Excited for Christmas!

Today was the first day of Christmas vacation and although in our house, that merely means that Bella doesn't spend her usual 2 hours at preschool in the morning, it changed the feel of our home entirely.  We spent the entire morning in our pjs, listened to Christmas music, made Gingerbread cookies, finished our present for Kelly, and played in the first snowfall (more like snow dusting) of Winter.  Such a fun day!  I love this time of year.

We had a snowball fight outside and the younger two wanted to ride bikes.  Christian discovered that it's kinda tricky riding a tricycle snow pants and boots.  It made him quite cranky at first.  He finally got the hang of it, though.

Bella is in the process of learning to ride without training wheels and so I took the pedals off her old little bike so she could use it like a balance bike - just sit and walk it with her feet to practice balance.  She's loving it and I'm happy I saved all that money not buying a balance bike.

We did homeschool during Christian's nap and Bella was so excited to join in.  She has a much harder time with math than Benjamin does, but she's right where he's at in spelling, despite her age.  So I had Benjamin read to us to practice reading, then I made up a spelling game to play together, and then we did separate math activities.  Bella amazes me with her determination.  She had a super hard time with the math but she never gave up. She just kept sitting there and struggling and making mistakes and I kept explaining it and trying different ways of making it clear to her.  She's a tough girl.  So different from Benjamin who just flips out when something doesn't make sense immediately and he doesn't get a 100% on the first try.  I was really proud of her despite her problems with it.  She really enjoys learning and school work.  She comes to me all the time with papers on which she's written her own made up math problems.  "Mommy, 5+10= 15!!" she'll declare proudly, holding up her paper with the numbers written in bright orange highlighter diagonally down the page.  So cute.

We're also doing a really fun unit this week on ocean animals.  Every few weeks, I sit down with Benjamin and we plan what things he'd like to learn about.  I have him give me topics and then he brainstorms questions within those topics that he wants to research.  For this week's unit he said he wanted to understand better how fish in the deep parts of the ocean handle the pressure and lack of sunlight.  He also wanted to understand how a giant whale could survive by eating something so small as krill.  We did the deep ocean stuff earlier this week and today we researched the whale.  In researching it we found tons of cool interactive websites on whales and lots of other information that brought up questions we hadn't even thought to ask.  Both Bella and Benjamin were really into it.  I love when that happens. To finish it off, just for fun, we watched the part of Finding Nemo where Dory and Marlin talk to whale and then get swallowed by it.  The kids were laughing so hard.  I love that we can all be together like this.  It makes me so happy that I have this time to spend with them and that they can be with each other more too.

Here's where I often find my three: 

This is a division wall between my living room and kitchen area.  They will push a chair over, all three climb up there, and call it "the train."  Then they'll play up there and make up all sorts of stories.  Christian will scream out "All aboard!" at random intervals and they have a blast.  It always makes me laugh.

My boys also love to cuddle together.  Yesterday Benjamin was cold and huddled under the blanket on the floor when Christian walked by with his milk.  "Want to come cuddle with me?" Benjamin called to him.  "Okay!" Christian responded excitedly and crawled under.  It lasted about two minutes before Christian became bored laying there, but they really are so cute together.

Can't wait for Christmas!  Only a few more days!

Our Weekend Vacation

Hello?  Anyone still out there?  Sorry about the long silence.  Sometimes life just simply gets the better of me and certain things fall off the radar.  I'm back now, though, and in full Christmas-season swing.  It has been so fun around here ever since Thanksgiving.  We've been celebrating Advent every Sunday, making cards and crafts for people (I think Bella painted on herself more than on any cards, though), listening to Christmas music, reading Christmas books, etc.  I've loved it.  And all my Christmas shopping is done!  Yay!

With the end of the year also comes the last of the vacation days, so Kelly took a day off and we took a trip to the glorious metropolis of Toledo, OH.  ;)  After our 23 hour drive to Yellowstone, we decided we wanted something a little closer to home.  The one hour to Toledo was perfect.  The first day we visited the Toledo Zoo and saw their "Lights Before Christmas" display. That was lots of fun. Like Temple Square at night and the Zoo in one.  We got to pet snakes, ride the train and the carousel, get right up to a snow leopard and a bear (through glass, thank goodness), and watch some fun light shows too.  Of course, as usual, the kids also loved jumping on every statue they could find.  By the end, they were all quite tired, especially Benjamin.

That night we stayed in a hotel of which we only required two things - be close to the zoo and have a pool.  Luckily they didn't change their location on us at the last minute but they did decide to drain and completely refill their pool hours before we got there, so that pool was COLD!  Reminded me of a time I was in a contest to see who could stand in a near freezing river the longest and I won because I simply stayed in until my feet went numb.  Benjamin was a trooper and swam quite a bit, but Bella, Christian, and I mostly hung out in the knee deep parts and then spent most of the time playing around in the exercise room.

