OH THE SNOW!

A lot of people like snow.  I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water.  ~Carl Reiner

I think that is one funny quote. This has been a long winter. I feel like I've been cold since October. In November I took a trip to the EXTRA cold, then came back for more "regular" cold. We had one day last month where we were out with no coats, then it snowed again. I like snow, usually, but I like it at Christmas. Not in March. The redeeming factors are: it brings the kids outside, the family together (we built our snowman tower), and it makes for great pictures. I tried to be the "cool outdoor mom" and take the kids on a walk in the snow last month...it ended quickly because Peter got snow in his gloves and John shares the same sentiment about freezing as I do. He cried the whole time. So, maybe next winter when they can all walk in snow boots without falling over I can try again, but for now, I'm just your average "bundle up and take the kids to Target mom."

Don't knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change once in a while.  ~Kin Hubbard

(that totally reminds me of my Grandpa, I love it.)

Cozby Visit

I can't imagine two guys who fit together better as college room mates and forever friends. Matt and Andrew have such a great time together. It was so great to spend time with his family. Rachel and Adalyn came on their visit for the weekend and we really enjoyed it. John especially took a liking to their little girl! Matt taught the kids a song about brushing their teeth (he's a dentist for the Army), and I began a new routine that includes flossing for once in my life. I hate flossing, but I'm not gonna lie, my teeth DO feel cleaner. We hope to go see them where they live before we leave the East Coast. Thanks for coming friends!

Ear Tubes and Rapunzel Dolls

"My ears don't need to be fixed, you just need to talk louder!" 

~ Ella about getting ear surgery.

It was a very strange day to have my daughter wheeled away all looped out on the medicine I had to administer because she freaked out when the nurse came close. She wouldn't change out of her clothes until the meds started working and she insisted that she wasn't tired even though I had to prop her on me so she wouldn't fall over. This girl has a strong will to be sure. She got her little gurney journey passport which was stamped and covered in stickers by the time she was done and even a few extra stickers to show how well she did in surgery. During recovery she wanted me to hold her, which I gladly did, but in the meantime while anesthesia was wearing off, she lost control of her bladder and I ended up with a very wet dry-clean only skirt. Luckily the pattern was such that I walked right out of there and you would  never know. She however, had to put on the "scrub a dubs" and wasn't so happy about it. We went right to Target to get her a special doll, she picked out Rapunzel because we had recently seen "Tangled." What a day. I will admit that after reading all the "what ifs" regarding what could happen to a child under anesthesia I was very anxious for them to page me to say she was done and fine. It's not a good feeling and I hope and pray that we don't have to endure any kind of major surgeries for our children. I feel for those who have and it was just ear tubes for us. She can hear great now and those scrubs went straight back to work with Daddy since she actually is really opposed to wearing them!

"California...here we come!" ~ Mack from the movie 'Cars'

Yet again, another slew of pictures to show our happenings while we visited my sister's new baby MacKenzie. We got to see all of my family at different points of the trip, visit friends, enjoy the baby and soak up some much-needed sun. Never mind that I had the flu on the flights there or that our traveling home was a total nightmare (not the kids, the plane delays) it was worth it. 

A new baby is like the beginning of all things-wonder, hope, a dream of possibilities.
Eda J. Le Shan

"6 little ducks that I once knew..." 

The reason we came to Calimesa, California :)

The beautiful sunset and the cousin clan.

My cousin Michael with Kenzie.

Aunt Renee with Peter. He's looking mighty fine if you ask me. I'm pretty sure this was post-nap.

Matching dresses for the girls. Ella was all about matching her cousin.

Aunt Carol with baby. She always gets the most tan of all of us. Jealous.

Pop Pops walking with John in San Diego at the beach.

Uncle Bill making everyone laugh. These are my siblings and all of our kids.

Emily Shu (Andrew and I lived with their family for a bit in Med School) reading to Peter.

Getting my baby fix.

Peter loved holding her. Even if she was crying, he still wanted to.

Ella and Peter tucked Kenzie in and gave her all the things that help them sleep. Bunny, Ducky, Dolly, Blankie. 

Aunt Jenna giving John his first hair cut. She has given all my kids their first hair cut!

Happy clean cut boy with Gramma Paula.

Fun with Andrew Bumpus in their backyard.

