My Day of Computer Mania

      My kids probably think I'm going to turn into a computer today. You know, like that kid in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Wait, he didn't turn into a computer, he turned into a mini kid in his television set. Anyway, you get the idea. Lots of time was spent today in front of my screen trying to catch up on picture editing, emails, online bills, Words with Friends and all the other little things that didn't exist before computers (I can still remember back that far...crazy huh!?)
     

Since I've made it this far, I figured I might as well update this blog too. That way I will officially be done with my computer for at least 24 hours and maybe tomorrow I might actually be productive around the house. We'll see. Dan is beating me at Words, so I might have to spend some time drafting up 100 point words to smear him back.

Anyway, about the kids.  I am in love...four times over.  Logan and I have been, how should I say, butting heads a bit lately. He is very justice oriented, and he is also very energetic and that combination coupled his idea of how his after school time should be spent leads to a power struggle now and then. I've started a new method of writing on a 3x5 card a list with little check boxes of the tasks each individual child needs to complete when they get home, before they can have free time, and it has worked really well so far. Logan still tries to wheel and deal a bit, but the list is like law, so he doesn't fight it as much as he would me. It's hard to argue with paper.
         Despite our little power struggles, I am thoroughly enjoying watching Logan grow. He is so smart, so capable, and so in touch with the feelings of people around him. He is fun to talk to and I feel like he understands when I need extra help or space or just a hug. He is an excellent big brother to Ellie. Sometimes I feel like she'd be just fine with him as a sitter (against the law, I know...just hypothetical). He makes sure she's happy and likes to help her dress up like a princess. He likes to style his own hair now too. It's sort of a Justin Beiber kind of look, swooped down in front. :)
        Linc is doing great! He is a perpetually happy kid, unless of course something doesn't go the way his heart was set and then it seems the world has crashed down on him, but he is usually easy to cheer up and bounces back pretty fast. He still loves his healthy food. Oranges and apples are his usual snacks. He'll eat his apples to the seeds and his oranges to the peel. Linc is really good with lists. If his responsibilities are written out for him, he WILL get them done. He will not, however, do them differently than they are written, so if you want to change things up on him, put it in writing or you are out of luck! Linc loves art. He is always found with a pencil in his hand or a crayon behind his ear. He loves people and names and has a sponge brain when it comes to dates and names and things. Everyone is always asking him what day it is, or what "that guy" in a movie we just saw was called and he always knows. Linc loves his little sister too. He is the one she goes to when she needs a hug.
    Owen Powen is as crazy and fun as ever. I sat and watched him color today. He had a piece of paper and two crayons and he was drawing a Star Wars picture, only he wasn't drawing, he was battling. One crayon against the other until the colors were smashed all over the paper and the blue crayon (a republic guy) had defeated the red crayon (a Sith Lord).  He looked up with his silly grin and asked how I liked his drawing. He's my question-asker. He has an imaginary friend named Sam and one named Max and he plays Monopoly Deal with them all the time. (They've never won strangely enough!) He and Linc play really well together. They love that "Dynamite" song and have a lot of fun googling all the different you tube versions of it (there are WAY too many, and I am with them to supervise of course). He's good with Ellie too, although I think he thinks she's a little diva-ish. He loves to hear her say the word, "banana." It cracks him up.
       Ellie is...well...a bit diva-ish. :)  She knows how to push her brothers buttons, but she's not mean hearted about it. She just thinks it's funny, and she knows they can't fight back. No fair huh? She is talking like crazy and becoming more and more understandable every day. I've been talking very articulately with her (makes me feel like a robot) and reading to her as much as I can to help move her speech along and I feel like it's starting to pay off. The speech pathologist in me has been worried about her. Ellie loves cupcakes, strawberries, puppies and chocolate and she tells Daddy about them every morning after she wakes up. She runs into things a lot because she runs while looking behind her and she always has a cheery, "hello!" for people in public which results in complete strangers bartering with me to take her home. Owen doesn't like that at all. :) She's a singer. She is always humming or singing something, and she calls me, "her girl". I love it.

That's about it for the update I guess. I do have a few pictures to add, so I'll do that and be gone. I can't believe we are already almost finished with January! Wow. See you all again soon!

 Logan's derby car for this year. He wanted it to look like a bullet. He did really well. I was home with a  sick Ellie, but Dan and the boys went and he placed third over-all with the boys.

This is what happens when you put a fun little girl in the mix with three big, Mario and Luigi loving brothers.

Mario dance party. Linc claimed to be a mushroom.

Doing the caterpillar.

I just thought this one was cute.

O and Linc's favorite game these days...Monopoly!

We have the Disney version of Monopoly and I always choose Sleeping Beauty.

Everyone's favorite square!