The busiest time of year

As I've mentioned before, November is crazy for us.  Mike spends A LOT of time hunting, and then, the holiday season begins. 
We celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday at my mom's house with her family.  There were far less people this year than there usually is, but still, they managed to be just as loud as normal ;)
Thursday was also the day that Mike finally came home!  The boys were so excited to see him.  Kayden and Tyler were napping when he got there, so I had him go wake Kayden up right away, and they were able to have some time together before we woke Tyler up.  It's nice to have him home again. 
Friday morning, Holli, Tammy, Amy and I headed to St. Cloud.  I picked Amy up at about 4:30, and we were at Shopko by 5:00.  We didn't necessarily find any amazing deals, but we all managed to buy a lot.  I'd call it a successful trip, since I did get quite a bit of my Christmas shopping done. 
Saturday, the kids and I spent the day at home while Mike worked, and then we met Mike and my mom in St. Augusta to cut down our Christmas tree.  We've always had a fake tree, but this year I really wanted a real one.  So, we ventured out and cut one down.  (I'll add pictures later). 
Sunday we had Thanksgiving with both sides of Mike's family. 
Today, I am home with the boys, because our daycare is closed.  This afternoon, I need to take ALL of them to the clinic.  Tyler has his 18 month appointment, Tyson is getting his 2nd flu shot, and Kayden and Tyson are having their ears re-checked.  Should be interesting ;)

Thankful Thursday

 A few things I am very thankful for:

~all of my boys(including my baby daddy) =)

~a job

~friends and family who are always there to help

~health

~weekends without plans

~weekends with plans

~a happy baby

~nights with at least 6 straight hours of sleep

~snowdays (for those of you who don't live here, when there's LOTS of snow---I don't have to work!  When the weather's bad enough, they cancel school.  This usually happens once or twice a year).

~other mommies' blogs

~time to blog....
Happy Thanksgiving!

Appointments

My little planner is full.  Next week, appointment on Monday for Tyler's 18 month check up and Tyson's 2nd flu shot.  Tuesday I have an appointment---no, NOT a pre-natal appointment! 

I need to make appointments fairly far ahead of time, since I have to be kind of picky on times and days.  I can't take a lot of time off work, and I only have so many scheduled days off between September and June.  Thank God, my principal is fairly flexible, and lets me leave school a little early if necessary without having to use sick time. 

AND, this is the list that sits on my desk of appointments that need to be made.  Soon. 

Ears: Kayden and Tyson.  (They need to have them re-checked after their ear infections 2 weeks ago. )

Flu shot (or hopefully mist):  Kayden

4 year check up: Kayden

9 month check up:  Tyson

4 year pictures:  Kayden
Dentist:  Kayden

The little things

*funny things a 3 1/2 year old says

*a sleeping baby

*sometimes crazy, long curly hair on a one year old BOY

*tickle-ish babies

*time to read a magazine dated June 2010

*being able to threaten, "Santa is watching!"

*watching 14-year-old Auntie Mazih freak out when she is handed a baby with green poop smeared up his back, leaking through his clothes

*no mountable deer this year :)

*not having to save all of my sick days for a spring maternity leave

*no kids on prescriptions this week
*three more days til Daddy comes home

Monkey George!

We braved the terrible, icy roads this morning, and headed to the Target Center to see Monkey George!  Kayden, Tyler, Amy and I picked up Tammy and Emma, and then we met Holli and Ben for lunch, and the big show.  The kids did well for the most part.  The show was "ok".  Since the show was at 12:30, by the end, they were all getting tired, so Kayden and Tyler had a few melt-downs, Emma fell asleep....
Needless to say, it was a quiet ride home:)

Waiting for the show to start

Checking out the big stadium

And the action begins...

Eyes glued

Less than 1 week away!

