The number 5

It is amazing how I can still remember this day 5 years ago.  I remember I had an awful night's sleep.  I woke up in the morning and didn't feel well at all.  I hesitated taking the twins to preschool that day because I felt so horrible.

And that is when it all started.  My contractions started and I lost the mucus plug.  But I was going no where until my legs were shaved.

I called my husband, who had taken his car to the dealership and was at work.  He got a ride to the dealership and came home to pick me up.  Luckily, my doctor's office was close to our home and the office was connected to the hospital. 

I had a scheduled c-section set for March 15th.  This was 4 weeks early.  Not how I planned for it to happen but he was coming ready or not.

That day our family became complete. 



We celebrated Tee's 5th birthday at Pump it Up.  He was so excited to have his party there.

 We invited his preschool class along with some other friends.  A good time had by all!

 He wanted a hot wheels cake.  I was disappointed when the place I went to didn't have the template.  So the next best thing was a race track and we put hot wheel cars on top.

 Cake time.  He had a hard time blowing out those candles.

A family photo!  Love those boys!

No, this is not trash but the presents Tee received.  That would be two bags.  

Momma and her boys.

Daddy and his boys.

Tee had a great time.  He is very blessed to have so many friends and family that joined him on his big day.

My Babies turned 10

It seems so hard for me to believe that my boys are 10 years old.  I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. 

As I mentioned, I finally got the boys to agree to a dodge ball party.  The party was held at an indoor place which also has batting cages.  The boys practice baseball at this place during the winter. 

The boys invited 12 kids and every single one of them was able to attend.  I was a little worried that they were going to get bored with the dodge ball after a while.  The boys played for 1 hour and then we took a break for pizza and cake.  Then the boys went right back to dodge ball.

The boys had a blast.  The refs were awesome.  They kept changing up the game.  So for one game you would maybe use your non-dominant hand and the next you would be on your knees. 

The boys!

I think this was Army style, if your leg gets hit you have to hop.

Jay spent a bit of time over on the sidelines.

I purchased 2 cakes just because I thought they needed to have store bought cakes.  I made dirt cake by request.  The dirt cakes was gone, these cakes were taken back home.

 E did not want to have to blow out his candles.  I did not give him any choice.

Jay's turn.  I always make sure I have 2 cakes.  We sing happy birthday to each one and always E first since he was born first.

Even though we had some issues prior to the party, I think the boys (all of them) had a fabulous night.

The boys each had one friend spend the night.  We rented a movie for them and then it was bedtime.  They slept in the basement and we had no issues. 

Switching gears to get ready for another birthday party......

Confused

The day started out pretty well but as the day progressed I started to get more and more annoyed. 

After I picked up Tee from preschool, I let him play on the playground for a while with one of his friends.  The Mom and I were talking about what we feel is missing from the preschool.  She said let's see what they brought home today.  There was a note in the folder talking about Valentine's Day.  Valentine's day falls on a Tuesday so when would you expect the kids would celebrate?  I would think on Tuesday, but the teacher wants to have the party on Friday the 17th.  What would be the point?  The issue is that the public school are off that day and more than likely Tee won't be in school.  I was so upset that I marched back into school and spoke to the director and asst director.  I explained the situation and asked them if they could remedy.  I certainly don't want to have him miss the party but why would you not celebrate on the day.

The boys have a birthday tomorrow.  We debated on how to celebrate because they did not want to do the same kind of party.  I am not ready to have two separate parties at this point.  Since I am the planner it does have to be convenient for me.  So we settled on a dodge ball party.  The boys were told that they could invite 5 friends.  They were having a hard time and we spent some time working on their list. 

E decided to not invite one of his good friends.  This friend tends not to do well with lots of boys.  We really didn't think that dodge ball would be his thing.  Well, the other day, E came home telling me he felt so bad that he didn't invite him.  There was a friend who was going around telling people he was invited to my kid's birthday party.  I felt bad for E.  We talked and I decided I would call his Mom and let her know the situation.  She was ok with it and her son has decided he will join us.

And if that was not enough.  One of Jay's friends is a little upset he is not invited.  One of the boys invited doesn't like this other boy and keeps reminding him that he is not invited..  I feel terrible because I made him invite this not so nice boy.  He claims to be his friend and I just didn't understand how he could not invite him. 

