New Job

I love my husband.  He is pretty awesome for multiple reasons.  Today, he surprised me by coming home early with a huge bouquet of flowers to tell me that he got a new job!  I am so excited for and proud of him.  After seven years with the trust company he is switching to a new job in mutual funds and insurance as a Senior Product Specialist.  He won't actually start the new job until June 2nd, but we are still excited.

Hanging out in the Van

Tonight was soccer.  It was really cold and rainy, but they still had it.  Matthias, Charley, and I ended up hanging out in the van watching a movie while Justus and Daddy were outside in the cold.

Joey the Fish

We have had Joey for a few months now.  I am so surprised that he has survived this long.  At first we had two fish, but Max died after 2 days.  I was sure that Joey would soon follow, but he is hanging in there.  Today I cleaned his tank, which really isn't a fun job, but required.  I'm beginning to wonder what the lifespan of this fish is.  Maybe I will look that up today.

Party Time

Today, Matthias attended a soccer birthday party.  We have been attending so many birthday parties this year.  Maybe it's the new area or maybe not, but last year we only got invites to a couple parties all school year.  This year we have a birthday party at least once a month, and sometimes more.  The kids really enjoy going to them.  They love being able to play with their friends in a fun setting outside of school.

Me Time

This week I have been a little stressed out.  I'm not really sure why, but I have just felt stressed.  Tonight Jon gave me a little break from the house and I got to go get a pedicure.  It was wonderful!

My Husband Gets Me

I have a favorite pen that I like to write with.  Unfortunately, these pens come from Jon's work, and I only get one when Jon brings one home from work and forgets to take it back with him.  This morning I found this little surprise for me.  I was pretty happy about it, too.

Future Babysitter

Today Charley and I watched Baby Addie.  She is the happiest little baby.  Charley just loves her.  She gets so excited when we see Baby Addie at church and community group.  Charley especially liked having Baby Addie over to our house.  She is a good helper also.  She likes changing diapers and feeding the baby her bottle.  She does, however, also become a little jealous when Mommy is giving the baby attention and not her.

House Hunting

Tonight we went to look at a house to possibly buy.  We aren't really in the market yet, but we kind of keep our eyes open for a good deal and the perfect house.  We are looking in a very specific area of St. Charles, and good houses don't stay on the market long in this area.  I doubt we will buy until next spring, but we don't want the perfect house to pass us by.  The house we looked at tonight was not the perfect house, and we are okay with that.

Goal!

Justus has really been enjoying soccer.  He is doing really well also.  I'm hoping he enjoys it enough to want to play again in the fall.  We shall see.

Puppy Love

Charley has been begging us for a puppy.  She has turned the corner from being scared of dogs to loving them.  For now our neighbors dogs will have to do.  She loves when they come outside.  She talks to them and runs along the fence beside them.  It's a pretty good deal for me...but I don't know how long she will be satisfied with the neighbors dog, and I don't know how long Jon can tell his cute little girl "no".

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from our crazy kids!

Our Date Continued

Jon and I continued our date this morning.  We went out to breakfast at a local restaurant.  We have been trying to go to local restaurants, or at least restaurants we have never eaten at, when we get the chance.  This place was pretty good, and it was nice to sit and enjoy breakfast with Jon.

Date Night

So last night, our friend and old neighbor texted me and aksed if we had plans for today.  The kids were off school since it was Good Friday.  Jon had already decided to go into work even though he didn't have to because he is behind on a few things, so I told her we didn't have plans and asked if she would like us to come see her.  She of course said yes.  When I got up this morning she again texted me and asked if she could keep them overnight....of course I said yes!  It has been a while since Jon and I have been kid-free for an entire night.  We went out to dinner and then went to see Captain America 2.  The movie was great, and now we get to sleep in tomorrow morning!  It doesn't get much better than that.

I Spy

I spy a sleepy little girl.  I got up this morning and Matthias came running up to me, "Shh, Mom.  Charley is sleeping on the couch."  I was a little nervous when he told me.  I was really hoping she wasn't sick.  She rarely falls back asleep once she is awake, but there she was asleep on the couch.  She woke up a little later and was completely fine.  I guess she was just tired.

Discovery with Dad

Today at Charley's school they hosted Discovery with Dad.  Jon took a half day and we went out to lunch and then Jon and Charley went to her school.  They had each room set up with a different science project.  Charley was so excited to take Jon to her school and show him off.  It was super sweet how excited she was.  She kept asking Jon if he would juggle for her friends at school.  She is so impressed that Jon can juggle.  Anyways, they had a great time and Charley was excited to tell me all about what they did.  Jon really enjoyed spending special time with Charley at school too.

All Better

Today, Justus woke up feeling all better.  I was so glad.  He even got to go to soccer!  He really enjoys playing.  It is a non-competitive soccer group, which is perfect for Justus.  He has so much fun playing!

Sick Again

Justus once again got off the bus sick today.  I'm not sure what is going on.  Last week when he was sick he only threw up once, and it was the smallest amount....not the case today.  Poor guy.

Game Day

On the weekends we are a little more relaxed with how much screen time the kids get.  When they start to fight over the Kindle we take it away, but today they all shared and played well with each other.  I think it was mostly because I let them "buy" a new free game.  They always love getting new games on the Kindle, and they don't want to get it taken away, so they are a little nicer to each other so that doesn't happen.

Early Easter Celebration

Today we celebrated Easter with Grandpa, Aunt Sarah, Shelby, and Jaden.  We went out to lunch and then came back to our house for a little Easter egg hunt.  The kids had such a great time finding all the eggs, and eating all the candy too.  When we were done with the egg hunt we took the kids roller skating.  They all had a great day, and hopefully they will sleep really well tonight!

