- Presley has gone through phases of movies...we did Annie, High School Musical, mix in a little Full House, Pitch Perfect and now she is really into Descendents (the kids of the villians in the Disney movies). I love it, gives me a good excuse to watch these movies. :)
- Sunday morning P came into our room about 9 am....I was laying there reading. I asked if Piper was up, she said that Piper wasn't with her and wasn't in her room?! Um ok. So we came out to the family room and she was laying in the chair on the ipad watching Odd Squad! I couldn't believe it! I'm thankful that she keeps herself quiet and busy without waking us up (which isn't really typical).....but we need to make sure things are safe if she is just going to wonder the house by herself!
- Bedtime has been getting better...it seems that either Piper's decrease to 1 hour naps has finally caught up with her or the it's the melatonin. She actually seems and acts tired before she has the melatonin but that seems to help calm her down so she can relax and fall asleep. It is so nice to have both kids asleep before 9 (most nights)! Now if only I could stay up past then! :)
- I do love having the windows/doors open this time of year...however when the kids are screaming/fighting/crying the first thing I do is close all of them so our neighbors don't hear everything that's going on!
- Steve said "Your hair looks..........nice?"
I asked "What is that supposed to mean?
"Nothing. It's just a little big in the back.".....Thanks honey!
- My dad got a wild hair up his butt and made the decision to head down to Houston on Thursday. My aunt and uncle are semi-retiring, they bought and RV and are going to travel the U.S. How awesome is that? I hope that is on my retirement plan when I'm 50! Anyways...my dad went down to surprise them at their 'going away' party! And it's awesome that now that he is retired he can pack up and head across the country whenever he wants too!
Monday, March 7, 2016
Weekend Update
Saturday we got up about 8:30 and the 3 of us girls got ready to head to my Aunt Ann's house for a girls craft day with the women/girls on my dad's side of the family. There were SO many awesome crafts and good ideas of things to do (and I am NOT crafty!), even the girls were able to paint picture frames and ate some snacks and talked. Many of these people I have only met one or twice so it was nice to have some time getting to know them a little better! Thank you for having us Ann!
On our way home we picked up the neighbor girl Collins to come and play for a couple hours. Her mom had been sick for days and her husband was working so we thought we'd help out by taking one of her kids for a bit. Collins was perfect....Piper was ok...Presley was a complete selfish, snotty brat 75% of the time Collins was at our house. She spent most of the 3 hours crying, screaming or in her room. It was almost embarrassing!
Saturday night Steve made AMAZING flatbread pizzas...on the grill. OMG. He needs to stop cooking so many good things so that I can lose a few pounds before Mexico! ;) He made a shrimp scampi pizza, steak with blue cheese and chicken, bacon ranch. So good!
Sunday morning I got up and met my friend Colleen for brunch! It has been too long since we had seen each other and needed to catch up. We went to 1908, knowing it wouldn't be busy and we would have as much time as we needed....2.5 hours later! We lost track of time but it was worth it!
I headed home and Steve and Piper left to our friend Brent's house to watch the UNI basketball game. I took Presley to a birthday party for her friend Leah. This was her first party at a friend's house and without us staying. She was excited and had no problem with me leaving her there! The party was a canvas painting party, such a good idea and it seems they had a good time!
While she was at the party I ran to Hy-Vee, then came home and did some laundry, went on a 2 mile walk, and then still had about 20 minutes to chill out and read! :)
The weather was so nice....a little windy, but nice so we spent from 4-6 pm outside before doing dinner, baths and getting ready for the week ahead. I love the nice weather, it wears those girls OUT! Hopefully we have more nice weather ahead!
On our way home we picked up the neighbor girl Collins to come and play for a couple hours. Her mom had been sick for days and her husband was working so we thought we'd help out by taking one of her kids for a bit. Collins was perfect....Piper was ok...Presley was a complete selfish, snotty brat 75% of the time Collins was at our house. She spent most of the 3 hours crying, screaming or in her room. It was almost embarrassing!
Saturday night Steve made AMAZING flatbread pizzas...on the grill. OMG. He needs to stop cooking so many good things so that I can lose a few pounds before Mexico! ;) He made a shrimp scampi pizza, steak with blue cheese and chicken, bacon ranch. So good!
