This week in Pictures

Delaney is giving me "Angry Eyebrows"!

Callie wanted to take a picture of me and Rylee. You can't see it, but this is Rylee's adorable "Hungry Caterpillar" outfit.

Dan has a Thanksgiving tradition where there is a decorated cup at each plate at the table and it has candy/fruit/nuts in it. They go around the table and each person takes out their edible goodies and as they eat each piece, they say one thing that they are thankful for for each piece of fruit/nut/candy. Dan printed out the pictures for the cups and he and the kids decorated them together.

Unfortunately, Dan let Delaney have free reign with the scissors and she cut up half their pictures. But she had a darn good time! All the kids seemed to really enjoy it a lot. They were very proud of their work and all the cups were very cute.

The cats were the girls' favorite part of Thanksgiving at Dan's cousin's house. The cats were very good about being played with, and they ran off when it was too much. Marian did get a good lesson in hissing though and now both Callie and Marian will hiss when dissatisfied.

Dan's cousin had some wonderful toys that the kids had a great time playing with.

And Dinner.... ahhhhh, dinner! Here's my little glutton with his turkey leg. He did eat the whole thing. We got the other one as leftovers and Joshua was upset that I let Marian eat it.

Pie! Glorious Pie!

Last night was the BYU football game. I was a thoughtful wife and let Dan listen to it while I put the little girls to bed. Usually that's his job. I guess it was noteworthy enough for him to need to document bedtime reading with a picture!

My sweet littlest ones.

After Thanksgiving Thankfulness

We did have a fabulous Thanksgiving. We drove an hour and a half to spend it with Dan's cousin and her husband.  She did all the cooking and I felt a bit guilty that she slaved so hard while I brought pies and sat there and held Rylee.  Dinner was beyond delicious and there was plenty.  Joshua managed to eat the entire turkey leg, plus most of the other stuff he'd piled on his plate.  They all had room for pie.  

It was nice to not have far to travel.  It was wonderful to enjoy excellent food with good company.  It was great to not have to cook and to still get lots of yummy leftovers.  I love Dan's cousin!

Unfortunately, towards the evening, I realized I was coming down with something.  I had a terrible headache on the way home, which was not helped by a crying Rylee.  (An hour seems to be her limit in the car.)  Thursday night was a rotten one. I had a fever and sore joints.  My throat hurt and my head hurt.  I couldn't sleep because it hurt to swallow and it hurt to roll over, and it was just a miserable night for me.  

I woke up yesterday feeling horrible.  Fortunately, I got to wake up at 9am.  Dan got up with the kids.  When I staggered downstairs, Dan was serving them all french toast.  Dan had picked up the livingroom, put dishes away and cleaned the kitchen.  What a fantastic man I have!   

I was able to take 2 naps and I pretty much did nothing all day.  Dan kept an eye on the kids, did Marian's hair, and he even fed them dinner during my evening nappy-poo. I think he raked leaves as well, but I wan't really paying attention to the world around me.  

In the afternoon when the kids were getting restless, I pulled out the game Blokus, which is one of the few kid-friendly games we have.  I played with Joshua and Callie and then let the kids play alone.  It eventually deteriorated to just Callie and Delaney playing.  I was feeding Rylee and I overheard Callie exclaim, "I'm having so much fun with my best friend playing!"   That just melted my heart!  I love that my little girls have been playing together so happily lately.  I love that Callie and Delaney are becoming best friends.  The kids have done really well the last few days with all of them home.  

Today I am much better.  No fever, no horrible headache.  Nothing but a residual sore throat thats a hundred times better than it was yesterday.  (I'm so thankful for my essential oils for helping to kick that!)

So, I am thankful for a wonderful husband. I am thankful that he is a great dad.  I am thankful for children who have been getting along really well.  I am thankful for family.  I am especailly thankful for Dan's cousin!  I am thankful for tasty dinners and yummy leftovers.  I am thankful to be healthy today.  I am thankful to have parents serving a mission in Kenya.  I am thankful to have neat siblings who I love.  I am truly grateful to have marvelous in-laws who I love.  I am thankful that I could go to a baptism this morning.  I am thankful that Rylee has discovered her thumb and is sleeping 4-5 hours at night now.  I am thankful for pie and for turkey sandwiches.

I better stop, but I have a lot to be grateful for.

Fun at the Gynecologist

This may be TMI, if the title didn't already give you that impression.  

