Crazy Sick Madness

It seems lately all the boys are doing their best to make my life miserable.  OKAY, so maybe they are not doing it on purpose, but still I'm going insane!

Last Thursday night Jack starting show signs of being sick.  It began with a cough.  Friday he woke up sick and of course could not go to school.  That left us stuck home ALL day.  I was going stir crazy, as were the boys.  I figured great, at least they should nap well.  WRONG!!  I finally gave up on naps and we all went for a walk in the neighborhood.  This went relatively well (the day before Ewan whined and cried nearly the whole way for no reason).  But still no naps!

Saturday Jack and Ewan woke up still sick, runny noses, coughs, fever.  So our plan for breakfast at the farmer's market wasn't going to work (hard to eat outside in the cold with sick little guys).  So they perked up a little and we went out to breakfast.  That went well at least.  The rest of the day was calm, relatively speaking.  Saturday night Josh was feeling the cold coming his way so he took some PM medicine and slept like a rock.  So that left me to take care of Sean who woke up with a cough in the middle of the night.  He did not want to eat, drink or go back to sleep.  So we hung out for about an hour and a half.

Sunday the men folk were still all sick, though Jack and Ewan were on the mend.  I had laundry and cleaning to do, as I always do!  PLUS my friend from Germany was coming.  Not the best timing with the troops being sick.  Luckily everyone, including Josh but of course not me, napped in the afternoon and I got the rest of my work done.  Jens came, Oma and Opa had dinner here and all was relatively good (though Sean was extra clingy).

Of course Sunday night the madness began again.  Jack was up once before I went to bed and Sean got up shortly after I went to bed.  I had just fallen asleep when he woke.  Once again he just wanted to be held.  So we stayed up for two hours.  I FINALLY got to go to sleep around 2AM or so. 

After two extremely short and restless nights I was not in the best of moods.  And Monday morning none of the boys cooperated with my mood either.  Sean only wanted to be held, and of course I didn't have time to hold him constantly.  So he cried a lot.  Jack and Ewan fought over cars.  All three boys were screaming and woke Josh and Jens (Josh stayed home sick that day).  GREAT!  I'm having a wonderful day.

Luckily Jack was fine to go to school.  No fever, no coughing, just the usual snot.  So I packed up all three boys and drove to school.  Ewan whined the whole way and Sean cried.   We got home, put Sean down for a nap.  It didn't last long, even though I knew he was exhausted.  We enjoyed the rest of our time with Jens (Hopefully the boys didn't scare him from every visiting again.  I promise they normally aren't like that)! 

The rest of the day was somewhat of a blur due to my sleep deprivation.  I took the boys to get some Gatorade for Josh, picked up Jack.  Had lunch, what little everyone was eating.  Sean, Ewan and I went upstairs for naps.  Ewan had other plans.  He went in the bathroom, ate toothpaste and opened a ton of band aids.  I could hear Ewan and Jack playing downstairs, but I did manage to get a little sleep. 

I came downstairs and hung out with the guys.  After a while Ewan slowed down and asked to lay down with Daddy.  Then Jack climbed up.  Before you could blink your eyes they were asleep.  So they FINALLY managed to get a short nap on the couch with Daddy.  Sean ended up sleeping for nearly four hours.

The rest of the evening was calm.  The boys were still somewhat tired and sluggish.  They went to bed easily.  We went to bed early.

Today everyone is better.  They all slept through the night, thank goodness.  They are still snotty, but energy levels are better.  That being said we are going stir crazy!!  We'll be heading to the zoo shortly!!

Times like this is when being Mommy really  stinks.  Even though I'm exhausted, nobody tells me to go take a nap.  Nobody takes care of me.  I don't get to call in sick.  At least there are the cute moments to make it a little better like snuggling with the little guys and watching them sleep with Daddy.

Flashback Friday - March 2008, Seattle, WA

Jack got a little snuggle time in bed since he didn't completely adjust to the three hour time change!

Valentine Photo Shoot

This morning the boys and I went to go take some Valentine pictures.  I've been planning on doing them for a week now, but the weather has not cooperated.  As you well know, the boys don't cooperate either so I should be used to this.

Here are a few shots we took.  None of them are exactly what I was going for, but they are still cute in their own way!  If only I could get all three boys to look the same direction as the same time and smile!   I guess that will have to remain a dream!!

Sean doesn't pose well in a group so this is his best shot!  By himself!!

Super Cupid Ewan!!!!!

Maybe in the middle of a super hero wardrobe change?!

Finally I have Jack and Ewan right and Sean is running the wrong direction!

Sean getting groovy and Jack with attitude.

This is close to what I was going for.

Like I said, never all three looking the same direction.

Sean looking down AGAIN!!

And finally Sean with a grumpy look!!!

Domestic Goddess

Seems the domestic goddess will be coming out in me even more this year.  While not an official resolution, we will try this year to be even better with what we eat. I myself look forward to having a garden again.  Last year we did not have one since the house was on the market and we did not plan on staying here. 

