It is (finally) time for the last installment of the 2010 Martens 5 family blog/letter. I saved myself for last, not because I am the "best" but because I was hoping to be the easiest one to write. I knew today, specifically this evening, would be busy, and I was kind of hoping to knock this out quickly. I shouldn't have to think to hard to come up with material.....I lived this post, after all.
I can't believe this year is almost over. Time really does fly when you are having fun......and getting old(er). My life has a lot of people and things that bring me such JOY.....and there are things I wish could change. As with every year, I wish I had ate less and exercised more. 2011 has got to bring a change in my physical health and my mental attitude toward healthier eating and physical fitness. Check back on December 31, 2011 to see how well that worked out.
This year I had two health scares, one was finding cancer in my ear. What started out as a small sore that wouldn't heal, ended up with me having a basal cell cancer that had to be cut out of my outer ear. Thankfully, when I left the office I left the cancer there and have not seen it since. Other than the surgery and check ups every 6 months for a couple of years, my life didn't deviate from the norm. I am so thankful and grateful to God for that. Being considered a cancer survivor now is one more accomplishment to add to my list. In June, right before starting my new job(more on that later) I injured my back and literally could do nothing but eat pain pills and lay in bed for a week. The MRI showed two herniated discs pressing on the nerve root in my lumbar spine. Lovely news. It is shocking how much back pain can affect even the smallest things in life. While I can't say that I have done everything in my power to make my back "better" I do think that my immediate choices are either live with it or surgery. Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure.......I am way to young to feel this damn old.
After five years working for the Department of Mental Health(yes, I do qualify for state retirement benefits now!) I resigned from my job at Western Missouri Mental Health Center, and now work for Tri-County Mental Health. This is a community mental health center and I am a registered nurse for one of the psychiatrist that sees both children and adults. I am so thankful for this job. Becoming a full time worker-bee was not the initial plan when I started looking into a job change, but this job fell into my lap and I couldn't say No. There have been some pretty major adjustments to our lifestyle, and there are some nights when I still can't believe I have to go to work again the next day. Time management is still a problem for me when it comes to balancing time for work, time for my family, and then time for ME. My co-workers are my favorite part of my job, well that, and the fact that I am making a difference and saving lives! HAHAHAHA. Thankfully, there are very few true emergencies in mental health, and while saving lives may be a bit overzealous, I do think that working with the mentally ill is a total gift from God, and where I was meant to be. God is so good.
On Wednesday nights my time is spent teaching and learning with the teenagers of our church. I am a co-leader of a Bible Study and am getting to be a youth leader for some of the group special events. I attended Spiritfest this summer and was blown away by the band Tobymac and the love of our God by the youth there. A youth lock-in, a "relationships" class, and several other fun activity nights were part of my year, and I have already booked two Saturdays in January with youth activities...one of them a youth retreat and the other is a weekend long youth fest. I can't even begin to describe what a blessing this journey has been for my spiritual and mental growth. I am learning God's Word and connecting with a age group that otherwise would have remained a mystery to me for a couple more years.
What brings Sarah JOY, you ask? reading non-fiction(practically a non-existant hobby right now) watching my girls play sports, going on dates with my husband, shopping, drinking hot tea, Diet Mt Dew, refined sugar in any form, laughing, watching KU basketball, Royals baseball, spending time with my brother(rare), talking to my mom on the phone almost daily, listening to Tess practice piano, snuggling with Jane, listening to Kate "read" a book to me, watching movies, a good haircut, new shoes, leggings, home improvements, pastry/breads, bringing JOY to others through mission work, getting to listen to music while I am at work and no one cares if I sing, tanning gel, my new deck furniture, Very Hollywood perfume by Michael Kors, and anything the color red.
Thanks for reading my week long recap of The Martens 5. We are so thankful to have such amazing family and friends to share our lives with. I hope 2011 continues to be filled with God's grace and mercy.....goodness knows, I need all of the help I can get.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Brogan Tess Martens
My nine year old, going on nineteen, daughter. The oldest of my three beautiful beauties. I can't believe I am even old enough to have a 9 year old child.
Tess started third grade and is loving it. This was the first year that grades actually count for something and her report cards have been stellar. At the beginning of the year we set some expectations and so far, she is meeting them. We had her parent teacher conference and the teacher's biggest concern? That sometimes she has to remind Tess that she is NOT the teacher. I just laughed and said, "sometimes I have to remind her she's not the mother!" If this is the biggest concern, I'll take it. She excels at reading and language arts, she can do the math if she would just slow down and check her work, and she loves the science and social studies topics. We slave away at book reports every couple of weeks for a measly 10 points each, and she earned her way to a Literature Festival in March waaaaay before the deadline to complete the work. I get to be a parent chaperone to this Festival and can't wait...this is a field trip I can get excited about!
Tess loves playing sports, reading books, drawing, singing, dancing, laughing, playing her DSi, watching Discovery channel(especially Mythbusters) peace signs, smiley faces, pajama pants, skinny jeans, wearing boots, funny socks, bright colors, roller skating, riding her bike, watching and playing sports with her daddy, getting mani/pedis, growing out her bangs, learning trivia and weird facts, non-fiction books, creating power point presentations on the computer, playing with friends, swimming, going to the library, animals, shopping with gift cards and learning about the Titanic.
Softball and Basketball are the two sports that make Tess happy, and us as parents, smile with pride. She played on a team this year that did really well and had fun...we couldn't have asked for better. The older Tess gets, the harder the competition gets, so we are excited(and anxious) about the thought of Tess playing "kid pitch"softball this spring. We are very lucky to have a coach that is fantastic and that we trust with our girl....not to mention that he lets Andy help coach. Andy is also going to coach Tess's basketball team this month, with games that start next weekend. This will be the first time Tess will play organized, competition basketball. Thanks to her daddy, she got her first pair of "Jordans" and can't wait to play some ball.
Tess started with a new music teacher this fall for piano and voice lessons. We really liked Tess's previous teacher, but wanted Tess to have a better foundation in the fundamentals of music. We were very lucky to be referred to a teacher here in town(such a blessing) that is good with kids, believes in teaching music theory, and challenges Tess to do her best. Voice lessons are a new treat for Tess and so far she is having a blast. Her first recital for piano and voice was in November and we were so proud of her performances. She did her very best and had FUN. Coming from parents with both instrumental and vocal music backgrounds, it will be interesting where her heart leads her. Who knows, she may find a way to do both. I just know that I love love love watching my baby perform.
Speaking of perform, Tess got to perform in her first drama club play this winter. She was an elf, had one line, got to sing and dance, and have a cast party afterwards. You would have thought she was on Broadway for all the excitement and preparation involved. At the last minute she was asked by the teacher to stand up front, use the microphone, and introduce the program before it started. Her smiles, singing, dancing, and speaking part were done with such enthusiasm, she was definately channeling her inner Martens drama queen. Tess also had a speaking part in the Christmas pageant at church and was fantastic. She and Kate sang a duet and were a hit. It was truly a "Holy" moment watching my two angels, dressed as angels, singing like angels.
Being the oldest, Tess gets to have more privileges, but also has higher expectations and gets stuck doing things that I know she would rather not do. I am so grateful that she only rolls her eyes at me maybe once a day, and sighs in disgust maybe twice, when I ask her to do something totally above and beyond the normal 9 year old stuff. It is a such blessing to have girls that love each other all of the time and like each other most of the time.
Tess has always be an amazing kid. Unfortunately we are waaaay too much alike, and I sometimes have flashbacks of myself at her age when we are butting heads. I just hope and pray that she truly understands someday what a gift she has been given. God has given her such a loving, smart, funny, and engaging personality and I can't wait to see where it, and He takes her. Until then, I'll just sit back, hold on tight, and (try to) enjoy the ride.
Tess started third grade and is loving it. This was the first year that grades actually count for something and her report cards have been stellar. At the beginning of the year we set some expectations and so far, she is meeting them. We had her parent teacher conference and the teacher's biggest concern? That sometimes she has to remind Tess that she is NOT the teacher. I just laughed and said, "sometimes I have to remind her she's not the mother!" If this is the biggest concern, I'll take it. She excels at reading and language arts, she can do the math if she would just slow down and check her work, and she loves the science and social studies topics. We slave away at book reports every couple of weeks for a measly 10 points each, and she earned her way to a Literature Festival in March waaaaay before the deadline to complete the work. I get to be a parent chaperone to this Festival and can't wait...this is a field trip I can get excited about!
Tess loves playing sports, reading books, drawing, singing, dancing, laughing, playing her DSi, watching Discovery channel(especially Mythbusters) peace signs, smiley faces, pajama pants, skinny jeans, wearing boots, funny socks, bright colors, roller skating, riding her bike, watching and playing sports with her daddy, getting mani/pedis, growing out her bangs, learning trivia and weird facts, non-fiction books, creating power point presentations on the computer, playing with friends, swimming, going to the library, animals, shopping with gift cards and learning about the Titanic.
Softball and Basketball are the two sports that make Tess happy, and us as parents, smile with pride. She played on a team this year that did really well and had fun...we couldn't have asked for better. The older Tess gets, the harder the competition gets, so we are excited(and anxious) about the thought of Tess playing "kid pitch"softball this spring. We are very lucky to have a coach that is fantastic and that we trust with our girl....not to mention that he lets Andy help coach. Andy is also going to coach Tess's basketball team this month, with games that start next weekend. This will be the first time Tess will play organized, competition basketball. Thanks to her daddy, she got her first pair of "Jordans" and can't wait to play some ball.
Tess started with a new music teacher this fall for piano and voice lessons. We really liked Tess's previous teacher, but wanted Tess to have a better foundation in the fundamentals of music. We were very lucky to be referred to a teacher here in town(such a blessing) that is good with kids, believes in teaching music theory, and challenges Tess to do her best. Voice lessons are a new treat for Tess and so far she is having a blast. Her first recital for piano and voice was in November and we were so proud of her performances. She did her very best and had FUN. Coming from parents with both instrumental and vocal music backgrounds, it will be interesting where her heart leads her. Who knows, she may find a way to do both. I just know that I love love love watching my baby perform.
Speaking of perform, Tess got to perform in her first drama club play this winter. She was an elf, had one line, got to sing and dance, and have a cast party afterwards. You would have thought she was on Broadway for all the excitement and preparation involved. At the last minute she was asked by the teacher to stand up front, use the microphone, and introduce the program before it started. Her smiles, singing, dancing, and speaking part were done with such enthusiasm, she was definately channeling her inner Martens drama queen. Tess also had a speaking part in the Christmas pageant at church and was fantastic. She and Kate sang a duet and were a hit. It was truly a "Holy" moment watching my two angels, dressed as angels, singing like angels.
Being the oldest, Tess gets to have more privileges, but also has higher expectations and gets stuck doing things that I know she would rather not do. I am so grateful that she only rolls her eyes at me maybe once a day, and sighs in disgust maybe twice, when I ask her to do something totally above and beyond the normal 9 year old stuff. It is a such blessing to have girls that love each other all of the time and like each other most of the time.
Tess has always be an amazing kid. Unfortunately we are waaaay too much alike, and I sometimes have flashbacks of myself at her age when we are butting heads. I just hope and pray that she truly understands someday what a gift she has been given. God has given her such a loving, smart, funny, and engaging personality and I can't wait to see where it, and He takes her. Until then, I'll just sit back, hold on tight, and (try to) enjoy the ride.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Jane Gracen Martens
It's time to talk about our two and a half year old daughter, Jane. Where do I even begin?
2010 has been a fun and fun-ny year. We have watched our baby become a little girl. She has an ever expanding vocabulary, funny faces/expressions, emotional outbursts, sassy attitude, an endearing smile, a naughty smile and a wonderful ability to work a crowd for laughs. While we don't even question anymore that she is our last biological child to bless our lives (I am always open to loving more children into our home) it does make my heart ache as I think of Jane outgrowing the baby stages and getting more independent.
We have funny kids. This is a fact. Each one has been unique in their sense of humor and those characteristics have carried on as they have matured. What made them funny as a baby is still what makes them funny as adolescents. Jane is just a crazy fun kid. She can be a real pill to be around too.....lordy don't cross her when she is in a snit.......but typically laughter is the response she is looking for. Sometimes we still have a problem understanding what she is trying to say, to which she compensates by talking slower and louder at us....we aren't deaf Jane, just stupid!
Recently she has been on a kick of repeating movie lines and phrases that she has heard on television. The movie clip from Megamind "Olo.....It's Hello....oohh" is her trademark right now. She also loves the movies Open Season, Over the Hedge, Madagascar, Marmaduke, Despicable Me, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Toy Story 3, and anything else animated, action packed and funny. She tends to get on streaks of wanting to watch the same movie over and over and over.....
Jane loves music. She loves loves loves to dance and listen to music. While most kids her age are singing kiddie songs and learning nursery rhymes, Jane is asking to listen to "the 3-3 station!" (which is Mix 93.3...not my idea....her daddy likes that station). This Christmas our beloved 2 year received an Ipod shuffle as a gift and knew EXACTLY what it was when she opened it, stating "It's an Ipod!" and then insisting on listening to it while she opened the rest of her gifts. She is also know to spontaneously break into her version of Beyonce's "Single Ladies" ...which can be awkward in mixed company.
The things that make Jane smile are as follows: pickles, apple juice, Scooby Doo fruit snacks, chocolate, her pah, her cee, dancing(also known in our house as shaking your booty), singing (Twinkle Twinkle, Row Row Row your Boat, and Rock Chalk Jayhawk) watching movies and cartoons, coloring, playing with Play Dough, Barbies, stuffed animals, pushing her babies in strollers, playing kitchen, taking baths, playing outside, nuggling (snuggling), wrestling with her daddy, wearing boots, trying to be like her big sisters, and being with her Grandpa Loren/Grandpa Ken.
Finding a a new toy for Jane is always a challenge, as there are very few things on the market that we haven't already had in a similar color/style/version/category. She is surrounded by toys that are for older girls, so she can't help but be bored by typical 2 year old toys and seek out toys/objects intended for an older child....do you know another 2 year old that has an actual Ipod? She's a smart kid, and she is a naughty kid......so you can guess what kind of parent teacher conferences we are going to have. Let's just say she doesn't just look like a Martens.
Jane's nicknames are Janey, Jingle Jane, Stink, Sissy, Baby Jane, BJ, and Boo. When we introduce her she points to herself to make sure others clearly understand that she is Jane. We love to play the "Boy or Girl?" game. We ask her if someone is a boy or girl...and she is usually spot on. If we try to trick her, she is quick to let us know. Once I asked her if her daddy was a boy, and she said NO. When I questioned her answer she said, "he's a Silly Boy!"
I don't know what else to say about our beautiful baby Jane......yet I don't think I could ever run out of funny stories and loving memories of things she has done to make us laugh, cry, smile, or want to pull our hair out in frustration. She has the most beautiful smile that is without a doubt from her Grandpa Loren. Jane is a built solid, physically strong, insanely active child who doesn't like to slow down for anyone or anything, unless it is her idea first. She can be fickle with her hugs and kisses, but when she wants to give some love, it is without a doubt some of the most heavenly moments I have experienced. This daughter actually chooses me over her daddy(most of the time) and I get to experience the JOY of hearing the "Mommy, you're home!" squeals of delight when I come home from work......music to my ears.
