Brandon's Visit

Brandon surprised us with a visit a couple weekends ago, and we had a great weekend. We were really lazy, but we still had fun hanging out around the house. The girls love Uncle Brandon, and he seems to be getting way more comfortable with them as they get older. He takes the best pictures of the girls; I wish I had his eye for photography! Here are some of the pictures that he took over the weekend.

Adilyn was showing Brandon all her "looks'. This is her "sad" face and her "sweet" face. I can't believe how grown up she is getting!

It was Brandon's birthday, so we made him cupcakes. Adilyn absolutely loves to decorate cookies and cupcakes with sprinkles and icing. Kacy liked them, too!

It was a gorgeous weekend, so we hung out outside a lot. Another one of Adilyn's favorite things to do is paint, but it's such a mess. Luckily, when it's nice weather we can go out there and make a mess outside. Of course, she asked if she could paint her hand, as she was painting it.

Kacy loves to pretend she's a big kid, and one of her new skills is trying to drink from a regular cup. Again, this only gets to happen outside!

Some days I can't believe how big my little girls are getting. Every now and then I will just get a glimpse of them, and it hits my how the time is just flying by! They are going to be in school, and out of school before we even know it! I try to enjoy each moment while they are young, and I hope that I can remember these sweet, simple, little memories.

More Thoughts on My New Job

The first six weeks of the year is over, and after many ups and downs, I have some new thoughts. I really believe that I this job is not "my calling". I had really hoped that I would get in the job and absolutely love it. Unfortunately, that did not happened. I think that if it was really an all P.E. job working with someone that was great to work with, I would like it. The health part is interesting, but it's difficult. I do not like try to keep them quiet and still while I am teaching. It's hard for the kids to sit still because they have been sitting and learning all day long. When they finally get to leave the classroom, it's hard for them to settle down and learn more! I try to make it as fun as possible, but the reality is that I still have to teach them information. We have been playing games for the last 15 minutes, so that makes it a little better. I have learned that all kindergarteners really want to do is color. I could probably let them color for the full 50 minutes, and they would be fine! I was feeling a lot of hostility from the 5th graders for the first week or so. I finally got them to talk to me about why they were so angry about health. They told me that the old teacher was really mean and treated them like they were in a bootcamp or something. She would not let them talk at all, and she yelled all the time. I think that they are having more fun, but I can't get them to shut up now!

Some of my interesting experiences:
*We were talking about emergencies, and I never could have imagined how many kids lie like crazy! I had about 5 people that told me that their house had caught on fire. They didn't stop there, they went on and on about how they saved their little brother and they jumped out of the window or how their dog was upstairs, but they went up and found him just before the house blew up. Wow! One boy told me that he got bit by a shark when he was a baby swimming in the ocean by himself. I asked him where he got bit, he said, "I think it was my whole leg." Very interesting imaginations!
*Some kids came outside for recess, but there was no teacher with them. I asked one of the kids, who brought them out. He said, "I don't know, I was just following the line." It's so funny that everything they do is in lines, and they all just blindly follow the person in front of them!
*I showed a video to the kindergarteners about when to call 9-1-1. The main character handed out "9-1-1 Hero" stickers to the kids in the video. I had of the same stickers, and when I gave them to the kids, you would have thought they won the lottery! It so funny that they were so amazed that I had the very same stickers from the tv!
*To 90% of the kids my name is not Mrs. Henderson. It's Mrs. Health Teacher.

Now, here is my new epiphany...I went to the Beck volleyball game last week. I was a little anxious about how I would feel. My girls and I were sitting there in the stands. I was watching the game with little emotion. The girls were climbing all over me and being really cute. Some of the Beck girls said hi, some parents talked to me, but there was no emotion connection at all. I didn't feel sad, I didn't miss it, and I sure didn't feel like I mad the wrong decision. That night I was thinking about everything, and I realized that this may not be my dream job, but it has taught me some things. The first thing that it taught me is that I do not "have" to coach. I really don't miss that. The other thing that I have learned is that I would really like to do elementary PE. The only problem with that is that those jobs are pretty hard to find, so if I leave my current job, I may not find another one! I guess I'll stick with this one for awhile, and we will see how it goes. :)

Oh, How Different They Are!