Sunday morning I got up and met my friend Colleen for brunch! It has been too long since we had seen each other and needed to catch up. We went to 1908, knowing it wouldn't be busy and we would have as much time as we needed....2.5 hours later! We lost track of time but it was worth it!
I headed home and Steve and Piper left to our friend Brent's house to watch the UNI basketball game. I took Presley to a birthday party for her friend Leah. This was her first party at a friend's house and without us staying. She was excited and had no problem with me leaving her there! The party was a canvas painting party, such a good idea and it seems they had a good time!
While she was at the party I ran to Hy-Vee, then came home and did some laundry, went on a 2 mile walk, and then still had about 20 minutes to chill out and read! :)
The weather was so nice....a little windy, but nice so we spent from 4-6 pm outside before doing dinner, baths and getting ready for the week ahead. I love the nice weather, it wears those girls OUT! Hopefully we have more nice weather ahead!
Friday, March 4, 2016
TGIF
I'm so happy it's Friday. It has been a ROUGH week at work. We went from not working most of the day and spending most of my day reading to now I spend most of my day trying to fix problems on our system that no one seems to be able to help with. It is more than frustrating and I haven't been the only one in tears at some point during this week.
Tuesday I sent Steve an email that said "I hate my job"....I rarely hate my job. I actually normally love my job. I like the people I work with, I like my managers, I like what I do...it makes me think and decide and can be a challenge. Now I have no control, I don't know what I'm doing and it sucks. So Steve offered to pick up the girls so I could go have margaritas and read my book by myself after work to unwind. I was so thankful that he offered and it was totally needed and worth it. Thank you my wonderful husband!
Thursday night my mom came over to watch the girls while Steve and I went to winter conferences. Honestly I was a little nervous. The papers she has been bringing home haven't been that good, she doesn't seem that interested and you just never know how they 'rank' against others.
Conferences actually went better than I thought. She has grown in some areas, is getting more comfortable in sharing and speaking outloud (which is a BIG deal for this girl!)
Their reading assessment score is supposed to be at least 453 by this time in the year and she is a 477, which means she is reading at the end of 1st grade/beginning of 2nd grade level. I was happy with that considering she seems to have problems retelling or comprehending stories but obviously she is on the right track.
The main things she (we) need to work on...subtraction and listening(following directions). She lacks confidence an oftens times tries to 'copy' her neighbors b/c she isn't sure she is doing the right thing.
Her teacher does want to recommend that she does NOT get placed in the same class as her BFF Leah next year b/c she wants her to grown socially and get more comfortable without Leah around. We are actually ok with this. They weren't in the same class last year (though they were together at Generation Next before kindergarten) and would still see each other at KTC and it would be good for Presley to make some new friends and step outside her comfort zone. :)
So I was pleasantly surprised at how well these conferences went! I was a little shocked and thankful that her teacher acknowledged us for the effort and time we put in at home (which we really don't do THAT much) but I do email her if I'm concerned about things and she is always receptive and gives good advice on things we can do at home to help Presley learn and grow!
Now with Miss Piper...I guess she might get moved up in rooms at Generation Next, she is currently the 2nd oldest in her class. They feel she is bored and ready (aka...she is disruptive and causing trouble and thinks she is the queen of the room). So she would be with kids turning 4 from Jan-Aug of this year (she won't be 4 until October). We'll see if it happens and if it does how it goes! :)
Tuesday I sent Steve an email that said "I hate my job"....I rarely hate my job. I actually normally love my job. I like the people I work with, I like my managers, I like what I do...it makes me think and decide and can be a challenge. Now I have no control, I don't know what I'm doing and it sucks. So Steve offered to pick up the girls so I could go have margaritas and read my book by myself after work to unwind. I was so thankful that he offered and it was totally needed and worth it. Thank you my wonderful husband!
Thursday night my mom came over to watch the girls while Steve and I went to winter conferences. Honestly I was a little nervous. The papers she has been bringing home haven't been that good, she doesn't seem that interested and you just never know how they 'rank' against others.
Conferences actually went better than I thought. She has grown in some areas, is getting more comfortable in sharing and speaking outloud (which is a BIG deal for this girl!)
