Daddy's B-day

Greg's birthday was pretty low key. He's so sweet because he told me that he would enjoy his birthday so much more if I didn't have to cook or put a lot of time into making him a cake.  So he requested that we eat a Costco meal.  So we got a rotisserie chicken and some of those yummy ciabatta breads and even got a ready made cheesecake.  I made some garlic butter for the bread and we had a quick and easy meal.  It was great.  He was right, I really ejoyed that meal and not having to do a bunch of cooking and cleaning made me be in a much better mood which always makes Mommy more enjoyable to be around.

Greg's sisters sent him a little birthday surprise this year. It turned out to be not only a fun present for him but also for the kids: LEGOS! They assembled it together and then played with it together. It was a cute and fun activity for all!

TWO Cute!

It is crazy how fast this kid is growing up.

For his birthday this year, we just had some friends over for dinner and "cake".  I decided not to make a normal cake for him this year because Greg's birthday is so close and also because Gavin never really eats cake.  Like most kids, he licks the frosting and then is does.  He does, however, LOVE whipped cream so I was fancy and made some pavlova for his b-day.  They turned out a bit overcooked but delicious and he loved it.

Since it has been so cold and gross, the kids have been like caged animals.  So Greg took Gavin for a little father/son walk around the block and just let Gavin pick up rocks and take his time.  It started out pretty fun but but by the time he was home, he was crying because his little hands were freezing (he wouldn't wear his mittens).Greg managed to take a few awesome shots while they were out.

A few days later, Greg took the kids to the indoor garden to take some pics.  I usually try and do a photo shoot with the kids for their birthday but I wasn't feeling too good so I stayed home to rest.  I think he did a great job.

Here are a few with his best siblings. Sometimes the candid shots are the most cute.

We love Gavin so much.  Here are some things he loves to do:

• Loves to cuddle and cozy up with his blankie.  
• Loves to climb Chloe's ladder and play on her top bunk.
• Love chips, fruit snacks and candy.
• Loves to shower.  Anytime he hears the water on, he wants to get inside with whoever is in there.
• Loves to read books, especially his book about trucks.  He has almost all the trucks and cars memorized.
• He loves to play with Legos.  He can't really put anything too fancy together but he can put simply things together.  He also really loves taking the pieces apart.
• He loves gum.
• He loves pretending he's driving the car.
• He loves helping me cook.  He gets on his step ladder in the kitchen and helps me.  His favorite thing to make is hummus mostly because he loves pushing the button on the food processor and also because he loves to dip his finger in it for a taste test.  He also really loves to turn the mixer on although that one I have to keep a really close eye on him.

The Ice Man

Greg's job at church is to organize the cleaning of the building and the snow removal. Since we live across the street from our church, that also allows for Greg to gauge the needs of the church a little better. So after a full day of snow, he decided he'd head over and clear it a bit so it didn't become too deep for the next day. He called around and nobody was available to help so he headed over and did the work by himself. It was soooooooooo cold I couldn't believe he really went out there and did it. When he returned home, this is what he looked like:

So who needs Top Gun? I've got my own Ice Man right here.

(And p.s. The beard is a phase that began sometime in November and since we've been watching Duck Dynasty, the pride in this beard has been growing with the hair.)

Closer Look

If you looked closely at this picture, do you know what you'd see?  You'd see every color of the rainbow somewhere on this "outfit".  Well, that's not true, you wouldn't see orange but we didn't know that until later.

What was the grand occasion?

Well, we went singing time at the library today and they do a colors song and if you have the color on that the teacher says, you get to jump up and shout "hurray!".  Last time we went she wore like 2 colors.  Apparently that was when she hatched this brilliant plan.  It was pretty brilliant.  Because of her shirt (mostly), she jumped up and shouted "hurray" on each color until they got to orange.  That's when she realized there was no orange in her get up.  I have to give her props for not jumping up anyway and being honest.

After singing time I asked her if she had a great time and she said, "Yeah but next time I'm going to wear orange too and I'll tell the lady to call black because she forgot and I had it on."

We're Broken & Not

I've been sick like I have never been before for over 60 days.  Think about that for a second.  60 days feels like forever when you are nauseous for 2/3 of the day and exhausted and not able to eat real food or enjoy the food you force down.  It has been rough and this family has literally been in survival mode complete with cereal, scrambled eggs and quesadillas for dinner everyday.  Laundry sits for sometimes a week in the clean baskets until it is folded and pretty much as soon as Greg gets home from work, I just hit the couch until bedtime.  During my 1/3 time of the day where I'm actually feeling "ok", I've been trying to do more to make me feel normal.  Yesterday I made muffins (which I normally liked to do once once/week), I've been sewing a bit AND I've been trying to actually interact with my kids and not just have them watch t.v. all day while I throw snacks at them.

I've been thinking a lot about this new baby that will be joining our family and wondering how it will affect the dynamic between the kids.  I've been worrying that there just isn't enough of Mommy and Daddy to go around.  Then we had a big lesson on family love the other night.

It started out as a big scare though.  Gavin was jumping on the couch while I was laying next to him.  He decided to make a big pillow mountain and then jump off of it onto the couch.  Our couch pillows are quite sturdy and there was an ottoman in front of the couch so I figured it was all safe.  He jumped several times cracking himself up and landing over and over.  Then one time he jumped, fell, crumpled and just started crying hysterically.  I was so confused b/c I didn't understand how he could've been hurt.  I told Chloe to help him up and give him a hug and I thought we'd just go on our merry way.  But he wouldn't stop crying.  Then he wouldn't walk or stand without crying even harder.  That's when we got worried.  Greg took a look at his foot and it was starting to swell up.  We were sure it was broken.  So he rushed him to Urgent Care while I stayed home with the girls.

