Molly....

So, our house is on the market. We don't know if it will sell, it's all in God's hands.

But, here's a post from facebook that I'd like to remember:

Getting ready for our first showing and Molly's pretend friend just made a mess in her bedroom. I sent the pretend friend home and Molly is cleaning her room. This is impossible.

Santa Picture 2013

Every year we do a Santa picture with the Domrese clan. At that time, we get our kids' pictures with Santa too. They look so grown up this year!

Heimlich Round 2

So, one day I was teaching kindergarten/first grade and I happened to be at the right (wrong) place at the right (wrong) time and had to perform the Heimlich maneuver on one of my first graders. It worked quickly and the kiddo was fine. But it was pretty scary and it took me a long time to calm down. I had the boys shortly after that and thus instituted the "No choking no puking" rule at our house.

Fast forward to last week. The kids are at awana. Thomas asks if he can eat the warhead (hard candy) he won at awana. I see him talking to another adult, he quickly turns away and she follows in horror. I walk over to him (quickly) and he starts mouthing, "I'M CHOKING!" with this look of panic on his face as he grabbed his throat and turned a deep shade of red/purple. Kids were gathering, so I pulled him in close with my arms around his waist and tried to listen real close for breathing. No air was coming in or out. So I did the Heimlich maneuver and pop! That candy came out. But when he sucked back in for air, it got stuck again. So one more maneuver and that candy went down. Holy crap. As I was doing it, all I could think was, "What if this doesn't work?" And yet, the maneuver has never failed me. It's consistently worked.

Pretty sure I've now done my share of choking and dislodging items from children. I'm not sure my heart can take that much adrenaline again. Sheesh! Thomas was pretty freaked out and wanted to go home immediately (where we snuggled), but all is good again.

Just a friendly reminder to know your moves. :)

The Small Moments

As this school year progresses, it occurs to me more and more frequently that the girls will be in full-time school next year and these are my final moments with them. I try to savor the moments as often as I can and really live in the moment.

We've been doing a lot of painting lately. So much fun!

 

Dance class. Aren't they darling? 

Painting with cousin Kierra.

                                    Playing outside. You can see Molly driving and Katie riding on the back.
                                    This did not end well when Molly hit the gas. But it was fun to see them all
                                    playing outside.

 

One of my current favorite moments. Molly doing Katie's makeup

before preschool. Isn't it adorable? Perhaps a glance into my future?

Tooth Be Gone!

Joshua has waited so long for this moment. A life-changing moment really. He lost his first tooth! He's 8 years old, and Thomas has lost 7 teeth. So this was an extra special moment. Plus, he looks so different without that tooth! What a big moment! No longer a little kid, now a big kid!

**Oh, and it's a crazy picture because he'd just finished his performance as a pirate and had facial hair drawn on him.

Peter Pan & The Picadilles

Joshua did a fall class at the Civ.ic Theat.er that concluded with a performance of Peter Pan & The Picadilles. He was cast as pirate #1. He always loves the classes and watching him perform is always fun! Here are a few pictures!

Interviews

The boys are now 8 years old and the girls are 4 1/2. I take a video interview of them every 6 months. It's so fun to see how they've changed over the years!

Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkin carving was a little delayed this year and got done JUST before Halloween. We started off letting them pick their own stencils and then we kind of cut it out. Then we realized that they weren't getting any creativity and very little part in the pumpkin carving process. So we tossed the stencils (except Molly's whose was already done) and let the kids design their own. It was one of the best ideas we ever had and I believe it'll be the way we do it from now on. The kids had so much fun and their smiles and giggles were infections.

Halloween 2013

Normally I like to have a little hand in the kids' costumes and help them decide and guide them to something fun. This year, they had total control. And that was fun too!

Thomas: The ninja (year2)
Joshua: The magician
Katie: Minnie Mouse
Molly: Cinderella

All so fitting. Each kiddo was perfectly content with their costume and we had a great great Halloween. We ventured off the tradition a bit this year. We had dinner with my family (my mom, dad, brother and his family, and grandma) at IHOP. The kids had an absolute blast. We then went back to tradition.

Halloween at greatma's.

2006

 2007

 2008

 2009

 2011

 2012

 2013

Then off to grandma Alice's...

