Spring Break

The kids and Scott are off this week for spring break...woohoo! The weather has been perfect...today reaching 80+ degrees and tomorrow is looking even better. Of course, nothing is perfect around here, and our water heater died Monday night. Apparently, hot water is not a priority in our house, as it is now Wednesday night and no attempts have been made to replace it. I'm hoping tomorrow.

This picture cracks me up. Cate is under the trampoline looking at Gabby and Gracie who are bouncing on top. Murphy goes crazy whenever someone is jumping...he looks like WonderDog!

Getting some major air!

Gracie and Cate enjoying a beautiful day (Cate's hair is starting to resemble a chia pet...growing and growing...so thick and curly!)

Wheelbarrow full of worms. Ugh.

Cate's favorite worm. I hope I don't find this one in her pocket.

Look who woke up (around noon) and joined us outside. Miracles do happen :)

How'd That Happen?

Cate has a very mysterious injury. Last night, she was laying in our bed watching Dora when she started screaming hysterically. We found her laying on the ground with a huge chunk of hair missing from her head...which we later found on the floor next to the bed. There were no other markings or bruises on her, so we have no idea what happened. She's sporting a comb-over to hide the missing hair and I'm hoping it grows back fast...it took her nearly two years to grow it!!!

Happy 80th Birthday Grandpa Bill!!

Tonight we celebrated Grandpa Bill's 80th birthday!! The boys were excited to see their cousins Bailey and Nicholas and Cate was excited to see cake :) We had a great time and the food was really good....I'm stuffed!Cate got herself ready for the party by watching Dora and taking a spin on her giraffe bike

She even insisted I put a bow in her hair, but decided against it once in the car :(

Grandpa Bill had lots of help blowing out the candles

Nicholas (in the orange shirt) grabbed one of the candles and poured hot wax all over his hand. Not to worry though....

A quick thinking Dr. Scott dunked his hand in a glass of ice water

Mmm Mmm Good!

The Smallie Men (minus Tim, plus Cate)

Happy Birthday Grandpa Bill!

While The Boys Are Away....

Miss Cate likes to play....with all their stuff! Today she got into Bennett's baseball bag :)

5 Star Puker--Warning:Gross Post

The past six days have been pretty disgusting around here. Lots of puke. Too much information, I know, but too bad, I have nothing else to talk about...so if you're offended, don't read any further. Anyhoo, it started with Bennett on Thursday night. Then again with Ben Friday night. Cate was Saturday night and Brady joined in with Cate Sunday night. I emphasize "night" because they were only sick between the hours of 10pm-4am. Carter hasn't been affected and I doubt he will be..he never catches anything the kids so willingly share with the rest of us.

Midnight puking sessions are very hard on me. I am an Ambien sleeping pill addict. So, having to change kids pj's, bedding, and scrubbing bathrooms after 11pm is nearly impossible. And Scott, well, lets just say he struggles with it too. Those four nights made me realize that our kids are very different pukers. They all have their own style. I won't include Carter in my observations because I don't remember the last time he was sick....Praise the Lord...because he is the biggest baby when it comes to taking medicine. But, I digress. Ok, back to rating my children's vomit performances.

Bennett-1 star.
He is the worst sick person ever. When he gets sick, it's like he's paralyzed. He will literally continue to throw up all over himself, the bed, and the floor without even attempting to move towards the bathroom. And he does this head/arm flinging motion that's just ridiculous...I always think he's going to throw his back out or break his neck.

Cate-3.5 stars.
Cate has almost mastered puking (don't you just love that word) without making a mess. After the first time, we put a towel in bed with her. From then on, she knew to only get sick on a towel. So much easier for me and Scott to clean up. Ok, she did have an unfortunate incident at my mom's Sunday night where she mistook my moms robe for a towel, but hey, she's only 2.

Brady-5 stars.
Brady is the champion puker. A title to be proud of..and Scott and I are most grateful for this. When Brady gets sick, he runs to the bathroom, turns on the light and fan, throws up in the toilet, wipes it down with a Scrubbing Bubbles flushable wipe (no joke), flushes, rinses out his mouth, turns off the light, and goes back to bed. Scott and I don't even get out of bed....I'm not even exaggerating, he is the best!!!!

So, there you have it. Information you've been longing for, I'm sure. We're hoping the stomach bug has left the building and won't return for a very long time, if ever. Thank you to Clorox, Scrubbing Bubbles, Lysol, and Oxiclean for helping to remove the stench from our home.

