Sugar Madness

I need sugar. Bad. In fact, I sat down to write this post and all I can think of is sugar. Caramel brownies, tapioca, chocolate chip cookies.......excuse the drool. And no, I am not pregnant! I don't know why I need sugar. Well, that's a partial lie. It could do with the fact that I am a self-proclaimed addict. That's right people. No denial here. I love sugar. The sweeter the better. Peeps? I can down a whole box without blinking. Natural talent, I guess. (I know there are some of you totally revolted at this point. I still don't know how some people can't share my same love for Peeps. Thank you, Easter.) So anyhow, here I am with no thoughts other than Why did Ryan use the last of my eggs for his ruined breakfast? (He never got around to actually cooking the eggs after cracking them open and scrambling them.) Now I can't concoct any of my heart's desires. If I were truly desperate I would go wake my sleeping baby and load my 3 kids plus the neighbors kid and drive to the store. Tempting. For now I suppose I will have to be satisfied with eating chocolate chips. Not really doing it for me but desperate times call for desperate measures. The forgotten pixie sticks Lexi got from a birthday party aren't making the cut either. I need sugar heroin. I told you. I'm an addict.

On to a different topic.....has anyone out there read a good book???? I just got a new book from the library. I did what I usually do now-a-days. I randomly picked an interesting title and thought the description sounded decent, "The Piano Tuner." Bad choice. I want to poke my eyeballs out. Which would be decidedly less painful than actually reading anymore about Burma. So after page 62, I took my book mark out, closed the book, and set it down. I won't be opening it again. I've only left maybe 3 books unfinished in my life. I always plough through. But not this one. Almost as tedious as "The Worst Hard Time." (A book about my home town and the Dust Bowl. And although it did have some interesting historical facts, I think it could have been wrapped up by page 30. But I am a die hard Hall. I couldn't let Grandma Lu down because it was her book lent to me over a thousand miles away.) So back to my point. I need a good 4 star book. Anyone? Anyone? If you have a good one, let me know! Now back to daydreaming about devil's food cake....

Daddy Daughter Date

Lexi's school has a tradition......

This year the theme was "Red Carpet". I heard through the grapevine that last year they did a cowboy theme. Anyway, Lexi was really excited about her date night with her daddy. Ryan wasn't too sure about the dancing. (I think he thought he might get out of bustin' a move.)

Lexi had a great time and came home talking about all the balloons and rice krispy treats (yummy!). And unfortunately for Ryan he didn't get to be a wall flower. Lexi wanted to be moovin' and groovin'. And so that's what they did.....they danced the night away!

Happy 6th Birthday, Lexi!

Lexi turned the big six yesterday! She invited her friends over for her first "real" birthday party on Saturday. We had home-made mini pizzas and apples for lunch with cupcakes for dessert. Lexi had a great time. Here's a picture of her on her actual b-day (February 15th). She decided that because she was 6 she needed to practice her jump rope skills.

Here are all of the kids at the party (Minus Anna and Kendri. Apparently they were busy doing something.)

And blowing out the candles. She wouldn't tell me what she wished for.

Overall, it was a great weekend (For Lexi. I was still sick. Go figure.) Some of Lexi's personality traits at this age include being very indepenent and very mature for her age (she talks about how she'll miss me after she moves out of the house. Who talks about moving out at 5????Hmmmm.) She reminds me of a 12 year old half the time. She hates being embarrassed and will roll her eyes and grin if she has a lot of "unwanted" attention. She likes school and wants to be an ice skater. She loves her sister and brother and helps out a ton around the house. She doesn't like to take showers. She prefers the "once-a-week" schedule and isn't keen on mommy's shower schedule. She loves arts and crafts and drawing. She hates to brush her teeth. (I make her, obviously). She's totally into Littlest Pet Shop stuff right now. She is definitely a "people-pleaser". She gets devastated if she thinks she's disappointed anyone. She is fun-loving and very caring. She's been such a gift to our family and we love her to death. Happy Birthday, Lex! We love you!

