More Chaos and Finally.... some Quiet Rest

My last post highlighted some of our recent craziness, including Maggie's out-of-socket elbow.

In the last 3 weeks, the chaos has continued:

*We ventured out in one of the recent snows to the eye doctor for 2 of the kids.  We were "in sight" (ha-ha) of the eye doctor's office when another car ricocheted into 3 other cars on the road, including mine. We were fine, thank goodness. But waiting for the police in the sub-zero temps was not fun.  Plus we missed the eye appointment.  Counting our blessings that we are no worse for the wear outside of another dent added to the collection on my aging van.

*I had my tonsils removed.  One word on the recovery: TORTURE. Seriously the worse pain I've ever had for about a week, then another week to fully recovery.  Really glad they are gone, though, after 30+ years of problems.  Jeremy took a few days off and my parents helped every day for the following week.

 Grandpa's in charge of homework.

 

It's no fun when Mommy can't pick me up.
 

Grandma had her hands full.
 

Housework took a backseat.
 

Lots of extra snuggle time with my babes.

 

Keeping them occupied.

Finally back on my feet!

*Coinciding with my surgery, the kids had no school at all that week due to snow and extreme cold. That was fun to recovery with loud kiddos bouncing off the walls. NOT.

MAJOR kudos to this guy, who took care of me & the munchkins, and kept it fun at the same time.

















*Sam had an allergic reaction to ONE candy corn on an ice cream face he ate.  Total parenting fail, we assumed they were egg-free as they always have been in the past. Within 20 minutes he had stomach cramps and diarrhea. Yep, he's still massively allergic to eggs.

*Maggie stuck a hairband up her nose and had to make a late-night trip to Urgent Care to have it removed.  Then back to the doctor a few days later for another ear infection.

 Our attempts to get it out ourselves did not go over well.






 

Looks like it's RIGHT THERE, but every time we stuck tweezers up there, it sucked up higher.

As stated in my previous post, Jeremy and I felt overdue for a dull moment!  We finally got quite a few dull moments this weekend; we had Saturday & Sunday (including OVERNIGHT!) to ourselves while the kids were with grandparents. We treated ourselves to massages, a pedicure for me, some yummy food and a night in a hotel just the 2 of us.  Yay for some much-needed R&R!

A HUGE thank you to our parents for helping out with the kids these past weeks through my recovery, appointments, and our time away.  Really hoping for just some "regular" days coming up, but I'm not holding my breath!  :)

 

 (how Daddy does baths)

Ready for Dull Moment...

This girl gave us a big scare recently. One night when putting her to bed, she started to cry inconsolably.  Not a normal cry, but a something-is-really-wrong cry. We couldn't figure out what we wrong, even when she was up in the night crying. Finally in the morning, I realized she wasn't using or moving her left arm. It was limp at her side and she pointed to it and said "ow".  It was alarming to see how limp it was, and I felt terrible we didn't notice in the night! I got her into the doctor late morning (canceling her speech appointment for that time, of course).  As we were getting into the car to go to the doc, I realized her arm seemed better.  The doc thinks her elbow had become dislocated the night before and then it must have popped itself back into place before we got to the doc. We had to watch her the rest of the day to make sure she wasn't favoring it anymore, which she wasn't. Thankfully we avoided a trip to the hospital and xrays.  Apparently it's called "nursemaid's elbow" and is somewhat common in kiddos her age.  We're not sure exactly what she did to cause it, but she is always wrestling around and is such a daredevil.  Thankfully it was an easy fix!  

Never a dull moment.

                                            

My big guy needs glasses now. He's not happy about it, but we can't stop giggling at how cute he is! We got him 2 pair, knowing he's gonna need a backup.  In his first week of having them, he has broken them twice and left one pair at school for the long holiday/snow days weekend.   

Ultra active boy + glasses = disaster!

Never a dull moment.

                                                 

Of course these 2 are jealous and wish they had glasses!

        

Grocery shopping... must stop taking these two with me.

         

My reward for surviving the grocery with those two.

This is where Little One plops herself down when I need to unload the groceries

.... smack dab in the middle of our tiny kitchen.

Then the dog snags our loaf of bread from the bag and proceeds to knaw on it. 

I got it in time.. we ate it anyway, bite marks and all.

Never a dull moment.

Enjoyed a warm day outside before the Artic Blast arrived.

     

Grandma Toodie time!

    

Finding ways to stay busy inside once the cold blast hits.

They do have some clothes on, I promise!

     

Never a dull moment.

 

Someone got into my mascara. Waterproof mascara.

Never a dull moment.

                                                

Thankfully the cute moments help to make up for the not-so-dull moments.

    

Valentine's Day!

   

Korean & Chinese New Years

Last weekend we celebrated both the Korean & Chinese New Years holidays!  

We took a day for each holiday.  

The girls got to wear their Chinese silks and Korean hanboks.  

We listened to Chinese and Korean music, read some books about both cultures and made some yummy food. Sesame chicken and rice for Chinese NY and our favorite, Bulgogi, for our Korean meal. The kids gobbled it all up using our kiddy chopsticks.  

We also tried our hand at painting some Korean and Chinese writings.  That was a huge hit with all of them, including Maggie who kept eating the paint. 

The kids also got traditional Chinese red envelopes with money inside.  Clearly their favorite part!