I think I'll go for a walk outside now...

We are in the midst of a major warm spell right now. It is freaky how late spring like it is in our mid March. I am not complaining at all - it just doesn't seem right.

Hailey and I took advantage of a warm afternoon today and dug the Burley out of the shed. She wanted to go for a walk. A walk to the beach AND to the park - and she wasn't taking no for an answer.

We walked down to the beach for the first time this year and it was gorgeous - albeit super windy. It felt good to be there again. As I have said so many times before, this lake and this sand is part of my soul. I received some good health news yesterday and there seemed no better place for me to thank God for the blessings he continues to bestow upon my life. It was time to sit in the warm sand, take deep cleansing breaths and take it all in.

Hailey was thrilled to be able to dig in the sand again. She kept on burying her shovel and rake and then having to dig them up when she needed them again.

Dancing on the sand with her shadow. She has started to sing the words and do the motions to the song her group will perform at her dance recital. Oh My! Cutest thing EVER!

More dancing followed by running down the beach and even more dancing. I think this place is in her soul too.

Our temperatures are forecasted to stay way above normal. I see many more beach days in our near future.

Golden light

Tonight after dinner the kids wanted to go outside and play. I don't think the OK could have come out of my mouth any faster. A few minutes later when I looked out to check on them I saw Spencer riding his bike around the street with no helmet on and Evan and Hailey sword fighting with plastic golf clubs. I headed outside to start yelling and right away noticed this sky and this amazing light. So instead of yelling I told them what they needed to do and ran inside to grab my camera.

They all got badly needed haircuts today. Hailey even got a little pink bling. I couldn't resist - it was the first time I have ever seen her excited about something having to do with her hair.

Teacher

Evan has been obsessed with these guys since he first played the game at his cousin's house a month or so ago. They are called Skylanders and I don't know if they were originally a show, a book - what they were, but now they are a game for the Wii.

We got the boys the Skylanders game for Valentine's Day. It was a little pricey at fifty dollars, but well worth the price of not having to buy anymore LEGO sets since they have been inundated with them since Christmas. They were so excited when they opened the gift and saw the box inside. There was screaming and fake fainting and running around the house in happy hysterics.

As we figured, the boys have been getting plenty of use from the game. Sometimes they play alone, sometimes together. Yesterday I was thrilled when I walked in the room to see that Evan had taught Hailey how to play and was very patiently leading her through a level. Patience and Hailey are two things that Evan can only normally take in small doses. I have been telling him for the longest time that he should teach her to play some of his games and then he could play with her without having to play Barbies, princess or any of the other games that he grows weary of playing with her.

She was a very intense learner. She takes her Skylanders very seriously.

I think she was thrilled that her brother took the time to teach her how to play.

I just love how their little hands look clutching the Wii-mote.

Oh Skylanders! You do such a great job of bring families together!

As long as we are on the subject of teaching, over the weekend I taught Evan the age old tradition of blanket folding. You know, each person takes two corners and folds and walks together in unison. I told him about how when I was little and used to spend the night at my Grama's, in the morning we would always have to fold and put away our blankets. As we were picking up the living room last night Evan decided to take it upon himself to teach Hailey the blanket folding technique. He was actually looking for blankets that they could fold.

It is days like this that remind me that I have the best kids in the whole world!

Leap day randomness

You would think that with a whole extra day this year I would have time to do a blog post every once in a while.

Hailey and I have been fighting a cold for over a week now. It is the worst cold I have had in a long time. She seems to be finally on the mend. I can see the flicker at the end of the tunnel and am slamming Vitamin C tablets as I sprint for it. Almost there. Of course last night Spencer started to get symptoms.

I went to Kindergarten round up last night to get information on Hailey's class for next year. All day Kindergarten. I am still not sure of my feelings about any of it. They may be a forth coming post of their own. What I am sure of is that I am in denial that MY BABY is going to Kindergarten next year.

I was super excited to get up tomorrow and hang out in jammies for as long as we wanted. Then as I was snacking on a chocolate covered almond I broke off a piece of my tooth (or maybe a filling). It doesn't hurt and I wouldn't worry about it except for the fact that it is behind one of my front teeth. I really don't want it to get any worse...so off to the dentist tomorrow at nine in the morn.

Tomorrow begins the month of the musical. I am finding it harder this year to keep up with the kids on my own. There was a tiny window in between babies and big kids where it seemed easy. Now with more places to be, more homework - it is hard for me to do it all.

It is hard to believe that February is over tomorrow. We have done a lot this month:

Struggled through Spencer's Biographical Book Report

Traveled to Wisconsin to celebrate birthdays of Mira and Lainey.

Valentine's Day and parties

The 100th day of school for the boys

Reading The Hunger Games trilogy in about three days. So good. Peeta may have replaced Edward in my juvenile fictional character love obsession.

I cleaned out the laundry room and created a "homework station". Which the boys are lukewarm to, but Hailey LOVES.

The boys made their Cub Scout advancements at the Blue and Gold banquet.

My cleaning and organizing has taken a huge hit with the on set of this cold. Along with my diet and exercise routine. I feel like I want to work out, but last week the one day I did, I paid for it the next day with a worsening (word?) of symptoms.

We finally found out (after three weeks of calling and waiting) that Hailey's heart "problem" is considered in the normal range and doesn't present the need for any additional testing at this time. We were grateful for the good news, but I am still feeling like I want to know what the problem is and why does it come and go. I don't want to look for problems, but I want my little girl to be OK. We are supposed to watch for any episodes of fainting or shortness of breath that would indicate a growing or intensifying issue.

