Applesauce and sick kids

Over the weekend, I went to my mom's house for a couple of reasons. Ricky wanted to have a LAN party at our house and I wanted to make applesauce with my mom. It was so much fun visiting with my mom and learning how to make and can applesauce. I have memories of making applesauce with my mom as a child. Dylan was looking forward to it all week! He kept asking me when we were going to grandma's house to make applesauce. He had a blast and was such a great helper! First, he washed and scrubbed the apples. Then, we cored them and cut them into pieces.Next, we cooked the apples and played while they were getting ready. After they were cooked, we put them through the masher aka. applesauce machine. Dylan helped by turning the handle

and by mashing them.Lauren even took her turn helping out! They thought the machine was really cool as it "pooped" out the skins. It got a thumbs up by all the kids! Yeah! Ethan even liked it! Overall, we made 20 quarts and 9 pints. It took all day, but it was well worth it! Thanks for your help mom! I love having food storage!This morning, I woke up to get ready for MOPS and Lauren had crusty eyes. I called the doctor to find out if it could be allergies, and they said that they needed to see her. I also asked about Dylan who has been waking up coughing at night, so I took both of them in. Lauren has pink eye and Dylan has a sinus infection. Guess we wont be doing anything today!

Festivals

This past weekend, I went to the covered bridge festival with my mom. I was kind of hesitant to go after the experience we had last year. (Dylan burned his hand and had to pee every 5 minutes!) I only took Lauren and Ethan this time and it turned out to be a beautiful day. It got up to 90 degrees outside, so we were sweating like crazy, but I got some shopping in this year! I really enjoyed the nice scenery and the whole experience was great. It was just what I needed with this crazy, busy schedule. Thanks mom!

The weekend before, Dylan, Ethan, Ricky's mom and I went to the Feast of the Hunter's Moon. Like every year, the food was excellent. It was a beautiful fall day and we all had fun. Dylan got to pick out a toy and got a wooden sword. He thought it was pretty cool. The only downfall this year was the wait for the buses back to the parking lot. We had to wait for an hour and a half! Luckily the kids were great and we had a parade to watch. Dylan told us on the way home that he had a great time. That just makes the whole experience worth it!

We are all hanging in there. Ricky's leg looks about the same, so we have to keep getting x-rays for the doctor to make sure it's healing properly. His foot is still really swollen, but he can bend his knee and he gets around pretty good on crutches. I guess that's good, since he will only be walking with crutches until Christmas! I am keeping up with everyone. The hardest part of this whole thing is that Ricky is here, but he can't do the same things that he used to! I have a rough time with putting the kids to bed some nights. I miss having Ricky put the kids to bed. It was my relaxing time and now it is my busiest time. I guess it's partly because I have been chasing the kids around all day and they are usually a little hyper. It's nice that Ricky can hold Ethan while I'm putting the other 2 to bed!

Speaking of beds, Lauren decided to take her diaper off again yesterday morning. This time she had more than just pee and it was all over the bed. Yuck! I just carried her to the bathroom and put her in the shower. It was disgusting. I ordered some pull-ups, so maybe we should start using them instead of diapers. She is growing up too fast! Right now, she is sleeping in Dylan's bed. She said that she wanted to sleep there, so I said ok. She didn't get out of bed at all! I thought that she would try to play with all of the toys in his room, but she is out! Maybe we should put her in the toddler bed and stick with potty training. I just need to suck it up and stick with it.

Updates

We have been busy around here. For those of you who haven't heard, Ricky broke his right leg almost 2 weeks ago. He plays basketball at the church on Wednesday nights and landed on someone's foot. He fractured his tibia, but the doctor said the best way for it to heal is time. He is not allowed to put any weight on his leg for 3 months. Poor guy. To make it even worse, he was trying to come downstairs on Saturday and fell all the way down. He was in so much pain I had to call 911. I thought he surely broke something else, but the x-rays showed that it was just the same fracture. He only sprained his ankle, luckily the same leg, and has rug burn down his back. He is just having a hard time with falling lately. The doctor thinks that it will heal just as good without surgery, so he just has to stay off of his leg. I guess he better get used to the crutches, because he will have to use them until Christmas!
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Dylan is keeping busy with school and playing with his friends. We have a couple of play-date swaps that I absolutely love! He enjoys having someone to play with when the other 2 kids are sleeping, and I love having some time to myself when he is gone. He is learning so much at preschool. He comes home and tells me all about his day at school. I love hearing about his day and what he has learned. Dylan has become quite the little helper around the house. He unloads the dishwasher, vacuums, helps with laundry, helps set the table, and clear the table. He got a wallet at a garage sale this summer and just thought it would be cool to fill it with money. (He gets a quarter for doing some chores!)
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Lauren is my little mom. If Ethan is crying, she will try to make him laugh or put his pacifier in his mouth. (She usually has it upside down, but she tries!) She is going to the bathroom at least twice a day now. She is so proud of herself. She still loves to play with her dolls and to wear jewelry. She loves to follow Dylan around and do/say everything that he's doing. Dylan usually likes it, but sometimes get annoyed with her. She doesn't usually like to watch TV, but she LOVES the Backyardigans. She asks for them all the time! She loves her princess music.
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Ethan is growing up so fast! He gets all over the place. He still really like food and screams if you don't feed him fast enough. He is almost sitting up by himself. He tries to catch himself if he starts leaning. He has 4 teeth now and is getting over a cold. Poor little guy. He started waking up in the middle of the night, which is hard on me. I hope he outgrows that phase soon!
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Me... I am keeping busy with everyone. There are some days that I don't think I get anything done, other than taking care of everyone. I am trying to keep up on the housework along with everything else, but the housework takes last priority. I am really enjoying the beautiful weather we have had. It's so nice to be able to go for walks and just get out of the house. I am so grateful to be a mother and love every minute of it!