Like you've seen in previous posts, Tyler puts anything he can find on his head.  I loves it.  

We Made A Gingerbread House

Snow Day!

Today it snowed and the boys just loved it!  I wasn't surprised that it snowed but I was surprised that it kept snowing and didn't melt by noon.  The boys favorite part was the sledding we did.  They loved it all!  I have to say that I really hope it doesn't melt by morning.  I want another snow day.  I want the boys and Lane to stay home from school.

Just Kickin' Back!!  That is how Tyler sat while he ate his whole lunch!

I opened the fridge and this is what I saw.  Frosty!  I think one day I will miss finding these little things around the house in completely random places.  I suspect it was Jeremy and I'm betting he was just looking for some delicious morsel to eat and forgot about Frosty!  That or they are taking tips from the movie Frosty the Snowman 2 and they don't want him to melt.  Whatever the case it made me smile!

A Reason to Celebrate!!!

After 7 1/2 years of school (undergrad and dental school- it will be 8 come June), way too many days of not ever seeing Lane and at times feeling like a single Mom,  5 months of filling out the Ortho residency application, then Lane being gone for a month to attend his 9 interviews, and way to much much student loans to even talk about...

Not only did we MATCH, but we get to stay!!!!  I am beyond excited!!  So yeah we will have an additional 2 1/2 years of school, after June, for his residency but then he will be an Orthodontist!  Yahoo!

On Thanksgiving,  while driving to my Mom's house, the boys were pretty quite rowdy.  Jeremy suddenly shouts with enthusiasm,  

"I LOVE YOU RILEY!  I ALWAYS HAVE!"

 I've said before that Tyler is an exceptionally cheerful little boy!  He's also a love bug!  Just thinking about that it reminds me of a few months ago, anytime Jeremy would be upset or hurt, Tyler would have to go hug him and pat his back until he felt better.  It was so precious.  He still does that on occasion but not quite as often.  Right now he is really loving stuffed animals.  Anytime he sees one he has to hug it.  He doesn't just hug it but he squeezes and and snuggles his face into the animal.  All the while he has the biggest grin on his face.  While he does it he frequently says, "oooooohhhh!" 

We decided to that Tyler needed a stuffed animal of his very own.  I was waffling back and fourth between two, so I thought I'd show them to Tyler and see if he showed a preference.  I should have known.  He walked up to me with both arms as wide as he could and grabbed both to love.  We decided on the monkey.  Tyler loves it.  Usually the monkey resides in his crib.  He brought it downstairs when he woke up from his nap.  When I put the monkey in the basket of this little bike, well you can see how pleased he was.

Tyler will go about his playing but always comes back for a hug and a kiss.  Yesterday, I was holding Tyler while I was talking to a friend who was holding her baby.  I would say that her baby is about 6 months old.  He was so excited to see her and kept reaching for her.  He was acting like he wanted us to giver her to him like a stuffed animal so he could squeeze her.  It was just so sweet!

What is the going rate?

Last week was the first time I hired a babysitter for all 3 kids.  I realized that I'm really not sure what the going rate for a sitter it these days.  I"m think I paid her well but I want to feel sure when I'm paying my sitter.  So I really want to know what you think?  What is the hourly wage per how many kids or however you think about it?

Could he be any cuter?

Tyler just woke up.  I wish I looked that good right when I woke up.  He is so stinking cute.  I honestly don't think it is humanly possible to be any cuter!  Look at those dimples.  He is irresistible!  He is such a cheerful baby!  Sometimes I just look at him and think to myself that cheer is something I'm suppose to learn from him.

I only wish I had a picture of his ensemble before he took off the fanny pack.  Yes he had a fanny pack on with this getup.  I looked over at him and I couldn't resist the picture.  He wouldn't let me take the picture while he had the pack on.  But you can imagine.

I have to say that I was surprised and relieved that Jeremy was satisfied with using a different cape since Riley was using the batman one.

I LOVE TWILIGHT!!