Up till now, my most memorable girl-doctor visit was the one where they left me in the freezing cold room for a really, really long time.  Long enough that I used their phone to call Miranda, who still laughs about me telling her "I'm cold and I'm naked!"   Today was only slightly amusing.  More so if it hadn't been me!

Today I got to go in for my 6 week check up.  Yes, it was well past 6 weeks, but I was able to make back-to-back appointments  (for 3 and 3:30) with Rylee for her 2 month check up.  I was told I would have to arrive early enough to pee in a cup so they could make sure I wasn't pregnant.  Never mind that if I were, it would be too soon to pick it up anyway.  I was suppose to go to the pharmacy and pick up the IUD as well.   Fortunately I was spared that, but good grief!  It can be up to an hour wait at the lab and another hour at the pharmacy, so I had to be prepared for that.  So I was early.  Quite early.

There was a note on the door of Family Practice saying that due to a water main break, there was an issue with the steam and thus some areas of the hospital would be too cold, and others would be too warm.  I got the too warm area.

Rylee and I quietly perspired in the waiting room a bit then got to go to the room.  I was sweating so badly in that small enclosed space.  And I had to wait another 30 minutes.  Once the doctor came in we chatted, made sure I was there for the IUD, yes I understood the risks, and yes I wanted the Paraguard not the Mirena, and all that.  She left, I got undressed and waited for her to come back, while reveling in the cooler air down there. This was the first time ever, that I was so ready to get undressed! It was at this point in time that Rylee woke up.  

The doctor (who I really like) came back in.  Since Rylee was suddenly starving, the doctor left so I could feed the baby.  A bit awkward, since I was pantsless, draped in a sheet, sitting on the exam table.  Rylee ate and proceeded to poop through her diaper and all over her very cute Hungry Caterpillar outfit.   Ug.  What do you do?  I had a icky baby, no pants on, and I was in a room where the doctor could come back any second.  So I changed her, pantslessly (hee hee hee, I made up a word!).  Then we hung out and I made faces at her and gushed sweat.

The doctor came back and brought a nurse.  I put Rylee down and got as comfortable as one can, and Rylee immediately began to wail.  She howled through pretty much all of it.  The nurse picked her up once her duties involving her hands were done, but it was no picnic.  Not like its a picnic anyway.  Or maybe a picnic where you have to sit on pokey rocks and its pouring rain and you are eating dog poop.  It might be like that kind of a picnic....

It was then 4:15.  The lovely nurse took Rylee out to be weighed and measured while I got dressed.  That's why I'm not sure how big she is.  She was 11 pounds something.  I'm not sure what.  She's healthy and fabulous, with a bit of crusty ears and eczema on her neck.

I got home about 5pm.  Fun times.

PS  What would YOU pay a babysitter who came over for 2 hours and 45 minutes and only watched one child who slept for 1.5 of those hours?

The Perks of having kids!

Having children around can make for a lot of work.  They are time consuming and make a lot of messes.  It is quite fortunate that they also make me laugh.  They bring joy and sunshine to my otherwise mundane life.  Let me show you some examples.

I got to have lunch with the cutest pilgrim last week!  I don't know why, but she kept telling me she was embarrassed to be wearing her adorable costume.  She was too cute for words!

Marian just lost her second top tooth!  It was slightly traumatic, as it involved her toast and bleeding. Oh, and the Tooth Fairly forgot to come last night.

This kid won't let me get a nice candid shot.  His variety of silly faces and attempts at the ridiculous keeps things interesting.  His seriousness at the Scouting philosophy melts my heart.  When he does something helpful and tells me he did it because that's what a good scout would do, I think that just maybe its all worth it!

This cutie-pie has some very original ideas.  This yarn "necklace", for example.  She had some very strong feelings for it.  She did wear it in her bath, and now she is looking clean and damp from said bath.

Someone is not happy. She makes a very handy excuse when the telemarketers call though!  And she really only does this now when she's starving or really tired and ready to sleep. And yes, I attribute it to the chiropractor!

I  love the variety of expressions here.  We have Joshua and his silly face.  Marian and her "I don't care" face.  And then there is a naked Callie, wrapped in a blanket, looking very cranky. Its true, life is never dull at our house!

We had to try out the Bumpo and see if Rylee is big enough for it.  The answer is, just barely!

She looks so cute and happy, but she's definitely listing to the side!

Here's what happens when I want to try to get a group shot!  They are all cute and funny, but it doesn't make for a great group shot!

These are intentional silly faces!  Honest!  Hee hee hee!

Ah, more like it!  Do we possibly have a cute picture where you can see each child's face?  Are they all smiling? Are they all presentable?  Good enough!

