She's Six!!!!

I don't know why, but for some reason I am really emotional about Shaylyn turning six...I'm afraid it'll be even worse in a few months when Tanis turns eight.

Anyway, yesterday was Shaylyn's birthday and she had a pretty full day. Her Kindgergarten teacher purposely had her take the snack that day, so I sent store bought sugar cookies (still don't think school allow home made things anymore). She said that her class sang to her that day AND she got to wear a little hat all day long. She seemed very happy about that. Then again, she WAS the center of attention.

Right after school we had to head to the dr. for me (well for the little baby). The baby is doing well and even kicked (AGAIN) while the dr. was checking for the heartbeat. It is funny to hear a kick at the same time you feel it. The baby did this at my last appt as well. I also had to do the Gestational Diabetes test. I had to drink a very sugary drink about a half hour before my appt. I have always had an orange flavored one, but this time I had been offered a choice of orange or fruit punch. Of course I chose fruit punch, so I could try something different.

It didn't taste too much different from a Hawaiian Punch, so I was able to finish it real easily and I think a little too fast as my stomach was reeling a bit afterwards. Anyway, so after the dr. did the checking of the heartbeat and stuff he sent the the nurse in to draw blood...Somehow I always FORGET that the test involves blood tests! I don't mind the needles so much, it is the pain afterwards.

Anyway, after the dr. we headed to my mom and dad's to pick up something for the thing I am still excited about - which should be completed this weekend. It was a quick trip - seriously, long enough to pick up what we needed, then we headed back towards home.

Because it was Shaylyn's birthday we let her decide where to stop for dinner. She of course chose Arctic Circle. I think the main reason for that is because that is one of the few places by us that has a playland.

After dinner we headed back home for presents! This was probably Shaylyn's favorite part of the day. I actually got her 2 gifts she really wanted for Christmas, but I just couldn't swing at that time. She was very happy. As I was tucking her in last night she even told me that she had a fun day! YEAH! That made me happy.

I'll leave this post by posting a couple pics of the birthday girl. (They were even taken with my "new" camera)

What Happens Next...

Party Hardy

Sunday night we had Shaylyn's birthday party. She will be 6 tomorrow...(Man, I still can't believe that...I don't know where those 6 years went)

Anyway, we don't do "friend" parties yet...mostly because I wouldn't have a clue as to how to entertain a bunch of kids. So, it was just family.

We had lots of fun and most of the family came. The only reason a few family members missed it was because of illnesses and one member had a viewing to go to. I love that my extended family members are so supportive.

We opened presents and had cake and ice cream and just a good time visiting with each other. We really don't see a lot of family anymore (with the exception of Eric's parents and our Sunday dinners) because we moved so "far" away, so it's nice when we can all get together and enjoy each other's company.

I tried really hard to get pictures of each gift and then a picture with Shaylyn, the gift, and who it was from - but only got a few because I forgot batteries for my camera. I was so upset because it was before we did the cake and all that fun stuff too. My 'in-house photographer' (a.k.a. Eric's Mom) hadn't arrived by the time we decided to do the cake, so I was kinda sad.

But then Eric had the brilliant idea to use his cell phone. Yeah! He took a few pics with his cell phone and while most of them are blurry, he did get a somewhat good one of her cake.

When Eric's mom did arrive she got lots of other pictures I like to have as well- guests, playing and that sort of stuff, so all in all I ended up getting what I wanted.

I also got a gift. Eric's mom has like 4 cameras and she keeps trying to find one she really, really likes. She decided she was going to give me one of the ones she rarely uses because our camera is almost 4 years old. (Shaylyn was about 18 months when we bought it) So, I haven't played with it a whole lot, but I do know that it takes pics faster than my old camera and that is a big positive with little kids.

Anyway, for Shaylyn's birthday tomorrow, I have a dr. appt. at 5, then we are going to go to dinner (her choice of where) and when we get back home she will unwrap her gifts. I hope she will have a good day on her actual birthday.

Just thought I'd share some party pictures with you.

As for the thing I was so excited about in my previous post - it is still in the workings...but it will come soon! I Promise!

What Happens Next...

PICTURES!!!!

About a month ago I made a post about the kids getting professional pictures done in their recital costumes. What a story that ended up to be...

The day comes for the pictures and our appointment was set at like 6:15. Around 5:30 or so I tell the kids we need to start getting ready. Tanis does awesome and gets ready right away. Shaylyn sits there and whines and complains about it, but I do eventually get her ready. I didn't do much with her hair because I figured she'd have her hat on and it wouldn't matter anyhow.

I had to wait until Eric got home (he either had my car or Lex was asleep or a combination of the two) before I could go. Eric didn't get home until about 10 to 6. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the dance studio where they were doing the pictures.

I knew we were going to be late and was trying to get out the door. Next thing I know Tanis' stomach is not agreeing with him and he has an accident. Stressed as I am already I tell him we needed to go and asked him if he wanted me to wait for him. He said no. So, Shaylyn and I head over to the studio.

