Just when you thought it was safe....
to put away the sewing machine.
So last week, I actually finished all three Halloween costumes which is definitely a first for me in almost 8 years of costume making!! 
However, Adin's school doesn't have the kids just wear their Halloween costumes to school, instead they do a "Character" dress up day from their favorite book. I figured I'd just buy him a book on Vampires and we'd be good to go, but silly me - that would just be too easy! Lately, Adin has been reading these "Magic Treehouse" books (Thank you Auntie Dian) and he was just too excited to tell me that he chose his character and he wants to be "Jack" from the book. For those not familiar with "Magic Treehouse," they are books about a brother and sister, Jack and Annie, who get transported to inside the books they are reading inside their treehouse. Currently, Adin is reading "The Haunted Castle" and Jack is dressed in sort of a Renaissance peasent wear, so once again the needle and thread came out. Luckily, I was able to get some pieces from Goodwill and then some red clearance fabric to make the rest of the outfit. I've posted the picts with a little descriptions to show I got all the pieces together. He tried it on last night and thankfully he thought it was "totally Awesome!" I'm glad, because as much as I'd want to lecture him about being grateful for my sad attempt, if he didn't like it, then I'd probably retreat to my room defeated. I can't help it, but it's just a nice mommy ego boost when you get an enthusiastic approval!
Tonight and tomorrow I'll just need to work on his shoe coverings and he'll be good to go for this Friday! This is major deja vu from long nights and no sleep when I scrambled to put together his "Chicken Little" character costume in Kindergarten.
Ahhhh...the joys of motherhood! I do enjoy them! 
Some good ol' family time.
Let me start off by apologizing for falling behind these past two weeks...time just flies on by when you're not paying attention...but at least we were having fun in the process. :) So back on Oct. 6th Adin had his annual Open House at his school. Thankfully with the little guys older now, both Gary and I were able to go and avoid trying to squeeze a gigantic stroller in there. Gary was able to meet Adin's teacher, Mrs. Dee,for the first time and see Adin's classroom in the 2nd grade. During the second week of school I went to the "Teacher meet and greet" while Gary stood home with the kids, so I already had the pleasure of meeting his teacher for this year and exploring his little room. Adin enjoyed showing us all around school, especially Gary because I think this is the first open house he's attended since Adin started back in Kindergarten. He took the time to show us all around his room and the work he's been doing these past weeks of school, as well as other areas of the school like his art and music room and the gym! Afterwards we stopped by the annual Book Fair in the library and picked up some books for the boys. Apparently some Lego Ninja series is popular with the boys these days, so that was the first one on Adin's list, then we got another "chapter" book called "Vampire Weenies" and lastly our little historian wanted a book on the Civil War. He's really been getting into American history lately and has been reading different books about it...and asking a lot of questions! :) The book is technically for 5th graders, but how do you turn your child down on buying a book about an key event in the history of our Nation??? I told him, he'd have to read majority of the "chapter" books on his own, but we could read the Civil War one together. It never hurts to refresh one's memory! :) Liam was even able to find a book that worked well for both him and Noah, so we picked up that one too. It's really AWESOME to see our boys enjoy books so much, and I hope its a hobby/passion they continue on with for a long time! :)
Let's see on the 10th I forgot I had the day off, new change to our contracts this year, so I utilized the time alone to finally finish painting the last wall in the living room. YAY! Check that off my "To-Do" list, juuuuuuust about 10 more items or so to go! LOL! I also got through most of Noah's costume to help me get a little closer to checking that off as well. Unfortunately, it's taken me even longer than I first anticipated because I've had to hand sew all the ripped material pieces to the clothes. I have fabric glue somewhere around here, and since I couldn't find it, I decided to go cheap and do it the hard way. :) Then again that is the story of my life - do EVERYTHING the hard way! Hahahaha
On the 14th, I took Liam to the doctor to have his little system checked out. For the past two weeks or so, we noticed an increase in his bathroom trips (#1), as well as he suddenly was wetting the bed every single night. Granted, we know he's only two and has only been potty trained since August, but he was doing really well with night time, until recently. There were some other changes we observed too, so we figured better get him checked to be safe than sorry. So we saw the doctor and the verdict - No seen issue! Of course! But I guess no news is good news right? :) It was kind of funny, but I had to get a "sample" from him, which he had absolutely no problem playing the game of "Aim in the cup!" That boy just cracks me up sometimes, well more like everyday! Liam actually did really well at the doctor's office and I couldn't have been more PROUD of him. He played politely in the waiting room, stepped on the scale for weigh in like a big boy, then patiently waited in the room for the doctor as we played "Find the blue cars" (we were facing the parking lot). Once the doctor came in, he did everything she asked and did make a fuss one bit. I don't when our Liam decided to grow up some more, but it's such a precious thing to witness. :) But, getting back to the diagnosis, she said that everything checked out fine, and then only thing she could think of that caused the uprise in bathroom trips was the fact that he was a little "backed up" preceeding these symptoms and sometimes those go hand in hand. My theory: he got backed up, once that cleared, all the stored up liquid in him finally was able to release....and with his constant drinking it just all added up to frequent "I got to go potty" calls. Since then he seems to back to normal now. We also cut back on his milk intake and that has seemed to help with his other symptoms as well. All in all, our Liam appears to be in good health! Yeah!
