a day in the life...

...of the tictac household.

a long, long, long time ago i did a ''day in the life'' type posting, when pooks was about peanut's age. i thought it might be interesting to do another one so here it is. a normal day for us:

about 8am we have breakfast. every day pooks refuses to sit in his booster seat so i just quit even trying. he kneels the whole time...oh well, he's eating!

after breakfast i get the kiddos dressed. peanut will only sit still if he is eating his bottle at the same time so we multi-task

i dress peanut and help pooks get dressed, bubba however does it all by himself

after the kids are dressed, bubba and pooks watch PBS while peanut jumps in his jumperoo. after i am presentable, we run any errands; today we had to get groceries.

i prefer to go to a particular grocery store because of their shopping carts; they have car carts that seat up to 4 kids! makes things MUCH easier and the kids love it

when we return from grocery shopping (and getting starbucks) we head downstairs for our lesson of the day.

peanut, enjoying his 2nd bottle of the day in his pack in play while the boys learn all about the letter C

they worked on coloring sheet while i prepared the craft activity

today we turned the letter "C" into a Caterpillar, decorating it with little Circles...all while talking about words that start with C

bubba posing in front of our learning board for the week.
the theme is fall, the vocab word is 'seasons', the letter C, the number 3, the shape is a diamond and the rhyme is 'Hickory Dickory Dock'

after our lesson we come back upstairs for lunch. peanut snacked on a wagon wheel cracker, then feasted on pieces of plums and cheese crumbles for lunch.

bubba and pooks had PB&J sandwiches, fruit (apples for bubba, and a plum for pooks) and 3 huge cheetos..that start with the letter C. pooks pointed this out on the bag and I was so proud :)

while i cleaned up the dishes/highchairs after lunch, the boys watched backyardigan's, then went down for their naps

the boys slept for about an hour and a half, when the neighbor stopped by. when she rang the bell, rascal started barking, then pooks and peanut started crying which turned into pooks then yelling that he had to poop. fun, i know. *eye roll*

about 20 minutes later bubba decided to get up too. the boys had a quick snack of goldfish crackers. peanut enjoyed another bottle.

after snack, we made chocolate chip cookies. Yep, the letter C again!

while the cookies were baking and I was starting supper, the little dudes put together a puzzle and played with blocks.

peanut however enjoyed emptying the snack drawer

when B came home, he changed clothes then played with the kids while I made dinner. i didn't take any pictures of making/eating/cleaning up dinner though--completely forgot! papa came over too and we had a make your own baked potato bar/buffet.

then b and papa kept the boys entertained while i put everything away and did laundry.

papa makes a good elephant!

papa and B play poker on wednesday, so they left shortly after dinner. the boys and i played for a bit, then we put on their pj's and got ready for bed. first came putting on lotion and pj's. after that bubba had his breathing treatment.

afterward the boys all brushed their teeth. i am one lucky mama because all my kids LOVE brushing their teeth. even peanut!

the little dudes brushing their teeth too

after they went potty, brushed their teeth and washed their hands it was time for a bed time story. tonight we read ''No, David!" per pooks' requestfollowing the story, it was lights out. the boys talked amongst themselves for a bit but peanut was O-U-T.

now i'm catching up on DVR'd shows, blogging and just generally be lazy.

need an eye opener??

remember this post? it was when i realized that my boys didn't just look like big boys, they are big boys. well, some people *cough, cough, nanaw, cough* kind of gave me this ''well duh Shannon. what did you expect?" attitude. so i get it, i'm their mom, i'm more emotional to these kind of changes. i love my kids, whether babies or big boys. but every now and then one of them does something and i'm like ''holy crap, look how big you are!".

to prove my point...remember this picture?
awww...i think that we all remember it. this was last summer, middle of july, 2008. pooks had only been walking for about 2 months, we were walking around the park and they were just adorable!

today, we also went on a walk and I also brought my camera. when i snapped this picture, it just hit me like a ton of bricks...
my "babies" are growing up, fast!

it's only been a little over one year and sometimes when you stop and really reflect, really think about not only the changes, but the growth...it's amazing.
kinda makes you wonder, what will next year hold??

a little break for me, and a lot of fun for them

every year (for as long as i can remember) the last weekend in September my dad's side of the family has a family reunion. it lasts all weekend with camping friday and saturday night and a potluck luncheon on sunday. when i was younger, i loved going. camping was a blast. exploring the campground for rocks and bugs, roasting marshmallows, making homemade ice cream...what wasn't too like? throughout high school/college it was harder to attend; with jobs and various activities and that whole high school mentality that i was "too cool" for camping with my family. now that i'm a little bit older and a mom, sleeping in a tent just doesn't hold the same appeal. sleeping in a tent with 3 little ones DEFINITELY doesn't hold the same appeal. plus with B's work schedule, september is his busiest month at work so we usually can't attend.

this year B's work load has been a little lighter and on friday he found out that he would be able to go. so B, papa, bubba and pooks had a boy's weekend. (i chose not to attend because i hate camping, love my bed and desperately wanted a break and instead used the weekend as a little vacation from toddlers.) they loaded up papa's truck on saturday morning, drove the 2 hours to the campsite and camped out saturday night.

the boys had a blast! when i called this morning to see how they did bubba (very excitedly) told me all about how he got to sleep in a tent, pooks went on and on about the park. they went questing, they saw a lake, they ate "moshmellows dat were on fire", apparently they peed on a tree, they collected rocks, they got to ride in papa's truck...the list goes on and on. both B and papa verified that they had fun and behaved well. (okay, as well as toddler aged brothers behave at a campsite) here are some pics that papa just emailed to me and that B took.

