Santa & Christmas Party

Well last week on Weds we went to the Micron Children's Christmas Party. The kids loved it! It was the first year we did not have break down and neither one cried in Santa's lap! Even E went into the jump things w/o N. They got to play games in the toddler area, decorate a cookie, eat a snack, jump on blow up things, go down slides (E went with me as you can see in the picture), and have fun. It was fun for all of us and didn't seem as crowded this year but then again we didn't stay late either.

Well we have a week now before M & S leave on the cruise. Seems wierd to be going somewhere warm when it has snowed here some and is cold. We won't mind at all. The kids are looking forward to seeing Aunt L and Nana and Papa plus Cousin MA. They are going to be having so much fun and stuff that I don't think there will be time for them to think about us being gone...which I am glad of. It's nice not to have to stress about being away from the kids...we know they will have fun.

We have been busy around here just finishing up making some christmas presents, wrapping christmas presents and getting ready. I really need to get out my stuff and look at it to decide what I am going to bring. Where M just tells me oh I'll just pack the night before. I wish it was that easy for me!

The kids have been busy with school, friends over to play or meet at Burger King, dance (which E loves the ballet side of this), karate (which will be over in January and soon after that soccer will start), and just hanging out at home. They keep asking about snow...they really want to go sledding. We might be able to go up to the mtn on Friday and do this. We shall see. I wish we would get enough snow to drag them down the street but so far no such luck.

Well hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! Will update when we get back...since I don't think I will get a chance this week.

13 years!

Well M and I celebrated 13 years of marriage yesterday! We actually both were reminded by a relative...so we both got the day right instead of the middle of the day realizing what day it was. :-) All I did was get M a card but M surprised me with roses and the movie "Jungle Book". So that made my day/week!

It's hard to believe that 13 years have gone. In those 13 years we have lived in 3 places (and loved each of them for different reasons), both of us graduated from different colleges, had kids, bought a house and many more things! Plus we know there are many more wonderful things to happen for/to us in the many years to come!

Thanksgiving

We had a great time for Thanksgiving. We had M's sister and her family come over from Seattle area. Then on Friday we had M's dad and B come over from Tri-cities. We got to hang out, go see a movie, meet cosmo, eat, and see the tree downtown. I have some great pictures that tell alot. :-) Also, the kids got to open their christmas presents from Auntie/Uncle/Cousins. N got the sonic game to the ninetendo and you can see what E got. :-) Comso was a great dog...we love those dogs.

Weather!

Well today we woke up to snow today! The kids were all excited. N's first words now it's Christmas!! Then he asked if we could open presents now (I have been wrapping and putting up presents). :-) He wants to go sledding and E wants to go skiing. Can you tell who will be M's ski buddy. :-)

The other picture is of a turkey hat N made at school. He loved wearing it around. Today is a Thanksgiving "dinner" at school were a bunch of parents are bringing in a certain food and all the kids get to sample each of them. I am bringing in the green bean casserole.

We have all been good and busy around here. N came down with a fever on Saturday and then he has just a cold now. I think I caught the cold (or hoping it's the shots M and I got yesterday for our trip) and M says he has a slight sore throat. So here's hoping that lots of sleep and meds help it go away fast!

Well off to get the kids in their snow boots, coats and gloves to take N to school.

Belle!

Well we have a new addition to our family. Now as my sister was asking...how did you guys decide on this, M and I couldn't really remember. :-) Other then the kids have been asking for a new pet but we don't want to get a new dog until they are both old enough to help out. So we decided this would be something that would help them learn how to take care of an animal. We got all the cage and other stuff this morning and put it together by noon. Then we ate lunch and went to the Y and then back out to look at hamsters. We watched how they acted with just us putting our hands up to them and stuff...not really petting b/c didn't want to scare them too bad. This is the one that I decided that was not very skittish and seemed active and interested in things. We were told (even though the book we got didn't say this) that we should keep her in the cage for 24-48 hours before handling so she can get use to all the "new" stuff. So we are doing that. Tomorrow night we will give her a few treats and let her get use to us....really just one of us handling her to begin with. We also picked out a purple sparkly exercise ball so she can run around the house in it. She will live in the kids room so this should be interesting to say the least, but fun. It's also funny she has a "house" down in the main part but it looks like she has decided that the green pod off to the side (right in the picture) of the tube is going to be her sleeping place...which will be nice b/c then we can still see her when she sleeps. I am sure I will have updates as the next few days go by.

