Well, he is not so much of a kitten anymore. He is the most precious thing and he is so good with the kids.

At the kids' bedtime, he will go lay on their bed. He lays on Aden's bed first and then when he knows Aden is okay then he will climb up onto Keira's bed and lay with her for a little while. When he knows she is okay then he will come down stairs (usually about 10 p.m) and lay on my lap on the couch.

He usually never sleeps on our bed at night, but one weekend I was really sick (cold symptoms) and he knew it, he was so cuddly and wouldn't let me out of his sight. One of the nights he climbed up onto the bed, crawled under the sheets and laid right by my chest.

This past weekend when Aden was sick (cold symptoms) and Aden was laying on the couch, Bandit jumped up onto the couch and laid right behind Aden's head (as if he knew not to get in front of him and block his show ;))

We were very hesitant on getting a cat when we first talked about it because the last cat we had (saydie) would always meow and she shed everywhere, it seemed like there was always a mess (cat hair) everywhere. We thought if we got another cat it would be like that, but Bandit is different, he doesn't meow, he doesn't play rough and he doesn't shed, mainly because he is a short hair breed.

We got our license for him the other day. In order to own a pet in Nebraska and other states I'm sure you need a license for that animal. We got a letter a couple of weeks ago from Nebraska Humane Society with a bill for a pet license. I did not ever think about needing a license, makes sense though. I probably wouldn't have gotten a license for him if I wouldn't have taken him to the vet because the vet sends them the information for you.

All three kids had their 6 month dental check up and cleaning today. The kids were great and none of them had cavities. The kids are 5, 3 and 2 (in March) and have never had cavities. I am very proud of this because all of our hard work with brushing, flossing, using mouth wash, watching the sweets, drinking Crystal Light instead of juice or Kool Aid and chewing sugar free gum after meals and snacks are paying off. Even the gummy vitamins are bad for teeth because they are just like fruit snacks or any kind of gummy candy that will stick to the teeth.

Keira, Aden and Taygen were actually entered into an excellent brushing contest. I didn't have time to see what that was all about, but it's a contest, so it has to be good, right?

All three kids had excellent hygiene, no gingivitis and no cavities! Aden and Keira have 'good' teeth and Taygen has 'excellent' teeth. They rate their teeth and use a 'poor', 'fair', 'good' and 'excellent' scale.

The bad news is that all the kids have small mouths so there is not a lot of room for new teeth to come in, so they all will need braces when they get older. I had to have braces when I was younger and I am so glad I did. My teeth are straight and pretty ;) and that's what I want for the kids.

Keira has big grooves in her permanent molars, they are not cavities, it is actually pretty normal for her teeth. At her next 6 month appt. they are going to put some sealant on her permanent molars to protect her teeth from cavities. She is also losing 2 of her top baby teeth and if she loses those soon then it will make more room for her permanent teeth, meaning that she may not need braces if her teeth work right. I know, sounds funny, of course there will be room if she loses 2 teeth, but according to her dentist, the faster it happens the better. Her dentist wants her 2 top teeth to come out before she gets her wisdom teeth. If her wisdom teeth come in before she loses her top teeth then she definitely will not have any room.

That time of year again. Valentine's Day is getting closer. One of the kids' favorite activities to do are crafts. I ordered a bunch of crafts from Oriental Trading for the kids to do.

This is one of the crafts we did today as a family....

These flowers could also be made for Mother's Day, May Day, Spring, Valentine's Day or just because. They are super easy!

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Today was the day to put the Christmas tree up. We are starting to make it a tradition to put it up the day after Thanksgiving.

Here are a few pics of the kiddos putting ornaments on the tree.....

Keira and Aden decorating

Keira putting her 'K' on the tree

Aden putting his 'A' on the tree

Taygen putting her 'T' on the tree

Finished tree and stockings

This is the last year we will have a small tree :(. I kind of like my small tree, but the kids are getting big enough that they understand what Christmas is all about and they are ready for a big tree. 

The kids are feeling a lot better today. Aden still seems to be a little out of it, but Keira seems to be doing a lot better. I think a day (Sunday) of just being home and resting helped a lot.

