Sick Boys and "Real" Bowling!

What a week this has been! After Mason was sick Friday, but fine all day Saturday and Sunday, we took him to Jo's house Monday morning. Probably an hour later she was calling us saying he was throwing up. UGH! Luckily Matt was not all the way to work, so he turned around and picked him up. He stayed home that morning and I came home that afternoon. Matt was already planning on staying home with Mason Tuesday, and it's a good thing, because Zane woke up at midnight throwing up in his bed! So here we were doing laundry and giving a bath at midnight! Mason never got sick again and Zane only got sick one more time, at 5:30 in the morning. The boys had a "stay home" day Tuesday.

Lock up the markers or Mason eats them!!!

Mason doesn't like Zane to sit in time out alone anymore...

Mason "helping" me in the kitchen

Even though both boys hadn't thrown up for over 24 hours, I wanted to give Zane one more day to be sure, so we called Grandma Farmer to see if she could come stay with him Wednesday. Good thing we did...cause Jo got sick Tuesday evening! She was closed Wednesday so the boys stayed home with Grandma all day! They had a great time and I think everyone was glad to see each other!! She stayed another night just in case Jo was closed Thursday also, but she opened and had a pajama day!! The boys went in their matching monkey pj's. It was quick and easy to get them dressed for the day!

Zane & Lauren playing Mario Kart

Mason's "cheese" face

This weekend we wanted to get out since we spent all last weekend in! Zane has been talking about going "real bowling" (versus wii bowling) so we decided to do that as a family. The first bowling alley we went to was packed and didn't have any open lanes. It also allowed smoking inside, so it was very stinky. We decided to try another one, and luckily they had an open lane for us. Zane was SO excited he could barely stand it! He was excited to pick his bowling ball, put on his shoes, the works! Mason wanted to touch everything, walk all over, and eat. We held him most of the time so he wouldn't get in the way. By the end he wanted to leave, and was hungry! I do want to report that I was the winner of the night, with a high score of 153 (highest I've ever bowled, I'm not too good). I was so proud of myself! I think I'll be tough with a little more practice...haha!

All ready for "real bowling!"

The boys at the bowling alley

Playing games afterwards (Mason does pretend driving well!)

Man...bowling wore him out! Only 10 minutes from alley to home!

Zane's first try...

Zane-isms

• There is a commercial on currently for the movie "Tooth Fairy." Zane has a favorite part and has been quoting it lately. "Does this make my butt look big? HUGE!"
• One evening as Zane was playing wii, he walked up to the t.v. and said, "Are you joking me?"
• A conversation between Grandma Farmer and Zane during his bath the other night:

Zane: Was my dad my mom's girlfriend?

Grandma: No, your dad was your mom's boyfriend.

Zane: They got married last night.

Grandma: That's good.

Zane: Why does God do that?

Grandma: Because God wants every little boy and girl to have a mom and dad.

Zane: Like me?

Grandma: Yes.

Zane: Oh.

• After Grandma's day with the boys, the wii wasn't working right. I think they wore it out! That evening, Zane really wanted to play it, so he got the manual out. He kept looking at the manual, then go and look at the tv. He said, "Grandma, I think I found the problem." What do you know...it worked!
• This weekend Zane said to Matt, "Take that face off of you!" Where in the world?
• Zane and I were playing with legos in his bedroom and he told me that he was going to build me something. He said, "Here you go, your majesty!"
• This weekend we bought Zane's Valentine's cards to give to his friends at preschool. He got some with lollipops and I told him that he could have one. The next day he came up to me and said, "Mom, I want a wolly pop." I told him we didn't have any and I didn't know what he was talking about. He said, "Yes we do. You know, with the gift cards!"

Mason's Marvels

• Mason was playing with a train and I said, "choo choo." He went "oo oo!"
• Mason will show you his belly by pulling his shirt up and will stick his tongue out to show you!
• Mason can now give high fives when prompted! We're working on knuckles, but he doesn't quite get that. He just wants to hit your hand!
• When playing, Mason loves to stop, bend over and put his head on the floor, and play "peek-a-boo" between his legs! It's too cute!
• As you saw in the picture above, Mason does NOT like Zane to sit in time-out alone anymore. As soon as Zane heads to time-out, Mason follows. He will sit down right beside him OR in his lap. He thinks it's funny and it seems to defeat the purpose of the time-out...

A Cavity, The Biggest Loser, and a Stomach Bug

Our week started with a "stay at home day" on Monday because of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The boys and I enjoyed hanging out at home. We also met Matt for lunch. On the way home we stopped at Sam's Club to pick up some pictures and ended up buying cupcakes...they are our favorites (and I was trying to weigh as much as I could before the Biggest Loser competition started at school). Here are some photos and videos of the boys enjoying their cupcakes.

Zaner enjoying a cupcake

Zane said he was "Papa Farmer" with a mustache!

Mason enjoying a cupcake

He makes such a mess with cupcakes!

