Ben 10 is Tired

Loofa was adamant about being Ben 10 for Halloween. I had no idea he knew enough about it to even have that desire, but I went with it. He was so excited when his costume finally came in the mail. He kept saying, "Call me Ben 10, not Loofa". The stupid thing was pretty cheap so I ended up cutting out the black shirt and buying him a separate black shirt to wear underneath. I was in the bathroom putting new caulk around the shower when I looked over and realized Loofa had fallen asleep right on the floor. Poor kid. We moved him to his bed after laughing at him for a bit.

(Yes, that is new tile floor, I'll put up a post about our bathroom remodel once it is complete)

Where Have All the Flowers Gone

I feel like it has been forever since I last posted, but not all that much has happened, besides Tons and Tons of sickness.

The beginning of October I went out to visit my sister and see her little baby boy. They don't come much cuter (or gassier) than that. I was out there for about 4 days and on the 4th day I came down with the flu. Who knows where I picked it up. Flying home was a nightmare, the plane was cold and they had no pillows and blankets available because of the FLU! Jokes on them. I'm sure I passed more virus in the air than I ever would have on a pillow.

It was a relief to get home and drop into bed. Little did I know it would last for 2 weeks. My fever only lasted 3 days, but I had zero energy for a week and a half past that. It was pretty disheartening. I put off a lot while trying to rest so much. When I finally woke up one day feeling mostly better I did a complete kitchen detail to make up for all the lack of cleaning.

No one else in the house ended up catching the flu. However, this week Loofa came down with a cold that led to croup. We all ended up with the same cold, he was just hit the worst. I was able to get him an appt and they gave him some steroids. I'm certain that he would have ended up back at the ER if we hadn't gotten those.

Everybody is very excited for Halloween and Brother B's birthday tomorrow. Tomorrow is also Brother B's last soccer game. He's been absolutely amazing. He's by far the highest scorer on his team.

Speaking of Brother B, since he is turning 8 tomorrow we went and purchased all his boy scout accoutrement. He's very excited to start. When I first told him he was going to start cub scouts, he was pretty nervous, but we went to a pack meeting on Wednesday and he had such a good time that he is really looking forward to it now.

Fefe has been quite the little pest lately. She continues to get better and better at getting into things. About a week ago she figured out how to open all doors, including her bedroom door. This led to several middle of the night adventures. I finally had to put a childproof knob on her door. Luckily Ephant is able to open those. We offered to move Ephant into the boys room since we put their bunk-bed together, but she was pretty adamant about staying in the "girls room". She even had a nightmare later that night about being forced to move in with the boys. Fefe has done a little better the last few days, but that might be because she is sleeping heavier due to being sick.

Oops

I did it again. I slammed my toe into Fefe's toy basket while going into the kitchen. I wasn't sure if it was broken at first, but then it started hurting like the dickens. Now it is numb and swollen with a lovely black mark at the crack. I doubt I'll go to the doctor though.

Coolest Bug Ever

I found this on our screen door while I was sitting at the computer the other day. I've always loved praying mantis'. This is the first one I've seen since we lived in North Carolina. We kept it in a jar for a couple days for the kids to look at, but let it go after that. I was somewhat tempted to keep it, but it would have been a pain to find bugs for it to eat.

Second Time is the Charm

Ephant decided she was ready to try pierced ears again about a month ago. We were walking through the mall and I told her I was willing if she was. She had her ears pierced when she was 5, but we took them out after 6 months of her freaking out if anyone even touched her ears. She is doing much better this time so maybe it'll stick. She seems to have inherited a sensitivity to the cheaper metals so we'll have to be careful with that. So far she is doing a good job keeping them clean and rotated all on her own. She's pretty excited to pick out some different ones when she can.

Trouble with a Capital T

Fefe is having the hardest time adjusting to her toddler bed of all the kids. She's the first one to share a room with another sibling during that transition. At first she kept taking really short naps and then would come and cry at her door. She's gotten better about that, but she still wakes up early in the morning and tries to sleep with Ephant. Half the time Ephant doesn't even notice and when we come in to wake them up she has no idea Fefe was next to her. The other half we have to go in there and resettle Fefe. I think she's close to learning, but it sure has been frustrating.

Our other issue has been how obsessed she is with taking her diaper off. She really wants to imitate her older siblings and use the potty. It is especially funny when she imitates the boys. One time she was in the bathroom with Loofa. He told me I needed to see Fefe. I told him just a minute, but to get her out of the bathroom. Next thing I know she's screaming bloody murder. Then she comes running around the corner completely naked yelling, "pee, pee!". I guess she really wanted to use the potty. I brought down the training potty for her to play with and I might get her some pull-ups, but I'm really not ready to train her. It takes so much more work at this age and I'm more in favor of them being old enough to be completely self sufficient in it.

Help

I realized about halfway through our vacation that my wedding ring was missing. I'm not the type of person that takes me ring off to wash dishes or put on lotion. Plus my joints are big enough that it is not going to just slip off. I know I had it on Fefe's b-day and I noticed it missing on September 6th so somewhere during that week it vanished. I've been racking my brain trying to think if I took it off to play with, but can't remember. I'm guessing it's pretty much a lost cause at this point. In some ways it is like a ghost limb. I still feel like it is there.

Mmmm, Delicious

My cat has a major fetish for fresh water. I should probably reconsider his definition of fresh though.

Another Race, Another Day

I ran my third Run for Sight (5K) about a week ago. I hadn't run the whole time we were on vacation and I've been having major problems with my IT band, but I still managed to get the best time I've ever done. 29:50. Jenn and I got 2nd and 3rd place in our age group (okay, so there were only 3 of us). Her son Jake (9) ran with us too and he managed to beat me. Wish I could bottle up that energy.

Odds and Ends

After the wedding we did a marathon drive back up to Oregon. We were sick and tired of hotels by then. We arrived at around 1am Sunday night and sent the kids off to school on Monday morning. They all slept in the car so they were fine. I was in a fog that whole day though. It took a few days to recover from that one. The kids have all started off their school year well. Ephant and Brother B seem to have decent teachers. Ephant was excited to find out her friend down the street is going to Fern Hill this year. Loofa is loving preschool particularly since his friend is with him. When we first took him, we couldn't leave until his friend arrived. He's already had a fun field trip to the fire station.

Aren't they cute?