By the Grace of God we were given a third beautiful daughter to love....We are so blessed. Her middle name is Gracen as a constant reminder to us, and more importantly to HER, that we are so thankful we were chosen to be her parents.
2010 has been a fun and fun-ny year. We have watched our baby become a little girl. She has an ever expanding vocabulary, funny faces/expressions, emotional outbursts, sassy attitude, an endearing smile, a naughty smile and a wonderful ability to work a crowd for laughs. While we don't even question anymore that she is our last biological child to bless our lives (I am always open to loving more children into our home) it does make my heart ache as I think of Jane outgrowing the baby stages and getting more independent.
We have funny kids. This is a fact. Each one has been unique in their sense of humor and those characteristics have carried on as they have matured. What made them funny as a baby is still what makes them funny as adolescents. Jane is just a crazy fun kid. She can be a real pill to be around too.....lordy don't cross her when she is in a snit.......but typically laughter is the response she is looking for. Sometimes we still have a problem understanding what she is trying to say, to which she compensates by talking slower and louder at us....we aren't deaf Jane, just stupid!
Recently she has been on a kick of repeating movie lines and phrases that she has heard on television. The movie clip from Megamind "Olo.....It's Hello....oohh" is her trademark right now. She also loves the movies Open Season, Over the Hedge, Madagascar, Marmaduke, Despicable Me, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Toy Story 3, and anything else animated, action packed and funny. She tends to get on streaks of wanting to watch the same movie over and over and over.....
Jane loves music. She loves loves loves to dance and listen to music. While most kids her age are singing kiddie songs and learning nursery rhymes, Jane is asking to listen to "the 3-3 station!" (which is Mix 93.3...not my idea....her daddy likes that station). This Christmas our beloved 2 year received an Ipod shuffle as a gift and knew EXACTLY what it was when she opened it, stating "It's an Ipod!" and then insisting on listening to it while she opened the rest of her gifts. She is also know to spontaneously break into her version of Beyonce's "Single Ladies" ...which can be awkward in mixed company.
The things that make Jane smile are as follows: pickles, apple juice, Scooby Doo fruit snacks, chocolate, her pah, her cee, dancing(also known in our house as shaking your booty), singing (Twinkle Twinkle, Row Row Row your Boat, and Rock Chalk Jayhawk) watching movies and cartoons, coloring, playing with Play Dough, Barbies, stuffed animals, pushing her babies in strollers, playing kitchen, taking baths, playing outside, nuggling (snuggling), wrestling with her daddy, wearing boots, trying to be like her big sisters, and being with her Grandpa Loren/Grandpa Ken.
Finding a a new toy for Jane is always a challenge, as there are very few things on the market that we haven't already had in a similar color/style/version/category. She is surrounded by toys that are for older girls, so she can't help but be bored by typical 2 year old toys and seek out toys/objects intended for an older child....do you know another 2 year old that has an actual Ipod? She's a smart kid, and she is a naughty kid......so you can guess what kind of parent teacher conferences we are going to have. Let's just say she doesn't just look like a Martens.
Jane's nicknames are Janey, Jingle Jane, Stink, Sissy, Baby Jane, BJ, and Boo. When we introduce her she points to herself to make sure others clearly understand that she is Jane. We love to play the "Boy or Girl?" game. We ask her if someone is a boy or girl...and she is usually spot on. If we try to trick her, she is quick to let us know. Once I asked her if her daddy was a boy, and she said NO. When I questioned her answer she said, "he's a Silly Boy!"
I don't know what else to say about our beautiful baby Jane......yet I don't think I could ever run out of funny stories and loving memories of things she has done to make us laugh, cry, smile, or want to pull our hair out in frustration. She has the most beautiful smile that is without a doubt from her Grandpa Loren. Jane is a built solid, physically strong, insanely active child who doesn't like to slow down for anyone or anything, unless it is her idea first. She can be fickle with her hugs and kisses, but when she wants to give some love, it is without a doubt some of the most heavenly moments I have experienced. This daughter actually chooses me over her daddy(most of the time) and I get to experience the JOY of hearing the "Mommy, you're home!" squeals of delight when I come home from work......music to my ears.
By the Grace of God we were given a third beautiful daughter to love....We are so blessed. Her middle name is Gracen as a constant reminder to us, and more importantly to HER, that we are so thankful we were chosen to be her parents.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Andrew Paul Martens
It's time for a post about the boy in the house. I don't know why he isn't a topic more often.....I am sorry about that. He really is a pretty great guy.
Andy is still working for Kearney Fire Protection district as a paramedic/firefighter. He is enjoying having senority on his shift, and occasionally gets to "work up" and be in charge of his shift if his captain is gone. The thought of him being in charge makes me giggle, because I don't think of either of us as being old enough or mature enough to be in charge of anyone! The department has EMT classes each spring and fall which Andy enjoys teaching. I love that he is confident enough in his knowledge and skills to teach students how to take care of others. One of the things that first attracted me to Andy was his patient care skills...especially with the little old ladies. Lordy, they just eat him up. He is really good at making the patient feel at ease, and I think they can sense that he genuinely cares about them. It never ceases to amaze me how he can save lives, but can't remember to pull the clothes out of the dryer before they get all wrinkled.
2011 is the target year for Andy to finally get his license to become a golf instructor. This has been a dream of his since I've known him, and I am so excited for this to become a reality. Andy loves to play golf and loves to teach others how to play.....so why not figure out a way to make money while doing both! Still to be determined is which golf school location he will attend, but the plan is to take a week, travel to a warm and touristy destination and sit by the pool while he learns/plays golf. He already has one student lined up for this spring....he's hoping to be paid in free rounds of golf.
A major life change happened this July when Andy became the primary caregiver during the day when I started working full-time. With some sadness, he resigned his position with Quik Trip and now comes home from the fire station every third day to laundry, dirty bathrooms, and driving little girls to school and extra cirricular activities. Secretly, I think he thought it was going to be a cake walk...and is learning that being home is not all it's cracked up to be. While he will be the first to admit that we don't have all the kinks worked out, I will be the first to admit that it is going better than expected. We had some rough times at first, but have gotten into a groove that is starting to make sense. I am so grateful and thankful that we are on the same team.
Here is a paragraph of things Andy likes(keeping the same pattern from Kate's post yesterday): KU basketball, Royals baseball, playing Fantasy Football, golfing, playing basketball, coaching Tess's basketball team, coaching Kate's softball team, wrestling with the girls, playing the Wii, listening to music, singing to the music, completing my honey-do lists, playing with his girls, and taking me out on a date night every once in a great while.
I love my man and am pretty proud of this life we have created for ourselves. It's not perfect, but we love each other, love having time together and can appreciate the need for time apart. I think God knew he would be the perfect dad to girls, and the perfect partner for this control freak wife. He was the perfect choice for the City Manager job of my Crazytown life.
I can't wait to see what 2011 has in store for us.
Love, THE Mayor
Andy is still working for Kearney Fire Protection district as a paramedic/firefighter. He is enjoying having senority on his shift, and occasionally gets to "work up" and be in charge of his shift if his captain is gone. The thought of him being in charge makes me giggle, because I don't think of either of us as being old enough or mature enough to be in charge of anyone! The department has EMT classes each spring and fall which Andy enjoys teaching. I love that he is confident enough in his knowledge and skills to teach students how to take care of others. One of the things that first attracted me to Andy was his patient care skills...especially with the little old ladies. Lordy, they just eat him up. He is really good at making the patient feel at ease, and I think they can sense that he genuinely cares about them. It never ceases to amaze me how he can save lives, but can't remember to pull the clothes out of the dryer before they get all wrinkled.
2011 is the target year for Andy to finally get his license to become a golf instructor. This has been a dream of his since I've known him, and I am so excited for this to become a reality. Andy loves to play golf and loves to teach others how to play.....so why not figure out a way to make money while doing both! Still to be determined is which golf school location he will attend, but the plan is to take a week, travel to a warm and touristy destination and sit by the pool while he learns/plays golf. He already has one student lined up for this spring....he's hoping to be paid in free rounds of golf.
A major life change happened this July when Andy became the primary caregiver during the day when I started working full-time. With some sadness, he resigned his position with Quik Trip and now comes home from the fire station every third day to laundry, dirty bathrooms, and driving little girls to school and extra cirricular activities. Secretly, I think he thought it was going to be a cake walk...and is learning that being home is not all it's cracked up to be. While he will be the first to admit that we don't have all the kinks worked out, I will be the first to admit that it is going better than expected. We had some rough times at first, but have gotten into a groove that is starting to make sense. I am so grateful and thankful that we are on the same team.
Here is a paragraph of things Andy likes(keeping the same pattern from Kate's post yesterday): KU basketball, Royals baseball, playing Fantasy Football, golfing, playing basketball, coaching Tess's basketball team, coaching Kate's softball team, wrestling with the girls, playing the Wii, listening to music, singing to the music, completing my honey-do lists, playing with his girls, and taking me out on a date night every once in a great while.
I love my man and am pretty proud of this life we have created for ourselves. It's not perfect, but we love each other, love having time together and can appreciate the need for time apart. I think God knew he would be the perfect dad to girls, and the perfect partner for this control freak wife. He was the perfect choice for the City Manager job of my Crazytown life.
I can't wait to see what 2011 has in store for us.
Love, THE Mayor
Monday, December 27, 2010
Kate Sinclaire Martens
Today Kate is known as "Kate, the birthday girl.......the now 5 year old birthday girl!"
Our daughter has been waiting for this day the entire year, and started asking "how many days until my birthday?" in June. With this birthday she feels confident that her dreams to learn how to tie her shoes, learn the mystery of reading, and finally get to go to Kindergarten will all finally come true.
Kate continues to take gymnastic classes every Monday afternoon. She is always the teacher's example of how to do a certain skill, and she loves loves loves her tumbling. Cartwheels, round offs, forward rolls, backward rolls, and headstands are her favorites. We even bought her a tumbling mat for her birthday so she would have something to practice on besides our dirty builder grade carpet. Her teacher loves to tell us how talented and what natural ability she has...too bad her parents are cheap, lazy, and non-commital.
Andy was Kate's blast ball(4 year olds Tball) coach this summer. Kate loved her practices as much as the "games" and took each at bat very seriously. We are so excited to have another girl loving to play softball, but not excited about how complicated it gets trying to cheer on two girls at two different ball fields.
At church, Kate sings in the kids choir and attends Sunday School. She and Tess take great pride in getting perfect attendance recognition each month and I am so proud that Kate got to start her Sunday School attendance pin this year. Not many kids her age make it the required amount of Sundays per year to be recognized. Kate is also our pray-er. We can always count on Kate to remind us "we forgot to say the pray" at dinner times, and LOVE to give her the honor of saying the prayer. Sometimes the prayer is one sentence, sometimes we thank Jesus for the food, our family, stuffed animals, bubbles, and the Royals.
Here is a paragraph of things Kate loves: macaroni, pasta without sauce, stuffed animals, playing Wii, snakes, Barbies, Littlest Pet Shop animals, action packed animated movies, dancing and listening to music, funny books, the colors purple and pink, wearing boots, shirts that have patterns/sparkles/cute sayings on them, taking baths, painting her nails, getting dirty, being girlie. I love how she has always been great at playing alone, and is learning the art of playing with more than one friend at a time. She thinks she looks like Rapunzel from the new Disney movie "Tangled" and is pretty sure she wants to grow her that long. She is our blonde haired-blue eyed beauty. She is our emotional, quick tempered, slow to say sorry, loving, courageous, but sometimes shy, outgoing girl who hates the spotlight....except when she wants to be the center of attention, and then she is all about the drama. My favorite Kateism is one morning we were getting ready to go run some errands, and she asked how much longer till we were leaving. I told her the amount of time, and she said "okay, I better get to dancing....." and left to go get her groove on until we left.
Kate started Pre-K preschool class this year. She LOVES school, and is disappointed on Tuesday and Thursday morning when we tell her she has to stay home. Her teachers are enjoying the "unique differences" between Tess and Kate. I think that is a polite way of saying what we already know.....Tess was a go with the flow kind of girl, and Kate makes you work hard for the money. Kate came home from preschool one day and said her day was "not good." When I asked what happened she said "I was bored. They just didn't have enough for me to do today!"
Lordy how I love this girl. I worry she gets lost in the shuffle as the middle child. It is so hard not to lose track of how amazing and wonderful she is, but also hard to not over compensate for losing track in the first place.........
She turned 5 today and it seems like just yesterday that we were announcing to the world that Kate Sinclaire Martens had been born. I am hating how fast she is growing up, but so interested and excited (and scared and worried and anxious) to see what God has planned for her life.
Happy 5th Birthday Kate. This post has way more than just five things I LOVE about you!
Our daughter has been waiting for this day the entire year, and started asking "how many days until my birthday?" in June. With this birthday she feels confident that her dreams to learn how to tie her shoes, learn the mystery of reading, and finally get to go to Kindergarten will all finally come true.
Kate continues to take gymnastic classes every Monday afternoon. She is always the teacher's example of how to do a certain skill, and she loves loves loves her tumbling. Cartwheels, round offs, forward rolls, backward rolls, and headstands are her favorites. We even bought her a tumbling mat for her birthday so she would have something to practice on besides our dirty builder grade carpet. Her teacher loves to tell us how talented and what natural ability she has...too bad her parents are cheap, lazy, and non-commital.
Andy was Kate's blast ball(4 year olds Tball) coach this summer. Kate loved her practices as much as the "games" and took each at bat very seriously. We are so excited to have another girl loving to play softball, but not excited about how complicated it gets trying to cheer on two girls at two different ball fields.
At church, Kate sings in the kids choir and attends Sunday School. She and Tess take great pride in getting perfect attendance recognition each month and I am so proud that Kate got to start her Sunday School attendance pin this year. Not many kids her age make it the required amount of Sundays per year to be recognized. Kate is also our pray-er. We can always count on Kate to remind us "we forgot to say the pray" at dinner times, and LOVE to give her the honor of saying the prayer. Sometimes the prayer is one sentence, sometimes we thank Jesus for the food, our family, stuffed animals, bubbles, and the Royals.
Here is a paragraph of things Kate loves: macaroni, pasta without sauce, stuffed animals, playing Wii, snakes, Barbies, Littlest Pet Shop animals, action packed animated movies, dancing and listening to music, funny books, the colors purple and pink, wearing boots, shirts that have patterns/sparkles/cute sayings on them, taking baths, painting her nails, getting dirty, being girlie. I love how she has always been great at playing alone, and is learning the art of playing with more than one friend at a time. She thinks she looks like Rapunzel from the new Disney movie "Tangled" and is pretty sure she wants to grow her that long. She is our blonde haired-blue eyed beauty. She is our emotional, quick tempered, slow to say sorry, loving, courageous, but sometimes shy, outgoing girl who hates the spotlight....except when she wants to be the center of attention, and then she is all about the drama. My favorite Kateism is one morning we were getting ready to go run some errands, and she asked how much longer till we were leaving. I told her the amount of time, and she said "okay, I better get to dancing....." and left to go get her groove on until we left.
