Allergies

We've known for a while that Matt has allergies.  He is very susceptible to seasonal allergies, but lately things have been worse.  He had another episode of angioedema, and this time in addition to the swelling, he suffered horrible hives that laster for a few days.

I finally scheduled a visit to the allergist for the full scratch test.  Neither Matt nor I was looking forward to it, but we both knew it needed to be done.  He was a trooper during the pokes.  The hardest part was waiting the 20 min while the allergens took effect and he couldn't touch them or scratch them.

As you can see in the picture, he definitely has allergies.  Just about every known possible environmental allergen he is allergic to.  Trees, grass, weeds, pollen, mold, cats, dogs, dust, mites, and there are probably more I'm forgetting.

He will be starting weekly allergy shots next week.  That will continue for 6 months, and then he'll move to monthly shots for 3-5 years.  The dr. said we should expect to see huge improvements in the spring and fall!

Playing Dress-Up

My parents are in CO visiting my sister, brother and their families for Christmas.  My mom sent this picture of Luke on his way to a firemen's graduation.

I may not get to wear a fancy suite and white gloves while at my job, but I do get to dress up for 80s day.  I attempted to do the big hair and all!  I can't believe I spent the day looking like this.  A coworker told me I looked like an elf!

Belated Bday Post

Sorry, Ben.  I wasn't on the ball in blogging your 12th birthday!  It was a busy, but fun weekend.  The boys had practice for their Sunday School Christmas program, we did a little shopping with Grandma, celebrated with cake, presents and family, and the following day had the Christmas program.

As I always say, I can't believe how fast time is moving.  Ben is 12.  In a year we will have a teenager in the house.  We are so proud of him and how he's adjusted to middle school.  He recently got his first quarter report card, and we're thrilled to say he's on the 4.0 Honor Roll!  He was also recently named one of two 6th graders in his school as a "Student of Honor" and had a poster-size picture of him and a description of the type of person he is hanging in the main hallway.

We love you, Ben!

Opening a gift from Holly's family.  They were giving him cash, which he asked for, but used a baby boy gift bag.

Inside the gift bag was a toilet paper tube.

The toilet paper had been "used", and Ben had to pull it out to get to the cash inside.  A perfect way to wrap a 12-year old boy's gift!

Snuggled up with Nana in his new electric blanket.

That's starting to be a lot of candles!

He took this picture of his actual birthdate and time.

Ben moving through our Spanking Machine.  It is a birthday tradition.

Dakota Village

My dad, who is in his 6th year battling Alzheimers Disease, sings with a local senior choir.  Today they had a Christmas performance at Dakota Village, a cute restored village from the 1800s, located just a few miles from our house.

I had already agreed to watch Holly's two kids, and Brian was reffing all day, but I decided I was going to take on 6 kids all on my own!  Nana and Papa have come to so many of our events, so we wanted to repay the favor and go watch Papa!

The afternoon and evening were great!  After the 45 min concert, Nana and Papa had to leave, but the kids and I stayed to tour the village.  We made an ornament in the schoolhouse, rode the horse drawn tolley, wrote a letter to Santa in the library, watched the blacksmith in action, visited the jail and got put in the cell, got haircuts at the barbershop, and we finished it up with an icecream at the general store.  We were there for 3 hours and enjoyed the lights, the atmosphere and having fun together.

My helper for the afternoon!

A great smile

The choir did a great job!

Nana, Papa & the MN grandkids

Waiting for the trolley

Beautiful horses!

The lights all around the village made everything so pretty.

Locked up!

           

Christmas Tree 2012

We love our tradition of heading out to cut the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.  The weather this year dropped about 30 degrees in 24 hours, so we had to bundle up before leaving, but this was one of our most successful trips.  We had fun looking for the tree and agreed relatively easily on which one to cut.  Our tree has height which we like, but it's not too wide.  We love it!

Shortly after Luke was born, we realized that the first initial of the boys' names, in revese order, spells the word Lamb.  I love the symbolism of the Lamb at Christmas!

An icicle ornament

One of the many treasured hand-made ornaments

Not a great picture, but it was the best I could do.

The Latest on the Boys

Luke has been perfecting his sumo wrestling moves with his fellow diapered cousins from CO.

 Adam and I created a gingerbread house together at his school.

Matt won a 10lb turkey playing bingo during Firefighter bingo night.

 Ben got braces.

I Give Up

This seems to be my mantra these days.  I just can't seem to keep up with everything.

housework, Christmas decorating, cooking, shopping, school work, blogging, exercising...I probably am forgetting what else I'm not getting done!

The real reason for this post, however, comes from the last two weeks of piano lessons.

