Here is an entry for The Naughty Files, just for old times’ sake.

Today I was heading down to our basement to work in my quilting room while the older boys were in school and Jace was napping.  I was snacking on a string cheese stick and at the bottom of the stairs I [...]]]>

Here is an entry for The Naughty Files, just for old times’ sake.

Today I was heading down to our basement to work in my quilting room while the older boys were in school and Jace was napping.  I was snacking on a string cheese stick and at the bottom of the stairs I tossed its wrapper into a small trash can.  It was then I noticed the frightening contents of said trash can:

That is what it looks like: copious amounts of broken glass.

No one had informed me of any broken glass and I had to find out why not.  Josh was home from work so I asked him if he knew about it.  He said no, but he had noticed a picture frame that was off its wall hook in the basement. 

Upon further investigation, I found that two pictures had been taken off the wall.  One frame had its glass removed – and was intact – on the table next to where the pictures previously hung.  The other frame was on the floor and had no glass, save for tiny particles sparkling under the artificial basement light. 

Instead of a bare wall where the pictures used to be, I found this, one very important clue:

If you’re having a hard time making out the writing, it reads “Do not open until 2015”.  A time capsule of sorts?  Oh, now would be a good time to mention that we’ve recently introduced the kids to Back to the Future.  I’ll assume that you remember the part in the movie when Marty writes a letter to Doc Brown warning him that he’s going to be shot by terrorists in the mall parking lot.  On the envelope containing the letter he writes “Do not open until 1985”.  Yeah.  I’m guessing that was the motivation behind this little project.

A few problems:  I believe they meant for this to be secret.  I believe they were trying to hide the note in a picture frame and when they couldn’t get one frame back together they tried the other one.  When that one broke, I think they became distracted, quietly picked up the glass and forgot about their big, secret note.  Another problem was the envelope was precariously hanging from the wall with tape holding one edge.  AND the bottom of the envelope was completely open.  I’m thinking this wouldn’t have lasted on the wall for a week, much less 3 years.  Here’s a view from the floor looking up:

The big, secret, important note!!

What – oh what! – could it possibly say?!?

Oh wait, what is this?  Jude and Jett’s name with (what I’m told is) a trophy!  Huzzah!

Maybe this will all make sense in 2015.

Thankfully no one was hurt, although Josh remembered seeing a little cut on Jett’s finger a few days ago and wonders if it was from this incident.  How Jett summoned enough courage to go on without making a big deal out of getting a Band-Aid is beyond me, perhaps the task at hand was far too great to worry about his personal safety.  Anyway, the frames have been removed and extra vacuuming has been done to make sure they are safe, so crisis averted…

for today, at least.

Happy Valentime’s Day to the rest of us.  Yes, I know it’s really Valentine, but it’s always Valentime in our house.  Just to remind us of how funny it is when people say it wromg.  I mean wrong.  See how easy it is to comfuse n’s [...]]]> Happy birthday, Mom!  Happy birthday to our nephew Jackson!

Happy Valentime’s Day to the rest of us.  Yes, I know it’s really Valentine, but it’s always Valentime in our house.  Just to remind us of how funny it is when people say it wromg.  I mean wrong.  See how easy it is to comfuse n’s and m’s?  It’s the hardest job I have.

Yesterday the older boys were both honored at school for being Star Students.  Spoiler alert: every child gets to be Star Student at one point in the school year.  But, it’s the biggest deal to the kids and gives us a chance to show our love and support for them. It’s a fun thing.  My mom came to watch the assembly and both of Josh’s parents took off work to come.  The boys were so excited!  Jude was announced first but he got the biggest delight out of seeing his brother also receive the Star Student award.  Very sweet stuff.

Today Jett and Jude got to take the valentines “we” made for their classmates to school.  I pulled the idea from Pinterest… it’s a good one:

Those are foam paper lips for the ladies and (of course) mustaches for the gents.  They were pretty fun to make; I hope the kids have fun with them.

The boys in their new valentines (shirts) from Abba.  Angry Birds kind of rules in our house these days, but Jace is a fan of “Icky Mouse”.

Oh, one last thing… here’s a little video of Jace rocking and rolling:

Don’t mind the other voices in the background, they are just reacting to the basketball game that was on last night. =)

Jace is getting really good at being two years old; the ladies at Fareway could attest to that today.  When we first arrived, he [...]]]> Jace turned two in August which makes him… just over two years old.  Math was never my strong suit.  But I do know cute when I see it!

Jace is getting really good at being two years old; the ladies at Fareway could attest to that today.  When we first arrived, he discovered that it was not the grocery store with the small carts for kids and had… a moment.  After that, he was fine.

