How to sum up January?

A month has gone by since my last post. If you saw my day to day right now, you might be surprised I'm even posting this soon.

After the winter break ended, chaos descended. First thing most mornings, I'm up thirty minutes before the kids to get myself ready and pack 4 lunches, then get breakfast ready before I hound the girls to eat, get dressed, do their hair, and pack their bags, while simultaneously making sure I have all the stuff I need for work in my work bag and chasing Connor around for our daily game of "you-can-dress-me-if-you-can-catch-me".

Phew!

It's been four weeks of it and I am exhausted and eagerly counting the days until Aunt Robyn shows up and I only have to get all three kids ready and out the door twice a week.

Connor and Megan have been enrolled in the program for four weeks at this point and all goes well. Connor had a great first day, rough couple days following, but has been doing great since. I joked early on that I bullied the women in the room to admit he was their favorite, but I am getting genuine comments of "he's so sweet" and lots of good things. He really is a charmer, even if he does think screaming during our daily prayer/devotional in the morning work meeting is a good idea.

Megan is also flourishing. Since the other pre-K teacher and I have similar schedules, my path crosses with Megan's regularly (mostly bathroom breaks and outside play time), so I get to see her interacting with the other kids in her class. She's one of the giggliest in the group, but she seems to be doing very well.

And I am doing well, also. It's been an adjustment; not just for me, but for my students, since I have been making changes since day 1. I tried to do it gradually, one thing at a time, but after 4 weeks of that... I have gotten positive feedback from the parents, though, so that's been a confidence booster, and I am starting to feel in control rather than just barely keeping up with the flow of things. I imagine once I have a couple days a week when I don't have kids underfoot at any given moment (either students or offspring), I'll be able to get more accomplished at work and be even more in control.

Cadence continues excelling at school. She got her second report card for the year and it was all (+) and E (exceeds expectations). Her reading level was a "6", which I cannot fully interpret, but I think means 6th grade? If it is, I'd be a little surprised, but not completely floored. The child is reading scriptures with only a few hiccups, so... Her 100th day of school is next Thursday and she's counting down the days.

James's work goes the same ol', same ol'. Obviously, the drop in oil prices has caused a little tension in his industry. They have altered his assigned hours, so he will be working fewer hours for the time being. However, since I am now working, this is not affecting us as drastically as it could (I am so grateful Heavenly Father nudged me in that direction back in November. I am still in awe of how He pulled the strings so I ended up in this position so quickly). We are focusing on the positive. James goes into work an hour later, so he and I should actually get a little time in the morning together, and he gets home about thirty minutes earlier. So, yay!

We did have a bit of drama this past month. James and I discovered we're decent DIYers, except when it comes to fixing the window in our living room. The girls were wrestling and one pushed the other and the next thing I hear is glass splintering. After the initial "I can't believe you just did that" frustration wore off, I was just grateful the blinds had been closed and absorbed the impact so the kids ran into the window and not through it. The window was fixed, but it's far from a professional job. Still, it's water tight, so it will do, even if there is a glob of clear silicon marring the lower corner of the acrylic.

Oh, and drama #2 and #3 is we're on lookout this weekend for lice and pink-eye, both of which Megan and/or Connor have possibly been exposed to. I think we're safe, but...

No pictures to include this time around, sadly. I've been too busy cutting out puzzles, coloring in flashcards, and filling out progress reports. Plus, no phones allowed at work, so I can't even pull out my phone to snag a picture of Megan playing with her friends, or Connor staring at all the crazy people singing and dancing during Chapel.

We're all doing well, we're all happy. A little stressed, a little frazzled  but things are going well overall. :-)

December, part 2

The second half of December calmed down as much as I predicted. Cadence had a blast at her class Christmas party and came home with a bag filled with lots of little goodies. My last week of work was as chaotic as I expected, but I am looking forward to January when I start up again in my new position. Cadence is counting down days until she gets to return to school, and, admittedly, so am I.

We did end up going to a friends house for cookies with Santa. We all laughed when Connor walked into the house perfeclty fine, but once he turned the corner and saw Santa in the kitchen, he did a complete 180 and started crying as he walked back to us. Santa did his best to charm Connor, even offered him a piece of chocolate, which Connor accepted with a rather suspicious look on his face. Despite his best efforts, when it came time for pictures, Connor went right back to crying.

Christmas Eve was an experience... We opened the flue and started up our gas fireplace for the first time since we bought the house. The kids oohed and ahhed, then ran to the table for their customary hot chocolate and we shut the fire off. We noticed a wasp flying around and initially assumed it had come in through the back door when I'd left it open for a time. Until we spotted a couple more near the fireplace. Our chimney, unfortunately, appears to be infested and the warm air from the fire began waking them up. We quickly shut the flue, killed the ones that made it inside and thanked our lucky stars the kids didn't get stung.

