Sports Camp - Basketball

Yesterday was crazy. Trying to get all the laundry caught up since we were out this weekend and then naps followed by an early dinner so we could get to the Y by 5:30. We made it. Okay, maybe a few minutes late but the other family was still in the waiting area. Where was the instructor? No one had seen him. After half an hour and numerous calls to the athletic director, Nat, at the Statesville Y and the instructor (yes, the same instructor that didn't show up last Monday) we finally get word from Nat that he didn't have camp scheduled for this week but that t-ball would be next week. WHAT??? Apparently there is a major miscommunication but hopefully after my e-mail we can get everything cleared up and maybe get a copy of that schedule so i don't have to pack up 4 kids for nothing. Jack cried when we got home and he realized he didn't get to play basketball. I don't know when he will get to play but soon hopefully.

In other news, I haven't heard from the people about scheduling a time for John's evaluation. I have however left several messages yesterday and will leave several more until i hear from someone. Scratch that. I just got a call and we will be meeting with our case worker tomorrow to get all the paperwork completed and then a developmental evaluation will hopefully be scheduled for next week. The speech evaluation may not happen for 6 to 8 weeks but i am trying to find alternatives to expedite the process. I am impatient but this is important. We are going to Raleigh on Saturday. We are all so excited about being able to celebrate the 4th with friends!

Dating

Dating....it has been so long since Eric and I have "dated" that i am not really sure how to anymore. We are giving it a go and loving it. With our constant moving, traveling, and Eric's work schedule it makes it difficult to spend time as a family and then have time for Eric and i to go out. Going out without the kids is vastly different than watching T.V. after the kids go to bed. Now, we are in a place where we have an awesome babysitter and Eric has a little more flexibility so we started dating again. Kim came for our anniversary, Melissa came over while we went out to eat, last weekend it was Italian food and a movie, and Saturday was lunch and horseback riding in Love Valley. It is so nice getting to enjoy Eric's company.


We left and stopped for lunch on our way up. It was a short drive and upon arrival I could tell we were in for an experience. We only saw a few buildings before we found the horse stalls that we were looking for. I was a little nervous considering everything, houses and stores, looked like they had started out as campers and trailers and had been "upgraded" with porches and wooden siding. Anyway, we get set up and go outside to find our beautiful horses waiting. An old man is waiting as well. He looks cute enough. A Dickies coveralls with the sleeves cut out and baby mutton chops. As he smiles and begins to talk to me i realize he is missing a few teeth and i have no idea what he is saying. Turns out he was giving me directions because i was riding Squeaky, the lead horse. Score for me. Eric hops on Lady bug and he continues to give us directions to the creek trail. These directions were like "go to the paved road take a left, go on down and you will see a road to your right , then take a left and that will be a dead end road, and another left on another dead end road, then you'll see three driveways and there will be a trail between two of them and you take that. When you pass Starbucks you might have to hit her on the shoulder with the stick (looked like a whip to me) to make her go on because they are tired and she will want to come on home." We smile and i have no clue what he said to me and we have no road names or anything. Off we go. As soon as we are out of ear shot i tell Eric if we see a Starbucks i am going to stop and take a picture in front of it with my horse. :) Anyway, My horse feels like she has a bit of a gimpy leg, it was like my horse was from the hood. Both horses were moving slower than i could walk on foot. HAHAHHA! We sit back and enjoy the conversation, scenery and the slow pace. Finally a gravel road. Eric says take a left, i thought it was a right but we go left. Then our horses have the urge to stop and eat. So they do. What do you do when you are sitting on a horse and it stops to graze??? Anyway, we spot some kids who tell us we are headed in the right direction but i was a little skeptical that he really knew so we stop and ask a lovely women in a blue bikini top, cut offs, tattoos and cigarette in hand, who was crusin' on her 4-wheeler. Yes, totally wrong direction. So we turn around and go back.Some miles and a lot of stops for grass later, we find it....Starbuck......road. We have a nice laugh and then my horse hangs a right onto Starbuck road. NO, STOP, WHOAAAAAA. She stops and proceeds to snack. Why am i surprised? Anyway, I finally get Squeaky turned around and back on the main road and we walk....stop.....eat....turn....back to Starbuck road. What is going on with this horse. I get her turned around again and she isn't moving. She just keeps shaking her head at me when i pull her reigns. I didn't want to, but i used the stick. She squeaked...hence her name i guess. I felt bad so after a few more turn arounds and snacks i finally offer to trade with Eric. Maybe he would have better luck. In the middle of the road we swap horses. Eric gives it a good effort, by good effort i mean he said "no", but Squeaky was not going to the creek trail. So Eric allows the horse choose the route. Ridge Trail it is. Just my luck, i am on the "follower" horse and Squeaky started "squeaking" from the rear end. While my lazy Ladybug grazed Eric tried to hand off the camera so i could get some pictures of him since i wasn't going anywhere and Squeaky let her gas fly. I almost used the stick on her again! Anyway, it was a beautiful ride through the woods. A few times Squeaky took an alternate route around some mud but she always made her way back to the trail. slowly we made our way back to town. The horses were obviously telling us something. They did pick up the pace as we came through town. We only rode 2 out of the 4 hours of our time. Mutton chops says we can make it up next time. I noticed he didn't bother to take down our names. We spent the next hour and a half walking around the town. How we took that long to walk in 6 stores is beyond me. Two were bars so i think they get a little wild at night. We finally tracked down a trail map that would have been VERY helpful before we got the horses but it will be nice for next time. Picked up shirts for the kids and made our way home. It was a great day. Now we are trying to restrain ourselves from buying a horse. :)

