Kitchen help extraordinaire!

Andrew still loves helping in the kitchen! He helped with a special treat for Mark...his favorite, Crescent Rolls! Then yesterday morning he wanted to make scrambled eggs (with cheese and pepperoni...a new idea for me, anyway), and he did a great job on them, start to finish!

...and Abby all love the snow!

We have all been loving the longer days and the warmer temperatures! Two weeks ago, we were getting a few blustery days of snow, then a few days of lazy but thick falling snow (the kind of snowy day to absolutely love, if it comes between Thanksgiving and Christmas...but not late March!), and then it cleared out to be brilliantly sunny since then! Temps range from about 5 below at night to 45 above by late afternoon!
So, I took advantage of a fun day in the snow to captures some pics of the boys and their dog enjoying it all! Happy Spring!

...and Jacob...

Andrew...

"Larry-Boy!"

Andrew had checked a Larry-Boy video out of the library this past week, and so often has been pretending to be super-hero Larry-Boy, especially when he has on his Superman pj's. Tonight he asked that all requests to him (to help clear the table, go to the bathroom one last time before bed, etc), be made to Larry-Boy. Each time we would ask him to do something, he would zoom off to do it! It was great, until we got to reminding him to wash his hands after going to the bathroom. His reply? "I can't...super-heros don't have any hands!"

Jacob sick...again

Poor Jacob was sick again today...fever, listlessness, and tummy ache (though thankfully he never threw up). Andrew was as sweet as ever in trying to take care of him. And for as sick as he was, Jacob still said "cheese" and tried to put on a smile when I pulled out the camera!

Love those boys!

Andrew and Jacob are such good buddies! Yes, they do have their arguments and battles over things...but generally, their brotherly love for each other is a joy and blessing to see in action!

Baby Update

Well, this past week we officially began the third trimester...hallelujah, we're almost done! I had an OB appt. today, and everything with Baby Anna looks great (including 100% certainty that she's really a girl, as the dr. commented that "Well, she's still a little girl") and even I could tell from looking at the ultrasound. 12 weeks and counting!

St. Patrick's Day

For St. Patrick's Day, my mom had checked out from the library the book Green Eggs and Ham, and then made the boys green eggs and ham for breakfast! At first they weren't sure what to make of it, but they did eat them, Andrew quoting lines from the book throughout the meal!

Weekend at Gramps' & Grandma's

Just a few pics from our weekend at my parents' house! We all had a good time, and it was a great way to pass the time waiting for Mark to return and for the carpet and everything else at home to dry!

Water disaster

Well, this is our disaster from Thursday. I was over at church with the rest of the music team, and came home for something. I was greeted by the sound of rushing water, (very similar to the sound I heard when the pipes to our hot water heater broke the last time Mark was away on a business trip), but didn't find the source of the sound till I got to the front of the house! A joint in a pipe in our living room had broken, and it was spraying hot water all over our entire living room. By the time I found it, the carpet directly under the break was under at least an inch of water already. The bookshelf and its contents, Andrew's desk and all of his school materials and educational games, a wall clock that was a wedding gift, and many of our picture frames were soaked...I have yet to determine the amt. of permanent damage.
The good thing about the whole situation was that at least the music team was next door and could come help rescue us! I was fighting tears, seeing all the precious pictures that were ruined, etc., desperately reminding myself that it was all just stuff. I was trying not to cry over a picture Andrew had drawn almost a year ago of an airplane, with so much detail! I had planned on framing it, but it was still in the pad of paper to keep it safe and unwrinkled, and there was another picture done in marker behind it that bled through...nevermind the fact that it was on newsprint and completely saturated! But Andrew was so brave for me; "Don't worry, mommy. I'll draw you another one." He's so like his father, steady and reassuring! He didn't complain a bit about all of the coloring books and school books we had to throw away, "That's okay, mommy...that happens sometimes." So grown-up about the whole thing!
Our church family is incredible...the music team had the bookshelves cleared and everything set out to dry in no time at all, the plumber of the church came and got the pipe fixed within the hour, and they slurped up the water with the carpet shampooer and set out heaters to start the drying out process. (And Jacob slept through the whole thing)! So much grace given in that moment...I am so grateful!
Our plan for the weekend was to go the my parents overnight Friday to help speed the time till Mark gets home. But in looking at the state of our house...kitchen overrun by drying books, entire living room carpet wet, and nothing that could be done till it dries out...we decided to head over a day early!
The plan is for me to head home early on Saturday to start setting things to rights, and my sister Tricia and her husband Jerry have graciously offered to bring the boys home Saturday evening, to give me the day without interruptions and "help." Thanks, Trish and Jerry and mom and dad! Prayers for a tired pregnant woman's stamina, please! :)

UPDATE: By the time the boys got home Saturday, I had most everything put away! I just had left to shampoo the carpet, as it stained horribly. I'm exhausted, but all in all we're in good shape. Praise the Lord, we had relatively few things that were destroyed!

Mark, if you get online today...

