spring is in the air

the simple joy of shorts and running in the yard with a kite. love.

a rare sleeping boy

maddux is the embodiment of perpetual motion. he loves to snuggle, but can not stop moving to the point where we have to ask him to get up (his little boney body hurts!). he has been a little out of sorts for a few days (very low fever, very little appetite, pale, emotional), so i insisted that he need a nap today. he laid down with me and cried that he wasn't tired until he fell asleep. i took this picture to send to matt. it is so unusual for maddux to nap that matt thought it was manning! it just didn't make sense for maddux to be the one sleeping.

i had to wiggle out to help manning in the bathroom after an hour, but maddux fell right back to sleep (after crying for about 15 seconds that he wasn't tired). he slept for about 3 hours! i can maybe count on one hand how many times maddux has taken a nap in the past year. poor little guy. we are looking forward to him feeling better soon. love.

my little trainer

mason has become very interested in my workouts. he and madelyn have been joining me here and there when i work out during the day, but now he insists that i wait for him to exercise and completes the entire hour workout with me! i try to make sundays my true "day of rest" but mason begged so much that i gave in to his request for exercise. he is getting pretty good too! love.

madelyn explains easter

madelyn and manning worked on "crafts" while the boys were at the car show. she made this easter story for her friend who "doesn't know about God so that she can understand easter."

almost all of the pieces are made from pipe cleaners and she wrote it all out to help her friend remember the significance of each item. love.

boys at a car show

it took some doing, but we convinced the two big boys to join daddy at the car show. once they headed out, madelyn, manning and i went outside to see what play they could make with the rapidly melting snow. the snow packed great, but it was melting in their hands. madelyn's snow ball was draining off water so she called it a "rain cloud." 

it didn't take long for the "rain cloud" to soak every inch of her and manning had already given up and gone back inside. once they were both inside and dry, they disappeared downstairs to "craft." madelyn commented at snack time that "it is nice to only have three in the house. it's so quiet."

but the boys weren't missing us either!

they were full of stories when they got home and very happy that they decided to go. love.

me and my guy under the sea

this weekend madelyn had two father/daughter dance invitations - one at school and one at church. she decided to try the school one instead this year because they haven't really lasted very long at the church one in past years. (the hope was that knowing more of the girls would make it more fun for her to stay.)

it sounds like they had a great time. largely because there was a chocolate fountain. madelyn really liked the chocolate fountain.

daddy told me that her classmates pulled her out on the dance floor several times and that he and madelyn danced a little too.

all the girls (madelyn is just in the frame on the right front)

he still wasn't too crazy about the music played (this was a problem even at the church dances). they might just go on their own date next year. at least we got some cute pictures! love.

sudden ear infection

manning told me that his ear hurt this afternoon around 3 and he quickly melted down from there. like screaming that his ear hurt until he passed out. he was also determined not to see a doctor.

the doctor's office could not get him in today, so to the cvs minute clinic we go. but first we have to get mason off of the bus and pick up madelyn from school. so i have to wake up this poor boy (who completely refuses to take any medicine that might offer relief) and get him into the car.

thankfully, he cries for a while and falls back asleep. we took his lovey with us because it is the only comfort he will accept.

by the time we get to cvs, we have to wait 45 minutes to be seen. the big kids go to explore the easter aisle while i hold the crying manning until he once again falls asleep. he is burning up too. i am so hot and uncomfortable sitting on a folding chair but thankful that manning has been able to fall back asleep. the bigs are getting a little rowdy in the easter aisle so every time there is a song change for the in-store music, i call out one of their names quickly. i just can't risk manning screaming in pain again if i wake him up.

at last it is our turn. the bigs have been so patient and relatively well behaved. manning on the other hand, does not want to be there and wants nothing to do with the nurse practitioner trying to examine him. he refuses to let her look in his ears (which is really unusual for him - the doctor always comments on how well he does with ear exams and procedures). i finally get him to let her look in one ear. there is a clear infection and she, mercifully, gives up on trying to look in the other one. the treatment is the same whether there is one or two infected ears.

the kids playing go fish to pass the time. a deck of cards is worth carrying around in my purse.

when we finally got home, i persuaded (threatened) him to take his medicine and quickly went to whip up some dinner. within a hour he was night and day better. thankfully. love.