A Visit from Old Friends

We had our old friends Josh (Beef) and Necha come visit us a few weeks ago. Jim has been friends with them since high school. I married into the friendship. I'm glad I picked a husband with cool friends, because it was easy to become friends with Josh and Necha. We used to live a few blocks from each other during our Logan, Utah days. We always had so much fun with them. We would share dinners together, go to movies, hang out, go camping, and even went on a road trip to Vegas together. This was before we all had kids. Well, we all went our separate ways, started having children, and before you knew it, we hadn't seen our good friends in almost THREE YEARS!!! So, when we got a phone call from them asking us if they could stay over a night while they were coming into town, we were more than excited!! Especially since Josh and Necha have two daughters, Tessa and Maggie, right around Tralee's age.

Before we knew it, our good friends were at our house, our children were playing together, and it was just like old times again. I'm just sorry it had to end. We all decided we can't wait another three years before our next friendaissance. It's just too much fun when we're together.

Bouncy House Pics

Hunter was a little too young to get in on the action

I'm not sure who had more fun playing with Tessa and Maggie, Jim or Tralee. Check out the pictures below and you'll see what I mean:

We can't wait for our next visit with our good friends Beef and Necha!

Before I forget

There's a few things I need to document.

1. Hunter's first word is "Uh-oh" So very cute! He said it for the first time last week. Since then it's his new favorite thing to day, especially when he drops something.

2. Hunter can also say thank you, but it sounds more like "do do." Other words in his vocabulary are "Da" for Daddy or Dad, and actually. . . that's all I can think of. If you say "Honk"to Hunter, he'll grab your nose and squeeze it.

3. Hunter has been giving high-fives for a over a month now.

4. Tralee likes to put her "babies" night night. I constantly find her stuffies in various places around the house covered up with a blanket, t-shirt, or dish towel. She's been doing this for over a year. I'm just not sure I wrote it down.

5. Our FAVORITE thing Tralee says is, "Don't make sad! Make happy!" If we're upset for any reason she'll run up to us and say, "Don't make sad. Make happy!" I love it. I love it so much I don't want to correct her grammatical error. Right now, as I type, Tralee is ticked off that she can't do something. I just told her to be happy, her reply: "I don't want to make happy! I want to make sad!" Boy, little girls sure are emotional!

6. Our other favorite Traleeism is when she says, "My fo buggins!" Whenever her nose needs to be wiped I ask, "Is your nose buggin' you?" Well, Tralee calls her nose a fo. So, if her "fo" is buggin' her she'll tell us, "My fo buggins!" We've adapted to Tralee's way and usually you'll find either Jim or me asking Tralee, "Is your fo buggins?"

In other news. . . the kids are at the tale end of their illness. Thank goodness!

That's all.

More Sick Talk and Pictures

I officially have two sick kids to tend to now, although Hunter seems to be on the mend. Whatever virus feasted on my boy's body must have disliked the antibiotics he'd been given enough to jump ship and find a new home to dwell in Tralee.

Having two sick kids is not my idea of fun. Between the two we've gone through several boxes of kleenex in the last few days. How not-so-very-green of us (Jim wants me to add, "except for the boogers . . .the boogers were green" -- hardy har har). I was thinking that if we were a very green family, we would invest in a few good hankies, so as to not waste so much paper in the throw-away variety of nose blowing devices. I remember my dad always wiped my nose with a red or blue hankie he pulled out from his back jeans' pocked when I was little. I always worried about my nose touching in the wrong place of the hankie, and getting a previous blow's contribution on me. I didn't dare look at the hankie as it headed towards my face, for fear of seeing something gag-worthy. No, I never much cared for hankies (except for pretty, embroidered, antique ones I wouldn't dare blow my nose in), that's probably why there are not a whole lot of hankies around our house. I guess we won't be "green" in the nose blowing department, unless of course you're like Jim and consider the boogers blown to be green enough.

Wow, I've really digressed haven't I? The whole point of this post was to say, I've been wiping noses a lot lately. I've also been administering medicine, taking temperatures, comforting whimpering children, and rubbing vicks vapor rub on little chests. As a result my house duties have been ignored, as well as this blog. I have a lot to catch up on, but until my children are healthy and my house is back in order, I'm afraid these pictures of my cute kids (before their illness struck) will have to keep you satisfied.

They're fantastically cute, aren't they?

Day at the Park

Last week Jim and I took the kids to the park near our house. We had fun running around together, and feeding the ducks and geese. Actually we only fed the ducks, the two geese at the park were the MEANEST geese you've ever seen!! They honked at you the whole time, and if you even took a step in their direction they would chase after you, beaks ready to snap at anything they could reach. I basically played a game of tag with them the whole time. I pushed Hunter in the stroller, the geese would get mad and start chasing me, and I would run Hunter in the other direction.

I asked Jim if these geese were just naturally mean, or if someone messed around with them sometime, and so now they don't trust humans. We both figured it was it was the second scenario. Some kid probably tried to do something not-so-nice with these goosey wadlers one too many times, and created some nasty breed of honky beaks. Too bad. If you ever happen upon this park, beware of the geese. Actually, it's quite amusing to run around with them.

