My baby is 3 years old! He turned three about a week ago. I can't believe the time has gone by so fast. I'm feeling sad that I don't have a baby in the house anymore. He's officially preschool age. I am though excited for all the learning and imagination that comes into to play during these years. We had a little party for him, with just family. We didn't do big parties for any of the kids this year and I must say it was nice! No pressure and the kids didn't seem to mind at all. Josh had a monter truck themed party and got lots of great gifts. He was so excited for his little party and I believe he had a great day. The night before his birthday I gave him a haircut so he could look like a handsome big boy (that's what I told him). He sat so well for it and when I was done he checked himself out in the mirror and said "Thanks mom, we'll have to do this again sometime". That kid cracks me up. He's so full of imagination. He is always making up stories. Latley he's been making up stories about his "pretend" dad who apparently lets him do whatever he wants. When we were at the library a few weeks ago he told me, quite loudly, that his other day puts lipstick on him and makes him run around the house, I got some strange looks for that one. I felt compelled to explain that he's talking about his "pretend" dad but decided that would sound crazy too. So I just ignored the stares. His "pretend" dad lets him shoot guns, jump off houses, ride skateboards on the back of sharks and it goes on and on. I must say that I find his fictional dad's disregard for safety quite disturbing. That kid is a character.


Potty Training

I've been telling Josh that when he turns 3 it's time to goodbye to diapers and hello to underwear. He's had sporadic interest in potty training over the last year but nothing to get excited about (at least from my point of view). So he turned three and on that day he knew it was no more diapers. He did really good that day with only a couple of accidents and I was feeling very hopeful, but than he got sick with a nasty cold. He was just so tired and couldn't make it to the potty so I had to relent and stick him back in a diaper until he was feeling better. Now he's better but not as excited about potty training. So I bought a giat bag of skittles (his favorite candy) and told him every time he peed in the potty he could have one and that worked for a couple of days but the effect is starting to wear off. I think I'm going to have to become inventive with this one and change the reward every few days so he stays excited about it. I'm determined to get this kid potty trained.

Basketball

Isaac had a game tonight. Michael took him and I stayed home with the little kids so that I could get them in the bath and to bed early. When the boys got home Isaac was all exited because he had scored a basket from across the court and I missed it!! His team won the game and Isaac is on cloud nine basking in his victory :)

Mad Mad

Madleyn is the little girl I never was. She wants to cook, sew, clean, things that I myself can't remeber ever being interested in. For Christmas she got her first sewing kit and it came with felt animal patterns so that she could make her own little stuffed toys. So on Sunday I taught her how to sew or more honestly I learned right along with her. She sews just about as good as I do. She made a littel stuffed puppy and did a great job. She was so proud of herself. I think we are both going to learn how to knit together. She also loves to help in the kitchen, all my kids like to help in the kitchen, but Madelyn will beg. I'm usually able to find her something to do. And cleaning that girl loves houswork, with the exception of cleaning her own room. She wants to clean everything except the mess she made. I let her help my dust (that's her favorite), sorting laundry and washing the kitchen table. She's such a sweet heart.

More Basketball

This past Saturday was basically all day basketball, with team pictures first thing in the morning and then a couple of games. Pictures went well Isaac actually smiled for his photos this year instead of scowling like he did in last years pictures. After pictures it was off to his first game. The game was pretty intense. It was more like watching football than basketball. Kids were flying all over the place. The coach of the other team got into a heated arguement with the ref and one of the kids on Isaac's team got the wind knocked out of him and ended up barfing on the court. Poor kid, he was such a trooper though. He sat out for a little bit then got right back into the game. Isaac played a good game, he's really getting better at making passes and playing defense. They won that game. We had time to run home and have lunch and relax for a little while and then it was off to the next game. Isaac played amazingly in this game. He was every where. Everyone was asking me what I fed him for lunch. There was a kid on the other team who is like 6 feet tall and only 12 years old. So he just stood under the basket and plopped the ball in. Isaac though didn't hesitate trying to jump as high as I could to try and knock the ball out of the kids hand. It was quite comical to watch actually. They ended up loosing that game, but they put up a good fight. I had a proud mommy moment during that game. One of the kids on the opposing team was knocked down and Isaac stopped to help him up winning praise from the other moms watching the game with me, Telling me what a sweet, nice kid he was to do that....ahhh I love those moments. Make me forget the arguments I have with him to put his coat off, to gett off the computer when told etc, etc.

