I hear this from Sam at least 20 times a day.....more if we are in the car for any extended period of time.
Hey Mom.....(random fact)
Hey Mom, did you see (random thing out the window)
Hey Mom.....(random question)
Hey Mom.....(joke only funny to him)
Last week he had a pretty good one.
Hey Mom, Kelsey said she wants to be a police girl when she grows up. But I told her she has to be a policewoman. BECAUSE that doesn't make sense. It's a policeMAN, there is no policeBOY. Policegirl doesn't make sense, does it? Nope, she has to be a policewoman.
Pretty smart for a 4 yr old...
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Gavin is NINE!
Oh my goodness....I was looking at old photo's and I don't even remember this little boy..
He has had such a great year and we are so proud! He had a wonderful year in third grade and is doing awesome so far in 4th grade in Lincoln. He is out playing with neighborhood kids here, zipping around the neighborhood on his bike, or running laps and telling us about everything he sees in the neighborhood (a state trooper lives one street over!)
I can not believe this is the same kid that I was just hoping would breathe on his own nine years ago.
He's not a perfect kid, we're not a perfect family - I hate blogs that are all roses, all the time. We are normal people that have our moments, and he can be stubborn and hot tempered and grumpy and mean to his brother.
However, more often than not he is sweet, and kind hearted, and thankful. He works hard, he likes hugs, and would be so great to his little brother if little brother weren't always starting trouble :) He is funny, has a quirky sense of style, and wants to be an individual.
Last night we celebrated with a dinner at home with all his favorites - steak and baked potatoes on the grill, roasted carrots, jello cake. He got some super cool DJ style headphones from us and has a couple more gifts coming in the mail this week - unfortunately I didn't get the order in on Amazon quick enough to make it yesterday! Just Dance 4 and his very own Garmin GPS running watch should be arriving soon.
I hate that the years seem to be flying by! This last year has been pretty amazing....it is so fun now that he is older and we can do more things together, skiing, running, kicking the soccer ball.
After nine years of parenting, you learn that it's not slowing down any time soon.....so I'm just going to remind myself to stop and appreciate all the good moments. I am so thankful to have this child in my life!
Gavin is growing up......like I wrote real words in his birthday card and he read them aloud and took them to heart..
He has had such a great year and we are so proud! He had a wonderful year in third grade and is doing awesome so far in 4th grade in Lincoln. He is out playing with neighborhood kids here, zipping around the neighborhood on his bike, or running laps and telling us about everything he sees in the neighborhood (a state trooper lives one street over!)
I can not believe this is the same kid that I was just hoping would breathe on his own nine years ago.
He's not a perfect kid, we're not a perfect family - I hate blogs that are all roses, all the time. We are normal people that have our moments, and he can be stubborn and hot tempered and grumpy and mean to his brother.
However, more often than not he is sweet, and kind hearted, and thankful. He works hard, he likes hugs, and would be so great to his little brother if little brother weren't always starting trouble :) He is funny, has a quirky sense of style, and wants to be an individual.
Last night we celebrated with a dinner at home with all his favorites - steak and baked potatoes on the grill, roasted carrots, jello cake. He got some super cool DJ style headphones from us and has a couple more gifts coming in the mail this week - unfortunately I didn't get the order in on Amazon quick enough to make it yesterday! Just Dance 4 and his very own Garmin GPS running watch should be arriving soon.
I hate that the years seem to be flying by! This last year has been pretty amazing....it is so fun now that he is older and we can do more things together, skiing, running, kicking the soccer ball.
After nine years of parenting, you learn that it's not slowing down any time soon.....so I'm just going to remind myself to stop and appreciate all the good moments. I am so thankful to have this child in my life!
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
I think we are going to like it here
Well, Gav survived his first day of school, timed math tests and all :)
After school we came back to my office for a bit and then to the hotel to hit the fitness center and pool. I wasn't feeling it so cut my work out short, postponing it to today and instead we went out for Cherry Berry! Good trade, don't you think?
Our house is right by a Super Target, which is super dangerous. We had a small list of things we needed (shower rod, curtain, rings, etc). We ended up with decorations for the kids room and a whole lot of other stuff as well. I never got around to decorating our house in Johnston, so it is kind of fun to decorate the kids bath with matching accessories, hang posters in the kids rooms, etc.