Another Christmas Eve tradition, among most families I think, are the new pajamas! Connor LOVED his Spiderman pajamas. In fact, I just barely managed to sneak them into the laundry last night. The girls ended up with matching ones, despite telling myself I wouldn't do that to them.

Christmas morning was chaos. The girls did well with remaining in their room until I came to fetch them (too well, actually, Cadence had to pee, but wouldn't leave her room without permission). Once we let them loose, they went nuts, dumping their stockings and squealing over everything. Connor followed them, mimicking their excitement until he began to see what was in his stocking. There were coloring books, chocolate and the usual. The girls got their first official Barbie dolls and Connor got half a dozen small construction trucks.

Opening present devolved into even more chaos. We barely managed to keep the girls from crawling under the tree and just ripped everything open at once. Wrapping paper flying everywhere, "oh, thank you!" being shouted every few seconds, and lots of jumping and  more squealing. The girls' haul included some new movies, new dresses, Frozen dolls, an art kit, a tea set and a couple other small items. Connor got himself a Buzz Lightyear doll, a Spiderman action figure (to compliment the Iron Man and Hulk he got last year), a roaring, walking dragon, and a new church outfit.

The big presents were set out on the porch and saved for last. New bikes for the girls and a Tonka truck for the boy. Once the last of it was explored, we set them loose and let them just play with their new goodies. Eventually, we did get everyone dressed and James and I led the girls to a dead end street around the corner from our house for the girls to practice riding their bikes on.

Not much more exciting went on, since. Everyone finally got over all the random colds and stomach bugs. Today was particularly pleasant. James had the day off last minute, so we spent the morning at Ikea, just browsing. The girls got to spend an hour at Ikea's Smaland, enjoying the completely unsanitary ball pit which will undoubtedly be removed when they remodel it in February. We also had lunch there, since it was kids-eat-free all week, which made feeding all 6 of us actually a bargain. Afterward, we came home and since it finally stopped raining took the girls back out to ride their bikes. This time Connor hopped on his little motorcycle and went with us. Actually, most of the time, he outpaced his sisters and had a blast "riding" with them, just like a big kid. His enthusiasm was adorable.

Close out with a family picture from the ward party 3 weeks ago. We have another week of winter break before we all go back to school. Cadence back to elementary, and Connor and Megan going to preschool with me. Admittedly, I'm a little stressed about the idea of trying to get all 3 ready and out the door every morning, but I'll figure it out. I already have a lunch menu prepped so it's just a matter of making the lunches in the morning, and the girls are getting into the habit of putting out clothes the night before and getting dressed before they do anything else in the morning. Those two habits should help me stay on track while I adjust. I ordered Connor and Megan's backpacks last week and their new napmats are tucked away in Connor's closet waiting to be used. I'm also gathering items I want to take to my classroom. It's going to be quite an experience for all of us!

'Twas the first half of December...

I feel like I'll need multiple posts to get through our Christmas events this year. Though, truthfully, most of them are done and over with by the end of next week once school is out for Cadence and me.

Our December began with a great deal on an artificial tree. ;-) I was agonizing (okay, not really) over how to get a great tree without risking Jen's allergies while still staying on a budget, but as time began to run out, someone posted a used-one-year-old tree that I had been eyeing new in the store for almost half price. I snagged it and put it up while the kids were sleeping, so they woke up to a 7.5 foot Christmas tree. Cadence and Megan's reactions were downplayed, but Connor's was hilarious. He kept going up to the tree and trying to blow the lights out. After a couple days of having it up, I pulled all the ornaments back off and put ribbon around it. Next year, I want a thicker ribbon. And I want it in gold, but for now this will do.

By the way, that's "Dragon Age: Inquisition" on the TV screen. Mwahaha!

We had a brief visit with Uncle Jon, but alas, no pictures were taken this time. I put the wrong time down in my phone, so I got a call an hour before I thought he was supposed to be picked up saying "I'm here!" and rushed the kids out the door. The bus station is not in the best part of town. Oops.

But, we had fun. Cadence and James both got home early one day to spend some extra time with him and we even let Jon cook for us his last night here. Chicken Parmesan, yum!

Tonight, we had our ward Christmas party. It was Polar Express themed, so everyone was encouraged to wear pajamas. (Sorry for the poor quality. I left my camera at home and had to rely on the "smart" phone figuring out the lighting).

