Fall recap

Well, let's see, we left off with some fall fun on tractors at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Since then, there has been plenty of happenings, just no blogging....I just plain old suck at this anymore! There are plenty of excuses, but none that really matter, so with that, I'll just post an update on our lives.

Hannah and Nicholas ared donig great. They are totally buds, most of the time. They love to play together and make each other laugh. It's hard to remember what Hannah was like as an only child. They couldn't be more different through. Hannah is still so sweet, gentle and peaceful. Nicholas is crazy, ornery and loves rough housing. Here they are though in a sweet moment having their bedtime snack together on the steps. Not sure why, but it was cute! Sorry for the grainy pictures.

Nicholas is really getting into watching TV and movies now. Unfortunately, his list of favorites is limited....Elmo, Wiggles and Hi-5. He loves them all though!

We took the kids to a fall fest place last month for my company picnic. Unfortnately, we didn't get to spend a lot of time there because we had other running around that day. It was a really neat place though in Hartville. Here is one of the couple pictures I took of them playing in the corn pit.

Then came Halloween. Of course, it came really quickly. I hated it being on a weekday night too...made it a little hectic, but I picked the kids up a little early to give us time to run home, eat and change before trick or treat.

Hannah was Rapunzel (so not a blonde!)

Nicholas was the cutest dragon ever!

They sure had fun being dressed up and going trick or treating.

We teamed up with Hardins as we always do. Laura and I sat out to hand out candy and Tony and Aaron took the kids.

Unfortnately, I forgot to give Tony the camera during trick or treat, so we didn't get any of Nicholas going up to the doors, but he did pretty good. He did come home sitting in the wagon, but he got out at each house to get his goods!

Here's a funny picture of how Nicholas fell asleep one morning while Hannah and I were at church. He slept like this for almost his whole nap!

Hannah's gymnastics session ended a couple weeks ago. The sessions always end with "Show what you know" where they go out to the floor and show what they've learned and we take pictures and then there's a ribbon ceremony. Unfortnately, this time, Tony went out so I had to take both kids by myself. Nicholas was actually really good during class but then the inner monster in him came raging out when the floor opened. It was AWFUL!! Really, it wasn't his fault at all. To him, it was like a dream come true for this giant playground to be opened up to him. He had no way to know he couldn't play and it was so hard for me to keep him in check while watching Hannah and trying to take pictures. He's getting too big to hold and won't just stay by me if I tell him to. I turned into the psycho mom for a while. But anyway, here are a few of Hannah doing her stuff!

Then while I was in full psycho mom mode during ribbon ceremony (becasue I just wanted to sit there and watch while Nicholas saw no one playing on the equipment that was calling his name), Hannah was super excited to receive her RED trophy!!! I had told her that I thought she was only getting a medal again this time, because I really thought she was. The look on her face when she realized she got all 4 ribbons and her trophy was AWESOME, but of course, I missed taking a picture of it trying to hold Nicholas down. We were so proud though of her the entire way home!!!

I actually won our last poker tournament! That was good - hadn't won in a while and it felt good to play so well.

Hannah got her first report card - all very good marks! Exceeds standards in many areas, especially reading. She's reading at a 2nd grade level right now and can actually read some 3rd grade books! We also had our first parent teacher conference - all very good things to say about her! I'm so proud of her!

We finally got our new carpet in the bedroom. We put our furniture back in the room differently to open up the windows. I really like how it's arranged now because it makes the room seem bigger, but now I'm on the wrong side of the bed! It's really awful - I can't sleep like that! So I may have to give up being next to the clock and get back to MY side of the bed so I can sleep!

Hannah's also been participating in children's choir at church. She loves it. The kids sang last week at church and it was really sweet. Tony came to watch too, so of course Nicholas came to church as well. He was so cute when it was children's sharing time. When he saw the kids were going up, he was curious and wanted to go, but was hesitant. He went about half way down the aisle, then came back and kept going closer and closer and then he spotted Hannah sitting up there so he ran to her. She was awesome and put her arm around him to comfort him and they were so cute sitting there together. (sorry for the poor pics in church).

