Happy Birthday Grandpa

Last weekend, we were able to take a quick trip up north for Shane's Dad's birthday weekend.

Grandma 'Nette had a great time cuddling with Lola!
The first pic I took was sooooo good--but blurry!

There...that's better!

Lola--while under Daddy's a certain someone's obvious close supervision--

snuck a bit of the cake before Grandpa could!

Blowing out the candles on his B-I-G 6-0!!!

{Despite his age, he was able to get the candle snuffed out in just one breath.}

After her first taste, Lo was all about finding ways to sneak more--

even if it meant crawling across the table to get to Livy's!

Uncle Rog looks a lot like Shane...and Lola would snuggle with him like she does her Daddy. So cute!

I wanted so badly to get a good shot of Grandma and Grandpa with our clan.

"E, smile! No, that looks like you're crying...Cameron, natural smile, honey--don't force it. Col, peek your head out behind Lo, I can't see you! Loooooolllllaaaa, it's okay baby! Smile for Mommy!"

*sigh*

"Ethan, stop scowling, buddy! Col, Cam, good smiles...Lo-LA!! What is the matter baby girl? No, Grandpa, gotta be ready at all times...look up here!"

*sigh*

"C'mon guys!! PLEASE?!?!.....Just smile for Mommy....oh, forget it. Sheesh."

We moved on from picture taking to gift opening.  All the kids were great helpers, of course!

Cameron loved Grandpa's new pants, apparently.

And Luke liked Grandpa's shoes!

Lola and Livy played--oddly enough--with a snake during most of the afternoon.

Stretchy...rubber....fake...but gross nonetheless.

They seemed to enjoy it....so....well, whatever, I suppose.

(I think both girls just knew, subconsciously, that it bothered me--

therefore, it made them want to play with it all the more.

I mean, after all of our snake experiences, why on earth should I be bothered with a fake one?)

"Look Mom. A snake. Hahaaaahhhaha."

Little stinker.

After snake peek-a-boo, Lolee girl found herself...Grandpa's shoebox.

"Hmmm...what have we here?"

Peek....

a-boo, Grandpa!!

Then she discovered that she could fit inside the box.

Now the real fun begins!

Needless to say, we had good food, good family time, and lots of fun!

And we did get that good family shot--plus an extra couple of very cute cousins in there, too!

And of course, we couldn't leave out our snake.

Crunching the numbers

{Cameron and Ethan, arguing}

Ethan: "I am having zero percent fun with you, Cameron."

Germs, germs, go away....

Normal week for my countertop

My counter top this week.

(Nebulizer meds not pictured!)

My poor little sickies.

*sigh*

Writing assignment

The other day, Colin brought home his most recent school writing assignment.

I don't know if it is because he is my son or what--but this struck me as absolutely hilarious.
Remember, Colin created and wrote this entirely on his own.

Apparently, his class is learning about cats and the Armed Forces.

Both good things.
*grin*

Cousins

A couple of weeks ago, we took a fly-by-night trip up to see our brother and sister-in-law and "the cousins".

"Mom, we can't wait to see the cousins!!", my kids shrieked in a high pitch voice told me 

(for daysanddaysanddays).

Top to bottom, L to R: Olivia (3), Ethan (4), Luke (4), Cameron (5), Colin (7), Lola (13 mo.), and Annelyse (4 mo.)

We got there and had lots of fun.  Over 48 hours of straight wear-their-mommies-out-ness.

"The cousins" plum tuckered these kids out.

Lola and Annelyse, though nine months apart and still obviously small, seem to have a special bond already.

There was hand-holding....

and smooching,

and lots of cute girlie goodness.

 

And then....you have....the boys. 

Sillyness abounded.

 These two are so cute. Livy and E get along so well!

Notice the arm around the waist and the hand-holding. *grin*

Aimee and I giggled every time these two were next to each other about their size.  

Both girls, though nine months apart, were 16 pounds 10 ounces at their last checkup.

So amazing to see how God designs children--all shapes and sizes!

Love these little ladies*.

*note to self: need to teach Lo to be more lady-like in a skirt

We had a great time, guys....won't you have us back soon?

14 months

Apparently, Lola has decided that--now that she is 14 months old--she is old enough to hang with the big boys.

Yesterday, Colin took her outside to play--and she certainly did just that.

While the boys were monkeys on the swing set, she had some fun on the slide.

Mommy nervously watched from the deck....

She did well! One leg over....the other leg over...until she was all the way on the slide.

Cameron decided to make silly faces at her, and to coach her from the top, saying things like, 

"C'mon baby girl! All the way to the top...you can do it! You are a good climber Lola!"

....but he just ended up causing her to laugh, lose her grip, and slip to the bottom.

She landed in a giant hole the boys have created with their feet from their non-stop sliding.

Seriously. It is deep.

She didn't seem to mind.

She clapped and bobbed up and down for about five minutes....

....and then found a leaf and made the 'icky' face.

She made sure to show her brothers.

Colin is such a servant....he was the push-er, as usual, while Ethan was the push--ee.

It was adorable to look out and see a foursome on our swing set.  But it was even better to see my boys'  love and protection for their little sister while they played.  They were not more than two feet away from her most of the time, making sure she was okay.

She was.

 

{Rockin' her first dirt mustache}

I'd say it was a successful first trip to the swing set.

Happy 14 months, Lola Claire!

Trapped

Cameron, shouting:

"Mom! Come quick! I caught a wheel bug! Come see!"

Me dragging myself up out of my chair jumping up to see his treasure: "Let's see, Cam!"

Upon inspection, I found this:

{Not exactly a wheel bug, but certainly a treasure.}

My day in a nutshell

Woke up much too early.  Blech and phooey.

Found my baby girl in her crib with her eyes gooped shut.  Not good.

