Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! A little late,l I know. I started this a little closer to the new year but illness hit me, and life happened so here we are.

2017 was a doozy! A tough year for our country with Twitter in Chief at the wheel, but a great one for the Hoots clan and myself personally. I remember after Brady was born and I decided to stay at home that I would frequently shake my head it disbelief that this was actually my new "job" and I didn't have to go in to the office every day, or ever, really if I wanted to. It felt a bit like cheating and I loved it. I also knew that when 2 or 3 came along, things might not be so rosy.  And they are not, but I don't want lose sight of the fact that I love that I get to stay home with my kids every day. And on top of that, that I have created a business that I can run from my home, that I'm excited to get to when my kids go to bed, that can actually be profitable and justify any childcare expense that I choose to reach for when my stay-at-home mommy tank is full.

So, I am not shy about sharing the frustrating aspects of motherhood here (because they tend to be more entertaining), but here are some uplifting updates from 2017.

Avery:

She is potty trained! She probably was ready several months ago but scheduling intense potty training didn't fit in he daily calendar so I threw her in some pull ups and pulled out the little potty.  When I finally transitioned her to underwear, she she was already trained and I didn't have to deal with the accidents that her brothers, and most kids, experience. She sort of owed me that though.

Avery transitioned to a big girl bed. It wasn't the easiest of transitions, but she's good now (usually) and doesn't throw up from screaming when she goes to bed. A little help from some melatonin gummies might have also helped, though she's now naturally going to sleep. It's a little later than we'd prefer but you pick your battles.

About two hours before her bedtime, her brothers go to sleep. Every night I ask the kids what they're thankful for and every night, Avery answers "food and air." It started as "tables and air" (or maybe tables and chairs??) but morphed somehow. At the young age of two, she seems to have broken her gratitude down to the essentials. I am also thankful for food and air each day, but forget to voice it.

Jackson:

He continues to be the sweetest, if not most anxious, of my children. A while back, it started snowing right after I put the kids to bed. Jackson had taken a nap that day do 10 minutes after everyone else was asleep, he creeped down the steps to ask if he could stay up and watch the basketball game with me. I told him yes, but look out the front door first. "Why?! Is there a monster out there?" was his response. I'm not sure what is sadder, that he thinks there are monsters outside or that he thinks if there were, mom would go tell him to take a look.

Last week we went bowling and before went, we quizzing our kids on bowling lingo. I explained what a turkey was and much to everyone's surprise (including my own), I got a three strikes in a row. I told Jackson that I'd gotten a turkey! And a few minutes later he asked when I was getting my turkey!! 

Brady:

He is crushing it in 1st grade. You know, that's how the kids talk these days and he's picking up on some lingo. He also now knows that the S word isn't stupid and the F word isn't fart, and will quickly point out when and if those words are said. Not from my mouth, of course, but I have had to watch what podcast I play when the kids are in the car. 

He asked to be homeschooled the other day (because his friend was talking about how he might get homeschooled), and I reminded him what that actually meant. My social butterfly would hate it, as he comes home from hanging out with his friends everyday and then asks me to invite friends over. Our house had become a bit of a revolving door for neighbor friends, and it's heaven for him.

Art is his favorite subject, somehow even surpassing PE. I transformed our dining room into an art room and Brady spends all sorts of time there. He has his heart set on being "Art Student of the Month," which they give to only one student in the school each month. Here's his latest submission.

 

Looks like Trimp is king of this castle, too.

The winner gets a golden paintbrush. I almost teared up when he came in to my office the other day, where I was painting, to tell me how he really wanted to win the Golden Brush for me.

I don't need a Golden Brush to know how wonderful my kids are. Thankful for this past year and looking forward to the next one.