Sebastian's surprises

Sebastian has started this thing where he'll have something behind his back and then he'll say to me "I have a surprise for you mommy!" Not words you want to hear from your 3 year old. What's really funny is that it's usually something he shouldn't have like, my glasses, his nite-nite, or scissors. I never quite know what he's gonna come up with. I guess I should be thankful that he's bringing me stuff that he's not suppose to have.

The other night about 4:30 am Sebastian came into our bedroom telling me he couldn't find his nite-nite. He had flipped on the light in the kids bedroom. I got up, looked for the blanket and couldn't find it. I looked at him to say that I couldn't find it and I see this big bulge in his pants. Yes, his nite-nite was in his pants. I guess he had forgotten!

A Birthday Greeting for Daddy

I just Love this kid.

This is so typical of what goes on in our house on a daily basis. I laugh so hard every time I see it.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Sebastian came up to me yesterday and said " Mama, I want to be a Dr. when I grow up." I replied, great Sebastian. What kind of Doctor do you want to be? "Mama, I want to be a farmer when I grow up, what do you want to be when you grow up?" "I'm already grown up, Sebastian and I'm a Mommy". Alexandra chimed in and said that she wanted to be a gymnast, hair stylist, firefighter and a policewoman when I grow up. I told her that was awesome. Sebastian chimed in again and said he wanted to be a farmer and what did I want to be when I grow up. I told him again that I was a mommy and that I was already grown up. Alexandra asked how I became a Mommy? I told her that Daddy and I got married and we decided we wanted to have kids. She said "So you decided to have us? It was your choice?" Yep I replied, we choose to have you. Sebastian chimes in again and says " I want to be a pig when I grow up mom". I laughed really hard and then he laughed too. What a Ham!

A great day away

First I have to say thanks to my friend Sally for inviting me to the Hearts at home conference in Grand Rapids today. Hearts at home is a non-profit ministry that's purpose is to support mom's and help them to know that they are not alone in this whole thing we call motherhood. Over 1400 women filled the Devos place in GR and it was amazing. The speakers and music was good but so was getting away for a day without the kids. It was pretty cool when I got home. The kids were in watching a video and they didn't realize I was home. Sebastian looked out the window and say me and screamed "mommy!". He giggled uncontrolably as he jumped up and down. As I walked in the door, Sebastian threw himself at me and yelled, Mommy!. Then Atticus and Alexandra came running and hugged my legs and yelled Mommy!. Then Alexandra kept jumping up and down saying, mommy, I love you, mommy I love you. It was a great homecoming and a great end to the day!

A lot can happen in a month

The first day of school has passed and boy what a month it's been. Alexandra is doing great in Kindergarten. She loves her teacher and says that she's even sillier than me. NO WAY! After a lot of work and a few set backs, the preschool is up and running. Sebastian is doing really well and a lot of his issues haven't flared up. I think his favorite time is snack because the Teacher says that he asks about it a lot. I'm still working at the school in the morning and that's going well.

A couple kid stories to share:

Sebastian likes to ask me questions as I'm walking out the door at bedtime. His most favorite is what day is it. A couple of nights ago, he asked me what a noise was. I told him all I could hear was the fan and the radio. He said "Was it my bottom"? I said, "did you toot?" He said, "yeah, it was my bottom".

I asked Alexandra what she wanted for lunch and she said she wanted a cheese sandwich. I figured it was a grilled cheese so I started to make them for the 3 kids. Once I gave the first sandwich to Atticus, Alexandra said she didn't want one. I asked her why and that she should have one since she asked for it. She said "mom, I need to tell you something". OK I answered. "I don't like your grilled cheese sandwiches". I replied, "What do you mean you don't like my grilled cheese?" "I don't like your grilled cheese Mom". I was shocked. I couldn't believe that she was saying this to me. Then I saw her face and she was tearing up. I asked her what was wrong. "It was a very sad thing to tell you that Mom, I'm sorry". I thought to myself, it is only a sandwich. I told her that it was just a sandwich and it was OK that she didn't like the way I made them. She wiped away her tears and said "I like the ones in restaurant like with Papa but not yours mom." I nodded and said OK, it's alright Alexandra. It's alright.

Atticus and I took Sebastian to school and Atticus didn't want to leave. He stood outside the school with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. I said you want to go to Wal-mart with Mommy. A loud NO rose from his mouth. I said you want to go with mommy to get stuff to make cookies. He looked at me and said "yeah, ookies, mama, yeah".

The First Day of School, Kind of!

Alexandra had her first day of school today, but it wasn't the hardest day to come. Tomorrow, Alexandra will go to school and stay there without me. It's so hard to believe she's starting kindergarten. There were days when she was a baby, where I wasn't sure I was going to make it. The decision to go to this school was one that I second guessed even this morning. We arrived and right away I could tell our decision was the right one. So many things confirmed we have made the right choice this morning. Mostly it was how she reacted to the classroom, the other kids, her teacher all of it. I also just love her teacher. I also just love the feeling of the school. I think tomorrow I'll have my moment of tears and then be happy that we've made the right decision. One pretty funny thing was that I wouldn't allow her to put anything in her backpack this morning. I told her the back pack was for her teacher to send stuff home to us. When we arrived, she saw that other kids had stuff in their backpacks to give to the classroom. She thought that those things were for them and not for the classroom. She was pretty upset with me that I wouldn't allow her to put anything. So after talking to the teacher about what we could bring to donate Alexandra finally realized that I was right and that we would bring some things tomorrow to donate to the class. We had a great time shopping for things to donate to the class. This is a new season, an adjustment period is necessary but we'll adjust and thrive in this new season.