Luckily, Nicholas came back to his seat just before it was really over because that's when the kids choir sang. If he's have still been up there, we'd have made a scene trying to get him to come back and not stay and sing. He saw them at practice and stood up there because they were doing super fun hand motions to their song.

And then this past week was Thanksgiving alread! Hannah had no school Wednesday, so I took the day off with her. We hung out at home all morning then went running around and then to see the Muppet movie. It was fun to hang out with her all day...she's so grown up!

We went to dads for dinner. Nicholas had fun playing with their new puppy, Maizy.

We went to Dawns after that for the rest of the evening.

I did some shopping on Black Friday and we went to the lighting on the square and we got our outside lights up yesterday (in the awesome 60 degree weather!!)

It was a really long weekend, much needed, but I'm actually ready to go back to work and school and our crazy, busy schedules!

Waited for 5 years for this

Since I'm on the trend of blogging about once a month now, no apologies for the non-posting....it should be expected by now. I'll be sorry when I finally put this blog into a book and have such gaps between posts, but at least I'm capturing some of our crazy life!

So all my dad has wanted since he became a Grandpa is to share his love of tractors with his grandkids. Since Hannah was old enough to walk, Dad's been itching to get her on a tractor. The problem has been that she hates loud noises and is not the most adventursome kid. So the attempts up until now haven't gone so well. I think when I had a son, Dad was even more anxious to live up to his name of Grandpa Tractor. Hannah was excited to go down for a visit last month and I thought Nicholas would be too.

Dad had all the toys ready to go and it started off really well. Hannah and Nicholas climbed up on the Gator and seemed excited about the fun ahead.

Unfortunately, Nicholas didn't like the noise either, but to Grandpa's delight, Hannah loved all the rides!!! She even got to steer the 4010 - so fun!

And then she took a ride on a small garden tractor with Grandma

And then Hannah rode a dozer and they both explored all the tractors in one of the barns.

Nicholas did brave up enough to at least SIT on one with me.....this was "my tractor" growing up!

We had fun and maybe next summer Nicholas will like it better. I think he may have considered it a little except for the fact Grandpa scared him with his "Boo Toe". You see, dad had a hole in the toe of his tennis shoe and while we were eating dinner, Nicholas noticed it. When we realized he was checking out my dad's toe sticking out of his shoe, Dad lifted his leg at Nick and yelled "BOO!" That didn't go over well at all!!!! So after the tractor riding, Nicholas was acting afraid of Grandpa and even went over to our car in an attempt to leave. I realized what was wrong with him - he was afraid of my dad's shoe!!!! So like a good Grandpa, he went in to change shoes and we had a peaceful rest of the visit.

I have to say (maybe an advantage to blog delay) there is a second chapter to this story. First you need to understand that we visited them the last weekend in September. Now, a month later, this past weekend, Nicholas was drinking out of one of our John Deere sippy cups. We were looking at the tractors on it and he was really trying to tell me something. He kept "saying" the same thing over and over with the same fluctuations in his voice, but because a lot of what he says is still not understandable, I had no clue what he was saying. Finally, he looked over at our door to where we take off our shoes and he said "shoe". Then I realized what he was saying....he was pointing to the tractor on his cup and was telling me that "papa had a hole in his shoe"! It was hysterical!!! Funny how things really stick to kids sometimes!

So, it was a month ago.........

Nicholas is now 19 months, however, we did get his 18 month pictures taken ON TIME. I just didn't blog about it. So now, better late than never, here are Nicholas' 18-month shots. The photo shoot was awful! He had no interest in sitting still, smiling or realy even looking at the camera. It made one thing easy, picking the pictures. This was really the only one we got of him sitting still and pretty much looking.

He is pretty cute, huh?

And then we got this one too. Sort of felt obligated to get at least one more pose, although he's a bit in action here.

He went for his 18 month checkup and is doing great. We had a hard time getting him to sit still on the scale (do you see a pattern here?) so we got his weight at 28-1/2 pounds (75%), although I think it's on the high side. He was 34-1/4 inches tall (90%). He got the last of his immunizations until he's 5. He hated every second of being near the doctor, so maybe since his next well visits will be minus the shots, he might be a better patient. Not holding my breath on it though! That was really it about the visit, short and sweet. Nothing concerning so there wasn't much to discuss. He's doing great, strong willed, stubborn, starting to talk a lot more and all boy!

