Decorating the House, Zoo Lights, and Cute Interactions of Aedan and Owen

Samantha: 102 Months, Week 1
Aedan: 67 Months, Week 3
Owen: 26 Months, Week 1

This week started off with a true day of rest after church. We usually just take it easy and spend time together, relaxing, and getting ready for a new week. In fact, we had all the kids lay down for naps that afternoon because no one was acting like they were feeling well. Samantha laid in our bed, and she didn't really sleep, but she rested and read her book for awhile, which was good for her.

After everyone got up from their naps, we watched a show together on the couch, and it really was a very nice, relaxing afternoon. I hoped that Samantha wasn't coming down with something, and that the relaxing day would help give her the rest that she needed.

The only other thing we worked on that day was trying to figure out plans for Christmas. It's always a lot of work trying to coordinate Ben's family's schedules and my family's schedules, so we try to get the conversation started early so we can avoid confusion and last minute plans. It's just hard because sometimes it's more difficult than it should be for certain family members to commit to certain times to get together. Last year Ben and I talked about not traveling to both families for Christmas anymore because we don't like spending our whole Christmas break traveling. We would like to be able to spend more time at home with the kids, being together when we don't have the busyness of school and work, but now with moving to Pennsylvania, that plan has been pushed to the wayside because with being even farther away from family, it would be kind of silly to make the long drive out to see one side of the family and not the other. I wish we didn't always have to travel for Christmas in order to see people, but in our 13 years of being married, we almost always have had to do that.

On Monday morning Samantha was wanting to stay home from school, still saying that her stomach hurt a lot. However, she hadn't had diarrhea since the night before, and she didn't have a fever or anything. Her face looked tired and like she wasn't feeling well, but that wasn't really a reason to skip school and have to make up all the work. Samantha and Aedan were working on a puzzle together, and then I told her we would see how she felt after breakfast since she didn't eat much for dinner last night as a precaution for if she had caught the stomach bug that I had had. Thankfully, she perked up after breakfast and was being loud and crazy, like her typical self, so she decided she would be okay to go to school after all.

Here is some work the kids brought home from school on Monday. Samantha is having a little trouble on these weekly math quizzes, and I think a lot of it is because she runs out of time, like she didn't finish the last question and I don't think she has time to go back and check her work or make sure she answers all the questions. (By the way, she is the one who wrote "Bad!" on her paper, not her teacher.)

Here's an awesome grade she got on her Social Studies test!

Here is Aedan's Chapter 3 math test that he also did a great job on. I'm very proud of the good work he's doing in kindergarten.

And here's a 100% he got on his test for the letter Bb...

...As well as papers for his new letter of the week, Nn.

We had small group on Monday night like usual, but the kids did not end the night well. They came home fighting with each other and not listening when it was time to get ready for bed. Small group goes to 8:00 and then we often stay after for fifteen minutes talking and gathering things up, so we aren't home until after 8:30 on most small group nights, which is an hour later than when the kids are usually in bed, so it's hard to be out that late. Then, on Tuesday morning, they didn't get extra sleep, so they were tired and continued to make bad decisions. I told them they lost their chance to go to small group next week because of continuing to not listen. I felt like we needed to think of a way to crack down on this with them because I was feeling tired of us having to yell at them to get them to finally listen. Especially with the potential of getting foster kids soon, they need to listen better, and we can't be yelling all the time, because that isn't good for our kids and certainly won't be good for the foster kids.

On Tuesday mornings, Owen and I have been going to the Mommy and Me play group. He really has been enjoying the chance to listen to music and tap with sticks, shake eggs, and play with a parachute by riding on it as the parents spin it around in a circle, and then running underneath it as we hold the parachute up in the air. After a little bit of time doing the group songs and activities, the kids just have free play time.

Here is Owen having fun on the teeter-totter.

And here's my crazy little guy pushing a giant soccer ball across the gym. He loves doing this. The biggest problem is that he can't really see over the ball, so I have to stop him from plowing over the other kids. I kept calling him "my little bulldozer."

We usually stay at the gym until about 11:30, and then we head home for lunch and nap time. One of Owen's favorite books right now is the one he is holding in this video called, "Peanut Butter and Cupcake." I think I read it to him every day. It's all about Peanut Butter looking for a friend and eventually finding that Jelly is his perfect match. Owen says Peanut Butter and Jelly in such a cute way that I told him to say it so I could record it. His little voice is so sweet right now, and he's learning and saying so many new words every day. I don't want to forget the way that he sounds at this age. I just want to soak it all in.

