St. Patty's Day

We had lots of fun with St. Patty's Day this year. While we decided to forego the parade this year on account of it being cold (and me being tired from going to a Mom conference), we still had fun at home.
N's teacher encouraged the kids to make a Leprechaun trap. The kids turned them in before Friday and left them out in the classroom over the weekend to see if they could catch a Leprechaun. N and L enjoyed making their traps so much that, to date, they've made three sets of traps. It is for these fun projects that I save washed plastic fruit containers, capri sun boxes, peanut butter jars, toilet paper rolls, etc in our "junk box." Our junk box is nearly depleted now, so I will have to save up some more stuff for future use. The boys were so into their traps that they left them out at home on Saturday night to see if they could catch the little guy. We did not catch the Leprechaun (or the "trap guy" as L calls him), but he did leave his footprints, some donuts, a few candies and a mess of all our green toys he could find. We decided maybe we need to do something to prevent the little guy from coming into our house next year 'cause he made such a mess. N suggested we put all our baby gates across our exterior doors to prevent him from coming in. Good thinking, Buddy.

Mom-a-thon

I've never done a marathon, but I officially completed a Mom-a-thon! D spent the last thirteen days on a work trip to South Africa, Dubai and Abu Dabi. We were able to talk to him several times over the phone and even got to video chat once. His ammenities ranged from a hut to a classy hotel. He saw wild zebras, camels and gazelles. His coworker saw monkeys. I told D he didn't need to travel to see monkeys 'cause we've got two at home! D traveled from "lesser developed" areas to one of the most lavish places in the world, Dubai. He told us of the cultural experiences he had at the world's largest mall. D experienced lots of extremes on his trip. He learned more about the religion in the region and had to be sensitive to breaks that were taken for prayer time. Politics also came into play as you can imagine. D's trip has been very interesting to hear about and it's been eye opening for both us. But, I can only really speak of what the boys and I have been up to at home while Daddy was gone.

Hiding in N's room making cards to hide in Daddy's suitcase. We were successful in sneaking them in his suitcase. He didn't find them until the middle of his trip. He said they were a very nice surprise. :)

Zebras in South Africa

Hotel hut in South Africa after a lightning storm. Eek!

"Airport" consisting of a trailer and an ice chest where you were
 welcome to help yourself to an ice
cold beverage for the flight. No i.d. required.

Camels crossing road outside of Dubai

D was able to attend a small part of N's scout blue and gold banquet before he had to leave to catch his flight to South Africa. I was able to stay at the banquet with N while the sitter stayed at home with L. It was bitter sweet to have D at the banquet as I knew he had to duck out early and we'd have to say our good byes there. N did well in saying bye to Daddy, but when he was gone N really teared up. He said he already missed Daddy and was sad to see him go. I could have burst into tears, but had to keep myself pulled together.

I was afraid these thirteen days at home would be grueling, but they were much better than I thought they'd be. The boys and I got into a rhythm and kept ourselves busy to pass the time. My Dad stayed with us for a couple of days. It was nice to have him here midway through D's trip. He was able to help with the boys and we (well he) did a project together. We (read that he) stained the sofa table I made several weeks ago. I must say it turned out really nice. I'm very happy with it!!

My little piece of paradise was watching
the Christmas cactus bloom.

 At one point during D's trip my mom was at my sister's in the Netherlands, D's parents were on a cruise in the Panama Canal and several friends were on vacations in various places. The morning shows I glimpse at from time to time were even on location from sunny, warm places! I did not get the memo to take off for vacation!! I felt like Dad and I were the only souls left in the middle of the country prepping for a snow fall...or three. Dad and I made a tiny little getaway to the Bass Pro shop with the boys to get out, see the big fish tank and play the race car game. I tell you what, if you stand in juuuust the right place near that fish tank at Bass Pro there are just enough lights overhead to make you feel like you're standing in the sunshine. All you have to do is close your eyes and imagine a beautiful place and you're set!

The paper chain D and I made.
Each day that he's gone the boys pull
off one link and find a fact written inside
about S.Africa or Dubai.

As I mentioned above, we had three snow falls while D was on his trip. I welcomed the snow as it gave the boys and I something to do for outdoor play time. I shoveled the driveway three times. I actually enjoyed shoveling the driveway while the boys played....don't tell D that! We made a fort in the backyard, two forts in the front yard and a snow man (snow bunny after bugs bunny) in the front yard. N had two snow days. In fact, N was home seven of the thirteen days D was gone on account of two snow days, weekend days and a school holiday. I honestly thought I was going to lose my mind on day #11. Day eleven is the day I "hit the wall" (marathon term).  I felt like I'd been at home forever. I was out of energy, out of ideas, out of thoughts on what to cook for dinner and out of pep to be our little team cheerleader. I really hit a wall...I poured myself an ice cold diet coke, had some chocolate and sat on the couch to veg for  little while and tried to figure out why I why it felt like we'd been home for-ev-er. That's when I looked at the calendar, did the math  and came to the conclusion that we honestly had been at a-lot! Dad called to check in on us. He gave me a pep talk and really perked me up. He called at just the right time and said just the right things and I was able to press on.Thanks, Dad!

