thoughts on a sunday

I made my friend Starr be my photographer so I could send Brian away with a framed photo of his little support group.  He's doing so much right now and we're so proud of him.  He's amazing.  I just love him.

• We've had quite an eventful week, mostly on purpose.  I kept us busy so that we wouldn't miss Brian too much.  This week was much better, as far as being on my own.  I didn't even yell at my kids this week at all!. . .unless you count the two hours before Brian got home.  I was trying to change the sheets, fold the laundry, make dinner for a neighbor, vacuum the house and watch Oprah all at the same time.  I got stressed and all the sudden I just needed him home.  So waiting two long hours while trying to get all that done wasn't pretty.  But I started by saying how this week was better.  It was.
  
  
• My days are all kind of blending together, but I just realized as I almost typed no one threw up this week that I'm mistaking the first part of this week with last week.  Of course Ellery threw up this week.  At 3:30am Monday morning Ellery was at it- throwing up every twenty minutes or so until 6:30am.  Monday morning, meaning the very first night alone again.
  
  
• Poor little Elle.  I don't know what is up with her and vomiting.  She just does it a lot.  This was a lot more flu-like than usual, but no one else got it (thankfully) so I don't know what it was.  By the late afternoon she was begging for "real, big breakfast" and running around outside.
  
  
• Ellery was up to all sorts of little tricks this week.  I think it was Thursday when she "got lost".  I was sitting outside while the kids played and she ran up to me and said she had to go potty.  She went inside alone and after about five minutes I wondered why she hadn't come out yet.  I went inside and saw her  pants on the family room floor.  I figured I'd find her in her room and as I started calling her name I looked in her room and the bathrooms.  She was no where to be found.  I wondered if she'd wandered outside without me noticing.  I headed back out and started looking around outside.   Nothing.  I ran back into the house and really started looking for her- thinking she might be hiding.  When I couldn't find her anywhere and when she didn't respond to me demanding she come out, I kind of started to get worried.  I ran around the neighborhood again, this time asking people if they'd seen her.  I decided to sweep the house one more time and that's when I noticed her undies in a little ball on the floor of her bedroom.  I was staying pretty calm, but really I couldn't find her anywhere in the house, so that meant one thing:  she was outside. . .with no pants on!  I ran back outside and didn't know what to do with myself.  My mind was racing with the worse possible scenarios. . .mostly the kidnapping of a naked three year old.  Calling the police seemed like a good idea, but I know that you can't just do that right away.  I called my dad.  He is, after all, a retired FBI agent and current private investigator.  He can find anything, even from a different state.  But mostly I called him to ask him when I could call the police, because I was ready to right then!  I frantically explained to him what was going on and at this point I was crying and McKay was crying and we were both a big mess.  I guess someone heard all the commotion, because all the sudden a little three year old hops down the stairs and holds out her arms as if to say, "Ta daaaa!"  I screamed, and then cried, and then hung up on my dad and then I hugged her and yelled at her at the same time.  This is the response I got when I asked her where she was, "I was behind my door.  Didn't you see Rapunzel's head poking out at you?"  She was quite pleased with herself.  Behind her door is the ONE place I didn't look.  Little stinker!  I really was so glad that she was safe though- it was quite a scare.  So glad my little stinker is okay- I don't know what I'd do without her!
  
  
• My dad got quite a good laugh out of the whole thing, being a phone witness to the action.
  
  
• Poor little Rapunzel has had a pretty rough week, herself.  She was lost for a couple days, and just yesterday I found her with the whites in the dryer.  She had been washed and dried and her already rats nest head of hair was at a whole new level.  She now has one big, melted, frizzled dread lock, with remnants of a long ago braid.  It's interesting.  I started off telling Ellery only the good news:  I found Rapunzel!  And she's all clean!  She was so happy, then she looked at me and said, "What's the matter with her hair?"  It was hard to get used to, but after I put it into a beehive bun, she felt much better about Rapunzel's new do.
  
  
• Speaking of finding things in the wash, have you ever washed a diaper?  Just wondering.
  
  
• So we always sit in the same place at church.  Second row on the left.  We are rarely late for church, but in our ward you have to be their very early to get a bench, in which we are not.  Our secret?  The Grooms family.  They get there very early, and happen to sit in the first row on the left.  Somehow it happened so that they save our seat every single week.  We show up, pass their bags forward and sit down.  I love this, but then sometimes it makes me laugh.  How did this happen?
  
