They Liked It, They Really Liked It!!!

Happy Birthday to Grandpa Pritchard today!  Days like today are when I get a little sad about being so far from my family.  I am glad I can be with all of them for the big holidays, but I miss out on the smaller things.  Today they are all getting together for dinner to celebrate my Dad's birthday and I wish I was there to join in.  It is very hard to have a big family who all lives close together and be the only one who has moved away.  I love Indiana (well except for the cold) and the people here, but I wish at least one family member lived nearby or that we were closer.  I think our lives are better here than they would be in Northern VA, but that doesn't make it any easier to miss out on so much.  I want my kids to have close relationships with their cousins, and that is hard when we are so far away.

Anyway, enough of the pity party...

I enjoy cooking.  I look forward to looking up recipes and trying out new ones.  My kids can't say that I always fed them the same thing (though at this point in their lives I am sure they would be thrilled to eat their favorites everyday).   I am constantly making something new and exposing them to different flavors, which I think in the long run is good for them.  

Some parents we have talked to say they make a separate meal for their kids and I think that is just ridiculous.  How is a kid ever going to try and like new things if he knows you will always make him something else?  Dennis and I decided we are not going to do the "clean your plate" technique either, that was popular when we were young.  I think kids should eat when they are hungry and learn to not eat when they aren't hungry.  I've read that forcing your kids to clean their plate can lead to obesity.  What we do try to encourage is for them to take one bite and try whatever is on their plate.  If they don't like what I serve then they don't eat or they eat what they do like on their plate.  They aren't going to starve, they will make up the calories on their next meal.  And as long as we give them healthy snacks, they will get their vitamins and calories.  This has pretty much been the technique all of our doctors have recommended.

Anyway, because I make a wide variety of different foods, they don't always like what I make.  But, I am hoping that over time and with repeated exposure to different foods, they will eventually like it.  As a kid growing up overseas, we were exposed to so much and all my siblings and I pretty much eat everything now (except I can't do cheesecake!).  This has worked for Colin who didn't like green beans, but after about 20 times of putting it on his plate he started to eat them.  

It is very frustrating to spend a long time making a nice home cooked meal and have the kids come up to see what it is and say, yuck!  Even Logan has somehow picked up the word "yuck"!  So, I was thrilled this week that after several times of making eggplant parmesan and only Dennis and I eating it, 2 of the kids ate it all up and loved it!  They also all liked the hoisin sauce pork sandwiches I made Tuesday and the Singapore chicken rice I made today.  I look forward to the day when a meal other than chicken nuggets, pizza or mac and cheese gets cheers, but we are getting there slowly but surely....

And if I wasn't already in a good mood after dinner, Colin asked to change Logan's diaper.  That boy LOVES babies!!

We Have A PET!

Anyone who knows Dennis and I well knows that both of us are NOT pet lovers.  We both really don't see the point of a dog or a cat.  In my opinion they smell, are dirty, sometimes loud, and did I mention they smell?  I pretty much don't like a single thing about dogs and cats and am always bothered by people who treat their pets better than their own kids.  I was lucky to marry a man who also doesn't have the slightest desire to have an animal.

Anyway, our closest friends here in Indy have moved to Texas and they sent out an email asking if anyone would like their fish and fish tank.  Knowing that our boys will never experience having a dog or cat, I thought they might enjoy taking care of fish.  After all, they don't smell, they stay in their tank (so they are pretty clean), and they are quiet.  Besides we are getting everything to take care of them for free.  So, after checking with Dennis I said yes. 

When I told the boys they were super excited.  They said, "We are going to have a pet?" Colin and Evan are having a blast feeding them daily.  And since the previous owners gave them boring names of Orangey and Stripey, Colin and Evan have renamed them Silver Surfer and Human Torch (those are super heroes if you were wondering).  Well, I guess they can't say we never got them a pet.....

Colin is 7!!!

Happy Birthday to Colin!  The morning was spent finishing up Colin's cake.  Dennis made an angry birds theme cake.  The whole cake was edible!

