Poor Neglected Blog

My poor neglected blog! Sheesh. Where do I start? The girls have been attending Vacation Bible School at our church (VBS for short). They are having a BLAST. Tonight is the finale so we'll get to see them sing songs and watch a slide show of all the fun things they have been doing. Schuyler is in the same group as her best friend so it has been an extra special time for her. I was worried b/c they split apart the elementary students and pre-school students, meaning Mack wasn't with her sister. This actually worked well. The smaller worship area works better for the younger kids - they are not so overwhelmed and it's not near as loud. And, Mack has 2 of her friends from the Montessori. They are not in the same group but there groups rotate to the different activities together so she gets to be with them a lot.

Eli had his 18 month appt. As many of you are aware, he is not yet talking and has had some behaviorial issues which have concerned us. The doctor believes the behavior is a result of being "pre verbal" and once he starts talking the behavior will quite or at least decline. But, since he is not where other kids his age are, we are going through some screenings with him to rule things out. Lincoln Public schools will be coming to do an assesment and Mark and I are filling out a questionairre. Mark and I will complete this and our answers will be scored. Based on the score, we may need to have additional consultations or assesments done but will cross that bridge when/if necessary. Other than that, he is healthy, strong, active and tall! 90% for height, 40% for height.

A couple of weeks ago I got together with my good friend and fellow photographer, Holly. We attempted to get family pictures of the Riese's but some of the Riese kids did not feel the need to cooperate = ( We did enjoy the rest of the afternoon as mom's and kids went to the pool and dad's went for a round of golf! Here are a few from our session, all images courtesy of Holly Troxel Photography.

adjusting

Wow. It's been a long while since I posted!

Well, we had a good 4th of July. We went to a friend's cabin on the lake and enjoyed a day of swimming, boating, and tubing. All of the kids experienced their first boat ride and Schuyler even tried tubing! It has been so long since I have been tubing or boating. It brought back memories from when my uncle Ron would take us to the lake skiing. I remember skiing and tubing with my cousin. They would take us around the lake and try to get us to bite the dust - we were a little older at that point.

Eli started the Montessori the following Monday - the 7th. It has been a BIG adjustment for him = ( The drop-off the first few days were filled with a lot of tears. Then, with the suggestion of my husband, we tried something different. Instead of having the girls go straight into their room and Eli go into his, the girls (mainly Schuyler) have been holding his hand and walking him into his room. Things have got better and yesterday, there were no tears at all. As we guessed, his hardest time is when he can't see his sister's. When they are around, or when he is outside, things are fine.

On top of this, we were trying to adjust him to the toddler bed. He has good nights and bad nights. Sometimes, he wakes up with terrible night terrors where he is crying uncontrollably and will throw himself on the floor or bang his head against something. Nights like these I feel like I have an infant again but I feel so bad for him b/c he can't express any feelings = ( However, last night, despite his fight to stay up, once he was asleep, he slept the whole night.

I meet with the Dr. at the end of the month to discuss his speech and a few behaviorial issues. He is due for a vacination but we will discuss the other issues and see.

Mark was in a golf tournament this weekend. I think they won the calcutta and got 3rd in regular play but don't quote me on any of this! The girls enjoyed the new American Girl movie, Kit Kittredge, with Papa. And, I enjoyed a good girls night out on Friday!! Thanks ladies for getting me out of the house!

Pictures...

more projects...

What would life be without a project at the Riese household. Yes, we have began yet another project. The cement patio that was sloping into the house is completely out! Mark, with the help of his uncle, great uncle, and cousin have removed the patio. Our house is the talk of the neighborhood with a huge pile of dirt and a great big red roll-off taking up what was once our driveway. A big thank you to Aunt Diane and cousin Seth for helping watch the kids so the men could work.

The girls finished up their first round of swimming lessons last week. We are taking this next session off but both girls will be repeating their current classes in August. Mack is SO close to passing... just needs to do 3 seconds of floating unassisted on her front - she has the back side down. Schuyler needs to "master" her front and back crawl. Her class is rather challenging. This week we had no activities due to the holiday weekend! It was nice! I stayed at home with the kids Monday and Tuesday. We enjoyed swimming at Grandma's one day and a play date at our house with a friend of Schuyler's - complete with the slip and slide, baking cookies, and water color painting! What a fun time.

