Best Sick Day Ever

Ruth was sick last night, so she stayed home today. She felt 100% all day, so it ended up being a pretty fun day for us. I told her we'd think of fun things to do and after each room we cleaned in the house we would do something fun.

First, we cleaned the family room then went for a walk to look in neighbors' recycling bins for box tops (the box tops for education). We didn't find any.

Next, we cleaned 2/3 bathrooms which Ruthie was really excited about because she, "loves cleaning the bathroom". Then we painted nails.

Last, we didn't clean anything, but we put up streamers and made a custom birthday banner for the "party room" in preparation for her birthday party on Saturday.

Once Claire got up from her nap, we had to hustle to get everything together and get out the door for James' piano lessons, hockey practice, and then the trunk or treat.

A whole day at home and Ruthie threw 0 tantrums and we got in 0 fights. I am not sure that has ever happened before. It was AWESOME.

PS. This is why Dan doesn't take sick days. I'd probably make him get up and clean too :)

Role Reversal

I think the intent was for YOUR eyes to close, Rosemary.

Blue Ribbon Baby

This seals it. She gets the blue ribbon for sweetness.

She very consistently only wakes me up once a night and a few times has slept through the night!

All of my kids get the hiccups if they laugh too much. Rosemary hasn't giggled yet, but she keeps getting really close. Right when I think she's going to giggle, she'll hiccup instead! It's downright adorable.

Growing Up

James lost a tooth earlier this week.

Last night, he handed me the ziploc bag they sent it home from school in. We negotiated how much money he should get and asked that I still put it under his pillow so he could show Ruth and she wouldn't know the Tooth Fairy isn't real.

The other girls at school only wear headbands and one big ponytail. 

Good-bye cute pigtails, hello extra time flat ironing her bedhead every morning.

House in the Fall

I love our house in the Fall, too! Raking the leaves makes me think of apples and pumpkins. Raking the pine needles makes me think of chainsaws and trees falling. It's great that we can just pile the leaves on the curb and the city comes and gets them!

I wish we would have timed this well enough to have the kids a little better groomed, but I'm glad we caught the tree with the beautiful colors! All those beautiful leaves have now been raked to the curb.

DeBOOcle Debacle

On Monday, while eating dinner with the Sister missionaries, we were visited by doorbell ditch-ers who left a cute little Halloween gift basket. The kids were excited about the basket and I was thrilled to feel included in the neighborhood activity!

With the basket was a ghost picture to put on our door to indicate that we had already been "boo-ed" and instructions to "boo" two other people within a day. One day? I'm going to confess right now that it took me TWO days just to remember to tape the ghost to my door.

The kids all wanted to be involved. We decided to make Oreo Truffles dipped in white chocolate to look like eyeballs. All we needed was the ingredients and time to make them.

On Tuesday, I went to Aldi after my Dr's appointment, but they didn't have Oreos. I thought about just buying some generic treat, but decided to stick with the plan I'd made with James and Ruth.

Hint for future generations reading this: If you are going to be leaving a treat ANONYMOUSLY on a doorstep, don't make it cute. They'll never know who the cheapskate was that left the nasty Aldi sugar cookies.

After school Tuesday, the kids went straight to a sitter's while I went to a photo session.

After school Wednesday, we went straight to piano lessons and hockey. We picked up Panera on the way home (thanks, Linda for the gift card!), ate, and got the kids in bed. Have I mentioned Dan is in Germany this week?

Today (Thursday), we finally had an afternoon home. The kids opted to skip a trip to the store (hallelujah) and just make chocolate chip cookies. One big mess, but lots of magazine-cover worthy family time later, we had cookies.

We decided to deliver three plates of cookies to slightly make up for how we'd slowed down the treat distribution around the neighborhood, but mostly to keep me from eating them all.

We visited two houses of friends across the street. No one was home, which was good because as quickly as James and Ruth ran to hide around the side of the houses, Claire wandering the cul-de-sac with me tagging behind would probably have been a giveaway (but at least I would have gotten credit for my homemade, non-Aldi treat).

For the third house, we decided to go to the edge of the development to a ward member's house. Part way there, Claire decided she wanted the coat she'd refused and walked back by herself in the middle of the road until I could catch her. Did I mention Rosemary had been napping so I was running behind carrying a sleeping baby?

Back on track again.

James walked far ahead and stopped periodically to check in with me. He's a good one.

Ruth alternated between walking backwards or bear walking, with no regard for whether she was in someone's driveway while they were waiting to turn in or not (it happened).

Claire pattered behind (our slowest common denominator, as usual) pointing out what each person who passed us was wearing (gloves, hats, coats) and picking up "trees" to carry with her (leaves). We covered at least a block, so anytime they wanted to talk to me, we were all shouting up and down the road. HELLO NEIGHBORS!

An eternity later, we got to the right place...and they already had BOO sign on their door. James and Ruth decided on another house just around the corner from our house and I gave them permission to run ahead.

