Summer vacation is upon us! The last day of school for the bigger kids was on May 23rd, and on May 24th we made plans to head to Legoland California (near San Diego). The countdown to Legoland seemed to commence the minute we made the plans (back in February or so)...you could totally tell that the kids were so excited!
Backing up a little, the end of the school year was filled with all sorts of things. Kaitlyn finished kindergarten, which totally doesn't seem possible! She's learned so much in the past year, and she's reading just as well as the boys sometimes. Kaitlyn had a new classmate start midyear as well, and it turns out that classmate and new friend lives right across the street from us. Isabella has come to play a few times and Kaitlyn (and Laurel, too), has been thrilled to have a playmate. It's going to be a hard first month of summer since Isabella is going to be at her grandparents for a month or so. Hopefully at least one of Kaitlyn's friends is in her first grade class with her (either Bella, Millie or Audrey are her little BFF's).
Laurel is starting preschool at Milenio in the fall, so she's done with daycare. She figured out the potty stuff in pretty short order when she decided one day that she didn't want diapers anymore. So, underpants it was! She's really the first of our kids to get really upset at the mention of diapers or pull-ups.
Jared finished 2nd grade and he gets so very attached to his teachers sometimes. He was sobbing and crying so hard on the last day of school.
And Daniel finished 5th grade and he's on to middle school!
Okay, onto Legoland. We booked 7 nights at the Legoland hotel, which is pretty awesome for us because it's right at the entrance to the park (yay!), and the room is perfect! We got the "adventure" themed room and it sleeps up to 7 people. Again...perfect! Friday was the first day here and everyone was pretty tired after the long drive. We didn't make it out of the house till almost noon, so we didn't get to the hotel until dinner time.
Saturday was the first full day...and we started off with our free breakfast buffet (yum!), and headed into the park a little early (another perk of staying at the hotel). First ride was "Coastersaurus" which was pretty mild. All of us could go on it, so we did! The park opened to the general public soon after, so the line got much longer right after we got off (no repeat rides that day!). We did a few more rides, including one of the splashdown boat rides...Kaitlyn did NOT like that, and made her dislike known for at least the next 45 minutes or so. We also "upgraded" our passes to annual ones so that instead of 2 days in the park, we could go in and out for the whole remainder of the week.
So far, we've stayed at the hotel and at the park...it's really a resort-y type experience...and kind of nice not to really go anywhere. Swimming pool...check. Rides...check. Lots of Lego...YES. One night Daniel even won a contest ("Most Creative") for building an animal out of Legos...he wanted to build a Mountain Bluebird...the state bird of Nevada, since that's what he had done a project on for school a few weeks earlier. It's been a little chillier than we anticipated (and even ended up buying sweatshirts!), but that's not totally unwelcome.
Anyway...hopefully I'll post pictures soon!
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Thursday, January 24, 2019
2019 and Goals!
Every year, my blog posts decrease in frequency. Boo. It's 2019 already, can you believe that?
So, I can give a quick update on life, the universe and everything...
Daniel...turned 10 last year, double digits! He's in 5th grade, and doing pretty well, even though he's still catching up on a lot of things. Math is his best subject, and he just needs to keep practicing his reading. Next year is middle school, and I think he's looking forward to it!
Jared...turned 7 last year, and will be 8 in just under 2 months. He's in 2nd grade and he has the same 2nd grade teacher that Daniel had. He's still a bit rough around the edges in a few ways, but he's smart and funny, and still really a cuddly little guy. He's getting so good at reading and he has a great imagination that he shares with Daniel often.
Kaitlyn...turned 5 last August and started Kindergarten! She was beyond thrilled to go, and especially to ride the bus with the boys. She's doing amazingly well, and she's catching on so fast with reading, it's amazing! She got glasses last year (badly farsighted) and she's been doing a wonderful job wearing them all the time. She's into doing crafty things with Mommy and her sister, loves her dolls and loves playing with her sister, too.
Laurel...she'll be 3 in a few weeks! She's growing by leaps and bounds. She speaks clearly (and clearly speaks her mind). Working on potty training, and the plan is for her to go to preschool at Milenio in the fall. That'll make her the only kid to go to preschool there for two school years (vs one like the others). She loves playing with Kaitlyn, and she's catching up to Kaitlyn in size. They're like little twinsies, one blonde, one brunette. She does love the days that she stays at home with Mommy, though.
Now, me and Mike. Mike is still working at the same place, with changes in schedule and location, most notably. His company finished their new building, moved in, and quickly realized that they were already full, so they started another building. He was working at home, before, at least 2 or 3 days during the week, which went up to four, but is now down to ZERO. Goose egg! Nada! He's working a bit locationally closer (not Scottsdale) for the time being.
