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!