Everything falls apart...

Or when it rains, it pours. Things were going so well since the baby came home. Then we got about 14in. of snow in a short time causing my husband to have to work long, long hours and the kids got bored of their new Christmas gifts already, the baby got fussy, Andrew got hurt again and again, and now all six of us are sick! Not fun, and because Erick has been working a lot I have been having to deal w/ most of this on my own.

We all have bad colds which is par for the course in winter, but w/ a newborn I just hope that it doesn't become something worse for her. She has been gassy and refluxy about 2 or 3 nights a week I guess. It's not horrible, but it makes it hard to get anything done in the evenings. Bedtime is the worst. She's crying, I'm screaming, and the kids are running around! I need to come up w/ some way of getting 4 kids ready and into bed that works. Poor Andrew burned his finger on the stove one day, and banged his head really hard from falling off the table the next day. All while he is not feeling well either. :( The boys have been fighting pretty badly the past couple of days because the "newness" of their Christmas gifts has already worn off. Geez! Well, here's hoping things start to get easier for us in the New Year!

Merry Christmas!

We had a very nice Christmas, despite having blizzard-like weather outside. The kids and I have been shut-up in the house since Tuesday afternoon, so I've been trying to keep them busy with crafts, games, toys, and movies. We also baked Christmas cookies! Unfortunatly, Erick has had to plow a bunch but luckily he did get to spend a bunch of time w/ us today! I made a french toast casserole for breakfast and he made us a turkey for supper, and we just snacked the rest of the day.

The kids had a lot of fun playing with their new toys all day too! The big boys got dual action lightsabers, remote control cars, StarWars bedsheets and comforters, a 100 piece floor puzzle, a board game, a computer game, and a movie. Andrew got these magnetic building pieces that are safe for toddlers (Magnetos), Clippos building blocks, a toy car, some new bath toys, and a whole bunch of wooden puzzles. The baby got a play mat, a baby toy, a rattle, a new onsie shirt, and a comb and brush set. All in all in was a very fun day! I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

We took the kids to see Santa on Sunday afternoon at the mall. There was a really long line, probably since it was the last day Santa would be there. We walked around a little and looked at books and things and then the kids all got to sit w/ Santa and have their picture taken. They all told Santa they wanted remote control cars for Christmas this year.
Then we came home and I got some cute pictures of Katy in her Christmas dress, so that I could make up birth announcements to send out. Then I put the younger two down for a nap and Daddy took the two big boys to see a movie! We don't often go to see movies in the theater so I think it was a nice treat for them. They saw the Avatar movie. I don't really know much about it but they seemed to like it. They were gone for a really long time (its a long movie) but they did great, and they brought home supper when they came back! It was a nice day for everyone!

2 Week Check-ups

Today Katy and I both had our 2 week check-ups! :) She now weighs 7lbs.5oz. and is 21in. long, so she's grown! She looks good and is a healthy baby! My c-section scar is looking good and I'm feeling pretty good too. Yesterday was the first time we really 'went out' since she's been born and it wore me out a little, but other than being tired I'm doing good. Kathryn sleeps really quite well at night, but she's been stuffed up so I'm not sleeping as well as she is because I'm constantly checking to make sure she's okay and sucking out her nose as needed.

We went to MOPS yesterday for our Christmas party and I put her in a little Christmas outfit, with a white hair bow, and little socks that look like black Maryjanes shoes. They are too cute! Then we had to run Ryan to school, and later pick the boys up. We got some packages in the mail so the boys opened up some of their gifts early and totally trashed the living room in the process. I haven't yet had the energy to clean it up!

One week old today!

Katy is one week old today... its already going so fast! I'm starting to get a little sad that she's my last baby. She started smiling today! It's soo cute. I finally got a chance to go through the baby outfits that people gave to me so she can wear some of them.
My mom came last week and stayed with the boys while I was at the hospital. She had to go home and so my step-mom came and is staying with us now. They are both huge helps with the boys and doing all of my cooking and cleaning! I am so thankful that I get this time to just rest and focus on the baby. Tomarrow night my Dad, brother and SIL are comming out for the weekend so we can celebrate Christmas with them all. Normally we go home for Christmas and visit all of our families, but this year I decided it would be too difficult w/ the new baby and everything so they are going to come out here. We are all looking forward to it! The next week things will go back to normal - or the new normal rather - and I'll be on my own w/ all four kids. I hope it goes okay!

