Shopping with Kylan

I'm running some quick errands with Kylan today at Target.  Of course, he is lollygagging and is 15 feet behind me as I am hurrying.  I am stopped however by his sudden yelling.  "MOM!  LOOK!  HERE'S THE THING FOR NIPPLES!"  I horridly turn to look (as well as ALL the shoppers within a 30 feet radius) to see Kylan holding up a very LARGE bra.  A moment I will never forget. 

I LUV NANA

Kylan wrote this during church today.  No help from either Rob or I.  I am IMPRESSED!  If you look carefully you can see that he wrote "I LLUV ANNA"  He has written NANA before, however I don't recall him writing LOVE. Also on the scan the "v" looks like an "n", but if you look on the paper itself you can see he just dragged his pen.  I am assuming he sounded that one out himself--as well as "I".  Now we just need to work on punctuation. :)  THAT'S MY BOY!

Alaina's 18 month pics

I took Alaina to get her 18 month pictures today. I should probably start off by saying, today was not a good day. We woke up to Kylan yelling at Bear over nothing. He woke up the WHOLE house. UGH! I told him to be quiet and then he started yelling "WHY?" Yeah. We were all crabs then, because once Alaina is up, everyone is up.

Rainy Day, bleh, tired kids, bleh, Alaina wanted to be held and eat, bleh, I was trying to make breakfast. It was not the smoothest of mornings.

Anyway, I got Alaina all gussied up and she looked good and was quite the happy girl. We get there and check in, she is as happy as a clam. They take us into the room, and we could not get her to stay still. Then she threw a tantrum. She pulled her hair clip out, laid on the floor, and cried. And what did the photographer do, snap pics. She took a total of 6.

Surprisingly, she actually got one decent pic of Alaina. I ordered the package of it. However, I really wanted a picture of all of her (this is a close-up.) She was in this cute little dress. I might go back and try again. But here is a link (I hope it works for you) and you can look at these pathetic pictures. I really like the close up of her sobbing. Perfect!



Click on this link and type "Jessica Schnake" for customer name. Then click on view images.  Enjoy!

https://www.smilesbywire.com/home.asp?AC=LTPP0154116092JCP

Alaina...up close and personal.

Alaina's first painting experience (the end of it...)

Marching into Spring!

What a great month March was.  Normally, I dread March.  I always get hopeful with the beginning of spring and then March comes along and snows on my parade--well not this year!  This was by far the warmest March ever.  The day the kids are picnicking--I believe it got up to 83 degrees!  But I know that no good things last..and this probably means we are in for a VERY hot summer. 

March was also good because we were no longer getting sick--and we were back to our vibrant selves.  I also got ALOT of sub days in--which is good money-wise, bad because I miss the kids and would prefer to be with them.  But the Lord has definitely been good to us.

Curriculum-wise, Ky worked on the seasons, the calendar, and weather.  We had a GREAT time--especially since I love weather so much.  The first pic was him fingerpainting on our "Winter" day.  Then the boy clapped his hands and got it EVERYWHERE!  (I am glad we used white for snow, otherwise I am sure it would have stained.)  And now Ky knows not to clap his hands when fingerpainting.  We also made a snowglobe.  This was a very fun craft...though our was a bit cloudy.  I think next time we will use the bigger side of the grater to grate the crayon.

So if you want to make your own snowglobe...you will need, a jar (we used a plastic peanut butter jar) with lid, glue gun, white crayon, grater, and a figure or two for the inside.  Glue your figurine to the inside of the lid.  Then grate your crayon (take off the paper first.)  After you have a couple of tablespoons of snow place it in your jar.  Fill 3/4 full of water.  Apply glue to the rim of your jar and screw on lid.  Let glue dry and then shake!  You have now made your own winter wonderland in a jar!

For the seasons we were also pretty consistant with 2 projects.  The first was to paint what a tree would look like in that season.  The second project was to dress "Kylan" appropriately for the weather.  Ky really had fun dressing his little paper doll self.  I am very proud of him.  He knows the days of the week and all the calendar months.  He seems to understand how they go together. 

Did you see my pics of my savings?  Thank you Pocket your Dollars lady!  You have really changed the way I shop!  The 18 boxes of cereal was my first real test to see how this all worked.  I actually went back 2 more times because I was in such disbelief of my first and second trip.  I just have to type out all that I bought for $16.62.  So here it is....are you ready? :)

18 boxes of cereal
2 5lb bags of whole wheat flour
1 5lb bag or white flour
6 boxes of fruit chillers
1 bag of marshmallows--this is the only thing I paid full price for....Ky suckered me into buying them.
1 tub butter spread
12 double rolls  of toilet paper
1 bottle of Fillippo Berio Olive Oil (my Italian MIL would be very proud!)
3 coupons for 3 gallons of milk
3 coupons for 3 dozen eggs...side note these 6 coupons are awesome...the egg coupons were each worth $1.75 and the milk coupons $3.50...well milk only costs $2.00--so each coupon not only got me a gallon of milk, but also a $1.50 store credit on other things I was buying---same with the eggs.

