Princess CarolineTurns Two!

   Our sweet Caroline turned two yesterday!  The day was full of fun and surprises! She woke up to pretty balloons and some delicious pancakes made by dad!  She received her first Barbie, Cinderella of course!  She wore a beautiful Cinderella dress given to her from Nana and Grandpa at her princess party and she was spoiled rotten with too many presents!  She definitely had her cake and ate it too!

New glasses, talks with teachers, and Flu Shots

   Corey is traveling a lot more often for work which is definitely hard on both of us.  He hates leaving those four sweet faces and mine too of course!  It's so hard not having him home at 5:30 every evening to help me with the craziness of dinner, clean up, baths, and the bedtime routine.  On days when he is in town, I often count down the hours until he gets home.  I'm sure other moms do that too, right?   It's just so comforting to have your spouse home and to forge through the evening chaos together. 
   So last week while Corey was out of town for work, I had to take all four little ones to the optical shop to get Thomas' new glasses.  There is always a little bit of anxiety about taking all of the kids to a place where so many things are so breakable...but this was an errand that could not wait.  In the car I gave the kids a talk about appropriate behavior while Thomas was getting fitted for his new glasses and I promised them a treat if they could come through for me.  Bribery is probably not the best parenting tool out there, but in some circumstances it seems to be the best option. 
   Needless to say, the kids were very well behaved.  No one broke anything.  They sat in chairs and waited patiently for Thomas to get his glasses and no one made a scene!  I was a happy momma!  Chocolate shakes all around!  Well, not for Kate!

   My in-laws are kind enough to take and pick up Jack from preschool for me.  This is a huge blessing considering Jack's school requires that all students are to be walked into the classroom and picked up from the classroom.  This probably seems like no big deal, but it is a huge pain for a mom with multiple small children. At the beginning of the school year I was dragging in the double stroller for the girls and I had Thomas and Jack on foot close by.   We were dodging parents and kids all the way into the school and we barely made it in the classroom without me yelling at Thomas to stay with me.  Something that should have been a simple task was an event that made me sweat. 
    Now that Mike and Lisa have offered to help with this routine part of our day, a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  Unfortunately for Lisa last week, Jack's teacher had to let her know that there was an issue that needed to be addressed.  Jack has been struggling with the personal space of his classmates.  He has not been keeping his hands to himself and this behavior needs to be corrected. 
   Corey and I each had a talk with Jack about respecting other people's personal space and about keeping his hands to himself.  During my talk, Jack couldn't help himself, he was rubbing the side of baby Kate's face and completely not realizing that my talk about not touching other people could also mean not touching his siblings.  AHHHH.  We have so much to work on! 
   I am planning on taking the little guy to school tomorrow so I can get the scoop from his teacher about what I can do to help at home.  I am sure this is the first of many talks with one of my child's teachers.


   Flu shot or not to get the flu shot?  Well that is the question I have bounced off several close friends this winter.  Corey and I did not get the kids vaccinated this flu season and not because we were completely against the idea, but more like we simply forgot to do so.  How does that happen?  I'm not really sure.  I actually thought the kids had been vaccinated until I asked Corey about it and he confirmed that he had not taken the kids in for the shot. Ohhhhh shoooooot. 
   Well, flu season is half way over and we have still not gotten the flu shot.  I am sure there are plenty of parents who could not imagine not getting their kids the shot and would condemn us for not doing so.  I also know there are plenty of parents out there who think the shot is not a guarantee to ward off the flu and therefor not necessary.
   Unfortunately, our kids have had colds most of January and we are battling another round of colds this February.  I guess the flu shot Gods are laughing at us right now.  I am guessing that next year we will be on top of this issue and everyone will get the vaccination as soon as it is available. 
   *Parenting failure number 'too many to count.'

It's never too late for pumpkins and candy!

 So, in a frantic attempt to update the blog I left out Halloween.  Who does that?  This past year the boys were dressed up as their favorite superhero, Spiderman of course. Due to Caroline's intense love for Beyonce's music, I wanted to dress her up in the "single ladies" costume from Beyonce's video.  Unfortunately, it was pretty cold this past Halloween, so there was a last minute costume change to a monkey.  It was Kate's first Halloween and she wore an adorable Mud Pie outfit and slept through most of the festivities!

 Carving Pumpkins...some were fond of the activity, others not so much.

Our first attempt to produce something a little more difficult than the average jack o' lantern.

Jack and Thomas

Kate and Jack

Best friends!

The whole gang...just eight for now!

Grandpa and Caroline

Nana and Caroline

Trunk Or Treat

Love this one of Jack...

Every one's favorite superhero x2!

 

Nancy our Elf on the Shelf

The Christmas season was glorious this year!  We enjoyed preparing for Christmas by making cookies, making ornaments, decorating the house, placing a few tacky blow ups in front of our house etc.  We also introduced  Nancy, our  Elf on the Shelf to the kids this year. Above is a picture of the kids finding her for the first time. She was motivation for good behavior when we needed her to be, she was a distraction when we needed her to be, and she was just plain fun for the kids to find as she hid throughout the house. 

My sister-in-law commented on how tan our elf looked and I didn't think anything of it until I saw online that there are elves with light and dark skin tones. Apparently I bought the elf with the dark skin tone. Hey, we don't discriminate in this house!

Jack started preschool last Fall

We knew Jack was more than ready for preschool this past Fall.  He was so excited on his first day of school.  His first day was bittersweet for us, but mostly sweet!

First Day! So handsome!

  Thomas was so excited about Jack's first day of school.  He was a little disappointed that he didn't get to spend the day with his big brother.  At least he got to take a sack lunch to "Bubby School" (Grandma Lisa's house).

What I have failed to mention about Jack starting school is this...
Last summer I received a phone call from Jack's sweet teacher letting me know when "Meet the Teacher" day was going to take place and when parents were supposed to go to "Back to School Night" to get the scoop.  When I took the phone call I was two weeks away from having a baby, it was dinner time, Corey was not home yet, two kids were yelling and someone needed me to wipe their poopy bottom.  So of course I played it off like all was well and things were under control while I'm sure the teacher noticed the chaos over the phone.  I might have mixed up the dates she gave me and I might have royally messed up Jack's first introduction to school.  What I am trying to say is, Jack missed the "Meet the Teacher" day at his new school and Corey went to the wrong "Back to School Night."  Bam.  I failed.  Clearly I will not be nominated for "Mother of the Year" anytime soon.

Thomas is 3!

The big Birthday boy woke up and said, "Let's get this Birthday started!"

 It must be genetic!  He has inherited my 'party favor' genes!

Tom woke up to  "Happy 3rd  Birthday Thomas" on the driveway!

Despite the Birthday party cancellation due to sickness,

 the Birthday boy still enjoyed his ice cream cake!

Baby Kate

 Okay, I know I have neglected to blog since the end of August and it's time to get caught up.  Since my last post the most important update is the arrival of our fourth child, Katherine Anne!  She is everything a parent could ask for, healthy, beautiful, a really happy baby and a good sleeper! 

 

Kate's Baptism

Aunt Kristie and Uncle Kevan are Kate's proud Godparents!

Hilarious first family picture...all six of us.

The picture pretty much speaks for itself.  We obviously have things 100% under control!