Since my last post things were going well. Andy and I went out for Valentine's Day to this really awesome restaurant that's so expensive we wouldn't ever go more than once a year, but that is completely worth the money. We had an awesome night, and the kids spent the night with Andy's dad, which was so nice. We went to bed around 11:00, which seems to be normal for us these days, but instead of everyone popping their heads in just as the sun comes up around 7:00am, we slept until 11:00am! We were both shocked at what time it was when his dad called to tell us he was bringing the kids home. Anyways, Andy's also been working on finishing a room in our house downstairs. He's done so great. He built a wall and turned it into 2 rooms, and is putting in a bathroom. This is a picture of him sitting in a pile of dirt and concrete in the house to get the plumbing done. It was after a long day of jack-hammering and sawing and digging. I had to ask him in my sweetest voice to smile, because while he was in a surprisingly good mood for everything he'd done, he wasn't really in the mood to pose for pictures. The things I do for the sake of the blog. Last Sunday we had about an inch of snow, which had all melted by the time we got home from church. But, it was still snowing so we had to go out and play. The kids were freezing, so thank goodness we didn't have to stay out long. Falling snow just isn't near as fun as fallen snow. And, here's Alli all cheerful and pretty dressed up as Sleeping Beauty. So, after that, we got a little careless and left a pair of scissors sitting on the bathroom counter, and inevitably a child got them. Evan cut all of his bangs to the scalp and a big chunk out of the top. Andy had to shave it, which was traumatic for both me and him. He actually cried and keeps reassuring himself that his hair will be back. And after that it's been all down hill. He started running a fever Wednesday night, and Thursday I thought he was over it. I was telling everyone how nobody's been sick all winter and we dodged a bullet, and then that night I woke up at 3:00am to the sounds of big dry heaves. Thank goodness that's mostly all it was. I did have to change his sheets, but his clothes were fine and he didn't need a bath. He threw up all day Friday, and by that evening he was throwing up every 15 minutes and his fever was going up. We ended up taking him to the emergency room because he couldn't stand up and was just looking really pitiful - especially with his newly bald head. He was a little dehydrated, but not enough to start an I.V., so we came home and gave him a popsicle, which he kept down, and put everyone to bed. Saturday he only threw up once, and he ate 2 popsicles, but he didn't seem to feel any better. So, today, me and Drew and Alli went to church, and just as they were passing around the Lord's supper, Alli announced that she didn't feel good. We ran to the bathroom and made it just in time for her to throw up all of her breakfast. So, as of now, she hasn't thrown up again, but she's running a fever. I'm just praying that I don't get it. I absolutely don't have time to be sick!!!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. We've had a busy couple of weeks, although none of it has been exciting. Just the regular millions of things to do. It's funny to watch kids grow up and start saying grown up things. Evan and Alli have started saying things like "this is delicious" and they've discovered that when they don't want to answer a question or do what I tell them, a good response is "I don't feel good." Sunday, my uncle Tom, my dad's twin brother, was at church with us, and when we asked Alli who he was (because he looks exactly like my dad), she simply said, "I don't feel good." On the other hand, Drew has picked up all these little expressions at school, but it's funny because she doesn't quite know how to use them. For example, the other day I told her to put her book bag away, and as she was getting up to do it, she said, "You can say that again." She also told me that she has a friend at school who is getting on her nerves because she keeps trying to be "popular." When I asked her what she was doing to be popular, she said that she keeps saying "Holla," which for anyone who may not know is an incredibly annoying slang version of "Holler back." or "Call me later," or something. I've also decided that being a parent drives logical, intelligent adults to insanity, not simply for the fact that you walk around singing "Elmo's song," or find yourself at the dinner table telling 2-year-olds to put their underwear back on (things you never thought you'd say at the dinner table), but because one sign of insanity is that you do the same thing over and over expecting a different outcome. My children have made me insane because I say the same thing over and over (don't play in the toilet, stay out of my make up, etc.) and I expect them to do it every time, and I actully get upset that they don't, even though they never have in the past. It reminds me of that old tootsie pop commercial where the kid is trying to find out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop, and nobody knows because they always end up biting it. Well I wonder how many times a parent says the same thing over and over before the kid actually does it on their own. The world may never know.
By the way, you can tell it's been a busy week because there aren't many pictures. This picture of Alli is her showing off her busted lip. Nobody told me there was a main artery in you bottom lip, but aparently there is because when it's hit it bleeds profusely and you'll be convinced that your child just knocked out half their teeth. This picture of the kids sleeping cracked me up. They all sleep in the same room and then the other room is a play room. Andy built a trundle bed for Evan, which people have referred to as a drawer. Poor Evan for having to sleep in a drawer. Anyways, one night I was at school and Andy got called out to work, so his dad came over and watched the kids. Evan and Alli convinced him that Evan is supposed to sleep on the little fold out couch, so he put the couch up on the bed for Evan to sleep on. And then there's Drew with her leg flopped over the edge. Pay no attention to the mutilated mini-blind in the background. This is me and the kids killing time in the car while Andy ran into a store, and then me and Drew one night when I actually took time to fix up. It doesn't happen very often so we had to capture it on film.