A day at the dentist

What started as a exam for Eric and I turned into a family cleaning. My appointment was at 7 and Eric had to be there at 7:40. Eric got the kids up and ready and they grabbed some doughnuts for breakfast and met me at the dentist. After shifting kids and rooms, i talked to the dentist and Eric started his cleaning. The dentist ask if i wanted to have Jack and Ella's teeth cleaned while we were there so we did. Jack's first dentist appointment and i have no camera! I will get a picture next time. Ella was looking great and Jack was too. He sat back in the room by himself and the lady said he did great. Very proud of him. Not so proud that Ella and Jack were getting their teeth cleaned with doughnut stuck in them. I guess that is what Daddy's are for. Anyway, Eric was looking pretty good and me not so much, we won't talk about that. After another visit we should be good. That is what we get for not going to the dentist for 3 years. Eric left for work and the kids and i were off to turn in all of Ella's school paperwork. Now settling in for ....NAPTIME!!!

Sports Camp

SOCCER! Yea! I think i have seen Jack play enough soccer but this week at his camp was soccer again. We arrive just like Monday and this time the instructor was THERE! I was a little disappointed that he didn't personally apologize for his absence on Monday but we all moved on. After a walk down to the fields camp started. Jack and Wyatt became quick buddies. Probably because they are the only two there but hey, it could have been a girl. :) While Jack ran up and down the field kicking, scoring, and passing the rest of us admired the pool that sat atop the hill. It was kind of like the oasis in the desert. Ella occupied herself by doing round offs and cartwheels, John attempted to keep up with the big boys but resigned himself to playing with Ella or alone and Ben slept. Jack did fabulous though. Still not very aggressive but is getting better about finding the ball and running and kicking it at the same time. After 45 minutes of baking in the sun we had to go get dinner. Walking past the pool was torture. We are now upgrading to a family membership and will be playing in the pool after Jack's camps. :) Dinner and a bath and then to bed. It was a fun afternoon. I look forward to next week....BASKETBALL!

Sometimes

Sometimes i think that John would still love to be the baby. I can only imagine how he would be if he had been. I would have been in trouble. For instance, yesterday i was outside working during "nap"time. John came down and with a flick of the rake he took off back to his room. I went to check on the kids a little later and this is where i found John.





Yes, in Ben's crib. Just for a moment he was the baby again. :)

Jack's sports camp

Last night was Jack's first night at camp. We all arrived without knowing where to meet or what sport awaited us (well, Jack). The desk was quite busy and the lady didn't seem to know where we were meeting so I went back to the gym to ask another lady, Becky. She said this week was soccer and to go down to the soccer fields. She was also going to call and double check. We hadn't seen anyone on the field when we drove in but went to take a look anyway. Nobody. We go back in and I check with Becky, again. Nobody can find the athletic director that was supposed to teach the camp. So we all go home with the promise that someone will be there Wednesday and lots of apologies. Watch for a new soccer blog this week.


