today

Today was a weird day of ups and downs.
Down: I woke up EARLY, thanks to a sick baby and naughty boys.
Huge down: I got in a fight with Paul (which never happens).
Down: I took Matix to his loooong speech evaluation, where they told me his speech is normal (up)... meaning I wasted my time, hours of time.
Up: I went to the store with Matix to go couponing, I paid only tax and left with razors for a year, toys for the kids, and some goldfish crackers for a snack, because I missed breakfast (down).
Up:  I came back home to a very CLEAN house. Thanks Paul!
Huge up: Paul and I made up.
Down: Paul left for the scout camping trip.
Up: The kids and I walked to the NEW library across the street and got a few new books and a movie.
Down: The boys made an enormous mess while I was putting Lullaby to bed.
Down: The boys both had meltdowns when they realized that daddy had gone on the camping trip without them.  Crying, screaming, stomping of feet, it was ugly.
Up: I put the boys to bed an hour early (6pm) and they stayed down, I guess they needed it as much as I did.
Up: I talked to my mom on the phone and had a lovely little conversation about the gifties she just sent us and how to edit bad looking pictures... which I may or may not share later ;)
Down: Hawken escaped from his room demanding water and ending my talk with my mom.
Up: After giving him some water and a cross looking mommy face, he said, "I will marry you mom."  Which made my day.
Up: As soon as I finish this sentence I am going to eat some ice cream and watch trash tv via my computer, good night!

family

Before we went to the Dells (our main reason for our trip to Wisconsin, which I have yet to post about), the kids and I had so much fun catching up with all our family. I have 5 sisters, 2 brothers-in-law, TONS of nieces and nephews, 1 great-niece and 1 great-nephew, parents, and a grandma that ALL live in Wisconsin. In fact all but one sister and nephew even live in the same town.  Meaning, our visits are always FULL. It was really nice.

I loved watching these two. Ridge and Lullaby are only 4 months apart, and it was so entertaining to watch them with their different personalities. Lullaby was always trying to play with Ridge, but he was always trying to get away.  I think one day they will be friends. :)

This is my niece Mackenzie. I love her so much. She is Ridge's mom and such a natural. I am so impressed with her.  I wish we could have had more time together.

trains

Matix and Hawken’s dream vacation is this: trains.  

My dad had a huge box of Hunter’s trains (thanks Hunter!) at his house, ready to play with each day we visited.  My mom also got on the train bandwagon and bought a tons of tracks for her house too. 

sweet baby

I don’t know if it was all the new faces? Or the lack of daddy? Or the change in routine? Or what, but whatever it was, made little Lully Loo SUPER clingy. This is what she and I looked like 90% of the trip. I couldn't leave a room without her screaming for me. Sometimes she wouldn't even let me set her down.  It was tiring, and a bit frustrating, but it's always nice to feel needed... and I was. I love being her momma.

the farm

A trip across the street from my mom's house, to Louie's farm is heaven for these boys. The sunflowers were the perfect backdrop. I love the bright yellows greens from the flowers and the blue sky and the red barn. So pretty.

Louie let the boys try out a few of his tractors and they did not stop smiling the whole time. This was the COOLEST thing ever. Thank you Louie for the rides! (Videos to come!)

Louie also rebuilt this old riding lawn mower that we used to have when I was a kid. He had to take off the hood because the new engine is too big, obviously. :) I thought it was fun. I took this picture to show Paul.

Matix got to help grandma get some eggs from the coop while we were there too.  He would be such a good farm boy.

Lullaby was getting cranky by the time we were headed home, but I still tried to get some pictures of her in the sunflowers. No such luck. Would have been cute though, huh?

the beach

We spent an evening on the beach. The kids and I met up with Robin and her family, along with my dad and Jolie and her family.  My boys were of course, right at home near the water and loved every second.

Lullaby was enjoying a new sampling of Lake Michigan sand… Not the cleanest sand she has ever consumed, but not the worst.