Later that afternoon, I picked up Adin from an early release day, waited for Gary to come home and then we headed up to meet his teacher for Parent/Teacher conferences. It was our first one since he started school so I was almost nervous, like I was going to the Principal's office, because I wasn't sure how the process worked out. Anyways, Mrs. Dee did a little explaining of how things are done in her classroom, subject matter wise, and especially tried her hardest to explain the weird math program they do down here. The theory of it sounds good, but we still not sold on how it works and its really the best learning method for him. After she got that out of the way, she went on to let us know that Adin was doing very well in her class. Mrs. Dee said he was a very smart boy and was reading well beyond the level of a 2nd grader and is already at a beginner level for 3rd grade. The only thing is that he needs to work a little more on his comprehension, but she said since he's reading at a such a high level its a understandable that he might struggle a little there. At the same time, she says she has no worries about that issue and she knows he'll steadily improve as the year progresses. I'd say the only negative she pointed out was his 'focusing' issues, which we already knew existed. Adin's one side of the spectrum or the other, there's no middle ground with him. Either he's so focused, so zoned in on what he's doing that he doesn't pay attention to the next set of directions to put that current task away and move on to the next. Of course, it doesn't help that he has a little bit of a perfectionist in him and that can sometimes consume him while working on an assignment - have no idea where he got that trait. :) On the other hand, for him, every little fly, piece of dust, speckle of light will catch his eye and distract him from the task at hand. LOL! Mrs. Dee said he's getting a lot better and she has no real concern, as its not uncommon with 2nd graders.
That weekend I finally finished all the boys costumes, withthe exception of Liam's neckband for his Frankenstein bolts and Adin's red necktie for his "vampire" cross....then again now that I think of it, that just doesn't make sense to have a cross hanging from a vampire's neck....OH WELL! LOL Now I just hope that the little ones let me put these things on them come Halloween, but I'm sure the bribe of candy will help some - at least that's how I got Liam in his cow outfit last year. :) We also stole away some time when Gary got home from the Drury (he worked the hotel that weekend) and picked up some Subway for dinner and picniced at the park and then let the boys run wild (all the boys - GARY!). It was really nice watching the boys all sitting at the big picnic table, Noah barely seeing over the table, calmly eating their sandwiches. They have just all seemed to grow up so fast and overnight. I'm afraid if I close my eyes too long, Adin will heading off to college, Liam will be asking to use the car, and my Noah will be asking for a ride to work!! Sometimes it just doesn't seem fair that Life is so busy, because it causes you to miss the finer things in some ways. The kids seem to have a really good time at the park, and I just hope we can come up with more exciting little adventures to take with the kids too. All in all, good times, great smiles and while it may have just been one weekend - those memories will last a lifetime! 
Well, I know that's a lot to take in at once, but should bring us up to date for now. We have some fun things in store this weekend, so hopefully I'll be better this coming week and write sooner than later. 
Until then family....hugs and kiss!
Survival of the fittest!
This past weekend I had the awesome/important opportunity to steal away and visit my old college buddies back in St. Louis...which meant leaving Gary home alone with the boys for 4 days straight! So far, after a quick assessment, it looks like they all survived with minimal scratches, tickle aches and wrestling bruises - but I haven't checked Gary yet. :) He, of course, did an excellent job keeping them all entertained for the time, which included making homemade cheese pizzas the first night (thank you Grandma Carol for your cooking tutilage), bringing down some old/new toys out of storage and having them partake in our wonderful backyard, and having some good ol' Wii time. I arrived late last night, which meant Gary had to tough it through Cub Scouts with all three boys...oh yeah, and he's the Den leader this year, so that was no easy feat!! It goes with out saying that I have been blessed with an AWESOME husband, and more importantly, a REMARKABLE daddy to our three little minions. :) :) Thank you Ranos Family for doing such an ASTOUNDING job raising such AMAZING person. It relieves tons of stress and anxiety when important trips come up, and I know our boys are in great hands and they'll have a FUN time in the process. 
