Not on Vacation anymore....

We came back last Friday and hit the ground running. Noah got his first tooth, Rachel began potty training, and I started a little preschool homeschool with Daniel this week.

Noah is doing well with his first tooth. No major rashes, strange pooping, or exceptional crying. Actually he lately has been sleeping through the night....I almost feel rested in the morning!

As for Rachel, I found her motivation to potty train...the princess dress. She doesn't get to wear her princess dress(s) if she doesn't try sitting on the toilet for me, and so far she has been dry for two days. That was my mom's idea, and it is working very well. I think she likes the feeling of underwear too, and the other two entertain themselves pretty well while I focus on her.

Now on to Daniel, we take a few hours out of the day to work on this preschool homeschooling book called Bright Beginnings. It has laid everything out where we are learning everything from the Bible and manners, to math and science. He is drawing for me, and trying to write out his name. He does loose his attention sometimes, and we just continue on to the next thing. Honestly, I thought it was going to be pretty hard, but I am finding myself really enjoying the times with the kids, and watching them learn things. It is only the first week, but it is a good place to start.

Here we are investigating snow. How cold it it, what color is it, what does it taste like (keep away from the yellow snow), you know all the important things.

Princess Rachel, with her dress on, because she didn't wet her underwear.
Couldn't tell this guy was getting a tooth...
Now I am getting mentally prepared for Kevin to be away next week, and in theory we should hear about this Syracuse program soon....and now onto watching Chugginton on the computer, it's Daniel's new favorite show.

Still on Vacation

Hi out there from Upstate NY. The kids and I flew back here while Kevin is still in FL on work. I think the kids still think he is in Disney World without them, and I have to assure them that he is still in fact working. Here are pictures from the trip so far, and it has been fun. This trip didn't have a long time to plan, so it was strange being in FL again. The kids really enjoyed the characters this time, and we enjoyed the warmer weather.

Here we are waiting for the plane ride. Honestly it is still torture going through the security check points, but all in all, we just take a big breath and try not to get stressed out and keep the kids close.

Noah was happy the entire time. He amazes me because he has gotten the most smiles and attention out of all the kids at this stage. People would go out of their way to say hello to him.
The kids had some pool time in the afternoons. Daniel went down the water slide at least 10 times.
As for the characters, when Rachel saw someone she recognized she ran to them and gave them a big hug. It was the cutest thing. I think Daniel enjoyed the characters just as much, but they were a lot of Rachel's favorites.


My cousin Janelle, her husband Darren, and daughter Hadessa, also came with us this time. It was fun watching all the kids interact and play.

We are recovering from the FL trip in NY, and on Saturday Kevin will meet us halfway between NY and MA to pick us up. Kevin got a chance to meet up with his grandmother while in Florida, so we have covered a lot of ground. We have also eaten out a lot over the last week, so it is time to begin getting back in shape and ready for a few races I signed up for at the end of Feb. I am in one sense happy that January is almost over though, and keeping thing busy has helped me get though the wintertime. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Wednesday Morning

Here's to a mid week blog. It's a new year, I have a new haircut, and Kevin and I have been doing the P90 exercises for the last week or so. It is nice to have a workout partner under the same roof, so far having an accountability is keeping us motivated. I plan on running some races this year, and this is a good way to build up some strength during these cold winter months.

Here are some random pictures from the last week:

Which one is the real baby?

Rachel has been enjoying mothering here three babies. She named them Lila, Jim, and one yet to be named. She puts them to sleep and often carries them around like real babies.
Here are the kids playing in a built up bridge by Daniel. He makes these things often and is enjoying making different train tracks designs lately. I haven't seen two train track set ups alike since Christmas. Maybe that is the engineer coming out in him?

We had a spontaneous "Go Hokies" Day today. Daniel found his VT shirt, so Rachel had to find hers, and then I put Noah in one as well.

The kids have been saying some cute things lately. Yesterday Daniel thanked me for saving his life. What actually happened is that he had the hiccups, and I gave him a spoonful of sugar to help him get rid of it. It worked, and he thought I saved his life. We have been working over the past few nights to get Kevin's application into the AF program that is at Syracuse University, get a new tenant into our home in NH by early next month, and in the back of my mind I am trying to pack for the next two weeks that we will be gone. The kids are all playing in the hallway now, and I should see what they are doing, since it sounds like they are trying to feed Noah something. Have a great rest of your week!

Happy New Year

I am happy it is a new year. I have big plans so far as to getting back in shape, being a little bit more disciplined, having peace and patience...but I guess it is only day one of 2010. And now I need to remember to take it one day at a time and enjoy it, because the time passes so quickly. I was just watching Daniel and Noah interact this week, and feeling in awe that we are at this point, and how fun it is to watch them all together.

We got Noah's 6 month pictures taken, and he did great. Here are some of the photo's.

We usually get the pictures taken at Sears, but their prices just went up, so this is probably the last individual photo shoot. He looks very similar to Daniel at this age, but there are a lot of distinctions too. Well, at least I can't say I didn't try to even the pictures out for the first year, and take them at the times I took the other two. He is on the bottle now, I am ready to have my body back, and we are trying for some more sleep at night.

I seem just to list off what is happening in the next few weeks in my blog, I think it is a way to keep me on track with life, but I want to share more of my thoughts and what is happening in our lives, and not just the activities. We were at dinner the other night and I asked Daniel what he was thinking. He was looking at Kevin and saying he was just thinking how Jesus made Daddy. I was blessed by that comment, because I think there is a lot to teach the kids, but that they are yearning to learn about the things around them too. I am thankful for my kids and husband, for my family and friends, and I wish you all the best God has to offer this year.