Going to be a Good day…

I knew it was going to be a good day when I drove into school today and saw a beautiful “hoar frost”.  I learned this lovely new term from Diane.  I just knew it as a frost on the trees that was beautiful, but found out that it has an actual name. ;)  It was dark when I got to school this morning, but the trees were beautiful. 

 

To continue the good day, my school was fortunate to have the Minnesota Twins winter caravan make a stop at it.  Current players Ben Revere, Glen Perkins, Trevor Plouffe, announcer John Gordon,  and MN legend Tony Oliva came to visit.  The students got to ask them questions, they made banners to hang up, and we got some pictures taken. 

Here is our principal and two secretaries with the crew.

 

TC and I

 

Ben Revere and I

 

Tony Oliva and I

 

Trevor Plouffe signed a card for the boys….. (they were so excited when I brought it home)

 

Here they are answering some of the students’ questions…..

          

It was exciting and even though they weren’t some of the “big” and well - known players it was neat, fun to be a part of, and great for the kids. 

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Here are some more pictures of the “hoar frost” as the day went on and got brighter.  This is what I get to look at out of my classroom window.  I’m obviously a little bias, but think that I have the best view.  Earlier this fall one of my students saw a buck, it was huge, and I yelled at her to stay focused and pay attention…..she points outside and there it was on the outskirts of the trees.  The whole class went crazy and ran to the window.

PAAAAARRRRRTTTTTYYYY!

We had Lucas's birthday party on Saturday. Lucas is a very loved and lucky boy.

The party was a little more chaotic and unorganized then most, but it was a long and busy week leading up to Saturday (I think I might be getting sick also). I was not happy with my cake, the games were a little weak, and I didn't take pictures of things I wanted to and didn't think about it until late. (my camera --- ugh....it got tangled up in Lucas as I was carrying him and it dropped. I haven't spent a lot of time on it, but as of now can't get it to open. I’m going through withdrawal already and not sure what I am going to do without a camera. Our old one isn't working either. Plus, our coffee maker and wine opener broke...just not our weekend for appliances and electronics.)

We had a great day though, it's always fun getting together to celebrate.

We ate and played ....

Yes, I used black frosting for Mickey's cake....come on people...Mickey Mouse's ears and body are black.....you can't use some other color. That's why baths were invented.

Lucas was very very spoiled.....opening presents was CRAZY!!! Oh my goodness. Talk about a bad environment for someone with ADD.....there were 4 older kids that wanted to help him open, it was fast, it was loud......Lucas didn't do much of it, but he didn't seem to mind or know the difference. ;) He had a blast playing with all of his new toys with everyone after though......

Everyone was a great sport about playing Pin the Nose on Mickey. Again, I forgot to take pictures while the kids were doing it, then Connor got the camera and became the photographer for me. Thanks everyone.

There was so much going on that I completely forgot to take pictures of Lucas with everyone like I usually do until Lucas was ready for bedtime.....so needless to say I did not get pictures of Lucas with Nana, Grandma Doreen, or Papa John and Yaya ....PLUS.....Lucas was not all that excited about it...

It's all about just going with it right......? I feel like I'm a pretty flexible and a just go with it person, however I also like things to be perfect and go just like they should - meaning cake perfect, food yummy, everyone having a good time and enjoying themselves...etc.. (if that makes any sense)........not so much the case today or in fact, pretty impossible that it will go that way anymore....our life is just one big CHAOS. I'm getting to be OK with it. ;) ;) Maybe I can learn from Lucas - he just hangs out, goes with the flow, and acts silly. Good way to go through life if you ask me. ;)

Thank you to our families, who rock, for making it a special day. Happy Birthday Lukeyman. We sure enjoyed celebrating YOU (and we'll keep on celebrating)!

Happy 1st Birthday Lukey man!!!!

So hard to believe it has been a year since this day......

