Newton . . . Kansas . . . Kansas . . . Newton and Subway

Tonight our family took a rather uninteresting trip to Alco for the sole purpose of using the 30% off coupon we received in our e-mail to buy a 4-slice toaster. Nothing enlightening or exciting about that, right?

Right, until the ride home, when, as we are passing by the north Subway, our son interrupts his litany of snack suggestions once we're home (orange, apple, no, orange, no to Daddy's offer of fruit snacks because he already had some today, never mind that we had oranges for dinner, he was settled on an orange) to ask us (and I quote), "Is that the third Subway in Kansas?" I couldn't help it; I broke out laughing. We had to explain that no, in fact that with approximately 33,700 Subway restaurants world wide in 95 countries and 15 in Wichita alone, there are likely a hundred or so in Kansas. Doug dutifully tried to explain that like Wichita, El Dorado, Hesston and other Kansas cities Caden is familiar with, Newton is a city, a smaller part of the state of Kansas.

Caden listened rather attentively (for him) and then declared, "I can't believe I have to tell you this, but Newton and Kansas are the same thing!" He acted like we were certainly the dumbest people he'd ever had to ride in a car with.

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas which included being able to attend Christmas Eve service at church with both sets of our parents. We followed Christmas Eve service with a yummy "breakfast for dinner" meal at our house. Christmas morning Doug woke up early to make us muffins and juice before opening our stocking and gifts with my parents. Then we headed to Doug's parents to open more presents and eat lunch with our entire immediate family (both sets of grandparents and Doug's brother, sister-in-law, and niece and nephew). All 3 of us were quite spoiled by Santa, each other, and our parents!

#1: our decked out tree loaded with lots of presents
#2: Caden proudly showing off his Sooner stocking
#3: my reaction to opening a gift from Doug and finding
an entire carton of my favorite peppermint chapstick
#4: our nephew, Jensen, opening a present

We got tons of wonderful gifts, but here are some of our highlights:
CADEN: tiger pillow pet; Ultimate I Spy Wii game from Santa; 40+ Hot Wheels; basketball, hockey, and boxing Wii games; cash; Wal-Mart gift card; scooter

SARAH: 2 muffin pans; Paula Deen pot set; peppermint chapstick; new headphones; necklace with Doug and Caden's names on it; books; iTunes gift cards

DOUG: hunting license; hair clippers; new headphones; iTunes gift cards; new iPod; Sooners sign; clothes

#1: our niece, Tegan, lost among the all the presents
#2: Jensen showing off his new Chiefs jammies with Mommy Melissa
#3: Caden showing off his new football jammies (he got 5 pairs of desperately needed new jammies!)
#4: Tegan showing off her new Moxie beauty salon girl

We are certainly blessed this holiday season!

2010 Mini Re-cap

Since it has been 8 months since I last blogged, I thought I'd do a brief re-cap of 2010 before 2011 begins and I re-commit to keeping our blog updated. I'm just going to do the highlights for each person and our family.

CLOCKWISE: goalie during indoor soccer; visit to OKC Zoo;
Pre-K Graduation; Astronauts Doug and Caden

CADEN: lost his first tooth (and 5 more since); played indoor soccer; graduated from Pre-K in May; played t-ball; grew taller; started KINDERGARTEN!; played flag football; made new friends; grew taller and taller; has some permanent teeth growing in; had his first school field trip (big day: visited a local dairy farm; fire station; police station; and Dillons to culminate a study on community helpers); turned 6 in November and had a big swim party to celebrate; grew taller and taller and even taller (Honestly, he's VERY tall. People comment on it all the time. He got to play Joseph in his Sunday School class' Christmas program because he's the tallest boy. He has a good buddy at school who is much, much shorter and they look like the odd couple when they stand next to each other. Very funny.)

