PreK Begins........

Well, my little boy is growing up too. Ryder started Pre-school. He is going on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. He picked out his red backpack, and was SO excited! Though the school day ended with a few tears, he had a great time, and is excited to go back :)

First Day of School!

Still can't believe she's in Kindergarten! I must say, it has me feeling a bit old. She started yesterday, and despite a few gliches like the bus coming early, a lost earring, and a trip to the nurse, and ending by her almost missing her stop to get off the bus...it went well! She was not nervous at all. Actually I think I was more nervous...yup, I'm sure I was. Though she swears she forgot most everything she did during the day, she told me that she did the hokey pokey in music class, and made two friends. One girl had asked Sage to be her friend, and the other, Sage befriended based on the fact that she had a pink shirt on, and Sage liked it.

She gets to ride the school bus with cousin Jesse, so she likes sitting with her, and getting to chat with her everyday even though they are not in the same class.

A Full Day at FANTASY ISLAND!

The plans had been in the works for over a year. My friend Tracy and I had discussed needing someone to go on rides and roller coasters since the hubbys were not into them. We had decided that this year, we would go together, her family and ours, and spend the day at Fantasy Island. Our first scheduled attempt got rained out, but we ended up going during Jay's vacation, so it all worked out perfect. The weather was not too hot, sun and clouds (though the clouds were very present during our time at the water park!...lol).

The first ride the kids went on was the tea cups. They seemed to get a bit dizzy, but had big smiles afterwards, and were all ready for the next ride to come! There were practically no lines, which made for a even better time. The kids ran (Ryder skipped) from one ride to the next. Ryder fell several times, but it didn't detour him. Hearing them giggle ALL day made me so happy. They started wearing down around 4pm, but some pizza gave them their second wind and we ended up staying until 7:30pm.

Tracy and I got to ride the roller coasters and water slides, which I haven't done in 15 yrs! It was SO much fun!

Niagara Falls

Hadn't been to Niagara Falls since Jay and I were dating. It was Jay's idea to take the kids there. They got a kick out of the "big water". They didn't enjoy getting wet by the mist (which was hard to explain because they thought it was smoke). It was great to make memories as a family :)

Blowing on Butterfies

We continued our busy week with a trip to the Strong Museum on Monday. The kids enjoyed it so much last year, and Sage has been asking to go back ever since. Ryder was a bit little to really enjoy the butterfly garden last year, but this year, he would have spent all day there if he could! He kept blowing on the butterflies and talking to them in attempts to make them land on his finger. Unfortunately none did, but he

still had a wonderful time. Sage wore he butterfly dress, as to not scare away the butterflies. She got dressed the second she woke up, and was so excited about going. It was a great time together as a family.

Kids' Birthday Fun! (Sage 5, Ryder 3...almost)

Jay's vacation in August defiantly rivals Christmas as one of the busiest weeks of the year! We started off the week (on Sunday) with the kids' birthday party. Ryder was in his glory! The boy LOVES cake, especially ice cream cake (who doesn't). Then, once he realized half the presents were for him he was SO excited. Both the kids really had a great time, and enjoyed seeing all their friends and family...(despite the down pour accompanied by crazy dark skies). We had the party as a brunch so the kids could still take naps. I made 10 different kinds of muffins (which I will never do again!). Next years party will be later in the day, and we will order a sheet pizza!...lol! Most of the presents were open and being played with by the end of the day, needles to say, they enjoyed their gifts, and are very excited to use their gift cards and money.

Summer Projects Update

Well, though summer has theoretically just begun, we have done SO much!

We started our yearly projects by remodeling our front bathroom. Mind you, "we" didn't do it. We are done with spending never ending hours on house projects, and decided that sometimes it's better just to hire someone. For the bathroom, I found someone on Craigslist (John & John), they did EVERYTHING for $1,650. It was so cool that in a week, I had a new bathroom!

Speaking of Craigslist, I also got my horrible sun-stealing awning taken down for FREE through Craigslist. (I don't have a "after" picture yet)

Well, our BIG project this year was the backyard. After over 6yrs of living with a swamp of a backyard, we finally put drain tile in. Well, drain tile, along with a POOL! Yup, we took the plunge, and got a pool. I am enjoying it very much, and when we get the deck to go along with it next year, it will be even better!

It's AMAZING the difference!!!! Even though our yard is smaller because of the pool, it seems SO big because we can actually use the space now! There was 10" of standing water when the "fixers" started working on the yard. It took them over 3 weeks, and truckloads of stone and topsoil and 2 pallets of sod. We've never been able to use our yard until now, and though it cost a lot of money, I'm SOOOO happy!!!

A Whole Hand

Though I wish she'd stay 4 forever, it was bound to happen, yup, she is now 5!

This year I decided to throw my very first "kids party" for Sage and her friends from PreK. It was fun, a bit hectic trying to make sure I kept all the children accounted for, which there were 9, (plus Ryder). We played musical chairs, and hot potato, and made magic wands and ice cream sundaes with all the fixings. Sage got her pink cake complete with pink frosting...(of course). I even decorated the house with pink balloons and streamers. From the second she woke up on the day of her party she was SO anxious. She got dressed right away, and constantly wanted to know how much longer she had to wait. It was a success, it made her so happy getting all the attention, and she loves all her presents.



