Time Flies...

Can you believe this little sweetee is DRIVING????

Priceless...

Cost of going to New York? $50? (gas, tolls, parking, etc.)

Cost of going to Madam Tussauds $31 (Holy sh##!)

Meeting up with friends after 18 (gasp!) years??? PRICELESS!

update

 

It's been waaaay too long since I've posted. Just thought you might enjoy this. The boys discovered these tea sets that I was going to give to Cara and insisted on using them. They have been doing it just about every day now!

No Training Wheels

Okay, no time to post, but its all about keeping up with Sammy around here...




And NO ONE is prouder of his brother than Sammy! "Mom, he wearned to top and tuwn in ONE day!"

Loose Tooth

Sammy lost his first tooth last night. It had only been loose for a few days, I'm not sure how long these things last, but it seemed fast. I thought it was going to be much more torturous than it was. The first night it was loose, he would not shut up about it. Really. To the point that the whole family was throwing their hands up in the air in frustration. But after the first night we all but forgot about it.

A few days ago he started worrying because he doesn't believe in the tooth fairy. I'm not sure what he knows about the tooth fairy. I may have answered a few questions but I'm pretty sure he got his information from siblings and cousins. Maybe friends. He was strutting around saying "Really, I don't believe in the tooth fairy. I think it is Mommy or Daddy that puts money under the pillow." I don't know who he was trying to convince because no one was arguing with him.

That all went out the window last night, though, when his tooth came out. There are a few fuzzy details having to do with a blanket near his mouth that Taishauna yanked, but no one is being really forthcoming. (Probably because Sammy didn't want to admit that the blanket was in his mouth and Taishauna didn't want to admit she pulled it as hard as she did!) Nonetheless, the tooth is out.

It is a very small tooth. I mean, really, really small. So Sammy immediately became concerned that it was going to get lost. He tried to come up with some ideas, like a small shoe box to put under his pillow, but I convinced him to just tie it into a sandwich bag. I couldn't resist teasing him at that point that I didn't know what would happen since he doesn't sleep in his bed. (Really, I don't even know why they have beds.) He got very frustrated with me. "Mom, really. What will the tooth fairy do? Should I put the tooth in here or in my bed?" I told him I honestly didn't know. I always slept in my bed as a child, and so did Taishauna. I have never had a child who lost a tooth and slept in my bed. So I didn't know what would happen. Kinda mean, I know, but you have to get your ya yas in where you can!

Well, he decided to put it under his pillow in my bed and proceeded to check for it every three minutes during story time. Every. three. minutes. And not just to see if the bag is there, but to check the bag and make sure the tooth is still there. This is a problem because of the ridiculous way my life works. While I am reading stories, and until the boys fall asleep, I sleep in the middle. Then I switch with Sammy so I am on the outside. So this pillow he was checking under was mine!

Finally, he fell asleep. He is not awake yet, but I'm pretty sure the tooth fairy came.

And just so I know that it is only just beginning, Johnley woke me up at 4am to tell me that he just dreamed about a tooth!

Update: Okay, the tooth fairy must be male (funny, I always envisioned female with the tutu and wand, oh well) because the money fell off the bed. So the boy woke up and thought he didn't get anything. (Of course it could be that the tooth fairies wife suggested a coin instead of a bill, ya think?) Anyway, all's well that ends well.

Happenings

Okay, so I've been meaning to do a post about why I love homeschooling and winter for...

this...

Who says you can't build a snowmam that is one foot high!! (That's my Nick, "She wants me to build a snowman with the boys? Fine, I'll build a snowman. There. A snowman!")

this...


Pro ice skaters now, video to follow.



and this...

There is nothing more fun than sledding.....

....unless it is tubing.

and maybe even this,

Yup, that is a little red fox, right outside our car window at Mercer County Park. Cool, huh?

Question

Okay, which is cuter? (imagine singing/yelling)

"And Dansas her day is the name of her dar!"
Or
"And Kansas she says is the name of her star."

Would someone please tell Nick to stop teaching him correct annunciation!

Winter Blues

Sammy was in the hospital a few weeks ago. We went to the ER at 11pm Sat. nite and he was admitted at 6 am. I really didn't expect him to be admitted, I figured that they would just give him a shot of steroids and that would do it. But they kept him until Monday night. He was so pitiful on Sunday, it was horrible. His whole chest and back would collapse for every breath he took. I am not quite clear on why it took so long and so many shots of steroids to clear up.

