Choo Choo Cam

We've got a great friend who lives in Oregon named Sarah. She's got two great boys, ages 7 and 5, and they were at one time obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine. As things go, the Thomas has been replaced by Nintendo DS. Because of this, we were able to score an amazing deal on all of their old Thomas stuff. When my dad came this week, he brought a train table, more track than we know what to do with, and engines, cars, and planes... oh my! To say that Cam was excited is the understatement of the year. Yeah... it was great to see grandpa, but as soon as the Thomas stuff was uncovered, that was it. He didn't want to eat, go outside, take a bath... he just wanted his trains! Here are a couple of pictures I snapped the other day... they're not that great, but you can get the idea.

OK... I'm officially a soccer mom.

So, Serayah had her very first soccer practice today. I don't know how naturally talented she is, but what she may lack in talent, she more than makes up for with enthusiasm! She had so much fun, and actually did a great job of listening to Coach Brian give directions. When it was time to run, let me tell you... she RAN! The team has either 6 or 7 kids, ages 4-5, and Serayah's the tallest (go Neiss genes!). Coach Brian used to be our next-door neighbor, and two of his kids, Maddie and Garrett, are on the team with Serayah, so not only did she get to play with them, she made new boy-friends, and loved it. Her first game is this Saturday, so you can be sure that I'll be taking pictures and posting all about it.

Cam and Daddy played at the playground for most of the practice, but when they came over, Cam was trying to get in on the action...

Hope you enjoy the pictures, we sure had a great time!

Bubbles bubbles everywhere!

Well, "It's a beautiful day to play outside" as Serayah told me, so the kids had lots of fun blowing bubbles in the backyard... here are a few quick pics I snapped of them having fun. Enjoy!

Child Q&A

Hi everyone... So my friend Dede posted this (or a variation) on her blog, with a request from other mommies to do to the same. I'd done this on Facebook a few weeks ago, so here's my Q&A session w/ Serayah from then.. I re-asked some of the questions and got some different responses, and posted them... some of them were too funny to ask again (the dishwasher response is my favorite!). Any of you other mommies should do this too... It sure made me happy to hear Serayah's answers, and I'd love to read any of the responses you get from your own children...

Enjoy!

1. What is something Mom always says to you? I love you, and I love you so much
2. What makes Mom happy? Um... cleaning up... so put clean up there
3. What makes Mom sad? Um.. like throwing tantrums... so put that on there
4. How does your Mom make you laugh? Because you laugh and giggle and tickle me!
5. What was your Mom like as a child? Um... you liked to ride your bike.
6. How old is your Mom? Ummm. 29? (I love my kid)
7. How tall is your Mom? (I'm 5 foot 3 1/2) Umm (I'm sitting down, she puts her hand up to my head and says) You're this tall
8. What is her favorite thing to do? To take pictures... you love taking pictures, Momma
9. What does your Mom do when you're not around? You will be sad
10. If your Mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Bowling ?Didn't really get this one...
11. What is your Mom really good at? Good at playing games, like hopscotch and pencil and chalk games
12. What is your Mom not very good at? Umm... Ummm... (never got an answer...I'm great at everything, don't you know)
13. What does your Mom do for her job? Your job is to vacuum and give Cam spankings (great)
14. What is your Mom's favorite food? Chinese! It's very tasty. (huh?)
15. What makes you proud of your Mom? Like when you put everything in the dishwasher.
16. If your Mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? You can be Tom, and Cam can be Jerry
17. What do you and your Mom do together? Go on dates and play games
18. How are you and your Mom the same? You're a momma, and I'll be a momma when I get big
19. How are you and your Mom different? Because I'm Serayah and I'm 4, and you're bigger. But Daddy's the tallest.
20. How do you know your Mom loves you? Because you're my mom, and I'm your little girl! (Ah... if it were only that simple)
21. Where is your Mom's favorite place to go? To Moab

Happy Easter

Hi everyone....
Here are a few pictures I took of the kids finding eggs in the backyard... Enjoy!

That's what I get for bragging..