Keira had school today and got to wear her costume. She was so excited. "Mom, do you think Seth will like my costume?" Then we came home (the kids wore their costumes the rest of the day), ate supper and went trick-or-treating about 6:30. It was such a nice night. Keira asked Siri what the weather was and it said 64 degrees.

Kids' Halloween costumes.....

Spiderman Aden

 Lady bug Taygen

Ladybug, Belle, and Spiderman

Today we had a friend's sister do our family photos. She is a personal photographer. Today was a perfect day, perfect weather for the kids, not too windy. The kids were great and had a blast.

The kids had so much fun. IT was a long day for them though, we had Sunday School this morning and the kids had to get up at 7:30 a.m and have been going all day.

Will post pictures when they are perfected :)

We all have routines that can get pretty rigorous, but sometimes you have to make it fun for your self and for your kids.

Our night time (bedtime) routines include: snack time about 8:30 (usually yogurt, pudding, or crackers), put pajamas on. Then the fun part is reading to the kids, yes, that is the fun bedtime routine...I know, I know you probably thought I was talking about jumping on beds or pillow fights, but I actually enjoy reading to my kids. I love watching them interact with the stories and love how the younger kids understand the meaning of the words and stories. I love watching Keira read books that she has never seen or heard before. They each get to pick out one book to read.

After we read we all go up stairs, brush teeth, floss and rinse with mouthwash, go potty, wash hands, then get tucked into bed and sings songs (this is also my favorite part of our routine).

I cannot stress enough how important family time is. That's why every other night Dan and I take turns laying the kids down. We help each other get the snacks ready and help each other get jammies on then the one who is not laying the kids down reads the books, give kisses and off they go to their routine.

What fun morning routines do you have with your children?

My morning routine with my kids consists of getting them breakfast, brush teeth, baths, dressed then something fun they like to do is updating the calendar. They take turns updating the day, date, and the weather.

It gives the younger kids a chance to work with numbers, learn the days of the week, months of the year and understand the weather. It gives them a chance to do something they think is "important." It also gives us a chance to learn together. Got this calendar from Oriental Trading.

This is the first year the kids have done Halloween crafts. I am not a Halloween person, so I really don't decorate the house or do any thing special for it but this year I got some crafts for the kids to do from Oriental Trading. They really enjoyed them. The one on the left (without a roof) is Aden's. The one on the right is Keira's. The top picture is Magic Color Scratch Halloween Shapes. Really fun! The kids are not really into Halloween either, but when it comes to crafts they love doing them. 

You probably haven't seen a post from me in a couple of days (since I was doing them every other day.) I kind of have what you call "writer's block." I want to write about my family and kids, I don't want to go away from the "family" values or issues or family topics.


I have come up with a couple topics to write about in case anybody else gets lost.

• Family Vacations
• A Special Family Day/outing
• Birthdays
• Anniversaries
• Something that happens out of the ordinary
• A super good day of the week
• A worst/bad day of the week
• Any kind of celebration
• Photos
• Review and write about a children's book that you read to your kids
• Write your own 2-4 page children's book (on your blog)
• Dr. Appointments (kids')
• Maybe one or two posts a month about yourself (or any subject other than your family), because you don't want get away from the "family" blog. 
• Struggles
• Triumphs
• Kids' Achievements
• Kids' Activities
• Kids' School- First day of school, last day of school, field trips, etc.
• Your family's favorite restaurant, park
• Your child's favorite activities to do in the house
• Your child's favorite activities to do outside
• Your child's favorite game
• Your child's favorite book, song
• Your child's favorite time of the day
• Have your child tell you a good day of the week and why, and write about a good or bad day a week from your child's perspective

If you have any ideas to add, please do. Thanks! I appreciate all the emails, keep them coming! 

This is another one of my favorite stories of an unexpected family time that I just loved.

It was a Saturday. We went out to eat supper and shopping as a family. While we were in the store, it started pouring (came out of no where), lightning and thunder. The lights flickered in the store, but never went out. Paid for our stuff and just waited around until the rain was light enough to be able to walk to the truck.

