Monday, September 30, 2013
Vanessa's snot blowing sneezes
Sorry for the gross-ness. I don't know if this is blog-worthy, but I just feel the need to write about it. I completely lost track of how many times a day Vanessa sneezes and completely empties the contents of her sinuses into her hands. She blows huge snots out of her nose, and the sneezes and snot blowing always occur at really bad times, like when I'm in the middle of cutting fat off raw chicken (hate "chicken hands") or when I'm changing a diaper. Poor girl. I don't think it bothers her, but she's at the point now where if she sneezes, she catches it in her hands, and freezes in that position until someone comes to help her.
Calvin's question
Calvin knows all the words (not by reading, but by memory) to a book we have at our house called There Was A Coyote. It's a play on there was an old lady who swallowed a fly, except this coyote eats things like cowboy boots, a cactus, etc, and eventually the moon. He burps at the end and asks "Is breakfast soon?" on the last page. Calvin woke up hungry the other morning and wanted to ask Dave when he could eat so he went to the book and copied the letters from that question on this piece of red construction paper and gave it to Dave.
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Calvin's idea to set up breakfast for the family
Calvin got Violet on board to help with his idea to set up breakfast for the family on Saturday morning.
He had her write a sign....spelled like this: It said "Mom we did are best to make it mom day. We got out evrything for you!"
They think they got up "in the middle of the night" ... but really it was closer to 6:30 or 7. The sun hadn't peeked above the horizon yet so to them, it was nighttime.
They decided they wanted pancakes, so they put every ingredient on the counter top they could think of that went into pancakes. A tub of flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, non stick spray, oil, peanut butter, and syrup. Violet put 3 eggs in a plastic bag in the fridge. Calvin put two of the grape tomatoes that were in a little dish in the corner of the kitchen right in front of all the ingredients for me to eat because he knows I love tomatoes. They set out plates for everyone, and found a bag of butterscotch chips and put 3 chips by each plate for a little treat. Forks for all.
It was very sweet. They tried their absolute best to make my morning super duper easy. It was very sweet and thoughtful. I made pancakes for them and they loved it!
Calvin's motivation for doing this was "to get caught doing good" ~ a concept they're doing at Waterloo Christian School. Teachers catch students being good and send notes home to parents, and in return, we can catch our kids being good at home, write down the event on the slip of paper, and sent it back to school to share with the teacher and the rest of the class. I wrote up a note for Calvin's teacher, Miss Smits, and sent it in his green folder so she could read it.
He had her write a sign....spelled like this: It said "Mom we did are best to make it mom day. We got out evrything for you!"
They think they got up "in the middle of the night" ... but really it was closer to 6:30 or 7. The sun hadn't peeked above the horizon yet so to them, it was nighttime.
They decided they wanted pancakes, so they put every ingredient on the counter top they could think of that went into pancakes. A tub of flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, non stick spray, oil, peanut butter, and syrup. Violet put 3 eggs in a plastic bag in the fridge. Calvin put two of the grape tomatoes that were in a little dish in the corner of the kitchen right in front of all the ingredients for me to eat because he knows I love tomatoes. They set out plates for everyone, and found a bag of butterscotch chips and put 3 chips by each plate for a little treat. Forks for all.
It was very sweet. They tried their absolute best to make my morning super duper easy. It was very sweet and thoughtful. I made pancakes for them and they loved it!
Calvin's motivation for doing this was "to get caught doing good" ~ a concept they're doing at Waterloo Christian School. Teachers catch students being good and send notes home to parents, and in return, we can catch our kids being good at home, write down the event on the slip of paper, and sent it back to school to share with the teacher and the rest of the class. I wrote up a note for Calvin's teacher, Miss Smits, and sent it in his green folder so she could read it.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Calvin is off to a great start in K!
I see Calvin's paperwork come home each week and have been happy to see he has scored perfectly on everything he has worked on so far. Good job Calvin!
Friday, September 20, 2013
Eli - turning into a little climber
I noticed Eli grunting and walked over to watch him. He had gotten one leg knee up on the coffee table and was trying with all his might to conquer and climb on top. He reached his arms further, got more grip with his knee, and climbed up to the top and stood on the table. He grinned so big!
