Consequences

Life would be so much easier if there didn't have to be consequences.

For example this morning I asked Dylan if he made his bed and he looked right at me and said yes. So, when I went upstairs and saw that he didn't I was a little upset. To me the punishment seemed simple, cleaning. His room, his bathroom and anything else I could think of.

In reality, he sobbed and cried at how unfair it is and he wants to go outside, and play with J & K next door, etc. It would be so much easier for me if I could just send him over there or outside, but by golly I'm sticking to my guns.

Ok. Now he just lied to me again. "I'm all done." Me, "Did you really clean or just shove everything under the bed." Dylan, "Are you going to check?" Me, "yes" and Dylan headed up to really clean his room.

Happy birthday to me?

Most of you know yesterday was my birthday. The boys woke me up early to give me my presents. They were so excited, more so than me for sure.

Knitting with my friends first in the morning. The boys went to swim lessons and brought home a dairy queen cake. Mom had to have candles and be sung to.

Rewrote my Christmas letter and got it printed. Sending on Monday I hope.

Dinner at Ruby Tuesday's and then the symphony's Christmas concert. By the time I got there I was so tired, since today was the first day I did anything all week. Guess I should have taken a nap this afternoon.

All in all it was a good day, if a little long.

Then this morning Alex woke up feeling sick and went right back to bed. So, I stayed home with him. I had a rare morning off.

Check out this handsome dude! He picked it all out himself and was very excited to wear his fancy clothes. This morning was the faith development (sunday school) program in church. But, I'm very glad to have the morning to rest and write Christmas cards.

O Christmas Tree!

Our Christmas tradition is to cut a tree from the local tree farm. So, here the boys are picking a tree. It was cold this year, fortunately we are fast tree pickers. 5 , maybe 10 minutes and we're done.


















This year Dylan wanted to "help" cut down the tree.




















Alex and Dylan checking out the tree.




















After getting the "perfect" tree it's time to warm up by the fire.




















It's great to be able to warm up by the fire and really adds to the experience.

























Alex's special ornament this year was a fish.
To remember the humuhumunukunukuapaa from Hawaii

Dylan's was a chicken, because he loved the chickens we saw in Hawaii.


















Decorating the tree is a family afair. Everybody helps to put on all of the ornaments. It wouldn't be fun if we weren't all a part of the decorating.





I try hard to not rearange any of the ornaments that the boys put on, although if it's on a branch that won't hold it I do move it.

This year it was Alex's turn to put the angel on. He's getting a little big for daddy to lift him up, but they got it done.

And here, we're trying to get a good picture of the boys by the tree. That didn't work,

But this one did!

Dylan's conference

Brag alert!!!

Last night was Dylan's conference and I was expecting to hear a mix of good and bad. Things he needed to work on as well as what he's doing well at. I was so wrong. He got a glowing report from his teacher. She said he's a hard worker, very caring and helpful, pays attention, and is a general delight to have in the classroom. My Dylan. Wow was I surprised.

Not that I don't love Dylan to pieces, but really he gives me a hard time all the time. He's doing a special reading program on the computer and loves it. He's also making great strides in his reading. (Yipee!) She also said she hasn't seen him get frustrated and fight tears in a long time. He just gets right to work. She showed us some early writing and some current, what a huge difference. He's doing so well.

She also showed us his MAP testing results, 100% on consonants and 90% on vowels. Since he's doing so well on the reading one, she's going to move him on to math early.

We also got to see some of his writer's workshop papers. The one he did this week was of his "babe brudr" now when I read it I immediately thought baby brother, but I thought WHAT! Well he was writing about Cole, but couldn't figure out how to write cousin so baby brother worked. The best part though was that he came up with the words and wrote them on his own. I love the unique spelling of kindergarten writing.

I am so very proud of Dylan right now. What an amazing report! I figured it was good to brag on him for a change since I'm usually talking about all the things he drives me crazy with. My boys growing up.

The Wilderness

This weekend we surprised the boys with a trip to the wilderness in Wisconsin Dells. We picked them up from school on Friday and immediately started driving. Two hours later, we arrived and Alex was beside himself with excitement. After checking in we headed to our rooms to get on our swimsuits and get in a little fun before bed. We headed to the wave pool. After a little time Dylan finally got up the courage to go in the water in a giant double inner tube. An hour or so later and we headed back to sleep. Mark stayed in the room with the boys, and I walked the halls for a while.



