Life is what happens ....

So life has been happening. We sure have been busy! Walker is 7 going on 40. Lauren is 6 going on 16 and Brady is 4. Then there is Maxwell, my master of disaster. He is now 19 months.
Walker has been doing well. He had an awesome basketball season. He had a great coach and really enjoyed learning more about basketball and playing his little heart out. Whatever becomes of my Walker, he always puts it ALL out there. There is no half-way with him. If he goes for something he GOES for it. On the downside, he has been struggling with what I think are anxiety issues. I hope we can get a handle on it and help him deal with it so it doesn't affect him at school or hinder him in any way.

Lauren is loving kindergarten! That girl was made for school! I hear all about her BFF Kym and all the drama that can happen during the day. She is learning how to read and is really taking off with it. I am amazed at how well she is doing! She also loves her baby brother Max. They are so cute together. She is like his second mom.

Brady. Oh Brady. What a character. You never have to guess with him what he is feeling. He will definitely let you know! He wants to do what his older siblings are doing, but he is also my one who can self-entertain the best. You could give him a rock (and on occasion, I have!) and he can play for quite a while all by himself. He is also starting to show and interest in coloring and writing.

Mr. Maxwell. My baby. Not so much a baby anymore! Oh well. He is my cuddle man. He checks in for a quick hug than explores the trash. He loves to laugh and talk. But boy is he sensitive! When I tell him "no!" his little face falls and he cries and it breaks my heart. No way that boy will ever be able to manipulate me with crocodile tears (right??).

Doug is getting ready to pursue his masters so we are all bracing ourselves for another round of hectic change. Hopefully I will be able to be supportive and keep my sense of humor!

Where Have All the Goebels Been? (Gone to school, everyone)

Get the song? Well, we have all gone back to school. Walker and Doug together at the Slope, and the other kids and I are at a new school where I will teach Pre-K. I am excited to be in a new place and had a great first week! Lauren is loving it. She had NO PROBLEM adjusting and assimilating to a new class. Wish I could say the same for Brady. Not such a smooth start for him. He cried the entire first day. The second day was intermittent crying. The third day was not too bad. Max is doing well too, except now he has a nasty cough. Yesterday, Saturday was a rough one all around. The kids were all shades of out of sorts. I thought I was going to dig a hole and bury myself in it. I think I need to be more patient as there were a lot of changes to our routine this week. Luckily, it ended on a good note. We were invited to dinner at a colleague of Doug's for dinner. I had serious doubts about bringing the kids. It ended up going very well, they had good manners and behaved way beyond my expectations. That begs the question, is it just me? I guess what they say is true, they save it for their moms!
Hope this week goes well for all of us!

A few -isms

Walker and Lauren are at Walker's basketball game. The little boys and I are at home. Max just fell asleep and Brady is playing with his "tuff". Most of his words that start with S are missing the S sound. Snack is "nack". He has a lot to say sometimes, but it is still hard to understand it all.
One thing (ism) Lauren says is "love and like you so badly". This is what she says when she is leaving me or vice versa. It is all her. Brady says it now too because she says it so often.
Walker was downstairs today playing fast food restaurant and it cracks me up that they all think it is called "Old MacDonalds". They have no idea that it is just McDonalds, no relation to the song. Brady calls the other one "burber king". I love all these little things that they say as they try to fit into the world.
Yesterday Walker was trying to explain to me how to play paint ball (they were playing it on a show) and he is demonstrating how to avoid getting shot. He said you have to "doug" out of the way. Doug and I cracked up. I said, you mean "duck". He said yeah, doug, like I'm the one who needs a vocab lesson.
Just random things I want to remember when I am ready to run for the hills (which will probably be tomorrow!).

What, is there something on my face?

Mr. Maxwell is officially on veggies! We have tried carrots and they have gone in well. Coming out, kind of gross (carrot diapers, one of the joys of parenthood!). Like all my kids, not a picky eater! He is getting quite a personality now! He can pick things up to play with which is so cute to watch until he bonks his head with it! I was looking at the pic on the previous post of Lauren and Walker and you can see Brady in the background doing a Dora puzzle. When we were at g-ma's last week, he HAD to finish that puzzle, but we needed to go so g-ma gave him the puzzle to finish at home. So smart, those g-mas! Anywho, he has done it at least 13000 times since then. Now there are like 7 out of 25 pieces missing, but he still does it constantly! Thanks g-ma! Say a prayer as I try to figure some things out career wise! Gotta love those grown-up decisions!

Lauren's Day

Today was supposed to be Lauren's day. It was Kindergarten round up and she and I were going to go and then do lunch with Dad. But thanks to the ice and my paralyzing fear of my mother-in-law's hill, I took the boys with me too instead of dropping them off at g-mas. Brady thought this meant he got to go to kindergarten too. He is going to have a hard time in August when she really does go. She was so excited, nothing was going to bring her down. She had a wonderful time and we all ate lunch with Doug.
Remember the dress Lauren loved from Lisa? Here is a picture of her and Walker in his ninja pajamas. They look ready for a black tie affair or an undercover operation.
Speaking of Walker, he got his second "corner" as he called it (quarter) report card yesterday. I am happy to say he brought up ALL of his N's (needs improvement). He was very proud to show me and I was proud that he really turned himself around this "corner". Life is good today, as my friend Zac Brown would say!

Day of Firsts

Today was pretty action packed for little Max. We went out to lunch to a Chinese restaurant and he sat in a high chair like a big boy for a little while until his poor back and neck muscles gave out. The other kids loved the experience. We have brought it home to them before, but they loved trying new things and sitting in a restaurant. Then it was off to Walker's basketball game. Max got passed around and Lauren got a treat from Ms. Lisa (some dress up clothes and puzzle books). She is wearing a black flapper dress right now that she will probably never take off! Then we stayed at the Y and went swimming. This was Max's first time in the pool. He did much better than I expected. Brady who loves to swim hated baths and the pool as a baby. Not Max. He was just taking it all in. I put him on his back a little and Walker showed him how to pat the water. It was a nice family experience. I hope this makes everyone sleep well tonight! Now they're waiting for Marissa, Lauren's dream babysitter and watching Annie. Poor Doug, now I'll be singing Annie tunes all night for date night!

We're cool like dat

Lauren and Brady are buds. Somehow society seeped into their lives because when they sit together, Brady has to put his arm around her because "he is the boy". He may be younger than her, but I think she will have a hard time having a social dating life with him around! Poor girl smooshed between all these boys! Somehow I still dread the teenage years!