Surviving Spring Break and other fun things!!

A few weeks ago we had spring break for all 3 boys. It was definitely no where near a break for me. All 3 kids 24/7 and a husband that took on extra shifts at work, made for a very disgruntled stay-at-home mommy. We only had one working car and at one point during the week there was a winter storm warning which resulted in a few inches of snow. We were at home A LOT! 

I took to Facebook and Pinterest for ideas on how to handle the madness. One friend from church gave us the idea of using masking tape to tape off a city on the living room floor. Great idea. We also used noodles to spell out the kids names for artwork and made Easter egg shapes using coffee filters, markers and a spray bottle of water. I did get a little desperate while trying to do a science experiment showing clouds and how it rains, that it turned into a shaving cream party. I searched Pinterest for ideas and in the end used a lot of food coloring and random stuff from the cupboards and around the house.

 This is my reality

We had a fun filled Easter Sunday with baskets and presents and an egg hunt with about 120 eggs. Joe and I filled 105 plastic eggs Saturday night and I made sure to count them all. A friend at church was without her hubby on Easter so we got together at the last minute at her house (since ours is so cramped) and her son and the boys all ran around searching for the hidden eggs. Tatum mostly just looked cute and got in the boys way. We had a lot of fun hanging out there and when we were done we went home and fed the sister missionaries for Easter dinner. We tried to have as little to no candy kind of Easter. The kids Easter baskets had one egg in them that was filled with stickers and a couple jolly ranchers. The eggs for the hunt were filled with mini marshmallows, teddy grahams, fruit snacks, stickers and jolly ranchers. Between those and candy from church they were well wired and had plenty of sugar induced meltdowns each.

 Tatum suffered her first sunburn. I felt horrible. You would think I would know a thing or two about preventing sunburns, since I'm a redhead and all. She was mostly in the shade and it was partly cloudy but still we both were burned. She was really over heated and wouldn't take any fluids so we took her into the ER. They told us to use benadryl and how to treat the burn. The next day she woke up with a fever of 104.7, I tried medicine but it only dropped to 104.1 so in we went, again. This time they realized she had a double ear infection. Poor girl.

 We found this beautiful lost dog. We took it in to see if it had a chip, it's didn't. So it spent the night with us and we were able to find it's owner the next day. It made me want another dog. Definitely a big size difference between this dog and ours. The kids loved it.

 Pinterest failed me again. I read about how you can use a 'get along' shirt until they learn to be nice. Terrible idea. Anderson almost choked Emmett to death, dragging him around the house like this.

 Brave man!

 Sunday Best

 When not at work Joe is usually doing this . . . studying business, economics, law, finances or our finances or lack thereof. With 3 exams in one week, I had to step up my game and take over for Joe with cooking and cleaning dishes. For those who know me, those are not my forte. Dirty dishes make me ill, all the germs and bacteria and icky grossness. And cooking and I don't mix. BUT, I've been trying to stretch myself and I've cooked the majority of the past 3weeks; Including using my birthday gift card to treat the family to Dominos, that counts as something in my book.

 

I found time to get creative with Tatum's hair and to get frustrated with it also. I tried pigtails . . . check. She can even rock a ponytail . . .  at 1yr! But those bangs didn't stand a chance, they had to go! She looked so . . . wild, with her hair always in her face and she would put her sticky fingers in her hair and things would get nasty. I sat her down and cut them. I'd been wanting to do this for a long while but people kept telling me not to cut her hair, including Joe. As I was getting her ready for her new do, Joe said, "I just want to go on the record, that this will not end well." Thanks for the vote of confidence.  I think I cut off about an inch and a half or so, just for the bangs. I think she looks great! For the next couple of days, every time I looked at her, I couldn't help but smile. I didn't have to search for her under the mess of hair, there she was with her beautiful eyes looking at me. I love it! No regrets. So, just like the boys, she made it until age 1 to get her first haircut. 

 

Speaking of Tatum, she decided to take her first step . . . just one. She would stand up and plop back down and maybe if we coxed her enough she'd slide her foot a little and then plop back down. We'd cheer and clap and she'd smile and then wait a few days to decide to do it again. Well, on the 3rd, she decided to take a second step forward for her daddy, just as I had stepped into the kitchen for 0.2 seconds to get something. I was so ticked. I may or may not have scolded Joe for encouraging such a thing since I'm the one who sits at home with her day after day, waiting to witness moments just like this . . . or something like that. Thankfully we were able to get her to do it again so I felt validated in my efforts as a mother, because I'm sure that's what she cares about, right? :-) So, with that, I predict that she'll be walking in about 2 or so months, but definitely by the age of 2yrs. That's a reasonable goal? 

For April Fool's day I tricked Joe into thinking I was pregnant. I totally had him going until he decided to announce it to the kids and I had to stop it right there in it's tracks. Anderson's response, "Another one?!" Well played, Joe.

April 2nd, was National Autism Awareness day. We celebrated by buying a blue light bulb at Home Depot and swapping out our outside light with it, along with changing our facebook profile picture and status to accommodate such a celebration. Joe referred to it as Anderson's holiday. Cute.

 

 

 We bought the boys this awesome swivel chair from IKEA and it took forever to get here, but alas it arrived! Joe immediately put it together just in time for them to fight over it as soon as school got out. It looks like a giant egg. I found it online and it was recommended for kids with sensory issues to it's a win win. It's cool because of the canopy on it comes down and covers the opening completely so it's a cool little hideout. A nice place to go for some quiet wind-down time, playing the tablet. Big hit!