Picture Day!

The whole family arrived at Portrait Innovation to get our pictures taken today. Two hours and a few $$ later, this is what we got. Really good considering how many people had to be accomodated, including one infant and 3 Daddys who would have preferred not to be involved. Do you like our red, white, and blue theme?

I adore this picture:

Last Week

Picture Recap!
This is a rose that was in the backyard at my sister's new house. One of many cool things about her house. Isn't it beautiful?And of course while we were there we had to take pictures of Charlie. He is 3 months old already and getting so big and strong (do I say that every time?)Just Ben climbing on Mommy. We've been to the pool 3 times in the last week. We go at the end of the day when it is not so crowded (and a little cheaper) to cool off for an hour or so.Last week was bible school. It was the first time we've been able to do it, and both boys loved it. Pay no attention to Ben who refused to participate in the singing part.Now Joey's birthday. He was in charge all day.
First he opened the presents that Daddy had picked out for him. (Ben got a new bike helmet and wears it everywhere right now.)

We went to Pizza Ranch and then the Flying Pig. Yum.We bought squirt guns at Toys R Us so we had to come home and play with them.Sasha especially enjoys getting a drink out of the hose.
He picked out his cake: watermelon with ants crawling on it.

Definitely looks 7 with all those holes in his mouth. The top one fell out when he was sleeping a few nights ago.

Every year on Father's Day we go to a family reunion. This is all the young cousins who were there.

And we finally got his new bike Sunday afternoon. It's "awesome!"

Happy Birthday Joey!

Happy Birthday to my big boy today. Seven years old! Time is running away without me.
Some things about Joey at 7:
*LOVES to read, pretty much a chapter book per day. Especially My Weird School, but also Ready Freddy and Magic Tree House.
*Finally learned to ride a two wheel bike and now wants to go on bike rides constantly. We are going to look for a new bike today.
*So very polite in school and group settings. His Bible School teacher pulled my aside to let me know how much she enjoyed having him in her group this week. He always raises his hand when he wants to talk.
*Still has horrible seasonal allergies and refuses to blow his nose. Bad combo. That's all I'll say about that.
*Enjoys going to the pool to cool off. He's getting good at putting his head under water and jumping off the diving board.
*Likes apples and yogurt for "healthy food"
*Will only wear Sketchers shoes
*So far this summer refuses to wear shorts, worried that he looks dorky. No idea where he got that from.
*Loves the tv shows Wipeout and According to Jim.
*Sleeps with no pillow and cocooned in his blanket.
*Thinks he knows everything and frequently tells me I'm wrong. (I'm certain that he will be done with that by his next birthday)
*Can do pull-ups
*Has started eating french fries on occasion (He went years not liking them)

I could keep going, but I think that sums up my lovey for today.
Look for an update w/ pictures later:)

Our First Week of Summer

Here's what we've been doing so far with our "summer" (quotes because the weather hasn't exactly been summerlike)
First we had to buy a new microwave after the one we've had since I moved out of my parents (12 years ago!) finally died. This was part of the packaging and the boys thought it made a good frame.Friday night we went to an outdoor movie sponsored by a local radio station. Unfortunately we weren't quite adjusted to summer bedtime and only made it through about half of Madagascar 2. Still had fun, though. Joey had his first campout as a Wolf over the weekend. It was a bust because of the yucky rainy weather.

I got to babysit Charlie again. He likes our rocker (and watching TV. Don't tell his Mommy).

Sunday we went up to the drive-in theater in Jefferson, Wisconsin to see UP and Night at the Museum. There was some adventure involved including hitting the speaker pole and scary thunderstorms, but the movies were good and we were glad we did it. After getting home at 2, and then Joey having his last hour of school Monday morning, Monday was a rest day.

Tuesday the library hosted a Wizard of Oz puppet show. The boys loved it and are now asking for their own marionettes.Tuesday night Joey's cub scout pack raced rocket cars in the VFW parking lot. Yay for big bangs and fast cars.

In between turns he played rock, paper, scissors with his buddies.

Ben ran around the parking lot until he got tripped and skinned his knee. He was out of commission and quite peeved with the boy who ran into him for the rest of the evening.

