Decorating the Christmas Tree

When we first put the tree up, we just added candy canes.

But this little baby wasn't interested in helping us to put candy canes on the tree. She was ok with eating them. See that grin? That's a happy face because I'm finally giving in and letting her eat one.

So I broke a candy cane in half and let her and Cailin share. I thought this would satisfy her. Instead, she became consumed with eating candy canes off the tree. I had to stop her from eating them like 15-20 times per day. A couple of times, she was able to actually eat them, plastic and all, before I could stop her.

Why are you so sad Rylie? Because mean ole' Momma won't let me have another peppermint.

I have had these ornaments since Ariel was about Rylie's age. So we've been putting these same ornaments on the tree for the last 10+ years. This year Rylie has broken more ornaments than any of the kids have broken in the last 10 years. I catch her daily with about 3-4 ornaments at a time off the tree. After about the 5th one was broken, we put the ones that will shatter up high. I don't know what to say about this baby.

See that little bear? He's broken now.
Usually as the kids are unwrapping ornaments and putting them on the tree, my job is to space the ornaments out. But I didn't do that this time. So, now we have groupings of ornaments all over the tree. I think it's perfect though.

Poor tree probably won't survive this holiday season.

Happy 2nd Birthday Rylie

Rylie had a family birthday over my Mom's house. We had pizza and cupcakes with ice-cream. Or make that cupcakes, then pizza, followed by cupcakes and ice-cream.

Cailin is upset because she can't understand why she can't have a cupcake. She doesn't care that we need to sing "happy birthday" to Rylie first.

Opening up gifts from Mumsil

Happy Birthday Rylie

A Day at the Beach

About one month ago, we headed down to the beach. The day was nice and warm. And the light was amazing. We had a blast. It left me wondering how come we don't go to the beach that often.

My Littlest Rylie

My Little Rylie is 2 years old. You do lots of talking. You know both your sister's names, Air-yo (Ariel) and Cy-yin (Cailin). Of course, you say Ma-Ma and Dadee (Daddy). You are starting to string words together. You even tell jokes (thanks to Cailin). You say, "Knock knock". I say, "Who's there?" You say, "Poo-koo." I will then ask, "Poo-Koo who?" And you say, "Banana split (this is the exact same as Cailin). The funniest thing is you burst out laughing at this point. Which makes everyone else laugh.

You say other things as well. Which is usually baby gibberish with a few words I catch meshed in.

You are generally a very happy toddler. Although, you cry about 55,000 times per day. It's usually because I have told you no, Cailin has a toy that you suddenly want, or Ariel is stopping you from doing something you want to do.

You nap 2-3 hours daily. Although, you never want to lay down for a nap.

It's really funny to see you in the sand because you wouldn't have anything to do with it the last time we were at the beach. Now you just go about and explore.

I'm pretty sure you had sand in your mouth!

If someone makes you mad, you yell at them, Ba-ba! This is a made up word by Cailin that everyone (except me) in the house has adopted.

You never want to wear shoes. It wears me out the amount of times I have to put them back on your feet. You take them off if it takes too long from the time I put them on until the time we leave out the door. You take them off in the car, in the backyard, and as soon as we come back in the house. You play in the toilet. And because of that, we keep the bathroom door locked. You are very resourceful, you will get a stool so you can reach the lotion and other stuff I don't want you to have in my room. Because of that, I usually keep my bedroom door locked too. You will go in Ariel's room and draw on her floor or her work, and we have to keep her door locked as well. If I had to think of a single thing I hate doing, it would be potty training. You say, "Poo." Specifically, "eeew poo" Which lets me know, that perhaps your ready to potty, but I don't think I'm ready.

You are starting to be independent. You go to a class at the YMCA called Creative Movements. It's a dance class for 2-3 year olds. And surprisingly, you will go right in the class and leave me. You also will play in the play area of the gym too. This is so surprising because you would never leave me previously. You like to go outside and to the park. You like to write. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter what you write on. You try to count and sing your abc's. You suck your thumbs almost every moment of the day. You weigh 32lbs. You are a very picky eater. You won't even try a food you don't "think" like. You eat all fruits, but I have to sneak veggies into your food. We love you sweet Rylie!