CLOCKWISE: t-ballers L-R Grayson, Tegan (our niece), Caden;
Coach Daddy Doug and his favorite player; ARRRH me cutest pirate lad on Halloween
serious during flag football game;

DOUG: continues to work for IDG (Industrial Distribution Group) in Wichita as the warehouse and facilities manager; coached Caden's t-ball team, which included our niece, Tegan, and Caden's best friend, Grayson; coached Caden's flag football team (interesting experience to say the least!); lost lots of weight; worked part-time for the Wichita Photobooth Company owned by some friends here in Newton; got to ride along with our friend Dan who is an El Dorado police officer (Doug was thrilled and texted me in the middle of it announcing he thought he'd change professions and become a cop! He got to see a lot -- signal ones and fours!) 

CLOCKWISE: nerd day in Pre-K; feeding a rabbit at Tanganyika Wildlife Park;
1st day of Kindergarten; found him one morning nearly all the way under our bed

SARAH: still working for USD 373, but started a new position in August as the instructional coach for the newly configured Santa Fe 5/6 Center; watched two of my very favorite former students graduate from high school (aside from making me feel very old; it made me so proud as a teacher! Thanks Matthies and Goeverts for inviting me and especially Peter and Tyler for making me so proud!); lost some much needed weigh; continued part-time with the Wichita Photobooth Company; enjoyed watching Doug and Caden during t-ball and flag football seasons

CLOCKWISE: my favorite boys at the KU game; Caden and his new best bud, Officer Dan;
Happy 6th Birthday!; the whole gang at the KU game

FAMILY: celebrated our 10th anniversary in July; Doug's mom battled a recurrence of lung cancer with chemo and CyberKnife and is now in remission, thankfully!; Sarah's parents moved from Newton to Savannah, Missouri; visited the Oklahoma City Zoo and science museum (very fun!); Kansas State Fair fun in September (TONS of rides for Caden and Mommy and even got white-knuckled Daddy on the Ferris Wheel); twice the grown-ups participated in a mystery dinner theater in Kansas City (once for our anniversary and once with friends . . . great fun both times!); enjoyed Caden's first live college football game watching the Jayhawks (who ultimately won, though we totally missed that part) against the Buffaloes with good friends (Thanks Dan and Shannon for going with us! Caden now thinks Dan is AWESOME!); had family pictures taken by a good friend in early December (Thanks so much Shannon! We love them!! A few are featured at the top of our blog and some others were showcased on our Christmas card this year and four more our shown below)



CLOCKWISE: a smooch for Mommy; so very tempting!;
funny to us; our little family

All in all, 2010 has been a year of change for our family, but has also been one filled with lots of love and laughter. We couldn't ask for more. Looking forward to the adventure 2011 will surely bring!

Caden quotebale

Mom: "Caden, how did you get so cute?"
Dad: "Tell her from Daddy!"
Caden: "From God, Jesus, and the Earth!"

Absolutely LOVE this!!

pretty cute, huh?

broken

This is what greeted us yesterday when we got home from work. Thankfully, we we're a bit prepared because Doug's mom had stopped by and then called Doug to let him know. Sadly, this is the second time this tree has been damaged by the wind. This is also the second tree we've had suffer major wind damage. The other tree was in our backyard and we had to cut it down completely. Doug went to work on it straight away and got all of the limbs cut apart. Tonight he and his dad finished cutting up all the branches on the ground into manageable pieces. This weekend we will haul them to the dump. We (and by we here I mean Doug) will have to also cut down the rest of the tree because the trunk is so badly damaged that it can't really support the weight of the rest of the branches. We're very sad to lose this tree. It was a beautiful Bradford Pear that we really liked and which provided our front yard plenty of shade. The small upside is that Caden has really enjoyed "helping" with this "man" project!

blocking the view of the front porch and door

damage to the trunk

broken limb

rounded-up {officially}

We now have an officially rounded-up kindergartener! We went to Kindergarten Round-Up tonight at South Breeze. Doug and I got lots of information and Caden had a blast with the teachers! He reported that they were all very nice! (which I can vouch for!) Lots of mixed emotions, but mostly really excited for him to start school, though I'm having a hard time believing he's old enough to go. We did have to explain that attending Kindergarten Round-Up doesn't in fact mean that he gets to go to Kindergarten tomorrow. But he sure wishes he could!

after being officially rounded-up

just because . . . I think it's funny!

Caden quoteable recent edition

As Caden is donning my Valentine's Day socks that stretch to his knees and are coverd in pink and red hearts, "I'm a cowboy cause I've got long socks on."

