Stay Behind the Black Line

Spencer had his friend Tristan over last weekend and Tristan kindly let us know that we may need to tell him to stand back because sometimes he gets too close to the TV and he broke his dads flat screen when he was playing Wii bowling. So after a few times of reminding him to scoot back, Richard got out his black electrical tape and we put a line down on the floor for the boys to stay behind so we wouldn't have to keep telling them to scoot back. He was a very good kid and always listened when we reminded him to scoot back a bit, I just thought it was so cute that he even told us that he has a tendency to get too close. So below is a picture of the boys playing the Wii....behind the black line.

Cassidy is 3!

Cassidy turned 3 on March 8th. We had her birthday party on that day also. She got a pink motorized Barbie car to ride in outside and she loves it. The boys bought her a backugan (it's a boy toy) so she would have one of her own and stop taking theirs and hiding them. My mom and dad were both here as was our niece Melinda and her husband Jason, who announced that they are expecting their first baby, and Josh (nephew) and Jenny, Haley, Hannah, and Hope were all here too. The theme of the party was My Little Pony. Below are the pictures that I had done of Cassidy today for her third birthday. She's so ornery and sweet and goofy all rolled into one little girl. We're in for it aren't we!

Kids these days

When I was 9 and in the 4th grade I certainly didn't have all the things that Brenden has, so why not add another thing to that list. Brenden got a cell phone this weekend. He was saving his allowance money and we let him get it this past weekend. He is loving it. He is texting his friends and texting me to ask if he could stay longer at his friend Micah's house. It is prepaid for now until we decide if we want to get a family plan which will probably end up being cheaper when you consider the minutes that he'll have to pay for. And mine is prepaid too since I don't really use mine there's no sense in having a plan...until now that is because now it may end up being cheaper. We'll just have to see how fast he goes through his minutes. He set a different ring tone for everyone already and has programmed everyone's phone numbers in, including Richard's work, my mom and my dad. He's been wanting a cell phone for a while and several of his friends have one already so we went ahead and agreed. It's nice for him to have when he is riding his bike around the neighborhood with his friends and he can let me know where he is (instead of taking my phone all the time). And for the record, his phone is better than mine! Mine is 6 years old now. Our original thought was that he could get a cell phone in junior high, then we lowered it to 10 (we were going to get it for his upcoming birthday) but he's been saving well and looking at phones all the time and talking about his friends' phones so we let him get it early. Now we have to figure out something else for his birthday present. Hmm....how about airtime???!!!

And the Oscar goes to....

I'm watching the Oscars right now and Heath Ledger (shown above as the Joker from The Dark Knight and without the makeup) has just won the best supporting actor award. I am crying my eyes out. We saw the movie and it is well deserved and I'm sad that he is no longer alive to enjoy this honor himself. His parents and sister accepted the Oscar and will give it to his 3 year old daughter Matilda. There wasn't a dry eye in the house amongst the actors and actresses in attendance at the Oscars tonight as they all stood and applauded while Heath's family made their way to the stage. What a moment to see.

The Sick House

Cassidy is better now and Richard and Brenden are sick now. Cassidy was sick from Sunday to Thursday. She still isn't eating much but her appetite will come back. But she had a stomach virus and Richard and Brenden are flu-ish. I'm surprised I'm not sick (knock on wood) since I was holding Cassidy all week and I was the one with her constantly. I ended up sleeping on her floor 2 times last week because she would wake up crying hourly because she couldn't get comfy and her tummy hurt so bad or she had to throw up again. And then one night Richard slept on the couch and I put Cassidy in our bed with me so I could actually catch up on some sleep since the floor is not so comfy. He slept on the couch so he wouldn't get sick. That didn't work out so well did it. That was the first time she's ever been that sick. She would hardly even talk to us when she was sick and her fever was 102-104 for two days. One night I had to put her in a cool bath because her fever wasn't going down even after tylenol. She would doze off all the time and one night she was laying in bed watching tv and I went to check on her and she was sound asleep at 7:15 and slept til the next morning. I'm so glad she's feeling better and I could catch up on my laundry and cleaning that I didn't do since I was holding her all day for a few days. I have to admit, that is nice to just sit and hold her a lot like when she was a baby. She likes to still sit on my lap but of course at this age she's up and down a lot. So now I just hope everyone feels better soon because Cassidy's birthday is in 2 weeks. I don't want a sick house for her bithday party because then no one can come over. Pray for good health to come back to my house everyone.

