When Kendra can't find Evan. And Mommy can't find Evan. And Mommy calls in the Daddy reinforcements to find Evan. It's possible that Evan was hiding here for a long, long, long time...without so much as a peep.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Fikse dust
Yesterday, Evan and Kendra were playing Fikse dust. When we watched Tinkerbell a while back, they were convinced that they fairies fly using Fikse dust instead of pixie dust. (For those of you needing a pronunciation guide: Our last name, Fikse, rhymes with pixie.)
Back to the story. So, yesterday, Evan and Kendra were putting Fikse dust on everything so it would fly. Quite a while into this game, I hear Evan tell Kendra, "Fikse dust is just pretend. If you feel yourself starting to go up a little bit, that's fine. But you might not."
I loved the little bit of wiggle room he left ... just in case Fikse dust was real.
Back to the story. So, yesterday, Evan and Kendra were putting Fikse dust on everything so it would fly. Quite a while into this game, I hear Evan tell Kendra, "Fikse dust is just pretend. If you feel yourself starting to go up a little bit, that's fine. But you might not."
I loved the little bit of wiggle room he left ... just in case Fikse dust was real.
Stairsteps
Laura had her 2-year home health check yesterday. The nurse was nice enough to weigh and measure Evan and Kendra also. The results? They're still stairsteps!
Laura: 25 lbs 0 oz 34.5"
Kendra: 31 lbs 12 oz 38"
Evan: 35 lbs 0 oz 41.5"
Since Laura was past newborn stage, the kids have always been 5 pounds and 5 inches apart. That's changing a little now though. Evan and Laura are still 10 pounds apart, but Kendra's getting closer to Evan on the weight. And there's only 3.5" in between each of them now. And, I looked back in my handy-dandy I-haven't-written-stuff-in-baby-books-for-two-years-so-it's-all-in-here notebook to find some fun facts:
Evan has grown 1.25" in the last 3 months.
Laura (at 2 years old) is only 0.25" shorter than Kendra was on her 3rd birthday.
Laura weighs 15 oz more than Kendra at 2 years old, but is 2.25" taller.
And, I also learned that I do know where to find Evan's baby book in the attic, but that I seem to be missing any height/weight records for him from his 1st birthday until Laura was born (when he was 3 yrs 2 months). I'm holding out hope that all the sticky notes they were written on are still buried in my bottom desk drawer. Should I look for those soon (unlikely) and find them, I'll probably add the kids' sizes at 2 years to this post. But don't hold your breath...
Laura: 25 lbs 0 oz 34.5"
Kendra: 31 lbs 12 oz 38"
Evan: 35 lbs 0 oz 41.5"
Since Laura was past newborn stage, the kids have always been 5 pounds and 5 inches apart. That's changing a little now though. Evan and Laura are still 10 pounds apart, but Kendra's getting closer to Evan on the weight. And there's only 3.5" in between each of them now. And, I looked back in my handy-dandy I-haven't-written-stuff-in-baby-books-for-two-years-so-it's-all-in-here notebook to find some fun facts:
Evan has grown 1.25" in the last 3 months.
Laura (at 2 years old) is only 0.25" shorter than Kendra was on her 3rd birthday.
Laura weighs 15 oz more than Kendra at 2 years old, but is 2.25" taller.
And, I also learned that I do know where to find Evan's baby book in the attic, but that I seem to be missing any height/weight records for him from his 1st birthday until Laura was born (when he was 3 yrs 2 months). I'm holding out hope that all the sticky notes they were written on are still buried in my bottom desk drawer. Should I look for those soon (unlikely) and find them, I'll probably add the kids' sizes at 2 years to this post. But don't hold your breath...
Cliff
Kendra: Is it in a cliff?
Evan: What's a cliff?
Kendra: It's something you fall in and can't get back out. It's like this big. Or maybe this big, and you can't get out. But maybe you could use a teeter totter to get out. Boing! And then Boing!
Evan: What's a cliff?
Kendra: It's something you fall in and can't get back out. It's like this big. Or maybe this big, and you can't get out. But maybe you could use a teeter totter to get out. Boing! And then Boing!
Friday, December 4, 2009
Interrupting
Mommy: Evan and Laura, are you done with your apple snack?
Evan (doing a maze): Mommy, you're interrupting. I'm trying to concentrate.
