men in red

we took a walk after dinner and i looked back (to make sure maddux was still awake) only to realize that all three guys were wearing red.  love.

roll and go

here is my latest sewing project of my own creation...

double sick visit

this morning i had to call for two sick visits - manning and maddux.  manning actually seems a little better and i would have given him another 24-hours before calling, but maddux was up all night complaining about his ear so i decided to just save myself a trip.  (plus, nana is coming on thursday and i don't want to still be dealing with this if we can help it.)

maddux has another ear infection.  it must be fairly bad because she was a little surprised to see that his other ear was clear and commented on how much puss and redness there was in the infected one.  so he is on antibiotics for the next 10 days.  his last ear infection was in december but he just had that sinus infection in march so she is giving him something different this time.

manning has fluid in his ear but not an infection.  he has almost has a fever for 72 hours so she said that we should really watch that because she starts to 'worry' after that length of time.  she said that it could be that we caught his ear before it is infected so i could just call if his fever gets worse and i think it is his ear - she won't make us come back in for an antibiotic.  his lungs were clear but she wants us to keep an eye on his coughing and breathing because she has seen a few cases of pneumonia in the past few weeks.  she did not think it was rsv at all.

in short, poor little manning is still miserable and there isn't a whole lot that can be done.  he had me hold or nurse him all day yesterday - when i put him down he would just scream.  i was spent when the day was over and then mason and maddux ended up in our bed all night too.  this has been a really long sleepless week for me between all three boys (and matt a little too, he sleeps heavier but has been up late working).

is it summer yet?  we need fresh air and less exposure to other kids!  love.

tuesday tip - let's see what else we can find

this is my go-to phrase for that kid who has stalled out when i want/need to keep moving - "let's go see what else we can find!" (it has to be said with happy enthusiasm to be effective.)  a kid won't stop begging for a cookie at the store?  "let's go see what else we can find!"  you have been watching the penguins for 30 minutes?  "hey, let's go see what else we can find!"  they are melting down because daddy is leaving?  "let's go see what else we can find!"  i don't even have to be specific.  in fact, i think it works because i am not specific, it is like the promise of a surprise.

if that doesn't immediate work then i add "say 'bye-bye' to..."  that gets the job done 9-1/2 times out of 10.

it can be hard to keep going when everything they see is so fascinating!

what is your favorite 'keep moving' distraction?

love.

proud artist

since getting a new computer, we have stripped most of our programs and files off the old computer (so that it will actually be able to run) and turned it over to the kids.  they aren't allowed to use it when we aren't in the room but when we are they sit next to us and play games.

mason has figured out how to find and print coloring sheets.  and now he has started hanging them on the refrigerator when he is done.  i love seeing what new masterpiece he has deemed worthy of the refrigerator because he does it all himself.

love.

errggg!

so let's just start this off with saying that a lot of this i brought on myself...

i have been meaning to set up manning's 9-month pictures, but illnesses, naps and schedule have made it difficult.  friday night i asked matt if he would mind if i ran manning out for pictures after church and lunch on sunday.  it was fine, so i set up an appointment for 1:20pm; i scheduled online like i have been for many years (and with that i am sure you know where this is going...).

saturday night manning didn't have a great night and sunday morning we decided that he needed to stay home from church.  matt took the big kids and i stayed home with manning so that he could get some rest.  when he woke up from his nap he was very warm.  his face was even a little red with fever.  he was acting okay and since it was really too close to the appointment to cancel we decided to give him a little medicine and go for it.  (matt really wants him to get his pictures done so that i will cut his hair.  it is getting crazy long and does not sweep to the side so he isn't going to make it until his first birthday for his first haircut.)

it was raining and jcp isn't all that close to our house.  but they have always done such a good job that i don't mind the drive (a little over 20 minutes each way).  about a quarter of the way there i remembered that we had taken the stroller out of the van to fit the wagon yesterday.  oh well, i can just carry him.  i was glad i had forgotten it when i got there because the elevator was broken and i would have had to abandon it anyway to get up to the photo studio.

