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.

It's been a LONG day.

Boy oh boy, is this day over yet??? I was ready for my day to end before it even began! I knew it would be a long day when the whining began before breakfast had even been served. I must first start out by saying that while Chad was home for lunch yesterday, I put him to work getting Kale moved in to his "big" bed. Kale really wasn't excited about the move and kept saying that he didn't want a big bed, but the fact that he hardly had room to move anymore in the crib made the move inevitable. It was such an emotional moment for me knowing that my little boy was officially not a baby anymore!! So when nap time came around, I was really nervous about how it would go. I laid with him for just a bit to get him comfortable and had to return once to get his comforter back over his legs, but then he was OUT. It's almost as if it went too smoothly and I should have known better!! Daddy gave in at bedtime and laid down with him until he fell asleep because I wouldn't!! But, that also has made for another challenge for today. Kale has been "mister bossy" since breakfast, which doesn't sit well with me. There is nothing that drives me more crazy than when my kids get bossy with me or they do nothing but talk to me in a whiney voice, and that's been the whole morning! The baby that I'm babysitting has only taken cat naps today and getting Kale back in to his bed posed a HUGE challenge! I've finally gotten them BOTH down and am hoping for a few more quiet moments before it all starts up again!!! Hopefully Kale wakes up in a better mood, and the baby takes a longer nap than 30 minutes. Wish me luck!

And so it begins...

As I am holding Josephine, the baby I am babysitting for a few weeks, Kale begins to throw a fit because I won't let him have a snack (which he had just finished eating breakfast about 15 minutes before). The words that came out of his little mouth then reminded me of the girls just a few years back..."Mommy, I'm leaving...I don't like that". I am officially the "bad guy" now! I can remember exactly the first time Mia said to me that she was mad at me and going to go live somewhere else. I don't remember that happening at 2 years old though!!! My life is going to be very interesting from here on out with this little boy!!!

Oh the weather outside is frightful! The girls were let out of school an hour early today because of the weather and it's not looking like it's going to get any better for tomorrow. Gotta love snow days.

I'm getting old...

What a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday we had! While Thanksgiving day started out a little later than we had anticipated (Chad's parents were having problems with their well), we managed to get Thanksgiving, a quick little birthday cake for the girls, and Christmas all done in ONE DAY!!! As you can tell by the picture of Kale asleep on the floor, we were partying until we couldn't party any more!! He didn't even have the energy to get up on our bed for nap when his blanket fell! Since Chad's sister, Sharrey, and her husband won't be returning for Christmas, we tried to get everything in over Thanksgiving. We then stopped to spend a little time with my Dad the next evening and got to see a few of our nieces and nephews who were spending time at Grandma and Grandpa's!!! It was a busy weekend, but we loved seeing everyone. It was especially fun for us as we hosted our first Thanksgiving at our house!

During the weekend, we also got the Fank grandchildren together to get their picture taken by the two pedal tractors that Grandma and Grandpa Fank have had refurbished. It was an interesting time trying to get four kids to smile and sit still - but I managed to get a few good pic's so added one for you all to see.

I now, during the month of December, will be babysitting a 3 month old for some friends of ours - until Christmas anyway. She just returned to work today from maternity leave and has decided to stay home but said she'd work through December. So, instead of them finding daycare for one month, I had said I would babysit. BOY, I'm remembering really quickly how much your back hurts after carrying a baby around all day!!! Kale did SO good today, considering he's been mommy's only concern for the last two years. He wanted so badly to hold her and "pet" her, as he would say. It will be a fun month, but I think I will also be ready to have my "normal" life back when all is said and done too.