Somedays.....

Somedays I send Scott a text that looks like this:

If you really love me, you will grab me a fountain soda on your way home from work.

And somedays the text looks more like this:

Fountain Soda.  NOW.  Your children's lives depend on it.

Today was the latter.  Eh.

Found this sign at Michael's yesterday for $6.  I put it on the wall above my computer-so I'm always looking at it :) Makes me happy!

Mizz Cate

4 is such a fun age.  Our little Catie Bug is getting to be such a big girl.  Sad yes, but I do enjoy watching her personality blossom and each day with her is more fun than the last. 

 

She says the funniest things and always makes me laugh.  A few recent examples...

 

Hadley is a hitter and she's got Cate's number...she gets just close enough to Cate that when she swings her arms, she barely grazes her.  After the first day of Hadley being here, Cate yelled "This is ridiculous!  Where is she learning this behavior?!" 

 

Killing time during Brady's soccer practice, we headed to the bookstore to browse.  I grabbed a magazine and sat on a bench in the children's section and she ran up to me all excited and said "I'm having the most incredible time, but I just don't know which book to choose"  :)

Her first week of her last year of preschool was a great success.  She is still adamant that she is not going to kindergarten next year nor will she be growing up, but has agreed to turn 5 in February, just "never 6".  After the first day of class she told me that she had a good time but she wishes she was the only kid in class so she could play with Mrs. Biewald the whole time by herself because "all of those other kids take some of my attention".  She has lots of new kids in her class this year and the tables have turned with a whopping 14 boys and only 6 girls.  Should make it an interesting year for all four of her teachers :) 

 

 Cate has graduated from watching cartoon-like tv shows and has really gotten in to a couple of new shows lately.  Goodluck Charlie (my fave, Sandy Duncan makes me laugh out loud), Jessie, and Turtleman/Call of the Wildman (don't ask) are her favorites.  She's also obsessed with Highschool Musical.  The Olympics may be over, but thanks to dvr, she is able to replay the gymnastics and practices her own routines often.  Last Friday night during halftime of Brady's soccer game, Cate took the field and performed a very long routine complete with spins, twirls, handstands, cartwheels, and the splits.  Of course she earned herself a standing ovation from the stands to which she answered by bowing and blowing kisses to her fans.  Oh my.

 

But for all of the laughs Cate provides me, the sassiness may just be the death of me.  On the second day of school, Cate had a major meltdown as soon as we pulled into the driveway after class.  She rarely cries but on this day something really set her off.  I got Hadley out of the car and the three of us made our way into the house when Cate fell to the ground screaming hysterically.  I had "done it all wrong" and was "ruining her day".  She wanted to "go back outside and start all over".  Ok, people, here's the deal.  This is not my first rodeo and I know that sometimes it's necessary to pick my battles.  Yes, giving in is never the ideal option, but sometimes it's the best option.  I could have a) let her continue to scream and give up a good hour of my day or b) walk back out to the car, let her open the door to the house, close the door behind us, and be done with it.  I don't always take the easy way out, but with lunch and naptime looming, I just didn't have it in me to fight the good fight.  So, the three of us walked out to the car, turned around, Cate led the way back into the house, and 30 quick seconds later, the meltdown was completely over never to be heard from again.  End of story (or so I thought). 

 

The next day after school we pulled into the driveway and Cate said "Now Mommy, do you remember what you learned from yesterday?  I am all-time leader and you are not to open the door before me"  This could get ugly....

 

 

Unfortunately, still relevant...

This is a re-run of a post I wrote two years ago when Brady was five years old.  Mr. Mouth has really been testing my patience lately and I figure I'm better off re-posting this than putting into words how I'm feeling about him these days :)

Dearest Brady-
I'm going to get straight to the point. I'm not stupid. I realize that you don't give me enough credit because I'm a "girl", but I'm on to you. Totally. Let me start by saying that your father and I have been very lenient with you. For a few reasons but mostly because you have two older brothers (one who is basically a juvenile delinquent) so you've seen and heard more things than a five year old should. However, lately, your antics are pushing me to the edge. Most things you do are normal five year old boys stuff, but your language...oh Brady, your language is so bad. When I sat you down last fall to talk to you about this, you asked me to list of all the words you can't say. And I obliged...hoping you would avoid these words all together. I'll give you credit. You're very creative in what you say, but you're not fooling me. No...I know what you meant when you told Bennett you were going to "kick his ace", but I often feel the same, so I let it slide :) And when you sat down at dinner, flipped up your middle finger and said "hello everyone, I'm the f-word"..well, that was just really funny. But the other day when you yelled "I have to siss" as you were running to the bathroom...that was taking things too far. Off to your room you went. And tonight, you were already in time-out for calling your brother "a friggin' idiot" (granted he was acting like one) when your other brother walked into the room and you called him a "loser". Breaking point..everyone has one, and I've reached mine. Gold star effort for claiming you were actually calling him a "luger, like in the Olympics. Because one time Ben slid down the stairs on his back and he reminded me of a luger and besides the word luger isn't on the list". Nice try, but no dice. I'm done. No more Mrs. Nice Mommy. And the ultimate punishment was enforced...no XBOX...gasp! The tears fell and an Oscar-worthy "Most Dramatic Performance by a 5-Year Old" ensued, but I'm holding my ground and your daddy is backing me. He told you a bar of soap in your mouth would be next...

