More Odd and Ends...just for Elizabeth :)

The blog kind of morphed into a new dimension this past week.  We were starting history in school and talking about how we learn about our own history.  I asked the kids how they thought they could learn about their family history and Alison said, "I know!  The blog!" and with that, she asked if she could read the blog from when she was a baby.  She spent a good part of that afternoon looking back on the first posts of this blog.  7 years ago, I never thought that this would be something the kids would read, but now it's cool to see how much it's blessed our family.

As I'm typing, this came into my room...an hour after being put to bed:

He has my slippers on his hands, his slippers on his feet and claimed he had to go potty.  After going poopy, he exclaimed, "It looks like a pancake!"...oh, to be 2.

Here's some more odd and ends of the week.

The neighbors must have felt my blog post, because a few hours after I posted they hadn't touched the swing set, they emerged from their house for the very first time!  7 pm.  Getting dark and chilly, so naturally this is the perfect time to play on the brand new swing set that's been sitting in your yard since Christmas Eve.  I was getting the kids ready for bed and made everyone stop to look out the window...sure hope they didn't notice us gawking and taking pictures!

pre-gawking baths:

Alison washed the boys up and was very proud of herself.  Don't worry, I was inconspicuously

 folding laundry in the hallway so I could keep an eye on them.

I think I've mentioned how much Alison loves science.  It was a hidden love...I think they just did short segments of it in public school.  At the library, she loaded up her backpack with science books and has been especially loving the space books.  One afternoon, while the boys were playing, she turned on some music in her room and sat down to read.  I just loved it.  I love that she can; that her days can be spent reading books that she's interested in and can explore subjects she loves.  I have little moments like these most days that affirm we're making the right choice in homeschooling.

Speaking of the right choice...always choose to step away from this scene:

Colin decided he wanted to pee like Eli, except he's not quite tall enough and then Eli tries to show him how and pee is everywhere!  Thank you inventor of clorox wipes!

Odd and End videos

Alison and Eli put Colin to bed one afternoon.  Somehow Grandma and Grandpa has turned into Memaw and Papa...the boys pretended to talk to them on the phone all morning.
I have a life motto: if my kids ask to try a new fruit or veggie, I say yes. We tried starfruit last week and this week we tried kumquats. I remember eating these with my dad as a kid and I love exposing them to new things. I ate one and it was as sour as a tearjerker hard candy. Here's the kids trying it:
Colin ate the whole thing!
 

The last few weeks, when the weather is nice, our yard fills up with neighbor kids. Here's what our driveway looked like one day this week.
Colin woke up from his nap one day shouting, "Momma! I'm a genius!"...I wonder what he was dreaming about.
We were pulling in the driveway last night from the Y and he started shouting, "No! I don't want to go home! I want to go to kindergarten!" He must have heard someone talking about kindergarten at the Y, but there was no reasoning with him that kindergarten was actually at our house :)
Taking a little break from school:
Ben's was in California this week and we were all sad that we were not at the ocean with him. One afternoon the boys were pretending they were at the beach and somehow it turned into fighting bad guys. I loved watching them play together.

Odd and End pictures

 Forgot to post this beauty from Ben's birthday:

 

Alison made a crown for Ben to wear :)  The kids were very excited about his unwrapped amazon box...someday I'll buy real birthday wrapping paper for Ben...last year he had Hello Kitty, so I thought maybe a bare box would be better.

It's the end of an era in our house.  The crib has come down.  I remember watching Ben put it together when my belly was huge with Alison.  I was so excited to put her in it and would have never guessed that it would stay up for almost 8 more years.

about to have Alison

putting the crib together

taking the crib down

Colin has been doing great in a big bed, except that he's acquired a love for carrying massive amounts of toys into his bed.  If I don't put a gate in front of his door, he'll come into our room like this:

Spring cleaning has begun and closets have been gutted.  I seem to have something eating my clothes...my wardrobe is already very small, but now most of my shirts have small holes in them.  Large closet + a few pieces of clothes=dumping ground for school supplies, exercise equipment and random item storage.  When I took out all the random stuff, the school room was full and the kids thought they had a new playroom.  3 trips to the DAV, a clean slate of clothes and the kids could not stay on task during school because they just wanted to play school.

Alison being the teacher

snack time at "school"

We've had a basketball goal laying down in our backyard since before we moved in.  The rental company has promised to move it for 2 years and it's still there.  So I finally set it up for Alison (still need to get a net) and she's spent hours out there.  Yea for free activities!  

Also, 3 months in counting that the swing set has not been touched.  Stay tuned, I will be taking pictures when the family actually uses this thing!

Ben's out of town this week and the kids asked me to send these pictures to him...they just look older and it's not fair.

 

We've really enjoyed our last 2 wednesdays.  First we go to gym class (it meets in a field next to a park), then play at the park, followed by a picnic and then head to swim lessons.  I'm so thankful for the fresh air and the friendships our kids have been able to make.  Also love that Colin is content to just play in the dirt while Eli and Alison participate.

