Other Christmas vacation fun

1. Danny, Steph & Co. came over the day after Christmas. We hung out, ate dinner together, and played games. It was fun!
2. I got to sleep in every other day. I finished The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown and read Dear John by Nicholas Sparks.
3. I went shopping in Cincinnati with two of my friends all day long! It was so much fun. Bought several things with my Christmas money. We even stopped at the Cheesecake*Factory for to go cheesecake on the way home. I brought Andy a piece to thank him for my day of girl time!
4. Andy and I celebrated our 9th anniversary! We ate lunch at Red*Lobster and ran errands, shopped, and just enjoyed being out without kids.
5. Had game night with my family at Cara's house. Fun!
6. Planned b-day parties for Wilson (GI JOE) and Luke (SPIDERMAN...again!). Did the party shopping and had fun with the boys.
7. Watched movies with Andy.
8. Enjoyed being with my family and lounging around the house in jammies. This has been a perfect vacation.

Now, ringing in the New Year with my hubby. All the boys are asleep. Tomorrow we need to take down Christmas decorations. I'm trying to get caught up on laundry and do some cleaning before I head back to work on Monday. :( I'll sure miss my boys!

Christmas Day

Tyler woke up first so I tried to keep him quiet until 7:15. Then the big boys woke up and we all came downstairs! They were adorable. Wilson ran to his new Lego garage and was pumped. Luke glanced at his box and then ran over to get Lottie's stocking for her before seeing what he got himself. He is so tender hearted! Then he realized Santa brought him a huge slot car racetrack. He was very excited! They dumped their stockings out and enjoyed seeing what was inside. Tyler got a See N Say and a little car garage. They also opened a couple presents from mommy and daddy. It was fun. Wilson bought me a gift with his own money. It was totally his own idea. He went up to Andy a couple days before Christmas and told him he wanted to buy me a present. I told Andy I really needed a new shower puff from Bath & Body W. So Wilson went and picked me out a red puff. It was so sweet! They started building Lego's and the racetrack with Andy while I got ready. We went to my grandparents for breakfast around 9:30. It was great to see my cousins! We were home in the afternoon and I took a big nap while the boys played. Then around 4 we went to my mom and dad's for opening gifts and dinner. It was a great evening. We even played Apples to Apples while the kids watched part of a movie. Christmas Day was wonderful and filled with family!

Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful Christmas! Having the week off leading up to Christmas is so nice. We made sugar cookies for Santa, bought the last minute gifts and wrapped lots of presents. On Christmas Eve morning we let the kids open their gifts from Mimi and Poppy. Luke opened a gumball machine was very excited about that. Wilson opened his pillow pet dog. They each got a game too. We went over to my mom's for a little while in the morning to hang out and let the kids exchange gifts with Terry. At 5pm we went to our church for the Christmas Eve service. Afterwards a group went to a local nursing home to sing carols in the hallways. We thought this would be a great service opportunity for our family to participate in together so we went. It was neat - the boys were of course shy but I think it was good for them. I had them waving to the residents as we caroled down the hall and Luke was brave enough to go up to some of them to give them the little potpourri gift we were handing out. Came home and read "The Night Before Christmas", set out the cookies and egg nog and convinced Wilson to go to sleep! They each got to open a gift from mommy and daddy before bed too. They were so excited. Andy and I had a lot of fun that night setting out gifts and stuffing their stockings. We always trade stockings that night too. We had a great day and I couldn't wait to wake up and see W & L's faces!

Ty's 15month Check-up

Ty went to the doctor on Monday for his 15 month check-up. Everything went well and he had to get 3 shots. He hated that! He weighs 26lbs, 7oz which is in the 73rd percentile. He is 32 1/2 inches tall (84th percentile) and he has a huge head - 99th percentile! He has 8 teeth now and say 2-3 words. He says uh-oh and quack quack really well. He sometimes says da-da. We're supposed to work on getting him to say more words. He can now fold his hands when we pray before eating dinner. He walks all around and is getting pretty good at it! He can stand up from squatting on his own and always wants to be held. He is so sweet! Love him so!

Wilson's Christmas Program

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Luke's Christmas Party

Make a Smilebox greeting

Major Breakthrough!

I am still in disbelief...but oh so proud of my Wilson. Wilson shocked me during his Kindergarten holiday program. You wouldn't believe how many conversations we have had about his upcoming program- not wanting to sing in front of people, wanting to skip school on the program days, etc. Anyway onto the positive - he not only sang, stood on the risers and did the hand motions- he played Rudolph in the last song!!!!!!!! I was in disbelief. Wilson came down by himself during the Rudolph song wearing a blinking nose and antlers. He skipped around the entire crowd waving while they sang the song. Then he came up to the front with the music teacher to take a bow. My heart was so proud of him for being courageous enough to allow himself to do that and have so much fun at it. His friend Matthew was supposed to be Rudolph but went home sick today. Wilson asked his teacher if he could be Rudolph. She said yes (though she was very surprised too!). I still can't believe he did it! This afternoon at home he couldn't stop talking about it. He is so proud of himself - and rightfully so. People at school that know him and his struggles with anxiety were overjoyed for him too. His assistant was crying she was so proud of him. It was amazing. I'm so glad he has this positive experience to remid himself that he can get through his tough times. My friend Shawna was there with her nice camera and got some good pictures. I'll have to post them soon. Wilson has mentioned over and over that if Matthew is sick he will gladly play Rudolph again. Poor thing has had a fever this afternoon though so I don't know if he'll get to be in the program tomorrow or not.

*On a side note Wilson is no longer ok with being called Will. Whenever I accidentally call him Will he corrects me and tells me he wants to be called Wilson. Fine by me, I prefer Wilson. It's just that I often shorten it to Will so I need to break that habit!

T-Dub

Yesterday we made the trek to CCH for a neurology appt. It was LONG. But uneventful! Yea! Tyler is developing as expected with no complications from his PWS. That is the news we want every time. We got there around 10am. Went to the dr room around 11am. Saw the doctor at 12:20pm. It took forever. FOREVER. Tyler was tired and hungry. There is only so much one can do to entertain in a tiny room for that long. Luke was with us too and he was such a trooper. I did venture out to find a snack machine and bought the boys some animal crackers eventually. The neurologist did spend about 20min with us asking questions and assessing etc. Ty also got his first round of H1N1 vaccine b/c they had it available and offered it to us. So at 1pm we were able to leave. Rushed out of there, drive thru at Wendy's, ate in the car, and made it back just in time to pick Wilson up from school! Best news: neurology doesn't want to see Ty for 1 year!

Tyler has also been cutting TWO teeth - one of the back molars and a tooth on the bottom left. Poor baby!

I am well and need to go get ready for work! I am so thankful to be healthy and able to go to work today. Plus, only 4 more days!!!

Flu Update

I hate being sick and having to miss work. My job is stressful but I enjoy it. I don't mind missing one day here and there but multiple days in a row and I start to stress out. My team and Brenda are taking good care of my sub/subplans/class etc. - I am sure! But I missed two SAT meetings, an ARC on a new student, club meeting (in which we were planning our Christmas party for our buddies), Primary Celebration where the club was being introduced, 1 day of secret santa, and tonight I have to miss the staff Christmas party. I am so bummed. I haven't been to the staff x-mas party in 3 years I think. Sick this year. Last year had a 3 month old baby and didn't want to be away, and I think it was cancelled the year before that. To make matters worse I am unable to access my school email at home right now due to a problem with my router. So I am totally disconnected. I love having days off but not when that means I am home sick. I am not good at sitting around doing nothing for days on end when I have to. I long for days off to relax but when everything is still going on without you it is hard!

