January Stinks

I've now decided that I hate January - it sucks.

I think I liked it for, oh, maybe two days when we had great snow and the kids actually got to play in it - other than that, it still sucks.

We have been fighting a stomach bug since LAST Friday - Keara first, then Steve, then I had a mild version (thank God), and now Tyler. Dylan seems to be spared, at least for now, but I'm not keeping my hopes up. Oh but Tyler, he is so hard to take when he has a stomach bug. He cries and cries and cries and begs God to help him stop puking - he HATES throwing up.

But, please tell me, who the hell LIKES it?????

He is beyond reasoning when he has a stomach bug - he doesn't hear you tell him that he'll be ok, that it's normal and all part of having a stomach bug. Really, I think he has a phobia - he gets obsessive to the point of madness, I believe.

Point is, I'm ready for summer - not even spring, just summer. Hot, hot, hot - no germs even stand a chance.

Keara's Eye View

Today Keara has decided to do some addition, subtraction, and counting puzzles. Apparantly, she's "really good at minus, mom. Really, I can do minus mom, I can. What goes with the minus?" When she got out these puzzles I knew that my help would be needed, which I'm happy to oblige, when I'm not trying to FINALLY write some posts for my unread blog. But, I did help her separate the puzzles out so that she could do the easy ones - the ones that only require her to count and NOT do the "minus". She likes to feel like she can do "big girl stuff" on her own, so I have to rig it so she's actually doing stuff on her level. And it is "big girl stuff", for her - but she doesn't know it.

She wants to be like Tyler and Dylan and do minute math tests and spelling tests...

When the boys get home from school, she hops up to the kitchen table with them. She gets out her very own notebook which she insists is her "homework notebook" - then she looks at me, pencil in hand and says, "what's the word mom?" She's asking me to give her spelling words for crying out loud! So, I oblige and say, "dog". Keara sits, thinks hard, and starts going, "d-d-d-d-dog" all while scribbling in her "homework notebook." It's quite humorous, yet frightening all at the same time. We continue the charade - I give her spelling words, she "sounds them out" and "writes" them down. Boy oh boy...

Keara's world is far bigger than I can possibly imagine...

Holiday Recap

I am so sad now that the holiday season is done - believe it or not I do love having the kids home with me (most of the time). It is such a nice change to have no commitments, aside from getting out of bed before noon and then playing the Nintendo Wii that Santa thought we so deserved. I honestly feel that the holiday season is stress-FREE, contrary to the stress that many people feel the holidays bring on. I'm such a sappy, sentimental girl and I soak up every holiday and take it for what it is - FREE TIME. That's a valued commodity around here...

Christmas Cut-out cookies are a HUGE favorite of the kids (okay, MINE), and I will NEVER not make cut-out cookies at Christmas time. So, the kids and I made a FOURTH batch of cut-out cookies on Christmas Eve day - SOMEHOW the three batches I had made before disappeared. Really, I had passed out MOST of those to teachers. Really. Anyway, all three kiddos got their hands into the dough, squished it around, ate it, cut out a cookie or two, and placed it on the sheet. It really was fun - man the dough tastes so good. But I only had a bite or two - seriously. Of course once the cookies are baked and cooled, we ice and decorate. The kids don't last too long for this part - I like to take my time and make the cookies look pretty, they like to slap the powdered sugar icing on as fast as possible so they can lick their fingers and sneak a few cookies. I have NO CLUE where they got that from. The boys didn't really help ice much this year, but Keara sure did. I had just iced a candy cane, sprinkled it with red stripes, only to find her slyly licking the icing off the cookie with her tongue while it was still sitting on the counter. Niiiiiiice. Damn, that one had to be eaten.

