Gorgeous girls

My sister and niece visited us last week.  We are all completely enthralled with Leila!  She is the cutest, happiest baby ever!

 I was tired of fighting Danielle everyday to brush her hair, today I chopped it off!  I wish I had a before picture.  I think I cut 3-4 inches!  It is not the best cut, a little uneven, but adorable just the same!

I tried to even up Ellie's do and get rid of the Carol Brady look.  It looks much better and is almost all one length now.  We are more than ready for Summer with these short locks!

Interval training!?!

I told myself that this next post had to be positive or I was going to have to change the name of my blog to something along the lines of "Christy's venting/raging tangents."  Keeping with that initial thought I am going to keep this positive.  :)

It has been a crazy/chaotic week with a totally different schedule.  I have come to realize that I really do prefer a schedule and a routine.  Due to these weird days I have not made it to the gym, which in turn has made me a little crabby and a little lethargic.  I decided today I would squeeze in a quick run....yes, with three kids in tow. 

The kids and I decided to run/bike between the rain drops just so we could get out of the house and get some exercise and fresh air.  The kids climbed on their bikes, I laced up my shoes and we were off.   First thing, Brayden got a little worked up because Ellie cruised past him (he has a newer, bigger bike that he is adjusting to), making those training wheels go as fast as they could.  B did not like being left in the dust.  He was screaming at her to slow down, meanwhile, Dani was about 3 driveways behind us screaming at me to quit running.   I got her caught up, told all of them to go fast and pedal as far as they could up the "wee" hill, then get off and walk to the top.  I took off running, listening to their wheels spinning behind me.....then their screams echoing through the neighborhood.  I kept on chugging, I really wanted to run the whole hill, I got to the top, heart pounding and saw that the two girls were about 1/4 of the way up.  (Brayden beat me to the top and was waiting nicely).  Honestly, I was too wiped out to walk back down, so they screamed and pushed their way to the top.  By this time, my heart rate was back to normal and I took off at a slow jog.  The girls were all smiles and ready to ride on the flats. We were good for a bit, I sprinted up to tell B to slow down, then sprinted back to help Dani up off of the ground.  Then back to a jog...nice intervals right?  (not planned btw). 

This brings us to the part of the road that isn't so safe.  We have a detour running through the neighborhood so there is a constant stream of cars, not all of them heeding the speed limit.  We ventured on (bad choice), then I freaked out when the cars got too close.  We turned around and headed back.  At this time Dani was crying because her helmet wasn't on right, Brayden crashed and Ellie's chain came off.  PLUS two of my friends drove by.  Luckily they are great friends and can/will sympathize with the drama that was taking  place.  At the halfway point I hefted Ellie's bike up (weight training) and briskly started walking home.  Dani was crying because she can't/won't keep up, and Brayden was off in the distance.

This 40 minute interval training consisted of a 20 minute cool down.  BUT I am calling that my work out for the day.  Sad, isn't it?  I much prefer the interval training at the gym, I MUST remember this! 

All in all, we got some nice fresh air.  :)  Here are some pics (not so great) of the munchkins.

Our sunny day last week where all the neighbor kids came to play!  So fun!

Happy Spring!

These were taken on Monday night, April 18th. Great.

Update re:Struggling

I just re-read my post from this afternoon; wow, it is bad!  I wrote that before I took a nap, after the kids were going nuts.....I guess I am trying to say, PLEASE don't call CPS.  But if you do, see if they have any tips for me!

Amber, thank you for your help and suggestions!  I am going  to try your new tally system for sure.  I realized I forgot to include positive reinforcement in my disciplining list; maybe because I don't do it enough.  This is something else I am going to work on!  That girl (Danielle) is sensitive and does need lots of one on one time and hugs!  I def. need to be better about that, and stop and take the time to do it!  I am sure things will improve when I make the effort with that....any other suggestions from my "mom of the year" post?

Struggling.....anyone else?

Ahh, take a deep breath, read on only if you're willing to listen to some venting.  Let me tell you, it has been a ROUGH 12 days, and yes I am counting.  It all started the Monday of Spring break.....my headstrong 4 year old (who thinks she's a grown adult in charge), will NOT LISTEN.  It's not only  the not listening, it is the flat out refusing, arguing, debating, negotiating, tantrums and shrieking that is sending me over the edge.  (And folks the whole smooth sailing after 4 years, is a bunch of BS)!

I feel like I need a parenting class just for Danielle.  She is so different than my other children and I don't know what to do with her.  She doesn't care about any of the consequences I have enforced.  She missed a B-day party, she has missed play dates, she has sat in time-out for hours (where upon she falls asleep), she has been spanked, things have been taken away from her, things have been given to her siblings for their good behavior, I tell you, this girl is tough to crack.  The thing of it is, it's STUPID stuff that gets her into trouble.  She doesn't want to brush her hair, she insists on sitting in a certain booster in the car, she won't share, she won't take turns, she won't follow simple directions.

