A few conversations...

From just today...I wish I took the time to write these down more often because these are daily occurrences!

Levi overhears Lexi and I talking about 2 piece swimsuits that show the belly and says emphatically, "Oh yes, I like those! Those look cute on girls!" lol

The kids love sleepovers, summer break started 2 days ago. Day 1, they're all 3 in Jake's twin bed, 1 warning given to settle down and go to sleep. Boys still noisy, Michael says everyone has to go to their own beds now. Lexi starts to plead, "No, please dad! I'll be quiet." "The boys are too noisy, sorry." "Thanks a lot BOYS!" said with an annoyed scowl & hands on her hips as she leaves the room.

Day 2, Jake is reconsidering how they all don't fit well in his bed. "Levi, I have a surprise for you!"

Levi: What?!

Jake: I bought you a ship! (pointing to Levi's bed with the implication that's where he'd be sleeping)

Levi bursts into tears.

Lexi (who is sitting on Jake's bed) reaches over to punch Jake and says, "He is my brother! Let him be in the sleepover! That's not nice!"

Jake, feeling betrayed by Lexi, growls in a low voice through gritted teeth, "Get out of my bed!"

Lexi: Well you're not being nice! Levi should get to be in the sleepover too!

Jake, while picking Lexi up and setting her on the floor again states slowly through gritted teeth, "I said, get out of my bed."

Lexi begins to cry. I escort her out of the room. A few minutes go by. Jake apologizes, Lexi apologizes, sleepover is back on. 3 kids in the twin bed. 5 minutes later, too much noise, Jake complains he can't sleep, I say it's time to separate. As Lexi leaves their room with her puppies under her arm, she turns with a scowl and angrily says, "thanks a lot LEVI!"

Mom: It wasn't just him, it was all 3 of you.

Lexi: marches into her room, "goodnight mom!" with her back to me, stomps to her bed, throws her puppies onto the bed and then herself with an audible "hmpf"

Ok, I know that's sassy attitude, but I can't help but think it's hilarious at the same time coming out of her little 4 yr old self. :)

Jake: Levi wants a hamster.

Mom: Yeah, that's not gonna happen.

Jake: What? It's just one rodent.

Does he know me at all??? lol

Had Lexi's 5th birthday party at USA Gym last weekend a couple weeks early. She had so much fun! That night when I was tucking her in bed she sincerely said, "Mom, this was my best birthday party ever." Awe. 5 days later as she's playing with some of her new toys she says, "I really love all of my birthday presents." I'm glad it's been memorable for her and she feels special. I love her.

Family Update

Oh how long it's been...not sure where to begin. So here's a few things fresh in my mind.

Often as a mom I feel like I fall short of the kind of mom I want to be. I yell. A lot. My patience wears thin. But I do love my kiddos more than I could have ever imagined. A few days ago we had a long night. Lexi had thrown up in her bed so I gave her a shower, washed her bedding, set her up in a sleeping bag, Jake woke up & Ava was crying. 30 minutes later Lexi threw up again...at least she made the bowl! School mornings always seen to be tough. None of us are morning people. No one wants to get up up, Jake usually complains about the clothes I pick out for him to wear, both boys say they don't want to go to school, we're usually scrambling to get out on time, and at some point I'm yelling. This morning was not much different, but as I was packing lunches, Levi came up to say, "Mom, I want to give you a hug. Because, you're a really good mom." That made my day...actually, my week.

Levi can be so hard to deal with on some days, and just the sweetest, most helpful boy on others. He is often difficult to put to bed. He tried to sneak into our bed daily until he was at least 5. After that he started sleeping in Jake's bed and that went on for many months. Finally for at least the last 6 months he's slept consistently in his own bed. But he's still the kid who has a hard time settling down at bedtime. He'll still come out and say, "I don't know how to fall asleep." Seriously?! At this point the boys just get extra jobs the next day each time they come out of their room or we hear them. That's sort of working. Jake currently does 3 jobs Mon-Thurs and Levi does 1. Consequence jobs are in addition to those.