Strike a pose
Yesterday's thunderstorms were the first storms we've had in a long time. After school Violet and Calvin went outside on the front porch to enjoy the steamy, rumbly, wet weather. They started pretending the front porch was their stage, and every time a car drove by, they would strike a silly pose and freeze until the car passed by. They showed me their favorite pose and it consisted of Calvin jumping into Violet's arms and she held him suspended in the air while he made a goofy face and stuck his arms and legs out as far as he could. She can't hold him long and dropped him in fits of laughter. Such creative and silly kids!!
Vanessa wants to trade eyes
Vanessa was grumping about not finding a highlights sticker puzzle activity today. She said her eyes don't work. I asked her if her eyes were broken, and she said, "yes, I need new eyes."
then she thought more and said, "I can give my eyes to Hannah Beth and she can have mine." Ok honey.
then she thought more and said, "I can give my eyes to Hannah Beth and she can have mine." Ok honey.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Yellow morning
As the sun rose this morning the color creeping in the windows was very yellowish. Something about the clouds, the fog, and the sun...made it seem like that. Calvin noticed this and told me with absolute authority: "Mom, we are IN THE YELLOW of a rainbow right now."
On our drive to school, he noticed how it was no longer yellow, instead it was foggy and gray, and said, "huh. I didn't think there was gray in a rainbow."
On our drive to school, he noticed how it was no longer yellow, instead it was foggy and gray, and said, "huh. I didn't think there was gray in a rainbow."
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
First few weeks of school/preschool 2013
Whew! My "morning rush" is over. I woke up at 6:30 and haven't stopped moving until now (9:04am). From 6:30-6:50 I'm hurrying to shower and get dressed. At 6:55 I'm dragging kids out of bed, which wasn't TOO hard this morning because they were all sleeping by 8:00 last night.
Last night the girls wanted to sleep together in Vanessa's bed which I let them do for about 15 minutes. They were being too goofy so I had to split them up, Violet went back to the top bunk. She was crying and upset that I had to separate them and I asked her why, and she said, "Vanessa was putting her arm around my neck (I think in a loving way) and I liked it and I'm sad." Which made me sad...I love to see the girls loving on each other and connecting. It was sweet to hear that Violet missed Vanessa's affection. Vanessa's affection is something Dave and I have been praying for specifically. She used to be the kid that said, "no!" with a scowl if we asked her for a hug or a kiss. Now she happily climbs in our arms and snuggles and gives us hugs. Its pretty amazing.
Dave is having his first foot surgery to correct his flat feet today, and he has been in MN for his pre-op appointment yesterday and today, and hopefully he will drive home tomorrow. His procedure doesn't require putting him out, he'll just have a local nerve block and sedation.
So that means I take Violet and Calvin to school and getting all the kids IN the van by 7:40 is a challenge. Not impossible, however, just requires much more effort than I'm used to exerting so early in the morning. My priorities are getting Violet and Calvin dressed for school, fed breakfast while I pack their lunches, and they get shoes on and backpacks in the van. Vanessa is usually out of bed and dressed in something other than pajamas. I never quite know what she is going to pull out of her closet and put on. Today she put on her pink shorts with pockets (she loves pockets!) and a tank top. She rode in the van to take V and C to school with that on and I realize how chilly the morning felt. So I had her change into warmer clothes - she decided to put on a purple hooded sweatshirt (with a pocket!) and some jeans, which she needed help getting on. They were 2 inches too short. Oh well. Its preschool, and I guess she has to grow up. :) I gotta get out the 4T pants for my little Vanessa!!!!
So while the older 3 were buckling in the van, I got Eli out of bed and changed his diaper as fast as I could and got him a sippy cup full of milk and got him buckled in the van. That usually keeps him pretty happy while I'm driving to W'loo and back. He is so snuggly in the morning, its hard to put him down. He clings to my chest and sucks on his paci and clutches his favorite blanket. I put him in his car seat and he stays happy usually. Calvin is sitting near him in the van and Eli started clapping and smiling when he saw Calvin.
So when I get home from taking V and C to school, I cleaned up the kitchen, ate breakfast (I shared my egg/sausage sandwich with Eli), and made sure Vanessa was ready for preschool. She absolutely loves going to preschool. She is excited to go every morning and I can tell she has a great time.
