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!

Basketball playoffs and grade cards

Brenden's team has their first playoff game today at 1pm. The only bad thing is that on his team are two particular players who hold on to the ball and refuse to pass or play their plays right. These two boys always take it to the basket whether someone is open to pass to or not and they don't follow the plays they are supposed to be doing at all. The other boys on the team get so mad at these two for never giving anyone else a chance with the ball. The only time the other boys get a chance with the ball is if they steal from the other team and take it in themselvers. So Brenden has had a good season with rebounds and assists but as for baskets, he hasn't had the ball to get to make one! But he makes most of his free throws in practice and we give him praise for that. You should see him on the court, he's totally yelling "DJ I'm open" and yet to the basket DJ goes, often not making the basket. Can you tell I'm ticked about that???? Last year Brenden was on a team who played well together and everyone got a chance to shoot.

Grade cards came home this week and Spencer got an S+ in absolutely everything. Brenden got 6 A's and 3B's. They are starting Geometry next week, in 4th grade!!! I don't remember having Geometry til junior high or high school. Cassidy has been playing school at home lately and is putting on a backpack and carrying a little lunch box and saying "bye, I'm going to school". Her teacher's name is Mrs. Post, which is Spencer's teacher. Next week we have the valentines' day parties at school and I think I'll take her this time instead of having mom come over to watch her while I'm at the school. Except she has to wear pants, which she keeps telling me that Mrs. Post said she doesn't have to wear pants to school. When she's playing school she's often in just her nightshirt and undies, her nightshirt being one of Brenden's old shirts that looks like a little dress on her. She loves to wear the boys' shirts for some reason and it's really cute!

Got Power?

Mom doesn't have power but I do so she's staying with us until her power is back on. Right now the estimate is Saturday for the return of power to Lancaster. Today is Thursday. I lost power for like 3 whole minutes and it came back on so we got lucky. My grandpa in Manchester doesn't have power and neither does my dad. So I'm guessing all my other family in West Union and southern Ohio don't have power either. My dad has a generator and he said he put his food from the freezer outside in the snow and ice...CLEVER! And he put his fridge stuff in the garage. Genious idea! Too bad we didn't think of that when we picked up my mom yesterday. The roads are just so icy and impassable. Richard couldn't even go to work yesterday. And then just about an hour ago Brenden slipped on the driveway trying to shovel it and couldn't put pressure on his leg, so I carried all 76 pounds of him in the house. Can you say heavy! But he's ok now so no broken bones. Our school system is already over their snow days limit by 2 days. I don't know if they'll have school tomorrow or not. It's hard to tell right now because the roads are still crap and we are still a Level 2 emergency. It took Richard 2 hours to get to work this morning. That drive on a normal day is 35 minutes. Clearly he took my car and not his camaro, he'd like to keep that for a while and that car is not made for icy roads. Ok, well, everyone stay warm!

Ah-Choo!

I've been sick since last week and I'm finally starting to feel better. The only thing lingering is the stuffy nose. I had a horrible cough and runny nose and sneezing for the last part of last week and felt horrible. I hate being sick. I got nothing done around the house on Thursday and Friday and I'm now catching up on laundry today that should have been done last week.

We got a little bit of snow yesterday and Brenden got to earn $5 to shovel the driveway. He did a good job too. We thought he'd be sore today but he never complained before school of hurting. And after shoveling, he stayed outside and went sledding too. Spencer played outside with him for all of 10 minutes before coming in and Cassidy stayed in. No way was I gonna go play when I've been feeling like crap. It looks like we may be getting anothe 2-4" over tonight and tomorrow. There is an awesome hill at the football field Brenden's football games were at that the boys are waiting to go sledding at. Maybe we'll be able to do that this week.

Ok, have a great week everyone. Have fun in the snow!