Ckaustin's blog

Play Date with the Boys

This morning we hosted a play date...with 3 boys! The kids' cousins, Henry (3 yo) and Ben (1yo), along with the kids' friend Keegan (3 yo) who lives up the street. Addison  and Asher really play well with Henry and Keegan...so I thought it would be fun to have them all play together.

Keegan came after the school drop off with his Mommy. His sister, Nyah, is in Alivia's 1st grade class, and we have had play dates with them since last spring. Henry and Ben arrived shortly after 9. Henry and Ben were shy at first, but Henry warmed up. Ben...well, not so much. Baby Ben I don't think is used to much commotion, and he seemed a bit overwhelmed. He also did not like it when I had to help someone in the potty or step away to get snacks or help someone play. He liked to be right by me. Addison, Henry and Keegan played well together. Asher, on the other hand, could not find his place. If he wanted me, I seemed to be busy with Ben or something else. Asher became quite naughty and not himself. Humm...I got the impression that he did not like a baby in his way! But, on the nice side, Asher did try to soothe Baby Ben when Ben became upset because I was helping Asher in the potty. It was a cute moment.

It was a busy, but fun morning. I learned some things...keep play dates calmer. Today was far from calm. I felt like I completed a 1/2 marathon and I had help! But, we will do it again...very soon. We always do!

Here is a picture of the 3 cousins (Keegan had gone home and Ben wanted nothing to do with a picture).

Cousins

Visiting Great Grandma Marci

Asher, Grandma Marci, and Addison

Today Addison, Asher and I went to visit Great Grandma Marci. Great Grandma (my Grandma) is 98 years old. She got up early this morning to get ready for our arrival at 10:30. That seemed like a good time for us. Alivia was so disappointed that she was unable to go with us!

We arrived on time and Grandma allowed us in her locked building. She lives in a retirement apartment. This is not assisted living nor is it a nursing home. It is an apartment that she fully owns (they have to buy it like a condo of sorts) and has to care for herself on her on. There is no question about it, she should not be living alone. But, Grandma likes living in her apartment and is refusing to give it up...for the moment.

We tried to catch up on things, but the pitch of my voice is one that she just can not hear. I really wanted to get out paper and write things down so we could "talk," but I held back. She was able to share pictures from 1964, recent pictures taken from her previous lake home at the Lake Okaboji, and tell me about her day to day activities. She is moving much slower than I have seen her move. It is so very sad. She is my only Grandma and Grandparent left living, and the thought of losing her breaks my heart. So, the kids and I decided to make our visits to Grandmas more frequent, and maybe start bringing in lunch, too.

We enjoyed our visit with Grandma Marci and look forward to seeing her again. We hope to go next time with my Mom so my mom can help me talk to her. I see a lunch date in our future.

Where's Your Will?

Chris and I have a will, and we have had one since right after Alivia was born. A tragic accident recently took the lives of one of my high school running mates and her husband, leaving behind their two small children.

This horribly sad accident got Chris and I thinking...are we prepared if this were to happen to us?

Well, yes, but mostly no.

We really have nobody to ask to care for our kiddos in the event that Chris and I are no longer able to do so ourselves. We selected our parents in our will. But, now that we are older and thinking about this, our parents are retired. They would be in their 70's by the time our children are graduated from high school. Although Chris and I are sure that either of our parents would be happy to raise our children, we realize now that they should not be the only option.

When we look to our friends, we really do not know anyone that could take our kids. Our family and friends already have their own families to care for. They really do not have room in their homes or wallets for 3 more kids. We would not think of having them split up...that would just be awful. And, we would hate to see them end up with the State.

After doing some research, I have learned a few things.
1. If someone is not selected or suitable at the time of our death, the court will appoint just about anyone who applies and seems fit. It could be someone that Chris and I would never approve of.
2. There could be a court battle. In our case, the court battle would be for who does NOT want to care for our kids, not the other way around, unfortunately.
3. Even worse, the kids could be given away to a family who does not want them and neglects them or end up in foster care.