Responsibility Bucket

Matthias was so excited when he got home from school today.  He told me he had something to show me.  He pulled out these little superhero figures and a car.  He said he had been really good at school and that he got to pick something from the responsibility bucket.  He was so proud, and that made me proud of him too.

Flag Football

So Justus has soccer on Tuesdays and Matthias has Flag Football on Thursdays.  The first couple of weeks it was cold and/or rainy, so we couldn't all go because it was pretty miserable outside.  Now the weather has been nice enough for us all to go watch.  Matthias really enjoys football....at least for now.

Cupcakes

One of the couples from our Community Group had a baby last Friday.  In order to welcome their new addition and to take a little bit of a burden off the family, our community group took turns taking them dinner.  I made baked ziti, salad, garlic bread, and these yummy lemon cupcakes with homemade cream cheese icing.  They were so yum!

Sick Boy

Charley and I were outside playing today waiting for the bus.  When it pulled up, Matthias ran off,  "Mom, Justus is sick!"  I figured he was exaggerating because I figured the school would have called if he really were sick.  Sure enough though when Justus stepped off the bus he was as white as a ghost.  The bus driver said his teacher had gotten on the bus to warn her that he wasn't looking so good at the end of the school day, so she might want to keep an eye on him.  I told her thanks and ushered Justus inside.  He went straight to his room and crawled into his bed.  He rested until Jon got home from work about an hour later.  Justus seemed to be doing better, and we thought maybe he had gotten a little motion sickness or something, so we decided he was okay to go to soccer and he was okay with going too.  Jon had to take Charley to her last night of gymnastics, so I loaded up the boys and off we went to soccer.  We made it about two miles down the road before Justus yells, "I'm going to throw up."  And then he did.

Busy Day

Today was a pretty crazy day.  Jon and I had a follow up appointment this morning at The Miriam Learning Center regarding Justus' evaluation.  So, this morning I got the kids up, got them ready for school, and waited for the bus with the boys.  After the bus picked the boys up I dropped Charley off at a friends house, and then headed to our appointment.  Our appointment went really well.  Justus has been diagnosed with Autism.  The appointment was a bit overwhelming, but in a good way.  Before the appointment Jon and I both felt overwhelmed because we had no idea what we should do, what direction we should be heading or anything.  After the appointment we now have a plan in place, which is a good feeling.  We are setting up a meeting with Justus' school to get him the attention and help he needs there.  We are also enrolling him in a two week day camp through the MLC, which is designed to help kids like Justus with social skills.  The camp has a fun theme of "Mystical Magic".  He is pretty excited about it.  We are excited for Justus as well.  I am looking forward to watching him learn new things and new skills that will help him succeed in school and life.

Sunday Lunch

Jon gives me the day off of cooking on Sundays.  We almost always just grab lunch and bring it back to the house, but today we decided to go out to a restaurant after church.  We picked a restaurant we had never been to called Mimi's Cafe.  At the end of the meal Jon asked about their muffins because he enjoyed the carrot bread they brought out at the beginning of the meal which they also have a muffin version of.  When he told our waitress he was interested in getting some muffins she asked if this was our first visit, which it was.  She left for a minute and then brought back this box of complementary muffins.  I was so impressed!  Maybe we should go out to eat more often!

Money, Money, Money

This morning I had a friend's bridal shower to attend.  While I was gone Jon took the kids out in the yard to pick up "gumballs"...those little spikey balls that fall off trees.  Anyways, Jon set the reward for each gumball they picked up at $.05...thinking that was a good deal.  Little did he know it would end up costing us a small fortune.  I wish I could have gotten some pictures of them cleaning up the yard, but I wasn't here...boo. This afternoon we told the kids if they wanted to we could go to the store and they could spend the money they earned cleaning the yard.  Matthias and Justus both bought Legos, and Charley bought this cute little flapper girl dress.  

Playing with Baby Addie

This evening I watched our friends adorable little 4 month old girl.  Her name is Addie.  Charley and Matthias were so excited!  They played with and entertained her most of the time she was at our house.  They both love babies.  Matthias kept saying how cute Addie was and Charley is just a little momma.  She wanted to hold, feed, and change Addie's diapers.  I really didn't have to do much except supervise.

Muddy Puddles

One of Charley's favorite shows is Peppa Pig.  Peppa's favorite thing to do is jump in muddy puddles, so of course that is now one of Charley's favorite things.  Today she asked if she could go outside and jump in muddy puddles.  This is typically something I say no to since I don't want to deal with the clean-up, but today I said yes.  Because...why not?  Cleaning her up really wasn't that difficult, and she had so much fun while outside.

My Little Helper

Charley loves helping me in the kitchen.  I love that she loves helping me.  Almost every night she pulls a chair over to the stove to help me add "gredients" to dinner.  I feel like it is a kind of special time.  I hope this is something she always remembers doing with me.

Mommy - Daughter Time

So technically I spend a lot of Mommy/Daughter time with Charley, but most of the time it is just everyday activities and errands.  Last night she asked if I would take her to the zoo.  I was a little hesitant, but I told her yes.  I woke up this morning kind of hoping she would forget about our zoo trip.  She did not.  In the end though, I am so happy she didn't.  I loved going with her.  She was so excited the whole time!  A lot of the animals weren't out since it was pretty cool that day, but we did get to see the seals and the elephants...two of Charley's favorites.  They are doing a little bit of construction at our zoo.  They are building a new habitat for the bears and adding polar bears, which I am pretty excited about.  So one of our favorite things to do is see the penguins, which is closed right now until next year.  I believe they are expanding the penguin house to include the polar bears, but I could be wrong.  Anyways....all-in-all it was a great day hanging out with my girl.