Activities

I know I have a lot to catch everyone up on but for now I will just post what I am thinking about

I wasn't in many activities growing up and I wish I had been. So now what do I do for my kids? 

We have tried dance, gymnastics, swimming, ice skating, soccer, t-ball and girl scouts. Some many times others just once.

Mallory has pretty much dropped out of everything. I am not sure if she will regret it in the future but I want her to be having fun. I don't want to force her to do something she isn't enjoying. Our next adventure is piano lessons.

Dance is one of the activities that I want them to like but I don't think they were ever very interested. Mykaela does like to dance and perform but to her own routine. I saw Mykaela's teacher talk to her this evening and I know it was about being a better listener. When I brought it up she just made a sad face. She said she doesn't know how to do some of the moves. I said I could practice with her she said no. She doesn't want to dance anymore. I am trying to come up with ways to make it fun, maybe bring her to a ballet or a dance competition?? My predicament is that I just paid the money for the recital outfit last month (not cheap) and because of that I really want her to finish out the season. Which is 5 more months. But I struggle because I want her to understand that this is something that has already been paid for and she needs to follow through on her commitment but I also want her to be having fun and enjoy it. So I am not sure what to do...should I let her drop out or should I have her complete the season. This is her third year in dance.

Busy House

Same story, I am way behind. So much has happened over the last month I am not sure I can remember it all. But here goes ...

Mallory and her Girl Scout troop went to the play 'The Little Princess' at a theater just off Grand Ave in St Paul. It was a cute play. Mykaela wasn't feeling well so she wasn't able to join us. Hopefully she can come with on the next adventure.

Miss Mykaela turned 5 and with that milestone she got her ears pierced. She picked the same exact pair as Mallory and was very excited to get it done. Still have no idea how to warn them that it is going to hurt. She was a trooper and stopped crying as soon as they gave her a sucker :)
She went in for her wellness check and is right around the 50 percentile. If I could find the stat sheet I would write them down, hopefully they turn up at some point. She did end up getting 4 shots but now she is all set for kindergarten next year.
Her birthday party was on 19th with a family get togehter at our house first followed by a kid party at a gymnastics place afterwards. Unfortunately it was snowing and we ended up being 15 min late to the Gymnastics part but it was a lot of fun.

We had 2 Thanksgiving meals. The first was with the Thorsen Aunts/Uncles/Cousins in St. Paul the day was beautiful and the kids spent most of the time playing outside without jackets. Who knows the next time that will happen on Thanksgiving day. The second was at my dad's with the usual suspects. Very happy Ryan and Anna were home to celebrate with us as well. Mallory was Thankful for her family and her house. Mykaela was thankful for underware :)
Krista and I met up for Black Friday shopping, I got a few of my deals online before hitting the stores. Toys R Us is still the worse when it comes to waiting in line to check out. They definately need to find a better system to get people out of the store faster.

The inside christmas decorations are up, still waiting on Kirk to put up the lights on the outside. Marshall even 'helped' this year. He wanted all of the ball ornaments. Luckily most of them are made of plastic and bounce when he throws or drops them. He oohs at the tree and says ball, ball, ball. I did gate the tree and presents this year to keep his little hands off :)

Kirk brought Marshall in for his 18 month wellness check on Friday. Sounds like he is also doing well. He is now 24# 3 ounces, 32.5 inches tall. A couple of his new words are Thank You and  Ball.

Erin came over on Saturday and baked cookies with the girls and then the 4 of us headed downtown to watch the Holidazzle parade. It was the perfect night for it. Not to cold and big fluffy snow flakes. We had fun playing in the snow waiting for the parade to start.

Friday Marshall and Mykaela have a christmas program at their school which I am hoping to get video of. It also happen's to be Mallory's 7th birthday and Kirk starts on-call for 2 weeks. So the next 2 weeks will continue to be busy. At least I start Christmas vacation on the 21st.

Picture Post

Mallory's first soccer team. She is the shortest one on the team.

The first day was extremly hot. Today was the last game and it was cold and windy

We went to a wedding in early September. Grandma Kathy's niece Gina. Everyone had a great time. We were seated right next to the dance floor so the kids were able to break in the dance floor before the dancing started.



Owen and Marshall they are both very fond of each other. 
I am excited to see how their relationship develops over the next few years.



