March Madness

Lola trying on Teague's (clean) underwear

Teague the night before a much needed haircut

Lola being cute!

Baby Kianna with Uncle Ryan's Twins hat

Oh how I love and hate March all at the same time. I love the promise it brings of nicer weather, but I hate the chaotic-ness (is that a word) of it all as well. The good thing is that it will be over eventually and things will settle down and the temperature will allow us to play outside without the need for excess layers of clothes (including all the essentials of winter wear).

Speaking of winter wear, I got the kids all bundled up to play outside today, sent them out the door while I attempted to get myself ready and Lola has a tough time just walking in all of her winter gear and the next thing I know there is blood curdling screaming coming from the bottom of the deck - poor girl had attempted to take the steps and tumbled head over heels all the way down and landed in the snow face first. If it weren't for the enormous bruise on her cheek it would have been funny - Teague didn't care that it was painful as he continued to laugh and laugh at her hilarity. So Teague and I continued to play outside and I sent Lola with Ryan up to school while he worked on some stuff.

It is actually not that often that Teague and Lola are apart, and when they are apart they can be pretty sad and miss each other. Case in point, I took Teague to Ryan's first sub section playoff game on Thursday night while my sister in law, Erica, graciously stayed home with the babies (mine and Dana's). I guess Lola was quite sad while we were gone and missed Teague and I a lot. Or after we got inside today from playing Teague asked "where is Lola" and I replied that she went to work with Daddy, to which his response was "I really miss my baby sister". So it is sweet, they are quite good friends.

Lola is starting to talk in sentences. She can say (quite often about everything while pointing) "What....is....that?" She mostly has the two worded sentences down flat and we are working on her being able to say family names. She's getting pretty good. Grandma and Grandpa are hard ones to say, and when prompted to say "Nana" she responds with "PAPA!".

Ryan's team continues to do well and are now in playoffs. They play for the sub section championship on Tuesday. Gooooooo Ductchmen! =)

We all seem to be on the mend after what I would say was the worst case of sickness this house has seen in some time. I think I may have had the influenza - I won't get into the gory details of it all, but we are better and hoping the germs have been cleaned out of the house.

My dad has been busy building our built in entertainment center in the basement. It's looking AMAZING. I will follow up with pictures soon. I swear we can never move out of this house after all the sweat equity that has been put into this baby! So my dad has been busy at his house building parts and then hauling them over here to install. It seriously is so nice, I am in awe.

We had the privilege of having Dana, Ken and baby Kianna visit this past week from Seattle. It has been so fun to snuggle that little baby! ANd surprisingly it DOES NOT make me want another baby, so maybe I will be done after all! =) Dana decided to stay another 5 days so hopefully we will see them a couple more times before they leave.

Teague's new favorite thing: Pretending to be "George of the Jungle" - aka no clothes except underwear on with one my necklaces.

Teeth

Well it looks like Lola may actually not resemble an old lady without dentures afterall. She's getting 4 molars at once! Currently she only has two teeth on the bottom and 4 teeth on top. She will be missing 3 on each side between the front two teeth and molars and 2 on each side on top....unless she's cutting those at the same time?!

Maybe once the teeth cut through she won't need her shirt changed multiple times a day? Or maybe she won't need a bib at the ripe old age of 18 months? She seriously is drool drenched as if she were a teething 5 month old!

Poor girl though, it's gotta hurt.

Dusha Videos

 

Lola playing Peek a Boo

 

Teague likes to play "Tana" (Nana and Papa's dog) 

 

Lola pushing Teague on the push toy.

Lola's favorite new saying...

Still no sign of Spring!

Teague wanted to know how to do mommy's workouts - so here Ryan and Teague are practicing!

Lola with her play stethascope

Teague showing us how he can dance

It's hard to see in this picture, but Teague was watching a movie and Lola came over and sat in his lap!

Teague and Daddy watching a movie

Lola sitting on Skylar

Lola being cute

...and being cute again!

...and again (sporting her CSB/SJU shirt that the alumni association sent her when she was born!)

Watching a movie in Teague's bed

Well here we are, near the last day of February and it does not appear as though Spring plans to make an appearance anytime soon! Ugh.

We went to Rochester this weekend for my cousin, Bryan's, wedding. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive. Lola screamed the whole way, the roads were terrible from that dusting of snow (cars in the ditches, etc.) and then Lola came down with the same virus that Teague had earlier this week. She was miserable. And then she didn't sleep well in the hotel and both Ryan and I woke with this same virus. So off we went, back home, Lola luckily slept about 45 minutes of the drive, so we only had to listen to her scream for about 2 hours. Let me tell you, the two parents being sick and having to parent two children is more than I ever care to do again. The only "good" thing is that we had both in bed by 7:15 tonight. I just hope we are all over this in the next day or so!

