Spring portraits

We had to get some quick spring photos of the kids.  We didn't have the time or money to get the super nice ones done this time around, but they turned out ok.  Picture day is exhausting with 4 kids!!  I'm just happy to have semi good pictures of my cute little monsters!


Josh age 14, Caile age 12, Peyton age 7, and Preston age 20 months

Bravo Caile!

Caile just finished up her first Middle School play!  They did "Music Man Jr."  She was cast as a River City Citizen.  I was surprised how much of the play she was in!  There were very few scenes without her.  She worked so hard for it!  She spent so many days at the school practicing until 5 pm.  Not to mention she was heading to school at 5:45 for soccer practices.  I'm just amazed by her will and determination!  I'm sad to say that I didn't get much video of the play....since this was "strictly prohibited due to copy right laws".  I caught a couple little things of her, but they are shaky and not very good.  I sat in a weird spot, so I didn't get good pictures either :( .  We have some friends that did get a few pictures of her because they were in the front row.  When I get those, I'll post them on here!  I wish you all could have been there to see her!  She danced and sang her little heart out.....and didn't even seem nervous!  I will take some credit for making sure she looked beautiful!  I spent an hour and a half, every night of the play, fixing her hair and makeup.  Honestly, I enjoyed it!  She looked gorgeous, if I may say so myself!  I just have to say, those 7th and 8th graders were AMAZING!!  They had wonderful voices and played the parts so well.  I honestly don't think it could have been much better!  Congrats Caile on a job well done!  We love you and are sooooo proud of you!     

Accomplishments

Caile made it into the middle school play!!  They are doing Music Man this year.  She is VERY excited!  She wanted to have a big role, but didn't get the part she wanted.  She's in the ensemble as a citizen.  She gets to sing and dance, and even has a 2 word solo (haha).  She is just happy to be in the play this year.  We are excited she made it in, the competition was fierce!  We have some great neighbors who do a lot of plays and theater camps in our area.  They worked with Caile, along with their own daughter, to prepare her for auditions.  I was so glad to have their help!  Other than my choir experience, Jared and I don't have acting/music talent.  Anyway, Caile did great in the audition and was even on the call back list for one of the main characters....unfortunately the part was given to someone else.  Like I said, the competition was tough.  Even Caile's theater friend (who seems to always get the lead) ended up with a citizen part. We are still so proud of her for the hard work she put in just to be in the show!  It's going to be fun to watch the play....I can't wait for April!  She is still doing indoor soccer right now too.  She'll never give up soccer!  She's got almost all As at school right now.....that one dang 89% is holding her back!  Maybe she'll get it up by the end of the term.

Josh had a Scouts ceremony recently.  He earned 3 badges and a pin!  He received the rifle shooting badge, the rowing badge, the archery badge, and the snow shoe making pin.  We are so proud of him for his accomplishments!  He's been a bit slower at his scouting achievements because of his sports interfering, but he does the best he can.  Speaking of sports, Josh just had his last freestyle wrestling tournament a couple weekends ago.  He took 6th place, which was good enough to earn him a trophy!  He was happy with it.  There's some good kids out there, and this is Josh's first year wrestling.  Some of those kids have been wrestling since they were 4!  It's been interesting watching Josh become so serious about his sports.  He even lost 3 lbs to get into a lower weight class for his last competition!  He ate grapefruit for breakfast!  Grapefruit!!  I never thought we'd be trying to get him to lose weight....he's always been such a skinny boy.  He just started another season of a different style of wrestling....don't ask me the name of it, I can't remember.  He's doing well though, really loving it!

Peyton just finished his first season of wrestling.  We only took him to one competition, where he took 4th.  He just had a hard time getting serious about it.  He loved going most of the time, but had rough days too.  It's funny to watch the boys his age wrestle.  Either they are super serious, or they are playing.  Then you have at least one kid every day who cries through the entire practice.  Peyton has had that kind of day before.  He also had a day that he complained that his leg hurt during the whole practice....and it magically got better at the end.  Weird.  He's still learning.  He had such a big group of kids his age to practice with, it made it hard for him to get the one on one attention he really needs.  If Jared wasn't with him, he had a hard time getting the moves right.  He has the half nelson down though!  If he wants to, we'll try it again next year.  I don't want to push him though.  Peyton is loving school right now!  His teacher loves him.  He's reading so well.  I don't know when the transition actually happened, but in the last couple months he's just taken off!  He reads his books all by himself, and very seldom gets stuck on words.  He's like a little sponge right now and repeats things he hears word for word.  He told me all about red blood cells and white blood cells the other day, in detail.  I don't think I even knew what that stuff was until high school.  He's passing me up in the smarts department!