It is a bittersweet day. I am so happy and excited for you to be turning 1 with all of the fun things to come, however sad that the year went by so quickly and there is no more baby in the house. I will miss my little baby, but am looking forward to being able to delight in the child you will become.

Your last sleep as an 11 month old……

Streamers even for the 1 year old. He did not want to walk through them though…so he would crawl under where he wouldn’t touch them.

We are having a family birthday party for him this weekend. So that he had something to open this morning and tonight we wrapped a few of his favorite toys. We are going to put money in his account from us.

The proud big brothers…..they were pretty cute and excited.

Standing proud…….

Oh boy…….

Turning 1 is so funny…

I am 1….(almost got 1 finger up)

Happy Birthday…..

Make a wish…….

Hmmmm…..this looks yummy….

MMM….this is yummy…..and so is this one…..and this one…..and this one more…..and one last one……

He just kept grabbing them….he had four of them, luckily they were little.

You weigh 21 lbs (only 32.6% - none of your brothers have ever been that low for weight ;)). You are 30.91 inches long (81% -tall like daddy). Go figure...your head is 18.43 inches (87% - big heads like all the Ginskey boys! No one has ever been below the 85% for head circumference....um...yeah, not very nice to their mother if you know what I mean).

You have smile that can melt anyone's heart. You love to "ham" it up. You are great at walking, with a few wobbles here and there. You love to eat. You only have 3 teeth. You love to play the game of give something to someone and then take it back, give it back and take it back, and so on. You love the remote and point it to the TV and love the phone and put it to your ear. You chase Nolan all over the place and you so enjoy getting into whatever your older brothers are doing.

You give great open mouthed kisses. There is nothing cuter than your open arms reaching up to us when you want to be picked up. You are a great snuggler and so wonderful about going to bed, you always have been. I'm a little nervous about the pacifier though - you are pretty attached to it especially right now while you are teething. None of your brothers took to the pacifier so we never had to worry about weening them off it. You love being able to sit in your carseat facing forward lately. You bounce when you hear music. You love to grab the Wii remote when your brothers are playing Wii and point it to the TV like you are playing also. You climb on EVERYTHING. You tackle the cats and fortnately, Teddy is so good about it.

I could go on and on about all the things that make you, you. You are a blessing to this family and we love you so much.

Favorite book: Elmo is So Big, Good Morning Good Night

Favorite Song: Not sure, but you sing bebebebe when Baby by Justin Beiber is on

Connor says

Jacob says

Lucas says

Where did the time go.....

Here is a slideshow from Lucas's first year....

A few randoms from the other boys:

Nolan said to me the other night after getting a piece of licorice from daycare, “Mommy, I think it’s about time you got some licorice for us because I LOVE it!”

Jacob got a card today from a girl in his class. This girl, Morgan, was also singing, “ I have a crush on Jacob, I have a crush on Jacob…” at Sunday School this weekend. ;) Oh oh…..

Bedtime conversation with a 7 year old, 4 1/2 year old, and a 3 1/2 year old,

Bedtime routine. You've all been there.

Putting four kids to bed, so close in age, can be quite a task some nights. The boys are really great about it for the most part. They get their pjs on, brush their teeth, and visit the bathroom by themselves. Many nights unfortunately, I would find myself thinking about all the laundry, dishes, and picking up that is waiting for me outside that bedroom, and to top it off...the correcting, planning, and entering grades into gradebook. I was sort of just going through the motions .....

However, I made a resolution to focus more on the boys at night. The other stuff can wait (though I end up staying up late and getting stressed about it) because I will regret not sharing the moments that you will read below with the boys. Plus, there is nothing better than having the boys WANT me to snuggle with them, and nothing worse than telling them I CAN'T because I have stuff to do. What stuff could be more important than snuggling and having a moment with them? Though it sometimes is a half an hour plus process.....it is SO worth the time.

