Christmas Day

This is what it looked like under our tree on Christmas day. And this is before Santa visited. There were so many presents under the tree.

Jay and EE woke up about 6:30 (actually Jay had been wake since 6am). We threatened them if they came out of their room. They had to wait for us to come get them and they knew we would not be up prior to 6:30. Jay actually woke up at midnight and was having a hard time falling back asleep because the wind was howling. We actually had a hard time sleeping as well. The wind blows so hard and then the screen on my window makes the most annoying noise. We probably just need to take it out.

Jay got a telescope and EE got a keyboard (he has been wanting to take piano lessons so we will see where this goes). They then noticed that they got DS games and looked around a little more to actually find their Nintendo DS system.

EE and Jay have been on their DS systems non-stop. They get another week of playing and then the time restrictions will kick in.

The baby woke up shortly after 7am. He was very surprised with all of his gifts. When we opened all the other gifts, he actually opened some of them himself. I wasn't sure he would know what to do, but as always he just follows in his big brother's footsteps.

The husband has been on vacation since Tuesday. It is so nice when he is home. He helps out around the house and with the kids. He also has been playing the DS systems.

Pre-Christmas activities

In the past my neighbor has a party for the kids to decorate Christmas cookies. Becasue the kids are getting older, she decided to let them build Gingerbread houses. She purchased a kit for all the kids, which was extremely nice.

EE took no time to complete his house. I helped him while helping others at the same time. He got it all done and then moved on. I think he ate a lot of the decorating items.

The husband decided to help Jay. I still am not sure who did more work on it. I kept trying to tell my husband to let Jay do what he wanted but my perfectionist of a husband could not stop. They took a break and then Jay went back in and worked on his house for another 30 or so minutes. He made some great additions....on his own.

Couldn't leave out the baby. We gave him one cookie with icing and candies to decorate. He was only interested in eating the frosting. I can't say I blame him.

I let the older boys make cookies for Santa this year. They made the dough, cut the shapes out and then frosted/decorated them. They had such a great time doing this activity. It was so nice to keep them occupied while I got other things prepared. Santa must have really liked them because he ate all but a little piece of one.

Please don't talk to me about your water problems

Shortly after we moved into our house a year ago, our neighbor approached us with an issue he had arising from our yard. Honestly, I am not even sure we had any conversation prior to him wanting to talk to us about this issue. He even had his nanny at the time tell us he was having the problem. That is when I sent my husband over to talk to him.

The problem was that the drain pipes off of our house were all directed to one pipe that let out at the fence line pouring right into his yard. My husband explained where the water was coming from. At this point our hands were tied but we told our neighbor we would try to come up with a fix. The neighbor has 2 dogs who have recently become more outdoor dogs than anything else. We understand the problem because we had a dog and dogs love to get dirty and then you really don't want them to come in the house.

In May, the contractor whom we hired to do our patio addition around the pool said he could fix the problem. We actually had a spot in our yard where the water collected as it had no where to drain. He would be able to fix this as well. He told us that the drainage had to be 10 feet from your neighbors yard, which at the time wasn't. We paid a lot of money to redirect the pipes from the house and add a french drain. The french drain goes around the pool and leads to the back part of our yard.

One more factor that is in play, our house is downhill from our other neighbor and the neighbor complaining is downhill from us. All of this water then drains into the houses behind my neighbor and there is a retention pond way behind those houses. So unless you are at the top of the hill you are having water drain into your yard.

We are the good neighbors right. We took care of our problem and fixed the drainage into our neighbor's yard. Imagine our surprise when he came over to complain again about the water and now it was at the back of his yard where his shed and firewood sit. My husband tried to explain that our water has to drain somewhere, it is within code and there is not much else we can do. When it rains heavily....you will see water in your yard.

When we have heavy rains we have to drain the water out of our pool. The pump drains it into the french drain. We have no other place to drain the water. We have had LOTS of rain lately also.

Yesterday we were at my other neighbors house (more on that later) and this neighbor happens to come over to drop off something he has had for a while. He looks at me and says I need to talk to your husband, perfect timing as the husband was walking in the door. He brings up this damn water thing again. I thought my husband's head was going to turn all the way around and fall off. I could see the fire burning in his eyes. He listened and said little and it ate at him all night.

So neighbor.....keep your water problems to yourself. We no longer want to hear how you backyard is so wet, guess what so is ours. We have standing water in our backyard when it rains just as you do. The ground has been frozen so it can't soak into the ground. We have done all we can to try to appease you and all our efforts have failed.

All I want for Christmas.....

You guessed it.....is my two from teeth.

I am hoping EE's other front tooth falls out soon. The one coming in is a lot larger than the others.

Gone camping

The husband decided to set up the tent (he got as a gift from me a few years ago) in the basement and camp out with the older boys. The tent is rather large and has a divider in the middle. He blew up air mattresses for each of them. They zipped up the tent and crashed out around 9pm. EE said that was the best night of his life and Jay agreed. Next up will be camping out back. We will see how that works.

