Week Seven: 2/13-2/19

This was a better week but we're still dealing with ick. Cole went back to school on Monday but by Thursday, I was feeling pretty crummy. I know I didn't have the flu but it was some sort of cold something. Thankfully Tim & Eli have been spared. 

MONDAY: Back to school for Cole!! Yay! He was not excited at all. Of course he wanted to stay at home and hang out on the couch. Nope. Not happening buddy. Then he tried to convince me that home schooling is a good idea. But then I told him that home schooling does NOT involve watching tv. So he went to school. =) I have been wanting to get a bookshelf for the upstairs den that will hold scrapbooks and help clean things up. I really wanted a Kallax one from IKEA but didn't want to drive to IKEA to get one. Guess what?! My friend Jamey had the exact one I wanted in her garage to take back to IKEA. SOLD!!! I was able to get it from her and put it together. I am so thrilled! I still probably need to actually GO to IKEA but I'm holding off for now. 

Doesn't it look so good?! I love it! 

The boys were excited to address their Valentine's for school. This is the first year that I've done edible Valentines treats. I usually handmake something / do a non-food treat but this year, took the easy route. And the boys loved it! They did not give me a hard time at all about writing all the names. 

 Cole missed the 100th day of school last week so he did his 100 paper today. #6 cracks me up - "Having 100 brothers & sisters could be a real problem." Yes, it could Cole. Yes it could! 

I forgot to take a picture Sunday of my pretty Valentine's flowers. Tim & Cole got them for me while Eli & I were in Goldsboro. Love fresh flowers. They're so pretty! 

 By 5:15pm, Cole was O-U-T on the couch. I guess a full day back was exhausting. 

TUESDAY - Valentine's Day! So fun getting some goodies for the boys. And so much fun for them at school exchanging Valentines with their friends. As soon as they got home, they had to open and sort everything checking out all the candy. I'm glad we were carpool today because who knows how much candy would have actually made it home!

 The boys have been asking for a puppy so I bought them chocolate puppies. Ha ha!

Goodies waiting for the boys to wake up. So excited about these Q&A books. There is one question a day and you do it for 3 years so you can see year after year how their answers change. The boys are excited about them; hopefully we can stay on top of it. And I love how it encourages writing!! 

 Blurry pictures because they were moving FAST! Happy with all their goodies. 

 Eli's teacher sent this to me. My big valentine. 

 What else would you do Valentine's Night? Both Cole & Eli had swim. Cole was happy to be back! 

Cole's answer to today's questions. Of course, it's always about Mom making cookies. I like that he called me "Awesome" too. 

Love this picture of my folks. Dad was able to get out of his room a bit (he finally got into a regular room, not ICU) and walk a bit. They're working with him on strength since he was stuck in the bed for so long. I can tell that he's smiling under that mask and it makes me so happy. Anniversary in the hospital and now Valentine's Day. 

On Wednesday, Eli had not given his "girlfriend" her special treat and told me that she doesn't like him anymore (which I found out later is false) but since he wasn't going to give it to her, he, Cole & I decided to open it and try the chocolates. 3 pieces. We each ate a little of each piece (Eli ate the most). It was pretty funny. 

 While Eli was at swim, Cole & I watched the start of the NC State / UNC basketball game. It was ugly from the very beginning. Cole told me "I wish I had a magical spell I could cast on NC State to make them win by a lot." - oh me too buddy, me too. The game ended up being very ugly. And then rumors shortly after that our coach is getting fired......which turned out to be true by the end of the weekend. 

Thursday night I felt terrible. I had survived the day on cough drops (I was part of a presentation team for a new project) and once it was all over, I think my body just sighed a huge sigh of relief and let me know how much my throat hurt and how tired I was. Tim brought me a milkshake for dinner because I just didn't feel like food. Unfortunately, that feeling continued. I was couch bound on Friday trying to rest and then took it pretty easy this weekend. I feel better but not 100% yet. 

 Found this in Cole's Friday folder from school - "I swim as fast as a dolphin". Love it!!! 

FRIDAY: After a successful school week - both boys AT school! - we had Friday night family night. Eli originally told us the the wanted to go to Friday night practice and sleep in on Saturday. Then he changed his mind. He wanted to hang out Friday night and go Saturday morning. So we did just that. Pizza for dinner. Watched some shows on the Food Network and just chilled. He was even up early Saturday for swim practice. Speaking of swimming, I have not been able to do much of it the past two weeks. I'm falling a little behind on my 2017 goal. Hopefully next week I'll be able to swim and can make up some ground....or water, I guess I should say. 

