WHAT was Santa thinking?

She didn't really knock me over...but she came close!

This gift will no doubt provide us with hours of entertainment on those winter days when it's too chilly to spend alot of time outside.  I have plans for an obstacle course with this ride included :)

Sleep In

The only purpose of tonight's post:  a sincere plea.


Dear Lovely Children,

If you could somehow manage to sleep past 7:00am tomorrow morning, that would be awesome.  Even though it's a school morning, we don't actually need to be out of the house until 9:00am.  And Daddy doesn't go into work until early afternoon so we won't be rushing around as much to get out the door.  In short, tomorrow is a prime morning for sleeping in just a bit...I'm thinking 7:30ish.

We had an awesome but tiring weekend.  Indulge me just this once, mmmkay?

Love,
Mommy

Strawberry Festival 2011

This past weekend, the annual Strawberry Festival was held by a local hospital/wellness foundation.  It is always alot of fun & I've gone most years since I was a kid.

It is a Thursday-Sunday event.  In recent years, we've opted to take the kids on Saturday morning, right when the place opens at 11am.  This has worked for a few reasons: it's typically good timing for the kids, the rides are half price and it isn't jam-packed with people.  This year, my niece told me she was going to go on Friday evening.  So hubby and I discussed and figured, why not change it up?  We still went early.  It opens at 5pm and we were there around 5:20.  We stayed longer than we expected to and still were home by 9.  Maybe next year, we can hang for the 9:30 fireworks?!

Anyway, we still had a blast and the only downside was no half-priced tickets so we spent more than necessary on rides.  HOWEVER, I had a brainstorm to pack dinner for the kids (and myself)...BEST IDEA EVER!  They rarely eat food in that type of environment but the PBJ, goldfish and yogurt I brought worked out to be the perfect refuel.  And we still got to have funnel cake before leaving!

I managed to catch a few photos, including my great nephew Ben (while he is indeed a great kid, he is literally my great nephew-aren't I too young for that?).  Can't wait to see what other fairs pop up this summer!

This is the first year that Liam was actually excited to get on rides
 and didn't have to be bribed coaxed onto the first one

Chloe got her share of rides too- pics didn't turn out great but she had so much fun!

Michael with Ben (doing some air guitar)

Weekend Brief and Tuesday Treehouses

FYI, I'm skipping over major world events of the past week...

Here in our little world, we had a busy weekend complete with a 5k run/walk (in which, we neither ran nor walked).  We got caught up in the other activities and THEN, we received a phone call from my mom saying that my dad had been in a car accident (less than 2 miles down the road from where we were).  I'll spare the suspense by saying that my dad is okay after an overnight stay in the hospital.

While he was driving, someone pulled out of their driveway right into my dad!  My dad was traveling at about 35mph so it was a good whack.  Say what you will about Toyota, but the airbag and front end of his little Corolla totally did the job of protecting my dad.  He actually got out of the car (he saw smoke and wasn't sure if it was the airbag or something else).

His chest is VERY sore from the airbag impact and he has a couple scrapes on his legs...but other than that, he is FINE!  Because he has heart issues, they kept him overnight at the hospital to observe his heart and insure that he didn't suffer heart damage (aka, a heart attack) due to the stress of the accident.

I am so, so relieved that my Dad is okay :)  If you are one of my FB friends, then you already knew the gist of this.

In other news, we went to Tyler Arboretum today and had a blast with the kids!!  They currently have an exhibit called "Terrific Treehouses" which I have heard so much about.  We have a membership and will definitely be going back because it was a great family spot.  A few photos for your viewing pleasure...

Chinese Jumprope

I don't know about you but my friends and I spent a considerable amount of time playing regular jumprope and chinese jumprope during recess.  I went to Catholic school and our 'playgrounds' left much to be desired.  There were no swings or anything of that sort.  They were more like parking lots (literally).

You had to make your own fun.  We played lots of games- some of them as I recall were quite strange.  Has anyone ever heard of a game called "The Witch in the Well"?  OMG, that's a whole post in and of itself.  Let me make a note of that...you are in for a treat & will probably question whether or not you should continue to read this blog.  Unless you have heard of it...then you will just wonder about yourself.

I digress...where was I?  Oh yeah, Chinese Jumprope.  I got one for Mike (from Old Navy of all places) as a stocking stuffer.  I thought we would have some fun with it...and I was right!!

We finally broke it out this past week.  I showed the boys how to do it.  At first, I think they were a little confused.  But by the second time we tried it, they got it.  I am definitely cherishing these moments when laughter comes easily and we are all together just having fun.

Beating the Cold

Today I took the kids on a little adventure...just the kids and I.  To a little place called "Hands On House".  And it was so much fun!!  I was not stressed, no one tantrummed and we stayed just long enough to enjoy it but not long enough to get bored.