P.S.  Ben ran his 2nd half marathon this past weekend, this one all by himself.  He did amazing and ran in 1:42!  I also got a cardio workout while he was running; I got a text from the race people when he crossed the halfway point, but they never sent me a message that he finished!  I was in a panic that he was really hurt or worse.  Praise the Lord he is fine and not hurt at all and I will forever be at all races my family participates in.

Tae Kwan Do

I bribed Eli to participate in Tae Kwan Do last week and it was totally worth the $0.50 in skittles to see him out there.

He could only kick with his right leg. The teacher finally had to gently step on his foot so he would kick with his left leg. At the end of class he said it's completely normal at this age, but it was funny watching him work with him.


I'm glad I got these videos because this week when we went, the teacher never showed up...no email or text or note, just didn't come and all the kids were at the door waiting. Definitely rubbed me the wrong way, so I'm not sure we'll be returning.

Ice Skating

I took Alison ice skating for the first time on Saturday.  She was invited to a birthday party there, but it really felt more like her and I on a skating date. 

I'm glad we went and Alison was able to experience ice skating. 

Happy Birthday Ben!

Welcome to birthday season in the Shear house.

First up, Ben.

Happy 32!!!

We went to the Y in the morning, after having blueberry pancakes and sausage.  Alison and I spent the afternoon at a friend's birthday party (post later) and Ben slaved away in the kitchen.  Yummy things always come out of the kitchen when he's in there!  We had steak, white beans, roasted veggies and homemade rolls for dinner.

The kids were super excited about dessert and I was super excited that they actually sang with me this year!

I had fun teasing Ben this birthday for how spoiled he is.  We got him an Xbox, plus he got a new instrument and some extra spending money.  All teasing aside, I am so thankful that we are able to have seasons of spoiling.  And there's no one better to spoil, than the best guy around.

Swim lessons

I found this wonderful gem: homeschool swim lessons at the Newport News Y.  We've done swim lessons at the Smithfield Y for years and never got anywhere...hence, still needing swim lessons.  I've heard great things about the aquatics program at this Y and within 2 lessons, I'm also singing their praises.  The only downer is lessons are right at lunch/nap time, but it's well worth it.  Like I said, Alison has been twice and by the end of this week, she was swimming unassisted in the deep end.  She also swam 1 whole lap, with the aid of a noodle, but was still really proud of herself.  The teacher was also beginning to teach them how to dive in and I'm pretty sure this lady is worth a million dollars.  I can't wait to get Eli in with this lady and see what she can do with him.

Movin' up

The boys got "new" beds this week!

We day we planned on making the switch ended up being the day they started throwing up...so we waited.  We didn't think that would be a great way for Colin to start the transition to a big bed. 

"Here's your new bed!  Don't mind the vomit on the sheets."  I'm sure the smell would have just lulled him to sleep.

We moved Eli's bed into Colin's room and the futon into Eli's room.   Colin likes trains way more than Eli at this moment, so giving him the Thomas bed made way more sense.  He was super excited, but I knew keeping a tornado in an open bed would not be easy.  So we left up the crib for the transition.  Sure enough, the first night, after 3 chances, he was back in the crib.  BUT after that, he's slept in the big bed, no problem.  Ok, maybe a few little problems, but it's been way smoother than I anticipated.

I also planned to buy Eli new Mario sheets, but that plan also had to wait.  Thankfully the Star Wars blanket we made him for Christmas fits perfectly.  He's been a little confused why he's sleeping on the couch/guest bed, but he's been sleeping great, so I'm not worried about it.  I actually like that when we have other kids over, we can set it up so they have more room to play.  We also reminded him that this thing has been Ben's since he was a teenager, so it's really sentimental that he now gets to have it.   He's 4 and could care less...but I think it's kinda cool.

Now the question is, what to do with the crib that all 3 of our kids have used?

A little lady

Alison has been asking to get her ears pierced for awhile and truthfully, I was excited to get them done too.  We have been working on manors at the dinner table and told Alison that when she completed 10 dinners without having to be reminded of a "manor rule", then she could get her ears pierced.  Sadly, it took her over 2 weeks because of all the sickness in our house, but she completed Shear Manors 101 on Friday night.

The kids celebrated our 10th dinner with a tea cups at dinner.  No hats at the table didn't make it on our manors list...but will have to be added soon, along with 'no blankies!'

Saturday, Alison and I had a girls date and she requested 5 Guys for lunch.  Since recovering from the bug, she has been crazy hungry and craving meat.

After lunch, we went to Claire's.  The lady suggested we do a "double pierce" which means they do both ears at the same time, but the second employee wasn't there yet.  So we went to Target and did a little shopping and came back.  But the other girl was apparently having car problems and still wasn't there.  So I gave Alison the option to go back the next day or get them pierced one at a time.  She chose the brave route!  She was nervous and I think ready to just have it done with.

