El Cinco De Mayo

On Saturday, May 5, we got up early and went to the gym as a family. Then since Shawn & I hadn't eaten breakfast before going, we were starving and had printed a coupon to go out for lunch while Mamaw watched the boys, but the restaurant was closed for cleaning the patio. Since it was gorgeous outside, we had no desire to eat in anywhere else. So, we went home instead. Mom hadn't wanted to be gone more than an hour so we knew we didn't have a ton of time anyway. So, we ate some healthy cereal and went to the park with the kids. Along the way we stopped at a yard sale and bought two ugly chairs. :) :) :)

Shawn chose the Community Park in Manheim Township because there are shaded and non-shaded areas for Ryan and the boys. We started at the playground that was perfect for the older boys. It was out in the sunshine, but there was tons of things to do on it that weren't too young or too old for them. I even got on the slide to go down with them. :)

 Here they are climbing the rock wall.

They climbed up the various areas and and slid down the different slides and had a blast!

Eventually I suggested that we get Ryan out of the direct beating down sun, so we went to another couple areas there.

My little buddy was doing so well for how warm it was outside! Love that he's such a good boy!

The next area was more for babies and little little kids. We realized our boys are growing when they got bored quickly! But, I still got a couple pictures of them on the dinosaur before moving on!

The final playground area that we went to was a little too big for our kids. I showed the boys how to climb up this sneaky ladder to the slide. They both got it after I showed them to hold onto the middle and move their feet back and forth.

Joshua's major accomplishment for the day was learning how to climb across these "buttons" that move. I showed him and at first he was nervous, but eventually he got the hang of it and did it on his own. You'll see our little monkey Caleb climbing right up the wall next to him!

I loved Joshua's proud smile when he got across!!!

 We went home shortly thereafter for Ryan to nap before we went out to dinner as a family to El Rodeo to celebrate El Cinco De Mayo. I had something delicious on the menu, staying away from the combo meals that I often try and don't know what I'm getting. My something Cancun was excellent, and even Ryan tried rice for the first time and loved it! The older kids had chicken fingers and grilled cheese and liked the chips without the salsa. Shawn tried a Mexican beer, and I even got a margarita for the special occasion. They also gave us a coupon for a free sopapillas for dessert at the end. It had been fun, and the boys did really well out! Afterwards, we stopped for coffee at Starbucks since it was half price day. FUN!

When we got home, we played outside before bath time. It was just the most gorgeous day. We had had so much fun together as a family. Thank You, God, for the sunshine and each other!

Stick-'em-up, Craft!

The first week in May I made a conscious effort to not doing anything around the house but just spend the time that I have with my boys. I didn't sweep and mop, I didn't do any laundry, I didn't do anything but try to think of fun things to do to love on my kiddos. I'd been feeling like between running back and forth to preschool and going to the gym and grading papers, etc, that I hadn't had enough play time and mama/son time. So, I started toward the end of the week trying to be more intentional with my time.

On Wednesday, May 2, I had my annual exam and took Ryan with me. He did well at the doctor's office, and I was glad they were quick! He was thoroughly enjoying his graham cracker there, and the other boys were at preschool. That evening I tried a class at the gym called "Body ATTACK" and let me tell you, it was high intensity/high impact and almost killed me. But, I felt like it had been a good workout when we left. Shawn asked if I wanted to keep going after my class (sometimes I'll run while he's finishing up after I've taken a class) but I told him that I didn't think I could take another step that night. I'm working my way there!

 

On Friday, May 4, I dug out the crafts that were in the boys' Easter baskets and decided to give them a try. As the boys were "helping" open their sticky squares, Caleb pulled the backing off both of them and smashed them together. It was a MESS to try to get apart. He felt bad, though, so we just worked diligently to try and fix it.

In the meantime, Joshua grasped the concept right away and started sticking his little self-adhesive pieces onto the plastic half-sphere.

 

I helped Caleb, but he would give me the gray pieces to make the stripes while I pulled the purple ones apart to put on.

Joshua worked carefully and methodically while Caleb stuck his anywhere he could find room - my boys are so different in how they attack things!

Joshua was upset at first that Caleb & I were "winning" but I told him that this wasn't a race - it was just fun to make something together. Then he had a blast finishing it.

My silly Bean, though, asked me that night if I forgot to do the laundry since the laundry chute was looking pretty full. For all my effort NOT to do things around the house, you can tell that he's used to me getting things accomplished. I laughed and laughed. They often do help me take things out of the dryer or carry up some clothes (which then requires re-folding, but I figure it gives them something to do to be helpers).

Soon enough our little creatures had all their stickies on them (at least all the ones we could fit) and then we created the faces with the eyes, ears, tails, etc.

 Here's Caleb and his cat! And Joshua got in the picture with his dog.

 These were the creations, which Joshua showed Mamaw & Daddy when he saw them later in the day and evening, respectively.

Later that afternoon, we went with Mamaw to Target to get some new toothbrushes (always a good idea after sickness) and we got ones that we can decorate with stickers. Fun! She also bought them a badminton set which we've been playing ever since. Good times!