I didn't go to any of the after midnight opening shows of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter or anything like that.  That is just not my thing.

If you had told me a year ago that I would LOVE a series about vampires, I would not have believed it.  I succumbed last August truly expecting to return the borrowed book before I finished.  A week and a half later I finished all 4 books.  That is 2,458 pages.  Trust me, it would have been way quicker if I didn't have 3 small children to take care of. 

Last night I waited, with about 12 friends, in line at the movie theatre starting a little past 8pm to see the 12:05 am showing of Twilight.  Yes I am a Twi-hard!  Now I have been preparing myself for weeks to be disappointed in the movie.  I wasn't trying to be a pessimist, just realistic.  I mean how would it be possible to live up to this book?!!!

I LOVE IT!  I WANT TO SEE IT AGAIN!  Yes the book is still waaaay better.  But then isn't that the case with all books?!  

So here is my rating:

-4 STARS!

-THUMBS UP

-A+

Does that cover it?!  I am swooning!

He came down again.

So Jeremy just came downstairs again smelling so very good.  I ask him,

"Did you put my perfume on?"

J:  Yes.  I did it myself and I didn't put too much on.

me:  You're not suppose to be getting into things.  Now go to bed and stay out of my room.

J:  I just wanted to smell myself.  I used the red one because it smells good.....I didn't do too many I did it just like you use to do it.  Is that good? (all the while he is nodding his head) Smelling good.  Do I smell good?

I'm having a hard time keeping a strait face.  He just has the cutest voice and he's so sweet when he says it.   I suppose this is coming around to me now.  My nickname when I was little was Miss Mischief.

What is on his face and hands?!

No it's not marker, it's not make-up either.  We put the boys to bed and about 15 minutes later Jeremy comes down stairs looking like this and rubbing his fingers tell me he can't get it off.

The conversation goes as follows,

me:  Jeremy!  What is that?

J:  I don't know.

me:  Where did you get it?  Where you eating something?

J:  I don't know.  It won't come off.

Lane:  You better go find out what that was.

Jeremy and I head up the stairs and I ask him to show me what he had.  As he goes into our bathroom my first thought is make-up.  But I couldn't think of anything I had that was that vibrant of a pink.  I told him to show me what he had.  He's pointing in one of the drawers but I'm seeing nothing.  Then I see this little wrapper that I recognize.  He found and ate a disclosing tablet (you know the tablets you eat that show the plaque on your teeth).  It brushes off of teeth but not skin.  So after I washed his hands and face I informed him that it wouldn't come off.  He immediately started to sob.

Jeremy:  I want it off!

me:  Well it won't come off.  It's kind of like a permanent marker.

Jeremy:  I want it off.

me:  Well it's going to take a few days.

He is sobbing all the while and he climbs into bed.  Then in his cute little voice he manages to wimper, "okay.  (sob)  I will wait."

A few minutes later he came back down the stairs again.  On his way back up he says to Lane, 

"Dad!  When you go to school take a piece of my candy with you!" 

He so sweet!  He just wants to share.  But boy is he mischief.  Two minutes after that he came down with Lane's deoderant wanting to put it on.  I'm going to go put him back in bed now and hopefully he stays this time.

SUPER great deal!!

Before you read any further ask yourself, How much would I pay for this vase and filler combined?  I am so very excited about this great deal!  I am a bargain hunter but it's only a bargain to me if it's still really great quality at a really great price.

I have had this in table in our hallways upstairs, for quite some time, just waiting for the right something to put on top.  Many many times I have seen just the perfect thing, but on a dental students budget, I had to pass.  My wait is over and I did better than I possibly could have hoped for.