I think parties may be a thing of the past.  I just can't stand all of this nonsense that goes on.

Hoping for a better day tomorrow!

Is it really February?

We have had such a mild winter so far.  As I was walking the dog today, I had to take my jacket off.  It felt like a spring day.  I had to come home and check the calendar to make sure we are in February and winter is not over yet.

I have to admit I am a little miffed that we have not had a good snow.  One where the kids could play, make a snowman and even go sledding.  I am hoping for one good snow and then off to spring.  Nothing but a little rain and mild temperatures for the next week.

We had a great weekend.  The Mother in law came in for a visit.  She was able to experience our chaotic days.  The boys had a great time visiting with her.  She was able to see them play basketball and practice baseball.  The visits always seem to go by so quickly. 

I was so touched on Monday, after school E says I wish Grandma was still here.  It does suck to live so far away from family. 

Well, I finally took my test and passed.  So I am officially food safety certified for the next 5 years.  How exciting.

Report cards were issued on Monday.  I am so incredibly proud of them, they both came home with straight A's.  Wow.  I was not expecting that.

I also had a conference with Tee's preschool teacher.  I just came out of the conference thinking it was a waste of time.  I know what he knows.  He knows all his letters but may get confused on a few.  He knows all his sounds.  He can count to 100.  But really that just doesn't mean that much to me.  I want him to have fun because after this it will be non-stop learning for the next 13 years.  I am not sure what I expected.  Maybe I wanted her to tell me that it was such a pleasure to have Tee in class.  Instead I got that he needs to be reminded to keep his hands to himself or doesn't share toys.....and it just goes on.  I feel like the other boys' preschool experience was so different.  I feel like Tee has missed out on something good.

This week has been non-stop so far and will just continue on through the weekend.  We have birthdays to celebrate and a scouting event. 

Time

I have come to the realization that it is just so hard to keep up with everything, including this blog.  So much has happened in the last few months.  So many cute stories to share.  But short on time.  I personally just want to get it down so that I don't forget it. 

I have always been a huge PTA supporter.  I join and have held a position for the last 4 years.  This year I am the 2nd Secretary and Website Administrator.  Someone created the website for me and she showed me how to update.  This year I have had a change of heart.  There was an issue that happened at the end of the year that caused the President (my neighbor) to resign.  So the 1st VP stepped up and found someone to replace him. When he took over, he made a few remarks about the website and how I was not an expert.  So the 1st VP decided he was going to create a new website.

Really???  Who does that?  I had the website and was updating it.  Don't you think that it would have been better to sit with me and let me know what you would like to see?  No, he decided that he was taking it over.

I decided at this point I was not going to spend any time updating something that was going to be changed.  So I stopped updating it.  He has created a new layout and is in the process of trying to transfer the domain name.

I will keep my Secretary role for now but will not be signing up for anything next year.  I am sure I can find another organization that will appreciate what I have to offer.  Yes, I am a bit bitter.

So, I get extra time on my hands and what do I do?  Volunteer for something else.  I have been studying to be certified in food safety.  Not sure why I agreed.  In order for the scouts to serve a hot meal at a banquet that is held in February, there must be someone who is food safety certified.  The person who is certified can't make the banquet.  Yes, I should be studying now.    

Sadie has been a handful.  She certainly understands that Dad is top dog.  But she fails to realize that she is not second in charge.  We have a trainer who comes to the house to help us train her and work through any issues I am having.  We have moved from a cloth chock collar to a metal choke collar.  This has helped me a lot.  She still wants to "play" with me.  "Playing" entails her attacking my ankles or biting my clothes.  The she sits back and starts jumping around and barking.  It doesn't take long with the choke collar to get her under control. 

Last week, Tee got a stomach bug.  A lot of kids at his preschool had it so it was just a matter of time.  So I wasn't shocked when Jay got sick on Sunday.  He started throwing up on his way home from baseball practice, in someone else's car.  I still feel terrible about it.  He threw up the entire afternoon.  I felt terrible for him also.  What really surprised me was when E got sick around 10:30.  Of course, he got sick in his bed, made a trail to the bathroom and then didn't hit the toilet much.  Even the dog got sick this am in her kennel.  I am done with the vomit.

