Getting Back on the Horse

It has been a while since I have been here to blog. Life just seemed to take over and everything got so busy, blogging was the last thing on my mind. But as I sit here, on this beautiful spring morning I feel like I need to catch up on the comings and goings of this busy family the last few months.

Alex and Collin are doing wonderfully at school, I could not be more proud of them. We have had to spend some more time with Alex working on school work since his teacher has been worried he will not be ready for regular 1st grade next year. It is insane to me how much they expect from Kindergarten these days. I heard one teacher say that Kindergarten is now what 1st grade used to be, and that is just nuts to me. They expect 5 and 6 year olds to memorize dozens of sight words, to be able to read fluently, and be able to do addition and subtraction before they are allowed into 1st grade. I look at Alex and I am impressed by what he is able to do, and yet his teacher is worried. Don't even get me started on the fact that standardized testing starts in 3rd grade! Anyway, off my soapbox. LOL.

Collin is doing fantastic too! I had a meeting with his teacher the other day about his kindergarten readiness and she is not worried at all, he is right on track. Plus, his social skills have come leaps and bounds. He is almost a totally different child at school then he was at the beginning of the year. He has friends now, he talks and is outgoing, and the teachers just love him. And he did wonderfully at his kindergarten registration, completing all the tests and making me very proud.

Mackenzie is doing great too! She is a little character, a princess tomboy. LOL She is so ready for school I think, I will probably see about putting her in a 2 day a week preschool program in the fall, but being an October baby she misses the cut off for the pre-k program by a few weeks.

Everyone is growing up so fast! Yesterday Alex went to his first 'friend' birthday party at a local bowling alley. He had a great time with all his little friends, and with bumpers he scored a 69.

This week is spring break, so hopefully I can think of lots of things to keep everyone busy . :-)

Picture Post

Here are some Halloween pictures and extra of kenzie, just cause I thought it was so cute!

She was none too happy when I took this picture. LOL

Alex on the left as Bumblebee and Collin on the right as Iron Man. :-)

Still Here

Hello world, I am still here. Man I can't believe I let it go so long since I wrote anything. But yes, we are all still here. School is going well for the kids, Alex and Collin both and doing great! The only small problem we had was Collin not wanting to use the potty at school, but we got past that and now it is smooth sailing! We had Mackenzie's birthday 2 weeks ago, and it really was great. I can't believe she is already 3! I do not know where the time has gone, it was like yesterday that I was pregnant with her, dragging both boys to my million doctors appointments, starting this whole stay at home mom thing.

One rather odd thing was that somehow Imanaged to get strep throat in the middle of all this, none of the kids had it, and I didn't give it to anyone. It was just some wierd fluke case I must have gotten out somewhere. But let me tell you, I don't remember it being so bad when I was a kid, it really knocked me out for the count for a good few days. But now I am all better (I won't say normal, I don't think I was ever that! LOL) and it is pretty much the same old same old around here. I gotta say though I LOVE this time of year, Halloween through New Years is my favorite time of year. So here we go, into the holiday season, and I will try to keep up better with the blogging thing, but then again I can't make any promises. :-P LOL

Happy Birthday Collin!

4 years ago today my little Collin was born!! I remember that day very well, mostly for how normal it was compared to my other birth experiences. I was exactlly 36 weeks along, and hadn't been feeling well for a few days. I few days before I had had my 36 week check up and they did all the usually tests for Preeclampsia since I had had it with Alex. I had not heard anything back from the doctors office yet and so I had called them during the day but I was told the tests were not back yet. By about 6pm I was feeling pretty confident that if they hadn't called me yet then everything must have been fine. But just a little bit later I got the call from my doc saying that while my tests weren't too bad, my blood pressure was up and since I had made it to 36 weeks already (and because of how sick I got with Alex so fast) it would be best to just go ahead and have a baby! She told me to meet her at the hospital that night. Luckily the hubby was already home from work, and I quickly made the call to my mom that we would be needing a babysitter for Alex, that today was the day! So off we went, rather calmly, to the hospital to meet up with everyone. I was admitted to Labor and Delivery that night and was prepped for a C-section.

Oh yes, and we can not forget the funniest part about it all, that up until that point we all knew I was having a GIRL! I had brought a little dress to the hospital to take her home in and her name was going to be Mackenzie Ann. So, it was to everyone's suprise when at 10:36 that night, after a very normal c-section in which I got to be awake this time! LOL. A little boy was born! At first I thought my doc was joking when she said it was a boy, but then everyone in the OR realized that this was supposed to be a girl, and amisdt some laughing I was shown my new little boy. The problem was that we didn't have a name, at all! Or any boy clothes, and the nursery was already painted in pink and yellow. But after a day of talking hubby and I came up with Collin Thomas, Collin because it was a celtic name we both liked (hubby was very picky) and Thomas after my brother. And it was up to my mom and hubby's mom to go buy some boy clothes for the little stinker! And well, he just had to handle the pink room for a while. :-)

And Collin was as healthy as could be, he was 5lbs 8ozs at birth and went right to the regular nursery ( a feat for my kids!). And he got to room in with me, and came home with me after 3 days. In fact the day after we came home was MY birthday! What a fantastic present!

And while Collin has been a challenge at times, he is also a joy. He suprises me everyday with his curiosity, his compassion, and his uniqueness. My little boy who chooses to wear his pants backwards because, well, he wants too! Who takes care of his little sister and always has a funny face to show you. My baby who will be starting pre-k in a few weeks! I am so proud of the person he is growing up to be, and can not wait to see what the future has in store for my little Colli-buggers. :-)




Baby Collin in June of 2007, he was almost 11 months old and was already starting to walk!