Pictures of baby Katy

Here are a few pictures of the new baby and her big brothers!

It's a girl!

Kathryn Mae was born by repeat c-section on Thursday, Dec. 3rd at 7:54am. She was 6lbs.13oz. and 19in. long. We were all very surprised! I think my first words were "no way" and "are you sure?" LOL. Her brothers are in love as are we! Pictures comming soon.

Thanksgiving Week Review

Happy belated Thanksgiving! We had a nice Thanksgiving yesterday here at home. We don't travel at Thanksgiving since we normally do at Christmas, but this year we will be staying home for Christmas too because of the baby. We didn't make any Turkey crafts at home this year but the kids made some at school. Yesterday we watched the parade on TV, watched a couple of movies, played a game, made some Christmas ornaments for our tree, and had a very good turkey dinner made by my husband!

This past week, Lucas had his annual school Holiday program - a bit early but it was very cute! They did a school version of 'A Christmas Carol' with a grumpy teacher and sang a bunch of songs. It is always fun for me to go and watch them. I had my parent meeting w/ Ryan's play therapist and he is making soo much progress and doing so well! We are going to be taking a break from now until Jan. since things will be very busy here soon. On Monday I also have a meeting w/ Ryan's speech therapist to go over his IEP for the year. I have one more appointment with my Dr. on Monday as well, and then my c-section is scheduled for Thursday! I'm getting really excited, nervous, and scared. I have a list of things that I need to get done before I go to the hospital! It's comming up really quick!

36 weeks and feeling it!

Well, I've made it to 36 weeks with my fourth and last baby... and I am exhausted all the time. I was feeling really good up until about last Friday. Now I am in pain anytime I have to walk around for more than about 10min. or do anything other than sit or lay down. My back hurts, my hips hurt, my belly hurts. It all hurts. Thank goodness I only have a little over 3 weeks to go before my c-section. I'm getting nervous about that, even though I know what to expect.
I finally got out all of the baby clothes, baby toys, infant carseat, and other baby gear but now I need to wash everything. As of this weekend we might have a boy's name, but I'm still not sure about a girls name. So I'm kind of ready but not really!

We survived Halloween!

Normally, I really like Halloween... but I'm hormonal and the kids were wild and I'm exhausted. We went to a couple of Halloween parties on Friday night, but skipped the Haunted Houses. Yesterday, my husband took the kids Trick-or-Treating and then we painted my belly like a pumpkin and watched The Wizard of Oz. The kids got way to much candy and the only one who will actually eat it besides me is the 2yr. old. Then they woke up literally yelling and running around at 6am this morning.

H1N1 and Halloween Fun

Last week my oldest got sick, he had a fever up to 104F, missed almost a week of school, and has been coughing ever since. Luckily the high fever only lasted about 3 days, and he was better in time to attend the annual Cub Scouts Halloween Party. They played games and made crafts and ate lots of sweets! Unfortunately, my 2yr. old then got sick for a few days and he too has been coughing ever since. I'm hoping that their coughs will go away on their own within the next couple of days. When I had called the Dr. last week they said there was no need to bring them in, and that it likely was the H1N1 since that is really going around here right now.

I made a ghost bowling game for the Halloween party using pop bottles, white paint, and a sharpie. The kids used mini pumpkins as the "bowling balls". My husband made this cut out pumpkin a few years ago, and we use socks filled w/ beans or rice as the "bean bags" for a bean bag pumpkin toss. They also bobbed for apples, made a bat craft and a ghost craft, and got awards for their costumes. I made sandwiches cut out in Halloween shapes using cookie cutters and then I also made a veggie dip and carrots that look like "witches fingers" by attaching slivered almonds to them. It was really fun for everyone!

Winter came early this year

We got our first snowfall on Oct. 9th and its been pretty cool ever since. We did have a couple of nice days this past weekend though. Prior to that we had snow and cold for 2 weeks. Usually we don't get snow until around Halloween or later. I do NOT like winter and I am not really ready for it to be here. Luckily I had just got out all the kids winter stuff and washed that so it was ready to go when it did snow. We spent the time staying warm indoors, making carmel apples, doing a few crafts, and drinking some hot chocolate and apple cider.

Soccer Monster!

Well, Ryan has officially finished his first season of soccer and he loves it! He will play again in the spring on the same team. It is so fun to watch them when they first start out (age 5 here) because they don't know what to do, or which way to go. They get the hang of it pretty quickly though. He got his own soccer ball to practice with and he loves it when its his turn to hand out the snack after the game. He does really well and enjoys it which is what is most important!