Same at home. This sure makes it seem like my priorities are out of whack but even with being sick I've seen the boys a lot. I haven't been taking care of them but I've been in the same room watching them play etc. I miss holding Tyler and snuggling with my boys. That is for sure. Andy is holding down the fort. I know he is exhausted. I'm hoping no one else gets this.

I've been fever free for 48 hours but my sore throat is so awful. I've never had a sore throat this bad (but I've never had strep either). I called the dr today and they said the sore throat is a symptom of the flu. So I'm taking Tamiflu, ibuprofen, mucinex, and cloriseptic throat spray as recommended by my doctor. Pretty drugged up. I bought some icecream today - spumoni. Was pretty excited. I ate some this afternoon and it was so good. Made me wish to go eat at the Spaghetti Factory! I'm trying not to pout all night and hoping to attend Saturday's Christmas party...and hosting one here Sunday night!

Ty's walking video!

I Spy

Luke and Wilson like to play I Spy. We use it to pass time in the car, doctor's office, etc. Luke cracks me up. Wilson and I say "I spy with my little eye...". Not Luke. He says - every time - "I spy with my BIG eye"!!!! It makes me smile every time. If he accidentally starts to say little he corrects himself to big. I think it is so cute! I guess he thinks it is better to have a big eye than a little eye!

Tyler is walking!

Tyler is such a big boy - he is now walking around! He is wobbly and falls but he is doing well. I still can't believe it! He thinks he is big stuff. He is a climber too. He can climb on the coffee table in the basement. He loves to find one of Luke's stools and climb up on that. He is almost 15 months old. Starting to cut some teeth on the bottom. He's still holding at 6 teeth. I'll have to get a picture or video up soon. Yay Ty!

I have the flu.

It's true. It is miserable. And it's the first year in all 9 of my teaching years that I haven't gotten a flu shot. I ALWAYS get a flu shot. The boys all have had their shot, thankfully. But somewhere in the middle of that I never got around to getting myself a flu shot. Andy NEVER gets a flu shot so really hoping he doesn't catch this from me.

Last night it hit me but I didn't know what it was. My whole body was aching. I went to bed early. Woke up at 11pm and took motrin because my right ear was aching. Still felt bad. My plans were mostly ready but my room was a mess after rushing out of school after a long meeting on Tuesday. Plus I knew it would be hard to send Wilson in without the usual routine. So I went. And felt terrible. It was painful to teach reading for 2 hours feeling bad. Then writing.

Left school (with things ready for Thursday) and went to the dr. They tested me for flu and strep (my throat is also very sore). Came in and told me I had the flu. I'm on Tamiflu. Dr. wants me out the rest of the week. Did I have time to get stuff ready for Friday? Of course not.

I'm bummed. I hope hope hope I am feeling better by Friday evening. I have 3 Christmas parties to attend this weekend. I've been looking forward to them. So here's hoping.

So this is my 500th post.

Crazy! In honor of my 500th post I thought I'd post a link to my 100th post. I definitley won't try to write 500 things about myself!

Pepperoni Rolls

I thought I'd already posted this on the blog but couldn't find it to link in the previous post. Last year I sat and watched Carol make her basic bread dough. I put measurements to her recipe. She just makes it from memory without any real measurements. I came home and typed it all up and gave myself an official 'recipe' for her bread dough. It has helped my bread dough to turn out just right!

Carol's Pepperoni Rolls
1 pkg instant yeast
1 cup warm water (not hot)
3 cups flour
1/8 cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 T shortening
1 egg
Butter, melted
Pepperoni cut into bite size pieces

Pour yeast into cup of warm water. Do not stir. Let sit 1-2 minutes. Meanwhile, add flour, sugar and salt to bowl. After the water/yeast mixture sits for 1-2 minutes stir and mix the yeast into the dry ingredients. Add shortening and egg. Mix with spoon. Then mix by hand, adding enough flour so that the dough doesn’t stick to your hands. You want the dough to be elastic. Set in a warm place to rise until doubled. About 1 hour.
Cut pepperoni into bite size pieces. After the dough has doubled, pull a golf ball sized amount of dough, and push several pepperoni bites inside ~ 4-6 pieces with your thumbs until it is completely covered with dough. Dip dough ball into melted butter and place on stone. Repeat. One recipe should make about 12 rolls. Let rolls rise again, about 30 minutes.
Bake 10-12 minutes at 400 until lightly browned. After taking out of oven coat tops with butter. I just hold a stick and rub it on the top. Enjoy!

Blogger Doesn't do well with math.

So apparently I was a little ahead of the game. When I logged into blogger it said 500th post but my dear, sweet husband added up the posts from each year and informed me that I was NOT to 500 yet. :) So I think this is 498 or something. Almost there!

We've had a great weekend! Friday night Andy made homemade pizza- yum! We hung out around the house and after the boys went to bed watched The Holiday. Saturday I did some cleaning - I forgot to tell you I got a new vacuum! I now have the best vacuum I've ever owned. It works SO well. You wouldn't believe the amount of dirt and dust it gets each week. Crazy! I got it on Black Friday at Kohl'*s. For a really great deal. My dad let me spend part of our christmas money premature-ly since it was such a good deal. I have used it 3-4 times since just because I like it so much. Don't worry, that will wear off I'm sure! Every time I vacuum I show Andy the dirt inside and we're both amazed.

Back to Saturday...in addition to some cleaning we had the church christmas pageant rehearsal Saturday morning, then I ran some errands and did some Christmas shopping. I made pepperoni rolls and potato/broccoli/cheddar soup for dinner. Once the boys were in bed I wrapped presents while we watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Not my favorite but it was still fun to watch! Tonight is the annual variety show and christmas pageant followed by the youth coffee house. Looking forward to the variety show acts!

Christmas Decorations!

Check out some of our Christmas decorations - we've had so much fun figuring out where to put everything in our new house!

Here is the big family christmas tree down in the basement with all our ornaments.

Here is our first fire place and mantle! We were thrilled to hand our stockings! I also set out a lot of my snowman things across the top.

In our split foyer you look up and see this cut-out into the living room. I hated this when we bought the house and wanted to cut out the knee wall. Now I'm thinking that is way too much work! It will probably stay like this forever...so I made the best of it with more christmas decorations! Candles and figurines I haven't set out in years b/c of little fingers grabbing... :)

In our new house I set up 2 trees! A first for us! I've had the wish for a snowman tree for several years and always said when we move into a bigger house I was going to put all of my snowman ornaments on a tree. Here it is! I love it. This is an old tree we inherited and it works for now. I would love to have a taller skinny prelit tree eventually for this room.

Life is good...but sometimes hard.

Why? Why do I let the little things get me down? I have a wonderful life and family. Some days it is more than I can take in - being a fulltime working mom with 23 students all day then coming home to take care of my family, house, and all the daily things in life. Tonight I told Andy I thought I was going crazy. TOO MUCH! Wilson is whining all the time. Licking his lips all the time. He has a ring of red around his mouth everyday. I can't be there to apply aquaphor all the time. He has been struggling to walk to his class but once he is there and I am gone - he is fine. On the way to school today we had to talk about what happens if the school burns down. His worries and anxieties are pushing me over the edge. It feels like it has gotten so much worse lately. Sometimes I just want to scream instead of explain, forewarn, promise it will all be okay AGAIN. Today at school I cried. I worry about him. I usually can set his worries aside and don't let them get to me but today I couldn't. I don't want him to deal with this forever. He has his second appt with the play therapist tomorrow.