We got to the house and the new carpet that we installed on the first floor looks so good! Good thing we replaced it since the neighbor girl told Gav she saw the little kid that lived there pee on the floor one time. Gav was horrified. I spent some time scrubbing some schmutz off the fridge......I'm thinking I can never buy a used house again. I realize that makes me incredibly privileged (and I totally acknowledge that I am) - but other peoples dirt and residue totally skeeves me out!! There is definitely a cleaning list we will need to work through, windows, etc.
Gav went outside and played with the neighbor kids for a good hour while I worked on the house and dinner. He brought his buddy Cole in to show him around the house. I was so happy that the kids were so welcoming and friendly! There's just kids all over the place in this neighborhood. I didn't a chance to get outside and talk to parents, but hopefully tonight I can do that and get in on a carpool to school.
This morning when I dropped Gavin off at school, he didn't want me to walk him in. I just dropped him near the doors and he immediately saw a kid he knew and started talking and walking in with him.
So overall, things are going really well here and I am excited about how well Gavin is handling the transition. He seems to have a confidence that I didn't have til I was an adult - now I love walking into a situation where I don't know anyone and chatting up new people, but I don't remember that as a kid. I was shy about approaching people first, and Gavin just puts himself out there.
Now I just hope it goes as well for Sam once he gets here!
After school we came back to my office for a bit and then to the hotel to hit the fitness center and pool. I wasn't feeling it so cut my work out short, postponing it to today and instead we went out for Cherry Berry! Good trade, don't you think?
Our house is right by a Super Target, which is super dangerous. We had a small list of things we needed (shower rod, curtain, rings, etc). We ended up with decorations for the kids room and a whole lot of other stuff as well. I never got around to decorating our house in Johnston, so it is kind of fun to decorate the kids bath with matching accessories, hang posters in the kids rooms, etc.
We got to the house and the new carpet that we installed on the first floor looks so good! Good thing we replaced it since the neighbor girl told Gav she saw the little kid that lived there pee on the floor one time. Gav was horrified. I spent some time scrubbing some schmutz off the fridge......I'm thinking I can never buy a used house again. I realize that makes me incredibly privileged (and I totally acknowledge that I am) - but other peoples dirt and residue totally skeeves me out!! There is definitely a cleaning list we will need to work through, windows, etc.
Gav went outside and played with the neighbor kids for a good hour while I worked on the house and dinner. He brought his buddy Cole in to show him around the house. I was so happy that the kids were so welcoming and friendly! There's just kids all over the place in this neighborhood. I didn't a chance to get outside and talk to parents, but hopefully tonight I can do that and get in on a carpool to school.
This morning when I dropped Gavin off at school, he didn't want me to walk him in. I just dropped him near the doors and he immediately saw a kid he knew and started talking and walking in with him.
So overall, things are going really well here and I am excited about how well Gavin is handling the transition. He seems to have a confidence that I didn't have til I was an adult - now I love walking into a situation where I don't know anyone and chatting up new people, but I don't remember that as a kid. I was shy about approaching people first, and Gavin just puts himself out there.
Now I just hope it goes as well for Sam once he gets here!
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
First Day of School!
After a rough first soccer practice with his new team last week, Gav had a GREAT practice last night. They play at a big sports complex, so I took the time to get a 5 mile run in. By the time I came back to watch practice, he was easily chatting with the other kids (and impressing them with his stomach roll parlor trick).
We stopped by Red Robin for a quick dinner, and then hit the hotel for bed.
Gavin woke up excited and not at all nervous about his first day of school. We parked on a side street and I walked him in - seems like a lot of people were walking to school or parking and walking (there is not a bus program in Lincoln). We found where the 4th graders were lining up and got him into his line. I tried to ask a couple parents about the pick up process, but they were either new as well, or walked. I'm afraid it feels a little disorganized, but we'll figure it out. The good thing is that there seem to be quite a few new kids in Gavin's class, so he is not the only one.
Another good thing I noticed is that the traffic doesn't seem to bad in the morning (at least in the south part where our house / school / office is).
Now I am counting down the hours until I get to go pick him up and hear all about his first day! On the agenda for tonight is getting signed up at the Y and making dinner at the new house (and then coming back to the hotel to sleep - good thing everything is close to each other!). 4 hours and 37 minutes.....this day is going fast!
Saturday, May 25, 2013
John Wayne Bday Festival
It has been a LONG time since I posted, and hopefully one of these days I'll have time to catch you (yes you, all three people that read this!) of all that's been going on. The Sellers have been doing well, kids got through the end of the school year, Gavin and Chad are having amazing racing seasons, and we are exploring some exciting opportunities on the career / job fronts. I'm so grateful for our health and all the good things in our lives, because there are others I know that are fighting job loss, cancer, and other life altering events. Count your blessings people!
