Staycation Day #5

Our final day of fun :0(

We spent the day with an old friend. L is a friend that I used to be very close to, but life has just gotten busy. It was so nice to reconnect with her. Her son is about 6 months older than the twins, and we have been friends since before any of them were born. Even though M isn't in the picture, he got a pass today and stayed home from daycare for the fun.

After jumping we had a great lunch and then headed home. I tried to convince the kids to have a celebratory nap...but I was unsuccessful.

Staycation Day #4

Today was a day of rest. Thank goodness for those. We did wake up fairly early - 830a (hey that's early for vacation) and took Mook to daycare. Then we came right back home and vegged for hours - yahoooo!! This might be my favorite day ;0)

Staycation Day#3

Today was movie day :0) The twins had been wanting to watch Turbo for weeks so today was finally the day. We, again, took the Mook to daycare. He hasn't yet been to the movies and I think he's still way to active to try. In the end, it probably would have been a good chance to bring the mook because we had the theater to ourselves!!

The twins enjoyed the movie...I can't really say what I think because I took the opportunity to text with a friend - hehe

 After the movie we headed to Sonic for half price drink...YUMMY slushies :0)

Staycation Day #2

Today was another good day. We cheated a little bit and sent M to daycare. I figured if I could have a little less chaos for some of our activities today, I would take advantage. The twins were told to say nothing to M about our plans and the drop off went rather smoothly.

We started our day at a local bounce house play ground for the kids. I met up with a friend who I haven't seen in ages. It was great to sit and have some adult time while the kids ran crazy around us. I need to try and work harder at this, since it seems to do so much for my mood. After two hours of kid frenzy I took the twins to their favorite place for meals...Subway. They both ate an entire 6" sub, a cookie and a drink. Help me when they become teenagers and I have to buy groceries to keep them all satisfied.

We then headed to complete our back to school shopping. Except for shoes for S, I believe we have everything we need. I don't even want to think about how many $100's I've spent in the last week in clothes, shoes and supplies. It would cause me too much pain. I can't even begin to think of how much more it will cost when child #3 is added to the mix. Thank goodness for three paydays in August!!

We ended the night at a community organized Night Out to Play. We joined some friends at the local park and played for about 90 minutes. There were firetrucks and police cars and had we stayed, a movie to be played in the soccer field.

Staycation Day #1

Today we went to our town's Natural Science Center. In the last few weeks they added on a new aquarium we the four of us checked it out. The exhibit was quite nice, but I guess to pay for this nice exhibit they raised the price of admission. Unless I go ahead with a yearly membership, I don't think we'll be back anytime soon.

Trying to Keep Positive

The twins came home for the first time in three weeks on Friday evening. A friend had made plans to go to the Drive In Movie that night so I decided to surprise the kids and take them too. When my sister brought the twins at 7p I was already waiting in the car with M. They looked at me a little disappointed that they would be getting back into a car, but I promised them it was a good surprise.

It took almost an hour to get there and the kids spent the whole time trying to guess what we were doing. Once we pulled in and the kids saw the big movie screen, a playground and their friends, they were ecstatic! They played and ate for the next 90 minutes while we waited for it to get dark enough for the movie to start.

First we watched Monsters University, which for the most part was good. I'll be honest, I tuned out about half way through and read on my kindle. The movie ended at 1130p and I tried to convince the kids to go home. They would not agree so we stayed for movie number two, Despicable Me 2. For this movie I fell asleep shortly after the opening credits and woke up five minutes before it ended at 1a. All three kids were still wide awake watching the movie when it finished. I was shocked.

We headed home after a quick stop at McD for a large frappe for mommy! We got home at 2a, 2a!!! I didn't realize just how late a Drive In Movie experience would be. Next time I will try to be more prepared for the lack of sleep.

Fortunately, the kids all slept past 10a the next morning :0)

Kind of Weird Around Here...

So far we are 1 week into Summer Break. Well, I guess it's really only a break for the twins, since M and my lives haven't changed much at all.

Before the end of the year I looked into all sort of summer care options for the twins and I was left with one discovery. There was no way I could pay for any of it. My budget is beyond tight and right now there just isn't any give. I started to panic...like freak out panic...and then my mom came to the rescue. This summer, the twins will be cared for by her. This is a wonderful result and deep down I am very grateful for the offer but one thing totally sucks. My parents live 45 minutes away. I now drive them Sunday night, and pick them up Friday evening. So this summer I will barely see my babies! Of course, they did great this week, I don't even think missing me at all. We will get through it and I just need to focus on what a horrible mess I would be in if this option wasn't available to me.

