Isaac's Big Party

Isaac had a big party at Play Nation on Saturday. The funnest party about a three year old's party is that at age 3 they finally get what it means to have a birthday. So he was very excited anyway, and then on top of it all...low and behold...all of his friends just happened to be at the same indoor play area! Isaac just couldn't believe what a coincidence it was to see so many of his friends. Of course Isaac and Evan had to sit next to each other.
We had lots and lots of food and drink. We ordered pizza and breadsticks; I made lasagna. There was fruit and salad and of course cupcakes and ice cream. Okay...there was champagne too.
Leah was there too! You can't see, but she had on her pink UNC onsie in honor of her brother's split UNC/Spiderman party.
And of course Hayden and Grace had to sit together too.
I have no idea what they are looking at.
The bounce house was a huge hit...and the three musketeers had fun catching up.
Grace and Jack...I think that Grace has always had a crush on Jack until this year when she realized that he is in the 4-yr old class and not in Kindergarten. I guess younger men are out.
Aunt L and Nana came up for the big party.
How cool are these cupcakes? I made them. I didn't.

The Wall

This is the video I was trying to post the other day of Isaac working on the wall we are taking down in the dining room/kitchen.

Happy Birthday Isaac!

First- I realize I didn't blog yesterday...I completely forgot! I was so busy getting ready for Isaac's party that I just didn't even sit down at my computer last night. So I will not accomplish my goal of 30 days straight. However, I am not throwing in the towel just yet. I am still going to attempt to finish the 30 day goal.

On to better and brighter topics.

Isaac's 3rd birthday was yesterday! Three is such a special birthday because it is the first birthday where they actually understand that it is a special day.

Yesterday morning we all woke up; Isaac helped to make some blueberry muffins; and then he blew out 3 candles before we were off to school/preschool with 15 chocolate frosted Spiderman cupcakes.

I still cannot get any videos to download- so I am going to try and use YouTube for now.

Day #9- Double Fisted

With lollipops that is. If you look closely you can see two little sticks popping out from Leah's fist. We stopped by the dry-cleaners after dropping Grace at school. Isaac was holding the basket full of lollies digging through to make a strategic decision. Leah just grabbed what she could get. Not knowing she had stumbled onto a gold mine she stuck them in her mouth just because she puts everything in her mouth. I decided to go along with the new find since we were a half mile from home and felt I could easily manage the situation if need be. Sure enough the wrapper was maneuvered off of the root bear dum-dum in all of 17 seconds. And then came the sh_t eating grin that you see in the photo. I did eventually have to take the candy from the baby. And yes, she did lose her mind when I did that.

PS- After all that strategy Isaac came up with cream soda! I had to give up my strawberry shortcake.

Day #8- Santa is VERY controversial

No pictures today. Sorry family.

So I received some interesting feedback on yesterday's "Believing in Santa" post.

Most was supportive. However a few mentioned that because of Santa, Christmas becomes about gifts or taking rather than receiving. I also heard that without Santa then children do focus more on Christ.

So in response to that... Santa is a part of Christmas whether he should or shouldn't be. He just is! I mean what are you going to do...not take your children in public beginning in mid November through Christmas? You can tell your children he is not real and that is fine. But they are still going to see him everywhere. As for the presents- and children becoming greedy and focusing on all of the taking rather than the giving- I hate to say it, but gift-receiving is one of the fun parts of Christmas for everyone, not just children. I don't think most children are greedy, at least not the ones I know. But they are excited, very excited and they should be. Receiving surprise gifts is always fun no matter when it is. I get excited too. So unless the parents and family and friends are not giving said children any gifts for Christmas...how do you avoid this want/desire?

As for the giving, most parents I know spend lots of time on the "giving" part of Christmas and working with their kids. But by nature kids do not naturally know about giving. Geez, has anyone ever seen a bunch of 2 and 3 (and sometimes 4, 5, 6,7, etc) year-olds in a preschool class who all want to play with the stroller or the shopping cart? It isn't pretty. None of them are saying "Sure, go ahead Jackson ('cause you know there is a Jackson in the class) have a turn with the stroller." or "No really Ava, I really want you to have the shopping cart first." They covet and hoard. It's just the truth. So I think that giving at Christmas needs to be a fundamental whether or not you believe in Santa.

Finally, the part about Santa detracting from Christ. I have only known one family who has not allowed their children to believe in Santa. And yes, they are deeply religious. In general their children know lots more about Christ and the Bible than my children may ever know. But faith and religion are not one in the same. So is their faith stronger? Do they focus more on Christ? I don't know- possibly. But not because they don't believe in Santa. Maybe because they just talk more about Christ. Which of course is a wonderful thing. But in our home Santa doesn't substitute for Jesus. In fact, in our home we tell our kids that Santa works for Jesus. And in spirit he does.

