One Year Anniversary

We have now lived in this house one year! If you haven't taken the house "tour" you can click here to take a peek. (I made this slideshow right after we moved in so things have changed a bit but you'll get the idea!)

This house is much better suited to our needs, but I still miss the old house (and lower mortgage payment) once in awhile. I wouldn't want to go back to one bathroom though! And how did I live without a fenced backyard?!? What I miss most about the old house is being across the street from my grandma. I have been trying to exercise more, so I walk there about once a week. It's a LOT farther walk than it used to be! If you never saw our old house, you can take the "tour" by clicking here.

Speaking of tours...have you ever checked out Google's street views? Put any address into the Google search bar, click on the map, and if you see a picture in the little "bubble" that pops up then you can actually see that location at street level. You can turn 360 degrees and "walk" up and down streets! I can check up on our old house in Arizona and stroll down my old street...all from the comfort of my computer chair! You can see a good portion of DP but the Google spies haven't made it down our cul-de-sac yet!

Just Read It!

I took the boys to the library this morning. As we were heading to check out we passed a poster that said: "JUST READ IT!" I suppose that was the library's version of Nike's "Just Do It". As we walked by it, Justus asked me what it said...so, I told him without really even thinking about it. He looked at me, with a kind of hurt expression, and said, "But, Mom, I can't read yet." Wesley and I had a good laugh. Justus never did get what was so funny!

Speaking of books, if you are looking for a couple interesting reads, I just finished and recommend:

Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care by Jennifer Block
Very interesting book about c-sections, natural childbirth, homebirths, and our current medical system.

The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares
The first book I read off my LOST book list. Very interesting and nothing like I usually read.

April Fools

If you are looking for something fun to do on April Fool's Day, here are a few Taste of Home recipes for you. Click here. This is the one I want to try:

It's a pizza cake! Other tricky recipes include a meatloaf "cake", "taco" ice cream cups, and a drink that is really jello!

Kettle Corn at Home

If you like kettle corn or popcorn...you HAVE to try this! Today! Right now!

1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup sugar
scant 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
one large sauce pan (I used a 3 qt.) with a lid (very important!)
one large bowl

On the stove top, in a large sauce pan with a lid, heat oil over medium until hot. Add sugar and popcorn and stir. Cover just before you think it's going to start popping. Keep the pan moving on the burner until the popping slows. Dump the popped corn into a bowl and eat!

Tip: If there is any residue in the pan get it soaking ASAP or it will harden.

Wesley's Birthday Fun

Wesley requested a "world" cake for his birthday. I couldn't just hand him the whole world on a platter, so here's what he got:
Half the world! I baked a chocolate cake (from scratch so it was a bit more dense) in a Pyrex bowl. Then I just frosted it with blue and green frosting trying to make it look like the western hemisphere. I'm not sure what happened to Canada and don't even ask what that is off to the west! South America and Africa looked pretty good though.

I didn't think that little ol' cake would be enough for everyone so I made a batch of cupcakes as well. I thought about decorating the top of each one as a little globe too but then decided it would be much easier to decorate them with flags. I printed some flags of the internet and glued them to toothpicks. Jerry wanted me to be sure and let you all know we are not in any way advocates for a one world government! It was supposed to more of a Geography cake than a Government cake.

Early in the week Wesley made what he called "a birthday menu". I think he really meant schedule. He included the following: 1) Chat 2) Games-Pin the Tail on the Donkey 3) Open presents 4) Eat and 5) Have cake

So we did our best to follow his "menu". Here is the birthday boy pinning the tail on the donkey. Every one of the kids cheated (peeked) and got the tail right where it was supposed to go! Where's the fun in that?!
Here's the birthday boy just after blowing out his candles:One last shot for the road. JD's new trick is pulling the chairs (or benches) away from the table and climbing up to see what interesting stuff might be up on the table. At least twenty times a day this is how I find him:

Seven!

Today is Wesley's seventh birthday. Wesley is a sweet boy, a great big brother, and a super son. He has a tender heart and is smart too! He was robbed of a good birthday post last year because we were preparing to move, so this post will include both his birth photos AND story!

