I have no excuse...

I haven't gotten any Christmas pics up (and the kids were of course darn cute) and cards still have not gone out...I have grandparents here entertaining the kids and everything.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I'll get back on track soon. ;)

Focus

Posting forwards in my blog isn't typically my style. But, today, I found myself losing focus. This was a nice reminder to me.

FIRST CORINTHIANS 13 CHRISTMAS VERSION -AUTHOR UNKNOWN

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls,

but do not show love to my family,

I'm just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifullyadorned table at mealtime but do not show love to my family,

I'm just another cook.

If I work at a soup kitchen,carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity; but do not show love to my family,

it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata, but do not focus on Christ,

I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the spouse.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way.

Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return;but rejoices in giving to those who can't.

Love bears all things,believes all things, hopes all things,endures all things.

Love never fails.

Video games will break,pearl necklaces will be lost,golf clubs will rust; but giving the gift of love will endure.

Wishing you a joyous & meaningful Christmas!

G & Communion

Giuliana took her first communion tonight! It was really cool to be able to share it with her. We went to the first night of our church's Christmas Eve services. They asked the regular attenders to go tonight to make room for visitors tomorrow. We obliged. No elementary age childcare for these services, so she went with us. She did awesome, sat still and was quiet the.whole.time.

Tre made a candycane in his class. I think he was one of maybe 5 or 6 kids. Ali of course had fun. She really likes that gal that works in her class. Same gal has watched her 3 times this weekend (starting Friday night with Parent's Night Out- which we worked at, so no, we didn't go anywhere fun so to speak).

Tre & G are really excited for Christmas. They're conveniently adding to their wish list...uhm, a little late for that.

Tre cracks me up sometimes...

He was sitting at the table with Ali today and started talking about her big name and her "widdle" name. We talked about her full name being Alessandra Kathleen. And, then he said "and her Nik-Nak name is Ali!" I contained my laughter. He's just so darn cute sometimes.

He's sleeping at the moment. We hit the doc's office today...looks like an ear infection. The drainage is making him miserable and his ears are red. This is the kid that doesn't complain about his ears unless it's absolutely bothering him.

Let It Snow!

We didn't exactly get as much snow as forecasted, but boy did they have fun! :)

Oh the drama of it all...

Today was day 3 of Ali's fever and nasty cough...I am so done with not sleeping. I'm sure she's done with feeling yucky too, so I'll just shut up about that.

Giuliana had her first cleaning with the new dentist today (I know, BAD MOMMY!). You'da thought she was being drilled without novacaine the way she was carrying on about the xray film. Then, she thought she was somehow in charge of how her teeth were cleaned, down to the polishing. We were blessed with a great hygenist who was very patient. She decided we could do without the xrays today and try again at another point. Unfortunately, she has her first decay. It's on one of her molars and needs to be taken care of. He said it looked like it just didn't come in strong and healthy. Speaking of, she's getting her 6 year molars right now. Thankfully, he's talking about using nitrous for the repair. I'm hoping that will be enough, but might talk to the doctor about anxiety...her's, not mine.

A little Tre update...he has a Christmas program on Tuesday, he's been walking around the house singing his songs. It's extremely cute. He's got pretty good pitch. Tomorrow, he gets to take a show and tell and return Buddy to school.

More on Ali...

Here eye looks a ton better today. She is now complaining that the other one hurts. When I go up to treat her (easy while she's sleeping), I'm just going to do both eyes.

Last night, she prayed. So cute, "Jesus, eyes better. Amen." She used her new skill at dinner tonight as well "Jesus, thank you food. Amen." I don't remember the others praying so early...but, I guess that's what happens when you're the youngest of 3. :)

Ali has pink eye...

Poor Al. Last night, after dinner, we saw signs of pink eye- goopy eye and fussy. Not to mention when you asked if she had an owie, she said "yeah" and pointed to her eye. I was up with her most of the night (Ange of course caught a couple too) and Tre when he missed a train going by. Being the awesome hubby that he is, Angelo took her to the urgent care this morning. Oh, and he let me sleep in...love that man.

