Happy Birthday Jesus

The Kids sang a song for Jesus at our Birthday Party for him. They were awesome.

All I want for Christmas

Thought this might be a great video to look back at when they are 16 or 20 or 50 :)

The Blizzard of 09

We went out for a little bit to play in the "Blizzard of 09".

Christmas time around the Erbe House

Alexandra seems to get pretty dramatic at bedtime. Tonight she came downstairs and told me she had something really really important to tell me. She preceeded to tell me that she wanted me to make her a colorful blanket and if I didn't she would be really said. Then she added, I also want all the other stuff I told you I wanted. At the time, I just told her to go back to bed, after I recounted the story to Paul, I cried laughing at it. It was so funny when I wasn't irritated with her getting out of bed.

Thanksgiving 2009 Erbe Style

Halloween parade

Alexandra's school always has a halloween parade. The boys and I went and enjoyed seeing all the costumes. As you can see there was some downtime and Atticus took that opportunity to dance. :)

I wonder if this is a trend

I thought it was just the sickness but there's a trend starting with Atticus. He's gotten attached to two shirts and this is one of them. He accidentally peed on it the other day and wanted to wear it and I told him no since it had pee on it. He through a fit. Then he said he wanted to wear his hook 'em horns shirt he got from Allyson and Ian. Well that one was dirty too sooo much weeping insued. I offered one of the many other shirts he has but none would do. Finally Daddy got him to put on one but today I washed it and he had to put it on right after I got it out of the dryer. He looks really cute in it so I had to take a couple pics.

gotta love his style

Thank you for God

Lately Atticus has been praying and it is so sweet. He always starts out with Thank you for God. At first I just thought it was cute, then one night I really started thinking about what he was saying. Although, I'm not sure if this is what he means but for me it means that I'm thankful that I'm not alone in this life. That God didn't just create us and leave us alone to fend for ourselves. Again I think this is a little over reaching to think this is what Atticus thinks, but his prayer helps me to be thankful for God too.

Alexandra's first day of First Grade

She looks so much like a 1st grader in this pic. She did great when we got to school. Stood in her line and went in when the aide told her too. I came to her class after I was done working and saw her, hugged her and stayed for a min. She smiled and blew kisses to me when I left. She had a huge smile on her face. I think once I knew she was ok and would do good, I fell apart. She's my baby girl and I'm so proud of who she's becoming. It was great to hear all about her classroom, lunch and her teacher. She game me lots of stuff when she got home. Paperwork for mom. I think she's gonna flourish in 1st grade.

my birthday card from the Davidson's

The kids had way too much fun with the Birthday Cards sent from Allyson, Ian and Collin.

More Erbe Dance Moves

What I love about this video is Sebastian being so irritated with Atticus taking the limelight. I think all three of them are Hams.

Paul reading to the Boys

Why Paul decided to read this book that way, I'm not sure but it was funny!!!

My little Guy is three today

It's interesting to me that birthday's sneek up on me so much. I love the fact that Atticus can speak his mind to me and tell me what he wants. I love that he is very independent and has an opinion on everything. He's almost out of diapers. He's been using the potty more and more and that makes me very happy. Happy Birthday little guy! I love ya lots.

Alexandra will go to all day school this year. I think it finally hit her because she came into my room after bedtime and was crying that she would miss me while she is gone all day at school. I told her she would do great and that I would pick her up in the afternoon not the evening so we would have lots of time together. She said two or three times that she's not good at math so she wouldn't do good in 1st grade. It must be something she's concerned about. I told her the teacher would help her and that she's still learning, she'll get it though. I wanted to cry with her and tell her I would miss her too but I didn't think that would help her at that moment. But this transition is hard for me too :)

Alexandra's dance

All is peaceful, all is right. Alexandra watched this video and said I didn't even realize they were screaming and fighting. She just blocked it out. :)

The Erbe Groove

This is so typical of our house on any given night.

Atticus and Uncle Charlie

Atticus was having a blast with Uncle Charlie in the pool.

Fun in the Grimes' Pool

Both Atticus and Alexandra decided to jump off the diving board in the pool. They had so much fun as you can see.

Potty Training Woes

I tell ya, I thought Sebastian was a tough one to potty train. Oh, no the worst was yet to come. I know that Atticus gets what to do. If I take him into the bathroom about 20 min after he drinks something he will go. He fights though tooth and nail to get into the bathroom to go. If I don't make him go into the bathroom, he'll pee in his pants and not tell me. I am just at wits end. I have tried motivation, candy, toys and nothing is working. I did tell him that he cannot go to school if he doesn't use the potty. I'm gonna stick to it. He did tell me that when he was three he would be a big boy and then he would use the potty. He'll be three on Aug. 17th. I hope he keeps his word.

