Fiona's Jamboree

Fiona was surprised when I told her that I was writing a post about her jamboree experience as well. "But I didn't play." As Fiona and I can attest (and Auntie Tracey would back us up), being spectators is a lot of work too.* Thus, Fiona also gets credit (and a blog post) about her contributions as Super Fan to the jamboree weekend.

F was up bright and early Saturday morning so that we could get to the rink on time. Then there was a bit of a kerfuffle about what time we needed to be there and Coach Mike may have randomly yelled at everyone that we were "already ten minutes late." [we weren't] The girls and I got to the rink in time to watch Dec warm up and his game start. 

Anxious Quinn couldn't take it anymore, so we brought her to her locker room to get ready for her game. Fiona has decided that girl hockey players are crazy! Then off we ran to watch Q's announcements and the start of her game - before we hopped back to the other rink to catch the end of D's game. Fiona and I were basically hockey fan yo-yos. 

Fiona was thrilled when Q's game was over and we could leave. I had told her multiple times that she was required to come to one game for each of her siblings - but after that, she could choose to hang out at home. She's proven herself trustworthy enough for that privilege. Yet, after lunch, she chose to come back to the rink for Game 3 because she didn't want to miss Dec's name being announcement. She and Quinn were the sweetest little fans as he made his big entrance. Then my partners disappeared to the lobby to color while I watched the game.

We had promised the kids a trip to the concession stand between games 3 and 4 - so of course, it was closed. That, combined with forgetting some art supply that she needed, meant that one Tired Big Sister and one Tired Little Brother were not into Game 4. So I brought them home and they were much happier [remote] fans. Then as a special treat for the Super Fan, I made homemade mac and cheese for dinner.

Sunday morning, she was back at the rink because she wanted to watch her sister play goalie and see the trophy/medal ceremony. While Fiona was hoping Dec would hang out in the lobby with her, he actually preferred watching the game with me. Eventually she joined as well and was super helpful in taking videos of the goalie pile and medal ceremony so I could take pictures. Quinn was a more reliable partner-in-crime when she again chose to come back for Game 6 - although neither of them were anywhere to be found when I needed video assistants at the end of D's game!

To reward all hockey players, Super Fans, and coaches, we went to HyVee after the game and splurged on cupcakes from their bakery. Everyone got to pick (and eat) their own (mini) cupcake. Anyone who has watched me buy one cupcake and split it three ways knows that This is a Big Deal. Fiona may have even admitted that while it was a long couple days, jamboree weekend was also pretty fun.

*By 4pm Saturday, I already had over 10,000 steps on my Fitbit - and I had not worked out yet. That was simply from running around the rink!

The Sunday School Singers

Alternate Title: The Vanneste Family Singers
Back Up Alternate Title: The Day Everyone at Church Wanted to Adopt Our Kids

We were extra excited that Gma and Gpa were here last weekend - because the Sunday School Singers were performing during the service at church. Fun fact: the Sunday School Singers has three members. All three have the last name of Vanneste.

But you guys, we have come soooooooooo far! Not only could you hear all three of them, Fiona sang some harmony. And they just simply did the best job. It was so fun to see their personalities shine up there. Dec was not the slightest bit nervous and sang with all the gusto he possesses. Quinn was very precise and deliberate in her performance. And Fiona was nervous, and yet did an amazing job. It didn't hurt that after the service, pretty much everyone at church stopped by to tell them what a great job they did.

I must have been feeling really proud - or succumbed to Grandpa's influence - because I let them each eat a whole doughnut after the service was over!

Vacation in Slow Motion

If the sign of a good vacation is that one week later, you are still trying to catch up on sleep ... then we nailed it! Because of that exhaustion (and a busy day at work), my brain can't string together the words required to do justice to a recap.

The good news for you ... as Mike's phone was the official capturer of memories for the trip, he took the opportunity to play around with his slow motion video. The result is pretty fun!

Auntie Tracey Took Pictures

Pro tip: surround yourself with talented people.

Completely related: I get almost giddy when Auntie Tracey pulls out her "big camera" and points it toward my people. Magic always happens!

She brought the big camera to the girls' birthday party in GR. When I saw her this last weekend, I got a whole USB drive full of happiness. So I thought I'd share some of my favorites (please note that this is me showing great restraint. It was really hard to narrow it down to these eleven. I told you it was a USB of happy!) THANK YOU, Auntie Tracey, for being so awesome and for sharing your talent with us!!