Marshall loves to dance

The next day we went to Kirk's parents for one last dip in the pool for the year and to celebrate Ginny's 3rd birthday.

One Saturday the kids and I met Uncle Nick, Sophie and Stella at the Chutes and Ladders park

A week ago Mykaela's pre-school class went to an apple orchard and I was able to join them.

So excited for her first ride on a school bus.



"I picked my 2 apples"



Mykaela and her class



Marshall in his hospital gown before he was feeling better

Back to smiles :)



New toy to play on at the lake

The kids love to play with this sled. Who needs snow?

Love this picture Anna took of Marshall sometime this summer



Smile with front teeth. (self portrait)



New Smile

We have a handful of pumpkins so I let Mallory and Mykaela each carve one last weekend. I haven't been able to get a good shot of the finished product. Might just have to take one in the daylight instead of trying to take one when they are candle lit.

Quick Summary

I know same old story but sitting down at the computer after a full day of work in front of the computer and then a number of activities and chores before I can sit down to try to catch up on me time doesn't put blogging at the top of the list. I would rather go to bed or veg out in front of the TV but here goes a long list of things that have happened in the last month.

Labor day weekend we spent a long weekend with the Specht family and Grandpa Paul and Grandma Kathy at the Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells. We had a wonderful time even brought our chrysalis along in hopes that the butterfly would emerge, unfortunately it never hatched. Mallory discovered a new game, Magic Quest. She had a blast running around with her dad and Jason using her magic wand to find all the hidden objects and fight the dragon. There used to be one at the Mall of America but that is long gone.

Both Mallory and Mykaela started playing soccer. The first day playing through the YMCA Mallory had already decided that she didn't like it. I think if it was more of a skills class she might have liked it better. The games were to aggressive for her and she said it was too hard. We have continued to have her go but I think this is it unless we can find something that fits her skills better. Mykaela is participating in Soccer Shots. They come to her preschool every Monday and it sounds like the focus on ball skills and seems to be really enjoying it. Wish it was later in the day so we could stop by and watch her. Fortunately the school posts short videos of their practice on facebook.

Dance has also started up again. But 2 weeks in and Mallory isn't liking it anymore so we ended up cancelling after just one month, maybe she will be interested again in a year or two. Mykaela is back to the Wednesday classes with a few of her other friends hopefully she would like to continue.

Kirk's cousin Ken was in town a few weeks ago and generously shared Twins tickets with the family. So I brought the girls to their first Twins game. Kirk was out of town on a golfing trip. It was a cold night and they lost but it was fun to be there with the cousins.

Mykaela had a small sore that was just inside her nose and then I noticed it started to move down her face. Ended up looking more like a canker sore. So I brought her into the minuet clinic and it ended up being impetigo. I had no idea what that was. It is a skin infection that is fairly common in kids her age. At least I know what it is now if it happens again. I am just glad she didn't spread it.

It has been a year since my aunt Jana passed away from Ovarian cancer. In honor of her and to raise money for research and spread awareness they held a 5K Nana Jana Fun Run out at the Dan-D Farms in Knoxville IA. Since it was the same weekend as Down Syndrome walk Mallory, Mykaela, Krista, Owen and I all went down for the day. It was a great event with a great turn out. The Fun Run was through the corn maze and over, around, under and through obstacles. The girls were slow to start off but we caught up to Uncle Kerry and he helped keep them motivated. Mykaela even raced him to the finish line. Wish the trip would have been longer but wouldn't have missed it!

Last week Mallory lost her two front teeth. I think they have been loose for about 6 months. On Monday she knocked them and the left one fell out while she was eating dinner. The right one was just hanging there by one side. She wouldn't pull it out but it was starting to affect her eating and drinking. So just before school on Wednesday I pulled it out for her. One flick from my finger and it was out. Almost a year since she lost the two on the bottom.

Today I got a call from Marshall's day care saying that he was really sleepy. After snack he laid down and fell asleep and that he had a few episodes where he seemed to be having some stomach pains. He didn't have a fever or anything so I said to give me a call back if they needed someone to come get him. Around 11:00 I got a second call that he has continued to be really sleepy and even fell asleep outside. So I had Kirk go pick him up from daycare. He called the nurse line at the pediatrics office and they told him to bring him to Children's Hospital. I met him there and based on his symptoms they were pretty sure he had something called Intussusception. Which they explained as the bowel kink or where the bowel telescopes onto its self. So they ordered an x-ray and air enema. The little guy couldn't stay awake. :( He really wasn't acting like himself. Luckily the x-rays confirmed what the doctors thought and the air enema was a success. Within 10 min of the enema he was back to smiling and exploring. I am so thankful that everything turned out as well as it did. It is possible it can happen again but just to keep an eye out for the symptoms.

