Giving it a Try

Today Waste Management dropped off a recycling bin.  Let me just say...I am not a recycler.  Mostly because I am lazy....but now I really have no excuse since they will pick up my recyclables right in front of my house.  I'm going to give it a try.  I'm sure it will be tricky at first to remember to throw certain things in this bin and other stuff in the regular trash bin....but I'm going to stick with it.

Icky Sicky

Charley woke  up today with a slight fever this morning.  She has a little cough as well.  She just really hasn't felt that good.  I have given her Tylenol every 4 hours, which thankfully has kept her fever down.  I hope tomorrow she wakes up tomorrow feeling better.

The Folder

This is Justus' school folder.  It is a really great communication tool for the parents.  It has a calendar, two pockets for their school work and things that need to be returned to school.  The main purpose is to keep the parents informed of their child's activities at school.  Today for Justus that included 2 check marks....one for not doing his work and one for talking after being given warnings.  One check mark is bad enough...but two is unacceptable.  Justus was not allowed to play the Wii, DS or on the Kindle. 

So Long

This morning Matthias' toenail finally fell off.  It had a little assistant from Justus.  He accidentally stepped on Thi's toe...and off came the nail.  I'm glad it finally fell off...the nail was looking pretty gross.

Long Process

Sure enough I have been pretty sore today.  It was a long day yesterday with a lot of time on my feet and squatting and standing and repeating.  I started the process of editing pictures today, which has mostly consisted of going through all the pictures and deciding which to keep and edit.  I have a feeling this will be a long process.

It's a Nice Day for a...

Today I shot a wedding.  It was a lot of work, and I am very tired.  I have a feeling I will be very sore tomorrow as well.

Cheese

Today while taking pictures I kept asking Charley to smile...and this is what she was giving me.  It made me laugh.

Meal Planning

Tomorrow is grocery shopping day, and very much needed since we are out of pretty much everything.  I have been in a meal rut lately so I decided to pull out my recipes and cookbooks to add some new variety to our menu.  I used to do this pretty regularly, but haven't in a while.  It kind of makes for a long process, but so far I'm really glad that I have done it since it will give us a few new things to try.

Harry Potter

Recently I started reading the Harry Potter series....nothing like waiting 10 years to jump on a bandwagon.  Anyways....I finished them all last week, and have started to watch the movies.  Matthias really enjoys them as well.  Tonight Matthias found a pen and decided to draw a lightning bolt on his forehead.  He then made me refer to him as Harry Potter.

It's Snowing

It has kind of been a crazy day.  Back to school for Justus after having yesterday off.  Once he was on the bus me and the two littles went to Wal-Mart since we were out of milk and a couple other essentials.  Came home got Matthias onto his bus.  Then I had to go to school to meet with Justus' speech teacher.  Good news there....he will no longer have to go to speech two times a week.  His Kindergarten and speech teachers both feel he is now where he needs to be with his speech and comprehension...so that's kind of exciting.   It then decided it was going to snow.  Charley desperately wanted to play in it.  Once we were home Jon called to let me know he was going to go to Urgent Care due to his right eye being puffy and very sore and he also had a small bump on his chest that was hurting as well.  He ended up having a stye on his eye and the bump on his chest was an infected cyst, which they removed while he was there.   When he got home I went out to get his prescriptions...and then came home to crawl into bed.

Back-Up

Today has been a pretty lazy day.  Jon has off work.  Jon also hasn't been feeling so great this weekend.  He has a little bit of a head cold, but seems to be on the up-swing.  One thing I did do today though was purchase a second camera.....used camera I should say.  I am going to be shooting some weddings, and I thought it would probably be best to have two cameras for a couple of reasons.  One...just in case something happens to one during the day of the wedding and two...so I could use  two different lenses at the same time without the hassle of having to actually switch them off and on my camera.  This camera isn't as nice as the one that I have...but it will get the job done if I need it to, and my eventual goal is to make my current camera my back-up....if that makes sense...but for now this one will do.

Sharing

This afternoon I had to run a few errands. Charley came with me.  Because she was really good for me she got that little pink giraffe (which I had an Old Navy coupon for) and a small bag of chips that she was required to share with her brothers.  Suprisingly the sharing of the chips went really well.

Curiousity

Matthias is by far our most curious child.  Sometimes it can be a little bothersome when you are trying to do something and he wants to ask 20 questions.  Over the past few weeks though he has been very interested in asking questions about Jesus.  It is pretty sweet...and I am pretty sure he is really starting to understand some things.  He will look through his Jesus Storybook Bible and ask questions about who the people are and what they did in the Bible.  I just love it because they are such sweet and innocent, child-like questions, which is exactly how Jesus wants us to approach Him.

