he would play with these...
They would make appearances in all of the rooms in our house... they would come to the bathroom with him, join us for dinner and even get the opportunity to sleep with him. Now Mr. E can be found with a hat pulled over his face pretending to be Spidy, using his fingers with his special noise effect to cast webs. He's even pretended to save one of the girls' dolls. When I picked him up from school yesterday he said, "I'm not Eli, call me Spidy", and the hat went over his face. So, Spidy and I walked out together hand in hand, with him opening the doors for Mack and I. At least he's a gentleman. Okay, maybe he really just enjoys showing us he's big and strong. Either way, I like it = )
Mackie has become a bride. She prances around the house in Schuyler's old white, flower girl dress with the matching white leather shoes and wears a pink-tie tutu that she has concocted to be a veil. She has tried to marry her brother and used to be successful but now Eli has informed her, in his old man voice that we love, that he is too young to get married. Smart boy. My daughter, on the other hand, worries me. She kissed one of her classmates as we were exiting school. We had a little chat when we got home as this is something I certainly don't want to repeat. On a separate note, Miss M had a complete blast with her 2 classmates on her Kindergarten field trip. He dressed up in her bright pink dress, with light pink tights, tall brown boots, and her beautiful hat that my mother made which bore both shades of pink. She even took a little purse for her kleenex. There is no denying she is getting older.
Schuyler is an Olympicaholic. Hockey, skiing, iceskating, sledding and even curling. I don't understand a thing about that event but found myself sucked in trying to figure it out. It is one of the s-l-o-w-e-s-t events! Back to Olympics. One of the positive side benefits is it has sparked an interest of flags. She has been one of those kids who are good at, and take an interest in maps. Well, now she can make another connection with identifying the flag. She has come to me with multiple questions, which I did not know but google always seems to answer! On a not so positive note, she is a remote expert, being able to rewind, record, fast forward, etc...
TGIF!
We have a celebrity in our home. Okay, not really but Schuyler was on Channel 8 news last Friday with the rest of her 2nd grade class. It featured the use of "Domesti-pups" in the classroom. Traditionally, these dogs have been used to aid those with disabilities. However, new research is showing these dogs can also benefits students. Daisy comes to visit the 2nd grade class 1 or 2 times a week. During her time there, students read to her. This can alleviate the pressure of reading aloud in small or large groups as well as the anxiety some students face in general when it comes to reading aloud. It also teaches the students a sense of community. This is where the 2nd part of the story comes in. Daisy was injured this past summer and required surgery. Schuyler's teacher came up with the idea of "Dimes for Daisy" where students would bring in dimes and this money would assist with the cost. During her absence, Joker came to visit but Daisy is now well enough to resume her duties. We have the news special taped = )
While on the subject of school, Mack and Eli had parent visitation at the Montessori last night. Mack was uber excited to show us all she has been learning at kindergarten. She has always had a passion for her workbook work but has recently blossomed in her reading. She read several books to us as well as wrote sentences with the movable alphabet. Eli chose to show us his puzzle work with the world map. Mack will be going on her kindergarten class field trip this weekend (the whole 3 of them =)
We're trying to stay healthy. Eli had a fever from Sunday a.m. until Wed afternoon sometime. Mack's voice comes and goes. The other night she said, "Mom, have you ever last your voice", to which I replied, "Yes, many times. It always comes back". Mack responds, "I've lost my voice before and it came back. I hope it will come back again." = )
Schuyler's last bball game is this weekend. We are hoping it does not get cancelled.
Oh, during Eli's sickness, we watched a new movie, Spiderman 2. It has moved it's way to number 1 on his movie list. "Spidy" as he calls it.
Here's my bath-tastic boy = )
Every year at this time, the kids and I become the valentine assembly line, crafting valentines for all of their classmates. See, the montessori where they attend does not allow store bought valentines, or should I say strongly encourages homemade valentines. Although Schuyler's school does allow store bought, it has become a bit of a tradition to make our own. I find this a bit ironic since I'm really not a fan of valentine's day. I don't really like flowers and, in fact, roses are one of my least favorites and the fact that they mark everything up by 50%. Instead, the Riese family typically enjoys takeout, most often Chinese, my candle light. The kids get a big kick out of the candles and I have no cooking or clean-up! This year, the Chinese new year and Valentine's day are the same day so our little tradition makes perfect sense = ) Back to the homemade valentines. I cheated a bit this year and made photocards. However, we still had to decorate the outside of the envelope. The potato stamper returned and made an appearance, along with some other stamps I had laying around the house from my scrapbooking days. Eli hit his limit at 8 or 9 valentines before he relinquished his duty to me. Mack and Schuyler thoroughly enjoyed the experience, making each valentine unique and special.
I have officially caught the "winter blah". That's my new official term for it, "winter blah"! I would like to ring the neck of Punxsutawney Phil for seeing his shadow and condemning us to 6 more weeks of winter. I need warmth, light and energy to return to my life. Ugh!