Evan (doing a maze): Mommy, you're interrupting. I'm trying to concentrate.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Laura's 2nd birthday
Today, our "baby" turned 2. Determined to get a picture of her on her birthday, I took 130 pictures. Chad said I should point out that, of those 130 pictures, only 6 are usable. And they're all of the cakes. But he's a stinker sometimes, so I won't elaborate on how many pictures were actually good. Or how many pictures were of the cakes.
But, seriously, wouldn't you have taken a lot of pictures of these cakes?!?
On Tuesday, Laura told me she wanted a cow cake. On Wednesday, she told me she wanted a baby cake. For the remainder of Wednesday, she told me every few minutes that she wanted a cow cake. Or a baby cake. Or a baby cow cake. I told her that last one was pushing it.
However, my plan to make a baby (or cow) cake required a round cake, so I made two 9-inch rounds, and she ended up with both a cow cake and a baby cake out of the deal. Ok, enough about the cakes (but aren't they cute!), and on to the birthday girl and her special day.
Evan gave Laura a John Deere tin and 2 matchbox cars. After her first rip of the paper when the John Deere logo was visible, she declared, "John Eere!" Once she was into the tin, she was quite excited as she announced, "cars!"
Chad may have been right about having a few unusable pictures, so he was courteous enough to hold up Laura's new cars for a picture. This proves that he is not only a stinker, but also a goofball.
Evan took it upon himself to read Laura her birthday cards and letters from the great grandparents. Here he is looking troubled because he just read "Hop it's buzzing with fun" instead of "Hope it's buzzing with fun" and knew that didn't make sense.
Evan also brought Laura a birthday blower home from preschool for her birthday. It was a hit.
A big hit.
Chad and I gave her some books from the library's sale shelf. She was pretty enamored with them too.
Kendra painted her face green for Laura's birthday. Ok, this actually had nothing to do with Laura's birthday, but Kendra had a green face today nonetheless.
My mom and dad came over this evening to have cake with us.
Did I mention there were two cute cakes?
And that I'm very humble about them?
The girls wanted the baby to have a pacifier. I was worried it would ruin the cuteness. So our compromise was that I'd stick the pacifier in right before we ate the cake. Laura seemed to think licking frosting off a pacifier was a pretty sweet deal (pun only minimally intended).
Anyway ... Laura liked the cake.
A lot.
My parents brought Laura a farm puzzle. She was pretty excited by it. Because it had a cow.
Did I mention she likes cows?
Ok, just checkin'.
Overall, it was a pretty good day for a 2-year-old.
But, in closing, I'd like to point out: It's not always the camera person's fault when a picture of the birthday girl doesn't turn out...
Because they're yummy
Evan: Daddy, why do foxes and wolves eat cute little animals like bunnies and pigs?
Daddy: Because they're yummy! You like to eat pigs.
Daddy: Because they're yummy! You like to eat pigs.
UPS, GPS, whatever
Evan just said something about the boy in Up dropping his UPS.
Mommy: GPS
Evan: Oh. What's a GPS?
Kendra: It's so you don't get lost.
How exactly does Kendra know what a GPS is?!?
Mommy: GPS
Evan: Oh. What's a GPS?
Kendra: It's so you don't get lost.
How exactly does Kendra know what a GPS is?!?
2 years ago RIGHT NOW
2 years ago right now (at 1:30 a.m.), I was elbowing Chad in the side and said, "Sweetie! My water just broke." He responded with, "what?" To which I replied, "you heard me." And thus began the wonderful part of life known as Laura.
I love you, buggy boo!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
New meal rules: Day 5
Breakfast: Chocolate Malt-o-Meal. Evan ate his entire huge bowl as always. Kendra ate more of hers than usual, but she didn't have her cup of milk with Miralax before breakfast today, so her tummy was empty starting breakfast instead of already full of milk and gurgly. Laura ate hers pretty well too. Success.
Lunch: Leftover homemade pizza from yesterday. Evan ate almost all of his big piece, which was "my" pizza from yesterday. After his first bite, I asked him if that was the kind he wanted or if he wanted me to take that one, and I'd get him a piece from "his" pizza. He said, "no, this one is ok. It just has a little bit of lettuce." Which would actually have been onion or green pepper (both of which he likes but wasn't expecting). Kendra ate a whole piece of pepperoni pizza, minus the back crust. And Laura ate her entire piece of pizza also. YAY! Oh, I mean: success.
