a little bit sickish...

It's been forever and a day since I posted and that's a. failing my resolution to post more often and b. making it so that I have about 900 posts to make and that's a serious time commitment. We'll start with this one and see where we go.

We have been a little bit sick. We've been blessed not to have had a "round robin" illness in this house, but we were due I guess. Steve had a nasty cold and then Colby got it, Kailin sort of got it, I got it bad (and still have it) and even lost my voice for a day (to the amusement of the kids)and now Steve has it back. YUCK.

Since we like variety around here, last Friday night, Colby took a tumble off of our couch onto the corner of the coffee table and split his head open pretty good. Luckily, we were able to stop the bleeding pretty quickly and according to the on-call nurse that meant we didn't have to take any further action. She said especially given that the wound was deep and not wide, they wouldn't have likely stitched it anyway. ER trip avoided!

But wait, there's more! ....On Saturday around noon Steve bent down to pick up a toy and couldn't stand up again. He thought it was the same sort of pain that he'd had about a year and a half ago when he wasn't stretching after running, but it quickly became apparent that this was far worse. After trying to manage the issue ourselves (himself) for a few hours, I decided that it was time to call someone. After some fits and starts we ended up in the emergency room where they diagnosed it as severe muscle spasms, doped him up on a serious cocktail of drugs and he was able to walk out. He's still recovering, but should be back to his usual self relatively soon. Needless to say, our Valentine's Day/Chinese New Year celebrations this year were really subdued with Mr. HeadWound and Mr. "Help, I've bent over and I can't get up!" in the house.

I know that all this illness/injury will surely make us appreciate our good health when we have it back!!

The other reason for this post is to make sure I document "ish". I'm not sure where/when she picked it up, but Kailin's been adding "ish" to most words lately. It's really kind of cute. For instance, last night when they were in the bath (and I was down the hall for a second) I heard "Moooommmmm....we're kind of bored-ish in here!" Or we might hear "that's kind of a pink-ish heart on that card." "I'm a little bit sad-ish" (or "mad-ish") is common around here as well. I'll have to remember to jot down the funniest of them as she says them because some of them are true gollywhoppers!!

A couple of cuties

I just found the notes for this post (sometimes I just jot down what I want to say if I don't actually have time to blog - so that I don't forget what I wanted to say) and realized that I never posted it. It's too cute not to post, so here it is....

Kailin came running up to me with a quizzical look in her eye and asked if baby ducks are called "ducklets". I smiled all the way through and told her that they aren't but that I fully believe that they ought to be!

Within a couple of days, Colby was having another of his (frequent this winter) coughing fits and dutifully told me he should cough into his eh-bow so that he doesn't spread his "jomes". I was previously unaware of the danger "jomes" posed, so I was pleased that he was making efforts to contain them.

Will you be my Valentine?

Kailin brought home an Eskimo today. There's a little wheel so you can make his face change emotion. Kailin was most excited to show me that she knew about the "worried" one. I told her that Steve would be really excited to see it, so I wasn't paying particular attention when she excitedly said, "Daddy, you have to see this!" I figured it was the Eskimo. It turned out to be a paper heart that her best bud, Andrew gave her. I figured they were cutting out hearts at school and he gave her the remnants. I inquired as to whether or not he also gave one to Peyton - the third of their little group. She said no, he'd only given one to her. I asked if he made it at school and she said that he made it at home and asked his mom if he could give it to her and then gave it to her on the bus. HEAVEN HELP US!!!! She promptly asked if she could cut out a heart to give to Andrew. I said she could and asked which color paper she'd like to use. "I think red" was the answer. We're in some deep, deep trouble, I think!!

...cut it off....

Colby's sick. I'm a little bit happy to say that. I know, sounds strange. We had an "incident" on Friday where he decided to play around instead of gathering his beloved kiki for nap. I told him he had one last chance to get it or he would be sleeping without it. Well my stubborn little ox held his ground and his stubborn mama did the same. He went to bed without the kiki. Note I didn't mention that he went to sleep. It was a LONG while and a LOT of screaming before he finally went to sleep.

Fast forward to 11:30 Friday night. A very hoarse voice is screaming for mama from the room next door. I went in (without my glasses) expecting to grab a bink or find the kiki and get back to bed. I was thinking to myself that I felt bad that something I did caused him to be so hoarse. As soon as I got in the room and he started barking at me, I knew I was in the clear. Then I picked him up and figured out that he had a fever. He and I spent an hour rocking in the rocking chair, him coughing uncontrollably from time to time and shaking like a leaf from the chills. Poor boy! At one point, I had a little "throat clear" cough and my dear, sweet, tender boy croaked out "you okay, mommy?" It is in moments like those that I am humbled by how blessed I am to have this boy in my life. They are also nice to stash away for times that aren't so sweet or tender - and they number many these days...

