Late Video of Goobers Bday

Hurumph!

Well, today Goober was SUPPOSED to have his first T-ball game. Then we were SUPPOSED to go to the park with some friends for a fun after birthday picnic and treat.

Missy My wasn't SUPPOSED to get a fever of 101.5 ....

=0P

Happy Birthday Big Guy!

Today Goober is FIVE years old! Holy crap..... :D

T-Ball

So today was the first practice of T-ball! Goober seamed to have fun though I think that all he really wanted to do was run after the ball :) Arin did a wonderful job in getting the kids to understand what was supposed to be going on, better than I ever could have done! Good Job Arin!!!

Here are the pictures I got of the practice.

Goober at first base

Lots of parents helping to direct the kids to the right places.

Run Run Run!!!

Goober running home (after much directing!)

Missy My watching the game... at one point her and four other "younger siblings" were all sitting and playing with each other. It was so cute. I was going to get a picture, but then Li decided to eat grass or something and I missed it!

Ben was such a good sport. He even helped the kids to know how to stand to hit the ball right!

Goober hitting the ball!

Ben helping Dylan know what to do.

Ila and Garrison waiting to catch the ball.

Dylan running to first base.

Ila running to first base. Check out the tongue! lol

Goober standing at third base.... I told him to smile and he just looked at me like I was nuts.

Running Home!

"Couch" talking with the kids.

"This is fun!!!"

YAY TREATS!

Kidlets

Today has been nice... we've been able to launge around a little due to the fact that we always have Monday to mow the lawn etc. :) I was trying to get some good pictures and ended up with these crazy pictures of Missy and G. I think I may change his nickname on here to Goober :)

Then I got this cute one of Li and Jer! :)

G's Preschool Program

So this morning was Big G's preschool program due to the prediction of rain Mrs. Dance swapped his program day for his zoo day. It was actually really sunny during the whole thing! LOL hope on next Wednesday it's sunny for the zoo day.

Anywho, G did really well with the program, I was a little afraid that as soon as he saw the video camera he would run over to me and try to see himself in the video like he always does at home. But he did great and stayed where he was supposed to and even sang most of the songs :)

This is a picture of him and his teacher Mrs. Dance.

Chores.

OK, so this topic has been brought up on a couple of posts (e.g. Rocks in My Dryer see link in "Places I Like to Check Out" on left side of page if you want) and I thought I might chime in.

Chores at our house are simple. Seeing that my oldest is just about to turn five on June 1st and I'm not that great at getting small change from the bank on a regular basis for allowance, I have devised a simple system at out house for chores and rewards.

Tokens. That's right, Tokens. Or should I say Poker Chips? LOL Lets put those babies to good use!

Anyhow, the kids get paid in poker chips. I know they are not able to "spend" these anywhere outside the house, but seeing that we don't go out of the house very often I figure that isn't a huge deal at the moment.

So here's how it works. If Big G brushes his teeth in the morning he gets 1 token. If he makes his bed he gets another. If he keeps his bed dry all night he gets 3 tokens.... As he gathers his tokens he spends them at the "store" I have a list on the fridge with pictures of things he can "buy". Popcorn = 2 tokens. Trip to the park = 5 tokens. Blast Off (a fun kids place) = 7 tokens. Etc etc.

As G and Missy My get to the point that they do their chores and no longer ask for tokens for that chore I switch out the chore list. For instance, recently G stopped asking for tokens for getting dressed in the morning. So, I stopped giving him tokens for that and add a new chore to the list. Like setting the table for dinner. I don't have any more than five chores listed at one time. And if the kids decide there is something they want that I'm not oh so eager to give them on a constant basis... yup, I put it on the reward chart so they can earn it :)

Oh if I had known...

That this "kitty" would be so loved... I may have run out and bought another so I could wash it without causing emotional trauma for Missy My!

This Kitty used to be cute. It used to be fluffy. It Used to be soft. It used to have a fluffy purple collar sewn onto it. It used to be unstained.

It is ratty and worn, it has stains that nothing will take out, and that purple fluffy collar? Long gone, it got so worn it started to get scratchy so I took it off (boy was she mad) and replaced it with a bit of soft purple rope. I will be surprised if "kitty"s tail stays attached much longer due to the fact that quite often this is the part that Missy flips her around by.

To me, the "kitty" is kinda ugly now...

But to her, "kitty" is LOVED. Which in her eyes is so much better!

Funny Baby

Blast Off

Big G, Missy My, and Mr. M having a ball war at Blast Off. They had tons of fun. :)

Cute pic of Missy My.

Yay!!! and Poor sick kiddo.