Sam went to grandma Betsy's for the weekend, so Chad and I went out to Winterset to run a small 5k that was part of a line up of events for the John Wayne celebration. Gavin came with us to cheer us on. The fitness sports website had 9:30 start time listed, so we went out there, registered by 8:30 and thought we had plenty of time to warm up. I went one way to warm up a couple miles and hit the restroom, Chad went another.
I got back to the van at 9:11 and Gavin told me the website was wrong, the race started at 9, and dad had been able to jump in the race. I have to admit I was really, really bummed. I was looking forward to it, my training has been going well, and with a small field I had a chance of taking the win for the women. But then I tried to remember the big picture and that this was not that big of deal. Stuff happens. Gav and I jogged up to watch the finishers come in and yell for Chad.
After the race, Chad was going to cool down with the guy that won, and another guy from Pioneer that came out and ran the race. He told me to join them, and it could at least be a decent tempo (close to race pace) run for me. Ha! Yes, Chad's easy cool down pace is my race pace. I kept up with them a good mile and a half and started fading. So we eased up a little, but still got a couple good faster (for me) miles in. Then we did another couple miles at my cool down pace. So, I didn't race, but I got in some good miles and ran with the Hubs.
Gavin really wanted to stay for the pie tasting, but it didn't start til 12:30 (it was 10 am still!). Our Pioneer friend hopped in our van and we took off to see the covered bridges. Along the way we passed a winery, with the tasting room open at 11, so after seeing a couple bridges, we stopped in the tasting room. Gavin drank a sprite while I sampled all their wines and the guys sampled the beer. Iowa wine has sure come a long way from the sickly sweet stuff they used to be!
Finally we made it back to Winterset for pie time. We also stopped into Mi Pueblito for lunch and it was amazing mexican food! They had this smoky, tasty hot sauce that I am now regretting not asking to buy a big cup of to bring home. If you happen to be in / near / driving through Winterset, you can not go wrong there, especially with their lunch specials ~ $5 a plate for a ton of food.
And now we are relaxing at home, we head to Cedar Rapids for a track meet tomorrow.
Sam went to grandma Betsy's for the weekend, so Chad and I went out to Winterset to run a small 5k that was part of a line up of events for the John Wayne celebration. Gavin came with us to cheer us on. The fitness sports website had 9:30 start time listed, so we went out there, registered by 8:30 and thought we had plenty of time to warm up. I went one way to warm up a couple miles and hit the restroom, Chad went another.
I got back to the van at 9:11 and Gavin told me the website was wrong, the race started at 9, and dad had been able to jump in the race. I have to admit I was really, really bummed. I was looking forward to it, my training has been going well, and with a small field I had a chance of taking the win for the women. But then I tried to remember the big picture and that this was not that big of deal. Stuff happens. Gav and I jogged up to watch the finishers come in and yell for Chad.
After the race, Chad was going to cool down with the guy that won, and another guy from Pioneer that came out and ran the race. He told me to join them, and it could at least be a decent tempo (close to race pace) run for me. Ha! Yes, Chad's easy cool down pace is my race pace. I kept up with them a good mile and a half and started fading. So we eased up a little, but still got a couple good faster (for me) miles in. Then we did another couple miles at my cool down pace. So, I didn't race, but I got in some good miles and ran with the Hubs.
Gavin really wanted to stay for the pie tasting, but it didn't start til 12:30 (it was 10 am still!). Our Pioneer friend hopped in our van and we took off to see the covered bridges. Along the way we passed a winery, with the tasting room open at 11, so after seeing a couple bridges, we stopped in the tasting room. Gavin drank a sprite while I sampled all their wines and the guys sampled the beer. Iowa wine has sure come a long way from the sickly sweet stuff they used to be!
Finally we made it back to Winterset for pie time. We also stopped into Mi Pueblito for lunch and it was amazing mexican food! They had this smoky, tasty hot sauce that I am now regretting not asking to buy a big cup of to bring home. If you happen to be in / near / driving through Winterset, you can not go wrong there, especially with their lunch specials ~ $5 a plate for a ton of food.
And now we are relaxing at home, we head to Cedar Rapids for a track meet tomorrow.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Ski Trip 2013 - 1st ski day
First day of skiing done and I am EXHAUSTED!!