Day #7- An encounter with Santa

I cannot believe I have blogged everyday for a week. I also cannot not believe I have committed to this right now. Things are hectic on the homefront. Isaac's birthday is on Friday, his party is on Saturday. Nana and Aunt L are headed in town for the big occasion. Isaac's class Thanksgiving party is on Thursday so I have to cook for that plus he wants Spiderman cupcakes for his birthday on Friday. We should have contractors starting on 'the wall' any day and we are refinancing our mortgage! Phew. Good thing we only have three small children.

So we were at the mall last night celebrating flu shots. (Only poor Leah had to get the shot, the big kids got the mist.) Santa was there. Grace and Isaac were beside themselves with excitement. They begged to see Santa, but I was thinking that Sid would want to join us for this big event, so I said no. Not even a trip to the Disney Store could persuade them otherwise. Of course there was no line so I figured "Why not?" It was pretty funny. Grace became suddenly shy and couldn't remember a thing on her Christmas list. Isaac was fascinated with the paper reindeer antlers Santa puts on your head as you leave. Leah thought that Santa was a stuffed animal and wanted to eat him. But she did not want to eat him enough to let him hold her. So Grace held her and we got a decent photo with everyone at least facing the camera.

As we left the mall Isaac was yelling back to Santa to confirm that, yes indeed Santa would bring him a present, and then he told Santa at least 10 times that he loved him. Part of me wanted to tell him to stop yelling, but who am I to stop a child from communicating with Santa?

On the way home Grace explained how a girl in her class said that Santa is not real. My response was to explain that the little girl may have been mistaken. I asked Grace if she believed in Santa- she said yes- I said I believed too. I did confess that the Santa in the North Pole had to have other Santas help him at all of the different malls, but she seemed okay with that. She really wants to believe and I hope she does for a long time.

So what is the deal with parents not letting a 5 year old believe in Santa? The whole explanation that it deters from Christ is just not true. My kids know that the reason for Christmas is Jesus' birth. They also know they get lots of presents...but from everyone. If you take Santa out of the equation my kids are just going to know they now get presents from everyone plus mom and dad and Jesus is still the reason for the season. Taking away Santa just takes away special Christmas fun. Why do parents do that? Also, if your child is old enough to keep the 'Santa' secret then maybe they are old enough to know the truth. However, if your child is not old enough to keep the 'Santa' secret then they are young enough to still believe in Santa. Again, parents chill out. Much bigger fish to fry in the future.
Have a great night!

Day #6 Hillridge Farms

We headed to Hillridge Farm on Sunday. It was 70 degrees and gorgeous! We all had a fabulous time. The hi-lite for the kids was the face painting and the huge slide. Isaac chose a purple basketball with flames. Very cool. Grace chose a pink and blue design thingy. Very princessy. Had I known the face painting would be so popular I would have done it myself and saved the 30 min drive for a future time when Leah likes riding in the car.
Here they are after a run down the slide. I have a short video of the event but I am having issues downloading my videos all of a sudden. I am working on it.
Here is Loo and I watching the ponies walk in circles. She loves animals and really does want to eat the ponies. Will I regret wearing those big sunglasses someday?
Here is Loo trying to eat the pony. She was so excited she could hardly stand herself. She started to rock on it like it was her rocking horse at home! Everyone was laughing.
Family photo- CHEESE! and cheesy. Guess what team Isaac likes?
The hay jump is always good for lots of fun and hay in the eyes. Every year...hay in the eyes.
OH- and here is princess Grace.

Kit

This is Kit and Grace. Kit is an American Girl Doll and Grace received her from Nana last Christmas. On Friday show-and-tell was for the letter K. Of course Kit got to visit Kindergarten. Then Kit got to visit the playground after school and since then Kit and Grace have again become inseparable. They have a hot and cold relationship. Anyway, I think Kit and Grace will be "on" again for a while. As Grace was going thru toy catalogs making her Christmas list there were lots of Kit items making the list. Kit is going to have a fabulous Christmas.

Day #4- The Wall

Today Isaac and Sid took on an ill-placed wall between our kitchen and dining room. The wall is directly in front of the door leading from the kitchen to the garage. The wall also has cabinets and a countertop attached...so there was lots of construction to be done. Isaac was in Heaven and did manage to take out a fairly large chunk of the drywall. He was so excited when Sid gave him a real tool. We had to monitor him closely though so that he wouldn't take out any appliances or small children. We had a couple of close calls - with Sid's legs.Here- progress is being made
Working together as a team?