Claire decided she was done walking (why oh why did I give in when she refused the stroller???). I then had to DRAG her, screaming, through half the development to get back to our house. I would alternate between pulling her along by the hand and trying to pick her up and carry her one-handed with Rosemary sleeping in the other arm. When doing this, I would run to maximize the distance covered before Claire squirmed away. The whole time, Claire was sounding the alarm, just to make sure every neighbor looked out and saw the train wreck as it passed.

When we finally got home, I gave James instructions to heat up dinner in the microwave and watch Claire while Ruth and I ran down the street to deliver a birthday party invitation (he did great). On the way back, Ruth feel and burst out screaming. Just wanted to introduce ourselves to the OTHER half of the neighborhood.

I started singing, to the tune of the Adam's Family: "There's Mommy and there's Daddy, there's James and there's Ruthie, there's Claire and Rosemary: the crying family." Ruth wasn't amused.

Alas, they are all bathed, fed, and in bed. We even read together.

The kids saw this as making and delivering cookies: a fun holiday activity. I saw it as a deBOOcle. Worthwhile, because the kids loved it, but still a debacle. I am quickly learning how different holidays are through the lens of a mother!

Crazy Sock Day

This is my first time doing a Spirit Week with the kids. 

Thanks to Nana, Ruth had the perfect socks for crazy socks day. James was going to wear the other sock from each pair, but we could only find one of the rainbow socks (who would have thought something so bright would be hard to find?). After some tears from James and lots of last minute, pre-bus searching, I found my own elf socks. The bells on them made them an instant hit. Score one for hanging on to things I never wear!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Surprise! We surprised my dad this weekend for his 60th birthday. He thought he was just coming out to see Rosemary, but Linda and Joe came too! 

We spent a lot of time hanging out, carved pumpkins, ate white hots and Western New York apples, visited Letchworth, and ate Mexican food on Park Ave. I loved getting to spend my weekend with everyone, especially while Dan was gone. 

Here's to many more birthdays for my Dad. Love you!

Sixty candles! The cake took a beating in the car, but we'll say it buckled under the weight of the candles.

He got them all out in one big gust! 

 We left the big kids at home with a sitter, but Rosemary got to come to dinner with us!

Consider our house warmed

Linda gave me a wreath hanger and toilet scrubbers for a house warming gift. I love it: practical and thoughtful all in one! The gift was given in August and we FINALLY made a wreath! (Don't worry, the toilet scrubbers have been getting more use than the wreath hanger!)

Dan picked up a wreath frame on the way home from work and convinced a Michael's employee to give him 40% off even though he didn't have a coupon (he figures he got special treatment as the only man in the store). All the other supplies we already had: LOTS of hot glue, scarecrow from Nicole, and lots of pine cones from our ugly evergreen summergreen/fallbrown-and-drop-ugly-needles-all-over-the-lawn trees. 

The kids did a great job helping and I am the only one that got burned: SUCCESS!

Now we need to use some spray paint or ribbon or something to spice it up as Ruth says it is not pretty being "all brown".

Chin Hickie

Like every good hickie story, this one started at Joann's Fabric.

Foolish mom that I am, I took my newborn, 2-year-old, and 4-year-old to Joann's. At  the same time. Which happened to be just one hour before bedtime. If you've never taken children to Joann's, I'll tell you how it works.

A four-year-old will want everything she sees. She did. Fortunately, the trip was to pick out projects for her birthday party, so she was pretty happy with how things went.

A two-year-old will continue to run away or not keep up thus requiring you to repeatedly search the store for her. She will take things off the shelf, unwrap them, and open paint and dump it on the floor and smear it all over herself in the one minute it takes you and the four-year-old to choose paint colors for her project. Oh yes, she did.

A newborn will be STARVING and scream relentlessly through the store, even when you hold her and push the cart one-handed while chasing down the painted covered 2-year-old and then in a line of people who used to think your one-month-old  was adorable.

So anyway, that's what Joann's was like for me on this particular trip. To add to my foolishness, I did not have a pacifier for Rosemary, so I offered my chin. Thus, chin hickie. This picture is as I'm on my way out the door to photograph 6 families today--noone asked.  That shirt I'm wearing, which I was actually happy with how it fit, never made it to the photo shoots since Rosemary spit up on it twice before 9am. Being a mom is great!

More Rosemary

Owl hat made by my friend Katie and owl blanket made by my Grammy. She sent us a bunch of blankets that we use all the time--they're great! 

Rosemary was not wild about this impromptu photo shoot interrupting her warm nap. She makes this face a lot, though.

 She also does this cross-eyed thing a lot when she looks at something close to her, like my face, for example.

 She liked when James got home and came to talk to her. Her hair is not this light, I just messed up the coloring trying to compensate for the orange cast reflected by the floor.

They like babies too regain their birth weight by 2 weeks. None of mine have done that, Rosemary included. Unfortunately, between her 4 day and 2 weeks + 4 day check up, she only gained 2oz. No good. They're supposed to gain .5-1oz a DAY. So over the weekend I fed her a lot more often and added a formula supplement after each feeding. I took her back in today and in the 4 days since her last appointment she was up 10oz!!