Calvin is having the hardest time adjusting to life in school. He says he likes lunch and recess the best. He says time in the classroom is boring and he doesn't like doing so much work. I asked Miss Smits how Calvin was doing in general last week and she nodded and said, "He's doing quite well! He's very respectful and not a problem at all." So I was happy to hear that. I just know he is having a tough time adjusting to the fact that he is not at home as much, gets less time to play legos or whatever else he wants to do, and gets less time to play on my kindle. This past summer I let the kids each play for 20 or 30 minutes each day if they had their responsibilities done in their room (beds made, shades open, fan off, dressed, pajamas put away, etc).
Well, I decided to make "kindle time" on weekends only. My kids are a strong magnet to any screen if its lit up (no matter the show!) playing something and if one kid gets a turn on the kindle, the other two INSIST on watching, and this is usually how fights break out. Someone bumped someone else making them lose at their game, etc. Some games require moving the kindle by tipping it to move their character so its touch/bump sensitive. The reason I decided to eliminate the kindle on weekdays is because the kids all get so little time together after school that if they ALL get a turn, then an hour and a half goes by and they are staring at a screen and not interacting with the family during the only hour and a half we get together after Dave is done working and after supper is over. They have homework to do, piano to practice, and legos to build. I was happy to get Calvin's packet of worksheets in his kindergarten folder back, and he scored 100% on every paper he did. He had some letter T writing homework and he was agreeable and did it cheerfully and asked for markers so he could color in the pictures of the turtles.
Calvin's not a fan of this kindle-on-the-weekends-thing. He often breaks down crying and says it will be forever until he can play again. He thinks I'll forget to give him a turn.
There was no real adjustment for Violet to school. Its her third year going all day (2nd grade) and she thrives in the classroom, loves her teacher/friends, and does well. She can be a pill sometimes and say things and interrupt Calvin because she knows exactly what makes him upset, but overall, she's doing great.
Eli is napping so its eerily quiet in this house. I am going to get to work on some Awana things. I'm the new secretary for this Awana program at BBC and its honestly big, big job. The record keeping is so laborious, so I'm making a decision to change things and buy a software to make the job easier. Lots of data entry but it NEEDS to be done.
Last night the girls wanted to sleep together in Vanessa's bed which I let them do for about 15 minutes. They were being too goofy so I had to split them up, Violet went back to the top bunk. She was crying and upset that I had to separate them and I asked her why, and she said, "Vanessa was putting her arm around my neck (I think in a loving way) and I liked it and I'm sad." Which made me sad...I love to see the girls loving on each other and connecting. It was sweet to hear that Violet missed Vanessa's affection. Vanessa's affection is something Dave and I have been praying for specifically. She used to be the kid that said, "no!" with a scowl if we asked her for a hug or a kiss. Now she happily climbs in our arms and snuggles and gives us hugs. Its pretty amazing.
Dave is having his first foot surgery to correct his flat feet today, and he has been in MN for his pre-op appointment yesterday and today, and hopefully he will drive home tomorrow. His procedure doesn't require putting him out, he'll just have a local nerve block and sedation.
So that means I take Violet and Calvin to school and getting all the kids IN the van by 7:40 is a challenge. Not impossible, however, just requires much more effort than I'm used to exerting so early in the morning. My priorities are getting Violet and Calvin dressed for school, fed breakfast while I pack their lunches, and they get shoes on and backpacks in the van. Vanessa is usually out of bed and dressed in something other than pajamas. I never quite know what she is going to pull out of her closet and put on. Today she put on her pink shorts with pockets (she loves pockets!) and a tank top. She rode in the van to take V and C to school with that on and I realize how chilly the morning felt. So I had her change into warmer clothes - she decided to put on a purple hooded sweatshirt (with a pocket!) and some jeans, which she needed help getting on. They were 2 inches too short. Oh well. Its preschool, and I guess she has to grow up. :) I gotta get out the 4T pants for my little Vanessa!!!!
So while the older 3 were buckling in the van, I got Eli out of bed and changed his diaper as fast as I could and got him a sippy cup full of milk and got him buckled in the van. That usually keeps him pretty happy while I'm driving to W'loo and back. He is so snuggly in the morning, its hard to put him down. He clings to my chest and sucks on his paci and clutches his favorite blanket. I put him in his car seat and he stays happy usually. Calvin is sitting near him in the van and Eli started clapping and smiling when he saw Calvin.