Check on all 3 criteria!  Faces, smiles, presentation... its all there!  Its why I love being a mom!

Napping

I just like this picture....

When Dan comes home from work, he usually asks if I got a nap that day.  I know he's asking to get a feel for how well rested I might be, and how crabby I may be.  The problem is that I might say I only got a short nap or no nap, but Rylee took a 2 or 3 hour nap.  Dan cannot understand why I didn't also sleep for 2-3 hours.  Let me tell you why not!

Say Rylee falls asleep at 1:30.  I put her in her bed at 1:45.  Then I have to hunt down Delaney.  I'll have to change her diaper and get her upstairs.  I'll have to sing her some songs and tuck her in.  By then it is well after 2 o'clock.  I will realize I never had any lunch because I was busy dealing with a baby who was demanding attention and a toddler who was also demanding attention.  So I will go make a sandwich and sit down to eat it.   I'll notice that the sink is full of dishes when I put my things away, so I will load the dishwasher.  Suddenly I'll remember I had laundry in the washer and I'll have to run downstairs to change that over.  And while I'm down there, I may as well start another load, because the laundry NEVER ENDS!

Finally I'll get headed towards bed.  Then Callie will ask for a movie.  I'll have to help her select a movie that she's happy with, and she's already seen everything we have at least twice and right now she hates all of them. Thank goodness for Netflix and the watch-it-now selection!  I'll get her squared away and the phone will ring and I'll have to deal with a telemarketer.  Once I'm done with that, I'll get upstairs and discover we are about out of toilet paper.  Knowing it will be very bad if we do run out, I go get some more from the basement while I'm thinking about it.  At last, I'll get up to bed.  I may get to lie down before Rylee wakes up or the kids get home from school.  Once the kids get home, I can occasionally stay in bed, but not really sleep.  Someone will come in and ask what's for snack.  Then they'll ask if they can go to a friend's house.  Then they'll tell me that the mail came, or that Callie was teasing them, or what movie can they watch.....

Anyway, THAT is why I may not have gotten a nap today!

Name that Baby!

I have heard that my babies all look alike.  I have to agree, that its true.  So today, we have a little quiz.  Which child is in each baby picture?

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

The Answer Key:  #1 is Delaney

#2 is Callie

#3 is Rylee

#4 is Joshua

#5 is Marian

How well did you do?

Random pictures and Dress Blues!

Here are some pictures from this week:

Joshua has to read for 20 minutes every night.  He takes this very seriously. And it makes me so happy to see him reading something other than Calvin and Hobbes!

Marian had her last gymnastics class yesterday.  Dan says this barrel was her favorite thing.

I don't get many pictures of Marian, but I got several this week!  Normally she refuses to smile, but here she is quite pleased with herself.  Why?

This is why!  She's playing with Delaney!  And then she was teasing her, and then it was no fun for anyone but Marian.

Everyone still wants to hold the baby all the time. Now that she's more alert and happy, Rylee is more fun.  And she's so cute!

And that Callie!  Her grin is the cutest thing.  I love it!

Dan had his Marine Corps Ball this week.  Isn't he handsome?!

Yep, that's my man!

This is what I spent MY evening doing while he was at the Ball.  This is 5 loads of laundry, with another still in the washer and dryer.  Ug.

See Rylee there in the lower left?  She slept long enough for me to fold all but that last load of laundry.  This is what 6 loads of laundry looks like once its separated, organized and folded!

Resolved without Resolution

It has been very interesting, and slightly disturbing. But first, I'm gonna make 2 comments.

1.  Kirsten, we have a new principal this year.  

2.  In light of Carly's comment.... I can't believe your bus stop is 2 miles from your house!  And I can't believe that they would leave a 4 year old standing there alone.  That is wrong.  I do understand the school's policy. I understand that it may not be safe to let a kindergartner walk home alone.  I don't object to it, I just object to me having to comply to it. Especially since we live so close, and she's done this for a year already, and she's got a big brother with her, and she isn't the only kid getting off the bus.   And I was (and still am a bit) angry that I did what I could to help them feel comfortable and allow me to be an exception to the rule.  

Here is what bothers me:

I had talked to the principal, I had sent in a waiver, and someone decides a month later that Marian suddenly can't walk home.  And last night Joshua told me he wasn't allowed off the bus either.  He didn't have a choice.  So now my third grader couldn't get off?!  Ug!  Its a good thing for them that I had just assumed he was a sweet and supportive brother who had chosen to stay with his sister or I would have been even more mad and probably said things I'd regret later.  