Only a nut would take a picture of her kid in the emergency room, but I had my camera in my purse and those little tiny hospital gowns are so cute! I had never seen one before. So...

He needed a gown because he threw up 6 times. All. over. the. place. Including my car and the parking lot. Good Times.

Anyway, once the steroids finally kicked in, the only bad part of the stay was that he was on a restricted diet. And actually, it was the quietest, most relaxing two days I have had in a long time!

So that was a few weeks ago. Now he is on breathing treatments as a preventative measure, except they didn't work because he is sick again. All three of my kids have a cold and a sore throat, but of course Sammy's went right to his chest. He woke up the other morning with a temp. of 104.6 and really struggling to breath. I gave him a treatment and motrin and just held him. If they didn't do the trick I was going to the hospital. But they did, so I called the Dr. and brought both boys in.

Johnley has a cold, just needs Dimetapp. Sammy has a double ear infection. He is on antibiotics, steroids, allegra, singulair, and breathing treatments every four hours. Winter, winter blues.

We have been unable to play in the snow or go anywhere all weekend. I feel like the germs are just multiplying in the house and I keep wiping everything I can touch with antibacterial wipes.

The routine is the boys have a fever and are quiet and still and miserable. Then the motrin kicks in and they run around like lunatics and drive me crazy. And the the temp goes up and they.......

Winter, winter blues....

Two days in a row, I got up with Nick at the crack of dawn. Of course Sammy got up right after I did because he's got mommy radar. The first morning Johnley woke up a little early and said, Hey, where is everyone?

The next morning he came out to the family room soon after us and said, "Why do you guys keep leaving me?"

It is too early for them to be up so we all traipse back to bed. Johnley points to Nick's shoes at the bottom of the bed and says, "See, this is what I'm talking about. These shoes shouldn't be here!"

I say while trying to keep a straight face, "Well, this is Daddy's bedroom." Johnley says, "I could trip over them and hurt myself! Is that what you want?"

Now, mind you, we are still all half asleep at this point. I can't hold it in any longer and I start laughing hysterically. Johnley starts getting mad because he thinks I am laughing at him. I explain that I am laughing because he is so funny and I think he is adorable. "I am?" he says. "Yes, you are." "Well then why don't you throw Sammy up in the sky and just cuddle with me?"

Winter Blues....

Matilda Fiona Vanduyne

Our sweet Grandma will be missed. She passed away last night. Nick had been with her all day. He has been able to spend alot of time with her in these past few weeks and is extremely grateful for that. She was at peace with going and being with those that have gone before her. They spent many hours praying together, and that memory has helped Nick immensely.

The kids are very upset, understandably. Sammy especially has a million questions and cried himself to sleep last night. Because Taishauna has known all along she has had more time to get used to the idea. We have spent some time talking about all our good memories and have been able to smile through the tears.

I'm not sure how to handle the upcoming days. I had assumed the boys would not come to most of the services, but now I think maybe Sammy will need more closure than I thought. He keeps saying, "How do you know she is dead, maybe she is just sleeping." So we will have to figure this one out.

Goodbye Mattie, you will be missed, but alive forever in our memories.

Home Schooling

Okay, I know I owe my loyal viewers lots of holiday pictures and updates, not to mention info about Sammy's hospital stay. And that is all coming, I swear. But first, for your entertainment:

Yesterday Sammy's uncle said, "Hey Sam, I want to see if your mother is teaching you anything. What is 1+1?"

Sammy didn't know.

Actually, Sammy might have been asked, "Does your mother teach you anything?"

And Sammy told me later, "I lied, and said yes!"

(You see, Sammy and the rest of the ill-informed public believes that you can only learn by doing stupid worksheets.)

This morning, before 9am, here are a smattering of questions Sammy asked me.

"Mom, what are white blood cells?"
"What is bacteria?"
"Why do grownups have hair on their privates?"
"Why don't men have boobs?"
"Does everyone have nipples?"
"Can poop come out of your penis?"
"When you drink water, does it immediately come out as pee?"
"Do white blood cells have mouths?"
"How can you bend if you have bones?"
"Do you have hair on your legs?"
"What if you and Dad die and we are still little kids?"
"How come it seems warm in here now, but earlier this room seemed cold? How does that work?"


Yeah, poor kid, not learning anything.

(And we won't even mention the complete joy his father and I felt about him being quizzed like that!)