We  bought a pool table a couple weeks ago for the back patio. Hope to have many fun days ahead playing. The first time I played Jake, Levi made a sign that said, "Go, Jake!" and would cheer for him, "You can do it Jake!" He ended up booing him because Jake turned into a poor sport and started whining. That's a topic we constantly work on with Jake. Sportsmanship. Whether it's pool, board games, nerf wars, etc. The kid does not like to lose. The struggle is real.

Jake is in 3rd grade. He's a smart boy, but this year's math has been tough. With a high B, I think he could've earned the A if he took his time and read the instructions better on his tests and assignments. He's very clever - reminds me of myself when I was his age. He can debate and negotiate with the best of them. But he's also sassy, talks back, is a grouch in the mornings, procrastinates, and sometimes thinks we're all against him. Also traits I remember in myself at his age. :/ He is quick to apologize though, but sometimes I can't tell if he's truly sincere or just wants to avoid a consequence or be back in good graces again...the self serving type of apology...which I too remember being guilty of as a kid. He's seriously handsome, athletic and an avid reader. He informed us last month that he also has his first girlfriend! Aubrey Dominowski. She's a doll and I'm friends with her mom, so although the kids try to hide their relationship at school to avoid teasing, we've let them set up a couple play dates at home and the park.

Fall was crazy busy, but fun busy. Jake played tackle football for the first time and I didn't realize what a time commitment that was when I signed him up. I also was the water mom who got the team water for every practice, which was 3 times a week plus game days after the first 3 weeks which were 5 day a week practices. Levi played baseball, Lexi started dance, Ava's birthday, our 15 yr anniversary, Halloween, Jake's birthday, Thanksgiving (hosted by me), my birthday, and all the Christmas festivities. I feel like we made the most of Christmas this year which was really nice. The kids built a great gingerbread house, we made sugar cookies, went to the holiday hayride at their school, took Lexi to see the Nutcracker, drove to look at lights (which I enjoyed more than my whiny beasts that night), watched many hallmark movies for the first time, and topped it off with my favorite tradition of our Christmas Eve Open House! I hope my kids end up with fond memories of Christmas Eve like I remember when my mom hosted it while I was growing up. :) Christmas day was very relaxed, hung out at home, ate leftovers, watched a new movie and played with new toys. Highlights this year were fishing poles for the boys, a bike for Lexi, an ozobot for Jake and a police uniform for Levi.

I love my Lexi girl. She's a girly girl who loves everything sparkly and pink and purple. She loves unicorns, ponies, puppies and balloons. She's snuggly & cuddly, likes imagination play, Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol, and isn't crazy about clean up. She's our pickiest eater (just like I was) and is always excited to go shopping! She likes to match outfits with Ava, is photogenic, and is so patient when getting her hair done. Easy to put to bed, she still requires bedtime songs, favorites being "You are my sunshine", "Mama loves you" "Hush little baby" "twinkle twinkle" "Mary had a little lamb" "itsy  bitsy spider". She and Ava share a room just fine. Ava is always first awake and jabbers until she wakes up Lexi then they'll play together for sometimes 30 minutes before we have to go get Ava out of her crib. That's precious extra sleeping time for us! I love that they love each other. Lexi got a bike for Christmas this year. She's the first one to need the training wheels. But she had the least practice on the balance bike before it got run over a few months ago :(

And then there's Ava. Our sweet, sweet Ava Bear. I could kiss her soft porcelain face all day!! She looks just like Levi, just like their daddy. She's a great sleeper, still napping twice a day for 2-3 hrs and 10-11hrs at night. She is an early bird though, usually up before 7am, but always wakes up happy. She's a pretty good eater so far and has eaten almost everything we've given her. She runs all over and likes to climb the stairs, but can't be trusted to go down carefully. She's in that curiously destructive phase that has earned her the nickname of Avazilla and provokes her siblings to put up barricades to protect whatever they're playing from her. She likes to be held, but does NOT like to cuddle. :( She refuses to sit and rock or snuggle by arching, pushing away and grumbling and will never fall asleep on you. I'm hoping this is a phase that will change. She will barely tolerate reading a book with us, but likes to look at them on her own. And she's guilty of hitting, slapping and pinching, It's amazing how fast she can be too. But still, she's one of my favorites. She's mellow and typically has a happy disposition.

