The Absence of Solitude

Five on Friday

1. I haven't taken a single picture this week. And so I haven't blogged because a post is always better with a picture, right?

2. Simon got pink eye this week and despite my efforts to contain it to just him, Lauren got it yesterday. I thought I was getting it yesterday as well but I think it may just have been some sympathy eye itching or something weird like that. This is the first time I have had to deal with pink eye in my years of parenting. I have realized three things: It's gross. It's expensive to treat with the prescription eye drops. And my hands are dry and starting to crack form the constant hand washing.

3.A couple of weeks ago I was in charge of a youth activity at church. I decided to do a night of Minute To Win-It games. It was a huge success and the youth really loved it. The night before the activity, I let the kids play one of the games for FHE. You had to start with a cookie on your forehead and then using only the muscles in your face move it into your mouth within a minute. None of us were able to do it one minute but after some practice Allen, Ethan, and Lauren all accomplished the task. (One of the youth leaders did it in 23 seconds on his first try.)

4. The biggest news around here is that Jillian is now potty-trained! Yay! I will only have one in diapers!! She has by far been my easiest one to train and also my youngest. She is doing awesome and this little girl will do anything for some Bruster's ice cream. All my other rewards didn't seem to phase her but once I said, "Bruster's," she was in. I hope I did it early enough that she won't regress too much when the baby arrives in a couple of months. Jillian has had some major changes the last couple of months..no binki, a big girl bed, and now potty-trained. She is a champ!

5. The kids don't have school today due to teacher in-service so I am off to find ways to entertain them here at home since I can't take the pink eye-d ones out anywhere. It's rainy and cold so maybe it is a just good day to watch movies, read, and make some cookies. We shall see...

 

Enjoy the weekend!

 

Wordless Wednesday

Sledding

Last weekend we finally got our first significant amount of snow. It was just enough to go sledding. Since the weekend was busy, I took the kids on Monday because they were out of school for MLK day. We had so much fun! We broke two of our sleds hitting the "moguls" the kids built and we stayed out way, way longer than I ever expected.

Simon did an amazing job this year. He would go down all by himself, get up at the bottom of the hill and yell, "That was AWESOME!" and climb right back up the hill to do it all over again. I was so surprised!

The first run down that Jillian had resulted in a lot of snow in her face (see Wordless Wednesday photo) and it took her a little while to want to try it again. And once she decided she do it again, she would only go down with Ethan and loved it every time.

I was glad we got in a sledding day because by Tuesday the snow had melted! Hopefully we will get more snow soon so we can try out snow-shoeing at the local nature park. It's just been a crazy mild winter here.

 

Toothless

Lauren finally lost her first tooth over the weekend! She was determined to get this tooth out before she goes to the dentist next week. Her permanent tooth was already coming up behind it so she didn't want the dentist to have to pull it. She was twisting and wiggly-ing it and finally got it really loose but then was so scared to pull it out but once Allen got it out she started screaming and jumping up and down with excitement.

 

Wordless Wednesday

New Year's Weekend

We had a fun New Year's Eve with Matt and Mandy. We played games (Quirkle has become a favorite around here), had lots of yummy food including chocolate fondue, and watched the ball drop at midnight.

Jillian fell asleep on Mandy around eight and Simon lasted until about ten. Lauren was so determined to stay up until midnight and almost made it; she fell asleep about 11:45 pm but we woke her up to see the ball drop. Sunday after church the two littlest ones refused naps in their beds but ended up falling asleep cuddled up next to me on the couch. Monday was our last day off from school and work so we took the kids out to breakfast at Cracker Barrel for our last hurrah before we had to get back to the routine. I think we all had a great holiday weekend!

The Mom Gifts

This year I went with a really relaxed "homemade" gift from Mom. I was just not feeling up to spending hours and hours on the projects. I think the children loved them despite the little amount of time I spent on them. 

For Ethan, I finally had a drawing he did back in first grade for the rodeo art contest framed. It has been placed either behind his dresser or tucked away in his closet for the last few years. He was excited that he can now hang it in his own room. 

