Rainy day

Hey rainy day, what do you mean we can't go outside?

Oh wait, rainy days mean I get to play wii!

Funny thought

I was just looking at the banner at the top of this blog.
It struck me as funny.
We no longer live in that house with that window.
The plant is dead.
The yarn has been knitted.
That glass got broken.

But I still have the knitting needles, and they're still in that little cup!

Niall's prize

The library had a drawing in the kids' section for a pillow buddy.
They're getting ready to kick off their summer reading programs.
It was one entry per child, and I almost didn't enter them, but then
we ended up going back to the library because Rowan changed his
mind about what country he wanted to do for his school project, so I
entered them then.

And this evening we got the call that Niall won one! They were giving 3 total.
He was SO EXCITED. I was going to wait and get it at storytime tomorrow
but that was much too long to wait.

He was hilarious when we went to pick it up. We got to the front desk and he
says, "Now what do I do?"
So I told him, "Say who you are."
So he looks at the librarian and says, "Who you are!"
I barely kept from laughing and told him to tell them his name.
They were laughing and telling him what a lucky boy he is, and how nice it is,
and they hoped that he had lots of fun reading with his pillow buddy.

I'm still laughing over "who you are!"

He took the pillow to bed with him.

Rowan is 8

He's getting so big!

Rowan had a fantastic birthday. We took cocoa krispy treats to his school on his actual birthday, and then had his party today. He got a bike from us, a helmet from Pop and Fannie, a wad of cash from Aunt Kimmy and Uncle Ruben, and lots of fun games and books from his friends. It was a good time.
I've been working on details for his party for the past couple of weeks. He wanted a Harry Potter party, and as we all know - it's the details that make it happen.
We had to have wands from Ollivanders, (we lucked out because this guy is right in town and let John come pick up a bunch) potions class, Honeydukes, and a hunt for the Sorcerer's Stone.
Oh, and a Snitch pinata that refused to be broken.
The first thing we did was have Potions class. I'm a much nicer professor than Snape is, so we did a fun potion to make goop! (Our recipe came out of the kid's concoctions book, but that link will show you how to do it.) All it is is a mixture of troll boogers (glue), distilled phoenix tears (water), dried doxie venom (borax), and dragon's blood (koolaid powder with a little water).
If done in the right way, you get fun slime! And remember, the doxie venom is poisonous, but the phoenix tears neutralize it so it's okay. Just don't eat it.
Then the kids went and played a little while in the yard, running around, being boys.
After that we did the pinata, and I must be either really great or really awful at making them because this thing just would NOT die. John ended up pitching it to a couple of kids, and then one of the other dads ended up pitching it to John before it finally broke enough to get the candy. But it was necessary - because also inside was the first clue to the hunt for the Sorcerer's Stone. I set them up in an order that would have the kids tearing all over the house, front yard, and back yard to figure out the clues and track down the stone. The crowning moment was when Rowan spotted the stone in the fireplace, grabbed it, and held it aloft while all the other boys clapped and cheered. He really had a moment in the sun there.
Then more playing and finally wizard cakes to top it all off. It was a great time, and I had a lot of fun making it happen for him.
Pictures are all up here and it's set to public so you can see. I love this age. Little signs can turn candy into something magical, and the koolaid powder in water really could be Dragon's Blood... but only if you believe.

Benefit auction going on now

Click this button.
It will take you to a benefit auction for a very worthy cause.
Our friend Stephanie was suddenly stricken with paralysis.
She is now in a hospital far away from her children.
You can help.
Her story is here.

Going for that cool Mom award

Here's the invitation to Rowan's party.

And here's the ticket. The destination will have our address filled in.

Paint!

It's SO much prettier than the builder's base.
And soooooooo much cleaner!

So cute and funny

I can't find my pixie anywhere. I've been looking all over. Where did she go?

Dying laughing...

Mom, this is the kind of thing you're missing on Facebook.
For the rest of you, let it be noted that Frances is my mother in law, and Jennifer is one of my best friends. And of course, John is my hubby. And yes, I did say that. Stupid trees...

Quite possibly the neatest picture I've taken in a long time

I learned something new today!

I learned how to make a shell edging. :D

These are the britches I made for the Pixie for her birthday. They still fit in the body but are too short in the legs, so I took them down into shorties for this summer. And now that I have a little girl, I need to learn some of those fancy edges. I watched a youtube video over and over to learn how, and then I did it!

Friday flick!

I have it together today!

Summer fun in the spring time

What else are you supposed to do when it's 90 degrees in April?

Happy Easter!

Let us rejoice and be glad!

I worked furiously all week on vests for the boys. I wouldn't have had to work so hard, but I procrastinated and then made the wrong size vest first, so I ended up having to make 2 vests in one week. Oh well! They looked sharp for church, even if they wouldn't look at me!

I'm taking them to Portrait Innovations this month so I can get some pictures where everyone is looking and no one is making a face.

The Easter Bunny brought books for everyone, and yo-yos for the boys and a bunny for the baby. What a nice rabbit!

We had a busy week this week. Rowan was on spring break, so we had trips to the dentist, children's museum, open gym, and the orthodontist. Eleri also had feeding therapy. I was running full tilt all week and knitting in all my spare time. Tomorrow will be spent catching up with the laundry and housework that I neglected.
But we had some fantastic sunny days:

A visit with some Davises:

And for April Fools I made the boys some eggs out of marshmallows. They were a hit.

