Happy Halloween?

Tonight was the big night.  Our princess, giraffe, Captain America and Iron Man headed to a friends house to trick or treat.  We've decided Halloween is like child birth.  You forget how much you dislike it until you're in the middle of it.  We had 14 kids age 2-8 and 5 adults.  Of course the big kids want to go as fast as possible and the little kids want to walk, but as slow as possible.  To top it off it was raining, we had huge wind gusts and even though it was a shocking 60 degrees, it was cold.  

Zach actually kept his costume on.  I was surprised by that one.  Ellie has been talking non stop about a crown, but the minute we put it on, she wanted it off.  Typical!

The babies did a great job saying trick or treat and thank you.  Zach will make a good car salesman.  He conned several houses out of more than one piece of candy.

The kids had a blast.  We only lost Ben once and now we are overflowing with candy.  Hello sugar high for the next month!

Science Center

We headed up to the Science Center with dad this week. Here are some highlights:

A friendly volunteer helped the boys make the arch.

It didn't last very long.

Zach just couldn't understand why he couldn't get the ball.

Preview

Ben's cub scout group had a Halloween party this week. This was the first time they've tried on their costumes for this year and LOVED them!

Check up

The boys had their yearly check ups today.  Zachary shot up to 32lbs (88%).  In 6 months he's gained 8lbs and gone up from the 25th percentile.  He is 34" (38%).  I'm shocked he gained so much in so little time, but when I think about his diet, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.  The boy is picky.  He basically lives on pizza and chicken nuggets (the nasty kind, not the home cooked half way healthy kind).
He's pretty normal overall.
We've been letting him get away with too much recently, mostly yelling and throwing things.  The crack down has begun!  We also need to rethink the sleeping situation...again.  We moved his toddler bed out and put a real bed into the boys rooms.  We also moved him by Ben and Sam is now on the opposite wall.  He loves sleeping with Ben.  We've been hoping moving them closer together would help with him always crawling into Bens bed.  It has, but the real problem is he knows that an hour after he goes to bed, the boys will come to bed so he waits up for them and then he wants to play.  Zach usually outlasts the boys and even us some nights.  He usually falls asleep after 11pm.  If we can't get this under control, we might need to move him somewhere else.  I don't want to think about that just yet though.

Samuel is now 41lbs (56%) and 41" (18%).  He can see and hear and only has one minor problem.  In the past year, he's developed a stutter.  He stutters on the end of the word, not the beginning. Instead of daddy, he'll say dadd- y- y- y.  It doesn't bother him, but its not something that typically starts at age 4.  It should have started much ealrier and be clearing up by now.  She isn't worried, but said the longer we let it go, the harder it could be to correct.  We'll talk to someone next week about having him evaluated.

The doctor also took a peek at Ellies ankle.  She started walking on it this week, but is still limping.  The doctor isn't completely convinced it isn't broken.  Even though she's walking on it, something could be going on in there.  She has until Monday and if her limp hasn't improved we need to take her back for more x rays. These last 5 months could be the most expensive ever!

Breakfast

Jon took Ellie on a breakfast date yesterday morning.  She is such daddys girl and loved having some alone time with him.

2

I put up several posts today.  Scroll down to the Catching up post and work your way up!

Friday was also a big day because our little man turned 2.  

You can see the struggle in him.  He wants to be a big boy like his brothers and he tries to be a daredevil like his sister, but he still loves to cuddle on our lap with his giraffe in one hand and a thumb in his mouth.

Our "baby" is learning new words every day.  He currently says "I'm coming" when he tries to keep up with us.  He tells his sister all the time to "stop it" and will usually attempt to say what ever we ask although his pronunciation still needs some work.  He adores Ben and would sleep with him every night if Ben would let him.  He is an incredibly picky eater.  He basically lives on chicken nuggets, pizza and grapes.  He doesn't like to be left out and will  make sure you know how mad he is if you try to go anywhere with out him.  He loves balloons and balls and has a great arm on him.  He doesn't like to be too far from his giraffe and always tries to sneak it in the car when ever we go anywhere.  When he smiles, his whole face lights up and he hugs with his whole body.  I couldn't imagine life with out him.

We had cake and ice cream for both boys Friday night.  It was chocolate so life was good.  I think they had a great birthday week.

