It's been a busy winter in Pre K. Kids are writing their names and sight words, as well as copying words you write down to practice their letters. They are counting to 20 or more endlessly throughout the day. They love to tell you everything they learned in school and ask you 300 follow up questions, and they love to tell long, repetitive, imaginative stories.
We have some great phrases going around the house.
Daniel says 'fadult' instead of adult. Mom coffee is for fadults. Why do fadults go to work?
Sammy says 'this is taking to-ever' instead of forever. He says this about everything he needs to wait more than 15 seconds for. Zero patience.
Danny says 'got it mom' everytime I say something. 90% of the time he doesn't do it, but he's getting good at pretending to appease me. His other phrase is 'Momma, yes or not?' This comes right out of my mouth. I usually ask them yes or no, and he says it with the same intonation and everything, just says not instead. 'Momma, are we going to Grammie's today? Yes or not?'
Elsie has been telling me 'I can take it from here' now for a few months. Miss Independent. I was setting up Osmo on her tablet and the password screen appeared, and she said I know the password mom, I can take it from here. Alrighty then.
Another phrase she loves that her brothers have also picked up on is 'Actually'. She likes to start any sentence she is going to correct you with 'actually mom'. It usually is followed with a sentence like "actually if you continue to be sassy you'll be in your room for time out'.
She kicked up her sassy to expert level when we were in the car and Danny was going on and on telling a story (she was waiting her turn), and he kept saying Get it, Momma? and Elsie said 'Danny, we get it, now spit it out!' Ay yi yi, she's 5.
But the most common phrase going strong around here with no signs of slowing is 'and Momma'.
This phrase starts just about every sentence that comes out of Danny's mouth. My goodness I love being loved, even though I need to regroup my sanity at 8pm every night.
This stage is like a giant wave pool. One second you are floating in elation with the simple, genuine, innocent things they say and do, and the next second you are drowning in a barrage of fighting, whining, crying, demanding little dictators. And you go back and forth so much in one day's time you don't know which way is up. I really do remind myself multiple times a day that I need to take a breath and enjoy it as much as I can because even though they are only 5 I already miss them as babies, and I'll blink and they'll be teenagers, and I will miss this too. That being said, I totally understand all the wine memes out there for Mommies. This year I've taken on a caffeine addiction to get me through the day, and because I'm not a drinker, at 8 pm I reach for chocolate to congratulate myself for making it through another day. Last month, when I was yelling for the 4th time of the day (and they'd only been up for an hour), Danny turned to me and said 'Namaste, Mom'. This is my life with three 5 year olds.
At least sickness has taken a break on us this year. We have had a mild winter and been quick to fight off the few colds we've picked up. So I'm thankful for that. Looking forward to an early spring.
They had their physicals and everyone is between 40-45 inches and weighing in from 33 to 40 lbs. We've been patching Sam's good eye to make the bad eye do some extra work and strengthen, and it's working beautifully. We went for a follow-up last week and the doctor said his eyesight has improved from 20-60 in the bad eye to 20-50. So the patching will continue. We've reduced Elsie's inhaler dosage and still made it through the winter without a hospital stay, so it appears we might be growing out of this reactive airway issue as well. Danny is still challenged with some constipation issues that we are tackling with diet and routine, and making slow but steady progress. It's easy to remind ourselves how lucky we are when I can sum up the whole of their health issues in a few sentences.
Here are some pics and videos of our winter so far. It's been a long time since my last post, so there are bunches.
We had a great time at our 2nd soap box derby. You may remember Sam won last year, and this year it was Danny's turn. I had to teach him the phrase 'Stay Humble' because he continued his victory dance for almost an hour. Sam got a busted up lip when he rammed into the hay, but he didn't care because he said it was still awesome! We had a great day with our family on this beautiful October day.
The kids are really into legos and crafts and they spend many an afternoon making new creations.
making cookies with Grammie
Sammy says 'this is taking to-ever' instead of forever. He says this about everything he needs to wait more than 15 seconds for. Zero patience.
Danny says 'got it mom' everytime I say something. 90% of the time he doesn't do it, but he's getting good at pretending to appease me. His other phrase is 'Momma, yes or not?' This comes right out of my mouth. I usually ask them yes or no, and he says it with the same intonation and everything, just says not instead. 'Momma, are we going to Grammie's today? Yes or not?'
Elsie has been telling me 'I can take it from here' now for a few months. Miss Independent. I was setting up Osmo on her tablet and the password screen appeared, and she said I know the password mom, I can take it from here. Alrighty then.
Another phrase she loves that her brothers have also picked up on is 'Actually'. She likes to start any sentence she is going to correct you with 'actually mom'. It usually is followed with a sentence like "actually if you continue to be sassy you'll be in your room for time out'.
She kicked up her sassy to expert level when we were in the car and Danny was going on and on telling a story (she was waiting her turn), and he kept saying Get it, Momma? and Elsie said 'Danny, we get it, now spit it out!' Ay yi yi, she's 5.
But the most common phrase going strong around here with no signs of slowing is 'and Momma'.
This phrase starts just about every sentence that comes out of Danny's mouth. My goodness I love being loved, even though I need to regroup my sanity at 8pm every night.
This stage is like a giant wave pool. One second you are floating in elation with the simple, genuine, innocent things they say and do, and the next second you are drowning in a barrage of fighting, whining, crying, demanding little dictators. And you go back and forth so much in one day's time you don't know which way is up. I really do remind myself multiple times a day that I need to take a breath and enjoy it as much as I can because even though they are only 5 I already miss them as babies, and I'll blink and they'll be teenagers, and I will miss this too. That being said, I totally understand all the wine memes out there for Mommies. This year I've taken on a caffeine addiction to get me through the day, and because I'm not a drinker, at 8 pm I reach for chocolate to congratulate myself for making it through another day. Last month, when I was yelling for the 4th time of the day (and they'd only been up for an hour), Danny turned to me and said 'Namaste, Mom'. This is my life with three 5 year olds.
