Mmmmmmmmmm.......

Amaya is such a picky eater, she has always been picky!

It is very hard to get her to try new things. Her latest love: "chicken on the bone" AKA fried chicken. To watch her eat this grosses me out. I like chicken, but like to get a chicken breast as to not get any tendons, cartilage or veins of any sort. Yuck! We got KFC on a whim last fall and couldn't believe our eyes watching her eat this. She absolutely loves it! As you can see, she eats it all the way down to the bone. I don't want to say anything to her, because I want her to always try new things and learn to like them on her own, but yuck! I guess a little tendons and veins never hurt anyone, right?

She is so proud!

Poor Little Butter

Poor little butter, still feels bad. He has had fevers since Saturday. That is 5 days now!! He still continues with congestion and a raspy, tight cough so we continue with the albuterol nebulizer treatments and motrin/tylenol. (plus Tamiflu) I had to call in this week, I don't want to because we get points for it, but what do you do? I can't bring him to day care, plus, he wants his mom. He really is a cuddle bug right now, and thank God for the Baby Einstein videos that he has been watching. They keep him calm during the breathing treatments.

Today I tried painting with him. Crayola has these pre filled weeble looking paint things, great for an 18 month old. Painting didn't work, just like crayons, he puts them in his mouth. One after the other, he had to try the colors, first blue, then red, then I took them away. You can't redirect him about eating these, he just wants to suck on them. Forget coloring or painting with these. I will have to try again later with him.

This is Ryan after being told "No" after sucking the red paint. Sad little butter.

Here is the blue paint mouth.

Nurses Rock!

This is a random post, just a reminder, inspired my Angie's most recent post:

Just doesn't seem right!

Sunday was such a beautiful day. Finally some warm weather, 67 degrees. After our trip to the museum, we went outdoors. It doesn't take long for my kids to want to be in their bathing suits. Then of course comes the begging for the water.....after a while I caved. Out came the volcano sprinkler for them to run around in. They weren't cold at all. It was awesome! It just doesn't seem right to see piles of snow with my kids in their bathing suits at the same time.

Children's Museum

Much fun to be had at the GR Children's Museum. We went to a B-day party there this Sunday (Ryan and Daddy stayed home because Ryan has influenza with a high fever) for Tyler Hosman. He turned 4, whoo hoo!













We have only been here one other time and that was when Jake was only like 7-8 months old. He sat in the stroller and Amaya ran around having a blast. This time they were both running around having a blast. I think we could have stayed til closing and they would have found more stuff that we hadn't seen. Around every corner was a new attraction with all the hands on play that you wanted. What a fun place for kids to go. Next time we will have to bring Ryan too.


Who knew that Amaya was such a good hula-hooper. Jake, you're not so bad yourself!




Jake so excited that he can make these super bubbles.

Slides

It was so nice out last Thursday, that we went to the dinosaur park. This is the park at Jake's preschool, that has a dinosaur shaped slide, so "Dinosaur Park" it is. I feel like we have been couped up all winter and just want to be outside. I just want the kids to be able to run, scream and have a ball. Jake did exactly that. Ryan did it as much as he could with me at his side. It was so cute to watch them together. Jake is very watchful of him and wanted to "help" him many times to go down all the different slides. I would walk Ryan up and Jake would wait at the bottom. "I will catch you buddy" Is what he would say over and over. Ryan LOVED it. It is the first time that he has gone down a slide by himself. The greated part (or funniest) was that his hair would stick up all over because of the static. Cracks me up.

Ryan followed Jake everywhere and wanted to do everything that his big brother did. He even went down the highest swirly slide. Not even a tear or hesitation. He just loved it.

I am sad because it is supposed to snow a little tonight and maybe over the next few days. It was such a wonderful and warm weekend. We spent much of our time outdoors. I am longing for more days like that.