BLACK FRIDAY!  I used to think those women who went shopping at 6:00, 5:00, even 4:00 a.m were absolutely crazy.  I still think they're crazy.  They only difference?  I've become one of them.  For the past two years, I have gone shopping the day after Thanksgiving with my two cousins and my brother's girlfriend.  We haven't gone super early, but this year, we're thinking about going earlier than we have in the past.  I have started to at least think about Christmas shopping, but I haven't bought much.  The main reason---I'm afraid I'll buy something, and then find it cheaper on Black Friday.  Dumb, I know.  Here are a few things I'll be looking for this year:

-Movies at Target.  They always have lots for $5 or even $3.  

-MobiGo games.  Kayden is getting a MobiGo from Pat and Leah (his godparents) for Christmas.  I believe the frappis(a word invented by Mike's uncle Baylen) comes with one game, but if I find them cheap, I'd like to get an extra one or two for Kayden's birthday in February.  

-One of these things.  Don't tell my husband.  He'll say it's dumb and pointless, but I want one.  You can fill it with those little balls, and it becomes a ball pit too.  My plan is to put it in the basement, and start sending some of the chaos and mess down there. 

-A DVD player for the in-laws. They still have just a VHS, and we're sick of having to bring a DVD player when we go there in order to be able to entertain the kids with movies.  

My list will grow in the next week, and I plan to head to St. Cloud on Wednesday (my day off) without kiddos to get a jump start on a few things.  

Happy Shopping! 

A day in the life....

People ask me all the time, "How do you do it?", "How do you have time for everything?".  So, I thought I'd just give a little snap-shot of what a normal weekday looks like in our family--

6:15--I get up and start getting ready.  I shower at night for two reasons:  1.  To save time in the morning and 2.  so that I don't have to make lots of noise using the blow dryer, etc.  This way the kids can sleep a little longer.  

6:55--I wake up the boys.  I usually just have to change Tyson's diaper.  I take them all to daycare in their jammies.  Kayden and Tyler always get juice or milk for the car ride, and by 7:05, I'm buckling kids in the car.  Mike is home during this time most days.  If the kids happen to wake up before I'm ready for them, he'll entertain them while I finish getting things ready to go.  

7:10--We need to be leaving the driveway!  

7:25ish--we arrive at daycare.  I get the boys out of the car one-at-a-time.  Kayden is first.  Then Tyler and then Tyson.  I usually don't put shoes on them in the morning, so I have to carry them in when we get there.  

7:30/7:35--I'm on the road, headed to work. 

7:50--I arrive at school.  

around 4:00--I leave school to head to daycare.  I usually pick the boys up between 4:30 and 5:00.  

5:15--We get home.  I get Kayden and Tyler a little snack and send them to play while I make supper.  Tyson often falls asleep on the way  home, so he naps in his carseat while I get supper ready.  

6:00ish--We eat supper.  

*Mike usually gets home anywhere from 4:00 to 9:00.  It changes every day.  

6:30/6:45--Supper is finished, but Tyson needs his cereal/babyfood.  Once this is done, I start the dishes.  If it's bath night, and Mike is home, he puts them in the tub while I do the dishes.  After baths, it's jammies and then they usually play for a while.  

By 8:00 we are picking up toys and then reading books.  After a few stories, Mike usually rocks Tyler, Kayden lays on his pillow on the floor or the couch, and I get things ready for the next day.  (Since I take them to daycare in their pajamas, I need to pack their clothes, etc). 

8:30/8:45--One of us gives Tyson his bedtime bottle, and if all goes well, by 9:00 all three are in bed (this is rare).  

9:00--I shower, and if Tyson is still up, when I'm done, I work on getting him to sleep while Mike showers, etc.  On a good night, I'm in bed by 10:00.  

The end? Oh no.  Tyson usually wakes up sometime around 2:00, and then often before 5:00.  We are working on this =)

There are certain nights and times of the year that are crazier than others.  Mondays I play volleyball and Kayden has preschool, so things tend to look a little different.  Every-other Thursday night, I bar-tend, so Mike is on his own on those nights.  Weekends are crazy.  Basketball season gets a little hairy, since we like to go watch Auntie Mazih play, but she plays varsity basketball, so the games don't even start until 7:00 or 7:30, which makes for LATE bedtimes!  