Kate started Pre-K preschool class this year. She LOVES school, and is disappointed on Tuesday and Thursday morning when we tell her she has to stay home. Her teachers are enjoying the "unique differences" between Tess and Kate. I think that is a polite way of saying what we already know.....Tess was a go with the flow kind of girl, and Kate makes you work hard for the money. Kate came home from preschool one day and said her day was "not good." When I asked what happened she said "I was bored. They just didn't have enough for me to do today!"
Lordy how I love this girl. I worry she gets lost in the shuffle as the middle child. It is so hard not to lose track of how amazing and wonderful she is, but also hard to not over compensate for losing track in the first place.........
She turned 5 today and it seems like just yesterday that we were announcing to the world that Kate Sinclaire Martens had been born. I am hating how fast she is growing up, but so interested and excited (and scared and worried and anxious) to see what God has planned for her life.
Happy 5th Birthday Kate. This post has way more than just five things I LOVE about you!
Christmas 2010
It looks like Christmas threw up at my house. Every where I look....it's a mess. And not just a pair of shoes here, and a bowl of Goldfish crackers there.....it's take a step and trip, turn around and take a step, trip. I seriously am starting to feel the walls closing in on me, because I can't see the floor.
I complain because we are blessed, and for that, I am thankful. :) We had six Christmas celebrations and a five year olds birthday in a span of 4 days. We would leave in the morning to a house is mild disarray, then come home at night and pile the new gifts on top of the existing mess. Now I go back to work tomorrow and leave my husband with three kids and a house that looks like a tornado hit. I guess it can't get worse, can it?
I didn't post anything the week before Christmas, so am feeling a bit guilty as we end this year. I also neglected, once again, to do a Christmas letter to summarize our year. Maybe this last week of 2010 will be my chance to post each day with one of The Martens 5 as the subject!
If reading about each one of us doesn't entertain/amuse/interest you...then just check back in on Crazytown next year!
Merry Christmas to all our beloved family and friends, and the Lord's continued blessing and grace on your New Year.
I complain because we are blessed, and for that, I am thankful. :) We had six Christmas celebrations and a five year olds birthday in a span of 4 days. We would leave in the morning to a house is mild disarray, then come home at night and pile the new gifts on top of the existing mess. Now I go back to work tomorrow and leave my husband with three kids and a house that looks like a tornado hit. I guess it can't get worse, can it?
I didn't post anything the week before Christmas, so am feeling a bit guilty as we end this year. I also neglected, once again, to do a Christmas letter to summarize our year. Maybe this last week of 2010 will be my chance to post each day with one of The Martens 5 as the subject!
If reading about each one of us doesn't entertain/amuse/interest you...then just check back in on Crazytown next year!
Merry Christmas to all our beloved family and friends, and the Lord's continued blessing and grace on your New Year.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Kvetching
I am tired.
I miss time with my husband.
I miss time with my kids.
I have a ton of present wrapping to do.
It is cold.
I can't say no to all the Christmas snacks.
I won't have a night home with the Martens 5 again until after Christmas.
I haven't watched my shows on the DVR in weeks.
I haven't read a book in weeks.
I haven't cooked a "real" meal in I can't remember...
I have had a movie from Netflix since before Thanksgiving
I am tired.
I am happy.
I miss time with my husband.
I miss time with my kids.
I have a ton of present wrapping to do.
It is cold.
I can't say no to all the Christmas snacks.
I won't have a night home with the Martens 5 again until after Christmas.
I haven't watched my shows on the DVR in weeks.
I haven't read a book in weeks.
I haven't cooked a "real" meal in I can't remember...
I have had a movie from Netflix since before Thanksgiving
I am tired.
I am happy.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Happy Anniversary to US!
Twelve years and three kids later, we still know how to party! Because Andy works today, our actual anniversary date, we decided to celebrate last night. Andy has a head cold, we didn't bother to ask anyone to babysit, and a night home together is rare.....so we bought some wine, some sparkling white grape juice, made tacos and enjoyed a dinner together......not one person spilled a drop from their fancy stemware!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Kate's Preschool Christmas Program 2010
Kate's Preschool program was Friday night. The entire program didn't last 15 minutes, but she wanted a holiday dress and "fancy" hair......so I came home a little early from work, plugged in the curling iron and made my little girl fancy! All the girls had on holiday type dressy outfits, and when they would see each other they would say "You look so pretty! Do you like my dress? We look fabulous!" while they would pose and spin around. Cute stuff.
Singing and dancing
School friends
Singing and dancing
School friendsKate, Grace, Alexis, and Lauren
Two Christmas programs down, 3 more to go.........Yeah Christmas time!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Sunday Morning Shenanigans
TPing the neighbor's tree with our children on a Sunday Morning 
Our Bailey's cheer squad took 3rd place at State last Friday Night.
When her older sister was a freshman, the KHS softball team won the State Championship. We saw that as an opportunity to decorate her room, their home, and the yard with a few paper products. We felt our Bailey deserved the same.....I'm told that paybacks are #@*^.
If it means that my children have placed at the State level in something then BRING IT.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
My Soap Box
I love to listen to talk radio in the morning. Not the regular music stations with the obnoxious morning show playful banter....but real talk radio. The new topic on every station?
The TSA airport safety regulations requiring the full body scan and the "pat down" option.
Good luck trying to guess what my stance is on this subject.
1. If you are someone that seriously travels by airplane that frequently, and are afraid you will develop some horrible medical problem from all the radiation you will receive from the scans....then maybe you should consider a different career. Not only is that such a far fetched possibility, but seriously, with that kind of paranoia, how do you even leave your house? And if the sky is your "work place" that you have to spend that much time at...wouldn't you want it to be the SAFEST place it could possibly be?
IF radiation was so dangerous that daily low doses of radiation could cause horrible illness.....there would be a lot of SICK X-RAY techs. I can use this one because I was one for 10 years. I had to suffer through 3 semesters of radiation physics...and if I learned anything it is that we get more radiation from the microwave/store parking lot than we will ever get from having an x-ray taken. The reason so many people died years ago from radiation? 1. it was years ago 2. the machines were crude contraptions of metal shooting radiation everywhere 3. scientists were still trying to figure out how to make radiation the awesome diagnostic tool is it now.
I work in health care. Because of the threat of blood borne/bodily fluid "terrorists" I have to wear gloves for most everything. Sure it is a hassle and it's a total drag having to put a pair of gloves on just to apply a bandaid. BUT it keeps me safe, and other people safe, so I do it. EVERYDAY. ALL DAY.
Thought #2
For those that think the body scans are too intimate/infringe on your right to privacy/ is too invasive.
Think about the poor TSA workers that have to look at our sorry selves ALL DAY LONG, and stop flattering yourself. If I could be so lucky as to have someone want to put my sexy self all over the monitors in the breakroom for viewing pleasure.
Thought #3
For those that think the body pat down is too intimate/infringes on your rights/is too invasive.
Again think about the poor TSA workers that have to do this to earn their paycheck. YUCK. Have you seen what people wear out in public these days? People are dirty, lumpy, with food all down their front, wearing pajama bottoms and slippers to appointments. GROSS. Don't even get me started on the grooming and hygiene habits of society. I'm thinking I should write them a check as a thank you for being willing to touch me.
As far as inappropriate touching by TSA workers. Probably will happen. But can you even imagine the bazillion times a day they are going to hear the uncomfortable sarcasm from passengers, with lines such as "ooohh thank you" or "oh my, we didn't even have dinner first" or "I haven't been touched like that in years" PUH-LEEZ!
I heard the head of TSA this morning on the news telling members of government "Do I hear that you are questioning the news rules and guidelines? Yes. Am I going to change them? NO."
Can I get an Amen?
The ideas I have been hearing on the radio/t.v. as solutions (profiling people, closing borders) are just insane. Talk about infringing on people's rights. The threat of terrorism is real. A bomb on an airplane can kill, plain and simple, and terrorism is not going to stop just because we wish it would. It's time to get over "my rights as an American" and start thinking about what is right for everyone.
The TSA airport safety regulations requiring the full body scan and the "pat down" option.
Good luck trying to guess what my stance is on this subject.
1. If you are someone that seriously travels by airplane that frequently, and are afraid you will develop some horrible medical problem from all the radiation you will receive from the scans....then maybe you should consider a different career. Not only is that such a far fetched possibility, but seriously, with that kind of paranoia, how do you even leave your house? And if the sky is your "work place" that you have to spend that much time at...wouldn't you want it to be the SAFEST place it could possibly be?
IF radiation was so dangerous that daily low doses of radiation could cause horrible illness.....there would be a lot of SICK X-RAY techs. I can use this one because I was one for 10 years. I had to suffer through 3 semesters of radiation physics...and if I learned anything it is that we get more radiation from the microwave/store parking lot than we will ever get from having an x-ray taken. The reason so many people died years ago from radiation? 1. it was years ago 2. the machines were crude contraptions of metal shooting radiation everywhere 3. scientists were still trying to figure out how to make radiation the awesome diagnostic tool is it now.
I work in health care. Because of the threat of blood borne/bodily fluid "terrorists" I have to wear gloves for most everything. Sure it is a hassle and it's a total drag having to put a pair of gloves on just to apply a bandaid. BUT it keeps me safe, and other people safe, so I do it. EVERYDAY. ALL DAY.
Thought #2
For those that think the body scans are too intimate/infringe on your right to privacy/ is too invasive.
Think about the poor TSA workers that have to look at our sorry selves ALL DAY LONG, and stop flattering yourself. If I could be so lucky as to have someone want to put my sexy self all over the monitors in the breakroom for viewing pleasure.
Thought #3
For those that think the body pat down is too intimate/infringes on your rights/is too invasive.
Again think about the poor TSA workers that have to do this to earn their paycheck. YUCK. Have you seen what people wear out in public these days? People are dirty, lumpy, with food all down their front, wearing pajama bottoms and slippers to appointments. GROSS. Don't even get me started on the grooming and hygiene habits of society. I'm thinking I should write them a check as a thank you for being willing to touch me.
As far as inappropriate touching by TSA workers. Probably will happen. But can you even imagine the bazillion times a day they are going to hear the uncomfortable sarcasm from passengers, with lines such as "ooohh thank you" or "oh my, we didn't even have dinner first" or "I haven't been touched like that in years" PUH-LEEZ!
I heard the head of TSA this morning on the news telling members of government "Do I hear that you are questioning the news rules and guidelines? Yes. Am I going to change them? NO."
Can I get an Amen?
The ideas I have been hearing on the radio/t.v. as solutions (profiling people, closing borders) are just insane. Talk about infringing on people's rights. The threat of terrorism is real. A bomb on an airplane can kill, plain and simple, and terrorism is not going to stop just because we wish it would. It's time to get over "my rights as an American" and start thinking about what is right for everyone.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Jane's answer to most everything
When asking Jane to do something....anything.....no matter how great or small......
Her new favorite response?
NEVER!
(pronounced Nehber!) said with the passion and ferocity of someone having to give up a prized possession or freedom.
examples:
"Jane, are you ready to take a bath?"
"NEVER!!!!!"
"Jane, do you want some apple juice?"
"No! NEVER!"
"Are you ready for bed, Jane?"
"NEHHHHHVVEERRR!"
then she says "gimme a minute, okay?" as she is running away from us.
Her new favorite response?
NEVER!
(pronounced Nehber!) said with the passion and ferocity of someone having to give up a prized possession or freedom.
examples:
"Jane, are you ready to take a bath?"
"NEVER!!!!!"
"Jane, do you want some apple juice?"
"No! NEVER!"
"Are you ready for bed, Jane?"
"NEHHHHHVVEERRR!"
then she says "gimme a minute, okay?" as she is running away from us.
Thanks and Giving
This is my favorite time of year. Yes, I love spring with all the new and I love summer with the playing outside and vacations and flip flops. But the months of November and December are my fav-o-rite!!
I love the cool air, wearing boots and puffy vests, the dark early evenings and Christmas shopping online at work.
WHAT?!?!?
Yep. True story. I am so blessed to be working with people who are as filled with the spirit of Christmas as much as I am. Any given time of day we can be found in each other's offices, taking a "break" and talking about what we bought our kids, our spouses, and even more fun.....our Adopt a Family. Our Med Services team has adopted a large family from a list of families that receive services through our office. It is such a blessing to work with a group of gals that are cut from the same cloth as me. Seriously. This family is going to know people care about them this Christmas when we are done.
Even better, not only am I taking part in the gift giving for that family, but The Martens 5(and grandma Ann too) adopted a family to buy for. The family has a single, very pregnant momma and two children aged 2 and 6. The third child is due in January. Yesterday The Martens 5 took a family field trip to shop and came home with a car full. What a blessing. When we got home I thanked Andy for "letting" me spend a bunch of our money on someone else. His answer? "Well we have more money now........" My finish to that sentence? "so we gotta give more........"
Exactly.
This family has the ability to give more this year than ever. It makes my loss of free time to working full time seem TOTALLY worthwhile.
Here are some other ways this family has given to others and I encourage you to do the same:
Did you know that if you buy a pound of fudge at Rocky Mountain Candy Factory they will send a pound of fudge for free to the troops overseas!!!! I don't like fudge, but my parents do......and I hope it brings some surgary JOY to someone protecting my freedom. It also brought some sugary JOY to my dad. :)
When you check out at stores this year, if they ask you to donate $1 to some charity....DO IT! It's a dollar people, and they are doing the hard work for you. I will never understand when people say NO to donating a dollar(or five for pete's sake!) or NO to letting the clerk round up your total to the nearest dollar and donating the difference to a charity. Are you kidding me?
Yes, please!
I will still be slowing down at stoplights to give $ to people with a sign, etc. Do not rush me or honk at me.
I've got to find some Christmas pencils to put in my pencil jar at work. The good doctor and I give out fruit and pencils to kids(and their parents) that come to our office. It is amazing how much JOY a new pencil can bring a kid, and how fruit is a universal love. Fruit is such a huge part of my grocery bill each week, but some families just can't afford it. Thanks to a group effort of me, the doc, and a brown-nosing drug rep(she really wants/needs our business and I don't mind exploiting that on behalf of my people!), we get bags of fruit each week to give out.
The girls and I just finished doing some Christmas shopping in the World Vision catalog. I just bought some ducks. Not going to say who they were in honor of, just in case they are a reader.......
Get this. Do you know why they now give ducks to poverished nations instead of chicks? Because chickens drown in heavy rain seasons while ducks just swim around in the flood waters and consider it an adventure!
Now that is a solution I want to be a part of.
Did I mention that while filled with the amazing love of this season, I am also feeling a bit frantic at the lack of quality shopping time I have now? Between working every day, activities every evening, and weekends full of stuff......when does a girl have time to shop?
more on that later.
I love the cool air, wearing boots and puffy vests, the dark early evenings and Christmas shopping online at work.
WHAT?!?!?
Yep. True story. I am so blessed to be working with people who are as filled with the spirit of Christmas as much as I am. Any given time of day we can be found in each other's offices, taking a "break" and talking about what we bought our kids, our spouses, and even more fun.....our Adopt a Family. Our Med Services team has adopted a large family from a list of families that receive services through our office. It is such a blessing to work with a group of gals that are cut from the same cloth as me. Seriously. This family is going to know people care about them this Christmas when we are done.
