The Good Big Brother

Ollie received a $100 gift card from Toys R Us for being the top candy seller in his school, and guess what he did with it. He shared it with his sister. That was the first thing he said he was going to do, and Tori got a doll, while Ollie got some Legos and Bionicles. What a nice big brother. Way to go, Mom, Dad and Aunt Annie, for doing all of the selling.

Missing His Sister

Christian realized this week how much he misses his little sister when she's gone. She went to visit Cassy and Courtney in Cape for 2 weeks after Thanksgiving. Christian is a bit bored without her since he has no one to play with. Eli isn't old enough to play anything organized. The only thing he is good at is pushing buttons...usually on the TV while Christian is watching a movie!

This usually causes a cry for "help" from Christian. We than have to move Christian into our room to watch his movie and shut the door so Eli can't get in there and mess with the TV. Only another week and he'll get his sister back.


He has benefited from her being gone. He has gotten to wrestle me by himself (with Eli's help). He get to go see Fantastic Mr. Fox this weekend and he's been able to choose some of the meals we eat at dinner. He's also gotten to stay up later than usual. He can handle getting up at the same time each morning for school when he goes to sleep at 9 instead of 8:30. He's pretty much become self sufficient other than washing himself in the bath. Maybe in a year or two.

Update: No Fantastic Mr. Fox. Christian changed his mind. What a pain.

Grandma is Here

Grandma Vickie arrived on Sunday, and the kids have kept her busy. She went to Grandparents Day at Christian's school. He saw her immediately and told his teacher his grandma was there. She went to his room to help him with a picture of the two of them together. She picked him up from school and he grinned from ear to ear when he saw her. Tomorrow he gets to stay home with her and his sister! Tonight we're letting them stay up late, so they will sleep in tomorrow before their cousins arrive. It's crazy-crazy at the Ericksons.

Gobble Gobble

Christian is our little turkey. He has been gobbling for weeks. Spelling "turkey," on the other hand, is giving him problems. He forgets the vowels every time. He's got all of this other spelling words down pat, and will be moving into an advanced reading group soon.

Halloween Capers

Christian dressed up as Darth Vader but pooped out quick. We run five or six doorbells before he said he was too cold to go on. Good thing he did a lot of trick-or-treating the previous day at my work. I offered to layer him, but he was done. Tori, on the other hand,…

Beetlejuice

Christian played with beetles, and bingo, he got some red spots. It took us a while to figure out the probable cause of the spots. He has been letting too many beetles crawl all over him. Calamine seems to be doing the trick, though there did appear to be one new bump this morning. Keep your fingers crossed he does not inherit the allergic tendencies on my side of the family.

Mr. Crabs

Yesterday, we planned on eating at Joe's Crab Shack for dinner. Christian was extremely excited because he has found a love of Shrimp! Every place we go that has shrimp, he orders it. Unfortunately for him, things changed mid-day and to celebrate his Aunt's Annie's birthday, she chose to go to Pizza Inn instead. Christian was not happy with this development at all. So much so that he started crying and refused to get out of the car. Eventually, he was forced out, but he kept crying and burying his face in his arms. Half way through dinner, I forced him to get out from underneath the table so he could help me get more pizza since carrying anything and crutches don't mix. He held the plate above his head while he continued to cover his eyes. I was hoping that would get him interested in eating, but it didn't work. Eventually Eli threw a fit, Christian joined his brother and Mom outside. About the time everyone finished eating Christian calmed down enough to come back in and eat. So I sat with him while he ate cheeseburger pizza (with a pickle on it), spaghetti, pineapples and desert pizza while everyone else waited outside. After he ate he was fine for the rest of the night. We found out later that he was upset because he didn't get to have shrimp. We promised him we'd go this weekend when we had time. Apparently shrimp is that important!

Mr. Cranky

Christian has been waking up cranky every morning, biting off our heads until his dad tickles him. Not sure what it is all about. This morning, he wanted to know why he has to keep wearing the same colors. I told him I ordered him white and red shirts, but they hadn't come in yet. He was not happy about that.

50!

That's how many boxes of candy we sold for Christian's school fundraiser. Thanks to Annie for helping sell candy, and thanks to everyone who ordered. Christian will now receive many perks, including the chance to win some money and an invitation to an ice cream party. He is one lucky kid! There is also hope that we will sell some candy next year for Christian and Tori.