So, Chris and I have some major decisions to make...and quickly. Because accidents are not planned, obviously...so we need to be prepared. We do not want to avoid making the decision because it is just too tough to think about.

Off to get willed, again. Wish us luck!

Alivia, The 1st Grader!

Alivia began her 1st grade year at Bell Elementary this morning!

Last night was Bell's open house where Alivia was able to meet her teacher, Ms. Erickson, look around the 1st grade classroom, see some familiar faces, and just get used to the idea that she was going to be in the 1st grade. We came home and she was super excited about beginning her new adventure, and this year I am more confident that she is ready.

Alivia is has worked hard this summer working on the first grade sight words. She found it annoying at first to go through flash cards, but she found it fun when she was able to go through all of them and know them. She also worked on first grade preparation workbooks. Alivia is a very eager learning, which makes teaching her fun. I was amazed how far she has come during the summer. Alivia needed a little boast of confidence, so hopefully knowing a little bit going into first grade will help her succeed. We just started to read chapter books together. She reads a chapter from a level 2 book and then I read a chapter to her of Junie B. Jones. Some parents may disagree, but these little books are the funniest books! We love reading them. We both look forward to quiet time and night time so we can read another chapter. I would highly recommend them!

Anyway, Alivia was awake this morning before 7 out of excitement. She was dressed and ready to go by 7:30. After a few pictures, we were on our way to walk to school for the 8:15 start time (she was only in school until 11:40 today). We got almost up the hill and it began to sprinkle. Addison and Asher were in the covered stroller...so they did not mind. Alivia hardly missed a beat. Once at school, all the kids and parents were inside of school. It was nuts! Addi, Asher and I walked Alivia to the door of her 1st grade class, said a quick good-bye and Addi, Asher, and I were on our way home in the pouring rain. Alivia did fine and so did I! It helped that today was only a 1/2 day and we knew Alivia would be home in a few hours.

When I picked her up, Alivia was quite excited. She reported coloring, working on puzzles and seeing a lot of new and familiar faces. She said they introduced themselves with their name and favorite food, and Alivia said her favorite food was bananas! Good girl!

It is official, Alivia is a first grader...at last!

The 1st Ride

Mark today, August 15, 2010, as the first time Alivia, 6yr,  and Asher, 2yr, rode on the motorcycle. Okay, they did not ride far (they went around the block), nor did Chris drive very fast (topping at 10-20mph), but both Alivia and Asher loved Daddy's motorcycle!

The New Park

Yesterday, we traveled to my hometown to visit my parents and to visit the new town playground. This is a big deal considering the slides that were there were there when my Mom was a little girl. With that said, I do not think they should have sold them!

Anyway, the park is fun now! It is now equipped with playground equipment that we have not seen in Omaha or Papillion! It is really nice. We just hope that people take care of it.

It was a nice visit to the park and then to my parents. Asher got his hair cut and they all got to play. The ride home...was very quiet. What a fun day!

Our week...In water

While other kiddos went back to school, we were enjoying Alivia's last week of summer break. We visited 3 pools, our third being today to Oak Hills Country Club. There were only a handful of people there, so it was awesome! And, Daddy came along with us! Cousins Henry and Ben were already there swimming with Grandma and Grandpa, so the kids were able to play with them for a bit, too. It was really fun! This pool is the only one I could get Chris to go to all summer. Nice and quiet is his perfect place to be.

Alivia has really advanced this summer. She swims with less fear. Next summer hopefully she will perfect her stroke. She even jumped off the diving board and swam to the side. This is a big deal for a little girl afraid of the water.

Addison has improved some. At Zorinsky yesterday, she relaxed a little and moved her arms and kicked her legs. She even jumped in off the side. Now today, she would not hardly get her toes wet. She cried when I insisted that she get in the water. We will see how she does in swimming lessons in 2011. We plan on putting Addison and Asher in lessons together.