  
• Layla is at the point where she no longer naps in her seat at church.  I've been hanging on for the past several weeks, hoping she will.  But she's done.  Fun for me.
  
  
• There's something I've admitted about myself as a mother this week.  I'm not rigid with naps.  I'm not even structured with naps.  I am just a blowin' in the wind with naps mother.  I don't like this about myself.  But being way scheduled just hasn't happened yet, and so with number three, I'm finally calling myself out.  This means that Layla is all over the place with naps, which means that it drives me crazy, which means I can't really do anything because it's my own fault.  Maybe this is why my kids gave up naps so early?
  
  
• Layla doesn't like food.  Haven I mentioned that?  Maybe, but anyway, she refuses to eat those little puffs and acts like there is nothing more disgusting than a puff in her mouth.  Today I gave her one of those teething biscuit things and she kind of liked it, until it started to come off in her mouth.  She doesn't have an interest and I feel like this means that I'll be nursing her until she's four and honestly, I'm counting down the days until I'm done nursing her.
  
  
• Except, I'm not.  I'm not really counting down the days.  Because maybe I'll never nurse another baby again. . .so I don't want to count down too fast.  But I do kind of want her to eat puffs.  At least.
  
  
• Something pretty amazing and eventful happened this week.  McKay got his cavity fixed, which resulted in a baby root canal. . .which is really just a silver cap on the tooth.  You would have thought he won the lottery.  More on that later though, in another post...
  
  
• McKay was playing outside with some older girls and his good friend Isabella, who's also five.  They were playing duck, duck, goose- except making up different words for duck and goose.  I heard one of the girls saying some potty words for her turn and I reminded them to not use potty talk and gave McKay one of those looks.  They kept playing for awhile and I went inside.  Later, when we were just about to eat dinner he came up to me, chewing his fingernails with guilt-ridden eyes and whispered in my ear, "Mom, I said some bad words outside for duck, duck goose.  I said butt slime."  He was dead serious and the guilt was palpable.  I could not help but laugh.  I really, really tried not to, but I cracked a smile and then quickly covered it up.  "But Mom.  That's not all.  I said another bad word.  I said weenie slime."  I mustered up all the seriousness I had, and talked to him about what he said, but really inside I was dying.  Brian heard us talking and asked what had happened at the dinner table.  I told him it was okay and not to worry about it (because I knew Brian would laugh) but McKay fessed up to his dad before I could stop him.  Brian had to duck his head and I'm sure McKay is totally confused as to if it was bad or funny.  So if McKay says  butt slime or weenie slime to you, I'm so sorry, but maybe this background info will be helpful to know.
  
  
• I absolutely love that my boy has such a strong conscious.  He is one amazing boy who I just love so much.
  
  
• There is another boy I love too, and I didn't want to do anything but stare at him all weekend.  We had several things going on this weekend, but we scraped them all so that we could just be together.  We went out to dinner, went on a bike ride, enjoyed McKay's last tee ball game and just hung out together.  It was a good weekend.
  
  
• Ah, I miss him already.  I think our kids are starting to get a bit confused about what's going on.  When Brian left today Ellery was concerned and kept asking if I was going to leave too.  And I can tell that McKay gets a certain little attitude when Brian leaves or comes back.  They have no idea what is happening, or why, and I'm sure it's making them feel a bit weird.
  
  
• I'm super busy this week- getting everything done and ready before our month-long trip to Utah!  I'm so excited to live by/with family for awhile.  Lots to do to prepare, so hopefully this week will fly by.  

Happy Sunday and happy, happy birthday to my beautiful sister, Lisa!

may day // bike day // zoo day

The last month of preschool brought several fun festivities.  

***May Day***

***Bike Day***

***Zoo Day***

McKay was fascinated with this animal. . .and now I can't even remember what it's called.  He wanted a picture to show dad how ugly it was.  

The Wee Wisdom boys and a darling tag-along girl.  

a bike ride

May 21

We've been talking about it forever, but we finally went on a family bike ride.  After picking out a hot pink helmet for Elle, and passing down orange Dora to Layla, we finally had all the tools we needed to go.  

It was a lot of work getting all our bikes into the car, but after we were all situated it was so much fun.  We rode on the Fanno Creek trail for a few miles, along the river and through backyards and past playgrounds.  It was gorgeous and we all loved it.  Well, except maybe Layla.  She tolerated the helmet and being strapped into the trailer.  I can't wait for Ellery to join in on the riding!

thoughts on a sunday

Cutest patient I've ever seen.

