Happy Birthday Nana!

We hope you have a great birthday!  It has been awhile since we've gotten a good picture of Callie and Nana, but here is one that I found from April with Nana, Everett and Callie.

First Haircut!

As you have probably noticed, someone was getting a little shaggy.  Time for a hair cut!  Luckily, we have a kids place right by our house, so Cal and I went this morning.  She did great!  Thank goodness for Elmo on the little T.V.

Before- A little leery of the blue cape.

Oh, Hey Elmo!

Snip Snip Snip!

Such a good girl!

Blow Dryer...just like Mommy uses!

All done!

With a certificate, sticker AND a sucker!

Then we had to go show off to Grandma!

And Boom too!

Wuv You Family

Callie has had a N-A-S-T-Y nasty cold the past couple of days, and due to her extreme crabiness this morning, Chris and I decided to tag team today instead of putting Grandpa through a day with a grumpy toddler.  She slept with us for part of the night last night because she was coughing so much in her crib.  Minimal sleep was had by all.

But by 9:00 we already needed a change of scenery, so despite the possibility of massive meltdowns, I decided to get out of the house and run some errands (errand #1: coffee shop).

Anyway, we survived public meltdowns (just had ones in the car, I can handle those).  But during a time in the car when she WASN'T throwing a massive fit, she melted my heart.

A little background information: We've been working on her saying "Love you Mom/Dad" back to us when we say it to her.  She said it to Chris on Tuesday night without being prompted.  But I haven't been lucky enough to have that happen yet.

So back to the car ride.  I was working on the "Love you Mom."  I said "Love you Callie", with no luck with the response.  So I said, "Say 'Love you Mom'".  And she did. 

And then continued this (with only minimal prompting from me):
"Wuv you Daddy.
Wuv you Boom.
Wuv you Bops.
Wuv you Pa.
Wuv you Gamm.
Wuv you Cat.
Wuv you Uka Dan
Wuv you Wawa.
Wuv you Wawi.
Wuv you Kona!"

So there you go, family, we wuv you.

Trick-Or-Treat

Making our way around the 'hood

My little cows

All sugared up (not really- all she got was a sucker) and playing with Uncle Dan

Silly with Auntie Mari

Happy Halloween

From the Happy Cow and the Angry Cow!

Weekend Wrap-Up: A Certain Toddler...

I'm not going to name names, but a certain toddler made this weekend...um...unforgettable.  In fact, I thought of a number of different subtitles I could have used for this blog post.


Weekend Wrap-Up: Mommy and Daddy Need Another Weekend Please

or

Weekend Wrap-Up: Naps in the Car are Totally Overrated

or

Weekend Wrap-Up: Crazy Train to Iowa

Do you get the idea???

First, let's start with Friday night.  The Helds came over for our now 2nd Annual Halloween Costume Get Together.  Last year we were at their house and we had a pirate and a bumble bee.  This year was at our house with a monster and a cow.

October 2011

October 2010

After the costumes were abandoned, and dinner was had, we were left with a couple of toddlers with some energy to burn.  So we put on some Music Class music and let them go.

Yes, at the end of that video Callie did dump a whole glass of water all over her green chair.  At least it was just water.

Let's move on to Saturday.  We were thrilled to be invited to our friend Jake's sister Katie's wedding down in Iowa City.  We've been close with the Herring family since freshman year of college when we'd go to Jake's house for weekends, hang out with his family, and eat delicious food. :)  So we were really excited to go down and see them all again.  Plus, we got to take the new car!

2012 GMC Acadia

So a little after 9am we were off...on the road to Iowa.

Going to "Ioweeohwa"

Problem #1: During the 4.5 hour car ride, a certain toddler only slept 1 hour 15 minutes (to put this in perspective, she usually gets a 2.5-3.0 hour nap a day).

We got to Iowa City and were able to stop to see Dave, Cherilyn and Sydney at their friends' Jim and Beth's house.  Beth and I have met only once, but have been following each other's blogs for a couple of years now.  So it was really fun to see her and her two little girls.  Unfortunately, because we were so busy watching the girls play and getting dressed for the wedding, no pictures were taken!  Argh!

Anyway, we made it to the wedding in a beautiful refurbished barn.

Problem #2: While the wedding ceremony was going on, a certain toddler did not want to stay still or quiet.  (See problem #1).  Ultimately I bribed her with a Dum Dum sucker.  Not one of my finer parenting moments.  Especially since it was bright blue.

Problem #3: After the wedding (beautiful!), a certain toddler seemed to board the train to Crazy Town, and nothing we did could keep her still, calm, or manageable (See Problem #1...and probably Problem #2).

She played with the babies for short spurts...

Under Daddy's supervision

But all she really wanted to do was run outside and go up and down these big steps...

The attempt by Nik to get a cute babies picture was noble, but a slight failure...

Leon, Sydney, Callie- Future Luther Grads

The short time we got her to sit at the table in the booster seat (no high chairs left!), a certain toddler kept stealing Sydney's puffs.

But she did get to see the bride up close in her beautiful dress!

And by the time dinner started, all a certain toddler wanted to do was this:

OVER.  AND OVER.  AND OVER.

So...after scarfing down the delicious dinner while keeping one eye on the toddler on the dance floor, we decided to skip the cake and the rest of the party and head to the hotel because we were E.X.H.A.U.S.T.E.D.  It was 7pm.

The one good thing about the night was that a certain toddler was also E.X.H.A.U.S.T.E.D. and pretty much went right to sleep.

This morning a certain toddler slept until after 7 (thank goodness!) and then we got to do a little swimming.

Unfortunately, what was a little sniffles and runny nose drips the day before, became a full blown fall cold today.  So we decided to head for home earlier than we planned.

Problem # 4: During the 4.5 hour car ride, a certain toddler only slept for 45 minutes.  And that was within the first 2 hours of the car trip.  It was a long trip home.

We finally made it to the cities and picked up Kona.  A certain very under-slept toddler hopped on board the Crazy Train again and had fun bouncing on the big red ball with Auntie Cat.

At this point we decided we might as well just keep the Crazy Train going, so we swung by Boom and Bops' house.  At one point a certain toddler saw Kona sitting by the door (probably to try and escape the Crazy Train), so she went over, plopped right next to her and yelled "Picture!  Picture!"  So I obliged and took a picture.

Thankfully, again, the E.X.H.A.U.S.T.E.D. toddler could not wait for sleepies, and went right down at 7pm.

And now? A certain Mommy and Daddy are sprawled on the couch reveling in the quiet time until a busy week starts tomorrow.

My Boys

As a special education teacher at a small elementary school, I get the great opportunity to work with the same students year after year.  Often times I start teaching them in 2nd or 3rd grade, and continue to see them each year until they graduate from my school.

In my going-on-7-year career, I have had pockets of students who I think of as "my boys."  There is something about the little guys that tug at my heartstrings.  They can be such stinkers but so adorable at the same time.  I love them.

I was shocked to find out this morning that one of "my boys" from a couple of years ago committed suicide earlier this week.  I worked with him for 4 years.  He was 12-years-old. He was challenging, but we had a great relationship.  We even corresponded through email a couple of times after his family moved back to Mexico.  He was one of my favorites.

I'm just really sad.

But it made me take a step back today and appreciate how much I love my job...working with my kids.

Every morning I greet each of them at the door with a handshake and they all look me in the eye and say "Good morning Mrs. Gosselin."  This morning I treasured those handshakes, looked in those beautiful brown eyes, and smiled extra bright at "my boys" with tears in my eyes.

Please keep Juan's family in your prayers.