Big Brother

On the days that Amaya goes to school, Amaya gets ready for school, drinks her instant breakfast, then we walk out to the bus stop together (the end of the driveway). Last fall, Jake and Ryan would always go out with us, but when it got too cold, I made them stay in the house. Usually Ryan is fine with me just saying, I'll be right back, but last week he started crying as I went out the door. Jake and Amaya are very caring, nurturing children and would do anything to help Ryan out. So, after getting Amaya on the bus, I got back up the drive and Jake and Ryan were coming out of the garage. Jake had gotten Ryan's coat and shoes on. I thought it was so cute. I laugh just picturing Jake trying to get his little shoes and coat on him. I know Ryan was probably just thrilled and being very patient getting the help from his big brother. (of course I took some pics)

The next day, the same thing happened. (I didn't think it was as cute the second day, because it was like 33 degrees out) It is so great to see such love in siblings, don't get me wrong, we have our days, but the love that they show for each other is immeasurable.

Little Sickey

I can't believe how good and happy that Ryan looks considering he had 102.5 temp when we got home. Poor little bug, felt a little warm before we went to Austin' B-day party so we gave him some Motrin. (We should have known because I couldn't put him down) When we got back, he still wasn't acting himself, so we took his temp. The Motrin hadn't even worn off yet, so we couldn't even give him another dose yet. Tylenol.
He woke up screaming in the night and fell asleep in my arms in the rocking chair. I just thought it would be his ears. That would be too easy. He started last Monday with a cough and runny nose. The cough has gotten worse over the week, and we have had to give him many albuterol neb treatments. This morning, another temp 101.8, now more meds, then off to the med center. ( I swear it has to be his ears)
A peek in the ears, nice and clear. (It must be strep) A peek in his nose and throat, nice and pink.....(Hmmm). "Has he ever had pneumonia?" they asked. NO. Nice and clear lungs. (good) "Maybe it is RSV. (I didn't think of that). "We'll test for that. (OK) I asked, are you going to test for influenza too? "No, it doesn't sound like that, it usually starts with a fever, not just a cough and runny nose." I said, My other son had it 2 months ago and it started with V/D, then the cough and fever. "Alright, we'll test for that too. (It is collected the same time that they collect for RSV, and it doesn't change anything that they need to do to Ryan to diagnose it)
Waiting, Waiting....Ryan fell asleep in my arms in the room, which he NEVER does. The PA came in and said, "You diagnosed your own son....he has influenza."
Poor Ryan, no wonder you feel like crap!
So, another week of a miserable feeling child. It just breaks my heart when a little kid is sick, they just don't understand and you can't even begin to tell them. All we can do is cuddle and medicate him. I DO love to snuggle him, but don't want him to feel bad. They started him on Tamiflu because she is still thinking that it started just yesterday. Tamiflu is supposed to shorten the duration if you can catch it within the first 48 hours. Anything to help him feel better, although I am still not sold on the idea of it just starting yesterday. I think it started last Monday. I think this is his second bout of influenza. He had it when Jake was sick with it 2 months ago. (And yes- he did get the vaccine)

I might even be a rock star?

I might even be a rock star? (now sing it like Hanna Montana) (Or click on it under my tunes)

Amaya LOVES to sing. She has been singing songs since she was 18 months old. While Ryan says just a few one syllable words at 18 months, Amaya was able to sing tune after tune at his age. I remember going through Meijer when she was very little and having people stop me and tell me that they were amazed that someone so little could sing all those words. The singing has never stopped since!
Amaya has such a beautiful voice, is able to retain songs very easily, and is also able to harmonize and sing on pitch. She is only 6 years old. When it comes to her singing, she is very shy. She doesn't like to sing in front of a couple people, but is able to sing on stage in front of a crowd as she does for church, or for school. (go figure?!)
Since learning about Hannah Montana, she has been an avid fan. She has never been a girlie girl, but has always liked dresses. We were at Toys R Us yesterday, checking out the Hannah stuff (b-day ideas for myself) and it seemed like she liked absolutely anything to do with HM. Originally she had picked out High School Musical glasses, but after looking at all the HM stuff, she had to have a pair of HM glasses, I think we looked everywhere for the last pair. Even a staff member was helping. She has hardly had these glasses off since yesterday. Printed inside of the the glasses is: Pop star and Hannah Montana. She looks adorable and very chic. She looks like such a girlie girl in these shots!
She also got a new microphone that actually tunes into the radio and you can hear yourself over the speakers. How cool and what a great thing for her. She puts on her MP3 player and then belts out the tunes over the radio. Love it!!
She has also never been a "poser" for the camera. She was posing for these shots without any direction from me. I think she really is a pop star! Who knows, maybe she will be a little HM, whatever she does, I think that she will continue to sing throughout school, etc. We enjoy it so much.