Wednesday I had a hair appointment and then an appointment at work, but we made it to Imagination Station at Sinnissippi only a few minutes late to see T Texas Terry and his wild west show. We plan to try to make it to these every Wednesday.

Today was scrap day with the girls. I tried taking pictures of the pages I made, because I had a very productive day, but it didn't really work out. You'll have to come to my house to see all my creativity. I will say that I love love my cricut. I also got some clothes shopping in before scrapping and really just had a great day. Thanks Sarah and Jacque!

.....

Obviously I've not been feelin the blog lately, and also haven't really been getting pictures up (anywhere), and even my Momma has been wondering where I've been, so here is my update, mostly pictures:
A few weeks ago I wanted to go to the zoo. Chaos ensued, but we managed to get to the local Summerfield Zoo. It was actually pretty neat. Some cool animals and not nearly as crowded as Brookfield. (We did end up at Brookfield on Memorial Day weekend but I forgot the camera so no pictures)

Here's Joey's new gap in his mouth. Last summer he lost the middle 2 teeth. They have grown in and now the outer 2 are gone. He thinks he's pretty cool putting the straw between his teeth. He also thinks he is cool because he can now make armpit farts. Yay. And stinkin Daddy encourages him.Here are our baby birds flying around the neighborhood. They get let out every day before feeding time. They fly around in a group for a while, then come back home to eat.

This is where they come in.And here is the requisite picture of baby Charlie. I got to babysit him for the first time today. I loved it, but really appreciate being able to send him home at the end of the day. I will not be having any more babies of my own.

Ben's preschool graduation. Not really because he still has one more year with his late birthday, but he participated with his classmates and did a great job singing.

He sang "Peter Peter Penguin" with these two darlings. You could only hear Ben and it was so cute with his lack of "R": Peta Peta Penguin

Not really too much going on. The kids have one more week of school still, and then we are ready for the fun to begin. I've been doing a lot of cleaning and working out this week in between reading and playing on facebook (I'm really addicted to this one game..) Daddy and I both cleaned out our closets and sent big loads to the Salvation Army. I have big plans to get some deep cleaning done in rooms that have been waiting for some attention, like the office, guest room and laundry room. I'm still working on my husband for our trip next spring break. We had some of his family over today and they wondered why he would not take advantage of such a deal and go on a cruise. I had several offers from other people who would be happy to go on a cruise with me. Soon. We will be booking a vacation. An all-inclusive vacation. Soon.

Hi Again

I know I've been horrible about updating. Going through one of those phases where I don't have much to say, or when I do, I don't know where to start.
Everything has been going well recently. I only have 2 more days of school left which is good and bad. Can't wait for summer, but I'm going to miss the kids and the structure. The good news is that enrollment is way up this year for some reason. We are getting calls every day, and the morning classes are almost full. My job is safe:)
Joey had Cub Scout graduation today. He went from a Tiger to a Wolf. It was at the park and unfortunately it was cool and very windy so we were freezing the whole time, and his Pack leader tends to go on and on and on and on.
We stopped at Jacque's for her graduation party after that and ended up staying way longer than expected just visiting with friends we haven't seen in a while.
Tomorrow we have a picnic for all the families from my school. Hopefully it will be a little warmer, or at least less windy.
I've still been working out every day and I love p90x. My muscles are sore after every workout, but I've been able to do more each time. And I've become not a wimp. I'm amazed at some of the things my body can do now. And the sweat that pours off me!
Ben had an uneventful week at school. We have been practicing letters at home and he recognizes almost all of them now. He has made so much progress this year, but I am also glad that he has another year of preschool. I think it will help him to be an older kindergartner and beyond.
So that's it for now. More soon about our summer adventures.