The drive yesterday went very well, we made awesome time and the kids were as well behaved as could be expected. As soon as we hit the mountain we got into some weather, again, to be expected. Rain turned to snow turned to icy roads. But I'll take an hour of stressed out driving because it meant fresh powder!
We are staying at Cirque Lodge at Copper Mountain, on recommendation from a friend. It happened to be a fairly good deal too. We are in a two bedroom condo and it has an awesome deck, nice features, and we have a ski locker, gym, pool, hot tubs at our disposal. It's a bit of a walk to get to the lifts, certainly not bad if it were just me, but far for little kids. Copper Mountain does have these carts all over the place though, that you can use to haul your equipment (and children) around. Remind me to tell you how fun it is to pull a cart + 40 lb preschooler, plus our skis through fresh powder after a long day of skiing. Partially uphill. At least I am getting a full body workout.
Sam was signed up for ski and Gav and I skied together. Everything went very smooth at ski school drop off and Sam wasn't nervous at all. Gav and I headed for the ski lift - which wasn't very busy! I don't know if it's just like this on Sundays in general, but we were never waiting in lines.
We sailed down some green runs and Gavin had no problem remembering how to ski. It was snowing pretty hard the first hour or so, and then the rest of the day it snowed on and off. It was nice at the base of the mountain, but really cold when we approached the top of a couple of the lifts.
We progressed to some blue runs and then tried to plan out a black. I do find the signage at Copper a little hard to follow. We had a hard time sticking to our planned route due to a trail cutting across a mountain and not being able to make it over there. In the end we only hit one or two black trails, they were really hard! And Gavin does not ski easy - he is really cautious and doesn't get out of control but he also doesn't stop til he gets all the way to the bottom. I love how cautious he is, but that means more turning (more work for the quads) and then not getting a rest break (Copper has really nice, long runs) was making me cramp up a bit. I was also diagnosed with iron deficiency Friday, so the fact that my muscles are not getting / storing / using oxygen as they should doesn't help. Constant lactic acid pain is not the most fun thing.
Around 2:15 we headed back to the lodge where I would have to pick up Sam at 3. Gavin was done skiing, so I set him up with some hot chocolate while I carried his ski's back to our condo and got the ski harness for Sam in case he wanted to ski more.
I picked up Sam from ski school, and was a bit bummed with the results. He couldn't stop, could barely snow plow and could only turn right. Oof. We went into the lodge and met up with Gav and Chad and Sam promptly started melting down while simultaneously insisting he was ok to come on the ski lift and down the hill with me. Against my better judgment, we took off. He cheered up once he got the ski's back on.
We made it on and off the lift without consequence. Woohoo!
I started out trying the harness and he just fell backwards. We then did the Sam skiing between my legs while holding on to my poles, and it worked as long as it wasn't too steep. He was pretty tired by this point and just getting him to put his weight on his own legs (instead of leaning back on me) was nearly impossible. I think it took us about 45 minutes to make it down the run (remember what I said about the nice long runs? I take that back) and not only were my quads on fire but my lower back as well.
So I'm trying (unsuccessfully) to talk him into another ski lesson tomorrow, but I have reservations because I'm not sure he got a lot out of it today. I've heard good things about the harness, so I am now off to google You Tube videos on how to teach a 4 yr old to ski using one.
Wish me luck. And strong muscles. And patience.
Oh and the hubs? He dropped Sam off with us at ski school, helped Gav and I get our gear on, checked out the village, and did some snow shoeing!
The drive yesterday went very well, we made awesome time and the kids were as well behaved as could be expected. As soon as we hit the mountain we got into some weather, again, to be expected. Rain turned to snow turned to icy roads. But I'll take an hour of stressed out driving because it meant fresh powder!
We are staying at Cirque Lodge at Copper Mountain, on recommendation from a friend. It happened to be a fairly good deal too. We are in a two bedroom condo and it has an awesome deck, nice features, and we have a ski locker, gym, pool, hot tubs at our disposal. It's a bit of a walk to get to the lifts, certainly not bad if it were just me, but far for little kids. Copper Mountain does have these carts all over the place though, that you can use to haul your equipment (and children) around. Remind me to tell you how fun it is to pull a cart + 40 lb preschooler, plus our skis through fresh powder after a long day of skiing. Partially uphill. At least I am getting a full body workout.
 |
| View from our deck |
 |
| Someone was excited to get here |
 |
| Dropping Sam off |
We sailed down some green runs and Gavin had no problem remembering how to ski. It was snowing pretty hard the first hour or so, and then the rest of the day it snowed on and off. It was nice at the base of the mountain, but really cold when we approached the top of a couple of the lifts.
