Bumpin' along...

...in their little red wagon. They barely fit in there, but we managed a successful wagon ride on one of the warmer days at the beginning of the great thaw. Obviously this picture was taken a while ago since there is no snow in sight near our house anymore. Woohoo!

In fact, we're having a week warm enough to shed some of the layers that are usually necessary for an outdoor (even indoor somedays) adventure. For our children who so desperately want to play outside but have been relegated to only indoor games (not to be confused with reindeer games) due to bitter temps and biting winds, the shedding of layers was quite confusing. Yesterday when I gave Jack his clothes so he could get dressed he questioned, "I only have three things?!" Yes, dear one, you are (hopefully) free of undershirts, overshirts and sweatshirts until next winter and most days from here on out you'll "only have three things!" to put on each morning.

The rest of us are "bumpin' right along" too, despite the lack of updates recently on the ol' blog. Work at work and work at home has consumed much of our...um...extra(?) time for things such as blogging, reading, sleeping, etc. Except(!) I have made a little time here and there to enjoy my wonderful, fabulous, totally unexpected, awesome new birthday present. Remember how I said Sean is the best gift-giver I know? (If you don't remember read the new side bar). Well he proved me right again. More on that later.

For now, I'll leave you with a memory of one of the indoor games of days past and say "farewell" to the delicious smells and cozy feeling that baking cookies produces.

In exchange, we say "hello" to summer, late nights, long walks, sprinkler sprinkles, bare feet and grass between our toes!

Five Question Friday

Now I'm hooked. Head over to Mama M's blog to find out the details.

Here we go...

1. Have you ever had a celeb sighting?

Probably, but I can't remember. My mind doesn't work like that. I'm just not a good rememberer.

2. What temperature do you keep your house?

Over the years my skin has thickenend and I am now comfortable in our 68 degree house. But during the day only. At night, no higher than 65. 65? Not so comfortable.

3. Do you notice dust at other peoples homes?

Sometimes...and I LOVE to see it! It makes me feel normal.

4. What's the worst job you ever had?

Hmm...they've all been pretty decent (thanks to some good connections). There were a few babysitting jobs that weren't much fun. Some people's kids...

5. What is your most sentimental possession?

Despite what my husband may think, I'm not sentimental about most objects. However, I think when the time comes to decide what to "do" with our children's baby blankets (you know, the blanket), I'm going to have a hard time parting with them. But that's years and years and years away. Jack asked me the other day when he was going to stop sleeping with his blankie. I told him he could stop anytime and he assured me that he, indeed, would be sleeping with his blankie forever. That's my boy!

Heroes

Our boys love to be heroes. Throughout the week they catch "bad guys," fight fires, perform daring water rescues and save any variety of creature from certain death. This particular day they were EMTs rushing Hippo to the hospital on his cork board gurney.

Upon arrival, Hippo spent hours in surgery under the skilled hands of Doctor Jack and Doctor Wes. You'll be relieved to know that Hippo is on his way to a full recovery thanks to the quick action and top-notch treatment of our two heroes.

Feeding 5000

John 6:1-14

Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Feast was near.

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"

Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"

Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world."

 

Snack time at our house often consists of goldfish and water. This particular day we happened to have multiple varieties to choose from. Not being one to settle on just one particular kind, Jack opted for a mix of "pretzel" and "rainbow." Now everyone knows that you can't just eat goldfish. They must be played with and arranged in multiple ways. This day's arrangement happened to be modeled after the scripture above. I overheard Jack telling Wesley that he had 5 loaves of bread and two fish. Turns out he was listening the Sunday before.

Walking

almost...

Hippity Hop

Nope, nothing about bunnies today. It's time, once again, for Mama M's  Five Question Friday blog hop.

1. How much time do you spend on the computer each day?


Well, since my work is 99% on the computer and I spend three days at work each week, I'd say I average 5 to 6 hours a day over the course of a week.


2. Will you pay for your children's college or raise them to pay for their own way?


The jury is still out on this one. I'd love to pay for our kids' college, but I see the value in "allowing" them to share in the responsibility. When it comes down to it, however, with the rising cost of tuition my guess is that paying for college for three kids won't even be a realistic option. I don't think the 529 plans are going to do that well over the next 14+ years.


