Butterflies!!! ....and an update!

On Friday, the 17th... we drove 1.5 hours away to a butterfly conservatory in South Deerfield, Mass. We went with 2 other families. I brought 2 extra kids myself! It was a lot of fun. We'd never been to one before, so it was neat. It was VERY hot and they played very soothing music, so I wanted to take a nap while we were in there! ha ha. The butterflies were everywhere, they flew all around us. They landed on Will a few times. And Sam held a few. Colby was "freaked out" by them (his words) and we even got on to sit on Owen's head!! It was a neat trip. One boy we went with bought quails. And we came home with 100-200 praying mantis eggs... we'll see what happens once they hatch!

Let's see, what else is going on in our world?
The kids are back to school now.
Softball is in full swing- Sam has already had practices, and opening day is this Saturday. She is very excited for that!! Except the weather forecast says 83! Is that possible?? It will be a hot one!
Baseball has also started practices, but Colby has accidentally missed both so far. Oops. Tonight he has pictures- we'll make it to that!
On Sunday Sam and Owen and I went to Renee's baby shower! Hard to believe she is due in just 3 weeks. I cannot wait to meet my newest niece!
Owen cut another tooth on Saturday too. He didn't even cry, it just appeared! And he is trying so hard to crawl- we think this morning he actually did. We try to take a video but he hit his head (again) and it was sad. He hits his head constantly right now. Poor buddy!!

The kids are on Spring Break! And the weather has been beautiful so we are very lucky!!
On Monday I brought the kids to the playground. Right off, Nick peed his pants... luckily a friend was there who had some extra clothes in her car!! So he got some awesome hot pink pants! But then he fell on one of the cars they have, and cut his eye open. I had to call his dad and he had to go to the doctor, but he was okay. Scared me!! I hate when kids get hurt.
Sam also had softball practice that night. Let's hope she's on a good team.
We have had all sorts of kids here all week. Aldin, Jordan, Jason, Cameron... and then Sami and Nick... but then at any given time, one of my kids are gone too. Right now Samantha is in Mass with a friend of her's. Due back sometime tonight.
At least the kids have been outside, enjoying this weather. It's just too beautiful to be inside.
Owen is so close to crawling. I'm really surprised he isn't yet!!
The boys made a new fort out in the pit and they have spent the last 2 days working on it. It's very cute. I love when they do boy things like this. Except little Samantha is sad because she's not allowed to run all over the pit like the boys are; she has to stay here.
Tonight we are getting a new carpet in our bedroom!!!
Happy Thursday

The Easter Bunny Came!!!

The Easter Bunny made it to our house on Sunday. Which is a mighty good thing, because Will and Colby were up at 3 in the morning asking if they could search for eggs! Can you imagine? I thought it was only Christmas that got them so excited.
Unfortunately, Owen was still sick on Easter, and so I didn't get much sleep... he was up every 3 hours or so and then Colby had me up at 3 and again at 6, and of course he woke up the baby both times!
The Easter Bunny was sneaky...he hid the baskets, and he never left any clues!! Ha ha. But the kids were able to find their baskets quite quickly.
They were pleased with what they got in their baskets! Samantha's favorite things were the Twilight movie and a wooden dolphin puzzle. Will and Colby got tech decks. Owen got a very soft fabric ball and also a little piece of crinkle fabric that he loves to hold and play with!
We went to church. I just love Easter music. There is one song in particular "Because He Lives" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYjj0R4ONlE&feature=related that always makes me cry. It reminds me of my Gram, who passed away almost 10 years ago. I cannot sing that song without tears. And we always sing it on Easter, of course.
And Colby was so funny at church!! The choir was in front. And he said "I want to see the lady who opens her mouth really big"! And she was there. At the end of one song he said "Did you see how red her face got?" It was sweet. Will used to call the choir "the red people" because they wear red robes.
After church we headed to Terry's. Owen was miserable, but he cheered up. There is a pic of him and Aunt Tina. He looks so sweet. And then a pic of him and Mike, and that is how he was a lot of this weekend. :(
It was nice to see my family. They hadn't seen Owen since Christmas. How sad is that?
And then home for a nice ham dinner with Grandpa Bill, who showed up in wonderful Easter attire! He cracks me up! We also watched "Twilight" together as a family. That was nice. I thought it would scare Colby but it didn't. He enjoyed the fights. He's such a boy.
Thankfully Owen is better now and almost back to his old self. Not 100% but getting there.
On Saturday we went to the bowling banquet- both boys earned trophies and patches. Colby had a tick on his head, he named him Bob. Art was able to get him out with no problem. No more Bob.
We also had Will's birthday party on Saturday. That was fun! Bowling with Will's new ball, he was happy about that! It was a fun party, Will and 6 of his best friends. Very enjoyable, aside from Owen being sick and all...
And now... Sam is at softball practice and Will isn't feeling well. I hope he isn't too sick. Poor buddy!! Just when it's spring break from school and the weather is finally nice. Send him get well vibes!