Also note that I have posted the dates of our upcoming activities on the side. That is so you all can keep up with our summer. Mostly it is so I can keep up with our summer. :)

To school or not to school....

That is the question. We have gone back and forth so many times. Okay, well i have. Eric has been pretty set on the idea of homeschooling and i am so wishy-washy. This blog is as much for me as it is to let you guys know what is going on.

At this point we have gotten a registration packet and have all the paper work filled out. We will take it back to the school and sign Ella up for an assessment in August. There she will be evaluated and it will also serve as an information session for us. We are currently leaning towards public school. She would begin on August 25th.

Why public school? Well, it would be a good opportunity for Ella to really thrive in a social environment. She loves to make friends and see new people so it would be a great fit for her. She is dying to go to "big school". The pediatrician seems to think that a change in schools in October wouldn't be difficult for her. We don't think she would have a difficult time with it either. She is really good at transitioning into new places. For some reason she is super concerned about someone at school ripping her hearts off her new flip flops. She already says that she would have to tell her teacher. Not sure what that is about. Anyway, the elementary here is great. About 5 minutes from the house. It would also be good for the boys. More attention for them and no sister to boss them around (or dress them up as princesses). Jack and John could really bond more and i think it would allow the boys to move into different roles in the house.

Why not public school? Ella, is very intelligent. What if the curriculum is not challenging her? Will she be board? Will she dislike school because it isn't fun? Will they dumb her down to keep her on track with the class instead of allowing her to really thrive? What about the move, what if we don't end up in a good school system? It would also make it impossible to travel. These are all fears that i can only speculate about. My biggest fear is not knowing what to do without her.

Why homeschool? I can give her work according to her abilities. She can go as fast or as slow as she would like. I can tailor the curriculum to her. It is super flexible. It would allow us to travel freely from job to job without worrying about her missing school work.

Why not homeschool? It is so difficult because each state has different laws. What state do we want to register in? In Alabama we have to have a "cover school", but how to choose one. Some test, some don't. You have to pay and then buy your own curriculum set. What if we pay and they don't register her with the state? What if i don't do a good enough job and she gets behind? strictly an insecurity on my part but her education is a pretty big deal. What about the boys? I have to tend to them too.

I always thought this would be a no brainer. Your kid is 5 and they go to kindergarten. No big deal. I wish it were that easy. Feel free to leave your thoughts and any pros and cons i might have missed.

Happy Father's Day

I didn't write this yesterday because i was busy enjoying some family time and after the kids were in bed, i was exhausted. We didn't do much. We made Eric breakfast in bed while he played with Ben and then took a trip to Target for John's birthday present. We hit up Chili's for lunch and then home for what has to be my favorite time of the day....NAPS. We all got to take a nap. Then just hanging out around the house. Painting here, play-doh there. We ordered Eric some shorts that haven't arrived yet. I would feel bad but he should have gotten me the list sooner. (See nothing is ever my fault.) :) Ella made him a card and it was a wonderful day.

Eric is a great father and i couldn't be happier seeing him with our children. Being a parent is tricky. No manuals just on a wing and a prayer. I spend most of my prayers praying that we make the right decisions for our children and when i see Eric with the kids i know that my prayer for a great father for my children was answered. Sometimes he can't handle John, he doesn't put John in time -out the right way (yes, there is a system to it), he puts Jack pajamas on John and that starts a fight, and sometimes forgets that they are just kids but in the big picture those are all minor and could never replace the times that he leaves work early to watch Jack play soccer and Ella in her gymnastics, when he walks over to the doctors office to play with the kids while one has an appointment, practicing soccer with the kids when i know he despises the sport, giving them their baths, watching him attempt to fix Ella's hair (that only happened once) and listening to him read the kids a bedtime story. He is a wonderful daddy.

