Grand Rapids Public Museum Visit...

Last week the boys and I went to Grand Rapids to the Dinosaur Exhibit at the museum. We met Aunt Carole and Andy there, and the boys had a wonderful time. The exhibit was just the right size for the boys, and we ended up there for the whole morning!

Here are Andy and Dane just before we got in to see the dinosaurs. Abel was not being cooperative at this point...

Andy and Dane playing with one of many tables set up for them to play on.

There were some magnetic boards with dinosaur parts, and the kids could create their own dinosaur. The boys were doing better than I was....I couldn't figure out where all the parts should go.
Abel concentrating very hard....

Here is Andy coming down from the tree house...he really liked it up there!

Dane and Andy looking out the treehouse windows...

Here is Andy digging up dinosaur bones....the had a huge sandbox filled with uncooked rice. The kids used paintbrushes to uncover the fossils...what a great idea!

The big dinosaur you see the background was being moved by Abel (the controls were in front of him)...this was his favorite!

Aunt Carole and Andy

Andy doing a dinosaur maze...

Abel with some of the big dinosaurs...they had ones that were animated...very cool...

Here are some of the babies popping out of the eggs...another favorite.

After we were done there, we took the boys to McD's for lunch...where else would the kids want to go? After such a fun filled morning....the ride home was very quiet!

Construction!!!!!

It's nice to finally see the sun again! After a rainy and dark start to the week, we are finally getting some nice weather again. Hopefully that was the last of the cold weather. I probably shouldn't have just said that...

The developers of this neighborhood (KBH Builders) are starting to build on the two empty lots in our cul-de-sac. There are still seven remaining. Needless to say, there have been a lot of trucks down our street this week. On Monday, they cleared out the lots. The boys loved watching the trucks cut down the trees, another one pick up the lumber, and then it being put into the wood chipper (a big one, I must say!). There was an enormous pile of wood chips Monday night. Despite the misty rain, the boys and I ventured over there to climb the mountain. While the workers were on their lunch break, I was tempted to haul our Christmas tree over there and some of the logs in the back yard...I refrained.

On Tuesday, they finished clearing and leveled the lots out. Today they poured the footings. Dane and Abel have been waving to every truck that goes by, and have occasionally got honks! They have been watching from the window - but it was much nicer to be outside today!

Last night a tree fell on a house right across from the neighborhood. There was a tree service that came today to clean it up, so the boys and I sat and watched them for awhile. Our neighbor from across the street came down in his golf cart and watched for a little while too. We were having a great time until the Bobcat driver hit an overhead line and broke it. The F-bombs started flying and then it was time to go. Mr. Paul gave the boys a ride back up to the house in his golf cart....and they LOVED it. I think he started something.....

The boys are going to have a lot of stuff to watch in the next few months... and hopefully some kids to play with!! Word has it that one house has a buyer and the other one doesn't. Haven't met anyone yet, but we're hoping for a younger family, since we are the youngest ones down here! We can't complain though, everyone is very nice. Now we won't be the newest ones here....

Easter

Nikki and I took the boys on the train from Battle Creek to Jackson last Thursday, and we stayed until Sunday. They had a great time, and everyone was well behaved....well, except for Abel. He realized he could run around, and was not going to sit down for anything! It was only a 50 minute ride, so we didn't have to fight him for long. Unfortunately, I left my camera at Nikki's house that day, so I don't have any pictures. Once I get them from her, I will post some.

Here is a picture of Dane with the Matchbox car from Nana and Poppy....do you think he liked it? Abel is opening up his Easter basket from Nana and Poppy...with a chick in his pocket that they made the day before.

Dane tried for about a half an hour to blow up a balloon from an egg he found. I thought he was going to pass out! After he gave up, he wanted me to blow it up. It couldn't have been any wetter from all his spit!

Dane and Aunt Nikki after the egg hunt. He was very proud of what he found!

All the kids....Abel, Dane, Cameron, Avary, Maddox, and Maverick afer the hunt. I was surprised we got them to sit!

Abel with one of his eggs....he had to look inside each one before putting it in his bag...

He wasn't afraid to get down on the ground in order to get some! It was a very nice day out, but it had been raining a few days before. The ground was still quite muddy at my parent's house, so they had to wear their boots.

Here is Dane checking out what is in his egg. They all had Easter baskets, but after the "Easter Bunny" (aka Uncle Eric, Aunt Nikki, and Uncle Jason) hid all the eggs outside, we realized that there were too many eggs for their baskets. So, we opted for bags instead!

Abel says, "Farewell"......

Our week...

Not much has been happening around here lately...just waiting for spring. The boys and I get outside as much as we can when the weather allows - today it is rainy and gloomy.

Dane is still loving preschool, and is doing very well. He is writing his name (I'm trying to teach him how to hold a pencil the right way), and he recognizes most of his numbers and letters. We will be sending him to the same place next year, and the year after that, maybe kindergarten (WHAT????). Lately, when we are outside, he has been telling me that he wants his training wheels off his bike. He rides around on it so well that we may try to take them off and see what happens. I think he'll do great and catch on quick. If he's not ready, we'll just put them back on!

