Lately

Whew, we've been busy lately!  Stephen is traveling a ton, the girls have started swimming lessons, we have plans every weekend, we started our Sunday School group, work's been busy, and I am just plain exhausted at the end of the day!  I have a little bit of energy tonight, so I've been getting things accomplished... like, uploading pictures from my phone.  Here are some fun ones from the last week or so!

We've had some nice, warm days lately.  Here we're taking a stroll at the park.

Parker got around with his wagon-riding partners.  Here he is with Collin.

Then Taylor.

Then McNair!

Sleepover with Sydney and Raegan.

Enjoying a warm day on the patio.

Swim lessons.

My sweet girls!

17 months!

Parker is 17 months!

Accomplishments include:

• Going to the dentist for the first time!  He got a good report.
• Parker still doesn't "talk" a lot.  He's rather quiet!  But, he will sometimes randomly say a new word and catch me off guard.  Then, he may not say it again!  Little stinker.  New words he's said are: "Ball", "Ow!", "Monkey" (once). 
• Parker does the funniest thing- he'll suck his right thumb and stick his left hand in the top of his shirt, by his neck.
• He got his first haircut.
• He celebrated his 2nd Valentine's Day!
• He got a CD player for Christmas, and he LOVES listening to music as he falls asleep.  He will point to it as I take him in to lay him down.  We usually dance in the mirror for a few minutes before he goes to sleep, and he lays his head back and just laughs.
• When we ask Parker what a lion says, he'll say "Roooar!"
• He witnessed two snows this month!
• He loves his little doll that is a monkey. (Sound familiar?)  He always wants it before he goes to sleep.  If I ask him where his monkey is, he'll walk around until he finds it.
• He really wants to use a spoon but he makes SUCH a mess!
• This boy loves to eat!!
• He is such a little love boy.  He'll hug people when they cry, he'll give hugs when he is going to bed. He hugs and kisses his friends when he is leaving school.  He has such a sweet little heart!
• He definitely has his sisters down now.  I'll tell him to hug Sydney, and he'll stop, look at both girls, and then walk to Sydney.  

Love how he crosses his legs.

He loves bananas!

Super Bowl entertainment.

Valentine's Day.

Parker's first haircut!

Any more in there?

This is much easier.

What day is it??

I am so off.  I don't know what day it is.  The last month and a half has been crazy with winter weather, school cancellations, more winter weather, more cancellations.  I just assume the days we return to school are Mondays, and the last days before break are Fridays.  This isn't always the case.

Let's recap... We had off from December 21-January 6.  We returned to school on Monday the 6th.  It was a teacher work day.  School was cancelled January the 7th due to extreme temps.  So, we had a 3 day week with the kiddos after so much time off.

We actually had a full week the next week, and then the next week was a 4-day week due to MLK day.  The next week, we only had school Monday and Tuesday, and it was cancelled Wednesday and Thursday.  On Friday, we had a teacher work day.

The first week of February, we had a full week with the kids, but I had an all-day training on Thursday, so it was like a 4-day week for me.

The next week, we had school Monday and Tuesday, none Wednesday and Thursday, and a teacher work day Friday.

This week, we had school Monday and Tuesday, and then mid-winter break Wed-Fri.  Next week, we'll have a half-day on Friday.

Whew.  I seriously don't know what day it is.  I think it's Wednesday, though all day I kept thinking it was Thursday.

On a downer note, our school system tacked on 4 days at the end of the school year to make up lost time.  The CRCT dates have been delayed a few days, too.  Did I mention I'm ready for spring??  And some normalcy?

It's sad when I've been off so much that there's really nothing I need to get done at home!  (besides the endless laundry, of course).  Plus, I've gotten really lazy and spoiled about "sleeping in".

Since the beginning of January, I've been in the classroom with my kids a total of 21.5 days.  Yikes.

Password (not) Needed

Forget the whole password thing... I don't have the computer science knack, nor the patience, to make it work.  So... read on!

K-5 Conference

We had our first conference with Sydney's teacher last week.  I was very interested to hear her version of the Sydney we know and love.  There's always two sides to every story, and I wanted to be sure to get an accurate picture from her teacher.  For example, according to Sydney, she never has to "pull sticks" for behavior.  It's always someone else.  (Though the night before our conference, she fessed up that "maybe" she's pulled more sticks than she's stated).  Sydney is so enamored with her BFF Raegan that I wondered how she got along with the others, and vice versa.  It was definitely a conference I didn't want to miss!

Stephen and I went there after work to talk to her teacher.  Thankfully, we got nothing but good reports!  Sydney has pulled more sticks than she has admitted to, but her teacher said it was usually just her being talkative.  Her teacher said that, besides her being one of the smallest kids, you'd never know Sydney was young for her class.  She and one other girl are the top readers in their class.  (The other girl has more than a year on Sydney!)  Sydney's status in class went from "I am learning to read" to "I do read", and only the one other child has that.