Then I opened the letter from CCH about Tyler's last hemangioma/dermatology appointment 5 months ago. Reading the dr reports just throw the whole "capillary malformation" back in my face. They make it sound so real. The reports are good but all the "no complications at this time" etc just make my mind wonder what if... I have been doing so well with just trusting God, that he is in control. I need to give it over to God again and not worry about the silly dr report we got in the mail. The doctor's at CCH are so nice and thorough. I appreciate the reports, it just makes me realize how serious his port wine stain is - because of what it could become.

Just a hard day as a momma. I know it will all work out okay.

Pitiful

I took Luke and Tyler to the doctor this evening. Luke had an ear infection. Tyler has a double ear infection and bronchitis. Poor boys. Ty had just finished an antibiotic last Monday. Hopefully they'll start feeling better in a couple of days. The doctor told me to percuss? Ty's back (that may totally be the wrong word...) 3 times a day for 3 minutes each time. It's cupping your hand and patting him on the back to loosen the junk in his chest. I tried tonight. Lasted about 20-30 seconds...how are you supposed to get a 14 month old to sit still and thump on their back for 3 minutes?

Pomegranate Punch

Pomegranate-Champagne Punch

1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice
1 cup pear nectar
1/4 cup orange liqueur
1 bottle (750ml) champagne (I used Cook's since it was going in a punch)

Mix first 3 ingredients. Slowly add champagne. Serve over ice.

Click title for picture. Yum!!

Thankful Post

I have so much to be thankful for in life. I know I'm a few days late but I still want to take the time to share what I am thankful for...
* My husband who loves me and can fix EVERYTHING!
* Wilson- my hard worker and helper who is learning so much!
* Luke- my sweet tender hearted boy who has a great sense of humor!
* Ty- so sweet and I LOVE to kiss those soft, full cheeks!
* My mom, dad, sister, Maw-maw, Paw-paw, Carol, Dan, SIL's, BIL's, nieces, nephews, and all the extended family we have!
* Living close to a big part of our extended family. We won't give that up.
* A job so we can pay the bills!
* Our house- we have enough room to spread out and even have people over now!
* 2 cars that run! We're very thankful for our van!
* Andy's part time youth pastor job that allows him to stay home with our boys
* getting to take Wilson to the school where I teach!
* my small group
* our church
* the unconditional love that I don't deserve from my Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ
...and SOO many more!!!

Thanksgiving

This has been such a wonderful Thanksgiving! We stayed home for the first time in 10 or more years. It was nice to have the boys in their own rooms for sleeping. It is hard to have 5 people in one bedroom! We spend Thanksgiving with Andy's family and even though we were home we were still together which was nice! Wednesday night all 20 people came here. I made a big pot of chili, pumpkin dessert, and pomegranate punch (recipe to come). Everyone else contributed paper products, hot dogs for the kids, fruit/veggies, and drinks. It was a nice evening. The cousins had a blast of course (9 kids). On Thursday we got together for our Thanksgiving lunch at our church. It just made it easier to have more room for so many people. We brought our food already cooked to the church and hung out downstairs while the turkeys heated up. The cousins had drawn names so they got to open their gift from each other while Ethan, Finley, and Rori were in town. Thursday night was girls night and we all went to see New Moon. I loved it. Great movie. Team Edward for me...though I like Jacob better after seeing the movie. He is good for Bella! On Friday we met up for lunch at Cheddar's and then Friday night was boys night. They hung out at a friend's house and watched the WV game. The girls and kiddos got together at my house for pizza and makeovers. The kids were playing and all the girls did Mary Kay makeovers. It was fun! Now the Florida family is gone...time to get back to the usual routine. It was a GREAT Thanksgiving holiday! Today we are decorating for Christmas after church!

Good News!

No termites!

Updates from the last post!

Luke's head is healing. The bump is gone but the bruise looks awful. I'm trying not to be paranoid of him falling again but it's hard!

Tyler's appointment at CCH went very well. No ophthalmology concerns! ie: no glaucoma! Next appointment is in about a month for neurology.

Wilson is struggling again with walking to his class. He is licking his lips until his skin is raw. How many times a day can andy or I tell him to put chapstick on? Tonight I'm getting aquaphor to try b/c the vaseline at night isn't cutting it.

Termite inspection didn't happen on Wednesday, it is now scheduled for tomorrow morning.

I've got to go Shred!

Luke's Fall

Yesterday after church we were standing outside. Andy and I were talking and the kids were running around with their cousins. There were a lot of people hanging around talking. We were getting ready to go and had called the boys to come. Wilson runs by, then Luke. Next thing I know I watch Luke trip and fall. He fell face first into the concrete. He did not catch his fall at all other than with his forehead. The sound of the head hitting the concrete was horrible - I could feel the thud. I dropped what I was holding and grabbed him up. There was already a huge knot on his head, turning blueish/purple. I froze. Andy grabbed him from me to get ice on his head and I just stood there holding Ty. I guess Andy handed me Ty when he took Luke from me...I have no idea. Thankfully, my friend Heather asked me if she could take Ty so I could go check on Luke and I snapped to it and ran in to check on him. I think I was panicking and in shock that it looked so horrible immediately. I ran in and Andy had ice on it and he was sobbing. We sat down and Nellie, a woman at our church who is also a nurse checked him out. I was crying at this point because my baby boy was hurting and it looked so awful. I just hurt for him. I hated that it happened. After ten minutes or so we walked outside. I called the after hours clinic for our Doctor's office and they talked to me about signs for concussion and what to do in 2 hours, 4 hours, and the next two nights. Then Luke had a big cup of icecream from McDon*ald's for lunch. He was pitiful. We couldn't give him any tylenol because we were watching for the pain to go away, dr's orders. We were supposed to keep a very close eye on him for 2 hours. Then last night and tonight we are to wake him every 4 hours to check that he can talk and walk. It was so scary. I am so thankful that he is ok.

Last week Wilson got tubes. Yesterday Luke had a bad fall. Tomorrow Tyler goes to CCH for an eye appointment. Today Andy told me he thinks we might have termites. We have an appointment on Wednesday. What else? I can't take any more!

The First Appointment

Today Wilson had his first appointment with the play therapist. I told him about it as we were literally running out of school to the car. I didn't want him to stress about it beforehand. He handled it well and I explained why we were going, that she was going to be his friend, someone with whom he could talk about his worries. When we got there he was nervous but I was right there with him. We sat down while he met J and then she gave him a tour of her office and playroom. He was excited about the playroom. Then she asked him if I could wait down stairs on the couch while they played and talked. He was hesitant but agreed to it and did so well! I could hear faintly some of the things they talked about. He was open and willing to talk! I was so proud of him.
- They made a bag of his worries. I was really straining to hear these- good thing b/c I learned about some new ones he hadn't shared. My heart was breaking listening to these. I'm glad I strained to hear because when we left and were talking, he didn't repeat them to me.
- They are referring to his worry as a dragon- his fear feeds the dragon and she is teaching him that he shouldn't feed the dragon.
- He got to play in some sand while they talked.
- They practiced a breathing exercise he is supposed to do when he feels the worry coming over him (breathe in 5, hold 5, breathe out 5).
- He said he comes to him mommy for help when he is worrying. And he does. Though some of his worries I had no idea about. I hate that he carries this around inside of him. She said it was really good that he has a coping strategy already of coming to me for help. I am SO thankful for J and how willing Wilson was about talking to her. This could be a great thing!

