For Craig's Mom

They're biting at the Stratton Home.

Some how Big H is the victim of all our incidents. If an injury is going to happen it usually happens to him first- if not only.

This morning he kept letting out these quiet, high pitched, whimpering cries. It was a cry I'd never heard before, and I couldn't figure out what it was for. That was until I discovered the bite mark.



I didn't know if he'd bit himself, or if he was the victim of his brothers chompers, so I called Craig to see if Little H had been biting. I soon discovered that from the way the mark was made it was impossible for it have come from Big H himself. Yes that's right. Little H is a biter.

I then went to the store with my mom, and when we returned I noticed the mark was still there.



And there was one on his other arm that I didn't see earlier- just ignore the finger in this photo.



Then later that day I noticed his hand was looking chubbier then usual. The swelling had gone down by the time I took this photo.



Our best guess is that he was bit by something besides his brother.

April 19: Fire Pit? Hot Dogs? I think I know what we're having for dinner.

Monday night I was too tired to try and think up an idea for dinner- an event which seemed to repeat itself all week- so Craig came home from class and cooked up this great idea:

Roasting hot dogs over the fire pit he got for Christmas.








Mmmm. . .hotdogs!



"Hot dogs are made of WHAT?!?"

Sunday Walks

We've been going for walks on Sundays, since the weather is usually good, and so I thought I'd post some pics of one of our ventures

We walked to a school yard near by. This school yard has a crazy playground that has some contraptions that work off of kinetic energy. Sometimes when you get on you can't get off. Craig had to rescue me from one.



The boys loved looking at these chickens.




Home again! You boys are supposed to be asleep!

He's My Little Helper!

It's been a bumpy road with my nephew recently. He's a great kid and can be such a good help sometimes, but then sometimes he drive me up the wall. Trying to help him with homework makes me want to rip out my hair at times. We were having horribly negative reading sessions, and I knew it was going to start to effect his learning negatively.



Well we recently changed our focus a little. I have tried to plan little lessons for him that focus on areas were he feels less confident. And then when the lesson is complete I shower him with praise- which is almost like ice cream for him. Thankfully it has turned things around for both of his. He's improving and so am I.



*I took these pics of him when he was at our house the other night. I found all my old dishes and such from the kitchen I played with when I was little. This kitchen was given to us by my mom for the grand kids to play with when they are here. Anyway. . .I told my nephew to help me put all my old stuff with the new kitchen, and I couldn't resist putting that little helper apron on him, and snapping some shots.

Aww. . .childhood memories.

Sneak peak of the boys 1 year and Easter pics :) As always Amy did an amazing job. Special thanks to my mom for making these pics possible!

http://www.tiltphotography.com/blog/?p=2963

Spring Break

These are the only pictures I got of our St Patty's day celebrations. We mostly just put this wig on the boys and took pictures. And I'm posting them here because I didn't upload them and I forgot, until now, that I had them :)




We did do a little celebrating I guess. While Craig was in class my mom and I went to a little event at my nephew's school. Then on Sunday we had corned beef and cabbage for dinner.

I also forgot to post about our visit from Craig's cousin Cody. He came up during conference weekend for a mission reunion. We really enjoyed having him come and visit. We always like having company.



Did I mention he has this neck rub technique that calms the boys right down.



This past week was my Spring Break, which meant I got a week off to spend with all my boys.

At the beginning of the week I went to lunch with friends from work. One I worked with last year and she was visiting from out of town.

Then I tried to catch up on house work.

Then Craig and I started cleaning out the house, and trying to put stuff together for a yard sale. And Craig put the boys bathroom door up as a bedroom door.

I continued to try and catch up on house work.

We got a fun letter from the IRS saying our tax return saying, do to some mistakes on our part, our tax return would be another 6-8 weeks.

I still tried to catch up on house work.

Do to lack of a tax return we had to look for outside help for food and diapers- and laundry soap.

I did the laundry and tried to catch up on house work.

We had some really nice weather up here. In fact, it's been the nicest spring I've seen up here in a long time. Since the weather was good Craig and I started to clean up the yard.

I got pooped after only a little bit of yard work, and could not find the energy to try and catch up on house work.

The week ended with Craig attending the first of 14 CNA classes- thanks to mom and dad S.- that will be on Saturdays from 8-5.

I still tried to catch up on house work.

We also went on some walks to enjoy the nice weather. We walked up to my parents to wish my mom a Happy Birthday on Wednesday. And the boys and I walked to the post office and the grocery store on Saturday while Craig was at school.

It was a fun Spring Break, and it reminded me of just how much I miss being able to stay home. Back to work I go. Two months, solid, until summer comes. I may need a lot of pep talks and foot rubs to get through it.

*normally I would have had the idea for this post planned out in advance, and by doing so I would have documented my week with some pictures. But I'm not that quick on my feet anymore so here's a few I found that you may enjoy.*

A Year of Birthdays!

Actually it happens every year. Since the unexpected growth of my side of the family we have Birthdays all year long to keep us busy.

It all starts in January with my brother's newest little one



Then along comes March. This young lady- my sis-in-law has a birthday



along with these two little bumpkins



In April we have an April fools baby. My brother's step son celebrates his birthday on the 1st



Then my mom's is on the 7th



In May we have my Father's birthday- also on the 7th



June, of course, is Craig's birthday



July is my brother's other step son's birthday



August is my other nephew's birthday. He is my brother's first wife's son, and technically there's no relation, but we love him to death and he'll always be part of the family



September is my brother's birthday



October is my brother's birthday. He was from my mom's first marriage. He passed away at 20 months, but every year we try to remember his special day

November is my birthday



Anyway. . .needless to say, we stay pretty busy, birthday wise around here, and we have a lot of cake and ice cream opportunities- almost too much.

This month we celebrated my nephew's birthday and my mom's.

For my nephew's birthday we all went to McDonalds, and then we had cake and ice cream on Easter Sunday.





The boys got to eat their first Hamburgers- thanks to Grandma A.




He got dressed like a Dinosaur because he kept saying that on his birthday he'd turn into a dinosaur.



For my mom's birthday we all got together for a nice dinner on Saturday.





The boys look so cute in these sweaters that their Great Grandma G. made for them.





My brother got a job as a security guard. He's way excited about it! He's wanted to be a cop his whole life. He came straight from work to my mom's party.



That's 55 plus 2. Not 552.



My nephew came back from staying with his mom for the week, and was so overjoyed to see everyone he had to give out presents. This was my gift. It's a "Ball Machine Gum" according to my nephew.