On the mend

We're getting back to normal after a rough week of strep throat complications for Rob.
Thankfully, he seems to be making a good recovery after several doses of I.V. antibiotics & fluids and a relaxing weekend.

Cooper was pleased with the bandage cover that the nurses gave him. You can see he even fixed up Leopard's leg, too (apparently, "Leopard tried to jump across a ditch and couldn't quite make it"). Rob had the I.V. port in his arm Wednesday - Friday morning. Here he is at one of his last sessions (looking very good compared to the first day of this when he went in his bathrobe). This day was nice because I was able to drop the boys at daycare first. Rob & I got "alone time." Wow!

We got a kick out of Cooper trying to figure out why Daddy's throat was so sore. He said "maybe his (adam's) apple is loose."

Here's a picture Cooper took: Leopard and Cheetah were a treat for the boys after they patiently spent the first afternoon in the immediate care center at the hospital with us.

Around the House

Here's what has been going on between sick spells and crazy work schedules during the past 2 weeks:

More masterpieces from my art factory....

A yummy lunch with friends, including the homemade lemon meringue pie that I look forward to all year long. A friend makes it for me in "trade" for helping her with her taxes. We've had this arrangement for several years. She makes the "world's best lemon meringue pie." Seriously! I love it. Also on the menu this day: Curry Chicken Salad (Chicken, Curry powder, mayo, celery & honey - delicious), grapes, breads, & ice tea. Seemed like the perfect meal on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

A surprise gift from our wonderful neighbor: Smelt (or as the boys called them "real little fish without their heads")These brought on quite a trip down memory lane. My brother and I used to go "smelting" with Dad and our uncles when we were really young. It is a vivid memory because you go out in the pitch black with flashlights and use nets to catch these tiny fish from creeks. What an adventure! However, this weekend it was pretty nice to have them given to us all cleaned and ready to cook (although I did have to ask Mom & Dad how to prepare them).

Cooper help with the egg/flour coating.

Both boys decided that Smelt is "tasty." They sure are!

Rambling about dinosaur buttons, nap mats, mittens, and the Sewing Machine makes its yearly visit

Cooper & buddy Evan, both at age 3

The time has come to retire Cooper's much-loved Nemo nap mat. I made it for him a few years ago to take to daycare for nap time. It has a removable pillow and an extra large attached blanket (the store bought ones have a small blanket and the built in pillow gets all messed up in the washing machine). Cooper passed it along to Brady when Brady graduated from the crib to the floor for naps. It has also gone on many road-trips with us, too. It has been well used and washed many, many, MANY times.
Although it has been in rough shape for a while, I haven't been able to find a replacement, and I just haven't had the time or energy to make a new one. We've been keeping it rolled up with a string tied around it, and honestly it has started to be embarrassing to deliver it to daycare like this! So I had to do something!

I found a couple of small pillows, a soft blanket for Brady, and a little sleeping bag for Cooper, but still needed a way to transport all of this to daycare and be able to hang them on the hooks they have in each classroom. Bags, we needed bags....washable bags. I knew just the thing.....Two weekends later, I got around to digging out the sewing machine and some fleece I had stashed away (leftover from the great mitten project of 2007 - this was when I was going to make 20 pairs of mittens to donate to daycare because we kept losing mittens and I was sick of buying replacements -- I stopped after 2 pairs, so I had some fleece leftover). Any way, last weekend was the 2009 yearly visit of the sewing machine, and how lucky I was that there was no mending to be found that day (if any turns up it'll have to wait until next year now).

The boys were happy with the way their "nap mat" bags turned out and used them as pillows for the rest of the day. Cooper especially likes the dinosaur buttons on his. The buttons were tucked in a package from Aunt Margaret that arrived a few months ago. Cooper said, "I've been waiting for something to put those buttons on!" Thank you Aunt Margaret!

Open window, a rare Roo photo, and a Ladybug visit

We had a little taste of spring yesterday and boy, was it wonderful! It was 49 degrees and sunny, and we couldn't resist opening a few windows. Very refreshing!

While the boys napped, Roo made a rare, pro-longed, daylight visit to sit in the open window (she is an inside kitty and very shy except at night when the boys are in bed).

The warmer weather also brought us a few ladybug visitors.

We released this little lady to a log outside after both boys had a chance to hold her.

The evening ended with a heavy rain. Seems like March to me! I think I'll take down the Christmas wreath today.

Is it really March?

I suppose I should take the Christmas wreath off our door!

This has got to be a record for leaving up Christmas decorations. We still have SO much snow that it seems to fit in, and I really like the horn and red felt with flannel bow. It is still nice and green, too! It does seem a shame to take it down, and I definitely can't put my 'spring' wreath up quite yet. That really wouldn't look right with the 8 foot tall snow piles next to the house.

Art Factory

With all of the refreshing color on the blog each day of last week, I decided today that it was too hard to stop 'cold turkey.' Here is some more color, created by our little art factory, Cooper.
A dinosaur (above), giraffe, plane and sun (below)
He likes drawing volcanoes, dinosaurs, and trucks the most. I have a hard time even parting with it. We have laminated some of it to make placement and bookmarks, but please let me know if you have other ideas on how to creatively use or save his special masterpieces.