At least sickness has taken a break on us this year. We have had a mild winter and been quick to fight off the few colds we've picked up. So I'm thankful for that. Looking forward to an early spring.
They had their physicals and everyone is between 40-45 inches and weighing in from 33 to 40 lbs. We've been patching Sam's good eye to make the bad eye do some extra work and strengthen, and it's working beautifully. We went for a follow-up last week and the doctor said his eyesight has improved from 20-60 in the bad eye to 20-50. So the patching will continue. We've reduced Elsie's inhaler dosage and still made it through the winter without a hospital stay, so it appears we might be growing out of this reactive airway issue as well. Danny is still challenged with some constipation issues that we are tackling with diet and routine, and making slow but steady progress. It's easy to remind ourselves how lucky we are when I can sum up the whole of their health issues in a few sentences.
Here are some pics and videos of our winter so far. It's been a long time since my last post, so there are bunches.
We had a great time at our 2nd soap box derby. You may remember Sam won last year, and this year it was Danny's turn. I had to teach him the phrase 'Stay Humble' because he continued his victory dance for almost an hour. Sam got a busted up lip when he rammed into the hay, but he didn't care because he said it was still awesome! We had a great day with our family on this beautiful October day.
Auntie Cathy giving Elsie some tips
All lined up
all business this girl
group hug
this year's winner!
picnic before the race
victory smile
Celebrating Jazzy's coco birthday party
We went to Texas Roadhouse for the kids birthday dinner
They liked sitting in the saddle
the boys enjoying a snack while we let Elsie sleep
afternoon ice cream party
afternoon snuggles while watching their tablet
Elsie got a haircut. She has been all about Rapunzel for over a year. I guess she got sick of brushing it, so she said one night 'Momma, I like Ariel too and her hair is shorter'.
ready for Halloween!
Trick-or-Treat crew
carving pumpkins
Buzz, Jessie, and Woody!
we did a trunk or treat at school
We had a great time at Elana's birthday party at FunCity trampoline park. Bouncing, zip lines, rock wall, balance beam. Daddy took all the videos while Mommy joined in on the fun.
The kids love the ninja gym. Elsie is incredible, she can dead hang for almost 3 minutes and she swings like a monkey.
We did a lot of yard work this fall and the kids were happy to help with their tractor. There are a lot of short videos here. Miguel took them and sent them to me and I can't combine them now.
We had a great time at Finley's 1st birthday. My kiddos had a cold so they stayed home. Elsie was bummed, she is constantly making a pile of her stuff to give to Finley.
We had our check up and the kids played peacefully while waiting for the doctor
We got to see a private showing for Wreck-it-Ralph 2 and see our friend Ashley's name in the credits
my little astronaut
My little monkey
working in the basement with Daddy
We had a nice Thanksgiving at Auntie Cathy's
morning shenanigans
found our xmas hats when taking out the decorations
loving our umbrellas from Auntie Tracey
camping out in the living room
Excited to do her Wiki box cloud pillow
Lunch with our cousins
Happy Thanksgiving!
This year we decorated as soon as there was a nice day.
The kids loved helping to hang the lights
Elsie frustrated she couldn't unplug it
Bought some new canvas pictures and hung them up
Sammy playing with Henry
My firefighter
Yoshi
Waiting for Santa
Santa
Some artwork at preschool
making crafts
Silly time
We got together at Auntie Sharon's to make Gingerbread houses. So fun!
He kept eating the candies
Mommy's
Mommy's
all the houses
Danny, Sammy, Elsie's
Sammy has been patching, so the others volunteered to patch for a day too
I took some pictures of their Christmas art work because I can't save everything but I love to have the memories
We did the family get together at Auntie Cathy's for Christmas
pig pile on Jimmy
Cousins
more canvas pics
This year I saw a great idea about making a snowman out of presents.
They loved it!
Christmas morning
playing detective Osmo
my lego boy
making legos with Dad
We went to Disney on Ice, the kids LOVED it. Thanks Auntie Cathy
Elsie's newest feat. 100 piece puzzle all by herself
Love watching him sleep. So peaceful
Playing fort
making cookies with Grammie
Doing some of his Christmas crafts
All done coloring in her bag
new tablets for Christmas
building a house in the basement
loves his new slippers
waiting to go in at swim lessons
this boy loves snuggling
went into tractor supply and it was pouring out. saw some cute rainboots and bought them. some happy kids!
Danny cut his scalp. I was trying to look at it before we went to the walk in and he said 'Mom put in Elsie's bows to hold my hair'. Luckily no staples needed.
Sammy cleaning
Helping Grammie make a scarf
coloring
playing operation
Danny got that weird 105 fever virus. 105 fever for 30 hours. Tylenol couldn't touch it, Ibuprofen reduced it to 104.7 for an hour then right back up. He basically slept ALL day and night, then it just passed. Never seen anything like it. Poor guy was so miserable.
playing together (momentarily)
Chef Danny
she has to get in on the action
Yoshi in his superbowl shirt
these three
Sammy at the eye doctor
digging through dinosaur bones, another craft from Christmas
Danny has been all about taking pictures lately. This was at Pub 99 last week
Sammy hamming it up
Danny handed my phone to Sam so he could take one of Danny
Elsie was out sick from school and came to work with Mommy
She wrote the client names on the white board as they came in
and took over my desk
Sammy at his check up
Elsie drawing with Osmo
practicing Minnie
Selfie
taking pictures of his brother
photo bombed by his sister
Kids are getting better and better at swimming. Looking forward to pool time this summer