Mack had her 4 year old well child check up last week. She is still 50% for height and weight. Dr. asked her to play catch and I think he was surprised at her throwing ability. I mentioned to him we would be back in a month since Eli is still not using many words. He decided to check his ears. Sure enough, he had wax the size of my pinky blocking both ears. He was hearing but probably muffled. We are hoping for a language explosion = )

Speaking of Eli, he is officially adjusting to his toddler bed. With either Mark and I home this week, we thought it would be good timing. It is proving to be a difficult adjustment but we are making slow progress.

Hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th. We are heading to a friend's cabin with the kids for some fun in the lake and some and of course fireworks. We are truly blessed to live in a place with so many freedoms!

Look what Mack got for her bday!! Her first digital camera! I've created a mini me = ) And, a sweet picture of my mom and her!

birthday, Eli graduates, and a bump on the head

Well, how is that for an interesting title? We made it through all our birthday celebrations! I have one word to describe it "pinkalicious"! Yes, she got a pink dress, pink flip-flops, pink tank top, pink swim suit...among the other great gifts she is enjoying. Oh, how could I almost forget... the pink princess cake! Did you know a soccer ball cake pan can be made into a ball gown for a princess. Yep! It was pink too!

Miss Schuyler got a boo-boo on her head. We stopped over at a friend's house on Tuesday night. Their daughter and our 2 girls were playing downstairs when I hear a cry and their daughter racing upstairs saying Schuyler fell off the bed and is bleeding. So, down I run like a bat outta you know where. I see her cyring on the bed with blood in her hair and on her shirt. I scoop her up in my arms and yell for Mark b/c we all know this mom freaks out in these kind of situations. Luckily, my friend is a nurse. She takes control, cleans off the wound, applies ice and eventually stops the bleeding. We are fortunate this time. It's a decent gash and had it not been in her hair line, we would have probably gone to the ER. Actually, I still wanted to take her to the ER but my hubby talked me out of it, rightfully so (at least this time).

Eli has been visiting the Montessori. Tomorrow he will graduate from Linda's and begin the Montessori on July 7th, after the summer break. It's another bitter sweet moment. Linda is like my 2nd mom and I couldn't have asked for a better person to teach, love, and look after our dear Eli. I know this is not goodbye as the kids and I will continue to stop over and visit the babies. But, I will miss seeing her on a daily basis. Eli had an okay visit on Tuesday. He would not let me very far out of his sight. He did display some of his furniture moving and climbing abilities : ) Today was a bit better. Everyone was outside either playing on the playground or doing patio work... gardening, water work, washing windows, scrubbing work, crushing egg shells for the garden, cracking nuts for the animal feeders, etc... Half the time he didn't know I was there. But, Schuyler was right by his side introducing him to all the children and showing him the different work. She was a very proud big sister! Eli had so much fun, he didn't want to leave.

We are on the hunt for a new refridgerator! Ours is leaking. We know the style we like but are limited b/c of the width. I hope we find one very soon. Actually, Mark has done all the research and shopping around.

Since I have not got to any pictures of the bday party, I'll show you a little of what I've been up to. Soon, my family life and photography life will live separately as I'll be unveiling something new. But, until that time...

Happy Birthday Mackie-Doo-Roo

Happy 4th bday Mackie-Doo-Roo! We LOVE you! I know so many times when I speak of you, I refer to those challenging qualities. But, those challenging qualities will serve you well someday if we channel them correctly. That, will be up to us, mom and dad, and only time will tell! What are those qualities you wonder? The stubborness you had since the day you were born. Those days when you refused the bottle and would only nurse. I remember last year when you wore underwear, a swimsuit bottom and a skirt. You were bound and determined to wear a swimsuit! You have a flare for drama and a little fire in you. You also have a very kind and sweet side. You are the first to rub my back and take care of me when I don't feel well. You say things like, "I don't want Sadie to get old". You have a love for all things beautiful. Your smile can melt our hearts!

Here is a great quote I found, and how true it is!

"Even though you're not the oldest, Or the youngest, you see, Being in the middle is a really neat place to be! The middle of a sandwich Is the most important part, And in the middle of your body, You will find your heart. The engine in the middle Is what runs a good machine; And our family wouldn't be the same Without you in between."

