The snow is almost gone!!

After one of the longest winters in history (I believe we broke the state record for longest period with temperatures under 45 degrees and almost broke the record for snow total), the snow is almost gone! Of course, it has been 2 full weeks now of above freezing temps and we still have snow.

Jack and Max have been having a great time helping the snow melt faster. Last week they got out their red shovels and helped us scoop snow back into the driveway so it could soak up more of the beautiful sun rays.

Unfortuntely the sun has decided to say goodbye the last few days, leaving us with cloudy skies and rain. The combination of snow melt and rain has left our place a muddy mess. Jack and Max did their part once again by picking up pieces of gravel that had gotten pushed with the snow into the yard. Then they would throw their pebbles into puddles.

Jack was his typical anal self - if any of this rocks missed the puddle, he would go out and pick up the exact rock he had just thrown (not just any ol' rock) and make sure it got into the puddle. Luckily he didn't miss very often. He's going to be a great baseball player!

Huge thank you to Grandpa Tim, who got us a 16-ton load of gravel and spread it out over the driveway with his tractor. Now we can drive in and out without fear of getting stuck in the mud.

Of course, Jack and Max each had to take a turn driving the tractor!

Strike!

Saturday we took the kids to watch Mikelle participate in a dance competition. Her tap group did really well! Jack was pretty entertaining to watch - whenever a song would end, he would sit up as straight as possible and clap like little gentleman. After Mikelle was done, I lost Jack briefly - he found cute girl he liked and tried to follow her. Meanwhile, Max was air drumming with the songs. Unfortunately, that's all we got to see Mikelle this weekend since she had a birthday party for a friend, so we'll see her again next weekend.


We decided to take the boys bowling later that afternoon at the Merle Hay Lanes. Jack and Max were a little upset they didn't have bowling shoes small enough for them. They really liked everyone else's rentals, but they settled with some pop.


Boys had a lot of fun taking turns. Trystin and Jack even got strikes!

We did it, dude!

Trystin has been patiently waiting to try the mentos in Coke experiment all winter. He bought all the supplies, but Curtis told him he had to wait until it was nice enough outside - definitely not an inside experiment! Well, today was finally the day.

Here's Max's reaction:

Curtis took some pictures to document the massive snowfall from this winter. It'd be really pretty if we weren't totally sick of it! As of Friday, this year was the 4th snowiest Iowa winter on record. So far no snow today, but supposedly more is on the way.

The Fever

Poor Max came down with a fever Wednesday afternoon. Curtis stayed home with him Thursday while I did some temp work at Principal. We kept giving him children's motrin all day, but the fever kept spiking up whenever each dose wore off. By Thursday evening it had once again jumped up to 103 degrees while he was sleeping on my chest. We gave him more medicine, but he seemed to get hotter. I had just asked Curtis to bring me a cool cloth to wipe his head with when Max sat up and started fidgeting around. That's when it happened - the seizure. My poor baby flopped on his side and began convulsing. He has had a mild fever seizure before, but this one continued for a full minute. Very scary. We stripped his clothes off, kept wiping his head with the cool cloth, kept his airway as clear as possible, and called 911. By the time the ambulance had arrived, he had stopped seizing and we had his temp down to 99. He never stopped breathing, but his coloring was really bad (which isn't unusual for him though). We decided to send him to the ER to get checked out further. Since he had some mild congestion in his lungs and an elevated white blood cell count, the doctor ordered a chest x-ray - thankfully, that was clear. We got sent home around 1am. We took him for a follow up visit Friday morning. His white blood cell count had started going down, so we just had to continue giving him motrin and wait out the virus. Friday afternoon we had a slight scare when his temp once again jumped above 103 and he started getting fidgety, but we managed to get enough medicine in him and start cool cloths in time to prevent another seizure. He still had a slight fever Saturday, but today he is finally fever free!!!

Goodbye Grandma Violet

This weekend we said goodbye to Grandma Violet. She passed away early Friday morning. It's amazing what a huge impact she had on our family in the three short years she was with us. Violet was surprisingly funny and always had a smile for you. We knew she wouldn't live forever, but it was still a big shock when she became so ill after Christmas. Really did not see this coming at this time. But I know she is with God. We love you Violet. Say hi to Grandma Bernice for me.

We did manage to get in some fun this weekend. Jack and Max followed their cousin Trevor around whenever possible. He helped teach Jack how to play pool.

Of course, Max used up all his energy and had to take a nap with Grandma Elaine.

The snow in Newell is still piled high....probably the highest I ever remember. Here's the view down mom & dad's alley. There's just enough room for a vehicle to barely pass through.

Tate and Tessa Esser were staying with their grandma this weekend, so the boys were excited when they showed up at the funeral home. They played hard in the family room - Jack even worked up a sweat!

I love my boys!

Despite an awful stay at home stay-at-home-mommy day, I still LOVE my boys! We were stuck home again (poor Trystin got sick in the morning, but was fine in the afternoon), and I was having a hard time keeping Jack and Max from fighting and/or crying most of the day despite trying ALL kinds of activities. Just way too many days off our normal routines.

Anyway, here is how the boys ended the day:

Yes, my sweet little boys braved the frigid temperatures to help Daddy clear a snow pile (gotta prepare for tomorrow's snow). Notice the fuzziness of the picture - I wanted their picture, but not badly enough to actually go out with them, so I took it through the glass pane. BRRRR!

I've been trying to teach Jack and Max to sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." Jack can kind of sing it, and Max can say "Merry Christmas" but his singing of the song comes out like this....

And yesterday Max figured out how to use daddy's deodorant all on his own.