Spy Kids

 

Well, Meme and Bob-Bob you guys have created a new interest in our house: Spy kids.  When we returned home and found out that it was on Netflix, the kids have watched parts of it almost daily.  We have made OSS (the spy agency) flags, dressed all in black and wrapped belts around our arms to look like spies.  Dawson crawls around the house pretending to be Argonaut the spy dog.  Typically I am the Time keeper (evil bad guy) or when I'm lucky the spy mom (Jessica Alba).  Carter has taken Ava's baby alive diapers and made diaper bombs to throw at the time keeper.  I'm sure next week there will be a new favorite movie, but it's fun to watch their imaginations run wild!

Dawson Funnies

Dawson does this dance every time I get the bag of dates out of the pantry.  How sweet!  He really knows how to make me smile.

 

 

Heard around the House:

 

 Dawson hands me a paper with some stickers and random scribblings on it.  "This says Happy Birthday Dawson.  Have a clever birthday."

 

 

Where does he get this stuff?!?!?!

Finger Paint!

 

Fun times mixing colors,

 

making handprints,

 

Definitely PROCESS not product art!

 

As you can see Roover was in heaven!

Our Weekend

 We had a wonderful weekend with our kiddos and family.  It started off with Carter's first basketball game at the Y.  He did good with dribbling and passing, but had a hard time getting the ball in the hoop.

 

So, hopefully we will be able to make it to the Y sometime this week to Practice! Practice! Practice!

 

 

We went to see our little cousin Andrew at his FIRST birthday party.  He was such a cutie and we enjoyed playing with all his brand new toys.  We came in late and he was opening his presents.  He made eye contact with Dawson and got a big smile on his face!  Very sweet.

 

I am such a ding dong, I brought my camera but no camera card so these are my only pictures.

 

 

 

Today Carter and I spent time making an All about me poster for school.  Here are the highlights:  I love to wear camo, I want to work at a museum when I grow up, my favorite superhero is batman, my favorite book is James and the Giant Peach, I like to play with legos and eat pizza and I like to play basketball and soccer.  He was very happy with the results.

 

 

And now, another edition of Silly Sleepers!

 

 

 

Dawson sleeping with a head light

 

 

Ava with her baby cuddles

Frozen Week

 

After enduring water valve-gate on Monday we spent lots of time together until Carter went back to school on Wednesday.

 

 

We got so many new puzzles at Christmas and the kids love working on them.

 

I was trying to take a picture of Ava working on her puzzles and this kid came and stuck his face in the camera.

 

Frozen Days (as opposed to snow days) take a lot of effort to keep the kids busy.  Our days included board games (frog rush and Scooby doo), painting, lots of reading and spending hours listening to the Frozen sound track.  Which, coincidentally works really well on a frozen day.

 

Tonight Carter begged to make gingerbread houses.  We hadn't done it at Christmas time, so even though it's a little out of season I went with it.  We did the really easy version with graham crackers iced onto milk cartons and candy stuck on. 

 

Of course it was frosting on the cracker, frosting in the mouth and repeat.

 

This week Ava told me "I loved giving presents at Christmas time.  When can I get everybody more presents?"  She has such a giving little spirit.

 

The results!

Trouble with a capital T in train pajamas

 

This kid is trying to make sure I'm totally gray by 35

 

 

So, this morning was wonderful with the kids.  It is frigidly cold, so school has been cancelled for today and tomorrow.  We made waffles for breakfast, read some more from James, played lots of Legos and made lots of inventions/lighthouses and eventually it was time for lunch.  I sent the kids to the basement to burn off a little energy while I was preparing food.  I went to turn on the faucet and......a trickle and finally no water.  I start to panic because it is so frigidly cold outside I'm sure the pipes are freezing.  I turned on all the faucets in the house, no water anywhere and I leave them on.  In the basement I spend three hours heating pipes with a hair dryer, setting up space heaters to warm things up, using bed buddies to wrap around the pipes and still no water.  I call five different plumbers and I finally I can find one that will be able to come today to check things out.  I had a play date scheduled with a handy friend, so I asked her to come over and look things over.  Right after the water meter there was a little valve that I had overlooked.  Sure enough she turned it on and water restored!  Immediately I knew the culprit.  After a stern talk with all three kids, a very guilty face verified my instincts.  I'm so thankful for my friend for saving me from a big plumbers bill (it was going to be overtime, gulp) for a tiny little easily solved problem.

 

This kid.  He still hasn't figured out that curiosity killed the cat.

 

Some bonus stories:

 

Today Carter asked if he could stay in his pajamas.  I said that was fine, we weren't planning on leaving the house with the cold temperatures.  His response?  Yay!  I don't have to change my underwear!

 

Bob-Bob has given Dawson a new nickname: iceberg.  Mike and I both agree it is totally fitting because he plows into things and is as cold as ice.

 

Ava is such a sweet little caring soul.  Recently she came into my bedroom sobbing in the middle of the night because she missed her cousin Riley.  Then last night there was some wind and Dawson was scared.  Instead of coming into my bedroom he turned to his big sister for comfort.  They both ended up on the floor in our bedroom, but it's nice to know that she likes to care for him as well.

 

Enough stories for know, but please say a prayer for my too curious for his own good little boy.

 

 

 

 

2014 - A dubious beginning

 

Looks like fun!  Hard to believe it, but Dawson is wedged between Carter and Mike!

 

 

Well, 2014 has certainly hit me hard.  What began as a case of wine flu turned into a three day bout struggling to keep food down.  On Friday I was so weak from not eating for the past three days, I began to get dizzy and start to black out every time I stood up.  The poor kids were on a steady diet of television and whatever food they could find.  For lunch Carter served his brother and sister a very balanced diet of candy canes, tortilla chips, lara bars and cheese sticks.  Well, thankfully Mike was able to come home from work early and rescue me!  The good news is I'm feeling much better today and have even been able to keep food down.  It's so easy to take your health for granted, but it really is such a huge blessing.

 

 

So the kids have been spending lots of time playing with Christmas toys, jumping on the trampoline, and reading books with me.  On Thursday I was able to spend some time laying on the floor reading James and the Giant Peach with Carter.  Let me tell you, this kid is hooked!  He was begging me not to stop reading "Please, just one more word Mom!"  I even sat next to the tub and read to him for about twenty minutes while he was getting washed up.  This kid loves Roald Dahl!  So obviously not too much excitement here.  Once again I'm so thankful to Mike for taking care of me for THREE days, keeping the house going and the kids occupied.  2014 only has to get better from here, right?