Wilson has tubes!

Yesterday Wilson did so well getting his tubes. I am so thankful that they are in - now he'll be able to hear better! He did such a good job at the Surgery Center. I think he wanted tubes badly enough (so that he could hear) that he didn't whine about it too much beforehand. The night before he realized getting tubes gave him an extra day off so he was okay with it!! The morning of he was hungry and upset about not being able to eat. Once we got there I could tell he was nervous but he held it together. I was so proud of him! We had explained how everything would work and the nurses there were very kind to him. When it was time for him to walk back without us he was definitely nervous and did not want us to leave him - but we had to. I hated not being able to stay with him until he was asleep but I made myself walk away and told him I loved him and he could do it! He held the male nurse's hand and walked with him. He didn't want to ride on the rolling bed! Then Andy and I turned the corner and sneakily watched him walk all the way down the hall like a big, brave boy! I was so proud of him because I know that it was hard for him to do. About 15-20 minutes later he was done and starting to wake up. He got a purple popsicle. Then we took him to Pan*era, his breakfast choice so he could get a pumpkin muffin. He ate the WHOLE thing! Usually he just gets a muffie...so this was pretty special!!

Wilson is getting tubes on Monday. He is doing very well at school. He enjoys school and his friends. He is doing well on all of his weekly sight word tests and has gotten 100% on each of his spelling tests so far. I'm so proud of him! Academically and socially he is making a lot of progress. He had a great first report card. I'm so thankful he is having a great first experience with school...but I knew he would because I got to pick his teacher! Thanks Mrs. Dowd!

Luke had a nightmare about worms being in his bed a couple nights ago. I went in there and he adamantly told me there were worms in his bed!!! I had to calm him down and tell him there were no worms in his soft cozy, bed. A few weeks before that he fell out of bed one night. I heard him crying and went in there. Felt around and his bed was empty. I just sat there confused for a few seconds and then I heard "I'm under here!". He had fallen out of bed and somehow ended up underneath his bed! I laughed out loud in the middle of the night!

Tyler has 6 teeth. He points at everything. He is crusing around but not walking and eating everything in sight! He loves watching his big brothers and being around them. He also likes looking out the window of his room to see what is going on. He still loves his swing outside too.

The big boys got two new pairs of shoes each today. Wilson's foot had grown a whole size!

I got some me time today and went to Kohl's and Wal*mart. I bought a pair of flat black shoes I really like and ...30 Day Shred. It about killed me tonight. My muscles were like jello for a while. I know I will be sore tomorrow. I haven't run in a long time. I hate to run at night in the dark and it gets dark so early. Hoping I can do 30 days...in a row - or as close to in a row as possible.

Happy Birthday to Andy!

A couple days late, but we've been busy! Happy 31st birthday sweetie! Andy's birthday was on Thursday. He had a nice day. We celebrated at his favorite restaurant, O'Char*ley's with his side of the family. I made him his dessert of choice, Mountain Mama Mudslide, and the boys and I gave him his gift. He wants to go on a backpacking trip to Colorado so we're going to make it happen! We also got him a couple of "stuff bags" for back packing...I think that is what they are called.

Last night Andy and I went on a date. We went out for dinner - just the two of us - and then to see David Crowder in concert!!! The concert was more for me cause I wanted to go really badly but it was nice to have a date night together! Andy enjoyed the concert as well and we met Cara and Jason at the concert and sat together. Fun times! Crowder band was awesome in concert. He had me laughing at the things he talked about between songs. He was so down to earth and real. I thoroughly enjoyed the concert. Couldn't tell you how many years it has been since I've been to a concert.

Andy rented a movie of his choice for tonight, he's watching GI J*oe. I'm going to read! I think he's had a good birthday! (picture to come of Andy in his Snu*ggie as soon as I can get him to put it on...he got one from his uncle for his birthday and I just can't wait to see him use it! Don't know if he ever will!!)

Chicken Stir-Fry

YUM. Dinner tonight was delicious! I've tried so many stir fry recipes and this is the winner! It is from Pioneer Woman, I just changed some of the veggies to suit our taste. We used broccoli, carrots, green onions, red pepper, baby corn, and water chesnuts. I left out the cilantro. I love cilantro but didn't use it in stir fry. The rest of the recipe I followed as stated on her blog. Here is the recipe.

Halloween Pics

Luke's pumpkin

Wilson's pumpkin

Ty-ger!

The boys had a great time trick or treating last night as Spiderman and Optimus Prime. We went around our court and then down part of my grandparents street. Our area was kind of dead! We definitely don't need to buy much candy for trick or treaters. On Thursday, Luke had his first preschool party. He sang the songs, participated in the costume parade, and played the games. SO different from when Wilson had parties at preschool. He wouldn't sing any of the songs and HATED the costume parade! They are so different. Tyler was along for the ride as a tiger.

Cheesy Veggie Soup

I've gotten a lot of good recipes from co-workers. I love when we have snack days and people bring various foods to share. I've gotten a lot of good recipes this way! I'm glad I finally made a pot of this soup at home!

6 cups water
2 cans chicken broth
1/2 cup diced onion
2 cups diced potato
2 cups diced celery
salt and pepper

Pour these ingredients into a large pot. Cook for about 20 minutes on med-high heat.

Now add:
2 cans cream of chicken soup (I used 98% fat free)
1 1/2 pounds velveeta, cubed (used 1/2 less fat velveeta)
1 1/2 bags california blend frozen veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots)
Turn heat down so you don't burn the cheese on the bottom of the pan (I'm not saying I did this or anything...). Cook until cheese is melted and soup is heated through.

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch!

This past Saturday we finally made it to the pumpkin patch! It was a fun time. We were glad to have Mimi and Poppy join us for the fun. The boys had a great time choosing their pumpkins, riding in the wagon, and riding on the train. They had been to the play area not too long ago for a birthday party so we decided not to spend a small fortune on that! We bought a few apples, donuts, and pumpkins. As soon as we got home we started working on our pumpkins. The boys finished carving them on Sunday and they look great! I'll have to take pics of their carved pumpkins.

Checkout the new fire helmet Wilson saved his allowance up to buy! He wore it all weekend!


Pure joy!

The annual orchard photo!

The Appointment

Andy and I met with the Play Therapist today to discuss Wilson's worrying. We walked out of there both feeling great and knowing that this was the next step we needed to take. We were really happy meeting the PT. She seems very down to earth, understanding and she is a Christian. This is a Christian counseling group so we knew that going in, but she prayed with us before we left and it just felt right...

We talked to her about the types of things Wilson worries about. We gave her numerous examples that have occurred over the last couple months. Told her about his nervous habits he does when he is anxious and answered her questions. She reaffirmed us and told us that it sounds like we are doing a really good job helping him manage his anxiety by talking him through things yet still pushing him to try new things. She agreed that there does indeed seem to be a problem and through some play therapy sessions she can help him learn how to deal with his worries. She explained how she'll talk to him and some strategies she'll use. Andy or I can stay with him for as long as he needs one of us to while he is there. Meaning she won't try to separate him from us during his appts unless it just happens naturally without causing him more anxieyt. Everything about the appt went well and felt right. I'm so thankful we took this step and look forward to how it will help Wilson deal with his anxiety. Thank you, Lord!