When it's both Matt and I we have a pretty good tag team going on. The older three will go into Jacob and Nolan's room and they get to pick out a book....Matt reads to them (which the boys LOVE ....and he's so good at it) while I get to rock a little with Lucas and put him down. Then I get Connor out of the boys' room and take him down. We try to make time to read together, just him and I, an "older" book. Right now we are reading, "The Mysterious Benedict Society"....then Matt comes down and we switch. I go up and snuggle with the other two.

When it's just me, I start in the bedroom reading (or Connor reads a book so I can also snuggle with Lucas while he has his bottle) . Then I put Lucas down, tuck the younger two in quick, and Connor gets himself into his bed. I tell the younger two I will be right back up. Then I go tuck Connor in and snuggle...and then come back up to snuggle with the other two - it's the cutest thing...they have a system down with who I snuggle with first, and it alternates every other night. They are also so concerned about me being sure that I snuggle with the other one...they don't want me to forget.

It is quite the process.....but it works for us, everyone wins, and I feel good about the time spent.

Don't get me wrong....it doesn't go this perfectly every night....but we're trying.

If I didn't do ALL of the above......this is what I would miss out on...

(This was all in one night....honestly.....)

With the 7 year old...

"Why do people carry and do the things they do with guns?" ....as he's teary eyed. He had questions and concerns about the Tucson shooting that he happened to see on the news at daycare while waiting for the bus. At what point do we shelter our kids too much and/or expose them to too much? Connor and I had a really good conversation about it....how he felt, what he was afraid of, how our world is and can be, good and bad....?

With the almost 1 year old...

He is a cuddler. He just puts him head on my shoulder, likes to hold my hand or hair.....sometimes sings himself to sleep.

With the 4 1/2 year old....

He is more into the silent snuggling. His main question right away as I get into bed with him is "Mommy, when are you going to come back and check on us? Is it going to be pretty soon or a long time? How many minutes? Is that long or short?" (kid, I just got into bed with you....) Normally we try to talk about something he did that day....I either just listen if he is talkative or pry a few things out of him. He just likes to wrap his arms around me and just snuggle. He's particular about which side Matt and I lay on, which is funny.

With my 3 1/2 year old on the other hand....oh my 3 1/2 year old.....

(Every other line is him saying something and then my response...)

"Mommy, when are you going to make our room racecars?"

"I told you I would for your birthdays, Jacob’s going to turn 5 and you’re going to turn 4."

Silence….."I wish I could be like 10."

"10? Are you sure?…that would mean you would skip 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9…that would make me very sad because you would grow way too fast. You are already growing up way to fast."

Silence again…..and a very sad face…."I want to stay 3 for always…."

"Don’t be sad, I don't want you to be sad."

"What’s a parent? "

"Well, a parent is a mom or a dad. Like, me and daddy are your parents. Do you know who my parents are?"

"Yep, grandma and grandpa." Big smile on his face and so proud.

"Very good….(and so on with a few more questions….)"

"Who are Grandpa and Grandma’s parents?"

"Well, Great Grandpa Skala is Grandpa’s parent or dad, but their other parents got old and they died and went to heaven." (how do you explain all of that to a 3 year old?)

Another sad face….."I wish nobody ever died."

"Me too. But it's a good thing we don’t usually die until we get really really old or sick."

"I’m really old."

"What? You are?"

"Yeah, and I’m really strong. Stronger than all the superheroes."

"Oh kid, I love you!

"I love you too lady."

(I can't even count how many different topics we covered here..)

Now that was a night of snuggles that the dishes, laundry, and schoolwork could definitely wait for.

Pictures tell a ton….

Some random pictures from the week and weekend.

All three of the boys are into Pokémon cards….they love to “organize”, look at, and trade them.

Hmmmm…..my big brothers’ Christmas stuff looks a lot more fun then mine…what can I get into?