Rowan goes back to school tomorrow, and it's going to seem really quiet around here. Maybe I'll start prepping to paint that wall in the kitchen, so I can maintain the proper level of insanity. ;)

Picture blitz

Random pictures, taken off the camera. Enjoy!
Eleri in her Pixie Dust sweater


Rowan being super goofy in orange tights and a viking hat.


Niall at the top of the slide


I told them, don't go yet! Don't make me eat shoes!


Eleri tried nutella (yes) avocado (no) gerber meat stick (no)


Niall is a wonderful big brother


Eleri in her Easter dress and shoes


Loki putting up with baby love


Loki disappeared and we found her later sleeping in Niall's bed with him

Because dressing him as a hippy would be a copout

It's Retro Day at Sterling Montessori, part of their "spirit week" activities. Rowan wanted to go as Elvis, but I didn't have anything that I could turn into a leisure suit. I did, however, have a pair of courderroy pants that were almost out at the knees. And Elvis was born in 1935... So, Rowan is wearing what little boys wore when Elvis was born.

I love it when a craft comes together.

And I had to take the opportunity to do this NOW, before he's too old to let his mom put him in kickerbockers. When he actually thinks my skills are cool. ;)

Because he asks me almost every single day

This is how much time there is left until a certain excited someone starts kindergarten.



Yes, he will be going to Sterling. He can't wait. 5 months is an eternity.

The Pixie had a weight check this morning. She's now 17lbs 11oz, up 10oz from 3 weeks ago. We're still waiting on hearing from the therapy people. I plan on calling them in the morning if I haven't heard back from them by tonight. It's easier to catch them in the morning. If I called now, I'd get voicemail and have to call back in the morning anyway.

I also stopped by the YMCA this morning and picked up a scholarship application. Joining the Y is not in our budget (when did it get so expensive to join the Y?) but if we can get a scholarship we might be able to swing it. I am a pro at filling out paperwork by now, so wish us luck in qualifying. The boys need swim lessons and I'm not patient enough to teach them when they just cling to me like little barnacles.

That's the news so far. We'll be digging up the yard pretty soon to try and fix the drainage issues. The floor is all done except for the trim and a couple of thresholds. John did a fantastic job.

Make up

I haven't been posting. Maybe this will make up for it.

Loki

It's hard to take pictures of the dog. Cameras make her nervous. What doesn't make her nervous? Food. Food does not make her nervous. But cameras... cameras and following and saying, "Loki! Loki! Good dog, Loki!" makes her very nervous. Which is funny.

Feeding therapy

So today we had the evalution with the feeding therapist for Eleri. I had to take in foods she likes, foods she doesn't like, her cup, her bottle, spoons, etc... plus a 3 day food diary so they could see what she's been doing here at home.
The feeding therapist said that it looks like we're trying to feed her all day long. Well, ya! We are. The ped had me so frazzled with trying to get weight on her I've been offering her food every 2 hours to try to get her to gain.
She also tried a few different things, and watched her behavior, and probably some things that I didn't know she was doing like watching the two of us together. So she thinks that Eleri would benefit from feeding therapy and she'll make the calls and file the paperwork to get the ball rolling with that. It should take about a week.
In the meantime, she had some things she wants us to try.

• Night wean her again, so that she wakes up hungry
• Stretch out the times between when we offer her foods, so she's going longer without eating/nursing.
• offer her things on forks and spoons, even if we usually wouldn't use them... like ball up a piece of cheese and put it on a spoon. Be silly with it. Pretend that it's our food and she can't have it, put the spoon on her leg, etc.
• No more putting food where she can get to it if she wants it. It goes in the high chair at set times and that's it.

She said that she wants us to try to increase the volume that Eleri will take at one time, and the way to do that is to space things out. I had been night weaning her before, but stopped when the weight issue cropped up because I figured she needed the calories. She wants me to go back to that because Eleri wasn't gaining, but she wasn't losing either, and now that she'll take the instant breakfast and flax seed oil, we need to try to get her eating in normal patterns.
She said that Eleri is the type who would happily nurse every two hours around the clock. Boy did she get that right! We're going to try to change that, and going to try to help her associate food with yummy and that nice feeling of a fully tummy.
So that's where we are for now. We'll be trying these tips while we wait for her to start regular feeding therapy.

While I was knitting

John was working his little booty off installing floors.
He only has a little bit more to do, and has done a fantastic job. I'm so happy!

The view from the kitchen. The planks against the fireplace are for that last bit of hallway.

The view from the front door.

The view from by the tv.

The view from by the corner by the purple couch.

Yes, it still needs baseboards, because apparently the ones the builders installed were made of styrofoam or something, because they snapped in half when we tried to take them off. But that will come. Look! No carpet! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Olympic gold

Bad pics, bad light, but done before the torch went out!
I will go back and add the accent stuff, but they need to be washed and blocked first. My knitting is just too uneven to embroider over. But I'm super happy with them. YAY!

To make up for the bad pictures, have a good one. Pop and Fannie came to visit this weekend, and Eleri finally warmed up to Fannie enough to ignore her to get to the crayons.