Showing posts with label Brianna. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brianna. Show all posts

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Random

I am so awful about updating my blog these days. When I'm working (during the school year) I can't post because Blogger is blocked. When I'm at home, I'm dealing with the 3 children (and one large child aka husband) or I am sucked in to the Facebook vortex!

Notes:
July went wonderfully despite the broken arm. The visit from the cousins was great and we did so much fun stuff. It seems that the addition of 2 additional children forced us off our butts and out into the world where we did things we never would have done to entertain our 3.

Brianna is growing so fast. Not literally, she's 8 and can still wear a 6/6x when need be. But in other ways, some days I see the teenager she'll be and I am equally terrified and over joyed with her wonderful little mind. She's still the kid that scares me the most. She has all these fears and minor ticks and double the stubbornness than any one person should be allowed to have.

Grant is starting Kindergarten in less than a month and loves to learn so much. He tries to read all the signs and things at stores, and gets them right sometimes! He is always asking us to give him math problems to do, and they are nothing amazing, but the kid can add and subtract all the single digits and some of the double digits.... in his mind! He loves to eat cereal, would eat it every meal if I let him. He like to mix 2 cereals together since he can't decide between them. He is also a little mean. He hits/kicks Brianna daily (never Chase) but his teachers say he doesn't do it at school so I try not to be too concerned.

Chase is my troublemaker. I know, I know, he's almost 2 and his testing his limits. I get that... but the kid does exactly what we tell him not to do ALL of the time. And reverse psychology doesn't work on him. If we tell him NOT to do what we actually WANT him to do, he still knows what we mean and does the wrong thing anyway. He learns everything from Brianna and Grant and is so smart in that way. He is talking up a storm and wants to do everything physical that we let him. My baby is no longer a baby.

The hubs and I are fine. Hubs is so excited for the new school year. I love that after 12 years of teaching, he can still be so excited about his job. It's really his calling. I wish I felt the same. I still like teaching, like Social Studies, like the students. I just can't seem to find the same excitement that used to make things like getting my classroom and starting the year so much fun. I'm going to keep trying to get involved in as many other things as I can. The challenge of adding new responsibilities is what what keeps me feeling... challenged. I do like a good challenge.

August will no doubt fly by and before I know it, or maybe before I post again, school will have started, Chase will be 2, and another summer will have gone before I could truly appreciate it.
Sigh.

Friday, July 02, 2010

Still kickin...

After nearly a month, I feel obliged to tell you that I am in fact- still alive!

For a couple of you who have had the misfortune to know me in real life and/or have been following for a while realize that when summer hits, I don't blog much. It's not that I am more or less busy.... or have less to say, merely that I am lazy and that this doesn't provide the relief it seems to give me during the school year.

During the June hiatus:
- Brianna turned 7 and finished 1st grade. Be still my heart, my baby is not a baby!
- Chase has decided his favorite thing in the world is to stand up. Not quite walk yet but we are helping him in that direction.
- Grant has not taken to the "relaxed pace" of summer very well. We're learning that he does best with a schedule and the free-style of some of our summer days results in tantrums, pouting, and hitting. He's 4.... what can you do when he's tantruming one minute and ridiculously adorable the next. I love him like crazy, that's what!
- I have taken on working out as my summer "job". I have set goals, am actively working toward them, and seeing progress. I am even consulting with a personal trainer/friend who is helping me out.

In less happy news I feel at a loss some days. Perhaps if I were 4 I could have a tantrum and get over it quickly. Sadly, I am more than 8x4 and the tantrum can be thrown but it just doesn't seem to work anymore. I love summer and relaxing but find that I am missing my schedule and my social contacts at work. Other days I want nothing more than to be alone and suddenly find that I can't seem to get away from the 3 children and husband who is also home all summer!

My balance is gone. Some days it seems to have taken my sanity with it. Other days I think I was never sane but was too busy to notice. Now I notice.

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

It goes by so fast...

I was cleaning out some shelves at school, shelves I haven't used in about a year. I found a scrap of paper on which I'd written some of the important milestones of my children. It was written long before Chase was a glimmer of hope in my heart. I am amazed by some of the similarities and differences...

