Pot Pies Galore!

Well, I haven't been home for dinner all week, so I decided to go overboard and fix meals for 6 dinners! Actually, we had a big turkey dinner on Valentine's day, so I knew I would be making turkey pot pies this week.

And when I make pot pies--I make a huge pot of filling so I can make 4-8 pies. I got tired today, so I only made 6--although I had plenty of filling. We will just eat the leftover filling as a stew.

So the extra pies and filling will go into the freezer for meals later in the next couple of months.

It usually only takes me a couple of hours to make this many pot pies, but Emmalee was still a bit sick and Benjamin was fussier today and needed to be held--I mean literally. It took me almost 5 hours with all my interruptions! He would cry (tears and all) if I wasn't holding him. He finally took a short nap so I got the 12 pounds of potatoes peeled & cubed. Then I made the pie crusts after the children got home from school.

So this was the product of my busy day.

Callum's Physical Therapy

Friday was therapy day for Callum. For those reading this blog that don't know Callum's background, he has developmental delays due to lack of oxygen at birth (that's a whole different story that I need to blog some day). Anyways, in addition to the therapy he receives at school, we take him to town for physical & occupational therapies 2 times a month.

He usually starts on the treadmill.

He walks, jogs, runs, goes on an incline and ends by walking backwards and sideways. (nice bunny ears!) He does sit ups (for trunk strength)--and he is being timed. He did 20 in 40 seconds (I know I can't do that!) Way to go Callum!!!
He climbs a 3-story rock wall each session. There is a doorbell to ring at the very top and he did that one time--about 2 years ago when he 1st began climbing it & was pulled up.

This is the highest he has climbed on his own (w/o being pulled up) and if he is pulled up, he panics, becomes terrified, and lets go. We have tried every kind of bribe to get him to climb higher--candy bars, drinks out of vending machine, milk shakes, pizzas, even Subway (his favorite place to eat)--but nothing works.

Well, on Friday Aunt Pamela was with him and she told him that she would climb the wall if he made it to the top and rang the doorbell. ....

And he surprised everyone because he kept climbing...... and

Climbing, and giggling (while Aunt Pamela shrieked "No--no--don't go higher!!)....and CLIMBING!!!

Until he reached the top--he couldn't quite reach the doorbell at first, but took on last step and--yep--rang that doorbell. Everyone at therapy cheered so loudly (I'm not sure if Aunt Pamela was cheering or not).
So Aunt Pamela had to harness up (all the while trying to talk her way out of climbing), and finally tried to climb.

She was laughing way too much to do much but take a step or two--but for Callum it was worth it to have his Aunt Pamela try something she said she was terrified of doing! She was/is such a good sport!!

Ethan chipped his front tooth--for the second time--Thursday the 12th of February at basketball practice. 3 years ago (almost to the day) he ran into the wall during PE class and chipped the tooth. On Thursday he didn't run into the wall--he hit his mouth on a teammate's shoulder (chip on shoulder?) and the tooth broke off. Thankfully, the coach found the piece of tooth. This happened at 5 pm, so I quickly called the dentist. They said that unless he was in a lot of pain, to wait until Friday to fix it.

Friday was therapy day for Callum so we took everyone into town (except Brienna who was at sewing club). He got into the dentist at noon, and they finished about 1.

Doesn't it look much better???

One good looking teenager! Your teeth look much nicer!

He's our driver in town--he needs all the driving experience in town so he can get used to driving in traffic!
We grabbed a pizza and met up with Rusty so we could pile the children into his truck. Rusty was a wonderful husband and took Ethan, Zane, Callum & Emmalee home in his truck so I could stay in town with Benjamin & Pamela to finish our shopping.

Ethan made it back in time to catch the bus to his basketball game. The numbness wore off before they arrived to play their game. So I guess he just dribbled the ball--not any slobber!!

School Valentine's Parties

Thursday was the kids' Valentine's parties (since we have a 4-day school week, Thursday is our Friday!). Here are the cookies we made for the family--we have long names in our family, so I either needed to make bigger cookies, or have a smaller decorating tip! And I don't think that Benjamin will be eating his :)

The boys (Callum & Zane) decorated the cookies for their classmates themselves. Although I only had candy hearts and white piping, each tray of cookies looked different! Here is Callum with his cookies (he looks quite pleased with himself).

And here he is in the classroom making a necklace by wrapping candy in a long piece of saran wrap, and tying a piece of string between the candies.

Looks like he is having a ton of fun! Callum wearing his finished candy necklace (the necklace made it home, but was eaten shortly after!) And here are the cookies that Zane decorated--I guess he wanted to have a lot of the candy hearts!

