Max and Jack both woke up at 8:30. We sat on the couch and watched the Mighty Machines DVD. Max sure loves the race car one. He likes watching them change the tires. Hailey didn't wake up until almost 10:00. She was up an hour past her bedtime last night and then had a hard time falling alseep. We played restaurant with the play food. I set up the kids little folding table. We all took turns being the waitress/waiter. Hailey got out a pen and pad of paper to take our orders. Max also enjoyed using the notepad when it was his turn. He copied every thing he saw Hailey do. Hailey thought it was funny when I brought my little girl (one of her dolls) to her restaurant and pretended to have her spill her milk. She pretended to clean it up. Then I had the baby throw her plate on the floor. She said "I guess she's not very hungry. We better take her food away." Max said "Dat's a big mess. We better clean it up." They pretended to wipe up the spilled milk off the table and the floor. After pretending to go home and then coming back to the restaurant again, Hailey gave Max and my little girl a happy meal with a toy. This made Max so happy and he was really excited to open it to see what toy he got. (She used the orange peel to hide it in). He opened it and said "Oh, it's a ball! I weally wike it." When daddy got home from work, he had the kids help him decorate my birthday cake. They told me not to come in the kitchen cause it was a surprise. Hailey said "You cant' know what we're doing." Hailey and Max sure were excited about it. When they were done, Max said "Mommy, we made a cake for you, for your dareday!" Hailey said "Shhh don't tell her." We ate dinner and then the kids had me go out of the room again while they lit the candles. They surprised me and put tons of candles on it (I counted and they had put 24 on, the whole pack). They had big smiles on their faces when they showed me. Hailey said "We had to put tons of candles on cause your really old. But not as old as a grandma." Max was also excited to show me the "worm" on my cake. He had asked daddy to draw a worm while he was writing Happy Birthday on it. I let Jack try icecream for the first time. He liked it but made a face cause it was so cold. He'd make a face after every bite but then would open his mouth for more. After we finished eating our cake and icecream, we went outside and took a walk around the block. Hailey picked me a bunch fo flowers (dandelions) on the way, every one she saw. When we got back, Hailey and Max ran to go see Nova, who was laying out on the porch. They took turns throwing the ball for her to chase. We visited with Ken and Connie for awhile before heading inside to start bedtime routines. While I got the boys to bed, Hailey and Daddy went and got me a mocha.

Jack trying ice cream for the first time.

Max and Jack both woke up early this morning, before the alarm went off to take Hailey to school. I felt rushed this morning with all three kids awake while we were getting ready. Usually I don't wake the boys until about 10 minutes before we have to leave. I wait until we get back to feed them breakfast, so I just quick get them dressed and go. Jack wanted to eat when he woke up so I had to feed him. By the time I got done feeding him, we only had about 20 minutes to get all of us ready. It just goes so much slower getting Hailey and Max ready together. They talk while eating breakfast so that takes alot longer. I was glad that Bruce had already fed the puppy before he left for work. That was a big help. (The puppy still likes her food softened and warmed.) While I was buckling Max in his carseat, he said "You look pretty, mommy." I wondered why he kept staring at me ever since I got dressed this morning. I had put my hair in a pony tail which I hadn't done since I got my hair cut. I guess he likes my hair up. He is so sweet. I felt like we were running late but we got to school about 5 minutes early. Hailey had a substitute teacher today. The teacher introduced herself to Hailey when we got there but Hailey was acting really shy and didn't talk to her. I wasn't sure if she was just tired or if it was cause it was somebody new. By the time I picked her up though she was talking to her, and she told me all about her on the way home. It sounded like she had a fun day. We stayed outside and played for awhile when we got home. The yard was very wet so the kids couldn't swing. Hailey and Max picked all the dandylions in the yard. They were excited to give them to me. Max said "I picked dese for you for your dareday (birthday)." Hailey slipped and fell in the water and got all muddy. I got the bikes out for the kids to ride on. I walked the puppy on the leash. She actually walked with me a little bit. She did much better today and it didn't seem to bug her so much. Jack kept leaning over cause he wanted down to crawl in the grass. It was too wet though so I coulnd't put him down. We stayed outside until lunchtime. After lunch, we read some books before putting the boys down for their nap. While I was reading Jack his Touch and Feel books, he saw the puppy and said "Pa-pee" He loves to feel the soft animals. His favorite is the puppy and kitty. I told him what a kitty says and then he copied me making a very high pitch sound. He did it every time we turned back to that page after that. He also likes when I ask him where his nose is. He breaths really loud through his nose whenever I ask him and then grabs my nose cause he wants me to do it too, which always gets him laughing. Hailey rested on the couch for an hour. Then we watched Clifford. Bruce called from work and said he had to stay late. He didn't get home until 6:45. He picked up a pizza on the way home for dinner. Jack sure loves pushing his car on the hard floor. He gives it a push and then chases it. It's funny cause he crawls as fast as he can to go get it. While he was playing on the living room floor, he looked up and noticed the ceiling fan was on. It really scared him and he started crying really hard. I picked him up and he held onto me very tight as he kept looking up at it. He wouldn't let me put him back down in the living room. I had to put him in his bedroom to play in there instead. Max said "Daddy worked for a weally long time today." I was suprised he had noticed that daddy worked longer today since I didn't say anything to him about it. After we ate dinner, we headed over to Meijer for diapers and milk. Max again told me I looked pretty. Then he said "You look pretty too, Haywee." As we were walking through Meijer, Max said he had to go pee really bad. I said I'd take him but was still heading in the wrong direction. He said "The bathroom's not this way. It's that way. Silly mommy." I turned around and he showed me exactly how to get there. We were all the way on the other sdie of the store. He laughed as I acted like I was going to turn the wrong way a couple times. He said "No, mommy dat's da wong way. You are silly." When we got home, Jack cried as soon as I put him down on the floor in the living room. He looked up right away remembering the fan. (I had forgotton all about this, but he was scared of the fan last year when he was only a couple months old. We haven't turned it on since then.) He was fine though once we turned it off. While he's crying, he talks like he's complaining and telling us all about it. (Just like Hailey did when she was a baby.) Hailey said "That's cute when he cries like that." We didn't get the kids in bed until 9:00.

