Proud Mama Moment!

My kids LOVE to draw, color, paint, play with play-doh, use markers...anything ''artsy'' and all four are immediately interested. Last year at this time, Logan had submitted a drawing to a PTA Reflections contest and he placed first in his grade level at his school and then went on to the European level. Unfortunately, he didn't place at European's but we were still VERY excited for him and proud of him and his work.

Well here were are a year later and last week we received a letter from Ryan's art teacher that she had submitted a piece of Ryan's art to the Houston Rodeo K-12 Art Exhibit and that Ryan's artwork was chosen to be displayed. Very exciting! We were invited to a small reception at the University of Houston last night, to see his piece, a watercolor silhouette that he name ''Whoa Cowboy!"

Isn't it just the cutest? I have no clue how he is able to blend the sunset sky so well at age 7. This isn't the first piece he has done in watercolors that I have been uber-impressed with either. He painted this picture (on the right) of ''trees at sunset" at the beginning of the year, then I had it matted around Christmastime.

Needless to say, the whole family was excited to see his art displayed. He received a second place, red ribbon on his work as well. So proud of my Bubba! 

I was going through the pictures on my phone and it got me thinking....

how in the world do my kids do stuff like this?

I mean, really...How? In this instance, Maggie had been fully clothed and in her room. I went to start a load of laundry. I was gone MAYBE three minutes and came upstairs to find that she had removed her pajamas, undies and then somehow reached the container of lotion, opened it and covered her entire body. This is the same child that when we are on our way out the door, can't seem to put a pair of crocs on by herself and in a timely manner.

And it might not peak my curiosity so much if I hadn't already had this happen, to her oldest brother when he was the same age...

In this instance, he was suppose to be napping and I was washing the dishes. He wasn't quite two years old yet, he climbed up on top of the changing table, somehow unscrewed the cap off of a $10 container of Cetaphil cream and then proceeded to cover himself with it. I only raced in because he then began to cry because he was messy. Let's just say the overalls were a total loss and I had to wash his hair three times and it was still greasy for days. So when Maggie did the same thing, I wasn't as shocked as much as I probably should have been. I mean, at least she took her clothes off first.

This is still one of this families mysteries. How do they do it and why do they do it!?

**this post in being linked to Dropcam’s “Life’s Mysteries” Campaign!**

Time for School! Time for School! Time for School!

The boys had their very first day of school today and they were so excited! After we picked them up they told us all about their new classrooms, who they sat by and how you could buy chips at lunch. All it all, a pretty stellar day for my First Grader and Second grader!

I now have a 1st grader and a 2nd grader

Where does the time go? I mean really. I cannot believe that the school year has ended already! While I remembered to take the boys' photos, you'll note a few differences. Like, they don't have shoes on. Of course they wore shoes to school but the ones from the beginning of the year no longer fit. I mean both boys went from a size 11.5 shoe to a size one and that's staying in the same brand (Converse All-Star). My boys may be small for their ages but they each grew quite a bit this year.

**Please ignore any typos (shoe 1 shoe...really!?) it's almost 10:30pm and I'd have to redo the whole thing**

 

Now granted, I didn't do a very good job of sizing up the photos, I should have stood much farther back but alas it is too late now. (And I can't even fake it and have a redo because I buzzed all their hair off!) Needless to say, they grew up a little this year!

My 900th Blog Post!

I started this blog back in July of 2007 and I can't believe that here I am, six years later, still plugging away. Now granted back then I was posting much more often but back then I had two fewer kiddos and much more free time. Since starting this blog we have...

• given Bubba and Pooks two more siblings and have now completed our family. Hence where the blog address comes from...I never changed it after having Peanut because I knew it was highly likely that we weren't done having kids. After Sissy, we are done (necessary surgeries have been preformed to assure that!) but now if I move to a new web address I'll lose all my comments and I don't want that either so here we are, at Bubba and Pooks. Forever! 
• moved from small town Kansas, to bigger town Kansas, back to smaller town Kansas, to San Antonio, Texas and now we reside in Northern Italy. Five towns (2 states and 2 countries) in six years!
• re-homed one dog (our beloved chihuahua, Tito) due to Bubba's allergies and asthma (Tito had a genetic shedding disorder) and recently added a more asthma friendly, Maltese/Min Pin named Lucca to the clan. This is probably for the better as Tito was pretty skiddish around a lot of people and well, our family is a lot of people.
• successfully potty trained four kids. We have moved four kids up into twin beds. We no longer deal with night feedings, diapers leaking, breast-feeding, moving the crib mattress down or baby wearing. We don't have to carry car-seats into restaurants and we have no one rear-facing anymore. We go to the store without bringing along an ''Arf'' or a puppy or a blanket. The kids are growing up! 
• been celebrated nine wedding anniversaries. When I started this blog, we were practically newlyweds!
• finally became a full-fledged card carrying member of the Swaggerwagon club. In May 2010, we succumbed to the minivan. I wasn't sure it would ever happen but I can honestly say that the sliding doors are super convenient and the "stow and go" is genius. My only regret is not getting the model with the installed DVD player.