• I'm sitting here trying to start this post and all I can think of is, "I'm too tired."  But I'm still gonna try.
  
  
• I survived my first week!  Brian has come and gone and is driving back to Grants Pass as I type this.  It's a four hour drive.  He got here on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and had to leave this afternoon at 5:30.  I guess that's almost 48 hours!  It's something!
  
  
• I enjoyed having him home, especially since the girls were still sick.  Ellery was getting a fever every night- and a high one, 103.9 was the highest- and Layla was not getting any better, even on antibiotics.  I was so happy when he came home on Friday to turn all decision making over to him.  I was done making them myself.
  
  
• I guess I should tell you how annoying the insta-care by our house is.  So, our pediatrician's office was closed on Thursday, and I felt like Layla and Elle needed to be seen that day.  I didn't want to go another night with them being so sick and not knowing what was wrong.  So I decided to go to the insta-care.  Basically, the doctor listened to Layla's breathing, and looked in Ellery's throat and came back into the room with two prescriptions for antibiotics.  I finally asked what Layla had and she said, "respiratory" and then made a hand gesture.  What?!  What is that?  You didn't even look at my children!
  
  
• All week long I've been saying that Layla has "respiratory/hand gesture".  We've been laughing about it, but really it makes me mad that a doctor would exam a little baby that sounded so awful like that.  It's like she just thought that she'd just prescribe a medicine to just get us on our way.
  
  
• Unfortunately by Saturday Layla was doing worse and her respiratory hadn't improved at all and so we decided to take her in again.  This time to the ER, because our doctor doesn't work on weekends.  (I really like our doctor, but his schedule is causing me stress.)  We had a fabulous doctor who really examined Layla and determined that she had Bronchiolitis, caused by RSV and prescribed albuterol (which we're very familiar with) and now I'm not afraid she's going to stop breathing in the night.
  
  
• While in the ER she got a chest x-ray.  This was a bit traumatic.  She had to sit in this little contraption with her legs dangling down and they enclosed her body with plastic casing while I held her hands above her head.  She screamed for his, understandably so, which they said was okay because it gave them a better picture.  As they turned her around the get a side view, I popped in her souci.  I was amazed that her eyes started to roll around and get all droopy and she was going to sleep!  How she could sleep in that position, I'll never know- but then they wanted her to cry again, so I took it out, and she obliged.  
  
  
• I fully admit that I'm  very paranoid when it comes to my kids being sick.  Can't help it.
  
  
• Okay, moving on.  Brian got through his first week at a new hospital and provided anesthesia during a lobectomy- which is kind of a big case- and he did awesome.  He is in a lonely little house all by himself with no tv.  I feel sad for him.  He's hoping to run a lot, but honestly, he's so exhausted that I don't know if that will happen.  I hope it does because he really misses it.  It will be a happy day when running can be a priority in his life again.
  
  
• I've always wanted to do a whole post about how much I love the names Ellery comes up with for her girls or animals or anything really.  Just a couple from this week:  a little farm wife named Smartha, and a fly named Coco.  I really should make a list because they're quite funny.  McKay's farm guy was named Bernie, which I thought was kind of funny too.  Where has he ever heard the name Bernie before?
  
  
• If you're wondering, we played farm today.  They had a whole pasture and coral set up and everything.  I got to be Smartha.
  
  
• Also, I guess you should know about Coco too.  We were eating dinner and Ellery looked over at the glass door and suddenly shouted, "Quick McKay!  It's a bug!"  As if they had preplanned all this, McKay immediately ran into the garage and got a bug catching container and amazingly caught the fly.  I was left at the table alone as they tended to the new "pet" and decided on a name.  I finally had to call them back to eat and insist that they remove Coco from the kitchen table and put him in the garage until we were done.  Coco is now dead.
  
  
• We were happy to discover that Layla still knew who Brian was.  I know it had only been a few days, but last time after just a week she was scared of him, so you never know.  You could actually see the excitement on her face when he picked her up.  It was like, "Hey, where have you been!" and it was cute to watch her get excited to see him.  We also discovered that Layla loves to give me big slobbery, open-mouthed kisses, and she will not do the same for dad.  Brian kept trying to get a kiss, but they are strictly reserved for me.
  