Supper: Our first poor meal in the last 5 days. It was leftover potato and bacon soup and honey wheat bread from the other day. Kendra wouldn't try her soup. I had even taken out the big, intimidating, daunting chunks of potato before giving her the bowl. I know she'd like the soup part of it if she'd try it, but she won't try it. She ate one piece of bacon from my bowl, with as little soup on it as you could get without actually washing it off in the sink. Then she ate one bite of bacon with a wee bit of soup on it from her bowl. As soon as it was in her mouth, she was crying (quietly, but crying). We finally convinced her to swallow it so she could have her bread. Evan ate his soup and bread pretty well, then had some apple. Laura did ok too. Not an across-the-board failure, but definitely our worst meal so far since changing our "rules". And Mommy got crabby about it. I'm sure that helped...
Lunch: Leftover homemade pizza from yesterday. Evan ate almost all of his big piece, which was "my" pizza from yesterday. After his first bite, I asked him if that was the kind he wanted or if he wanted me to take that one, and I'd get him a piece from "his" pizza. He said, "no, this one is ok. It just has a little bit of lettuce." Which would actually have been onion or green pepper (both of which he likes but wasn't expecting). Kendra ate a whole piece of pepperoni pizza, minus the back crust. And Laura ate her entire piece of pizza also. YAY! Oh, I mean: success.
Supper: Our first poor meal in the last 5 days. It was leftover potato and bacon soup and honey wheat bread from the other day. Kendra wouldn't try her soup. I had even taken out the big, intimidating, daunting chunks of potato before giving her the bowl. I know she'd like the soup part of it if she'd try it, but she won't try it. She ate one piece of bacon from my bowl, with as little soup on it as you could get without actually washing it off in the sink. Then she ate one bite of bacon with a wee bit of soup on it from her bowl. As soon as it was in her mouth, she was crying (quietly, but crying). We finally convinced her to swallow it so she could have her bread. Evan ate his soup and bread pretty well, then had some apple. Laura did ok too. Not an across-the-board failure, but definitely our worst meal so far since changing our "rules". And Mommy got crabby about it. I'm sure that helped...
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Making up for lack of pictures
I think this has been turning into too text-heavy of a blog lately. Tonight, we'll remedy that!
The other day when I was in Laura's room putting her down for a nap, Evan came in and asked if I would give him a little snuggle when I came out. I told him yes. When I came out of Laura's room, I found this:
I assumed Kendra was giving Evan his little snuggle, but they informed me that they were sitting in their "thinking chair". This is one of those pictures that makes me love my kids even more (if that's possible to love them even more).
During the almost-a-month of having the "little playground" in the living room (it recently went back to the basement for 2 days but then returned the living room after repeated, polite, and very frequent requests for it), there were a few days that diaper boxes were the preferred vehicle for going down the slide:
(My favorite part is Laura on the right, waiting patiently for her turn, while sitting in her box.)
When they weren't using their boxes on the slide, the kids were doing fun things like this (whatever "this" may be):
There was a fight about the boxes that morning though, and Kendra was quite upset. But since we see her cry face so often, I thought I should take a picture of it:
Evan, however, has decided that he should single-handedly make sure all pictures are happy pictures, so this was the first attempt at taking a picture of Kendra crying:
As a side note about the crying, I often tell Kendra that she can do [whatever she had wanted to do or that we're going to do] as soon as she's done crying and to let me know when she's done. In the last couple of days, Laura has picked up on this. So Laura now comes to me 2-3 minutes after she's quit crying about [getting hurt or being mad] and announces, "I done crying."
Over Thanksgiving, we went to Chad's sister's house. His parents were there also. Never let it be said that a book-loving and willing-to-read grandma won't be taken advantage of:
We also had an early birthday celebration for Laura and her cousin Morgan while we were there. Morgan got to open her presents first. While she did that, Laura opened the entertainment center doors. I'm pretty sure this is her "what? I shouldn't be climbing in there?" look:
She got a Little People princess carriage for her birthday:
It gets played with a lot at home. Not necessarily by Laura though. Evan and Kendra have discovered that our Loving Family doll family (which is arranged just like our family with a Dad, Mom, boy, and 2 girls -- so they're named Daddy, Mommy, Evan, Kendra, and Laura) fits perfectly in the carriage. Usually with the princess driving. I would feel honored that our family has a princess as their chauffeur, but there's been a cow driving the boat lately.
Laura also got a washable coloring book. Huge hit! She likes that she now has unlimited marker access. Evan and Kendra like that it's a new big coloring book. Chad and I like that it's washable and can be used over and over.
