Happy Birthday Ivy Claire

Her birthday is not actually until Monday, but she had her first "friends" party today. (Psst, I hate birthday parties, but I realize that my low tolerance shouldn't deprive my child of . . . well her childhood).
First I spent the whole week making a pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey game or our version was pin-the-Little Einstein-kids-in-the-rocket ship, then I made a pinata, and then a cake. Whew! A lot of work, but I think the party was a success. They seemed to have fun.

Hoping to Maintain My Sanity

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday Ivy has school. Usually our morning goes something like this:
Me: Ivy get dressed.
Ivy goes into her room and shuts the door. Ten minutes later I open the door to find her playing on the floor in her pajamas.
Me: Ivy!
Ivy: Don't mama! You make me sad! (unintelligible screaming)
Then Ivy goes to time out for being disrespectful. Time out ends and I say, "Now what are you going to go do?"
Ivy: Get dressed.
Ten minutes later I check on Ivy and we repeat the process. Why I keep doing this day after day I don't know. According to Einstein I am insane. Well Bryan left for a business trip this morning and I'm determined to maintain my sanity while he is gone. I decided today is natural consequences day.



Yep, there she is - going to school in her pajamas with a wet pull-up, no breakfast, and no coat. I have to say I feel like a horrible mother sending her to school this way but I feel like a horrible mother after the yelling battles too so *shrug* what can you do? The problem is ... I don't think she cares. I don't think this is going to do the trick. Please Help!

Great Pictures I Never Posted

Someone looks bad in almost all the family pictures. Unfortunately it is the same person in every picture so this was pretty much the only option. I picked this one because the boys look good. This was one of the few where I wasn't the only one who looked bad. Ivy doesn't look perfect either.







Gina took these over the summer when Brad got married and I never posted them so I decided that it's about time I do.

Winter Activities

I don't think Ivy' realizes that winter isn't the best time to ride her bike.

(Apparently it's also a night time activity).

A Special Guest

Santa dropped by our house the other night. It was so convenient since we just happened to have a couple of families over for dinner that night. The kids were shocked. It was so cute the way they all stared at him with their mouths hanging open.