Saturday morning Alex opened the curtains at 6:45 and woke us all up. He'd been awake for awhile and wanted some light. Whose kid is he anyways. Aftr a breakfast buffet, we headed to the indoor playarea. Alex loved it, and Dylan walked around and tried to climb things with his hands over his ears. They had lots of cannons that shot foam balls and they made lots of noise. And that, Dylan did not like, at all.






Here Alex was shooting a cannon and Dylan was trying to cover his ears fast enough.

How are you supposed to climb and cover your ears? Dylan did his best.

After a few minutes he headed to the toddler play area and bounced around on the climbing things.

After about an hour we headed to the lazy river waterpark. After exactly 5 times around, he was counting. We headed to the splash area. Not so fun for Dylan, it was too loud, it had a big bucket that dumped water down. I managed to get him down one tiny slide. All he wanted to do was get in the hot tub. After about 10 minutes I caved. 30 minutes later, I made him get out, too hot for me. Meanwhile, Mark and Alex were off riding the slides (with both room keys I might add). Dylan and I hunted for them for a while, then spent another 30 minutes in the hot tub. At that point enough was enough. I searched for Mark again and then found a spot to stew. Yeah, I was a little mad. Finally at that point we found them and I headed back to the room and the 3 boys hit the hot tub again. Once I got dry and dressed I cooled off a little. Lunch in the room and a nap for Dylan. Meanwhile Alex and Mark played 3D mini golf. Alex said it was super great. Dylan refused because of all the characters in the golf area.

After a rest we headed to the last swim area. Mark and Alex headed off to the big water slides and I took Dylan to the play area. Once again no go. This time I was prepared. I took a book and found a seat and told Dylan he could go in the water or sit there. So, he sat there, wrapped in a towel.

Alex on the other hand also went down the slides and loved playing in the water.

Here he was getting dumped on. At that point Mark came and sat down with me and we watched him play in the water while Dylan sat.

Finally at the very end, he started jumping into the water in the toddler play area.

At this point he was having fun. Finally!

After dinner at the Thirsty Buffalo, we sent the kids to bed at 7:00. They were exhausted! And so was I. Tonight it was Mark's turn to take off while I stayed in the room with the boys.

This morning we got up (at all of 7:30, woohoo they slept in) and had breakfast in the room and then headed to the wave pool for a couple more hours of fun. One more waterslide for Mark and Alex and then it was fun in the wave pool for everybody. Dylan sat on a raft with Mark in the deepest part and loved riding the waves. Alex went off on his own in an inner tube and I actually relaxed about it. He's a good enough swimmer that even in the 6 foot area I wasn't worried about him. I grabbed a tube and just floated for a while.

After a couple of hours we had lunch from the snack bar and let the boys stuff a couple of animals and get the animals wilderness t-shirts and then it was time to go home. It was a great weekend! You would never know by talking to Dylan that he had a rough time. He says it was great! Mark and Alex loved, loved, loved going on all of the water slides and playing in the water. My water loving boys.

Peder Eide

Last weekend our church had Peder Eide come to perform. He is a Christian musician and he led our services on Saturday night and Sunday morning. Also, on Saturday evening he gave a concert. What he did on Sunday was called Taste Worship. It was an amazing experience for our family. He talked about how your family experiences worship as a family. Our kids got actively involved and really enjoyed singing the music, praying together, and for each other. At one point he even had the kids put their hands on their parents and pray for them. (also reminding the parents to keep their hands to themselves, not so easy for me.) And then switch and parents pray for the kids. It was such an emotional moment. Both Mark and I got choked up. Well, I have to be honest Mark got choked up and I sobbed. Big surprise there.





