Lots of adult interaction

I had a rare opportunity to spend more time outside of the house this weekend than inside - what a crazy concept!  On Friday I went to book club over at the neighbor's house.  This was no ordinary "book club" night though for two reasons.  First, this was my first time with this club and if I liked it, I would probably join and become an official member (I know, real exciting isn't it!).  And second, the author of the book was there.  He is a Minnesota author (obviously) and is happy to come out and meet his fans so we took him up on it.  He was a great guy who answered questions about the book and also about his life and what led him to writing - a neat thing considering his real job a lawyer.  So if anyone is looking for a good book to read, check out "Deadly Stillwater" by Roger Stelljes - a quick and easy read.

Saturday was set to be a fun day as well, but unfortunately it didn't start out so fun.  Ryan came into our room around 7:00am and said his room smelled terrible and his sheets were all wet (I should point out here that both Ryan and Lauren slept in his bed that night), and that he thought Lauren had thrown up - super!  So I get up and head downstairs and the minute I opened the basement door, the smell was awful which is never a good thing.  So I go into Ryan's room, wake up Lauren (how she can throw up and still be sleeping is amazing to me, but she's done it before so I guess I shouldn't be so surprised by it anymore) and tell her what happened.  I bring Lauren upstairs to the bathroom where I give Travis the option to give her a bath or clean up the bed (he opts for the bath and later shows me the one clump of vomit he had to pick from her hair as if I should be happy I didn't have to deal with that.  Apparently he forgot I spent a good 20 minutes picking chunks out the sheets all the while dry heaving and telling myself it wasn't so bad).  Either way, it was nasty.  It took some time, a run to Target to buy cleaning supplies, and lots of laundry, but eventually everything was cleaned up and back in place.  With the crappy part of the day behind us, we could focus on the fun ahead.  My parents were coming to stay with the kids overnight so Trav and I could attend a friend's wedding and have a little fun of our own.  By 2:00pm, we were getting dressed and ready to leave while Grandma and Grandpa were getting settled in to relive their earlier years when they had three young kids of their own.  And even though she did raise three kids her own, I still gave Mom my "list" of schedules, food, and other important stuff (I know she raised me, and did an excellent job if I do say so myself, but I still like to have the "list" just to help keep things in order and hopefully make the night more enjoyable for everyone) and then we were off.  The wedding was a blast . . . think lots of free drinks followed by lots of dancing and then lots of bad feelings and thoughts of "why did I drink that much?"  Whatever the cost of recovery was (about a half day in my case), it was worth it to get out and relax a little.  On a side note, there were pregnant women all over the place at that wedding and every time I saw one of them waiting in line for the bathroom or sipping their waters, I had to smile knowing I'll never have to be that girl again - oh what a good feeling that is!  I love my three kids, but I also love knowing that the "new baby" phase and lack of sleep is behind us.  So thanks again to Mom and Dad for watching the kids - they were all in one piece and happy so I'd say job well done! 

I'll leave with a picture of Trav and I before heading out.  Lauren said to me, "You look like Ashley (Auntie) in that."  Apparently my kids are so used to seeing me in my sweats and t-shirts that when I do dress up, they can't even believe it's me!