Birthday girls (almost 7. newly 5)

Now THIS is a Quinn look!

Toothless

They crack me up! These boys!

Watch out, boys! Q is IN!

She's too cool for face / ball smashing. But she loves her Milo!

Cousins at the party came in all sizes - even super tall!

And super small ... ish ... (we love you Boom Boom)

My boys

Loving their new hockey jerseys

Snuck big sister's bday present and tricked Gpa into reading it

I Left Mike and the Kids Unsupervised ...

In case you were wondering what happens on Labor Day when Mom is cooking and Daddy and the kids are left to their own creative devices!

Three Kids Went to School Today

We kicked off Fall in a big way today. Fiona started First Grade, Quinn started Kindergarten, Declan started Preschool, Mike started his first day on the early shift at work, and I started my first day as the one solely responsible for getting the short humans out of the house on time. We made it to work, the bus stop, and preschool drop off. And nobody cried. That I saw. I have a report of Quinn crying when they first got to school ... but I didn't see it. So in my experience, nobody cried. 

That simply means that some other morning in the near future, when I least expect it, everyone will lose their crap. I was mentally prepared for it today, so we were good. It'll come around. I'm sure of it. I have zero faith we are in the clear on this rather significant family shift. 

But back to the news at hand, NOBODY cried! I peeled exactly zero children from my legs. Today. 

Mike was out of the house by 6:30 this morning. He just told me he felt a bit cheated because he didn't get to see two of the three kids before he left. But since Dec's preschool closes at 5:00, the early shift puts us in better position to make that pick up happen. Bonus is that he gets some extra time with them in the afternoon and these kids will actually get home earlier than 6pm. We have big hopes that this will be a good change for us all. 

By some miracle, the kids and I were all ready and out on the front step taking our first day of school photos by about 7:20. I actually had to kill a bit of time so we didn't get to the bus stop too early. We met our neighbors (who will normally take the girls and walk them to the bus stop) and all walked over to the bus together. We were about 5 minutes early and this is where I expected it to go downhill for Quinn. It is often the wait that gets in her head and allows the anxiety to build. She kept coming over to hug me, but always told me it was because she was cold (it was only 56 degrees - and quite brisk!). When the bus turned the corner, she grabbed Fiona and said "it's here. it's here." She happily followed Fiona onto the bus and waved to Dec and me with a pretty big smile.

Fiona played it pretty cool at the bus stop and assured me that she would watch out for her sister. Based on a very ridiculous conversation last night where I got her to stop sobbing and go to sleep by assuring her that she could do the math required on the first day of first grade (drama.queen.), I know she was nervous. But she was also so so excited and happy to see all her bus stop buddies! She told me that she was a little late getting in her own line to go into school at the beginning of the day because Quinn started crying when she brought Q to her line - and she didn't want to leave Q crying. But it sounds like they got it all worked out okay.

After the bus stop, I drove Dec to preschool. We had a lovely visit on the drive and I think he enjoyed being the only one in the car. When we got out of the car at Ms. A's, he refused to hold my hand and said "I got it, mama." So he walked himself around to the door, took off all his gear and put it in his cubby, and headed off to meet the new friends. I waved and left. Because that's what you want them to do!

Everyone was super pumped about their days when I got home. Lots of smiles, talking over each other, funny stories, and excitement. Sounds like they are willing to do it again tomorrow!

They've Got Personality

I was ambushed when I got home today by three people with brand new squirt guns (thank you, Mike ...). I realized, as I watched the girls play, that you can learn a lot about someone by their squirt gun fighting style. Fiona is all about laying down cover and hoping that it deters her sibs. Lots of defense, constant spray, and prayers that she doesn't run out of water. Quinn is strategic offense all the way. She'll take a direct hit to get into position for her shot. And then is quite accurate at hitting her target. In one shot, she can soak you.

I didn't get a chance to observe much about Declan's style. For the second night in a row, he went to bed before 7:00. He's under the misguided perception that he can out stubborn me (he can't) or that if out-suborning doesn't work, then yelling at me will (it really won't). Sweet boy oozes charm and personality, but he will also come with manners, so help us. Hopefully it's starting to sink in ... or the girls are going to get used to our full attention in the evenings!

It's so fun to watch their unique personalities develop and see how they fit with each other, our family, and their broader world. It's also the best fun to have new squirt guns on a 90 degree day!