Lexi Update

Oh we love this little girl!! There are many things she loves too! It would be wrong to not mention “sweets” first in this category J This girl definitely has a sweet tooth! Just the mention of something tasty and she claps her hands together and exclaims so excitedly, “I LOVE CAKE!”, “I LOVE DONUTS!”, “I LOVE CANDY!”, “I LOVE ICE CREAM!”…and the list goes on. She is not above stealing it either. The other day I found the refrigerator door open with a stool pushed up to it...and a cheesecake missing. Then I found her upstairs on her bed eating fistfuls of said cheesecake. Gum isn’t safe in my purse; she loves to sneak that too. But she doesn’t just take a piece, she eats the whole pack! She even found a fortune cookie in the trash that she began to eat before we could stop her :/ Donuts – she prefers to just eat the frosting on those. Came into the kitchen the other day and the frosting had been nibbled off several donuts…and she had a ring of chocolate around her mouth. I accused her of eating the frosting off all the donuts and she was quick to correct me, “NO! I not eat all! I ate 3! But they’re so good, I love them!”

Next on her list of faves are probably her brothers. She LOVES to play with them. And they are very sweet (most of the time) to include her. They have parties in their beds, build forts, play legos, trucks and trains. Levi plays with her dollhouse with her and sometimes will even play babies with her too, she in turn is happy to play zombies and bad guys with him.

She loves accessories of any kind on anyone. She loves to go through my jewelry box, loves her own necklaces, bracelets, bows and hair clips. She loves her shoes and clothes and is thrilled anytime I show her something I bought for her. The fancy, shinier, blingier, the better! She will usually exclaim, “Oooh, it looks like Cinderella!” And she is so patient and cooperative when I do her hair, then loves to check out her fully dressed self in the mirror. J

This was the summer she mastered swimming! We are thrilled! She is such a confident, skilled, happy little fish who LOVES to swim! She jumps in by herself and swims totally independently. She also has shown a big interest in dancing this summer. When she watches dancing on TV, she clearly has a preference for ballet and contemporary, “I like that dancing! I want to do that!” I took her to a trial class and she loved it. Just have to see where we can fit that in the schedule to continue.

Lexi is also an animal lover. We don’t have any real pets…so she has imaginary ones J At least a puppy and kitty, but she likes to pretend to be animals too – and that includes a wide variety. She and the boys will “play pets” too where one of them is the owner and the others pretend to be the pets. This could include puppies, kitties, bears, penguins, bunnies, etc.  She loves that. Although, sometimes the imaginary pets get into trouble and then she’s very upset – like if they get lost or if Levi steals them and runs away with them!

She got her new big girl toddler bed a few weeks ago and loves that too! It is seriously adorable and matches her room perfectly; really I love it too ;) She has always been happy to sleep in it, in fact she is an excellent sleeper who goes to bed without a fuss and sleeps easily all through the night in her own bed. Frankly she’s easier to put to bed and keep in bed than the boys! Funny thing is that she won’t sleep under the covers, she insists on sleeping on top of the minky comforter with her beloved pink puppy. Oh, and she must have her “Lexi” pillow in the room, but not actually on the bed. And she prefers a clean room. If there are things in her room that don’t belong at bedtime, like books, towels, boys’ toys, etc, she’ll toss them into the hallway before getting into bed. She likes the dark and doesn’t mind having the door locked, although she really doesn’t need it. But, if she gets up & knocks to go to the bathroom or something, when she goes back in, she locks it herself! Funny girl. She did develop a new habit with the summer and the new bed though. Lexi is definitely our early bird! She’s up around 6am, will come to my side of the bed and snuggle for a few minutes, and then will leave to wake the boys up. They’re pretty good about playing independently until we get up, although sometimes she’ll come and whisper in my face, “Mama, I need food, I hungry.” When she finally sees me up, she’ll exclaim with a smile, “Mama, you awake?!”

