The Great Barf Fest of 2014

It all started last Sunday, 7 days ago. Tadpole didn't eat his french toast. He said his stomach hurt. He curled up in a ball on our bed. We told him to get in the van to go to church. We explained that both Mom and Dad had to teach Sunday school so we all had to go. About 2 minutes after Pops settled Tadpole down in the pew, Tad erupted. I was down in the primary room with Little Chief showing him where he would sit now that he was a big boy Sunbeam when Pops came ripping around the corner and placed a garbage can and a puking Tad at my feet while he rushed back to the pew to commence operation clean-up. The 3 little kids and I headed straight back home. Looks like I didn't "have" to teach after all.

Tad looked like he was pulling out of it Monday, but had a relapse in the weeeee hours of Monday night/Tuesday morning. Around here, Pops is the parent who rushes in when  child barfs while I stand paralyzed in the background. While Pops mainly dealt with situation, I felt completely sick. I played tough guy and got up for work and got the kids off to school while Pops took Superkid to a well-child Dr. appt. By the time they got home it was pretty clear I wasn't moving from the couch. My little guys took good care of me and I even got a nap! A REAL NAP (that is why I am smiling!)!

Little Jaws has been sick all week. He doesn't say much but he is all around pathetic.

Superkid and Little Chief were the next to fall. 

Little Chief informed Pops, "My tummy's ready for barfing now."

The ugly thing about this bug is that just when you think that you are better, maybe a day or 2 later it strikes again. After a day and night of puking LC had had enough and was looking to bust out. 

Pops caught him outside in the January freeze. 

I got this pic at work with the accompanying text, "I come outside to play."

The next text said, "Joe is puking got to go". 

The one ofter that said, "Well to LC's credit he grabbed the bowl and barfed in that. But because he's LC he then ran with the bowl from the dining room into the bedroom sloshing and spilling as he went and dumped it on the bed where the clothes were being folded!" 

He then slept for 15 hours. When he woke up the next morning he asked for, "Gatorpond". It took me a second, then I realized he wanted Gatorade.
You've got to be feeling better if you want to drink from a gator pond.

And then it was Abz and Pops. Not to slight Pops' misery, this little lady had it bad. Still does. She easily threw up 15 times. She and I sat up until about 2:00 a.m. watching movies with intermittent puking.

Now we are just waiting for the second wave for Pops and Abz. 

They are both terrified to eat. Can't blame them. This is ugly.

We're almost there...

Skate Guards

Oh! Okay, I get it. Skate guards are for lazy parents who like to stay inside. Just fasten up the hockey skates and push the kids out the door to the neighbor's house and snap pictures of the kids through the window. This picture is brought to you by our wonderful neighbors on both sides of the house; the Nielsen's, who gave Abz the skate guards and the Kirk's who invite her over to skate every night. How can we move away from all this?!

Snow Day!

With both school and work canceled on January 3rd we were all feeling mighty gidddy!

These kids suited up and spent 3 solid days outside in the white stuff. 

Seriously, outside for hours at a time. 

Then they came in, shed their drenched shells, downed a couple of mugs of hot chocolate while their clothes toasted on the radiant heat floor (the best invention of all time) and then headed out for more!

Until we were were spent!

Happy New Year!

Nothing says New Years like the Curhan's New Year's party! Sadly their guinea pigs have past, but we still were able to busy ourselves with building blocks and wrecking balls!

And we introduced this little guy to our New Year's tradition too!

Then the Zeller's came to play! We are glad that we could steal them away from their grandparents! The perfect friends to start the year with! I can tell it is going to be a good one!

The Best Gift

This year my work added days to the holiday calendar, starting this year we get the time between Christmas Eve and New Year's as paid holiday leave. This is the best gift EVER. I have never enjoyed time away from work or the holidays more. Usually I use vacation time to travel with the family which is super fun, but not very restful. The first few days were crazy getting ready for Christmas but then it was just R&R. We played games together and made it to the Energy Center and pool at the gym many times. We met some friends for bowling!

We went and blew our Christmas cash at the Lego store!

We cleaned up Christmas and torched the Christmas tree 

while we read the new joke book Grandma sent!

We made lots and lots of treats!

And we took up ice skating! This was our first attempt. 

