This & That

I haven't written down random thoughts in a long time...

• Cora is addicted (right now) to doing/working on hand stands and head stands.  The girl is constantly up against the couch on her head!!!  It's awesome and funny at the same time... she's really getting those abs working!  She's also been working more on her tumbling moves.  She's got cartwheels nailed down (except for starting on her left side, which I just don't understand!) But she's doing really well at all those other moves.  It's fun to watch her.
• It's cold here, like colder than normal for November...  and there's no warmth in sight!  Now I remember why I don't like the winter... and why seasonal depression is a real freaking thing!  It's dark constantly... and it's cold!  ha. 
• Kayson's been wearing a stocking cap to bed lately.  The kid's 'style' kind of cracks me up.  I mean he wears pretty much the same thing daily - sweats and a sweatshirt... but this stocking cap thing is new.  It's great - cuz it's cold out - but he wears it to bed!  So funny.
• Looking at our calendar - I am sad that another year is almost over.  I'll soon have a 10 year old!!!  We are busy up until Christmas... and then January it continues...  I just pray for good weather when we travel and healthy kiddos.
• Work for me is going well...  been a good year.  We moved buildings about a month ago... to a newer, upgraded building/floor.  I was hesitant, just because we don't have 'assigned' desks, but because we are all creatures of habits - we have all found a desk and pretty much have claimed it our own.  Kind of funny.  The environment is better - better than where we used to be, except it's freezing!  Good quality of air and that air blows on us!!  I'm literally freezing at work, and at home!  ha.
• Baseball for Kayson will start in January...  just hitting.  They'll concentrate on that for several months.  I'm looking forward to another season actually.  This season will probably go super fast as well... we have a lot of personal things happening during several tournaments, so we'll be conquering and dividing for a lot of the time.  We'll see how that's all handled!

and just because he's cute.

1st Christmas 2018 (St. Joe, MO)/Weekend

Before we headed to St. Joe Saturday...  we had Friday at home.  Well, at least the kids and I did.  Ryan and the guys went over to the last Iowa FB game... with a win, and some rain.  The kids and I hung out... and had a pretty good day.  We got out a little in the morning - did a few errands, and we put the kids' tree up in the basement... got that decorated, and that's about it.  It was a cold, rainy day - and honestly, I didn't want to be out shopping too much (since it was Black Friday).  So we stuck around home... decorated... played a few games, and watched a movie. 
Ryan got home around 5ish, which was nice... earlier than normal, so we decided to order pizza.  Unfortunately, our experience was not good - we tried a newer place in Waukee - Rosati's.  After almost a 2 hour wait, I cancelled our order, and we got Wendy's.  BLAH!!!  Totally bummed...  and annoyed!

Saturday:
Up and on the road about 8:30...  we originally make this trip an overnight-er, but there was predicted snow storm coming for MO and southern Iowa... and we made the right decision by just making this a day trip.  But Saturday in MO - the weather was beautiful - literally about 55 degrees, sunny... no coats, it was perfect.  We hung at Aunt Maagie's, which is a small place... so being able to go outside easily was perfect for the kids especially.  Everyone did pretty well... and we had a nice visit. 

The kiddos had their first Christmas of the year...  got some really nice 'needed' gifts, which was fun.  Jammies, a few small games and books.  Perfect. 

We were back on the road about 5ish...  driving in the dark stinks, but we made it... and the kids did pretty well good.  They got a little owly mid-way... 

So back to making the right decision - southern Iowa got hit hard with snow and blizzard type conditions late Saturday night/early Sunday.  So I'm so thankful we were smart and got home before that mess!!!

Sunday:
Church... and we stayed after and helped decorate for Christmas.  Everything looked super nice... and was a good couple hours. 

Then in the afternoon we worked on our house - we got the main Christmas tree up upstairs... along with all the other decor.  Everything looks super nice, and gives me a TEENY ounce of excitement for the holidays.  It just gets so overwhelming, and A LOT sometimes... that I just want to hide!!!  But the kids are looking forward to it (and Kayson especially), and I just need to be excited for them.  This honestly might be the last Christmas that Kayson 'believes'.  Scary... he'll be 10, and I'm shocked that he hasn't questioned more...  so we'll see!! 

Anyway, it was a nice day at home... SUPER cold and windy, so it was good to be home. 

Kids' basement tree.  So cute.

Snuggled in watching "The Christmas Chronicles"

with Aunt Maagie

See... no coats!!!

