The Winn Wire

I'll Always Love You Though New York

2012-02-08T23:45:00.004-05:00

To celebrate our 38th birthday this year, I decided to take a mini-vacation from Mommyville and visit my twin sister Heather in New York for a long weekend this month. It's been nearly four years since I slept away from the kids, so I was mostly hoping for a few good nights of uninterrupted sleep and the opportunity to shoot some photos in the city. Alas, there is no vacation from the job of Mommy, I found, as the flu virus my 5-year old suffered from earlier in the week, traveled silently with me to NYC and took hold of my insides about an hour after I arrived. And it came on with a vengence. My first night away from the children consisted of half-hour trips to the restroom and hugging the porcelain bowl until 5 a.m.

I was recovered enough after a day to venture out with camera in hand when the snow began to fall. Even the flu couldn't hold me back from capturing the white carpet covering Heather's neighborhood. We visited the Internationl Center for Photography's museum, bought some toys in Times Square for young ones at home in VA, and caught a movie. A short duration trip made shorter by illness, was still a welcome escape.

Check out my NYC in Winter Album for all the photos captured in an afternoon in NYC winter.

Green and Yellow, Green and Yellow

2012-02-08T23:31:00.006-05:00

With high hopes for a return to the Super Bowl spotlight this year, we threw a small gathering to cheer the Packers on in the playoffs. Much to our dismay, the game ended in defeat. But the food and friendship were a welcome distraction for the kids and the adults. Peruse our party antics at the Packers Playoff Album.

And, please see Mr. Bear's instructional video on how to catch AND hold on to a football all the way into the end zone. This video is mostly intended for Packers wide receivers, if you know what I mean!

Retrospective

2012-02-07T23:58:00.038-05:00

Clearly, the last half of 2011 escaped me with little time to blog. So, let's see if I can sum up six months in the lives of five Winns here:

August 2011: To kick off the start of an active football season for this house and the NFL, we took the kids to Redskins Training Camp on August 6. We saw the training field for the Redskins, and for a brief time, the Redskins actually training on it. Although, they were far from our end of the field. :( Pictures of the event are here: Redskins Training Camp album

For most of the rest of August and September we spent lots of time shuffling Alex around to football practices and games. He had a lot of fun and started out training as QB for the team, since he proved his football prowess with the ability to memorize all the plays in a night and work hard to figure out how to execute them. The first scrimmage sort of showed us and his coaches that the anixety of the tackle was maybe too much for Alex, and he had the tendency to over-analyze things. In life, this can be good. In football, it only slows the play down and when the entire offensive line of an opposing team is coming after you, the QB, and the ball, it can be, well, painful. I think Alex was relieved to be let go of the QB responsibility and play defensive tackle. In any event, we spent almost every night and Saturday of two months of our fall watching football, which was great fun, but we were glad to get our nights back, family dinners, and just rest for awhile after it was over. To view some photos of our little football star and all our fun click here:

Football Fun Album.

Friday Night Lights

September 2011: Back to school was a special treat this year, as all three kids are now enrolled. Alex started 2nd grade, Kaelen is in his last year of pre-school, and Madison started her first year of pre-school. She only attends one afternoon a week, but it gives Mommy a three hour period with all three kids at school, which was a strange adjustment. I got a little teary as I dropped her off on her first day, but then promptly drove to meet a friend for lunch, a luxury I haven't had in years!

On September 12, Jason's cousin Jeff married his longtime best friend and girlfriend Ginny. It was a special treat for the Winns, since all the kids were included in the wedding. Alex served as a Junior Usher, Kaelen was the ring-bearer, and Madison was the flower girl. The kids did a good job of making it down the aisle, with a little Mommy-assistance, and Madison was so enthralled by the whole event that she thought she was the main attraction. She was beside herself with pride and joy after making her way down the aisle to the "altar" and needed a little help to step aside for the real star of the day, Ginny. The wedding also gave Mommy an excuse to try out her new Nikon, so lots of photos were taken by yours truly: A Weekend Wedding Album.

And, of course, what is September around this house, without Birthday Madness? Alex turned eight on September 7. Kaelen turned five on September 16, and Madison turned three years old shortly thereafter on Oct. 3. It's always a whirlwind of parties and presents. This year the boys begged to have a Chuck E. Cheese party, so we caved. It was a blast, of course.

October 2011: Madison Jane is now all about the princesses these days! So she had a small Princess Party at our home to celebrate her 3rd birthday. Princess Birthday Party Album

Kaelen started Tae Kwon Do, Alex received his first football trophy, and everyone enjoyed the early fall. See our fall fun here: Fall Fun Album

Halloween was highly anticipated by all three Winn children and this year we had several opportunities again to wear costumes. We made our annual trip to Air and Scare at the National Air and Space Museum (this time, Mommy even dressed up!), the party at the gym, pre-school parade, and trick or treat. This gave Mommy lots of opportunities to shoot photos of the litte ones in costume. See them here: Halloween 2011 Album

November 2011: November was a slow event month, as the children worked hard in school and sports were over. We visited some playgrounds, since the weather stayed warm, and got our Santa photo in early, before the line drags halfway across the mall. I have to say, it's the best one so far. All three kids with a smile. Who knew it was possible?

We also received this very touching letter from Alex, about what he was thankful for on Thanksgiving this year. Kids, you gotta love 'em!

December 2011: In mid-December Kaelen had surgery to remove his tonsils and adenoids, after we discovered through a speech assessment that they were enlarged and finally understood that the poor little guy suffered from Sleep Apnea (like his father), which was impairing his lower sound-level hearing and speech, and also caused a host of other issues. He was a real good trooper for his surgery and Mommy and Kaelen both enjoyed a week of camping in Mommy's bed while he recovered. True to Kaelen form, he never complained about pain or anything else and was just happy as could be to eat his popsicles, watch movies, and catch up on restful sleep, which he apparently has had very little of for the past five years with the Sleep Apnea. We already see big changes in his mood, energy level, focus, and speech, since the surgery. So we were grateful to have it over when he is young. :)

With all that over in the middle of the month, the Winns were eager to bring on Xmas fun. Aunt Teddy came to town again on Xmas Eve and we spent the day with a visit from Granddad and Dennis, opening presents, building new toys, and chatting. Xmas Eve night we had a family gathering at Jason's Aunt Molly's house. Kaelen played photography protege, much to my delight, and all three Winn kids devoured a bowl of M&Ms before we could turn our heads and notice! Xmas day we drove to Fredericksburg, VA to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

All month we heard from Madison about how she had asked Santa for the "Dora Kitchen." The boys' only desire was for iPads, but they settled for Kindle Fires from Mommy and Daddy after we informed them that even Santa doesn't have enough money or elves to pay for or make enough iPads for every kid who wanted one. Santa did bring lots of cool items, such as throwback Aaron Rodgers jerseys, princess jewelry and items, headphones for the Kindle and the other electronic devices these children are glued to all day, assorted books, games, etc. When we asked the kids if they had received everything they wanted, Madison somberly reminded me that, "Santa forgot my Dora Kitchen."

Oh No! I sent Daddy to check the fireplace (conveniently located in Mommy and Daddy's room) to see if it had gotten stuck in the chimney. It is a rather large toy, I assured Madison. "I hope Santa isn't stuck there, too!" I joked.

Madison squealed with joy as she saw Daddy lugging the Dora Kitchen up the stairs. It HAD gotten stuck in the chimney. Madison was beyond excitement that Santa hadn't forgotten. She quickly went to work cleaning dishes, turning knobs, and cooking up patties on the stove.

Alex turned to Daddy and asked in a curious and worried tone, "Was Santa stuck in there too?"

Kids! You gotta love them. Check out our Xmas album for photos of all the joy! Xmas 2011 Album.

For some more fun photos of 2011 check out my Camera+ Photo Album , my End of 2011 Fun Album and our Redskins Fan Party Album, too.

I Know A Man Back Home

2011-07-30T22:34:00.006-04:00

In July I drove the kids back to Milwaukee to visit my Mom, Dad, aunts, cousins, and more. We arrived this year just in time for the annual lakefront festival "Summerfest," which I spent many days at as a child myself. Grammy, Grandpa, the kids and I all headed down to the festival on its last day. The highlights for me were seeing old high school friends and watching the kids play rockstar on the kids' stage. The kids thought the Sky Glider was the best thing ever.

During our 5-day stay in town, the kids and I also visited all our favorite haunts, including the Betty Brinn Children's Museum, Stonefire Pizza, and The Safehouse. We also had a lot of fun hanging with friends and family at various spots around town. A highlight, for sure, was a boat ride we took on the river, all the way out to the lake. The kids all got a chance at the wheel, which they loved.

I also took the kids by Wisconsin Memorial Park, where my Grandmother (Nana), Step-Grandfather (Papa Ted), Great-Grandmother, and the Grandfather I never knew, are buried. Since we arrived after hours, the building where my Nana and Papa Ted's crypts are held was locked, which was a real disappointment to me, but we did a little detective work and found the graves for my Grandfather and Great Grandmother. Madison had been wearing a bracelet of fake flowers she found at the bowling alley the day before, so we left a touch of pink by my Grandfather's grave.

In all, the kids enjoyed our Milwaukee stay and Alex, Kaelen, and Madison were all super psyched to get their hands on some bonafide Packers gear from Wisconsin.

For Summerfest photos click here:

For the rest of our Milwaukee adventures, click below.

I'm Living in America

2011-07-05T22:23:00.001-04:00

We always look forward to fun and fireworks on the Fourth of July. This year the kids and I spent much of the day at the Vienna 4th of July Festival bouncing, sliding, and goofing around. We later drove down to meet Daddy at Granddad Winn's house for a dip in the pool, dinner, and fireworks galore. The day was hot, but hopping. Everyone was tuckered out by the time their heads hit the pillow and fun was had by all.

Click the photo to the right to see more photos of our 4th of July fun.

Don't Tug on Superman's Cape

2011-07-01T22:08:00.000-04:00

With Daddy and the boys full on into comic books and superheros, we decided to take a short family vacation to Philadelphia for Comic-Con in June. We all dressed up in costumes and enjoyed three days of comics, star wars, and crazy characters everywhere. The kids especially enjoyed the light-saber training and costume contest. Everybody got a chance to sit in the Batmobile and the Delorian from Back to the Future, which was a real hit. Aunt Teddy came down from NYC for the weekend to stay with us, too, and we all had fun with her. :)

Lots of photos were taken by yours truly, so be sure to check them out by clicking the picture below. :)

VereBBQ

2011-06-01T21:50:00.000-04:00

For the past 8 years, my friend Sharon and her husband have held a BBQ in their backyard during Memorial Day weekend. Last year was the first year we had to miss it, due to a stomach bug that was working its way through two of the three Winn kids. So, I was especially glad the weather held up and everyone was healthy this year. Since all my babies are now old enough to be somewhat independent and left unattended to play in the yard, it's also the first year I didn't spend the whole time chasing a newly-mobile toddler around the (large) yard or worry that my baby would fall face first out of a sitting position while I took 10 seconds to grab a soda or bathroom break. I actually got to converse with adults, which was a welcome opportunity!

The kids all had a great time cooling off on the slip-n-slide, and I took the opportunity of my newly found freedom to play around with my camera and catch up with some great friends I don't get to see often enough in this busy busy life.

To see photos from the day, click below.

Preschool Grad Take 1

2011-06-01T21:18:00.000-04:00

Kaelen had his pre-school graduation May 26, complete with songs and stories. Mr. Beary was in attendance, as well as Mommy and Daddy. The ceremony is just a practice for Kaelen, who will be in one more year of pre-K, since his birthday falls just before the cut off date and we didn't want to send him to Kindergarten as the youngest kid in his class. We'd rather send him with an advantage than a disadvantage.

Kaelen had a blast with the whole thing. He was so sweet when one of the songs they sang required the kids to sign "I love you." He searched Mommy out in the audience when the time came to point to "you." And he made sure to point to me every time it came up in the song, even though it required he turn almost completely around! What a sweetheart!

To see some photos of our little (almost) graduate, click the photo below.

Kachow!

2011-05-20T22:53:00.003-04:00

This summer marks the long-awaited sequel to Cars. Lightning McQueen has had a long presence in our home, since we started potty-training Alex, at the age of three, using die-cast figures of McQueen and his friends as rewards. When Kaelen got his first glimpse of the speed racer before he was even two-years old, he was an instant McQueen fan. Kaelen and I used to have midnight viewings of the Cars movie, when, as a toddler, he couldn't sleep and would trump downstairs to my side of the bed, saying, "Queeeeen. Queeeeen."

So, when a friend of ours told me that Lightning McQueen, his friend Mater, and Finn McMissle, would be in D.C. for one day only at the National Spy Museum, I threw the kids in the car and made a day of it in D.C. We met Lightning McQueen and friends live and in-person. We toured the Spy Museum at lightning speed, since nobody, especially Alex, seemed interested in the vast knowledge the museum has to offer. And, finally, we stopped by the Washington Monument to enjoy the view and run off some energy.

For more photos of our McQueen encounter, click the photo below.

Ready For Some Football?