This was followed by the party.  We had 10 kids over (6 boys from Colin's class and then a few neighbors).  A mobile video game truck game and this has got to be the easiest birthday party ever!  The boys were in the truck playing video games for about 1 1/2 hours and then they came inside for cake.  All the boys had a blast and there is nothing like video games to keep a bunch of young boys calm.  I have a feeling we might be doing this a few more times over the years....

The cake after all the destruction...

However, Dennis and I did make a decision we have been talking about for a while now.  We decided that we are only going to do a big party every other year for each kid.  With three kids it is just too expensive to throw a party every year.  More importantly, we worry that by having a big party every year the boys will not appreciate it as much.  Dennis and I have such big families that our kids get so much stuff and it makes it hard to keep them humble and their expectations low.  I've always worried about raising spoiled kids who aren't appreciative of what they have.  So, I think that this will help a little.  We told them on the off years we will just do something small as a family or maybe with just a couple friends.  They took it well, but of course there is no birthday around the corner either...

Back to Colin...At 7 years old Colin is a lot of fun.  He enjoys playing board ages with us, playing any sports, and recently has been having fun doing some lego kits with Dennis.  He is still very in to Super heroes.  Colin and Evan both enjoy their Sunday evening tradition of listening to Dennis read them comic books.

Colin is able to read many comic books himself now and a lot of the books that he has.  He enjoys school somewhat, but really loves sports!  His favorite classes are still library and PE.  At home he enjoys drawing, but hasn't been doing as much recently.  He loves video games now, but we have to limit his time to 30 minutes a day or he would be playing all day long.  Colin LOVES to be outside.  He could last all day riding his bike, throwing the football or playing soccer.

Colin is still shy around new people.  But, with his friends he is very silly.  He is sensitive, which makes him a great older brother.  He often helps to make his brothers breakfast in the morning if I haven't come downstairs yet.  He also will occasionally help me with some cleaning.  We spend most of our time trying to keep him and Evan from wrestling each other, throwing in the house, and running in the house.  But, when he isn't doing that he is very loving.  He likes to cuddle with Dennis and I still and often wants to give us a hug.  And, I will take those cuddles and hugs for as long as he is willing to still give them to us...

Snow!

The boys finally got a chance to go play in the snow yesterday.  It snowed only a couple of inches.  But, they were still eager to put on their snow suits and play in it.  Of course afterwards they immediately wanted hot chocolate.  Maybe that was their plan all along?  Logan and I stayed inside.  There wasn't enough snow to warrant me getting him in all his gear for just a short time.

Snowball fight!

Last night, Dennis got back from his trip to Arizona, so he took today off so he could work on Colin's birthday cake.  It is time consuming, but is coming along great!  The highlight of today for Dennis was going to Colin's school for lunch.  Colin has been looking forward to him coming.  Parents can come any day so since Dennis knew he was going to take today off, he told Colin he would bring him lunch.  Dennis said Colin and his friends were really silly, cracking jokes and talking the whole time!

This evening Dennis had his first dodge ball game.  His team was slightly older than other teams and a lot less experienced, but they had a blast anyway.  Of course the dodge ball game was only an excuse to socialize, so they went to a bar afterwards to hang out.  Most of the people on the team either have much older kids or no kids.  However, because our kids go to bed before the game even starts, I stay home with them, while Dennis has a night out.  And that will be our Friday nights for the next couple months...

Colin 7 Year Well Visit!

Dennis is out of town, so I have been really busy around here.  Just a quick recap from the weekend...I took the older boys to a birthday party while Dennis stayed home to watch Logan and to practice making a cake.  Yep, that is right he is making Colin's birthday cake this year!  I won't share any more details until the big day, but we are crossing our fingers it works out.  This could be the start of many more cakes or a one time deal...

Logan has been talking more and more.  His teacher said he said "I want black", when they were coloring.  He is also saying "I don't know" a lot.  He can say words like book, mine and loves saying No.

