Friday, April 29, 2011

Dirt Cake!

The boys are always handy in the kitchen.

This day, they pitched in to make their very own dirt cake for their preschool birthday party!
 Lining the cups with dirt and worms!

Clean-up's always a CHORE!

Precious Pose!

Dirt cake!!

Logan during the singing of Happy Birthday and that's "their" girlfriend, Anna!
Logan never looked up and seemed so serious and quietly proudful during the whole song!
I think Anna was concerned that he wasn't happy!

And Austin was happy and bashful!  
;-)

 It was Austin's day to lead the class in the Pledge of Allegiance!


 They. Look. So. BIG!


Sweet, sweet (and cah-razy) boys!
This was actually Thursday, the day before their birthday, 
but Nonnie and I still took the boys to Chucky Cheese for a pre-big day celebration.




The Dreaded Call!

During Spring Break, my friend Tracey and I pulled the boys together to share a sitter for one day while we carpooled to work.  This was the first time that this sitter had all four boys.
 (Austin, Zak, Logan and Van right after silly stringing the monster at Van's birthday party)
(The monster is Van's dad in a cardboard constructed suit!)

Back to the spring break week, about 20-30 minutes earlier than I expected, Tracey called my cell phone.   I started packing things up assuming she was on the way.  But the way she say, "Have you talked to Erin?"  immediately had my Mom-hunches up, and I responded with, "No, why? who's hurt?  What's happened?" 

Thankfully, Tracey pretty calmly said, "Van hit Logan in the head with a rock.  Apparently there's lots of blood.  And she's called the ambulance.  I'm on my way to get you now."

...

...

...

I packed up my stuff even more quickly, thankfully Tracey stayed on the phone with me, and I ran out the office to wait for her.  Tracey and I do a stellar job as co-mommies.  She totally gets me, and together she and I "talked" through the possibilities of it probably just being a "10" on the accident scale of 100.  Head injuries bleed so much.  I was too afraid to talk directly to Erin (and hear Logan), but there had been no mention of him being unconscious or throwing up.   My kids are at the stage where any sight of blood sends them into fits - they think they are going to die.  So, right away, I knew Erin had her hands full with 4 boys, and at least one, if not more of them, screaming their heads off.  Believe me, there are many days I want to call 911 myself! 

While talking to Tracey, it suddenly donned on me that if Logan did require medical attention, 
they might just be rushing him off in the ambulance
....without his brother or his friends
....and without his Mommy.  

And that thought KILLED me!  

I begged Tracey to call Erin back and if there was any possible way (bar life threatening situation) to have the ambulance wait for me.  Ultimately, I knew I would have to trust the paramedics to make the right call, but if there was anyway possible, I wanted to avoid a trauma that would surely put Logan in therapy until at least highschool!  

Despite her incredible Mario'esque driving skills, Tracey couldn't get to my office fast enough.  But she did arrive and riding together was great - I don't think I could have made that drive by myself, without freaking out.  She broke every speed record there was and got us home in 18 minutes from the time she called my phone - normally it's at least a 30 minute commute!

On the way, I did manage one phone with the parametics, who had to confirm a parent was on the way.
 He said, Logan might need some stitches, but it wasn't worse than that.
Once we arrived, the parametics and the sitter met us at the front door. 
And I think 3 out of the 4 boys.  
Not seeing Logan in traction on a gourney did wonders for my state of mind.  
And the fact that they were at the front door and not tending to his bedside helped too.  
The babysitter's eyes were about to pop out of head, she looked so stressed!  
I immediately hugged her and told her she did a fantastic job and made the right call.  

I then spent way too long filling out forms denying the need for a ride in a vehicle with blazing lights and a blaring horn.   