Last week, Brian was gone, so I took all the boys to drop Ben off for his 30 min lesson.  To be efficient and make use of my time, I ran to the grocery store (5 min away) to check a few things off the list.  Matt and Adam graciously helped me bag the groceries, and when we got out to the car, I could not, FOR THE LIFE OF ME, find my keys!  I searched all over.  Matt offered to go back inside and ask the  cashier if keys had been turned in.  Nothing.  All the while, I'm watching the clock tick by, worrying that I'm not going to make it to pick Ben up in time.  Eventually, I had to call his piano teacher and let her know I was stranded at the grocery store, and someone would be there to get Ben ASAP.  In my frantic shuffle, I decided to dump all the grocery bags out (I thought I had already looked through them all) and low and behold, the keys were in between a bag that the boys had decided to double bag because it was heavy.  I picked up Ben about 15 min late.

This week, Brian was gone, so I took all the boys to drop Ben off for his 30 min lesson.  To be efficient and make use of my time, I ran to the grocery store (this time 10 min away because of snow and ice) to check a few things off the list.  We had reserved a movie online to pick up and went straight to the kiosk to get it.  I went to grab my wallet and realized it wasn't in my purse.  No credit card = no movie. Fortunately, I had my checkbook, so I told the boys we'd get some popcorn since I knew we were out at home, and we could watch one of our movies at home.  We hustle through the store, knowing we have to get back to pick Ben up, and get to the check out with our popcorn and Propel water flavoring. I write out my check for $5.79 (I can't remember the last time I wrote a check at a store), and the guy asks to see my I.D.  Are you kidding me?  It's less than $6.  I told him I didn't have my wallet and that I was in a hurry.  He could see I had 3 little kids with me.  He said he'd get his manager.  A crabby lady wanders over, looks at my check, looks at me, and says she needs to see an I.D.  Are you kidding me?  In a very snotty voice I say, "It's under $6!  Forget it".  I literally take the box of popcorn and Propel out of Matt and Adam's hands and toss them on the counter, leave my shopping cart right there, and get the heck out of the store.  I WAS MAD!  I realize it's a policy they have to stick to, but really!?!?  So, after a car ride around town on a snowy, icy night, the boys and I pick up Ben from piano, completely empty handed, and head home for leftovers and movie chosen out of the cupboard.  No more trying to run errands during piano lessons.

Can you see why I give up?

Piano

Ben has been playing piano for about 5 months and loves it!  We never have to argue with him about practicing.  He had his first recital this weekend, and it was great!

We are so proud of him and can't wait to see how he progresses in piano!

Halloween

We had great weather to be out trick-or-treating for Halloween.  Once again, Ben wanted to make a costume out of a box and had his heart set on being a closet.  Okay....how do we do that?  He pulled it together well, but it was rather awkward to run around the neighborhood in a wardrobe box.  Halfway through the night he switched to being a graduate and met up with some friends dressed as nerds, so it worked out perfectly!

Matt got many compliments on the I-Pad costume from last year, Adam was a Clone Trooper, and Luke stole the show as an adorable dinosaur.

Jack, Ben & Tyler

Tommy & Matt

Adam

At first Luke didn't want to put his candy in the bucket.  He was probably worried (and rightly so) that mom or dad would try to eat out of his bucket!

Classy!

I wore a cute dress and tights to school the other day, and as I was getting out of the car, I snagged my tights on something on the steering wheel.  I had zero time to run out and get a new pair of tights, so I spent the day looking like this!  And no, my dress wasn't as short as the picture may lead you to believe. I hiked up my dress to give a full picture of the classy looking hole!

Six!

Our 3rd and final October birthday in our household is today...Mr. Adam is 6!

Adam is definitely his own person.  He's funny, independent, smart, and we're fairly certain we will be getting phone calls home from his teachers and/or principals at some point during his school career.  (The calls at the beginning of this year for tear-filled days in kindergarten don't count.)  He's not afraid to venture out on his own and be a leader, but sometimes his silliness can get the best of him.  That's part of his charm and we love him for it!

Happy birthday, Adam!

Adam Charles

My Baby is 2!

Luke Randolph is 2 years old today.  My how time flies.  He is the perfect 4th boy for our family!  Funny, chatty, laid back, independent, thinks he's 12....we love him so much!

What a handsome boy!

I just went in to get him out of bed.  As I walked in I said, "Happy Birthday!" and he replied, "Thanks.  Mommy, it's my birthday!"  I love his sweet voice.

Homecoming

The boys love participating in spirit days at school, and orange and black day is one of their favorites.  I   took the 3 older boys to the homecoming football game the other night.  The team went into the game undefeated and it was a gorgeous fall night, so needless to say, it was INSANE!

It was hard to keep track of the kids when every other kid out there was wearing orange and black and had their hair painted!  The boys had a lot of fun and the team won the game!  Despite the fact that we live less than 5 miles from the high school, it took us a whopping 50 minutes to get home.  I think next year we'll walk!