We were on our way home at this time, we got onto our road and noticed all our neighbors sitting/standing outside. One of the neighbors had their door open and I could see it was dark and they had candles lit, right then I knew the power was out. Dan hit the garage door button, just out of habit, of course, it didn't work. I realized that I DO NOT have a house key on my truck key ring. I do however, have the screen door key on it, which did not get us anywhere, by the way!

It was still light at this time, about 8:30 p.m, we realized we were locked out of the house and there was no way we were getting in, so we let the kids get out of the truck and just run around and play. It started getting darker and started sprinkling a little bit, so we loaded the kids back up into the truck. We didn't know what else to do so we just drove around the neighborhood looking at the damage the storm had done about an hour ago.

One of our neighbors had said that there was a power line down by Harley Davidson shop, so with Dan being a Mechanical Engineer and dealing with power lines we had to go look at it.  The kids were great, it was almost 10 by this time. We stopped at a gas station, got the kids a snack and some strawberry milk and just had a little snack picnic in the car. We drove around some more.

Got back to the house about 11:00 or so and just sat in the drive way and talked with the kids and had a blast. There was nothing we could do, so we just enjoyed the time we had as a family. Dan decided to go around back and look at our basement window, this time is was about 11:30, I looked down the street and the street lights were coming on one by one, finally, the neighbor's porch lights came on and we were in the garage. Later, I found out that he was about to come get Keira or I to climb through the window because he had it opened.

I know being stuck in an SUV with 4 other people (3 kids and your spouse) doesn't sound like much fun to some of you, but it is those times that you want to make the most of. The kids are more likely to remember that kind of adventure or family bonding time than doing something super expensive.

It's always nice to have a day planned out, but it's even better to have an unexpected day out with the family! This Saturday was the air show with the Blue Angels at the airport. We live by the airport, so we just sat in our drive way (or in the neighbors drive way) and watched. The show started at 11 a.m. Dan let me sleep in until 11, I got up, got the kids dressed, and we all went outside to watch. We took a couple of our deck chairs and brought the kids' rocking chairs outside for them to sit. It was a great day! It was so nice outside! The kids played with their chalk, bubbles, and rode their bikes around the drive way and inside the garage. We are a close neighborhood and everybody knows everybody, Keira is pretty good friends with one of our neighbor boys, so Keira and Aden went over to play. I stayed around the house because Taygen was napping at that time. When Taygen woke up we went over their and chatted for a bit while we watched the show. Keira's friend had a couple Nerf guns that they played with. The kids have never played with guns, not even squirt guns, fake guns, any kind of toy guns. No, my kids are not deprived, I just want them to be innocent as long as they can be ;).

The moral of the story is...I am not an outside person (bugs and dirty) but I was outside for 6 hours today and had a blast with my family!!

Here are some pictures of the kids eating outside and playing with the neighbors.

The kids riding their bikes. Keira is pushing Aden on her bike. He has a 3 wheeler but I guess Keira's is more fun.

Some pictures of the airshow

I am not a morning person! So, I usually don't get out of bed until the kids come in my room to let me know that they are awake and that's usually between 8 & 9. When Keira was younger she would come in my room in the morning and just climb in bed with me and snuggle or sometimes she would go back to sleep and then when Aden woke up we would both get up and get him, sometimes I would just let her sleep in my bed if she did fall asleep. Aden used to crawl into bed with me also and just cuddle. This was my favorite time of the day because it was so peaceful and quiet, having one or more of my babies snuggling with me. Now that Keira and Aden have gotten older, when they come into my room, they just say, "Mom, the sun's up time to get up." They don't want to lay down with me anymore because they think they have to go back to sleep if they do, which they don't have to, we just lay there and talk.


I've come to realize that I don't want to be that mom that the kids have to wake up every morning! I want them to come downstairs and see that I am already awake and start our day. I told myself about a month ago that I was going to set the alarm for 7:30 a.m, get up, get ready, and get some stuff done around the house before the kids got up so I could have some time for myself. I have done that about 5 times in the last month and have felt really good! Keira and Aden get so excited when they come down stairs and see that I am already awake. Keira says, "Mom, you're awake!" Aden says, "Mommy, you awake." It just makes your day seem more brighter and more clear. When you are woken up and have to get up that's when your day doesn't go so good because you are groggy and just don't feel like doing anything the rest of the day. When you get up on your own, you feel so much better, you are just more energized and have a better look on the day. That's just my opinion anyway, What do you think about getting up in the mornings?