2011-05-20T22:26:00.004-04:00

As members of the Washington Redskins Kids' Club, Alex and Kaelen had special access for autograph signing by Redskins alumni during the annual Redskins Draft Day Party at FedEx field. Grandma was kind enough to babysit Madison for the day, while the boys, Daddy, and I enjoyed an afternoon at the ball field. There was a football obstacle course to run, a quarterback toss, and a chance to make a field goal attempt at the uprights. We got a behind the scenes tour of the locker room and a chance to see the three Superbowl trophies won by the Redskins.

A chance to meet Redskins alumni and, especially, to play ball right on the green of FedEx field were the highlights of the trip for a football-obsessed seven-year old and his younger "superstar" brother.

For photos of our FedEx field adventure, click the photo below.

Because The Night

2011-05-20T21:44:00.005-04:00

Slight drizzling turned our Saturday Easter egg hunt at Grandma's into an indoor event, but the kids were equally as eager to hunt down the goods. For the first year ever, Kaelen found the golden egg with the coveted $20 bill inside. He was so excited! Everyone had lots of fun rummaging through candy and coins. Madison was a true lady with her white dress, Easter hat, and wrist-length white gloves.

For dinner, we joined Granddad Winn at his house for some golden arches, dandelion picking, and another fun egg hunt. Eggs were hidden with either an "A," a "K," or an "M" marked on them. The kids had a blast looking for their eggs and the boys were very good big brothers helping their little sister find all of her "M" eggs. :)

On Easter Sunday we made our annual trip to our neighbor Nancy's egg hunt at her son Bruce's house. With several acres of land and over 600 eggs to find, it's a kid's dream come true! Madison had fun playing with Nancy's new grand daughter Lily, and of course, all three of the kids enjoyed running around with Emma, Alex, and other friends.

For all the photos from our adventures, click the photo below.

April Showers

2011-04-07T12:38:00.006-04:00

The first weekend in April was very busy for the Winn clan. On Friday, April 1, Alex took part in his school's Boosterthon Fundraiser Fun Run. The kids asked friends and relatives to pledge money for each lap run, up to 35 laps. Alex ran all 35 laps and raised $480 for his school to help buy SmartBoards for the classrooms. The school raised over $25,000 through this fundraiser! Yeah London Towne Lions! For more photos from the event click on the photo to the right.

On Saturday, April 2, Kaelen had his first tee-ball game. Grandma and Grandpa Roth came up to see the little guy batter up and run the bases. Kaelen loved playing first base and especially hugging every first base runner and saying "Hi. My name is Kaelen." He's so sweet. Of course, he would follow the introduction up with "We're gonna beat you!" What a character! at some point, the game became more football than baseball, when every boy on the team would run after the baseball and pile on top of each other to see who came out alive with the coveted baseball.

Saturday evening I took the boys to Borders bookstore to see a live performance by Jack and Annie of the Magic Treehouse book series. Alex has already read 6 or 7 of the "Chapter Books" as he calls them. I read the books at night when putting Alex and Kaelen to bed and we have all enjoyed following them to see dinosaurs, mummies, ninjas, cobras, and more! After the show, the boys were ecstatic to meet Jack and Annie in person and get their new books signed by them.

Madison was a good sport all weekend, despite the focus of attention on her brothers. She happily cheered Kaelen during his tee-ball game and even ran onto the field to give him a hug.

Voices out of Photographs

2011-03-30T22:42:00.005-04:00

My mother had a dark room in the basement of our family home. In my teens I remember losing days down there developing photographs. Watching the black outlines and gray shades come to life on that glossy paper was exhilarating. As the repetition of adult life moved in, much of the time I had to concentrate on that creative effort was pushed aside.

The digital photography revolution made photographs more accessible and took much of the trial and error out of the process, which was exciting. But a good DSLR camera does not come cheap. With a growing family, mortgage, and student loans still hanging overhead, it's been hard to justify the cost of one. And, thus, I feel as though years have gone by and images have been stuck in my head. Now that I have my Nikon D90 (thanks to my generous husband, sister, and mother) I'm finally able to extract them from my mind and share them. The children are a bit annoyed at how often I stick a lens in their face, but I can't control my impulse lately to shoot. A digital photography class I took has helped me to realize more of my vision and I am enjoying the creative learning process that continues everyday. I feel alive.

With the help of some tweaking from my amazing sister, I have a Web site to show off some of my work. As my vision and ability grows, so will the site. Enjoy!

www.melissawinn.net

Red and Yellow, Red and Yellow

2011-03-16T00:08:00.005-04:00

With the NFL football season over, and in limbo for the coming year, we were a little worried about how Alex would channel his football obsession. The boys are both big into football, but Alex has taken it to a new level. He eats, sleeps, and breathes the game. He spends all free time practicing his "spiral" and honing his catching skills in the backyard. When the physical game wears him down, he plays Madden 2011 on the Xbox 360 and my iPhone, and takes to the computer to watch old game footage and run through team and player stats. He's also been known to plot out a few offensive and defensive plays using not only paper, but football cards to chart it out.

Since the boys both love the Redskins (almost as much as they love the Packers! Ha!) I signed them up for the Redskins Kids Club. Today their membership packets arrived, complete with a t-shirt, backpack, id card, activity book, Redskins pennant, certificate of membership and more I am forgetting. Throughout the year, kids in the club have the opportunity to take part in some cool adventures at FedEx field and sometimes compete for free game tickets! Woot!

Here are the newest members of the Redskins Kids Fan Club!

I Want To Be A Billionaire

2011-03-15T23:55:00.002-04:00

Kaelen has declared lately that when he grows up he wishes to be "A rock star!" Here are two videos of him practicing. Some backup vocals and instrumentals are provided by his sister Madison Jane. ;)

Welcome to the Jungle

2011-03-15T23:44:00.002-04:00

Being the mother of toddlers can be a dangerous game, with arms flailing and toys flying, Mommy's are apt to get hurt sometimes. Just a few weeks ago I was telling Aunt Teddy (my sister Heather) about cowering on the couch as Kaelen gave me a very detailed and animated version of his day, complete with arm swirling and leg kicking. "I don't know how mothers make it through all these toddlers years without some kind of Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder," I joked with her.

Just days later, my face fell victim to Madison's bowling-ball sized head during one of her infamous two-year-old temper tantrums. Ouch!

Man The Controls

2011-03-15T23:27:00.008-04:00

Kaelen is possibly the sweetest little boy I've ever known. He's known on a daily basis to just blurt out things such as, "I love Madison" or "I love Alex" or my favorite "I love all peoples." He is a very protective older brother of his baby sister and gives her hugs and holds her hand a lot. He's always looking out for her. He also tells me constantly, "Mommy, I love you." So sweet and I never tire of hearing it from him.

The other side of Kaelen, however, is a 4-year-old fireball. And, although he doesn't get angry easy, when he does...watch out. The kid is apt to throwing things and sometimes in frustration attempting to break things. But even then, he's so cute you can't resist his charm. Nonetheless, we are working on teaching him to control his anger and I'm constantly challenging him to use his words and not his fists. A few weeks ago, the little darling and I had the following conversation...

Mom: "You have to learn to control yourself. You can't just run around breaking and throwing stuff."
Kaelen: "I try to but my brain tells me it can't find it."
Mom: "Find what?"
Kaelen: "The controls."

How cute is he? Here's a picture of him sleeping soundly under the watchful eye of his best buddy, Mr. Beary. Kaelen also frequently declares his love for that little fellow, too. "I love Beary soooo much."

Won't You Be Mine?

2011-02-19T15:29:00.001-05:00

Will you be my valentine?

In My Mind I Still Need A Place To Go

2011-02-19T15:20:00.002-05:00

There's not a lot of free time around here for pursuing the creative arts, although I try. In late January I played a singer/songwriter showcase for the Songwriter's Association of Washington, D.C. at the Bangkok Blues in Falls Church, VA. Good food, good music, and great company made it a memorable evening for yours truly. Below are a few videos from my performance...

Performing Neil Young's "Helpless"

Performing my song "Simple Kind of Life"

Performing my song "Sweet Thing"

When You Say Wisconsin

2011-02-19T14:57:00.007-05:00

The last time the Packers won the Super Bowl was on Jason's 21st birthday in 1996. Since we lived in Wisconsin at the time, it was great fun to get wrapped up in the madhouse of celebration around town. When the team went to the Super Bowl the following year, again, we were eagerly anticipating another raucous good time. Alas, they did not win and our hearts were crushed.

So as the Super Bowl became less and less elusive for our Green and Gold this year, Jason and I began enlisting the children to celebrate with us and held our own little Super Bowl party at home. We promised the kids they could stay up late to watch the entire Super Bowl game, and although they all were excited at the prospect, only Alex actually made it to the wee hour of 10 p.m. when the Packers cinched the win and brought the trophy home to WI. Since it was history in the making for this family, we let the boys skip school the next day to sleep in and revel in the victory. Sometimes there are no substitutes for life lessons. :)

To view our celebratory photos of the Super Bowl run, click the photo below.

The Bed's Too Big, The Frying Pan's Too Small

2011-01-02T00:39:00.004-05:00

Miss Madison Jane graduated to a big girl bed on New Year's Eve, making 2011 The Year of the Bed for this family. No more cribs, which is hard to believe since we've had someone sleeping in one for over seven years now. Alas, Madison is thrilled with her bunk bed and loves the extra space for the baby doll collection she tends to sleep with. While putting the bed together Jason and I mused about the days when Madison will have her BFF over for sleepovers in the other bunk, and we got a little misty-eyed. Those days will be here before we know it, so for now we're just trying to enjoy the little moments that make these years so special. Happy New Year to all!

And So This Is Christmas

2011-01-01T23:56:00.005-05:00

Christmas was a real treat this year with all the kids old enough to enjoy presents and not just wrapping paper. We visited Santa at the mall early this year and Santa and Alex had a little "chat." Santa told Alex that since he'd been a good boy he would receive a special present under the tree. Alex reminded us of this all month long, eagerly anticipating it.

Aunt Teddy (My sister Heather) came down from New York for Xmas weekend and the kids were ecstatic to see her. Alex spent lots of quality time talking football with her and showing her his Games Workshop guys and legos, among other things. Jason's Dad, David, came for Xmas Eve lunch and presents galore. On Xmas Day we drove down to Jason's Mom's house and enjoyed family, food, and more presents. Santa also paid the kids a visit, and brought the coveted "special" gift (an MP3 player) for all three kids, since they'd been on the "nice list" all year. Kaelen especially loves his MP3 player, as he is born to rock and roll. Madison received lots of Dora gifts and screamed "DORA!" as she opened each one. She snuggled with new dolls and blankets and all the kids enjoyed trying out their new scooters from Mommy and Daddy.

Despite the New York blizzard, Aunt Teddy made it safely home on an early train back Sunday and we miss her already.

For photos of our holiday happenings, click the pic below.

Jingle Bell Rock

2011-01-01T23:48:00.002-05:00

Madison loves a good song. Here she is singing her jingle bell version at our friend Mary's Xmas party.

I Want My MTV!

2011-01-01T22:58:00.003-05:00

After a long day and some marker mayhem, Madison was way past ready for bed. But this girl will not be denied her Dora. This is what we call a Madison Meltdown...

Shop Till You Drop

2011-01-01T00:14:00.004-05:00

In November I took the kids to the mall for an afternoon of fun. We rode the train and got lollipops after haircuts. When we visited the toy store, Madison fell in love with a shopping cart all her own and was not leaving the store without it. Mommy can't resist the puppy dog eyes, so naturally the cart was purchased. Madison strolled the cart through the mall all afternoon, in and out of every store. Adorable!

And I Might Scare You...Boo!

2010-12-31T23:35:00.005-05:00

This year the kids got lots of opportunities to wear their Halloween costumes. We started early with Air and Scare at the National Air and Space Museum. The kids had lots of fun posing with Star Wars characters and trick or treating for goodies. The following weekend we partied down at the gym with face painting, kid games, and face painting. And, Madison's adorable Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, earned her a spot as a finalist for best costume.

On Halloween Day I took the kids trick or treating at the Mall, where the fountains were filled with dry ice and stores handed out goodies. Later that night we hit the streets for trick or treat. All the kids can finally climb the stairs themselves and say "trick-or-treat." So it was especially fun to watch.

Some photos of our Halloweeeeen adventures. (click the photo below)

The Sound of Music

2010-10-17T23:12:00.005-04:00

Kaelen and Madison are music hounds. When the songs start playing, Kaelen takes to singing and Madison takes to dancing. For the baby girl's 2nd birthday, Grandma got her a Dora guitar and it has brought all kinds of rock and roll to our home. Here's some video of the kids rocking out to it...

Just Pieces of Me

2010-10-17T22:59:00.004-04:00

Just days before her 2nd birthday, Madison had surgery to remove a dermoid cyst from above her right eye. Formed at embryonic fusion, a dermoid cyst contains skin, hair follicles, and some even teeth - prompting my mother and I to joke that the cyst must be Madison's missing twin and the answer to how I somehow dodged the inevitable birth of twins, just as my mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and great great grandmother before me had had. Oh well.

Madison was a real trooper for the surgery. Ever the lady with her shoe fetish and adoration for purses, Madison Jane insisted on walking on her own two feet into the operating room, with her little bum hanging out of the hospital gown and a purse hanging from her forearm. The nurses got quite a giggle out of her.

Her eye is healing well now, and the doctor says she looks good.