And finally, she loves learning to do things independently. She just started trying to bathe herself and wash her hair and is so proud of herself. She LOVES her panties (always picks which ones to wear herself and is excited to see when I’ve washed them, with an exclamation of, “You washed my panties?!”) and has been working on dressing herself. She likes to be helpful in cooking or cleaning up spills. She washes her own hands and face after eating, and can put most of her own shoes on.

One more love we hope she’ll have is for her new sibling joining the family in October. She asks about the new baby a lot and seems excited. She’ll tell me, “When him comes out, him wear a diaper, then him will sleep in my bed!” with a smile. She likes to pat my belly to see where the baby is, and I’ve noticed her playing with her baby dolls more often than before.

Bottom line is that although it’s clear she loves many things, I find myself saying throughout each day, “I just love her.”

Spring and Summer Update

Well, behind again. So let’s see, biggest news for us this year is the new baby we’re expecting in October! This will be the fourth and FINAL member to our family J I really had to convince Michael that this was a good move, but once we knew for sure, he was excited too J We’ve always revealed gender as soon as we knew it, but this time, although WE know, we’re saving it as a surprise for everyone else! I’ve definitely noticed a difference with this pregnancy with regards to my health. This one feels more difficult for sure…perhaps due to my age. But fortunately, I’m not decorating a nursery, so that has saved me hours of work!

This past spring Jake played soccer and Levi played t-ball. Jake scored every goal at every game for his team! He had fun, but I wish the coaching had been better to help all the boys develop their skills better. He was asked to join a specific team for this fall, so that’s the plan and this upcoming coach is supposed to be fabulous, so we’re looking forward to that! Jake is really excited to play again and he’s learning more about the value of money, so he even agreed to do extra jobs every day until school starts since we’re paying for the registration.  Levi really like t-ball! I was really proud of him – not only was he super cute in his uniform, but he had a great attitude every game, tried his best, had a great swing, and learned quite a bit about how to play during the season.

For family vacation this year we went to Carlsbad, CA and stayed in a resort on the beach. The resort and time at the beach were fantastic! The kids traveled really well on the road trip, although I will say by the end of a week traveling, I’m ready for our home bathroom! Lexi was potty trained in February and it’s no fun taking little ones to the bathroom in public! We took the kids to Legoland and Sea World while we were there. We loved Sea World, but Legoland we could have done without.  The kids loved the rides and shows at Sea World. Although, I commented to Michael after the Shamu show that I was surprised the trainers didn’t swim with the orcas and he responded with, “Uh yeah, not since that whale killed his trainer a few years back.” “WHAT!?” I had no idea. So I spent the most of the return road trip home looking up info on that attack and the history of Sea World…then I had nightmares about killer whales for days. Oops. L Still a great family vacation though!

Jake was so excited for summer vacation to start this year! We really didn’t plan a lot of activities during the summer. Miss Becki was back to teach swim lessons this year. I’m so excited because this is the year that I feel like Lexi has absolutely mastered swimming! The first 2 days she cried about swimming, then the 3^rd day she wanted to swim and I told her, “Ok, but no screaming or crying.” And she agreed. Never cried or screamed after that, but swam with a smile on her face! Lessons started in June and by July she was a total fish swimming in the water completely independently and loving every minute! We had tickets for the movies each week. Thought that’d be something fun to do with the kiddos, but more often than not it was just exhausting. We had to race from swim to the theater, then the kids would drink way too much lemonade and we’d have to race home from the theater at the end of the show. By the last week, Lexi peed in her carseat. I was not a happy momma. And we probably won’t be doing this next summer!