Mommy, Ollie, Tori Day

What was supposed to be a Mommy Tori Day turned into a Mommy, Ollie, Tori Day. Ollie was very tired on Sunday, fell asleep on the couch around 8 and went to bed. I checked on him around 9 and he had vomited. I got him up and stripped his bed, while Huts bathed him. We put him in our bed and we both slept with him at various points of the night. He woke up, drank a lot of 7up and ate little He felt good enough to have some fun with me and Tori and went to school this morning. Poor guy. He had no idea that he puked or got a bath the night before.

Dinner for Dad

On Monday in honor of Huts not having to have surgery, we celebrated with dinner outside a local Mexican restaurant. The kids had a great time. They ate and ate and ate and walked around the area (we were the only ones eating outside). They switched food, talked, played with the dough given to them and had ice cream for dessert. We had enough leftovers for Huts' lunch twice this week. We were a happy bunch!

The Great Pickup

Christian and Tori have learned very fast how much money they can obtain by picking up their toys at the end of the night and making their beds. They are filling up their piggy banks fast, even getting money from Grandpa. Christian has become a huge help recently, dressing himself, bathing himself and picking up after himself. He is also learning how to use the phone and flip the TV. What a helper!

School Days Are Here Again!

Christian is back in school and lovin' it. This morning, he finally told us about the lunch scheduling and traffic light system. Red no talking, yellow whispering, green talking. Put the person on hot lunch or cold lunch. He is back in before- and after-care, too, and doing well there. Smooth transition, with his little sister eagerly awaiting her turn.

Fear Conquerer

Up to this point Christian has been fearful of quite a few things. He has been hesitant to try things. Once he does he usually finds that he likes them. During certain activities he hits a wall in his confidence and doesn't go beyond that. Lately that wall has been crumbling.

It started a few weeks ago when we went to the park. This year they installed a 20 ft high cable climbing pole. The first time we went to the park this year Christian would climb all around it and would go about half way up and get scared. This past trip to the park, he started out tentative as he had been in the past. While we were watching the other kids, we heard Christian yell "I made it to the top, I conquered my fears". We turned to look and he was at the top of the 20 ft pole by himself. He told us several more times how he conquered his fears and kept climbing to the top to show us. He was so proud of himself and so were his parents.

Next thing he conquered was a climbing structure at the Normal Children's museum. The past few years we've taken them to the museum at least once a year. His sister climbed in the structure when she was 3, but up to this point, Christian had refused to even try. While on his field trip at summer camp, they took him to the museum. Not only did he climb in the structure, but he went to the top and back down several times. He came home and told us how he had conquered another fear and how excited he was about it.

The last fear he conquered was jumping off the diving board into the swimming pool. He visited his Uncle Travis' and Aunt Diane while he was staying with his Grandma Vickie. He barely got in the pool while we were there and wouldn't wear floaties so he could float. Apparently, vacationing without your parents is a fear reducer. He not only used the floaties, he jumped in the deep end off the diving board and did a cannonball. He only quit when he tried to do a dive a did a belly flop! Ouch! I might've quit then too.

Hopefully with all his new found confidence, the next time he tries something new, he'll be able to overcome his fear of it and get the most out of the experience. If nothing else, we'll have the memory of him screaming from the top of a 20 ft. pole "I conquered my fear!".

Back at Home

The kids came back home on Friday. They were excited to see us and ready to get home to, you guessed it, Legos and Tea Parties. They played by themselves and with each other for a long time this weekend, getting in hugs and kisses here and there. They both slept in until about 9 each morning until this morning when they were both up at 6:20 or so.

We made out a Christmas list for Grandma Marie, who is coming up for a visit in a few weeks. They didn't have a lot, but it was a start. We also got Christian ready for his first day of school in a couple of weeks.

Tonight they are going to Annie's for one last night over before school begins. No doubt they will drive us nuts till she gets off work and gets to our house.

On The Move

I didn't realize it, but I guess we've been making a lot of trips this year. At least that's what my brother says about us. Always on some trip, he says. Hopefully, that will come to an end when the kids return from Cape. I think we have pushed them as far as we can with all of the trips and fun times. Christian sure is looking forward to downtime. Tori, not so much, but she'll be fine.

Not Missing Us

Christian and Tori have been at my mom's since last Friday, and they were scheduled to come home tomorrow, but they do not want to. Instead, Tori is going to continue to stay with Frankie, while Christian spends more time with Grandma. He needs some downtime from all of the fun at Frankie's. They are coming home on Eli's birthday instead.