If You See Me Falling

2010-10-17T22:43:00.005-04:00

The return of Fall has brought birthday madness back to the Winn home. Alex turned 7 on Sept. 7, Kaelen turned 4 on Sept. 16, and Madison turned 2 on October 3. It was a whirlwind of wrapping paper and birthday parties. Alex and Kaelen celebrated with a party at the gym, complete with Moonbounce and two cakes! Madison Jane had a Fancy Nancy tea party for her 2nd birthday, with ladybug cookies, Fuchsia Lemonade and lots of fancy snacks.

Fall also brought the return of school and sports for the boys. Alex started first grade this year and Kaelen started his second year of preschool at CPI. Alex is also playing baseball this season, while Kaelen tries his hand (or should I say foot) at a little soccer. Both boys are busier than bees and loving it.

Mommy and Daddy even had a little Fall fun as our favorite NFL teams went head to head last Sunday and we managed to procure a pair of tickets. The cheeshead was donned by yours truly and the Packers and Redskins played a nail biter of a game that eventually the Redskins won by 3 points in overtime. Sigh. You can't win 'em all, I guess, but with a little grownup time for Mommy and Daddy it was a win-win for both of us.

Fall photos of all the Winn adventures can be seen by clicking the photo below..

Summer in the City

2010-10-17T22:11:00.007-04:00

Summer came and went so fast, I barely had time to notice. Meaning, I didn't have any time to blog about it. :( So here's the quick update via photo albums.

We took the kids into the city for the day on June 19 to visit some of the sites Alex had been studying in school. It was a hot day, but full of fun adventures. Click below for more photos of our sightseeing.

The 4th of July brought firework fun and splashing galore in the pool at Grandad Winn's. (click photo for more pics.)

In August, I took the kids to Milwaukee to visit Grandpa, Grammy, and Jimbo, et. al. It was the start of birthday madness and involved lots of fun family adventures. Click photo for more...

In later August we also took our annual trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, or "the beach," as the kids call it. Daddy taught the boys how to catch crabs and they woke up everyday asking to go "crabbing" again! Madison and Mommy did some shopping at Scarborough Fair and the week-long YMCA membership even garnered us a Parent's Night Out for a quiet dinner for just Mommy and Daddy, including a trip to our favorite find, Seaside Art Gallery. The highlight of the trip was our three tiny pirates searching for clues and unraveling the mystery to the hidden treasure. :) For more photos of the OBX trip, click below.

And for various summer adventures, including water fun and the kids' first "drive-in" movie. Click here:

Wax On Wax Off

2010-06-18T09:36:00.006-04:00

Last Saturday was a big day for Alex as he acquired his "first trophy ever" for playing Coach-Pitch Baseball and then went on to earn his white belt in Tae Kwon Do. The graduation ceremony at High Kicks was complete with a demo of Tae Kwon Do moves learned by Alex and his classmates and the ultimate board breaking test. Alex did a great job and was mighty proud of his accomplishments for the day. He wore his white belt for two days no matter where we went and even brought his trophy with him to the gym and a graduation party for cousin Julianna later Saturday evening.

We're mighty proud of him, too.

Watch the video of him breaking his board below.

You can also view some photos from the day's events by clicking on the photo below:

Who Let The Dogs Out?

2010-04-10T22:17:00.006-04:00

When I was a child, my Dad played baseball for a team the hospital he worked at had formed. I remember warm summer days sitting on the bleachers or my hands clenching the wire fence and screaming "Go Daddy! Go!" The memories flooded back to me today as we ventured out to Alex's first ever little league game. His team, the Muckdogs, is in a coach-pitch league which allows all players to hit in every inning and there is no winning team or losing team. It's a great learning experience for the kids and a wonderful team-building event. Watching Alex come up to bat turned me back into that prideful little girl, as I screamed "Go Alex! Go!" Watching Alex round home base with a smile on his face and his hands clenched screaming "Yes! Yes!" made me the most prideful mother in the world for that moment. His joy was my joy and I was elated for him. In all, Alex had three great hits and was never tagged out. He played well, had fun, and learned a lot about working as part of the team. It was so much fun to watch and we can hardly wait until next Saturday when he plays again.

After my Dad's games we always ventured as a family to Gilles to get some of Milwaukee's famous custard. It was a real treat! Jason and I took the kids to Moe's for dinner and cookies, where Alex and Kaelen regaled us with stories from the game, while Madison spent most of dinner flirting with the little boy in the high chair behind us. Sigh.

Good gracious these kids grow fast. And, watching it is so much fun.

Photos from Alex's big first game: (click photo below to see more pictures from the game.)

Egg Hunt Song

2010-04-10T21:25:00.005-04:00

Warm temperatures for Easter weekend made egg hunts this year a real treat for the kids. We visited Grandma and Grandpa Roth's house on Saturday, April 3 for a late Easter lunch and egg hunt. Madison is ever observant, so it took her no time at all to figure out that the eggs go in the basket...or that chocolate is hidden in the eggs. ;) Everyone found a bucket full of eggs and once again Alex, with a little help from Grandma, found the golden egg. He was ecstatic, especially after finding out it had $20 in it. It was the first year Kaelen also was looking for the golden egg, so it was tough to see his disappointment at not finding it and be happy for Alex at the same time. The conundrum of parenting, I guess. Hell, with $20 in it, I was disappointed I didn't find the golden egg. Kaelen is so easy going and giving that he pulled a gold/orange egg from his basket and said "This is like a golden egg, too, right?" I just kissed him and hugged him and said, "Yes, Kaelen, that's your golden egg." And, as Kaelen does, he took it in stride.

Lots of chocolate goodness was had by all three kids and bubble-blowing made everyone happy until it was time to go home.

On Easter Sunday, the kids and I went to the neighbor's son's house out in Round Hill, where 400+ eggs were hidden. The land is beautiful and Alex, Kaelen and Madison had so much fun running around collecting eggs and playing in the grass. More bubble blowing also kept everyone busy until Madison Jane was ready for a long nap. Great company, friends, and food were had and we were grateful for the day. As a bonus - there were several gold-colored eggs at this hunt and Kaelen found two or three. Everytime, he would show it to me and say, "Look Mommy. I found a golden egg!" He was so proud. And so was I.

Here are some photos from our Easter Egg Hunt adventures: (click photo to see more)

Working Class Hero

2010-04-03T22:57:00.002-04:00

When Alex's teacher forgot to put his homework in his backpack, the poor studious boy had a breakdown about it. Someday I know I'll be fighting him to do the stuff, so I had to grab some video...

When you say Wisconsin...

2010-04-03T22:40:00.004-04:00

Alex's first Spring Break from elementary school arrived last week and I took the opportunity to motor all three munchkins out to WI to see my family. It was tough throwing on jackets again after a few 70+ degree days in VA, but we managed. I kept the kids busy with lots of Milwaukee adventures, including their favorite - the Betty Brinn Children's Museum, the Zoo, the mall, and much much more. To see photos from our travels, click the one below:

A Smile on My Face

2010-04-03T22:32:00.002-04:00

It's rare to get all three kids in one photo and all smiling. That's what makes this photo of my three bed bugs so special.

My Funny Valentine

2010-02-18T00:13:00.003-05:00

With two feet of snow still crippling the D.C. area, Valentine's Day parties at both boys' schools were delayed, but we managed to have some fun anyhow. Mommy and Daddy bought the boys some legos, books, and stickers. Madison Jane got a new baby doll that giggles almost as adorably as she does.

The kids and I spent the day playing with new toys, handing out valentine cards at the gym and snapping photos. Here are some photos of my funny valentines. (click the photo below for more)

You say it's your birthday...

2010-01-27T22:57:00.003-05:00

Jason's and my birthdays came and went with little fanfare, but we did have a small get together at Joe's Crab Shack to celebrate them and cousin Jeff's graduation from college. Later in the day, Miss Madison Jane played a little dress up in her princess outfit and dolled her hair up with bow after bow after bow. I guess she couldn't decide on a color. For some photos of our fun-filled Saturday, click on the photo above. :)

Walk This Way

2010-01-21T00:44:00.003-05:00

About one week after x-mas, Madison took to walking more than crawling. This, pun intended, was a big step for her. She is now walking everywhere and even running some. She's super happy to be able to play "the running game" now with her brothers, where Mommy tries to grab you when you run on by. She's also trying very hard to jump on her brothers' beds during storytime, as they often do. Here's some video of her just after x-mas walking about...

White Christmas

2010-01-20T22:46:00.004-05:00

Work has been a bear and made blogging difficult, but a few extra moments tonight will allow me to catch you up.

Christmas break came early this year for the kids when a 20"+ snowstorm buried Northern Virginia and D.C. in snow. The last few days of school were canceled and the boys had a lot of fun making snowballs and throwing them at each other and the car. They certainly didn't get much of Mommy's Wisconsin blood, however. After ten minutes of sledding and some snow down the boots, I had to carry both boys, who were screaming and crying from the cold, through knee-high snow back to the house. Click the photo below for photos from our short snow adventures:

X-mas Eve brought Aunt Teddy to town and the beginning of two weeks of a stomach virus that invaded the Winn household, including Aunt Teddy and cousin Mindy, who was gracious enough to come help me out with the kids when I had the bug, only to go home and end up with it herself. :(

Alex spent X-mas and X-mas day with the bug, but was happy Santa still brought him presents. The rest of us visited Grandma's and brought presents home to Alex and Daddy who stayed home. To see all our X-mas adventures click the photo below.

Jolly Old St. Nicholas

2009-12-05T22:38:00.004-05:00

When Jason and I moved to Virginia in 2000, I was surprised to learn that hardly anyone had heard of St. Nick's Day - the preview of X-mas joy that comes every year when St. Nicholas leaves presents in stockings on the night of Dec. 5. After some research, I found out it's a German holiday and mostly celebrated in the Midwest, specifically Milwaukee. So despite calling Virginia home now, I knew I'd always carry the tradition on with my children, because it was always so much fun for us. So today we readied the tree and hung the stockings in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there. Because Madison is young and uses mostly anything she can to come to a stand, we decided to use Mommy's fake tree from her college years, which is more Charlie Brown X-mas tree than spectacular and to locate it in the playroom downstairs, where Madison is rarely found.

We hung the stocking in their usual place on the stair rail up to the boys' room. Alex checked the stockings several times throughout the evening to see if St. Nick had "snuck in" and left toys while we watched TV. He's very excited to see what is left in his stocking in the morning.

Here are some pictures of us with our humble tree. This year I've included the "outtakes" so you can see, truly, what goes on behind the scenes to make one nice photo by the tree for X-mas...

Click on photo for more:

Beneath My Feet

2009-12-05T22:14:00.005-05:00

"The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance. The wise man grows it beneath his feet."

With a little bribery, we were able to convince Daddy to go sit for family pictures again this year. The sitting went well and everyone smiled nicely - even Daddy! The kids did really well, but the trick is getting all three kids to smile at the SAME time. Sigh. Nonetheless, we did get some wonderful pictures to remember what 2009 has brought us, which has mostly been joy.

Here are the good pics and some of the amusing outtakes (click on photo below):

Santa's Helpers

2009-11-21T11:26:00.008-05:00

Santa seems to arrive earlier and earlier at the mall each year for pictures, but this is one Mommy who doesn't mind. This year we had barely taken down the Halloween decorations before jumping on Santa's lap. And jumping is practically what we did, because there was NO line for Santa pictures and that makes for happy kids sitting on Santa's lap, which is good by me. If I wait until December for Santa visits, as I have many of the past years, all I get are grumpy frowns and cries from children bored and annoyed from having stood in line for an hour to get to the man in the big red suit. This year the boys waltzed right on up to Santa and sat right on his lap. Madison was so dazed by what was happening she didn't have time to get upset and everybody smiled big, mostly. What makes this the BEST X-mas picture with Santa ever so far is the absence of you-know-who (Mommy). Usually I have to hold at least one kid down and try to tickle them just as the camera snaps so their teary eyes open wide and a glimmer of a smile appears. But not this year! It was so fast and easy the kids didn't even notice that Mommy was standing on the other side of the camera. And that's great with me, because for the first time in 6 years, I have a photo of all my kids with Santa, sans me. Merry-Xmas!

Some pics of the kids playing in the fake snow:

My Two Front Teeth

2009-11-06T23:36:00.007-05:00

Realizing that Alex is a full-fledged boy now, and not the little baby I once held and chased as he crawled around the living room, is sometimes difficult to do. The time just seems to have gone so quickly. But days such as today really hammer it home. I had my first parent-teacher conference for Alex during his elementary school career and it went spectacular. His teacher called Alex her "little sponge," saying he not only soaks up EVERYTHING she teaches in class, but also immediately puts it into practice during playtime or in conversation and assignments, rare for his age group, she said. Since he's in the Spanish Immersion program and learns half his lessons in Spanish, a language he doesn't know, she said it's especially impressive, especially his grasp of numbers. While many of the English-speaking kids in the class are still learning 1-10 in Spanish, Alex is already counting past 30 and able to do mathematical equations with the Spanish numbers, too. "If this kid doesn't turn out to be an engineer of some sort, I'll be surprised," she told me. Since I already knew the kid was wise beyond his years (which doesn't always bode well for Mommy), the most heartening thing to hear was that Alex is very helpful with all the other kids in class. When he sits at a table and kids don't understand what to do with the project, he always helps them out, she said. Awwww. That's good to hear. "He's a good person, which is great for him," she said. Although I half wanted to ask, "Are you sure he's not just telling them what to do...i.e. bossing them around?" I refrained and felt good that the boy has carried some kindness with him into the real world.