Shhhhh

I'm sitting here on this beautiful Friday afternoon in a totally silent house. The boys are at school and the hubster had to go to Wisconsin for work. Silence is golden. I've been really needing some me time, but I'm not really sure what to do with it (besides update my blog). The only bad thing is that I have to take care of the pigeons. I had to mix some food, carry it into a pen with 40 hungry birds, take the lid off the feeder while 40 hungry birds flew around my head, put the food in the feeder while 40 hungry birds tried to jump into the feeder, pull the birds out of the feeder, and get the lid back on without squishing anyone. Mission accomplished, but I still feel like there is something fluttering around me. Shiver. The things I am willing to do for my husband. And. He also has to go to Colorado and Texas and maybe somewhere else when he gets back. Guess when he will be leaving? That's right. Mother's Day. And do you think there will be a gift or treat or anything involved. No. No. And no. I am so not appreciated. But don't worry. I plan on a BIG vacation come next spring break. And I plan on making all the plans with or without him. Yeah.

So anyway, the silent house is calling me. I'm going to go either relax or workout. (I know this is all I talk about right now, but I haven't missed a day working out in 2 weeks. Very sore, especially in my booty right now, but I feel good and I know I'm going to get thin. Eventually.)

Joey: We got 4 My Weird School books from the library Wednesday night, and by last night he was done with 3 of them. He tells me: "I love reading!" Just like his Mama.

Ben: The other day I brought him his Hawaiian shirt to wear. He said: "I want to go to Hawaiian."
Well, it's really expensive and really far away. Maybe in a few years.
"I'm going to save all my tooth fairy money when my teeth fall out and then we can go to Hawaiian."
OK


Update: I ended up using my "me" time to scrub the bathroom and do laundry, as well as speak to my son's school about his naughty naughty thing he did today- apparently he decided that it might be a good idea to pee in the heat register instead of the toilet at school. He thought wrong. He is sooo grounded when he gets home. I'm sure I'll see the humor in this soon, but right now I am so embarrassed. And if you know my kids, you know which one did it. Grrr.

I Think I Might Be Obsessed

I had worked out six days out of six (Sunday through Friday) this week and knew that Saturday would be really busy (Genealogy meeting and a visit from the Pops). Somehow, though, I found myself doing a cardio workout last night at 9 o'clock after the kids went to bed. So this week I worked out for 360 minutes. That's 6 hours. Wow. I'm pretty impressed with myself. I am loving the p90x, too. It helps having new workouts to do.
Today is church and then my sister's baby shower. I took on a huge Mother's Day project for my students so I have to be working on that, plus we only have 2 weeks to practice for graduation. But after that the boys and I are going to have such a fun summer. I can't wait.

Weekly Update

I'm sitting here holding my baby Charlie right now. He is getting so big and spending more time awake. He just fell asleep on my tummy.
We don't have much else going on right now. I only have a couple more weeks of school left, so lots of report card work, practicing for graduation, and sad goodbyes coming up. I'm excited because I've decided not to work this summer so more time for fun stuff like the pool. Joey is old enough for camps now, so he'll be going to cub scout camp a few weeks, basketball camp, soccer camp, and bicycling camp. I'll also have time to take both boys to Bible School for the first time this summer.
Sarah booked a cruise for spring break next year and I am desperately trying to convince my husband that we need to join them. He's a little weird in that a cruise, warm weather, and beaches hold no attraction to him. Unfortunately for him, he had a vacation in Europe without me last year, so now it is my turn. Stay tuned to see if I win this one.
The scale was really making me mad earlier this week, but with some dedication, I managed to take the 2 pounds it said I put back on and 2 more pounds off. So 4 pounds in 4 days and 4.5 hours of working out. I'm going to keep going and now I'm going to lose 2 pounds per week. Right. If it's in writing it must be true, right?

Going Good

It was a big day for Joey today. He finally can ride a 2 wheel bike. Look Ma, no training wheels. Now he just needs to work on takeoff. One (small) step at a time.And he had his 1st grade concert. He had the first speaking part: "Welcome to Rock Cut Elementary School's 1st and 2nd Grade Concert." The great part was when the fire alarm went off right in the middle of the 2nd graders' last song. Awesome.

Here's my goof-nuttiest nut. He arranged all his toys around a plastic tire "campfire." And don't miss those goggles. He wears them all the time, but I'm sure they'll be lost by the time swimm lessons start.

Oh, and remember those baby birds? They're all grown up now and living on their own. Don't worry, there are new babies hatching right now.

