We All Scream For Ice Cream..at the Farm!

While we were "back home" for the week, we spent a day with Aunt C, Cousin A and Cousin M. Uncle Nailbag joined us after work. We spent the morning helping host a yard sale. I guess every summer, their whole town joins together and has two days of yard sales - awesome idea! Aunt C sold a bit but the cousins had a blast selling lemonade. Tater was a great sales woman, calling out, "Lemonade! 50 cents!"

Around lunch , we closed up shop by leaving the yard sale open on the honor system - and believe it or not, Aunt C actually made $1.50 that way! We headed to a local pool to splash and cool off (pics to follow!)

We wrapped up the day with a trip to our favorite ice cream/ dairy farm...in a thunderstorm! The storm hit just as we were about to leave the house and get in the cars - Uncle Nailbag promised it was going to blow over, swearing up and down that the storms always hit on the other side of the Welsh Mountains. Well, he was a bit wrong this time! We drove into the dairy to see another family sitting on the covered porch and staring at us as if to say"See we aren't the only crazy ones!"

We enjoyed some delicious ice cream. Aunt C wrote about it here! Then, as the rain stopped, we headed down to see the animals.

A calf born that morning!

Tater petting a 10-day old pony!

We're Baaack!

Well, we took a bit of a break from blogging and enjoyed a ton of family time. I know you all weren't happy about not getting your daily updates from The House Of Sprout...and obviously, G-Baby wasn't either!

I have lots to share and only a few days to post. I'm leaving Monday for a girls' week and don't know how my Internet access will be. Daddy will be home with the kids (well, G-Baby and Bruiser...Tater's going to Papa and Mimi's)...any bets on whether he will post or not? LOL!

When It Rains, It Pours!

We are on vacation at the grandparents' houses. And, yes, that is plural! Daddy and Bruiser are at Pop-Pop and Memaws while I'm at Mimi and Papa's with Tater and Miss Wiggles.

We arrived on Saturday with a schedule of who's house we planned to be at and when. It all started out great. We spent Saturday night with Mimi and Papa. Sunday the entire family gathered and we enjoyed Bruiser's first train ride (pictures and stories to follow!). We visited with a high school friend of mine and her family. After a late picnic, we headed to Pop-Pop and Memaw's for the night.

We went to bed a bit late with visions of the train museum and another train ride fresh on our minds. Miss Wiggles woke up around 3:30 (yes, AM!) for a bottle *sigh* and then, just as I drifted off to sleep again, Bruiser woke up screaming and then began to vomit *yuck*!

Needless to say, we didn't make it to the train museum and we didn't make it back to bed. In fact, by 6:00 (again, AM), Daddy wasn't feeling well either. I ended up packing both girls up and heading back to my parents' house, hoping to avoid the germs.

That was Monday. Bruiser seems to finally be on the mend and Daddy is even starting to feel better after a rough day and night. Whatever that bug was, it was a nasty one.

And that has been our vacation. Definitely not the ideal vacation but it should improve...we hope! Plans for trains on Thursday and an old-fashioned amusement park on Friday are in the works...say prayer that everyone stays healthy!

Oh, and to top it all off, Tater had a major allergic reaction to Uncle J's cat this evening, with a swollen face, itchy eyes, and stuffy nose...CVS to the rescue! But it gets better...I threw my back out this afternoon and forgot my muscle relaxers back home!

Really, could anything else go wrong? They say bad things come in 3s, right? Stomach bug, allergies, and bad back...we should be all set!

A Week With the Family!

We have had a crazy-busy week at Mimi and Papa's - hence the reason for no posts! We head home Sunday but are taking Mimi and Papa with us, so I might be a bit slack on blogging still...but I do plan to upload some pics to catch you all up!

We arrived on Sunday after crazy Mommy flew with all three children by herself. Daddy took us to the gate and Papa met us on the other end - a real life-saver! All three did great on the flight. Tater watched a video, Bruiser played cars and G-Baby just observed. The only problem we had was when Bruiser had to put up the tray for landing and he wasn't done playing - we had a bit of screaming. He also worried every time the plane would dip a bit "We fall, Momma?"

We also struggled a bit getting off the plane. I never received as many dirty looks as I did flying with three children - but we fooled them all! My kids were better behaved than the grown-ups! One woman actually tried to put her carry-on out in the aisle between Tater and me as we were unboarding. What did she think? Was I really going to let her get off before me, and in between Tater and me? Not so much! Crazy people!

So we visited with aunts and uncles on Sunday, went to the playground on Monday (Note to self: A playground with no other children means "no fun" to Tater!), played at Mimi's school on Tuesday, stayed home on Wednesday, went to Target and visited Nana and Pap on Thursday, and spent the day with Aunt C and cousins on Friday (pool, ice cream, yard sales, and Pop-Pop!). Tomorrow we are off to meet Uncle J's new kitten, Griffin. Pics to follow soon!

Blog-cation!

We are currently visiting Mimi and Papa and enjoying a break from the norm! Regular posting will return in a few days!

Artful Creations By Tater!

I broke down the other day and broke out the playdough! Don't you hate the playdough mess? But here are a few of Tater's creations. Bruiser made some things too but destroyed them while I was turning the camera on!

