Old phones

Here is the problem with giving your old phones to your children.  They fight over it.  Constantly.  And I take them away and threaten to recycle them.  They stop for a while.  Repeat.  This is what I heard just now when Hunter shared "his" phone with Tyler and discovered something tragic (in the eyes of an eight year old).
Hunter, "What the?  Tyler!  You are spending all of my cookies!!!  I used to have 300,000 cookies.  Now I only have 91,000!  Tyler!  That's it!  This game is NOW RESTRICTED!!!!

Worst Pinewood Derby ever!

Can you tell I have a few moments to update my blog?  Three posts in two days is not my norm!  I'm on a scrapbooking retreat right now and have three child-free days to scrapbook, sleep and pretty much do whatever my little heart desires.  I do this twice a year and it is blissful.  Unfortunately some of these posts are out of order but I'm just catching up on whatever comes to mind at the moment.

So...Pinewood Derby this year was interesting. 

Those who were in charge were having trouble getting the the computer used to time the cars to sync with the track.  This wasn't discovered until everyone had already eaten pizza and was ready to begin.  The Scouts and families were sitting around waiting for this problem to be fixed for about an hour.  Everyone was pretty restless.  Luckily the Girl Scouts were there earning their babysitting badge and had brought along a toy track that they had set up like their own little Pinewood Derby.  This kept Tyler, Brody and Greyson pretty happy and busy.  They never ended up getting the computer to work and had to go "old-school" and time the cars manually.  Hunter earned a medal for coming in 2nd place.

At the end of the event Mr. Dutelle asked what the boys thought of the Pinewood Derby and extended the mic out for comment.  Hunter has never been a shy one.  He leaned in and announced to the crowd, "Well actually this was the worst Pinewood Derby ever because of all the technical difficulties and we all had to wait around forever."  Everyone kind of laughed at this and I thought it was pretty funny, including me.  And then he kept going on and on about it...not as funny.  Speaking in front of large groups has never been a fear of yours.

First broken bone

About a week ago the boys were in the toy room, I was in the kitchen cooking and suddenly I heard Greyson screaming.  We aren't exactly sure what happened as the story was re-told by Tyler (four years old) but he said that Greyson was standing on the arm of the couch and fell (or jumped?) off.  He would not bear weight on it without screaming in pain.  He is usually such a tough little guy (having three older brothers helps that!) and barely ever cries when he falls down so we knew right away that we needed to take him to the doc.  It was (of course) after hours so we had to go the urgent care route.  There are several urgent care clinics right here in Oconomowoc so we are pretty lucky that way.  I took him to one while John stayed back and put the kids to bed.  We got in right away.  The nurses told us that he was officially the cutest patient they had had all day.  They gave us a room that had a broken t.v. which Greyson was a bit disappointed about.  I helped cheer him up by downloading "Angry Birds" onto my cell and allowing him to play.  They x-rayed it and let us know that they didn't see a break but that didn't mean that there wasn't one there that was hidden in the growth plates.  They gave him a splint and told us to follow up with an orthopedic doctor in the morning.  Greyson did not like that splint.  He wouldn't try to walk with it at all.  The whole next day he wouldn't walk or even crawl (the splint cut into the back of his knee) so he'd just sit wherever I placed him and would yell to me when he wanted to move.  I would then proceed to pick him up and move him.  It was an interesting day.  I got an appointment with the Orthopedic Doctor that afternoon.  He unfortunately had to x-ray it again and found the same results.  He told us that it is either sprained or broken and it is hard to see a break with all of the cartilage in a foot his age.  Either way the treatment is the same and that is to cast it because they don't make walking boots his size.  He asked Greyson what color he wanted and he chose orange.  Other than a few complaints the first day saying, "I no want this!" and "Take off!" it hasn't taken very long for him to adjust to having the cast.  In fact, a week after getting it he is already attempting to run around the house with it.  We do our best to slow him down but the doctor said it was okay for him to walk on it.  Running might be a little much.

Christmas post in March....I'm behind!

Where do I begin?  Let's start with Christmas.  I know it's March but this Momma's behind in her blogging (like normal) and it's no time like the present. 

For Christmas Eve this year we went to mass as a family, like always.  After John dropped us off at the entrance to the church and parked the van the sliding door got stuck in the open position and wouldn't close.  It was freezing cold outside and after half an hour of trying John wasn't able to get it shut.  At the beginning of mass Father Mike announced a "public service announcement" letting everyone know that there was a van in the parking lot that had the door wide open.  He said, "We don't have a license plate number but there is a sticker on the back that reads 'Got Twins Plus One.'  There was no hiding...we raised our hand and admitted that it was ours and that the door was stuck open.  Father Mike responded with, "The second collection will be for this family here!"  Ha!

This year the boys had some top picks for gifts.  Hunter wanted an electric scooter (which Noni & Nona bought for him), and a tablet of some sort (which Santa brought him called a Zeki).  The twins really wanted this thing called a micro charger set.  It's these tiniest cars you've ever seen that zoom around this track and race each other.  Auntie Jen & Uncle Darrin got them that.  The three youngest wanted Bright Light pillows.  They are like "Pillow Pets" (pillows in the shape of a stuffed animal) that light up at night.  Brody got a penguin, Tyler got a doggie and Greyson got a seal.  Hunter spent most of the day playing Monopoly Empire with Uncle Mark.  We all had a great dinner together (with Noni, Nona, Uncle Hank and Uncle Mark) and just enjoyed each others company.  What a great Christmas!

Googolplex

We had a super stellar (can't say enough about her) babysitter who taught the twins the word "googolplex."  They're pretty obsessed with this word and use it all time.  Apparently it means (and I did not even know this until they taught it to me) some super big number.  So tonight at dinner when I said, "I love you boys so much.  Are you going to love me forever?"  (I know, a silly question but it was asked after a glass of wine or two.) when Tyler replied, "We'll love you until googolplex!" that really meant something special.  I love my boys!

Sick family

Hunter, "Don't cough into your hands!  Cough into your sleeve!!!  That's GROSS!!  That's a HUGE way to spread germs around.  Now I know who has been spreading the germs around here."

This is what I heard this morning coming from the toy room.  Not sure who he was talking to since all four boys were in there.

John took all of them to the walk-in emergency clinic this weekend while I was out on some shoots and they all tested positive for Influenza A.  Hunter also has an ear infection on top of it.  He has been home from school since Wednesday.  The school called for me to come and pick him up around 10 a.m.  Then Tyler and Brody came down with it Friday night.  And finally Greyson showed signs of it on Saturday.  Now John and I have a bad cough, which is how it started with Hunter.  John also is very achy.  It has been rough.  All I want to do is sleep.  There has been a whole lot of t.v. watching in our house in the last week or so.  We are hoping to send the boys back to school before Thanksgiving but it looks unlikely.  Good thing it's a short week.  Hopefully they will be well by Thursday so we can even have Thanksgiving.  So so sick.

It snowed last night and the boys were very excited to see it out our front window when they woke up.  They all want to go out and play in it but I'm not so sure it's a good idea.  They'll just have to wait.

Crazy mornings

To say mornings are hectic around here is an understatement.  Always rushing, constant commands..."eat faster...Chuck (bus driver) is coming!"

Well, today when the boys got off their half-day bus and Brody took off his jacket this is what I saw.



Of course I had to grab my camera and make him pose for a picture.  Well then Greyson saw me laughing at him and insisted that his shirt be backwards too.  My boys just crack me up!

I suppose we could get up earlier but then where would be the humor in that?