I am not sure where Casey will fall into this whole mess, but hopefully the four girls don't cause any permanent physical or physiological damage.
P.S. Ava started the whole no shirt thing. I pray that won't continue into her teenage years.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Roommate
Lucky for me my college roommate and best friend has a brother that lives in Austin, TX (about an hour up the road). I got to see her when I was in Washington DC for job training, and again when she was in TX visiting family. What a great holiday treat!
Crystal and I have been best friends for the last 11 years, and we were fortunate enough to spend the last 4 years living nearby in DC. During that time our families grew closer together also. Her two girls, Joey (5) and Dani (3 1/2), are close enough in age that it made for fun social gatherings.
It has been 8 months since the kids have gotten together, and it was so great to see them form even stronger bonds because they are a bit older and can play better together. I think Crystal and I will do our parts to help encourage their friendship.
I am not sure where Casey will fall into this whole mess, but hopefully the four girls don't cause any permanent physical or physiological damage.
P.S. Ava started the whole no shirt thing. I pray that won't continue into her teenage years.
I am not sure where Casey will fall into this whole mess, but hopefully the four girls don't cause any permanent physical or physiological damage.
P.S. Ava started the whole no shirt thing. I pray that won't continue into her teenage years.
Santa Claus
Thank you family and friends for helping make the kids' Christmas wonderful. They are blessed with so many grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and close friends that there is always a plethora of good things under the tree. There is nothing like the wide eyes and bright grin on a child's face Christmas morning.
Obviously, they had you all fooled, because they probably didn't deserve anything other than coal this year.
There are definitely some rough days trying to keep up with 3 kids under the age of 4. Christmas week was no exception when all three kids came down sick. Thank goodness for Tylenol, Motrin, and cough syrup...and lots of it. We were able to get them a point of medicated bliss, so that they could actually enjoy the holiday.
Ava looking a little out of it, but trust me, the see-saw is one of her favorite toys. She doesn't even like to let her sister use it.
Another masterpiece!
She starts her list early in the year, and loves the whole concept of Santa Claus. She was the one who called out with glee upon seeing scooters, motorcycles, presents, and a picnic table under the tree on Christmas morning. At least, she remains grateful and wants to call Santa and thank him for all the great presents. (I told her she has to write him a letter.) Ryan even heard her and Ava a few days later chanting "thank you Santa" while riding their see-saw. Next year Ava will be three and we think Christmas will be a flurry of wrapping paper and screams as Captain Destructo really gets into the action.
Obviously, they had you all fooled, because they probably didn't deserve anything other than coal this year.
There are definitely some rough days trying to keep up with 3 kids under the age of 4. Christmas week was no exception when all three kids came down sick. Thank goodness for Tylenol, Motrin, and cough syrup...and lots of it. We were able to get them a point of medicated bliss, so that they could actually enjoy the holiday.
Ava looking a little out of it, but trust me, the see-saw is one of her favorite toys. She doesn't even like to let her sister use it.
This will probably be our last mellow Christmas. Elizabeth is now at an age where she gets pretty stoked about Christmas.
Another masterpiece!
Despite their illness, there was still some holiday cheer. My little mermaids checked out their stocking stuffer, color changing tablets for the bath tub.
Elizabeth is still a fan of pirates. With costumes, ships, and action figures for Christmas, what more could a girl want.
Casey even got into the action.
He thought the fish tank was pretty cool. Actually just to bow which he kept yanking off and eating.
Ava's favorite gift was pink and purple underwear. I can now say with some confidence that she is potty trained. We have been working on it for the last month and a half, and I think she finally has it. She is just so pleased with herself to be wearing undies now. That and pink glitter shoes.
Happy New Year!
Casey even got into the action.
He thought the fish tank was pretty cool. Actually just to bow which he kept yanking off and eating.
Ava's favorite gift was pink and purple underwear. I can now say with some confidence that she is potty trained. We have been working on it for the last month and a half, and I think she finally has it. She is just so pleased with herself to be wearing undies now. That and pink glitter shoes.
Happy New Year!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
It is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...
Yesterday, it was 76 degrees and we went to buy our Christmas tree in shorts and a t-shirt. I am not sure how I feel about this. I like being able to enjoy the outdoors for so many months out of the year, but I do like snow.
There are some other big differences between D.C. and Texas. Last year, we went to buy our Christmas tree on December 24th at 4pm. The salesman seemed insulted when we asked if there were any discounts on their trees. No discount, slim pick'ins, and we sulked away with a $50 tree. Trees were always overpriced in DC, but I was still a little worries about what we would pay in DC since the evergreen tree isn't native.
