Winter Day

We have had another bout of snow. No school Tuesday or Wednesday, and 2-hours late on Thursday. So what do we do on days like that?

We watch a lot of TV. Travis found a cozy way to watch by lying on blankets in a tote with his own pillow and blankie.

The boys play outside in the snow/ice. At least they get along until someone throws an ice clump at the other!

We do projects that Mom has collected over the trips to Michaels. Painting resin figures, coloring wooden cars, etc.

Mom bakes here and there. We all had some yummy cinnamon cakes in cupcake form. Yum!

We try not to kill one another since we can't get out of the snow/ice covered driveway. Let's make the most of it!

Proud Momma

I know you know those days when your kids are driving you nuts and you don't think you can make it to bedtime without another meltdown (from you, not them)! Oh yeah, the unexpected snow days, the expected and dreaded Teacher Work days and those summer days when you think the summer will never end! My boys are definitely ones to know what buttons of mine to push if they want me to go ballistic. They're really good at bringing out the referee in me too. Many of those moments I wonder if they act that heinous for others when I'm not around.

Well today I received the best compliment a mother could get... I had to go the dentist to have a bracket put back on. Since the kids were 2 hours late to go to school, all 3 boys had to go with me to my appointment. As soon as we got there, they took me back so I told the boys to sit tight I wouldn't be long. When I was finished I headed to the waiting room to assess the damage. One of the receptionists called me to the window and said that I had the most well-behaved children. I couldn't help but smile.

I guess all of the meltdowns and screaming matches and spats at home stay behind closed doors. My boys can be civil when I'm not around to give them the look of death or to grab their arm quickly to remind them to stay in line! I don't give myself any credit for their actions because I think they just instinctively know that they should exhibit respect to others outside of the home.

I'm ever grateful for my boys. I know we can get on each others' nerves, but what families don't? I am definitely one proud momma!!!

Painting, again...

OK, I know I posted some pictures about a month or so ago showing the contrast between the old MBR and the primed MBR. Well today I'm proud to announce that the ugly and drab gold is gone for good. Today will complete the painting project of the MBR.

Last weekend I took time to paint the ceiling. It looked so nice all trimmed out and even toned - and not gold!!! Once the ceiling was done, I went to Lowes and got 2 gallons of our new color. I had taken home MANY swatches for us to choose from. I looked at them all a couple of different times during the day to see what the different lights looked like on the colors. Jake really liked the lighter green, so we went with it. The name of the color is

Homestead Spa Green.

Doesn't that sound so calming? I really wanted a color that could help us relax and enjoy our space. I didn't want a cave or something too bright. This actually turned out very nicely since our room is so big.

The next step is getting window treatments and accessories for the room. I'm going with browns. The curtains will be a Chocolate Brown and other accents will vary from khaki to chocolate. I can't wait to see the finished project soon.

Once the MBR is done, it's time to move on to the bath. At least it's a smaller space, but I'm still not really looking forward to the work.

New Friend

The boys found a new friend today.
This little kitty found Brad playing in the woods, and just couldn't stay away. So Brad decided to share the fun with his brothers too.

I'm all for cats and dogs - as long as they're not ours and we don't have to feed them or clean up after them! I have 3 kids and don't need any animals. And when the boys get tired of playing with the animal, they can come in and we don't have to see the thing again!

Brad actually got brave and laid down with the kitty. It was cute how playful the thing was. And Brad said you could hear him purring the whole time.

Gotta Get Out

OK, so despite the fact that everyone was sick, nobody could resist going outside to play for a few minutes. In order to help Jake out, I shoveled the driveway. Nana and PawPaw stopped by to drop some luggage off so they wouldn't have to worry with it at 5am tomorrow. (They decided to stay at a hotel tonight as not to get infected with the bug in our house.) We decided that since our driveway is SOOO steep, we needed some salt in order to get the vehicles out in the morning. So off to Lowes Jake went - I was a little jealous because I like to go there without kids and don't get to do it often!

Brad is always wanting to grow up faster than necessary. He immediately offered to shovel down near the garage for me. Thanks, Brad.

I think Wyatt just had fun making tracks everywhere. Oh yeah, and notice the new gloves? I got them at the end of the season last year, and this is the first time they could break them in.

Oh and we can't forget the little Trav-Man! As soon as he got up from his nap he was ready to put on his "boops" and go out to play.

It's so fun to have toys that can shovel snow too.

Sickies

Well the stomach bug has hit the Hambrick home. It all began with Jake last night. Not 20 minutes after Jake got back into bed, Wyatt came in to visit our room and say he thought he'd throw up. So I pulled out the trusty "puke bowl" and laid it by his bed.

I had a dentist appointment this morning, so I left Jake and Wyatt on the couches looking pretty pitiful. I ran to the grocery store on my way home and returned to Brad being sick too. Thank goodness for Coke to help calm the troubled stomach.

Hopefully it all lasts only 24 hours and everyone will be back to normal soon. And I'll cross my fingers that I don't get it, because we all know that when mom's sick she just keeps on truckin'!

Finally, White Stuff!

Yippee! We finally got some snow to speak of. Granted, it's nothing like you might find up north or out west, but it's something for VA. They were only calling for flurries today! That's the forecast for ya. When they say we'll get lots of snow, we get nothing. Yet when they call for nothing, we get something.

