I Never Thought the Day would Come...

when I would say I'm sick of winter. My friends know me as the "Snow Queen". I've always said, "Bring on the white stuff, and plenty of it." But it seems the older I get, the more I can't stand the cold weather and all it brings...messy shoes on a clean kitchen floor, outside recess duty (or even worse, INSIDE RECESS DUTY:(, attempting to buckle kids in car seats with stay puft marshmallow man coats, and a husband who turns the thermostat down nice and low while we're gone during the day so that when I arrive home it feels like the frozen tundra in my house. Darn that groundhog for seeing his shadow...I'm ready for Spring!

Happy! Happy! Happy!

It's birthday season in the Metzger house! Starting this weekend, we will begin a birthday bonanza with Reese and Drew's birthday parties. Reese's 6th birthday is this Sunday. Then Reese and her friend, Ashlyn, will celebrate on March 6 with their classmates. Al turns 34 on March 13, and then Drew will celebrate his 8th birthday on the 26th of that same month. Let the gift wrapping and cake eating begin!

Way Too Soon!

Yesterday morning, Reese found my old Razor and started walking around with it. I noticed her holding it flipped open in two hands, and she was working her thumbs all over the keypad. "Whatcha doing?" I asked. "Textin' my boyfriend," she answered. "Run that by me again." She just smiled. Well, as the day went on, she pulled that phone out often. We went shopping and she was talking or texting on it most of the time. By mid-afternoon she had already set up two dates (one with Nathan and one with Isaac) during our kindergarten rest time. I told her I needed to see that phone. She said, "No." I promised I would not text on it, so she gave it to me. Well, I proceeded to pretend to cancel both dates until my free spirited younger sister grabbed the phone from me and told a pretend Nathan to pick Reese up at 7:30. Jodi is obviously no help. This morning on the way to Church, I took my own phone out to turn down the ringer. I told Reese she could take her phone in her purse but there was no "talking" on it during mass. She said, "Oh mom, I'm not going to talk. I'm just gonna text." I emailed Isaac's mom and told her to lock him up now:)

July???

Bet you'd never guess these photos were taken in JULY!!! During a light rain shower, the kids asked if they could play outside. I said, "Absolutely." However, there was such a chill in that July air, that they came back in for other outer apparel. They're all wearing rain boots, but Reese added a jacket and sunglasses, Drew put on his raincoat from kindergarten, and yes, Trey is wearing flannel pajamas and his winter snow hat:) I thought they all looked too cute (and utterly ridiculous) to not photograph.

Potty Trained

June was the month of binky breaking, and so in July, I decided it was time for potty training. Well, the start of school snuck up on me, and suddenly we were in the last 10 days of July and I hadn't even started yet. Soooo, I hit it hard, and Trey was pretty much trained in a couple of days. The only downfall was that I was taking the kids with me to get my classroom ready, and he would have to go nearly every 5-10 minutes. Which meant I would no sooner start a project and would have to stop and rush him off to the bathroom. Drew taught him how to use the urinal, which he thought was so cool. Now his babysitter is encouraging him to stand, but sometimes his aim isn't the best:( Oh well, as Al would say, at least no more diapers!

Breakfast in Bed (or on the Couch)

One morning this summer, Trey woke up running fever (as he seems to do at least once a month:( Reese, being the responsible big sister she is, decided she would make him breakfast in bed. On the tray is an extra large bowl of cereal, a granola bar, milk, a Kool-Aid Kooler, and something unknown in the orange cooler cup. As you can clearly see (although sideways), Trey thoroughly enjoyed it. What a sis!

Drew's Summer Ball Season

Drew played ball for 6 weeks this summer, two nights a week (#4). He played in the 5-7 year old league, and Al was his coach. Last year their team placed first - this year they tied for third. He hit the ball much more this summer, but the highlight of the season was during his last week when he made two outs fielding the ball at first and third and tagging the bases... in one game! We were so proud of him!