We are officially insane...or just plain stupid.

Brooklyn has been begging for a cat for years. The answer has always been no.
1. I have fairly severe cat allergies
2. I do not like cats
When we moved to the country we were told we would need to get a cat. Otherwise, we would have mice. I let the advice roll off my back until, less than two weeks of living in the house, we found a live mouse in our basement. Andy and I had some discussions about living arrangements, got some advice from some cat owners, and decided to get a cat. It would live in the basement during the winter and outside during the summer.
We drove to the humane society and surprised Brooklyn with the go-ahead to pick any female cat out of the cat room. She was shocked and so excited! She eventually decided on Velma, whose name was quickly changed to Violet. She was litter trained and already spayed. So far, so good with the cat. I haven't had any allergy issues. The kids are doing a great job keeping the litter box clean. She comes running when the kids go to the basement to visit.
After Brooklyn chose her new friend, I had a blue eyed little boy looking very forlorn. "Why does Brooklyn get a pet and I don't?" We had recently toyed with the idea of getting another dog. I adore Ellie. Although she is not one of my children, she is definitely a favored member of the family. She is my therapy dog. Truthfully, though, she will be 10 in April. She is getting old for a large dog and has had two seizures in the past year. I get panicky thinking of our family without her, but I know it will come eventually. All of this to say, we looked at the dogs and fell in like with Penny the Treeing Walker Coonhound. She was sweet and gentle, got along well with Ellie, and suckered me in with her super soft, long, Ellie-like ears.
Things aren't going nearly as well with "Winnie." We named her after the Winchester brand gun because we're pretty sure she was a hunting dog. She is 3.5 years old and I don't think she's ever been inside. The housebreaking is in its fourth week and we're still having issues. She climbs on my kitchen counters searching for food. She's so skinny! She likes to chase and tackle Isaace when he's running through the room. Isaac thinks it is funny when he's on the carpet...not funny when he's on the tile kitchen floor. I know these are all behavioral issues that can be fixed with training(I hope!) but with three young kids and a new house with no fenced in yard, IN DECEMBER...I don't know what I was thinking!



Poor Xavier got scratched by one of the kitties.

How Did I Let It Get This Bad?

On November 30th, Isaac had his first hair cut. He is my only child to have anything that resembles a curl. He looked so adorable with the little ringlets sticking out from behind his ears. I wanted to get his 18 month photos done with the curls. I was afraid once we cut his hair, the curls would be gone. Well, days turned into weeks, which turned into months, etc. My sweet little boy was being called a girl on a regular basis. Because we have to put Aquaphor on him twice a day, his hair was a frizzy, greasy mess. When I combed it after a bath, it was past his shoulders. I'm embarrassed that I let it get that bad! Finally, I'd had enough. I made an appointment at Cookie Cutters and prepared myself for the end of my curly-locks. He was excited to get into the driver's seat at the hair salon and picked an Elmo movie to watch. Then, he got a look of terror and started to scream. We tried distractions. We tried suckers. Nothing helped! Then, Andy's mom showed up at his side with a balloon and started whacking me in the head. He cracked up! All was well after that. When the haircut was over, the stylist left it a little longer, and his head was covered with tons of little curls!

The Before Picture. Yikes!



The After Picture. Doesn't he look sweet?

Hot, Hot, Hot. Hot Chocolate!

Brooklyn's dance studio participated in Marysville's Christmas Walk. The downtown businesses stay open late and usually serve treats to the visiting patrons. This is the first time in 5 years that it wasn't raining, sleeting, snowing, or bitter cold. There were a lot of dancers and a lot of parents this year! Each age group performed a Christmas song on the street outside the studio. Brooklyn's group performed Hot Chocolate from The Polar Express. She worked really hard to become one of the kick line members and felt really proud when she succeeded. I love being able to prove to her that hard work pays off. She already had her splits, but had to practice almost every day to get the counts of the kick line correct. Good job, B!

Giving Thanks

We shared Thanksgiving with Andy's family this year. We had delicious food and wonderful family time. After the meal, Andy and I perused the Black Friday ads to plan our annual shopping trip. We decided to head out at 11:30pm on Thanksgiving night. We returned home the next day at 11am. Twelve hours of shopping on no sleep is too much for me. The lines seemed much longer this year and people seemed grumpier. We'll still plan on shopping next year.

