to avoid the reindeer picture line but I got the whiny 3 year old that time. The line was much shorter and the guy with the reindeer seemed to be moving the kids through quickly. I went for it, after all, it couldn't be much worse than the Santa experience. The wait was less Han 10 minutes and the pictures I got where worth it. The reactions made my day better, however, I was still mad I ha to do it all by myself.

The End.

the last five months-july

in july, we did stuff. some memorable, some not so much. 

july 3rd at prairie meadows waiting for the firework display. someone also discovered her nostrils. 

introducing the littles to 'snakes'. 

we celebrated adam's niece's wedding, two days after we celebrated our 4th anniversary. 

the daughters of four of the original neighbor girls. these four are all within four months of each other. 

ellie, nov. mckenna, dec.  brynlee, feb. zoey, march

the kids took swim lessons. they loved it. the bottom picture is distorted if i make it bigger, but im sure you get it. 

we met some friends at the pool one afternoon and then headed to have froyo afterwards. 

we attended camryn's first annual christmas in july toy drive. 

practicing for saturday night live. an old tradition that my parents and their neighbors did when i was young. now when all the 'kids' are in town, we all partake as our littles run and play like we used to.