A little catch up about the boys

So besides the hub bub of Christmas and shopping and all the prep work that goes into it - there really hasn't been a whole lot new with us. That is a good thing. Cody is taking his medication every day and doing really well with it. At times I wonder if it doesn't make him a little hyper but I can't really pin point it to the drug. One thing for sure is he doesn't complain that he is tired. So this is obviously working. The real test will come in Feb. when we do blood work to test his thyroid levels again. Dylan is doing well. I am very curious to see what he weighs in Jan at thier 5 year check up as he is really packing on the pounds. He loves to eat! He's doing well in school although the teacher said she thought he was "guessing" at some of his letters. So we are working on that. The problem is Cody blurts them out before he can get to it. Tyler got great news today from his speech therapist. She tested him and while he is still behind for his age group he has made up about a year loss of speech growth in 6 months. That is fantastic. She said actually she will need to "work with" the numbers to continue to qualify him for another 6 months. Basically keeping him in speech through this first year of preschool. I am very excited for Tyler as this was my hopes and dreams for him. He goes in January for a re-check of his ear tubes.

Cody and Dylan will be turning 5 in another month. Not sure where those 5 years have gone. I have so much reflecting to do on that. Many posts to come on that. In the mean time and on top of Christmas we are preparing for a birthday party. I called the other day and rented the movie theater. We are having a spongebob/pokemon birthday (nice combo huh). But the party should be fun with lots of their school friends.

Post maybe fewer and far between with Christmas coming next week. The Luckey family would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Shopping, Shopping, Santa and MORE Shopping

Our weekend was filled with Christmas Shopping. Brett's check came and it was time to get this party started. My feet still hurt from all the walking. I do have to say I am about done. A couple more people to buy for and that's it. Brett was great and kept the boys and just said "see ya, when I see ya". The crowds were crazy! I did the mall Saturday with the kids as we were going to see Santa. Wouldn't you know the minute we got there it was time for Santa to go feed the reindeer. So we had to wait an hour. Now going out in the north means winter coats. Well in the mall it is about a 100 degrees and so no coats...but who gets to carry them. ME! So we did some shopping for Brett and then enjoyed a pretzel and all of a sudden I see the line swelling for Santa. So we quickly make it over to it and OMG - we had to wait a good 35-40 minutes. CRAZY! Thankfully my mom was at the mall shopping and she came to take the boys for a walk and a potty break so I could stay in line. My crew LOVED Santa and I think Santa loved them as the 3 people in front of us all had crying kids. The picture was worth the wait to me:

Today, my Dad came out for his yearly Christmas shopping visit with the kids. He knows they have basically everything and finds it easier to just take them shopping. This year he add Cody and Dylan to the mix. He said "all of these toys make sounds and I think we have pushed every button". Tanya and I just laughed and said "I'm sure you did". The kids made out well. Then we went to Friendly's for lunch and ice cream and came back to my house so the kids could open the presents up. I made a mental note for Christmas morning - I need to have scissors, a screw driver and a little plastic bag for all the little junk stuff they use to wrap these toys into boxes. OMG! We of course had a photo op session with Papa too.....

We had a great visit with my Dad. So many emotions for me though but that is for another post. Now I have to concentrate on wrapping!

Merry Christmas!

Catching Up

I am happy to report that the sick bug has left our house. Sorry if he has landed at yours. I am knocking on wood that I only ended up with a cold. The boys didn't let the bug get them down for long and they are right back to their old selves. FULL of THEMSELVES!

We are all decorated for Christmas. Tree is up, lights are outside and they all work and the village is high up on the entertainment center and looks great (if I don't say so myself) After this year though I am getting all new lights. While putting up the tree I had a heck of a time with the last strand. Finally just gave up and went and bought a new one. Then I decided on the coldest day possible (cause the boys said the lights needed to get up as the neighbors are done) I stood outside in the freezing cold putting the lights up. Brett got off way to easy this year as he was at work. Trying to get the lights all connected so I was not running a million extension cords and then getting them all to work - what a chore. But I did it and they look good. Now, I need to start doing some shopping! Just waiting for the most important part - $$$$$. Brett gets his ref check and instead of shopping on credit, we will do it all in cash and it feels so much better. So I'll wait - but I am getting impatient.

I had my work Christmas party. We had fun. I had one amazing thing come from it though. There is a woman I work with that has a cleft lip and palate. I've known this for a while but we have never spoke about it. I figured she would come to me in time. She did and we had a great conversation. She had so many nice, encouraging words about Lucky Smiles and about Cody. I hope to get her to our next family day and who knows maybe Vegas in July.

My Dad is coming this weekend to take the kids Xmas shopping. He started this last year and they are anxious to get alone with Papa in Toys-r-us. I don't think my Dad knows what he is in for though. :)

Have a great rest of the week and weekend! We are hoping to get haircuts and then visit with Santa.