Wilson Update + Fun Weekend

Wilson is scheduled to get tubes on November 9th. He saw the ENT this week and still had fluid on his ears even after his antibiotic he finished a week ago. ENT said it looked like a chronic problem and the tubes would definitely help him to feel better. Looking forward to those being put in so he can stay healthy!

On Saturday Andy and I meet with the play therapist to let her know what our concerns are regarding Wilson and his anxiety. I am looking forward to her opinion and knowing what plan of action we should take if any.

Looking forward to a fun fall weekend! I'm planning to make pumpkin- looking cake pops tomorrow night with the boys. Saturday we're planning to go to the pumpkin patch, and Sunday is our annual harvest party at church! It's going to be a great weekend!

Fall is here!

Isn't this a beautiful color! I had driven by this tree a couple of times and decided I wanted to walk to it to see it even better and get a picture. Tyler and I walked yesterday to get the picture. It is even better in person. Last week for fall break we went to Great Wolf Lodge with my side of the family. It was SO much fun! I seriously want to go back again! It was tough having a baby because of naps and him needing to be held while at the water park. But Andy and I did have fun taking turns riding the big tube water slides and we did the lazy river as a family. My mom kept Ty so the four of us could ride the group tube slide. That was fun! Then my dad, sister and I rode the "roller coaster" water slide. GWL is so cool! The kids enjoyed not only the waterpark but also the halloween trail that was inside and the arcade. Our room was nice and the kids got to sleep in the Wolf Den Lodge. You can click the name of the room to see a picture of what it looked like. We were too busy having fun and watching kids in the water to take pictures. On our way up to the Lodge we shopped at IK*EA and then on the way home we stopped at a GREAT outlet mall. We bought just a few things at Ik*ea (seriously spent less than $8!) and 1 thing at the outlet malls (a large le creuset crock for holding all of my spatulas etc on the counter)- but I could have spent a lot more!! We went in maybe 4 stores because of kids and time etc. But I know where it is now and I plan to go back!

Poor Andy...

The bone that is broken is under the dark purple spot...

So swollen...

Last night Andy went to play softball with the men's team from church. He was playing 1st base and caught a throw from 3rd. It was low towards the ground and when he caught it in the tip of his glove it hit his ring finger on his left hand really hard. He said it hurt really bad and he moved himself to out field so he wouldn't need to catch any more hard throws. By the time he got home from playing the whole game his finger was purple and really swollen. Looked awful. He put ice on it and took motrin. This morning he went to the doctor and found out that it was indeed broken, right on the tip. The blood that has pooled up around the tip is causing him a lot of pressure. The doctor thought it needed to be drained so they sent him to a hand specialist. Due to the broken bones they were unable to drill a hole in the nail because the risk of infection was too high. He has to wait it out and let it heal on it's own. The doctor gave him a couple prescriptions and a little splint for the top joint of his ring finger. I know it is bothering him a lot but he was working on insulating the downstairs bathroom when I got home from work. They he helped make dinner. He's a trooper! I picked up his prescriptions on my way home and got him some peanut butter M&M's to help him feel better. :) I'm so thankful that my principal told me to go with Andy to the dr when I ran into her office this morning to tell her what was going on. Andy had Ty and at that point we thought he was going to have a hole drilled into his nail. He couldn't do that alone with a baby! He swung by and got me on the way to the doctor so that he could go to his appointment while I kept Ty and picked Luke up from preschool. So thankful that my principal made it easy for me to be with my family during the emergency!

Another set of tubes?

Wilson has had trouble with fluid on his ears for about 3 weeks. He's been having trouble hearing and home and at school. Made a follow-up appt for today and they said he still has lots of fluid and the nurse at the appt today did a hearing test and said he did really bad on it...so we have been referred to the ENT for tubes. Calling tomorrow to make the appointment.

Officially done nursing.

Luke points with his middle finger. All the time. With his MIDDLE finger!

Should I chop off my hair?

Fall break next week!

Tree House (aka Sky Castle!)

I finally took pictures of the tree house Andy has been building. The boys are thrilled beyond words. The playset part of the tree house isn't finished but the tree house part is complete. This week Andy finished the beam for Ty's swing. He loves his swing! Notice his new shoes in the picture too...you can't even tell they are triple wide, huh?! Wilson and Luke love going up in the tree house with their friends. The ladder is so cool- when you step on the ladder it slides down about 9 inches which opens the trap door to the tree house. So when they are up there the trap door is closed and they are safe! I know there will be many fun times in the club house with friends! The boys are SO lucky to have a daddy willing to design and build a treehouse for them. Thanks to Poppy and Uncle Bill for helping Daddy too!

Inside the treehouse!

Energy, is this what you feel like?

Dear Energy,
I have missed you for a long time. Today as I was cooking dinner I felt different and I didn't quite know what I was experiencing. Finally it dawned on me that it was you! I wish you came around more often but I think I know why you were able to visit today. I only taught my students for 30 minutes this morning, 40 minutes this afternoon, and did dismissal. The rest of the day I was away from the building at a training. I learned a lot but I wasn't teaching 24 students intervention reading, writing, and intervention math. All I taught this afternoon was social studies. I love when you come around. Try to visit more often!
Love,
alyssa

Bean and Cheese Dip

Yum. Tonight I made this bean dip (scroll down until you see it) to go with our favorite chicken quesadillas. We have been eating the quesadillas for a while from Annie's Eats and love them. We don't grill them like it says in the recipe. Just cook them in a skillet. Now I love the bean dip too! It is really good and was very easy to make. Win-win! There are pictures of both recipes on her blog. Enjoy!

Size 4, Triple Wide

So I took Tyler to HC, our favorite children's shoe store for his first pair of shoes. Yes, you read that correctly! First pair of shoes. I've never put my little babies in shoes, can't be comfortable or necessary on someone so little. Now that he is pulling up and cruising and is a big one year old we figured it was time. Each of our boys have gotten their first pair of shoes with the talking tree. They have all been the same shoe too, just different sizes. Well when I took Tyler in today they measured his foot without socks on. She looked at his foot after measuring and mentioned that she'd bring out out the 4 wide. That shoe didn't fit so she went back to get another pair. I figured she was getting a bigger size...but no, a WIDER shoe in the same size! After getting those on his feet and letting him cruise around I told her we'd take that pair. I asked her what size we ended up with and she said a 4, triple wide!!!! I laughed out loud!

* I'll add a picture with him wearing his new shoes soon...the shot above was my only chance to get a picture of him - my photographer wasn't with me! He was home working on the playset.

**Ty went to sleep tonight without nursing for the first time. I might be officially done nursing.

Growing Up!

Last night Wilson got to go to Fabtastic Friday at our church. It is for K-5th graders. They ate pizza at church and then went bowling. I was so proud of him for going! He was super excited and looked forward to it for over a week. When he got there he did get nervous and tried to change his mind but Andy convinced him to stay and he ended up having a fun time! It was weird having Wilson out doing something on his own - crazy that we have a child old enough for that now! It was nice but different! Luke was pretty sad that he didn't get to go so we let him choose where to eat for dinner (he wanted a hot dog from 5 guys) and then came home for game time. I put Ty to bed and me, Luke and Andy played games. It was fun! We played Cooties, Bob the Builder Memory and Diego dominoes. When Wilson came home he was all excited and told us about bowling and how much fun he had. Good times :)

Made the Call.

