Lately

Here are a few fun stories and happenings over the last few months:

Mia is... well, spirited!  Her little personality is certainly shining through and she's making it known that she will be keeping up with her big brother and sister, both in energy and in general communication.  That kid does not stop talking.  And if she says something once, she says it like 10 times.   Of course, being little also means that she is constantly being man-handled.  Example:

The other morning, we caught Luke standing next to her while she was eating, knocking on her head.  Literally, KNOCKING on her head. 

Casey:  Luke, please stop knocking in your sisters head.

Luke:  But there's somebody in there.
Casey: Seriously, Luke. Stop.
Luke: But I'm just trying to get him out!

As I discussed earlier, Mia is highly verbal.  I don't remember Luke or Emma talking this much, this early.  Example... in February (Mia would have been 17 months), she looked at me and said "ear hurt" and pointed to her right ear.  I took her to the doctor that morning, and sure enough, she had an ear infection in only her right ear!  Seriously, that kid is amazing!

The other funny thing that Mia does is "snort" when she doesn't like what you tell her.  So, for example, last night, Casey told Mia not to put her spoon in her water cup.  She looks over at him, snorts (blows air out of her nose) and continues putting her spoon in her cup.  I assume that is her way of telling us to buzz off - which is strange because she has enough words in her vocabulary to actually tell us that!

Emma has had a great year in 1st grade.  She made an "city" project where she researched a building in Cincinnati.  She chose Staples!

So, during her research, she was asking me questions about the office and the store and she was getting confused about the fact that I work for Staples but I don't work in an actual store.  During one particularly stressful morning, she was asking me all kinds of questions.  Between running around getting breakfast and dealing with Mia, I must have told her that Kelley Keller was the boss of Staples (Ron Sargent is actually the CEO).  You can imagine my surprise in finding that she included that in her report!    I gave Kelley a copy of the report - she loved it! 

Okay, back to Mia (yes, I'm working off of a list so I remember to include everything).  Like I said earlier, Mia is highly verbal (read:  loud).  Every day, when I bring her home from either Karla's or Cindy's, she starts screaming "DADDY HOME!  DADDY HOME!"  Its so cute and endearing! 

The other crazy thing she has been doing lately is shouting "mine" for anything around her.  Example - if Emma or Luke hugs Casey or shows him any attention, she comes tearing over and starts shouting "My Daddy!  My Daddy!" and then frantically tries to climb up his leg.  We obviously need to work on sharing.

We also need to work on calming her down when she doesn't get her way.  She's quick to throw a fit.   Cindy told her last week that she threw herself down on the floor when she couldn't go home with one of the other Mommy's (perhaps I should be concerned that she's willing to home with anyone - hmmm).  Anyway, the funny part of her "fit" is that its in slow motion.  While crying, she slowly lowers herself to the ground in a sitting position. Again, while still crying, she then slooooowly lays down on the ground, carefully checking behind her to make sure she doesn't hit her head.  Its really hilarious if you're able to ignore the crying.

Also, she's very proud of any small accomplishment that she has.  Whenever she does something, especially if she knows that we won't like it, she shouts " I DID IT!" which really sounds like "I deeeeed it!"  Yesterday, she got into the pantry, even though we asked her to close the doors.  She emerges with a box of cereal shouting "I DEEEED IT!  I DEEED IT!" 

Last Mia story... she is constantly shouting "huh?" or "what?" all of the time - even if we're not talking to her.  We were driving home from Karla's last month and I was on the phone with my mom.  Mia spent the entire time in the back seat shouting "huh?" or "what?" - for like 20 minutes!  I kept telling her I was on the phone with Mamaw.  She obviously didn't understand. 

Since February, I've been training for the Flying Pig 10K.  I've really enjoyed sticking to a training plan and am so proud of the progress I've made (especially since I'm a sprinter and long distance never really made any sense to me). Nevertheless, I ran in two races this spring.  In April, I ran in the first ever Fort Fun Run (5K) and balllon launch and in May, the Pig 10K.  I placed 3rd overall for the females in Fort's Race.  In the Pig, I placed 172 out of 2200 women (top 10%!).  Interestingly enough, my Nike app tracked my distance in the 10K as 6.6 miles vereses 6.1.  Next year, I plan on starting closer to the start line to avoid having to run in and out of people.  Here are pics from the two races:

Kelly Enright



Kristen and me after the race



It was too cold for the kids to come out so I sent a balloon up to Fort from all 5 of us!  xoxo

Emma and I share notes between each other in our "Mommy and Me" journal.  She left this under my pillow the night before the race!

