Roller Skating Saturday!

For their 'Daycare Christmas Party' the kids were treated by their daycare provider to a day of roller skating and treats. I got to help cart all of the kids to the Skate Palace and was happy for the chance so I could watch the kids! I hadn't planned on Will skating, but it worked out and he LOVED it! He didn't want any help. Gabbie did good after the first few falls. She was nervous about the party the night before (she had asked me if I would hold her hand and put a pillow on her back in case she fell). I knew she'd cry with every bump at first. I took her aside, threatened to take her home, and there were no tears after that. She even made new friends while skating!

 

Will wanted to play with the lights, Harper didn't think he needed to do that!

Getting some help; it was Gabbie's second try at skating-she went once when she was 3

A very important call came in I guess. This was toward the end of the afternoon, and he needed a nap bad! I resorted to the phone to keep him occupied

Me trying to get Will on his feet to start; took a little getting used to!

Hokey Pokey!

Becoming a pro!

Nothing like a stick of Laffy Taffy...

...then a car nap!

Sunday FunDay Marathon :)

I enjoy the holidays, but I also enjoy the part of winter where all of the Christmas decorations are put away, cards are sent, holiday running is done, and we can enjoy a Sunday at home! We can sleep in, go to church, and come home to a day with no schedule. I've been a little deficient with taking pictures of the kids lately. So today I kept the camera out while we looked for some fun 'Sunday' things to do! 

 

 

A fun 'science' experiement!

I kept some paper that had been in a package I'd ordered. We flattened it out today and started coloring on 10-12 feet worth of paper! Try hanging that on the fridge :)

 

The kids are able to help with laundry, or toss it on the floor

 

Why not use a magic marker to paint fingernails? Gabbie's justification: it will wash off easier than polish. Good point

 

Working on our letter/number skills and returning to 'menu planning' which we had become lax on since working on holiday leftovers. Now the fridge and freezer are cleaned out, so we can get back on track! I've been trying to involve Gabbie in choosing healthy/not healthy foods, so we picked some good stuff from the Taste of Home magazine today.

 

It all sounds good! It might not be fun tomorrow when we have to stop at the store in the 5 degree weather!

 

Photography lesson. Gabbie wanted to learn to use the camera, so she took some pictures. She took several of me making funny faces, then took pictures of everything in the living room. They weren't too bad!

 

We made pudding filled chocolate cupcakes, and licked the bowl (even though I was reminded it wasn't a healthy choice! Sometimes fun is healthy too)

 

Gabbie wanted to make Tucker a house. The holes are so he can see out :)

 

Sometimes you need a big fat Sunday nap

 

She was really good at peeling hard boiled eggs for potato salad. Those little hands are helpful!

 

I dominated a game of CandyLand-that's my blue guy at the castle!

 

Gabbie loved that I taught her how to make a 'farting noise' with the box!

 

Dad came in for a break from the cold and read a book

 

 

Kids Dance on the Wii! Good exercise at least!

 

 

Why yes, I'll eat my green beans out of the can! I was vacuuming and came downstairs and found him eating them this way. Not sure I want to know how he got the can off of the table...

 

Had to fit in a birthday party for Jennie (Gabbie's imaginary friend). It was a princess party, duh

 

 

At the end of the day when I asked them to clean things up I found them in the closet instead, playing with more toys. But its okay, Gabbie said. They were pretending and Will was her King. I had to debate if pretend play should trump following directions? They snapped into shape pretty fast when I turned the vacuum on an threatened to vacuum all the toys up. That works everytime. Wonder when they will get smart enough to realize that it isn't even possible. Until then I will use it to my benefit!

 

Another beautiful sunset! Now time to get everyone bathed and to bed for another week of work, school, and another attempt at Will's hearing check and shots! Next week Gabbie starts going to school 4 mornings a week! Yikes! The van hit 100,000 miles last month, we'll be at 200,000 before we know it! I should have listened when people told me the kids would get to be "a whole different kind of work" as they got older. At least when they were babies their social commitments were minimal and didn't require transportation arrangements! On the way home from church today Gabbie did tell me "Mom, someday I will get big and I will be able to drive your van". I should have recorded it because I doubt she'll find driving a van to school someday to be a fun thing to do!