Know that I love you and miss you like crazy! See you in just 3 more days! xxxooo

Andrew's "Questions"

Andrew has gotten quite funny about his last questions/statements that he "needs" to talk about before bedtime each night. He now numbers them for us! "I have just two questions. Number One...(whatever it may be, such as what are we doing in the morning, what's for breakfast, etc). Okay. Number Two..."

He's been using the same format with Mark on the phone each night, and has had questions about things I didn't even know he was thinking about!

"Daddy, I have some questions for you. Number One: Where have you been eating? (Discusses the response with Mark.) Number Two: Where are you taking a shower? (Registers familiarity with Mark's description of the hotel)! Number Three: I want to play with you when you get home. Number Four: Don't forget to feed the dogs on your way home. (We had been dog-sitting for two weeks prior to Mark's trip). Okay...goodnight Daddy, I love you." A practical, thoughtful, kind of kid, I guess! :)

Day Four...

Today was certainly a busy day for us! Andrew's buddy Jonah came for the day, and we went to the school for our weekly "Tot Time" play group. It was a good thing we had Jonah with us, b/c for the first half-hour, no one else was there! After that we made our weekly stop at the library for new books and storytime.
While Jacob was supposedly napping (he never did go to sleep...don't know if he's just protesting Daddy being gone or what), Andrew & Jonah did a great job on a St. Paddy's Day craft! It's hard to believe that these boys will be headed to Kindergarten in just 6 months! They did a great job, had fun, and worked really well together.
Heather had very graciously invited us to dinner that evening, so we headed to Jonah's house for a delicious meal (that I didn't have to prepare-bonus!), and then she kept the boys and got them all ready for bed while I went to Bible study. It was so refreshing to not have to do the whole bedtime routine by myself tonight...they were in pj's, teeth brushed, bedtime stories read! Thank you, Heather! We came home, called Daddy to say good-night, said prayers, climbed into bed, and they were both asleep in under 15 minutes! Woo-hoo!

Day Three...

Today we went in to the Seward pool for the Parent/Tot swim time...Andrew dunked his head twice! (Not without lots of encouragement, but he did it)! Afterward, we went out for a special lunch treat with my friend Heather and her two boys, Andrew's buddy Jonah and Baby Jack. A good time was had by all!

PS: Before we got out of the van at the restaurant, I said to the boys, "Let's have a reminder talk about how to act in a restaurant." To which Andrew interrupted..."We don't have to have a talk; we always behave." So I took his word for it and ended it right there, and I was very proud of their manners, etc the whole time! He was right! :)

Andrew is READING!

I can't believe I haven't posted on this yet! Andrew has been so anxious to begin reading...frequently commenting on how he wanted to know what words were saying! So a few weeks ago we finished up with all of his letter sounds, and then he learned to read all of the -at words. He was THRILLED!!! When I'm reading aloud to him, I stop and let him read when we get to any of the words he knows, and he's so proud. (Let's just say we've been reading an awful lot of Dr. Seuss lately)! He can even spell the -at words...I think it's so amazing that he can visualize the words in his head to pull them out like that!
This week we're working on the -an words, and he does especially well when I give him the letter cards to manipulate and change the sounds with (he's very hands-on). It was great fun for me today to see him able to make the letter changes, ie: mat to man to ran to rat. I'm so proud of him!
(I can now answer "yes" to my own question of whether it was worth hanging on to some of the classroom materials I had made back when I started teaching 1st grade in PA and then used when I taught up here...I made those letter cards NINE years ago. Wow...that made me feel old. I'd better stop now)!

Day 2...skiing fun!

We made it through Day 2 of Mark's trip! One of Mark's co-workers (Dustin) also went with him on this trip, so Dustin's wife Christy and I had made some plans to break up the monotony of having them gone! (Hey...they get Las Vegas)!
So today Christy came up and we all went skiing. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day...about 25 degrees, plenty of sunshine, and fresh snow from last week! It was also nice to get a picture of the boys and I on a skiing excursion, since I'm always the one taking the pictures.
I just pulled Jacob today, since he didn't seem to be in the best mood to ski. But at this point my hip joints might be just a little too loose to be able to do that much more this winter! :?
Mark's trip is going well...it was 65 degrees when he called to say good-night to the boys. In the high seventies all day. Rough.

Uncomfortable?

This was Jacob at snack-time this morning. Yes, I offered to fix his work glasses. He said no thank you. Okay then. :)

Such a sweetie...

We had a second bout with the flu on Friday...poor Jacob complained that his "pummy 'urts," and no sooner had I picked him up to check for a fever, than up came his breakfast. So Jacob and I are both sitting in the rocking chair, covered in frosted mini-wheats, and I very calmly asked Andrew to bring a bowl and a towel, which he did promptly! After we were all cleaned up and snuggling on the couch (with a bowl!), Andrew came over to rub Jacob's back..."I'm so sorry you're sick, Jacob!" Bringing him toys, trying to cover him up with a blanket...he's just so tender towards his brother sometimes!

Bath Time!

This picture is from a few days ago, but thought I should post a bath picture, seeing as it's one of the boys' very favorite activities! (Jacob will still even ocassionally pitch a fit when he's made to get out of the tub)!