  
• We had some quick visitors this week.  Brian's parents decided that they wanted to see McKay play in a tee ball game and came out for a quick trip on Monday.  They wanted to take the kids to a hotel Monday night and have a swimming/sleepover party, and Brian, Layla and I got some alone time. :)  The kids had so much fun and I was just blown away at the whole thing.  I remember going to a hotel in a similar situation with my grandparents when I was little and the memories have never left me and it was so fun and special.  I know it will be the same for my kids.  Oh, and we didn't tell the kids they were coming.  So we were just outside at the playground and they walked up and the kids were so surprised.  It was so fun!
  
  
• Aside from filling his mitt up with dirt for a whole inning, McKay did well at his game and it was fun to have Granddad there to "coach" him.
  
  
• A couple weeks ago Layla got her two bottom teeth.  They are now poking through quite a bit and unfortunately I am feeling them quite frequently.  Time to start flicking the cheek.
  
  
• A couple more things about miss Laysie- she is rolling all around the house!  I am shocked at the distance she now covers on the floor.  Still not crawling, but getting stronger as she practices the crawling position.  Also, she loves books.  I would like to take more time to read to her, because she loves it so much.  But she's so cute- touching each page and turning them and chewing on them.
  
  
• McKay and Elle were lucky enough to receive a zhu zhu pet, um...kingdom?  or home?  I don't really know what to call it, but it's got tunnels, and wheels and rooms and slides and even a garage with a car in it that the zhu zhu's can drive.  I'ts pretty fancy stuff.  My friend's daughter didn't play with it and because it's quite huge, I'm sure she was happy to free up some space in her house, so she brought it over to us.  They love it.  Brian and I realized today that zhu zhu pets are the first craze that McKay's really gotten into.  He's always loved animals, but this is the first commercialized toy he's really gotten into.  He takes good care of his zhu zhu's.  Sometimes Brian and I really want to get him a dog- because he would just LOVE it.  I can just see him as the kind of kid who would really be best friend's with his dog  (in a healthy way, hehe).
  
  
• Tonight my sweet friend and neighbor brought us dinner.  She had heard that the kids were sick and Brian was leaving and asked if she could.  She is the third person this week to ask, and so I finally just decided that maybe I should get dinner.  Makes me grateful for the support-system I have out here.  There were times this week that I needed help, and it's almost painful to ask for it.  Why is that?  Jana and I talk all the time about how when people ask us for help we are happy to do it- it feels good to serve others- but when it comes down to you asking for it, it's hard to not feel like a huge burden or inconvenience.  Maybe this is a lesson for me to really learn this year, because I pretty much have about three months left of the year with Brian under the same roof, so I'm sure there will be times where I need it.    

• I was sad about Brian leaving today, but the only thing that made me excited was the finale of Survivor.  I can't say anything because Brian doesn't have a tv, and will have to watch it online tomorrow after work, but oh it was good!  I am, however, disturbed that Grant is mad at Boston Rob. I imagined them being best friends.

Happy Sunday!

day one: sick

I feel like this is a repeat of when Brian went to Newport for the first time.  Only this time it's coughs and fevers instead of the stomach flu, and this time it's all three of them, instead of just McKay.

Brian left yesterday for Grants Pass.  Layla's been sick for about a week, and now the other two have joined her.  If I didn't hate that they were sick, it would be really funny to me that it happened again- my first day of being alone and someone gets sick.  Last night was one of the worst nights I can recall as a mother- getting up every hour with at least one kid- if not two, giving cough medicine, checking temperatures, nursing (bad little baby), giving Tylenol, getting drinks of water, watching Late Night with Jimmy Fallon at three a.m. because he was the only thing that could console a certain eight month old.   It's just not that funny after a night like that.

When I woke up at 8:15am this morning and not one of them was stirring after the wakeful night I declared it a jammie day and decided to keep McKay home from school.  I also declared it a cereal for dinner day too.  We needed it.  We watched movies and played and drew and organized.    
 
Just before bedtime we skyped with Brian and he gave us a tour of his new house.  We read him the books that the kids made today, and Layla was happy to see her daddy on the computer screen.

And now they're all in bed again.  This time I'm a little more prepared.  They're propped up on pillows so they don't cough so much.  They're loaded with meds and I'll re-load them again when I got to bed tonight.  The thermometer is next to their beds and I have a change of clothes ready for Ellery in case her new night gown proves to be too hot with her fever.

As prepared as I may be, I don't like this.  Nights are so hard when you're alone.  Nights with sick kids are a nightmare.  I miss him already.  It was really hard to not reach out and hug him as I was talking to him on the computer.  Thank goodness I will see him on Friday night.  That day and a half is what's keeping me going.

