Head Colds, Fevers, and One Crazy Momma

I blogged awhile ago about Anna having a virus and, sure enough, it has made it's rounds. Or Ben caught something new. Monday night he started running a fever and had fevers off and on until Wednesday. He's also had a croupy cough-turned-dry cough-turned phlegmy cough. It's pretty bad and disables him often, waking him up at night as well. He'll be fine for awhile during the day and the next thing I know, he's warm and napping. I think he's headed for yet another doctor's appointment tomorrow. I think he may have bronchitis, so we'll see how right I am.

Matthew has finally succumbed to the virus as well. He was running a temp this evening and spent most of his day on the couch coughing. Anna went to church with Rob this morning but she was coughing as well, so she stayed home with us tonight. And I'm not feeling well either, so you can only imagine how much fun we all had while Rob was gone. Rob would have stayed home too, except that we had multiple nursery responsibilities today.

It hasn't been a very fun week and it looks like next week won't be much fun either with Matthew sick and Ben having who knows what. We'll probably miss mom's group again on Thursday and the library story time on Tuesday. At least Rob has tomorrow off so I won't be alone. And I'm glad that it's head cold stuff only, because there's also a stomach flu virus going around. Maybe by staying home with colds we can avoid the stomach stuff.

While it's no fun having sick kids, I will say that it doesn't really bother me overall. I expect to have sick children. Kids just get viruses and stuff, so it's no big deal. And it's supposed to help build up their immune system for when they're older anyway. Some moments of my day are less than exciting, but when push comes to shove, I have to say that I do enjoying babying them when they are sick. As long as they are sick one at a time :)

Eat This Not That

One of the goals Rob and I set for the family this year is to continue to transition into healthy eating. We had seen the Eat This Not That book series before and really liked them, so we ordered the kid's book and supermarket book from half.com. (our new favorite website.) If you've never seen the books before, then allow me to explain. The author goes through each section of the supermarket and details the nutritional content of many packaged foods, as well as pantry staple items, produce, meats, and dairy. In the kids book he gives the specs on kiddie restaurant foods as well. The left page is "eat this" items as opposed to the right sides "not that." Some of the items he says are not all that great (like candy, breakfast pastries, etc) but he lets you know what the lesser of two evils are.

I'm finding that it's a great tool as I grocery shop. I took it with me as my sole companion last week and did some comparisons on the labels at Aldi's vs. the Eat this stuff. I found that the vast majority of Aldi's snack foods lines up with the "not that" side! The other things I buy at Aldi's are comparable to the "eat this" stuff or better, so I'll still be able to save some money. I haven't taken it to Wal-Mart yet to compare the "Great Value" line but I have looked over Pick-n-Save and most of their store brand stuff is fine.

I recommend that if you haven't seen them, check them out from the library. We all know that many pre-packaged things are full of garbage, but some surprised me with how GOOD they are and some with how HORRIBLE they are. The biggest shocker to me is that boxed mac and cheese is hands down the worst food you can feed your kids from a box. I knew it wasn't good, but the worst? Turns out it's better to feed them Spagettio's! (but not from Aldi's).

Anyway, the boys have really gotten into this. We explained how the books work, so even Ben, a non-reader, can flip through it and figure out what's good and bad. They constantly ask before taking a bite, "Is this an eat this or a not that?" And that's what is most important--teaching them about healthy eating. I'll never be a size 6 (shoot, I'd settle for 16 at this point) but I can at least train my children on how to eat and give them the proper tools for making wise food choices when they are older.

And I'll guess I'll eat my Reese's when they're not looking. What? It's on the "eat this" side!!!

Rob's Birthday Part II

Yesterday, Rob took a day off work so we could go on a date. Our friend came over around 10am and we decided to do a wee bit of shopping at the outlet mall. I got a new skirt very cheap and Rob picked out some goodies at Harry and David's. Then we drove to Oconomowoc to eat at Chili's. We had a very nice time talking and relaxing together. Then we headed back to Watertown, got some coffee at Berres Brothers, and played a round of Phase 10. We laughed ourselves silly as we played....well, I played. I'm not sure what Rob was doing because he was four rounds behind me when I won! Very uncharacteristic for him!

