School conference

I had Ryan's school conference last night and according to his teacher, he is doing just great (I'm sure she says that to all the parents, but it is still nice to hear).  He knows his numbers, letters, sight words, and is even reading at the level at which she wants all the students in her class to be reading at by the end of the year (so he is a little ahead in that area) - yay for him!  We went through the usual stuff . . . social/emotional development, fine motor skills, and academic skills, then we sat back and just chatted for a while.  His teacher is a Gustavus grad so we talked about anyone and everyone we both may know, and even compared all of our kids (she has 2 boys and a girl roughly the same ages as our kids) - so nice to be able to have a normal conversation with his teacher and know that at anytime, she is willing to help with anything - love her!

Anyway, back to the conference. As part of the conference, she shows me some work Ryan has been doing in class. Here is my favorites from "writer's workshop" (that is basically when the kids draw a picture about anything they want, then write a story to go with it).

 This is a picture of him surfing on a wave in Florida.  The story goes like this . . . "I went surfing and a big wave and it came at me and I surfed on it.  I got on the sand and I was done and was going" - and then he ran out of room.  It is so neat to see how Ryan thinks and to watch him progressing more and more as he learns about reading and writing.  And I thought Kindergarten was all fun and games - guess I was wrong!

Below is another favorite of mine.  Ryan made this for me for Valentine's Day.

It reads, " To Mom, I love you because you taught me how to make macaroni and cheese.  Love, Ryan."  Either he had some help with the macaroni and cheese part, or we have a genius on our hands who can spell long words correctly, but not short, simple ones!

I hate . . .

The phrase, "I hate . . . " has become Lauren's new thing.  She hates it when babies pull her hair, when she has to go to bed, and when she is really angry, she'll even pull it out and say, "I hate you Mom, Dad, or whomever has messed with her.  Obviously I am not a big fan of this so she has been told more than once if she says she hates someone again, she will go to timeout because it's not a nice thing to say. 

So other morning we dropped Ryan off at the bus stop and as we are pulling away, Lauren says out of the blue, "I hate Jacob Niemi."  I asked her to repeat herself because I wasn't sure if I heard her correctly and she said, "I hate Jacob Niemi" again, clear as day.  When I told her we don't say that, she said, "but Jacob Niemi is mean to my brother."  (Here is a little back story on Jacob Niemi - he is a kid in Ryan's class who pretty much since school started, Ryan has not liked.  Apparently the kid is naughty, doesn't raise his hand, and is just plain mean sometimes).  Well, sitting there and thinking back on it, Ryan probably has said more than once that he hates Jacob, so I guess I wasn't too surprised that Lauren repeated it, but what was surprising, is what she said next.  I said, it is okay to not like someone, but you shouldn't say hate.  Her reply, "but I hate Jacob Niemi, I will punch him."  Of course she will.  What else would a nice little 3 year old girl do, but punch the kid that is mean to her older brother. 

Then, yesterday, we went out to the Y.  The kids were playing in the "play zone" when I got there so I had to stand and wait a minute until they came out.  And when they did, Ryan was looking pretty sad.  I asked him what was wrong, and the lady at the front said, "oh yeah, there was a little incident with Ryan and another boy in the play zone."  The story (told by the Y lady) basically went like this . . . Ryan and this boy (his name is Charlie) were playing catch with a ball.  Ryan threw the ball to Charlie, but it bounced off the wall and came right back to him.  Well, Charlie went after the ball, knocked Ryan down, and tried to grab the ball, but instead might have gotten Ryan's neck.  This whole time Ryan is intently listening to what the lady says, and the minute she stops talking, he is waving his arm in her face, and shaking his head saying, "no, that's not what happened."  So Ryan gave us his version  . . .  "Charlie choked me."  We talked briefly about it, decided he was okay, and went to the van.  On the drive home, I took the opportunity to tell Ryan that if someone is on top of you and choking you and you don't like it, you should push that person off.  He responds with, "yeah, but I didn't want to hurt anyone."  Lauren chimes in with, "yeah, I will punch Charlie for you."  Of course she will!

So I guess this means Lauren is officially Ryan's bodyguard whether he likes it or not.  This reminds me off a time when Aaron was getting picked on on our school bus.  Apparently I didn't like what I was seeing so to get back at the kid who was picking on my brother, I ran up behind him, grabbed his hat (or mittens, I can't be sure) and threw them down the sewer grate.  Now maybe that was a bit harsh (and I know my mom was less than thrilled when she received a phone call from the boy's mother telling her what I had done), but a girl has to do what a girl has to do to protect the ones she loves.

