Spring Break = Puny Smarts

Spring Break this year was sort of a bust. Don't get me wrong, we totally enjoyed our week off, but we were puny! And wouldn't you know, just in time for a holiday! Boo! The kids got out of school on Friday and poor Slade woke up Sunday morning feeling bad. I took him to the doctor on Monday and they gave him meds for broncitis type stuff. He was coughing and felt terrible. His friend from out of town came to stay with him and I knew he felt bad because he slept while Jackson was here. He actually started running fever on Tuesday and got worse. We planned on going to Iraan Wednesday, so  that morning before we left, I ran him back to the doctor because his cough was worse. 

We went on the ranch because we figured he could be sick at the ranch just as easy as at home. He did alot of resting. Gunnar and Finley painted at Cita's table.

 The Smart boys were TIRED!

 Gunnar fed the goats.

 Thursday morning, Slade and I hiked around the ranch and gathered some flint rocks for Finley. Thursday night, my chest started hurting and I decided that it probably wasn't the best decision that I had let Slade sleep with me earlier in the week and he coughed ALL NIGHT LONG. Uggg!

 So Friday morning I wake up and I feel like I have a chest cold. I laid on the couch all day and didn't feel like doing anything. This was the beginning of me feeling bad for the next 11 days. It was super fun.

 Gunnar ran around a lot.

 They dug in the dirt.

 Gunnar helped Cita while we played Scrabble with Nana. I won, btw! Hehe!

Finley and G even got a bit wet. It was warm. And if you think that I unfairly take way more photos of Gunnar, you are wrong. Finley is in a-I don't want my picture taken-stage. It's lovely. I have mostly pictures that are blurry of her running away from the camera. One day, she will wonder why there are no photos of her when she was six. For the record.....you did not want your picture made, Sister. So there, I said it.

I packed up and came home Saturday, feeling bad. On Monday, I still felt terrible, but was determined to "tough it out" and not go get antibiotics. Monday morning, Gunnar spent the morning screaming and telling me his ears hurt. So when I picked up the kids from school, we took G to the doctor and he had a double ear infection. Geez. I spent the rest of the week feeling bad and then on Saturday night, Finley wakes up and pukes all over the couch. She's running fever by Sunday morning and I take her to the doctor after lunch. Of course, she has strep throat! And I still feel bad and all the kids are on medicine. It was a lovely three weeks. Finley missed school on Monday and I probably didn't feel good till about Thursday. I was so sleepy at night and my body could not catch up on rest. Like I said, we were a pretty puny bunch in March. Get this family in some sunlight!!!

Pictures

Take lots of pictures.

You'll only regret the ones you didn't take.

Good Books

Lately I have not had much time to read, but I have snuck these two books. I end us staying up too late reading when I should be sleeping and then I'm tired for three days! 

 This is a new author and I have no idea why I grabbed it. I expect that it was mostly because it was on the bargain rack at B&N. I have to say, it was a GREAT read and I could not put it down. A writer ends up teaching at a college and finds that there is an underground secret society. It has murder and suspense and all that good juicy stuff! I plan to read more of this author soon!

This precious book I read in two nights. I had heard about it on Kelly's Korner Blog. The writer is from San Antonio and she tells her funny and sentimental story about her journey of being a mother. A must read for all moms out there. So stinkin' cute!

Gunnar is 28 Months

I wonder if it's a problem that I am still counting Gunnar's age in months and he's almost two and a half? It's a hard, hard thing to let go of the baby details. It's bittersweet....so fun to watch him grow but so sad to see it happen! I don't think I've written about G man in a while and all he doing these days! 28 months aka almost 2 1/2 here we go.......

This boy is turning into quite a character! The last month or so he has started talking about everything.  Like, I can have a conversation with him. I can reason with him (some days). This week he told me, "Get up, shut caputer(computer), get me drink, Mommy!" Oh, Lord, child!!! He is also really funny. He wants me to notice that he's being funny and says, "I funny, Mommy." I love how he concludes his sentences with "Mommy". I adore it! He's been singing songs that he learns at school and speaking of school, he LOVES school and LOVES his precious teacher. He has the best teacher, and I am so blessed we were placed in her class. I dropped him off last week, and I was hanging around and he looked at me and put his hand in my face and started waving-I think that was my cue to leave! I leave him some days in extended care, which is three hours extra after school is over at 2:30. He loves to play with all the kids that stay. Well, they called me yesterday and told me he had a little injury and was in the office. I went up there to pick him up and he was in an adult sized rolling chair holding a pink dum dum in one hand and a pack of Smarties in the other! He had walked under the little cubbies and apparently caught the edge with the top of his head and was bleeding! He was fine and I laughed when I saw him-he just smiled really big at me. If you know Gunnar, the way to his heart is through a lollipop. That boys loves him a good lollipop! We put a little Neosporin on his head last night, but he was otherwise fine.

