Dip Baby Dip...

I thought I would type a post on snack/lunch ideas. We have to get somewhat creative because we have to stay away from eggs, peanuts, and soy. Soy is in a lot more food products than I ever imagined (you can see what food allergies can do in the last picture above...look at Wyatt's arms)

The boys also turn up their noses to string cheese and deli meat which really limits my lunch options so I am hoping that some of you will share some of your favorite snacks so we can get some new ideas.

-Cottage Cheese Sundaes (cottage cheese with peach medley applesauce and strawberries...

this is a great one bc they get protein from the cottage cheese...)

-Animal Crackers and Cheese

-Graham Cracker sticks and Yogurt (they love dipping of any kind)

-Quesadillas (I try to add tomatoes, avocado, or broccoli)

-Yogurt and Cereal

-Fruit Smoothies

-Vans Waffles with fruit or yogurt (again dipping comes into play)

-Cheerios or Multibran chex with craisins and/or raisins and dried apples (as a snack mix)

-All fruit popsicles

-Turkey Sandwich with mashed avocado, lettuce, and honey mustard (I can only get them to eat a sandwich if they are out of their high chairs and distracted with toys and very hungry)

-Fresh fruit salads and milk

-Gold fish medley (cheddar and pretzels) with raisins or fruit

-Amy's Nacho Bean and Cheese pockets

-Tortilla or english muffin pizzas

-Raw veggies (not a favorite-but we grilled some the other night in Newmans Own marinade and they were so good)

"Bye Bye Big Daddy!"

Geoff and I cracked up when we heard Jack's sweet little voice say this last week as Geoff walked down the hall. So now he is "big daddy" along with "big Katy", "big Bear", "big bite", "BIG tractor", "BIG truck", etc. I hope he doesn't decide to add "big mommy" to that list!

It has been awhile since I posted...so here are a bunch of random pics/thoughts:

If you ask Wyatt to "freeze," he raises his eyebrows and stretches out his neck and kind of shakes....it is SO funny (the pics don't do it justice)...here is Wyatt's FREEZE face:

Here is Jack doing "airplane" with daddy:

And Wyatt (always making faces to make us laugh):

Here is Wyatt stretching (I think):

The boys found our camel back and were having quite a lot of fun with it:

I took the boys on a nature trail recently and almost got lost. Ok, I don't have the best sense of direction and have never claimed to...but seriously it was a one-mile circular loop...but there were a couple of extra turn-offs that confused me and the boys got hot fast and I ended up having to try to carry both of them for the last 1/4 mile or so. Some pics of our hike:

Save save save...

I can't emphasize the following places enough:

Libraries
Thrift Stores
Garage Sales
Money saving websites

...any other places you can find great deals to save money. Especially saving money on toys and books for the kids. I think it will be difficult for me now to pay full price on any toys or books after the deals I have gotten at garage sales and thrift stores recently.

Our church has its own "Bargain Box"...a small warehouse of used items at ridiculously low prices. I am talking a bag (big bag) of most toys for $.50! Today I got three pairs of 3T shorts for the boys (for next summer) for $1.50. I got a gigantic bag of every Power Ranger item imagineable (I mainly got because I saw some great trucks in the bag) for $2.00. Imagine how big the bag is if they are charging $2.00. It is ridiculous. And I picked up two basically brand new Pooh books and two Baby Einstein books for $.25 each. Add one more paperback book and my grand total was $4.75. One of the boys' new favorite things is Matchbox cars. I found a bag of 18 cars for just $3.00. I gave both J and W two of the Matchbox cars and that has been all they have played with (and fought over) for the last couple of days.

As for the library...Geoff and I have been saving some big money in this area. He is a big fan of audio books and now checks them all out for free. I can check out unlimited magazines (just not the current edition) which I love. I love reading a variety of magazines but don't want to subscribe to a bunch. I just checked out Home, Runners World, US Weekly, People, Creating Keepsakes, and Oprah. The library also has a wonderful selection of DVDs...which all seem like new releases to me since I haven't seen a lot of movies in the last few years!

So if you are looking for something particular or are about to have a baby check out these places. I can't believe the great baby gear I found in a local thrift store and at garage sales. Or if you just need something fun for your kids to do this summer or for rainy days...stop by and let them pick out some treasures. I saw brand new activity books, board games, doll sets, cars, and books for just change. Happy hunting!

"Happy daddy!"

Geoff was out of town for Father's Day...so the morning of Fathers Day I tried to get the boys to say "Happy Daddy Day" when we called him on the phone. And all day long they said "Happy daddy happy daddy happy daddy...."

