Nine Times Two

Today was Eli and Justus' 9th birthday! They had a relatively quiet day. Pa and Grandma Linda are here and they helped start the day off right with donuts for breakfast! We did a little bit of school work. We could have taken off completely, but getting sick earlier this week set us back a bit. They played with their neighbor friends in the afternoon. We had pizza (they chose Pizza Hut) for dinner, followed by brownies and ice cream for dessert.

We decided to try something different and have a combined birthday party for Wesley and the twins in February, so their party won't be this weekend. Originally, the boys were going to go camping with dad for 4-H this weekend, but it was cancelled due to a chance of rain. The boys weren't happy about that at all! It better rain more tomorrow than it did today or the trip will have been canceled for no good reason.

Eli and Justus both have grown a lot this year. They are both taller and leaner. Eli is a few inches taller and eats about twice as much. Justus is my most reliable helper and our "class clown". Both are huge Lego and Nerf fans. They are currently in third grade. Just like all kids, each has areas where they excel and others where they struggle. They help and encourage one another whenever they can. All our boys are close, but Eli and Justus are very close. There is just something special about twins... if you have multiples you know what I mean. You definitely don't want to take on one unless you're willing to take on both! 

Here are some photos of the birthday boys. It always takes a few tries to get a good shot. The first one Eli looked silly. The second one Justus did. The last shot was the best!

For fun I've included a few pictures of birthdays past. On some of the years, you can click to get to that year's birthday blog post.

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

 

2006

 

2005

You might also want to read about how shocked we were when we found out we were having twins or the twin's birth story.

Stomach Bug

Most of the time, I enjoy having lots of kids. One time I don't... when more than one gets sick. Thankfully, we are pretty healthy bunch overall, but once in awhile germs get the best of us.

Tuesday morning we got a 5am wake up call from the boy's room. Hayden threw up. We cleaned up the small mess (he pretty much made it to the bathroom) and brought him into our room. Bad news, the commotion had everyone else awake. Good news, they all went back to sleep (truly a small miracle) and then slept until about 7am or so. Hayden spent the day on my bed napping and playing quietly on the iPad. He seemed to be feeling better by mid-afternoon, but he stayed on bedrest and bland diet the rest of the day just in case.

The rest of us carried on with our normal business. After lunch Justus said he wasn't feeling very good. Being the mean mom I am, I assumed that was a ploy to get out of his spelling lesson, but told him to take a bowl and go lay in bed just in case. A few minutes later he was sick too. Since he had been up and eating meals he had a bit rougher time. He is also a lot like me and really hates to throw up. Poor kid. Hayden moved to the couch and Justus took over the spot on my bed.

Eli and JD said they didn't feel so hot around bedtime so we sent everyone to bed with buckets and bowls. Just before 10pm, Justus came running out to report that JD was the next victim of this nasty bug. The littler they are the bigger mess they seem to make. He wasn't able to use the bowl. So, Jerry gave him a warm shower and new jammies while I cleaned up the (big!) mess in the bed. We got him settled in our room and I prepped myself for a long night. I am happy to report he (and therefore I) slept great all night. He woke up pretty much his usual happy self. He joined the ranks of resting and bland diets.

I pretty much cancelled school for the day since over half of my students were sick. Wesley, who was feeling fine, still did his independent work AND everyone's chores. He is such a great helper! He won't be a doctor or nurse though, he is completely grossed out by watching others get sick.

Despite his complaints of not feeling well, Eli did not actually get sick so I allowed him a normal lunch when he said he was feeling better. He was disappointed that he couldn't go play at the neighbors, but we don't want to spread our germs.

Annabeth, thankfully, has been unaffected. Jerry and I are feeling fine as well. We're thankful that this seems to be very short lived - only about 12 hours. We are also hoping this nasty bug moves on and leaves the rest of us alone instead of incubating a few days and then reappearing.

Shownton Abbey

Unless you've been living under a rock you have heard about the TV show Downton Abbey on PBS. Jerry and I gave it a try after hearing so much about it last year. I was instantly hooked! I don't watch much TV, but Downton got me back on the couch Sunday nights.

I had a grand idea to send out Shownton Abbey Christmas cards, but for several reasons it just didn't work out. The new season starting up got me thinking about it again, so the day before Roz left we decided to give it a try.

If you have ever seen a Downton Abbey cast photo they are lined up looking serious in front of the house. So we grabbed the tripod and set up on the front patio.

Thankfully, we don't have many neighbors and the trees surrounding the patio shielded anyone passing by from our craziness! We decided to just dress in our regular attire because 1) we don't have period clothing and 2) if we were ever on a TV show that is how we'd dress.

We lined everyone up and told the boys NOT to smile. The exact opposite of every picture we've ever taken. Let me tell you it's harder than you'd think. I attached the camera to the tripod, set the timer, and got in position. The very first shot was the one we ended up liking the best!

The line was a bit straighter and the baby a bit easier to see in some of the other shots but, overall, the first was the best. As you can see below, Annabeth is looking at us like like we're all nuts.

We did take one with us all smiling just because it was so hard to not smile for the others we took!

After the boys went to bed, Roz helped me edit the photo and find a Downton looking font so I could post it on Facebook. I was so glad people "got" my little joke! It was a lot of fun... to take and to post! So many fun comments! Several people said they laughed right out loud when they saw it and I have to admit it still makes me laugh every time I look at it!

 Just for fun, here they are side by side...

Family Foto

Here is the traditional family photo taken during Roz's visit:

Packer Party

While Roz was here we had a little Packer party. We all put on our Packer gear and prepped some delicious food to munch on while we watched the game.

Here we are all ready to cheer on the old "home" team!

 We even hung both our Packer flags out by the front door!

 Each adult made a few snacks. Roz made a delicious spinach and artichoke dip. I made a new pull apart sandwich, and Jerry made his favorite bacon wrapped pretzels. To round things out we had some veggies with dip and cheese/sausage with crackers.

It's a darn good thing the food and the company was good because the game was TERRIBLE. Unfortunately, we watched our beloved team end their season. Well, there's always next year!

Backyard Sight Seeing

I have three pictures taken from the backyard. I thought I'd just combine them all in one post. The view from our back patio changes constantly. All summer long we watched as the pool was built. Some days we have a perfectly clear view of the Superstition Mountains, some days we can't see the mountains at all.

The beginning of December (12/4) I took this photo (below) of what amounts to "fall colors" in Arizona. See the orange and yellow leaves peeking about the roof in the distance? It's not much but it made me smile and think of real fall... my favorite season!

Just a few days later (12/16) the leaves were gone and we had already moved onto Arizona "winter". Cooler temps and a little bit of rain meant beautiful snow on the mountain peaks. It doesn't stick around long but it sure is pretty while it's there!

Another thing we see occasionally is hot air balloons. I don't know why I get so excited when I see one! I have always loved them. This one (1/11/13) was a bit closer than most. The boys and I ran out to wave, grabbing Roz on the way, but they were a bit too far away.

Now, if only I could move that utility pole that is in all these pictures and maybe get a camera with a better zoom, I could take some better photos!

Lego Store

All the boys are very into Legos these days. There is a Lego Store at the mall not too far from here so we told the boys we'd go check it out when Roz came to visit.

I'm sorry to say, I was a bit disappointed in the Lego store. I thought they'd have more of an area for playing. The little play table they had was mostly taken up by four computers where you could play on Lego.com. We can do that at home! It was neat to see some of the sets on display though. While it wasn't as cool as I had hoped, the boys seemed to enjoy it.

They each chose a set and then it was time to go home. Of course, they wanted to know when we'd be back!