Caden and His Favorite Vegetable

Caden is now willingly eating green beans. I NEVER thought I'd say this day. Yesterday, for lunch, I served him fish sticks, green beans and grapes. I told him if he ate all of his lunch, he could have fruit snacks for dessert. Without any of coersion or bribery, he ate all of his lunch including his pile of green beans. My little boy is finally eating vegetables!

But You Don't Know How

We are going shopping today to buy new light fixtures for our dining room. Dan was telling Caden where we are going and why and Caden said, with much seriousness, "But you don't know how to do it." Caden doesn't have much confidence in his Mommy and Daddy, does he?

Allie's Earrings

Allie had her ears pierced a year ago. She chose sparkly pink flowers and has refused to let me take them out of her ears. She pulled a back off of one the other day and we couldn't find it. I convinced her it wouldn't hurt if she let me take the earrings out and put new ones in with good backs. I picked a Mickey Mouse pair my mom had given her and she let me put them in. From the expression on her face, she was shocked that it didn't hurt. Last night, I showed her some other earrings she could wear: pretty pink studs from Grandmother or my tiny silve hoops. She picked the hoops and they are so cute on her. I'll get a picture tomorrow. It's fun that she'll finally let me change them. Jaelyn still says she doesn't want her ears pierced and Caden still says he'd like his ears pierced. Uh, no way little man!

All's Well That Ends Well

I couldn't leave the toilet like it was. I just don't have it in me. After a little bit of playing (flushing and turning the water off as quickly as possible), I decided it was just clogged. I few good pushes with a plunger and it cleared and was flushing fine. The kids all got renewed lesson in toilet paper usage - I made them count...5 sheets a flush. The water stopped leaking out of the light fixture and the carpet that was leaked on is drying out. All's well that ends well.

Kelley and Lyssie came for dinner last night since Dan's gone and her husband works nights. I made breakfast for dinner and it was delicious. We had cheesey bacon grits, blue blueberry pancakes (I used real blueberries and they turned the batter blue), scrambled eggs, bacon and cinnamon rolls. Yummy! Typing it out makes me hungry again. The kids had fun playing, running and dancing. Jaelyn was especially excited because now that she's in school, she misses out on most of our playdates. Caden declared his love for Lyssie and she said when she grows up she's going to marry Caden. Silly kiddos! Jen, Allie has decided she's going to marry Jackson.

Make-up, Lies and Gummy Bears

We've had a morning...one of those mornings. Jaelyn is out of school today. Today is also grocery shopping day and we have run out of food. I bundled the kids up against the 25 degree weather and off we headed to the commissary. Shopping was an experience - not a fun one. We made it to the check-out in one piece with the promise of gummies if they continued being "okay." The girls decided to play in the parking lot and nothing makes me more mad...well, okay, there are a few things, but I'm big on parking lot safety. Anyway, the girls thought it would be fun to play and I made the executive decision that they didn't deserve the gummies they picked out. Allie was unhappy, but quiet about the decision. Jaelyn, on the other hand, was not fine with it. She pitched a complete fit on the way home and might never get gummies again if I have anything to say about it. She finally calmed down and decided to help put the groceries away.

Next Allie disappeared and unfortunately, I didn't notice it until it was too late. Later, I found her in her bedroom with my make-up all over her face and her bed. She was painting her toe nails with my mascara. I also found small pearls all around her. She had gotten into my jewelry box and taken a strand that had belonged to my Great Aunt Sarah. They were strung together with a piece of string and it pulled loose from the clasp so I'm pretty sure I can fix them, but still. It's been a while since Allie received a spanking, but she got one today.

Next...do I really need a next??? Next, I found Caden with keys that had been on a key rack. He knows he's not allowed to touch them. He lied to me and told me Jaelyn got them all down. Jaelyn says she got two of the rings down and Caden got the third. I believe her, although maybe I shouldn't (see "They did it" post). Anyway, I gave Caden several chances to tell the truth. He didn't and even blamed Allie once (who was upstairs with me getting in trouble during this time). Caden got his first dose of fibby juice on his tongue and lost tickets. He was not a happy camper.