We headed home today.  The boys were sad to go, but its nice to be back to our beds and a routine.  I'm looking forward to another week with Jon and some down time.

Friday

We headed up to the Marblehead lighthouse on Friday.  The boys loved climbing on the rocks and making me nervous. That was definitely more exciting than a lighthouse!

Thursday

Thursday was the highlight of the week.  We started the day with a dance party and then headed to a safari park.

It was mostly drive through, but they did have a small walk through area.  When we first drove in, we were surrounded by alpacas.  They were smart and aggressive.  They swarmed the car, were very hungry and even hopped in front of the car when we tried to keep driving.  Once we passed them, we saw a ton of deer, birds and bison.

The best part, I thought, was the giraffe.  He got right in our faces, in a sweet way, and ate carrots from the kids hands.  He even gave Jon a kiss!

The zebras were also fans of the carrots.  It took the kids a few minutes to be brave enough to feed them though. Their teeth were a bit intimidating!

We were moving slowly enough that Ellie and Zach got a turn "driving" and the kids had the run of the car.

We also got to see some monkeys, a white alligator, turtles and more birds.  I knew the kids would have a good time there, but I think Jon and I had just as much fun!  It was a great morning.

The lake

The playground was right next to the lake so we got a little closer for a better look:

Wednesday

We finally hit the road and made it up to Lakeside Wednesday just after lunch time.  Corrie was leaving as we were getting there, but we got to spend a little time with her before she left.  We got some groceries. relaxed then headed to a playground where they had the tallest slide I've ever seen.  It was the main attraction. I don't think Jon enjoyed it very much though.  It was a bit narrow and not easy to maneuver with a Zach on his lap! 

The kids had a great time running all their energy out.  We had a great time putting them to bed that night and watching them fall asleep in minutes which never happens.

The sprain

We had a little bit of uncertainty with Ellie and her ankle. The ER doctor told us if she wasn't walking by Wednesday she needed to go to her doctor.  The problem was we were supposed to leave for Lakeside Wednesday morning and of course, she wasn't walking on it.  We called her doctor who said she needed to see an orthopedic doctor.  We called an ortho office, but could only speak to a receptionist who couldn't get Ellie in until next Wednesday.  We didn't want to wait that long if she should be walking a week earlier so I called the ER for advice.  They were very nice, but no help at all.  They couldn't give any sort of advice over the phone and since she had negative x rays 2 days earlier, they couldn't even guarantee an ortho doctor would come to see her in the ER.  We finally got a hold of a friend, who is also a doctor, who said its too soon for her to be walking.  We just need to see improvement over the next few days.  As of today, she still wont walk on it, but she's crawling now and will climb on the furniture.  While I don't want Ellie to be hurt, we had 4 days of her being stuck where ever we left her.  That meant no taking away toys from Zach or pulling anyones hair or hitting, fighting and yelling.  It was wonderful.  Sadly, we're back to normal again!
More to come....

Catching up

Normally I'm a bit more on the ball with posting updates during a birthday week.  With Jon on vacation for a while, we met up with his mom at a friends house at Lakeside for a few days.  Heres what we've been up to until today:

Tuesday night, we had crepes for dinner per Sams request. He also requested chocolate chip and M&M cookies.  So after spending the morning baking them, we enjoyed them after dinner.  

He also opened some presents which included a Connect 4 game, which he loves, a toy bow and arrow, a new Skylanders blanket and some other random gifts.

Our little man is officially 5.  He's loving every minute of it!

More to come shortly....

Apples

Jon is finally getting his much needed vacation so we headed out yesterday morning for some apple picking. Ellie hurt her ankle before we left and wouldn't walk so she was stuck in the stroller and wasn't completely thrilled about it!

Ben took charge and inspected every apple the kids picked before it was placed in the bucket!

It so nice to have my hubby back from PNC.

We ended up with 43lbs of apples. The kids have already consumed several pounds.  After apple picking, lunch and some resting, Ellies ankle wasn't any better.  We consulted her pediatrician, a friend who is a doctor and Jons mom, hoping someone would tell us something other than take her to the ER.  Sadly, everyone agreed, so I took her there last night.  She sprained her ankle and has it wrapped.  She needs to rest, but also needs to be walking on it tomorrow or we're supposed to take her back to the doctor.  In the mean time, she's getting the royal treatment and loving every minute of it!