Hailey dressed Max up. He looked so funny walking around the house with this big hat on.


Hailey made a "house" with the table and then piling a bunch of stuff around it and throwing a blanket on top. She crawled inside and peeked out her "window" at me.


Jack is always peeking over at Max from his crib. He pulls the bumper pad down to see. He does this as I'm tucking Max in and also first thing when he wakes up. I think sometimes Jack wakes Max up doing this cause he'll talk to him very loudly too.

While Hailey and Max were eating breakfast, Hailey started counting her Cheerios. Max was really watching and paying close attention as she counted. He said "You are good at dat, Haywee." Hailey then said "Thank you, Max." I worked all day on cleaning and getting stuff out of the house. I washed the counters, stove, fridge, windows, mirrors, and walls. I also cleaned up the rest of the clutter and got many of the toys out of the house. Hailey sure was a big help at keeping the house clean. She cleaned up everything she got out as soon as she was done playing with it. I didn't even have to ask her. And she also reminded Max to pick his toys up when he was done playing with them, and he actually listened to her. Then she went around picking up the dog toys and Jack's toys when they were done playing too. She sure is excited about selling the house and kept saying "We got to make sure our house is really clean so they want to buy it." Hailey and Max helped me dust and then wash all the windows and mirrors. While we were cleaning, Max said "You should get a bean cause you are bein nice, mommy." The house sure looked good when we were done. Bruce got home around 4:30 and took a few things out to the shed for me. Then I took the kids and went to McDonald's. The lady was supposed to show up at 5:00, but Bruce called me at 6:00 and said she hadn't showed up. He called her and she said she had forgotten and she would be over in a half an hour. I didn't want to sit a McDonald's that long so we decided to go visit grandpa. As soon as I mentioned that we were going to grandpa's house, the kids got their shoes and coats on and didn't even want to go back though the playplace one more time. Aunt Jodi was there visiting too. Grandpa had Hailey really giggling when he'd catch her and tickle her feet. Aunt Jodi and Hailey were rolling the ball back and forth with Jack in the middle. He'd crawl back and forth trying to get it. He was cracking up laughing when Hailey would quick reach in front of him to get it or whenever the ball rolled over his hands. It was so funny. He also was laughing really hard when Hailey was hiding behind the chair and would come out and say "Boo". Hailey stuck a toy in Jack's hood and he started shaking his head to get it out. We were all laughing at him so then he just started doing it to show off. He had a huge smile on his face as he did it and we were all laughing. He loves getting everyone's attention and making us laugh. We also got some good laughs watching the puppy chase her tail. She caught it a couple times and holds it as she turns around in circles. She also chased a ball around that was too big for her mouth. It[s funny cause she plays like a cat, using her feet to push it around. Grandpa enjoyed watching her and also got to hold her on his lap for awhile. She layed right next to him in the chair. Around 7:30, Bruce called and said the lady still didn't show up. (Too bad but at least our house is clean.) I stayed and visited for a little while longer and then headed home to get the kids to bed cause they were starting to get very grumpy. Hailey asked daddy if the lady liked the house and was disappointed when he told her she didn't come. She said "Then she lied." We read books and then Hailey asked if she could read the Bible story herself tonight. She picked the one about baby Jesus. She "read" it as she looked at the pictures. We've read many different versions of that story with all the different books and Bibles. She sure remembered alot. I don't think she missed a single detail. At one point she said "And then Mary wondered... That means she thinked." It was funny how she paused in the middle of the story to tell me what wondered means. When she finished she said "Didn't I do good? That's cause I can really read now." She said "Write that down in my baby book and on your blog. And write the name of the story too." She put a bookmark in and put the Bible down on the table. Then she said "Don't forget. It's on the big wood table and it's on the right side. Put that in your mind. " She then stared at me for a few seconds and said "Did you?" (Asking if I put it in my mind yet).

