Happy Birthday Spencer!

Today Spencer is 5 years old! It doesn't seem like that many years have passed. Seems like yesterday I went in to have him. I had a nurse that didn't believe anything that I told her and then regretted it greatly in the end. (ie. I told her my water broke, she said it didn't, but when they went to break my water, it wasn't there!!! Oh, and when I said that he was coming out and they said no he's not and then looked down and...guess what?...he was coming out!!!) It was an adventure.

Today is a small celebration. He opened his birthday cards from family members (thanks everyone) and I took him to Fred Meyer and he got to pick out something special for lunch. He chose corndogs and Ho-Ho's. We are going to have an official b-day party Wednesday with Grandma and Grandpa Nelson with the gifts and cake etc., so we stacked the hoho's up and stuck a candle in it for him today. He also got to talk to Grandma Teese on the phone this morning, but he really just giggled at her. My kids aren't very big on talking on the phone. So, Thursday I will post some pictures and the report on his goods he got from his party.

This weekend Travis had the weekend off, so we went back to Seattle because it was a gorgeous day there! About 60 degrees, sunny. Here are a couple of pictures of us doing practically the exact same thing, but in the sun. Please take note of how sunny and beautiful the city looks compared to my last post.

A Day in Seattle

One of our favorite things to do on Travis's day off is go to Seattle. We do the same thing every time. We go have a cheeseburger at Dicks Drive-In first. Then we drive over to West Seattle and the kids play in the sand and throw rocks into Puget Sound on Alki. Then we drive around the city, by the waterfront. To top it off we find a McDonald's and get a chocolate chip cookie. It's a lot of fun and no one has gotten tired of it yet! Today I took some pictures of our little excursion. I should have taken a picture of Dicks (because it is a Seattle original), but I will next time we go! (by the way, is anyone surprised by the lovely gray tint to the city?)

Connor throwing rocks

Joseph and Travis

Playing in the sand(that is Spencer's "Sunny Mountain")

A beautiful purple tree and wind blown Dawn

Recovery is Sweet!

I do believe that we are all feeling much better. There are still some rumblings in some tummies, but nothing like what we were experiencing. Travis told me last night that after having the whole family sick at once made him appreciate wellness. He said that the problems that we have seem much more manageable being well than thinking about our problems and feeling totally crappy. I must agree.

I thought I would post a couple of pictures that I thought were funny. The first ones are of Joseph. I took the one of him yesterday when I noticed how skinny he has gotten just after three days of not eating anything but toast and Gatorade. I really wish that could happen to me. Then the other is of him in the tub a couple of weeks ago. He thought he would "explore" under the water with goggles. Problem was that those are his dads eye protectors (Travis wears them when he tends his folks lawn). They are not designed for underwater exploration. After the first "dive" he discovered that the holes on the sides of the goggles presented a small problem, but he still had a blast all the same.

Then this one is Joseph and Spencer on Easter. They just looked cute playing together. When I said smile, they hugged each other.

The one of Connor is from General Conference weekend. I was listening to Saturday morning session on the computer. He came in and wanted to listen, so I let him listen to the Tabernacle Choir sing. He loves music and I thought it was really cute of him.

That is all I have to report today. I am slowly trying to formulate a plan on getting my house back into order. A week of sickness really wreaks havoc on a little home! Gonna have to break down and get out my Flylady book! She would be so shocked~I can't even find my kitchen sink! Not to mention that "school" has consisted of 4 days of Magic School Bus books and videos. That's not too terrible, but we do have some catching up to do now.

Later!

Civil War Hospital

I mentioned that Connor has been sick. Apparently it wasn't meant to just be him. Friday night Travis came home from work and pretty much passed out on the floor~sick as could be with the stomach flu. It was bad. Then, about 3 hours later, it hit me. Not good to have the mom and the dad sick in a family. Couple of hours after that Joseph started crying-threw up in bed. So, before 5am, 4/5 of the Nelson's were down. Spencer was our hold out. I had him sit quietly on the love seat with a bucket and some towels. I told him to watch tv and read stories because we were all sick. About noon he was using his bucket~the circle was complete! Travis looked around our living room and said, "This place looks like a civil war hospital." Joseph had a bed on the floor, Connor had some cushions and blankets, Spencer and I were each on a couch. Blankets, buckets, Gatorade, and Ritz crackers were everywhere. I guess it did look a bit hospitalish. Too bad we were all too sick to get the camera and take a picture. That would have taken too much energy and we had to conserve our energy for crawling to the bathroom. (o: Travis's parents were kind enough to drive up and bring supplies ie. Gatorade, Tums, 7-Up, Ritz Crackers. They brought the stuff, dropped it and ran. Can't say I blame them. (o:

Needless to say that today we are all feeling much better than before. Travis was able to go to work today (yesterday he didn't go in). I think he feels the best of the bunch, followed closely behind by Connor who has had the longest time to recover. The rest of us are mostly tired and a bit queasy. Travis was helping me yesterday try to get a substitute for my calling in church. I am the Ward Sacrament Chorister. He had a harder time than we thought. The first guy he called was in bed with the same thing. The Sister that we did get said she had this just 3 weeks ago and my "boss", the ward music coordinator, said her family had it just a couple of weeks ago. It hits hard, but they say it doesn't stick around. So, I'm wondering, did we get this from going to church??? Hmm, those Mormons! (o:

I think I am going to go question Spencer on what he would like to have for his birthday. I already know that he is going to request stoplight everything, but I'm hoping that if I quiz long enough, I might get a different and easier to obtain (meaning purchase) answer.

