James took the boys out on the lake Wednesday morning. They had a blast doing everything with Ba, and really enjoyed all the field trips, too.
Here is a quick synopsis of our week:
Sunday when we arrived they played out back in the hose. Freddie got down to his skivvies. It was that warm. James made us pizza in his outdoor pizza oven for dinner. Yum!
Monday Sammy and Ba drove the tractor and moved rocks, in addition to other farm chores. He loved it. Sammy repeatedly talks about driving the tractor all by himself. Then, James, Jacob, Sammy and Freddie spent the rest of the afternoon in the creek.
Tuesday James took the boys fishing and they did more farm work. My mom and I went into town to have our hair done :) That night we had a party in their outdoor kitchen. The kids loved this - James grilled burgers and dogs in the huge outdoor fireplace and then we roasted *many* marshmallows and made s'mores. James, Jacob and Sammy camped out in a tent in the backyard.
Wednesday the boys went out on the lake and had lunch at Gaston's Resort. Sammy came home with trick candy (not the eating kind - watch out if he comes up to you and offers you some!) and Freddie a fart whistle. lol My mom and I did yoga and played a bunch of games on the Wii while Jack napped.
Thursday the guys went caving. More pictures and details to come from Jacob! Mom and I did more yoga, then I caught her up on Glee's second season while Jack napped, then the three of us hung out outside in the sunshine and toured her beautiful flower beds. My mom made chickpea chili for dinner. I am going to get the recipe and share it with my vegetarian friends up here because it rocked.
Friday, sadly, we loaded up the car and started our drive home. There were tears shed nearly the entire drive to Branson.
Thanks so much to my parents for having us! It was truly a magical spring break for our family - the stuff that memories are made of.
We love you!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Spring Break in Arkansas, 2011
Spring in Arkansas!
We had the best weather for spring break in Arkansas! It was unseasonably warm but none of us were complaining. We reveled in it and I am pretty sure we all want to go back.
Thanks to Nana and Ba for being such wonderful hosts! Sammy was sad to leave, to put it mildly.
It's-a bubble time
Spring break in Arkansas. It was actually a little too hot for Freddie to be wearing those pants - notice his red face? (but he loves them - thanks, Papa, for stitching them up!)
Jack at Denny's
The first stop of our first road trip of 2011. This is the Denny's off the highway in Clear Lake, Iowa. Giant gold stars to all three of our kids for being such good car travelers. We drove from Minneapolis to Monkey Run, Arkansas, for spring break, March 19-26.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
more of cute Jack at the hospital
more cute pictures from the hospital on flickr. follow the link under the picture!
Jack at the hospital
Jack had surgery to put tubes in his ears this morning. He was *such* a trooper and was happy, chirpy and flirty until he woke up from anesthesia, when he was finally freaked out, but according to our nurse he was quick to settle down.
On Tuesday when I took him for his pre-op his ears were extremely swollen, red and full of puss so our pediatrician put him on two days of intensive antibiotics to get the swelling down enough for the ENT doc to put the tubes in. It worked !! and the ENT doc said he sucked out a bunch of thick mucus while he was in there.
His ears have been draining bloody mucus all day but he seems to be recovering a-okay.
Sorry to those who are grossed out because I wrote about mucus and bloody mucus (like Jack's dad). :p
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Snowshoeing at Dowling
Jacob and Sammy went snowshoeing at a local school this morning, thanks to classes available through the Minneapolis Community Education.
Jacob can blog later with more detailed info on their outing. From what I heard it sounds like it was a fun time!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Sammy and his clone.
Sammy took a few pictures yesterday. This is one of my favorites. Nice that he included his baby brother in his play. As you can see, Jack adores Sammy.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Tami Tripp Photography Booth!
Tami had a booth at Barton Open School's "Handmade Arts from the Heart" crafty fair. It was a great fair and fun to see Tami out promoting her business. And fun to see pictures of newbie Jack on display, too!
Jacob was laughing at me for taking pictures of the photographer but I wanted to show off my talented friend. Besides, those dimples need to be in front of the camera once in a while :)
dumplin'
He has eight teeth already and still chews like a puppy.
and, maybe a little ready for bed...
Ten months old!
He is such a sweetie! I can't stress this enough. He is a total love. But he feels miserable a lot because of his ears. He's scheduled to have his own set of tubes put in on March 10th. As the ENT doc said, "He's a poster-child for tubes. This is a battle you can't win." So our little honey will have surgery and hopefully be the happy and curious sweetie that he is full-time.
This is Jack yesterday, healthy but post-nap rocking bed head along with a lovely handknit cardigan made for him by Andrea, a dear knitting buddy from church. He looks lovely in blue, doesn't he? :)
pre-surgery breakfast
Sammy had his surgery to put in ear tubes on February 10th and so far so good!
He could have clear liquids until 9:30 am. Hence, a breaky of Jell-o and apple juice. Not too shabby. Surgery was at 1pm.
We won't know for sure how well it went until we go back to the ENT doc in a few weeks for post-surgery hearing tests, but I will say that as of now he is not speaking as loudly, he seems to be asking "What?" and leaning in and reading lips less and less, and the TV is no longer at a deafening level.
Bear Class Music Program
Freddie's first music program was February 8th. He was so excited for the program he could not hold still for a moment. And the performance was shockingly good - the kids sang, everyone faced forward, no one cried, everyone participated, and for the most part we could understand the words. (but that may have been because we knew the songs) Either way, I have to say that this Bear class put on a better show than Sammy's. But for what it lacked in polish Sammy's program made up for in hilarity (I don't think we've ever laughed so hard).
Notice that Freddie is the TALLEST kid on the rafters. The back row is all standing on the same level. He's that much of a giant compared to your average three-year-old!!!
My favorite song was "Peanut Butter" because it is absolutely precious to hear Freddie sing it. It goes, "A peanut sat on a railroad track his heart was all a-flutter. Around the bend came the #10 - choo choo! Squish. Squash. Peanut butter!" The cutest part is when Freddie says "all a-fudder" :D
Freddie's little buddy for church, Rueben, is also a Bear.
Freddie brought the Chipmucks for courage, er, I mean to watch. (Simon was sadly trapped between the bunk beds and the wall and unable to attend.)
Sunday, February 06, 2011
Superbowl Sunday
Not the best picture, but you get the point. They were sharing the couch, sharing a blanket, and out to the world by 5:30pm. All *highly* unusual. We left them like that until halftime and then put them to bed, where they slept until after 7am.
The kids have had a pretty sick 2011. This week I believe was when we had the high fevers and exhaustion.
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
PJ Day
Dead of Winter
This is the child, fresh off the bus, next to what use to be the curb.
Ack! No mittens. Good thing the bus is heated and the walk home is quick.
Nearly in the backyard, near his Dad's shovel pile.
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