Now, onto the unresolved part that disturbs me.  These are things I have been told about this situation:

- The principal said that the waiver had to be approved by the Transportation Office.  

- The transportation office says they do not have a policy that first graders have to be met by a parent at all. (So why would a waiver need their approval?)

- The assistant principal said there was no reason why the kids were kept on the bus and returned to the school yesterday. (Um... so why were they?!)

- The transportation office said the bus driver did it because she was unsure of their safety. (And for what arbitrary reason was yesterday different from any other day?!)

In theory, the situation is resolved.  The bus driver will let them both off the bus without a parent there to meet them.  That's what I have been told.  I must say I have zero confidence in the school now.  All this concern to keep my children safe by people who cannot communicate with each other.  Gosh, its so comforting. 

And now I must mention that Marian's teacher called me a few minutes before the bus was to arrive here today and told me that she hadn't seen the call for Marian's bus and Marian had missed it.  Aargh.  Fortunately, her teacher said she would bring Marian home if that was okay.  It was definitely okay with me! 

So stinking mad!!

I am so mad I can hardly see straight and now I must blog to get it out of my system so I don't have a meltdown and scream at the wrong person.

3 weeks after school started, and about the time I was delivering a baby, the school sent home a note saying all children in kindergarden and first grade had to be met at the bus stop by an adult.  I called the principal.  She said she could see how it might be a hardship for me to go to the bus stop and how about if I just stood in the driveway and waved. I wasn't thrilled, but I decided a good faith attempt would be better than outright refusal.  So Dan went out to the bus the next morning to talk to the driver who said, she was not the afternoon driver.  Dan went out in the afternoon and was told that this driver was not the usual driver.  Eventually, Dan did talk to the driver.  I tried to meet the bus once.  I stood on the corner for 5 minutes before I heard wailing and my mother in law came out with a screaming baby.  She waited at the stop while I went to feed my crying offspring.  So it was already an annoyance.

I wrote a very nice letter to the principal and told her all the reasons I didn't need to be at the bus stop.  Mainly, Marian is in first grade; she managed to walk herself home without any incidents last year.  We live 3 houses from the bus stop.  I am always home.  Heck, she even has a big brother who rides the bus too. As a matter of fact, with 6 other kids at the bus stop, she is never, ever the only kid getting off the bus.   She is a smart kid, and I'm pretty sure she can get herself home without me.  

I don't like people who just complain, so I was sure to offer solutions. (and yes, they were good ones, and viable.)  The principal emailed me back and said I could sign a waiver.  Dan wrote a lovely legal-speak waiver and I sent it in.  I didn't hear anything and Marian kept getting off the bus every day.  (Their threat was that they would return the children to the school.)  On Monday the school called to say that the bus driver had told them I couldn't meet the bus because I'd just had a baby and now that the baby was a month old, they expected me to meet the bus.  

What?!!

I called and talked to the message-leaver, who was just the secretary.  I said I had talked to the principal and had sent in a waiver.  She said she would look into it and would call me back.  She didn't call back.  

I thought it prudent to give the bus driver the waiver myself, so I had it printed off and sitting by the computer today.  I had just put Rylee down and was getting ready to meet the bus, when I saw the kid across the street walking up his drive.  I didn't see any other children.  Hmmmm....  I opened the door and asked him about my children.  He said they were on the bus.  They apparently did not get off.

So now I am really mad.  I don't know for sure, but I expect they didn't let Marian off and Joshua stayed with her.  I called the school to let them know my kids didn't come home, and I left an unhappy (yet polite) message with the asst principal.  Its now 30 minutes later and I still await word from them.  And I am so angry!  They can't get their act together and my children get a ride back to the school.  And knowing my kids, they are probably pretty upset.  That makes me even more angry.  Plus, now I have o go get them, in the freezing rain, with the other 3 children I have here.

I don't expect the school to be responsible for my children after they get off the bus.  I feel that their job ends there.  They pick them up and deliver them back to the bus stop and after that its my job.  If I feel my kids are okay to walk home, why can't they?  And if they expect Joshua's friend Giovanni to walk the 3/4 mile to school and back home as a kindergardener and first grader,  I'd think they could handle a 6 year old walking home from the bus stop. 

They say that the children's safety is their concern.  So riddle me this.... I have 3 little children at home- 4, 2, and now 7 weeks old.  Is it really safer for me to leave them in the house for 15 minutes so I can walk to the bus stop and wait for a kid who can walk home by herself?  Or is it better to drag 3 little children out in the freezing rain (which we have today)? 

