Circus fun

The three kid circus has been buzzing with activity lately. Baseball is in full swing and has us quite busy. Between both boys we have 5, sometimes 6 practices per week. Sara has become our resident baseball cheerleader. She knows which team name to shout at which practice! We're looking into getting her this shirt. The one on the right is the back of the shirt. They are a bit more put together and professional looking than these. I made these on the computer to give you an idea. We're of course getting one for each of the boy's teams.

This is what I found the other day in my room. Sweet little Iain T. picked us some flowers and set them up in a vase with:

1) a heart shaped card telling us that he loved us and appreciates all we do.

2) a Dallas Cowboy picture he drew for us. (triangle one on right) It had his three favorite players that he drew free hand, with a special note.

3) a copy of the first song he wrote. He has been into writing songs and creating the tunes to go with them. He gave us this one for when he is 'famous one day', we will have the original! Love it!! :-)

*Still waiting on the camera. It's scheduled for delivery the beginning of next week. I'm looking forward to figuring the thing out and hopefully getting some good pictures soon!*

Waiting is the hardest part

I'm so excited about a purchase we just made. After much thought and not so much rationale, we decided to buy a new camera (thank you Uncle Sam!!). Since June, I have been using Iain's point and shoot that he was given by his class parents last year. It is really for his classroom but since ours broke the day before he got it, we thought it was perfect timing! I have always been interested in photography but never really had a good camera. Soon I will! I've already told the kiddos about their new careers as models that is right around the corner. Of course they all rolled their eyes at me...shocker! I'm thinking about taking a photography class to help with my lack of ability, but I'll have to wait and see how our schedule is in the fall. I'll let you know when it arrives!

From Love to George, minus some hair

We've had such a nice weekend. Saturday for Love Day, we started the day with a walk to Mimi's Cafe for muffins, juice and coffee. Then after a nice afternoon playing with friends and going to the gym, they each had a small gift to open. Sunday was another nice day. We stayed around the house for most of the day. Iain and I cleaned out the toys (didn't I just do that??) and took the boys for haircuts. They both chose to have their hair cut, ALOT! I knew they both needed to get it trimmed and styled, they were both quite bushy. I think I was just shocked to see what they wanted. Sean sat in the chair and said, "buzz it please". A friend of mine is the stylist so we were both cracking up. She has known Sean since he was 3 years old, so she knows his personality well. We compromised on a short yet edgy cut. Able to spike and wear 'messy' but also very low maintenance. Iain on the other hand came very prepared. As I have mentioned before, he is very into style. He likes his clothes to match, hair to be done, and he even sprays cologne before he goes anywhere. He brought in a picture of what he wanted...a fauxhawk! Yep, you read that correctly, my child got a fauxhawk! I thought about protesting but to be honest, I'm picking my battles. He's a straight A student and as sweet as can be, if the boy wants crazy hair, I'm going to let him. Quick reminder, it's a fauxhawk not a mohawk, I would draw the line at that! These pictures show you how short their hair is but not the full effect of the styles. They were both right out of the shower so it wasn't "done". I'll get some styled pictures up soon.

Of course Sara wanted in too!

*As Sean was sitting in the chair watching his hair fall to the ground, he was so darn cute. The stylist was cutting the hair in the front, he smiled and in a sweet little voice said "hello eyebrows". It's apparently been awhile since he's seen them!!*

School of schools

In the world of preschools, March is the magic month. It's the month that all registration takes place for the fall. I know fall seems so far away and my baby so small but believe or not, come September she will be 3 1/2. Yikes! I loved beyond loved Sean's teacher last year. I always assumed that I would take Sara there when the time came. Lately I have been having second thoughts. It wasn't the teacher, she is still phenomenal, but she is the 4 year old teacher. I do like the 3 year old teacher but a little voice kept telling me to keep an open mind. You know how that little voice is, hard to ignore even when it can be justified. Anyway, I did listen and I did keep an open mind. Now I know why! On Wednesday, Sara and I found the most wonderful, perfect place for her next year. There were two things that completely sold me. First one was that it's very small. There are only 4 classrooms. That was one criteria that we were looking for. Second was that when we walked into the room to check it out, the kids were so nice to Sara. They were asking her name, asking her to play, even asking when we were coming back again. To me it was very telling. If the school was miserable, the kids would be unhappy. The topper? When we were leaving the director told me she would let us register with the returning students so Sara would be guaranteed a spot! One happy Momma here!

