candid C A D E N

I just love it when I download pictures and find little surprise snapshots left on my camera...

PLAYING in the DIRT

What a good day- we played in the dirt ALL day today... loaded a truck of {beautiful} cow manure, tilled up our garden again and plotted our rows. I don't think I've ever been so THRILLED with poop in my life! I'm so excited to get our little plants in the ground! We did put peas in today, we'll finish most of it tomorrow with exception of tomatoes! It's like a huge playground to me!

Coleman D A N C I N G

Coleman had his first Kindergarten music performance this week. It was perfect- 20 minutes long! So cute- we especially loved learning that our little guy likes to dance! As you can tell from the end {huge yawn}, it was past his bedtime!

S P R I N G calfs

I love just about everything about SPRING... tulips coming up, warmth, track meets, thunderstorms, getting the mower out, planting seeds, kids playing OUTSIDE... But, I think one of my very favorite things this time of the year {especially living here} is new baby calfs. They're so cute, so wobbily, so new. One of the simple joys of living in the country- they're all around us!

Coleman v. Caden

It's impossible not to compare my boys- personalities, size, likes, dislikes. Justin used to love broccoli even as a toddler, when most that age are picky. He still will pick real food over sweets any day, but he's also (along with Caden) my most impatient. Coleman is for the most part mellow and plays so well by himself as he has since he was walking, decision making is tough. Ty has been on Tyler-time (no concept of time) since he was little, but is also very loving. Don't rush him! Caden- fiesty since he could scream (birth), but so sweet as well. It's crazy to me how even as little packages- they're total individuals, but also completely opposite!!

I was reminded of the extreme difference between Coleman and Caden as we went to the park the other day. There were orange cones set up around the merry-go-round. Both boys noticed them, but as we were leaving, Caden {H A D} to go through and knock them all down. Coleman was already in the van and we were waiting to leave and couldn't believe what his brother was doing. I didn't think it was that big of a deal- maybe, I should have stopped and made him stand them up again. On his own, Coleman jumped out of the van, ran over to the overturned cones and set them back up. To Caden, the cones were meant to knock down, rules to be broken. For Coleman, it's a big deal for the most part to follow the rules. Oh, Kindergarten's going to be {fun} with Caden... I'm kind of glad he misses the cut-off date and I get him home another year. Oh... to channel his will and energy...

Coleman is S I X

It was all Bakugans and Transformers around here as Coleman turned 6 yesterday! I miss the days of hot wheels and don't like this Bakugan stuff, but they LOVE it. Guess it's not much different than the Pokemon/Yu-gi-oh stages that Justin and Ty went through... boys!

We started his day with cupcakes and singing in his kindergarten class. Jim showed a glimpse of his creative side and thought of using candies to make a C on the cupcakes... super easy and very cute! Way to go, honey! We met Daddy for lunch and play at the park. Then, it was a LONG wait until dinner and opening his gifts. He first wanted pizza and shrimp, but ended up choosing steak and shrimp shish-ka-bobs... yummy loaded with the good stuff for us, too (zucchini, yellow, red & green peppers, onion, grape tomatoes, yellow squash). It was chocolate cake and singing Happy Birthday again with our good friends. Fun day... I'm just glad birthdays only come once a year!

Fresh DIRT

I felt the warmth of the sun on my face this weekend. Real warmth- the first time since maybe September or October. For me, it's as good as pounding a Red Bull. I can feel the engergy enter my body, crazy as it sounds. It also gets me SUPER excited to get our garden started and work in the dirt. Before our inch of rain this week, we did get out and tilled up our dirt. Ah, the smell of dirt... can't wait to get my hands in it! Of course, Caden worked along side his Daddy the entire afternoon. We're getting our seeds planted this week...

a MILLION little black birds

We're used to black birds, but last week a zillion decided to fly through our yard- it was just crazy! Check out this little video clip. Felt like it was straight out of a movie!

