Patch

Cade has been wearing his eye patch for a little over a month now. And at his check-up last weekend, we found out it is working! So the constant, "put your glasses on" is worth it. I think Jim said he went from 20/50 to 20/30, so hopefully one more month to get it to 20/20 and then one month to "lock it in." I believe that he will still have to wear glasses after the patching is complete though, so it's all a little confusing to me. Way to go Cade...we know it is not fun (try walking around with one eye covered sometime)....and we are so proud of you!!

Bad Zhu Zhu Pet

Brecken came walking into the laundry room one night laughing, saying, "Mommy, my Zhu Zhu pet is on me!" I'm looking at her thinking, "oh she somehow clipped it on her shirt." Upon closer examination, I realized no, it was tangled in her hair. I knew this would happen sooner or later, especially since the instructions specifically tell you what to do if this happens:

• If hair gets caught by winding around a wheel, simply stop the wheel by firmly grabbing it. Next, Press the back or head button once to stop motor from running. Next, slowly unwind hair from axle by turning the wheel by hand.

Well, I tried these "simple" instructions and it didn't work out so well. We ended up having to actually cut a little bit of her hair to get Zhu Zhu out. Hmmm, maybe there's a reason they say age 4+!

Love Love Love Love Love

Love is...

I love when these two are getting along and playing together...so cute to hear Cade making his little sister giggle. And then the next minute they are fighting and Brecken is tattling on Cade, sometimes she's telling the truth, sometimes she's not. Cade probably gets blamed for a little more than he should and Brecken probably puts up with a little more than she should. And when Cade wants to give her good night hugs and kisses, she will often refuse...she does know how to push his buttons. But I know deep down the love is there. When they wake up in the morning, they always want to know where the other is and then they are so excited to see each other (for about 5 minutes). And when they are with other kids, Cade is always watching out for his sister.

We've been celebrating Valentine's Day for awhile now since Cade has his party at school last Thursday. We made Grandma Roberta's cupcakes to take to school. I still have not perfected the process but they turned out not only edible, but good!

Cade showing off the "surprise" inside.

They waited at least two weeks to open this package from Grandpa Steve & Nanna Celeste...they were so excited when the day finally arrived!

We spent today just hanging out at home...eating on our Valentine plates all day long!

Brecken is celebrating Valentine's Day tomorrow with her friends at Sue's and these are the Valentines she will be taking. She is very excited!

Cade took Toy Story valentines and chocolate to his friends at preschool. I chose Toy Story for him because I knew if I would have taken him the choice would have just been too overwhelming! And because every time we go in a store lately, he thinks he needs a new toy, so keeping him out of stores is just best right now! ; ) The teachers didn't want us to address the cards to the kids, just who they were from. Cade and I worked on it together and he probably would have wrote his name on all 32, but it was getting late so I helped (of course we procrastinated until the night before). He even sealed them with the sticker and taped the candy to them. It was fun to see him being so grown up, putting them all together. He actually made his own box at school, but this one came with his cards. When we were putting the cards together, he was bummed that he didn't get to keep one of his for himself. I said, "you don't give a Valentine to yourself silly!" Then when I picked him up, we had sent one extra and he was quick to tell me that he got to give himself a Valentine!

What else have we been up to during February?

*went to cousin Lauren's 5th birthday party last Sunday at Jumpin' Jacks...the kids had soooo much fun! It has bounce houses and arcade games. Tears from Brecken when we had to leave and I think they were asleep before we got home.

*went shopping with my mom last Friday and then met up with the Cases, Jim, and the kids @ Joe's Crab Shack. That is such a great place to take kids. 1. It's loud. 2. There's a lot to look at. 3. There's entertainment - the wait staff dances every hour or so. 4. They have the cutest dessert ever...a crab-shaped rice krispies treat that comes in an artist's tray with a brush and 3 "paints" strawberry, caramel, and chocolate. 5. During warmer times, there's a playground outside.

*Took the kids swimming at the new YMCA for the first time last Saturday. We had a blast until they found poo in the pool and we had to get out for 20 minutes. This was a half hour before they closed. We moved over to the other pool but it was freezing cold.

*watching American Idol, a little of Biggest Loser, Survivor, the Office, the Vancouver Winter Olympics, and starting today the Amazing Race. I think maybe we are watching a little too much reality tv. Brecken knows Russel on Survivor and often asks to watch him, Cade asked me if Biggest Loser was the exercise show, and tonight Brecken said, "I'm going to Hollywood! And sing for Simon!" I've never met them, but my friend Jodi's cousins, the cowboys Jet and Cord McCoy, are on The Amazing Race so that is fun to watch.

