Blissful Potential...

Yesterday morning was, in a word, blissful. Thursday morning was my own private version of hell complete with a closet door on the floor, broken decor, socks and shoes flung everywhere, furniture moved out from the wall, etc... As you probably have already guessed, this was not the result of one of Nick's tantrums, but one of my childrens' wild mornings where they seem to go a bit crazy. So... on Thursday night I had a conversation with Ben and Con about how when they wake up in the morning, there is no touching the closet or the table in their room. I talked to them about how when they wake up they can sit in their bean bags or on their comfy couch if they want to get out of their beds so bad. I told them that if Mommy wasn't up yet, then they could stick their little heads over the gate into the hallway and tell Mommy to "wake up!" Ben repeated almost our whole conversation back to me so I was content knowing that at least one of them had actually listened and hopeful that Friday morning would start out better.

On Friday morning, I woke up to Ben at the gate whispering "wake up Mommy!" And that's it... no closet door banging to the ground, no screaming Conner, no visions of things being flung out of their room. It... was... AMAZING. I finally got a glimpse of what our morning could be like!!! Our day was wonderful and Ben was very proud of himself for listening to Mommy! I'm not sure if Conner really cared but I know he had to appreciate the fact that I was in a much better mood at breakfast time! The potential is there... it is possible to start out the day calmly and not be flung into the chaos the second I wake up! Knowing that is a great feeling...

Today the guys were slightly more amped, but no destruction occurred! Conner has decided that it is very fun to jump off of things now and he spent much of the morning jumping off his bed, the couch, and anything else he could find. Luckily he has not been hurt... yet...

We have kept busy today building forts with couch cushions and blankets and watching for pirates! (Ben's idea!)

Now on to one of my favorite times of the day... yep... naptime...

4 Day Weekend!

We have very much enjoyed our 4 day weekend! Tomorrow it is back to school and maybe, just maybe, I can get something productive done. We shall see...

All... Day...

This pretty much sums up what we did today... all... day... Our recovery time after a late night seems to be getting longer and longer!

Birthday Party!

With all the kids feeling better this weekend, we were able to celebrate my birthday with Nana and Gramps, Curt, Cari, and Marley, Josh and Jenn, and Aunt Peg and Uncle Brian! It was great to have everyone over and we had a lot of fun! The boys were thrilled to see everyone and were very unhappy when Gramps and Nana had to leave Sunday morning!

The boys and Marley had some good bonding time!



Ben and Conner, being the awesome helpers that they are, opened all of my presents for me!



And they helped Mom blow out the candles!



Nick, Jenn, Josh, and Curt show off after their beer drinking contest!

Thanks everyone for making it over to CR to party with us!

Measuring Tape...

I love it when they find something to amuse themselves with!

Sock Hop!

There was a sock hop dance at school today so the boys wore their 50s style white tee and jeans. They were very excited to get to dance at school! As I anticipated, their teachers both told me the guys got a little (probably more like a lot) wild and had a fabulous time!!!

Morning Antics...

This morning, I woke to the sound of the boys' closet door crashing to the floor. I ran in and realized that they had already been busy destroying the rest of the room as well. Soon after, a stench assaulted my one working nostril and I saw that Conner had pooped half way up his back. So I got him cleaned up and both boys dressed and we headed downstairs. I checked my phone and saw that they would not be going to preschool today because of the heavy fog this morning. I started Ben's breathing treatment and realized that the nebulizer was not working, so I called nearby stores to inquire about a new one. As I was doing this, the boys thought it would be funny to throw their breakfasts on the floor. Talk about a shitty morning... So we ran to HyVee to purchase a new nebulizer after I got the kitchen semi-clean. They spotted the "Car" cart and of course insisted on riding in it. They were pretty darn cute and I managed to forget about everything else and just enjoy them screaming "I drive a car!" throughout the store. Everyone enjoyed the show, myself included. I forgave them for their morning antics!

Comfort...

Today is the fifth day in a row that I have had no time to myself... no school for Ben means no "me time" in the morning and children who refuse to nap (probably because of all the steroids they are taking for their little lungs) means no "me time" in the afternoon. This does not bode well for us, but I swallowed ny frustration and tried to make the most of our afternoon! As I sat playing with my kids this afternoon, I felt my ear pop and felt instant pain. (A trip to the doctor tonight confirmed that I have a raging ear infection... nice...) So as I sat on the floor with my hands over my head, Ben came right over to me and whispered, "It's okay, Mommy. I'm right here. I got you. It's okay. I got you." Sweet words from my sweet boy who has heard these words countless times from Mommy and Daddy. Conner (after poking my face with one of his toys and running away) came back over to me after Ben had offered his words of comfort, and licked the entire side of my face... Apparently they have very different ways of comforting me!

Happy Valentines Day!

Conner shows off his valentine box we made for school! He got to make lots of cool crafts at his party today and he has loved looking through his box at all the valentines!



Ben had to miss his party but his teacher was nice enough to fill his Valentine box so he could bring it home filled with valentines from his friends.