This morning Big G kept his bed dry... ALL NIGHT LONG!!! I was SO HAPPY! This has taken a loooooong time. He is going to be five on June 1st and has had a really hard time potty training. So I was not expecting him to keep it dry for a while because we just took him out of pullups for the night on Monday (I think). Anywho... I was talking to him this morning and we decided we were going to go to Blast Off to celebrate.

Yah, I think that is going to have to wait a couple of days.

Little Li slept in this morning... hooray! or at least that is what I thought. Turns out the kid isn't feeling well. He didn't want much breakfast and then proceeded to puke all over the floor when I set him down to go get Missy My dressed so we could take G to preschool. Poor little guy.

On a Beautiful Day...

So yesterday and today have been bright and shiny (I'll be it windy...but hey, this IS Idaho)! Yay! Hopefully spring is actually here.

Unfortunately all of my kids got a smidgen sunburned yesterday so after spending a small time this morning out in the sun, instead of lather them up in sun lotion (I don't have any spray on ...yet) we decided to play inside for a bit.

These are my kids favorite things to do inside when they can't be playing outside.


Play Lego StarWars

Take Uber-long baths.... wonder who she gets that from!? lol


And generally be happy... though he is starting to practice being on hands and knees and bouncing back and forth.

Subways' Employee From Hades

So my ever so lovely and wonderful Mother-In-Law decided to offer to take myself and my children along with my Sister-In-Law Az and Little J out for lunch today. Yippy! :)

So we decided to go to Subway due to the fact that Big G wanted a sandwich. Off we go... Once we all got there and got everyone seated (or at least the kidlets situated) we go and order our meals. Somehow the "Tuna" sandwich I ordered for the kids turned into a "Club" ... how that was misheard who knows! Oh well, they will eat that too so no biggy. The staff didn't seam like the brightest crayons in the box, if you know what I mean, and I didn't want to challenge them too much intellectually so I didn't say anything and my kids ended up liking the sandwich just fine anyways :)

The Cashier (aka Employee from Hades) was a little prickly with my MIL because my MIL wanted to make sure the order was all there and correct and that she had paid for everything. Again, something that can be brushed off right?

So we are having a good conversation and the kids are eating away. Big G was really good and ate all of his meal pretty quick and Missy My pulled her sandwich apart as usual (I wonder if she is going to be one of those adults that have issues with any food touching the other on the plate. She pulls every sandwich she eats apart and eats all of it individually).

Big G mentions he has to use the potty. OK can do.

Missy My says she has to go too. alrighty come along!

Get the the women's bathroom and it's out of order. Sign says "Use Men's Bathroom". Alright. Again no biggy, things like that happen.

Into the men's room all three of us go. Gavin sits down and after doing his business pulls my attention to the fact that there is no toilet paper. Crap.

"You guys STAY here for just a sec, mom is going to go get some TP."

Out I go and politely get an employees attention and tell her "there is no TP in the Men's bathroom. I need some for my son."

Then MIL and Az get my attention and tell me they think Little Li is dirty too. OK. All in stride. Nothing I can't handle.

Crap no Wipes in the bag, Az can I borrow some? Sure.

I go check on Big G and Missy My and tell them "mom is still trying to get some TP"

Missy My "I have to peeeeeeeeee!"

"OK honey hold on!!!"

Again I go out to get TP. Look and see that nobody is working on getting me any. I know that if I don't get some quick there is going to be a mess....

I state loudly "Would somebody PLEASE get me some TP for my son!?"

Employees scramble to get me some. Meanwhile.....

Elderly employee with red spiky hair and icy blue eyes (aka Employee from Hades) decides to step in. Who, by the way, is sitting next to where I'm standing taking a break. Why she didn't get up and get me some TP? who knows.

"You don't have to YELL at them. They ARE busy."

"I wasn't yelling. I was just trying to get some TP."

Yada yada yada... YELLING at THEM ... blah blah

"I wasn't yelling."

another employee hands me napkins .... fine I guess this will have to do! .... wait a minute, here is another employee behind her with actual TP. YAY!!!

I go and hand Big G TP and step back out because by this time I'm fuming because A) who did she think she was? B) why didn't she get me the TP? and C) I WASN'T yelling and I wanted her to understand I was just urgent!

Me to EFH "you try having a kid that is potty training and one that has frequent accidents and see ....

"IT DOESN'T MATTER! You need to learn to control yourself!!!"

!!!!!

