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!

Disney World

I guess it's finally time to post about our trip. I've been neglecting it for two reasons: 1. I know I'll never do our vacation justice in a blog post and 2. I'm afraid I'll get weepy remembering all we did there. However, I know it must be done so here it goes. Without sounding too corny, the trip was the most magical vacation I've ever taken. Now I've been to Disney three other times (as a child with my entire Scherer family, with my best friend in high school for her 16 birthday, and with Al as the second part of our honeymoon). It has always been the most special place for me, but seeing it now through my kids' eyes, was a totally different and fulfilling experience. Some of my favorites: watching Reese meet the Disney princesses (I love the princesses myself), seeing Al and Drew ride the roller coasters together (it's so neat to have a child old enough to do those things with us), watching Trey enjoy the Nemo exhibit at Epcot, every daytime parade at each park, the fireworks at Magic Kingdom at night (when Tinkerbell floated down from the castle I cried), Splash Mountain at Magic Kingdom, and Soarin' at Epcot. Epcot was probably my favorite park this time around, could be because I'm older, could also be that we did that park from 3 'til midnight and it was SO MUCH COOLER! We visited all four parks with a break day in the middle. Al and Drew actually went to a park alone that day and rode roller coasters, while Trey, Reese and I stayed back at the hotel and swam. We also visited Downtown Disney where we each got a personalized Christmas ornament. We ate at the most amazing restaurants where there was more food than we could ever possibly eat (the new Disney Dining Plan is phenomenal). We loved the Wilderness Canyon Cafe where the kids rode stick horses around the restaurant in a race and they served bottomless bbq skillets with milkshakes, and especially Chef Mickey's breakfast where we were visited by Mickey and each of his friends while we ate. Our hotel was the All Star Movies Resort which was very kid friendly with large Disney movie characters placed throughout. The Disney staff was super when Trey tripped our first night there and bled from the nose and mouth. They had paramedics there in less than 5 minutes and gave T a Mickey straw for being so brave. We were completely off schedule, sleeping until 9, eating meals late in the day and staying at parks or swimming until midnight, but it was awesome! I cried the night before we left sitting in our hotel room, and asked Al very seriously when we could start planning to come back. I told him I want to be the family that comes every year - it's that kind of place for me. I know it was that kind of place for my kids, and if you ask Al, I think he would agree. Our family loved Disney, and we can't wait to go back!

Cardinal Game

For those who know me well, baseball is probably my least favorite sport. Contrary to what my husband says, I find it slow and HOT! It's enough for me that Drew plays every Wed. and Thur. night of the summer, and I know Reese will play two nights a week next summer as well. That's more of the summer sport than I can handle, but because it's my own children I will attend every game with a smile (and squirting fan). The St. Louis Cardinals, however, are a different story. They are lucky to get me to one game a year, and I usually shoot for way early or way late in the season to avoid heat stroke. My annual visit occurred on May 22 this year, when our school had Valle Night at the stadium. It was an evening game in May, so I knew we'd be safe from the heat. Another perk was that Drew sold enough tickets for the school to go on the field for batting practice. We got there early, and dropped him off with a Cards representative who took him and 3 other Valle students down on the field. We were let in the stadium about 20 minutes later and went down to take pictures. Here's one of him on the field.

Reese's Recitals

Since my last post over two months ago:( Reese has had two recitals, dance and gymnastics. Her gymnastics was in late April and she's continuing classes throughout the summer. Her dance recital postponed our Disney trip by one day. It was Sat., June 6, and we left for vacation immediately after her dance. Luckily, her group was second to perform. We weren't allowed to take any photos during the performance, but I got one of her with her best friend Ashlyn. She has chosen to not dance this summer, but hopefully we can convince her to pick it back up in the fall. We're so proud of how well she's done in both this year.