Oh shit, we're running late

So it was an interesting morning at the Quast household today.  Trav had to leave early so he could get home early tonight (the kids have swimming lessons at 5:10pm so he needs to be here to watch Ellie).  That meant I was responsible for getting everyone up and ready on my own.  Now normally this is not an issue, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, it was today.  The fun started right around 8:20am (Trav and Ryan usually head to the bus stop at 8:25am).  I was upstairs changing Ellie's diaper. As I am finishing up with her and heading downstairs, I am yelling to Ryan to start getting his coat and boats on.  I hear only a faint response from him, "Mom, I'm going poop."  Oh great I thought.  If there is one thing that takes Ryan forever, it is pooping.  You would swear the kid must be doing something else in there because it takes so long!  Anyway, I grab Ellie and head downstairs to check out the situation.  Sure enough, the bathroom door is closed and Ryan says to me, "I need privacy Mom, just wait."  I, in return, break the bad news to him, "you have 2 minutes to poop before the bus comes, so hurry up" - nothing like a little pressure to get a person going in the morning!  To my surprise and amazement, he gets the job done, but not without a little "extra" in there for me.  Apparently the pressure of having to rush the situation got to him, because when he was done, he asked for a little help wiping because it was (as he says), "a messy one" - unfortunately, he wasn't lying.  So I rush in the bathroom, do a few good wipes (all the while he is telling me to, "be gentle Mom"), and get him off the toilet.  With that done, I need him to wash hands and we'll be off.  But, as most things are with Ryan, this wasn't so simple.  Instead, he had to stand there (with his pants around his ankles) and ask me, "why did you wipe my back?"  I told him I didn't in fact wipe his back, so he should pull up his pants and wash hands because we're late.  Instead of doing as he was told, he stood there and debated with me whether or not I wiped poop onto his back.  After much reassurance that I did not, he finally pulled up his pants and washed his hands - good God, this kid is tiring sometimes!  With the bathroom issued solved, we hurried upstairs, got dressed and headed out the door.  Just as we got to the end of the driveway, I see the bus pulling up.  I tell Ryan to run and we take off.  Now the length from our driveway to the bus stop isn't that long (about 3-4 houses), but to my shock, about halfway through the sprint, Ryan is yelling, "Mom, I need a break!"  You have got to be kidding me right now!  I'm in an all out sprint frantically yelling at our neighbor (who is at the bus stop with his kid) to tell the bus driver to wait while Ryan is gingerly jogging along and he is tired?  Granted, my legs are about three times the length of his, and my one step equals about 6 of his, but come on, these are desperate measures, so he needs to suck it up.  So I run back a bit, grab Ryan's arm, and nicely drag him the remaining distance to the bus.  Once there, I quickly get him on, give him his backpack, and wave as he takes off all the while thinking to myself, "we need to get that boy in shape" - cardio would be a great starting point.  When I turn around, my neighbor is standing there with a big smile on his face and says, "at least you got a good work out in already" - yeah, thanks, just the way to start my day.  After that, I jog back home (the girls are still there playing in the basement), recover from the excitement, and relax by joining in on the never ending fun of what else, Barbies.  Whatever, as long as the Barbies don't have to poop, I'm happy to play!

Are you cold yet?

With the temperatures still well below zero, yes I said ZERO, we haven't been doing much lately. We are pretty much stuck in the house because I see no real reason to venture outside. The time it takes to get everyone bundled up and ready is not worth the effort, and let's face it, it's just too cold to even want to get dressed and out the door. Speaking of getting dressed, Ryan comes home from school on Wednesday and says to me, "Mom, Mrs. Addler told me to wear my snow pants tomorrow because it is going to be really cold." I asked him why he would need his snow pants, were they planning on going outside at school? He told me all the other kids always have their snow pants and boots on so they don't get cold in the morning while they all wait to get in the school. When he said this, I started thinking about it and it finally made sense. Somehow, I had forgot that once the bus drops him off at school, he (along with all the other kids) have to get into lines (outside) and wait to be brought into the school by some aides (the whole thing takes about 5 minutes or less). So there is Ryan, probably the only kid in the entire school standing outside in his winter coat, hat, mittens, and tennis shoes freezing, while all the other kids are bundled up in their winter coats, SNOW PANTS and BOOTS - god, I am a terrible mother! After that, I half wanted to write to Mrs. Addler and let her know that I wasn't intentionally trying to make my child suffer. And that we did indeed have snow pants and boots for Ryan. Somehow though, over the course of the school year (or the few months that he has been in school), I failed to think about the fact that even though we put him directly on the bus (Trav drives him to the bus stop and waits in the warm car with him until he gets on), and get him directly off (I sit at the end of the street in the, again, warm van with the girls), that he still does have to brave the elements for a couple of minutes and I should therefore dress him appropriately - stupid, stupid, stupid me! So I'm sorry Ryan. Unfortunately you are my first child and will therefore probably suffer more then your sisters because of all the "newness" that comes with being the oldest. I promise to try harder in the future, but cannot promise I won't have more shortcomings (sorry in advance for those as well). If nothing else, consider yourself the "path maker" for your sisters - you take the hits now so they won't have to suffer in the future. Someday I'm sure they'll thank you for everything, until then, they are sorry too!