Wesley today, opening a few gifts

I will post some birthday party and cake shots (another 3D cake!) tomorrow or Sunday. Below are a couple pictures of Wesley the day he was born. Excuse the quality. This was pre-digital camera so these are really a picture of a picture.

Just minutes after birth

Two days old

In hindsight, his birth was so different from all the others. I was pregnant with him the longest. He was full term and came home a little over 24 hours after he was born. I am thankful that his pregnancy was so normal. I think that if I would have started out with a preemie in the NICU I might not have gone on to have the rest! If you are interested, here is the condensed version of his birth story. We don't even have the computer I typed his story on, so I'll post it here instead of linking to a document like I did with the twins.

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Tuesday, March 19, was a normal day. I did the usual: laundry, meals, cleaned a bit, and helped at Roz's school (back then she was Ros!). I promised Jer I'd make a cake for dessert, so I made that too. Looking back, I was apparently nesting...I got a lot done for a 37 week pregnant mom! I was planning on grocery shopping Wednesday morning so I spent the evening going through ads and clipping coupons. A friend called and we got to chatting so I didn't get off the phone until about 10:15pm. Jer and I talked about names until about 11pm or so. We decided it would easier if we had a boy since we didn't have a girl name picked out. Jerry fell asleep and I laid there feeling a bit "crampy".

I couldn't sleep and made several trips to the bathroom. It seems every time I got back to bed I'd have to get up and go to the bathroom again. I paced in the living room a bit and sat in the bathroom a lot. I didn't think it was labor because I wasn't really having contractions, more of a dull and constant ache. Just before midnight the dull ache got to be more painful, but I couldn't really time it since it never really went away.

I debated whether or not I should wake up Jerry. I didn't want him to lose sleep for nothing. Midnight came and went, it was now March 20th. Finally, at 12:45am I woke Jerry up. I explained what was going on and we tried to time the worse parts of the pain. I didn't want to call the doctor because we couldn't even time what was happening! It was a constant pain that got worse about every two minutes. After a bit, I decided we better call. I dialed the phone but had to hand it to Jer because the pain was getting so bad I couldn't even talk. I dropped to my knees in front of a chair in the living room while Jerry talked to the doctor's answering service. They said they would call back within the hour. There was no way I could wait that long!

Thankfully, the nurse called back a few minutes later. As Jerry was explaining the situation, I suddenly had the urge to push! The nurse asked if my water had broken. No. But I did feel a leaking sensation and when we looked it was bright red blood. "Get to the hospital," the nurse said. I moved to the bathroom. Jer quickly dressed and carried Roz from her bed upstairs across the street to Grandma's. When he got back, he was ready to go but I wasn't. We'll never make it. The baby is coming. NOW. Just call 911. So at 1:17pm (the call was in the paper the next day!) Jerry dialed 911 and a few minutes later two police cars and the ambulance arrived sirens blaring.

The police officer came in first and asked me some stupid question like was I okay or something like that. The paramedics were right behind him and they carried me out on the stretcher to the waiting ambulance. Jer got to ride along but had to sit in the front. It was hard to answer all their medical questions while trying my best NOT to push. I don't remember being unloaded at the hospital but I remember seeing the lights above as we wheeled down the hall and having to tell the paramedics that labor & delivery was on the 4th floor.

We had nothing with us. The bag (and camera!) I had so carefully packed were in the closet at home. Neither one of us even thought to grab it. Jerry hadn't even locked the door as we left. I was anxiously waiting for them to check me and I had a fleeting worry that they'd check me and I wouldn't be fully dilated. My fears were relieved a minute later when they said I was indeed ready to go! But they told me to try not to push and give the doctor a minute to get there. I can't believe it now, but I managed to hang on several minutes until the doctor walked in the door. As he walked in he was pulling on gloves and said, "Let her push!" I sat up a bit, pushed once, and his head was out! One more push (at 2am) and he was here! The doctor delivered him in street clothes, wearing only gloves! It was all over only 43 minutes after leaving the house! I had woken Jerry up only an hour and 15 minutes earlier!

I had to ask what we had. "It's a boy! What's his name?" My reply: "He's Wesley!" They handed him to me for a few minutes before taking him to the warmer. He weighed a whopping 7 pounds 10 ounces. My biggest baby by over 2 pounds! The nurse told Jer that the paramedics were waiting outside my door wondering if I had a boy or a girl. So Jerry stepped out and shared the good news. The nurse told me I could have had him 20 minutes sooner if they would've let me push. I think I could've had him at home if I would have just pushed!

