Where have I been?
January 4th-January 17th
2010

Well, 2 weeks out of school for Christmas Break, followed by a week of snow days, and followed by 3 days off of school for parent teacher conference can really take a toll on a mom! Include a major endless snow storm, freezing negative weather, and ear infections...can it get worse? Hold that thought*** our CRAPY, I want to run over with my van, Lap Top started on fire. All nice right?
Since it was so crazy (especially with Andy home from work sick and a toddlers ear infection) I took 3 days off from doing laundry. What do you think happens? When you finally start a load of laundry it just happens that you have 6 inches of frozen ice in your pipe that leads to your washing machine overflowing with so much water that it leaks out the back by the dryer, down the outside of the house, and into the basement windows...also leading the water to go down into the basement causing an indoor rain storm through your ceiling light fixtures. ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!

But hey! Lets bypass the crazy and start happy!

What do you do when your daughter is all decked out and ready for church only to find out that due to the really bad weather church is canceled for the second week in a row?You spend the day pretending!!!

First day back to school after Christmas break! Yahoo! Too bad the rest of the week school was canceled because of snow and negative weather.
Isn't it funny how skinny jeans are even too baggy on Aubrey?!!

Caleb has written many notes to Aunt Steffaney...I was beyond excited that he wrote his name and spelled it right!!! Go Caleb!!! He went on to draw outer space!!

This is what an Ainsley looks like with an ear infection. So sad:(
With Ainsleys ear infection and Andy's flu...it was a sick, sleepless, and very sad couple of days!!
I would like to say that I really try to brush and do Ainsley hair. It usually takes 30 minutes, 5 attempts and a lot of chasing...it still ends up blah!

But, Lego's cheer up all sadness. Maybe the fact that they are AUBREY'S lego's makes playing with them all that more enjoyable!

My friend aka "Malcolms Mom", "Mrs. Nash", or "Amanda" told me that she lets her kids have CRAFT TIME. She explained that craft time was when she throws crayons, markers, scissors, and multiple pieces of paper around and let them have at it. I thought... I can be a good mom too. I can do Craft Time. I wanted to take a picture of how well it was going...

It seriously went like this. Okay guys... 1....2....3 at that point he took the scissors from the paper to Ainsley hair!!!!!

Ainsley had no idea that a VERY LARGE chunk of hair was missing from the back of her head! Caleb knew right away he was in big dodo!!!
I would like to thank Amanda for her "CRAFT TIME" idea!

What can I do to entertain Caleb quietly during "nap time?" Creative Play!!!

Caleb thinks it his personal job to pick up Tate. He weighs 20 pounds...what a chunk!!

During the 3rd snow day...I was out of ideas to entertain the kids. No worries....the kids tore apart Caleb's room and made a slide out of the bed. Right after I had cleaned his room and made his bed.

During the process of "bed slide" Aubrey got hit by the bunk bed ladder. Result...swollen snowzer!

After a very long day it is always nice to see the soft peaceful side of a "Terrible Two!"Tate loves spending quality time with Andy while he is sick!!

During the long week off of school we had The Marinov Family over family Movie night!! We have a lot of fun hanging out with them. We introduced them to their very first Milk Shakes!! They were a bit skeptical and nervous about adding candy bars and milk to the ice cream I had in the blender but I think they really liked them!!!

Everyone wants to sit by Alec! They really loved Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

I told Ainsley that we should probably go and take a nap. I went and put Tate in his crib and hurried back to where I left Ainsley. She was gone...I went to her room and she had already gotten in bed and fallen asleep.

We announced to Ainsley that Caleb's friend Alec was coming over to play because Elena had her baby! She insisted her hair be curled, bow in, and clean matching clothes.

Caleb got a hold of Andy's brand new bottle of hair product. That's the entire bottle.

Ainsley has been putting her shoes on all by herself!!

Tate loves to lean and reach!

I finally cut Ainsley hair. It was so sad but she couldn't walk around with a big chunk missing in the back forever!!! She sat pretty still and it turned out okay!

When mom says no what do you do? While she is bathing Tate you put on your own shoes and go outside in the dark. Funny how your kids can so quickly get shoes on all of a sudden!

Tate refused to keep his pants and socks on. He will kick and kick until he is naked!! My solution is THE SACK!!! These things are awesome!

Caleb...gross...ouch...oh no!!! He fell "accidentally" into entry way table. Result was a lot of tears, screams, blood, and a swollen lip. So sad!

Ainsley hates nursery. She hyperventilated for 10 minutes, then they give her back to us, and she continued to cry all through Sunday school, until we finally gave up and brought her home. She cried all the way home, at home for 5 minutes, and then every time I even mentioned nursery the rest of that day. Oh boy! This has been going on for weeks. Poor Ainsley!

Included in these 2 weeks are 4 play groups, 2 family nights, a successful 45 minute FHE (lesson included), and a fun family dinner at the Marinov house!

The rest of the month Continues below....