Jace loves the Cars guitar that he got for his 2nd birthday and plays it regularly.  In fact, just before he got his tummy virus a few weeks ago right before our move, he’d developed a fever.  This was a goofy fever, though.  It made him very playful and NOT tired.  After being put to bed at the regular 8 pm time, he woke up around 1:30 am wanting to play.  I stayed up with him for an hour or so and finally got him back to sleep.  That didn’t last too long and by about 3:30 am, Josh and I decided that we’d just let him watch tv in the living room so I could come back to bed.  At about 4 am, he slipped into our bedroom, grabbed his guitar and slipped back out again.  Around 4:30 am, I went out to check on him and sure enough, he was watching tv and jamming away on his guitar.  It was the funniest little thing! 

I love how he tilts his leg up to support that thing.  On his own, he took the strap off one of the Rock Band guitars and attached it to his guitar.  His daddy’s guitar has a strap so he knows all about such things.

Another trick he has is opening Mommy’s guitar case to swipe a pick for himself.  He’s very resourceful.  And he uses it correctly.

Emerging independence: perfect buzz words for a two year old.  He has recently starting putting on his socks and shoes BY HIMSELF, thankyouverymuch!  And here’s the thing, I have not once witnessed him putting these shoes on the wrong feet.  He has got the world pretty much figured out by now.

Except talking.  The boy can’t articulate many words.  He’s got maybe 10 words that are on heavy rotation.  Mostly it’s “uh” with accompanying pointer finger.  We try, but honestly, I don’t think he even knows where to begin.  Sometimes I clap the syllables of words to break them down for him.  He’ll just smile politely and clap along, but at this time he just.can’t.do.it. 

He is so much fun and my #1 helper.

It does worry me a little bit that all of this is happening after we move [...]]]> Jude walked into the house after getting home from school yesterday and vomited all over the kitchen floor.  To get caught up on our illness drama click here –> (but I wouldn’t do it without a face mask on).

It does worry me a little bit that all of this is happening after we move into a new house.  I’m 98% sure that what we’re experiencing as a family is a nasty stomach virus that is going around.  Probably two different viruses, which is why we’re seeing it twice within two and a half weeks.

There is that 2% uncertainty that makes me wonder if it could be anything related to our house or even a food product that we’ve had in our house that is making us sick.  We discovered last night that we don’t have a carbon monoxide detector in the house.  We’ve ordered two that will be here soon.  I highly doubt that it is carbon monoxide poisoning as Jude was away from the house all day and got sick within a minute of coming home.  Also, Jace and I were home all day long and didn’t experience any of the nausea*, fatigue and headaches that are consistent with poisoning even at low levels.  Jace was the first one of the family to get sick and that was while we  were still living at our old house.

The “good” news is that it appears that other households in the area have been sick and fighting similar symptoms.  It’s most likely just really poor/confusing timing.

*Catching vomit into a person’s cupped hands will automatically make one feel slightly nauseated, but that feeling did pass.

We moved a week ago from a  house that we’d outgrown (several years ago) to a house approximately three blocks away that is the perfect house for us.  We’re just so excited to be here!

The move itself was pretty uneventful: no major catastrophes and lots and [...]]]> Hello from the Land of the Living! 

We moved a week ago from a  house that we’d outgrown (several years ago) to a house approximately three blocks away that is the perfect house for us.  We’re just so excited to be here!

The move itself was pretty uneventful: no major catastrophes and lots and lots of great help.  It only took us a day to get everything from point A to point B, allowing the couple that bought our house to move in ahead of schedule.  It was great.  Thank you to our fantastic helpers!

And since the move?  Well, that’s a different story.  Actually, I have to back up to two weeks ago – I was packing for the move. 

Thursday: Jace vomits in old living room (sorry, new owners!), is sick during the day and that night.

Friday: Jace is feeling better, having yucky diapers but is acting more like himself.

Saturday: Jace vomits that night at Abba’s house after being “better” for a good day or more.

Sunday: no incidents.

Monday: no incidents, packed a moving truck with almost all of our belongings at the old house.

Tuesday: closing on the new house, unpacking in the new house.

Wednesday: no incidents.

Thursday: Jett home from school early, vomits that evening: new house broken in!

Friday: Jude has a stomach ache too, both boys home from school.

Saturday: both older boys lie around all day, Jude opts not to trick-or-treat, Jett is out trick-or-treating with Josh for a short while before wanting to come back home.

Sunday: both older boys vomit.

Monday: no school for either, Jett vomits that afternoon in the car while running an errand (more than 24 hrs after his last episode).

Monday night: Jace begins to vomit at 10:30 pm and is up two more times getting sick, Josh and I vomit around 1:30 am in different bathrooms, we are up the rest of the night alternately getting sick.

Tuesday: Zeigler lockdown.  No one comes or goes.  Misery.