Do You See My Friend?

Sink, float, swim or take a bath:)

On Friday, April 27, I suggested to the boys that we play sink or float, a game that they enjoy, before baths. Joshua, who normally doesn't love bath time, was eager to play the game and was fine with getting in the water afterward. I started filling up the bath tub then grabbed a few things to throw into the water, asking the boys if they thought they would sink or float before we threw them in. They would guess and then we'd test the hypothesis.You can see that Caleb is holding my pick, something we threw in to see if it would float to the top or sink to the bottom.

I also let them pick things they would like to throw into the bath tub to see if it would sink or float, within reason. Joshua wanted to throw the iPod in, and I said no. But most other things that wouldn't get hurt in the water, I agreed to let get wet. They had a great time. I'm always impressed by how many things float to the top.

We cleaned out some of them before the kids got in to play with the rest. Many of them were actually tub toys that we keep in the closet next to the bath tub, so they had a grand old time with everything in the bath tub.

Normally I don't take tubby pictures, but I wanted to keep some record of fun things we do together to make an average activity more fun.

Ryan was in the bathroom with us, waiting his turn to take a bath. Joshua is always nervous that Ryan will fall in the water if there's too much in the tub, and I think I added to his panic when I told the boys to be careful when the baby was in with them. Joshua is so concerned about his brother that it ended up making more sense to bathe the little guy by himself while the older boys could play.

 So, after we finished with our sink or float and the big boy bath, our little man got in to get clean. :)

 Rub a dub-dub, I often have three little men in a tub! :)

Butterfly Snack Craft

I had seen an idea on Pinterest that looked neat for butterfly snack bags. So, when I saw that Joshua and Caleb both had a turn to take snack close to each other in the spring, I thought this might be a great time to attempt and make it. The week before, Joshua's class had done a unit on bugs and such and that week the lessons were on birds. So, I thought it fit.

The first thing we did was purchase the clothes pins at Walmart while we were shopping over the weekend. I got the cheapest wooden ones for around $1. That Sunday, April 22, the boys & I painted the clothes pins together. Caleb liked painting the stick all one color, and I would put designs on his. Joshua got the hang of making his own designs. It was actually fun!

I put on an old plastic table cloth on our beat-up old table, and then we still used large papers (I think they were the packing papers from Grandma Kennel's apartment?) to put our painted sticks on for less mess.

The colors we had were blue, red, green, and yellow, and I also mixed an orange and purple up. We had one paintbrush per color so we would trade back and forth.

Even Daddy painted a couple at the end, but mostly the boys worked on them. :)

Here's Joshua showing off one of his creations:

Here are some of the sticks that are sitting and waiting to dry. Joshua was so excited that we were going to turn these into butterflies. He showed them to Mamaw & Papaw when they came to visit that night. :)

After they dried, the next day we added googly eyes with glue to them. The directions said to add them to the pincher part, but I found it easier to do it to the opposite end, for what it's worth to anyone looking to try the craft.

We had lots of goldfish, so I tried to think of an idea for the other side that wouldn't require refrigeration. I wanted to make them in advance (we always have enough to do to get ready in the mornings). The original picture I was looking at showed grapes, but I thought if I put them in the fridge the goldfish would get stale. And, I didn't want the preschool teacher to have to put them in the fridge either. The school requires two types of snack to be brought in, so I opted for yogurt covered raisins for the other side. I think Shawn bought yogurt-covered craisins and they were great!

We bought snack-size ziplock baggies, filled one half with goldfish and the other half with the yogurt-covered raisins, sealed them, then twisted the middle and clipped them with the now-dried clothespin with eyes. Then we twisted our pipe-cleaners to make them look like antennae and hooked them in the treat.

Joshua had 18 students in his class, so we made quite a few of them to take into preschool on Tuesday, April 24. Since I was sick that morning, Shawn took them in. Caleb had snack day on Wednesday, May 9, so we made more for his class the day before (using the clothespins we had already painted but creating the rest fresh).

I also had made a couple putting chocolate chips in one side along with thank you cards for Caleb's Bible study teachers, but alas, I never got to give them to them because I was too sick to go in and the time has ended that I wouldn't even know how to reach them to give them at least the thank you cards for volunteering all year. I don't even know their last names. But, I was blessed by their faithful service all year!

Anyway, this was another fun craft to do together. The boys enjoyed the painting and seeing the butterfly transformation. They also enjoyed eating the snacks since we made a couple extra for them to enjoy at home as well. :) :) :)

Family & Sickness Visit for a Week

On Saturday, April 21, Mamaw & Papaw arrived from Florida with their Fun Finder. They had come up to celebrate Great Aunt Mildred's 90th birthday that weekend and stayed for the week. We met them at one of our favorite restaurants, Red Robin, that afternoon for lunch. The boys always eat well there - Joshua loves the chicken fingers and Caleb loves the grilled cheese. They both enjoy the chocolate milk as well, of course. Caleb sat next to Ryan and left his drink within reach of the baby. We caught it most times, but toward the end, Ryan was faster than us and it landed on the floor. At the same moment, Caleb stepped on it not realizing, so we had a bit of a mess. Other than that and a few baby squeals from my little guy that has somehow found his shrieking voice, it went okay.