Alexandra's trick candles

I didn't realize when I bought the candles for Alexandra's cake that they were the ones that won't go out. We were all a little surprised when they wouldn't go out. I ended up putting them in a glass of water to get them out. Poor girl.

Atticus the Rock Star

Grandma and Grandpa Erbe have this guitar and all the kids love to play with it. Atticus loves to show off his mad skills.

A Madagascar rap via Alexandra

This started out being a Madagascar play, but the boys got distracted so Alexandra turned it into a song/rap. I couldn't believe she just kept going and going.

Oga with the Erbes

Alexandra decides to teach an Oga class to Sebastian and Atticus.

Erbe's06/07/09 (9 photos), by Heather Erbe

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Deep thoughts with Alexandra

We had a field trip today with Alexandra's kindergarten class. I was in charge of Alexandra and another little girl. Alexandra told me that this little girl only has a daddy, she doesn't have a mommy. I tried hard today to make this little girl feel special and that I was glad to have her hang with us today. Alexandra was a little jealous of the attention I was showing this little girl. I started to talk to her about it tonight and she asked me what happened to this little girls mommy. I don't know what has happened to the mommy. I tried to explain to her that it doesn't really matter what happened, it's our job to make sure that she knows she's cared for. I started to cry and told Alexandra that it makes me sad that this girl doesn't have a mommy and I wanted to make sure she knew today that she was special. Alexandra said, why do mommies leave sometimes? What a hard question. I told her sometimes mommies and daddies decide they don't want to married anymore so they get a divorce. "What's a divorce" she said. It told her that it's when a mommy and daddy don't live together anymore so you would only get to see one of them once in a while. I told her that she didn't need to think about that happening to us cause Daddy and I weren't going to do that. I told her Daddy and I might be upset with each other or we might fight but we will stay together with her and the boys. She asked me why I was crying and I said because it's not easy when kids don't have their mommy and daddy all the time, It makes me sad. Just a hard thing to talk about with your 5 year old. Just a hard thing.

While mom mows the lawn in front, the boys...

find the hose in the back and spray each other. They came around to the front and I said, what did you do?" Sebastian says "sorry mom, but we were having fun." Priceless.

Bubba's new bed

Sebastian was devastated when we transitioned to the big bed. Atticus wanted us to throw him a party. He was so excited with his new bed.

Gone for a few days

I'm currently up at SALTS with Open Hearts Ministry. This is my first. Lots to learn and experience in the next few days. Alexandra got on a T-ball team and is very excited. We missed the sign up, I didn't even realize that they had sign ups. We called and got her on an all girl team with a lot of the girls from her class at school. She has her first practice this Wednesday and then her first game on Saturday. Pray for Paul as I'm gone as he manages everything at home. Also pray for rest for me and the wisdom and insight to take everything in here.

Atticus' potty song

I just couldn't resist when he grabbed the harmonica and sat on the potty with it.

I'm very excited to announce that he did poopy in the potty after that song. We all did a happy dance and celebrated with swiss cake rolls.

The result of watching Kung Fu Panda too much

Although we had the movie from the library and we only had it for a week and that was 4 weeks ago, we are still feeling the effects of watching Kung Fu Panda.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Even though we aren't Irish, really we had a great time at the St. Patty's day Parade on Sat. It was a nice sunny warm day, a great day to get outside.

The Sebastian and Atticus interview

A cat showed up at our door yesterday and we took it in. Here's my interview with the boys about the cat.


Here's a picture of the cat since you can't really see him very well in the video.

Dad and Atticus nap

I think this is so cute. Atticus climbed up and sat next to Paul while he was "Resting his eyes". Then all the kids had to get into the act. Too Cute.

What would your reaction to this be...

Alexandra's was: There is no way the boys and I are eating this tonight.

My response: Well, I guess you aren't eating then.

She went and grabbed a box of mac and cheese and gave a quick no. I'm not running a restaurant. We'll see how dinner goes over tonight. From my perspective, It's a good looking turkey and vegetable soup.

A warm winter day

It was the day we had been waiting for. It was 50 and sunny. We went sledding. It was pretty slushy but still fun. Later Alexandra wanted to go outside and ride her bike on the driveway. Thank goodness it was bath night because some puddle jumping in sued.

The Beat Box Boy

If you have small kids you might know that a new Electric Company just started on PBS. There's a lot of rapping and beat boxing. Sebastian has started to copy this and I had to get it on video.

The Pajama Party

Today was The Pajama Party in Kindergarten today. We have lots of really cute pj's for her to wear. Oh no, she pics the oldest, most worn out pj top that we have. Of course I couldn't convince her to wear a nicer pair so she went to school in them. As I got the camera out this morning to take a pic of Alexandra, the boys had to get into the act as well. I mean they were still in their pj's too.

