Girls Night Out!

You might be expecting to see another post about me going on with some of my friends for dinner, etc.  But last night, Chaille and I had a girls night out, just the two of us!  During the day yesterday, Chaille wanted her boots and her coat on, and she stood by the back door crying.  I realized quickly that she had some serious cabin fever (and I related!)  She hadn't really been out to go anywhere for almost a week!  So, last night she and I made a trip to the grocery store.  We had fun on our "girls night," even if it was just a trip to the grocery store:

All buckled up and happy to be getting out of the house!

And my happy helper in the cart!

Wordless Wednesday: Dishwasher Edition :O)

Sleepless nights

Last night was another sleepless one at our house.  Ok, not completely sleepless, but definitely one of interrupted sleep.  In the past week or so, we've failed to sleep ALL night without interruption.   Most nights it has been a pretty quick up and back down once or twice, but last night Silas was up SEVERAL times with his cough.  It was keeping him from sleeping.  I finally moved him to the couch, but he still was pretty restless.   And then, after being up with Silas so much, I woke to the sound of Nolan falling out of bed.  I ran up to check on him, and he was fine, even though he was crying hysterically.  After a round of drinks for he and Chaille, I finally got them both back to sleep again too.  Unfortunately, Steve had stayed at the station last night in order to get some work done.  He has SO much going on right now, that he needs to put in the time!

I kept Silas home because of his cough, and am glad that I did.  He has developed a fever, which has stayed low grade today.  He was at a 99.1 before lunch.  We'll see what happens as the day turns into evening!

Avery, however, returned to school today and said that he did fine.  I'm so glad that he is feeling better!!

This morning, Chaille insisted on wearing her coat and her boots.  The funny thing is that I had peeled her out of her jammies, but had yet to dress her for the day so that was ALL she was wearing.  She was pretty cute in her self-chosen outfit! (please don't call CPS, I promise I didn't take her out in this outfit:)

What a cute pose though, huh???

I'm so glad that this boy is feeling better!

So far, so good for this one too.  Besides a dirty face and nose, he is doing great! Can't believe he'll be 3 in less than 2 weeks!!!

A pretty good smile for a boy with a bad cough and a slight fever :O)

I have a love/hate relationship with these stupid foam blocks.  The kids love them, and I love the fact that they are quiet and don't hurt the hardwood floors.  But, I hate the way the kids find it okay to throw them EVERYWHERE because they "don't hurt."  And they easily slide under, behind, between the couches, chairs, beds, etc.  I find them all over the house, long after they've been put away.  Oh, and I store them with the legos, so it is a given that when one comes out, so does the other.  So, today I have a floor covered in foam blocks, and a kitchen table covered in legos.  Good thing we have new "chore charts" to bribe the kids to pick them up on their own later.  But... the chore charts are a blog post that I'll make later.  You'll see them soon :O)

Still here :)

Hi!  We are still here!!!  Once again, I've let a week elapse since I've made time to blog.  I have no new pictures to share, although there were a couple times I wished that I had one handy! For instance, one evening this week Silas was about to head up to bed and he ran over to Steve and told him, "I'll love you forever, dad.  Even when you are up in Heaven, I will still love you!"  He was so sincerely sweet, I got all teary eyed and Steve held him tight for a LONG time. :O)

We had a great week last week, with only one negative... Avery was feeling poorly Friday night, and I took him Saturday to the urgent care place and found out that he has Influenza B.  They started him on Tamiflu, and we've alternated Tylenol and Motrin to keep him comfortable.  Yesterday he was fever free all day, however he had a horrible cough.  I kept him from school today, and have kept him off the fever reducers to make sure that he is truly fever free.  So far, so good.  I think he'll be able to go back to school tomorrow, barring any relapses!

The rest of us are fine.  We've been busy just doing our day to day stuff.  It is amazing how just keeping up in a household of 6 is enough to keep you busy!!  We are never looking for something to do around here!  We spent the weekend at home, because of Avery's illness, and I think that everyone enjoyed the family time.

I'll try to come back soon with some pictures.  I pray that you have a WONDERFUL week and that you and your family are happy and HEALTHY! :O)

Kid Zone and Momma's Birthday Dinner

I'm a little late getting these pictures posted.  They are actually from last Friday.  We met some friends at KidZone to play and then went to dinner with Grandpa Bobby and Grandma Darlene.  It was supposed to just be dinner out, but mom and dad insisted paying for my "birthday dinner."  We had a fun time, as you'll tell in the pictures below:

Nolan LOVED everything about the place.  He ran straight for this bounce house as soon as his shoes were off!

