Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Peace and Quiet




We were hit by another snow storm during the night and it cancelled school for the day. It was quite a doozy because colleges, places of employment, and schools were closed. So I got the day home with all 4 of the kids. Not that I'm complaining but I was looking forward to Maddy being in school for a full day today since she only started that schedule this week. Needless to say we had to find things to occupy ourselves since I was NOT going to drive anywhere! After tearing the basement apart, getting dressed finally around 11am, and then deciding to bake cookies to pass the time, my favorite time of day came around. Nap time! It was time for MY peace and quiet.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Get Hoppin'


Last night we had our first musical for Byron Christian. The theme this year was bunnies. All the students, K-2, dressed up as bunnies and told the story of a little bunny (Bunny Sue) that couldn't/wouldn't hop. It was a very cute story. Maddy was a bunny along with all the other kids and she had a great time. Here are a few pictures of the night.


Thursday, January 24, 2008

How Will We Go To The Bathroom?

Today on my drive back from school Maddy and her car pool buddy were discussing their upcoming musical 'Get Hoppin'. I had just picked up Maddy's bunny ears and tail that she has to wear for her costume and the girls were commenting on how to attach the tail. Here is their conversation:

Maddy: "How do we get the tail to stay on?"

Elli: "You just pin it on."

M: "Did teacher tell you what we're supposed to do when we have to go to the bathroom?"

E: "No."

This is where I question them, "What do you mean, "what you have to do when you go to the bathroom?""

M: "Well, how do we go to the bathroom with our tail on?"

E: "Yeah, how do we take it off?"

At this point I realized that the girls thought you pinned the tail to your actual body and in that case you wouldn't be able to pull your pants down when you had to go potty. As I figured this out Maddy started doing the potty dance in her seat and said, "Maybe we'll have to just hold it real long."

I left them to their own imaginations on how to go potty. I didn't feel like explaining that they'll be able to pull their pants down and their tail will still be attached to their pants, not their bodies.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

My Hopes Were Dashed


Okay, I am really going to sound like a novice. I am starting to potty train Mallory. The other night we tempted her to "be a big girl" with brand new undies. She had My Little Pony and Tinkerbell to choose from. She selected which ones she wanted to wear (after trying on 4 of the 6 pairs of underwear) and within 5 minutes she had peed on the couch next to me. Now mind you, she had gone to the bathroom right before the undies were put on. Fortunately it was bath time when her little accident happened. This morning she wanted to go potty when we changed her diaper and guess what?! She pooped all by herself! Yeah, right? She thought she needed undies after we shared a private celebration in the bathroom once I confirmed she did indeed poop. Needless to say my hopes were dashed when not even five minutes later she was standing next to me with a wet skirt and undies. Now I may sound cruel but I know it's going to take a lot more to potty train her. I just thought that maybe I had a gifted child in that department. After all she's watching 3 older sibling go to the bathroom all the time. And what I'd like to know is when the potty break became a family affair?

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

A Brilliant Idea

I was riding home from picking Maddy up at school the other day and endured this conversation;

Maddy-"Mom, I'm sick of winter. I wish it was warm out. When can we go swimming?"

Me- "Hmmm. When it gets warm out."

Of course this starts a whole round of whining about the snow and the cold and how they ALL want to go swimming.

Logyn- "Can we put our bathing suits on when we get home? We can swim inside."

Me- "You can put your suits on but you are not swimming in the house."

Logyn- "Can we put the pool in the garage and swim in there? Daddy can turn his heat thing on"

And once again a round of whining about "yeah mom, come on" and "we'll be plenty warm" starts.

I told them they'd have to discuss it with their dad. Good answer, right?

Friday, January 4, 2008

New Years Resolutions

Okay I'll admit I did the cliche resolution of trying to get back into shape. But what I get so frustrated with is how do you stay motivated?! Ususally I can work out for about 2 weeks and then it's right back into my bad habits. Any tips for motivation? I also have other resolutions such as:
* spend more time with my kids and less time worrying about my house (I used to be an anal neat freak and that's gone out the window)
* focus more on my marriage (it's hard to stay 100% focused when they kids are always underfoot)
* spend more time in devotions and prayer. I know that my kids are usually my excuse but when is the time for me and God? I often beseech Him during the day but when is a good time to just soley concentrate on Him?

Share some of your resolutions!

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

A New Year Has Begun

Another year has passed and with it many, many memories. I've included in this post a slide show of our past year. While I was putting all the pictures together I was reminded of so many moments, so many yesterdays. I know I'm getting pretty philosophical right now but I do think this is a great time to reminisce. In case some of you have missed out on our last year here are a few of the memories I saw most:
* Mallory's hospital visits
* Potty training twins (hence the pictures of underwear on their heads)
* Maddy completing her first year of school (preschool)
* Maddy starting her second year of school (kindergarten)
* 2 trips to the ER for stitches (Loryn and Mallory)
* Great vacations (Iowa, Mullet Lake, Silver Lake, Grand Haven)
* My kids enjoying the weather outside whether it was spring, summer, fall, or winter
* Birthdays (Logyn and Loryn-3, Maddy-5, Mallory-2)
* Constant amazement watching my kids grow, learn, and discover God's awesome world