once we were there i had to wait about 15 minutes before anyone asked to help me (or acknowledged me).  i quickly realized that they didn't have my appointment and was kicking myself for not jotting down my confirmation number from the site (i used to but i have never needed it and stopped writing it down almost two years ago).  while i was passed off to someone else at the desk to try and find my appointment (i have been a member of jcp photo studio for almost 6 years and they had no record of me at all!).  while the lady was trying to reenter all of my information, the other girl started helping the people behind me and told them they were next!  they weren't even going to attempt to fit me in or find my reservation.

at this point i was just going to cut my losses and leave.  i told them that i wouldn't be able to wait and left.  i lost an hour and a half of my day and didn't have anything to show for it!

as i write it all down, most of it is my fault and it is a little silly that i was upset.  i know it isn't the problem of the people who were helping me locally and plan to offer some feedback at the corporate level about how it was handled.  i just thought that it was rude to skip over us without even attempting to find my appointment without telling me first.

now i just have to decide if i should reschedule and/or find a new photography place/person...  love.

mops family dinner

we had another mops family dinner.  after we ate, the kids all painted terra cotta pots that was later filled with a small flowering plant.  they had a really great time.  unfortunately it was raining so we had to stay inside instead of using the playground like we had planned.  instead one of the moms organized a game of simon says and then duck, duck, goose.  it was pretty cute to see the littles playing duck, duck, goose.  when mason would get 'goosed', maddux would run around with them!  whether playing by the rules or just running, they all had a lot of fun.  love.

soccer outside

it was daddy's big first game as a coach.  i thought he did a really great job.  i think the most difficult part is keeping track of the substitutions and trying to give everyone equal playing time.  madelyn started the game crying - again.  she said that she didn't want to leave me.  i reminded her that daddy would be on the field with her the whole time but that just got her on the field.  it took some more time for the crying to stop.

today we tried something different.  instead of bringing a bunch of chairs and the stroller, we brought one chair and the wagon.  this was way better!  mason and maddux took turns between the wagon seat and my lap and it was easier for them to play with manning.  we will be doing this every week it isn't raining (they will play indoors if it rains).

madelyn had a pretty great game.  she ran hard and was at the front of the pack with the ball most of the time.  she just needs to work on kicking into the goal quicker.  she would spend so much time lining up that the other kids would catch up and she would miss her chance.  she didn't score any goals, but she easily could have scored several.  she is very competitive, but not aggressive yet.

she is the lead yellow shirt

a huddle with coach daddy

they set the fields up a little different this year and there was a large empty field right behind us where mason and maddux could run and play too.  i think mason is going to be pretty good when he gets old enough to play.  he has some good coordination with the ball and is fast, but you never know...

yay for a beautiful first game saturday!  love.

what's one more?

my friend who i walk with needed to attend a funeral today (young mom with a long suffering cancer - a sad and happy occasion) and she needed someone to watch the little boy she normally watches all week.  since he knows us from walking, she asked if i was free.  madelyn would have to ride the bus (to free up a carseat) but we could do it.

i think he is 20 months or so but he is manning's size.  he and maddux often pass snacks and books back and forth between the strollers while my friend and i walk and talk so he was pretty excited to have his one 'friend' over.  it went great.  so great that he didn't want to stop for lunch or a nap!  it helped that it was a beautiful day and we were able to play outside quite a bit.

i had madelyn ride the bus so that i would have enough carseats for the four boys when i drove mason to school.  i wasn't sure how it was going to work with mason in madelyn's booster seat (he is two months from being legally old enough, but he meets the weight and height requirements) and maddux in mason's seat in the back since he can't do all of the buckles himself.  but maddux was finally  able to buckle himself in!  he picked the perfect day to make that happen too!  he buckled himself in all four time we got in the car (picking up and dropping off mason) and was even able to unbuckle once!  very exciting!

the boys played downstairs most of the morning and outside most of the afternoon.  it really worked out pretty well.  it would have been much harder if we had to do anything else in the car though and our little friend isn't much of a hand holder which made things a little tricky in the parking lot.

all four boys were very taken with alphie.

the funny part was when his dad came to pick him up because he asked if i was running a daycare!  he was a little surprised to hear that the other four were all mine.  it does feel like a daycare some days.  love.