Avery FLEW down the slide!

Chaille was so happy, although she mostly watched the other kids have fun.  It didn't bother her.  She just loves to see her brothers smile!

Bayleigh and Avery enjoyed the velcro wall in their "sticky suits!"

Silas did too.  They looked like sumo wrestlers.

Avery and Bayleigh jumped together on it for a while until the lady working pointed out that only one person was allowed on it at a time.  Jen R. and I laughed forever because there was a big 'ol sign right there that stated that.  We were just too busy watching the kids to notice! LOL...

Silas trying to "stick" to the wall on his jump.

Nolan was playing whack-a-mole and Chaille was laughing at him!

Nolan and Si were driving intently (and the funny thing is that at that point they didn't even have any tokens to use!!)

Chaille really took right to Jen Jen.  Apparently she has "the touch" after working with children for so long now!

Chaille loved helping Bayleigh by handing her the balls while she played Skeeball.  It was adorable to watch.  She would tell Bay "he' ya go!"

Silas liked this basketball skeeball game.  He kept forgetting to get his tickets out of the machines too.  He was having so much fun playing!

Chaille helped Silas too.

We went to the mexican restaurant for supper.  It was crazy busy, but we were able to get 2 booths in the back, which was more quiet!  Steve and Silas duked it out with a little arm wrestling.  It was so funny to watch!

Avery played the "winner," but so far Daddy is the champion arm wrestler at our house :O) LOL

Chaille just LOVES her papaw!  She's so happy with him!

Cheese :O)  Such buddies, these three!

And when you've got everyone wrapped around your pinky finger, you can get away with stuff like this!  She's so spoiled!

Wordless Wednesday

Flashback Photos (but not WAY back...)

This afternoon while I was in the basement doing laundry, I stopped to look through my photo drawers to see if I could come up with a book Steve has been looking for.  I came across some old (but not REAL old) photos.  I thought it might be fun to share some.  Maybe i'll get out the "really" old ones some other time.  But for now, enjoy these, which are in NO order per se:

Silas age 15 months, Avery age 3.  What a cute smile on Silas!

Avery age 22 months.  This was the day after he had tubes put in his ear (it was Spring Break, when we stayed in Brown County in a cabin.)

Avery almost 3, and Silas almost 1.  I remember taking this picture because it was the first time that they actually TRULY worked together at something like this.  They played together a lot, but working together to build something was a new thing for them!

Avery, age 4.  Steve age 29 :OP  (he'll kill me....)

Silas age 2, wearing his I ♥ Mom shirt.  I had to have him wear it before he could read and then refuse to wear it ;O) (and while it fit, of course!)

Avery age 1.  What a cutie!!!

Nolan 16 months and in dire need of a haircut (and now we know what it will look like if we refuse to give him anymore after the way he acted last time!!!)

Ok, this last one is NOT a flashback.  That was just now.  This is what Chaille has been doing while I have been blogging.  She has been wearing her mittens ALL day today, even to naps.  She is eating M&M's for snack with them on while sitting on the dining table.  her gloves are now a brownish pink, and her face is as messy as her hair.  She is still in her pajamas on this snowy day :O)  I may not win the mother of the year award, but my girl is HAPPY :O)

January days

Today, we are getting another significant snow fall.  I'd say we've gotten at least 4 inches since early this
morning.  It is really pretty, and I enjoyed watching some of the big flakes fall this morning.  It was so tranquil and beautiful!

Avery's school dismissed early today, and I chose to keep Silas home today because of the forecast.  I sure am glad that I did.  I did not care to chance it today, with his preschool being 20 minutes away.  We had a fun morning, and I know that Nolan greatly enjoyed having Silas here to play with.  This afternoon the little ones are napping while Avery, Silas, and I are watching a Looney Toones movie together.  The fireplace is going and I just rearranged the living room, so it feels especially cozy!  Avery asked why I needed to move the furniture around, and to be honest it is to keep me from losing my sanity on these long winters days!  Something about changing up the scenery makes it a little more bearable :O)  My husband thinks I'm a tad crazy, but that's ok with me.  I know I am! LOL

Early January is usually pretty uneventful for this family, and this year is no exception!  We've done a lot of family bonding, and it has been great.  We are just thriving on our ROUTINE, and that routine has included lots of playing, books, movies, wii games, meals, baths, and pajamas!  I just love it.  We are experiencing those "Ordinary Days" that I posted this video about a year ago.  (click on the words to view... the video might make you cry, but it will remind you of how precious these days are!)  I'm cherishing them one ordinary day at a time!

