For Your Enjoyment...

Yesterday I hurt my right arm while carrying Gavin's car seat. It hurts. It hurts every time I move it. Hurts to type, hurts to point and click, hurts to just sit still. Brings tears to my eyes. So I am toughing it out long enough to type this and when my arm is better I'll post again with whatever new family news I have.
Do you remember a few posts back I mentioned that I play the cello? I included a video from YouTube of Jacqueline du Pre. Go back and listen if you missed it! Anyway for your listening enjoyment today while I heal I am giving you the great Rostropovich playing my favorite, the Dvorak Cello Concerto. There are lots of videos and it's long but it is so worth listening. I love how it begins, the cellist doesn't come in until you are a good three and a half minutes into the piece. By then you've forgotten you're even waiting for the cello. The piece has already charmed you. Please enjoy!

Walk, Walk, Walk

Yesterday Mark had our vehicle in Ludington. My mom took Henry to school and Gavin, Irene and I walked there to pick him up. As with almost everything I plan this plan did not go off without a hitch. After many interruptions we finally got out of the house 15 minutes later than planned. Then it was a hike up two steep hills while pushing a double stroller. At the top of the second was a church. I stopped there to have a drink of water and figured if I was going to collapse that a church would be the second best place to do it (hospital would be #1). I pushed on and crossed the busy highway without a problem. It was after I had been walking for a while down the street that Henry's school is on that I realized there was another hill. Not as steep as the first two but still...did I need to go up 3 hills??? Passed another church on that hill, figured if I needed to collapse I'd be good ;) Finally made it to Henry's school. My face was red and my hair a mess (did I mention I left the house with it still wet from my shower?). At least I was not huffing and puffing.
Henry's class was outside playing so we joined the teacher and the two mothers already there. Irene immediately joined the kids playing. We stayed to play even after all the other kids left.

Henry talked and talked on the way back home. It was quite cute! Of course this time when we tried to cross the highway it was very busy. I think we waited five minutes before getting across. Henry got worried and wanted to call daddy to come get us.

I feel like I got a pretty good work out in with that walk. It was a good distance to travel plus I wearing Sketcher Shape-ups. I can feel it today!

Unfortunately it is raining here today. No walks. We were suppose to go to playgroup but Mark has the car again today. I figured we could ride Dial-a-Ride which is our local bus service. They will pick you up at your house and drop you off where ever you wish. I decided not to do it this morning though. Mornings can be unpredictable in our house and I am never sure what time we'll be ready. Plus I am having a bad case of allergies due to the weather change. Headache and sore throat.

Tonight we have Kindermusik and we will be taking Dial-a-Ride to get there. I figure Henry and Irene will get a kick out of the bus ride. Mark should be back in town by the end of class so he'll pick us up.

Too busy or Too Lazy?

My pretty, pretty Princess!

I didn't take many photos during Easter. We drove down to my brother Matt's house on Saturday. We took my mom with us so I was crammed into the back of our Durango. We sooooo need a bigger vehicle!

On Saturday we ate at my dad's place. He had lasagna and salad for us. Yummy! And for dessert...cake balls. Yes, cake made into ball shapes and then dunked in frosting. Yum! After dinner we went back to Matt's and got the kids ready for bed. Then Matt and Kaye made fondue (the real Swiss kind) and we all had delicious cheese and wine before bed. My brother Pete was there as well and he and my mom got into a silly debate about what I no longer recall. It was funny though and we laughed a lot.

Sunday started off well. Gavin slept until 6am. What a joy! The kids got their Easter outfits on (only have pictures of Roo though) and my mom and I made breakfast. Then Kaye's family started showing up. Whew! Those people are loud, boisterous and fun. It was overwhelming for Gavin though and he got upset a lot. I don't blame him though...they can be...a lot.

After the big Easter meal we had a quick Easter egg hunt for the kids. Even though the candy was equally divided after the hunt, the big kids were a bit wild in the picking up of eggs and the little kids kinda missed out. This is the same reason I never take my kids to the city egg hunts. The older kids just don't care about the younger. In the end the candy was divided up and everyone went home with some. We left for home shortly after that.



On Wednesday Henry went back to school after having a week and a half off for spring break. He was excited to go back. Thursday was a MOPS day. I left Gavin home with Mark and took Henry and Irene with me. They love to go and play with the other kids. Sherry from Sherry's Sheer Delight gave us a cake decorating demonstration. We made flowers and letters out of fondant. Then we frosted and decorated our cakes. It was a lot of fun and I am surprised at how nicely it turned out since cake decorating is not my forte! Sherry makes beautiful cakes and I am tempted to have her do Irene's birthday cake in June.

When we got home Henry ate the flowers off the cake. I couldn't get mad though, he was so thrilled about those darn flowers!

On Sunday I went to a baby shower for my dear friend Shannon. Rochelle, a friend of mine from school, was there. I have not seen her in years and we sat together, along with some other lovely ladies, and chatted. The gifts at this party! There were so many gifts! This baby is never going to wear the same thing twice for her whole first year! I felt kinda bad because all I had for her was a knitted baby blanket that I made. I am still working on a bonnet and booties. Compared to most of the other gifts mine was small. My mom said my gift was hand-made with love so that made it special. I did work my tail off trying to get it done in time and it was made with love :-) I had to leave before Shannon had gotten through even half of the gifts. I really wanted to see everything she got but Gavin was screaming at home. Maybe Shannon will invite me over to see everything and the nursery...hint hint ;-)

A little funny tidbit...I was dressed and ready to go to the shower at 10:45am. I thought the shower was at 11am. Thank goodness I checked the invite just before walking out the door...the party started at 3pm!