brighten a rainy day

madelyn was so cute coming up the sidewalk after school but i wasn't fast enough grabbing the camera so she lost the beaming smile during this recreation.  we sure do love her.  love.

pre-walking manning

manning pulled up to stand all on his own for the first time today!  yay!  i didn't think he was ever even going to try (he can get anything off the couch by just standing on his knees and hasn't really seen the need to reach higher or stand).  just for comparison, i looked up what mason was up to at this age (he did all of the large motor stuff 'late' - well within the normal range though).  mason was already standing and walking behind 'push toys'!  alright, manning, let's get you going.

he thought it was the greatest thing in the world to 'walk' on his knees while pushing the lion.  seriously, he was laughing almost the entire time!

and then he came up with this 'pimp crawl' action.  i thought it was pretty funny and none of the other kids had come up with this one as a long-distance movement.  he was kind of working himself around in a circle.

we are really, really excited for this big boy to walk!  he is already over 25 pounds!  love.

sneak attack

the boys build 'towers' for daddy and after much crying over the towers falling apart over and over, i suggested some pictures to send to daddy so that we wouldn't have to worry about it any more.  and here is what happened...

peek-a-boo!

hey, what do you have there?

what?!  manning!

maddux' tower is down.

mason doesn't care because his didn't get touched.

love.

tuesday tip - mix it up

maybe i am the only one, but it makes me crazy to cook the same thing all of the time!  i find that a new recipe makes things a little more 'exciting' and we try at least one a week (actually the minimum is usually 4 or 5 these days).  i think i like to know that my brain still works.  so my tip...

use new recipes

and not just new recipes, but new genres of food.  who would have guessed that one of our pickiest eaters loves coconut curry?  or that the boys all like spicy food?  and chopsticks make every meal more fun!

it doesn't have to be hard either.  you can use allrecipes.com (i use their app) to work with what ingredients you already have in the house for some new combinations.  and i am currently in love with the public library!  we mainly use the library as somewhere to go to get the kids books but a quick lap around the adult section has introduced me to their wall of cookbooks!  i think of it as a test drive.  we try a few recipes and if i like the book, maybe i will order my own copy for the regular rotation.  (i just love a hard copy cookbook.)

challenge your little eater's pallet - they just might surprise you!

what is the most surprising thing your kids have loved?

love.

game night!

the boys have both been sick this week - with croup per my google search.  mason stayed home from school yesterday and today too.  i was on the fence about them going to a baseball game tonight but we were planning on the whole family going.

neither big boy slept much last night (which meant mommy didn't sleep much either).  so i told matt that they would both have to take a nap if the baseball game was going to happen.  we had not told any of the kids about the game (this goes back to my strategy to make everything a surprise), but when mason was so overtired that he would not sleep - and was instead crying and trying to find things to do that didn't involve sitting or laying down, i broke my rule and told him that he couldn't go to the game without taking a nap.  and he did!

what a difference a few hours make!

the boys were both much, much better!  but when we were quickly eating dinner it was becoming obvious that manning was not so thrilled about being kept from going to bed.  daddy suggested that i could just stay home and get some rest and he would take the three bigs. neither one of us were expecting them to last very long since the game started so close to bed time.

well they did great!  so great that they made it to the end of the game!  (it was a fairly short game though.) it sounds like it was a pretty great evening.  the kids were pretty much what we would expect - madelyn had little interest in the game and started whining for snack pretty much as soon as they got there, maddux was a little antsy (well, he had been sick for two days and at home) and mason was just happy to be there sitting and watching the game.

and because we have a crazy good track record with getting balls at games - they all three came home with one!  now this was really shocking when matt texted me this picture before they headed home.  i guess madelyn was given one early in the game from the dugout, mason's game from someone else asking on his behalf and then maddux was crying when the game was over and he didn't have one so daddy told madelyn to go ask the last player (a catcher) in the dugout if she could have one.  and there you go - three balls.  i am pretty sure that this is maddux' first ball ever.  he definitely treats it like his first ever ball.  he is practically glowing with excitement.