I met with Ben's principal today and feel much better. We worked out a plan for next time and she will be addressing my perceptions of attitude with the nurse.

I've also worked out 4 days in a row after that week and 1/2 off from mouth surgery. I'm a bit sore today, but renewed in spirit to finally get this weight off. I wonder how many times I'll say that before it actually works?

P.S. I can't wait for it to be 86 degrees on Friday (and pretty warm Saturday too). Saturday we are going to Galena for the day for Joey's cub scouts. Looking forward to just being warm.

Ben Update

Well, we didn't get any sleep last night, but it wasn't because of the breathing. The steroids kicked in really quick and just made him very restless. At 4 in the morning he wanted to have conversations about Daddy's watch glowing in the dark.
So we stayed home for the morning which made him mad- he really wanted to go to school. I decided that since his breathing was way better and he wanted to go that I would send him to his "2nd school" I saw one of his teachers there and filled her in on the situation and headed to the grocery store. Before I even got home, hubby called to tell me that he was at the nurse and needed to be picked up. What? I thought he was fine?!?!
I go to the nurses office and the poor baby is sitting in a little chair with 3 ladies standing over him just staring at him. I right away felt his chest and tried to listen- didn't hear anything but gave nurse benefit of the doubt. Then. She started reiterating that he really just shouldn't be there and he sounds bad and there is no reason for him to be there adn on and on. Then. She asked if we have a nebulizer at home. Well, no. We use an inhalor, just like the one you have in your office.
"Well, a nebulizer is much more effective than an inhalor at this age."
Really? So the school nurse now knows more than a Momma who has been dealing with the asthma for 5 years and the Allergy specialist who gave us the inhalor and our family Dr who trusts my judgement? Hmmm. Starting to get offended now.
Take the baby home, listen to his breathing....Nothing. Not one single wheeze. No cough. Nothing.
They overreacted because I told them that he had an attack the night before.
The thing is, he has come home wheezing before and I wondered why there wasn't concern then.
So now I have to worry that my kid is going to get sent home for no reason, and that the teachers and nurse have no idea what they are listening for with his asthma. I thought it was pretty obvious. Especially now that he can talk, he pretty much lets us know when he can't breath.
Oy. So do I call the school? Do I have a meeting? I don't really know how to handle this.

Poor Ben

Last night he came to our bed and he was breathing fast and wheezing a bit. He went to sleep, but was noisy so I slept the rest of the night downstairs. All day today he has had to have his inhalor every 3 hours, but when he had it at 5 it didn't work. By 6 he was begging me for more medicine. I was hoping to wait until tomorrow to take him to the regular Dr, but no such luck. Fortunately the Immediate Care was open til 8 so we headed down. Amazing how fast you get seen when a. you have breathing problems and b. they are ready to go home. We went back right away and his pulse ox was 91. Not good but not too scary. They gave him some steroids and a treatment and sent us home, with the stipulation that we go to the hospital if he still has a hard time breathing overnight. As soon as we got home I could hear him wheezing again already, so I think it is going to be a long night. Fortunately I don't have to go to work tomorrow and he has only missed one day of school all year so it won't be a big problem to stay home and rest.
Wish us luck getting some sleep tonight.
Thanks

Slow But Beautiful Week

Joey had his 2nd round of Pinewood Derby today. He was happy to come in 2nd and we were happy to be done for this year. Daddy and the boys spent the day together while I was up at Whitewater for an Early Childhood Conference all day. It was a great time and I can't wait to use what I learned. The rest of the pictures are from Monday when the boys and I walked to the park at Joey's school. I LOVE taking pictures outside in the summertime. I'm already noticing myself taking a lot more pictures. Too bad if anything important happens in Winter. I like that sun!

In other news: I've managed to lose all my mouth stitches, some with help and some just came out. My tooth is still sore and it is hard to bite down in front, but I can pretty much eat what I want now. And I think I've run out of excuses to not work out so I'll be getting back to that tomorrow.

I only have FOUR more weeks of school left! It's bittersweet, because I'm looking forward to this summer, but I love the kids and they'll be mine no longer:( Plus the end of the year crunch is awful. There are way too many things to do in the time we have left.