Day 1

Dollar bin projects with daddy.....

Destruction of house and home by a four-legged monster...

Giggles and more giggles - and a very confused Duke...
They play so well together -

When they're up to no good....

Spring Break!

"Good-bye everyone! It's my last day!"

Spring Break is finally here! I love teaching, but am always ready for a little break come spring. This week I plan to see lots of good friends and to soak up some quality time with the boys. And then I'll be refreshed and ready for the rest of the year, right?! Ethan is having a hard time understanding that he is only going to be gone for a week. And now he's got his whole daycare confused too. He also convinced them that he was five this week and got to hang out over in the 5's room for a few days before they figured out he was lying. One more month kiddo - be patient!

We spent our first afternoon off with Uma and Nana. She had yummy snacks for the kids and Ethan watched cartoons while Lucas talked our ears off. That boy waited to talk for a while, but now he is definitely making up for it. He's like the energizer bunny.

Can't wait for the adventures to begin!

Sun!

Thursday night I completely forgot to bring home Lucas' blankies. He has one that stays permanently at daycare, but has needed to have more than one lately. Somehow all three were there and we had none. It was ugly - screaming, crying, writhing. I finally went in and laid with him and in his somewhat calmer state he felt my sweater and said, "Blankie?" I let him have it and he slept fine. But now he won't go to sleep without the sweater AND blankies. Problem not solved.

Saturday morning was the usual hustle to accomplish Zumba, gymnastics, and a general straightening of the house... On the way to gymnastics I grabbed apples for Ethan and myself. Ethan was ticked at first, he wanted crackers. After finally giving in and eating the apple, he was delighted. "We eat apples all the time because they're healthy, huh mom. They're a healthy fruit. Like oranges too. We need apples, oranges, and even water to stay healthy. And we need rest. We need rest because otherwise the tears will come up into our body and come out." I love his interpretation of life.

After naps we piled the boys and the dogs into the car and headed out to my parents. It was a miraculously somewhat sunny and dry day, so we had to make the most of it.
We had a little happy hour outside, played some ball.... Helped Upa with his chores... Pretended to drive places on the tractor...

Until they found the spider web....

Ethan took everyone on hikes through the forest...

He was a good tour guide - singing songs the whole way....

The only problem was that he is so much shorter than we are....

The simple path for him - not so simple for the rest of us...

We played on the swings....

And even played with bubbles - dumping out two whole bottlefuls in the process....

It was so nice to be outside and not be WET! When we came home, we decided to go for one more outdoor excursion and took the dogs for a walk. All was well when Ethan was helping to walk Duke....

But then Lucas wanted a turn with Duke, as Kenya is a bear to walk....

This let to a bit of a tantrum, one so dramatic that Brian and I could not help but laugh....

Didn't really help matters, but what can you do?

Such a nice day. Can we please have some more?!!!

That Hour was Important.

"I hate the stupid clocks mom."

Me too. Losing an hour is tough.... The boys are such schedule-driven little guys that it just messes with them. Me too - which is where they obviously got it. But, we survived and have had a pretty darn good week. There have been more than a few moments of frustration, but considering the time change and the full moon, I'd call it good.
Ethan seems to be back "on" to working on school-related things at home such as numbers and letters. Which I obviously love. He played with his calendar for a long time last weekend, finding all the numbers and putting them in order - no easy feat!
Then he sat Lucas down and made him find numbers and point with the recorder. Lucas complied... for a little while...

The dogs have moved back in, which makes life a little more exciting. Lots more walks, and lots of outside playtime for all of us - raining or not.

We don't have a fence yet, so it is definitely complicated, but we do love having their company.

St. Patrick's Day was fun. The boys made sure to be in green and did all sorts of activities at school. My students practiced their observation skills with "Leprechaun Food." It was gross - and I made them taste it! Hehehe.... Actually, some of them liked it. It was just a mixture of applesauce, oatmeal, steak seasoning, salt, and green food coloring. Yuck.

After school we met up with our buddies at McD's where I attempted to get a picture of all three kids. Unsuccessfully of course.

We entertained the other customers with their wild antics, but had a great time. And now I need to go comfort Lucas. It seems we have forgotten all 3 of his identical blankies at school. Trauma.

Busy Bees....

"Mom, I just gotta tell you something about my class."

"Ok, what is it?"

"I just, I just like think the boys are better than the girls. They're my buddies, you know? They rock me out!"

"What does that mean - rock you out?"

"Makes me a rock star, you know - it either rocks me out or kills me out. That's what we say."

This week was about getting and staying healthy and we did pretty well. There were a few big things this week, but for the most part we relaxed in the evenings. Not Lucas though. He perfected the art of dumping out every toy we have. So much so that today I'm giving away/dumping anything they don't play with. We still have a lot of baby toys or toys that are missing pieces and parts. Time for them to go!

I had a busy week at school as we're nearing grading time and I also hosted a "Book Bistro" for some of the 2nd and 3rd graders at our school. It was so great to see them get so excited about books! I loved it and love that I got everything ready so that the next time there's minimal preparation needed!