It's amazing how much can change in six years. It really is. With 900 posts I've learned a thing or two (I think) and I'm making a couple changes.

I am going to start using the kids' real names. When it was just Bubba and Pooks, it was easy to keep straight and it was cutesy...but now I have four kids. Four kids whose names I constantly mix up or smoosh together. Add in the four blog nicknames and it's four too many. I am no longer a new mom, new to mommy blogging or scared about people knowing their names. Granted I'm not sharing our last name, social security numbers or street address...but they will be Ryan (Bubba), Logan (Pooks), Connor (Peanut), and Maggie (who I will still call Sissy 90% of the time because that's her real life nickname too). For most of my readers this changes nothing as you knew the kids' names anyway.

I am also going to try very hard to play catch-up on the trips I haven't gotten around to sharing yet. I know Nanaw is waiting for the final installments of ''Nanaw and Papa visit Italy''...which has almost a year now (crazy!).

It seems really, really cheesy when people say ''They won't be little forever'' or ''Time flies, pretty soon they'll be graduating'' and you think ''Right! I'm going crazy waiting for BEDTIME" but it's true. It really is. A lot can change in just a few years and in just 900 blog posts...

Bubba and Pooks, Summer of 2007:

Ryan and Logan, Spring Break 2013:

And now I feel old!

Take me out to the ball game...

This year, Bubba and Pooks are {finally} old enough to play T-Ball and they had the want to play so I signed them up on the first day that sign up opened. 

And lucky for them, mom voluteered (well, I kinda got suckered in) to coaching. They would put the boys and their friends all on the same team...if one of the parents agreed to coach. Overall, it's been fun. We're only a month into now and while there have been a few tears shed, they've all come from my own (overly tired, overly sensitive) kid. I love Pooks but man oh man can he be a challenge!

We have one practice and one game each week, these pics are all from the first two games. B has played wrangler to the younger kids as well as photographer...

 

 It is red-robin play (all the kids bat, then we switch) so there is no winning or losing team, it's all about teaching the fundamentals and how to play on a team. The first game no matter where the ball was hit while we were fielding, 9 out of 12 kids all ran for it. We're working on it, but everyone is happy and getting along, so I call that a win!

Happy 7th Birthday Bubba!

I'm reallllly behind on blogging. Mostly my fault but partly bloggers as it's been a pair in the butt to upload pictures to lately. Anywho, mid March we celebrated Bubba's 7th Birthday. He is over the top into Lego's right now so Lego themed is what we had. It was all very homemade/Pinterest inspired.This is the first party where we didn't cook out or do pizza or cater. We had snacks and a small party as we were leaving for Paris a week later so we were saving up. It worked out really well and the kids could have cared less.

For his birthday all he really really wanted was a camera so he could take ''real'' pictures. He was VERY excited that he got it and the big lego set he wanted. I know it's not all about the gifts but when the price is right and you're able to do both, man is that smile worth it!

My little artist(s)

Before winter break, Pooks came home from school with a paper explaining the PTA Reflections Art Program. (If you google it, it'll come right up...I yam blogging on my phone). Basically Mrs. T thinks that Pooks is a great artist who obviously loves to draw and color and she suggested that over the break, he draw something to submit to the program. The theme this year is •The Magic of the Moment• and I explained to Pooks that if he wanted to submit a picture, he should think of something or someplace that is magical to him. He said okay and days past, nothing else was said.

One evening I was prepping dinner when Pooks came in, handed me a picture and said "here is a picture for that contest. It's the leaning tower. It leans and leans but never falls...it's magic!" So I wrote down what he said and put it in his backpack to return to school. Mrs T. submitted it for us and we sorta forgot about it.