Growth

What a beautiful quote that Bonnie (Jen's mom), left in the comment of my grandparent's blog.

"If we do not honour our past, we lose our future. If we destroy our roots, we cannot grow". Friedensreich Hundertwasser

Thank you Bonnie!

Grandma Fran and Grandpa Louis

I am not trying to be morbid or anything, but Amaya has been talking about death, a lot, lately. I know it is her developmental stage and how they are really understanding what death means, so I try and talk to her about it as it really is. She has it figured out that the order in our house is as follows; Scott, me, Amaya, Jake, and then Ryan. It goes on age you know! "Ryan is the luckiest because he is going to be here the longest, because he is the youngest".

So, the other day, as we were driving and she was talking about dying, again. We just happened to be driving past the SL cemetary, so I told them about my grandparents and that their bodies were buried there and that their souls went up to Heaven after they were buried. "Will we ever see them again?" asked Amaya. "Yes, when we die, we will go to Heaven too and we will see them again". This brought up many, many more questions that I didn't want to deal with at the time, because we were on our way to choir, which is like 2 minutes away from the cemetary, so I changed the subject.

As we were driving to the park today, and going past that cemetery, Jake said, "I want to see where your g-ma and g-pa are buried." Alright, so we pulled in. I showed them their burial site and head stone. I, of course, had my camera because we were going to the park, and who doesn't love a picture of their kids at the park, so I took a few shots.

My g-ma and g-pa Kramer were the best. It always bugged me that we didn't grow up here, but when we did come back, or when we visited, we always loved to go to their house. They were so nice, and they always played with you, went for walks, and just spent time with you. I don't even know how many times I fished off their dock, grandma helping me and grandpa sitting in his chair. Countless times she took me to look for and pick cattails, find duck eggs, help me find clams, or whatever else that I wanted to do. They had this closet that was filled with games and would play any one that you wanted, for however long you wanted. Grandma knew how to play any card game, and had the patience to teach you. I remember the smell of their house when you walked in, especially when they were cooking dinner, and they always had something for dessert after the dinner. They helped me so much when I had to purchase my first car, they helped me pay for some college tuition. Oh, I can't forget the quarters... She always just happened to have a cup full of quarters when you visited, not just a little cup, like rolls of quarters. Just so you wouldn't have to go get them for yourself when you had to bring your clothes to the laundromat. If you didn't go to the laundromat and happened to do some laundry at their house, it always smelled soooo good. I don't know what type of soap they used, but I could never get that scent anywhere else.

They had this drawer in their kitchen, the end drawer. It was know as The Candy Drawer to all the grandkids and they kept little candy bars in it. I don't think it was ever empty, there was always at least one in there. Grandma Fran was quite funny. She always had little games, with prizes, at Christmas, or played funny pranks at wedding showers and baby showers. If we were fighting, she'd clap her hands and say "here, here" to get us to stop. I always thought that was funny. She'd let us sleep in her king size bed with her if we wanted, she'd let us play with her jewelry. I remember playing with this necklace that had a big owl on the end of it.

