Shane is doing a lot better today! His face was still swollen this morning, but it was fine by noon. The boys were really worried about him. Sam ran into Shane's room this morning so excited to see him and yelled "wahoo". Then at breakfast Sam asked me "Mom, is baby all better now? Can I play with him after breakfast?" (Sam has never called Shane by name. He calls him "Baby". Weird I know!)
Then after Shane finished eating his breakfast and got cleaned up Sam and him ran around chasing each other laughing like they had been apart for way too long! It was very sweet.
Everybody had school this morning and as I was dropping off Jonah and Sam they both gave Shane a kiss as they got out of the van before heading into school! Then Shane and I went and checked out some new cell phones. I am going to get a smart phone that can do email and web browsing. But is a lot of work trying to figure out what phone to get. John and I have spent a lot of time researching phones and reading phone reviews for the past few weeks. So I visited the Verizon store and Best Buy today and I finally decided what phone I want.
Then I made the mistake of telling Wyatt that I was going to get a new phone. He thinks that I am giving him my old one as a birthday present. He can not stop talking about the new phone. "Mom, how big is it going to be?" "How many buttons are going to be on it?" "Is Daddy getting a new phone too?" I think that he is almost more excited about my new phone that I am!
When I went to pick up Jonah and Sam from school their teacher met me outside the classroom. She said that she had something to tell me. And she was talking in a weird hushed voice. I was nervous. What happened I wondered?
Then she said "I just wanted to tell you that the boys made Humpty Dumpty out of hard boiled eggs and they are sitting holding them very carefully. So I wanted to make sure that they didn't run over to you in the hall and drop their eggs. We can walk in and get them together."
Ok.
Then she said "Your boys are absolutely precious".
Precious? Not usually a word that I use to describe Jonah and Sam. I usually say that they are busy little guys or full of energy or all boy.
So I seriously almost started laughing after their teacher said that. Boy they sure are putting on a good act for their teachers! I have to give them credit for figuring out how to get their teachers to enjoy them so much! I hear nothing but GLOWING reports about them from school!
Then I told the teacher "Thank you, we think that they are really special too!".
Then I think about all of the little things that they do every day without any effort. And they really are very nice boys. They are compassionate. They are concerned about each other when they are sick. They miss each other when they are apart. They are not happy if one of their brothers is upset. They share most anything to be fair.
I am proud of my little guys and how they are growing up.
Maybe it takes someone else to point out the obvious, but I guess "precious" might be the perfect word to describe my boys after all!
The kids don't have school on Tuesdays, so we spent the morning at the gym. I took my GI Jane class, Wyatt took a kids fitness trial class, and the other boys played in the gym nursery with Ms. Melissa.
Wyatt absolutely LOVED his fitness class. He asked me if he can take it every Tuesday! He also said "Mom, I didn't even get really sweaty like you either. I don't need to go home and take a shower!" He was so well behaved during and after his fitness class that I am thinking I would be crazy not to sign him up for that class every Tuesday.
The other boys made some Halloween crafts and came home covered in stickers, so they must have had fun too!
I let the kids play outside before lunch, but the weather was not looking good. Then as soon as we came in for lunch it started raining and turned windy and cold.
So after naps I decided to make cookies with the kids. We even picked out a recipe that didn't contain nuts or milk so that Shane could eat them.
Unfortunately, it didn't go as smoothly as planned.......
Somewhere along the way there must have been nut contamination or an ingredient was incorrectly labeled because my little Shane had a severe allergic reaction to the cookies. After eating a cookie his eyes swelled, he got huge welts around his mouth, and his lips and tongue swelled WAY up. He had trouble breathing and I could tell that it was going to be a big reaction. I gave him a whopping dose of Benedryl and waited to see if that would stop the reaction, but I got his epi pen out just in case.