I've mentioned before that I am picky about where I will take the 3 kids by myself.  My main concern is always safety- it's sometimes hard to keep everyone together just walking thru the preschool parking lot.  I imagine the problem becoming exponentially WORSE in a new, exciting environment.

Then I remember that my kids actually do better when something is NEW and DIFFERENT!  It's the routine, hum-drum tasks that throw them into a tailspin.  I don't think this is true of most kids but you can let me know if I am wrong about that!

Anyway, this place is dubbed a children's museum.  The kids can play with everything and there is lots of variety including a grocery store, tree house, dress up area, farm area, machine shop...you get the idea.  I found this particular place very easy to navigate (it isn't too big) and it was easy to keep all 3 kids in view without anyone becoming bored.  I imagine it being even cooler in the spring/summer because there is an outside garden and picnic area.

We all really enjoyed it and the kids didn't really require alot of guidance from me.  Michael even figured out the assembly line/machine shop at the end.  I can see us visiting again.  Because I was keeping an eye on everyone, I didn't get the best photos but I did manage to snag a few.

This is my kind of day: we got to do something new and it was effortless fun :)

Liam above, Michael below...insects at base of tree house

Chloe working on her igloo

Waiting for the chickens to lay their eggs

A little shopping

Impromptu stage appearance- Tutu Chloe, Michael the Conquerer, Liam the Dragon

Liam above as Cogswell Cogs...Michael below as Spacely Sprockets

Note-Michael attempted to paint his own face in the facepainting section

Chloe continuing to refuse actually LOOKING at the camera ;)

Regularly Scheduled Programming

Well, hello there! We are back from a lovely, extended vacation and while I am happy to be home, I am not happy to be back to our daily routine. It's a bit tedious after all of our fun in the sun last week. Add to that the fact that all 3 children are some degree of sick right now and you've got yourself a total buzz kill. So let's not talk about that right now, mmkay?

Last week was fantastic!! We went to Ocean City, Maryland for a week with my parents, my brother & his two youngest kids. We also made a stop at my bro-in-law's place in Delaware for a little shindig & more family time. Sadly, our camera pooped out a few days in so I resorted to buying 2 disposable cameras (wow, digital is SO much more forgiving of my photography skills). So I won't have much to post in the way of photos but let me see what I can do. We did get pics taken by these photographers that do photos on the beach and then you can purchase them in these little telescope-type key chain things. I'm not sure my description is a good one so in case you haven't heard of them, here's a link to their website. You can also buy regular photo sheets & I think I can scan a couple of those that we ended up buying. They were initially pricey but we got a decent deal ($4.99/sheet) and it was worth it given my camera situation.

Then it was on to Mike's brother's house for a party & more family fun. The kids did great and we had so much fun. The beach is certainly alot more work with kids but luckily all 3 of ours LOVE the beach so we just have to haul a metric ton of stuff & we are all set.

We had so much fun that everyone was pretty much exhausted by the end of it! I actually was not as tired as I thought I would be. I think being around everyone really energized me. I was super tired the morning after the party at Mike's brothers house. The kids went to bed early and without a fuss so Mike & I were actually able to hang out with adults, have some drinks, sing songs & laugh until about 2am.

Now for the sick updates: Liam started to seem under the weather last Thursday, had a fever on Saturday and now appears to have allergy-type symptoms only. Michael spiked a high fever late Tuesday night, slept the day away yesterday and is back to normal today. Chloe had a rough night last night, fever and fussy. I guess it is maybe some sort of summer virus? No rashes for any of them, no blisters in the mouth...I am just keeping an eye on everyone & hoping to be in the clear for a play date tomorrow. Yesterday was miserable because all 3 kids were tired and fussy. There just wasn't enough of mommy to go around!! I am hoping that we can return to healthy status ASAP.

Well, that does it for now...

Name Game

I blatantly stole this from The Jason Show. Have some fun with me, I need something light that won't bum me out...

Post this on your blog and let me know in the comments so anyone who wants to can check it out :)

Name Game
.
Your Real Name: Jane
.
Witness Protection Name:(mother and fathers middle names) Rita Robert
.
Secret Spy Name: (your first name spelled backwards) Enaj
.
Nascar Name: first name of your mother's dad, father's dad) Paul Carl
.
Detective Name:(favorite color, favorite animal) Blue Dog
.
Soap Opera Name:(middle name, county where you were born) Teresa Chester
.
Super Hero Name: (2nd fav color, fav drink, add "THE" to the beginning) The Pink Lemon Drop
.
Fly Name:(first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name) Jala
.
Street Name:(fav ice cream flavor, fav cookie) Mint Chocolate Sugar
.
Rock Star: (1st pet's name, street you grew up on) Barney South Sixth (this one doesn't work out well for me)
.
Your Next Child's Name: (name of your fav perfume/cologne, fav candy) CK One Twix OR Sunflowers Twix