Day 20

I have read on Facebook that quite a few of my friends are doing the 30 days of Thanksgiving.  Everyday they ask their families what they are thankful for.  It is a great way to reflect and think about all of the great things we DO have in our lives and not dwell on the things that we DON'T have in our lives.  We didn't start soon enough so we are doing the 20 days of Thanksgiving.

Bennett:  I am thankful for Grandma.  She comes and plays with me.

Miles:  I am thankful for a new red car from Aunt Sarah.

Caden:  I am thankful for a new yellow car from Target.  Mommy got it for me.

Graysen: He is thankful for noodles and red sauce.  If I had to wager, I would say his tummy is not big enough to fit all of what he ate for lunch!

Annabelle: Mamamamamamamamama.  She's one smart girl!

Beth:  I am thankful for water.  Especially warm water.  I love taking a hot shower in the morning!

Harrison: I am thankful that I am going to Incredible Pizza with Johnny.

Chris: I am thankful for being upright.

What are you thankful for today?

Reiman Gardens

I took the boys to Ames last weekend to see my parents and visit the Reiman Garden Halloween event.  I love the gardens and should have gotten more pictures.  They had wonderful sculptures on display that were made out of welding rebar into 'trees' and then sticking old glass bottles onto the branches.  They were just beautiful.  

Also on display were gnomes!  It was so fun to see all of them.  The Garden's had also commissioned a giant gnome to be made and it is currently the largest concrete gnome in the world.  Here is a picture with the boys and my parents.

What exciting things we have in Ames!!!  

The Halloween tour was a lot of fun.  There were games and activities throughout.  At one point we came to an area where the volunteer was supposed to be teaching and demonstrating Cat's Cradle.  She was having trouble.  Gary and Marilyn to the rescue.  

The volunteers were also dressed up in very elaborate costumes.  They were great!  Here Harrison is next to my favorite - Peacock Princess.  

The boys dressed up as Short Change this year.  It was very fun making the costumes with them (Harrison got his first spray painting lesson) and they liked wearing them and EVERYONE commented on how cute of an idea it was.  The problem was that they did not photograph worth a darn!  Harrison was the nickel and Bennett was the dime.  Happy Halloween!

Happy Birthday to me

So I put the kids down for a nap yesterday.  Routine.  Normal.  Never.

Graysen's pack-n-play is in Bennett's room so on Monday and Friday they are in there together (Bennett has preschool on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday).  It is not an ideal situation because Bennett is not one that just lays down and goes to sleep.  He often talks to himself or his stuffed animals and this causes Graysen to laugh and play with him.  It's getting better and usually I just make Bennett lay in there for 30 minutes and then he gets to finish quiet time on the couch.  Anyway, Friday (my birthday) Bennett had been in his room for about 25 - 30 minutes when I heard him crying and calling my name.  I was a little irritated because he had been really quiet and I assumed that Graysen was asleep and Bennett knows better than to be loud to wake him up.  I go rushing in there and find puke all over Bennett and the blanket in front of him.  Ahhhh!  What in the world?  Then, in the puke, I spot two marbles.  Holy cow!  He just choked!  I start to get him cleaned up and get his shirt off when he throws up again!  What did he do?!?!  He finally calms down and I get him cleaned up and I begin drilling him about when he got the marbles and more importantly - how many marbles he had.  Luckily there were only the two.  What was he thinking?!?!  

We have a Magnetic set that is in a box.  Bennett had gotten out of bed, opened it up and taken out two of the metal marbles.  I am speechless on how to deal with this.  What caused him to think "Marbles, that sounds like fun!  I think I will grab two and stick them in my mouth!"?  There are tons of toys in their room that are little.  That is why they are in their room and not the rest of the house!  So we added to our bedtime routine, a conversation about putting things in our mouth.  Happy Birthday to me.

Harrison wins again

I thought a treat would be nice after lunch.  So I offered one.

Me:  Would you like a cupcake or a whoopie pie?

Harrison:  Neither.  Can I have a Snickers?

Me:  No.

Harrison:  Pleeaase?  It is littler than both the cupcake and the whoopi pie.  (pause)  An it has less calories.

Me:  You win.  Snickers it is.

Therapy

So Harrison and I had a knock-down drag out the other day.  Nothing really new about that but he is really testing my parenting skills and my sanity lately.  I don't know that I have met anyone, young or old, who is soooo adverse to being wrong.  He HATES it.  He doesn't like to apologize and he NEVER wants to repeat what he did wrong by saying that he won't do it again.  Ugggg.

So this time it was about being disrespectful to me in the tone that he was using while telling me that he wasn't being reckless with the Wii remote.  I had told him to put the strap on so that it didn't go flying across the room like yesterday when he didn't have the strap on.  Seems like a relatively small request, correct?!?!  Ugggg.  Instead of saying ok and moving on, he decides that this is worth an argument.  He replies that he is fine and that he won't let go of the remote.  I wish you could have heard the disdain and mockery in his voice.  "Like Du-uh!"  I told him not to argue and that he was being disrespectful in his tone and by not listening to me and to just do it like I said.  It just got worse from there.  I will spare you all the gorey details, but instead of taking a deep breath and thinking quietly for a minute (which is what I suggested) he spent 40 minutes in his room screaming and crying and coming out to be more disrespectful and argumentative.  He's a joy!