Anyway...PYD lady has really taught me to play the system...the other day I spent $6.80 and bought

1 gallon apple juice
1 5lb flour
4 boxes whole wheat pasta
2 jars of Ragu sauce
2 jars of skippy all natural Peanut butter
3 lb of broccoli
1 lb baby cut carrots
1 box of margerine
1 large jar of honey roated peanuts
3 dozen eggs
1 gallon of whole milk
1 gallon of skim milk

Seriously!  Isn't this crazy...okay now you can probably tell I am obsessed--and I am.  It has become like a game to me.  How cheap can I buy my food!  And the crazy thing is--all this stuff is brand named items.  We are eating things we have never eaten before.  How fun!  Okay...one last comment and then I will get back to the kids...everyone is asking me--what do you do with all that cereal?  Well, the sweeter cereals become snacks for the kids.  They love Trix as a snack or chocolate cheerios--and hey they are still loaded with lots of healthy things.  We also make trail mixes--(they mix a bunch of different cereals together for a snack.)  You can also make yummy cereal bars or mixes like Puppy chow or Chex mix! Yummy....Hey if you enjoy all this info, I am currently working on a document that is my goal "purchase price" per item.  For example, I will never pay for my whole wheat pasta again!  My last 10 boxes I have gotten for free!  Anyway--more of that to come...but now back to the kiddos...

Alaina is just becoming more of a big girl every day.  She is putting on her own clothes--pants, shoes, socks..and will try with shirts.  She still needs help getting things pulled up, but "WOW" I don't remember Ky doing this.  Her vocabulary is rapidly expanding.  She can now ask "more please" or say "excuse me" (me me) when she burps.  She asks for milk (though anything in a cup is milk to her.)  She will also ask for a snack.  She screams at Ky "STOP".  She will also say to Bear "Bear GO!"  Now that I think about it, she has become a very bossy little lady. :)  She will also say "Clean up" and pick up a mess.  And she LOVES to sing--ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle, Happy Birthday, Clean up song, etc...yeah, I know...I gotta get it on tape

Alaina had an eye appointment--and to our relief she has perfect vision!  YEAH LAINA!  She also had her 18 month check up and weighed in at a whopping 25 lb.  My big girl.  I don't remember her height--but that is because Alaina shrunk....seriously, the nurse was getting upset because she was 1.5" shorter than her last appointment.  I had no worries, her clothes are getting smaller--I told her that they must have screwed up the last time they measured her.  (They remeasured her 3 times to make sure they were right.) It was funny. 

Ky is just an amazing boy.  He keeps me laughing.  Today he asked me if my earrings were screwed into my ears.  :)  We took a pottery class together this month.  Ky had a great time.  He loved making differerent creatures (Bear and a turtle) as well as bowls.  He made this really cool vase.  I will put pics up of his finished projects after we get them back (they have to be fired.)  In April, Ky begins Swim classes and Spanish classes--yes spanish classes.  Ky is obsessed with spanish.  In fact it is starting to get embarassing.  He walks up to other kids speaking spanish and then he says "Ohla....blah blah blah." In other words, starts speaking gibberish.  Of course then the kids look at him weird.  Hopefully, this class will help him to understand about other languages a little better.

In the beginning of March we visited Grandpa Schnake and then had a surprise birthday dinner for Uncle Tom with Aunt Janice, Aunt Linda, and Aunt Sue.  Aunt Janice cooked and once again we enjoyed a gourmet dinner.  The kids had a great time.  At one point Ky fell from the table and broke a mug--you should have seen the look on his face--it was so sad.  He was very upset for not just falling--but I think he felt really bad about breaking the mug.  Aunt Janice had put chocolate milk in this cute little mug for him--and well we never give him chocolate milk or a mug to drink from, so you know he felt really special.  I am sure he was also pretty scared. Poor kid.

Of course, after dinner came dessert.  We were trying to keep it light for Alaina, so I was dipping her nuk in the whipped cream.  Then she started doing it.  It was very cute--and then she grabbed the whole piece of cake and shoved it in her mouth.  She is a very quick girl.  She always keeps us on our toes, and always keeps us laughing.

March 17th was Nana's birthday and so we spent the following Saturday with her.  We took her to Botanos (mexican restaurant) for lunch then we went to the Domes in Milwaukee.  They were beautiful.  I have never seen so many fruit trees.  It was a good time.  The last dome we went to had a train show.  Of course, Mr. Ky was in love.  He intently stared at the trains the whole time.  He even got to watch one of the men light and start a train that ran on butane.  Alaina was very tired (it was about nap time) so she stayed in the stroller the WHOLE time and played with her hair.  

After the domes we back to Nana & G'ma Jan's house and enjoyed these awesome brownies that Rob made.  They were like flourless chocolate cake--so gooey & yummy!  That recipe is definitely a keeper.    

We had an UNBELIEVABLY warm week in March.  Temps were in the 80's.  The kid got a lot of time to play outside.  The daffodils were blooming--Alaina loved the flowers and just being able to run.  (Ky too of course--but this is her first mobile warm weather!)  Of course we enjoyed a picnic.  I pulled out the picnic table and we attempted to eat outside.  It was very cute--and then Alaina wouldn't sit down. She is not the type of kid to sit and eat--she wants to move.  So I had to pull the big highchair out of the house so we could finish the picnic.  It was still wonderful. 

And now I am done....So my goal is to update my blog a little more often...I don't like these monthly updates--I feel I am forgetting too much..So i may just have a short blog entry here and there and probably without pics.  I will then update all the pics later...it is just a little easier for me.  Well, that's all for now!  BYE!

PBS is proud to present...Kylan

Kylan watches VERY little tv. Five hours max a week. And what he does watch is either a video or PBS. Currently his favorite show is SuperWhy on PBS. This is the beginning "commercial" of SuperWhy along with the SuperWhy song. I can't imagine what he would be repeating to us if he watched commericialized tv.