Collin this past Saturday at his birthday party! We all had a blast, and Collin behaved incredibly well!

Happy Birthday to you!!!

The three kiddos with my brother Tom and his wife Sarah. :-)

The End of Summer

Ok, ok, so not in temperature, or really in season, but we only have 2 more weeks before schools starts on Aug 23rd, and with Alex in all day Kindergarten this year it means the beginning of a whole new adventure! And though I am a little nervous for him, in reality I am fully confident that he is well prepared. Alex is already a very social kid, he can make friends with anyone anywhere (once he gets over his initial shyness) and while he isn't quite reading yet, the drive to do so is definitly there and I have no doubt that he will pick it up quickly. The other cool thing is that Alex's elementary school, North Jefferson Elementary, has actually been make smaller this year. A new elementary school is opening and so the whole county has been redistricted and because of that our district was made smaller and so now there will only be 2 classes per grade with no trailers. They are even small enough that they are having a catered seudo back to school night before school starts so that all the kids and parents can meet their teachers and see their classroom before the year actually starts.

Collin is also starting school this year, pre-k, at their elementary school. His year will probably start later than Alex's, not until September. But honestly I am not sure, they changed teachers this year and I have not heard anything yet from the new one. But last year with Alex, I didn't really hear anything until like 2 weeks or so before school started for them, so I am not concerned yet. And speaking of Collin, mister boy turns 4 in just a few days! Tomorrow we are having his party, and I am so excited for him. He is such a special little kid! I would never say any of my kids are my 'favorite', because I love them all with all my heart and soul, but I do have a special place in my heart for Collin. He is very much like me in a lot of ways, and he was my 'normal' baby. He is the one who gave me the opportunity to be an average mother, who got to room in with my baby and bring him home with me. I also feel like I missed a lot with him, since I went back to work when he was 3 months old and didn't become a SAHM until he was 12 months. Plus, he is just a very unique little kid, for example, he always wears his pants backwards. He knows he does it, and if you ask him why is pants are backwards, he will say "Cause I'm Collin!". I love my special little boy and am so proud of how he is growing up!

And then there was Mackenzie. She is in the middle of potty training and is having so so luck. She knows how to, and will use the potty correctly, there are just some days where she won't, and it is accident after accident, and then she will go back to going potty again. So, who knows, but hopefully she will pick it up soon!

So anyways, that is us for now. I will post pictures of the kids first days of school when they come around. My little babies are growing up!

Happy Independence Day!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th today, and I want to say a big thank you to all our men and women in uniform, military, police, and firemen. Without them we wouldn't be the safe, free place this country is. I feel so blessed to live in the United States, where I can raise my children without fear. And as the wife of a former Navy man and police officer, I can say the sacrifices those men and women make are tremendous and they deserve all our appreciation for the job they voluntarily do everyday. So, thank you for keeping me and my family safe, and have a happy Independence Day!!

Summer is Here!

It is finally summer! Though with the temperatures around here you would have though summer started back in the beginning of June. It has just been stupid hot here, and we have had no rain for at least 2 weeks, the grass is all starting to die. Which normally wouldn't be that bad, we don't care about having a pretty green lawn, but with goats and a cow who need to graze, it is going to become an issue if it doesn't rain soon. But oh well, it will be winter again before you know it and then we will be wishing for these days back again. LOL.

The kids at least have been enjoying themselves, with Alex out of school the days have been full of coloring, playing outside, going to the pool, and helping Daddy with work outside. Little Collin has just gotten over being sick with some stomach bug, he was down for the count for about 3 days, but now is back to his usual, opinionated, emotional self. Though I must say, over the last few weeks he has started listening much better. And I have seen him helping Mackenzie a lot, he will get her toys she asks for and shares with her and last night he brought her one of her baby dolls when I was putting her to bed "so she wouldn't get lonely". He really is a very sweet, kind little boy. And speaking of Mackenzie, the potty training continues. She will go on the potty, and will even go with the right timing and all, so I know she can, but she just isn't completely interested yet. Though considering she can change her own pull up now and will tell you whether she went pee pee or poopie, I may just have to take the pull ups away all together and "force" her to do it. And I have to say, her language ability is pretty amazing to me, compared to her brothers she is far beyond where they were at 2 years old. I can have a pretty normal conversation with her about most things, she expressess herself very well. And then there was Alex, he is definitly a little kid now. All the good things, like being able to make his own sandwiches and pour his own drinks, and learning how to read (very slowly), and he has a fantastic imagination. And all the bad things, like talking back, acting snotty, ordering his brother and sister around, and lying. Oh yes the lying, his new trick. At least he isn't very good at it yet, I catch him almost every time. But that is going to have to be reigned in, cause as my mom always said to my brother and I, "it isn't that you did something wrong, that can be delt with, it is that you lied about it that made me angry."

So, it is always intesting around here, never a dull moment. And now to a few pictures.

Alex and Collin coloring some pictures about outer space that I printed off the internet.

Alex found an old book of sheet music of mine from back when I was a kid and was learning how to play piano. I wrote my own (rather horrible) song in it. He saw it and copied how I wrote the notes and then proceeded to play his own 'song'.

Alex and Kenzie eating a snack. They were just too cute not to take a picture of. :-)