Staycation

John and I just finished our vacation, but we did things a little different this year. We stayed at home. Here are a few pictures:

We tried staying in our house for the first few days, but it just didn't seem like vacation, so we set up our tent in the backyard and camped out for a few nights. VERY FUN!!!

On our way into the theater to see . . . "Kung Fu Panda"

We went out to a park by the Lake to have a picnic, play on the playground and ride bikes.

The Bike riding didn't go so well. Logan was having a hard time and got so frustrated, he threw his bike down. He then ran off. Luke was so upset and concerned, he went chasing after Logan, it really was a very touching moment in the midst of a major meltdown. Once we got home we adjusted Logan's bike making it much easier to peddle, and he was much happier.

Other vacation highlights:
$5 Little Caesar's Pizza
Grandma Wentz and water fights :)
Getting out of China and getting stuck in Japan!
The slide in the pool, which Mikayla must have gone done a million times in a row!
Roasting S'mores in our new fire pit!
Me stressing out over Garage-a-palooza and John being patient with me ;)
Swimming at the YMCA
Escamocha!
Dinner with the Barutcu's
Cold Stone and Dutch Blitz with Clayton and Lisa
Going to Champaign for church

Yo Joe!

Logan's 5th birthday was celebrated with GI Joe fun. John recently got his GI Joe toys from when he was a kid. This sparked Logan's love for GI Joe. The kids had a great time going through boot camp. Cobra Commander even made an appearance! Stealing our base camp and relocating it into the neighbors back yard. Once the kids found the tent, they were surprised to find a hostage inside! Cobra had Grandpa tied up, but the boot camp graduates were able to free Grandpa and return base camp back to it's original location. Whew, it's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it.

We have friends who let us borrow some dress up stuff.

Some decorations

Boot camp! Nothing is quite as funny as watching 5 years olds try and do jumping jacks!

Birthday pictures

Making fighter jets!

Listen up, sargents!

Even Mikayla joined in the fun! Sir, yes, Sir!

Yummy!

Eating their rations in the base camp tent.

10 things

I have been making a list of "10 things I did today", everyday for 6 whole days. Today will be day number 7 and I think in a small way, it is helping. It is much better to wind down the day making a list of accomplishments and ending on a positive note.

In other news, Logan will be graduating preschool on Wednesday. Although Logan has friend's in his class, he is handling moving on much better than Luke. Luke is so social and LOVED his preschool friends so much. It took months before we could even drive by the building without Luke crying because his preschool friends weren't there anymore. Today was Logan's official last day and he is completely content to be moving on. Next year I won't have any kids in preschool, because Mikayla isn't quite old enough yet. How strange it will be to have only 1 child at home during the day. Luke will be done with school the first week of June. I am really looking forward to summer and a new summer schedule with the kids home! Well, it's off to get Luke from school then go to swimming and tae kwon do lessons.

Did I get anything done today?

It seems like at the end of the day, the list of things I did NOT get done is constantly weighing me down. So, I am going to try and gain some perspective and make a list of 10 things I DID get done at the end of every day. Which may have the opposite effect, because now I've just added another thing to my list to do every day, ARGGHH! I know this list won't make it to the blog every day, but hopefully I can write it down for myself. I also know many of these items may seem unimpressive, but the life of a mom is not meant to be impressive is it?

Here is yesterday's list:
1. Made breakfast (eggs, sausage, cinnamon toast)
2. Took Luke to school.
3. Did 3 loads of laundry.
4. Picked up Luke from school.
5. Mailed scholastic Book Fair money.
6. Mailed invitations.
7. John and I coordinated our calendars.
8. Purchased train ticket for Luke's field trip.
9. Switched out toys from the toy closet and cleaned playroom (with a little help from little helpers)
10. trimmed Mikayla's nails

Hmmm . . . not feeling better yet. Maybe if I stick to it for a week, it will seem like a more substantial accomplishment?

john's birthday

For John's birthday we took a family day! Logan didn't have preschool, so we took Luke out of school and spent the day together. We went to the zoo and had a great time! It really made me anxious for summer. Here are a few ;) pics from the day.

