James gets glasses!

They have been back-ordered for three weeks and they finally arrived today. Thank goodness because if I had to hear him ask one more time if his glasses were in, I think I might have gone crazy!

It's raining, it's pouring...

This has been one of the strangest winters we have ever had. Today, there is a cross of rain, snow, thunder and lighting. It is so odd out. Anyway, there is no way to go out, so Brennen decided to play baseball in the house. Of course, Charlotta went right away to get a glove for herself!

She was so happy to get the ball...

that she refused to give it up, which made Brennen really sad.

That in turn made Charlotta mad and we had a bit of a disaster on our hands.

Nothing fixes sad/mad babies like a bit of tickle torture...


(although I am not sure if this super happy picture of Brennen is cute or a little scary!)

Ahhh, a good day mom!

A New Game

Skylar, James and I tried out a new game that they got for Christmas while everyone else was asleep. It is called Magician's Kitchen and the kids just loved it. I even thought it was fun. It is easy enough for Brennen to play it and the older kids don't have that much of an advantage. Thank you Grandma!

A last day of practice

This is the last day of practice for a few of our kids who did not qualify for the Tri-State Championship meet. We played some games and all the kids had a lot of fun!

James' Midwestern Meet/Skylar qualifier

This weekend was the big meet for James, but also a qualifier for Skylar for her Midwestern meet (she is so close in a few events!). Starting the weekend out carb loading at Olive Garden and having a root beer at the bar!

The kids swam very well and were on the podium frequently. James scored 3 second place medals (there was one kid there who won everything by a mile!), 1 third, 2 fourths and 2 fifths.

Skylar also did well in her races. She had a 3rd, 4th, 5th, couple of 6ths. She dropped a lot of time in her events and is now so close to Midwesterns in 3 or four events, but this was her last chance to swim these events this year. She is much better in the distance events, than the sprints, but only the sprints are offered at the Tri-State Championship meet next weekend. I think if she had one more meet she would have made it, but oh well. She will make it next year for sure!

We had lots of fun beside swimming as well. I however forgot my good camera at home and my phone died, so I only have a few pictures. We went to the Amazing Pizza Machine (if anyone with kids ever goes to Omaha, you have to go there!), and had some other amazing food. We went to a Japanese steak house where they cook the food in front of you and the kids just loved that, especially when the cook tricked Skylar by squirting pretend soy sauce on her. She fell for it hook, line and sinker! It was a great weekend for us all.

Not one of my better days!

After a very short night of sleep (due to getting in late from Vegas), I started on a rather rough day.

7:07 walk in the door from swimming.
7:08 Brennen pukes on the floor. Did he gag from all the coughing he is doing or is he actually getting sick?
7:11 Wake up James. He wakes up hacking a lung and can't stop coughing. I let Skylar sleep in since she has been sick since Sunday. She can't go to school today because she still had a fever last night and they must be fever free for 24hours before they can go back. This makes the 3rd day of school that she will miss.
7:15 Open the dishwasher to get a clean plate for the kids' breakfast and discover that it is about to flood the kitchen and it has totally crapped out (JT takes it out later in the day-working on getting a new one).

7:22 Charlotta is yelling at me from her crib to come get her. She has stripped off her PJ's and diaper and there is poop everywhere! Yeah me!
7:42 Charlotta is again yelling at me, "Milk, Milk, Milk," waving her cup around. It is full so I have no idea what she wants. Finally, I taste the milk and it is rotten. Crap, I just gave my baby spoiled milk!
8:15 Charlotta throws up. Is it the spoiled milk or is she getting sick?
8:20 Skylar: "Mom, mom, you forgot to wake me up for school!" Me: "Remember, you can't go?" Skylar: "Woo-hoo, let's party!" (I think she is feeling better:))
...Laundry/Charlotta breaks mommy's glasses...clean..Brennen pees his pants-TWICE!...
1:02 Drove JT back to work after lunch. I didn't think JT was home last week, so I didn't look for his car when I backed out of the garage and I ran right into his car. Damaged both vehicles-yeah me again! Now nick-named Crashy McCrasherton by JT and our insurance agent.
1:10 Try to get Brennen down for nap...
2:00 Still trying to get Brennen down. He can't lay still. He says his stomach hurts. Get him up to go to the bathroom. I can't go Mama, it hurts to much. Me: "what hurts?" B: "My butt" Me: "where does it hurt?" B: "In my butt, it's hot!" M: "What do you mean hot?" B: "There's fire in my penis!" (now, I am not a guy, but that sounds like it hurts!Bladder infection? UTI? Is that why he peed in his pants twice? I just don't know anything anymore!) He finally goes and then falls right asleep. When he wakes up nothing hurts any more. What to do?
...laundry...clean...swimming..
6:30 JT makes dinner, a family favorite, chicken parmesean. We start eating and there is definitely something wrong with the chicken. It is spoiled! Crap, now I've fed all of my sick children spolied chicken! I am praying that everyone does not start throwing up! JT doesn't realize it and keeps eating. He just thinks it tastes bad because of the different cheese we used. The rest of us tried a few bites and just couldn't go on. Here's to hoping that I am not cleaning up puke the rest of the night!

I know things could be a lot worse, but a lot of little things just seemed to pile up today! However, as I write this, I just have to laugh (especially since I have not had to clean up any more puke today) and hope that everyone is feeling just a little better tomorrow! Good day!

One fabulous Valentine's Day!

For my Christmas and Valentine's Day present, JT flew us out to Vegas for a night to see Elton John. It was totally fabulous! A friend of mine let me borrow this lovely dress. I think JT's eyes popped out of his head when I put this on! There were a lot of people staring...I just hope it was a good staring!

After a little snack of sushi we headed over to the show. Elton's piano (and his skills on said piano) was amazing. I don't know if you can see it in the picture below because it is basically camouflaged by the red paisley screen. See, the piano changed with the lights and had different designs on it for every single song. And holy cow, the man can still sing and play!

Having a fabulous time!

Nothing Better than a box!

It is a truth universally known that you can buy the greatest toy in the world, but the box that it came in entertains far longer than the toy itself!

Sisters are the BEST!!!!

First a little cuddle time!

Then a little hair playing time...

JT: "I have no hope with this one. She owns me!"

A little more cuddle time.