So, please Brady....please think before you speak and no more bad words. Yes, it will be hard, but you can do it. Just yesterday, your teacher told me that you are a very "mature 5 year old". Prove it!!!

Love,

Mom

Back At It....

School is back in session around here which means things are a little bit calmer in the House of Smallie.  At least between the hours of 8:00-3:00 :)  Carter started his sophomore year (Holy Moly!), Bennett his final year of elementary school (say what??), Brady 2nd grade (nbd), and Cate her last year of preschool (shut the front door!!!).  Obviously next year we are going to have a few major milestones that I'm not yet ready to talk about :) 

Carter started his school year off on the right foot...grounded.  I'm talking total lockdown. Poor guy had to spend his first Friday night of the school year at Brady's soccer game with his entire family!  And missed one of his bff's 16th bday party Saturday! After this past week, Scott declared "All I can say is, teenagers suck".  Don't we all agree?  Yeah, I thought so.  Anyway, I'm hoping we've gotten things under control and he's back on track...otherwise it's going to be a very long year.  Oh, but look at him below...grew a whole 4 inches this summer.  Maybe he won't be the shortest in the school again this year :)

Brady, Bennett, and Carter...ready for a great year!

Back to school time means Mr. Smallie gets to break free from this house for a few hours every day too.  Holla-friggin-lou-ya.  I love having him home three months a year, I REALLY do, but he is a man who needs structure..a schedule..a daily itinerary, and he is often the one who is complaining "I'm borrrreeeddd, what are we going to do today??" (in a whiny voice that drives me crazy!)  A social-director I am not, and let's be honest...there are a million things to do around this house that could keep all six of us busy for years, so having "nothing to do" is just a load of crap.  Ahem.

Mr. Smallie is all smiles on his first day :) (and very patient with me for making him pose for an obligatory first day of school photo or OFDOSP)

Today was the first official day of class for Cate.  I received a text from her teacher with this picture attached..."Cate's first day of pre-k and she hasn't missed a beat!"  She loves that dress-up corner and has been waiting all summer to get her hands back on all of that cool stuff!!  Hard to believe that this time last year we were both crying when I dropped her off and I was seriously contemplating pulling her out of the program.  Fast forward a year and I had her up, bathed, blow-dried, and ready to go 60 MINUTES EARLY.  Guess we both need those 2.5 hours away from each other!

As for me, I'm back to watching Hadley (1.5 years old) every day, and her brother Tyler (9yrs) before and after school.  And hopefully Baby Trevor will be visiting often too. Annie's college soccer season starts this week (yes, she only gave birth 3 weeks ago, but hey, she's 20.  So annoying, right??!) so I'm planning on getting my fair share of T-Rev time :)  Right Annie??!!!!!

Here's to a fabulous 2012-2013 school year!! 

The Difference One Year Makes....

First day of preschool 2011 vs. First day of preschool 2012. 

Wowzers.

I'm Back.....

The phone lines have been removed from our backyard!  New lines have been hung!  Internet and home phone services are back up and running!  Woo to the hoo!!

Sorry to the phone guy who had to climb our telephone pole during a pre-storm and then had to ride that storm out in my house with my four kids + Tyler + Hadley + neighbor Jack.  I'm sure that poor guys life has been forever changed.  But YAY! for finally being able to update my blog.  Of course today is friggin' beautiful out so I'm going to just post a quick picture of the cutest baby ever and then I'm heading back outside with the girls for some more playtime.  Not ready to give up my pool weather, but I do appreciate this fall-like day after weeks of 100+ heat :)

Be back soon with more updates!

Baby Trevor--2.5 weeks old.  Cute! Cute! Cute!

Potluck...

Brady took a major dive off his bike this afternoon....later, I found Brady and Jack attempting to make vinegar bombs in our backyard....currently, all three of my boys are downstairs beating the crap out of each other.  I'm ignoring everyone.  Just another day in paradise. 