I think I am starting to be confident that this "winter" may never happen. It seemed too good to be true in January and February - I was just waiting for the massive snowfall to hit - but now that it is going to be March... We may have lucked out this year. Bring on Spring!!!

Time for more hobbies?

Hailey and I are both suffering from nasty colds. Today as I was sitting in the lazy boy anxiously awaiting nap time, she came over and plopped into my lap. I told her when she was a little baby we sometimes would both fall asleep in that chair after I nursed her. She loves to hear about when she was a baby, but is always adamant about how she is a big girl now. I told her that she was so big I could hardly believe it.

Mom: Is my tiny baby five years old already?

Hailey: YES!!!

Mom: Are you going to go to Kindergarten next year?

Hailey: YES!!!

Mom: Are you going to eat lunch at school next year?

Hailey: YES!!!

Mom: Are you going to miss your mommy?

Hailey: Probably a little. Are you going to miss me?

Mom: Tons! I don't know what I am going to do without you. I am going to be so bored!

Hailey: You can call Grama and see if she wants to meet you at the Sports Page!!!

Easy Bake Tiny Cake

I never had an Easy Bake oven when I was a little girl, but I always wanted one. When I saw some on clearance early this fall, I snatched one up to give to Hailey for Christmas. When she saw them advertised on TV and would tell me that is what she wanted Santa to bring her, I felt like mother of the year.

As is always the case with the "gadgets" we purchase - the Girl Gourmet cupcake maker that Spence begged for a few years ago, the Slurpee machine, the Big Top giant cupcake maker extravaganza - they always look way cooler on TV than they really are. Adults know that is going to happen, but for kids its a giant bummer.

When our cake finally came out from under the light bulb, Hailey and Evan both commented to me how small it was. Still we cut it up into three slices and enjoyed the fruits of our labor.

She hasn't asked to cook with it since that day. I am wondering if she would notice if I snuck it to the garage sale pile? I'm kidding. Kind of.

Money Sock

It is no surprise to anyone that knows my boys that they LOVE Legos. It is no surprise to anyone that knows Evan that he has always had a special thing for dinosaurs. When Lego started making their dinosaur hunter sets - a certain little guy I know was in heaven.

He got a couple of the sets for Christmas and put them together pretty much the hour or two after he opened them. As in all Lego sets (maybe all toys in general) they included a little brochure showing all the other Lego dinosaur sets that were available. Evan immediately had his sights set on a dinosaur paddock. The largest and therefore, most expensive of the sets. In looking around our town at Target and Meijer - the paddock was nowhere to be found, so it wasn't that big of a deal. Then one fateful day as Spencer and I were shopping for a birthday gift for a buddy of his at Walmart - the paddock was spotted and its cost was revealed to be ninety nine dollars.

Spencer rushed into the house when we got home and excitedly told Evan about his discovery. Later that night, Evan decided to empty his piggy bank and collect all the other change around his room so he could see how much money he had. He asked me if I would count it for him. I told him to put it in a bag or something and we would take it to the change machine after school because there was no way I was going to sit and count out pennies all night.

He put it in one of his socks. He called it his money sock. A money sock with a hole in it that had to be patched with a piece of painters tape. He carried the sock around all night in anticipation of the next day - counting day. Now this is a child's sock. It is not big and he didn't have it full - just full enough that it looked like there was a tennis ball sized bulge in the sock. He was so excited about finding out how much money he had that I felt like I had to soften the blow a bit. I told him that he probably had about twelve dollars or so and that was a good start to save up for the Lego set.

When he got home from school the next day, he was ready to count his stash. Luckily, Trent was home to hang out with the other two and Evan and I took off to the money cruncher. He asked me again how much I thought he had and I told him probably fifteen or twenty dollars, but no where near close to ninety. He thought he had around nineteen dollars - or maybe twenty three.

We got to the money machine and started to empty the sock in. The machine started clinking and counting and taking his eight percent of every dollar. Still better than me having to count and roll coins. His total passed twelve. It passed nineteen. It passed twenty. It passed twenty three. As the total kept on going up I was in shock and Evan had a grin on his face that I will never forget. We were laughing as the total passed thirty, passed forty, passed fifty. Evan was giddy. He was smiling and laughing almost hysterically. It passed sixty. It passed seventy. It passed eighty. More hysterics. It passed ninety and stopped at ninety one dollars and sixty three cents.

Ninety one dollars and sixty three cents - minus the eight percent fee - all in that tiny money sock!

We took our receipt to the checkout and Evan watched in amazement as his bills shot out of the money slot. He told me that he was laughing so hard as the machine counted he wanted to pound his fists on the floor and roll around. He was so happy.

We didn't buy the Lego set. We had a talk on the way home about saving up and making what you purchase mean something to you. I told him that even though he had enough for the paddock (including other money he had at home) it didn't make sense to buy it now because first of all: he had just received a bunch of stuff for Christmas that he still had to play with. Second of all, it wasn't on sale. Even if he waited for a small sale he would be able to save significant money and thirdly, before long his birthday would be here and he could ask for it then. He agreed with my reasons and couldn't wait to stash the bills away in his wallet.

It was a fun experience that I will never forget. It is amazing how much a sock full of coins can add up to! I need to fill up my own money sock and bring it in!