Spring Break

It's been a few weeks but we had such a great spring break. Chris took off work so it was family time the entire week.We accomplished some cleaning throughout the week which was nice (especially behind the kitchen appliances, ew!). Chris and Xander built a toy catapult and a bookshelf. And then we did fun family activities. The kids and I put together a Spring To-Do list and managed to accomplish most of it.

We adventured through Franklin Park Conservatory. The kids loved the butterfly exhibit the most and bought some butterfly trading cards (shown by Xander, below).

We made it to the zoo and explored the North America and Polar Frontier.

We made it to the theater to see Cinderella. That was beautiful! We also used a break in the rain to go a local park and play for a while.

Since it did rain most of the week (of course, it was spring break), the kids found ways to entertain themselves. They had borrowed a game called 'Scavenger Hunt' from the sitter and that involved Xander and Josie running all over to collect items and Hannah messing with the timer. Fortunately the last round of the game involves returning all of the items. They also made a paper plate toss. And our local library has started lending out board games. Not like checkers or Monopoly but games like Settlers of Catan which have lots of pieces and rules. I managed to get Smallworld which is a fantasy world where different races take over. Xander and I had a blast learning and playing. He would often play by himself. Here is Xander trying to help Josie play and Hannah being the banker (the game does not actually involve a banker, we made up the position to get the girls involved).

Overall, it was a great break and we all returned to the real world much refreshed.

Easter 2015

Nothing like an eight month break to get back on the blogging bandwagon, right? I will (hopefully)(maybe) catch up on all of the past events but I figure I should keep up with the current goings on.

Which means Easter photos!

A neighbor is kind enough to arrange a mini Easter egg hunt in her backyard for some of the neighborhood kids. The weather is always chilly and wet, but we still have fun. This year it was the day before Easter.

Hannah was a little slow in borrowed Crocs. Josie helped her out by sharing some of her eggs.

Josie!

Xander!

 We were actually able to get seats at Easter Mass this year. Granted, we didn't get to sit together. But at least we weren't huddled in the back, letting people squeeze through. However, Hannah's favorite church activity is going to the restroom. It was so crowded that I squeezed her through the crowd and hustled her over to the school restroom. Twice.

Happy Easter! It's Xander's first tie and he's obviously very serious.

Chris dyed eggs with the kids this year. They tried a couple different techniques including rubber bands, tape, and different colors. These were the eggs that were hidden throughout the first floor Easter morning. This was a first for me because I always had plastic eggs hidden.

Not pictured was another egg hunt and kite flying at the grandparent's house. Needless to say, the kids were pretty tired by the end of the day.

Snow Days

We've had an inordinate number of 2 hour delays and school cancellations this January due to snow and frigid cold weather. I honestly haven't left the house in nearly 3 days but I'll try to venture out to get the mail this afternoon.

Meanwhile, here is how we are keeping ourselves busy. Insert the photo montage music of your choice here.

Pop bead jewelry and random bead art.

Seeing just how much frost will form before the temperature returns to the positive digits.

Ice globes made with water and food coloring in balloons.

Building a fort

This is the view down the 'chimney' of the fort.

Pretend sleeping

See that sneaky smile

Practicing tantrum throwing

Exercise!

Cinderella and Merida need to keep in shape, too.

Keeping a journal. The fairy taped to the page is Josie, the drawing is Mom with wings.

Becoming a Pony stylist.

A bit too much time spent on electronics. Featuring a scarf and cap light.

Xander's journal featuring comics a la Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Jedi Academy.

Never ending Rainbow Looming. 

Update - Xander Style

What has Xander been up to? Let me wander through the photo archive and provide some visuals.

A new school year has begun. He is not a fan of homework.

Star Wars super fandom continues. He has seen the six films and reads the kids books he finds at the library.
Play time often consists of pretending to be some character from Star Wars. He also created a puppet show.

He lost 4 teeth in 4 weeks (only three missing here). 

He turned 6 years old! No big party this year but he received a new bike.
His favorite feature is the kick stand and he describes the picture on it as
"a skull with wings for it's ears!"

Xander asked for the Chuck (aka the yellow Angry Bird) on his cake.

A new soccer season has begun. Chris is coaching again.
Xander is not falling down nearly as often as he did last year.

A Month Gone

I was doing so well with updating the blog a few times a month. Then Chris up and left for five weeks right as summer began and something had to give. I did take lots and lots of pictures so I'm hoping I will be able to go back and give recaps of what the children have been doing. With that in mind, Chris will be leaving for another long trip and I signed up for an online class. We'll see how July goes.

Chris has been home on vacation between his trips so, without further ado, here are Slip'n'Slide pictures!

Josie couldn't get much momentum going.

She insisted that Dad help her go faster.

Xander had no problem throwing himself down.

Since it is technically Chris's Slip'n'Slide, he joined in the fun.

Hannah, despite loving baths, still does not like water outdoors.

She finally learned to put her hand in and splash around, but she mostly stood around watching the fun.
(You can see her in the background of some of the other shots.)