Keira and Aden had their 6 month dentist check up August 12th. I am very proud of both them, Keira did not have any cavities and is losing 2 of her baby teeth. She is getting a 6 year molar and her teeth are in excellent condition. Aden has no cavities and his teeth are sparkling white :). Their pediatric dentist was very proud of Aden's teeth because most boys at 2 1/2 (3 in a month) will just let their teeth go and so will the parents because the child will not let the parent brush their teeth or the parent will just give up and not even worry about it. Aden is very excited when it comes to brushing his teeth, parents have to put excitement into brushing teeth.

Taygen has her first dentist appointment next week. I am anxious and nervous to see how she is going to do. She has 4 front teeth on the top, 2 back top teeth, 2 back bottom teeth, and 2 front bottom teeth. I am worried that she only has 2 bottom front teeth. But, we will see what the dentist says. At the kids' ped. dentist they go back by themselves, which is great because it makes them feel independent and know that mom doesn't always have to be there to watch over everything. They probably act better when mom is not around :).

There was one negative thing they said about Keira's teeth. Keira's teeth are very weak. There is a film around her teeth, can't remember what it is called. It's not something she did wrong or we did wrong with brushing or anything, it is something she was born with. The film makes it easier to get cavities, gingivitis, etc.. But, I am very proud of the fact that she does not have any of that and that those things can be prevented if you use good brushing and flossing habits with kids.

We have been trying to instill good eating habits into our kids. So, with this said I would like to complain a little bit, I know, nothing new :).  The kids get "something special" through out the day if they are good, polite, or just have a good attitude through out the day. Since we are trying to eat healthier and watch what we eat I decided that the kids' something special would be "fat free" or "low fat" candy or treats. Such as, suckers, tootsie rolls (chocolate and/or flavored), licorice, raisins, jelly beans, etc.. Well, the dentist doesn't want the kids eating that kind of stuff because it could get stuck inside the tooth and cause cavities and other stuff, which I understand because most of that stuff is "sticky."  So, the dentist recommended chocolate, of all things to give the kids. Really?  She even suggested Little Debbie snack cakes.

Chocolate is probably the worst thing you could give to a kid if you are trying to eat healthy. So, I am doing another form of reward system for them. I am doing a sticker reward system. If they listen, clean their room, get dressed, etc... then they get a sticker. It is a 5x6 reward sheet. If they get 5 filled up horizontally then they get their something special, now it is m & m's or candy bar, or 5 pennies to put into their piggy bank. If they get the whole card filled up (30) stickers they get to put 4 quarters into their piggy bank. They like it and they get really excited when they know they get to put a sticker on the card. Another idea the kids like to do is chew gum after they had a snack, sugar free, and ADA approved, of course. Keira also likes to drink flavored water instead of juice and only have milk in the morning for breakfast.

Article provided by Amber Weyer, Aug. 15th, 2011. The Dentist location is Lincoln Pediatric Dentistry

Keira turned 4 at the end of November. She got her ears pierced and loves her new earrings. She was such a big girl when she got her ears pierced, she did not cry. She jerked and her eyes got big because I think the noise scared her more than anything. We told her it was going to hurt and it was just going to feel like a shot, so she knew what to expect.

She recently had her 4 year well child check. She weighs 32 pounds and is in the 25th percentile, her height is 38 1/4 and is in the 10-25th percentile. Her blood pressure and pulse were good. She had to have 5 shots, which made both mom and Keira sad! She was such a big girl, she did not cry at all. She jerked a little when they stabbed the first needle in but she knew what to expect the next 4 times. They wanted to give her a flu shot, but I am highly against the flu shot!! When the kids have gotten flu shots in the past they get so sick. Taygen got her flu shot (because the Pedi. pressured me) in September and she was sick for 6 days after. She had a fever of 104. that lasted for 3 days, she was so weak, she didn't want to eat, and she just wanted to sleep all day (which is not good for anybody who is sick!)