Here are some pics from our little outing:

I made Jim sit on the swing pictured below. I told him to act silly for the picture. This is what he delivered:

I snapped the next picture when Tralee was attempting to climb up the slide. This was right when she slipped and slid all the way back down. She was ticked!

The infamous geese

We saw an otter in the stream

After the park we went to my FAVORITE place for a treat: TCBY! I LOVE TCBY!!! I always get their soft serve white chocolate mouse swirled with the fruity flavor of the day. This day it was some kind of berry. DELISH!!!!

Hunter liked it too.

Tralee didn't want to leave TCBY. She stood in the doorway like this for several minutes until she finally gave in.

We had a fun afternoon.

31 Years Young

Happy Birthday My Lil' Running Man

Looking back at these old photos, I can see where my kids get some of their cuteness from.

You were cute back then, and you're pretty cute now too. . .

Even if you are an old geezer

I love you Running Man. You're the cutest 31-year-old I know.

Love,

Sunshine Head

Sick Baby Tired Momma

Hunter's sick. There's nothing worse than a sick baby. For the last three (or is it four?) nights I've been up with him. Why is it that sickness seems to come full throttle in the middle of the night? And why is it that children get sick at the worst possible times? We had a busy weekend and that's when Hunter's little virus kicked in full force. A time when we have lots to do, and the doctor's office is closed. Whatever nasty bug invaded my babe's body has left our entire household tired and grumpy. Even Tralee was woken up by Hunter's constant cries for comfort.

Last night was the worst night. Hunter's crying (when I say crying, I really mean screaming) resulted in his hoarse voice this morning. I paced the floor with him as he wiggled in my arms, trying to find a position that wouldn't cause him pain. Nursing him didn't comfort him, it just made him angry. Laying down next to him didn't help either. I tried to just leave him in his bed and see if he could just cry it out, but after fifteen minutes his sobs weren't subsiding. And I'll be honest, I hate letting him cry it out when he's sick. So. . . the majority of my night (for the last three or four evenings) have been spent wandering our house with a sick feverish baby in my arms, or standing in the bathroom with a steamy shower running to try and get all the gunk to loosen up inside Hunter's body. Oh. . . and many middle of the night prayers were said. Some tearful. Some a little (maybe a lot) on the begging side. Most of the time my prayers to "please (please please please) help my baby to settle down and sleep for at least a few hours" were answered. I'm thankful for those few hours of rest we received. So very thankful.

I called Hunter's doctor's office right when they opened at 8am this morning. The first available appointment was at 10:20 and I took it. Dr. B confirmed what I already suspected, Hunter has an ear infection. We've started him on his antibiotics today, so hopefully the next few nights will be a bit more peaceful around here!

Please. Please. Please.

My Fantasy and Reality

I've never done this, but if I were going to, TODAY would be the day I would lay in bed and do nothing but eat bon bons. The sky is gray, there's a chill in the air, and I hear the constant tink tink of rain dripping on something metal outside. If I could, I would put on my blue fuzzy socks, wrap my purple robe around me, dive underneath my feather comforter, and lay still listening to the rain until it lulled me to sleep. Occasionally I would wake up, take a sip of something scrumptious, and pop a bon bon in my mouth. I'm not sure if I've ever eaten a bon bon, but I envision something like this.

After licking my fingers clean from the melted chocolate the bon bon imprinted on me, I would invite a book to join me for the rest of the day. It wouldn't be just any book, not some hum-drum unsatisfying story. No, it would be a book that completely removes me from my own reality, and leads me into a fantasy world I don't want to leave. If such a book isn't around, maybe I would put on a movie. More specifically, a Jane Austen adaptation. Something I've seen a million times, so I can let my head sink back into my pillow, close my eyes, listen to Mr. Darcy describe Elizabeth Bennet as tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt him, and see it all happen beneath my droopy lids. I would probably drift in and out of sleep, only to wake up just in time to see Lizzy touring Pemberley. I would stay awake for the remainder of the movie, because let's face it, the last hour and a half or so is the best part. At the conclusion of the movie, my stomach would ask my hand to please pop another bon bon in my mouth. My hand would oblige, and to be honest after such an exhausting day. . . a relaxing bubble bath would be in order.

Yes, if I COULD this would be how I would spend this gray rainy day: Rest, Jane Austen, bubble bath, and bon bons.

But, it is not meant to be. You see, I have a messy house that needs tending and two children to snap me out of this delusion. There's no time for idleness when I'm needed for block stacking, grilled-cheese making, apple slicing, fort building, book reading, milk pouring, spill cleaning, nose and butt wiping, crayon coloring, "all better" kissing, pretend play dough food eating, child snuggling, baby mugging, ABC singing, laundry folding, dish doing, trash emptying, shelve dusting, floor vacuuming, and a myriad of other tasks that end in -ing.

So I'm off to take care of them. No bon bons in bed for me. Eh. . . bon bons make you fat anyways.