Baby curls!

I Forgot about Easter

I can't believe I never posted our Easter pictures. Not that there is anything to be impressed with. Still I went through all of the effort to make my family presentable and find a spot to rest the camera and figure out (again) how to turn on the timer and then get everyone in frame.... How do people do this all of the time??

To get us started, here is Hannah modeling her outfit from her godmother. It has a matching coat (not featured) and those styling shoes were donated by a kindly friend.

Next up we have the father strapped into a button down shirt, Xander is his classic (aka go-to) sweater vest and Josie wearing the bright colors of the season.

Finally, here is the happy family together.

(This whole lighting, framing, aperature, shutter speed thing is for the birds.)(I need to find some birds to take better family pictures for me.)

Mystery Virus Fever, Part 2

It began Thursday when I picked Xander up from his classroom and we walked up to my classroom to wait for the end of dismissal. The key word here is 'walked'. Xander never walks. He skips, he jumps, he runs, he races, he skips again. He does not walk. So the fact that he walked was the first clue that something was wrong.

The second clue might have been him saying his belly hurt during snack time at school. However, it is not uncommon for Xander to comment that his belly hurts.

The third clue was what gave it away. He quietly sat in my class after school. And then he said he was cold. Anyone who has met this child knows he does not sit quietly. He asks questions, tells you about the day, repeats facts that he has already told you five times. Also, my classroom is never cold.

We picked up his sisters and headed home where Xander spent the rest of the evening huddled under three blankets while his fever slowly climbed. It was definitely the same thing that all three kids had in February.

Xander stayed home from school on Friday. The fever persisted through Saturday and Sunday with little appetite and no energy. Monday arrived with a lower fever but then Hannah became warm. That is when I wrote this status update:
Mystery Virus Fever Strikes Back - Day 5: Xander seems to be recovering but that may just be a good night of sleep helping him through the morning. Hannah has succumbed to the fever and insists on cuddles. We forge on.

Xander was better on Tuesday but had to stay home due to school regulations (fever-free for 24 hours). So Josie stepped up to take over on the fever front. And she added a random vomit to the fun. Xander had complained about an upset stomach but hadn't gotten sick beyond spitting up dinner while coughing. No puke from Hannah either. Josie has her mother's weak stomach.
Mystery Virus Fever Strikes Back - Day 6: Xander has returned to the Healthy Side, will resume active duty tomorrow. Hannah fights the temptation that is the Fever but Josie has gone over fully by embracing vomit.

In a moment that I'm sure will be hysterical to relive in five years, Josie freaked when she found an itsy, bitsy, little spider on her pants. I'm talking high pitched screeching sobs that she did not learn from me. I took care of the spider in short order. However at 5 am, Josie woke up with the same screeching sobs convinced that there was a spider on her leg. I talked her down and tucked her in but within five minutes there was more sobbing, so she was brought into bed with me. Chris decided to go for an early run rather than listen to Josie snore.
Mystery Virus Fever Strikes Back - Day 7: Xander has returned to active duty allowing me to focus on his sisters. Both have shown signs of recovery. Hannah attempts to sleep off the effects. Josie has suffered fever-induced spider paranoia and had to have her sleeping quarters temporarily reassigned.

The spider issue has come up this afternoon, too. She saw it on her toes! And now it's in her bones! Yes, she was convinced the spider was crawling inside of her leg. I explained that spiders don't like being in bones because they can't make webs. Anyone who tells her differently will have to spend the next week sleeping next to her bed.

We have not been to the doctor about this because the fevers never reached higher than 103 and did not last more than 5 days. Since it's getting spread around it's some type of germ, presumably a virus. I tried to stick with the notion that the fevers were fighting the alleged virus so tried to avoid medicine to lower the fever unless a child was completely miserable or at bedtime so there could be some good sleep. Heck, Xander and Josie are so tough that they actually declined medicine when I offered.

Hopefully the girls will be over this by tomorrow (day 8!). The first time through this, Josie and Hannah both had it for a full five days. Xander had it for two days. I figure that is why he had it for five days this time. So just maybe the girls will be able to fight off the virus a little easier since they may have built up an immunity. Yeah, right, that is such wishful thinking.

Getting Punch

I'm not huge into celebrating St. Patrick's Day. Maybe I'll throw on some green but that's about the extent of it. However, now Xander is getting education and that education includes holidays. So they discussed St. Patrick at school as well as leprechauns.

Last week, every single day, Xander would ask someone if they could keep a secret. Then he would whisper in that person's ear "Leprechauns are sneaky."

He asked to make Leprechaun Punch on St. Patrick's Day, which he learned about at school. It is lime sherbet and Sprite, just like a root beer float. So I added those key ingredients to the grocery list and we enjoyed them in the afternoon.

I have to say I am glad that this new tradition of setting up 'leprechaun traps' and finding gold coins in the morning hasn't hit our household. I can barely keep up with the other holidays.