It's warm!

After another fun and busy weekend, we are once again back at home.  Only this time, we are not trapped inside!!  The weather has finally warmed up enough to the point that I can take the girls outside in the morning and do something other than play "Barbie" dream house (it is one toy that I absolutely love and hate . . . love that Lauren loves it and plays with it all the time, hate that I have to play with it all the time even though I'm not as in love with it as Lauren is - can't wait until Ellie can take my place).  Anyway, with Ryan off at school, I bundled up girls and headed outside for the first time in months!  Lauren immediately wanted to jump on her bike and go for a ride, so that is what we did.  There she was . . . winter coat, mittens, stocking cap, and a bike helmet to top it off - it wasn't pretty, but it worked.  We did our usual loop around the neighborhood 3 times before she was worn out (there was a LOT of pent up energy in that girl today).  After that, we met up with the neighbor kids for a brief little play date in the cul-de-sac, then called it a morning.  It is amazing how much faster time goes when we can get out of the house and do something!  By the time we got our coats off and had a snack, it was time to get Ryan from the bus.  After that we had some lunch, followed by nice long naps (there is that fresh air working again), and then it was off to the Y to get some exercise for Mama - apparently eating bar food and drinking beer is not a good thing for the waistline.  With the busy part of the day over, we headed home, ate some supper and then Ellie called it a night (around 5:45pm).  Once the kids wrapped up their meals, we sent them downstairs to play while Trav and I enjoyed a Valentine's meal together (and most importantly, alone).  It was nothing special, but it was nice to just sit and relax for a minute.  After about 30 minutes, the relaxation was over and it was time to get back to reality.  There were showers to take, books to read, and teeth to brush.  With that, our Valentine's Day came to an end.

I hope everyone out there got to share this day with their special Valentine (even if it was only for a couple of minutes).

Happy Valentine's Day!

A quick side note, Ryan got a valentine at school today that had a little heart man attached to it (it was green and sticky - I think you were supposed to throw it at the wall and watch it crawl down - that is really not important to the story though).  So anyway, he is telling about this "Heart Man" as he calls him and says, "the Heart Man has special powers - do you know what they are?"  I respond by saying, "no, what are they?"  He says, "Heart Man keeps love going so if you ever get mad at someone, he fixes the love and keeps it young" - seriously, where does he come up with these things?  What a little sweetheart he is - some girl is going to have a great Valentine's Day when he is older (much, much older) - until then, I get to enjoy his sweetness.

The "Worminator"

After several days as the "Worminator" (the name I have given myself), I finally feel like I can breathe easy.  There are no signs of the little devils invading Lauren's body anymore, and the house has never looked and smelled so good!  I'm pretty sure I have scrubbed, disinfected, and washed more surfaces, toilets, and linens then ever before.  I think I have done 9 loads of laundry in the last two days - washing all the bedding and towels once a day.  I have also vacuumed daily, and scrubbed on the floors and I have the hands to show for it.  Between washing my hands about 30 times a day and scrubbing, my knuckles and fingers have taken a beating - they are cracked, red, and extremely day, but I've never felt better about putting them to work! 

With my mind finally at ease, I've been able to enjoy some time with the kiddies again.  The girls and I spent this morning dressing up and playing with, what else, but Barbies.  We also took a little time out so Lauren could show me what a good mommy she could be to Ellie.  Here she is in action . .
And here are a few random shots from the morning. Notice Lauren's earrings? She has been telling me all morning that the doctor put holes in her ears so she could wear them - apparently she hasn't figured out that I clipped them on for her yet - oh well. I'd rather keep her ears in one piece for a long time anyway (I didn't get my ears pierced until my junior year of high school, and I only did it then because my mom and aunt said it would look good for prom).

She has what, where?