We had lunch and all seemed well. I put Caden down for his nap and sat down to type this post. Half way through, Jaelyn, who's playing connect four in the living room, tells me "mommy, the ceiling's peeing." Oh no! Off I dash to the upstair bathroom and the toilet has over flowed. I turned off the water and cleaned up 1/4 of an inch of water off the floor. Thankfully the water found a chandelier to drip down so hopefully, it'll just drip down that and not drip on the ceiling and stain the ceiling (I just finished painting! I have no desire to paint a ceiling!!!). The water will be staying off until Dan gets home and can check the toilet. I like doing things around the house. It's fun for me to fix things, but the toilet is where I draw the line. That's a man's job (like taking out the trash :p)!

BTW - Did I mentioned Dan's out of town so today is par for the course!

Working in the Classroom

I worry about my kids. Are they happy? Are they well adjusted? Do they have friends? With Allie, I've really worried if she is ready for kindergarten? I'm sure every mom does it. Allie goes to a co-op preschool which means a parent must work so many days out of the school year in the classroom. I love going with Allie and getting to see how she interacts with everyone. She can be so tempermental and head strong at times and I see what might be considered immaturity at home. I have no one to compare her to because I've always felt like Jaelyn was so mature for her age. So anyway, I worked in Allie's classroom today and I so enjoyed watching her. She listens, she sits in circle time just like the other children, she plays nicely and cleans up when it's time. All those things that I worry about, I shouldn't be. She is a well adjusted, happy four year old.

I've wanted to volunteer in Jaelyn's classroom this year, this just wasn't a way with the two at home. I'm looking forward to next year with Caden starting pre-school. I'll get to work in Jaelyn and Allie's classrooms.

I think I'm feeling sentimental tonight, but I just need to write that I am so thankful to have my three precious children in my life.

I'm Done

I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! Want to hear that again? I'M DONE! I finished painting tonight. The stairwell is finished and now the colors flow from the front door to the back door, from the living room to the basement and back up to the bedrooms. I love it and it looks so good (if I do say so myself). I know I said I was going to do it last night, but I took a hot bath and read a book instead :p. I'm still not going to hang those pictures in the guest room, not yet anyway. I'll wait until the itch to move is impossible to resist and then I'll jinx new orders right into existence.

A Week in Pictures

Jaelyn "decorated" Allie this morning. Check out Jaelyn's smile. Her two top teeth are loose now.

Allie wants Zoe to play with her so badly and Zoe has made her wish come true. All Allie has to do to attract our playful kitty is to wear her gypsy costume and wave her arms arount a little.

Caden has become a computer expert at the age of three. He has three games he likes to play. He knows what button to click on, how to double click, how to play them, how to minimize and maximize them and how to close them and move onto another game. I'm totally impressed.

Peek a boo - Who's in the bag?
Wednesday was Jaelyn's 100th day of school. They had a 100 party and made a big deal out of it. I think she told me she has 90 more days to go!

On Our Own Again

Dan just left to head to the airport. He'll be spending the next few days in Ft. Polk, Louisiana. Sounds exciting, doesn't it :p. We don't have too much planned for while he's gone: a playdate on Monday and dinner with friends on Wednesday. Schools are closed on Tuesday for voting and that's my grocery shopping day. It's been a while since I shopped with all 3. Should be interesting.

18 days till Baba and Grandpa come!

My Day of Accomplishments

I love Saturdays. I am able to get so much done that I can't get done with the kids under foot. Dan is happy to hang out and play with the kids. Yesterday, I worked on cleaning out the blue room in anticipation of my parents visit, I patched the holes in the wall and touched up the paint (something that's been on my "to do" list for a year), I put away laundry and ran 2 new loads, I painted Caden's new door and cleaned two bathrooms. It feels so good to get so many things DONE. Dan thinks I'm silly, but when my little world around me is in order (meaning my home), my life feels in order. When my little world is in chaos, my brain feels so scattered and fragmented. Dan was awesome all day. He even put the kids to bed, read to them and let me go to Walmart to pick up a few things. One hour later, I had the things on my list plus a new curtain rod and a valence for our bathroom (another thing from my "to do" list).

I almost have my house like I want it. We have new light fixtures picked out for the dining room and entry way. Once we replace those and I finish painting the downstairs staircase (TONIGHT), our house will be all done. Of course, my general rule of thumb has been once we are all settled in and have everything just like we want it, we get orders and it's time to move on. Maybe I won't hang those last few pictures in the basement! Huh?!?!

