FOUR

This little guy turned FOUR today. The last of my babies, the last time we get a 4th birthday party, the last time anyone in this house turns 4. He has brought 4 years of happiness to our family. He was born via induction, and I remember waking up that morning, and it was cold as all get out (Hello wisconsin winter) and the roads were covered with snow. Much like today. And my labor was about 20 hours, although my midwife promised me it would be "the fastest of all three kiddos"(not so much) and the day he was born, we got 13 inches of snow! I was basking in the newness of a new baby boy, however worried no one would be able to visit because of the many inches of snow we had. (I was wrong).

 

 

He , I remember, developed jandice and we almost thought he wasn't going to come home with us. WE almost thought we were not going to be allowed to leave the hospital as there was so much snow and blizzard like conditions, they were making many people stay. But we all came home and he had a Biliblanket he had to stay on until christmas. He had to have his levels checked daily, and the first day it had to be back at the hospital, which was a 30 minute trip and during those days, it was about minus 20 below. Fantastic baby weather. Finally his levels went down and the biliblanket went away.

He has been a happy baby...serious at times but over all, very happy. Hes the only child who still loves to snuggle with his momma, who still clings to his momma and likes to be with either mom or dad, with the rare exception of one of his grandparents. We snuggle and snuggle and he wakes up happy and ready to go each morning. He loves his brother and sister with all his heart, he's always letting them share in his joys, and his toys. Today when he got a new green power ranger from grandma and grandpa, he said "Oh I will let Jace play with it too!" and when we go to the store, he always grabs a treat for both siblings.

It finally snowed here in Wisconsin. "flurries" turned into more than so. But that's ok because the kids were all loving it, playing outside all day. And the first snow fall is always pretty and exciting. But it can go now. I"m done with it.

 

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 We also did our christmas cookie decorating this past weekend. There was much eating while decorating. But at least the sprinkles didn't all land on the floor like the halloween sprinkles did. Sprinkles get everywhere.

 This is Skippy, our "elf on the shelf". Skippy comes in late at night or early morning, back from the north pole. He hides in a new place each time. He reports back to Santa each day on the behaviors in our house.

This above is my son and my niece breaking the "wishbone" on thanksgiving at my parents house. She won by the way, and her wish was to be a princess. She was very happy at this. My son wished to be a power ranger. But he wasn't really that disappointed... lol!

Being it was Saturday today, I slept in until Noon! WHAT? WITH THREE CHILDREN? Yup. They got up early and went to my father in laws house! My husband went to a guys gaming day with his friends or buddies or whatever guys call eachother. They all kissed me goodbye and off they went.
My mom texted me, asking me to go for manicures...oh yes please? We waited until my dad got home from work and off we went. We did some shopping and got some supper and I came home and started cleaning my still empty house.
Very lazy relaxed Saturday, which is nice for a change.

And Hello mother nature? It was 60's earlier this week. And then BOOM!!! Now we're in the 30's!!!! Make up your mind. I know its November and almost December but alot of us could adjust properly to the cold Wisconsin weather if Mother Nature would just pick a temp for more than 4 days.

 

I haven't been feeling very... bloggy lately. I apologize. We've been busy with everyone getting over the stomache thing, our towns holiday parade and what not. You know sometimes life just gets ahold of you and you don't seem to find time to sit down to write anything meaningful..

 

 My daughters hair is getting long. And being naturally curly, when its wet, its really long. I captured this photo the past weekend. I"m trying to recall when we last cut her hair. I think it was before school let out last year, but I"m unsure. I've decided to let it grow for a while and see where that takes us. Being curly, the longer it gets, it seems to chill a little more, the weight of it doesn't make it as poofy or curly. But she's got my thick hair, which in turns makes it harder to deal with. We share the shampoo, we've been using that new-ish scalp shampoo they have out and conditioner. I quit using kid stuff with her, because obviously, her hair just doesn't fit under "childrens" hair anymore...lol. She looks older with longer hair though, so its bittersweet!

 This is her at the holiday parade last week. Yes our town had their holiday parade. Before thanksgiving. I guess they think everyone will get caught up in holiday things so why not do it now? It was a nice parade with lighting christmas lights in the park afterwards and some fireworks. Luckily it wasn't below 30 degrees that I know of, so it wasn't too bad of weather. Its been way worse .