Things heard in the Erbe house

I am just amazed at the things that are said here on a daily basis:

Sebastian wants to hug and kiss me everyday now before I leave. So he yells as we are leaving "Mommy, don't go. I have to kiss and hug you." So I wait, and kiss and hug him. Atticus comes and says" Mommy don't go. Kiss and hug." So I kiss and hug him and then he says very dramatically, "Go".

Alexandra asked me if she could get a frisbee at the coffee shop. I couldn't quite figure out what she was talking about. She meant slurpee.

Atticus is looking out the window and says he sees Daddy. Alexandra says that's not daddy, that's just some boring kids walking down the sidewalk.

I mentioned that I was going to get some medicine and Atticus lines up in front of me, like to get his ration. Also whenever I get the medicine, each of the kids sniffles and coughs. Sebastian will even say in a loud voice, Mommy I have a cough. I need medicine.

Horsing around

The twin mom's are hosting a contest over at 5minutesformom.com that's all focused around horsing around. Alexandra and I were bored one evening and so we used the camera to show off our silly side. Sebastian got into the act too with the kiss on the cheek. When Sebastian kisses, it's serious business.

Oh the wonderful world of Erbe's

A lot has been rattling around in my brain lately. The boys were sick this last week and I got it too. When you are in bed, you have a lot of time to think. I believe that although the decision to work part-time outside the home was a tough one, it was the best for me and our family. I'm liking what I'm doing and it charges me to be more productive with the kids. Alexandra has had a hard time adjusting to me not picking her up. I'm still doing afternoons at wayfm and that's going good. I'm enjoying using that gift. It gives me another good outlet. Every day I'm home in the afternoon with the kids. I've cut rest time to 1/2 hour for Alexandra and Sebastian so I can spend more time with them one on one. Atticus is still napping but I've cut it down to about 1 1/2 hours so that he'll go to bed better. We're finally getting into the new routine and the kids are doing good. I'm glad that I've never had the feeling that something is beneath me. I've also realized that the kids have taught me a lot in these last 5 years. They've taught me to be more patient and how to give more grace than I ever thought I could. I also don't mind interruptions as much. I mean come on with 3 kids 5 and under my life is one big interruption. I mean some days it takes me 20 minutes to do a sink full of dishes cause someone needs something or someone is hitting someone else. I've also grown to appreciate the little things, like a 5 year old who can carry her bowl to the sink without spilling it. I've gained so much from these three little people. I didn't realize it until I got back out in the world. I think that is pretty cool.

A busy day

I was wishing and hoping for a snow day today and I got one. I scheduled Sebastian's 4 year well child visit today and depending on how long it took I would have been late picking up Alexandra from School. It was good that she went with us because she got her flu mist along with the boys. The flu mist was pretty cool. To be honest I don't think I would have done the flu shots because they were shots. Sebastian did need 4 Immunizations so that's why I didn't want him to have another shot. We got home and I pulled the snow blower into the back room to try and get the belt back on it so I could clean out the driveway before we get more snow tonight. I have to admit, it was hard but I did get it. So, after the kids finish watching Arthur on PBS I'm gonna go try it and see if I got it right or not. It always makes me feel good when I can accomplish something like this because it's not a skill that comes natural. I'll update later to let you know if I did indeed get it fixed.j

Things heard in the Erbe house today

While making Brownies today, Alexandra says to Sebastian " I've been doing this for a long time, so I know how to do this very well." Remember she's 5.

Atticus says to me while I'm changing his dirty diaper, "Hi, Mommy". I reply, "Hi Attiucs". "Love you, Mommy". Just what you need to hear when you are changing a dirty diaper.

Sebastian comes down stairs after getting his jammies on and all his buttons are buttoned. I asked if he did it all by himself and he replied "No, my doggie did it." We don't have a dog.

No Hair?

Tonight the kids wanted to look at pictures of themselves as babies. I have all my pics on Snapfish.com so I pulled them up. Atticus was very uninterested but Alexandra and Sebastian were taken by the numerous pictures I have of them. We looked at Sebastian first and I showed him the pic of him in the cradle weigher (the one shown here) and he said, "Oh no, I have no hair". He was so serious, I start crying just thinking about it cause it was so funny. It was like he was disappointed and he just didn't seem like it was right that he didn't have hair. Some of the things he says are funny but also the seriousness of how he says them is so funny. It's hard to relate that but hopefully you get it.

A little crafty boy

And I don't mean crafty like doing art projects. Last night I was reading Sebastian a book and he started to pick his nose. I asked if he needed a tissue, he said no. I kept reading. He started to pick it again. I told him that we don't pick our nose. He stopped and I kept reading. Then he said he needed to get off the bed. I asked him why, his response, "I need to go away and pick my nose". I laughed so hard. He thought if I couldn't see him do it, I wouldn't be able to stop him. Now that's thinking....