Tre goes to the Dentist

He did incredibly well! He hopped right up in the chair and started asking questions about the "bib" they put on him. He'd like to have sunglasses next time as the light really bothered him. In the pictures, he's trying to cover his eyes, yet watch the hygenist. Ok, here's the one thing he wasn't having any of. As I took this pic, he was forcing the tray out of his mouth. At 4, I don't think I would have wanted a big old tray in my mouth either. She ended up brushing on the flouride.
Here he is just hanging out while waiting for Dr. George. While we all know those eyes look tired, he's not admitting it.

Again, remarkable. Total cooperation with Dr. George.He left with a slinky and an orange toothbrush with sparkles in it. Oh, and I left with instructions to please floss at least his front teeth.

Another Star of the Week!

Oh the excitement and planning...Buddy came home from preschool with Tre today! That means he is the start of the week next week at school. He'll get to be lineleader and bring show and tell both days. And, that's not all, he can bring a special snack if he'd like AND have a parent (or special someone) read a story at the end of class. Ofcourse, with a camera addict mom, the first thing we did when we got home was take their picture:

Ali wanted to get in on the action too. I wanted a real smile.

So, I nabbed her binki. Here she is coming for it:

Who's kid is this?

Angelo & I had tilapia for dinner tonight. Generally, we don't make the kids eat fish. They've tried it a couple times and just didn't do the texture well. So, Ange made them spagetti O's. Would you believe Ali wouldn't even try her's and instead asked for a piece of fish. As if that wasn't enough, she wanted the couscous on his plate too. Odd little duck that really likes to try different foods.

Big news on the Tre front. He put his face in the water this morning at swimming lessons! Yea!

Giuliana is hoping to try "bobbing" in the water tomorrow at swimming.

12 step?

Angelo and the bigs have been gone for over 4 hours. Poor Mama, I had to stay her while Al napped. ;) I'm wondering about 12 step though...they're out caching and it's beyond cold. Like seriously freezing. Can you say addiction?

Earlier, when Ali saw the swag bag come out, she toddled over and said "I go treasure hunting, DADDY!" Poor left out little one. ;) I had originally told him to feel free and head out by himself...at least there is one nice parent.

Such an over achiever...

Ali's over achieving...she's doing her best to act 2 before actually turning 2. We're into the feet stomping fits. Boy can that girl throw a hissy. Bad mommy, I admit they are kind of comical to watch. ;)

We went out looking at Christmas lights tonight. Tre's asking a lot of questions about Santa. Giuliana's decided he's real again (last year she told me she knew he wasn't real- which I told her not to tell her friends).

She can see!

Amazing what happens when you trim their bangs! On a bit of a whim, we stopped by Great Clips on our way home from swimming this morning. I couldn't have timed it better. We walked in to no wait.

This was apparently really funny. ;)
She wasn't sure what she thought of the clippers.
Post blow dry hair flip. That's my girl!

Like a rock....

I know, cheesy title.

I took a few shots of a little girl playing on the boulders (yes, I know her mama and had her daddy's permission). It ofcourse gave me a great idea for my kids...maybe their holiday photo? I don't know yet.

Go Chiefs!

Angelo Tre got to go to his first professional football game today (thanks to his very fun Grandpa Angelo). Grandpa and Grandma are fans. Grandpa made sure he was decked out in his Chief's gear. Daddy, being the great husband, snapped a few pics before they left. As if snapping pictures weren't enough, he saved Tre's ticket stub, the parking pass and confetti that Tre caught for the scrapbook. Is he a good man or what? The funniest part of the confetti. The white piece says "DIE RAIDER SCUM." Tre ofcourse asked what it said. The person sitting in front of them translated a very 4 year old appropriate version "it says go Chiefs!" This person had to have known how to speak 4 year old. Can you imagine the questions Tre would have had if there had been any other answer? Smart person. To the smart person sitting in front of them at the game, thank you. :D




Ok, and I bailed on posting other pics from the weekend. I'll never get to bed if I do.

Another adventure with Daddy...(11/18)

You'll have to pardon me a moment while I catch up. We've been out of town for an extended weekend...

There are elements to this photo I just love. Angelo did a great job composing the shot. Giuliana, showing she really is my daughter, took this one. :)

The spelling girl...

Uhm, so I don't think she get's it from me, but, G came home with a perfect score on her spelling test today! :) The first part is the word list. The second part is sentence dictation.

Proud mama moment. :)

The Hoe-Down!

