My Kids Names

Hello out there!

If you haven't noticed, I haven't blogged much lately, or at all in the last couple weeks.  The longer I took to get back into blogging, the more I felt like I needed to do some massive recap or something which made me want to write even less.  So I'm going to skip any kind of massive recap and just pick myself up off my ignored blog's floor and get writing!  It won't be every day but hopefully it will be more often than... never.  Hopefully.

A while back I had mentioned that I was thinking about using the kids' real names, and after hearing lots of helpful input, and thinking about it a bunch, and running it by the hubs, I've decided to go ahead and introduce you to my kiddos!  I will not be using our last name though.  For those of you who don't know my kids' real names, here they are:

Mikayla

Isabelle (Izzy)

And this is Connor

Sorry! Wrong picture!

This is Connor

Aren't they cute!?  :o)

Video Game Obsessed

My husband likes to brag about beating video games since he was the age of, well, nearly a fetus.  It is his favorite recreational activity... well, one of them.  Some guys play golf, some guys play music, some guys camp, Spencer plays video games.

When we were dating we'd often hang out either playing video games together or I would watch him play (some are indeed fun to watch for a while, I genuinely enjoyed it back then).

Fast forward to these last several weeks and I'm thinking...

Why did I agree to have three children with an obsessive enthusiastic gamer!?


My kids, particularly my younger two, are obsessed with video games!!



Babydoll, who is barely five year olds is kicking butt on Zelda Twilight Princess on the wii.  Also most recently she has become obsessed with watching Spencer play the new Batman game.  He's not even all the way in the door after work and she asks, "Can we play Batman now!?"   They actually beat the game yesterday, but now they are playing it again on the harder level.  That's right, she sat through the entire game with him!




Sweet Pea, who is nine years old, has had a long-lasting love affair with Viva Pinata.  She wakes up in the morning and heads down to the basement to play, and plays again after her homework is done in the afternoon.  Not as often really as her younger brother and sister, but she is currently on another viva pinata kick.

Notice how the nine-year-old is playing a game for ages 3+, and the five-year-old is playing a game intended for ages 12+.  

And they aren't the only ones.  The most video game crazed child in my life is currently Little Man.  I have to force him to stop and play with real toys and eat meals or he would just keep on playing his computer games.

He's been playing two games, but his current favorite is a Tonka Construction game.

In this game he is using construction equipment to build skyscrapers, castles, parks, clean up a ski resort after a blizzard or avalanche or something, and something involving a quarry that I've never caught the beginning of to know what it's about.

He and I have both been learning about excavators, front loaders, graders, and other equipment.  I particularly enjoy hearing him say, "front loader" and "scoop"... pretty damn cute!

He's a wiz with those computer games, knowing how to navigate all over several of them.

What does it all mean?  When I want some peace and quiet, they can play their games and I can catch my breath.  When I want to spend time doing other things with them.... I'm in trouble.

Yes they have limits, and yes they must wait to play until after school/preschool activities are completed.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from us!

Once again, couldn't get a decent picture of Little Man, but my mom did so maybe she'll send it to me ;)

 Sweet Pea was a "cute witch", Babydoll was Rapunzel, and Little Man managed to agree to wear a pirate vest... but wouldn't pose for me.

I really have no idea why we don't get trick or treaters

 Little Man made it about an hour before Spence took him home for a pack of M&Ms and bedtime.  The girls made it another half hour or so before they told me they wanted to go home because their bags were too heavy!  I don't remember that EVER being a reasonable excuse to want to go home!  I remember my mom trudging through a few feet of snow with me and my sister during a huge blizzard 20 years ago! I also remember coming home from several hours of trick or treating, in the freezing cold, with friends feeling like a popcycle! I don't EVER remember coming home because my bag was "too heavy".  I was pretty sure I had birthed them both until tonight.

Little Man told everyone "thank you" after getting his candy, and only a few times asked for more :o).  One girl handing out candy said, "yep!" after he thanked her, and he kind of looked at her like why didn't you say your welcome? and told her very cheerfully, "thank you, welcome!"