He had a game on Monday, which their team won. The coach on the opposing team was a real jerk. Instead of coaching his team he stood there screaming at them. I felt so bad for the kids on his team especially his son, who he was pushing really hard. The kid got hurt a few times and even got stomped on the head, and was lying on the court holding his head and his coach, who is his dad, wouldn't pull him out of the game, the refs had to make him pull his kid out. what kind of parent/coach would do that, it made me sick. People like that guy give sports a bad name. So I was really glad we beat that team, I didn't want that guy to go home a winner.

Last night's game was a rough one. Our team was short two players so the boys had to play all 4 quarters with out any breaks. Isaac was running out of steam by the 3rd quarter and they were loosing big. The boys were all getting frustrated. At one point during a time out Isaac looked like he was going to cry. It broke my heart, he was putting so much pressure on himself. I wanted to just grab him and take him home and forget all about basketball. It was one of those mom moments though when you just have to give them a quick hug and send them back out there. These are things he's going to have to learn to deal with if he wants to be part of the world of sports. Dissapointment and loss is part of it and as much as I'd like to sheild him from feeling those things, I know it's part of life and my job is to give him the tools he'll need to hold up under lifes dissapointments. They lost the game big time by a whopping 24 points. They really didn't stand a chance, but they did their best and played a good game. Isaac was feeling down about on the car ride home, but he went and spent the night at Grammy's house and was feeling upbeat in a short time.

ahhh, sports, I never really saw myslef as being a sports mom. I've seen that sports can bring out the best and worst in people. Isaac really likes playing basketball and has fun with it. I'm glad he has the oppurtunity to play sports,since he's homeschooled. I just hope to be able to use it to bring out the good qualities of sportsmenship, teamwork, trying your best and not giving up, hard work and discipline.

Today was a busy day. This morning we went to playgroup so the kids could run out some energy in the big gym and Isaac could practice shooting hoops for a game he had tonight. Josh got a motorized little chopper he could ride on for his birthday and we took that with us since there's not really enough space in the house for riding it. He had such a blast driving it around (it goes pretty slow). He got off of for a little bit to go and play with other things and another little boy whose probably a little over 1 year old sat on it and was checking it out so Josh came back over and basically just stared at the kid with a look that was a combination of confusion and dismay. I was staring at the boy so hard and long that I think he was trying to will the kid off the bike with his mind. Anyway the little boy got off the bike and after that he refused to ride on it again for awhile. He stood by it for a few minutes and then as he was running off to go play he stopped and shook is head and said in exasperated tone " ahhh kids!" Later he got back on it and I had to drag him off when it was time to go home. While we were there Isaac and I played several basketball games, we played horse, knock out and one on one. He one every game but I feel like a put up a good fight.

After playgroup it was back to the house for lunch, cleaning and school. We did art today and their assignment was to sketch the view from out our window. Which isn't a very pretty view, there's a road, some dead trees and a power line. The kid though very much enjoyed their project. It was nice to see Madleyn and Isaac sitting in front of the living room window sketching their scene. They both did a great job and Isaac really paid attention detial when sketching the power line. Even Josh made a picture. Whenever Josh tells me what he drew or painted he always goes into these long stories and just makes things up as he goes. A couple of scribbles with crayons on paper turns into a monter diving in the ocean, where he gets eat by a shark that swims out and buys shoes for his dad. None of is stories ever make any sense and he can just go on and on, he's got quite the imagination.

