Lately

This weekend we rented a full size van as a kind of test drive. We've learned over the years that you can never do too much research when making a big purchase like a vehicle. We're trying to figure out what we can get that will both pull our camper and fit our family comfortably. I was nervous at first to drive the van, I mean it dwarfs the mini van, but in the end it was a piece of cake. That being said, after a couple days I think we're going to hold off on the "kiddy catcher" van, as my husband puts it, until its absolutely necessary. My mini van is a luxury vehicle in comparison! I think we're going to end up with a used older Suburban in the end.

Sunday was Jon's celebration o' life, family style. Aka, family birthday dinner. We had ribs. Yummy delicious ribs!

Sunday night Ford got a fever. My usually sweet, content little boy was so miserable and grouchy. I was up half the night with him and Monday I was either holding him or Kane. Kane is going through a weird phase, we went to church and he freaked out in childcare. He hasn't done that in probably over a year! Weird.

Yesterday Ford's fever broke. He's not quite back to his usual self but I think he's on his way. I had enough time sans babies in my arms to make homemade tortellini and manicotti. As I was kneading and then rolling out the dough, I self diagnosed myself with arthritis. I've had joint pain on and off since jr. high and it seems to coincide with my psoriasis outbreaks (I'm in the middle of a bad one this winter) and as it turns out it could be psoriatic arthritis. I should probably have my theories confirmed by a doctor but really, who needs a doctor when you have webmd. :) I think dealing with psoriasis my whole life and now Evan's eczema has left me quite jaded with the medical community.

We're having friends over for dinner and I'm making tortellini soup!

I'm still playing catch up from Christmas. My laundry, cleaning and blogging have been lagging. I have these dreams of organizing bedrooms and closets but I just don't have enough time in the day! I was able to move Kane's clothes into the big boys room and Ford's clothes, from our room, into Kane's room. Seth and Kane are, for the time being, in a room together, Evan has his own room which he hates (weird kid) and Ford is still sleeping in the Florida room at night. Its a weird arrangement but everyone is sleeping well at night so we're going with it. :)

Evan has been diagnosed with a speech disorder. Now we have to figure out where the problem stems from, his hearing or his processing. In my opinion its his processing but we're going to do a hearing test just to rule it out. I have to make a few calls and get speech therapy lined up for him. I have no idea, yet, how I'm going to fit that into my day! On the upside I've heard from all the teachers that he's one of the hardest workers they've ever had and is consistently making progress. There are still quite a few unknowns in this situation so, pray for us!

Well, that's all I can think of right now. I need to get the boys snack and actually spend time with them. :) Adios.

Oh and here are some random pics for my mom. Hi mom, I know I need to call you soon to catch up! :)

Having boys means anything can be turned into a weapon.

After I finished taking pictures we had a long discussion about sticks and safety.

So then they thought playing with the ash in the old rusty fire pit was a good idea.

We had yet another discussion.

The boys love to tickle Ford but he's not very ticklish. Kane laughed so hard after each raspberry while Ford just laid there.

We have the best cat, our dogs aren't even this patient.

Evan is such a great helper with the little boys. He loves to prove how strong he is by holding his baby brother, only when mommy is standing right there though.

Pictures by Evan

Evan asked to use the point and shoot camera one day the week after Christmas, since the thing takes the worst pictures ever and I secretly hope everyday it will break, I let him have it. :) Here's life from his perspective.

The magnetic snow man he made at school! Isnt that fun?!

The day I got my ornament with Taylah's picture on it, too bad we got it after Christmas but now she's hanging up on our cork board in the kitchen. Isnt she a doll?!

Outside where a random dog was visiting.

Daddy and uncle Jay inspecting Jed's work on the house. He's blasting the paint of the fake rock in the front before we repaint hopefully in the next month or so.

There were LOTS of Ford pictures, I think because he sits still and is so cute.

Kane found the transformers. Doesnt he look so skeptical here? I think he's worried that Evan's going to try to take his toys. :)

And of course a self portrait.

Kane Saves the Day

We went camping again this past weekend in our new, used camper! With four boys we were fairly squashed into our old camper with the three older boys in one bed and Ford in a pack and play in the spot where the table should go. The new camper has a third pop out bed, a bathroom with a shower and toilet (no more midnight runs to the bath house!) and a full but compact kitchen. It sounds luxurious and to us it is, in fact its more than we ever imagined we'd have, but in comparison take a look at this bad boy, its nicer than my house! :)

We're so excited about our new camper, its such a blessing for us! The only snafu is that we could pull the old one with our mini van but this one is too heavy. We have a truck and it has a backseat but again we're squashed. Fortunately Jay and Jamie have a Suburban and offered to take the older boys with them on this trip but we do plan to camp without them at some point so I guess we'll be getting to know each other even better when that time comes! :)

The trip went really well, well, except the first night when the power went out and it was in the 30s and we were freezing, that wasn't so cool. We still had a space heater that worked since it was hooked up to an outlet that ran off of propane or something, I don't get the ins and outs of camper wiring. So we didn't freeze to death but it was uncomfortable and stressful. You know, like, "Please tell me that I didn't just spend a nice chunk of money on a steal box on wheels." In the morning Jed and Jay discovered that it was nothing more than a blown fuse, phew!