Home Sweet Home

I've heard that having two mortgages while trying to sell a house can be extremely stressful and taxing on a marriage. It was nothing short of a miracle that we never had to experience this. When we went to the Sheriff's Auction on August 4th, we didn't believe we would actually win the house on which we planned to bid. When the unbelievable happened, we had to get our current home on the market as quickly as possible. In six weeks we had to get our master bath finished(it was still studs and subfloor), the house decluttered and clean, paint the entire main floor, stairs, and upstairs hallway, and still live as a family of 5 with 3 small children. We managed to get everything done, thanks to some wonderful parents. Then, we waited. We had one showing in two weeks. I was starting to feel extremely nervous. How could we afford two mortgages when I stay home? On the day our house was on the market for 3 weeks, we had another showing. They put in an offer! In this market! After countering a couple of times, we came to an agreement. They wanted us to be out by the end of October, if possible. After a few weeks of waiting and wondering about closing dates we were told we would tentatively close on November 13th. We planned to move on Nov. 7. On Wednesday, October 28, we were notified we would be closing on Friday, November 6. We had to move on a weekend in order to get help from friends, which meant we'd be moving on October 31. We now had two days to pack up the entire house, get a truck, and get some help from friends. Yikes! It was a frenzy of boxes and tape, but we managed. The only problem? We didn't yet own the house into which we were moving! Yes, we moved into a house that we didn't own. We were squatters. It was a very unsettling feeling. Nobody felt at home. Finally, after some pestering by my husband, we had a close date. We are now officially homeowners again. The house is lovely, although we're starting to refer to it as the money pit because of all the repairs we're having to do. But, we love the yard, we love the neighbors, and we're loving being home.

Halloween

The kids were easy on me this year with their costumes. Brooklyn wanted to be a witch which(ha!) we borrowed from a friend. Xavier wanted to be Jack Sparrow. My mom made this costume for him two years ago! We dug it back out of the dress ups, stuffed him into it, and sent him on his way. We borrowed an adorable Mickey Mouse costume from another friend for Isaac. Done!
The kids enjoyed their last trick or treat on Saffron Dr. We moved on Halloween day and came back to the empty house to hand out candy, trick or treat, and eat our traditional chili and cornbread supper. Isaac was too cute! He is able to tolerate Dum-Dum suckers without too much of a reaction. The first 10 houses we visited all had dum dums! He wouldn't put them into his bag. He carried them all in his hands while repeating, over and over, "I got two la!(lollipops)" After our supper, we took the 10 minute drive to our new house to sleep for the first time.

The Rest of It

Xavier's birthday celebrations continues with a family party. We had apple crisp because I couldn't fathom decorating another cake. On his actual birthday, we purchased a s'mores cupcake from a local bakery. Sad, I know. This year, we lost our minds and purchased a skateboard for our new five year old. So for, he hasn't broken anything. Hopefully I won't eat those words.

Xavier Turns 5!

This year, I actually planned Xavier's friend party more than a week ahead of time! I was so proud! We knew we had to have a destination party because our house was on the market(little did I know we'd already be in contract) and I didn't want to have to worry about quick clean-up if we had a showing. We held his party at the Watson Wellness Center on Honda's campus. What fun! We had 45 minutes in the pool where the 14 kids splashed, jumped, and swam as much as their little hearts desired. The gender division was still lopsided with 3 boys(including Xavier) and 11 girls. But, what a great group of kids! After the pool, we headed into the gym for 30 minutes of party games and a great rendition of Tootie-Tah. After a few rounds of pin the tail on the donkey, knocking down cups with marshmallows, a pinata, and the fabulous sing along, we headed to the party room for cake, snack, and presents! Xavier wanted a Bakugon party, so I had to come up with a cake that fit the theme. Now that I am such the experienced decorator and have watched a few episodes of Cake Boss, I decided to make a round cake with styrofoam head, arms, and wings. Andy set to work on creating all of the appendages while I started to decorate. I was really happy with the result and Xavier was thrilled! It was a great party.
A special thanks goes out to Brenda for wrangling Isaac during the party and to Beth for taking photos while I was in the pool. You guys are awesome!





P.S.-It has been brought to my attention that I failed to mention that though I am blogging about this at the end of December, Xavier's birthday actually falls at the end of October.

My Funny Guys

It is so fun to see my boys growing up together. I didn't have a "normal" sibling experience, but what I'm finding out is we were pretty normal. They love on each other, crack each other up, and fight like cats and dogs. I can't wait(insert sarcastic tone here) until they are making armpit farts, giving each other horse bites, and torturing their sister together.
Their different personalities are obvious:
Xavier is my intense guy. Whether he's playing board games or sports, laughing like crazy, or fighting mad, he does it with all his heart. He loves it when I pile the warm laundry on top of him while I'm folding.
Isaac is my ham. He'll do anything for a laugh and loves to make us smile. His most recent material includes knock-knock jokes. They go something like this...
Isaac: Nah-Knock
Us: Who's there?
Isaac: Sue(aka shoe)
Us: Shoe who?
Isaac: Ah ha ha ha ha!
I can't help but laugh!

