Good-Bye 2014

   Good-Bye 2014, I am sitting down to write this tonight as I have finally, maybe, learned, "why put off for tomorrow what you can do today?" I am not sure what tomorrow night might bring so I will sit tonight and finish out 2014 with a summery of where we are today and what a day in my life looks like right now. I have been curious since starting this blog where this would go, how long would I keep this up, what would I do with all these thought? Well here we are ending my 5th year of blogging and I am hoping that someday my kids and/or grand kids will be reading these words wondering how strange our world must have been. I can still remember standing in Grandma Kohle's kitchen on the farm asking her what Grandma Davis would think of the things we had today. I am sure at that time it was the ability to have the same show that was on in the living room on TV be showing on the TV in the kitchen, she looked at me and said, "Grandma once told her mom, mom wouldn't it be nice to just have a button that would turn on the lights, so we don't have to light candles?" That was just over 100 years ago. What will our kids think of the way we do things now? I am sitting her typing this on the computer, if it were Mike writing this blog he would not be typing, he would be saying what he wants typed into a microphone and it would be transcribing his words onto the page. So many different ways to do the simple task of writing ones thoughts! Okay now on to what I came to accomplish tonight. Where are we today the 30th day of December 2014?
   Mike is employed with Great Plains Health, this summer the hospital re branded its name from Great Plains Regional Medical Center to Great Plains Health. He works Monday through Fridays most week with rounds on the weekends we are in town. He is on call 1-2 weekends a month and usually cover 12-13 days a month on call. What does that mean, that mean the kids and I do not usually count on him for supper, we don't always get to see him before bed, but he usually gets to come home at some point, and most often he gets to spend the night in his own bed! He has not be able to spend much time in his shop this year working on his cars, as I have needed more help with the kids. So with his spare time these last couple of months he has been working on transforming half of the downstairs living room into a theater room. We are getting really close to being done and then I will post some pictures. Right now we have a projector installed with a 103 inch screen, surround sound, and a two level seating area. Mike is currently finishing up some speaker and getting ready to order some tracks and curtains to finish off the room. We can hardly wait to watch many movies in this fun space. We usually get together every Sunday around 5 and eat popcorn and watch a movie, I hope this is tradition that will last until all the kids are gone as Mike and I really look forward to this time each week.
   Kami (I) spend most/all my time keeping track of our daily lives and schedules. If you walk into our house right now you will see a calendar on my desk that I use to record all the life events that have taken place so that I can remember what day we did which activities when I sit down to write this blog. I also have a calendar on the fridge that is color coded for Rachel (pink), Mike (blue), and the family activities (yellow). This helps me keep track of thing to get ready for Rachel for school, days Mike is on call, and all family appointments and visitors or trips planned. My favorite saying right now is "The days are long, but the years are short!" There are many days that I really do not know where all the day went. I look around my house and it looks like he have been robbed or hit by a tornado, I look back over my day and I feel like I did not sit down, what did we really do today? So this is our day, if any of you have watched my kids over night this is the note that will accompany the kids:
Rachel: School Days
  6:30-7 wake up and eat breakfast, practice sight words
  7-7:40 get dressed, brush teeth, and do hair
  7:40 leave for school (don't forget back pack and lunch if it is a day she does not like the food)
  8-3:23 School
  3:23-3:45 Pick up from school
  4-6 Eat snack and play (Wednesday's CCD at 6, leave the house at 5:30)
  6-6:30 Eat supper
  6:30-7:15 take a bath every other night other nights get pajamas on and read AR book
  7:15 time for bed, read story and then go to bed
Weekends Rachel likes to stay in her pajamas and stay home and play. Sunday's we usually go to church at 10:30 at Holy Spirit and then we go out to lunch before coming home so Becca and Alec can nap and then watch movie at 5.
Becca and Alec Schedule
   5:45-6:30 wake up and help dad lift weights for watch tv with dad
   6:30-7:40 eat breakfast and get dressed
    7:40 take Rachel to school, Monday's we go to Jazzercise and then to Walmart for groceries or we come home and wait for the cleaning ladies to get here and then go to Walmart. We usually try to go to Jazzercise at 8:30. Thursdays Mike is usually able to take Rachel to school so we stay home and do laundry.
