The Holidays Are Fast Approaching

So I haven't posted in awhile. We had a good Thanksgiving week at Gail and Eldon's. The kids had lots and lots of fun. There were two different fires to play around, a lot of leaves to burn and general fun all around. We took the kids to the Science Center there, and they had some fun with their cousins Chloe and Casey. Dinner was great. The drive to Hickory took five hours. Truth be told it was awful. We got on the Interstate and it wasn't moving. Not to mention that we needed our brakes changed (thank you for fixing them Eldon). The brakes were so noisy every time that we stopped that I was dying of embarrassment. Not to mention the safety issue when it comes to stop and go traffic. After about forty five minutes we hit the Davis Drive exit. (This is seven miles from where we got on the Interstate), Rob had decided that this wasn't going to work. Neither of us are familiar with that particular portion of Cary/Apex, but I told him to get off and I'd find 64. So we got off and we made it. Rob thought that I was crazy and that we'd missed the road, but we found it. The drive home was much, much happier.

We have instituted a chore system around the house. This is a nightly chore system, which involves mopping, vacuuming, and wiping down the bathroom each night. It really is great. The kids are super involved meaning that they actually do it. I don't know how long the novelty of using "the spray" will last, but right now I'm super excited and happy about it. We have a different spray for the bathrooms, kitchen and windows and each child wants to use it. Don't worry it is happening under close supervision, but it is nice to wake up to a super clean house.

December is tomorrow and the craziness is about to begin. We've got all our kids birthdays in the next two months, Christmas, and Beth's baptism. Plus out of town visitors and going out of town. Somehow or other we will survive. Usually we are done with present shopping by now and we haven't even started yet. The main problem is I don't know what to get the kids. I'm not in the mood to inundate them with more toys. Seriously after the great toy take away of September and October I'm not in a place where I want to provide fuel for another hostile takeover. We will see what we come up with.

Also we have been t.v. free today, and are hoping to go t.v. free for most of December. I'll let you know how long it lasts.

Have a great week!

The Dragon Ate My Homework!

This week was rough as far as homework time went. Really, just one big battle after another. It's time to think about contracts, and consequences. Beth isn't going to know what hit her in the next few weeks. She has agreed to get up and read before school each day, and that will start tomorrow. And we will be doing homework as soon as she gets home from school. Friday morning I drove her to school so she'd have time to do an assignment she absolutely refused to do all week. It's not going to happen again, because I want Beth to have good study habits, and be successful, not always pushing things to the last minute.

This week I've got two parent teacher conferences, one for Caleb and one for Beth. It should be fun and exciting to see how they are both doing this year. I like talking to the teachers and getting a sense of what is important and how my kids are doing.

Caleb is very enthusiastic. He loves doing new things and he is just pleased as can be when he gets something new or tries something new. I love the fact that he is so positive most of the time.

Jacob has informed me that his best friend is a dragon. He is very tall and likes to lick Jacob. He makes Jacob very happy. The day after Jacob told me this I forgot and began telling him a story about a mean dragon. Jacob stopped me and told me that the dragon was his friend. So this guys is likely staying around for a while. If you talk to him be sure to ask him about his dragon.

That's about all for the week. It rained a lot. I mean a lot, and I hate rainy weeks. But most of this next week should be pleasant. Not too cold, and no rain. I hope you have a great one!

A Trip to the Zoo

Rob agreed to post the pictures if I took the time to write about the trip to the zoo. It was a a random happening. Earlier in the week we had thrown around the idea of going down to the beach and the aquarium. We mentioned it to the kids who were super-excited, but told them that it was on the condition that they go right to bed. Two hours later (and this is not an exaggeration or hyperbole) we announced that the beach trip was officially off.

Still it was supposed to be in the 60s, and probably the last clear and warm day of the year. I mean come on it is November. Time for cold dreary weather. So Rob really wanted to do something and late on Friday we agreed to go to the zoo. We told the kids in the morning when they woke us up at 7:00. But the deal was they had to let us sleep for another hour. They willingly obliged.

