Gearing up for Halloween 2011

Gosh, I can't believe how fast the past few months have flown by! School started in August and it just seems like I'm finally being able to take a moment to update everything now--and it's the end of October already!

Aurora started 3rd grade this year. She is enjoying her new teacher, Mrs. Cipolla. Having had the same teacher for 2 years in a row, getting a new teacher required some changes and she's doing great. This year asks more of her in the area of organization and homework, both of which she does NOT enjoy, but she's working at it and we're holding her accountable for it. I can't control what her desk looks like, but her teacher is very patient with her.

Ryan started Kindergarten in August. His teacher is a very patient woman! His first couple weeks were rough. He didn't want to follow the rules. Ryan has no volume control--something we struggle with here at home now that we have a baby--and he was constantly going in time-out because he wouldn't be quiet when asked. Rob got the brilliant idea that he should bribe Ryan. If he got a "Green Light" each day of the week, Rob would take him to the comic book store and buy him an age-appropriate superhero comic. He now has about 6 comic books and last week he earned a Hulk action figure! We have a parent/teacher conference next week and I'm hoping to hear good things. Cross your fingers!

Ellie is a completely different baby from the last update on here. She started rolling everywhere at 8 months old. Not too long after that, she started getting up on her hands and knees and now she is crawling everywhere! She's started pulling up onto her knees and pulling up to a standing position is the next step. It won't be long and she'll be running everywhere! Ellie can now say "Mama", "Dada", "Rora", "Bubba", "nana" and her own version of "Sassy" (which actually sounds like "chi-chi"). She loves blowing kisses and giving smiles to anyone who looks at her. She really is a happy baby and the older 2 just adore her! Ellie started sleeping through the night, finally, just a few weeks ago. We're starting to transition from breastmilk to a cup. She absolutely loves chocolate milk--the sugar free Nesquik kind, of course.

Here in a few days, we're going to dress up for Halloween. Last year, Aurora got to go Trick-or-Treating for the first time. Ryan was sick and I was very pregnant, so we didn't get to go with her and Daddy. She would like to do it again this year and hopes Ryan will get to come with her. As you can see in the picture below, the kids already have their costumes.


Aurora wanted to be a witch this year, but since we go to our church's Fall Festival, we thought maybe we should go with a less controversial costume. So, she found a really cute black cat costume and it suits her perfectly! The mask outlines her eyes and it's so pretty on her!

Ryan is the black Spiderman--when he was being taken over by the symbiote, "Venom" from Spiderman 3. We thought he wanted to be Captain America, and then we saw a Thor costume, but when he saw the Spiderman costume, it was all over. We had to buy him some new shoes (his feet are growing so fast right now--they're already bigger than his sister's feet) and he even wanted the black Spiderman shoes. So, he's set from head to toe for Halloween.

Ellie gets to be a really cute ladybug this year. A friend of ours had a daughter a few years before Ellie was born and we are the very fortunate recipients of this well-dressed little girl's clothes. When I saw the ladybug costume, I fell in love! She's so adorable in it!

Halloween usually marks the end of Daddy's free time. From the beginning of November until the middle of January, he's so busy with Christmas shopping and returns, etc. Before we know it, Thanksgiving will be here and then Christmas--and then Ryan's 6th birthday and Ellie's 1st birthday! We can hardly wait! Ryan is already planning his party. I better catch up!

Pocket Treasures & The Machine

I don't know how it manages to continue to work week after week. It's not industrial strength. It's 10 years old. Somehow, each week it manages to survive and thrive through all the abuse and filth thrown at it. This monster usually just eats things like this, but today, the Machine Monster must not have appreciated the love offerings from my children.

Yes, people, I'm talking about my beloved washing machine. I tell the kids to empty their pockets before they put their clothes in their laundry baskets, but it just isn't enough. I don't have time to go through each individual pocket (because there are about 50 of them total in each load of jeans). So, my poor washer ends up having to empty the pockets for me. Here are the spoils of war from this week:


Clockwise from the fish: A Rainbow Fish broach pin, a glass bead, some chenille pipe cleaner concoction (who knows what it looked like prior to the washing), a broken rubber bracelet, some random piece of something (plaster, maybe drywall?), a mulch wood chip from a flower bed (probably from school), and a flower charm from a bracelet (the bracelet is nowhere to be found).