Happy Father's Day (belated) to every father!

2 Patients

This post will have more narrative than I usually write...because so much has happened in the last four days!

Ok, so Geoff and I had reservations at a nearby resort to attend a marriage conference. The conference is by Family Life and we have spoken to a few of our friends who have attended and highly recommended it. My parents arrived in town Thursday to watch the boys while we were going to have our first weekend away together. However, last Tuesday, J caught a cold and had his typical crazy runny nose. W caught the cold on Wednesday. By the time J woke from his nap on Thursday, he was going downhill fast. He was acting lethargic, coughing funny, and starting to wheeze a little when he breathed. Sure enough, Geoff had to take him to the ER at 2 a.m. Friday morning. He was admitted to the hospital by 7:30 a.m. The doctors just didn't like how he was breathing and wanted to observe him awhile longer. J was definitely feeling better by then bc he wouldn't sit still in the hospital room. And he ate a good breakfast that morning. Geoff and I both thought that they would discharge him by early afternoon and we could still leave for our trip. We just had to wait for the pediatrician. By noon we decided to change our plans.

The pediatrician hadn't arrived yet and it was looking as if they were going to keep J so Geoff decided that I should leave for the conference so I could register and attend the two sessions on Friday night. He would drive up early Saturday and meet me at the conference.

The first couple hours into the drive I strongly considered turning around and heading home. I was worried about the boys and it just seemed silly to go to a marriage conference alone!

J was discharged Friday evening around 5 p.m. But W had gotten worse during the day and by the time Geoff got home with J, he had to turn right back around and return to the ER with W! His temperature was 102.4 and he wasn't breathing very well either. So they admitted W to the hospital and gave him an IV which he had to have all night. So W stayed in the hospital (with Geoff) from 5 pm until 10:30 a.m. the next morning.

Thankfully my parents were keeping the fort down at home and waking up every four hours to give J breathing treatments. Geoff logged about 32 hours in the hospital for two separate visits....I am sure everyone was having deja vu! And I was at a beautiful resort with hundreds of couples....for a marriage conference...by myself...and worried about our kiddos. Geoff knew he couldn't make it now and told me there was no sense in me rushing home bc they all had the boys taken care of.

So I stayed until early Sunday morning. The conference went until 12:30 on Sunday but I just skipped those sessions. In fact, I attended all the lectures on Saturday...but I would duck out of the ballroom when it was time to do a group (with your spouse) project. And I still got a lot out of just the lectures I attended! God must have wanted me to hear what the speakers had to say. I had several life-changing ah-ha (as Oprah would say) moments. So I was glad I stayed. I got two solid nights of sleep and was able to recharge a little.

J was diagnosed with asthma. We will pray he will grow out of it as well as his food allergies and eczema. They are still calling W's condition reactive airway disease for now. J has always had more trouble with his lungs and W has more trouble with the eczema.

On a different subject....we are bracing for a HOT summer. I dread the heat. I dread going outside for a morning walk with the kiddos and dogs and it is sweltering by 7 a.m. So I have been hitting more garage sales looking for used toys to put in their "toy rotation" for the summer. We went to a thrift store today and got a very cute Fisher-Price farm for $2 and of course, some more trucks. They didn't have much other than that though. I will just have to keep checking back.

And if you haven't laughed today....check out this short video. The boys and Geoff were messing around with a whiffle ball set (I bought brand new at a garage sale) and W gets whacked in the forehead.

Ready Go

Here is a video of W moving across the pool with his swim instructor on his seventh (out of eight) swim lesson...fully dressed. The purpose is to get him to roll over on his back if he falls into water. He had a little trouble deciding which way to flip today...I personally think the extra clothes and shoes confused him. =) The girl in the water is the swim instructor's granddaughter trying to get video using an underwater camera...hopefully we'll get to see how some of their videos turn out too.

Tubbin' and a Divin' and a Floatin'

J with a bubble beard:

Here are the little guys in their swim class. W is still screaming the entire time (except when he is underwater of course) but J stopped crying about halfway through the class today. So there is still hope!

Here is W's journey from the diving board to the wall. This is our sixth out of eight (30 minute) lessons.

He is using all means of resistance here (my friend Jackie is up on the diving board with him):

Ready, go!

Splash!

Rolling to his back:

Floating and screaming:

Rolling over to grab the wall:

Grabbing the wall!

Here is J covering his eyes during his float:

Hopefully I will get a video of them in action tomorrow so you can see them in action. It is very funny to see.