This year, Rugby Alumni weekend was held in April since OU converted to semesters this school year (boo!).  It was cooold!  Regardless, we had a great time, sitting in the same booth, telling the same stories!

Welcome Home!

My view from the front booth!

Obviously a bad picture but good friends!

Here are some other pics from this spring:

Snuggling before bedtime!

Luke's first rollercoaster ride at Kings Island!

Ahh, this concrete looks like a perfect place for a nap!

Luke's big boy bike!

A Walk Down Memory Lane - Part I (2007 - 2008)

I was cleaning out one of my folders on my work email and found several emails throughout my last 7 years at Staples regarding fun kids stories.  I figure I should cut/paste them here so that I won't feel so bad when I delete them!  Man, our kids are cute!  :)

Email from Karla on 4/19/2007:
I had so much fun here at Papa and G'ma's house. We played outside for over two hours. I helped G plant 10 pansies in the ground. I tasted the dirt, but did the "rasberries" after that! We had pretzels and the ants came...... I've already gotten a bath and rode my car downstairs. We're going to my house now to play. I wish the sun was out. I've been a good girl.  I clean my plate and slept from 8 til 8 last night. I love my medicine and I love you bunches!!!!!!!

Bye, bye,
Baby Emma
 
Email from Karla on 5/8/2007: 
I've been a good girl! Well, except for that blow-out diapee..... I slept for 2 1/2 hours. I'll be due for supper by 3 p.m. Grandma says, "no fruit." I'm going outside now to ride my car so I have to run. I'm so busy. Oh, I'm practicing my ABC's too.
Love and Kisses,
Emmmma

Email from Karla on 5/10/2007:
Grandma will tell you about my day so far because I just about fell asleep in my high chair. She couldn't get to bed fast enough. We played so hard this morning outside. (sunblock 30) Emma can close the buckle on the stroller and then claps on her own when she gets it done!  It was the cutest thing. I gave her a water bottle to play with. Of course that was a big hit. She used a big spoon to dig in the dirt.  Surprisingly she wasn't very keen on it. She rode the car and big wheel on the apron, but I would say the stroller is her favorite to play in. Her balance is so good! She gave me the birdie sign three times! She's an angel.......Love, Mom

Email from Casey on 5/23/2007:
E was great...woke up just before I went to get her, and went to Evelyn [Daycare Center] with no problem. We talked last night about hitting people (she nodded yes with a very serious look when I asked her if she hit someone today) and she won't be doing it again! :)

Email from Karla on 6/5/2007:
She picked up her baby, blanket, and TWO pacifiers. She put her arms up. I picked her up. She put her head on my shoulder. I said, "Do you want to go Ni Ni?" and she shook her head yes. She's sleeping since 10:20 a.m. L, M

Email from Karla on 7/26/2007:
At lunch I gave her cut-up grilled chicken, and pineapple on a small plate. She pointed to an empty spot on the plate and said, "Dip!" I gave her some ranch dip. She had three helpings. At one point she wouldn't finish her pineapple. I said, "eat your pineapple and Grandma will give you more chicken. She couldn't eat that pineapple fast enough. She's a trip! What a doll!
L, K

Email from Karla on 7/31/2007:   Hi MoMmy$%, I'm helping Grandma cook for Tenn. My chair is at the counter. I saw the Salt Water Taffy, so I had time to eat them while we were cooking.  Kisses, Emma
Email from Karla on 12/28/2007: Goodgrief! When did she learn this? We've tried for 40 minutes to get her to take a nap, but it's not working. She is a sweet thing and I hate to hear her cry or be so unhappy. I guess we'll just put her to bed a little earlier.   Love, Kar

Emma Skipping School: 
From: Schnieber, Casey L.
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 8:45 AM
To: Bertsch, Lee Ann
Subject: emma kater

Lee Ann, Emma is on the farm today. With me being sick and Stacy having some work dinners this week while I was sick, logistically it made sense for Emma to stay another day with her grandparents on the farm outside of Wilmington. If you’d like, I can have Emma prepare a power point presentation on her farming adventures on the tractor, riding in the semi to haul grain, and her general farm work!

