Sick

The kids have been sick with allergies and cold-like symptoms. It sucks. It started last Thursday with Tommy and a persistent cough, then Friday Eddie woke up with a croupy cough, and by the end of the day Friday, Anna was coughing. Eddie was so bad on Sunday that Danny and my bro-in-law Brian gave him a blessing. I took him to the doctor on Monday, but the doc said it was just a virus, and he was mostly through it, and of course, there was no medication for it. The kids are still boogery and coughing today, but hopefully the end is near! They have been cranky and tired, and that's not fun for anyone!

Chico

Chico is the name of Danny's soprano trombone. Eddie LOVES Chico! He talks about it all the time, and can't wait until Papi comes home so he can play it! Danny tried desperately to get Eddie to hold it correctly, but as you can see from the pic below Eddie wanted to hold it his way.
Yes, Eddie has terrible hand position and embochure! But he's only four, so we'll let that slide. For now.

Such As....

Tommy is awesome. I love him. He's such a great kid, but man, he can really be strange sometimes. His latest thing is "such as." He says it all the time, and COMPLETELY out of context! In the middle of a conversation he'll bust out with "such as!" and continue on! We've explained the proper use of the phrase, but he just really likes the sound of it, and will use it whenever he feels like it! Apparently it's a 2nd grade boy thing. ALL the boys are saying it, according to Tommy. Oh dear. At least it's completely harmless! I just hope he doesn't come home with something inappropriate!

What do you want to be?

The kids and I were having a discussion the other day about what they want to be when they grow up. Tommy's response was interesting. He wants to be a machine worker. Really?!? Because he wants to make machines, like Transformers. Not the Transformer toys, but REAL Transformers. Hmmm.... We'll see how that works out. Eddie wants to be a Ninja. He's convinced he'll turn into one when he turns 7 years old. Anna wants to be a fashion designer/cake designer/fashion icon/cupcake bakery owner. She's got her sights set high!

As for me, I STILL don't know what I want to be when I grow up!

Our Weekend with the Hungry Caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar spent the weekend with us in January. Eddie LOVED having him with us, and even took him to bed with him! And yes, he even went ice skating with us!

He went to elementary school with me and Eddie when we put up some posters. Notice Eddie's cheesy grin? I don't know what that's all about, but you'll see it again!

He played Yorkie the tuba.

Yep. There's Eddie's cheesy grin again!

That caterpillar went with us EVERYWHERE that weekend!

My Monsters

My kids each got a DS Lite for Christmas. Danny and I assumed that they would each go their separate ways and play alone, but they discovered they can link up and play MarioKart together. They spent a lot of time playing together over the Christmas break. I loved how quiet they were!

Eddie LOVES the Old Navy dog. Everytime we go, he insists on sitting on it! So, on this random occasion, I took a picture of him doing it, and Tommy and Anna ended up in the shot with him! These kids may fight all the time, but they really do love spending time together!

Meeting Michael Buckley

Michael Buckley (author of the Sisters Grimm series) came to our local Barnes and Noble a couple of months ago. Anna LOVES the Sisters Grimm series and was so excited to meet the author! Michael Buckley spoke for about 30 minutes, then led a question and answer session. He was hilarious, really nice, and spoke to each and everyone who came to the book signing. It was so fun!

Ice Skating!

The Stars Center hosted a free skating day in January. Since we live less than 5 miles from the rink, and the kids have never ice-skated before, we decided to take advantage!

They piled mounds of ice shavings (snow) in the corner of the rink for the kids to play in. Eddie thought it was awesome! Eddie did a pretty good job of skating. The kid has great balance, and a low center of gravity, so that came in handy on the ice!

Anna was dying to learn to skate, but she struggled quite a bit. If she doesn't get something right away she gets really frustrated. Ice skating is a lot harder than she thought it was! She ended up learning a lot, and didn't give up! We'll go again when it's not so busy, so she can practice some more.
Tommy is super independent and refused our help with skating. He went out on his own and did a pretty good job. He ended up spending most of his time in the snow!

They also had a snow machine that sprayed snow all over the kids in the corner. Tommy loved to just stand there and try to catch it in his mouth!

2012 Already?

Yeah, I know I suck at posting. Time has just flown by and I can't believe it's already three months into 2012! Yikes! I'll try to do better at posting, but I won't promise anything!

Grateful #4

I am SO grateful for my beautiful children! Sure, they can be annoying at times, but they make my life so much better! I love them so much!!! Children are such a blessing in our lives, and I am grateful to have three, healthy kids!!!

Hopping on the Band Wagon

Okay, I'm totally hopping on the band wagon today, and yes, I know I'm a little late. It is nice to be reminded of the things that we are grateful for, so I'll post one thing that I'm thankful for every day in November (or at least try to). Since I'm starting late, I guess I need to make up for Nov. 1 and 2. I already posted one for today. First, I'm grateful for my wonderful husband who sacrifices so much to provide for our family!! His job isn't easy, and the drive is long, but he does it out of love for his family. We have both learned to appreciate our time together as a family since he started this job!!! I'm also grateful for my job. I don't have to work to make ends meet for our family, but without my job, we wouldn't have an emergency fund, or any financial security. I love my students and I think I have the best job ever! It's been a huge challenge this year, though. I've been struggling with a crazy schedule, and trying to balance my time with Eddie. He goes to kindergarden next year, and I really want to spend as much time as I can with him this year before he goes to school!