Isaac had a basket ball tonight. His team lost 23 to 25 a close game. Those boys really hustled out there. I can tell Isaac is really learning more about the game this year, his playing is really improving. I brought madelyn and Josh with me to the game and they were so excited to watch Isaac play. They were cheering for him (even when he was sitting on the bench). In between cheering for Isaac they climbed up on a couple of mats in the corner and were pretending it was a stage. I one point I turned around to check on them and Madleyn was singing and doing some Mexican inspired dance while Josh was rocking out playing air guitar.

After that it was back home and to bed for the kiddos we got to get up early in morning, we have awhole day of basketball ahead of us tomorrow.

Bedtime prayers by Madelyn and Josh

Every night the kids say prayers before going to bed. Here's the prayer Madelyn said tonight:

Dear God,
Chapter 1, Please God be with me forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever

Chapter 2, Lord stay with always, all the time I know you can do it! forever and ever

Chapter 3, Amen

Josh's prayer:

Dear God, Thank you for food, and for shelves and for doors, and food and thank you for my mommy and daddy and my mommy and my brother and Isaac and Madelyn, thank you for food and eyes and tv and food and thank you for uh uh food.

Amen! I'm out!

Basket ball and Birthdays

Basketball season has started again and now life seems to have gotten a whole lot busier. Isaac loves it this year he's on a great team with a great coach. They have won 2 out of 3 games so far. a big difference from last year when his team didn't win a single game. He has been basking in the glory of his victories. I love watching him go out there and play, I love seeing him be able to work as a team and to have confindence in himself and his abilities. It's really been good for him.

Madelyn turned 5 last week. I can't beleive my baby girl is already 5 years old! It seems like it was just yesterday that I brought home my red faced, chubby cheeked baby girl. She has really grown in this passed year both physically and mentally. Sometimes it's like she's a minature adult already! For her birthday I told her we could have lunch anywhere she wanted so she chose Mcdonalds of course and we met up there with my mom and Scott, the kids played and ate happy meals and hot fudge sundae's. Mad Mad had a blast. The next night we had a party for her and this years theme was my little pony's. She had a My little pony cake that she helped me make and decorate. It turned out pretty cute. we did the whole presents, cake and ice cream thing. We also played pin the symbol on the ponies butt (the pony was really a picture of a donkey but we were pretending it was a pony) and then we played an extremely competitve game of musical chairs. My kids take musical chairs very seriously. It was a lot of fun and I know that Madelyn had a great day and that make my heart happy. Next up is Joshies birthday. He is going to be 3 in just a few days. He's really grown too this year. He's loosing that baby look and starting to look like a little boy. He's still my baby though. He still wants to sit in my lap and play with my hair (I love it). He had to go to the dentist yesterday. He had a cavity between his two front teeth and they drilled it out. He was such a little trooper. Now he has a little gap between his front teeth that has made him look even more adorable if thats possible.

Homeschooling is going great Isaac is doing a unit on Ocean Science and we're learnign lots of interesting things about waves, hurricanes, ocean life, under water volcanoes and more. School is slowly becoming less of a struggle for him and he's been working really hard this year. Madelyn is learning how to write her name, the months and seasons of the year, Sun and energy. She is a smart girl. She can do simple adding and subtracting and is started to show signs that she's ready to start learning to read. We've been doing phonics lessons every day. She can even tell you who the first president was :) Josh is learning shapes, colors, ABC's and counting. Most of his learning comes from his brother and sister. I find it so sweet to see My kids all helping each other out and encouraging each other. I am so blessed.



Madelyn getting ready to make a wish and blow out the candles



Madelyn all ready for her birthday party



Madelyn with my mom at Mcdonalds for her birthday lunch



Isaac before his first game

Well we had a great Christmas....I can't believe it's over already and a new year has begun. Time goes by so quickly. The Christmas decorations and tree are all packed up and we're ready to start this new year. I can't wait to see what it has in store for us.

