Holy Sickness!

Can someone dial up and order some REAL spring weather? This warm up, freeze up switcheroo thing is killing us ALL!
AnnaJoy got sick on Good Friday and didn't really get better until last Wednesday (sort of). She went to school Wednesday and was fine, exhausted enough that we kept her home from Sparks, but fine. Thursday morning she work up vomiting! AUGH! Then she started complained that her ear really hurt...hmmmm? Sure enough, flaming ear infection with puss and all! Poor thing. She is now on antibiotics. You should see her awful face as she tries to take it bravely! This weekend she had fevers both Saturday and Sunday!!! Today? Daddy got her off the bus, as they entered the house she was telling daddy that she had asked to come home all day (because she had a tummy ache)....GOOD GREIF!
Jacob got sick about 3 days after AnnaJoy, same stuff kind of thing, fever and general blahs! With Jake's illness came the sinus part! (YUCK!) and very messy! He had fevers from Easter Sunday on through until Friday. Now he just walks around with a kleenex in his pocket reminding us that he has a "notty nose" (he somehow lost the "s" in front of snotty!!) He is the only one in the house that sometimes has energy...although today he quit eating again and is very whiney again! AUGH!
Lucas got sick on Wednesday, except his started with the respiratory crud, then fever as well. He is having a real tough time with the cough and sinus drainage...I am a bit worried his ears may be causing him some trouble as he is not sleeping well at night! Even still today he is not eating well and is very, very sensitive...will cry at the drop of a hat! Very clingy indeed!
Mike got the sinus junk and achy body, but no fever around midweek and has been a saving grace for me, even though he doesn't feel great! Everyone has an awful "smokers" cough that just about rips your insides out.
Then there is me! I got a fever and the general achy "let me die" feeling on Thursday. Worked all night with it, Mike called in to care for the kids on Friday as I was pretty much dead, with a 104 temp all day. Saturday I also had fever and now an awful cough developing, still I had to work (as I am completely out of sick days). My coworkers were so awesome! They allowed me to do as minimal as I had to and still survive. I ended up leaving work early as I began to feel worse. Sunday I slept all day (or tried!) In the afternoon I questioned at one point if I should go to a med center...I called my good buddy, Meg, who is an Adult Nurse Practionner...she was at a conference in Tennessee but still took my call. (Thanks Meg!!!) She told me to sit tight and keep taking my antibiotics and motrin! At this point I knew there was NO way I could drive, much less wear a mask and try to stand for 12 hours trying to take care of the babies. So, I called in. I don't know what will happen, I have been told I will be councelled but who knows! Today I am still with a fever of 102, I feel like I have been in a couple car accidents in a row, and that my entire face has been shattered! Please pray that our family feels better soon! It's getting so frustrating for all of us. It is so hard to stay positive when we feel so bad!
We have a vacation planned for the beginning of Spring Break. We are going to Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City on Saturday, I am hoping this will be a fun way to get into the groove and start enjoying life again! Sorry about the sobering update, no photos as the photographer is out ill until further notice. I guess for our family, March is going out like a very LOUD lion!

Happy Easter!

We had an easter egg and basket hunt for the kids this morning when they woke up. Jake was totally into it and found almost all the eggs. Luke was mostly into eating what he found (wrappers and all!!) and Anna was excited for a moment but decided she didn't feel really great at that time! Then we got all dressed for church. It is really, REALLY hard to get photos of three kids at the same time! I think I may have to retreat and go to a studio from now on! Stress!!! They enjoyed the day and having the Rottier family around to play with. Also, thank you to Grandma G. for driving all the way out yesterday to bring easter candy! They loved it and it is almost gone!!! Jake has proven today that he is a candy and chocolate junky!

"Good" Friday???

I got a call from Mike early this morning telling me that AnnaJoy had a fever of 102 or greater. When I got home, she was (and is) indeed HOT! She was very stressed out about making sure I called her teacher personally to tell her that Anna would be absent...even though I left a message on the "absent line". So, after personally speaking to her teacher, I told Anna that this afternoon we would go pick up her homework to work on over the weekend. She then came up to me (pale with bright red cheeks) and said, "Mommy I am feeling much better now, I think I can make it through the school day, can you please bring me to school?" (sigh) I wish I could but alas, we are stuck together: me with no sleep, Anna with a high fever and two CRAZY brothers that have already been acting like professional boxers towards each other. Happy Good Friday to All!!

Who Needs "Luck of the Irish"?

She isn't irish, but she sure is cute! I'd kiss her! Happy St. Patty's Day! Anna had to wear green to school today, so we pulled her hair back with green and got a cool shirt for her to wear. She was really excited....except she kept calling the day "satan patrick's day" AHHHHHH, how do you fix that!? AND her teacher has a son named Patrick, I just hope I cleared up her misunderstanding before she says something at school....oh well she's 5, right?

Another "hot" one!!!

Today it got up to around 54 degrees. Jake truely wanted to put shorts and tshirt on! (not kidding!) I let the kids draw with chalk while waiting for daddy to come home! We went to get Jake a bike this evening (a Thomas the Train one) and we went to Uno's to eat pizza. All went well, by the time we got home it was back to normal...freezing! Jake has NO clue how to ride a bike but has been BEGGING to get one, so now we get to spend the rest of our days....joyously teaching him how to pedal his bike! (oh goody!)

It's Nice Outside...FINALLY!

I didn't realize until 6pm tonight that it was around 50 degrees outside, bad mommy! So, we went on a walk for about an hour and played in the driveway for a bit. FUN! (for them!) Enjoy! (they sure did!)

