Worms in the Snake Pit

So Alex has been going to summer school for the past week and he seems to like it. I wish I had known more about the classes offered to kids in his grade level cause I would have signed him up for a full day of fun things. Next year that will happen. He is growing up so fast and I really miss him being that little boy who would say "wuv u murrr" when I would tell him I love you. He enjoys fishing with his dad, wrestling with his dad, baseball with his dad, and yet he continues to call him Kato. He did that with me for a bit but I just thought it was because the daycare kids called me by my first name. This morning we were getting ready for school just like normal. He was in the bathroom taking care of business when he yelled out "hey mom, someone left a worm in my snake pit!" The translation....someone didn't flush the toilet very well this morning. I had to laugh a little but drew the line when Jade went running to see it too. Oh I hope at least one of my girls is girly. thanks for reading xoxo

These Dreams....

You know things are really bad when you start dreaming about it. Especially if you dream about it more then once in a short amount of time. When you then dream about it three times its time to do something about it. So last Friday night I had a really good dream. It was so real and vivid that I actually forgot I was only dreaming. It was the kind of dream that you want to keep going and when you wake up you are really disappointed that you had to wake up. You try and go back to sleep even if its only for the few minutes your snooze button allows, in hopes to recreate that magical place in your dream. It usually doesn't happen but you want it to. So when you dream about it again for a second time you really get excited because you have somehow managed to get there again. Some things may have changed but for the most part its the same. Sometimes, and in this case, it got better. That was my dream on Tuesday night, the same but a little better then the one on Friday. So this morning when my alarm went off and I was really tired I did something I normally don't do. I reset my alarm for almost a half hour later. Yes, I will be rushed, Yes, I will regret it but I am so tired. Anyway, I drifted quickly off to sleep and once again the dream began, the same one from Friday and Tuesday. I didn't get very far because that darn alarm went off. So I get up, start the day and realize today is the day I make all those dreams come true. Today is a perfect day and by golly I am going to get this dream out of my head. I am going to make it happen and its going to be so good and I am so excited and I can't wait. I made cupcakes!! Yes my dream was about the bestest cupcakes ever, and there was a store filled with table after table after table of cupcakes. I got to pick the one I wanted and it was going to taste so good. Now for those of you who know me well know I am a cupcake-aholic and have been known to put away a few, especially during pregnancy. I love cake. I love it love it love it! I could eat it everyday. But now that I am trying to get back into shape, train for a 5k, and want to eat healthier I have not had any cake in months. This has finally taken its toll on me and I have been dreaming about it for the past week. Today I gave into my weakness, got Alex in on it and we made super yummy cupcakes and I ate ONE! The rest will go to my husbands work and will be shared with the family. They were good, chocolate with cream cheese frosting and sprinkles. Every tiny crumb was so delicious and the sweet frosting was so creamy, just thinking about it makes me want to have another, but I will resist that temptation. So hopefully tonight when I drift off to sleep I can dream about something else and it won't be how much fatter I got from eating that one cupcake!! thanks for reading xoxo