Side note: Sara loved it! She was playing, laughing and talking with the other kids.

Accomplished

It is amazing to me how much we were able to accomplish today. Before noon Sara and I had already taken 4 children to school (at 3 different schools and 4 different times) stopped for a potty emergency in a Jack-in-the Box, thrown two elementary school Valentine's Day parties and ran to Target for a last minute V-day present for the kiddos. I'm convinced that the saying "If you want to get something done, give it to the busiest person" is true! The drop offs this morning were a smidge crazy but other than that, everything fell into place. (A friend's car was in the shop so I took her kids to school) Sara was such a trooper. At both parties she walked around passing things out to the kids. There is something to be said for being room mom. I felt a bit in over my head when the year started but I have since figured out the secret. My secret you ask?? Bring Sara along. When I have to drop her off with someone, then run and pick her up after, it adds more to the day. This way I can stay as long as I like, not worry about the time and she helps. Not to mention she is always completely spoiled rotten by the teachers! Today in Iain's class she pulled up a chair and joined his group!

**I thought I was so on the ball for throwing dinner in the crockpot. Nothing like a nice warm meal waiting at the end of a rainy day. Well we had a power outage from the weather so the crockpot turned off. The raw marinaded turkey breast wasn't what I had in mind. O'well! :-)**

Ho Hum

Well, I'm still not in a very blog'ish mood. I've tried several times to start typing but for some reason the words aren't flowing. Can't leave ya without a brief update though.

Last week baseball started back up again. Iain is on the Angels and Sean, the Dodgers. They are pretty happy to be on "local" teams. This spring Iain will be on a kid pitch team. He tried this over the summer and did very well. He's excited to try pitching again and learn new skills. Sean is in t-ball plus. The 1st half of the season the kids hit off of a tee, the 2nd half is coach pitch. He's excited to...see friends! :-) He's waaaaay more social than he is competitive!! I don't have pictures yet but I'll get them on soon

I'm happy to report that Sara is healthy again! She was not feeling well for much of January. It seemed like as soon as she was getting better from one virus another would hit. Thank goodness she was able to fight them all off and now feels great. I'll end with some new pictures.

This is what happens when Sean stays up until 8:00pm. He falls asleep the next day at 3:00pm!

Make a wish!

Toothless wonder! Alright it's a raisin!

Click to see the sweetness!

On the way to school, Sean asked if he could bring Sara to school for share. I had to take a picture of the moment.

Sean's homework. His writing is really improving! As you can see I blocked out the name of his school for safety reasons.

Sean's great news!

Wonderful news!

Trip to the eye Dr. today:

Astigmatism - almost completely gone

Farsightedness - almost completely gone

No glasses needed!

I wouldn't have minded if Sean needed glasses but I'm thrilled to not have to wonder anymore! Each year we go and the Dr. says he's borderline, that he'll wait a year and get the glasses in 12 months. Then when next year rolls around, he decides to wait again. This year marked improvement, no glasses needed!

He was such a trooper with the eye dilation. He laid his head on my lap and said he didn't like seeing things blurry, but he didn't complain or whine at all! When we left the office, he was given a very fancy pair of glasses to protect his eyes from the light. He loved them! Apparently blue eyes are more sensitive to light and dilation so the Dr. said his eyes may still be 'off' tomorrow. The drops usually last 6 hrs, unless they are put in blue eyes, then they have been known to last through the next day! I'm hoping he's able to see a bit better in the morning though.

Waiting for the elevator

On the way home

Having his requested 'breakfast for dinner'. In case you were wondering, it was not bright in the house. He just really liked the glasses! Cute stuff!

Oh' I'm spoiled!

My hubby is the best ever! He is so creative when it comes to ways to make a birthday special. The first grade teacher in him comes out and voila, birthday magic! Here are a few examples of his wonderfulness!

These were spread throughout the house with little notes.

Birthday card made for me. Sean's page was first

Sara's page

Hubby's page of the card

Iain T's page of the card.

Card made by Iain T. Click on it to see his kind words.

Sara took this picture of us!

This is a little hard to read but it says "To Mommy". Iain made it out of Lego's for my birthday!

I love having these cards from the kiddos and Iain to save forever!