Easter

This year we decided to talk to the Easter Bunny and see if he could stop by a day early.  I wanted to do all that Saturday morning, so that Sunday would be less hectic.  Our church in Springdale had a sunrise service followed by breakfast and a Easter Cantata and it was always crazy trying to get to church on time.  This year it was regular times at our church here, but it still made things much easier.

The kids slept in till there normal waking times because they weren't expecting it.  Their baskets were in the playroom so they didn't notice them when they got up.  Everyone got to sleep till they were ready to get up; no one rushed to get the other one up just because it was a special day.  Everyone woke up happy. 

When they said they were hungry I went to cook some biscuit, and Elaina looked out the window and saw an egg.  She got so excited as she told her brothers that she saw an egg and another one and another one.  The she realized that the Easter bunny had came.  They were all excited so I told them to get dressed and go tell Trey. 

They found their baskets in the playroom with books and a chocolate bunny.  The basket also had one of their eggs so they would know which one to find.  Josiah's were football eggs, Elaina's had butterflies on them, and Emmett's were silly smiley faces.  We headed outside and the kids found there eggs. 

Emmett's first egg had a quarter in it and he wasn't much interested in finding more till he realized that there might be more monies.  They found all there eggs and then we went in to cook a big breakfast.

Elaina's idea of getting dressed: putting shorts on with her gown and then her boots.

It was really nice to let the kids take their time and not have to rush them on the egg hunt.  They really had fun helping each other and playing with the eggs.

Since we didn't have breakfast at church this year, we made Resurrection Rolls for breakfast.  Trey explained to the kids that the marshmallow represented Jesus's body after he died on the cross.  They dipped the in the butter and cinnamon sugar to represent the burial oils and spices.  Then they wrapped a crescent roll around it to represent Jesus being sealed in the tomb.

We asked the kids what they thought would happen as they baked.  Elaina said that it would disappear like Jesus did.  They all thought it was cool that the marshmallow was missing once they baked.  Then they enjoyed a yummy breakfast and we headed to church without any stress.

I didn't even attempt to get a family picture.  I did get one of the kids after church, and of course there was drama.  Josiah wanted to taking it standing on the table which was fine, but he nearly fell off because he kept trying to move away from his sister.  Trey got on to him and made him stand by her which lead to crying (because daddy scared him grabbing him to keep him from falling and because he got in trouble for being rude) and pouting (because he had to stand by Elaina).  Emmett just wanted to be silly but we were able to get a few without fingers in the mouth. 

Then I got one of them individually.  Elaina wanted hers mad in her favorite swing

Josiah Jumping off the table

And of course Emmett had to jump of the table once he saw Josiah did.

Rain and the flu

Several weeks ago Josiah came home telling me his teacher said that he was sick.  I was a little confused at that statement because I thought if she really felt that way she would have had the school call me.  After a lot of questioning and prying I figured out that Josiah told her his head hurt right before they were getting ready to come home.

He was acting tired and laying around, but I didn't think much of it.  I took his temp at it was 99 so again nothing really to make me concerned.  Once Trey got home he didn't perk up any (usually he comes out of any kind of funky mood when dad gets home).  I took his temperature again and it was still around 99 degrees, so I gave him some Tylenol and decided that he stay home Wednesday.

I called the school to let them know that he was home sick and they said that a kid in his class had been diagnosed with the flu.  We didn't really think he had the flu; he was feeling fine and no fever.  I was really wondering why he was home (other than the slight fever he had the day before).  We decided to go ahead and take him to the doctor to to be safe.

Trey took a half day off and took him that afternoon.  Sure enough he tested positive for the Type B Flu.  No fever in the day he tested positive and no feeling bad.  So we set up a quarantine area to keep him away from the other kids.  He got our bed room and Trey and I got the air mattress in the living room. We were also dumb enough to get the Tamiflu.  That stuff is outrageously price and he didn't even feel bad.  Not even a little bad.  If there is ever a next time we will pass on that. 

Josiah loved being in our room.  As he told me when I was feeling bad for him, "I got the TV and dad's computer.  I'm in paradise."  A paradise that he was mad to loose when he got well and got kicked out of his quarantine area.

Elaina and Emmett did enjoy their morning cartoons on the air bed.

While Josiah was living out his dream of cartoons and computer games, the well kids were not having as much fun.  It was raining.  I would say flooding, but we didn't get as much as a lot of surrounding areas that actually flooded so I will just say we got a lot of rain.  They did enjoy playing on and with the air mattress.  Their favorite thing was using the blankets to hide Elaina's Shopkins in and then trying to find them.

We couldn't get out of the house because Josiah was sick so I decided that it was warm enough to go play in the rain.  It had slacked off a bit and the kids (and myself) needed out of the house even if it was to go play out in the rain. 

Emmett was fired up to go jump in puddles, but not Elaina.  She was playing with something and didn't want to stop.  But once she saw Emmett out and I told her she could wear her raincoat she was ready to go.