A Long Time Ago...

Last year we introduced Christian to the original Star Wars trilogy. He enjoyed watching them all. This week, we've introduced him to the prequel's on Spike TV. Since the characters aren't quite the same, he's had a difficult time keeping up. In the beginning, he kept asking who 'that Jedi guy with the beard' was and 'which one is Obi-won-Kenobi?". He kinda followed the story and thought it was cool when he saw Darth Vader as a kid. His favorite part of The Phantom Menace was the pod race. He was hopping up and down on the couch with excitement. Especially when Anakin got close to winning. He instantly recognized R2-D2, but had to have C-3PO explained to him because he didn't have his gold shell yet.

Attack of the clones wasn't as exciting for him since its mostly a plot driven love story for the 1st 1/2, but the exciting fight scenes at the end (especially with Yoda), seemed to make it worth while for him. This was of course after he stomped out of the living room after we told him it bed time was near after the movie was over. He refused to finish the movie, but eventually relented the closer it got to Yoda's fight scene.

Tonight Rise of the Sith is on and the part he will enjoy the most is how Anakin becomes Darth Vader! He's asked when will that happen during the first 2 movies, so he can't wait to see that. He'll also enjoy seeing Chewbacca, who he's constantly asked about during the first 2.

The other last 3 that he's already seen are on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I don't know if he'll want to watch those again, he might be Star Wars out by tonight.

Fish Tomorrow

After a week of swimming, Christian is going with the rest of us to swim in Annie's pool tomorrow. He was all set for a fun time this morning. Another best day ever. I have tot ell you though that he comes home pooped from all of the activity of the day. He vegges out most of the evening, so we'll see how hyper he is next week when camp is over and he is back to Sharon's.

No Problem

Christian has been at camp all week long, and he loves it. He has come out of his shell and couldn't wait for his dad to get the paperwork done so he could get on with things. He told me that tomorrow is going to be the best day ever because they are going swimming again. He has a lot of best days ever these days. He doesn't know how lucky he is.

Three Days Left

Christian is flying high because before- and after-care is over and school is over on Friday. Aunt Annie and Uncle Dale are watching him before and after school the next three days. He was totally excited to see Annie this morning, and surprisingly, she was awake and ready to go. Tori was sad that she had to got o the sitter's but Annie is trying to find a day when Tori can spend the night with her.

Missing

I saw Christian stash a bunch of papers in his draw last night, so I decided to go through them. Amid the mess I found a sheet with the themes for Teachers Appreciation Week, which we missed. The kids could bring the teacher a gift every day, and we failed to see the sheet until last night. Teachers Appreciation Week was the first of the month. Christian mentioned the whole thing long after the fact. Go figure. I am making a mental note for next year.

Off to Grandma's

The kids stayed this weekend at Grandma' and Grandpa's house, while Huts and I finished cleaning the farmhouse. We are done for the most part and ready to get back to our life.

We got to Kansas City around 10:30 Saturday night, and Tori, our little night owl, was still up. She kissed me and her dad and then went to sleep. Christian got up the next morning and gave me a big hug. This was preceded by hugs and kisses all over my baby Eli. The five of us are back together, and we're glad. This weekend, the kids are going to the circus, while Eli visits with uncle Dale.

Genius

In the endless quest to keep Eli entertained, I hauled him to the computer to help me look up some stuff. Christian helped by taking apart the mouse pad and letting Eli squish it. He then told me that he was a genius for knowing what to give Eli and that perhaps he should be a scientist one day. "I have good ideas, you know." Quite full of himself that day.

Time To Party!

Christian turns 6 today! He has massive plans for tonight. First we are going to Subway to eat (his place of choice since "we haven't been there in a long time"). Then we are going to take him and his sister to pick out their birthday presents at Toys R Us. We'll finish the night by picking up a cake for desert and having it at home.

This past year has gone by quickly and he seems a bit older now. He definitely isn't the shy boy he was when he started Kindergarten. His first few days were a bit frightening for him. He really didn't want to go the first day. The 2nd wasn't so bad. He didn't say much to anyone in the first few days. He was quiet and timid. 9 months later and he is no longer timid. He tells everyone he meets that his school name is "Christian" and his home name is "Ollie". He tells them all about his school and classmates and what they are doing. He tells everyone except his parents who have to pry the info out of him. He does all of this in a fairly loud voice so no one can mistake what he is saying.