Class Party

We had Lexi's class party today for Valentine's Day. And because I am the room mom (to be honest, I only do half the work. Another parent is room mom with me. So technically I am the "half-room-mom"). Anyway, we had the kids collect kleenex boxes so we could make Valentine mail boxes with them. We lucked out and barely collected enough boxes. We only started collecting 2 1/2 weeks ago. Good thing it's cold season! Here are Lexi and Kendri organizing their decorations. (If they still look a little droopy, it's because they are. The whole kindergarten class has been sick.)

And the finished products......

The kids all had a lot of fun. They think their room moms are totally cool. I think we are too. I mean who wouldn't????

Kendri got lucky because a lot of the kids had extra valentine's that they shared with her. She loves going with Lexi to school.

And because it was a party, I decided I'd bring cupcakes for Lexi's school party. You know the old phrase, "Kill 2 birds with 1 stone"? Well, her birthday is on President's Day. Which means there's no school so I made the party goodies into Lexi's b-day goodies. Aren't I so smart? Don't answer that. (If I was so smart I would've realized I have strep two days ago instead of suffering through it. I actually haven't been to the doctor yet so I can't really be certain. Tomorrow is my appointment. All I know is that at this point, it may actually be less painful to just carve my throat out with a dull stick......Okay, I should go to bed before I scare you with anymore crazy talk. Because I could go on. I could.) Anyway, the party was a hit. We have Lexi's birthday party tomorrow. For those of you who think I'm going to contaminate your kids, I won't. Promise. I disinfected my house today and I'll make Ryan handle the food and I won't touch them either :)

So here's Lexi's teacher, Mrs. England, putting the birthday crown on Lexi. She has decided that she'll tell people she's 6 even though that doesn't really happen until Monday. And that's all I got for now. Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

One Week and Counting...

Last night marked night 7 of sick and cranky kids....which really only means that I was up about a bazillion times again. We started last Monday night. It's all starting to blur at this point. Lexi came home from school hacking up a lung like the rest of her class. So Monday night I listened to her hack her way to sleep but in actuality I was only up with her once to get her a drink. Kyson was up (I keep saying he's teething but I really mean it this time. His tooth finally peaked through on Saturday. Hallelujah!). Anyway he didn't sleep well so I made Ryan get up couple times with him.

Then on Tuesday night Kendri started coughing. For some reason, whenever Kendri gets a cough, it evolves into croup-like symptoms. So Tuesday night I listened to my three-year old wheezing and struggling for air. By three o'clock I couldn't take it anymore so I told Ryan (BTW, in case you haven't noticed, I am totally using him now that he's around :) to bundle her up and take her outside to try and open up her airway. So he did. Five minutes after he layed her back down she came running into my room and whisper-shouted "Mommy, mommy, mommy! I don't have to (wheezes in an exaggerated breath) force it in! I can breathe easier!" After that she slept and Kyson woke up.

The next day Kendri couldn't stop talking about how much fun it was to go outside with daddy in the middle of the night. She made sure to tell us she "might have to go out again in the night." I told her if it was raining then daddy would just have to take her into the garage. Garage? Her eyes lit up. So that night I listened to her breathing (I put her in the loft right outside our bedroom so I could monitor her) and it sounded a little ragged but better than the previous night. I foolishly thought we might make it through the night. By 1 am, Kendri was in my room telling me she needed to go out to the garage. She gave me a sample breather (which I must say sounded a little a fake, but since I wasn't taking her out I didn't feel the need to validate it. I kicked Ryan and told him she needed to go outside......better safe than sorry. Right? ;)

Anyway, the next morning she totally confessed and told me she tricked daddy into taking her out to the garage.

And so the week continues. Getting up to get medicine, get drinks, get tissue, give hugs, listen to breathing......and now to blow my own nose, cough up my own lung, drink my own water. Just as Kendri was getting better, now Lexi has relapsed and is complaining about her ear. I think all the coughing is waking up Kyson. And I see tooth #2 coming in right behind #1. So I am praying for an uneventful night. Just one. I'll do it again tomorrow but tonight I just want some sleep.

My Baby Turned One!

