Well, I will say one thing for Emily...she doesn't give up easily. You know, unlike my other two children who are very mild mannered. Maybe that will serve her well. Unfortunately for me, it means she absolutely will not stop crying and go back to sleep. I have a sneaking suspicion she has a sore throat like her sister does because she is not crazy about eating or drinking this evening and she is actually flinging limbs at me and thrashing her body around in her crib. I've given her Tylenol, I've tried rocking, feeding, changing. Hmm. I guess if she is just going to cry, she is just going to cry. It's just kind of a helpless feeling for me. I know from times in the past her version of crying it out could last several hours. I WANT TO GO TO BED!!! Seriously, since I started this post it has been over an hour. She doesn't want to be held. She just wiggles around. As soon as I lay her back down she starts screaming. AUGH!

This week has been trying for us. Mary has been sick. Really sick. Not getting out of bed for 3 days sick. Her fever has been around 102-103 and she won't eat, barely drinks, just lays there with big dark circles under her eyes. She watches television.

This is coming off of the weekend where she and I got the throwing up variety of the flu. That was fun. I really hope Emily is not coming down with what Mary has had. We did take Mary to the dr. and it seems that she has a virus. The kind that comes with pus on your tonsils. Brian has been home with her the last two days. Tomorrow is my turn again. I do think she is turning the corner. Tonight she ate a piece of pizza (it's been takeout almost every night this week--or cereal) and sat with me in the chair.

Many thanks to our wonderful daddy who has been nursing us all back to health. He got to clean up puke twice this week--once in his car, he's been making Gatorade runs, writing sub plans, being on baby patrol so I could get some sleep, and not being too grouchy about it at all. Thanks, Brian!

What is the lesson learned this week? We are not ready for a dog.

Might be fun...You know you want to try it...

Lucky you!

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year. {might be a little while}
4. You have no clue what it's going to be.
It may be a story. It may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!

*Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!*

good for him, hard for me

Tonight Elijah started his first basketball practice at the McAlister Center, a lafayette parks and rec. place. So far, all the team sports we've done have been through the YMCA and have been disorganized to say the least. This was definitely not that. It was not only organized, the coaches were so kind AND kept the kids moving by, shocker, doing drills with them. They learned three ways to pass, how to dribble, shoot, and even played a quick scrimage. Granted, they missed their first practice last week because of the cold and their first game is tomorrow morning so it was a little like cramming it all in, but nonetheless. It was a great practice. The coaches were there before the team, they knew where the equipment was, they knew what drills they were going to practice, and they were competitive, but in the way that was uplifting to the kids. Sounds good, right? So why was I getting all teary eyed? Seeing my 6 year old with all his missing front teeth out there with the 6, 7 and 8 year olds made my heart hurt. This is definitely not preschool league. I'm also curious to see if this was just a good day for him or if he is maturing. Other times when he's played team sports he goes in thinking he knows it all and expects to be the best. When he isn't, there is a pretty high level of frustration (for him and for me). Tonight as we were leaving practice he says to me, "Mom, I was pretty disappointed. I didn't make any shots." I got to say to him, gulping back the lump, "Elijah, I wasn't disappointed at all. You practiced hard, you tried a new sport that you've never done before, and you have a great attitude about it all."

This teacher business is a pretty good deal. Since we've been having all this cold weather and all 5 of us have been home from school, we decided we needed to get out of the house! So, Friday we met up with some friends at the Indy Children's Museum to play. It was really fun. The kids all had a friend their age to do stuff with and it was (almost) relaxing for the adults. Saturday night we drove back to Indianapolis with Aunt Meg and Uncle Everette to see the Indiana Ice play hockey. Elijah had a blast. He was into the game the whole time. Bless his tender soul, he was really upset when 2 fights broke out on the ice. He actually said that he didn't like that part. It was some of the worst fighting I've seen. Helmets and gloves thrown off; just pummeling each other in the face. There was even blood on the ice. Ick. The girls spent the night at my parents' house on Saturday and we left them for church since we were planning to go right back over after church for lunch to celebrate my dad's birthday. We ended up spending the whole afternoon lounging by the fire over there. Today we still don't have school (MLK day) so Elijah went on his first play date with people we don't really know. His friend from school invited him over to play. I dropped him off this morning and my dad picked him up so he could take him ice skating this afternoon. Man, after writing all that it is no wonder I feel so tired today.

