Craft Time

The other day I talked with one of the daycare educators to see if they could use some "junk" for arts and crafts. I had remembered that they have asked for stuff in the past. She said they would love to have some. Since I had collected some egg cartons, paper towel tubes, toilet paper tubes, etc and was getting tired of them laying around my house I brought them into the daycare yesterday morning. "Yeah! I was getting one more bag of things out of my house," I thought. Until I picked my kids up that afternoon. Both of the boys had done arts and crafts at daycare that day. Not only that, but do you know what they used? Yep, at least half of the egg cartons and cardboard tubes I thought I had gotten rid of. Now they are laying around my house again with some markings, tape attached and filled with lego guys. The boys were so excited to bring their space ships home. I can't say I had the same level of excitement.

Food Fight! and Kiki

Today while we were listening to General Conference, the boys were in the other room playing. Then I heard the following, "Mom can we have some food for a food fight?"

Yeah, I'm sure I will give them some food so they can have a food fight in the living room. (Sarcastically)

My response, "Use the plastic food and remember you have to clean up when you are done." Next thing I knew, there was plastic food flying across the living room.

***

This morning I could smell something stinky when I came downstairs. I suspected Lauren. I asked her if she was stinky and she told me "No". A few minutes later she joined me in the kitchen so I asked her again. At that point, she told me she was Kiki. I asked her if Kiki was stinky and she said "Yes".

(Kiki is a little puppy that Lauren becomes when she doesn't want to be Lauren.)

Reading

I love it when the kids express a pure joy of reading. Whether it is Jordan reading for hours when he should be going to sleep or Colin willingly doing his best to read a book and sounding out new words or Lauren asking for 10 books to be read to her before she goes to bed. Reading is a wonderful thing and something I hope my kids develop a lifelong love for. We spend time each day reading our kids and I love that time. However, I know reading is not one of those things I choose to do for enjoyment, but after recently hearing about some studies of the value of reading to children and the importance of children seeing their parents read, I know I need to spend more time reading for enjoyment where my kids can see me.

The other night the boys were all tucked in bed and quiet. I assumed they had both gone to sleep since I was sure they were tired from the jog-a-thon they had that day. Then 1 1/2 hours after they had been tucked in, I heard some movement upstairs and some footsteps. Then I heard a quite voice say, "Mom, I just finished reading my book." I turned to Tim and said Wow! First of all, I didn't even know Jordan was still awake reading. Second of all, he had just started that chapter book the night before. I hope that Jordan can continue to indulge himself in reading good books as the years go by. I know he will be more successful in school if he does and I know he will learn so much.

Jordan seems to have a fondness of history and historical events. He clings onto what he learns in school and comes home to tell us about these people and events he is learning about. He can often tell me things I don't even know (or remember). He reads articles in his lego magazines and comes up with creative things to build and enter into contests. He is even willing to read to his brother and sister sometimes. What a great example he is to them when he reads to them. I love watching Jordan grow and develop even though I think it is all happening too fast.

Jog-A-Thon

The boys participated in the school jog-a-thon the other day. It is the one big fundraiser the school does each year. To me, I think this is a great idea so we don't feel bombarded with fundraisers throughout the year to buy overpriced candies and cookies and other random things we don't really have the need for.

The day of the jog-a-thon I was able to take some time off work and volunteer to help setup, count laps, and cheer the kids on. Even though my feet got soaked and it was cold, I had a blast and I think most of the kids had fun too, except most of the sixth graders. I think overall they were the least enthusiastic group I saw. ;-)

My boys seem to be natural runners. They are not the fastest runners in their grades, but they certainly have the stamina and willpower to do great. Throughout the day the size of the course changed a little (depending on the grade running), but Jordan ran 17 laps and Colin ran 16 laps (on a slightly smaller course). I was so proud of them because they jogged/ran for almost the entire 20 minutes allotted. They each only stopped once to get a small drink of water and they had fun. In terms of laps run, I think Jordan was 2nd or 3rd among his classmates of 2nd and 3rd graders. I think Colin was 1st in his class. There was one boy that started off faster then Colin, but after 2 or 3 laps he lost all his energy and his mom pulled him around for the remaining time. The funny thing is once the kindergarteners were done running, we put the last lap mark on the papers on their backs as they finished their last lap and then took the papers off their backs. Next thing I realized, Colin was finishing another lap. I told him they were done running and he said, he didn't want to be done. He said, "I am not even tired." That boy had just run for 20 minutes straight and he claimed he wasn't tired. The crazy thing is that he didn't even look that tired. He was a little sweaty though.

