the best of soccer practice

new booster seats

In an effort to accommodate our growing family and lower our monthly gas expenditures, we recently bought new booster seats for the Civic with the hopes of driving it more frequently while traveling as a family (30 mpg vs. 15 mpg in the Expedition!) This means we needed to find a way to fit 3 car seats in the back seat...not an easy task. So, we finally figured it out (kind of -- my recommendation to you would just be to stop having kids after you reach two and if you must have more than two children, just give in and buy a mini-van) and Jay finally found an extra minute to install them in the car. Of course, the boys immediately started exploring their new surroundings and the following conversation ensued (as retold by Jay):

LOGAN: Whoa! New car seats!
GRAY: Wow!
LOGAN: What's this, Daddy?!?!?
GRAY: Those are hold-cuppers, Logan!
LOGAN: Huh?
GRAY: You know...hold-cuppers! It's where you put your juice!
LOGAN: Oh!

How the heck do you work this thing?

Rather than read the manual (that would be too logical of a thing to do), I just keep playing around with the new camera to try to figure out how to work it. Can you tell the kids are getting a little sick of it?

You know it's time to have your baby when...

...you can successfully balance your other baby on your belly without holding her!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JENNA! I hope your birthday wish comes true -- in the form of a special visit to L & D! Come on, Finn -- what's the hold up?

Happy and Grumpy

We've got two of the seven dwarfs right here in our house. Happy was eager to have his picture taken with Mommy's new camera, but Grumpy in the background was having none of it!

(Really I just posted this to show how AWESOME this new camera is. The Allison's have decided to upgrade since we take 1,000 pictures every month. Of course, it would help if I knew how to use it, but check out how Logan is blurry in the background and Gavin is in focus! Love it.)

Baby Keegs

He just loves his "Baby Keegs" so much!

Go 'Noles

McLovin

Lovin' those Noles!

"we're not keeping score"

The Deerlake Blazer's had their first soccer game against the Astoria Hobbits on Saturday. It's been awhile since I've seen anything as funny as this. Twelve 3 and 4-year olds running around the field while their parents make a spectacle of themselves, yelling and cheering from the sidelines. I wish I would have counted the number of times I heard a parent yell, "Other way!!!!" It was HOT with a capital "H", so we're looking forward to an earlier game next week.

Logan, in fact, scored the first goal of the game...for the other team, but Coach Daddy (and everyone else from the Allison/Coddington clan along the sidelines) was still proud. No score was kept since it's all just for fun at this age (final was 3-3, including Logan's score for the Hobbits, so really we probably should have won!), but we played very well.

kiss your babies

Over the past week or so, I have been involved in helping our students cope with a tragic bus accident in which many children were injured and one little girl, unfortunately, did not make it. I received a call last Friday afternoon as I was leaving for the weekend and headed over to the crash site to assist with reuniting the uninjured children with their parents. Monday morning, I reported to the affected school to break the news to the children and assist in any other way I could. This would have been a tragedy anywhere, but in a town as small as Tallahassee, it hits especially close to home. After two exhausting days of helping the children work through their grief, I went for a run to let off a little of my own stress. I hadn't realized my own need to process little Ronshay's death and work through my own emotions. I'm certain that Ronshay is in a better place, free from pain, but my thoughts keep drifting to the 26 other children that have witnessed such a tragedy. I'll never forget their stories and illustrations -- some so detailed that I continue to have dreams about them a week later and find it difficult to get them off my mind. I'll never forget going into Ronshay's classroom, seeing her name written on the board, and having to break the news to her class.

So, I apologize for the sad post as I usually try to keep things upbeat on here. Even psychologists need to decompress sometimes and mine came to me in the form of a good run and a blog post. The point is: Ronshay's mother kissed her goodbye, sent her to school, and then never got to hold her child again. I cannot imagine a pain that deep. So, stop reading this and kiss your babies and show them how much you love them today!

For my psychologist friends:

We all hope this is never something we have to deal with, but it happens. Fortunately, not very frequently. For most of the other psychologists I work with, this the first we've had to deal with something of this magnitude (a teacher died of cancer at one of my high schools last year). We had the weekend to think about how to handle it, but that might not always be the case. If you find yourself in this situation, NASP online has a wealth of information including activities for the children, suggestions of how to handle the media (and boy were they out in droves), memorial ideas, and information for parents to help their children cope. They also have information on how to address suicides. I think it was well-handled by our district and the school's principal and would be happy to share in the unlikely event you find yourself in a similar situation. You know how to reach me.

the exersaucer...another great invention

Say cheese

It's picture day at Betton Hills!