Vivid Imaginations

“We’re not in Gotham, Sar.” The words Mike had to say when he hit pause on Batman Begins oh so many years ago and I looked around to figure out where I was. I’ve been blessed with a very active imagination. That whole “willing suspension of disbelief” thing – nailed it!!! The flip side is that by marrying me, Mike has basically given up his favorite genre of entertainment – horror movies. The “funny” ones like Evil Dead put my sleep on the fritz and kickstart my over-sensitivity to any and all noises. Don’t get me started on what actual scary ones will do. Mike’s decided it’s not worth the pain. Or if it’s a really good one, he gets a date with Brad.

Genetics are funny. Most days, I think Fiona and Declan look very much alike and they both look like Mike (or Auntie Tracey in Fiona’s case). Quinn looks more like me (although still has plenty of her dad). But Quinn is all Mike’s when it comes to movies. And the bookends – imagination central, just like their mama.

Part of our bedtime routine involves watching a video on my phone, usually some song from a movie. [My 2-year-old can accurately do dance moves from Singing in the Rain] A couple weeks ago, I showed an unvetted clip from Oliver & Company. They love other videos from that movie, so what could go wrong? Lots. Lots could go wrong. Every kitty except Oliver was adopted (cue the tears from Fiona), a rain storm broke the cardboard box the kitty was in (cue wails from Declan), and mean black dogs chased the kitty. By the end, Declan was sobbing uncontrollably and Fiona had her face buried in a pillow. Quinn was like, “bummer, the kitty is lost.”

It’s not that Quinn doesn’t care about the kitty. She really meant her “bummer.” But she was also totally clear it was a cartoon and that the kitty was fine (based on the other clips of the movie we’ve seen). Fiona and Declan, on the other hand, have repeatedly extracted the promise from me that they will never.ever have to watch that video again. And if we ever watch the movie (as Q would like to), we skip that part.

And now, we preview bedtime videos before we play them for the children.

The Kids are Super

Fiona had a package arrive in the mail this week with a new shirt for her from my Aunt Marilyn. The shirt says "Spina bifida messed with the wrong girl." We had just finished talking about how the treadmill had kicked mom's butt that day (hello 12 minute miles. which aren't fast, but are faster than I had been going). When Mike asked her if she knew what the shirt meant, she giggled, looked a little shy, and said "it means I kick spina bifida's butt." Yes it does, baby girl. Yes it does.

Yes Ma'am!

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After bath one night this week, I was helping Declan get ready. He told me that he had a story, but when I asked him to tell it to me, he declined. After acting sad for him and asking him "pretty please," here is the story he told me (said in the cutest, most dramatic little boy voice): Once upon a time. There was a little tiny kitty. Meow Meow Meow Meow Meow. And the he looked at me with such pride that all I could do was give him a great big hug. And giggle.

Sometimes Spiderman is also Super

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There is a pile of paperwork on the counter with Quinn's name on it. I've spent the week filling out the forms to make her an official Kindergarten registrant for next fall. While she is clearly ready to join her buddy Jonah as the new Kindergartners at the bus stop, I can't believe she is old enough, big enough, ready enough to go to the big kid school. If that wasn't enough, she talked me into putting hot rollers in her hair this weekend. She had quite the big hair when we took them out and the perfectly formed cheerleader ponytail.

There is a superhero with her name. Yahtzee!

The Big Kid Room

The final vestiges of Baby-dom are disappearing from our home. On Saturday, while Fiona, Dec, and I went to F's well check, Mike and Q disassembled the crib. This crib has been up and occupied by V babies for almost exactly six years (Fiona came home from the hospital on Oct 2, 2010 and the crib left the bedroom on Oct 1, 2016!). It was fun to look back at the nursery set up before Fiona was born and to see how much that room has changed to now accommodate three babies!

Little dude thinks he is BIG STUFF in his new toddler bed. And - since he dorked around during nap on Saturday to the point that he fell out and clunked his head pretty good, he now also stays in his toddler bed! For our sanity, we also hooked the video monitor back up and reattached the gate. We'll make sure there are no late night wanderings before we completely remove the gate again. [He also inadvertently found where I had stashed - and then forgotten about - his pacifiers. He was super pumped. So they got tossed in the garbage! I'm done pulling the plug on the gang.]

Since we painted the room, the bunk beds have been assembled, the new dresser has been painted, and the crib has been replaced. I still need to work on some of the finer details of the organization and we have some wall space to fill. But I love how it is coming together - and the occupants really love it too! While it is bittersweet to see the crib pieces stacked in the garage, we are really excited for them to have a Big Kid space that they are proud of and that is growing with them.

