Rhys is supposed to be cleaning out the garage...

Boy, my kids are happy!

It' s piling up at the back door...


It looks like January, doesn't it?



Good thing I can't really see out the windows. or I'd be really depressed!


My screens are on the inside. The stupid snow is sticking to the glass...


Lovely view, eh?

Cael (not-so) well baby check up...

Cael went to the doctor on Wednesday for his (month-late) 15 month check. So, here are the highlights:

• weight- 26 1/2 lbs (70th percentile)
• height- 32" (55th percentile)
• head- 19 1/4" (75th percentile)

All is well in Cael's world. Well, except he has croup. Go figure... Instead of immunizations, he got a steroid to help with the swelling in his throat.

Next week or the following week, I'm dragging the whole crew in. As long as Cael is there getting his shots, we may as well get our flu shots done too. Won't that make for a fun afternoon? :)

Snow...

Up to 14" of this stuff is forcasted for this weekend. Grrrr... Like Kjersten said earlier today, "I haven't had enough of summer yet!" Amen, sister, Amen!

George and the Harley...

Gordon bribed Brennen to eat all of his chicken pot pie by offering a ride to church on the Harley. Brennen hemmed and hawed and led us all to believe he would pass up a motorcycle ride rather than eat Amy's (awesome) pot pie. But, nearing the deadline, he kicked it into gear and finished just in time.

Good thing. With the snow today, it's going to be a while before he rides again!

Brennen's buddies...

Brennen hanging out with Zeb & Ethan. Can you tell they're trying to look around me at the TV?

Analise (Zeb's three year old sister). Isn't she sweet...

Whatcha doin'?

Looks like you're watching a movie while waiting in the van...


Looks like you're perturbed with whoever is behind the lens...


Looks like we found who entertained herself & baby Cael while mama was in the bank. (No worries- Uncle Eddy was supervising from the front seat. Okay... worry a bit! LOL!)

He loves his peaches...

That's a lot of leftovers for Cael eating a peach. Don't worry (like I did), the pit is under his bottom!

Mama did a bad bad thing...

I just don't remember what I did. But, as you can see... He's less than impressed with me!

Kids left to entertain the baby...

I had to make a quick phone call during our math lesson today. From the bedroom, I could hear Cael laughing. The other three were having a great time swinging their baby brother around in the blanket. I let them play for a bit (call it recess...) and now, we're off to finish our math!

More Good News... Bad News...

Good news: Apparently some time out for the computer caused it to rethink deleting my photos. This morning, they (re)appeared! (Yes, I am sure they weren't hiding somewhere... Remember, Jason just cleared my hard drive of files. There's precious little to search thru these days...) Don't know what happened, but they're here now!

Bad news: Now, once again... I am behind on blogging! (157 photos behind, to be exact...)

Rhys

Rhys' friend, Zack, was dissapointed that I have few photos of Rhys on the blog. So, here you go Zack!

Helping the mama...

Uncle Josh

Uncle Josh and Auntie Sara came to hang out with kiddos while Jason and I went to dinner and a movie with friends. (By the way, we went to Fireproof and highly recommend it despite a bit of cheesy acting!) So, the kids were fully entertained by Sara and Josh. Sara made fried chicken & mashed potatoes. They played Go Fish and watched movies. They played "pictionary" of sorts and Josh drew the kiddos a Jeep. In real life, Josh builds these things which means he has a shop full of neat car parts and big tools. Guess where Brennen likes to hang out? With his cool uncle, of course! Here's a link to Josh's business website.

The kids couldn't stand the thought of erasing Josh's drawing, so we've preserved it here.

Good News... Bad News...

good news: I had three hours to blog last night.

bad news: I had Jason's laptop with no SD card reader so I couldn't upload photos.

good news: The reason I didn't have my laptop is Jason was working on it. He upgraded the memory, got me an additional hard drive, and replaced my display housing including my wireless antenna. This means I can upload photos again without constant fear of catastrophic computer issues.

bad news: It was too late and I was too tired to fiddle with it last night.

good news: Jason and Rhys left early to spend the day painting and the other three slept in. Lots of time to blog...

bad news: An unprecedented operator error (mine) erased all but the "peach" photos from my SD card. I didn't really see what was on there, just that there were LOTS of photos for me to blog about. I'm trying not to cry.

good news: I am now officially caught up on blogging... unless some photos surface from last month begging to be commented on and preserved on the blog.

Peaches

We bought some enormous Washington peaches and have been enjoying them immensely. Of course, no one loves them as much as Cael. He helped himself to one a few days ago and since then we've discovered he needs no assistance in eating them. When he's done, only the pit remains and we have one very sticky happy boy!

Looking at this photo would lead one to believe eating a peach is actually hard work!

We're going to be blacklisted...

It rained a few weeks back. A lot. And, no, we still haven't improved the other part of our driveway. We've trained our friends, trash collectors, and delivery persons to avoid that side unless it's dry or frozen. I guess a summer of nice dry roads evaporated the memories of mud and tow trucks from all of our minds.

The FedEx guy said he looked at the muddy side and figured it wouldn't be too bad. Wrong.


Two hours later, after no help at all from the mama and kiddos, a fellow FedEx man came to save the day. I had no ability to help so, instead, we just watched. The driver was so nice and friendly, it made me feel that much worse.

We have gravel (and a lot of it) being delivered early next week. Perhaps we can return to good graces with the delivery folks in time for my book order's arrival?

Can't have enough weapons with three boys...

(photos by Kjersten)

Rhys "needed" more nunchucku for his karate weapons class. (Seems one was inadvertently broken thanks to a certain four-year old brother.) Mama's getting smart. She ordered 2 sets. Now, there's nunchucku for everyone! Cael loves to demonstrate his abilities. Brennen's apparently getting ready to punish the vacuum cleaner. (These are foam with cord connectors. We keep the wood ones up with the other dangerous weapons!)

Creamy Banana Pudding

Oh, how I hoped they wouldn't like it... They do. This is the same recipe my mom made for us growing up. My dad still makes it for himself. It is the perfect comfort food and makes a great breakfast!



(Yes... that's a toothbrush in his right hand. Don't ask!)

INGREDIENTS:
1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened
Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)
1 1/2 cups cold water
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups whipping cream, whipped
36 vanilla wafers (I use more...)
3 medium bananas, sliced and dipped in lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:
1. In large mixing bowl, combine EAGLE BRAND® and water. Add pudding mix; beat until well blended. Chill 5 minutes.
2. Fold in whipped cream. Spoon 1-cup pudding mixture into 2 1/2-quart glass serving bowl.
3. Top with one-third each of the vanilla wafers, bananas and pudding. Repeat layering twice, ending with pudding mixture. Chill thoroughly. Garnish. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

Brennen & Cael

George was waking up by snuggling on the couch. Much to everyone's surprise, Cael joined him. He crawled up and hung out with George for a few minutes (an eternity in toddler time) before demanding his breakfast.

(You may not notice, but the feet of Cael's PJs are filled to capacity. Those pudgy little clodhoppers barely squeeze into their intended spot. He's been outgrowing PJs just because his feet don't fit! Argh!)