Christian The Penguin

This past weekend in the snow, along with the usual snow man and angel making, Christian decided he was going to be like the Penguins of Madagascar. He succeeded several times, here's one of his runs.

I think his parents need to buy him a sled!

Eerily Quiet

Christmas is nearly a week away, and the kids are amazingly quiet about it. No crossing off days on the calendar, no looking around for presents, no real requests for presents. It's very weird. Maybe next week will kick them into the spirit with the Winter Holiday class parties on Tuesday and all of the preparations. Maybe they are just trying to be good so Santa will visit.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Uncle Frank came down with his girlfriend Annie, her daughter Destiny and his son Keaton, and the fun started. The kids played well together all over the house. Very few toys or games weren’t touched, and they wore each other out. By the time night fell, they all fell asleep rather quickly, even Eli.

The five of them also ate like little pigs. I clearly should have made more cookies and snacks. Next year I will know. Their tummies fill quickly and empty fast!

Grandparents Day

Grandma Vickie woke up sick, so Aunt Annie and her friend Schlindler, or “Sara,” visited Ollie and Tori today. Sara sat with Tori for the first half and Annie with Ollie, and then they traded. Sara had a good time playing BINGO with Ollie, while Tori and Annie did other things down the hall. It sounds like the two had a good time with their “grandparents.” A big thanks to the girls!

Hot Temper

Christian has one, and it came out this morning when a classmate pushed him. Instead of telling the teacher, he punched his classmate in the nose. The two were sent to the office and are missing recess today. He's going to be in a foul mood for sure!

Brain

We went to parent-teacher conferences last night, and Christian is right on schedule. Things come easily for him as his teacher remarked. He tested high on everything and his moving right along. He also lost another tooth and cannot wait to spend some of that Tooth Fairy money this weekend. He's got his eye on a Lego Advent calendar. Go figure!

Big Changes

Big changes are in store for Christian and his brother and sister. Grandma Vickie is moving in this weekend to help us out and to be helped out. She has had COPD for some time now, and it has taken a toll on her physically and financially. The kids are looking forward to having another adult in the house to talk to, especially Christian, who has grown rather fond of his grandma. He likes to watch her play video games and tell her about all of his Legos.

Huts and I are also looking forward to having another adult in the house to help with things like opening soda cans and juice boxes and teaching Tori her letters. It’s amazing how often you could use another pair of hands when you have three kids afoot, especially a 2-year-old who refuses to wait for anything.

Anyway, this should be a very busy weekend and the start of a multigenerational family.

You Lied!

Christian takes things very literally, so this weekend when the sleepover did not happen because of illness and Grandma did not show up, he accused me of lying not once but twice. It didn't matter that the little boy was sick. it didn't matter that Grandma had things to get done. I just lied to him. This weekend we are hoping for it all to take place. Maybe that will make Christian happy and i won't be such a liar!

Sleepover First

Ollie and Tori are having a first this weekend, a sleepover with a new friend. My coworker has things to do and her 5-year-old son is coming over for the night. His name is Kyler and he came tot eh kids' birthday party and had a great time. We're going to have pizza. and maybe we'll carve some pumpkins among other things. Ollie and Tori won't know what to think with someone else their age in the house.

Toothless Jerry

The first tooth in our family has fallen out! Christian lost his first tooth this week. While it was loose he was terrified of it hurting when his tooth falling out. He was imagining an immense amount of pain, so he wasn't looking forward to it and we weren't pushing the issue. We just told him to wiggle his tooth and if it hurt to stop wiggling it. This made him a little less fearful and participate in the tooth wiggling.

On Sunday night, while watching TV, he noticed that his tooth was missing. He looked around for it, but couldn't find it. His Mom eventually found it in the carpet. He was so happy that he came running downstairs to show me. He was excited that it didn't hurt and that the tooth fairy was going to visit him. We put the tooth in a bag so he wouldn't lose it and examine it a bit more. He was a bit scared about the dried blood still inside the tooth and had to verify that he wasn't bleeding. He hates his own bleeding. Once he was assured he wasn't bleeding he was jumping around all excited about his tooth falling out. He had to call his Grandma Marie to tell her about it and to brag that she didn't get to pull it out!

Before he went to bed he made sure he had his tooth under his pillow. We asked how much he thought the tooth fairy was going to bring him. He thought 10-15...DOLLARS! We said it might be less, so don't be surprised, eventually he lowered his expectations to pennies, but the tooth fairy had a light night so he got $1.50. I'm not real sure how his reaction to that went, but overall he enjoyed his first experience with the tooth fairy.