Happy Birthday

Today is Charles' 5th birthday. He is sooo excited. It's a whole new world when you turn five. He is expecting great things to happen now that he is five. He was so cute this morning when I took him to preschool he got upset and told me that five year olds do not go to preschool. He had in his mind that when he turned five it was off to Kindergarten. Time goes by so quickly. It seems like only yesterday when I was pregnant with him. He has always been my serious, mysterious, devious child. I was thinking back to all of the stunts he's pulled in his life. I remember once when I was a nanny I had taken the kids outside to blow bubbles. Charles went inside to do something and was gone for a while. I went in to check on him and he had poured his bubbles into the fountain that was at the bottom of the stairs. There were bubbles bubbling up everywhere. Just last week he gave himself a haircut. He cut the front of his hair really short. I couldn't be mad because he was so pleased with himself. He's a boy, boys have buzzed hair sometimes, oh well. He does or says something everyday that makes me smile. Tonight we're surprising him with a trip to Chuck E. Cheeses. He's been begging to go there for months. Happy Birthday Charles, we love you!!

WARNING: Never leave child unattended

What's red, white and blue all over? Katie. While I was taking my shower this morning Katie found a blue marker and pulled the tip off. Her hands, face, clothes, the kitchen table and a few chairs were all a lovely shade of blue. I found her just as it was time to pick up Charles from preschool. I washed her up as best I could but she still has blue hands. These pictures don't really do justice to the the amount of blue on her hands. I should know by now that when she wears this outfit she always gets messy. Every single time she has worn this shirt she has gotten into something she shouldn't have. Thank heaven for stain remover.

What time is it anyway?

This morning Eric and Charles were up pretty early. Charles snuck into our bedroom and asked if he and Eric could play Lego Star Wars. I thought it was 6:00 so I said yes. A few minutes later Charles snuck back into our bedroom needing new batteries for the controller. When I got up to put them in it was a few minutes after 5:00. What? My sleep filled eyes misread the alarm clock the first time. When I asked Eric why they were up at 5:00 he denied it explaining that it wasn't 5:00 when they got out of bed. He couldn't sleep. So at 4:00 he went to another bed to snuggle. Then Charles woke up and joined him. He further explained that it was 4:48, not 5:00 when he and Charles got up this morning.

Busted! Fire Alarm Update

Dean smelled the fire when he got home, but had no idea about the smoke. That is until Eric ran up the stairs to tell him that I filled the house with smoke. Oh yeah, two fires ago Dean closed the flue when the fire went out but the last fire he left it open so when I "opened" the flue I actually closed it, hence all the smoke. Better luck next time.

Fire Alarm

Today is a cold, snowy,,windy, wintry day. I played outside with Katie and Charles digging in the snow, pulling them on the sleds and shoveling the driveway. This afternoon I thought to myself, today feels like a fire day. I decided to build a fire (which I have done many times with NO problems). However, today was different. For paper I used the pieces in the shredder, put a few small pieces of wood in the fireplace and checked the flue. I really did think it was open until I lit the match and the whole house instantly filled up with smoke. Seconds later the fire alarm started blaring. I reached in and opened the flue and the smoke began going up the chimney. Whew!! I fixed that problem, or not. The fire alarm went off again. I went to remove the battery but it would not turn off. After several second of ear piercing noise it shut off. The entire house was in a gray haze. I opened a window in every room to clear the smoke out of the house. My whole "build a fire to be warm" plan was defeated. Now I am sitting here typing and shivering waiting for the smoke to clear so I can close the windows. I forgot this, while I was trying to get the flue adjusted and the smoke out I heard sirens in the background. Now, the realistic, sane part of me knows it's not the fire department coming to our house, but the paranoid, freaked out part of me is thinking did one of the neighbors hear my smoke alarm of see the smoke and call the fire department? No, they didn't. Smoke or no smoke I am closing the windows. My fingers are freezing and my nose is cold. Now all I can do is hope that the house does not smell like smoke when Dean gets home from work. This is hopefully going to be my little secret. Unless one of the kids blows it for me, which is very possible.

Vacation Is Officially Over

The boys are back in school now. No more lazy days staying home and doing whatever we want to do. When I woke the boys up this morning Eric said, "Why do we have to get up when it's still dark?", then he stomped out of the room. Charles peeked through one eye out the window and asked, "Why are you waking me up in the night?". They weren't the only ones who did not want to get up this morning. For the past three weeks I have enjoyed not getting up to an alarm clock. But what's worse an alarm clock or a crying baby? Anyway, we are getting back to our routines. I haven't worked out for the past three weeks so this morning my forty minutes on the elliptical seemed like an hour. I've been working out four times a week since school started in August. I didn't think I was getting in shape but today proved otherwise. I was in better shape than I thought. I am glad to be back in a routine again, I just wish that it could start an hour later.

Christmas Morning

Here are some of the pictures we took on Christmas morning. The kids were so excited. Charles got a bottle of chocolate syrup in his stocking. He was thrilled!! Santa couldn't have gotten him a better present. I wish I had a picture that captured the look on his face when he pulled the bottle out of his stocking. It was priceless.





Handsome boys!!


Merry Christmas!

Our three little angels