In other news, we had a "Family Fun Night" on Friday with everyone. Because we hadn't been out of the house in days, I decided it was finally time to brave the elements and find something to do. Luckily our neighbor girl had a basketball game so that became our fun! The kids did a good job considering it was past their bedtimes - and lord knows that is never a good thing! There were a few small arguments between Ryan and Lauren, but other than that, they did fine. I don't know how much of the game they actually saw, but they tried. If nothing else, they could pick out Ashley (neighbor) when she was on the floor so that means they at least paid attention a little. Ellie thoroughly enjoyed the band and would dance each time they played a new song. But when the game was over, she was done. She was sleeping before we even pulled into the garage. Overall, it was a good way to spend a little family time. The kids all headed straight to bed when we got home and so did I. Apparently the cold weather really takes a lot out of me!

Happy Birthday to me!!!

First, here is Ellie's dancing video - she is one crazy baby and she certainly loves her music!!

And now onto more exciting news . . . I finally have a new computer - yay!!!! I was ready to throw my laptop into the wall because it is so slow. So last night I went out and bought myself a nifty little netbook (courtesy of Trav) for my birthday. So far so good. It is my new best friend who I can't get enough of and she (I assume the netbook is a girl) seems to do everything I've asked of her - not bad for under $300! I also love the small size and awesome battery (up to 11 hours on one charge!). I will admit though, this morning I was second guessing my purchase (as I do with most large purchases for myself), but upon further use, I am very pleased.

So watch out, with my new little friend, I might just never stop writing!!

Sweet moves!

So Lauren put on this sweet outfit (do you think maybe it is time to get her some new dress-up clothes?) yesterday and started to shake her groove thing. Either she is going crazy from being trapped inside, or she just has some leftover moves from Auntie's wedding - either way, it is very entertaining! And luckily for everyone, she seems to have based her dance style on a combination of 3 people; Trav, Uncle Mike, and Grandpa Jim - it is a deadly combo to say the least!

I also have a video of Ellie dancing (I think maybe Lauren's love of dance is rubbing off onto her) but wasn't able to get it up today (my computer took 51 mins to upload Lauren's video) so I'll try and get it on here tomorrow.

And once again, the video is off center. In order to view it better, just click anywhere on the video and it will pop up into full screen for your viewing pleasure.

Florida

So we just got back form our first real "family vacation" with the kids. Traveling was easier than I expected, the kids loved the beach and warm weather, and it was even relaxing for us so I guess that means it was a success!

We left our house at 4:30am on Friday morning for the big adventure - this was the first hurdle in the trip. How would the kids react to being woke up in the middle of the night? Well, not great, for Lauren at least. She isn't a real morning person to begin with so this was expected, but after some mild teasing that we would leave without her, she was ready to go. Once in the car, everyone was excited about the big airplane we would be riding. The kids did a great job on the entire flight. There was no screaming, fighting, or crying - yeah! Ellie slept, Ryan played with his G.I. Joe guys, and Lauren played with her Dora and Diego dolls - an easy flight if you ask me. Once we landed, it was a whirlwind. We had to drive a lot to get everyone where they needed to be, and once we were at the beach house, there wasn't a lot of time to do anything before guests started arriving for the rehearsal dinner. The kids did however squeeze in enough time to check out the ocean - it was so fun to watch them run and play. They probably just thought it was another lake, but whatever, they still loved it and I enjoyed watching them. Friday and Saturday were all about the wedding. Ash and Mike had lots of friends and family in for the big day so it was nice to catch up with everyone. And congrats to the newlyweds! You both looked great and we all had a super time!

