Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Fall is Coming

The weather is certainly turning cooler. We may even have frost tonight. The boys keep looking for snow, but I don't think that's coming soon. We raked some leaves and they jumped in them and hid in them a few times. We jumped on the trampoline and made a fire in the firepit. A fun, fall day. It started off with a tantrum from Maicol, but after some talking that turned around and we ended up with a great day.
Dan's Dad was down recently. The boys had a good time with him. He played Candyland with them (several games) and that certainly is a great way to make their day. Maicol and Juan both like playing games.
We have finally managed to get the house resided and painted. It has been an ongoing job for way too long, but it looks great all painted the same color. Dan is working on finishing the "cat house". Since we put the cats outside to live we made them a little house (like a dog house, only for cats). We're building a new one for this winter. It is sided the same as the house and has a shingle roof. The boys have been wanting to help paint, so we told them they could paint the cat house. They are dying for him to finish it so they can paint. Who knew painting was such a fabulous thing to do? :)
Not much else to report. The Maicol and Mami saga continues, tho less intense then over the summer. School is going pretty well. The boys got another round of immunizations (and the FluMist). We don't want a repeat of last year when they all had the flu at the same time (including Dan).

Playing in the leaves.
Andrew, Maicol and Juan.

He's just too cute!


Andrew is the one with the "sweet tooth". We call him the Candyman.



"Fish Face"

This picture is only to show you the vase of flowers. Juan had earned a dollar for helping Dan with putting insulation under the house and another dollar for a lost tooth. He bought these flowers for me at Kroger with one of his dollars. Dan bought a few too to make a nice bouquet.

Juan, Maicol and Andrew with Grandpa Baker.






Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Updates

I hate to blog without pictures, but I can't seem to get my laptop back (Bethany) where most of my pictures are so words will have to do for now. What's been going on at our house? Let's see...

1. Juan has lost 2 teeth in the last few days. He got a dollar under his pillow for the first one. Last night Dan had him put the second tooth in an envelope and when he got up this morning there was a dollar in the envelope! He was very excited.

2. Juan used one of his dollars to buy me some flowers. Very pretty yellow ones.

3. Andrew can't stop talking. It used to be it was just two of them talking at the same time, now it's all three of them competing for attention. He also has started putting his fingers in his mouth, which makes the talking harder to understand.

4. I think we're seeing some improvements in Maicol and his behavior. He is getting better at either not getting upset at all or getting over it quicker when he is disappointed. It still all revolves around me and my not meeting his expectations or not paying as much attention to him as he would like. He doesn't want to share me with anyone. While that is good, it makes it very difficult when he has siblings, a father, work, etc that need attention too.

5. Mostly school is going well. Yesterday they decided that they would refuse to do any schoolwork. I sent them to sit on their beds. I went about my day doing cleaning and such - took a walk (cause I had to get outside!) and had lunch. After lunch they decided it would be wise to do their work before Dan came home (knowing they would be in trouble for their earlier behavior). I put out their work and went about doing what I had planned for after lunch. They were unhappy that I would not stay with them and help them. (Almost all of the work they had did not really require me to help, except for occasionally explaining a few things.) I reminded them that school is for the morning and if they don't do it then, they will have to wait until I have time to help them because I have other things to do in the afternoon. They aren't allowed to play or watch a video, etc. until the work is done so they want to quickly do it when it gets to be afternoon. Hopefully we won't have to repeat this lesson too many times.

6. We have enjoyed many evenings of roasting hot dogs and marshmallows in our firepit. I just love having fires in the evening - it's especially nice now that it gets dark a little earlier and is a little cooler.

7. We're still trying to convince Andrew that chi-chi is the potty all the time is the way to go. He has good days and bad. I know that eventually he will be back to being potty trained, but we really wish it was yesterday!

8. Jonathan and Kristin are coming over Friday to be entertained by the boys. We are going to go somewhere - nothing exciting, but it will be out, alone, by ourselves, without any children (do you see a theme here?). Can't wait!

9. I have been trying to do some cleaning out of areas in the house. I have been through all of the boys clothes and sorted out what they will need for the winter, what they will be able to wear next summer and what needs to go to someone else. Went through the school material and got it reorganized. Cleaned off the desk area. I love organization - now if I could just keep myself organized and convince the other people in my house to love it too!

I think that's it for today. Have a great rest of the week.

Karen

I think that's it for today.