White Picket Fence

Isn't a white picket fence so stereotypical? So often we hear of people wanting these perfect houses with a big yard and a white picket fence. Well, I know I don't have a white picket fence (nor do I really want one), but this blog background speaks to me and how I'm feeling this time of year. As the weather gets warmer, I watch my kids run in our yard (that becomes a field), swing on the swing set, or ride bikes up and down our driveway. I watch the sun tea in the jar on the patio, and smell the meat on the grill as Al bbq's most weekends. I thank God for all the blessings He's given me, especially this space to grow and raise our family. Ah, home sweet home!

Terrible Two's???

Trey is more fun than I can stand. I'm enjoying raising a little boy again, and am amazed at how different he is from Drew at this age. Now, I'm not naive (I mean, I know he's not perfect), but his behavior is pretty darn good, and everything he says makes me smile. I think it's the delivery in that adorable little voice. Might also be the fact that he speaks in questions 90% of the day.

Trey's Top Three Favorite Things (as of today):

1. Jammies - the boy loves jammies. He wants to put them on as soon as he gets home. This Sat. I took him to Wal-Mart. On the Clearance rack were different kinds of jammies: Yo Gabba Gabba, SuperMan, Batman, but the ones he wanted were red flannel jammies. He said he wanted the "Ben" jammies (Ben being one of the boys who slept over with Drew and wore, yes, red flannel jammies).

2. YouTube - Trey is enamored with any animal existing in the jungle, and is fascinated watching YouTube videos of animals from the Discovery Channel. He can spend a whole evening on my lap at the computer watching clip after clip.

3. Drew's basketball goal - he will stand at the edge of the goal and shoot hoop after hoop. When he doesn't make it he'll say, "Good try." When he does, he'll clap. The whole time he shoots he says, "Mommy, look at me." So cute.

Oh Boy! (Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy!)

It's been a while since I've blogged, but we've been extremely busy. I thought I'd try to quickly blog something about each child.
Two weeks ago, Drew had his very first sleepover. He'd decided he was big enough to not only have friends over, but also spend the night. He invited 3 boys for his birthday weekend. We picked them up at 3 and took them to Festus for bowling and Steak and Shake. They were typical boys: laughing, rolling around, noisy, but all in all very good. When we brought them all home that night, they played basketball, their Nintendo DS' and the Wii until Al put them to bed. The cutest thing: Drew wanted to come sleep with me that night. He let his buddies sleep in his room (actually one fell asleep on the couch). Guess he's not as big as he thinks he is:)
That next morning, at the table for breakfast, I looked at the 6 kids sitting around my kitchen table. I now know what our friends the Cheaneys' live like every day. I admire them greatly for raising 6 wonderful children. As for me, three suits me just fine!

Happy Birthday!

The last few weeks have been filled with birthdays in the Metzger household. Reese's was on February 21, but she and Drew shared a party on February 28. Then Al had his on Friday, March 13, and we are anxiously anticipating Drew's in less than two weeks, on the 26 of March. So looks like I'll leave the birthday page up until the celebrating is over.

Drew's First Basketball Game

Here's a picture from Drew's first game a couple of weeks ago. He plays in a league with other first and second graders. He's a bit passive, but we're proud that he's playing and having fun. He's run the point a bit, and has even gotten a shot off, but has yet to score. Defense looked a bit better today, and I felt had he been a bit more aggressive he would have picked off a couple of passes. The season ends in March, and I'm anxious to see the growth he makes over the next 5 weeks or so. He's no Michael Jordan...yet:)

Snow Fun!

Just a few pictures from the big snow a month ago. Gosh, it seems like ages ago now. We went sledding at least once every day, from Tuesday through Friday. Drew perfected the art of body sledding and boogie boarding down the hill. Reese made more snow angels than we could count. But Trey was probably the most fun to watch this year. He laid on his stomach on the disk sled and held on to the handles. I revved him back and forth and sent him flying down the hill. Alan and I laughed so hard we almost burst. We remembered when Drew was that age, and how protective we were of him because he was our first. We would have never let him sled down the hill at 2, especially not alone. Now we send our third child spiraling down and we stand back and crack up at how cute his little body looks on the sled. Oh, how things change after your first. There's absolutely nothing like a snow day!