Caden missed HIS brother

As rough as last week was... no sleep and an abundance of worry for us, pokes and sickness for Coleman... Caden had a rough time too! Jim brought him to the hospital one day only to be stopped at the door. No kids allowed. Not his room door, the main hospital door- no kids allowed under the age of 12.

He just couldn't understand why he wasn't allowed to see HIS brother. He did well at home with Grandma and a couple visits to play with our friends, but still r e a l l y missed his brother. On Saturday, as I was ready to head back to the hospital after tag-teaming with Jim, Caden curled up in a ball on his bed and said- "I'm staying in bed all day today..." Poor little guy! It was such a reunion for two little buddy brothers once we were finally home. You would have thought it was a year apart...

IV's, Cat Scans & Blood Draws

Wow! What a long week! Wednesday, Coleman finished his antibiotic (10 days) from having strep throat, but came home from school with a sore throat. Fever kicked in quickly, so I scheduled him an appointment with the doctor, yet AGAIN! Poor guy has had strep, chest congestion and an ear infection this month alone. They drew his blood and the doctor immediately let me know I needed to take him straight to the hospital. They did a direct admit and before we knew it, he was having more blood work, an IV started, x-rays, cat scans, and we were there for the remainder of the week. With a fever and elevated white blood count (started at 32,000, 8,000-9,000 is the norm), we knew his body was fighting something- we just weren't sure what it was. Three night, four days later- we still aren't totally sure what it was, but he's improved and we're relieved to be home!

The doctor thinks has (or had) mono, or some type of bacterial infection. Same thing happened when he was just over a year old- high fever ended up being a viral infection. It's these sick times that make us SO appreciate having healthy kids! Looks about the same to us- same blankets, just a little faded.
r;cursor:

Looks like DEFENSE to me...

Flat bread PIZZA

One thing we ALL love for dinner is pizza! I've made so many variations over the years... good 'ole English muffin pizzas, quick rising yeast doughs, forever-to-make slow yeast doughs... yucky carbs & sugar that make you feel sick and stuffed after eating!

Not sure if I'm the last mom on Earth to discover Greek (Mediterranean) flat bread, but I'm now in LOVE with this stuff. In case you haven't tried it, you can find it in on the shelf next to the pitas in the bread isle. No waiting for the dough to rise, these little guys are ready to load up with toppings. Makes the quickest, but best homemade pizza. Healthier, and definitely cheaper than take out, it's definitely become one of our new weekly staples- everyone can pile on their own favorite toppings. Tyler and Coleman still prefer softer Papa John's crust, but Justin said he'd take this over any other pizza!

Some of our favorites... fresh spinach, pepperoni, ham, fresh tomato, mushroom, green & red peppers, fresh grated Parmesan, fresh oregano, hot banana peppers, bacon... of course, lots of cheese!

I use about 1 T pizza sauce (straight from the jar) for each flat bread, load with toppings and bake 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Add a side salad, and dinner is finished! Yummy!!

Please PUT me to BED

Our poor little guy! This winter has brought too much sickness to our home! Luckily, the big guys, Jim and I have been able to avoid the flu/colds/cough/fevers. This last week, Coleman and Caden have been down. Caden was sick first, then Coleman missed school all last week. I finally took Coleman in and the doctor said he had a pretty good rattle in his chest. We've worked to get him well and hopefully AVOID pneumonia.


This weekend, Caden took another turn- fever is back, snotty and coughing like crazy day and night. Last night, he said to Jim, "Daddy- would you please put me to bed." You know one of our kids is really sick when they want to go to sleep. Hopefully, they're on the way back to wellness...

Snow DAY... NO school

I guess we did get a little... not the 4-8" we were anticipating! Not even enough to cover the grass or the sidewalk. But, it's snow! The boys were all excited to have an extended weekend, but bummed there isn't even enough to make a snowman! Oh well... I'm not complaining!