Last weekend the girls participated in the Shirette kiddie clinic. This consisted of 3 hours of dance in the a.m. followed by a half-time performance at the boys basketball game. If that wasn't enough, between the 2 activities Mack had a playdate with one of her best friends who she has not seen since August. Later, as we were getting ready for the performance it was very evident how tired she was. As I was curling her hair, I accidentally nicked her ear. From that point forward it was tears, drama and mom could do no right, particularly b/c someone didn't know what she wanted. I offered to put the portion of uncurled hair in a bun or finish curling, etc... All my suggestions were shot down by our little fiery spirit. Eventually she came around and we were able to finish her hair to her specifications. The dance was very cute. For the grand finale, they got to choose the pose they wanted to end in. You will never believe what our miss Schuyler did, jumped into the splits! It blew me away. For the record, her father is extremely flexible for a male being and back in our day, when we used to bust a move, he was known to fancy the crowd with his splits.
Schuyler got her 2nd quarter report card and also recently received a high five award. This is a big deal as the award was presented to her in front of her whole class. I think they give one per quarter. As a prize, she gets a free kids buffet from Valentinos!! She got one last year, too. As you can imagine, we are so proud of her!! Have I ever mentioned that her name has dutch origin and means "scholarly" = )
These days, Eli can be found racing his cars all through the house and crashing them into things. The kid LOVES showers and baths and hops in with mom or dad whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Sunday, we discovered a chunk of "unknown" in Mack's hair. We washed and conditioned it and used the detangler with no luck. Next up we tried home remedies including olive oil, peanut butter and ice. Still, the unknown clinged strongly to Mack's hair. I had prepared Mack that we may have to cut it out and in turn, cut her hair shorter. She did not like this idea one bit and it led to drama. "When will my hair be long again? I've never had short hair. How fast will it grow?" and what upset her the most..."I need long hair for my dance recital so I can put it up like all the other girls". Oh dear my Mack, you don't leave a stone unturned to you! The next day, I took her to Haircut (catchy name) and prayed I would get someone that new what the heck they were doing. I talked to the lady and explained what happened all the while Mack sat silently in the chair with a sad expression on her face. Well, it turns out we could avoid the short hair, cut off an inch and do some blending. Oh the smile on Mack's face when she heard the news. And, the avoidance of more drama for mom!! The unknown remained unknown. It could have been something from her princess b-day party on Saturday or her brother has a bad habit of taking the gum out of his mouth and "saving it for later".
I should point out this is my child who has had many hair mishaps. At Christmas, she decided to put her zhu zhu pet in her hair with the feet (wheels) going. Not a good idea and if you read the instructions in full it clearly states not to do this. I can't count the number of times Mack herself or her beloved sister have tried to cut her hair as well. Recall the incident where she gave herself bangs here.
So, here is our trip to Haircut...
Big sister waiting patiently, writing in her journal.
Little brother trying hard to be patient and playing with the salon toys, which have been handled by many other kids and probably never cleaned. I even brought toys, Mater and Lightning. He did attempt to race them through hair droppings but I put the kabosh on that. Yes, he is not sitting in the correct position and those are kid-tatoos on his arms.
On a not so pleasant side note, it appears the cold season has officially hit the Riese household. It started with Eli in the form of a barky cough. He seems to be recovering but the rest of the family is now catching it or some other germ bug. Mark has strep throat and sinus infection. My sleep was interrupted 4 times by the girls last night and my sinuses are draining. Uck! Good thing it's Friday.
So my poor blog has taken the back seat to everything else. And what is that "everything else" you wonder? Really, I'm not too sure myself.
Where did I leave off? Oh yes, Eli's bday. We had a fabulous time at Coco Keys. It started out on a rough note as the kiddie pool was closed b/c someone went #2, the hot tub was temporarily closed and Eli was an 1 1/2 too short for the medium slides, which was a true bummer since they let him go on them in KC! Luckily, they got everything mended and Eli did make it down the medium slides once they had a changing of the guards = ) We spent a good 6 hours there and didn't leave until 8:00 or so. We hadn't ate so on the way home we stopped at El Bee's. This tex-mex place is bueno. Huge portions, wonderful margaritas, and great atmosphere for kids! Back to Eli's bday. We celebrated with family on Sunday. As requested, I managed to free-hand Kung Fu Panda, Po. See below. Not only was the outside frosting green but the cake itself had to be green as well.
The following week I triple whammied my son with appts. Dentist, LPS, and Doctor all on one day. All went well. His teeth are good. Hopefully, next visit he'll allow them to get xrays =) He has been dismissed from working with LPS. When they tested him at the age of 2.11, he tested at a level 3.8. They showed us the bell curve of where he started and where he ended and we are so proud of our little man. The Dr. appt was entertaining as they attempted to test his hearing and eye sight. Instead of cooperating, he thought it much more interesting to play games with the nurse. So, when she asked what the picture was he responded with "I don't know", with HUGE grin on his face. Yes, he was totally playing her. Same thing next picture. It's very obviously a race car. Eli's response, "Ummmm, pencil", again with his mischievous grin and laughter in his voice. You get the picture. Despite this he got a clean bill of health. He measures in at the 90th percentile and weighs in at the 75th percentile. Reminds me a lot of Schuyler.