Then there was our last day, the day we pack everything up to head home, of course on that day we woke up to pouring rain. The campground got 3G service for our iphones so we sat around staring at the radar for a bit to see if it was going to break up. It was a massive storm but it looked like it might clear up a bit in a couple hours so we decided to head into town for breakfast and maybe some shopping.

Jed ran out to the truck to put Kane in and found that he had left his window down all night, bummer. So he plopped Kane in the backseat without buckling him and hit the button to roll up the window before closing the door to run back to the camper to get a towel. While he was doing that I walked out to put Ford in his seat, I tried to open the door but it was locked. I got so annoyed that Jed had locked the truck, I mean he knew that I was headed out there with Ford, come on. So I went back to the camper to complain to him and he told me that he hadn't locked it. I told him he had and he needed to give me the keys to unlock it. Then he pointed out the that the truck was running. Oh. So I waited as he ran out with his towel to the drive side. He pulled the door handle and nothing. Crap. At this point I figured that Kane had locked us out but Jed thinks he accidentally hit the lock when he was frantically trying to roll up the window. So let me break it down for you.

-The doors are locked with the keys inside.

-Our unrestrained two year old is inside.

-Its raining cats and dogs.

-Our spare key is hours away at home.

All our hope rested on the two year old. I stood under the awning of our camper a few feet away listening to Jed try to coax Kane from the backseat to Jed's seat, something he's not allowed to do and then to push buttons another big no no. Jed said the look on Kane's face was priceless. The bulk of the time was spent trying to get Kane's uncoordinated, stubby legged, body over the seat to the front. I was standing there waiting when I saw the passenger side window come down. I started shrieking, "IT'S OPEN! GET IT NOW IT'S OPEN!" As all the grown men rushed from one side of the truck to the other.

With the truck unlocked, we headed off to breakfast. We spent the entire way there praising Kane for being our little hero. Then we bought him a knock off brand pillow pet as a reward, fortunately he's two and doesn't know the difference, he couldn't be more pleased.

Even though he complained the entire way about being "too tired", he made it! One day when our kids are bigger and less whiny we'd like to try longer hikes, until then 1.1 miles is a feat!

The Drop Off

Today it was 31 degrees when I dropped Seth off at school.

Someone took my usual parking space so I had to park even further away from the school than usual.

In the freezing cold I got the 2 little kids unbuckled and out of the van all while constantly reminding Seth, who had let himself out of his seat, to stop touching things and leave Kane alone.

Then as I'm holding Ford in one arm, Kane holds my other hand and Seth holds onto Kane's hand, we're like a parade as we make our way across the school parking lot.

Question: Does anyone else have kids who suddenly lose the will to walk when they have to hold their parents hands? Through the parking lot its like I'm dragging two led weights behind me but as soon as we get to the sidewalk where they can let go they're off like a shot to the door. What is the deal with that?

So anyway once we're inside I have to herd them through the building to Seth's classroom, while trying to keep Kane from darting into any door or hallway along the way.

I give Sethy a quick kiss goodbye before I turn around to sign him in.

As I finish with that I usually glance back to see what he's doing before I leave, this time I was surprised as he was standing right next to me with a weird cheesy smile on his face.

"Mommy I forgot my bag in the car. Will you go get it for me?"

Last year for Mother's day they gave the kids a survey about their moms, one of the questions was, "what does your mommy always say?" Expecting something like "I love you" I'm sure, Evan quotes me with, "You've got to be KIDDING me!"

Perfect. Example. Why.

I contemplated how important his bag really was. Surely they could rummage up some kind of lunch for him... They'd probably call me. Shoot.

Out into the cold I went, holding a baby and dragging a practically limp two year old to the van and back.

"Thanks mommy." "I love you Seth."

Zhu Zhu Love

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Christmas Morn

New Undies! My weird kids LOVED these, in fact the day we got back from camping, after showering, they got dressed and put on ALL their new underwear. I never got a good answer as to why they needed multiple pairs on at one time.

First Motorcycle!

I think I see a Harley in his future!

What'd ya get?

Hats so they could be just like daddy! Gotta love the ears!

The 4 year old imitating the 8 month old...

Sweet personalized mugs from grandma!

Christmas Eve

Apparently

We

Could've

Just

Given

Them

Pajamas!

Ford's First Christmas

Watching his brothers open gifts.

Now its his turn!

What do I do with this?!

Lets try something smaller.

Ooo,wrapping paper!

Yummy!

Oh wait there's something under the wrapping paper!

It all ends up in the same place!