He's sick...

Yesterday Owen came down with a fever. It was 102 at its peak. Now it's around 101. Infant Tylenol helps. When it kicks in, he's happier. But nowhere near his usual self. He's lethargic, he's clingy, he's cranky, he's hot. He only wants mommy, and he only wants to be laying down on me.
It is very hard to see my adorable, happy baby boy be so miserable.

Please send him some get well messages.

New haircut, new glasses, and a dr. appt!

We finally convinced Will to cut his hair. It's not that we didn't like it... it was so *him*. But it was just so messy looking, and there was nothing we could do to neaten it up. Will refused to spike it, half the time he didn't even want to brush it... and a lot of the time part of it was sticking up!!! So since Easter is coming, and we are planning to have a family portrait done next week, we talked him into cutting his hair. Art cut it. Doesn't he look SO different? And older! We definitely think he looks old.
I certainly miss the "old him".... but I love the new him too!
And his new glasses came in this week. I love them!

Owen is 6 months old now so he had his 6 month appointment today. I guessed he would weigh 20 pounds...but he is only 18 lbs. 4 oz. Still a peanut!! That's A-okay with me!!

I'm thinking about getting him a bigger carseat... he is pretty close to outgrowing the infant seat. Not to mention, it's really heavy to carry around. I have my mei tai to carry him when I need to, and I have a shopping cart seat cover to sit him in... so the car seat at this point is just a car seat. I want to get one that can be rear facing up to AT LEAST 35 pounds. I want him to be rear facing at least until 2 years old, maybe longer. I decided when he was a couple of months old that I would do extended rear-facing... but just this week I heard that the AAP recently made a recommendation that children be rear facing until at least 2 years old!! Yeah!!

Happy Good Friday.

Attention!!

Owen got his FIRST TOOTH yesterday!! Exactly six months old. It's the bottom left tooth. It cut through either right before, or during tae kwon do. He didn't act any different so it must not have bothered him. What a trooper!

Happy Half Birthday, Owen!

Owen is 6 months old today! Wow! So hard to believe that he has been with us for a half a year already. How did the time fly by so fast? How did he get so big?
The pictures here were taken today. He is wearing a great shirt I got him that says "If you think I'm cute, you should see my diaper". I love it! And he also has on a brand new diaper that he just got yesterday. It has OBV in the middle- so soft!!

Owen is doing so well. He is really really wanting to crawl, which you can see in the pictures. He is always getting onto all fours now. But most of the time he falls forward and bonks his head- poor little buddy. And it's no use putting him on a blanket, he gets right off of it. He can't crawl, but he gets around. I guess you could say he does a "soldiers crawl" where he drags his body forward on one arm.

He is our little bundle of joy, literally! Always happy, always smiling. We are blessed!!

And-- Happy birthday to Grandma Lorna today! We miss you!