I loved watching my kids do well in the jog-a-thon. In my eyes they are the stars. They did so great and I am proud of them. They didn't complain and they just kept on going. It makes me want to get out there and run so we can all run together as a family. However, I have never enjoyed running. It has always been difficult for me, but I want to do it for them. Or maybe, I will let them run with their dad. He enjoys running and is good at it. I think they can all help each other become better. I look forward to watching my boys run more in the future. (Oh and did I mention they were so well behaved that night after expending so much energy.)

Memories

The other night at dinner we were talking and for some reason we started telling the boys funny things they used to do. It was fun to remember when Colin's favorite line was "I throwed myself in the garbage." He would come to us and say, "I need to tell you something" and when he couldn't think of anything he really wanted to tell us, he would say, "I throwed myself in the garbage." Then he would wait for us to laugh. The most common time that this occurred was when he was supposed to be in bed and he would shout down the stairs or come downstairs and interrupt us in whatever we were doing.

The following memories I had documented on facebook, but I want to make sure these memories are in our blog as well.

Back in May, Jordan was going through a phase where he was constantly telling us we had to give him money. Sometimes he would tell us we had to give him money to do things and other times he would tell us to give him money when he didn't like something that was happening. One night he found a piece of paper in his room and wrote the following note to me:
"I love you so much. You will haft to give me one handred dolers"

Then the next night he wrote another note;
"I love you donna so can we go to target to duy what we want"

After the second note, he called down from his room where he was supposed to be going to sleep and asked if I had read both notes and which one I would choose.


***

For Valentine's Day 2010, roses were delivered to me from my sweet husband. With the roses, came a card that said, "Have a special Sunday (Valentine's Day). Love Bill"

Who is Bill you ask? Funny thing is, I don't know. That certainly wasn't the card Tim wrote for me. That weekend some lucky person probably received a very sweet, romantic card from some guy named Tim.

***

On the evening of November 9, 2009, Jordan brought me a story he wrote and illustrated in pencil: "The mouse is old." Picture: Little mouse with a sword. "The mouse is following the bad mouse." Picture: Mouse with sword following mouse with hat. "The mouse" Picture: The mouse with sword standing next to a castle. "The mouse is in the Navy." Picture: Looks like two little mice with guns. By Jordan Fischer

***

On October 22, 2009, when I dropped the kids off at daycare a couple of the older kids were playing a little rough and loud. I started down the hallway to leave and heard the sweetest thing. Colin said, "You guys are playing to rough for my sister." He cares about and loves his little sister so much and is such a good big brother (most of the time.)

***

On October 10, 2009, my boys gathered all the hair bows they could find around the house (and since I make them we have a lot) and then informed me they planned to sell them. Before I could stop them, they were running across the street to sell them. Jordan was selling 1 for 5.99. Our neighbor bought a set for each of her neices, but I pulled out some new ones for her to choose from and reduced the price to something reasonable. The boys weren't too happy with the reduced price, since it meant less money for them.

Colin's Teeth are Falling Out

Daycare seems to be the magic place for Colin. That is the place he seems to lose his teeth. Last Friday he had a loose tooth so during naptime at daycare he wiggled it until it came out. He was so excited and then he was even more excited when he woke up Saturday morning and found money. Today when I picked Colin up from daycare he came up to me excited and said he lost another tooth. I hadn't even realized his other bottom tooth was that loose. Well, apparently, he spent naptime wiggling it until it fell out. He looks like he is going to have a gap for a little while as I could only see the very tip top of one of the bottom teeth. I am thinking I might need to request some other activites for Colin to do during naptimes when he is at daycare before he wiggles all the teeth out of his mouth. Or maybe I should at least inform him that there are some teeth in his mouth that shouldn't be falling out anytime soon.

Why have I put off posting?