Luckily, the Benedryl stopped the reaction and I didn't end up having to use the Epi Pen. But the Benedryl wiped Shane out and he wanted to sleep. I was afraid to put him to bed until I knew that he was going to be ok, so we kept him up. The poor little guy laid on some towels on the kitchen floor and tried to go to sleep.
I was so upset. I clearly read every label and re-read every label and there is no reason that Shane should have reacted like he did. The only thing that I can think of is that there was some nut contamination somewhere along the way.
I feel so guilty for putting him through all of that! He is so pleasant and I should just let him enjoy eating the foods that I know are safe for him. I just always feel like he is missing out on so many good foods that I try and include him and it just backfires! So, I am going to keep him in his bubble of safe foods and know that he is happy and content and doesn't know what he is missing...... except for some breathing problems and some Benedryl!
****A little Halloween costume preview.........****
As part of Wyatt's visit to the dentist office last week he got to pick out a prize from the treasure chest. This was a big deal. He was pumped. He literally could NOT stop talking about it!
So after he was done with his cleaning, while I was still getting my teeth cleaned, one of the hygienists took Wyatt to claim his prize. A few minutes later she came back and apologized saying "Just so you know... we have a lot of prizes to choose from. Not just girl stuff. I didn't give him this prize. He picked it out himself. I wanted to make sure that you knew that."
I was all "Ok, bring it on. How bad can it be?"
Yeah, it's a PINK sequined purse that says "Angel" on it!
Nice!
So, I shouldn't have been surprised today after Jonah got done with his cleaning at the dentist. He picked out a prize from the treasure chest too.
He got a PINK sequined purse that says "PRINCESS" on it!
Now we can start braiding each others hair and sharing clothes. I will be sure to post pictures when Angel, Princess, and I go out for our first manicures too!
After we finished the staging area I started going through some boxes that we had in our basement that had been packed since we moved into this house....about 4 years ago. I knew most of it was kitchen supplies, but I figured that if we hadn't used it in 4 years that we could live without whatever it was. Well, I came across my bread machine which obviously hadn't been used in years. I didn't even know if it worked any more so I dusted it off and brought it upstairs.
I made a loaf of beer bread that was amazing. I had to modify a recipe from the instruction booklet, but it worked out perfectly. We ate the entire loaf with dinner yesterday! So, last night I made another loaf. I made cinnamon bread to eat for breakfast.
We go through about a loaf of bread every 2-3 days at our house. Lately it has been about every 2 days because the boys have been eating toast for breakfast. They are OBSESSED with the blueberry jam that I made out of our Michigan blueberries and I usually have to cut them off at breakfast.
"Sam you're done" "No, I not done Mom. I still hungry" "You ate 4 pieces of toast" "I still hungry, see my belly!" "Fine one more piece" "Thanks Mom"
It makes me feel good that the boys like the jam that I made for them and now they are eating it on toast that I made for them too! I am almost a regular Pioneer Woman! The real Pioneer Woman would have her own blueberry bushes though.....
In other news.....
The boys are selling frozen cookie dough for their school fundraiser. If anyone wants some let me know.
We are having a small birthday party for Wyatt next week at our house. It will be low key... pizza, cake, a bounce house, a treasure hunt, and cookie decorating. I am also going to have the little girl across the street come and do face painting for the kids with a kit that I bought at JoAnn Fabrics. If it rains we are screwed!
Wyatt went to the dentist this week and found out that his 6 year molars are almost in! He also has a loose front tooth on the bottom that is really wiggly! Maybe somebody forgot that he is only turning 5 years old....not 6!
I can't believe that I am almost the parent of a five-year-old!!!
John and I finished the staging area project tonight. We still have to complete a few of the finishing touches like key hooks and covering up the screw holes, but we are so pleased with how it turned out. I am trying to decide if we need something on the left side by the little door? Something to hold hats and gloves? But I don't want anything to stick out very much so maybe not....
