Staying Warm

Today was probably the coldest it has been so far this winter. Lows tonight are suppose to be -15! Killian woke up early today and was ready to go back down for a nap around 8:00. Caroline was a big helper and fed him oatmeal while I finished getting Charlotte ready for school. 

While Killian napped Caroline watched a little Daniel Tiger and spent some time playing with the Kinetic Sand which is the coolest stuff ever! 

I woke Killian around 10 and we headed down to the grocery store and to drop about 5 bags off at Goodwill. (Trying to clean out the house!) We did groceries first while the kids were fresh, they were excited to sit in the cart together! We made it most of the way through the store before Caroline announced she had to pee. She is not quiet either. We paid and I went to pack the groceries up (while Killian was trying to climb out of the cart, and Caroline was yelling that she peed in her pants...).

We made it to the car and Caroline sat for about 5 minutes thinking if she had to go #2 or not... Mind you, it was about 15 degrees out.

We headed over to Goodwill to drop our stuff off and figured we'd go in while we were there. Killian of course didn't want to sit in the stroller and Caroline found some scooters which she begged for. (Yes, those are my children on the dirty goodwill floor, they had just mopped I promise!). Score for the day was a (looks new) American Girl Doll carrier for two dolls that I spotted in a pile of bags on our way out for a whopping price tag of $1.25. Now if Caroline can keep quiet until Charlotte's birthday we will be all set!

We came home and the kids went down for afternoon naps. They slept for a little longer than I anticipated so Louise picked Charlotte up from school with Olivia and we met them at the library. Our town just built a brand new amazing library which has an awesome childrens section that has been wonderful for winter days! 

Killian did better today with the crayons, he attempted coloring and walked around with one in his mouth for a while. 

Then he fell and the crayon cut the side of his mouth open, and there was blood. Not much phases me though... He is the third after all.  

Charlotte loves playing with her friends, as if she doesn't see them enough at school! I am so happy she has such nice friends that she loves so much!

Killian wasn't quite as busy as yesterday, although he did manage to shut the lights off on everyone. 

We got ready to leave and the girls checked out the computers. Caroline thought it was a touch screen.... Maybe in a few years Caroline!

Killian ended the night by going in the potty again after bath! He was so proud of himself!

Busy Busy Busy

Killian is quite an exhausting child. In the past month (since he figured out how to walk) he has all of a sudden gotten very hard headed and extremely busy. He rarely sits still, and bounces from one thing to the next constantly. We made the mistake of taking the baby gate to the living room down, although he doesn't stay in it very well, but I am constantly chasing him around and trying to pick up his messes!

He loves the kids chairs. I moved his to his bedroom because he wasn't really sitting in it and we were getting short on room, but I may need to bring it back down. He gets in Charlotte and Caroline's any chance he gets and lounges. I told him to sit back down in Charlotte'swhixh he of course thought was so funny to stand up and try and jump instead of sit...

He also loves the iPad or my phone. We try to only use the iPads in the car but I brought it in from the cold and to charge. He loves playing the music apps and then likes to try to throw it. I guess it's time for the case!

Caroline started ballet up again today. Last session she was in a group of only three little girls who were all under 3. This session she got to move up with the 3-5 year olds. She was super excited. While I finished getting dressed, she and Killian played in the mudroom. They thought it would be fun to put shoes on their hands. Killian had Charlotte's rain boots on his and wouldn't take them off!

Caroline was very excited to see all her friends!

The best part of class is dressing up in the fancy costumes and getting eye "farkles" (sparkles) on at the end of class!

Once we picked Charlotte up from school we headed to the Library to play. Killian only napped from 10:15-11:30 today (not long enough!!) and was wild and crazy. He has one thing he always goes for at the library, the light switch! It's on a touch screen and he can stand on the bench and reach it. It is exhausting keeping him from it!

Louise and Olivia joined us and Louise so graciously helped wrangle all the kids! Killian also loves the big buckets of crayons, that he grabs by the handful and throws.

Caroline and Charlotte usually do their own thing. At least 2/3 children are happily occluded. Killian walked around with a block/spatula/lego in his mouth most of the afternoon and I am not sure he stopped moving the whole time!! I can say with certainty that I was so pleased when bedtime arrived!

First Day Back

Today was the first day back in the swing of things. Surprisingly enough, Chris and Charlotte left for work/school on time! It was a New Years miracle!

Killian went down for an early nap so Caroline and I did some puzzles. She quickly graduated to the next puzzle level!

We got the crockpot ready for dinner, Chicken Noodle Soup!

Killian was super helpful today and made whatever space he was in a complete disaster. I now (on kid #3) know why they invented child locks for cabinets.

We ran to the store after Killian's nap to grab some noodles for dinner. Killian was ready to go in his new sunglasses.

Navigating through the grocery store is especially fun when you have a child hanging on the side. As if pushing a cart down the narrow aisle wasn't difficult enough!

We came home and Caroline went down for a nap. Killian refused, but then was whiny and crabby until we went to get Charlotte. Sometimes the only thing to do is put Taylor Swift videos on YouTube. He zones right out!

We picked Charlotte up and headed home so Killian could nap. Of course he fell asleep in the car, stayed asleep all the way up the stairs and into his crib where he proceeded to wake right up!