The kids are out of school anyway, so it doesn't matter that something's happening outside. Oh well, they'll miss plenty more school as the winter wears on!


Notice the tracks in our driveway? Yup, the prettiness is ruined. Why do you ask? Because Jake had to take a load of wood to his boss' house - even though Jake is battling the stomach bug and it's snowing. He asked that I pull the van out of the garage and pull up and then down by the car. I figured he'd want plenty of clearance coming out of the garage (and then going in again later), so I pulled up to the road. Bad idea! I almost didn't make it up the driveway to start with, and then I almost ended up in the neighbor's yard going back down. Jake ended up having to move the car (so I wouldn't slide into it) and shovel the back end of the driveway. Ooops! I don't know if I'm to blame because I didn't "listen" to what he said to do, or if he's to blame because he wasn't more clear on what he was thinking.

Oh well, it's over now - and maybe we can laugh about it in a day or two.

What snow?

This time of year can be so irritating! At least once a week we have snow or ice forecasted. The school system gets all worried and has the kids go 2 hours late or closes school for no good reason. And what do we end up getting from the sky... not a lot!

This is the "snow" we got last night. The boys are to go 2 hours late to school today. Because Wyatt has 1/2 day kindergarten, he doesn't go to school. When they're 2 hours late, the kindergartens (am and pm) take turns going to school for altered school time. Wyatt went last week when they were 2 hours late, so this week morning kindergarten has their chance.

It stinks because there isn't even anything to send Wyatt out to play in this afternoon. And if he does go out, it'll just be a muddy mess. Ugh! Too bad he's not the one that needs new shoes, or we'd go shopping!

Test Results

Well we went to see Dr Rana (the neurologist) again today to find out the results of Wyatt's tests. Thankfully his CT scan was normal - so no crazy things growing in his brain or anything!!! She did mention that the picture of his sinuses showed some inflammation. She remarked that it could just be due to the season and that lots of people are suffering with all kinds of upper respiratory issues now. I say bologna to that because he always has issues breathing. I think our next trip will be to an ENT!!!

We're going to keep him on the Topomax for another month and then gradually wean him from it. Hopefully it will have made the impact on his system that it needed. She also said to continue with the Flonase (even though at the last visit she told us that can cause more headaches.) Whatever! I'll do it just because I'm tired of listening to him snort and try to breathe - at least until we see that ENT!

He's still complaining of his eyes hurting and he squints a LOT! I need to make an appointment for myself with the eye doctor, so I'm going to get him in too. Maybe some questions can be answered after an eye exam.

So the search is still on for all of his issues, but at least he's not having any more headaches right now. Thankfully he's back to normal in that respect.

No Results Yet

I look forward to the day when we are a diaper-free home, but it's not coming anytime too soon.

I never pushed Brad or Wyatt into potty training, so I don't want to with Travis either. But after saying that, he will be potty trained by the end of summer. Of course he'll be 3 by that point too, so he SHOULD be wearing big boy underwear.

This is a picture of a trial run. He likes for me to take his diaper off and tell him to sit on the potty. Unfortunately he's never even dripped in it. But I'm hopeful that the day will come before too long :).

Beautiful Lips

Travis feels like it's his privilege to climb on the counter and do whatever he wants. He's often getting into the cabinets or into the little storage drawers where Jake and I keep our keys and such. Well yesterday there were a few moments of quiet because he got into my purse. When I called him he came out to see me looking like this.

Isn't he looking fine? Let's just say that my lipstick has seen better days... it was a new tube that now looks like it's been half eaten. Oh well!

I think it's time to move the stools away from the counter and not allow anyone access to it.

From Travis to Maddie

Hi Maddie. I had to go to the doctor today because we thought I had an ear infection. Ends up I didn't, but I got these cool stickers for being so good. (I also got a sucker that you can see remnants of around my mouth!)

I wish you were here so I could share my stickers with you.
Love and miss you!

Travis

CT scan

Today was Wyatt's trip to the hospital for his CT Scan. Although he was VERY nervous, it wasn't bad at all. The technician that set it all up and everything was super nice and really helped him feel comfortable. It was a great reassurance when Mark (the tech) told Wyatt I could stay by the table and hold his hand. So I got to sport a radiation shield while the big donut took pictures of Wyatt's head and sinuses.

Because you have to remain completely still for the images to show anything, they put his head in a rest that had sides. Mark then put little pillows on both sides of Wyatt's head to keep it even more still. And to remind Wyatt not to move his head up or down, Mark taped his head to the rest.

Most of the time Wyatt just closed his eyes, but toward the end he thought he'd take a peek. The big donut sounded like a jet engine (but thankfully not that loud) while taking the image. There weren't even any lights to help entertain!

All was done in a matter of minutes. Mark said that they'd send the images to Dr. Rana by this afternoon. So now we just wait for his appointment with her on the 12th. I can't wait to hear what's going on in his head!!!

Sing a Song

Travis got the Star Station for Christmas this year. He likes it quite a bit and doesn't really like when others get in the way. He doesn't quite sing along with the songs that are on it, but he sure has fun singing his own little tunes - with the microphone on his lips the whole time.

So above is a shot of the little rockstar. Yes, his wardrobe is self picked. Travis' philosophy is
No Pants = More Fun!

This is a picture all 3 on the TV screen. Brad's doing his own noise making while looking like he's beat boxing or something!

Yet another pose!