First Tooth:
Brianna- 10 mo.
Grant- 11 mo.
Chase 8 mo.

Out of the Infant/portable Car Seat:
B- 18 mo (such a tiny peanut!)
G- 9 mo
C- 9 mo

Forward Facing in the car:
B- 18 mo (still wasn't 20 lbs but I gave up!)
G- 12 mo
C- not yet- probably at 12 mo

Running:
B- 10 mo
G- 15 mo
C- we'll see!

First huge goose egg on head!:
B- 10 mo (see also running... in the driveway!)
G- 15 mo
C- a first I'm glad not to have seen yet!

Children are such an adventure!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

6 going on 17

Brianna HATES talking on the phone! Even to mommy, daddy or Grandma...she will only talk if the phone is on speaker phone. We apparently found an exception to the rule!

Last week, Brianna got a phone call from A BOY! One of her little friends from school called to talk about a computer game/website he likes and she talked to him for a couple minutes. I of course listened to her side of the "conversation" but it was a lot of ... yes, uh huh, yes, mom, can I go on the computer, nah, yes, bye!

When I asked her about it later, she said she wanted him to be her boyfriend because he was funny. Considering sense of humor is one of the reasons I married the perfect man, I had some scary flash backs at that moment. At least she has good taste!

I thought we would have a few more years before I was thinking about boys calling!
Yikes! ;-)

Thursday, May 06, 2010

Geez... I don't know!

How did it get to be a week between blog posts?
You know... nothing happens, stuff happens, life happens.
I meant to post about...

- the day I was running late, hit every red light, AND the schmuck in front of me let 3 cars in front of him.

- the way I love when I can tell the person in the car next to me is listening to the same radio station because they are singing/drumming/dancing to the same beat as me.

- Chase is REALLY crawling now and has progressed to the slowly following us from room to room and getting frustrated that the big kids are faster than him.

- Brianna has the attitude and voice of a 14 year old! Seriously, her teen years may just kill me!

- Grant is, Grant. He is funny and vocal and still throws tantrum but they are usually about lack of candy. 4 is a great age!

- work is..... there? Whatever, 21 more days of this school year and then the "freedom" of summer in which I send my kids to camp occasionally just so I can have moments of silence.

Life- blog worthy or not, it happens.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

UGH!

Can I please go back to bed now? I know it is only 8:15 am but I have had enough of this day already.

- Chase got up at 5:00 to eat. He only does this once in a while anymore. Most days he sleeps until I wake him at 6:30 and doesn't eat anything until 7:30/8:00.
- Thought I wouldn't fall back asleep so I turned off my alarm. (What a dummy!) Of course then I DID fall back asleep and ended up getting up at Adam's alarm which makes me officially late for the day.
- Did all the usual mom-morning things... got self ready, got Bri up and going, got Chase back up and dressed and medicined, got breakfast for Bri, packed my bag, packed Bri's bag, made lunch and snack for her, put own shoes on, Finally got around to putting Bri's shoes on her... (Yes, I know she's almost 7 and CAN do this on her own but that would take 5x as long!)
- Brianna, who still hasn't finished her breakfast, looked right in my eyes and said, "Are you ready for my shoes, What took you so long?"

People- I almost lost it right there. I have never considered slapping my child before but some little part of my hand itched in that moment. I had to walk away. We were already 5 minutes late but I had to go to another room and chill for a couple minutes before I could look at her little face. Thank God I have a wonderful husband who was dealing with the boys at the time. Although he wasn't nearly as helpful when I came out and Mr. I-think-I'm-soooo-funny said "You wanted to have kids!"

By the time I got to school I was more than 15 minutes late, my students were waiting for me, and of COURSE my principal happened to be hanging out in the hall I had to pass through. My lesson isn't long enough, I gained back the 2lbs I lost last week, and my throat hurts.

Calgon, Take me away!

Friday, April 09, 2010

Easter 2010

First, the Easter Bunny came bringing stereotypical gender fun!









Later, we got dressed up and had an egg hunt in GG's yard!
Grant ran around seriously looking for eggs!








Brianna could not be bothered with her adorable headband due to the serious competitive streak!











Cooperation was often achieved too!










At the end, everyone had more eggs then they had basket space!