throwing rocks in the lake...i assume

bubba told me all about the cows he saw
(we learned about them last week)

and peanut and i? we had fun too. we visited nanaw, read stories, played outside, went to dinner with nanaw, uncle matt and aunt rachel. we even sang and danced with baby elmo, from a DVD that i haven't seen since bubba was 10 mos old! he loved it. he was a little attention seeking flirt! he was completely spoiled by both nanaw and myself.

must say, it's SO different running errands with just one kiddo. we picked up nanaw and ventured out to target, sears, k-mart, and tru-value on a mission to find a baby gate. (which was accomplished and i would never attempt to try that many places with 3 kids) during naps i was able to tend to some much needed and overdue housework. i was able to put out all my halloween decorations, dust with pledge (not just swiffer sheets), organize the toy boxes and pack up all the kids' summer clothes. i was able to do laundry without worrying about anyone hitting each other as soon as i stepped into the laundry room, vacuum, make the boys' beds, clean off the deck and lastly vacuum/clean/armor all and wash my car.

but i did miss the little dudes. it is oddly and eerily quiet without them around! there were several instances where i finished something up, peanut was still sleeping and i just said "now what?" it was weird going to bed and not peeking in on them. or stepping into the shower without having to move 361 bath toys first.

it was a good break but i'm kinda glad it's just once a year ;)

i couldn't make this up!

lately bubba hasn't been taking his Arf [his 'lovey' that he carries everywhere] out of the house. usually Arf has to go everywhere (even though he stays in the car) but lately he's been taking other things instead. his puppy from build-a-bear, a ty beanie baby, etc. this is a small conversation that took place between bubba and i before his nap:

me: bubba, why don't you take Arf places anymore? why do you take your big puppy instead?
bubba: because Arf is just sleeping. he's tired and stays home.
me: is Arf getting old??
bubba: yes. he's getting old....he's getting old just yike nanaw

i about died laughing, i'll admit. and the first thing i did after the conversation was call nanaw!

lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

we already had the lion and tiger and now we have a bear:

i'm sure he was just "resting his eyes"....

...that or he fell asleep in the middle of lunch.

with a piece of pear in his hand.

in other news...

time for a little catch up session:

pooks has successfully finished potty training. he is in undies all day, no longer wears pull-ups at nap time and we haven't had an accident in several days! woohoo!! (we're keeping him in PU at night for a bit longer though!)

peanut now sits up completely on his own, pulls himself up to his knees and now has SIX teeth. he was 10 mos old on saturday and is just such a happy baby! he waves hi and bye, jabbers on and on, loves to scream, mimics the dog barking, crawls way too fast and has quite the temper when he doesn't get what he wants.

bubba's half-birthday is on the 28th and i cannot believe that my little guy is almost 4 years old! it seems impossible. his newest phrase is ''i'm just tired mom'' and he uses it as an excuse for anything. doesn't want to eat dinner? ''i'm just tired mom'' smacked his brother on the head then refused to apologize? "i'm just so tired mom'' misbehaves at the grocery store? yeah...you get the idea. apparently he thinks that being tired is a get out of jail free card. he is slowly learning the error of his ways!

me? i finally feel pretty good! my endometriosis is being managed, my ankle has healed up wonderfully and i have accepted the fact that peanut is weaning. we're down to nursing just once a day (usually after nap) and some days he will nurse for 10 mins, some days just 2. but he is happy, healthy and growing. i am pain-free and able to be the mommy that they all need so overall, it's working out quite well.

b is working a lot this month. luckily he didn't have to work too terribly long on saturday and actually didn't work at all on sunday. this happens every year and while it's a rough month we always get through. it isn't always easy and we aren't always the nicest to each other but we've learned to accept that!

three kids keep us busy and when one person is pulling most of the weight at home, while the other is working under high stress all day and then longer hours to boot, we both have little patience at the end of the day. while we don't take it out of the kids, it's hard not to take it out on each other. but we realize why it's happening and realize that it is almost over...only 10 days until the end of the month then things can return to normal! thankfully!

without further ado...

i present you with pictures of our classroom:

(view from the staircase leading down)
their toy area

tada! our classroom side

i took $1 sesame street flashcards (which we already owned) and hole punched them, then strung into a banner. one is for shapes, one is for numbers
the boys "school" table

train table, my desk, peanut's playpen and the "reading sofa" as bubba calls it

reading corner again

our learning poster, day of the week sign and weather signs

all set up for this week's lessons!
B took this tonight while i was painting some scenes from eric carle books to go up on the walls, this is my desk :)

the very hungry caterpillar

and morphed into a beautiful butterfly

so, the best part: we were able to do all of this and we only spent $60. we purchased the foam puzzle mat flooring ($40) and then spent about $20 on the posters/wall hangings/and some general school supplies from the dollar tree. next time we're at sam's club we need to get another package of flooring...i underestimated the square footage of the area!

and the greatest part in all of this? how excited bubba and pooks are! they are beyond thrilled. they love playing in the ''vasement''....i think it's a combination of newness, toys they haven't seen in months and they really like learning. bubba asked me several times if we were going to have school today, he just can't wait. even peanut was squealing and crawling around down there! overall i think it was a huge success!