Fathers Day Weekend

For Fathers Day we decided to go up to Green Bay and visit with Kato's grandpa, Jayne and Keith rode up with us. The kids were excited to get to the zoo and even more excited to go to Bay Beach. Bay Beach is a mini amusement park with a roller coaster, gigantic slide, bumper cars, a kid train ride, and many more rides designed for kids. The tickets are only 25 cents and most rides are only 1 or 2 tickets. We got up and headed out around 9am and got to Green Bay in time to meet up with the Grandparents at their favorite restaurant, The Bay Motel. All the waitstaff know them because they go there everyday, in fact if they don't show up someone usually calls them to check in on them. We had lunch and spent some time visiting. Afterwards we headed to Lambeau Field, we were only a mile away. After some quick pics by the statues and an even quicker walk thru the store we headed to the zoo. Once there Alex picked out some sunglasses and we headed in for some animal adventure. We rode the endangered animal carousel and went on a train ride. We saw moose, an albino alligator, peacocks, penguins, lions, and tons of other animals. It really is a nice zoo. We found the brick that the Grandparents bought with their name on it and called it a day. We then headed over to Aunt Wendys and Marys house for dinner and relaxation. Ella was happy to finally be allowed to roam around freely after being in the van and stroller all day. She is walking everywhere now and very rarely crawls. She loves to climb up stuff too so between her climbing up the fireplace and grabbing at everything she shouldn't be grabbing at it was alot of work keeping up with her. We enjoyed dinner and watched some of the Brewer game followed by a video of Michaels wrestling. Aunt Mary filled up their huge two person jacuzzi airjet tub for the kids who ended up not getting in, so I took advantage of that and had 15 minutes of peace and quiet. The kids fell asleep and I was ready to sleep too. Once 1 am rolled around Ella had a hard time sleeping. She fussed and tossed and turned until about 4am. It was rough. She gets that way at places that aren't home. Up at 7am and the kids were asking when are we going to Bay Beach! Since it didn't open until 10 we ate breakfast, packed up, gave big Thanks to Wendy and Mary for letting us stay and headed to the Grandparents to pick up Keith and Jayne. We arrived at Bay Beach around 10:45. We rode a few rides and Alex was so good to ride on some kiddie rides with Jade so she wouldn't be scared. He even went in a pink bug, which he protested about but did it for his sister. Soon it was time to board the train for a quick 5 minute ride through the park. Kato and I sat together in one cart, Alex and Jade in front of us and Keith in front of them. Kato had commented about how lucky we were that the weather had been holding out and the rain was staying away. Just as the train pulled out of the station the rain began to fall. It wasn't a little drizzle either, it was a stand in your shower type of rain. We were getting drenched, Jade started crying and Alex was screaming. The train driver was nice enough to slow down and put on her rain coat before continuing at an even slower pace while the rest of us continued to get pounded by the cold wet rain. Everyone on board was yelling for her to go faster but she didn't. We got back to the train station with an inch of water on the floor and all our clothes, hair, and feet completely soaked. Jayne and Ella didn't ride with us so they stayed dry. We hurried back to the van, closed up the windows ran the heat, got dry, changed our clothes, and left. Good thing the tickets never expire and we can go back some other time. We went to Krolls for lunch and once we all over ate we headed for home. It was difficult to stay awake considering I was up most the night with Ella. I did doze off for a little bit. Once back at home and unpacked we gave Kato his fathers day gifts, ordered pizza at the kids request and I could not wait to go to bed. Jade decided to crawl in bed with me but also fell out of bed twice, Ella woke up a couple times to fuss, so it wasn't the best nights sleep either. It was a great weekend and I hope the Dad's enjoyed their Fathers Day, without them this entire adventure wouldn't have happened! thanks for reading xoxo

The runaway 4 wheeler

Alex is a pretty good big brother. He shares his toys with his sisters. He watches out for them when they have pieces that are too little. He even consoles them when they are sad. So its no wonder that he would be nice enough to give Jade a ride on his four wheeler. He started out by letting her steer and she did a good job. Then he let her push the pedal to make it go and she learned how to do both things really quickly. However, we underestimated her. When we were not watching she got herself up on that thing and started going. Alex quickly ran to her and tried to hop on the back but that thing is fast when there is only 25 pounds on it. He managed to get somewhat on but couldn't get her to let up on the pedal. She was heading straight for the metal laundry post (which is now a baby swing set) and running over anything in the way. Alex was hollering for help while Jade had a super smile with giggles. I had to run to catch up with them and pull her off so that it would stop. I got there just in time cause it was only about 2 feet from the poll. Alex was so scared he instantly started to cry and yelled at Jade that she scared him. She kept on smiling and when I asked if she had fun she said YEAH!! It reminded me of the run away horse scenes that you sometimes see in the movies and a young guy usually has to save the damsel in distress. Only in this case Jade knew what she was doing she just didn't understand the danger of it. Alex and I decided that when he wasn't riding his four wheeler we should park it so that Jade can't get to it or just turn it upside down. I am glad he understood to try and save her and it just goes to show he really does love his sister, even if she does get on his nerves. thanks for reading xoxo