Above are the three of my children in their power ranger masks they often play with. The boys are really into mario stuff yet, but we're slowly transitioning into Power rangers. I"m not sure which honestly annoys me more. The power rangers have swords, or whatever they call them. I call them swords, but I get corrected at all points. I can't keep up with the changing trends of the children. But they like them and it keeps them occupied, even though usually I wouldn't allow swords in my house...but since they're NOT ...what can a momma do???lol

adult christmas list!(pinterest style)

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Oh how pinteresting!

http://www.thevintageapple.com/
I can't get her tag to work, but I"m following her blog for this idea!

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Its November

Well November is finally here. The months have been passing by pretty quickly, I must say.

My daughter woke up with the stomache flu this week and luckily for her it was a very mild case and she was back to normal in under 24 hours. Not such the case for my husband. But to be fair, when we all got sick in the summer with the same more horrible case of stomache flu, he really didn't get it. I've cleaned and sanitized everything now a few times so I'm hoping no one else gets it.

I'm glad trick or treating is over. Our town does it twice. One night is for the downtown businesses and the next day is for the town. Which is kinda nice because if you can't make it to one, you can make it to the other. Now we can use our costumes as play clothes, which my children always get a huge use out of. My oldest already is looking at costumes for NEXT year.

Our next big holiday of course is THANKSGIVING. October flew by fast, however the weather couldn't make up its mind. I put the summer clothes away and it was 75 degrees the next week. And I'm glad the cooler weather is back...except for having to scrape windows in the morning before taking the children to school. Apparently, you're NOT allowed to just drive with the windows down, it makes the children howl. I didn't prepare this morning for such a thick frost on my windshield, meaning I didn't have an ice scraper in my car. And to tell the honest truth, I hate hate scraping windows. Such a waste of time. And cold.I get in the car, crank the defrost and splash the windows with window cleaner....and wait. Which also makes the childen howl. So a mom just can't win.

We've got the winter coats and snow pants and boots ready for them all. Last year we did this, and didn't really get any snow. I"m sure we'll get bombed with snow this year and complain about it. That's just the way it works. We complain when we don't get snow and then complain when we DO get snow. I don't mind snow. Its pretty when looking outside, and its fun for the kids. However I don't enjoy walking in it, getting it in your socks and shoes and on your pants, and I don't enjoy driving in it. Since the state of our economy is sucking, our town doesn't throw down salt for the roads unless it has to. Salt shortage people, thats what its coming to. They throw down sand. SAND! Tell me how this is really going to achieve anything positive. I don't even enjoy sand in the summer, and once it gets in your bathtub, its over. So getting snow on yourself and then combine it with snow? ugh! And lets not forget the snow plows that don't come out to plow anything until theres at least 8 feet on the ground and you can't get anywhere. And usually it drifts right up against our garage. So you open the door, and watch as it comes up and I sit there and think "if I floor it out of the garage, will I make it? " Because the husband won't really be happy if I get stuck halfways in and out. When we owned the minivan, sure that thing could scale the drifts. But the cars we have now? Not so sure, I'll have to report back once I"ve tried this with both cars, just to be fair , ya know. I'd hate to only try it with one car, to sit and wonder "what would have happened with the other car?" And we live in an apartment complex who nicely plows out the parking lot for us. And back by our garages. However, facing the way we do, the plowing also adds to the drifts I must ponder about driving out of. Of COURSE I could just shovel the drifts away. But I don't own snow boots. And shoveling sucks. And the cold? it also sucks, so its a lose-lose situation, hence flooring the car over said drift. This shall be a winter of expirementation. Or a season of annoying the husband. Or possibly both, you never quite know whats in store at our house.

