The Zoo

During Josh's vacation we took a trip to the zoo. The kids had a blast. Luckily the weather was perfect. I'm not sure what the appeal is, but every child in the world wanted on top of the scalding hot metal tortoise.
We rode the train around the park. It was nice because there was only one other family on the train with us, and they got off at the back of the zoo. On the way back to the front it was a private tour! Caleb cried because he wanted to go again. :-(

Caleb really liked the little petting zoo area. It was really a nice day out for everyone.

Have an animal-tastic day!

Easter Pictures

It is a truth universally acknowledged that any child in an Easter outfit must be antsy in front of the camera. But here's the dress I made for Madeline and the matching tie I made Caleb.
They had a lot of fun at the Church egg hunt.

Have a chocolate bunny-tastic day!

Valentine Shirts and Other Randomness

Heya everyone. We're almost caught back up! Here is a little shot of the shirts I made the kids for Valentine's day. (Well, I didn't make the shirts... I appliqued them... but you know what I mean.) They were a big hit. And here's a good example of Caleb's steroid face. He was so puffy. I know the medicine helped him get better, but I almost can't stand to look at pictures of him like this. It changed him so much (both in appearance and behavior).
On a lighter note, this is what happens when Madeline "helps" you unpack groceries. What you can't see in the picture is the way she picks up every box and can and shakes it to see if it comes open. She's not always sure what's inside of something, but she wants to find out... and probably eat it!

Sometimes... like in the case of these crackers... she can tell exactly what's inside by the pictures. Then she'll stop at nothing to get some.

Luckily, I have another helper who knows the rules. He just laughs and puts everything back on the counter as she pulls it down. It's kinda like the great circle of life or something... but less poetic... and probably less meaningful... but still, you get the idea. She takes it down; he puts it back. Scream. Stomp around. Repeat.

Have a grocery-tastic day!

More Random Pictures

So in the interest of catching up I've been picking out cute photos that never made it off my camera. I just love this picture of Madeline. This is what you wake up to if she's put to bed with wet hair. And here she is in the church nursery.
Here's Caleb helping Popup make snow ice cream.

And here are my boys out playing in the snow.

Have a great day!

Pictures from Christmas

Here are just a few shots I have of Christmas. I honestly didn't take many pictures. We were only home for the day before we went back to the hospital, but I'm not going to complain. Caleb was able to come home and open his presents with Madeline. He had a good time, so that's all that matters.

On the Air

Hello, everyone... if anyone is still out there... is this thing on? Welcome back to my little blog. Things have slowed down a bit around here. My computer has flown off to that great electronic junk heap in the sky, but for now I can use Josh's desktop. There's too much lost time to really catch up completely, so I'm going to be giving you some bits and pieces of what's been happening since December and the great ITP incident.

This is how we spent the end of December and the beginning of January. It was one of the most helpless feelings in the worlds watching my son struggle through an illness that didn't make him feel sick. He didn't understand why he was in the hospital... why he was hooked up to so many tubes... and why Mommy and Daddy just stood there and let the doctors hurt him over and over again. His blood was drawn countless times before the ordeal was over. To this day he'll still tell you he was in the hospital because his arm was hurt. (He just remembers the splint he had on his arm to keep him from pulling out his IV.)

Thankfully we're almost done with ITP and blood draws. Caleb has one more scheduled draw, and if that comes back ok we can consider him cured. That's all for now. I have more pictures to sort through, but I'm sure I'll find some more in there to share.

A Bloggity Vacation

sorry about the extended blogging vacation. it's a combination of factors. i've been very busy with caleb and his illness. it doesn't help that my computer died in the middle of it. everything was backed up, but there's still not anywhere for it to go. when i get a new computer or get this one fixed so i can put pictures on it again i'll start blogging more.

Tis the Season

Mmm... I love Christmas. It's so fun in so many ways. Anyway... here are my munchkins playing with Josh before bed last night. I love it that Maddie is old enough to play along now.

And here are the munchkins before church this morning. It's so hard to get a picture of them both looking at the camera. It doesn't help that I was too close and the pictures are overexposed. Sorry. It's what I've got.

Have a great day!

Sick Day

Oh the joy of childhood stomach bugs. Caleb was sick for a week straight. I've cleaned up more vomit and diarrhea in the past few days than any person should be subjected to. (Although in the interest of fairness, Josh has done his share of clean-up duty.) It didn't help that somewhere in the middle of all this I came down sick too. Luckily, Josh and my wonderful in-laws took care of the munchkins (nasty stuff and all) so I could recuperate.

After the first night of stripping his bed every time he got sick, Caleb was moved to a sick bed. Luckily we still have his old crib mattress, (which is plastic covered) so we put it right in his doorway. (Which is conveniently located next to the bathroom.) We lined the hallway with towels, (who wants to scrub carpets at three in the morning?) and hunkered down for a week of feeling cranky. Today is the first day he's really acting normal again. Here you can see his new independence shining through. He's liked to pick out his clothes for quite a while now, but he always wants help getting dressed. After a minor milk catastrophe at lunch I told him to go pick out a new outfit. He came back looking like this. Notice the fashionable striped shirt (that he put on all by himself!!) combined with the Cars pajama pants, and the mismatched socks. This boy doesn't like it if his socks are the same color. He was so very proud of himself... and I'm proud of him too! It's about time he started dressing himself a little more often.
Due to the same milk catastrophe, Madeline needed a new outfit as well. (It was a wide spread bovine juice event.) I told Caleb that he could pick Maddie's clothes, too. Here's what he decided on. His explanation went something along the lines of, "Maddie needs a cars shirt, but she has to wear pink pants so she's a girl." Apparently wearing the pink pants makes her a girl. Good to know.

Have a fashion-tastic day!

The Problem of the Christmas Tree...

Okay... so how do I protect this... from these???
Answer: the barricade system.

Caleb is old enough not to break anything on purpose, but Maddie just likes to take the shiny things off the tree and eat them.

And here's the ornament Caleb picked out for Madeline:

And here's the one he picked for himself. Cars... naturally.

Have a Christmas-tastic day!