Logan cooperated, as usual, allowing me to wet and gel his hair. Gavin on the other hand...well, it was all I could do to convince him to put on this shirt!

the plague and other bits of news

THE PLAGUE

(3 little sickies)

Last Saturday, Logan brought home what I now refer to as "the plague". New year, new school, new illness, and boy was this one a doozie. Logan started with it on Saturday. One minute he was fine and the next...he had a fever of 104.2! On the morning the plague took up residence in our home, I faintly remember Logan repeatedly telling me he was freezing, to which I replied (with a hint of annoyance), "Well, go put some clothes on then". Then, it was just too quiet in the playroom. You know, the kind of quiet that sparks your mommy-radar and makes you think someone is either dead or up to no good. So, I went to check it out. Logan was lying on his bed...very quietly...under all of his covers...watching a movie. This might be normal for your child, but it's not normal in my house. Usually, they boys like to act out whatever movie their watching. And they're usually watching Kung Fu Panda, so they're usually jumping off of furniture and practicing their karate moves. They are not quiet movie watchers. Long story short, Jay rushed him to Urgent Care (my kids only get sick on the weekends when we have to wait in long lines to see the on-call, non-pediatrician doctors), and two hours later we found out that it was viral. He then threw up in the car on the way home and, despite the towels that Jay thoughtfully brought along, he proceeded to get it on his clothes, the car seat, and even the car. It ran its course in about 2-4 days -- fever, vomiting, sore throat, repeat with next family member. Fortunately, the baby and I were spared...or at least, we got only minor versions of it. Eight days and a bottle of Lysol later, I'm proud to say the plague has left the Allison household.

GO DEERLAKE BLAZERS!

The boys have their first soccer practice this Thursday. Jay signed up to be an assistant coach, but no one signed up to be the head coach. So, that makes him.....you got it! Actually, they have now assigned a college student to help him out, so I guess Jay is officially just the assistant coach again. I can't wait! I've been waiting my whole life to be a soccer mom!

KEEGAN IS TEETHING

So, he escaped the plague, but now he's teething. I don't want to talk about it. I should be using this time to sleep.

GAVIN'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

I finally booked Gavin's birthday party for Chuck E. Cheese next Wednesday. Yes, his birthday was a month ago, but I promise I was not procrastinating. I was purposefully waiting until school started and he made some new friends so we could actually have kids there besides Gavin, Logan, and Keegan. It's a Spiderman party (and incidentally he wants to be Spiderman for Halloween and we already have a Spiderman consume, so it's a win-win situation as I will not have to drop another $30 on a costume this year).

the power of praise

So, last week Logan contracted "the plague" from his school, and it has been circulating through our family ever since. Tonight, after a long week of cleaning vomit off of everything from floors to couches to carpets, we are healthy again and Gavin finally seems to have his appetite back. We repeatedly praised him for eating all of his chicken nuggets, fries, and peas this evening -- with extra enthusiasm, high fives, and the whole nine yards. After dinner, he was given ice cream for dessert, which he inhaled and then finished Logan's too.

(I walk out into the dining room after putting Keegan down for the night)

GAVIN: (running up to me excitedly) Mama! Guess what!?!?!??
ME: What?
GAVIN: I ate all my ice cream! (said as if he just ate a plate full of broccoli)
ME: Really?
GAVIN: (proudly) Yep. I'm really good at hungry!

ending our Faycation

Our Fay-cation is over, so it's back to school and work today. We made it through the weekend without any further unwanted events and enjoyed time some quality time with the boys (who like it when it rains because they get to have a sleepover in Mama's room!). But today the rain continues and there were over 100 road closing this morning. It took Jay close to two hours to drop the kids off at school and get to work due to all the detours. Seriously, I don't know how much more rain we can get! Thanks to all of you Weather Channel watchers for your calls of concern. We are doing fine. Just a little sick and tired of staying inside. The kids are itching to go for a bike ride and we spent the remainder of the weekend cleaning all those places that never get cleaned (our toaster oven looks brand new again). I also retired two laundry baskets of toys out of the kids room, thereby reducing clutter and increasing the possibility of maintaining my sanity for another day or two (too many messes makes Mommy bitchy). The boys still have yet to notice any of the missing toys. We are keeping an eye on the Ochlockonee river flooding which runs a little too close for comfort behind our house as well as Gustav out in the Caribbean.

This is what our radar looks like today...

This time we're right on the eastern portion of the red box. Fay has actually taken a slightly eastern turn after moving west over us during the weekend.

Fay, Fay, Go Away!

It's been raining for two days and is expected to rain throughout the day tomorrow. Tallahassee is currently at 10 inches and counting, with some areas reaching up to 20 inches. L.A. averages 15 inches for the entire year if that tells you anything!