Abel will still be too young to go to school next year, so he will have another year home with me! I don't think he'll mind. Although, he usually tries to take his coat off when we drop Dane off. I think by the middle of next year, he'll really be wanting to stay. I had to take him for an xray of his tonsils and adenoids on Wednesda. When I took him for his two year appointment in January, the doctor noticed his tonsils were enlarged. We went to an ENT and he didn't seem as concerned about his tonsils, but focused more on his adenoids. He still had fluid in his ear from his last ear infection, so we will go back in 6 weeks and see if the fluid has cleared. If it hasn't, he will probably need tubes. We'll also see what he wants to do about his adenoids.

On Thursday, we had to have someone come out to look at our microwave - it wasn't heating anything up. He tested it, and there was some part that was bad, and he said it would take a week to get it in. We have already been without it for a week! I kind of feel spoiled complaining about it - do I think that no one survived before they were invented?? There are certainly other ways to heat things up (hello, Mr. Stove), but they aren't as convenient.

We bought a new bedroom set back in February, which we love, but it is not "right" yet. After they delivered it, I noticed that one of the dresser drawers was very hard to open (note to self: when having something delivered, check all drawers before they leave...). I called the store the next week, and they said that some screws had probably come loose during delivery, and that they would send someone out to fix it. I would've tried this myself, but we couldn't figure out how to get the drawer out! Besides, you could hear wood scraping on wood, so we thought it was more than that. The guy came out, and told us that something was warped inside, and he couldn't fix it. Well, he said if he had it in the store, he could take it apart and fix it, but he didn't think that was fair to us to pay for a new one that had to be ripped apart. They ordered us a new one, and we waited another 2 weeks.

They called me for delivery, which was last Friday from 1 - 4 pm. At 3:45pm, I got a call from the store saying that they wouldn't be out that day because they found something wrong with the new dresser. They knew in the morning that they wouldn't be out, but the failed to call me. Ugh. So, now we are waiting another 2 weeks for a new dresser (the salesperson informed me that this was the last one they were ordering for us, if this one is bad, he said maybe they could put the three together and make a good one. If he thinks I am paying what we did for a pieced together dresser, he's CRAZY). Anyway, at the end of our conversation, he said they have had issues with this company. WHY THE HECK ARE YOU STILL SELLING IT????? It only causes headaches for the store and the customer. We'll see what happens. I'm starting to wonder. It makes me glad that Eric got the 5 year warranty with it. We normally don't by those things, but they waived the sales tax if we bought it, and it was the same amount of money.

Eric almost has the shed built, which means we can clean out our garage! We are starting the think about landscaping, and putting in the grass. We may have someone come do the front and sides, and we will worry about he back. I think it would take a lot of Eric's time, of which he doesn't have a lot of right now. We have lots of projects that we want to do, but we'll just have to pick and choose what we want to do this year. It will be waiting for us next year too, so no rush!

Flu Bugs....Be Gone!

Shoo, flu bugs! After a winter of being fairly healthy, March hit us hard. It started out with the cold that everyone was passing around, leading into the nagging two week cough. We were almost done with that, and Dane got pink-eye. Went back to the doctor the next week with Abel for a double ear infection.

Eric and Dane went to the monster truck show in Grand Rapids on March 8, and had something there to eat that didn't agree with them, and you can guess what happened. The next Saturday, Eric got the flu, and I ended up getting it the next day. That Saturday happened to be Nikki's birthday, so we had planned to meet in Battle Creek for dinner. Eric didn't go, and my Dad wasn't there either (you guessed it, the flu). Nikki got it on Sunday just like I did. We all had a little different set of symptoms, but it was unmistakably the FLU.

Eric left today for Madison, WI for the week. I hope that the boys sail through and don't get it, otherwise I'm in for a LONG week!

Happy Birthday Eric!

A little late, but here are some pictures of Eric's birthday. We met Nikki, Mav, and Maddox at Bennigan's for dinner...

Here is the cake that we made for him. Dane put the decorations on the top.....I think it says something in Chinese. What are they teaching him at pre-school??

Thanks Tommy....

No surprise, these boys want to be just like their dad.

Eric wears cologne for me, not him. He says he could care less, but I love the way cologne smells. He always wore it when I met him, so maybe it takes me back to being 19....

He has always worn Polo or Tommy Hilfiger (my preferences). Well, Polo is what he wore when we met. Anyway, in a moment of thriftiness, I tried some less expensive stuff that I thought smelled just as nice. But, not long after, the smell wore off. I couldn't smell that college man when he got home from work!!

I recently went back to buying Hilfiger - and it smells so nice! The boys watch Eric get ready in the morning and see what he does. During the day, they are always in his bathroom drawer. Yesterday, Dane saw the bottle and told me that's what Eric puts on his neck. He said he wanted some, and of course, so did Abel. I sprayed some on, and I was in heaven all day....my little guys smelled like my big guy! When Eric got home, Dane told him that he put some on so he could "smell good like you".

Eric thought it was a little weird....