Halloween

Well yesterday was alot of fun! N got to go to school dressed up b/c they were going down the street to the assisted living place and go trick or treating there. Then they got to have a party in their room. N had a chocolate cupcake which was very obvious b/c he had chocolate all over his nose and mouth. :-) Anyways, E wouldn't have it with her not being dressed...so we dressed her up with the clothes but not all the "extra" stuff. She had fun. Then they had to take off at lunch so we wouldn't get it all dirty. Then it was time for a short nap and off to dance class with daddy coming too. Then to the Y for us to workout. Then home for M to mow the lawn and then all of us eat dinner. We watched the old transformer movie (the one from when M and I were little). It was funny to see. N loved it...Matt and I remembered pieces but nothing special. :-) Then it was time to dress up and head out. This year was totally different in the fact that they went up to every door w/o us (we watched) and did it all and had fun. Never were they nervous...actually fighting over who's turn it was to ring the door bell. I do have to say that E remembered to say Thank you more then N. :-) We really didn't go to many houses...just the ones on our street up and down but they were totally fine with that...I know one of these years they will figure out hey we can go further. :-)

Pumpkin Patch & Maze

Well E and I "tagged' along on N's field trip to the pumpkin patch. It was alot of fun. I had a group of all boys (4 total) and E. They were all really good. One kept trying to get a big pumpkin but the rule was you had to carry it and it was a little walk back from the field. He finally found one that he could carry mostly. :-) Anyways, here are the pictures of that. The one of E is actually the pumpkin that E gave up on and N took. :-) The one E has is smaller. I need to get pictures of them just with their pumpkins...guess I didn't do it there. oops.


Then Tuesday night we went to the corn maze. I have been wanting to go with the kids. They had fun. N was mad b/c we didn't do anything else there but the other things cost more $ and didn't want to spend the $ on it. We let the kids take the lead until they got tired and then they decided to let us find the way out. I was trying to get a picture of E when she would get mad when we didn't go the way she wanted...she wanted to direct the whole time instead of N taking a turn. :-) I never got the picture...one of these days I will get that picture though.

First Homework

Now N's teacher doesn't believe in "homework" for the kids to bring home. Now there will be a few things and this was the first. There was a sheet of orange paper, green paper, black paper and a green pipe cleaner sent home in a white bag with a note saying that she needed some pumpkins in the room. The homework was to use the stuff plus whatever else we could find and as a family make a pumpkin. This is the pumpkin we came up with.

Tools & Kids

Here are a few pictures of the kids "fixing" the coffee table. The love to take their tools (play) and fix things. Lately the coffee table is their favorite thing. I just loved looking over and seeing two sets of legs sticking out. You should have heard the conversation too. :-)

E's Quilt

Well my mom finished the quilt for E awhile ago and I took this picture but never posted it.

Dentist Update & Dance Pics

Well come to find out that N told M that he thought the dentist was going to take his teeth out. All I could figure out was that he totally turned something around that I said about the dentist trying to help you keep your teeth healthy so they wouldn't fall out when you were older. LOL Guess I am better off not saying anything before dentist appts. But after talking to N tonight and telling him that I am so sorry that he understood me wrong and that next time he just needed to talk to me. Plus he could always ask the dentist about the tools. He gave me a hug and told me that he wouldn't scream and yell the next time and then he could get a ring sucker. :-)

Here are some pics of E's dance class at Little Gym. She loves it. She gets 15 minutes of tap, 15 minutes of ballet and then 30 minutes of gymnastics. I think it is perfect for her. Mostly during tap they all love the sound of their tap shoes but then after that they seem to settle down some.