But today, we received an email. His artwork placed first in his grade level and its now going on to the next level, the European PTA Reflections, where it will be judged yet again...this time against all the other Primary level entries. He was SO excited and immediately ran off to tell his brothers. We had to go to the school to fill out the submission form for the European program, so I took that moment to snap a picture of him with his artwork. Doesn't he just look so proud of himself??

I just love his perspective on the subjects he draws. He's a lefty and I don't know if that makes a difference but I just love his art. Here is a picture he drew before Christmas, it's Rudolph pulling Santa in his sleigh. You have to look at it as Rudolph being head on and you'll see Santa, drawn smaller, behind him.

Here is a picture he drew at the beginning of the year, It's a rockstar singer with blue spikey hair...

And dinosaurs are pretty common:

Here is a picture he drew for me, it's a pizza and a glass of wine.

Not to leave his brothers out, here are some drawings from the notepad Bubba keeps in his backpack. He draws on the school bus to and from school each day. His are also very good and very unique, if I say so myself.

Here is a rockstar dinosaur:

This is us in Venice. I'm walking with the boys, B and Sissy are riding in a Gondola:

Here is an assignment from school:

Peanut gets in on the action too:

(I helped draw the pigeon with him) That's the Bus from the Pigeon book series by Mo Willems. 

Heck, Sissy *just* turned two and when she colors, she is doing a great job of staying inside of the lines and using correct colors:

They might not be the fastest or the most athletic, but they sure are creative and I couldn't be more proud :D

The downside of living in Italy when you have 4 kids

We have lived in Italy for over a year and overall it's been a fantastic year. We have gotten to do so many things that I never imagined ever being able to do/see. Spring break in Tuscany? Check. Spending the day after Christmas is Venice? Done. Visiting the Leaning Tower of Pisa...twice? That happened. Visiting the highest point in Germany which means being in the Alps? Did that too. Spending an afternoon in Austria? Yep! I've drank amazing wine, ate fantastic food, met wonderful people. 

But Italy has been very hard on us medically. One of the things that we were not warned about before coming here was that asthma sufferers usually have it worse here. Which when 2 out of 4 kids have asthma, would have been nice to know. Sissy has even been prescribed at inhaler since being here, though she doesn't carry the diagnosis yet. Mold is also a HUGE problem here in Northern Italy and Bubba's number one allergy is mold. Needless to say we are constantly dealing with albuterol & Flo-vent inhalers and oral prednisone. While all of these medicines make the kids better, I worry about the long term effects of being on them so often. These are steroids and these are small kids. (Bubba is almost 7 and weighs 42lbs) Bubba rarely needed his inhaler in Texas...maybe twice a month after playing outside or walking home from school. Now he takes them daily. Often I wake up in the middle of the night to his wheezing cough. It's really hard.

This is the first week of the new year and Peanut got hit hard with it. He had a light cough on Sunday and by Monday morning he is wheezing and I can see his chest doing that slight cave when he breathes. So we are back to breathing treatments (which for some reason are more effective than the inhaler with chamber for him).

So what started as a cold has now lead to prednisone twice a day, pulmicort via nebulizer twice a day and albuterol every 3 hours via nebulizer. He also has a slight fever and is complaining of his ears. So Motrin/Tylenol as needed too.

Now I know kids get sick, but as they get older they should start to outgrow this, so to speak. And Bubba was...but Italy makes it so hard.

Another part of the problem is hard water. Kids who have asthma, often have eczema...which is true for us. Both Bubba and Sissy will get to the point where they scratch so much in their sleep that they bleed. Despite limiting their time in the tub, using Cetaphil for their bath soap...its just so dry. So in addition to the asthma meds, both use a hydro cortisone cream on their skin and take Zyrtec daily. That is a lot of medicine for kids. Daily. Everyday, not just when having an asthma flare up.

Adding to all this is the amount of times that I've had a sinus infection since being here. I am also on Zyrtec daily, as well as Flo-nase. I use nasal rinses daily and still average one sinus infection every 6 weeks or so. So much so that I have to go for a follow up this month and if my sinuses are still swollen, I'm being referred to an ENT for sinus surgery. Since being here I've also had a few other issues resulting in neurologist consults, MRIs and seeing doctors on the economy. Nothing due to Italy but I'm not getting treatment like I should, being here. And paying €400 for an MRI isn't easy when you're a family of six and stateside insurance would cover 100%.