It’s always a process unloading the van when we get home from daycare. The boys have to all bring in their backpacks, go through them and put papers and things I need on the counter, put them away, and hang up their coats before they can do anything else. One day last week, I’m unloading everything else and bringing it into the house and notice Nolan’s backpack on the floor. I hear voices from Jacob and Nolan’s room and assume they are in there, I call Nolan’s name a couple of times and get no answer. So I walk in the room to find only Connor and Jacob in there. No one knows where Nolan is. I opened the door to the garage and there is Nolan riding his bike in his boots, winter coat, mittens, and helmet. Perfectly normal thing to do in the garage during the winter. He just smiled………..

Connor was given and gladly took on, the task of putting together some Lego and Duplo sets for Matt’s work catalog. We came home one day to these boxes outside our front door. Yep. Connor will be putting them all together. He’s pretty pumped.

Getting started. He thought because some of them were Duplos it was going to be easy, however many of them don’t have step by step instructions….only a picture to go off. Connor gets to be creative. He has 3- 1/2 of them done.

Connor reading a story to his brothers before bed.

Lucas found a new place he likes to sit to listen to the bed time stories. Looks pretty comfy.

Another weekend come and gone. Have a great week everyone.

Funnies and Not so Funnies

Jacob asked if he could have a piece of candy. I told him sure and he said he hopes there are some coconuts left. What? Coconuts? He comes back with a package of Whoppers. He calls and thinks they are coconuts. I got a chuckle.
Jacob also right now says a few compound works flipped. Like the car wash is the washcar.
He also keeps calling the Mall of America, Captain America.


Nolan is really into the word "adult" and he asks questions about them constantly. "Can only adults do ________? Is ________only for adults? Why only adults can _________?
He also loves the word "Totally!!"

Lucas is obsessed with the remote and the phone still. Good thing we have those old ones still around.

I signed Jacob and Nolan (our little fish) up for Swimming lessons. They are not afraid of the water, but thought it would be good for them to start working on some of the basics more and I thought it would be fun for them to be together. Well, it wasn't fun for anyone. I took them last week and they were all pumped. They had their trunks on, so all they had to do was take their clothes off when we got there. They were waiting by the door with their towels watching the class before them and when it came for their class time, neither of them would go in. They both started crying and didn't want to go. I was shocked, and couldn't believe the two of them.....didn't want to go swim? What? The two that would jump into the pool without anyone watching or helping them? I was not dealing with it, plus it was just me and I couldn't really take them inside the pool area with Lucas also. We packed up and left. They were both crying in the car on the way home. Jacob was apologizing over and over and telling me he was going to try it next time.

Soooo.....next time was last Thursday. We're all pumped again....this time Matt was also there. I didn't have time to get them dressed before hand so they had to get dressed in the locker room. Nolan came pretty much skipping out of the locker room with his towel over his shoulders ( I was thinking this is good....) and said that daddy was trying to get Jacob to come out. Jacob was freaking out in the locker room about it already. I actually thought Nolan might do it, however again, they both wanted nothing to do with it. We did not have a happy daddy, or mommy for that matter and packed back up and headed home. As of right now we are not going to try next week, but we'll see. I still am just dumbfounded over it.....these two are never afraid (though Jacob keeps telling me he's just shy.....I think he knows how to play that card now).

Connor was pretty sad about it all. Sad that they weren't doing it or even trying it, and the cutest was that he was sad because he said I wasted all that money I paid for them.

Bridal/Wedding Fair and Christmas # 7

Diane, Kristin, and I started Sunday off by going to the Wedding Fair in town. We were really impressed. We had fun going on a scavenger hunt, getting pictures taken in a photo booth, signing Diane up to win stuff, and eating ......yummy. It gets us excited for the wedding to come.....

Then we headed to our last Christmas of the season with my mom's side. It was good to see everyone. We had yummy food, played dirty bingo, and good conversation.

The great -grandchildren....minus a couple

The grandchildren...again minus four....

Mom and three of her sisters (missing a sister and brother)...

The kids playing their version of dirty bingo (roll the dice for doubles).....

With my great - aunt Sr. Bernadette...

The adult version of dirty bingo....

What a Christmas season it has been.....hard to believe it's done and gone........