It all happens at once.

We have been home 3 days after our Christmas travels and our days have been hectic. Munchkin had a cold and was not feeling well for our entire trip. Somehow I managed to get a Sunday doctor appointment and she was given meds for an ear infection. We gave her the first dose and didn't think much about it, then she woke up covered in vomit 5 hours later. Then she slept the rest of the night, so we don't make a big deal of it.

Monday morning starts with an explosive diaper in her high chair at Breakfast. So Monday was a day of bad diapers and vomit. I then gave her a 2nd dose of antibiotics, but no major reaction, so I figured she just caught a stomach bug. She was OK most of the day on Tuesday, until Daddy came home from work and I made a run to Walmart. She vomited EVERYWHERE on him while I was gone. (He is wonderful and had it all cleaned up by the time I got home.) But then vomited again after we tried to give her some fluids. (while the rest of the family was eating dinner of course.)

We have made the connection and called the doctors office and we skipped her dose of medication tonight.

Oh yeah and we installed our brand new washing machine on Monday night, to discover that IT DOESNT WORK, not a good thing with sick kids in the house. I threw a fit with the people at the appliance store and they are sending someone out tomorrow afternoon.

Of course, just as I am about to post this entry, Princess walks down the stairs with vomit all over her. She threw up in bed, but said she didn't feel sick, she just "coughed too hard" I don't understand that, so maybe it is a bug going around the house. But I successfully changed a top bunk while Buddy was in the bottom bunk sound asleep. Now I just wish I could wash all this disgusting stuff.

SNOW!!

It doesn't get better than this. Except for Munchkin, who hated the cold. She lasted all of 5 minutes, screaming the whole time.

Creative

Some days I don't understand my kids... They loved to play strange games. This one involved 2 "hats" attached.

Cookies

We made cookies after school this week with one of Princess's classmates. I rolled them out and the kids cut them and then eventually frosted them.

Christmas program

Princess sang in Chapel at school this week. She did a great job singing, and all the kids were cute, it was fun to watch. Buddy actually had a great time watching too. It was pretty laid back and he spent a portion of the time lying down in the aisle watching the kids. He was fascinated. (of course wearing snow boots in 60 degree weather)
Princess loved it too, after each song everyone clapped, when everyone stopped, then it was her turn. She would start clapping and look at me with a big smile on her face. Eventually she got tired and fell asleep in my arms.

Shepherd

Buddy had his Christmas party at school today. They had a little performance of the Christmas story and sang some songs. It was fun for them to show off a little, Check it out.

He was a fantastic little shepherd. This is "T" one of the little sheep. Her parents were fantastic and help munchkin for a while, so I could help out. THANKS! This is "L" he was a fantastic Joseph. Snack time... they had way too much sugar.

Happy Birthday Munchkin!

Munchkin turned One this week. We had a busy day, and then had cupcakes after dinner. We opened presents after we had given her a bath to get all the frosting out of her hair. Of course she liked the boxes and wrapping paper as much as she liked the presents. Thanks for the presents Grandma and Grandpa!!

Flash Bang

We had an exciting evening. The heating element in the oven burned out. I was pre-heating the oven to make french fries and was in the other room. All of a sudden there was a loud buzzing sound and some bangs, with flashes of light. By the time I made it to the kitchen there was lots of smoke.
We went to McDonalds for dinner. Instead of having a quiet weekend, we will be going out to buy a new stove, with the Christmas shopping crowds. I was considering having it repaired, but it is old and Daddy wants to convert to a gas stove anyway, so now we have an unexpected opportunity. Maybe we will be able to find one on sale.... or at least I hope so.

Cinderella

I gave up. Daddy is gone on a business trip, and I have spent the whole day out of the house running errands. I gave up and have resorted to after dinner movie time. Cinderella tonight.

Tuesdays at Walgreens

Today I made a new discovery. Walgreens has 20% off for military on Tuesdays. I love Walgreens and can usually get some stuff REALLY cheap or free because you can use both a manufacturer's coupons, Walgreen's coupons (more than one coupon if you can find them) , and Walgreen's rebates. Check out http://fromwagstoriches.entempore.com/ to check out the deals. But today I got to save even more money. It is wonderful when you save over 50% off after the normal sale price.... I love it. I need to remember to always go to Walgreen's on Tuesday's

By they way, Lowes, Home Depot, and Taylor's all offer 10% off every day for military.