On her actually B-day, which was a Sunday,
I brought her home a "Mac and Cheese Pizza", and we had another cake, chocolate this time (for daddy), and she got to open her presents from me and Jay. She got her Heelys, "wheel shoes" as she calls them. They are cool, they've got pink flames. I got myself a pair, though no pink flames, so I could learn how to do them, to teach her. Plus I will admit, I got them for me too, because I thought they were cool, and wanted my own pair. She got her Barbie Hot Tub Party Bus, which is a big RV, with hot tub. It's cool, I just wish Barbie stuff didn't come apart so easy, it's very frustrating when you are the one putting the pieces constantly together over and over.


She is SOOO excited that she is now five, and thinks of herself as so much more mature now and able to do things she couldn't when she was only four.

Though it's hard to see her growing up, I am very proud of the sweet, polite, kind, little girl she is becoming.

Easter...(a bit late)

Ok, so I've been slacking and haven't written about our Easter this year...oops. The weather was a bit chilly, but I expected no different. Sage of course were a dress...when doesn't she...she hasn't worn pants in months. We still haven't ventured into coloring Easter eggs yet. I just don't see the point, it's messy, and we don't eat hard boiled eggs. So until my kids no better, we're leaving that tradition behind. The Easter bunny did hide some plastic eggs with candy inside that the kids got to look for when they woke up. It was the one thing I let them do before I got home from work. We went to Clint and Jen's as soon as I got home, did our Easter brunch there. When we got home the kids were exhausted, and Ryder asked if he could take a nap, though it was after 4pm, but I let him, poor kid. It wasn't until later in the evening that the kids looked for their baskets, they had forgotten about them. They got so much stuff earlier in the day, they didn't even realize there was more...lol. All in all it was nice, and we ended the day by having our traditional Mighty Taco for dinner.

from Dance to Hockey

Go figure, huh. Today was the first day of PeeWee (floor) hockey for Sage. After quiting dance class in November, I was a bit hesitant to sign her up for another class, but I figured we'd give it a shot. She's taking it at the Y, and Jesse is doing it along with her. They are the only girls in the class, but they hold their own, and look adorable doing it. I love that I can watch her (unlike dance). She learned how to hold the stick and practiced shooting. She was so excited to score a goal. I hope she continues to enjoy it, and maybe we'll do some more sports in the next session.

"I DO IT!"

Ahh yes, the phrase I hear over and over again, every day! Ryder's independence is something I am defiantly new to to. Sage to this day, would prefer I do everything for her. Ryder wants to to EVERYTHING himself, it's so frustrating. I love the kid, that's for sure, but tantrums and power wars are something I'd love to do without.

He has come a long way in his speech lately. He's a lot easier to understand, and is putting sentences together. My favorite phase from him would defiantly be his random "Love You", that are always said with the most innocent tone.

When I grow up....I want to be a PRINCESS

So, I bet you didn't know that wearing a skirt under a dress is the perfect way to make a outfit "extra" pretty. I never thought that I'd have a "girly" daughter. I was more the Tomboy type growing up, so I guess I figured my daughter would take after my influence....Apparently not. Sage wants to look as pretty as she can for school everyday, even if that means wearing a skirt on a 10 degree day. Then when she comes home, she wants to put on a sundress to run around the house in. We've invested in tights. I must say though, they make some darn cute tights! Hopefully she won't outgrow the pants I bought her before she outgrows them. Shopping has become a bit more difficult for me. As much as I like to bargain shop, if she doesn't think it's pretty, she won't wear it, and then it's not much of a bargain. She has opened up my "inner pink", I find myself drawn to "pretty" things that I might not have liked before. And yes, according to her About Me book she made in school, she wants to be a Princess when she grows up.....hey, dream big, right?

The Power of a 1/2 Birthday

So I didn't even knew they existed until recently, but apparently they can bring a lot of good. In case you're confused, Sage's Birthday is in July, which because there is no school in July, so she doesn't get left out, in PreK they celebrate a 1/2 Birthday. So, Sage's half Birthday was this past Monday, January 12th. We made magic wand cookies (star cut-outs with a pretzel stick) and decorated them to bring in for snack, and Sage brought her tiara to wear.

Jumping back in time though, Sage has had some real issues with school, and crying lately. Ever since she was sick in the beginning of December, and had to miss a couple days of school she has been crying pretty much every time I'd drop her off at school. Some days the teachers had to pry her away from me, it was pretty bad. We tried punishing her, rewarding her, nothing was working, it was just getting worse. She started crying at every little thing at home. She was even crying about deciding what PJ's to wear. So I decided to make a conscious effort to totally ignore her when she was crying, and not even acknowledge she was crying. The morning of her half Birthday the crying started the second she woke up. Even though she was excited about her snack and her celebration, she was miserable. When I picked her up from school, she was fine. She wanted to have a party. I explained that half birthdays don't really get parties, but gave her a couple gifts anyways. She was very proud and excited about being 4 1/2.

Well today there were no tears! She was excited about going like she used to be, wore her piggytails so she could joke around with her favorite teacher about them. I was in shock about the turn of events...mind you a very happy shock. I didn't mention anything about the lack of crying to her, not wanting to even bring it up. A bit after we got home she proceeded to tell me that she didn't cry about school today because she's 4 1/2. All day she's been listening, and acting better, talking nice, telling me it's because she's 4 1/2 now. Gee, had I had no idea the power of a half birthday. Well, lets hope it lasts. I'm so happy to have my smiling little girl back!