First Bath

Luke had another weight check at the dr. yesterday (12/29/14) and was 7lb12oz- only 2 oz shy of his birth weight.  He had gained 8 oz since last Monday, which was more than the 1oz a day average they like to see, so he's doing great!  He's been terrific at nursing from the start, which has been a huge blessing after the difficulties Jack gave me the first month.  

Luke's umbilical cord fell off yesterday, so we gave him a bath this morning.  The girls were, of course, eager to help, so I let them wash his legs and feet.  He enjoyed being in the bath before we got him wet, lol.  

 He was MUCH happier after he got dried off and dressed. 

 I'm still trying to figure out which of the other kids he looks most like- he has the most unique look out of all of them since he's the first one born without a dimple in his chin!  But Jon and I both think we can see a hint of one, so maybe a less pronounced one will form.  

 Happy 12 days to our little guy!  So happy you are a part of our family <3

Caramel Apples

Sean has been begging to make caramel apples.  Since Lilly has 3 loose teeth in the front I told him we need to make a soft caramel sauce to dip apple slices into instead of the kind that hardens around the apple or she'd have a hard time eating it (plus Jack couldn't eat them either).
So I had the ingredients ready when he got home from school today and he made the sauce almost all by himself.  He was so proud. 
Everyone enjoyed them too! 

Super easy- Butter, half & half, brown sugar 

and you're supposed to add vanilla after you take it off the heat but we forgot- oops :)

This was his "I'm proud of myself look" 

Jack mostly sucked the caramel off the apple

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Sean's 1st Grade Arbor Day Program

The first grade put on an Arbor Day program today in conjunction with the Town of Matthews.  Each class wore a different color t-shirt so they all looked like a big rainbow, and they sang some quite environmental songs.  I'm all for planting trees and taking good care of what God has given us, but I guess I'm just not the type to go overboard thinking our world is crumpling around us if we don't do something.  But it was nice to hear all the kids sing with their 2 wonderful music teachers (How happy am I that the school actually has 2 music teachers?!)
This was the picture from the back of the program:  A shot in front of the Matthews Community Center (right beside the school) from the 1930s and the same location today.

There was another parent with a tripod set up right in my view of Sean, but I did manage to get a couple of pictures when she moved it to look at something.  Somehow I always manage to pick the right spots to sit ;)

 I thought it was funny I captured Sean mid- yawn  Yeah, me too, buddy

 Smokey the Bear made an appearance with the forest ranger.  I think that was the highlight for everyone- including the parents, lol

Let's Go Fly a Kite

This past Sunday was SUPER windy, and the perfect day to try to fly the kites Jon purchased online from Sam's back in the fall for a very good price.  It was a bit of a hassle because they kept sending him the wrong kite THREE different times-- and we wouldn't have minded so much except it was a box kite with a peace sign on it, which we just didn't like the style or the symbol.  But, I digress-

We told the kids it would be a great day to go try, so we went out to the field beside our church and had a great time trying them out.  The wind was very erratic so even though they got up in the air quite easily with good lift, they got tossed about so much in the crazy wind that they came nose diving quite a bit.  Sean got really good with his!  Here are some videos I shot.  My camera went dead so I didn't get a lot of great ones with the girls since it took Jon a bit of time to figure their bird kite out.

This first video is mostly Sean.  As soon as I switched over to Jon where he'd been having success with the girls' kite, it nose dived, lol

And here is a very short one with Lilly trying hers out.  SHe got it up really well after my phone died :(

And, I didn't upload this one on YouTube, so I hope it still shows up properly in blog format, but here is another great video of Sean's going up very high:

