I can't believe it - the Christmas holiday has finally ended. I'm happy to say: we did it! With all of the traveling and visiting this year with three kids so young, it was exhausting.
We've barely been home the past week. We've been home so little that I haven't had time to keep up with my home (it's after midnight the day after Christmas and I'm taking a little break after doing some mad cleaning all evening!). Kaitlyn has started getting very overstimulated with her lack of hometime, and even one of our dogs, Chevy, has been so lonely he's been cuddling with us under the covers at night (usually he sleeps at our feet) and being quite insistant about it. He misses his people! And here I thought he'd appreciate the break from all of the kids!
Christmas morning we woke the kids up at about 7am because we had to be to one of my aunts around 11am. We needed time to open gifts. Once I had the little tree on and got dressed, we told the kids Santa had come. My son (the two year old) shot out of bed like a rocket, rolled across his sister who was in her nest on the floor next to my bed, grabbed her hair, raised her head (to wake her up), groaned at her (still nonverbal), put her head back down and ran out to see what Santa had brought. Once he saw all of the presents, he ran back into the room and pounced on his sister to wake her so they could open presents. Bret and I were laughing hysterically. We sang happy birthday to Jesus and explained why we get to have gifts on Christmas, then gave the gifts to everyone.
The homemade gifts were a hit, but thanks to my sister in law who played santa, the kids got a lot of clothing and educational toys. Because of my husband being out of work so long and struggling with his bipolar disorder, the kids weren't going to have a Christmas with anything storebought from us. My sister in law offered to take care of Christmas, so the kids would be taken care of with items they were in need of, and I think she went a bit overboard. halfway through opening presents Christmas morning, the kids stopped opening - they were sick of it! I thought I'd never see that.
The holidays seemed to depress Bret a lot. He really didn't want to attend the Christmas Eve (Wigilia) party we always went to for my dads side of the family but he did come. Then he wasn't really up for the festivities on Christmas day but again forced himself to pretend to be in the spirit at least. We spent several hours today removing toys from all of the ties, plastic and cardboard, de-tagging and de-stickering clothing, washing/drying/folding clothing and finally finding a place to put everything. Then I spent a few hours cleaning after the kids went to bed, while Bret cleaned the carpets. Now I am going to get the clothes laid out for tomorrow, pack the diaper bag for a morning trip out to Sams Club, then get to bed myself. I'm tired!
The kids were blessed with many items they adore. My daughter got lots of pink clothes (and a lot with butterflies!), dress up clothing, jewelry, a kids digital camera and learning laptop. My son got his fill of trucks and cars, got some airplanes and helicopters to play with and other educational toys. My mom went shopping for them at Ikea and got them some pretty neat stuff, and got me a KitchenAid (doing a happy dance - it's able to hold enough dough for 6 loaves of bread at a time!).
Andrew went all through Wigilia without an accident in his pants - my aunt had been joking about how much time I spent in the bathroom (two kids who were drinkin a lot of water, had to use the bathroom a lot! Andrew needs help, and Alexis likes to explore new bathrooms, so I needed to be with them when they were in there). Christmas day however, Andrew had a lot of accidents. I just think the stress had added up to be too much for him and he had SOOO many new things to play with, I think he just forgot to use the potty. No problem! We'll see how tomorrow goes.
Tomorrow I have to make a run up to Sams club but other than that, I think it'll be a quiet day at home!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
What's been up
This was supposed to post a long time ago - right after Alexis got sick (she was better the next day).
I made chicken broth but in order to get a nutritious and healthy broth, it has to simmer for quite a few hours. I didn't have any on hand when Lexi first started showing signs of being sick, and I'll be darned if I use canned broth from the store, so I figured if nothing else Lexi could have the broth when it was done or we'd just have some on hand for the next time someone got sick... It's in my freezer now. :-)
I tried one of the "copycat" recipes for those Pillsbury crescent rolls. It tasted similar! The only downside to these was that it called for 1/2 cup of sugar! They were a bit on the sweet side to me, so the next time I make them I will likely use much less sugar. My kids and sugar don't mix, so we very rarely give them sweet andy or treats with a lot of sugar. After tonights dinner they got hyperactive and disruptive, typical of how they behave after 'too much ' sugar. In fact, I just now got Roo down to sleep and it's 9:40 - nearly three hours past his usual bedtime. There is an upside to that - Roo no longer eats his crayons. He spent about an hour doodling away with his crayons at the table this evening. I thought he was somewhat funny tonight - after putting the kids in bed, Roo stayed away but in his bed until his sister was asleep, then he came out to see me.
