40

I just couldn't take it, I had to go back and change my title. I thought somebody that did not know me would actually think I was serious. So there.
I thought I needed to make some bold statement like that. It may not be true, but it sounds good. Did turning 40 bother me? In the sense that I am now 40 years old, no. That does not really bother me. It bothers me for reasons like. I had to talk to my eye doctor this past week about getting bifocals. (I decided to put it off at least another year.) It bothers me that the baby years are quickly fading. These are fun times with the kids, but each phase is so special and I will miss having a little baby. (I will not miss being pregnant though.) Coloring my hair is part of my routine now. I can still get away with waiting a couple months, but right now I am past the 2 month mark and it is not good. But the biggest thing I hate about being 40 is that it means my parents are aging along with me. That is truly the only thing I really hate about it.

Aleah and Daddy ready to go to church. Her little pink dress from Don and Vicky is so cute. And she did manage to leave the bow in her hair the entire service.

My 3 little men, getting ready for cake and ice cream.

Me and my Men

40 and 10 (well Cade had a few hours of 9 left)

It was a nice birthday. I worked in Cade and Reid's class during church. We carried out from Applebee's. Then I took Cade shopping for some books at Border's. I even figured out how to park in the parking garage all by myself. (I am growing up so nicely.) We came home to have some cake and ice cream.
Thank you God for 40 blessed years.

Buzz!! Trey gets his First Buzz

Cade and Reid got their hair buzzed off a couple weeks ago, but Trey has never wanted to get one. And truthfully, it was one of those little things that kept him my baby boy. So when I asked him if he wanted to get his hair cut like Cade and Reid's, I was truthfully expecting a big fat "NO". So I was rather traumatized as Grandpa got his clippers out. I just went and got on the computer to show my mom some houses, trying to block it out at first. Then I realized I of course needed to get my camera out. I should have done a before and after, but the shock of it all.

He loves his buzz and keeps walking around feeling his head. I like it now too. I am glad it's a little longer buzz. He is getting so big.

Thomas Edison

Cade's class play was today. It was called, "February on Trial". Cute and the class did a very nice job. I told Cade to keep practicing his lines, even after he already knew them. I told him he wanted to be so comfortable with his lines that even if he was nervous, he would still be able to remember them. It's a good thing, because when he got up there he looked horrified. But after his first couple lines, he seemed to relax a little. He did a great job, after all he was Thomas Edison, it's not like you really think of Thomas Edison as being too animated.

 

 

A much more relaxed Cade, after his part was done.

I of course had to take Trey and Aleah with me. Aleah had been a nightmare this morning so I made her take a nap. When I got her up, she was in a much better mood. However, during the play she kept tooting (passing gas) and then saying, "eww." Seriously, I have 3 boys and it's my little princess doing this. Luckily, none of the kids heard this or I am sure mayhem would have ensued.

CSI Crime Scene

 

 

 

I am not sure which is worse, getting woke-up in the middle of the night for a bloody nose or having to clean up all the blood as a child makes his way to the bathroom with a bloody nose. Both are equally frustrating. As Cade's bloody noses have become less frequent, Trey stepped it up to take his place. I honestly take that back, they have both been doing a lot better the past few months. But yesterday as Trey was getting in trouble and throwing a little fit because I sent him to his room, one hit him half-way up the steps. So basically, he did not have to go to his room, he went into the bathroom to pinch his nose and I started scrubbing the carpet and the walls. I've always said that if cops came in and sprayed that stuff they use to find traces of blood in my old house, they would start digging the back yard up looking for a body. The trails of blood from the boys' bedrooms to ours was endless.

1-2 for the Bulls,0-1,and 0-3 for the Fastbreakers

Cade setting a screen in his school league.

