Where's the Cheese?

Jackson caught on pretty quickly when Mama pulls out the camera, he says: "Cheese".  I wanted to make sure the last baby had just as many photos as the first baby.  And in reality, he probably has more.

But this day last week when it was spring and I was letting my kids run around half naked?
He wanted nothing to do with the camera.  Yelling.  "NO CHEESE".  "DON'T TAKE MY PICSHURE". "GO AWAY".  Ha.

And then he turned around and I put the camera away.

Last Week. When it was Spring.

I let my kids play out side half naked.

Do you remember the days when you could jump on a trampoline and not feel sick?

Or run in circles forever without feeling nauseous?

Have bare legs on a 60 degree day and not feel chilly?

Enjoy your hair flopping everywhere?

*Like* making yourself dizzy and flopping down to watch the world spin?

I do.

Ah, the smell.

Today I held a brand new baby.

The sweet "little" (9lbs 4oz!) son of  friends.

I could still smell him on my hands when I got home.

Again.

Why do I feel so naked when it happens?

My computer went down yesterday.  I know it is hard to believe, but I have several post "in draft" that I would have liked to finish last night.

I have my fingers crossed that it is nothing serious - since I store all my photos on my computer.  Even though I've been *meaning* to back them up, I haven't yet.

I have a million little things to do today.  I'm sure I'll need my computer for every. single. one.

Thank heavens I have a work laptop!

Jackson just finished playing in the toilet, and the washer is finished.....

'til next time.

HANSON

Friday night after making arrangements for Elizabeth to be transported to her event at church, dropping William off at his sleep-over, taking Isabelle to dance, and backing into the babysitters car, Ryan and I picked up some of our friends and headed to the HANSON  concert.

The place was packed!

After playing a thirty minute set that included their old hit - "mmmbop" (the new stuff was good too!)

Ryan and I went "backstage" with the VIP passes I won on the radio earlier this week.
 All three- Isaac, Taylor and Zac were very nice.  And young!

They signed my TOMS.
Zac had black ones on. *smile*


I'll admit, all I knew about them before this week was that they were a young "boy band" from the midwest. And they had a big hit years ago. Fourteen years to be exact.  After reading "wikipedia" and checking out their website, I was very impressed.  Not only have they grown up, they all are married and have children. They also are involved in several charities that touch my heart.  It was a pleasure to meet someone who is using their fame for good.  

Boys!

Last Sunday? Two Sunday's ago? I can't remember... Isabelle went to see "Disney on Ice" with her friend, Grace.   Because I'm lazy, I volunteered to stay home and watch the "little brothers".

Jackson and Isaac have the best time together.  They talk nicely to each other, they share! Run around and really seem to enjoy each others company. It took William years to behave that way.  There was more hitting, scratching, biting, hair pulling, screaming and crying in his play dates than I care to remember.  I think it has something to do with verbal skills.  William did not really speak until he was three, and Jackson? well... he talks all the time.  all the time.

Isaac calls Jackson "Jax" and I totally love it.

Isn't this going to be fabulous at his high school graduation party??

"boy talk"

Lots of grunting and laughing.

Looking down the island -

At these two guys.  Who were discussing women.

And wiping their mouths with their shirts.

Gavin said he was going to marry a french girl.  Or a Jewish girl.  To which William said: "Well, then you will have to speak Jew".  Oh my.  William never said who (or what kind) he was planning.  Although, I'm pretty sure he's thinking about a pretty cute little neighbor girl we have....

*Phew*

Jackson is finally finished with all his meds.

A Few Things Worth Mentioning

This week has gotten as busy as last week, and I don't like it any more this week than I did last week.

My parents flew to Ireland yesterday.  They are "chaperoning" a group of youth on a mission trip.  Today, They will be enjoying the city of Dublin. On their own since the entire rest of the group didn't make their connections. So jealous.

I won a contest on the radio Tuesday morning.  A game that plays like "Family Feud".  The question was:  "What physical characteristics would a police office ask you to describe someone?"  My answers?  Height, weight, hair color, eye color.  All Correct.  Fifth guess: Tattoos? wrong.  Piercings? wrong.  And then, my mind went blank. The other contestant only had to guess the final answer and she would have won all the prizes. eek!  Her guess? skin color.  wrong.  WOO HOO!! I won!  The final answer was "scars".  I would have guessed "gender" after thinking about it all day. But who cares? I WON!   What did I win? you may ask... "Meet n' greet" tickets for Hanson on Friday night, AND tickets to see Journey, Foreigner and Night Ranger in August!  So excited!

Elizabeth has her final evening of "Battle of the Books" tonight.  Her team is 2/1.  They lost one round after thirty one "tie-breaker" questions.  grueling!  I know they will do well tonight too.

I've added a "gadget" to the comments page.  If you would like people (like me) to be able to respond to the comments you leave, make sure to hit the "subscribe by email" button at the bottom.  There have been so many times I would like to respond, and yet couldn't.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

First Day of Spring Eve

Last Saturday was a stellar day!  The weather was beautiful, and we spent the majority of it outside soaking it all in.

Elizabeth rode Tess,

Isabelle and William made a town in the sandbox,

Jackson got reacquainted with the slide,

And I hung clothes on the  line.

Just a few of the highlights!

Sticky Sweet Spring

I was talking to a friend of mine earlier this spring, and she was telling me that they were "tapping" their maple trees and boiling down the sap for real maple syrup.  After relaying the conversation to Ryan, he wondered how many maple trees we had in our yard.  Turns out, nine of our 13 trees are maple trees!  One of our employees helped Ryan tap the trees, and set up the buckets.

Ryan and the kids had a great time collecting the sap everyday, and taking it to get boiled down every few days.