Michael took the boys camping over the Fourth of July weekend. They were thrilled! They met Uncle Hobie and his boys up on the Mogollon Rim and had so much fun they came back filthy from head to toe! Haha. Oh, and Jake brought back a souvenir…the skull of a javelina. I had to put my foot down that that would be an OUTSIDE souvenir, and would not be allowed to stay in his room J Levi explained to me that he couldn’t bring his souvenir back…Dad wouldn’t let him. He’d found coyote bones, but since there was still fur and a paw attached, he couldn’t take it. Good call, Daddy! LOL Oh and they were quick to throw Dad under the bus and confess they only brushed their teeth twice while they were there. Nice. In the meantime, Lexi & I hung out at home together J I took her to the mall (she loves shopping), bought some clothes, got Wetzel Pretzels, I painted her toes (which she gets so excited about!), and we played at home. But we both missed our boys! L I definitely don’t like it when Michael is gone at night…we slept with the hall light on both nights. And I suppose it didn’t help that I watched a few Lifetime movies like “Deadly Revenge” and “Stalked by Her Neighbor” late at night either! So we were very happy to see our stinky dirty boys come home!! I like my whole family under one roof for sure! It’s the constant paradox of a mother – all I want is a break from the kiddos for peace and quiet, but once I get it, I miss them like crazy!

Our Sourpatch Kid, Levi

Two days ago Levi had trouble at bedtime. He’s always been the night owl, and no matter how tired he seems, he always seems to get a burst of energy and wildness right at bedtime. This leads to some rough bedtime routines. On this particular night I told him I wouldn’t sing him a song (current favorite is Wheels on the Bus while scratching his back). He burst into tears & was very upset. I relented and said, “Ok, since you didn’t know that’d be the consequence, we’ll sing tonight. But, know in the future if you don’t get ready for bed when told, there will be no song.” Ok.

Next day there is again trouble at bedtime, mainly not following directions or cooperating. Wildness. I gave him a warning about no song. To that he matter of factly responded, “that’s fine, I don’t want one.” Really? The same consequence that brought on a flood of tears the night before now makes no difference to him? This is one example of how he challenges us as parents. Just when we think we have a plan for reigning in unruly behavior, he changes the game somehow. After putting him back to bed several times, I locked him in his room. He pressed his little face to the door crack as I was walking away & said calmly, “Fine, then I’ll just peel the paint off the wall.” And he did. Never afraid to up the ante and always seems to be aware of how to push my buttons!

And although Levi has a “classic” mischievous, wild, rambunctious side, he also has a “classic” super sweet side. Today my boy was full of sweetness. “Mom, I love this dinner! This is one of my best dinners! You did such a good job; I’m going to tell you something you’ll really like… (wait for it) I love you. I’ll tell you too Dad. I love you. I put my plate in the sink, may I be excused? And now I’ll give you a kiss…even 3 kisses! Mom, do you want to sit with me on the couch?” Sure! And at that, he snuggled up with me on the couch, patted my belly, and I remembered just how easy it can be to love this boy.

Family pics, football, Jake's birthday, football, ROC Race...and football!

I love fall. It’s usually a busy time of year for us with kids’ sports, our anniversary, Halloween, Jake’s birthday, family pictures, Thanksgiving, my birthday, Christmas, and the list goes on. This year seemed a little easier because we didn’t throw a big party for Jake’s birthday last week. He really wanted an electric dirt bike, so we gave him the choice of the dirt bike or a party with friends. It didn’t take him long to decide that a party only lasts one day, but a dirt bike lasts a whole lot longer! Pretty smart for a 7 yr old. J His birthday was on a Friday this year. That night we took Lexi to Grammy & Papa’s and took the boys out to dinner and to see a movie.  This was a pretty special treat for them since we rarely take them to a sit down restaurant unless we’re traveling. Jake picked Serrano’s because he wanted to order the “big chip with beans and lettuce on it” (tostada). Much to Michael’s chagrin, Jake told the server it was his birthday, so they even came out to sing to him, let him wear a sombrero & gave him free ice cream! He was thrilled. Then we saw Big Hero 6 per Jake’s request. Super cute movie and all around super fun night with my boys!!  Then on Saturday we had Grandparents over for cake & ice cream to help celebrate.  Jake gave them a demonstration on his dirt bike and after just a minute, Grammy & Grandma both opted to go back inside – too nerve wracking to watch!

