Friday- sick baby, camping, etc.

Has it really been a week since I posted? What can I say- when I get overwhelemed I put my head in the sand. During the nights during this week I would intentionally not check my email or look at the computer because I felt like I couldn't handle one more thing on my plate. But here we are at Friday and I feel more on top of things.

I had a good weekend/early week with the three bambinos by myself. Not only were Marc and Marky out of town- BB and Poppy were gone on a trip as well. But we hung in there and had a good time. Charlie is the sweetest, happiest baby- but he is ACTIVE! He gets into stuff the others never got into. I find him emptying drawers, climbing furniture, and generally making a huge mess all the time.  Who me?



 Case in point- he loves the corner lazy-susan thing with all the spices on it. This is blurry, but that's a box of brown sugar he's holding-

 

In his mouth- a tube of frosting-

 

Sadly, he's been sick for weeks. Two weeks ago he was diagnosed with double ear infection and lung infection and we did 10 days of antibiotics and he was still no better. Here we are at the doctor on Wednesday- his ear was totally infected still- we got stronger medicine and I am hopeful he will feel better and stop being so pitiful soon- it breaks my heart-




All of us went to the doctor- I told the doctor that bringing Tucker along was like bringing a "drunk monkey" with me and he said he too had a drunk monkey at home. :)   One advantage to our rarely watching TV- they are TRANSFIXED by the Disney channel at the doctor's office-
 

Daddy and Marky got home from their trip to West Virginia and brought Tucker a Virginia Calvaryman's hat and sword, which he LOVED! Marc and Marky had found the place where Marc's great-great grandfather was buried- and discovered he was in the Virginia Calvary in the civil war-
 

Such a fun toy...
 

But then...while taking pictures he broke the sword in half- oh no Mr. T!

 


I know, buddy- that broke your little heart.

 

In other news- our bird feeders keep getting emptied- and I have found the culprit(s)- (you see he's emptied the right feeder and moved onto the left)-




I didn't do anything.  What birdseed?  Madam, you are mistaken.

 


Sissy went to a birthday tea-party on Saturday and had a great time.
 

During the party the girls used stamps and crayons to make pictures. They were drawing princesses and castles, etc., but Julia made this picture- (it's Thomas the tank engine)-

 

 She said, "I wanted to make this for Charlie and Tucker- they will love it!" Here's the outside-

 

I'm telling you- I know I'm biased, but I think she is just the sweetest little girl. She LOVES everybody and is always doing things for other people.

 

This morning she made this for me-
 

But I know who she learned "making things for people" from- her big brother. He makes things for her all the time. This morning he worked hard on a picture he knew she would love (and she did and hung it in her room)-
   

Tonight- I have three VERY happy and excited children who have gone to camp out at "Cub Haunted" with the cub scouts. They have it every year- and there are skits, bonfires, haunted hay rides, etc. Families are invited and we knew we were letting Sissy go, but Marc made a game-day decision this afternoon and is taking Tuck Tuck too!  His first campout! They will have fun (and Charliebear and I will do the best we can in our comfy house). :) The babies in comfy clothes they can sleep in-
 

Four sleeping bags, four pillows, three loveys, four flashlights, one lantern, four extra pairs of clothes and toothbrushes, four water bottles, four fleeces for when it gets cool- and we are on our way- nothing to it- :)



Have fun! (and yes, Sissy is holding the tent- and yes, it is small!  Marc bought it back when it was just him and Marky who camped.  They will be snug as a bug in a rug!  Marc said, "at least we will stay warm!")  And THAT is the weekly update!