I am the youngest of all the grandkids on the Kramer side, and always felt like I was a twinkle in Grandpa's eye. I just always felt that for some reason I was just his little peanut. He would have me on his lap and laugh at me, and say "Awe, you're just a little pill"

Looking back, I wish I would have spent more time with them, I wish I would have brought Amaya to visit them. She was only 8 months old when Grandma passed. I took Amaya to see her the night before she passed and took pictures of her with Amaya.

They were just good, nice people to anyone. I really miss them and wish that they could have met my kids and been coherent enough to really know Scott. They would really like him.

I don't go to the grave site. I tried soon after they were buried and it made me cry and I didn't know what to say. I think of them so often, especially when I am driving past the cemetery. It is those times that I talk to them and believe that they hear me. I told the kids that their bodies are buried there and that their souls are up in Heaven, that is what I believe and that is why I don't usually go to the grave site. They hear me whenever I talk to them. Today, it was at the cemetery with my boys. Right now it is while I am typing this. I miss you and love you grandma and grandpa!

Grandpa's birthday is this month, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA.

Possy

Something different to do, other than mario, computer, connect 4, read books, do puzzles, etc... while Ryan is sleeping. So, the weather was kind of warm on this day last week, so we went out side after much prodding and the idea of setting a trap. Setting a trap is an exciting thing for a 4 year old boy, it's kind of like playing secret agent, which we do often. I told Jake, we could try and catch something, anything. Alright he said, so off to get the live trap. We put out some bread and a biscuit. "We need nuts, Mom". So off to the kitchen to get nuts. These weren't just peanuts, they were almonds, walnuts and macadamia nuts. This is going to be some squirrel that we catch, I thought.
So, we kept checking that day......nothing.









The next morning, this is what we found. More snow, footprints and scratch marks, and all the bread was gone. Sneaky little animal. So we waited, as there were still nuts in there.

Then the neighborhood cat make an appearance, but wasn't interested in going into the trap. (Maybe that cat is smarter than I thought)

No change over the next few days, then Jake closed the door while playing outside one day and I didn't get back out to re set the trap until yesterday. Last night we set the trap with spinach, carrots and more bread, then we moved it a little closer to the woods.....................................

Hey Jake!!!! We caught something!!!





Jake, you brave knight!







Look at that gross mouth and all those teeth. It's foot looks like that of a chicken or something.



We are very sad to say that, yes, this opossum DID get hurt during this life science experiment. No need to inform PETA, as he did it to himself.

Jake: Can we put a band aid on his ear?

Mom: Jake, this is a nasty animal that will bite you.

Jake: I wish we could have caught a nice opossum so we could put a band aid on it.

Jake taking pics of me letting the opossum go, then the camera battery went dead. The opossum just sat in the cage for another 45 minutes before he finally felt safe enough to get out on it's own. Maybe we'll catch him again........

Really bad

Jake: This is a really bad guy, Mom.

Mom: Why is that Jake?

Jake: Because he robs banks.

Mom: What else makes him really bad?

Jake: He wears this hat and this red thing.

Mom: Oh, okay.

Cough-ee?

At Granny's house sat a cup of coffee.

Jake: Is that coffee?

Mom: Yes, do you want to try it?

Jake: Will it make me cough?

Mom: No, it won't make you cough.

Jake: No, I don't want to try it.

Close one

Mom: Amaya, I put a glue stick in your backpack, so put it in your box at school, ok?

Amaya: Those glue sticks don't work very well.

Mom: Those are the ones that Dad bought, so just put it in your box for now, and I will get you a different one when I go to the store.

Amaya: You mean...Dad bought that and put it in my stocking?? (looking all confused)

Mom: Oh........ those are the ones that Santa got you? I must be thinking of a glue stick that Daddy bought for me for scrapbooking.........anyways, I'll get you a new one.

Phew!! Dodged that one.

Amaya is such a believer in Santa, the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy. I love that she, whole heartedly, believes in this magic! It is going to break my heart when (or if) she stops believing.