Colin got his report card and is doing wonderful.  The fact that he is doing amazing in 2nd grade math did not come as a shock, neither was the fact that he got good marks for behavior, but what did come as a shock was that his music teacher wrote "nice singing voice"!  Dennis and I, who's voices are so bad we don't even risk singing in the shower or car, got a kick out of that one sentence.  

Today, Colin had his 7 year well check up.  He has been a very healthy kid, so I wasn't expecting any big surprises.  However, his doctor did comment that he also has a heart murmur, but that it was definitely benign.  Strange that both Logan and Colin's heart murmurs are now being caught, when we had several doctors in the past that were all very experienced and they never mentioned a heart murmur.  But, I know that at least the murmur Logan has usually isn't even caught until ages 3-7ish, so it is possible that they couldn't hear it before.  Anyway, Colin was 46.5in tall (25%) and 46.8 lbs (25%).  He is great and really looking forward to his birthday party on Saturday!

Sunshine!

When people told us about Indiana, we were warned many times about the cold winters.  When we first got here and people asked us how we liked it so far, our response was always positive, but then they would say, "Well you haven't been here for winter yet".  So, I have been preparing myself for cold and snow.  What I was not prepared for was how grey it is.  From Mid November until early January, there was hardly a sunny day.  Cold and sunny is bearable, but cold and grey is really gloomy and depressing.  Surprisingly, we have gotten a whole lot of rain and hardly any snow. 

Anyway, when I got home from picking up the boys today the sun was finally shining away, so instead of rushing inside to get dinner started I asked the boys if they wanted to play outside.  Of course, they were ecstatic to be able to get out their bikes and ride around.  We spent an hour outside and tried to soak up some sunshine before it goes away and is replaced by snow, for I'm sure that day is around the corner.  

Logan is becoming more and more feisty, the whole time we were out there he wanted whatever ride on bike/vehicle someone else had.  He was in heaven when he finally got to get on Evan's power wheel!

Pulling Mommy in the wagon.

This Mommy is heavy!

Evan Can Read!!!

Watching Colin play Wii

My Mom, being a teacher, knows the importance of not putting a child into school too early.  So, with all of my sisters who had fall birthdays she waited a year before starting them in Kindergarden.  However, when I came around, despite having a September birthday, she decided to go ahead and send me to school because I was already reading (actually she regrets not holding me back too, but that's another story).  Yep, even then some may have called me an over achiever.  Really, I just benefited from having 2 older sisters who played "school" with me often and thus taught me to read.

Well, despite Evan being a mini Dennis in looks, Evan might just be his Mommy's boy after all....at age 4 he has been very eager to read.  Often after Colin has done his nightly reading Evan will say "my turn".  We have brushed this aside thinking he was too young, but we have done the occasional sight word book with him.  Well, I finally decided why not see what he can do.  So, I pulled out some first reader "Bob" books that I had bought for Colin when he was in Kindergarden.  And, I am proud to say that Evan read his first 3 books today!!!  They are easy first sound books like "Sam sat on a mat", but he did it all by himself, and he was so proud!  If he keeps up this pace he is going to sail through Kindergarden in the fall!

A first for Logan....he finally sat for longer than 30 seconds to watch a show.  He has been the least interested in TV of all my boys and he finally sat for maybe 10 minutes with Evan to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  Now, I don't love the kids watching a ton of TV so I really don't care if he likes it or not, but it would be nice for him to sit for 30 minutes so I can get dinner together without him following me around and crying because he is hungry.  Yes, he is a feisty one.  

In other exciting news...Dennis and I had our first meeting with a contractor today to get started on finishing the basement.  We meet with another one on Friday, so we are still in the beginning planning stages, but we are very excited to start this process and eventually have a finished basement to entertain in.

Lastly, I signed the boys up for their spring sports today.  Unfortunatetly, spring soccer and baseball have the same season here, so they had to choose one or the other.  Colin chose to stick with soccer, so he will do spring and fall soccer.  Evan chose T-ball so he could do T-ball in the spring and soccer in the fall.   Colin has only 1 indoor soccer game left and then we actually have no sports until early April.  Actually, that is not true.  Dennis will be starting Dodgeball next week!!!  That should be very entertaining!