Tater has been taking swim lessons at the high school pool ... for free! Can't beat that! But have had a bit of a problem...

I had originally signed her up for a 10 am class - great! Then Bruiser was invited to join a class through his early intervention - right at the time of Tater's lessons. So I called the rec center to see if I could change her swim lesson. Oh, yes, they said, no problem! So now we go at ... 8AM!!! The water is cold in the pool at anytime but can you imagine 8am? So I bribed her! "Go in the pool and I'll take your picture for the blog." (And it worked!) I also offered up Munchkins - magic!

So here are the bribery pictures! Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

What I Learned This Week

I am finally re-joining Jo-Lynne at Musing of a Housewife for What I Learned This Week! It's amazing how easily you can get off track...especially in the summer!

1. I learned that I can survive with three children for an entire week without Daddy - and actually enjoy it!

2. I learned that five days of full-day VBS is too much for a child with a fragile immune system. Tater is in a full relapse with her kidney disease and we are saying crazy prayers that she is better by Sunday (when I fly alone with the three children to Papa and Mimi's).

3. I learned that when you call the airline in a panic and ask if Daddy can get a gate pass because you are traveling alone with three children 4 and under, the airline is just as panic as you! It's amazing how easily we got the gate pass - I should have done this sooner!

4. I learned that Bruiser can be excited to see his school and then refuse to get out of the car.

5. I learned there is nothing better than hearing Tater say her own prayer at dinner because she learned how to talk to God at VBS!

"Dear God, You are great. Thank you for this food. Thank you for helping Daddy make the food. That's it!"

6. I learned that I love the freedom of Daddy being back so I can run errands and go for walks without kids!

7. I learned that the kids really can entertain themselves for a bit while I read.

8. I learned that G-Baby is growing up way to fast - she loves to be on the ground and moving (not real crawling yet!) all around.

9. I so use this blog for bribery - "If you do swim lessons, I'll take picture and put it on the blog!"

10. I remembered that I LOVE SUMMER VACATION!

Our Little Helper!

We're starting them young at The House of Sprout! Even G-Baby pitches in with the laundry!

Or was she trying to climb IN the laundry?

Summer Swim!

We had our first chance to fill the pool and splash away in our backyard today. Everyone, and I mean everyone enjoyed the summer weather! Bruiser actually melted when it was time to come in - he enjoyed the pool so much!

This was before G-Baby found the leaves to chew on!

Love that smile!

I think there might have been a leaf behind that toy!

Tater making a bridge

Even Shadow joined us out side.

And this is where I got to sit and read a WHOLE magazine!

Lunch Time!

VBS Re-Cap and Prayer Request

Tater spent her first week at Vacation Bible School at our church...and she had a blast! The program is awesome - they bring in counselors from within our synod and run it all day for five days. I dropped her off between 8 and 9 in the morning and picked her up between 4 and 5 in the evening. There was lots of learning, singing, eating and playing! Like I said... she had a blast! She couldn't wait to get out of the house in the morning and was never ready to leave when I got there. My social butterfly had no separation anxiety and even helped her friends, who had a few sad moments.

She learned some great songs about a shark and a peach and gorilla - ask her the next time you see her! They made rockets, robots, gak, tie-dye t-shirts, and flowers. They had supper-cool slip and slide races - definitely the hit if the week!

Even with all that, there was a downside - Tater is exhausted! She came home each evening and crashed on the couch, ate a good dinner, and was in bed (asleep!) by 7. And I think it all took a real toll on her. She started with a low-grade temperature on Wednesday and is now spilling protein. Those of you who know Tater's history know that this means she is relapsing and is back on Prednisone. Say a little prayer for her! And I have to say, this scares me a bit - if one week did this to her, what's going to happen when she's in school full-time? Yikes!

Wordless Wednesday - Flutterby!

Hiking the Trail...Sort Of!

Tater has been asking Daddy to take her on a hike since last summer - more like begging him! So, Sunday we headed to a local state park to check out the trails and see what we could explore. Admission to the park is free and it was a nice weekend (finally!), so it was a bit crowded - not a good place for three busy toddlers! Then we couldn't find any trails...maybe there weren't any! So we walked through the picnic areas and explored the lake a bit. There were enough trees and rocks for Tater and Bruiser to think they were hiking! So it all worked out!

Gotta love the glasses!

Daddy and the kids

Daddy and Bruiser

G-Baby!

Tater Tot!

Walking the path - see how far ahead Bruiser was?

Re-Cap of the Fourth!

We spent the 4th at our friend's mother's house - which is a block from the beach! This is the second year we made this trek and we hope it becomes tradition! We go early in the morning and spend the day at the beach, enjoying the sun, breezes, rocks, and patches of sand (you'll understand when you see the pictures!). Then we head back to the house for a picnic with our friend's family. The kids run around like crazy, the adults relax, and a good time is had by all!

This was G-Baby's first visit to the beach ... and she loved it! She lounged in her stroller the entire afternoon and just watched the waves - not a single fuss! Bruiser played his standard role of "seagull" hovering over anyone who had food, waiting for scraps to drop! He had a blast splashing in two little puddles Daddy made for him. And Tater enjoyed jumping the waves and splashing with her adopted pet-for-a-day, Oakley!