Cousins and Turtles

"TT" and the gang!

Sam with his big fish!

This weekend Scott's sister Sue and her girls, Haley and Kristina came into town. Sue attended Greenville College and so she wanted to come back for her class reunion. Scott always loves to go to Greenville's homecoming football game and so we met up with them there. It was a really windy day especially in southern IL on a football field. However, the kids did not care. They were happy to be with cousins enjoying a bounce house and huge inflatable slide! It was a fun time!

After the game we drove back to STL, got some dinner (finally) at Chevy's, went home and tucked everyone in. All the big girls got to sleep together which was a treat and they did a good job of falling asleep. Even Emma. After church on Sunday we took everyone fishing at Lewis Park. This is one of our favorite fishing spots because you can always catch something. The kids had dug up about 60 worms before we left and so we had a nice variety of bait! It worked! Everyone got to catch something. Sam caught the biggest fish and he was quite proud. Aunt Sue also found a turtle in the pond. I don't think it was supposed to be in the pond because I really think it is a land/box type turtle not a water turtle. I sound like I really know my turtles! Well, by now I should! We have had at least 5 turtles over the last 3 years that my children have nurtured. One even got away and our neighbor returned it!! So guess what...we have another turtle. "TT" is his/her name and she has currently been upgraded to a box on our kitchen floor because it is too cold outside. I don't think we will keep TT for long because we have been told they are somewhat hard to keep as pets for a long time. However, our kids do need a pet. You should hear the way they talk to and care for this turtle. It is really cute. Claire especially loves the thing and will take it outside for exercise time! I need a pet about the speed of the turtle. It is contained in a box, it is nice, it does not bite or hiss, when it doesn't want to play it goes in it's shell, my kids can't hurt it, it goes on the paper and it doesn't eat much! More than I can say for my last pet experience :)

Thumbs Up!

After years of suggesting, nagging and bribing we have finally succeeded in having a thumb free household! This is truly a huge accomplishment for us. We were blessed with wonderful babies who could put themselves to sleep and soothe themselves by using their wonderful thumbs. This was always cute in a way. Claire did the hook, with her index finger over her nose while her thumb was in her mouth. Emma did the not so cute, index finger in her nostril while her thumb was in her mouth and well Sam, we just pretty much thought anything he did was cute. The interesting thing with Sam was that he is left handed and sucked his left thumb so we knew his habit would be easier to break once he started writing and doing more with this hands. However cute it was, it had lasted too long. Claire stopped when she was 4 so we were way behind with the middle child!

Okay, enough thumb history! Emma was pouring over the American Girl catalog a little over a month ago choosing lots of outfits she wanted. I said, "Emma, what are you going to do with all those outfits? I think you need to get a doll first." Grandma Lorene has been promising her a doll for about a year if she stopped sucking her thumb. She instantly said, "Mom, I want to try the band-aid again." So there we were again wrapping her thumb in a band-aid and seeing if she would keep it on and keep it dry or out of her mouth. I was not hopeful because we had been down this road before. The next day, little Sam wanted to join in and 30 days later here we are! We did some dollar store prizes, painted fingernails and lots of encouraging words along the way. We also prayed for self control and motivation to continue.

So here are some pictures of Emma and her American Girl Doll, Elizabeth Cole. She loves her and it is really great that both of the girls are into these now. They have played with their hair endlessly since Wednesday night. Sam got a playmobil castle and dragon which have also proved to be hours of fun. I feel like it is Christmas early! Maybe overboard, but we have really been waiting for this day for a LONG time!

All About S-A-M!

Sam with Mrs. Burzinski. Telling about his cross.

Sam and his buddies clapping out this name

Today was Sam's "All About Me" day in JK! This is a special day where you are given a box to fill with 5 of your most precious things/toys, a baby picture or anything special to you. You are supposed to be able to tell why it is special to you. Mrs. Burzinski is really great at helping the little ones out with lots of leading questions!

Sam chose to bring a transformer from McDonald's, a robot that walks, his viewfinder, a turtle made out of perler beads, a cross he painted at the pottery store and a baby picture. Here is what he said about each object and the order he pulled them out.

1. the cross--"This is special to me because Jesus died on the cross for my sins".
   
2. the turtle--"My mom made this for me with green, blue, purple, pink, green...beads I think. She then made them all stick together with the iron. The iron is hot."
   