He's also picked up riding his bike and zooms down the sidewalk. He still isn't ready to take the training wheels off, but he's not afraid of taking off on it. He is still a kind boy. The other night he put his sister on his bike and pushed her down the sidewalk. Such a nice kid.

That's remained constant throughout this time. Hopefully he stays that way.

Good Mother's Day

My kids were very good on Mother's Day. Christian managed to hide some gifts he had made form me, while Tori sheepishly told me Happy Mother's Day. Now that's over and Christian's birthday is next. He and his sister cannot wait, and boy, do we have them confused with a family celebration and a party for their friends.

Combo Birthday

Life is so crazy at the Ericksons that Christian and Tori are having a combo birthday party some time in June at the play place. Next Wednesday is Christian's birthday, and we are taking him out to eat and tot he toy store to pick out his gifts. Tori is also picking out hers. Then we are getting the two an ice cream cake or something to that effect. Today was Christian's helper day, and he took cupcakes for that since he cannot take food in on his birthday. I hope he had a good day!!

New Desk

Christian hates change, but he is getting better about it and was delighted to get his new desk from my dad's house. He seems ok with it, and didn't throw a fit. Huts also said he was Mr. Friendly at the park, so maybe our firstborn is growing up.

Easter With Dad

While I was away this weekend, Christian, Tori and Eli spent the time with Dad. They did all kinds of fun things, K-Mart, MaidRite, the vet, the park and so forth. I returned to joyous children excited to show me all of their loot for Easter. Christian goes back to school tomorrow. Spring break is over, and I think he is ready. Tori will be sad to not have her brother with her.

On and On and On

Christian had some long-winded tale last night about some kid at school, and nothing we said made any difference. He was right, and we were wrong, and he went on and on about it. Huts finally got him onto another subject, but I don't think it helped much. He had a lot to say all night long. Some days, that boy can talk.

Seasonal

Christian has his season's a little out of wack. He thinks its winter (technically it is), but 60 degree weather isn't winter. So, he refuses to wear short sleeves and shorts yet again. Its his yearly transitional fight of clothes. When he goes from pants to shorts and long to short sleeves, there's problems a-brewing. Its supposed to be in the 70's today and Christian's sister is in shorts and a short sleeve shirt without a problem. He's in pants and a long sleeve shirt plus his light coat. Maybe if it warms up a little and we tell him its spring, he'll willingly go into his summer clothes. We'll probably have to fight it out one weekend when his Mama makes his winter clothes disappear. Until then, it'll be long clothes and a long winter.

Christian Comes Clean

Yak, yak, yak all the way home, going all around our questions and taking forever to explain what happened yesterday at school. Apparently, something did not sit well with him and he puked. His teacher sent him to the office where he drank some water and said he felt better. He did not have a fever, so she sent him back to class. I read the note, and he appeared fine then and this morning. I didn't think we were ever going to get what happened out of him.

More From the Ski Trip

I Want!

Christian has a mile-long list of items he wants for Easter. Every time he sees something on TV, we are supposed to write it down. We keep telling him he isn't getting all of that, but then he says he will ask for his for his birthday or Christmas. Greedy little thing!

Slow Day

Christian calls the weekends slow days. He always tells me on Friday night how glad he is that tomorrow is a slow day and he gets to spend the day with us. Aww. He can be so lovable sometimes, like this morning when he gave me a big hug when he got out of bed. Of course, 20 minutes later, he was stomping his feet all over the hallway because of his lack of effort with his show and tell. Jekyl and Hyde.

All Set For Another Go Around

Christian had to be disciplined into going to ski school on our trio, but once he got in there, he had a lot of fun and wants to go again next year. He loved the water park, running all over and going up and down the slides like it was nothing. What a change from a year ago when we had to practically shove him into his suit and force him into the water. He is gonna like going to Splashdown this summer.

Stomp The Mountain

That's how Christian started his skiing day. He was fine putting on the ski clothes. He was fine putting on the ski boots. He was fine putting on the ski's! Once he started his class however, all he did was stomp the mountain. I had to threaten him with not being able to go to the swim park later that evening if he didn't participate. He then fell behind last in line on the magic carpet ride as a protest. To get in line for the magic carpet, he picked up each ski and stomped his way into the magic carpet line. From his first run down on, he was a happy skiier. He loved playing Follow The Leader and Simon Says on ski's. Once his day of skiing was over, he was happy he went and wanted to do it again another time.