We decided to call the play therapist. Why has it taken me so long to make the call? I don't know. But I did it tonight and hopefully we'll hear back from her in the next couple of days. At this point we're just going to set up a meeting for me and Andy to go in and talk to her and see where we need to go from there.

Guilty Pleasure...and other things.

I'm reading the Twilight series through for the 2nd time. I started book 3 this weekend. Every night when I crawl into bed after a long, hard day filled with children - I just smile and pull my book off my night stand and have a few minutes of happiness reading before I can't stay awake any longer...in general...10-15 minutes!! I don't know why but I really love those books and I'm not one who normally re-reads many books. I'm enjoying it even more the second time around.

How do you get a kid to stop licking their lips? Wilson does it all the time. No matter what time of year. Now that it is getting cooler, he's going to look like he's wearing lip gloss. We give him chapstick, I smear him with vaseline, and when I'm able to find the aquaphor I use that too. But the constant lip licking is what I need to remedy...

I may have posted this before. I want DVR. Television is the thing I've given up after having child #3 (well given it up after maternity leave ended!). If we had DVR I could have that set for the two shows I like to watch and then watch them whenever I have the opportunity. It's just not working for me to have to watch them when they are on. Plus I'm way behind from missing about the last 1/3 of last season. Andy's looking into cable because we're THOSE kind of people that still live in the dinosaur age without cable. It's just that we've not had it for the almost 9 years (NINE YEARS!!!) we've been married - so to add that to our budget, that's a big chunk o' money every month...how much is it after the promotions end?? Is it worth the $ when you don't watch a lot of TV?

And the winner is...

Forgot to flip - Andy's is on the bottom, mine is on the top.

Mine are on the left. Andy's are on the right. Can you tell who the perfectionist is in our family?!

Andy! His pretzels won the bake off! We had fun making our soft pretzels yesterday. Wilson and Luke couldn't choose between us, they gave us both 10's. Then we had Poppy swing by and he tasted them and voted. When my mom and Terry stopped by we had then taste the pretzels too! Terry chose mine and my mom's words were "but I don't know which one is yours!" She totally wasn't biased or anything...! She liked both but her vote went for Andy's. I also voted for Andy's but still like the ones that my recipe makes. His are more buttery - mine are better for you! I've already posted my recipe on the blog. You can find it here. Below is the recipe for the winning pretzels from our bake-off!

Almost Famous Soft Pretzels

1 cup milk

1 pkg instant active dry yeast

3 T light brown sugar, packed

2 1/4 cups flour, plus more for kneading

10 T unsalted butter, plus more for greasing

1 t. salt

1/3 cup baking soda

2 T coarse salt

1. Warm milk in a saucepan until it's about 110; pour into a medium bowl and sprinkle in yeast. Let the yeast soften, about 2 minutes; stir in the brown sugar and 1 cup flour with wooden spoon. Dice 2 T butter and soften; sitr into the mix. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour and the teaspoon of salt to make a sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth but still slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. (Andy used my stand mixer with dough hook). Shape into ball, place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap in a warm place until doubled in bulk. About 1 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 450 and grease a large baking sheet. Punch the dough to deflate it, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Roll and stretch each piece with the palms of your hands until you have a 30inch rope. Hold the ends and slap the middle of the rope on the counter as you stretch. Form into a pretzel shape.

3. Dissolve the baking soda in 3 cups of warm water in a shallow baking dish. Gently dip each pretzel in the soda solution, then arrange on baking sheet and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake 10-12 minutes.

4. Melt the remaining 8 T of butter in a shallow dish. Dip the hot pretzels in the butter, turning to coat. Place on a wire rack and let excess butter drip off.

A Good Saturday

This morning I ran my first 5K race since college! I've been running the C25K and this was my goal- to run in the Race for the Cure. It was raining and pouring but I refused to give up! I ran the whole way and finished in 34 minutes. I was proud of myself! My feet were very soggy and I was soaked but it feels good to have accomplished my goal.

Before lunch Andy, Wilson and I worked on organizing the play room. Andy put up a new shelf to hold some of the rubbermaid tubs and toys. It looks great! Now the boys can actually play in there.

This afternoon Andy and I are going to have a pretzel bake off. I've made soft pretzels once that were deliccious and so has Andy. So we're each going to make our recipe and have a taste test! The boys are pretty excited about tasting the pretzels. It is so nice having today to do whatever we want! Looking forward to a nice afternoon!

Busy Days

5:15am- Alarm. Snooze.
5:30 (sometimes 5:45)- Get up, shower, start getting ready.
6:10- Breakfast, coffee, finish getting ready
6:50- Walk out the door with Wilson in tow to drive to school. Thankfully Andy gets up and gets Wilson dressed and gives him breakfast.
7:05- Rush into school
4:15- Leave school with Wilson to go home
4:30- get home and see my boys- hang out
5:15ish- make dinner, eat dinner, clean-up kitchen, few more minutes of play time for the boys
7:15- Wilson's shower
7:30- pj's for boys, bedtime routine, feed Tyler,
8:00- Make lunch, coffee, get ready for next day,
8:15- work around house, read small group book, go for a run, get on computer, hang out with Andy
9:15-get ready for bed, read, go to sleep around 10pm

Is it summer yet?

Consignment Sale

175 items.
A couple weeks ago I made a mountain of clothes size newborn- 12 months that we were finished using since Ty has outgrown 12 month clothes. Anything that was winter/fall went into the sale pile. Bottles, baby toys, the swing, socks, shoes, etc. Then, starting this past Saturday for each of these 175 items I have snapped all the snaps, buttoned all the buttons, put them on hangers facing just so. Pinned a tag on the upper right hand corner. Entered all the information into the computer so that the tags could be generated. Priced everything. Put non-clothing items in ziploc baggies. Labeled the baggies. Sorted by size. Somehow I started on Saturday and attached the last tags today at 5:20pm. Andy was working the set-up shift at 5:30 and taking all of our items in with him. I did it! I met the deadline. Thank you Andy for helping me last night! Thank you to my mom for getting all of the hangers! I couldn't have finished without your help. Hopefully many of our items will sell and this won't all be for nothing! :)

First Haircut

Before

This isn't really a happy face... :)

Little Tyler went for his first haircut today! He wasn't so sure about it at all - didn't like the cape, didn't like the scissors, and was quite wiggly! He looks so handsome with his haircut. What a big boy! He sat in my lap which made things better. Daddy pulled out the fruit puffs half way through to combat those wiggles!

Ty likes his new milk!

Tyler is really enjoying his whole milk now! He has figured out how to use a straw cup and a sippy cup. I am so glad he is transitioning so easily to his milk! I am working on cutting out a second feeding. Then it's just the bedtime feeding to cut. Yipee! So proud of our big boy! He is beginning to cruise around furniture. He is a big ham for the camera. As soon as Andy started to take a picture he pulled his cup out and smiled! His 5th tooth is almost through the gums. He is wearing 18 month clothes now and is such a handsome big boy!

Luke

He has said some cute things the last few days! At bedtime the boys like me to "squeeze and scratch" their backs. The last few days Luke has been asking me to rub his back by saying :
rub and scratch / the next day: scratch and scrub / and tonight: squeeze and scratch. When he said it correctly I was kind of dissapointed because the others were so cute! When he said scratch and scrub last night I almost busted out laughing.

