I Wish I Had a Camera!

Yesterday we had our niece Jenna over as we do every Friday while her mom is working. It was Jenna's birthday so she brought her new Beauty and the Beast Tea set to play with. You should have seen how excited the boys were to play with it! We also had Logan's friend Lizzie over, and we all had a big tea party. It's not often that the girls outnumber the boys and that we get to do "girl things" at our house. They all had so much fun. Their friend Katie also came over later and they all designed clothes for a fashion show, then they modeled their dress-ups. Brandon had the camera unfortunately or I would have taken pictures. Lately I've been finding the boys in Brooklyn's room, playing with her doll house. They bring in the Star Wars and super hero toys to invade the house, so there is still an element of masculinity to their play, but one of these days I'll catch them off guard with a camera for future black-mail pictures!

Keeping the Doctors in Business

While Brandon went to a convention in Orlando, I decided to take the kids to Utah to visit my family. The first night we were there Logan couldn't sleep because his ear hurt. I decided to take him to the doctor the next day, and I took Caden also because he had a rash that wasn't clearing up. I figured Logan had an ear infection, which he did. What surprised me was that Caden had strep! When we got back from the clinic Brooklyn broke out in a fever and was having a hard time breathing. So I took her to the doctor the next day and found out that she had bronchitis. On top of that, my neice was hospitalized for RSV! Of course this all happened while Brandon was enjoying himself in Florida! I was glad my family was there to help out. Everyone recovered well, but then 2 weeks later the boys were playing downstairs and Caden bumped his chin on the table and had to get stitches! Now that was traumatic. Hopefully we can stay away from the doctors for a while now, but you never know.

It's Melting!

The snow is finally starting to melt! We have a couple feet outside right now and the roads are still covered in ice in most parts. It did start to warm up though, so we took the kids sledding a few days ago in Grandma & Grandpa Taggart's backyard. They have a hill that is just the right size for these guys. They loved it! Soon they "outgrew" the little hill and had to look for something more adventurous. They decided to try "The Dropoff" (a part in the hill where there's a big drop). We were hesitant to let them try, but they did it and felt pretty big. They were telling everyone they saw later that day that they had done The Dropoff. Most people didn't know what that meant, but they knew it must be something exciting, judging by their enthusiastic expressions. They're growing up!

Cleaning Tips

This past weekend Brooklyn got into some dark acrylic paint and spilled it all over our carpet! What a disaster! I did the best I could in my frantic state of mind to clean it up with whatever carpet cleaner I could find. Now after going through the whole process (and unfortunaltely with a small stain to show for it), I have some tips for anyone who has the same thing happen...

• Call a professional from the beginning (You'll save yourself a lot of time and stress!)
• Blot up as much as possible with paper towels, then moisten with water and keep blotting as long as the paint continues to come up.
• Mix a little dish soap with warm water, apply, and keep blotting.
• The best cleaning solution I could find is Sol-U-Mel, made by Melaleuca. It's amazing how much more paint we could get out with this even after a professional cleaner had come.
• The last tip is to remember that kids are more important than carpet and that their well-being is far more important than clean carpet!

It's Us...Finally!

After months of thinking about creating a family blog site and seeing all the cute sites of family and friends, we're finally joining the club. I've been hesitant because I am not always good at keeping up with things like this, but we will give it a try. We'll try to update it regulary. We're anxious to keep in touch better with all of you.