A little April Fool's Fun

So, I'm not usually the type to join in on pranks and such, but I saw a list of fun jokes to pull on your kids for April Fool's Day and thought they were so cute that I picked one of them to try on the kids.  I saw a picture where you make a "sundae" with mashed potatoes and gravy so it looks like ice cream with carmel or chocolate sauce (depending on how dark you can get the gravy, haha).  Sean was already asking to find a way to "trick daddy" so I let him in on my secret since it's kinda quite obvious that I was cooking potatoes and gravy (and chicken--I decided to add little chicken strips like the were some sort of weird "cookie" sticking out the top, which yeah, didn't really look like any kind of cookie!)
He was laughing at himself the whole time thinking how clever the trick was, and I didn't have the heart to tell him that daddy would smell the chicken and gravy and potatoes as soon as he walked into the door.  I just think letting kids enjoy some imaginative fun is a good outlet for them and I wanted him to find it very special to try to trick daddy.
Here is what they looked like:

Sean was so excited over the creative "dinner" we were having:

 Lilly was also pretty excited and asked for more after she cleaned her plate  cup

Allllmost everyone loved theirs....all except this little girl:

Maybe it's because she just woke up from a nap on the couch

 Or maybe it was because Sean said "we're having ice cream sundaes" and she believed him.  (I made sure to only say Sundaes, NOT ice cream in front because I wanted to show them how even though it wasn't lying you could play a prank, and that by throwing the words ice cream in there made it lying.  But that just by saying "sundae" the trick was that mommy made mashed potato and gravy sundaes---but I think that level of thinking was over their heads)  In any case, she didn't enjoy it :(  I feel kinda guilty she got tricked.  She ended up eating plain chicken strips without the potatoes and gravy.  

Next year I want to try the idea that required more prep work, which is freezing their breakfast so when they try to dig in it's solid :)  Maybe this prank stuff is a little bit of harmless fun after all ;)

Weekend Fun

The kids were invited to one of their best friends' 5th birthday party which was at a horse farm.  I forgot my camera and my phone was practically dead so I had it charging in the car.    But, Stace let me use her camera to take some pics of the kids riding.  They were able to brush and pet the horses, then they took turns riding them.  Brilee fell in love with the little pony named Gigi and wanted to take  her  

home <3

They had yummy horsey cupcakes that the awesome baker Stacey made and Sean ate his and Jack's cupcake because for ome strange reason Jack took a bite and spit it out!  Usually he's all over the treat of getting cake- especially chocolate- so I think he had filled up on goldfish!

After cake & presents (which Lilly wass super excited about the My Little Pony Princess Luna that she picked out for the birthday girl) they were able to paint the ponies.  By this point Jack was getting fussy and Sean was on an immediate sugar high and was going crazy with the paint so I didn't see much of what they painted but they had lots of fun going by the smeared paint on their hands and I even found some in Brilee's hair as we were leaving, lol.

The girls fell asleep on the way home and slept for an hour and a half in the can when we got home.  I left the side door open and kept and eye on them from the front door expecting them to only get maybe a 15 min nap, so I was surprised.  If only the boys had fallen asleep too!home <3.

They had yummy horsey cupcakes that the awesome baker Stacey made and Sean ate his and Jack's cupcake because for some strange reason Jack took a bite and spit it out!  Usually he's all over the treat of getting cake- especially chocolate- so I think he had filled up on goldfish!

After cake & presents (which Lilly was super excited about the My Little Pony Princess Luna that she picked out for the birthday girl) they were able to paint the ponies.  By this point Jack was getting fussy and Sean was on an immediate sugar high and was going crazy with the paint so I didn't see much of what they painted but they had lots of fun going by the smeared paint on their hands and I even found some in Brilee's hair as we were leaving, lol.

The girls fell asleep on the way home and slept for an hour and a half in the can when we got home.  I left the side door open and kept and eye on them from the front door expecting them to only get maybe a 15 min nap, so I was surprised.  If only the boys had fallen asleep too!

Forgot these pics from before the party--we worked on weeding a little more

I got the girls new garden gloves and spades- helps them to be more eager to weed :)

After they woke up we had another awesome family bike ride on the green way and we played at squirrel lake park for a bit until we realized Jack had a very dirty diaper and I didn't bring a spare... So let's just say we were in a hurry to get back home with him only wearing his pants!  We made it back in time for him to start leaking in the garage as Jon lifted him out of the bike trailer!  Never a dull moment with kids!