RIP Pico....

I am beginning to think that maybe I need to tie a rope to my belt and attach the other end to Abel. He is ALWAYS into something - good, bad, or otherwise. Eric and I have nicknamed him "Wild Card" - because we never know what he's going to do....here's an example.

Dane was at preschool this morning, and Abel and I were doing some chores around the house. He was in the laundry room with me, and all of a sudden I see him darting out of there. I caught a glimpse of a green spray bottle, which I thought was the water bottle I use when I'm ironing. The boys love spraying each other, so I thought that is what he had. Boy, was I wrong.

Not more than a minute later, I walked into the next room (the office), and he had pulled a chair over to the fish tank and was spraying Spray 'N Wash in the fish tank - which happened to be in a green bottle! There were bubbles on the top of the water, and I thought "oh, this is not good!". I emptied about a third of the water, and put some fresh water back in. About this time, two of our three fish were acting weird. Our Jack Dempsey - aka Barney - was floating near the top, and our catfish - aka Pico - was at the bottom doing barrell rolls. I didn't know what else to do. I thought that maybe this was the end of them, but I couldn't just stand there and watch them like that.

I filled a bucket with fresh water, and scooped up all the fish and put them in the bucket. I NEVER do this, but I had no choice. Eric always scoops them out when we are cleaning, when one has died, etc. So, it was quite a sight when I was trying to do it. Luckily, they were kind of lethargic from Abe's poison, so I could get them easily. Abel was so interested, but I kept telling him to back up and not touch the fish - why? He's a boy and that's what they do....but mom thinks it's gross!

I then emptied 3/4 of the tank and refilled it. By the time I was done, Pico had passed. Even though it was a little fish and I don't like them, I was sad. Off into a Meijer's bag he went...too big to flush.

As of right now, the other two are back in the tank and trying to survive. Our sucker fish has seemed fine all along, and Barney is still near the top - but swimming around a little bit more.

When Eric called this evening, he asked to talk to Abel. I put him on the phone, and Eric asked him if he killed Pico today. He said "yep".

I hope they can survive the Wild Card's chemical warfare.

Bright sun shiny day!

It was cold here today, but the sun was shining...the boys were itching to get outside! Here are a few shots of them riding on their bikes in February....

No more pootie!

Most of you know that Abel was very attached to his pootie (pacifier). Ever since he was a year old, I have been thinking that I need to get rid of it. I thought that maybe he would outgrow it, and then I wouldn't have to be the bad guy that takes it away from him. He really only needed it when he went down for his nap and at bedtime, so I justified it because he wasn't walking around all day with it.

In January, Abel had his two year appointment with the pediatrician. I mentioned that he still used it to get to sleep, and he said that I really should try to get rid of it. He told me a story of how one mom did it, and I was ready for any suggestions. This particular mom told her child that the mama squirrel in their back yard just had some babies, and they were back in the nest needing some pacifiers. She put them all in a bag, set them out on her porch, and left them for the mama squirrel. I listened, but all the while thinking, "There is no way that Abel is going to fall for this....it will be a disaster".

On the way home, I decided that I was just going to bite the bullet and do it. No giving in...take it away and deal with whatever comes. Right in the car, I began telling him about the baby squirrels, and that tonight we were going to give them his pooties. He just listened but didn't say much.

All day long, we talked about giving his pooties away. He started talking more about it, and didn't seem upset. All along I thought that at bedtime, he was going to lose it. We packaged them up, and set them on the deck for the mama squirrel. He seemed excited.

He asked for it once at bedtime, and we told him the story again. That night actually went pretty well. About this same time, he learned to get out of his crib. So that just added a new layer to bedtime. Threatening to take his pootie away was what kept him in his crib, now we had nothing.

The first few weeks were rough at bedtime. He only asked for his pootie a few more times, and then told us that the mama squirrel took them. He was ok with that, but had a hard time settling himself down. He is much better now, but is still quite the staller at bedtime. He always calls for me, and when I go in there, he just says "ummm...", or he wants to play with his trains, or go outside, or go to McDonald's...anything to get me back in there. And there lies our sweet little Dane who goes to bed so well....

Dane is still in his toddler bed, and Eric and I have talked about getting them some bunk beds. We may keep the toddler bed in there and let Abel sleep on that, and Dane can have the bottom bunk for a while. It's time to get rid of the crib....although it saddens me as it's one of the last baby items in the house! The pootie was hard for me to get rid of for the same reason.....

January Randoms...

Here are a few random pictures from January. We had a birthday party for Abel on January 25th (also Poppy's birthday!). I know we were a month late, but with all the craziness of the holidays, we decided to have it in January. Right now he doesn't know the difference. I'm sure one day soon he will, a we will have to do something special on December 25th...

We had a sock monkey theme, and below is the cake that I made for him. Despite my worries, it turned out pretty well! Dane wanted to make sure I got the red lips on there. I don't have any more pictures from the party on my camera, my Mom and sister took them all. I will get them from them soon, and will post more.

The boys got robes from Nana and Poppy this Christmas, and he they are showing them off!