What A Sweet Sister

Riley is definitely enjoying her time with me when the twins are at preschool. But, when I tell her they will be home soon, she runs and finds their blankets and waits at the door for them. It's so cute. When they walk in the door, she makes sure to hand them their blankies and has the biggest smile on her face.

Ethan's Homework

Ethan had his very first homework assignment last week. His assignment was to tell of a time that he had fun playing in the snow. The kids then had to present their assignment to the class. Wouldn't you like to have been a fly on the wall for that?

Mike had just taken him sledding, so that's what they wrote about. Ethan drew the picture and Mike, of course, wrote the story. We included a picture that Mike took of him. Too cute!

Mia and Ethan are in different classes, so she didn't have to do it.

Another Before and After

This is the bathroom off of our kitchen. There was this weird textured wallpaper on the top half of the walls. Our plan was to take the wallpaper and the wood paneling off and paint. Well, what started off as a simple inexpensive project turned into an entire gut job. We gouged the walls so badly when we took off the wood paneling. Mike had to cut some of the drywall out and replace it. The wallpaper was a nightmare to get off. The vanity wouldn't fit back in with the paneling off, so we had to get a new vanity. We figured since we were replacing everything else, we may as well put tile in. Again, this took us FOREVER to complete. I absolutely love how it turned out.

I'm blessed with a very knowledgeable father-in-law. He has helped with every project we've done so far and has saved us so much money! Thank you!

The Before Picture. The vanity top is a fake wood laminate. This bathroom was so dark and dreary.

I decided to go with a more neutral paint color. Most of our guests use this bathroom, so I didn't want to do anything too out of the ordinary.

We put a black granite top in.

We saved the mirror and light fixture. This helped a little with the cost.

Howdy

We've had kind of a busy week here. The kids went to daycare for the first time yesterday. It went extremely well. I dropped Riley off, and she didn't even cry! I couldn't believe it. Elizabeth picked her up right away and took her into the kitchen. I slipped out and that was that. She said that the twins didn't cry either when they came after preschool.

Riley whimpered if Elizabeth would walk out of the room, but other than that, all three kids did well and behaved themselves. (Why are they so good for everyone else but me? :)) Ethan had an accident while he was there, but once he gets used to going there, he won't be so shy about it.

They all three took a nap. Elizabeth said Riley and Ethan went to sleep immediately, but it took Mia a little while to go to sleep. It sounded like they had fun playing with all of the other kids.

It was a shorter day, but I didn't want their first day to be really long. Riley was there about 5 hours and the twins were there about 4 hours. I picked them up and they were glad to see me. Riley and Ethan said good-bye to all of their new friends, but Mia wanted to go. All three were completely exhausted when I picked them up. They probably would have gone to bed at 7 if I had let them. I'm so happy it went well. They'll be going on Monday's from now on.

What did I do on my day off? I went shopping and did some errands. I had a gift card to Sephora that was burning a hole in my pocket. One just opened up at the mall, so I bummed around there forever. I was in heaven. I love makeup and beauty stuff. I also did my grocery shopping and had it put away in record time. It's amazing how fast I can do things without my three little "helpers."

We don't have a whole lot planned for this weekend. We are thinking of taking the kids to the cheap theater. Riley started watching tv about a month ago. I'm not sure how well she'd do in a movie theater. The twins just love it. I'm guessing Riley will too, especially if we get popcorn and root beer. My sister, Sarah, and her family are coming over Saturday for dinner and a sleepover. We usually drink some wine and play cards!

He likes to wear my furry boots.

I just love my new camera. It takes such clear pictures.

Why does play doh have to be so messy? I'm still finding chunks of it in weird places around my house!

Riley "helping" load the dishes.

Ethan "helped" me load the dishwasher.

Before and After

I've been meaning to do some before and after's of our house since we've started working on it. There is nothing structurally that we have to do to our house, but there is a lot of cosmetic type stuff. Our house was built in the 70's and a lot of the decor seems to be that old! We've been working non-stop since we've moved in 2 1/2 years ago. Our projects seem to take months since we can usually only work on them on the weekends I have off. Mike and I are kind of burnt out on doing projects, so we've taken the last few months off. It's been a really nice break!

Here are some pictures of the entryway of our house. It had this weird green vinyl flooring. If I set a hot bucket of mop water on it, it left a white ring on the floor for weeks. Very strange. We tore the floor out and put laminate in. We both wanted to put wood floors in but decided to wait a few years until we tear the carpet out of the living room and replace it all with wood. I love the color of the laminate, but I don't like the laminate! Within six months, there are pieces that are bubbling up because the kids spilled stuff and it seeped down into the cracks. You can't tell unless you're really looking for it, but it's still disappointing, especially after all the time and money spent on the floor. Oh well. Lesson learned!

We took wallpaper off the entire entryway. I HATE WALLPAPER! :) It is such a pain in the butt. It seriously took us over a month to take it off. My house looked horrid. I was so embarrassed when people came to the door! I'm so glad that's behind us! After living in apartments with white walls, I want color. Everywhere. You'll see that almost every room is painted a different color. For the entryway, I decided on burnt orange. Mike was a little leery of the color, but he liked it once it was on the walls.

We tore out the carpet on the stairs and put laminate there too.

The weird green vinyl floor. We also tore that carpet out and put laminate there.

The forest green front door. Doesn't Ethan look so little and cute?

The wretched wall paper.

Here are the after's:

My picture wall that Mike makes fun of. He repeatedly asks me if I have enough pictures of the kids up. Whatever! Can you ever have enough pictures of your kids? :) It's a work in progress. Every couple of months, I make Mike drag the ladder out and put some more pictures up. I want to cover the entire wall.