And, last, in case I haven't mentioned on here how very very much I love hearing Evan read to his sisters, I caught a picture of it. Is this not the most perfect brother-sister moment ever:
Or maybe this was the most perfect brother-sister moment ever:
Either way, I'm glad they all get along!
New meal rules: Day 4
Breakfast: I made Shredded Wheat Banana Raisin muffins (made with Frosted Mini Spooners this time). Evan had 8 mini ones gone before the regular size ones were out of the oven; he had all but 2 bites of a regular size one also. (So how in the world were his pants still falling off after breakfast?!?) Kendra looked at one for a while and maybe had a couple of bites. Laura ate most of 2 mini muffins. No one complained. The girls worked their way through a couple more muffins later in the morning. Success!
Lunch: Chad was home this morning so he made homemade pizza. He let the kids choose their toppings. Evan ate all of his piece of pizza except one bite of crust. Kendra had half of her personal size pizza. Laura had a few bites of her piece. No one complained. Success!
Supper: Chad works on Tuesday evenings, so it's often a "fun" supper for the kids and me. Tonight, they got to have "living room supper", where they get to eat in the living room and watch a movie (tonight was the My Friends Tigger & Pooh Christmas DVD). It's also an easy, "cheater" supper for me or a chance to clean out the fridge. Evan had half of a lunchmeat (bologna, to most people) sandwich and half of a huge apple. Kendra had most of a bowl of macaroni and cheese (with pureed squash) leftover from last night. Laura's tray had apple slices, Wheat Thins crackers, and a few pieces of Canadian bacon that didn't go on pizza at lunch. She had a fair amount of yogurt while I was getting their supper ready. After I put Evan and Kendra to bed, she worked on her supper and the rest of Evan's. No one complained. Everyone ate. They got to watch a movie. And I had everyone to bed on time. Success all around!
Lunch: Chad was home this morning so he made homemade pizza. He let the kids choose their toppings. Evan ate all of his piece of pizza except one bite of crust. Kendra had half of her personal size pizza. Laura had a few bites of her piece. No one complained. Success!
Supper: Chad works on Tuesday evenings, so it's often a "fun" supper for the kids and me. Tonight, they got to have "living room supper", where they get to eat in the living room and watch a movie (tonight was the My Friends Tigger & Pooh Christmas DVD). It's also an easy, "cheater" supper for me or a chance to clean out the fridge. Evan had half of a lunchmeat (bologna, to most people) sandwich and half of a huge apple. Kendra had most of a bowl of macaroni and cheese (with pureed squash) leftover from last night. Laura's tray had apple slices, Wheat Thins crackers, and a few pieces of Canadian bacon that didn't go on pizza at lunch. She had a fair amount of yogurt while I was getting their supper ready. After I put Evan and Kendra to bed, she worked on her supper and the rest of Evan's. No one complained. Everyone ate. They got to watch a movie. And I had everyone to bed on time. Success all around!
Kids in a nutshell
As I was chatting with my friend Kati this morning, we started talking about how few years it is until our kids will be grown. So we decided we should instead talk about how cute and small and funny our kids are now. Here was my one paragraph without-forethought description of my kids:
Evan, my first, he's the most caring kid I know. He does all he can to help everyone "find their happy". He'll give me kisses on my leg when I'm upset. He'll take a toy to Kendra or Laura when they're upset. He'll do a silly voice or dance to try and make them laugh when they cry. He has always amazed me with what he can do, and I'm always proud of him.
Kendra, my first girl. She's the hot-and-cold child. She can aggravate like no other, and she can make you love like no other. She is a snuggler and would love to be held all day. She has problems calming down when she's upset, but all would probably be fine if I could take a few minutes (like 60) to snuggle her all better. She's gorgeous, and she likes being a goofball with her siblings.
Laura, my baby. She has a temper. And she has a lot of love. She can make me laugh with her "jokes" and games she plays. She is a mommy's girl and would be happy being held all day. She is very independent, yet she follows everything her brother and sister do instead of making her own decisions. I want to keep her this age forever.
I have 3 kids who wear me out every day, and I sometimes fantasize about the day when they're older. Yet, when I stop and think about it, I'd much rather stop time right where we are now and keep them small and happy and loving-each-other as long as I can!
