Birthday Fun

Yesterday our dear sweet Jack turned four years old.  Where does the time go??!!  Oma and Opa came for an absolutely yummy autumn dinner of pork roast, roast butternut squash and white sweet potatoes and dinner rolls.  Of course we had cupcakes for dessert (pumpkin with cream cheese frosting and heath bits sprinkled on top)! 

Then it was time for Jack to open his presents.  The other boys enjoyed helping too.  Jack liked his new pirate clothes.  He was super thrilled about his hiking boots; he can't wait to try them out in the mountains.  And of course the highlight of the evening was his new  bike.  We sent him into the garage with the lights out to find it....it had on his new glow in the dark bell from his aunt, uncle and cousins.  Once he spotted the bell he headed over...then he requested the lights on to inspect the bike closer.  He was so incredibly excited....so we had to go out in the RAIN and the DARK to test it out.  He didn't last too long, big surprise. 

When he woke up this morning he wanted to go ride his bike right away, but it was still dark and STILL raining.  Finally after lunch today we got to take it out for a proper test ride.  He is super fast and just loves it.  Ewan is also enjoying riding Jack's old bike, with the training wheels back on.  Jack keeps saying "thank you for my bike" all day.  I'd venture to say it is his favorite present!!  Watch out Tour de France!!!!

Opening presents!

Sean playing with the ribbons.

Checking out his bike in the garage.

Ewan out for a spin in the dark and rain!

Jack out for a test ride in the dark and rain!

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

My speed demon!!

Ewan trying out training wheels.

Our biker boys!!

Tree House Construction

Construction is nearly complete.  Just a few railings left and a baby swing to put on it.  Jack, Ewan and Sean all had such fun helping and watching Daddy this weekend.  They all love tools!!  Just follow the rules for safety and they are good to go.

Grandma and Grandpa were here over the weekend too so the boys had fun with them.  They watched construction too.  The boys enjoyed their new tractors and trucks....I'm sure they will have hours of fun with them. 

Needless to say they all love the tree house and swings.  Ewan had quite a blast screaming while swinging!!  They will have endless fun...and dirt.  Hopefully the mulch will help some when we put it in.  BUT...boys will be boys and at this house that means lots of dirt!!  They are kids and you can't change them, wouldn't want to.  So that means more laundry for me.  Oh well, so worth it to see them have so much fun and be kids.

Ewan checking out the tools.

Jack climbing up...BIG steps.

 The gang enjoying the view from up high!

Sean enjoying a ride in the dump truck!

Brothers taking turns pushing each other!!!

Ewan trying to climb up the big steps.

Flashback Friday

October 2009

Misery Loves Company

I'm feeling miserable...but I have company.  All the fun began last night after Josh and I went to bed.  I noticed the hall light was turned on so I went to turn it off.  As I was reaching for the switch I heard that dreaded noise, that's right, Jack just vomited.  He complained earlier of an owie tummy, guess he was right. 

It wasn't pretty as you can imagine.  Jack made it to the ladder of his bunkbed, unfortunately not down it.   To paint a picture...there were chunks and nastiness on the top of his bed, down the ladder, on the end of Ewan's bed and all over the floor.  What joy what fun!  Luckily Josh was still up so he grabbed the steam cleaner and worked on that.  I took the sheets and comforters off, not an easy task from the top bunk with nasty crap all over them!  I cleaned the ladder and other parts of the bed.  I set Jack up in our bathroom for future incidents.  He sat on the floor and read books while we cleaned.

The cleaning took quite a while.  Sean woke up of course because of Jack's crying and the noisy steam cleaner.  Luckily he went back to sleep easily.  Ewan was wide awake and enjoyed watching Daddy clean the floor.  Once the floor was clean I was able to walk around the bed better and put on clean sheets.

Jack and I headed downstairs.  By now it is about 11PM.  I let him watch TV, what else were we going to do at that hour?!  At this point I also noticed I had an upset stomach, great.  I asked Ewan earlier and he said he felt fine. 

Jack and I watched TV, I washed sheets, our eyes were heavy.  I took him upstairs since he was feeling a little better.  Unfortunately the walk upstairs stirred things up and he vomited again.  Downstairs we go again.  Later I finally got sick.  Just wonderful.  We took turns in the bathroom!

By 2AM we were both feeling better and too exhausted to care.  We headed up to bed.  I told Jack his bathroom door was open and if he felt sick to try to make it to the toilet.  He had no problems, never got sick again.  I, however, got sick again right after I went to bed. 

