Who's in charge here??

Demolition has begun!! Actually, it has been a long and slow process. We've been trying to work on our bathroom in Chad's spare time and our very few free weekends we've had lately. Any time there are tools involved, you will find Kale - the little man in charge!! As we began to take the bathtub out of our bathroom, Kale was there to give his opinion and to help break out tile. We look forward to getting our shower in and some MUCH NEEDED storage. The next project is the guest bathroom (or the girls' bathroom) where this jet tub will eventually rest again. Oh so many projects, SO little time. Now if I can just find time to get my husband to help me with all the painting projects!!! And no, Kale will not be helping!!!

Winter is getting the best of us

I am so sick of winter it's not even funny!! I think it seems worse because Chad has been gone since Sunday and we've had two blizzards since he left. Let's hope the weather holds out enough that he can make it home today. With this wonderful weather, the girls have only been in school for 6 hours in three days (yes, they're home with me again today)!! Normally I love having the girls home, but it hasn't been long enough since Christmas break and their Christmas break was about a week too long for them!!

Being the dedicated Mom, I took the girls to Spencer for their dance class last night. It wasn't snowing when I left, but we left a little early because I had a few places I needed to go and knew I couldn't get it ALL done during their dance time. By the time we came home, there was over two inches of snow on the ground, it was snowing REALLY hard, the wind was blowing, and the highway was drifting something terrible. PLUS, the highway I was driving on was closed the night before because of semi's being in the ditches!!! Thank goodness the children sat quietly for me during the drive (but my knuckles were still white). An HOUR later, we finally made it to Emmetsburg. As we did, Mia said to me "Mommy, we're home!!! I was scared we wouldn't make it" to which I said "we're not home YET - we'll all feel better when the car is in the garage". There was literally a cheer of screams from the back seat when we pulled in the garage!!! I must say that I wanted to cheer myself.

I had to post this picture because this is Kale all day long - you never know what he's going to do next!!!

So many titles...so little space.

So what do you do to a little boy that throws his sippy cup at a door and shatters it??? That's been my dilemma all day!! The door going out to our former three seasons room (now converted in to Chad's office - just need to install permanent heat) is double paned glass with wood surround and he literally shattered one of the panes of glass - of course, it was the one pane with the etched design in it. Kale was SO sorry that he did it and sat on the floor (without us even asking him to) and said he was sorry over and over again. Then in his sweet little voice he says to me "mommy, you buy new door?" Needless to say, we had a VERY LONG conversation about the importance of not throwing our toys!!! Amazingly though, I kept my cool when I could have really gone crazy. I ask myself over and over again if ALL boys are like he is...he's not always destructive, he's a very sweet little boy...but when his temper flares you better watch out. Any ideas on how to better discipline are widely accepted!!! Time-out, sending him to bed, making him give hugs and kisses (which the girls probably dislike more than he does) when he's hurt someone's feelings, taking away toys...we've tried them all to no success. I made sure to take a picture of it to show him in the future (I'll add it to the stack) - so he can see just how long he will be working for "FREE" for us to repay us for the many things he has broken, because I'm sure this won't be the last!!! HA!! The picture does not do the destruction any justice.

Ho, Ho, Hope you had a Merry Christmas!!!

Okay - so I can be a little corny sometimes (as many of you know and can tell once again by the title) but we sure had a nice Christmas and hope you did as well. The time, as always, goes SO quicky.

As you can see by the picture of Kale, he tried VERY hard to not take naps during the Christmas holiday and it caught up to him on Christmas Eve. He NEVER falls asleep like this, so he was obviously tired. One minute he was asking me to turn the television on in their t.v. room, and the next he was sound asleep (5 minutes before leaving for church, of course!!!).

Christmas Day was an exciting day as well for the kids. Santa brought (and installed) bunk beds for the girls with Princess bedding!! He also brought Kale a big wheel which he finds joy in riding all over the house - Mommy can't wait for spring!! The other excitement of the day was Mia losing her VERY first tooth!!!! Ana is a little disappointed, of course, because being the oldest she thinks that things should happen to her first and it didn't help that her cousin had also just lost a tooth...leaving her the only one that hasn't. She doesn't even have one that's the slightest bit loose!! Good thing she's a tough kid!!

As we now start to unwind from the Christmas high - we look forward to getting the house put back to normal and to start doing some remodeling things that we have been putting off. My kids are excited though because we will still be celebrating two Christmases in January. We thank you all for your prayers for my sister, Angela, who was diagnosed with colon cancer. She had her surgery the Monday before Christmas (which we missed her and her family being with us VERY much for Chrsitmas) and is recovering very well. She should be heading home today from the hospital. Our Christmas wish was answered when we received the call on Christmas Eve and she told us that the pathology report came back and they had gotten all of the cancer!!! Enjoy your New Year and we hope only good things for all of you in the year to come.

"You're so vain"

As Kale and I were sitting eating lunch the other day, he says to me "Hi Mommy. I'm Kale, and I'm cute". All I could think of were two things...one, that I seriously say to him too much that he's cute, and two...the words to the song that I used in the title. It was too funny!!!


And now for a really cute story from the girls - they've always said that the best time to have a conversation is at the dinner table and that seems to be when my kids say the funniest things!! Somehow we got on the topic of when they grow up and leave home (to which they say they are never going to leave me...aaaaahhhhh!!! Absolutely warms my heart.) Mia says to me "Ana and I will live int he same town" and Ana replies "and I promise we'll be neighbors!" If only I could trust that will come true!! Sometimes I actually think they like each other! (of course they do!) Maybe my constant talks with them about how important it is to be nice to each other because having each other as best friends is the most important friendship they will ever have is actually sinking in!!


Well, another round of nasty weather is forcasted to be rolling in this evening with another to be coming in on Saturday!! I guess winter is here. Gotta love Iowa!!!! Take care everyone!

I'm playing "gleen glight" Mom!

The girls absolutely LOVE to play "red light, green light" and Kale has found interest in the past few days. Since the girls got out of school early today because of the snow, the kids decided to play a little "gleen glight" as Kale calls it. He was so excited to tell me that he was playing with the girls that he could hardly stand in one place long enough to tell me before he went running back to the living room!!! If only I could them to all play together like this more than they do! Although with the enormous amounts of snow that we are supposed to be getting between today and Thursday, the girls could be spending a lot of time at home!!!

As promised, I have added some pictures from the girls' dance on Saturday. Stay Warm Everyone!!!

while the babies sleep...

I have finally gotten BOTH Josephine AND Kale down so thought I'd write quick since it had been a while. The girls danced at the Spencer Mall on Saturday with their dance center and danced to "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". I believe that Mia was Prancer and Ana was Cupid. It was so cute and I promise I will put some pictures on here when I get a chance. We were able to finish up the last of our Christmas shopping (other than 1 gift) after that, so that was great.

Kale is turning in to such a young boy now. I seriously look at him and everything about him is changing. He no longer looks like a baby boy!! I watch him with Josephine and he wants to be gentle but he just wants her to play with him so badly - I don't think he thinks that a 4 month old should just lay around, be held, and sleep all day.

The girls are on countdown patrol for Christmas on the calendar. I literally think it's the first thing they say to me after they've told me good morning!!! We have so much to be thankful for this Christmas season and hope that all of you enjoy the magic of this wonderful time of year as much as our family will. We also hope that Santa brings you and your family everything you have on your lists!!!! Please keep my sister, Angela, in your prayers and she will undergo surgery next Monday. Her full, speedy recovery and clean bill of health is all that is on MY list. I can't imagine life without you, Ang!!! We love you so very much.