Hints of Spring

The weather has been incredible this week..... we have been wearing short-sleeves and the temperatures have hovered in the 70s.  It also has started to stay lighter later into the evening, giving us a chance to be outside a little more or at least make us feel that our evenings don't go by so quickly.  I am definitely a warm weather kind of girl so I have been in the best mood all week due to the spring-like weather.  I am currently at home today with a sick kiddo..... Zander was throwing up around 1:00 a.m.. this morning.  Unfortunately, he was trying to come to me as he started projectile vomiting so most of the throw up landed on the carpeted floor in our hallway rather than in the toilet.  I have been able to get a lot of work done while he has been lounging around and fortunately he hasn't been sick on his stomach again since he woke up this morning.  I do feel like one of us has been sick since 2018 started but I know these minor sicknesses pale in comparison to some of the health issues other kids and adults are dealing with..... so I am hopeful we are on the mend (again) and ready to take on the weekend, feeling so blessed that we will have time together!  Here are some pictures from the past week just to catch up on here...

Playing at the park.... Maddox has started to get really good at swings lately.... remembering to hold on when someone pushes him.  I don't send him as high as his brother just yet but Maddox definitely tries to do everything his older brother can!  Another favorite right now is the tire swing!

 Zander made his Valentine box for Valentine's Day!

My boys on Valentine's Day.... you will have to check out my annual Valentine post for all the things I love about these boys right now!  Also, Zack got me white roses as a special surprise.... we don't usually exchange gifts for any special occasion (birthday, Christmas, anniversary, etc.) so this was unexpected and sweet!

I love my four-legged son! He was ready for me to finish washing the sheets for our bed so he could go to bed that night! haha

This past weekend was the first weekend we ventured out in a couple months... with all the sickness, we have stayed pretty close to home.... the boys and I had to escape and we took a trip to the local science center!

 Both boys got their hair cut last weekend.....

 Maddox is obsessed with wearing his "fire hat" as he calls it......

 Daddy is under there somewhere.....

With the new hair cut, we purchased some gel..... once Zander is better, I have hopes of trying to style his hair!

 The boys had hat day at school....I caught Maddox while he was eating a cereal bar!

Zander had cap and gown pictures at his preschool..... can't wait to see the final product but I snapped a couple pictures like any mom would do! ;) Ironically, Zack and I wore blue gowns for our high school graduation..... so this definitely has me thinking about the future!

I've been working on a banner I make every year for our school's kindergarten registration and screening.  I always include the rising kindergartners year they will be graduating high school..... crazy to think that this year's banner contains the date my firstborn will be graduating! AHHHHHH!

To My Little Valentines

To My Boys,

  WOW! I can't believe this is my fifth year writing a Valentine blog post to my sons!  Zander, how can you be turning FIVE in a couple months?!  You are so excited about starting kindergarten at mommy's school and mommy is so ready to have you close by every day.  For you to get a "taste" of what mommy does all day while you are in preschool.  It kinda scares me though.  I can't believe I have a child getting ready to start school.... a commitment which will take you through the next 13 + years of your life!  I pray that you love school as much as you do right now.  I pray that you soak up all your teachers want you to learn as you do right now.  You can count at least to 50 at this point and amaze me daily by telling what letters words start and end with... it is incredible to see the phonemic awareness you already have!  You try to teach your brother everything you know.  For example, this evening, you were trying to tell him the colors on the blocks we were playing with.  I hope you will never get tired of teaching your little brother all the things you are learning.  Always protect your little brother and hold his hand like you do when he is scared or when he needs to walk away from something that could be potentially dangerous.  Always help to bring him up to your level.....like when you help to bring him up on mommy and daddy's bed when we are cuddling.  Always offer him encouragement like when you say "good job Maddox".  He will always need to hear these things from his big brother and he is so lucky to have you!  I am so lucky to have you! I love how excited you get about starting little league in a few weeks.  I love how you run to your folder at preschool when I pick you up to show that you have had a "smiley face" day.   I love how you remind me right before bed every night "If I have bad dreams, I will come tell you" (and you do!)  I love your ability to memorize scripture verses and the plot to many of your favorite books.  I love your smile and how your eyes light up when you are telling a good story.  I love how you use your hands to tell that good story.  I love that you are the boy that made me a mommy. <3

And Maddox, you will always be the one I look at and realize that you were meant to be in our family.  You were meant to complete our family.  Your smile and laugh are infectious.  You still love sucking your thumb and twirling your hair when you are tired.  And you still give the best cuddles in the world!  You have mastered this whole potty-training thing like a champ!  I love that right before bed as I am singing one of your nighttime songs, you lean over and kiss my cheek and then giggle like you are proud of understanding what a kiss means!  I love that you try to twirl my hair when we are sitting in the recliner before bed.  I love that you try to sing along to the songs we sing before bed....In "Jesus Loves Me"... you will belt out "strong" like you know that while you may be "weak" as a child, Jesus is "strong" enough to accomplish anything.  I love that when I pick you up from school, you enthusiastically say "mommy" and drop whatever toy you are playing with and then promptly ask me if you can carry my keys.  I love that you are saying phrases and sentences now and each day offers new words in your vocabulary.  I love that you try to do everything your brother does.  You will chase after him with a toy car or run laps around the downstairs after daddy or I say "ready, set, go".  Speaking of running.... I absolutely love how you run!  Also, you can tell you feel like such a big boy when you are going potty in the bathroom or when you are drinking from a regular cup.  I absolutely love you in zip-up footed pajamas, and I love when you dress up for church.  I love how you kick a ball or play with your friends when we are helping out in the nursery.  I love getting to see what you are like when mommy and daddy aren't around.  I might watch you sometimes before you notice I am watching just to see what you will do next.  Maddox, thank you for joining this family two years ago and for being the exclamation point on the Houston family..... for being my baby boy and Zander's little brother! <3