Needless to say, life is crazy.  This is why I really try to take advantage of my days off, and weekends without plans.  I also REALLY appreciate being able to work part-time in the summer(one of the perks of being a teacher).

An update

A little update on our lives this past week:

Monday was crazy as usual--first day back to work/daycare after the weekend.  Kayden had school, I had volleyball....

Tuesday night we took the boys to get their pictures taken.  We needed Tyler's 18 month pictures, and I wanted an updated picture of all three together.  Tyler decided to make use of one of his newest words: "NO!".  He was not cooperative for the pictures of him alone.  I just told the girl that as long as I got one half-way decent picture, and as long as he wasn't crying, it was fine.  When it came to pictures of all three they all did marvelous!!!!  They turned out awesome!  I was a little worried about how Kayden would do, since his 3-year picture experience was anything but good.  I explained to him that he needed to be the biggest brother, and show Tyler and Tyson how to take really nice pictures!  He did awesome!  

After pictures we headed to Target for formula, and a little pre-Christmas toy browsing.  

Wednesday we were actually at home.  Mike worked late, so I was on my own.  We had supper, baths, books, and bedtime.  

Thursday, again, we were home.  Mike was busy getting ready for Wisconsin hunting and spending a little extra time with the boys before he leaves for almost a week.  I made supper, did dishes, laundry and made cookie bars for Mike to take with him. 

Mike left this morning for deer hunting in Wisconsin.  He won't be back until Thanksgiving , so I'm on my own!

Tonight we'll hang out at home, tomorrow we'll stay home most of the day to catch up on laundry, cleaning and packing for the next week. We plan to head to my parents' house tomorrow later afternoon.  Sunday Kayden and Tyler and I are going to see Curious George Live!  with Tammy and Emma, Holli and Ben, and we're bringing Amy for help =)  Tyson will spend the day with Grammy. 

Single-mom November continues

Mike hunted at his parents' house this weekend.  I decided that the boys and I would just spend the weekend at my mom's. 

Saturday morning we met Leah, Rhonda, Sydney and Karsyn to complete a  "secret project"  the kids are working on. I can't divulge any details here since Grammy reads these posts.  

After the secret project, we headed to the bowling alley for lunch.  We met Amy, Susan, Blake and Grammy there.  While we were there, we commented on how nice it was to be able to let the kids to play in the little arcade area alone.  (Mind you, this is not really an arcade, more of room with two pool tables, and three racing games and we could see them from where we sat, and we were less than 10 people in the whole building at the time.)  We also commented on how nice it was that we could let them go play, and they are still too young to realize that those games need money to really work.   

Saturday night we hung out at Grammy's.  Sunday we woke up to snow still on the ground, so Tyler and Kayden played outside for a while, then we went with Grammy to Amazih's basketball games, and then got back to Albany in time to play outside for a bit, take a nap (Tyler and Tyson), and have supper before heading home.  

We have another busy week ahead.  Tonight Kayden has school, I have volleyball, tomorrow Tyler's 18 month pictures and pictures of all 3 boys together.   Then by Wednesday and Thursday we'll be packing to head to Grammy's again since Mike is leaving Friday morning to hunt in Wisconsin and won't be back until the following Thursday (Thanksgiving day). 

4 more days...

Just four more days of forcing my biggest baby and my littlest baby to take that yucky, yucky medicine!  They're both on the same prescription---and it's yucky! Tyson was on amoxycillan(sp) for an ear infection about a month ago, and he took that like a champ.  Not this stuff though.  I had my mom hold him down while I gave it to him this weekend (it wasn't as torturous as it sounds, "hold him down").  As fast as I could squirt it in, he spit it out, right in Grammy's eye.  Kayden has to be bribed/threatened twice a day to take it.  He hates it, but he's doing really well with it.  Yesterday I told him, if he doesn't just take it, we'll have to go back to the doctor and get different medicine.  His response?  "That's what I wanna do".  (Maybe I should have specified, "yuckier" medicine). 

