Happy Vacation 2009 - Part 2

Jamie and Josh taking a break from the waves and enjoying watching Isaac play in the sand.

Jamie's sister, Wendy, and her family live about 15 minutes from the beach. They packed a lunch, drinks, chairs, and lots and lots of sun screen for us and we spent about 6 hours out there. Poor Jamie. He was the only one to get sun burned. And, thanks to me, it was shaped like camouflage!

Maggie and Tannah enjoying the scenery.

This is pretty much where Maggie spent the entire day.
She would get up every once in awhile to move her chair so that the
water hit her feet just right.

Until a big wave would come and knock her around a little!

Jamie made her go out in the water for a little.
She's pretty much yelling at Jamie to take her out of the water.

Caleb and Michael enjoyed digging in the sand and collecting sand crabs. Yes, they kept all the ones they found. No, we didn't take any home with us. They were all gently put back at sea at the end of the day.

Here's proof that I got in! Wendy and I played in the waves. I went under water twice and declared that it was enough! Not a big fan of salt water. The picture of Jamie in the chair? That was my spot pretty much the entire time. I even feel asleep a couple of times. So relaxing!

Happy Vacation 2009 - Part 1

Our first leg of our vacation brought us to the Pittsburgh Zoo. Thanks to our Potter Park Zoo annual pass we got in free! The zoo is built on a hill. A very large hill. There was a section that had all these boardwalk type sidewalks that took you to different exhibits. I was thankful to find a regular crossing at this point and not have to go over the very scary bridge!

Michael took a picture of Jamie and I at the aquarium section of the zoo.

My kids (and I) were so thrilled to be able to walk among real live deer!
The kids enjoyed petting her.

We stayed at a hotel that evening and headed for Virginia Beach the following morning.

My Moment of Spontaneity

With the facebook world swirling around I'm not sure who all reads this anymore. Heck, I forget that I even have a blog. I only go to this site to check on my favorite blogs. The authors of those are all on facebook as well. So, there's not much activity going on. But, I know that my mom is a faithful reader and I don't like to disappoint her :)

As you know, I'm not the most spontaneous person. As the kids and I were driving home from taking Jamie lunch today we stumbled upon a sign. A very large sign. One that not only children notice, but adults as well.

THE ART OF DR. SEUSS

Naturally... er, unnaturally... we stopped to check it out.

And to our surprise we had a wonderful time! It was a very nice art gallery that was hosting an exhibit of Dr. Seuss 'stuff'. The owner? was extremely friendly and welcomed us in.


See... it's a REAL art gallery! Lots and lots of breakable stuff that costs lots and lots of money.







You can even buy the prints. They're actually reproductions. I'm not sure if the sculptures are for sale or not. Did you know that he made sculptures of his creatures? I was impressed. They were really fun to see.




All the books that they had on displayed were available to read. They even showed a documentary about Ted. It was pretty interesting. Someday I'd like to sit down and watch the whole thing.

Oh, and the best part of the visit? As we were leaving the owner said to me "You're kids are so well behaved". I looked around me assuming she couldn't possibly be talking to me about my children. But, she went on to tell me that with some people she just cringes because of how the children are touching all of the sculptures and just running around the gallery. I'm so proud of how well my kids behaved!

Alone

We sent Maggie off to preschool today for the first time. Jamie took her there and I'll be leaving to pick her up in about 10 minutes. I took Michael to school and stayed to work in his classroom for a bit. I'm home alone ALONE right now. It's weird. It doesn't happen very often. So, what am I doing with my alone time? Playing on the computer. And trying not to feel guilty about it.

Maggie's first day went wonderfully! She was hungry and fell asleep on the way home... she had a lot of fun!

Christmas Gifts for 2008

So, I got this great digital camera from my husband for Christmas. I. Love. It. It takes really good pictures. I keep it in my purse all the time. Did I mention that I love it? This is probably the first picture I took with it. Michael and Jamie are reading a book that my mother and father-in-law bought Michael. If you have boys you must get this book!! It's called 'The Dangerous Book for Boys'.

