Eek! Lets see if we can squeeze one more blog post in before February! As I'm looking back at this month and thinking about what to write about, it seems like I was trying to keep a lot of balls in the air. (Plates in the air? Pokers in the fire? What exactly is that metaphor?)
I usually blog in the evenings after tucking in our boys. Things also relegated to the evenings include (but are definitely not limited to):
1. Home improvement projects! (I accidently typed Hope improvement the first time. Is this accurate? I almost left it that way.) Ladies and gentlemen, our master bedroom remodel is complete!! But... I don't want to get up from my chair and take pictures. So another day, perhaps? Here's some cute helpers, though. (Cute, but clearly this is why most work actually takes place in the evening-ha!)
2. Destination Imagination. Ollie joined a DI team at school. The premise is each team has a problem/culture/service opportunity to explore/learn about/serve and then write a skit explaining/demonstrating what they have engaged in with a bunch of home-made props. (You had me at home-made props!) Finally, an outlet for my crafting! A few years ago I helped my friend's daughter make a dress out of duct tape for DI. That same girl also made an beautiful Egyptian costume out of plastic spoons. Do I sound crazy if I tell you I was sad I didn't get to help with the Egyptian spoon costume? Because I was. But here is Ollie, in character as a Tiki from Hawaii. Ollie and I also spent many hours on a Saturday at school making a barn background prop, Hawaiian background, a cardboard roast pig, and other props. The big competition is Feb 17th, so we are closing in!
3. A night away! Earlier this month Jon and I got out of dodge, thanks to Jennifer the Best for babysitting the home crew. We antiqued, shopped, ate out, went to the movies, went to a fun coffee shop owned by one of Jon's buddies, and SLEPT IN UNTIL 9. We are still talking about it. "Remember that time we slept in?" "Yeah". It doesn't sound like that great of a conversation, but trust me, it is.
4. Seth, Ollie, and I have been reading Harry Potter outloud in the evenings. I'm not totally sure how this started, but Ollie's interest has been piqued recently when a friend started reading/talking about HP/dressing up like HP for Halloween and picking Hogwarts as a birthday theme. It's been super fun for me as well; I'm glad to see them so fired up about books and reading and of course the stories are such a great place for your imagination to get lost in. We finally finished the first book, and watched the first movie. Ollie melted my heart this evening when he said, "this is hard for me to even believe, but I like Harry Potter more than Star Wars."
5. Jon had a couple weeks of travel this month as well. I believe this is a selfie at a hotel before being presented with an award. (Go Jon!) He's also been busy with out of town meetings, deliveries, trainings and such.
6. And finally, true to it's nature, January has been a beast because of on-going sickness. The worst was definitely when Nolan got a fever Monday morning. The soonest the pediatrician could see him was Tuesday morning, where he tested negative for strep, so we all assumed it was the flu. Well, he just didn't get any better, in fact it seemed like he was getting worse, so I took him back in Friday where he tested positive for strep. So, to recap, our poor sad little boy could have been on meds since Tuesday thus saving him from having the worst five days possible. Plus he coughed and sneezed all over the place infecting every last male in our household, who are now all on antibiotics. Seth succumbed Sunday, complete with double ear infections, Ollie and Jon on Monday. Good news, meds are working, everyone is functioning again. All sheets and towels have been washed, bathrooms are in the process of being cleaned, and some new toothbrushes unwrapped to boot.
And here's other random January happenings:
Ollie got free tech tickets for participating in a reading program.
No school on MLK day! The boys getting ready for a movie!
Nolan is starting to remind us so much of a young Ollie, lining up cars and trains on any available ledge to play. He's also talking so much more with each passing week, so fun to watch unfold! His favorite thing to say currently is, "I twy" from peeling oranges to changing his diaper, he wants to try.
Seth and his therapist, Krista, have been working on assembling this robotic dinosaur for months. They finally got it all finished and he was so excited to show us all the things it could do. It walks, roars, records your voice, you can program it how you want it to move, it even farts. Lots of hard work and it's pretty cool.
Here we are getting ready to cheer on the Vikings in their play off game. Which ended in disaster.
Tiki in progress, Nolan in hiding.
