A visit from California

My brother from California came on Tuesday for a short visit. I have another brother who lives in Greenville, SC and then one who is in school in NC..They are also coming to my house this weekend. All of my brothers will be under my roof this weekend! So far, we are trying to make the most of every minute and that has not left alot of time for blogging. I will write a review of our time together and hopefully some GOOD pictures come Monday!

Static Electricity

Two of my children have thick, curly, coarse hair. They have never had static in their hair because it is usually very short and so coarse. Of curse that would be my boys! They get their hair from my side of the family. With child number three, God decided to give her hair like her father's..FINE and full of static!!!

Laurie has such fine hair and every morning we have to work with it to get rid of some or hopefully most of the static. Sometimes, we put some detangling spray in it that Johnson's and Johnson's make and it is helpful. But usually she wakes up looking a little something like this...

Good Dental Health

Nicholas studied all about dental health last week at preschool. They made a set of sparling teeth out of paper and glitter. It turned out very cute! They also had a visit from a dentist who gave the kids a new toothbrush, flossers, and some toothpaste. Nicholas really enjoyed the visit from the dentist. Today he came home from school with an award! It is a Terrific Teeth Award for being able to show his teacher good teeth brushing techniques. I am so proud of him!
He is also in the process of getting rid of his sippy cup and learning to use a cup with a straw. We are doing pretty well with that, however he still has to have his water at night in a sippy cup. We are also going to start working on staying dry through the night so that we can give up the pull ups too. He did well last night..I think he only peed once in the pull up and he even got up at 5:30 am to use the bathroom. Nicholas is growing up so fast! I still think of him as my baby boy but I guess since he is almost four it is time for him to loose some of his baby things. He does have a good motivator though and that is helping us with this big transition.

My race training progress

As many of you know, I am training for a 5k in April. I ran (well it is more a walk and then run some too) the whole length now twice this week. I am going according to a training schedule that my SS teacher gave me and so I walked 3.5 minutes and ran 1.5 minutes of every 5 minutes for the time that it took me to get to 3 miles on the treadmill. I completed the 3 miles in 43 minutes 45 seconds on Tuesday and today I finished in 42 minutes! It is a challenge and a couple of years ago I never would have dreamed that I would be training for a RACE. But it is a little addictive and I guess this is a good one to have. I am looking forward to the race and my goal is to finish the race in 30 minutes! Dream big right? If all goes well with this race, I may try the half marathon too.
If all this running does not help my weight to budge then I guess I am just suppossed to be this size. However, I don't think I can sweat this much three times a week for months on end and not loose at least some weight.
All continues to go well on the race training front...

Laurie's first trip to the dentist

Last night, the children were playing in the den when we heard a loud crash-that is never a good sound! After the loud crash I heard an ear piercing scream coming from Laurie. I ran in there and discovered that she had fallen face first into the hardwood floor. There was no blood but I noticed that part of her right front tooth was missing! Laurie had chipped her front tooth!!!
Immediately this morning I called the dentist and they told me to bring her in. Laurie had never been to the dentist since she is only 22 months old. She did remarkably well though until it was time for the dentist to look in her mouth. I helped by holding her hands and once she realized that the dentist was not going to hurt her she relaxed and let him take a good look. And a good look it must have been because he told me that she would need braces..she's 22 months old for crying out loud!
The dentist explained that since her baby teeth were touching that meant that they were crowded and it would only stand to reason that the permanent ones would also be crowded and probably more so since they are bigger teeth. I had braces myself so I was expecting at least one of my kids to have to wear them too. He also said that we really needed to brush her teeth well since there was more of a chance of her getting cavities since the teeth were touching. GREAT! Laurie is our one child who does NOT like her teeth to be brushed. It is quite an ordeal every night to get the job done far less to get it done right. He also said that only drinking water in between meals would help because less sugar would stay on her teeth and so less cavities (hopefully). I poured out her juice (which I water down anyway) when we got home and put some water in her sippy cup and sure enough she is drinking it. I hope she continues to like the water because she will be drinking alot more of it from now on. Come to think of it, it would probably be a good idea for everyone to drink water in between their meals. I feel like my boys would not like that idea but I may need to support Laurie so she does not think I am punishing her or something.
As for her chipped tooth, he said that it was fine and that we only needed to be concerned if it turned dark in the next week or so. If it does, we will have to take her back and they will have to pull the roots out since the tooth will be dead. The dentist thought that it would probably be fine though and that nothing else would happen to the tooth. It was alot to take in especially in her first visit. Laurie was a happy girl by the time she left though because she got a Dora tooth brush and a prize! So I would say that all in all her first dentist visit was just fine.

