Potty Training again.....

Well we decided to potty train Josie, again. She's been doing it for over a week and I think this might be it. She couldn't get the handle on going #2 in the potty but the last two days she has been doing great with that. I just have to be patient and remember that most kids don't potty train as fast as Jaed did. This is going to be a long process and I have to stick with it. Josie loves her "panties" and she gets a chocolate cookie everytime she does something on the potty. We felt bad that Indi didn't understand that she didn't get a reward (chocolate cookie) like Josie so we finally gave in and made it a family reward when she used the potty. So now when she gets a chocolate cookie, I give her two extra to give to Jaed and Indi. Jaed has taken the position as he personal cheerleader now. Whenever I say, "C'mon Josie, let's go potty", Jaed speaks right up...."You can do it Josie, I know you can. Then we all get cookies. Go pee, Josie!". Sometimes he even claps his hands to cheer her on. She always has a huge grin on her face when he rallies around her. Jaed will do ANYTHING for a treat. One time when Josie had an accident and I was telling her that when she doesn't us the potty she doesn't get a cookie, Jaed said, "Yeah Josie, none of us get a cookie. You have to go on the toilet so I can have a cookie, and Indi.".

Matching shirts

I was cleaning out Jaed's closest today and Josie popped her head in and saw the exact same shirt Jaed was wearing, but just a smaller size. She ripped her clothes and put the shirt on. As soon as it was on, she went right over to Jaed and said "Wook Jaed, this is my shirt", and started dancing around in front of him. He completely ignored her! For the next hour or so, she pointed out their "same" shirts to Jaed at least a dozen times. Finally, Jaed responded "I know they're the same Josie, you don't have to keep telling me". Josie just grinned and walked away. She got a response, and it didn't matter what it was, just as long as Jaed saw that they were matching! I couldn't resist a picture.

The "BIG" school starts....

Well, Thayne started his second year of Law School and not without tons if knots in his stomach. He's interviewing, already, for next summer's internship. I really wish we could stay in Bloomington for the summer again but I don't think that's going to happen. The "unknown" is the worst, I think. Hopefully by the end of the semester we'll know where we're going to be for the summer.

Jaed is doing okay at school. A couple of days ago, when I picked him up his teacher said he punched a boy in the mouth. I wanted to die. Then the next day, he pushed a girl down. I seriously don't know what to do with that kid. We did tell him that if he doesn't behave at school then he won't play his 20 minutes of playstation a day. And, I told his teachers that if he's good he gets a reward when he gets home so I would be asking how he's doing everyday. I hope they use that to their advantage when he starts to misbehave. AHHHHHHH, if that doesn't work.....I just don't know what else to do.

Josie loves the bus. She gets so excited when it comes to get her and when it drops her off at home. The permanent grin on her face warms my heart. It does feel strange that I haven't met her teacher or seen her classroom yet. There's an open house next week I think, so I'll be anxious to go. Joy school starts a week from this Tuesday for Josie as well. She's the only girl with 5 other boys. I'm very interested to see how that goes. I wonder if she'll go with the flow and play "boy stuff" with them or if she'll play "princess" by herself.

I love the mornings I just have Indi. She just plays so well by herself while I clean and do laundry. I don't have to worry about her getting into anything (at least for now), and about every 15 minutes she finds me and gives me a hug and then runs back to where she was playing. She's talking soooo much now too. Her new favorit line is "No I not" and telling everyone they're "naughty" while pointing her finger.

Sirens and flashing lights!!

Thayne got pulled over by a cop yesterday. He was going 14 miles over the speed limit and we have a car with Utah license plates that expired in June. Do you think he got a ticket? NO! The policeman gave him a warning. Can you believe it? I have never been that lucky. I was walking Jaed to school with the girls when we saw the cop and then looked at the dork that got pulled over and it was Thayne. I just started laughing and said outloud "Let's just keep going and pretend we don't see Daddy". Of course, that didn't work, and the kids starting yelling "Daddy....Daddy". I could tell that Thayne was so embarrassed, especially when Jaed said "Why is that policeman talking to you Dad." I just spoke right up and said, "Because Dad was driving too fast which was sooooo naughty". I saw the policeman smile and shake his head.
It was an amusing moment for me and quite an embarrassing moment for Thayne. Usually it's the other way around....but not this time!

First Day of School...

Wow, what an exciting day for Josie, Jaed and the parents. Josie had to catch the bus at 8:05 this morning so we got her up and fed her breakfast. She was so excited and kept asking if the bus was there yet. She had a new outfit and new shoes to wear.....she looked so dang cute. She put her backpack on about 20 minutes early and wouldn't even consider taking it off. I was very nervous about her riding the bus. But Thayne kept reassuring me that she would be okay. The bus finally came and she ran right to it. I followed her up the bus stairs and she stopped when she got to the top. They had a teacher on the bus to sit with the kids, so Josie looked at her and then me and her eyes started to get a little big. I quickly told her to give me a hug and kiss and off she went. I didn't want to drag out the "goodbye", but I was so scared to let her go. She was the first child on the bus and it seemed so big with just her on it. I said a quick little prayer and felt like she would be okay. Poor little Indi cried and cried when Josie got on the bus and it drove away. She just kept pointing at the bus and saying something that we couldn't understand. But we quickly started to distract her and she was fine.
A little before 12:00, Thayne, myself, and Indi went outside to wait for the return of the bus. When Indi saw it coming she started to screech and point. I think I was as excited as she was. Josie bounced right off the bus with a huge grin on her face. I asked the bus driver how she did and he said "She did great. She told us everything that was happening outside all the way home." Josie gave me a big hug and said "I at a school, Mom". I could tell she had a great first day!




