After all of that he is calmed down and back in the living room.  I decide he is ready for the post-argument discussion and calmly explain that I am disappointed that he was disrespectful in the first place and then that he couldn't control himself and take a minute to calm himself down.  I was sad that Wii time was now over and he had missed all of that play time by wasting 30 or 40 minutes in his room.  

His response in a very calm and collected voice:  "What's 30 to 40 minutes?  I don't care about that.  I have the rest of my life to play."

I promptly left the room and contemplated my reasons for wanting children in the first place.  Then I called my dad and told him that I needed therapy.  He did not disagree.

Buds

This makes me smile; a lot.

She loves her 'Uncle' Chris and 

'Uncle' Chris loves her!!!!

Banner

The boys and I got creative this week for a special little girls 1st birthday.  On Tuesday we sat on the floor and colored letters.  Miles scribbled all over the place, Caden concentrated very hard at getting the entire letter colored and Bennett did a combination of both.  I let let them use whatever color marker they wanted and if I had it to do over again I might have limited them to a few select colors.  Yesterday we cut out circles.  Well, I cut out circles and the boys made a mess of little pieces of paper all over the floor.  We did more of this today and then we glued the letters on the circles and taped the circles to a string.  Overall I am very happy with our little project.  

Can't wait to celebrate tomorrow!!!  

Happy 'almost' birthday!!!!

Miles

He's adorable.  Nuff said.

Dear Mrs. Mathews

Dear Mrs.  Mathews,

Welcome to the Neipert family.  As his kindergarten teacher (and potentially his 1st grade teacher) we consider you to be a primary force in Harrison's life; an extended member of our family so to speak.  We love him dearly and sometimes think the world revolves around everything he does.  I was watching the Today Show a couple of weeks ago and Danica McKellar (Winnie Cooper on The Wonder Years) was on.  She is expecting her first child and she stated that she realized millions and billions of women had been pregnant before her, but this was her miracle and she felt like she was the only one in the world who had ever felt this kind of awe and amazement.  I feel like that everyday.  No one has ever had a child like mine.  No one has ever laughed as hard as I at the funny and outrageous things he says.  No one has ever made their mother as angry as he has made me.  No one has ever been prouder of their child than I am of Harrison.  I know all of these things to be untrue, but it feels wonderful sometimes to feel alone.  Like I am the only one in the world who has ever experienced this.  And now we get to share him with you!

Here is a little bit about our boy;  He is 5 years old and will be 6 in just 4 short months.  He is inches tall and weighs 37 1/5 pounds.  When he grows up he wants to be in the air force and do fly-overs at football games.  We dream big!  He has been in tball for 2 years and will be starting soccer in a couple of weeks.  Harrison is extremely sweet and LOVES babies.  His favorite color is green and has been since he was 3.  He currently is making his mother go mad by refusing to learn to read.  I am trying not to push.  He also loves to ride his big wheel, swimming at the pool, gardening with me, watching his dad fix the cars and hanging out with his cousin James and/or his friend Johnny.  Hidden puzzles and Wii are also 2 things he chooses to do in his spare time.  He has one younger sibling, Bennett.  If you are lucky, he will be in your class someday!

Of course Harrison went to bed just a little late last night.  Usually this means he will awaken at the same time he always does - 5:50 am - but this morning he got up at 7:00 am!  The first thing he said was "That star must be magical!"  He loved the poem and the star from the first night of school!

After a special breakfast of french toast and sausage, off we went.  He wasn't nervous or scared or anything!  I have to be, honest, I really wasn't either.  The great thing about Harrison's life so far is that I have known most of his teachers very well.  When he was a baby I couldn't wait for Robin at Uncle Sam's to be able to take care of him.  When he was a toddler, he got Linda and who doesn't love her!?!?  I didn't know his preschool teachers at Westminster so well, but I knew one of the afternoon teachers, Meggan so I knew he was in a good place because she is such a good person and friend!  And now, kindergarten.  And you!  I helped take care of your babies and then I worked with you and then I was your boss and then I worked with you again and somewhere in all of that we became friends!  Thank goodness for that.  It gives me great comfort and pleasure to know he is being taught by such a good person.  

After getting checked in for lunch and after school pick up this is where I left Harrison.  He was happy and smiling.  He drew a picture of a hippo (running theme in our house as of late) in the water with the sun, trees and sky above.  I hope you and he and the rest of your class have a great day and I can't wait to hear all about it!

Love ~ The Neipert's

P.S.  Harrison isn't super familiar with Charlie Brown and the Peanuts and he doesn't think farts are funny.  I hope you two get along!  :)

Sharing

Two things to share:

First is a website you can check-out periodically if you are interested in Harrison's kindergarten.  His teacher put together a blog and she is going to update periodically with pictures and goings-ons. 

http://teammathews.edublogs.org/

Second, my WONDERFUL sister-in-law took photos of my babies and here is a video that she put together.  It's like I fell in love all over again!