Zachey's Superhero Birthday

Let me start by saying this party was probably more for me than Zachey. He has been asking for a big boy birthday since Kenna's last year :) We went with a superhero theme. The Volmers all came, Lucy and Chloe, Grace and Macie from daycare, and Cody from Kindermusik.

I solicited the help from my family as "super hero" trainers. Each had a script and Baca TOTALLY got into it. He went above and beyond and even bought a costume as he was the "villain" :)

The kids came to the party and played for a bit until everyone got there.

Baca showed up and stole the cupcakes saying he hated parties!

Then Kenna took them through a series of warmups, as they were practicing to be superheros. She taught them some karate moves.

Next they went upstairs to hear the story of the villain and why he hated birthdays. Then they got their superhero capes.

Next Gona told them how to diffuse the "bombs" by sitting on the balloons with their bottom. When they were finished they were awarded with masks.

Finally the villain dropped poison on the party and they had to pick it up with tongs and place it into a vat of bubbling liquid. These were converted to bouncy balls.

Then Baca emerged from the basement and they got him with silly string, balls and noise makers. All was forgiven when he apologized and returned the cupcakes :).

Even Rylee dressed up

 

Cape Chels made for Zachey for Christmas

 

 

It all started with a Present

Our bedroom is the last room in the house we haven't really done anything with. It is a big space, and we really just never thought about it? For Christmas Josh got me a one hour consultation with a designer, and he gave us tons of pointers.

So off to work we went! We cleared the whole room, including ALL the trim. We have builders grade oak trim in our entire upper level, and want to transition to white eventually. So, starting with this room.

Sanded all the door jams ad windows, filled holes in the walls. Josh installed a new ceiling fan and 7 can lights, as well as a pendent hookup. TONS of work...and still didn't even look like it!

I needed a work space as I office from home. The dining room table really wasn't getting it done for me anymore :) I LOVE all the space and filing room I have now!!

This picture is before we hung the kids pictures or put grates back up. Eventually there will be a flat screen mounted to the wall opposite the bed, but needing to run power, and save some money first ;) All this paint and molding was pricey!

After the jams were all painted we realized the new doors we bought (upgraded from hollow core for closet and bathroom) wouldn't fit on existing jams, so josh had to pull those out and put in all new doors!

I love the way the top of the windows looks...I feel so productive just sitting in this space! LOVE my bedroom/office now!

McKenna's Schooling

We could really not be more proud of McKenna academically. In our last meeting with Mrs. Dunne she said that she is doing so well. Reading at a 3rd grade level, asking great questions in class, using upper level thinking for retention and strategy. They work on Inquiry projects in class, coming up with a conjecture - and the research she does is quite impressive! We are sad that Mrs. Dunne is having her baby as I just really love what she has done with McKenna this year!

Here is a letter she sent me the other day:

Hi Brandi,

I wanted to let you know McKenna has been using some more sophisticated strategies for solving mental math problems. She has started using an open number line to get to the nearest ten and then move beyond it. For example, when adding 18 + 5, she is working on getting from 18 to 20 for two hops and then 20 to 23 for three hops. Then she can figure out 23 is the sum. She has been just on the cusp of this and seems to now be able to do it more independently.  She'll be able to explain it better in person than I can via e-mail! It's exciting to see her using this kind of strategy! Have a great day!


McKenna - if you are reading this, know that Mommy and Daddy are SOOO proud of you and hope that you always have this thirst for learning! 

Max

Zachey is SOOOO imaginative. He is constantly talking to his animal friends, saying things like "Mom did you see that unicorn?" and including them in his games and conversations. If you have ever seen the mask, Jim Carrey screams in a funny voice, "MAAAXXXX!" Zachey will say that randomly. Maybe when we are getting our shoes on, brushing his teeth, really doing just about anything, he will shout "MAAAXXXX!" Very hilarious. I think he believes that he has an imaginary pet dog most of the time. Unfortunately he is also in a blaming stage. Max pushed me out of the chair, Max dropped my peas on the floor, Max did it.

It took a turn in the extreme direction the other day. He got out of the bath and was drying off in his room. As usual, he was messing around. It usually takes him 30 minutes of occasional prompting to do any simple task. I just let him play in his room, continuously asking "Do you have your jammies on yet?"

All of a sudden, a naked 3 year old boy comes screaming into my room. He was sobbing and yelling "MOM!! Max pooped on the floor!!" I go in his room and there is a small piece of poop on the floor! I looked at Rylee and she did not have her guilty look, I look at Zachey and he is sobbing. I took him in the bathroom and tried not to laugh. I sat him on the potty and asked him why he pooped on the floor.

He kept insisting that Max did it. I read that at this age, kids aren't really lying, because their world is really on the border of fantasy. But, that didn't keep me from making him own up to it. After a little discussion he told me that his "bum couldn't hold it in, he was reading a book and forgot to go into the bathroom."

This has never happened before or since - sure he will be appalled some day to read this, but pretty funny looking back.

Kenna Dinner

Kenna really loves to help in the kitchen. She is getting quite good, really likes to make things look pretty :) She BEGGED me to let her make dinner while I went to get the boys this week. I don't like the idea of leaving her home, but I figured 15 minutes on her own was okay. She was not allowed to use knives or the stove without me. So I came home and she had washed and placed grapes in small bowls, arranged cheese, crackers and ham on the plate, and had a box of mac and cheese ready to go when I got home :) She even put out some fancy place mats and name tags...so cute!