Wednesday (yesterday): Jude & Jett are back to school and everyone finally feels better.

And today is a new day!  Like I said, Land of the Living!  I hope no one gets sick from just reading this.  I suppose we were due, we hadn’t been group-sick in awhile.  We’ll “remember when” these crazy weeks someday and wonder how we survived the move AND the sickness.

More on the new house later…

Introducing Jude, the six-year-old FIRST grader:

And now, for the first time ever, please join me in congratulating our five-year-old KINDERGARTNER, Jett:

And not to be [...]]]> I’ve been thinking about this day for a long time.  I’ve been eagerly anticipating it and it’s finally here!  Yay Jude & Jett!  Yay me! 

Introducing Jude, the six-year-old FIRST grader:

And now, for the first time ever, please join me in congratulating our five-year-old KINDERGARTNER, Jett:

And not to be left out… our very own… ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the lone homeboy, Jace!

And now in order of wake up times today, we have Jude in first place at 3:53 am.  He promptly went back to sleep on the floor next to my side of the bed, which woke me up… for good, putting me in second place.  I eventually got out of bed at 4:30 because I knew I had too much to think about to go back to sleep.  I began writing furiously on the handout that needed to be turned in to Jett’s kindergarten teacher.  The question on the handout was an open-ended one and pertained to ‘how your child is unique’.  I obviously had a lot of ground to cover, so it was just as well that I got busy writing and hoped that I might go back to sleep when finished.

It didn’t work that way.  Jude bounded down the hallway at 5:20, up for the day.  Josh got 3rd place as he started getting ready for work at 5:45, but then again, that’s his normal daily routine.  Jett took fourth place at 6 am – a good 2 hours earlier than when he’s used to waking, and finally Jace awoke at 7:20 for 5th place.

The older boys scurried around and did all of their jobs in record-breaking time, I packed a lunch, wrote a note to a teacher, ensured both bags were ready to go, got myself showered and ready for the day, took pictures of the gang and FINALLY drove them to school.  It seemed like I had hours to get everyone ready today.  Oh wait, I did!

We parked a block away and then we all walked up to the school’s playground together.

Jett accosted about 3 different children on the way to the playground, excitedly demanding with neck-veins popping that they look at his new Cars 2 backpack. And, have they seen Cars 2?!  And he has!  And Francesco Bernoulli wins the first race!  And he’s right here on my backpack!  Oh wow – take it down a notch, kid, you’re about to strain something.

And right after I took this picture, Jett darted off.  I tried to keep up with him, asking him to come back and wait for me, but then I realized he was running right for his teacher, who I didn’t even see, so I figured he was alright.

I walked with Jude to find his teacher.  He greeted her and then immediately wanted to give her some things I’d sent for her in Jude’s backpack.  She told him she would take them when they got inside.  He was cool with that and took off for the new play equipment. 

No hugs, no tears.  I keep telling myself that maybe next year I’ll cry, then never do.  I’m just so excited for them and excited for myself about getting more alone time with Jace and some quiet time every day when he naps.  Hallelujah!  And hello?  I have a clean house now and time for blogging?!  What is that all about?  I’ll take it.  Sure Jace is forcing various Mr. Potato Head pieces onto my face while I’m writing this, but it’s ok – I can multitask.

I can’t wait to pick them up later on this afternoon and get the scoop.  I’m hoping every day will be this easy to get them ready and off to school, without the EARLY rising, that is.

Here you have the winner of this Father’s Day photo shoot.  Handsome men, aren’t they?

You’ll never believe it, but Jace was the most uncooperative of them all today.  I know he’s had a reputation here on the blog as being the most docile, easygoing one of the bunch, but let me tell you, [...]]]>

Here you have the winner of this Father’s Day photo shoot.  Handsome men, aren’t they?

You’ll never believe it, but Jace was the most uncooperative of them all today.  I know he’s had a reputation here on the blog as being the most docile, easygoing one of the bunch, but let me tell you, the times, they are a-changin’.  He’s getting his own ideas of how he wants to do things and isn’t afraid of ruffling any feathers.

I even got this little gem of Jude and Jett while Jace was being most uncooperative.

We had a great day!

This was from about three weeks ago – before I dropped from the face of the earth for the fourteenth time in the history of this blog – sorry about that.

I’d [...]]]> I love my boys.  I especially love how my littlest boy imitates the two older boys.  He’s just one of the guys.

This was from about three weeks ago – before I dropped from the face of the earth for the fourteenth time in the history of this blog – sorry about that.

I’d asked the boys to start picking up their toys in the living room and the next thing I knew all three of them were sporting one “bionic” arm each, using it as the picking-up arm.  Including Jace.

The truth is, there were probably enough socks for everyone to have two or three bionic arms, but it’s just as well.