While they were gone, the girls were so worried about Gavin.  They were pacing and crying and saying prayers for him.  They kept asking me questions about casts and bones and pain and suffering.  It was so sad and so sweet.  They couldn't sleep because Gavin was still gone and so I had them take a nice, long, hot shower to calm them down and finally they were able to sleep.  Gavin and Daddy came home a few hours later.  Nothing was broken.  Just some soft tissue damage and a bruise.  He still is limping a bit but we were assured that all would be well over time.

For as scary as it was, it was also a really wonderful experience for me, as a mom.  I didn't realize just how much Gavin has changed our lives and changed our family.  It seems crazy to remember a life without a little boy in it.  Without spit kisses and trucks running over your feet.  He has really changed us forever. 

And it made me super excited to see the kids with a new brother or sister learning to love somebody else all over again.

So yeah, we're a little broken right now and disorganized and downright just surviving but we're also going to be ok.  No, we'll be better than ok.

Being 5 makes you feel ALIVE!

Since we were in California for Christmas, I thought I would do Tati's b-day photoshoot at the beach because I knew we'd be heading back to freezing weather where neither of us would want to be outside and plus we would barely see her underneath all her clothes.  We went to the beach by my parent's house with a park thingy close by.

Tati had a friend party this year.  She had lots of ideas but once we had the idea to do a cookie party, she was sold.  It seemed like an easy enough idea:  have some kids over and make some sugar cookies.  We highly underestimated how much work it was going to be.  We had the kids in two groups so me and Greg could help them roll and cut cookies and meanwhile Chloe did some games in the living room.  The little kids loved her.  She did musical chairs and dancing with scarves.  We used some fun cookie cutters from Ikea with forest animals.  The kids all wanted to make the moose but the moose's legs were tricky (esp. since their dough was rolled unevenly) so lots of them ended up with one or two legged meese.  Nobody seemed to mind.  Then they decorated them and ate a bunch of sprinkles and icing and went home nice and happy and hyper.  I'm sure their parents loved us like crazy.

Tati is her own person.  She drives us so crazy sometimes because she is defiant or distracted or overall just wanting to do what she wants to do and not what we want her to do but she is also one of the funnest, funniest, imaginative, energetic and cuddly girls ever.  We love her so much.  Here are some answers to a few of the fave questions:

Her favorite color is: purple and pink
Her favorite food is: raspberries and drumsticks (the ice cream kind)
Her favorite movie is: Madagascar 3
Her favorite thing to do is:  play with legos
Her favorite song is:  Dynamite (Taio Cruz)
What she wants to be when she grows up:  A dinosaur scientist who studies bones.  I'm pretty sure that's called a Paleantologist even if I can't spell it.

Snowvemberrrrr!

We have been getting so much snow lately. I love seeing the snow fall out our big front and back windows.  With the big pine tree in our front yard, it is also super beautiful.  There are some bad things that come with it too though:

-I forget every year how much I hate getting the kids all dressed up in their snow clothes and into their carseats.  It seems like it always take more time and effort AND PATIENCE than I ever think possible.  I dare the most awesome Mom in the world to keep her cool.
-Gavin won't keep on his mitts or his toque (Canadian way to say "beanie") and he acts like his jacket is choking him.  So I keep letting him stay outside and figure it out.  I keep hoping that once his hands get cold from touching the snow and he realizes that I'm actually helping him by putting mitts on him, he'll stop taking them off.  Nope.  When he hands get frozen, then he just looks at me like I betrayed him.
-The floor is always messy because no matter how hard you try and put down rugs and towels, the snow still ends up everywhere tracked in on their boots.  And of course, once all their clothes are off, all they want to do is complain about how they don't want to hang anything up or put it away.  It is an ongoing battle.  

Still there are some fun things about the snow too.  It is beautiful--especially when it falls all day long.  It covers up everything ugly and makes it look all beautiful and it is so quiet and peaceful.  Fewer people are driving around and it feels like you're in another beautiful world.
 
We tried to be festive and make an igloo but it was way more work than we thought so Greg and I only really lasted 1 night.  We keep meaning to go out and do a few more rows but the temperatures have been brutal lately.  We may be forced to try and recruit some friends to help us if we ever expect things to get finished.

My sister sent me a picture of my niece roller skating like Olivia Newton John in Xanadu.  It literally blew my mind because it just happened to be right on the same day that I took the kids out to the front yard and we did sledding and snow angels.  It is crazy.  I enjoy the snow and it is fun at times but man, what would I give to be roller skating around in my mini skirt and tank top?

It has been fun with Chloe being bigger because she is enthusiastic about pulling the kids on the sled.  I want Greg to make a nice back support on this sled but we're not sure how we'd get it to stay on.

Anyway, here are some videos of us pulling the little kids.  Notice how Gavin is laughing with Chloe pulling.

And then a token one of me so I can document that I am still alive and still a fun Mom despite being occasionally mean doing up carseats.  ;-)  I was having some focus problems but it is still fun.


And in case you're thinking that we're outside late at night, this is at around 4:00 p.m.  Yup.