Nicholas News

Well, as you can see we are still using the binky or "ga-goo" as he calls it, however, we are doing better using it mostly just at night. He happened to have it in the first picture below, but he took it out for the rest. We were taking pictures of his black eye that day. We had been shopping at H.E.B. the day before in the produce section when Nicholas tripped and became airborne into the produce bins. It was after school and we were in a hurry to shop and get done in time to get to the Y for Patrick's swimming lessons. Patrick was distracting me by asking if their was any star fruit there that day and if so could we get some. I directed him to the exotic fruit section. Across from this I went toward and area where they have bell peppers, eggplant, etc. in these tilted bins stacked on top of one another at an angle. Nicholas ran behind me and out of the corner of my eye I saw Nicholas fly face first into the chayote squash bin. He landed on his eyes (the crease of his eyelids), and the scream that came out of him was really frightening. I scooped him up and we went to the car. I called the doctor's office and they were booked for the day. They suggested we go to a nearby minor ER clinic. Well, after we checked in he was all better and I felt ridiculous for taking him there. They saw us very quickly and by the time Nicholas got his lollipop, he was already realizing how to use his injury to his advantage. He told Patrick he had to throw away his lollipop wrapper because he (Nicholas) couldn't because he had hurt his eye. I think my panic that day came from the incident last year when Nicholas ended up hitting his head on the coffee table and getting 4 stitches and a CT scan. It was also the way he landed face first on his eyes. The E.R. doctor commented on his scar, his many bruises on his legs and his scraped elbows and said "Well, mom, this probably won't be your last trip to the E.R.". Meanwhile, Patrick fell and scraped both knees last week FOR THE FIRST TIME in his life and he will be 8 soon. Amazing....

The next picture has nothing to do with the ones above. I just thought it was cute. We had built a fort in his room, and he had lured Baby Kitty in with treats.

Weekend Trip

We went to see Grandma and Jack in Wichita Falls a couple of weeks ago. We also took a trip to Throckmorton to see the cousins. My brother and SIL have remodeled my grandmother's old house (well, it's really their house now) and it is beautiful! I wanted to get pictures but my camera battery died. We also had a few things involving the American flag to do for Boy Scouts, so we did them with Jack while we were there since they have a flag pole in their front yard. Patrick lost 2 teeth that weekend in 24 hours. The lower left lateral was knocked out by Nicholas while they were wrestling at Grandma's house. This really took Nicholas by surprise and he was asking Patrick if he could put it back in. The right lower lateral came out on the drive home the next day when he was eating chicken tenders in the car. Patrick seems to lose teeth all at once. During Thanksgiving break in 1st grade he lost 3 teeth.

Raising the flag...

We learned how to properly fold the flag...
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Two bottom teeth lost in 24 hours....

Patrick and Chloe...

This is how my nephew MaCrae rolls. The bigger the shoes the better!

Photo Shoot

We had pictures made a couple of months ago and I forgot to post them. Luckily it was before Easter and the photo place had bunnies on hand. Nicholas wouldn't have any part of the process until the bunnies were brought out. After that he was all smiles.

Boys Will Be Boys

OK, I am not sure what is worse...me letting Patrick do this (although he said it was Nicholas' idea) or me documenting it! We used to listen to a band called the Butthole Surfers and this is what that term means. At least Patrick got him all suited up for safety, right?

Chuck got the boat out of storage a couple of weeks ago to work on it. He found this really cheap place to store it when we moved here (it is around $16/mo). You should see this storage facility. It is where old boats that have sunk or broken down, beat up RVs and rusted out cars go to live their final years. Please, if anyone out there wins the lottery, could you please buy my husband a new boat so he can let this one go? The last two times it has been on the lake it has broken down and of course there is the famous sinking incident at the dock. Boat repair shops won't even look at it because it is too old.

That night, Chuck got sick with a horrific stomach virus. I won't go into details, but it was really bad. Two days later I woke up about 4:30 with the same bug and Chuck called into work to stay home with me and the kids. I was amazed! Chuck won't even stay home from work when he is sick (he had been sick on his days off), but he said he knew how bad I was going to feel and had to be there to watch the kids. I had scheduled a piano tuner that day, so I was lying upstairs feeling like I was going to die while listening to the guy downstairs tune the piano for an hour and a half. In retrospect, it was funny. Thankfully, Patrick did not get sick but, Nicholas got it the next day. Oh what a mess...what a lot of laundry.

Easter Weekend

We went to Dallas early Friday morning and met my parents and our old friend Edie at the aquarium. We had planned to go to the zoo, however, there was a wind advisory because of all of the recent wildfires, so we opted for the aquarium (with the rest of the metroplex). Nicholas had never been before. He really enjoyed it.

This picture is at Dolphin Park in Grapevine. This park was right next to Patrick's old school and we spent a lot of time there. When Patrick was 2, I would take him there almost every day and it was kind of surreal being there with Patrick now almost 8 and Nicholas almost 3. When Patrick was Nicholas' age he loved to peek down through the tube slide at me and say "Hi Mommy!" I will have to look for an old picture from that time. I can't believe how fast they grow up.

Early Easter

We had Easter on the Tuesday before because Chuck was working that weekend and we were going to visit my parents. Nicholas really loved dying eggs this year and the kids had an egg hunt in the backyard. Nicholas really enjoyed it and got the hang of it more than last year. The Easter Bunny brought Nicholas a bubble machine and sidewalk chalk and Patrick got a large whiteboard for his room with markers. I finally gave in last year and admitted to Patrick that the Easter Bunny wasn't real. I can't stand having to lie to my kids about this stuff.

Cute Conversations

Driving in the car....

Nicholas: "Mom, why is my tongue pink?"

Me: "Because that is how God made it."

Patrick: "Your tongue is pink because it is full of blood. Your tongue is a muscle. It is one of the strongest muscles in the human body."

Nicholas: "No, it's not full of blood...it's full of telephones!"

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Nicholas eating trail mix and finding a cashew...

"Mom, what are these...house shoes?"

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Nicholas is still not completely potty trained. He was dong well last fall until a whole bunch of teeth came in and I had to put him back in pull-ups. He goes now when it is convenient for him. He will be starting t-ball this summer and three day pre-school in the fall. I told him that there are no pull-ups in baseball. He said "Well, I can just wear diapers then."