I started prednisone yesterday morning. In between driving the kids all over town I have caught a bug that I can't shake! I have been sick for over 2 weeks and was diagnosed with pneumonia, an ear infection, and a sinus infection last week after 1 trip to er and 2 trips to urgent care! I have been on an inhaler, 2 antibiotics, and now steroids to get over this super bug! I am hoping that this does the trick because it is difficult to care for 4 kids if you are not operating on all four cylinders.
In the meantime the boys are being their normal selves and keeping everyone busy. Everyone.
We are opening a worm farm. I will write about that tomorrow.....trust me it's interesting stuff!
A love letter to Wyatt from Kendra (he insisted on the picture)Enjoying his "girlfriend" Cailyn's company at her birthday party
These two boys are almost complete opposites. They are different in every way possible that you can imagine. Their preschool teacher has taught for 19 years and she said that she has never seen twins be so different from each other in looks or in personality. They are both wonderful little guys that are truly individuals. I love how different they are.... except when it comes to losing their teeth! Have you ever seen such a cute pair of toothless twin grins!?!?!?
Last Monday we found a really great allergist for Shane. They were great with kids and got us in and out of the office very quickly! She did the classic scratch test on Shane's back and we learned that Shane is still allergic to milk and peanuts, but he is also allergic to eggs as well now! We left with a new prescription for and epi pen (for school) and a recommendation to get him re-tested at age 5. The doctor believes that Shane will outgrow all of his food allergies! Good news!
But now it looks like I should have taken Jonah along with me to the allergist. Last night I took him to ER because he had an allergic reaction. We think that it was from a pecan, but are going to get him tested asap to see what other foods are involved. It appears that he has developed a tree nut allergy despite eating them very frequently. So we are steering clear of any tree nuts or peanuts with Jonah until he gets the allergy testing completed. Very strange indeed!
I have learned so much from all of these food allergy experiences, but am incredibly amazed at how many people are completely uninformed about food allergies. I am truly thinking about putting together a food allergy presentation that can be used to educate teachers and parents in the local schools. It is shocking when I think through all of the misinformation floating around. This week I told somebody that Shane was extremely allergic to milk and they asked if he could eat foods with milk in them, but just not drink milk? Ummm NO! Pretty scary right?
Luckily jonah is feeling better today. Wyatt said that him and Sam were going to make a gift card for Jonah so that he would feel better. These boys think of everything!
I love it when the boys want to help out with the yard work. They are great at helping trim bushes, picking up sticks, and shoveling. Sam is the most motivated to work outside and help out. And he is truly helpful most of the time. Apparently he was "helping" out last week and decided to shovel dog poop. We have almost 2 acres of yard and he must have found every pile of dog poop that existed (and then some). Sam then proceeded to shovel 4 months of dog poop into a SLED and filled it up to the rim. Then he hid it in the bushes in one of the planters on the side of the house for me to find a week later! Talk about disgusting! Thankfully I found it before it had frozen into a gigantic sled-shaped pile of sh$%! Now I have to add that to the ever-growing list of things that you can't do outside. Boys, don't turn on the hose. Don't try and "sail" down the stream next to the house. Don't open the neighbor's mailboxes. And don't shovel dog poop into a sled and hide it in the bushes.
I can't believe that my baby is turning 3 years old today! He is starting school this morning and he's totally ready. The problem is that I'm not quite sure that I am!!!!!
Even though we have not had much snow at all so far this winter the kids have been making the most out of it! They have not been able to use their igloo makers at all and have not had enough packing snow to build a snowman at all this year. So they have been improvising.
They were able to build a fort out of snow chunks from the road. They hauled the chunks to the necessary location by sled with Jonah acting as the supervisor.
They also made snow castles by shoveling snow into huge piles. Sam was the main workhorse on that project. They did some sledding at our next door neighbors house and behind the four wheeler. Then they attempted a similar ride behind a bicycle which didn't go as planned.
It doesn't take much to keep these guys entertained... just the great outdoors and a bit of snow!
I unpacked my sewing machine a few weeks ago to make a curtain for our first floor bathroom. I set the machine up in our bedroom and was actually able to get some serious sewing accomplished while the kids were home and awake! I was so pumped!
I used to do a lot of sewing before kids, but have never been able to leave my stuff set up because my peeps can't leave that kind of stuff alone. So I have hardly used my sewing machine over the past 6 years since it is so much work to get everything out every time that I want to make something no matter how small.
But I set up a table in our bedroom (1st floor master) and have been able to leave all of my stuff out without anyone "checking" it out and it has been 2 weeks! So now I am coming up with sewing projects in my head almost constantly!
Last week I used some old sleep sacks of Shane's and made the boys some winter face masks. I made up a pattern and they turned out decent....even if they look a bit Muslim when wearing them!
When you share a room with your brother you learn to share. If you're favorite color is blue and your brother's favorite color is orange then your room might end up something like this....