Please knees don't fail me now

Well its been about 3 weeks since I started training for the 5k in August and I couldn't be more disappointed at myself. I have injured my knee somehow. I have a doctors appointment next Tuesday in hopes to figure it out. Last Saturday I went to the Endurance store, had a foot strike analysis done, bought a really good pair of shoes and thought maybe it would help. Well Sunday I got up and went running with my running partner and we ended up doing over 4 miles. Monday I got up and tried to do my tae bo but my knee was so sore I could only get through about 25 minutes, my average is 45 to an hour, then later that night I went for a quick run to see if a knee brace would help, I got about 1/3 mile and had to stop. Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Aleve, and Excedrin work a bit but not enough to muscle through it. I am not just training for the 5k but also trying to get my butt back into shape. Its been harder this time around. With Jade it fell off rather easily with little efforts but with Ella, my goodness I feel like I am killing myself. Tae Bo at 5am, running at night, and bicycling on the weekends is not working like I want it to. I am also really watching what I eat, counting calories, monitoring the fats and have virtually eliminated the sweets. I am not perfect at it, I slip up. I started tae bo about 6 weeks ago and with the extra 3 weeks of running I have only dropped 11 pounds. I feel like it should be more by now but maybe I am just setting my standards too high. Sluggish thyroid maybe? Sad as it is to say I am looking forward to seeing the doctor! Please let the knee be ok! thanks for reading xoxo

The Pencil Box

It seems like only yesterday when I wrote about the first day of kindergarten and here it is the last. Alex had his kindergarten graduation today and although it was very informal it was a very big deal. I remember his first day of kindergarten and getting ready for it. Packing his pencil box just right and making sure his name was on everything. We loaded his backpack up so full he could hardly carry it without tipping over. He was nervous and anxious all at once. He was ready. Funny but I don't remember my last day of kindergarten or my first, in fact there are only maybe 2 days of kindergarten that I can remember bits and pieces of so I don't know if Alex will remember his either, except for the medals he earned. One medal was for courage because you have to be brave in kindergarten. Its the first time you are alone and away from your security blanket known as mom or dad. The second medal was for curiosity because once you overcome that shy feeling you get very curious and ask alot of questions about everything. The third medal is for humor because every little thing can be so silly in kindergarten and the fourth medal is for independence because as you go through kindergarten you learn to be a little more independent each day. As the awards came to a close Mrs. BL announced to the kids that they were now 1st graders and a huge cheer went up. It was at that moment that the lump in my throat traveled to my heart and opened the flood gates of pride and joy. The tears were being held back as best they could and it is only now that they are allowed to flow freely. I opened his pencil box to see what was left of kindergarten and I found just what should be...broken crayons with little to no paper wrapping left, pencils worn down and some shaved on both ends, used and scuffed up erasers, 3 markers that were dry and 2 that were not even the same brand as what he started with, and of course absolutely no glue stick to be seen despite the efforts to replace what had been used over the months. I pictured his little hands using each piece to create the letters we have practiced so much, I visioned him tapping his pencil on the table like he does at home and then I noticed there were a few who did have bite marks. I want to save everything in that pencil box forever, even if it is no good anymore because it is something very important to me. The only thing holding me back from putting it in my personal treasure box is the fact that I get to go through this two more times and by the time that happens, I probably won't remember who's pencil is who's. Then again, I am a mom who does save just about everything and I do still have some pencils from when Michael was in grade school but I couldn't tell you exactly what grade they were from. Alex wants to give one of his medals to Michael, I don't think he got any for completing Junior year. Congratulations Alex you made it through Kindergarten!! thanks for reading xoxo

Ninja War Paint

OMG boys are so gross. They play gross, they smell gross, they eat gross, they have gross on the brain all the time! Although sometimes they are funny gross. For example, Alex has been playing ninja with his dad at night. They get their weapons and do ninja fighting. Sometimes its inside and sometimes its outside. The other night I was inside and the boys were outside having their ninja time when Kato comes in laughing and says you've got to see this. I asked what it was and he said just come see. Then he quickly says wait stay there and tells Alex to come show mom. So he comes to show me and I couldn't believe how gross it was. Apparently Alex had gotten a ninja bloody nose and Kato decided to war paint his face with it. Did I mention boys are gross? Alex was fine and they went about their warrior ways after some photos were taken. I am sure there will be times when the girls do gross things too, come to think of it, Jade did paint my leg with her "ick" fresh from her diaper once, I thought she was just rubbing my leg while I was standing there cooking dinner. thanks for reading xoxo