With all my love,

Mommy

Come On Groundhog!

So the groundhog saw his shadow which means six more weeks of winter for us!  (Although since he is statistically right less than 50% of the time, I am hoping he is wrong this year! :))  We are ready for warmer weather and are counting down to spring.  We continue to be sick with fevers, coughs, runny noses, sore throats, headaches and fussiness.  Zander missed school Monday.  Maddox missed part of the day on Tuesday.  Zander missed part of the day on Wednesday and fortunately, the boys made it to school all day on Thursday and Friday!  Thanks to Grammy and Grandpa, I didn't miss any work this week.  I had two big presentations for our school and couldn't miss them (or the time to prepare for the presentations) so the grandparents stepped right in and gave the boys extra cuddles while I worked.  Here are some pictures from our week...
Taking it easy with two sick boys.....

Spending time with Grammy, Grandpa, Aunt Lindsey, Uncle Boomer and Emerson for the Super Bowl.  The Philadelphia Eagles beat the New England Patriots.  Daddy stayed home with Zander since he had a fever and we didn't want to share. :)

 Gave blood after work on Monday....

 Cuddles from Grandpa and Grammy this week...

 Farmer Day at preschool.....

 Out to dinner with my co-workers......

Bought a new refrigerator... our freezer stopped working properly so we had to get a new one.  This is our first refrigerator purchase and as you can see from the white stove, we replace things as they break!  I don't know if my appliances will ever match!  You know I don't cook much so the stove is probably the least used appliance in our home! :)  I LOVE our new refrigerator!!!

Celebrated the 100th day of school as 100 year olds! We had tons of fun dressing 100 years wiser and 100 days smarter!

I took Zander to his first school dance at the school he will be attending next year for Kindergarten! I can't believe he will be coming to my school so soon!! I just signed him up for kindergarten registration and screening in March!

What a Week (Part 2)!

So you will remember where we last left off on this blog, Maddox was feeling better from the flu and I was hopeful that we were on to healthier times!  I got a call within 5 minutes of returning to work on Monday to hear that Zander was throwing up and needed to be picked up!  So I grabbed my things and headed back to preschool.  It turns out that Zander was finishing up his preventative Tamiflu and ate only yogurt for breakfast before we headed out the door.  This combination didn't work too well so he threw up the contents of his stomach and got a day at home with mommy!  Fortunately, it was not the stomach bug and he was requesting soup and crackers by lunchtime! I have decided that a "sick" four year old is a lot easier than a two year old at this point.  I was able to put on the television and still knock out at least an 8 hour work day from home.  I had a huge "to-do" list with the snow days and missed work with Maddox the week before so it felt good to start checking things off while on the laptop at home. 

 I love these boys..... and they have asked to ride in this particular cart for months!  There are all smiles because mommy finally said yes!

 I love evening cuddles with my pup and my hubby!  I went out of town for a work conference for two days and then Zack left the following day for his annual work meeting in Orlando which meant we were like two ships passing in the night for about a week.  Thanks to Grammy and Grandpa helping while I was out of town and thanks to a dinner date with my sister and Emmy while Zack was out of town, we seemed to survive and are happy to have the Houstons together again!

Grammy took the boys to Chickfila for some ice cream after school while I was gone!  She sent me this picture!

 Who doesn't love two cute bare butts in the tub?!

Sending daddy a picture on our way to church after dropping him off at the airport for a 7:10 a.m. flight!  It was raining... hence the rain jackets!

 Zander had neon night at church on Sunday evening.  I love that right now he keeps calling it "nee-off" instead of "ne-on"!  He wanted to send Zack this picture while he was out of town!

 We had a surprise snow when we woke up on Tuesday morning.  Schools were on a two-hour delay which meant I had to be at work regular time but the boys didn't have to be at preschool until 9:00 a.m......so we "played" in the snow for a few minutes and headed off to mommy's school.  Some of my friends' kids were at school so the boys got to play while we waited for their preschool to open and while mommy had a meeting.  Zander continues to pray for snow daily so he was super excited when I told him to look out the window Tuesday morning!

 Dinner with Linds and Emmy was so fun! Emmy doesn't like sharing the helicopter with Maddox even though he tries to be nice to her.  Emmy doesn't mind Zander as much and we actually got a picture of all three in one location for a split second! We do love the Chickfila play place!

With daddy home, I was able to run with Linds this morning..... it is still rather cold but I am excited to have the time with my sister and check off a weekly run!