David's First Ski Trip!

Thanks to the 8.5 inches of fresh snow we just got yesterday, and the fact that we're still on school vacation this week we were able to take David skiing today! He's been asking when he could go, but with the lack of good fresh snow, we didn't think it would be as good for his first try.

Daddy helps get the ski boots on his little feet.

Boots...check - helmet...check!  Now all he needs is some skis!

With his instructor, getting comfortable in the skis

Ready for a ride on the magic carpet to the top of the beginners hill.

No turning back now!

While I take some pictures of David, Daddy takes the other two to a snow fort with slides!

Going down the hill, feet in the shape of a pizza as Daddy called it!

A nice gentle snow plow!

Looking good David!

Shaun is King of the hill!

Evan and I had fun sliding on the hill while Daddy took a turn watching David's lesson.

Of course there would be some falls, but overall he did really well and is excited to try again soon!

Project 365 - Day 62

David's first time on skis! He did great and seemed to really enjoy it. We'll definitely get him into another lesson as he did much better with this instructor than after with Daddy!

Bowling!

A few weeks ago, Omi came to visit and we decided to take the boys bowling. I didn't know much about the local bowling alley, but David and Shaun really enjoy it and I thought Evan would get a kick out of trying it out for the first time!

Shaun getting ready to bowl

Excited about his shot!

David helps out Evan until he gets the hang of it!

Bowling Pro!

Evan waits for his ball to reach the pins

Way to roll Evan!

Final Scores!

Bowling Brothers!

Project 365 - Day 61

Finally some snow to play in! The good kind too, light and fluffy!

Project 365 - Day 60

So I totally forgot about this being a leap year when I started my Project 365. In reality this should be called project 366! Oops! I debated calling today "bonus day" in my count, but I think I'll just stick with the numbers in order and have a bonus day at the end!

Evan & Daddy having a conversation at the top of the stairs.

Project 365 - Day 59

Evan loves his stall shower. We haven't really used it, but the boys bathtub is getting too crowded so we started splitting them up. The look on his face just made me laugh.

Project 365 - Day 58

This month in Shaun's preschool class they are learning about pets, different types of pets, and how to care for different animals. They even have a "vet office" area set up in the classroom. A couple weeks ago in class they made doctor bags. I had put it aside and came across it today while organizing the kitchen. Shaun showed him his doctor bag and pointed out the stethoscope. That is when Charlie got out his stethoscope and the boys got a little lesson on the heart this morning!

Here is David checking out Daddy's heart.

Project 365 - Day 57

Yesterday my niece turned 5! Being the only girl in the family means I get to spoil her with lots of cute outfits that I don't get to buy otherwise being a mother of boys!

First Ever Trip to the ER

Considering I have been a mother for 5 1/2 years now, I feel pretty lucky that today was my first trip to the ER. But I knew it was only a matter of time before it happened and that day came today when a very excited Evan ran face first into a skee ball machine. He knocked his front teeth a little out of place and split his lip pretty bad. Charlie was on call at his hospital and I was in MA with my mom and sister watching my nephew bowl.

I called Charlie right away and tried to get his opinion over the phone on whether he thought we needed to take him to the hospital. We knew the ER wouldn't be able to do anything for his teeth but I was still a little concerned about his lip. We tried to call the dentist but couldn't get a hold of anyone. I finally got Evan calm and took him out to the van and put on a movie. I was able to get a good picture of his lip and sent it to Charlie (thank you smart phones and technology!)

The picture we sent to Daddy

At this point it was starting to look better and the last thing I wanted to do was take him to a busy ER loaded with sick people unless it was absolutely necessary.

Charlie called me back and said it looked worse than he thought and since he was working at the hospital today he said he would go down to his ER and talk to one of the doctors to get an opinion. Once we got the confirmation that his lip probably should be stitched we headed over to Exeter Hospital (since it was closer than driving all the way to Concord and that way my mom and sister could stay with me and help with David & Shaun.

When we arrived there was no one there and we didn't have to wait long. Evan was in good spirits checking out his surroundings and enjoying the kids area of the waiting room.

Hanging out in the waiting room

Angry Birds to take the edge off!

We got called into the triage area and then fairly soon after that they came to take him to a room. They gave him a coloring book and some crayons and we waited for the doctor to come in and take a look.

Following the nurse to his room

Waiting to be seen and being such a great sport!

Checking out the TV

Coloring to kill time

The doctor confirmed what the doctor at Concord had said about the stitches and confirmed what Charlie had said about the teeth. He gave me a couple options on how to go about the procedure. The pain free option sounded the best but it would have required us to wait at least 30 minutes before starting and he was already so tired and so ready to just leave. So I opted to have him get a quick shot of lidocaine which would hurt a little but would have him numbed up for the procedure in 30 seconds as opposed to 30 minutes. He was restrained using a papoose board so that he wouldn't move around and once the lidocaine was administered the doctor was done in about 10 minutes. He ended up getting seven stitches and orders to see a dentist on Monday and to limit all active play and running around to NONE!  Oh boy, that should be interesting!

In any case, we were signing the discharge papers in less time than it would have taken to do the numbing gel, so I was very happy with my decision to not sit around and wait or try and put him under.  Evan was a champ, he did so good and he was very ready to see his brothers and head home!

The shirt says it all!  What a champ!

Project 365 - Day 56

I consider myself a lucky Mommy because today was my first trip to the ER since becoming a mother 5 1/2 years ago. Evan got into a fight with a skee ball machine and the skee ball machine won. Here is my little champ after getting 7 stitches.

Project 365 - Day 55

I bought this basket at Target today and Evan decided it was a nice place to chill out.

Project 365 - Day 54

This morning I dropped David off at school and it was raining. About an hour later, with the trees still dripping from rain, the sun decided to make an appearance. It's one of the coolest effects of nature. I absolutely love the way the sun glistens off the raindrops and I couldn't grab my camera fast enough to capture it. Of course it's not as stunning as it is in real life, but you can still get the sense of the clouds in the background and the sun shinning through.

Project 365 - Day 53

Shaun enjoying his dinner, and me having a little fun in the digital dark room with a neat 1970 preset that I fine tuned.

Project 365 - Day 52

Shaun swam a little all by himself today and went all the way under water!!

Project 365 - Day 51

Evan's first time bowling! He lasted 8 frames before he was done and said "buh, byes" his way of telling me it's time to go home.

Project 365 - Day 50

Our swamp. When we bought the house we didn't know were were also buying a swamp. It was March but the yard was buried deep in a foot of snow so we didn't see the swamp. But there it is in all it's mosquito haven, buggy, mucky glory. You don't get the sense from this image, but it's a pretty good sized swamp.

Since we're now pretty sure that we're stuck with the swamp, our plan is to start working on landscaping it in the hopes that we can make it less swampy and more pond like with a possible fountain to keep the water moving, preventing it from being a mosquito breeding ground. And maybe, turn it into something the boys will be able to skate on! Now all we needs is the warmer weather and we can start figuring out our plans!

Project 365 - Day 49

Nothing but net!

Project 365 - Day 48

Another unseasonably warm day and the ice sheets are melting so we took advantage by stopping over at the playground behind the building where David's music class is. Here is David drawing in the dirt.

Project 365 - Day 47

This is a classic Evan face and it cracks me up every time I see him make it!

Project 365 - Day 46

David's school makes it a point to not celebrate specific holidays by name so instead of a Valentine's Day party they will be having a Friendship Party on Friday! David hard a work, writing out his Friendship Cards! He worked really hard to hand-write all the names of his classmates just as his teacher asked.