Little Monsters

You know that feeling when you find a $5.00 bill in the pocket of an old pair of jeans? 

(Kinda like winning the lottery, I imagine)

Well that's how I felt today when I learned that November has 30 days, NOT 31 like I have been thinking ALL month! Which means, of course, that this is the FINAL blog for the month! Woo hooo!! 

(Fortunately, I DO have more to blog about so realistically, I'll probably still blog tomorrow, but only cuz I WANT to, not cuz I HAVE to!  :) 

These photos just highlight exactly how random my kids are. It's November 30, 75 degrees outside, and my kids are running around with winter hats, underwear, and riding...uh, ponies. 

Ponies which have been named: "HORSEY", and "HORSEY-HORSEY-HORSEY,"

I wanna be three and a half again. 

 

She loves helping me look for heart shaped rocks. 

Not too shabby...

No joke. They are hysterically random. What a great way to end NABLOPOMO! 

Photography Scam

Picture day in kindergarten is my favorite day.

I go all 'mama duck' on my students, making sure every hair is in the right place,  breakfast remnants are wiped off of their faces,  bows on their dresses are properly tied and the collars on their shirts aren't all wonky and crooked.

I actually get a little misty-eyed watching as they awkwardly try and position their feet, tilt their chins this way, and then a little more that way while turning the other way.  :) I imagine how happy their parents will be when they see these precious photos of their little ones.

Yes, I get a little sappy. And they're not even my kids.

But these are.....

And those photo people are darn tricky....

It's like they know how hard I worked to become a mom, how hard I worked to carry these three babies to 'term', how hard I love these people who call me 'mom'. They know I'm gonna be all misty eyed when I see all 10 sheets (well, 40 between all 4 packages) of my littles' sweet faces. They let me fall in love with them, and then casually mention, "Just send back any sheets you don't want."

WHAT?&%

Send them back? But they're already printed! And they're my kids!! If I send them back, what will you do with them? No, I need them. Well, I want them. I have to have them.

So I did. Get them. All...of them.

So you should really look at them. :) My official Preschoolers!

COLTON SAMUEL

HUNTER OLIVIA

ETHAN BRADLEY

Progress Reports

I love Preschool. And I love my preschoolers.

I love that I have 3 little people who are off somewhere, without me, learning about the world, exploring, playing, making mistakes and making even bigger discoveries.

I love that there is a place somewhere where my children have friends. (Friends who are not related to them.)  :)

I love that they have teachers to mold their little selves into tiny responsible humans who wash their hands, open their own lunches, share and grow up...

I mostly love that I HAVE three preschoolers.

I got to have my 2nd Parent Teacher Conference today.  :)  So different to be on THIS side of the table!

Here, a summary of the trio's current performance in preschool Nov. 2012, age 3.5, based on a few of the things they specifically assess/observe: (I realize this may not be as interesting to you, but keep in mind this is more or less my kids' baby books!)

SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL: 
COLTON:  Beginning to be independent with the bathroom, still needs help sometimes with soap and pulling up pants, separates well.
HUNTER: Good independence with bathroom and hand washing (A model student in this department!), beginning to play with others, beginning pretend play.  
ETHAN: Uses bathroom and washes hands, beginning to separate more easily, fewer tantrums :) (Starting to use more use words to ask for what he wants when he's frustrated.)

PHYSICAL:
COLTON: Working on balance (apparently fearful of the balance beam), Can catch and throw a ball, can ride bikes and 3 wheel scooter, Working on fine motor skills (using scissors and writing) 
HUNTER: Working on large motor balance (also afraid to walk the balance beam alone), Climbs and rides scooters and bikes, continuing to work on fine motor skills (scissors) 
ETHAN: Rides bikes and 3 wheel scooters, Climbs, Not interested in fine motor yet  :) 

COGNITIVE: 
COLTON: Knows shapes, can match like items, beginning to use pretend play (Doctor), can use the computer alone.
HUNTER: Knows shapes, colors, can match like items, can use computer, does 6 piece puzzles.
ETHAN: Plays the computer (surprise!) , knows shapes, can match like items, beginning pretend play

LANGUAGE:
COLTON: Beginning to sit for circle time, Speech: hard to say certain sounds, working on name recognition. 
HUNTER: Can sit and participate at circle time, enjoys story time, working on name recognition
ETHAN: Does not yet sit for circle time. Will sit in a chair, beginning to use language to get his needs met (vs. a tantrum), Working on name recognition. 

So cute...I love hearing about them at school...
They've come a long way since August.