Here is some more work the kids brought home on Tuesday. Aedan is continuing to learn more and more sight words, as well as learning about the letter Nn.

Samantha has really been enjoying her new chapter on division, and it was pretty cool to see all the different strategies they teach to understand division. She is really catching on quickly.

On Tuesday night I had MOPS down at our church, so Ben was on his own doing bath time and bed time with the kids. Once during the night, I asked how they were doing, since they had such a rough morning, and he said he had a talk with each of them about how they weren't acting the God made them, how he made them for more than what they are showing us, and then they seemed to turn their behavior around from there, so I was happy to hear that.

Wednesday morning with the kids went okay. Samantha and Aedan were a little slow in getting ready, and then Samantha was giving me a hard time since she lost her hat and gloves, and I was telling her to look for them at school. Then, Aedan was upset with me for not making him lunch, even though he discussed with me at breakfast that he wanted to buy lunch at school that day. Then, the van was waiting for us as we walked down the hill. I just felt frustrated about not knowing how to get them moving in the morning. Everything is fine, and then the last five minutes are always hectic. I guess I just need to start the process earlier and factor in time for them to be slow. I don't know. I always feel like Ben is better at time management than I am. It's something I'm constantly working on.

Owen and I usually just hang out around home on Wednesdays, and on that particular morning, I worked on putting up some Christmas lights outside on the front patio and back deck. Owen was excited to help hand me clips for the icicle lights I was hanging on the gutter, and he played outside in the back yard and in the driveway while I did the back deck. However, much to my chagrin, I discovered that the outlet in the back doesn't work, which was strange, so that something Ben and I will have to look into.

Here is work work the kids brought home on Wednesday. Aedan did a sort of pictures based on their initial sound, more work for the letter Nn, and a turkey craft naming things he was thankful for.

Samantha was really proud to show us the 101 she got on her spelling test, as well as her 100 on her math quiz. We are always proud of how she does, but we especially like it when she feels proud of herself and the hard work she is putting into things.

Our house is so much on a hill now, that I knew it would not be smart for me to try to hang the icicle lights along the gutters without Ben being home in case I needed help. So since we weren't doing anything after school, I decided to take advantage of the time with Ben home to get more of the house decorated. I was able to do icicle lights on half the house, as well as some colored lights on the bushes. I liked how it was looking so far, and I planned to finish the rest of it over the weekend.

After being out on Thursday morning for Bible Study, on Friday Owen and I just spent time at home getting things done around the house, like laundry and changing sheets and towels, it's kind of Ben our new schedule as of late. I felt kind of tired and blah all day that day, just kind of unmotivated, so it was a good morning to just be around the house. Owen and I even watched some Micky Mouse on Disney+ together. He as super cute sitting in the little Elmo chair.

Then, as I was putting new sheets on the kids' bunk beds that afternoon, I tweaked my back funny and pulled a muscle so that it was really painful anytime I tried to bend over. I spent part of the afternoon studying for the test I have to take the following Tuesday in order to get my Pennsylvania teaching license. I was trying to finish a practice test so I could see what areas I might need further practice in.

Here is more work Aedan brought home from school on Friday, practicing the letter Nn, the number 10, and color words.

And here is a spelling paper from Samantha as well as a worksheet practicing standard long division.

I had been keeping my eye on local Christmas activities around where we live, and I saw that the Lehigh Family Zoo had a Christmas light display in the evenings on the weekends. We decided Friday night would be a good chance to try to go down there and check them out. We left once we finally got everyone around after school, and we stopped by someone's house to pick up a huge lot of Playmobil stuff that we wanted to get the kids for Christmas, and then we were on to the zoo.

It was a little chilly outside, but nothing a hat, coat, and gloves wouldn't help you with. The kids were really excited to see the lights as we pulled up to the zoo. One of the first things we saw in the zoo was people dressed up as Woody and Buzz. Owen was very interested in them, and wanted to stand there and stare at them, but he was too scared to go up to them to get a picture with them or to give them a hug. He's funny with people that are dressed up; he has always found them to be a little scary.

When we got to the zoo, it was already after 6:00, so we decided to find some food for dinner. It was a little cold sitting outside to eat, but we made the chicken fingers and fries work for the kids to share, and everyone ate pretty well. From there we walked around the zoo to see the lights, and the kids posed with a few statues, like this polar bear and penguin.

