Easter

There really isn't too much to write about here. We had a pleasant, non-eventful (thank goodness) Easter up and Grandma and Grandpa's house. The kids had a great time finding all the Easter eggs that the bunny hid around the house and it didn't take them too long to find their baskets. Kate's was hidden in the dryer and Jack's was in a dresser in a guest bedroom.

While Daddy and Grandpa watched the Master's, I was the lucky one who got to bring the kids to the park. It seems like we've been cooped up for so long! It was such a beautiful day and it was very refreshing to be outside and enjoy it. I hope everyone else had an Easter that was just as pleasant as ours!

Fifth's Disease!

With all the head bashing and such going on, I never did blog about Fifth's disease. Apparently that is what Jack and I got. It's a nasty looking rash that is basically harmless to kids. For me it was another story. It's fairly rare for adults to get because most people have had it before even if they never had symptoms. Apparently once you've had it, you become immune to it. So I guess I never had it before and got it now. I thought I was dying because I was having pretty severe joint pain. It was lucky for me that I brought Jack in to my doctor's appointment. Adults typically do not get the rash, but as you can see, children do. I picked the kids up early from school because there was a chance I wouldn't be back when they got home. When I first saw Jack I noticed that his cheeks were red, but thought it was from running outside. When we entered the doctor's office I looked closer and realized that it was a rash. The doctor was so thrilled (and she apologized for being so), because when she heard of my complaints and looked at his face, she realized that's what we both had and was so excited to have linked the two so solidly. Had I not brought him in with me, she would have run me through all sorts of costly and annoying blood tests! Sometimes things just work out right. In adults, Fifth's disease can cause arthritic symptoms, and let me tell you, it sucks! But they gave me some prescription strength Aleve and a few days later, I feel great. Now Jack just continues to look terrible and it's kind of embarrassing to go out in public with him...the kid has a patch on his forehead and splotches all over his body...the boy is falling to pieces I tell you! I suspect the rash should be gone in a few more days...I can't wait!

What A Difference A Day (or even a few hours) Makes...

*************************************WARNING...THIS IS A GRAPHIC POST IF YOU HAVE A QUESEY STOMACH YOU MAY NOT WANT TO LOOK AT ALL THE PICTURES**************************************************************************************************

Why is it that when things seem to be going so right, that they suddenly go so wrong? Yesterday was one of those days. Josh and I got the chance to visit the kids at their school for lunch (where Jack revealed that he had a new girlfriend..."yes" he has had onthers!). We learned that Jack got into the Gifted & Talented Program (like his big sister) with scores that were well within the range that they look for, Josh was hosting poker (which always puts him in a super great mood), and I for once had the house all clean and ready in time for the big event! As I was finishing my work (vacuuming to be precise), I moved on into Jack's room and there I saw him hanging out on his bed playing his new DSi. He looked so "grown-up". Not once did he look up at me while I grabbed my camera and started taking pictures. It just cracked me up because I figured I'd catch him like that when he's ohhhh, I don't know, 12-14 years old...not 5!!! He was just so cute and the only time he acknowledged that I was in the room was to ask if one of his buddies could come over the next day. Of course he did not break eye contact with the game machine during any of this! Well, these were the last pictures I'll ever have of my little boy unscathed! A few hours later, we were watching HSM (High School Musical) 2 upstairs while the guys were playing poker downstairs. Jack announced that he wanted to show off his new dance move. I thought he was going to step off of the couch to do so, but to my horror, I saw him jump to the edge of the couch where his foot caught the edge and slipped, and then went quickly into a head-first dive into the edge of the coffee table. The sound was horrendous. I hope to never hear it again. I screamed and ran to him and by now he managed to climb back onto the couch with his hands on his face. I shouted several times "Are you okay? Are you okay?..." Of course I knew he wasn't okay, I just needed to figure out what exactly was wrong. I was almost certain it was a broken nose or something to that effect. I said that I needed to see it, and I pulled his hands away. Blood started gushing and spurting from his forehead. At that moment I ran to the kitchen and retrieved a clean bar towel and held it to his head (rather hard, because he kept telling me I was pushing too much...which turned out to be a good thing because the bleeding had stopped by the time we reached the ER). Josh had to leave the poker game (obviously..and of course he was winning no less) to drive us to the ER. In the end they tried to numb the area twice with a gel, but unfortunately he did have to get lidocaine injections straight into the open wound which was incredibly painful for him. He got 6 stitches underneath and 8 on the outside for a grand total of 14!!! At least he wasn't too miserable during the 2 1/2 hour visit at the ER as you can see in the pictures below. He didn't realize how bad it was (since the gel was numbing it) and the nurses decided to tell him they were going to pick "bugs" out of the cut and NOT stitch it (since he was deathly afraid of the idea)... so overall he was fairly relaxed and smiley like usual. He did manage to tell us that his friend Nathan said that Rachel (Jack's new girlfriend), was his girlfriend too and that it "wasn't fair" because he said it first! He's pretty convinced that Rachel will think it's a pretty cool scar and might even give him a kiss. But you didn't hear that from me, because it's supposed to be a secret and "it's embarrassing"....