We started basketball off at 9:30 this morning with Cade's first game. He was only able to play the first quarter, because he had his first school league game at 10:10.
But Cade was able to score 2 points and get a few rebounds in the first quarter. His points came from getting fouled while shooting, he informed me he almost made the shot too, and he made both of his free throws. Of course, mom, missed his first 2points. We met them at school. He was excited for his first school league game, because he was playing his buddy, Carson's team. Cade's team played very well and got lots of good shots, but they just did not fall the first half. They came out stronger the second half. Cade and Carson got to guard one another and the first play down Carson was bringing the ball down and Cade stole it and dribbled down to score his first basket in this league. Carson's team went on to win 28-12, so I think he will forgive Cade.

Reid's game was later in the afternoon. It was a pretty slow moving game and Reid really did not even touch the ball much. (a lot different from last week) The coach did call one play and another little boy came up and set a screen and Reid went off of it to drive in for a lay-up. He missed it, but I was still impressed that my little first grade boy knew how to go off of a screen and drive in. I know he is one of the youngest players on his team, if not the youngest. They led most of the game, but ended up losing 18-22.

Team huddle.

Reid bringing the ball in from out of bounds, getting ready for the play.

Nice play Reid.

My Little Diva

Almost every morning, Aleah has to bring me her coat and a pair of shoes and wants to put them on. Then she just runs around and plays. I am a little scared that she's becoming a Diva.

Be My Valentine

Valentine's Day was on a Sunday and for the majority of the day we had a great time. We all went to church and then stayed after service and ate lunch. That's when we had our first rough patch. As we were leaving church Reid had a total meltdown. One of those meltdowns when you just want to walk away and look back like you have no idea who that child belongs to. But we didn't, I did think that Craig's head was going to explode. That's usually my role. We managed to get everyone loaded up and get out of the parking lot. (Reid lost his DS privileges for the next day.) We drove around and looked at some houses. This was one of those things we should just avoid doing. Depressing on so many levels.
Aleah was asleep by the time we got home, she did lay down for a little bit in her crib. Then Craig took everyone out to play in the snow. Aleah is normally dressed all Little girl, except when it comes to her snow gear.

Reid making a snow angel.

Trey had to join him. And of course then Reid was mad and hitting Trey in the head.

Cade making a snow angel.

This picture is just so Grandma can see Miss Aleah's Valentine's outfit. My favorite little sweater vest from the outlets.

0-2 for the Bulls and the Fastbreakers

It was a bit of a heart breaker for the Bulls today as they lost 22-26. They were down 2 with a few minutes to go, but never managed to tie it up. Cade played a tough and aggressive game. Truly the most aggressive I have ever seen him play. He had several steals and rebounds and played excellent help-side defense.

He had several great shots.
But none of them fell.
Here he is driving down after one of his steals.

The Fastbreakers played hard today. It was close the first half, but then the other team pulled away in the second, the final score 18-28. Reid continued to play point guard. Alright, Reid is not afraid to shoot now. It's funny, he's wired with the desire to score. When he brought it down, he was going in for the shot. Tonight as we looked at the pictures from his game, he even said to me, I shot a lot today. He said it all shy and quiet. I am not sure if he was embarrassed because he shot a lot or if he was just bothered because he never made one. In his defense, I think he probably only shot 6-8 times, and truthfully they were all pretty good shots. It wasn't like he was trying to shot from the 3 point line. They just would not fall for him.

Good shot Reid, it should have went in.

Monkey Joe's

After 10 days of anticipation, Monkey Joe's was finally here. Colin, a little boy from preschool, was having his 5th birthday party at Monkey Joe's. So every day since he got the invitation, Trey has done a countdown. He was getting pretty good at it. In the mornings he would announce, "4 more days till Monkey Joe's". So the day was finally here.