Asher has less fear than the girls. Perhaps it is a boy thing. He is now able to jump in from the side and go under. He is not swimming underwater as he swims though, opting to kick his legs and move his arms well while I hold him. He has amazed me with his lack of fear and complete trust in Chris and I. He is so much different than our timid girls!

I believe I will keep up the swimming through the winter months. We love the water and just can not let go of summer!

Our Visit to the Zorinsky Aquatic Center

Today we FINALLY visited the Zorinsky Aquatic Center. We arrived right at noon and the pool was at capacity by 12:30. It was seriously hot at 96 (but our car said 106 when we got in after swimming!). We had heard that if you do not arrive at noon that it may be at capacity, and that is no joke, even with some schools back in session!

The pool itself is a much smaller version of the Fremont Pool. It has a little kid slide station much like what is found at Fremont (but not as nice really), zero entry without the splashing water as you come in (much better for the little ones) and 2 huge water slides. The pool itself is so small. Really, why did they make it so small? At capacity, it was not near as crowded as Papio Bay, though. We could move in the water and there was space on the sides of the pool to jump and play. With that said, the Mommies block the zero entry and the sides, which is kinda annoying. But, on a day like today, who could blame them.

Alivia loved the slide station, selecting the tube slide as her favorite. She swam within view but independently going down the slides. Addison and Asher played near the slides in the zero entry or in the area below where the tube slide came out. They did not care where they were at really. We then played in the deeper areas (4 foot - the pools deepest area is 6 ft or something and there is no diving). Alivia likes to jump in and swim. It took Addi a long time just to get in but she is getting better with relaxing and being less of a board in water. I think she is becoming less afraid, finally. Asher has little fear. He likes to jump in off the side and swim around, while I hold him up of course. Addi and Asher will take lessons in the spring. I believe that by next summer, Asher will no longer want to swim with Mommy...Wah! There will always be Addison...right?

It was a fun afternoon. With temperatures so hot, I could have stayed there all day. Addison was getting tired, so we had to go.

Want to visit Zorinsky's Pool? Items to bring:
Sunscreen, towels, swimsuit (obvious) and swim diapers for the babies
Cash: As with all the pools we visited, cash and sometimes checks are all that is accepted.
Pool toys - Zorinsky's zero entry offers a great space for the little ones to play with their buckets and pool toys.
Snacks and drinks - Yeah...another pool that allows coolers! I did not know that, but I did bring in snacks and a drink anyway. People had larger coolers in there. That is such a perk!
Also, you may want to bring your own chair. I could care less because I can sit on a towel and like to bring in as few things as possible since I go alone (and typically am carrying a child). But, I saw people bring in chairs. There is a shortages of chairs and shade at this pool.

So, this summer we visited Oak Heights, Papio Bay, Fremont Pool, Oak Hills Private Pool (Grandma and Grandpa's pool), and now Zorinsky. We like Fremont probably best...but it is just too far away from us now. We really like Oak Heights and that is probably our favorite. The slides there are great for the kids (Addi and Asher just love them). The pool just has a lot to offer and is rarely at capacity. Next year Alivia may be ready for the bigger slide there or even the diving boards! So, next would be Zorinsky. For our kids' age ranges, it is fun. The slide area is not so good for Addi and Asher who want to go down the slide without the threat of water being dumped on their heads (Addi went down once and Asher went down three times). Fremont is like that, too. The dumping tower at Zorinsky is much smaller than Fremont, but you still get VERY wet for a very long time. It about knocked Asher to the ground when it hit us when we were not expecting it. Oak Hills would be next, but it is private country club pool. We liked the peace and quiet of going there the one time we visited. We would like to go tomorrow again if the rain holds off.  I am not sure I would even put Papio Bay on the list. It was awful and unsafe. We will probably just skip visiting there next year. Seriously, they need to close at capacity so people can swim! Papio Bay is closest to us but we only visited there once. That says a lot.

We had a fun summer in the water. We hope to go to the pool weekly again next summer! Until then...

Are Dryer Sheets Necessary?

