Happy Easter!

This past weekend, the kids had fun dying some eggs and hunting for them in the backyard- well, Jefferson had fun, Mason and Jackson really weren't that into it. Nate's family also has a tradition of hiding the Easter baskets, so the kids hunted for their baskets as well.

Here's our dyed eggs:

Two of the eggs started out brown, not white. Can you guess which two?

Getting ready to go hunt for their baskets and eggs:

(Once again I couldn't get them to all pose together nicely in one photo)

On the hunt (click on any pic to enlarge):

(The advantage of taking the photos- I'm not in them!)

The Easter Basket Cake I made for dessert:

(as if we didn't already have enough sweets!)

New Picture

Well, seeing as it is almost 3 full months past Christmas, I figured it was time to update the blog picture. Unfortunately, taking a picture isn't so simple. This picture will have to do until I can manage to get them to sit still long enough to snap a better one.

"Spring is here, Spring is here...

It's the best time of the year." - Little Bill

After the month we've had, I am really glad that warm weather is on it's way (albeit slowly).

So far March has brought us:

• 0 days with everyone healthy
• 1 sinus infection (Mason)
• 2 trips to the doctor (Jackson and Mason)
• 3 prescriptions
• 4 infected ears (Mason got a double whammy)
• 5 runny noses (All of us)
• 6 missed days of school/KOTM (2 days for Jefferson, 2 classes and 2 visits for Jackson)
• 7 colds (Jefferson and Jackson each had 2)
• 8 different OTC medicines (allergy, tylenol, sudafed, cough, etc)
• 9 hours of missed church
• 10 dollar prescription co-pays

Please let Spring bring us warm weather and good health!

Forgotton shots!

As I was transferring the photos in the post below from my phone onto the computer, I discovered several pictures that I had forgotton I had taken. Here are two:

Mason thought it would be fun to dress up in daddy's snowboarding gear


Mason and Jackson driving a car at the auto show

Three Ducks in a Row

During Nate's busy season, when he's working 65+ hours a week and staying at the office until 8pm or later, the kids and I eat dinner with my parents on weeknights. We trade off who hosts and prepares dinner and split the cost of groceries. Last night we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner. While waiting for dinner to be ready, the kids quickly found something to amuse them:


My mom says they are plant stands, but I always used them as doll chairs growing up, and a search on eBay would suggest that as well. Either way, they are the perfect size for Jackson and Mason, and while Jefferson can fit into them, he definitely is on the heavy side for the chair. Just in case you are new to my blog and don't know who's who and how old- (left to right) Mason (1.75 years), Jackson (2.75 years), and Jefferson (5.75 years)

I didn't even rearrange them so that that they would be in the same order in both shots. Jackson just decided between shots that he wanted to sit on the other side of Jefferson, so of course Mason had to move also.

Once Again We Are the House of Sick

After several days of an on-and-off cold, Jefferson started the month off with his first ear infection ever. Being a Saturday, I figured that he could tough it out with some Tylenol until Monday, and if he still felt really bad, then I would take him to the doctor (and these days, that's what they recommend anyway). All went well and he was back at school that Monday feeling all better.

Then halfway through the week, Jackson woke up during the night crying on several occasions. When we finally realized that he was pulling on his ear (also his first ear infection ever), I gave him some Tylenol and got him back to sleep for a few hours. I didn't have the heart to make him tough it out, so I took him to the doctor the following morning and got a confirmation that he did indeed have an ear infection and left with prescriptions for some ear numbing drops and antibiotics. His ear is now all better, but his cold that Jefferson passed on to him is sticking around. He has sad looking red puffy eyes that just won't go away.

The cold has also continued on to me and Mason, and Mason might also have an ear infection (far from his first) since he has woken up the past two nights crying, although since I am also sick, I haven't been able to check on him and Nate only managed to check on him last night. Poor kid.

I am starting to feel better. My fever is gone and I have most of my energy back. I mainly just have a cough and some excess mucas- although the latter, I think, is due to my coughing fits that often bring me to tears.

Here are two pics of Jackson with his puffy eyes:


And here's a picture of Mason and Jackson being silly together:
They may be sick, but that doesn't stop them from getting into stuff they are not supposed to!

The Silly Boys

While Jackson and Mason don't really get along most of the time, they certainly can still be partners in crime and lately have taken to a silly streak. A couple weeks ago it was their afternoon nap time and I told them to go upstairs, so they took off running towards the stairs. I needed to grab a few things to bring up with me (Jackson's monkey, Mason's blanket, etc) and so I didn't follow them right away. When I got to the stairs I found them each lying down on a stair pretending to sleep- both of them were making sighing noises! When I told them to go upstairs, the silly boys simply moved up a couple of steps and continued with their fake sleeping, so of course I had to go grab the camera. They moved while I was gone, so this picture doesn't quite illustrate what they were doing:

They have since done that several more times on the way up to their naps. They think it is SOOOO funny and giggle in between sighs.

Squinting Mason and Jackson's Fangs

Mason has arrived at the stage of squinting at the camera because he realizes that there is going to be a flash of bright light. This is what most of his pictures have looked like for the last month:



Anyone who has gotten a good glimpse of Jackson's teeth knows that he has some pointy canines (incisors). I got a chance to snap a shot of his teeth the other day so that I could share how pointy those teeth are. I'm surprised he doesn't bite his lip open or something all the time- they are SHARP!!! The poor kid is definately going to have to have some dental work when he gets older.

Catching Up

Okay, okay, I know it's been awhile since I've posted anything new. I'm sorry about that. It really was not my intention to go so long between posts. Part was laziness (but not a disinterest in blogging), part was lack of a card reader to transfer pictures onto the computer (Nate had it in his laptop backpack and I kept forgetting to grab it from him), and part was because I put a temporary time limit on my internet time so that I could catch up on some of the stuff I had fallen behind on around the house. But now I'm back. So Sherrie, this post is dedicated to you since you didn't think I would post again anytime soon- especially not only a couple hours after I talked to you about it.

As I've been trying to catch up on chores around the house, Mason thought he would help out and so he's taken to helping me unload the dishwasher. His favorite thing to do is put the silverware away, as you can see here:




Of course, he doesn't realize that he's not actually reducing my workload since I still have to go back and organize the silverware inside the drawer, but it's cute and it keeps him out of trouble elsewhere so I let him do it. Plus, I don't want to discourage him from helping out.

He was also trying to help me with the laundry. Here he is trying to climb up the washer so he could pull clothes out to put in the dryer:

It was a nice thought, but not something he can really do at this time. He's still welcome to help me put clothes INTO the washing machine though. Both Mason and Jackson enjoy helping me load the washer as long as it doesn't involve their precious monkey and dog.