Everybody is happy.....
except Daddy because his estimation was a little off and we have an entire unopened can of orange paint that can't be returned. So if anybody is interested in some Behr Orange Poppy interior paint we are willing to make a deal!
We spent the first several weeks in January without any snow enjoying unseasonably warm weather. We took bike rides and used our rollerblades almost every day. Loved it!
The kids spend time outside each and every day (unless it is raining) after school. They need to burn off energy and just spent time being kids. The thing that I love most about our new house is that we have so much space for the kids to play outside and there is very little traffic so they can be outside for long periods of time without me needing to check on them or worry. It is such a nice change from our house in Pittsburgh that was on a corner with tons of traffic going by all of the time! The kids are actually able to play without adult supervision the way that we did growing up.
They are free to make bad decisions and learn from their mistakes without me hovering over them barking instructions. If you climb a tree and stand on weak branches, you will fall....lesson learned. If you step in a puddle in the back of the yard and get your shoes soaking wet, you will be cold...still mastering that one. If you build a homemade bike ramp that is not too sturdy, you will eat dirt....literally. These boys are growing up like we did back in the 70's and I love it. Some days I make the kids cookies or bread and set it out on the deck with some hot chocolate and they re-fuel before heading out again, but they really seem to enjoy the freedom that they have living here. Shovels but no snow hmmmmm.......... now what?
Sam seriously NEVER wants to come in the house. He thought that John's ice shanty was a tent so that they could sleep out on the ice...for real! Sam is truly an outdoorsman if I ever met one! He is soooo enthusiastic about anything involving outside! I have found that he is highly motivated to clean up his toys and clothes if it has to be finished before playing outside. He will wake up before anyone else and clean the playroom and upstairs hallway just so that he can play outside sooner! If you know Sam at all then you know that cleaning and him have never been used in the same sentence. Sam's latest obsession is sneaking up on the birds at the bird feeder with a bucket to try and catch them! Hey Grissly Adams... i think that I just found your replacement! Here birdy birdy....
We have a bit of catching up to do and fortunately even though I have not written in a while I am still taking pictures every day so I have a visual record of what we have been up to the last 3 weeks.
When I last left Jonah and Sam had just turned 5. It turns out that 5 is a lot like 4 except that now I can say "seriously you are 5 years old what were you thinking?!?!" when they do something crazy like wake us up at 5 am jumping in the bounce house in their bathing suits. (Did I ever write about the time a few years ago when we wereliving in Pittsburgh and John and I woke up to the doorbell ringing at 6 am? When we went downstairs Wyatt was standing on the front porch, all of about 2 1/2 years old, in his pajamas outside and we never knew it! That is story is already practically a made-for-tv-movie! Thus began our system of locks and bolts and cages...., but I digress....) Anyways Jonah and Sam are growing up and I have started filling out their Kindergarten registration forms this week! It is amazing that we have almost arrived at this milestone! Shortly after the twins birthday we celebrated John's birthday! He will be hitting a big milestone next year 4-0!!!! John celebrated by getting himself an ice shanty and doing some ice fishing! They have caught a handful of little fish but are still figuring out the ins and outs of Lake Winnebago!
We are enjoying ourselves and staying busy so far this 2012. I am hoping to be more consistent with blog updates too, but sometimes life gets in the way! We are looking forward to a great 2012!
Jonah and Samuel got the best birthday surprise this morning...they woke up to snow! We got about 2-3 inches of snow overnight and the boys were thrilled. Can we plow? Can we shovel? Can we build a snowman? Can we build a fort?
Not yet guys!
First we have to go to church...then we have to pick up the cakes from the bakery...then you can play in the snow!
When we got to church we had a bit of a surprise when they told us that it was family Sunday and kids were supposed to attend church with their parents and not go to Sunday school. Hmmmm.... that should be interesting! We weren't prepped for that! It went well despite the change of plans...surprisingly! Except for the part where the offering plates were being passed around and Wyatt "whispered" (which is more like talking in a normal voice with a hiss) "Mom, we're supposed to put money in the bowl...not steal it out like last time right?" That got some interesting looks from the nearby congregation members!
The cakes that I ordered turned out great! It was a big deal because we had to modify from the original design because they couldn't do the designs that the boys picked out on the cake sizes that we ordered and they had specific guidelines and a bunch of other reasons that made us a little skeptical of how the final product would turn out! No worries though the boys were thrilled!
When we got home the boys shoveled the deck, back patio, and driveway for hours! They worked really hard and John and I sat inside reading the Sunday newspaper proud that our boys were trained so well. Then we checked outside and realized they boys had deviated from their original shoveling attack plan and had, in fact, shoveled everything into a big pile in the middle of the driveway instead! I guess that we have some more training ahead...Oh well, they tried!
Then we ate lunch and did the birthday cake celebrations since we had plans to go out to dinner. It was nice to enjoy the cakes so early in the day with the boys before they got too tired out! Next they opened presents and napped.