The doctor said everything looked good for both of us. He had a suspicion that Wesley broke his collar bone coming out so fast. He was proven correct a couple days later when we finally had an x-ray. It's a common birth injury and there's nothing that you can do for it anyway. But it is interesting to note that Wesley was barely half way into the world before he broke his first bone. Five years later, when he broke his arm, we could see the "scar" on his x-ray.

Wesley was a champion breastfeeder right from the start. As I fed him the first time, we had to laugh at how it all played out. Jerry said next time, if there was a next time, he was going to sleep in his clothes the whole last month I'm pregnant. He should've taken his own advice!

ISS

Don't worry nobody's on "in school suspension"! And we're not talking about "independent sustained silent" reading either! (What kind of stupid name for reading just for fun is that anyway!?) We're talking about the International Space Station which, thanks to a tip from Grandma Linda and the local TV meteorologist, we got to see fly over our house last night!

It just so happened the ISS with the Space Shuttle attached(!) was reflecting sunlight and visible for about 4 minutes last night at 7:34pm...those space people sure are punctual. To us, it looked like a fast moving star. Not as fast as a shooting star though, so we had enough time to really watch it.

We knew it would appear in the west so Jer stepped out at about 7:30pm and while the rest of waited by the sliding glass door. It was a bit chilly last night, unlike the rest of the week that has been unseasonably warm. We all ran out, even JD who had no clue why we were all so excited, when Jerry shouted, "There it is!" We watched it as long as we could from the backyard and then ran though the house, scooping up the confused JD as we ran, to the front where we watched until we couldn't see it any longer. We all waved and Justus wished them "a safe landing" before they disappeared into the horizon.
Above is a picture the shuttle crew took of the ISS right above Green Bay...just kidding!

If you are interested, here is a site where you can pull up your state/city and see when you will be able to view HSF's (Human Space Flights). The ISS/Shuttle will be visible several more times between now and March 29th. Although it will be pretty low on the horizon most of those times so we probably won't be able to see it. According to the chart, the shuttle will no longer be visible with the ISS after March 27th so they must be detaching or landing around that time.

So if you have a chance, check out the chart and take a look. Just be sure and explain to your kids that you will be seeing the space station not actually going to the space station. We had a bit of disappointment due to the confusion on that point. Have you tried telling a three year old that while our van can take us a lot of places, it unfortunately can't take us into space. Even if it does look a bit like the space shuttle!

Stuff Management Part 4: Toys!

After my post on bedrooms, several people asked me what we do about toys. Well, I have to say it's a lot easier to deal with the toy situation at this house than it was at the old house. First of all, at the old house, our rooms were a lot smaller. The basement was cold and dark so the kids rarely played down there, and when they did I usually had to go down there with them (kind of defeated the purpose!). But we managed. We didn't have toys in the bedrooms and we didn't have a constant mess throughout the house either.

If you have a smaller space, or even if you don't, I highly recommend toy rotating. First, keep only the best, most played with toys. Get rid of the rest. Then box up half of them and put them away in a closet or the basement. After a month or so, unpack the stored away toys and pack away the first batch. You won't believe how exciting it is! Like Christmas all over again! The toy that was boring a month ago is now exciting again (for 3 minutes at least)!!

The toys that you keep out shouldn't be an overwhelming amount. Keep a toy box or bins or shelves somewhere in your main room to store the toys. I don't really like toy boxes because the kids tend to dump them out to find what they are looking for, but we do use one because some toys are just too big to fit anywhere else.

At our old house we kept all the toys in the living room but when they were cleaned up they were completely out of sight. Where, you ask, did we keep them in our small living room? Well, we got creative! Who needs a front hall closet anyway!?! We took the jackets and the bar out of the closet and added shelves instead. We always came in the back door and hung our coats there anyway. Here is what it looked like:
I even stored some of the boxed up toys in there. The toys I didn't want them to get into without supervision were at the top and the bottom held the "toy box" which at that time was a plastic tub that fit into the closet. (See it overflowing?!) The other plastic bins held, and still do hold, our toy sets: legos, Bob the Builder, Thomas the Train, cars, blocks, etc. All toys that can be, should be stored together. There will always be some odd and ends, but storing like toys together makes playing and cleaning up much easier.