Computer time

I made a mistake this weekend. After posting about our craft project Princess asked to play a computer game. Since we only have a laptop, we usually just use the touchpad and she has not been able to master the use of it. I usually play the game and she watches.

That is until yesterday. She finally figured it out and loved being able to play a Dora game all by herself. (and a Backyardigan's game and a Diego game and a Ni Hao game) I am in trouble now. She asked me at breakfast if she could play a game before school. It will be tough having competition for computer time.

Dressed up

We typically dress pretty casually for church... Princess wears a dress because she wants to, but usually I don't. This week I was looking for a warm shirt for Buddy and found a super cute outfit with a button down shirt and sweater vest. I was able to convince him to wear it and then was able to convince Princess that Buddy was handsome and she should wear her plaid smocked Christmas dress. So then of course the whole family decided to dress up a little. However the rest of the morning was a little bit of a challenge.

By the time everyone walked out the door, Daddy was stressed because there was not a shirt ironed for him and he had to iron his own, plus he was wearing a tie and he isn't real happy about that. Princess had melted down because she thought the black shoes were ugly and then her dress was ugly and she was going to come home and rip it into little pieces. I was stressed because my only pair of pantyhose had a run in them... and Buddy was reacting to everyone and kept asking Princess "Are you done with having a tantrum now?"

I never even tried to get a picture because I didn't want any added stress. After church we all came home and got in comfy clothes. The rest of the day went much better. I am not planning on dressing up for church anymore.

Craft time

Princess is into crafts and painting lately. I get asked several times a day if they can color or cut or glue something.

She was very excited about the angel craft they gave us at church this morning, we got a kit to take home. The boys went to get haircuts this afternoon so the 2 of us got to work on it. She had a blast working on it and being creative. When it was completed I asked what we should do with it. I thought we should put a ribbon on it and hang it on the tree, her answer was a little different. The nativity set didn't have an angel and it needed one. Now we have an angel to go with the nativity set. I guess it matches the mini Christmas tree that Buddy added. I don't need to buy the angel that is supposed to go with the set.

More Ice Skating Pictures

We go the pictures from the Professional photographer... They are fantastic. Thanks Eric Lusher http://www.lusherproductions.com/
Check them out. As a side note, the family shot was after lunch walking back to the car, we lifted the kids up to show them the Ice Hockey Mascot skating on the ice, and the photographer snapped it. I just wished Munchkin was in the picture. Then it would have been perfect.

Ho Ho

Grandma and Grandpa gave us a book for Christmas a few years ago. It is a storybook with illustrations to 2 popular Santa Songs, Up on the Housetop and Jolly old St. Nicholas. We read this book a lot, (year round)

Well one of the results of this is that both the big kids have always called Santa Ho Ho as in " Ho Ho Ho who wouldn't go", Ho Ho Ho who wouldn't go, Up on the housetop Click Click Click" Of course now that Princess is in kindergarten she is exposed to more and when I pointed to a picture of "Ho, Ho" she called him Santa. Buddy still calls him Ho ho, but I was hoping it would last a little longer, I think it is cute.

Frost

This morning it was cold enough to have frost on the grass and on the cars, we have had frost before, but it has usually dissipated by the time I left the house. Not so this morning. The kids were fascinated by the grass and had to "help" me scrape the windows of the van. I think I will have lots of help through the rest of the winter.

Simple Pleasures

Some days it is the simple things in life that make me smile. This weekend I got to go grocery shopping by myself without any children. I had time to search my coupons, so I saved more money. I had time to really pick good produce and not just take the apples my son picked. I did not rush in order to get done before the kids got too hungry and cranky. It was wonderful.

My unexpected deal of the day... I had some coupons from Vocalpoint for $1.00 off tuna pouches. The commisary had them for $1.07. I also had formula coupons for $4.00 off ready to feed formula, (which we normally don't buy) but the commisary had them on sale for $5.05. I can't beat formula for $1.05. I can handle keeping a few bottles in the fridge for that price.

Of course reality soon returned. I got home after 2 1/2 hours and my wonderful husband had played with the kids all morning and the breakfast dishes weren't done. But at least I got to go shopping alone. I'll take that trade every day.

Christmas Tree

The annual Christmas tree hunt is usually a challenge. I like to go to the nearest tree lot and pick out the one that fits in the house, doesn't have any bare spots and is pretty affordable. Daddy likes to hike through the tree farm and search and search and search for the best tree.