Christmas.....On Christmas eve we went to my moms for dinner and gift exchanging it was very nice and relaxing. Madleyn got a woopsie do doll from my mom, a doll that pees a poops, she couldn't be more excited. Though I have to assist her in the feedings and changes so now I've got 3 live children to care for and one plastic one. That's ok everytime that doll pees it's like magic to Madelyn and she gets excited running around the house yelling "she peed, she peed!" All the kids thanks to very generous family memebers got everything they wanted for Christmas and I did too :) So thank you Friends and Family for your generousity, we were all prepared for a small, small Christmas and ended up with the biggest Christmas we've ever had!
Christmas morning the kids were up at 7am which isn't bad I can do 7am. They were so excited as we shook Michael to get him up which took a couple minutes, the kids almost exploded they were so excited. Then we all went down stairs the kids running and sqealing me and michael dragging and sluggish. I started the coffee and arranged the kids around the tree and then the chaos began. Wrapping paper flying through the air, screams of delight, toys thrusted in my face to show me what they got, then boxes upon boxes and wires upon wires to undo. We even had to get out tools (screwdrivers mostly) to get the toys out of the boxes. My fingers were numb by the end of it. Then to the kitchen for our traditional Christmas breakfast of hot cocoa and fresh baked cinnamon rolls (so yummy), then time to open stockings. Which Santa hid so that was fun watching them search through the house for them. Then the squealing, ripping, and thrusting began again. Then it was over and the hunt for batteries began. The kids spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying their new toys while Michael and I relaxed and lazed about. It was really wonderful, but I'm glad it's over ;) it's a lot of work. Now we're working on getting everybody back on schedule and getting organized.

Now it's a New Year and we started it off sick...everyone in the house is sick. We're starting to feel better now, but for a couple of days it was pretty bad, everyone to sick to move, to sick to breathe, the only noise was the sound of coughing and snot dripping, yes I could hear the snot dripping it was so gross, the amount of snot that kids can produce I still can't get over it, It just doesn't seem possible for these little noses to contain that much snot, ok that's probably too much information Haha sorry. Well I'm going to end this here snot much else to say;)
Going to get my little sickies in their jammies and off to bed.

Countdown till Christmas

Wow, Christmas is only a week away! We've been having a great Holiday season so far. We took the kids to Santa Clause House at the begining of the month to see Santa and get our picture taken with him. Madelyn asked him to bring her a stroller for her baby dolls and Josh asked for a skatebaord (oh my), Isaac told him that he didn't need anything and Santa told him that he'd better tell him something or he might get stuck with barbie dolls for Christmas! After seeing Santa the kids went and picked out their keepsake ornaments for this year, Madelyn is working on a collection of angels and Josh is collecting different candycane ornaments, Isaac just gets whatever he sees that he likes, this year he got a crystal reindeer its really pretty, or in his words "cool". Then we went over to the Christmas in ice park and took a horse and carriage ride, that was a first for myself and the kids, it was soo nice and peaceful and the weather was really fantastic that day, I think it was close to 40degrees above zero, which to us in December is balmy. We've mostly been enjoying peaceful times at home. I'm teaching the kids Christmas songs for music and a song called Christmas Bells, and the kids get to jingle their jingle bells during the song, they love that. Today we are going to make beaded Christlmas ornaments.

The kids are excited for Christmas of course. Madelyn told me last night that she Couldn't wait for Christmas because she is so excited to celebrate Jesus being born.
Little Joshie asks me multiple times a day if he can open the presents under the tree. At least he hasn't gone and done it like I was afraid he might do, but so far the presents remain safe under the tree. Isaac is starting to question the whole Santa Clause thing, I think somewhere in his mind he knows that its really us but he's decided he's not ready to stop believing and lose some Christmas magic. So sweet, I guess 11 years old is kind of old nowadays to believe in Santa, but I believed in him until I was in 6th grade and we had to answer letters to Santa in school and I was like "why are we doing this isn't their elves for this kind of thing"...I know I was a dork LOL. But anyway I'm glad that he is able to hold onto childhood things a little bit longer. I know if he was in school he'd be forced to grow up a little faster. Well I need to get the kids started on their school work more to come later.




All of as at Santa Clause House



Isaac in front of the ice sculpture at Santa Clause House