November 16, 2014

This weekend had so many highlights, by Sunday night I just felt like the weekend couldn’t get any better! It started with family pictures on Friday. Now truthfully, those are typically slightly nightmarish. They cost a lot of money, so beforehand I get so nervous about how it will all work out. I even had Michael take the day off work to make sure we had plenty of time to get things ready. Regardless of preparations, we woke up to cloudy weather, Lexi refused to take a nap & we had to make a mad dash to pick up Jake from school, get him ready & race to the photo location, and let’s just say I’m not the most patient and understanding person. I’m working on that. J Luckily, the sun came out just in time for pics, Lexi was happy, so we just had to coral Levi during the pics & try to coax a genuine smile from Jake for an hour, and then we were done. At that point our part was over, the butterflies were gone, and now we’re just waiting to see what turned out! I have high hopes ;) We took the kids for ice cream afterwards so they were thrilled. They all went to bed early that night, so that left Michael and I with a rare quiet evening and a little “Naked and Afraid” – this new survival show we’ve started watching.

Saturday started with Jake’s football game. This is his first season playing flag football and he seems to really enjoy it. He’s improved since the beginning of the season and has done really well in the last couple of games. Last week he scored 2 touchdowns, pulled a few flags and caught a pass to run for 1^st down. This week, unfortunately, was not his week. His team got creamed, 24-0. He was pretty down on himself at the end of the game, on the verge of tears and wanted to quit. We explained that every athlete is going to have a bad day sometimes, you can’t quit on your team, but we can practice more and try to have a better game next time. It’s always fun to watch the kids play successfully, score points & win a game, but more than anything I want my kids to know that I just enjoy watching them play and doing their best whether they win or lose. I’ll cheer like a crazy lady for them when they make a good play, and I’ll love them even when they don’t. We ended the night with more football as we watched the ASU game with Grandma & Grandpa.

Sunday morning was awesome – we slept in until 9am! Now that’s rare! We leisurely got ready, dropped the kiddos off at Grammy & Papa’s, then Michael and I headed to try something new. The Ridiculous Obstacle Challenge Race (ROC)! It was wet, cold, and a lot of fun! A 5k with waterslides, a foam slide, big red balls, gorilla bars, tarzan rope, walls to climb and the wrecking balls! One of my goals this year was to try new things…this definitely counted! Not to mention that this is November and the rest of the county is weathering out snow storms while we’re running around outside soaking wet on a beautiful sunny day! Arizona has some perks, and I’m determined to start enjoying them more J Ended the weekend with more football – Cardinals. Football season truly is Michael’s favorite time of the year. I’ll even catch him humming the tune to “It’s the hap, happiest season of all!” LOL And as I watched the game while playing go fish with my boys, I really just felt so grateful for my family and totally content.

Oh my, a lot to catch up on...

Well, it seems to have been almost a year since my last post. Obviously a lot has happened since then, so I really have to fight the urge to feel overwhelmed, shut the computer and just go take a bath, once again procrastinating my typing. But, I may as well start somewhere. And although there will be a short recap, my plan is to be much more diligent in continuous, detailed posts. I really do love to go back and read these entries to remember significant moments and day to day trials & triumphs!