Today Irene, Gavin and I are walking to Henry's school to pick him up. Mark has our car and is currently in Ludington about half an hour from here. My mom took H to school at noon. The weather is sunny and nice and this way we save some gas and money. Not sure how we are going to work it tomorrow though. We have playgroup in the morning and Kindermusik at 5pm. Hmmmm.

Enjoy the sunshine!

...and if you want to read about and see pictures of the baby blanket I knitted you can check out my knitting blog. I will be posting about it soon.

An Award!

I've been nominated for the Sugar Doll award by the lovey Arley! Now I am to share ten things about myself....hmmmm...

1. I play the cello, flute, and bassoon. I wish I could play the cello like Jacqueline DuPre.

2. I used to be a nanny in a suburb of Chicago. I was there for a year but before that I had babysat for them and the rest of their family whenever they came up to their cabin in a small town about 15 minutes from here. On the night before I was suppose to leave the mother accused me of having an affair with her husband thus ruining a close relationship of more than three years. And no, we did NOT have an affair.

4. I'm married with three children, which is pretty obvious if you've looked at this blog.

5. None of my children were planned and were in fact a HUGE surprise. Each one more of a surprise than the last, which is funny because we should have known after then first one how babies were made!

6. After the birth of my first child I had a nasty time with post-partum depression. Thankfully my husband forced me to the doctor's office and she immediately started me on a treatment. With my next two pregnancies she has been right on top of the problem and although I have had some rough days I've not had a repeat like the first. My doctor and my husband saved my life.

7. I love to knit. My grandma taught me the basic garter stitch when I was very young. Knitting is a stress reliever for me, plus I love to make things for people. My next big step in knitting is going to be socks. Socks are made with 3 to 5 needles depending on the pattern. I am determined to master those darn socks!

8. I love to read. I recently found books written by the Yarn Harlot. She writes about knitting. So now I have a way to combine my two favorite things! I am also reading 3 books about women interned in Japanese internment camps during World War 2.

9. I also love Tudor history. Love to read any books on the subject and will argue my case for Anne Boleyn and why she is not the evil women that everyone made her out to be.

10. This may make me absolutely crazy (literally) but I wouldn't mind having a fourth child. Keep in mind that Gavin is 5 months old and DOES NOT sleep through the night. One more...and then I am done. DONE!
I hope you enjoyed those 10 little things about me. I nominate everyone one of the lovely people with fantastic blogs that I follow. I can't wait to hear about you! And Arley, thank you for nominating me and writing such nice things. I am so happy to have you in my life even if it is just in Facebook every day! You amaze me with your strength!

Irene's First Hair-Cut and Other Tales

Irene got her very first hair cut the other day. Yes, she is just two and a half months away from her third birthday but my baby girl has never gotten her hair cut. Her hair has always been very sparse and only a couple of times have I just trimmed her bangs to keep them out of her eyes. We were shopping at Wal-Mart and stopped at the salon. Irene was afraid of the cape and refused to wear it. Other than that she was very good. The picture above is of Irene the day we had to drive to Traverse City for Gavin's doctor appointment. She looked adorable in her skirt and with her hair braided. During the car ride she decided that she did not like her tights and proceeded to rip a hole in them. Then she took out the braids in her hair. I was not happy. I had to take her into the doctor's office looking like that!
Before we left for Traverse City, Henry and Irene had been playing upstairs in Irene's room. At one point Henry came downstairs and told Mark that they had opened a window. Mark didn't think much of it at the time. We live in an old house with old windows. And the windows should have been locked.
As we started to get the kids seat belted in the car Mark glanced at the side yard and noticed toys in the yard. Apparently the kids really did get the window opened and had been tossing toys and papers out of it. That night Mark checked out the windows. The kids are no longer able to get them opened.

My pretty girl with her new hair cut!
Gavin weighs 14 pounds now!
Our MOPS group is selling chocolate crosses for Easter. It raises money send members of our group to retreats.

Well...I've been sitting here not writing. My birthday is Thursday and as a gift my mom gave me seasons 1 and 2 on DVD of Life On Mars. Life On Mars the good UK version not the joke American version. I've been watching the first episode with my husband, he has never seen it before! So I must end now. Cheers!

Wow...

My husband surprised the heck outta me tonight in a very good way. We had a rough day with the kids. They were beyond crazy. After finally getting them in bed my husband turned on a song he found on YouTube. He said that he had been looking for it for days and that every time he hears it on the radio he thinks of me. Isn't that the sweetest thing ever?! We had a rough six months and yet there is no one I'd rather go through it all with than Mark. Granted there are days that I could happily run him over and nights that I put up the "cootie pillow" between us in bed, but he is my rock. Always.

Here is the song...


I've been feeling so yucky from this cold and having him say this to me was probably the greatest thing ever.

I love you, Marky! And you're still my one.

Gavin's First Taste of Cereal

I have caught the nasty cold that the children had so I have not felt up to blogging about anything. However, I wanted to share pictures of Gavin's first taste of cereal. He enjoyed it and laughed a lot while mostly pushing the cereal out of his mouth with his tongue. He is four months old now and has gotten so big. Unfortunately he still doesn't sleep through the night. He is up at least twice. I am not sure what to do for/with him to get him to sleep.

Laughing, laughing while oozing cereal :)