Prima Ballerina

O.K. so I said I was going to do laundry. Instead, I decided to try my hand at this picture posting stuff. So, for my first attempt, I found some recent pictures of Reese before dance class. No matter that I can't figure out how to turn the first one around. (I'm almost embarrassed to admit that my computer and camera hold more photos of my students then of my own children). Oh well.

Reese attends dance class every Monday night, and every Monday she says she doesn't want to go. Seems gymnastics is her first and real passion (and she's good at it:) She recently moved into the next leveled group, and has started learning a routine where she is at the top of the building stunt. I told her we're sticking to dance until after her recital in June; partly because we've already paid for her costume, and partly because we had to reschedule our Disney trip due to the recital. Her gymnastics recital is at the end of April. It's fun watching her having fun doing something she loves. Maybe I'll get some pictures from gymnastics to post.

Also, I'll try and clear my camera to get some photos of my oldest doing his new thing: basketball.

Metzgers' Miscellaneous

Well, it's been a while since I've last posted. Last week was downright nuts with the 100th day of school falling on Monday and Valentine's Day parties on Friday. I was exhausted Monday night after that celebratory school day, and then still had to work 3 more days before finishing out the week on Friday. On top of that, I had arrival duty, morning recess duty, lunch duty and dismissal duty on Friday the 13th, along with our kindergarten Valentine's party. Needless to say, I was so ready to go home Friday night and enjoy a 3 day weekend. Which is exactly what I've done. We took the kids to the Magic House on Saturday. It's expanded it's already fabulous facility, and we had a blast exploring the new section. Yesterday, I took Drew and Reese shopping with me for the day with Jodi, Lainey and my mom. The kids were very well behaved. We ended up coming home with engraved basketball dog tags for Drew and pierced ears for Reese. Today I've graded papers, kept up with the house, and played with the kids. Reese has dance tonight, and a make up gymnastics session from the snowstorm. Drew rented Wii Super Paper Mario last night, and he's getting his own $5.00 worth out of it:) It is taking all my energy to keep Trey out of the shower or bath. He'd seriously live in there if you'd let him. Especially since Grammy Sharon gave him new foam soap from B and B Works for V-tine's Day. He thinks he's a professional window washer in the shower with his soap and squeegie. Well, guess I'll go and put away some laundry. Hope everyone enjoys their holiday as much as I am:)

We got the white stuff!

I went to bed last night listening to the consistent pelt of a 13 hour sleet, knowing I had another day off school, and gloating in the fact that I was able to take my kids sleigh riding after all. When Al got off work earlier that evening, we bundled them up, loaded them in the TB, and headed to my parents. I had every intention of sledding on the hill I did as a kid. My parents were so surprised to see us. We marched to the backyard and stood in front of the hillside that used to look SO STEEP. Now, at 32, it wasn't nearly as intimidating, so I hopped on with the kids and down we went. I kid you not, it was just as fun last night as it was 25 years ago. My mom came out to watch, and she cried as she saw her grandkids zoom down the hill her daughters once did with their neighbors and best friends, Wendy, Randy, Mike, Jaime, and April. After playing in the sleet, that looked a lot like snow, we headed in for pizza and warmth. We came home around 8, and had hot cocoa to top off the night. Reese and I went to bed somewhere around 9 to read. Al woke me up some time after that. I was so surprised to see the clock read 11:00. "What?" I asked him. His answer made me jump out of bed and run to the window. SNOW! Sure enough, we got snow last night, and LOTS OF IT! So much that Al couldn't make it out of the driveway this morning for work, so... looks like dad is snowed in with us. Oh, I love a SNOW DAY!

Could it be?!?

Oh my gosh!!! I think this might really be it! The meteorologist predicts ice this evening and then 3-6 inches of snow on top of that. There was such a buzz around school today, and I for once am feeling HOPEFUL! I know you're not supposed to ask God for things, but on Friday for our dismissal prayer, my students and I said an "Our Father," followed by a, "God, we know we shouldn't ask for snow, but if you're planning on letting it snow, please could it be enough for us to play in?"
Tonight, Drew, Reese, and I are going to watch our traditional "snow dance" movie, Snow Day. I've had it since Drew was 1, and I watch it every evening prior to a so-called "big snow."
Well, I guess we'll see tomorrow morning if our little kindergarten prayer has been answered.