We also got family pictures too. We actually started out with the family pictures. I was hoping this process would warm Nicholas up to the idea so that his shoot would go better. Good plan, but wasn't so perfectly executed. Although, I'm sure it did make his session at least tolerable, just by then, he was pretty much done. We really only did well when I was in the picture with him. Here is the best one we got of all of us.

And then an OK one

And one of Tony and the kids. Nicholas wasn't too fond of sitting just with Tony. That's another story.....he went through a mommy-only phase recently. I'm happy to report, I think it's finally ending!

And then one of me and the kids

And there you have it! Tony is off the hook for pictures for another year and I'm hopeful Christmas pictures will go better!

catching up....again

First of all, I have no clue what happened to my blog page...I hate how it shifted to the left, so hopefully as I do some more posts, it'll straighten out.

It seems like every post I do this year is about catching up from the previous weeks of blog-lacking! Well, today is no different I suppose. I guess it's a good thing that I'm too busy to sit at the computer and journal our life, but then when I remember that this is used to keep in touch as well as keep stories and pictures to remember, I feel terrible.

So with that, let me begin.....
Kindergarten has been going very well. We've got the new routines down in the morning and in the afternoon and all seems to be going just fine. Hannah missed the bus to come home one day, but it wasn't her fault. I still am not quite sure what happened, but something about being too busy with a game or something and she and several other classmates missed the call for bus riders. But she was safe & sound at after care and they called right away to let me know. All in all, this first (almost) month of school is going great. She seems really happy and is doing well.

Hannah started back to gymnastics the end of August. She's happy to be back in class, but now with school, Tuesday's are a LONG day for her!

Tony started a new diet and work out routine. He's making a commitment to get healthier again. His new diet also helps all of us as well since we're eating more fruits & vegetables and lean meats. I would like to get back to zumba or jazzercise to also get back into shape - need to make more time for that.

My 36th birthday was earlier this month....just another day really, but we did a small celebration that day. Tony got a small ice cream cake, the kids were both a little cranky, but none-the-less, they rang in another year for me with some signs of love and appreciation. I got an MP3 player - yes, I'm probably the last to get one - so I don't have to carry around CD's in my car! I now have to find some time to get some music on it. Again, no time to sit at the compter - maybe after this post?

Anyway, here are a couple of pictures with me and the kids with my cake and gift.

Our poker league started up again. Tony did well our first night by finishing third. Hopefully we can get on a winning streak together and not only pay for our playing, but maybe make a few extra bucks for a rainy day!

I started teaching Sunday School this year. I've got a second grade class. So far, I've got about 6 kids. I like this class because it's small enough to handle, they're capable enough to do things on their own, but I'm still a bit smarter than they are so I think it'll be a good year. I'm co-teaching with Laura too, so it should be fun! I also did this to help me get to church way more often than we had been going...so far, so good. Hannah's batting 1000 since school started!

We celebrated birthday's over at mom's on Sept 11th. It was sure a day to reflect back on the events 10 years ago. Although I missed going to any of the celebrations and rememberance events, we watched a lot of it on TV and I talked to Hannah a little bit about it. I also took some time on my own to just be so very thankful for everything I have and how my world today works.

The birthday celebration for Randy and I was nice, a simple dinner and some ice cream cake. No longer do I get to open of my own gifts anymore, but I'm so glad I have two great helpers to do it for me!

And other than several visits with builders about a new house and lots of looking online at what kinds of homes are on the market, Tony and I are just trying to figure out our plan on how to move up - the right way. We (well, I) REALLY want to build and am very hopeful that will happen some day. In the meantime, we're going to finish doing some things around here to get our home sell-ready so when the time comes, we can do it and hopefully quickly.

We have a Kindergartener

Today was a really big day! Hannah's first day of school. Real school - in a real school building, for the entire day, teachers, desks and lots of learning. We're so proud of her and prepared for a long time for this day. I couldn't believe it finally came!