Everyone have a super Sunday!

My Dad

I just wanted to post a couple of pictures of my parents and brag on my dad a little bit. He just retired from the Army after 30 years. I am so proud of him and all that he accomplished as a soldier. My parents are amazing people and we are so lucky to have them. We love them dearly!

They served their last couple of years in Hawaii. I actually got to go visit them by myself in February~right before they left. As a retirement gift, the Army people gave Dad this flag. It was flown over the USS Arizona and the Missouri (two separate days), and then put in this shadow box with letters or certificates saying when the flag was flown. Pretty neat!

Had Better Nights

Connor ended up throwing up all day yesterday and had a very high fever all through the night. Travis gave him a blessing of comfort before he went to bed. Connor ended up sleeping on my lap on the couch the whole night~fitfully I might add. I stayed awake most of the night putting wet cloths on his head and with a bucket at the ready in case of any "yuckies" as the kids call puking. (o: He threw up once more this morning and has actually been walking around acting sort of normal today. He has his potato, bug and blanket right now. That's a good sign. Wondering what those are? Well, his blanket is just that. A fleece blanket that my mom made him. He likes the little tied off pieces on the sides. The potato is also just that. He likes to go get a potato out of the kitchen and carry it around. So far we haven't lost one~we try to keep track of that. His bug, well, that's a funny story...

(Warning-this might be kinda gross to invision) Travis got a little knot in his armpit hair a few months back. (don't ask how-I have no idea) So, he cut it off. It fell to the floor and he couldn't find it, and was in a hurry, so he left it. Later in the day Connor followed me into the bathroom. Being much closer to the floor than the rest of us and having much better eyesight as well, he spotted this little knot of hair instantly. Only, when he picked it up he said in a very sweet little voice, "Hi bug! It's okay bug, come on." Soooo cute! He carried the thing around for an hour talking to his little "bug". I realized it was important so I dug up a baby food jar and that has been the bug's home ever since. I think we have had the thing for about 4 months now. Kinda weird, but his affection for the "bug" is very cute. We all play along, including his brothers, telling him how nice and sweet his little bug is. Here is a picture of him showing us his bug.

In other family news, as I posted yesterday, we began work on a Stoplight Store for Spencer. Here is a kinda cute picture of him deciding which pictures of street lights he wanted to display in his store. (please pay no attention to the messy room)

Also, we watched a Magic School Bus video about trappers and how spiders are natural trappers. The boys got a Charlotte's Web spider from Wendy's a while back, so Joseph wanted to make a web for her to trap the fly that he made. (see center of web in picture) He wanted me to add the picture of our fabulous web.

I think that will do for the day. Connor is starting to look not so great again. Travis is closing again tonight. I baked some cookies today for the boys and sent a bunch to work with Travis. They were chocolate chip, peanut butter oatmeal cookies. Healthy and yummy, but 2 points a piece. Did I mention they were yummy? And 2 points a piece? I could easily eat my daily allowance in one sitting with those puppies, so I sent lots of them away so Travis's coworkers can get fat off them instead. (o: Hope you are all having a super fabulous week!

Sick Kids

I mentioned the other day that the kids were sick. Well, they still are. Connor actually woke up this morning worse off than he has been all week. The poor kid is soooo pale! Now, if you can say that our kids look pale-that's pretty bad, cause you can see through our kids on a sunny day when they are not sick! It's been 6 days since they started to not feel well. Doctor Christopher always says, give 'em 10 days and then worry. It's mostly just runny noses, but Connor is throwing up today. I think it's just all of the mucus that is draining in his tummy. He won't eat or drink, so we are just letting him lay on the floor with his Pooh blanket and watch Thomas the Tank Engine. I think he's actually asleep right now. Best medicine.

Yesterday we went up to Issaquah with Grandma Nelson. We had lunch and then drove around the town. It's so much busier these days than just a few years ago. I can't believe how fast things are growing around here. We drove by Issaquah's little train museum depot, but it is only opened on the weekends, so we came home. Probably a good thing considering how the kids are still feeling. Joseph told me yesterday that he really needs to go to the Train Museum in Snoqualmie for a field trip again next school year. Sounds like fun to me.

Travis has the day off, so we have been taking Joseph and Spencer out in shifts today to get them out of the house and still keep Connor in. I took Spencer for a little ride and we went to Wendy's and got everyone a cheeseburger. Travis and Joseph are out at the library right now. There is a little man made pond next to the library that a few mallard ducks hang out at. Joseph always takes a few slices of bread to feed the ducks. He claims that they would starve without his bread, so we don't argue. That child has got an extremely tender heart for animals-especially baby animals. Well, he loves all babies-human too. He has gotten more than one compliment from people at church saying how gentle and sweet he is to their babies. Feels good to know that we have kind hearted children.