Got it all done

Saturday morning I felt so relieved to have it all done. The baby and I got all the food up to the Husband's work party with 5 minutes to spare. Friday was a really gross rainy foggy day. We stayed for lunch and then headed home. I was able to put the baby down for his nap before heading up to the boys' school for their afternoon celebration. The kids were so wild on Friday. I am not sure how the teachers managed to make it through the day. Friday night the boys had a basketball game. When 9pm came around I crashed.

Saturday morning I was able to get all my packages together and mailed out. Now I just have a few last minute things to complete and I am done. It feels good to say that.

So glad tomorrow is Friday

When I was leaving the gym this morning after my workout. I looked at the car next to me and saw a dog in the front seat of this mini-van. The dog had a very comfy bed. I am wondering why the dog's owner thought it was necessary to have the dog wait in the car for him while he worked out. I would be taken to jail if I did that to my baby.

Friday will be the completion of my many commitments. It will also hopefully mean that there are less "things" in my house. I opened my mouth last year when my husband told me that they spent $300 on a department luncheon. I thought that it was too much money especially for what they got. On Monday, the husband called me from work to remind me of what I said last year and wondered if I would act on it. So I took the challenge. I will probably spend less than $200 and they will have more food. I have to get all the food together and take it up to work on Friday as well. The baby and I will stay for lunch.

I then will have to shift gears and get ready for the celebration at school at 2pm. I am helping out in EE's class but have all of the goodies for Jay's class. Luckily the classes are right across from each other. This past weekend I purchased all of the teacher gifts. That is right I collected for both classes. The other room Mom is putting a basket together for Jay's teacher and I am putting one together for EE's teacher. I got them gift cards to some of their favorite places. I also collected for the bus driver. I was a little upset that the person only collected $25 for him last Christmas. That is ridiculous....there are about 40 kids who get on the bus at our stop. I was able to collect $105 for him. He is such an awesome bus driver and keeps control of all the kids.

My last task for today is to finish baking cookies. I have baked some this week but I need to finish tonight. My niece who has been with us since July is going back home. We have enjoyed having her here and are going to miss her terribly. She is such a big help with the kids. She has decided at this point and time she does not want to be in school any more (4 years was enough). She will move back home and try to find a job. My sister will be here today and they will drive back to Florida on Friday. My hope is to have them take all my delicious goodies home. One less package to mail. I have 3 packages I hope to have mailed out on Saturday morning.

Why I am I sitting writing on this blog.....I am not sure. I have a huge headache and the baby decided to not nap today. Off to finish cutting up ham and then on to baking......

Sunday trip to DC

My husband and my neighbor's husband took all the kids to Washington, DC on Sunday to look at the National Christmas Tree.

Here is the tree. I am sure the picture does not do it justice.

EE and Jay with tree in background.

EE made a comment that all the trees had decorations on them. I am not sure he knew which tree they were going to look at. They all had a nice time walking around and enjoying some hot chocolate with some other yummy treats.

I stayed home so that the baby could nap and I could get started on baking cookies.

Santa visit

It has long been our tradition to see Santa during December. I have been a member of the Mothers of Multiples club since before the boys were born. Each year the club hosts a Santa social. In NC, the club had the real Santa visit. He loved our group so much and had twin Grandchildren. In MD, the club get a Santa helper. Here are some of our pictures throughout the years.

2002

2003 - No way am I sitting on his lap.

2004

2007

2008. I just noticed the older boys are wearing the same shirts from last year. Oops! They both had their list and gave Santa a few ideas for gifts. It was a nice social.

It is all wrong

Today as I was sorting laundry near the boys' bedrooms, I look as the baby is getting up on the bed and stepping off. Yes, this is the reason I spend a lot of money to have my hair colored every three or four months.

But this is not what this post is about. It is about sports. There are 2 major organizations and the Parks and Rec that offer team sports. The Parks and Rec does a nice job with their sports. The boys played instructional basketball in the fall and I was impressed. The other 2 orgs. are similar. I have talked to a few people who like one over the other for specific reasons. For example, Org 2 does a travel baseball league. We have played baseball for Org 1 the last two season. We have had no issues with baseball. In fact, I would say it was well run and any problems were not apparent to us.

I didn't think twice about signing the boys up for basketball through Org. 1. Because of their age, I had to sign them up for a 5/6 instructional league. I wasn't very sure about this but was restricted by their age. Oh and sign ups start very early. In fact, I can sign the boys up for baseball now and the programs begins in April some time. I am not sure why the long registration period.

We did not receive any information from the league until early November. This note said that the start date was delayed due to lack of coaches for all the teams. It was explained that we would meet each Wednesday and Friday. The first half hour is for practice and the second half hour would be a game between the two teams meeting at the same facility. Ok, didn't sound that bad.

We then got invited to a "kick-off" meeting so the coach could go over a few things with the parents and the kids could get acquainted. My husband took the boys to this meeting. He came home and was very disappointed. He could not hear one thing anyone said the entire night. He said that the gym was double booked and pure mayhem. Not a good start. And to top if off EE and Jay are about a head taller then everyone on their team. In fact, they are the only first graders on the team. Funny to watch how they tower over all of the kids.