We get there and Shaylyn does NOT want to cooperate at all. She was being kinda clingy to Tanis and was upset that he wasn't there. (Now that I think about it I should've had Eric bring Tanis after he took care of things and then I could've told the photgrapher we were here, but waiting for a kid) Anyway, we FINALLY get Shaylyn to put the costume on and realize her dance teacher didn't leave out the hat! (The dance teacher was not around and had just left all the costumes out) I was so frustrated! Shaylyn's hair wasn't done very cute and the hat totally made the outfit.

Oh well, figure let's make the most of it and head into the room for the photographer to do her job. She is so patient with my stubborn little girl and we are able to get three pictures taken of her and the photographer told me she would choose the best for the package. (Which she did)

So, things really didn't turn out very well for us that day. Tanis having stomach issues, Shaylyn not cooperating and the hat not being there. Still I am happy with the way Shaylyn's picture turned out (minus the lack of cute hairdo). It is posted below.

As if all the above wasn't enough, as I was picking up some pizza to take home for dinner, Eric calls me on the cell phone and tells me that he forgot he had to go home teaching right then (he's even the one who made the appointments) and he had to leave the boys home alone! Good thing I was only 5 or 10 minutes away! But we have never left our kids alone ever! It was a scary thing. I just kept hoping Lex would stay asleep so Tanis didn't have to worry about him. Luckily for me, Lex did stay asleep and Tanis was just hanging out playing Rock Band.

Last Sunday we headed to Eric's parents for dinner and Eric's mom got some pictures of Christmas and the Family Pictures she took onto discs for me so that I could have them. I posted a couple that I really liked. In the one that she took during our family "photo shoot" I just had to post this one of the kids all because of the way Lex is standing. It is hilarious!

The picture posted from Christmas is the kids with Eric's brother, Greg. He is so good with the kids and they love him tons! It isn't rare to see this exact same thing anytime Greg is around.

There isn't much else that has gone on lately, so yeah. I do have something planned that I will post probably sometime next week. (hopefully) I am so dang excited about it! So until then there probably won't be another post unless something major happens. :D

What Happens Next...

Thoughts...

Before I begin this post I want to preface it with this so that no one can judge my parenting skills unfairly. I know EXACTLY what I did wrong in this situation and what SHOULD'VE been done, but that is not why I am posting this story. The reason for posting this story is to get some feedback and some opinions...That being said, here is the story.
During the holiday season I ran across an ecard website where you can take pics of friends and family and put them in an animated card thing. At this point in time the cards where you could do this were cute and funny. The one I mainly did was a snowball fight and the kids thought it was hilarious! So, because I had looked at all the "Add a Face" (not what it's really called) and nothing was offensive, we let the kids have fun throughout the month putting the heads on these cards and watching them.
Yesterday I thought I would take a look at the website and see if they had added anything new with it being a new month. Sure enough there were two more cards with the option of adding faces to it. I watched one and it was like an action movie and just a bit of another one entitled "Math Camp Massacre." Should've known from the title it would be gruesome. It was a pretty gruesome card as it was based off of Horror Movies. (By the way, I am not offended with the website as it is not a website for kids and adults should have good judgement or what have you)
Anyway, I decided that the kids probably shouldn't go to the site anymore. (Tanis & Shaylyn were at school when I was looking at them and Lex was busy with a video game) I didn't think too much of it until later that night when Shaylyn and Tanis mentioned the website by name. I told them they weren't allowed to be on that website and left it at that. I was in another room (I know I should've looked at what they were doing) when next thing I know Tanis is in major tears running into my room.
I ask him what was wrong and he told me that Shaylyn had made that card on that website and it really scared him. (Good reason to keep history clean - kids can access what they want to if they can read. I should've cleared the history so they couldn't get to that website anymore.) I immediately came into the kitchen, where the laptop is, and told Shaylyn what she had done was wrong. I told them not to go to that website and then they did and what she did really scared her brother. She didn't seem bothered by the card at all! She did feel bad that she made Tanis so upset, however. I am not exactly sure what upset Tanis most about it - just the whole idea of the card or the fact that with faces added, suddenly family members were being "killed."
What I want opinions/thoughts on is this...How can one kid be so upset by something so "horrific" and it not even bother another? Tanis has always been a bit more sensitive to EVERYTHING, so maybe that's it. He is also the one who has nightmares at least once every two weeks, sometimes more. Is that all it boils down to? Or is there more to it? Just curious what everyone thinks.
And yes, the kids did understand what they did that was wrong and I talked with them last night about it and Eric had a talk with them this morning because they were in bed when he got home last night.
On a brighter note - something I just want to share - for Christmas Tanis really wanted the Star Wars Lego Complete Saga game for the XBox. We decided it would be a good "family gift" so we got it. However, the one to play it the most hasn't been Tanis or even Eric like you might think. No, the one who plays it the most is little Alexander.
He wakes up most mornings with that being the first thought on his mind. Guess he is more like his dad than I originally thought. ;) I will leave this post with pictures of him playing his favorite game. And I apologize for the messy bed and stuff - he was playing while I was straightening the house and I hadn't quite gotten to my bedroom yet.

What Happens Next...