It all started Friday when I went to Kohls.  I went looking for some pajamas for Lane's birthday.  I went to Kohls because I got this $10 gift card in the mail.  I think it's their marketing attempts to get people in the store.  IT worked.  I didn't find pajamas but I did find this vase.  Normally it costs $39.00.  The sign on the table said it was 50% off.  I thought $20 was pretty darn good for this vase.  When it was rung up it was $15.99, even better.  What's even better than that, I had that $10 gift card.  So I paid $5.99 for this vase.  Can you believe it?  Seriously, I couldn't have asked for a better deal!
Oh but the deal did get better.  I had remembered seeing these green spheres at pottery barn over the summer.  Fortunately they still had them.  I was even happier to discover that on clearance they were $0.99 a piece.  It took 12 to fill the vase leaving my total at

Only $18.86        Wooohooo!

One of a Kind

Jeremy just cracks me up.  He is so his own person.  He has always been a kid that knows what he wants and stands behind it.  Agency is very important to him.  He has recently been wearing his hats inside out.  The only thing I can gather, he's exercising his right to chose where he can.  Every time in the past couple of weeks I hand him a hat to put on he reverses it and wears it with confidence.  It always makes me smile.

Now for a super funny story about Jeremy, or at least I think so.  It's just so typical Jeremy.  I had made hard boiled eggs and put them in the fridge.  A few hours later I opened the fridge.  Gotta love that sulfur smell.  I said, "Whooohhh!  Those eggs are stinky!!"  Then Jeremy  says,

"No!  That smell is me!"  

He wasn't even stinky.  He just makes me laugh!  About 15 minutes later, Riley and Jeremy are sitting on the couch and Riley says,  "Jeremy is stinky!"  Power of suggestion you know.

Jeremy  quickly replies, "Nooo!  I"m not stinky!"

Now for....

Return of the spiders 3

If you are a newer reader to the blog, Jeremy use to use spiders as an excuse for anything he couldn't explain.  If you so desire you can check out those earlier posts.  This time Jeremy saw a little scratch on my hand and  asked me how it happened.  I said I didn't know and then I showed him the scrape on my other hand.  This is what Jeremy had to say,

"Oh!  A spider came and ate one of your fingers!"

me:  He ate one of my fingers?

Jeremy:  "Yes!  The spider ate right there too!"

Bucket head Part 2

Like I said in the previous post, Tyler loves to put bucket, bowls, hats, whatever, on his head.  He is always so pleased!

Tyler loves to put things on his head.  He thinks it is so funny!  It all started with this yellow bowl.  He would put it on his head and walk around and just laugh about it.  He will use other things too like the strainer.  By far my favorite one, which I unfortunately don't have a picture of is the Lego Duplo bucket.  One day when they were all dumped out he picked up the bucket and put it on his head.  As you can imagine it went down past his shoulders.  He proceeded to walk around laughing, bump into things, fall and laugh.  It was too funny.

So today I decided to put a hat on him since he finds so much enjoyment out of putting things on his head.  He loved it.  And he's just so darn cute!!

I was tagged twice for this, so here goes...

I am-  5'6''

I want-  to MATCH this year to an Ortho residency

I have-  a shoe fettish but since we're poor students, I don't feed into it.

I wish-  we would run into a boat load of money to pay off all of our student loans.  

I dislike-  seafood and fish except halibut, tuna, and cod

I fear-  my husband dying before we're old like in a car accident or something.

I hear-  Jeremy playing and Riley getting into the pantry.

I search-  clearance racks for good quality clothes at a great price.

I wonder-  if we're going to have another great depression.

I always-  lock the door when we come in the house.

I usually-  don't feel thirsty.  I have to make a conscious effort to drink water, otherwise I'll go almost all day w/out drinking anything.  I try not to do that.

I am not-  a funny person but I love being around people that are.  I wish I was but I'm just not.

I dance-  in my memories.  I love dancing!   Someday when our life slows down I want to get Lane to take swing lessons with me.  I love swing.

I sing-  with  the music I"m listening to but i"m not very good.

I never-  mow the lawn, Lane does it.

I rarely-  watch tv.

I cry-  when I'm really worried, mad, sad, or hurt and sometimes when I"m happy.

I am not always-  patient.

I lose-  board games occasionally.  I am a good sport but I do love to win.

