It snowed. Again. We had a snow day. Again. Summer is getting shorter and shorter. We are now in school until June 3. Snow is predicted again next week. Spring, where are you??? I changed our header picture to a picture I took last spring to remind me that winter will end.
On a brighter note, we had an okay day. I took the kids to Joseph Beth to spend their Valentine money. They each had fun picking out a book. Then we went to my sister's house to play and have lunch. During the hour and a half we were there, Silas had a complete melt down, went to time out and had to get a spanking (that hasn't happened in a while), Luke punched Silas for no apparent reason and went to time out, Wilson went to time out for something and Caroline got her finger smashed in a folding chair. We also fed all the kids and kept Ty from going down the steps. Alyssa, did we even have a conversation??? I think we said, "hi" and "bye" to each other! No wonder it seems like we never get a chance to catch up!
I also made a yummy dinner tonight, Red Chili Chicken and Rice with Black Beans! It was spicier than I thought it would be so we ended up grilling some chicken breasts for the kids, but Jason and I loved it! It's from one of my favorite cooking blogs, Annie's Eats.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Sunshine!
Yeah! The sun came out today! It was in the 60's today and it was wonderful to be able to get outside after a long winter. You can still see the snow melting on the ground.
Silas finally got to ride his Mini Glider bike he got for Christmas. He really likes it. Being outside was good for him (and all of us!). He was able to run, play and get his energy out.
Caroline riding around the court. She has outgrown her bike helmet since last year, we'll have to get her a new one!
Madelyn taking a break from bike riding. Nothing like making snowballs in short sleeves!
Caroline and Silas ready to take Sadie for a walk around the block
Sadie was as happy about the warm weather as we were.
Thank you for a beautiful day, Lord. We all needed it! We grilled out chicken and vegetables for dinner. It was a great Sunday with lots of family time.
Friday, February 19, 2010
This Week's Highlights
- Silas was so good during last week and this weeks gymnastics class.
- I registered Caroline for Kindergarten this week.
- We've had LOTS of snow. About 5 inches - that is a lot here. School was closed 2 days last week and two days this week. It's supposed to snow again next week - boo!
- I had coffee with a friend who's daughter has microtia last week. We are beginning to take steps moving towards ear reconstruction for Silas! An entire post to come about that after we finish making our initial contacts. We are hoping we can maybe do the first ear this summer!
- Our cleaning lady quit. She found a full-time job and we are very happy for her. We are sad though, because she was very trustworthy and thorough. With working 30 hours a week and everything else I do it's hard to find time to clean. Hopefully we can find a new one soon.
- I took Madelyn to a class for kids at church about becoming a Christian. We have had several really good conversations lately about God. She is asking very thoughtful questions.
- We've been having fun watching the Olympics. I DVR the figure skating and the girls have had fun watching it. Their favorite part is the girl's outfits.
- We're looking forward to a fun weekend. Madelyn has a school carnival, the girls are going to a birthday party, we are having friends over tomorrow night and Madelyn has a piano recital on Sunday.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Snowdays/Life
Tuesday and Wednesday of this week the kids were out of school due to snow. I am SO ready for Spring!!! Tuesday we had a nice day. Caroline had her friend Kaia over and all the girls played together. Silas helped me do lots of laundry, I made Pioneer Woman's Restaurant Style Salsa and quesadillas for dinner. Yummy! I shoveled the driveway and sidewalks and Madelyn came out and made her first snowman.
Wednesday I had to work and my mom came over to watch the kids. They made Valentine cookies and had fun playing. Thankfully today the roads are better and the kids were able to go back to school. Missed days = less summer break. It was very nice to be able to sleep in the last couple mornings though.
Silas has cycled back to a better place over the last few days. It's a cycle. We have a couple great days, a couple testing days, a couple horrible days, a couple okay days and then back to good days. Today is gymnastics day. Last Thursday was a very hard day. I took him out of class since he was not listening and our entire day was a disaster. I reminded him this morning about last week. Hopefully he will be able to link his behavior last week with me pulling him from class. I'm praying gymnastics goes better this week and we do not have a repeat of last Thursday.
I am finally reading "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. I'm sure many of you have read it, but if you have not, read it now! I'm on day 12 and it has been such a blessing. I have always known God had a plan and purpose for putting Silas in our lives. I have seen all the trials as opportunities for God to change me, to mold me into the person he planned me to be. This book has reminded me of all of these things and more. Life is a test and my primary goal in life should be to bring glory to God in all things. Living for Jesus often means choosing the difficult path over the easy one. Even though life is often difficult, I am reminded that God makes no mistakes. He allows trials to come and we can chose to glorify him through them and allow them to change us, or we can complain and be selfish. Now, I am not perfect, but my goal is to embrace these trials and keep my mind focused on God, not myself. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the book. It has really helped me refocus my view of life and my purpose here.