Later this evening, Alex lost his first tooth! The tooth was wiggling around last week and I called my Mother to find out if she could send me the tooth fairy pillow she had made so many years ago and we had used as children. It arrived today, just in time! Alex is excited to see what the tooth fairy will bring him and has promised to sleep with his eyes open, so he can see what she looks like. "Great," I said. "I've never seen her, so tell me what she looks like." ;)

Here he is with his missing tooth (and Indiana Jones hat).

They're All Together Spooky

2009-10-31T22:30:00.004-04:00

Halloween has been a week-long event at the Winn house, with our annual trip to Cox Farms for fun and pumpkin buying, Air & Scare at the Air and Space Museum, Kaelen's preschool parade, the Halloween party at the gym, and, finally, trick-or-treating.

The Star Wars saga has not ended yet for our boys, so Jedi Knights and clone troopers still prevailed this year. Alex was Commander Cody from the new Star Wars series on Cartoon Network, Clone Wars. Kaelen chose to be Anakin Skywalker (before he became Darth Vader, of course), and to wrap it up and stay in theme, Madison went as Princess Leia, complete with the hair buns, although she tore them off of her head several times. Mommy did a short stint as Padme (Luke and Leia's mother) for the party at the gym.

Everybody has had a great time dressing up and going on fun adventures and the boys got lots of candy trick-or-treating. In fact, Alex made a point of counting his AND Kaelen's when they got home and he informed us all that he received 63 pieces of candy and Kaelen got 54.

Madison gave us all the biggest treat of all, however, when just an hour before trick-or-treating time she took her very first steps all by herself - about four or five steps in the middle of the floor, right into Mommy's arms. Happy Halloween indeed!

For all the photos of our Halloween Haunting, click the photo below:

Do the Mash

2009-10-18T23:33:00.003-04:00

I only wish I could claim credit for this hilarious Halloween music video of the Winn family performing the Monster Mash. But Aunt Teddy (a.k.a. my sister Heather) put it together on JibJab. She did an awesome job and it is well worth watching. Enjoy and Happy Halloween!

A Beautiful Mind

2009-10-18T00:09:00.003-04:00

Alex has been very interested in coloring, writing letters, reading (which the kid virtually taught himself to do), and math since starting Kindergarten. Jason and I consider the kid our "little Mensa," since he is like some sort of little genius. He's obsessed with schedules, has a photographic memory for, well, virtually everything (this doesn't bode well for Mommy most days), and is already capable of doing higher mathematical equations than most teenagers. ;) If you read the kid a book just once, he'll have the whole thing committed to memory before his head hits the pillow for bed that night. If you "miss a sentence" (read: skip over lines so as to speed up the bedtime process) the next night he could be in mid-jump on his bed and playing with a light saber at the same time and stop to tell you (read: Mommy) "You missed the sentence that says..." If he asks you what time are we going to McDonald's (and he ALWAYS asks what time we are doing EVERYTHING) and you say 12:30 p.m. and it happens to be 10:40 a.m. he will say, "We're going to McDonald's in 110 minutes." without even blinking an eye to think about it, or so it seems. This happens ALL DAY around here. Two weeks ago he asked me, "When am I gonna be Star of the Week at school Mommy?" and when I replied, December 7th, he was quiet for 30 seconds and then spit out, "That's a Monday." I had to check my calendar and when it showed that December 7th is in fact a Monday I got a little scared. I was about to drop a box of toothpicks on the floor and say, "Oh yeah, how many fell down, Rain Man?" But I was a little too afraid to find out if he actually knew the answer.

On Fridays I proof the paper for work and Alex has taken to helping me look for mistakes, such as sentences without periods. Last Friday he decided to "circle the numbers he knows" on one of my spare sheets of the paper. Later that day I found it and some of his other artwork and I was instantly teleported to that scene in A Beautiful Mind when Russell Crowe's wife goes into his shed and sees what he's been "working on." Ha ha. Hey, the guy won the Nobel Prize in real life, so who knows what's in store for Alex. he he he...

His "work":

The Climb

2009-10-10T23:33:00.004-04:00

Watching Madison grow has been a real treat for all of us so far. The boys LOVE to play with her and man oh man does she LOVE it when they want to play with her. She giggles and laughs out loud when they "chase" her, tickle her, hug her or lend a toy. Madison is a very independent little girl, but loves to cuddle. She loves to hang out with Mommy and when Daddy comes in the room she giggles and says "Da." She's also very good at working the "cute factor" with him to draw a "Hi Sweetie Pie" out of him. They start young, huh?

Madison is learning to walk with her new toy stroller, but still prefers to crawl if she really needs to get somewhere. She grabs onto everything and stands up all the time. She can also climb the stairs now and when we tell the boys it's time for bed, she books it over to the stairs to crawl up and join in story time before she lays down for sleep in her crib downstairs with Mommy and Daddy.

To see some memories from her first year click below!

Birthday Madness: The Final Chapter - Madison's First Birthday

2009-10-05T23:47:00.004-04:00

It's nearly impossible to believe, but our baby girl, Madison Jane, turned one on October 3rd. We celebrated the day with a small party of family and friends at our home, complete with presents and the $65 birthday cake Mommy spent two hours in traffic picking up in Alexandria. (Nothing's too much for Mommy's little girl, you know.) Madison got all dolled up in her birthday finest and looked as pretty as pretty can be. Somehow she knew she was the center of attention and took full advantage to flirt with and coo at all the guests. She was showered with gifts, including her first baby doll stroller, some adorable outfits, her first Madame Alexander collectors doll, blocks and dolls, and her very first Vera Bradley purse. Oh my! There's an influx of pink at the Winn house.

To see photos from the grand event, click on the photo below.

Birthday Madness: Chapter Two - Kaelen

2009-09-28T10:00:00.006-04:00

Kaelen turned 3 years old on September 16 and the hardest thing for me to believe is that he is now as old as Alex was when I gave birth to Kaelen -mostly because that seems like yesterday, but also because he is definitely not a baby anymore, he is a little boy. Yikes!

We celebrated with the BIG birthday party for both boys on September 12 and an Elmo cake and presents on his actual birthday. Kaelen is excited to be 3 and to go to school. He is a trip to have around and, as Jason says often, "I could just watch him all day and never get bored." Kaelen is very expressive and passionate about all his endeavors.

As a friend of ours put it, "He's his own soul."

And that he is.

To see pictures from his birthday and ALL the birthday madness around here in September, click the photo below.

The Circle Game

2009-09-28T09:45:00.003-04:00

Due to technical difficulties the updates from birthday madness and Kaelen's first day of school have been somewhat delayed. So here we go...

Can you believe my baby boy is going to school? Kaelen started preschool on September 15, just one day before he turned the big 3 years old! He especially loved the first day, when he got to "play on the moon bounce." He was the leader on the second day of school and got to bring a Lightning McQueen watch and car for show and tell, but I think he was more interested in his Oreo cookies for snack.

It's been great for Kaelen to have something all his own, instead of trudging along on all of big brother Alex's adventures or watching Alex go off to school. For this I am elated for him. Infact, the other day we passed the preschool during a festival in town and I heard Kaelen mumble to himself, "That's my school. Not Alex's school. My school." And thus the boy begins to claim his identity. And let me tell you, it's a joy to watch him do so.

Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

2009-09-11T09:50:00.004-04:00

The birthday boy went to bed on Monday night all set for his first big day of school on Tuesday morning. His lunch was packed, backpack ready, and he picked out his first day of school clothes. Unfortunately, as we have learned lately, life does not always follow your plans. We woke him Tuesday morning for school and learned that he had spent half the night vomiting. Trust me when I say you don't want any more details, so to make a long story short, he spent his first day of Kindergarten half comatose on the couch and in the ER by doctor's orders for "rehydration."

So, after two more days of vomiting and recovery, Alex did make his Kindergarten debut this morning. He was a little nervous, since he'd missed some days, but when I tried to snap photos of him outside the school, he eagerly said, "I just want to get inside." His teacher was happy to see him finally arrive and several of the kids greeted him with a big hello. Mommy helped him figure out where to put his backpack and lunch and then got the nudging look from his teacher that was easy to read as, "Okay. You can leave now. He'll be fine Mommy." And thus I left my baby at school. Sigh.

Now it's on to sending Kaelen to preschool on Tuesday. When did my babies get so old?

For more photos of Alex's first day at school, his school open house last week, and Kaelen's open house yesterday, click the photo below.

Birthday Madness: Chapter One - Alex

2009-09-07T23:03:00.010-04:00

It's practically impossible to believe that my first baby was born six years ago, but, alas, it is true. Today he turned the big six years old. His party is to follow this coming weekend, but to celebrate today, before he starts school tomorrow, I loaded him up with gifts (although the kids all received a new computer as their "big" present from Mommy and Daddy) and took the kids to McDonald's for lunch. We had cake when Daddy came home from work and prepared for tomorrow's big debut at Kindergarten. Kaelen's birthday is in 9 days and then on to Madison on October 3. It's a wicked four weeks of birthday madness, but it makes Fall our favorite season around here. Happy Birthday Little Man!

Photos from the birthday madness:

Video of the present opening, including the "presents are coming I can hardly contain my excitement dance."

Summer Lovin Happened So Fast

2009-09-07T22:40:00.004-04:00

If I could keep up with life these days, you'd have lots of posts summarizing the adventures of the Winn family during the second half of summer. Unfortunately, the new job, sick baby girl (recurring ear infections), and our first ever back-to-school season is kicking my butt. That doesn't mean I don't still snap photos of the kids' every move, however. So here is the link to our album of Summer 2009 photos, some of which you've seen and the second half, which you have not. :)

(click on photo to go to photo album)

Baby Baby I get Down on My Knees for You

2009-08-14T00:21:00.003-04:00

After 5 days in Milwaukee watching Madison try to crawl and thinking maybe she's going to do it for the first time on Mommy's old stomping grounds, she saved it for the first day back in Virginia. In fact, we'd only been back home for an hour and Madison pushed her little knees forward one by one and crawled a few paces across the floor to Mommy and Alex. Daddy was there, too, and we all cheered for her! Although the crawling is rugged right now, we know she'll have perfected it in a matter of days. Daddy caught her on film later that night crawling a few paces to get her pacifier.

So the girl's mobile! Let the games begin.

What Made Milwaukee Famous

2009-08-14T00:02:00.004-04:00

The kids and I took a short trip to Milwaukee to see Grammy and Grandpa Hacker and other family and friends before Mommy starts her new job and our lives become dictated by the public school system for the next 18 years. Alex starts Kindergarten on September 8! (Even Kaelen is going to school this year! He starts preschool on September 15!)
In Milwaukee we went to the annual Corn Roast held at my Aunt Cathy's house. We also had a birthday party for the boys at my Mom's place and went on fun kid adventures at the Children's Museum and Stonefire Pizza.

To see some photos of our Milwaukee adventures, click below.

Photographs and Memories

2009-08-13T23:32:00.006-04:00

Advertised online was a special for a $9.95 portrait special at a local portrait studio. I thought it would be great to get one nice photo of all three kids together now that Madison can sit up by herself and possibly a picture of Mommy and Madison. We didn't even bring Daddy along. Well, the pictures all turned out so nice that the total ended up being way more than $9.95 and we got lots and lots of great photos. Unfortunately Daddy isn't in any of them. And the only picture we couldn't really get was the one of all three kids. Sigh. Oh well, I guess we know where to go next time. :)

To see all the photos and some of the outtakes click on the photo below.

Moons and Junes and Ferris Wheels

2009-08-01T22:23:00.004-04:00

The 4-H fair was held at Frying Pan Park this weekend and the weather was very cooperative. So we decided to make a family fun day out of it. The boys had so much fun riding in cars, on trains, and on slides. They won tons of prizes playing several carnival games and Mommy and Daddy won a few, too. Madison Jane took her first carnival ride ever on the train with Mommy and the boys. At first she was enamored of the rope seat belt, but once the train took off she was thrilled with the ride. We saw several pigs, including a 400 lb+ whopper, and the boys got to play in a sand box filled with corn!! Madison dipped her feet in, too, and thought it was loads of fun to kick around. We all enjoyed some very buttery popcorn (yum yum) and Mommy and Daddy tried the deep-fried Oreo cookies, which we must say sound better than they taste. A good time was had by all. Kaelen spent the whole ride home reliving his adventures on the "race car" ride in first the blue car, and then the red. Vroom Vroom.

Some photos from our 4-H Fair Adventure: (click on photo for more)

Summer In The City

2009-07-24T22:51:00.014-04:00

The summer has been busy lately, mostly for Mommy, who's working on getting a new job. But we've still had time to run around and play. Daddy has been working hard to grow grass in our yard for the first time in the 6 years we've lived here. Little rain isn't helping, so Daddy spends lots of time watering the grass. After dinner the boys like to "help" Daddy, by giving him running targets, mostly. They have a blast getting "soaking wet," then come inside for bath time and stories. It's kind of become summer's nighttime ritual.

