Ben and Sam

Friday, May 11, 2012

catching up for lost time..

The last few weeks have been pretty crazy. I am easily distracted these days which makes me VERY unproductive. And when I'm unproductive I start to feel - blah. So I haven't been very motivated with finishing any task.

I had attempted (a few times) to photo document a day in the life of the boys... but never really made it all the way through the day. It's harder than I thought, and I always have my camera around.

Here's the best I can do for now, a couple of days and random photos for "in the day of" blog.

It won't be long now and school will be out for summer!! I have no idea how I will convince the boys it's time to brush their teeth and go to bed without the precedence of waking up at 0'dark:30

We ~~have two~~ no"raffi's" for Cloudy ~~that he LOVED~~

That's right! He insisted on taking his one and only known raffi shopping with us on Wednesday. And as we were loading up the groceries in to the car I realized Raffi was MIA. Cloudy said he lost him, but wasn't sure where. We spent the next hour walking the store with the manager searching with no luck. He has cried every night. I have tried to push the 'original' raffi's (shown in picture) - and he throws them to the ground. The one he loves can only be found on ebay -- for $50!!! Sorry kid! Not happening.

Once the kids are in bed - Peter has been spending long hrs in the shop working on the boat. I really should enjoy the quiet time.. but i usually don't.

We are NOT early morning people. The bus arrives at our house for Ben at 7:15. We are required to wake at 6:40 in order to dress, brush, eat, and find shoes b/f the bus. So now on the weekends, the boys no longer sleep in - well they do - but they consider 7:40 sleeping in.

Cloudy cries and cries and cries if Ben tries to leave the house without sharing some hugs and kisses. So we normally all sit outside and wait for the bus - tear-free.

I have to admit - It's nice having the stop at the end of the drive.

On Fridays, Cloudy and I attend Roanoke Library and see Katy Kitten (a puppet) and listen to story time...

After nap - Cloudy camps out at the front window and watches for the school bus. (Funny, i remember doing the same thing for my brother and sister.)

In the afternoon, there's homework, pool time, evening walk, and/or bike riding.

And if the boys are really lucky... their Aunt comes to town and will pull them around on the trike..

Friday, April 27, 2012

Swimming boy strikes again

It finally got warm enough to enjoy le pool.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Another critter to the list...

Guess we can add another critter to the list of ones that have scared the pee out of me. This cute, HARMLESS bunny has darted out in front of me numerous times. He's a frightening little bunny!

Some random pics of Ben:

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Butterflies and Bears

There is a tree/bush in our backyard that has produced white flowers, and apparently is very attractive to the butterflies. There has to be about 20 on the tree.

So I bought Cloudy a butterfly net.... He just holds it and uses his Jedi powers to will the butterflies inside.

He might not catch butterflies like a pro, but he does ride a bike! We brought the "Rocket Bike" home from storage last week and the second I put the training wheels on Cloudy jumped on and took off. Gone are the days of a tricycle. We took a stroll around the block and Cloudy rode his bike the entire 2 miles. Most of the time we were having to jog to keep up with him. And we dare not touch the pole in the back to help him along.... or we entice the bear within the Cloud..and he WILL gobble you up!

(i.e. the BEAR during Morning Meltdown)

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Super-Swimming Boy and his Evil Sidekick, Dr. Float

We haven't had much chance to enjoy the pool this past week.
I think Pete and I were the only ones that jumped in: Pete for the heck of it, me after I PUSH mowed 3.5 of the 5 miles it takes to cover our lot. Thanks to man for inventing self-propelled mowers.
But last weekend when the boys were playing in the pool - Benjamin came up with their superhero names.
Dr Float (Cloudy since he wears a life vest) and Swimming Boy (for Ben)

On the backside of the waterfall rocks we have two very large toads. Usually we coexist peacefully, but the other night one of those little critters jumped in the hot tub! We had to fish him out, scared he would not be able to clear the wall on his own.

This fella - a Killdeer bird - kept running in front of me while i was mowing. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what was wrong with this bird.... then

in my peripheral I saw this teeny guy bopping around! I made a few more rounds cautious of the nest, and the momma bird started buzzing my tower. I ceased mowing around him and let him be... So there is a 8x8 square in my backyard that is just a little bit longer than the rest.

Last Tuesday Ben came home from school and ASKED to go to bed. Obviously not feeling well he stayed home Wednesday. He only complained of a headache and occasional belly pains. His temperature never went over 100 degrees, and I wasn't sure what he had. Thursday I noticed his tonsils were swollen and he started feeling dizzy and had a floating sensation when he laid down. ODD! Peter took him to the doctor on Friday, and diagnosed him with something viral or MONO. They could've take a blood sample to prove mono, but the treatment was the same either way: fluids and ibuprofen. Ben is already feeling better!!

We are missing Bailey as every day passes. I keep waiting to hear her "arooooooooo" or see her bounce down the hall. I'm not sure if Talus realizes, she sticks around us like glue. It's apparent now how much Tally relied on Bailey to hear for her.
I was sure I had explained things well for Benjamin, but Thursday evening we all needed some air and went for a walk. As I held his hand, I told him I was sorry about Bailey, and he looked at me and said "Yeah, it's ok the vet is going to try to make her better." I was already having a hard time keeping it together emotionally and that just didn't help; but I explained it to him.
The next day Cloudy told me the same thing! I just agreed with Cloudy. I absolutely hope that she is all better now.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Bailey

Today we said goodbye to a family member.
We will miss her tremendously!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

New House, Easter, and Bailey

We did it! We FINALLY moved in to our new home. I will be sending the address via mail later on.
Since we've been in Texas we've seen all of my family and that is really nice. The boys are enjoying having them around.

There is still a lot to do, but for the most part we were able to sit back and enjoy Easter. The rain stopped our initial outdoor egg hunt, so we held a mini indoor hunt early in the afternoon followed by a backyard hunt later on. (I recall hearing mini room - non-parent supported- hunts going on while supper was being prepared.)

Other than Pete's shop - almost all the boxes have been unpacked, even the VHS tapes - thanks Trish. (bad joke).

Oh my oh my oh Bailey:
She's not doing well. For a few weeks we've noticed her diet decline, but we didn't notice until we moved in how bad she really was. Surprising how you can miss some things while living so close to each other. Once in the house she fell in the pool five times one day. Her back legs just give out on her and she falls a lot. And the poor thing wonders around aimlessly, she wasn't even bothered by the rain yesterday. She will walk in a corner and not know how to back up. I called our vet in Nebraska, who has seen her for FOURTEEN years, and he figured it was either an ear infection or a neurological issue (brain tumor). Today we took her to see our new Vet, and the good and bad news is - it doesn't look to be an ear infection. We started her on meds that will hopefully help.

If you click on the album below you can see pictures from the past several weeks. Hope you enjoy!

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2012-04-09