Something new about all three kids

Brenden is the oldest so I'll start with him. Friday night he had a school dance for 4th and 5th grade only. He had a blast. He asked me not to chaperone the dance so I didn't. That was hard to not get to be there and watch him enjoy himself. I have to let go a little bit more with each year older that he gets. This past year we started letting him walk or ride his bike around the neighborhood with friends. And he walks to his friends house that is on the street behind us but has to call when he gets there. It's scary letting them do these thing on their own in this world today. Moving on....his basketball season ended on Saturday with the loss of their second playoff game. He had a good season though. Since they are off of school today he has already been to one friends' house this morning and came home from there and went straight across the street to his best friends' house. We have to limit him to just a few days a week going to friends' houses because he'd be gone all the time....and he's 9! Once that boy gets his license he'll be gone all the time. I don't want to think about that yet.......

On to Spencer. He lost a tooth this morning on the top. That always looks so funny...cute, but funny. He went to Tristan's house on Saturday afternoon and I stayed there with him. He had a great time. And then yesterday (Sunday) he went to his best friend Zack's house. Zack just lives down the street. It's funny with kindergarten play dates because they still don't really like to share too much yet. Spencer said that for the last 1/2 hour there he was just watching Zack play video games and Zack wasn't giving him a turn. They learn as they get older. Brenden used to say the same thing about his best friend Micah. And I'm sure my boys aren't always the best at sharing either. It's just kids being kids.

And now for Cassidy. She is very sick today. I think it might be the stomach flu. She's thrown up three times today, I know, you didn't really need to know all that but you got it anyway. She hasn't been herself at all today or yesterday. I slept on her floor last night because she kept waking up crying because her stomach hurt her so bad and that way I was right there when she needed me. I put my yoga mat on the floor and that really cushioned the floor for me so it wasn't so hard. She's sleeping right now. I'm sitting in my bedroom and she's laying beside me. She's only been awake for a couple of hours and is back to sleep already. Poor baby.

And that wraps it up. Until next time......

Lost power.....agaiin

Well we lost power at 9:48pm last night and power was restored aroung 5am this morning. Our trampoline blew over our fence, splittiing some pickets, and rolled once in the neighbors yards. Richard wasn't home from work yet and I couldn't move the thing so I was just hoping it wouldn't go into the street. Luckily it did not. The frame is bent and a whole bunch of springs popped off. Richard and Josh got it back over the fence and we tied it to a post on the fence and the back porch steps. A trampoline from a few houses down is hanging over the fence of the neighbor behind them. The kids were already in bed and asleep so no one freaked out or even knew the power was out. Usually is the power is out and they are awake they all camp out in our room and we have to tell them to be quiet several times. Richard and I played UNO by candlelight. That was hilarious because we couldn't tell the difference between the green and blue cards and we had to shine a flashlight on the cards a lot or hold it directly under the candlelight. And everytime we put down a green or blue the other one would pick it up to verify the color. We were cracking up. I guess you had to be there..... :)

Spencer told me this morning that he hugged Cassidy last night and she said to him "You make my heart feel special". Isn't that the sweetest thing you've ever heard? I just had to share that with everyone.

Well, I have to get the boys to school. We had a 2 hour delay due to power outages and I have to go to the grocery store. BTW, Happy Valentine's Day everyone!