First bee sting!

Andrew got stung by a bee over the weekend! :( Our zoo hosts a Chilli cook-off every fall, and for a few dollars you can go and taste all the different types of chili. Then you get to vote for your favorite. They also have music, kids entertainment, and games so its a lot of fun - usually! This year, it did not go very well.
My 5yr. old is extremely scared of bees, I think its part of his anxiety and other issues. We walked over to the zoo and we saw a couple of bees on the way there, and he freaked out! I got him calmed down and we go into the zoo, only to be surrounded by bees! You could not get away from them at all, they were everywhere. Ryan starts trying to run away from the bees, starts screaming, crying, and shaking. It was awful. We got to the 2nd chili booth before I told my husband that I would just take Ryan home, and that he and the other 2 boys could stay as long as they wanted. So I bring Ryan home, and not 5 minutes later he calls me saying that Andrew got stung! Argh, I was afraid that was going to happen! Apparently he had given Andrew some pop, and a bee landed on his hand and then Andrew tried to hit it or get it away and it stung him. I drove over to pick them up, to make sure he was okay and he was fine. We brought him home and applied first aid and I gave him some Motrin for the pain. By the next day you couldn't even tell he had got stung. I'm very thankful he is okay, but sad that we had to miss out on the fun at the chilli cook-off this year.

I'm going to be an Aunt!

I'm soo excited! I recently got the news that my brother and his wife are expecting a baby in May! My kids don't have any cousins yet, so they are excited too. My youngest and their oldest will be just a few months apart.

My "baby" is TWO!!

It's hard to believe that Andrew is two already. We had a very nice birthday weekend for him. My mom came out for a visit, and we went to an indoor playground, had pizza, rented a couple of movies, and baked a cake. My mom got Andrew a couple of playdough sets which the boys really enjoy playing with. I attempted to make him a b-day cake that looks like Elmo, but I just am not a decorator. He knew it was Elmo though. LOL.

You never know what you'll find

when you clean your house! So, we've spent the past 2 weeks giving our entire house a really good cleaning, organizing, etc. In our dining room we have this air vent that doesn't stay shut, and sometimes things can fall down in there if it is left open. My DH and boys took it off over the weekend and look what they found! All of this stuff was put there by the oh-so-adorable toddler with the devilish smile! Don't let his cuteness fool you! I was wondering where his shoes were! It's amazing what you can find when you clean!

Zoo Free Day 2009!

Each summer our local zoo has a free day, sponsored by a local business. It's great because we can go and get in free, plus you get free pop and popcorn, and the kids get a little "prize" of some kind too! Our zoo is really nice for not being in a large city, and they have great kids programs, encourage "being green", and the people who work there are super nice.

It was really HOT the day we went there, but we got to see a bunch of the animals. There are two new baby bear cubs that are really cute. We got to watch one of the zoo keepers feeding the penguins, and the boys got to feed the goats while we were there.

Swimming Lessons

I'm way behind on my blog posts, so now I'm trying to get caught up on stuff from August since FALL will be here soon enough! We always do swimming lessons in August because it is our 'least busy' summer month, and the most likely to have hot weather here. This summer my oldest had to repeat Level 2 which he wasn't too thrilled about, but he ended up loving it and did soo much better this time around. He is really proud that he passed this year and next year will be in Level 3. Ryan had been asking to take swimming all summer so we signed him up for the "WeeWaders" preschool level, because they either need to be 6 or already have some swimming experience to begin Level 1 here. He had soo much fun and will take Level 1 next year. I'm really proud of him because up until this past year he has been terrified of the water! Now he loves it and can't wait to go. He even jumped off of the diving board - with a life jacket on! Andrew is too little for swimming lessons but he had fun watching his big brothers and splashing in the water a couple of times!

A Day at the Beach

Last weekend, my husband was out of town and so I took the boys out to the lake for a few hours. They loved it and had a blast! This is a 'end of summer' tradition that we started last year, and I hope to continue. Last summer a friend of my husband's invited us to spend the day out at their house (they live on the lake) and go boating. We had a picnic lunch and cruised around the lake. Lucas even went tubing for the first time. This year since my husband was out of town, I just took the boys to the beach. Andrew spent most of the time throwing rocks into the water, but the big boys got in and did a little swimming. They dug up a huge rock from the bottom of the lake and collected a bunch of smaller rocks and some bird feathers. It was a really nice way to spend the afternoon.
(The time/date on my camera is wrong, but I don't know how to fix it.)