Meantime Madison Jane continues to grow. She's moments away from crawling, if she could just stay up on those knees! She is still a wonderful eater and loves pancakes and macaroni and cheese the most! She likes to "stand" for short times while hanging on to the table, too. Still no teeth, but she uses her mouth plenty to babble and tell us funny stories - usually when Daddy and Mommy are trying to watch Dexter, our new obsession.

Here are some photos from recent days.

Reston Festival Fun (click to see all of our Reston Festival photos)

I'm Living in America

2009-07-09T23:35:00.012-04:00

For Madison Jane's first 4th of July, she got all dressed up in an adorable sailor outfit and the whole family went to Fredericksburg to visit Granddad Winn and Dennis for swimming, dinner, and our own fireworks show (provided by Daddy). The boys had a blast (literally) spraying each other with their water guns and checking out the pool.
Granddad was overwhelmed to see Madison eating his homemade macaroni salad and everybody enjoyed Daddy's fireworks show. This was the first year Alex willfully stayed outside to watch the fireworks, even if he did cover his ears when each one went off. Meanwhile, the fearless Kaelen had to be strapped into the stroller during the show because he kept running up to help Daddy ignite the explosives. Madison weathered the whole show, too, without a whimper. She was even captivated by the lights.

You can see some more photos of our 4th of July excursion and Summer 2009 adventures here:

Luke, I Am Your Father

2009-06-30T00:08:00.005-04:00

With two boys heavily steeped in Star Wars lore, it's no surprise that Madison Jane is already learning more about Jedis and Droids than she ever could have imagined. Now that she can sit upright, the boys are wasting no time with her Jedi training. And, as you can see, she thinks it's a blast, although I suspect she's mostly just thrilled to be showered with the attention of her big brothers.

If You Can Make It Here...

2009-06-26T01:02:00.006-04:00

The kids and I drove to New York last week to visit my twin sister Heather, a.k.a. Aunt Teddy, for a few days of fun and excitement. Our Dad, a.k.a. Grandpa Hacker, also flew in from Wisconsin to spend a few of those days with us, as well. Our trip coincided with Heather's move into her new apartment, so we were able to help her move some of her belongings before the movers showed up this week and our Dad was able to help assemble some of her new furniture and help hang curtains. But we left plenty of time for exciting adventures for the little ones. We visited a Funhouse in Queens, the Central Park Zoo, and took the kids on their first trip ever to FAO Schwarz! We were all amazed by the giant Lego statues and vast array of toys to play with and/or buy. Everybody got to pick out one thing and Alex had NO trouble finding a new Star Wars Lego project (the Count Dooku ship) to take home. Kaelen got a remote control race car - red, of course - which he has aptly named "McQueen," and Madison got a Madame Alexander baby doll/blanket. Of course, we all enjoyed many meals at McDonald's (the boys' favorite place to eat!) and many episodes of SpongeBob Squarepants which Aunt Teddy very generously recorded on her DVR for her little nephews.

Some photos from our NYC adventures... (click on photo for more)

I Can See Clearly Now

2009-06-17T22:37:00.005-04:00

They say when a baby can finally sit by herself, their whole world changes. It goes vertical. And our whole world has changed, too. Madison has changed from a half inanimate being to one of us. She can sit alone for long periods of time now and the best part about that is she can play with us all better. The boys have already recruited her for games of catch with a soft Spongebob ball, showed her how to use Kaelen's toy laptop (which she loves), and added her on to their games of Batman and Robin as the third wheel Spiderman. Kaelen has also been recruited by Madison and Mommy for tea parties, which he seems to enjoy since the teapot makes funny noises.

Hitting the sitting upright milestone also brings a host of new foods for Madison Jane to enjoy. She's been trying all sorts of foods off of Mommy's plate and then some. Despite the fact she still has not one tooth, she loves to eat all sorts of cereals, hot dogs, macaroni and cheese (one of her favorites!), pancakes, waffles, eggs, green beans, peas, and more. She joins us at the dinner table in her high chair and giggles at the boys in between bites of tasty treats. It's a wonderful family moment, even if we do spend most of dinner time struggling to get the boys to eat instead of goof around.

With Madison riding alongside the boys in the stroller, joining us for dinner and playtime, and even goo goo ga-ing us into conversation with her, we feel complete.

Now it's on to getting mobile...yee haw!

Searching for Bobby Fischer

2009-06-07T22:50:00.007-04:00

As many of you know, Jason and I had our fateful first meeting about 14 1/2 years ago over a chess game in a small coffeehouse on campus in Wisconsin. In those days, Jason spent hours every day studying his craft. He learned from a Grand Master while in school and rarely gives up a game, except to his best friend Matt, who is also well learned in the art of chess. Lately, Alex has been interested in learning the game himself. Daddy has begun to mold his little prodigy and, not surprisingly, Alex is catching on fast. Although he's mostly interested in taking the most pieces from his opponent, instead of the longer term goal of taking the King, he knows how all the pieces move, understands castling, and has begun to pick up some strategy. He listens attentively to all of Daddy's "lessons" and enjoys "beating" Mommy during the day when Daddy's at work. Kaelen likes to watch, too, as Alex and Daddy play. (At 4:15 a.m. this morning Kaelen even requested a game from Mommy. :( ) We're quietly waiting for the day when Kaelen, after hours of observance, picks up the pieces and check mates Daddy in four moves. As Daddy would say, "Boom Bam Done."

While Daddy and Alex play chess, Madison and Mommy (and sometimes Kaelen) have tea:

Waiting on the Beach

2009-06-07T22:13:00.004-04:00

Last year we missed our yearly trip to the Outerbanks due to bed rest, but the fun had during this year's trip made up for our loss. We had a blast showing Madison Jane all the "regular" haunts we visit, including Cap 'N Franks, Brew Thru, the North Carolina Aquarium, and The Elizabeth II. Since we went "on season" this year, we were also able to get in at one of the go-kart racing sites, and that was a favorite visit for both our Lightning McQueen fan boys. Our first visit of the trip, however, was the Urgent Care provider after Alex complained that his "ear hurt" only hours after we had arrived. Diagnosis: Ear infection. Unfortunately, we got to know the place well, after Jason sliced open his finger a few days later and had to return. All that aside, we had a boat load of fun running around OBX and the boys can't wait to go back next year.

Some photos from our visit: (click photo to see more)

The Way We Were

2009-05-30T22:15:00.007-04:00

Well, it's on to Kindergarten now. I don't know how the years have flown by so fast, but Alex keeps on growing. On Thursday he graduated from Preschool and is now looking forward to starting his academic career in September. Yikes! The graduation was complete with singing and diplomas. When Alex received his, it was in true Alex Winn fashion - he jumped into his teacher's arms and twirled around. :) No lack of personality in this kid. :)

Some photos: (click on photo below for more)

The video:

I Wanna Be In A Rock and Roll Band

2009-05-28T01:40:00.005-04:00

I took the boys to Toys 'R Us yesterday to buy the Lego Star Wars Tie-Fighter ship with Darth Vader included, as Alex had earned enough coupons to do so. Kaelen and Madison both received toys, as well - a mega blocks McQueen race set and a pink Fisher-Price cell phone for Miss Madison Jane. (She loves it!) The picking out of toys was so quick and painless that we had lots of time to browse at the other toys and play. But when we stumbled upon the electric guitar and drum set for the Guitar Hero video game - it was all over. I guess every boy's dream IS to be in a rock and roll band, and my sons are no different. Here are a few pictures of the superstars as they rocked out. Especially look at Kaelen's expression and determination to "rock on" as he pushes the buttons on the electric guitar. Hilarious!

Do You Remember When?

2009-05-26T23:10:00.008-04:00

Memorial Day weekend was a whirlwind of picnics and barbecues for the kids and I to enjoy. Good weather allowed the boys to don their new McQueen swimsuits and run up and down the slip and slide at my friend Sharon and her husband's annual VereBBQ on Sunday; and the annual FFX Memorial Day Picnic we attend had balls, bats, sidewalk chalks, slides, swings, and more for the boys to enjoy. Madison Jane was all decked out in her fashionable summer wear to enjoy all the festivities. Mommy had a blast hanging with some old and new friends, so we were all appeased. But poor Daddy had to work. Unfortunately, the Quantico Marine Corps Base doesn't shut down for holidays, even Memorial Day. No worries, though, as next week the whole family is headed to the beach in North Carolina, where Daddy, too, will enjoy some fun and adventures with the little Winns.

Pictures from the VereBBQ: (click on photo for more)

Pictures from the Memorial Day Picnic: (click on photo for more)

Two All Beef Patties, Special Sauce, Lettuce, Cheese

2009-05-23T23:24:00.004-04:00

I guess the third one IS a charm. After 5 1/2 years of dealing with rules and regulations for the pickiest eater in the world (Alex) and suffering through two babies who loathed most baby foods, I finally have a baby who eats! Hooray! Madison has been on solid foods for a few months now and has only rejected one baby food I have fed her - sweet potatoes. She likes almost any fruit, including apples, pears, berries, strawberries, and bananas. She also loves oatmeal and rice/mixed cereals, especially when mixed with any of the aforementioned fruits. She eats chicken, carrots, granola, and more!! Oh MY! She's so agreeable about it all. In the past few weeks I have begun feeding her more table foods, as well. When it came to table foods for Alex, and even a bit for Kaelen, the finickiness broke out! So far, Madison has been a charm! In the past few days she has happily tried and loved peas, cheddar broccoli pasta, tomatoes, bread, pop tarts, olives, Cheerios, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. And today she tried her very first McDonald's french fry!! (pictured)

In the boys' defense, I do believe I may have waited longer to try feeding them (especially Alex) table foods and been much more cautious about what I fed them, for fear they would choke on something. Madison being the third, I have learned a few things and lost some of the new-mother neurosis. Hopefully Madison will benefit from this and have a love for a wide range of foods. We'll see.

Now I've Got My Magic Bus

2009-05-13T23:53:00.006-04:00

What one wants the other must have! This I've found to be the mantra of siblings. When Alex was about two he'd scream and cry and literally try to crawl out of the stroller if I placed him in it. Freedom was all he wanted - until Kaelen came along and was pushed gently along in a stroller. Then all Alex wanted was in. Thank goodness for the double stroller.

When Madison Jane came along I knew we'd have some problems over stroller seat ownership. Alex took the news fairly well on our first trip to the mall, when I told him how awesome it is to be the biggest brother and walk alongside Mommy while the younger two were pushed in the stroller. But last week Madison graduated from riding in the stroller in her car seat to just sitting in the stroller seat itself. And now all Alex sees is his two siblings getting a free ride as he tires himself out walking alongside boring old Mommy. After a few squabbles over who gets to sit in the front seat as Madison rides in the back, (And even one episode in which Alex hopped in the front seat and prompted Kaelen to turn toward Madison and demand, "Move Baby.") I longed for a triple stroller. But what a pain! The double stroller itself is built like a tank. A triple stroller would be like pushing a Cadillac, so really I longed for the Joovy sit and stand tandem stroller I saw once in one of those upscale children's toy and clothing stores. The stroller is made for two children, but has a place for the baby to sit either in or out of his/her car seat, a bench seat in the middle, and a platform in the back to stand on, complete with handrails for the older child to hold onto. All this in a compact size that isn't even as large as my double stroller. I knew if I could have this stroller Kaelen could sit on the bench seat and Alex could stand and still get a free ride. Both of them would have easy access to get on and off frequently, too, as they're apt to do. The only problem? The damn thing costs $279. The actual three person Joovy costs a whopping $379!! As much as I am willing to shell out dough to quell the sibling rivalry, even this is a bit out of my price range.

Enter Kid-to-Kid, the neighborhood used children's items store. On a short stop to the store the other day, really, just to use the bathroom (for Mommy) and kill some time with the younger two before picking Alex up from school, I spied a used Joovy tandem stroller for the bargain price of $80!! And you KNOW I snapped it up. The kids think it's super cool and Mommy thinks the end of the arguing is cool, as well.

And All The Times We Laughed With You

2009-05-10T21:54:00.011-04:00

Mother's Day is always an adventure in the Winn house. Last year one of the boys was sick enough to keep home from the gym and yet not enough to keep from driving me crazy. (Daddy was at work, as Mother's Day, of course, is a Sunday, one of his work days.) So the boys and baby Madison in my tummy and I went to McDonald's for breakfast to burn some time and energy. I almost teared up as I watched all the Daddies who brought their children in so the Mommies could sleep in. Two years before that, when I was pregnant with Kaelen, Alex was kind enough to give me the stomach flu he'd had earlier in the week. I spent the whole day vomiting in the bathroom or on the couch recovering.

So it came as little surprise when, in the midst of blow-drying my hair at the gym this Mother's Day morning, one of the ladies from the child center ran in to tell me that Madison had thrown up all over herself and needed to be cleaned up. I gave the little darling a bath in the sink of the locker room, changed her clothes and she promptly threw-up again. Sigh. The boys and I had planned to acquire the new Star Trek toys at Burger King after the morning gym routine, but we had to settle for the drive-thru - which was fine with me since I never got to finish doing my hair or put a stitch of make-up on... We came home to clean Madison again and let her recover. Fortunately, that was the end of the drama of Mother's Day 2009. Madison seemed to recover well and hasn't vomited since the morning. She was even well enough to have a few bottles and play in her exersaucer for nearly an hour! So later in the day I took her and the boys outside to fly some kites and enjoy the beautiful day we were given. We had a blast and Madison Jane laughed at the boys' antics and genuinely enjoyed watching the festivities. Later the younger two took a long nap and Alex and I hung out on the couch watching an old classic from Mommy's childhood, E.T., until we, too, fell asleep. What a relaxing Mother's Day.