Hans and John came by on their jet skis and Jolie went out for a ride. They went crazy high up out of the water because an incoming storm made the water extremely choppy. 

Lullaby wasn’t sure who this new person holding her was… She didn’t cry for me though, she just reached back. This is a common picture of Lullaby on this trip, being held by someone else, and reaching back for me. Robin met Lullaby very briefly, only in passing during the St. Patrick’s Day parade in March. This was her first time holding her.  I think Lullaby liked her. :)

The storm came in quick and we left the beach. We went back over to my dad’s house and Holly and Cris came over! It was a party!  It was so nice to sit and talk with Cris a bit about his college plans for the fall. I can’t believe he is old enough for college!  Crazy!

Holly got to meet and hold Lullaby for the first time.  Holly won her over with her keys and funny faces. :)

Liesl was the mauled with hugs and kisses. My boys are in love.

Lullaby, apparently, thought differently. Liesl, you’ll have to come visit and prove to her that you are a FUN cousin. This face on Lullaby makes me laugh every time. So funny.  PS, how gorgeous is Liesl? 

updates

I haven't done an update in a while, so here it is, for all inquiring minds...

Paul: As of tomorrow, he will be a 4th year medical student, because he has completed all of his core rotations! This is another celebrated occasion for us.  Each step closer to being finished with this crazy looooong process!  Paul liked Psych more than he thought he would, but he is still definitely going for family medicine.  A week or so ago, he flew out to Utah for two pre-interview meetings with the directors of some residency programs out there. Typically, they do not ever take foreign medical grads, so he thought the best thing would be for them to be able to have a face to match with a name on a paper, to start.  The meetings went really well, and hopefully they will give Paul an interview in another month or so.  His residency application is due this week too.  I can't believe how far he has come. This whole journey has been a wild one.  At times seeming slooooooow and hard and exhausting, and at others like we blinked and years have past.  He will be starting his elective rotations on Tuesday (he gets Monday off) and will work back to back until March 22nd when he is finished! We will also find out March 15th where we are moving for residency... I am so excited!  Besides school, Paul is the scout master in our area and has been crazy busy with that. Scheduling and training and organizing the packs here so they can function more smoothly. They have a campout coming up next weekend and Matix and Hawken are dying to go... We shall see.

Jessie: I have been in a funk lately. I don't know what it is, but I am more tired lately, and have less patience, and trying to get a handle on everything that I have coming up.  Lullaby will turn 1 in a couple weeks, which I am dreading. For some reason her turning 1 is not something I am excited about right now. I need to plan her party (it's going to be small, but I still want to have a party). Then Matix will turn 4 a couple days after that. I need to plan that party. He has been going back and forth on what he wants for his party, and now we are going to team up with one of his friends and do a joint party.  That should alleviate some of the stress of that.  Hawken all of a sudden hates nursery and refuses to go in without a crying fit.  I am a mess... I know it will get better though. No worries. :)

Matix: He is LOVING preschool. I don't have a better word to describe it. The teacher asked me if there was anyway that I would consider putting him in five days a week, rather than 2, because he is such an asset to the class. So sweet! I'm not going to do it, but I love that he is doing so well there. He is making new friends and learning all kinds of things.  I am happy with our decision (and thanks again mom for paying for it!). He is also into singing and making up songs about things. It's usually pretty random, but very entertaining. He also said he is the funny boy in his class. Here is what he said, "At school, a girl tried to give me some yucky food. I said I didn't want it, but she gave it to me again and so I said YUCK! and made this face (imagine a scrunched up nose and squinty eyes), and then she laughed, so I said it again, and she laughed again. My friends always laugh when I am funny."  Following in his father's footsteps.  Oh, and he is still taking naps, even on school days! I was so nervous about that.