I had said that we were so lucky. We'd escaped winter without 1 trip to the Dr.'s office. I was cocky... I shouldn't have been.

Serayah's had a very high off/on fever for over a week now, and we'd taken her to our doctor, who had said that it was viral and there wasn't really anything we could do. Well, a couple nights later, she woke up miserable and screaming w/ a temp of 104.3º at 2 in the morning, and I ended up taking her in. She'd developed a "horrendous" ear infection and bronchitis, which apparently are bacterial and can be treated w/ antibiotics, for which we got a prescription. She's feeling better now... fever's greatly reduced, and she's acting more like herself. Of course, now Cam's got a raging fever, and Art and I are getting sick. Sigh. It'll teach me to brag.

I hate it when my little ones are sick.. they don't understand what's wrong and just want to be cuddled and snuggled. I wish I could do more to help them, but all of you who've had kids know what I'm talking about.

I'm also posting a pic I took the other day of Cam and his daddy crashed after a long hide-and-seek session. I love my guys!

Pictures

I have some truly fabulous friends. Not only are they funny, warm, caring, a shoulder to wail on when your 2 year old is trying to destroy the house bit by bit, they are also insanely talented! I'm also smart (conniving?) enough to be able to count a massage therapist, fabulous stylist, and amazing photographer as dear friends.

While we were in Roseburg last week, my friend Sheila (http://www.sheilanielsenphoto.com/) took time out of her crazy life to truck out to a field and take our pictures. We had a great time, and her kiddos and ours (who get along like PB&J) had a blast playing and picking flowers. While we were playing, Sheila was just snapping away... I don't think anyone has ever had more fun getting family pictures done! I don't have the pictures yet, but I took the liberty of stealing these off of her blog, so you could get a sneak peek... Enjoy... we sure did! (and I've got to say that the one of Cam looking absolutely ornery is my favorite... We see that look a lot at our house!)

Happy St. Paddy's Day

I walked into my living room (conveniently carrying my camera, don't you know), and would you believe it? There were a couple of Leprechauns on my couch! The typically elusive little guys were able to be caught on camera, and I'm posting genuine proof of my sighting!

The next great photographer

Serayah took this tonight. All I did was crop it a tiny bit. I didn't think this was too bad for a 4 year old!

How do they do it?

Well, last night I was really happy to get to bed relatively early. The kiddos were both asleep, and I was just really tired for some reason, so I was going to zonk out right along with them. Unfortunately, things rarely turn out the way you want them too.

Serayah got hit really hard with some awful tummy bug. I won't go into detail, but just say that the sick-bowl and the toilet were both used a lot... I had changed the sheets once, and we were back in bed (I was laying down with her in hopes to get the bowl to her quickly enough to avoid a big mess... you know how it is), and she had just fallen asleep. I closed my eyes, and heard a piercing scream from Cam's room. Why, oh why did Art have to work last night? I looked at the clock. 12:15. Great. I stumbled into see what was going on, and ended up staying with him for an hour. He kept saying his tummy hurt, and would toss and turn, then sleep for like 4 minutes, then wake back up wanting me. No idea what was going on there, but I didn't want to risk him throwing-up too, so I wanted to make sure he was OK.

I'd just about gotten him settled when Serayah started crying. Crap. I book it into her room, and the poor thing was just sitting in the middle of our bed getting so sick and just shaking. She was worried that I was going to be mad at her (which broke my heart). I got the shower going, and her stripped and in it, while I stripped down the bed and cleaned up. Miraculously, Cam decided all was well after this, and was sleeping. Whatever... I'll take small favors in whatever form they take.

I get Serayah in her 4th pair of PJ's, and we come downstairs and snuggle up on the couch. Thankfully, my dad's here, so I had him come up and sleep in Serayah's bed to keep an ear out for Cam, so I could take care of Serayah and not wake her up during the little bits she was sleeping. I think it was 2:30 or so by then. Serayah finally stopped getting sick around 3:30, and she seems to be feeling better (but not great) this morning. Art came in around 7:00, and my dad told me to go to bed and try and get some sleep, and that he'd take care of Cam when he woke up. God bless my dad. I was able to sleep 'till 10:3o.

