Self Portrait

Ben started drawing pictures of people recently.  I think this started out as being a picture of Jason (note the glasses), but then Ben decided it was himself.  

Great Wolf Lodge

This last week we took a couple of days out of normal life to go on a vacation to Great Wolf Lodge.  

Best. decision. ever.  

Our room had a little log cabin inside with bunk beds for our boys to sleep in.  The cabin had a TV as well - probably the most exciting feature from the boys' perspective.  As soon as we got in the room and for the next 20 minutes, Michael kept  begging to "watch commercials."  I kid you not.  You may be asking yourself, "What kind of child begs to watch commercials?"  Well, apparently the kind who grows up with only Netflix.  I am not entirely sure, actually, if Michael really knows what a commercial is.  At one point, the boys accidentally changed the channel and thought ESPN was commercials.

 In case you are wondering what Josh thought of Great Wolf Lodge, here is his note:

But out of the room and into the water park.  The indoor water park had a wave pool that was very popular with the boys.

And a large jungle gym with two water slides and a huge bucket on top that held 1,000 gallons of water that would pour down on the suspecting and unsuspecting alike.

The spray ground provided the boys with lots of opportunities for splashing.

There was even a hot tub that even the kids could get in (please note that although she is very cute, the little girl is not ours).

Not seen here, but greatly enjoyed, were several water slides (scary and non, but all kid-friendly), a lazy river, kiddie pool area, log jump, and water basketball.

We had a wonderful time.  The park was actually really fun for the kids and us.  Josh was tall enough to do all the rides - even the one that took 5 years off of my life - as many times as he wanted.  Michael and Ben were tall enough to do everything they were comfortable with.  The rides were also fun for Jason and I - except the one that took 5 years off my life.  It was so much fun we may even play hooky again some time and do it again.

Valentine's Fail

Ahh, that beautiful holiday that celebrates love and makes single people want to puke.  Or, in the supremely cynical terms of my husband: the holiday created by that evil triumvirate of Hallmark, chocolatiers, and florists.

Anyway.  Mine did not turn out so hot.

The day started with Ben and his fever.  Which meant no preschool for Ben and no gym time for mommy.  Oh, and no errands because we don't really want to spread that kind of love.

After watching six several episodes of Phineas and Ferb while I showered and worked on homework, he announced that it was, "the worst day ever."  Yes, I would totally hate a day when I got to watch Downton Abbey all morning, too.

In a lame sort of attempt to do something festive, I put little paper hearts in the boys' lunchboxes saying things like "I love you".  Which was a baaaad idea, according to my son who told me in tears that his friends laughed at him at lunch.

I got to write a short essay on divorce for my Developmental Psychology class.  Nothing brings on the feelings of love and romance like writing about the horribly messy end of 40% of marriages.

Initially I felt bad about not making any yummy treats to celebrate.  And then my boys brought home their V-day haul.  Yes, I said haul.  Like what you might need a truck to transport.  Josh brought back, no lie, a bag of Oreos, half a bag of Sour Patch Kids, a quarter bag of Jolly Ranchers etc.  He told me that he didn't eat his lunch because he was in the nurse's office with a stomach ache.  They narrowed the cause down to either too much candy or not enough water.  What do you think?

But, at the end of the day, Jason gave in to two out of the evil three and brought me some lovely flowers and a Hoops & YoYo card (always funny).  Happy (day after) Valentine's Day!

Brief Updates

• My cast came off about a month ago.  The doc offered me another one.  I said, "Never again."  And every single shower I have taken since then has involved a little prayer of gratitude that I am enjoying the hot water while standing on my own two feet.  
• Michael started piano lessons this week and his teacher is lovely.  It takes a special kind of person to teach piano to a 6-year-old boy, but so far so good.
• We have started having a "no thank you" bite at dinner and have had a lot of success with Josh trying new foods.  So far: pad thai, chicken tikka masala, fried rice, stir-fry broccoli, etc.  He hasn't liked any of them, but he does eat them.
• Both of the older boys received awards for the second quarter: Josh got all-A honor roll and Michael received the Academic Achievement Award (they don't give out letter grades in kindergarten).
• This is one of the years that we have both a snow shovel and ice melt.  Which is apparently why we haven't any snow worth mentioning (don't worry - that didn't stop the county from cancelling school a few times).
• Ben has a plethora of imaginary enemies.  I know that most kids go with imaginary friends, but his are imaginary zombies and other creatures that attack him and whom he has to defeat.  I am hoping this is not symptomatic of deeper psychological issues.

My Baby

There are a lot of babies in my life right now.  And more are coming.  

None of them are mine.

Which, in some ways, is very, very nice because I get to hold the babies and then hand them back to mom when they get fussy/hungry.  I imagine this is what it is like to be grandma.  (As a side note, my initial plan had been to marry an older man who already had grown children and go straight to being grandma.  I did marry an older man, but the whooping 7 years weren't enough.  I don't regret that at all - well, maybe I did a little bit when Josh had colic, but I love my boys.)

However, there is something very sweet about a sleeping baby cuddling up on your shoulder.  Something I don't get a lot of anymore.  My "baby" is more interested in killing invisible zombies and quoting lines from Phineas and Ferb.  But every once in a while, if I catch him just right, I can still get my baby cuddles from my baby.