I am also going to get one of the kids little chairs out of the playroom and use it to see if it is even worth John building a bench. I don't want to waste our time if they are going to sit on the floor and put their shoes on.
So far I have been WAY more stressed out about the twins starting school than they are. They wake up EVERY day asking "Do we have school today?" "Can we go to school today Mom? Please?"
There is much gnashing of teeth and tears if it is not a school day. "Why can't I go to school today". "I want to go to school!"
BUT if it is a school day the boys gobble up their breakfast, get dressed, and walk around with their backpacks on saying "goodbye, Mom" until we head out for school.
I, on the other hand, am getting more and more confused every time they bring home another bag full of papers. Here are some examples of what I mean....
Last week Jonah and Sam brought home a note that said that they have Show and Tell on Friday September 24. Ok that will be fun.
Then the note said "Please no toys."
Hmmmmm. What does a three year old bring to school to show off that isn't a toy? John said "have them bring a stuffed animal." Um, yeah that's a toy.
Then John said "How about a book?" No, that's just dumb. The school is full of books.
Is this a riddle? A show and tell item for a 3 year old that is not a toy......
I've got it Alex! What is a rock? Is that right?
Actually, Grandpa Bill and Grandma Kathie got the boys Petoskey stones this summer and that might work. As long as the boys don't use them as weapons. Or eat them.
Then we got another note home from school that said that we are in charge of snack on September 22. For 25 kids. It has to be a HEALTHY snack. No nuts or peanuts. No chocolate.
I've got Alex! What is cheese? Is that right?
No.
A subsequent note said that there is a field trip to a park on September 22.
And by field trip I mean that we are supposed to drive our kids to the designated park and STAY with them the entire time. WE are in charge of our kids. Not the teacher! Yuck! I am paying you to bring my own kids to the park and play with them while you sit and watch?
Interesting.
Anyways, are we supposed to bring our snack to the park? Or should we wait until September 24th instead? Clearly, cheese will not work if we are going to bring it to the park.
So, I had to e-mail the teacher and find out. Yes, we are in charge of snack at the field trip. It should be in ziplock bags and shelf stable. It has to be healthy with no nuts, peanuts, or chocolate.
I know Alex! What are crackers? Is that right?
My mind is spinning. This is a lot to figure out. Remember that commercial from the 80's? This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs!
Mine should say... This is your brain. This is your brain on 4 kids! Not pretty.
So excuse me when I can't figure out all of the notes and rules (crap, I just remembered that I forgot to send a change of clothes to the twins preschool in case they pee. Which they will probably do soon. Like tomorrow). I just need you to tell me what to bring.
I want a note in the twins bag that says "On Sept. 22 send 2 rocks and 25 bags of pretzels to school." I could handle that.
I don't want options.
So I decided that we are going to skip the field trip on Wednesday. We are going to enjoy a mental health day. We are going to stay home and eat chocolate covered PEANUTS and play with TOYS. I can definitely handle THAT!
These pictures are from last weekend when we took the kids to a park in downtown Pittsburgh. The city sponsored an alphabet walk to promote literacy that was super kid friendly and lots of fun.
Each station had an activity that began with that letter. M had a magic show. F had face painting (or arm painting). B had balloon animals. They had free apples, oranges, and water for everyone and even a real fire truck and ambulance for the kids to climb. Let's just say that we left with some tired kids! Score!
This weekend we are working on a new project. The "staging area" project.
Now that we have 3 kids in 2 different schools there is a lot more planning that goes into getting everybody ready and out the door on time each morning. Plus there are crap-loads of papers and art projects that come home each afternoon. There are backpacks and bags. Then there are shoes to find (or not). And soon coats to find. And hats. And boots. And mittens. We have a folder that goes to and from speech therapy each week. We have another folder that goes to and from OT each week. Mom has exercise gear.
