On the First Visit of Christmas...

On December 23rd Jason's dad Robert and his wife Pam came up with Auntie Leah to give the kids their Christmas gifts. The kids were pretty excited by the big, wrapped presents, and even Michael got the technique for opening gifts down without a hitch! There were super heroes, little people (the brand) and fairies galore! No mess marker books a new toy car garage, and even an accidental doubled gift to Philamena that will come into play in a couple of blog entries! The kids had a great time and just before dinner as my brother Zack was scooting in for his visit and Robert, Pam, and Leah were scooting out at the end of theirs, I asked Zack to take a few pictures. Take a few pictures he did! He took a random series in close succession, no one was ever exactly ready, but by odds alone we were bound to get a few good ones! the top picks are what follows! :)

Andrew Starts Potty Training!!!-Third Times A Charm!!!

On December 11th I explained to Andrew that I don't have any more babies, that I only have big kids, and that I really don't want anymore babies because you can do so. many. MORE. things with big kids than little. I told him about train trips and other adventures we could plan when everyone is potty trained. Then the next day I went at it and put him in plain unders-he doesn't need anything fancy, no more rewards until he is trained! So he's really getting what he needs to do-he even gets offended when we put him in a diaper for an occasional nap-we have to put his underwear on over the diaper and then his pants. Yay for big boys!!!!!

Andrew Starting Preschool!

After my little "conversation" with Andrew on Thanksgiving, I decided it was time to start doing preschool with him so he could see how fun it is to be a "big kid". I also want him to be prepared for kindergarten. On Monday December 1st is the day I started. I use a book called 30 Minute A Day Learning System-at least I think that's what it's called! We cut up the cover the first day to make little animal puppets that appear throughout the book to cheer him on. The pages are perforated, so I put them on the wall everyday when we finish so Daddy can see his progress when he gets home from work. So now when Michael goes down for his nap Andrew has some special big boy time. We first do his preschool lesson together and then practice writing letters, numbers, drawing, and coloring. One thing I've learned about Andrew during this process is that he is ambidextrous like I was when I was little, but his preference is his left hand. I'm going with it even though it is my personal opinion that English is easier to write with your right hand. While he does perfectly well using his right hand when he forgets to use his left, it is still uncomfortable because he does it less, and I figure it's best to make this experience as smooth as possible! :)

Jason was teasing him about being a big baby, this first week of preschool and he said, "No! I not a baby!" That is what I call progress! :) Right now we're working on abc order, number recognition, and the letters in his name. After the preschool pages are done I write the numbers or letters we are working on or his name and have him trace them with every color pen of his choice. Not only is he thrilled to have his very own special markers but he's really picking up how to write his letters and numbers-he's going to be caught up to Philamena in no time!

Thanksgiving Catch Up...

Thanksgiving was busy, busy, busy! We had Jason's family over and got to catch up with Marco a little bit before he had to go back to Japan to get ready for his tour in Iraq. That day I got sick and was ill for several weeks after. What stuck out to me the most from that day was the most unanticipated conversation of the day. When I was changing a diaper on Andrew (yes the four-year-old, sigh.) he was on one part of our L shaped couch while his cousin, baby Ayden, was sleeping on the other with Monique keeping an eye on him. When we pointed him out to Andrew as the "baby" he said, "No! He not the baby. I the baby!" Well, all my suspicions were confirmed. Andrew has purposefully dragged his feet in some areas because he doesn't much like the middle child thing. I have been trying to be extra aware of this so that he can have all the praise and encouragement he needs and deserves.

Philamena's First Right of Passage.

The day before Thanksgiving Philamena, Monique, and I took a special trip to Claire's to get Philamena's ears pierced! She was excited and also a little nervous. As we waited our turn an older man (grandfatherly in age) was getting one ear pierced, and as his wife waited she joked with us that if he could get through it without crying, she should do just fine. We had a good time laughing about that. When she was up she sat in the chair and held the "I'm getting my ears pierced and need comfort" teddy bear. I filled out the paperwork and then checked the penned dots in her ears. She was really nervous by this time, but as it happened, I had to have the gal change one of the dots no less than five times. During this time Philamena settled down quite a bit, and I was able to make sure the holes would be in the same spot on both sides. We had two ladies so that she could get pierced at the same time. She cried anyway, but after all she did have the bear to cuddle with. After a few minutes she resolved that it was worth it and only hurt a little anyway. Then we looked at all the fun jewelry and accessories in the store before picking out a headband and heading to dinner. We had a great time together-just us girls! It was really wonderful for her Meme (Monique) to share that experience with us!

Halloween Was...

On Halloween Auntie Leah drove all the way from San Fransisco and met us just in time for costuming up. Neal, Mary, Danny, and Ayden also joined us and we had the BEST time! We had a Neverland Fairies and Pirates theme for our family, and Danny was an astronaut. We went up and down our neighborhood, saw all kinds of fun costumes, got lots of candy, laughed, saw some pretty elaborate and spooky decorations, and then came back. It rained on Halloween but cleared up just in time for our little adventure, and then proceeded to rain once more just as we were finishing up! Absolutely providential! Back at our house we sampled candy, talked and joked together for a while, and then Neal and Mary had to get going to put their boys to bed. We put our boys to bed too, and then watched the Tinkerbell movie, me, Philamena, and Leah. Leah spent the night and we had a great time catching up after our "Phipher" was in bed.
All in all this was the most fun I've had on Halloween in many years! We can't wait till next year!!!