While trying to turn his pajama shirt right side out this evening, "Dad, can you please inside out my bajama shirt or ouside it in?"

He makes us laugh every day which is good because he also makes us want to to wring his little neck as times!

more Caden quoteables

I'm thinking of making this the title for an on-going series of posts. Caden keeps saying the funniest things, some because he doesn't know the right word for what he means, others because he confuses the correct word with a similar (often hilarious) word, and still more because the words come out if his mouth all mixed up. I blame this on his brain working faster than his mouth as he often stutters and repeats himself when he's excited which is a lot of the time.

This afternoon as we headed to get a haircut that ultimately didn't end up happening, Caden asks, "This time can I get a homawk again? I mean hohawk." Followed by a fit of giggles because he realized what he actually said. For those of you who might be CLL (Caden Language Learners) homawk and hohawk refer to the extreme mohawk hairstyle.

circa August 2009

The do has changed, but the attitude remains!

Caden quoteables

Last night as I was saying good night to Little Man, totally unprompted, "Love you forever, mommy!" Oh, me too, buddy, me too!! This made me love being a mom!

Last night as I was shutting his bedroom door, "Can you shut my door open a little please?" In the same moment, I was pleased he remembered to say please and totally amused by shutting the door open!

Tonight after I let my hair out the crazy up-do I had going on today, "You don't look like you, mommy, cause your hair is crazy (it's a bit wavy/curly from being up while wet this morning, but I'm certain I still look like "me"). You look like Cinderella.” Very random character to throw out there as Caden has little experience with princesses. Also, I'm not sure if this was a huge insult to Cinderella implying she looked like me or one huge compliment to me saying I looked as pretty as Cinderella. Don't care, I'm taking it that I’m princess-like . . .at least in my little man’s eyes and that means the world to me today! :)

Can't you just see the similarities?? :)

Did He Really???

So as most of you know we have been having a LOT of trouble getting Caden to go to bed and stay in bed.  Last night we tried a new tactic of putting him in bed then each time he got up we took turns of picking him up and putting him back to bed without saying anything to him.  Needless to say this really, really made him mad.  Several times I had to ask myself..."Did he really just say that?  I think he's trying to be insulting but I had to leave the room in a hurry several times! 

Here are some of my favorites keeping in mind they were being sreamed at us in a wailing 5 year old voice.

"You're a stinkyhead."
"You stinky ol lady head."
"You keeping breaking my heart now I gotta fro up."
"Talk to me stinkyhead."
"I'm not loving you no more."

But what I love is that he was madder than a hornet's nest last night and got up all lovie dovie this morning like nothing had ever happened.  Round 2 tonight I am sure!

bedtime bedlam

Actual comments from Caden tonight as I struggled with bedtime for the 736th night in a row: At my billionth request to get back in bed . . ."You broke my heart!" at full voume AND "You're breaking my heart and my feelings!!" also at top volume AND "I feel like I'm going to throw up because you broke my heart!" AND "I don't feel good because you're yelling at me so much!" a good 5 minutes after I was done yelling at him.

I used to enjoy bedtime, but now I'd rather skip it most nights, except that leads to other undesirable problems. On the upside, we've now had 3 nights of Caden sleeping in his bed all night as opposed to our bedroom floor. One step forward, two steps back. Parenting is NOT for the faint of heart for sure!

a visit from the tooth fairy

I think this visit from the tooth fairy has been on the books since way back in November when Caden had an unfortuante collision with the side of the bath tub. His tooth wasn't loose then, but it has been wiggly for the last few days. Yesterday morning as we were driving, Caden began fussing, "It's weally wiggwly. It's weally wiggwly." Then all of a sudden he cried out, "My tooth is in my hand! Take it mom!! Am I blooding? Will the tooth fairy come now?" Though he was full of anxiety and woe all week about having a wiggwly tooth, he was eagerly anticiapting a visit from the famed tooth fairy. We've never discussed the tooth fairy with Caden, but I think it's been a hot topic of discussion at preschool for the last few months. So he was looking to cash in.