Well now we are staying and it is time to plan a garden for the summer.  Plus, we will still be here to enjoy the fruit trees too.  The boys will definitely be thrilled about that.  So other than fresh produce, what are we doing?  I would have to say my biggest issue is cutting down on processed food.  While we do not early nearly as much as the average American, I still would like to cut down.

So that means a couple things.  Sticking to local products (we LOVE our farmer's market Saturdays together as a family), buying brands we trust (such as Newman's Own, Kashi and Cascadian Farms) and you guessed it, making more things myself.

We recently had homemade graham crackers again.  They truly are better than anything you could ever buy in the store, plus I know exactly what ingredients are in them!  Tonight we'll have homemade baked beans.  The list is endless.  We also make our own power/treat bars.  I'm still tweaking that recipe; the last batch was a little dry.  I also plan on baking more bread.  We do so love good bread and homemade is the best, no  preservatives there.

Will I save money, probably not.  Will I save time, absolutely not.  BUT, I will be able to feed my family foods that we enjoy and I know are better for us.

Flashback Friday - Camden, SC, March 2009

Jack at the horse races!

Nap This Afternoon

A Few of Our Favorite Things

This past weekend we took a long weekend (thanks to vacation time owed to Josh since he had to work the holiday shutdown, including New Year's Eve and New Year's Day) and went to the mountains.  We left Friday after lunch (since Jack had preschool) and got home late this afternoon. 


Friday night we went to Big Mike's for pizza.  YUMMO!!!!!  The boys also enjoy "playing" the car driving video games.  They sit and pretend they are playing, though this time they did sit with Josh and he helped them play.  Sean liked looking in the games to see if anyone left money behind!!  After we got back to the house we roasted marshmallows and made smores.  Sean was not too keen on them, but Jack and Ewan LOVE smores! 

Then we hit a bumpy patch since Sean was up at 1:40 AM Saturday.  He spent the rest of the night in our bed which of course means we didn't get much sleep.  Sean didn't tolerate his recent shots well; he was up the night before too.  Jack got up a few times too due to his new fear of monsters.

Saturday we walked to the neighborhood park when it was 18 degrees out, BRRRRRRRRRRRR.  The troops really needed to get out and move around though.  Then we went to our favorite bakery for some yummies for our morning snack and then headed to Asheville.  We went to O.P. Taylor's, REI store, Mast General, a yummy noodle house (where the boys, especially Ewan, enjoyed using chopsticks) and more.  Sean managed to stay awake for the drive home...until the last two minutes!!  We put him to bed upon arriving home and tried to put the other two boys down.  That was not happening!!!  After much playing around and getting into rowdy trouble we gave up on the nap, even though Josh and I really NEEDED one too.  We packed up and went to the park to wear them out.  Success.  The rest of the day went well, though that night Sean was up again.  I had to stay up with him until he fell asleep and I could put him back to bed.  Jack fell out of the bed and was up a couple times afraid of monsters again.

Sunday it was off to go hiking.  The troops were up early; we could hear Ewan yelling "time to wake up Sean" at 6AM!!!  They love the mountains so much they can't stand to sleep there.  We got a little more sleep than the night before, though Josh and I were still tired.  Jack and Ewan, however, had energy to spare.  It was time for a hike.  We went to Dupont State Forest.  According to our calculations it was about a 4 mile hike, 2 out and 2 back.  Jack and Ewan did very well and Sean had fun too.  It was warmer, all the way in the thirties, forties by the time we finished!  We had several stops for snacks and had a picnic lunch at the halfway point.

We managed to get Jack and Ewan to take short naps, Sean again wouldn't have anything to do with it.  UNTIL of course 5:30.  So he had a short nap while we ate dinner and then we woke him so he would still go to bed at night.

Then Monday (after everyone slept all the way through the night until 6 AM YEAH) we went to town after breakfast.  We played at the park, had fun at the toy store and went out to lunch before heading home.

All in all it was a fun weekend, despite sleep deprivation, being cold, runny noses, coughs etc.  I guess the moral of the story is we need to get the boys to the mountains more often so they will be less excited when they get there (not sure this is possible though, they absolutely love it there)!!

So, here is the list of our favorite things in the mountains, in no particular order as we love them all:

Big Mike's pizza
Fires and making smores
Bracken Mountain Bakery
O.P. Taylor's toy store
Noodle houses in Asheville
Franklin Park
Hiking

Roasting marshmallows.

Ewan savoring his smore.

Jack enjoying the ooey gooeyness!

Sean was not impressed with smores!

Sean having fun at the park.

Ewan running while playing hide and seek.

All the guys hiking.

Look at my happy hikers!

Sean enjoying some time out of the pack during a snack break.

Sean relaxing on Daddy's back!

Short break for my big guys!

Ejoying some rest time during a picnic at the barn.

My cutie, need I say more!!

Assume the position!!!

One tuckered out hiker!!!

So that sums up our long weekend.  Full of action.  That is life with three highly active boys.  There are no lazy vacations or getaways for this family of five!!

PS:  This is only a sample of the photos, there are tons of great shots from the hike!