*went to church last Sunday and have been going more often...we're hoping the kids improve each time! ; ) Do we get much out of it? No, we're too worried about making the kids behave, but hopefully by just going we are setting a good example for the kids?!

*had our own little Super Bowl party at home. I actually didn't see much of the game or the commercials because I was working on photos, but I was happy to see the Saints win and Drew Brees with his son...so precious!

*attended the funeral of a co-worker's son who was only 27 and lost his battle with cancer. I did not know him personally, but he and his wife's faith through everything will always be an inspiration to me and I think every person that was in attendance will look at their life and faith differently.

*as I write this, it's snowing again.

That's all for now!

XOXO

The Mysterious Disappearence of the Christmas Candy

When we go to Christmas @ Jim's parents, there is A LOT of Christmas candy made by Roberta, Amy, and Katie. Caramels (my personal favorite), divinity, fudge, peanut butter balls, oreo balls, pretzel/chocolate/pecan things, bon-bon things with hugs inside, cookies, I can't even begin to name them all, but they are all of course delicious and calorie-free (because it's Christmas).

When we left, Jim's mom gave us a little Gladware container of leftover candy that we put in the fridge when we got home. A few nights later, I got the container out of the fridge and set it on the counter because I was going to have some and wanted it to soften up a little. : ) I did some other stuff around the house and then it was time to put Cade to bed, so I went up and read books with him.

I came back down, looking forward to my treat, and noticed that the container was no longer on the counter. I thought Jim had put it back in the fridge and when I didn't find it there, I checked the freezer...nope, so then I thought he must have it with him on the couch. Before I could ask, he said," what did you do with the Christmas candy?" So then we were both confused, wondering what happened to the Christmas candy!

We went to bed and I was still just baffled by it. I even got out of bed and did a walk through of the house, mainly because I knew if it didn't get put in the fridge, part of them would be ruined. (Did I mention I really love this Christmas candy?) I even glanced around Cade's room and found nothing.

The next morning I was still determined to figure out what happened. So I asked Cade if he had taken the container of Grandma's Christmas candy somewhere. And he nonchalantly says, "oh yeah it's up in my bedroom in my drawer, not the drawers where my clothes are, but the other drawers where my hats are. I wanted to have some when I woke up."

The sneaky little Christmas candy thief!

Our Snowy Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Some things I wanted to jot down so as to not forget!

1. Christmas Cookies! We spent some quality time making, frosting, and candy-coating cookies for Santa. It was hard for the kids to stop eating the cookie dough – memories of my childhood w/ Mom and Grandma Morse…

2. The snow! Yes, we always seem to want a white Christmas until it does 5-16 inches across the state (along with some pre-party ice/sleet)
3. Christmas Eve Mass – we got there early (45 minutes early) and got some pretty good seats. The kids did well throughout thanks to some good distractions packed by Mommy.


4. Christmas Eve Dinner – for the past three years we have made Grandma Swenson’s ham balls – delish.
5. Cade making sure we cleared the way for Santa to get in the house by moving any objects obstructing the fireplace.
6. Decals…not fun to put on!
7. The kids slept in until 7:45/8:00! Cade actually was up at 6:04, but went back to sleep in a make-shift bed next to ours! Good rest for mom and dad!
8. Excitement over all gifts from Santa

9. Glad to see cookies ate, Cade’s card was taken by Santa, and evidence left by Santa (a boot print) by the fireplace.
10. Breakfast – eggs, sausage and doughnuts. The kids ate great…I think mostly because we made them wait until after breakfast to open gifts from us!
11. Scooping the snow! We had to get out and clean the snow off for the four-wheelers. We managed to hold off until Noon, but these four-wheelers are not made for snow!
12. Lunch – we made ham-salad from remaining hamball meat…then started eating them only to find out the ham (we think) was not cooked… The nurse at Mercy thinks we will be ok…just watching for “turning stomachs”.
13. The barking dog (to the tune of jingle bells) – a gift from my boss is the most popular toy in the house…and the most annoying… ;-)
14. Breck wanting to put on her new elmo & zoe underwear…we put them on over her pants – pretty funny.

15. Trying to figure out plans for trying to head to Minden (will it happen?) in the snow…while trying to figure out what to have for dinner as we were not planning on being home Christmas Night!

I am sure there will be more to come, but I wanted to jot down a note from our day. It has been a nice family day. The kids have had their usual battles over toys, but they also have had some good times playing together. I am thankful for our family time this holiday. Merry Christmas!