With a Polar Express theme, there had to be a visit from Santa! The girls were eager to greet their favorite Christmas personality, but Connor took one look at him and started to cry. Why? Because we'd traumatized him earlier in the week at Bass Pro Shop and he was NOT going to go through that again. :-P

So, there's part 1. :-) Part 2 may not involve as many pictures. We're going to a special meeting with Santa tomorrow night. He's visiting a friend and we've been invited to have cookies with them. ;-) Cadence has a class party on Thursday that I will unfortunately be missing, since I have to work. I've also got Christmas party planning to do for my own work, while also going to CPR training on Tuesday and trying to figure out how things are going to work in January (both with my taking over the pre-K class and Connor and Megan enrolling). I've been trying to collect items for Christmas AND get the items they'll need for their first day of school.

Another "this and that" post

It's been a busy couple weeks since the girls' birthdays, so I'll just post general thoughts and updates and a few pictures (and even a video!) as I go along. :-)

First up? Cadence's kindergarten "Friendship Feast". Megan and I both got to attend, that is, Megan insisted on going and once I got back from dropping Cadence off at school, she hounded me about "can we go now?" until we finally showed up 15 minutes early.

Cadence and the rest of her class between performances of their songs. (video at the bottom of the post)

I could not get Megan to look at the camera for the life of me, and she was super disappointed to not get a serving of the fruit salad. We made it up to her by buying a slush from Sonic after my appointment.

Thanksgiving week was long. Cadence and I were both pacing a bit by the time Wednesday came around, and James joined us in the pacing for his extra long weekend. Thanksgiving itself was nice, very quiet. I again told James we need to find a similarly lonely family and combine the holiday. It's just not really "Thanksgiving" without the crowded house, surplus of appetizers and lack of proper seating. We did have lots of laughs during the weekend. Connor continued being his charming self. The girls ran around like crazy and had fun playing together all day, something they haven't been able to do that often since Cadence started school.

Once I got the camera out, Connor insisted on his fair share of model opportunities.

With a little extra time on our hands and no need to be strict about bedtimes, we attempted rag curls in the girls' hair.

When I attempted to brush out Megan's hair, it poofed up. I thought it was so funny, I left it that way for awhile.

We did tame the curls before taking the dog to the dog park Thanksgiving morning. Megan looked so chic in her long sweater and her crimped & curly hairstyle, I had to take a picture!

Cadence's curl results. We just pinned hers back and let them do their own thing. Super cute!

Megan's curls did eventually tame themselves into adorable Shirley Temple curls. This girl was BORN for curly hair! I'm so bummed her hair has straightened out as it grew longer.

I have not given a personal update on my new role as a working mom! :-) I've now been working for "Little Lambs Learning Center" for 4 weeks. I started the first week in November and I am really enjoying it. At the moment, I'm assigned to Mondays and Wednesdays in the toddler room, and on Tuesday and Thursdays I fill in where they need me. It's been an experience, that's for sure. I miss Megan and Connor like crazy (Connor more than Megan, but only because I'm constantly reminded of him while surrounded by toddlers), but it is a great place to work. The women are incredibly friendly. I love that we start every day with a prayer, too.

This opportunity has been truly amazing and it's something I can see myself doing for awhile. In fact, I've already begun looking into what it would take to get my certification. I'll need a little more experience before I can qualify, but it's on the back burner and the online course is bookmarked. ;-)

Connor and Megan will actually be enrolled in the program for January, since they need me to go "full time" (4 days a week, not full-time hours) starting in January. I will actually be trading positions with another employee. She will take over my part-time toddler room gig and I inherit her pre-K class as a lead teacher, Since childcare was a bit up in the air for January, the solution was to enroll them for the month. So, I guess my readers will get "first day of preschool" pictures soon, though I feel like I have to already start apologizing to my immediate co-workers in the toddler room, because I don't know how Connor is going to handle the change. I guess we'll see! And at least, when they're at work, I'll get an extra hour with them each day, since they'll get to spend my prep time with me.

Now we're getting ready for Christmas, slowly. Thanks to the car giving us issues and other such things, it's yet another quiet Christmas ahead, but the kids won't notice because they've already been spoiled and don't even know it yet. They don't read over my shoulder so I can post this: If things play out right, the girls are getting bikes for Christmas. Fingers crossed things work out before all the good bikes are taken! We've also already begun collecting presents ourselves, though we're in a bit of a bind about a tree. Debating how much to risk Jen's allergies with a real tree, or to just kick my snobby self and get a cheap artificial tree for the year (the snobby part of me whines that the one in our current budget is sparse and cheap-looking, *sigh*)

Cadence's 6th Birthday!

Cadence was so excited to go to school this morning. She was filled with stories of what she would get to do because it was her birthday: bring cupcakes, wear the birthday crown, get a birthday pencil! I walked her in to school this morning, rather than just dropping her off at the curb with her 2 dozen Tinkerbell cupcakes. It was a little surreal to step into the school hallway and watch her easily step into the flow of students without me. She's so grown up!