Not sure if you all remember or know of our Christmas gift giving tradition for our family. Here's a little recap. We give gifts to each other that fit into three categories. God Provides - He takes care of even our simplest needs. Growth - God desires a growing relationship with us. Good Gifts - God blesses us even when we don't deserve it or expect it. We don't necessarily limit the amount of gits to 3, but we do buy for each other in those categories.

Michael got socks for 'God Provides'. Pretty sure he's gotten socks every year! Maggie was actually tougher to buy in this category. I got her a comb and a brush. Jamie bought me long johns. I bought Jamie a lunch box. I know, it was a stetch for that category. But, I figured God provides food for us daily and one of my goals this year is to try to make him lunch more regularly.

We bought Michael some Christian comic books for his 'Growth'. Maggie got the Playmobile Nativity Set. I bought Jamie a music CD. And Jamie got me a subscription to a magazine called Just Between Us.

We were pretty conservative with the 'Good Gifts' category. Michael got a Star Wars ship and a baseball hat (pictured above). Maggie got a little Polly Pocket set. I bought Jamie a tool belt and season one of "How I Met Your Mother". Oh, and I got my camera. YeeeHaaa!! The kids also got various great gifts in their stockings. Toothbrushes, tooth paste, snow globe, key chain, ... Oh, and tons and tons of wonderful things from grandparents and aunts and uncles!

One Dry Night

Night 1 of the great experiement was horrible. I think Maggie wet her pant 4 times. I sort of lost track with all the piles of towels on the bed and wadded up wet underwear on the floor.

Last night was great! I took her to the bathroom around midnight and she barely tinkled. I assumed I would be up changing her in a few hours. But, alas! She slept through the night in dry panties! We all clapped and cheered for her.

Not a Problem for Michael

Maggie wets her bed every night. Because of this she either wears a diaper or a pull up. Jamie has been wanting to move her out of her toddler sized bed and put a twin one in her room. But, we won't do that until she's staying dry through the night. Or at least the majority of the nights.

I know that for some children their bodies grow differently. I for one wet my bed forever. I just didn't have good bladder control. I eventually grew out of it, but it took time.

Also, I'm not sure if she's just grown accustom to having something on to catch her urine and she just sort of sleeps through it.

Another thing, she's been waking up each night around the same time. Seems like it could be just after she wets. Not sure.

So, I'm making a plan! I have night lights all set up so that she can walk safely to the bathroom at night and I've got a chart that she can put stickers on in the morning if she stayed dry.

Now the dilemma is do I put a diaper on her tonight like normal or just underwear? I'm sure if I just put her in underwear she will wet. Maybe twice. I think I'll go that route though and see if there's any improvement.

Michael was so different! We never put a diaper on him at night. He would get up all on his own in the middle of the night. There were times that he would have accidents, but he always took care of it himself. Never needed me to help.

Missy Mouse

Maggie is hooked on the computer. She and I tend to fight over it all day and it's worse when Michael is home from school. We're all fighting for it then. I know that once Jamie is home there's no way for me to have a turn, so I try to get my fill during the day. We've had to use the kitchen timer. Who would have thought that children these days would be so good at the computer?

I usually set Maggie up with Nick Jr. or PBS Kids. Well, today she was screaming SCREAMING at me for a Missy Mouse game. She claimed she had played it 'lass nights'. Which could really be weeks ago. So, I had to try and find the Missy Mouse game.

I'm sure all of you reading this picked up instantly what character she was trying to tell me about. But, in the moment, it wasn't that easy. They way she pronounced and phrased it didn't sound like you would normally say it.

Anyway, I finally pulled up PlayHouse Disney and she squealed with glee! I'm so glad I could make her day :)

Great Week!

Michael has had a great week at school! I've been very impressed with his teacher. I was able to volunteer in the classroom on Monday and saw her skills first hand. She is very... strict isn't really the word I want to use... scheduled, consistent, structured. It's a perfect fit for Michael. He hasn't been singled out with behavior issues. The whole class has missed parts of recess and things like that, but he hasn't had to be punished for poor behavior. Praise God!