Grateful

I am SO grateful that I got hired to judge Middle School All-Region Band auditions this Saturday!! It's good money, but it just so happens that Saturday is Anna's last game, and I'm actually glad I'll miss it! If they win, they can clinch 3rd place in their division, if they lose, they have to wait on the outcomes of 2 games to see if they will place. I can't handle high-stress soccer! The games make me so nervous!!! So, I'll let Danny go to the game, while I keep myself occupied by judging, and wait for the text. Everyone say a prayer for the Panthers this Saturday! They need this win!!

Soccer Season!!

I love this time of year! Soccer season is in full swing, and although we're super busy, we have a lot of fun! Anna has practice twice a week, and that means that the boys and I get at least three hours of park play time each week! It's been SO much more fun since the weather has cooled down, although the girls played much better in 100+ degree temps! This season the team hired a professional photographer to take their pics, since our last photographer/coach retired and moved out of state. We really miss Coach Chief, but this photographer gave us nearly 300 photos on a disk for only $20! I've posted some of Anna's best pictures, although I had dozens to choose from! The season ends in 2.5 weeks, and while I will enjoy having a free Saturday, the boys and I will miss our scheduled park play dates!

Random Update

It looks like Anna's trying to strangle Eddie, but she's just giving him some love! Eddie loves to climb into bed with Anna and snuggle before I put him in his bed. He always begs to sleep with her! Anna is now taking piano lessons and loves to play the piano and practice her recorder for school!
Tommy is doing well in school, and his reading has improved drastically, but he has some major organizational problems! We're working on that. He's already grown an inch taller in the past 5 months!

Eddie went through a pajama phase back in winter and spring. He would wear them ALL DAY LONG! He even wore them to the baby-sitter's house a couple of times! I swear, I couldn't get him out of his jammas to save his life! He's now the complete opposite! If he could be naked all day he would! Now that he's potty-trained he actually sleeps better, and prefers his bed as opposed to the couch! He sleeps right through Tommy talking in his sleep! Yay!!!

Potty Training

I hate potty training. I really, REALLY do. During spring break, Danny and I decided to just get it over with. Eddie is 3 1/2, so he's definitely old enough, but he just didn't want to even look at the toilet. Well, we took away the diapers right after Julie's wedding, and MADE him sit on that darn toilet! I definitely have to say this was my least favorite spring break of all time. It's time consuming to potty train a kid who's not that into it, and I nearly gave up at least 5 different times. There might have been some crying and hysteria involved, but we won't get into that. After dozens of accidents though, Eddie finally "got it" last Friday and he hasn't looked back!! He even gave up his night time diapers!! I have been so blessed with my kids and night-time potty issues! I wet the bed FOREVER, but NONE of my children have! Eddie even woke me up a couple of days ago at 1am so I could take him to the potty! Wow. He has been accident-free for 5 days, 6 if you include today! Yay Eddie!!!

Day 30

My hopes, plans, and dreams for this year:

Well, this is the last of the 30-day blog thing. I hope that I continue to blog more and share what my family is up to. It's not been easy for me, but I've just got to suck it up and make time for it!

This year Danny and I plan to lose weight. It's our number one goal. We need to get in shape and become healthy role models for our children, especially Tommy!

We also need to get our roof and fence fixed, and re-seed our front lawn. We have been dreaming of getting new flooring for the living areas and re-painting the walls, but we'll see if that's in our budget this year. We would like to have our home in "for sale" condition by the end of the year. Not because we're planning on moving, but we'd like to be ready just in case. You never know.

That's about it. There's other stuff like: attending the temple more often, going on a family vacation this summer (ideas of where to go anyone?), helping Anna pass the TAKS, Tommy work on his organizational skills, and Eddie graduate from speech.

Day 29

My Testimony:

I know the church is true and I know that the Lord hears and answers our prayers. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and I know that Thomas S. Monson is our prophet today. I know that I will be with my family forever, and I will see my loved ones again in heaven.

Day 28

A person I love:

Duh. Danny!

Day 27

A Place I Love:

Home.

Day 26

A child I love:

I didn't post yesterday because of a sick kid, so you guys get two today!

I would be accused of favortism if I posted just one kid on here, so I'm posting about all three of my amazing kids! I love them SO much! Some days, one is easier to love than the others, but these kiddos totally rock my world. They each have their special talents and their own personalities.

Anna is artsy, loves to read, and can be really helpful when she's in the right frame of mind. She's also amazingly photogenic. This picture was taken by Mandie last fall.

Tommy is my videogame-aholic, but he's super sensitive and gives the best hugs! I discovered that I don't have many recent pictures of Tommy, mainly because he's in his "I'm a boy, so I'm going to make strange faces at the camera" phase. Oh well. I'll just have to work harder to get a good shot of him!

Eddie is my baby and always will be! He's such a great snuggler, but he's very independent-minded and strong willed! As I looked through the pictures I have of him, ALL of them had him with a runny nose!!! Good grief!