We didn't get out all the legos and trains and cars and Bob toys all at once. Those are one-out-at-a-time type toys. They ask for them, we get them out, and when they're done they pick them up and put them away. The kids know what toys go in which bins and can clean up fairly easily on their own. It's nice, but not necessary, to label the bins with pictures of what's inside for the non-reading family members. Once everything was cleaned up we shut the doors and no toys could be seen. People who came to look at our house when it was for sale didn't even know we had kids until they got to the bedrooms! Ha! Then they saw we were stacking them like cordwood!

At the new house we have a much better set up. (Although we still don't use our front hall closet for coats. We liked the added storage so much we converted the front closet at this house into the homeschooling closet. Most of our school stuff is in there where it is nearby but out of sight when not in use!) We keep one small basket of "baby" toys in the living room and an end table with a door holds a few books, other than that there are no toys in the living room unless they are currently being played with.

The main toy zone is in our family room in the basement. We have bookshelves down there loaded with books. The toy box is out and has the current stash of toys stored inside. We do leave out the car tub since Hayden plays with his cars EVERY day. The rest of the toys are kept in what we lovingly call the "game room". Off of the main family room is a small storage room. We had been storing toys in there but it wasn't that really organized. However, just this past weekend we put shelves in there. It is wonderful! Except for the baby toys, every single toy we own is in this room. Even the big ones like the play workbench and mini-trampoline.

We used all the same principles that we did at the old house...just the "closet" is a bit bigger! The new improved closet now also holds our many games (which were on shelves in the basement at the old house). I used Picnik to edit this photo to explain it a bit better. Click on the photos to enlarge:

These shelves are amazing. Amazing? Yep! There is nothing holding them in place but the weight of the stuff on the shelves. We installed the shelves on Fast Mount hooks. They are made for basements with cement walls that you wouldn't want to drill into. They went up fast; cutting the boards for the actual shelves took longer than installing the brackets. Jer was so skeptical they would work he called the company. After the lady stopped laughing, she assured him they would work just fine. Indeed they do!

The door to this room has a child proof knob thing on it, but that only stops Hayden and JD these days! We are considering getting a knob with a keyed lock. If we let the boys loose in there we'd have a big mess on our hands! Plus, Jerry is still a bit skeptical those shelves will really stay in place. Thankfully, with the exception of getting out videos they are pretty good about staying out of there or asking before getting something out. [Update: The "game room" now has a door knob with a lock.]

So what does the family room look like? Here are a few pictures for you:

The south end

The north end
(there's the toy box and JD by the car tub)

The book zone

This what it looked like after we picked up. A few hours before this there were toys all over the place. When the boys are playing it gets pretty messy, but when they are done cleaning up this is what it looks like. Some days I do just let them leave the mess out, but most days they clean up before going to bed.

Now, if you don't mind a mess...ignore this post. If it doesn't bother you to find plastic tomatoes in with the trains or Candyland cards in the Boggle box...ignore this post. If you have the neatest children on the planet who always keep their toys in order without assistance...you are sooooo lucky...ignore this post! But if you are sick of stepping on Legos as you walk through the room and sick of finding Polly Pocket pieces everywhere...try something different! Get rid of some toys and organize the rest! The old "less is more" saying really is true of toys! And if you want to see another person's toy purge and organization check out my friend Becky's recent blog post.

***UPDATE***

See below!

Guess I titled that post correctly since I once again spoke too soon!! :)

I Spoke Too Soon

***UPDATE***

It appears Wesley's rash was an allergic-type reaction after all. Chicken pox DON'T get better with Benadryl! It looks so much better today. I am so thankful that it was not the chicken pox or something else. We've had enough sickness lately! And I am so glad Wesley didn't have to go through the torture of itching for a week. He got in a good nap and a great night's sleep thanks to the Benadryl. :) I didn't give him any today just because he is awake and happy and much less itchy.

