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!