If you've gotta to be stranded in a blizzard...

...you might as well be at a resort with an indoor waterpark. Much to the boys dismay (ha, ha), the Iowa blizzard on Tuesday gave us an extra day at the Dells. Here's our happy little family posing in front of one of the "attractions" at the waterpark: a 3-story water playground complete with sprayers, slides and a huge bucket that dumped water all over periodically (I'm not a big fan of the bucket). I have a lot of pictures to post, but not tonight.

You Want 100 What?

Today was Carter's 100 Day Party at school. He brought home a little book that he made. It says:

I wish I had 100 brethrs (brothers) - That would put me in an early grave.

I wish I had 100 snaex (snakes) - I think I'd prefer the 100 brothers.

But I wouldn't want 100 picls with wrms (pickles with worms) - me neither.

Mom, Where's my.....?

I realized long ago, that it is my job as mother to know the exact location of everything that we own, from Owen's "fancy" white shirt, to Carter's McDonald's toy, to the skinny green marker, to the lego that is missing from the lego spaceship...I get asked, "Mom, where is my ( you fill in the blank)?" a million times a day. What I don't understand is why they never believe me when I answer them.
Me - "It's under your bed, right beside your nightstand."
A child - "No it's not."
Me- "Yes, it is."
The child - "No it's not, I already looked there."
After which, I go look myself, and 99.99% of the time, I find the item exactly where I told him it was.
I do believe God gifts mothers with an innate ability to know where things are. What I don't get is how a child cannot see what he is looking for, even when it is right in front of his face.
He can, however, find almost everything that I think I have successfullly hidden from him Example: the gingerbread house kit that I got on clearance after Christmas, and am saving for a snow day from school. It is above the refrigerator in a little cupboard. Carter found it when he was "looking for something," and now hounds me about when we can make it.

Look Mom, no hands!

I Can Handle a Cold

After three days of feeling crummier than I have felt in a long time and one day of feeling so-so, I woke up this morning feeling like I just have a cold. It's funny to be thankful for a cold, but after the other crud, it doesn't seem too bad.

I'm hoping no one else in the house gets what I had because we are heading to the Dells on Sunday. A healthy vacation would be nice. We are staying at Chula Vista Resort. http://www.chulavistaresort.com/. Same place we stayed last year. We all had a ton of fun, but this time I'm not pregnant, so I can enjoy all the waterslides with Corey. (Grandma and Grandpa Nelson are coming along to help out.) The boys know we are going someday, but they have no idea when, so we're hoping to just surprise them when we leave Sunday morning.

Sick and Tired

Things moms do when they are sick -

1. Change 3 dirty diapers.
2. Wipe up approximately 8 piles of spit-up.
3. Build one fort out of two cardboard boxes.
4. Build a lego house.
5. Make lunch for a preschooler.
6. Feed a baby.
7. Pick up one child from kindergarten.
8. Do laundry so the kindergartener has pants to wear to school tomorrow, and the 31-year-old has pants to wear to work. (If someone had told me I would be sick, I don't think I'd have let myself get behind in the laundry department.)
9. Blog. (Okay, I don't have to blog, but I'm trying to pass the next 1/2 hour until Corey comes home from worship practice.)

Things moms don't do when they are sick.

1. Lay on the couch all day (though I wanted to so badly).
2. Watch TV
3. Shower.
4. Change out of sweats.
5. Rest.

I have a wonderful husband who stayed home long enough to get the kids up and going for the day this morning, and then came home early and fed the kids supper so I could take a nap, so I really can't complain too much. I just don't think I appreciated that previous era of my life when being sick meant I could just be sick.

Who Do You Love?

This is just super cute!

One-Tooth Wonder

Our baby boy is no longer toothless. Grandma Nelson discovered the little pearly white when Lewis bit her Sunday morning. Months and months of drooling have finally paid off. We think it's rather funny that the one tooth that Lewis has happens to be the one Carter is missing.

8 Months Old and Happy as Can Be

Owen recently rediscovered his Transformer toys, which made him happy. Carter recently received a Leapster, which made him happier. Lewis recently discovered a disposable plastic cup, which made him happiest.

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Carter really wants to go to the Wisconsin Dells to sit in the huge hot tub. Owen really wants to go to the Wisconsin Dells to go down the yellow waterslide. Lewis really wants to play in the bathtub because he realized if he kicks his legs, he can make waves.

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Corey ordered a new guitar, which will make him happy. I get to go on a family vacation to the Dells, which will make me very happy. Lewis is always happy as long as there is food in his belly and someone to talk to.

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If only we all could be as happy with the little things in life as an 8-month-old baby.

Some People Walk in Their Sleep...

...others jump!

That's an Awfully Big Frog

On the way to church this morning, Owen said, "I can't even see where we're going. Someone needs to move that frog out of the way." It was pretty f(r)oggy out there.

Splish Splash

Just thought this was a super-cute photo.

Once Upon a time...

... we were teenagers who were primarily concerned about who was going to the dance with whom (for anna and I it was usually each other), whether or not we could find enough money in Anna's couch cushions to go to the pool, or what movie we were going to watch with our chocolate chip cookie dough (Corey has happily taken over the role of movie watching cookie dough eater.)
Anna and I spent tons of time together in high school, but we rarely see each other now (she lives in Portland), so we had a nice visit when she stopped by over the holidays. She was always as free-spirited and fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants as I am hmmm..... - not. We were a good pair.

Weekend in Britt

One thing I have learned from my boys is that almost any inanimate object can be used in fort building. Here is Owen in his gift fort.
Here's Carter opening a gift. One of his favorites was moon sand, which he has been having a great time with. I just didn't realize it was soo messy!
Owen's favorite gift - a skeleton costume. He as been asking for one since Halloween, and he is a boy who doesn't forget! Thanks to Grandma and her sewing machine, he got his wish. I believe he has had it on for at least part of every day since he got it.
Lewis had a great time bouncing in his doorway jumper and basking in the attention of everyone in the house. Unfortunately, he got sick the day we left. Turns out he has another ear infection. We knew something was really wrong when he cried on the way home. He always goes right to sleep in the car.
Mom, Tomi, Corey and I spent some time doing puzzles. We completed two 1000 piece puzzles over the weekend, but Corey had to be banished (smile) during the second one because he was getting a little rowdy!

Sledding on Grandpa's Hill

We spent the past weekend in Britt to celebrate Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Nelson. They had a fair amount of snow, so Grandpa made this hill for the boys. They loved it, and grandpa was happy because he said he thinks they spent at least as much time using it as he did building it. The hill doesn't look all that big, but with the slope of their yard, it sent the boys on quite a ride. They are getting much use out of their sleds this year, and are getting pretty fearless, as you can see by Carter's no hands on his knees picture. He was trying to get some air.