This just made me realize how lucky I am to have a husband (yeah, he's on nights right now, but usually he's here during the night, and is more that willing to help clean-up and get up with sick kids (or mommies, for that matter)), and a dad who are so great. There are so many single parents that have multiple kids, and I just don't know how they keep it together to take care of sick kids through the night, then get up and face the day, without any help or support.

I think we're in trouble....

Cam's Dance Class

As promised, here are a few quick snaps from Cam's Thursday morning dance class. He's in a class full of babes. He had some competition with another little boy this week, but he's still got Tanner and Dianni in his sights.

He actually really enjoys the class. It usually takes him a few minutes before he jumps in, but fun is always had by all. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Cam Marching
Tanner

Cam eyeing Tanner (He's got a major crush)

Cam's dancing so fast, he's a blur!

Miss Dianni

Cam, practicing his rolls

Cam... giving Dianni a hand with her roll

Bowling Fun

Yesterday, my dad and I took the kids bowling after Cam got out of his dance class (I'll be posting pictures from that pretty soon). The kids had a lot of fun... Serayah was thrilled no matter what happened. Pins fell... Pins didn't fall... It was all good to her. I hurled a gutter-ball, and she came running up to me "High Five, Momma! Great job! You did it!". Always good to have a cheerleader. Cam had fun too... for the first 4 balls. Then he was bored. The machine that dispenses bowling stuff was a lot more entertaining. Oh well... it was nap time, and he was pretty tired. All in all we had a great time. As we left, Serayah looked bummed. I asked what was wrong, and she said "Momma? I want to live at the bowling alley!". Ahhh... the dreams one has at the ripe old age of 4 1/2.

Oh, and we made a 1/2 birthday cake for Serayah today. Cam's was on Valentine's day, and we made him one too... I guess its the start of a new tradition.

Enjoy the pics! You can see how much they loved cheering for each other.

Bath time fun

Here are a few shots I took of the kids in the bath yesterday. As you can tell from the back of teh tub, the new bathtub markers have been popular! They really wanted to wear the swim goggles... but Cam took his off after a minute or two. Poor Serayah's face still doesn't look too great, but it's getting better!

We had a bad day.

Well, yesterday our good friend MaryAnne had a surprise 30th birthday party. The kids and I went (& I know she was really surprised), ate cake, then left. We walked out to the parking lot, and I opened Cam's door and was buckling him in. Serayah ran (after I had just gotten done talking about not running) to the other side, and I suddenly heard a thud... followed by screaming. Crap. I ran over, and Serayah was laying face down on the asphalt, screaming. She'd slipped on some ice and done a header onto the parking lot. Her princess glasses (which, as you may recall, we had just gotten replacement frames for last week after she'd done a header off the arm of the couch) were shattered, and she had blood in her hair, but I was able to get her calmed down and in her car seat.

I drove back home, and we rushed inside to better assess the damage. After giving some Tylenol and using the pretty princess boo-boo freezer pad, she was curled up in my lap on the couch, and things seemed to be going OK. My dad, who's here from Oregon, went upstairs to get the kids jammies, and Cam went up after him. All of a sudden, I hear a Thud... Thunk.... Thud.... I (unfortunately) had heard that one before, and jumped up... chucked Serayah on the couch and ran to the stairs. Crap. Cam had taken a header down them. Not good.

Fortunately, Cam is made of rubber, and after some Tylenol for him and some cuddling, he was right as rain in about 5 minutes. My heart returned back to normal about an hour later, and I was afraid to let the kids do anything else for the rest of the night. Sigh.

Well, we were pleasantly surprised this morning to see that Serayah didn't look like she'd gone 8 rounds with the champ, and that CPS wouldn't be called in for child abuse if a neighbor saw her. We really thought she'd end up with a shiner of astronomical proportions, but it doesn't look too bad. The picture actually looks better than it is, 'cause you can't tell how swollen it is when she's posed like that.

Cam wanted in on the photo op, so he returned to the scene of the crime, and posed for me on the stairs.

The other shot is a random one from Serayah the other day...