Day #3- Daylight Savings

No pictures today. Sorry.

I just need to address the absurdity of DLS. I do think in 100 years people will look back to the "old days" when people changed their clocks twice a year. Let's be real. The days of saving a few bucks keeping the lights off because we have daylight instead, are long gone. I do believe the stat that the offset in air-conditioning expenses exceed the savings in lighting electricity. But mostly it is just the hassle that is ridiculous; for a month after the time change I will look at a clock in my home/car/watch and wonder if it is one I changed or forgot. Not to mention what a nightmare it can be if you have children.

It has been published that both car accidents and heart attacks increase the week following DLS. Isn't that reason enough to abolish the entire process?

Can't our government do one valuable thing and get rid of this ritual?

As my brother would say..."Just keepin' it real."

Day #2- Tired Mom

So here we are on day 2 of my 30 day commitment. Before I get into the drama of the day- let's just take a minute to adore my precious baby Leah. I feel better already.

And now for Grace and Isaac. Grace has on the pink skirt standing towards the back. They were not fighting for the brief second of this particular camera shutter.

So anyway we went to the Museum of Life and Science in Durham today and enjoyed being outside in the 65 degree weather. The kids stopped fighting which was an added bonus. All was well until little Leah crawled into a fire ant hill. She sustained about 15 bites. I had some emergency meds with me b/c a similar thing happened to Isaac about a year ago. So I was able to stop the pain and swelling quickly. But I still stripped her down and changed her clothes and gave her lots of extra love and attention for the rest of the day. I'm sure she will have some nice blisters in the days to come. She is so tough. She only cried for a few minutes. Damn ants. Are they really that critical in the food chain? That was the only real drama for the day. Isaac washed his hair three times in the shower tonight. I just let him do it. Wasn't worth arguing about-truthfully I didn't have the energy to fight him. But it took a long time.

Thanks for reading...you are probably ready for bed now. You're welcome.

Kmart Fun

Is it November?

I miss blogging almost everyday. Seems like blogging may be a form of therapy for me and I am in denial. So here is what I am going to attempt to do...this is crazy- and I am a little out of it today- but I am going to blog everyday for the next 30 days! This is not a commitment of pictures, just a commitment to blog. I make no promises on length, humor, or even decent content for that matter. Just want to see if I can do it.

So here goes...

Day 1- I took Isaac to his first gym class today without me there next to him to help, manage, monitor, or spot. He will be three next week so the gym is letting him start a little early, but he is totally ready. It is a sports class and today they worked on football- Sid will be pleased. He did surprising well with all of the skills...especially the skill of sitting and paying attention. So anyway, here's what kills me. So a mom walks in about 20 minutes late with her little boy and 5 mos old baby in the infant carrier...and talking on her mobile phone. She couldn't open the door to the building. So she stood outside for about 2 minutes talking on her phone. Finally she put the baby down and opened the door, still on her phone, the 3 yr old walked in, she held the door open with her butt and bent down to pick up the carrier. She managed to get everyone inside but then couldn't think to help her son with his shoes so he could go into the class. Finally she hangs up, helps her son and starts talking to the girl behind the desk. She explained she was on the phone with her mom who lives here in Raleigh. They see her or talk to her everyday. Really? I'm sorry, and like I said earlier I am a little out of it today, but the whole mobile phone obsession is out of control. When the phone is so glued to your ear that you cannot function as a reasonable human being then you have a problem. Yes, you really do. No one is that important; not you or the person on the other end. I would dare say she was talking on the phone the entire ride over in the car as well. And for those of you who know me, you know that I am totally against talking and texting while driving. I cannot even count how many times a day I think "idiot" ( I would like to say "idiot" but then Isaac will say it too) to a driver I see and then later see they are on their phone!

So that is all for today. Here are some pix.
Grace is playing basketball right now. She is on the Knicks. There are some great little players on her team. She is the youngest and lacking in skill but only b/c of age. Next year she will be right where they are. I am a little worried about this. Everyone is holding their kids back for Kindergarten it seems like and though academically I am not so worried I am begin to see a trend in the athletics. Wow- things have changed in the last 30 years.
Here is my little crew on Halloween. They collected over 10 pounds of candy. We sent it to our troops and the kids were really proud of that so there was no fight.
Here is my little angel in her new bicycle helmet...if we are all ever healthy enough and at the same time warm enough outside on a weekend to go for a ride!
Isaac did not quite make it into his bed for this nap. I tried to move him and he got mad at me. I did cover him up though.
Grace and Isaac on the dragon rollercoaster at the fair. We only went once this year. Next year I will drag them all a few more times. Kindergarten and morning naps put a damper on my NC State Fair routine for this year.