I"m confused-  at times but I can't think of anything right now.

I need-  to go to the cannery.  

I should- go to Target tomorrow.

I dream-  about when Lane is done with school.

I love-  My husband with my whole heart!!

I tag whoever want to do it.

This evening, from about 3 O'clock on, the boys were VERY naughty!  I don't want to relive the evening so I will spare you the details.  The evening ended by me sending both boys to bed with out reading books (which is the routine) and the threat that if they got up I would give our video games away.  Riley knew I was serious and chose to stay in bed.  Jeremy on the other hand got up and started coming downstairs.  So I headed for the remote control for the ps3 and said, "Okay, I'm giving it away!"  Jeremy turned around and kept saying no no no no no!!  So I went closer to him and told him, "Okay this is your LAST chance!  If you come down one more time, it's gone!"

From that point on, I didn't hear a peep out of either of them!  About an hour later I went upstairs to switch loads.  At this point Lane was home.  When I walked past Riley and Jeremy's room, I saw that Jeremy's bed was empty.  I figured he was in our room.  It is not unusual to find Jeremy asleep in places other than his bed.  Sometimes we find him asleep on the floor next to his bed and no he didn't fall off, he just chose to sleep there.  I have found him asleep in the doorway of his room, in numerous different places in the hall, the floor in our room, and our bed.  So expected to see him when I walked into our room.  But he wasn't in our bed or on the floor.  So I went back to his room and looked all around.  Then I checked back in our room and both bathrooms upstairs.  I called Lane up telling him that I couldn't find Jeremy.  Before long I took a closer look in our closet and then I started to laugh.

On the floor under Lane's close we have some file boxes and there is Jeremy fast asleep.  Lane had to wait for me to get the camera before I'd let him pick him up to move him.  

Oh and on a side note, I did put pajamas on Jeremy.  He has a habit of taking them off.

Halloween

I'm sure it's not a shocker that Riley and Jeremy chose to be Jedis for Halloween.  What is a pleasant surprise....

Yes!  That is Jeremy with his eyes OPEN for the picture.  He kept them open in every one, might I add.  So it's one of two things.  He's either over the eye shutting picture phase or it's just the sugar and the excitement of Halloween.  Either way, I will take it!!

As you can see below, Tyler was a cow.  the costume was a little big for him, but it's one we already had.  Riley and Jeremy have both been a cow in their earlier years.  On those occasions we painted their cute little nose black.  This year it just didn't feel necessary.


Tyler was so excited when he saw the cow costume.  I think he thought it was a stuffed animal and he grabbed it and hugged it.  Then when we put it on him he got so excited and started walking around and jabbering non-stop.  It was too cute!

The 16 days are finally past!!

On Friday at 11:25 am, I picked up my darling husband from the airport after his 16 day trip.  Let me just say, It is so WONDERFUL to have him home.  The kids and I missed him beyond description!  

I'm sure you all know that Lane will be completing dental school this June. Yay!!   Since he wants to be an orthodontist, our schooling doesn't end there.  So for those 16 days he was gone,  he was flying all over the country going to ortho residency interviews.  So far he has been to Indiana, Missouri, Connecticut, Oklahoma, Ohio, and Kentucky.  Next he interviews here, Texas, and Wisconsin.  The good thing, MATCH day is December 3.  So on that day we will know if and where we matched at.  Acceptance to ortho residency programs is not done in a traditional way.

MATCH needs some description:  It's a computer generated theoretical best fit analysis.  After interviews you rank where you want to go the most.  Likewise the schools rank who they want the most.  Somebody hits the magic compute button and then somebody tell you where your going.  

You can only MATCH at one school, and only 40% of applicants MATCH so saying that it's competitive is an understatement.  We feel very blessed to have so many interviews and we will rank our schools prayerfully.  So the way we figure, we've done all we can do.  So if it's meant to be this year, we will MATCH, if not, we will reapply next year.  I really hope that doesn't happen though.  I also really hope we MATCH here.