So as awesome as Italy is, and as much as we haven't gotten to do/see since being here...we're starting to think about life after Italy. Being here as civilians, we are here for 3 years. However, after one year if you get a job back in the states that will cover a PCS move you are able to leave. Due to the medical issues we're having here and the fact that at the end of 3 years we have return rights to San Antonio (none of us wants to move back to SA, even the kids) B has begun looking and at some jobs stateside now.

It's bittersweet. Of course in this economy it may end up that we will be here for a full three years and we realize that. We made it through a year of this, we could do two more. Just if we get the chance to return home, we are at the point where we will take it. It's leave earlier for a place and job that we would love to have and finally be able to settle down, or stay for 2 years and return to SA where we do not want to settle and end up moving yet again.

All of that being said, we're still planning on making the most of it while we are here! We are planning out our Spring Break trip now....Paris! We want to take the kids to Disneyland Paris as well as see the sights. I want to spend a 4 day weekend in Spain and I would love to visit Belgium. We're well within driving distance to Slovenia, Austria, and Croatia. As well as the French Riviera. We have big plans while we're here (and now that Sissy is potty trained everything is that much easier!) but we are okay if they don't happen either. I see it as yes, there is certainly a lot that I haven't done but I am so, so grateful for what I *have* done and I will not leave with regrets. I've already experienced so much more that I ever thought possible.

Gah! Talk about a blogging hiatus...

So I kinda took an unintentional month long break from blogging there...I was busy living life, instead of just sharing and telling about it.

We had Halloween parties and B leaving for a couple weeks for work. One mama with four kids, in the middle of cold and flu season left us with some pretty rough days. We had ear infections and sinus infections, antibiotics, vaporizers and doctor appointments. Add in a puppy who I'm trying to house train and who is also on antibiotics, a torrential amount of rainfall and flooding, 6 days of no school due to parent teacher conferences and Veteran's day, then the day to day chores and lastly Mom catching the stomach flu and whew...a whole month flew by since my last post!

I could say ''Oh it wasn't all bad" but honestly, it was rough. I'm used to B working overtime or going TDY for a bit here and there but this time he got to return stateside while I stayed back dealing with everything in Italy. That was a tough pill to swallow. He got to see my family, his family, he got to meet my new baby nephew, he was able to catch up with friends and cousins and shop at Walmart/Target. He went to the casino, ate Mexican food and shop at ''real'' Malls. He got to sleep in on weekends and stay out as late as he wanted. Yes, he attended a course for work while home, but he also got to have a lot of fun. And he got to see Kansas in the Fall. I love the colors and the crisp air that Autumn brings. Needless to say, I was (and I still am) uber-jealous.

And I don't mean to sound like a Debbie Downer...we tried to have fun too! We did see ''Wreck it Ralph", we went to our favorite garden store and saw their Christmas display. We went to the park and playground, we took photos for our Christmas cards (not once...not twice...but THREE trips to the park in order to get a decent picture). We made pizza, we had our lazy pajama/movie/xbox days too. We played outside, we played with the doggies...heck we even taught Lucca how to fetch!

Bubba and Pooks each had their parent teacher conferences. Both are doing outstanding!

According to his teacher, Pooks is a well rounded student. He is on track socially and developmentally. He scored mostly "CD"s on his report card with a few "P"s as well. (P= progressing, CD= consistently displayed). He is doing very well in his Language Arts as well as reading and letter recognition. He went into kindergarten recognizing all letters of the alphabet, upper and lowercase, but now he knows almost all of the phonics as well. He's recognizing numbers, patterns and shapes. Socially, he's on track. He's a good listener  he works well with other students....I could go on and on, but he's doing great! Mrs. T even joked about putting in a request now, to have Peanut in her class later.

Bubba is doing just as well. Mrs O said that he was an ''ideal student'' and she wished her own kids had been so well behaved and eager to learn. She thinks that Bubba consistently displays a desire and a true interest in learning. He's a good listener, he follows instructions, he is one of the students in class that doesn't need reminded to stand still in line or to get his snack, etc. He remembers to do his homework and does it well. He is reading at a level "I" which is right where he's suppose to be. Mrs. O said that his listening comprehension skills are good and his spelling is too. Each week they have a spelling test of 12 words and Bubba has never missed more than one word (and correct capitalization counts for/against as well). He loves art, he's great at drawing pictures for his stories and he is just right where he should be.

