That barn dog!

Ian was right about him! Today it was time to take Ian to preschool so I went outside to grab Max so I could put him in his crate. He shot out of the backyard so fast I couldn't grab on to his collar and proceeded to take off down the street. I wandered around calling his name but couldn't find him. Finally I decided I needed to get Ian to school so I would have to leave Max and hope for the best. I got the kids in the car and we started off on our way. I was sitting at a red light at a pretty busy intersection down the street from our house, when I see Max come casually sauntering over to the van. I opened the door and he hopped in, as if that had been our arrangement all along. I don't even want to think about what could have happened to him on that busy road, I will just feel fortunate that all ended well

What would I do without these big girls around to keep Ian on the straight and narrow?

Earlier this afternoon Alexandria came running to tell me some scandalous news:

"Ian said a naughty word!"

"What did he say?" I asked.

She hesitated. Then whispered, "He said 'Barn it!'"

I asked her what that meant.

"Well, it is the same as the 's' word."

Surprised, I asked "The 's' word?"

"Yes," she answered. "You know...'stupid.'"


This is not the first time Ian has used that 'naughty' word. Last week he got frustrated with Max and shouted "That barn dog!"

Poor Ian

Ian has the most dramatic illnesses of anyone I have ever met. You know about his previous bout with the hurting tongue and bleeding eyes, but do you know he has also suffered from a poisonous throat? Yes, it is true. And Monday night he came into my room and told me he had thrown up "6,000 times." I got him cleaned up and tucked in bed with me and luckily he slept through the night. When he woke up I asked him how he was feeling and he said "Good, but my eyes are all panicky!"

Poor thing. It is a wonder he has made it this far with all the horrible illnesses he has had to overcome.

The latest happenings

Annika's hernia surgery was last Monday and it went really well. She was a trooper and didn't seem nervous about it at all. The nurse came in to talk to her about the surgery and said "Did you know we are going to put you to sleep?" Annika said, in her precise little voice, "Yes, I was awakened early, so a little nap would be nice!" I love that girl. I think the worst part for her was the no food or drink. I told her as soon as we left the hospital we would get her whatever she wanted to eat and she chose french fries and ketchup and also a doughnut...yuck. She had a sore throat for a few days and a little soreness where her hernia was but now she is back to normal.

We found out Ian is able to go to preschool through the school district one day a week so he started that last week. It is on Fridays(half day) so now he goes to school three days a week and is loving it. He is a little mad that they keep making him put icky tasting soap on his "sucking fingers" but other than that all is well.

Alexandria's birthday celebrations are finally over. She had her friend spend the night last night and Karl took them to Worlds of Fun. He sent me an email while they were out that said "These girls never stop talking!" Tonight I took her out and she spent all of the money she got so we are officially done with all things birthday.

Elizabeth has been a little busier as of late. She dumped an entire container of fish food on the floor, then poured a glass of water on top of that so it was all gross and stuck to the floor. Have you ever smelled betta food? Yeah, it is pretty icky. She also threw the last roll of toilet paper into the toilet. (Ian had unwrapped the previous roll because he wanted the cardboard tube for a 'craft project.')

I still don't have a way to upload pictures on this computer, so no new pictures for awhile.

Happy Birthday Alexandria

It is Alexandria's birthday and oh for shame, I don't even have a picture of her to put on here. (My computer is broken so I have to use Karl's.) She requested enchiladas for dinner and cheesecake for dessert so we did that, she opened her presents and then we went to church. She got a Pixie Hollow full membership for some website (I don't know), a fish that she named Jewel and a game. She and I have a shopping trip planned too.
A funny story about her name: We picked out her name as soon as we found out she was going to be a girl but we didn't tell anyone what we had chosen. Right after she was born the nurse said "Oh she is such a big baby! A big baby like this needs a grand name, like...Alexandria!" Karl and I laughed and told her that was in fact the very name we had chosen. The nurse was surprised. She said she had never known anyone with that name and didn't know what made her even think of it. So we figured it was meant to be.

First day of preschool

Ready for school:

Getting tired of posing for pictures:


Hanging up his backpack:

Ian and his teacher:


Today was the first day of preschool for Ian and it went great. I walked him to his classroom and he ran off to play with toys, without giving me so much as a backwards glance. When I picked him up the first thing he said was, "That was so much fun!" When Dad called and asked him how school was he told him it was "fun and amazing!"

He clearly has been watching too many commercials

Just now Ian said, "Mommy would you like a Bump-it for you hair? If you are needing just a little extra volume it would be good for you."