Let's see, Christmas last year was great! We spent the day at home with our family. And actually the plan to spend holidays at home started on Thanksgiving. Previously we would rotate between being at my parents or Michael's parents each year. In 2013 there were scheduling conflicts with Michael's family, so last minute we decided to stay home for Thanksgiving and cook the meal ourselves. It was perfect. The kids were 5,3 and 1 and it's time to make memories and traditions in our own home. I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast, Michael cleaned the turkey (under Jake's close supervision), we could plan the meal around Lexi's naptime, and the kids got to have orange pop at the meal (super rare treat), so they thought it was awesome! I prepared my mom that this would be an ongoing tradition for us and she was very supportive. She just asked if it would be ok to invite themselves over to our place then, to which I said, SURE! So, that's the plan for this year...a houseful of family, food & fun! Moving on to Christmas, last year we hosted the annual Christmas Eve party, my parents & Grandma Rang stayed the night and spent Christmas morning with us. The kids love that, and frankly, I do too :) Then we spent the rest of the day relaxing at home, watching movies & playing with toys. Perfect.

In February I was contacted by Kelly Wettstein again to help him out in his new partnership at Precision Dental. Their office manager was going on maternity leave and they needed someone to keep up with collections & take on that role from home. I agreed, and the plan was to do this for 3 months. I average about 15-20 hours per week from home, while still maintaining all of my family responsibilities. I have determined that although I love the ability to work from home, it's actually easier to work at the office. If I was at the office, it would mean someone else was watching the kiddos and I could work uninterrupted, whereas at home, I'm scrounging to find time to work during naps and after bedtime. But again, it's a great setup and I really appreciate not HAVING to put them in daycare. So, that was supposed to end in May, but when the office manager came back, some clean up projects were needed, so I stayed another month to help with that. I took July off, then was approached by Dr. Goates to come, back to work 5 hours a week from home to stay on top of collections...indefinitely. I agreed, and that's what I'm still currently up to.

In the spring 2013, my friend Chanda & I partnered up to start "All Sass'd Up". We began making chunky bead necklaces for little girls primarily. Our daughters were the inspiration for this, we had to buy the beads in bulk from China, there seemed to be a lot of interest in them & to begin with we used our Facebook business page to host Ready To Ship sales and auctions, which were pretty successful. After only a couple of months though, Facebook changed some things which made it much more difficult to use. So, we also would take our products to events, festivals, boutiques, etc, and those were kind of a hit or miss regarding their success. I don't seem to have the time for both dental work and necklace making, so I didn't get much made in the spring 2014. Our last big event was June 2014, otherwise my participation has greatly diminished. Chanda pretty much handles the business on her own now, and has been for quite some time. I still have a lot of supplies & enjoy making them here and them for Lexi, so I suppose that will be the plan from here on out.

Jake finished kindergarten, and it was a very successful year for him! He's a type A personality like me, so he's responsible, he likes to learn, he tries hard as a perfectionist and he loves the positive feedback for a job well done from both his teacher and us. He seems to make friends pretty easily and he's quite the ladies’ man at school! There were several situations that were brought to my attention throughout the year about girls that liked him, wanted to marry him, sent love notes home with him, wanted to have play dates with him, etc. There were a few he liked too :) Izabella was the first name I remember him mentioning when school started as a new friend. By the end of the year, Aubrey was the girl who wanted to marry him, she sent a love note home, he asked me to make a bracelet for her, and then there was some exchange scene on the playground that humorously caught the attention of all the teachers!

We can’t forget Hannah Bemiller in all that though! She lives across the street and in February 2012 they started becoming good friends. She was the recipient of the first valentine he ever gave a girl…besides me. J They’re little BFFs to this day and have quite the brotherly/sisterly relationship. For the most part they get along great and will play imaginatively for hours, but sometimes they are just at each other’s throats! They each tend to be possessive of the other. And although Jake loves to play with her, he definitely does not want to play with her AND other girls – he seems to be afraid of being outnumbered by girls! Like they’ll force him to play barbies or something! Lol Our whole family loves Hannah, and really both of our families have become really close over the last year. Her mom, Cathy, is my best girlfriend and we see each other almost daily. Her sister, Alyssa, is our go-to babysitter and likes to go hiking and running with Michael. About a week ago, Cathy decided to move Alyssa to California to live with her biological dad, and we are really heartbroken about it. We would have gladly let her live with us, but I suppose that was not meant to be. We miss her.

