Blogging Vacation

1:17 PM Posted by Natalie

Perhaps a few have noticed that I haven't been blogging nearly as much lately. It is a different summer for us this year here in our new home. There are projects to be done, a beautiful atmosphere outside, and wow, even neighbors to visit with! Of course, we had neighbors at the old house, but in 8 years of living there, we didn't really know that many of them, and most kept to themselves. The closest friends we had there moved away a few years back. The kids couldn't play out front because our street was much too busy, and after our friends moved, they didn't really have anyone to play with. On a nice afternoon here, you will see the street abuzz with a bunch of kids riding their bikes and playing in the yards. The boys have lots of new friends. We are very blessed to have been able to make this move.

The past couple of weeks have been particularly busy. The week before last, Joey and Alec spent most of the week out at my dad's. My nieces are in town and he was keeping them that week and wanted to have the boys, too. Meanwhile, we spent a lot of time outside with Lauren and Kyle and our neighbors. Last week, all 3 boys went to Branson with my mom, stepdad, and the girls. It was oppressively hot here, so the street was much quieter between the boys being gone and the heat. I decided it was a good week to do the painting in the hallway and living room that I had been wanting to do for awhile. When we moved in, everything was white, and I need COLOR! It was quiet, and with only Lauren, it was much easier to do than with the house full. I was nearly finished by the time the boys came back on Thursday.

The heat and humidity has let up here a bit and is supposed to last throughout the week, so I'm hoping it will be more comfortable to be outside again. Shaun is (amazingly) off on the 4th of July and there is supposed to be a party with some of the neighbors. We are really looking forward to that! (We should be able to see a fireworks display from our very own deck, too.) I can't really remember the last time we really celebrated on the 4th. Shaun has often had to work, which left me with the kids, and we may or may not have gone to see fireworks. And on times when he was off, there was nothing interesting going on in our neighborhood, so we'd go see fireworks and that was pretty much it.

When I was growing up, we lived on a street where everyone knew everyone. I can even still remember the names of almost every family. We had block parties, progressive dinners, went to baseball games together, did float trips...I have tons of great memories from my childhood there. It is so wonderful to have found a little of that here for my own kids. I've been wanting that for a long time. And, we've only been here for 6 months, so hopefully that will continue to grow over time.

We'll be leaving for Florida on July 15th. We're going to stay with Shaun's mom for the first time in almost 4 years. It's been too long and I look forward to relaxing in the pool and watching Lauren and Kyle at the beach for the first time. We'll all be flying down together, but Joey and Alec will be staying behind for an extra week after Shaun and I leave with Lauren and Kyle. I'm tellin' ya, those boys are having quite a summer for themselves this year!

And so my posts here will be fewer, though I will still try to post the occasional update and some pictures. Not that big of a deal, really, since I'm not all that popular anyway ;) But I guess there may be a few lingering friends and family out there who check in from time to time. I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!

The Case of the Missing Kyle

11:29 AM Posted by Natalie

This has got to be one of the funniest things I've witnessed as a mom...

Last night, I stayed up late watching a movie. Before we go to bed, one of us always checks on the kids and tucks them in. Since Shaun was working last night, it was me. Earlier in the evening, Kyle had woken up crying. He got a sunburn on his back the other day (I know, bad mommy) and he said it was hurting. Poor kid. So I put some aloe vera gel on him and put him back to bed. Well, when I went to check on him and Alec, I saw that their door was slightly open. I knew I had closed it. Oh well, maybe someone had gotten up to go potty.

But when I went in their room, Kyle was not in his bed. Uh...where did he go?!?! I looked around the room. No Kyle. I looked up in Alec's bunk. No Kyle. Huh? I looked in the bathroom and our bedroom. No Kyle. Where could this kid be??? I hadn't heard anything, I had no idea he had even gotten out of bed. My heart rate started to go up. Crazy as it seemed, I looked under his bed. Not there. Then, for whatever reason, I turned around and glanced in the closet (there are no closet doors on it yet). There, curled up in a ball with his arms and legs tucked under him and his head on a mattress pad, was Kyle! He was sound asleep in the bottom of the closet. I just laughed and then carefully scooped him up and put him back in his bed.

Too bad the camera battery is dead right now or I probably would've grabbed it and taken a picture. Now that would have been a great Wordless Wednesday!

I spoke too soon...

3:25 PM Posted by Natalie

Lauren woke up from her nap with a fever. Great. Maybe she was coming down with it yesterday after all. Who knows. So I guess we'll be dealing with this awhile longer.

*SIGH*

Blogging Slump

11:00 AM Posted by Natalie

So I guess it's been a little while since I've posted here. It's kind of funny...I haven't felt like I've had much to blog about, but now I realize I have more to say than I thought.