Evan, my first, he's the most caring kid I know. He does all he can to help everyone "find their happy". He'll give me kisses on my leg when I'm upset. He'll take a toy to Kendra or Laura when they're upset. He'll do a silly voice or dance to try and make them laugh when they cry. He has always amazed me with what he can do, and I'm always proud of him.
Kendra, my first girl. She's the hot-and-cold child. She can aggravate like no other, and she can make you love like no other. She is a snuggler and would love to be held all day. She has problems calming down when she's upset, but all would probably be fine if I could take a few minutes (like 60) to snuggle her all better. She's gorgeous, and she likes being a goofball with her siblings.
Laura, my baby. She has a temper. And she has a lot of love. She can make me laugh with her "jokes" and games she plays. She is a mommy's girl and would be happy being held all day. She is very independent, yet she follows everything her brother and sister do instead of making her own decisions. I want to keep her this age forever.
I have 3 kids who wear me out every day, and I sometimes fantasize about the day when they're older. Yet, when I stop and think about it, I'd much rather stop time right where we are now and keep them small and happy and loving-each-other as long as I can!
Monday, November 30, 2009
New meal rules: Day 3
Breakfast: A hurried morning to get Evan to preschool meant everyone chose their own breakfast (translation: not healthy). Evan chose Frankenberry cereal and ate most of it. Kendra chose Frankenberry cereal and ate all of it. Laura chose a PopTart and some dry Frankenberry; she ate half of the PopTart and a few of the Frankenberry cereal pieces. I told the girls they wouldn't get a snack if they didn't finish their breakfast. In an effort to get a snack (Wheat Thins), Kendra helped Laura finish her breakfast (by eating some of it and by feeding some of it to Laura) at 10:30. Does it count as finishing your breakfast if you have help?
Lunch: Chad was gone to see his chiropractor, so the kids and I had macaroni and cheese with pureed squash in it. Evan ate all of his. Kendra ate all but a couple bites of hers. Laura ate several bites of hers and had 3 little non-sippycup glasses of water. There were zero complaints, and there was good dinner conversation. The kids each got a cupcake leftover from Thanksgiving, which of course they each at all of. :)
Snack: Laura woke up from her nap at 4:00. I gave her 2 sticks of cheese and a few crackers. I gave Kendra some crackers. Laura ate all but 2 of her crackers; Kendra got busy and forgot about hers. At 5:30 or so, Laura asked if she could have Kendra's crackers. I told her I'd grab her 2 she had left. She ate them while I put Kendra's untouched crackers back in the box. Limited snacking before a meal: Achieved.
Supper: Hamburger and biscuit casserole, with pureed squash mixed in of course. Evan looked at it on the table and said, "I'm going to eat all of it!" He ate all of the hamburger part and all but a couple bites of the biscuit from his bowl. Success. Kendra bumped her chin on the table when getting on her chair and had a rough, crying start to supper. But, once she calmed down, she at all of her hamburger part. No biscuit, but she simply said, "I don't want a biscuit. I just want the hamburger." No whining; simple statement. Success. Laura's bowl had the biscuit cut up and mixed into the hamburger part. She ate about half of hers before leaving the table; then she finished it when I'd give her bites as she ran past. Success. Supper rating overall: Huge success!
Lunch: Chad was gone to see his chiropractor, so the kids and I had macaroni and cheese with pureed squash in it. Evan ate all of his. Kendra ate all but a couple bites of hers. Laura ate several bites of hers and had 3 little non-sippycup glasses of water. There were zero complaints, and there was good dinner conversation. The kids each got a cupcake leftover from Thanksgiving, which of course they each at all of. :)
Snack: Laura woke up from her nap at 4:00. I gave her 2 sticks of cheese and a few crackers. I gave Kendra some crackers. Laura ate all but 2 of her crackers; Kendra got busy and forgot about hers. At 5:30 or so, Laura asked if she could have Kendra's crackers. I told her I'd grab her 2 she had left. She ate them while I put Kendra's untouched crackers back in the box. Limited snacking before a meal: Achieved.
Supper: Hamburger and biscuit casserole, with pureed squash mixed in of course. Evan looked at it on the table and said, "I'm going to eat all of it!" He ate all of the hamburger part and all but a couple bites of the biscuit from his bowl. Success. Kendra bumped her chin on the table when getting on her chair and had a rough, crying start to supper. But, once she calmed down, she at all of her hamburger part. No biscuit, but she simply said, "I don't want a biscuit. I just want the hamburger." No whining; simple statement. Success. Laura's bowl had the biscuit cut up and mixed into the hamburger part. She ate about half of hers before leaving the table; then she finished it when I'd give her bites as she ran past. Success. Supper rating overall: Huge success!
