We're In!

I am so relieved - we have aftercare next year!  I was tenth in line this morning at 5:58 AM, and now the kids have spots secured in the aftercare program next school year - woohoo!!!  The YMCA afterschool program costs less than we are paying right now for two afternoons until 5:00 and one until 4:00, and the program is open until 6:00.  The other good thing is that you can pay extra and sign up for "school's out care" now that we are in the program, which means if we have more non-snow, snow days, or ill-timed teacher inservice days next year we will have options.  I am ridiculously excited about being able to work full days, but 3:00 pick-up has been just that difficult!

Tyler had a rough day, today.  I expected him to test his limits with the new teacher, and have trouble acclimating back into routine and structure - but, he was on "orange" today - one step above red and the worst I can remember him doing.  A friend of mine told me that his new teacher is great - a good blend of strict and fun, and I imagine that she is trying to set the tone early.  He needs it, for sure, but I just hope that her first impression of him doesn't taint their relationship for the rest of the year.  The good news is that he also didn't get as good of marks when he first started Kindergarten, but has lately been getting lots of behavior accolades so I know that he knows how he is supposed to behave and hopefully his testing period will be short-lived.

For the first time in I think ever, Lance is a solo parent for the weekend (annual girls trip - can't wait), and it's a big one.  The kids have soccer, soccer pictures, and we are snack parents for one of the games.  Pick-up has to happen right after school on Friday, and he is missing a golf tournament that he really wanted to play in.  They have big plans, though, and I know they will have fun.  Friday night they are going to introduce Lance to "Frozen," in a revival of Family Movie Night without me, and I opted to fly this time instead of drive so I can get back at a more decent time on Sunday.  I apologize for another post with no pictures - I'll try to remedy that soon! 

One of THE questions

Tonight at dinner the kid's finally asked one of the questions we have been dreading.  Katie asks, "which one of us came out of Mama's belly first?"  We have been trying to avoid/not address the who is older thing, just because it would be a much bigger deal at this point than it really is.  We told them that they were pretty much the same, but that Katie was technically first.  She immediately did what we expected and started gloating that she is "older."  But then we started talking about how that is just a crazy question (who is older - which is asked very often), because they are twins and of course the same age! 

Soccer games were cancelled this weekend, and the weather was pretty nasty on Saturday (tennis and golf on the agenda today thanks to So-So and Ray-Ray watching the kids), so I don't have any new pictures.  They spent the week at a YMCA camp and they loved it.  They got to swim and do arts and crafts and cooking projects, and they were the youngest getting to hang out with lots of older kids so they thought it was awesome.  They were more exhausted than I have seem them in a long time after their day spent there.  Tomorrow morning, bright and early (6:00), I am going to stand in line to try to get them into the YMCA aftercare at their school for next year.  Everyone must reapply each year, and there will be a waiting list by the end of the line so it's a sweat, but we are going to try to make it happen next year.  If it doesn't, we are honestly going to put our house on the market and move to the other county/school district that we will probably be in eventually anyway.  We just cannot have another year like this where neither of us can really work as much as we need to since we have to pick them up at the end of the school day most days.

I have become enamored with house hunting, anyway, so it wouldn't be the end of the world if we made the move sooner.  We just have to agree on our plan of action - Lance wants to be on the golf course, I think living with a view of the river or a lake, or having a pool is an equal draw, and then we can't decide if we want to buy lower and fix-up to our liking, or buy at our top end and have less work to do, but probably a less desirable location as well.  As we look at other houses, too, it makes me appreciate our house even more - we have a lot of great things going for us here - great elementary school, big rooms and closets and an open layout and good kitchen (things that aren't nearly as prevalent in the houses we have looked at that are mostly built in the 70's), close to things we like and that are convenient.  The comparison is so drastic in some instances that we have begun to toy with the idea of building on the very ill-advised lake property we purchased years ago to get our water/view/escape fix and then just stay here at least until the kids are in middle school and reassess.  Most likely we will go with option C and stay right where we are (if we get into aftercare), and not build a lake house either - but it doesn't hurt to dream, and I enjoy looking at house plans and designs (probably a whole lot more than I would actually like spending the money to build the house or design it). 

The kids go back to school tomorrow after their two week Spring Break.  Tyler is a little nervous because his new teacher will be there and his former teacher is done for the year (and may have already had her baby).  Katie was excited until she remembered that she has to wear a uniform and can't wear her new sandals and dress that she wanted to show off to her friends.  We have sitter help for another few weeks, two days a week, but then May will be difficult since she graduates from college and will move back home.  What's crazy, though, is that is all that is left of the school year!  We have not worked with the kids at all over the break so they might have a big relapse, but before break they were still doing really great in school.  They still really enjoy it, and are learning things every day, and are excited about what they learn.  Tyler was crying before break about his teacher leaving, so hopefully this time away has actually helped him in that regard and he'll be  more receptive to his new one tomorrow.  It's going to be a big day (and the kids didn't go to bed until late tonight since our grilling of dinner didn't start until the basketball game was over) and one that starts super early, so I will stop rambling for now! 