Today after school he told me he learned that azul is blue in Spanish. Then he remembered that everyone will get a turn to be the "leader". Meaning line leader. I am SO glad we decided to send him to 3year old preschool! He LOVES school!

1 Year Check-Up

Ty went to the doctor today for his 1 year checkup. He had a great visit other than the two shots that hurt his feelings! He also had stranger anxiety which was a first - sometimes he doesn't want people to take him from his mommy or daddy but today as Dr I got near him he'd start crying! I talked to Dr. I about Ty's non-interest in any type of sippy cup so far. The I'm-not-going-to-drink-out-of-this-non-boob-thing syndrome. (Well, maybe not in so many words). He suggested trying a regular cup! Why hadn't I thought of that?! Tyler is such a determined little guy - of course he wants to start from a cup (and will hopefully then switch to sippy cups later). He tried his whole milk tonight and did well from the big boy cup. I cut the afternoon feeding today. Yay! Now just the morning and night to work out of our routine over the next 2 weeks.
Height: 31 1/4 inches (87%ile)
Weight 24 pounds, 7 oz (72%ile)
Head: 50cm (99%ile) My Tyler, what a big brain you have!!

Tyler is one!

He woke up one happy boy and opened his new tugboat bathtub toy from us.

Started the day with daddy's pancakes!


Opening presents with help from his cousins.

Tyler's cake.

Realizing that this is pretty tasty!

Happy Birthday Tyler!

We had a great day celebrating our big boy! I can't believe he is one! The weather was beautiful today - we were able to celebrate with both sides of the family. We had Ty's party at lunch time in our backyard. We had pizza (one of Ty's many favorites!), dorito salad, carrots, and birthday cake. Tyler ate a huge piece of sausage pizza and a lot of his cake. I have made each of the boys their own star shaped 1st birthday cake with cool whip icing. Ty wasn't so sure about the feel of the cool whip but once he found the cake underneath he got serious! In the end he was one chocolately little boy with a blue nose. So sweet! He got a few new toys, some sippy cups, and lots of new clothes. He also got a swing for the tree house/play set that Andy is building. It has been a wonderful day celebrating our Ty. We love you T-Dub!!

Luke's 1st Day!

Luke had his 1st day of preschool today! He had a great morning and went into his classroom so easily. Andy said he walked right in to his room! He was happy and all smiles when Andy picked him up from school. He told us a little bit - that they played in the gym, had a cookie to celebrate someone's birthday for snack, and that he had fun. When I was laying next to him in bed tonight he said "When somone has something that you want to play with you have to ask for it first." So glad that something else from his day came out! It's so funny how kids process things - it seems like things just pop into their heads at times. He is precious in his first day Spiderman t-shirt and new backpack he picked out a couple weeks ago when I took him school shopping. He asked if he got to go back again tomorrow!

Soft Pretzels - YUM!

Soft Pretzels

Ingredients:

For the dough:

1½ cups warm water (110-115° F)

1 tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. kosher salt

2¼ tsp. instant yeast

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Vegetable oil, for greasing the bowl

For finishing:

Cooking spray

10 cups water

2/3 cup baking soda
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp. water

Pretzel (or kosher) salt

Directions: To make the dough, combine the water, sugar, salt and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed to dissolve the yeast. Add in the flour and melted butter and mix just until the dough comes together. Switch to the dough hook and knead on medium speed until the dough is smooth and clears the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a bowl lightly greased with vegetable oil, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place, about 50-55 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Preheat the oven to 450° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray. Bring the water and baking soda to a boil in a large saucepan or stockpot. In the meantime, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll a segment out into a 24-inch long rope. Make a U-shape with the rope and holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and onto the bottom of the U-shape in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough. Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 or 2 at a time, for 30 seconds. Remove from the water with a slotted skimmer and return to the baking sheet. Once all the pretzels have been boiled, brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle lightly with salt. Bake in the preheated oven until dark golden brown, about 12-14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.
From Annie's Eats

A Good Saturday!

Saturday was a great day! I hung out at home all day - ran, did some cleaning, hung out with the boys and made brownies. Then last night Andy and I had a date night. We used a gift certificate I'd gotten at the end of school and mom/dad watched the boys. So we had a free date night which is always nice! It was so wonderful to just spend time with Andy over a nice dinner. Then we went to Tar*get to get Ty's birthday presents. It was so nice to have him all to myself! I've been so tired this weekend I've gone to bed a little after 10 both nights. Hopefully the extra sleep will help. I slept in till 9am today! Yesterday Andy and the boys started work on a treehouse in the back yard. It will have a post of it's own! Stay tuned! Today we went to church and now I'm going to finish cleaning the upstairs while Ty naps. Making a new crockpot dinner for tonight and will post it if it's good! I got it off of Cara's blog. So thrilled about this 3 day weekend! I have brought quite a bit of school work home so I need to make time for that today. I'm planning to rent Twilight and watch it again since I finished reading the book for the 2nd time this past week. It was even better the second time around!

Should I be concerned?

I feel a little weird writing this post but I honestly don't know what to do about this situation...I'm hoping some of you will have some advice or experience or even just an opinion to share! I am worried about Wilson. I think I may need to call his pediatrician. He is such a worrier. To the point that I think he has anxiety - just like his mom. It is so hard for me to admit this because I believe that if he has anxiety it is my fault. I have been taking medication for my anxiety for 6 years. Here are some of the examples of why I think there may be a problem:
* EVERY day he asks me if there is going to be a fire drill at school
* tonight he was crying and worried about poison - why? because Andy saw a black widow spider at church TWO years ago. How did this pop into his head tonight?
* A couple weeks ago at school he was in the bathroom. School was already out. He was crying in the bathroom because he thought the toilet was going to overflow. The toilet wasn't full. He'd never seen a school toilet overflow. He hadn't even flushed the toilet yet...he was just sitting there crying because he was afraid it MIGHT overflow. He has only seen 1 toilet overflow is all of his 5 1/2 years
* He does not do well with change or new things
* He is struggling to walk to his class which is 3 doors down from my classroom. He has done it for 2 days- yesterday there were tears! But he did it (and earned animal crackers out of the vending machine after school)!
* He does not like share time and does not like it when attention from a group is on him. Sometimes he hangs back in group situations or listens without participating
*He has had a big fit the last two times my mom has watched (or tried to watch in the second instance) him. Sobbing, fits. He loves his grandparents...this isn't normal behavior from him.
* He has been worried about the field trip with his Wednesday night church group to the nursing home for TWO weeks. Asking about it off and on. Do I make him go? It's tomorrow...

On top of all of this he has always picked at his fingers when he is nervous to the point that sometimes they start bleeding (just a little!) and need bandaids, he is now chewing on the necks of his shirts, and he licks his lips/mouth so much they are dry and cracking. I think these are a result of his worry/anxiety. For a while I was thinking maybe sensory issues but with all of the worry in the bullets above I'm starting to think the anxiety/worry is what is causing him to act the way he is acting...

I need your thoughts. You know this is causing me anxiety!!

Still Running!