(Again, thank you Meridy Twilling, of Simply Snapshots for the  photos! I just adore them) 

**Also, to the anonymous NYC commenter from the previous post....Great Question regarding Hunter's response to Colton's cleft lip... (and best of luck to you in your journey..)

When we first started looking at old blogs together quite some time ago, she did in fact notice Colton's cleft lip. We happened to be looking at the pictures of his lip surgery and she was immediately curious and couldn't look away. Her first time looking at it, she looked kind of nervous or upset. Noting this, I pointed it out to her in very non-threatening way....something like, "Do you see Colton's lip? It looks different doesn't it? It's called a cleft lip. He was born with it, but it didn't hurt him. It just looks different. But he's still our Colton and doesn't he look so handsome?"

She would then ask about the Doctors and how it got fixed. I explained to her that Colton had a special doctor to fix up his cleft lip so that he can eat and drink things better. She calls it his "Clipped Lip" and can and will now tell you that "Colton used to have a clipped lip, but Dr. Hurst fixed it for him." After that, her discomfort went away. She will now explain it to others just the way we explained it to her. And she's totally not phased by it.

Colton, on the other hand, hasn't really acknowledged it....yet. He's seen lots of pictures but in true Colton fashion, he doesn't really talk about it. So we'll see how the future plays out!  Thanks for the question and for reading!  :)

Reminiscing...

In this day of digital-ness and online photo storage and blogs, it seems I hardly every PRINT photos anymore. So little so, in fact, that one of  the last 'albums' I created, (no, not an online album, the kind with actual plastic sleeves on pages that actuallyTURN!) was when the babies were born. I enjoyed looking at it a ton and sharing their photos with people everywhere, but then, like most of them do, it got shelved.

And there, it stayed. Until about 4 months ago. At which point, a certain little girl wanted to see pictures of herself when she was as tiny as her baby doll.   :)

And ever since the day I obliged and let her look through the album, she's been hooked. She looks at it constantly, referring to it as her 'Baby Book.' (Frankly it might as well be. I got to 4 months old in their actual baby books and then, well, nada.)

She looks at it so often that she no longer asks me who is in every photo. Now she tells me who is in half of them and only asks about the other half.

It struck me funny tonight, as we looked through the beginning few pages. (The ones with all the doctors and nurses.)

"Who's that, mommy?" she asks pointing to my friend and Anesthesiologist, Tony Lucas.

"He's a doctor. He was making sure mommy didn't get hurt when you were born."

"Oh yes.", she says. "I remember him. He was very nice." 

(Really Hunter? You remember him, do ya?)


Moving on through the album, pausing on the picture of her the moment she was pulled out, she says, "Aww, look at me. I had a bloody nose!" 

(Um, kinda. More like a bloody everything!)

Then she informed me, that she had to wear her baby sunglasses because "It was really 'lighty' in there."

(Well, that and the jaundice.)  :) 

She's so into looking through her 'baby book' that I decided to bust out the album my friend and former kindergarten teacher-coworker Renae Cannady made for each of the babies. (Which is a much better substitution for a baby book, by the way.) Needless to say, she was elated.

"Thank you SOOO much mommy. Thank you for bringing this to me!" 

 (SO thank you, Renae...that really was one of the nicest things anyone has ever offered to do! )

Jingle BAM!

I'm always about 1 second too late. I heard him complaining about not being able to play outside and I KNEW it was coming. And it did. 

I tried to capture it on video but missed the really good 'soaking dapointed' commentary. I got the last half  of a "dapointed" comment just as the video starts and another one at :22 seconds in. (Of course that one came only after an awkward pause and stare-down between the two of us. Never mind my ridiculous prodding... 

Nevertheless, he was "soaking dapointed" and wanted to go for a ride in "My's car." hee hee.. Where? Who knows. 

On possibly an even funnier note, Ethan is now walking around the house loudly exclaiming "Jingle BAM!" Took me a bit to figure out what he was saying or why, because I was certain he was mispronouncing "Jingle Bell" or something. But as it turns out, he was spot on! He is quoting from the movie, Prep & Landing. Sure enough, it's "Jingle BAM!" He finds himself quite funny, as do I!

