Life as we know it

Evan just came downstairs with one orange croc & one green. When I said something about that he said "I just like it that way". Already trying to set the trends instead of following the norm.

Been a crazy few weeks - first I had the nasty stomach bug, thankfully the rest of the family managed to avoid it - whew! The following week Evan had an unknown virus with a high fever (103/104) that lasted off & on for a week. Then the next Owen had a UTI. I was up with him most of the night and from about 2:00 am on he was screaming in such pain. The  look on his face just broke my heart - it is so hard to be a parent and be sooooo helpless to help. He is on medication and doing much better now. We have started potty training him. He showed interest last fall and so we decided to push it and see if we could make it stick - we will see - up & down on that one.

Avery has decided that sticking his head in the toilet is fun... why? NO IDEA! Maybe it is a way to get extra showers - he does love the water!

Tonight we are having turkey - my first attempt all by myself. We will see. Rick, our neighbor gave us a 20 lb turkey so I am trying one of Ina Garten's recipes for it. She hasn't failed me yet so we will see. Then I will make Coley's turkey pot pies with the leftovers - one to eat & one to freeze. Mmmm!

Next weekend we head to Winston-Salem for Easter to do the Moravian sunrise service there. That has been a tradition with Alex's family for quite some time now. Saturday before we leave we will go to the church for the Easter rock hunt there.

Tomorrow Evan celebrates 100 days of school. Today we counted out 100 pieces of banana chips for him to take and make a trail mix with his classmates. Then Tuesday they have an Easter egg hunt & party. Last week it was teacher appreciation week so he took his teachers a large Disney book for the classroom and some seeds for the nighttime flowers we love.

This morning Alex ran a 5 mile mud race in the rain and cold (41 degrees). He did well and is quite sore, but is out with the boys now and putting down mulch around our raised garden beds. He is working on putting out the second trailer load. When he brought home the first load he managed to get the van stuck in the yard, amazingly he got it out - impressive.

The boys are all growing so quickly. They are all so loving and sweet - when they aren't trying to hurt one another that is.

Two weeks ago we celebrated Avery's birthday - #3! He wanted a dinosaur doughnut party so I ordered a pan to make dinosaur doughnuts then we also got Krispy Kreme and made a cake out of those. G'ma, Bodaddy, Aunt Diana, Uncle Tim, Aunt Kristen, Cason, and friends Max & Colby with their parents Erin & Jonathon were all here. The boys all dug for dinosaurs in the sand. We had lasagna, homemade wheat bread with herb butter and caprese salad was what we had for dinner.

We are now planning Evan & Owen's party - Evan has requested a soccer theme so I am trying to figure that one out. He wants to invite his friend Charlotte & her brother Yorke will be Owen's friend attending.

We leave in less than a month for String Break, Disney & to see family & Ellen down in south Florida. It should be a good/busy/exhausting trip!

Mom will come down on April 20th (while we are still in Florida) and stay through the beginning of May. We look forward to spending time with Nana - it has been too long!

Tomorrow we have to go to church early for Extended Session training. Then in the afternoon we will go to Ryan's 6th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheeses - should be the typical crazy there - but the boys will love it! Owen has never been there and it has been a couple of years now since the other two have been.

A month or so ago when Evan was at speech he and his friend Trey were playing on top of one of the brick columns and he decided to push Evan off. I watched in horror as Evan landed on his head (I just kept thinking about my dad). He seemed ok so we took him to school. I took him in and explained the situation to Ms. Debbie. A while later the school called & said he wasn't feeling very well. Alex was closer than I was so he rushed over to get him. Evan then got sick & didn't want to stay awake so he rushed him to the ER. So scary! He had a concussion, but beyond that he was fine.

Evan was accepted into Cotswold IB for next year! So that means his brothers will also be able to attend there. He will have to wear navy on the bottom and white shirts. We know it will be a challenge going to a school so far away from home, but we really believe it is the best option for him. One day at a time and we will figure it all out. CMS did try to scare me this week by sending a second letter stating he was to attend Pineville Elementary - they had given him two numbers with two different schools. According to them it is now straightened out and he now has one number which is assigned to Cotswold IB. Nothing ever seems to be simple around here.

This week

Me "Avery are you going to finish your lunch?" Avery "When I hungry I eat more, I not hungry right now" Ok... I guess that makes perfect sense! Duh!

So this week (since Monday) I have made two batches of whole wheat artisan bread - each batch makes four round, about six, inch loaves. I am cooking up the last loaf for French toast as I type... how will we ever afford to feed these boys when they are teenagers?

"Mommy, when I bigger I going to make you breakfast ALL the time!" Avery

The other night I attended the preliminary consignment sale at Evan's school and Kristen went with me - we had a great time! Alex took all three boys with him to karate. Instead of participating he watched Owen. I had fixed chili and told him it was in the refrigerator and he just needed to heat it up when he got home. When I got home, I found him making Green Eggs & Ham for the boys to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday! Evan ate two eggs even though he currently does not like eggs, Avery & Owen both ate three and could have eaten more! Amazing!

The next day I had a moment of freak out when I changed Owen's diaper... then I remembered Alex made them GREEN eggs & ham last night - Ha!  

So sad when a trip to Trader Joe's by yourself seems like a vacation. Last night Alex watched the boys so I could run to Trader Joe's and Target quickly. The things you take for granted or see as monotonous prior to having children can take on a whole new meaning after children!

I think Owen must be getting in more of his 2 year molars because he has been waking up at night again. It was at one something a few nights ago then 4 something the next two nights. So thankful he slept through the night last night! 

Poor Avery... he has two pairs of the same pjs and I am so tired (this was after the three nights without much sleep) I gave him two shirts by mistake. He looked at both & held them up and asked Alex which one was the pants. How sad is that?

I continue to be thankful for whomever it was that invented the Magic Eraser! I knew that Owen had gotten a hold of one the other day and written on our dining room carpet (not thrilled but didn't freak out as I hate our carpet and can't wait until we get wood flooring), but just discovered he also wrote on my dining room hutch that was my grandparents that they purchased in 1952 in Chicago. AGH! Luckily the Magic Eraser worked! Whew! Gees!

Evan - mommy is it still winter? Me - yes. Evan -errrrrg!
I guess someone is ready for summer!   

This morning Evan asked me for toast with butter & snow on it - translation - he wanted me to make French toast with butter & powdered sugar. When I gave it to him he told me I make the best French toast EVER and that it is the best thing he has ever eaten - even better than CANDY - WOW! That must be good - ha! It was made with the whole wheat bread I made this week.

 Evan was such a good helper this morning! Owen was screaming because he was struggling to get up into his chair so Evan helped him get into it then fastened him because he wanted to make sure he was safe.

Alex measured the boys this week. Evan had grown an inch over the last month or so and is now tall enough to ride Magic Mountain - so he has been running/jumping around exclaiming he gets to ride Magic Mountain. Due to the fact that Avery can't we reminded him he gets to ride Buzz Lightyear so he has been running/jumping around exclaiming such!