A Great Day!

I woke up wondering if this was a good idea or not...A birthday party for about 11-12 two year olds. It was pouring rain, cloudy, gloomy and the weather wasn't looking very good for the day. We were supposed to see remnants of a tropical storm hitting the coast but it was short lived. As I went for my monring I run, I said a few prayers. He always amazes me~He was listening! I got ready to go and pick up Jordan from preschool and the skies became blue and the sun was beating down. It turned into a beautiful day!   Birthday parties for young children, when you are away from family, are very hard to do. He sees his brothers having birthday parties with their friends and of course he wants one too. Jordan celebrated his 3 year birthday today after his last day of preschool. We had it at the house and it was perfect! He had his preschool class over after their last day.  His birthday is not until June 10th but I did this last year and it was so nice to just have his special day with out his big brothers around and I can really enjoy it too. They get out of school on June 7th. It was just long enough for everyone to play, eat lunch, and have cake and they were all pretty exhausted. Then it was off to get big brothers from school, do homework, and Coop had hockey...yes, I am exhausted now too.

Jake

Jake is getting bigger! He was neutered in March and it made him a calmer puppy! He is a pretty good pup! He loves chewing on things. He gets excited when new people come over to visit. That's all to be expected of a puppy. He is very protective of the kids, Charlie and I. He has all of the 5 1/2 acres to roam as Charlie had put up the electic fence and he wears the collar except for at bedtime when he goes to his kennel in the garage. I think that keeps him so happy. We trained him on it and after a couple of times getting zapped he knows his boundary. He has not jumped in the pool yet. I thought labs like the water but I am fine with him just watching us swim. I don't need the pool filled with black hair. He is funny when the boys go under water and they pop back up he barks at them! When he was gone that day to have his surgery it was weird to walk outside and not have him there to greet you. He is our other child and he is loved very much. He has also become a pretty good running partner too.
Here is a recent picture of Jake he is 7 months old...

Run Mommy Run!

My Biggest Fans!

Amy and I after the race!

So I ran my first long race this year in mid April, The Tar Heel Ten Miler. I trained and ran with my dear friend Amy. It was a beautiful and challenging course! We did a great job! My goal was not to walk up Laurel Hill. It is an awful large hill in Chapel Hill! I attained that goal! I finished in 1:24. We were able to bring the boys to watch and they cheered us on. We had a student watch them in the football stadium. That is where the race began and ended, in Kenan Stadium. The boys thought that was pretty cool. I will look forward to it again next year.
We will be running another race together next Saturday, June 2nd in Durham. It is Running of the Bulls 8K (5 Miles). It starts in the old Durham Bulls ballpark and also ends in the ballpark. It was were they filmed the movie in the 80s. The Durham Bulls have a newer ballpark they play in now.
I am blessed to have such a great friend to run with and we keep each other motivated! It makes running a lot more enjoyable! I love running and that is my release from daily activities. I also enjoy the accomplishment! I think it is also my drug:) I do have to say I enjoy the endorphins! There is such a thing called runners high! The boys are either going to love it or hate it as they also become my running partners some days...Jordan in the stroller and the other two on their bikes. Cooper likes to run if I only do 2 or 3.
I am not planning on running any events again until fall. Amy and I did the Ramblin Rose 1/2 Marathon in Durham as a two person relay last fall and we are ready to tackle the whole course ourselves this year! That is October 21st.


Amy and I and our kiddos. Her oldest ran the 4 mile!

Braedyn's Favorite Breakfast!

Braedyn has this every sunday, it has turned into a tradition. Sunday rolls!

YUMMY!

Need some meat on those bones!!!

School Year for 2012 Coming To An End!

It's here ~ May madness! The school year is wrapping up. A lot of firsts! Jordan's first year of preschool, Cooper's first year in kindergarten, and Braedyn's first year at a new school, Hillsborough Elementary.

First day of school! This year flew by!