Jaed started to get ready for school after Josie left. He was so excited that Thayne, me, and Indi were all going to walk him to school. He kept telling Indi that she was going to see his school but she couldn't stay cuz she was a baby. I was really worried about how he was going to react to the new school and if he was going to behave or not. I said little prayers all the way to his school. When we got into his class he went right to his teacher and asked where he put his backpack. She showed him where and then he was off to play. Indi wore her backpack to his school too and she tried to hang it up with his. I told her to keep it on and that we were leaving and she said "NO". Jaed turned to us and said "Bye Mom, Bye Dad" and Indi did the same, but she added a little wave. I felt so sorry for her, but I knew she'd be okay.
I introduced ourselves to the teacher and was impressed with the classroom and how it was set up. He has two teachers and there are about 15 kids in his class. I was feeling really good about the decision to put him in this preschool. We finally left and Indi seemed to be okay when we left until we got out of the school. Then she just cried and cried all the way home. When we walked in the house, she saw that "Barney" was on the t.v. so she went right over there and sat down and watched it without another tear.
We arrived a little early to pick up Jaed and had a chance to visit with the teacher. I asked with my teeth clenched, "So how did Jaed do?" and she responded with a chuckle, "Well, he's a loud little boy". I started to laugh and said "Well if that's the worst your going to say I am very happy". She said he did great although they did have to remind him several times to use his "inside voice". I told her that we would work on that at home. I packed Jaed a lunch and other kids in his class had "hot" lunch from the school cafeteria. His teacher said that when he was done with his lunch he pointed to one of the "hot" lunches and said "I think I'm ready for that now". She said she had to pinch herself so she wouldn't laugh and explained to him that he ate his lunch and that lunch was for the children that didn't bring lunch. He's so dang cute!! I told the teacher that I would add a little more in his lunch so he was full next time, she just laughed.



















So, the first day of school for both my kids was a complete SUCCESS!! My love for them grew a little more that day and I was so proud to be their mom. I have the best kids!

Back to our Home!

We finally made it home. Let me just first say that I am glad that I was able to help my brother and his wife enjoy a wonderful trip to Italy by watching their kids. They were very greatful and couldnt' stop thanking us. BUT.....will I do it again? Hmmm......of course I would, cuz that's the kind of sister I am, but give me some time to forget about the negative things (almost like childbirth).

The kid were excited to get home and see all their toys, their beds, and familiar stuff all around. While we were gone I started to think about Jaed's preschool (the private catholic school) and was feeling overwhelmed with that thought of driving him to school everyday and picking him up everyday. And when the baby came, I would have to drag Josie, Indi and the baby in the building to drop him off and pick him up. Well, I remembered that a month or so ago I got a flyer from the public school district stating that they were opening a preschool in certain elementary schools to help get children ready for all day kindergarden. I decided to check into it and found out that the elementary school next to us was one of the locations for the new preschools. BINGO!!! And it would be the school that he would attend for kindergarden. So I got all the details worked out and registered him for that preschool. He goes every morning from 8:45 to 12:45 and even has lunch there.
Josie was accepted into the speech preschool that she attended for a few months last year and a bus will take her to and from school. She'll be attending the special speech preschool on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:05 to 12:00. And on Tuesdays and Thursdays she'll be participating in a co-op preschool that several of my friends and I have arranged from 9:00 to 11:30. SOOOO....Josie and Jaed will be gone at the same time every morning (but friday) and I'll be left at home with little ole' Indi. Can you believe it? What will I do with myself? How will I survive....hehehehhe......I think I can do it. And, I don't have to drive anywhere to get them to school. It's wonderful how things can work out like this.

Alive and Surviving

Well, we're halfway through this adventure and still alive and sane. The little kids are having the time of their lives. They never stop playing and seem to get a long (most of the time). Jaed and Josie got to go spend seperate days with their grandparents. Jaed went to church with them and even spent the night. Josie just spent the day with them, but was equally excited. I know they each felt extremely special to go to Grandpa and Grandma's house without their siblings and have the full attention to themselves.

The teenage situation isn't much better but we're just taking one day at a time. I do have to say that cleaning chores are GREAT. When they all do their chores, the house looks pretty decent and I didn't have to do a thing.

Teenagers are SCARY!

Well we're here at my brothers house and with two teenage boys and one pre-teen, and three young girls...oh..and my own three stinkers. I never want my babies to grow up and be teenagers. These boys are ROUGH and remind me of my rude little self when I was there age. The constant talk back, the half done chores, and then there's the girls...AWWWWWWWWW. My brother left a bunch of rules for the two older boys about curfews, chores, computer time, etc.. I feel like all my time is spent controlling these teens then spending time with the little ones. Good thing Thayne is here with me.

My nephew wanted to go out with his girlfriend (my brother is in denial and calls the girl his son's "friend") and one of the rules is that he has to double date until he's 18 yrs old so I had to quiz him on who he was going with, where he was going, and what time he would be home. The only thing he didn't have details for was who he was going with. I finally had to tell him that if he didn't find another couple or friend to go with him and his girlfriend then his younger brother was going to have to go. WOW....he was mad at first but got right on the phone and found a friend to tag along. All I can do now is trust that he's not going to ditch the friend somewhere....cuz that's what I would have done. I might call him on his cell phone (yes the kid is so spoiled that he has his own cell phone and car) and ask to talk to everyone in the car to make sure there's more that two ppl....but I guess one could disguise his/her voice. So trust is it.....I have to trust he's going to be obedient...hmm....I think I'll be stressed until he gets back home and is where he can be kept track of. I don't have really any reason not to trust him but I remember what it was like to be a teenager and how you think you can get away with anything. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

I think I'll just lock my kids up from the time they're 14 until they're 18. That seems like the easiest thing to do :).