These are two cute little penguins!

This was probably my favorite area because every tree was wrapped with lights, and pink lights were hanging from the branches. Then, there was a beautiful Cinderella carriage made out of lights. The kids were excited to get their picture taken inside.

After awhile there was a Frozen show that was going to start, so we made our way over to that area where the kids could get pictures with Olaf before Anna and Elsa came out to sing. Again, Owen was not interested in getting close to the dressed up people, but he was fine posing in front of the Frozen statues.

Anna and Elsa came out and sang a couple songs, like "For the First Time in Forever" and "Let It Go." Samantha is still in the mood that she can't like princess stuff anymore, so she tried to not look excited or sing along with the songs. Aedan was fine once the show started, although he complained quite a bit about not being able to sit down. Owen was kind of entranced by it all, as he has become quite a Frozen fan lately. He was even singing along to some of the songs because we have been playing the soundtrack in the car quite a bit lately.

After the show the kids were able to get their picture taken with Anna and Elsa, too.

We then walked around the rest of the zoo, through some tunnels of lights and posed for a few more pictures.

Here are the boys busting out some cool dance moves. I love how they have no inhibitions and will dance anywhere. They each have their own special way of dancing, and it makes me smile.

Here are a few other pictures of the kids posing with different things they found around the zoo. I like Samantha's sweet smile in this picture of her sitting on Santa's motorcycle.

Do you see the look on Samantha's face? That's her face for when she's really annoyed with her little brother. She wanted a picture with the Santa statue by herself, and he barged his way in.

They even had a little Whoville set up with the Grinch sitting on a sleigh. Owen was too scared of him, so we just walked on by, but Aedan sat in the sleigh for a picture.

Once we went around the whole zoo and saw all the lights, it was about 8:00, so we decided it was time to head home. It was about an hour and fifteen minute drive back home. It was a fun time at the zoo, and I'm glad we experienced it, but I'm not so sure it was worth the money and the time, especially since there weren't even any animals to see (except for a couple reindeer). We may or may not go again next year, but it was a fun first time experience.

On Saturday morning we decided to pull out all our bins of Christmas decorations and get started on putting our Christmas tree up. It takes awhile to get it put together and fluff all the branches out, so I spent the morning doing that, while Ben dropped Samantha off at her play practice, and then I picked up Samantha at the end.

Ben took this great video of the boys eating lunch together that day. Aedan sat next to Owen to help him eat his lunch, singing the "Here Comes Airplane" song that Samantha made up to encourage Owen to eat his food. Owen loves Aedan, and he really enjoys when he gets this special one-on-one attention from him. My favorite part of the video is at the end when they both are just cracking each other up. I love how Owen throws his head back when he laughs, and I love how Aedan is making silly noises in order to make his little brother laugh. They can be so cute together sometimes.

Samantha had the idea to make Christmas presents for everyone in the family, and we decided making no-sew tie fleece blankets would be a nice present for people. So after play practice, I took Samantha out to lunch at Wendy's and then to Joann's so she could pick out fabric for the blankets. She was very particular about the patterns and colors she wanted for people, and everything was on sale, so we got it at a good price. She was excited to start working on her presents for people, and I was happy to help her work on the ideas that she came up with.

I spent quite a bit of time on Saturday afternoon finishing putting the lights on the other half of the house. It was actually not too cold outside, and it was supposed to rain on Sunday, so I figured it was my best chance to get it done while Ben was home and could help me move the extension ladder. It was a little scary at first climbing up that high to reach the gutters, but I was really happy how it all turned out, and I loved the view of it all completed. Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love the lights, the decorations, the family time, the good food, the presents, and the parties, just everything makes me excited this time of year.

Saturday night is always bath night in our house, and I took some cute, silly pictures of Aedan and Owen playing together in the bath tub. Lately, we have just had one of us helping Samantha shower downstairs, while the other one bathes the boys upstairs, that way we get everyone done at the same time and it goes a lot faster.

Aedan asked me to give him hair like Super-Man, with the little curl going down his forehead, so I did, and then he tried to replicate the look for Owen, too.

These boys are going to be trouble makers as they grow up together! I love them so much, and I am so blessed to be their mom and to have the honor of raising them. They make life exciting (and loud)!

(Blog about November 17-23, 2019)