We couldn't have been more pleased with our move to this new year round school. We absolutely love the school and the staff. Most of all the schedule! The boys have made such strides in their education. I love their passion for learning!
Braedyn worked his butt off  after finding out this school was ahead of where he was at. He was in the bottom level reading group at the beginning of the year (you might have an idea now why we switched) (no challenge) and now he is one of the top 3 readers in his class and is leading reading groups. His teacher has him helping kids in his class. I feel quite lucky that I can just tell him to go  do his homework and all I have to do is check it, but sad when it came to fractions and he needed help, I said you need to have your dad help you out with that! Oh things to come, I hope he pays good attention in Math because momma can't help you out with that. I know how to balance my checkbook and that's about it! They did practice EOG's to wrap up the year. They really stress the kids out with EOG's here. He has a made a lot of new friends at his new school and tells me daily how much he likes it there. Onto 3rd grade next year! Wow, weird to say that!

Cooper and his teacher Ms. Spence

Cooper's kindergarten year was great! He loves school! However, he does not enjoy getting up in the morning. He takes after his momma! His reading amazes me. These days they really start early! He had a lot of fun and his teacher was great and so enthusiastic! I helped out when I could and he has made some great friends. They just wrapped up a play which I have posted here it is in two parts....It was the Princess and the Pea. He was a Very Cute Prince! He had his kindergarten wrap up and "graduation" a couple weeks ago. I shed a few tears because I can't believe how fast it goes! I do miss having him at home. He will be into 1st grade and again Wow!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyfrEe3VZMo&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHC-yraY9qE&feature=youtu.be

They will be doing their field days on June 4th and Jordan and I are going to help out. Their last day of school is June 7th which is a half day and they go back July 16th.  It will go fast!
Jordan had his first year of 2's preschool. He loves Ms. Melissa and Ms. Betty. He gets excited on school mornings. He enjoys it but also enjoy his alone time with mommy. It was also nice for me to get a couple days a week to myself in the mornings while he was at preschool. His last day of preschool is May 30th. So he will have a couple more weeks just with mom before the boys are out. He will be in the 3's preschool class next year twice a week.  Here's Jordan singing his ABC's he missed a couple letters:) I can't figure out how to save to my computer...you have to log into facebook...
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=3506846662713

We are looking forward to having a break and no more driving back and forth and getting up early!

I'm Back!