**Ignore the poor lighting in the photos. Their room was clean, the beds were made, and I had five minutes. Those pieces don't always come together at the same time.

I spy a little guy who is proud of his bed

Bunked. Q on top, F on the bottom. For this month.
They switch on the first of every month.

New dresser in the corner
And Gopher hockey figurine on the top.
So they know which team to cheer for.

The one wall with stuff on it. They love the photo collages.
And their letters are their favorite part of the room.

Faces of Summer

I have a whole bunch of pictures that don't fit nicely in any one or two topics. So ... new theme: random photos of cute kids!

They have really built a sweet (though contentious at times) relationship
this summer. Complete with late night whispers about going to school.

If this isn't pure sibling joy, I don't know what is.
He drove (shudder). She shifted it between forward and reverse
to keep him from running into stuff. It was ridiculous and hilarious.

Wheelbarrow rides. SOOOOO much better
than wheelbarrow races.

Is it really a party without blue frosting?!?!

Straight up DIVA

Playing kickball with the big boys
and having the time of his life!

Watching the Opening Ceremony of the Rio Olympics.
Olympic spirit is magic, you guys. It brought
peace and camaraderie to these warring entities.

I Was Wrong

We got a middle of the night text from A Tuesday night. She had a sick kiddo and needed to close on Wednesday. My day didn't look too bad, so I said I would stay home with Q and D. We had a great day together ... even after it started out a little bumpy.

I took advantage of staying home and slept in an extra 30 minutes. So I hadn't showered yet when they got up. They were playing so nicely after Fiona and Mike left that I figured I could take a quick 5 minute shower. I was wrong.

I told them where I was going, highlighted the ground rules, and left all the doors open so they could easily get to me. I was just putting conditioner in my hair when I heard Dec start to scream. I rinsed my hair while expecting Quinn to come running in to fill me in on whatever catastrophe had befallen the dude. No Q. So I figured she had stolen a toy from him. I had just turned the water off when two figures appeared in the doorway (I could still hear screaming). I peeked out the shower door to find Dec dripping blood down his chin.

Apparently there had been some wild Ring Around the Rosie and he had "all fall down"ed himself into Q's bedframe. He has a pretty fat lip, but the cut is pretty small (I suspect a tooth). It's more newsworthy these days when he doesn't have a split lip, so he's tolerating it really well. And now I know, 3 and 18 months isn't quite old enough for unsupervised during shower. But game on when the 5 year old is home too!

Later in the day, I took a video of their full contact Rosie-ing. Dec loves it and will spin by himself in the middle of the room singing "ashies ashies" on repeat!

Don't Worry, Mom!

A couple weeks ago, Mike was at a hockey meeting during bedtime. I had all the kids in pjs and had sent the girls to the living room while I put Dec to bed. I came out to cath Fiona and realized that I had forgotten to grab wipes.

S: Q, can you go get me the wipes?
Q: Sure. Cuz Buggy has poops.

S: She does. Can you smell it?

Q: No. Last year, one of Buggy’s poops fell out.

(knowing that “last year” from Q can mean anything between last year, last week, last night, or 5 minutes ago, this felt like it needed further exploration)

S: When did one of the poops fall out?

F: (looking worried) I was checking my pull up and one of the poops fell out. I’m sorry.

S: When? When did this happen?

F: When you were putting Decky to bed ...
S: (looking around) What happened to the poop?

F: Don’t worry, mom. I just picked it up and put it back in my pull up.

Q: Yeah. Don’t worry, mom.

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Mike needs a big stick for Christmas - to fend off the preschool boys from Fiona. We were at school one evening to pick her up. She said good-bye to a little boy on our way out and he just started walking along with us, chatting with her. His dad was still up by the classroom, getting all his stuff. So we slowed down as I didn't want the dad to think I was taking an extra home. But little guy was so into his conversation with Bugs that he practically got in our car with us!

Another time, I was walking out with her and a different little boy literally ran past us on the stairs. With his dad calling behind him to slow down. But little man kept running ... so he could beat us to the door, open it for Fiona, and tell her to have a good night. His dad and I shared quite the look at that.

Don't worry, mom ...

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Words are pouring out of Declan these days. If I had any concern about him being behind his sisters verbally (I didn't), I really don't now. He's a little parrot and is working hard on stringing words together, labeling people, and making animal sounds.

