Littlest Rose

On Saturday morning I had forgotten that they were having a benefit at Johnson's Farm. The Littlest Rose Foundation had put together a charity event to help raise money for Charlie, a boy (little brother of one of Tyler's friends) with neuroblastoma. Anyway, they had moonbounces, a dunk tank, sand art, face painting, balloon animals, live music, and a talent show. We didn't stay too long, but we bought shirts and Tyler did sand art and the moon bounce. We also ran into my friend Jeff and her wife Missy, along with their 2 adorable little girls. In these pictures Missy was 1 day away from her induction with baby number 3. Can you believe it? She looks great!




WE walked to our car to leave and it started raining. I had told my boys that we would be going to great adventure right from there and I was really starting to second-guess myself. However Jason fell asleep before we even hit the first traffic light, so in my mind the trip would be worth it even if we never got to step foot in the park. He napped the whole way, even when we stopped at burger king for lunch. For the record, Burger King is still nasty.

We hit the outlets first. Got another pair of shoes for Tyler and Jason (both of them only have one pair of shoes, unless you count crocs). There we also some wonderful deals at The Children's Place, and The Disney Store as well. Anyway, the boys insisted on riding this coin-operated ride, even though we were minutes away from an amusement park. Go figure.

Then we were finally off to Great Adventure. The weather held out and we even got a chance to finally see the Wiggles-themed show. The boys loved it! Tyler sang and danced the whole time. Jason was a ltitle more leary, but did do the hand motions for "rock a bye your bear".













Sunday was more of a low-key day for sure, but you need those every once in a while. Plus, weather wasn't so hot to begin with. The major highlight, without a doubt, was the fact that Jason took a 75 minute nap in his crib, for the first time in 8 days!! I had realized that I had really (not intentionally) increased my dairy the past couple of weeks, as had Jason, and after some thinking I stopped consuming it on Friday. So the fact that Jason napped in the car on Saturday and in his crib on Sunday might be a mere coinciddence, but for now we're dairy free again! After naptime we had a brief library trip and borrowed a movie. Then we picked up chinese food, ate dinner, and settled in for "family movie night". Tyler really enjoyed "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs". Unfortunately I was antsy and ended up cleaning out Tyler's closet instead, in prepartion for the big move (the switching of bedrooms in conjunction with my stuff arriving from NC).

the week of little sleep

So after no sleep for Jason via naps that weekend (other than a few minutes in the car) and a LONG night with a feverish boy, he awoke pretty cranky and VERY early. However he had no fever, so we continued on with our day. Walking to/from school, attemted nap (notice I say ATTEMPTED), back to/from school, and then speech.

That night he again ran a high fever of 102.9 with listless behavior and uncontrollable chills for quite a while. Scary stuff.

The next morning I took Tyler to school and made an appointment for Jason. I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad, but they again found NO reason for his behavior and/or fever. Lungs clear, ears clear. Fun. The rest of the day was not fun. Rainy day with a cranky boy. And cancelled t-ball due to rain.

Wednesday brought another day of REALLY early rising for Jason and again no nap. In fact I eventually caved and napped WITH him so he'd at least get something. After school was Ty's last day of spring has sprung. That evening we went to have dessert at Cara's for her birthday. Had an interesting conversation regarding Jason and his symptoms/behavior. Unfortunately I had to leave early for a Junior Women's meeting. Fun meeting though chatting with the ladies.

Thursday I had some crazy running around in the morning with my brother Chris and then to take my mom to PT and pick her up. Afterwards Jason was signed up for a storytime at the library. Normally he seems to like storytime, but this proved to be totally evil. He would get upset when kids would LOOK at him so he'd smack his head. Then of course in response they'd stare at him more so he kept just smacking himself on the head until he eventually threw himself on the floor. I took him to the back to try to calm down but it just wasn't working, so we left. Took him home, convinced that he was just purely exhausted, but yet again he refused to nap. Absolutely refused. Good time. Then it was already time to pick up Ty at school. We did the playground after school. Here is Jason with Tyler's friend Gavin's sister.

That night was supposed to be Ty's final t-ball game (in reality we still need to make up Tuesday's cancelled game). My parents as well as Al's mom and John came to watch. Their coach treated them to a trip to Sand Stand for ice cream.

While there I got a call that Al was home from Afghanistan. I was surprised to get that call this early, but glad he's home safe. Unfortunately Tyler was in the midst of his t-ball thing so we decided he would just call the next day.

That evening, after getting the kids to bed, I went to Maria's house for bracelet making for the 24-hr-paddle-a-thon to benefit Charlie. Not sure that we accomplished much, but we had a good time!

Friday morning we had an impromptu park playdate (complete with Jason in his pj's). Then I (gasp) took Ty out of school 30 minutes early for the BBQ at my dad's school. My mom was there as well, happy to see all her students she's been missing. The boys had fun with games, and especially with the Rita's water ice!


On the way home we were driving through the trading post when Jason noticed the sand stand where we had had ice cream the night prior. He immediately starts frantically sign "eat". He may not talk alot, but he can certainly comprehend things and get his point across!

After another attempted (and failed) nap for Jason, we went over to my grandparetns to water plants. Pretty cool that we can say that we are partipating in a 4-generational garden! Too cute to see Jason and his GREAT-grandfather working on their garden!


After an easy dinner we took a trip to the lake. Well folks, it's now tadpole season! Every little boys dream!