Bestest friend
Angelo's over here babysitting for a little bit this afternoon/evening while I work. He hasn't been here for a few weeks, and Evan and Kendra have been missing him horribly. They're playing "scavenger hunt". One person sits on the couch and tells the others things to find and bring to them. Evan told Angelo to find a Laura. Angelo brought Laura to Evan, and Evan said, "She's my bestest friend, ya know!"
Is it too much to hope that my kids like each other this much when they're older?
Is it too much to hope that my kids like each other this much when they're older?
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Need some color
Things have been a little text-heavy around here lately. Thought we needed some color.
New meal rules: Day 2
Breakfast: Leftover pancakes and bacon. Evan ate. Kendra ate. Laura ate some. No one complained. Success!
Dinner (which is lunch to most of you): Leftover french toast and garlic bread for Evan -- he ate. Leftover spaghetti for Kendra -- she ate. Leftover spaghetti for Laura -- she might have had a bite or two. No one complained. Success! (Refrigerator cleanout, which used to be a favorite meal of everyone's because they got to choose what they wanted from the leftovers in the fridge, is temporarily changing to a non-choice meal. I will make the kids' plates in the kitchen, then take them to the table already prepared. We have had refrigerator cleanout a lot in the last few weeks, and it was causing problems because the kids were thinking they would get to choose every meal. It will go back to being a choose-your-own meal soon, but not for a couple of weeks probably.)
Supper: Potato bacon soup and homemade honey wheat bread, then yogurt. Evan ate bread, some soup, and yogurt. Kendra finally obliged to eating one bacon bite with as little soup on it as possible, bread, and yogurt. Laura ate a couple bites of bread, a few bites of soup, and yogurt. Evan didn't complain. Laura didn't complain much. Kendra sat and pouted quietly. Success! Ok, so maybe not quite success. But there was no yelling, crying, or screaming (from the kids or the parents), so it still counts as a mostly-success.
So far, I think this new plan is working out great for Chad and me. I'm not stressed out about if someone's going to eat what's for that meal. I'm not thinking about what I can quickly make for them instead. I'm not snapping at them about not eating. If nothing else, it's making my life less stressful for now!
Note: I know I'm opening myself up to criticism (ya know, if anyone read my blog) about the foods we eat by posting this on here. So, please don't criticize too much. Right now, we're just working on getting everyone to eat the same meal, or to at least sit quietly instead of throwing a fit about every meal. Baby steps.
Another note, mostly to me for future reference: The kids really aren't that poor of eaters. Evan has started eating nearly everything set in front of him lately and hardly ever complains about it. If he doesn't prefer what is offered, he will eat the parts of the meal he likes, then he'll ask if he can have cereal/sandwich/yogurt/tortilla. Kendra has always been a pretty picky eater. She goes in spurts of how good she does at accepting what's in a meal. Lately, it's been on the downhill side. Laura has always been a good eater, but she has started looking to Kendra to see how to react to things. When she sees Kendra complaining about a food, Laura won't eat it either, even if it's something she really likes. Laura's recent trend of following Kendra's lead is what prompted the new mealtime approach. I wasn't handling it well when 2/3 of the kids were complaining about every meal and not eating it.
Dinner (which is lunch to most of you): Leftover french toast and garlic bread for Evan -- he ate. Leftover spaghetti for Kendra -- she ate. Leftover spaghetti for Laura -- she might have had a bite or two. No one complained. Success! (Refrigerator cleanout, which used to be a favorite meal of everyone's because they got to choose what they wanted from the leftovers in the fridge, is temporarily changing to a non-choice meal. I will make the kids' plates in the kitchen, then take them to the table already prepared. We have had refrigerator cleanout a lot in the last few weeks, and it was causing problems because the kids were thinking they would get to choose every meal. It will go back to being a choose-your-own meal soon, but not for a couple of weeks probably.)
Supper: Potato bacon soup and homemade honey wheat bread, then yogurt. Evan ate bread, some soup, and yogurt. Kendra finally obliged to eating one bacon bite with as little soup on it as possible, bread, and yogurt. Laura ate a couple bites of bread, a few bites of soup, and yogurt. Evan didn't complain. Laura didn't complain much. Kendra sat and pouted quietly. Success! Ok, so maybe not quite success. But there was no yelling, crying, or screaming (from the kids or the parents), so it still counts as a mostly-success.