Even better, not only am I taking part in the gift giving for that family, but The Martens 5(and grandma Ann too) adopted a family to buy for. The family has a single, very pregnant momma and two children aged 2 and 6. The third child is due in January. Yesterday The Martens 5 took a family field trip to shop and came home with a car full. What a blessing. When we got home I thanked Andy for "letting" me spend a bunch of our money on someone else. His answer? "Well we have more money now........" My finish to that sentence? "so we gotta give more........"
Exactly.
This family has the ability to give more this year than ever. It makes my loss of free time to working full time seem TOTALLY worthwhile.
Here are some other ways this family has given to others and I encourage you to do the same:
Did you know that if you buy a pound of fudge at Rocky Mountain Candy Factory they will send a pound of fudge for free to the troops overseas!!!! I don't like fudge, but my parents do......and I hope it brings some surgary JOY to someone protecting my freedom. It also brought some sugary JOY to my dad. :)
When you check out at stores this year, if they ask you to donate $1 to some charity....DO IT! It's a dollar people, and they are doing the hard work for you. I will never understand when people say NO to donating a dollar(or five for pete's sake!) or NO to letting the clerk round up your total to the nearest dollar and donating the difference to a charity. Are you kidding me?
Yes, please!
I will still be slowing down at stoplights to give $ to people with a sign, etc. Do not rush me or honk at me.
I've got to find some Christmas pencils to put in my pencil jar at work. The good doctor and I give out fruit and pencils to kids(and their parents) that come to our office. It is amazing how much JOY a new pencil can bring a kid, and how fruit is a universal love. Fruit is such a huge part of my grocery bill each week, but some families just can't afford it. Thanks to a group effort of me, the doc, and a brown-nosing drug rep(she really wants/needs our business and I don't mind exploiting that on behalf of my people!), we get bags of fruit each week to give out.
The girls and I just finished doing some Christmas shopping in the World Vision catalog. I just bought some ducks. Not going to say who they were in honor of, just in case they are a reader.......
Get this. Do you know why they now give ducks to poverished nations instead of chicks? Because chickens drown in heavy rain seasons while ducks just swim around in the flood waters and consider it an adventure!
Now that is a solution I want to be a part of.
Did I mention that while filled with the amazing love of this season, I am also feeling a bit frantic at the lack of quality shopping time I have now? Between working every day, activities every evening, and weekends full of stuff......when does a girl have time to shop?
more on that later.
Weekend Update
Time for another Martens family catch up blog. I am beginning to see a pattern here, how about you? Today I'm feeling especially inspired, so be prepared for a marathon day of posts.
Andy and Sarah(The parents) are super duper jolly good. This time of year is my favorite and I am really going lay the JOY on thick this year. We are so blessed and thankful for God's continued grace in our lives.
Andy is getting ready to lose a friend/co-worker to a new job elsewhere, so will be the only "regular" paramedic on his shift for a while. Pray for him that he gets some respite from running calls on the ambulance. When he doesn't get his beauty sleep at the fire station he comes home as Mr. Grumpypants for the rest of us.
Andy also has a wild hair for his turn at education. (we take turns furthering our education and it is his turn) I am excited that he has found this opportunity, and I look forward to supporting him when it is "Go" time. Here's to saving our money to make this happen! More on that later, I promise.
My job is continuing to make me proud to be a nurse. My co-workers make me laugh and my patients make me want to pull my hair out/hug and kiss my kids every day. There are some messed up families out there people, and it has been a real eye-opener for me to see that and work with them on a daily basis. I still do youth group at church, and now that this is my second year, I am feeling more a part of the group and that I belong. Hard to explain, but I am trying to put myself out there to be of service to these kids, and I hope to grow and learn from it too.
We are finally(?) settling into our semi-role reversal in this house. There is always room for improvement, and there are still days of frustration, but I think the next six months will be better than the last six. Team Martens will prevail!
let's mix it up and talk about the Middle child first...........Kate loves school, loves gymnastics, loves to play and read books, and loves to be the center of attention.....unless she doesn't want the attention in which case she becomes extremely shy and guarded. HA. That is our KATE in a nutshell. This morning, as she was quietly playing with her Littlest Pet Shop animals, I heard her say to Jane, "could I just have some alone time to play Jane?" It is becoming painfully clear how much all our girls need their own space, even though they play well together any given moment. Kate has been woefully neglected when it comes to having a bed to sleep in. She is still sleeping in the toddler bed and can touch both headboards with her hands and feet when stretched out. The cute thing is that even though she is almost five(!) she is still a petite little girl. Kate will be five next month and she can not wait. The other day I heard her singing "I wanna be a millionaire, so frickin' bad......"which is a line from a popular song on the radio. Trust me, it's really cute even if inappropriate.
Tess is turning out to be a jazzy great 9 year old. Her school pictures are freaking me out by how mature she looks...without even trying. Trust me, we are not cool parents like that. We want our kids to stay young innocent and child-like for as long as possible. Tess is growing her bangs out and they are finally at a length they can be pulled away from her face. Her style is now a cute above the shoulder haircut and it looks adorable. She is into fashion and I can say that most times she is on target with her outfit choices. Her grades were stellar, she is really picking up multiplication easily in math(hooray) and her book reports have been on point. She recently finished her last of the KC3 nominees(books that are on a literature award list for 3rd graders) and has earned a ticket to the Literature festival in downtown KC this spring! Her first formal piano and voice recital is next Sunday and I can't wait to hear her perform. She blows me away with how much she has accomplished in 2 months with this new teacher. Basketball season has started and Andy is coaching her team again this year. Different league, but hopefully the same FUN. She is blessed with coordination and brains......not to mention she is becoming a very pretty young lady.
Zaney Jane is the star of our family right now. Everyday is filled with new reasons to laugh at her and with her. If you don't spend much time around her, you will be AMAZED at how well she talks and can have a conversation with you. Not to mention she is a riot. Yesterday we were all in the car, bundled up because it was so cold, when a good song came on the radio. We were all singing and moving to the music when we hear Jane say "I'm dancing with my neck"....picture Jane buckled into her carseat so tight the only thing she can move is her neck in this gyrating, head bobbing motion. FUNNY. Jane just now shouted "Tess! Kate! Come shake your booty with me!" This after walking by me with a poopy diaper, and when I said "whew! where is that stinky smell coming from? She playfully spanked her bottom and said "it's coming from right here!" and walked away.....
If you buy something for the girls, you had better get 3! Jane is starting to say "Hey! Where's mine?" when there is one for Tess, one for Kate, and NONE for Jane. She has also learned to stomp her foot, furrow her brow and shout "That's not fair!" Most of the time she is right. She loves to dance, especially to the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie cd and will shout "Not now! I'm dancing!" if we need her to do something. I can't even type all the funny stuff she says and does. It would seem gratuitious on my part, and get boring for readers. But trust me when I say we are totally enjoying watching and listening to her grow up....even though we are starting to mourn the loss of our "baby" Jane.
Here's to more timely posts from Crazytown.
Andy and Sarah(The parents) are super duper jolly good. This time of year is my favorite and I am really going lay the JOY on thick this year. We are so blessed and thankful for God's continued grace in our lives.
Andy is getting ready to lose a friend/co-worker to a new job elsewhere, so will be the only "regular" paramedic on his shift for a while. Pray for him that he gets some respite from running calls on the ambulance. When he doesn't get his beauty sleep at the fire station he comes home as Mr. Grumpypants for the rest of us.
Andy also has a wild hair for his turn at education. (we take turns furthering our education and it is his turn) I am excited that he has found this opportunity, and I look forward to supporting him when it is "Go" time. Here's to saving our money to make this happen! More on that later, I promise.
My job is continuing to make me proud to be a nurse. My co-workers make me laugh and my patients make me want to pull my hair out/hug and kiss my kids every day. There are some messed up families out there people, and it has been a real eye-opener for me to see that and work with them on a daily basis. I still do youth group at church, and now that this is my second year, I am feeling more a part of the group and that I belong. Hard to explain, but I am trying to put myself out there to be of service to these kids, and I hope to grow and learn from it too.
We are finally(?) settling into our semi-role reversal in this house. There is always room for improvement, and there are still days of frustration, but I think the next six months will be better than the last six. Team Martens will prevail!
let's mix it up and talk about the Middle child first...........Kate loves school, loves gymnastics, loves to play and read books, and loves to be the center of attention.....unless she doesn't want the attention in which case she becomes extremely shy and guarded. HA. That is our KATE in a nutshell. This morning, as she was quietly playing with her Littlest Pet Shop animals, I heard her say to Jane, "could I just have some alone time to play Jane?" It is becoming painfully clear how much all our girls need their own space, even though they play well together any given moment. Kate has been woefully neglected when it comes to having a bed to sleep in. She is still sleeping in the toddler bed and can touch both headboards with her hands and feet when stretched out. The cute thing is that even though she is almost five(!) she is still a petite little girl. Kate will be five next month and she can not wait. The other day I heard her singing "I wanna be a millionaire, so frickin' bad......"which is a line from a popular song on the radio. Trust me, it's really cute even if inappropriate.
Tess is turning out to be a jazzy great 9 year old. Her school pictures are freaking me out by how mature she looks...without even trying. Trust me, we are not cool parents like that. We want our kids to stay young innocent and child-like for as long as possible. Tess is growing her bangs out and they are finally at a length they can be pulled away from her face. Her style is now a cute above the shoulder haircut and it looks adorable. She is into fashion and I can say that most times she is on target with her outfit choices. Her grades were stellar, she is really picking up multiplication easily in math(hooray) and her book reports have been on point. She recently finished her last of the KC3 nominees(books that are on a literature award list for 3rd graders) and has earned a ticket to the Literature festival in downtown KC this spring! Her first formal piano and voice recital is next Sunday and I can't wait to hear her perform. She blows me away with how much she has accomplished in 2 months with this new teacher. Basketball season has started and Andy is coaching her team again this year. Different league, but hopefully the same FUN. She is blessed with coordination and brains......not to mention she is becoming a very pretty young lady.
Zaney Jane is the star of our family right now. Everyday is filled with new reasons to laugh at her and with her. If you don't spend much time around her, you will be AMAZED at how well she talks and can have a conversation with you. Not to mention she is a riot. Yesterday we were all in the car, bundled up because it was so cold, when a good song came on the radio. We were all singing and moving to the music when we hear Jane say "I'm dancing with my neck"....picture Jane buckled into her carseat so tight the only thing she can move is her neck in this gyrating, head bobbing motion. FUNNY. Jane just now shouted "Tess! Kate! Come shake your booty with me!" This after walking by me with a poopy diaper, and when I said "whew! where is that stinky smell coming from? She playfully spanked her bottom and said "it's coming from right here!" and walked away.....
If you buy something for the girls, you had better get 3! Jane is starting to say "Hey! Where's mine?" when there is one for Tess, one for Kate, and NONE for Jane. She has also learned to stomp her foot, furrow her brow and shout "That's not fair!" Most of the time she is right. She loves to dance, especially to the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie cd and will shout "Not now! I'm dancing!" if we need her to do something. I can't even type all the funny stuff she says and does. It would seem gratuitious on my part, and get boring for readers. But trust me when I say we are totally enjoying watching and listening to her grow up....even though we are starting to mourn the loss of our "baby" Jane.
Here's to more timely posts from Crazytown.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Saturday is Super
We had a superific Saturday. It could only have been better if the boy was here, but then we probably would have had plans....or a schedule....or something.
This morning started out with a cute little four year old wanting to snuggle and talk about what is on her birthday list. When I asked which was a bigger deal to her,Christmas or her birthday, she definitively said "my birthday." Shortly after this, I was joined by an equally cute 2 year old wanting to "nuggle" and when asked what she wanted for Christmas, she thought for a minute and then said "stickers."
That can be arranged.
Then this mom helped make two tents out of blankets so cartoons could be watched in style.
Tess worked with passion to put her clothes away and pick up her room. Then she just laid back and read her Nat Geo for Kids magazines and a library book. She finished off her morning playing Wii games.
I stayed in my pjs until noon, picked up K&J's room, and then worked on those projects that I usually walk by thinking "someday when I have time I will do that/finish that/clean up that/clean out that/fix that." You know the kind of project I'm talking about? Not anything significant, but feels good to know you finally got around to getting it done.
The girls and I made "guessing game soup" a.k.a. Vegetable soup, carved pumpkins, played outside, painted fingernails and toenails, and read books on my crazy comfortable deck furniture.
We ended the day by taking a walk/wagon ride/bike ride to my parent's house for supper and an evening with my brother.
You know it has been a good day when the four year old says "I had a great day today, mom" as I'm tucking her tired self into bed tonight.
I totally agree.
AND I got 5 loads of laundry done.
This morning started out with a cute little four year old wanting to snuggle and talk about what is on her birthday list. When I asked which was a bigger deal to her,Christmas or her birthday, she definitively said "my birthday." Shortly after this, I was joined by an equally cute 2 year old wanting to "nuggle" and when asked what she wanted for Christmas, she thought for a minute and then said "stickers."
That can be arranged.
Then this mom helped make two tents out of blankets so cartoons could be watched in style.
Tess worked with passion to put her clothes away and pick up her room. Then she just laid back and read her Nat Geo for Kids magazines and a library book. She finished off her morning playing Wii games.
I stayed in my pjs until noon, picked up K&J's room, and then worked on those projects that I usually walk by thinking "someday when I have time I will do that/finish that/clean up that/clean out that/fix that." You know the kind of project I'm talking about? Not anything significant, but feels good to know you finally got around to getting it done.
The girls and I made "guessing game soup" a.k.a. Vegetable soup, carved pumpkins, played outside, painted fingernails and toenails, and read books on my crazy comfortable deck furniture.
We ended the day by taking a walk/wagon ride/bike ride to my parent's house for supper and an evening with my brother.
You know it has been a good day when the four year old says "I had a great day today, mom" as I'm tucking her tired self into bed tonight.
I totally agree.
AND I got 5 loads of laundry done.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
*sigh*
Full time working mother-hood is starting to wear me down. Maybe today was just one of those days, but it seems like I am having more and more of "those days."
I sure do love my job. Yes, there are things about being gone every day that stink, but for the most part we are adjusting. It is a process, and we aren't there yet....but getting closer.
Things that make me want to scream/cry/shout/laugh/take opiates with alcohol:
(in no specific order)
-Tess's homework and general school work load has increased significantly. Actually, the homework is the same as last year, but this time the work is graded. not to mention that the subject matter is getting more challenging. While some of this I blame on the teacher, there still could be a more efficient way for us to manage when tests are happening, etc. Tess had a science test today, and we studied this morning while she ate breakfast. NOT COOL. Why didn't I know there was a test. Why didn't she tell me. It is such a fine line between what is an acceptable amount of responsibility to place on a 9 year old when it comes to managing her life. I know it is a learning process for her too, but where is the quality assurance/quality control? Who is managing me managing her? We clearly need to establish a better, more efficient system.
-With each female addition to the family, another load of laundry gets dirtied. We are forever needing jeans, or socks, or Halloween costumes. Yes, I just got Kate's costume out of the closet tonight and realized it was still dirty from when Tess wore it 5 years ago.