Little Preston just turned 18 months old!  I can't believe it....it's sort of heartbreaking.  I can't believe how fast they grow!  He's a rowdy boy.  He climbs everything and gets into everything!  I'm surprised he's survived this long without any major injuries.  The constant bruises to the forehead explain a lot though!  The doctor said that kids his age constantly have bruises on their foreheads and shins from falling so much.  So he didn't accuse me of beating him haha :)  Gosh I love that little Monster!  It's like living with the Tasmanian Devil!  His fit throwing and screaming has decreased slightly....maybe ignoring him during these 'episodes' is finally starting to pay off?!  I hope so!  Preston has always been a little on the small side.  I'm not sure if it's the non dairy diet I had to eat while breastfeeding, or if it's the soy milk he's been on since I stopped.  He just didn't get all that good fat that Peyton had.  He's growing consistently though....even after a month of viral diarrhea!  (latest stats: wt-24 lbs-24% ile, ht-31 3/4"-33% ile, head-43 3/4 cm-76% ile...my kids always have big heads!).  Poor baby, he had a rough start with all the sicknesses!  He's been really good lately though.  No ear infections for a few months.  He's had runny noses here and there, but nothing that required a doctor visit.  He sleeps pretty well through the night.  He still wakes up sometimes, but just long enough for me to lay him back down, tuck him in and rub his back for a minute.  I wish he'd sleep in once in a while too, but he's just not that kind of kid, dang it!  He's starting to talk more.  I was getting kind of worried....maybe because Peyton seemed to talk early.  The doc says he's right on though.  His most recent words are, "Hi" (he tries to say "hello" when he pretend talks on the phone) and "doggie".  He's copying me more often when I speak, but it's more mimic than actual understanding of the word.  I'm excited to see what the next 6 months bring us for this little guy!   

 

My Escape?

Since the day my first son was born, I've struggled with "alone" time. It's nice to leave the room and have a minute to breathe. It's hard when your kids think you can solve the world's problems, and they can't stand to be without you for more than 2 minutes.

Starting with shower rituals....when Peyton was tiny, I'd take him in the bathroom with me and leave him in his bouncy chair while I did my 30 second shower. I could keep and eye on him, and get out if he needed anything. Little did I know, this phase would not pass. Pretty soon he was either showering with me, or crying outside the door while I showered. When they get a little bit older, there's the knocking on the door, sticking the fingers under the door, and asking muffled questions through the door. These questions are so important that it can't wait 5 minutes for me to come out...no...these are apparently life or death situations that require my attention NOW! Don't forget the tattling. I need to know that so-and-so called another so-and-so a name. This is crucial, and definitely can't wait. So-and-so must be punished now! Not to mention the occasional time that I hadn't locked the door...and the kids felt they had the right to just come on in! I've literally had to get out of the shower to solve some of these critical problems.

Most of my kids are older now, so a lot of the bathroom bugging has calmed (mostly because they are scared of 'Mommy turned Monster' when I'm bothered in the bathroom). I've told them that unless someone is dying, or the house is on fire, they aren't allowed to bother me when I'm in the bathroom! It's sad that taking a shower is my only real "me time", but hey, I take what I can get! It's my escape! One of my friends told me that she keeps a stash of chocolate in the bathroom for her escape time.  I might need to try that one!  For the most part though, I've got those kids trained!

Except....I was reminded today, what having a child 5 1/2 years after your previous child does to your "me time". The crying and knocking on the door obviously wasn't working, so next thing I know, the fingers show up under the door! I opened the door and Preston was crouched down, trying to see underneath it.  He wants to know what I'm doing in there!  How dare I leave the room without him! And so it begins again.....

Why don't people know how to use 4 way stops?!

4 way stops aren't that complicated, are they? 

I do know that they give me anxiety. 

Every morning, while taking my son to school, I come across a 4 way stop.  It's a pretty simple concept.  Whoever stops first, goes first. 

The problem?  Nobody pays attention to who stops first. 

The people who stopped last want to go first and cut you off.  The people who stopped first wave you to go ahead of them. 

I JUST DON'T GET IT! It's not hard to know if you stopped before or after someone!

I get some sort of road rage when everyone is sitting at their stop sign, and nobody is moving. 

I'm scared to just go, because some other crazy person might just take me out.  Sometimes when I'm coming to a 4 way stop, I purposely slow down to let the other person stop first.  I figure this way, they know they stopped first.  It's not a race for me. Yet, somehow, they don't know that they stopped first!   

And God forbid we stop at the same time....that look of complete confusion will spread across their face.  I try to avoid this completely.  Nobody seems to remember that the person on the right goes first in this situation.    