Flashback Friday - April 2010, Bowling Green, KY

Sean's Growth Update

So today Sean had his 15 month well visit.  Seems 15 months is the age when children remember what the doctor's office is.  Not such a pleasant experience all around.  Sean was fine in the lobby.  Then we were called back and he started to cling to me immediately.  He cried as we walked down the hallway.  I tried to put him on the table to take his clothes off to weigh him; he threw a fit and screamed with all his might.  Neither Jack nor Ewan ever put up a fight like this!

Sean would not even sit on the scale; again something Jack and Ewan never did.  Seems Sean really did not want anything done today!!  He held on to me with every bit of strength he has, which is quite a bit!  He screamed when I tried to put him down (he was getting heavy to hold the entire time)! 

This having been said, I cannot be sure any of his measurements were correct since he was so upset and moving all over the place.  Anyway, what we came up with is 31.5 inches long (50%) and 24.5 pounds (50%).  Should this be correct, it puts him as the runt in the family at this age.  We'll see how this progresses!!

Random Pics

Just sifting through some of the recent photos on the camera.  I will post again soon; Sean has his 15 month well month visit later this morning.

Jack and Ewan getting ready for a day of winter camp at the gym back on Dec. 30

They had a blast, especially during their pool time.  I got a lot done with them being gone

from 8:30-5!!!!

Showing off their favorite lunch boxes.

Sean loves to sit in his toy box!

Steel cut oats, the new finger food??!!

I promise he had a spoon, just preferred his fingers.  He wouldn't let me feed him either.

Ah, independence and messes!!!

Up the nose!

Sean striking a pose under the kitchen table.

Never the shy one, Jack had to make an appearance when he saw me taking Sean's picture!

Calendar Love

This year I did our family calendar at Mixbook, mainly because I had several groupons to use there.  This allowed me to order several to use as gifts and still get a good price.  It turned out even better than I expected.  We previously used either Shutterfly or Snapfish.  I enjoyed the quality of Mixbook even better.  The paper is thick and superior quality.  The kicker....the paper is ethically sourced from sustainable forests and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and the Rainforest Alliance.  Needless to say I will stay with them for the long haul!!!

The boys also enjoy looking at the calendar.  They always like looking at older photos.  Yesterday they looked at the current month which has pictures from one of last year's snowfalls.  They asked when it would snow again, as if it was written on the calendar somewhere!!  I had to tell them to just wait and see if we get any this year.  Then we browsed through the rest of the calendar and checked out their birthdays.  Somehow in designing the calendar I missed something important....Ewan's birthday will be on Thanksgiving Day this year!!!  We will have to plan one big family gathering...wild Weitzel Thanksgiving here we come, well hopefully.  Ewan now keeps commenting that "I like my Thanksgiving birthday"!!!  It is too funny.

Needless to say it will be a while before that birthday, but we're looking forward to it nonetheless.  Until then, it's time to get ready to design Valentine cards on Mixbook!  Wish me luck getting a picture of all three boys!

Life Returns to "Normal"

We are finally resume our normal routine.  For this I am thankful.  Things got hectic with the holidays, lots of activities, lots of baking, present overload...  So now we go on in the new year with our lives as they were before the holidays, with of course more toys and goodies.

Saturday began with breakfast at Drip (Ewan's hangout with Oma).  It was nice for Josh and I to go for our first visit there.  It was tasty!  We went to the farmer's market and played there plus got some yummy bread and eggs.  Then it was off to Oma and Opa's to hook up their new TV.   And then we helped/watched Daddy fly his airplanes.

After lunch at home I took down the tree and decorations while all the guys played outside.  I also put up the Valentine decorations.  I cleaned the entire downstairs, washed laundry....  We had dinner at home, cut all the boys' hair, did bath, cleaned the upstairs, played and then it was bedtime for the boys.  I cleaned the kitchen and put away the  Christmas dishes (managed to break three mugs from my regular dishes in the process).  It was a busy day!!

Today we made our Cars pancakes for breakfast.  The boys were all happy about that.  It was our first try and there is a learning curve.  We know what to do next time a little better, but they were still tasty and looked pretty good.  I also managed to drop the sheet of bacon on the floor, thus getting grease all over.  Luckily I was planning on mopping the kitchen today (almost did it last night)!!

We flew planes with Daddy again.  The boys and I also played soccer and football.  I'm working on my spiral;  I must say it is getting pretty good!  We had lunch at home and the boys played outside again.  I cleaned AGAIN...mopped kitchen, bathrooms, did laundry, dishes etc. 

Indeed life is back to "normal"!  Jack and I are both excited school is back in session too.  The toy madness is settling down and they favor things they can build....Sean's train tracks, the gear set and dinosaurs.

Flashback Friday - December 2009

Some more of my favorites of the two big boys together....

Mealtime Adventures

This is why I do laundry so much!!!!!!  Sean is at that annoying age where he wants to feed himself.  Great for independence, not so great for cleanliness.  Today's adventure involved beans in the hair and somehow on the back of his sleeve.