SICK & not TIRED

Kade started with a tight cough but then fevered and has since just had a cough and felt lousy then he has fevered here and there. Clint has since started coughing and says he doesn't feel good. SO. . . this picture pretty explains it all. Kade never left this spot except to move to the couch upstairs. When Clint is sick he usually keeps playing and being quirky just not at the usual level. And this picture explains the not tired. Cole has not been tired recently. I don't mind except he doesn't sleep when I'd like him to during the day and he wants to sleep when I'd like him awake. He looks like he's almost smiling in the first picture[he's not quite to that smiling stage]. I think the flash scared him. Luckily I got a picture of the pre-crying pouty lip, and I also got a picture of the cry.

Playing Outside?

This is my way of playing outside this winter. I haven't been super excited about going out in the cold this year and now with Mr. Cole I have one more reason not to go outside so this is how we've played in the snow this year; the boys are outside and I'm inside. They are washing the windows in these pictures. Kade made some great snow angels today and Clint stayed outside playing for over an hour-- that is a first for him. Usually he goes out and is back in within 15 min. but Kade came in before Clint today and it wasn't warm. I was making dinner and I had to smile every time I looked over and could see my boys having so much fun. It was a great view out my windows.

Knots

For the past 3 months Kade has been tying knots everywhere. The kid has promise of being an amazing knot connoisseur like his father-- hopefully not like his mother; she can't remember what all the knots are used for and how to tie them. If there is a string or rope I usually find it tied around something like this:

Cards

The boys LOVE to send cards to people-- mostly their cousin McKylee and their Grandparents. We did send a card similar to this one to Grandpa. This is the one they made for Darryl. We did melted crayon shavings and then made them into a card. Kade likes to have you transcribe what he wants to say in the card. He goes on and on and on, so I try to write as fast as I can and get all I can remember. Here's what this card says:

"Dear Dad:

We have something to say to you. We made some special stuff for you when you come home. When you open this card you will really love it. I really really want you to read this. I really miss you so come back soon. I really really love you Dad."

You'd think Darryl was gone on a trip but he wasn't. He was just at the office for the day but they were missing him, like they usually do. They LOVE their dad.

Little Butterball

I love that newborns curl up in a little ball all the time.

Sick Friend

We called Kade's friend Abby to see if she could come play today. She was sick and when Kade found out he was so concerned. "Maybe I could make her a card and that would make her feel better," he suggested. Later that day he suddenly said, "I know, I'll take Abby some ice cream and that will make her feel better." So we got out the paper and he made her a card and took her a little ice cream. What a thoughtful kid.

Valentine's

As long as I can remember, these cookies have greeted me at the doorstep every Valentine's Day. Growing up my mom would make these tasty cookies then sneak out the beauty shop door and leave the cookies and a card for each of the kids on the doorstep, ring the doorbell and run back down through the beauty shop door. We knew she did it but we enjoyed the surprise every year. My mom still sends these cookies to us in the mail. One year she tried to use her Seal-a-meal. She had stacked the cookies 3 deep and sucked out the air with the seal-a-meal. By the time they arrived at out house they had become one; one big cookie that is. Every year I try to keep the tradition of "kicking the Valentine Cookies." Simple little tradition but Valentine's Day wouldn't be the same without them.

Darryl surprised me with balloons and chocolates from the YW fundraiser, he also gave me a great card. He went shopping for me so I had him get a new military combat computer game for himself-- Happy Valentine's! Kade has been into telling time so we gave the boys little Tonka truck watches I found on clearance for $1--WaHoo.

Happy Love Day!

Kade's 5th Birthday

Kade wanted to have a Firefighter party this year. Every time he'd talk about his birthday I wouldn't even give it a second thought because February seemed forever away-- well it wasn't. Before I knew it it was February and I needed to get invitations out. I super quickly made the invitations and we dashed off to get the invites out. I told Kade we could only invite the friends he plays mostly with(I don't think I could handle Cole plus all the kids/adults he wanted to invite). He wanted to invite his whole primary class, Ms. Sally(story time lady), Gina(use to watch the boys), Wendy(Abby's mom), and the list went on. I had to draw the line somewhere.
We gave Kade his present this morning and he's played with it all day. He's said he wanted a rope and a pulley for weeks. We didn't want to give him a huge heavy pulley so we substituted a carabeaner and Kade was fine with that. He LOVED it. What kind of kid loves a rope for a gift-- Darryl Bosshardt's son. :) Kade loves to make zip lines, tie knots, make elevators, and more. Grandma and Grandpa Brown were up north for Dr. appointments last week so they brought his gift then. They gave him a golf set and a shooting rocket set. He loves them both and has played with them daily. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!! Granny and Grandpa Bosshardt's gift arrived during the party and Kade was excited to open it and see a Cars Resuce Set. It is the Cars movie set that has a firetruck and an ambulance. He loved it. Thanks a ton Granny and Grandpa!!!
The party turned out fun but I was a little frazzled because Cole was crying the whole time. Darryl was trying to console him for a while but it wasn't working and I needed him to help with the kids at the party so he just cried poor little guy. I felt so awful but we had to get through the party. When the kids were out the door he immediately quit crying and was content.
The party started off deeming each kid a firefighter by giving them their own firefighter hat. Then we played Fireman, Fireman, Siren sound [Duck, Duck, Goose with a twist]. Then we 'put out' balls of fire. I had fire drawn on balloons and they popped the balloons with a flyswatter that had a tack on it. Presents were more organized this year. I had the kids to "Heavy, heavy hang over thy poor head. What do you wish with a bump on the head." It was a silly little rhyme we use to do when I was little. Then the birthday boy wishes something for the person giving them the gift. Kade was so thoughtful in the things he wished for people(I was so surprised). He really nailed what each kid would like and then they were happy. Except for Abby; she had something else in mind-- I can't remember what it was but she said she was getting it from her Grandma. He got some fun fun games and balls. The firetruck pinata was so hard for the kids to break. I was surprised at how hard some of those kids could swing. As per Kade's request we ate chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and vanilla ice cream. Then it was silly string time. I'd drawn a town with buildings on fire and they squirted out the fire with silly string. They all had a ball. The mess looked bad but it was really quick to clean up believe it or not. The kids had such a great time and so did Kade the birthday boy! That night we celebrated as a family. Kade chose to go to "the train" aka Dairy Keen. I think Kade regretted his choice because almost every day he asks Clint if he's going to choose to celebrate his birthday at Chuck-E-Cheese. :)