I have been lucky in that for the majority of our marriage we have not lived near any tree farms.... Until this year. We went to a tree farm about an hour away and this was not what I would think of as a typical tree farm where they grow trees in straight lines and prune the trees so that they are pretty and full. Well some of them are pretty and full, but most of them are in the brush and hard to find, nevermind to cut and carry out.

After a long time hiking in the brush/woods with Munchkin in the backpack on my back. (much to the dismay of a hunter in a neighboring field) We finally came to the conclusion that if we wanted a full pretty tree we were going to have to get a white pine. (long needles and lots of sticky pine sap) We got our tree and while it is not the perfect tree, it looks good, the whole house smells nice AND it only cost us several hours and $30, which is good because the rest of our typical budget was spent on a great lunch.
We only had to remove 1 birds nest, 2 spiders and a few other miscellaneous bugs. In the end it turned out great, the house smells good, the tree is decorated and I can sit on the computer by the light of the Christmas tree.

Week at home

My kids had the entire week off school this week, and I wasn't sure how it would go. Amazingly we had a pretty good week. We went to lots of places and had some great time just playing.

My kids love the children's museum, they have an area like a little city complete with a fire engine, store, bank, dentist and city bus. My kids love the store especially since the cash register makes noise.

The best part of the children's museum was the fact that it was a holiday week and there was only ONE school group, and most kids still had school so it was pretty quiet.

Ice Skating

Today was a great day. My husband let me sleep in until 7:30 and then after breakfast we left all the dishes on the table and took the family ice skating. I haven't been ice skating in years and my skates are a long ways away at my parent's house, but they had rentals and I loved getting on the ice again.

I wasn't sure how the kids would do, but they did great, eventually.

We put Buddy on the big rink and I wasn't holding on to him yet and he took a major fall. He was screaming and wanted those skates off NOW.. Daddy finally got him calmed down and put him on the kiddie rink and he fell in love with skating. The kiddie rink is rough ice and so he doesn't slide as much and it is only about 15' square, perfect for a 3 year old. He spent the entire time there and even taught himself to jump with both feet with his skates on. He threw a tantrum when it was time to leave, we almost had to hold him down to get the skates off his feet. He wants to go back tomorrow.

Princess loved going around the rink with me, though after watching Buddy fall, she decided to wear her bike helmet over her hood. The first few times I skated backwards and held on to her hands, but she didn't like that as much. Then I held both hands as she went forward. Finally she was able to go most of the way around holding on to only one of my hands. She would do one loop and then want some time in the kiddie rink and then go a few more loops around the rink with me. Unfortunately our camera decided to have issues with the 37 degree weather so it quit working after the first few pictures and since I am not about to post pictures of my backside as I skate backwards holding my daughter's hands, there aren't any other pictures.

There was a professional photographer there taking pictures for publicity shots, so I will post later if we can ever get some of those pictures, I know he took some great ones of Buddy.

As a side note if you are planning on taking your kids ice skating, Bring their Bike Helmets and have them wear them. Buddy has a pretty nasty bruise on his cheek/eyebrow from his fall, he was not wearing his helmet.

Cold weather

I love warm fuzzy pajamas with feet. It is rare to get all 3 kids in them on the same night.

Rain

Last weekend I took part of Saturday and went shopping to a huge craft fair by myself. It was a georgous day in the 70's, I had a wonderful relaxing afternoon. During the afternoon there were a few rainstorms that came through. I found these pictures on the camera later this week. There are certain things that happen when I am gone that I don't always know about. It makes me smile to find out some of them.

Train Table

I know that train tables are great for kids, especially for little boys like mine who love their train sets. My problem is that they take up a LOT of room and we simply don't have space for one. today I made the solution.

I signed up to get Lowe's magazine for free and it always has some cool ideas in it. This recent magazine had this idea.

I got a piece of MDF and had Home Depot cut it for me so I had one piece 3' x 5' (by the way I have the scraps if someone wants to buy them from me.) I bought a yard of green felt at the fabric store, ($7.58 a yard and it comes 6' wide) I used spray adhesive to mount the felt on the board. It is a little tricky because felt stretches, so you need to be careful not to stretch it as you put it down, but you do need to make sure it doesn't have ripples. The magazine said to just staple gun it on the back side, but I can see the kids stretching it on the top and putting holes in it. Then I flipped it over, trimmed the edges and again used spray adhesive to attach it to the back. Then was the hard part of putting on the wheels. I had bought casters at home Depot and each had 4 screws to attach them. It was cold and I was too lazy to go out to the shed and get the cordless screwdriver, I regret that decision. After a HUGE blister formed on the middle of my palm, I quit for the night and then got the screwdriver and finished this morning. I used 6 casters, and put the 2 in the middle away from the edge so that when kids climb on it is has a little more strength.