So far, I think this new plan is working out great for Chad and me. I'm not stressed out about if someone's going to eat what's for that meal. I'm not thinking about what I can quickly make for them instead. I'm not snapping at them about not eating. If nothing else, it's making my life less stressful for now!
Note: I know I'm opening myself up to criticism (ya know, if anyone read my blog) about the foods we eat by posting this on here. So, please don't criticize too much. Right now, we're just working on getting everyone to eat the same meal, or to at least sit quietly instead of throwing a fit about every meal. Baby steps.
Another note, mostly to me for future reference: The kids really aren't that poor of eaters. Evan has started eating nearly everything set in front of him lately and hardly ever complains about it. If he doesn't prefer what is offered, he will eat the parts of the meal he likes, then he'll ask if he can have cereal/sandwich/yogurt/tortilla. Kendra has always been a pretty picky eater. She goes in spurts of how good she does at accepting what's in a meal. Lately, it's been on the downhill side. Laura has always been a good eater, but she has started looking to Kendra to see how to react to things. When she sees Kendra complaining about a food, Laura won't eat it either, even if it's something she really likes. Laura's recent trend of following Kendra's lead is what prompted the new mealtime approach. I wasn't handling it well when 2/3 of the kids were complaining about every meal and not eating it.
Lots of little stories
There have been a lot of little things I've wanted to blog about lately but haven't had the chance. So, this is the catch-up post.
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Over Thanksgiving, we stayed at Chad's sister's house. The second night we were there, I woke up to a Boom. When I looked down toward Evan and Kendra sleeping at the foot of our bed, Evan was crawling back onto the air mattress. I fell back asleep. And was again awoken with a Boom. Evan was climbing back onto the air mattress. Fell asleep. Boom. Evan climbing. Asleep. Boom. Climbing. Sleep. Boom. Climb. 5 times in 25 minutes. A minute or two later, Evan says, "Daddy?"
Daddy: What, Bubbo?
Evan: Can you adjust my footrest?
Daddy: What?
Evan: Can you adjust my footrest?
I get out of bed and go check to see if Evan has a blanket wadded up under his feet or something. Nope, he's fine. Sound asleep and never knew I came down to check on him. Chad and I go back to sleep.
Evan: Daddy?
Daddy: What, Bubbo?
Evan: Will you adjust my foot now?
Daddy: Yes, I can adjust your foot.
Chad goes and checks Evan's foot, which does indeed need adjusted. Chad adjusts it, and gets back in bed. We all go back to sleep, and Evan barely wiggled the rest of the night. But, three days later, I'm still chuckling about him asking if Daddy can adjust his footrest!
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Last night, I woke up to Evan hollering for Mommy (These first two stories are unusual since Evan is the one who normally sleeps through the night.) I go upstairs and ask him what's wrong.
Evan: There's something weird going on. I was having a lot of bad dreams, so I prayed and asked God to make them stop, but they didn't stop.
Mommy: Ok, let's pray again. Dear God, please take away Evan's bad dreams and let him sleep well the rest of the night. Thank you. Amen. Evan, can you tell me something happy you'd like to dream about?
Evan: Coloring
Mommy: Ok, I want you to close your eyes and think about a picture you'd like to color. Then hopefully when you fall asleep, you'll dream about that instead of having bad dreams.
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One morning last week, we had bacon with breakfast. The following comments came forth.
Evan: That pig fries bacon really well.
Kendra: That's some good pig!
This morning, the kids had the leftover pancakes and bacon for breakfast. The first thing said at breakfast you ask?
Kendra: Bacon is made from pigs, ya know.
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Chad and I have been laughing a lot lately about things the kids say or used to say. Some of our favorites are:
-Kendra saying "kwell" for "well" when thinking about something. Always with her eyes turned up toward the ceiling and her hips swaying. Kwell...
-"I scared of skonks." Kendra developed a fear of skunks a year and half ago during the 4th of July parade when someone had a skunk float made from a skidloader and it "sprayed" right in front of her. She told everyone regularly for almost a year "I scared of skonks."
-Laura, having picked up on Kendra's use of "well" and "ummm" when starting a story, will say "ummm (tongue click) ummm (tongue click) ummm (tongue click) ... Gamma's house?!" Then I respond with "no, we're not going to Gandma's house." So she continues, "ummm (tongue click) ummm (tongue click) ummm (tongue click) ... Gampa's house?!" To which I reply, "no, we're not going to Grandpa's house." Terribly cute!