The first real practice was the week that followed. They were assigned to a gym that did not have the 8 foot goals. So they were not able to practice shooting that day. We were also set to practice the following Friday but it got canceled because schools were closing early for the holiday and there would be no access to the gym.

We finally get a schedule set. I print it out and fill my calendar with the pertinent information. Then we get another email stating that the calendar had to be changed due to conflicts with some of the gyms.

I have a feeling we will be dealing with the chaos the entire season, which by the way lasts through February. I am not sure what to do. Part of me would like to pull them out, but we have already paid and they are not aware of the awkwardness of them being so much taller (and frankly better) than everyone on the team.

In talking with my neighbor, who also has three boys, she has said nice things about Org. 2. I wish I had known that before I signed them up. Org. 2 has a team of just first graders. How awesome would that have been.

Teachers are amazing

I had the pleasure of volunteering in both boys' classes this week. I have been in Jay's class about 4 times but this was my first time in EE's class. I have tried to volunteer in EE's class before. The first time I showed up, the class had a visitor and I was not needed (so I went shopping instead). I then signed up for a Monday when the class has technology and again wasn't needed.

My one big responsibility is to coordinate the volunteer calendar. This really is not so difficult. It entails sending out a calendar via email to all the parents. I wait for responses and fill in the calendar as requested by the parents. It is typically the same parents who volunteer and they are consistent with their days month to month.

I have also ensured that the Friday folders have been stuffed for both classes. Again this is not a hard task but something that lightens the load for the teachers. It can take about 10 or so minutes per class.

One reason I like to be in the class is to observe the dynamics. I like to see who behaves and misbehaves. I also like to be able to ensure they are hanging out with nice people.

Jay's class has a few rambunctious kids but for the most part not too bad. Typically the kids read me a short book. There are a series of books from level C-K, and each level contains approx. 10 books. If they read the book with no issues, then I change it out for the next one in the series. The books then go home for them to read with their parents. I also get to play Scrabble Junior with the kids when they break out into groups. This is fun for the kids. I had one difficult group on Monday but other than that it worked out nicely.

Today in EE's class I figured out why the teacher has a reputation for yelling. She has some wild children in that class. I was first asked to read the class a book. I read the book "I have a little Dreidel". I have never heard of this book before (nor the song). The children then broke out into groups. The first group I had was one that needs a lot of help on their sight words. I was given a bucket of chips with words on them. I had the children say the word and then make a sentence. One little girl cried just about the entire time she was in my group. Actually she was crying off and on until the teacher made her go to her desk to read a book. The children in the group did not behave and did not listen. It was almost impossible to get their attention. It is very sad and I wonder if they will ever be able to learn what they need to progress. Needless to say I had this group for a good 45 minutes. The next group I got was so much better and EE was in that group. We played a game where they picked out three words and made a sentence.

I am amazed at how much the teachers have to do in a day. In first grade, the children change classes for math. So each teacher teaches a different level. However, for Reading and Language Arts the teacher has to break the kids out according to their level. She then works with each group in the time allotted. This means while she is working with one group, she has to ensure that the other groups are occupied and quiet. Our teachers have such a huge responsibility! I think they are amazing.

A little snow

Yesterday is started snowing in the afternoon. It stopped early evening, just in time for us to go out to dinner with some neighbors. My neighbors niece watched all the kids here at our house. About 10 minutes after we sat down for dinner, we get a call. The baby ran into the pool table and got a large bump on his head. No sweat for us, not the first time this has happened and I am sure it won't be the last. Dinner was fantastic.

During the night it continued to snow and left about an inch on the ground. The boys wanted to go play so they geared up and went out. Here they are:

Not sure why the picture was taken on the porch, I wanted one of them in the snow. Good job husband.

The baby and I remained inside as it was just too cold for us. The wind was howling and at times it was blowing the snow all around.

The baby has a little bruise on his head. Today EE ended up running into the pool table also and has a bump on his head to match the babies. And wouldn't you know it we got dressed up tonight to get a family Christmas picture taken. Luckily, they are not visible in the picture.

The list

I have to say that The Rockettes were amazing. The show was fantastic. The show was held in an arena. We had seats on the floor, left of the stage. At various times throughout the show the Rockettes were right in front of us. The show was a little less than 2 hours. After about the 1st hour my backside was hurting from sitting in the no cushioned chair. But we just moved from side to side and it made it ok. Maybe next year we will take the boys as I think they would enjoy it.

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I have been in major clean out/pick up mode today. One thing that has been annoying me for the last week or so is the Christmas list Jay has started and added to and added to (you get the point). I had a great idea today. I had the boys type their lists on the computer therefore eliminating the 10 or so pages. Jay has one complete page worth of wish list items. His plan is to keep the list and mark off what he receives from Santa. EE on the other hand has about 5 things on his list. Can you tell which child is a little more easier going than the other?

Christmas shopping for myself

My plan was to make the best use of my time at the mall today. My niece was set to watch the baby and I had a list of items I wanted to purchase. First on the list, a new sweater for who other than myself. The husband and I, along with my neighbors are going to see the Rockettes tomorrow night. I need something to wear with my black pants. I had the hardest time finding what I wanted on sale. I have a thing about buying clothes that are not on sale. After going to 3 different stores I ended up at White House/Black Market. I went with this sweater:




I then took out my list and went on my way. I didn't find any great deals. I know as it gets closer to Christmas I will be able to find sales.

