Where are these boys going?

So where do you think these boys are going????

a) a punk rock concert
b) the grocery store
c) church

If you guessed "c" church...you're right! Tuesday was crazy hair night at AWANA. Having boys is definitely a disadvantage for crazy hair options if you ask me! Jerry used half a bottle of hairspray to get them looking like this. When we got to church one of the gals said, "That's not crazy, that's cute!" When they woke up this morning their hair still had a little "craziness" left! Speaking of AWANA, if you took the challenge to learn the books of the New Testament...times up! Wesley knows them all. In order. Beginning to end. I still don't though so don't feel too bad about it.

As an added bonus for today here is a riddle Jerry told me to put on the blog:
Can a man in California marry his widow's sister?
First person to put the answer in the 'comments' wins!

Happy Birthday Hayden Part 2

During the Thanksgiving festivities yesterday we took a minute out to sing "Happy Birthday" to Hayden...again! He did much better this time. And he blew out the candle!

Here is a picture of his real birthday cake. (The one on Tuesday was actually pumpkin bars.) I thought since he loves cars I'd make him a race car cake. I made the race track with Oreo crumbs. The little cars are actually chocolates from Seroogy's. I tried to make the frosting around the outside look like grass. Then I put Cheerios (that I dyed black...don't ask it was a disaster!) tires around the inside edge of the race track. I wish I would have thought to make or find little checkered flags...

Hayden liked it but got mad when I showed it to him but wouldn't let him have the little cars off the cake. After we sang and I let him have the little cars he was pushing them around on the floor. I think he was pretty surprised when someone opened it for him and it was chocolate inside. He popped the whole thing in his mouth! Yum!

Happy Birthday Hayden!

[I started typing this on Tuesday but didn't have time to finish it and load the pictures until today.]

Hayden is two today! Wesley has been counting down for him for a couple weeks now. He has been practicing blowing out candles too. He was pretty excited to see the kitchen decorated when he got up from nap. He kept saying: "Whoa! Balloons!" We are just having a little family party (I think there are enough of us to call it a party!) and his real party will be added to the Thanksgiving festivities on Thursday.

Jerry asked him what he wanted for dinner and he said "pizza". I don't think he really understood but we decided to have that today anyway! So Jerry brought home a few pizzas and after we ate we got out the cake (actually pumpkin bars). Hayden didn't really like the candle on his cake. He started to cry as soon as I lit it. But then instead of blowing it out he touched it. It was so quick (and I was holding the cake) that I couldn't stop him. It didn't hurt him really but then he really didn't like it when I re-lit it so we could sing. He cried through the whole "Happy Birthday" song.

Gift opening went much better! Although his brothers were a little too helpful and we had to keep moving them back. He enjoyed his gifts (as did his brothers!). Wesley and the twins kept asking how long until they have a birthday!

Cake time...not a big hit!

Stopping to read his new Cars book!

Cha-ching!

You can take the cash register...but the coins are MINE!


And in case you don't remember what he looked like two years ago today...

Sunday, Sunday...

Today was a well deserved NICE, RELAXING day. I cannot think of one thing that went wrong! We started out the day with a nice, clean house and all the laundry done since we had a showing Saturday morning. We went to church (with everyone riding legally in the new van). We came home and had a nice lunch. We watched the Packers win on TV. Had a nice visit with the Perry family from Madison, who came up to visit with their sweet twin girls Josen and Finn. [We met through Milkshare and I have been donating breastmilk to them. The girls very first feeding when they were born 5 weeks ago was milk from me! They came to pick up what will probably be my last donation since JD is now breastfeeding so well.] The boys were well behaved during the visit (except when Eli misdirected a sneeze onto one of the babies!).


While we were visiting the boys got out the trains and tracks. When Hayden woke up from nap he started playing trains too. He played with those trains from 3pm until he got in his pajamas at 7:45pm (with a short break for dinner). He is such a good boy! Long after the older boys were done he continued to play and play and play. I can't believe he is going to be two on Tuesday! I'll have to write another post all about him one of these days...maybe for his birthday. He says the funniest (and sweetest) things!

In the end, I guess it was a good day not only because of what happened but because of what didn't happen! This week if anyone asks me what I am thankful for...I am going to say...days like today!

She's a...

beauty? big one? behemoth?

Here is the new van! Who wants to go for a ride? Oh, I see lots of hands raised...don't worry there is plenty of room for everyone! After a year or so of thinking about it and shopping around we finally got a 15 passenger van. It is a 2001 Chevy Express 3500. I think we got a pretty good deal on it. It was the cheapest one with decent miles we have seen in our year of looking. We had to drive down to Manitowoc to get it Saturday afternoon after Jerry had driven down in the morning to negotiate the deal.