Now onto Randall's adventures...I am confident that the only one who is buying into the "point" of Randall's existence in our home is  Hunter. She is constantly telling the boys that Randall is going to go get Santa when they're being naughty. I remind her that Randall isn't going to go get Santa, he's just going to fly to the North Pole to tell Santa. (Truthfully, I think she was relieved to hear that. Judging by our most recent Santa Pictures, it's clear she's still a little leery about the jolly old guy and was probably on edge waiting for Santa to walk through the door every time one of her brothers threw a punch at the other. )

The boys, on the other hand, could care less that Randall is literally hanging mere inches above their heads as they pummel one another. Pretty sure they think his point in life is to entertain them with a daily game of hide-and-seek. Maybe one more year and they'll have it all figured out...In the mean time, their reactions when they find him are absolutely priceless!

"Randall, you crazy elf! Why you ridin' my shark hareprane? (airplane). 

The other day, Randall was kind enough to leave some sweets for each of the kids, hanging from his airplane.... 

Today, he spent the day perched atop the TV. 

(I spent the day praying he would not fall....)

And on that note, I shall call it a blog, and call it a night as well. This teacher mama is tired.  :)

Brought to you by the 'Soaking' Series. And yum, yum, yummy pizzas!

FROM THE MOUTHS OF BABES....
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Friday night while Brian and his dad and sister were at the UofA / ASU game, Nana and I were home with the kids. We'd decided to make cookies and watch Prep & Landing. I gave the kids each about 5 mini chocolate chip cookies. When they asked for more, I said, "That's all for now guys."

Well Colton did not approve of this answer and proceeded to SMACK his hand down on the table shouting, "But I WANT one. I WANT one!"

Calmly I say, "Well you might want to remember how to ask nicely Colton. Maybe something like, "Mommy, may I please have a cookie?"

He continued to pout and smack his hand for a few minutes and then finally walked away.

About 2-3 minutes later, Colton joined me in the kitchen.

He walked right up to me and in the most gracious manner ever, smile and all and said, "Mommy, I pwease have a cookie?"

As much as I didn't want to give them more cookies, I really wanted to reward him for asking so nicely. So I gave him one more and said, "Thank you so much for asking so nicely, Buddy!"

He took a bite and then turned away from me.

As he walked away, I hear him whisper in disbelief, "It WORKED!"

So. Flippin. Cute.
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Your next laugh is brought to you by 'THE SOAKING SERIES' by Colton Bunch. 

We were at the mall, playing by the play land, when Brian announced that it was time to go. Colton, clearly unhappy about this, says to me tears falling down his little cheeks,
"Mom, I'm soaking dis-pointed." (disappointed)

Later, getting into the car as we were leaving the mall parking lot, he exclaimed that he was "STILL soaking dapointed." (yes, that's how it sounded) 

Then again, as I tucked him into bed tonight, he told me that he was "Soaking Dis-pointed again." 

"Why?" I asked. 

"Because I can't play anymore." 

Oh my...little boy you sure do make me smile. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dad and Genise came over last night to visit and they brought Papa Murphy's pizza! How have I lived here this long and never had a Take and Bake Pizza before? SO yummy! But what's even better were the three individual 'Make Your Own Pizzas" for the kids.

Let's just say that three kids can make the EXACT same pizza in three VERY different ways.

 ETHAN'S

 COLTON'S

 HUNTER'S

Hunter made hers with almost adult like precision....sauce, spread like a champ, then cheese, then pepperoni- spread out evenly, baked to precision.

The boys were less eager to get started, but with some encouragement, they obliged.

I made the ULTIMATE mistake with Ethan however, by spreading the sauce on his pizza for him. HOLY CRAPPER BATMAN. I came darn near close to ruining his life by doing so. I ended up having to 'scrape' the sauce back off of the dough. He then proceeded to dump, in one fell swoop, his cheese on top of the dough and finished by plopping about 10 pepperoni onto the pizza. In one pile, mind you. But you know what? He was happy with his cheese 'bread.' He knew exactly what he wanted and didn't want and I made the mistake of assuming he wouldn't really have a preference. Lesson learned.

See? Sauce on= unhappy little  boy.

Sauce off? We're good to go! 

As you can see, he enjoyed his sauceless pizza.  

Colton was pretty agreeable throughout the whole process. He also made his pizza to his liking and ate it like a champ. Leaving behind the crusts for his mommy.  :)

See the crusts he left for me? 

Our big person pizza was yummy, yummy, yummy. And so was the wine I drank it down with!

The big finale came with the stamps they brought for the kids.

Stamps on paper? Fun.

Stamps on skin? Frickin awesome.

Now all we can do is hope that they really are 'washable'. Come one, Melissa & Doug, don't fail us now.  :)

It was a great Sunday evening. The kind that make you feel like extending your 4 day weekend into 5. :)