On Sunday evening after the party, they stopped in while I was at the gym with just Caleb (Joshua opted not to go when Daddy was staying home but Caleb still wanted to come with me). Ryan had woken up from his nap a bit fussy so Shawn told me to go and he'd stay home with him while he was waking up. When I got home, Ryan's "fussy" had went to downright upset. He had a high fever and just didn't feel well. So, Shawn and the older boys went out to dinner with his parents while I stayed home and cuddled the baby. Poor little guy! He had literally just stopped taking the antibiotics on Friday and was sick again already.

I made an appointment for him the following morning, but the doctor said it wasn't his ears this time (even though he still had fluid on them). She diagnosed him with a virus called "hand, foot, mouth" which causes blisters to form on these three areas (and some times in the diaper region as well) and general not feeling well. Poor little guy! We started giving him tylenol or motrin to alleviate his discomfort and waited out his illness.

Shawn watched the boys while I was at school the following night, and then when I came home, I started feeling hot and cold. By the middle of the night, I was sweating but shivering. My skin was on fire and yet I felt cold to the bone. No amount of blankets seemed to help. I asked Shawn to move closer to me so I could feel his body heat. He told me I was burning up. Sure enough, I was sick too. :( :( :(

My last day of Study & Share was the following morning. I had told Shawn how disappointed I was that Ryan was sick so I was going to miss my last Bible study of the year. He surprised me by taking the morning off to watch the kids so I could go. But, when I was sicker than a dog, he stayed home simply to take care of the boys. I literally didn't get out of bed on Tuesday. I felt AWFUL! Shawn took Joshua to school with his snack and other than nursing Ryan, I didn't really do anything. By Wednesday when I felt like I could move without hurting, I called the doctor who told me that I looked like a classic case of Strep throat. But, the short test came back negative. She put me on a z-pack of antibiotics anyway, saying that my throat looked exactly like it (and it was SO sore!) and that the fever and everything went along with it.

I had taken both boys to school that Wednesday morning (Shawn had to go back to work, and my mom was away that day in NYC and couldn't help me). It was also spring fling for the preschool, so I had to take both boys labeled bikes & helmets to the school besides the kids and all their stuff. BUT, they had a great time. Both boys came home with medals from their Olympic themed spring fling, and they told me about doing the long jump and relay races and riding their bikes at school, etc. Joshua had to wear green to stay with his "country" as his large class was split into groups to do all the activities. I wish I would have taken a picture of them with their medals! But, when I wasn't feeling well, even to grab the camera felt like it would take more energy than I had.

So, with the two older boys at preschool, I only had Ryan with me at the doctor's. He wasn't thrilled to be there, but we got through and got my antibiotics afterward. We did dinner with Mamaw & Papaw that evening and I had soft chicken pot pie. I hadn't eaten anything in a couple days, so it tasted wonderful and I was starting to feel half human again by that evening.

Thursday it was Joshua's turn to go to the doctor's office. He woke up with a fever and sore throat, so off we went. I remembered him sharing drinks with Papaw the night before, and I was hoping we wouldn't make our visitors sick! Joshua weighed 41 pounds at the doctor's - woohoo! We made it past 40! :)

The Bean's short test for strep came back negative, but by the following day I received a call that strep did grow in his long test so I had to go pick up antibiotics for him. He took them like a champ, though! He would come to the area that we set up as our "medication station" (as he liked to call it). He was SO disappointed to miss preschool that Thursday because it was an extended day (the only one of the year) where he was going to pack his lunch to take and eat with his classmates. I knew he was really sick when he said he couldn't go because he didn't feel well enough to. I felt bad that he missed his opportunity to do lunch with the bunch. :(

He told me that God healed his sore throat that weekend, so I knew he was on the upswing. Upon hearing that Joshua had strep throat, I took Ryan back to the doctor's to ensure he didn't have it. But, they swabbed him and said that his tonsils aren't really all that big so it wouldn't hold bacteria like an older person's would. Sure enough, his short and long tests came back negative, and the blisters on his hands and feet made her confident the first doctor was correct in their assessment that what he had was viral.

So, I was truly shocked the following Monday when my test finally came back that I had a MRSA staff infection. I didn't have any of the skin issues related to MRSA (PRAISE THE LORD!!!) so I wouldn't have ever known it if it weren't for getting sick. They put me on a strong bacterim (sp?) medication to get rid of the infection and told me to stay out of the sun while I was taking it. But, I feel better, praise God!

The Bean didn't get sick until the end of Mamaw & Papaw's visit, so we still saw them quite a bit throughout the week, which was nice. And I'm grateful that they didn't get sick from being with us. We were doing so well throughout the winter but then had a rough spring. Hopefully we're done with illness for awhile!