A couple of weeks ago Zane and Matt went for their dental cleanings and check-ups. We found out Zane has a "tooth bug" (cavity). Tuesday Matt took him to get it filled. Matt said he did really well - he sat still, listened, and did what they said! He wasn't scared at all! Afterwards, you could tell his lip was numb because the left side didn't move when he talked! He also kept biting his lip without realizing it and had a fat lip by the time the night was over. It is still healing but looking much better. I brought Sammy home with us that night while his mom was at a meeting. He and Zane played okay together, but Zane wasn't himself...whatever the dentist gave him made him very moody...we had lots of meltdowns! He had to go to time-out once for pushing Mason down, and while there he fell asleep on the step! Poor guy!

The boys at Jo's...Lauren's helmet on Zane

Mason and Braeden's "hiding place" at Jo's

My school is starting the "Biggest Loser" and I am on a team. I needed some sort of motivation to lose more weight! We weighed in Tuesday and then again on Friday. I am happy to report I lost 4 pounds! Let's hope that I keep losing, even if it's only a pound a week!

This weekend we didn't have many plans, but our plans were made for us when Mason ended up getting sick Friday evening. We were in the van, on our way to have supper, when Mason threw up! I just feel so bad when the kids are sick, and especially when they are so little! You can't explain it to them and they are so confused! We turned right around and came home, cleaned him up, and put him to bed. That was at 7:00. I went in to check on him at 9:00 and he had gotten sick again in his bed, so we took another bath and went back to bed. He only got sick one more time, just a little bit, while he was sleeping. Saturday he ate a good breakfast and lunch, slept for 4 3/4 hours, and seemed to be feeling better. Today you can tell he feels MUCH better! I am glad it was a quick but and hope that noone else gets it! We did hear from Mary that her oldest daughter, Madelyn, was sick all Friday night into Saturday morning. I hope it doesn't go through all of the daycare kids!

Zane wanted McDonald's this weekend, and when he opened his Happy Meal, there was a CD. He said, "Oh, look, I got a CD!" It was a Kidz Bop CD and he wanted to listen to it. I don't know why, but his favorite to dance to is "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." Just watch those dancing skills...wonder who he gets them from???

Skills!?!


Mason can go down the steps now...finally!


Zane dancing and Mason going "okay..."

Zane-isms

• When you see Zane the next time, ask him what his dad's phone number is. He knows it! We only had to work on it a few times and he has it down! He loves to push the numbers on the phone to call Daddy. Now we'll have to work on Mom's and the home phone!
• All weekend Zane has been asking me, "Mom, why do we live on a planet?" Today he said "Why do we live in a house?" I told him because we can't live outside and he said, "Why can't we live in the rain?" Oh those wheels are always turning!
  

Mason's Marvels

• Mason has been able to go up the steps for a long time, but seems very scared to go down them. He just stands at the top of the steps and grunts for us to come get him! He has gotten a little more brave lately and tries to step down onto them. But he just won't take that step! We've been trying to teach him how to go down on his bottom or belly. Finally he will go down them, feet first, on his belly. You do have to turn him around at the top, but then he goes down pretty quickly.
• Jo has a candy jar at her house and at the end of each day, you get candy if you have had a good day. Mason has already caught on to this. The other day when I picked him up, he pointed to the candy jar and made the "c" sound. Seriously, they catch on so quickly!

Back to Reality!

We finally got back to a normal schedule this week! It didn't take long for me to feel SO far behind...4 days of no teaching has me playing "catch-up!" It's funny that last week was so cold that this week's 40 degree temperatures felt like a heat wave!

Here are a few pictures that are actually from last week. They were taken at Jo's house (the day and a half the boys were actually there...)

Smiley Mason

Mason and his "big sister" Lauren

Madelyn, Ryan, and Zane waiting for their "teachers" to arrive (Lauren and Erika)

Zaners

Mason, who wants to color like Zane!

This week we almost had a catastrophe...Mason loves to follow, run after, and chase Zane. Wednesday evening they were doing just that and Zane ran into our bedroom and shut the door. Unfortunately Mason's finger got stuck in the door. It sure bled a lot! He did not want us messing with it, but we were trying to stop it from bleeding. Some of the skin at the tip of his finger came off, and by the next day he wanted nothing to do with a band-aid. He's a tough little guy!

This weekend we traveled back to Iowa for the annual race appreciation party. It was so fun to see our friends! We haven't seen them in quite awhile! Zane and Matt spent all afternoon Saturday at the race shop. Matt said Zane was such a good helper! I think Matt enjoys having Zane there with him as much as Zane likes going with his Dad! We stayed at my mom and dad's house. The boys had a great time there! Here is a photo of them with Dad composing a masterpiece!

Zane-isms

• Zane is really into quoting movies that he watches often. In the van, he told me he wanted to watch a different movie. When I asked him what movie he wanted, he said, "I don't know, something amazing I guess!" (Quoted from The Incredibles).

Mason's Marvels

• Mason's current favorite word is "uh-oh." He says it ALL the time!
• This weekend was the first time I heard Mason say "no." He said it twice...why is that always a first word for kids?