And here he is in class playing "Do you love your neighbor?" They had a ton of fun. This is a fun class, but very noisy and talkative!

Here are the cookies Emmalee decorated--she put a really thick layer of frosting on the cookies, and placed the hearts with tender loving care. She licked the frosting off the knife after decorating the first cookie, and was ready to frost the 2nd one! I had to quickly tell her that no one else wanted to share that much love!

Emmalee had a little party at pre-school, although I didn't get to her party. They ate cookies and drank juice. But I wanted to show you how cute she is!!!

(Hey--did you notice that I finally changed the date on my camera?)

Teeth

I can't believe that Benjamin is starting to teethe already--he is barely 3 months old, but you can see the white teeth under his bottom gums. He has been a bit cranky (which is unusual for him), but he is happy when he is chewing on his fist or my finger.

I should have know that something was up when he gummed me the past few days while nursing!

Can you seem my teeth yet? Maybe soon (but Mom says not too soon!)

Ethan called me from basketball practice this evening and told me he chipped his tooth--again. Yes, he chipped the same tooth 3 years ago (almost to the day). So I called the dentist and was told if he wasn't in a lot of pain, to wait until tomorrow (Friday) since we have an hour drive to the dentist and it was 5 pm. So I walked to the school to check it out and recover the broken piece. He said it didn't hurt much, just when air hit the bottom part (where the nerve is). So he finished practice and even went to the Valentine's dance tonight.

Nice--huh? I will post photos after it is repaired tomorrow!

My favorite things--by Hillary Weeks

Another fun song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I8FCgaoaG8

To-do list--sung by Hillary Weeks

I loved this--hope it post for me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewmy_8AKkZw

Our Children

Pictures of our Children:

Ethan holding Benjamin (don't look so happy, Ethan!) He's just a typical teenager boy that can't be caught smiling or showing any emotion!

Brienna--painting a wooden heart while her brothers were painting their pinewood derby cars

Zane--holding Benjamin. Zane played lightening (basketball game) at scouts today and won!! Great job, Zane!

Callum loves his baby brother!! He is always giving him hugs and kisses. He has the sweetest heart and can't wait until Benjamin can hug him back!

Our cutie-pie, Emmalee. This is a really good pictures of her because lately she tries to pose for the camera and flashes her "Popeye" smile (w/one side of her mouth up and to the side!).

Baby Benjamin--too cute for his own britches (or diapers). What more do I need to say?

Where are the Photos of Me?

I have been going through pictures from the last few months. And I was realizing that I have very few photos with me (since I am usually taking the pictures!!). I don't necessarily like having my picture taken, but I know that later on I will regret not having pictures with me in them! So I had Brienna take some of me while I was holding Benjamin--but Emmalee didn't want to miss out, so she climbed up too.

Unfortunately the pictures that Brienna took were all blurry or cut my head off. So we tried some self-portraits! Silly me!!

Emmalee "posing" for the picture.

This one actually turned out half-way good!

Emmalee--Mom, are you almost done? Benjamin--Mom, you are silly!

Emmalee-- I'm hiding from the camera--no one can see me this time!

P.S. I really need to change the date on my camera! When I changed batteries, the camera reset and I keep forgetting to change that darn date!

Weekend fun--and cutie Benjamin!

Here is Callum playing Little Bobcat Basketball on Saturday. He looks so small compared to everyone else! But he is doing wonderfully--the other children are really kind to him. He knows when he stops dribbling (after only 3 or 4 dribbles) that he must pass! So here he is, passing the ball to friends.

On Friday while we were in town, he bought a ball (& and a new wallet) with his gift card. He was really proud of being able to spend so much! When we got home, he had to write his name on the ball.

Then after Little Bobcats, he wanted to go to the church to play some more ball. So I told the boys I would take them to play, if they cleaned their bedroom floor (actually put the stuff away, not just put it on the bed, closet, etc.) They gave me 1 1/2 loads of laundry that had been on their floor! So although their room isn't clean, you can see their floor and it is a lot cleaner than it has been. We took the whole family to play ball. I hadn't shot the ball for about 1 year, so I was out of shape!! And missed a ton of shots. Plus I air balled all the 3-point shots I tried to make. I played around the world with the boys, and had so much trouble on the first shot, it wasn't even funny!

After dinner, the boys took showers, so when Emmalee was ready for her bath, there was no hot water left! (thanks brothers!) So she wore her bathrobe for a while until there was more hot water. She was so cute!!

Benjamin is getting soooo big! He has a very healthy appetite, and looks so big for just being 3 months old!. We put him in his new church outfit (size 6-9 month), and he thought he was in style--no jammies today! And how cute is he!