So I am still working on the Couch Potato to 5K running program. I just finished week 6!! I am so proud of myself. I ran for 25 minutes straight. Each podcast always begins with a 5 minute warm up and a 5 minute cool down. They have truly kept me from being sore after my runs. I'm so glad these podcasts are helping me get back in shape - but I've still got a ways to go! According to the podcast the 25 minute run is equivalent to about 2 1/2 miles - almost to a 5K! I just have to keep making myself run! My sister is even doing the C25K now - yea Cara!

Veggie Chili

I made Veggie Chili Sunday night and ended up being the only one in my house to eat the chili! So when I was eating it for lunch on Monday at school I told my team about the recipe and how no one would eat it in my house except for me and Tyler. We decided I should bring in the chili and we could all enjoy it for lunch the next day. So I took it in today and everyone loved their lunch! I brought shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and corn muffins. This is a very healthy recipe: 266 calories, 12 g. protein, 52 g. carbohydrate, 14 g. fiber, 3 g. fat, 0 mg cholesterol... but this doesn't include the light sour cream or cheese!

Veggie Chili
5 1/2 cups water, divided
3/4 cups bulgur wheat
2 tsp olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped red pepper
2 T chili powder
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp cumin
1 can (28oz) crushed tomatoes
1 can (15 oz) pure pumpkin (I added only 1 cup on accident...just realized that! It was plenty!)
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 cup frozen corn
1 can black beans, rinsed
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Put 3 cups of water and the bulgur in a medium microwave safe bowl. Cover and microwave on high until bulgur is tender and most of water is absorbed, about 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil in a dutch oven. Add onion and pepper and saute 5 minutes. Add chili powder, garlic, and cumin. Saute until fragrant 1-2 minutes. Add remaining 2 1/2 cups water, tomatoes, pumpkin, zucchini, and corn. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until veggies are tender. Stir in beans and bulgur; heat through. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.

Fun Weekend!

We had a great weekend! Spent time with some friends on Saturday and went to End of Summer Days Festival at church last night (inflatables, carnival games, crafts, food, and a praise band concert!). The boys had been looking forward to the festival for weeks! We had a great time. I got a couple of good shots I had to share. Today I had a little nap and am making a new recipe for dinner that no one is excited about but me. I'll share the recipe if it is any good. It's called Vegetable Chili. My allergies are awful right now and I spent almost the entire day outside yesterday which pretty much made me miserable by last night. I'm trying to avoid outside right now which stinks since it has cooled off!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

On Saturday I promised the boys we would make some homemade icecream. They had been wanting to all summer but it just didn't happen. I looked through Annie's Eats and found the recipe I knew we'd all enjoy. Luke requested chocolate! This was very yummy. The dutch processed cocoa really made it rich and chocolatey. It was so easy too!

2 cups half and half
1/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder ( I found mine at Whol*e Foods)
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I used Skippy Natural, our favorite!)

Whisk together half and half, cocoa powder, sugar and salt in a large saucepan. Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it comes to a full, rolling boil (it will start to foam up). Remove from the heat and whisk in the peanut butter, stirring until thoroughly blended.

Chill mixture thoroughly. Then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. We ate some then and froze the rest. The next day it was fozen completely just like icecream you buy at the grocery. Yum!

Source: adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz, Ten Speed Press, 2007.

News around here.

* Last night I laid down with Luke at bedtime for about 5 minutes. I started rubbing his arm and next thing I knew he was rubbing my arm...until he fell asleep. He is such a sweetheart. He thinks about others so often before himself...not always!! He has such a sweet little heart.

* Tonight Wilson was sent to timeout before supper because he was acting crazy. Next thing I know he is asleep sitting up leaning against his headrest in bed. Could barely get him awake enough for dinner.

*Tyler's top right front tooth broke through the skin Saturday night. So he officially has 3 teeth now! Today he realized he can climb up the stairs! He is rather slow but I know that will change quickly.

* I had a really stressful day. At lunch I told Jenn I was really trying to not burst into tears! She felt the same way. It was a rough morning. I came home and said "I just need a few minutes AWAY from kids! I am with kids ALL the time. I'm going crazy!" Andy reminded me that would happen at bedtime...then he dealt with the next several behavior problems at home. That helped. I'm going for a run now. Maybe then the feeling that I can't get a deep enough breath will be caused by running and not because of my stress and anxiety. I can't believe it is only Tuesday.

Looking for Balance...Maybe...

So my heart is torn between being with my boys every second I'm not at school (45+ hours a week) and finding some time for myself. Or finding time for date nights with Andy or even time out with friends! Going back to work after having children was tough from day one because I didn't want to leave them. It did start to get easier as they've gotten older but then came baby #2 and baby #3, making it harder all over again!! So when I'm invited to do things on the weekend I have a hard time making a decision. I can't decide if it is ok to leave the boys AGAIN to go do something without them. I know in my head it is ok to make time for myself blah, blah, blah. But it hurts my heart to be away from them even more. Believe me I could use the break every now and then and I know it would be good for me. But how do you get over the leaving again? It just causes me anxiety thinking about it and trying to decide. Andy and I hardly ever go out alone - sometimes we go out after they are in bed. Not just because it is hard to leave again but also because it is expensive to hire and babysitter and pay for a night out! So I need advice. I need to hear your stories and how you balance kids + work + time for yourself . In theory I understand how it SHOULD all work. It is just hard for me to carry that out and be OK with being away. I have been running and that has been my time - it's nice. Hopefully that will motivate me to KEEP running!!! It will get easier as Ty gets older, right? Only a few weeks left of nursing! I have to say it is NICE to not be pumping on my lunch break this school year!!!

Ty hearts bathtime!

Ty loves his bathtime with his big brother Luke! When I put him in the tub he is all smiles and loves wiggling around and splashing with his hands and feet. He is so cute in the tub! Andy got the camera and then he was really smiling big for picture time! Ty has started pulling up, he's such a big boy!!

How cute is he?!?!

Teaching is Tough!

So I've survived my first two weeks at school with students. I have a great class, 23 second graders. I am getting to know them and love them quickly. Back to school is hard - there is SO much to do to be ready for a new group of students. I won't go into the details but I spend about 2 weeks setting up and getting ready for the first day. Now that the first two weeks are complete my team is starting reading and math instruction, with trading kids etc. on Monday. This is big because we group our students based on their assessments and form groups. We usually aren't ready to start this early in the school year but we are there now! Yesterday I worked from 7:30-4:30 with no students and still didn't get everything done that I needed to for MONDAY! My to do list is always long. I cross one thing off and add 3 more. Teaching has changed so much in just the 8+ years I've been at it...the rigor of school is so different now. So as of Monday we're in our full schedule with reading, writing, math, and social studies. AHHH!!! Yesterday I had a lot to do for my reading room - I'm teaching a new level this year. It was very overwhelming this past week as I wrapped my mind around all the components and got materials ready. I still have new things to add but I can only do so much at one time! I work with the best team of teachers and couldn't do this job without the support we give each other.

The other part this year that is a new challenge is having Wilson with me before and after school. I love having him at school for kindergarten, believe me! It is so fun to see him in the hallways and know his teacher and hear lots of things about his day from many different people! I love it! But it is hard to have a little guy following me around in the morning and after school, talking to me and asking when we can go home! It's definitely an adjustment - he plays legos, gets on the computer, and sometimes watches a cartoon which all allow me to work. We'll get used to it I'm sure. Andy picks him up a couple days a week to help me out so that is good. It's just a big change! I'm with kids from 6:30am-bedtime. Some days that can make a girl crazy! ;)