Speaking of wonderful dads. I happen to have one myself. I think back and i know that dad worked a lot but i don't think i ever questioned why. I always understood he was doing it so that we could have everything we needed and somethings we wanted. Had we been rich he would have given us the world. It was probably a good thing we weren't rich. I remember going down to the race track almost every Saturday night with Mom and Wes to watch him race. I thought it was the coolest thing to watch the race and then wait at the gate to go give him a hug and have our picture taken after he won (or rarely came in second or third). :) I was so proud that he was my dad. Sometimes we got to stay and ride home with him in the van and stopped to eat at Shoney's. He was always there to support me at my softball games. Well, he stood behind the plate while i batted and yelled for me to keep my eye on the ball and to stop chopping wood. Obviously my swing could have used a little practice. He has always been supportive and loving even when my decisions have been....less than stellar. He never held back when he thought i was off track or if Mom told him we had been bad he never had a problem talking to us with a belt in hand (i always hoped i could talk enough that he didn't use the belt, never happened). He has always assured me that i could do anything i wanted but it might be hard i just had to "buckle down" and get it done. He, like Mom, was never concerned with being my friend but being a parent. I have the best daddy in the world. Thank you dad for all the love and support. Happy Father's day!

I could go on and on about Father's day and how important it is for children to have fathers in their lives. My grandfathers were and are wonderful men. Grandaddy served in WWII and was a man of little affection and emotion. I understood that and as he got older loosened up some and so the first time he kissed me goodbye (round about the age of 20) i almost passed out. I also remember seeing him after i found out i was expecting Ella....he told me i looked very nice. Yes, that was a great compliment and meant so much. Papa has always been there. In and out as work required. I always knew when he was in because of the unmistakable snore. :) We always go back and forth with each other. Lets face it, his liberal, Canadian views are wrong. HAHAH. He is a stubborn and loving. Both have played roles in my life and i am thankful and blessed. Happy Father's day Papa, I love you.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Father's day!

If you were wondering...

As i thumbed through the pictures last night looking at how John has grown i also checked out how the kids compared to each other at the 3 month mark. So, if you were wondering who Ben looks like or if you just can't remember what all my "big"kids looked like as babies here they are. :)

Happy Birthday John John

Two years ago today i was sitting in a hospital with Eric, Ella (with her broken collar bone), Jack and our brand new baby John. My how time flies. It seems like i remember it all so well but then again it seems fuzzy. A lot has happened since then so i guess my brain can only hold so many memories. This is what i know for sure. He was a wonderful baby, ate well and i don't remember him crying much. He has the cutest smile, always has. He used to be so mellow and has now developed into a strong-willed, opinionated, curious, adventurous, stubborn, independent, attention-demanding, handsome, loving, funny, and kind (most of the time) little man. He is obviously going through a phase right now where he thinks the rules don't apply to him. Some call it the "terrible twos", i call it a brief lapse in judgement. He keeps me on my toes. We had a doctors appointment this morning and he was 25 pounds and 35 inches tall. That puts him in the 15th percentile for weight and 65th percentile for height, for those keeping track. Dr. Gessler says he looks very healthy but i addressed my concerns about John's speech with him, just like i did with two other doctors at 15 and 18 month appointments. I took our picture flash cards so that he could hear John speak since he usually doesn't chat with the doctor. We went through and i am sure he has 50 words or more in his vocabulary but he misses consonant sounds in easy words. Like he can say "daddy" clearly but pronounces dog like "og". Laziness? Maybe. Dr. Gessler offered to put in some paperwork to have an evaluation done and i jumped on it. We should have a call by the end of next week to set up our evaluation and after those appointments we will get a plan if one is even necessary. Speech is one of the broadest areas of what qualifies as normal but i just want to stay ahead of the game. That was our only big development for the day so i am off to put him back in bed. He thinks he doesn't have to take a nap today. I guess he thinks his birthday exempts him from that. After getting up at 6:30 this morning, i can definitely say it does not! In closing, as i thought about the last two years i scrolled through all the pictures and watched him grow. I put a few (okay, a lot. but not even close to all of them) together for a slideshow and they are in chronological order or at least pretty close. Enjoy.

Punch him...