When Jerry pulled into the driveway Eli looked out the window and said, "Whoa, that is big!" Believe it or not the boys were fighting over who gets to sit in the way back (Roz knew better). A few bumpy roads in the future and I think they'll change their minds! We drove down to Abby's to show her after dinner. We'll have John take a look at it sometime in the next week or two to make sure everything looks good. The exterior is in good shape except for one dent in the bumper. But John kindly informed me he's sure I'll be getting more of those backing the van up. Hope he's wrong there! The interior is a little more "used" but not too bad. It has been a rental for the last few years at the dealership where we bought it. So it has a good maintenance record. And we were shocked to find out it just might fit in the garage! [It will be tight and we'll have to take the inside pull handle off the garage door.] We will be able to drive our whole family, Abby, John, Carter, and Grandma up to my mom's for Thanksgiving on Thursday and still have room for 3 more!

I'll be getting plenty of exercise since I now have to park in Timbuktu and I'll never be lost in a parking lot looking for where I parked the car ever again! I'm not normally one for bumper stickers but I want to put a little "No, we're not!" sticker on the back. (So AZ family and friends if you see one get it for me.) Although around here it will mean "no" we're not Catholic. But it can also mean "no" we're not: Mormon, crazy, a daycare, a school group, a prison work crew, or just about anything else people may think we are driving around in that monster!

Two for the price of one

OR
Justus and his radial head subluxation--Part II with Eli bonus!

Well, we were back at the doctor's office this afternoon with Justus. He was very protective of his arm all evening and then all morning. If I manipulated it he didn't cry but would whimper. So we took him back in. This time to see our doctor (who was off yesterday). She did her little trick and we all heard it pop. Now he really is good as new. I had her show me how to do it so if it happens again I can just do it myself. We are glad it worked the second time otherwise they mentioned having to take him to the ortho doctor so they could numb it or put him out to get it back in place. I'm thankful we didn't have to deal with that!

As if we didn't have enough going on while I was on the phone making the appointment, Eli fell down the basement stairs. Roz got to him first since she was down there cleaning. By the time she carried him to the top of the stairs he had a HUGE blood filled goose egg on the right side of his forehead. I got out an ice pack and got it on there right away. He cried a bit but not as much as I would have! He was acting normal and didn't have any other symptoms of a concussion. I called Jerry to tell him he had to come home for the 3:30pm doctor appointment (only one car...remember!) and then called the doctor back to add Eli to the patient list for the appointment. His head looked quite a bit better by the time Jerry got home and he checked out fine.

We stopped to get a pizza on the way home. You didn't expect me to come home and cook did you? I didn't have time anyway...I had to have Buck to the vet for a 6pm appointment. Nothing is wrong with him, it was just his yearly exam. By the time I got home both twins were feeling great. We gave them some Tylenol for good measure and put them bed.

I do NOT get paid enough for this...can I have a day off??

Justus and his radial head subluxation

This morning for the second time in his little life of under 4 years Justus "dislocated" his elbow. Let me rephrase that, for the second time his elbow was dislocated...this time by Wesley. It was an accident, of course. Wesley was trying to pull Justus up onto the bar (where they're not supposed to be climbing) and pulled his arm wrong. It was his left arm, which is the same one he dislocated two years ago. The doctor said once it happens there is an increased risk of repeated dislocation. The condition is called radial head subluxation or nursemaid elbow (click to read all about it).

The doctor was able to reduce it or as he told Jer "pop it back in" with no problem. Jerry did get a lecture about lifting children by the trunk not the arms even though he wasn't even home when it happened. Since Justus is prone to this we'll have to be extra careful with him, especially since it is his left arm and he is left handed. The poor boy could hardly eat his yogurt at lunch with only one hand. He is still favoring it but should get over it shortly. I am a little concerned since he isn't feeling better already (the last time immediately after it was reduced he felt better) but the x-ray showed no fractures of the lower arm. They didn't take any x-rays of the upper arm or shoulder so if it still bothering him tomorrow I'll take him back in.

Where is the nearest looney bin? I think I might have to pick Jerry up there later...nevermind, I can't...I don't have a car!

Reading with Daddy

Here is a shot of our book worms reading with Dad. Hayden was just a little bit off to the side on the couch (where you can't see him) reading a book by himself. I took the 3 big boys to the library on Saturday afternoon. They had a blast.

Of course, the twins had to check out the bathroom while we were there...but thankfully only once! Since they have never been in public restrooms until now they have to check out every single one we come across. The library bathroom was the first time the twins ever saw an automatic flushing toilet. Eli didn't appreciate it because half of the fun for him is flushing!

