Making Pizza

Ready to go in the oven.

Caleb packed as much cheese as he possibly could on his pizza.

Abby did a pretty good job making hers.

Bryce really wanted to make his look like a face but I don't think he ended up thinking that it was very good without cheese and hardly any meat on it. My little perfectionist.

Everyone making their masterpiece pizza.

Bryce saw thses pizzas in a magazine at the doctors office and really wanted to make them. So we decided to give them a try since we were all sick and stuck in the house.

Sick Again

Barking Like a Seal

Well we had a good couple week run of healthy kids and now we are back to being sick. Bryce started coughing on Sunday and was sleeping terrible. Monday, Caleb was coughing too and neither one of them slept hardly at all Monday night. Bryce sounded like a seal and he ends up getting croup about twice a year. He has always needed oral steroids to get over it so I made them both doctor appointments on Tuesday. It ended up being a very long appointment. The nurse practitioner that saw them agreed that Bryce needed steroids but she didn't think Caleb had croup. After taking his oxygen saturation she was kind of worried. He should be 98-100% most of the time and they couldn't get him above 92% so they did a breathing treatment. The treatment helped so we ended up bringing home a nebulizer and doing treatments at home. We never did get a diagnosis on Caleb, but my guess is he has something similar to bronchitis.
They both missed pre school on Wednesday and were pretty disappointed. It has been a challenge to keep them from beating each other up when they have to stay home and its not nice enough to play outside.
By Wednesday night the boys were both feeling much better. They still have coughs but it doesn't sound like a seal barking all over the house. Thursday morning I was impressed that Abby slept in until 9:00. I was pretty excited about this but when she came downstairs she had a low grade fever and had a croupy cough too. So, hopefully we don't have to make another trip back to the doctor this week.

To Send Or Not To Send.... That Is the Question

We have been debating on whether or not to send the boys to school next year. They are in their second year of preschool right now and according to their teachers they are very respectful, social and are good listeners. However, when it comes to letters, numbers and writing they aren't behind for their age but they are for the class. I didn't realize how young they would be for their kindergarten class if we sent them next year. They will just be turning 5 in June so they could be at least a year or more younger than some of their classmates.
This issue has become a big source of stress for us. I have went to a kindergarten readiness speaker, talked to other moms that have kids that started early and kids that started late. I have also spoke with their teachers and other kindergarten teachers. All in an attempt to make a good and informed decision. I don't want one kid to be behind and at the same time I don't want them to be bored. I want them to socially fit in and not be the kids in high school that are growing a mustache as a freshman (although with their genetics I don't think this is a concern). The feedback I have gotten has been that parents never regret sending them late but some have regretted sending them early. The feedback from the kindergarten readiness speaker was that a kindergarten teacher has the amazing talent to take kids from different ages, races, backgrounds and academic readiness and get them all to the same point by the end of the year. Wow! Kindergarten teachers need to be paid more. That sounds like a very difficult job. The feedback from their preschool teacher was that they were socially ready but could probably use another year to become more confident in their ability to do academic activities. We put a lot of weight on her opinion since she has been teaching them for 2 years now. The other input I got was to "red shirt" them (which to you sports fans probably makes sense) in other words keep them out a year so that when they play sports they are bigger, older, more coordinated and stronger than the other kids. Now take a moment to think about the freshman from your high school with a mustache, that's what his parents did, he was "red shirted". Although I would keep my kids out of school another year so that they are emotionally and academically ready I would never keep them out for the sole purpose of them being better in sports someday. I don't have high hopes that our genes somehow made a great athlete either. If you know us you know that another year will not solve the coordination problem.
So, our final decision is to wait another year before sending them to kindergarten. They have the next 12-18 years to attend school. They may as well be kids for one more year while they attend the nature based preschool that they have come to love.