October...Here we come!

Obviously blogging has dropped on my priority list. I know I am losing my readers, but that is just life right now. Seems like I have had at least one sick kid for the last 8 weeks. Great start to the cold/flu season. Can only imagine how Nov, Dec, Jan, and Feb are going to turn out. Other than chronic snot we are having a good time.Here is Isaac with his triplets. He has two of them in a sling...the babies are connected to the sling by their necks (like real mommies and daddies carry their babies of course).
Almost two weeks ago we met the Kizakeviches at the pumpkin patch to stock up on pumpkins and other crazy looking squashes. Here is Isaac with his best friend Evan.
Here is my little princess.
Here is my big princess with her best bud, Hayden. The height difference is crazy.
A wagon was necessary for toting heavy...little boys.
The gang.
Ah- here we are on any random morning...Leah sneaks into the sun room for some quiet time with the plant.
"Oh! Hi Mom! Don't mind me...just eating the plant!"
If I do say so myself, I made a fantastic meat sauce for dinner tonight with some penne tossed in. Leah loved it! Red sauce is great for one's complexion, didn't you know.
Took the girls to the grocery store today. Isaac was in preschool. Leah was in Heaven riding with big sis in the race car. She drove for both of them. Seriously though, I spend $800 a month on groceries. And I waste nothing. Groceries are crazy expensive...got to pay for those stimulus packages somehow! The only damn thing stimulated was my grocery bill!
Saturday we went to a Halloween birthday party. Spiderman showed up. He looks remarkably like my son Isaac.
Here is the ice princess. Who did not want to wear her beautiful sparkly shoes that she begged for because they hurt her feet just like her mother said they would.
And here is our precious little pumpkin who was honestly the hit of the party. Who can top this level of cuteness?

September and the fam...

So, I am not a big fan of people saying "Oh! I am just so busy!" Because really, I mean how busy can one be? We all choose to be busy- it's not like someone is making us be busy. I can imagine that Bill Gates may actually be busy, and maybe our Presidents...though our current one does seem to vacation and do a whole lot of talk shows. Anyway all that being said, I will be the first to admit that my pregnancies were not immaculate conceptions...I am well aware of how babies are brought into the world; so again, my level of business is/was a choice. But I am telling you, having 3 small children at home is a busy life. And I think most parents of school age children will agree that the months of May and September are the craziest of the year. So this September has proven to meet that expectation.

The biggest adjustment is having school every single day. There is always a drop-off and a pick-up schedule, plus a morning and afternoon nap schedule, plus a nursing schedule, plus 3 meals a day, plus snacks, plus diapers, homework, school projects, help in bathroom, bedtime, plus just spending time and having fun. This list doesn't even include chores and errands. :-) So obviously I am not performing brain surgery, but seriously to make it all work, and work well for us all, requires a certain level of busy-ness. And we do have fun- everyday. And that is what my goal is for everyday. To remember that I am staying home to make my children a priority and to do that I have to spend quality time with them. And with all that has to be accomplished in a day, it is easy to say that running errands with little people in the backseat is "spending time" or that merely being in the house with them while folding laundry is "spending time"- but kids don't like to run errands and fold laundry. Kids like to read and play outside and show off and be pushed on the swing. So, our busy schedule includes all of those things too.
Our sweet Leah is a terrible night time sleeper. Awful. Up 3-5 times a night. But she is so happy and sweet during the day it is hard to hold a grudge.
Isaac loves shoes. His daddy loves this picture.
My princess. She is the youngest in her K class and she is kicking booty and taking names. That's my girl. Just started reading her first words this week. My heart swelled with pride.
Uncle Ben sent us Oregano the Orangutan... he is a huge hit and he is huge.
Isaac sporting Daddy's triathlon gear after his race two weeks ago.
Sid and some of his buddies roomed together at the White Lake Triathlon. Sid's buddy Gary is a big guy- but the shower is tiny anyway. Gross.
Leah tackling daddy at the pool- the last weekend it was open. We miss the pool so much.
Isaac and Daddy digging at the museum in Durham...hoping to find some dino bones.
Nana with Leah. Check out the rolls on that baby. I am so proud!

And finally- Isaac got a new bike. He was way too tall for his old one and way over-due. He loves it and is now, officially, a big boy! :-(