The most amazing part for me was Dylan, now you all know Dylan is not the easiest child, and sometimes I wonder if we're reaching him. Well now I know the answer is a huge YES! So, Peder passed out these cards and asked us to do a project 2. Usually he recomends a project 10 or 20, but for time sake he had us do only 2. And those were affirmations about one person in your family. At the begining of the service we were each handed a card with 2 big ii's and that was for our affirmations. Now to Dylan, at the begining of the service he kept complaining that "the guy" was too loud, the music was too loud and my favorite sunday refrain, "is it over yet?" But when Peder put the picture of the card up and asked us all to fill it in starting with I love you ... and finish with 2 things you love about that person. I knew Mark, Alex, and I would do it, but I figured that Dylan was too young to get it. So, I looked to Alex, and I started writing. Then I looked over at Dylan and he was writing "I love you Alex" copying right off the screen. Mind you I didn't even know he could write I love you, or that he would follow along and get that he was supposed to finish with a family member. And then there's the brother thing. He needed help with the next part, but boy did he get the point. A serious wow moment for me.



Many more tears were shed by mom. And the realization that he's getting it makes me cry as I'm writing this.

What an amazing boy, and what an amazing worship. Oh, and did you catch what is in the space between the i's.
Both boys came home with a Peder Eide CD and listen to it frequently, especially at bedtime.

What a truly amazing musician, witness, pastor Peder was. I learned from him and the music really touches my soul.

If you'd like to learn more about Peder and Taste Worship click here and you can read his web page.

Crazy Hair Day!

Today is crazy hair day! With short hair the best we can do is blue hair paint. Of course that also means that I get to drive them to school since it's raining out and it's not waterproof hair paint.

Big Changes!

Oh my goodness, Dylan is really becoming a big kid. I'm so proud of him. He's learning to cope with his sensory issues without a fuss. Early this week he was making his bed in the dark and I asked if he wanted the light on. He said yes so I turned it on. He immediately squeezed his eyes shut and I was just waiting for the hissy fit to start. You know the normal reaction. I asked if he wanted the light back off and he said, "It's ok. I"ll get used to it."

I'll get used to it!!!! Really, I'll get used to it. I was totally blown away. He's never not freaked out when the light came on. What a huge step forward.

My other big story about Dylan is another, wow he's growing up moment. It starts with missing sweat pants. I make sure he always has 3 pairs of sweatpants so I don't have to do laundry every other day if I don't want to. Well, a couple weeks ago one of his new pairs of sweatpants went missing. I was going crazy trying to figure out what the heck happened to those sweat pants. Then one day he came home from school wearing his old sweats with the big holes in the knees. I knew I didn't remember him wearing them to school in the morning, but figured I just hadn't looked that closely. So, I pitched the old sweats that night and kept looking for his other new pair.

Now, Wednesday he comes home from school wearing the missing sweatpants. Boy was I confused. When I asked him where they came from he said, "my backpack". What?! And he tells me he had another accident at school and changed pants. I"m thinking another accident, when was the first?

It turns out that he had an accident a couple of weeks ago, changed into his old sweats from his backpack. Then, when he got home he put the wet pants in the laundry and put a new pair of sweats in the ziplock in his backpack. I"m thinking, ooohhh so that's wear the missing sweats were hiding.

I was so blown away that he thought to put new clothes in his bag all by himself. He is growing up so fast.

Nibbles?

Lately it seems that I always have a funny story to tell on Dylan. Here's just the latest.

On Tuesday Dylan was home sick. He got sick a couple of times Monday night, so had to stay home. OUr rule for staying home is, no playing period. It doesn't matter if you feel better, stay home from school and you are confined to the couch or bed.

So, while he was watching cartoons on the couch Kayla came to sit with him. While he was sitting there loving on her. All of a sudden he said EWWW! Kayla has Nibbles on her belly. After I explained that her "nibbles" are how baby kitties get milk from momma kitty. He asked if we could get milk from Kayla's nibbles. At this point it was all I could do not to bust out laughing hysterically. So I said no I didn't think we could get milk from Kayla.

He thought about that for a minute, pulled up his shirt to look at his chest, and looked at me and asked if Tucker had nibbles. At that I couldn't help laughing, and told him that I wasn't sure about whether Tucker had nibbles, but that I wasn't going to look and find out. I suggested that he could look and find out, but he didn't like that idea either. (Those of you that know Tucker, know that he would NOT take kindly to us checking for nibbles.)

