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Gingerbread Houses

Yesterday, we built Gingerbread houses in Alyssa's 2nd grade class. Actually, the kids built the houses on Wednesday so that they could dry and then today, we decorated them. They were all so creative and worked hard on getting things just where they wanted them. It took them about 45 minutes to do all of the decorating.
Here's Alyssa's finished house. She was pretty proud of it.
This is Alyssa's cousin, and best friend, Kylie.
It was fun to see each child decorate their houses so different from the person next to them. We have a very creative class this year!

Auntie's van is full!

Today was a busy day! It wasn't busy in the way of having lots of places to go, etc. but busy because I had 5 kiddos all 4-years and under.

Normally, when I have Paige and the boys, my mom is able to come and get Ethan to and from Preschool. But today, of all days, mom had a hair appointment and wasnt' able to help. Thankfully, I have enough carseats and seatbelts to keep everyone safe!

This is how they were loaded up...Wayne and Paige took the very back...Weston, Wyatt and Ethan were in the middle row. Ethan wasn't thrilled about not being in the back with Wayne. Normally, they are in the back together but I needed him close to be able to get him out quickly and into Preschool.
The three older kids thought it was great that they were getting to ride together in the van and that we were filling it full. It was also a nice change-up in their day. It only took about 5 minutes to get them all loaded up. Not too shabby!

A post for my dear sister-in-law!

There is a giveaway going on and you people big into photography may be interested. Just go to the link below. I love following this gals blog. There have been some pretty amazing miracles happening with this family and their 1-year old in the past couple of months. She is a mommy of four children, ages 4 and under.

http://www.mycharmingkids.net/2009/12/power-of-two.html

Happy 8th Birthday!

Tuesday, December 15th, our baby girl turned 8 years old. Where has the time gone. And, now that she has her glasses, she looks so much older. Too much change for this mommy in two days!

Jason and I have a tradition with each of our kids on their birthdays. We wake them up with the video camera in hand singing Happy Birthday. This time, I forgot my camera out on the desk. :(

Alyssa had a special visitor the morning of her birthday. Uncle Tyler and Aunt Tanya weren't able to be at Alyssa's family party on Sunday because Uncle Tyler was at work and Aunt Tanya wasn't driving from Everson to Lynden in the snow, alone with the boys. (We fully supported her!) So, Aunt Tanya told Alyssa that she would come the morning of her birthday to give her her gifts and to take her to school. The only problem with that...the morning of Alyssa's birthday there was a 1-hour late start because of the snow. Aunt Tanya had a haircut to get to so she wasn't able to stick around for the chaufering to school.
Later in the afternoon, I showed up at school with treats for Alyssa's class and was able to be a part of the birthday celebration. Her teacher is so great about making each of the kids feel special on their birthday. She has each classmate color a picture for the birthday student and then write them a little note. She then puts all of the sheets together like a book. The birthday student has to go sit in front of the class while they sing Happy Birthday and then they get a little gift from Mrs. VanDiest.
For dinner, Alyssa requested pizza. So, we met Grammy and Papa Duane at Westside Pizza, and of course, I forgot my camera. :(

It was a great day and we now have a 10-year old, 8-year old and 4-year old in our house. The girls think it's pretty cool that they are all even numbers right now. That's only going to last for a few more months. They are all growing up way too fast!

Look who got glasses!

So on Monday, we took Ethan and Alyssa to the eye doctor. We've been really concerned about Ethan's eyes because he seems to be blinking a lot when watching tv and trying to see things farther away from him and tells me that there are fuzzies on the tv and other things. Alyssa has mentioned a few times that her eyes water when looking at the tv or computer screen. So, we made them each an appointment.

Ethan's eyes, surprisingly, were fine. They focused perfectly when the eye doctor dilated them. He told us that it could just be a time where he is growing and his eyes are having to "catch up". They don't expect 20/20 vision from 4 year olds and it's very rare for kids to have 20/20 vision at this point.

We weren't even halfway through Alyssa's exam when the eye doctor informed me that she would for sure be getting glasses. WHAT?!

I feel like such a horrible mommy. How did I not figure out that she had poor eye sight? Here is a comparison...Brenna is nearsighted and was diagnosed in Kindergarten with a -0.25 in both eyes and has gradually gone to -0.75 in both eyes (she hit this in October at her annual eye exam). Alyssa is now nearsighted and just now diagnosed in 2nd grade with -0.75 in her left eye and -1.00 in her right eye...she has worse eyesight than Brenna and we didn't have a clue. Thankfully her school work and learning hasn't been hindered by this. It's amazing how the slightest correction can make the biggest improvement!

So, we left the eye doctor and headed to LensCrafters. We were not going to make this poor girl go any longer than she had to without glasses.
She looks so much like Brenna now! I kept calling her Brenna on Monday night.

So, now we officially have three people in our family who are nearsighted. The girls for sure got their "eye genes" from their daddy.

Alyssa informed us after school on Tuesday, which was also her birthday, that she could see things a lot better at school.

Celebrating a birthday with family

Sunday we moved back into birthday party mode. In spite of the snow we were getting, we celebrated Alyssa's 8th birthday with all of her grandparents and her great-aunt (my Aunt Lyd is great about driving grandma Silves to the birthday parties). And, T-T and Paige showed up for a few minutes before heading off to a McPhail family birthday party.

Alyssa requested that I make a cake for her. She had her own ideas of how she wanted it decorated. I did my best to please her.
Our traditional birthday picture.
Grandpa and Grandma Scheib got Alyssa a scarf, glove and headband set. Little did they know, this was the exact set that Alyssa had asked me for one day at Old Navy but I forgot about it until she opened the gift. They also got her a wristlet purse...right up her alley!...and a set of play rings.
Jason and I had to give Alyssa her gift at the family party because there was a gift that she was getting from my mom that would have spoiled the surprise. By the look on her face, I don't think she minded opening ours before her actual birthday. We had saved our garage sale money from this summer to get her a DS. She was been wanting one for so long and has been such a good sport about waiting. Brenna has had one for awhile now, which she purchased herself with all of the birthday money and pet sitting money she had been saving.
My mom and Duane got her an Old Navy hooded sweatshirt, a book, Hannah Montana lip gloss and nail polish...oh no!...and a game for her new DS.
We quickly opened the other gifts, sang happy birthday, some grabbed a piece of cake to enjoy and then everyone headed for home. Thankfully, everyone made it home safe.

This is what the girls were doing as people were leaving.
Just before Mom and Duane left, which is why their truck is in the picture, I went out to take a picture of our house. The party started at 3:00 and this picture was taken at about 4:45. Now you know why people were in a little bit of a rush to get home.
We so appreciate the willingness of the grandparents to come and celebrate with us. We are so happy that the aunties decided to keep the cousins home safe while their husbands were at work. There will always be another birthday to celebrate.