Happy Birthday Dylan!

 What a week we had at the Tate household! Let's start by sharing the celebration of Dylan's 7th birthday! I had fun blowing up balloons to put in his room and putting streamers on his door, so he woke up to a party! He loved it! I even heard him say that this was the best birthday ever! So sweet. He had school, so I made him his choice for breakfast, scrambled eggs and toast. I was in-charge of moms and tots at church and we were having a St. Patrick's day party, so Lauren, Ethan and I went to that. We did a little scavenger hunt and made rainbows. The kids loved it. We came home for lunch and then I headed to the school to bring cupcakes to Dylan's class. I also surprised him with treat bags for his classmates. He thought it was really cool! His teacher asked me if I could stay for the parent-teacher conference (which by the way was a blessing. We'll get to that in a minute.). It's fun to see Dylan in his class. After school, he had his friend Kaleb over for a while. They enjoyed playing until Ricky got home and we headed to Pizza Hut for dinner, it was Dylan's choice of where to eat. 

 

We came home and opened presents and had cake.

 Dylan got a DS and some games, a few shirts, a Hot Wheels wall track, and Rise of the Guardian movie.

 I think the DS was a hit!

 

 It was a great day... Until we headed upstairs to go to bed. We could smell something in the hallway. Lauren had thrown up in her bed and was sleeping in it. I honestly don't know how anyone can do that! It was disgusting. And this is where the fun begins. Lauren had the flu for 4 days. 

 Saturday night she started to feel better and then Ethan threw up in his bed. (He didn't sleep through it.) We had planned to have a fun birthday party for the boys on Saturday night, but postponed it to Sunday with Lauren being sick. Then with Ethan getting sick, we had to postpone it until further notice. Ethan was sick until Wednesday night and has already tried to play the 'my tummy hurts, so I need to watch a movie' card. 

 

Dylan ended up getting sick on Monday night and has missed school all week. Poor guy was supposed to have a field trip today (Fair Oaks Dairy Farm). I guess we'll just have to take him sometime this summer to make up for it. Finger's crossed he will feel better tomorrow so he can go to Spring Party at school. We have had sick kids around this house for 9 days straight! I am SOOOOO looking forward to our trip to Florida! We all need it so bad! We are leaving on Saturday morning, unless someone else gets sick.

Ethan has been getting out of bed a lot lately. We found him eating chocolate one night. Another night we didn't know where he was. This is how we found him:

Dylan didn't even know he slept in his bed. Too cute!

Crazy life!

Boy is life crazy! Where to begin... Ethan is potty training right now (I guess that would explain why I'm busy all the time!). He's doing very well with potty, just not so well with pooping.  I think with all of the kids, I spend half of my day in the bathroom helping someone! It might not help that we took away his beloved 'whi-whi's (pacifiers). He is going on day 3 without them! Yeah! He does ask for them every time he goes to bed or gets distressed, but is still sleeping without them. It was a lot easier than I thought. I guess it could also be that he's almost 3! Wow, my baby is going to be 3 this month! Hard to believe that! Ethan is going through a 'Cars' stage now. He loves the movies and his 'Cars' cars. His favorite one is Mack and he quotes the line from the movie very well. "Mack, I ain't no Mack. I'm a Peter-built for gosh sake. Turn on your lights." I think he quotes this almost daily around here! Another saying Ethan loves is because he is potty training and only wearing underwear most of the time. He will shake his bum and say, "shaka, shaka, booty butt." Gotta love boys! 

Lauren is growing so fast! She is loving preschool and learning so much! She loves to play with her little figures (Polly Pocket, Princesses and Lala Loopsy littles). She started asking me in the morning who is coming over today. Like we have people over everyday! Haha! She has weekly playdates with her friend Makiah, and loves them. She is loving dance class! They are learning a routine for their recital in April. She and Ethan also started an art class this week. She is so precise and loves to do artwork, so it's a great experience for her. Ethan wasn't too sure of it, but is participating well. 

I can't believe that Dylan is almost done with 1st grade! Boy does time fly! He is learning so much at school and is reading like crazy! Some days, he comes home from school and reads for a good half hour. I love it! He also reads to Lauren and Ethan. All my kids love reading and books. He is having a little trouble with concentrating at school. His teacher contacted me about helping him focus on tasks, so we had a talk with him. He said that sometimes he just likes to look around the room and then he just stares at something for a while. It totally makes sense, as he always takes forever to get ready for school and bed! I guess part of it is his personality, but we still need to work on keeping focused. He is really looking forward to his birthday next week! Sometimes I forget that he is growing up and not my little boy anymore. We had our annual eye doctor appointments last week and Dylan is on the verge of needing glasses. I knew that my kids would probably need them at some point, but it sure did come quickly! I can't even picture him with glasses in my head, yet!

February 16th, I went dress shopping with my sister. She is getting married in May! So exciting! It was great to spend the day with her, my mom, and her future mother-in-law. She looked amazing in all the dresses! Lauren is going to be her flower girl. We got the dress ordered for her, and it is awesome! She looks like a princess in it. So cute! We are having issues finding a good dress for me. I don't know why, but the only one I liked was $230 (way too much for a dress!).  Guess we'll just have to keep looking. Last Saturday, March 2nd, was also spent trying on dresses, with nothing to show for it. And then today I had to take all 3 kids with me to try on some more. Luckily the kids did ok and I didn't get too stressed. I will have to say that it is not fun or easy and that is why I just buy things and then return them if they don't fit. We have to try again this week. 

 

February 23 was our Super Saturday craft day at church. They asked me to be in charge of a craft, a yarn wrapped wreath. I had never made a wreath before this, so it was fun to learn something new and then show everyone else how to do it! I also made a stamped necklace, very cute, with the kids initials on it, a Family Home Evening board, and 2 quiet books for church. It was a busy, but really fun day. After I got home, we headed to Indy for the night. Ricky had earned a free night at the Marriott, so we dropped the kids off at my mom and dad's house and went downtown for the night. It was so nice to see the city in a different perspective. I usually just go downtown for what I need and then leave. We walked around the streets and it reminded me of Chicago. We enjoyed seeing the movie, Warm Bodies, relaxing, and then ice skating. It's always nice to spend some time alone with the one you love most! 

It snowed about 6 inches this week! We had a snow day on Wednesday and the kids loved it! They shoveled snow on Tuesday night, while it was still snowing and then threw snowballs! On Wednesday, Ricky took Dylan and Lauren outside to make a snowman 

and then they jumped on the trampoline,

 swung on the swing-set, 

and threw rocks on the ice covered pond. After Ethan's nap, we all went sledding! So much fun! The kids loved it! Hopefully this will be our last snow of the season!

I'm starting to get worried about our trip to Florida. We are leaving in 2 weeks and I have to plan a birthday party and 2 boys birthdays in there, too! I have a long list that needs to get done before we leave. Fun times!