Friday

Well, this week was exciting.  Marc surprised Marky with a Father/Son/Grandson trip to West Virginia to see where Big Grandpa grew up  and enjoy his hometown's annual mountain festival.  It was SO CUTE Thursday morning!  Marc had worked out of town Wednesday so he said, "I think I'll take the day off, but I better run into the office to sign something- Marky want to ride with me?"  Marky said yes- and as they were riding Marc was telling him all about the awesome things Grandpa was doing in West Virginia.  He said, "wouldn't that be fun to do one day?"  And Marky said, "oh, yes- that'd be awesome".  They kept driving to the airport and Marc said, "let's go right now."  It blew the boy's mind!  He turned around and saw that the trunk had suit cases and I had packed him a bag for the plane.  Here they are on their way out the door-






I had so much fun packing his Florida State backpack for the plane and car travel time- (and I had to pack Grrr- yes, he still sleeps with him, which I love)-



I packed pencils and crayons with a drawing pad and "how to draw" book that shows how to draw Americana stuff- perfect for this trip to the heartland-



 Playing cards, magnetic chess, a word search, sunglasses and his favorite snacks- peanuts, bubble gum and dried mango slices (I don't know why he loves those- he just does)-



Picking a book to take was hard- all his chapter books he would have read in one sitting and be done with it- so I picked these- the first is the American History textbook grandpa used when he was in school. I also got this book on battles- knowing he'd love to read about those. (I also put in a brand new "Imagination Station" book, which Marc said he read in its entirety on the plane). In the middle is a love note from Mommy. :)

 

BUT- at the last minute- Daddy mentioned "why don't I let him take my gameboy?" And I said, "what are you talking about- we don't have a gameboy." And then he reached in his closet and pulled out a working gameboy with tetris and all kinds of fun games. How we've been married over 11 years and I'd never known we had a gameboy is beyond me- but needless to say the American history textbook came OUT of the bag and the gameboy went in.   :)   I think Marky was as excited about seeing a gameboy as going on the trip- he doesn't have any handheld toy like that. I've heard they are having a blast and Marc sent a couple pics tonight- carving a tractor out of a log using a chain saw- pretty impressive-

 

Meanwhile I'm here with Mr. Enthusiastic-


We had soccer games and Sissy's team pictures last night so BB came to help me. She went to Sissy's game and Charlie and I went to Tucker's and caught the last 1/2 of Julia's.





Today we went to have Charlie's one-year portraits done.  He had his pictures made in May, when he was 9 months old, but he's changed SO much in four months- mainly he's grown a LOT of hair, teeth, and a chin.  :)  (And I need this precious curly hair in pictures for posterity)-



He was AN ANGEL!!! We were there like 10 minutes- he walked in, smiled, posed- and it was time to go! (and yes, he wore his "yum yum" bubble b/c it best represents my hungry wittle baby)-

 

We went to lunch to wait for the pictures to print-



And after reading THIS article, I've decided I need to be in more pictures with my children. I always try to get out of the pictures, or delete them b/c I don't EVER like the way I look, but I'm erasing myself from their history. No More! Here is me loving my sugar bear-

Noah's video

If you haven't seen this- you really should.  This is the video they played at Noah's Life Celebration- it's a happy celebration video.  Such a precious, precious boy.  Noah, we miss you so much.

Monday

Spending Sunday evening at the farm worked out for us in many ways.  For one, Marky's den went to the Sheriff's office literally right beside Mom and Dad's house to shoot BB guns and learn about gun safety.  Second, we had an issue Monday morning with Marky needing to be at his weekly PE class that is down by my parents' house and Julia having a birthday party at the exact same time 30 minutes away.  We solved this by letting Marky spend the night, which he thinks is the biggest treat ever!  He stayed up late and read like four classic books, played "shut the box" with BB and Memaw, and got to eat what he wanted.  This morning before his PE class he got to go fishing.  BB even said, "if you want a different fishing pole, you can drive up to the house on the four wheeler and get one".  Well, it turns out  he needed to try out FIVE different fishing poles.  :)

Meanwhile, across town, Julia was having a tea party with SNOW WHITE herself!



Singing into the "wishing well" with Snow White....

 

At one point, Snow White handed all the girls apples (which is Julia's favorite snack) and Julia was the only one who would NOT take it. She knows how this story goes down- she's read the book. Don't try to play those games with Sissy, Snow, it won't work. :) We met up with BB at Cracker Barrel to get Marky back and she took some pics of the babies. I wish this little rocking chair wasn't $100, I really think Charlie should have one!
 

Every time we got to Cracker Barrel Marky tries to get Sissy to play checkers with him, and every time she has no clue how to and stacks them up. And then he's frustrated. If you want to pretend the checkers are horses- then you've got a game she can get behind.