Yes, this was an actual quote that came from one of my children's mouth. I have to think back a few days to recount the incident. Monday, i believe it was. Ella, Jack and John are playing quietly upstairs in Ella's room while i feed Ben. It is so nice that they play together...or so i thought. Abruptly the silence come to an end as Ella comes running down the stairs "Momma, Jack punched John really hard in the face and it hurt him really bad". My only response was "what?". As Ella began to repeat herself, i see Jack stick his head around the corner. I interrupted Ella and asked Jack "did you hit John in the face?" Ella interjects "punched...he punched him". Jack replies "well, Ella told me too". As i look back and forth between Ella and Jack and they look at each other and me I think we were all a little confused. Who was i going to discipline and the kids were trying to figure out who was going to be in some big trouble. I get up and check on John and yes, much to my dismay, he has a big red fist print by his lip and nose. Jack was a pretty good shot. Nothing that i am proud of at this point. Anyway, John seemed to be fine so i turned my attention back to the two culprits. As i interrogate them, with a wooden paint stick in hand, i began to piece the story together. Ella is filling in the blanks and pauses to ask if she is going to be spanked with the wooden stick. :) Finally i think i have it. Here it is....Ella and Jack were cleaning Ella's room (yes, i was proud of that)and as they were making up her bed John entered the room. John quickly climbed onto the bed, I guess it was an attempt to get some attention. Ella and Jack both said that they asked him nicely to get off and he refused, nicely i am sure. At that point the queen bee ordered her "muscle" to punch him in the face. Yes, little Ella told Jack to "punch" John. Jack did as he was told. I guess after the shock of it all Ella decided she would tell on Jack and then he told on her too. I was at a loss. Contrary to what most of you might think, i didn't spank either one. I had a very stern talk with both of them and then they lost their quiet play time. When i was done they were both curled up on their beds crying. Looks like i am going to have to bring down the mafia living in my house. :) Another day, another surprise.

Home

Sunday morning rolled around and it was time to head home. Just like clock work no one felt well. Dad made a big Birthday breakfast for himself and the rest of us. I think the kids were feeling good after that however, Eric, Wes and I weren't so lucky. Packing up took some time and we were moving at an extra slow pace. We feed the cows watermelon, took some time to swing and the kids helped water the flowers. It was 1 o'clock before we got out of there. Eric and i picked up a subway sandwich on the way out but that didn't seem to really help. The kids slept for a little while and then were up and ready to go. Too bad we were in the car. We stopped for dinner and to stretch our legs. I took over the wheel. That didn't last long since Eric couldn't get Ben to settle down. After a quick stop and switch we were off again. We got in about 10 and the kids had just gone to sleep so we had to wake them to get them in bed. John wasn't happy about that. I unpacked the car and then tucked the kids in. Eric and I crashed. He was off to work Monday morning and the kids slept in. We have everything put away and are still catching up on our sleep. Ella was back to gymnastics and we are slowly getting back on our schedule. This is my final post from our visit. I knew i would get it done! :)

Birthday Celebration

Saturday, I was up bright and early, again. I was busy getting the cake ready. It was a birthday celebration for Wes, Dad, Mom and John since all of their birthdays fall between the 1st and the 19th. Kim and Mom were up helping get everything ready for the big day. Eric accidentally fell back to sleep. Imagine that. :) His excuse was that he was making sure Ben didn't wake up. HA! Anyway, the cake was a disaster. The cream cheese icing was runny since it was so hot, i misspelled birthday on it, and the red looked more like an ugly pink. After correcting the spelling and Wes's idea to use red sprinkles it all turned out okay. Well except for the grass. That sheet cake was a little (a lot) over cooked. I was just busy and forgot it was in the oven (not a first for me). I didn't think it tasted good. But it was still cute. Everyone got dressed and i of course was the last one. People were arriving and i was still getting dressed. Eric's Mawmaw, her friend Don, Aunt Dale, Robbie Dear, Mrs. Connie, Mr. Mark, and Kyle arrived and got settled in. Mrs. Syble and Uncle Terry, Aunt Kim, Lauren and Audrey came in shortly there after. Dinner was served and after feeding Ben, for what seemed like forever, I finally got to eat.The kids played in the bounce house with Uncle Kyle and Nana. Kim even got in too. From Ella's report, Uncle Kyle was a "misbehaving child" so she had to "punish him". He was jumping on the bed during rest time. I love her imagination. The sun was out and it was quite warm. Better than rain. It was time for cake and ice cream. Dad and John took their positions to blow out the candles. John was super excited. After more conversation people started to head home. As everyone was filtering out we were getting everything back to "normal". Then it was time for the Wal-mart trip. Uncle Terry, Aunt Kim, Lauren and Audrey like to take the kids to Wal-mart and let them wander the toy isles. Something i would never do so the kids LOVE it. John just walked up and down touching all the toys. :) I thought they would never be able to pick anything but we ended up with a bubble blower, a Spiderman dart gun, a Hannah Montana cell phone, extra bubbles, pink and purple Hannah Montana hair color (not sure if that was more for Ella or Lauren and Audrey), and the movie Harry and the Hendersons. Looking at all the treats i am glad none make a lot of noise. Maybe the kids are catching on. Out to Durbin's for ice cream and sandwiches. John found some fuzzy high heel shoes he liked but his Dad and Grandfather didn't seem to think they were quite so pretty. We headed home to get the kids in bed for some much needed rest. While we got the boys ready for bed Lauren. Audrey and Aunt Kim partook in the pink and purple hair color. I will say Lauren did a great job and Ella looked beautiful. Aunt Kim may have gone a little punk with her pink bangs and Audrey was rocking her purple. It was a good time but they too had to leave. I can't express how lucky i feel that on our short visit that so many people would drive hours to come and visit. I had the best time getting to see everyone and am very thankful that we have so many people that care about us. Thank you.