The rest of his vacation was spent by the pools at the water park in the hotel. He was a little trepidatious about the water slides at first, but once he went down them, he was ready to go again. He played in a couple areas around the water park, but mostly stayed by the water slides. He even played a game with the giant dumping bucket. When he'd hear the bell that the bucket was going to dump, he'd jump in a hole where he wouldn't get wet. He also made a friend and played in the park with him. Saturday night he was exhausted and got out of the water early. He then went to meet Chip (the hotel's mascot) for story time with Milk and cookies. He finished off the evening chilling in bed watching cartoons. Overall he seemed to have a good time and is ready to return next year.

Ski Trip

I showed the kids the Web site of the resort last night and they are no gung ho! Christian is not looking forward to ski school. He already knows how to ski, don't you know, and he is going to go down the biggest hill first. Huts and I had to contain our laughter. Tori, meanwhile, has no problem with ski school. Wherever there is a teacher, she is ready to go. Wish us luck!

100 Days

Christian has made it through 100 days of school and had to make a poster to prove it. He put 100 fruit loops on a blue background; Tori put 79 on. Eli loves to play with Tori's poster, picking at the fruit loops. back to Christian, he took his poster to school and walked with it in some parade through the hallways. He seemed happy and came home with a crown to show off. 100 days--can you believe it?

Book Fair

Christian and Tori went to it and came home with two books each and a pencil. Annie stopped by and they read the books together. Eli tried to eat them, of course. I bought a bookshelf for all of the books and puzzles a while ago, and already it is full. Go figure.

Still Sick

If one doesn't have it, another does. Christian has a cough and a crusty nose. He comes home, eats and pretty much lays in front of the TV for the rest of the night. That is how bad he feels. We give him medicine and tuck him in tight, but it is going to be a while before this thing runs its course.S

Mad Man

Christian left me this morning mad that I hadn't read his library book to him. He was not happy at all that we forgot and he had to turn it in today without having read it. I promised to make it up to him tonight, but to no avail. He wouldn't hear of it. What a goober! He was helper on Friday and came home happy about that. Everyone liked his pudding snack and he came home with two spoons and two puddings left over.

Christian The Crafter

Like Green Eggs and Ham, Christian does not like to play sports! He will tell you emphatically. He'll watch some of them with me, but no way does he want to play himself. So, to help him find something he's interested in, we are looking at art/craft classes. He loves doing crafts at school. He loves glue, stapler's and especially scissors. He loves to paint and draw. He can probably draw better than I can (I'm horrible, so he must get it from his Mama). I don't think I could come up with something like the Dragon and Snowman he painted awhile ago.



Luckily the parks and rec department offers a crafting class or two. We are looking into putting him into something like that in the spring. He seemed kind of interested in it when we mentioned it last night. So maybe he'll decide to go. He's already looking forward to camp again this summer, but that's still 6 months away. The only activity he might like (due to Power Rangers) would be martial arts, but I don't know if he'd be interested in that at all. We'll see how skiing goes next month. He'll definitely enjoy the water park and getting everyone wet.

Nickel, Please

Christian told me yesterday afternoon that he can't return his library book without a nickel. I don't know if he has a fine or not. His teacher is looking into the matter. This boy and his library books; he kept one forever in his book bag early on in the year. I had to get his teacher's help on that one. Who knows what he has done with this book. I guess I will give him a quarter just in case.

Getting Back Into The Routine

5 a.m.: Eli was up wanting food.
5:15 a.m.: Mom was up moving slowly due to a bad cold

6:00 a.m.: Tori was up changing clothes repeatedly and demonstrating how close she is to being potty-trained

6:15: Christian was up and downstairs eating cereal

We all have some version of what started out as Eli's cold, but we got up and got out the door. The day is half over, and I am sure we will all be ready to come home this afternoon.

Christmas

"I didn't ask for that, Annie," Christian told my sister when he opened the V-Smile Game. Little booger. Five-year-olds are honest, sometimes too honest. My sister took it in stride and told him to live with it. He ended up playing it and Tori really likes hers. The kids seemed to enjoy Christmas, going to bed tired and cranky from too much play. Tori threw a fit, and Christian had nice red ears. Even Eli has rosy red cheeks. Anyway, as soon as I get off work today, we're off to the hotel in St. Louis.