Awesome Trip!

Well, our Disney trip is over and it was great!  We started out at Sea World (after a loooong drive the night before, that was totally worth it but still a lot of time in the car), and we all had a great time.  The dolphin show was the highlight for us all, but the whole experience was awesome including seeing the killer whales behind the scenes, getting soaked on the Journey to Atlantis ride, and freezing with the penguins in Antarctica.  We drove over to meet my sister and her family that evening and spent some time in the pool and celebrated Colby's (the youngest cousin) 3rd birthday!  Sunday was spent at the Magic Kingdom and my mom and B-Bob met us there, which was fun for everyone.  We rode some rides and tried to figure out the new fast pass system (not a fan), and although we missed some of the ones that the kids wanted to do we had a full day of fun.  Monday was a rainy day at Epcot, but we got a lot in before the rain really arrived - including one of Tyler's favorites of the whole week - the Test Track (his most favorite was the Stunt Car show at Hollywood Studios).  That night, Mom and B-Bob watched all of the kids while Lance, and I went with my sister and her husband to Epcot and enjoyed a fabulous dinner in "Italy" and watched the fireworks.  It was a great time and we are so grateful for the opportunity to go kid-free for a night - it is a lot less stressful walking through the parks without trying to keep up with kiddos!  The theme for the week was "where's Tyler"  since he was prone to wandering and lolly-gagging (not so different than when not at the parks) - thankfully he got progressively better as the week went on at staying with us.  They loved rocking out with The Incredibles at the end  of the day! 

Tuesday we went to Animal Kingdom, and it was the best safari ever.  All of the animals were very active and super close and it was the first thing we did (and we had a fast pass) so there was no long wait (it was a pretty crowded week so wait times could get lengthy).  Lance and I did the Expedition Everest ride which was really fun.  The kids weren't tall enough this time, and hope to be the right height next time we go so they can do it too!  They were taller than last time which meant more options - even if Katie got measured every time since she was just barely 42"! 

Tuesday afternoon we went to Blizzard Beach and had a blast.  My sister and her family opted out for fear of cold water, but it was definitely doable albeit a little chilly.  The weather was by-far better than at home so I couldn't complain! 

Wednesday we went to Blizzard Beach again with everyone, then to the other waterpark - Typhoon Lagoon.  It was a warmer, beautiful day and we all had a blast, but we were definitely exhausted so we didn't do much that evening other than let the kids stay up late and watch Frozen (they are up to four times now since we watched it on the way home, too - - - - twice)! 

Our last day was spent at Hollywood Studios.  Lance and I did the two scariest rides there - Tower of Terror, and the Rockin' Roller Coaster - but I was mean mom and wouldn't let the kids on the Tower even though they were big enough.  We knew what to expect with the tower (and Lance says that he will never do it again), but were surprised when the coaster went upside down!  It was a really fun day, and then we ended the night with dinner at the Disney Yacht Club, and watched the fireworks on the boardwalk.  We were going to attempt to go back into the park that night, but the low-key evening was just perfect.

We are already planning a vacation for next year based on how much fun we had this year, but I think we will choose something a little more relaxing next time.  While tons of fun, Disney trips are certainly not "vacation-like" with all the go-go-go, and fighting crowds!  We might try out a cruise next year, but we really love being with my sister's family (and it is the highlight for the kids to spend time with the cousins), and my brother-in-law says absolutely no cruises, so we shall see.  We are so lucky, though, that we have something even closer to look forward to - a beach trip this summer with the grandparents and Lance's brother and family - woohoo!

Soccer

We had a great day of soccer - the first time ever that the kiddos have played a competitive, team game.  They both did great!  Katie was so nervous before we got there, but she eventually loosened up, and even managed to do three cartwheels and a bunch of twirls and turns in between plays.  Tyler was more aggressive than I thought he would be (he just isn't the wrestling, physical play, all boy type), and didn't run around haphazardly as often as I thought he might.  He was upset later when talking to Lance, though, and said that the boys were mean because they pushed and tripped him.  The boy's game was a lot more physical than the girl's - and Lance tried to explain the difference in aggressive and mean in athletics, but you could tell even when he was on the field that he was taken aback by the reality of the first game.  I do think they both had a lot of fun, though, even if they may have been just as excited that Ray Ray and So So let them get a sno-cone and go back to their house after the game. 

We are going out of town and will miss the next game, and then they have a bye so we have a break between games.  We should be able to make it to one practice during that time, and I think now it will make more sense what they are practicing for.  The majority of both of their teammates have played other seasons (the league starts at age 3), and they are on a bit of a learning curve, but after watching them today I don't think it will take them long to catch up if they continue to like it.  We were selfish and didn't start them until this year because our Saturdays were taken with our hobbies (tennis and golf), or football games depending on the season, and we didn't think they would be really into it enough to make it worth missing all of that stuff at that point - but I think this is a good age to start because they can really start to "get it."  Weather has prevented us from working on tennis, but they still enjoy that too, and an introduction to golf will probably be soon! 

Here are some pics from their games today!

The Countdown Is On!