Why have I put off posting so long? I love going back and reading about our past experiences and the things the kids have been doing, but I don't seem to have the motivation to write things down as they are happening. At times, I think it might be because I am waiting for something amazing or funny to happen. When those things happen, I say to myself that I should blog about that. However, by the time I get around to blogging, I have forgotten all those funny things. So, I realize I need to blog even about the boring stuff and if I start doing that, then maybe I will remember some of the funny stuff too.

Where has time gone? We have done so much since my last post.

The boys have continued to take Karate at The Little Gym. They are finally in the same class so instead of spending 2 hours at the gym every Friday night, we have now cut that down to 1 hour. They have learned the Kata, many blocking moves and punches and kicks. They seem to be progressing in their abilities. They have also gained strength and balance abilities incorporating gymnastics into their karate class.

Lauren is currently in gymnastics at The Little Gym and amazes me with the things she is capable of doing. Outside of the warm-up during her class, she is very independent and a good listener. However, when it comes to warm-up, she has been pretty content in watching me and the rest of the class do it while she sits on the side and watches or throws herself on the floor to pout because I won't carry her.

I had 12 weeks during the summer off because I had earned a sabbatical at work. AMAZING! I had a great time with the kids and being the stay-at-home mom for a change. Don't get me wrong, we had difficult days where nobody got along or the kids started driving me crazy, but all-in-all it was the best summer for me and one I hope the kids will remember. I have just recently started back to work last week and it has been a difficult adjustment, not only for me, but for the kids too. There is no longer any extra time in a day and I am tired.

The boys are in school. Jordan in a 2nd/3rd grade split class and seems to be doing well so far. He complains about homework and doesn't want to do it, but I guess I don't know too many 2nd graders that are excited to do their math homework. He does enjoy reading most of the time and is does really well. Colin is in Kindergarten and goes on Mondays, Wednesdays and some Fridays for the whole day. He hasn't had too much to say about school yet except that his first two days were dumb. Hopefully that view changes as the year goes on.

Colin lost his first tooth last Friday (9/17) on the bottom. It had been noticeably loose for about 3 days and he couldn't wait for it to fall out. He said he twisted it out during naptime at daycare. He was so excited when he saw the tooth fairy left him money the next morning. However, he was not too excited when we told him he should pay tithing on that money. I don't think we have convinced him yet to make the right choice.

One evening recently Lauren came to the dinner table with a purse in hand. When she was done eating, she opened her purse, took out her pretend lipstick and started squirting it in her hands like lotion and spreading it all over her hands and face.

This reminds me that the other night, I pampered Lauren a little bit. She desperately needed her nails trimmed so I asked her if I could trim and paint them. I took her up to my bathroom, trimmed and painted her fingernails and toenails. Then I massaged her arms and legs with lotion and put a little lotion on her face and put her jammies on. Then we rocked and read until it was time for bed. She enjoyed having a little extra pampering and I enjoyed spending a little extra time with her and making her feel a little extra special.

On Labor Day, we went roller skating as a family for the first time. After going around 2 or 3 times Jordan started to really get the hang of it and he skated around and around and around. He enjoyed it so much that he wants a pair of roller skates all his own. Colin on the other hand was difficult to convince to get out on the floor. He was not very confident and was afraid of falling. After practicing on the carpeted area for a while, he finally held onto the wall and made it all the way around the rink. He did this 1 or two more times and then he decided he would try skating without hanging on. He took off. Of course he had LOTS of falls, but he kept getting back up and trying again. I am proud of him for facing his fears and that he kept trying. Now he wants a new pair of rollerblades. Lauren is not asking for a pair of skates or rollerblades after her experience. She did well, but she only wanted to go about 1/2 way around the rink each time she went out to skate. Then she wanted to be carried for the other half. She enjoyed watching her brothers and everybody else rollerskate. The funny thing is that she is the only one that has rollerskates in our family. ;-)

