Cold.....

OK -- I'm officially sick and tired of winter! The constant cold, being couped up in the house, and almost freezing to death every time we step outside, is starting to wear me -- and the kids. And because I'm a safety freak, I insist that the kids take off their coats when they're in the car seats. I feel like I can get the buckles around them tighter... (Oh yea... Katherine is still in the traditional 5 point harness seat, but weighing in at 33 pounds, I didn't see the need to move her to a booster seat yet...) Anyway, standing out in the cold putting on and removing their coats every time we go somewhere, is getting OLD! Trust me!! LOL.

Quick recap of the week since I've been a blogging slacker....

I've been a little under the weather lately. I'm tired beyond belief, and super achy. My energy is gone and for the past few days I've been napping when the kids do. Oh, and last night I was in bed at 8:30. How insane is that? Totally not my MO!! Thankfully today I can keep my eyes open! I'm on the mend!

Since Monday was MLK day, Katherine didn't have school. We decided to head down to the Science Center and invite the Laundervilles (Nicholas and Caden) with us. The kids had blast and played so well together. We had lunch, played in the bubbles, ran into the Lee's (Aaron, Katie and Blake) and had an over all great time. So it was great!

Oh -- you'll love this story...

There's this one girl in Katherine's ballet class who shouldn't be in there. She's disruptive, doesn't pay attention, leaves the room for drinks of water no less that 10 times in the hour, distracts the other kids, and talks back to the teacher. SURPRISINGLY, her mom drops her off and leaves to do other things. I feel sorry for this little girl... She's getting shuffled around and no one really pays attention to her. Anyway, her dad came Monday night and actually stayed. I was shocked. He just sat in the corner. He didn't watch her dance, but he was still there. Anyway, all the girls are in ballet and tap class back-to-back.... which means that half way though they have to change shoes. Their tap shoes have tiny little buckles that are hard for the girls to maneuver on their own, so I (and all the other moms who stay) help the girls out.

So this is what happened... Katherine came running out of ballet class and took off her ballet shoes. I was sitting on the ground so that I could buckle her tap shoes once she got them on. As she was putting on the first one, I took her second shoe out of the bag, smiled and said, "If the shoe fits...". We were both laughing, and she replied, "it sure does, Mommy"! The little girl (in the preceding paragraph) asked her Daddy to help her out, and he said (very loudly so everyone in the room could hear) "Nope, you do it yourself. You don't live in the fairly tale world that that little girl (meaning Katherine) does". Oh, let me tell ya... those are fighting words... I literally had to bite my tongue or I would have fired off some not so nice words in front of Katherine. But let me assure you... maybe if that little girl had someone who paid attention to her more, she wouldn't be acting out in class so much... UUUUUGH... It infuriates me.

Since it was bitterly cold yesterday, we decided to hang out at home and play games -- just the three of us. Oh man... We played countless rounds of Hi-Ho-Cherry-Oh, Candyland and Chutes and Ladders. Chutes and Ladders didn't really hold Caleb's attention, but he LOVES the other two games and can actually grasp the rules. It was a blast! After we were done with board games, we went straight for the puzzles, and completed every one in the house a million times! My mom called around 2 and asked if Katherine could spend the day with her. SURE!! Caleb and I went in as well to visit for a while, and 3 hours later decided that we, too, should eat dinner with them. Matt stopped by after work, and joined us for dinner. It worked out really well... Since the kids didn't nap, they were begging to go to bed at 8:30! Woo-Hoo!!

Tomorrow my mom is watching Caleb in the morning during Katherine's gymnastics class. Mr. Terry, her teacher, asked if I'd be willing to come to class so that he could teach me how to spot her so that she could do more "tricks" at home, and practice a little bit every night. She's soooo excited. She loves gymnastics and would literally practice hours every day if I had the time to devote to solely her... The problem is that as soon as Caleb sees her, he instantly drops to the floor and tries to do handstands and somersaults. It's hilarious! He's perfected the "put your head on the floor, and your feet up the wall and see how long you can stay there without falling over" move. Love it. I need to take a video. It's priceless!!