This is Grayson's THRILLED face :)

My Boys Have the BEST Morning Hair :)

When You Leave Your Camera Out

Kenna's view of the world:

Family of Architects or Engineers? Maybe just Lego Designers :)

My kids, like most, are ALL about the legos. They will really get into a project and all three will be working together on something. Grayson has mastered the really tall tower :) Kenna loves to play with the magnetos, designing triangle houses :)

Goofing Around at Bedtime

 YES there is a giant hole in his toe...I just can't throw these out!

They Literally Did this for an Hour....

Zachary Sings "Back Together"

Another Zachary song. Try to ignore Grayson ENDLESSLY asking for juice in the background! :) He had two drinks...sheesh!





Taylor Swift singing it - in case you don't know the song:

Valentines Day

I am not the most creative mom, but I did have a fun time helping Kenna make valentines this year!

 

 Here is her card holder...spray painted milk jug :)

 "You Rock, Valentine" poprocks, girls and boys version

 Made these with a pie press Kathy got me, aren't they cute! We did cookie dough pie, and cherry/nutella pie for daycare families

Also did some red chocolate party mix for my work friends at the school and daycare kids

And we had heart pizza for dinner

Seemed as though we were in a rush, but Kenna helped with a lot of the baking. She did all the pie cut outs and scooped the yummy stuff inside! She is becoming quite the helper in the kitchen!

Olivia crimped Kenna's hair :)

Holy Blog Hiades

I am so crazy busy lately I have not had two minutes to sit and update everyone. We are in the midst of so many thing that it is hard to find time.

We have had the craziest weather, threats to cancel school, then no snow, then today it is snowing like crazy as I stare out of the window from my office. We had a fire alarm go off at the high school the other day in subzero temperatures...ended up being a false alarm, but the poor kids in t-shirts...why don't high schoolers wear coats?

Some other crazy school happenings. I was not awarded an opportunity to interview for Ankeny Schools. The principal and my peers say I am doing an amazing job, but there is a stipulation on the application that I must have 5 years of school counseling experience to apply. I guess my 13+ years of related counseling experience doesn't count...sigh. Oh well there are lots of other potential opportunities.

Two girls were sent home yesterday because they superglued their hands together....for real...two 16 year olds made this decision. Their parents really didn't know what to say. I am sure it will come back that it is somehow the school's fault as so many parents go that direction. It is alarming. Anxious to see what this generation of tech addicted, everyone's a winner, entitled, multiple warnings kids ends up doing when they grow up.

Grayson is just so stinking cute. He is really starting to talk (finally!) It seems he has understood what we have been saying forever, but has just realized he too can communicate! Some of my favorites are "Hi Mommy, daddy, nenna, ackey, wiley" (all our family members.) "Allll dum" (all done, when he is finished with something, dinner, task etc.) "Shews, boots" (he loves footwear, and getting your footwear for you.) And then there is my least favorite the "NO" for everything, even when he means yes...we are working on that one!

He just LOVES his bear and blankey (the one chelsey made him.) And usually if we play "one for the money" he goes right to bed without any problem and sleeps 12 hours, man can that kid sleep! He really wants to "walk" all the time...saying "no, walk" when I try to carry him. He seems to be avoiding most green food, which stinks as he was such a great eater! But he still eats most foods without complaint, quick to ask for "more" and for "juice/milk." I love that he is finding a way to tell us what he wants...so nice to understand him!

We are closing on another rental property this week. Luckily Josh's good friend is looking for a place and will be the perfect renter, so seemed silly to pass up that opportunity! It is definitely the nicest one we have purchased and will probably never have a hard time renting it!

So with that, karate, music class for all three kids, gymnastics, school activities, birthday parties, and NOT having a flexible schedule during these last 8 weeks, been hard to squeeze anything in. On top of that we decided to redo our entire bedroom all the way down to the trim and lighting....pictures to come when we finish! Just doing it in stages, so we have piles of all our things in all the kids rooms as we work on painting, installing lighting and trim, new hardware, etc....what were we thinking :)

Mommy dog pile

Today the kids all played I'm the basement together...UN supervised...for two hours!!! It was awesome. I got to make stuffed chicken and denny and josh worked on our bedroom remodel. Then we watched movies. So fun!

Celebrating the "Lasts"

I read an article today that really got me thinking. As a mom of three young kids I have celebrated every first. First steps, first words, first time using a spoon. Where I need to get better is in thinking about the lasts.

It isn’t often that I think about the last time that Zachary crawled, or the last time I had to feed Grayson. I don’t reflect upon the last time I had to walk Kenna into school, or the last time that any of them woke up for a feeding.

Last night Zachey asked if we could snuggle. I sat in bed with him as he nuzzled his cute little head under my chin and I mentally was making a list of all the things I had to get done that night. He smiled the cutest little smile ever and he said “I love you so much mom.” 

It made me do a gut check…instead of rushing through bedtime and stories, I need to relish this time. I am always in such a hurry to get to the time post bedtime that I never stop to think that this may be the last time Zachey asks to snuggle with me, or the last time Kenna wants to read me the poem she wrote, or show me the art project she is so proud of.

Working with the high schoolers, I can tell which ones are starved for attention, and which ones have been told and know they are good enough. I know which ones have had strong parental influence with high standards and which ones have been left to fend for themselves.

My little three year old taught me something. I am going to try and cherish these moments. The laundry, dinner clean up, meal planning, bill paying, house cleaning can all wait. These small moments of just me and my kids where they WANT to spend time with me, give me kisses and snuggle are limited. I know there will be a time when they would rather hang out with their friends, or listen to music in their bedroom. 

I am putting my commitment in writing that I am going to do my best to try and treasure these moments. Big thanks to all my kids who have shown me over the last week that they want nothing more than some time with their mom. I don’t want to wake up and realize that I have missed out on any of the “lasts.” I love you all so much!