Spencer just informed me that I am slacking on my stop light duties, so I better get going. Spencer loves traffic lights and signs like no other. Yesterday Joseph made him a fancy open/closed sign and we printed simple stoplights for Spencer to color and decorate and then today they are going to open "Spencer's Stoplight Store"! Very exciting. I love it when they play together nicely.

Positive Thinking

Travis got home close to midnight last night. It was strange having him gone that time of day. He has been reporting in for work at 5:30am for so long. The first thing he said when he walked in the door was, this will take some getting used to. Luckily he doesn't have to close very often, but when he was Freight Sup. he never had to close. He said his first official day up front was pretty good. I think his freight team really missed him, but the people in Cust. Service are very glad to have him. This is going to be a great opportunity for him to show his talents in more than one area so that he can get that Executive promotion come July. (which he will get!) (o:

I've been reading a great book on beginners homeschooling. This past year has been a lot of trial and error. I've tried a few different approaches with the boys to kind of feel out how they learn the best. This book details all of the different methods of homeschooling (yes, there are actually several "methods"). I took a survey to determine what method would best suit our family~I was curious to see if her ideas of what was suitable and my ideas that I have formed this year matched. Believe it or not, they do! I think our boys will do best with Unit Studies and I do like Charlotte Mason's method, so that is what we are most likely going to do. Unit studies is my favorite because no matter what the age, I can teach a lot of it with all three boys together. Plus, it makes it more fun for the boys because they can get involved in helping choose the topics that will hold their interests the most. For example, last fall we did a week on trains. I took all three boys on a field trip to the Train Museum. Even Connor loved it and we learned a lot and saw a lot. I was able to teach vocabulary words that related to trains and we did train counting. We experimented with steam and talked about the history of the transcontinental railroad. We covered many subjects all while studying just one topic! The best part was I had the boys attention. As soon as I sit down with a worksheet and pencil, Joseph shuts right down. I still have him do the worksheet, but it takes so much more effort than having him do copywork of sentences all about ducks or trains or birds. Just to show off that train field trip, here are a couple of pictures I pulled out of it. We took Grandma Nelson with us. It was fun!

Anyway, rambling a bit there. It's just that I get so excited when it comes to educating my boys. It's funny, I can remember the moment that the still small voice whispered in my mind that homeschooling was the route I should take. I was pregnant with Spencer and Joseph was only one! I was at a friends listening to all of the troubles that they were having with their daughter and her first grade teacher and the schools etc. I distinctly remember saying how glad I was that I had almost 5 years before I had to deal with that. Then a word came into my mind~homeschool~that was it. I entertained the thought for a couple of years before I ever mentioned it to Travis and then it just kind of became a natural part of our ideas of schooling. It was never a decision we sat down and fretted over whether or not we should do. It just came naturally. That is how we know that we are doing the right thing. It was only confirmed to us when I took Joseph in for his 6 year check up. The doctor was postive that Joseph has some attention difficulties~ADD, possibly ADHD. (I don't think ADHD so much anymore) I asked what our options were besides medicating. She said the ideal thing would be to homeschool. She said we were already doing the best thing for him. What a great peaceful feeling came into my heart. I know we are doing the right thing for our boys and am loving it all the way.

Okay, enough with the ginormous post. There is much to do today, so I better get moving. I am sure that I will post again tomorrow. There probably be a nice steady stream of posts for a while until the newness wears off. (o: Have a great day!

Let's get started!

So, after following about a dozen or so family and friends blogs for the past year, I thought maybe it would be a good idea to start our own. We have a computer filled with pictures to share and the kids are always coming up with something interesting.


We have had small colds the past few days and haven't gotten out much, but, some exciting news~the daisy seeds that we planted last week are beginning to sprout! We did have them inside in a pot, but the boys were getting very discouraged because they couldn't see the seeds growing, so we put the pot outside on the deck. A watched pot doesn't...grow.

Travis started his new assignment today working Customer Service instead of Logistics. I really think he loved doing logistics and freight, but he's really great with people so I think this change will be good for him. I know it will be good for the store. They need some serious improvement up front. I know Travis will be able to help them. Not just because he's my husband, but because of his experiences at Target. Joseph wanted to know today if he could go get a job at Kohl's like Daddy. I told him that when he gets to be a teenager, Daddy will be a big shot Regional guy for Kohl's (that's called positive thinking) and would definitely hire him~BUT~Joseph will have to know how to read well and know his numbers and math well first. Reading lessons have never gone better than they did today.

Well, it sounds like The Magic School Bus is over, so I better go out and get busy cleaning and watching my children.

As a side note, I'm sure we are not alone in saying that our thoughts and prayers are with all those involved in todays shooting at Virginia Tech. Why such awful things can happen, I'll never know.