Afterwards, she said, "Why is it that whenever someone tells you it's not going to hurt, it's actually going to hurt a lot?  Why don't they just tell you the truth?"  It cracked me up.  Um, because I would never be able to drag you into a doctors office if I told you the truth.  I was proud of her and I know she was equally proud.  She kept saying over and over, "I can't believe I just did that!".

More than getting her ears pierced, I have been so proud of this little lady this week.  It's crazy how quickly things can change, but this was a week I saw huge change in Alison.  She started keeping her room really clean and putting her hair up all by herself everyday.  She did more than I asked of her in school, made her own snacks, set the table for dinner with a cheerful attitude and played lovingly with the boys.  Since getting her ears pierced, she's stayed on top of keeping them clean and definitely looks older.

I'm really curious what kind of earrings she'll request to wear when these first ones can come out.  Although, she picked these because they match the ones I was wearing.

kid seflies

p.s.  Ben made zwiebach while we were gone and I think Colin had 5.  His belly was so huge, his shirt wouldn't fit.  Note to self: feed Colin zwiebach before 3 year checkup.

Ugh

I really don't even want to blog about the last 2 weeks, but the point of the blog is to document our life...so the worst winter ever is now documented.

Alright, I'll try to not be so dramatic, but this winter has been terrible.

We finally got our driveway clear of the ice, and literally 5 hours later it was covered again.

Public schools were in session for 1 day in the last 2 weeks.  Ben was on a trip the first part of the week, came home to snow and only went to work for half day for the entire week.  Ben had enough and "overnighted" a shovel...it got here several days later just in time:

That was a joke.  

However, it's supposed to snow again this week so hopefully we actually get to use it.  I thought we were the odd ones in Virginia to not have a snow shovel, until a kid showed up at our door with a garden shovel and asked if we wanted to pay him to shovel our driveway.  I tried to hide my laugh and sent him home.

Anyway, we were snowed in again.

The boys helped me do some cooking:

And somehow that ended with Colin being naked and washing dishes.  Apparently cabin fever makes you hot.  I don't care, his little tushy always puts a smile on my face.

In my attempt to keep the kids friendships flourishing, I managed to welcome in a slew of germs.  Alison's bff, Jensen came over and as her mom dropped her off, she proceeded to tell me how terribly sick they had been all week.  Lesson learned; if someone shows up at your house speaking of sickness, tell them you love them but to get out of your house immediately.

A couple days later, Alison started throwing up and was the sickest I have ever seen her.

She threw up for 3 days and about an hour after she stopped, the boys started.  This was the worst, longest bug I have ever seen.  I've never thrown away so much stuff!  Towels and clothes and bedsheets and cups and trashcans, went straight to the garbage and I'm just going to have to add a "winter recovery" colomn to our budget.
 Right after Alison started throwing up, she said "Stupid Jensen!".  It made me laugh.  She also kept yelling "I need the lysol!  I have germs I need to kill!".  My little germ-a-phobe was convinced that she could sanitize the sickness away.  I wish that was true.  This bug also confirmed that if Alison says something is wrong, something is terribly wrong.  I would ask her how she felt..."Great!" and then would barf.  Over and over again.  "I feel fine"...puke.  "No really, I'm good"...vomit.  Every time she would call for me or try to get up, she would get sick.  So finally, I gave her my old phone to text Ben when she needed something.  She sent him this picture, with "I love you".

 

It's been a full 7 days of cleaning up vomit and Praise the Lord, no one has thrown up yet today!  This was our recovery zone yesterday...Colin is snuggling with Alison and we're watching Curious George.  Thank goodness for George; he has certainly saved this winter.

Alison and Eli talked a lot about what they were going to eat when they were all better.  Alison wanted a gallon of milk, which is odd because she really hasn't been that crazy about milk lately.  Also on her list: fruit punch, sun chips, brownies and hot dogs.  Eli just wanted pizza; lots and lots of pizza.  Alison was so sad and miserable for so long that I told her we would celebrate when she was better.  This morning she woke up happy and chipper and proclaimed that she was better.  So we made brownies and drank lots of milk and celebrated!

Eli didn't feel like a brownie, so I didn't push it.  But I am celebrating today.  We survived!  I'm sure Ben and I will get it tonight, but we've survived the last few weeks and I'm celebrating!

As much as I don't want to remember all the sickness this winter, there was still some sweet moments I do want to remember.
~playing Life with Alison and watching 'Star Struck' together
~Eli's smile when I let him watch a movie in the middle of the night
~rocking Colin and hearing him say "I wove you momma"

I hope that is true for our kids too; I hope they remember the snuggles and movies and games and not the sickness.  I am tired from many sleepless nights, but what a sweet gift I got last night from Eli.  He was clearly feeling better and just kept saying over and over "I just love you too much mommy".  I tucked him into bed and he said, "You know why I love you so much?  Because you take such good care of me."  Hearing that definitely helped erase the memory of cleaning up vomit for a week.