Maggie and I have had a fun filled week. Our church has teamed up with another local church for a play group. A group of ladies at this other church have been planning outings with their young children for years. It was so nice of them to allow our church to tag along. The best part? My two favorite friends are in the group, which means Maggie's favorite pals are too. So fun!

I'm Bored

I'm a little bit bored right now. My parents took Maggie and Michael to The Village for the day. My brother is sleeping. And, I found out that my honey came home early from the UP and is home already. I wish I could be home with him. But, I'm so thankful that my parents enjoy my children and want to spend the day with them.

I'll probably head out and do a little shopping. I hate driving in this area and I also tend to refuse to shop anywhere on Saturdays. I'm a bit of a crowd coward. But, the thought of going alone sounds pleasant. Maybe I'll wait and see if my brother will take me :)

Another Maggie Story

Maggie has been a bit of a crab today. She's been complaining off and on that her foot hurts. On the way to a cookout tonight she started sobbing that her foot hurt.

A little background here... She complains about her legs hurting often. Not a ton, but every so often they seem to bug her. But, it never seems to slow her down much. Once in a great while she'll wake up in the night crying about it. I know, I'll have it checked out sometime soon.

Back to today.

So, she's crying and fussing all the way to Tom's house. She's fine when we get there and she plays with all the other kids. She got tired and went in the house to watch a movie. On the way home she fell asleep. We came home, I gave her some motrin and put her to bed. That's when the tears really started! She just wasn't right to me.

I decided to take her to the urgent care place. It was 8:50. They take patients until 8:59. We pulled in about 8:57.

Turns out she had a 101 fever (high for our family). Nothing wrong with her ears or throat. And, nothing wrong with her foot. By the end of the visit the doctor was pretty much yanking on it and it didn't phase her one bit.

They asked Mag's to pee in a cup. Her eyes lit up and she was so excited to do it. It was cute. She did great.

Well, she has a urinary track infection. Crazy huh? Who knew that an achy foot would turn into that?

I am totally praising God right now because we went to the clinic and filled her prescription and we were home by 9:40. Thank you Lord! By the end of the evening Maggie was laughing and back to her normal self. So, hopefully we caught the infection early and she'll be feeling better and better.

My Little Girl

Yesterday Maggie threw a huge fit. She became so outraged with me that she screamed "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" and flew up the stairs to her room.

God was working in me right then because it didn't phase me a bit. I was calm and collected. I even found it a bit funny. It sounded like a movie. I'm wondering now where she would have heard that. She's pretty good at mimicking phrases.

Anyway, I figured I would give her a few minutes to calm herself down and then I would go up and talk with her. She returned to me all on her own, wearing a different outfit and a smile on her face and said "I not mad at you anymore." She gave me a hug and a few kisses on my knee. I explained to her about using the word hate and how she hurt my feelings. And how she could chose other words to talk to me. She seemed to understand and went back to playing.

Want to know what caused the rage? I asked her to put the picture she was painting onto the crafting table clothe instead of the floor. The same table cloth that she was sitting on with the other paintings she had done. How dare I ask such a thing!

Oh, and in case you didn't know, she's 3... not 13.

Mimicking

Maggie is really getting good at sounding like other people. I can tell right away who she's trying to sound like.

Yesterday she was pretending that she was late for work and she kept sighing and hitting her head as if she forgot something. That's totally me. Except, I don't work. But, I'm always sighing and forgetting something just as I walk out the door.

Today she was admiring the apples that we bought and said in a serious tone "Appoles ahr good. Da peewl... not so good". That's totally how Michael talks! It cracked me up.

Maggie's 3

Maggie turned 3 years old today. Sorry, I don't have a picture of her from today. I'll be honest with you, it's been a rough few days. This just seems to be a huge mile stone. She is totally not a baby anymore. She's independent, joyful, thankful, and sometimes a crazy little monster. I keep crying. We're 'done' having kids. So that may be part of it too.