"Not-Me-Monday"

The things I did not do in the past few weeks...

1.  I did not look like a saw a ghost when one of my students said to me, "Mrs. Frericks, what does ejaculation mean?"

2.  I did not secretly kinda hope that my kids were ill enough for me to take a day off work.  (I needed a mental-health day)

3.  I did not laugh at Tyler as he tried walking through the snow for the first time.  The fact that he was wearing Kayden's old boots that are about 4 sizes too big didn't help the situation much =)

4.  I did not leave my  house in an absolute state of disaster multiple nights because I was just too exhausted to clean up all the toys before I went to bed.  

More pictures I found =)

Tyler and Amazih choosing the perfect pumpkin

Silly Kayden and Mylie

Our attempt at a picture of all three (Tyson was with us, but in the stroller, sleeping)

Tyler and Amazih checking out the horsey

I think it was maybe late September?  Early October?  Anyway--Jessica and I took the kids to Collegeville Orchards.  We took Amazih and Morgan for assistance.  The kids picked out pumpkins, petted the animals, lots of fun =)

Pumpkin Carving

Which one's scarier???

The littlest helper

As I'm uploading pictures to my computer, I realized I never wrote about our pumpkin carving from this year.  There isn't really much to tell, but there are a few pictures to share.  Enjoy!

Mostly treats (not-so-much tricks)

All the kiddos dressed up and ready for trick-or-treating

I took my little football player, my Eeyore and tiny mouse trick-or-treating on Halloween.  Mike was still gone hunting at Fort Ripley so my mom was my assistant for the evening.  Leah, Karsyn, Sydney and Rhonda also joined us.  We just hit up a few houses of people we knew.
We started at my parents' house where we fed the kids their McDonald's that we picked up on the way to Albany,   Once they were all done eating, we started dressing them up, and got them outside to attempt to take a few pictures of them with my parents' HUGE pumpkins.  We got a few.  Nothing spectacular, but you can't expect much when you're trying to take a picture of two 3 1/2 year olds, two 1-year-olds, and an infant.
Once they'd had enough of the picture taking, we started loading them in the car.  By the time we got to our first stop, Tyson was sleeping, and he continued to sleep until we got to the last house  before we planned to go to Eric's (where I was going to feed him).
We got everybody out at Eric's, and snuck in the back door.  They didn't have their porch light on, so there shouldn't have been any trick-or-treaters other than us, but apparently lots of people don't understand that concept.  There were people knocking and ringing the door bell all night.  So, Eric and Amy and the other roommates did their best to hide out and ignore the knocking and ringing, but as we loaded the kids in the car to leave, Eric and Amy actually beat us out of the driveway (they decided it'd be easier to just leave).

Turns out....

Caution:  This post might be a little TMI for those who don't care about Kayden's vomiting, BUT--there's good stuff at the end, so keep reading=)

Turns out, Kayden's vomiting incident at daycare yesterday was probably MY fault =)  He threw up just once.  I did have my dad go and pick him up from daycare though, because I figured he would probably rather be around less kiddos while he tried to recover from his rough morning.  Anywho--I have come to the conclusion that the vomiting was MY fault, because I gave him his dreadful medicine in the morning before we left the house.  I sorta forgot that he is supposed to take it with food.  So, today, I sent it to daycare, and I'll leave Sharon with the challenge of getting him to take it =)

Now, a few side notes:

Tyler is crazy.  This time change has really screwed up his sleeping habits.  I think every day this week, he's been awake by 5:15.  This morning he was yelling, "Mommy!!!".  When that didn't work he switched to, "Daddy!", and when he still got no help, he started yelling, "Papa!!!!".  Now, if only Papa could have been around to deal with him!

