Power Wheels

Well, now the kids know that power wheels actually move. Up to this point, they were just fun to sit in at Toys R US. Now they know how fun they are to actually move.

Normally when I babysit, it is at our house. For a change of pace this morning during spring break, we went to the girls house and played there for the morning. They have a very nice yard and trampoline, and of course, the power wheel.

I wondered if it would scare Jaylee. Silly me. Nothing scares that girl. She didn't want to get out, and even tried to drive! Thankfully she couldn't quite reach the pedal. Alana rode as a passenger, but didn't want to drive.

Jaylee enjoying spaghetti. This is why spaghetti night is always bath night too.

Kale LOVES American Idol. He was already in bed when I turned it on, and had been for a while. As soon as he heard the theme music, he ran out of his room. "I want to watch American Idol! I love that show!" We sent him back to bed, but he obviously did not stay there. This is where we found him when we went to bed.

Grandpa and Mimi babysat for us Saturday night so Dave and I could have a date night with friends in Ellensburg. The kids were so excited! Mimi cooked dinner, which of course the kids didn't like the looks of, and wouldn't eat. So they decided to "camp" in the backyard, and cook hot dogs over the fire.

Laura holding Jaylee, Isaac holding Kale, Alana, and Mimi

Grandpa helping Alana cook her hot dog.

Kale loves Uncle Isaac, and sticks to him like glue whenever he is at Grandpa's house. It was the first thing he asked when we got there. Where's Isaac?

Mimi and Alana

Jaylee looking very tired, eating her hot dog. That is the same look I get when I am tired.

The kids had so much fun, and chatted our ears off in the car about getting to camp and eat outside. Of course, they were asleep before we got on the freeway. It wore them out!

So Blog Worthy

It has been a blog worthy day I think. A little more than I would like, really. First the good stuff:

I had a conference with Kale's teacher this morning, at 7:15am! Normally this wouldn't be a problem. I was planning on heading there directly from my run, but I quit my run early today on account of having a nasty cold.

The conference went well. I would have been surprised if it had been otherwise. I was able to help in his class last week while Aunt Julie stayed with the girls. It was a lot of fun, and really interesting to see where the other kids were at compared to Kale. He is definitely ahead for his class, and the only boy that can write his name with lower case letters correctly. That really surprised me. There were a few kids that couldn't even write the first letter of their names. Kale is writing quite a few words, reading some, and putting together rhyming words on the fridge. (if you put "at" up, he can make cat, rat, bat, etc. you get the idea) His teacher is very pleased with where he is at, and said that he is really challenging her. Kale has been asking the difference between the "k" sound and "c" sound. Uh...I should know that right? I asked Mrs. Jones, and she couldn't come up with a good answer either. Normally she doesn't teach 4 and 5 year old harder letter sounds. It made me feel a little less dumb.

On to Alana. Oh, Alana. The mischievous one. Mrs. Jones is excited to have her in class next year. Well, she says that now...

Alana tends to act without necessarily thinking things through. Yes, I know she is 3. Yesterday we were at Grammy's house, and the three kids were outside playing in the yard. I heard Jaylee screaming, and came running. Alana had run her over with a John Deer tractor, and knocked her off the step. I calmed Jaylee down, and had a brief talk with Alana about being careful with her little sister. After bringing Jaylee inside, I saw that she had a large knot forming on her forehead, and some of the scrapes were bleeding. So I got some ice and a wash cloth, and sat down with her. Alana came wondering in, took one look at Jaylee and said, "What happened to her?" Needless to say we had another little talk about hurting her sister.

Here is a picture of the damage. It didn't do it justice, but you get the idea.

Moving on to today. I hear Jaylee screaming again. I come in the room, and Alana is hiding. That is never a good sign.

me- Alana what happened?

Alana-I don't know

me-Then why are you hiding? What happened to Jaylee?

Alana- i don't know mom

me-Alana are you telling mommy the truth?

Alana- Well...she just fell down. well...I sort of grabbed her. I just wanted a hug!

yeah. uh huh.

About 20 minutes later, I hear Jaylee screaming in the kitchen. I mean SCREAMING! At the same time, Alana comes out of the kitchen, holds out a little fan, and says "mom can you help me get the hair out of this fan" At that point I had a pretty good idea as to why Jaylee was screaming. Sure enough, the little fan had a good amount of Jaylee's hair in it. I sent Alana to her room, and checked out the damage.

Jaylee thankfully does not have a bald spot, her scalp was just a little red for a while.

I went in Alana's room to talk to her.

me- Do you know why mommy sent you to your room?