Catching up

Friday was all about catching up. My Grandmother came over from Mississippi and my friend Mari and her two children came up from Opelika. The day started off kinda rainy but that wasn't slowing anyone down. Mari, Auston and Aby arrived around lunch. This was the first time i have seen Aby (what a doll!) and Auston has grown into such a big boy. The last time we saw these guys was in Idaho. Too long. We brought out all the NAPA trucks that Dad and Mom have in the attic and put them on the back porch and Mrs. Mari brought a large bag of goodies for the kids. Mom picked up the bounce house (I always forget how heavy that thing is). John and Auston thought it was plenty of fun as we were unrolling it. All the toys kept them occupied while Mari and I ran to get lunch. A run for some happy meals and Durbin's sandwiches for the adults. After lunch we all relaxed in the back yard and watched the kids play. Occasionally an adult was caught in the bounce house. :) Ben was definitely missing his swing but got lots of love from Mawmaw and Mrs. Mari. Aby went down for a good nap but the rest of the kids tried to hold out on their naps. John made it for awhile but eventually fell asleep on Mari in the swing. It was kinda cool out but it still made for a beautiful day to visit. I got to catch up with my Mawmaw. She is a wonderful grandmother and words could never describe how lucky i am to have her. I am so glad she was able to make it over. Ben was just as happy. He seemed to like her a lot. She had to get back home so that just left the kids. Just like energizer bunnies they kept going and going and going. Eric came in and had his play time in the bounce house. After PB&J sandwiches we had the "boy bath" with Jack, John and Auston and, after a quick wash of the tub from the dirty boys, then it was the "girl bath" with Ella and Aby. We got ours in bed as Mari packed up to leave. They had a bit of a drive but i was so glad she had taken the time to drive up for the visit. The kids had a blast. Maybe we will end up on jobs close to each other or maybe on the same job again so the kids have playmates (okay and me too). She is also the one who snaps all the great pictures of the kids. They headed out about 8. Right about the time Kim arrived. Kim, Eric, Ben and i left to go meet some old friends for Mexican. We arrived and spent the next 3 or so hours talking and reminiscing about the high school years. It was quite fun since i don't often get to see them when i am in town. Another long day full of fun and catching up. Good times.

Old friends and new friends

Needless to say we made it to Clanton safely. It was a long ride but the kids were fabulous. I was concerned because we didn't have a DVD player to keep them occupied but i was pleasantly surprised by their ability to entertain themselves. It also made for a quieter ride. The kids were stoked about getting to Grandma and Grandpa's. We had a full schedule for the three days we were there.

Eric headed to Birmingham bright and early Thursday morning. The rest of us were up ridiculously early because of the time change. Dad made breakfast which the kids LOVED. I kinda enjoyed having a nice breakfast myself. :) The kids and I got dressed and headed to Dad's store for a visit. After lunch, the kids went down for a much needed nap in preparation for the friends that were coming to visit Thursday night. While they slept Wes, Ben and I drove to Alabaster to have my follow up with Dr. Head. After a switch-a-roo with the cars Eric, Ben and I headed home. We got there to find Jamie, a long time family friend, and her two girls already playing. Ella was obviously loving having more girls around. We had a nice dinner and good conversation and the kids played. Mom and the kids made "pudding pops" for dessert. They ate them outside and that was a very good idea. Somehow they ended up having a chocolate fight. It wasn't going to make them any dirtier than they already were. The boys were very attentive to the girls. The girls didn't seem to care much. :) Finally bath time came and Lydia joined the kids for their bath. They all settled into my bed for a movie. It was 10 and time for our friends to go. Ella and the boys really enjoyed playing with their new friends and i enjoyed the time with my old friend. A great way to start our stay. (Jamie: Notice i left out all the pictures of us eating. I thought you would appreciate it. :))

Snow White

I don't think this is what Disney had in mind........

