Still Sick

Oh yeah, it's been one of those weeks. It just keeps going around and around. It started off with Owen last week, then I got it....and still have it. Then Daddy got sick, now Owen is sick again, and Gavin and Xander are both coughing. YAY! It's a plus when we can't even drive our car to go get more cough syrup. (though mike did pick some up yesterday on his motorcycle. Everyone just lays around the house feeling sick. And lots of snot noses today too...keep the kleenex commin.

Getting Creative

 So as mentioned earlier...I have no access to a working car at the moment. And tonight I had an emergency....I wanted chocolate. Usually if I'm really needing chocolate I'll load up children and take a drive and get either ice cream or a chocolate bar. Tonight that wasn't an option. So I start scanning the kitchen. I found some semi sweet chips in the cupboard....but those just don't cut it when you really need a chocolate fix. Then, I found my salvation....ice cream fudge topping! I ate a spoonful right then, right out of the jar. (slightly stressful day. I forgot to mention in my last post that everyone is also Sick. WOO HOO!) And that helped...but I wanted a crunch with it...hum what to do. Cereal? Nope all we have is strawberry shredded wheat uh....I think I'll pass for now. Chocolate covered wheat thins? no thanks. Then I found popcorn...well it's worth a shot...it is buttery and salty...so I pop a bag....Guess what. NOT BAD! Not only not bad...it was kinda tasty!


either that or I'm just getting really desperate.

running out of seats quickly

So we've all been crowded in my little Olds Mobile for a few years now. It's been ok because it has just enough seatbelts for all of us. Well we decided daddy needed his own vehical so I could keep the car when he went to work. So we paid cash for a motorcycle for him. Then we paid a visit to our family in MO. Wonderful visit, then we drove home, found out that mikes hometown was destroyed, and had to stop 1 1/2 hours from home because of lightning and get a hotel. YAY! :S   Then I go to take my car to get some groceries after being in MO for a week....and the car wont start. As Mike is evaluating the situation, I get a call that the car we just sold my brother is having issues. Great...now I feel guilty for selling him a car that broke after a few months. Lovely. My mom said don't worry about it, its just what happens with all cars...but it's still annoying that I didn't sell him as reliable of a car as I thought. To top it off Mike has come to the conclusion that it's probably a cracked engine block...YAY! And it's supposed to be rainy all week. Mike gets to drive to work on his bike in the rain. SUPER! Guess who's stranded at home without a car again! ME! I'm so excited! Oy....ok time to pick option A instead of E.

When life throws you lemons...

A) Live in denial and ignore them
B) Imagine they're something exciting and will somehow miraculously make your life better.
C) Shoot them like clay pidgins
D) Eat them anyway and just suck it up and be a man.
E) Throw a fit and blog


bet you can't guess what I'm doing!

Old Toys

These are the same waffle blocks that I used to play with as a kid. And we used to do the same thing, can you tell Mikey is making a car noise by his face?

I've noticed something. The things I get for my kids, I really get for myself. I love watching them play with the toys that I had so much fun with when I was little. Look at that Owen boy just chillin. It was his idea to get inside the blocks...and Mike's idea to push it. Classic toys never go bad.

I've noticed though, that when they don't take care of their stuff I freak out. Which I have the right too. If they break it it's gone and that means no more fun with that toy.

One of our new favorite things are these masks, they were a little more than what I would have liked to pay (about $9 at target), but they're very high quality and I'm definatly going to buy the whole collection for our costume box. They LOVE these things. As soon as a mask is on, they don't need anymore toys. They're no longer my little boys, and they refuse to be called by anything but the name of the superhero mask they're wearing. Xander is especially adamant that he IS spider man. 

I found 2 transformers masks at toys r us, and they're about the same price as the others, eventually I'll add those and the Thor mask to the pile. Owen even likes putting the wolverine mask on. Cute little boys.

My First Best Friend

22 years ago today I got my first best friend. Marshall and I were always doing something or other that was weird. Mom didn't usually put us together in the kitchen to do dishes cause we'd always end up just laughing the whole time and never getting anything done. Marshall put up with a lot of older sibling abuse. I told him it was going to be fun to jump from one bed to another even though they were completely way to far apart. I'm sure a lot of his bruises were vicariously my fault (I didn't do it I swear! It was the bed.) But with his ingenuity he got back at me quite a few times. One instance he somehow tied my bike into the tree in the front yard, very high up. It's funny now, but then I really had no clue how I was going to get it down (I think that was the idea) I was pretty fumed. Marshall was always there to talk to. We always had some secret that no one knew about...or well we thought no one knew about. And for some reason, we loved to wrestle. When we were younger I had the upper hand...but as time wore on. Well lets just say he takes it easy on me.

Marshall has always been true to himself and to others around him. And he "knows" everything (whether he really knows it or not), He has a way of making you believe the most absurd things (ask him about where he was born, or what colors smell like). I've always loved being around him. Everything is an adventure to him. At Christmas time all the guys got marshmallow guns and his was broken. He said the best part about it (other than shooting everyone) was having to fix it first. He's a lot like both of our grandpas. One thing is for sure, growing up around marshall sure gave me a lot of time to laugh and smile. He gave me quite a few memorable moments, and helped me become the silly person I am. Marshall, I love you so much. Thanks for coming along when you did, life would sure be dull without you. Thanks for the bike rides around Willard, the walks in strange fields pretending we were runaways, the late nights of made up obscure songs & nursery rhymes, the tv shows we'd watch together and make fun of, and the sincerer brother who's always loved me for who I am, and a person I always could be myself with. You truly are one of a kind, and I couldn't be more proud to have you as my brother. 

puppy people

Xander and Gavin have decided they are eachothers puppies. They trade off. The thing they're eating in the video is Vienna sausages. I find them disgusting, but the boys think they're puppy chow. ick. The thing I love most about this video is the way gavin talks. I love it. He's almost three but still doesn't have his letters right. I keep thinking about Xander and how at 1 year he was already talking. After 4 kids I now realize that is actually really early. He was Owens age. Yeah...these are the words Owen can say; mama, daddy, hi, num, oooh! yeah...thats pretty much it. He recognizes lots of words, he just doesn't say them, but he does know what you're talking about when you talk to him. Mikey is the strong slent type. He's always trying to take apart something or another. If a toy has a moving part he moves it over and over to see how it works. All of them are so different but they're all best friends. I sure love my boys.