Oh, and let's not forget Mr. Dryer. He ended up with a few treasures of his own. The picture below shows a rock, a piece of recycled tire mulch, and a penny from the dryer.

These made horrible noises, but I thought it was just because I had a load of jeans in there. I honestly thought all that banging around was the metal buttons from the jeans, but then I realized that my kids don't have jeans with the grown-up metal buttons; they have the snap closures on their jeans. So, I went to investigate and found all new treasures!

So, let's recap. Just how much could all those pockets secretly hold? Even I'm surprised this go-round:


Remember back to when we were kids and we thought all this stuff was treasure? And we were so shocked when our moms made us throw it away? I'm on the other side of this now and I am so shocked that they think these things are treasures--especially treasures worthy enough to put in their pockets!

I just really hope that my machine lives a few years longer. If my children want to make offerings to the washing machine monster, so be it. It would be even better if it was money next time. Like, a $20 bill--OOH! Or maybe even a $100 bill! Wouldn't that be great? No, probably not. That would just cause me to wonder what the heck my kids are doing on the school playground!

A Day of Firsts

Ryan lost his first tooth!!!!!!! I found out last week that his tooth was really, REALLY loose; he hadn't even noticed it was loose yet, typical boy. I was so excited that I took tons of photos on my phone. Of course, my phone camera is horrible, looks great only on my phone and won't print out good pictures. It doesn't really matter, though. The most important picture is the one above: The missing tooth picture!

He lost it last night after we brushed his teeth. Ryan has a tendency to lose track of what he's supposed to be doing and we were already late for bed, so I took the initiative to brush his teeth for him (I try to do that once every few days, just to be sure his teeth get a good cleaning every once in a while). Of course, I got toothpaste all around his mouth and it freaks him out when this happens. Instead of letting him wipe his mouth off on the hand towel next to the sink (gross!), I like to have him lean his head over the sink so I can rinse his face off. While I was rinsing his mouth, I heard a faint *clink*. I looked in the sink--where the water was running at full blast!!!--and saw his little bitty tooth! I acted as fast as I could and caught it just before it could go down the drain! Yay, Mommy! Ryan screamed when he saw that the gap in his mouth was bleeding and we quickly put a paper towel up to stop the blood (and the screaming).

After Aurora's Tooth Fairy Debacle, we made sure that the tooth was in a proper place for the Tooth Fairy to visit Ryan. She did her job and he woke up to a shiny Gold Dollar this morning, happy as a clam and excited, to boot!



Sassy and Ellie are starting to notice each other quite a bit more. Ellie wants to play with her, but Sassy is skeptical. She doesn't always run, but most of the time she does. This picture was one of the rare moments that Sassy took an interest in Ellie.



Ellie has been teething. I think her top teeth are coming in--at least I hope they come in soon! We haven't been sleeping well at night, she's been fussy and drooling like crazy. One of the results of the drooling has been a terrible diaper rash. At first, it was just a little bit red. Usually when this happens, I put some Desitin on it and the next day it's gone. When this didn't happen, I became concerned--not like "Oh, my gosh, she could DIE from this" concerned, but when I saw it was blistered and bleeding, it was enough to take some more drastic measures. I certainly wouldn't want MY butt to look or feel like that; I'm not going to make her have to live with it! With each diaper change, I was becoming more upset that the butt cream wasn't enough. So, I sprayed some Fantastic in my kitchen sink, wiped it, sprayed again, wiped it, and sprayed it again. I guess you could say my kitchen sink was clean by this point ;) To make a long story short, Ellie has gotten a sink bath every couple of diaper changes. Her diaper rash is still there, for now, but it's not bleeding anymore. As you can see from the photo above (and please excuse the clutter surrounding the sink), she loves her sink baths. It's just the right size for her and she can sit up on her own in there. We may make these sink baths part of our usual routine!