Messy Sensory Play

This is something we do every once and a while, and the kids really like it. I use cool whip, but many people use shaving cream for this activity. I just put it right on the table, but you could always use a cookie sheet or some other shallow container. Last time we did this I just had them play with the white cool whip, and had them practice writing their names, making shapes, doing math problems, etc. depending upon the age of the child. This time we did color mixing. Lucas started out with blue and red food coloring, and made purple. Ryan started out with blue and yellow food coloring to make green (his favorite color). Then they both added other colors and ended up with brown. I gave Andrew blue and yellow to make green because he likes to be like his big brother! It's a mess but it cleans up pretty easily and they have so much fun with it!

First Day of School!

I can't believe that its the first day of school for my boys already! This summer has just flown right by! I wish they didn't start until after Labor Day like I did when I was in school. They were both excited and ready to go this morning, they even woke up on their own. Ryan was a bit disappointed that he didn't get to go until this afternoon, but he got over it. Lucas is in 3rd grade this year and Ryan started Kindergarten!

My little one is napping, so I have some time to myself. I'm making some cookies for when the boys get home - a first day of school tradition! I'm going to relax for a while and then do a little cleaning before I have to go and pick them up. I'm haven't been looking forward to this new routine, but I think it will work out well. I was thinking it would've been better for Ryan to go in the mornings like he did last year, but this way Andrew will nap while everyone else is gone and I should have some quiet time!

Tye-Dye Fun!

Earlier this summer I bought a tye-dye kit at a local craft store. Then I got 3 irregular white cotton t-shirts at the grocery store for $1.00 each. I've been waiting for a nice day when we don't have much going on so that the kids could make their own tye-dyed t-shirts. I waited until Andrew was napping and took the boys outside because of the mess. We finally got to make them yesterday and they turned out pretty good! The boys love them!

p.s. I went back and added pictures in some of the previous posts.

You will never guess...

what my toddler did today! Andrew is very "high needs" and he often will literally hang on my leg while I am in the kitchen making breakfast, lunch, snacks, etc. As you can probably imagine, this makes it quite difficult to get things done. So I just was making the kids lunch, and as usual he was hanging on me. I had my back to him and was preparing the food. He proceeded to pull my pants down! I am not kidding! I couldn't help myself and started laughing, which of course made him think it was a game so after I pulled my pants back up he again pulled them down two more times. That kid, I don't know what to do about him! LOL.

Weekend Fun

We had a great weekend visiting family, and taking the kids to the amusement park! We stayed at my Dad's and got to visit lots of people there. we also saw my inlaws and my mom's side of the family. We played a few games, went to an indoor play park, visited the arcade, had way to much to eat, and Ryan learned to ride a bike without training wheels! Lucas loved all the rollercoasters and other rides at the park. He ran onto all of them with my brother, his wife, and my husband while I took the younger two on all the kiddie rides. We spent way to much money and ate too much fair food, but had a good time! Yesterday we were all exhausted from the park and staying up late all weekend long. Today I have tons of laundry that I need to get caught up on. I would love to have some down time, but the kids have their school and therapy today and we have an ice cream social at the park to go to tonight. We also need to go to the grocery store today! Hopefully I can upload the pictures tomarrow.

Another box of cereal wasted...

Full boxes of cereal dumped on the floor: 3
Containers of powdered chocolate milk dumped on the floor: 2
Having a toddler: Priceless!

Off to see the wizard...

Okay, not really. This weekend we are headed off to visit our families and go to the amusement park! I'm looking forward to it, but today I have to do some cleaning and laundry and then all of the packing. Why is it that moms always have to do all the packing? Our families live 3-4hrs. away from where we live, so its not too far and we stay with family which has its upsides and its downsides. We are getting together with my inlaws at a park on Saturday, and going to a family reunion for my mom's side on Sunday afternoon. Later on Sunday is when we plan on going to the amusement park. My husband and I met working there during college, and some of the people who used to work there are trying to organize a meet-up for Sunday evening. I thought it would be fun to take the kids, because we haven't been in about 5 years. Our oldest is now tall enough to ride on almost all of the rides - including the big roller coasters! Unfortunately, I won't be able to ride on many of the rides but it should still be fun and I can't wait to see what the kids think of the whole thing. We will have to come back early on Monday morning so Lucas can go to summer school and my husband can get back to work!