You can see some photos from our kite-flying adventure here:

(click on photo for more)

Now - let's get to the gifts. After complaining for weeks about the state of the soles of my feet, the hubby has generously given me a certificate for a pedicure at a local salon. "Complete with the part where they sandblast the dry skin off the bottom of your feet," he said. To which I can only respond, "WOO HOO!" Man, do I need it.

Alex eagerly greeted me this morning at 7 a.m. with gifts in hand that he had created in school. They are adorable and his explanation of them was even more so. One was a very sweet Popsicle stick picture frame created by Alex himself, with blue paint (his and my favorite color), fake jewels, and an adorable photo of him with a big smile. He explained the entire process of making the frame and getting his photo taken in full detail. "See Mom, then I smiled this smile...See. Not this smile. This one..."

He also gave me a Popsicle stick flower with a drawing of yours truly on it. "See Mommy, that's you. I drew you," he said. Awwww. Along with a few other thoughtful trinkets, he also gave me a sweet and hysterical list of things "About Mommy." Obviously a list of things that the teacher asked him and she filled in his answers. My favorite is "Mommy loves to sleep." Oh yes I DO! And, "I like to help Mommy clean the house." Oh really? It is a very sweet exercise and last year he did the same thing at preschool. I quickly pulled out last year's list to see how it had changed. It's fun to compare. All the gifts are extremely touching and just the sort of thing that makes you remember what a wonderful thing motherhood is. Of course, having the three most amazing children on the planet makes the job easy to love.

2009 "About Mommy"

2008 "About Mommy"

If I Laugh...Just A Little Bit

2009-05-03T21:42:00.004-04:00

Madison Jane is seven months old today. We can hardly believe it. The time has gone fast and Madison is growing. She weighs a little over 15 pounds now and is desperately trying to sit up on her own. She can do it for a short time, but then she tips over. She loves to play with toys, mostly banging them around on her high chair or sticking them in her mouth. She also likes to grab Mommy's thumb or finger and put that in her mouth, too. She is a calm baby who observes everything and is very curious. She wants to know how this big crazy world works. She likes to smile and giggles a little, saving most of her giggles for her big brothers, whom she believes are the coolest, funniest, most entertaining people around. (Because they ARE!) We got some video of her giggling it up today with Alex and Kaelen. Alex loves the audience and Madison adores them both. Enjoy...

Like The Color When The Spring Is Born

2009-05-02T22:27:00.006-04:00

Warm weather brings festival fun around here and the first one we found was Springfest 2009 in Fair Lakes, just miles from home. The theme of the festival was "green" living and featured a recycling center, farmer's market, and lots of fun things for the kids to do. There were games, clowns, inflatable slides and obstacle courses, a petting zoo, snow cones, and balloon animals and face painting. It's a small festival that not too many people know about, which made the crowds very manageable and the whole experience a fun family event! The boys had a great time with all of it and the rain held off long enough to give us nice weather for the whole afternoon. Madison spent a great deal of time trying to "sit up" in her stroller, which she's working hard at perfecting these days. She also had fun looking at all the ducks and bunnies in the petting zoo.

Some photos from our adventure... (click the photo for more)

Two Worlds Collide Around Her

2009-04-25T21:16:00.005-04:00

Since Jason and I moved to his home state of Virginia in 2000, I've worked hard to carve out a sense of home on this foreign soil. I love Northern Virginia and all the variety of locations it has to offer, good schools for the kids, and some amazing people I call my friends. But Wisconsin was my first home for 26 years and I still miss it and its sense of familiarity from time to time. (Those times are not during the winter. ;)) So it's especially comforting to know that an old friend from my grade school and high school days has moved to the area (again) and brought some of that familiarity back to me. His little girl, Lyra, turns 4 this week and the kids and I ventured out to his new home to celebrate with him, his wife Alia, and both of his daughters, Lyra and Harper. Oh - and a few other pinata punching, cake eating, backyard bouncing kids. To see some photos of the party of the century, click on the photo below.

Take Me To The Pilot

2009-04-23T23:37:00.008-04:00

Jason's uncle John (aka Bucky) is a pilot with hours of fascinating stories to tell from his time in Vietnam, serving as the personal pilot for the prince of Abu Dhabi, and many other dangerous, exciting, and interesting jobs flying around the world. He was in the Dulles area this week for two days and we enjoyed having a quick dinner with him, Grandma and Grandpa Roth, and cousin Mindy at Joe's Crab Shack.

Some photos from our visit:

Walk This Way

2009-04-19T21:25:00.005-04:00

I have never been a morning person. In fact, if I had my way, I'd stay up all night and sleep straight through the morning. This is not, however, a schedule my children would adhere to (or their schools for that matter). So, I saddle up everyday and greet the morning with a....well, it's not a smile, but it's not a frown, either. It is, however, still a rare occasion when anything besides a screaming child wakes me early in the morning.

Today, however, I made an exception and set the alarm for 6:30 a.m. (yes, I know this is not early in some of your books, but it is ungodly to me) so the hubs and I could wake and get the kids and ourselves ready for the March of Dimes Walk for Babies in the Reston Town Center. The March of Dimes is a non-profit organization that works to prevent premature birth, birth defects, and infant mortality. While on bed rest last year with Madison Jane, I checked the March of Dimes Web site often for information on medical tests and terms my doctor used, success stories for premature babies, and to chat with other moms on bed rest. So when I read about the March for Babies walk, I knew I needed to get involved. How could I not? All three of my children were preemies. With the help of many very generous friends and family I was able to raise $1,035 for the organization. My friend Sharon (whose daughter was born six weeks premature in 2006 and is thriving today) and her husband and daughter Eli rounded out the Winn Walkers team and together we raised over $1,300 for the March of Dimes.

We had a terrific day for the walk, with clear skies and warm temperatures. We trudged a 4 mile path through Reston, which included some wooded areas and a pass by some beautiful homes. At the finish line we received free Subway lunch and entertainment for the kids. (Yeah Fun Bus!) It couldn't have been a nicer time to celebrate our beautiful children and help raise money for other moms to take their little bundles home from the NICU with hopes for a bright future. Thanks again to all who donated to this very worthy cause!

To see photos from the walk, click the picture below.

Welcome To The Greatest Show on Earth

2009-04-18T22:33:00.005-04:00

The circus is in town!!! Grandma and Daddy took Alex to see the Ringling Bros. And Barnum and Bailey Circus at The Patriot Center today. It was his first trip to the circus and he has been counting the days down for weeks! Although Jason says Alex was restless and probably overwhelmed by over three hours of circus entertainment (he reportedly asked to go home as soon as the pre-show activities were done and before the main event had even begun), Alex came home with a glowing report and already begging to return tomorrow, next weekend, or as soon as Kaelen is old enough to go, too. :) His very generous Grandma bought him several souvenirs, including a plastic sword and king's crown, and thus Alex brought the circus fun home for the rest of the gang, too. See some photos taken from Jason's iPhone here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018896&id=1464047290&l=05d2a9a9eb

If You Wore That Velvet Dress

2009-04-18T21:45:00.006-04:00

For the past six years I have been nothing short of annoyed by the lack of cute Easter outfits for boys at any store that sells children's clothes. The selection for boys usually consists of one to two sweater vests and a pair of khaki shorts. Meanwhile, you turn your head to see the girl's clothing section and it is overflowing with adorable spring dresses, petticoats, and patent leather mary janes for your daughters and nieces to wear. As the boys grow older the selection becomes even more sparse. And this is why Alex wore the same shirt this year to Grandma's that he wore last year and Kaelen wore a hand-me down polo shirt. But - and this is a big but - this year I was thrilled to see a sea of baby girl dresses to choose from for my darling Miss Madison Jane's first Easter. There were so many cute ones to choose from that Madison had not one, but TWO Easter dresses this year.

We spent Saturday, April 11, at Grandma and Grandpa Roth's, where the kids ran around hunting for eggs, ate Easter cookies, and combed through the goodies in numerous Easter baskets they received from family members. We came home with 10 Easter baskets!! On Easter Sunday, we joined our neighbor Nancy at her son's home for a family gathering with plenty of kids to hunt for over 400 eggs! The kids had a great time at both celebrations and the Winn house is now stocked up with chocolate until Easter 2015. YIKES!

To see some photos of our Easter click the photo below...

Looking Like The Girl In The Sleeping Gown

2009-04-10T09:47:00.008-04:00

Madison had her first visit to the ER last weekend, and it was an experience. All is well now, but a full day of lab tests, pokes, and pricks on my little darling did reveal that she had a Urinary Tract Infection. She's in for a full week of doctor's visits this week to determine the cause of such an infection in such a young baby, because they have to rule out some more serious "anatomical" causes. But we have our smiley little girl back again. Hooray.

Now, Kaelen was an ER regular with his many ear infections and everything else that passed his way, and let me tell you, I usually had to swaddle him in blankets to try to keep him warm as they took their leisurely time running tests and labs on him. Well, folks, they have finally invented the baby hospital gown. And let me tell you, this thing is adorable! It looks like a gown for a baby doll. Madison looked so cute (even in her misery) with the gown on, that I couldn't resist killing some waiting time taking photos of her on my phone. (Are you really surprised?) Just look at her - have you ever seen a more adorable patient?

Because this whole ordeal occurred on a Sunday, which is a work day for Jason, I was once again required to drag the whole gang along to the ER to fix Miss Madison Jane. (Jason met me later at the ER and took the boys home. Thanks, Cute Boy!) Inova Fair Oaks Hospital obviously has a Mommy on their planning committee, because this ER waiting room is equipped with its own kid's play area! It has puzzles, tabletop games, hands on wall toys, and even a Sony Playstation to play. When we first arrived, two boys aged 6 and 4 were playing with the Playstation controllers and playing the ONE game this system is programmed to play - none other than Lego Star Wars!! When my boys arrived it was as if Tiger Woods stepped on to the playing green. The 6 year old boy attempted to tell Alex who Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker are and explain R2-D2 to Kaelen. Silly boy. He obviously didn't realize that the Winn boys eat, sleep, and breathe Star Wars and not only have mastered Lego Star Wars, but actually were playing it on their portable video players in the car on the way to the hospital! Alex and Kaelen took the controls, thankfully at the request of the other boys, and showed them how it's done. Alex, and even our little two-year old Kaelen, proceeded to wow the boys with their proficiency at the game and once again, I couldn't resist taking some photos of their moment of glory...

The Dark Side of the Moon

2009-03-29T23:54:00.010-04:00

At the mall the other day, the mommy of a little girl in Pottery Barn Kids (which by the way is waaay overpriced), was lamenting the loss of "pretend play" in kids today. "Don't you agree?" she asked me. I looked at her sort of surprised and said, "I don't know. My boys dress up in costumes or run around pretending to be stormtroopers half of the day." Together, these two have saved the world or battled the dark side of the force a hundred times over. Kaelen is just downright adorable as he lifts his wrist to his mouth and says "Copy. 889. Rex." - as if he's talking into one of the "comlink" communicators in the Star Wars movies. Today, Alex ran out the front door before me saying, "Mommy, there are droids in your car, you better let me handle this." By the time I got to the van, he jumped out and declared all the droids dead and the van "clear." Phew. I was pretty worried there.

So - here's to pretend play! Who needs Halloween for costumes, we say? Here are some pics of the boys in their costumes from the past few days...

Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan Anakin Skywalker...

Studying his craft...

A young (grumpy) Anakin Skywalker...

The Waters Around You Have Grown

2009-03-27T09:56:00.006-04:00

When I was 19 I thought it would be a really cool part-time gig to dress up in the Easter Bunny costume at the mall and let all those kiddos sit on my lap as they smiled. I even interviewed for the job at the local Bayshore mall, but the woman who interviewed me told me I was "too small" for the costume. She did say I could be a "helper" if I wanted, and help take photos and/or scurry the kids through in an orderly fashion. Hmmmm. No thanks. The dream was over.

At 35, I now realize that sitting in that Easter Bunny costume all day and letting hundreds of (usually disagreeable) kids sit on my lap sounds like some form of inhumane torture. However, it is nice to see the bunny every year and get MY (usually disagreeable) kids' picture taken with the giant hare. So I packed them all up and took them down to the mall last night, got the boys' hair cut, and hurried over to the bunny's domain before he left for dinner. We had NO - read that - NO wait in line and that, I'm convinced, is the key to getting a good picture. I do believe this year's Easter photo is the best of the bunch. (Although Kaelen still would not sit next to the bunny without Mom's arms protecting him.)

Along those lines, it's amusing to me to compare this year's photo with last year's. At last year's sitting I was a content mother of two boys (one just barely a toddler) and we were trudging the path of happy destiny as the Winn family of four. Only two days later did I find out I was pregnant with Baby Winn number 3 - a complete and total surprise. And thus our lives were changed forever. One year later and Kaelen is more like a kid than a toddler, Alex is a school-aged kid, and we have the newest addition - our baby girl (yay!) Madison Jane. And now we are trudging the path as a family of five and that feels just right.

Easter Bunny Visit 2008...