I still have major Mommy guilt for not rushing to Logan right away.   
;-(  
He was sitting on the couch in Tracey's living room and didn't say a word as I made my way to him.  
He just cuddled up into me with a sad face.  
I truly can't believe that was NOT the FIRST thing I did upon arriving!
;-(
I should also mention that I constantly say, "We might need to call the ambulance" when they get hurt.
My children seriously have no fear and no concept of mortality with all of their death defying stunts - so I do try and implement a little bit of fear in them.  
Therefore, when Logan heard that an ambulance was coming, his screaming quadrupled!  


Later that night, Tracey and I compared stories and learned that a policeman had responded to the call as well.  Now, if you're Van at this point - who is one of the MOST empathetic children I know! - and feeling horrible about the accident as well as thinking you're in trouble - having the police show up does not do wonders for your physche!  

In the end, Logan did not even need stitches.  
He did have a little bump and a good little cut - right at the back and top part of his head.  
His outfit had a good amount of blood on it..and Erinn also had some on her.   

Austin and Zak cannot get enough mileage out of this story!  

And Van and Logan just sort of walk out the room when the topic comes up.  
For the most part, none of the children seem to have any residual scarring for this emotional event. 
And for the record, sweet Van threw the rock UP, UP in the air and it came down, down on Logan's head.
Had my guys been the culprit, it would have been a direct aim and hit!
Amazingly, the sitter even says she'll come back, if we'll have her! 
And we will - we all agree that she did an incredible job in a very scarey situation!

And on the bright side, Tracey and I now have a GREAT real-life story to remind the 4 boys of 
- whenever they are attempting to do something dangerous! 
{insert sigh of relief}

First 911 call survived! 




Monday, April 25, 2011

Easter Best!

Despite ALL the outfits gone wrong,
these boys do appreciate looking good!

 (Love, love their hand holding!)

 They just couldn't resist ONE pre-church bounce on the trampoline!

 Yes.  Yes, they did keep their hats, ties and vests on for the WHOLE morning!

After church, we headed over to Nonnie's
Where the Easter Bunny had left lots of eggs!

Austin

 Logan

 Lory and Mason!

Er'vrybody!
(Mason, Lory, Mitch, Patsy, Nonnie, Gary, Me, Austin and Logan)

We missed you, Evan and Amanda.
:-(

We had a wonderful Easter Day and sure hope you all did, too!!

Friday, April 22, 2011

Favorite Foto Friday

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Sorry

Rough day at the ranch this week.
Daddy and I high-5'd a hand off this week as I was coming home from work and he was heading out to a ball game - a ball game that the twins had lost the priviledge of attending due to a series of unfortunate decisions on their ends. 

Honest Abe would be proud - my little jailbirds sang like canaries.

They dictated, I wrote and then they added their own words. 




Sunday, April 17, 2011

Bu-yah!

Despite my er, "adventureness" tendency as a mother,
(read: letting the boys cook despite the mess, run around in the rain despite getting soaked, etc)
I admit the ONE thing I have never done (with the older boys nor the little ones)
is dye Easter Eggs.
The pans, the dye, the  vinegar
it's just a disaster waiting to happen
and I know that I would be yelling the whole time.

Besides, my church does it EVERY year, so the experience is not lost to the boys.

This year, however....
I stumbled upon a FANTASTIC way to dye eggs and Nonnie was just as into it as I was.

First, I give you: the RESULTS:

 Bu-YAH!
I think we ROCKED it out!
;-)

This is by no-means a tutorial,
(just google and you should find several step-by-steps)

In short - the above eggs were created with men's neck ties! 
We cut them up and wrapped the eggs in the pieces of fabric.
 Boiled the eggs (with the wraps on).
And then, have a TON of fun unwrapping them to see what treasure awaits inside!






Logan showing off a peeled egg!

Austin showing off his boiled egg!

;-)
We LOVED this activity!
And I'm sure it will be making an annual appearance at our house!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

"You can sell all our toys, Mom!"

All we need is the SpinSword!
Well, and the Samurizer (that we don't have yet)!

Last we left off, the twins were on week 3 of workin'
hard to earn their overpriced toys!