Our trip to Disney, when we get to wear these...

is almost here!!!!  Lance was reluctant, but I think it will be fun to be all matchy matchy on St. Patrick's Day!

I am in the middle of a stressful week - our sitter is on Spring Break, I have lots of work stuff with deadlines that have to be met before our trip, soccer practices and first games, trying to find time to get stuff we need for the trip and soccer, like Spring clothes that actually fit my growing kids and soccer shorts that don't fall off of them since they are still on the small side of all that growing, and an event this weekend that I am supposed to be at for 36 hours straight, but that I am going to try to break away from to go to the soccer games, at least.  I was going to try to fit in a pre-birthday celebration since my birthday falls during the week and the following weekend we will be on our way to Florida, but that won't happen since I really need to be at that event every minute that I am not at soccer!  All of that will make the vacation even better, though and I think we will go for a family dinner on my actual birthday, which will be just as fun, anyway.  Fortunately/Unfortunately Lance is very busy at work.  Fortunate for obvious reasons - unfortunate because the timing of this trip will mean he is probably going to have to work a lot while we are away and be on the phone constantly. I know that it is the way that it has to be though for a realtor, so I am going to try to just enjoy the trip (and this time really act like I am on vacation and worry about nothing going on at work or home), and be understanding that Lance having a working vacation is just the price to be paid for the flexibility he has to even go on the vacation!  A perk I really like, too, about his job is that it allows me to indulge in house searches (which I oddly really, really enjoy). 

We found a house that we really liked, and started preparations (mortgage qualifying, figuring out what we need to do to our house before we sell, calculating costs to refurbish the house, etc.) to make an offer and get our house on the market, but the house we liked got an offer on it the first day on the market (probably for more than we were willing to spend according to what it was listed for).  We had looked at it before it was listed, and loved the location, the view, the school district, the potential of the house, etc. but with Lance being self-employed and our best year in three years being last year which can't be counted in qualifying for a mortgage until we file taxes (and will still be averaged with the other two), it took us a while to get all of information to the mortgage guy to figure out what we qualify for and we just couldn't move fast enough on it.  It is probably a blessing in disguise.  I couldn't imagine trying to get our house market ready right now and all of the work the other house needed (it was an estate sale and needed a lot), would probably have been more of a burden than we anticipated. We will keep our eye out for something where we want to be, but there is no need to move immediately other than the fear that interest rates will rise, and that we will be priced out of where we want to be by the time we really want to move when the kids enter 5th grade - but who knows what will happen in the interim years.  I think it will all work out - and this probably worked out exactly as it should have!

I hope to have some pictures of soccer to post next! 

Book Character Day

The kids are supposed to dress up like book characters tomorrow and we have procrastinated because all along we though they would be a cowgirl and cowboy (the other option since the whole week is themed "Gone Country").  Well, this weekend I hit up a few consignment sales looking for cowboy boots with no luck and went to Target only to find they are $30!  I don't think either one of the kids would wear them $30 worth, especially coming in to Spring and Summer, so we abandoned that plan.  Once we got home we started halfheartedly trying to think of outfits - halfheartedly because I was sure school would be cancelled due to the "impending" ice storm.  Well, no word yet, and knowing how this winter has gone everything predicted will miss us - so it is time to get serious about planning what they will wear in the morning.  Tyler will kind of go with the flow so I think we can figure out something for him, but Katie has been super picky (go figure)!  We finally decided on Fancy Nancy and this is the beginning of our preparations!

I will either post whatever we came up with soon, or school will be cancelled and hopefully give us more time and it may be a completely different idea.  I don't know if we are ever going to get this dress off of Katie, though - she has rediscovered it and is loving dancing around the house! 

Katie's first soccer practice is supposed to be tomorrow, but the coach is likely going to cancel due to weather.  Tyler will typically have practice on Sunday afternoons, but it was moved to Wednesday, again because of weather.  Regardless, their first game is this Saturday - even if they don't get a practice in - should be interesting  :)!

Another one!

Another tooth bites the dust!  Tyler lost his second tooth this morning while brushing his teeth.  He has been playing with it incessantly and I think was determined to get that thing out!  I have a feeling the Tooth Fairy will bring a little less this time, but he said "maybe the Tooth Fairy will bring me more money tonight since I have the tooth!"

The kids have been telling me about ducks for days now - that people are getting at school for Jump Rope for Heart, and I had no clue what they were talking about.  I finally got an email about the ducks and learned that a $5 donation to American Heart gets them a duck.  I made a small donation and we were asked to encourage friends and family to give as well so here are the links to help them meet the fundraising goal.  I am not sure when the actual jump rope event is, or if the kids even know how to jump rope, but I think it is good that they are excited about helping others (even if it is mostly about getting a duck in return) and they have been talking about how important it is to be active and healthy so the point is getting across somewhat!  This is the last week (I am sure there was something in their folders about all of this way before now but I somehow missed  it - they get lots of paperwork) so if you are interested in supporting the American Heart Association I hope you will give through one of the below links!
CLICK HERE to donate to Jumprope for Heart in honor of Katie and HERE to support Tyler!