The second day we went to Toledo's children's museum - the Imagination Station.  A really great place with tons to do.  We liked the live science demonstrations the best.  Every hour someone would come on stage and do 20 minutes of science demos.  Those were amazing.  The kids also loved being able to make gingerbread houses because I'm a mean mom and have never let them make one at home. :)  There were a bunch of other really fun things there too like a bike up on a high wire, a giant mouse wheel, and a house that was built to look slanted on the inside so as you entered, you had the constant feeling that you were falling over.  It was so crazy to know that you're not falling and have seen the outside as stable, but no matter how hard you tell yourself that it's only an illusion, you can't get your body to stop feeling like it's falling.  People were crashing against the walls and screaming and straining to escape.  It was the wildest thing.  I was nauseous for a long time after I finally got out.

The whole trip took just over 24 hours and yet it felt like much longer.  It was fabulous.  The kids had a blast and want to go back.  The cool thing is that we can!  Nearly anytime! :)

The other day as we were making Christmas cards, Christian came to me asking me to put the CD case on his back.  I couldn't figure out why he wanted it, but asking a 2 year old why he's doing something is such a waste of time, so I just strapped it onto him.  "I'm CD boy!" he exclaimed and started dashing around like a super-hero.  Cracked us all up.  (And much better than "naked boy" which is his alter ego who fights crime every morning in our house.)

Halloween and My Birthday!

It was a fun Halloween/Birthday this year.  However, Christian and Bella both came down with a stomach bug that had them vomiting all afternoon, so we laid low and mostly just had fun at home.  Luckily it seems to be a 24 hour thing because other than some diarrhea for Bella, everyone feels much better today.

Our Halloween started a week ago, really.  We went to the zoo during their Zoo-Boo time so there was lots of fun stuff to see and do.  My kids loved the hay bale maze the most.

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Then we had the Spooktacular at Lifetime Fitness (the gym I go to).   Benjamin loved the rock climbing best and Bella happily stood in line for 30 minutes to get a seashell painted on her cheek (to go along with her Ariel costume).  My favorite was the outdoor Zumba class taught by two instructors dressed up as Wonder Woman.  It was really fun to do the class with Bella and all the other parents and kids.  Benjamin refused and sat in the car which I parked nearby. "I'm not going to dance in front of all those people!"  We didn't let him spoil our fun, though.

That same day we had our ward's trunk-or-treat.  Christian was too tired that afternoon to go car to car, so he sat with me in the back of our cluttered and sadly undecorated van and passed out candy.  He was just happy hanging out and eating a leftover waffle.

A few days later he had his own party with a few of his cute toddler pals.  There's another boy in the group too, but he wasn't feeling the Halloween spirit that day and was refusing to put on his costume for the picture.

Luckily Bella's sickness didn't make itself manifest until after preschool, so she was able to attend her preschool Halloween party yesterday.  She has that passive smile that she puts on for pictures that I find so amusing.  While the whole class of preschoolers fidgeted and messed around and looked different in every shot, she sat there with that exact same look on her face, completely still the entire time.

I was a witch this year and the kids loved my hat.  Here's Christian putting a spell on me.

Luckily the kids recovered just enough to trick-or-treat to a few houses.  Bella and Christian went home with  Kelly after 3 or 4 and then Benjamin and I went to the richer neighborhood and made out like bandits at the big houses until way past dark.  We had a blast together.  So fun to have a trick-or-treating pal again!   Although he had to constantly explain what he was (white ninja).  It wouldn't have been my choice of costume by any means, but he picked it out 2 months ago and has been dead set on it ever since.  He loved it!  That's all that matters to me.  (I liked it better than Bella's choice)  :) Flowy aqua-marine dress just doesn't say Ariel the Mermaid to me, but Bella will likely be some kind of princess for many Halloweens to come and I've just made my peace with it.  She sure looks beautiful, though, Little Miss Passive Smile.

Tomorrow Kelly and I go out for Indian food to really celebrate my birthday.  I'm excited!!  Hopefully all the stomach yuckiness is completely gone by then.

The kids love to take pictures of themselves and will often pose and then scream, "Come take our picture!!" or they'll pose each other and take the picture themselves.  Here's a couple cute ones I found on my camera this week.

