Let the Holidays Begin!

What a week not sure what to call this post or even what pictures I will include. I have exactly 4 minutes before I am going to put the kids to bed and then drink an entire bottle of wine while eating chocolate slowly! Then I am going to pray pray pray that these people sleep through the night. I realize we are going through an adjustment so I am trying to give these three kids a break but my good sleepers have decided to start waking up at all hours of the night. Nate has this horrible cough which is related to no cold or virus from what I can tell. Its only bad at night! Owen has decided that he should wake up in the middle of the night and then ask for Dad when I tell him no back to bed its still dark. At which time he comes in and says "Mamma  dark dark no dark" AHHH Caitlin is up early early early for no reason and then grumpy and cries all day ! OH BOY!!!! Okay we are headed into week two so I am just say to myself love them and hold them and we will all be sleeping in no time right!!!!!! That being said we have had some good times during the day! SO lets all be tired and SLEEP PLEASE !!! MAMA NEEDS HER SLEEP!!!!
Happy Mamma means Happy HOUSE!

 Grandma and I took cupcakes in to her class on Friday afternoon! Yes this was party number two of three. My kids are so spoiled! They better turn out okay!

 Getting her birthday spanking from Ms. Salmons.

 Look Mom I am 6!

 I got her a camera/video camera. She loves it!

 We checked out the Flotilla last Friday night, it was chilly but the kids enjoyed it!

 WHAT ANOTHER Party! Don't let her fool you ! This party was for Aunt Ali and Mom, okay and a few presents for Cait, she decorated the cake in a flower so cute!

 Yes we let her blow out our candles!

 Watching the flotilla!

 Thanksgiving was spent with the Priechenfried side and the Poe side. GOOD TIMES !!!!

 Owen was all about the leftovers!

 Uncle Troy can make ping pong balls float in the air. Yes the things we do for fun around here!

Owen sure misses his daddy! Nothing like watching football with daddy!

Peace on Earth! Not sure if I am allowed to post this one, it might have to come down later. We will see I guess.

Party Party Party

Once again it was a week of birthday parties, food and fun! We had a total of 10 kids and it was just perfect.  Now that Carl is gone he does not want to miss the action! I am not sure if I will be able to keep up with demand, this week has been crazy but the fun events will settle down over the next few weeks.

 The Unicorn Cake made by mom always a favorite!

 At the gymnastics place again, always a favorite and results in tired kids!

 Pizza time!

 The kids love to put the harness on and reach for the stars!

 Owen acts like a crazy man, here we are three hours post party and he is still going strong! Who needs the gym!

Blowing out the candles on the Unicorn party!

Happy 6th Birthday Caitlin

Oh I can't believe my little girl is turning 6 tomorrow. I love her with all my heart. She is so strong, independent, smart, happy, confident. Her energy and happiness warms my heart everyday! Today I went to her classroom to help her teacher and her classmates make stockings for Christmas. Tomorrow, Grandma and I will take cupcakes to her classroom and Saturday will be her party at the gymnastics center. She is really sad about daddy leaving so I am going to make sure the next two days are extra special!  I love you Caitlin and I can't wait for all the fun adventures during year 6!!!

 The students in Caitlin's class had to write stories and then read them back to the class today. Her story was about decorating our christmas tree.  Yes there is Owen helping!

 Okay here is a sneak peak of our Christmas pictures. Christmas cards coming soon!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAITLIN WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Owen

Well here we are, we started speech 13 months ago and he just got his re-evaluation. Lets just start by saying he is really doing great. He has come so far just a few months ago in late August I was starting to lose hope but now he is really picking up new vocabulary everyday.  We are also getting better at reading his mind! He is using less physical means to get attention and he is really starting to use words to communicate. I also must admit that Lindsay is the one doing most of the driving now! Oh I don't know where I would be without her.

Owen went from a 30 on the Preschool Learning Scale to a 67. On the Arizona Articulation Proficiency Scale he scored a 43 with a standard score of 75 which puts him in the 4th percentile. His mean length utterance (MLU) was 1.4 which means he is saying 1.4 words per time. He should have a MLU of 2.85 or higher.
He has mild expressive vocabulary impairment which put him in the 6th percentile. He has a vocabulary of 78 words which puts him at 18 to 19 month range.   Well when we first started speech he had no words and so he wasn't even on the scale so yes I am very happy and he is really coming along. He has great speech therapists and we started him young enough that I can only hope and pray that this will be a distant memory by kindergarten. Until then does anyone want to come over and puh puh puh practice some sounds with Owen!!!! The other great news is I called my doctors office and they called Tricare and Owen is approved for speech through May up to three times a week so we are going for it from now until May in hopes that we can get the little guy ready for some preschool next year!