Later today:

They had Joshua call me from the school to get picked up.  I asked to talk to someone, but there was only office ladies there- no one who can actually do anything.  I left a message for the assistant principal, who returned my call while I was out (in the freezing rain) picking up the children.  I also called the transportation office, who told me THEY had no policy about not letting first graders off the bus and she left a message for the supervisor to call back.  I don't like to raise a stink, but right now I think my goal is to be a big enough pain that they give me what I want.  I figure its that or they'll take Marian back to the school every day and I'll pick her up every evening!

Playing Hookey!

Dan has today off because its Veteran's Day.  He thought maybe he should take off Monday and Tuesday too.  So we did!  And since its no fun to just sit at home, we gave Joshua and Marian a break from school on Tuesday.  We went to Great Wolf Lodge!  They had given us a good deal and we thought it might be a good time to get away, since we won't be going anywhere for the holidays this year.  And if we needed another excuse, we were celebrating my parents leaving the MTC for Kenya, and we were celebrating the Marine Corps Birthday!

We left after the kids got home from school on Monday.  It was a 2 1/2 hour drive to Williamsburg and Rylee cooperated by sleeping the whole way.  That meant I drove the whole way because I wasn't going to stop if she was happy!  We arrived, checked in and were in the waterpark by 5pm.  The kids had so much fun!!

Dan got the first shift with the kids and I got to hold Rylee.  Dan managed to get Delaney in the deep pool once.  

 Later we traded off and he took Rylee while I got to go out and have fun with the kids too.  The waterslides were the best!  Marian and I even went down one together.  She was so cute about that.

Callie went down the waterslides.  (Delaney went down one on accident and flipped and rolled the whole way down.  She refused to go again!)

Joshua loved the wave pool and was such a fantastic brother.  He hung out and played with Callie a lot. 

Marian spent a lot of time here.  She went round and round on these logs.  It was fun to watch her methodically crawl from one to the next.  She's usually so adventurous that I expected her to just leap across, but she didn't.  She planned her way very carefully.

Me, I got to hold Rylee for a while.  This is our self-portrait.   She didn't get wet.  Well, not on purpose!  Callie turn one of the many s[prayers on at just the right moment to get me pretty good.  Rylee wasn't happy.  She was quite content to be snuggly held though.

Joshua also liked the logs.  He and Marian had a competition going on for a while.

It was well after their usual bedtime before we were settled in our room.  We got the one that had a queen bed and queen sized fold out couch.  Plus it had a "kid's Kabin" area with a bunk bed and single bed. The kids area had a tv for them and they thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Callie is in her jammies; Delaney is wearing goggles.  This is the kabin room.

Note Delaney there.  Callie wanted this shot- check out that grin.  I think she wore it the while trip!

Note Joshua on the top bunk, and there's Delaney  on the left.

Yep, there's Delaney!  Such a funny girl!  And there's Callie's smile again!

We had a decent night, and Dan got up at 6:30 with the kids and he managed to keep them fairly quiet till after 8, when I got up.  (I got up several other times in the middle of the night too, to feed Rylee, retuck Marian, and to cover Delaney.)  Marian woke up with a fever, so Dan took Joshua, Callie and Delaney out to swim when it opened at 9am, while I stayed with the other 2 girls and packed everything up.  They came back at 11 for a snack and we checked out. 

You can swim all day on the day you check out, so we headed back to swim some more!

This is the super-cool treehouse.  Check out the huge bucket at the top, the one that says "Great Wolf Lodge... its tipping!

And now it's dumping 1000 gallons of water down.  It does this every 5 or 10 minutes and the kid love it.  

Delaney wore this life vest today , but was actually more cautious.  On Monday she kept bobbing deeper and deeper into the wave pool, and I had to haul her out several times as she bobbed too deeply.  On Tuesday she hung out at a safe depth and just bobbed there in her life vest.  Here she's getting a little tired out.  Oh yeah, that twisting her hair while she sucks her thumb is her new thing.  

Marian wore her suit, but she didn't swim much.  I think she ran in two or thee times, but mostly she sat in the chair or snuggled with Daddy.

I have the most pictures of Callie because she was so darn cute, and I could fine her.  Plus she loved to pose for pictures there.  She had such a good time.

Joshua felt it vital to get his picture taken by the big wolf head in front of the hotel.  So here he is!!  It was a successful trip.  All of us had fun, the drive went well and we only had 2 meltdowns when we got home!