With the twins gone, of course M is attached at the hip to me. A few people have said with the twins gone..."the house will be so quiet"..."you'll have more time for school"..."you'll have so much time on your hands"...yah right. The twins were M's best friends. He played with them, slept with them, bugged them and went outside with them. Without them...it's me. I do enjoy the extra bonding time at times and it's been great to go out for a bit with one child, but life at home is much more difficult with just M vs all three.

I am trying very hard to get myself a social life of some sort. Be my own person instead of just being a 'mom' and a 'nurse'. It's been months since I did anything for me. Due to several reasons I have dropped out of every social group I belonged to and as a result I haven't left this house for something other than work or kid related activities in over half a year. That needs to change. So, this past week, also called Week One, I went out to a book club dinner and then another night went to a friends house for dinner. Now, I still had M both times, so it's not entirely 'me' time, but its a good step in the right direction. I also made some initial steps in another area of my life, which at this time I'm not going to get into ;o) Let's just see where it goes for now...

January 2013

January was a very busy month for our household. There were many changes, most of them good for all of us.

First, I officially took a full time position at work. I had actually put in my notice because I was needing to go full time, and being a floor nurse with 12h hours shifts wasn't going to cut it. When I told my boss of my plans, a position was created for me! I am mostly in administration/leadership now helping with scheduling, compliance, quality, payroll and finance. It keeps me busy and I do occasionally function as the unit charge nurse to keep me at the bedside.

Second, my time had come to move N out of my home. This was a perfect time since I was going full time and really couldn't provide the supervision she needed. After 7 years of her being in my home I was beyond ready to have her gone. Yes...I know that sounds horrible, but until you've been in my shoes, I don't want to hear your thoughts ;0) She moved out and in with my mom. This move alone has made many things so much easier on me,

Third, because I was now full time a nanny wasn't really cost efficient anymore, so the kids moved to a daycare setting. M started full time daycare. I was really worried but it has been such a GREAT thing for him. His speech has improved, he's learning so much and his social skills are coming along great. The twins are watched by a classmates mom in the afternoon. This has worked well since she does homework with all of them when they get home...which leaves me off the hook.

The twins started some after school activities. S wanted to play basketball and K wanted to cheer. The school offered both programs and they both really enjoyed themselves.

The Close to Perfect Zoo Trip

On Monday, my friend L and I took our kids to the zoo. Despite one hiccup (read post below) the trip was really nice. The weather was perfect, the kids were pretty well behaved and most the animals were out.

M really liked the visit. He has been a few times before but I think this was the first time he really knew what was going on. He loved seeing all the animals, and chasing after the big kids. It was a great trip and great company!

We will be headed back in a few weeks to see a new Dinosaur exhibit they will have this summer. S can't wait ;).

Let the Festivities Begin!

This weekend kicked off the week of Birthday/Valentines Celebrations. While I will make sure the twins don't expect this every year, it does seem like so far their birthday events seem to span more than just their special day. :0)

On Friday their school had a Valentine's Dance. It was held as a Fundraiser but was a cute idea. Parents had to stay and the dance was divided into two times. Earlier time for the younger students and a little later for the older ones. K was BEYOND excited to go to the dance. I'm not sure what she thought would happen but she was beside herself all week. Unfortunately that day the twins good friend misbehaved and couldn't come with us, but that only seemed to dampen the mood for a moment.

At first the twins were very quiet and shy, sticking mostly to the side walls of the gymnasium. Once a few other students from their classroom showed up, they really go into the fun. There wasn't so much dancing, but alot of running, spinning and conga lines. They really did have a good time and it was so cute to watch them.
This morning on the front porch was S and K's birthday gifts from our Texas family. K received a lip gloss kit and S received a Dinosaur Lego Set. It was a great thing to wake up to since the sick hit me hard and all I did today was sit in the chair. Wonderful timing for sure!

Just Momma and the Boys

If I haven't shared it here, S is obsessed with Dinosaurs. And, I'm sure it comes as no surprise that anything S is obsessed with, M likes too. Recently a Dinosaur exhibit came to the area and I knew it was something S would LOVE.

