Our Thanksgiving Trip

I already posted about our dramatic sledding adventures during our trip to NY over the Thanksgiving holiday.  Here's the rest.

There was a drive through Canada.

 

A hotel stay with a mountain of bubbles in the hot tub (?!) and a fun indoor pool.  We were able to take advantage of those two of the mornings before we headed over to Bob and Linda's house.

There was breakfast in the hotel (kids in jammies) - sometimes by the fire


Good conversation and GREAT food.  I should've taken pictures of the great food.  Linda is an amazing cook and hostess and we not only had a huge Thanksgiving feast, but a huge feast every night including homemade meatballs and smoked ribs, chicken, and pork.  Delicious!


There were DOGS!



We brought with us our annual tradition of frosting Turkey cookies (shaped like hands).  Since I forgot the hand shaped cookie cutter, we had to do it the old fashioned way by tracing the kids hands and cutting them out with a knife.  The amount of effort that took meant we had lots of other shapes this year as well!






There was sleeping on the floor with Pandy and playing the iPad during downtime.


Many things I didn't take pictures of - like mall shopping at midnight on Black Friday, playing in the snow, and a trip to the local game store.  Much FUN was had!

And on the way home there was a beautiful sunset.

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

At almost 6 1/2 years old Carter lost both of his front teeth.  Here is the first one down on December 4th.

He lost the first one in the afternoon at school and didn't tell anyone!  He just put it in his backpack and went about his day.  His teacher didn't even know he had lost it at school.  I think he was a bit unsure of what to do and didn't want all of the attention.  When I picked him up that day and noticed his tooth was missing he had a crying jag in the van on the way home, so I think he was feeling a bit strange about the whole ordeal of losing the tooth at school.

Not long and that second tooth was barely hanging in there...



























With the help of a friend bumping into him approximately 32 seconds into indoor recess yesterday (December 12th) the second one was out!  This occasion called for the big camera.

And now we have a TOOTHLESS GRIN!!  I love it.

He likes to stick his tongue through the hole :)

Let me add that I had to bribe him to let me take this picture.  One good picture for an hours playtime on the iPod.  He got the better end of the deal, but it's a great picture, so maybe not.  Thanks Robert for the tickling.  His real smile is soooo much better than his fake one.

Also, for the record Teah lost her front teeth at 6 1/2 years old as well.  It was the summer after Kindergarten for her and Carter is halfway through 1st grade.

Sledding...

... It's all fun and games until someone hits a fence.

We'll get to that in a minute.

We're off visiting Robert's Aunt and Uncle on the West side of New York for the Thanksgiving holiday this year.  We were excited to wake up to somewhere near 8" of snow on Wednesday.  So, we took the kids to the high school to go sledding!

Here is photographic evidence of the great time we were having.

Robert even built a ramp

But then...

Teah got a face full of snow

She recovered quickly

Then of course Mom was down at the bottom taking pictures with Dad supervising up top.  Dad likes to let the kids make their own bad decisions - like sledding dangerously close to the chain link fence.  Of course, Carter insisted on this.  We didn't expect that he wouldn't jump off the sled or even put his hands up, but instead get flung face first into the fence!  It was quite dramatic, but when all was said and done he has a few scrapes and bruises.  Robert and my Dad both said, "Yeah, but you should see the fence."  Boys *sigh*.  Here's what his face looked like a few hours afterward:

And here it is this morning.

I don't wanna grow up...

The title of this blog makes me think of that old Toys R Us jingle - "I don't wanna grow up 'cause I'm a Toys R Us kid".  I have fond memories of that song, but alas, we all do grow up - a blessing and a curse.  Teah will be 9 years old in December and is in 3rd grade this year.  Thankfully I think she has a few more years of blissful childhood ahead of her, although the grips of growing up are starting to close in.  She has a tendency to cry for no apparent reason every once in awhile - to which she tells me that she is just "emotional".  She was tired this evening and had a cupcake taken away for bad behavior, so she was feeling a bit extra emotional.  I found her crying and when I asked what was wrong she told me that sometimes she doesn't want to grow up because it's just not as fun anymore.  Wise words.  Hopefully I will be able to help her discover the fun in growing up over the next few years. 

An Unexpected Tooth

The tooth fairy visits our house a lot with a 6 and an 8 year old.  Teah has lost 9 teeth and Carter has lost his bottom two and one of the ones on top next to his front teeth.  One of Teah's incisors has been loose for about  a year and a half now and one of Carter's top teeth is very loose.  So, if I was expecting the tooth fairy to pay us a visit, I would've first put my money on Carter's top tooth and second on Teah's forever loose tooth.  Neither of those is what brought the tooth fairy!  A few days after Halloween Teah was eating a Snickers and spit a piece of it out - crying because she thought she lost a tooth (she has never liked the process).  I had to sift through chewed up candy bar (standard Mom job) and came up with a piece of a tooth that looked nothing like an incisor.  For a minute I was freaking out myself wondering if she had lost only part of the tooth.  This is when we discovered that she had lost her first MOLAR!  She hadn't even told us it was loose.