I got some weird news from Keira's pediatrician. Everybody wants to think their child is smart, bright, and knows everything. But when a licensed physician tells you, it makes a big difference. The Dr. asked me if I thought Keira was getting "challenged" at school and I said, "I don't think so because everything she does at school she already knows and did at home before she started school." Her Dr. informed me that I needed to talk to Keira's teachers and get some more challenging work for her because she (Dr.) is afraid that Keira will get bored in school and that will cause problems in the future as far as liking or disliking school as she gets older. Keira is a very bright girl for her age group, but I am not going to make her childhood go any faster by making her learn stuff that she should be learning later.

Aden is growing up so fast. Aden is learning so fast and he is becoming such a bright kid! It seems like in the last few months he has went from 2 to 5. He is talking almost as much as Keira is. I love listening to their conversations because it sounds like two 5 year olds are talking. Aden has his 30 month check up in March.

Taygen is doing good! She is getting bigger and bigger everyday! She has her 9 month check up next week. I am guessing her weight would be about 14-15 pounds. She was about 12 pounds at her 6 month check up. She is so funny and so happy all the time, when she cries (which is not very often) then there is really something wrong. I have a little cough this week and every time I cough when I am around her, she will look at me, cough, and start laughing...like she is making fun of me. She's a little turd butt! The kids just love her. They get along with her so great. She looks for them all the time. If she is the first one up, she will go crazy looking for them. Then when she finally sees them, she gets really happy and starts laughing.

I can go on and on about the kids but I think I will stop for now. I will post updates on Taygen's Dr. appt.

The hubby, kids and I went to Colorado Springs and Denver for vacation for about 4 days. It was a very awesome trip!!!! The kids were fantastic!! Not just in the car driving, they were awesome every where we went! The little man got a little restless a couple of times when he couldn't get down and run around in the restaurants or other places that we went. I am a very impatient person and I get stressed out easily so when I say the kids were fantastic, I mean it!

It took us about 9 hours to get there, we stopped a couple times to stretch, potty, and feed the little man. When the little man wasn't sleeping in the car him and Kiki were laughing at/with each other and talking. We brought Kiki a portable DVD player that she only watched maybe 3 hours of the 9 hour trip. The hubby and I didn't know what to expect on the road trip there, but we knew they would do good because that's just the kind of kids they are. This is our 3rd time going to Colorado Springs to visit family. The time before this one we had Kiki and I was pregnant with the little man. Every time we have made this trip it has been raining or storming.

We got to Colorado Springs about 5:30 p.m Friday evening (6:30 Nebraska time). It was raining and storming pretty good on the way there. We got about a 1/2 hour away from Colorado Springs and it started hailing (golf ball size), it sounded like it was going to go right through the windshield *of course, I was freaking out*. There were cars pulled over on the side of the road. When you looked in the rear view mirror it looked like it just snowed a couple of inches.

We actually went up for the hubbys' uncle's 50th surprise birthday party and decided to make a vacation out of it. We were supposed to have a surprise party at a park, but his wife decided to tell him about the park early, so we decided to surprise him with family members each day. Friday he got surprised with us, and one of his brothers (Wayne) and his mother, Saturday he got surprised with another brother (Dale and family) and niece (Christy, sp?).

We stayed with some family for 2 days (Friday and Saturday). The kids were very good there and slept really well. We decided to get a hotel the 3rd night (Sunday). We thought the hotel would be hectic since there would not be a separate room for the little man to sleep in incase he woke up in the middle of the night and woke up Kiki, but it turned out fantastic again!!!

We did some site seeing (Kiki calls them the "red mountains") on Sunday before we went to the room, we said we were all going to go swimming when we got back to the room but the little man fell asleep, so Kiki and daddy went swimming. When daddy got done swimming it was mommy and the little man's turn so we went for a little bit, but the water was too cold for the little man so we went back to the room. When I got back to the room Kiki was laying down in her bed ready for bed, (it was 10 p.m by that time) the hubby decided that I should go to the hot tub and relax, so I took him up on the offer and relaxed for about 15 minutes. When I got back it was the hubby's turn to relax for a little bit. When I got back to the room both the little man and Kiki were out!! The hubby said it only took them both about 5 minutes to fall asleep. They both slept all night and everyone slept very well.