In the midst of getting dinner ready the kids escaped up to the girls room. Killian likes to rip everything off the walls while standing on their beds so I had to supervise. Caroline thought it would be a good idea to jump on her bed, even though I warned her several times it wasn't a good use. She kept off it and hit her mouth on Charlotte's bed post and her teeth went right into her lip. (She head butted me in the lip last week and I know how much it hurts for your teeth to go into your lip! I also wasn't taking photos while she was injured, I was sending Chris a consult photo. All good as long as it didn't go all the way through was his response!)

I will end with a beautiful quote from Charlotte at dinner. We were discussing why we call people Dr., Mrs., Mr., Miss., etc. She thought it was like a nickname. Then Caroline started calling me Kacie and they thought it was hysterical. 

"I like the name Connie because it's kind of like chocolates. I guess that's why grandma likes them so much."- Charlotte

Last Day of Break

Today was the last day of winter vacation. Charlotte is so excited to go back to school! We spent of the day picking up and organizing again. The kids did everything in their power to make messes faster than we could clean up!

Charlotte and Caroline have really been playing nicely together lately. Charlotte still thinks she is in charge, which sometimes is a problem, but usually Caroline is happy to let her boss her around. 

Killian is mostly concerned with unplugging things, pressing buttons and destroying anything in his path. He is relentless when it comes to turning off the space heater. The basement playroom isn't heated so it is sort of nice to have it on. He doesn't think so.

He likes putting anything he finds around his neck too. Usually some sort of article of clothing. This time it was the stethoscope, a good choice. He then tried to use the trapeze bar like his sisters.

He also loves playing ball with Baylie. He ran out of hands for the balls and clearly wanted his train also, so he shoved that in his mouth. He's a thinker!

The kids (or dad) picked up so the jumpy could be blown up. Then fun was had by all until dinner was ready.

After dinner it's bath time, Killian is usually first in since he throws his Popsicle on the floor and is usually covered in food. He has a history of going to the bathroom in the tub so as soon as Chris heard a little toot he pulled him out. Killian loves the little potty and sat down on it tonight and went both #1 and #2! I was shocked, but then remembered Caroline knew what to do on the potty at about 14 months. (Killian is 16 months today!)

The only problem with Killian on the potty is that he wants to play in whatever is in the potty while he sits there. He also likes to put his toothbrush in it. Ah, the differences between boys and girls!

We had a great break but are looking forward to getting back into the swing of things tomorrow!

Clean Up

Today we took down the Christmas decorations. This started with the Gingerbread house that the girls have been eating for the past few days. They had pretty much picked it clean but we gave them an ultimatum and they wanted to finish it off before it hit the trash. Killian decided to get in on the action too, which was all fun and games until he knocked it off the table and it broke. I wish I thought of that two days ago! While they were eating the candy and listening to Taylor Swift Charlotte exclaimed "we love Taylor Swift more than candy, right?... and Fruit". 

Chris had to run into work to finish some stuff so while he was gone the kids and I tried to clean. Killian was sporting his super cool new sunglasses.

The girls washed the windows, (and then dirtied them again) and helped mop the floor.

Killian helped vacuum. 

This afternoon (yes, the kids were in Jammie's all day again...) we took the ornaments and lights off the tree. Charlotte loved helping with the lights. Killian and Caroline loved eating the last of the candy canes that were left on! 

After dinner, which Killian threw 90% of to the dog, (on the vaccumed and freshly mopped floor) the kids had baths, Killian went to bed and the girls and Chris and I had game night. We try to have movie night on Fridays and Game night on Saturdays. We may have told Charlotte we couldn't remember what day it was when she asked yesterday, so when she woke up today and realized Chris wasn't going to work and we missed movie night she was not pleased. That meant no getting out of game night! We started with Don't Spill The Beans, which was terrible.

Then we played three games of "Hoot Owl Hoot" and the girls loved it!

Of course, they found something to whine and cry about before bed. I fell asleep with them at 7:30 last night, hoping to make it a little later tonight!

New Toys

Stop the presses: I actually took my camera out today! It was a typical day, kids were in their Jammie's until noon, they destroyed the place faster than I could put it back together, and no laundry got done. Needless to say, it's 7:00 and they are all sound asleep. We finally unloaded the rest of the Christmas presents from Chris' trunk and the spent a while this morning playing with Killian's car garage and work bench. Killian liked using them to sit or climb on instead.

I can not have any beverage on the table next to the couch or Killian will do anything in his power to get it 

This time it was just ice but he is determined!

The little ones napped and while they slept Charlotte had her friend Olivia over to play. They had a great time and Caroline was happy she got to see Olivia too! It's been two weeks since they last saw each other so they were very pleased to get to play!

I am just grateful it is the weekend!!

New Years Day

Happy 2015! Chris and I run in the new year last night with a Orange is the New Black TV marathon, and Killian crying off and on from 10:30-1:00. It was a great night! I am hoping this year to be a more active blogger, as I really enjoy having blog books to document our year. Life with three kids is busy. But while we sit with the girls every night while they fall asleep... (That's another story), I figured I could post at least A picture. So it may only be a single picture for the day, but hopefully it will be something!

Today we drove over to visit Grandma. 3 weeks ago Grandma was hospitalized and underwent brain surgery due to a subdural hemptoma (brain bleed) from a fall back in September. We are so so so happy she has since recovered with flying colors and is home and doing well. The girls were happy to visit and went into her closet to dress up. It was very entertaining. While the little ones napped, Charlotte and Grandma did some occupational therapy, Perler Beads and fixing the calendar! It was a lovely way to spend the first day of 2015!