                                                        I LOVE GUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh these crumbs no they are not Grandma's choclate chip cookies!!!

MARSOC Ball 2012

We had a great time at the ball on Friday night. We didn't get a real picture taken. The lines are always so long, it interrupts my husbands social time HAHAHA! So the iphone photo will have to do.
Well we have a big week ahead of us. We are having 16 people for Thanksgiving Dinner (ahhh I think I should be at the grocery store right now!) and Carl is leaving on Sunday morning. Mom will have lots of fun activities planned over the next few weeks while I work on getting everyone adjusted and into a schedule and of course Carl will demand blog posts faster than I can take pictures. So I guess I will go relax for a few minutes and enjoy the last few minutes of free time for the next few months!

He's Back!

 Its amazing how fast asthma can steal that smile! Oh it was a long five days buddy! Its amazing how just a few nights of no sleep can turn the house upside down! Today mommy was so happy folding laundry, doing dishes and just being Thankful for healthy happy kids!

                        It breaks my heart to see you sick! We took a trip on Friday to UNC- Chapel Hill Children's Hospital to meet with a pulmonologist. Poor Nate had an asthma attack during the lung functioning test and then proceeded to throw up many times. Ohhh boy!Carl and I were not there but we could tell that Nathan had made his mark on the staff.  We always leave our mark one way or another. We were there for three hours and Owen and Caitlin did very well. We have a new plan and Mommy and Daddy feel more confident in giving Nathan the care he needs.  I talked to the doctor about how Nathan usually plays with his friends. While his friends all play cops and robbers running around the yard, I usually find Nathan hiding in the tree. He limits his activity because of his asthma. Our new plan as the doctor said " Lets get him out of the tree" So here we go.

These two kids had great report cards this week. Mommy and Daddy are so proud!

Girls Night vs Boys Night

We had a girls night and boys night on Saturday night, to get ready Mom and Dad had a date night on Friday night HAHAHA

The boys camped out on an Island just outside of Swansboro, close enough to drive the boat to the bathroom (I heard).

 The boys hanging out in a tree.

 They used our three bedroom tent! I heard it was a hit!

  Dinner was hot dogs, smores and hot chocolate! Very healthy camp food!

 Setting up camp!

 Nate and Daddy!

Caitlin got to have a sleep over with Maggie and Mommy and Tonya sipped wine and watched movies. We were warm and not jealous of those boys at all!!!!

Good times had by all!

Best of Friends!

I wanted to write a blog post about the odd couple. Yes that would be Caitlin and Owen, once enemies but now best friends! It just sort of happened. All last school year I cringed as I put Nate on the school bus because Owen and Caitlin oh how they would fight. Owen wanted no part of Caitlin and well I think I knew why. Now they are two peas in a pod and its awesome!!!!! Nathan is now old enough to spend time outside alone in the  neighborhood with his friends and its so nice that Owen and Caitlin love to hang out together!  All day long while Caitlin is in school Owen says " Cait? " " Cait home?"!
Now here are some pictures from the past week. Oh its been so so busy. We finished soccer this week HAPPY DANCE!!!!
Halloween is behind us and here we are. We are getting close to departure. I am not sure how much I will be able to post here on the blog, I am assuming nothing. I have not told the kids yet and I am not sure when I will tell them. I think it will probably happen next weekend when we will be together for a four days so if it takes the kids a day or two to process we can talk about it.  I already know its going to hit Caitlin and Owen the hardest.  This weekend I had fun, lots of fun, okay too much fun but those days are numbered and I guess its time to get down to business. Stock the pantry, clean the yard, organize the house its time! So here I go! Wish us luck!

 Planning our pumpkin designs!

 Caitlin and Nate  designing their own pumpkins

 One scary, one silly!

 Great pumpkins!

 Caitlin putting lipstick on Owen!

 Getting ready for Halloween, so excited!

 Mom lets go get our costumes on!

 I can say Bat!

 Caitlins costume came from Aunt Susan and Uncle Jeff all they way from Japan! SHE LOVED IT!

 Ready to trick or treat!

 Owen lights the pumpkins with daddy!

 I am the room mom for Cait's class this year so we had a Halloween Party last Friday  fun fun!

Caitlin is doing really well in Kindergarten, she is reading now and starting to write stories. She loves school and loves her teacher!

Who Said That!

Halloween pictures coming soon but first just a few things being said these days.
Owen loves tun tun tun, that's gum and he is crazy about it .
 A pumpkin is a pum pum.... and he is very cute!
Caitlin informed me last night that today was the start of her Birthday Season.
 "Mom tomorrow is the start of my birthday season" The girl knew today was November 1 and her birthday is November 30 so let her birthday season begin!!!!
Okay pictures soon I promise!