Basically there is a TON of STUFF to keep track of all the time. So we are creating a staging area in the garage. John is building 4 cubbies, a shelf, a long bench, and 2 rows of hooks. I drew up some blueprints last night (it was even 2D!) and John did some measurements and we have a plan. It is going to be a lot of work to build, but it will help keep us organized (I hope!!!!)
As I was explaining the design to one of my friends she told me that it gets even worse in 1st grade. Her daughter just started first grade and she said that the amount of papers to keep track of for a FIRST GRADER is staggering! She is seriously considering making one entire wall in their kitchen into a bulletin board.
Do you like the pink flowers here with the glittery center? It goes with the va-jay-jay!
So she said to plan our "staging area" carefully so that we can "grow" with it! Good advice. Back to the drawing board I guess......
Our most interesting conversation today went something like this....
Wyatt: "Mom, I am sooooo dizzy this afternoon" Me: "Dizzy? Why?" Wyatt: "From all of the spinning" Me: "What spinning?" Wyatt: "The boys kept turning the light switch on and off." Me: thinking...thinking... Me: "Wait a minute! Were you hanging from your ceiling fan?" Wyatt: "Yeah, and the boys kept turning the switch on and off so I kept stopping and starting spinning all of the time. That's why I am so dizzy."
I will be shocked if he makes it to age 5! Shocked!
Please keep your hands and feet inside the car at all times. Place your belongings between your legs and hold on...because it's going to be one crazy ride!
Wyatt had his last-first day of preschool 2 weeks ago. Got that? That was the last time that he will have a first day of PRE school because next year is kindergarten. Next year will be the first day of kindergarten...REAL SCHOOL!
He is going to the same preschool as last year. It is a nice small environment and Wyatt's teachers have learned what makes him tick.
For example he came home with this note last week..." Wyatt was a fantastic helper today. He swept and vacuumed the floor and helped Miss Susie find things."
Is he learning how to be a custodian?
No seriously, he loves to vacuum and will do just about anything to get to use a vacuum. Just like his Daddy (KIDDING!!!!).
So, his teachers "get Wyatt". I like that. He is a challenging little guy.
This year Wyatt is the oldest kid in his preschool (by 4 weeks) class. I was a little concerned about that at first but then I realized that with his early birthday he will also probably be one of the oldest kids in his class forever.
Then I realized that since he is also the oldest kid at home, it is probably a good place for him to be. Wyatt is comfortable being the oldest. Being in charge. Being first. He seems to do well in that role.
He talks about school a lot more this year. Last year it was mostly "I don't know" or answering yes or no questions, but this year I have been getting a lot of information about school.
There is a set of identical twin girls in Wyatt's class this year. He told me "Mom, those girls are the same, but they have different names."
It's too bad that he has never learned about the concept of twins at home. We don't LIVE with twins or anything!
Then last week Wyatt told me that he was learning about manners in preschool. He talked about the topic as if it was an entirely brand new concept. Like he was explaining Chinese to somebody.
"Mom, manners is when you ask nicely and say please and thank you all of the time." "Wow, I would love to see you use your manners at home".
Jonah and Sam went to preschool for the first time today! Everything went smoothly without any significant complications.
We started our morning at 5:30 am courtesy of Jonah who took it upon himself to systematically turned on the lights in every room in the house until we were all awake. We could have had everybody fed, dressed, and dropped off at school by 7am if we needed to. Our kids are ready for a high school class schedule apparently! We fed everybody a big breakfast and got everybody dressed.Then, I forced the boys to pose for some first-day-of-school pictures. "Mom, I can't smile anymore."
"Umm, yes you can!" "Ok, there"By the time we had to leave the house the kids had already been awake for almost 3 hours, so I had to feed them a snack. Then everybody had to try and use the potty.
I dropped Wyatt off at his preschool and then brought Jonah and Sam into their preschool. The entire time that we walked into the building Sam hugged my leg and begged me to stay at school with him. I was really worried about how he was going to do after I left.