I tried to get him back in bed - at that point I was trying to make freezer bags for my FoodSaver and freeze my chicken stock in little bags. Kaitlyn was up and cranky and I was making my rounds - seal a FoodSaver bag, put Andrew back in bed, tend to Kaitlyn, fill a FoodSaver bag, put Andrew back in bed, tend to Kaitlyn, seal the FoodSaver bag, put Andrew back in bed, tend to Kaitlyn, put the stock in the freezer, put Andrew back in bed, tend to Kaitlyn... Seems at least once a day I have a cycle like that!
My goal for tomorrow is to make up a container of homemade beef stew seasoning and dry french onion soup mix (excellent over roasted potatoes... yummm!), make up a bunch of bread (white and wheat), make some bakable dough with the kids (and later make beads and objects for lacing and bake them), and I am planning on making my favorite honey-almond chicken recipe for tomorrows dinner.
I made chicken broth but in order to get a nutritious and healthy broth, it has to simmer for quite a few hours. I didn't have any on hand when Lexi first started showing signs of being sick, and I'll be darned if I use canned broth from the store, so I figured if nothing else Lexi could have the broth when it was done or we'd just have some on hand for the next time someone got sick... It's in my freezer now. :-)
I tried one of the "copycat" recipes for those Pillsbury crescent rolls. It tasted similar! The only downside to these was that it called for 1/2 cup of sugar! They were a bit on the sweet side to me, so the next time I make them I will likely use much less sugar. My kids and sugar don't mix, so we very rarely give them sweet andy or treats with a lot of sugar. After tonights dinner they got hyperactive and disruptive, typical of how they behave after 'too much ' sugar. In fact, I just now got Roo down to sleep and it's 9:40 - nearly three hours past his usual bedtime. There is an upside to that - Roo no longer eats his crayons. He spent about an hour doodling away with his crayons at the table this evening. I thought he was somewhat funny tonight - after putting the kids in bed, Roo stayed away but in his bed until his sister was asleep, then he came out to see me.
I tried to get him back in bed - at that point I was trying to make freezer bags for my FoodSaver and freeze my chicken stock in little bags. Kaitlyn was up and cranky and I was making my rounds - seal a FoodSaver bag, put Andrew back in bed, tend to Kaitlyn, fill a FoodSaver bag, put Andrew back in bed, tend to Kaitlyn, seal the FoodSaver bag, put Andrew back in bed, tend to Kaitlyn, put the stock in the freezer, put Andrew back in bed, tend to Kaitlyn... Seems at least once a day I have a cycle like that!
My goal for tomorrow is to make up a container of homemade beef stew seasoning and dry french onion soup mix (excellent over roasted potatoes... yummm!), make up a bunch of bread (white and wheat), make some bakable dough with the kids (and later make beads and objects for lacing and bake them), and I am planning on making my favorite honey-almond chicken recipe for tomorrows dinner.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Lexi is sick - on the day of lots of snow!
We woke up this morning to around 10-12in. of snow. Alexis was looking forward to the snow big time and this morning did not feel sick - so right after breakfast we bundled up and headed out. I had no idea it would take SO LONG to get three kids and myself bundled up. We don't have boots that fit the older two this year (my mom bought a pair for Alexis, and my sister in law bought a pair for Andrew for Christmas, so they'll have boots soon!), so I had to get a little creative with ways of keeping the snow out of their shoes. I figured I'd dress them as usual, put an extra pair of pants on (we don't have snow suits), once their shoes were on I put grocery bags over their shoes up to their knees, then one of my husbands socks over that to keep them in place. I put the bag and extra sock up over the bottom pant, so they still had an extra layer on the outside. It worked, so I was happy. I also realised I needed to buy new gloves because my son had to wear his sisters pink gloves (sorry Roo!). Kaitlyn was in her snow suit, in my sling, under my husbands coat, so she was pretty snug and warm.
We were only out for a few minutes because that wind was blowing and it was still snowing - the kids got cold pretty quick.