The sickies finally left. I think it was the day after my last post that the fever finally broke for both boys. I mean, as sicknesses go, it wasn't too bad (at least there was no puke, which I HATE). It was the being stuck in the house that was the hardest.

Tuesday I FINALLY finished painting the boys' room. I had done the bottom part under the chair rail it seems like forever ago and finally got the inspiration to just get it done on Shaun's last days off. It looks REALLY nice. Now I just need to find some wall hangings to go in there. All I have right now is the crucifix they got for Easter, which is going to look BEAUTIFUL with the walls. Under the chair rail is a very dark blue that we had mixed to match the dark blue in their quilts and above it is a lighter blue. It looks great with the mouldings in the room and really shows them off, which was my goal. Maybe I'll snap some pictures and put them up.

I think I have also picked out the colors for the hallway and front living room, but it will probably have to wait until next payday. But I am really motivated (at least right now) to get that done, too. It's been 6 months and I don't have a single picture on the walls here because I was waiting to paint. It's time! It's time to make this place feel like home. The family room will probably take the longest, though, because it has that paneling on the walls that we plan to drywall over. Unfortunately, that's also the room we spend the most time in. Oh well.

Hunger strikes again. Yesterday, I thought Lauren was getting sick. She woke up at like 4:45 a.m. screaming. I trudged out of bed half asleep and I could tell it wasn't going to be an easy fix, so I got Shaun since he was up anyway because he was going back on the midnight shift that night. She was quiet for a little while then started screaming again. He eventually brought her into our bed, then took her out to the living room, then ultimately ended up laying down with her in her bed. I don't remember what time it was when I got up with her, but she was laying on the rug in the hallway, saying she was cold. I thought surely she was getting the virus the boys had, although I couldn't figure out why she would have it so long after they did. But she did not have a fever. I put her in her bed and she asked for something to eat. So I got her a bowl of dry cereal. Then she asked for milk. So I made her go into the kitchen and she proceeded to eat 2 1/2 bowls of cereal!

She was still acting sick, but still no fever. I thought maybe it was exhaustion. She fell asleep for a little while until her loud brothers woke her up. She was then asking for lunch. Then I realized that the night before I heard Shaun tell her that she couldn't have a snack since she didn't eat her dinner. Aha! I had been painting and only came out to eat, so I didn't see how much she had. For those that don't know, 3 of my kids can't seem to handle getting too hungry. A good dinner is a MUST. Alec will physically get sick and throw up the next morning, I suspect at least one occasion where Kyle and Lauren have, too, and they both have now woken us up in the middle of the night or very early in the morning because of hunger. Shaun confirmed that she didn't eat very much, so that is the only thing I can think of that caused what happened with her. After lunch, she was fine. He doesn't take it as seriously as I do, but sorry, I don't want to deal with a puking child or getting woken up in the middle of the night or at the crack of dawn. And I don't want them to be miserable, either. Eat what we make or go hungry isn't really a viable tactic for us. We just gotta do what we gotta do.

So, it's not that anything too exciting has been going on here, but there you have it. I may never have the cool, exciting blog that everyone wants to read. I realize more and more all the time that there just aren't enough hours in the day for everything I want to do. I'm managing my time poorly lately, I'm behind on laundry, and there are appointments that need to be made. Sometimes I wonder if I'm really qualified for this job!

GO AWAY, SICKIES!!!!

5:51 PM Posted by Natalie

How long is this fever going to last? Both boys were running temps over 102 again this afternoon. This SUCKS! We've been in this house all week. And I just know if I take them to Urgent Care or something (which would be our 4th visit in 6 months!), the next day it will break. Been there done that before. So I guess we just wait...some more. *SIGH*

Spring Fevers

11:14 PM Posted by Natalie

Geez, you think this time of year there is supposed to be LESS sickness! Alec and Kyle have both come down with a fever. It was just at the end of April that Lauren and Kyle had some miscellaneous virus like that. I kinda thought something might be up with the two of them today, but I kept dismissing it as something else. I really should know better than to do that by now! Alec was even outside playing all afternoon and didn't really complain of anything except something about his ear hurting. (I do not believe he has an ear infection.) It wasn't until after Kyle started acting funny (not his usual wildman self) and I found that he was warm and he went to bed early that I gave it a second thought. After Alec had his shower, he was just in his undies. When he was done with his snack, he complained of being "freezing". That's when I checked him and noticed he was really hot. Sure enough, his temp was over 102.

I think we've had more sickness than usual these past 6 months. It started with the heinous stomach flu that blew through the house right after we moved in, then we got awful colds which led to me having a fever and developing a sinus infection, then Kyle and Lauren, and now Alec and Kyle (again). Poor guys, I hope they get over it soon! And it's a bummer because my sister and I were planning to take them all out to do something on Friday. Now we may not be able to. Poo!