I finally managed to fall asleep, only to be awakened again at 3:30.  Ewan was crying.  Nothing too unusual, he hasn't been sleeping well lately.  No such luck this time.  He had just thrown up in his bed, though luckily much smaller than Jack's mess.  So I got him situated in the bathroom, took his sheets off, put clean ones and changed his pjs. 

Now it was Ewan's turn to head downstairs with Mommy.  We watched TV again.  Ewan got sick a few more times, he cried more than Jack.  The whole ordeal upset him more.  I can't blame him, I didn't care for it either!!!  We finally went to bed at 5:30.

I hoped my dear sweet Sean would sleep in for me.  Ewan went to bed with me and Josh was getting up for work.  I managed to fall asleep around 6:30, a time at which I am usually wide awake, dressed in my workout clothes and downstairs enjoying some quiet time.  I slept for a short while, Jack came in and he slept with us.  It was 7:30 by the time Sean woke us up. 

So today I'm functioning, I use that word loosely, on less than 2.5 hours of sleep.  We all came downstairs, Sean had his milk and cereal.  He is happy and full of energy!  Not the case for me.  Jack and Ewan wanted to eat more, but I wouldn't let them.  As it was, Ewan spit up all his water.  Thank goodness the family room is now wood floor!!!  If only the whole house was, cleanup would be much easier in the middle of the night!!!

I'm finishing laundry.  The boys have colored and played with toys.  I'm bribing them with TV time right now.  I have absolutely no energy and am trying to keep Sean entertained YET out of trouble!  Dr. Oma already brought us seltzer and Spite to help survive the day.  I am hoping for a very long nap this afternoon.  I know Jack and Ewan should be exhausted too.

Wish us luck!!!  It is days like this it would be nice to have a sick day.  That is, all by myself, no kids to care for.  I dream of just hiding under the covers all by myself!!!!!!

Autumn....

It truly is the best time of year!  I'm thrilled it has finally arrived here.  While autumn may officially begin in September, it does not begin here until later.  The weather has finally cooled down somewhat here.  That means we can play outside again!!!  That is probably the best part of autumn now.  With three extremely active boys it is nice to burn some energy outside again!

Then there are all the sights and smells that go with it.  The changing leaves, the crisp air, the beautiful fall floral bouquets, pumpkin patches, hay rides, corn mazes...

Of course the food isn't bad either.  We have already enjoyed meatloaf, chili, pumpkin waffles and  pumpkin oatmeal muffins.  I can't wait to make more yummies now that it is cooler here in the South.

And of course all three of the boys have birthdays in the autumn, so needless to say it is a busy time of year in the Dalrymple household!  Bring it on, we're ready.

Operation Tree House

Operation tree house commenced this past weekend.  Saturday Josh went and picked up some lumber in the stick of butter.  Sunday the building began.  The weather was perfect for outdoor work, cool and overcast.  We headed out around 9:30 in the morning and didn't come in until nap time around 2 in the afternoon!!  What a big day for the boys.

Jack and Ewan were thrilled to help Daddy build something.   They had their work gloves, tool belts, tape measures.....they were eager!  They did manage to help somewhat and did all right staying out of trouble.  I was the trusy assistant.  It was my job to keep the kiddos out of trouble (not always and easy task) and help lift heavy lumber on the ladder. 

Sean watched from a distance in the beginning.  As time wore he headed towards the action.  To our surprise he was not afraid of the air compressor (he is scared of the vacuum).  He actually held onto it while it was running since he liked the vibration it made!!

We had a lovely picnic lunch.  Sean was covered in his lunch....not that it mattered, he was already covered in dirt!!!  He also dined on sticks and rocks during the day.

All in all a very successful day.  LOTS of outdoor time for all the troops and major progress made on the tree house.  Needless to say a bath was required before nap time!!!!!!

Flashback Friday

 I've decided to do a new regular post which we'll call flashback Friday.  The boys have been having fun lately looking at old pictures of themselves so I decided to go ahead and post some of them.  Sometimes they will pick the pictures and sometimes I will. 

So here's the first round.  These are from January 2009 when Ewan had his surgery at just two months old.  It's easier to look at the pictures now...at the time I was panic stricken!  Our dear sweet boy obviously survived and the staff at the children's hospital was wonderful.

My personal favorite.  Look at that adorable smile!!!!