Fun in Ham Lake?

A bit of a staycation during Spring Break this year.  We decided to take the family to a hotel and enjoy the swimming pool, cable TV, dinner on the floor, and some quality family time.  We had a blast, not much sleep, but a BLAST!

This should definitely get easier as the kids get older, Nora fell out of bed, Ian woke twice--requiring he and Daddy to spend two hours in the hotel lobby, Sam couldn't sleep unless his body was somehow draped over me.  But we had fun making memories...

Spring has sprung!

Spring has come, unusually fast and early for Minnesota, and it has been great to get outside.  It correlated perfectly with spring break this year, so we got the trampoline set up (for the very first time), and have enjoyed playing outside.

A Blessing...

Today our 4th kiddo was dedicated.  Ian Pahl we want you to grow in love for our Savior.  You didn't feel well today and slept through the party, Mommy had to open your gifts without you.

All About NORA!

Our sweet Nora has turned 5.  We celebrated with TWO dolphin birthday parties.  On March 1st she invited a few friends to help her celebrate, she was the perfect hostess and surprised me and her grandmas with her sweet introductions, she was in her element.  My little social butterfly...

A few days later her family gathered around to celebrate once again.  She had to share the spotlight (see other March 4th post) today but took it all in stride.

Nora is a girl with a BIG heart.  She covers those around her with love and feels very deeply (especially for a 5 year old).  Nora has a great imagination and can keep herself busy but she also loves to put on shows.  She loves creating, and is quite a talented artist.  She loves to be outside and is pretty fearless--she learned to ride her bike without training wheels last summer.

So best!

You hear those stories about the moms that are able to convince each of their kids that each one of them is secretly her favorite.  I so want my kids to know that they are my favorite, each for the own unique gift they are.  Sam ran into my arms yesterday and said, "I'm your so best mama"  and I loved it.  Sam you are my so best!

(so are you Riley, Nora, and Ian)

Don't see me

You have to love a  two year old's logic, when Sam wants to do something he knows he shouldn't he'll come up to me and say "Mom, don't see me" and then proceed to do what he knows is forbidden.  Today already he has come up to me twice, once right before he grabbed his beloved paci (which is for bedtime use only) and then again at lunch right before he dipped his finger into his ketchup.  If only all kids did this every time they were about to do something they shouldn't!!

Quotables

We were out to eat at Acapulco, we had talked about how it was a Mexican restaurant.  When Nora went to use the bathroom the paper towels came out automatically, but unlike most places you didn't just get a small sheet of paper towel, instead a LONG piece of paper towel came out.  Nora simply stated, "Wow those Mexicans must really like paper towels!"

Bittersweet...

My little Ian has figured out how to soothe himself to sleep for nap and bedtime.  While it is nice not to have to rock him to sleep when I've got other kids wanting/needing me, I will miss our special snuggles!

Bowling Fun

We gathered for some bowling fun today...

Riley was the only kid to "bowl" a strike...

Sam was super excited to be a "big kid" and took his bowling very

seriously.  It has fun to watch him wait his turn, he jumped up right when Riley was done

because he knew his turn came next.  Here he is yelling, "go ball go"...

Nora had her own style, notice her fingers in the holes...

Uncle Matt showed us what true form looks like...

and as usual Nora was the best cheerleader, here she is jumping for

Ahmie after she bowled a strike!

Ian had fun chewing on a meat stick wrapper...

and these little heartbreakers, who couldn't love 'em...

An afternoon full of cousin memories!!

Bragging on Riley

We went to Riley's conference last night, and got a glowing report!  Mrs. Bergeron said she is a delight to have in class (wish I could be a fly on the wall in her classroom).  Riley is now reading at a 7th grade level!!!  She is also performing well and above grade level in math and spelling but not 6 grade levels ahead.  Riley just LOVES to read, she routinely asks for books rather than toys and is usually reading more than one at a time.  So we brought her home a book from the book fair to let her know how proud we are of her for being a good student.

What's in a name?

I'm not really sure where I come up with the nicknames that my kids get but I love how the other kids get on board and use the names too!  I also think that the kids know they are special when I use one of their nicknames, notice I said one of, they all have multiple.  I will list a sampling of them below:

Riley:  button, peanut, cakes, riley-cakes, riley roo, roosa, ri-ri, risa

Nora:  nori, nora boo, nora rini, norsie

Samuel:  sam, sammy, sam boy, samster, sampson

Ian:  ian monster, "e", e bo-bo

One of "those" days...

I'm having one of those days today...

The one where I get a text saying Riley's ride to school can't bring her this morning so I have to swing by (but not really swing by because it isn't on the way) her school before I drop Nora at preschool.  I think to myself, no big deal we've done this before.  As we are frantically dressing for the super cold weather I smell something and ask, "did someone fart", they all deny so we continue getting ready, a few seconds later I hear Nora say as she shows me her mitten, "I must not have wiped good enough", sure enough her mitten has all the evidence I need!  I scoot her downstairs, jacket and all and have her undress, change her underwear and I help wipe her behind.

The morning entails me holding Ian or he is crying and even most of the time I'm holding him he's crying.  I drug him up with some ibuprofen and think about checking his ears.

Samuel has just now decided he no longer needs to nap--this is the same boy who over Christmas, just one month ago, couldn't hold it together and was the king of crabbiness because he had lost out on too much sleep.  So he is talking, jumping, singing, and throwing things in his crib.  Not sure when he'll figure out that he can climb out.  Hopefully not soon!

Ian has finally laid down for a nap but it doesn't last long....
Need to check those ears soon.

I'm doing laundry and when I go down to switch the loads I realize I never put laundry detergent in the load I just took out and put in the drier--rewind, put that load in again, this time with detergent.

I take a look at Ian's jammies and they are filthy,  I realize just how dirty my floors are, YIKES!  I like to pretend that my house is not that dirty.

Did I mention it is Brian's birthday and the cupcakes I made didn't turn out very well?

I'm surprisingly calm about it all--must be because I have these kinds of days often...



That night, one kid started on abx for a bladder infection, and another on abx for an ear infection!

GOOD!

It 's a simple word but it made my day yesterday, I asked Riley how school was that day and she said, "good" and continued right on with her playing.  It may not seem like much but the start of first grade has brought about more stress in this house than I care to have in my life.  Starting first grade wasn't something Riley was excited about and the transition left us all struggling to know what to do.  She has definitely improved since September and I would say that school is something Riley tolerates rather than enjoys.  So a simple "good" sure made this momma's day!!!

Sweet Sounds...

Every once in awhile the planets align and what I hear are the sounds of content kids playing...
It is happening right now...

Riley and Nora are playing PipPip and Chance, Sam is playing with his cars, and I'm holding Ian getting kisses at the stove making dinner.  I'm just soaking it all in, it will probably change soon...

Date night!

It is my turn to take Riley on a date tonight.  She wants to go to Barnes and Noble for a book and some hot chocolate.  She asked if Ian could come with us tonight--I told her "sure it was her decision"--when asked why she said "because Ian gets sad at home when you're not there"  what a sweet big sister.