Random February Fun

We are not a family of natural atheletes. I've only begun running these last few years because it's a great release from the stresses of motherhood. Kent, though built more for it, leaned towards academics and music and as a result, our children are similar. Neither of the older two care to move much unless it's chasing friends. Ironically, Bubby who has the lowest tone of all is the one who loves the basketball and jumping on the trampoline. He'll be the sports lover in our family.

The elementary school's second biggest fundraiser this year was a fun run but unlike the past, the school organized it all on their own and 100% of the proceeds went back to Mountain Shadows. I was excited about it because the one they held two years ago had Isaac motivated to run a good amount. I had all these lovely plans of having them jog a little each night leading up to the run, but life got busy and I was lucky to have everyone at their activities and fed. On the day of the event I showed up to cheer them on and was amazed at their determination.

Isaac had 30s to finish the last lap and he sprinted with me alongside to complete it all! Apparently he was one of only 3 kids in second grade to finish all 25 laps!

Keila and I ran together the whole time and consequently I was able to help pace her a little such that she didn't stop moving once during the whole 25 mins. She jogged about 80% of it and walked briskly for the rest. With a minute left she pushed herself to finish a lap and completed a total of 17! She was definatly one of the highest of all the girls in kindergarten and her persistence paid off.

I'm super proud of these two, it's not something they enjoy terribly and they had a set a goal and honestly did their very best. What's more, they're proud of themselves. The laps they completed were marked off the back of their shirts, a trophy of the work they completed and as soon as Keila realized this she wouldn't take off her shirt. I'm glad the school hosted this activity this year and hopefully it might inspire these kids to be more active and healthy.

Other random pictures of the year, Keila and I attend the school's girl's night and had fun making crafts and eating treats.

The kids earned some free tokens for Peter Piper Pizza so we went to play some games together.

Mounds of lemons and grapefruits to keep little hands busy. The youngest two were proud to load the picked fruit into boxes and the older two had fun carrying them door to door for our neighbors or friends.

Library fun and picnic lunch at the park.

Glendale's Chocolate Festival was a first for us. It was fun to see all the vendors and Isaac and Keila donated some money to veteran cause and got giant chocolate covered marshmellows and we all splurged and shared a chocolate covered cheesecake. Bubby really dug his face into that one!

Silliness while shopping with a Pumpkin!

While I'm too busy nowadays to document all we do, I'm glad we have our memories and fun moments in the busyness of life.

Happy Holiday - for Me!

Back to school is now herald as a new holiday of boundless joys for me! This last summer was insanity at times but we all survived and are all eager to get back to school.

Meet the teacher night: Keila now has Isaac's first grade teacher, Mrs. Kloft who handles the kids well and has a great relaxed personality. Isaac has already elaborated all her virtues for Bug so she is excited to some degree. I'm sure as things fall into a routine she will grow to love it.

Bud has Mrs. Patti for his teacher. While it was an extremely busy evening for her, she took the time to answer all of Isaac's questions. She's wonderfully organized and I hope this year between the two of us we can get Isaac some of those much needed skills.

First day shots are a must and even include Eli this year!

While dropping Keila off to class, I managed a few shots of Isaac going into his.

Pumpkin and I will relish the uninterrupted playtime and I will begin the task of slowly reclaiming the house! Happy back to school day!

Another School Year and Trimester

School has begun and while this Mama loves her kids, I was doing a dance of joy the morning of the 11th! You can always tell when summer nears its end, the amiability of the older two is sorely tested to the point where the mere sound of the opposing sibling will generate screaming and yelling until they are banished to their rooms to sulk and stomp their feet.

Isaac started first grade and was happy to see old friends from last year. He tested into a more advanced class and I'm excited to see the connections he'll make to others as well as the chance for his sponge like brain to soak up learning elsewhere. Here he is at the front door and at the school. Apparently they do a 'tunnel of hope' where parents cheer the kiddos as they walking in the first day. I missed it last year but managed to catch it on camera this time.

I love that you can see Keila peering through the window! She doesn't start preschool for another 2 weeks.

As for me, I've begun the third trimester! Currently I'm 29 weeks and feeling it. Baby has dropped further and contractions have started again and I find myself waking at night, the uterus hard as a rock and having difficulty breathing easily. I've been told to take it easy and monitor it. How one takes it easy when you have three children (two doing differing therapies) makes me laugh! I move slowly now like I'm a 90yr old with back issues. im seriously considering getting a walker of sorts and i have to laugh at the funny looks Eli gives me as i chose to slide bottom down the stairs while supporting him walking down. the days are much simpler but by 7pm I'm on the couch in a prone position. I see the doctor next week and I'm sure I'll be put on Niphedipine again, we just need to make it to 36 weeks....and stay sane! Wish me luck!

Speaking of Eli, the little man continues to amaze me in his progress. It's as the therapists all said, once he got walking down, many other area jumped ahead. One day out of the blue he began signing 'help' and 'down' clearly, he also makes the 'da' and 'na' sounds and will initiate signing to us when he wants something, particularly music. He was almost obsessive with the Frozen soundtrack which was fatiguing on many levels so we created his own Bubby playlist of more contemporary music. He LOVES dancing and listening to it and can often be found dragging the iPad to us, signing music and then tossing it our lap. I can rarely resist his eager smile and love watching him dance his little heart out.

We've also been working hard to help him in his independence. We practice helping him get dress on his own and he can be found doing it on any clothing left out by others. We work on washing our hands at the sink properly which he enjoys a lot - perhaps a little too much. One morning I found he had climbed into the sink and washed much more than his hands. After cleaning him up, new clothes and diaper I began working on the bathroom only to hear water running again. He had climbed into my bathtub and decided to try again. I swear I need to put a cow bell on him so I can keep track of his antics!

Here he is working on his feeding skills. His upper core and shoulders lack strength, you see it as he raises his shoulders to use his fork but despite that he does okay. Obviously he thinks he deserves a break!