Vday & Blue and Gold

Haven't written in a while. We got to go out on Saturday for Valentine's Day. A mistake we seem to repeat every year. But when there is an offer of a babysitter we just have to grab it. We had a nice meal and a nice little shopping excursion all by ourselves. On Valentine's day we gave the kids presents instead. A book and a little toy. The were not in the best moods, tired cranky. And all Mommy wanted was a nice picture of them in their heart shirts. I finally managed it after two temper tantrums and some whining. There's always drama here. lol Here they are Noah's shirt says I love Rock; Em's says I love kisses and Ethan's says I love Gaming. so appropriate.

Ethan has his Blue and Gold Ceremony this weekend for boy scouts. We left Emily with a her godmother and just the boys and I went. He got a knot for his shirt for a religious award. Daddy says he now has as many knots as he does. He also got his wolf badge! I still feel new to all this but I know it is a big deal!

Grandpa and Noah! I always joke that I gave Dad the best birthday present. A grandson on his birthday. lol. Mom and Dad's trip to Texas was delayed this year so they were still here on their birthdays. They came over and had dinner at our house and a cake too! We also tried to celebrate my birthday and Zach's birthday too, but I just don't make a big deal about my birthday anymore. And Zach didn't show up. He has more important 18 year old things to do than spend it with the fam. It was a nice night at home with my favorite people! Noah was happy, he loved his diego rescue pack, and his zhu zhu pet playset! I have to admit those silly little hamster toys are cute. I think I like them because they are way easier to take care of then real ones! the whole set get's pushed under the couch and they just stay there until he wants to play with them again!

The following day we made good on a promise! He wanted to do everything for his birthday! the zoo? No, too cold. The City Museum, again lots of stuff outside, too cold! The science center? DINOSAURS UNEARTHED?!? Yep, that's a winner! Our friends went with us and the kids had a blast!!! This is my fave picture of the day. Noah really knows how to use his acting skills. He was saying, "It's gonna eat me!" We looked at all the dinosaurs and skeletons and uncovered bones! Daddy even took a ride on a segway. All in all it was a great day! Or in the immortal words of Noah...."today was my bestest day ever!" HA-HA which inevitably is followed later in the day by, "this is my worstest day ever!"

January 30th we had a 5 alarm party at the fire station. All of his friends were there and Aunt Nikki made a cool cake! We ran around got in and out of trucks, had cake and ice cream, presents, and a pinata! The kids had a blast and Noah loved his day! It was an exhausting day for Rick and I. And I am so glad we have 5 months before we have to do this again!

eagle tour bust and grease

January is such a busy month. We went on our annual eagle watching trip, but not too many eagles spotted. I used my film camera with my long lens....I'm sure that is why we saw nothing. I did see a flock (?) of wild turkeys and a few herds of deer. The boys saw a few deer too so the day wasn't all shot!

Today Noah and I went with Wendy and the girls to see Grease at the Fox Theatre. He woke up coughing and I was afraid he wouldn't make it but a puff of air later he seemed fine. He was very tired but really liked the show. He loved "greased lightning" and thought it was cool when they fixed the car and made it cool. He was the best date! just don't say it to him, he kept saying "It's NOT a date!" It was so cute.

New Year

A new year and time to get on the ball. 2009 has been a very hard year that ended very badly, so I am more ready than ever to start this year. Jan 2nd was the start to my year this year. The 1st would have been Grandma's 95th birthday so while we celebrated their was still part of me that was sad. I do have resolutions to make this year and have decided to make ones I know I can keep. Number 1 being go to church more. Shouldn't be to hard since I can count on one hand the number of times I went in 2009. maybe that contributed to my bad year. Number 2 is to get more done on my scrapbooks. we are going to try very hard to do it once a month. and number 3 is a family one, we are going to try to have a family game night. I say try because we started last night. A game of sorry later and we had been through one crying fit (Noah) and one pouter because he lost. (Ethan) It's hard to find a game we can all play that is halfway fair to Noah. poor guy, at least as Em get older they will both learn that they have to let her win on occasion. :)
other resolutions that are always made that are never kept, lose weight. I just can't seem to get on that wagon that everyone else is on. I tried the walking thing and enjoyed it, but it's not something I will continue by myself. so until I can find a partner it just won't happen.