From: Bertsch, Lee Ann

Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 9:00 AM
To: Schnieber, Casey L.
Subject: RE: emma kater

Casey, with Emma skipping so much school, I would prefer a 5 page paper about the farm! We do miss her dearly…

Lee Ann

Email from Karla on 6/5/2008:
Papa was washing his face this morning. Emma asked me what he doing? I told her and she said, "I wash my face here." Then I said, "Do you wash your face at home?" She said, " No, I don't have a face at home!" There's your funny for today!   She snored and slept for 12 hours. She is being very good. We are giving her the medicine on time. Of course, we had pancakes for breakfast!! Enjoy your day!
Love,
Emma and Mammaw

Email from Fort re: 2008 Thanksmas. Sadly, she never made it to Thanksmas that year....So yeah....its August, but as usual, we're all giddy for Thanksmas, our yearly rugby alumni get-together in cold winter months. With Stacy & Casey's family expanding, we've decided to take it up a notch and shoot for a much bigger group in a much more interesting location....Athens.


What I need to know from you is:
A) If you are interested in joining us, and
B) If the weekend of December 6-7 or 13-14 works better for you.

Once we choose a weekend, our Itenerary will be as follows:

Friday Night - Arrive at the Baymont Inn (formerly Amerihost). We have confirmed an $80 night +tax rate for rooms. (Once we know who's in and the date we'll book the block)

Once we know who's arriving Friday night, We'll make our dinner plans, Go swimming in the indoor pool/hot tub, and head into town to America's Bar. I know that a few might just come for Saturday who dont want to leave the kids Friday night.

Saturday - Without a rugby game to attend, those of us who arrive on Friday will have a full day - I suspect breakfast at Bob Evans or Union Street will be in order, follwed by some shopping uptown for Christmas gifts (for ourselves), maybe even some hiking at Strouds if its not too cold. If we REALLY want to be old fogies, I wouldnt mind taking a road trip to Nelsonville and going on the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway for their "Santa Train" and having lunch there.

Our "Thanksmas Dinner" will take place (we're hoping) at Seven Sauces - if the group is big enough, they might give us the basement which would be really nice. If not, we'll find another fine establishment to enjoy.

After dinner, of course, we'll head to The Crystal and Pawpurrs....you know they'll be expecting us. Then, throughout the night, we'll all independently make our ways back to the hotel in fine condition.

Sunday - Group Breakfast at Bob Evans or Union Street. Where else? Kiss Athens good-bye and tell her she'll have to wait for spring to see you again!!!

Thats the plan Stan!! Like I said - LET ME KNOW if you're in and if one of those weekends you DEFINITLEY CANNOT DO!!! We want this to include as many of us as possible. If I left someone out let me know -

Leary - can you pass this on to the Emersons to see if they want to get in on this?

We realize this is early, but with so many of you with families, we wanted to "Get Dibs" on you before your family does. This could turn into a standard event.

Happy Wednesday,
Fort

Casey's ultra-sensitive response to Emma's injury at school: From: Bertsch, Lee Ann
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 10:32 AM
To: Schnieber, Casey L.
Subject: Emma

Hey Casey,
Emma had a fall today-she stood up in the wagon, and someone started pulling it. She hit her head on the pavement and I took her to the nurse. Emma has a nice big bump on the back of her head, but she was really brave and the nurse said she should be fine. I will have America bring the accident report to after school so you can have a copy.  Let me know if you have any questions.
Lee Ann

From: Schnieber, Casey L.
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 10:52 AM
To: Bertsch, Lee Ann
Subject: RE: Emma

Emma can’t ride in the little red wagon, the front seat’s broken and her head is draggin…chug, chug, chugalugalug.

Thanks for the heads up!

Grandparents Day 2008

Email from Karla on 12/2/2008:
i'm so busy here at g'ma and pa's. i've been taking a few cat naps. i don't remember this pac n' play. but, i can get g'ma to come and get me when i'm afraid. i'm on my third nap. i think i have her trained now. she gives me the same thing to eat as at home. i really like it. i've got alot of playing to do before i see you tonight, so i'll say bye, bye for now. 

snuggles and kisses,
lukey

Email from Karla on 12/18/2008:
i'm having such a good day here today! i ate two tablespoons of homemade sweet potatoes without crying. papa is teaching me how to roll over. i'm doing better than i did on tues. i think you already know how gifted i am. i miss you!


hugs and kisses,

luke

A few fun stories....