3. Have you ever been in a car accident?


When I was driving? Yes, but not with other cars. One time I hit a biker, the other time I hit a deer. One was my fault, the other was the deer's. The biker rode away without any scratches, the deer wasn't so lucky.


4. What is your favorite book?


Definitely not any of the books I was assigned to read in high school...bleh! Probably A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers. It's the first in the Mark of the Lion series. Really good.


5. Do you make your bed every day?

I should. And most days it's made, but I may or may not be the one to make it.

BTW - Sorry for the lack of posts between last Friday and this one. I'll try to get more posted. With pictures.

Blog Hopping

I've never actually participated in a "blog hop" (please don't ask me to explain what that is because I'm not exactly sure myself), but it makes me think of wearing a poodle skirt and sounds like fun, so here goes.

Every Friday Mama M over at My Little Life posts 5 questions for all the "hoppers" to answer. If you want to participate, head on over there and link up (again, please don't ask me what that means because, although I'm going to attempt it now, I don't actually know what it is or how to do it).

1. What's your guilty pleasure?

Free kids' cookies at Target. No, I've never gotten one when the kids weren't with me, but I did start getting three before Elise was really old enough to have one so that I could have one too. Now I only get about 1/3 of Elise's cookie and soon it will be none because she's going to start noticing that she's being shorted. But for now, I'll take the couple bites I can get.

2. What is your favorite TV series?

It used to be a toss up between Lost and 24, but I've recently confirmed that 24 is, hands down, my favority series. I just can't wait to see how Jack Bauer is going to save the world next.

3. Can you speak any foreign languages?

I used to be able to speak two: spanish and norwegian. Now I throw out a few spanish words here and there for the benefit of my children, but I'd be hopelessly out of luck if I was ever in need of help in Mexico. If you asked me how many languages I can understand the number would be much higher as long as I could add Jack-ish and Weslese to the list.

4. How many pairs of shoes do you own?

Not as many as I would like. I'll just leave it at that.

5. What's your favorite kind of M&M...peanut, almond, straight-up regular, etc.?

I'm a simple kind of gal; I like plain ol' milk chocolate M&Ms. You just can't beat that tiny little burst of heaven each time you pop one in your mouth. Why destroy the simplicity by adding peanuts or almonds or anything else for that matter?

Snow Day

I wish it had been a real snow day complete with closed schools, work and roads, but since it wasn't a day that we would normally go to work or school, it was close enough. Well, most of us weren't at work. This happened to be one of the days that Sean was in India so he had to miss out on the snow day altogether. Poor Sean. Or maybe not. He also missed out on the shoveling/snowblowing of the 12+ inches of snow that came with our pretend snow day.

Each consecutive child has been exposed to winter a little earlier than their sibling(s). This is likely a common phenomenon given that the big kids beg to go outside and see no good reason why they shouldn't be playing in the snow even though one of their siblings may or may not be able to move one tiny bit once all the appropriate snow gear has been put on. Needless to say, I caved to the big kids, we bundled up and headed out in the snow.

This was Elise's first real experience in snowpants. Her brother's snowpants. And her brother's coat, mittens and shoes (we have no boots that small). She did get to wear her own pink hat, though. Lucky girl. At first she didn't like being bundled up (big surprise), but once we got outside she didn't mind.

See?

Elise and Wes liked being pulled on the sled. I tried to get all three of them on the sled, but with all those clothes they just wouldn't fit.

Then Elise got out of the sled. She didn't like that as much. Scooting around in the snow isn't quite like scooting around in the kitchen.

Then she tried to eat some snow and it was colder than she wanted it to be. She didn't like that. She also didn't like her brother's mittens anymore...or her brother's shoes...or her brother's snowpants.

She was done in the snow!

She didn't mind being in the stroller watching her brothers, though.

The boys?

Loved it!

Their First Sleepover...Family Style

While Sean was out of town the boys got to experience their first sleepover. While going through our bedtime routine one night Jack asked if he could sleep in Wesley's room. I was a bit worried that it would end up being an all night giggle fest, but it was a Friday and we had all day Saturday to recover so we gave it a shot. I was pleasantly surprised by the good night's sleep we all got sans any giggling...or fighting, for that matter.