Chase stayed safely out of the way in the arms of Aunt Jamie with and blew raspberries at Grandpa Phil.


After the festivities were over, Silly mommy insisted on a picture with GG... clearly Grant was pleased over this interruption into the candy eating time!

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Bits and Pieces

AT WORK things have really relaxed and my work load dropped significantly... SO I decided to take on 2 new projects! Yaha... I'm an idiot!

CHASE is either teething or starting separation anxiety. Either way, my gentle little, go with the flow guy, is cranky! But it's odd- he's fine as I leave the room, if he sees me come back he melts down! Its like he didn't really realize I was gone until he sees me enter the room.

GRANT is so aware of the things around him. It's like I can see his little brain growing everyday. He asks what words mean and why things work and a zillion other thoughtful questions. Then 5 minutes later he throws a temper tantrum because he can't have exactly what he wants, exactly when/where he wants it, and I know my baby is still in the big boy shell.

BRIANNA is 6 going on 17. She has friend issues and emotional breakdowns and wants to wear dresses/skirts everyday. Except that she's still a kid because the friend issues are short lived, the emotional breakdowns can still be healed with hugs, and the clothes never match the shoes.

ME... well, I blogged about weight over at Changing our Weighs. I desperately need to clean my house and organize things... probably should have done that over spring break instead of sitting on my hiney... but my hiney and I had a nice relaxing time.

ADAM- who cares about him! It's all about me, right? :-)

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

A special smile!

Written Friday, Jan. 15 and found in my drafts...

This week, Brianna is very focused on losing her first baby tooth! Her 2 front, bottom, teeth are quite loose and the adult teeth are already visible behind them. Wednesday, she came home from school and informed me that her friend said that if I used a washcloth and pulled on her tooth it would come out. (Why does EVERY comment lately start with "My friend said..."?) We tried to no avail. I must admit I wasn't pulling very hard. She has her regularly scheduled dentist appt on Monday so hopefully they will take care of it!


And now...

The dentist wouldn't pull it for us- with good reason. They said that if they start pulling teeth, the kids learn to rely on that and expect it for every tooth. Instead, she showed Brianna how to wiggle her tooth in different ways and gave her "homework" to wiggle the tooth after brushing her teeth 2x a day!

A few days later- It worked! The tooth finally came out after working on it for over 5 weeks.


The Tooth Fairy made her first nocturnal visit to our house Friday, January 29th! She brought Brianna a coloring page with a tiny little note in the corner, and left a $2 bill as well. Brianna was thrilled!

Monday, January 25, 2010

I made it through the day!

Today, I was the stereotypical working mom who everyone doesn't want to be...

I sent my sick kids to school! I know, I shouldn't but it really couldn't be helped. (Daddy couldn't stay home either since he had been subpoenaed as a witness for court and Grandma was unavailable too.)

Chase has had a cold for almost a week and although it is winding down, he's still coughing. Sometimes the coughing triggers gagging and the gagging triggers vomit. I spent all day working as fast as I could just *knowing* that the call would come any minute... "Chase's mom, you have to come pick him up now..." But it didn't come.

Brianna was up until nearly 11:00 last night because she "just couldn't keep her eyes closed". I know- weird! But I think it had something to do with her cough, and her persistent fear of throwing up. She wouldn't admit it, but I'm sure she was laying there stressing over every little throat/stomach tickle.

If anyone is sick tomorrow, I can be a good mommy and stay home. SO- Murphy's law of parenting states that everyone will start improving tonight and be fine tomorrow.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Because thinking hurts my brain

Grant showing off a new sweatshirt!

The kids first "driving" lesson!

Brianna LOVES holding "baby Chase".

Cutie girl...

Big kids by the Christmas Tree.

Friday, January 15, 2010

From the mouths of babes!

Brianna doesn't really say funny things too often anymore but she definitely does funny things-

She has noticed that sometimes when I mix a bottle for the baby, after I've given it a good long shake, I hold it up above my head and stare at the bottom of the bottle. She has started doing this when she "feeds" her babies. It so cute how she mimics me. She walks around the house, bouncing the baby gently in one hand while shaking the bottle with the other. Finally, she lifts the bottle, stares at it, and finally pronounces it ready.