We went home to relieve the sitter and Rob took the boys to Wal-Mart for an oil change. They came home with the movie Bolt and some popcorn. We made our own individual pizzas, ate, and then settled down to a movie and popcorn. Oh, in between there we had Rob's birthday dessert. He wanted a cherry pie but the kids don't eat pie, so I bought a small package of cupcakes from Pick N Save. Little Miss Anna had earlier decided to push a chair up to the counter and sampled the icing from almost all of the cupcakes (still not sure how she got the containter open!) so they were a little mutilated. Rob and I had some pie after the kids went to bed b/c we were so full from eating out and pizza!

We enjoyed the movie and had a great time together as a family. Rob and I finished the evening by playing some Super Mario Bros Wii. He has already beaten the game, but we found out you can't do the extra levels w/o having found all of the gold coins, so we're going back and working on that. And no, we don't ever plan to grow up! When I'm 85, I will still predominately watch cartoons and play video games. So there :)

We went to Wal-Mart this morning and got Anna some panties. She's currently in them and we're hoping they inspire her to use the potty more often. We'll see :)

Note to Self

Dear Penni,

Potty training is a wonderful thing...no, it's a nasty, messy thing best gotten over with quickly. But there is one thing you need to learn about the process. If you're going to ask your sons to help watch your daughter, check her diaper before they help her pull it off. It may already be loaded and she might step in the mess and get it all over her hands. And if you have to take her up to the bathtub, try holding her farther away from your body so you don't get your sweatshirt all messy. And after washing off her feet and hands, don't forget to wipe her bottom BEFORE you wrap a towel around her.

Mm, kay??

Fondest regards,

Penni

Conversation with the Librarian

Matthew went to the library tonight to turn in his reading program sheet. The program started on Monday and he's already finsihed the first of two steps (and yes, they did make it a wee bit too easy this year!) Here's the conversation he had with the librarian:

Librarian: Okay Matthew, go ahead and put your sheet in the prize box for the drawing.
Matthew: (while stuffing in his sheet) I really hope everyone wins a prize.
Librarian: Well, that would be nice, wouldn't it?
Me: (thinking in my head that my son is so very kind.....)
Matthew: Yeah, it would be nice if everyone got a prize. Then no one would be whining about it if they didn't win.
Librarian: **laughs quite a bit** Well, I guess not!

And I thought my son was so kindhearted for a minute there.... (which he really is, so his response did surprise and amuse me!)

Happy Birthday to Rob!

Today is Rob's 32nd birthday. It dawned on me this morning that he was NOW 32. He's a little over two years behind me, so whenever I have a birthday, I automatically bump him up a year in my mind :)

Rob decided to take the day off on Friday, so he did go to work this morning. I told him to grab breakfast on the way, so he stopped at Kwik Trip (aside: why do stores try to ruin the English language with short cuts? Isn't texting and FB bad enough??) It was one dollar sandwich day so he grabbed two sandwiches and ended up getting his coffee for free b/c they ran out of the kind he wanted. He also got to come home at noon b/c his department ran out of things to do.

While he was at work, the kids and I were busy at home. The children had each bought him a gift and wanted to make cards. I pulled out a few supplies and took the kids one at a time to make him a card. Trying to do something with all three of them drives me batty, so the boys took turns diverting Anna's attention. It didn't work, but she did have fun rearranging my All in the Family set. Anna colored on her card, Ben did about 50% of the work on his, and all I did for Matthew is adhere two pieces. I was impressed with how well he stamped with the above set. It's got all kinds of people parts and can be tough to get right (no, I do not own a Stamp-a-ma-Jig) but he did pretty good. I had made Rob a card at the Birthday Bash with a tool set and he just loves it. I gave it to him this morning.

We were in the process of picking up toys to give Daddy a clean house when he came home. The children went and grabbed their gifts and Rob had fun opening them. Anna "bought" Daddy a bag of Funyuns, Ben got him a bottle of Coke, and Matthew got him a six-pack of Heath bars. I found the latest Alton Brown book and a new bathroom reader at half.com and got him an Alton Brown t-shirt. He also opened his gifts from his parents.