  11:00 eat lunch
   11:30 Rock Alec in his room while he drinks a bottle (I sing him: Twinkle Twinkle, You Are My Sunshine, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Three Blind Mice, Rock a Bye Baby, and Jesus Loves Me)
  11:40 Rock Becca while she watches a movie and falls asleep
  12-1:30 or 3 Try to do some dishes, clean, laundry, blog, office work while both kids are napping
   3 leave the house to go and get Rachel from school
   3:45-7:00 Same schedule as Rachels. On Wednesday while Rachel is at CCD we usually go and visit Grandma Priest
  7:15 Alec goes to bed, same routine, rock while he drink his bottle and sing the same 6 songs.
So if you are keeping track that is 12 songs a day, every day. I know some day I will miss this, but their are days that I can sing all 6 songs while thinking about something totally different the whole time. I wonder how many times I have sang those songs? 5 and a half years of the same songs equals many times but they are my favorites and nothing warms my heart more that hearing my babies sing the same songs to each other or other babies when they are rocking.
 So what do I do after the kids are in bed? Usually finish dishes, cleaning up supper, or laundry. Some nights I just sit and catch up on Facebook and watch TV, some night I go to bed. Most nights I do a little of all of the above and crawl into bed around 10.
   Rachel is now 5 and a half, just ask her, she also weights 48 lbs.She is currently wearing size 7 clothes and size 13 shoes. Not sure when we weighted her last but that is her usual introduction to new people, "Hi I am Rachel Kathryn Simonson, I am 5 and a half, and weigh 48 lbs. My birthday is April 13th, Monday!" She is pretty proud of all of these things. Rachel loves school and is excited to go most mornings. She loves getting to ride to school with neighbor Melissa if Mike and I have something going on and can not take her. She has been reading AR books for a couple months now and is at 19.5 points. Each book she reads and takes a test on is .5 points. They get certificates at school for every 10 points. She really wanted to get to 20 points before Christmas break but we were short one day. She will get there soon and she can not wait to be at 50 points so she can get her dog tag. Her favorite things at school are lunch and recess. She likes to take her lunch to school but we try to only take lunch once a week. Outside of school she likes to be alone and plays with her my little ponies, barbies, or is on the ipad watching YouTube or Netflix. She does play with Becca some but would prefer to play alone after a long day at school. She really enjoys working out with her dad and any kind of craft.
   Becca is 3 and full of energy and loves to talk.She is currently wearing 4t clothes and size 10 shoes. She must enjoys fighting with her brother and sister because that takes up the majority of her day. She is a story teller and loves to make people laugh. She enjoys going to Jazzercise to play with her friends. He favorite part of Walmart is when she gets to pick out the bananas and helping put things on the belt at the register. She loves to cuddle with me and usually comes into our room about 5 or 5:30 in the morning to sleep with me. This usually does not consist of sleep more her moving around and then finally asking if she can play my phone or if I would like to get up yet. She loves to help me with Alec but he really does not like her help. Overall Becca is 3 and likes to have her way. She can always make us laugh and knows just the right face or quick words to get out of trouble. She loves spending time alone with either her daddy or I.
   Alec is 1 and loves to scream. He is currently wearing 18-24 month clothes and size 6 shoes. He has recently found out that if he screams he can get my attention and usually his sisters as well. If the girls are doing something he does not like or if he can not get my attention he will pull hair. Poor Becca gets a good hair pull at least once a day. Alec likes to cuddle and loves his blankie and binkie. We are going to see how we do without a bottle and then the binkie will be next. I am not sure who it will be harder on me, Alec, or Becca. Becca thinks he need his binkie anytime she sees it and he does not have it in his mouth. Alec likes to climb, play with tools, help Becca in the bathroom, eat most things, and his daddy. When he wants up he will come over stand in front of me and push my legs back. If this does not get me to pick him up he will get his blankie, cry and say up. If I still will not pick him up he will either go and pull Becca's hair or start going through the cupboards in the kitchen he knows he is not supposed to be in. Overall Alec is a happy little boy that loves to laugh. He does love to be carried and hated going to Walmart. He runs to find his daddy whenever I ask him, "Where is Daddy?" He can repeat most words even if they do not sound exactly right. I have not weighted him or measured him lately but I would say he is weighting around 30 lbs and Becca is probably around 33.