The First Day of School!

The first day of school. Jack was totally excited. He has about 7 or 8 friends in his class from last year. I am not sure if that is good or bad, bad if he does a lot of talking but good to make him feel comfortable. He got the teacher that I requested for him so that takes a load of my shoulders. She is great and will be hard on him and will discipline him when necessary (notice I didn't say if.....). Tristan also has several kids he knows in his class and is out in the portables this year and splits his day between two teachers. So a new setup all around for him. He was a little less enthusiastic about the first day of school but hopefully that is just left over from the remnants of the bad year he had in second grade (his teacher passed away and he was bullied by two kids in his class). Bean was excited to go to school too, she was just excited to go because we made a big deal of it all. She is going to start wearing undies instead of diapers and pull ups, the class she moves into today is potty training them and hopefully it will happen in a couple of weeks for her. Please keep your fingers crossed. So in anticipation I bought about 20 pairs of panties and 10 pairs of shorts, a bottle of wine for me (or 5), cause once we start there is no turning back. So off we go! Happy first day of school to everyone else out there.

My New Favorite Dance Craze

Savannah just makes me laugh. She has taken to wearing headbands on the back of her head, dancing and shaking her booty and in general just making me laugh. Since she is so much fun I couldn't keep her a secret but had to share her with our family and friends!

Happy Anniversary!!!

From then to now. Eleven years in the making. It's hard to believe we have been together for 12 and married for 11. Twelve years ago I was preparing for the knee reconstruction surgery from the injury that Jaesen caused during a soccer game. He's been stuck with me ever since :) So many things have happened in those 11 years, the end of one career, the beginning of a new one, 3 kids, moving around the world. And it's really only just the beginning. I love you Ba, wherever you are today. Actually I know where you are and am insanely jealous. I would love to be in Aruba drinking fruity drinks with you!!!! Love and miss you, hurry home.

Today was Fire Alarm Day

Well really the whole thing was my fault. I was in a cooking mood. I made Basalmic Chicken with Wilted Spinach and White Beans out of Rachel Ray's cookbook, plus a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies. Unfortunately for me, when I decided to wash the hot pan that had vinegar and oil in it, the wave of smoke set off our smoke alarm and ADT's fire alarm. Well we have never had our ADT alarm go off before. So I ran in and reset it and then went about my business of waving the towel in front of the smoke detector and having the boys fan the doors at opposite ends of the house. All of this occuring as Savannah has decided to poop and Tristan kicked Jack. So I go back to the alarm panel and it still says "Fire Alarm". Well alarm bells go off in my head and I grab my phone to call ADT. Sure enough, fire truck on the way. It seems that you have to double reset the alarm so the fire department doesn't receive the call. Things you learn through experience apparently. Well finally I get it all resolved and sit down to our wonderful dinner. Jack ruins the chicken by putting ketchup on his plate for chicken dip. But first he decided to pour half a bottle of it onto the tablecloth and floor. Sigh! I guess that is why we have dogs, they happily licked up all the ketchup, what a treat. I am sure they will throw it all up later, about 3 in the morning is my guess. So now I worry about the dogs as I swat away the flies that are swarming through the house since we had open doors during the fire alarm. I guess another glass of wine is warranted!

The Tale of the Pink Toenails.......

Ahhhhh, I wish that I had a picture to post to commemorate this tale, but alas the culprit got away without a snap of the camera. It was at dinner the other night when the middle child decided that he needed to use the restroom, if you know Jack then you know that this is a common occurrence, and off he went. About 10 minutes later he still hadn't returned. I sent Tristan off to knock on the door and hurry him up. Finally I got up and went to check on him myself. I knocked and opened the door to find him opening it as well. "Hurry back to the table and eat the rest of your food please," I said. Off he went and I walked off to find Savannah so that I could get her bath running and clean her up. As I walked back into the bathroom an odor overcame me. "Jack!" I shouted. He came running. "What did you do in here? And own up to it because I can smell it!" His face exhibited nothing but fear as he meekly pointed down to his feet. My eyes were drawn down and lo and behold, the child had pink toes. Not just pink toenails, because that really does take more skill than a 6 year old can handle, but the whole toe was pink, except where he had obviously tried to scrub it off. It was then that I noticed pink on the white bathroom rugs. I ran to our dining room chairs, which are covered in white upholestry (don't get me started on that stupid decision!), but his chair was not dotted in pink nail polish. I ran back to the bathroom to find him sobbing onto the counter. I started to laugh uncontrollably. I just could not help myself. I knew I was making him more upset but still kept laughing. He had used his cousins pink nail polish but got scared and tried to get it off and was completely mortified when it would not come off. So I took him to my bathroom and proceeded to explain the wonders of nail polish and nail polish remover. His crying eventually subsided and I told him that he needed to ask if he ever again wanted to paint his toes (or anything else for that matter-because with him, there really is no telling) and I would help him and then we could take it off too with no problems. However, I think that he has been scared off the toenail painting binge (much to Jaesen's delight I am sure), but with him who knows what lies around the bend.

Soccer Camp Kids!

Well our week long soccer camp is over. It was a great camp and the kids had fun, but I am glad it's over. Camp meant eating at 4 in the afternoon, then getting everyone dressed (the kids still have issues pulling those socks up to their knees over shin guards), going to camp, keeping Savannah happily occupied for 3 hours for 5 nights in a row, keeping mosquitoes at bay when the sun went down, keeping the boys hydrated, getting everyone home and into the tub to wash away the sweat of the evening, then feeding everyone a second dinner, and trying to get everyone to bed by 10 at night. I would try and stay up to consume one much needed glass of wine, but most nights that didn't even succeed. So tonight we can once again eat at a normal time, although if we eat any later than 530 I am sure I will hear the grumbling from the kids, as well as my own belly which is on a much earlier eating time zone. Hats off to our two British soccer coaches, cheers mates, we had a blast!

A Mom's Gotta Brag.....

Well it has been a rough couple weeks around here. Jack has been on his worst behavior. No matter what I do to him, spanking, standing in the corner, taking his favorite toys or loveys, he is on a continued path of annoying me to the max. This ended abruptly yesterday when the boys played terrifically together, no fights, no arguing over who could be a wizard, or a pet, or a dragon, or whatever, they just played together. That even extended until today. Jack got several gift cards to Target for his birthday and today was the day to go and spend them. Tristan lost a tooth and had a couple more dollars saved up so off we headed to the store. Transformers are the toy of choice this month in the Yerger house and Jack knew exactly what he was looking for. He got himself a Transformer and then a semi truck that towed along a couple race cars. And lo and behold what he did with his leftover money shocked me to the core. He gave it to Tristan so he could get a Transformer too. Tristan pitched in his little bit of money so Jack was left with some in his wallet, but he ended up paying about $7 on Bug's toy. And the rest of the day was spent in the imaginary world of Transformers blowing up our shoe rack, the dining room table and total destruction in their bedroom. It was a sight to behold. Of course I won't be surprised if tomorrow they are once again arguing over who is the better wizard, who is taller or has the bigger feet (they actually have the same size feet now) or who likes such and such food better. But at least tonight this Mom can just rest easy knowing that her two boys are actually getting along, and for 48 hours, who knew???