Gunnar is still in a finicky eating stage(and I don't know why because he ate everything as a baby). Some days I'm not sure what he uses for fuel. He really just takes a few bites and is finished eating....drives me nuts!!! But he seems to be growing because some of his pants are too short so I guess he's getting some nutrients! His favorites these days......chocolate milk, green beans, eggs, ketchup, tea, beans, nuggets, weenies, bananas, strawberries, yogurt, chips, cereal, apples, cooked carrots, french fries, and basically anything sweet. He has a sweet tooth-he would fight for an Oreo! He would survive on ice cream if I would let him. Not the breakfast or diet of champions for that matter but I keep trying. He weighs about 32 lbs and is wearing 2T clothes an size 7 shoes.

He loves to ride his scooter around the house, wrestle with Slade, and he loves his Finny. He actual calls her Inny Mouse. Kyle would say something like little bitty Finny Mouse and Gunnar started calling her "Inny Mouse". It's the cutest thing I've ever heard and now we all call her Inny Mouse. He says, "Inny Mouse take a bath with me, Inny Mouse come with me, Inny Mouse get me my cup". Finley mothers him like a little hen. Sometimes I hear her tell him that is he doesn't do this or that, he's going to bed! It's too funny! G has also started to become addicted to the ipad. He knows how to pull up Netflix and watch himself a cartoon. It's amazing what these kids can do. He loves a puzzle game called Tozzle and is a master at putting puzzles together. His fingers are just swishing all over the screen! He also figured out this week how to take photos on my iphone. So know I find all these random photos of carpet, legs, feet, walls, and such on my phone. He cries when Kyle leaves for work and always wants to ride in the "pick-up truck" accent on the "p"! He's big on putting things in the trash for me and hates for his hands to be dirty. He screams, "sticky hands" and that means to wipe his hands off. He also says, "I've got boogies" and we should wipe his nose immediately!

My boy likes rockets, robots, zoo animals, stacking blocks, trains, dirt and trucks. He says, "rockets in space pshhhhhhh". His fav shows at the moment are Team Umizoomi, Dora, Diego, Max&Ruby, and Bubble Guppies. He is still afraid of heights and doesn't like us to throw him in the air or swing him. He loves to slide, though. He loves to brush his "teefies" and would each all the toothpaste if I let him. He loves to bathe but will not get into the tub till it is filled up and the water is turned off. He doesn't want the water running while he is in the bath!?! This guy is the best haircut customer you have ever seen. He has to get his hair cut fairly often since I can't bare to part with his semi curls. When I take him in, I see that sometimes the girls are cringing that they drew the two year old card, but it's always a pleasant surprise! He sits there and watches my phone and never moves an inch. They never can believe how good he is. I think for as much as this child cried as a baby, he owes me that! Ha!

I could go on for days talking about all the amazing things this boy does. He is a mess but we can't remember life without him!

Valentines Day

There's been ALOT going on in our lives lately. We have had our plate full....and a mug and serving bowl, as well. I can't wait to tell you about our most exciting news and hopefully I can blog about it this week when I load my photos. I will say, since the holidays, I have been a total loser with my camera. I have got to get back in the groove taking photos. I even bought a new lens with my Christmas money and I have been a major slacker! I. Will. Do. Better!!! We went to the rodeo with my parents last weekend and I forgot my camera and had to use my iphone! What the heck has happened to me?!?! And as you will soon see, I also forgot to take the camera to the Valentine's parties. What can I say.......I've got more kids than memory now! But here are a few snaps of V-Day.

Finny Minny at her kinder Valentine's party. Her hair was fixed when she left the house and when I arrived in her classroom, it looked like she had been in a wind storm. But she's still cute and I will keep her.

I had to take cookies to her party. For the first time, I bought cookies (gasp) instead of making something! I just simply ran out of time. Fortunately, the kids didn't and care and the party still went ahead, nor were the kids bothered in the least that they ate Wal-Mart cookies. Good to know. A cookie is just a cookie to a kid.

Slade's party was pretty fun. In 4th grade, they combine the entire grade and have a giant party in the gym or cafeteria. There were games, music, ice cream sundaes, and craziness! I took cherry 7-Up to his party and also ran the Valentines Bingo game. It was a great party! I had to go back and forth between his party and Finley's party. And poor Gunnar just had his little party without me. All three had a party at the exact same time. 3 kids plus 1 mom equals not enough time to go to all the parties. I figure Gunnar won't remember who was at his party this year. I see my future being a bit more tricky especially since Kyle and I have come to the realization that at some point in the future, we will have one child in elementary, one child in jr. high, and one child in high school. That should be interesting. At least Slade can drive his siblings around by that time. Although, I'm sure he won't want to! I will just block that out for a few more years. (Oh, goodness, I just counted how many times I said "party" in that paragraph! LOL!)

And so not to leave out G man in this post, I had to show you the wonderful surprise he brought me the other day. He walked into the living room with his poop. Nothing says, "Happy Valentine's Day, Mom!", like a ball of poop. Thanks, Gunnar! Life was a little too pleasant. I had to be reminded how it felt to be in the trenches of motherhood again..............Oh, and just so not to leave you with poop on the brain, I sent strawberries to Gunnar's Valentine's party. Cookies, cherry 7-Up, and Strawberries. And poop. Ha, just kidding!