A few weeks before summer ended I noticed Jordan seemed to have better balance when riding his scooter. He was coasting down the neighbors driveway without even putting his foot down. This was the first time I had noticed this ability. I told him that I thought we should try taking the training wheels off his bike soon and he should try riding without the training wheels. So, the next day I took the training wheels off. He hopped on his bike and rode it all the way down the street. I was amazed. However, when he tried to ride back up the street, he couldn't quite get his balance. He kept practicing back and forth for a while and then we went for a ride around the neighborhood. He wasn't quite ready for the ride around the neighborhood yet though. He ended up on almost everybody's front lawn, but I continued to encourage him and told him that if he kept practicing, he would be riding like a pro in no time. Sure enough, within 3 or 4 days he was riding around the neighborhood and staying on the sidewalk. Since then Colin has asked me to take the training wheels off his bike 2 or 3 times because he wants to ride like Jordan. However, each time I take them off, Colin tries once or twice and then asks me to put them back on. Maybe next summer Colin will be riding without training wheels.

In the early part of summer, Colin dislocated his elbow. He was playing with Abby and she was letting him down off her back and somehow his elbow dislocated. Of course, at first we couldn't figure out why he was crying in so much pain, especially when we tried to get him to move it. It wasn't swelling, it wasn't bruising. Luckily the walk-in clinics were still open so I checked the wait times of the ones near us and chose the one with only a 15 minute wait time. After about 30 minutes we headed to the Harbour Pointe walk-in clinic. He was in a lot of pain as we put his seat belt on in the car, but by the time we got there, he seemed to be settling down a little bit. Of course, I thought to myself that we brought him in prematurely and that he was probably just fine. When the doctor came in she said it was probably just dislocated, but we would do x-rays to make sure nothing was broken. The x-rays were excruciating for Colin. He screamed and cried through the whole experience. Luckily there were no broken bones, so the doctor came in, took his arm, twisted and moved it and popped it back into place. Within a minute or two of this he was pretty much back to normal and could use his arm again

Also on the medical side of things, we have been seeing a chiropractor. By 'WE', I mean Jordan, Colin and I. Colin was the first one and he finished his treatment plan before Jordan and I started. Both boys have required adjustments of the cranium frontal lobe and they seem to be quite tense in their middle back and neck. They have improved quickly and now they are just adjusted on occassion. On the other hand, my chiropractic care has taken a little longer. After x-rays it was found that I have not curvature in my neck and my back is broken in two spots. Both of these problems are mostly results of previous injuries earlier in my life, but probably help explain some of the pain I have had. About 6-8+ months ago, I started to get to the point that when I had been sitting for long periods of time and went to get up, I could hardly stand up straight. It hurt to bend over and pick something up then stand up again. It hurt to stand up for periods of time. It seemed like just everything I did was causing pain. It has also been quite some time (maybe since Jordan was born), since I have been able to lay on my back on the floor. With the chiropractic care, things are getting better. I definitely have less pain even though it is not completely gone. Most of the time I can bend over and pick something up off the floor without having much pain when standing back up. This is good.

This summer we did many other fun things:
*Park days with church friends and by ourselves.
*Playdates with neighbors and friends.
*Jetty Island - The best part was burying the kids up to their waists.
*Edmonds Beach and tide pools
*Zoo
*Children's Museum with friends from karate.
*Hayden Lake, Idaho included swimming, kayaking, touring a mine, panning for gold, seeing a friend/roommate from College and going to Silverwood.
*Bug catching...mostly roly poly's and spiders. However, at the end of the summer, they started catching tree frogs.
*Slip 'n Slide
*Swimming at grandmas house.
*Portland, OR to see Great Grandma McKee and Fort Vancouver. We stayed in a hotel and enjoyed the swimming pool. For some reason, all my kids love the hot tub best though.
*Bowling - Lauren got the high score of 121 (with the use the ramp and bumpers and some help from mom).
*Found a nest with baby birds in our yard. It disappeared 2 days later and we found 2 dead birds. That made us all a little sad.
*Time with family including Natalie, Malia and C and Abby and Jonny. With them we went to the Ballard Locks, Fremont Bridge Troll, and Gasworks Park
*Colin's birthday and his party at The Little Gym with an awesome pirate cake that Aunt Valerie made.
*Picking and eating blueberries.
*Working on the yard.


Well, how is that for a brain dump to try and catch up. I know I probably missed a lot, especially the stuff that happened before summer, but at least I wrote something. Now to just do it regularly, whether I feel like it or not. In the end, I know I will be happy that I did it.