Boredom...

Wow, I can not remember the last time I had the feeling of boredom! I actually didn't get off work until after 6pm tonight, thanks to a follow up eye appointment that took my afternoon off course. And I've barely been home half an hour. However, Brice picked up the kids from daycare and took them to visit some friends. So here I am in an empty quiet house! I can think of 10 productive things I could be doing, but its no fun without chatter in the background!
This week Will had the stomach flu. Brice's Mom watched the kids Sunday night while I did chores (so Brice could go on his "yearly entirely too short vacation" as I call it). Will started throwing up at that time, then again during the night. He ran a slight temp, seemed fine on Monday but I still kept him at home. He went back to daycare on Tuesday, threw up again on Tuesday night. Seems great since the last puking session! Too bad the "last puke" happened in his crib and was all over the wall, in the cracks of the floor, down his crib, through his sheets. I'm glad he is back to normal! We played outside the past couple days and he seems back to himself. I worked last weekend and thought Will seemed a little 'off', but attributed it to Brice and I being gone both days. I should have known better to think he was that attached to us! We have been blessed to avoid the respiratory crud so far this winter, so I hope we can keep that up!
The kids were scheduled for 'well child' checks on Monday anyway, so we went (as the nurse told me on the phone, 'its not like we haven't had sick people here all winter'). Here are the stats:

Gabrielle Heidi Hundling: apparantly thinks here middle name is Linda (so she tells the doctor). She weighs in at 38 pounds and is 3' 4.5". She is in the 75th percentile  for her height and weight. Very proportional! I was a nervous mama at her 2 year check up, where she didn't check off on all the skills for her age. I should have calmed down as she did fine at this one, had all the 4 year old skills and quite a few of the 5 year old. I still question who decides all that stuff to begin with anyway! We did not do a 3 year check up with her since she had been in the hospital in DSM and I knew she had had enough of doctors. I was nervous about this appointment, but she did fine and did everything the doctor asked her to do. Now we'll see how the dentist goes at the end of the month!

Wilhelm David Hundling: so tolerant of the doctor that its scary! I opted to delay his shots due to his stomach bug. He has 4 shots (3 of them would typically be combined into one-the Dtap I believe-but there is a shortage of the combo vaccine so they are all separate, which I prefer anyway). So the next 2 Mondays he will get those done. I also had to delay his hearing screen since his flu, so we'll do that next week also. He weight in at just over 24 pounds and was 32.75 inches long. He falls on the 50th percentile for both; very proportional also! He also checks off on all his skills except one...can you guess what that is?! The bottle of course. Doctors advice: keep trying. Sure, I bet that will be about as easy as potty training Gabbie was?

My computer is being difficult and not letting me add my pictures, so will have to try that later. Stay warm!

More bottle talent

I had to add this as we continue the theme of Will's talents with his bottle. He couldn't compete on the Voice, but maybe America's Got Talent? Brice's mom sent this from her Christmas pictures. I had previously forgotten to include the kids' Santa gifts. Will's is pictured here, plus he got a new toothbrush and a couple of books. Gabbie got a new princess skirt, a new toothbrush, and hair clips. The family got board games, puzzles, and a Thomas the Train floor map. Santa went with the theme of 'simple' this year and everyone still got plenty spoiled :-)

Tis the season...

...for spending 20 minutes bundling everyone up to go outside, only to hear "I have to go to the bathroom!" Ugh. But its worth it; both kids (mostly Gabbie) are loving the snow.

I can't remember if I had this picture in my last entry or not...either way bundling them up is a process that's worth the reward.

Every year I get each kid an ornament that is the 'theme' of their year. Last year Gabbie got a Mater ornament as she loved Cars. This year she was really into princesses.

A hot chocolate picnic with Tyler after playing outside!

Jumping up and down on Mom!

