The day to day

Lately Noah wants to abbreviate all his words. He asks for a "cook" when he wants a cookie. But the best is when my kids tell me they want "crack" for breakfast.

Cracklin Oat Bran.

Makes me laugh every time.

Today is Pajama Day for Noah's class at school. He could not have been more excited about not having to get dressed

Yes, he's got pj's on under all those snow clothes...

And here's Alex (also in her pj's because we're never ready when we take Noah to school in the morning) with "Smitten"

Alex is working on a sticker chart to earn prizes for sleeping in her bed every night - as opposed to crawling into our bed in the middle of every night.

I had just had it - and Paul had had it with me and Alex fighting in the middle of the night.

The motivation is working really well - and she picked out "Smitten" all by herself (because I would have never picked that out).

Noah decided he needed to be able to earn some prizes too, so he's reading an extra chapter a day. Last night he reminded me he doesn't have any prizes in the box yet. I told him I would take him to the store to pick out his prizes himself, but they needed to be $5 or less. His response was, "This is a cheap system mom."

Maybe, but it's working.

Noah likes to say funny things like that. Big words, adult words. Yesterday I made a comment about Alex and he said, "Indeed, she does."

Two nights ago, apparently Noah woke up in the middle of the night and thought it was morning. So he went downstairs and turned on the tv and was totally excited to see that there was one of those ghost/haunted house shows on. You know, like the ones on Discovery channel and stuff? Eventually he got a little freaked out and also realized it was not morning and came running to my room. I tucked him back into bed, unaware of what had been going on. But he was certainly excited about the show the next morning and told me all about it over breakfast. I was disturbed.

Today we are going to register Alex for kindergarten.

When it was Noah I was excited, but also nervous and a little sad. With Alex I'm kinda wishing all-day Kindergarten were an option. Not sure if that's because it's Alex or because she's my second?

Not that I don't enjoy having her around - and this girl is good at entertaining herself (the opposite of Noah and Avery).

This is what she's currently doing:

playing with, talking to and pretending with her "babies."

A few minutes earlier they were having a tea party.

But this girl is serious drama and attitude and someone (other than me) needs to whip her into shape. Maybe her Kindergarten teacher.

I often wish I had someone with a video camera following Alex around all day. Almost everything she says/does is funny - because of the way she says/does it.

I love this picture of Avery. And her mullet.

Avery just had her 15-month checkup. And I'm a little worried because she's not really talking. I mean she babbles nonsense to us all day long, but she's not really using any words. My other 2 were pretty good talkers. The doctor was slightly concerned as well. And it turns out Avery has fluid in her ears. So, soon she'll be seeing Audiology and ENT to see if that's the problem with her speech.

We know them all well by now. I've had plenty of trips to see them with Alex over the last 5 months. And tomorrow Alex is getting tubes in her ears.

She was kinda freaked out about having surgery - until she got presents in the mail from her grandma. Now she can't wait for tomorrow.

Oh yeah, she's also excited to be able to hear again. So are we!

Wish us luck. I'm a little nervous. And I feel bad for her.

Paul does not - because he's a doctor - and I'm sure I've explained that phenomenon to you all before (i.e. lack of sympathy because they've always seen something worse).

He keeps reminding me it's "no big deal" and that "she'll be fine" and "don't let her play you."

Whatever. He's a total softy when it comes to Alex.

Lastly, my phone broke. My indestructible phone that has survived being dunked in the toilet, dropped in the tub, smashed on the floor innumerable times, dropped, thrown against the wall, and sucked on by probably all of my kids as babies. Yes, I've had it for years. It's one of those "old fashioned" phones that just makes phone calls.

And what finally killed it was nothing other than the Minnesota cold. I left it in my car for a couple of hours in the -30 degree weather and it hasn't worked since.

No I did not get a smart phone. We're holding out. I got the newer version of my old fashioned phone. We'll catch up with the rest of you when we're done with training in a couple of years.

And that -30 weather was terrible. Terrible I tell you. The last few days have been in the teens and even the twenties here and there. At first it felt nice!

Now I'm just cold again.

The End.