It's been fun? to talk about the day she was born. The whole labor and delivery was rather quick. A total of 2.5 hours. Seriously, you can't get any better than that. But, it was after she was born that there were some problems. She was extremely lethargic. The doctor's weren't sure what was up. They thought she could have a blood infection so they put her on an IV. That in itself was sad to see on our little one. Then, they thought she could have some other sort of infection so they attempted to do a lumbar tap... twice. They never did get enough fluid from that test.

Praise the Lord, the next morning she was actually opening her eyes and looking around. The doctor came in that morning and said that she was originally planning on doing a cat scan on her, but after seeing her progress decided it wasn't needed. That day she began eating normal and acting normal. The doctor concluded that it must have been the drug that I was given during labor that caused that reaction. Looking back on it, if I would have known that after 30 minutes of receiving the drug she would have been born, I would have turned it down. No one thought it would happen so quickly.

Maggie is a really healthy little girl now. I forget how bad she was that day three years ago. It make me so much more thankful for her when I'm reminded of those first few days.

Tonight I asked Michael what he remembered about her birthday. Mostly because I couldn't remember where he was exactly. I remember he spent that night at my in-laws house. But, Michael remembers my parents bringing him to the hospital to meet Maggie for the first time. He said he was sick and had to wear a mask and he hated wearing it. I dug up some pictures from that day. Sure enough, he had on a mask. He was 3.5 when she was born. I'm so glad he remembers so much of that.

Funny thing, both Maggie and Michael are sort of sick today. Michael is still fighting a cold. Not bad really. Just a little cough. Maggie has an eye thing going on with her cold. February must be our sick month.

* I removed the pictures. Sorry :)

Snow day and sickness

Michael is off of school again today due to the snow. Don't ask me how much we got. I don't pay attention, remember? That makes 5 snow days this year. 4 of which have occurred in the past two weeks. Crazy! He better go back tomorrow. It's killing me!

Our friend, Tom, was so kind to take him over to his house to play with his kids this afternoon. It will be good for Michael to get out and play with the boys.

Maggie woke up a few times last night sobbing that her ear hurt. It was so sad. I took her to the doctor this morning. Turns out she probably did have the flu last week. Now she's got a bunch of fluid that's floating around her cavities. Inside her ear it got infected. The doctor took one look at it and said it looks like she has a cherry tomato in her ear.

... and the mother of the year award goes to....

I felt awful. The doctor proceeded to tell me that this type of ear infection comes on quickly and I got her in at a good time. She's loaded up on meds and sleeping right now. I actually had the pleasure of rocking and singing her to sleep. Something that isn't a normal occurrence around here. My children love their sleep time and don't want to be bothered with a sappy mommy. This was a nice change.

I probably should mention that I feel amazingly well! I slept and relaxed as much as I possibly could yesterday. I woke up this morning feeling groggy and achy. But, I'm functioning rather well this afternoon. I'll keep the decongestions going in me to ward off any infected fluid in me.

I'm looking forward to a nice weekend at my parents house. Jamie has a staff retreat so the kids and I will head over to Livonia after school time. Should be a good time for all of us.

It's official

Yup, I'm sick. Air Born didn't seem to work on this one. I'm sweaty, then freezing, huge stuffy head, crazy coughing, just not feeling well. I'd like to stay in bed all day. I did give it a shot.

Michael's at home again for a snow day. Between Maggie and Michael I managed to stay in bed for 10-20 minutes at a time. I gave up after trying for 1.5 hours. It was almost worse being all the way upstairs and having to come down frequently to get stuff for them or clean up their messes. Why is it that the spills and broken dishes always happen when I'm so not in the mood to clean it up?

I'm hoping to crash during Maggie's nap time. Michael can usually entertain himself pretty well. We'll see how it goes.

Fever's and Fun

It turned out that Michael had another snow day on Friday. So, he was home for three days in a row. It wasn't too bad. I rather enjoyed it. I think Maggie did too. Michael's feeling better. It's just turned into a nasty cold now. That could be because he's a 6 yr. old boy though. Never uses a tissue, just his sleeve. Gross!

We had plans of meeting my parents this morning and handing the kids over to spend the night. Jamie and I had/have an auction/dinner thingy tonight. Plans changed.