I have been venting to friends all week and luckily they have been there, experienced it, or can at least sympathize with me.  The thing of it is, NO ONE has fixed the issues.  Will she grow out of it?  The question is:  Will she survive long enough, to grow out of it?

I feel horrible, I can't believe I am writing this but today, after a 20  minute screaming episode in the car, where I told her, "I am taking you to the police station, you can go to jail with all of the other naughty people."  Ellie freaked out more than she did.  (Spokane friends, the designated jail is the Yokes that closed on Sprague and Sullivan.  So if you have my children in your car and you drive by, go with it, when my children say, "There's the jail."  That is where we stop and get out of the car and wait for the child to make a good choice.  Is that detrimental?  Who is going to pay my kids' therapy fees?)

That's not even what I feel bad about.  I told Danielle after she got out of the car and I asked her to go inside and upstairs, she stood there and looked at me, I said, "Go away, you need to stay away from me right now, I am very angry."  I don't know how much she understood, but she finally DID listen to me. 

My children are now ALL having a rest so hopefully they can go to a friend's tonight for game night.  Wish them luck, hopefully they will earn that privilege.  Happy day everyone!

Any suggestions on my predicament would be greatly appreciated.....And yes, I know all of you moms out there have issues, if not this one, then some other kind, but I just had to release some of this frustration on my keyboard.

Toothless Wonder

I have always wondered why people make a big deal about kids losing their teeth. It happens to everyone, who cares? Well, I have to say, I think it's pretty darn hilarious. My boy is so goofy looking, I have to smile every time he does. He has the biggest hole in his mouth, sometimes I just stare dumbfounded at him.

 This picture doesn't show how much space he has on top for his new bucky beaver teeth to come in.  I have a feeling those suckers are going to be HUGE!  Is this the beginning of those "awkward" years?  I thought we had until puberty for that....

 We had to leave the YMCA early last night because his tooth was bleeding profusely.  They had the nerve to interrupt my workout because my child was bleeding.  Whatever.   We headed home and B attempted to eat dinner.  I actually took video of it because it was quite a feat for him to get anything in his mouth.  This tooth was DANGLING....he wouldn't let anyone touch it.  Finally it fell out while he was in bed at 5 am.  I guess we're lucky he didn't swallow/choke on it while he was sleeping.

 He is quite a looker ladies!  :)  I love this boy, he cracks me up!  I better check to see if the tooth fairy has come yet!  Sweet dreams everyone!

Cousins and Birthdays!

This probably should have been 4 different posts, but here we go.....  I got to work in the girls' classroom on their actual birthday.  Ms. Jenny  made them B-day crowns and they got to blow out their own candles.  It was all very exciting!  WE LOVE MS JENNY! 

Dani and her B-day treats and cake.

Ms. Jenny and Ellie

My Mom's B-day is on March 17th, so we got to celebrate her while Kalin and Leila were here!

I got a smokin' deal on The Deal Planet in Spokane.  The girls got to go to 4 hours of gymnastics for $12 each.  It worked out perfectly because it was on a morning where I had to work and my baby-sitter cancelled.  Thanks to Auntie Sarah for driving them to and from!  They had a blast with their cousins and learned LOTS of new skills.

Next up, cousins, Hunter and Noah came to town for their Spring Break.  We visited the YMCA and they did the climbing wall.  You have to be 4 years old, so it was the girls' first time! 

Dani was hesitant, but I was very proud that she got up there and tried!  She did great!

The girls; Ellie, Ally and Dani

Waiting their turns; Brayden, Ally, Dani, Noah and Ellie.

 This is my monkey, Ellie Bella.  Can you believe it?  First time up she climbed to the top.  What's next for her....?  I am going to have to keep this girl busy and active!

THEN, it was onto Grandma Phillips' and Hunter's B-day party!  Too much fun and WAY TOO much cake in this belly for a weeks time....I don't even want to think about it.

Great- G & G (Kent's Grandparents) partying it up!

The next week we had a hibernation party at the girls' pre-school.  I was the lucky mom that got to work that day!  :)  This is a HORRIBLE pic. Brayden was nice enough to take it.  Ignore the massive mess in the background, I guess we were playing hard that morning.  I felt pretty cool wearing these matching pajamas out and about.  Luckily, I drove straight to school, after standing at the bus stop with B, then straight home.  :)  It was a fun party, we made caves for our teddy bears, bear masks, and had a teddy bear picnic at snack time.  Pre-schoolers are so fun and happy (most of the time)!

Yesterday we had this little guys' B-day.  This is Emmett and he is just adorable!  He turned 4 and had a Super Mario Brothers party.  It was quite fun, the best part were the mustaches that were in the treat boxes, we ALL had lots of fun with them!

Ellie, Ally and Dani

I hope/think we are done with parties for a while.  March did me in!  My poor belly needs to see the gym hard core this week!  :(  But it was all worth it, so much fun!