I feel so behind and badly about not updating Lexi’s progress more often. Today she is a beautiful, spunky, sensitive, candy-loving sweetheart! She is an excellent sleeper & loves books & songs before bed. “You are my sunshine” seriously has some magical powers with her – as a favorite, it is immediately calming to her when she’s upset too. She typically wakes up happy after 11-12 hours of sleep at night, and takes a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoons. She loves the show, “Little Einsteins” and also the movie, “Cinderella” or “Cindy ella” as she calls it. J She is a girly girl to a T. She loves the big bead necklaces I make for her & wears one every day. And lately, the fluffier, frillier or blingier, the better for her wardrobe! She LOVES shoes – both hers and anyone else’s who have been left around to try on. And she loves it when I paint her toes pink. J She likes her baby dolls, but her favorite snuggly is her pink baby puppy. She tries to tag along with her brothers and from day one has called Levi, “Guy”. I love that. Levi & she have a love/hate relationship, and it’s not uncommon to hear her yell at him, “NO, Guy!”, “STOP, Guy!”, “GO, Guy!” with a scowl on her face. And he teases her on purpose. And on other occasions they play great together and share hugs, act all cute, and melt my heart. Just recently he’s started cleaning her up after meals and letting her out of her chair without being asked, which seriously just looks so sweet and caring that it really makes me proud of him!  Her relationship with Jake is different. He is usually her playmate and her protector. If HE gets upset with her, she slumps to the ground, covers her face, whimpers, pouts, quivers her lip in the most pitiful way, and begins to cry. He’s hurt her feelings. That is also her typical response if Michael or I look sideways at her. VERY sensitive. J And man, this girl loves her sweets! She got into the Halloween candy today and opened and began to eat at least 30 suckers! She is a constant thief of anything sweet left on the counter, table or pantry if the door is left open. She loves jelly sandwiches, yogurt & fruit. She’s not a big fan of meat, and I’m pretty sure she has a peanut allergy like Levi L, so we’re just avoiding it until I have her tested at a specialist. But about a month ago, she took a sip of a smoothie that had peanut butter in it and within a few minutes her face started to swell up likes Levi’s did at his first exposure.

Michael started working from home in August on Tuesdays and Thursdays. That really has been so nice! Last year I traded kindergarten pickup weeks with Courtney Davis. This year Cathy & I trade weeks for taking the kids to and from school. When it’s my week, it’s so nice to not have to wake up Lexi from her nap to go pick the kids up.  Levi started preschool this year, and he’s doing great! Although, he was recently chastised for his excessive use of glue. Haha He traces and spells his name well, can count to 20 pretty consistently, knows all shapes and colors, and I’m told he’s very QUIET in class! Gotta say that’s pretty atypical compared to his behavior at home, but I think it’s because he’s being challenged and is ready to learn! He has all this energy at home and I would love to see him channel some of that toward a constructive sport, but he’s just not interested yet. We tried soccer last fall, but that didn’t go well. Just not interested. Jake, on the other hand, started flag football last week and really likes it! First game was a blowout, 24-0, but his team was noticeably better by the second week and they won 19-1. Jake even caught a pass to run in for a touchdown, caught another pass to run for a first down and pulled someone’s flag. He had a great game! He’s excited to practice with Michael whenever he’s available J Last year he played soccer in the fall, winter and spring, and then he was on swim team this summer. Swim team was great exercise for him, but he only got to swim at one meet due to our traveling schedule on summer break. He did really well for his one and only meet though – took 2^nd in every stroke in his heats! And luckily Papa even got to come and watch!