3. the viewfinder--"you look in here and you see Sponge Bob!" It makes lots of sounds and this disk shows all these pictures." He agreed to have it placed in a center at center time so that everyone could take a look, not at Sponge Bob, but at his Cars movie disk!
   
4. the robot--"I got this at Target, no Walgreens! It used to have lots of guns but I lost them" (mom took them away). It is cool because his eyes light up."
   
5. the transformer--"This looks like a truck, but it becomes a robot. I got it from McDonald's"
   
6. The baby picture--"Now I am 4!"

After presenting your box you get to pick special friends to help you spell your name and find out how many syllables it has. Sam chose Miles, Charlie and Jonny as his special friends. What a fun morning for him in JK!

More Grandparent's Day photos

Emma working hard in her classroom

Emma, Vero and Mommy

Emma showing PaPa Chas and Grandma Lorene around her classroom.

She made them a special card to take home!

Fun Saturday

Today was our typical Saturday with a few twists! Scott took Sam hunting for the first time. He had mentioned it to him last night and then at 4:45 AM the little guy awoke, came in our bed, wide awake and said, "We go hunting daddy?" How could any hunter say no to that! So they got on their camo, made some hot chocolate with marshmallows, grabbed their bow (for a deer) and their gun (for a turkey)...you never know what you might see! They loaded up and drove to Cuba, MO to a friend's farm. Scott said Sam talked the whole way there. While walking to "the perfect hunting spot" Scott did see a white tailed friend however it was too far away to get with a bow. After they found the perfect spot two boys hung out and enjoyed nature, hot chocolate and practiced their whispering. After being out there for a couple of hours the whispering became harder and the lure of the pond was calling. "Daddy, can we go fishing yet?" So, they went fishing and caught a bass. Then they called it a day and came home. I think it was a very great day for both of them. Scott is thrilled to have a hunting buddy and Sam thinks it is so cool to get to be with daddy on an adventure. This will surely become even more special and more common as Sam gets older. However, at 4 it is still quite exhausting. He did sleep about an hour on the way home and was in bed early tonight. Whispering is so exhausting!!
The girls and I had a relaxing morning of sleeping in until 6:30 am! Then we enjoyed french toast with blueberries and some TV. We then wrapped up little invitations to a Halloween party and delivered them to some of our neighbors. Then we ran an errand, rushed home to get ready for soccer and had a snack lunch.
Then the craziness began with Emma's soccer game at noon and Claire's soccer game at 3. Emma's team lost she will tell you 0-3. Claire's team won 4-0 and Claire even scored a goal! It was a beautiful day for soccer games, a bit chilly after our long summer, but nice!
After the games we came home and played more soccer in the backyard. I cooked dinner and we had a relaxing evening at home. It is days like this when I realize how much I love my family. Granted, there was fighting, screaming, hurt feelings, etc. but as I looked out my kitchen window and I saw 3 happy, healthy kids playing soccer with their daddy I couldn't help but think, "I am so lucky. I don't want them to grow up." I know they will and we will have more Saturdays were the boys are hunting and the girls are playing, but I do hope that when the day ends it ends like today with everyone together enjoying one another! Sam would say he hopes it ends with "more deer shot!", as he prayed in his dinner prayer tonight!

Challenges

Today I officially registered to run a half marathon on Nov. 2nd. Yes, you heard me right...that was Lisa (I) and half marathon in the same sentence. Crazy I know. I have never really been a runner, but over the past year or two I have ran occasionally to meet certain goals of running a few 5K's. I have never really enjoyed it. I basically started because I needed a form of exercise that could burn calories fast. I always thought it would be fun to run with someone else, but I never imagined I would be able to run and talk. I can barely breathe most of the time! This past spring I began running with a buddy (Melanie) and she has motivated me like you would not believe! We actually have fun running together and I would guess we can manage to talk now about 75% of the time. We have steadily increased our distance and are up to 7.5 miles. We are not fast and I am not graceful, but it is really fun. We have to squeeze the running in when our husbands are available to keep our kids and so it is a challenge. But I guess you could say we like challenges. My goal is to finish the race before the course closes!!