2010 will be a good year. It can't be worse than 2009.

Fire Engine Rally

The Fire Engine Rally was today. We have been for the last 5 years. (excluding last year when Em was born) There is a parade of just fire trucks, all the sirens blaring. Emily didn't mind the sirens at all. And the boys, of course loved it! It was right on the river front this year so we sat back on the grass, laid out our blanket and waited for the sirens. It was smaller this year and we didn't stay for the muster. maybe next year we will. The boys did get to climb into and out of a few trucks.

The boys had never been down to the riverfront before....they saw a train go right by us, they saw the barges up close, and we saw the arch helicopter tours set down and take off quite a few times. It was a super fun day!

oh what a day-oh what a week.

Our week has been so crazy. I started back at work for the school year Monday, em and noah joined me at daycare. day went well, em was tired as could be when we got home. tuesday comes and she is just not up to par. She ends up being sick most of the night, and vomitting everything she ate that day. FUN for mommy. Daddy at his fire meeting me trying to get the boys to bed so I can put Em to bed. We sit to read a story and she just starts puking. UGH, all over mommy of course so i'm yelling , GO get me a towel. My lovely boys come back with 4 pieces of toilet paper (noah) and a paper towel from ethan. AHHHHH-get me a towel! so get that squared away, noah cries because the book got nixed. Wash up me and Em, go try to give her meds as she feels feverish, more vomitting. call rick, pleases come home early. Wednesday I keep her home, she is clingy but not sick-until 5 then she has a fever. go to the store get motrin. she takes that and it is breaking by bedtime never to return! woo hoo. but Noah starts coughing. ok no big deal allergies, zrytec to the rescue. he is ok thursday, more coughing friday. But we have a playdate at Chuck E cheese. we go he is good. Naptime wakes up with a 101 fever. ok go to the store motrin for him! (how I ever ran out is beyond me) all night he is up coughing fever returns and his breathing is becoming more and more labored. This morning I try to steam him in the bathroom see if that helps break it up, it doesn't. Off to urgicare we go. His oxygen level were so low we didn't have to wait. Around 93%. he got a breathing treatment and oral steriods. by the time we left he was back up to 97-98%. He is on steriods for the rest of the weekend. and hopefully we are all on the mend and no one else gets sick!!!!!!

My baby is 1!

My baby girl is 1! I don't know how it happened. She is runnng all over the place! Crawling was just not for her, and really neither is walking! We went to Grant's Farm on her actual birthday and had a good time. She was kinda interested in the animals but not really...she did like the mister getting her wet though. (the boys liked that too) Saturday the 8th we had her party...I rn around all morning trying to get things ready, and subsequently forgot plenty! We had just enough food for everyone and I got rave reviews on my food....that is a big accomplishment for me. We had three cute little cakes, courtesy of Nikki. I wish I could say Emily loved it and got right into it....she didn't. As much as we tried she just would not touch that thing! until she hhad a spoon and someone fed her, then all was good. The same thing went for her presents, she didn't really like opening them, mommy and her auntie shelly just showed them to her. :)

And this is what happens after three hard days of partying! She loves her new chair and wanted nothing to do with going to bed for a nap this day! Usually I'll ask if she's ready for a nap and she will go climb the stairs. Here she just wanted to sit in her new chair with her taggie and her thumb! She promptly fell asleep in less than 5 minutes. It was just too cute, I had to snap a picture or two. BTW-her new nickname is Linus. At least it is when she has a taggie in her hand and a thumb in her mouth!