Guess he's a keeper! :):)
Adin had the chance to submit a drawing for his school's yearbook this year, so that was his little project over the weekend. He's just been doing great in 2nd grade and really seems excited for the year so far. Liam has officially moved up to the three year old class at daycare and he couldn't be happier!! For a little while there, he was not letting go very easily in the mornings, but now that he's moved up with the big kids, he can't wait to get in the door. Miss Alex said he adjusted instantly and didn't even need a week of transition. Overall, she's amazed at how much he knows and even said he knows more than some of the kids who have been in her class - guess that wild man could really be a mad scientist! :) :) Our Noah, should be finishing his last month in his current class (Big Babies) and will making his move up to the (Lil Toddlers) once he turns 18 months. Apparently, him and Liam feed their energy off each other becaus ever since Liam has moved up and stopped fussing in the morning, Noah has returned to his "calm" mornings when I leave him in the morning. Thank goodness! I know they'll be fine within 5 minutes of walking out the door, but it still doesn't stop the twinging of the heart strings when you see their little faces and hear their cries. Thankfully, everyone seems to be happy with school and doing well. If Adin has any more trips to the "Treasure Box" they'll just have to change it's name to "Adin's Treasure Box" - though he'll have to share because now Liam has been earning some prizes of his own. The real cool thing lately, Adin has been selecting prizes his brother's would like and giving them to Liam or Noah, instead of keeping them for himself. Those boys never cease to amaze us - in all different fashions! LOL!
Friday: "It's going to be, like, the best day ever.."
So, on Friday Adin's class celebrate their first "Compliments" party of the year, and he was beyond excited! In the classroom, his teacher, Mrs. Dee, has a bowl that holds compliments for all the good they do everyday. Apparently, his class has just been Awesome so far this year, beecause by Thursday they had received the last two compliments they need to fill the bowl - and so she rewarded them. Adin started off his news, very calmly and adultlike, my telling me "So mommy, this Friday...it's going to be, like, the best day ever." (As he gently shrugged his shoulder and nodded his head to the side. :) ) As a reward, the class gets the totally cool class party, where she brings treats, and they get to kick off their shoes and relax while watching a movie!! The whole "taking the shoes off thing" just blew his mind and he couldn't wait! :) Also, he made sure to let us know that Mrs. Dee told them all that her second grade class last year, took well over 6 weeks to get their first party and Adin's class did in four!! He is just really loving second grade so far, and doing remarkably well. His first progress report came home last Friday and he had all A's and one B. Some writing assignments he has shown us are really "blowing our minds" with the sentence structures, lengths and words he is chosing to use. I think sometimes his brain wants to express more than it grammatically understands, but just an awesome progression from just last year already! Math is the one subject he got a B in down here, but we're working on that with him at home. He understands it and gets it, but Texas does math really weird down here, so we're finding ourselves showing him the old school way at home. They use dots and blocks to teach math, instead of the old worksheets of addition and subtraction like we used to do it. Its frustrating that we have to (literally) be teachers at home, but well worth the effort because we see the difference! Also, helping him with his subjects in our workbooks we get for him, takes the place of the non-exsistent homework he gets. Down here they feel K thru 2nd should only have "optional" homework, yet at the end of the year, his teacher noted she will have required work for them in prep for third grade.....why, I ask, wait til the end of the year to start giving homework?? Crazy! We had homework starting in Kindergarten, so has Adin, but only thanks to our nutty-selves. Anyways, I'll keep ranting on that for days. :)
Over the weekend, I finished Adin's vampire costume...he's just too sweet to be a blood-sucking creature of the night, but so excited he went scary for Halloween this year!! :) I basically just need to make him his cape and cummerbund because he already had a white dress shirt. We went out and bought him some black slacks from Wal-mart, but he'll use those again, so no biggie in that purchase. Next up is Noah's mummy costume which will take some time, but I was able to get all my material cut, bleached, and soaked in tea to look more dingy and aged. From there I'll be sewing the pieces on to his clothes, so it'll be just an easy pull on and pull of method that night. Liam is going to be Frankenstein this time, and his costume is all but done. I found a pair of black pants at Goodwill for $1 and I'm just going to shred the hems since they are already short on him. He's going to wear Adin's tuxedo jacket from our wedding and I'll sew a patch on both the pants and jacket. Somewhere in his drawer is a green t-shirt, so all that's left is the makeup and bolts - still working on the bolts idea. I can't wait to see all three of them put together that night - our lil monsters...COME TO LIFE! :)
Well, that pretty much sums up our weekend in a nut shell. Oh yeah, on Sunday, Adin had his first popcorn sales event at the local grocery store for Scouts this year. Hopefully, this weekend we'll get the online sales portion set-up and let you all know the info, if you'd care to purchase any. Last year, he did so many popcorn sales events, he sold over $600, got a gift card, some prizes, patches, and the every popular marshmallow launcher!! :)
Museum Distric Day 2011!