Goldilocks And The Three Bears

2009-03-21T22:02:00.010-04:00

When Jason was a child he spent many days and nights at his Grandmother and Grandfather Irving's House in Burke, VA. At their house he had a child-sized, wood, rocking chair to sit on. When Grandma Irving passed away in 2005, the chair became Alex's to cherish forever. The chair has been well loved since that day and used often. In keeping with the running theme in our home, once Kaelen was old enough to walk around and sit where he pleased, he coveted this chair. We tried to designate several kiddie chairs that we already owned as "Kaelen's chair," but he never took to one of them. So Grandma Roth (Jason's Mom) bought Kaelen a beautiful new rocking chair all his own for X-mas last year. When Madison Jane came along, we knew it was only a matter of time until we'd have to find her one, too.

Enter the Centreville Preschool Auction/Casino Night fundraiser. Jason and I hired a babysitter and got all gussied up for a night of food, drinks, gambling, and auction adventure last night - all in the name of making money for Centreville Preschool, where Alex goes to school and Kaelen will, as well, come September. One of the items up for bid in the live auction portion of the evening was an adorable child-sized rocking chair, hand painted and complete with a hand-made seat cushion. So I could not resist throwing my paddle in the air when it came up for bid. And, much to the dismay of Jason, who found the purchase unnecessary for a 5-month old baby, the chair went to yours truly, the highest bidder. And now we have three. And, although, I did miss out on another adorable table and chair set I thought would have been perfect for miss Madison Jane (the bidding went out of my - or should I say Jason's? - price range), I am quite satisfied with the evening's events. And, you can see, Madison is, as well.

A Face For Radio

2009-03-16T23:30:00.006-04:00

An old friend of mine posted this note on Facebook with answers to questions from her three year-old son. It was absolutely adorable to read his answers. In an effort to kill time before Daddy arrived for dinner today, I thought I'd give it a go with the boys, too, while Madison was napping. I even decided to record the event with the equipment I use to record my songs. The following are the recordings we achieved in between Kaelen and Alex grabbing at the (expensive) microphone and Kaelen pushing around on the keyboard and mouse. The best is the one with Alex singing Ring Around The Rosey and Kaelen giving us all the Star Wars theme. Adorable. Be sure to listen for how many times Kaelen cracks himself up with "Quack Quack" while Alex is answering my nagging questions. Alex's answers are also listed below.

Click the links to hear the recordings:

Getting Started

The Survey

The Songs

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Don't do it.

2. What makes mom happy?
Getting something (geez. I had no idea I was so materialistic-seeming. LOL)

3. What makes mom sad?
When I don't listen

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
tickling me

5. What was your mom like as a child?
guitars and princesses

6. How old is your mom?
35

7. How tall is your mom?
I have no idea

8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV?
the news

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
watch t.v. and work

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
I have no idea

11. What is your mom really good at?
light saber fights

12. What is your mom not very good at?
light saber fights "I'm so good at beating you."

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Work

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
chicken (this is not true)

15. What do you like about your mom?
When you tickle me

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Princess Leia

17. What do you and your mom do together?
battle light saber fights

18. How are you and your mom the same?
I have no idea

19. How are you and your mom different?
I have no idea

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
I have no idea (this is a theme...)

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
I have no idea

22. What is the worst thing about your mom?
I have no idea

23. What is the best thing about your mom?
She likes to tickle me

Take Me Out To The Ballpark

2009-03-08T23:12:00.011-04:00

After two weeks of illness, below-freezing temperatures, and a six-inch snowstorm that canceled school and activities for two days, we have been spoiled with a couple of 70-degree+ days around here. And I dare say, we deserve it. Today I took the boys out to play some catch while Madison napped, and they had a blast running off their cabin-fever blues. I love the warmer weather because it means no jackets, scarves, and mittens to keep track of. It also means we can leisurely stroll to the car when going places, instead of trying to scurry in and out of places to avoid discomfort in the cold. And these days I'm all for anything that helps destress my life. The one thing I do NOT like about warmer weather is the return of bugs - a.k.a my nemesis. So when a LARGE flying ant landed on my leg, you bet I screamed bloody murder like a princess who chipped a nail. I mean - I REALLY hate bugs...as most of you know - especially the flying kind. After I flicked it off of me in a spazz-like motion, my oldest son made me proud when he stepped up, foot ready, and said "I'll kill it Mommy." He stomped it and stomped it with his little Spider Man light-up shoes until its carcass lay smushed on the ground. My Hero! Kaelen thought the whole ordeal was pretty amusing and pointed to the dead ant several times later and said "Dead." What a couple of characters.

Later in the day Kaelen took some time to snuggle with Madison and show her how to use the toys on her floor mat mobile. She was all dressed up for Spring in her flowered dress. Oh how I love those little girl clothes!

Anyway - some photos from our adventures...

P.S. It was not MY idea to dress the boys the same today. When Alex put his Batman shirt on, Kaelen just HAD to have his, too.

My Hero son squashing the flying bug...

The dead offender...

Your Extra Time and Your Kiss

2009-03-02T23:28:00.003-05:00

Madison began working on her kissy face today, complete with drool and cooing noises. Well, I couldn't resist capturing the moment. . .

A Brave New World

2009-03-02T23:05:00.007-05:00

When Kaelen was a mere baby, unable to sit-up on his own yet, I used to put him in the ever-useful Bumbo that was introduced to us by one of Jason's cousins. In it, he could sit-up and get a vertical view of the world - and us of him. Kaelen liked to watch me do laundry and cook, and loved to watch Alex play cars all while sitting in his Bumbo. Madison has her very own purple Bumbo, which she also enjoys sitting in while I cook dinner and clean. However, she's a little less inclined to sit for too long. She does not wish to be restrained. She feels the same way about her car seat. When you place her in it, she begins to cry just with the knowledge that she will be restrained to it for what she can only hope will be a short time. What can I say? She's a free spirit.

Anyhow. When Kaelen was about 5 months old I took some pictures of Alex and Kaelen on the countertop where Kaelen liked to sit to watch me cook. Alex was still in his adoring-Kaelen phase and showered him with kisses and hugs. The other day when I placed Madison on the same countertop, Kaelen came running over and insisted I let him up there to see the "baby, baby, baby." Naturally, my camera came out and I think it is fun to compare the passing of the torch. Enjoy.

Kaelen and Madison...

Alex and Kaelen...

In Sickness and in Health

2009-03-02T22:34:00.004-05:00

I'm happy to report that the Winn clan is pulling out of a week and a half long bout of stomach bug and respiratory illness. The whole ordeal began last Sunday when I picked the kids up at the Child Center in the gym and Alex came running up to me, clutching his stomach and weepily said he'd been "waiting sooooo long for me." Since he was normal, talkative, jumping around the halls Alex when I dropped him off a mere hour and a half earlier, it was quite surprising. The women who run the place said, "We knew there was something wrong with him when about an hour ago he just lay down in front of the t.v. and hasn't moved since." Umm...yeah. A quiet, lethargic Alex is definitely a sick Alex. With every clutch of his stomach and grimace of his face I feared the mess he would spew all over the gym or, worse yet, my car (worse, because yours truly would have to clean that one up!). I scurried the children home and lay Alex on the couch. Monday morning I thought "Oh geez. What am I going to do with Kaelen cooped up in this house all day while Alex is sick?" Well, problem solved, when Kaelen plopped himself down on the couch, burning from fever, and moaned and groaned from aches and pains all day until he began to throw up, just as his big brother had started to do the day before. The two of them were quiet a miserable pair laying half comatose on the couch. Madison, meantime, picked up some respiratory illness and has coughed up several lungs (and formerly consumed bottles, if you know what I mean.) Mommy caught the respiratory bug later in the week and the four of us made quite a bunch. For the most part everyone has pulled through and Daddy is on day two of his go around with it right now. By the end of the week, fingers crossed, I think we will have all gotten well. Until then, Mommy has had and continues to have her hands full...

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

2009-02-21T23:20:00.006-05:00

After several attempts to do the weekly grocery shopping with all three kids in tow, I decided that my supermom cape was not big enough to handle the havoc that ensued. With one boy running down one aisle, the other down another, and Mommy trying to hold the pacifier in a screaming baby's mouth, very little shopping was accomplished. We usually came home without several items that were not only on the list (which usually got lost in aisle 2 somehow), but also vital to our survival - i.e. diapers or formula. Sigh. Thus, I took a crack at the local grocery store's delivery service called Peapod and have been a die-hard fan ever since.

You order your groceries ONLINE and have them delivered to your doorstep (even if you're not home!) for a measly $8.00 fee. Now, folks, let me tell you that I have saved so much money not buying all the peripheral items, such as cookies, candy, Spongebob gummies, or the latest Disney character teddy grahams, that the boys beg me to buy, that my bill comes in $30 lighter than it had been even WITH the delivery charge. On top of that, I actually have time to BROWSE the groceries online while I'm doing the shopping after the boys go to bed and never forget anything or just give up on finding it because I'm chasing a two-year old down the frozen food section. Peapod is a must for mommies with toddlers, I'm convinced.

When you're not home, your groceries are left in big boxes on the front doorstep/porch. Refrigerated and/or frozen items are packed in cooler-boxes with ice and dry ice to keep your items cold. Today our delivery had several chunks of dry ice and Daddy decided to have a little fun with them. The boys had a blast with it, too. Peapod is just plain fun for the whole family!!! (I should make commission.)

Cowgirl In The Sand

2009-02-21T22:02:00.005-05:00

Madison is all smiles and even a few giggles lately. She had a bit of a fussy spell for a few weeks, there, when I think she began teething. Now, though, she seems to have worked her way through some of that and is much happier. She loves to "stand up" on your lap and look around. She has also begun eating some applesauce and mashed pears, which she thinks are pretty swell. She eats them with big smiles on her face. She also likes to "talk" to you and if you answer her back - watch out - she'll keep you in conversation forever. Wish I knew what she was saying.

Madison still thinks her big brothers are the sweetest and most fascinating people around. When they do silly things, she smiles big and then the boys turn to me and say "She smiled at me." They are always looking out for her. When a commercial for a "girl" toy comes on, Alex will say "Awwww. Madison would love that." And if Alex doesn't beat him to the punch, Kaelen will point at anything pink or baby-like and say "Baby?" When I leave them in the gym's Child Center in the mornings, the ladies there tell me that Kaelen checks on Madison in the baby room several times while they're there. So cute.

Here are some pictures of Madison's growing adventures the past few weeks. (click on photo for more)

The Proof is in the Pudding

2009-02-08T22:12:00.005-05:00

For those who may have thought I was slightly exaggerating Madison's genius mind in the last post when describing her successful attempt to retrieve her pacifier, or thought perhaps the whole ordeal was a fluke (as I myself even pondered), I have some new video to show you the genius at work. During tummy time today I noticed she was once again coveting the pacifier and working her magic to get that thing into her mouth! So I turned the camera on, pulled the much desired object away from her and watched her go. In total it takes a few minutes for her to achieve it this time, as she's a bit tuckered out from a long day, but sure enough she gets what she wants. I realize it may get a bit boring to watch 4 minutes of someone else's baby lure a pacifier into her mouth, but let me assure you folks, this is genius at work! HA! You can see her little brain working in her eyes as she sees the pacifier, studies its position, even readies her mouth for its arrival. For a four-month old baby it is simply spectacular (especially since she was born 5 weeks early, too!!), although I may be a bit biased. ;-) Enjoy.

WARNING: There is some baby drool in the following video. :)

I'd Sure Like To Share In A Conversation

2009-02-04T22:29:00.014-05:00

Madison Jane is growing and learning new things everyday. She turned 4 months yesterday!! I am in awe of how beautiful and sweet she is. She's still trying to figure out her sleep/awake schedule and some days it doesn't coincide well with the schedule of events for the boys, so she can be fussy at times. She's picky about eating and usually eats only when she is half awake. She likes to be held and hold onto things, too - her blanket, your finger, your shirt. She seems to be comforted by things near her and I think it's mainly because the large amount of activity in our lives (read: active big brothers who make a lot of noise) overstimulates her some days and she needs to feel secure. She smiles all the time now and coos and "talks" to us when she's not being fussy. ha! She hates tummy time with a passion, but is getting much better at holding herself up and has already rolled over several times. She's a genius already, too. Today I had her on tummy time and when she began to cry and cry her pacifier was about five inches from her and attached to her shirt with a very cute beaded pacifier clip. While she was crying AND trying to push up she managed to pull that pacifier by the beaded string over to her mouth and shove it into her mouth!!! Did I mention that she just turned 4 months yesterday? She can barely swat at toys with enough control to move them around...not to mention the amount of brain power it takes to figure out that sort of complicated notion that if you pull the string the pacifier will come towards you and you can maneuver your hand enough to push it into your mouth!! I guess we better start saving for Harvard!

She is looking more and more like her brothers, as well, and there definitely seems to be one mold for these Winn babies. Here is a picture of Madison on tummy time, followed by one of Alex and Kaelen around the same age. YIKES!

Madison Jane...

Alex...

Kaelen...

Mommy...

And the video...

