Basketball Fever...

Nicolas has been playing basketball all month as part of Enter His Courts, which is an awesome Christian organization. You can find out more about this at http://www.enterhiscourts.org/. Anyway, although he likes to play, he is somewhat frustrated by the game and guarding aspect. He just wants to practice making shots. That's kinda hard to do when on a team. He says he is not playing again next year, which is a huge disappointment to my in-laws. Sorry though Barb and Rick, with my gracefulness in his genes, I'm not sure he'd be NBA material! :-)

Okay, getting to the honest and humorous part....my mom asked him why he is playing if he didn't want to, and he looked at her and very honestly and innocently replied "I don't know, I guess its 'cause my mom signed me up."

(Note to self - When registering children for sports, ask first, then register. :-) )

A few shots of the action....

Yippee, continued...

Okay, I'm holding my fingers, breath, and whatever else I can hold because Grace is now peeing almost every time in the potty. I am so excited! Our goal is to sustain this, and then after a long, long while of peeing continuously, we will begin our mission to "get the poo out" on a consistent basis as well (so far only three times after a "clean out" regimen).

YIPPEE!!!!

okay, I know that this won't interest some of you, but for those with young children, I know you will understand...Grace FINALLY pooped on the potty last night!!!!!!

We have an announcement...

We now have a new member of our family, Lucy. I again will attempt to upload lots of pics soon. Lucy is a 9 week old lemon and white beagle. (As many of you know, our dog Millie passed away this past year after being with us since she was a puppy.) Todd and I thought the time was right (although, being that we just had a huge snowfall I'm not so sure) to adopt a new puppy. She is fitting right in and doing quite well at least peeing on her training pads. The kids love her and she loves them most of the time. She is a nibbler, so we are working on that with her. So now we are working on potty training and house training at the same time. Fun!

A Twist on a Favorite

kids t.v. show that is. Grace and Todd have gotten into the habit of watching a show called "Oobi" if Grace happens to get up early or stay up late. The show is particularly dumb in my opinion (it is a pair of eyes on a ring, worn on a hand to make this puppet thing on a hand). they like it and tease each other about it all of the time. the funny thing is that Grace doesn't call it "Oobi" but instead says "Boobi" which is really interesting when she chases us yelling, "Boobi, Boobi, Boobi." We are working to solve this funny but problematic speech issue. :-)

Mother and Son Day

Today Nicolas and I went out for a special day. I was hoping to overcome the doldrums that he seems to be having - no to mention oppressive whining and disobeying. So, he and I went out while my mom kept Grace, which was a reward for Grace as well.

We began by visiting the Home Depot for our monthly meeting with Corey and Jacob for Project Build-it. Today they made football helmet bookends. We ate lunch, the boys picked Burger King. (so much for healthy) Then we proceeded to go to Nicolas's choice activity for the day - ice skating. This was his first time, and I have to admit that we were both pretty excited since i love to skate but can't ever get anyone to go with me. Well, we made it a half a lap around the wall before he panicked, began screaming and crying with fear, and refused to budge one more inch. I finally flagged down a guard after dozens of people watched our struggle and offered to help. I swear, a persistent 5 year old can just about take down two grown adults when forced to move while off balance.

When we finally got off the ice and our normal shoes back on he began crying again as we left because he "wasn't finished skating."
That's when we went painting. Much better option, although more expensive.

As far as hoping that this excursion wold help with the attitude, well I report that I failed on that front, but at least we both have a day full of memories that we can share.



(FYI - I will begin posting pics as soon as I get my new cable so I can charge my camera!)

Our New Toy

What a wonderful Christmas for our family. We spent Christmas eve with Todd's family, Christmas morning with just the four of us, and then Christmas night with my family. We all had such a great time. Nicolas was a little under the weather on Christmas eve, and didn't even stay up long enough to make Santa cookies pr reindeer food, but we covered it for him. Todd and I were challenged with on one of Grace's gifts, a trampoline with a bungee cord instead of springs, and a handle. It only two educated people 3 hours to put together! :-)

Our family gift this year was a Wii - I know, I said no video games, but Todd convinced me that this was different since we had to get active to use it. Well, we received it the day after Christmas and are now fans. I have to say it does challenge the coordination of everyone. Nicolas is learning a lot and Grace tries to mimic our actions. The only downside is that it is hard to play with a 2 year old attached to your leg. :-)

If anyone knows of any good family games, please let me know.




Also, I am searching for some advice. I am struggling with Grace's bedtime routine. She has never been a great sleeper or gone to bed easily. She still wakes up several times a night wanting more to drink (some night she can go through about 4 sippy cups). The only issue is that if we try to let her "cry it out" she cries until she pukes. Then we have to do the whole changing the sheets and bath routine. So I wind up laying there with her for at least an hour every night until she falls asleep. While I love the extra time with her, it is getting harder to stay with her that long, and Nicolas is feeling a tad bit rejected that I can't read to him at night anymore. Any suggestions to stop the puking?