Big Brother (and mega Twin-Hero) even got in on the donations.
After my last post, Evan applied his hard-work, dedication and exacto-knife skills
to put together this neat little gift for the boys:
 A SUPER COOL note from The Red Power Ranger HIMSELF!
 Addressed to both the Blue and the Green Rangers.
 Isn't that PRECIOUS!?!

So, how did they earn the rest of the money?
Well, you know - I. Am. Such. a. strict. mother and rule enforcer. It went down a little like this...

On the way out the door one morning, I was trying to squeeze another round of laundry in.
The boys were playing (read: rough housing) and in fact, had been ALL morning long.
I got my serious tone on and told them to head downstairs and get their backpacks.
Of course, the rough housing continued.
On the way.
Down the stairs.
And before I could yell out a warning,
I HEARD the crash, the thump, and more and more thumpin'.
I raced down the stairs before I even took in what had happened...
But, I eventually saw Austin on the floor, both hands up to face and wailing like there was no tomorrow.
Turns out, Logan had tripped up Austin's foot and Austin (I think) fell face first on the stairs and then slid
All the way down. on. his. face.
And I think, the actuall fact of falling (understandably) scared the living shitake out of him.
After eventually ascertaining that the child was okay, we left the house about 10 minutes late -
Even though Austin kept telling me that he didn't want to school. 
And that he wanted to stay with me.
And he started crying again, so..
Well, I may have whispered in his ear that I maybe, would, um, er
sorta "pay" him to go to school.

I'll pause for the gasp/intake of breath.

"What, Mommy?"
Trying not to let Logan hear, I said, "um, a dollar. 
If you go to school like a big, brave boy. Mommy will give you a dollar."
 My skilled negoiator immediately stopped crying and SHOUTED out,
"TEN DOLLARS!  I want TEN DOLLARS to go to school, Mommy!"
Of course, Logan wanted in the deal.
I kicked myself and sort of ssh'd them/ignored/distracted them, dropped them off at school and prayed that I hadn't just pulled a(nother) bad-mommy move like sending my kid to school with a possible concussion.

Fast forward three hours, Nonnie calls me from her cell phone after picking up the kids from school.
When I answer, instead of Nonnie, I hear the precious tiny voice of Austin
(ya know the one that sounds like they are much smaller and younger than they look in person)
"Mommy, can I have my 10 doll-wars to go get my Samuri SpinSword today, Mommy?
I was a big brave boy and went to school like you said."

And that was that.
Knowing how obsessed they were.
Knowing that Nonnie shouldn't have to deal with the repurcussions of a "No" for the rest of the day - I caved. 
They both got the money to get their SpinSword.

Just hoping that the BIGGER lesson and hard work of EARNING the money overshadows the,
"Hey, if I push my brother down the stairs or if I take a really big fall, I can CASH in BIG time to get toys!" 
I'll let you know in 5 years which lesson stuck. 
Any bets?

They don't light up.
They don't make noise.
The tips are made of soft rubber that bends.
 They do allow us to make super cool poses, though!

 And that little disc thing spins. Apparently that's SUPER cool!

Next life lesson:
If it's 8:00pm and Mom forgot to feed us dinner, we get the Happy Meals with the toy
 and not just the dollar menu items!

Go MOM!
;-)

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Busy! Busy! Busy!

Birthdays, park trips, a 10k, picnics and the arrival of the beloved, 
hard-earned Power Ranger Samurai SpinSwords!
That's what we've been up to!

Nonnie turned 70!  
And of course, the boys wanted her to wear a very regal-looking Princess Crown!
(Logan left, Austin right)

"Attack the bad guy with Silly String" event at Van's birthday party!
(Logan left.  Austin right) 

  Battle-swords at Eli's birthday party!


Zak, Logan, Van and Austin at the park.

As you can also see from the wardrobes, we are having high/lows with the temperature as Winter makes it's exit.

Me and my college homegirls after the 10k!
   
    More to come!  I hope!