Who knew we'd see this at the zoo! Luke got a kick out of it.

more zoo pics

Luke made a list of animals he wanted to find at the zoo. He marked off the ones he found. Can you make out his kindergarten spelling?
Mikayla was walking around with this list of butterflies, studying it so seriously. So cute! Like she was really finding them along the way, but the chart was upside down :)

More Zoo pictures

Sleepy heads

You know you've had full day when all 3 kids are asleep at once!

Easter Egg Hunt Part 4

Below are some short video clips (long overdue) from an Easter Egg Hunt I went to with the kids. It was cold outside! Therefore, Logan was cold (and was recouping from being sick) and therefore uncomfortable. He does not like being uncomfortable. So, I guess I would sum up these videos as, "You can make me go to the Easter Egg Hunt, but you CAN'T make me LIKE IT!"
There are posted in reverse order, if you want to see all 4, scroll down to part 1 first.

Easter Part 3

Easter part 2

Easter Part I

Now that wasn't so bad . . .

I survived my wisdom teeth extractions with relatively little excitement. It only took about half an hour to pull them both out. My big success was that I didn't even cry, as opposed to last week when all they did was take x-rays and I cried the whole time. Trying to let my logical mind override my emotions is not easy, but I was able to maintain my composure and am feeling so good for facing my fear! Now, I'm home chomping on gauze and hoping I don't get dry sockets. Luke is also doing much better and will be going back to school tomorrow. Ahhh, such relief having this day half over and the tooth pulling behind me.

SICK of it all!

We've had the respiratory flu, the stomach flu, and now Luke has strep throat! I think someone in my family has been sick every single day of this month! I thought the end of Spring Break would bring the end of the sickness in this house. But, instead of Luke returning to school, he is home with strep. On a somewhat related note, I get to have my top 2 wisdom teeth extracted tomorrow. I was trying to deny an ever increasing toothache in my upper left wisdom tooth, but if you've ever had a toothache, you know that there is a point where there is no more hiding it! I was trying so hard to fake it because I knew if John found out he would make me go to the dentist, and I am terrified of the dentist (which would explain how I ended up with a severe toothache). Well, he found out and took me to the dentist. Hopefully everything will go smoothly and in another week everyone will be well.

This too will pass

Maybe it's the long winter, maybe it's all the sickness, maybe it's the low after the Hearts at Home high . . .

Most of the time blogs are reserved for good and humorous mommy moments. But I've been feeling the weight of all the not so good mommy moments. Several years ago we started having special family times every night the week before Easter. I was really looking forward to these special times. For a number of reasons; sickness and busyness at the top of the list, we didn't get to have these times. On top of that I am feeling the weight and guilt of all these things I don't get done, or should do . . . I know this is a season and winter will pass. . . please spring, hurry!!!!

wentz health update

Logan is doing better already. We took him to the doctor yesterday, and he had ear infections in both ears, croup, and the stomach flu. He is now on steroids and antibiotics. After just 2 doses he is walking around, talking, and even ate some breakfast! Maybe we'll all be well by Easter!

Funny moments during all this:
Yesterday I walked into his room, leaned over him in bed and said, "Hey Sickie."
"Don't call me sickie." (is his rough croupie sick voice)
"Ok, cutie."
"Don't call me cutie."
"Ok, tough guy."
"Yeah, tough guy, call me tough guy."

Tuesday night was a long night! Logan had a high fever (at least the highest any of my kids have ever had) so we had him sleep in our bed so we could keep an eye on him. We would wake up and take his temp during the night, etc. Mikayla aslo got struck with the diarrhea bug, so we spent the entire night cleaning up someone. And whenever Logan would really get coughing Mikayla would wake up. At one point I got up to use the potty myself and John said to go check and see if Mikayla was in her bed. (He must have heard something earlier in his sub-sleep state). I went in and found her bed empty. So we rushed through the house looking for her. We found her, downstairs on the couch with the TV on, with a political commentary show. She had fallen asleep sitting up. Unfortunately, we couldn't find our camera in our middle of the night haze.