Jerry also had a reaction to amoxicillin several years ago. He says it was similar to Wesley's, while I remember his as more like hives. I'll never forget when Eli was a baby and got strep throat (even though babies aren't supposed to get strep!) the doctor on call prescribed amoxicillin. He asked if Eli had any medical allergies and I told him I was wasn't aware of any but he hadn't had much yet! Then I mentioned that Eli's dad was allergic to amoxicillin though and that jerk of a doctor said: "Well, then don't give any of this to his Dad."

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It appears Wesley has the chicken pox. He woke up this morning covered in itchy bumps. It could be a reaction to the antibiotics but that would be quite a delayed reaction since he's been on them 8 days.

When he told me had a mosquito bite last night I told him there are no mosquitoes out right now. This morning he said his leg was itchy. I said, "Okay, come here and we'll put some lotion on it. It's probably dry skin." When he lifted his shirt a bit to pull down his pants I was SHOCKED. My gasp caused him to start crying. Poor kid.

I called the both the pharmacist and the doctor. They said it probably isn't a medication reaction. They suggested stopping the antibiotics just in case, but they didn't need us to come in because whether it's the chicken pox or some other viral rash doesn't really make a difference. The treatment is the same and they all just have to run their course. If it blisters I'll know for sure. I'll keep you posted.

Still Here...Cookies Anyone?

Just thought I'd let you all know we are still alive and getting well. It has been a relatively quiet week thus far. No new illnesses! Justus' nose continues to run. Not surprising since he was the only little one NOT on antibiotics. Can someone please explain to me why, if colds are caused by a virus, the runny noses stopped with antibiotics?! It doesn't make sense to me!

Grandma Linda stopped by for a visit this morning and we all worked together to bake cookies. A few weeks ago I got a deal on chocolate covered macadamia nuts at Walgreens. When I ran across this recipe posted on a blog by someone else that found the same deal, I knew I had to give it a try!

They are delicious! I'm sure they'd be equally good with chopped macadamia nuts and chocolate chips just in case you don't find a deal. Apparently macadamia's are a tough nut to crack! I broke my chopper trying to chunk up the nuts so I suggest putting them in a baggie and smashing them with the side of a meat tenderizing hammer instead.

Chocolate Chunk Macadamia Nut Cookies

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 oz chocolate covered macadamia nuts

Mix shortening and margarine together. Add half of the flour, all the brown sugar, sugar, eggs, vanilla and baking soda. Beat until thoroughly combined. Mix in the remaining flour. Add in chopped macadamia nuts. Drop by scoop onto cookie sheets. Bake at 375º for 10 minutes or until golden.

A Picture's Worth...

...oh, nevermind, I lost count and I don't want to go add up the receipts.

This just in: Eli has joined the ear infection club.

That only leaves Justus, Jer, and Roz NOT on antibiotics. I know you probably won't believe this but we are normally a healthy bunch. This particular bug was hard core! Just in case your keeping count we're up to 63% of the family now on antibiotics.

(Note: Yes, there are more bottles than people taking medications because some kids got two bottles. I pictured them all for dramatic effect and so you'd take pity on us!)

Another Man Down

Jer and Wesley just got back from the doctor's office. Wesley has a double ear infection. They said that strep can cause an ear infection but there's no way to tell . The antibiotics will cover him either way.

That brings us our antibiotic percentage up to 50%!! Could somebody please stop this germ ride so I can get off!?!

You All Have the Blues

Blue won over red! Thanks everybody!

Red or Blue

Wesley's math assignment today requires him to ask ten people if they like red or blue better. So could you please leave a comment to help him out?

Just click on "Comments" below and type RED or BLUE. You can remain anonymous but if you want to leave your name (and don't have a blogger account) just click next to "Name/URL" and type your name in the box. Thanks!

38%

That is the percentage of the Shown family currently on antibiotics. First Hayden. Then JD. Now me. My throat was sore all weekend. Yesterday the lymph nodes on the right side of my neck starting swelling and aching. Then last night my tonsils were so swollen I couldn't sleep on my back. This morning I caved in and headed to the urgent care right as they opened at 8am (Jer went in to work late). The PA said it was the worse case of strep throat they've seen in awhile. Well, thank you very much! What an honor!

So if this here blog has seemed a bit quiet lately that explains it. Why don't you all leave a bunch of comments to make me feel better! :)