"They did it"

I can almost always tell when Jaelyn is telling lies. Her twinkling eyes and smile give her away. With Allie and Caden, I cannot normally tell. Tonight, I went to the basement to get them started on cleaning up and discovered that someone had played in the kitty litter pan (gross) and I haven't cleaned it out today (double gross). There was kitty litter all over the floor. I questioned all three kids and cannot figure out who did it. Jaelyn says Allie and Caden did it. Allie says Jaelyn and Caden did it. Caden says Allie and Jaelyn did it. Who to believe? Could they have all been in on it? I cannot tell from any of their faces who was telling the truth. They all lost tickets since no one would fess up to the crime. Why in the world would a child want to play in kitty litter? I've talked over and over with them about her the kitty litter pan is the kitty's potty. They don't play in the big potty. Ewwww!

Our Day

I've kept a journal since we started our adoption process. My intention is to have the journals bound into books to give the kids when they are grown. It might not be something they appreciate now or even then, but I think one day, maybe when they are much older, they will treasure a written commentary on their lives. I've found a place to have the books bound and have been working on formatting the past five years. I've spent most of my time on 2006. I didn't journal regularly then and instead compiled the emails Dan and I wrote to each other while he was deployed. As I've worked on it this morning, it's made me miss writing like I used to. I'm not writing as often as I used to or in the minute detail of our lives in order to not bog down our blog. I think I'm going to go back to it; so you might be wading through a lot of things that are unimportant to you, but will be invaluable for the kids to read about one day.

So...on that note...our day! As I said, I worked on the journal this morning. It was a good morning, mostly, I think, because I got up and took a shower before the kids got up. There's something about having a shower and fixing my hair in the morning that just starts my day off right. Caden and I dropped Allie off at preschool and then raced to Jaelyn's school to check her out for a dentist appointment. I was able to talk with her teacher a little and she feels like Jaelyn's biggest struggle is her focus and if she can work on that, she'll be doing really well. She's capable of so much. I'm proud to tell you that Jaelyn earned her fifth green light of the week. It's the first week in months that's she's had a perfect week. As a reward, she earned a cool pen that has about 15 different colors in it.

Jaelyn didn't really want to go to the dentist. It is one of her least favorite things. She let them clean her teeth last time, but nearly broke my fingers, she was squeezing so hard during the cleaning. Today was totally different. She was motivated by the promise of another reward. She sat still in the chair. She opened her mouth and let the hygenist clean her teeth (with cookie dough polish - yummy) and then let her paint marshmellow fluoride on her teeth. Caden alternated between watching and playing. He really wanted to get his teeth cleaned too. He has an appointment at the same time as Allie next month.

After the dentist, Jaelyn wanted to go back to school. She only had an hour and a half left and I very rarely have her without Allie, so I offered either taking her back to school or taking her to a park. Play prevailed and we headed to the park. It was perfect, cold, but not too cold. The park was desserted. Caden and Jaelyn were able to play for about 45 minutes while I watched and then we picked up Allie. Allie had a great day at school and was excited to see Jaelyn with us. She was jealous of all of Jaelyn's rewards and begged me to take her to the dentist too. Silly girl. She'll have to wait her turn.

This too shall pass...RIGHT?

I'm sure it's a phase. I hope it's a phase. Lately, Caden wants what he doesn't want and doesn't want what he wants. It's driving me beserk. For example, we are going to the car and I say "Caden, do you want to walk or do you want me to carry you?" I'm into love and logic parenting with choices. So, he says "carry me," but when I go to pick him up, he has a total meltdown and says "I want to walk." But then he doesn't walk, he just stands there and cries because he wanted me to carry him. It's so tiring and the crying is taking on a Jaelyn-whining tone that is not at all good for my sanity. What to do??? It's a phase...it too shall pass, right?

Jaelyn's Report Card

Jaelyn brought home her 2nd quarter report card yesterday. I missed getting to have a parent/teacher conference like they did 1st quarter to go over the report card. Jaelyn is still struggling with concentrating and focusing on her work rather than focusing on her friends around her. She doing very well academically, but I imagine she could be truly excelling if she could just exercise a little self control. Her teacher is really working with her and has set her up in her own "private office" by the teacher's desk. Two of Jaelyn's cohorts also have their own "private offices" these days, so I hear. Last month, she brought home 1/3 yellow lights to 2/3 green lights. So far, she's received 2 green lights in February. I've upped her rewards for green lights and upped her consequences for yellow; so hopefully that'll have some effect.