Still Here

Well each day this week I keep telling myself okay I need to get on the blog and post all the things going on and the pictures I have taken and I still have not done this! Sorry to those out there that keep checking. To tell the truth I can not believe it is Thursday evening already and I feel like I finally got the kitchen cleaned up this afternoon and that is it. And to tell the truth I can only remember what happened yesterday and today...can't even remember everything that happened on Monday and Tuesday to make it go by so fast! I will just update for today and then hopefully tomorrow afternoon I will be able to update on the rest of this week and post some pictures.

First thing first...E is doing great on the potty training! I had to do bribery of tootsie rolls for peeing and we have little princesses for pooping. Okay now we have 9 princesses that we got last weekend...only one has been given to her. Does that tell you where we are having the problem at. :-) She is so great with peeing that I could easily put on underwear for her but I keep worrying about the pooping. And of course unless I can catch a sign and run her in there it doesn't seem to be happening. I am not sure about it. I figure it will work out. Plus we see the Pedia dr on Monday for her 3 yr appt so will ask then too.

Now for today....I helped with N's K class going to the pumpkin patch. So E got to go with us too. Everyone had a great time and we came home with two little pumpkins...they have to be able to carry themselves so that tells you how little they are. We got back about 15 minutes late from that. So it was rush home grab something to eat, then to the grocery store to grab a few things. Then off to the denist appts for the kids.

Now I love the kids dentist! If you ever need a recommendation for anyone in our area just ask! Anyways, it is a place just for kids. Now every time we go N has a melt down when they brush his teeth and half the time when we take pictures. Now I have prepared them for it and everything. They get N into the picture chair and are telling him how to show E how it is done. I am thinking/praying that he does well this time. Guess what! NO! We start throwing a fit. The only way we got through that was me bribing and holding his hands and he was still wiggling and trying to get away. They got them...one was good and the other was okay. Then it was E's turn and she was scared until I told her she could sit in my lap. Then she was totally fine with it. And she had to have like 5 taken b/c it's her first time. No problems. Well then it's the "chair". Now the chairs there are like beds and you get to lay and look at a tv screen in the ceiling. E was nervous until I told her it was like a bed and then helped her lie down and then the nurse took over and I didn't even have to go over to her at all. They just got it done and she watched the movie and not a movement or cry out of her. Now N on the other hand...sheez!!!! You would have thought someone was killing him. It took forever and even the nurse pulled me aside and asked how far I wanted to go with it and I said I wanted it all done that he needed to know that it wasn't something to be afraid of and that he does this every time and I was use to it. I think they were worried about me (which was confirmed later when talking to the dentist) and I was more worried about them (which they were totally cool with). So with me holding his hands and him crying and the nurse doing it fast we got it done. But I could not believe it when he started screaming. That is when he got a stern talking to from me! He knew I was not happy. Plus E got done with everything by the time we got done with just the cleaning on N and he saw how I told E I was so proud of her and stuff. Then N was totally fine with the dentist looking inside his mouth (didn't open real wide) and then he was fine with the fluoride going on his teeth. He did get to choose a toy out of the box while I talked to the nurse about him. We decided to put on his chart that when he comes back (6 months) that we will use the "quiet" room for him. :-) It is just a room that is separate and able to close the doors so he doesn't scare the other kids. Luckily today there was just one older kid in there that just looked at him like he was crazy. Then when we got in the car I specifically told him that I was not happy about the screaming. Now I don't mind crying if you are scared but screaming is out of the question! I think he understood that after talking about it. Then we went to the store to grab a couple of cold things on the way home and E got to choose something out of the candy area (I know...just went to the dentist and get sugar afterwards)...anyways, she picked a ring pop (a ring that is a sucker). Then N started asking for one and I asked if he had been good for the dentist office. He said "I don't know." I asked him to think about it...did he do what they asked or not throw a tantrum. He answered me correctly and I replied okay then you don't get one. The rule was if you were good and didn't throw tantrums then you got one. I said again that I didn't mind if he cried but not to be pushing and screaming. He then proceeded to whimper all the way through the check stand and in the car. Then when we were almost home he asked if there were any at home for him. I told him no. That started the tears. I think he cried for another 20 minutes before he came out of his room (this is where we go when we are crying/throwing tantrums) and was ready to talk to me and eat some dinner. Then he was totally fine with it. I do know that M talked to him separately w/o E in the same room about it too...haven't had time to find out what the conversation was like but he knows now that daddy doesn't approve of that either. Now the trick will be to see how he does in May when it is time for a 6 month check up. :-)