so glad that everyone was healthy enough to go.  it works out well too because the boys and i don't have to leave the house tomorrow (again) and they can get a little extra rest from their super late night.  love.

cold treat

being the youngest does have its perks.  one being that you get to do a lot of things earlier than your siblings did.  today manning got to have his first frozen treat and he couldn't have been happier.

my thought was to let him have a taste of mine, but he would cry every time i took it away to take my own bites.  so i tried to eat it up quick so he wouldn't get too much!

we just love a popsicle outside in the afternoon on a sunny day!  love.

yo-ho-ho!

maddux has been a boy obsessed - with jake and the neverland pirates.  he has two shirts with 'jake' on them.  he prefers one.  and i think "prefers" is an understatement.  after he pulled it out of the hamper and wore it three days in a row because it is the only one with a "big jake" (his other one has jake and captain hook).  i haven't been able to wash it fast enough!  so i tried to see if i could find one on clearance on walmart.com (it is long sleeved and that is where grandma had picked it up several months ago).  no luck.

it isn't just enough that it has jake on a shirt - he has to be alone and he has to be big.

they did have a striped shirt and short set with jake on it available online and i showed it to maddux.  thankfully, he approved.  unfortunately, they didn't have it at the store when we went the next day (and, yes, i know i could have ordered it and picked it up but i needed something fast).  thankfully, they did have a shirt that he found acceptable.  he found it so acceptable that while i was looking for a larger size, he stripped off his shirt (the dirty, long-sleeved version that he was wearing for day number four) and tried to put it on in the store!

since i couldn't find the one we were looking for i called grandma to be on the look out (she goes to a lot of walmarts as part of her job).  of course she found the one we were looking for (on maddux) and an extra (on mason) by the end of the day!  they were both for maddux but he was very willing to share which was extra sweet when you consider his obsession.

this has been funny because neither of the other two have had this level of obsession with a clothing item.  they have preferred things but nothing like maddux.  but the funniest part is that he hasn't watched jake and the neverland pirates in months and months because we  don't have cable any more!  who knows what triggered it, but at least we have enough now that he won't be smelly.  love.

still sewing

here are some of my latest little projects...

baby gifts for friends and family - i hope that the etiquette of having one year to send a wedding gift goes for babies too...

and this scarf for myself was supposed to be one of my first projects that i just got around to doing recently.

i have several summer projects planned (and have even bought some fabric) so there will be more!  love.

springtime

just a few random 'spring-y' pictures to share.  the kids just love digging in the planters when we are outside on a nice day.  it just occurred to me recently that i really should encourage them to dig in the empty lot next door than in our mulch!  they just love that dirt!  looks like every day is going to be 'bath day' now...

we also took some pictures of the blooms in the yard and sent them to daddy at work (which might be a little cruel...).  i just love our little apple tree blossoms.

and here are some 'blooms' of mason's that i found at school.  they are so 'mason'.  it is funny how neat his are in comparison with the rest of the class.  he is our details/order kid for sure.

i love that spring is trying to come!  and i am ready ready.  love.

welcome home, daddy!

matt has been out of town since sunday and we are super happy to have him back!  i call this picture manning's "take me with you" pose with matt's suitcase before he left.  everything went fairly smooth while matt was gone - thankfully - except for all the mops activity on tuesday.  the kids were largely in bed by 7 each night - an hour earlier than normal!  i say it is because i am tired of them and they are tired of me, but i think it has more to do that we don't get daddy's burst of energy and excitement to fill our evenings.  we are all happy to be under the same roof again.  love.

boys dress-up

the boys were playing dress-up in the basement with me.  well, i was just their dresser.  we would find all the pieces to a particular costume, get them in it and then they would give the appropriate yell/catch phrase/movement for the character and then immediately strip it all off for the next one!  i spent way, way more time dressing them than they did playing, but it was still pretty fun.  here is just a small sampling of their costumes today. love.

maddux barely fit into this old lion costume!  this one is an oldie but a goodie and will hopefully fit manning for halloween.

after some ferocious "roar" pictures, he gave me this one with a fierce smile.

he was ready to change before i could get a picture, but here is a quick look at 'jake'.