February 18th-24th

Awesome hair

Helping Granddad with his iPad

(2/18) Work day for Dad and me and Kathy had the kiddos.  C had the day off today, and managed to earn himself some extra screen time by reading for 45 minutes (!!!).  It was so gross out, I figured that would come in handy at Kathy's.  She said everyone had a great day, and the big boys actually ventured out when there was a break in the rain for a bit that afternoon.

Watching Cars...and he still can't look

Serious McQueen watching

(2/19) Day "off" for me and work day for Dad. Nanan came to watch the twinsies so I could work in C's classroom and then run to a dentist appointment.  After I picked up C, I got a call that our couch was on it's way.  Unfortuantely, it was too wide to come through our front door, our garage or any of our interior doors.  They ended up muscling it up through the second story slider!  I'm so grateful they got it in.  Got the feet on it, and then brought the littles down. It's like Nascar in here now, with the littles running back and forth.  C likes to bury himself in the pillows and then explode when the boys come near, and D likes to throw the pillows on the floor and then walk off the side. Silly boys!  I love my new couch!!

 (2/20) Work day for me and Dad had the kiddos.  Had a quick evening packed with cuddles from the kids and then I settled in to read my book and promptly fell asleep.  Luckily, Dad woke me up for our show and then I went to bed for good.  Pre-bed nap.  Good stuff.

(2/21) Work day for Dad and me, and Kathy had the kids.  C was a total grouch all night, because he doesn't have any good toys at all.  Funnily enough, he didn't want me to throw all the rest of his unappreciated toys away.  Long story short, he wants a BeyBlade (a pair of tops, essentially) and can't get one for the next few weeks until he has enough allowance.  But until then, we get to hear how cool they are, and how much he wants one, and how awful it is to be him and not have one, etc.  He calmed down once we made tacos and I stuffed the kids' hollow legs full and then put everyone to bed.

(2/22) Pretty morning ~ snowed lightly and was fun to run in.  Dad worked today, and left when we all did to head to hockey.  Practice went great.  I let the little boys run down the hallway up by the offices, like I always do, and D figured out he could reach the lights....for all of the bleachers.  I didn't realize that's what he was doing until I looked out and the lights were blinking on and off for HALF the building.  Whoops!  There goes that location for a safe place to corral them.  Oh wells!  After they decided to no longer run in the same direction, I packed them back up in the stroller for the rest of practice.  We stopped at the store on the way home for some stuff for dinner, and as we were walking back to the bakery, D looks at all the wine bottles and says "COFFEE!"  LOL, not quite dude.  Got home, got the littles in bed, got dinner in the crockpot and then crashed myself.  C played Life by himself, and watched some Iron Man. Once the littles got up, we had dinner and bath, and then it was bedtime.  C and I watched some movies and called it a night ourselves.  Fun day!

D has coffee too!

(2/23) Ahhh, day of laziness.  Got the boys up and made them breakfast. J ate *three* bowls of granola and yogurt.  He kept saying he was not done every time I went over to wash his hands. The littles and I stayed home in our jammies while Dad and C left to go to C's game.  C scored *6* goals today!  Holy cow!  I had just put the littles down for nap when the big boys got home.  C entertained himself this afternoon by playing Life (against me... while I was reading and not paying attention).  He won, oddly enough.  Dad and C went to see the Silvertips tonight, and Grandma & Granddad came to watch the twinsies so I could go out with my book club peeps to dinner and then to see the author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette. Maria Semple was a very engaging & funny speaker, and I enjoyed the book too.  Looks like the littles had a whole lot of fun while I was gone.  The Tips lost in a shootout, but Dad & C had a good time anyway.


(2/24) Work day for me and Dad has the kids.

February 11th-17th

(2/11) Work day for Dad and me and Kathy had the kiddos.  I made burritos tonight and the boys didn't seem have a fill line.  There was barely enough for Dad to have one sad taco.  But what cracked me up, was when they asked for more beans.  It sounded like "BRAAAAINS."  My little zombies...  The spare McQueen arrived today, and J was a very happy boy.  I say spare McQueen because we thought we had lost one and then of course once I had ordered a replacement, the old one turned up.  J had both his McQueens and his McQueen book and was full of "McQueen! McQueen! McQueen!" ~ so cute.

(2/12) Work day for Dad and I was off with the kids.  Nanan came to watch the littles so I could volunteer in C's classroom.  I worked with another mom to help the kids weave hearts for Valentine's day.  I wish I could go to the his class' party on Friday, but I was glad to get to do some crafts with them at least.  After working in his room, I hit the gym and then came home to visit a bit with Nanan.  After she left, we left to grab C.  Dad gave C an umbrella today because it was so gross out, so after we got home, C went back outside to play with it for a good 15 minutes.  My children are easily entertained.

(2/13) Work day for me and Dad had the kids.  Came home to a nice dinner and got to spend the evening watching TV with Dad.