You could tell both kids were very tired tonight. It was off to bed at exactly 7 tonight since we have to be up early to take the van into Honda. We are having the 30K check up done (except for a few things on the list that we already had done) plus they are looking at the front right steering (squeaks when doing tight turns) and then the back right suspension again (they replaced something back there but I noticed that on big speed bumps I still get a metal sound and M noticed a squeak when we have more people in the car from that side). Luckily they are giving us a courtesy car (N is hoping it's a truck) b/c then I have to run N to school and E and I off to the church for babysitting. I am gratefully that I don't have to add dropping off M at work.

Okay time to do a little more cleaning up before I crawl in to bed and read for a little bit. :-) I promise to try to update more tomorrow afternoon/evening!

Charity Item & Birthday Gift

Well I haven't posted anything that I have made lately...just haven't had much time to make anything. :-) I made the big clock for my sister for her birthday, it's for her craft room which she sews. The box with the clock is for a charity auction that the scrapping group I am in does each year. I am not sure if I will be able to make it up to Twin Falls for the crop and staying overnight but I wanted to make something for the auction. We auction off everything we make and then it all goes towards a group that we voted on beforehand. Plus we make money off the raffle baskets and there are usually quite a few of those. It's alot of fun and for an awesome cause every year!

Rest of the Birthday Day

Well the rest of the day was great! We all had good naps and then off to pick up E's friends (who's name starts with an E too). We then were off to meet M at the arcade that has this miniature bowling alley that is great for kids. We got there before M (who was stuck in a last minute meeting) and so we got our "token card" and then started playing. They all had fun but they lost interest right towards the end so it was just the right amount of time. Then we let the girls play air hockey. Friend is a little shorter then E so after taking pictures I had her on my knee to give her the same height help. :-) Then off to look around the arcade...they had changed some games around and now there were not that much for littler kids which disappointed me. But they all had fun. We then headed to Red Robin for dinner. Everyone was great except for N was a tadbit crabby and almost got a time out in the car but as soon as his drink showed up he was fine. (I think he might be like Matt and if he is hungry/thirst then he will be a little grumpy until he has something in his system.) Then everyone ate really well. I was a little upset with our waiter b/c at the beginning I told him it was E's birthday and he asked if the nuts and stuff on a ice cream thing was fine and I said yes. Then he asked if we wanted the singing too and I said yes. Well guess what...not a thing. By the time I realized he had forgotten it was too late and the kids were at the ending point. So we just paid and headed out for home. Got home and had cupcakes and opened presents. They all had fun and everything ran smoothly until we were all done and the girls wanted to go play in the play kitchen with the new stuff and the baby dolls and N was back there yelling "but you have to share". :-) So M headed back and told him to leave the girls alone and let them play. It was E's new toys and she got to play with them first. He was not a happy camper but oh well. By the time friend left it was just past 8:00pm and everyone was tired so off to bed we went. Of course I told N NOT to wake up E in the morning (b/c he wanted to play with all the new toys in the bedroom) but of course come morning and they were both awake at 5:50a...atleast that is when I heard them first. Ugh!!! Some day N will sleep in...I HOPE! :-) Anyways, I will leave you with some cute pictures.

Birthday Girl (morning)

M and I can not believe that our little girl is now 3 years old!!!!