"And what are you going to do to me!!!????" (I could have handled this better I must admit.)

and I walk off to go back to the bathroom to my two young children carrying Little Li on my hip. Behind me I hear her call me an ass. HEY!!! HOW did she know my initials????!!!! ROFL

This is ridiculous at this point so I go and take care of my children. Thank Goodness Missy didn't have an accident... though I have to admit I probably would have found a little satisfaction in telling EFH to go clean up the urine on the bathroom floor. I change Little Li on the floor (no changing table as usual) and get all of our hands washed and head back out.

I completely ignore EFH and go look for a comment card... none. Great. So as my MIL and Az are helping me to manage my children as we are ready to leave I grab a napkin and write on it.

"Need to keep bathroom stocked with TP. Tell elderly employee with red hair to hold her tongue when someone asked URGENTLY for toilet paper after already asking for it once before for her 2 potty training children.

-April Lastname Insertemail@address.here"

And I race out of there children in tow.

Hairs cut!

YAY! They now officially look like someone cares again!!!

Big G needed a haircut desperately while Missy's was just hard to get a brush through. So we trimmed hers up a bit too. :) Makes her hair curl a little more.

Oh, Maaaaaan!

It's currently 8:30 am..... Big G woke up at 7,

Little Li woke up at 7:30,

and Missy My... well I think she WOULD have slept till 10! Unfortunately I had to wake her up to take G to preschool... heavens, I opened her blinds and turned off her music and opened her bedroom door at 8 and still not a stir! She must have been REALLY wiped out!

Practicing To Be An Actor? Or Maybe A Stuntman?

This is a very common thing at our house. Big G is mimicing Spiderman 3 where Harry bombards Peter in the ally. I can't help but be amused.

Clobbered

What is it about a parent sitting or laying on the floor that is a instant kid magnet? And same thing with cameras... as soon as a parent picks one up it's instantly "Mom/Dad can I see?" or "Take a picture of me!" lol I mean... REALLY! ... I often wonder what my kids would think if I pulled out my old 35mm camera. I mean, goodness! you can't even see the picture you just took. And heaven forbid that you actually have to wait a WHOLE hour (or *gulp* a WHOLE day) to see the pictures!

I made the "mistake" today of doing both, I picked up the camera and sat on the floor. Instantly I was a jungle gym! LOL

Hearing Test

Well, G passed his hearing test today with flying colors. So glad his ears work alright! The audiologist even mentioned that since his ears are so good it may be that he has APD (Audio Processing Disorder). Ummmm yeah! So nice to meet someone who knows what the HECK I'm talking about! The Pediatrician definately didn't know what I ment by APD. Oh well, they have to know so much I'm sure it's hard to remember everything.

Anyways, unfortunateley the audiologist also said that there is no way to test G for it right now because he is so young. He would have to be at least 5 and a half (which isn't too far off). So anyways, I think we may be getting closer to figuring out what is up.

We're baaaack!

Hihi,

We have returned! Must be a curse ... I know! But much to your chagrin I'm sure we made it home safely. :o) Just kidding OF COURSE!!!

Anywhys...

We had fun in good ol' Utaho. We took the kids to a great children's museum there, went to a planetarium, took them to temple square on Sunday, and went to a dinosaur park. Needless to say we pretty much turned the whole doctors trip into a family vacation!

So this morning before we came home we went to the doctor. A behavioral specialist.
I was concerned because G has to be told to do things about 3 times before he ever moves to do them, he has a hard time concentrating when there is any background noise, and he can't seam to follow sequences aka "Go get your socks, then put on your shoes, and after that go get your coat on." He gets his socks and looses track of what he is doing. there are other things as well but that is the main part. Anyways. After the doctors played some games with him and had him answer some questions he basically said he isn't ruling anything out at this point as far as A.D.D. or other things but that with the lack of family history in the A.D.D. department he hesitated to say it was that.

What he did say was that he needs a hearing test (not a big surprise) to make sure he hasn't got any issues hearing high frequencies. Basically G is really intelligent for his age (tests at the level of a 6 year old) but his language skills are lacking (He tests at the 4 year old level where he is very nearly 5 years old). The doctor thinks that this may be the reason for the issues G is having with everything from following instructions to potty training issues (which Dr. said was closely related to language skills). He sent home some questionnaires for Jer and I to fill out and for G's teacher to fill out, he is also sending stuff to our pediatrician here in IF. he did say he wasn't overly concerned about G at this point but that we need to keep tabs on the situation and make sure that if it continues or gets worse by the time he is in kindergarten then we may need to do more testing.

Anyways, I feel good about the doctors visit. he seamed competent and very personable and like he was being proactive as far as our concerns about our son go. Overall I liked him and was so glad he didn't just try to brush us off and tell us it was all in our heads. :)

I plan on posting some pictures of our trip tomorrow once we are settled again.

Vegging Out.

The kids watching Night at the Museum. :o)