I have to tell you that I was VERY annoyed with the sales people who have carts of crap they want to sell in the isle of the mall. Several times in my 2 hours I was harassed by sales people wanting me to try this or that. By the end I couldn't even be nice about them shoving something into my face. I hope my next shopping trip is better.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

For the past 2 or 3 years we have talked about driving to a Christmas tree farm to chop our very own tree down. In NC, we would have probably had to drive 3 to 4 hours just to find a tree farm. In Maryland, tree farms are relatively close. We talked about doing this Friday, but decided we didn't have enough time. My husband didn't get home from work until 3pm and most farms close at 5pm. So we drove up to Frank's produce stand and picked out a tree.

They had just started putting their trees up and it didn't take us long to find the one we wanted.

Of course, I made the children pose for a picture. It was a little cold out on Friday.

We got the tree up on my car and away we drove.

The boys spent the better part of a very rainy Sunday decorating the trees. The real tree is in our family room. We have a small artificial tree that we put downstairs. This is strictly the boys tree. They get to decorate how they see fit. We will be stringing popcorn this weekend to finish it off. EE has also asked if we could put Candy Canes on it as we have in the past. I am not sure about this yet as somehow they end up off the tree and being eaten.



To get us in the Christmas spirit, we went to The Festival of Trees this past weekend. There were crafts and goodies for purchase, trees for purchase and a large room filled with fun things to do for the kids. This is a fundraiser for a very large hospital in Baltimore. We didn't get to stay long but it was fun. The amount of people was unbelievable, very hard to get around.

We are officially in Christmas mode. We hope to be done with our Christmas shopping very soon. I will then move on to making my Christmas cookies. This is a tradition that my family looks forward to every year.

Day 2 with the tree and the baby has not messed with it too much.....will it last.

No hope for a new fridge for now

I received a notification in the mail the other day stating that our escrow had a shortage. I could either pay $2k now and my payment for next year will increase slightly or have my payment for next year increased by over $300 a month. No way do I want to have an increased payment for next year as I want to keep our expenses to a minimum. Instead I now have to use the money I set aside for a new refrigerator to cover the shortage. How does such a large shortage happen? This is not a new house and my guess is that taxes have probably remained around the same for the last few year. I have now been on hold for 20 minutes trying to get a little more information around this invoice. I may have to try tomorrow.

There is nothing really wrong with the refrigerator we have now. It keeps a constant temperature, makes ice and provides cold water when desired. When we moved in the fridge was incredibly dirty. It took me a good day to clean it out, no exaggeration. I am not sure the previous homeowner cleaned it, EVER. Food was stuck in places that I could not reach. The water dispenser tray does not fit correctly and rust has formed underneath, which has now run down the front of the fridge. I just want a new one. In the next year or so, we anticipate updating the kitchen. We will replace all appliances with stainless steal and replace the counter top with Granite or something similar. I guess I will just have to wait it out.

Thanksgiving

We had our neighbors over to make these Turkey cookies. All you need is Oreo cookies, candy corn, whoppers and a little bit of Wilton Icing. They all had fun making the cookies but an even better time eating them.

I started baking for our Thanksgiving feast on Wednesday. The boys are always willing to help in the kitchen so I let them do a few things for me. We always have so much food, the usuals: green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, carrot souffle and Raspberry jello salad. I tried one new recipe from Rachel Ray, pumpkin stuffing. It was very tasty and probably will be added to the list of must haves. The meal was topped off with my homemade apple pie.

We invited the babysitter I use and her husband over to feast with us. They do not have family around here. It was a very nice and relaxing day.

We do miss being with our families to celebrate Thanksgiving. Typically the husband works the day after Thanksgiving. In addition, travel to our hometowns (which are in opposite directions) means that we must fly. That is 4 plane tickets(soon to be 5), dealing with the baby on my lap and renting a car when we get there not to mention the crowds of people who are doing the same thing. Maybe when the kids get a little older but for now we will stay at home and be thankful for all we have been blessed with.

I heart visitors

We love having visitors! We had very good friends in NC, who have since moved to SC. I met her shortly after my boys turned 2. We have been friends ever since. We lived in the same neighborhood but two years after we met they ended up moving to the house across the street from us. She has triplet girls who are 9 months younger than my twin boys. We spent just about every afternoon together to let the kids play (and get in trouble) and of course, grown up conversation. Her girls and my boys have always had such a great connection.

We live very close to my friend's in-laws so they stopped by for a night on the way to their Thanksgiving family get together. It is so nice to see them. The girls seemed to have grown so much in the last 10 months since I have seen them last.

Nic and Trish.

The kids.

Nic and family.

I so believe in arranged marriages.

The baby always wants to be included.

Role Models

That is what we heard from both teachers yesterday during the boys' conferences. We were very happy on the feedback from both of our children.