New Computer, New Game

I've been neglecting my blog, along with my house, my husband, and my children... okay so maybe not the children. LOL. You see, my husband was kind enough to get me a new computer over the weekend. So then I had to start all over w/ everything, and... I got a new game. My old computer would not run Sims3 but this super awesome one runs it very well, too well in fact. If you've never played the Sims, it is a very addicting and time consuming game. I have spent waay to many hours playing the origninal Sims game, The Sims2, and well now Sims3. So today I need to NOT play and clean my house, my kiddos, and check on a bunch of stuff that I have going on. The big boys also have swimming lessons all this week, and Lucas has summer math at school this week and next. Busy!

Camping, Catapults, and Trebuchets, Oh My!

So, we went camping over the weekend at a local campground. We have two lakes near-by and they have campgrounds. The boys got to go fishing, swimming, and play in the dirt! What could be more fun for three boys? We had a really good time sitting around the fire and making smores too. The boys loved the tent! Other than Ryan burning his fingers on one of the roasting sticks, and the whole sleeping on the ground thing for Mommy, it was a lot of fun! However, I can't believe that I forgot my camera!
Sunday afternoon I spent doing lots and lots of laundry, while the boys and my husband spent a good deal of time in the garage making a trebuchet. Last summer they made a catapult and so now they made the trebuchet, a castle and a bunch of little 'guys' and things to launch. It's pretty cool when they can get an idea like that and then make it happen.

Fun with chalk and pipe cleaners

Earlier this summer I bought some pipe cleaners, intending to use them for art projects with the kids. However, they have had no interest in making projects this summer so I've just been following their lead. They wanted to use the pipe cleaners to make their own creations so I said sure! They each made themselves a 'hands-free cell phone' for their ears, and then they just started making a bunch of things... a headband, an alien 'costume', a DNA strand, and a tail. I love it when they are creative. We also were able to spend some time outside using sidewalk chalk. Ryan recently learned to write his name, so he wrote that a few times and then was drawing all over. I "made" Lucas practice some math and then he made a racetrack. Andrew loved scribbling on his big brothers drawings.

Smiley Faces

I made a previous post about our new family rules, and since then we've been trying to come up with a plan for what to do if the rules get broken. So last week after some very bad behavior, I came up with a plan... happy faces. I made each of the older two children a chart with their names on it, and then on the side I listed some rewards that they can EARN. Right now the rewards are going camping, going to the pool, and going go-karting/mini-golfing. If they earn 10 smiley faces each then they get the reward, if they don't earn ten, then they don't go. They can earn the faces by following the rules, and/or by helping another family member. It seems to be working okay so far.
Ideally, I've never been one who was big on rewards, punishments, etc. but to be honest the kids behavior was getting out of control! We had even resorted to spanking on occasion and that's something I try to avoid. So for now we are going to use the charts, and hopefully if things improve we can phase them out later.

Vacation Photos

Well, in better late than never fashion here are a few photos of our family vacation to Mt. Rushmore KOA/Palmer Gulch Lodge. You can see our cabin, the bandlands, Mt. Rushmore, a black bear that was next to our van at Bear Country, and lastly the big boys w/ their fingers up the nose of one of the President's on Mt. Rushmore in Wall Drug.

My toddler just dumped out an entire box of cereal...

onto the floor. Oh yes, he did! And, its not even the first time he's done that this week!

Magnetic Letter Activities

Once a month for the summer, the school sends my 5yr. old a "Kindergarten Packet" with some little activities in them. They aren't required, but they are a good way to introduce kids to what they will be doing in K. My oldest loved them when he was this age, and so far Ryan thinks they are okay. The most recent one had a bag of magnetic letters in it, along with some games and worksheets that can be used with the letters. One of the ideas is to put them on a cookie sheet and find the letters in their name and other family members names, make small words like cat, find all the red letters, etc. A few years ago I hung up a new cookie sheet w/ a piece of ribbon on the wall of the playroom. (You should be able to see it there in the picture next to the chalk board that my DH painted and then framed.) Then I just keep the letters in a bag and the kids can use them whenever they want. They also sent along a letter strip to hang up and letter cards to play a game with. Ryan knows all of his letters, and many of their sounds so he beat me when we played the game! LOL. Of course my little one couldn't be left out of any of the activities!