The season was drying up last week so on Friday, the little people and I helped Ryan take every thing down.

With all the sap gathered from our trees, we've gotten about eleven gallons of syrup!  Half of the syrup goes to the people who boiled it down for us as payment, and the rest is all ours.  Not bad for getting started half way through the season!

And, boy is it good!!

It's Coming!

Spring!

My Week.

This pretty much sums it up:

Sprouted corn.

Found in the washing machine.

I guess sitting in there all week with William's work clothes was just the right climate for it!

It was a good idea at the time...

Working at home has sure has it's pros and cons... Staying in my pajamas all day is a pro, while a clingy two year old is a definite con.

I've seen other mothers have "busy boxes" where they put beans, rice or lentils in a pan/box and have kept their toddler busy for hours. Braver mothers have even put flour on cookie sheets and let the little people draw.

Last week, when I could not get Jackson interested in any thing else, I thought I would give it a try. I was a little skeptical.  And for good reason.

He played nicely like this.

For about 20 minutes.

And then....

It looked like this.

And it took me 20 minutes to clean up.

A Reward!

Monday morning Ryan took Jackson to run a few errands so that I could get a few things done here at the house.  After a trip to the John Deere store, he was occupied all afternoon as well.

Ryan said it was a "reward" for being such a good boy with his medicine.

After Ryan took the new loader out of the box, Jackson kept asking to "take tractor out box too" - Ryan had purchased himself a "reward" as well.  Wonder what he did to earn it??

Regular Posting. huh?

Posting on this here blog has been sketchy at best lately.

Not because our life has slowed to a snail crawl, with nothing of interest to report except for the new shoes I've been coveting.  Quite the opposite.

Not because our week has been crazy busy.  We have had some type of commitment every night this week-including tonight and tomorrow night. As the mom who absolutely hates anything scheduled on week nights, it's been pretty rough. 

Not because I've been busy trying to re-schedule all my cancelled appointments from last week.

And certainly not because I've been incredibly tired.  Daylight Savings has really been kicking my butt.

It's because I ran out of storage on the old blogasphere. Turns out, Google allows you to have 2 free gb, and when that is taken up, you have to purchase more space.  After doing a little research (very little) I purchased more space on Monday, and it was credited to my account today.

I should be up and running normal speed soon.  Expect photos.

Their Sales Tactic Seems To Be Working....

And I'm a sucker for red shoes.

And since I'd be giving a pair to a child in need, I might as well donate two, right?

A small disclaimer:  Remember my post, "My Ugly New Shoes"?  I just wanted to let ya'll know that I wore them to work the next day.  Brand spankin' new, all day.  Standing, walking, running, stairs.  The whole bit.   Guess what?  They are comfortable.  Not as cute as the wedges, but comfortable.  All day comfortable.  And I'm pretty sure the actors in "Off The Map" are wearing them too....I'd sure like to wear them in a tropical jungle.

It's beginning to look a lot like spring....

Update

 It's NOT contagious!!

After three doctor visits, Jackson has finally been diagnosed with: "Erythema Multiforme Minor" a reaction to an infection or virus.  He will be starting three new meds tonight, and continue taking Benadryl.  It should resolve in about three weeks.  

It may be connected to my recent hearing loss and gray hair...

Those of you who know me, know that I plan very little. And when I do plan, I usually change it.  I'm a "fly by the seat of my pants girl" "I take things as they come. yeah, that me" (name that movie).  Recently, when things get "thrown" at me, I have a hard time adjusting.  Like yesterday.  When Jackson broke out in this incredible rash:

Having to cancel all my appointments to take him to the Dr. (it's hives, not chicken pox) I was at home all day.

Did I get anything done? Nope.  I was planning on being gone all day, not work at home.

This morning the hives are considerably worse.  Back to the Dr. we go.

I may have to reschedule my afternoon again... Think I'll be a little more flexible in my planning today? 

Probably not.

Snuggle Bunny

It's so nice to have our little people back.

The house is certainly louder, and defiantly messier, but totally worth it!?

I really am working on getting him to sleep in his own bed, but it warms my heart when he falls asleep next to me on the chair.  And I really do love that in his sleep he reaches for me.  Except for last last night~ when he was up puking half the night.  The half that I planned on sleeping through of course.

I'm gonna miss this.....

Kindergarten Round-Up

Yesterday I took Isabelle to Kindergarten round up.

She was really excited about it until we told her she would have to get some shots.  She was not interested in going to Kindergarten at all after that little piece of info.

She fine once we got there, and saw all the other kids, balloons, hats, crayons....

After checking in, she got her teeth checked,

a basic vision screening,

and was seen by an eye doctor.   Every thing was fine, except she has no depth perception?  The Dr. thought maybe she did not understand the questions.  She is blond after all...

After all the easy stuff, we were on to the immunizations... I was a little concerned, because on Monday she kind of freaked out when Jackson had blood drawn, and when I took William to Kindergarten round up, they had students give the shots.  There is a lot to be said for a little experience in that field.  When I saw the Health Nurse, I said: "Boy am I glad to see you!" ( I don't think she gets that a lot...)  I had spotted the students at this point, and asked her if she was giving the shots. To which she replied: "do you want me too?"  "YES PLEASE!!"  She is a "no nonsense" kind of lady, she distracts and is lightening fast.  Isabelle needed three pokes, and did not drop the first tear!  We are so proud of her!

After the pain comes beauty, and she got a rainbow painted on her cheek.

A quick photo with Mrs. Benner, the best Kindergarten teacher EVER!

On the way out, she said: "Are we going to my class now?"   *sniffle*  Our little Princess is growing up!