Tomorrow all the kids have Valentine parties. Silas and Caroline's are during the school day and parents are not invited. I will be at work during Madelyn's but Jason is able to leave work early to go to her party. The kids are looking forward to sharing their Valentine cards with their friends. Have a great Thursday everyone!
Wednesday I had to work and my mom came over to watch the kids. They made Valentine cookies and had fun playing. Thankfully today the roads are better and the kids were able to go back to school. Missed days = less summer break. It was very nice to be able to sleep in the last couple mornings though.
Silas has cycled back to a better place over the last few days. It's a cycle. We have a couple great days, a couple testing days, a couple horrible days, a couple okay days and then back to good days. Today is gymnastics day. Last Thursday was a very hard day. I took him out of class since he was not listening and our entire day was a disaster. I reminded him this morning about last week. Hopefully he will be able to link his behavior last week with me pulling him from class. I'm praying gymnastics goes better this week and we do not have a repeat of last Thursday.
I am finally reading "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. I'm sure many of you have read it, but if you have not, read it now! I'm on day 12 and it has been such a blessing. I have always known God had a plan and purpose for putting Silas in our lives. I have seen all the trials as opportunities for God to change me, to mold me into the person he planned me to be. This book has reminded me of all of these things and more. Life is a test and my primary goal in life should be to bring glory to God in all things. Living for Jesus often means choosing the difficult path over the easy one. Even though life is often difficult, I am reminded that God makes no mistakes. He allows trials to come and we can chose to glorify him through them and allow them to change us, or we can complain and be selfish. Now, I am not perfect, but my goal is to embrace these trials and keep my mind focused on God, not myself. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the book. It has really helped me refocus my view of life and my purpose here.
Tomorrow all the kids have Valentine parties. Silas and Caroline's are during the school day and parents are not invited. I will be at work during Madelyn's but Jason is able to leave work early to go to her party. The kids are looking forward to sharing their Valentine cards with their friends. Have a great Thursday everyone!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
A Nice Saturday
Today has been a good day and much needed after the week we had. Silas has neither been really good or really bad, and we have just had a low key day. I took the kids to the store this morning to pick out their Valentines for their class parties. Madelyn chose puppies and kitty's, Caroline picked Hannah Montana, and Silas wanted Spiderman.
This afternoon we signed and put together their cards and Madelyn made her card box to take to school on Friday. I took a much needed nap and Jason just left to pick up pizza for dinner. Neither of us felt like cooking tonight!
Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post and made me remember I am not alone! Sometimes it feels like we are fighting a never ending battle, but I just have to remember the progress we have made.
This afternoon we signed and put together their cards and Madelyn made her card box to take to school on Friday. I took a much needed nap and Jason just left to pick up pizza for dinner. Neither of us felt like cooking tonight!
Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post and made me remember I am not alone! Sometimes it feels like we are fighting a never ending battle, but I just have to remember the progress we have made.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
My Day
6:40 - wake up Madelyn for school
6:45 - go into Silas' room where he is jumping on his bed yelling and singing. I lean down for a good morning hug which he ignores. Pick out his clothes for him which very surprisingly was not a battle this morning and take him to potty. He rushes to take off his PJ's before I can and then goes potty nicely without a battle. Battles me over putting on his pull up because he refuses to be fully potty trained (control issue). He does get dressed nicely this morning which was a blessing!
7:00 - Breakfast. Madelyn is eating a muffin. Silas tells me he wants a muffin, then changes to cereal, then decides he wants a poptart. He does not get a choice because I have learned not to give him one. I fix him cheerios with blueberries on top. He starts screaming because he wanted a muffin. I take him to time out and tell him he can eat when he calms down.
7:05 - The screaming has ended and I tell him he can come in for breakfast. He sits in his seat staring at his cheerios which are getting soggier by the second.
7:08 - I tell Silas he better start eating or he will be hungry when he leaves for school. He decides the cereal looks good and eats.
7:20 - I leave to take Madelyn to school, Silas goes up with Jason while he gets ready for work.
8:00 - Silas and Jason leave for school/work. Silas is in a good mood!
Fast forward to 11:30 when I pick up Silas from school.
11:30 - Drive into the school parking lot and Silas is playing outside. He smiles when he sees the van drive by and then runs the other way. His teacher tells me he had a really good day! I get him and buckle him in. We pull out of the parking lot and he starts loudly talking over something Caroline is telling me. This continues most of the 20 minute drive home. He is either yelling, crying or talking loudly.