On Saturday night we had pasta which is one of Colby's favorites. However, midway through dinner he started whining and fussing. I asked him what was wrong and got a chorus of "my fing-er huwting!" I said, "What do you want me to do about it?" expecting a request for a kiss or maybe a bandaid. Instead came a pause and then a very froggy sounding "...cut it off...." We all burst out laughing! Upon further inspection, he had a hangnail and wanted me to clip it with the clippers. That boy....

I couldn't resist posting this picture of him posing as a rock star (maybe rapper) with the other Wonder Twin. They keep me on my toes, but they are beyond adorable to make up for it!

Christmas morning crying...

Bet "The Twelfth Day of Christmas" looked like my last post about Christmas this year, didn't it? Not so much. This should be the last one, though. I was capturing video of the kids singing Christmas carols the other night (long after Christmas as grabbing the camera was somehow out of reach on my big list of things to do before Christmas) and it made me remember that I wanted to blog about the Christmas gift Kailin made me at school.

I was expecting some sort of popsicle stick treasure similar to the Christmas tree ornaments I had all of the kids craft with sequins and painted popsicle sticks this year. What I got as I carefully loosened the tape on the hand stamped wrapping paper was an emotional (and tearful) reminder of just how quickly my little girl is growing up. It's something I will treasure for a long, long time to come, but I wanted to blog it here in the case, as oftentimes happens in our house, an awful fate befalls this little piece of art.

On the twelfth day of Christmas...

Yesterday was the twelfth day of Christmas - the official end of the Christmas season in the Christian World, the day when the wise men arrived at the stable, and the day that we took down our Christmas tree. It was also the first day of "just how long ARE we going to be finding Christmas tree needles?! Make no mistake - our taking down the tree had nothing at all to do with any symbolic "end of the era" or family tradition. It simply had to go. For the second time in 3 years, we got a white spruce tree and also for the second time in 3 years, it started shedding it's needles like a porcupine sheds quills - fast and furious!! One brush of the hand and poof - hundred of needles raining down. It took me literally an hour to vacuum up all the needles (two FULL canisters worth).

Oddly, Mr. "Someone's going to come and take my Kitmas tee" neurosis boy upon learning that we'd be hauling the beloved tree out to the curb said, "Oh good!" I give up. I'll never understand him!

From the mouths of babes....my lips are sealed.

It was a cloudy, grey day on Sunday. There was just one spot where the sun was trying so hard to poke through and the clouds glowed a warm and brilliant yellowy orange at the horizon. We were on our way to church and changed direction such that the spot was apparent to the kids in the backseat. We heard this from Kailin, "Colby - do you see over there? The sun is trying soooo hard to come up, but this wind just keeps pushing it back down!" I wish (as always) that I could truly help you to understand how it sounded. Her tone was so gentle - motherly almost. She wanted to share something with her brother, to help him learn. I love and cherish moments like those because I cling to them in times when their interactions are far less tender.

I so wish I had a picture of the second part of my post. I read once about a mom who when her children made a horrible mess or got into trouble went and got her camera instead of getting angry. I'm going to make it a goal this year to be that mom. Unfortunately for you (and for me), I failed this time. I was trying for the umpteenth time to have a conversation with Steve on Monday afternoon when Kailin came running in (yet again) screaming... "Mo-om!!!!" I'd had it with the multiple syllable form of my name and that's what un-did me regarding the camera vs. the anger, I'm afraid. Anyway, she said, "What does Colby have?" I told her I didn't know what he had. I became wary and asked if he was eating something (as I hadn't given him any food). She said no, it was something he had on his mouth not in it. He's had a penchant lately for stealing Kailin's purse (and assorted other items from all of us) and hiding them in his pockets, in his kiki, or under his pillow for his later enjoyment. I ran into the living room to find that he had pilfered a glue stick while I was cleaning out the kitchen drawer and had used it as "shapstick". He had purple (dries clear!) glue all over his lips and the surrounding area. Oh how I wish I had a picture!!! Stupid anger!! I told him that he needed to STOP hiding things in his kiki or I was going to throw his kikis out and he would have NO MORE KIKI!!!!!!!! I don't know if it worked, but thankfully the glue cleaned up pretty well.

In happier news, HE DID!!!! The trick was apparently dangling the carrot of underwear out there. He loves his underwear and there is no greater threat than taking it away. He's not had one single accident in his underwear and has actually woken up dry (we're still using a diaper at night just in case) almost every morning this past week or so. I'm so impressed and so very proud of my little guy!! We're still having trouble with #2 to be honest (he seems to be hesitant to do it on the potty yet, but we're working on it and he isn't doing it in his underwear (for that I am very thankful!!).