Easter Egg Hunt Number One

With a balmy high temperature of 38 degrees in the forecast, we packed up the crew in the warmest clothes possible and set out for our first Easter Egg Hunt of the season (we have another one next weekend). If you have never been to an Easter Egg Hunt in Chicagoland (I am not sure if they are done differently in other parts of the country) there is not much hunting involved. This one consisted of 15,000 eggs and maybe a thousand or so people. As you can see from the pictures, the eggs are not hidden, they are strewn across a large park. Now you have to get there at 9:45 a.m. for a hard 10:00 am start. We got there by 9:45 and the kids were already lined up waiting for air horn to sound so we park as quickly as possible and got to the starting line at about 9:50 and then waited for the longest ten minutes of Tyler's short life. The air horn sounded and the kids rushed the park with parents filming and cheering their every move and then by 10:01 am, it's all over. Tyle has his ten eggs and Mia is wondering why we just went through this painful exercise of putting her in her snowsuit strapping her in the stroller, standing outside shivering for 10 minutes, trekking back to the car and removing the snowsuit but mommy hooked her up with a warm bottle in the car so it was all good and Tyler was thrilled to with his ten eggs and gorged on candy all the way home (did I mention it was only 10:05 am?)

Here is a picture Tyler and Grammy doing puzzles this afternoon.

March 14 (con't)

So after waking up from his nap and being a little shocked that the mess was still all over the kitchen floor waiting for him to clean up, Tyler took about 30 minutes to quietly ponder his next move. When he finally realized that either he was going to clean it up or have a very boring afternoon so he says to me, "Ty is going to pick up this mess right now." And he really did sit there for a good 10 minutes picking up every piece. Now hopefully, he will think twice before he decides to do it again but I know better than to ever try to figure out what my children are going to do next. For now I will consider the exercise a success...

The Battle of Wills

If you have a strong-willed 2-year old, you can relate to the ongoing battle of wills. While I was feeding Mia lunch, Tyler decided he wanted some attention so he dumped a box containing a thousand foam pieces, that we use for crafts, on the kitchen floor. This is not the first time he has done this but I am trying to make it the last. He did this about an hour before his nap and I told him that until he picks up every last piece, he will not play outside, he will not watch any tv and he will not go to the library this afternoon. The pieces are still on the floor. He just walks around them like they aren't there. So we will see what happens when he wakes up from his nap but I can tell you that I am not picking them up so we will see..

Stay tuned...

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today was Mike's 38th birthday. He had an early meeting at the house so I took the kids shopping to get decorations and food for dinner and then Tyler and I decorated with streamers, balloons and of course a Dora tablecloth and Diego party hats - just what Daddy always dreamed of for his birthday! Actually, I think Mike had a pretty great birthday. Tyler just kept singing Happy Birthday to him and telling him what we had planned. It's fun now that Ty really gets into it. (In the background, you can see our paint selection process on the walls.)


Mia trying cheesecake for the first time. She was so tired by this point though I think she was just placating us.


Here is Tyler with Magee, our surrogate puppy. He is actually our neighbor's puppy. I take Tyler over and they tire each other out. Neither minds getting dirty or romping in the mud. Thank goodness for Crocs!!!

March 11 - 12

Playing Dress-Up...
Enjoying the First Above Freezing Day in Months...
The Simple Pleasure of Feeling Sand Between Your Toes...

Happy Birthday Chase!

Here is our nephew Chase's 10th birthday party. He is such a cutie. I love the neo-hippie style on boys. It's so hard to believe that when I first met Chase 6 years ago he had a crush on me. At that point I was just another one of Uncle's Mike's girlfriends. Now I am Aunt Keli and not quite so exciting.

For everyone who has been praying for Mia. She is doing so much better. I think she has kicked this virus once and for all.

February 29 - March 4

And we are still homebound..

I finally bit the bullet on Friday and took the kids to the doctor. It's not that I have anything against taking the kids to the doctor. It is just such a cesspool of germs that I feel like every time we go they end up worse off than they were to begin with. Anyway, Tyler had an ear and sinus infection and his ear tube was completely blocked so he was sent home with antibiotics and at this point was Mia was sick but it seemed like it was just a cold. She had fluid in both ears but not infected. However, the dr says to me, "I am sure we will see you back next week ." Great words of hope and encouragement, Doc. Now it's important to note that Tyler is very tough. Nothing bothers him. I think if he was really into playing and he broke his leg, he would just keep playing until he was paralyzed in pain but he is sensitive about his ears. I assume because of all the infections and the ear drops have been a nightmare. The first two days were the worst but he was literally hysterical. It was just awful to have to pin him down and put these drops in his ears because he just screamed and screamed. So Easter Bunny had to come and visit a little early and drop off some special Easter eggs for good little boys who get their ear drops. This is working better. He still shrinks back in terror when he sees me coming with the ear drops but he is at least not screaming at the top of his lungs..
Now I come to our little drama queen. Mia got worse all weekend culminating in a horrific scene Sunday night. She was just inconsolable Sunday evening. She would just look at me and bawl her eyes out nothing relaxed her, nothing soothed her. We tried every medicine and contemplated taking her to the emergency room in case she had a blown ear drum or something (that is seriously how bad the crying was). Finally, Daddy to the rescue. Here is Mia and Daddy watching Wedding Crashers together.. The Magic Touch I guess.

So Monday morning I took her to the Peds again and she has RSV and an ear infection. She is wheezing and has compromised lung function so she is on breathing treatments every four hours and really isn't sleeping much but I think she is improving. Please include her in your prayers. So needless to say, we are still homebound. Probably until at least Friday when she goes to the doctor's again. Here are some pictures of Tyler, our little computer prodigy. He has learned how to use the touchpad and drag and drop so he is like a little wizard on the computer now.
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Tyler helping Daddy paint!


On Sunday night, we were saying our prayers at dinner and as usual we asked Tyler who he wanted to pray for and he said, "Mia." So we prayed for Mia and then ended our prayer with Amen. Tyler says to me, "What does Amen mean?" "Why do we say Amen?" So he has started asking us why this, why that but this was the first one where I was like - oh no, here we go. Mike says to me, "You better get busy learning this kind of stuff!" We googled it and I think I gave him a satisfactory answer.. for the time being at least.. Stumped by a two-year old.