Our awesome neighbors built the rink and supplied the skates and lessons. 

A little wobbly at first, but the kids caught one quick!

Dad's going to have to build us a rink when we move!

We played and played games, watched movies, went to see the Movie Frozen, memorized and performed our favorite songs from the movie and just really enjoyed being together as a family. 

It just can't get any better. These are the days we'll remember!

Monopoly and Matrimony

Our first Christmas in Boston will forever go down in the annals of Toad history as the epic moment of marital unity. Pops and I had just moved here the previous August. He had just finished his first semester of law school. I had miraculously landed a job at Genzyme the very moment we ran out of savings, about 2 months previous to Christmas. We bought a Christmas tree (our first ever), decorated it with big old fashioned lights, stringed popcorn, little handmade bell ornaments and tinsel. We bought a copy of Dickens Christmas Carol and read it aloud every night leading up to Christmas and we splurged on a Monopoly game. It cost us $8 at Walmart but afforded us hours and hours of entertainment. We hadn't made friends yet, so we just played each other, and if you have ever played 2-man Monopoly you know that after your second time around the board there is a clear winner. I recall the out come being pretty equal. Pops won half the time, I won half the time. 

Love and happiness for all.

This year we decided it was time to re-kindle this first Boston Christmas tradition. The kids took an instant liking to the game- even though Pops was unstoppable. 

He seriously has won every stinking time.

Some of us got tired of loosing and suggested we pull out another pre-kids fav., Settlers of Catan. Now there is a game I can win! Well, except for this time. I helped Abizella get out of the gates, but soon left her to work out her own fortune as I could see she was in direct competition with me. 

She won. 

All Hail Lord of Catan!

Determined to win something, I relied on the odds of Monopoly. One night when the kids were cleverly distracted with a movie, I challenged Pops. I coaxed him into it assuring him that although it was late, when you play 2-man the game is short and the winnings are huge.

Except for this time. Wouldn't you know it that neither of us secured a monopoly. The game staggered on as we passed back and forth $20 as we landed on each other's property both of us refusing to exchange so we could build a monopoly. 

Finally I caved and traded Connecticut Ave for Baltic. Let's just say I got creamed. But not before I laughed so hard I had an ugly cry.

You will have to excuse the blurry picture, I had to snap it fast before the cocky Mr. Monopoly and his piles of cold cash shut me down. 

While that first Boston Christmas holds a tender place in our relationship, I have to say there is nothing like  proving your marriage in the pressure cooker of gaming. I wouldn't recommend it to newly weds. But once you have a pile of kids, love handles and gray hair, the stakes are too high to walk away. Turns out I actually love Pops more after a bitter defeat (and a really good laugh). 

The monopoly game will survive another Christmas season.

Christmas Day

Our wake-up call came at 6:01 a.m. Everybody was bright-eyed and bushy tailed, except for Little Chief. I insisted that nobody stir the beast. He wandered down in a cheery Christmas mood about an hour later and the present opening commenced!

Everyone was spoiled rotten by Santa and our many wonderful grandparents. 

The kids all adore their light-up pillow pets!

Superkid added a new maze for his Hexbugs and also an alien helicopter that's gravity defying moves freak the baby out. He has also spent hours assembling Legos and sketching in his prized sketch kit. He also received WWII airplanes and a model car and airplane to assemble. 

Abizella was amazed to find that she not only got Saige, the American Girl doll of her dreams, but also ICE SKATES! Her doll got ice skates too!!! And the gifts kept coming and coming, doll clothes, books for the book worm, and a weaving kit. 

Tadpole got an avalanche of coolness. This year Lego Ninjago was king. He also got Batman and Joker Legos a Superman play set, an Angry Bird sleeping bag and a remote control car that can drive in water!

Little Chief was all smiles Christmas morning. If  you want to see this kid in angelic mood, Christmas is the season. He got a Jake and Neverland Pirates hideout, Jake Legos, ponies-ponies-ponies!, pots and pans, a sleeping bag, and a remote control car. Plus, he claimed all of little Jaws' gifts as well! 

Jaws didn't mind. He was happy to play with boxes and snuggle with Mommy and Daddy!

We spent the entire day in our jammies assembling gifts, reading stories, building Legos, munching on chocolate, chatting with family and just enjoying our time together. Heaven.