Sick Kids

It seems that the sick bug has made a stop at my house. I thought maybe we were done with it on Thursday when just Cody got sick. But at 4 am my mom peeked her head in my room and said "Dylan's throwing up". Are you kidding! So I get out of bed. Now this really sucks cause I just came to bed at 2. My work Christmas party was last night and well I had a few to drink and we had a good time. I am barely coherent so I take Dylan and we head to the couch for the night. He slept restless - I just slept. He got sick a couple more times, took a long nap and then woke up - FINE. Weird. Same thing Cody did on Thursday. So I thought we were done. Wrong! Cody got sick once more today. Only once though so not sure what it was all about and he has felt fine since. I thought maybe we were done but #3 needed a turn. We did baths, got all cleaned up, went downstairs to snuggle on the couch and it was Tyler's turn. All over the carpet. Eeeehhhh.......thank god for carpet cleaners. I am just hoping and praying we make it through the night.

So today we were going to go see Santa but that didn't happen. We'll go one night this week. Last night Xmas party was fun. I have to say there have been better parties in years past but I won't complain. It was free, there was an open bar, casino tables, Brett and I got our character picture done (it turned out awesome and I'll have to scan it) decent food (years past have been so much better) but we had fun and then went to a co-workers house for more after hours fun. I just wish I could of slept the entire night. Oh well - that is the job of a mom.

Christmas Parade

Tonight was the JC Christmas parade. We have gone every year and I think this year was the first year in a couple that there was no snow. While it was cold - it wasn't freezing. We got to see lots and the kids got a ton of candy.

Me and my 3 little parade goers! I have found it next to impossible to get them all to look at the camera. I guess 3 out of 5 isn't bad. Everybody loved that they had their Santa hats on.
All the way from Bikini Bottom.......SpongeBob Squarepants. The Grinch! (a little dark but his costume was awesome!)From Sesame Street to Main Street - Big Bird!Every parade must end with Santa. The kids were so excited to see him. We are going Saturday to the mall to see Santa again.
I was afraid today that we wouldn't get to go to the parade. Cody woke up at 5 am throwing up. I was hoping we wouldn't get hit with the bug (as my sister, mom and Karly) all had it. He never did run a fever. He got sick a few times and by lunch time he wanted a PB&J sandwich. He ate the whole thing and kept it down. So......by the time I got home he was up and energized and we went. I am hoping that is the last of it.

Snow Pictures

We don't have snow so this is the first of the season for us.
Helping Grandpa shovel......Everyone is building "something"Snow Devil Tyler....the horns are under the hat! :) Dylan standing on a tall pile of snow. Cody is Safe!

Thanksgiving Catch-Up

Hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving weekend. We enjoyed a nice long weekend in Cuba and found it to be pretty relaxing. One nice thing about being away from home is I don't have to look at all my house work that needs done. I just need to concentrate on keeping our stuff together and that's it. So...I called in sick on Wed. and we got home around 3. At 3:15 the boys were out in the snow as they had about 8" and we have none. I forgot how much fun it is to dress 3 boys in all the snow gear for 15 minutes. They had fun though.

Thanksgiving day we enjoyed turkey at the house. It was a first for that as in years past we have gone to either of the Grandma's houses. Brett's family is huge though - we had 20 people around the table. His sister has 10 kids so the number jumps quickly. We did get to see his Grandma Luckey as she was home for dinner from the nursing home. She is elderly and has Alzheimer's and it was hard to see her that way. She kept referring to Brett as "little Brett" and she couldn't get over Tyler. Thought he was so cute. His Grandma reminds me a lot of mine who I miss dearly.

The rest of the weekend we enjoyed more time in the snow. Took in a basketball game at the high school. That was fun. Always nice to go back and route for the Rebels. As my husband would tell me "you only go to chit chat and watch the cheerleaders"...while he isn't completely off - I did notice the cheerleaders and didn't think they looked horrible for their first time on the court. Loud, together, could of smiled more, could of done more sideline cheers, I could of done over half of their cheers with them. Saturday we got to do a little downtown shopping. Picked up some yummy cheese and salt rising bread. Went to Preston's birthday party. Got to see almost all of the extended family. Always nice to mingle with them. We headed back on Sunday and arrived safely through the snow.

One thing all of us managed to get while "at grandma's" were colds. So I'm hoping it goes away soon. I found out also on this trip I have to change my wording. I used to say "going home" cause I think and probably always will of Cuba as "home". But to my boys - Cuba is not home - it's grandma's. Our house is 'home' - so I have to break old habits and that is hard.

Since being home - the tree is up and is now decorated. We picked up Molly tonight and she was so happy to come home. I'll work on the rest of the decorations throughout the week. Thursday night is a Christmas parade and Friday night is my work Xmas party. My mom is babysitting as it's going to be a late night for sure.

The countdown is on..........24 days to go!