Car Ride

When the boys got home from school today we took a little car ride.  Jon was working late and I figured it made for a good opportunity to take a ride to the location where I am shooting a wedding next Saturday.  The venue is in West County, and sure enough the two littles fell asleep...but not the big boy.  He stayed awake the whole time. 

The Time Has Come

It was time for the big boy to get a hair cut.  It was getting pretty long...and although I like it longer it was starting to get in his face/eyes.  He really hates getting his hair cut.  He cried pretty much the entire time I was cutting his hair with the clippers...and afterwards said, "That wasn't so bad."

Cutest Luigi Ever

We have a bunch of old costumes that we keep for the kids to dress up in.  Well, Charley has been obsessed with the Luigi costume for the past few days....and I must admit she is the cutest Luigi I have ever seen.

New Shoes

Yesterday the time had come for the boys to get some new shoes.  Not surprising that Thi picked The Avengers.  He was pretty excited to wear them to school this morning and show his teacher!

Date Night

Jon and I enjoyed a last minute date night this evening.  We went to the $3 theater to see Alex Cross.  Jon and I are both big fans of the Alex Cross series by James Patterson.  This one was a change up since Tyler Perry replaced Morgan Freeman as the lead.  I must admit even though Tyler Perry probably more fits the profile of Alex Cross in the books I still prefer Morgan Freeman.  Overall though I enjoyed the movie and the one I got to see it with!

Lunching

This morning we headed to Troy to meet Grandpa for a little lunch.  He had forgotten one of his Christmas presents at our house, so it was a good reason to get together.  The kids had a good time being their wild and crazy selves since we pretty much had the entire restaurant to ourselves.

My Little Fish

Charley is my little fish.  I'm pretty sure she would live in the bath if I would let her.  She takes a bath almost every day (she would take multiple baths a day if I would let her).  She just floats around with her toys, and loves every minute of it.  Some times she will wash her Dora Mermaid's hair, which I think is pretty cute.

Frosty

For  Matthias' school Christmas party his class had a snowman party where they all wore these hats and scarves.  Today he got to bring his hat home and he wore it around the house for most of the afternoon referring to himself as "Frosty".

Back to School

The kids go back to school today!  I'm pretty excited!  They have been pretty restless, and I know being back on their school schedule will help.  Justus was pretty excited too.  He ran all the way to the bus stop.

Drained

This morning I decided I better call the doctor about Matthias' toe.  Under the nail was completely black, his toe was swollen, and his was limping around.  So off to the doctor we all went in the afternoon.  The doctor said their was blood building up behind his nail and that's what the black behind his nail was.  She used a little thing and punched a hole in his nail....it began to drain blood and water and now it isn't black.  He isn't limping either.  I'm really glad I decided to call the doctor because I know he is feeling much better now, and his toe looks much better too.

Lazy Day

Sundays are pretty low-key for us.  We have church in the morning, but after that we just take it easy.  It's kind of nice.  The boys enjoy watching Jonathan play on the Wii or DS....they aren't picky.

Date Night

This evening Jon and I got to go on a little date.  Jon had gotten me some gift cards for Christmas and my birthday, so we decided to go shopping and then grab some dinner.  Charley was eager to check out my purchases when we got home.  She got to them before I did.

Big Toe

Today Matthias dropped a 3 lb. hand weight on his big toe.  He immediately ran off crying and underneath his toenail was already turning purple.  This picture was taken right after it happened, but now the whole nail is a dark purple and his toe is a little swollen.  He can move it and everything, so I don't think it is broken.

Little Red

The kids have been spending some time outside playing in the snow.  I just love watching them from the warmth of the living room.  Charley is pretty easy to spot in her little red coat. 

Chapped

After spending a lot of time outside playing in the snow over the past couple of days, Matthias' poor little face is paying the price.  His lips, area around his mouth, and his cheeks are all a little chapped.  He doesn't seem to mind, and usually won't let me put anything on it. 

It's a New Year

I won't even try to catch up on all that I have missed.   But I'm going to give it another go on the 365 blog!  One of the kids' Christmas presents this year were Nintendo DS lites.  They each got one....and they are loved!  This big boy especially likes it.  The kids are on holiday break until Monday, so they are definitly going to get a lot of use over the next week so that we don't all go crazy...and by "we" I mostly mean me.