Last night Maggie had a fever. By golly though, she is the cutest thing ever when she's sick. Tears just sort of stream down her face without any effort. And she snuggles. It's sad, but adorable at the same time.

We kept Maggie home but Michael is still going to my parents house. Maggie didn't seem to care that she was staying home. I know that Michael needed a change of scenery.

Maggie is sleeping right now. Jamie just left to go see a movie. I'm putsing around on the computer, making some cards, and just enjoying the quietness of the house. Even though we're not going to go out and have a night/morning without both kids, it's pretty nice.

The Munchies

Maggie just asked me if she could have a snack. I said yes. After listing off a few choices such as a granola bar and dry cereal she quickly ran to the fridge. After a few minutes of scouring around in there she proudly held up the container of baby carrots. She cheered when I told her she could have those for her snack.

I love it that she made that choice all on her own. Maybe I'm not such a bad example after all :)

Christmas Day

Last Christmas we started a new thing with our gift giving to the children. We decided to give gifts according to three categories that reflect characteristics of God. God provides for our needs, God delights in us, and God desires to have a personal relationship with us and for us to grow closer to Him.

Michael:
God provides - he got a new pair of gloves. Waterproof ones. Let me tell you, he was really really excited!
God delights - these were the 'fun' gifts. A lego set and the game Sorry!
Growth - the book titled "I'd be your Hero" by Kathryn O'Brien. Great book about godly character.

Maggie:
God provides - socks... again. I think she got some last year too.
God delights - ok, this was the big one this year. She got an entire kitchen set. My Aunt gave it to us to give to her. It's all made out of wood. Painted pink! There's a stove, sink, fridge, and hutch. 4 pieces! Plus, loads of food and dishes. So much fun!
Growth - we gave her the girl version of Michael's book called "I'd be your Princess". Love it!

That's all we got the kids. Oh, they did get a few things in their stockings. Books, snacks, hair pretties.

I like the gift giving plan. I think we'll stick to it!

Merry Christmas!

This has been a great Christmas season for us! And, it's not over yet!

Last night we went to our church's Christmas Eve service. My mother and father-in-law went, and my Aunt too. And a family that we're friends with... we go way back. They have three boys. One is in Michael's class at school and one is Maggie's age. I sat with my in-laws and Aunt and Maggie. Michael sat with 'all the boys' a few rows ahead of me.

Highlights of the service: My good friend Bethany (I sometimes refer to her as my neat and tidy friend) danced to the song Breathe of Heaven. It. Was. Awesome. She did such a great job. I'm so proud :)

Ok, here's where I want to tell you a super funny thing that happened during the service. But, I'm a terrible story teller. But I'll give it a go.

So Rick, our senior minister, is doing a short sermon during the service. Towards the end he starts talking about how he loves Christmas Eve. How that's when things slow down. How everything is closed up for a day or two. How you can't go to Walmart, Target, Meijer, or even... he pauses... and says "Oh, sure 7/11 is open but who would want to go there?".

Michael shouts out "I do!". Thunderous laughter followed. Oh my goodness, I was crying. Partly because it was really funny. The timing was so perfect it couldn't even have been planned better. But also because I was super embarressed. I recovered, so did Rick, and thought for sure only Jamie and I would really know who said it. The place was packed and there were tons of kids and Michael was sitting in a sea of boys.

But, as I was walking down front for communion, about 20 people patted me on the back and said "Man, I love your son" and chuckled. Ahh... it was a good time.

After the service we came back to our house and had a few people over. We nibbled on pigs in a blanket, veggies, cookies, and nachos and talked.

This morning my in-laws came over (they live across the street) and also my Aunt spent the night. We opened presents together and watched the kids play. It was so nice. Arch, my fingers hurt but I want to tell you about their gifts and stuff. It was a great year present wise.

The only reason why I'm typing right now is because Maggie is sleeping, Michael is playing, and Jamie is gone helping at a Christmas Breakfast that our church puts on every year. He should be home soon and once he's showered a few times (he's a cook this year) we'll pack up the van and head over to my sister's for the evening.

Merry Christmas everyone!