I took the girls to gymnastics one night and when I got home, Mike had some crazy eyes. He said (with some desperation), "I'm not reading that farm book again! He's obsessed." And daddy was not kidding. Dec is obsessed with farm animal noises. My favorite is when you ask him what a rooster says ... "cocky cocky oooo" I may ask him three dozen times a day because I love it so much.

He seems to think that just about every animal says Moooooo. Don't worry, mom. He'll get it.

Three Pumpkins

The kids are starting to realize that I love taking fall pictures of them sitting in the midst of pumpkins. There's just something about cute faces peeking out from orange gourds that gets me every time! So as we left Sever's last weekend and the girls asked to play in the pumpkins for a minute, Mike said "no" and I said "sure." They picked my answer (sorry, honey!).

I love watching them run around and decide which pumpkin holds their heart for the year. Or in the case of Quinn, which baby pumpkin needed to be moved to be by its mama pumpkin. We haven't picked our official Halloween pumpkins yet, but the pumpkin preview was a blast!

Moments on Video

I've snagged a few fun moments on video over the last week and thought I would share a glimpse into what life is like here. 

The first two are a random family jam session downstairs. I made the girls help clean up the basement before their cousins came so that the B family wasn't injured in the landmine of Duplos that was the basement floor. They cleaned up so quickly that Mike figured he'd play a song for them. Fiona grabbed the guitar and Quinn started dancing ... "Freeze" dancing to be exact. Then the dancer and lead guitar player switched places ... as they often do.

Declan is walking EVERYWHERE. Most often, he's halfway on an epic walk and we realize that we aren't taking video. He's walked from the dining room table all the way down the hall, taken the corner, and then gone across their room to Buggy's bed. No video. Sigh. Here's the one video we managed to take ... so not an epic walk because ... camera.

It was super nice on Sunday, so Daddy and the girls popped up the pool. It was sheer happiness - as it should be. Quinn has officially moved to full and enthusiastic pool participant. It's so awesome to see her embracing the water and having SO much fun.

Little Leprechauns

Happy St. Patrick's Day from our little leprechauns!

Daddy's Fans

Watching dad

We headed to SLP on Saturday to watch Daddy and Brad play hockey with our favorite spectator partners - Cheryl, Jack, and Cooper. C and I brought picnic dinners for the kids and managed to convince them to eat an acceptable(ish) amount. The bigs enjoyed running up and down the length of the stands and watching the game. The ref gave them each a high five during the game and the zamboni driver gave them fives after the game. Declan stood at the glass and was fascinated by the skaters.

The boys' team won 8-1 (or something close to that). Cheryl and I saw one goal ... the other team's! There were a lot of bodies to keep track of! Especially with multiple potty-ers. But it is always so fun to cheer for our guys, let the kids cheer for daddy, and hang out with our buddies!

Funny story about the pottying. Near the end of the game, Fiona needed to go, so I took her and Cheryl kept Q and Dec. When Bugs and I came back, no one was there (but our stuff was). Right after we left, Jack had to go potty too ... so Cheryl headed to the bathroom with four kids. And Q got a lesson on how boys pee!

Big kids fans (and a miracle that all four smiled at the same time!)
[also, wow, we have short kids]

Bribery at its Finest

It's January - so that means more than we want unexpected time out of day care. It's usually a perfect storm of our gang being sick and Ms. A's gang being sick. This January was no exception. Which put me home with the gang yesterday.

We had a good time and I had the pleasure of watching Declan achieve a major milestone. D learned what glass was ... as he crawled full steam ahead into the slider in order to touch his puppy (who was outside on the deck). He led with his forehead and looked more than a little perplexed when he couldn't crawl through. Instead of crying, he settled down on his belly and used both hands to check out this magical clear obstacle (maybe there was also an invisible path through ...).

The sisters thought it looked like fun and popped down on their bellies to hang with him. After a while, he did a tummy spin to see where I was. I quickly grabbed the camera and shouted out that anyone who would be on a belly next to Declan and smile would get an M&M. Victory!

Smiling Kids

We've been hanging out in the new year with colds (so kinda like the old year ...). I vaguely remember telling January that we already put in our illness time in November. Apparently January wasn't listening. 

We have two bottles of pink medicine in the fridge for #2 and #3. Thankfully, they take meds like champs. And the pink stuff has really helped Q's cough. Not sure it's doing much for Declan, but here's hoping it clears the germs out of the boy.

Colds or not, we had a fun weekend together ... albeit inside. The forecast looks super for getting outside next weekend and taking the new ice skates for a spin.

Sweet smile

New towel from Auntie

Princess dress