5 Miles

We’ve been working on trying to change an annoying habit the boys have. They have started saying, when bored, “Mommy (or Daddy), I want to DO something with you!” (In a whine.)  We have been working on eliminating the “I want” and telling them they can come to us asking to do something specific, but not just “I want to do something”.  I wasn’t liking the mindset that we were around to entertain them.)  So today, when Alex said, “Mommy, can we go for a walk today?” I felt I HAD to say yes.  And the weather had said today was going to get up into the 40s, so it was a perfect day for a walk, right?

So after lunch we bundled up. The boys decided they didn’t want to walk, they wanted to ride.  Marcus got bundled up and stuck in the stroller and we were off. It was a bit chillier then I expected–I was glad we had all bundled up. And this was without any wind! So the walk/ride was shorter then the boys really wanted, but Will was ready to head for home when we turned around and Alex soon conceded he was getting tired/cold too.

The frozen pond (with a log on top) and the stream near it that wasn’t frozen.

I liked the look of the leaves trapped under the ice. I wanted to get closer to take a picture but Marcus was fussing because the stroller had stopped moving, so I had to get moving again.  It was good to get out with the boys. Alex is now able to pedal well enough that I can get a good walk in (instead of the trudge I used to get when I’d be walking along as he used his feet to drag a Big Wheel or Foot Pedal Car along).  It’s something I am hoping to do more–as soon as it’s a bit warmer! While I love snow, I’m still a wimp in the cold, I blame 17 years of living in Texas!

For most of the year, Alex has only talked about the boys in his preschool class. Lately he’s been talking about a girl named Macy. I was trying to figure out why Macy suddenly was worthy of his attention. I asked him “Alex, why are you doing more with Macy?” “Because she stands in line in front of Max” he told me. (They line up in alphabetical order–so I have no idea how that matters when he’s up at the front of the line).  So I tried again, “So what makes Macy different then the other girls?” “She wears pig tails”. Um…no, not the answer I was looking for!  I tried one more time, “Why are you playing with her and not the other girls?” “I don’t know!”   I gave up at that point!

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This only makes sense if you understand we live in a suburb that is a bit more affluent and some would consider snobbish. I don’t feel like most of the people we know fall into that category (and we’re not affluent!!!) but it does have it’s reputation.  Will’s AWANA leader was telling me how they were talking about Lot & Sodom & Gomorrah. The person telling the story was saying what how evil the cities were and said “Can you imagine living in such an evil city?” Will raised his hand and said “That why we live in our city!”  That just made me laugh–the rest of our area is BAD, and we’re good? I promise we did nothing to make him think we were better then the others!

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Required photo (since I can’t seem to post unless I have a photo) 

What I’ve seen out my back door the last two days:

We’ve gotten some snow the last few days. Not much, but enough that the boys have had fun playing in it. They got a shovel and pushed together all the snow on the deck and the last two afternoons have spent time playing with their front end loaders in it.  They also have been playing football and soccer in the front yard. 

I am so thankful for snow gear + well knit wool mittens/hats/scarves that keep them warm. Today it was in the 20s and they were out for over an hour! They’ve needed the time to rough house and play around and I’ve needed this to happen outside the house!

This last week went by in a blur of grey, cloudy days.  After the fun bowling day, it was hard to get back into the swing of things on Wednesday–it felt like a Monday to me. Tuesday night/Wednesday morning was a night of little sleep, so I skipped Bible Study and got cleaning & a nap in instead. 

Thursday morning we had a crazy time from 5 am to 6 am, between Marcus waking up for a feeding, Alex waking up with a bad dream, Alex waking Will up, Marcus needing a diaper change and wanting more food, and the automated phone system for the school system calling to tell us of a two hour delay (even though Will doesn’t go on that day).  There was a some icing. Thankfully the kids went back to sleep and we all got to sleep in until after 8:30!

The weekend went by in a flash. I woke up sick Sunday morning so Marcus and I spent the morning at home while James and the boys went to church. We did all enjoy watching the Colts beat the Jets and are looking forward to watching the Super Bowl!

With some tears, Will brought me this today. Alex “made him” tear Rusty.  It turns out  Alex stuck Rusty under the bathroom door and Will pulled Rusty out and this happened.

So, all work at home stopped so we could do some “Emergency Fur-gery” (as my sister-in-law calls it).

The finished work. I like to use colored thread so we can see the different times Rusty has been worked on. If you look closely, you can see he’s had some work done.

The dog was a gift from Uncle Randy & Aunt Shari. This picture is in his crib, he’s starting to sleep in there more and more because he sleeps better in it then in the bassinet in our room.