Emmett loves to jump and splash in puddles.  Then they found a water blaster and Elaina helped Emmett use it.  We stayed out for a little while and they were ready to come back in.  The little bit of time that we spent outside was just the break from the house that we needed. 

Thankfully Josiah didn't really feel bad and no one else got sick.

Toothless

Last Thursday Josiah came home from school excited that he lost his top tooth.  He said that at lunch he bit into a roll and it fell out.  Trey actually picked him up that day and Josiah had him send me this picture as soon as he got him.

He had been hoping that he would loose his tooth at school because you get a little tooth box to put it in.  He had been talking about that long before his tooth ever got loose.  He so happy that it happened at school and he got the little box.  Even though it was lunch and he didn't get to eat much and was starving at supper.  He ate all his supper and then the rest of his lunch.

His other top tooth has been very loose, but he didn't want anyone to touch it.  This past Thursday it kept turning sideways and would hurt him, especially when he would eat something.  He would scream and I would have to straighten the tooth back up.  Each time I touched it I would try and give it a little tug, but he would scream and I couldn't get a good enough grip on it to get it out.

I told Trey about it hurting him and he said he would pull it.  Josiah was not happy at all that we were going to pull it.  He hid under the cover and screamed.  I told him that maybe since he was sick that the tooth fairy might give him double. He then said maybe I will get 10 and we said I don't know, let's find out.   I think the thought of getting extra coins was the deciding factor in agreeing to let Trey touch the tooth.  Trey told him that he was just going to try one time.  He used a wash cloth to get a good grip and gave a good tug and the tooth came right out.  As the tooth cam out Josiah started screaming the laughing.  He said that it scared him when it came out.

This time he had me write the To: Tooth Fairy  From: Josiah on the envelope (something that he came up with and does every time he looses a tooth) and put it under his pillow.  Or maybe it was my pillow since he was quarantined to out room with the flu.  He was so excited when he woke up to find 5 coins under the pillow.  As soon as he woke up he was yelling for me to come see. 

Mommy & Elaina day

I recently got to hang out with just Elaina.  She was enjoying the quiet house and didn't want to leave.  I needed to go to Sam's to get a few things, so I convinced her to go with the promise of Chick-fil-A. 

We had a nice lunch and then she got to go play on the playground.  There were 3 or 4 other kids there and she had a blast playing with them.  I was nice seeing her interact and make friends to play with.  This was probably the first time she has really had a chance to do that since we moved. 

I really felt bad when we had to leave because she was having so much fun.  At Sam's she found a couple of summer dress that she really really needed and they were priced really good so we got both of them.  After Sam's we ran to Aldi and then headed home.  I had thought about going to check the new outlet mall out, but Elaina wasn't really interested and we had gotten such a late start that we decided to just come on back home. 

When we got home Elaina decided that it was Duck Duck's (the duck that her paci was once attached to) birthday.  She made him a cake out of legos and set up a party with all her other stuffed animals.  It wasn't just any party; it was a surprise party.  All of Duck Duck's friends hid around the room and I brought him in and then hid too.  We all jumped out and yelled surprise; then Elaina set all the animals in their spots. 

I love her creativity and watching her play with her toys.  She has the best time just placing everything in its perfect place.  Every now and then I can catch her talking to and for them, but if she catches me watching she will stop.  She will fill one of her houses full of Shopkins, princesses, ponies, and whatever other little toy she is playing with. 

She is getting so big and really starting to lose the baby look.  I am so thankful for times like this that I get to spend with just her.  Its hard to that my baby girl will soon be five.

Dentist Appointments

Last week we took the kids to see the dentist.  This was Emmett's first time getting his teeth cleaned and he did great.  He wasn't sure about it all at first and told them that they couldn't look into his mouth.  They were so patient with him and were able to convince him to open up and let the lady brush his teeth. 

He was still and let her brush his teeth.  He didn't want me to get to far from him but they were able to get everything done that they wanted.  He was a little disappointed that he only got to rinse at the water fountain, because Elaina had told him about the little gun that shoots water into your mouth. 

Elaina got Xrays for the first time, and her gag reflex made that a little difficult.  She was really good and they finally got what they needed and she got her teeth cleaned.  Elaina choose Bubble gum as her toothpaste flavor.  That was not a surprise, she chooses bubble gum flavor any chance she gets.

Josiah was a champ and got Xrays and his teeth cleaned in no time.  He choose mint for his toothpaste; I guess since choosing chocolate last time (which he said was AWFUL) he decided to just go with a simple one. 

All of their teeth looked great and they had no cavities.  There favorite part of course picking the surprises.  Josiah chose a blue snake that has the segments and will sway back and forth as you hold one end.  Elaina chose a little Frisbee with launcher.  Emmett knew exactly what he wanted from when they were telling him about the prizes before when they were trying to get him to open his mouth.  Hearing that they had a slinky is probably what got him to open his mouth in the first place.