I told S that I was going to take just him to see the Dinosaurs and that it was going to be a special 'Mom & S' event, but being the awesome big brother that he is, he wanted to bring M. As a bonus, his good friend T from school was also going, so we met up with them and enjoyed the event together. This is the same friend who has a little brother who is the same age as M, so it works out nicely when we get together.
At the end of the day, on the way home in the car, S said "Mom, this was the best day ever"

And, while it was difficult to convince her, K stayed home with my sister J, and was able to get her hair and makeup done. She was actually fine not going until she found out that T was going. T has been her on-again, off-again boyfriend and she wasn't as keen staying home when he was going. Ultimately though, she stayed home and I think had a good time.

A Baby is Two

How did that happen? I really feel like I just gave birth to him. I don't understand it, but I guess I need to accept it.

M is a toddler in every sense. He is high energy, risk taking, stubborn, feisty, independent and in charge of everything. He is more work than the twins were at that age. He is also funny, loving, empathetic and charming. He makes me laugh every day and can charm himself out of any situation. His speech is coming along very well. He was reevaluated a few weeks ago and he is actually on the low end of normal now.

We had his family birthday on his actual birthday - his party will be a few days later - but it was coincidentally on the same day as our twin club holiday party, which explains why they are still wearing those PJ's ;)

December Stuff

December around here is always busy. Of course Christmas always sends things into a tizzy, but now with the addition of a birthday party to plan, it's hard for my mind to settle down with one thought. I have found that in the last two years I have a hard time dealing with Christmas until M's birthday stuff is done. I need to get over that as once M's birthday is done, I only have a little over 2 weeks until Christmas.

Our first Christmas event was with the twin group. We had a great family holiday party. I was busy with kids, crafts, food and santa so I didn't need to worry about any weird or disconnected feelings I usually have with this group. The kids had a good time and even got to sit on Santa's lap. I don't have those pictures yet, as M fought Santa hard, so I had to help hold him down while a friend snapped a few shots. I look forward to seeing them.
The kids debuted their Christmas PJ's - and yes, my children are the only ones in PJ's but there is just something about a Santa picture with PJ's.
And just including this picture because, although blurry, shows K's beautiful blue eyes :)

Trunk or Treat Number Two

Later in the afternoon we went to the local mom group's event. It had turned from a cold, but warm day, to a cold and windy day. Everyone was very cold, expect for M, and didn't have much stamina.

This time M was a seasoned expert. He threw on that costume, grabbed his bucket and went to work. He tried once again to hit up cars more than once but this time could contain his excitement enough to actually hand out candy to other children. K and M had much more stamina than S, who made a beeline for the car once he had all his loot.

Trunk or Treat Number One

Our first Halloween Event this year was with the twin group. The kids had a great time dressing up, playing games and going trunk to trunk getting candy and other goodies. Initially S was going to be some transformer, but decided to go as his favorite thing - a dinosaur. K went as a superhero girl and M was a super cute shark.

It was so cute to see M in his first 'real' Halloween. At first he didn't want to get the costume on. He fought and fussed and wanted nothing to do with the whole event. He was quite the grumpy gus. When we went out to trunk or treat he didn't want to hold his bucket or follow his brother or sister. But the most amazing thing happened after the second or third car dumped candy into his bucket...he turned into a trick or treat machine! He LOVED it. He ran from car to car saying "chickacheet". When he was done, he went back for more. It was hilarious to see the concept 'click' in his head and the resulting fun. This is what makes parenting an amazing experience. Seeing your child discover the simplicity of life and how wonderful walking from car to car getting sugared goodies can be.

I included this picture because it makes me giggle every time I see it. This is M's 'smile' for the camera. I have to catch him in natural poses, otherwise this is the face I get in every picture.

Carousel Festival

Today was the annual Carousel Festival. I was trying to think how many years we have been going and I think this was the fourth year. In the past we have gone with friends or my parents, but today it was just us.

It has been unseasonably cool here the last few days which was perfect. Mid 70's to walk around and play on rides without sweating and getting worn out. We were able to ride all the rides, walk around to see the different exhibits and even enjoy some great fair food. With this festival all the rides are free but with face painting, food and snacks the money in my pocket went quickly.
M is obsessed with Cars and there was a ride where he could 'drive' car around the track. He was in love!
The twins always enjoy getting their faces painted by the same guy year after year.

Post Shag

All three kids were looking rather shaggy. It had been awhile since they had their hair cut. After the party off we went. K got her bangs cut and hair trimmed, so not much of a change for her. S got a bunch of hair cut off, but it was mostly off the back so it isn't as noticeable. Mook had a bunch of hair taken off and sadly it made him look like a little boy. I need to hold onto that baby as long as I can!!

Pre Cut Shag from Last Week

Post Hair Cut (and Ridiculously Dirty)