well, it's a good day

1. It's snowing. I love snow. Not only is it 'snowing' it's coming down by the buckets. I am no longer a kid that misses school or a teacher that misses school. In fact, I am stuck b/c I work from home, but I still get the excitement of a school day.
2. No one in my house has thrown up today
3. Every one has made it out of bed today at some point. That really means, the nurse ratio has gone from 1:4 to 2:3. Much better...
4. I have had a shower.
5. I blew dry my hair.
6. I even had time to straighten my hair and put on a tad of makeup
7. All 'yuck' laundry is out of the way
8. Charlie and I made my first batch of homemade chocolate & peanut butter chip cookies. YUM.
9. Greta got to play a little frisbee in the snow
10. The birds are our entertainment (yes, it's as exciting as our life gets somedays :o), glad we filled up the feeders!

On the other hand, Matt is definitely still feeling really bad. Although the official test came back negative, I am convinced it is RSV. Day 5 is typically the worse of RSV, and I am hoping this is it. He has had 4 breathing treatments already and you can tell he just feels like the pits. Will has lots of congestion but is not too bad. Hopefully he won't progress.
Charlie is doing better although probably not 100%. He wanted to go outside all morning, so we made it out after putting M&W down for naps and 20 min of dressing in gear to get out and be too cold and wet. But we did it!

stay clear

wow, still trying to keep perspective here. Things are ugly. Charlie & Will both started with a stomach bug Tuesday afternoon. No fun trying to comfort 2 kids throwing up at the same time. Wed. low grade fevers and coughing really picked up with Charlie & Matt, so we made a trek to the urgent care dr. After RSV & Strep tests, lung xrays, we concluded it is just an upper respiratory infection that can be treated with steroids and breathing treatments. Last night, Jon got hit by the bug and here we are. Thank goodness for a little nap time!

Ain't life grand?

Sorry this is sideways, but you get the point

The Weekend

We had a really nice 4 day weekend / mini-vacation at Wintergreen. Jon's aunt and uncle have a beautiful home up on the mountain and let us stay there for the weekend with some of our friends. It was a bit wild with the kids (hey, somedays we can barely manage our 3) but lots of fun with good food and friends.

We went up early for the weekend, so we could put Charlie in a "ski school" for 1/2 day Friday. He seemed to enjoy it, although didn't make it the whole lesson. He learned "peanut butter and jelly" or side step and "Pizza" or the wedge stop. Thankfully Jon got in some snowboarding then too since it rained all day Sunday.

Saturday we packed in the activities to keep things busy and went to the kids park in the morning where they have tubing (a little slower), snow ball making, slides and music. In the afternoon, while the little kids napped, the big kids went to The Plunge for tubing.

It was nice to get home yesterday to warm weather. We are loving our neighborhood so much. We went on a nice walk along the trails, visited the playground and rode the 4 wheeler.

Wintergreen Pictures

Click here to view these pictures larger

Twin Rides

what we're into these days and what we like doing

• pulling out tupperware and reviewing our categories
• climbing. all kid size chairs have now been put up since people like to stand in them.
• climbing stairs. we caught both matt & will upstairs yesterday. whoops. that gate has to go up or they are gone
  
• pulling out every tissue in the tissue boxes
• relocating items as much as possible, hairbrush to the hallway. shoes in the bathtub
• Will loves riding everywhere. He hops on his 'firetruck' and does the loop around the living room > foyer > kitchen, picking up toys along the way. His zebra, caterpillar and horse rocker are also loves.
  
• Matt loves pushing anything from his dumptruck to the walker
• Charlie loves cutting and taping and stickers
• blocks, trio, legos, little people. they are favorites of all. Charlie especially likes building train stations.
• Will likes stacking and also 'puzzle' type games
• Matt likes bopping his head to the music
• Charlie's favorite shows these days are Dora the Explorer and Go Diego Go
  
• dance parties. the new thing is to turn on Pandora and crank the stereo.
• baths, baths, baths. will and matt like to test climbing the wall of the tub and splashing all the water out.
• drooling. will now has his 8th tooth
• combing our hair. Charlie loves for someone to comb his hair. Will picks up the hairbrush and does his own.
• playing telephone. both Matt & Will pick up toys and put them to their ear and talk
• cars, Matt likes pushing cars around as much as Will likes riding
• eating, eating, eating. Pasta is a favorite of Matt & Will, along with bananas (this may be someone's 1st word), cheese, goldfish.

Happy New Year!

I really hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and vacation. We've really enjoyed the last few weeks, all being on "vacation." There have been lots of presents, cookies and family visits which have all been very fun. I had grandiose plans for the week between Christmas & New Year's, but really just enjoyed hanging out at home with the kids and spending a little time organizing, unpacking and playing.

As we brought in the New Year, (on our very comfy couch, in our new family room), I think Jon and I both felt immensely grateful for the year and our family. We both have visions of a healthier lifestyle for 2010. We moved in a new elliptical machine that is already getting very good use. The sweets are the next thing to get moved out!

All in all, it is a reflective time and I am happy for it. Today is a day where I think of the great role models that I have had in life.