It made us think.  E already had a stomach bug during our holiday.  So we feel like they got food poisoning from out dinner out on Saturday.  They both had eggs.  Of course, we will never know for sure.  But one thing is for sure....they will be back to school tomorrow.  They had the day off today for a teacher work day.  Me?  I spent the day (my birthday) striping beds, doing a ton of laundry and making beds back up.

Christmas at our house

It seems like we sped through the Christmas season.  We got our tree, put it in the stand and waited a week to decorate it.  The majority of our Christmas decorations and ornaments didn't make it out.  Yes, it was such a hectic season. 

Our church offered a service on the eve of Christmas eve.  We decided to attend that service, which was a very nice candle light service. 

I started not feeling well on Christmas eve.  I managed to get the turkey in the oven and started baking the other dishes to our meal.  By mid-day I knew it would not be possible for me to actually eat dinner.  So the husband cut up the turkey and put away all of the other dishes I had made.  I spent a lot of the day in bed, catching up on the housewives of NJ.  I knew I was going to have to rally for the evening activities.

Can you guess what I got for Christmas?

I got it a little early

 And was able to catch these images of Tee.

 You guessed it, a nice camera.  I wanted to be able to use it for Christmas day.

The annual reading of Twas the night before Christmas!

The normal stop on the step before letting them run to their pile of presents!



Santa visited!

Having fun looking at their presents.

Santa was so nice, he installed the xbox in the playroom.

Mom and baby!

Dad and his oldest sons!

 

There was a bit of a mess when all was said and done.

We had a very nice day.  The boys indulged in all of their gifts and we watched them.  The best part was that we only had to warm up our dinner.

Tee has still been singing some Christmas songs, which seems very funny to me.  He enjoyed hearing the songs on the radio for about the 2 weeks leading up to Christmas.

Insanity

It seems as though the season has been so much more hectic then in years past.  I am not sure if it has to do with our addition, Sadie or if we are just have too much going on.  But we made it through and we had a great Christmas.

Sadie is definitely a lot of work.  I have had to change my schedule a bit to get home for her so my morning errands sometimes have to be cut short.  She is like a little baby, putting everything in her mouth that she can find and biting like crazy.  I can't tell you how many holes she has put in my clothes and Tee's.  She likes to use Tee as her personal chew toy.  Tee just loves her so much and wants to kiss her all the time.  E has really bonded with the dog and helps us care for her.  Jay on the other hand is very scared and doesn't want much to do with her.  Hopefully, once she gets a bit older this will change.

Sadie is now 11 weeks old.  I was able to regain some sanity once I got a play yard for her.  She did have several accidents prior to the play yard.  It is nice to be able to put her in there so that I can get things done in the house without worrying about what she might be into.

There has been so much that has happened in the last month that I don't know where to start. 

Tee has a preschool Christmas program.  He was adorable.  They sang Feliz Navidad and a Kwanzaa song.  Yep, not sure how the Kwanzaa song plays into our Christian preschool, but whatever.  He sang so loud and while on stage he says hey Mom.  He says the funniest things sometimes.  The other day he said Mom will you still love me with boogers on my face?  I said of course, I will always love you.  Then he proceeds to wipe his nose on my pillow.  Another time he kissed me and said every Kiss begins with K.  Maybe a little too much TV.  We have looked at him recently and realized he is growing way too fast.

Jay had been in some trouble lately, the story for another day.  He has asked the big question many times.  You know, is there really a Santa.  I have blown him off saying that you have to believe.  Well, he has a week ago again.  My husband asked me what to do.  We decided that maybe he was ready to know.  So he took him to his room and told him the truth.  Jay cried for a long time.  He was so sad.  Of course, we threatened him if he spilled the beans to his brothers or his friends.  The husband has explained that nothing has changed, we love doing Christmas just as much as they love Christmas.  I think he is ok with it.

E has been doing well.  He was so excited for Christmas.  It is funny because he never asks for much.  He had two things on his list.  We decided last minute that we should at least get one of the items.  I don't know that he will ever ask us about Santa and I think by this time next year we will need to sit him down.  He has been really good in helping with the dog.  He will even help pick up the poop in the yard.  Once the dog settles down a little, I think they will have a great bond. 