Trey has been getting pretty tired in the afternoon's and today when we started to get ready to leave, he started to cry about his socks. oh, no this could be rough. We finished getting ready and went to pick-up Cade and Reid. We made it to Monkey Joe's just in time for the food. Everyone was sitting down ready to eat. I told Cade and Reid to get out their DS's and I got Aleah her cup of milk and a cereal bar. I was just relaxing and talking to Brady's mom next to me. All of a sudden I heard Trey SCREAMING.... Not just crying, but SCREAMING!!! Monkey Joe had walked in the door and he was terrified. He made it to me and was just shaking. Monkey Joe was trying to go around to all of the kids and Trey was still crying and screaming. The girl that was serving our party tried to get in between Monkey Joe and Trey to protect Trey and block his view. I appreciated her attempt, but it did not help. Monkey Joe left and Trey bounced right back. I have to admit, I was impressed that he just went back and joined back in. I wish it did not happen, but he was a trooper.

Pizza, orange pop, and then ice cream cake. This is the girl that tried to help Trey.

Brady's mom, no I can't think of her name, had the boys playing the quiet game at one point. Brady and Nathan are big talkers, so she was really trying to keep them under control. Trey is always quiet when he is with his friends from preschool. Anyway, she gave the three of them a quarter for being quiet. And after the food they went out and each played a game.

Then it was time for the main event. Running, jumping, sliding.... going crazy. It's was great. Trey was in heaven. Usually, he is kind of the third wheel with Nathan and Brady. They both like him and play with him. But they are both very verbal. But when it came to this, it was Trey and Nathan, and then sometimes Brady came with them. Nathan and Trey were holding on to each other as they came down slides. Trey was pushing Nathan up onto them (he's shorter than Trey). And then at one point Trey, Nathan, and Brady all came down a slide holding hands. I wish I would have got some good pictures, but I was pretty busy wrestling Aleah. Craig had came about half-way through the party and took Cade and Reid home. Trey did have one more crying episode. Some grown-up guy was running around, I am not sure if he said something to Trey or I will say he was just scary, anyway he made Trey cry. It was very sweet though, Nathan came running to get Trey. He took his hand and just wiped Trey's face to wipe off the tears and then the two of them took off. It was so cute.

Everyone from the party left except Trey and Nathan. Meredith and I both agreed we were going to stay a little bit later and just let them run. Trey was in melt down when we left, but he had so much FUN!

My Little 16 Month Old

We are truly leaving baby hood and entering toddler hood. It's a bumpy road at times physically (she's taken many spills) and emotionally (she and I just want to break down and cry many days), but watching her turn into a little girl makes all the work worth it.


She is passionate about getting her way. She wanted to rummage through the cupboard and find a snack. Really, it has nothing to do with my first attempt at a bam bam on top of her head. And for the record it did look a little better until she insisted on combing the front and a chunk came out.
(Look at those teeth all popping through)

She is passionate about the stairs. This one drives me nuts. She just pulls the gate aside or just plows over it to get to the steps. We have been working this week on sitting down when coming down. I figure if I can't keep her off, I should at least try to teach her not to kill herself.

She is passionate about crayons. I fought it for awhile, but she does pretty well. She sometimes makes a mess because she will start picking at the crayons with her little nails. But she loves to scribble on her paper while the boys work on school work. (This pic was from yesterday... but too cute not to use)

She is passionate about standing up in her high chair and about not listening to us when we tell her to sit down. She is also passionate about being a dare devil.

Another big note for the day. She slept for 10 straight hours last night. She started crying around 6AM, but then she fell back asleep and slept until 8:15. Praise God! She was a great sleeper as a little bug, but when we moved it messed everything up. She was in the bedroom with me and quickly began waking up numerous times a night. I had made an attempt earlier on in the school year to get her sleeping, but then illness and teeth, it just fell back apart. So she had a rough couple nights. (and so did I) Lots of crying... sorry little girl. But night 3, last night, you did great! You went from 8 to 8:15.

It's hard to believe that just 16 months ago, we did not have a little girl in our lives. My life was all blue and green and I loved it. But now I can't really remember it. Aleah is the missing piece. Cade and Reid like to make over her and Trey likes to fight with her. Trey could care less that she is a little girl, she just messes with his stuff and he's not going to take it.

Me, well , I love being a mom with a little girl.