 

 

**I looked for my 2006 picture with grandma Alice and grandpa Lyle, but couldn't find it. Then I remembered that grandpa Lyle had taken the pictures that year. And then afterwards realized he didn't have a memory card in. *giggle* Remember grandma Alice? What a memory!

 

2007

 2008

 2009

 2011

 2012

 2013

 

This year my brother and his family joined us for trick-or-treating in grandma Alice's neighborhood. It was so much fun being together and trick-or-treating with all the cousins together! We were out for about an hour and then the kids' buckets were full and we went home. A great Halloween for sure.

Like Mother Like Daughter?

This kid will be the death of me. Her attitude, her sass, and disobedience keep me searching for new parenting strategies. But her smile and sweet side make me thankful she's mine.

My mom likes to comment that she's just like her mama. I hope so. Because I clearly grew out of it. ;)

The Writing On the Walls

My facebook post reads like this:

"Something is wrong with me. So many mamas would cringe at the wall. It's not something that bothers me. And as I prepare to paint over it I reminisce about the boys doing it at age 3 and the adventure they must've had. I know. I'm weird."

You see, we want to move. And so we are preparing the house to go on the market. The playroom was one of the first places we started to work. When the girls were first born, the boys would go up there and play. At one point they found some sharpies and drew all over the walls. Oddly enough it didn't bother me (too much). I was likely overwhelmed with the girls at the moment, and thought to myself that at least they were happily engaged in something. So, as we prepare to move on to a new house, I had to paint the walls. And paint over those markings and drawings that they had done. And my heart hurt just a little. Another phase that I must say good-bye to. No more writing on the wall. I'll miss those little boys (in fact I already do). I'll miss those writings on the wall.

Was 2005 Really EIGHT Years Ago??!?!?!?!

But they started so tiny?

 

And they were such adorable babies and toddlers?

 

And yet at 8 years old they are so much fun.

 

Thomas is a sweet kid. You don't always get to see it because he's such a boy. But he's the first to snuggle me, the first to help his sisters, and has such a tender heart. That being said, he's active, a complete goofball, and now understands and applies sarcasm. Oops. ;) He loves soccer, basketball, playing his DS (video games) and playing with friends. He's so social and wants to always be with someone doing something.

 

 

Joshua is a sensitive soul. When he makes a friend, he makes a friend for life. He is funny, dramatic, and altogether awesome.  He loves taking civic theater classes (acting), soccer, doing magic and essentially ENTERTAINING! He likes to make people laugh!

 

As always, they each got to pick a theme for a party.

 

Thomas chose pokemon. I made pokemon cupcakes for the party at the base. There were FORTY-FIVE people at the party. And it went without a hitch. We were able to let the boys invite whomever they wanted and it showed us that they have some really great friends!

 

For the family party Joshua chose Harry Potter (we read the first book and watched the movie recently). Many people came to the party and the kids had a great time.

 



 

 





My Mama- Grandma Patti

I try to keep the blog all about the kids. A record of sorts about their childhoods and things I don't want to forget. The things they say, the things we do as a family, etc. But, to some degree, I also want to record events that take place too. Not knowing the journey, not knowing the path, we never know how this will affect us in the end.

My mama, grandma Patti was diagnosed with breast cancer in October. She quickly had surgery to remove the tumor. It was caught very early. The cancer was very small. The prognosis very good. The plan was to remove the tumor, do radiation, and call it good. After surgery they discovered that the cancer had spread to one lymph node. This prompted more conversations. Another test is currently being done (today is November 8th) and the results will be back shortly which will give more information as to whether or not chemo is needed.

We made shirts to support grandma and her fight.

September Training= Single Mommy

I think Dan's been gone for trainings/deployments about 6 of the last 18 months. It's really nothing compared to the soldiers gone for long deployments, but for this mama, it's been a lot! Dan's missed half of the girls' birthdays and about 1/3 of the boys' birthdays. This time he was gone all of September to complete his officer training. It was only a month, and it happened to be the first month of school so we were really busy! But we missed him a lot!

He missed the first day of dance for the girls.

 He missed Joshua's first day of hip hop class.

 

And so much more! And when he got home we were so very very excited. Meeting him at the airport was a real treat!