Hmm, is it December yet?

tulip festival

Tulips are my favorite flower.  So fresh, clean, and simple, and so beautiful.  When I heard about the Tulip Festival in Wilsonville, I knew we had to go.  I had been trying to plan a night for our family to go all week, but it wasn't working out, so when a group of girls from the ward planned a trip, I made sure to be a part of it.  It was fun.  Beautiful fields of all colors and types of tulips, pony rides, bouncey slides, hay bale climbing, water fountains. . .there was a lot to do.  I was grateful that my kids didn't run off into the tulip fields like some others, but it about killed Ellery to not be able to pick them.  

McKay and all the ladies:

Ellery, Taylor Hendrickson, Ella Newby, McKay, McKenzie Hendrickson, Halle Hendrickson 

top- another sweet Newby girl who's name I don't know 

laysie toys

I love this stage.  Sitting and playing all day long.  What a sweet girl I have.

{may eigth}

 Today is the perfect day to celebrate this:

and this:

I'm so lucky.  I love doing this.

Happy mother's day.

thoughts on a sunday

Our little Red Sox fan on our family walk this afternoon.  

• While driving in the car earlier this week we were talking about our favorite flowers.  McKay was telling me his (tulips, like me) and then Ellery piped up and said, "MY favorite flower is a dand-o-lion!"
   
• Miss Layla is a spitting fool.  She and McKay play this game where she screams at him and he screams back and they do that to each other over and over.  She thinks its' the best.  Well, now in addition to screaming, she will sometimes opt to spit.  She'll stick her tongue out and spit and then expect who ever is in front of her to spit back.  It's an interesting form of endearment.
  
  
• She also thinks it's hilarious to spit while eating her food.  This is not as funny as she thinks.
  
  
• Ellery woke up the other morning so excited. She told me that she had a dream where she was under the sea and she was a mermaid.  It was a really good dream because it put her in a really good mood.  I was excited for her.
  
  
• We didn't watch the Royal Wedding, but we did catch clips of it on the news the next morning.  Ellery was fascinated.  Mostly because earlier in the week Aunt Jaynie sent us a bag from London with the Royal couple's picture on it, so Ellery had already heard all about princess Kate.  So she was thrilled to watch her in her wedding dress on tv.  She told me she was a princess and I asked if she was going to marry a prince when she grows up.  She said yes, and then asked, "Will I marry a prince with not much hair?"
  
• More evidence that we watched the Brits?  We were at Red Robin eating dinner and McKay was writing words.  He wrote DOD and asked Brian what it spelled.  He said dod, and McKay's eyes got big and he said, "You mean it's a castle word?  Like dod." and he did this little birtish accent with his eye brows arched high.  It was quite possibly my favorite moment all week.
  
  
• Lets talk about tee ball.  Tee ball is really funny.  We enjoyed watching all the little kids on Saturday.  Mostly, I liked the kid that drew a circle around himself with his bat every time he was up.  The pitcher would be sitting there waiting for this kid to finish his dirt circle.  Also, loved the kid on the pitcher's mound who sat right down and started filling his glove with dirt as the ball bounced all around him.  Or the kid who kept burping on first.  Or the kid who was acting like a clown. . .oh wait, that was our kid.  We tried not to laugh at him and feed that behavior, but there were plenty of goofy face made all over the outfield. 
  
  
• Brian didn't think this was funny at all and is struggling a bit with how off in space his little player is.  He can hit, and he can throw and he's even getting better at catching, but none of that matters if he's not paying attention, which usually he's not.  I think it's normal, although some of the kids already seem way focused on the game.  Ours does not, and that's okay.   
  
  
• In other news, we have a ballet drop-out.  Yep, ballet turned out to be a little too serious for my three year old.  After only a couple classes she was saying that she didn't want to go and that she didn't like it.  I didn't want to force her and create horrible feelings about classes and dance, so we decided to try a funner, more upbeat class in the Fall.  I feel slightly guilty for not telling the teacher that we quit.  Oh well.
  
• On Wednesday it was my friend Starr's birthday and so we had her kids over for a late night so she could go out for her birthday.  We love the Thompson's because they have the exact same family as us.  A boy, and two girls- and they are each just a couple weeks or months apart from ours.  We watched a movie and played and had pizza and McKay and Ellery thought it was the best night ever to have a pajama party with their friends at night.  It was like having three sets of twins.  Also, I love my friend Starr.

