Brothers!

I can't help it. I love pictures of the siblings being happy together. I don't think I will ever grow tired of this kind of picture.

Spring Cleaning

Western Day

We're catching up with pictures of last week through out this week.

The healthy one

Dear sweet Gregory has been such a trooper this past week. He has gotten to do just about nothing except watch cartoons.

He has had to watch me do laundry and change sheets and tend to his sick siblings.

He's been told no over and over again for all the things he wants to do like going for a walk, or even to the library.

He's gotten a little restless, but overall has been a good boy.

Lucky Gregory had Daddy all to himself for some playtime over the weekend. They played football and climbed trees and wrestled. His face shows how content he is.

Dinner Chit-Chat

John's at work. Our dinner conversation is just me and the kids and we are quite silly

Clare was eating a kiwi and Gregory was insisting it was a potato

Clare: It's a kiwi, it's green.
Gregory: It's a potato...it's a poison potato.
Me: It's a kiwi...Gregory am I a dragon?
Gregory: Yes - mommy's a dragon. Don't roar, you scare me.
Clare: If you eat me, eat my feet not my head.
Me: If a dragon ate you, you'd only be 1 bite. Thomas wouldn't even be a whole bite, he'd be like an M&M.
Gregory: Thomas is a red M&M.
Me: Clare, if Thomas is a red M&M, you're a pretzel.
Clare: I want to be a candy pretzel.
Me: Okay, you're a yogurt covered pretzel
Clare: No, I'm a candy pretzel covered with yogurt with sprinkles on top.
Me: What are you Gregory, a piece of cheese?
Gregory: I'm a pepperoni, no I a piece of cheeseburger.

The Soccer Gods

must not like Clare very much.

It's week 6 of the soccer season and Clare has only attended 1 soccer practice and no games.

It seems like all of her practices have been rained out, and she's been sick for the 2 games they've had so far.

I thought this morning would be the day she'd play but the stomach bug in the house hit her last night. Maybe next week.

Poor little Thomas

Little Tommers has had a rough few days

On Tuesday night, Thomas slipped on the wet floor in the bathroom and hit the back of his head. When I picked him up he threw up his dinner. He proceeded to throw up 5 times in the next 2 hours.

Needless to say, we headed to the ER and my aunt and uncle graciously watched our older children. After 5 hours and a CT scan we were sent home and told to watch him. Everything was pretty much normal - just make sure you can wake him up.

Little Thomas never gave me a chance to test that, he was up all night vomiting and squirming and unhappy.

Wednesday, we got a call from an ER nurse asking how he was. Pretty normal, still vomiting.

She mentioned something on the CT scan - something to do with his ears and sinuses. Make sure the pediatrician checks him for a sinus or ear infection.

Today we headed to the doctor just for a follow-up. I mentioned what the nurse had said about the CT scan. The doctor smiled and said that children always have fluid in those places - don't worry.

Then he looked in Thomas' ears. One ear infection in one and no infection but lots of fluid in the other. "What do you know, he does have an ear infection! A minor concussion and a major ear infection!"

No wonder Thomas isn't sleeping. He hasn't had a fever or even been fussy. Well, that is, if you consider the fact of what he's been through. I had no idea, he's so happy just a little clingy.

Hopefully the antibiotics will help him feel better. And then we can all get some sleep.

Playing House

We have a cute little playmobil toy house set. To encourage Clare to play with it, I have set it up on the dining room table so that little boys can't reach all of the tiny mouthable pieces.

We played with it over the weekend, and I've been trying to change the figures each time Clare comes home from school for fun and to spark her imagination.

Today the scene included a dropped hat in the living room, dishes on the table and a bunch of friends playing with the toys in the children's room.

Clare: Whoa, how did the house get so messy...there's stuff everywhere.
Me: Houses tend to get that way sometimes.

What can I get you?

Thomas loves the fridge! He's always trying to get in, and I don't think it's just because he wants beer. We'll have to keep a close eye on this one.

The Arboretum

What a beautiful beautiful place!

Spring Break Pics

Smiles. Playgrounds. Tea parties. Play dates. Slumber Parties. Chuck E. Cheese. Tired Mom and Daddy and tired kiddos too. So far it's been a good spring break!

Grandma's baby blankets have become the must have accessory around our house this week!

Now that the weather's nice, Thomas wants the doors open so he can see the world. He cries whenever I close one.

Packages

We love to get boxes in the mail. Literally.

Dress Up Doll

Clare has discovered that Thomas is just the right size to dress up like a large doll.

Since Thomas doesn't like clothing changes, this keeps things lively. Once's he's dressed however, it's quite a pain to get the clothes off, so he tends to stay in them a while.

Worth the Hype

Sendoutcards.com

A few months ago, I heard about sendoutcards.com at a home organization presentation put on by our school's PTO.

The organizer mentioned it so that you don't have piles of cards sitting around your house waiting and then failing to be mailed. That was me!

I checked it out and after using it several times, I am very impressed and basically sold.

Send Out Cards allows you to put together greeting cards in a flash and at a fair price. I can pick any occasion, write what I'd like, add pictures, address all the cards, and pay postage all in under 30 minutes and on 1 website. They are then mailed the next day and I don't have to worry about it. If you make a mistake in address or change your mind, you can even go back and change the card after you've ordered it.

I love it since buying cards at the store, and then ordering pictures, and then mailing the cards usually turns out to be too much for me. I have the best intentions but end up with piles of unsent cards

Now we should be able to get cards out for birthdays and holidays.

PS. I don't know anything about running a send out cards business from your home (there's quite a bit on this on the web), but I do enjoy using the website.

Peek-a-boo

Thrill of the Day

Our landlords have a company do the yard work. During the winter they don't come, therefore there are tons of leaves in the yard.

We glanced up in the kitchen to see 2 guys with leafblowers on our patio. The leaves were going everywhere.

Gregory watched with fascination.

Then he pointed to the leaf blower and said: "I want one of those!"

Signs of Spring

What they enjoy

Busy-ness

It's amazing how much trouble a 9 month old can get in, and how busy they keep you. I completely forgot about this stage in a child's life.

I keep finding things pulled out of the cabinets. Thomas' favorites so far are the pots and pans, the recycling bin, and the bottles of stuff in the kid's bathroom. Potty chairs and toilets also pose quite an obsession for the little man.

It was so nice just to be able to plop Thomas down on the floor and do things. Now, he is doing things and I am trying to keep up. This makes keeping up with everything else just a bit harder.

Gregory's Phrase of the Day

Gregory: Mommy, you a baby dungeon!

Normal and Not So Much

Normal: Clare doing homework

Not so Normal: Gregory taking a two hour nap in the van. And the 9 month old only taking 1 one hour nap total.