Went into Lens Crafters to have my glasses adjusted. They broke them, then wanted us to wait an hour for them to get fixed, it took over that, we were late for dinner and in a totally shady part of town. We saw a woman gang in ALL red while waiting outside so we decided to go inside the store and try on glasses. 

My parents and sister.

Park day with the friends! The Mildrens and The Graves have been long time friends and it was so fun to get our kids together again.

Sweet sleeping baby!

Watching the goat at the Living Desert in Palm Desert. We had so much fun there. If you ever get the chance to go, you should. 

In the butterfly house. Can you tell I am the only one actually caring about this picture?

I'm not a bad mom for propping my kids on a statue and backing away. My sister's foot is proof of that. 

Riding a camel was the absolute coolest thing we did that day. Even Peter, my boy who fears everything thought it was great. 

Jenna and I at the beach. I miss my sister, her baby, the beach, and that weather. 

The Events

It's been a long time since my last post and the main reason is because I have been trying to get this blog printed into a book. The problem is, the best company to do that thinks my 6 year old computer is TOO old and won't support the software, and the company I settled for is now giving me problems. So, instead of postponing (pun intended) any longer I will wait until we get a new computer later this year and keep writing. Even though it has only been a couple months, a lot has happened in them. I will give a list for now and post pictures and stories as time passes.
-December 27th my niece was born, MacKenzie Audeen. Love her.
-December 29th started potty training Peter for round 2 and it went great, he's already fully out of pull ups and thus, our grocery expenses with 2 kids in disposable pee holders and drastically dropped.
-January 12th Ella got tubes put in her ears. Scary to see your child wheeled away from you all looped out on drugs just hoping and praying they bring her back normal. She did great and can hear so much better.
-January 19th We left on a plane to California. Not your normal trip, I was throwing up all the way there, the kids had the flew the day before we left, flights were delayed and it was hands down the worst day of my life. The only thing that made it ok was seeing my family at the other end.
-19th-Feb 6th We got to see Mackenzie and spend time in the warm weather. I will follow up on this because we did a lot of fun stuff there.
-February 11th Our friends, the Cozby's came to visit from Tennessee and we got to meet their little girl Adalyn. On the 12th I got my nose pierced which is something I have wanted to do since high school, but numerous things prevented it until now and it was impulsive, but fun. Rachel came with me as support :). We'll see how long it lasts. We really enjoyed our time catching up with them.
In February I was asked by some friends to knit hats so I spend a lot of time at night knitting. I got John's 1 year baby frame completed and we hung pictures up in the boys' room. We're still working on Ella's.
-March 5th For Valentine's Day my husband got me a spa package along with a friend and we enjoyed a day out without the kids. It was very fun and relaxing. I need to do this more, even if it's just a coffee date.
-March 12th Andrew had the weekend off and we went to the Crayola Factory in Easton, PA. They loved it and we are excited to go back. We ate at Chick-Fil-A (yum) and just enjoyed time out as a family.
-March 14th Ella and Peter had their first swim lesson. It went awful. They cried almost the whole time. I told them in the car that if they wanted to sit inside and stare at the wall all summer to keep it up. If they don't learn to swim, they won't play in the water. Last summer's water rescues has provoked a bit of an urgency regarding this issue. They didn't want to go back...
-March 17th I turned in the papers for Ella to go to preschool next year. She will go MWF from 8:45-11:30. She's so excited and since I do not feel the call to home school I also am very excited for her.
-March 21st The kids return to the pool side. Against their will. They cried and the teacher asked me to go out and watch from upstairs so they could see me and after much coaxing and a man dunking his head and being silly in the water did the commotion stop. Note: they weren't the only sad ones. By the end they were swimming un-held, but still with the waist belt and super excited to go back. Good thing because sitting inside staring at the wall didn't sound good to me.
Next week Peter has an appointment to see if he needs to have his adenoids removed. He snores and has trouble sleeping. He's always got a yucky nose even when he's healthy. Maybe there is something they can do to help this. We'll see.
The kids are keeping the days busy and mostly fun. I say "mostly" because I would be lying if I said it was ALWAYS fun. John is moving around like a little boy now and not a baby. He had a bloody lip today from a fall with a sippy cup and he's learning how to be part monkey. He climbs everything. So, I feel like if I'm not watching at all times, either Peter or John will turn up injured. Ella keeps me informed of their happenings well enough though and we are currently working on not tattling and telling the truth. Lots to write about, so I will start blogging again despite my frustrations with not getting my book done.