After school, showing off her birthday crown and the decorations we put up just for her (the balloons were dangling first thing this morning, but Aunt Jen had to tape them up before Connor pulled it all down)

Birthday cake. Yum!

She blew out the candles so fast I couldn't snag a picture

Opening Grandma Bobbie's present

We had to give Connor a piece of cake to appease him during the present opening ceremony. What is he going to do when there's no cake tomorrow?

Cheesy grin time!

Safety first! Showing off her safety glasses for her big girl present from mom and dad...

Practicing with dad with her new BB rifle. Learning the basics of aiming and safety. She did pretty well, except it was still a little too big for her. But when she aimed and let Daddy pull the trigger, she hit the target. ;-)

So, she's 6! It still hasn't completely sunk in that I have a genuine kid. Not a toddler, not a preschoolers, but a kid! She's excelling in school, she's making friends, she's learning a dozen new things a day, and she's doing 100% fine without me. *sigh*

Last Friday she got to do the "birthday bash" for all the kids with a November birthday in school, which meant she got to eat on the decorated stage and bring a friend with her. She invited her best friend: Nishi, which is a great story. I had worried that Cadence would struggle with making friends, but she plays with everyone and when their teacher was worried about Nishi not making friends easily, she enlisted Cadence to play with her and I encouraged her to keep it up and before I knew it, Cadence had a best friend. I'm excited to go to their "Friendship Feast" this Friday and finally get to meet all the kids I hear so many stories about every day. :-)

Megan's 5th Birthday

It's always a busy couple days when mid-November comes around and we have our back to back birthdays, but the weekend is upon us and Megan Ruth turned 5 years old!

All the kids enjoyed the streams and balloons hanging over the hallway door entry.

After getting ready for church, Megan insisted on posing.

We did the whole birthday cake and presents ordeal a little earlier than usual today, only because Cadence's present requires being opened before dinner, so Megan got to open hers before dinner too!

There's a definite pink theme for girly Miss Megan

She needed more than a little help blowing out the candles.

Opening her present from Grandma Bobbie

And squealing in delight over her present from James and me. When you turn the crown on top of Aurora's head, her dress changes colors.

Cadence read the instructions and Connor came over to investigate Hulk's newest girlfriend while Megan waited patiently for Daddy to get the doll out of its packaging.

Connor enjoying his sister's very pink cake.

Megan got an absurdly large slice, but, hey, it's her birthday!

So, that was Megan's day. Now she's happily playing out stories with her color-changing princess doll and soon we'll be cooking up her birthday dinner selection: hot dogs, beans, corn, and fries. I'd say "I can't believe she's 5!", but I totally can. She's matured so much recently and she's just as ready for school to start as Cadence was when she turned 5, more so, actually, because she's crazy excited after hearing how much fun Cadence is having at school.

She's seriously the sweetest girl. She lives to love, 100%. She is perfectly content to just shower love and affection on everyone around her, and she's just as excited about everyone else's achievements as her own. When Cadence and I get home after school and work, she's the first one at the door to greet us and she's learned quickly how to be a great big sister to Connor without Cadence around to fill that role.

Halloween 2014

Took me long enough to post these pictures, right? But Halloween was a fun event this year. Sadly, I had to cancel our "Zoo Boo" plans with friends due to car trouble (that is a whole new rant, but after a long weekend and a grand total of 20 hours in a mechanic's waiting room, the car is no longer making the squealing sound), but we did make it to our wards chili cook-off/trunk or treat. We also spent an evening in the elementary school parking lot jostling our way through for another trunk or treat, where we got a lot of dum dums and business cards, since businesses signed up to be the "trunks". At least we did get some balloon flowers and a chance to climb into the cab of a fire truck.

As for the ward trunk or treat, we got there on time, which means we were "early" and spent some time letting the kids run around before dinner was finally served. Then it was time to gather our pumpkin pails and go trunk to trunk. Without the overcrowding issue, I was able to take Connor out of his stroller and run wild. He quickly figured out how things work and had the time of his life.

The girls posing in the church's parking lot. Cadence was "Fancy Nancy" and Megan is doing her best Spidergirl impersonation.

Showing off her cat face paint.

A close up of Connor's costume. Everyone "awwed" over his muscled Spiderman as he strutted around.

Connor enjoyed the fruit of his labors. If anyone tried to even touch his pumpkin, he threw a major fit.

Halloween night, I was so excited to finally be in a neighborhood that actually trick or treats. This made it the girls' first real Halloween experience, because up until this year, their only trick or treating had been in the church parking lot and the zoo. Connor, who refuses to talk at home and insists on communicating with grunts, whines, and pointing (third child syndrome, I suspect), forgot himself for the evening and went up to each door to shout "tree!".

He only got to go once around the block before James took him back inside, and the girls and I explored a little further through the neighborhood.

Posing right outside our dressed-up front door.