Wesley finally got his very own library card. I told him he had to wait until he could write his name nicely. He has been able to write his name for awhile now but we just didn't get down there to fill out the application.

I should have taken a video instead of a still photo. The story Jerry was reading was The Three Billy Goats Gruff with a Jamaican twist. Roz and I were laughing at his faux Jamaican accent, which was pretty good I must say. "Hey Man! Who's dat crossin' me bridge?"

JD, Roz, and Buck

Here is a new picture of my little chubby cheeked baby. He is breastfeeding all but one feeding a day now and obviously doing well with it! He was 13 pounds when I took him in to get his ears rechecked last week. He'll have his 4 month check up the end of the month and I wouldn't be surprised if he was over 15 pounds by then!

Roz is excited to announce she is now officially employed! I took her down to Piggly Wiggly on Saturday to turn in an application and they interviewed and hired her on the spot! She was pretty excited and so were we! They gave her $5 to get a work permit and a slip to get her PW (uniform) shirt. The manager told her she will be a cashier and work about 12 hours a week. She has to go through orientation first and they are waiting until they hire a few more people to have that so I don't think she'll start until after Thanksgiving. So, all you social security collectors can give Roz a big hug the next time you see her!

We had a short notice showing of the house yesterday at 4:30pm. So we cleaned up and at 4:15pm Jer took the boys to the park while Roz, JD, and I headed to Grandma's. We parked the van in Grandma's driveway and stuck Buck in there. When we were heading back across the street Roz asked if she should grab Buck and I said not to worry about it we had to come back and get the van anyway. Well, at about 9:45pm when I was getting ready for bed I went to let Buck out. It was then I noticed he was missing! Ooops! Poor dog sat out there in the van all evening! Thankfully it wasn't colder and I didn't leave him out there all night! He was good and didn't do anything he wasn't supposed to in the van. He did get into the trash a few times once he got home. I suppose he was punishing me for leaving him out there. I felt really bad but he seems no worse for the wear this morning!

Say cheese!

On Thursday I had to take JD in to get his ear re-checked. (It is fine!) When I made the appointment I thought I'd kill five birds with one stone and get the other boys their flu shot as well. It ended up Grandma Linda and Pa were coming into town for a doctor appointment of their own so they came along and helped us out. The boys did great. Hardly even cried...well, except for Hayden. He got really upset when we took the sticker basket away. He was so upset about that I don't even think he noticed he got a shot!

When we go out and about I like to have the boys match and looking their best. Since they were already dressed nicely, I took some individual photos of each boy that I will be making into wallets. (Maybe I'll post those later...I'm adding some effects to those.) Here is a shot I took of the four big boys before we headed out to the doctor's office:

Argh! Pirates!

This past Tuesday was "pirate night" at AWANA. So pictured below are three of the meanest pirates I've ever met! Next week is affliction night...you have to come with some type of injury. I'm thinking really hard on that one... I might put Wesley's cast back on his arm (if it will still fit!). If you have any other creative ideas let me know. (Chicken pox dots? Crutches? What does someone with scurvy look like? Just kidding!)
Who wants to come help us rake? There is grass under there somewhere! Actually, it doesn't look like that now...our kind neighbor (Dennis) used his big leaf sucking machine to vacuum them up for us. The pile by the curb is much bigger now though!

JD's New Toy

Here are a few pictures of JD with his new toy. Grandma Linda got him an early Christmas present. The twins had one of these little baby "gyms" but it broke. Hayden survived without one but JD seems to really enjoy it. As you can see, he really tries to focus on the little hanging toys. This is a new, improved model as well and it plays music which I am sure JD will appreciate. Eli has checked out the musical features already and given his official stamp of approval. JD doesn't reach for the toys yet but it's not too far off. Occasionally he will accidentally bump one of the toys with his hand though. He is getting so big and has such a sweet smile. He won't smile for just anyone though...usually just Mommy and Wesley. Wesley read him a book yesterday and JD rewarded him with a big smile!

I should have taken a picture of JD today. He had on a new little outfit and when Wesley saw him laying on my bed in it he said, "OOOOOOhhh! Isn't he just SO cute!?" I hope Wesley grows up and had lots of babies of his own someday!

Go Patriots?!?

Tonight while we were eating dinner Jerry was watching football. Hayden likes football and usually says "Go Packers!" when he sees a game on TV...even if it isn't the Packers playing. I asked Jer who he was rooting for he said the Patriots. So I said to Hayden: " Say Go Go Patriots!" and he did! It was so cute I went and got the camera to see if he would say it again. I got him to say it one more time before the lure of tater tots pulled him away...



As you can see at the end our little class clown had to get in on the action as well!