Alana- I don't know.

me- Why was Jaylee crying?
Alana-She wanted to play with my fan I think.

me- I don't think that was it. how did the hair get into the fan?

Alana-um, I might have put it in Jaylee's hair.

me-Why would you do that?

Alana-Well, I don't know. Why?
me-Do you think that hurt Jaylee? Would it hurt to have your hair pulled out?

Alana-Oh, yeah. Sorry Jaylee

5 minutes later...

Alana-Mom, can I play with the fan?

me-No, the fan is in time out.

Alana- Why? Did Kaleb break it?

Aunt Julie and her boyfriend Bryan came for a visit this weekend. The kids were so excited! We had a great weekend hanging out and playing. It was like a mini vacation for us, since the kids ignored us for the most part in favor of fun playmates.

Bryan playing with Jaylee and her baby.

Jaylee's shirt says "future fashion icon". So very true. She is very insistent on picking out her own clothes now, just like Alana.

We went to the arcade and played, then had dinner at Dairy Queen.

Julie and Bryan were good sports about being jungle gyms for the weekend. I think Bryan spent most of the weekend with at least one kid on his shoulders.

Alana being silly riding the carousel.

Spring is almost here! It isn't warm yet, but at least we are seeing more of the sun. We are seeing more rain too, but it still beats snow!

I have been babysitting a couple of little girls once or twice a week. Bella is in Kale's class at school, and her little sister who is almost two. It makes it very busy for me, but the extra money is helping us out. The kids get along pretty well, especially Alana and Bella. Alana is now very into playing with her barbies, and is even more into "girlie" play. (like playing house, babies, barbies, princess, etc)

I am getting more brave about taking all 5 kids places. It is a lot of work with that many carseats and boosters! We went to the park this week, which was a lot of fun. The goal was to wear them out so they would all nap and give me some peace for a bit! It worked for the little girls at least.

The big kids were loving swinging in circles on the tire swing. Kale seems more brave with Bella around.

Kale announced this week that he loves Alexia, (a little girl from his class), and is going to marry her someday. Alana says she wants to marry Keith, (kale's friend from school), and have a princess wedding like Cinderella. I guess they've got things all figured out.

Hair Cuts

Kale and Alana both got haircuts this week. Kale sat by himself for his haircut for the first time, and was very brave about it, (after some convincing). In the past he has sat on my lap while she cuts it. He always looks so much older after a haircut.

I asked Alana if she wanted to keep her hair long, or have it shorter. She said she wanted it shorter. I really liked it long, but I think this will be easier to keep clean and out of her way. She looks beautiful no matter what!

We finally convinced her to start smiling for pictures again. I've been bribing her with chocolate chips. Whatever works for now I guess.

We were given an Elmo chair from a friend of ours. Jaylee was so excited! Elmo is still her favorite. She didn't want to get out of her chair at all, to make sure the other kids didn't sit in it. She headed right back to it after her bath, sitting proudly in her "melmo" chair.

This is what happens when the kids spend the night at Grammy's house. I have stopped asking what time they went to bed. I don't think I want to know. I just assume it was late. So, these are the lumps that came home after playing hard.

The kids are still very into playing Wii. This is Kale and Jaylee boxing each other. Jaylee won, which really ticked Kaleb off. He went and pouted in his room. The kids are very competitive with each other, but we are still working on having a gracious attitude if someone else wins. Okay, so I am still working on that too.

Jaylee and Alana on the carousel at the arcade. This is where they spent all of their share of the tokens. Riding the carousel over and over.

Today the kids were racing each other around the house.

Kale: "I won! I won a Piston Cup!" (from Cars, for those who don't watch kids movies all day)

Alana: "Well, I won shoes! Because I like shoes! Shoes are way better than a piston cup!"

(Did I mention they are competitve?)

Jaylee wanted to wear gloves this morning. I'm not really sure why. So then Alana wanted to wear her gloves and hat. Oh, and Jaylee is wearing one of Alana's shoes. This is why no one can ever find matching shoes in this house.

Awww, aren't they cute? Okay, I had to bribe them with chocolate chips to get them to stand still to take picture, but still pretty darn cute.

New Computer!

I apologize for how long it has been since I have posted a blog. We have not had a computer for a few months. We are so very thankful to have a new computer, which was the best birthday present ever for Dave, (and me too). Today we are officially back online, so hopefully I can start putting picture updates on as much as I am able.

for Dave's birthday we went to the arcade and played games. The kids loved it.

Dave celebrated his 30th birthday!

Jaylee actually put the sticker on her own mouth. She is such a clown.