Schuyler began micro basketball this past Sunday. It is a sight to see. Mark is the coach and he does a great job with the girls, at least from what I saw as I was chasing the other 2 in the adjoining gym.
This week was parent visitation at Mack's dance class. We got a glimpse of the costumes and they are very Cinderella-like so it's right up her ally. They even have flowers they will hold in the dance. She is in combo class and is bit disappointed they aren't doing tap. It will be a ballet performance.
With the ucky weather we have enjoyed games. Monopoly Jr, Sorry, Sequence, Uno, Twister, Mouse Trap, Apples to Apples, and a lot of Mario Cart on the Wii.
Here are a few pics. I didn't sharpen for web so they are a bit on the soft side.
Here is Po.
One of Eli's 3 year portraits.
Mack at dance.
Schuyler, just because =)
It happens every year. My kids become another year older. They don't ask permission to become bigger and brighter, they just do. So long as the world keeps turning and the good lord keeps us together, we will continue to celebrate birthdays and milestones.
Eli got his bday wish, a stay home day with mom. Although, I'm sure we both wish the arctic temperatures would leave already. It was a low key day. He requested Dad's homemade pizza for dinner and a Panda Bear cake (Po, from Kung Fu Panda). The cake is yet to come as we will be celbrating with family on Sunday. I have looked high and low for a Kung Fu Panda cake pan or mold with no luck. I guess this means I will be free handing Po. Eli is the proud owner of a BOYS bike! Yeah! No more riding his sisters' very used, with no tread on the wheels, princess bike. It was used when we got it and has lived a very long life. Long rest the princess bike. Now he will be terrorizing the streets with his blue bike with green wheels. That is, if the snow will ever melt. I'm sure he will be very cool indeed = )
Thoughts on my boy...He loves the movie Kung Fu Panda. He never sleeps without his blue blankie and must find his holes to put his fingers in. He's an "I do it myself" man, even if it means climbing up onto the counter or helping himself to the refridgerator. He can make us laugh with his "serious old man" voice. He's in tune to his feminine side and is okay playing Barbie's and babies with his big sisters. At his ripe old age of 3, he prefers boxer briefs to undies. However, given any opportunity he prefers streaking. Really, you can't turn your back on him. Oh dear, did he give us a good laugh at my bros house on xmas!! The best thing: he loves his momma and is okay with mommy still rocking him, cuddling him, and giving him big bear hugs.
One last thing to leave you with. An excerpt from the Lyrics of Godspeed by the Dixie Chicks. LOVE this song!
"The rocket racer's all tuckered out
Superman's in pajamas on the couch
Goodnight moon, will find the mouse
And I love you
Godspeed, little man
Sweet dreams, little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings
Godspeed
Sweet dreams
God bless mommy and match box cars
God bless dad and thanks for the stars
God hears "Amen," wherever we are
And I love you"
It's time to say good-bye to 2009 and say hello to 2010. As I get older, the years get harder to say good-bye to. I look back at images through the year and see my kids getting older and once again it's like a smack in the face just how fast time goes by. After the Christmas rush it's a reminder not to get stuck in the minutia of day to day things. But it's hard. I do good for a while and then get bogged back down. So, I'm making it a New Year's resolution. My implementation plan is not clear yet, but I'll think of something.
Anyway, this post has taken an extreme turn from what I had planned so let's get things back on track. I have been enjoying a much needed break from photography (with a few minor exceptions) and most importantly some much needed time away from my day job and major quality time with my kids. I've decided this is the best way to get rid of excess PTO = )
What have we been up to you wonder? Let's see. One day it went something like this. Dog pukes. Not sure how long it had sat there before Schuyler found it and it was finally cleaned up. Yuck. The 2 younger kids are napping so it seems like a good time to paint the basement, our latest project in getting the house ready for market. Oh no, kids don't sleep very long and I'm not done. Dog manages to bump both sides of her rear-end into the wet paint on wall. I stop and clean dog off. Use this as an example and warn kids again. Eli can't resist being away from mom and bumps new shirt and new jeans into paint. He is devasted for his clothes. I reassure him I can get it out however he is already running back to his room to hide behind his chair. Yes, this is what he does when he's ashamed, feelings are hurt or he knows he's in trouble. Back to the point, painting is put on hold.
Want another story. One Sunday a.m. I turn cartoons on for the kids so Mark and I can get a few extra zzz's before church. Once awake, Eli climbs on my lap with his beloved blankie. He say's he doesn't feel well which is quite obvious when he no sooner gets the words out and is now getting sick all over me. Hmm, smells like fruit juice. Eli and the girls claim he's had nothing to eat or drink. Hmm. We take him to bathroom and he gets sick again. He wants to take a bath so we make a luke warm one. About that time Mark comes in with the vitamin jar which was completely full last night and is now 1/3 empty. Looks like we foundd the culprit. Within seconds of the discovery, Eli is getting sick again. This time, there is proof as we see regurgitated vitamins. I think this will be a lesson learned for him!
There are xmas stories and othe non-important happenings but they will have to wait for another day.
Here's an internet toast to 2010 - - New Beginnings...
- New Challenges...
- New Possibilities...