EE still tends to not participate in class but as of recently she feels he is starting to get a little more vocal. I really can't blame him as both the husband and I were reserved as children. He is doing very well in Language Arts and is a little bit ahead of the average in the class. He reads very well but he needs to work on his comprehension skills. He also seems to be learning the math concepts very easily. EE is a very good student. The teacher moved him recently next to a girl who misbehaves and talks way too much. The teacher is finding that EE is getting distracted by her and starting to talk to her when class is in session. The teacher has told EE that he needs to let the girl know that it is quiet time and he does not want to talk to her. The teacher went on to say that he is a great role model for the kids in the class. He is the line leader because the boy who should be first alphabetically can not behave.

The report from Jay's teacher is also very good. She really enjoys having him in her class. He behaves almost all of the time, may have a slip up every once in a while. In Language Arts, he is working at a level that is normally taught in January. He is working quickly through the reading levels. She stressed that he reads well and comprehends what he is reading. He also does well in Math. If he continues at the same pace, he will be considered above grade level. The teacher didn't have anything negative to say about him.

We truly feel blessed to have such well behaved children. I volunteer in the class enough to know that this is not the norm for a lot of children in the class. Although the boys don't love the work at school they do have a love of learning. My hope is that they will continue to be good students who try their hardest.

A lesson learned from this birthday party

As I have mentioned in the past, my twins have been in the same class up until Kindergarten. They have always had the same friends so birthday party invites came to the both of them. They each take a gift.

We moved shortly after the boys started Kindergarten. So birthday invites didn't start until after we moved. They were in separate classes so of course they each had invites to different parties. For some reason this made me uncomfortable at the time. I felt like one of them was being left out. But the boys were ok with it, so I quickly got over it.

Fast forward. We have made lots of friends in the neighborhood and school. Most people know that the boys are twins and some will invite both of the boys to birthday parties. This isn't always ideal because I have been spending more money on gifts for all these parties.

Jay got an invite to a classmate's party (he also lives in the neighborhood). I responded that he would be attending a long time ago. It was to one of those jumpy house play parties. Lots of fun right?

Insert additional information, EE had a bad cough that lasted over 2 weeks. Now Jay and the baby have picked it up. It is an annoying cough but not much else with it.

Jay started mid-day on Sunday (party day) that he did not want to go to the party because he was not feeling well. He had also caught wind that we were going out to dinner after we dropped him off. We told him he made a commitment to go to the party and he was going. The husband then went on to tell him that if he went he would get his allowance when he got home.

We dropped Jay off and had a nice dinner at a burger place. I went in to pick up Jay and I spoke with the Mom who said that he was telling her that he didn't feel well the entire time. I looked at her and said he is fine and didn't know what else to say. When Jay was in the car I asked him what he was saying to the Mom at the party. He basically told her that he wasn't feeling well and that he had to come to the party in order to get his allowance.

Can you imagine what our reaction was? We were so unhappy with him. He didn't even realize how ridiculous he made us look. The husband had a talk with him regarding why it was wrong to share that information with other people. I had to do a little damage control. I wrote the Mom a note and explained that he has had a cough on and off but was fine. And told her I still had to prod them a little to do things on their own.

So the lesson we have learned is to be very careful what you say to and around your children. They are like sponges who absorb every detail and spill it when you least expect or want them to. They have no idea what they are saying and how it affects the people around them.

Friday update

It seems as though in the last week that the baby's vocabulary has tripled. He is saying so many new words and he is even starting to put words together. His favorite word is still "mommy" repeated over and over and over. He has now figured out how to say both of his brother's names and he knows which is which. We talk about how we take them to the bus and they go to school. Even more recently he has started telling me when he goes "poop" in his diaper. This is a huge change from just a few weeks ago when he would answer "no" to a very obvious poopy diaper. So I have decided to get the potty chair out and we will see what happens. I let him sit on it before his bath and any other time we are changing his diaper. My hopes are not up as I really don't intend to train him until the beginning of summer. The baby has been a little sick. I took him to the Dr. today but I believe he just has a sore throat and has started with a little cough. Hopefully the worst is over.

The other boys have a short week next week. Two half day and then off the remainder of the week. We have teacher conferences on Monday which we are looking forward to. We have lots of questions on how the boys are doing.

We had a dusting of snow today.. It was so pretty. It stuck to the ground for just a little while and then melted. The weather this weekend is supposed to be cold. I guess that mean a lot of indoor time.

Mission: Preschool

I am on a mission to find a preschool for the fall for the baby. Most preschool start the registration process in January and February. So my research has to start now in order to be prepared by then. I have a link with a listing of all the preschools in my county. Easy enough right? Wrong!

I am not that picky (ok maybe I am picky) but I do have a few wants on my list of preschools. First, I need one that has a 2 year old program. Many of the programs here start at age 3. I would like a church program as I like what they have to offer. This is also what I am used to. The church that we have attended has a program and also starts at 2 years old. Why am I not going with this opportunity? The program is a one day a week program for 2 year olds. Why bother? The preschool programs typically only run for 2 1/2 hours. Three hours would be better and four would be heaven but I haven't seen any of these, unless you go with a Montessori type program which is so expensive. There are a few Co-op programs I have researched. A co-op is where you volunteer your time in one of many aspects of the program. For example, you could be in charge of straightening books once a week or keeping the grounds in shape etc. I am not sure I want to commit to the preschool program on-going. I have heard several great things about 2 or 3 of the programs but the drive would be anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes. When you are only talking about 2 1/2 hours you want to be able to minimize the drive time.