We went to the Denver Zoo on Monday with some friends that the hubby knew and decided to start driving back that afternoon. We left the zoo about 3 p.m (because it was raining, *imagine that*) and stopped in North Platte where there was a tornado warning, ate supper at Applebee's and stayed in another hotel (this was already planned we didn't just stop because of the tornado warning). By this time we only had a 3 hour drive left to go home on Tuesday. Oh I forgot to mention, it was raining and storming every single day we were there, even at the zoo!

It was good seeing the family again!! I hope they can come back this way some time and we can return the favor and they can stay with us for a couple of days. Now we are looking forward to other family members coming to see us next month. The sister- in- law and nephew are coming out for a couple weeks in July. We always look forward to see family we don't normally get to see.

Graduation went really well. I had a great day with friends and family. The kids were really good and everything went smoothly. We had a couple things planned after the ceremony. The ceremony was at 10 a.m, but I had to be there at 8:15, which was an hour and a half drive for me, so I had to be up at 5:30 that day, to say the least it was a pretty busy day. The ceremony got over about 11:30 surprising since there were 246 people walking. We had a family dinner at Grisanti's at 3 p.m and a friend party at 7 p.m. The kids went to grandma's for the night so I could let loose a little bit :) I was expecting about 40-50 people at my graduation party but only about 25 people showed up, you really know who your true friends are when something important happens in your life. There were a couple family members that did not show up to either party, which was a little disappointing for me, since they live in town and all :(

All in all it was an awesome day.

I have not been on here as much as I planned. I have not been on here mainly because I have not had anything to say. This is the last week of classes for my 8 weeks classes, so I have been busy getting that done and organized. The kids are keeping me pretty busy also. My only time during the day for homework is when the kids are napping. Keira is down to one nap a day, she has been for about a year now. Aden and Keira are not on the same schedule for naps. Aden usually wakes up from his nap when I am laying Keira down, he will usually nap again about the last hour Keira is sleeping.

I can possibly get a 4.0 again this semester ***knock on wood*** When these two 8 week classes are done I still have 2 that were 16 week classes that are done in May. Don't know what we are planning yet for graduation. I know we are going to the ceremony, my parents and my husband's parents are going to be there as well. I think after we are just going to go out to eat with a bunch of friends and parents. Unless the hubby has anything planned for me **wink wink**

The day after Christmas we had professional family pictures taken. Since doublebanker was lazy and didn't put the pictures on his blog, I am stealing the idea and putting them on my blog :) I hope you all enjoy. These pictures are from the CD we got, not necessarily the pictures we picked out so some of the pics may have some flaws in them.

Christmas this year was great! It was fun to spend Christmas morning with the kids and the hubby. We don't get much mornings together as a family, Dan usually works Mon.-Thurs. mornings and I work Fri. & Sat. mornings, our only mornings are usually Sunday and I try and let him get caught up on his sleep that day. Our time together is usually at night from 6 p.m on. Keira was excited about opening gifts, she didn't really care what was in each package she just opened one (piece by piece) and after that was unwrapped she would move on to the next present. Aden doesn't really know what is going on yet, he just knows he gets new toys :)

Christmas morning was pretty relaxing this year. Even though we were going to Nana and Papa's later that day it didn't seem like we were being rushed. It seems like we find ourselves rushing around a lot more with 2 kids, so it was kind of nice to take our time and relax. Me and the hubby got both of our showers in before the kids woke up at 9 a.m (Yes, both kids usually sleep in that late every day :)) We fed the kids got them dressed, opened presents and got ready to go to Nana's house. It was just an all around good day for all of us. You can see pictures as doublebanker's blog at doublebanker.blogspot.com/.

We had Grandma's (Dan's parents) Christmas today. It was nice to spend time with the sister-in-law and nephew again. They will be here until after the 1st. Ever since Aden was born Keira has wanted to feed, burp, and put a blanket on every baby (doll) she sees, pretty much to what mommy does to Aden. Grandma and Grandpa got her a "real" baby that came with a bottle, when you put it in the baby's mouth it opens and closes her eyes and coos and laughs, so Keira got a kick out of her baby and didn't put it down all night except to go nigh night.

Can't believe the year is almost over. It has been a crazy but short year. Hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!