We came back inside, did lunch, I got my son down for his nap and Alexis was laying on the couch. That's not normal for my almost-four year old... She never lays down until its bedtime! She said she didn't feel well and she was warm. I took her temp. and she did in deed have a fever so I gave her a pillow and a blanket and put on a Winnie The Pook DVD to watch at her request and sat with her until the baby needed me.
I think Andrew was a little jealous of the attention Alexis was getting... It seemed he was trying to irritate her every chance he got (then again, he may have been upset because she wasn't playing with him...). He kept taking her baby doll, pulling her blanket off, aggrevating her while she was sitting on the potty.... Finally I found him something to do that really took his attention off of his sister and she got to lay in peace for a while.
She's still feeling icky. Andrew was lonely going to bed alone in his room, so we let him stay up and when he's ready for bed (he has a lot of energy tonight) I'll rock him to sleep.
I hope she feels better soon. She rarely gets sick but when she does she's miserable :-( And she has all of this snow to play in!
We were only out for a few minutes because that wind was blowing and it was still snowing - the kids got cold pretty quick.
We came back inside, did lunch, I got my son down for his nap and Alexis was laying on the couch. That's not normal for my almost-four year old... She never lays down until its bedtime! She said she didn't feel well and she was warm. I took her temp. and she did in deed have a fever so I gave her a pillow and a blanket and put on a Winnie The Pook DVD to watch at her request and sat with her until the baby needed me.
I think Andrew was a little jealous of the attention Alexis was getting... It seemed he was trying to irritate her every chance he got (then again, he may have been upset because she wasn't playing with him...). He kept taking her baby doll, pulling her blanket off, aggrevating her while she was sitting on the potty.... Finally I found him something to do that really took his attention off of his sister and she got to lay in peace for a while.
She's still feeling icky. Andrew was lonely going to bed alone in his room, so we let him stay up and when he's ready for bed (he has a lot of energy tonight) I'll rock him to sleep.
I hope she feels better soon. She rarely gets sick but when she does she's miserable :-( And she has all of this snow to play in!
Friday, December 14, 2007
Christmas tree for the flannel board
My daughter Alexis will be soooo happy when she wakes up tomorrow. Not only are we decorating for Christmas (a little late this year!) but I made her a Christmas tree in green flannel, with different colored flannel ornament cut-outs so she can decorate Christmas trees to her hearts delight on her flannel board! She is so very excited about decorating tomorrow. Plus we're supposed to have a lot of snow coming in also, which makes things all the more exciting!
We're also going to do a Christmas lapbook to learn more about Christmas. I'm excited and this will be fun for us to look back on for years to come - I'll pack it up with Christmas decorations so it doesn't get ruined over the year.
We're also going to do a Christmas lapbook to learn more about Christmas. I'm excited and this will be fun for us to look back on for years to come - I'll pack it up with Christmas decorations so it doesn't get ruined over the year.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Doin' Dishes in the Tub
Ack. Well, the drain pipe to my kitchen sink burst today. Well, it actually fell off at two joints. It's been leaking for a while (I just noticed it the other day though). Today as I'm trying to clear a clog at the drain I hear the drain suddenly clear big-time and see bubbles rise through the water, then I notice water pouring out from the cabinet underneith. Drat!
My husband said he wasn't able to fix this, so in order to do my overflow of dishes I've been cleaning them in the tub. It's been interesting to say the least, but they had to get done! The plumber will be out tomorrow.
On a brighter note, Andrew had a clean diaper while out running errands this morning. He's been super about using the potty and not his training pants. Today was our first trip out of the home for an extended period of time since he'd been potty training and I thought we'd be safe just using diapers. Well, he didn't need to use the potty while we were out, but he had a clean diaper when we came home! He used the potty upon arrival at home. I was so happy for him! He's really catching on to this potty training thing - and he's doing it all himself!
My husband said he wasn't able to fix this, so in order to do my overflow of dishes I've been cleaning them in the tub. It's been interesting to say the least, but they had to get done! The plumber will be out tomorrow.
On a brighter note, Andrew had a clean diaper while out running errands this morning. He's been super about using the potty and not his training pants. Today was our first trip out of the home for an extended period of time since he'd been potty training and I thought we'd be safe just using diapers. Well, he didn't need to use the potty while we were out, but he had a clean diaper when we came home! He used the potty upon arrival at home. I was so happy for him! He's really catching on to this potty training thing - and he's doing it all himself!
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