Thursday night I took the boys to Dr. Seuss night at my school. Ethan really enjoyed all the little activities they had and did a good job. He wrote out why he is lucky (Mom, Dad, Uma, Upa, Grammy, Grandpa, Lucas), matched words, matched titles to book covers, and even attempted a word find. The boys both enjoyed the movie in the library - Green Eggs and Ham. I enjoyed visiting with a few of my students' families that I don't get to see too much and even meeting some new families of those kids that had come to the Book Bistro.

Yesterday was all about grades. We had movies and snacks for the boys and I plunked it out on the computer for 3 hours straight. Luckily I knew more of what I was doing this trimester, so my grades have matched much better this time! I still have a lot to do, but it's kind of fun because my kids are doing so well. So much progress to celebrate!

One more thing - Lucas refuses to wear his own shoes now. He will only wear Ethan's old shoes - which are still too big, but that boy is stubborn. So if you see my son and he's looking a bit clown-foot-ish, just know it's not my fault. He'll even tell you "Too big." But he won't take them off.

Odd Children

We spent a fabulous Sunday playing and relaxing at Uma and Upa's. It was actually nice enough to play outside! We got in a little football, and Ethan got a bit of a road rash on his face. Duke clotheslined him when he went in for a pass. Cement and noses/lips don't mesh.
Today was rough... I am feeling a lot better, though still coughing up a storm. My oldest son managed to rack up 2 behavior notes.... Good grief child! I'm thinking he is not feeling well. We've got a doctor's appointment lined up for Friday. I really don't think this antibiotic is working. So, we'll give it its ten days, but will go in no matter what on Friday to check.
So, his evening was spent mostly writing apology notes. He's getting much better (not sure that's a good thing). I sound out the words slowly and he writes what he hears. I did help him with the names and with the "y" at the end of sorry, but otherwise, he was on his own.

Then there was this game - they really like this game.

The big tubs were on sale and turned out to be the coolest toys ever. Huh.

So wishing you a night free from hot lava and carpet crocodiles. I'm off to take another cough drop.

Looooong Weeeeeeek

Seems all our resting last weekend didn't really help. Ethan ended up with a fever Monday night and not feeling well. He stayed home with Brian on Tuesday and they took a trip to the doc. Yep, another ear infection. 4 in 4 months. They still aren't ready to talk about replacing the tubes. Poor kid. It would be easier if he could tell me what was wrong, but he just gets grumpy usually. This is the first time he's had a fever with an ear infection in a really long time.
Then the plague hit me. I've had a cold for forever. I was trying to get through Wednesday (Dr. Seuss' b-day!) but by the end of it was pretty miserable. I spent 2 hours waiting at Urgent Care and was diagnosed with a bronchial infection and probably sinus infection.
Anyway, long, boring, story somewhat less long - my mom pitched in to help me out and I ended up home Thursday afternoon and Friday. I have now watched a million movies. I'll put my reviews below.
We did manage to get out of the house yesterday for haircuts. My boys are adorable! They look so neat and tidy. That won't last long...
Ethan asked the lady to give him a "fauxhawk". Cute... kinda....

Ethan's best quote was when Brian got done: "My daddy has no hair!" We all laughed.

We are done with winter and being sick! It is time for us all to feel healthy!

So now - a layout of the movies I've watched (all from the Redbox)...

EatPrayLove - liked it. I read the book, which was of course far more in-depth, but this was entertaining. I really enjoyed watching the "Eat" part and seeing Italy. I miss Italy.

Waiting for Superman - Interesting. He raises some good points, but also skews a lot of data in order to make his point, which I suppose pretty much everyone does. I think the overall point is that the solution to all is good teachers. That's where I so love my principal because she does so much to educate our staff and not settle for less than awesome.

Ramona and Beezus - loved. I loved the books growing up - often felt just like little never-quite-fitting in Ramona. Still do. Really enjoyed watching this movie with the boys.

Inception - Fabulously thought provoking. What is reality? Do we get to choose our reality? Is it better to know what's real or just to be happy? Can you be happy if it's not truly reality? Anyway, you can see I loved it. Though too many shooting scenes for me. I multitasked during these.

Megamind - Never really pulled me in. Surfing the celeb gossip sites was more interesting, though I'm fully tired of Charlie Sheen. Fully. Back to the movie, I realize I didn't give it my full attention. So don't be mad if you loved it.

You Again - really was laugh-out-loud funny. Kind of uncomfortable in a Meet the Parents, disaster around every corner way, but so funny. Great slapstick and I needed that.

Alice in Wonderland - haven't watched yet, but we love Tim Burton and his crazy artistry, so I'm sure it'll be great.

What did we do before dollar movies? I did also read a very creepy Sandra Brown novel... I am so ready to get back to the real world.

Today will be one last "lay low" day before the week starts. Hopefully that will be enough!