Saturday, April 25, 2009

I had dressed the boys in their matching shirts today.

Then we noticed that Adam and Jack were wearing the same exact shorts. So we took Max's shirt off and put it on Adam to take some pictures of them together.







I got up very early, 5:30 am, so I could pack and get ready to go to some garage sales. Jack must have heard me and woke up at 5:45. I fed him and he was still wide awake, so I decided to get him dressed and ready before the other two woke up. I then rocked him for a few minutes and tried laying him back down but he just didn't want to go back to sleep. After a few minutes of him playing in his crib and then fussing, I got him out and he played while I finished getting ready. I woke Hailey and Max up at 6:30 and got them ready. Bruce woke up at 6:30 too to get ready for work. Daddy and the kids sang to me and gave me my birthday card, flowers, and gifts. We got to my mom's house at 8:45. The kids were still awake when we got there but I could tell Hailey was really tired. She had a hard time falling asleep last night cause she was too excited to go play with Jacob and Adam. Kimmy and her family and Vikki and Kenzie showed up shortly after we did. I carried Jack in his carseat and as soon as I put it down, all the kids came over to see him. They all held onto the handle and rocked him gently in the carseat. Jared and my dad stayed with the kids while us girls went to all the garage sales. We took Jack with us. Aunt Vikki and Uncle Terry met us there and joined us. It was warm but very windy today. Stuff was blowing off the tables. I felt bad for one lady cause her shelf got blown over and all her CD's that she was selling broke. Bruce called to warn us that it's going to rain. Soon after I got off the phone with him it started pouring. We quickly ran to the next garage sale for shelter. As the rain hit his face, Jack started cracking up laughing. I was surprised cause I was expecting him to start crying but instead he laughed. He thought it was so funny. He actually stopped laughing when Kimmy and I held a blanket over so the rain wouldn't hit him. (Then I remembered he did the same thing when we were in Chicago and it started pouring.) We stayed and shopped at that garage sale, until the rain stopped which didn't last very long. It was a good one to get stuck at cause they had some girl stuff in Hailey's size and it was all inside the garage where we could stay dry. We then went to a few more sales before heading back to the van to eat a packed lunch. My mom made chicken salad sandwiches for us all and also brought Pringles and drinks. After we finished eating, we drove to a different neighborhood for more garage sales. At one of the garage sales, they were selling candy bars. (I noticed Kenzie was paying for something while I was still shopping.) When we were done at that one and were on our way to the next one, Kenze came running up to walk beside me. As she was walking and talking to me, she pulled a Snickers bar out of her purse and gave it to me saying "Happy Birthday". It was so sweet of her. She said "I got Snickers cause I know it's you're favorite." We headed back to mom's house around 2:30. We sure had a fun time shopping together. We found some really nice things and got some great deals. And Jack was so good the entire time we shopped. When we got back to mom's, Max and Adam were taking their naps. Hailey and Jacob were watching a Bob the Builder video. Kimmy, mom, and I all brought our bags in and had fun looking through all the clothes we had bought today. Hailey loved seeing all the clothes I got for her. She held each one up to her "to see if it would fit". She then put all her favorites in a pile, which was most of them. She also asked if she could see the ones I got for Max and Jack. As she pulled each one out of the bag, she say things like "Oh that's cute... This one will look so cute on him... He will look so adorable in this..." Kimmy brought in some of the toys she had bought and Hailey and Jacob had fun playing with them. We stayed until about 4:30. When I got home, I had to quick get ready. I also had to write a few instructions down for the babysitter since it was the first time we were leaving Jack with someone other than family. Billy and her sister, Katlyn, showed up at about 5:00. Hailey and Max were excited to have them come watch them. Bruce and I went out for dinner (he stopped and got me a mocha on the way) and then afterwards we walked through the gift shop and bakery. We got some cookies and brownies to take home. The kids were all in bed by the time we got home. Hailey was still awake though and heard us walk in. I went in to give her a kiss goodnight. We visited with Billy and Katlyn for a little while before they left for home. Hailey was still awake after they left and called me back in asking to do "what do today". She was excited to tell me some of the things they played and she also wanted to tell me that she got to watch two movies today, one at Nana's house and one tonight. She then said "That's too much TV! But that's OK cause it was a special, right?"