These kids!  They are getting so big!

Cora wearing the tree skirt!  ha.

Thanksgiving 2018

We headed to Clarion Wednesday late afternoon...  went to Tricia's, got unloaded, then ended up going out for a quick supper up at a 'bar' uptown.  Kayson got his first experience with a pool table... thanks to Logan and Daddy teaching him a little.  Kind of fun. 
The rest of the night was just hanging out... got the kids to bed at a decent time, then us adults sat upstairs and talked and laughed for hours.  I've said it before - so lucky to be able to laugh with them...  some pretty good conversations!  ha. 

Thanksgiving morning...  up and just started our day.  Got some food ready...  tried to keep the kiddos busy...  and just enjoyed each other.  Cora was a little owly...  seems to be that's what she does when we are around people.  It's so frustrating, and embarrassing...  but we got over it fairly quickly.  

Anyway, everyone came to Tricia's...  Dad cooked the turkey, we did everything else, and it was all wonderful. We had a really nice day.  Lots of eating, laughs, card games, and pictures...  was good.  

We headed home about 5ish... on our way out of town we stopped and visited Mom for a minute.  Missing her. 

Inside joke - Hope can't peel potatoes!

Thankful for these humans.

Hardy cousins.

These goofballs!

Ash brought Cora some makeup!!!  She was in heaven!

Thank god for my sisters.

Weekend

Friday:
I scooted out of work a little early...  for nothing in particular, I think I was just done!  Friday night we stayed in...  it's been super cold again here, and I just wasn't feeling it!  We hung out... didn't do much of anything.  Pretty quiet, boring night.
 
Saturday:
I slept terrible...  playing musical beds all night.  Ugh.  Ryan went to work, again.  Kids and I just hung out.  Again... kind of boring morning.  I did some cleaning, but really that's about it.  Finally I told the kids we needed to get out of the house, or I was going to go crazy.  We headed to Hobby Lobby to get a few Christmas items.  Cora drove me crazy...  she literally touches everything and says "Mom" 10,000 times to show me what she's seeing/touching.  I didn't have much patience with her... plus the place was sooooo busy...  ugh.  I wasn't feeling like a good Mom then. 
 
We ended up meeting Ryan for lunch...  then back home to just hang out.  Cora ended up playing with Olivia for a couple hours, which was what she/we all needed.  Kayson did a lot of sitting, iPad time. 
 
Throwing in some notes here on how things are going with Kayson and electronics.  Not good, or at least in my eyes.  I know electronics are just 'the thing' now... I get it, I'm not dumb, but man - when the kid doesn't even know how to play with anything else... barely wants to have a conversation with us...  and he's not even 10.  I get sick to my stomach and frustrated.  :(  Then my thoughts go into - I can't keep him busy enough to do other things... as I still need to get things done around the house, etc.  I mean I literally can't be next to him or Cora constantly when we are home... they need their quiet time, they need their imagination time... I get it.  I'm just frustrated... 
 
Moving on...  Saturday night I made a bunch of snacky foods...  and Holly, Mike and the boys came over.  We just snacked... and the kids played pretty well... then Cora got out Twister.  That was hysterical for the kids... and even Holly.  She's a rock star at that!  ha.  Was a nice little evening.
 
Sunday:
Church.
Rest of Sunday afternoon was quiet... really quiet, and boring.  Cleaning and laundry was all caught up, so the kids watched a little movie... I sat... which drove me crazy.  ha.  And I was bored!!!  ugh.  I shouldn't complain about that... and should love it, but it's hard for me to sit and not do anything...
 
Anyway...  and another weekend has passed.  We are getting so close to Thanksgiving... and Christmas.  We have lots to do...
 
 

Sis needed her hair cut --- BEFORE

AFTER - and it's so much better.

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday afternoon quiet

 

Murphy all snuggled in... he's getting so old

 

Cora Kindergarten Fall Conference

Well, Cora had her first ever real school conference tonight!  She walked in all shy... and Mrs. Ziemke said - "This is the quietest I've seen her in a long time!"  

Cora started the conference by reading a short story to us, and she did great.  So fun to watch her.  We talked for only a few minutes with sis, then she was off to have quiet time.  Mrs. Ziemke went over Cora's 'stats' and learning updates.  In a nutshell, she's doing amazing academically.  Everything on the sheet was a huge plus and doing more than what a Kindergartner should be at.  