The husband is on vacation this week.  This week will be about regaining some sanity, organizing and getting ready for the new year.  I will post pictures of Christmas soon.

Thankful for so much

Thanksgiving week was a great busy week.  The husband took the week off from work.  The boys had a few half days off from school.  Attended the boys conferences.  Celebrated Thanksgiving with family.  Took a trip, picked up the dog and wrapped up the weekend with the festival of trees.  Whew!

The boys did amazing on their report cards.  I am so proud of their hard work.  We keep them very busy with extra activities and they manage to keep it all up.  The teachers had such nice things to say about the boys. 

Thanksgiving was celebrated at our house with my brother and three of his children.  We feel very blessed that we were able to be with some family.  It is hard to be away from our families.  We would love to be able to be with everyone but it is not possible.  I can't believe I didn't snatch one picture.  It was a nice relaxing day.

We woke up Friday morning and headed to Hershey Park for their Christmas Candy lane.  We went with friends of ours.  The have an older daughter, a son E and Jay's age and a daughter Tee's age.  So it works well with our family.

We could not have asked for better weather.  It was a gorgeous day.

We started at Chocolate world when we first got their.  We received an education on chocolate and the best thing was we were able to taste lots of chocolate.  We then took the tour that explains the process of making chocolate bars. 

We then made our way to the park.  There were no roller coasters open but there were 30 rides open.  We split up a little because the younger kids did different rides than the older kids. 

In chocolate class

Tee liked this ride!

Tee did not like this ride!  I didn't think it would ever end.

Family picture

It was a warm day but that didn't stop Frosty.

Our handsome boys on the train ride!

We were able to see a light show at the park and then headed to dinner.  Dinner was really good.

After dinner we headed to the Sweet lights.  A 2 1/2 mile drive of over 600 light displays.  It was nice but a bit long. 

We finally called it a day after that.

The next morning we woke up and went shopping at the outlet that was really close by.  I had no idea it was there.  Then we headed home to pick up Sadie.

She cried some of the way home.  I don't think she likes to ride in the car.

The boys absolutely love her.  Jay seems a little scared of her, Tee can't keep his hands off of her and E has a real connection with her.  He is very responsible when it comes to her.

Sunday we headed to our annual visit of the Festival of Trees.  I was a bit disappointed in the Santa but I really wanted to get the picture of Santa with the boys.

The boys racing cars.

Tee and Dad were the big winners.

It was a jam packed week but a good one.  This week it has been back to our routines.

Temporary Insanity

I remember in 1997, we decided to get a puppy.  We had just moved into our house so it was the logical next step.  Charli was the last girl puppy left in the litter.  She was adorable.

Shortly after we brought her home, my husband was put on an assignment in Boston.  I did the single puppy parent for a good long while.  Those first few months were very difficult.  She was a handful.  But every time I walked into the door she was always so happy to see me.

Charli was such an awesome dog and a member of our family.  Unfortunately, we had to put her down 4 years ago.  We were crushed when she left us. 

The boys have been asking for a dog for a long time.  I love dogs but they do add a lot of work/attention to an already hectic schedule.  Vacations now mean that we have to figure out who will watch the dog.  And don't forget the dog poop that needs to be picked up.  I have not budged from the answer of NO for a long time.

Recently, we started talking about getting a dog.  All I had to do was mention it and the husband was all over finding a breeder nearby.  Conversations ensued.

So without further ado.......meet Sadie!  Our soon to be addition to our family.  I can't tell you how excited every single boy is in this family. 

Sadie, the dog with her right nails painted blue!

She has big shoes to fill after Charli.....but look at that face.

The boys know that they will have responsibilities with the dog from walking to feeding to picking up poop.  I walk around the house and look at all the junk on the floor and tell them that Sadie will eat everything on the ground. 

Tee has been going around making sure there is nothing on the ground.  In fact, he think Sadie will be sleeping with him in his room so every morning he ensures that there is nothing on the ground.  He is very proud that his room is so clean.  He has also started making  his bed. 

Sadie is about 7 weeks old and will be joining us on Sunday.  Tonight we made our trip to the pet store to stock up on puppy supplies.  Yes, I plead temporary insanity.