We ended up waking up to the power going out. The back up batteries for our computer begin to beep. This caused both of us to jump up in alarm. Miraculously we both managed to get a warm shower before we headed out to the zoo.

It was a fun trip, although as soon as we got on the highway, Beth asked how much longer. Rob and I had an interesting discussion, while the kids slept on the way there. We headed to the Africa section first and we ended up seeing most of the animals. Beth climbed on every rock and statue and posed for the camera. Of course her little brothers followed suit. The animals were out and it was a lot of fun. There was a new baby baboon that all the kids absolutely adored. Beth also twisted her ankle and had to be carried for a bit, but she recovered nicely.

Then we headed over to the America side. It was a long walk, which we usually avoid but they had two new installations. One was a honey bee garden. The place was rife with bees and hornets. I was distinctly uncomfortable, even though I have pretty much mastered my extreme bee phobia. And then there was a fountain that was designed to look like geysers. It made me want to take the kids to Yellowstone. But we'd have to get a leash for the boys. They are both prone to run away right now. Rob and I honeymooned there, and it is a beautiful place. Rob fell in love with it, like I did on my first visit when I was ten.

Finally we went to see the otters. The animal of the day. They were cute and then we headed to the park. Caleb was doing some awesome hanging and swinging tricks when he landed funny. It was a bad enough fall that we worried about the possibility of a broken arm. Of course Caleb rallied, though we are still keeping an eye on it. Cotton candy on the way out and we were headed home.

This week has been busy. Beth did well on her report card, and Caleb seems very happy with school and life in general. We managed to get all of the kids to a park, and the house is pretty clean. Having fewer toys seems to help the kids, and they are still playing. Hope that your week was good as well!

PS Happy Birthday Mom!

Halloween and No Pictures

Sadly we somehow made it without taking a single picture, everyone forgot their cameras. So you will not see Beth dressed as a witch or Caleb as Darth Vader (plus you'd miss the breathing sound effects he made when he put on the mask), and Jacob as some captain storm trooper from one of the movies. (I thought he was just a storm trooper until some guy in his twenties came up and said you are Captain Blank something blank from episode blank). Who knew? Definitely not me.

We went to Hickory for Halloween. There was a Halloween carnival in the afternoon, and then we went trick or treating in a neighborhood. It was pretty fun until it started drizzling. Then I was ready to go home, but the kids had a lot of fun. Caleb refused to go to doors with skeletons or masks. Jacob had a hard time keeping up, but he wanted to walk most of the time, and said Trick or Treat very clearly the entire time. He was too cute.

We did go to one house that was playing loud Halloween music and they had two monsters on the porch. They had decorated the foyer with lots of silhouettes of scary things. The guy handing out candy was in a Freddy mask. Jacob was brave and went up to the door. But the guy in the mask (an adult no less) got right in his face and growled at him. Honestly I wasn't impressed. Sure they went to a lot of work, and sure it was nice. But really where do you draw the line? Halloween is about scaring people, but not two year old kids.

Tonight was Math and Science night at school. Beth entered the Egg Drop contest. She and Rob came up with some design with a parachute and a balloon landing area. It took several hours to hunt up the pieces and to assemble it all. At the end Beth said that she was going to make it next year with help from me. (Rob got a little stressed and possibly demanding.)

Well the egg drop worked, but Beth didn't get her certificate because Caleb broke the egg on the way to get the certificate. Some of the kids said that Beth's looked the coolest. It was pretty. Rob wanted to get a picture of it, but we didn't have time before we got there, and then we had to throw it away because of the broken egg. So you missed a very interesting egg drop thing.

Caleb has been requesting some pretty interesting things. On the list this week: motorcylce, iPhone, and laptop computer.
Rob has been letting him play with his DS. He has referred to is as a GTS, CTR and the thing with lots of letters. It is very fun to hear him trying to describe it.

We are starting potty training Jacob in the morning. Should be an exciting and messy week!