That's right, folks. Kyson is a big one-year-old. And if you ask Kendri, he grew overnight and she was shocked to see how big he was when she woke up on his birthday morning! (his b-day was actually on Friday, the 29th. I, however, am a couple days behind.) Lexi was a little more disappointed and said he "didn't look any different." She was expecting a major overnight growth spurt as well. Ah, such is life.

(Just so you know, that is not a booger on Kyson's nose.....he's had a few mishaps recently.)

So what can the little guy do? Just about everything! He's been walking for about 2 1/2 months and now tries to outrun me when it's time to get him dressed. He goes up and down the stairs like a pro and has been for about 4 months. He has been getting up only once a night....for the last week. Let's hope it holds! He can crawl up the slide outside and he can also crawl on top of the girl's dresser. (It's not a very tall one. He uses their little pink chair to give him an extra boost.)

And here is a run down on some things he loves.

He loves Craisins and goldfish. They're my go-to snack when I'm trying to get lunch or dinner ready. He loves crayons. I mean L-O-V-E-S them. To the point where he has to be taken out of church because he's screaming for the ones his sisters are using. He has colored on certain things (meaning my floor, door, window and who knows what else I haven't seen?) so I do have to keep on eye on him when he's carrying one around. He loves to throw things from the loft balcony. So far he's broken 3 Christmas ornaments and my small hand mirror. We've had a number of close calls with other things and of course there's the millions of non-breakable things that have taken a heave-ho. By far his favorite toy is his big bouncy ball. He loves to throw it and then chase after it as it bounces away. He loves to take his daddy's hat off and put it on his own head. He loves his binky. He loves giggling with his sisters and he loves playing in their jewelry boxes. He thinks it's hilarious to put his sippy cup on his head and he waits for his sisters to laugh at him. He loves giving hugs. He loves playing peek-a-boo and chase. He loves to scream. In fact, we've been working on this for the last 2 weeks and I do believe we've made some headway. I haven't heard as many screams coming from his little mouth. Whew! Obviously there's more but that's good for now!

Some things he doesn't love.

Hates meat. I can't get him to eat any of it. He hates being ignored. He does not like to be locked out of the bathroom. He hates it when Lexi and Kendri shut their bedroom door and don't let him in to play. He doesn't like it when I take the kitchen broom away from him. Or the toilet bowl cleaner. He hates it when I am on the computer....or phone......or reading a book. (He likes my undivided attention :) He hates it when I don't let him crawl into the shower with his sisters. He hates it when I ruin his fun by taking away the library books. (The library prefers the books be returned with all the pages intact. Go figure.) He hates getting in the car when Lexi and Kendri aren't in there with him. He does not like it when he sees his sisters in the backyard and he doesn't get to go out too. And he hates it when we barricade the TV so he can't get to it and push the power button.

Anyway, these are just a few things that are part of our little man's life. We love having him in our family and I personally must say he has stolen my heart! I love being his mommy. He has such beautiful little personality and is so easy going. Like I whisper to him at bedtime, I love him a million times a bazillion!

Dear Doctor,

Thank you for looking after my husband and taking care of his hand. I really appreciate your expertise in this field especially since you are the third doctor to examine it. The first doctor wrote it off as a "boxer-bruise" and kindly told my husband to please stop hitting hard objects....especially when working on the Ward Calendar. The second doctor asked Ry-Ry if he had any "anger issues". (Shhhh, we won't tell him this is not the first time something solid and stationary has "brushed" against his hand. Wink, wink).

No, Doctor, you passed no judgement and gave him what he needed. A brace to heal his broken hand. Now, I know you x-rayed it and felt that even though it had been 3 weeks since the "incident" that his hand was healing properly. I feel there may need to be a more radical route taken. I am worried that the hand may be misaligned and I am thinking the only way to correct this problem is by undoing what has already been done. By that I mean.......RE-BREAKING what has healed. I know. Frightfully painful. But if we must, we must. Please consider this route as I feel it may solve two problems. Teaching my husband a lesson being the first. Anyhoo, just let me know when you're available and I'll prep my brave, sweet hubby. Thanks again for all your hard work.

Sincerely,
Ryan's "sympathetic" wife

PS. Painkillers will not be necessary ;)