After the wedding, it became a normal vacation. We would wake up every morning, have a little breakfast, then hit the beach (which was basically our front yard). The kids were content to build sand castles, chase birds, collect shells and run through the water. This left lots of time for the adults to kick back and relax a bit - yeah to that! On the fourth or fifth day we decided to take the kids out for a little adventure. I found a go-kart/mini golf place nearby so Trav, myself, Ryan and Lauren were off (Ellie stayed back with the rest of the gang so they wouldn't get lonely). Once we got to the place, the first order of business was the go-karts! We were the first customers of the day so we pretty much walked in and got right to business. Initially Trav and I each took a kid in our go-karts, then after that, they each got to drive their own on a smaller track. Ryan loved it, Lauren got bored with it about 3 laps in, but I was really impressed by her driving abilities (she only hit the wall once). After the go-karts, we feed some fish and turtles then headed inside for some arcade games. Then we ended the adventure with a round of mini-golf. I must say, it was probably the fastest round of mini-golf ever. If the kids didn't like where the ball went, they just picked it up and put it close to the hole then pushed it in - not a bad technique, too bad it is illegal though. Besides that one outing, we stayed pretty close to "home" (Ryan told me he loved his new home and wanted to stay there forever). By 8pm most nights the kids were asking to go to bed because they were so tired so I wasn't too worried that they were bored. In fact, there was one night when we had a bonfire. Ryan lasted about 2 minutes before he fell asleep so I took him inside and put him to bed. But before he rolled over and closed his eyes, he said, "Tell Lauren I hope she enjoys the fire" - what a little sweetheart. When Friday rolled around again, it was time to pack up and head home - I'm not sure what the kids will miss more, the ocean, or the bunk-a-beds (that is how Lauren said it when she told people all about her bed) they got to sleep in. The flight home was great. We actually got onto an earlier flight and there were only 32 passengers on the entire plane! That meant plenty of room to spread out and relax during the 3 and 1/2 hour flight. The kids did a great job again. Ryan played his Leapster, Lauren read Tag books, and Ellie slept. The highlight of the flight home though had to be Ryan's reaction when the flight attendant asked him if he wanted anything to eat or drink. I think he was surprised the lady was talking directly to him and not Trav or I at first, but once he got over that, he ordered himself a bag of pretzels and some apple juice. When I went to sit by him later, he said, "Mom, you'll never guess what happened." When I asked him, "what?" He said, "I ordered apple juice and pretzels from that lady and I didn't even have to give her money, how cool is that?" If only it worked that way all the time!

Now that we are back in good old Minnesota, we are freezing like everyone else. The trip was a nice break from the cold and a great way to spend time with the entire family. But now it is time to get back into our routines and start living a normal life again - gone are the days of the ocean waves and beers at 10am - oh how I'll miss it! Here are some pictures. I took over 200 but my computer is super slow so this is all I'm able to post - enjoy!

Lauren's first day of school

Lauren had her first day of "speech school" today - talk about exciting!! The bus pulled up to our house at exactly 11:05am, and upon seeing it, Lauren was out the door - literally, I had to stop her to put her coat and mittens on! When we walked out to the bus she was super excited, but when it was time to sit down, she grabbed for my hand and wanted me to go with her. I helped her into her seat, then the bus driver (who happens to be a lady I regularly see working out at the gym - this made me very happy) was very helpful and buckled Lauren into her seat. With that, I snapped a picture, chatted with the driver quickly, said my goodbye, and off they went. Talk about a traumatizing year for a mom - two kids riding the bus for the first time in the same year - it is almost too much too handle! I used my 45 minutes of "free time" to finish some laundry, continue packing (for the trip to FL), and even got in 10 minutes of reading before it was time to get Ryan off the bus. With him home, and Ellie up from her nap, the time flew, and before we knew it, Lauren's bus was pulling up to the house again. Barb (the driver) was great at helping Lauren out of her seat and getting her backpack on. By the time I got to the bus, Lauren was ready and waiting with a big smile. I gave her a big hug, then held hands with her as we walked into the house and she chatted about her day . . . she sang songs, played with her friends, James and Zack, and even had a snack - not bad for a first day of school! Here are some pictures of our big girl on her big day!
With all the excitement of the morning, I still had a lot to get in the afternoon in preparation for the trip. As luck would have it, the plumber (we had some sink issues, but none that were caused directly by Trav replacing the sink mind you) was free this day so he came over to work on some stuff. In the meantime, the girls were napping, Ryan was relaxing, and I was folding the last load of laundry. Just as I was finishing that up, I heard Ryan crying. I went to check on him and he said his ear really hurt - you've got to be kidding me right now. What are the odds that water leaks into our basement and one of the kids gets sick all in the same week we are scheduled to go on vacation - apparently pretty good because that is exactly what happened. After calling the clinic and getting the last available appointment, I had to call Trav and tell him to come home (the girls were still sleeping and the plumber wasn't quite done yet). Then I headed off to the clinic with Ryan crying the entire time. The doctor's visit was a quick one - he had an ear infection, the doctor wrote two prescriptions, one for Amoxicillian and one was some ear dropper for the pain - whatever, let's just get it cleared up before Friday morning. God only knows what kind of a trip we'll have with three healthy kids, I don't want to even think about doing this with one sick kid! So there you have it - a busy day full of fun, work, and pain. The good news is that we'll be on a plane soon and we won't have to think about any of the work or pain, just fun - we can hardly wait!