I love burnt orange. I'm still looking for that perfect console table. I'm pretty picky.

We painted the front door dark brown. I just added the bench to the entryway. I'm still deciding what else to do. It takes me awhile to decide on something. It drives Mike crazy, but I call it being thorough.

Not Much Going On

We had a pretty uneventful week here. We had snow days on Monday and Tuesday, so the twins didn't go to preschool. They had been asking all weekend if they could go. I got them psyched up on Sunday night by telling them they were going to preschool on Monday. And then I did it again Monday night. They did get to go on Wednesday and Thursday. They absolutely love it. There are no tears or objections. Ethan brought home his first homework assignment. We're supposed to draw a picture and write a story of a time he played outside in the snow. I'll take a picture of it when we're done.

A good friend of mine came to Sioux Falls with her 3 year old and spent the night. We took Ethan, Mia, and Alyssa to the movie, "Tangled." It's about Rapunzel. It was pretty cute but had some really scary moments in the movie. When the scary parts came up, Ethan started saying, "a no watch mo-mo". He said it over and over until the scary part passed. Alyssa is a month older than the twins. They played really well together. They kind of fed off of each other. If one was being naughty, then that got the other two going. It was funny to watch them interact!

Some of our good friends are having a birthday party for their daughter, Rhea, this Saturday. She's a month younger than the twins. They're having a pool party. It's going to be so much fun! Our kids love to swim. I have to work this weekend, so I'll only get to hang out for a couple of hours. I guess it's better than nothing!

Our kids are going to Grandma and Grandpa Schmidt's on Sunday to spend the night. I have to do some training early Monday afternoon. I really hope I get undertime on Sunday night (if our census is low, you can sign up to stay home.) Otherwise, it's going to be a really long day. We'll meet on Monday night to pick them up.

That's our weekend, in a nutshell! I hope you all have a good weekend!

Some pictures from the science center. Ethan and Noah are fighting over the controls.

The next few pictures were taken with my new camera. I absolutely love it. It's a Canon Rebel EOS. I'm still learning to use it. It has a lot of different buttons and features on it.

Riley doing her breathing treatment. I'm happy to report that she's almost back to normal!

Little Tornado

This was too funny not to share. I met my sister and her family at the Pavillion. They had a free admission night last night. They have tons of exhibits aimed at kids. The exhibit in the video simulates what a tornado would be like. The wind gets up to 78 mph. All the big kids got in and had a blast. Ethan thought it was the best thing that he's ever done! :) The entire time the big kids were in there, Jude kept pointing and going, "uh, uh, uh." She wanted to join them. I put another dollar in, and this time, we put all the kids in, including baby Jude.

They Love It

Ethan and Mia love preschool. Yesterday, Mia whimpered a little when I strapped her in the suburban. Ethan didn't even do that! They came home from preschool smiling. Today, they both are asking about preschool. Several times, both kids came up to me and said, "preschool?" I asked them if they wanted to go to preschool, and they both said, "yes." I'm SO happy.

Riley LOVES being the only child when the twins are in preschool. She would probably give them away, if she had the chance! :) Honestly, I am loving the break as well. I think I'm a better parent when I'm away from my kids. I definitely have more patience.

We're going to start taking the kids to an in-home daycare. Mark knows the family really well, and I'm totally comfortable with them. It's a small daycare. She will be watching one other child beside her own. They'll be going every Monday. On the Mondays I'm not getting off work, I plan on doing errands and whatever the heck I want! :) We'll probably have them start in a couple of weeks. I wanted to get them used to preschool and then send them. I'm looking forward to it!

I took Riley back to the doctor today for a check-up. Her lungs are nice and clear. She has one dose of antibiotics left and I'll be returning the nebulizer soon. She's still not back 100%, but I can tell she is feeling better.

I hope everyone has a good weekend!

We Have Preschoolers!

We woke up at the crack of dawn today. It's been awhile since I've had to be up that early. And I can't even remember the last time the kids were up that early! The morning went pretty well. Ethan and Mia were pretty tired and I could tell they didn't want to get up. I let them watch, "The Garfield Show", and it brought them out of their fog.

The suburban arrived to pick them up. I put them in the car seats, and both kids started crying when they realized I wasn't getting in with them. I followed them in my van, and helped them walk in. (Mike wasn't feeling well, so he stayed home.) The driver said they quit crying shortly after they left, but when Mia saw me again, she started crying.

Ethan did good walking into the school while holding my hand. I had to carry Mia. I brought Ethan to his classroom, and he spotted a toy he wanted, so he ran over to the table. It was time to bring Mia to her classroom, so I didn't really get to say good-bye to Ethan, but he was so preoccupied, it was probably better that way. I tried to sit Mia down at a table where they were doing puzzles. She immediately started crying. I gave her a kiss and hug and told her I'd see her right before lunch. The teacher carried her to the window, so she could see me leave. She was still sobbing. Heartbreaking!

I decided to drown my sorry with a Starbuck's coffee and a trip to Target. :) It's amazing what a little coffee can do! I thought about them the entire morning. Were they crying? Were they having fun?

The suburban dropped them off around 11:30. Ethan walked in the house with a huge smile on his face and he said, "preschool." He liked it! I am so happy that he liked it. Mia also walked in smiling. I asked her if she had fun, and she said, "yes." I asked both of them if they want to go back, and they both said, "yes." I hope tomorrow goes as well!

Always so happy. She makes up for her brother. ;)

Who doesn't like taking pictures at 7am?

He had to throw a fit. I knew the morning was going too well! He didn't like the shoes I put on him. He wanted to wear Mia's purple boots. I didn't care at that point! I hope he's not the weird kid in class! :)

Yes, I gave them gum.