Their reading assessment score is supposed to be at least 453 by this time in the year and she is a 477, which means she is reading at the end of 1st grade/beginning of 2nd grade level. I was happy with that considering she seems to have problems retelling or comprehending stories but obviously she is on the right track.
The main things she (we) need to work on...subtraction and listening(following directions). She lacks confidence an oftens times tries to 'copy' her neighbors b/c she isn't sure she is doing the right thing.
Her teacher does want to recommend that she does NOT get placed in the same class as her BFF Leah next year b/c she wants her to grown socially and get more comfortable without Leah around. We are actually ok with this. They weren't in the same class last year (though they were together at Generation Next before kindergarten) and would still see each other at KTC and it would be good for Presley to make some new friends and step outside her comfort zone. :)
So I was pleasantly surprised at how well these conferences went! I was a little shocked and thankful that her teacher acknowledged us for the effort and time we put in at home (which we really don't do THAT much) but I do email her if I'm concerned about things and she is always receptive and gives good advice on things we can do at home to help Presley learn and grow!
Now with Miss Piper...I guess she might get moved up in rooms at Generation Next, she is currently the 2nd oldest in her class. They feel she is bored and ready (aka...she is disruptive and causing trouble and thinks she is the queen of the room). So she would be with kids turning 4 from Jan-Aug of this year (she won't be 4 until October). We'll see if it happens and if it does how it goes! :)
Monday, February 29, 2016
Weekend Update
We had another incident with Piper at daycare on Friday.....this time it she was screaming in her friends faces, throwing crayons on the floor multiple times and coloring on the table.....awesome huh? I think she misses her old teacher Abby who left the center 2 weeks ago...about the time all of this started! :(
Friday night I met some girls out for happy hour for my friend Lisa's birthday! We hung out at Bar Louie for a while and then headed to Polk City to meet up with our spouses at Sandbar. It was a lot of fun and a lot of laughs....and we were out until almost 1 am!
Saturday Steve got up with the girls, too early for our liking! Then we headed back up to the Sandbar for brunch (and to pick up our other car since we had both cars there). Piper only had one small fit at the very beginning but other than that, they were pretty good. We left and Steve and Piper headed to Fareway and Presley and I went to wash my car and get gas. Once we got home I cleaned and vacuumed the inside of it! Boy did it need it!
Then we basically hung outside! Steve worked on the staining of the concrete around the shed, the girls played with the neighbors and just enjoyed the nice weather!
Then we put the top down on the jeep and went for a drive. We stopped by my parents house and then went to a playground to run off some more energy!
Once we got home we decided that a little quiet time was needed by all us. I tried to lay down with Piper in our bed, Presley laid on the couch with a movie and I think I was the only one to actually fall asleep. We spent the rest of the night playing outside, doing laundry and cleaning.
Sunday Presley and I headed to Target for some things and then we didn't do much until the Iowa basketball game at 3, It was just too windy and chilly to try to spend more time outside. So we headed over to Sarah and Kyle's to hang out and watch the game, it was nice...it had been too long since we've seen them and as always the kids played great! We got home later than expected and Steve had prepared to make us an awesome dinner! So while he got dinner ready, I gave the girls baths. We didn't eat dinner until almost 7 (which is late for us!) and it was worth the wait (great steaks, asparagus, mashed potatoes, crescent rolls, corn on the cob and he even made me a creamy blue cheese sauce for my steaks...O.M.G.) I was so full and the calories were SO worth it! :) I might go to bed tonight dreaming about that meal!
Friday, February 26, 2016
Smarty pants
Monday we went to El Mariachi to celebrate National Margarita Day of course! The girls were actually good and it was nice!
Wednesday Piper ended up taking a 'break' with the director at Generation....I guess they were having group time and she wasn't listening...UGH That night Piper and I went home (while Steve took P to gymnastics) and I got her situated with a snacks and some papers and then I worked out! It's all about finding those occasional times I can sneak away to get on the treadmill (and outside!).
Thursday night we were all hanging out in the basement and I told Piper to write her last name. She had written it with our help at dinner on Monday and I briefly spelled it with her on Tuesday night...so when she sat down and just wrote it, I was SHOCKED! I had tears in my eyes b/c I was shocked and happy!