Bath Time!

Today we took some pictures of Cole bathing. Kade took the picture with the washcloth on his head-- pretty good photographer I might say! Cole loves to take baths. He can be crying and as soon as we slip him into the water he instantly stops and just enjoys soaking in the water. Kade and Clint love to help and watch him take his baths. Kade is great at checking the water temperature every few seconds and gives me a report if it is too cold, too hot, or just right; Surprisingly he's usually right.

Kade Pictures

I took Kade for his 5 year pictures today. It was quite the crazy experience. We decided it would be easiest if I just Kade and I ran to Orem to get pictures and do a little shopping while Darryl stayed home with Clint and Cole. It was the craziest 3 1/2 hours but we made it back without starving Cole.
When we got there the portrait studio was full of people; there were two families finishing up and the photographer was trying to train a new guy. It was madness! However, I loved the new guy. He came up with the cutest back grounds and poses and he had Kade laughing the whole time. With the watermarks it's hard to appreciate how fabulous these $4.99 package photos are. While we waited for our turn we ran around the store and got a few items, then after we had our photo shoot we ran around again while they uploaded the photos. Then the new guy was trying to order my photos and had no idea what he was suppose to do so he messed up a lot and had to start over a half a dozen times. Finally after he'd interrupted the photographer a few times she realized she needed to come help him-- ya think! Then when we hit the checkout the checker was befriending Kade which was super nice of her but I didn't have time to make friends today! She gave the scanner gun to Kade and let him scan items. Kade thought it was the coolest thing ever and the lady was pretty great too. I was so glad she did it but I'm just saying it would have been nicer on a day that I wasn't trying to race home to a nursing baby. We had one more stop to pick up the firetruck pinata and then it was off to Heber. All of this took much longer than I ever would have expected-- and we were hustling as fast as possible, so much so that I didn't take advantage of pushing to get my free 10X13(realize I could have saved $20). That says a lot if you know how much of a penny pincher I am. While we were finally headed to Heber Kade said, "Mom, how much oil[gas] we have?" He often asks what the gauges in the car are currently saying. Well I hadn't even bothered to check. Sure enough the orange light was on and we needed to stop for gas or we wouldn't make it through the canyon. I'm so glad he asked before we got up the canyon and stuck. So then it was a mad dash to find a gas station. When we arrived in Heber we found all well! Yea! We did it! Cole did squawk a few times but had settled down with his binki. Glad that night is over, glad we got so much done, and glad that Cole didn't have to scream and cry.

Again with the Pictures!

Just a few pictures that were too cute not to make the Blog Book. He loves the swing and the binki-- just like my other boys.

Tubing!

Today was Redmond's Tubing activity. Clint was insistent he didn't want to go, but I pushed him out the door anyway. He had eased into the idea of going a little after I told him he was going sledding and quit saying tubing. When he came home he ran in the door and said, "Mom guess what!?. I wasn't even scared! And I went on my belly!!!" I knew he'd love it eventually. I've missed out on a few activities, I'm glad Darryl has had a chance to make the memories with the boys but I wish I could be there too. Clint informed me that Cole would love to go tubing and they have tiny tubes he could ride in. I still think we'll wait a while before we take him. :)

He's 1 Month!

Tomorrow Cole will be 4 weeks old! Can a month really go by so quickly?
He's changed SO much. At his 2 week check-up he weighed 6 lb 1 oz-- that was a 15 oz. gain from when we left the hospital which was 12 days prior! He gained weight like a champ and I think he still is. He doesn't seem little to me any more and it makes me so sad. I know mothers say it all the time but I really don't want my baby to get bigger-- I just want to remember him tiny. I think that's why I'm so sad about him getting bigger because I know from Kade and Clint how easily I'll forget how tiny and precious babies are. Cole still sleeps most of the day and night and only cries when he's hungry; although lately he's been crying when he's tired(I think). He's not going to set any records for the world's fastest eater but I really can't complain about this baby. He does have a couple periods during the day where he's wide-eyed and alert. Kade and Clint love him. They especially love to show him off. They inform everyone the see that we have a baby at our house. Today Kade's friend called to see if he could come and play. When I told Kade he was going to their house he started to complain saying, "I want him to come and see our baby." Funny kid! They're really good with him. They like to hold him every now and then or talk to him. Yesterday he grabbed Kade's shirt so now they like to try to get him to grab their fingers or clothes.