Halloween 2013

We had a great Halloween this year!

Jack got to carve a huge pumpkin with Grandma and Grandpa Loney this year.

We got "ghosted"

Leo hated the mustaches in our "ghosting" bags

Finn picked out this design and "helped" me

Leo's pumpkin was the best

Here they all are, Jack did his own.

Finn went trick or treating at his school. Leo and I handed out candy.





Leo dressed up for this too:

After the preschool party, we headed home to give Leo a quick nap and then we were off to Jack's halloween parade at his school. Leo was a nightmare there, which didn't surprise me. Here's Jack:

And then when Jack got off the bus it was time for pizza and some trick or treating!

Leo made it around the culdesac before he just started wandering aimlessly around. He and I were inside handing out candy at 6:30. Finn made it until about 7:20 and Jack made it until about 7:50. The rain was kind of a bummer. But everyone had a great time. The candy is out of control over here. The were eating some at 6:50 this morning. Ugh, Halloween you kill me. ha. 

Picture Day 2013!

When Jack was running a super high fever, it began the Sunday before Picture Day. I really didn't want him to miss it, but knew there was always retakes. He ended up being able to make it, but I was worried that he'd still be pale or super flushed or something.

Picture day morning, his teacher emailed us this picture:

I mean how hilarious is that? Three girls in the exact same dress. Six kids in the exact same color. Hilarious. We got his pictures back and they are classic. Not perfect, but definitely good enough for no retakes. Sidenote - as a mother of boys there is nothing I hate more than little boys wearing mohawks. I'm not judging you if you give your kids them, I'm just saying in my opinion and as long as my kids live under MY roof they will not sport the 'hawk. But funny because Jack's hair kind of looks like he has the mohawk thing going on. I love him so much. haha. 

October and Halloween Prep

We've had a very busy and fun fall so far. This is our last calm week before double hockey begins!

A few weeks ago, the Kindergarteners had a Pirate Pancake day. They were working on the letter P that day.

Before Jack got his fever, luckily, we had our family pictures taken by one of my friends. They turned out incredible. Here are just a few.

Don't mind my tired eyes in this next picture, but I knitted this infinity scarf with my arms. Love it!

Today we finished prepping for Halloween. But those pictures will be in my Halloween post. Look at me. Setting goals for myself in blogging. Go me!

Oh and I ordered a planner. Tom asked me if I ordered it from 1995. haha. I can't help it. I can't use my iphone for calendar stuff because it doesn't fulfill my need to make lists and write everything down. Does anyone else still use a paper planner, or is it just me?

Happy Monday! Cheerio.

Slacker

Why do I even continue to hang onto this blog? I've been slacking big time about it. I think it's just because I love reading back on when I'd blog like 4-5 times a week and a part of me thinks that I'll get back there. Probably not going to happen. I should still make more of an effort though.

We are definitely settling into a routine of school. Since my last post, Leo came down with the pukes I think the first week of school? Thank you elementary school germs. Jack got a fever that lasted practically 4 days. He almost missed picture day, but kicked it right before. His school pics will be interesting. ha ha. Then Jack got a little bit of croup. Then Leo got croup. He had to do a neb and steroid shots (poor baby had 5 shots that week bc of his well check up and flu shot and double steroid shot). Welcome to flu season, right?

Finn is thriving at preschool, which makes me happy because I honestly didn't know what to expect from him. I'm having an internal debate about how many days I want to send him next year. I can do 3 or 5. What makes things so complicated is that the bus picks up Jack at 9:06 (school starts at 9:30) and preschool starts at 9. I could drop Jack off at school every day after we drop of Finn, but that's kind of annoying. Right now my neighbor lets Jack come to her house so I can leave with Finn and Leo at 8:45. I feel like anything more than 2 days is too much to ask from someone else. Realize I will still have this dilemma once Leo starts preschool and both older boys are in school. What's a girl to do?