And me...I'm teaching at Phoenix College now! I had a full schedule (well, as full as an adjunct can have) and it was nice working consistently. Rio Salado was great (and still is, of course), but the consistency wasn't there. I'm teaching the first class that I've actually taken (BIO 181), which is a first, too! I'm still doing some work for Paradigm (10 hours a week or less, though), doing some random things, being a back-up QC'er and so on.
Last semester was a bit draining on Wednesday nights, since I thought it would be good to get classes out of the way on a Wednesday. So I had one, 3-hour lecture starting at 10am, then lab for 3 hours, then another lab for 3 hours. So classes weren't over until 8:30...hooray.
As I mentioned above, Mike's work schedule changed so he's in the office, which is a bit of a pain with childcare because that means that on Wednesday, the bigger 3 go to Kids Club now after school. Before, since he was at home on Wednesday, he'd get them from the bus and all was good. We shifted Laurel from 3 days at daycare back to 2, and it evened itself out, money wise.
Let's see...what else. Summer! Last summer was full of activity on some days. Right after school got out, we took a trip up to visit my parents in Washington, drove over through Idaho to Montana and back to Washington again. We did this in a rental motor home, which the kids had been pining away to do for some time. After we got back, swim lessons started. Daniel wanted to try diving lessons, so he had that as well for one session. Daniel and Jared were also in the "Cub Club" water safety group, and then regular swim lessons, so there were some days that were 3 sessions of swimming!
In the fall, the 3 bigger ones also did soccer after school...Daniel and Kaitlyn seemed to enjoy it the most, but Jared had a good time too.
And with that...Laurel is now climbing on me...some things take a while to change, right?
In any case, goals for the year include...writing more! I'll try to make it a goal to write something every night...doesn't have to be the same thing, but just SOMETHING.
Happy 2019!
So, I can give a quick update on life, the universe and everything...
Daniel...turned 10 last year, double digits! He's in 5th grade, and doing pretty well, even though he's still catching up on a lot of things. Math is his best subject, and he just needs to keep practicing his reading. Next year is middle school, and I think he's looking forward to it!
Jared...turned 7 last year, and will be 8 in just under 2 months. He's in 2nd grade and he has the same 2nd grade teacher that Daniel had. He's still a bit rough around the edges in a few ways, but he's smart and funny, and still really a cuddly little guy. He's getting so good at reading and he has a great imagination that he shares with Daniel often.
Kaitlyn...turned 5 last August and started Kindergarten! She was beyond thrilled to go, and especially to ride the bus with the boys. She's doing amazingly well, and she's catching on so fast with reading, it's amazing! She got glasses last year (badly farsighted) and she's been doing a wonderful job wearing them all the time. She's into doing crafty things with Mommy and her sister, loves her dolls and loves playing with her sister, too.
Laurel...she'll be 3 in a few weeks! She's growing by leaps and bounds. She speaks clearly (and clearly speaks her mind). Working on potty training, and the plan is for her to go to preschool at Milenio in the fall. That'll make her the only kid to go to preschool there for two school years (vs one like the others). She loves playing with Kaitlyn, and she's catching up to Kaitlyn in size. They're like little twinsies, one blonde, one brunette. She does love the days that she stays at home with Mommy, though.
Now, me and Mike. Mike is still working at the same place, with changes in schedule and location, most notably. His company finished their new building, moved in, and quickly realized that they were already full, so they started another building. He was working at home, before, at least 2 or 3 days during the week, which went up to four, but is now down to ZERO. Goose egg! Nada! He's working a bit locationally closer (not Scottsdale) for the time being.
And me...I'm teaching at Phoenix College now! I had a full schedule (well, as full as an adjunct can have) and it was nice working consistently. Rio Salado was great (and still is, of course), but the consistency wasn't there. I'm teaching the first class that I've actually taken (BIO 181), which is a first, too! I'm still doing some work for Paradigm (10 hours a week or less, though), doing some random things, being a back-up QC'er and so on.
Last semester was a bit draining on Wednesday nights, since I thought it would be good to get classes out of the way on a Wednesday. So I had one, 3-hour lecture starting at 10am, then lab for 3 hours, then another lab for 3 hours. So classes weren't over until 8:30...hooray.
As I mentioned above, Mike's work schedule changed so he's in the office, which is a bit of a pain with childcare because that means that on Wednesday, the bigger 3 go to Kids Club now after school. Before, since he was at home on Wednesday, he'd get them from the bus and all was good. We shifted Laurel from 3 days at daycare back to 2, and it evened itself out, money wise.
Let's see...what else. Summer! Last summer was full of activity on some days. Right after school got out, we took a trip up to visit my parents in Washington, drove over through Idaho to Montana and back to Washington again. We did this in a rental motor home, which the kids had been pining away to do for some time. After we got back, swim lessons started. Daniel wanted to try diving lessons, so he had that as well for one session. Daniel and Jared were also in the "Cub Club" water safety group, and then regular swim lessons, so there were some days that were 3 sessions of swimming!