Then, the twins met their teacher and hung their bags on their hooks. Mrs. M took them into their classroom and showed them around. Then, Sam and Jonah turned around looked at me and said "Bye, Mom". I asked the teacher if we were all set and she said yes, so I took off and dashed out of the building as fast as I could go while carrying Shane!
There was no drama. No tears. No sadness about going to school for the first time. I was dumbfounded! I would have never guessed in a million years that my boys would be so comfortable going to school for the first time! They sure made it easy on their Mom compared to Wyatt when he started school.
When I got back to pick the boys up from school they were all smiles. Happy to see me and tell me all about their day! Then at dinner the boys told John that they pooped and peed at school (so much for the pre-school potty break). I was hearing that story for the first time and was a little concerned about the boys needing help, but they said that they did everything all by themselves. I can only imagine the poor teacher meeting my boys for the first time and then having them need to go poop at school. She probably doesn't realize that I made them take a forced potty break seconds before entering school!They go back for their second day next Friday. All in all we are thrilled with how well the day went. The boys behaved so well and we couldn't be more proud of our big guys!
Jonah LOVES wearing his new (used from Al's friend Julie) cape from North Carolina all over the house. He likes to run really fast and turn around and watch it fly out behind him. Watching him brings back a lot of memories from when I was little.
I remember having my Mom use safety pins to attach a towel around my neck to make a cape. I used to run around really fast and watch it streaming out behind me just like Jonah. (Is that called a redneck cape Mom?) Anyways, I am not sure why it was so much fun, but I know that I loved doing it as a kid too!
Today I couldn't help laughing as I was fixing lunch for the boys and yelled to Jonah in the bathroom "Jonah, make sure that you don't pee on your cape!".
I never thought that I would be saying THAT before I became a mom!
But then again I never expected to say things like "Please don't lick your shoes" or "No peeing on your brother" either. Life with boys sure is interesting.....
It took me a while to get to this, but I am pleased with how it turned out....
The first song captures the magic of Drummond Island and the boys wonder and amazement at it all and the second song reflects just how fast the time is going by......
My life is about to get a whole lot easier! After 3 1/2 years of toting at least 3 kids with me EVERYWHERE EVERY SINGLE DAY things are going to change soon. Jonah and Samuel are starting preschool next week. Yipee!
I attended their preschool orientation last night and was really impressed with their teachers and school. They are in class with 8 other kids and 2 teachers. Their teacher said that her goal for them this year is to enjoy school, socialize with other kids, and have FUN. I couldn't have said it better myself!
Jonah, Sam, and Wyatt will all be in school Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. But they are at 2 different preschools about 15 minutes apart! (Wyatt's school is awesome, but it is a combined classroom for 3-5 year olds. So, if the boys all went there all three boys would be in class together....and that would be a HUGE disaster!!!!! HUGE!!! Hence the separate schools!).
So three days a week I have to pack everybody up and drive 15 minutes to drop Wyatt off between 8:45 and 9am then drive 15 minutes back to drop the twins off between 9 and 9:15 am. Then I have to pick up the twins at 11:45 am and drive 15 minutes to get Wyatt at 12pm and then drive 15 minutes back home! Easy enough right?
But between 9:15 and 11:45 I have 2 1/2 hours with only ONE CHILD!!!!!! ONE CHILD!!!!! What am I going to do with myself? Cook? Clean? No, I don't think so! I am going to go to the gym and shop with only ONE CHILD!!!!! Maybe I can actually get all of my groceries in one trip! I can't even imagine what it would be like to get home with more that 50% of the things on my list! Maybe Shane and I will hang out at Starbucks every morning for a couple of hours! Who knows?!?!? It is so exciting.
But, I have a feeling that despite looking forward to some one on one time with my baby, I may be a little sad next week when my little guys head into school for the first time! They seem so young to me still. It's hard to believe, but my little guys are growing up. I am happy and I am sad all at the same time. All part of being a Mom!
