typical ups and downs

Well folks,
We've had one of those weeks full of your typical ups and downs. Last Saturday S had an unfortunate barfing incident at Chuckie Cheese’s just as we were singing Happy Birthday to her little friend.  Yep, we like to make things memorable!  We hypothesized that it was the result of the roller coaster simulator ride she'd just go off of, but it turns out it was indeed some sort of stomach bug. She generously passed the bug on to each of us, making it one of those weeks were I felt like I could have used my own personal haz-mat team and a serious pay raise. (I did get a dozen roses from my sweet man who got to leave the infirmary to go to work every day except the one day when he was the stomach bug's victim.)

On the up side it’s looking very springy around here. We had a delightfully booming morning thunderstorm that brought out the green. S discovered that our first mini daffodils bloomed. 

J and I watched a pair of hawks collecting materials to build a nest nearby. A bunch of our native shrubs around the yard have revealed that they flower in the spring. Once they leaf out I hope to be able to identify them. We also found several pasque flowers, yes, none other than our own South Dakota state flower, in our yard!  Here is J with one of them.

We spent the better part of Saturday in the yard. M rented a rototiller and tackled the thick grass roots and compacted soil in the garden area. It looks like it’s been a few years since anyone intentionally grew anything there. The kids were giddy to help with planting the peas and carrots.  Hopefully they will be just as giddy to eat them in a couple of months. 

S’s latest antics have been mostly after we’ve all gone to bed. In the middle of the other night M found her wandering around the house, sobbing and howling, “I can’t get back in the beehive!” And ever since, her excuse for any and every misdeed is a smirk and a shrug and “I must have been sleep walking.” How convenient.  Here she is with the momentous first rollypolly of the season!

J had quite the one-man-band going the other day. It included a drum, tambourine, harmonica, various stuffed animals which made their respective noises when squeezed, or in this case when stepped on and a variety of vehicles with sirens, honks and engine revving sound effect buttons. He was really jamming! He came in to ask me if I’d play back up with the maracas & told me it was a "scripture song". He might be in the wrong church. He is a totally funny kid. Last night as he was falling asleep, I mean juuuuuuuust as he was sliiiiipping into sleep, he was giggling to himself.  The other day he was making up silly jokes for me like, "Why did the dog cross the road?" "to milk the cows!"  And then he would ask me which part was the funniest, the dog, the road or the cows?!?!  He's 3 years old and analyzing comedy!  He has started to anxiously await his dad’s return from work each day so they can resume their knight’s training; his mom is too much of a pacifist.

Lately AJ makes a cute little motor sound when he crawls around or when he’s playing with a toy vehicle. He makes a consistent ‘baw’ sound which indicates ball, his favorite toy. He wants to be outside ALL of the time. He loves getting slid down the slide or pushed in the swing and sings “weeeeeeeeeeee” the whole time. That is cute enough to keep me pushing or sliding him much longer than I’d be naturally inclined to do. He is cutting his first molars, at least 3 at the same time. I have to keep reminding myself of that when he gets cranky.  Here's a shot of him saying "BOOOO!"  He loves to play peek-a-boo...and yes, he is still Capitan Drool as you can see from his shiny chin.

So see, a couple downs, but mostly ups. Hope you have a mostly up week too.