-When does the fun start? It seems like I come home, we eat supper, and if someone doesn't have to run to the next thing, we are doing homework, getting baths, picking up the toys, reading books, blah blah blah. I cannot believe it is almost November. I feel like my life is just slipping away while I watch.
When I was home during the day, I could get all the mom-stuff done and then focus on the needs of others in the evening. BUT that isn't my life now. I go to work, come home, and have to get mom stuff done and meet the needs of others in a tenth of the time. My bitching and moaning as written above are just things that crossed my mind today and leave me wondering what to do.
Needless to say, I have some adjustments to make, some delegation of tasks to assign, and some reality sandwich to eat. Maybe someday I will be able to just let it go.....although that has been a lifelong dream of mine that has yet to come to fruition. And I know what you are thinking. YES I do have a partner in this and he is riding the roller coaster we call our life right beside me....... and we are doing what we can to keep from barfing on each other from the ups and downs, twists and turns.
On a positive note(FINALLY, right?)
I handed out 760 Tootsie Roll midges to the 100+ Head Start kids that came to our office in costumes today. It was as fun as it sounds.
I sure do love my job. Yes, there are things about being gone every day that stink, but for the most part we are adjusting. It is a process, and we aren't there yet....but getting closer.
Things that make me want to scream/cry/shout/laugh/take opiates with alcohol:
(in no specific order)
-Tess's homework and general school work load has increased significantly. Actually, the homework is the same as last year, but this time the work is graded. not to mention that the subject matter is getting more challenging. While some of this I blame on the teacher, there still could be a more efficient way for us to manage when tests are happening, etc. Tess had a science test today, and we studied this morning while she ate breakfast. NOT COOL. Why didn't I know there was a test. Why didn't she tell me. It is such a fine line between what is an acceptable amount of responsibility to place on a 9 year old when it comes to managing her life. I know it is a learning process for her too, but where is the quality assurance/quality control? Who is managing me managing her? We clearly need to establish a better, more efficient system.
-With each female addition to the family, another load of laundry gets dirtied. We are forever needing jeans, or socks, or Halloween costumes. Yes, I just got Kate's costume out of the closet tonight and realized it was still dirty from when Tess wore it 5 years ago.
-When does the fun start? It seems like I come home, we eat supper, and if someone doesn't have to run to the next thing, we are doing homework, getting baths, picking up the toys, reading books, blah blah blah. I cannot believe it is almost November. I feel like my life is just slipping away while I watch.
When I was home during the day, I could get all the mom-stuff done and then focus on the needs of others in the evening. BUT that isn't my life now. I go to work, come home, and have to get mom stuff done and meet the needs of others in a tenth of the time. My bitching and moaning as written above are just things that crossed my mind today and leave me wondering what to do.
Needless to say, I have some adjustments to make, some delegation of tasks to assign, and some reality sandwich to eat. Maybe someday I will be able to just let it go.....although that has been a lifelong dream of mine that has yet to come to fruition. And I know what you are thinking. YES I do have a partner in this and he is riding the roller coaster we call our life right beside me....... and we are doing what we can to keep from barfing on each other from the ups and downs, twists and turns.
On a positive note(FINALLY, right?)
I handed out 760 Tootsie Roll midges to the 100+ Head Start kids that came to our office in costumes today. It was as fun as it sounds.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Things I don't want to forget
Jane-isms:
She has learned the ditty "nanie nanie boo boo...stick your head in doo doo" and loves to sing it at the most inappropriate times......like the Walmart bathroom that echos and usually has someone trying to doo doo.
awkward.
When I asked her what doo doo is?
"I don't know"
Her new favorite movie is Marmaduke. She now breaks out into the movie's catchy theme song from waaaaay back.....
"Who let the dogs out?!" and then barks "Woof, Woof, Woof Woof Woof" or expects us to do it.
Dinner time at our house can get loud. When Jane has had enough she just shouts "Hey! Be Quiet! Stop Talking!"
and we usually do
The other day I was wiping her rear after a diaper change and picked a fuzzy off her buns. She asked what it was and I told her a fuzzy, to which she asked "Oh, like a caterpillar?"
how does she know that?
One funny(that I can think of this minute) from Kate:
Jane is going to be a pirate for Halloween and I picked up a pirate kit at the store, complete with a hat, eye patch and hook to wear on your hand. The other day I caught Kate, with the hook on her hand, using it to scratch her rear.
Yes, it was as funny as it sounds.
Tess stuff:
Got a 100% on her language test. Not rocket science, but a difficult test topic for 3rd graders. She is assigned a book report about every 3 weeks and she has done great on them thus far. We even had a discussion on what plagarism is and she knew! I had college classmates that "didn't know" that! wink. wink
Tess and I shopped for a recital dress this weekend at Macy's. It is so hard to find a nice dress for girls her age. The choices are hoochie and fru-fru. There is also the third choice of over-priced.
We bought an over-priced dress that looks fantastic, makes her feel pretty, and brings her JOY.
SOLD.
(Luckily Kate likes it too....cause she's going to have to wear it and then it will be Jane's)
Remember the Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey from Saturday Night Live?
I read this one the other day and thought it was "appropriate" for Halloween. Actually to me it is funny any time.
"If you are wanting to sue someone, go to the store and get a little skeleton. Go throw it in the person's yard and say their ants ate your baby."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Prepare yourself for some pictures of my crazy-cute kids in costume.
She has learned the ditty "nanie nanie boo boo...stick your head in doo doo" and loves to sing it at the most inappropriate times......like the Walmart bathroom that echos and usually has someone trying to doo doo.
awkward.
When I asked her what doo doo is?
"I don't know"
Her new favorite movie is Marmaduke. She now breaks out into the movie's catchy theme song from waaaaay back.....
"Who let the dogs out?!" and then barks "Woof, Woof, Woof Woof Woof" or expects us to do it.
Dinner time at our house can get loud. When Jane has had enough she just shouts "Hey! Be Quiet! Stop Talking!"
and we usually do
The other day I was wiping her rear after a diaper change and picked a fuzzy off her buns. She asked what it was and I told her a fuzzy, to which she asked "Oh, like a caterpillar?"
how does she know that?
One funny(that I can think of this minute) from Kate:
Jane is going to be a pirate for Halloween and I picked up a pirate kit at the store, complete with a hat, eye patch and hook to wear on your hand. The other day I caught Kate, with the hook on her hand, using it to scratch her rear.
Yes, it was as funny as it sounds.
Tess stuff:
Got a 100% on her language test. Not rocket science, but a difficult test topic for 3rd graders. She is assigned a book report about every 3 weeks and she has done great on them thus far. We even had a discussion on what plagarism is and she knew! I had college classmates that "didn't know" that! wink. wink
Tess and I shopped for a recital dress this weekend at Macy's. It is so hard to find a nice dress for girls her age. The choices are hoochie and fru-fru. There is also the third choice of over-priced.
We bought an over-priced dress that looks fantastic, makes her feel pretty, and brings her JOY.
SOLD.
(Luckily Kate likes it too....cause she's going to have to wear it and then it will be Jane's)
Remember the Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey from Saturday Night Live?
I read this one the other day and thought it was "appropriate" for Halloween. Actually to me it is funny any time.
"If you are wanting to sue someone, go to the store and get a little skeleton. Go throw it in the person's yard and say their ants ate your baby."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Prepare yourself for some pictures of my crazy-cute kids in costume.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Parent Teacher Conferences Part 2
Okay, here is what really happened at the conference. I was hesitant to blog about it, thinking it was just my interpretation and not Andy's, but last night we about peed our pants laughing at ourselves.
In our defense, we are normal, I think, in the fact that we want to make a good impression to others. Don't all parents want the secret of their ineptness at parenting to stay....a secret? We acknowledge that we are practicing on Tess, but we don't want the whole world to know. That might involved the three little letters I hear a lot at work.
DFS
We probably could blame this on Tess (not recommended by most good parents) If she could have a few more problems in school, maybe we wouldn't have to talk at all. We could just nod our head and mutter "uh-huh" and "okay" possibly even a "yes, we understand the consequences."
But NOOOO. She has to be all good and smart, so the total time the teacher needs to talk to us is about 2 minutes and 47 seconds. The rest of the time is left to us to fill with playful banter and such. Here are some samples of the stupid things that came out of our mouths.
example 1
We were looking at paperwork describing a test that the kids take to determine something about reading and language skills...and Tess scored a crazy high number which the teacher showed us in a findings sections at the bottom of the page. I wanted to know what the "normal" or average score should be to which she showed us clearly depicted on a graph on the same page. I immediately felt stupid because if I had looked at the graph I would have seen the average compared to Tess. My husband, on the other hand, says "You see, my analytical mind went straight to the graph for the information instead of reading the findings below."
YOUR WHAT? I about fell out of my chair to the floor.
example 2
The teacher shows us some scores from Tess's math grades and is telling us that she is "well above average" and gets special math work with the cadet teacher. Instead of just nodding my head and mumbling "okay" I have to go on some rambling speech about our philosophy of grades and math and how to solve world hunger.........good grief.
That was Andy's turn to almost fall out of his chair to the floor.
example 3
Andy starts talking about being a Watch DOG last year(when dads come and help out during the school day in the classroom etc) and how he can't do that anymore because "she took a full time job" and blah blah blah............
That was when I about PUSHED him out of his chair to the floor. Thanks for throwing me under the bus, dude.
It really was only a 15 minutes conference time, but felt like an eternity. Last night Andy brought up how he was sorry he said the thing about the Watch Dog, to which I admitted I felt like such a babbling idiot myself. We both started re-playing the conversations and had a good laugh at how stupid we sounded.
We also decided that next year we are making index cards with appropriate, short answer questions we can ask during an awkward silent spell....because clearly neither one of us can be trusted with small talk.
In our defense, we are normal, I think, in the fact that we want to make a good impression to others. Don't all parents want the secret of their ineptness at parenting to stay....a secret? We acknowledge that we are practicing on Tess, but we don't want the whole world to know. That might involved the three little letters I hear a lot at work.
DFS
We probably could blame this on Tess (not recommended by most good parents) If she could have a few more problems in school, maybe we wouldn't have to talk at all. We could just nod our head and mutter "uh-huh" and "okay" possibly even a "yes, we understand the consequences."
But NOOOO. She has to be all good and smart, so the total time the teacher needs to talk to us is about 2 minutes and 47 seconds. The rest of the time is left to us to fill with playful banter and such. Here are some samples of the stupid things that came out of our mouths.
example 1
We were looking at paperwork describing a test that the kids take to determine something about reading and language skills...and Tess scored a crazy high number which the teacher showed us in a findings sections at the bottom of the page. I wanted to know what the "normal" or average score should be to which she showed us clearly depicted on a graph on the same page. I immediately felt stupid because if I had looked at the graph I would have seen the average compared to Tess. My husband, on the other hand, says "You see, my analytical mind went straight to the graph for the information instead of reading the findings below."
YOUR WHAT? I about fell out of my chair to the floor.
example 2
The teacher shows us some scores from Tess's math grades and is telling us that she is "well above average" and gets special math work with the cadet teacher. Instead of just nodding my head and mumbling "okay" I have to go on some rambling speech about our philosophy of grades and math and how to solve world hunger.........good grief.
That was Andy's turn to almost fall out of his chair to the floor.
example 3
Andy starts talking about being a Watch DOG last year(when dads come and help out during the school day in the classroom etc) and how he can't do that anymore because "she took a full time job" and blah blah blah............
That was when I about PUSHED him out of his chair to the floor. Thanks for throwing me under the bus, dude.
It really was only a 15 minutes conference time, but felt like an eternity. Last night Andy brought up how he was sorry he said the thing about the Watch Dog, to which I admitted I felt like such a babbling idiot myself. We both started re-playing the conversations and had a good laugh at how stupid we sounded.
We also decided that next year we are making index cards with appropriate, short answer questions we can ask during an awkward silent spell....because clearly neither one of us can be trusted with small talk.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Parent Teacher Conferences 2010
Tonight we had PT conferences with Tess's 3rd grade teacher, Ms Quackenbush. She's nice enough......but let's talk about Tess.
Another year of us wondering how she is truly doing in class and another year of us coming home with accolades to the point of gushing about our first born.
Seriously, it's kind of embarassing, so stop already.
(not really. I'm a total liar. I love love love hearing that my child is having a successful school year. I also know that we are so blessed to have a healthy happy child.)
Tess is reading, spelling and doing math "well above average" and her testing scores, where they test how many words she reads per minutes, how well she comprehends the material, blah blah blah were crazy high.
We discussed that she hurries through her work and doesn't check her work closely. We discussed that she is "so close" to getting a 100% on her math facts test but keeps missing 1 or 2( it's a test of 100 simple addition/subtraction problems). I even took several of her homework papers to ask questions that we could NOT figure out why she missed points. Let's just say we got "schooled" on ball park estimates. lordy I hate math.
The biggest concern the teacher had about Tess? and I quote...
"Sometimes I have to remind her that she isn't the teacher."
no kidding.
Sometimes I have to remind her that she isn't the mother.
Then we both discussed how we also use her teacherly/motherly characteristics to our advantage to get her to "help" us get things done.......
Another year of us wondering how she is truly doing in class and another year of us coming home with accolades to the point of gushing about our first born.
Seriously, it's kind of embarassing, so stop already.
(not really. I'm a total liar. I love love love hearing that my child is having a successful school year. I also know that we are so blessed to have a healthy happy child.)
Tess is reading, spelling and doing math "well above average" and her testing scores, where they test how many words she reads per minutes, how well she comprehends the material, blah blah blah were crazy high.
We discussed that she hurries through her work and doesn't check her work closely. We discussed that she is "so close" to getting a 100% on her math facts test but keeps missing 1 or 2( it's a test of 100 simple addition/subtraction problems). I even took several of her homework papers to ask questions that we could NOT figure out why she missed points. Let's just say we got "schooled" on ball park estimates. lordy I hate math.
The biggest concern the teacher had about Tess? and I quote...
"Sometimes I have to remind her that she isn't the teacher."
no kidding.
Sometimes I have to remind her that she isn't the mother.
Then we both discussed how we also use her teacherly/motherly characteristics to our advantage to get her to "help" us get things done.......
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
STUCO
This mother is SO proud. My buttons are busting with pride.....and fat.....but mostly pride.
On Monday evening Tess told me about Student Council Representative elections being held on Tuesday, and that those wanting to be elected needed to have a "speech" ready to say to the class. Monday night was not one of my better parenting moments. Tess and I ended up having a battle royale for a good part of an hour, then spent another hour doing the "I feel like....." "I'm hearing that you feel......." "Tell me how this made you feel......" post argument stuff that this nerdy mom likes to do. All said and done we ended the evening back on track. Turns out 9 year olds can have bad days just like adults do. huh.
Long story short(too late) we never got to work on a speech like I had told her we would do. In fact I completely and totally blew it off. Never even remembered it, until I came home from work yesterday and found this in her bag......
"Hello 3rd grade! My name is Tess "make you happy" Martens and I have some reasons to elect me as your class representative. 1. I will make sure everyone has an opinion on big class decisions. 2. I will also give respect to everyone. 3. I don't have many rules or regulations and always try to do my best. So vote for Tess "make you happy" Martens for class representative."
She won.
*sigh*
My baby is the student council representative for Ms Q's third grade class and had to be at school early for her very first meeting this morning.