Her teacher said that Sydney is her "go to" person to run errands.  She said she knows Sydney will be able to effectively communicate to the person what the errand is for, and get back to her with the right message.  She said she loves Sydney so much, and even mentioned having Sydney repeat KG there next year (since she'll have to repeat anyways).  She said she'd be willing to change up the curriculum for her and everything.  I appreciated the offer, but we're definitely planning on moving her to the public school next year.  {insert money symbols here!}

I'm very proud of my Sydney!

Stupid Groundhog

We've had Winter Apocalypse, part Deux, this week.  I will preface this post with saying... I AM SO OVER THIS WEATHER!  I'm wishing good ol' Phil hadn't seen that shadow of his.

But, back to this week.  Stephen flew out to LA Monday morning with a flight back scheduled for Wednesday.  I had a bad feeling that his flight Wednesday wasn't going to happen, based on the "catastrophic" ice events that were scheduled to take place in our area.  I have to admit, I had some moments of panic.  My "worst-case-scenario" brain came out and, on Monday and Tuesday, I was fearing that Stephen wouldn't get back in until Sunday; we'd be without power for a week; all our food would go bad; and I'd be stuck inside with my three kids, going crazy.  (Don't get me wrong- I LOVE being with my children... but it's hard to be "on" 24/7!)

During my planning periods Monday and Tuesday, I braved the grocery store, made sure I had gas, and got a few things to entertain the kids.  At home, I put out all our blankets in one stack, all our flashlights, candles, and lighters in another.

Stephen's Wednesday flight, as predicted, was cancelled.

Anxiety started to set in...

I got the kids from daycare after work on Tuesday, and we settled in for the night.  You could start to hear the ice/sleet/hail coming down on the windows and roof that night.  We woke up Wednesday to a little bit of snow and streets filled with ice.  I was working like a mad woman to get everything done that required power- dishes, laundry, etc.

Then, duh duh duuuuhhhhh... at 9:30 AM, the power shuts off.  Mid-washing cycle.  Mid-drying cycle.  That is when panic hit me.  I didn't think it would go off so soon!  I had a back-up plan to go to the neighbors' house, who had a fire going.  But, I didn't think out the logistics of getting my 3 kids down our driveway hill and across the slippery street.  Plus, packing everything just for a night would have been a big pain in the... you know.  It would be like packing for a weekend trip.

My neighbor called and asked if I wanted to come on over.  I told her I'd wait it out a few more hours- we'd be fine in the daylight, it would be the night that I'd be more worried about.  THANKFULLY (!!!) the power came back on within the next 2 hours, and it stayed on the rest of the time!  I was so good to go then.  It relieved me that my kids could be in their own beds, warm, with all the things we need, in our own house.  Plus, all that milk I bought wouldn't go bad.

Once the power was restored, my anxiety went away.  I could do this!  We had a great time together, watching movies, doing crafts, baking cookies.  We had breakfast for dinner.  Both girls slept with me Wednesday night.  Good times.

Thursday, before the snow and ice disappeared, we went outside for a bit.  Taylor was not so much the fan this time around (and, to be honest, the snow wasn't as fun- it was more hard/icy/slushy and not good to play with).  And Stephen was able to get on a new flight, landed safely, and got back home around 3 PM!

So glad this storm was not as bad as I imagined.  It was a fun couple of days, just me and the kiddos.  Yes, I'm exhausted.  Yes, I was a little stir crazy.  But, I had 3 precious little people to keep me warm!

This is what we woke up to Wednesday morning.  

Lots of ice on the window!

First activity of the day... Parker's haircut!

When the power went out, the clothes in the dryer were soaking wet.  I had to hang everything.  Just like the olden days, eh?

Lots of Leapster time for both girls.  I took this right after Taylor said, "You're my best friend."  {heart melt}

We got to do a few crafts.

Nighttime snuggles.

Thursday morning, the ice was covered with snow!  But, it melted really quickly.

We were lazy in the morning!

Lots of slush!

Taylor the Photographer

So... Taylor has an obsession with my iphone.  It's probably about as serious as my own obsession.  This girl knows how to play games, watch videos, and, lately, post pictures to my Instagram and tweet some nonsense tweets.  Goodness gracious.

But, taking pictures seems to be her favorite.  I decided to dedicate this blog post to the creative talent of my daughter, Taylor.

P.S.- My favorites are the feet shots.

I think this is my fave.

This was what she put on Instagram.

A very serious, mid-snack discussion.

Saved monkey for last!