Brady's Big Day

Today was a monumental day in Brady's life! He lost his first tooth AND scored TWO goals at his first outdoor soccer game. WOOHOO! He is playing in a 1st/2nd grade league and he took a beating, but Carter has made him tough and he did awesome! These videos are a bit shaky and out of focus, but it was windy (and I'm not very good at videos) :-)

Friends

Today, Cate had her friends Gabby and Gracie over. aka my "Tuesday/Wednesday girls". aka Gracie and Gabby They have the best time together!!! Disregard the ring of food around their mouths...we were having snacks outside and toddlers are messy!

Gracie is the silliest little girl...hard not to smile when she is around!

Future HGTV star?

"Hello Friends! Welcome to Cate's Cottage"

Had to zip her up before entering

"Watch your step Gabby"

Gracie soaking up some sunshine!!!

But all that playing made her very tired. Poor thing had to rest her head on the window :)

Murphy was just as tired. He can't hide from the girls. Every time he's out of sight, one of them yells "Where's Furfy" and the hunt begins til someone yells "OH Furfy!!"

We love Tuesdays (especially sunny/warm Tuesdays!)

Cuz and Why

Cate's two favorite words. An example of a conversation we had yesterday:

I walk into my room and Cate is laying naked on my bed, in a puddle of pee, playing Beer Pong on Carter's Ipod Touch (why doesn't this surprise anyone?!)
Me: Cate!! Are you laying in pee?
Cate: Yesh
Me: Why?
Cate: Cuz
Me: That's disgusting, get up!!
Cate: Why?
Me: Why are you naked?
Cate: Cause
Me: SSSCCCOOOTTTTTTTT!!!
Cate: Oh Gosh!

This is an eleven second video of Cate at Brady's soccer practice last weekend. For some reason, I find it hysterical. It was taken with my phone, so it's not very clear...and I hope it works!


Cate:Buddy at home
Me:Why? (hmmm maybe this is why she asks "why" so much)
Cate: CUZ! (in the cutest, gruffy little voice)

Poor Murphy came along to soccer practice with us. Good thing that leash was 25 ft long!

Thursday-*updated*

Today was crazy busy. We.....

(as in me, Brady, and Cate) went to the zoo

I love this picture of Cate jumping off the ledge....her little feet in her shadow look so cute! She walked along the "curb" throughout the entire zoo and Brady and I were more than happy to keep her leisurely pace...we had nowhere else to be and the sun was shining!
Of course it wouldn't be a normal zoo trip without Cate assaulting at least one animal. She literally backed this poor turkey into the corner at the river otter exhibit. She was so mad that he was running loose!!! (I love that Brady just crosses his hands and patiently waits for her to move on!) **I found the picture below of Cate attacking a turkey at the same spot in the zoo last April...same turkey?? **
This damn chicken walked right over my shoe. I thought it was Cate untying my laces and I reached down and grabbed it....FREAKED ME OUT!!! We ate fried chicken for dinner in its honor ;-)

Naked mole rats...so gross.

Brady learned to ride his bike without training wheels. He took them off at my moms yesterday and perfected his balance today. Over and over and over...in and out of every driveway on our street!!!

Bennett went from this....

To this....(his choice, although I'm thrilled!)
Cate smuggled a water spray bottle into the car on the way to soccer and soaked everything and everyoneAnd Carter had a 6:40 soccer game in St. Charles. I didn't get any good pictures of the game because he was running so fast (haha just kidding, my camera died). So... I took this picture of him plopped in front of the big screen playing XBOX live and chatting it up with his BFF's. If I ever want to see him, I have to either go downstairs and watch him play XBOX, catch a glimpse of him as he runs for a potty break, or call for dinner :) We let him play an excessive amount of XBOX because his grades are still so great and he plays soccer at least four days a week, but he knows once it gets warm, his butt is heading outside!!!

And that concludes my Thursday review. Tomorrow is "Debbie Friday" (thanks mom), and I can't wait!!!

Getting Warmer....

I'm loving the warmer weather, but the ground is so muddy and ugly...can't wait for green grass! My begonia's have started to sprout so I know spring is coming and we can't wait. This afternoon it was warm enough to play outside and I was happy to scoot the kids out the back door :)

So happy Cate can swing herself....much easier for me to take pictures. She always has her eyes closed while she swings..guess she's trying to concentrate!