Well this morning was an early one...as I had guessed. M left work at 5:40 and N woke up to the garage door and ran out to say goodbye to him. Then of course when he realized there were balloons for E out in the living room he had to wake her up. So I got woke up from arguing about the balloons at about 6:10. N is at this stage of if E gets something new he says "E has to share." Ugh!!! He is not getting the concept that it is her new toy and she gets it first. Of course E is usually nice about something and lets him have it not long after her, but one of these days or presents (opening later today) she will not let him have it. Then he is in for a rude awakening. Anyways, E loves her balloons. Then she got to open one present this morning...the one from N. It was the Little Mermaid doll (sort of like a barbie doll). She loves it and so far the clothes have stayed on her. I don't think they realize that the clothes come off. Then we all got dressed and I took the kids to Starbucks for treats before school. Then we all went to school. I was helping out that day and the teacher doesn't mind having E in with the class. So we went and had fun. It was fun to see what happens on a "normal" day. Then we came home and for some reason kids didn't want lunch...okay then off to bed for a nap. When they wake up we will be running an errand and then off to pick up E's friend and we will be meeting M up at the arcade that has a little bowling alley that is fun for kids. We will then grab dinner and have fun and come home for cupcakes and presents. So it will be a fun and late night. I will post more pictures either tonight late or tomorrow.

Tumble Bugs

Well the last class for tumble bugs at the Y was yesterday. E loved this class so we are going to try her at a "real" gymnastics class at Little Gym. We go to a "try it out" class on Monday and then will sign her up if we like it. I took some cute pictures...

Cute!

Okay here are some pictures I have taken this week. The first one is of the kids playing dress up yesterday afternoon. Don't know how long this will last of N actually dressing up with E to play. :-) The second and third pictures are the kids decked out and calling on their phones.

Still around...

Well seems like life has gotten away again. :-) We have been busy around here. Labor Day weekend we were in Seattle and had fun. Then came home and left Tuesday overnight for a quick trip overnight for work stuff. Then on Thursday the kids and I left for Portland to visit Aunt L as a b-day gift. M went up to the cabin with the guys to play computer games and relax. We were all ready to be home by Sunday...was just too much to do but the kids did great with it and there was no way around it. We are now home except for maybe one trip to Bend towards the end of Oct and then we are staying here for Thanksgiving.

N is loving school. I will start helping out in class on Friday's. E can come with me or I might have her to go to a friends house every once in awhile. We shall see how it all works out. N has a best friend already. At first they called each other "friend" but his mom and I have been pushing the name thing and they now call each other by their names. It's cute to watch. Now N has come home with some new words too. - Cool Man. Oh Man. Holly Hack a mony (think that is from Holy Marconi), plus some other ones. The thing that I love he says is for sneezes. Whenever he sneezes I always say Bless You. Well he will start sneezing now and say mommy I have the Bless Yous. I am going to have to do a scrapbook page about that saying just b/c I love how he says it and why he says it.

E has been busy this last month with swimming lessons on Mon and Weds. Then on Thurs she has what is called Tumble Bugs (tumbling class). She loves it. It was the first time when I tried to sit down and help her (the teacher had 6 kids aged 3-5 and no assistant) that after about 5-10 minutes she told me to go back and sit down over there...which meant go sit with the other mommies. :-) She did NOT want me there. She loves it!!! We always knew she was a monkey. :-) So we have discussed it and since she loves it that much we are going to put her in a gymnastics/tumble class. We have found they are expensive but the one at the Y is just not enough for her. It was a good one to try and see how she was but I think she needs more then that. So we decided on Little Gym...at least I think we have. Her last class at the Y is this week and then I will sign her up for a free class the following week to see how it is and if she likes it as much. Then will sign her up from there. We are still working on the potty training...she just doesn't seem that interested in at home...anywhere else she is great with it. :-(

M is busy with work and changing over to Vista on his computer here at home. Plus he is busy with other stuff (as most of you know). So his time has been pretty full. I am busy with driving kids around and trying to keep up around here at the house. Plus I have been working alot. I actually asked for time off this week for E's b-day so that is a good thing. I have talked to the lead teacher and asked not to be put down to teach so much b/c for the next two weeks I think that is all I am doing and that is what is adding to the load of work. The first week of Oct I work Sunday, Tuesday, meeting Weds, Thursday and Saturday. So that will not be a fun week at all! But I like the work so that is a good thing.