We progressed to some blue runs and then tried to plan out a black. I do find the signage at Copper a little hard to follow. We had a hard time sticking to our planned route due to a trail cutting across a mountain and not being able to make it over there. In the end we only hit one or two black trails, they were really hard! And Gavin does not ski easy - he is really cautious and doesn't get out of control but he also doesn't stop til he gets all the way to the bottom. I love how cautious he is, but that means more turning (more work for the quads) and then not getting a rest break (Copper has really nice, long runs) was making me cramp up a bit. I was also diagnosed with iron deficiency Friday, so the fact that my muscles are not getting / storing / using oxygen as they should doesn't help. Constant lactic acid pain is not the most fun thing.
 |
| Last picture, he was getting tired, cold and kinda over it |
I picked up Sam from ski school, and was a bit bummed with the results. He couldn't stop, could barely snow plow and could only turn right. Oof. We went into the lodge and met up with Gav and Chad and Sam promptly started melting down while simultaneously insisting he was ok to come on the ski lift and down the hill with me. Against my better judgment, we took off. He cheered up once he got the ski's back on.
We made it on and off the lift without consequence. Woohoo!
I started out trying the harness and he just fell backwards. We then did the Sam skiing between my legs while holding on to my poles, and it worked as long as it wasn't too steep. He was pretty tired by this point and just getting him to put his weight on his own legs (instead of leaning back on me) was nearly impossible. I think it took us about 45 minutes to make it down the run (remember what I said about the nice long runs? I take that back) and not only were my quads on fire but my lower back as well.
So I'm trying (unsuccessfully) to talk him into another ski lesson tomorrow, but I have reservations because I'm not sure he got a lot out of it today. I've heard good things about the harness, so I am now off to google You Tube videos on how to teach a 4 yr old to ski using one.
Wish me luck. And strong muscles. And patience.
Oh and the hubs? He dropped Sam off with us at ski school, helped Gav and I get our gear on, checked out the village, and did some snow shoeing!
Monday, March 11, 2013
I'll Love You For A Million and 71 Days
~ quote by Samson Sellers
Sam, as many 4 yr olds are, is a complete split personality.
On one hand, he is loving, sweet, sensitive and attentive.
The other side is devious, trouble making, mouthy, and temper tantrum-y.
Both happen in the extreme.
When he is in a loving mood, I get showered with lots of "I love you's" and smooches. He'll usually say something like "I love you for the WHOLE weekend, mama!"
A weekend seems like a pretty long time for a little kid after all! As we went back and forth with how long we'd love each other, he topped out at a million and seventy one days. Good enough for this mama.
Another great example of his caring spirit - my fellow preemie mom friend's daughter Daphne just had a kidney transplant last week. She's four, and recovery has been tough. She needs to start moving around more to aid in recovery, so I thought making some video of Sam dancing around would inspire her to move, shimmy and shake a bit, if nothing else, it might cheer her up. We made one Saturday and the next day he woke up and asked how "Daph-a-nee" was doing and if she was still in the hospital. When I told her that she was, he wanted to record another video for her. I have linked them below if you want to check out his moves!
Sam, as many 4 yr olds are, is a complete split personality.
On one hand, he is loving, sweet, sensitive and attentive.
The other side is devious, trouble making, mouthy, and temper tantrum-y.
Both happen in the extreme.
When he is in a loving mood, I get showered with lots of "I love you's" and smooches. He'll usually say something like "I love you for the WHOLE weekend, mama!"
A weekend seems like a pretty long time for a little kid after all! As we went back and forth with how long we'd love each other, he topped out at a million and seventy one days. Good enough for this mama.
Another great example of his caring spirit - my fellow preemie mom friend's daughter Daphne just had a kidney transplant last week. She's four, and recovery has been tough. She needs to start moving around more to aid in recovery, so I thought making some video of Sam dancing around would inspire her to move, shimmy and shake a bit, if nothing else, it might cheer her up. We made one Saturday and the next day he woke up and asked how "Daph-a-nee" was doing and if she was still in the hospital. When I told her that she was, he wanted to record another video for her. I have linked them below if you want to check out his moves!
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