EnterTrainment Junction

For the first time in a long time, I did not engage in Black Friday midnight shopping. Partially because I had bought all my kids' gifts back in September when I thought we'd be paying double right about now...and partially because there just wasn't anything I was crazy about in the ads (except big ticket items like a refrigerator and washer/dryer which aren't quite yet on the agenda for purchase). So, instead, I bought a 4-pack to EnterTrainment Junction in West Chester on a groupon-like site and we headed there for the day to meet Santa and or course, play.

This shot was leading into Santa's Village. Santa was AWESOME! I will have to make another post with the pictures, as they are on Nate's phone, but Tessa finally sat on Santa's lap. She brought him her letter and he did such a great job talking with her. I was so proud of her!
Morgan, as expected, loved the trains. He unfortunately did not enjoy meeting Santa, but he did love the exhibits. We'll be back there with Tessa in a couple of weeks - she was invited to a birthday party there for one of the boys in her class at school.

Letters to Santa

So moving has gone fairly smoothly since all the sickness. We are pretty much unpacked. The garage is still a bit disheveled, but the rest of the house is looking fairly put together, if I do say so myself. We even have things on most of the walls and Nate has been busy patching holes in the walls (from nails and such) and repainting. We have a few other minor projects; I'll be tacking one tomorrow while the kids are at daycare - removing wallpaper from the kids' bathroom. It will surely be a chore, hence why they will be heading out for the day, or at least the morning while I slug away at the wallpaper. This post will give you a glimpse at the basement, where we've been spending a lot of our time. The toys are down there, which pretty much means the kids are too. And with all the rain we've had, it's been nice to have the space down below to hang out. Not regretting choosing the house with the finished basement, not at all...

We wrote letters to Santa today. Tessa cut out some pictures from a catalog (a giant bounce house and one of the $600 outdoor blowup waterparks for your backyard). I managed to sway her to a simpler request, and one that I already knew Santa had for her.

The picture, in case you are wondering, is Tessa on the street trying to cross. And the lady in the blue dress? That is mommy, because little girls aren't supposed to be anywhere without their mommy. She also dictated a letter from Morgan to me. I like how she included the part about her wanting a bike...
Lucy watched.
And I took a few pictures around the basement to give all three of my readers a feel for the new basement. I made this growth chart for the kids on one of my sick days earlier this school year. I think it turned out pretty cute for my first one.
And here is one room of the basement. Love the message on the wall!
And to end, I'll share a cute story about Tessa. We got out the Christmas tree yesterday and Tessa was putting on some ornaments. Morgan wanted a drink, so I went to the kitchen to get his milk and while I was gone there was the crash and breakage of a glass ornament. I scooped the kids up and put them in front of a show so I could clean it up, the whole time thinking Morgan had assumed one of the ornaments was a ball and had thrown it. Tessa came to me almost crying and said, "Mommy, it wasn't Morgan who broke it. It was me, but it was an accident. I'm sorry Mommy." Man, I love that girl. Made me so darn proud of her for telling the truth. I'd love to say it will last forever, but I know it won't...so for tonight, I'll relish in her three year old innocence.

Sickness

As mentioned in my last post, my kids have been sick. A lot. Morgan had the flu virus a couple of weeks ago (right when we moved) and Tessa came down with it last Thursday afternoon. With one period left in the day. And I had already missed enough work. So I got creative. I picked Tessa up from school and brought her to my school, where she proceeded to take a nap for my last class of the day. I brought her nap mat and my sweet girl snuggled up behind my desk and slept right through 10 student presentations (which is why I couldn't just leave and go home in the first place - it was the end of the tri before exams and I needed to grade the presentations). With one class left in the day, I figured she could muster through.
My students thought it was hilarious that she slept right through it, and I have to give them some credit...I have never seen high schoolers enter a room so quietly before (she was sleeping already before they came in). Anyways, had to share this picture...

White Blossom

Well, I finally found our real camera amidst all the boxes, along with the charger and cord to connect to the computer. For the past six months, I believe every picture posted has come from my cell phone, including these, but soon we'll be back in action. Anyways, we are loving our new neighborhood. Our new couches arrived and it is starting to feel like home! The neighborhood boasts a wonderful playground that is a short five minute walk from our house and the kids and I have been heading there frequently after school this past week.