A month or so ago, I ran out of dryer sheets. Around here, if I skip a couple days of laundry, I am behind for a week. So, I thought, "Whatever, I will just go without. What difference does it make anyway?"

Well, I have gone without for a month or longer. While Chris was home alone while the kids and I were at the lake, Chris actually (shocker) did a load of laundry! When he went to dry, he was shocked to find we did not have any dryer sheets.

Today I was at Target and was planning on picking up some dryer sheets. The smallest, tiniest box was like $4 or something. Seriously, for a piece of smelly paper? I wondered, how necessary are they anyway. So, I did not buy any and decided to Google..."Are dryer sheets necessary"

This is what I uncovered.

No. Dryer sheets contain a lot of chemicals just to prevent static. Fabric Softener is the not necessary either. It is full of chemicals and makes your clothes smell good, but at what cost exactly? Soap, clearly, is totally necessary. I splurge in this department and buy Tide Free. I may try Target's brand free now just to try it. But Tide works for us. I did read, which I already knew, that one does not have to use as much soap as the manufacturer recommends to get clothes clean.

I am not missing the dryer sheets at all at this point. With that said, it is summer. Things get dryer in the winter, so perhaps I will return to buying them then. For now...I learned that I have been wasting money and trees for a while now. Considering Addi and I require Free detergent and Dove soap, dryer sheets are like the worst things I could have been using anyway (who knew). So, I will now be saving just a few bucks by skipping the whole process. Now...if I could line dry my clothes (oh...clothes line dried smell amazing!) I would be in great shape. PS I have not used fabric softener in years!

Links on the articles I read...very interesting:
Not necessary
What are they for then? http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100325215317AAav5QZ
Not Necessary article 2

I know I know...big nerd girl here. But, while I investigated this, Addi and Asher fell asleep at nap!

Enjoying the Last of Summer

This is the last week before Alivia returns to school and to the first grade. Where did the summer go anyway?

Well, Monday Grandma Bet and Boppa Bill were to take the girls shopping. Instead, they took all of us shopping because Chris was home sick in bed with the blisters on the throat virus. Lovely. So, we all packed in the van and shopped until we dropped. Grandma found a bunch of cute things for the kids and some things they could have done without (a few sparkle balls and a stuffed horse that the kids convinced Grandma and Grandpa that they had to have). It was a fun day. When we returned home, I went to take a picture of the kids with their things and the camera just died. I took a picture in the morning and it was fine. What happened? Who knows...I just know that Chris will be getting another one PRONTO so we can take pictures of Alivia's first day of 1st Grade. Anyway, after shopping, I took the kids to meet a classmate of Alivia's to play. The girls did not talk much...but I am hoping seeing one another will make them both more excited about starting school again. We will see.

Today we wanted to go to a pool. Addison woke up and ate breakfast normally. Then, she said she was really tired and nauseated. Oh no...not again. We are on day 12 of someone in this house being sick. Well, Addison took a 1 1/2 hour nap and woke up asking for lunch. She seemed fine and said she felt all better and wanted to go swimming. So, being the stupid Mommy that I am, I believed her. We packed up and went to Oak Heights, Addison's pick. The kids played and played for 2 hours. We came home, played, ate dinner, and all seemed fine. Then I had to leave to go to a safety class at church. Addi then said she was sick and was upset that I was leaving. I was not sure if she was really sick or just wanted me to stay. Well, I had to go. So, I had to leave sick Addi in the hands of sicker Daddy. Great. 2 1/2 hours later I returned to hear that Addi was quite sick while I was gone with vomiting and some lower GI disturbance. I swear...Addi is going to disappear! She is too tiny to be sick all the time.

Tomorrow is Alivia's shopping day with Grandma Kathy. Addi went last week and just loved her day alone with Grandma. She is still talking about it. So, tomorrow it is Alivia's turn.

Then we just have a few more days until Alivia's summer break will be over. Wah! This time of year is when I always want to look into home schooling. I miss the kids when they are at school!! So, we better soak up summer before it is done!

Now...I would share pictures...if only I had a camera!