Last month, Casey and I had an appointment with a mortgage guy, Anthony, at 5/3 to talk about possible re-financing.  The appointment was only going to be about 1 hour long so we decided to take the kids with us.  That was our first mistake (we can be awfully naive for having 3 kids...)  The appointment started at 6pm.  I made sure to bring plenty of snacks and games for the kids.  So, we sit down and start talking numbers.  Poor Anthony.  I kept looking over and mumbling, "I'm so sorry!" and he kept telling me that he had kids so he was used to it.  The three of us continue to talk normally, trying our best to ignore Luke crying about the tablet (or "tab-buh-let" as he calls it), Mia crying about, well... whatever it is she always cries about, and Emma expressing her frustration over the situation.  Finally, I notice Anthony look down at Luke and Mia on the floor and his eyes widened the size of quarters.  I didn't see the actual incident but I hear Casey start yelling at Luke about hitting his sister (Mia, the littlest one!)  So, the three of us try to pick up where we left off.  By now, Luke is crying because "Daddy yelled at me," Mia is crying because she was hit for no apparent reason, and Emma is loudly sighing and rolling her eyes because she can't hear the music to her Angry Birds game.  Not only am I mortified about the situation, but I'm also furious with Luke for hitting his little sister.  We wrap up the meeting and Casey takes Mia home because I needed to go to Kroger.  So, I take Emma and Luke in my car and I start in on lecturing about how to treat their siblings.  While I can't remember all of the details of my lecture, I imagine that it contained something like "Mike and Sandy never treated me this way" and "you need to take care of your brother and sister" and "did you seriously hit your sister?" (obviously directed at Luke).  So, I lecture them all the way to Kroger, all the way to the wine section (yes, that's exactly the main reason for going to Kroger.  Don't judge - it was a stressful meeting), all the way back to the car, and then all the way home.  By bedtime, they were sick of me talking about it.  So, I'm putting Luke to bed and I start in again.  "Luke, I don't want you to EVER lay a finger on your sister again.  Do you understand me?"  He looks up and me and asks, "Can I hug her real hard?"  Wow...

Email from Casey on October 17th:  "So today I hear from Ms. Bertsch that as Luke was playing with puzzles in class, she asked a group to name something that rhymes with truck.  Let’s just say that from across the room his nonchalant response wasn’t “luck”! J

As the littlest of the family, Mia has already figured out how to get our attention.  Her favorite is a high-pitched SCREAM.  She does it all of the time.  She screams when I pick her up (she's obviously excited and SCREAMS as she's running towards me), she SCREAMS as she's walking through the kitchen, she SCREAMS all throughout dinner... I think you get the jist.  The other thing she does is wave when she knows she's doing something she shouldn't.  Case in point:  last weekend, we were at my parents house and my mom had a fall gourd/corn/flower coffee table decoration. Mia toddles over to check it and we say "no-nee-no, Mia."  So, she looks at it and shakes her finger at the table.  A few seconds later, she touches it again.  "No-nee-no, Mia," says my mom and Mia looks up her and waves.  About 5 minutes later, she's back at the table.  She touches it and before my mom can even tell her to stop, she waves at her.  Doesn't take her eyes off of the table or the decoration that she's not supposed to be touching.  She just waves.  Its hilarious! 

Speaking of shaking her finger at things she shouldn't touch... a few weeks ago, her nose was stuffed up so I put her on the counter to "plunge" her nose using the aspirator.  Man, she hates that thing.  So, I shove that up her nose a few times and that really made her mad.  I put the aspirator on the counter to wipe her nose and she gives me a dirty look, looks at the aspirator and starts shaking her finger "no" at it.

Emma is geting to be quite witty!  She and Luke take a gymnastics class at The Little Gym on Thursday nights (let me tell you - I've seen the class and I use the term "gymnastics" lightly). The motto for The Little Gym is "Serious Fun."  Last week, Emma walks in the door and Casey asked her how class was.  Her response:  "Uh, serious fun."  We both just starting cracking up.

I'll close with another Luke story. I'll title this one:  "Meanwhile, at the Schnieber House..."

A few weeks ago, Emma came home from school and Casey asked her to wash her feet (I think she had been wearing crocs that day and her feet were nasty).  I hear Luke and Emma bickering over something, which is quite normal, but then, its eerily quiet.  So I walk upstairs to their bathroom and there's Luke... standing at the sink, with a shirt and no pants or underwear on.

Me:  Uh, hi, Luke.  Why don't you have pants on?  And why are there bubbles on your ankles?