I Need a Vacation

I need a vacation. It really only needs to be a few days. Honestly. I don't need a whole week; just a few days of silence and being left ALONE!

I want to go somewhere where nobody is latched on to me, requires constant direction and re-direction and more re-direction. I want to avoid laundry, dishes, cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming, and meaningless discussions with acquaintances. I want to sip Mai-Tai's (whatever those are) and hang from a hammock for hours in the shade between two palm trees, their leaves blowing gently in the breeze coming from the shore.


I don't want to have to answer "Why!?!?!?!?", "Why not!?!?!?!?" or "Mom, can I...?" I don't want to have to ask "Do you have homework?", "Did you flush the toilet/wash your hands/turn the lights off?" I don't want to have to repeat "Aurora, eat!", "Ryan, sit straight in your chair!", or "Both of you, be quiet and EAT!" Investigating should only be done from the sea shore, as I follow the footprints of a crab or seagull; it should NOT require searching under beds for lost Squinkies or pieces of trash!



I will nap all day long and sleep all night through during this vacation. When my vacation is over, I will come home fully refreshed, slightly tanned, and able to take back my responsibilities with great ease, because in some sick way, I will have missed it all while I was swinging in my hammock peacefully. After all, I am blessed beyond belief with 3 amazing children and a wonderful husband, who all love me unconditionally--even on days where I desire vacations over my daily grind.

Ok. Vacation is over. Time to go re-direct again.

Some Things Never Change

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you have found a pattern: My kids do NOT like to clean their rooms. I don't know why they allow their rooms to become so messy; they always act like it's such a big surprise that I want them to clean up their messes! Why is that? I don't know... Perhaps they have short-term memory loss.

Today, I have made an ultimatum for the older 2: No lunch until your rooms are clean. I made the ultimatum at 10:30 a.m. More than enough time to clean their rooms before noon. It is now 2:40 p.m. and I still haven't made their lunches. Why? Their rooms are not clean yet! Argh!

They must not be that hungry, though. They aren't working very hard--at all! I have gone back there every 15-30 minutes to see their progress. Fortunately for each of them, there has been progress. Otherwise, I think my head might explode!

I desperately want to feed them. But, this is one of those Mommy times where I have to stand my ground. *sigh*

10 Things You Should Know About Me by Aurora, Age 8

Aurora was given homework to bring back for the first day of school. Her teacher had a form for them to fill out the following information. I thought her answers were quite interesting and, well, Very Aurora.

1. My name is: Aurora Lynn

2. I love: my little sister Elliana... for now.

3. My family: Robert D, Helen E, Aurora L, Ryan D, Elliana N :D

4. I like to: read books and watch TV

5. My favorite animal is a: 1) Bunny 2) Dog

6. My favorite sport to watch/play is: I don't watch/play any.

7. An interesting fact about me: I don't really have favorites... I'm just jotting down ones I really like!!

8. The coolest place I have been to is: ??????????

9. If I could have one wish, I would wish for: World Peace

10. When I grow up, I would like to be: I don't really know. I guess I'll have to wait and see :)

Ryan "Shredded" his pillow (FOD)

I went back to check on Ryan during his nap time today and found a pair of scissors in his crayon box. Now, knowing Ryan, it's terrifying that he even has crayons in his room, much less scissors! But, I looked around and saw that only papers had been cut. I did have a slight heart attack, though, when he came out of his room and announced:

"Mommy, I shredded my pillow!" and he seemed so proud and ran back to his room to show me what he was talking about.

Fortunately, he came out, thigh deep in his pillow case to show me how he "shredded" his pillow. I explained to him that when he says the word "shred" it usually means to cut something up into tiny pieces. He looked at me like I had grown horns and said:

"No. Shredded, like, you know, when animals shred out of something tight!"

"Oh! Bubba, you mean 'shed'!"

"Yeah, I shedded my pillow!" and he proceeded to show me how he sheds out of his pillow case!

tee-hee!