So I took Lauren into the doctor this morning because she has been having lots of "issues" down there.  She pees a lot, says it hurts when I wipe, and is always asking me to put desitin on her "privates."  And because it has been a few days, and most importantly, because Travis notices how much she is peeing (I figure if he notices, it must really be happening a lot because he misses a lot of stuff), I figure it is time to take her in and see whats going on.  I'm thinking some kind of bladder infection, maybe a UTI, but when we get there (after we've sat in the bathroom for about 15 minutes waiting for Lauren to pee in a cup), the doctor examines her and says, "hmm" when she looks at her butt.  "Hmm, what?" I say.  The doctor has me stand by her and take a look at Lauren's pooper (also referred to as the "anus").  I'm not seeing much so I ask what I'm looking for.  The doctor points to some little specks of white on and around her anus.  "You see that" she says.  I say, "you mean that leftover toilet paper?"  The doctor says yes, and informs me that it is not toilet paper, but instead it is WORMS, pinworms to be exact.  Are you fricking kidding me right now?  My kid has worms in her butt hole - super.  The doctor goes on to explain that usually kids get them from sandboxes or sand.  After she says that, I'm thinking there is no way this lady knows what she is talking about because we obviously haven't been in a sandbox, or around sand since the last time it was nice out (which was way too long to think about).  And then she says, "it usually takes about 30 days for the worms to work their way through the body and out the butt."  So I'm thinking, what were we doing 30 days ago?  Then it dawns on me, 30 days ago exactly, we were in Florida on a nice sandy white beach for Ash's wedding - oh shit, maybe the doctor is right after all.  To top it off, the doctor asks if Lauren bites her nails.  And for anyone that knows Lauren, biting her nails is the one thing you can count on the girl to do pretty much every free second she has.  So there it is, my kid has worms in her butt because she played in sand and chews her nails - who knew it could be such a deadly combo!  After chatting a bit more and discovering that Lauren's late night wakings in the past week are probably related to her worms, and not her bloody noses - apparently the female worms come out at night and lay their eggs (this causes lots of itching) and usually wakes a person up (I seriously want to barf as I'm writing this) - we are sent off with a prescription to clear things up.  When I get home, I am itching all over (and am convinced the worms have spread all over my body) so the first thing I want to do is eradicate any worms from the house.  This means some heavy duty cleaning, and lots of it.  So I hurry and feed the kids then put the girls down for their naps.  I tell Ryan the situation and let him know that he'll be on his own for a couple of hours while Mom is cleaning the house.  He seems okay with this, and who wouldn't be?  Sacrifice a few hours with your Mom for a lifetime free of worms in your butt - not a bad deal.  After the cleaning, I'm feeling much better about things.  I'll still be on high alert for the next couple of weeks - think lots of daily laundry, super clean bedding, and new jammies every night of the week - gosh, this is going to be fun!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Lauren certainly keeps me on my toes.  It could be her attitude, her actions, or her diseases, whatever it is, it is usually interesting!

Weekend recap

This weekend was another full of fun - maybe we should call February the "weekends of fun month."  Saturday started with a trip to the Y for me while Trav and the kids relaxed at home.  When I returned, they (Trav, Ryan, and Lauren) left.  Trav took the kids to the indoor bounce place to burn off some energy and spend some time together before he left for the day/night (he went to a concert on Saturday and had a sleepover at his friend's house - yes, my almost 33 year old husband still has sleepovers).  His reasoning is always, "well, you don't want me to drive drunk do you?"  Of course I don't, but it is mind boggling to me that the thought of not drinking too much so he is capable of driving home never crosses his mind.  Please God, let him figure it out before he is 40 (I would like to say 35, but I'm trying to be realistic here).  With Trav gone for the day/night, the kids and I pack up and head out to visit Colton and Grandma and Grandpa (who are on babysitting duty) at Aaron and Ann's place.  As always, it is great to see my handsome little nephew, but this trip also had another perk . . . a visit to Costco thanks for Ann's "Gold Member" card.  Dad and I took Ryan and Lauren to the "huge shopping store" (that is how I explained it to them), and left Grandma with Colt and Ellie (two babies, one super Grandma - no problem!).  While we were there, I stocked up on essentials and a few "extras" for the kids as they were good little shoppers.  After our Costco run, we headed back to Aaron and Ann's place, hung out for a while longer, then it was time to pack up and head home.  All three of the kids were fast asleep before we even hit the highway so I got to enjoy some peace and quiet for the entire 45 minute drive!  On Sunday, Trav made it home in time to have a late breakfast with us, shower, and then settle in for some quality time with Ellie while the big kids and myself headed out to the Y for some "family fitness."  We spent the next two hours running, jumping, and playing (and in Lauren's case, dancing).  The room we were in had music, disco balls, and mirrors everywhere - a perfect setup for Lauren to shake her booty and watch it at the same time!  After our fitness fun, we were all ready for a little lunch and then some rest.  The kids hung out with Trav while I finished up my second book in as many weeks.  If anyone is looking for a good book to read, check out "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett - a good read for sure.