Even after all of this, I do have a sick sense of humor. Can you read his shirt??? I'm not so sure this applies anymore...

It's going...going...(almost) gone!

No, this is not a post about baseball and such.  This is a post about hair and the lack of it!  Josh pulled sort of a "one-two punch" the other day by shaving off his goatee/mustache thing and cutting his hair shorter than it's ever been because his balding is gaining on him.  To be honest, I'm still not sure what I think of the "new" look.  True, I feel sort of like I'm cheating on my husband with another man and not getting in trouble for it, but I can't decide if I like it!  I've always had a thing for the scruffier man.  I liked his facial hair... and the hair on top of his head for that matter.  I realize he can't do a whole lot about the latter situation, but I had recommended that he get a prescription to stop and reverse his hair loss.  But when he asked the doctor about it, she informed him that he may experience breast tenderness and decreased libido.  So he balked at the idea.  I didn't see what the big deal was.   I've been having those side effects for years now! 

  

* Don't be afraid to leave a comment and let me know what you think about the new look!

Kate's New Room

Kate has been begging for a new room for probably a year now, and we finally decided that she could have one.  She really wanted a queen size bed since everyone else in the house has either a queen or king size bed.  She was thrilled of course and I told her that she could never complain about her room/bedding ever again!  LOL  Why do I have this funny feeling she'll disobey that order???  Oh yeah, probably because she's my daughter and likes to decorate and change things the way I do!

I decorated these letters from Michaels.  It cost around $5 a letter instead of $10-$20/letter pre-made.

My Little Green Beans...

Despite the fact that we have not one ounce of Irish blood in our systems, it doesn't deter us from living it up on St. Patrick's day!  I remember being particularly fond of the holiday as a child and I have enjoyed spreading my enthusiasm for it to my children.  Every year they get decked out in green and we have to dye their hair green too!  We also have leprechaun(s) visit and drop off  gold (chocolate) coins that are usually surrounded with gold glitter AND miraculously, the children always get green milk in their cereal bowls!  We're not sure exactly how that happens, but are pretty convinced that the leprechauns are responsible for that too!

My little (green eggs and) ham!

Kate was sick today and didn't get to go to school, but that didn't stop her from wanting to "go green" for the doctor's visit!  By the way, I know it might appear cold in the picture, but I assure you, we were in the middle of a MAJOR heat wave!  It was like 60 degrees!  So don't worry about the children, they were nearly dripping with sweat...

Here's last year's picture, just to prove that we really do do this every year...

Up, Up and Away!

After Kate's swim meet, we had to make a run to the Oshkosh clothing store to buy the kids new jeans.  The two of them are growing like weeds and we thought we could make it to Summer without having to buy more, but alas!  I don't want my kids looking like geeks in high-waters, so we gave in and bought new ones.  While there, we noticed they had the Aspirus Medevac helicopter on hand and the kids thought it'd fun to check it out.

I wanted to share this little (very little) clip of Jack in the helicopter.  He is just a little ray of sunshine!  His smile is so infectious that I wanted you all to share in his joy and maybe it'll put a smile on your faces!  I swear this kid has a smile on 24/7!!!  Not a bad thing if you ask me... Unfortunately the picture quality doesn't show up nearly as well as it does on my computer, but I hope you get the idea.

Her New Suit

Since we were so proud of all her efforts, we got Kate two new "faster" swimsuits.  Here she is modeling her purple one.  Maybe I'll get around to taking a picture of her blue one...or not. :-)

Kate's Final Swim Meet For The Season

Kate had her final swim meet for the season this past weekend, and she did awesome!  She is really getting comfortable about being out there and looks forward to doing her best.  I think she will be a force to be reckoned with when she learns how to dive from the blocks.  We are going to get her private lessons this summer so she can learn how it's done.  I am just so proud of her and all that she has accomplished this year.  She truly amazes AND inspires me!

Here's a little taste of what our "speedy-girl" can do!  She is in the 3rd lane (next to the empty one).  Sorry about Josh shouting in the video... not sure if he realized I was recording or just taking pictures.  He was being the annoying parent that everyone wants to say "shut up" to, but you know what?  It's hard not to scream and cheer... so let them talk!  We're just proud parents!!! :-) (remember to pause the music before playing the video).

You'll notice that after the turn she loses some ground but then really makes up for it in the end!

Mixed up Again!