Well I think I have caught up on everything. I will try to be better about posting more this next week! I will also get some pictures posted! :-)

First Full Day & E

Well yesterday we had the meeting with the speech therapist that tested E the week before (same one from when N had speech). She is in the mild/moderate range...which means she below the norm median. Now to be automatically put in the preschool program she has to test really low and have more then one area...like with N it was speech and social skills. Well the only way to try to get her in is to do the preschool screening which she can not do until she is 3...so on Oct 5 I have an appt set up for her to go thru the screening. They will do a hearing screening too...which is what I wanted too and was going to do thru her ear dr but now that they will do it there I will wait and see what they say. Now if she tests low in a couple of things it looks like she could get into the preschool program. It would be at the same school as N and at the same time...so they both would be gone Tues-Friday (preschool is not on Mondays). So now it is a wait and see. I did have her service lady put her on the waiting list for speech therapy but that could be a very long wait.

N started his first full (half) day at school today. I didn't realized that I would just drop him off at the playground and then when the bell range they would go line up with his teacher and go inside. So pretty much I won't even see his classroom much. B/c after school we have to wait outside for the class to come out...less distractions. It's just weird to go from where I was in the classroom and knew the teacher really well at preschool to just dropping him off and picking him up. I'm having a hard time with it but N seems fine with it. He loves school. I am thinking about having him come home on the school bus. He is most nervous about having big kids on the bus but on the way home it would only be preschoolers and kindergartens. Plus that would be one less trip to the school...but we will see what he wants to do when we get home. I can't even imagine him getting off the bus in the morning and going straight to the playground...b/c that is what he would have to do...with no real supervision. So we shall see what happens.

And here is a new "word" from E that started yesterday....Wowie Zoeie. :-)

First Day of Kindergarten!

Well today was the first day of Kindergarten for N. He was not nervous at all...he was just ready to go. Mornings are going to be good for us. N is such a morning person that it just makes it so much easier for all of us. Kindergarten is from 8:45am - 11:30am. Today was a early release day and only half the class was there. The other half comes tomorrow to meet the teacher and the classroom. Then Weds will be the first day. His teacher's name is Ms. Sarah. So easy for him to remember. His friends from preschool last year I noticed are in the afternoon class, so he won't be seeing them. But he was fine with meeting new people. He just wanted people his age to play with. :-) E and I got to stay until 9:20 this morning and talk to the teacher and see his classroom. Then we left and did some grocery shopping and then went back. E was not happy leaving N there. She kept telling me I want N. So I took her for a treat of choclate milk so she didn't feel so left out. Next week we will be busy for her too with swimming lessons on Monday/Weds and tumble time on Thursdays. Just this week will be hard for her.

New Desk

Well I have been wanting the kids to have an "art" desk but they are all to expensive. Well I lucked out. I was at the 2nd hand store yesterday and they had one of the desk I had been looking at. It was very dirty and needed some serious cleaning but for $20 (regularly like $80-90) I could clean it. So one magic eraser and some scrubbing it was like new again. The kids love it and they share while working at...which is even better. I need to keep an eye out for a 2nd chair now though. :-)

Western Idaho Fair

Well we took the kids to the fair. M does not like the fair that much and we had told ourselves that we would try to go to Lagoon (Salt Lake City) every year instead but this year we just don't have the time for it...we will be planning it for next year. Anyways, we took the kids Sunday afternoon. The weather was not the greatest...the kids and I rode the boat ride (which E loved and N didn't like so much) and then we started to walk out b/c the wind had gotten really bad. But it passed so we asked the kid what they wanted to do leave and I would bring them back a different day or we could do the rides right then. They decided to stay...which the weather held out. The kids had a blast. E is like me and likes the rides that go around. N isn't too sure of those types. They both wanted to go on the ferris wheel but with the way the clouds looked and stuff we were too nervous to take them up there. Plus we didn't see much of the animals...saw some roosters, chicks being born, guinea pigs, and rabbits. Oh and we saw a couple cows. But I have a friend that will be at the fair with some relatives 20 some cows...so thought maybe I would take the kids out to see them on Thursday. Luckily the
kids are still free to get in. :-)

Swimming Lessons

Well here are some pictures finally of swimming lessons. Nathan loves to go under the water...especially with his new goggles. Now Ellie we can't get to go under quite yet.