My Little Cailin

My little Cailin, you are 4 1/2 years old. You are loosing your baby face and starting to look like a little kid. You had a growth spurt or something, because toward the end of summer, you suddenly couldn't fit any of your clothes. You even looked taller.

You are so expressive. You make all kinds of faces. You are strong willed. I teeter between encouraging you to follow your own path and speak up and being so frustrated because you speak your mind and are determined to do what it is you want to do. You use words like annoying, frustrating, and humiliating. You haven't gotten it down when to use humiliating though.

You crack me up sometimes. You tell jokes too. You usually start out with, "Why did the chicken cross the road?" and I say, "I don't know." And you reply, "Because he was run over by an elephant" And then you say, "You get it, run over by an elephant." This makes me laugh. Ariel says you need a joke book.

You like to know what we will be doing during the day. I will list off the things that we need to do. You like to stay busy. No sitting around the house for you. You will worry me to death. You like to be outside exploring. You dance, this is your second year. You are in a pre-ballet and tap class. You also take swimming lessons. You are a pretty good swimmer. You are an eel (you moved up during the summer from pike). You can use the computer pretty well. You like to play on Nick Jr., usually Team Umizoomi. You also play on Sesame Street.

You like the beach, especially the ocean. You always want to swim.

You are a pretty good eater. Although, you definitely have your preferences. You always say, "I want something yummy." Which usually leads to asking will I take you to the mall to get chicken from the Chicken Man. It's the man that hands out samples from the Chinese Restaurant. Your favorite meal is Chinese. You ask for it every day, despite the fact we only have it every once in a while. You are always asking to go some where or do something. And if I say no, you usually reply that you would be able to just do it, if you were older. I don't know what to say to that. You try to sound out words and can count and do simple addition (thanks to Team Umizoomi). You always ask the time, which I have taught you to read the clock on the stove. You know your left and right. It came pretty easy to you, but then you were able to put your shoes on correctly when you were a year old. We love you Dear Cailin.

My Big Ariel

My big, little one, Ariel. You are 13 1/2 years old. You are definitely in the throws of teenage hood. You are tethered to your phone. You send a gazillion texts every month. You text more than actually talk on the phone. The friend's name that I hear the most are Cassidy, Tatiana, and India. You don't like having your photo taken. You hate skirts, dresses, and earrings. You have worn nothing but Converse and jeans for the last 2 years. You used to wake up early, now we are lucky if you're up before 9am. You are a voracious reader and like playing the cello. You are doing dual enrollment this year with our district middle school. You take orchestra and PE there. Most days you do the work I assign at home, but sometimes it's a struggle. You are looking forward to going to high school next year, although I'd like you to stay home one more year. Like probably every other teen, you are very concerned about socializing with other high schoolers next year.

You are a loveable and conscientious kid. You give lots of hugs and kisses. You sometimes recognize when I need a break from the babies and will take them to their room to play. You are quiet and need to warm up to people before you are yourself.

You run track and are pretty good at it. You seem to excel at sports in general. Your chore is washing dishes and keep your room clean, which most of the time you hate, but then you hate doing most anything asked of you. You are a bit of a slob (but then I was too at your age). You throw your clothes all over the floor and your hard worked papers you've spent the day working on seem to make it to the floor too. You favorite food is burgers and fries. You are definitely your father's child. Oh, I don't want to forget chocolate. You love chocolate; Herseys, Snickers, and brownies. I might not be able to get you to cook with me often, but if there's a box of brownie mix, you will be in the kitchen then. You love your little sisters, but they sure no how to get under your skin. I have so many dreams for you, but I think the hardest thing for me has been to let go and encourage you to follow your own heart. I hope that I am passing that on every day.  We love you sweet (most times) Ariel.

Mote Aquarium

Back in September, we went to the homeschool day at Mote Aquarium. They separated us into groups according to age, so Ariel went off with her group while I stayed with the babies.

 This was the best part of the day. We were given nets and allowed to catch some sea life.

Playing in the Rain

They played for about an hour AFTER it started raining on the trampoline and swings. Crazy kids!