I think that about wraps up the last month (+) I will try to post pictures soon (no promises)

First Day

Yes behind again. Have been overwhelmed with changes, work and trips.

Ashley's last day with us as a nanny was Friday August 26th. The good thing it is not good bye just see you later. The girls called her last week and it was so cute to listen to them talk to her. We really enjoyed having her as our Nanny. I am sure she will do wonderful as a Kindergarten teacher this year.

We had Grandpa Paul and Grandma Glenys filled in a few days were we were without daycare. I really hope the kids know (or realize some day) how lucky they are to have most of their grandparents live so close and be able to spend so much time with them.

Marshall and Mykaela started at a education center today. Marshall in the Toddler room and Mykaela in the Preschool 2 room. I brought them to visit a few times the week before they started in hopes that Marshall would at least feel comfortable in the environment and not completely scared being in a place he doesn't know with people he doesn't know. I think it may have actually worked. He had a successful first day he went off to play while Kirk and I snuck out. Mykaela had the hardest time with drop off. She was teary eyed and clung to me (which of course brought tears to my eyes) Miss Sarah assured me that 5-10 min later she was off playing and had a great day.

The night before I wasn't sure the girls would be going to their first day of school. They both had a virus hit that had them throwing up for most of the night. :( They were both on the mend by morning and Mallory really wanted to go to school so I let her go. She had a great first day even though she was exhausted. Went to bed early tonight in hopes that she feels even better tomorrow.

Happy 3rd Birthday to our niece/cousin GINNY! We love you

Busy week ahead. Marshall has his 15 month wellness check , dance starts on Thursday, Gymnastics on Friday, Wedding on Saturday and I am sure other things in the middle.

More updates to come...

Cabin Weekend

Kirk wasn't able to find anyone to cover for his on-call duty over the weekend so the kids and I headed to the cabin for Minong days. Grandma, Grandpa and the Gores family were also up. For dinner on Friday we had one of the kids favorite meals (spaghetti without plates)

Saturday morning we went on the usual walk around the circle and ended up finding 8 monarch caterpillars for our butterfly house. Hopefully this year the girls will actually be able to see one hatch from the chrysalis.

After a quick lunch we were headed to town. The kids are always excited about the parade. We found our spot just minuets before the start. Marshall did not want to sit and wait he was determined to walk in the street. Luckily one of the first floats that went by had freezes so i was able to keep him occupied with that for most of the parade. This was also the first time I have ever seen a float throw stuffed animals. My guess is they are the ones they weren't able to get rid of at a garage sale??? After the parade we went to the local ice cream shop for treats and wi-fi access. That is when the rain started which cut our trip to town short. There were plenty of rides/attractions/food in town but didn't want to be soaked just to attend.
 

A bunch of monkeys swinging on the bars.

Grandpa started a campfire Saturday night. The bugs were attacking me so Grandma Glenys got out the bug hats. Everyone wanted one so she made more for everyone out of toule and ribbon.

Pretty Ginny :)



Grandma modeling her creation



Sunday we were up and out the door at 9:00 am. We were off to Hayward for our annual trip to the wilderness walk. Kirk missed out this year but it is only open until Labor day so this was our only chance this year. It turned out to be a great day for it and it wasn't even crowded. All of the kids seemed to enjoy themselves this year. I was afraid Marshall would get his finger bit or grab an animal that would retaliate. Luckily we left unscathed can't say the same for lunch at McDonalds. Mykaela had a bit of a breakdown and ended up sitting in the car with Grandma while the rest finished up lunch.

Feeding the rainbow trout.

I missed a picture of him 'petting' the goats.





Look mom I found some rocks.

We got home at 4:00 and made a quick trip to the park with dad before calling it a night. Only our night of activites weren't over. Both girls got sick at 10 pm. Can't figure out if they have a virus or if it something they ate. Mykaela also has some weird rash on her face that appears then disappears completely from the previous location and shows up in a different place her face. Called the nurse line and they said to keep an eye on it ... hopefully it will clear up on it's own.