That evening, just as Ty was getting ready to head into bed, he got a call from his daddy. He was so happy to have him "home" safely. And more excited that he'll get to see him soon.

inch by inch, row by row

Last Sunday I got a taste of my future. Myself in the minivan with a shrieky Tyler, 2 giggly girls, and a toddler intent on trying to match their volume level. Tyler had a birthday party to go to at Pump it Up for his friend Jason, but 2 of his friends were without rides so we brought them along. Whew, what a loud trip! But the girls are sweethearts so it wasn't an issue. Just LOUD! LOL. The kids had a good time, but Jason just wasn't himself. He spent literally 30 minutes straight just sitting at the same area throwing the same ball at the same hoop. Would have been cute had he seemed excited about it, but he didn't. He never ate food, and was just whiny and cranky. It would have helped had he napped. Anyway, Tyler, Lily, and Mackenzie all had a great time at Jason's party!

After dropping off the girls we met up with my parents at my grandparents house. My grandparents had offered to let us plant a garden in their backyard since ours has no direct sunlight (lots of trees). So my dad got it started and we met up to help out (not that I think we were actually any help). We ordered a pizza and decided to make a night out of it.


Everytime I think of gardening I can't help but think of this song..."inch by inch, row by row". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjMFLH04WUE

Instead of enjoying our evening Jason refused food and was really cranky, when I realized he was burning up. I ended up leaving Ty there with my parents and brought him home and gave him an immediate dose of Motrin. Once I finally found the replacement battery for my thermometer, it was 30 minutes after I gave him the medicine and his temperature was still 103.2. I ended up calling the pediatrician since my boys never have had fevers anywhere near that high, and his shivering and totally out-of-it behavior freaked me out. Of course it was back down to 101.9 when the pediatrician called back and he was returned to his normal self (for the most part). It was a long night.

first concert

Last Saturday started out as all good springtime Saturdays should...with some garage sales! Got some good deals. 20 pieces of clothing for Tyler for $10, all brand name stuff good for school and play for now and in the next size. Also got a cute (brand new) candle decorating kit, so of course that's how Tyler spent a good hour or so that morning (and the next as well).

After Jason's non-nap we were off to my cousin Andrew's son's first birthday party. Colton is such a cutie!


From there my mom and I drove to Great Adventure so we could enjoy an outdoor concert. Six Flags does lots of free shows. When I was little the shows used to be packed and you'd have to get there early just to get in. We arrived maybe 5 minutes before the show and it was only full about 1/4 of the way. I know Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta probably aren't immensely popular, but I think the crowd level was due more to the state of the current economy. Great Adventure has been pretty empty to begin with. Pretty sad.

Anyway, it was a nice concert, and nicer still that it was a gorgeous nice. It was outdoors and totally appropriate for the boys. They seemed to really like it. Jason bopped along, happily eating broken up bits of popcorn. Tyler reported to like Alison's music a little bit better. Not a bad concert for free (thanks to our season passes).









Afterwards we were able to do a few rides before the ride home. As you can see, both boys like the teacups. Me, not so much. LOL.

same stuff, different week

Last week was a blur. But I'll attempt to recap.

Monday: school drop-off, my walk/jog, house cleaning, speech therapy, the bookmobile walk, etc.

Tuesday night ended with a trip to Chick-fil-A with Beth and Erich and the kids. It was a bit loud and crazy there, but was yummy as usual. Jason surprised me by insisting to do the kids craft. When I say "insisted" I mean that he pointed and screeched until I brought him over. LOL.


Wednesday was rainy and yucky. Ty had spring has sprung, and the rain held out for that, but t-ball practice was cancelled. Instead we did some errands, including a trip to the library. By Wednesday night Jason's cough was really horrible and he seemed wheezy. He had been sleeping horribly and constantly tossing and turning while coughing to the point that he seemed like he was going to throw up. So I asked Beth to take a listen to his chest (she's a nurse) and she thought he might need to go to the doctor. So I reluctantly made an appointment for him to be seen. They couldn't see him until 11:30. So Jason and I ran through the drive-thru at Chick-fil-a for their free breakfast (I never had chicken minis and they are YUMMY) and then went to pick up my mom at PT after her shoulder surgery (yes, more surgery). After dropping her off I brought Jason to the doc. As usual, nothing wrong. Lungs clear, ears clear. I guess that's good.

That night was t-ball. Grandmom and pop-pop John joined us. Jason tried to play in mud. Fun. From there it was a late night and off to Oaks Hall for boyscout round-up. Tyler is now registered as a Tiger Cub Scout. Yeah! After getting the boys to bed I had to run out to return something at Kohl's and then a quick trip to Shoprite to get some stuff for Ty's field trip.

Friday was the day that Tyler had been looking forward to since literally September...his big Kindergarten field trip. The weather was iffy, but they made the decision to go (which ended up working out fine). They had plans to go to Storybook Land, and the bus trip was half of the excitement for Tyler. Another big chunk of excitement was the fact that they'd get to eat lunch there, so he was thrilled that he got a treat of a "lunchables" (as well as a pear, natural fruit snacks, and a juice box). Anyway, I dropped him off and he was soo excited...not a bit of hesitation at all. He's gotten so big.

So what did I do with my Tyler-free day? Well Jason and I enjoyed some free chick-fil-a for breakfast (yes, again).

And then we went to Kohl's to do a little shopping. Jason got a little cranky so I eventually let him out of the cart. He thought it was great fun to hide in the clothing racks.

After picking my mom up from PT Jason fit in a quick nap, and then it was time to pick up Tyler. As you can see he seemed to have a great time! He was a ball of energy, and apparently everything was perfect. He was really excited about the bus, his lunchables lunch, the roller coaster, hanging with his friends, etc. Total success.



After school field trip pick-up we did an early dinner while indulging in a family movie night. "Follow that Bird" was our chosen movie (when I say chosen, I mean I chose it cause that movie rocks). Both boys liked it. Afterwards we walked down and met Beth at the Sand Stand with the girls. A great ending to a great day. Home just in time for the thunderstorms to begin!