Oh Happy Day!

The sun is shining, the snow is melting, and it reached 50 degrees! Not quite 70 degree spring- like weather but I will take it. With the sun not shining since November, or at least it feels that long, I was starting to have seasonal depression. You know the kind of depression that only happens when it rains or when it is cloudy for a long time. I needed sunshine!! I seriously do not think I have been this excited just to get outside. The boys were thrilled too! We played outside all day. Since the neighbors have been like bears, in hibernation that is, we were finally able to meet most of them today.

And as you can see, we really do have grass.

I could almost hear the birds or better yet the geese singing, "Oh Happy Day, Oh Happy Day." I know I am crazy but I am praying, "Please, Please, Please bring us Spring!!"

Rylan's Surgery

Today Rylan was scheduled to have tubes placed in his ears. Since I have gone through this before I was not too worried except for the fact that his procedure was not until 12:30. For those of you who have not been through this, you are not allowed to eat any solid foods 8 hours before surgery. Which would make the last time to eat at 4:30am. Not good for someone you catch in the pantry daily gathering his own food! He was allowed to have clear liquids such as popsicles, jello, juice and such up until 8:00am. Something but still not good!

I think my kids may think I am crazy, first yesterday we had Green Eggs and Ham and then today they are eating jello and popsicles. I am sure they are wondering if Mom has lost her mind!

I am sure you can guess, this morning consisted of a LOT of crying and pointing to the pantry. I tried to keep him busy but the little guy just wanted food.

Finally when we arrive at the hospital, he is just beside himself. He did not like the gown, the angle bracelet, he did not like any of it!!

"Get me out of here!"

But I am proud to report everything went well and a lot of fluid was removed from both ears. Since he has an ear infection at the moment, I think it may take a couple of days to feel completely well.

Once we arrived home Holden and Daddy greeted him with his favorite....

an Elmo balloon and toy.

I am hoping that we are finally on the road to recovery!

Dr. Seuss's Birthday and More...

Did you know that March 2nd is Dr. Seuss's Birthday? To honor these classic books we had a little celebration of our own. I surprised the boys with Cat in the Hat hats, read all of our favorite Dr. Seuss books, enjoyed green eggs and ham (HA! This was Holden's reaction!!! I knew he would not go for this so I had prepared muffins. He did not starve.), watched Horton Hears a Who? and Green Eggs and Ham, and the day would not be complete without Cat and the Hat treats. If that was not enough, today was the beginning of Holden swim lessons. Rylan was not happy! He wanted in the water! We met our friends Sarah, Avery, Cole, and Olivia at cooking class...and as you can see today's activity was a hit. Look at this mess! Afterwards we all went over to Borders for storytime. (I forgot to take a picture!)

What Fun! Days like this reminds me why I stay at home!

Star of the Week

Holden was Star of the Week this past week at preschool. He was so excited! He loves to be in charge, so this was right up his ally.

They asked some questions and here were some of his responses...

(If you are wondering why Port is backwards, he said he ran out of space and had to write it on the back)

His self portrait. I believe it is safe to say he is not Picasso. And more about our visiting Flat Stanley later. He shared his favorite treats with his friends. (Gummies and Superhero stickers)

Kevin showed up as the mystery reader and surprised him. We ended the day with his favorite, McDonald's and star cookies.
It must be fun being a preschooler!

Quotes...

This week has been full of quotes from Holden that I just had to share....

Let me preface the first quote by saying I stopped nursing Rylan when he was 9 months old. And the boys do not give me ANY privacy! So while I was getting dressed Holden said,
"Mom do you think next time that you give Rylan milk from your booby that you can get chocolate milk? Because it is my favorite."

Holden has been obsessed with my hair since he was a baby. He does not like for me to wear it up at all! When he was younger he would cry until I pulled it down. I am not exaggerating. Now Rylan has become the same way! He tries to pull my ponytail out each time. The other night I pulled my hair back and Holden said the usual,
"Pull your hair down!" I asked why? He responded, "When you wear your hair down you look like mommy, and when you wear it up you look like Lizzie Pooh"
I really do feel for his future wife! She will never be able to wear her hair up, ever!


Rylan hit his head on the kitchen chair and Holden looked at Rylan and said,
"You are going to damage your brain. Don't you know that your brain is in your head and you are not suppose to damage it. You really should consider yourself."

You never know what Holden is going to say. I have a feeling when Rylan begins to talk he is going to be the same!

Visitors

Over the weekend we had visitors from Georgia. You guessed it, the Grandparents and Aunt Jen-Jen came to visit! The boys were so excited to see everyone!! Here are some of the highlights from the weekend...

Even though Holden was elated to see Grammy, Dad-Daddy and Jen-Jen he was not willing to give up his weekly Friday Night Movie night! So they joined in the fun. We visited the Museum Center, Jungle Jim's (always a tourist sight), Graeters Ice cream (yummy!!), played in the leftover snow, and even taught, well, tried to teach Grammy to play the WII. All and all, it was a great weekend with lots of fun. Everyone was sad to see them go. We are so thankful for them and most of all for driving such a long way to see us! See you guys soon!

Bargains?!

I love bargains!!! My lasted bargain was found at the Ballard Design Outlet. Who knew there would be an outlet so close by! I know Kevin was thrilled to find out too. HA!! I have been eyeing a laundry rack in the catalog for months and finally they had some at the outlet. Most of them were badly damaged or missing hardware but I just happened to find one. I was really wanting white not off white but for $50.00 compared to $200.00 I can live with the color! See how great it is off the floor and out of the way!I must say a great purchase!

Next bargain was for Kevin, he was in need for some flannel sleepwear. Mind you it is freezing here but all of the stores are stocked with spring clothing. I was lucky enough to find two pairs of flannel pants for $10.00. Great price but look what happened after the first washing...

They are no longer pants but now capris!!! I laughed so hard!!! I guess cheaper is not always better!!!

President's Day & Fat Tuesday

School was out for President's Day, however, we are getting blasted with another snowstorm. We are expecting to get another 7-9 inches on top of the 8 we had last week. Fun, Fun.

To make the most of the holiday besides trying to stay warm, we lassoed the presidents (frozen coins in ice) and made funny people out of coins.

Fat Tuesday, it was still snowing, and I was afraid our Mardi Gras kids party was going to be cancelled due to the snow. I decided we would have our own little party this morning. We listened to Mardi Gras music, danced, threw beads, and made Mardi Gras cookies. The boys had a blast making colored sugar crystals,(we were a little off with the color purple but oh well)icing cookies and who could forget eating their creations. Finally the snow let up and we were able to join our friends for a celebration too. The kids enjoyed playing together, Rylan enjoyed kissing little Olivia, pizza and king cake. Who knew you could get king cake all the way up here?!And our delightful host, Miss Sarah, is always dressing for the occasion:)

Happy (Belated) President's Day and Happy Mardi Gras!

Boot Envy

Rylan must not understand that he is probably risking his life wearing Holden's boots. Holden loves these boots more than anything!!! He wears them on a daily basis and would completely lose it if he found out Rylan was playing with them. Rylan has his own but I think he just loves big brother's boots. Oh no, two cowboys in one house!!!