Other developments over the weekend . . . Ellie continues to show her lack of independence.  She has no interest in a sippy cup (she much prefers having someone hold her bottle for her), she has started a fake cry when I leave the room (in the past she could care less if I was around as long as she had something to play with), and she has no intentions of ever having to crawl (she instead gets on all fours, bounces a little, then falls flat on the ground and cries until someone picks her up).  Lauren's bloody noses have stopped, but their lingering effects haven't.  Now she wakes up on average two times a night (usually around 2am and 5am) sniffling and asking for a tissue because she thinks she has a bloody nose.  I've gotten to the point where I don't even get out of bed to help her anymore (I know, another "rotten mother" thing to do).  Instead, I just lay in bed, tell her to grab a tissue and go back to bed - hoping this is just a phase and will pass quickly.  And then there's Ryan, my dear little boy.  This morning he says to me out of the blue, "Mom, it's hard to have three kids" (I just stand there and wait because I can tell he isn't finished with his thought yet), and then he says (the light bulb just went on), "you have three kids, is it hard?"  "What do you do when I want something, Lauren wants something, and Ellie too?"  I tell him that it is hard, but that I just make sure everyone has their turn, and that everyone is taken care of.  This answer seems to work for him.  He gives me a hug and then says, "I want some cereal" and walks away.  Apparently our moment of seeing eye-to-eye on things and me feeling like he understands how hard it is to be a mother of three is gone, and I'm back to being the "I want", "please can I have", and "get it for me now" person.  Oh well, at least he had it figured out for a minute or two!

Here is to the start of another bone chillingly cold week!

The curse of the bed

It seems that Ryan's bed and Lauren are like oil and water - they just don't mix.  Just this past Saturday Lauren had a sleepover in Ryan's bed, and wouldn't you know it, she throw up all over it.  Then, last night, I am awoken from my sleep to the sound of Lauren crying and saying, "I need a tissue."  At first I was a little out of it (I believe it was around 1:00am), so I wasn't sure what was happening, then when I came to my senses, I realized Lauren was walking down the hall and crying - not a good combo this early in the morning.  So I jump out of bed and run out to her just outside the bathroom door.  There she stands, her face covered in blood, her pajama top covered in blood, and tears coming out of her eyes - such a sad sight.  After assessing the situation, I start right in with the whole blow your nose, cry a little, and blow some more routine.  This goes on for about five minutes during which time she blows out 4 blood clots - so fun.  When the bleeding finally stops, I shove the "final" tissue in her nose, change her jammies, and lay her down in HER bed (which is apparently where she needs to sleep from now on).  After she is tucked in, I head back out to check out the damage (last time she had a bloody nose in the middle of the night there was a trail of blood on the carpet all the way from her room to our room, and then finally to the bathroom - you can imagine how much fun that was to clean up).  To my surprise, there was only a couple of smears on the wall, a small pool on the tile in the basement, and a few drops on the steps - not too bad.  I am so impressed by this, I go back into her room and tell her how proud I am of her for not getting blood everywhere (we had a long discussion about how to not make such a mess after her last episode.  I know, I'm a rotten mom, but seriously, who wants to clean blood out of carpet - it's not easy!).  She smiles and says, "your welcome" before falling back to sleep - what a little angel.  By this time it is close to 1:30am so I get back into bed and doze off about the time I hear Lauren opening the door to her room.  I instantly pop out of bed expecting another bloody mess, but instead, she walks in and says, "I need to go potty" - a much easier option.  So off we go to the bathroom.  Lauren takes care of business, I tuck her back into bed, and then we all sleep the rest of the night - yay for that!  In the morning, after Ryan is at school and the girls are playing, I go to Ryan's room to check out the damage.  There is of course blood all over the sheets - super, why not wash the sheets on more time this week ( I just did them on Saturday after the vomit incident).  When I finally have everything washed and am putting the bed back together, I pull up the comforter and see another spot of blood I somehow missed upon initial examination.  "Screw it" I say, thinking to myself that I'll just let Lauren sleep down here this weekend and wash all again whenever she is done making her mess!

Here are a couple of pictures of the girls playing this morning.  Ellie is obsessed with the legs of the kitchen table.  I'm having bad visions of a pole dancing girl in our future . . . oh, we would be so proud!