Spring Clothes!

Erin and I went to Gaffney today to buy some...SPRING CLOTHES!!! Yes it is only February but it is never too early to start especially when you have to buy for three children. Carter's has done an exceptional job with their spring lines this year. They have adorable patterns and colors. I love their clothes and the prices are usually good especially if you have a coupon.
I was also on the hunt for an outfit for Jonathan to wear to school on Friday because they are taking the spring pictures that day. I didn't want him to have to wear a real wintry looking outfit for his spring picture, but it needed to be something warm since it is only suppossed to be 49 degrees on Friday. I got him a blue checked long sleeve button up shirt which he may wear with some khakis. I also bought a beautiful bright green argyle sweater vest which he may wear with khakis and a shirt. I only problem with that is that it really needs a short sleeve shirt not a long sleeved one and I don't want to have him be cold all day just so he will look good in a picture. Why can't the school schedule those pictures at a later date?? Here's a crazy idea...why not schedule them closer to spring?

An attempt at a new hobby

As many of you know, I have started going faithfully to the gym. I enjoy the 'me time' and I think it has had some positive benefits for my physical and mental health. Our SS teacher, Kevin Harrison, has challenged our class to participate in a 5k on April 25, 2009. I am not sure if I will be able to run the 3.2 miles necessary to complete the race (I may have to walk some) but I am going to give it my best shot. I am embarking on a training schedule to increase my chances of running the whole race and just as I commit to this race, guess what they put out in the grocery store?? EASTER CANDY!!!
I have a favorite candy for each holiday and usually they only make it around that particular time of the year. For example, at valentine's day my favorite is those jellied candy hearts and at easter it is the sweet tarts jelly beans. I could not resist so I bought a bag at the store..However, I am dividing them up into small amounts (one serving size) in little baggies for each day. Hopefully that will ensure that I do not eat too many in one day or at one time. But I am about to eat my whole serving for today just in the time it is taking me to write this post! I hope this really works!
I really want to run the race in April and I would like to continue running races in the future. How knows maybe this really will develop into my new hobby!

Happy Valentine's Day

My kids all had their valentine's day parties at school yesterday, so I am sure they think the holiday happens on the 13th not the 14th. I tried to take some pictures of the kids at Jonathan's party but you know how hard it is to photograph moving subjects! They did have to wait till this morning to get their presents from us.
I am so thankful to have such a great family...a husband who truly loves me and three kids who we both adore and who love each other too. I love you all!

Laurie loves Boz (we got her a new Boz video for v day)

The boys got DS games for v day-animal crossing and a football game.

Laurie looked so cute in her new outfit!

On a personal note..

I went to the gym this morning, as is now becoming my norm, and biked for 30 minutes. I biked almost 11 miles in those 30 minutes..that means I was doing a 3 minute mile!! I am thrilled about that but I am not thrilled about my weight (it does not seem to be budging). I am curious, does any one else have these problems??
I would be interested in starting a support group of sorts to help each other stay on track with our eating as well as the exercise and see if my weight will finally budge right on out of my life. Send me a comment if you are interested, especially those in my church who I know have similar goals. Let's help each other!

Homemade Valentines

I enjoy making things. I have made my children baby book scrap books instead of traditional baby books, I make wreaths for different places in my house, and I love to make the kids valentines special.

This year since both boys are in school, I had to come up with two good ideas. Nicholas' class is the smaller of the two and it is made up of all boys so I did something masculine (or as masculine as you can get for valentine's day). I made little lockers filled with m&ms for his class. Jonathan has 17 kids in his class so I needed something that would go for either a boy or a girl and that was simple. I made little bags of teddy grahams and gummi bears and put a tag on all of them that said 'bear hugs from Jonathan'. For all the teachers, I traced the boys hands, wrote a note on them and placed the hands for a bottle of lotion (it smelled so good because I went to Bath and Body Works!). I hope everyone enjoys their valentines.