Then it decided to turn cold and rainy on Sunday, but we had a nice family dinner to celebrate birthdays and the kids enjoyed decked out ice cream sundaes and even Jon got what they called "the whole shebang" including chocolate, strawberries & sprinkles. 

Now, Sean is home "sick" today because he said his stomach hurts and he couldn't eat anything (which is unusual for him) but he's mostly acting fine, so I don't know.  We did a little "school work" this morning practicing his handwriting and trying to have a lazy day since after I started writing this he really did run to the bathroom and threw up.  So glad I really kept him home bc I was starting to doubt whether he was really sick!

Hoping this doesn't last too long or spread...

Spring, make up your mind!

My kids and I are ready for Spring to stay for real!  Jon and I went and bought bikes last weekend after I found a great deal on an almost brand new bike trailer at the consignment sale 2 weeks ago.  And, of course the weather got cold and rainy right after that, so we didn't get to enjoy them right away!  But, yesterday, Spring came on full force on cue and we enjoyed a gorgeous ride on the greenway.  Sean & Lilly made the entire 3 mile loop without complaints and Brilee & Jack both fell asleep in the bike trailer- score naptime exercise for mom!
Except that actually doubled up my workout for yesterday because we had already gone to the Y that morning, but, I'm certainly not complaining about getting extra fitness time because I need it!  After I'd been doing so well for almost a year on losing weight, I've actually gained 5 pounds back since Christmas and not being able to get full swing back into my baking schedule and staying away from the food I make the kids.
And speaking of that, Sean is still struggling with the squirmies/distracting behaviors/not staying in his seat at school, so I'm just going to start baking for the whole family the way I have been for myself so it will be easier for all of us.  Plus the soaking process of grains is especially helpful for everyone, so not sure why I didnt jump in head first for the whole family from the beginning.  They all like my soaked bread and oatmeal and pancakes so Im going to continue to actually try all the other recipes I have pinned to try and adapt some favorites such as the chocolate chip muffins they all love me to bake.  First up, though, is to try my hand at sour dough which is good because of the fermenting process.  I am thankful to have a dear friend at church who shares her wisdom with me on these things and I need to go scour her pinterest for her recipes ;)
This post has turned into much more than just wanting Spring to stay, but I find I dont come on here to write because I feel I have so  much going on in my head.  Its so much easier to get out a sentence or 2 on fb, but I want to record these thoughts as a way to remember this hectic, fun time of life with little ones.  So, I'll finish with a few pictures from this week.

weeding our garden bed to get ready for planting soon

I forgot to mention the new bamboo floors Jon & my dad and some friends helped lay down.  Here are a couple shots where you can see them.  I have better pictures somewhere else, but I'll post more once Jon finishes the base molding.

Lillly decided she wanted to wear all green a couple days after St. Patricks Day, and I am not one to force fashion on my kids.  As long as they are appropriate for the weather I let them pick out their own clothes.  I want them to know they are beautiful for who they are not what they are wearing!

AHHH, and how could I have forgotten that last weekend Sean won 1st place of his tiger cubs in the Pinewood Derby (I insert pics from my phone, so I came across this pic and remembered it--see this is why I need to keep up better with my blog!)  He went on to come in 3rd among all the age groups and he gets to go to the district race on April 5th to compete with other dens in our region!  How exciting!!  Except he (jon) needs to work on his car because he was playing with it this week and bent an axel on one of the wheels, so it would not go fast like that!  Jon says he can fix it or go get a new wheel from Hobby Lobby where they sell the pinewood items.

SO Proud of Sean!  His teacher's husband is the scoutmaster for a different den and both her sons have earned their eagle scout and she said that neither of them ever even came close to winning in the Pinewood Derby :)  He has accomplished something his first year to be proud of!  We are still researching switching him to a group called Trail Life, next year though.  Many of the troops are starting to switch over their charter, including the one at Christ Covenent, so we are looking into there for next year or if we move to SC sooner than next year there is a troop that switched their charter that is down there.  Here is their site to learn more:  www.traillifeusa.org

I think that's all for now!  Enjoy Spring everyone!