Cookies aren't really my only favorite thing about the Christmas season. It sure was nice to have Steve home for more than a week. He had vacation days left over, and when you add that with the time he gets for Christmas and New Year's, he ended up being off for over a week. It was nice - plenty of time for me to whoop his ass at Mariokart Wii. Seriously, I'm very good. We had a few unseasonably warm days during so-called "winter break" that we were even able to make it to the zoo! How crazy is that?! But, it was great because we did see lots of animals - and the camels actually had all of their fur! In the summer their fur is usually falling off in clumps and they smell REALLY bad. They still smelled bad when we visited this time, but it wasn't intensified by 90 degree heat - thank goodness. All in all the zoo was a good time - and we were able to break ourselves away from the Wii for several hours. Man, it's gonna SUCK having to regulate Wii time now...

We also managed to ALL get haircuts over break - Keara decided to start her haircut early(2 days before Christmas) and ON HER OWN. How nice. She hacked off the hair on the left side of her head while playing at the craft table in the basement. The scissors have now been placed on top of the fridge - request only. So, she had to have about an inch cut off of her hair (by a professional) that took sooooo long to grow out - but thankfully it is still long, and hair grows. AND, I have figured out how to stylishly part her hair so that the spot is not so noticable.

Overall, our Christmas break was heavenly. I could go on and on about the amazingly wonderful, beautiful, spirit-filled Christmas Eve service we attended at church (talk about feeling the TRUE "reason for the season"), the ripping open of the presents, and the nagging by my beloved 87 year old grandma, but I'll have to save those for another post.

'til next time!

Our Little Corner of the World

I've been working up the courage to do this - even had an intro post already up at one point, but it was crap (I honestly can't believe I left it up, but who was reading anyway?). So, I deleted it, and here I am again. I'm Erin, and I live with my family of 5 (6 if you count the dog) in the grand ol' midwest.

My family consists of me, my husband Steve (techno-geek), my 9 year old son Tyler, my 6 1/2 year old son Dylan, and my 3 1/2 year old daughter Keara (say it with me everyone: Keeeeera. The "a" does not make her name sound like tiara - it's more like the word dear with an "a" at the end.). Oh, and our golden retriever Finnegan who we've lovingly tagged with the nickname "Finnie" - we just couldn't stop ourselves. He's only 8 months old, and at times can be quite the pain in the butt. But, he's loved just the same - as are our kids, all of whom can equally be pains in the butt.

I've been itching to write a blog for some time - thoughts fly through my head at times, and I think "Damn, I really should be writing this down!" Not that my thoughts are all that great, but a lot of the time (ok, MOST of the time) they are often fleeting and jumbled. I need a way to vent, AND remember! Let's face it, life with a good sized family like mine can take quite a toll on your brain function!

I guess I should dish a little more about my kids - they are, after all, the center of my world (right along side the Twilight novels by Stephenie Meyer). Tyler is my cautious, quiet, braniac child - avid reader through and through, thorough planner, strict rule follower (at least at school and other places that "count", home not included), and in need of the most reassurance. Dylan, however, is Tyler's polar opposite. Dylan is my drama KING - life at full speed, overreactions to all things small and trivial, in need of the most approval, and full of hugs and kisses. I have to face his personality head on, seeing as he is EXACTLY like me. **BIG SIGH** However, he got his temper tantrums from his daddy, which I can prove by testimony from Steve's grandma - HA! Now Keara, she is a little ball of fire! She is a girl who loves life from every angle - every moment of every day is a time to sing, dance, laugh, and scream at mom because I'm not playing right. But, she still lets me play with her, even if I make mistakes - at least she's got the acceptance thing going on...

Put all three of this little blessings together (yes, they are blessings, with little quirks as I like to think of them) and you get quite an interesting mix. By interesting I mean that at times my head spins around and I spew pea soup... Honestly though, I do love the sometimes hectic life that comes with a family of 5 - I hope that one day my kids WILL realize just how lucky they are to have each other. Shall I keep dreaming?

For now I will leave my little intro as is - more of an intro to my family, who are honestly the essence of who I am... I'll spill more on myself in later posts - but my vision for this blog is more than talking about myself, I'd really just like to share life's little happenings in general.

'til next time...