Sorry, I have been so bad at keeping up this blog. Yes, it has been quite awhile that I have found time to get back to this blog and I guess I will recap March and April and May...it's been so hectic with sports, schools and everyone's schedules this spring I don't know where the time has gone! So this may get long:)!
The last post was about Cooper's thumb sucking...we are still struggling with it. He goes in spurts. He really wants to stop and sometimes catches himself or Braedyn is quick to let us know. We did the Malvala on his nails but after awhile he decided it wasn't that bad after all...grrr that was our last stitch effort. According to the dentist, that seems to work for everyone she knows who has tried it. As we know, Cooper's not the norm! At least he's only doing it when he is tired or going to bed but we continue to keep trying and be patient. So if you see any weird contraptions on his thumb he hasn't broken it, it's our last effort to get him to stop!
We enjoyed our three week intersession break in March for spring break. We just hung out at home and opened up the pool! The weather was so nice and since getting a cover for it and turning on the solar panels, it kept the heat in. It was nice to just be home with them and enjoy our time together and not have to rush out the door.
This spring Braedyn's spring baseball little league started. He is playing in Hillsborough again with HYAA (Hillsborough Youth Athletic Association).  It's pretty competitive and he loves it. He is in the machine pitch league and this is his last year in that league before moving to kid pitch in the fall. The pitching machine for this league is set at 40-45 mph. I don't think I could hit it (that's not saying much)...it seems pretty fast. He is doing great this year! His hitting streak continues thru 7 games!!!  When he got a double this last game, his smile was from ear to ear. Daddy is helping coach and he is really good with the kids.  Both boys love baseball and have found a way to hit at home...but I'm not sure if I like their idea. So they got tired of chasing balls and mom was to cheap to go and get a pitch back net, they decided they would hit tennis balls against the house...they have not broken a window -yet! This sounds silly but it sure has helped both their swing. They are out there everyday for hours just hitting it against the house. They bounce it on the driveway and then swing away...it also gives Jake a good workout chasing the balls. I guess I will let them do it until they break a window in the house or in the car. Charlie was in the car wash one day and continued thru to the dryer and saw something fly by the window - he thought the vehicle was falling apart...no- it was just a tennis ball that had gotten lodged somewhere in the Hummer!
Here's some pics from baseball... Grandpa Bode makes a cameo...my parents were here and happen to catch some games and Grandpa kept the books! I bet that brought back some memories for him coaching my brother's games thru school. It was special to see him sitting in the dugout with the team and sitting with Braedyn and Cooper! I am thankful he and the boys both got that experience! Baseball is coming to an end in a couple weeks for us. Braedyn wanted to try out for travel 8U All Stars and he more than likely would have made it since we know all the kids in it and he is at that skill level but mom put her foot down. We talked it over and he also decided he just wants to have fun. Agreed! Practice four times a week and tournaments on weekends...they are 8! I want Braedyn to enjoy baseball for a long time. I could go on and on about this topic -that's for another blog. Kids should be kids they have all their youth to be involved. There is such a thing called Burn Out! Everything in Moderation...I try to follow that rule:) So instead of travel ball I told Braedyn he could pick a camp to go to and he chose Carolina Little Tar Heel camp so he will be attending that for a week in June. He went last year and loved it. It was a bonus for him last year, because his favorite player for the Tar Heels who also got drafted by the MN Twins, Levi Micheal, was helping out with camp. I grew up a Twins fan, as will they, but for them growing up in Chapel Hill they are Tar Heel fans too! How great for boys to grow up near a college campus and have access to things their mom and dad did not. Even if we were still in Minnesota I don't think I would have taken the boys to MN Gopher baseball camp...downtown Minneapolis...everything is so accessible here! Just down the road! Lucky Boys!

Cooper really enjoys baseball too but with his birthday being in July he doesn't make the cut off date for the league that he should be in. They have a strict policy on age in HYAA. He would have to play t-ball again and he did not want to play t-ball. Last year, parents were worried he was going to hurt someone because kids in that league sometimes would rather play in the dirt then play ball! He would smoke the ball and he has to play with younger kids... So he decided to get back to hockey in March. He missed it. He took almost a whole year off but you wouldn't know it. He didn't skip a beat. His goal is to make the mites team this fall so I called to see if he could move up to a different group. He was supposed to be in the Rink Rats group which is 3-5 year old and he doesn't turn 6 until July. I talked to the program director who has known Cooper since he was 3 and he agreed Cooper could move up. We didn't really know what ages would show up since it says Learn to Play is for 6-13 year old. Most of the kids are 9 and 10 and in 3rd grade because they play in the squirts league.  This has made Cooper's skill level vastly improve! He is beating kids that are two-three years older than him. He's got the drive to take on the fastest skater out there and try to beat him. He doesn't like to get beat. I love watching him because he amazes me out there. It's also fun because he doesn't really know how good he is -he is just having fun-which is the best part!! He just goes to lessons once a week during summer then fall league will start up! He is excited for that. That will be his sport of choice at least for now. He will be going to Carolina baseball camp this year in June with Braedyn.  Hockey camp wasn't going to work with school schedule since we start school in July!  I don't have any good pics of hockey because its too hard to get some good shots. I will try and get some this summer...
So lil Jordan who gets carted around to all these sporting events just takes it in. He has voiced his opinion a few times! He wants to play hockey with Cooper and wants to play football when he gets bigger. He asks me daily, if I will come watch him play football at Carolina! So cute! So he will start skating lessons this fall, about the same time Cooper did. At least I have all the gear to hand down as Cooper out grows it. We will see how that goes. I can't believe how fast the time goes. A friend asked us to sign him up for t-ball who's son is the same age and it got me thinking. Wow, that's when Braedyn and Cooper started playing t-ball. I did not sign him up. I can't take on another activity right now.  If he ends up not liking skating he might try soccer with his little buddy Thomas. I want my summer with my boys to be enjoyed at home playing and swimming in the pool. Summer goes by way to fast for us and they grow up too fast!
Now onto school and another post since this one is so long!
~Allie