We our going to take little miss muffet out for dinner tonight. On Sunday, she will have her friend bday party and the family bday party. She took oatmeal applesauce cookies to school to share with her friends. Updates and pics to follow next week=)

Another one bites the dust

We said good bye to another bunny. The kids found a beheaded bunny on our side yard. I'm not sure what happened. It's not the mower or he would have looked much worse. Below is the first time the bunnies left the burrow. This little guy was curious. I'm guessing he's the only one left alive.



And, Schuyler lost another tooth last week at school. We're still waiting on those top one's to fall out. Mack was sad and feeling left out so she drew a picture for the tooth fairy and left it with Schuyler's tooth. That sweet fairy left a quarter for that picture and sweet little notes for each of the girls =)



Life seems crazy busy here. It was only a matter of time before it madness resumed. Last week, both the girls began swim lesssons. They are both becoming strong swimmers. Schuyler has to work on doing soft strokes and keeping her body in a line. Mack is the first to volunteer in her class. The girl still has no fear!

Friday was a fun day for me and the girls. I went with their class to the nature center and we had one of Mack's good friend's, Shaine, ride with us. Afterwards, we went to Star City Shores for some swimming. We had the Director's (of the Montessori) twins, age 9 1/2, join us. Schuyler was tall enough to go down the big slides by herself. We spent 3 hours there!! I had some tired girls the next day!

Happy belated father's day to all you out there. Mark's present should be arriving today (yes, a few days late)! I made a collage. We spelled "Daddy" in the driveway with big bubble letters and a little chalk work. I had each child take turns laying next to the letters. It's probably hard to invision so I'll see if I can't post it sometime.

My grandma celebrated her 80th birthday with a good portion of the Schlattmann clan in attendance for a dinner Saturday evening. Grandma - I know you don't read this but I hope you had a happy birthday! Look at the beautiful generations you have made!! Her official bday was yesterday.

Lastly, happy bday to my husband, who is spending the day with our son who had a temp of 103.3 yesterday. Despite the circumstances, I hope you are having a good day!

Schuyler had a temp of 103.2 on Sunday and I stayed home with her Monday. Now, Eli has it. I hope we don't pass it around! Mack's bday is Friday and her party is Sunday! Guess will be taking our Vitamin C and Echinacea!

busy again

Well, we knew our break would be short lived. Starting next week we resume back into full swing! Our schedule will be something like this: Monday - Mark's golf league, Tuesday - girls' swim lessons, Wednesday - tball practice, Thursday - girls' swim lessons, Sunday - church and tball game, plus my ocassional photo shoot and our never ending projects - putting a fence up and tearing out the back patio and putting in a deck!

So, Schuyler had her first tball practice on Wednesday. Take a guess at what color there shirts are.... YELLOW! She is pretty darn excited about that! Practice actually got cut short due to lightening. The first game this weekend should be quite the interesting one as it sounds like this is the first year for all with the exception of 4. Speaking of games, Schuyler got to enjoy 2 baseball games this last week with Grandpa Riese at Salt Dog Stadium. She was on cloud 9 and was quite the little sport with her cap on!

Here is a picture of her proudly displaying her Kindergarten diploma and present from the end of year celebration. The class got a shirt saying "Child's View Montessori, 2008 graduate". As always, it was a fun celebration filled with dancing, singing and great food! Schuyler, we are so proud of you and all you have accomplished during this year! You have such strong determination that will take to you to where ever you want to go!


Here is our little stud muffin! This boy wants to be just like daddy. He's got daddy's sunglasses on and he just needs a club in his hand = ) (Never mind the filthy white onsie and food on his chin!) Eli loves to mow, too! He gets so upset if daddy's mowing without him. He will mow along side with his toy mower for a while but he really likes it when daddy holds him and mows!






As for our bunnies, they have all left the burrow. Unfortunately, we have found 2 more dead bunnies bringing our death toll up to 3. We still have not told the kids. But we have seen 1, possibly 2 (can't tell if it's the same one), out and about.

Oh, I finished Mack's new dresser which she loves! It started as baby blue and is now a beautiful white dresser with pink draweres. And, we found pink crystal drawer knobs at Target. (Well, not real crystal but you get the idea). It's just perfect for McKenzie and she loves it. Now, I can actually put their clothes away!