The first day N's school close for a snow day I was giddy with excitement. The boys and I sat at the breakfast table and made a long list of all the fun things we'd do...and we did all of those things before noon! When the second snow day rolled around I was really having to dig deep (and do some pinterest research) for more ideas. We managed though. We made "the ultimate tent" in the living room. I made silver bars out of cut up boxes and foil. I hid them around the house and the boys...err pirates...went on a treasure hunt with their handmade treasure box to find all of them. We all took turns hiding the silver bars several times before wearing out that game. We rode plasma cars in the house, we made cookie bars and played in the snow. By dinner time rolled around I was tired and didn't want to cook. I called our local pizza place and there were open! Hurray!! I yelled out to the boys, "Anyone want pizza?"  And the boys said yes, so we packed up and ate out for dinner that night.

Painting on snow day doubled
as an experiment for my next Art Cart lesson

All three of us made Play-doh faces

N's Play-doh portrait of Daddy
wearing a baseball cap

Plasma bikes in the house!

D was very fortunate to miss a snow storm that hit two of the airport that he passed through. This meant that he only had one thirty minute delay. I was really bracing myself for much worse, so when he got home nearly on time I was elated and so were the boys. The first thing I asked D? For a lesson on how to use the tractor to plow the snow. I think he was really surprised. I was surprised I actually enjoyed driving the tractor. Anyway, we are glad to have Daddy home from his trip. It sure makes a difference to have him around to help out with the boys and the house. Welcome home, Honey!

Happy Valentine's Day

We started the day with muffins, eggs, yogurt....and chocolate. Ya, I got the boys little heart shaped boxes of chocolates and a little toy dog for Valentine's Day. How could I give them chocolates and not allow them to eat a couple? And I usually avoid stuffed animals at all cost, but the other day we were at the store and N fell in love with a toy dog. I saw how much he loved it, so I went back and picked one up for each boy. It was fun to see their faces this morning when they found them next to their breakfast plates. N named his dog Fred and L named his Char-Lee. Not Charlie, Char-Lee with the emphasis on the Lee. The boys coined our little celebration a breakfast party.
This afternoon I had the joy of attending my first school holiday party. It was fun. The room Mom is a former teacher, so she is experienced at choosing party activities that are age appropriate and that fill the amount of time we had. The kids played four games, had a snack and headed home. L stayed home with the babysitter. He said they enjoyed playing Simon Says and Hide and Seek. Then he took a good nap.
When Daddy got home from work I fixed spaghetti and meatballs for supper. We ate by candle light as we did last  year. N and I both really liked the candle light, but L and Daddy did not. So we compromised and ate part of the time in the dark with candles and ate with the lights and candles on the rest of the time. L and I picked up a small Valentine's cake a couple days ago that we cut into while singing "Happy Vday to You" to the tune of Happy Bday to You. The boys each blew out a candle and bounced around the house afterwards to burn off their sugar rush. We opened the Vday package Grammy sent. We opened the package from D's parents a few days ago and got cards from Aunt M a couple days before that. I'd say we rocked out Valentine's Day. Good times!

Winter Break

The last time I wrote N was just getting over strep, but developed a cough..The next day he started to complain of his ear "Being full" and was having difficulty hearing. I took him into the doc and sure enough he had an ear infection. Gee whiz! With hesitation and much thought, the Dr. decided to order another antibiotic in addition to the antibiotic he was already taking. When I went to get the medicine from the pharmacy the pharmacist rightfully questioned the doubling up on meds, but I explained the situation and she gave it to us. I had growing concerns about putting N on two antibiotics at once, so I talked to our family pharmacist and to the pediatrician once more and decided to give it a try. I stocked up on probiotics (and foods with probiotics in them) and N is doing just fine. He's healthy (knock on wood and cross my fingers) and has been for several days. Now that he's healthy I'd like to go out and do fun things, but I also don't want to take him anywhere because I really don't want to have any more illness in our house!!

N and D are currently on Christmas break. D and I had my family over to our house to celebrate Christmas on the 22nd. We enjoyed seeing everyone, exchanged gifts, ate too much and relaxed. We were glad my sister and her family were able to drive down for the day. We thought the snowfall, ice and wind that hit us two days before were going to cancel our plans, but things cleared up and the roads were just fine.