On Monday evening Tess told me about Student Council Representative elections being held on Tuesday, and that those wanting to be elected needed to have a "speech" ready to say to the class. Monday night was not one of my better parenting moments. Tess and I ended up having a battle royale for a good part of an hour, then spent another hour doing the "I feel like....." "I'm hearing that you feel......." "Tell me how this made you feel......" post argument stuff that this nerdy mom likes to do. All said and done we ended the evening back on track. Turns out 9 year olds can have bad days just like adults do. huh.
Long story short(too late) we never got to work on a speech like I had told her we would do. In fact I completely and totally blew it off. Never even remembered it, until I came home from work yesterday and found this in her bag......
"Hello 3rd grade! My name is Tess "make you happy" Martens and I have some reasons to elect me as your class representative. 1. I will make sure everyone has an opinion on big class decisions. 2. I will also give respect to everyone. 3. I don't have many rules or regulations and always try to do my best. So vote for Tess "make you happy" Martens for class representative."
She won.
*sigh*
My baby is the student council representative for Ms Q's third grade class and had to be at school early for her very first meeting this morning.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Miner news is major
The rescue of the miners in Chile is miraculous, no? I am so thankful and inspired by their story. I teared up this morning listening to one of the men report how he "learned how to pray and became closer to God" during this ordeal.
Now that is one heck of a test from the big guy upstairs!
But here is my real reason for this post. I am hearing and seeing all the "money deals'' being thrown at these men.......movie deals, book deals blah blah blah
How about someone offer them a lifetime of FREE MENTAL HEALTH CARE?
I see a diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in their futures.
I'm thinking that would be a something they could really use.
Now that is one heck of a test from the big guy upstairs!
But here is my real reason for this post. I am hearing and seeing all the "money deals'' being thrown at these men.......movie deals, book deals blah blah blah
How about someone offer them a lifetime of FREE MENTAL HEALTH CARE?
I see a diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in their futures.
I'm thinking that would be a something they could really use.
The Secret is out...finally!
I have big news. Huge news. Super-gigantic-ginormous news.
I AM GOING TO BE AN AUNT.
Prayers answered.
God is so good.
I AM GOING TO BE AN AUNT.
Prayers answered.
God is so good.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Absent mom
yep, that is what someone called me this morning.
Andy got held over at work today for mandatory overtime. We found out that he wasn't going to be able to come home about an hour before I was supposed to be at work.....approximately 30 minutes before I needed to leave.
SO I got to go in late and do the MOM thing. It was like riding a bike.....sort of.
I took Tess to school and Kate to preschool. While there was no applause when I drove through the circle drive at Tess's school, I did get a HUGE welcome at Kate's school.
Turns out people miss me....or at least noticed I wasn't coming around as much. One mom, however lovingly I'm sure she meant it to sound, said "hey there absent mom!"
*ouch* dagger to the heart
anywhooooo
I got to see where Kate puts her backpack, she told me the names of her classmates, and each of her teachers got to ask me "Kate is really different than Tess isn't she?" HA! That's an understatement. She's not different in a bad way for sure....but different. And that's a post for another day.
Two more hours of getting to play with my Janey and Andy called saying he would be home soon. Here is the creepy but cool thing about this whole situation. Just yesterday I was thinking that I should take a day off and just hang with the girls....you know, do the routine stuff that isn't part of my routine anymore.
nope, not kidding. I wished for it and it came true....sort of.
GEORGE CLOONEY!
explanation in another post.
Andy got held over at work today for mandatory overtime. We found out that he wasn't going to be able to come home about an hour before I was supposed to be at work.....approximately 30 minutes before I needed to leave.
SO I got to go in late and do the MOM thing. It was like riding a bike.....sort of.
I took Tess to school and Kate to preschool. While there was no applause when I drove through the circle drive at Tess's school, I did get a HUGE welcome at Kate's school.
Turns out people miss me....or at least noticed I wasn't coming around as much. One mom, however lovingly I'm sure she meant it to sound, said "hey there absent mom!"
*ouch* dagger to the heart
anywhooooo
I got to see where Kate puts her backpack, she told me the names of her classmates, and each of her teachers got to ask me "Kate is really different than Tess isn't she?" HA! That's an understatement. She's not different in a bad way for sure....but different. And that's a post for another day.
Two more hours of getting to play with my Janey and Andy called saying he would be home soon. Here is the creepy but cool thing about this whole situation. Just yesterday I was thinking that I should take a day off and just hang with the girls....you know, do the routine stuff that isn't part of my routine anymore.
nope, not kidding. I wished for it and it came true....sort of.
GEORGE CLOONEY!
explanation in another post.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Homecoming 2010
Bailey aka Bai and Barry
Four of my five daughters........missing my Samantha(I really do miss you girl!)
Bailey and her friend Tanner Weekend pics of Jane
Jane making pizzas.........cheese pizzas
an apple a day keeps the doctor away! I came downstairs and found her sitting on the table. Notice how many apples she has sampled.....not to mention that the juice box she is drinking is apple juice!
We put out Halloween decorations on Saturday. This jack o lantern plays a spooky song and then the black cat jumps out at the end. Jane has made us listen to this song one bazillion times this weekend. She even will say "here it comes!" towards the end of the song, and then scream and laugh. This reaction you see in the picture? She does this every time.Date Night......Surprise Surprise Surprise
All last week I was looking forward to a night out with Andy.
And all last week I was secretly dreading where I was going for my night out with Andy.
The plan was to go to the KU vs MU hockey game at the new Independence Event Center.We had considered alternate plans to go to the Royals game(free tickets) but much to my dismay had decided to go with the Hockey game. We were going with a group of his fire department buddies and it was going to be an "Okay" time.
"Okay" meaning I only watch hockey during the Olympics........ when USA is playing......... for the GOLD.
Did I mention it was date night? An evening out with 20 other people is not my idea of a date, it's a group outing. Definately not a date. Which is funny considering we hardly ever get a chance to go out.....so I should be thankful, right? Anywho......I frumped my way through changing into KU stuff, and we headed to beautiful Independence, MO. Except as we drove by Kauffman, and I sighed an audible sigh, the truck magically took the exit towards the stadium.
Surprise Surprise Surprise.
My man had been planning to take me to the game all along! He got the tickets and even picked out my Royals attire and hid it in the truck! How I love this man!
We had a wonderful kid-free evening. Bruce Chen pitched his first complete game, we sat in several different seats, and even stood out on the party deck when the Ray's right fielder bobbled several hits to the outfield. Heckeling is fun when you aren't being examples for your kids! Yesterday morning, Andy even saw us on television during a highlight reel!
Awe-some!
With my sweetie's arm around me, we watched the fireworks from the upper deck, and I swear they blew up every last one they had. The night out at the ball park ended perfect when we pulled right out of our parking spot and didn't even have to wait to exit the stadium......a bonus for showing up late is that you park in the back of the lot! :)
Thank you Kansas City Royals for a great game.
Thank you Andy Martens for the surprise date.
And all last week I was secretly dreading where I was going for my night out with Andy.
The plan was to go to the KU vs MU hockey game at the new Independence Event Center.We had considered alternate plans to go to the Royals game(free tickets) but much to my dismay had decided to go with the Hockey game. We were going with a group of his fire department buddies and it was going to be an "Okay" time.
"Okay" meaning I only watch hockey during the Olympics........ when USA is playing......... for the GOLD.
Did I mention it was date night? An evening out with 20 other people is not my idea of a date, it's a group outing. Definately not a date. Which is funny considering we hardly ever get a chance to go out.....so I should be thankful, right? Anywho......I frumped my way through changing into KU stuff, and we headed to beautiful Independence, MO. Except as we drove by Kauffman, and I sighed an audible sigh, the truck magically took the exit towards the stadium.
Surprise Surprise Surprise.
My man had been planning to take me to the game all along! He got the tickets and even picked out my Royals attire and hid it in the truck! How I love this man!
We had a wonderful kid-free evening. Bruce Chen pitched his first complete game, we sat in several different seats, and even stood out on the party deck when the Ray's right fielder bobbled several hits to the outfield. Heckeling is fun when you aren't being examples for your kids! Yesterday morning, Andy even saw us on television during a highlight reel!
Awe-some!
With my sweetie's arm around me, we watched the fireworks from the upper deck, and I swear they blew up every last one they had. The night out at the ball park ended perfect when we pulled right out of our parking spot and didn't even have to wait to exit the stadium......a bonus for showing up late is that you park in the back of the lot! :)
Thank you Kansas City Royals for a great game.
Thank you Andy Martens for the surprise date.
Happy Happy JOY JOY
I am alone in my house.
I have been alone since 3pm and I am just waiting for the phone to ring and tell me it is about to end.
Drat.
The grandparents surprised the girls and took them to Carolyn's punpkin patch this afternoon and gave me the choice to go along or to stay home by myself.
Alone.
Believe it or not, it was a tough decision. Since I"ve started working M-F, I take my time with the girls very seriously.....or should I say, I take the quality of our time together very seriously. As in, lots of laughing, loving and FUN. I've been a single parent this weekend, and I know kids need a break from parents just as much as we need a break from them. So I beat myself up for about 1 minute and then chose to have them go without me.
My list of things I want to do is about 27 items long. The reality of what I did is embarassing. I spent probably 10 minutes just trying to decide what to do first! I started out trying to go to Hallmark(I only get to go about twice a year these days) but was disappointed to find out they had closed early. Next I went to the dollar store to pick up some masking tape.......$20 and 30 lost minutes later, I had masking tape and some other odds and ends that called to me from the store shelves.
AAHHHH look at how fast the time is going, I thought to myself as I headed back home and switched another load of laundry. How boring. Next I putzed around the house doing nothing focused, just random stuff, and thought, Good Grief Sarah, you could be doing this with the girls here!
When it came time to fix something to eat, I realized I could eat what ever I wanted.....no one else to care about or cook for. Rejoice! Taco salad and beer, yes please!
Now I am sitting on my new deck furniture, in my Sluggie(yes, I got a Royals snuggie from the game yesterday without even going!) and typing this post. Any minute now the girls will be back and our Sunday night groove will be back in full swing. I do kinda miss the girls. Actually, I have been thinking about them in some fashion pretty much since they left. Wondering what they are doing, if they are having fun, if they are being good and thankful like I reminded them to be before they left. I've even been surfing the internet for Christmas ideas for them. It may be October but this girl is ready for some Christmas shopping!
So when they are here, I wish for time alone. Now that I am alone, I am spending it thinking (and writing) about them.
Time alone is wonderful.
Time with my girls after I've been alone is going to be even better.
Thank you Loren and Linda for this gift of time by myself.
But next time could you give me more notice, so I will have my list of "want to dos" already prioritized?!?!
I have been alone since 3pm and I am just waiting for the phone to ring and tell me it is about to end.
Drat.
The grandparents surprised the girls and took them to Carolyn's punpkin patch this afternoon and gave me the choice to go along or to stay home by myself.
Alone.
Believe it or not, it was a tough decision. Since I"ve started working M-F, I take my time with the girls very seriously.....or should I say, I take the quality of our time together very seriously. As in, lots of laughing, loving and FUN. I've been a single parent this weekend, and I know kids need a break from parents just as much as we need a break from them. So I beat myself up for about 1 minute and then chose to have them go without me.
My list of things I want to do is about 27 items long. The reality of what I did is embarassing. I spent probably 10 minutes just trying to decide what to do first! I started out trying to go to Hallmark(I only get to go about twice a year these days) but was disappointed to find out they had closed early. Next I went to the dollar store to pick up some masking tape.......$20 and 30 lost minutes later, I had masking tape and some other odds and ends that called to me from the store shelves.
AAHHHH look at how fast the time is going, I thought to myself as I headed back home and switched another load of laundry. How boring. Next I putzed around the house doing nothing focused, just random stuff, and thought, Good Grief Sarah, you could be doing this with the girls here!
When it came time to fix something to eat, I realized I could eat what ever I wanted.....no one else to care about or cook for. Rejoice! Taco salad and beer, yes please!
Now I am sitting on my new deck furniture, in my Sluggie(yes, I got a Royals snuggie from the game yesterday without even going!) and typing this post. Any minute now the girls will be back and our Sunday night groove will be back in full swing. I do kinda miss the girls. Actually, I have been thinking about them in some fashion pretty much since they left. Wondering what they are doing, if they are having fun, if they are being good and thankful like I reminded them to be before they left. I've even been surfing the internet for Christmas ideas for them. It may be October but this girl is ready for some Christmas shopping!
So when they are here, I wish for time alone. Now that I am alone, I am spending it thinking (and writing) about them.
Time alone is wonderful.
Time with my girls after I've been alone is going to be even better.
Thank you Loren and Linda for this gift of time by myself.
But next time could you give me more notice, so I will have my list of "want to dos" already prioritized?!?!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Flash! Boom! AAHHHHH!
That title best describes our morning yesterday during the rain and lightening. The girls were up earlier than usual because the thunder started(again) around 6:30am. I wasn't really ready to get up-up, so all 4 of us snuggled under the covers and watched God's show.
Flash!(lightening) Boom!(thunder) AAAHHHHHH!(three girls giggle-screaming)
repeat.
This rain tonight reminds me of two Kate-isms that need to be told.
Yesterday morning Tess and Kate were watching the rain as it flooded our yard and street.The downpour of rain made it difficult to even see very far out the window. The girls were noticing all the early morning drivers and were talking very dramatically about the dangers of their morning commute. They were discussing how horrible it must be to have to ride in a school bus with all the hard rain and thunder/lightening, when Kate says(very dramatic like)
"You know what would be really bad?.........Driving through Texas!"
hahahahaha. Tess was speechless. If you can even imagine that.
I was showing the girls pictures of a place we are considering going on vacation. It showed a beautiful beach with lovely water.......I asked Kate if she would like to go on vacation there and she said(again, very dramatic) But what about a building? We can 't just sleep on the beach!
hahahaha. I was speechless. If you can even imagine that.
She's a smart girl....this I know for sure. But have you seen her hair color? I think Kate-isms are going to become regular blog topics for everyone's reading pleasure.
Flash!(lightening) Boom!(thunder) AAAHHHHHH!(three girls giggle-screaming)
repeat.
This rain tonight reminds me of two Kate-isms that need to be told.
Yesterday morning Tess and Kate were watching the rain as it flooded our yard and street.The downpour of rain made it difficult to even see very far out the window. The girls were noticing all the early morning drivers and were talking very dramatically about the dangers of their morning commute. They were discussing how horrible it must be to have to ride in a school bus with all the hard rain and thunder/lightening, when Kate says(very dramatic like)
"You know what would be really bad?.........Driving through Texas!"
hahahahaha. Tess was speechless. If you can even imagine that.
I was showing the girls pictures of a place we are considering going on vacation. It showed a beautiful beach with lovely water.......I asked Kate if she would like to go on vacation there and she said(again, very dramatic) But what about a building? We can 't just sleep on the beach!
hahahaha. I was speechless. If you can even imagine that.
She's a smart girl....this I know for sure. But have you seen her hair color? I think Kate-isms are going to become regular blog topics for everyone's reading pleasure.
Let's Hear it for the BOY!
Let's Hear it for the Boy!