After much discussion (read: disagreement) among the gap-tooth wonder's parental units about the price to be paid out by this tooth fairy, it was decided he should receive exactly $1.41. I realize this seems like an odd price to pay for a tiny little baby tooth, but perhaps if I point out that $1.41 equals 1 dollar bill, 1 quarter, 1 dime, I nickel, and 1 penny it will make it clearer. This seemed a unique amount and a good compromise of what the tooth fairy heaped upon Doug at $5.00 a tooth (pre-recession, I might add) and the quarter she shelled out for my teeth (I clearly was robbed, though I do rememebr receiving slightly more for the one tooth I swallowed!!)

Needless to say, this morning Caden was quite thrilled to find his tooth vanished and cash in its place. He's proudly shown and/or told everyone about it today. And thus, it's another milestone reached in Caden's life. I msut admit, I don't usually cry at milestones, but I welled up big time yesterday and boohooed about my baby growing up to which Caden impatiently replied, "Mom! It's just a tooth! You don't have to cry about it!"

gappy smile

Can you see the tiny hole on the bottom row of teeth?

the *tiny* hole in his mouth

February 14th

Has become known at our house as "Balemtimes Day" courtesy of one adorable little man.

heart breaker

That's what I am and I don't mean the super attractive, love 'em, but leave 'em kind. I mean a real heart breaker.

As has been par for the course the past few weeks, I struggled with Caden at bedtime tonight. He didn't want to go because he wanted to drink hot chocolate. Once I got him into bed, he threw a MAJOR fit because he didn't want me to go back downstairs which is his typical plea/demand at bedtime. The MAJOR fit led to me losing my cool and yelling at him. Not my finest mommy moment. Then Caden was consumed with hysterical tears and choking gasping sobs. When I tried to comfort him, he told me, "You broke my heart!" I explained I hadn't meant to upset him, but he didn't understand. He just kept repeating, "You broke my heart because you were yelling at me", in the saddest, sweetest little voice. Oh my goodness! It broke mommy's heart. Talk about laying on the guilt thick and heavy! I'm not really sure where Caden's heard about broken hearts, but I'm guessing there's been a lot of Valentine's Day discussion going on in his class at school.

identity crisis

I'm quite fervently hoping that the identity crisis my blog is suffering from is not an indication of where my current or future mental state is at. I've been struggling with the look and name of our blog for some time now. I want something that reflects us as a family. I asked for Doug's input on backgrounds and colors, but his tastes, I discovered, are radically different than mine. We agreed on little . . . until we happened upon this background. We both really like the colors and the "creative without being too cute, frilly, or overdone" look of it. I think it suits us. Now, as for my identity, it could be headed for crisis too!

ZzZz says . . .

Caden makes up games for us to play while we're driving in the car. One of his current games goes like this . . .mom says a letter sound (or letter noise as Caden calls it) and then Caden says a word that begins with that sound. [*side note*: All teachers who read this, I PROMISE he made up the game! He has no idea it' actually good for him!] I gave him the tricky Zz sound and he right away said zebra. I challenged him to come up with one more Z word. He was getting stumped and finally I gave him the clue, "Where do zebras live?" Caden, "in Heaven!" Precious answer and true of course, but not exactly the Z word I was thinking about. I continued to try to clue him in. Next guess, "I know, in Wichita, in the ZOO!!" Yes, exactly!

slip of the tongue

WARNING: This post is not for those who are easily embarrassed or who are sensitive to the "unmentionables" of life. If this is you, you've been warned. Stop reading now. If you are a parent, or not at all fazed by what children say regardless of how shocking, then by all means, keeping reading. This little vignette had Doug and rolling on Christmas morning and our family cracking up as we retold it later.

On Christmas morning, just the 3 of us opened our stockings and gifts at home. Caden got very excited about a remote controlled car labeled "some assembly required". As Doug was assembling, Caden was waiting quite impatiently, and finally blurted out, "Daddy, Daddy, do you need the erections?" Doug got it right away, but I had to ask my parenting partner if my brain had understood correctly what my ears had just heard. Doug confirmed that indeed our delightful son had just Freudianly mispronounced the word "directions". I love this little man and wonder what his teachers might think of him (and us) one day! :)