And I found you

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Holiday Sing Week!

This week the kids had their holiday sing concerts at school.

Dawson was so excited. He really wanted to dress nice for the concert, and was singing the songs for weeks.

And there is Carter in jeans and a minecraft sweatshirt. Oh well, at least the sweatshirt looked Christmas-ey. He really dosen't enjoy these concerts but I was proud of him for learning the words to some complicated songs.

Ava girl looked so beautiful and fancy! It was nice to see her in her element, chatting with her friends.

Daddy and little O came too!

Only fourth babies could fall fast asleep in the middle of an elementary concert. These concerts always get me in the Christmas spirit!

Monday, December 12, 2016

Our Visit with Santa

This weekend we went to see the big man himself, Santa!

All four of my cuties

This was Owen's first Santa visit. He was pretty unaware of what was happening.

Santa made sure to check if their grades were good, and told them to make sure their rooms were clean. Thanks Santa!

Ava requested a motorized scooter and American girl doll stuff. Dawson asked for a crazy cart and legos. Carter's big request was a hoverboard and legos. Owen was just fascinated with his hands.

Merry Christmas Santa

Friday, December 9, 2016

Write on Ava!

Ava, I'm just tickled to no end by the writing you bring home from school. Here are two of my recent favorites.

It says:

Dear Santa, Merry Christmas! My name is Ava or you can call me Avery. I won a trophy from softball. Thank you for giving me presents every year. Can you get my brother Owen a hat and mittens? How's your christmas? Is Rudolph real? Your bud, Ava Shadle

Ok this letter is just another example of Ava's sweet giving nature. She thanked Santa for presents and didn't asked for a thing! She only asked for something for her little brother! Also the salutation "your bud" is so cute!

Here is a tall tale poem she wrote about her brother:

Owen

little, sleepy

crying, screaming, sleeping

My baby brother is cute

pooping, smiling, eating

throwing up, peeing

crazy

Yup, that describes her brother pretty well!

A Tale of Two Brothers

This past weekend we were waiting in the car and Dawson announced he had to use the restroom. There was no where for him to go so we allowed him to use a to go cup. Later on in the day, Mike heard Dawson say "hey Carter, do you want to taste my pop?" So you can imagine my trepidation when I saw this:

It says: To Dawson Serving Size 1 Bottle

And if you are worried......it's not pee. Just a delicious combination of water, mints and a little bit of ketchup. Yum!!

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Fall Pictures - Carter and Everyone

Carter is in a stage right now where everything has to be perfectly fair. It's tough for me as a mother of four. I've seriously considered getting a food scale so I can show him that he is getting the same amount of desert as everyone else.

But I think the toughest part for him to understand is that there are different expectations for different ages. For example in third grade he gets homework daily, but Dawson in kindergarten gets homework more sporadically. That's not fair! First, I can't control the homework his teacher gives him and secondly when he was in kindergarten he had less homework too.

Look at that handsome boy! Each age/stage presents its own particular challenge, but it is wonderful to see him learning and growing.

Right now we are working on learning his multiplication tables at school. He loves to read and he is tearing through multiple chapter books a week. Now that I'm feeling better we are back to the library on a weekly basis. He loves Diary of a wimpy kid and Geronimo Stilton.

His current food crush right now is stuffed crust pizza. He was so upset when he found out that the stuffed crust pizza he picked out at thanksgiving was eaten. No worries, we can always get another one!

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Fall Pictures: Ava and Owen

Back in October I decided to get the kid's photos taken by a professional in lieu of school pictures. Honestly I'm so glad I did! For the same price as buying the smallest package of school photos times three, I have beautiful pictures of the kids. I'm going to include some little stories about the kids that I want to remember.

Ava has this fun little game that she plays with Owen. She asks him questions like: What's your name and What's your favorite letter. He loves to make the O sound, so he usually responds with that. She cheers and praises him and he smiles and giggles back at her.

She loves to draw with oil pastels right now. There are pictures all over our house. Her hands seem to be permanently stained red or black.

She loves to "baby-sit" her little brother. If he is fussing while I'm cooking dinner or completing another task she will run over to him. Without even being asked she will sing to him, smile at him and play with him. I thank you so much Ava, this is more helpful than you know!

You were heartbroken recently when you found out that your best friend was moving to California. You insisted that the only solution to this problem was for our family to move to California. Unfortunately I had to disappoint you, one day you will understand.

What does Owen like? Well, like all my babies he loves to stare at the ceiling fan. If I put you under the Christmas tree you will kick and stare at the lights and sparkles and be so very content.

So far you have been pretty good in the car. I know this is mainly because you aren't mobile yet and are content to sleep in the car. But on our recent trip to Pittsburgh we were stuck in traffic and you began to fuss. There was no where to pull over and I told Mike "I'm about to do something I would have never done with the first three." I pulled up you tube and had some Sesame Street clips running for him to watch. It kept him happy and we didn't have to listen to him scream. At one point I took my phone away to adjust the volume and he let out a huge scream! Well, television for a baby is not going to be a regular thing, but it worked well in a pinch.

You are growing so big. I think I'm going to be putting away the six month old sleepers soon.

In Pittsburgh you were passed around from person to person. You were so content and fell asleep on a few different family members. Everyone remarked what an easy going baby you were and so content. I have to agree!

Dawson is Six!!

Happy Birthday to my chatty, friendly, smart, kind and loving little boy. Dawson you started kindergarten this year. Your teacher has had nothing but kind words about you! Recently she told me that you have really surprised her especially with your mathematical understanding. You are such a smart little boy! You have had some kindergarten grumpiness, this is a big transition after all. We call it "hulking out" because you go from zero to an angry ten in no time.

Unfortunately this year we decided to attend a funeral on the day of your birthday. But no worries, a big group of family sang Happy Birthday to you over a plate of pepperoni rolls. Yup, there were candles in the pepperoni rolls!

Earlier in the week we completed your birthday request: you really wanted a 100 dollar lego kit. Part of this request: you did not want us to pick it out, you wanted to be able to go to Target to pick it out yourself. Your choice was lego city prison break island. You have been very interested in police/law enforcement lately. Your other request was for a no-bake cookie cake, which I still have to make. Soon I promise!

You will chat for hours about your favorite video game, minecraft. You went up to Uncle Ron and Uncle Jimmy and made sure they knew all about it! It was so funny to see you do this!

I love your gorgeous eyes and smile.