I spent the day with her yesterday - just she and I having a special mommy/daughter day before I set her off into the "real world" of school. We didn't do much, but had a really great day. We did some shopping, had lunch together and then came home and baked cookies. She picked out snickerdoodles to make and practiced reading by following the recipie.

Then she did all of the sprinkling of cinnamon sugar and put extra love in the cookies.

Then we picked out her outfit for the first day

And packed her lunch and snack

Then this morning, I woke her up and she was so excited about the big day! It had been storming early this morning, but thankfully stopped as she was getting up.

She got dressed - she was so super cute in her uniform! She wears navy or khaki bottoms or jumpers and red, white, light or navy blue shirts. Love that she's wearing uniforms - should make getting ready in the morning easy.

She got her brother up - he had no clue that it was a special day, just being his ornery self!



She ate breakfast - oatmeal today



And then we got her backpack all ready and took some pictures.

Then it was time to go out to wait for the bus. We met McKenna and Allie at the sidewalk. They were all al bit chilly, but so super excited for the first day.

We went in to get jackets & sweaters and took a few more pictures.

Then continued waiting for the bus. It was right on time, however, as bus 83 pulled up and stopped we were ready to wave it along since we were waiting for bus 58. Laura went to talk to the driver, and it was in fact our bus, with cover up numbers over the 83 on the door side of the bus...sort of silly that they didn't cover all the 83's - a bit confusing for the first day, don't you think? But then we all crossed the street to get on the bus.

And then the big moment, Hannah got on the school bus to go off into the world of school, never again to be our little baby, but she promises, she'll always be our little girl!

And then the bus drove away.

I had some serious tears welled up in my eyes and let them fall after I went in the house a little. I'm happy for her, but sort of sad too. Everyone always says how fast the time goes, but it's when I sit and remember her as a baby, then as a toddler and then she seemed to go from 3 to 5 in such a hurry. Now that school has started, I'm sure time will continue to fly by.

I took Nicholas to daycare and then headed to work. The day went super fast and I left for the day around 3:15. I wanted to go to meet Hannah as she got off the bus for a few reasons. The biggest was because we have had a little bit of a fiasco with the bus garage over Hannah's ride home. We requested to have her bussed to Valarie's house after school, mostly for the ease of picking up both kids at one place. The first bus stop they approved was 2 streets and 15 houses away from Val's house, so that obviously got another vist from me to the bus garage. Then they appproved a cross street only 4 houses away. We tried to get them to agree to drop Hannah off at the driveway since she is a licensed daycare, but they said their rule is bus stops must be at cross streets and they wouldn't budge. So I wanted to meet her today to ensure they got her to the right stop and to make sure she knew how to get to Val's house from the bust stop since it's a neighborhood she's not really familiar with.

So I got to the stop at 3:30. School gets out at 3:15 and I knew they stopped at another school to get more kids, but I had no idea of what time she was going to be dropped off. The public school bus came and dropped off those kids and we kept waiting. Then it was 4:00, and 4:10 and at 4:15, Tony called. I told him I hadn't called yet because she wasn't home yet. Of course he got upset, but I didn't want to worry just yet - it was the first day and maybe they were running late. Then it was 4:20 & 4:25 and I started getting concerned - wondering if she got on a bus to go to our house or if they dropped her off at the original stop 2 streets away. I called the bus garage and got voicemail. Then I called the school and the secretary tried to help me out by calling the bus garage. She finally got through and left me a voicemail just as Hannah's bus was pulling up to Val's driveway to safely deliver our Kindergartner! It was around 4:33, but she was fine. It turns out she is the very last stop for that bus, so her normal drop off should be around 4:20. The good news is that the bus driver agreed to drop her off at the driveway instead of the actual bus stop, so that's a load off my worry chart. She will be on the bus for a bit longer than I would like, but she'll be safe and she'll be fine as she starts making friends.

She had a great day, was very tired, but all is well and she's going to do great as she gets used to the rountine! We get to do it all over again tomorrow, and until June I guess! Boo for summer being over now, but yay for Hannah taking another step ahead!