I have 5 places on my list that I will research a little more and maybe visit in January. There is a little part of me that would just rather keep him home. But I do know once he gets into a program he will love the interaction. I wish I had the business sense and the education schooling to open my own preschool.

One year ago

Wow, it is hard to believe that we have been in Maryland for an entire year now. I vividly remember the stress of having to move. From selling our home to buying a new one to physically moving and everything in between. Our home sold in 3 days, yes amazing. We hit it at the right time. Finding a home in Maryland took a bit more work. We took one family trip and the husband came up alone a few times on house hunting missions. It was difficult dragging around three children. The last trip the husband made included videoing 4 homes that he liked. Guess what, I ended up not really loving any of them. So we decided to bid on a house that I only saw on the computer and my husband walked through once, quickly at that. We had a tip from a neighbor who knew someone who lived here....and she was one of those people who researches every little aspect of everything. How could we go wrong? The bidding process did not go so well and I thought we lost the house. After my husband saw my tears he upped the bid just a bit and it was rejected again. A few days later they came crawling back to us and asked us if we could raise our bid $10K. We stood firm in our offer AND we ended up getting the house.

Once the house was purchased our focus was getting us packed. Yes, we had movers but we would be in temporary housing for 3 weeks. We had 2 cars fully packed and mine had a roof luggage carrier that was stuffed to the max. We left NC on Friday November 15th and arrived at our apartment on November 16th. I will never forget this day. The boys were out with their Dad lugging things from the car to our 2nd story apartment. The boys took off and ran into a different building and into a strangers' home. I will never forget the panic I felt when my husband came into the apartment asking me if the boys were here. I immediately picked up the baby (yes he really was a baby back then) and we ran outside calling their names. Thankfully, they figured it out and ran back outside. That is my first experience here.

We arrived prior to Thanksgiving and my first priority was to get the boys enrolled in school. My husband was having to start work right after Thanksgiving. After many phone calls to the school board and the school I was able to get a meeting set up to turn in our documents (contract on house plus the lease term on the apartment). The main rule was to ensure the kids were never late or we could possibly be "kicked out" until the move was final. You can believe they were never late.



The process of moving into our home was not smooth either. We had painters in the house for what seemed like forever. They were delayed in starting so we had to move them around from one area to the next in order to accommodate other workers. I was never so happy to have all of the work completed in our home. It seems like the unpacking process took forever, actually it did take forever. But as the weeks went by the amount of boxes were diminishing little by little.

The hardest part of all of this was having to put our dog down. She started limping, almost to the point of not being able to walk, upon our arrival. After many tests it was determined that she had cancer everywhere. We still miss her so much. She was the best dog ever.



We have come a long way in the last year. We are starting to put down roots here in the great white north. We have made a lot of friends as have the boys. I know I am doing well when my GPS system is not being put to use. It is a good feeling to know where I am going. I am not sure that I will ever get used to the cold weather but I am learning to dress a little more appropriately. Will we be here forever? Who knows but for right now it is good.

And as I know that you have been concerned, I am happy to report that we have not seen any moths in the last month. I still look for them though........

Some Pictures

The baby has won for now. I have placed his booster seat at the counter so that he can be like his brothers. Sometimes I think he is growing up way too quickly.


The boys in their assigned seats at the counter.

Jay is using his fingers to get his homework completed.

EE and the baby!

The boys all desperately needed haircuts. We took them to a kid's hair salon as we had a coupon for a free haircut. I have to say that the ladies were not really all that friendly. We got there shortly after they opened and had to wait 15 minutes or so. As we left I heard the wait time was 45 minutes. I could not imagine waiting that long. We typically go to the barber shop near our home.

These were a few pictures before we headed out to church. We went to the same church we have attended before. The church just moved into their new building this past May. This was our first visit to the new space. What I find odd is that worship takes place in a gym like room. There are basketball hoops hanging on either side of the room. There is no pretty stained glass or other indications that this is a church. I am not sure why it matters to me other than I like the visuals while worshiping. The chairs although comfortable are not permanent fixtures. The church didn't have enough funds so they could not add on the preschool program at this time. The boys did their Sunday school in a cubicle like area on the ground floor. They had many friends from school in their class. They were very excited about that. It was interesting that I had to fill out a card for each of the boys. On the card it said parents are expected to volunteer. Wow....I am not sure if we are going to join yet....much less volunteer.

We did get a different feel of the church on this visit, better than in the past. We met the Pastor on the way out of worship. They are having a Walk to Bethlehem the first weekend of December that we will attend. I wonder if it will compare to the one our church in NC had?

I am not sure what we will do about a church. I do know that I want us to get back in the habit of attending church...