I AM A MOM

This past weekend I got to attend my 2nd Hearts at Home conference. If you've never heard of Hearts at Home, it is a conference designed just for moms! If you are a mom you need to attend this conference next year. So many times we moms lose our perspective and forget the value of what we do, day in and day out. Going to this conference, surrounded by thousands of other moms, you feel validated and affirmed in everything you do. From wiping noses and bottoms, to cleaning house, to supporting our husbands, we are encouraged and thanked for all our hard work. Hard work that is so often unappreciated. And my mommy tank was refilled just in time, because I returned home to more sickness. Will this winter ever end?!?! Logan has stomach flu, croup, and a very high fever. Mikayla has diarrhea and a slight fever. So being reaffirmed in my wiping duties could not have been more timely! I've wiped up all sorts of bodily fluid. And thanks to Hearts I can hear voices of kindred spirits cheering me on, "WAY TO GO MOM!"
As much as I enjoy the conference, I also enjoy spending the weekend with friends. Our group went to Bloomington on Friday to shop, go out for dinner, and stay overnight in a hotel. Between the 7 of us, staying together Friday night, we had left behind 18 children! It was so nice to eat dinner, in a real restaurant, with only grown-ups! I don't know why we wait until Hearts to go out. I think we need to institute no children dinners several times a year.
Here is a link to their website the main location is in Bloomington, Il, but there are also conferences in Michigan and Minnesota as well. If you close enough to make the drive to IL I think you should come join us next year!!!!

Good news, and not so good news

Good news: Everyone in my family (John, Luke, Logan, Mikayla, and myself) all appear to show no signs of sickness! This week I hope we can return to our "normal" routine.
Not so good news: My aunt (my moms sister) had a heart attack last week which was followed by a quadruple bypass open heart surgery.
Good news: She is doing much better and went home today (Sunday)
Not so good news: My mom fell on Saturday, bashed up her face pretty bad and broke her wrist.
Good news: She did not break her cheek bone, and doesn't need surgery for her broken wrist.
Not so good news: She broke her glasses and has to get a cast put on by the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow.
Good News: She has some extra glasses to get her by in the meantime.
GOOD NEWS: this weekend is Hearts at Home and I can't wait to get away for the weekend and have some FUN!!!

1 benefit of having sick kids

I guess one benefit of having sick kids and being stuck at home for the 11th day in a row, my blogging activity has increased. Below are 2 pictures that further illustrate parenting a 2 year old. These pictures were taken only moments apart. The first one was taken right after I had prevented her from stepping over a lamp cord, that she was going to trip over. She did NOT like being redirected. The 2nd was taken just moments later. Boy, they know how to lay it on thick when they want to don't they?














Funny Logan story. He ran up to me and said,
"Mom, I have to show you something on "Neighbor Aber Robbershood!"
"On what?" I asked.
"Neighbor Aber Robbershood!"
"Say that again?"
"Neighbor, Aber, augghhh! Neighbor, auggghhhh! Neighbor, what's it called again mom?"
"Mister Rogers . . . "
"Neighborhood, yeah that's it."

1 more Logan story: Yesterday as we were sitting on the couch he was touching my hair and he turns to me and says (in his serious Logan way),
"Mom, your hair is like Persian."
"Persian?"
"Yes, you hair is like Persian."
"Persian. What does that mean"
"I don't know.'
Then when I was getting Mikayla ready for bed he was standing by me, again playing with my hair (he's a very affectionate child) and says,
"Mom, your hair is like nectar."
"What? My hair is like nectar? What is that? What is nectar?"
Luke then interjected, "Nectar is what bees gather from flowers to make honey."
Both conversations were so funny to me. I was laughing so hard when I was trying to tell them to John last night.

Maybe I'll take a vote, what do you say? Persian or nectar?