For the last few days now, Max has been doing these very slow moves. And he is always very serious and quiet while doing them. When I asked him what he was doing, he said "Dese are my excercises." On and off throughout the day, he'll stop what he's doing and say "Now I gotta do my excercises."

Thursday, April 23,2009

Well, this week we put our house up for sale by owner. The very first day we advertised it, we got a call and someone wants to come see it. We are showing it on Sunday so I spent most of the day cleaning. Hailey followed me around sounding out different words and telling me what letter they start with. She loves to do this lately. She also sounded out a few words telling me the middle letter and the last letter. The other day she asked me how to spell CAT. I helped her sound it out and she spelled it as we sounded out each letter. She is also really getting good at math and is always adding up different combinations of numbers. She likes to count to 100 with me and then keeps going saying "101, 102, 103 ,104, 1o5, 106, 107, 108, 109, a zillion!" She acts so excited that she can count that high. We played a game together where we take turns giving each other directions to follow. I'd tell her to go get me something, describing where it is. Then she'd do the same and I'd have to go get it. We each had a few turns and each time she just told me to go get something but on the last turn, she said "Go to my room and ...(pausing with a smile on her face) CLEAN!" It was funny, the look on her face, as she waited for me to go do it. I said "Good one. Are you trying to get me to clean your room for you?" She laughed and said "yes" and then followed me to her room. She watched with a smile on her face as I started cleaning up some of her toys. Then she started helping me. Before putting Max down for his nap, I read "A Very Hungry Caterpillar" to the kids. As I was reading and we came to the part that read "He built a small house, called a cocoon, around himself", Hailey said "No a chrysalis." She remembered that from her field trip to the butterfly garden a few weeks ago. (Butterflies have chrysalises and moths have cocoons. I never knew that until she told me after learning that on her field trip.) I was surprised she still knew the word after that long and with only hearing it once and then telling me about it that same day. We haven't mentioned it since then. (Bruce had gone with her on the field trip and said she was really paying close attention as the leader was telling them about the life cycle of a butterfly. Later on after going inside the conservatory and seeing the butterflies and then doing a craft, the leader asked if anyone remembered what the butterfly spins. Right away, Hailey raised her hand high and answered "a chrysalis".) I took the kids outside to play after Max woke up from his nap. They spent alot of time talking to the neighbor kids at the fence. Bruce went to the store and picked up a play yard for the puppy for outside. (I think it will help with potty training the puppy since she hates the leash and won't walk with it on. Now we can just leave her out for a few minutes to let her go.) The kids had fun playing with the box. Hailey layed inside it with just her head sticking out and said "It's my sleeping bag." Max liked driving his car over it pretending it was a "broke road". It was a really nice sunny day. Max doesn't like going outsdie now without sunglasses. As soon as he steps out the door, he complains that it's too bright and goes back in to get his sunglasses. The kid stayed out until bedtime. Bruce and I took turns going out and playing with them so the other could clean and get some things done in the house. I pushed Jack around on one of the cars. He loved it. Max loved it too cause I would have him chase him. He loved having Jack ride cars with him. Whenever I stopped pushing Jack around, Max would come up to me and say "Let Jack ride a car. Put him on it. He wants to, mama. He does want to ride it." Then as I would put him back on the car and start pushing him behind Max, Max would wait for us to catch up and then say "Come on Jack!"