Lola, she talks so much and says so many cute things! "Oh My!", "Teague" (Teeeeeee), "Papa", "Skys" (Skylar), "Mine!", "Oooooooo" (No), "e i e i o".... It's so much fun listening to her. She's very bossy and usually she gets her way with most people - I guess when you're so cute that happens?!

Teague cracks us up daily with his sayings! He was so excited for this weekend to go to the "Show and Tell" (hotel)! So funny. Or when his books were falling off of the bed and he exclaimed that his books were "dripping"! Like I said he had a bug this last week and still seems a little under the weather, but hoping he turns the corner soon.

I received a lot of emails (and a comment here) regarding my last post. Thanks for the support. I do know we all struggle at times with our jobs and it's just getting over the hump, picking myself up and moving on. There are some things that I know I will never get in my job. As much as I would like to throw my hands up in the air and just walk away, I have to give it the rest of the school year. I just want to do what's best for my family and I don't know what that is quite yet...

The bball season is (sort of) winding down - however March is the busiest (I guess it's called March Madness for a reason)! This is the last week of the regular season, but now we have conference meetings, seeding meetings, playoffs, state tournament, etc. and so it is not all over until March 25th. The light at the end of this tunnel is that we have booked a 4 night vacation to Cancun the beginning of April! I am excited and even better that I will NOT be pregnant this time when I am at an all-inclusive Mexican resort!! Margarita, Pina Colada....anyone?! =)

Spring, are you out there? Please?

Well like most Minnesotans, I am sick of this winter. We have had our fair share of colds the past month and it's been far too cold to do much outside with the kids. This weekend is the exception as it is nice enough. I am at my parent's and forgot the kids' boots but brought all the rest of their gear. Sheesh.

So as I mentioned I am here at my parent's for the 2nd weekend in a row. It gives me a little reprieve and help to be here and helps to have a change of scenery for the kids. Actually I think there's a bit more to do here (yes, in Morris) because I can take them to the community center to the water slides, swim, play, etc. It beats being inside the house! Ryan has been gone the past two weekends with bball related stuff, but this is single mom season (though some like to refer to it as basketball season - same thing).

I try not to bring up work here because nobody really wants to hear about how "bad" I have it when I should just be thankful for a job. DISCLAIMER: I love what I do, but not in the environment I do it in. But I can't resist. It's been really tough and not tough in a "I wish I were just home with my kids" tough. Tough like I don't seem to be able to do anything right there. And it's frustrating for me because I have been there 8 years and never have I had so much "flak" for the way I do my job (which those people will remain anonymous here). The reason for my frustration is that I really struggled with the decision to come back or stay home permanently. So when I finally made the decision late last summer to return to my school I knew I had to do it 110%. I have "given" more to my job this year than any other year (besides maybe my 1st year when I just wanted them to realize that I was the best person for the job, blah blah blah). I have held more informational meetings for families, started a web site, written articles for the paper - all in a way to make sure that it is clear that I want there to be very good communication between myself, families and the community. And it's been a total slap in the face to be there. I don't cry often, but when I do it is always about my job. Is it worth it?? I don't know because if I am not going to be working there, then I don't want to live here at all. I don't "trust" the community so why continue to support it? I don't know, maybe I am bitter - but what I am is frustrated for giving it my all and knowing that it is still not enough for the people of this school district. So my family and I need to make some hard decisions... TBD... And for the record it was National Counselor Appreciation Week at my school. I am the only counselor there, I bet you can guess how many people said thanks this week. Don't get me started on all the hoopla we do when it is teacher appreciation week! =)

On a bright note - my kids are doing amazing. They are thriving and excelling at Tina's. Teague is very ready to start preschool (another decision to make - where to start him, always thought it would be in our district...) and Lola is saying new words everyday. I am so impressed that even LOLA is learning manners! Who knew?! I am like a proud peacock when it comes to them because they bring me so much joy and pride. What would I do if I weren't a mom? Probably shop too much.

Here are some pictures from the past two weekends at my parents' home. Happy Valentine's Day, we are celebrating by having our taxes done! =)

Loves the water!

Silly jumping boy!

Lola was not too sure about the dog that Nana and Papa are dog-sitting, here she is in true Lola form yelling at the dog, but from a distance!

This little water bug is WILD in the water. I am in for a ride with her because the crazier and scarier, the better for her. She is CRAZY!

Hey there cutie!

My two swimmers!

Well here Lola fell down with all her snow gear on. I guess sometimes it's just easier to give up and stay sitting!