THE WEEKEND: Fun and easy. We didn't have any "real" plans this weekend so we just had a stress free weekend. Eli swam Saturday morning (Cole didn't have practice) and we hung out for the morning. Then we went on a Family mountain bike ride on the trails. Even though I wasn't feeling 100%, I was pretty sure I could keep up with Cole on the trails. And I did. Cole wanted to ride with me more than Tim because he said Tim was "bossy". (This theme continued on their Sunday ride too.) Eli is much more comfortable on the trails these days because he's done more of it. We're getting Cole used to it and he's doing great. He IS riding a crazy heavy bike, doesn't have the same kind of gearing we do or clipless pedals. But he does great. He loves the pump track and the little jump line. They make the ride worth it. Being out there made me want to get back to more mountain bike riding. It's so much fun, such a great workout and so free-ing in the woods. We don't do much road riding these days because it's just so dangerous and you have to go at just the right time and the right route. I think Tim has agreed to let me look for a new bike in Spring when we get our REI dividend. Woo hoo!! 

 Saturday morning rug purchase. I love this rug and am going to use it upstairs in my "office". 

Mountain Bike Bros - I love every single picture of them side by side on their bikes. We are going to have SO much fun on bigger trails as they get older. 

 My biker boys

 Pump Track!

Part of the big jump line. I didn't take any pictures of them doing the smaller one. We stopped and let them have fun exploring. 

 Pushing his bike up the hill. Builds character.....I would know. I've pushed many a hill with my bike! 

 Tongue out.....determined! 

 Family Selfie!! 

 Cole & I took the road back while Eli & Daddy went back on the trails. 

 Of course, post-ride snack! 

I've always seen people do photo collages with apps so I downloaded one and played with it. I can see myself doing more! 

 Post ride power nap. 

Cole decided that he wanted to make cookies. He told me that he could do all the work and I just had to "supervise". He did really well and his cookie were yummy! 

 Favorite appliance - KitchenAid mixer. It's almost 12 years old and has gotten A LOT of use. 

It's hard to eat cookie dough when you actually have to make the cookies. 

SUNDAY: Phew....trying to take it easy. I'm still not 100% and both boys have been congested and trying not to be sick. Took it easy in the morning and then we went to see 'The Lego Batman' movie. Cole wanted to see it on opening day but since he was sick, we had to postpone. We went to Brier Creek to see it instead of our usual Grande because a) there were no seats available at the Grande and b) I found old gift cards that Eli won last year in the Swim-a-Thon so we used them. Yay!! The boys enjoyed the movie and especially loved eating TONS of popcorn. I think Cole loves movie popcorn more than Tim does. After the movie, Tim took the boys to ride the greenway (Cole's idea) and I went on a walk around the neighborhood and did some chores. We spent Sunday evening watching America's Funniest Videos (Hello my childhood!!) and some Food Network. Tomorrow is a new busy week with nice warm February temps! 

 Being silly at the Kong display 

Nice that Brier Creek has recliners now. The theater was HUGE! Biggest movie screen I've ever seen. 

Afternoon walk. Sweating in February! 

Week Six: 2/6-2/12

Oh goodness, what a week. Started the week off visiting my Dad in the hospital and ended with Cole having the flu and a swim meet. Phew! 

MONDAY: I went down to Matthews to see my Dad in the ICU. He was admitted last Tuesday and thankfully is doing better. Unfortunately Monday was also my parents' 36th wedding anniversary. Nothing like spending it in ICU. It was great to see my Dad and see that he's doing better. I didn't realize how bad it was last week when he was admitted but the first night he had his own dedicated nurse. Yikes! Thankfully he made it through that night and has made it through more. A long way to go but he's getting better every day. A doctor came in while I was there and the nurses were in quite a few times and man, they're taking GREAT care of him! They were also so sweet to give my parents a little treat for their anniversary. They made signs and had the kitchen make them a cake. So thoughtful! 

 So nice!

 Mom even fed Dad a little cake. 

 I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture. It cracks me up. You can tell how thrilled my Dad is to be in the hospital but it shows he's still got his sense of humor. 

 Love my parents! 

 Selfie time! Dad was trying to wave. Showed this one to the boys. They were glad to see Grandpa doing better. 

Monday night when I got back, Cole said his arms and legs were hurting. I assumed it was growing pains and gave him some Tylenol. Nope....poor fella, he was sick. He woke up Tuesday not feeling well so I kept him home. And then again Wednesday....and Thursday.....and Friday! Eli & Cole are not ones to miss school and I think Cole missed more this week than they have their entire school years combined! I didn't take Cole to the doctor but I think it was the flue. Based on things I heard from parent friends whose kids were diagnosed, Cole had the same symptoms. I also heard it was going around and usually we're spared but I think it got us this year. Cole would have a fever and then it would go away and then it would come back. It was weird. He took naps every day and pretty much just laid on the couch. He also missed swim practices which is huge - he loves to go and swim with his buddies. 