In the fall, the 3 bigger ones also did soccer after school...Daniel and Kaitlyn seemed to enjoy it the most, but Jared had a good time too.
And with that...Laurel is now climbing on me...some things take a while to change, right?
In any case, goals for the year include...writing more! I'll try to make it a goal to write something every night...doesn't have to be the same thing, but just SOMETHING.
Happy 2019!
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
January 2018 in Summary
Well, it's the last day of January, and it seems like certain aspects of the month have gone quickly and others have been painfully slow. Other parts seem to just mush together with the month of December, which was a bit dreadful.
Maybe I'll talk about December later...
Anyway, January. The new year rung in with no big surprises, Daniel stayed up with us to watch the ball drop, and that was that. He was enjoying winter break, which seemed to go extra, super long, even though it wasn't. School didn't start up again until the 8th of January, so that's probably what made it seem long.
OK...interruption time...Laurel...not...sleeping. Will continue later, I hope!
Maybe I'll talk about December later...
Anyway, January. The new year rung in with no big surprises, Daniel stayed up with us to watch the ball drop, and that was that. He was enjoying winter break, which seemed to go extra, super long, even though it wasn't. School didn't start up again until the 8th of January, so that's probably what made it seem long.
OK...interruption time...Laurel...not...sleeping. Will continue later, I hope!
Thursday, January 18, 2018
It's 2018
Well, ya crazy kids, it's 2018. I seriously can't believe it myself, and I can't believe (or, well, I can, sort of) that it's been over a year since my last post.
Let's see...what's going on...what's happened in the last year...hmm...
Kids first, I guess. Laurel turned 1 on February 2nd, and she's the only one of our kids to be walking before their first birthday. The others have been close, but she was taking actual steps and all that a few weeks before. She'll be a 2 year old two weeks from tomorrow (eep!) and she's grown by leaps and bounds since last year, of course. More hair. Sleeping in a crib that's not in our room. Talking. Eating just about anything that's put in front of her. Playing with her siblings.
Then Kaitlyn...she turned four in August and she was SUPER excited to start Preschool/ELC at the boys' school. Her class is right next door to Daniel's, which is kind of funny. She's fully potty trained (even at night), and that's been the easiest transition all around. She's super smart, remembers everything you tell her (even if you might not want her to) and she's learned to play video games with the boys now, too.
Jared is next. Kindergarten was a bit rough, but 1st grade has been way better. Not as much hiding, not listening, etc. He's learning to read really well, too, with a huge explosion in reading over the past couple of months even. He turned 6 and had a birthday party at Pump It Up, and this year he'll be seven. Yikes!
Daniel turned 9 (he'll be 10 this year) and he's becoming a bit more independent and he's taking on some more responsibility. He's really good at math, and reading is sort of coming along. He shares a room with Laurel for the moment (even though that's going to change in the near future) and we've been letting him stay up a bit later on the weekends. He learned to ride his bike w/o training wheels (parent bad for not having practice time with him much over the last year or two). Swimming he's still doing really well with, and I'm sure both him and Jared will be competing with each other soon enough!
Well, that's it for the kids right now...and Laurel is crying for me, so I'll cut it off here and continue at a later time (hopefully!)
Let's see...what's going on...what's happened in the last year...hmm...
Kids first, I guess. Laurel turned 1 on February 2nd, and she's the only one of our kids to be walking before their first birthday. The others have been close, but she was taking actual steps and all that a few weeks before. She'll be a 2 year old two weeks from tomorrow (eep!) and she's grown by leaps and bounds since last year, of course. More hair. Sleeping in a crib that's not in our room. Talking. Eating just about anything that's put in front of her. Playing with her siblings.
Then Kaitlyn...she turned four in August and she was SUPER excited to start Preschool/ELC at the boys' school. Her class is right next door to Daniel's, which is kind of funny. She's fully potty trained (even at night), and that's been the easiest transition all around. She's super smart, remembers everything you tell her (even if you might not want her to) and she's learned to play video games with the boys now, too.
Jared is next. Kindergarten was a bit rough, but 1st grade has been way better. Not as much hiding, not listening, etc. He's learning to read really well, too, with a huge explosion in reading over the past couple of months even. He turned 6 and had a birthday party at Pump It Up, and this year he'll be seven. Yikes!
Daniel turned 9 (he'll be 10 this year) and he's becoming a bit more independent and he's taking on some more responsibility. He's really good at math, and reading is sort of coming along. He shares a room with Laurel for the moment (even though that's going to change in the near future) and we've been letting him stay up a bit later on the weekends. He learned to ride his bike w/o training wheels (parent bad for not having practice time with him much over the last year or two). Swimming he's still doing really well with, and I'm sure both him and Jared will be competing with each other soon enough!