She's reading at a G level - which is end of 1st grade level.  
Her math skills (for K grade) are great as well - counting, counting objects different ways, writing numbers, etc. 
Sight words - she's working on 1st grade sight words.

Overall - amazing. 

Then there's her 'social skills'/behavior. Mrs. Ziemke says Cora has really come out of her shell over the past 2 or 3 weeks...  which means, she's getting silly in class.  She's the attention getter.  She has several friends, and she knows how to get attention and 'boss' them a little.  She's a natural leader, but sometimes that's starting to be a distraction.  Mrs. Ziemke is going to work on keeping Cora more busy - with work or other activities (because she can obviously do it).  

None of this is a surprise to us...  but we did have a talk with her when we got home.  Tears fell, but within minutes, she was over it.  Cora has a strong personality when she's comfortable with someone or somewhere - and she's definitely at that point with school.  I love it - but there is a happy-medium that she needs to work on.   We will be checking in to see how she does over the next couple months. 

Kayson 4th Grade Fall Conference

Tonight was K's 4th Grade fall conference.  Hard to believe. 

Kayson started the conference by reading a few items to us that he's been working on - he did a really nice job.  Then he went over his "positives" and "negatives" - for behavior wise, and learning wise.  Mrs. Hakes added her notes to it as well... they were in agreement besides a few things.  And those few things were - talking/being silly and having a hard time staying focused at certain times during the day.  She's not worried... either are we - it's SO Kayson.  

His MAP scores are good - either right at where he needs to be or above. 
Looks like his math is at 211
And reading is at 211
I'm unsure what that all means, just writing it down!  :)

We talked a little about his reading... he does a good job, and is benchmarking in at a level R and S.  The struggle is finding the types of books/subjects that he's interested in.  (She said this is normal for 4th grade - hard to grasp what they really like.)  She thinks (as well as us), he's interested mostly in the historical fiction type books.  

As we were walking out - he had one of those comic type books on his desk (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), and she said - "need to stay away from those."  Oops!  ha. 

She said overall he's doing great, good kid.  
Proud of him. 

Weekend - and STRIDE 5k!

Friday:
We stayed in...  long week...  tiring day...  just stayed in, plus it's starting to get super cold here!

Saturday:
Ryan went to the Iowa FB game with his Dad and Lester... super cold day for them, and a loss.  Not much fun in my opinion!  ha.  The kids and I stayed home...  we had a list of things we wanted to do... got a few of them done, then we gave up cuz it was cold out and we decided we'd rather be inside.  We went to the school book fair... always fun (but a little stressful with the two kids) - they pull me from side to side begging for everything.  Then we got Kayson some new shoes (again) at Scheels.  Man that kid - three months went by and his shoes are SHOT! 

Then we decided we were cold... ha.  So home it was.  It ended up being a super long and boring day for us.  I couldn't keep the kids busy enough with me... they wanted to be on their electronics of course.  But I tried...  a few board games, card games... and some coloring.  And that's about all I could do.  I guess I was bored as well.  Was a super long day!! 

Sunday:
A busy Sunday - church, then we hustled home to get ready for Kayson's STRIDE 5k. Trish, Greg and Papa Paul came down around noon...  we had literally just walked in the door from church!  We got ready/changed/ate about 3 bites of something... and we were out the door again. 

The STRIDE 5k, the runners were required to have a buddy to run with them...  I had given Kayson a few options, and he chose Uncle Greg, which I thought was nice.  Doesn't seem like there's many times that Kayson really 'connects' with Greg, but I tell you what - there's a great memory right there.  They had a great time... Greg said Kayson was a champ through the whole run, talked quite a bit while they were running (which makes me giggle), cheered on his friends whether they were passing or getting passed.  I love it.  Kayson did amazing, and I'm so proud of him!  Ryan timed the run (estimated in at about 28 minutes...ish). 

It was a cold afternoon, but we all survived!

We got back home around 3:15... and just hung out a little.  The kids were tired, we were too...  and then our Sunday night started, and now it's Monday morning already.  Super bummed!

Oh sassy pants.

 

 

One of the books K got

Sis with babies

Watching sandwiches being made... and look at her outfit!

Ginormous leaf!!

 

K and Uncle Greg

 

Papa Paul came to watch too!

 

 

 

Ryan was cold... so wore Greg's coat, which was much too small!  ha.

Our little cheerleader!

 

Kicking it into high gear at the end!!!  GO K!

 
 

All snuggled in... sweats, sweatshirt, stocking cap, blanket!