Hawken: He is pretty disappointed that he can't go to preschool. I tried to get him in to the same school, but a different class, but they are full, so Hawken is on a waiting list. I told him he can go when he is bigger. So now every meal he eats, he will look down and size up his body, and say, "I think I'm bigger now mommy! Can I go to preschool now?" It's so sad.  Nursery is another thing though. The teacher has to pry him off of me, snuggle with him for a half an hour, and then he will play and have fun. I know he has fun, because then when it is time to go, he is all smiles and hugs and happy little Hawken. Today he even cried to go back to his teacher, because he was having too much fun...

Lullaby: She is almost a year old. This went too fast for me.  She isn't walking, although she stands on her own.  She can say a few words, and loves to try to mimic me talking, watching my mouth and I over-enunciate each word.  Dog, ball, mama, and up are her specialties. She can use those appropriately and clearly every time. There are other words she is trying out still, like dada, and matix (which comes out more like mady).  She crawls fast and gets into everything. She loves her paci and baby doll and special blanket from gramma Evie.  She has four teeth and wants to eat everything.  She is still the most pleasant and wonderful baby, ever.

Home Depot August

The first Saturday of the month happened while we were in Wisconsin, and that means Home Depot Kids Workshop! This time we invited Alexandra, Hunter, Chloe and grandma Kim to join us. They had never gone before and were pretty excited.

The project for August was a cork board.  All the kids were pretty into it and especially excited about painting it. I think that was the best part. They had every color available and each kid went to town.

Matix experimented painting with a new interesting style…  Most of that paint then had to be wiped off so it could dry, and he was very frustrated with me for that.

Then he turned it over and painted the other side, and luckily was pleased with the final product.

Lullaby crawled around on the floor, as usual... This is when walking would be a plus. :)

The end results were colorful, as were the kids’ hands. It was so fun going there with more than just my three. I though it might be too young for Hunter and Chloe, but they both said they loved it.  Hooray! Fun for all.

The cork boards now hang in the boys room near their beds.  They love them, and picked out which pictures they wanted hung up.

 Matix's:

Hawken's:

standing up

On vacation, Lullaby started trying out standing on her own a bit more. She had done it with Paul a few times before that too, but finally I got a picture of it.  She looks like she is taking a step, but she isn't.

 

It doesn’t last very long. Lullaby is very nervous about doing it by herself and as soon as she notices she is alone, she will sit down, ever so slowly.  She is very strong and not shaky at all when she is standing, but she just isn’t ready for walking yet. Which is fine by me. More time with her being a baby sounds good.

Shadow

Meet Shadow. The world’s most patient cat.  She was chased and stalked and dragged around all day everyday that we were visiting.

 

Sorry Shadow, and thank you for being so tolerant. The boys miss you.

pirate park! ARRR!!!

This is a new park in Racine. It was built only a couple years ago, but I had never been there. It’s called “Pirate’s Cove” or something like that, and the kids LOVED it. We went there with my dad, my sister Jolie, and her kids Bradley and Alexandra.  We packed lunches and by the time we got there, we were all hungry, so we ate right away.

Matix and Hawken tried out the tire swing for the first time. They loved it and were scared of it at the same time. It was funny to watch them figure it out.

There was TONS of pirate and sea themed things in this playground that I didn’t get pictures of.  It was very nice. Jolie and Jessie, pirate sisters.

A boat to drive.

This picture took FOREVER to capture. There were three holes and three kids, should have been easy enough, but as soon as one would pop their head through, another would sit back down. And again and again and again. It was almost frustrating! Finally, they were all peeking through at the same time. Not the most monumental picture in the end, but for all that grief, I had to include it. :)  

PS, Seawolf is also the name of a really good band. If you've not heard them yet, you're missing out. Try their song middle distance runner first.  You'll thank me later.

Swinging with grandpa Chuck. I don’t have any good pictures of Bradley swinging, although I tried. He was having a blast, but the moment the camera came out, he stopped smiling, stinker!  Matix (pictured) was loving all this grandpa time too.

Another fun day in Wisconsin...