Saturday night I set up the boys' new camouflage tent and felt campfire in the living room. I do this from time to time in hopes that the boys will have something interesting to play with for a while and D and I will get to  sleep in (lay awake in bed) the next morning. My plan worked and the boys played long enough to give D and I about thirty extra minutes of sleeping in time. However, when D headed downstairs he found the boys in the tent with grinny grins on their faces! He knew something was up, so he asked L (cause L is still at the age of honesty) what happened. And L excitedly said that they'd been eating chocolate covered gingerbread cookies (a gift from Grammy) and JuicyFruit gum for breakfast! 

On Sunday all four of us needed some fresh air and a change of scenery so we bundled up, headed outside and played in the snow.  Our yard doesn't really have much snow covering on it, but the wind piled the snow in a big drift back by the creek that's about eighteen inches deep! The boys gathered up their loaders, toy snow ploy and shovels and we played for a solid hour. D and I played a game where we'd stand on one side of the creek (the side without the snow),jump, twist and land in the deep snow on the other side of the creek. It was so fun! I felt like such a kid.

Later that day we loaded up and ate dinner at Cracker Barrell. After dinner we drove through the local display of lights on the big hill (if you know where we live you know what I'm talking about). We drove through the back entrance to the park and that was the best idea we had because we avoided a huge line at the front entrance. We've driven through the park of lights for several years, but haven't ever gone on a night as busy as it was Sunday night. Which, honestly, I actually liked 'cause it forced D to drive slower. Driving slower allowed the boys and I to really take it all in. D and I laughed several times because L was our personal little commentator. If you don't know him, you have no idea how chatty he can be. And being at the park of lights took his chattiness to an entirely new level! It was precious. I know in just a few years the boys probably won't be as interested in the lights and we may have to drag them there (or bribe them). So, I soaked in their wander!

Monday was Christmas Eve. Believe it or not, our gym was open about half the day, so we were able to get out and get some exercise. It felt so good to get out and get a good work out! Other than that, D and I took turns playing with the boys all day long. It's so wonderful that D has time off at Christmas for an extended period of time. It allows all of us to slow way down and really enjoy the holidays.

"Elf-a-bet" (per L), "Steve" (per N)

Zoo

Bey blades

So on Christmas Eve afternoon we ate a big snack, took some family photos by the fire place and headed to church. Side note....L was amazed that you can set a timer on the camera to take a picture. He squealed whenever D ran across the room to jump in the picture. The boys were really good at church. We don't go that often, not as much as we should. So, church was kind of a new thing for L. Once again, his commentator skills surfaced during church and posed a few tiny little embarrassing moments. But, overall the boys were really good. We ate dinner when we got home. Daddy continued a tradition and cranked up (literally cranked up) the victrola for the boys to hear. N read a paragraph of the history of the victrola as we listened. Oh, and before bed the boys laid out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. N was adamant that we provide one carrot for each reindeer. I think we had a total of five cookies, nine carrots and a glass of milk laying by the fire place ('cause that's where Caillou says you're supposed to put it).

We also started a new thing of hanging a "Magic key" on the front door for Santa. Our fireplace is enclosed with glass, so Santa is not able to enter the room after dropping down the chimney! It would be a true shame to trap him, so we took the precautionary measures to allow him to enter the house unharmed. The magic key will only work for Santa, so it's okay that it hangs outside our house.

Christmas morning was as much fun as you can imagine. The boys tore through their gifts and stockings and D and I opened ours too. N was pleased with the Switch and Go Dino Santa left him. L was happy to see the excavator he wanted. And I was super excited to see my new scooter in the living room! D got it for me. I knew he was buying it, but to actually have it in our living room made my eyes light up. I road it around the kitchen before taking it for a spin outside.

Mom and Dad came over in late afternoon Christmas Day night. We visited and the boys showed them all their new toys. Mom gave the boys the pillow cases she finished making for them and we ate Chinese at home. 

Wednesday we hit the gym again, taking turns, of course. N and I went to the grocery store afterwards. We recently got an Aldi in our town. For some reason, when N sees our Aldi he doesn't see the Aldi sign on the building. He sees the "food market" part of the sign, so he thinks the name of the store is Food Market. I'll let him think that. It's cute. We went there and Wal Mart. We stayed home and played the rest of the day. My favorite part of the day was the rousing game of Hot Potato we played as a family. We got to laughing so hard! 

We stayed busy at home on Thursday. D and N worked on N's pinewood derby car all day. They mostly worked on the design of the car and haven't actually done any cutting or carving on the car itself. It's so interesting to listen to N and his "collaboration" skills. The boys were a tremendous help doing chores.

On Friday we actually we left the house!!! We have spent lots of quality time at home but were ready to get out and about!! ;) We realize Daddy's portion of winter break will come to a close soon, so we went to a Children's Museum for a family field trip. More on our field trip and pictures to come soon.