We had Jack's conferences a few weeks ago. They went amazing. I'm so proud of Jack. She informed us that there have been a few meltdowns since the fire drills (long story, but I don't blame Jack for having anxiety about them). And also that Jack's math skills are up to par and that he's reading at a second grade level. Ummm say whaaaaa???? I knew Jack was an amazing reader, but I guess it's just because he's my first born that I didn't know how great he was? Just assumed this was normal? We made a very big deal out of this with him and let him know how proud we are of him.

Leo has stopped squaking for the most part. His words are on the tip of his tongue. He's very clingy and is a snuggler, which I don't mind - but the constant holding of a 30 pound giant baby hurts my arms and neck. I still want to eat him up every day because he's so deliciously lovable.

We are hosting Thanksgiving this year. Trying to get all my ducks in a row as far as that's concerned. It will be my first turkey! I'm scuuuuurrred. 25+ people over here. Go big or go home, right?

This is our last weekend before hockey is in full force. Jack's starts next weekend. He will have practice every saturday and sunday. ummm awesome? no. Then it gets more hectic after the holidays. Tom's season try outs start in two weeks. Lord help me.

Here are some pictures because I realize all 3 of the readers here have missed us.

Jack's First Day of Kindergarten

9/3/2013

Today was Jack's first day of school. The first day ever. This is a huge step. Five and a half years he's been all mine. My days have revolved around his wants, his needs - putting all of my wants and needs on the sidelines. And just like that I am supposed to let go. Let him grow up. Let him learn how to fend for himself. It's a tough pill to swallow.

I think the anticipation of this day is a lot harder than the real deal. I had butterflies all morning. Jack was just ecstatic. He ate the infamous cinnamon and caramel rolls for breakfast. Took a shower. Brushed his teeth. Got dressed. I pinned his bus number on him. Handed him his backpack and we went outside to take pictures. When we heard the bus coming he started jumping up and down. I had a huge lump in my throat. Once Jack stepped onto that school bus, Finn went apeshit. He wanted to go to Kindergarten with his brother. I got Jack to turn around for me for one last picture.

The bus driver told him where to sit, noted his name and name tag, and just like that the doors closed and off the bus went.

Once the bus left, I picked Finn up and got all teary eyed with him. My neighbor said wow you did so great, I cried a ton when my oldest went to school. I had to hold in my tears otherwise I was just about to lose it. When we got inside Tom gave me a big hug and that just set me off. He's just gone. For 7 hours. How did this happen? They were bittersweet tears. I'm so proud of Jack. I'm so excited for Jack. I'm so sad that he's growing up. I'm so happy I only have two kids all day. I just am still so overwhelmed. 

But today has been a great day so far. I pray that Jack gets off the bus with a smile so big it makes me burst into tears even more. I hope that he's even more excited to go back to school tomorrow. The sky's the limit big guy.

The Boys

Jack - 5 1/2 years old
Jack, when I think of how much you and I have gone through in these past five and a half years I want to cry. Tears of joy of course. You have molded me into the person, the mother, I am today. I can still say hands down you were the best baby ever. You are so your mother's son in every way shape and form. And I'm here to tell you that is not a bad thing. Your punctuality, your anal retentiveness, your stubbornness, your self confidence, your wits, dude, those things are going to carry you far in life. I've been waiting probably since you were 2 or 3 for Kindergarten to start. And now that it is actually starting - I am freaking out! How am I going to let you go? You are going to make your own friends. You are going to do things by yourself - all day long. Without me there! How can that be? It's not that I'm scared of any of this, it's that I am bursting with pride at the seams. I am so freaking proud of the kid you are today and I am filled with excitement to find out about the man that you will become. I know the job of a mother is never done - but seriously, I've been working my big butt off for over five years molding you into this most of the time well behaved young man. You have literally been my life since day 1 of your existence and now I'm just hoping that I've given you the best wings that you need to fly. Because next Tuesday, I know you are just going to soar. I seriously love you with my entire being.