Then they hit the snow again! This time they were supposed to remove the big snow pile from the middle of the driveway. Daddy finally got out the four wheeler and helped the boys out. Then he tied their sled on the back of the four wheeler and drove the boys around the house until the snow was gone! The kids were in heaven! (I think that Daddy was kinda in the zone too!)
Finally we packed everyone up and went out for Mexican food. It was a great meal and just before we left we overheard a server tell another table that on Sundays kids eat free! Holy cow... we didn't know that! They were about to lose money on us for sure! We ended up getting 2 kids meals for free and since I have to pack Shane's meal anywhere we go, we only paid for John, me, and 1 kid! Score!
The kids are exhausted and I expect that they will sleep in tomorrow (but I doubt it!). Jonah and Sam are five years old now and I can barely wrap my head around that! When we asked them what their favorite thing about their birthday was they both said "EVERYTHING!"! My thoughts exactly......
We made it to Michigan without any issues. First we visited my parents and then we visited John's parents. The kids have really enjoyed having three separate Christmas celebrations. Plus, Jonah and Sam have enjoyed birthday celebrations at each grandparents house in the last week. They are celebrating nonstop! It has been a whirlwind visit so far, but we have made some fun memories. I will share stories later!
Jonah and Samuel had their Christmas pageant at school today. They go to a Catholic preschool so they did a pre-K rendition of the birth of Jesus. They have been looking forward to it for weeks and talking about it constantly. So, when I found out the date of their performance and realized that it was the day before we left for Michigan we had to do some serious planning. John ended up taking the day off to see the boys' show and get packed, but Wyatt still had school today and was going to have to miss the performance. He was incredibly disappointed. So, I decided that we would pull Wyatt out of school for an hour or so to come see Jonah and Sam's pageant. How long are these boys going to be excited to attend each other's events anyways? Everybody was thrilled that we would attend the event together as a family!
After we arrived, Wyatt was worried that he wouldn't see the boys from our seats so I suggested that he climb on the bleachers and watch, so he watched the entire performance from the highest perch so that he didn't miss a thing! Too funny!
Jonah and Sam were donkeys. They did such a great job singing we were so proud. After the show the families all enjoyed cookies and milk together and had a visit from Santa! We all enjoyed ourselves and are looking forward to sharing some more special times with family in Michigan tomorrow! Here is a little bit of their show.......
Last weekend I unloaded the last of the boxes from our move. We had 4 LARGE boxes in the dining room full of all of our dishes, china, and crystal. We were going to keep them boxed up until after John painted the dining room (which is painted like a jungle since it was used as a nursery by the previous owners), but the project keeps getting moved to the back burner and we all got sick of walking around the boxes. So, I finally tackled it and spent the entire day last Sunday unwrapping and cleaning our dishes.
At one point Wyatt walked into the dining room and was fascinated by all of our "beautiful glasses and dishes" and I realized that he had never really seen our china before. We have always kept it packed up in the padded protectors safely tucked away in our hutch. We used to use our china and crystal all of the time before kids, but not so much lately.
So John and I talked about it and decided that we are going to make a big Sunday dinner each week (which we usually already do anyways) and eat in the dining room using our good dishes. We want to make it a special meal that the kids can look forward to each week and give us a nice family tradition as well.
I told the kids about the new plan and they were pumped. I even told them that we can have candles on the table while we eat and that idea was a big hit. They want to put 4 candles on the table and use my candle snuffer (which they found when I was unloading the dining room boxes) to put out the candles after dinner.
I am excited about trying this out with the boys. I can even see it evolving into something more down the road where somebody gets to make dessert or makes special place mats to eat or plans the menu. It will be interesting to see where this goes.
Anyways back to the Grinch.... yesterday we started the ball rolling and John made a sirloin tip roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans for dinner. The kids kept commenting on how good the meat smelled cooking. They couldn't wait to eat. We are so hungry! Then when we finally sat down to eat Wyatt said, in his most polite voice, "thanks for making this... I really like roast BEAST"!
Fake Christmas went well. The kids got up cod (crack of dawn), but we didn't let them start opening until 7:30 am. Then we took a few breaks during opening to let everybody eat or play with their toys for a while. It was nice and relaxed and we ended up dragging it all out until 11 or so! Then we simply had to make lunch and send everybody down for a nap! Wyatt really enjoyed his digital picture key chain that holds 60 pictures. We uploaded his favorites and he carries it everywhere! Who knew that Santa could score so big on $10?!?!?!?
The kids also liked their mini staplers and mini pillow pets. Small stuff seems so cute when you are part of a big family with big stuff! I remember those days myself!
Shane loved his alligator rocker from Grandma! He is quite the daredevil on it!
I still have lots of stories to share, but this Mommy is off to bed! Christmas is tiring for everybody...not just the kids!!!!
Enjoying his "girlfriend" Cailyn's company at her birthday party
