Apr 1

We're lighting it up blue! Everyone wore blue today. Grant's school was having a spirit day, so he wore blue silly bands with his school shirt. Blake is head-to-toe blue, Hayden is wearing his favorite blue flower shirt, Travis is wearing his Mitre shirt, and Cosey is blue all over with her cute mini-hat headband. I even wore blue to the dr's office where I found out my sore throat and fever were from strep. Blah. Still, a great start to our Light it Up Blue weekend!

Mar 31

Grant's school had an academic carnival today. There was a free pizza dinner and lots of fun learning games for the kids to play. After playing 12 games, the kids got to pick a couple prizes. It was a blast! The event was well-attended and well-run. We're glad the teachers care enough about our kids to put on such a fun evening.

Mar 30

Blake's school gave every student a copy of "The Tale of Despereaux" and they are all reading it together. Each day they are assigned certain chapters to read. Blake LOVES to read and is such a good reader. As the evenings have gotten busier, he has been reading his book on his own. It's his first chapter book and he is doing so well. Every morning at school, they have trivia questions about the book. All the correct answers are added into a drawing. Apparently, Blake was very disappointed every day when his name wasn't chosen. Finally, on Friday morning, he won!

Mar 29

Eeeewwwww! At least it's a clean toilet. The next time we caught her in there, she was dipping her pacifier in the potty. Double Ew.

Mar 28

Our kids aren't allowed to climb in bed with us at night. But they can come sleep on the floor next to the bed. Most of the time, one or more of them (Blake or Hayden) set up camp sometime during the night. I figure they'll outgrow it someday. For now, as long as they don't wake us up, we're cool with it.

Mar 27

Snow. In March. Tricky tricky winter! Just when we think we're done, it snows! It was all gone by noon. But rumor is, it's coming back!

Mar 26

Poor Grant. Saturday was crazy. I went to the ballet in DC and just as I left, someone wanted to see the house. Travis took the kids to McD's and on the way to the car, Grant tripped and fell in the parking lot. Travis asked him if he was okay, and he said yes. When I got home at 6pm, Trav and the kids were at the park while someone else visited the house. I noticed Grant wasn't using his arm, and just sitting in the playground. A quick check revealed that he couldn't bend his wrist. Travis realized Grant hadn't really played all day, and was mopey. We put it all together and quickly realized he was really hurt. Poor Grant. A trip to the ER later, we found out he has a Saulter-Harris Type 1 injury of the growth plate. Translation: no visible break in the x-rays, but pain in the growth plate is enough to indicate injury. He's in a splint for 5-7 days, at which point the orthopedist will do more x-rays to find signs of either healing bone (more splint/cast) or nothing (all better). He had some ibuprofen to alleviate the pain and he perked right up. So far, he's back to normal mostly. His teacher said he was disappointed that he couldn't help stack chairs at the end of the day. :)

Mar 25

Cosette LOVES her early birthday present. First of all, I rock at shopping and found this $50 ride-on for only $10. Then I used Kohl's cash and it was free. We couldn't resist unwrapping it and giving it to her early. The boys love taking turns pushing her around. Blake is such a good brother! He loves making Cosey laugh and spends every morning and afternoon at the bus stop laughing, screeching, and singing to her to make her laugh. He also learned how to pick her up and is her new lifesaver: rescuing her from the bathroom, the stairs, etc. Today (Mar 29), he told Grant "we need to teach Cosette to count!!" They proceeded to recite 1-10 to her. Then Grant climbed behind her seat and recited the numbers back in a high-pitched Cosette voice: 1, 2, 3, etc. Blake giggled the whole time. Then they started in on the alphabet. It's no wonder our kids learn early!

Mar 24

I was snapping pics of all our house improvements (yes, we're finally done and ready to list), and Hayden jumped into my shot to show me his treasures. He picks certain things and carries them around for days. For the last couple days, it's been this flower-shaped eraser and a paper heart. He's also wearing one of his top four favorite shirts, and the only non-Mickey Mouse one. He is locked in constant battle with Cosette over his treasures. She likes to carry the eraser in her mouth and has since destroyed the paper heart. Good thing Hayden's good at finding new treasures!

Mar 23

Cool-zette's 11 month photo shoot. Ah! The next set of pics will be 1 YEAR pics! I have a few fun plans for her b-day. Think shabby chic, pink and white. Gonna be awesome.

Mar 22

Every time Travis puts this outfit on Cosette, he accidentally puts it on backwards. Every. Time. It's hilarious.

Mar 21

It's that time again!!! Time to LIGHT IT UP BLUE for Autism Awareness. World Autism Awareness Day is April 2nd and this year, Autism Speaks is continuing the Light it Up Blue campaign. All you have to do is switch your light bulbs to blue for the nights of April 1st & 2nd to raise awareness. When your neighbors ask what's going on, tell them that 1 in 70 boys suffers from Autism and they need our love and support. Tell them that you know someone with Autism, and they probably do to! Tell them to read up on the signs of Autism and to support legislation that will make treatment available to families that need them.  Tell them to go to Home Depot and buy a light to show their support, or to donate to Autism Speaks. This year, Home Depot is selling blue light bulbs for only $1.65 and $1 from each goes to Autism Speaks. It's a simple, fun way to show your love and support for families that struggle every day with Autism. Read more about our family's celebration this year on our family blog.