Thumb sucking

Thumb sucking is truly an addiction! We have tried everything just short of cutting off Cooper's thumb. Many of you know Bobby. He was a member of our family for quite awhile. Cooper did not leave the house without Bobby. I'll never forget my mother rummaging through a garbage can at the mall in search of Bobby because half way home we figured out he left Bobby somewhere at the mall and we had to go back and get him. I also remember our neighbors in MN searching for Bobby at their house for an entire evening until we found it. Bobby and his thumb went hand in hand. If Cooper had Bobby he surely had his thumb in his mouth. At 4,we decided that it was time for Bobby and Cooper to part ways because Bobby was starting to lose his insides. I did a few minor operations with some quick sutures but he was no longer able to be fixed. It was time for him to be put away in the keepsake box. We were also advised by our dentist that he needed to stop sucking his thumb so we thought without Bobby that would be accomplished. It took awhile and also a trip to the dentist and he finally quit. The dentist told him he needed to quit and at that same visit he saw what Braedyn had to have put in his mouth (an expander because of a cross bite) and he did NOT want that thing in his mouth.  Our success continued thru the summer until it was time to start kindergarten.

He started sucking his thumb again when school started and I just figured it was because of the change and anxiety of going to school. Well it continued and actually got worse. I don't even think he was aware of it when he was doing it. He would come home from school and it was like he had to have his fix. He would run into the house, grab his pillow pet, and sit on the couch sucking his thumb. He transferred the affection from Bobby to his pillow pet.  We tried bribes, threats, telling stories, talking about it, and also spraying stuff on his fingers you would use for your dogs so they wouldn't bite your furniture (it was safe for humans).  Nothing was working and his teeth were getting messed up but at least he hadn't lost his baby teeth yet.

I called the dentist and they recommended I order this stuff called Malvala off of Amazon.com. I did. He got home from school yesterday and I asked him if I could paint his fingernails. Of course he said yes because he is usually the one asking me if he can have his fingernails painted. So I was careful not to get it on my fingers but not as careful as I thought! It's NASTY! I said nothing about it and he went on to play. At dinnertime they watch some cartoons while I get it ready. All of a sudden I heard "Oh man -yuck I need a drink". He kept making spitting noises. Braedyn was laughing (he knew what I did). He also wasn't supposed to say anything and of course he spilled the beans and said it wasn't nail polish its stuff to make you stop sucking your thumb.  So I was surprised at Cooper's reaction.  He didn't have a fit. He just went to the bathroom and got a drink. I told him he couldn't wash it off and he seemed okay with it. I think he wanted to stop but he just couldn't. Last night he was up about 4 times. I only heard him get up once. Daddy took over. He didn't want to suck his thumb because he tried once and couldn't get the taste out of his mouth so when he kept getting up he couldn't get back to sleep. Charlie took him upstairs and he threw his pillow pet across the room and was getting so frustrated but finally fell back asleep. So we are on day 2 with no thumb sucking! He is so proud and has a reward chart for it. He also thinks daddy is going to buy him a dirt bike if he stops. I am not sure if that will happen but he will get rewarded for his accomplishment. So this Malvala stuff really works and I also am hoping that the first shellacking lasts a long time because I don't think he is going to be so quick to paint his nails again.