I am uninspired for blogging!

Stole this from another's blog. Feel free to keep it going. Copy and paste, then bold face the items that apply to you.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch--KNITTING!! Currently learning
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning--last Christmas eve. UGH.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon--training for the Indianapolis mini currently
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29 Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33 Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing – does indoors count?
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41 Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46.Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64 Donated blood, platelets, or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66 Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67 Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79 Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Something I love about Winter Break

Cleaning!!!! I bet you thought I was going to say being home with my family, or traveling, or resting. Well, I do love all those things too. But something that makes me feel really good is a deep clean and organization. I think if I were a stay at home mom I wouldn't keep up with it either, but when I know I have a break I just start cleaning. Brian has kind of caught the bug too. Even little things that make our life more organized makes me feel calmer. This break we:

installed small hooks for keys and glasses (both of which I could never find when I was ready to walk out the door. My kids will agree.)

cleaned out the kitchen utensil junk drawer and installed some hooks on the back of a kitchen cabinet for nesting cups and spoons, etc. Now you can open and close the drawer without something getting stuck!

cleaned and organized all kids closets

took several bags of stuff to Goodwill

cleaned off the desk (which is already piled with junk again. I don't think this one is quite organized yet!)

swept and vacuumed the scary basement

Brain's guitar stuff is all in drawers and suitcases; one guitar hook on the wall for keeping a guitar out, but up off the floor

scrubbed kitchen cabinet doors and baseboards --a problem for white painted cabinets--all the spilled food and dust shows


So, now we can spend the next three months getting it all dirty and disorganized again until Spring Break(s). All three of us have different weeks.

We're back

We had a wonderful Christmas! We've seen most of our family and spent lots of time relaxing, eating, and laughing together.


The girls got some really cute new clothes from Aunt Nancy. We spent 4 days in Cleveland. It was fun as usual.
We got Mary some new markers and easel paper which resurrected our easel from the basement. She also got a beading kit, and an EZ bake oven that she is way excited about!! She's sitting in her new glow in the dark camp chair that she is so excited about. She asked if we could have a campfire that day.
Elijah wanted a video game system for Christmas. Unfortunately for him, he has parents who won't spend $300 on a new system. We bought him some games for our N64 (I know, it's archaic right?) for a total of around $50.00 and he is happy as a lark. I know in a few years the peer pressure will be much harder to deal with, but for now he has no idea that our old system isn't cool. I am truly thankful that our kids are so happy with so little compared to others they know. I mean, Elijah was thrilled when he unwrapped new superman underwear. He just about went through the roof when he opened the Prince Caspian dvd.

Updates

Mary got a cute new dress for Christmas. I love Gymboree!!
Elijah loves wearing his new sport jacket. He chose it for his school winter program and church on Sunday.




Emily went to the doctor on Monday and she doesn't have an ear infection (yay!), but her teeth are coming in on the top and the doctor thinks that is what is causing her so much pain and crabbiness (boo!). I don't remember this with my other two kids. These teeth have been ready to come through for a month. We are increasing pain medication, but she is still super grouchy. We have bought a few gifts for the kids and family members. I feel my desire to have a clean and organized house reaching the max (well, at least my desire to do the work). I am ready to start the "being lazy, ahem...relaxed" portion of winter break.

Winter Break Day 1

Today Elijah spent the day with his Grandparents Greene since he was missing them so much lately. He used to spend one "special" day a week with Grandma Susan, but now that he is at school he doesn't see them nearly as often--or solo. Mary has strep throat again so we spent the evening caring for her. Also, I think Emily's ear may be bothering her. She's been tugging at it a bit and she was fussier than normal today--especially at bedtime. So, if it doesn't seem better tomorrow I will take her in on Monday to see the doctor.

I cleaned out the kids' closets and took 2 bags to Goodwill. I am dead set on doing some Christmas shopping in our attic this year. We have so many things that go un-played with; I just can't possibly think of more things we must have. I haven't bought anything yet.

We ended up having Christmas dinner with my mom and dad and the kids opened their gifts. Very simple; thank you mom and dad. A bit of clothes for the older two, a deck of cards for Mary, a how-to Juggling kit for Elijah, books for all. It was SUPER fun! We sat by the fire, watched cable, made cookies, put together puzzle ornaments, and listened to XM 36 Holiday Traditions while we ate dinner.

