Polar Express

On Garrett's first day of Winter Vacation, we donned our pj's and took a trip to here...

We took he kids on a trip to the North Pole via the Polar Express.  Though I do have to admit, I think this was mostly for me since I have dreamed my whole life of going on a train...which now I can say I did...though next time I'd like to try it going over 5 miles an hour!  :)

We had our yummy hot chocolate...complete with singing servers!

Enjoyed a reading of Polar Express while on-board...

We arrived at the North Pole...lots of lights!  All we were missing was the snow...minor detail in the North Pole, right?

And we even got to see the old jolly guy himself!

Though Olivia wasn't too fond of the old guy yet...

 We loved the magical bells from Santa's sleigh...even though Garrett's face would say otherwise!

 All in all, a GREAT train ride to the North Pole...Texas Style!

the pii remote

So, the other day, Ethan was in the bathroom doing his business.  :)  Actually (as is very common for us), he was REFUSING to do his business even though he was dancing around like a little ballerina, and I was making him stay in the bathroom until he gave in and actually went!  Just so you can see how good of a mother I really am!  :)  

Olivia had been wandering around the house during all this and was, unbeknownst to me, carrying around one of our wii remotes.  She snuck into the bathroom and since all of Ethan's attention was focused on avoiding the toilet...she apparently thought she'd help it feel a little more useful and throw the remote INTO the toilet.  Nice.  Ethan started SCREAMING (like he'd lost an arm or something) so I rushed back into the bathroom and see them both staring into the bowl at the sunken remote...Ethan still screaming at the top of his lungs, and Olivia happily pointing and jabbering (in her own language) about the new water toy in our house.  Yeah...not one of our best moments!  I grabbed the remote out of the water...threw it into the sink and let it rinse off under the clean water.  I figured it was already ruined...but if there was any way of saving it...it was going to need to be disinfected a million times over, so why not start the process immediately!  

I just have to laugh about it...because it really was very funny.  Funny that these things only seem to happen 5 minutes after Steve leaves the house...funny that my kids can react to the same situation in such extremely different ways...funny that I don't get mad at these random disasters, but if my kids talk back or disobey (like any kid does a million times a day), that's when I feel the steam starting to escape through my ears...and funny that I knew, even then, that if this remote ever did make it through...it would be officially dubbed the pee (or pii)  remote by my children (and myself!).

So there you have it.  I did, through my mad-googling-do-it-yourself-repair-skills, manage to save the remote.  In case this happens to any of you (heaven forbid)...I took it apart as much as I could, which isn't much since nintendo uses some crazy screw that we don't tools for, and threw it into a bowl of rice (uncooked) and let it sit for about 24 hours.  We then had to shake some rice out of it, when all was said and done, but it managed to draw the moisture out enough for it to work again.  Then we had to disinfect it into its next life.  If the toilet didn't kill it...the million sprays of cleaner should have!  :)  But really, this remote is probably more germ free than the others sitting next to it!

So there you are...a look into the craziness that is our life!  How I love it!  

Happy Wednesday

We have a snowman plate that I pulled out this week.  I've been choosing an 'extra helpful' child to use it at meal-times...rotating it through the kids.  Well, at least through the boys...it's glass and Olivia is still insistent on throwing EVERYTHING on the floor.  The poor snowman wouldn't stand a chance with her!

Anyway, the plate says 'Happy Holidays' on it besides showcasing a fancy snowman.  Ethan must have asked someone what it said...because he now has dubbed it the 'Happy Wednesday' plate.  And yes, it was the 'Happy Wednesday' plate on Tuesday too.  It doesn't matter which day it actually is...it is always Wednesday when it comes to the special plate!  This drives poor attention-to-detail/slightly-over-controlling Garrett crazy!  So, he just has given in to rolling his eyes every time Ethan shouts out with joy about his turn with the 'Happy Wednesday' plate...instead of lecturing him over and over and over about the difference between holidays and days of the week!  Poor kid!  But I have to admit, Garrett doesn't get any support to his theory from me this time...I LOVE the 'Wednesday Plate'!

Dentist Appointments

Ethan had his first dentist appointment last week!  This is after LOTS of talking about it, and even a few failed attempts.  The last time we were in for Garrett's cleaning, Ethan promised the dentist that he would do it when he was three and a half.  So...since he is 3 1/2 now...I thought we'd see if he'd follow through since Steve and I both had appointments.  After quite a bit of coaxing, free toothbrushes, sitting on Dad's lap and playing with the dentist's equipment...Ethan finally let our sweet dentist clean a few of his teeth!  Wahoo...this child is definitely all about baby-steps!  It is so funny how each of my children are so different.  :)

Brave Little Girl

Little Olivia had to go in for a CT scan a few weeks ago.  I knew everything was fine...but it is nice to get the all clear from someone who has actually looked at her little brain and can confirm it.  :)

Olivia's pediatrician noticed a few jump in O's head growth at one of her well-visits and recommended the scan...just to make sure.  I would have probably fought it a bit more (she is a Smith baby, after all, and big heads just run in the family!!!), or at least asked for a re-do on the measurements...but little Olivia had been acting so funny and so a little look at her brain was a welcome (though somewhat intimidating) prospect.

Olivia had started walking and was doing so well at it...but all of a sudden had completely stopped.  She seemed not even able to do it, nor even think about it.  She was diagnosed with double ear infections which made complete sense that she had stopped walking all together...but it was still nice to get a more in-depth confirmation of that as well.

Anyway, she did great for the scan.  This being the girl who goes into complete hysterics at the dr's office when they take her temperature under her arm (and she has since day 1 in the NICU!).  I thought there was NO WAY she'd be able to do it without being sedated...but once again, the amazing medical facilities we are so blessed with in the area, knew exactly what to do and are so incredibly good at working with children.  We LOVE Texas Children's!  She wasn't happy about it by any means...but she did it!

She was very excited to get out to the car and actually get to eat and drink again.  :)  I think she downed this cup of milk in 30 seconds even after we got home!!!  :)

The results came back fine...just showed us that her ear infections hadn't gone away.  So a second round of antibiotics and she's up and walking/running around like before!  :)  How blessed we are with this little girl!  

huh?

This was the vehicle from which my packages were delivered this week!  

Seriously, I love our mailman in his older-than-dirt jeep.  I've even grown to love the random guy in the tan truck who delivers our weekend mail...often at 9:00 at night...and even when he just goes into our garage and leaves our packages on our garbage can!  (Yep, that one almost ended badly!)  But should I just accept that my UPS packages are now delivered by golf cart?  Ahhhh, I love the unexpected!

static

Well?!?!?!

You'd be grumpy too if your hair did this...

But that's okay...'cause this kid's joy is enough for us all!