Soccer Fun

This past Saturday was the last day of our fall soccer season.  It has been really fun.  I was Bella's coach and I have to say that it is a riot coaching 3 and 4 year olds!  They are so funny!  There's the one or two kids who are totally into it and do all the work and then there is the rest of the team that's an absolute comedy act out there - kicking it away from their own team members, shooting on the wrong goal, watching motionless as the ball bounces into their legs and rolls away, throwing the ball in right onto someone's head, sitting down on the field to chew their mittens, running out of bounds with the ball and just going and going and going as parents and coaches chase after them.  Of course, there's also the pack mentality - no concept of positions - just move as a mob around the field chasing the ball.  I had a great time.  They are really the sweetest kids, though, too.  We had a great time practicing our skills and playing all sorts of fun games and drills.  I was sad to see the season end.  I've signed up to be Benjamin's coach next season, though, so I'm excited for that.  Bella has decided to take a break from soccer for a bit.  It works out great for me because that was the one down-side to coaching Bella's team - that I never got to watch Benjamin play.

This past week we also went pumpkin picking and rode ponies at the barn.  Then we made our first jack-o-lanterns of the season.  Bella was very precise in telling me what she wanted.  A happy face with triangle eyes and a square nose.  So that's what I gave her.  Benjamin, however, wanted a "really scary" one.  I'm no jack-o-lantern artist, but I tried to be a little creative.  This was also the first year that Benjamin agreed to help hollow it out.  Up until now he hasn't been able to stand the feeling of the pulp, but he stuck with it this time and cleaned his out all by himself.  I couldn't get Christian to even touch the stuff.  He kept shouting "Yucky!" and stepping farther and farther away.  Bella finally went and played house with him while Benjamin and I finished.  I think they turned out well.

Checking In

I feel like it has been forever since I last wrote.  I don't think I've ever taken this long of a "vacation" from blogging.  Just shows how busy life is right now.  First off, I went to Germany the day after Labor day for my  grandmother's 90th birthday.  Just I went.  Not the kids.  That was fabulous.  I had never been away from them for more than a weekend and had never gone completely alone - always had the youngest with me the two times I've gone.  I'd forgotten how peaceful and easy traveling without kids was. I also LOVED being back in Germany and seeing so many of my family and friends again.  I had managed to forget how much I missed being there and I cried on the way home.   I definitely don't want to wait 5 years between visits again. So that trip was wonderful!  Although I really missed the kids.

Then I came back and immediately soccer, gymnastics, preschool (for Bella), and home school (for Benjamin) started.  That, in addition to church responsibilities and everything else in my life, threw me right into the thick of everything and I really hit a wall for a while.  Things felt incredibly overwhelming at first and I did quite a bit of crying that first week back home.  Probably also due to jet lag too, I guess.  In any case, I'm feeling a bit better now.  We're in the groove of life and things are going well.  Bella is loving school as I knew she would.  Home school has its ups and downs, but I know I'm doing the right thing.  Every day we do reading, spelling, writing, math, science, and music (piano).  We also do field trips that incorporate history/geography/art/etc.  It's been a lot of work preparing lessons, but I have really enjoyed teaching him these fun things. We do a lot of games and activities and experiments and I try to keep worksheets and book work to a minimum. Benjamin really enjoys it, but he's very lazy and hates to be pushed out of his comfort zone so it can be quite a battle some days. Every day we have at least one battle of wills in which he tries to get me to give up and let him goof off and forget about school work. I just always have to remember to stay focused, remain very calm and patient, focus on praise over criticism, and set realistic expectations.  Once he settles in and realizes he's not getting out of it and does what I ask, we do very well.  He always ends up saying how much fun we have, but of course, what kid wouldn't rather spend the whole day playing and relaxing?  I just hope these little battles lessen over time.

Other than that, not much else is going on - just lots of kids stuff...oh, and the primary program. I'm primary president, so that's been keeping me occupied too.  But I love fall and the cooler weather and the changing colors.  So beautiful here this time of year.  We've been visiting apple orchards and Greenfield Village, going on bike rides, and my mom came for a few days as well.  It's been so fun enjoying the return of the season.

 Bike ride on Hines Drive with half-way stop at the playground.

Plymouth Orchards w/Bella's preschool.

We brought our lunches and stayed after to enjoy more time outdoors.

Three Cedars Farm with my mom.  The obligatory hay-stack jumping photo.  I've taken one here every year.  I noticed the stacks were much, much shorter this year.  Maybe it was deemed a safety hazard   Still fun to jump on, though.

Hayride around the farm and pumpkin patch.  So fun to have Mimi with us!

We also spent a day at the Henry Ford museum.  Here's Benjamin running a "driving the model T" simulation.  Those cars were complicated to drive!  It was a fun way to learn.

The kids LOVED pretending to drive this huge train.  They were turning cranks and pulling levers all over the place.  I worried they'd rip something right off.

We spent nearly an hour in the simulated airplane.  It is in three parts, with each part representing commercial airplanes of a different era.  We took turns being pilot, stewardess, and passenger.  They later called this part their favorite of the day.  My favorite part was sitting on the Rosa Parks bus and the fact that we were there at 1pm on a Thursday so we practically had the museum to ourselves!  Yay for home school!  :)