Luke:  Just washin' my feet, Mom.

Oh, okay.  Of course you are.  Nothing strange about that AT ALL.

Had a great weekend visiting the Campbells this past weekend.  We were lucky enough to corral all of the kids for a "front steps" picture.  For the most part, everyone was cooperative!  Megan (7), Anna (3), Mia (1), Emma (6), Will (9), Luke (4), Kenzie (9), Matthew (1), Hailey (12).

Was able to catch a couple of cute shots of Mia over the weekend.  She LOVED swinging and would laugh everytime she was pushed.  I thought the look on her face in this picture was especially cute! 

She's doing a great job of talking and says up to 6 or so words: uhhhh-oh, hiiii, ba-ba (bottle), da da, bye-bye, and mummm.  She also can sign "eat" and "drink" (which, in her world, are apparently the same thing so you really have to take a stab at which one she wants) and "birdie (which actually also looks a lot like "drink").  The word she uses most is "uhhh-ohhhh."  On the way home from Pittsburgh, I had a couple of dishes in the trunk which would make a noise everytime we went over a bump.  So, literally, about every 6 minutes for the entire 4+ hour trip home, I'd hear Mia mumble "uhhhh-ohhhh" when she heard the dishes.  It was hilarious!

Tonight was movie night and we watched "The Lorax."  When the movie was over, Casey announced that it was bedtime.  The negotiations began.  Luke wanted to read a story before bed - even though it was past his bedtime.  So, he bounced over (literally, because he always walks on his toes) and said, "Can I read this book?  I know how to read.  Emma teached me how to do math."

Emma then looked over and said, "Wait, did I fall asleep during the movie?  Because it felt a little short.  So, did I fall asleep?"

Ahh, nothing better than movie night with the kids!

Yesterday, Mia & I picked up the kids from school and went to the gym to watch Casey's first volleyball match.  We were able to watch the last set of the second game and had fun afterwards running around the gym.  We got home late and had to rush through dinner.  After I put Mia to sleep, I went back downstairs to start in on the bedtime routines for Em and Luke.  I helped Emma get into the shower and then quickly found Luke and asked him to jump in with Emma.  He started to complain (which has been a frequent mode of communication lately) so I stopped him immediately and told him that he won't get a magnet on his "behavior chart" if he continues to whine.  He looks up at me with his eyes wide and his arms spread out and says, "BUT MOM-MY! I cry in the shower, remember?  I don't like them!" 

The Tooth Fairy

Last week, Emma lost her 3rd tooth.  This was kind of a big deal because it was the top middle one so now its definitely obvious that she's growing up.  She brings it home from school, in this cute little tooth-shaped tooth holder and is excitedly sharing it with Lukey.  During dinner, I overheard her telling him that the Tooth Fairy would most likely be bringing her a present that night, since she lost her tooth and all.  I interrupted her and let her know that normally the TF only brings money for lost teeth and that most likely, she would not be getting a present.  She looks at me and says, "My friends get presents for their teeth.  Is it because of what part of town we live in?  Maybe she doesn't deliver presents here?"  I assured her that it wasn't because of our part of town (great - apparently we live on the wrong side of the tracks).

So, that night, I'm all proud of myself because not only did I remember to give her money, but I successfully tip-toed in and out of her room without her waking up.  Granted, I've actually walked into her room, turned on the lights and put away clothes while she was sleeping, but still... it was something to be proud of.

The next morning, she walks into the bathroom where I'm getting ready, holds up the two quarters in her hand and says "Uh, Mommy, did YOU put this under my pillow."  Immediately, I start stuttering and avoiding eye contact with her.  Looking down, I say, "why do you ask, Emma?"  "WELL," she says, "last night, the Tooth Fairy comes and puts money under the wrong pillow.  And then, she doesn't even take my tooth.  So, did you put this under my pillow?"  I did the only thing that I could think of in that moment - I told her to ask Casey.  So, she takes off downstairs to ask him.

A few minutes later, Casey comes walking upstairs with this dumbfounded look on his face and says, "Are you SERIOUS?  You forgot to take the (insert profanity here) tooth?"  I guess Emma went downstairs and starting accusing Casey of putting the money under her pillow.

Needless to say, she's a little leery of anything that Casey and I have been telling her lately.  Good thing that Christmas is coming up.  I'm sure we won't have to tell her any more lies during that holiday season....