Easter Outfits

Aunt Noelle told us about her photographer that she used yesterday for Calli Jo's 6 month photos. I brought the kids today to get their photos with real bunnies. I didn't expect a whole lot! Jake was "shy" and Luke wanted to hold, kiss, hug, LOVE the little bunnies! I think they were SCARED! Anna just sat there and gave a sheepish little smile while holding the "roudy" baby bunny! So, we came home and I tried to take a couple for the sake of trying. Well, here is the best I got! We never made it to the white backdrop! Oh well!

The Butterflies Are Out!!

We are solo this week into the weekend as daddy is on the east side of the state for the wrestling finals. Today I decided I would bring the kids to see the butterflies. I figured, what could it hurt!? Turns out that Luke was in awe of the butterflies and wanted to chase them around! Jake liked it too, Anna wasn't as impressed...I don't think she is feeling real great right now (usually she loves it!).

More from the Butterflies...

Instead of trying to stop Luke from touching the butterfly that was staring him in the face...I took a photo! Then I realized I may have made the wrong choice!! Don't worry, he didn't get the butterfly! The kids remembered the "giant puzzle" from when they came with grandma G. So, we had someone show us where the puzzle of Africa was, they were mostly fighting over who could touch the puzzle. Luke thought the horse was great! He just stood there looking at it speaking some form of chinese I think!

NO Cavities!!!!

No photos, BUT....we (Me, Anna AND Jake) had our dental appointments today. I expected nothing from Jake. Anna's first time when she was three, she sat in the chair and said, I'm done! Jacob...he is the MAN! He had his teeth polished and flossed! Anna was great this time too! She even let them do x-rays! Sooo, clean bill of health on the teeth times 3!! YIPPEE!

The Aftermath of a LONG Wrestling Meet!

As you can see by the entry time, I just took these photos...do I wake him up??? Bedtime is usually in less than an hour! Oops! We went to the regional wrestling meet today to entertain the kids...it worked! We were there for over 5 hours...a record for my kids! (and they were still upset when we left!) Luke is obviously wiped out! (sigh...I better go wake him up now!)

Snow Time Fun!!!

Sledding around the yard, Luke was laughing so hard! He cried every time I stopped. It's hard pulling 70 pounds of kids in the snow!!!


Luke laughing at the other kids


The dog lovin' on Luke....


I didn't have a helper with me, so Anna and Jake had to help each other get up the hill and onto the sled.


Away he goes!!!!!

Anna the Snow Princess....

I'm Miss Independence, I can do it all by myself!


Oops! Face Plant!


I totally meant to do that!!


Perfection at Last!


A close-up for my fans!

Crazy Luke!

O.K. the story is, Luke brings the glasses to mommy and says, "Uhh"...translated, "put these on me please!" So, I put them on his little face and he makes this funny "heeeee" sound and has a huge smile on his face...just thought I would share with you what we did about 20 times this morning before mommy started ignoring the poor boy!

Daddy's hats are lots of fun!

The boys are really into wearing Mike's hats. They are very funny when they wear them, they act all grown up and cool! So, today I thought I would take photos of them hanging out doing what they do...acting like daddy! Crazy Boys!

It Truely is NEVER Going to End!!!

Well, we had another snow day today...this is the final one before we have to start "making" them up!!! Even the kids are tired of the snow!! Road conditions were less than desirable, but we went out anyways! Daddy has a hard time staying home...truth be told, so do we!!! I think we got around 8 inches today (or more for all I know), Mike had to snow blow 3 times! I asked the neighbor if this was his idea of fun, and he simply said...well, I have been asking God for tropical weather...maybe He got confused!?" Probably not! My friend in Colorado said that Grand Rapids made the news today for all the snow we have been getting! WHOOPEE DO! Maybe we will have the record breaking summer conditions too?

The Happy Crew!

Jake's 3 year check up was today. He weighed in at a hefty 35 lbs. and is 37 1/2 inches tall. (75% !!!!) And I thought he was just average! We did find out that his birthmark that is on one of his buns is actually "precancerous"...they say there is no need to remove it until he is a teenager, but that it does have to be removed...due to the fact that there is hair coming out of it. I guess for now I stay calm, right? Well, here is my valentine's photo...one day late. No one wanted to sit still...it's after lunch and time for a nap so not a whole lot of cooperation but still cute! Sorry it is a day late!

Happy Valentine's Day!

No photos, although I should have taken one. It was districts for wrestling and the kids were all dressed up in their Hudsonville Eagles gear (and mighty proud of it I might say!). We spent the entire evening in a gym cheering daddy's team on. They beat their first team really well, but lost a heartbreaker in the finals! We are still proud of Daddy and all the Hudsonville wrestlers! Go Eagles! Happy Valentine's Day to all! Hope Grandma G. made it to Hawaii safe, Aloha! Happy Birthday Grandpa Bauman!!!!

Will it ever end!?

O.K. I am not sure who "ordered" all this SNOW, but could you PLEASE STOP!? Seriously, I am not sure if it will ever go away! Sunday was a nightmare! I had to drive home from work at 7:30am in whiteout conditions and drive back to work at 6pm in the same (but WAY icier conditions) THEN I had to drive home at midnight with calmer winds but pure ice...come on! And today? So cold! The kids (Mike and Anna) had a snow day, as did the rest of the STATE! I am so done with winter! The kids are tearing the house apart, as you can see! And the mailbox...well hopefully we can keep it afloat, there isn't much left to see of it! The snow is over our front porch, it's terrible! We brought the kids to the wrestling room this evening to let them run and scream their guts out! I am not sure if it worked, but we tried!! (Should have had my camera...it was funny to see!!) I hope everyone is staying safe in this monstrous weather! I'm ready to head to Hawaii with my mom...got any room in your carry-on!?