Drama

I have always said this neighborhood is filled with a bit of drama. Sometimes I am all about the drama and other times it seems so silly. There are many people in the neighborhood who have been here since the beginning which is about 7 to 8 years ago. As people got to know each other groups started to form. These groups hold fairly tight around here. I don't like to think of myself as part of any group but it seems as though I probably am. It is fine with me but I do make an effort to become friends with others in the neighborhood. There are a few ladies with potential kid friends to my baby. I try to get together with them when I can.

Here is what has transpired the last few weeks. I will refer to Group 1 and Group 2. I will say that I am in Group 1 with my neighbor and several others. Someone from Group 2 had an adult Halloween party on Nov. 1st. We heard the party going on, just a few houses from ours. Apparently, the cops were called on the party, maybe more than once. The first visit was at 11:30pm. There was someone that made a comment that it was probably my neighbor that called the cops. My neighbor was out of town by the way. When she heard this and found out who supposedly said it she decided to call this person on it. The person denied saying it that she had repeated what someone else said and included that she didn't think that would be right. She went on to tell her who did say it but asked her not to say anything to this person about it. My neighbor talked to the party thrower and explained that it was NOT her that called the cops.

On Halloween I found out that the police were at a house in the neighborhood, not far from our house. My neighbor happened to inquire from a mutual friend to find out what was going on. It is not every day you see police at a house in the neighborhood. The mutual friend must have said something to the person. The person then texted my neighbor's husband and made comments about his nosey wife. Did she think I am beating his wife or something? It ended up being a ridiculous exchange of words. Not for sure, but we think that there was a man following a group of girls who were trick or treating. If this is the case....did he not think this was worthy to share with the entire neighborhood. There are lots of kids in this neighborhood.

Lastly, there is a boy (high schooler) who lives a few houses down who has been riding a dirt bike on the road after school. I have seen him a few times. I was standing outside with my neighbor when he went flying up the sidewalk with a passenger who had no helmet. The boy then came back did a few doughnuts and then went to put away in the backyard. My neighbor went to talk with him asking if his Mom knew what he was doing. He did not answer any of her questions and played ignorant on the subject. My neighbor emailed his Mom to tell her she was sorry she was so hard on her son, but wanted to make sure she knew what was going on. The Mom was very thankful to my neighbor for letting her know. The dirt bike is now gone...apparently it came from his father's house.

Does this kind of drama go one everywhere? I do not like to be the center of the drama but it seems like I get to hear about most of it. It does seem like there is always something going on with this person or that. I tend to not let things get to me like most people. I honestly just don't have the time or the effort to put into it. So for now I will sit on the sidelines and just listen and maybe add my 2 cents in when I feel like it.

A little syrup

I should always be mindful when the baby is out of site and it is quiet. I mistakenly left the bottle of syrup out yesterday morning and the baby decided to smear it everywhere (counter top, chair, himself). And although I love syrup on my pancakes it does not make for such a lovely scent on your body.

The other night at dinner Jay bit down on his loose tooth and it started bleeding. When Dad got home he pulled it right out. Jay ended up losing it but we managed to find it on the floor. He was very excited about the tooth fairy coming to visit. He has 3 more loose teeth in his mouth so this may get a bit old after a while.

Tonight we are headed to our neighbor's house for dinner. Her husband is planning a birthday dinner for her and I just found out that she doesn't know anything about it. Luckily, I have not mentioned anything to her. This is the same neighbor that had the big "surprise" celebration a few weeks ago. Guess what I found out.....she ended up figuring out that something was going on that day. It was supposed to be a work functions and when she called someone at his work to find out what they were wearing the person didn't know what she was talking about. Then she called one of her other friends on the day of and her friend's son answered the phone and sounded surprised to be hearing from her. The friend was supposed to be at a function with her son. Then another one of her friends who calls her everyday....hadn't called her for several. Lastly, they walked right by the room at the restaurant and the blinds were open and she saw the bags with "40" on them. Which brings me to my question.....can you really ever be surprised?

Personalities

The baby's personality is really starting to show itself, and many times it is not so pretty. He has decided that he no longer wants to sit in his high chair. He instead would like to sit at the counter like the other boys. The other morning was a power struggle between he and I. I would not serve him breakfast until he sat in his high chair. He decided to cry for 30 or so minutes instead of giving in. I finally had to force him in his chair. It was 9 am and he usually eats by 7:30. This is on on-going battle between us. I am not sure how it will end. He has also decided that he no longer wants his sippy cup and would like to use a cup just like his brothers. I thought he was not wanting to drink his milk in the morning because he would refuse his sippy cup. He would sometimes throw it back at me. I finally realized that it wasn't the milk but the cup. I am not ready for this change but at times I do let him drink from a cup. It usually ends up all over him or the floor. We stick with water for now. He is very stubborn and wants what he wants when he wants it. Of course, much of this has to do with almost being 2. He is trying to figure everything out including me.

Jay mentioned last night that his friend told him about the finger you use that is a cuss word. That would be the birdie finger. We asked him if he knew what it meant and he told us that it means all the bad words like stupid. So once again we find ourselves explaining why we don't do this gesture and we don't say bad words. He also filled EE in on the a** cuss word.

