Random: What We're Up To

It's been a long month or 6 weeks of illness around here. We're tired of it. Poor Jack has carried the brunt of the burden, racking up his grand total with two visits to the doctor, an ear infection, pink eye, and a chipped tooth/emergency visit to the dentist. He's currently on his second round of antibiotics. Look how sad this face is:Hazel tossed her cookies today, and we saw it coming about five seconds too late. This is only the second time she's barfed so far in her whole life (not counting baby spit up, of course.) I will use that as my excuse for why Todd and I didn't see it coming as she sat at the table not eating for the third meal in a row, face getting paler and paler as she pleaded to be excused so she could go nap. And then suddenly there was chicken noodle soup look-alike all over our table. Surprise! Thankfully, she then took a three hour nap and spent the rest of the day perky and upbeat, and she ate well, so I think we're on the upside of that situation.

Hazel and I had a "girl date" to Target this week while Todd stayed home with Jack. It was nice to be able to window shop and let Hazel walk around instead of trapping her in the cart and trying to bust through my shopping list and get out quick. Hazel wanted to try on the shoes. Not surprisingly, she liked the sparkly ones. Jack is cruising everywhere. I think I've even caught him running a bit a few times. It's so fun. Whenever we're walking in from the garage, he rocks his body until I set him down, so he can crawl up the steps to our door. And this week he started imitating my bad guy cackle when we're playing Hazel's favorite game where I tie her up and she escapes over and over and over again. We went to the Palo Alto Junior Museum this week for the first time probably since Jack was born. They've updated/improved it quite a bit! There are a bunch of bug exhibits that are actually really cool. If you're local, go check it out! (It's free!) Hazel loved this one that has a bunch of different types of insects in plastic cubes, so you can pick them up and see their bodies from every angle.
Jack loved opening the cupboard doors on this display. They have tons of insects inside them, but he just likes opening and closing the doors.
Part of the museum is a little zoo. Hazel's been obsessed with bats since Halloween, so she was thrilled to go inside the bat cave and see them for reals. She acted like she was all spooked out by it, but was really excited and went in three or four different times. The bats were huge!
Jack liked this display that teaches about wind power, because when you pushed a button, wind would blow all through his hair. Also, it had a set-up with little cars and houses, a little neighborhood. The pieces didn't move, but he still loved to touch them. Notice the "Do Not Enter" sign with the caution tape? Yeah, Hazel went in that little door to see the butterflies and totally had an "accident." Whoops! I was a little embarrassed, but the museum employee who cleaned it up was really nice about it, said it happens all the time in a place made for kids, so we just kept on playing.
In other news, Hazel decorated Christmas cookies with some neighbor kids and totally loved it. Perfect timing, because during her nap that day I was softening butter to make cookies myself and do the whole shebang, when I got a call from a friend inviting us over. Back in the fridge went the butter and I kissed all that hard work goodbye. We sauntered over with a little canned frosting and some sprinkles and red hots, and walked away with a plate full of cookies.
And Todd's highlight of the week was getting this photo in an email from a reporter who went with him on a search and rescue training over a Guard weekend a while back. Look who's flying that bird! Why yes, my husband is a helicopter pilot. I know it's cool. Don't be too jealous.
As for me, a few nights ago I woke up around 5:00 because I was too hot. I got up to go to the bathroom and the heater was running full-blast, but the hallway was freezing. Our front door was wide open. Wide open, folks! I shut and locked it, then thought to look around and see if there was anyone else in the house with me. I only dared to look real quick from where I was standing. I didn't even think to check that our computer or TV were still there. But I did peek in to make sure both my kids were in bed and breathing, that they were really there and safe. Then I got back in bed and thought about telling Todd to go back out and check again, but listened to my heart and asked Heavenly Father for a little advice, and felt safe, so I decided not to wake Todd up and make him lose sleep. I guess we just forgot to lock the door. It doesn't latch tight unless you push it in, so we must have not done that, and then the wind blew it open after we went to bed. Scary, huh? Thankfully, we live in a pretty safe spot.