Here we are, picking up our light bulbs. Blake gives Grant a hug, Hayden tries to take Cosette's light bulb as she protests. Awesome!!

Mar 20

Look who's climbing the stairs now! Well, she gets up a few steps and then whines for help. Of course I'm mean and I don't pick her up, but teach her how to get up by herself. She gets better all the time!

Mar 19

I helped throw a shower for the awesome Mariko. She rocks and is expecting her first baby in May. She has an owl theme going on for the nursery, so we followed suit for the shower. Fiona made the CUTEST quilt and I got to help bind it. Isn't it so cute?! There are some super-cute pics of the shower on Denise's blog. I especially love the diaper cake.

Mar 18

The neighbor was blowing bubbles and our kids went bubble crazy. Seriously. Bubble. Crazy.

Mar 17

St. Patrick's day was kind of a bust around here.  The fridge was in the living room still, and the contractor was finishing up the 3rd bathroom. Regan came over to help with the kids in the afternoon and we decided to enjoy the warm weather with a hot dog cookout and chip feast in the back yard. Blake reminded us that Grant needed to help with an outdoor meal for his Wolf requirements. So Grant helped flip the hot dogs, fill drinks, serve chips,  and clean up. The sun set as we dined, so our picture is kind of dark. But we had a great time!

Mar 16

Blake's school does a yearly fundraiser called "Pennies for Patients", benefiting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Blake was SO excited for the fundraiser this year. He raced home from school and nearly emptied his piggy bank into his collection box (he always chooses to save his money, rather than spend it). He scoured the house for stray coins for a few days. Blake also told me about the "little girl named Emily, who doesn't have any hair because she's sick. My teacher says if we raise enough money, she can get better!" It was adorable how much he cared. I told him about his Great-Aunt Venita, my mom's sister, who died from Lymphoma. When my mom found out about the fundraiser, she promised to mail Blake all her spare change from the past year. It came today, a box full of money! We Skyped with mom while opening the package and spent an hour counting out $144.57!!! Blake's class ended up in 4th place at his school, and his class got ice cream.

Mar 15

Once upon a time it was 2004 or 2005 (we think) and the Hobbs went out of town. We asked our good friends, the Van Camps, to check on the house for us. When we got home, we quickly noticed post-it note pictures all over the house. The pictures were taken at our house, while the VC's played Catan with the the Taylor's. There were also other random pics of the Van Camp's included in the mix. We found the pictures for weeks and even years, hidden in dishes, behind pictures, in drawers, etc. It was hilarious. And guess who had the last laugh?

Like always, Emily did. We found what we believe to be the last picture when we cleaned the basement. It was stuck on a can of corn WAY in the back of our storage unit. Goes to show you  how much corn we eat!

Mar 14

We spent a lot of time trying to stay out of the kitchen and the contractor's way today. We got creative with a fussy Cosette and Travis showed her the Doodlebuddy app on his iTouch. It makes noises when you hit the screen and Cosey loved it!

Mar 13

This is our bonus picture. Seriously, how cute is that dress?! And the shoes (thank you Denise).

Okay, on to the real picture.  Mmmm...don't you wish you lived at our house on March 13th? The kitchen was torn up having new flooring put in, so we scrounged up some lunch for the kids. Squeeze cheeze & crackers, hot dogs, fruit from my birthday arrangement, and yummy peanut butter balls from my awesome VT, Janet. Notice the close-up of our new formica counters. Hope someone likes them enough to buy the house!

Mar 12

I forgot to take a picture on my birthday! The kids woke me with Costco birthday cake and presents in bed. Then we cleaned, organized, and painted all day. Jennifer sent me an edible arrangement, we had lunch at Foster's and got 10 of the 22 items crossed off my to-do list. And all day long, my FB page filled up with well wishes from friends. I LOVE fb birthdays! Here's a snapshot of my page: friends from high school, cyber-space, and locals all in one place. It was awesome. Thanks guys!

Mar 11

Travis and the boys decided they were going to play a joke on me by taking silly pictures with my camera. But the joke's on them, because Travis didn't turn the settings to auto and they're all weird. Ha!

Mar 10

I had some wrinkly curtains. Rather than iron four full panels, I thought I would steam them in the shower to get the wrinkles out. So I hung them over the shower curtain rod, started the shower on super-hot and ran downstairs to grab something. When I came back, I found a naked Hayden playing in the shower with Cosette standing next to the bath, pulling down the curtains and playing in the water.
"Hayden! What are you doing?!"
"Mom, I'm getting clean!"
Fine, I'll go get my camera. By the time I got back, Cosette had found an empty coke can to play with. This is our life. LOL!

Mar 9

While clearing the basement for carpet and taking out the old countertops, we listened to this performance. I have always loved Les Miserables. We listened to the sound track growing up and went as a family to a performance when I was in high school. I remember watching the 10th anniversary concert and still love it. When I heard they were doing a 25th anniversary concert, I couldn't wait to see it! Travis had seen the movie, but was unfamiliar with the musical and I don't think there could be a better introduction than this performance. It was beautiful, moving, amazing, and made me cry at least 3 times. We've watched it over and over.