I flipped it over and was going to put shoe molding around the edges, but the finish nails I have are too long. So it will be another stop at the hardware store later today. The molding is to make sure the pieces don't fall off. But when that is done I will have a GREAT train table that fits under the bed. I was going to get the train pieces out to take a cool picture, but Munchkin woke up and had to help. Now I just need to put it in the storage area and bring it out for Christmas morning. I am also tempted to get some loose pieces of black felt so that they can make roads and move them around, but I'm not sure how it will work.

Rice Krispy Kreme

I posted last that I made Rice Krispie treats for the kids yesterday. When I fed them to the kids they kept on calling the Rice Krispy Kreme treats. I think they have fond recollections of Daddy's special breakfast treat last weekend when mommy was gone.

Of course this morning I took the kids out to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. (Daddy worked late last night and I wanted to let him sleep as long as possible) They wanted to go to Krispy Kreme, but it is a 25 minute drive and Dunkin donuts is less than 5 minutes away. Nothing like a sugar infused morning with 3 small kids.

Groceries

I try really hard to make our money go farther in the grocery store. Today was a tough day for our grocery budget. The good news was that today I had $17 worth of coupons, that is really good for me. The bad news. I still spent WAY too much on groceries. But there is a justification, this week was one of those weeks when I needed all the high price items. This week included diapers, formula, laundry detergent and the Thanksgiving Turkey (69 cents a pound at the commisary.)

My favorite buy of the day.... Rice Krispies were on sale for $1.99, I had a $1 off coupon and then on the front of the box was a coupon for $1 off marshmallows. I found marshmallows for 75 cents. I got Rice Krispies and Marshmallows for about 75 cents total. My kids had Rice Krispie treats for snack this afternoon.

Reading

I want our kids to love reading, we have books everywhere and I read to them often. This week I found the kids like this.... It is a beautiful sight, particularly when they can't really read yet. Even Munchkin loves to read, but that may be just eating books.

I miss my friends already and we really do need to see each other more often. K does have the cutest kids and we had a great time playing with the kids... And Zoe the dog. This is Caleb, he is a fantastic big brother and loves playing board and card games. This is Cassi, she is one tough little girl who has been battling cancer and loves to be tickled and play hide and seek.To read more about K and her family and their fight against Cassi's cancer, please check out their web page. www.caringbridge.com/visit/cassidy or click on the lick on the right.

Amazing

I have some amazing friends. They love me despite my faults, they tell me what I need to hear and they bless me beyond my imagination. I see God working in their lives daily and am in Awe of their faith and strength

I am sitting in the USO lounge in the airport in Charlotte NC. (one of the GREAT benefits of military life) I am returning home from a weekend spent with 2 amazing women in my life. T and I left our children at home and journeyed to support K. We were planning on having a fun girls weekend, supporting K, having some fun and enoying a spa day. What happened was so much more. We shared, we laughed, we prayed, we cried and laughed some more. Despite the fact that I haven't seen these amazing women in about 5 years it didn't matter. I am on my journey back to my family and I am overcome with the joy and love of my friends.

Girls... I miss you already and will post pictures later, but I am traveling and feeling completely blessed by you in my life. THANKS doesn't say enough.

Pine Needles

We don't rake leaves at our house.... we rake pine needles, or at least we rake and the kids jump. I really don't like it, they stick to shoes and get tracked all over the house, I would much rather have any other trees. But since they are on the neighbors property, we just get to clean up the mess. What is usually a chore was actually fun on a nice fall day. We spent most of the day outdoors and enjoyed the sunshine. Everyone was covered in pine needles and took showers at the end of the day too.

Dolphin Swing

We used to have a purple dolphin baby swing that we bought at a yard sale when Princess was a baby. She loved it. Buddy loved it, and then it got stolen.... But then my sister found a new blue dolphin at yard sale. We now have another dolphin for the munchkin. She will sit and giggle for a REALLY long time. This is Buddy in the swing... he loved it too. Just as a note, I do have pictures of Princess in the purple dolphin swing, but that was on our old computer..... too hard to find. Maybe if I ever get real motivated I will search.