The main 2 subjects Jaelyn gets critiqued on are reading and math. She gets S: secure, D: developing, B: beginning. For math, she has mostly secure with a few developing. Her reading is about half and half with secure and developing. Jaelyn received one O: outstanding in "Demonstrates Effort" for PE. Silly girl!

Gymnastics

I signed all 3 kids up for gymnastics through a local rec center. The class is for an hour and is open to 3, 4 and 5 year olds. Perfect. Tonight was the first class. I knew the girls would do fine, but I was concerned about my mommy's boy, Caden. We got there right as they were calling the kids in. To begin with, they were working down a list, but lots of kids weren't there so they were just lining kids up and asking their names. Allie got pulled to go with the first of three groups. Jaelyn went into the third group. Caden was one of the last kids left. They told him to get into Jaelyn's line and asked his name. He said "Caden Thomas" and walked into the gym with the teachers like he'd been doing it all his life. He didn't even look back at me. All three kids enjoyed the class. Caden caught me watching him at one point from the hall and I gave him a thumbs up sign. I was worried he'd get upset by seeing me. Instead of, gave me the thumbs up sign back and turned back to his group. I'm so proud of my little guy. He actually cried when the class was over and didn't want to leave.

FUNdamentals

We were invited to a birthday party for one of our neighbors on Friday night. We've been here almost a year and we are finally starting to get to know some people. It's nice. Anyway, it was at a place called FUNdamentals, kind of like Gymboree. The kids had so much fun. I thought you might like to see some of the pictures.

FUNdamentals Continued

Saturday was a GOOD day

I loved yesterday. It was a wonderful day. First, Dan got up with the kids and I got to stay in bed until 9! Oh my goodness! He even kept them quiet so I actually got to sleep in instead of just staying in bed and listening to the ruckus. Dan did dampen my mood a little when I got up by suggesting we do our taxes online. I so wanted to go to the tax office this year. I hate entering everything and I'm never sure if I'm doing it totally correct, even though I'm using a tax program. So...because he had been so nice and he promised to go to the tax office if I couldn't figure it out, I gave it a good try. I registered with military one source so I could access H&R Blocks free tax prep (yea for military perks) and got started. It was about 9:30. At 1:00, after pulling most of my hair out and Dan having taken care of the kids ALL morning, literally, I clicked "submit" and sent our return to the IRS. Yahoo! Refund here we come - or should I say "Refund, here YOU come!" This is the last year we were able to claim our adoption tax credit. We used all of it over the last 5 years except about $2000, and that's mainly because Dan was deployed and his income was tax free for a year.

Now that we knew our refund was on the way and we knew my parents are on the way in May, we went to Sandals.com and booked a vacation for just the two of us. Check out the link so you can be totally jealous. We'll be spending 5 days and 4 nights in a St. Lucian paradise. We booked an ocean front honeymoon suite (a honeymoon wasn't a requirement, but it will be our 12th anniversary) with a huge patio. All the water and land sports are included so we'll be able to fill our days with snorkeling, diving for Dan, and sunning on the beach with a book for me. Heaven, I tell you. We've already checked out the menus of the 15 restaurants between the 3 Sandals resorts in St. Lucia, and we both need to lose a few pounds before we go so we can find them there! I'm super excited, but also a little nervous about leaving the kids for so long. I need a break, but I'll miss them. St. Lucia is a long way away from Maryland.

Huge Praise

Thank you so much to all who have been praying for my mom. She's had issues with her calcium levels, but it seems like things are evening out and they'll hopefully be able to start decreasing her Vitamin D and Calcium as her parathyroid takes over. She's starting to feel better and is getting her energy back. The best news, however is not about her calcium. It's about the pathology report. She had a doctor's appointment today and the mass in her thyroid is negative - BENIGN!

Lazy Day - Schools Closed

Happy February, Everyone! We got a call this morning that school were delayed 2 hours. Ok - they were forecasting rain and sleet this morning with it clearing by the afternoon. An hour later, we got another call that schools are closed. The weather forecast is still the same. I have no idea why they've closed the schools, but Jaelyn's happy. We had a pajama morning and I think were all dressed before lunch. We've had cutting craft time and played Uno. Caden's down for a nap now so we might break out Monopoly or Sequence OR maybe I'll go snuggle up on the couch and let the girls watch a movie! Sounds good, huh?