Enjoy some random pictures!

No explanation needed!

Green Machine had another successful 3v3 tournament last weekend!



Cate always seems to wander off in Target and I find her in the most random places :)



Bennett guest played with the E'ville Tigers last weekend.  I have to admit, it was really hard to cheer for the Tigers ;)

When Cate is quiet, bad things are happening.  Like she's trying on EVERY piece of clothing in her room..and then throwing them on the floor.  But, sometimes 30 minutes of peace is worth it :)

Swim Banquet

Trevor stopped by today!

Outfit change for the both of them!

I love that Trevor knows to cover his ears when he's at our house!



Bennett LOVES this baby!

Most Dedicated....

At tonight's swim meet banquet Brady was awarded the "Most Dedicated Award".  Our swim coach, Celeste, (who has been coaching for over 30 years) is kinda long-winded at the swim banquet each year (it lasts more than 3 hours!) and in addition to the medals each swimmer receives, she chooses a few kids to award special honors.  She gives a long speech about each recipient and then gives them a copy of her speech.  Here is what she had to say about Brady.....
"Our male 'most dedicated award' belongs to a young man who caught my eye early last summer at a very young age and continues to amaze me and other coaches with his drive, hard work, attitude, and positive determination to go after the big, big goals.

About two weeks before the end of the season he told me he wanted to break Pat Curry's record and then shortly after that he asked me what it would take to win a High Point Award at the championship meet.  I was taken back thinking 'ok kid, you are a young one'- and then I thought twice about who was asking me this question and tried to explain how the scoring was done for High Point!

This guys placed 2nd in 25 Fly, 3rd in 25 Back, and 3rd in 50 Free which earned him a third place High Point Award! AMAZING-he is only 7!!!

This guy eyes up the competition- not to check out how big they are- but rather to pump himself to swim hard and beat them no matter who they are!  He works out at 10:45 with the older boys and often goes first- and is not afraid of any hard set!  I can see the next few years as being his very best- for he is getting stronger and smarter with each new summer!

I plan to use this young swimmer as my permanent anchor relay swimmer because he never gives up.

Congratulations.....BRADY SMALLIE!"

At the beginning of the program, she asked the three High Point winners (Noah & Maia Cain & Brady) to stand up and had this to say about Brady.....

"After the championship meet when they called the High Point winners up, the other two 8 & under winners were huge.  Like, they looked me in the eye!  When they lined up, I could see the other two boys eye Brady up and I thought "You boys have no idea what you're messing with, this kid is only 7 years old"

Congratulations Brady.  You worked so hard this summer and your dedication and focus really paid off!!!

Founders Day

A few weeks ago our friends Joe & Beth text me and asked if we wanted six tickets to Founders Day at Busch Stadium.  I enthusiastically said "yes" without having any clue what Founders Day was, but I knew the boys would appreciate anything having to do with the Cardinals.  Turns out it is a "thank you" event for the season ticket holders and we had a great time!

Everyones closets are full of Cardinals gear except Cate's.  We had to dig through Brady's old stuff to find this t-shirt.  Good thing she can still fit in a 2T!!

Best part of the day was FREE FOOD.  And let me tell you, the Smallie's know how to take advantage of FREE FOOD! 6 hot dogs, 4 brats, 2 nachos, 2 pretzels, 3 peanuts, 12 sodas, popcorn, and 6 bottles of water.  For real.

There was no baseball game being played so we were able to explore the entire stadium. The kids loved walking the field, seeing the World Series Trophies in the Champions Club, and getting baseballs autographed by current players.

Checking out the bullpen



He's going to need a little more spring in his step to a rob a hitter of a homerun!

Cate is not a fan of the sun :)

We spent a lot of time in the VERY air-conditioned game room

What's unusual about this picture??  Absolutely nothing.  This is the scene at home everyday :)

Famous David Freese scene

Cate lined up for the pitching game

She was throwing the heat !

Next, she decided to spend some time in the batting cages

Lefty batter....

Carter and I sat down while the others stood in line for an autograph.  I thought we were having a great conversation until he said "so, what kind of car are you thinking about buying me.  I have 3 favorites saved on my computer...."  I didn't even let him finish, just walked away :)

A few more autographs before we left


If you ever get the chance to attend Founders Day, I would highly recommend it.  It wasn't very crowded and the kids loved going down on the field, into the clubhouse and all of the other things that are normally off limits to the fans.  Oh, and did I mention all of the concession stands were open and just handing out FREE FOOD and drinks, and ice cream?  Thank you Busch Stadium for treating us to breakfast, lunch, and dinner ;-)