I like spending the first few days of break getting the house organized and cleaned so I can enjoy being in my home. Like so many others I know, I am starting to love my living room by the glow of white Christmas lights. I also am liking the artwork in there, the furniture arrangement, our new clock with a pendulum, and how clean the rug feels with our new vacuum cleaner.

9 years and holding

Tomorrow is our anniversary! Today is my grandparents'--Happy 59th Grandma and Grandpa LaCombe! If you are doing the math you realize that the year we got married was my grandparents 50th anniversary. That is really special to me. Unfortunately we got married just a couple years before digital pictures were all the rage and we don't have a scanner so you won't be able to gawk at Brian's baby face and wonder," just how young were you guys?!" So what are we doing for our anniversary you wonder? Well, I will be making and filling 20 bags with Royal icing for my kindergarten students gingerbread house making on Friday and Brian will be writing finals for his high school students. Sounds romantic, huh?

Elijah, Elijah, Pumpkin Eater

Elijah's school had a Independent Research Night (IRP) night last week, where the kindergarten classes had a living museum. The kids had to dress up as a Mother Goose character and recite their poem as people come through and press their "button" . Elijah chose Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater. We were awfully surprised when we googled this rhyme and found out it was about a man who chopped up this woman who wouldn't be his wife and stuck her in a pumkin. Eek. That Mother Goose, she's kind of morbid.

Do you think it is possible to change parts of your personality-- like how you react to certain situations? I am realizing lately how much I want to be a calm, steady person and not react emotionally to things. Two situations that happened yesterday:

1. I had a missed call from Elijah's school. All afternoon I worried and played out different scenarios in my mind about how he was in trouble, but then thought no, they would've left a message or called my work number. Turns out, his after school club got canceled.

2. After school (whilst I was picking up one son who didn't have science club) I got a call from my school. It was the secretary (who, by the way is about as calm and steady as they come) calling to ask me if I remembered how one of my students went home. He didn't get off the bus. So, I am now panicking. He, as it turned out, forgot to get off at his stop. But for that 15 minutes while I waited for her to call me back, I was again trying to talk myself down.

Two scenarios in a matter of 2 hours that had my heart racing. Can I operate differently?

I love it when Laura comes to our house and adds her pictures to our computer. This is one from earlier this fall when we took a trip to Dispennets orchard.



Man, I just keep getting worse at blogging regularly. Emily went for her 12 month visit this week and while I don't have her stats--they are on a slip of paper...somewhere... I do know that she weighed around 23 lbs. and that was the 75th percentile. Her height was 90th percentile and head was 50th. She got her 4 immunizations and did just fine.

The last two weeks have been a change from our regular routine. Emily's sitter, also known as our good friend, Annie (and her 2 girls) has been coming to our house every morning since they sold their house and are living with her mil until they close on their new house next week. It has been fabulous for a number of reasons. First of which is, Emily can sleep in her own bed and I don't have to get her up and ready in the mornings. Even more than that though; it has been motivating for Brian to help keep the house clean since he knows they are going to be here during the day. It has been so great--the dishes get done regularly, the floors stay swept, clutter is (mostly) put away.

Part of the fantasy of lights parade on Friday night
Lily and Mary snuggle up to watch the parade
Just part of the candy table for gingerbread houses
Elijah, Emily, Mary, Dylan(?) and Noah(?)

We are home from our flurry of a weekend in Michigan. As I look back over the pictures (and maybe based on how tired I am today) we stayed busy while we were there. We celebrated Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family on Thanksgiving day. Mary got to ride up with my parents on Wednesday and Brian, Elijah, Emily and I drove up Thursday morning. We listened to The Magician's Nephew book on tape and Elijah LOVED it! He was making all kinds of connections since he is so familiar with The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. It made the 5 hours go by pretty quickly. The weekend was so fun because my kids had playmates wherever we were. Between both sides of my family my cousins are between the ages of 2-21. On Friday we got to spend the morning at my cousin's house. Their twin boys are 2 years old. They just bought a new house and it is super fun! They have a finished basement that is a huge playland. The adults might have had a little fun too, playing air hockey. From there we went back to my grandparents' house and got ready to make our traditional gingerbread houses. We put tablecloths over the ping pong table and decorate like crazy. That night we took the kids to the Fantasy of Lights parade through Howell. They absolutely loved it! The floats are all lit up with Christmas lights. Our evenings after the kids were put to bed included some intense games of Rummikub. Saturday my grandma made waffles, and we started packing up a bit and kind of relaxed before my grandpa's 80th birthday party at an old car museum. There was a Fabulous Hudson Hornet that Elijah was nuts for! They had a big display about the movie Cars next to it, and the man who worked there gave him a postcard with a picture of Doc Hudson on it (from the movie Cars). Elijah stayed with my mom and dad to drive home today, but the rest of us drove home late last night. We had a fantastic time seeing all of our family. I am so glad we got to go.