Here's us at the MAPS Hoe-Down. Loved it! Major kudos to the team that put it together. I got to do the couple pics. Here's the composite design I put together. It's my first photoshop creation of the sort.

Hunting...

We went hunting for backdrops today. Where oh where will we get the elusive Christmas card photo? So, they're in 3 sets...all just for fun (including the PB & J on the little faces).

I was playing with the depth of field setting on the camera. Kind of fun.

Oh, and in other news. I figured out how to use Photoshop to design my own photo/graphic cards! :)

I thought these rocks would make a cool back drop. I loved the look on her face more though. She was playing with Daddy.
Resisting the urge to pick at the bark, she gave me a little smile. She's really gotten quite good. She'll adjust her smile based on "not so much..." "a little more..."
This was at a concrete staircase. She wasn't thrilled with the sun. Can't say I blame her.

"Bye Mommy!" It's her new game when she doesn't want to come with me. Usually, at home, it's because she's spotted something to get into. Oh so big. She was tickled to have an Ali sized play structure. She'd climb up the stairs, slide and then say "try again."

New skill/hobby. Sucking peanut butter off the crackers and handing them to the lucky parent standing closest. "Throw away please, Daddy."

In this one, they're actually up in a tree. On the play equipment.
This last one is the product of "I don't want a cheese, I just want a nice smile."

Furthering the art of procrastination...

Yep, blogging. I so should be upstairs getting ready to go downtown and get my flu shot. Uhm, yeah. That's a lot of effort. Must.have.more.caffeine. So, while I attempt to wake up, I'm reading blogs and posting and working on editing (pics).

This, being the blog about the kids, I should say something....oh, the morning began with a monster fit when Giuliana had the nerve to leave while Tre was pooping. Bear in mind, the bus was here. He was quite beside himself that she couldn't wait for him to say goodbye. No matter of explaining made it better. Thankfully, he's moved on now.

Ali is no longer obsessed with Blues Clues Big Musical. It's now Cars.

The little stylist

Need I even caption? ;)


Note: after a few too many google hits on this one, I've retitled.

Busy weekend...

We started the weeked by going to a caching event- I know, big shock. It was pretty cool. A caching flash mob. Apparently it was a wide spread event in each area.

Here's Giuliana signing the log. PrincessFlower. :)
We lucked out. As the flash mob ended, the Veteran's Day Parade started. Wow, talk about 2 of the kids' favorite activities in one. I'll post more of those pics in another post. Here are the 2 of them watching the parade.

Finally 5:00

Ok, so the awesome news first...My Aunt Lois, possibly the coolest teacher in PT passed her national boards! Congratulations! :)

Now for the sicky update. We decided, to be on the safe side, we'd take Tre in and have our doc check him out. Sooooo...3:00 today, we were there. Dr. G. is wonderful (not our primary, but easily could be). He prescribed antibiotics and more steroids for his lungs. Apparently, croup is usually viral but can have a secondary bacterial infection, which is what we think is going on here. Dr. G. also seemed surprised that the ER only gave Tre 1 dose of steroid this last Sunday.

Al is looking rather snotty and appeared to have a fever this afternoon. Let's pray she doesn't develop the same crud, ok?

G was royally torked that I picked her up early. It was so not planned, I just knew that I wasn't going to make it back in time to meet her bus. She had to miss music. That being said, when I asked her what her favorite part of today was, she said, "there wasn't one. I had to miss music." Point taken. Little Miss Sassafrass is currently taking an attitude improvement nap.

It's gorgeous outside. Nice and warm, so much so that I had to turn the a/c back on before I left. The upstairs was 75 and rising. Hopefully, the weekend will stay nice and I'll have pics to share by Monday. :)

And the fun continues...

Tre wasn't feeling so well last night and didn't get to go to Cubbies because of his fever. He just hung out with me while I did my data entry stuff.

Come this morning, his fever's up again. He came upstairs and parked himself in my chair by the window and didn't move for an hour an a half- during which he slept a little. I finally carried him downstairs so he would rest and watch Cars. He stayed put there close to 3 hours. I wasn't as smart and gave him 2 straight cups of juice (filled his Nalgene with ice & juice), then he, on his own, switched to water. I really should have thought more than to give straight juice. It, I know, TMI, went straight through his system. Got to clean that up twice today.