Grandparent's Day

Friday, October 10th was Grandparents day at CCS! This was a fun 1/2 day of school where the kids get to show off their school, their daily routines and participate in a fun performance for their grandparents. Our kids were joined by my Grandparents, their Great Grandparents, PaPa Chas and Grandma Lorene. Parents usually are not welcome because of the shortage of parking, etc. However, when I found out Emma had a speaking part in the Kindergarten performance I just had to volunteer so that I could come and see her. I was so disappointed to find out that my digital camera quit working on that day so I was unable to take any photos of her doing her part. I am so thankful for another mom who took these pictures of my kids so that I could share them. It is so funny that a few days after you start a blog your camera goes in the shop for 4-6 weeks! Maybe this is why I have been a dinosaur for so long!

Emma did a great job speaking about the wise man who built his house upon the rock. The theme this year was WE "DIG" CCS and was all about building, focusing on the school's new building and future expansion. All the grandparents got to wear yellow hard hats and it made for a fun atmosphere. PaPa Chas and Grandma Lorene are always sports when it comes to that stuff and I am so very thankful that they are so interested in the lives of my little ones. After dismissal at 11:30 we headed down the street to IHOP for lunch! Kids love that place. I guess they don't notice that you stick to the carpet when you walk! I am always surprised when my kids eat more than my grandparents! It was a great lunch and a great time to end our day with PaPa Chas and Grandma Lorene.

We missed PaPa Bill, Grandma Lynne and PaPa Dave. Hopefully next year! And we miss Grandma Linda too. Today is October 21st (the day I am writing this) and that is the day she died 13 years ago. She is alive in our conversations and in our hearts.

Emma is 6!

Thursday was Emma's sixth birthday. I can hardly believe she is 6! She is such a fun kid, who really enjoys life and wants to sing about it--all the time!!

Thursday morning Emma woke up to a donut and a breakfast bar prepared just for her by her loving siblings. She then spotted the brightly colored wrapped gifts that her siblings had transferred on to the kitchen table for her. Quickly the questioning began. "Is it a guitar? because it is long and narrow just like a guitar is shaped." Emma kept questioning and I kept answering, "I don't know if it is a guitar. We will have to wait until Daddy gets home to find out." Emma has been wanting a guitar for a while now so we thought it would be the perfect gift.

I came in to Emma's classroom to celebrate her birthday at school. I brought in chocolate rice crispie treats for her to share with her class. It was fun!

After soccer practice we went home and much to our surprise daddy was home...this meant she could open the present! She loves the guitar. She loves to sing and playing the guitar is the perfect accompaniment. Of course she doesn't really know how to play it but she strums away and her songs sort of remind me of Phoebe on Friends...whatever is on her mind is worth singing about!

After a few practice sessions on the guitar Emma also remembered that mommy had promised she could have her fingernails painted for the first time ever! Emma has not sucked her thumb for about 3 weeks and this is a prize for making it so long. This is a huge accomplishment for her. More to come on this!

After all these festivities we went out to eat at the "Green Roof" (Emma's fave chinese restaurant). Our waitress was a lovely chinese woman who taught all of us how to say Thank You in Chinese "Shi, Shi"--I am sure I am not writing this correctly, but those of you who are up on your chinese can correct me. It was fun, the kids loved saying this and she would make them say it every time she would bring them a plate, napkins, etc. The restaurant was nearly empty so we could be loud and giggly!

Kit Kittredge

Last week Claire had her first book report. She had to dress up as the main character of a book and then talk for up to 5 minutes about the book including the title, author, setting, intro. of main characters and the plot of the book. She chose Kit Kittredge, an American girl, who lived during the 1930's-The Great Depression. Did you know that the Great depression began in 1929? Hey book reports are good for moms too!

She did a wonderful job and only looked at her notecards once. She even let me come in to school to watch her.

Great job Claire! The picture is of Kit (Claire) and her friend Ruthie (Claire's American Girl doll)

I am NOT a dinosaur!

As many of you know I like 35mm cameras better than digital. I have been a little slow to enter the digital age. Scott and I love technology, but we never really learn how to use it. Or maybe I should say we never learn how to use it really well, usually just enough to be dangerous! We end up getting overwhelmed and therefore we don't use the technology at all. We were never good at video cameras, my scrapbooking is years behind and digital photos are now stacking up. How do we chronicle our life? My answer for now is going to be this blog. I am going to try it. I am going to leave my prehistoric life behind and put myself out there...on the internet!!

So, check us out when you get a chance. I will try to update this with photos and happenings in our daily life. As a family with 3 small children I am sure the posts will always be late, but hopefully by days and not by months!

Thanks to my bloggy friends who inspired me to do this--you know who you are because you are reading this!!