Called the doc.  Heard "Come in at 10:45" on the other end of the line.

Took poor Lola to the doctor.  Verdict--pinkeye! I couldn't believe it.  Poor baby. Eyes swollen almost shut, goo everywhere...and an ear infection to boot!  Picked up some antibiotics and eye drops--which she loves to have administered, by the way--and in about a week, we should be good to go.

Took the three littlest littles to the grocery store.  The Wal Marts, to be exact.  (Have I mentioned how much I abhor that place?)  Did well--in and out in about an hour.  Saved over $40 with coupons.  *high five*  No major problems or obstacles (for once).   Well....unless you count at the checkout, when I discovered that Lola (after putting the bananas in the front of the cart with her so they would not be smushed or damaged in any way), had eaten through the peel to get to the good stuff underneath.  

*sigh*

Which is when I promptly thought to myself, "Where is that child's mother, and why is she not watching her?"  I had to go *fishing* at that point, to dig said peel out of baby girl's mouth.  The cashier did not seem to care for handling slobbery bananas.

Brought everyone home.  Boys played outside (can I get a woot woot!!) while I unloaded groceries.  Hooray for you, Spring! We love you. We have missed you!!

Colin came home at 2 and is off for the next 10 days!  Even bigger woot woot!! Love that kid. Love having him home with me!

Immediately upon walking in the door, Col jetted down to his room and began digging in his piggy bank.  When questioned, he informed me that he was looking for "metal" because he was "trying to trap a leprechaun."

Well of course he is.

After being denied this particular kind of metal, he promptly found some other substance and spent the next two hours building a trap for the leprechaun.  It involved a scorpion (fake), a bike ramp (real), a spider (fake), and lots of sticks (real--broken off our of our poor tree).  He is hoping to catch him overnight, so that the little guy will lead him to some *treasure* in the morning.

**Note to self: Prepare an explanation as to how that leprechaun was too quick for Col's trap; have it ready by about 7:15 a.m.

Did the dinner/bath/bedtime thing.  At bedtime, I had the conversation of the day, which you can read about in the post below.  Yes, it deserved its own post for preservation purposes.

Gave Lola her second round of amoxicillin. Set the bottle on the counter, which Lo promptly judo kicked and consequently spilled along with all of the contents.  Guess I'll be making another call to the doc and another trip to the pharmacy in the morning?

And now, the house is quiet.  All too soon it will be alive again, bursting at the seams with activity of all kinds--so this Momma is off to get some sleep.  Gotta refuel so I can do the craziness all over again tomorrow!

More commonly known as "The Last Supper"

Me, to the boys, tonight at bedtime:
"Okay, boys...what bible story are we going to read tonight?"

Cameron:
"Mommy, please....can we please read the first breakfast?"

We'll miss you....but we'll see you again

This week, we lost a pillar in our church.

Abbie Childers went home to be with Jesus after 84 years on this earth--60 of them spent with his amazing wife, Retta.

We've had conversations with the boys before about death, and we've done so again these past few days.  They know that Abbie loved Jesus more than anything, and that he was now in Heaven with the God he has served for so many years.

Tonight, just before leaving for the visitation, I talked to Colin and Cameron. They knew Abbie, and we wanted to give them the opportunity to go and say goodbye to him at the funeral home.

When I asked Cameron,

"Honey, do you want to go with me and see Abbie one last time, and say goodbye to him?"

He happily replied,

"Nope, Momma! I'll just see him in heaven."

What a glorious perspective. Cameron knows he's a child of God--there is no doubt in his mind that he will be in heaven when he dies.  And he knows he'll be seeing Abbie again, once he gets there.

I'm so thankful God makes his way so simple, that even children can understand it.

Wordless Wednesday

(Can you spot the 'first' in this picture?)

Germs, germs everywhere

Aches. Coughs. Fevers. Nebulizers. Inhalers. Pain meds. Cough meds. Antibiotics. Sleepless nights. More coughs. More aches. More pains.  Less sleep.

It's been a rough week at our house.  Last Wednesday, Col was feeling a but puny, so I kept him home from school.  What has taken place since that day has been nothing short of a downward spiral of sickness.

Wednesday night--6:15 p.m. Sheer exhaustion

It's passed from Colin to Cameron to Ethan to me and back around a few more times.  We're dealing with fevers, coughs, general achiness, and poor Colin has an ear infection.

To top it all off, just when we thought he was over the hump, Tuesday night Colin woke up screaming around midnight, saying he was "super itchy". We pulled him out of bed and did a once over--to discover hives the size of my hand covering his entire body. Apparently, Colin shares his Daddy's allergy to penicillin.  So, we've since switched meds, and all is much better.


Whatever it is is viral, so the boys are just waiting it out.  I have a pretty severe case of bronchitis (which, if you've hung around this blog for very long, you know we all suffer from every March and every October) and it's still kicking my booty pretty badly, even with a steroid shot and antibiotics.  The boys are having a hard time breathing and so we've basically all been hooked up to the nebulizer for a week.

It's been a long week.

Truly, though, in writing this post, I have to say the first emotion that comes to my mind is gratefulness and thankfulness.  That may sound weird, but other than our strep issues over Christmas, we've been pretty dern healthy this winter--while most everyone else I know has been sick (some for weeks on end). Since Spring is right around the corner, I am hopeful that this is the last wave of germs that's going to be floating through our house in a while--and I'm so thankful that God has kept us as healthy as we have been.

But, I have to say, I'll be happy when Mr. Nebulizer is put away for the season.  

Really happy.

Cameron, on....allergies

At the doctor yesterday:

Doctor: "Is Cameron allergic to anything?"
Me: "Not that we know of."
Cameron: "Well, I might be allergic to bears. We don't know about THAT yet."