I had grand plans to make a quilt for Lauren out of her baby clothes but I just couldn't get it finished and I really didn't want to rush it and then it not be as nice as it could have been. So I am taking my time with it and I hope to give it to her for her 8th birthday later this year. Lauren did complain a couple of weeks before Christmas about not having any "girl" blankets to snuggle up with on the couch so I just made her a new fleece blanket. She loved it and surprisingly it lays on her bed and she doesn't use it when on sitting on the couch. 

Simon's gift was actually the most time intensive and it really wasn't that bad because most of it was done at a craft night. It is 16 square blocks with a photo cut to fit the blocks and make a puzzle. So there are six different puzzles and they are all members of the family. He opened it and moved right to the next gift and then later told me he didn't want it. However, he has played with it since and likes to put the one of him together the most. 

And Jillian loves to look at pictures of herself and sadly was always taking a little photo book of Lauren's because she did not have any pictures of herself to look through except on the computer. So I went through 2 years of pictures and had over a hundred pictures printed and then put them in a photo album for her. I think she has loved her gift the most; she looks through it every night before bed.

 They were simple gifts but perfect for what I could reasonably accomplish this year and perfect for each of the children. 

Wordless Wednesday

Finally a Christmas Post

We had a quiet Christmas at home. The excitement could hardly be contained but the children all went to sleep quickly and Santa was able to make quick work of putting out everything. We also had a little elf join us this year in helping. It was pretty special to let Ethan be a part of the magic this year. He got to do everyone's stockings (except his) and then we sent him off to bed so he would still be surprised by everything else in the morning. 

Ethan has finally joined the ranks of pre-teens and teens everywhere by owning his first ipod shuffle. He began loading it with music right after breakfast. He kept whispering "thank-you" to me every time he passed me throughout the day, so as to not let the littles in on "his secret" of knowing who really gave him the gift. I did have have to tell him a few times (and still do) to take out the earphones so he can hear me talking to him and also that if I can hear the music clearly then it is way too loud. It's been fun though and he has really enjoyed it. He also got some new legos that were assembled so quickly, I didn't even get a picture of him putting them together. 

 

This Christmas was the year of crafts for Lauren. She wanted an art kit and craft items from Santa. Well, she got those and it seems like everyone else got the message too. She has been crafting up a storm the last couple of weeks...beads, boondoggle, stamps, shrinky dinks, stencils, friendship bracelets, etc. She now has her own plastic tote under her bed filled with all her crafting supplies. She LOVES it. Her other favorite gifts were a Cats Cradle book and string to learn all the fun string games like I used to play and several new pairs of earrings that are now switched out often. 

 

Like I said in my previous post, Simon's favorite gift has been the Lincoln Logs. They are pulled out several times a day. He was so excited about all the gum in his stocking and it was gone before we knew it. He made sure to leave a carrot on the plate for Santa's reindeer and was a little upset that the whole thing wasn't gone. Simon was also super excited to get a Lego Ninjago so he can now battle with Ethan. The six year age gap between Simon and Ethan makes it hard for them to play the same things so it's fun to see them playing together with the Lincoln Logs, Legos, and the hockey set they received from Aunt Kim and Uncle Sean.

Jillian is all about babydolls. The doll carrier and stroller was broken earlier this year by the kids pushing each other around in it. So Jillian received a new stroller and carrier for her babies. As soon as she opened the Cabbage Patch doll from Nana & Papa she ran to put in the carrier and said, "Shhh. Baby sleeping." She pushes the stroller around all day long! The candy in her stocking was also a huge hit and we found most of the wrappers in her doll carrier before breakfast. 

We were also able to go to church that afternoon to remember what this season is all about. I love it when Christmas falls on a Sunday. I think it makes it even more special and meaningful. Overall, it was a simple, fun day full of suprises for everyone. 

I am coming back.

I promise. I am going to try to line up some posts for the week tonight. So check back tomorrow...

But until then, let this picture be enough. Simon and Allen built a Lincoln Log tower the other day and as soon as this picture was taken, Simon sliced his hand right through it to knock it over. The Lincoln Logs he got from Papa and Nana have definitely been the favorite gift from Christmas; all the kids love to play with them. I am not sure why I have never thought to buy them but we will surely be adding to the collection.