So, I slow.....stop a few seconds after the first car stops, a couple seconds later a 3rd car stops, then the 4th.  The first car is still sitting there.....waving for me to go, when out of nowhere the 3rd car goes. 

What is wrong with people?  It's weird how smart people can become complete morons at a 4 way stop!

Does Utah not require driving school and passing tests to get a license?  Is it like this in every state?! 

 The 4 way stop is not that complicated!!  Pay attention people!

Deep breath Catrina, deep breath.........sigh  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:4waystop.jpg

In case you were wondering where on Earth I get my information, I provided a link! (for those who could use some studying) :)

Crib Escape Artist

Preston just climbed out of his crib....not gracefully I might add. I hear a loud Preston scream coming from the bedroom....then a thunk, and a cry.  I ran up the stairs and meet Preston at the door to the bedroom, where he should not have been! 

I can picture the scene in my head.  Little Preston figures out a way to pull himself to the top of the rail.  Then he's scared and can't get down!  The screaming begins, then the fall to the floor.  Then he comes to the door crying to find Mommy.  

I opened the door and there's my little boy, holding his head and crying.  There's no bump or even redness that I can see.  Good thing little boys are so sturdy and resilient!  We walked and cuddled until he went to sleep.  I put him back in the crib....but now I'm not sure how safe that is!  We're gonna have to figure this one out.  He's not even 18 months old yet, I don't think he's ready for a big boy bed! 

I've got a smart little monster on my hands :) 

Any suggestions and/or funny stories of your own would make me feel better!  

A fine day

Sometimes I'm ok with being a working Mom, and other times I feel guilty about it. 

Saturday Jared took Josh to a wrestling tournament.  It was an hour and a half drive time to the tournament, and going to be an all day event.  I worked Friday night and needed to sleep Saturday.  Jared asked if I'd be ok with Caile babysitting while I slept.  Of course I didn't feel this was a great idea.  Caile, as great as she is with Peyton, is not a baby person!  She doesn't like baby drool.  The couple times she's changed Preston's diaper....she put it on backwards!  I laugh because it's much harder to put on backward than the correct way....but whatever.  She's not very patient with him, and I just knew that if she was home with him, I'd be awake every few minutes listening to him cry.  Let's face it, he's not an easy baby!  Anyway, Jared decided he could take Caile and the baby with him to the tournament.  That way she could watch him, but Jared would be there to help if she needed it....and it wouldn't keep me awake.  But that left my little Peyton.  It wouldn't be fun for him to hang out at the tournament, and Jared would be so involved with Josh that Peyton would be on his own.  Caile can't be responsible for the baby and Peyton at a place like that.  So, Peyton stayed home with me.  He's so good about it, and really a good kid.  It doesn't take much to occupy him.  He played his Nintendo DSi and the Xbox a little.  Really all I did was feed him breakfast and lunch and he was good.  The doors stay locked, and my bedroom door stays open so I can hear what's going on.  Like every mother knows, it's time to get worried when it gets quiet.  At around 1 in the afternoon, the house was extremely quiet, and I woke from a dead sleep to whispering in the hallway.  I jumped out of bed and asked Peyton who he was talking to, turned out it was himself.  He was playing with toys and trying to be quiet.  During my brief awake period, we could hear some of the neighbor kids outside playing.  Even though it's winter, it was a gorgeous day, very sunny.  All Peyton said was, "It sure seems like a fine day to play with friends."  First of all, that cracked me up!  A little mature statement for my 7 year old.  Then it just about broke my heart!  He wasn't whining, just letting me be aware of the inconvenience my work puts on him.  He knew he couldn't go play because I needed to sleep, and was being a good sport about it.....but he's 7!  He doesn't want to sit inside all day with his sleeping Mother. 

I am proud of my kids for the things they have to deal with, having a working Mom and Dad.  We do our best to make things good for them.  Sometimes it doesn't feel like enough....but they could have it worse.  At least I'm only gone on the weekends :)

Puppy Love

Peyton has had this cute little friend at school for the past couple years.  Her name is Katie.  They play together really well.  She comes over for play dates, and he goes to her house sometimes.  In Kindergarten, they used to come out of school holding hands.  Peyton even declared a couple times that he was going to marry Katie, "because she's cute."  I've told him that now is not the time to worry about getting married, so they can be just friends.  He still insists that she's his girlfriend.  While we were in CA over Christmas break, Peyton was asked about his girlfriend by the family.

Family: "So, Peyton, do you have a girlfriend?"
Peyton: "Yes"
Family: "What's her name?"
Peyton: "Katie"
Family: "What does she look like?"
Peyton: "Well, sometimes she wears 2 bows in her hair."

He notices the bows in her hair!  Awwww Puppy Love!