Girl Baths

I would like to start by saying i have all the blogs written about our short but full trip to Alabama. However, our computer is having some difficulties so i am having to wait on Eric's laptop and he has a hard time remembering to bring it home. They will be up soon so watch for the flood of new blogs. Given this information I still couldn't resist the urge to post a new blog. :)

We started talking to Ella before our trip about "girl baths". A bath that would just be for her and it would be by herself. At 5 we think it is time to move out of the bath with the boys and start going solo. Time to learn that she can't run around naked anymore and so forth. Time to grow up a little more. When we got home, i set her up with her own body wash, shampoo (the kinds that burns if it gets in your eyes, just to ensure she felt like a big girl), conditioner, princess wash cloth and pink towel. I accompanied her to the guest bathroom to make sure she was getting all clean. She caught on quickly. She says Sam can't come in because he is a boy dog and no boys allowed. I told her he didn't count but she assured me he did. Last night i took some pictures of Ella's "girl bath".

Yes. I am teaching her right.

I think she was enjoying it.

The boys bath. Not near as relaxing but lots more toys.

Jack thought he would enjoy the spa like treatment. He didn't.

For those who are having Ben withdrawals.

The boys didn't seem to mind that Ella had been replaced by Ben. Ben was certainly happy to get in and splash around with the boys. Jack did catch Ella with the bubble bath. He said "hey, wait a minute.....what is this?" I explained that Ella had taken a girl bath and he would get some special stuff for his boy bath. He was cool and back out the door. Another milestone for Ella. For all of us. :)

Round 2

Gheezzzz! It has been a week since i blogged. I can't say that i have missed it because i have been so busy. Last weekend, I spent my time taking care of sick kids. It was only natural that i too caught the nasty virus. Since Ella was running a fever on Monday and a small one on Tuesday morning, we rested. No gym and no gymnastics. I was sure we would all be better by Wednesday or Thursday and everything would be back to normal. HA! I woke up Wednesday and thought i was dying i was quite surprised. I never get sick, at least not bad sick. Anyway, Eric came home at lunch even though i asked him not too. I was so relieved when he walked in. He got the kids down for nap time and i sent him back to work. After realizing the terrible mistake i had made i called and asked him to come home when the kids got up from their naps. He did. He brought me sprite and a phenogren. I was out about 5 p.m. and not up until Thursday morning. Still groggy and in a fog but able to keep food down so we pressed on. By Friday we were cleaning up a storm. Washing all the beds, dusting, scrubbing bathrooms, and (most importantly) Lysoling everything. Ella threw up again Friday night but said she was fine. Saturday was good and then Round two. Yesterday Eric started by not feeling well followed by Ella. They rested most of the afternoon in the chair and had moments of feeling good. Bed time rolls around and I go to snuggle with Ella in her bed. She looks at me and says "mommy, what if i throw up in my bed again tonight?" (I guess this was because she threw up on top of her quilt Friday night and nobody knew until Saturday morning.) I told her that it would be okay she could just come get me and we would get it cleaned. Before i could say anything else i hear the unmistakable sound of vomit coming up. I escape the bed before it lands on me. I feel so bad for Ella. We get everything cleaned up and she falls asleep. Jack is up at 4 this morning with diarrhea followed by another round about 6 and then more vomit. After another trip to the bathroom and some more vomit, he is eating and assures me he feels better. John is still trying to get over the diarrhea he has had all week. However, Eric says he is feeling better and all the kids have been eating non-stop this morning. I am hoping it all stays down. If not i am in troub;e. We are preparing for our trip on Wednesday. We will be leaving at lunch (if Eric can get away). I am off to Lysol everything AGAIN and make my packing list. I feel like Santa, i am making my list and checking it twice. Here are a few pictures from the weekend. What few bright spots we had. :)