Oh, Let's Give the Boy a Hand
Let's Hear it for My Baby
You Know You Gotta Understand
Maybe He's No Romeo
But He's My Loving One Man Show
oh, oh oh oh
Let's Hear it for the Boy!
A Birthday Post with a Footloose reference.......now that's a gift!
Happy 34th Birthday to my City Manager.
Thanks for choosing to not only live in Crazytown, but work there too.
I love you.
Monday, September 20, 2010
My Dad is Cooler Than Your Dad!
This weekend was the Jesse James Festival Parade. Andy was working so he asked if the girls wanted to ride along in the parade. Tess was a "duh, yeah!" while Kate was a "no thanks, I'd rather get the candy."
Anyway, Tess did the whole smile and wave thing like a pro, but was wearing Andy's fire helmet and looked totally uncomfortable, mainly because it is so big and heavy. After the parade I asked her if the helmet was hard to wear and she admitted it was. When I asked her why she had chosen to wear it she said "Because I wanted people to know my dad is a fireman and that I didn't just win a contest to get to ride in the back of the fire truck!"
This post would have been so much cooler with a picture, but alas, I have not been taught how to download pics from our external hard drive. I did get some cutie patootie pictures this weekend, so I will not be bashful in sharing them, hopefully SOON.
Anyway, Tess did the whole smile and wave thing like a pro, but was wearing Andy's fire helmet and looked totally uncomfortable, mainly because it is so big and heavy. After the parade I asked her if the helmet was hard to wear and she admitted it was. When I asked her why she had chosen to wear it she said "Because I wanted people to know my dad is a fireman and that I didn't just win a contest to get to ride in the back of the fire truck!"
This post would have been so much cooler with a picture, but alas, I have not been taught how to download pics from our external hard drive. I did get some cutie patootie pictures this weekend, so I will not be bashful in sharing them, hopefully SOON.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Breaking News
Jane is at home alone with daddy today. They were playing with some small water balloons, blowing them up and then letting them go....fizzing up into the air.
Jane decided she would try and blow one up by herself. When Andy asked her where the balloon was she said....."my mouf"................Andy: "open up Jane, let me see it"
"I EAT IT!"
the City Manager has now been placed on administrative leave WITHOUT PAY.
Sincerely,
THE Mayor
Happy Friday!
Jane decided she would try and blow one up by herself. When Andy asked her where the balloon was she said....."my mouf"................Andy: "open up Jane, let me see it"
"I EAT IT!"
the City Manager has now been placed on administrative leave WITHOUT PAY.
Sincerely,
THE Mayor
Happy Friday!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
It's not about me
Conversation with Kate after I gave her a haircut.
"Thank you for letting me cut your bangs, Kate. Now I can see your pretty eyes."
"You're welcome mom. Did you know God gave me these eyes?"
"I did know that Kate. And I must say that I did a really good job cutting your hair today."
"You know mom, God gave me my hair too. And if He hadn't given me my pretty blonde hair, you couldn't have cut it so good."
good point Kate.
"Thank you for letting me cut your bangs, Kate. Now I can see your pretty eyes."
"You're welcome mom. Did you know God gave me these eyes?"
"I did know that Kate. And I must say that I did a really good job cutting your hair today."
"You know mom, God gave me my hair too. And if He hadn't given me my pretty blonde hair, you couldn't have cut it so good."
good point Kate.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Sarah and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
yep. that title says it all. And I don't care if you care....I need to vent, so here is my post. Feel free to stop reading if you want.
My doctor was gone, celebrating the end of Ramadan. I would celebrate too if I had had to fast from all food and liquids from sun up to sun down for the last 30 days! Anyway, I had no doctor, so I had no one to sign orders for me quickly.....thus leading to a backlog of "to do" tasks.I was working for another doctor that had a boat load of work for me. He just kept bringing me work....as if he couldn't tell that I was overwhelmed and maxed out.
I got yelled at by three different patients. No, I personally didn't do anything wrong. They were having a bad day and yelled at the doctor and I so hard that my hair blew back. Yep, picture that!
It was 5:45 when I left work, and I had promised Andy that I would be home on time so that he could get to the HS football game that he is doing ambulance coverage for. I was waaaaaaay late.
I hadn't peed since 3 o'clock ish, but knew I was late so I didn't go before I left the office. Then I almost got into an accident and would have peed my pants on impact, I just know it. But I didn't get hit by the car, thankfully, so no wet pants, thankfully.
When I got home I started crying because the girls just looked at me and cowered....evidently Andy had told them "mommy had a bad day today, so be good."
I had to admit that I just couldn't keep up today at work. Too many clinic patients, too many voice messages needing things from me, too many other nurses not at work today........I simply couldn't help everybody that needed helped. And unfortunately I am the kind of person that will ruminate over this ALL weekend. I hate starting my Monday out with left over work from Friday.
I also was informed that the pretzals that I had sent with Tess to school do not fit in the new school district dietary guidelines. I had not seen the miniscule sized print that said they were packaged in a factory that also produced peanut butter. Holy #$%@!!!!! That bit of information struck me as such a cherry on top of my day that I laughed. I LAUGHED.......I could have killed someone with a peanut allergy and I am so frazzled that it struck me as funny. What is wrong with me?!
Luckily, the girls could sense my mood and secretly planned a surprise for me. I came into my room and found 2 granola bars, a bottle of water, some flowers stuck in a vase, a stuffed polar bear and a note that says We Love You Mom.
~sigh~
Such good girls.
AND at least I am not stuck outside, in this rain, waiting for a football game to get played, like my poor husband is right now....................
My doctor was gone, celebrating the end of Ramadan. I would celebrate too if I had had to fast from all food and liquids from sun up to sun down for the last 30 days! Anyway, I had no doctor, so I had no one to sign orders for me quickly.....thus leading to a backlog of "to do" tasks.I was working for another doctor that had a boat load of work for me. He just kept bringing me work....as if he couldn't tell that I was overwhelmed and maxed out.
I got yelled at by three different patients. No, I personally didn't do anything wrong. They were having a bad day and yelled at the doctor and I so hard that my hair blew back. Yep, picture that!
It was 5:45 when I left work, and I had promised Andy that I would be home on time so that he could get to the HS football game that he is doing ambulance coverage for. I was waaaaaaay late.
I hadn't peed since 3 o'clock ish, but knew I was late so I didn't go before I left the office. Then I almost got into an accident and would have peed my pants on impact, I just know it. But I didn't get hit by the car, thankfully, so no wet pants, thankfully.
When I got home I started crying because the girls just looked at me and cowered....evidently Andy had told them "mommy had a bad day today, so be good."
I had to admit that I just couldn't keep up today at work. Too many clinic patients, too many voice messages needing things from me, too many other nurses not at work today........I simply couldn't help everybody that needed helped. And unfortunately I am the kind of person that will ruminate over this ALL weekend. I hate starting my Monday out with left over work from Friday.
I also was informed that the pretzals that I had sent with Tess to school do not fit in the new school district dietary guidelines. I had not seen the miniscule sized print that said they were packaged in a factory that also produced peanut butter. Holy #$%@!!!!! That bit of information struck me as such a cherry on top of my day that I laughed. I LAUGHED.......I could have killed someone with a peanut allergy and I am so frazzled that it struck me as funny. What is wrong with me?!
Luckily, the girls could sense my mood and secretly planned a surprise for me. I came into my room and found 2 granola bars, a bottle of water, some flowers stuck in a vase, a stuffed polar bear and a note that says We Love You Mom.
~sigh~
Such good girls.
AND at least I am not stuck outside, in this rain, waiting for a football game to get played, like my poor husband is right now....................
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Hooray for Labor Day!
For the first time in nine years, I am so excited for Labor Day.
For the past nine years Labor Day holiday didn't really hold much excitement for me because I didn't work Mondays anyway, or Tuesday, and sometimes not even Wednesday.
Ahhhh, those were the days.......
Well now this Monday thru Friday worker bee is lovin' the thought of a holiday from work tomorrow!
Yipee!
I'm going to do a little cleaning, do a little playing, and do a little bit of nothing......what a day!
I feel like I've been given the gift of time.
For the past nine years Labor Day holiday didn't really hold much excitement for me because I didn't work Mondays anyway, or Tuesday, and sometimes not even Wednesday.
Ahhhh, those were the days.......
Well now this Monday thru Friday worker bee is lovin' the thought of a holiday from work tomorrow!
Yipee!
I'm going to do a little cleaning, do a little playing, and do a little bit of nothing......what a day!
I feel like I've been given the gift of time.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Party time.....Tess is NINE!
Attractive faces of the birthday beauties!
Trying to do the dance moves during the Camp Rock 2 movie.
Mesmerized by the movie....even little sister
Taylor, Tess, Kyla, and Katie Here are some pics from last night's sleep over. Kate got her special night with Grandma Linda, so I thought I was all clear from having little sister/big sister problems. NOT!
As soon as Jane saw that the big girls had their pillows and blankets laid out on the floor, I was being asked to get hers and put it down there too. "Meer(Come here) mom, need my piyow and banket....down dayre mom, right dayre on da fore."
In true slumber party fashion, they stayed up until 1am, but then totally messed up and woke up at 6am!! I have had 5 hours of sleep too, so this momma is going to be draggin all day.
Good times. I hope you enjoyed your party, Tess.
I Love Love Love you.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Sister K is in Pre-K!!
This picture was too beautiful to not put in the blog.
Showing off her backpack and hair extensions.
Showing off her new kicks that light up!They are Skeechers, called Twinkle Toes, and cost a small fortune.
Good thing my Kate Sinclaire is soooo worth it.
She loved school, but didn't have time to talk because she was out the door to spend the night at Grandma's house. She scored a pedicure/manicure, shopping at Target, and lunch at 54th street with Grandma Ann on Wednesday, and tomorrow is her day to go school clothes shopping with Grandma Linda and Mimi. As far as I can tell, she is less concerned about where they are shopping and more concerned about where they will be eating lunch! Last I heard she had picked Olive Garden.
More stories......
Since I've had so many people comment on the stories I've recently posted about the girls....I thought I'd do a couple more! You are WELCOME!
My dad got a new(er) vehicle recently and Kate has always called it "The Buggy." She loves for grandpa and grandma to drive her around in the Buggy. The other day, she and my mom were driving in Liberty when they pulled behind someone who had personalized plates that said "The Buggy" (not sure how it was spelled but it was implied) Mom told Kate about it, and Kate could not believe that someone else would use that as their license plate. "It's like they stealed our identity!" she said.
Disclaimer* I apologize for the visual this next story might cause*
I was getting out of the shower and Kate just walked in and said "Hi mom, I'm coming in....and I don't mind."
"Don't mind what?" I asked.
"That you're naked."
"Oh, thanks Kate."
Tess is getting ready for Christmas program try-outs for the Drama club, and they were told to listen to the play and pick several parts to audition for. We listened to it lastnight and Tess and I were discussing which parts she liked. She mentioned that there were some speaking lines as reindeer, elves and children that she was interested in and said "being a reindeer would be fun and interesting" to which Kate pipes up "Tess, you should be a chimpanzee...they are pretty interesting too!"
pause pause pause...
They sure are, Kate. Good idea!
Jane loves to walk into a room, act like she is digging her diaper out of her be-hind and say "I have a wedgie!"
Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!
My dad got a new(er) vehicle recently and Kate has always called it "The Buggy." She loves for grandpa and grandma to drive her around in the Buggy. The other day, she and my mom were driving in Liberty when they pulled behind someone who had personalized plates that said "The Buggy" (not sure how it was spelled but it was implied) Mom told Kate about it, and Kate could not believe that someone else would use that as their license plate. "It's like they stealed our identity!" she said.
Disclaimer* I apologize for the visual this next story might cause*
I was getting out of the shower and Kate just walked in and said "Hi mom, I'm coming in....and I don't mind."
"Don't mind what?" I asked.
"That you're naked."
"Oh, thanks Kate."
Tess is getting ready for Christmas program try-outs for the Drama club, and they were told to listen to the play and pick several parts to audition for. We listened to it lastnight and Tess and I were discussing which parts she liked. She mentioned that there were some speaking lines as reindeer, elves and children that she was interested in and said "being a reindeer would be fun and interesting" to which Kate pipes up "Tess, you should be a chimpanzee...they are pretty interesting too!"
pause pause pause...
They sure are, Kate. Good idea!
Jane loves to walk into a room, act like she is digging her diaper out of her be-hind and say "I have a wedgie!"
Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
one cute and one awkward story
First the awkward one...
Tonight the Emmy's were on. Please know that while I don't consider this family programming, it was on while I was ironing, and the girls were wandering in and out of the room. During an acceptance speech, Tess heard a female award winner thank her wife........
"Mom, she just thanked her wife! Isn't that a girl? Why did she say that?"
pause pause pause (me hoping she would just walk out of the room without an answer)
She did not.
Picture me quickly trying to decide if I was really ready to have the homosexuality talk with my daughter.
I was not.
So my response? "It must be what she chooses to call the person she loves......."
Crisis averted. Awkward feeling in my stomach, not so much. And wouldn't you know that every single blessed time Tess came into the room, it was ALWAYS during a gay joke/remark.
Seriously.
Okay, now for the cute story.
Yesterday, Kate was doing something acrobatic like and she got the wind knocked out of her. But her description was that she got hit in her soul. Isn't that fun? I asked her where exactly her soul was located and she said "right here next to my heart." I just love her description. That is how a four year old describes what a soul is. I think she said it better than most adults could have.
Tonight the Emmy's were on. Please know that while I don't consider this family programming, it was on while I was ironing, and the girls were wandering in and out of the room. During an acceptance speech, Tess heard a female award winner thank her wife........
"Mom, she just thanked her wife! Isn't that a girl? Why did she say that?"
pause pause pause (me hoping she would just walk out of the room without an answer)
She did not.
Picture me quickly trying to decide if I was really ready to have the homosexuality talk with my daughter.
I was not.
So my response? "It must be what she chooses to call the person she loves......."
Crisis averted. Awkward feeling in my stomach, not so much. And wouldn't you know that every single blessed time Tess came into the room, it was ALWAYS during a gay joke/remark.
Seriously.
Okay, now for the cute story.
Yesterday, Kate was doing something acrobatic like and she got the wind knocked out of her. But her description was that she got hit in her soul. Isn't that fun? I asked her where exactly her soul was located and she said "right here next to my heart." I just love her description. That is how a four year old describes what a soul is. I think she said it better than most adults could have.
JOY stories
Today my three girls made me so proud. All three of them displayed their "goodness," what I'd like to think is their God-given goodness, without being asked, begged or bribed to do it.
Story #1
We started our Sunday at Dollar General choosing a birthday present for a friend of Kate's. We were in the checkout line and the clerk started talking to Kate about the party, and then just asking her questions about school, etc. Kate talked the woman's ear off, and with each answer the lady looked at me like "is this kid for real?" Anyway, the point of this story is as we were walking out we said our goodbyes and Kate turns around and walks back toward the counter and says "Have a great day!"
I kid you not, the lady's jaw hit the floor. She smiled from here to Tuesday and and said "thank you, now I will."
~sigh~ so SO proud of that.