A Big Storm

Last night we had a big storm come through with wind gusts up to 60 mph.  I sent Carter to bed as usual, but he was having a hard time falling asleep with the wind gusts.  Of course I was sick and just wanted some peace and quiet, but he kept coming out of his room telling me he couldn't sleep and asking to sleep in our bed.  Finally I gave in and told him I didn't care what bed he fell asleep in - as long as he fell asleep!  After about 2 minutes in our room he came out and said, "Actually, Mom, I just don't want to be alone."  My heart melted of course and I laid down with him in his bed until he fell asleep.

Returning to blogging

As most of you know, I lost my Mom to brain cancer October 1st.  She was always the first person I called when the kids would do something funny or enter a new milestone.  They called her Nana and she had so much enthusiasm for their new endeavors or the cute and ridiculous things that would come out of their mouths.  I would call her and ask her for "immediate gratification" when I wanted her to look at a new picture I had taken.  She had a job where she could take a few minutes break to chat with me and she always did, even if it was mostly for me.  We talked every day.  So, it is with a somewhat heavy heart that I am going to start blogging again.  I am hoping that when I have the urge to call her up and tell her something funny about the kids, that keeping up with the blog during these moments will help maybe just a little.  And I do believe that as I type these posts she will be looking over my shoulder and laughing along with me - still giving me that immediate gratification in spirit.

This picture is from Teah's first birthday party if you're wondering about the Elmo garland :)

Teah and Abigail

So, I've decided to throw out the words "best friend". The word best implies some type of competition, like this friend is better than all the rest. There are just some people that you connect with on a deeper level for reasons that seem unexplainable, so my new word is SOUL FRIEND. I have found a few soul friends so far in life and hope to find more along the way before my time is up - and for this I am a lucky girl.

Well, what this post is really about is that Teah has found her first soul friend - Abigail. They are two peas in a pod and live a mere two backyards away. Life is good. Here is a picture of Teah and Abigail playing the wii today. You wouldn't guess that Teah is 6 months older. Teah is in the 10th percentile for height for her age - I guess those genetics work!

My Return to Blogging

I have been waiting and waiting to blog because I felt like I needed to catch up with old posts first. Well, out with the old thinking and in with the new! I'm not going to let that stand in my way anymore. Maybe I'll eventually get to those old posts and maybe they'll go to the wayside, but either way I'm going to start writing down the memories of today.

So, without further ado, my return to blogging!

Walking to school

Teah started 2nd grade at the Kazoo School this year while Carter is in his third year in Mary's room at The Montessori School. The great thing is that the two schools are close to each other and their pickup times work perfectly, just 15 minutes apart. The not so great thing this year is that Tah starts an hour earlier than Carter. To fill some of our extra time Carter and I have started walking to his school after we drop off Teah. Thanks to the Map My Run app on my phone I know that it is a 3/4 mile walk. The weather has been PERFECT. Sunny and just chilly enough to need a jacket. Carter has so much fun "going crazy" down the hills, pretending to blast things with his lunchbox, and finding new things in the neighborhood like a chicken coop or a squirrel crossing the street overhead on a power line (now known as the squirrel bridge). In our too busy world it is so nice that we have extra time to kill on the way to school and I can actually take the time to let him explore. He gets his extra energy out and I get some much needed exercise, kicking my walking into high gear on the way back after I drop him off. I'll definitely be sad when winter comes and we're forced to start driving again. Here are a few quick iPhone snapshots that I took one morning. I plan on taking my camera along one of these trips to try and capture some of the morning glory.

First Day of Fall

This year Teah decided that we needed to make cupcakes to celebrate the first day of fall. How could I argue with that?! This was the first time that she made them almost entirely on her own - reading the directions, choosing the right measuring cups, mixing... She's getting to be so big. Here are some pictures of our celebration.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

This post somehow never got published, so even though Robert's birthday was in May, I am posting this in September.  Oh well!  For Robert's birthday, the kids decided to wash his Jeep as their present to him.  Robert loves that Jeep, so it was a great idea all around.  It wasn't too warm that day, so the tomfoolery was kept to a minimum.  Here are some pictures of the kids doing a great job.

Carter turns 5!

Carter turned 5 this year! 