I love a good slip of the tongue or involuntary bodily function...pretty much anything that wasn't meant to happen that makes someone embarrassed, I just love...that's why I fell in love with Josh.  That man always says something out of order and I laugh so darn hard.  One of his most memorable moments was way back in the day when we were first married and that awesome boy band the Backstreet Boys were on the radio singing Quit Playing Games With My Heart.  Now when Josh decided to belt out the chorus with them, it came out:

Plit gay'in (no pun?) quames with my heart!

That was his first triple mix up... but certainly not his last.  Unfortunately,  the others weren't as memorable for I have forgotten them!  BUT the other day he had me giggling again and this time he was singing (or trying to sing) Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.  But instead it came out:

Head, noulder, shees and toes, shees and toes...

How could you not love a man like that?! :-)

Word of Caution!

To all those ladies that have long hair and a sunroof in their car, please make sure that your hair isn't flying out before you shut it!  Yesterday the weather was a balmy 38 degrees or so and I needed to open the sunroof for a couple of minutes.  Then after I determined that the temperature was to my liking, I shut the window and about 10-20 of my hairs with it.  I found myself in quite a pickle because the way I was caught was hindering my ability to find the open button!  So for several panicked moments (where I was trying my very best to sit still because every little movement I could feel tugging) I searched for that darn button which hadn't been used in what feels like F-O-R-E-V-E-R!  Finally I found it and released myself from my certain doom without losing any hair.  Then and there I vowed to warn all my fellow long haired ladies of this very real danger so that they will not have to endure such a frightening and horrible moment in their lives... ;-)

She's a STAR!

Kate played Settler 2 in her classroom play about Johnny Appleseed.  All the kids were pretty nervous, but they did a great job.  Kate spoke loud and clear which was pretty tough for most of them.  They all looked so proud though when they were done.

We were supposed to put together an outfit for the play, so one night Kate was telling Josh that she needed to get her "red poin ear" costume.  Josh of course was completely confused and when he asked me later what she meant by it, I told him she needed "rugged pioneer" clothing!  But red poin ear sounds good too!!! ;-)

The actress deep in thought...

Be sure to pause the music on my blog before watching!

I Have The Best Kids!

It's true and official:  I have the BEST kids!!!  I don't know what it is about them, but it just makes me warm inside.  Maybe it's the way that Kate agrees to read books to Jack so I can work out on the treadmill and how excited he is for her to do that.  Or maybe it's because when we ask them to get ready for bed, they never complain.  Of course they have their moments like any other children do, like selective hearing and the occasional bickering, but all in all I couldn't be happier.  Lately the kids have be acknowledging the things we do AND saying "thank you" without even being prompted.  Like:  "thanks Mom for reading to me" or "thanks Mom for helping me with my homework"....weird stuff like that! LOL

Even though Jack knows how to read perfectly fine, Kate still works on teaching him.  Here she would read most of the sentence and then wait for Jack to complete the rhyming word on the end.  I don't think she quite realizes that he could read the entire book to her without any problems... but it's still great to see her putting in the effort to teach her brother.

On the night of the Daddy-Daughter Dance, Jack and I had our own fun at home.  We watched a movie, made popcorn and played the Wii (the next day I took him out to the water-park for a Mother-Son Beach Party...it was a blast, but I didn't bring the camera!).  Anyway, after Kate tore up the place dancing with daddy and after all the fun Jack and I had, the kids were pooped!  They wanted to "camp out" with each other, so I told them that was fine and to go get into bed.  I wanted to tell Josh one thing before I went up to tuck them in.  The story lasted all of 3 minutes at the most and when I walked into the room, here they both were, all tucked in and fast (very fast) asleep!  Lights on and everything!  At first I thought they were playing a trick on me, but when neither of them stirred as I was taking pictures, I knew for certain they were sleeping!!!  What a fun age!

Daddy - Daughter Dance 2009

It's that time of year again...the Daddy -Daughter Dance.  Kate and Josh went last year and had a blast.  She couldn't wait to go out again with Daddy.  They even went to my favorite restaurant: The Back When Cafe, cuz she wanted to go to a "fancy place".  I've only been there like TWO times, so I'm totally jealous! Good for her though.  I know they will have so much fun, and make lots of memories.

We went all out adding the shimmer and sparkle to her eyes, lips and hair.  She kept admiring herself in the mirror and wondering if anyone would recognize her.

What a difference a year makes.  I thought it would be fun to compare last year's photo with this year's.  I can't believe how fast she is growing up (or how fast Josh is balding for that matter).  I know I dolled her up a bit more this year, but I can really tell her features are changing into more of a young lady and not so much of my baby I so fondly remember... :-(  I'm happy to see how beautiful she continues to become, but I'm sad to see it happen all too quickly before my eyes...

I guess these are the blessings and curses of being a mother.

Boys Will Be Boys...

This picture cracks me up every time I see it.  It's the boys "first fight" caught on camera.  I wonder how many more they will have to endure while growing up?!