It's Funny Now, but at the time it was NOT

I've talked before about how much trouble we have getting a good picture of our kids together for the annual Christmas card, yet I still try to get that picture!  I've given up on trying to get a "perfect" shot of them together, and will settle for another compilation if I need to, but I was hoping today to get a "good" picture of them all together.

It was a beautiful fall day, with lots of leaves, and enough clean kids clothes to put together a fall color scheme for some outdoor shots.

Tell me... which of these gems screams "Merry Christmas" to you?

Fall is FUN

Gymnastics Craze

Babydoll has now had 6 gymnastics classes.  Whether it's a phase, or a lasting passion, she's having a blast!  Ever since she started gymnastics she has been practicing constantly at home.  Every day she watches youtube videos of gymnasts her age doing tricks and routines at their gymnastics schools or on their home gym equipment, and then runs off to try to do it here.  The only problem is that there is only so much she can practice in the living room at this point.

She spent the whole day searching the house and yard for things she can use for equipment.  Stacking nap mats, propping pillows and blankets under them to make a wedge to practice her forward and backward rolls, using the board that edges the wood floor as a balance beam, and doing a thing on the couch where she runs at it, puts her hands on the cushion, and then kicks her legs up.  She also practices her tuck jump and straddle jump pretty regularly.

She wants a gymnastics bar pretty badly.  She wants to be able to practice all the flips and things she sees the more advanced kids at her gym, and the kids on the youtube videos, doing.




Problem is, they are really expensive.  Even to buy used.  I've looked up a couple how-to's on building one but neither of us know our way around a wood or metal shop, and I'd really hate for my daughter to fall on her head because the cross bar wasn't secure and fell off or something.

I found a balance beam (the short kind for practicing) on craigslist but the ones that weren't super expensive looked pretty crappy.  And for now the board in the living room, though it's a tiny bit too narrow, works fine.

So unless I can find a practice bar somewhere she will need to content herself with weekly gymnastics classes.  And we will continue to support her love of the sport by propping up cushions, messing up the couch, spotting her when she needs it.

We're just so glad that after watching her sister do activities and sports for years, she has something she loves to do, and is pretty dang good at!

Our Little Light at the End of a Nasty Tunnel

My baby girl will turn five years old on the 24th.  It is really hard to fathom how it can feel like she was just born yesterday, and at the same time it's kind of hard to remember my life without her here!  A year and a half ago I shared the story of how hard we fought, and how many tears we shed, to get her here.  I decided to put it on this blog because I wanted anyone that has gone through what we did, to see that not only are they not alone, but that at the end of that dark and nasty tunnel, there can be a pretty spectacular light!

So in honor of our little girl's upcoming birthday, I thought I'd link you to the beginning of her story. Click Here.

Renaissance Festival

A little over a week ago we went to the Renaissance Festival like we do every year.  The girls have always dressed up like princesses or fairies, or fairy princesses.  We didn't have anything to dress LM in so he went as a futuristic boy.

As soon as we got there the children's theater guy asked the girls if they wanted to be in the Pied Piper play that was about to start in a few minutes.  Sweet Pea did this same play 2 years ago and played one of the towns children, this time she played a mouse.

Direct quote from Babydoll as soon as she got up there, "I'm a children!"

She was the only one of the "children" who put on the hat. They didn't know what they were missing!

BD rode a llama

LM and I rode an elephant.  I was so glad he got to sit right up front, it's the only way to really get to feel the  elephant's skin.  He really liked petting it's ear!

Riding the butterflies

The giant horse and pirate ship swings were one of the few things that excited SP this year.  She was bored for some reason.

Also her and BD were arguing a lot.

Also LM was whining a lot and having tantrums about everything.  What had started out as a fun family day was quickly becoming stressful and not fun!

At one moment of hightened stress, we were also trying to traverse through a particularly crowded area with a stroller filled with angry two-year-old and all our crap.  Spence was getting mucho frustrated.

Come on hun, smile!!

 I'm glad we went, but I think we're ready for a Ren Fest trip without the kids for once!

It was exhausting!