While I'm whining...the excema below my brows really just needs to go away. The whole area from below the brows to the creases for the lids is all irritated. So much so that I'm resorting to a steroid cream (God bless the dermatologist- love that woman).

I'll quit whining now. We all stayed home tonight. I could have gone to our home group, but I'm just too darn tired and figured we could all probably just use a night at home.

Oh, and for those wondering, yes, I called the doctor and yes, they did eventually call me back (that poor nurse, it was after 5:30). If Tre still has a fever in the morning, I'm to take him in for an appointment.

Read IIIIIIIIIIIIT!

Hey, look! Al has a new favorite book. Look closer....yep, it's the phone book. I hear this "READ IT! Read IIIIIIIIT!" There she is, sitting with the phone book, flipping through it like a picture book.
Tre was playing on Daddy's computer and felt we needed a shot of the track ball and him being silly. His fever is back today. Not sure what I'm going to do with him....

Don't all y'all go getting jealous or anything, but we're off to the dentist. I lost a temporary crown...funny story with that, but I don't have time to tell it.

Tre update...

This was him yesterday, borrowing Daddy's spot. He absolutely loves to nap there. He seemed ok this morning and did pretty well last night and again, no fever. So, I let him go to school. It wore him out. He put himself down for nap (in HIS bed, I might add) right after lunch where he ate about 2 bites. He slept over 3 hours. He then promptly put himself to bed again around 8. I love this. He made it at school today. He was so proud of it. We also got his school pics back today...handsome little bugger that he is.

$75 later...

Tre made his 1st ER trip here last night (only made 1 back in Idaho too, thankfully). I returned from Crop Camp to a coughing little boy with a fever. That in itself isn't usually a worry. Buuuuuttttt....this time, his cough was quickly turning. He was doing that croupy bark and couldn't seem to catch his breath. Since Big Al was stuck to me like white on rice, Angelo took him. Probably a good thing as I'm not sure I would have been fond of the ER doc. They gave him an oral steroid (normal protocol for croup) and sent him on his way- of course advising that OTC cold meds are such a waste, yada yada yada...he said we should keep up the pain relievers because his throat would hurt from coughing. Ok, so I added Delsym to his medication regimine last night. He felt better, slept better and so did I. Bear in mind, "good sleep" is a relative term...in this case, I was only up with him once- way better than Al last night.

Wordless Wednesday (Sort of)

Costume parade. He so didn't even care that he wasn't in costume, just that he got to be in it. :)
No peaking!
Just another one of the guys.

I think I'm liking this fall thing...

This cold snap is kind of nice. Remind me of that when I start complaining about the cold. ;)

No, I in fact was not aware Giuliana had shared an Oreo with Ali until I went to open the van door. She enjoyed it. :) Being male, he went straight in and picked his pumpkin...didn't have to shop around or compare. Saw it, picked it up. Done deal.
I do believe she was showing us just how full of BBQ her tummy was. Seriously, I'm pretty sure she ate more than I did. This kid loves meat...BBQ'd especially. She kept saying "Moe chikkin!" (All meat is chicken, btw.)
Remember how Tre zeroed right in? Yeah, his polar opposite here had to look at all the pumpkins several times. She's a careful shopper who does her research. Wonder who else we know like that? ;) (That'd be a Fiat trait in case you're wondering.)
We had our last soccer game of the season today. After playing the pink team so many times, it never occurred to me why I was seeing a friend in the parking lot so much. Well duh, her granddaughter was on the pink team! I had just never looked across the field.

Pray for me. I'm substitute teaching in the 1st grade Sunday school tomorrow. :)

How?

How on earth did every.single.stitch of Tre's pajamas end up in the wash at one time? I'm talking like half a laundry basket of just jammies. Color me baffled.

Ready to get jealous? I'm about to head out for the 1st grade Fall party at G's school. Oh, and I'm wrangeling the 2 little ones with me. Al doesn't know it yet, but she's going in the backpack whether she likes it or not.

Soccer Girl

The smile on her face as she and M took off with the ball was priceless. I do believe this resulted in a goal. :)

Note the absence of shin guards. When mom tells you twice to get your shin guards, it's probably a good idea to get them. As it was, she only got kicked once last night.

This was my first time trying to shoot a night game. I'll have to work on a couple settings. The pics require quite a bit of retouching/balancing.

Muffins...