Speaking of these lovelies, Tessa is sick now. Why can't they both just get things at the same time? I got called from daycare again yesterday around lunchtime because Tessa had a 102 fever - same thing as Morgan from last week. I took her to the doctor after school where they tested her for strep, the flu, etc. Apparently, it is the same virus Morgan had with no medication other than over-the-counter drugs to manage the fever. She is actually in pretty good spirits as long as the fever is under control, so we are thankful for that. Nate is home with her today since hell be out of town in Cali next week, leaving me with all childcare duties should they be needed. Here's hoping she recoveries quickly!

And on a sidenote, I love our pediatrician. I was kind of digressing about the fact I have missed so much work already this year due to fevers, vomiting, etc. and asking if there was anything else we could be doing to prevent all this illness. Dr. K was great, assuring me that yes, they may get a lot of minor illnesses, but I should be thankful as they are both very healthy children. He is right, and I am thankful for their health. So with that, I will just enjoy every minute, even those plagued by fevers, ear infections, and every other virus known to man...

I'm an Aunt

Mike and Cortny are the proud parents of Elliott Charles Helmick, 6 lb, 14 ounces. He was born yesterday at 8:12 pm and is just perfect! Can't wait to meet him in person!

In a Nutshell

This week has been CHAOS if I could pick a word. As most people know, I like to plan things to a T...and that didn't work out so well this time. Alas, we did have a good Halloween. I was called to leave work early Monday because Morgan had a fever, which ended up being he flu. Either Nate or myself missed almost the entire work week. I worked a whopping two days, one being yesterday which was the weirdest Friday considering I hadn't been there much of the week. Fortunately, my students did great and everything flowed smoothly at school.

We still took Tessa trick or treating in Charleston Park, our old neighborhood. She loved it this year and was contantly in motion, running from house to house. Still shy, but she sure did enjoy it. Too bad Morgan didn't get to dress up. He had an awfully cute giraffe costume to wear!

By the end of the week, he was finally fever free and perked up a bit. He even managed to play some with the Snoopy balloon MetLife gave us at closing. (It was a HUGE balloon).
This one is from a couple weeks ago at Logan's birthday. (Tessa ran onto their pool cover and got her original outfit wet and this summer dress was all I had. Jenna, their cousin, LOVES Morgan.
Tessa had a Halloween party at school that both Mommy and Daddy managed to make it too. She loved dressing up in her costume and enjoying some yummy treats with her friends.

And their were more Halloween festivities to be had at the yearly Halloween/Birthday celebration for Nate and his two stepbrothers. This year, the kids all decorated cupcakes and built Halloween houses. They really got into the decorating, but I'm pretty sure only a house or two were still standing by the end.
Here are two more from trick or treating. Tessa loved the bowls where you could just take one so she didn't have to talk to strangers. I had to laugh, as one bowl said take one and my little stinker took two. (She put it back).

And these are from two weeks ago at a little break in our furniture shopping adventure. The kids needed a change to run around, so to Sharon Woods we went for some energy exhaustion. We went furniture shopping many, many times to find a new family room set with intent to put our old stuff from when we were first engaged 7 years ago in the finished basement. Of course, that was one of the many things that didn't go as planned; the couches wouldn't fit down the stairs after lots and lots of maneuvering, door removal, etc. So now, they are in the formal living room, the new couches are still going in the family room, and we are off to furniture shop again, this time for a sectional.

All in all, we are finally in the new house, getting settled and unpacking, and hoping for things to calm down now.

Stay Tuned...

New posts coming soon! We will be without internet for a few days (or longer)...we haven't set that up yet, so stay tuned for a Halloween post! Wish us luck with moving too - Morgan picked this week to get sick. I left early Monday, Nate stayed home yesterday, I had already scheduled off for the movers today and now will have Morgan with me. Will his sickness ever end??? Hoping I can get things done with little man in tow. We shall see..