Presley on the other hand has changed and really doesn't care that much about school. She doesn't think it 'really matters' and it 'isn't that big of a deal' (in her words). So we've talked about this with her (and over email with her teacher) and if things don't change then we'll have to implement 30 minutes of 'study' time during the week to get her back on track with her listening, comprehension and spelling! I hate to do this in 1st grade, but I just don't want her started bad habits that become harder to change as she gets older! This whole being a parent thing is hard!
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Blah blah blah
- I'm trying to drink more water. Man, the constant trips to the bathroom to pee are endless! :)
- Last Wednesday night Piper came into our room at 3:20 am. I took her back to bed, she had blankets laid out in the hall, she had picked our her outfit for the day and her lamp was on with books on her bed, obviously she had been awake for a while! UGH! SO I laid with her until 4, when I thought she had fallen asleep.
I went back to bed....4:05 Presley calls out for me, which doesn't happen very often. I got up to see what she wanted and Piper was laying on the floor by the foot of our bed! So I woke up Steve to take Piper back to bed, then I went in to lay with Presley. Finally at 4:45 I fall back asleep in my own bed and at 5:30 my alarm went off. Sucked!
- You know how people say that bad things happen in 3's? I think expensive things happen in 4's, that is my new saying! After buying our flight tickets to Mexico and Portland and then putting some money down on the Jeep.....our dishwasher broke. It was only 3 years old but it was SO loud and sounded like it was going to explode. Normally Steve can fix anything and he tried. He googled and watched videos, he tried to see if we could just order a part, he took the whole thing apart......looks like we found the one thing that he can't fix! :)
- American Idol, here are my two favorites....hopefully one of them wins!
Dalton: So freaking adorable.
And Olivia: Awesome voice.
- Last Wednesday night Piper came into our room at 3:20 am. I took her back to bed, she had blankets laid out in the hall, she had picked our her outfit for the day and her lamp was on with books on her bed, obviously she had been awake for a while! UGH! SO I laid with her until 4, when I thought she had fallen asleep.
I went back to bed....4:05 Presley calls out for me, which doesn't happen very often. I got up to see what she wanted and Piper was laying on the floor by the foot of our bed! So I woke up Steve to take Piper back to bed, then I went in to lay with Presley. Finally at 4:45 I fall back asleep in my own bed and at 5:30 my alarm went off. Sucked!
- You know how people say that bad things happen in 3's? I think expensive things happen in 4's, that is my new saying! After buying our flight tickets to Mexico and Portland and then putting some money down on the Jeep.....our dishwasher broke. It was only 3 years old but it was SO loud and sounded like it was going to explode. Normally Steve can fix anything and he tried. He googled and watched videos, he tried to see if we could just order a part, he took the whole thing apart......looks like we found the one thing that he can't fix! :)
- American Idol, here are my two favorites....hopefully one of them wins!
Dalton: So freaking adorable.
And Olivia: Awesome voice.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Weekend Update
We had decided to get a room at the Ramada waterpark for Friday night (of course this was decided before we found out that Piper had to go to the office again at daycare on Friday. I guess she didn't want to watch the movie and was crawling around not listening, distracting the other kids I'm sure.) I left work a little early, Steve picked up the girls and met me there. Sam, Scott and Boston were able to join us too so it worked out perfectly! It was a good, fun night!
Piper is not comfortable in water so she hung out close to us most of the time.
The above pictures are typical Piper. Goofball!!
Presley and Boston play SO good together. Once they got comfortable, they went down the slides, played, splashed they did so good and had so much fun.
We got into the pool about 5, took a short break about 6 to eat some dinner and then closed down the pool at 10:30! We went back to the room, got comfy, made some microwave popcorn and then all crashed quickly!
Saturday morning we slept until about 9, they got up and ready and headed for home about 10. I stayed in the room, hung out, read my book and then headed to get pedicures with Lisa, Lyndsi and Abby at 11! We talked and laughed and then went to 1908 for lunch! It was so nice to have a couple hours with the girls catching up! Thank you ladies!
Today we haven't done too much, ran some errands, cleaned, did laundry, the girls had some 'quiet' time (which really means just keeping them in different rooms for as long as possible. I did a short run outside, have been able to read a little, blog a little. Good Sunday!
Now wish me the best in getting thru the next week at work. I'm actually dreading it. :(
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