Birthday party #1

I just really looked at the calendar

I realized it is exactly 1 week today until Emily turns 1. And it hit me. She is growing up! So, I will take this moment to reflect a bit on her 1 year of life outside of me. (As we will be out of town on her actual birthday and I am home with sick kids who are sleeping). Unfortunately they are in reverse order, but I am not messing with moving them all around now. I guess if you want to view them in chronological order scroll down to start and work your way up.

Early October 2008-Eating solid foods, loving cheerios by the fistful. Drinking out of a sippy cup.
July 2008-Owls Nest Macatawa. hanging on the beach with the fam. Not crawling yet. Likes sitting in one place playing with toys or laying on tummy.
May 2008-At the wedding of her godparents. Sitting upright is fairly new. Likes to be held most of the time. Spending days with the Fish family while mommy is back at work.

February 2008-big sister loves holding and snuggling. Emily prefers to lie down on her back, but will sit up when someone is holding her.
At one week old. Man, do I even remember what was happening? I wasn't doing much sleeping that's for sure!
Brand new baby. Just minutes after delivery. You can still see the umbilical cord on her. Technology is amazing. Since I was all drugged up and in recovery I didn't even see this particular moment live. So I am thankful that Brian had the camera in with her.


We love you Emmaroo!

The Friday night blues

Here I am at home alone on Friday night. The kids are asleep, Brian is out playing music and I opted not to get a sitter and go too. What am I doing instead? Mopping floors, scrubbing behind the toilet, and dusting. All things that don't get done enough in this household. I am trying to remember that the end product will be a clean, happy home that I will feel comfortable to relax in. I sometimes feel like there is a list two miles long of jobs that need to be done around here. Not just the weekly chores, but the bigger things. I'll try to be grateful that I have a home to clean. It could definitely be worse.

UPDATE: Just 30 minutes later and I really do feel like I like my house again. Just goes to show you how fickle I am.

Not to keep the suspense going for so long

Yes, it is indeed Wheel of Fortune. Or "the wheel" as Elijah affectionately refers to it. He structures his whole evening around it.

At 6:30 pm: "Mom, it's almost 7:00 I can't ________." (fill in anything I might ask him to do...brush your teeth, clean up your room, do your homework)

He always roots for the coolest looking male player and wishes "bankrept" on anyone other than that. Unless the coolest looking male starts to lose. Then he roots for whoever has the most money.

It's seven o'clock...where are we?

Gathered around the tv watching Elijah's favorite show. Any guesses?

There are so many little posts swimming around in my head, but lately I barely get time to sit down at the computer. We just keep passing around different types of illnesses (read: mom and dad have been writing a lot of sub plans and not getting much sleep over the last few weeks). There are so many good things to write about though, so I don't want to dwell on all the germs!

Emily's first birthday is in three short weeks. The past year has gone fast and slow at the same time. I am so thankful for my extended maternity leave and then summer vacation. I really do feel like I got to spend a lot of time with her. She still only has one tooth with one just about to break through. I am hoping it will be there for her first birthday. We have yet to get her professional portrait taken, so I think I will do it in the next couple of weeks (once she doesn't have the double snot drips). She is close to walking, but I think it will be after she turns one. She amazes me with things all the time. It's like she's a real little person in there. She thinks it's uproariously funny to pull her socks off as soon as I put them on her, she has all different kinds of babbles that sound like her own little language. She adores her friends Caroline and Lucy. The other day at church Lucy was fussing and Emily flung her head around to see what was the matter with her and then she started "talking" to her. It was so sweet.

We're going to Michigan over Thanksgiving weekend to celebrate my grandpa's 80th birthday (and to have Thanksgiving of course) so I am starting to gear up for traveling with 3 kids. We always do fun stuff up there like make gingerbread houses which my kids are really looking forward to.