Tonight we're going to Schlotzsky's Deli in Oconomowoc for dinner and then to church. Rob and I will have a date on Friday for lunch and we're looking forward to it. We want to plan another date soon b/c some of the Dead Sea Scrolls are on display at the Milwaukee Public Museum and we'd like to go see the exhibit w/o the children. In the evening we plan to make individual pizzas and have his birthday dessert. He wants a fruit pie but since he's the only one that likes them, we may go with individual slices from Perkins. :)

So, Rob's have a good birthday so far!

My Sickies

Miss Anna woke up to a normal routine on Tuesday and ended up very sick by the end of the evening. She was cranky after naptime and I wondered what was up when she finally crashed on me on the couch. Rob and I took turns holding her until bedtime. She obviously had a fever, but our ear thermometer wasn't working properly. Besides that, it's stuck on Celcius and we had to get out a calculator each time we took a child's temp! Rob bought a new one after they went to bed, thinking we might have to use it during the night.

Anna spent the next two days in a state of constant patheticness. She stayed mainly on the couch or our laps, had bags under her eyes, and didn't get good rest. She slept lightly, which meant the boys normal afternoon noises cut her naps short. Besides that, she kept waking up at night. She didn't seem to have a fever at all, but by Thursday morning I was a little concerned about the lack of eating and drinking. Matthew being hospitalized for severe dehydration has me rather sensitive to the liquid intake of my children.

Ben also was acting sick, but was still playing. On Thursday he woke up complaining of ear pain and cried when I checked out his ear. It was time for a doctor visit for both of them. Since we only had one vehicle, Rob came home and took us. Turned out Ben had a virus in his ear and we got a prescription for pain drops. I also gave him some Tylenol on Thursday for the pain. He seems to be much better now and hasn't taken any drops today.

Anna also had a virus. I know we all complain that we go to the doctor to find out our kids' just have a virus, but if you don't go, you know they'll actually have something wrong :) Her little body was rather wiped out and she's still recovering. We made sure the house stayed quiet yesterday and she took a three hour nap, then slept almost 12 hours last night. She was very quiet in church today and the nursery workers were a little surprised. Poor little thing--it just takes a while to recover! We're labeling this virus as 2T virus: The too tired virus!

We're looking forward to a good week. Rob's birthday is on Wednesday, but he's taking Friday off and we're going on a date :)

Ben's Family

Apparently, Ben got married and no one ever noticed. Or at least he adopted lots of children. Recently he's been telling us all about his large family. A conversation will start off like this:

Ben: I have ten children.
Me: Ten children! Where do you put them all?
Ben: They all sleep in the same room in their bunkbeds.
Me: That's a lot of kids in one room.
Ben: Uh-huh. And I only feed them ice cream. One time, one of my children went to the freezer and grabbed a popsicle, but he didn't open it, so I just put it back.

Other conversations involving his "family" are of the same ilk. He's had up to nineteen children at one time and occasionally kills off a few of them, all by natural means, mind you. It's so fun to hear what he'll make up next. I think alot of it stems from his imaginative play with the Little People. Rarely does he play with the sets they came with, but he loves to put them in his various dump trucks. And of course, the bus is still his favorite!

Anna has a few funny phrases right now as well. If I hand her a drink, she'll say, "Mommy hand you juice!" instead of "Mommy hand me juice." She refers to herself in the third person as well, which is always humorous. The boys never did that as they caught on to first person references right away, so this is pretty cute. Speaking of pretty, she refers to herself that way and can tell you how old she is with the proper finger raised.

Matthew started Core K today by begging to have a day off school. He just fears anything new. He absolutely loved the new books and the work. The Bible story book for this core is Egermeier's Bible story book. It just so happens we have a 1939 edition of the book given to us by Rob's aunt, so we'll be using that for our family Bible time in the evenings. To quote Rachael Ray, "How cool is that?"

Rob had today off b/c they are trying to catch up with the lack of orders over the holidays. He took the boys to McDonald's to let them run off some energy this afternoon while I make a few cards. So I should probably get to work!

Stairsliding 101, Intermediate, and Advanced

Remember stair sliding? You get into your footie pajamas, go to the top of a carpeted staircase, and slide down. (It helps if your father isn't at the door at the bottom of the stairs, gleefully slamming the door shut just as you get to the bottom.) There are many ways to slide down the stairs, and my children will now teach you how to properly slide downstairs for the beginner through the more advanced stair slider.