Tyler has also really been working on talking.  He is getting better and better at telling us what he needs or wants.  He has a pretty clear , "juice", and if you don't give it to him, he has a pretty clear, "NOOOOO!".  He is also working on his brothers' names.  Kayden is, "Day-in" and Tyson is just, "I".  It's pretty cute, because he tries to fight with Tyson the way he fights with Kayden.  He's always saying, "No, I!!!  Mine!"   

I guess I kinda needed a day off anyway....

Tyler fought a fever all day on Sunday.  By Monday morning, he seemed ok, so I sent him to daycare, and told her to call me if she thought he seemed sick.  I warned that they'd had a LONG weekend, and they would be tired.  I texted Sharon (our daycare provider) later in the morning, and asked how Tyler was doing.  Her reply was, "Tyler seems fine.  Kayden's temp is 101.2".  What the ??????   Ugh.  So, she had Kayden take a nap, and I picked him up at our normal time.  We got home, and he was pretty sluggish.  Laying around on the couch.  We talked about skipping pre-school, but in his mind, that was NOT an option!  So, as soon as Mike got home, off to school we went.  He seemed fine at school.  He even got to stay and watch me play volleyball.  

We got home, put him to bed, and I checked his temp in the morning.  It was 100.3.   So, I decided I'd keep all the boys home, and take all three of them to the walk-in clinic that morning, and as long as everything was ok, I'd go to work after lunch.  

I was a little nervous about taking them all to the doctor, by myself.  They did amazingly well!  I loaded Tyler and Tyson in the double stroller, and explained to Kayden that he needed to be a big boy and be my helper for the day.  Thank God, Tyson slept through everything until the very end of the appointment when the doctor was ready to check his ears.   Verdict:  Kayden has an ear infection and (as he says) "a pink eye".  Tyson has an ear infection, and Tyler just had a virus, and is still trying to recover.  

Next stop, Target.  We shopped around a bit to give the pharmacist time to fill the prescriptions.  Kayden chose a $3.00 toy, and we picked up our prescriptions and were on our way home by noon.  Tyler fell asleep on the way home, and took a 2 1/2 hour nap, Kayden played with his new toy while he watched a movie, and Tyson had a bottle and took one of his longest naps to date!  All of this gave me some time to catch up on laundry from the weekend, dishes, etc. 

This morning, I took the kids to daycare, just like any other day.  Kayden had a strange meltdown as I dropped them off, but I figured he was just tired and a little cranky.  Sharon distracted him while I snuck out the door.  

My latest text from Sharon, "Kayden threw up.  He seems ok now.  That explains his behavior this morning.  I'm making him soup".  

Ugh!

The Annual Hunt

Kayden concentrating on his masterpiece

The final product

                                               

Frost a little, eat a little...

Tyler's cookie never saw the "finished product" tray

Working hard

This past weekend was opening weekend for deer hunting.  Every year, we spend the weekend at Mike's parents' house.  Before we had kids it was a weekend of girls shopping, laying around, catching up on sleep, playing cards....oh, the memories. 

NOW, it's a weekend of crabby kids, waking up early---too early, time change, eating way to much, cutting up and packaging deer....it has become work!  None-the-less, it is bonding time =)  The kids do love to spend the time together, and it's all good and grand until Sunday afternoon.  This is when they are sick of each other.  They're fighting.  They're crying.  They're exhausted.  We've run out of creative ways to entertain them, and we're ready to pass them onto their daddies!!!!!

This year, we did think ahead a little bit.  We brought ingredients and frosting to have the kids make, cut out, and decorate cookies.  This was splendid.  They loved it.  They made a mess.  They took a nap.  Mission accomplished.  

All day on Sunday, Tyler had a fever.  His temp was between 100 and 103 all day.  We gave him lots of Tylenol.  I thought by Sunday night he was better.  More on that in my next post....