Finn - 3 1/2 years old
Finn, every time I look at you, I smile. You are, swear to God, the cutest boy in the entire universe. I don't know what it is about you. Your petiteness. Your huge smile. Your cheeks. I just want to devour you. You are at a very challenging age right now, thinking that you run the show around here. Soon you will realize that is not the case and you will stop pushing my buttons. But when you are in a good mood, my goodness - your imagination is off the charts. You would play with your toys for 10 hours if I let you, or if your brothers didn't disturb you. When I sneak into a room and listen to your imagination running wild, I just want to kiss you because I love it so much. I've never had much of an imagination and I so admire that about you. Your daddy asked you tonight if you could run upstairs and get something for him and you replied : no sorry daddy, I can't. I have to go to Gotham city. I mean come on, dude! You are amazing. You are so sensitive and you definitely wear your heart on your sleeve. I feel like I'm still getting to know you and understand you. But I just love you to pieces. When you aren't being crazy shy, you are such a chatterbox to people and you have no fear to ask anyone to play or to share with you. You go right up to groups of older kids and show them your awesome batman scooter and you are such an entertainer. I can't wait for you to develop new social skills this year in preschool. Finn, I seriously love you with my entire being.

Leo - 1 year, almost 2 months
Leo, you are the most social baby I have ever laid eyes on. No matter how tired, hungry, or crabby you are - if someone makes eye contact with you, you smile. You eat anything and everything we put on your tray and you are finally napping a solid 2 hours a day. You are talking more and more every day. And you are learning quickly to stand your ground with your brothers. Soon you will be able to take out Finn! Watch out, Finn! Leo you have completed this family in so many amazing ways I can't even begin to describe them. I love having three boys. I absolutely love it! I can't wait to watch you grow up Leo. And I can't wait to get into more of a routine this year. I know you'll miss your oldest brother, but you and Finn will become BFF. I love you with my entire being.

We Moved!!! And random bullet points

It finally happened, we are moved! Moving with three kids is utterly exhausting. I'm not sure how we did everything, but it all got done and everyone survived. It's been a crazy few weeks (or summer) to say the least. Out with the old and in with the new:

We loaded this trailer up a million times, but we didn't a U-Haul!

This isn't trashy at all! haha. We were able to put our entire house into the garage of the new place so we didn't have to store our belongings for a night.  (we closed on both houses the same day)

So far we are loving our new 'hood. (about 3 miles of our old 'hood) ha!

Our favorite things right now besides the extra space are: the culdesac, the back yard, and the amazing kids and parents that we've met so far. We took off Jack's training wheels yesterday and he's now a pro. We felt so bad because the kid probably rode his bike like 5 legit times before we moved here. We lived on such a busy street before that didn't have any sidewalks. Hooray for two wheels. It's a great parent moment when your kid learns how to ride a bike, no doubt!

I've spent a lot of my "free time" (if you can even call it that) organizing, slowly decorating, finding where certain things should go, etc etc. Tom hung our canvases in the perfect place, right about our fireplace. And I was on a mission to find something for the mantel.

I am pleased with how it looks!

My next project was to tackle our disgusting chair covers. This table and chair set is now in our formal dining room which won't get used very often, at least not now. But I still didn't want anything that could easily get stained on. I wanted a pattern, but nothing obnoxious or something that I would get sick of (aka chevron). I found the perfect color and pattern and it was 60% off at JoAnn's! SCORE!

And finally we got new furniture for our three season porch. This room is slowly becoming my favorite room in the house. And once fall time comes, it's going to be amazing! If only I had time to read a book or take a nap in this room life would be perfect. I guess I can't have it all! I'll take sipping a nice big glass of red wine with my husband after the kids are sleeping tho, for sure! And it's a good place to have morning coffee. If I could actually have a chance to drink my morning coffee. Kids sure do get in the way of everything. haha. 

Once again all of these pictures were taken from my cell phone. And it's been like a month since I've updated. Ugh. We were watching the YouTube channel on our AppleTV the other afternoon and I was showing the boys videos when they were younger. The freaking loved it! I need to take more videos of Leo and save them. Or blog about them. Poor kid doesn't even have a first year baby book yet! Come on Mom!!! Until next time...