As for EE, he is pretty clueless when it comes to this. I guess most of his friends don't have older brothers filling their minds with such nonsense. EE was sick for a good week. He was coughing non-stop. I tried to take him to the Doc. on Saturday. I had all 3 boys (Dad was out of town at his college reunion). We had an appointment at noon and we waited for 45 minutes until the baby started to melt. I have to admit I melted a bit too. We were all hungry and there were so many people in the office. I have never left an appointment like that. Luckily, that evening the pediatrician across the street came over to listen to EE's lungs. She said he sounded fine but to track his fever (he had been running a fever since Friday). He is now much better but still coughing a little.

I found a list that Jay made the other day (corrected for spelling):
Plan A. Start stacking leaves.
Plan B. When its half way done make sure all the leaves are gone.
Plan C. Then we jump in the leaves.

I love the fact that he had to map out how to play in the leaves. A boy after his mother's heart. I love lists!

Living under a rock

I really feel like I have been living under a rock. Or maybe I was just trying to escape all of the presidential/vice presidential debates and news. I found out yesterday that postage was raised one penny. And not only that but it was raised back in May. Really. Could it have been that long since I mailed out a letter? No it hasn't been so either someone turned their head and forwarded my mail or they just didn't notice. I think it may be a good idea for me to do a little bit of current event reading every once in a while.

A little bit of reading

When we came upstairs last night for baths and showers we found the boys, all three of them reading Junie B. Jones' books. EE and Jay love Junie B. Jones and the baby found one with a school bus on it. He loves buses or how he says it "buthses", even if their is just one. He also wanted me to read the book "The stupid smelly bus" to him before bed. He always gets to pick 2 books. They are usually the same ones, Dr. Seuss' ABC, The tooth book, Big Red Barn or Mr. Brown can Moo can you? There may be a few more but I am normally reading the same one over and over, so this was a nice change. Here are a few pictures from when we came up last night.

EE reading.

Jay and the baby!

All three of them reading.

The baby had gotten up on the area around the tub with Dad to read. He moved when I came in with the camera.

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The baby has a canine tooth that is finally starting to pop out. This may explain his cranky mood and difficulty napping lately. His new words are uhoh, ary (sorry, because he is having to say this a lot. He also know the sign for sorry because he refused to say it for the longest time), buthses, bath, bat, cookie (this one is very important) and maybe a few more. He wants so badly to keep up with his brothers. He can turn on the CD player on his own and will constantly play the song "if you are happy and you know it". He also changes the ringer on the phone every day. He is certainly learning lots of important skills. I think he should be saying more words than he does but I am sure it will come in time.

Jay learned a new word at school the other day. He told me he knew a cuss word, "a**". He learned if from one of his close friends at school. Great that public school education is paying off for us. In reality, though I know I can't shelter him from bad words and all the other bad stuff in the world. I had a talk with him and we talked about the word and what it meant. I ended with I had better not hear it coming from his mouth. He knows that yukky soap will be involved if it does. I am a little nervous about the Christmas season and what they will hear on the bus. They have so much fun with Santa and I don't want it ruined right now.

EE is a little oblivious to the cuss words and such. He is going to be working on something very important to him....so stay tuned.

I VOTED

The boys and I made it to the polls this afternoon for me to cast my vote. We made it in and out in a flash. Now we must wait and see what happens.

EE and Jay have been out of school for the last two days. Yesterday I let them each have a friend over. They played a little, ate lunch, did a craft, played outside and of course played a little WII. They all had a great time together and no arguments.

Today after a quick trip the gym I met a friend and her kids at the bowling alley. The boys bowled for 2 games and then they helped finish their friend's game. The Mom and her youngest child did not want to finish playing. They had such a fun time.

The time change has not been kind to our family. The entire family has been getting up way early. Jay seems to be having a hard time sleeping in which is not new but it seems that he is getting up earlier than before. He says he hears dogs barking, which belong to our neighbor. The neighbor keeps the 2 dogs out all day and night. And they bark so much.

Looking forward to getting back to a normal routine tomorrow.

Trick or Treat

So many parties so little time. The boys had a party at school on Friday. I volunteered in EE's class. The kids were all so excited. We were invited to 2 parties before trick or treating was to begin. We only made it to one. The party was amazing. She had hired help to watch children, servers and a bartender. She moved all of her furniture off her main floor. The bar was in the dining room, the food in the living room and many tables were in different rooms so that people could stand and eat. The inside was all for the adults. The outside included a tent with food and drink for the kids, a bouncy house and a hockey table. It was so over the top.....but it was fun.

The boys trick or treated for maybe 2 hours. The baby last for maybe an hour or so. I pushed him in a stroller and he only got candy at a couple of houses. There were a couple of houses providing adult beverages. I was able to get a warm spiced apple drink at one. It was very tasty. The boys had a blast but are so tired today.

I had to bribe the baby with candy to sit so I could take this picture.

Our pumpkins.

I didn't realize he had gotten into his candy and was chewing on it wrapper and all.

The boys got way too much candy. We sorted it and they kept some and dad is taking the rest to work on Monday.