A mom walks into her house the other day

and this is what she sees. Our sitter Erin did Alexandra's hair and then Atticus went over to her and wanted his hair done too. As she did one and then two, he leaned back in her lap and got comfortable. She said it was like relaxing for him. He loved it. He was mad when I took it out for nap time, hence the third picture.

A Party to remember

Even though my birthday isn't until Tuesday, the Erbe's invited us up to their house for dinner and dessert tonight. The kids were playing outside with Scott when Alexandra started screaming and yelling in pain. Scott brought her over to me and we couldn't quite figure out what was going on with her. After some detective work, she had been stung by a bee or wasp. There were two on her leg. We put a baking soda paste on it when Heather (Scott's wife) brought Evan in the house screaming in pain too. We found he got stung too. We put some paste on him when I looked at Alexandra and her upper left lip was all swollen. I think I kind of freaked her out but she couldn't tell us what had happened. She had never had a bee sting before so we thought maybe it was an allergic reaction. After talking to one of the nurses at the pediatricians office we figured it was just another sting even though we couldn't see it. She was so worried that she wouldn't be able to eat dinner or dessert and that it might always be that way. It's so hard to explain that kind of stuff to a 5 year old. By the end of the night, she had eaten dinner and dessert and it was looking a lot better. When she got in the car and looked in the mirror she said to me, "mom, you were right, it is getting better!" As you can see, fun was had by all and it was a great party.

A race for the ages

For some reason the kids decided to race up and down the driveway the other night. What made me laugh the most was their starting positions.

Grandma's 85th Birthday

My final living grandparent, Grandma Quack turned 85. My mom put together a great open house for her and a lot of family and friends came. It was so great to see old family and friends. I think Grandma had a good time too.

My Baby is now two

And he's not a baby anymore. Last Sunday Atticus turned two. He is so expressive and so verbal. He's also started to use his imagination. That's something I didn't see in Sebastian until almost 3 so it's cool to see that already. He also has the mentality that anything Sebastian and Alexandra do he can do as well. He loves to play by himself and is all boy. He loves his trucks and cars. For his birthday we got him a t-ball stand and plate and he hits that ball over and over and over again. We're working on taking turns and sharing but for two he's getting there. He loves his ya-ya (alexandra) and likes his bubby (Sebastian) but seems to hit and fight with him a lot. He likes hats, really the only one of the kids that does. He has the cutest smile and a very sad cry even when he's not really sad. I've been much more relaxed with him which has led me to really enjoy him.

Only one more in diapers

Although I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel, Sebastian is pretty much potty trained. Yippeee! It happened about a week and a half ago, it just seemed to click. He started telling me he needed to go and he just stated going. I was so excited. I think Atticus and Alexandra are just as happy that he's using the potty more. They get an M & M every time he uses the potty! Atticus has started to want to sit on the potty but that's about it. I believe though that he'll be a little easier than Sebastian.

Sprinkler Fun

We've had a lot of great times this summer. This summer has seemed easier than the past two because Atticus can be trusted a little more this summer to stay in the back yard. This video cracks me up because Atticus is trying to copy what Alexandra is doing. They have become two peas in a pod.

Potty Training Part three

We had a good day today with Potty Training Sebastian. We started last week and it went better than when we tried in June. Then the we had a penny incident. Alexandra and Sebastian came into our room last Tuesday morning and told us Sebastian had swallowed a penny. I called the Dr. and they wanted us to have an x-ray to make sure it had passed to his stomach. There was no penny in his belly although he still says its in his tummy. So after that we took a break from potty training last week and I thought we'd start again today. He didn't have an accident but he also didn't choose the potty on his own. I had to make him each time but then he did. We're getting there. The funny thing, I'm always thinking, when did he go last, how much did he have to drink and so on. Ah, what an interesting stage of life. Who knew the potty would occupy so much of my time.

Grimes Family Reunion

Every year my dad hosts his family reunion. This year my uncle Rob came and I got a picture of my dad and his siblings.

why do I get the baking bug on a day like this

It's quite warm here in the mid-west today but I decided to bake anyway. I had a helper and she really is a help. You can see her here putting chocolate chips in our whole wheat muffins. She also helped mix up the batter and put chocolate chip on the pancakes. There was a moment where Alexandra said, "mom, I really like helping you bake." "You do", I said. "yeah, because it's messy and fun". I had a flash back to when I was a youngster, not as young as Alexandra but in elementary school. We walked to a friends house and she would bake with me. She was always really patient and let me do a lot of messy stuff. It was fun and messy for me too. I am thankful that I get to do this with my daughter.

5 minutes for mom summer photo contest

There's another contest over at 5minutesformom.com. This one has a summer theme. If you would like to enter a photo as well, you can check it out at here.

What is it about night time around here

Last night I heard foot steps upstairs after we put the kids to bed. I went up and found out it was Sebastian and he needed a change. After he was disciplined, Alexandra says: For the record he also turned on the light. I couldn't believe she said that. I had to hold back the laughter as I walked out the door to get a pull up for Sebastian.

A scene from the Erbe house

Last night, about a hour this incident occurred.
Door to the upstairs opens.
Alexandra: Mama, I think you need to sew Buddy's night-night.
Me: Why?
Alexandra: I think I swallowed part of it.
Me: (holding back laughter) Go back to bed!
Paul: What will they come up with next!