As a mom, I left those conferences BEAMING with pride. When you have two kids so close in age, it's kinda nerve-wracking  I'll be honest, I knew Bubba was doing well at school. He takes him homework sheet very importantly, he's constantly reading (for fun), he's never been in trouble and I've always heard good things about him from any/all of his previous teachers. But, I was slightly nervous about Pooks. He's in kindergarten, it's all new to him. He isn't as slow and methodical as Bubba. He rushes through his homework to get it done (and while it's often done hurriedly, it is correct). He gets antsy and things sometimes come easy to him which means free-time, which means he gets bored. So hearing that they're both excelling, made me proud. They got to pick out a book from the book fair and go out to lunch with mommy to our most favorite Italian restaurant while their little siblings were in hourly care/preschool.

And those little siblings? They're doing well too! Peanut will be four (FOUR!!) on Monday. He's been going to a preschool program on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30-1:30 and while he's there, I've been putting Sissy in the toddler class for the same time. This gives me a break *yay* as well as time to volunteer in the older boys' classrooms (Bubba's class on Tuesday, Pooks class on Thursdays). He absolutely loves Miss Barbara, he has his little friends, he likes the lunch that he gets to eat and he naps there...he won't nap at home anymore. He has learned to write and spell his name, he knows all of his colors and shapes, he can count to at least 20. He has begun spelling small words (fun, me, go, no, yes...etc). He is always very excited to tell me what they did that day, what he got to eat and what friends he played with.

Sissy is still just a spitfire. She sweet and cuddly and lovey one minute and rough and tumble the next. She has been in the toddler class since she turned two and she also thoroughly enjoys going to ''school'' as she calls it. She has recently shown a huge interest in using the potty and has been going on the potty at school and staying dry the whole time she is there. Home is a bit different...she does sit on the potty but her success rate isn't as high. She constantly asks for a ''school potty'' which is impossible since it's a real toilet  just miniature in size. She is petite for her age (22lbs and wearing mostly 18mos clothing) so the "big potty" truly is BIG. She's staying dry at night, she can pull her pants up and down. Once we conquer the fear of the falling in, she'll do great. She is also learning her colors and loves to tell you when something is "purple'' or ''green'' (her favorite colors to say).

Overall, things are great. This month definitely had it's ''hiccups''. But this week is Thanksgiving! We're hosting which should be fun. Then Peanut's party will be on Saturday (a Curious George themed breakfast party). Pretty soon it'll be Christmas which means we will have lived in Italy for an entire year. That seems crazy!

I have a first grader and a kindergartner!

Labor day weekend brought big changes to our little household: the ''big'' kids are now back in school! Bubba actually started before Pooks (while they go to the same school) the kindergartners start a week later than everyone else. During that week we had Kindergarten orientation and then a ''home meeting'' with his teacher. I love the concept! It's so she can meet with the kids on a one to one, face to face meeting and get to know them. Their home life (names and how many siblings, any pets) how they read/write/draw, what they want to learn this year, etc. Pooks loved having her over and when the first day of school did arrive, he wasn't nervous!

Here was Bubba on his first day...

 

obligatory photo with mom before leaving the house

 And there he goes....my official First Grader! He didn't even look back. He was very excited that several of his friends were in his class this year and he was ready. No tears, not even a good-bye hug. So mature!

And one week later, it was Pooks' turn. We actually missed the bus so I had to drive them to school and was able to take a few more pics...

We did his stats the same day as Bubba's (Pooks' orientation) hence the different outfit below...

 

He did AWESOME! I got him all dropped off with his class and the parent's say goodbye as a group to all the classes, while still outside. As much as I missed walking him to his classroom and getting him settled (like I did with Bubba in kindergarten) this was much easier emotionally on everyone involved. There were no tears y'all!

So the next day, we made sure to HURRY and we got to the bus with a few minutes to spare. He was so stinkin' excited to ride that bus:

 So there you have it, my two big school aged boys!

Oh and my BFF Amy, volunteered in the Kindergarten class that first day so she took some of Pooks, just to reassure me that he was fine and doing great...

He got to be the Reporter for the Day.

Eating his first ever School Lunch!