Well, that's it for the kids right now...and Laurel is crying for me, so I'll cut it off here and continue at a later time (hopefully!)
Sunday, January 08, 2017
First Week of the Year Down!
Greetings again, and although I didn't blog for everyone after the 2nd, I've kept up with the daily pictures and short videos for everyone. Including myself. I think I've found that just snapping a quick picture or doing a quick video is much easier than typing something coherent out.
Well, the week didn't go by with too much going on. The boys went back to school on Tuesday, and Jared even got a blue card at least one day for behavior, and he was thrilled to be "surfer of the day", the helper in the class. Daniel's class is doing a "wax museum" where they pick a historical figure to do a report on and dress up as at the end of the project.
Kaitlyn and Laurel are pretty good too...daycare on Tuesday and Thursday, as normal. Laurel still walks on her knees (which is pretty hilarious), enjoys the doorway jumper and is pretty clingy. Still eats just about anything you put in front of her. Kaitlyn is doing really well with potty training, now to just convince her to wear underwear instead of ask for a diaper.
All things told, it wasn't a horrible week. The weather has been pretty blah, and it feels like everyone should just sleep and be cuddley. But...ah...work. :)
Here's the pictures from the 3rd through the 8th (today!) in rapid succession!
Well, the week didn't go by with too much going on. The boys went back to school on Tuesday, and Jared even got a blue card at least one day for behavior, and he was thrilled to be "surfer of the day", the helper in the class. Daniel's class is doing a "wax museum" where they pick a historical figure to do a report on and dress up as at the end of the project.
Kaitlyn and Laurel are pretty good too...daycare on Tuesday and Thursday, as normal. Laurel still walks on her knees (which is pretty hilarious), enjoys the doorway jumper and is pretty clingy. Still eats just about anything you put in front of her. Kaitlyn is doing really well with potty training, now to just convince her to wear underwear instead of ask for a diaper.
All things told, it wasn't a horrible week. The weather has been pretty blah, and it feels like everyone should just sleep and be cuddley. But...ah...work. :)
Here's the pictures from the 3rd through the 8th (today!) in rapid succession!
Monday, January 02, 2017
Second Post of the Year!
So I'm actually keeping up here (for now!). Day number two of the year, and here I am.
Today actually went by sort of fast. Got up with the kids around 8:30 (minus Kaitlyn, who slept til around 9) and played a little bit of Rock Band with the boys. A few random TV shows and then daddy got up around 11:30. Laurel was looking a bit tired, so I joined her for a 1 1/2 hour nap (yay!).
Then we got out of the house a bit and took a trip to Petco (just to amuse the kids) and then to Target to get a few things before school starts back up for the boys tomorrow. Kids fed. Laurel, my newly minted 11 month old, fell asleep in her doorway jumper. Played some more of my newest game (Don't Starve) with Jared and then it was bedtime for all the people under age 10!
Got some grading for my online course done and now I'm blogging and about to hit the game again!
Here's yet another very glamorous picture of the day...
Today actually went by sort of fast. Got up with the kids around 8:30 (minus Kaitlyn, who slept til around 9) and played a little bit of Rock Band with the boys. A few random TV shows and then daddy got up around 11:30. Laurel was looking a bit tired, so I joined her for a 1 1/2 hour nap (yay!).
Then we got out of the house a bit and took a trip to Petco (just to amuse the kids) and then to Target to get a few things before school starts back up for the boys tomorrow. Kids fed. Laurel, my newly minted 11 month old, fell asleep in her doorway jumper. Played some more of my newest game (Don't Starve) with Jared and then it was bedtime for all the people under age 10!
Got some grading for my online course done and now I'm blogging and about to hit the game again!
Here's yet another very glamorous picture of the day...
Sunday, January 01, 2017
Happy New Year!
Welcome to 2017...I think almost everyone I've talked to has had a hard time wrapping their brains around that for one reason or another. Like, it seems like it was just 2000? Wait, what year was it that such-n-such happened? In either case, I'd like to start off the new year with a new series of blog posts.I have been pretty lax about blogging for myself and for the kids, but, hey, I have four kids. And they are all pretty young. The reasons I haven't done a post in a while are numerous, but I'm hoping that with ringing in this new year that some of those things preventing me from doing it will lessen.
As for new things to add to the "document your life" stuff, I am attempting to get a short video of each of the kids every day along with their daily photo. I'm going to try and do a daily video of and for myself as well, just to see how things change over the course of a year. I feel particularly compelled to do this for the reason that our family is "complete" now. It's an interesting feeling to have everything in place. If we were to get matching Christmas ornaments, or something personalized...we're all there. No one is left out simply because they haven't been born yet.
There's a few other New Year's resolution type things that I'm going to attempt as well, but I'll discuss that later. I have to have a few more things to talk about in future blog posts, right?
So...cheers, and here's to 2017!
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