Lets not forget the hill we drive down to drop the oldest off at school. Some of the daily drivers annoy me. The parking lot is basically a circle. You drive in, DROP YOUR KID OFF  and go. Its that simple really. But oooooh, even adults seem to get that confuzed. You can't wait your turn in the drop off line, you have to cut in line, park like a dope, and when people get mad, don't sit and wonder just what is going on! And I need to also say its called "drop off" for a reason. Not get in line, get to the spot to drop them off, then lollygag for about 7 minutes while your unprepared child tries unsuccessfully to leave the car. During our drive to school, which is about 4 minutes, I"m going "ok, you got your stuff, on your lap? because when we get there, I"m going to pull into line and you gotta be ready to get out"... If I could coach them to TUCK AND ROLL as I keep the car moving, it would be awesome. But people frown on that. And it would probably make the children howl. So theres a hill that goes down leading to the school. And I"m sure with the non plowing of the streets(budget issues?) and people who can't drive in dry weather, I might have to take the older car during snow. Because if I crash, I'd like to keep the newer car with less dents. And who made up the rule to put a school at the bottom of the hill? So either you slide down the hill, in whichever way your car believes its fun, or you try to avoid the hill on the way there, by driving around the block, and get into the high school traffic, and then have to scale the hill on the way back up. Either way, you'll probably end up sliding down. So much fun to look forward to. But I'm sure when they throw the sand down instead of salt, we'll all be SO much safer. Just sayin.

Last but not least..looking for a fun dessert treat? Looky what I found on Pineterest

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Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for my beautiful daughter. She is in her snow white costume at the local halloween party at school. She brings me much joy with her antics, and the way she comes up with things. She's only five but sometimes you do have to wonder.

 

 

 

I am thankful for the funnies my children provide me. My two pictured here are only 20 months apart and are constantly either doing something fun/naughty together, or getting in trouble together. I am thankful that usually its not so often "naughty"

 

 

I am thankful for the three of my children combined. Jace being the oldest had almost 4 full years of being an "only child". We worried about how he'd feel with a new baby sister, would he feel left out? Would he feel jealous ? Would he feel angry? Nope. He just accepted her like she'd been there his whole life. Because he's just like that. I"m thankful for my daughter being a "little mother" as we call her. She's constantly checking up on the "boys" to make sure they're "walking the line" so to speak. Shes very soft hearted yet can be serious as if she's really in charge.(I wonder where she learns this.....) I'm thankful for my youngest, as he is my "baby" and still likes to snuggle me and still wants to hang out with me..most times. I know this soon will stop. I am thankful for the dynamic of all three together.

 

 

 

I am thankful for my "boys" as we call them around the house. Their dynamic is simple and laid back. Though being the youngest and oldest, they are often found together kicking back, playing video games, watching netflix, playing power rangers, or creating some game. I am thankful they have loyal long life friends in eachother.

 

I am thankful for my family. For they provide me much comic relief, love and endless love.
what are YOU thankful for?

oh how pineteresting

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weekend packed with fun.

 This weekend we went to a parade, where it was very cold  and the wind was bitter so we had to bundle up in layers and wait for the parade to come

 The above picture is my oldest getting the boyscout float ready for the parade. Thankfully we were in a pole shed that took us out of the elements so it wasn't *as* bad.

 There were chickens where we prepared the float for the parade. My children thought the chickens should be petted. They were some really tame chickens, and would follow all the boyscouts around. However, we were warned not to harass the chickens, for this makes them angry and then they won't lay eggs.

 My oldest after the parade. He has like 3layers on under his boyscout shirt because it was that chilly.

 Then last night after supper we made apples with caramel and sprinkles. Usually we do cut out cookies, but th grocery store did not have them at my last minute buy so we went with apples.

 It was decided no one really liked the caramel. So they ate apples with sprinkles.

as the world turns

 

I love the fall colors that are showing up in our neck of the woods. I made an entry two entries ago, this top shot actually the same view, so you'll have to scroll back to see if theres any noticable changes.

 This weekend was unseasonably warm, and we played outside, and then went to the park where I found these pretty fall colors. What was really enchanting was the leaves quietly falling down like snowflakes below each tree in their own colors. I love fall for this reason. I love the colors..the cooler weather, halloween, pumpkin patches, sweatshirts.... I love fall.

 The below picture is my latest goodwill shopping find. My grandmother , otherwise fondly known as "yaya" got me started on wine glasses. We found these older thicker colored wine type glasses that I ABSOLUTELY adore. I have quite a few colored ones, however this one is my new one. And I think its beautiful. I don't collect many things, but since yaya has passed, its kinda like keeping on in her memory. And for $1.99, who could go wrong?