Stitches, stitches, and more stitches

This month I have gotten a taste of just how CRAZY life with four boys can really get. Evan started us off. He decided one evening after I let him stay up and play a little longer than the other boys (because he was having trouble falling asleep after taking a late nap) to get a stool and reach Mommy's knife block while she was in the shower. He was trying to cut some leftover veggies from supper and instead cut his finger. We made a trip the the immediate care center where they put a skin adhesive on it to keep it closed, thus narrowly avoiding stitches. Fast forward a few weeks to yesterday. Blake is next up with a hard fall into the coffee table (yes, the one I've been meaning to get rid of!) and a deep gash beneath his eye at 7:30 in the morning. I take him to the ER for 3 stitches. Fast forward to 5:30 pm that SAME day. Clayton decides to jump off of the couch onto the coffee table (ugg, this thing is a curse!) but misses the table and falls forward onto it slamming his chest and face into it. He cries in pain and as he gets up there is a little blood. The impact on his chin has split it open a little on the bottom. At this point I cannot believe what is happening! His wound is not as long as Blake's and I reason that they would probably just glue it if I had him seen so I put a bandage on it and call around to secure some of those "steri-strips" that are supposed to be good at keeping wounds closed. Sheesh, can't a Mom get a break?! Grant had his turn, too, just not as action-packed. He had a horrible outer ear infection this week that had to be cleaned out at the ENT's office and that was pretty traumatic in itself. Here are some pics of our beat up little boys - you might not want to look if you are squeamish!

This is the healing version of Evan's - I forgot to take a picture of the initial wound

Poor Baby!

Already getting a shiner - it was MUCH worse the next day

Clayton's cut - thankfully not near as bad as Blake's

Camp Cowabunga 2010

Clayton and I got to try out a new event at church this past weekend called Camp Cowabunga. Our Children's Director brought the idea to our church after doing these in the past with other churches. It is an overnight stay at church for K-2nd graders where they spend a little over 12 hrs (7pm Fri night to 8am Sat morning) at church doing fun camp-like activities along with a time of spiritual discussion. I signed Clayton up and volunteered to be a "camp counselor" along with Andy, but unfortunately he had to work mandatory overtime at work and couldn't make it. So we had 8 little campers who had a blast doing their planned activites which included a craft, a scavenger hunt, and eating smores to name a few! They got to bring their sleeping bags and sleep in real tents which just added to the experience. Diane did a great job of putting this together! Clayton couldn't wait to tell Grant all about it, which I thought was so sweet. As a matter of fact he announced to his brothers before we left that he would miss them and Grant said "I'll miss you, too." Ah, these tender short-lived moments of sweetness! I really enjoyed Camp Cowabunga and I can't wait to do it again next year, this time with 2 of my boys!

Making Valentine Crafts

Clayton & Mommy

"Sitting around the campfire" during discussion time

Shhh, Don't Tell Him...

... he's only 17 months old. I guess it wouldn't matter much anyway because he would never believe you. LOL I guess he thinks high chairs and sippy cups are for BABIES! My baby already wants to be so grown up!

Wow, What a Winter

We have had quite a bit of snow this winter! The kids (and parents) have loved it! I just hope the snow day makeups don't affect our summer vacation we're supposed to be leaving on the first week of June! Yikes! Maybe they will pardon the makeup days for the whole northeast for a harsh winter? One can hope, right?

A Typical Day in Our House...

I love catching these moments of cuteness. Excuse the ugly table masquerading around in our living room as our coffee table. This was used in their playroom as a TV table for a long time and I recently took it out to get rid of it. Well, before I knew it the kids were using it to play games on and it was actually becoming pretty functional, despite it's ugliness. For some reason I knew that table was not a good idea, but you will have to read on in an upcoming post to find out why. Clayton is really in his element here as the referee, lol.

[Sigh] Childhood goes by too quickly...

Sweet Sleeping Brothers

The boys each sleep in their own bed in the same room but when checking on them one night, I found them like this:

Christmas 2009

Our family had a wonderful Christmas! Our boys got LOTS of new junk, er, I mean toys and we thoroughly enjoyed watching their faces as they tore into their gifts. We are truly blessed. I have included a slew of pictures - it was easier to just upload them all and delete a few.

Boy Am I Behind!

Just a quick note to say SORRY! I've gone MIA in recent months, haven't I? Our new year is in full swing and Andy is putting in lots of hours at work. It is a challenge to say the least to manage it all, but I just take it one day at a time and hope for the best! I will be updating with back-posts of the recent goings on in our family, starting with Christmas. Again, sorry to all of my faithful readers out there and I hope to not let that happen again!