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Yesterday on the way to Evan and Kendra's last swimming lesson, Chad and I saw a small roadkill of some kind. I asked what it was. He said maybe it was a cat. I said it looked like a coyote but way too small. We discussed it for a bit. Then he said "it was cat-sized. You know, fwoop. It catsized." (as in it tipped over, or capsized) We laughed the rest of the way to the Y for swimming lessons. I know laughing is good for you, but, really, should a joke about "catsized" roadkill be one of the reasons I love being married to this guy?!?
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I know there are many more stories from the last couple of weeks, but this is all I can come up with right now.
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Over Thanksgiving, we stayed at Chad's sister's house. The second night we were there, I woke up to a Boom. When I looked down toward Evan and Kendra sleeping at the foot of our bed, Evan was crawling back onto the air mattress. I fell back asleep. And was again awoken with a Boom. Evan was climbing back onto the air mattress. Fell asleep. Boom. Evan climbing. Asleep. Boom. Climbing. Sleep. Boom. Climb. 5 times in 25 minutes. A minute or two later, Evan says, "Daddy?"
Daddy: What, Bubbo?
Evan: Can you adjust my footrest?
Daddy: What?
Evan: Can you adjust my footrest?
I get out of bed and go check to see if Evan has a blanket wadded up under his feet or something. Nope, he's fine. Sound asleep and never knew I came down to check on him. Chad and I go back to sleep.
Evan: Daddy?
Daddy: What, Bubbo?
Evan: Will you adjust my foot now?
Daddy: Yes, I can adjust your foot.
Chad goes and checks Evan's foot, which does indeed need adjusted. Chad adjusts it, and gets back in bed. We all go back to sleep, and Evan barely wiggled the rest of the night. But, three days later, I'm still chuckling about him asking if Daddy can adjust his footrest!
----------
Last night, I woke up to Evan hollering for Mommy (These first two stories are unusual since Evan is the one who normally sleeps through the night.) I go upstairs and ask him what's wrong.
Evan: There's something weird going on. I was having a lot of bad dreams, so I prayed and asked God to make them stop, but they didn't stop.
Mommy: Ok, let's pray again. Dear God, please take away Evan's bad dreams and let him sleep well the rest of the night. Thank you. Amen. Evan, can you tell me something happy you'd like to dream about?
Evan: Coloring
Mommy: Ok, I want you to close your eyes and think about a picture you'd like to color. Then hopefully when you fall asleep, you'll dream about that instead of having bad dreams.
----------
One morning last week, we had bacon with breakfast. The following comments came forth.
Evan: That pig fries bacon really well.
Kendra: That's some good pig!
This morning, the kids had the leftover pancakes and bacon for breakfast. The first thing said at breakfast you ask?
Kendra: Bacon is made from pigs, ya know.
----------
Chad and I have been laughing a lot lately about things the kids say or used to say. Some of our favorites are:
-Kendra saying "kwell" for "well" when thinking about something. Always with her eyes turned up toward the ceiling and her hips swaying. Kwell...
-"I scared of skonks." Kendra developed a fear of skunks a year and half ago during the 4th of July parade when someone had a skunk float made from a skidloader and it "sprayed" right in front of her. She told everyone regularly for almost a year "I scared of skonks."
-Laura, having picked up on Kendra's use of "well" and "ummm" when starting a story, will say "ummm (tongue click) ummm (tongue click) ummm (tongue click) ... Gamma's house?!" Then I respond with "no, we're not going to Gandma's house." So she continues, "ummm (tongue click) ummm (tongue click) ummm (tongue click) ... Gampa's house?!" To which I reply, "no, we're not going to Grandpa's house." Terribly cute!
----------
Yesterday on the way to Evan and Kendra's last swimming lesson, Chad and I saw a small roadkill of some kind. I asked what it was. He said maybe it was a cat. I said it looked like a coyote but way too small. We discussed it for a bit. Then he said "it was cat-sized. You know, fwoop. It catsized." (as in it tipped over, or capsized) We laughed the rest of the way to the Y for swimming lessons. I know laughing is good for you, but, really, should a joke about "catsized" roadkill be one of the reasons I love being married to this guy?!?
----------
I know there are many more stories from the last couple of weeks, but this is all I can come up with right now.
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