I know it's not nice to laugh at your kids, but this was too funny not to share.

Growing up!

MY boys are really growing up. It never ceases to amaze me when I see the new things they are doing.



Right now Alex is reading the series THe 39 Clues. It's a series of books that are a mystery. You find the 39 clues in the books and on the web. And try to solve the mystery. The web site stuff I have spent a lot of time helping him with. Mostly because I like doing it together. He's on the very young end of the age for the books, but is really loving them. I got home Wed night and he was pages away from finishing book 3 and really wanted to finish that night. I've been reading them as well. He even picked up that the page numbers in the middle of the book were different and were a code. I certainly never noticed that. He is so very smart and loves to read. I guess he takes after mom. Ha!

Then there's Dylan. I have really been worrying about him this fall. He has so much energy and doesn't sit still well, so I worry that sitting still at school is rough going for him. So, as I pick him up at Faith Development (Sunday school) last Sunday, I asked his teacher how he was doing.
I asked about my "little wiggle worm". And she said that he is not a wiggle worm at all. He sits still, listens, and follows directions. I thought, now you can't be talking about my Dylan. He can't stay still for a second. And she says, "he's so smart, sweet, and good." I was completely blown away. I would never imagine those words applied to Dylan. Don't get me wrong, I agree that he is incredibly smart and sweet, but it's hard to see behind all of the wiggling and constant talking.

I guess that just shows that both of my boys are growing up.

All about Dylan

For school this week Dylan was supposed to answer a bunch of questions about himself and color a picture of himself. Now, in the past it would have been one color, quickly scribbled over.

This time it was quite different. Check out the detail. He just happened to wear the shirt he was copying today. He got the lizard right.

He also wrote ard (part of lizard) and frog, both going up. He doesn't know what he was writing, but impressive anyways. Check out the trim on the arms. I was so impressed with his detail and how well he did. My baby's growing up.

School Pictures

The school pictures came yesterday. This year they turned out really well. Aren't they just the cutest things?

Of course, I'm a little biased.

First day of School!

Well here it is the first day of school.

Aren't they just the cutist things. I can't believe how grown up they look.

The boys are both a little nervous and so am I. Although I'd never tell them that. After the boys get on the bus I'm going to meet some friends at the school to watch them on the playground and then on to Mimosa's with some friends. Woohoo!!!
Of course I get to follow that with a staff meeting at work. I guess I'll have to limit the mimosas to a couple. Oh well. Pictures later.

Here they are getting on the bus.

I found a spot where I could watch them getting off the bus. Dylan looks so tiny.

Here's Alex standing in line for his class. Doesn't he look excited.

Here is Dylan with his class. I just noticed that Mrs. S, his teacher for last year, is in the picture. I got a chance to talk to her for a minute and she said Dylan gave her a big hug.

Of course after I watched them go into class I proceded to cry. Oh well at least i made it to after they got into class.

Go Brewers!

My parents came last Wednesday night to visit us for a late birthday celebration for Alex. So, on Thursday when it was cool and rainy we decided it was a perfect day to go to a ballgame. The benefit of having a field with a roof.

We were able to get great seats since mom and dad and the boys qualified for 1/2 off tickets. We were in the 2nd row of the first deck up. We could see everything. Too bad the Brewers lost, again.

The ballpark has a kids area that the boys loved playing on. Dylan could never have sat still for the whole game, so it really helped to be able to go and let them both burn off some steam.

In this pictre Alex was peddaling his sausage to the finish line in the kiddie sausage race. Dylan was not going anywhere near those fake sausages.

Dylan did so well during the game. He sat on mom's lap and she showed him how to follow the scoreboard with strikes, balls, and outs. And also how to see which player was up to bat. He did really well. He sat for most of the game and paid attention.

Here he is checking the scoreboard for who was up next. Alex also did really well and loved the game. They were both so dissapointed that the Brewers lost, but were redeemed by the fact that they got Brewers t-shirts from grandma. Alex picked out a Prince Fielder Shirt and Dylan a Corey Hart one. They were so excited.

It worked out great that Brian was at the game for work and rode home with us from the game and then Marcella and Cole came up on Friday.

More birthday celebrations later.