Today Samantha is on a class trip to NYC. She left early this morning and will be home tonight. I'm thankful she is with Sarah and Sarah's dad. I wish I could be there but I know she is in good hands!!
Art has been sick since Saturday, and Sam has been sick since last week. I wasn't even sure Sam would be able to go today but she seemed much better last night. Art still wasn't feeling well last night so we'll see how he is tonight. He hasn't been working on the house because he was sick so he's going to do it tonight.
Last night we got Will's bowling ball drilled, so he excited for his birthday party on Saturday! We also got him new glasses, and we will pick them up tonight!!
Colby is...well, Colby. Nothing new with him.

I need to go...my happy little baby is sad right and I think he needs to go to sleep. Love you, little guy <3

Saturday Update

It's a cold and rainy day here in NY. One of those day where I wander around aimlessly, wondering what to do with myself. I've cleaned the kitchen twice, startes laundry, colored my hair (!), took Sam to a cancelled softball practice.... not a very productive day really.
Art is at the other house. I really wish he had remembered the camera! He already took our the bathroom, to move it somewhere else. He is moving right along...
As I said, softball was cancelled. And Sam was so excited to finally go again! Now she has to wait another week.
And tomorrow Colby starts baseball. He is excited.
Gotta buy new cleats...and a bat...and now Sam wants a helmet!! It's never-ending.

Uh-oh, I hear crying...bye!

TGI...W?

It's Wednesday! Humpday! April Fool's Day! I could post something foolish, but I'm not feeling too creative right now!
It's been over a week since I've posted... and what a week it's been!
Last Monday we did indeed evict the tenants in Art's rental house. It was a very hard and uncomfortable day. But that past is over and we are moving on. Art is set to work on the house and fix it up- and he is in his glory! He has always wanted to do this and so it's very exciting. It is a very cute little house.
They left a lot for our to dispose of, so we still have to go through the contents of the attic and the garage and the basement. OY!

Other than that we've had a usual week.

Will turned 10 on March 25! To celebrate we took him to his favorite restaurant, the Old Country Buffet! Grandpa Bill, Grammy and Wally also came to celebrate with us. We gave Will a bag with 10 things (10 pencils, 10 candy sticks, 10 packs of gum, a $10 bill, a "ten"ticals toy, jacks with 10 pieces, the game phase 10, 10 pack of pokemon cards, 10 dice, and a scratch off ticket that had something to do with 10) and also a new bowling (10 pounds!!!) He also got some money, and is saving up for the new DSi.
His birthday party is on April 11-- bowling of course!!
Speaking of bowling, it is over now. Art and I bowled with the boys on the last day. Will is set to play a summer league, Colby is not.

Baseball for Colby will start soon, softball for Sam starts Monday. We need new cleats and gloves and a bat!!!

Colby did the Lip Sync show on Sunday. They did "Rubberband Man" by the Spinners. They were so cute!! Some fellow moms made their costumes... and he had great afro wigs that were really the hit of the show!! They did great. And Colby absolutely loves the wig! He wore it to school today for "bad hair day".

Samantha has been sick today and yesterday so she is home. Poor kiddo! A fever and just feeling yucky. It's sad to see her like this.
Will is good. Has an appointment tomorrow to get his eyes checked then get some new glasses, it's been a while.
Colby is doing good... can be a sweetheart when he wants to be, and a monster when he doesn't.
Owen is getting bigger every day! He is SO CLOSE to crawling. It's only a matter of time now. But no sitting up. He's not interested in that!! He is reaching for toys now and playing with them though.

The other day it was 60 so the kids decided it was HOT and got on their bathing suits and set up the sprinkler! I had 11 kids here! They were on the trampoline and sun bathing-- silly kids! It was fun though. Gave me a glimpse of what summer will be like!!

Keep Sarah in your thoughts (the girl I babysit) she had to have surgery today on her hand-- she cut it really bad and cut some tendons...

Happy April!