Winter Stuff

Can we all hope for an early Spring????? I am so tired of all the sickness. It hasn't stopped since before Christmas, the 19th to be exact. Colds, stomach virisus, colds, knee operations, more colds, fevers, bronchilitis.... Tylenol has earned their quarterly revenue in this household alone!!


Right now, Luke has what I thought was croup, so 2 nights ago, we were in the bathroom with the hot water in the shower running 3 times during the night! The doc diagnosed it as broncilitis, inflamation of the small tubes in the lungs. Yesterday at the doctor's office, they gave him a breathing treatment, which helped his labored breathing. They prescribed Albuterol in a liquid which I gave to him at bedtime last night, which was what they recommended. Not doing that again! His poor little body was so restless he didn't know what to do. It took until about 4 a.m. for him to stop waking up every hour.


Enough of the sick talk. Mallory is fully walking now, they both love their new found upright mobility and freedom from the low crawling world. It isn't harder for us, just higher. Everything that was 1 foot off the ground is now 3 feet off the ground. Mallory loves to sing and dance, I think she inherited musical talent from my mom's side of the family! If I ask her to sing, she starts rocking back and forth and going "Lalalala". It is pretty sweet! Luke does it too, but there is just something about a little girl singing in a soft high pitch voice that is cuter.


We went up to the cabin last week during Cole's school vacation. I found out they have daycare at the ski resort close to the cabin. So on Thursday, Cole had his 4th snowboard lesson and I was able to go skiing for a couple of hours! It has been 2 years, but after the first couple of runs, I stopped saying to myself, "Maybe I don't need to ski anymore...I am almost 40!" and enjoyed it! Cole and I even went on our first run together, just mommy and Cole! And the twins did great and were a big hit in the daycare!


Cole is turning 8 in a couple weeks. When did that little dude get so big? He had a biography assignment today at school. He chose Lance Armstrong. He dressed the part, gave clues to the class to have them try to guess who he was. I'll add a picture later.

Well, Sunday is my PRETEST for my black belt (I just got butterflies), so I better go practice, practice, practice.


Livestrong ;)

Mallory Walks

Here she is, 14 months and starting to walk. She's really getting the hang of it!

Uncle Dean and Aunt Lela, This Post's For You!

Uncle Dean and Aunt Lela sent the 3 kids cute Valentine cards today. I read them to Luke and Mallory and they loved them, they wanted to hold them, so here they are with their Valentine's cards. Thank you! Cole liked his too, but he was not at home for this video. I gotta get them while I can!

Milestones and Smiles

A big hello to everyone! Does anyone else think it's scary that I am excited that it is 39 degrees today? Well, it is better than 10 below last week, that's a 50 degree difference!


Mallory is trying to join the upright world by attempting the walking thing. She has taken up to 7 steps and is so cute and proud of herself when she does it. Luke has ditched the arms straight up in the air and now walks like he is carrying heavy suitcases. Cole makes them laugh by wrestling with them, which they love. I have to turn away since it looks worse than it is. He also likes to get them out of their cribs in the morning and play with them.


Speaking of Cole, we want to thank everyone that contributed to the "Race for Education". Cole walked around the school for an hour in order to raise money for newer technology for the school. They were able to raise over $30,000! That money is going toward more Smartboards, upgraded computers, etc. all of which Cole will directly benefit from since he will be at that school for 2 more years. Thank you!


Luke now has 6 teeth with another one coming up top. Mallory has 3 with one trying to poke through up top too. She is NOT a good teether.


I took the 3 kids sledding on MLK Jr. Day. I was in a full sweat just getting their clothes on them. I put a pair of Cole's old boots on Luke. You would have thought I put 50 pound weights on his feet. He didn't know what to do, he couldn't crawl or walk, he just cried as if to say "Why mommy? Why did you put these things on my feet?!" They had a good time anyway.




Enjoy the video and pictures!

Is it Spring Yet?

I think it's about 12 degrees outside right now.


I don't really know what's new...I started Biggest Loser Bootcamp workout and the yoga one too. Bob really kicks your butt, he loves lunges. I am on the countdown...75 days until my Black Belt Exam!!! Yikes.


Luke is completely walking now, he only crawls if he is chasing/playing with Mallory. She is walking everywhere, but holding on to everything, so not on her own yet.


I joined Facebook. That is a pretty fun tool. Michael and I are "friends" and he "wrote on my wall", all these sayings I'll have to get used to.


Cole's front teeth are finally growing in, it only took 8 months!


Everyone is healthy finally! Mallory, Cole and I all got a stomach virus on New Year's Eve. We were up at the cabin with 2 other families. They ended up leaving that night (sorry!), then 5 out of 6 of their kids ended up getting it anyway.

Hope everyone is having a good new year so far!

Let It Snow!

Well, it will definitely be a white Christmas this year! We have had 2 storms (with another one to come) that dumped about 16-18 inches of snow on us. And, since Michael is down for the count temporarily, I learned how to use the snow blower and snow rake.

For those of you that didn't know, Michael had knee surgery 2 weeks ago. He tore his miniscus and had to have it repaired by means of arthroscopic surgery. He was on crutches for a few days. He is doing much better and walking around with less of a limp. Then he got bronchitis. He has been on some lame antibiotics that don't seem to be working, poor Michael.

Poor Brad and Holly and kids, too. Last week in the ice storm, they lost power for 6 days. They stayed in their house for 2 nights, then a friend's house for a couple days, and 3 nights with us. It was fun, kind of reminded me of the Northridge Earthquake in '94. Fun for me, not them. :( Actually, I think they had fun. It was a big sleepover for the kids.

Anyway, we are ready for Christmas except for the fact that our tree is DEAD!!!! I hope it stays up for a couple more days because on the 26th, bye bye!!

Cole is very excited for Santa. This year he received the Elf on a Shelf. Oh my gosh, if you haven't heard of this, and you have kids, you must get one for next year. It is the cutest concept. I got it at the Hallmark store. It comes with a little stuffed elf and a book about the Elf on a Shelf. You have to name your elf, ours is Nate. He watches you during the day, then at night, he flys to Santa with his elf magic to report how the child(ren) has been behaving each day, then when he returns, he is in a different location in your house and the child(ren) has to find him. It is so cute!

The twins are clueless about Christmas, but it will be cute to watch them open gifts and then play with the boxes. They are really fun to watch lately. Luke is starting to walk, which is hysterical. He puts his arms straight up over his head and laughs at the fact that he is upright, then after 4 or 5 steps, he falls. Mallory is saying a few words, kitty, mama, dada, uh-oh!

This is the Christmas picture I really wanted to use.

We wish everyone a beautiful Christmas, and a healthy, happy new year!