Head Glue

HiHo HiHo Off To The ER We Go

Just when I thought our streak with going to the doctor was done we had to head back to the ER with Caleb.
The boys were being crazy and wild and were tearing around the house after school Wednesday. Bryce chased Caleb behind our big TV. Caleb being the graceful child he is, tripped over the cords and the cable box came crashing down on his head. I will admit before I saw the blood I was just ticked off. Not running behind the TV has been a house rule forever. It has always worried me that the cable box would fall so it was always a rule that no one went behind the TV. I guess it was a valid concern.
So poor Caleb had a small but deep gash in his hair. Of course it being a head wound, it bled like crazy! Caleb was crying because he was bleeding and his head hurt. Bryce was crying because he was worried about Caleb and he was worried that he was in trouble. Abby was crying because everyone else was. What a disaster!
Robb came home and Caleb and I headed to the ER. Luckily the ER wasn't busy and we were in and out within and hour. Caleb was very excited that they were able to glue it instead of having to get stitches.
Later that night the boys were wearing their super hero costumes and were play fighting with Robb. Caleb at one point head butted Robb and then went and sat down because it hurt his head. A few minutes later Bryce says "Caleb, you are blooding all over my Captain America costume". I looked at him and sure enough he had blood running down his face. I got him all cleaned up and it looked like he had actually made a new cut and bump right next the the last one. BOYS! Thankfully it wasn't deep and we didn't have to make another trip to the ER. Bryce and Caleb are now tied 4-4 for ER visits.

Colorado Ski Trip

Ski Vacation

Last week Robb and I went to Colorado for our annual ski vacation. This is something that we have really started to look forward to every year. It is always hard to leave the kids, but I must say it is wonderful to have a couple days to ourselves! This year we drove all day on Thursday and lucky for us we managed to miss the blizzard like conditions that Lincoln started having in the late morning. We drove into Denver and stayed the night at Mark and Emily's house. It was enjoyable to spend sometime with them. We don't see them much since they moved to Colorado. The next morning we woke up early and we all headed for the mountains. The drive into the mountains is always beautiful and it makes me wonder why we live in such a flat state. Friday we picked up my rental ski gear and headed to Keystone for the day. The weather was beautiful. It was snowing so it was perfect ski and snowboarding conditions and the temperature was about 25 which doesn't feel too cold with all the gear on. We had a great day of skiing/boarding. Last year Emily and I only went on 1 or 2 Blue runs but this year we felt a little braver and went on mostly blues. The one really nice thing about blues is that they aren't nearly as busy as the beginner runs. We did night skiing at Keystone and were beat by the time the lifts closed. I am pretty sure you use muscles skiing that you otherwise never use. Muscles that I never knew I had hurt! After a quick supper we headed to check out our condo. The guys booked the condo and I must say we were all very impressed.
The next morning we were all a little slow getting going and then we drove up to Breckenridge. By the time we got on the slopes it was a little later than expected but we still had a fun day. It was pretty crowded, which is to be expected for a Saturday. It is just more fun when it isn't as crowded. That night after a little begging, us girls got our way and we spent a couple of hours at the outlet mall. I am pretty sure that Robb ended up buying more than I did and he doesn't even like to shop. We had a quick supper and spent the evening in the hot tub which felt great!
Sunday we spent the day skiing/boarding at Breckenridge again. It wasn't nearly as crowded and we even got a little brave and went on one Black run, one was plenty for me. By Sunday I was pretty sore and tired so Emily and I quit a little early and headed to a coffee shop while the guys went on some hard and probably dangerous runs. Sunday night we ate a nice supper and headed back to Denver. It was a great vacation spent with some great friends. We started to miss the kids after the first couple of days that we were gone, but every time we talked to them on the phone they assured us that they were having more fun with Grandma and Grandpa than they ever do with us. It has been fun the last couple of years to have one vacation to ourselves, but we are starting to wonder at what age we should start taking the kids. Then we will have to call it a ski trip instead of a ski vacation.