Valentines for Nicholas' class

Valentines for Jonathan's class

Valentines for the teachers

Dinner by candle light

Last night during the storm, our power went out. Chris was at home with all the children when it first happened. He said the children clung to him like glue until they could find the flashlights and even then they needed to be in the same room with him. I was out trying to do some valentine's day shopping as well as picking up some supper. Once I heard about the power outage, I finished up the errands and headed home to a dark house. I arrived with the food and we set up dinner in the dining room. I lit 2 big jar candles, 3 other big candles, and a baby jar candle all but one in the middle of the table. Dinner was great! The food was not spectacular-it was take out from McDonald's. The setting and the fact that we had no distractions was great. No television, music, or computers took away from our conversation-and my kids have lots to say if they are not distracted! I would have loved to have had a picture but I would have had trouble finding my camera.
So the next time you need some quality family time, imagine the lights are out and have dinner by candle light. And yes we did get our power back.

Potty training boot camp-DAY THREE

Today, Laurie did have a small victory-she pee peed in the potty this afternoon! I made a big deal about, Nicholas made a huge deal about it, Jonathan has mildly impressed, and Chris was still at work. Even though her entire family that was at home at the time cheered her on, I am not sure she made the connection.
She is learning how to sit on the potty (I have to read her a Boz book for her to remain on the seat). She has also learned how to ease herself off the potty when she does not want to try to pee. I am working very hard at this training!!
Tommorrow we should be at home more (we still have to go to the gym though) so maybe we will try the big girl panties again. I think I will reserve future posts on this subject to times when we have great progress to report. Maybe that will be sometime this month...

AWANA Adventure

Tonight during AWANA, the game time leaders and a few others of us took the kids in groups for a tour of the new building. We are scheduled to move in on March 8! Jonathan had not been inside the new building before and he was totally impressed by what he saw...
They showed the kids their new SS rooms, the choir room, and the sanctuary (complete with a new baptismal). The kids and leaders even prayed in their new rooms! It was so sweet. They could not figure out what the smell in the building was. It is of course that new building smell..that won't last long.
Jonathan enjoyed the tour so much that he came home and told his daddy all about it. He even told him about 'the people who could take a bath somehow' (those who would be getting baptized). We are so blessed to have such a nice new facility.

Jonathan starts big boy MATH

Today in Jonathan's homework folder was a math sheet. This is not something new, we have had math sheets before. This sheet was different though...he had actual addition problems on this sheet! What was even more impressive to me is that Jonathan knew how to do them and was able to come up with all the right answers!! I am amazed at what they teach our children in kindergarten these days. I know people learn best when they are young so I guess the school is trying to introduce all they can as early as they can. As I can say is GO JONATHAN GO!!

Potty training boot camp- DAY TWO

I have come to a few conclusions today...first, don't start potty training a child during your busiest week of the year (so far) and second, it is very difficult to potty train a child who does not fully understand you!

We did not make much progress today..Laurie sat on the potty several times and one time she even attempted to wipe herself. She also did actually pee in the potty but it was not for her mother but for her cousin! We have been on the go all day and that makes it harder to keep her on a schedule. We also tried big girl panties but I am not sure that it helped...again it would help if she understood me when I told her to keep them dry.

I did receive some information about a book that is suppossed to help with this process. It is called "Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day: Proven Secrets of the Potty Pro" by Teri Crane. I may have to go to Barnes and Noble and check it out if we do not make any more progress this week.

I have confidence though that success is just within our grasp...so Laurie and I will keep plugging away at this venture.

Potty training boot camp- DAY 1

Laurie and I started our adventure today..and I do mean adventure! We started off wearing pull ups and trying to sit on the potty and use it every hour or hour and a half. My method did not work well because Laurie peeped more on the floor than in the potty!! She actually had taken her pull up off and peeped before we made it to the potty.
I believe that my strategy will change for tommorrow...I am going to buy Laurie some training pants and use those instead of pull ups (since we went through about 6 of them just this morning)and really give her my undivided attention.

We will give you an update of our progress (hopefully) tommorrow.

Jonathan's sick day

Jonathan has been pretty healthy this winter however, yesterday evening he started running a fever. He did not go to choir last night at church. We kept monitoring him throughout the night and even though he had a good night's sleep, he still had a fever this morning. His fever was only 100 degrees but I did not want to take any chances. He probably just has a virus but I did not want to send him to school sick..so he is at home with me today. Jonathan did tell me this morning that he did not want to go to school. This is unlike him since he usually wants to go and really enjoys school.
The medicine must have kicked in though because I can't even tell that he feels bad right now. Oh well, this gives him another day to recover. Don't worry Jonathan, the school week will start for you tommorrow!