My little ones are so different in so many ways, but the biggest one lately is their eating habits. Adilyn has never been the best eater, but I never really let it bother me. I always figured that the more I bugged her about it, the more she would fight me, so I let her eat what she wants to eat at dinner. If she doesn't feel like eating what I made for dinner, then she just doesn't eat that night. I feel a little bit bad about it, but I think that it is better in the long run. I am not going to be cooking different meals just because the kids don't want to eat it! I believe that they will eat if they are that hungry! :)

When Kacy started eating solid food, she ate everything! I don't think that I ever had to throw any food away that I made for her. I would scrape the bowl for every little bit that was left. Once she started eating "real" food, she went through a period that she got a little pickier. For about two months or so, she wouldn't eat any fruit! I refused to believe that I might have a person in my family that didn't like fruit! I love fruit, and we eat it all the time. Because I refused to believe that she wasn't going to eat fruit, I put it on her plate every night. Every night the watermelon, peaches, grapes, strawberries, etc would just sit there, untouched. A couple weeks ago one night at dinner, I noticed her fruit was gone! Yay! My little eater was back! Now, she cleans her plate, and even tries to lick it some time. She loves to hand me her "happy plate" when she is "all done!" (They call it a happy plate at school when they eat all their food.)

Fun Times

The sound on someone throwing up is never a sound one likes to hear, but it's especially bad when you hear it coming through a monitor. I went upstairs last night to find Adilyn asleep in a bed full of throw up. Yuck! Then, you always have to make the decision - do you clean up or take care of the kid. I tried to do both. I had to clean her up first so I could actually hold her without getting it all over me. Poor girl! She threw up almost every hour until 3am. Of course, she was sleeping with me, and as much as I tried to push her to the other side of the bed, she would get right up next to me! Every time I heard her make a noise, I would make a mad dash for the trash can. It was pretty funny, sad but funny, to hear her comments. Whenever she thought she was done, she would said, "I'm done, Mommy." Then, of course more would come out! She apologized when she threw up on me, sweet girl. After one episode, she asked, "Mommy, where am I going to throw up at school tomorrow?" I told her that she wasn't going to school. She said, "Okay, will you tell my teacher?"
So sad! She is much better today, and we have spent the day hanging out and watching movies. Thank goodness those nasty stomach bugs usually go away pretty quickly!

Other funny things:
The other day she said, "Mommy, you are a teacher, right?" I told her yes. She said, "Well, you have to teach me something." I asked her what. She replied, "You need to teach me how to jump on one foot. Chloe and Abby can do it, but every time I try, I fall down!"

She was talking to Cory on the phone the other day, and she was just talking away about everything she did that day. She wouldn't let him get a word in!

She wanted to wear a jean skirt the other day, but it was pretty chilly. I put some tights on her, and she started screaming, "Get them off! Get them off! They are too tight, I can't breathe!" Sorry Sweetie, they are called tights for a reason. :)

My Follower

Adilyn has been best friends with a little girl named Abby since she started at daycare. She used to love to pretend that I was Abby. Adilyn started coming home saying "poo poo head" and "pee pee head", of course, she would say, "Abby said that." One day when I went to get her from school, the teacher told me that she wasn't listening in class very well. They said that she didn't like to do her work, and then she showed me her name tracing activity from that day. It was just a bunch of crazy scribbles! The teacher said that she never works when she is with Abby. She also said that she follows Abby around all the time. Yikes! I wonder what's worse, to be the follower that gets in trouble, or to be the leader that starts the trouble! :)

Some recent funny things Adilyn has done:

*We were outside, and she started screaming, "I have a snake! I have a snake!" I looked over at her and she had stepped on a worm.

*She busted out laughing at the dinner table, and she said, "Kacy has bean face and bean hands!" When I looked at Kacy, she did have beans everywhere!

*I was reading her a book, and I guess she didn't like the way that I said "mountain goat". She said, "No mommy, it's like this...mount-in-go-at." She emphasized each syllable exactly the way I do when I am trying to get her to say a word right.

*All of a sudden, she has decided that she can pick up Kacy. The other day she was trying to pick her up from the ground. I asked her what she was doing, and she said, "I am taking her to Daddy."

*Whenever I get back from running, she stretches with me. She tries to copy me exactly, but when she can't do it, she'll say, "That's my new stretch."

*She loves dancing and she always wants me to "announce her". I have to say, "Announcing Adilyn Kade Henderson, from Katy, Texas." Then she will dance out of the bedroom.

*She still doesn't like to nap, and the other day during her rest time she pulled the curtain rod right out of the wall. It hit her on the head, so needless to say, rest time was over that way. I hope she didn't do it on purpose to get out of her rest time...who knows what she'll try next!

*She made cookies with Cory the other day to take to school for show and tell (Letter C). She was so proud, and her teacher said that she passed them out to all the kids telling everyone that she made them with her daddy. So sweet! (The picture at the top is the proud baker!)