Like they say, when it rains, it pours. So far, during a torrential down pour, Jay has had to drill holes into our privacy fence to help the water drain into the street (our back yard was serving as a drainage ditch for the all of our neighbors' water) and patch a shingle on the roof that was causing a water leak in the dining room. Nice. I seriously have never seen so much rain in my life. Oh, and our property, which lies in a flood zone, has flooded exactly one time since we've lived here...on the evening before being shown to a potential buyer. Today marks the second in seven years.

Earlier today, Logan and Gavin went to Nana's to get out of the house for awhile. They hate rainy days and were stir crazy after about a half hour of rain yesterday. Now, with this coming our way...

...(we're somewhere near the western border of the red box) they're stuck there 'till tomorrow and we have the "night off" with just Keegan. Darn. So we're watching Sex and the City (the movie), cooking potato-crusted tilapia, and waiting for the next house issue to pop up. Hurricanes were so much more fun 10 years ago when our largest investment was a Chevy Nova and we passed the time by taking shots at a hurricane party. Ah, the good 'ole days...

A day of firsts

First day of school.

First time with Ashley, our new nanny.

(here they are eating McDonald's fries and letting them hang off their lips)

First time in the big boy bath seat.

all good things must come to an end

Keegan's first day away from Mommy. He hardly noticed the difference as long as the milk was there, he didn't seem to care what form it was in.

Well, the day finally arrived...the end of summer, the end of my maternity leave, and the end of sleeping in late! Now, it's back to early mornings, back to battling traffic and the seemingly endless Tallahassee road construction, and back to reality.

My emotions about returning to work are mixed and depend on the time of day. My favorite time to be home is early in the morning. It's then that I appreciate the children and this time I have with them the most. I start by nursing Keegan, quietly observing him, in all his beauty and innocence, enjoying his morning snack. After singing a couple of lullabies and getting up a good burp, I place him back in his crib where I can nearly guarantee that he'll sleep for the next two to three hours. On a good day, the boys are still asleep and I get some time all to myself to drink my coffee, surf the web, and (only after I have procrastinated to the extent that I have nothing interesting left to read online) finally hit the treadmill. It's about this time that Logan will wake up and keep me company, incessantly asking question after question about this world we live in (Why did God make so much stuff? When can we get to see heaven? Why do you still have a big tummy, Mommy? How did Keegan get in there anyway? Why do we have telephone poles? And the list goes on and on). Eventually, we wake up Sleeping Beauty (Gavin) and snuggle up on the couch together to watch the Disney Channel. This is, without a doubt, one of my favorites times of day, and the thing I'm missing the most.


Fast forward to lunch time. As I attempt to make lunch with my left hand while juggling Keegan in my right, the boys practice their newfound Kung Fu Panda moves...on each other. This inevitably results in crying, fighting, and sustained injuries. Couple this with the fact that all three children are now hungry and tired, and one can certainly understand why I've been looking forward to the start of the new school year.

So, we are slowly getting back into our routines as well as finding some new ones. Last week, during teacher planning, I had to work, but the kids were still off. We have a new nanny, but she was still in Destin finishing up an internship, so I had no idea what I was going to do. Thankfully, the mother of the family I used to nanny for as a college student offered to help out. And boy how the tables have turned! Her five children seem all grown up. So much so that I hardly recognize them! When I started working for her, the youngest was just a baby and the oldest was 11 or 12. Now, that "baby" is a fifth grader and her oldest son is a 20-year-old college student. How's that for making me feel old!?!? Anita has done a wonderful job of raising her kids to be kind, generous, and polite young adults and it was so nice to be able to leave for work knowing the boys would be loved and cared for.

Tally's newest resident

Welcome to Tallahasse, Great Nana!

We're so glad to finally have you here!

just a piece

Logan and Gavin are complete opposites when it comes to many things. Logan loves condiments and dips on top of everything he eats (like me), Gavin wants it all "plain". Gavin can't get enough sweets and bites right into ice cream (like Jay). Logan turns down chocolate regularly (don't know where he got that from!) and licks his ice cream delicately so as not to hurt his teeth (like me). Most recently, we've come to terms with the fact that Gavin appears to be a night-owl and seems to have inherited the "Allison Sleeping Gene" (they can't get enough of it in that family). Logan, on the other hand, has always been early to bed and early to rise, like a true Coddington.

So, this is the bedtime scenario from the other night: Logan is lying quietly in his bed trying his best to go to sleep. Gavin is climbing on Logan's bed, singing, and hitting Logan with his stuffed snake.

LOGAN: (comes running out of his room) Mommy! Gray won't leave me alone.
ME: Really?
LOGAN: Yeah, and I'm trying to go to sleep! I need to go to sleep in your room!
ME: (usually I don't mind, but I have work to do in there) Baby, just try it one more time and tell Gray to stop talking to you.
LOGAN: No! I can't! I told you! I JUST NEED A PIECE OF QUIET!!!!!