Anticipated list of things to do tomorrow:

1. Sleep past 5:15 a.m.
2. Watch snow fall while drinking french vanilla flavored coffee.
3. Make homemade chicken noodle soup and chicken salad for dinner.
4. Enjoy Al coming home early.
5. Bundling up all 3 kids and going out sledding.
6. Coming in and drinking hot cocoa in front of the fire.

I hope the next time I post a message, it's not one of disappointment.
I don't know if anyone truly understands my love for the white stuff. It is absolutely one of my favorite things!

Snow Day?

I didn't sleep well last night. Trey cried off and on all night long, and I finally went to check on him at 5 this morning. He'd leaked out of the cheap Dollar General diapers Al picked up while at a baseball conference in Greenville. I took him to snuggle with me, and snoozed until 5:45. Got up, and instead of hopping immediately in the shower as usual, I started picking up things around the house. Strangely, my phone rang at 6. I was wondering who in the world would be calling me. Now I've received calls this early for no school, but was there even a chance of bad weather last night? I answered and it was Valle's automated service - no school due to snow. I looked out my window. Snow - yes. A bunch of it - no. There is a "light dusting" of snow in my yard and on my driveway. Looks like we'll burn another day for not much wintery weather. Oh well, at least I can watch the inauguration and clean my house.

I'm starting to get a little worried as there are only 11 days left in January. WILL WE EVER GET A BIG SNOW???

Our brave little girl!

We were at the hospital for the second time this winter, but with Reese this time. Seems her preschool teacher noticed a large lump under her left eye on Wednesday a.m. I went over to check it out, and sure enough, it looked like she was storing a large gumball in her cheek. I took her to our computer teacher (who also happens to be an EMT, as our school nurse was out that day) for a quick eval. She took Reese's temperature and made a couple of guesses - cat scratch fever and mumps. Well, all three of our children are completely up to date on vaccinations and we have no cats, so she suggested I take her to the doctor. The doctor looked her over, and decided to do a ct scan. "What?" You mean my little doodlebug has to have a cat scan? I was so anxious for her. Little did she know what a cat scan even was. Well, Al got new insurance 4 days prior to that, so we got the run around from doctor to hospital to Al for almost two hours. ( I kept thanking God the arctic chill wasn't moving in until Thursday, as we were in and out of the car about 14 times). Finally, at 2:30 they admitted her, gave her a tiny hospital bracelet, and took her into x-ray. When she saw that big donut machine, she just started shaking her head. Our nurse was wonderful, and she convinced Reese to get on the table and ride the donut. Reese was so brave. She had a look of complete terror on her face, but she did not move a muscle. The technician said she was the bravest little girl ever! She got a ton of stickers and we left. That next day, Grammy and Papa sent a candy bouquet to "their brave little girl," and Aunt Mandy even got in on the action by delivering a bumblebee dressed as a nurse and a balloon. All that for a ride in a donut. In case you're wondering, the results were a sinus infection. She just had a very inflamed nasal cavity. She's on an antibiotic now, and no longer looks like a deformed chipmunk!

SNOW, Please!

We are off today for our third questionable ice day. I hate ice. There's nothing fun about ice. You just stay holed up in your house and watch kids bounce off the walls. I want snow - and LOTS of it! I want to watch it fall and pile up in my big yard. Then I want to bundle my kids all up like the little boy in a Christmas Story and take them out to sled, and throw snowballs, and make snow angels. Then I want to bring them all in and take off their wet, drippy snow clothes and make hot cocoa to drink in front of the fire. I love snow. It is one of my very favorite things. Today as I'm sitting in my house, after the meteorologist said a week ago that today would produce "accumulating snow," I'm grumpy. I didn't want to burn a perfectly good snow day for a light shot of ice. Where's the snow?!?