So when I get home from taking V and C to school, I cleaned up the kitchen, ate breakfast (I shared my egg/sausage sandwich with Eli), and made sure Vanessa was ready for preschool. She absolutely loves going to preschool. She is excited to go every morning and I can tell she has a great time.
Calvin is having the hardest time adjusting to life in school. He says he likes lunch and recess the best. He says time in the classroom is boring and he doesn't like doing so much work. I asked Miss Smits how Calvin was doing in general last week and she nodded and said, "He's doing quite well! He's very respectful and not a problem at all." So I was happy to hear that. I just know he is having a tough time adjusting to the fact that he is not at home as much, gets less time to play legos or whatever else he wants to do, and gets less time to play on my kindle. This past summer I let the kids each play for 20 or 30 minutes each day if they had their responsibilities done in their room (beds made, shades open, fan off, dressed, pajamas put away, etc).
Well, I decided to make "kindle time" on weekends only. My kids are a strong magnet to any screen if its lit up (no matter the show!) playing something and if one kid gets a turn on the kindle, the other two INSIST on watching, and this is usually how fights break out. Someone bumped someone else making them lose at their game, etc. Some games require moving the kindle by tipping it to move their character so its touch/bump sensitive. The reason I decided to eliminate the kindle on weekdays is because the kids all get so little time together after school that if they ALL get a turn, then an hour and a half goes by and they are staring at a screen and not interacting with the family during the only hour and a half we get together after Dave is done working and after supper is over. They have homework to do, piano to practice, and legos to build. I was happy to get Calvin's packet of worksheets in his kindergarten folder back, and he scored 100% on every paper he did. He had some letter T writing homework and he was agreeable and did it cheerfully and asked for markers so he could color in the pictures of the turtles.
Calvin's not a fan of this kindle-on-the-weekends-thing. He often breaks down crying and says it will be forever until he can play again. He thinks I'll forget to give him a turn.
There was no real adjustment for Violet to school. Its her third year going all day (2nd grade) and she thrives in the classroom, loves her teacher/friends, and does well. She can be a pill sometimes and say things and interrupt Calvin because she knows exactly what makes him upset, but overall, she's doing great.
Eli is napping so its eerily quiet in this house. I am going to get to work on some Awana things. I'm the new secretary for this Awana program at BBC and its honestly big, big job. The record keeping is so laborious, so I'm making a decision to change things and buy a software to make the job easier. Lots of data entry but it NEEDS to be done.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Vanessa watercolor painting
Vanessa enjoyed painting watercolor circles this afternoon. She would exclaim "Yes!" when she colored in a circle. She loves being observed and constantly asked me what color I wanted her to use next.
I also showed her how to draw a square with dots in it and she copied me and did a great job.
Saturday, September 07, 2013
Vanessa's first haircut
It was time to do something about Vanessa's crazy scraggly/straight/wildly crazy hair today. Rachel picked Vanessa, Eli and myself after I dropped off our van for a few hours at Community Honda for an oil change and other work. We killed some time by walking around the mall, getting some pizza at the mall for lunch, deciding to get Vanessa's hair trimmed, and walking around Hobby Lobby.
I picked Salon Elite because it was close and I've always had pretty good experiences here. Vanessa was the only client! :) She said she didn't want a haircut but sat on the booster, wore the cape, and watched really quietly and sat still. My main concern with her hair was to not take away length, but cut shorter the straight/fuzzy pieces that laid on top that hid all the cute curls underneath. The lady knew exactly what I was after and she cut those pieces shorter to create some nice layers on top of her hair.
Before:
After (and she said, "I wike the haircut!" and an hour later said, "Can I get another haircut?"):
I picked Salon Elite because it was close and I've always had pretty good experiences here. Vanessa was the only client! :) She said she didn't want a haircut but sat on the booster, wore the cape, and watched really quietly and sat still. My main concern with her hair was to not take away length, but cut shorter the straight/fuzzy pieces that laid on top that hid all the cute curls underneath. The lady knew exactly what I was after and she cut those pieces shorter to create some nice layers on top of her hair.
Before:
After (and she said, "I wike the haircut!" and an hour later said, "Can I get another haircut?"):
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