BenBen

Poor BenBen was still coughing constantly this morning, so he got to spend yet another morning with Mom. His Valentines Day party was today and I was just sick about him missing it, but we had no choice. Another trip to the doctor put me at ease (no pnemonia and a clear chest xray) so we are just going to have to continue to ride this cough out. A trip to see Daddy and some ice cream sandwiches were what we filled our morning with until it was time to go pick up Conner!

Sunshine and Snowmen!

Well, our weekend plans had to change because of sick kiddos, but we still tried to make the best of our time! We didn't get to see our family or celebrate my birthday, but we did get to enjoy some of the sunshine on Sunday. We thought we would go out for just a bit and attempt to make a snowman and let the boys soak up some fresh air!

Conner loved throwing snowballs... especially at Mom!

Nick tried to build a snowman, but the boys lost interest pretty fast so our poor snowman was left lopsided and without a face...

Nick thought it would be fun to make a tunnel in the snow pile...



He tried to talk Conner into trying it...

Ben tried to crawl through but got a little scared once he was in the tunnel!

Conner prepares to attack me again...

Nick tried to show the guys that it wasn't scary, but this did not convince them!

We had a good time, even though the fresh air did not have the desired effect on our Ben! His coughing was still pretty bad so after we enjoyed our 20-30 minutes we headed back inside. It sure was nice to see and feel the sunshine again!

School vs. Shake...

Ben has been coughing pretty bad for a couple of days now (asthma!) so I decided to keep him home from school again today. A decision that I knew would be hard for my little guy to accept. It's a little complicated when we take the ride to school and Conner gets to stay and Ben does not... But today, I warmed his spirits with a delicious chocolate shake at 9 in the morning. At least it took his mind off school for a little while!

33

33.. That is the magic number today. Some days I feel 23, some days I feel 53... Age is really just a matter of perception! A year ago, I was sitting in a hospital room with Ben. This year (ironically) I was sitting at home with Ben because he's a bit under the weather. Hey - I'll take this over a hospital room anyday! We all went out to dinner together and had a great time. The guys sang Happy Birthday to me and Conner demanded to know where the cake was...

Thanks for a great birthday my guys! I love you so much! We are looking forward to a fun weekend with family... if I can keep these kids healthy enough!

The Place to Be...

The kitchen was the place to be tonight! I was trying to get some Valentine boxes started for the boys to take to school next week, but apparently my boys had decided that where ever Mom was, that was where they needed to be!

Typical...

I suppose it was inevitable that with one sick kid last week, we were all not feeling so hot by the weekend. We stayed in and tried to rest as much as we could. (Well - I tried to rest as much as I could...) The guys enjoyed watching some of the Super Bowl last night and eating all the Super Bowl snacks. We have had a pretty typical start to our week today... I was jarred out of my slumber at 5:30 this morning to the sound of giggling little boys. Now maybe you're thinking "what a great way to wake up?!" Unfortunately, it always means trouble... I discovered that Ben and Conner were running around their room completely naked! (On the bright side, their pajamas were in their laundry basket and they had disposed of their diapers in the trash can!) So it was quite a chore to convince them to leave on a new diaper so that Mom could take a shower. Lunch was a treat, as well... you wouldn't think that a lunchable would make that big of a mess. But oh it sure can... Conner dumped his glass of milk right into the lunchable container so I quickly salvaged what I could. He still enjoyed the soggy oreos...



Ben joined in by putting his ham into his glass of milk...



Thank goodness it is naptime...

Rough Start...

We had a rough start to our day this morning... Conner was awake at 2:30 this morning and refused to go back to his bed so Nick let him join us in ours. Shortly after, Conner revealed the reason he was awake... he threw up all over our bed and poor Nick. So at 3 a.m. we were changing bedding and Nick was taking a shower. I finally got Conner to go back to bed and as I was whispering to him that it was still night-night time and even Mommy was going back to bed, Ben pipes up with "Even me?!" They are both napping now, so hopefully the rest will do ConMan some good. Not sure if it's his meds that are wreaking havoc on his little tummy or if he is just plain sick. Oh well... it's not like we can do anything today anyway! While people were cursing the snow outside, Nick was giddy with excitement to use his snow blower on the humongous drifts! Seriously... he couldn't wait to get out there and tackle the driveway. He has just informed me that it doesn't need to snow anymore though... he's had his fill today! I see a nap in that boy's future coming real soon...

Positives...

Last weekend Nick treated me to a hotel stay complete with dinner, gambling, our very own "suite" hot tub, and yummy champagne. The timing was perfect... I was in desperate need of a night away. We both enjoyed it immensely! He reminded me that even when we have a lot on our plate, we still have to take care of each other. Man, I really love that guy...

On another positive note, yesterday and today are the first days in the last 6 months that I have not witnessed a seizure in either one of my sons!!! I know because of Conner's medication changes, this probably won't last, but it is awesome to know that it IS possible! My heart has enjoyed the rest...

Everyone stay safe and warm out there since we are apparently having a blizzard right now!