Grandma is Here

Grandma Vickie arrived on Sunday, and the kids have kept her busy. She went to Grandparents Day at Christian's school. He saw her immediately and told his teacher his grandma was there. She went to his room to help him with a picture of the two of them together. She picked him up from school and he grinned from ear to ear when he saw her. Tomorrow he gets to stay home with her and his sister! Tonight we're letting them stay up late, so they will sleep in tomorrow before their cousins arrive. It's crazy-crazy at the Ericksons.

Gobble Gobble

Christian is our little turkey. He has been gobbling for weeks. Spelling "turkey," on the other hand, is giving him problems. He forgets the vowels every time. He's got all of this other spelling words down pat, and will be moving into an advanced reading group soon.

Halloween Capers

Christian dressed up as Darth Vader but pooped out quick. We run five or six doorbells before he said he was too cold to go on. Good thing he did a lot of trick-or-treating the previous day at my work. I offered to layer him, but he was done. Tori, on the other hand,…

Beetlejuice

Christian played with beetles, and bingo, he got some red spots. It took us a while to figure out the probable cause of the spots. He has been letting too many beetles crawl all over him. Calamine seems to be doing the trick, though there did appear to be one new bump this morning. Keep your fingers crossed he does not inherit the allergic tendencies on my side of the family.

Mr. Crabs

Yesterday, we planned on eating at Joe's Crab Shack for dinner. Christian was extremely excited because he has found a love of Shrimp! Every place we go that has shrimp, he orders it. Unfortunately for him, things changed mid-day and to celebrate his Aunt's Annie's birthday, she chose to go to Pizza Inn instead. Christian was not happy with this development at all. So much so that he started crying and refused to get out of the car. Eventually, he was forced out, but he kept crying and burying his face in his arms. Half way through dinner, I forced him to get out from underneath the table so he could help me get more pizza since carrying anything and crutches don't mix. He held the plate above his head while he continued to cover his eyes. I was hoping that would get him interested in eating, but it didn't work. Eventually Eli threw a fit, Christian joined his brother and Mom outside. About the time everyone finished eating Christian calmed down enough to come back in and eat. So I sat with him while he ate cheeseburger pizza (with a pickle on it), spaghetti, pineapples and desert pizza while everyone else waited outside. After he ate he was fine for the rest of the night. We found out later that he was upset because he didn't get to have shrimp. We promised him we'd go this weekend when we had time. Apparently shrimp is that important!

Mr. Cranky

Christian has been waking up cranky every morning, biting off our heads until his dad tickles him. Not sure what it is all about. This morning, he wanted to know why he has to keep wearing the same colors. I told him I ordered him white and red shirts, but they hadn't come in yet. He was not happy about that.

50!

That's how many boxes of candy we sold for Christian's school fundraiser. Thanks to Annie for helping sell candy, and thanks to everyone who ordered. Christian will now receive many perks, including the chance to win some money and an invitation to an ice cream party. He is one lucky kid! There is also hope that we will sell some candy next year for Christian and Tori.

Mommy, Ollie, Tori Day

What was supposed to be a Mommy Tori Day turned into a Mommy, Ollie, Tori Day. Ollie was very tired on Sunday, fell asleep on the couch around 8 and went to bed. I checked on him around 9 and he had vomited. I got him up and stripped his bed, while Huts bathed him. We put him in our bed and we both slept with him at various points of the night. He woke up, drank a lot of 7up and ate little He felt good enough to have some fun with me and Tori and went to school this morning. Poor guy. He had no idea that he puked or got a bath the night before.

Dinner for Dad

On Monday in honor of Huts not having to have surgery, we celebrated with dinner outside a local Mexican restaurant. The kids had a great time. They ate and ate and ate and walked around the area (we were the only ones eating outside). They switched food, talked, played with the dough given to them and had ice cream for dessert. We had enough leftovers for Huts' lunch twice this week. We were a happy bunch!

The Great Pickup

Christian and Tori have learned very fast how much money they can obtain by picking up their toys at the end of the night and making their beds. They are filling up their piggy banks fast, even getting money from Grandpa. Christian has become a huge help recently, dressing himself, bathing himself and picking up after himself. He is also learning how to use the phone and flip the TV. What a helper!