Guess what Laurie did...

Laurie has been showing signs of readiness for potty training of late...However, Mommy has not been quite ready.
After our little episode tonight, though, I am very ready for her to be potty trained! I was in the kitchen eating supper and grading some tests for Chris when I heard him call me from our bedroom. He said he needed some help so I went back there. I found a naked baby girl with poop all over her body (on her bottom, hands, tummy, and legs). Laurie had pooped in her diaper and tried to change herself!! She got the dirty diaper off and had picked up a clean one in her attempt. She wanted to be changed every time she peed in her pull ups or diapers this morning and so I knew the time was at hand but I never thought she would try to clean herself up after a dirty job. I remained calm on the outside and ran her some bath water. After cleaning her up as well as I could with wipes, I put her in the tub. She loves a bath so she thought it was great. Laurie now has her Dora pull up and pajamas on so let's hope she will leave well enough alone.
BUT come Monday morning (when we will have our new potty seat thanks to Nanny), Laurie and Mommy start potty training boot camp!! Anybody else have one they need me to train alongside Laurie??
Who knows, maybe she will be potty trained by the time she is 2! That would beat her brothers' achievements in that area all to pieces.
PS I thought I would spare you'll any pictures!

Pancake, pajama party

Nicholas had a fun day at preschool today. His class had a pancake, pajama party! What is a pancake, pajama party you may ask?? Well from what I can gather, you wear your pajamas to school and have a great time making and then eating pancakes with all your friends. Nicholas said it was fun but he also informed me that they had waffles instead of pancakes! The teachers at his preschool make learning so creative and fun..Nicholas enjoys going to school so much.

He must be learning lots too...because some of his other teachers are telling me of some pretty amazing things he can do. For example, his Awana teacher, Ms. Tanya, told me on Wednesday that Nicholas has been giving all the children their name tags as they come in to the class. I knew Nicholas was recognizing his own name but I was unaware that he also recognized everyone else's name in his class (I think they have about 10-12 kids). He also has to be distinguishing between first and last names because both are printed on the name tags.

Nicholas, Mommy is so proud of you! Thank you too for being such a good helper..keep up the good work.

Another school activity we missed

This morning the PTO at Jonathan's school hosted an event called Muffins with Mom. We did not make it since the event started at 7:15 am! It is hard enough for me to get all three of my kids ready in time to get Jonathan to school by 7:40 (and the two little ones just go in their pjs)..far less to be somewhere by 7:15 all ready to go. Besides Jonathan decided that he would rather sleep in a little more than be at school early for this event. Jonathan also missed an event called Doughnuts with Dad that they had a few months ago because Chris has to be at Byrnes around the same time that they were holding the breakfast.
I feel a little bad for him, but he has not seemed upset about it. We have made an effort to attend the events that the PTO hosts in the evenings..we really enjoyed the fall festival and plan to attend the upcoming family activity night. I guess our family just does not do well early in the morning, unless you happen to be Nicholas or Laurie who like to get up early (around 7am) even on Saturdays!!

Another minor victory

As some of you know, I am doing my best to become a member in GOOD standing at the gym. I try to go three times a week and this morning I ran/walked 3 miles!!! This is the first time that I have been able to go that far. I am so excited! And the funny thing is that my body is not hurting like I thought it would...Of course it helps to have a friend to distract you while you are plugging away on the treadmill. Thanks Erin!

Groundhog Day 2009

Today is groundhog day...and yes he DID see his shadow! Oh well, it usually takes six more weeks for spring to get here anyway so we might as well have winter. I never got this whole holiday anyway. Nicholas however made the cutest craft today at preschool and I thought I would share it with you all. They attached a groundhog cutout onto a tongue depressor and put it through a hole in the bottom of a styrofoam cup. At the top of the cup they attached some grass made out of green paper. The groundhog goes up and down like he is coming out of the ground and going back in..it is the cutest thing!

Happy 100th day of school

Jonathan really seems to be enjoying his elementary school. He has a great teacher and is learning alot..everyday. Today was the 100th day of school and each child in his class made a snack consisting of 100 items (things like m&ms and mini marshmallows). He ate all of it but the mini marshmallows at school so all I got to see was a bag with leftovers in it. He did however bring home a cute hat they had made at school. Congratulations to all you kids,teachers, and parents for making it thus far...only 80 more school days till summer!