P.S.  The actual hunting part was successful.  Mike shot a small 8-pointer and another small buck and 3 does shot.  Isn't that enough you say?  I sure would think so.  BUT, my lovely husband will hunt again this weekend, the following weekend in Wisconsin, and he'll bow-hunt until the end of December.  Oh joy....

I just HATE it!

This weekend, I am finally going to pick up Tyson's crib.  Thanks to my wonderful friend/co-worker Gail, I won't have to buy one.  She is letting me borrow hers.  I have had the cutest set of bedding sitting in the boys' closet for months, and I'm finally going to get that darn crib, set it up, and adorn it with that cute bumper and sheet and blanket.  

Tyson has been sleeping in the pack-n-play in the toyroom.  He's really starting to roll around at night, so the pack-n-play has just become too small to be his regular bed.  We really don't have much choice other than to keep him in the toyroom for now, but at least he'll have his own bed to sleep in. 

So, here's the thing I'm dreading about having two cribs in my house:  changing the sheets.  I absolutely hate, despise, cannot stand, changing crib sheets.  It's a pain to get the mattress out, and even more of a pain to get it back in.  I just hate it.  I don't know why.  It takes about 3 minutes, but I just whine and complain the whole time.  I put it off for as long as I can.  I just hate it.  

There.  I've vented.  I'll post pictures next week of how cute it looks.  And I'll probably complain a little more about how not-fun it was to get it ready. 

I'm workin' on it!

The Halloween post is coming. I've been having some trouble with my camera connecting to my computer to download pictures, and I kinda feel like a Halloween post without pictures is pointless=)

A daddy-less weekend

Mike left Friday morning to go bow-hunting at Fort Ripley.  Friday night Amy and I took the kids and met Mylie and Jessica and Kari and Ben at the "Pumpkin Patch Carnival" at the elementary school in Albany.  They had lots of Halloween-related activities for the kids.  We started with eating, there was toy BINGO, but we decided to skip that (our kids would have never sat still long enough).  Then, we headed to the gym where they had lots of little activities set up.  Everything from art projects to a bounce house to face painting.  The kids had lots of fun and everyone cooperated. 

After we left the school, I took the boys to my parents' to get them into their pajamas and feed Tyson.   We were there just long enough for Tyler to dump out the dog water all over the floor, spread the newspapers all over the living room, and throw the dog's toy about 50 times causing him to bark and go crazy.  

By about 8:00 we were on the road, heading home. Tyler fell asleep on the way home, and I was able to put him right in his crib when we got home.  Kayden had just fallen asleep a few minutes before we pulled in the driveway.  So, I laid him on the couch (where he falls asleep every night) and within just a few minutes he was out.  Tyson, on the other hand was ready to go!  He had taken a short nap between the school and my parents' house and he was now, wide awake.  So, I put him in his bouncy seat and set him in the bathroom while I showered (I knew I wasn't going to have time to shower in the morning since I was on my own).  Even after that it took another bottle and lots of snuggles before he finally fell asleep at about 10:00.  

P.S.  I spoke too soon on the sleeping situation.  He's sleeping has been worse than ever (up 3 times a night).  I'll keep you posted on that.  

Saturday morning, we had breakfast, and the boys played while I did some laundry, and cleaned up a little while we waited for Leah and the girls to come over.  I must have heard at least twenty time, "Mommy, when's Sydney coming????"  Finally at lunchtime the girls were there, and the kids spent the afternoon playing and taking their naps.  

 Later in the afternoon, Amazih and Morgan came over to watch the kids while Leah, Rhonda, Amy and I went out to dinner at Fuji Steakhouse.  

By the time we got back, the kids were in their jammies, and we just had to work on getting them to bed.  All went well, and before 11:00, Leah and I were in bed too.  

It's always fun to have time for the kids to play, with no real agenda.  God knows, they'll get plenty of time together in the next two weekends with deer hunting coming up.  We always spend the first two weekends of deer hunting at Mike's parents house.  All goes well until Sunday afternoon usually.  That's when they are sick of each other, and tired and cranky and fighting.....we'll see.