Carter is growing by leaps and bounds and it is such an amazing blessing.  He just finished his second year of preschool - going every morning and loving it.  He still is very cuddly with me and I am going to enjoy every moment of it while it lasts.  He freely gives hugs, kisses, and I love yous and says the sweetest things.  Of course there's a flip side to every coin and when Carter is cranky he gets totally irrational, mean-spirited, and very stubborn.  This usually happens when a lack of sleep is involved.  Thankfully he usually sleeps well - 11 hours a night on average - although getting him to go to sleep is sometimes a struggle.  He is very predictable every night in telling us that he does not like bedtime the instant that it's arrival is announced.  He doesn't put up too big of a fight usually, but I have taken to sitting in his room in his chair next to his bed for 10 minutes at night to help him settle in.   He sleeps with "birdie" - a green Dr. Seuss looking stuffed bird  that he's taken to over the last year or so - and as always his taggie blanket.  He loves books (which he can read the easiest readers on his won now), animals, video games, and arts and crafts.  One of the things that I like best about him is his optimism and laid back attitude - he's generally not picky and sees the bright side of most situations.  He also has an ego to him - which is very cute - every time he tries something (despite obvious evidence to the contrary) he believes that he is the BEST at it.  As his parents, we never tell him otherwise :)  He's already picked up on some type of man-code, because anytime he meets a new little boy they almost immediately start rough-housing, but when he plays with a little girl he'll sit down and play their games as well (or rough house with them, but only after they've given a sign that they're interested - other boys he just somehow assumes, which gets him into trouble with the boys who aren't as comfortable with the wrestling antics).  He's fun to be around and we honestly have some of the best conversations in the car.  He's my little buddy for sure!

As for me I feel like my youngest being 5 years old is a turning point.  Absolutely nothing at Babies R Us applies to us anymore!  With Carter being 5 and Teah 7 1/2 it has hit me that I really don't have little ones anymore - I have kids.  It's a lot easier in many, many ways, but it also feels a lot busier with soccer, swimming, girl scouts, school, friends, etc.  Of course the older and wiser parents that I know tell me this is only the beginning and I can't wait!

Here are some pictuers of his 5th birthday party.  When he told me that he wanted a penguin theme I was stumped, but I think it turned out well!

My sweet girl

What a sweet little girl we have! Last night she just HAD to make these two cards before bed. We did not prompt her in any way. She noticed her Daddy's scraped knee from soccer and made him a get well card. Then she made Aunt Marj a welcome card because she's moving in with us for the summer. She has such a big heart :). Oh, and the picture on the front of Robert's card is his hurt knee and then his knee when it's all better - I had to ask.

Swimmers!

Carter started swim class a few months ago and is loving it. I was worried about his adjustment to the class, since he's always hated having his head go under the water. I was also nervous about his reaction because it took Teah so long to adjust when she started. This time around I was the wiser Mom, now knowing exactly what to expect from the class, and took a few months at home to start the adjustment in the bathtub. We worked on floating on his back with his ears in the water - he initially hated the sensation of his ears underwater, but it didn't take too many tub sessions before he was much more comfortable with the sensation. We also put on the goggles in the tub and worked on first blowing bubbles, then putting his face in the water, then moving to the jacuzzi to put his whole head under. He still didn't like that much, but was to the point where he would sometimes put his head in voluntarily without crying. Also, I signed him up for two private lessons with the instructor who was going to teach his group lessons and I think that really helped him to feel more comfortable about the whole thing. So, instead of months of crying, he only had a few tears for the first two group sessions. Of course the personality differences between my kids accounts for a big part of the difference, but Ai like to think that my preparation helped as well :).

Fast forward a few months and I now have two kids who are swimmers. Teah is a fish and her instructor has even called her "fearless", which I do believe is the first time that adjective has ever been used when referring to her. She swims very well underwater, dives to the bottom of a 5 foot pool to get her dive sticks, and loves jumping into the pool (she thought it was so cool when the instructor taught her the pencil jump). She just passed her level 2 course after taking it multiple times. The requirements included swimming 20 ft, lots of different floats, treading water for 30 sec, etc. After one session of level 3, which is where they start to learn specific strokes, Teah decided to move back down to Level 2. She decided that she wanted to just have fun rather than learn the strokes.

Carter is enjoying his class. He jumps in and goes all the way under. You can tell he's not quite comfortable with water in his nose when he comes up, but he doesn't let it bother him! He can swim a few feet on his own and floats on his back all by himself.

I'm so proud of both of them and so happy to see their love and enthusiasm for the water.

Animal Rescue

I have a passion for animals, especially the cute and furry kind, and have volunteered in different capacities with animal rescues for many years. I've found ways to encourage a love of animals in my kids through our own pets, the pet store, and good old mother mature, but now that the kids are getting older I can finally share the volunteer experience with them.

We adopted our dog, Vegas, from Animal Rescue Project here in Kalamazoo and I was impressed with the organization. They are made up of entirely volunteers save for a few paid staff at their shelter. This spring I decided that Teah was old enough and we went to volunteer orientation together. They have a great volunteer program where we can go into the shelter to walk a dog or pet the cats anytime from 9am-7pm everyday on a drop in basis. We haven't found the time to make it that often, but I hope to start going weekly now that summer is here.

Teah enjoys walking dogs, but really loves petting and playing with the cats in the cat room. We'll never own our own cat since Robert is allergic, so this is an extra special opportunity and maybe one that will ensure Teah purchasing a cat as soon as she gets her own place :)

Here are a few pictures I took of Teah with THE cutest and friendliest chihuahua at the shelter - I wanted to take him home!