Walking In A Winter Wonderland

2009-01-27T23:53:00.010-05:00

We got our first (and probably last) snow of the winter here in Virginia today - a whopping two inches at most, but a virtual blizzard around here. Alex was so excited to see snow and wanted terribly to go out and build a snowman and throw snowballs at yours truly. We spent Madison's naptime out in the snow and Kaelen and Alex tossed snowballs back and forth, "washed the car" with snow, and built a pretty pathetic snow mound...err...I mean man. Bundling the kids up in hats, scarves, mittens, and boots reminded me of my childhood days in Wisconsin and the many many days my sister, brother, and I would play in our yard - making snow angels, building snowmen, and sledding down the hill in our front yard. Our mittens and socks would get soaked with snow and we'd come in the back door from time to time, stand on the mat on the kitchen floor and say "mittens" or "socks," and my Mom would exchange the wet ones for dry ones so we could go right back out and play some more. Ah - good times. Now it's my turn to dry out the hats and coats - and it's nice to see all those scarves I crocheted on bed rest get put to use. Here are some pics...

put the kids to work...

Because you know the light sabers HAD to come out!

And some video...

Future Butterfly

2009-01-17T23:05:00.005-05:00

My friend Sharon's daughter turned three today, which is hard to believe since I remember visiting her in the hospital as if it were yesterday. (Of course, I remember being in the hospital with Alex as if it were yesterday, too, and it clearly was not!) Eli celebrated the day with a Disney Princess birthday party at her house, complete with a crown-decorating craft and pink powdered cupcakes. yum yum. Little boys and girls were both in attendance and my kiddos had a blast rifling through all of Eli's toys on all three levels of the house. Jason and I had a nice time visiting with old friends and seeing how the kids all grow so fast. With the princess theme looming, I took the opportunity to dress Madison in her tutu skirt and cream patent leather shoes. And, although Jason and I had sworn off the bow-band (headband with a bow on it) for our baby daughter before she was even born, I simply could not resist the temptation when I tried it on and saw how cute she looked with it in her little princess skirt. Sorry, folks, but you can tell I've been dressing boys for 5 years. They're fun to dress, too, but I spent my whole childhood dressing little girl dolls and now is my opportunity to put all that job experience to good use. I'm sure someday she'll look back on the photos and abhor the look, but hopefully she'll understand my attention to detail is simply because I adore her. Anyhow, here are some photos of the boys hard at play and Madison in her princess moment.

(Click photo for more)

Here is some video, too, of the boys playing with Eli and one of her friends in her room. The funny thing about this video is that I turned on the camera to record the two girls telling Kaelen that he could not come into Eli's room because he is a boy. "No boys," they kept repeating. (adorable!) Kaelen just sort of looked at them with wonder, since he really sees no difference between boys and girls just yet. They proceeded to try to close the door on him and when he prevented it, they placed a chair in Kaelen's path. As you'll see, when Alex shows up he just barges right past the chair and takes command of the room and Kaelen follows. Eli and her friend are just sort of stunned by the undertaking and don't even utter the words "No Boys!" to him. Which is beneficial to them, because Alex isn't quite as accommodating as Kaelen.

A Dreamer of Pictures

2009-01-16T23:21:00.007-05:00

Madison has been practicing her smiles lately. Some days she just stares up at the ceiling and smiles and smiles and smiles some more, as if she's having a beautiful daydream that's playing out up there. She gives Mommy and Daddy a big smile when she sees our faces and gives her brothers super big smiles when she sees them, too. She even seems curious as to what those two boys are up to...watching intently and making funny faces when they do silly things. Madison tries very hard to touch their faces and mine when we are up close to her and is desperately hoping to grab one of the toys we place in front of her. She's learning to control her arms and loves to kick her legs around, too. We love to watch her grow and thought you'd like to see some pictures of her smiles.

King For A Day

2009-01-02T00:16:00.009-05:00

Driving 800 miles to and from Milwaukee is tough on little kids (and Mommy, too). At the start of the drive, Alex asked how many states we had to go through to get to Wisconsin. And so, instead of "Are we there yet?" I heard over and over "What state are we in now, Mommy?" I figured he would probably sleep through most of Indiana at night, so halfway through Ohio I started telling him we were in Indiana. But, alas, he did not sleep much on the drive there, and so he heard "We're in Indiana." a few too many times for a bored 5-year old. He declared "I hate Indiana! This state is soooo boring. You don't get to do anything you want to do!" In all, however, the kids were well-behaved, especially with the help of a borrowed DVD player that played SpongeBob videos, Star Wars, and, of course, Cars, starring Lightning McQueen. We made very few stops, but on one midnight stop at a rest stop in Pennsylvania on the way home, the boys' pent up energy was let loose. Red straws were turned into light sabers and the thankfully empty eating area was the arena. Boys will be boys and I thought they were so cute running around I got a little video of it. Enjoy...

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2009-01-01T23:34:00.003-05:00

Christmas came and went in a whirlwind at the Winn House. Aunt Teddy (my twin sister Heather) came to visit for X-mas and spent X-mas Eve with us and Jason's Dad and Dennis. Presents were opened and a delicious dinner of cheesy chicken prepared by Jason. X-mas Day we ventured out to Grandma and Grandpa Roth's for more presents, food, and family, followed by even more merry fun on December 26th at Jason's Aunt Molly's house. The boys and I then motored out to Wisconsin to visit my parents for a few days and get a taste of Wisconsin winter. Brrrrr. Madison had a wonderful first X-mas hanging with her big brothers, who helped her open all her presents. The boys were showered with gifts. Kaelen has everything ever made with Lightning McQueen's face on it now and he still can't get enough of him! Alex got some cars, too, Star Wars "guys," Superhero toys, and Nintendo DS games - one of which was a Lightning McQueen game that resulted in LOTS of sibling rivalry and the Milwaukee purchase of a used Nintendo DS for Kaelen and his own Lightning McQueen game. . . ahhhhh. . . peace. In all it was a wonderful time. Now on to 2009!

Some photos of our holiday fun... (click on photo for more.)

As Long As I Can Grow My Hair

2008-12-23T23:02:00.004-05:00

When Alex was about 18 months old I took him to the gym one day and I remember seeing this woman walk in with three kids, ages ranging from probably 3 years old to 8 years old. Her two boys had bed head and I remember thinking with my infinite wisdom, "How hard is it to throw some water on your kid's hair and comb it before you bring them out in public?" Geesh. I mean, Alex took his baths at night, too, but I always made sure his hair looked normal before he went to the gym.

Fast forward a few years, two more kids, and a little more Mommy experience and I just laugh. On Sunday morning Alex complained that his ear hurt and so I knew a trip to the after-hours doctor was in order. When they called me back and said "How fast can you be here?" I said, "We're out the door in five minutes." At this moment not one of the children was dressed and neither was Mommy. (Have I mentioned that Daddy was at work, so all three kids are coming to the doctor and it's just yours truly in charge of making that happen - fast.) I threw clothes, a coat, and shoes on Kaelen as Alex got dressed and then changed Madison's diaper, clothes, and socks. I dressed her up in her snowsuit and strapped her into the baby carrier. This whole ordeal took about 8 minutes, which was record time, folks. So when I saw Alex's hair, which was sporting the worst bed head I'd ever seen on the kid, I just thought "Forget it. We've got to go go go." I threw some pants and shoes on and ran out the door with no makeup, wearing the shirt I slept in, and, oh yes, the kid with the hair...

That's right folks. I took him to the doctor AND to Wal-mart to get his prescription filled with this hair do. All I can say is, he went to bed with damp hair, so at least it was clean.

Freeze Tag

2008-12-22T00:06:00.005-05:00

Tag - I'm it. I was tagged by my fellow friend and blogger Heather Usher, to do a Meme. So here are some random questions she posed, which in turn were posed to her by a fellow blogger...and so on and so on...

These 8 things were fun to explore and since I had to dig deep for some of the answers, a few of them are probably things some of you didn't know about yours truly. Looking forward to seeing some of your answers, too.

8 TV Shows I Watch:

Intervention :Start watching and you can’t stop. Dare I say – it’s addictive? Hi my name is Melissa. M-E-L-I-S-S-A
The Real Housewives of Orange County: The best trash on t.v.
The Girls Next Door: I blame my husband for getting me invested in this one.
The Soup: Hysterical!
Spongebob Squarepants: I don’t really have much choice on this one. If I want peace in my house, I watch it.
NBC Nightly News: Dinnertime highlights.
Deliver Me: Got hooked on this one during my 4 months of bed rest.
The Today Show: A little more fluff than it used to be, but it’s good treadmill watching.

8 Favorite Restaurants:

Eggspectation: You can actually SEE the egg on the French Toast AND they use real maple syrup. My favorite place!
IHOP: Hey – I like me some breakfast food. Wear your jersey on Sundays and get a discount!
Sweetwater Tavern: Good food. Good rolls. And Jason’s cousin works there! A good combo.
The Melting Pot: Cheese and Chocolate – my two favorite foods – fondue style. What’s not to love?
The Safe House: A spy-themed restaurant and bar in Milwaukee, with a secret entrance and exit, spy gadgets throughout the restaurant, and the famous Spy’s Demise drink. Jason and I frequented this place weekly when we were dating. Oh - and you’re gonna wanna know the password to get in, or you’re at their mercy.
Water Street Brewery: I mostly just like the Scotch Egg here, a hard boiled egg, wrapped in sausage, then deep fried. Delish! The rest of the menu is good, too.
La Madeleine: Great for lunch and dinner, but breakfast is DIVINE!
Joe’s Crab Shack: I think you’ve heard me sing this place’s praises before! It’s got a large menu to choose from, including the kids’ favorite chicken strips and French fries. Good seafood. Great salads. Delicious desserts and the kicker – a kid’s play area!!!

8 Things That Happened To Me Today (12/21/08):

1. Woke up to Alex screaming because Kaelen had locked him upstairs by closing the child-gate.

2. Alex told me through more tears, “Mommy, my ear hurts.” (Sure sign of ear infection.)

3. Dragged all three children to the Pediatrician’s after hours service to confirm said ear infection.

4. Paid $70.00 for antibiotic and mystery pain medicine prescribed by doctor for ear infection. Antibiotic = $5.00. Mystery Pain Med = $65.00!! A waste of money when he has a) never had said pain medicine with several previous ear infections, b) they are ear drops which Alex will NEVER let me put in his ear, and c) Tylenol (for pain) costs $8.00. But how do you tell the pharmacist you don’t want to buy the pain medicine that the doctor prescribed your child because you just found out it costs $65.00?? What kind of Mommy does that make me seem?

5. Exchanged gifts with the neighbor who showed up unexpectedly during Kaelen’s nap time and before I had gotten a shower for the day (well, since Thursday, actually. That’s how gross I was folks. And don’t mock me. I used to shower everyday. When you get three kids (some sick) AND the flu – you tell me how easy it is to squeeze in a shower.)

6. Took my first shower since Thursday. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

7. Gave Alex a bath and cleaned the carpet after he vomited dinner all over it and himself. Nice.

8. Put kids to bed and began to relax…

8 Things I am Looking Forward to:

Everyone being well again.
Christmas
My sister coming to town for X-mas
Visiting Milwaukee at the end of the month if the place doesn’t freeze over or fall off the end of the earth from the weight of the snow before then.
January 3^rd, when Madison turns 3 months old and I can finally bring her to the gym’s child care center. Yes, that will be the return of my daily shower, folks, and hopefully my pre-baby body, as well.
Meeting Ashlyn Marie, my cousin’s baby girl.
Finding out Madison’s personality.
Seeing what they all become…

8 Things I Wish For:

A safe trip to WI and back.
Out-of-the-norm 80 degree weather in Milwaukee when we arrive. (pretty unlikely I’ll get this one.)
That Madison will get over her first cold and this blocked tear duct quickly.
To win the lottery. (not likely, but more likely than 80 degree weather in Milwaukee next week.)
A new house that can better hold our expanding brood and the junk that comes with us all.
humility
serenity
and mostly, that I can be the kind of mother who gives my children happiness, security, humility, friendship, and a strong sense of self that lasts them a lifetime.

8 People I Tag to Do This:

Sharon
Emily
Amy
Heather
Jason
Tina
Dad
Sorry, folks, that’s all I can come up with…I never was miss popularity.

Through The Looking Glass

2008-12-18T14:40:00.003-05:00

You know how kids get a stuffy nose and then refuse to eat? Kaelen has had a whopper of a stuffed nose and cough the past few days and refused to eat a morsel. I HAD to go to the store to buy some supplies yesterday while Alex was at a friend's house and Kaelen eyed something especially yummy looking in the checkout aisle. . .

A mega rice krispie treat.

You know I snatched it up quickly and even hoped he'd eat the whole thing just to get some calories in the poor boy. Hey - it's kind of nutritious, huh? It's made out of cereal, right? Alas, he took 4 bites and was done with it.

I Just Want To Celebrate

2008-12-14T22:39:00.007-05:00

Alex's best bud, Jason, celebrated his 5th birthday today at The Little Gym in Gainesville. All the kids had so much fun running around on mats, jumping up and down on an inflatable runway, shaking the parachute, and playing on the balance beam and other equipment. Cake and ice-cream were devoured and presents were opened! Lots of Bakugan for Jason, who is trying to build a collection of the popular little toys. In all, it was a fun celebration and good time for the mommies to mingle, too. Alex is all set to go back to The Little Gym as soon as possible.

Some pictures from the event. (click photo to see more.)

Wish you were there? View the video...(click on photo to link to video)