She's been doing this for several weeks and it never fails to make me smile. This week, I couldn't help but laugh with she finally asked me WHY I do that! :-) Sadly, now that she knows why, it doesn't seem as interesting to her anymore.

Grant is SUCH a character! When I picked him up from school Tuesday, his teacher couldn't wait to tell me this one-

While doing their "stations" that morning in preschool, the teachers had some music playing. They do that everyday... On this day, Ms. Mary had picked the latest album by Taylor Swift. Grant likes Taylor Swift, we listen to country on a regular basis in our house. Apparently, at one point, he just stopped coloring, looked up at his teacher, and said, "What's the big deal about being 15? I don't get it." Ms. Kim and Ms. Mary couldn't help themselves, they said they were crying from laughing so hard. Of course, with a reaction like that, now he repeats his famous statement every time the song comes on.

Chase... well, Chase doesn't say much of anything yet. But he laughs a lot! Especially when Brianna plays full body peekaboo with him. This basically means that Chase sits in someones lap on the couch, Brianna squats down in front of the couch so that she is almost out of site, and then pops up and says Peek-a-boo in a style slightly reminiscent of Molly Shannon's SNL- "Superstar!" character. Oh, the hysteria!!!! .... I should work on getting that one on video...

Friday, November 13, 2009

What about the kids?

It's actually been a while since I talked about my kids!

Chase is sick. :-(
My poor little baby has his first cold. He is sniffling and sneezing and sleepy. I wasn't too concerned until he had a "fit" this morning.... 40 minutes of unstoppable crying/screaming. THAT is not at all like my mellow little man! As soon as I got him to sleep, I called the doctor. Of course they don't need to see him but I feel better knowing I checked. Also, inevitably, he got much better after I called. I should call the doctor sooner, even when they don't do anything, simply the call seems to make my kids better!

A great Grant-ism:
When I asked him what he'd had for lunch at school he said, "We had the green beans that are rectangles with circle ends, not the ones shaped like little balls".
I seriously had to replay that sentence in my head a couple times!

And Brianna?
I don't know... Bri is fine. She is super excited to go to the bookstore tonight where her principal is reading a story. She is getting better at her reading and math everyday. She's still stubborn about her clothes but we are learning to compromise with each other.

They are great kids and I can't imagine life with out them!

Monday, October 12, 2009

I dare you not to laugh!

This morning in the grocery store...

Brianna says, "Mommy, I know how to spell tight! T- I- T!"


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Her dad and I just about died!

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Since turning 6 years old...

Brianna has perfected the following skills:
- teenage attitude
- yelling at her mother
- stomping off to her room to pout
- flipping out over "nothing"
- being stubborn
- doing things before asking if she can

She has taught herself these new skills and is working on perfecting them too... as long as she can do EVERYTHING by herself:
- Getting breakfast
- Pouring drinks (milk and juice, not THAT kind of drink people)
- using a chair to get down dishes she needs
- cooking anything that can be cooked in a toaster
- using the interactive cable guide to select shows on the TV (and turn to them herself)
- getting dressed, usually in clothes far to dressy for the day's activities


Mommy is FRUSTRATED!!!! Growing children are tough! especially without the aid of liquor!

Monday, August 03, 2009

Tender Topics

One of our favorite restaurants, the kind we go to AT LEAST once a week, is over the highway and past a very large cemetery. Sometime last spring, the focus of conversation in the car stopped being all the cars racing under the bridge and became the dead people sleeping in the cemetery. (These are the kids words, not mine.)

I have tried and can't pinpoint when or why this transformation happened... no one we know has passed, not even a pet. It just suddenly seems that we can't drive past this, or any significantly sized cemetery, without one of my children commenting about the dead people. That's what they call them... the dead people.

It wouldn't be such a big deal if we just were able to comment quickly and move past it. Each and every time is followed by a few questions about the people resting there. "Why are they dead? Who put them there? Why do we bury dead people? What will happen when we die? Where will the bodies go?" And so on....

Brianna handles all this well, she is able to conceptualize things without seeing them so seems to understand more and isn't scared by it. Grant on the other hand often ends the questioning session with a question or two vocalized in a shaky, fearful voice. "What will happen to me when you die Mommy?" was the one I had to face yesterday. Can you hear my heart breaking?