Michael Turns Two! (dun dun dunnnn....)

Michael turned two on October 8th. He was particularly attached to his blankie and his doggie that day. When it was time for cupcakes after dinner, he was thrilled. He learned to blow out candles this year (and uses his new skill to this day if a fly gets in the house!).
He is the basic embodiment of a cherub, which makes the "terrible" part of the age a lot more forgiving. How long could you stay mad at cheeks like these?

We just decided to have him go shirtless since he's such a messy eater right now. ( On that note, he has just begun a phase that my other two never went through-the strip phase! For some reason he just doesn't want to wear a shirt most of the time right now-it's November, California November mind you, but still!). Here he is enjoying his chocolate-like father like son!

Philamena's First Day!

Here's our Phi Phi on her first day of school. She was so excited to ride the bus for the first time, that I had to let her-even though, being the protective Mom that I am, I met her at the school before and after for the first two days!

When I was taking this picture a sixth grader came running up and thanked me for taking it because it bought her time to catch the bus that day. As soon as Philamena saw a "big girl" get on the bus she wanted to be her friend. The girl, Ashley, has become a family friend-and our babysitter. She also took care to watch over Philamena on the bus those first few weeks as she got adjusted.

Philamena's teacher, Mrs. Camp, is quite possibly the sweetest kindergarten teacher on the earth! Every time I spoke with her those first few days (and every time since, as a matter of fact!) I have felt very strong impressions that this was exactly where we were supposed to be for Philamena to start school. As many of you know, and some of you don't, I had a lot of anxiety about putting my children in public school, having had a terrible experience with it growing up. Although I admit I am still open to private school or home school later on, it is a great source of peace to know that for elementary school at least, my children can thrive at the school that Phi's at.

My little darling is soaking up all the knowledge like a sponge. We are careful to always make homework time focused (boys in bed!) and fun. At first, when Philamena didn't write a letter correctly she sort of took it personal-we've noticed she is a bit of a perfectionist. (I can't imagine who she got that from! ;) She's doing better about not getting emotional about mistakes and realizing that that's what erasers are for. I try to have her practice her letters as perfectly as possible and she has really been able to do them just right when I sit there and coach her. She's got her first name down (of course every once in a while she'll bring home a paper with her name written backwards-oops!) and now we're working on her last name too.

I just finished reading her The Magician's Nephew of the Narnia series. She loved it and comprehended a lot of, although I suspect she especially likes the special alone time it provides for just us girls. We are three chapter's into The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. She is really getting it now because she's seen the film. I am excited to see her enjoying classic literature-this is something I've dreamed of sharing with my children for some time now.

Well, I've strayed a bit from the intention of this post, but a lot has happened since September and I am marveling at the progress of my daughter. This I can say regarding school, she is getting along very well with the other children and is very happy with her teacher. What a wonderful thing, having been one to hate school myself, to be able to raise children who positively LOVE it and get the most out of it! This is very exciting indeed!

Happy Memories Are Worth More than Diamonds...

Yesterday we had Jason's family over for the day and for dinner. We had the BEST time-I don't think I've been to a happier family gathering in my life! This holiday season is sure to be the best yet! We are all very excited for this Thanksgiving especially because Jason's brother Marco will be with us. He's a Marine and has been stationed in Japan. He will be leaving for duty in Iraq right before Christmas for a seven month tour. We will all be praying for his safe return. He'll be here for about one month, so we hope to see a lot of him! Having everyone back together again will be even better than yesterday-which is really hard to imagine. It's so relieving to have a happy memory that I can store up in my mind and keep forever-and many to look forward to in the future. Relationships and memories are the most precious of treasures.

Illegal use of commas,

Monday through Friday I get up, throw on my clothes, eat with my sons, bathe Michael, get both boys dressed, get Philamena up, dressed, and fed, do her 'do, get her to school, take the boys to the park, come home and eat a snack together, take a nap together, fix lunch, have playtime, go get Philamena, have another snack, more playtime, Jason gets home, one of us makes dinner, we eat as a family, more playtime, bath time, help with homework, bedtime routine for kids, and then Jason's and my eyes simultaneously roll back into our heads as we go unconscious! I only wish kids would sleep in on weekends!

Getting Situated...

Hello to everyone. I did a silly thing. I started a blog and then we moved. Every time the kids do something hilarious or I take a picture of them I think to myself, 'That would be a great blog.' So now that the dust is settling I will be able to get back to sharing my frequent outbursts of comic relief as presented to me by my three silly children. Hm-it must run in the family! (If you think I'm exaggerating, take for example, Michael's new hobby of wearing Andrew's spider man underwear on his head. When I get a picture of this I will post it here and you'll all be laughing-not only for obvious reasons, but he'll sit there on the couch with one eye peeking out a leg hole and the expression on his face is one of nonchalant superiority. Oh my! He's convinced that he too can be a super hero with only the right underpants). Andrew has not used these undies yet-in case anyone was getting grossed out!

Here's to blogging!

Well, after getting techie this week, and witnessing more and more examples of families blogging, I decided to get with the program. It sure beats trying to keep up on twenty (or more) family/friend email updates on the general news of our little family. So here goes a million words and counting!

--Elena