One of his many ways of holding a bottle. Eventually he may be able to write a book about it (since he would be able to hold the bottle in his teeth in order to write the book).

Supper before church, Gabbie was reading to Kennedy :-)

I got lucky and got a picture before someone ran away!

Eating the cookies that Santa didn't finish

Santa left puzzles and board games! Its been fun to return to Candyland. I'm not into letting the kids win. Gabbie's first meltdown when I kicked her behind to the castle was something else.

Look what Daddy got me! A jewelry box to make. Literally has 1200 pieces, and yes, he knew that when he bought it. Thank goodness that the kids are being baby-sat at home for a few weeks; gave them something to do :-)

I'm wearing the necklace Gabbie picked for me!

Will just wanted to operate the TV

Family Christmas picture

She's learning to write her name!

16 months old! Getting naughty...hitting, pulling Gabbie's hair, 'touching' her stuff. One more follow up for his arm and hopefully he'll be in the clear on that. He has shots in a couple weeks and a 're-do' for his hearing test which he didn't pass on the left side last time.

Happy New year!

One last blog entry (prior to 12/21, ha ha)

PreSchool field trip to Santa's Castle in Storm Lake! It was a fun morning! We went to eat at Burger King with the kids afterwards.

Then last Saturday Santa came to the hospital and we got to have breakfast with him!

So...I took this picture as Brice's final picture in his Camry. He found someone willing to buy it and try to fix it up for a work car. I found the title, and was already glad to have one less license fee and insurance (even though its probably less than $100 per year). Then the prospective buyer returned it, deciding it would be too much to get it going (brake lines, etc). Its still sitting on a car trailor, and Brice claims he is taking it to the junkyard.

Last Saturday night we continued our yearly Christmas tradition of going out to eat, then driving to Swan Lake and around the Carroll area to look at Christmas lights. Will was difficult to maintain at Pizza Ranch, but it was fun anyway :-)

Making handprint ornaments for the Christmas tree!

I LOVE this picture-she is eating a cookie as she decorates more. Such the multitasker!

Gabbie had a Christmas program for preschool on Monday night. Getting a decent family picture continues to be a challenge :-)

Today is a snow day! A couple years ago I would have tried to go to work. Today I didn't even start the car. Gabbie has been outside a good chunk of the day. It took awhile to get Will used to the idea. Of course I did not realize I do not have snow pants for Will! Better get that on the Santa list!

I'm getting used to this...Gabbie knows how to use the computer to play games. IPTV has a great website for kids games, one of them involves spelling when given clues about the sound of each letter. She loves that one. Last night she asked for a computer of her own. Yeah, right. A computer is totally out of the question, especially for a kid whose pooping schedule I still have to monitor.

Here is just a fun article that I came across at just the right time! I have been stressing about multiple things; getting some homemade Christmas gifts done that I'd started, keeping up with Gabbie's school program, dance stuff, etc (I know that's minor but for every event there is a request for a dozen cookies to be brought), working overtime, getting end of the year books done, spending nearly 2 hours at the doctor every 10-14 days just for flipping follow up x-rays on Will's arm (yes, that drives me crazy because I think it should be much simpler); obviously I'm being a baby and all of this is just LIFE! I ended up with strep throat last week, with a temp of 102-I couldn't tell you the last time I'd run a fever! So I (luckily) got sent home from work and had the afternoon at home to myself to regroup, get gifts wrapped, clean, and catch up on cooking. Sunday after church Gabbie and I went crazy making cookies, pumpkin bread, fudge, and getting our 'menu' planned for Christmas Eve dinner. I simplified my Christmas gift list and realized I'm basically done (my daycare provider didn't mind the unfinished scarf!) I've settled on "Happy New Years" cards to family and friends instead of Christmas cards. And I've become more accepting of the fact that nothing runs smoothly without the help we get from the Grandparents and a flexible daycare! A friend sent me this article at just the right time...I apologize for the terrible swear word in the cartoon at the bottom, but its so true...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amy-morrison/motherhood_b_2271349.html

Merry Christmas and Happy 2013!