I think I put him off a bit by telling him that Mommy wouldn't die for a very (x30) long time. (Grant likes it when we repeat one word over and over to stress something.... it's a phase.) Then we played the "I love you more" game and he was on to a new topic.

One of these days I won't be able to distract him. The thought brings tears to my eyes.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Where does the time go?

I can't believe how long it has been since I posted! Actually, that's not true. I totally believe it, I am on the computer everyday but since I don't need to escape from work, I don't think about updating my blog. Just look at every summer since I've started this turkey! Very, VERY few entries. Oh well...

Here is an update.

I have been sleeping late and napping a lot! This is good because baby-boy-to-be (bb2b) does not let me sleep much at night. What with the heartburn, crazy dreams, itchy skin, and sore belly, who can sleep? Other than that, I am feeling fine. bb2b is still full breech, his head is up under my ribs and his adorable little tush is down. We hope he will turn in the next 4-6 weeks but my Dr is taking a "better safe than sorry" route. We have a c-section scheduled for a couple days before my due date if he stays turned around. I am nervous, scared, apprehensive about the C but am trying to look on the bright side- no middle of the night rush to the hospital in pain! 8 weeks to go...

We took the kiddo's to Key Lime Cove. What a fabulous 24 hours! We stayed in a lovely room, swam as much as mommy and daddy could handle, ate decent food, it was great! Thanks mom and dad for the gift certificate, we love you! This is part of my master summer plan where we will do one special event each week, a field trip or mini-trip of sorts. We did it one week and not the next. Week 3 is TBD.

Brianna had a lovely 6th birthday. She started the night before with a sleepover with cousin Hannah and a visit to Chuck-E-Cheese. She had a blast on her sleep over and reportedly only got a little homesick at bedtime. (Mommy missed her a lot and even though I got a lot of cleaning and prep work done with her gone, I don't think I ever want to miss a minute of her birthday again!) Later on her birthday we arranged a gymnastics party for her and 14 of her little friends at the local gym. She LOVED that! Afterwards we had our family and closest friends back to the house for dinner from Moe's. Moe's is Brianna's favorite restaurant and is on the family's top 10 list. I highly recommend their catering!

Both kids are taking gymnastics on Mondays and swimming lessons on Tuesdays. They go to "camp" twice a week so mommy and daddy can get stuff done. We are ready to prime and paint "the barn room" so Brianna can move in there. Then we will prime and paint Brianna's pink room into something more appropriate for bb2b.

Be prepared for cop-out photo entries of all this for a while!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

stalling

I totally have work I should be doing....
  • grading
  • planning
  • cleaning
I don't want to!

I've been sitting here reading back through old posts on this blog and thinking about all the things I'd forgotten. I mean, I remember the basics but when I go back and read the details... Shew! Especially Grant's first year! And I think about this little baby I'm growing and what it's first year might be like and WHY did I actively fight to have another one?

Then I think about my kids now... and how Grant tells me he loves me at least 10 times per day. And how Brianna is learning to read and wants to know everything about everything. They are so amazing, and wonderful, and loving, and perfect. And how can I not want more of that?

Friday, January 30, 2009

Funny, Silly, Girl

Brianna has such a personality! Sometimes it bugs me and sometimes I have to hide the laughter behind a well timed cough...

Yesterday, she informed me that she had "The Cold". I said, yeah, mommy has a cold too. She replied with... "Mommy, I have the whole cold, you can't have any."

This morning, she was eating breakfast and drinking a glass of milk, a normal day. I heard her sigh, "Ah, this is my kind of milk!". (And she's right, we do keep 2 types of milk on hand. We call the soy milk "Grant's milk" and the skim milk "Brianna's milk".) It did sound a bit like a woman with her first glass of wine after a busy day.

I love that little preteen wannabe!

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Today, I strongly dislike my...

1. Job
2. Co-workers
3. Location
4. Sinuses
5. Pants
6. Boss

Brianna won't let me say hate because it's a "bad word". Which I suppose is something I taught her... because it's something my grandma taught me.

I am trying to find joy in...

1. The holiday season
2. My loving family
3. My work schedule
4. I am alive to be mad and feel pain.