Finally!

On October 5th, Brooklyn finally lost her first tooth! I do not like teeth. I used to cry when I had to pull my own teeth. I wasn't looking forward to the job of removing my daughter's pearly whites. On this day, I was in luck! Brooklyn was in the bathroom, wiggling desperately so she would no longer be the only 2nd grader that hadn't lost a tooth. She chased down my mom, who was visiting for the day, and asked if she'd pull her tooth for her. My mom tried to decline because she was afraid she was overstepping her bounds or stealing my joy. Brooklyn told her I'd be happy to pass on that responsiblilty. So, my mom ripped her tooth out...literally. It wasn't quite ready. It still had a bit of a root attached. There was blood everywhere. The giant gaping hole showed no sign of the new tooth emerging. Yuck. Brooklyn was THRILLED! She ran outside to show the neighbors. She skipped up and down the street. She couldn't get to dance class fast enough to show everyone her new missing body part. Did I mention the blood? It took forever to stop bleeding. Yuck. But, I'm so happy for her!

Massive Update for Kid #2

As everyone noticed, most of my last post focused on Brooklyn. I do have two other children!

Sept. 9(I was wrong in the last post)
Xavier started pre-K(aka four year old preschool) at Trinity. He was so excited to meet up with his buddies(Molly, *sigh* Megan-he adores her!, and Matthew.) He continues to do well academically and (although I can't believe it) is a joy in class.



August 29-October 17
Xavier once again dominated the field with his mad soccer skills. He is so intense and aggressive. At times it makes me cringe. But, he is developing some great ball handling skills. If only we could keep him off the ground! He goes so hard, he loses control and falls down. Yeesh. It got to a point where the coach wouldn't put Xavier and another boy on the field at the same time because it was unfair to the other team! Andy assisted with coaching again. Unfortunately, the team jersey was "safety green." The team's nickname was "The Highlighters." Ugh!


October 5
Xavier's pre-k class went to Leed's Pumpkin Farm. What a blast! The weather was perfect! Xavier ran around with his friends, fed goats, jumped on a giant orange bouncy thingy, drove pedal cars, rode the zip line, rolledand picked a "pie" pumpkin. In true Xavier fashion, he had to find the largest pumpkin in the pie patch. He found a massive pumpkin and volunteered me to carry it back to the car. The employee of the farm took one look at his pumpkin and said, "that's not a pie pumpkin." but didn't make him find a new one. Since I am such the rule follower, I still feel guilty about taking a non-pie pumpkin home.

Massive Update

For Michelle and Beth:

I know, I know...It's been a while. I have way too much on my plate for any sane person. Guess that means I'm not sane, right? Here is the quick version of my blog updates.

July 28-29

My friend Julie and I took our daughters to the American Girl Store in Chicago for their seventh birthdays. Brooklyn and Avery opted for a road trip, a stay at the Hilton Suites, and a day in little girls' paradise(aka the AG Store)instead of a birthday party. I'm truely not sure which would be more expensive! We had a wonderful time! We did some shopping, toured Navy Pier, ate at Gino's, and wandered the store. Twenty-four hours in Chicago is definitely not enough, but I could do without the traffic.

August 1

Brooklyn's dance team performed at the Union County Fair. Big time! Brooklyn waited 3 years for her class to be selected to dance on the big stage.

August 5

Brooklyn's dance team's 'end of the year' party. Played, danced, canoed, received the coveted "competition team" trophy.

August 11

Brooklyn asked for a trip to Libby Lu's from her Oma for her birthday. Unfortunately, the glitter infested store has spritzed its last giggly customer. The Polaris mall just opened a close sibling so we visited Sweet & Sassy for a spa day. The diva for the day had her hair cut, mini mani and pedi, mini facial, makeup application and hair style. Brooklyn loved all the attention!

August 25

Brooklyn started the second grade.

I haven't even uploaded the pictures of Xavier's first day(September 12th) because of this...

We purchased a forclosed property at the sheriff's auction on August 4th. We have been getting our current home ready for sale(it's already in contract. Yahoo!) and muddling through piles of paperwork, boxes, etc., to get ready to move. The new house is twice the size of our current house and on two acres in the country...all for close to the price of our current home. It will be beautiful when we fix the cosmetics. I'll post more photos when I have more time. Maybe 2011?

Pop Starz

Brooklyn attended a week-long Pop Starz dance camp where they learned dances to Hot and Cold, Tell Me Something I Don't Know, and the Hoedown Throwdown. It was a hoot! As usual, Brooklyn's favorite day was Friday when they got to dress like pop stars and perform for the audience.