Lake Travis for Dad's 60th B-day

Oh what an amazing weekend! We had been planning to go to Lake Travis for Dad's 60th birthday for many months now, and it was so much fun. Dad and Kris rented a house on Lake Travis for all of us to stay in. It was a 5 bedroom house, just perfect for the whole family. We all got there on Friday night, and we got settled in. All the grandkids were there - Maren - 9, Adilyn - 3, Kacy - 1, Taylor - 2, and little Terilyn - 1 month. We ate dinner that night, and the kids, of course, had to go swimming that night. We tried out the lake, but everyone (dads included) decided that the pool would be better especially since it was getting dark outside. There were deer everywhere, and the animal lover, Maren, had to feed them. They almost came right up and ate out of her hand! We had a great nights sleep, and Saturday was a full day of fun. We swam, played in the gameroom, made up silly games, swam some more, watched some tv, and played some more. Taylor and Adilyn got along pretty well. We only had a few moments of sharing issues, and it was Adilyn not sharing with Taylor. Maren helped them make up silly games. One that she was doing was pretending to be a bridge, and when Taylor and Adilyn walked by they had to answer a question to get by. She was telling them to make a sad face or tell her their favorite color. It was hilarious to see them making silly faces or telling her that their favorite shape is an octagon! What fun times and great memories!
The weekend was amazing, and I am so glad that we have such great family to spend time with. It was great to get away together! We had never done that before, but I think we definitely should do it more often!

My Silly Little Ones

As usual, my girls are making me laugh every day. Sometimes I laugh because they are legitimately funny, and sometimes I think that I laugh because life can get so crazy around here sometimes! Most days, they are being silly, and I love that. I am so happy that I have kids that like to be funny and like to laugh. There are so many "serious" kids out there, but I am glad I don't have one of those!

Kacy's newest things:
*She loves to make silly faces and noises. Her favorite is to squish up her nose and blow air out (which is usually air and snot - not so funny), Her other is to make this "scared" face. She makes a silly face with her mouth so she looks nervous. I keep trying to get a picture of it. She also loves to blink her eyes really fast.

*Anytime I change her diaper, she has to get a wipe and she cleans her face. She will wipe her face and her nose obsessively until I take it away.

*All of a sudden, she has become a little dancer. Anytime music comes on she starts to bust a move. Her favorite move is to shake her arms from side to side. That can be dangerous at times because she still isn't very stable on her feet, so she can knock herself over sometimes.

*Every time she sees Cory she screams, "DaDa!" She emphasizes it very sweetly. She yells, "Mama" too, but usually only when she is whining. :(

*Whenever I tell her not to touch something or not to do something she will shake her head along with me. I haven't decided if she is agreeing with me or disagreeing...With her little attitude I tend to lean to the disagreeing option!

Adilyn's new things:

*When we see people out and about she likes to say, "There is a girl and her boy." If we see them later and one person is missing she'll say, "Where's her boy?"

*I was reading a book to her that my mom had gotten her. I said one of the names differently and she said, "That's not how you say it! Nammie says it like this..."

*She always makes sure that Kacy is not getting into things. She'll always tell me if Kacy is going to the stairs, playing in the dog water, or going into the bathroom.

*She loves this stupid Carebear movie that I got a long time ago. It's so annoying, but she loves it. I kept telling her that I didn't want to watch it anymore, so one day she asked Cory if she could watch it. Cory said that she needed to ask me, and she said, "Mama will say no, she doesn't like it."

*She loves to dance, and she will make up these little routines. She asks me to do it with her, but when I try she will tell me that I am not doing it right.

*We go outside almost every night after dinner, and Adilyn likes to either practice her running and exercising as she calls it, or she likes to walk on the curbs.

*After going to the dentist, she got obsessed with flossing. It's great, but it's a little annoying! Every night we have to floss, and floss, and floss.

*Yesterday she said to me, "Mom, it's a beautiful day today. The sun is shining. The birds are singing." Then she told me that the Carebears say that in their movie.

*I was leaving her room the other night and she said, "Goodnight, Sweetheart." We blow kisses each night before I walk out the door, and even when she doesn't want me to leave, even when she is mad at me she still blows me kisses. When she is mad at me, her kisses are much angrier.

*She loves walking Kacy to her class at school in the mornings. She holds her hand and tells her goodbye when she gets her there.

*She still loves holding Kacy's hand while she walks, even though Kacy doesn't need the help anymore. Sometimes Kacy loves it, but other times she gets really mad. When she gets mad, Adilyn gets her feelings hurt and says, "Mama, I just trying to help her."