DONWANCHU

As a typical 2 year old, her new favorite phrase is "Don-Wan-CHU!" (I don't want to). It's all slurred together into almost 1 word instead of 4. Needless to say, this is NOT my new favorite phrase. "Mikayla, do you have to go potty?" "DON WAN CHU!" "Mikayla, please sit down." "DON WAN CHU!" ARRGGGHH, 2 year olds are truly a test of patience! UNfortunately, her 2nd new favorite phrase is, "I-ont-ike-it" (I don't like it) Which doesn't really mean she doesn't like it. What it REALLY means is, if I say this phrase, I can get the things in front of me to change. For instance Mikayla asks for an apple. After I cut up and apple and place it in front of her, she pushes it away and says, "I-ont-ike-it!". What she hopes will happen is that I will then run back to the kitchen and give her a banana, but then she would most likely refuse the banana, and hope that I come back with fruit snacks. But what I know is that she does like apples, and she is just trying to assert her ability to change the environment around her. Luckily, I am usually smarter than a 2 year old. So when she refuses the apple slices, I just take them away and she gets nothing. And wouldn't you know it, 2 seconds later, she asks for them back and eats them all! Whew, toddlers have the unique ability to change a simple event, like eating a small snack, into an exhausting experience!

80% better

Saturday it seemed everyone in our house was on the upside of this flu thing. So I cleaned the house (again!) from top to bottom. Changed everyone's sheets, washed all the blankets, boiled toothbrushes, and opened the boy's window to get some fresh air in. But, I don't think it did much good. We got everyone up and off to church this morning, but after we got there I could tell Logan was lagging. After church we had an "Appreciation in Ministry" lunch for our Children's Minister, who is resigning. At the lunch Logan was really dragging, so John left and took him home. After I came home, Logan woke up from his nap and felt warm. I took his temp and it was 103.3. Poor guy! And I'm the bad mom who took him out in public! I hope we didn't infect everyone today! The good news is Mikayla and John are doing better and Luke seems to have dodged the bullet all together.

In other news . . . we are will be having a "Summer Activities Camp" at the southwest campus this summer. The lead team for this event met on Saturday morning and I am SOOOO EXCITED!!!! (excuse me) As I was preparing for the meeting I was going through old files from UCC's "S.A.C." I watched a highlight video we put together and I cried and cried! It was so touching to look back and see so many faces and relive great memories. Some things I'm looking forward to this summer is expanding the program (so far we have 13 different groups offered!) to include sports ,like basketball and volleyball! A luxury we didn't have space for at UCC. It's been 3 years since my last opportunity to serve in a role like this and I forgot much it energizes me!
I hope everyone else is staying healthy. Spring will arrive eventually, right?

All Quiet on the Wentz home front

Quiet? not a word commonly used to describe our household! But as the flu is making it's way through our family, quietness has settled in. It started with Mikayla, then John, and now Logan. When they're not sleeping they are sitting around in a Zombie like coma. So far Luke is going strong and is trying to dodge this thing! I can tell I'm fighting it off, but I'm the mom, I don't have time to get sick! So, as we enter our 6th day of a quiet house, I think I'm actually looking forward to the return of the noise that the Wentz house is accustomed to.

SNOW TAKE 2

Even better than a snow day . . . the day after when you have PERFECT packing snow! The kids had a great time making 4 snowmen in our yard. And 1 snow dog. Then they went across the street where John and our neighbor make a HUGE snowman. We ended the fun with some SNOW ICE CREAM, YUMMY! And then came in for WARM drinks!


Mikayla on top of the HUGE snow ball that became the Middle of our giant snowman.








Mikayla spent most of her time eating snow!









Mikayla in our neighbors back yard navigating her way through the snow!








The GIANT SNOWMAN!

In Da SNOW!

After almost 13 inches of snow, we had a SNOW DAY! It really was the perfect snow day, because we got enough snow to shut things down, but the weather was GREAT! The boys put their snow gear on and went out to play. And of course and the neighbors and their kids were out! Have I mentioned on here that we live on the BEST street? One of our neighbors came by with their snowblower and cleared our driveway, sidewalks and even part of the street! Our neighborhood is a real community. I could go on and on and tell you what I think contributes to that, but that is for a different post . . . Now for snow pictures!