A "stay home" week (in Zane's words)

What a week this has been! Monday we began to get back to normal. I had a teacher work day, Matt had work, Zane had preschool, and Mason returned to Jo's house. At my meeting everyone kept talking about how bad the weather was going to get and that we might have a couple of snow days and I thought "NO WAY!" I was ready to get back into the swing of things...but Mother Nature had a different plan! We ended up having the rest of the week off because of the weather! Honestly, Tuesday and Wednesday we could have had school, but the rest of the week it was pretty bad. The side streets didn't get cleaned off well and some were not passable at all. Our week had pros and cons...it was nice to have some extra time with the boys without the hustle and bustle of the Holidays, but we went stir-crazy! Luckily it wasn't so bad that we had to stay in the whole time, so we got out at least once each day.

You would think that since I was home all week I'd have every project caught up and be ahead of the game...but it was kind of hard to get real motivated to do anything (I know you all feel sorry for me...I can hear you all saying "poor Amy..."). Truly, most days we just hung out in our jammies and played. I got a few things done, but nothing like I should have!

Is that safe Mason?

Such a big boy...he loves to climb up there on his own!

And then he likes to "read" a book!

Both boys are just growing up way too fast for us! Mason really understands what we are saying to him and can go get things we tell him to look for (blanket, toy, book, etc). Zane amazes us with things he comes up with or figures out. On Thursday Jo emailed to tell us to bring the kids over Friday morning for "mom's day out." (Can I just say that was a sanity saver! Thank you JO! Mary and I took the opportunity to go get pedicures and lunch. It was a nice little break)! Zane couldn't wait until Friday morning! He kept saying, "Mom, when can I go to Jo's house? Is it time yet? When am I going there?" Then Friday morning he said "Mom, where am I going today?" When I told him Jo's house, he said, "Thanks Mom!"

Today we bundled up and went outside to play in the snow. There's a lot of it out there, but it's been too cold to go out. Funny how it takes longer to put the kids' clothes on and take them off than the time we spend outside! Here are a few pictures and a couple videos of our time outside!

Matt pulling Zane

Mason wanted on there so badly!

He wasn't sure what to think of the snow!

Whee!!!

Winter fun!

Mason's first sled ride

Even though the extra week is going to make it harder to get back into the swing of things...I'm ready for a schedule! We have to get these days in sometime...may as well be now when the weather is cold and we have to be inside anyway! We've had 5 snow days now and I'm a little nervous about what the rest of the winter holds...we may be going year-round soon! :) Have a great week and I hope you are all staying warm!

Christmas, Round 3!

Why do weeks off always fly by so quickly? If only work weeks went that fast! No, really, I don't want to wish time away, just want those times off to last a little longer! A lot got done at home this week: Christmas decorations down, winter decorations up, house cleaned, toy boxes cleaned up and new toys incorporated. Zane still had preschool Monday and Wednesday, so those days were especially productive at home! We got out every day and ate lunch with Matt 2 days last week, so that was nice for all of us!

Thursday after Matt got home from work, we headed to Iowa. Matt's cousin Abby and her husband Wes were back from Montana. They are expecting their first baby, a girl, at the end of March. We don't get to see them very often, so we spent the evening with them. Friday we headed to Des. Moines for the Bunch Family Christmas...our last one for 2009!

Friday evening we went out for supper. Saturday we went to visit my grandma in the rehab center and grandpa in their new "apartment." It was great to see them both and they were glad to see all of us! Saturday evening was the family gathering. We had about 66 people there this year. Lots weren't able to come, but a good turnout no less. We played games, sang songs (I threatened to post a video of our singing, but thought I'd spare you all...), ate food, opened "I" gifts (each year our gift has to start with a certain letter of the alphabet), and stayed up late. They boys had a ton of fun swimming, playing, and getting everyone's attention!

Zane sharing his new toy with cousins

The party room with MOST of us in there...

Lucas and Mason

Heading to the pool! What a physique!

Pulling Mason around the pool

Usually we're only at the hotel Saturday until Sunday, but this year we stayed an extra night. Since our room wasn't ready Friday, they gave us 2 rooms for the price of one! They were adjoining rooms and it was so nice to have 2 bathrooms and a separate room that Mason could sleep in! We didn't have to worry about waking him up!

Sunday we woke up and headed home around 10:30. Grandma called before we left and said she was being taken back to the hospital. She needed some medical attention that the rehab center couldn't provide, so back to the drawing board. I don't think she will have to be there long, but she was so disappointed. She and Grandpa haven't seen each other in a month and are just ready to be back together!

This week it's back to the "real world!" This is the long stretch of the school year with not many breaks. It's sometimes the most challenging part of the year, but also so rewarding! All of our best to you in this new year!

Mason's Marvels

• Lately Mason has been thinking everything is so funny! He will either scrunch up his face and laugh, or cover his mouth to laugh. It is hilarious and I hope to catch it on video soon!
• I FINALLY heard Mason say "mama!" He is a man of few words...the silent observer like his Daddy, but it is nice to finally hear that from him! I remember being worried about Zane's speech, and now wonder why I ever had any concerns...so this time I know better than to get worried!