We had his one month check up on the 19th and Marcus is up to 10 lb, 5 oz. He was 6 lb. 15 oz. when we took him in for his one week appointment, so in 3 weeks he’s gained over 3 pounds!!! He’s now in the 50% for weight and height (he was in or under the 25% before)…needless to say he’s gaining weight just fine. He’s starting to hold his head up when he’s being held for longer and longer times. The Doctor was impressed with how well he keeps eye contact as well as how he’s holding his head up.

Last week we went bowling!

We were originally going to go Monday, when everyone was out of school for MLK, Jr. Day. But when we got to the bowling alley, it was an hour wait (everyone else had the same idea as us)! Since both boys & James had Tuesday off as well, we went back Tuesday morning when it was much less busy.

The boys had a great time. Alex did better then this summer, and wanted to play a second game (Will, of course, wanted to play a second game).

Our 2nd game Will, Alex and I all tied! James did a bit better.

Playoff Fever has infected our house hold!

We let the boys stay up to watch the Colts playoff game yesterday. (They both took naps that afternoon, the game didn’t even start until after their normal bedtime.) Will had to make sure the Colts were playing the starters the whole game (sad, yes, I know). Both really wanted to wear their jerseys and see the team play. They all did a great job watching the first half of the game and were very excited to see the team score. By half time they were ready to play around, and they played their own football game up and down the hall way. After the 3rd Quarter (where not much changed, and it was 10 pm) they went to bed. 

We’re all excited with the win and the team going on to the next round of the playoffs. We’re also happy the game is during the day!

For those of you who are not members of Facebook, or who don’t check over there very often, here are more pictures of the month, with more pictures of Marcus.

In between the New Year and Alex’s birthday, James’ parents came out to visit us.

We had great fun hanging out together, playing games and asking Grandma Lo to make custom knit products for us (the boys wanted thicker scarves that would cover their faces, they use them as masks for their outdoor football games. She made a really cool thing that is like a shirt collar or thick turtleneck that goes up over their noses, exactly what they wanted.) The boys had a great time playing games and outside with Grandpa Miles. We had a snow storm Thursday/Friday while they were here and Grandpa took them sledding both days.

I didn’t get a picture of them sledding (they went “off site” to the few hills we have in the area), but this is how much snow we got. Marcus and I stayed home with Grandma Lo and stayed warm.  They left Saturday morning, just as we were dropping into VERY cold, frigid temperatures (or typical January weather for here). They were great company and huge help during the first week of the boys going back to school (I wasn’t sure how well I’d handle that with the new baby).

This last week was my first week solo–James is back to working nights/sleeping mornings, and so getting the kids up is my job and getting them to bed is also my job. (When he doesn’t work, James is in charge of bed times usually).  Thankfully we were blessed with meals being brought to us last week and this week so I’ve not had to deal with meal planning or prep. For the most part, the week went fine. I was really tired by the end of it. Alex getting sick didn’t help much. But we all survived, and there were no tears on my part, so I consider that successful!

Last Saturday we celebrated Alex’s birthday. We had a small gathering of friends and hosted it at the church–this gave us room for the kids to run around (not so much possible at our house).

The night before the boys helped decorate the cake. Alex picked a fire truck cake. We used candy to make the ladder, lights and sirens on the truck.

This was the final product.

We had some simple games the kids played, and then a short craft. Then it was time for cake and ice cream!

Then we opened presents. Alex was thrilled to get some games, a took kit, and a toy electric guitar and drum. So we have a much louder and more musical house right now.   On Wednesday Alex REALLY turned 4 and will now tell you he’s 4 (before that he was 3 1/2). He did ask me “On my next birthday, will I be 4 and a 1/2?” He’s still working on getting this all figured out.

Sadly, the day after his birthday he got sick. He’d woken up whiny and fussy–but been up late Wednesday night with Awana so I didn’t think much of it.  Then he was crying about being “too tired” when he was supposed to be cleaning up his room. At first I was going to let him rest, but when he found out Will would get to play, he decided he wanted to play too. So back to trying to clean up the room. A little bit later he was sitting in the room crying about being too tired, so I told him to go to bed. And he slept for 2 hours (and missed lunch). So I wasn’t THAT surprised he also woke up with a fever and sore throat, I knew he was sick just from the napping. Thankfully the fever broke by the next morning. We still took him to the Dr. for a quick strep test, which was negative and he’s been slowly recovering.  But all my plans of finishing Christmas Thank you notes & doing his birthday thank you notes were put on hold. For those of you who’ve given us things, I promise we’re in the midst of working on them. I’m going to play the “We have a new baby” card as well. While Marcus is a great, laid back baby, I’m very tired and it’s been a bit too much to get those done as well. But we are working on them!