(2/14) Work day for Dad and me.  I was cut loose early, so I took the time to go sofa shopping.  We found a pretty good deal on a sectional sofa, but needed to go test out its sturdiness.  We got our current couch about 13 years ago, and furniture in this house has to withstand daily cannonballs, couch forts, etc.  The sectional has *attached* cushions and seemed sturdy enough.  It arrives Weds.  I got the kids some vinyl stickers for Valentine's day.  Some heart window clings for C (since he already has stickers), glow-in-the-dark stars and moons for D and McQueen for J (of course!).  Their room is super-stickered now. But it was fun, and harmless.  Works for me!


(2/15) No hockey today, so we stayed in our jammies late. The littles discovered the window clings. J tried to eat them, and D was so excited about "HEARTS!"  He relocated them so many times that they don't really stick any more. Meh, that was cheap fun!  I decided to tackle painting the spare bedroom during nap.  Grandma called while I was painting and invited us to dinner, and I decided that sounded much better than cooking.  They've been on vacation all month, so it was good to see them! Had a great dinner and visit, came home and got the boys all in bed, and then went back up to take down all the tape and put the room back together.  I think I'm done painting for a good, long while!

(2/16) Chill day today.  We spent a lazy morning bumming around the house and then I finally got going and put all the paint supplies back out in the shed and scooped the yard. I, uh, can tell that I haven't been doing a good job keeping the crayons away from the dogs. C and Dad went to go see the Lego Movie and the littles and I fixed up the penne we had planned for last night's dinner and had yummy lunch.  After the boys went down for their nap, I had a nice quiet house for a while.  Perfect time to read!  This afternoon, some friends came to pick up our old couch.  The guys ended up taking apart the door frame just to get it out.  Makes me nervous for Wednesday.  I hope they can get our new couch *in*.   C and the littles made their own couch out of papasan chairs and a beanbag for the interim.  Whatever works, right?

(2/17) Day off for all of us today!  Happy Presidents' Day!  Another epic day of laziness sounds lovely.

February 4th-10th

(2/4) Blaaaaaah, sick!  I went to sleep at 9pm and slept solidly until 7a, with one brief wake-up to come to the immediate conclusion that work wasn't going to happen today.  J had a 100* fever last night, but seems to be all better.  I, on the other hand, feel like I was run over by a bus.  I did manage to de-wallpaper C's old room, move/construct all the furniture and hang the mirror.  Looks good in there! I just want to do a little paint touch-up... though I do not have any of the original color.  I'll either have to go get a new can or use some of the stuff out in the shed and repaint the room.  Just depends on how lazy I am when it finally comes time to do this.


(2/5) Such a nice big brother.  I slept in this morning, and C stayed up in his room and played with his brothers until we got up.  He said he came down, but they got sad, so he went back.  Aww!   I volunteered later this morning in C's classroom.  It was the day of the Seahawks parade, so there were only 16 kiddos in his class today.  We whizzed through some projects and got the kids' Chinese New Year dragons ready for the celebration later in the day, and I did some reading with some other kids.  Came home and took the littles to the park, in balmy 24° weather.  We made it about 20 minutes and then called it.  Came home for lunch and nap.  The littles were out the minute I put them down and I had to wake them to go get C from school.  We came home for about 20 minutes and then I took them all with me to the doctor for a TB test (one of the last bits required for becoming licensed).  I bribed the big one with my iPod if he behaved, and took the kid tablet and Tag Reader & McQueen book with me.  Loud toys, but they behaved!  Came home, made dinner and did bath and bedtime.  C went up for bed at 8p, and the littles were already out and didn't wake up.  Yes!


(2/6) Work day for me & Dad had the kiddos.  The evening is always a blur when I get home, but I look forward to happy little people when I get home, bedtime and some TV/veg time with the hubs.


(2/7) Work day for Mom & Dad and Kathy had the kids. C never wants to come home, but at least the little boys are jumping up and down when I get there, and seem pleased to see me.  We had pizza tonight (yum!), and the boys whacked an entire big can of pineapple pieces. I was so exhausted tonight that as soon as I stopped hearing the boys rattling around upstairs, I was down for the count.



(2/8)  Nanan came down today to watch the kiddos so we could go in for CPR/first aid training.  It's been a LONG time, so it was good to have a refresher.  Plus? I now have the # for WA Poison Control memorized.  1-800-222-1222.  You're welcome. After Nanan left, I got inspired to paint the upstairs bathroom.  I painted it a few years ago and we went from white to a periwinkle color.  The bathroom is huge, so I was thinking a darker color would help cozy it up, but it was too dark.  I had tried to lighten it up by hanging a big mirror, and that was a fail.  I've repainted it "seabreeze mist" - which is a very light blue-green.  Same color as the downstairs bathroom, so that'll make touch-ups easier, etc.  I got about half way through, and since I was going from a darker color to a lighter, of course I ran out of paint.  Harrumph.  C hollered during this process that it was snowing.  Sure enough!  We got about 2".  So pretty!  I just wish Dad didn't have to drive in it still, since he doesn't leave work until 11pm.