Anna: I'm a beginning slider. When I'm in my footies (and sometimes when I'm not) I like to get at the stop of the stairs and slide down on my bottom in a sitting position. This allows me to control how fast/slow I go down the stairs. I have progressed into sliding on my tummy, which is the classic stair sliding position. Yelling "wwweeee!!!" as you go down is a must!

Benjamin: I'm an intermediate slider. I usually go down in the classic position, but I can also slide down head first. I like to see how quickly I can go down the stairs, crashing into the wall at the bottom. I'm not always very careful and have been known to hit innocent bystanders. (i.e. Anna and Mommy)

Matthew: I'm an advanced slider. I do things on the stairs my mommy never even dreamed about when she was a stair slider. I was never really at the beginner level, having mastered intermediate from the time I could walk up them unassisted. My favorite way to slide down the stairs is to get a plastic tray and ride it down like a sled. Man, you should see me fly! Ben is on his way to advanced level, as I taught him to do this too. Unfortunately, we broke Mommy's trays and can't do it anymore. But hey, a piece of cardboard would work! Just tonight, Ben and I were piggy-back sliding down the stairs. Ben got on his tummy in classic position, I climbed on his back, and we went down together. Ben was brave enough to get on my back twice, but he's not too sure about it. Can't wait to see what I think up next!

And there you have it, how to slide down the stairs. This stuff is not for the faint of heart!

What We're Up To

I thought a nice, general family update might be in order. We have all survived the holidays, even Mommy, who was pretty much a grinch from about the 20th on. So much so that I really want to decorate for Valentine's this year. Totally not me.

Anna is still chattering up a storm and stringing together lots of sentences. One of her favorite pasttimes is being a little mommy. She does play with her dollies quite a bit, but she also likes to boss around her brothers. Just this morning I had reprimanded Ben for getting into something in the study he shouldn't have. I sent him back in to clean it up and Anna went to the gate and said, "Benji, get outta the study. One...two...three..." She now likes apples, so we are up to two fruits she will eat. Her canines FINALLY broke through and she's a happy little girl again. I tell her often that she's nothing but a little dolly.

Ben is doing pretty well in the learning department. He recognizes all of his letters and numbers, mainly thanks to the Sign-A-Lot videos we've gotten from the library. In fact, we were reviewing his letters this morning and when he got stuck, I would sign the letter and then he knew it! He loves his trucks and Little People and is usually found driving something around on the floor. He also loves playing with his "It's a Match" set he got for Christmas.

Matthew is finishing up Sonlight's Core 4/5 this week and will be starting Core K with level 2 readers next week. It's kind of an odd time to start and finish a core, but we started 4/5 at an odd time. Just today he took a little handwriting test and can write all of his letters and numbers properly. He wants to make sure each one is perfect. We bought the new Super Mario Bros. Wii and he's been figuring it out with us. I love watching him play b/c he's fearless and I usually learn a thing or two.

For all of them, we have continued to be more careful with the TV/Wii. They have watched more than usual the past week b/c it is too cold to play outside and the toys get boring and Mommy has a cold. They all love the Sign-A-Lot videos, even Anna. I watched her signing with the people today, which is neat b/c she's the only one that wouldn't do baby signs. (Megan--must be a 3rd baby thing!) She came into the kitchen the other day and signed "ice cream" and told me she wanted some. :)

Rob is plugging away at the Custom Shoppe. They have just this week been cutting back on hours again. He'll be posting his resume on the career site with MBBC soon and we'll see where the Lord leads from there. He did pull a muscle in his back the other night bathing the kids, but is doing better now.

As for me, I've been having some fun over the past week. On Saturday I went to a Stampin UP! birthday bash and made ten birthday cards. It was fun to be with other ladies who love cardmaking. On Monday I worked at the Bass Outlet for about five hours doing inventory. Rob and I were joking that it's my bi-annual job. Ben was a little upset that I left, but I explained to him that some mommies work all of the time and isn't he glad I only leave twice a year? It didn't really help him much. :)

We're all getting/getting over head colds around here. Anna, Ben, and Rob are mending, I'm just starting mine, and I'm not sure about Matthew. He just doesn't get knocked out by colds, so it's hard to tell how sick he is.

Time to go collapse on the couch....