Story #2
We are walking into church, I am holding Jane's hand and as we enter there is a gentleman who is a designated "greeter" saying hello to everyone. He says good morning to me, and before I can reciprocate, my 2 year old pulls out her pacifier and shouts "Good Morning!"
~sigh~ so SO cute.
Story #3
I was dropping Jane off at the nursery and there was a woman who had brought her two granddaughters to church with her. The youngest was going to stay in the nursery, but the older one was having a hard time with the idea of leaving grandma. When I found out she was 8, I told her about Tess being the same age, and that I would love to introduce her to Tess and to the others in Sunday School. The girl looked at me like I had just spoken in Mandarin and the grandmother mouthed "thank you" to me......anyway, the granddaughter literally cried and held her grandmother tight all the way down the hall to the classroom. Thankfully, Tess was right there waiting to go in and when I introduced Jasmine to Tess, my eldest just came to life. She put her arm around Jasmine, started telling her how much she would just love Mrs Carla(the teacher) and how class is so cool, blah blah blah.......Jasmine really didn't have a chance to wimper a word because my daughter had welcomed her and made her a part of the class without her even realizing it.
When I went to get Tess, I also saw Jasmine.....and she was LAUGHING AND SMILING. She said she would definately be back next week. Another mouthed "thank you" from grandmother.
~sigh~ Makes me so SO happy.
My girls giving JOY brings me JOY.
Story #1
We started our Sunday at Dollar General choosing a birthday present for a friend of Kate's. We were in the checkout line and the clerk started talking to Kate about the party, and then just asking her questions about school, etc. Kate talked the woman's ear off, and with each answer the lady looked at me like "is this kid for real?" Anyway, the point of this story is as we were walking out we said our goodbyes and Kate turns around and walks back toward the counter and says "Have a great day!"
I kid you not, the lady's jaw hit the floor. She smiled from here to Tuesday and and said "thank you, now I will."
~sigh~ so SO proud of that.
Story #2
We are walking into church, I am holding Jane's hand and as we enter there is a gentleman who is a designated "greeter" saying hello to everyone. He says good morning to me, and before I can reciprocate, my 2 year old pulls out her pacifier and shouts "Good Morning!"
~sigh~ so SO cute.
Story #3
I was dropping Jane off at the nursery and there was a woman who had brought her two granddaughters to church with her. The youngest was going to stay in the nursery, but the older one was having a hard time with the idea of leaving grandma. When I found out she was 8, I told her about Tess being the same age, and that I would love to introduce her to Tess and to the others in Sunday School. The girl looked at me like I had just spoken in Mandarin and the grandmother mouthed "thank you" to me......anyway, the granddaughter literally cried and held her grandmother tight all the way down the hall to the classroom. Thankfully, Tess was right there waiting to go in and when I introduced Jasmine to Tess, my eldest just came to life. She put her arm around Jasmine, started telling her how much she would just love Mrs Carla(the teacher) and how class is so cool, blah blah blah.......Jasmine really didn't have a chance to wimper a word because my daughter had welcomed her and made her a part of the class without her even realizing it.
When I went to get Tess, I also saw Jasmine.....and she was LAUGHING AND SMILING. She said she would definately be back next week. Another mouthed "thank you" from grandmother.
~sigh~ Makes me so SO happy.
My girls giving JOY brings me JOY.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
tattoos and other stuff
I just found Kate in her room looking at one of Andy's old EMT textbooks. While I am sure most families don't have those kinds of books on their coffee tables for light reading, we actually do. Maybe not on the coffee table, but accessible. You just never know when the information might come in handy.....right?
So I go check out what she is looking at and see a fairly graphic picture of a compound fracture of the lower leg. Kate isn't concerned about the gross out factor, she wants to know MORE. Specifically, what happened? Is this an x-ray of the leg? Where is this on my body?
Then she turns to some pretty serious abdominal trauma. As in belly torn open and guts spilling out on the hospital bed type trauma. Again, she doesn't gross out, just asks questions, and I am loving it! In the picture they show the entire torso of the poor bloke that this injury happened to, and there are several tattoos. Kate turns to me and says.....
"I think dad should get a new stamp on his back."
"Like what, Kate?"
"I don't know, like a dog or a cat or something."
"Good idea, Kate"
And then we started looking at burn wounds.
So I go check out what she is looking at and see a fairly graphic picture of a compound fracture of the lower leg. Kate isn't concerned about the gross out factor, she wants to know MORE. Specifically, what happened? Is this an x-ray of the leg? Where is this on my body?
Then she turns to some pretty serious abdominal trauma. As in belly torn open and guts spilling out on the hospital bed type trauma. Again, she doesn't gross out, just asks questions, and I am loving it! In the picture they show the entire torso of the poor bloke that this injury happened to, and there are several tattoos. Kate turns to me and says.....
"I think dad should get a new stamp on his back."
"Like what, Kate?"
"I don't know, like a dog or a cat or something."
"Good idea, Kate"
And then we started looking at burn wounds.
zippity ZOO dah
My oh my what a wonderful Saturday we had.......
We started out by sleeping in until almost 9am! Andy and I had a late night out on Friday with the other couples from his KFD shift. FUN times.
Anyway, we slept in and before talking with the girls we KNEW we needed to make it a day of F-A-M-I-L-Y time. It has been way too long since we had a whole day with all 5 of us present.
We brought the girls into our room, first making them do some really goofy things (which surprisingly they did without question) and then told them we we going to the ZOO!
We hadn't been to the KC Zoo since Tess was Jane's age, and our girls love love love animals..... (not to mention that we'd heard about the new polar bear exhibit on television and polar bears just happen to be my favorite animal) so we packed the car with snacks and sunscreen and headed south.
The zoo went above my expectations(no comparison to the Omaha Zoo, but more do-able for spur of the moment fun) and we all had a great time. The polar bear, Nikita, was fun to watch as she dove into the water after treats that were thrown to her from the zoo keepers. Jane was so excited to see monkeys, giraffes, zebras, lions, and elephants. Her shouts of "yook! it's a ______!" were so cute. She walked for most of the zoo, but would ride through some of the longer animal-less areas. We were all about to wilt by the time we got through Africa.....that part of the zoo is the biggest bummer spatially. Large areas of nothing......but still had cool animals. Just too far between them. The Kid Zone Discovery Barn totally rocked. And not just because it was air conditioned.
Jane says the polar bear was her favorite, Tess said the Discovery Barn, and Kate said everything was her favorite. I heart family time.
We started out by sleeping in until almost 9am! Andy and I had a late night out on Friday with the other couples from his KFD shift. FUN times.
Anyway, we slept in and before talking with the girls we KNEW we needed to make it a day of F-A-M-I-L-Y time. It has been way too long since we had a whole day with all 5 of us present.
We brought the girls into our room, first making them do some really goofy things (which surprisingly they did without question) and then told them we we going to the ZOO!
We hadn't been to the KC Zoo since Tess was Jane's age, and our girls love love love animals..... (not to mention that we'd heard about the new polar bear exhibit on television and polar bears just happen to be my favorite animal) so we packed the car with snacks and sunscreen and headed south.
The zoo went above my expectations(no comparison to the Omaha Zoo, but more do-able for spur of the moment fun) and we all had a great time. The polar bear, Nikita, was fun to watch as she dove into the water after treats that were thrown to her from the zoo keepers. Jane was so excited to see monkeys, giraffes, zebras, lions, and elephants. Her shouts of "yook! it's a ______!" were so cute. She walked for most of the zoo, but would ride through some of the longer animal-less areas. We were all about to wilt by the time we got through Africa.....that part of the zoo is the biggest bummer spatially. Large areas of nothing......but still had cool animals. Just too far between them. The Kid Zone Discovery Barn totally rocked. And not just because it was air conditioned.
Jane says the polar bear was her favorite, Tess said the Discovery Barn, and Kate said everything was her favorite. I heart family time.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
I have a third grader!
I am so not old enough to have a kid in the third grade. An almost NINE YEAR OLD!
The first day of school went similar to the last few years........
Tess got up early, got dressed in approximately 52 seconds, and then sat around watching the clock. Luckily, we don't sleep in around this house anyway, so the rest of us tried to feed off of her energy/excitement! A nice celebratory breakfast of mini pancakes was served, pictures were taken, and it was time for me to go to work and daddy to start the car for the long 2 minute drive to school.
We had been to Open House the night before to drop off school supplies, meet the teacher,pay for lunches, and socialize with kids/parents we haven't seen all summer. It's basically a big circus of noise, but an important social time for the kids. I spoke to Tess's teacher for less than a minute and we were out the door. I spent more time filling out the required paperwork.
Tess has several close friends in her class, and she's having fun re-connecting with friends that she hasn't been classmates with the past few years. It has been a major relief to her that a couple of boys are NOT in her class this year. They were pretty spazy and it really bothered her to have them around. Evidently they occupied a lot of the teacher's time discipline-wise, and Tess has never understood why kids don't do what the teacher asks them to do. It has always puzzled her. Isn't that hoot? The night before school we went over the classroom handbook, including the discipline page, and I gave my schtick of "a verbal warning from the teacher better be all it takes, because if I have to be notified, you had better have a good story."
First day was "kinda boring" because "all we did was read the handbook and talk about the expectations" Further questioning always provides more details. Each evening we go over her agenda and I still ask the "tell me three things that happened today."
This was the first year Tess honestly wasn't real excited about school starting. She had a good summer, and third grade has been built up to be a pretty stressful year for these kids(and the parents too, no doubt). It's the first year they get an actual letter grade for their work. It's also the first year they get to do fun things like Drama Club. Do you think she'll want to participate?
Is her last name Martens?
ps. Sorry this blog has been without pictures for so long. Andy started putting them on an online picture place and they download all funky. Now that we have the external hard drive, I am hoping to be able to embellish my blogs again with gratuitious pictures of my girls!
The first day of school went similar to the last few years........
Tess got up early, got dressed in approximately 52 seconds, and then sat around watching the clock. Luckily, we don't sleep in around this house anyway, so the rest of us tried to feed off of her energy/excitement! A nice celebratory breakfast of mini pancakes was served, pictures were taken, and it was time for me to go to work and daddy to start the car for the long 2 minute drive to school.
We had been to Open House the night before to drop off school supplies, meet the teacher,pay for lunches, and socialize with kids/parents we haven't seen all summer. It's basically a big circus of noise, but an important social time for the kids. I spoke to Tess's teacher for less than a minute and we were out the door. I spent more time filling out the required paperwork.
Tess has several close friends in her class, and she's having fun re-connecting with friends that she hasn't been classmates with the past few years. It has been a major relief to her that a couple of boys are NOT in her class this year. They were pretty spazy and it really bothered her to have them around. Evidently they occupied a lot of the teacher's time discipline-wise, and Tess has never understood why kids don't do what the teacher asks them to do. It has always puzzled her. Isn't that hoot? The night before school we went over the classroom handbook, including the discipline page, and I gave my schtick of "a verbal warning from the teacher better be all it takes, because if I have to be notified, you had better have a good story."
First day was "kinda boring" because "all we did was read the handbook and talk about the expectations" Further questioning always provides more details. Each evening we go over her agenda and I still ask the "tell me three things that happened today."
This was the first year Tess honestly wasn't real excited about school starting. She had a good summer, and third grade has been built up to be a pretty stressful year for these kids(and the parents too, no doubt). It's the first year they get an actual letter grade for their work. It's also the first year they get to do fun things like Drama Club. Do you think she'll want to participate?
Is her last name Martens?
ps. Sorry this blog has been without pictures for so long. Andy started putting them on an online picture place and they download all funky. Now that we have the external hard drive, I am hoping to be able to embellish my blogs again with gratuitious pictures of my girls!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
time to play catch up
Last week our computer went to computer heaven........thus the loooong time since my last post. And like most people do when a beloved thing dies......we went out and bought something cuter, newer, faster, trendier, and all around funner. Yep, I said FUNNER.
We bought this cute as pooh Netbook and I love love love it. Of course it is barely bigger than my checkbook, but what a treat to have something that is so portable and just plain adorable. Andy bought all kinds of responsible accessories(disc drive, extra hard drive, blah blah blah) Now I'm thinking a cute little carry case right? I can't let my precious get scratched or bumped!
Now for the updates......
Job is great. Still lovin' it. Thank you Jesus.
Andy went to QT tonight for the first time in over a month. Hope he can remember how to dole out taquitos and beer.
My brother is on a vacay to the West Coast to camp out on the beaches in Oregon. He's cool like that. Hope he is having a good(and safe!) time with his buddies.
My mom celebrated her birthday last week. I sure do love her. We are waaaaay closer now than we ever were when I was a kid. I guess it's because she was smart enough to know that I had plenty of friends and needed her to be a MOM instead of a buddy. Good decision momma. I plan to model that with my girls too.
Andy's mom finished her last radiation treatment. Praise God. We are so thankful that other than a 20 minute interruption to her mornings (and a few bothersome physical side effects) she was able to carry on as usual with her day to day routine. We are so thankful. I sure do love you Mom #2.
Andy's sister celebrated turning 30. We had an 80s themed roller skating party complete with us in costumes and skating to 80s music. I hope her 30s treat her well. She deserves it. Love you Seester.
Tess started school yesterday. That deserves a separate post, so it shall get one.
Kate is anxiously awaiting the start of her school year. She starts on Sept 3rd and then has to wait alllll the waaaaay through Labor Day weekend till she can go back on the following Wednesday. Why they do that to these poor children I do not know. It's such a tease.
My youth group responsibilities officially started tonight, but I came home to my Janey feeling weepy and feverish.
Time to go snuggle with her.
We bought this cute as pooh Netbook and I love love love it. Of course it is barely bigger than my checkbook, but what a treat to have something that is so portable and just plain adorable. Andy bought all kinds of responsible accessories(disc drive, extra hard drive, blah blah blah) Now I'm thinking a cute little carry case right? I can't let my precious get scratched or bumped!
Now for the updates......
Job is great. Still lovin' it. Thank you Jesus.
Andy went to QT tonight for the first time in over a month. Hope he can remember how to dole out taquitos and beer.
My brother is on a vacay to the West Coast to camp out on the beaches in Oregon. He's cool like that. Hope he is having a good(and safe!) time with his buddies.
My mom celebrated her birthday last week. I sure do love her. We are waaaaay closer now than we ever were when I was a kid. I guess it's because she was smart enough to know that I had plenty of friends and needed her to be a MOM instead of a buddy. Good decision momma. I plan to model that with my girls too.
Andy's mom finished her last radiation treatment. Praise God. We are so thankful that other than a 20 minute interruption to her mornings (and a few bothersome physical side effects) she was able to carry on as usual with her day to day routine. We are so thankful. I sure do love you Mom #2.
Andy's sister celebrated turning 30. We had an 80s themed roller skating party complete with us in costumes and skating to 80s music. I hope her 30s treat her well. She deserves it. Love you Seester.
Tess started school yesterday. That deserves a separate post, so it shall get one.
Kate is anxiously awaiting the start of her school year. She starts on Sept 3rd and then has to wait alllll the waaaaay through Labor Day weekend till she can go back on the following Wednesday. Why they do that to these poor children I do not know. It's such a tease.
My youth group responsibilities officially started tonight, but I came home to my Janey feeling weepy and feverish.
Time to go snuggle with her.
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