This year there were still slim pick'ins because we procrastinated so long, in fact the first place we stopped had closed up shop. So, we drove over to a local nursery, they had 42 trees left to be exact, but they were all half off. The original price on most was $75. We had narrowed down our selection when one of the sales ladies mentioned that there were a couple of trees up front for sale. That had been decorated and used in the background for their pictures with Santa promotion. Ryan and I took a look, one of the trees was about 4ft tall, but he other one was great. A 7ft tall Douglas Fir with lights, tinsel, some ornaments, a big bow, and fake snow all for the special price of $27. Merry Christmas, who doesn't love a good deal!
You will be sure to see some pictures of this fabulous find on Christmas Day. Happy Holidays!
P.S. Today it is in the 40's and very windy, so much for the balmy weather of last week.
P.S. Today it is in the 40's and very windy, so much for the balmy weather of last week.
He moves!
It is official, upon me returning from Washington, D.C. Casey is on the move. He can now crawl all over the house, and even climb the one step up and out of our sunken living room. He can even pull himself up and get into all sorts of trouble. He isn't climbing out of his crib yet, but he is pulling stuff off of bookcases.
Here are a couple of pictures of our happy little guy, and I will post some video of him on the prowl soon.
More visitors
Immediately following my mom's departure, Annie, Billy, and Reina flew in for the week. We were able to get everyone together at our house for lunch before Ryan went to work, I flew out of town, and kids had naps. I don't think the girls consumed much food, but they were successful in pulling out every toy we own.
As I mentioned above, I had to jump an airplane and head out of town, so this is where our adventures separate. While I was in DC for job orientation, I got to spend some time with my other sister-in-law Lauren and her son Milo (Andrew was out of town) and my best friends Crystal and Siusan. Meanwhile, back in Texas, the kids and Ryan celebrated Bub's and Reina's birthdays and Annie and Billy volunteered to watch kids one day while Ryan worked. Four kids under the age of four!!! Wow... thanks again for helping us out.
Before Annie, Billy, and Reina flew back to Ohio we were able to meet back up with them as a family and enjoy a nice dinner, plus Gram and Bub.
The holidays are all about family and friends, and it has been nice to see some many of you during the month of December.
Before Annie, Billy, and Reina flew back to Ohio we were able to meet back up with them as a family and enjoy a nice dinner, plus Gram and Bub.
The holidays are all about family and friends, and it has been nice to see some many of you during the month of December.
Visit from Grammy
Before I headed back to work full time, we were fortunate enough to enjoy a visit from my mom, aka. "Grammy" to the kids. The kids had a blast with her. The girls showed her all their toys, drawings, and chatted up a storm. Casey was content to smile endlessly, and he continued to make progress towards crawling.
Some of the highlights of her visit included:
A Christmas Play- where the girls got to participate in the play by helping "Dolly" find her hair, and helping Santa put some presents under the tree. Afterward, we took some obligatory photos with Santa. Ava was more excited about receiving a candy cane, rather than a photo op.
An early Christmas-Grammy, being much nicer than I am, allowed the kids to open their Christmas presents from her early. Elizabeth wasn't a big fan of a princess wand, but his costume went over great. She proclaims herself a "King-Horser," from the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty ("All the King's horses, and all the King's men").
Ava on the other hand was a big fan of the princess wand. She also enjoyed playing with her new fairy doll (now named Pink Girl), and some bottles for her Baby Ava. I am not sure why I don't have any pictures, but it is probably because she never sits still.
A trip to the New Braunfels Children's Museum-I had taken the girls to the Children's Museusm in North Carolina before and we had a blast. It still remains my favorite Museum for children. However, we thoroughly enjoyed the one in New Braunfels. They had lots of activities for the kids, including ones that the them get dirty and wet.
Ava on the hand has a more nurturing side. She was content doctoring baby's in the hospital and pushing her baby all around the museum in a shopping cart.
Casey had a good time with blocks in mirrors in the "under 3" area.
Overall a successful outing that entertained all age groups for a good 3 1/2 hours.
An early Christmas-Grammy, being much nicer than I am, allowed the kids to open their Christmas presents from her early. Elizabeth wasn't a big fan of a princess wand, but his costume went over great. She proclaims herself a "King-Horser," from the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty ("All the King's horses, and all the King's men").
Ava on the other hand was a big fan of the princess wand. She also enjoyed playing with her new fairy doll (now named Pink Girl), and some bottles for her Baby Ava. I am not sure why I don't have any pictures, but it is probably because she never sits still.
A trip to the New Braunfels Children's Museum-I had taken the girls to the Children's Museusm in North Carolina before and we had a blast. It still remains my favorite Museum for children. However, we thoroughly enjoyed the one in New Braunfels. They had lots of activities for the kids, including ones that the them get dirty and wet.