11:50 - Pull in the driveway and Silas is mad Daddy is not home from work. We have already talked several times about how daddy is still at work. I give Silas a choice of leftover sloppy joes or a pb&j for lunch. He chooses sloppy joes.
12:00 - Make lunch. Silas is mad because he does not have french fries on his plate (we had fries with our sloppy joes last night). He's mad because he has apples and blueberries on his plate, not strawberries. He puts blueberries in his water while I am not looking. He starts to scream and I take him to time out. Caroline and I start eating our lunch.
12:05 - He quiets down and comes back in to eat. He's still mad and I tell him to start eating or he will be hungry when we leave for gymnastics in 10 minutes.
12:20 - We head out for gymnastics, one of his favorite things! He and Caroline take at the same time.
12:30 - Gymnastics starts and Silas is having trouble listening to his teacher. All the little boys come out of the foam pit and are stretching. Silas is in the middle of the foam pit ignoring his teachers multiple requests to join the class. I'm fed up and walk down to the gym to get him. As I am walking to the foam pit his teacher is still asking him to come and is now counting to three. I am embarrassed. I pick up Silas and take him out in the hall (insert screams from Silas now). In the hall he throws himself on the ground and flails around. I explain he needs to listen or will not be able to do his class. He regains (semi)control and we walk back in. I sit him down to stretch and he immediately starts flailing again. I'm livid and grab him and walk out the gym, through the lobby, up the stairs and out to the observation deck to grab my stuff while he is screaming loudly. There are 3 classes going on and lots of kids and parents. A mom says, "Oh Silas, are you not doing class today?" I try to explain he was having trouble listening and I took him out, she gives me the "why can't you control your child?" look.
12:45 - Grab my stuff, ask another mom to keep an eye on Caroline in her class and go to the car. Silas is screaming VERY loudly now. I buckle him in and go to my seat and read a magazine.
1:20 - Go in to pick up Caroline, Silas starts screaming and crying again because I think he is realizing he missed his class. I try to explain that maybe next week he will listen better.
2:00 - Nap time. Silas fights with me about going potty. He picks out a book, but is screaming and will not listen to it. I give up reading and tuck him in. He is very mad because I didn't finish the book. I try to lay down with him for a minute to calm him down. It doesn't work. It makes him more mad. I leave and tuck him in.
2:25 - I hear screaming from upstairs. I go in and he is sitting in bed screaming. He wants his book. I tell him he can have it after he rests. I tuck him back in.
2:45 - I'm typing this. I'm mentally worn out, emotionally worn out and sad that I missed seeing Caroline's gymnastics. She has been waiting all week to show me something new she learned last week while I was in Cinci at the doctor with Silas. She is such an understanding little girl, but I saw the disappointment in her face when I told her I didn't get to watch her this week. She told me she kept looking for me and couldn't find me in the observation deck watching her.
2:50 - Madelyn is home from school. Caroline told me Silas is up jumping on his bed. Off to see what is going on...
3:00 - God is merciful! Silas is sleeping.
Will it ever get any easier?
6:45 - go into Silas' room where he is jumping on his bed yelling and singing. I lean down for a good morning hug which he ignores. Pick out his clothes for him which very surprisingly was not a battle this morning and take him to potty. He rushes to take off his PJ's before I can and then goes potty nicely without a battle. Battles me over putting on his pull up because he refuses to be fully potty trained (control issue). He does get dressed nicely this morning which was a blessing!
7:00 - Breakfast. Madelyn is eating a muffin. Silas tells me he wants a muffin, then changes to cereal, then decides he wants a poptart. He does not get a choice because I have learned not to give him one. I fix him cheerios with blueberries on top. He starts screaming because he wanted a muffin. I take him to time out and tell him he can eat when he calms down.
7:05 - The screaming has ended and I tell him he can come in for breakfast. He sits in his seat staring at his cheerios which are getting soggier by the second.
7:08 - I tell Silas he better start eating or he will be hungry when he leaves for school. He decides the cereal looks good and eats.
7:20 - I leave to take Madelyn to school, Silas goes up with Jason while he gets ready for work.
8:00 - Silas and Jason leave for school/work. Silas is in a good mood!
Fast forward to 11:30 when I pick up Silas from school.
11:30 - Drive into the school parking lot and Silas is playing outside. He smiles when he sees the van drive by and then runs the other way. His teacher tells me he had a really good day! I get him and buckle him in. We pull out of the parking lot and he starts loudly talking over something Caroline is telling me. This continues most of the 20 minute drive home. He is either yelling, crying or talking loudly.