Sage and Layla.  Sage is two weeks older, but Layes has her by probably five pounds.  And that tiny little monkey can crawl all over the place, whereas Layes is still doing rolls and scoots to get around.  They enjoy sharing binky's and grabbing each other's faces. 

 McKenna and Ellery.  They share a gigantic love for princess polly pockets and when they get together they usually strip down to their undies to prepare for dress up clothes.  

McKay and Talan.  These boys call each other brother- and are best friends, but they have very different personalities.  They love boy things though, so they get along great.

• We were driving in the car and McKay said, "You know that singer who's last name is like Enchilada?"  It took us a minute before we came up with David Archuleta.  I still can't remember what he wanted to say about him, because we were laughing too hard at David Enchilada.
  
  
• Speaking of enchiladas, we had honey lime enchiladas for dinner tonight.  It's most definitely one of our favorite meals.
  
  
• I am pregnant.  With a chocolate baby.  He came around Easter and is growing daily.  I am ready to take all the candy and have a big family binge until it's gone.  I just need it to be gone.  I really don't want my chocolate baby.
  
  
• Brian has one more week at the VA.  This is great news for him, but also means he's starting another job in a week and a half.  He goes down to Grants Pass, which is three to five hours away.  I say three to five because I've heard all sorts of times describing the distance from here to there.  I hope it's more like three.  I am not looking forward to having him gone. He'll come home on the weekends, and I know that I can do it, but the thing is, I just don't want to do it.  I don't want to.  But I have to.
  
  
• I can't wait for December.
  
  
• The weather was gorgeous this weekend.  I keep getting sunburned.  And when I get burned I get all itchy for the whole rest of the day.  It's time to really remember the sunscreen.
  
  
• So a couple nights ago I was brushing McKay's teeth and I examined his mouth a lot closer than I usually do.  Inside, I saw a great big cavity!  I saw it!  I have become obsessed with the fact that he has one.  I am really upset by this.  At every dental visit, which we've done twice a year since he was two, he's always had beautiful, healthy teeth- a member of the no cavity club!  And I was certain that he was blessed with Brian's wonderfully strong teeth.  And I thought life was beautiful.  Now that he has a cavity I am concerned that he has my teeth.  My sad little genetically cavity-prone teeth and I am depressed.  If I stop being depressed long enough to really think about it, I know that we've been slacking in the oral hygiene department.  It's so hard to floss when there's only a couple teeth that even touch in his little mouth.  It just seemed like "what's the point?"  But now we're flossing daily and he's brushing before school and not just at night.  Stupid cavity.
  
  
• Brian's been so busy that he hasn't been able to run very much.  Poor guy, he really has a lot on his plate right now.  More than I can even imagine.  He has a lot of stress and worry and I am so excited for the day where that is over for him.  All we can do is just keeping going.
  
  
• So now that it is lighter later, we've run into the unfortunate problem of having our kids look out the window as they're lying in bed at their friends playing outside.  McKay especially struggles with this.  We'v e been discussing for months now moving his bedtime to later.  They all go to be at seven and he usually lays there awake for at least an hour each night.  I really love having my kids all in be at seven though.  It's hard for me to willingly give up those few hours we have at night without kids.  But, I think it needs to happen.  I want to make it a summer thing and maybe go back to seven in the Fall when school starts.  Brian thinks it should be permanent.  Whatever we decide, McKay is going to be so happy to stay up late.
  
  
• McKay has been working hard the last two weeks to earn money for a new zhu zhu pet.  He's all the sudden totally into zhu zhu's.  He did all sorts of jobs around the house and it was torture for him to wait two whole weeks to make enough money.  Good thing they were on sale for only $3.50 because he couldn't have lasted much longer.  He takes care of them like they are his pets and talks to them like they have feelings.  It's pretty cute.
  
  
• Ellery, in turn, wanted to earn money to buy a set of tinkerbelle figurines.  They are ten bucks, so I'm not sure that she will ever get there, but I may cut her a deal.  She gets so excited when she does something, which is usually throwing a diaper away or washing the cupboard doors with a dry rag.
  
  
• Brian just told me that Osama Bin Laden has been killed.  Crazy that they've been searching for him for ten years.  Kind of weird to see the people celebrating at the white house, but also great news.  I just don't know that I feel like jumping around in the street wearing flag shorts.  

Happy Sunday!