Right now Elizabeth is a huge fan of painting and dress up.
Ava on the hand has a more nurturing side. She was content doctoring baby's in the hospital and pushing her baby all around the museum in a shopping cart.
Casey had a good time with blocks in mirrors in the "under 3" area.
Overall a successful outing that entertained all age groups for a good 3 1/2 hours.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Rub-a-Dub- Dub, Three Kids in the Tub
Casey loves the bath tub. He gets a blast out of splashing and it always brings a huge smile to his faces and gets him talking. Today, Ava was enjoying getting into the action as well. Elizabeth on the other hand was a crabby from not napping and wasn't enjoying bath time very much. Needless to say, immediately after this video was shot, I yanked her out of the tub and made her stand in the corner for her antics. Why can't they all just get along!
Birthday Mania
As I mentioned previously, the kids had another friend's birthday party coming up that they were really looking forward to. Their friend, Rich, celebrated his 3rd birthday this weekend at Lifetime Fitness, a national globo gym chain. The party started right by fueling the kids with pizza, juice, ice cream, and cake before proceeding to the party games. The gym staff coordinators tried to wrangle a bunch of 18months-5 year olds into two teams for an organized game of soccer. That lasted about 5 minutes and was not a pretty sight. The staff quickly decided they need to take this party in another direction and brought out a giant parachute which the kids loved playing with, under, and on. They probably got about 15 minutes of fun out of that one. Then came the scooters!
I don't know if anyone else had used the scooter before, but we had them at my elementary school and would have a blast during gym class playing scooter hockey, where you sit on your butt and scoot yourself around backwards and forwards and hit a wiffle ball with mini hockey sticks. At this birthday party, the kids didn't play anything that advance. In fact, they couldn't quite figure out how to get the scooter to move while sitting on them, which resulted in "Mommy, push me!" They did manage to figured out that if they laid down on their tummies they could spin themselves around in circles. Then some how the two activities were combined., an before you knew it parents were slingshoting their kids around the gym. You just grab a foot or two, spin around in a circle and then let them fly towards a wall (preferably padded).
That lasted for quite a while, and then while I was taking Casey for a ride on a scooter, my girls came over to request another ride. These scooters are a little more high tech than the wood ones from my elementary school days, and hook together. So what started as a 4 person train with my kids and I, quickly turned into me trying to push all the kids at the birthday party across the floor on a mega scooter train.
At its largest, I think we had 10 kids on nine scooters racing across the gym floor. Fortunately, a couple of the other parents took a few turns pushing the train also, because it was a beast to get moving. I know I worked up a sweat. Even little Casey got his exercise, practicing crawling across the gym floor. Don't be fooled, he still isn't going anywhere.
I don't know if anyone else had used the scooter before, but we had them at my elementary school and would have a blast during gym class playing scooter hockey, where you sit on your butt and scoot yourself around backwards and forwards and hit a wiffle ball with mini hockey sticks. At this birthday party, the kids didn't play anything that advance. In fact, they couldn't quite figure out how to get the scooter to move while sitting on them, which resulted in "Mommy, push me!" They did manage to figured out that if they laid down on their tummies they could spin themselves around in circles. Then some how the two activities were combined., an before you knew it parents were slingshoting their kids around the gym. You just grab a foot or two, spin around in a circle and then let them fly towards a wall (preferably padded).
That lasted for quite a while, and then while I was taking Casey for a ride on a scooter, my girls came over to request another ride. These scooters are a little more high tech than the wood ones from my elementary school days, and hook together. So what started as a 4 person train with my kids and I, quickly turned into me trying to push all the kids at the birthday party across the floor on a mega scooter train.
At its largest, I think we had 10 kids on nine scooters racing across the gym floor. Fortunately, a couple of the other parents took a few turns pushing the train also, because it was a beast to get moving. I know I worked up a sweat. Even little Casey got his exercise, practicing crawling across the gym floor. Don't be fooled, he still isn't going anywhere.
Happy Thanksgiving
Aw, some quiet time to update this site. All the kids (including Ryan are napping), so I actually have a little over an hour to myself. As much as I would like to take a nap too, I can think of more productive ways to spend my time.
Ryan has been working the night shift for the last 3 weeks (11pm-7am), and Thanksgiving was no exception. Since Ryan worked Wednesday night, I spent Thursday morning keeping the kids quiet, so that Ryan could get some sleep. Still, I had to wake him up early, so that we could make the trek to Gram and Bub's house for Thanksgiving Dinner. The Knight/Friesenhahn crowd could rival a Melink gathering. There were probably 30-40 folks for dinner. We enjoyed turkey with all the sides and about 8 different desserts. As you can see, the party wore everyone out.
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