11:50 - Pull in the driveway and Silas is mad Daddy is not home from work. We have already talked several times about how daddy is still at work. I give Silas a choice of leftover sloppy joes or a pb&j for lunch. He chooses sloppy joes.
12:00 - Make lunch. Silas is mad because he does not have french fries on his plate (we had fries with our sloppy joes last night). He's mad because he has apples and blueberries on his plate, not strawberries. He puts blueberries in his water while I am not looking. He starts to scream and I take him to time out. Caroline and I start eating our lunch.
12:05 - He quiets down and comes back in to eat. He's still mad and I tell him to start eating or he will be hungry when we leave for gymnastics in 10 minutes.
12:20 - We head out for gymnastics, one of his favorite things! He and Caroline take at the same time.
12:30 - Gymnastics starts and Silas is having trouble listening to his teacher. All the little boys come out of the foam pit and are stretching. Silas is in the middle of the foam pit ignoring his teachers multiple requests to join the class. I'm fed up and walk down to the gym to get him. As I am walking to the foam pit his teacher is still asking him to come and is now counting to three. I am embarrassed. I pick up Silas and take him out in the hall (insert screams from Silas now). In the hall he throws himself on the ground and flails around. I explain he needs to listen or will not be able to do his class. He regains (semi)control and we walk back in. I sit him down to stretch and he immediately starts flailing again. I'm livid and grab him and walk out the gym, through the lobby, up the stairs and out to the observation deck to grab my stuff while he is screaming loudly. There are 3 classes going on and lots of kids and parents. A mom says, "Oh Silas, are you not doing class today?" I try to explain he was having trouble listening and I took him out, she gives me the "why can't you control your child?" look.
12:45 - Grab my stuff, ask another mom to keep an eye on Caroline in her class and go to the car. Silas is screaming VERY loudly now. I buckle him in and go to my seat and read a magazine.
1:20 - Go in to pick up Caroline, Silas starts screaming and crying again because I think he is realizing he missed his class. I try to explain that maybe next week he will listen better.
2:00 - Nap time. Silas fights with me about going potty. He picks out a book, but is screaming and will not listen to it. I give up reading and tuck him in. He is very mad because I didn't finish the book. I try to lay down with him for a minute to calm him down. It doesn't work. It makes him more mad. I leave and tuck him in.
2:25 - I hear screaming from upstairs. I go in and he is sitting in bed screaming. He wants his book. I tell him he can have it after he rests. I tuck him back in.
2:45 - I'm typing this. I'm mentally worn out, emotionally worn out and sad that I missed seeing Caroline's gymnastics. She has been waiting all week to show me something new she learned last week while I was in Cinci at the doctor with Silas. She is such an understanding little girl, but I saw the disappointment in her face when I told her I didn't get to watch her this week. She told me she kept looking for me and couldn't find me in the observation deck watching her.
2:50 - Madelyn is home from school. Caroline told me Silas is up jumping on his bed. Off to see what is going on...
3:00 - God is merciful! Silas is sleeping.
Will it ever get any easier?
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
33
Today is my birthday. We celebrated with my family on Sunday night and my parents made us a wonderful dinner. Grilled tilapia and veggies in foil packets, coleslaw and rolls. My mom made my favorite rum cake for dessert.
Yesterday when I got to work, they had made me a happy b-day sign on my computer and had cupcakes for me. So thoughtful!
Today, I was home and had a nice day. Caroline and I did about 6 loads of laundry, I took Silas to attachment therapy, took Madelyn to ballet and we had a nice dinner at home. Madelyn sang me happy birthday at least 3 times today, a couple times yesterday and about 5 times on Sunday!
It's also fun to be on Facebook for your birthday, I have so many lovely b-day messages from so many friends.
Friday night Jason and I are going out to celebrate. It will be great to have a night out with my hubby. I'm looking forward to what this year will bring!
Yesterday when I got to work, they had made me a happy b-day sign on my computer and had cupcakes for me. So thoughtful!
Today, I was home and had a nice day. Caroline and I did about 6 loads of laundry, I took Silas to attachment therapy, took Madelyn to ballet and we had a nice dinner at home. Madelyn sang me happy birthday at least 3 times today, a couple times yesterday and about 5 times on Sunday!
It's also fun to be on Facebook for your birthday, I have so many lovely b-day messages from so many friends.
Friday night Jason and I are going out to celebrate. It will be great to have a night out with my hubby. I'm looking forward to what this year will bring!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