So, if I'm not around much, it isn't because things aren't going well, it is because they are going GREAT.  The days just aren't unique and the pictures start to look the same, but the days are perfect in their own ordinary way.  This is what childhood should be like!!!

Where we've been, in pictures:

 To be quite honest, we've just been busy "doing our thing" since we rang in the new year.  If no news is good news, then this family has had lots of "good news" lately.  I love our routine life!  I do have some pictures that I haven't shared, so I picked a few to sum up what we've been doing lately:

Grandma and Nolan bonding over books.  This is something they BOTH enjoy greatly and I find it to be so incredibly special.  In this picture, he is rubbing his hair because he is STRESSING his upcoming haircut.

Grandpa has a barber chair, so the men in the family use Grandpa's basement as their barber shop.  Silas was happy to finally get his hair cut.  It was getting quite long!

Chaille lucks out and just gets to play while the boys are busy doing haircuts.  I think we had eaten chili that night, so we took off her clothes to save them from stains.  If not, I'm not sure WHY she was almost naked!

Nolan is NOT a good boy for haircuts.  Steve took a break from the 45 minute ordeal to let Nolan try a turn at cutting daddy's hair.  Unfortunately, this didn't help.  He seriously acts traumatized by his haircuts.  And as soon as it is over, the terror ends!

Nolan wanted to take pictures with my camera.  I think he's a little too close, but I applaud his effort ;o)

Who could Silas possibly be talking to on the phone???

Avery, of course!

This may be his last haircut EVER!  We've seriously been talking about seeing what happens as it grows out.  He acts THAT bad!

Grandpa and his buddy.  He SPOILS her so badly.  She is eating a brownie here that mommy and daddy told her no about.  No wonder she cheers when we tell her we are going to visit!!!

This week, Chaille decided that she doesn't HAVE to stay in her bed at naptime or bedtime.  This picture is of her feet behind the door.  On Wednesday, she never napped all day because she wouldn't stay in her bed!!!

After HOURS of struggling with her, trying to get her to stay in her bed for her nap, I finally gave up.  I let her get up and we read books together.  And what else would we read about, except for...

Daddies of course!  She was so happy here.  But that didn't last long.  She was quite the grump the rest of the afternoon and evening.  When the problem continued into the night, we finally outsmarted her with the playpen.  You know what happened then??? She cheered "YAY, night night!"  What??? Oh well, she went right back to staying in her bed on Thursday.  Until naptime today... (Oh the joys of parenting toddlers :O)  I wouldn't trade it for the world!)

Welcome 2011!!!

2010 was a GREAT year for the Frye family.  We had a lot of fun times and overall the year was very positive for us!  And because it was such a great year, it was hard to see it end, yet exciting to usher in another new year!!

We spent new years eve together at home as a family.  In the evening we ventured out for some snacks and my new computer, then we came home and had a small party with just us!  We played Wii Party for hours that day, but it is SO MUCH FUN!  The boys can all play it, and it is a perfect family game.  We put the kids to bed at 8:30, and then Steve and I enjoyed staying up to watch the new year ring in.  He and I played Guitar Hero, and watched football bowl games. (and to be honest, since he has been off work and the kids out of school, we've been up past midnight EVERY night!)  This next week will bring back reality of schedules and routine.  I think we are all ready!

Resolutions... Well, I'm only making ONE resolution this year.  But it is a resolution that will encompass much!  I am resolving to be a more consistent person.  Particularly in my mood and attitude, but also in other areas in my life.  I've been trying to focus on being very positive and happy, and finding the best in myself and others.  This year, I want to be that positive person.  Not just when I feel like it, but ALL the time. I think that postive attitude can lead to so many other positive behaviors in life.  And I know that positive attitudes are contageous.  So, in order to help create this positive atmosphere inside my home and out, I've got to start within. :O)  I guess I'm sharing too much.  This is more personal than you need to hear! 

Welcome, 2011.  I pray that this year finds all of our friends and family as happy and healthy as possible.  I pray that your year is full blessings!  If you are reading this blog, then you are a blessing to me!!