John, Laura, Kyle, Christopher (CJ) and Alyssa Mullen

Tuesday: Green water in the bathtub

Because I know that Daddy is missing bathtime the most....here is a shot of today. Mom put green tablets in the water to make a green ocean for the bath. Less screaming, not necessarily more cooperation ensued but such is life when mom does baths. Mom is obviously not up to snuff, not nearly as great and wonderful as Dad by any means.

We miss you, Dad!

Monday: Doing Better

Kyle is doing much better today. He was up and around with his brother this morning. He has been eating and drinking and playing. No more fever, no more stomache or nausea. Just Kyle back to his old self.

CJ finds that running the Thomas trains on his race car track is much easier. They don't fall off the track and upset him that way.

Sunday: A little peace and quiet????

No picture of Kyle today. He is sick as can be. He has some sort of virus and has spend since 1:15am lying in bed or throwing up. He is sleeping as of this post.

CJ being the good little brother that he is...decided today was the day to play drums...you know...help brother feel better...not think of his tummy by giving him a headache. :-) Seriously, CJ didn't play that loud and we had it downstairs. He got into his drumming. Future musician, I think.

Saturday: A day for seriousness...for the boys that is....

Here I am in my new shirt from Kohl's in front of the new valence in our bedroom. Mom took the bedskirt that came with the comforter set and sewed a valence and table runners for our bedside tables. There was still some fabric left so we are making pillows!

Kyle was telling me a story and I caught him in a serious pose. He was very intent on telling how Kyle took his Supertrain to get a lawnmower to help Daddy give the grass a haircut.

CJ got mad at me today and I was tickled at his expression. A serious day for both boys. He pushes his hand at you and says "UH!" when he is mad. I shouldn't laugh, but it is so cute!

Friday: Enjoying our Trains

CJ is playing with an assortment of trains while being amused by Older brother who is performing The Polar Express on the black recliner.

The recliner is the black polar express engine, the white curtain rod is the brake and the lever on the side of the recliner that make the chair extend are the way to make the train turn right or left. Very imaginative. Kyle's been driving the recliner all evening.

Thursday: Back from Preschool

Kyle made a bird feeder in preschool today (a pine cone rolled in peanut butter and birdseed). He wanted to hang it up as soon as we got home. It is on the lowest most scraggly branch but he did it himself.

CJ really likes the little bicycle that Kyle got on his second birthday --- but I guess it is the right time for it. He doesn't like to pedal either...uses foot on the ground power just like big brother USED to....

Last Check of the Night on the Boys --- Surprise!

I went upstairs to tuck the boys in .... I had rocked and sang and put them to bed hours earlier and after my shower, I went up to make sure all was well. This was the sight that greeted me. Two little boys who tucked themselves into bed.

Tuesday - Fun in the Backyard

Kyle is cooking "hot chocolate" for Daddy and Mommy --- I'll be generous and send it all airmail to Daddy in Chicago. :-)
Good stuff...made with the BEST dirt in the yard!

CJ loves to climb INTO the sandbox...much more fun than simply playing in the sand with sandtools or trucks...that way you have a "beachlike" experience. CJ's a connisseur.

Monday: Bounce House Day

The boys love their Christmas Bounce House and wanted it dragged out and played with today.

CJ having fun

Kyle's new game --- throw the blanket up in the air and then jump and see where everything lands.

Kyle and CJ watching Dora the Explorer

A new found show favorite --- Dora seems to have caught the boys' attention. Interesting show --- especially watching Kyle yell at the TV when Dora asks him a question. Very cute response.

Dad landed at 7:07 in Chicago (FOUR HOURS after he was supposed to...see post below).

Now, I am off to grade papers and eat dinner. Tired momma signing off.

Tracking John's Flight

A comedy of errors. . . John's flight was supposed to leave at 1:30 and ended up not taking off until 5:30. He was at the airport from 12:30 until then and wasn't the happiest of campers. Looks like he will arrive at 7:04 or so...we'll see!

Picking Daddy Up from the Airport

We got to the airport at 7:00 and Dad's plane didn't land until 7:40 so the boys and mom roamed the non-security areas of the airport. Kyle especially loved the baggage claim area and played around the carousels. He pretended the suitcases were attacking him as they came off the belt and then at one carousel he chased a suitcase around and around. The airport worker told me that she was supposed to pull the suitcase but since Kyle was having so much fun, she'd wait. :-)

When Dad finally came through the gates, the boys were THRILLED and ready to both be held by daddy at the same time!

Wednesday --- time for serious driving

Kyle in deep concentration on his bike --- notice the tongue.

CJ doing some REAL driving!

Tuesday Hi-Jinks

CJ took advantage of Kyle being busy with Mommy and got BOTH grocery carts. Pushing two at once proved an interesting challenge, but he managed it just fine (except when the wheel came off the back of the second cart -- had to throw the wheel in frustration!)

Kyle worked on his Cubbie lesson for this week --- it involved cutting out hearts with scissors. They turned out very modern art cubical versions of hearts --- very Picasso stylistically. That's our budding artistic genius in the works.

At the park

Just for Dad, I am going to try to post pictures of his best buds every day! Here are today's installments. Cute capturings if I do say so myself.

Kyle climbing up the curved ladder at the big slide.

CJ standing in the sandbox.

John is off on the first of two business trips

John left for a convention to Las Vegas and won't be back until Thursday --- then he is off again. This time to Chicago for two weeks. Guess that means I get to be a single mom for a time. Hopefully we will all survive this one :-). It is exciting for John to have a new career and in his field of interest. I know he is WAY more interested in this job than any other before and I know he will enjoy it! After all, a job that sends him right away to Las Vegas and then sends him on a second trip.....How can it go wrong?

The Redecorations Continue

What's a Christmas break without redoing the whole house?

Anyway, John had fun moving all the rooms upstairs around. The old office/guestroom is now CJ and Kyle's room. Kyle's old room is now the guest/Barbie room, and CJ's old room is now (temporarily) the office. (I say temporarily because eventually it will be a nursery again. . . In August we are going to try for a girl...we'll see...).
Anyway, it meant moving EVERYTHING around and I know that is definitely John's favorite thing. We painted the boys room and moved them in together. Now, our evenings are spent going up there every 15 mintues and saying, "Go to BED!". The joys of siblings --- they needed to experience it. :-)

Here's the boys room. This is Kyle's bed viewed from the door.

Here's CJ's side of the room.

This is the office --- we left up the border because it was soooo hard to put up and we thought in case God gifted us with another boy...then it would save time later on... :-) However, Laura is hoping against hope that it will have to be taken down in favor of something pink. Told John to think GIRL for the next EIGHT months!

Here is the boys' part of the office. They have a desk filled with crayons and workbooks so they can "work" too.

Here is the guest room. The quilt really goes well with the walls we painted....last Christmas....for Kyle. :-) (And of course, everything goes well with Barbies...although CJ has chosen to remove the bottom ones of the shelves a couple of times....he doesn't seem to understand that Barbies' don't like to ride in trucks!)