(2/9) Love lazy Sundays.  I cooked the gang a big breakfast and then C headed out to sled down the hill out front with the one of the neighborhood kids.  After he got bored with that, it was screen time and then hockey time for C.  4 goals today!  So impressed!  The littles and I stayed home and did some exciting things like cleaning and reading.  I thought about taking them outside to play in the snow, but I don't think I have two pairs of snow pants for them.  The littles went down and C played Monopoly against himself (he won too!) and I went to the gym with Sarah.  After I got home, I ran out to drop more stuff off at the Goodwill and to get more paint.  Finished up the bathroom after I got home and have it mostly all put back together.  Just need to hang the big mirror. We had dinner, put the littles to bed, and I went up no less than 5 bajillion times to holler at the three of them to settle and go to sleep.

(2/10) Work day for Mama and Dad has the kiddos.

January 28th-February 3rd

(1/28) Tough day today.  We covered substance abuse and fetal alcohol today in babies.  I'm really not much of a baby person, or didn't think I was, but hearing those babies cry and seeing what happens is awful and I would have reached through the screen to pick them up, if possible. After I grabbed the kids today, we just played upstairs in their room and they ran amok and were the happy little people they are and that was pure therapy.


(1/29) Covered punishment vs discipline today, as well as race / culture and fostering a healthy identity.  I think I would have been overly kumbaya about race & culture without realizing how important that sense of history and identity is when carving out who you are as a person.  The discipline section was really interesting and I have a new perspective on how I will handle / have handled certain situations. We've done a working lunch at class, so were out early enough to beat C getting home from school.  I ran some errands so he could get back and play his bean collecting game (lol) and not get so mad that I ruined his whole day by coming early!  Ha. D really likes the barrel of monkeys game at Kathy's and I've notice he does a similar game at home, which involves flinging the crayons on the floor and (mostly) picking them up.  I didn't get them all cleaned up today however, and the dogs helpfully cleaned them up for me.  Yum?


(1/30) Lots of speakers today talking about the adoption / placement process.  Lots of success stories and it felt good to end on a high note.  We took the kids out to dinner tonight at our favorite restaurant.  We tried having the little boys sit in regular chairs, but D kept getting down and running off.  Our favorite waitress was there and she got a hug from J and helped me wrangle a wandering D.  We ate our weight in sushi and came home for bedtime.


(1/31) Back to work / normality for us and the kids were at Kathy's.  I have to admit, I'm kind of bummed class is over.  I feel like I learned a ton and have some new tools for ye olde toolbox.  If nothing else, I feel like I can be a better parent to my own kids.  After work, I brought the kiddos home for dinner, and then Nanan arrived to watch them while I went to book club with the gals.  She said it took them all over an hour to settle in for bedtime. Yep, that's about right.  I have been going in and finding C dancing around with the music up and light on (and this is an hour after the littles supposedly have gone to bed).  He always asks "What?!" when I come in to prod him along on the getting ready for bed process.  He will eventually learn to just ignore the littles, but has made it hard on himself by encouraging them to yell "LIE DOWN!!!" when he walks in.  So they do.  Every. time.


(2/1) Took the boys to C's hockey practice today.  D woke up really early and started in on the "LIE DOWN!!!"s at 6:45a for the second day in a row.  He has a runny nose and was fighting some serious zonies on the way to practice at 10a.  The littles ran around for about half of the practice and then D just fell apart.  I ended up putting them both in the stroller and just walking around.  Logged almost 3 miles at hockey alone!  After hockey, C really, really wanted to stop for egg rolls, so we stopped and grabbed some lunch at the store.  Fed the kiddos and put the littles down for a nap. I tried to fall asleep as well, but kept getting interrupted by the child that doesn't have enough Legos. Of course the one that really needed the sleep was up first a was a D-saster most of the afternoon.

(2/2) Super Bowl today, and I'm stoked - not about the football, but because I have the house to myself to be as lazy as I wanna!  Well, after the littles go to bed anyway.  C had a hockey game this morning (1 goal & 2 assists today!) and then he and Dad went to a Super Bowl party at a friend of ours. It would have been fun to go to the party, but I'd also be chasing around the littles and keeping them out of everything, which is none too relaxing.  So we stayed home.  We had a rivoting day watching Cars twice (J asks for McQueen every time we turn on the TV), taking naps and playing here at home.  We know how to party.

(2/3)  Work day for me and Dad has the kiddos.

At the beginning of this clip, the way J says "DENTON!" cracks me up. He slipped off his chair earlier this week, and while I was comforting him, D crawled up and started in on the puzzle. J wailed, grumbled "DENTON!" wailed some more and then got down to work on the puzzle.

Words:

D: Nomas? (Thomas)
C: Be-do? (Despicable Me)
J: McQueen!

At the crack of dawn, or when C comes in ~
D: LIE DOWN!!! LIE DOWN!!! LIE DOWN!!!

D talking about a sleeping J (I always say "Nigh-nigh, little boys!" when I put them to bed)
D: Little boy, little boy!

Or, and I love this... when D is mad at J ~
D: *mutter mutter* Little boy!

D: GET DOWN, RIGHT NOW! 1....2....3....4....5....9.
So bossy!

D: No courses! (while unplugging my computer cord)

J holding McQueen while wearing McQueen ~
J: McQUEEN, McQUEEN, McQUEEN!!