It's Clearing Up Around Here

The kids have been on the eye drops for a couple of days now so I think they have passed the contagious stage and hopefully Harv and I are in the clear. They both look much better. Ryan did a 180 and decided that drops are okay. How I am going to get drops into Erik's eyes by myself tomorrow is a big mystery. That boy has some seriously strong eyelid muscles!

Seeing Pink

Last night when I glanced over at Ryan on the couch I thought his eyes looked a little red...this morning, after I cleared the crust off his eyelashes...see where this is going? Off to the doctor's this afternoon to get the confirmation and the drops. Let's just say that the pink eye is way more pleasant than putting drops in Ryan's eyes. A quick flashback: It took myself and three grown men to hold him down while Uncle Charles pulled a few deep splinters out of his hand. When the doctor said the drops were a little "S" "T" "I" "N" "G" "Y" I was thinking 'why are you spelling out 'stingy' (is that even a word?) when my kid loves to watch them put the needle in his arm and watch the blood pour out of him? Too bad I didn't have the flashback earlier! So the first round, when he didn't know what was coming, went in fine. The aftermath was again, unpleasant. Round two: UGLY! He cried until he threw up, twice! We hadn't even put the drops in yet! Finally got him to let Mommy put the drops in and can you believe it...it was okay. Much to his surprise, he survived. He is now convinced that Mommy does it better than Daddy so I now have the honor of administering the drops three times a day for the next week! Shockingly, Erik's eye started getting red and pussy tonight. I'm sure they'll be lovely in the morning! Not sure if it is the tiny font or the inevitable, but my eyes are hurting so I'm off. "See" you tomorrow, maybe in pink!

5 Months!

It has been 5 months since we brought Erik home!  In some ways it is hard to believe it has been that long, but mostly it feels like he has been here so much longer.  We are feeling very settled and we are really enjoying our family of four.

Erik is an active little guy.  He loves to climb and is becoming quite the runner.  Yesterday he told Ryan, “No!” so that is our fourth word.

He has become very attached to a couple of blankets and stuffed animals.  He is such a hugger he needs to have something to squeeze at a moment’s notice.  

A Time to Read

Today I got my turn to read to Ryan's class. It was fun to be back in front of kiddos. Surprise, surprise, I read The Mitten. Ryan's teacher didn't kick me out so I read two other Jan Brett stories. Interestingly, they all had cute little hedgehogs. I certainly don't miss the whole load that goes along with teaching, but there are many things I miss. I miss reading stories and interacting with the kids for sure. I am already looking forward to my next turn!

Painting on a Cold, Grey Day

   

      

 

           

      A portrait of Mommy?!!

Back to Christmas!

(We exchanged presents with my brother’s kids yesterday.  Must have brought back memories).

A flamingo for Mommy!

Whew!

We had quite a busy weekend! A good friend of ours came on Fri. night and stayed with us for the weekend. Ryan was thrilled to sleep in his tent so we could have his room for our friend. Good thing we changed the toddler bed to a full bed since our friend is about 6' 2"! Ryan is sleeping in it again tonight of course. We had home fellowship in the morning on Sat. and hurried home to have lunch with my younger brother and his family. A couple of hours after they left, my older brother's family joined us for dinner. We had church this morning, said goodbye to our out of town friend, and had another family for dinner tonight. WHEW!

Tomorrow I am going to give the photo shoot another shot. I am hoping I don't have to buy another photo of Erik crying!

"Got Kimchi" is one year old today! It's been fun to record our journey to Erik and our family life this last year. Looking forward to sharing more in the next year!

Just a Pop of Color

It’s been cold, grey, and rainy for days and days now.  I am a sun kind of person.   As I was sitting on the couch my eye caught a glimpse of pink just outside the window.  It was enough to get me off the couch and to grab my camera.  The gloomy background only enhanced the beauty of these flowers. Sometimes we miss these small treasures when the sun is out and there are colors everywhere.  It’s often when the backdrop fades that we can best appreciate ‘pops of color’.   

We’re kinda into snowmen right now!

 

 

 

What Would You do for a Lollipop?

 It was haircut time again.  Ryan was thrilled.  “I love haircuts, they have lollipops.”

      

 Erik loves to feed himself so I let him have a go at the yougurt.

 

Erik loves the rocker

Look what I found!

A Rainy, Puddle Jumping Kind of Day

  WE’RE BACK!

Erik got to be messy today too!

So it was cold and rainy today and I felt like trying one of those crazy crafts that you would never do if you weren’t a little crazy.

 

 

 

They turned out so cool!  They are way better in person.  The colors were so bright and mixed so well.

 

Lesson learned: gloves

New boots!

     

            

          

 

  

 

 

Like I said: a crazy day!  Just how we like them!

"Uh-Oh"

This morning when I turned on the computer it didn't boot up properly. I immediately called my technical advisor into the room. It was a 'most of the day' project. After dinner Harv came into the living room, looked at me, paused...and said, "It's bad." "Am I going to be mad?" I asked. "Probably," he said. Of course my first question was if my pictures were gone. "Yep!" "When was the last time you backed up the photos?" OCTOBER!!!!!!!! He went back into the room while I sat and stewed about my pictures. Though my faults are many, I am not a nagging wife...except for asking if our pictures are backed up. I do ask that a lot. Several months ago Harv bought an external drive to help ease my concerns. Well eventually Harv came back. He found the pictures! Off to the electronics store for another cable and a few more hours of fixing the other problems. Hopefully all is okay on the picture front. There will be a new schedule for backing up photos and maybe a new service off site! No pictures tonight. Hopefully tomorrow!! (I know, I should learn to back up the photos...however, I think there is concensus that I don't!!).

An Indoor Day

 

 

 Ryan has been playing really well with Erik.

 

 

 Still ‘pounding it’

 

    

 

 

       

 Ryan made a very long train today

     

 We made icicles

            

 

 and snowflakes

 

 and a fort.

 

 

 

 Ryan came into the kitchen wearing this…

 

        

and kept coming back with more!  I’m still unsure if he’s a beekeeper or a military guy.  He said he can’t get stung but he said he was military.  Is there a branch that handles bee invasions?  Have I mentioned how I love 4 and 3/4?

        

Oh No!!  Look who has a helmet!  (Maybe he thought he was going to paint!).