Tuesday afternoon nap

Tuesday afternoon carpool - we made the jump to carpool and today was our first day. I'm optimistic that it will make our afternoons/evenings easier and allow the boys to get homework done before Tim gets home from work. We'll also be able to get food in them before swim practice. I'm also very glad because there have been a few after school incidents and now we don't have to worry about those. =) 

 Wednesday morning couch position - a nap was had on the couch too. 

Thursday I started painting the den upstairs to match the rest of the house. Found a great neutral grayish color that reads on the gray or tan side depending on lighting. This room is in dire need of being "finished" and I need to get it that way to set up an office in there. Over the course of the week, I got all the walls painted and am almost finished with the trim. Much brighter now!

Hanging with Cole, I've had time to read and this was a good one this week. It's in the 500-page range but I got through it quickly. Now I need to find another good book to read. This was #9 so far in 2017!! 

And funny, this kinda looks like the book cover. I textedthis picture to Tim and told him about my constant battle with Cole to take medicine. And oh, it was a battle. Every day. Every night. We were just trying to help some of the symptoms and get him past it but you would have thought I was strangling him. 

Friday was Cole at Home Day #4. I had found a Lemon Pound Bundt Cake recipe a while back that I wanted to try. Tim picked up the ingredients earlier in the week so I thought "Why not?! Let's bake a lemon bundt cake." Lots of fresh lemons. Yum. 

And it was good. So good. I only wish I would have zested in shorter pieces but it didn't bother me or Tim but the boys, not having it. More for us!! 

THE WEEKEND: The weekend included the MOR Short Course Qualifier Meet for Eli in Goldsboro. Tim & I talked about it and decided that it probably wasn't best for Cole to be sitting in the stands at the pool for 4+ hours each day so he & Cole stayed home. I don't think they did much and Eli & I were home around lunch each day. 

Saturday morning - early departure time. Eli was great and got up without much trouble. We had packed everything the night before so all we had to do was get in the truck and go. 

 Headed to Goldsboro! 

Short Course Qualifier - this is the last chance for swimmers to make the NC Age Group time cuts. The Age Group Championships are in 2 weeks. 

I officiated his session and it was crazy because I had to blow whistles! For those that aren't familiar, the official blowing whistles is telling the swimmers what to do and when. That person keeps the meet moving and also had to write down order of finish for each event. I was SO busy. Thankfully our Meet Referee was great at training me and I didn't do too bad. I don't think anyone knew it was my 1st time but it was stressful for me! 

Eli's events for Day 1 - he did great! He swims in the 10 and Under Boys Group. 

200 Free - 1st of ALL 10 & Under swimmers! He won by almost 10 seconds! Time - 2:36.61.

100 Back - 21st place overall. Not sure what happened. He added a little time. Time - 1:27.36

100 IM - 8th place overall. He was pretty much on his previous best time. Time - 1:23.81

50 Free - 8th place overall. Finally got under 33 seconds! Time - 32.88

He didn't make any Championship cuts for these events but next year.........

 Saturday on the way home. It was a little over an hour drive. He fell asleep hard. 

 Break time from backyard football with Daddy. 

As we were coming inside, we found this girl at the edge of the deck at the house. She may be the one we relocated last week. It was much warmer today and we weren't able to get her to relocate. She wiggled down under the deck and slithered away. 

 Garage Barbershop open for business. With a new addition - a barber's cape! 

 Made it so much easier and cleaner - no hair on the boys skin or clothes. 

I've been trying to clean out a bunch of old boxes of stuff and came across these two sweatshirts from my high school basketball days. What fun memories!! 

 I was #34. 

 Sunday morning - another early departure for me & Eli. 

On deck before warm ups.

Eli's events for Day 2. He was so funny - told me that the water was cold so he just pretended a shark was chasing him. Hilarious!! It was really cool that for 3 of his events, he swam in a lane beside his training buddy Collin. They push each other really well and it was exciting that they BOTH made the Champs time cut for the 100 freestyle! Now Eli will swim the 200 IM and the 100 Free in AG Champs. Fun!!

100 Free - 5th overall. Time - 1:10.79. Made the Champs time cut!!!

50 Fly - 6th overall. Time - 37.73. 

100 Breast - 5th overall. Time - 1:38.58.

50 Back - 22nd overall. Time - 41.06.

And pooped again from the swim meet. So proud of him. Our #1 goal is to not miss an event and he for the first time, I didn't have to worry about him. He paid attention and was always at his lane in plenty of time to not be rushed. It was a great meet! Next up Age Group Champs and then Tarheel States - for events he didn't qualify for AG Champs. And then, Long Course Season! 

Sunday we got back at lunch and it was too nice of a day to stay inside. Eli & Cole played football, hung out in the hammock and just goofed off. Tim went on a Daddy bike ride to Umstead. I think we all enjoyed the nice day! 

Hopefully we'll all be much healthier next week and get back to normal. Fingers crossed!!