This past weekend we were finally able to head out for some quality family time together. Over 15 of the cities museums were free and had a rotating shuttle to take you to each one you wanted to explore. Being that we have three very energetic boys, we narrowed it down to just two to head to - Houston Museum of Natural Science and The Children's Museum. We started our started our tour at the Science museum because Adin was really excited about seeing their mummy exhibit. Since he's started 2nd grade, one of his homework assignments each night is to read at least 10 minutes (time requirement will increase over the year). Within the first two weeks he ran through the gambit of books in his room, because despite the protesting look I get when I remind him to read, he gets so lost in a book and before you know it he's finished it! So the other week I ran out to Half-Price books and picked him up some Magic Treehouse books (Thank you Auntie Diane for introducing them), that were longer and a little more challenging for him (he likes "Chapter" books, as he calls it). His latest he just finished, in a week, was "Mummies and Pyramids"...so actually getting to see a real mummy was just the ticket for him! Unfortunately, the exhibit there was nothing compared to our museums in Chicago, but at least he did get to see a real mummy, a mummy cat, mummy hawk, and mummy fish. :) Liam loved seeing the African Wildlife exhibit because they had lions, and zebras, birds, fish, crocodiles, hippos, and all sorts of exotic animals - up close and personal. We call him "Liam the lion" so he was really happy to see his animal version of himself...he rrrrowled at me and smiled. Such a nut that boy! He did wonder what happened to the zebra and why he had an 'owie' - one part showed the lion had ripped off a leg of the zebra. That was interesting for the kids. Eeek! Little Noah kept trying to grab the wild grass through the glass in the exhibits and Liam was terrfied of the gorilla that I tried taking a picture of him an Adin. Our second favorite part of the museum was the dinosaur exhibit! Adin has always loved dinosaurs (hence, his hamster's name is 'Dino') and Liam has recently grown a love for them. The faces just lit up when we walked in and you could see the skeletons and just how big those things were when they were alive!! Between the pictures of the dinosaurs attacking each other, and the ripped zebra leg, poor Adin wanted to know why they only showed such everything so bloody. So we tried explaining how animals live to survive and that for them it was a part of life - hopefully captured a life lesson in that conversation. :)
Well, after the science museum we moved on to the Children's museum to let them run a muck and really explore more on their level. Of course, by the time we got there that place was so PACKED! and needless to say, Noah stood in the stroller and Liam and Adin we're glued to us. We encountered at least two instanaces where people lost their kids while we were out that day - luckily both were found and okay, just walked off for a second. There were some cool exhibits there and one of them was 'Kidtropolis' where they try to teach kids about being grownups and making and using money for everyday things. All the boys got little ATM cards, and they were able to go to the ATM and make withdrawals. Adin and Liam went to wall street and put on little jackets and IDs and were Commodity Traders to earn a paycheck. It was adorable watching my Liam practice the hand signals they do on the stock exchange. From there they could go to the bank and deposit their checks, but we played a game that showed them where all there money goes if they had $40 dollars and chose things they wanted or needed. Adin wanted to go to City Hall to vote - thought that was cool of him. Other things they had in there were a grocery store, hospital, restaurant, etc. Overall, if it were a little less crowd it would've been an even better exhibity to really explore! There was an outside section with waterworks, and tunnels and pulleys and pipes to make boats move and show examples of water systems at work...so of course we had to go play with the water! :) We spent a good couple of hours just checking everything out and attempted to face paint each other before Noah had severely hit is kiddie patience limit and our tummies all started growling. The timing was perfect though because by the time we got in our car and pulled out of the garage, we had a down pour...a much needed downpour...all the way home!
We just can't get over how much the boys have grown and truly is a treat to watch their little minds explore and discover new things! :):)