Blizzard Eve

One of my biggest joys of parenting is to look outside and see my three kiddos playing together. Nothing warms a mama's heart more on a bitter cold day.

Homemade Play Doh

So what do you do on a Sunday morning when your stomach is still a little sketchy from the bug and you can't go to church? You make Play Doh with your littles.

Eskimos

Hanging out in the igloo at night with blankets and a flashlight.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

These are a favorite in our house. Which means that I get a lot of help making them. Which is nice, but not always the most efficient...

LEGO guys

He would play LEGO'S all day long if he could.

Swimming when it's 9 degrees

Birthday parties rock! Especially when you get to swim in the middle of a snowstorm.

Mirror, mirror

I am in love with her pigtails. She is not in love with me doing anything to her hair.

Igloo

Yesterday was a snow day. Daddy decided to build an igloo. My kids have the best Daddy in the world.

Ouch

Hailey went to the doctor today for her well check up. She asked me this morning if the doctor was going to give her any shots. I told her that I didn't know for sure, but I didn't think so.

Turns out her mama was a liar. She had to get FIVE shots. The poor little thing didn't cry at all during the first one, but was screaming before it was all over.

Rare moment

These two can fight likes cats and dogs. But every once in a while their relationship takes me by surprise. Tonight is one of those nights.

Comfort

It is no secret that Evan likes to be comfortable. I always chuckle when he gets these jammies out. They make him look so much younger than he is.

By the way, this was taken at around 2:30 in the afternoon.

8 am

This morning after taking the boys to the bus stop, Hailey and I did a bit of shoveling in the driveway.

Note to self: Put make up on before going to the bus stop.

Trapper

Can you stand the cuteness?

All decked out in her new fur vest and sparkly gray jeans that she got from Grama for her birthday.

And her belly hanging out of her turtleneck because she is so darn long waisted!

Sicky Monkey

Poor little Gooey was home from school today with the barfing flu. He also was showing some signs of constipation (what is it with my boys these days?).

On the positive side - while he was laying in his bed feeling yucky I went through all the books in his book shelf and he let me get rid of about half of them.

This morning...

Hailey eating yogurt. Evan biting into his banana chocolate chip muffin. Spencer waiting for his waffles to pop up.

They are not huge breakfast food fans. They come by it honest - I am not a huge breakfast food fan. Most days I eat a bowl of cereal - or a banana chocolate chip muffin with peanut butter on it if I made any. Yum.

Hailey usually tells me she wants a bowl of cereal when I am pouring mine. Then she proceeds to eat throughout the morning. I am not sure if the boys are starving by the time lunch rolls around or not. I have to think not, because most days they come home with half the lunch I packed them.

Sugar overload

Today we made cupcakes for Hailey to bring to school tomorrow for her birthday treat. Yesterday I made "birthday brownies" because we had two sets of Grandparents coming over for dinner and I didn't want to offer them dessert in the form of a half eaten birthday cake from the day before. Turns out they all wanted half eaten birthday cake from the day before.

I will be happy to not see my beaters for a while now.

Four

I feel like I blinked - and now she is four.

Snowflakes

All day it has been snowing. Big, puffy, pretty snowflakes. When Hailey got home from school she wanted to try to catch some on her tongue.

Captive

We took Dickens into the vet today. He was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection and crystals in his urine. When I took Evan to the doctor on Monday it cost me five dollars. Today I wrote a check for almost one hundred and fifty dollars. It's a good thing we love him.

P.S. Now I get to add "checking for cat straining while urinating" to my list of Mom jobs. It's a classy gig I got here.

It's back.....

Over the weekend all of our snow melted. On New Years Eve it was fifty five degrees. At one point during our warm spell Evan told me "Winter went by so fast this year!" I told him that it had only just begun - just wait a couple of days. What can I say? Mom is always right!

Starting the year off with a "pang"

Evan has been complaining that his belly has hurt on and off since Saturday. Today I asked him if it hurt bad enough to go to the doctor - fully expecting him to say no. He said it did hurt that bad - so off to the doctor we went. The doctor doesn't think it is a blockage or appendicitis or anything "surgical". At this point he is thinking constipation (though Evan has gone poop since it all started). He prescribed three scoops of Miralax in some Gatorade and call him in a few days if the pain continues.

I never realized that your kids' poop was such a huge part of parenting. It seems like I am forever telling them to poop, or coaching them through a poop or breaking up poop with a plastic cat litter scoop looking for a penny. The poop never ends.

The Big Top

One of Evan's life long dreams came to fruition today with the help of one of his Christmas gifts from Santa. Giant cupcake! Unfortunately his belly was hurting him during and after dinner so he didn't even want to eat any of it. He went to bed with his aching belly and we talked a bit. I think he is feeling apprehension about going back to school tomorrow. Bless his heart (and his belly!)

Happy New Year!

All three kids made it to midnight! Spencer and Hailey had to be nudged a little (they were drifting...) but they sat right up to see the ball drop. Hailey was the only one who got up to dance in the new year!