That's Gonna Leave a Mark!

Yes, if you haven't heard, there's been an incident.  Just before we were to leave for school on Wednesday, Eli and Clayton got into a scuffle, and Clayton ended up with a nastly little cut on his forehead.  Apparently he was pushed into the toy chest in their room.  I was pretty angry with all the arguing that had been going on all morning, so I marched in there, ready to give them a piece of my mind.  Clayton was in the fetal position, and I ordered him to stand up.  When he sat up, his whole face was covered in blood (and, as a side note, there was a little blood on my new carpet, YIKES, but it all came up later).  I took him into the bathroom, made one pass over the wound with a handful of tissue, and I knew we had to go to the ER. 

Dragging three small children to the ER by myself first thing in the morning is not really my idea of fun, but the boys did pretty well.  It took almost three hours to get three tiny stitches, and then we were off.  Clayton was so brave, so we stopped in at Wal-Mart to pick up a new little car for a reward.  When Ryan got home later that night, Clayton had no interest in showing Ryan the stitches.  He only wanted Ryan to see his new car.

I'm sure with three boys this will not be our last stitches incident.  I actually can't believe this was our first.

One day last week was "P" day at school, and Clayton's teacher sent home a pickle bandaid for each kid for the next time they were "in a pickle."  Clayton was beyond excited to wear his pickle bandaid to school the next day.

Today we're letting them breathe a little, which reminds me I need to call and get an appointment to get them taken out soon.

Halloween 2011

About a month ago I started to think about what the boys could be for Halloween.  I love a theme, and I started trying to think of one.  It just happened around that time that the boys were watching The Chipmunk Adventure (remember the one where the boys race the girls around the world in hot air balloons; I loved that movie), and then I knew, they had to be the Chipmunks.

Their costumes were so easy.  I ordered men's turtlenecks and rolled up the sleeves.  I fused yellow A on Alvin's shirt, and I didn't bother with Alvin's red baseball cap because I knew Eli wouldn't wear it.  I hemmed Eli's shirt because it was just slightly too long, and I didn't want him to trip on it.  Then I found a pair of Harry Potter glasses for Simon, and that was it.

We took the boys to our high school's trick-or-treat night a couple nights before Halloween, and they got a warm up on all the "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" stuff.  I was really impressed with the high schoolers.  They were so sweet to the boys and so enthusiastic with all their booths and games.  So many kids had put in a lot of hard work to pull off an event like that.  Now every time we drive by the high school Eli says, "That's where we have fun!"

After that, they were ready for the big night.  Ryan and I took turns handing out candy and taking the boys around our neighborhood.  Clayton and Aaron rode in the wagon, and Eli walked.  At each house, Eli was the first to the door and the loudest with his "trick-or-treat."  I think he could have walked all night, but the other two were ready to come home after a while.

These are our pumpkins that almost didn't happen.  I really procrastinated purchasing carving pumpkins this year.  On Halloween morning I took Clayton to school, and the little boys and I set out on a quest that led us to three grocery stores before we finally find pumpkins at a fourth store.  We were lucky to find these.  I didn't get carving on them until about 3:30pm, and it takes a long time to scoop out all the insides, not to mention, I needed to cook dinner and oh, keep a vigilant eye on my three "helpers" who were intent on attempting to get their hands on knives.  I finished them up just in time though, and I liked the way they turned out.  Maybe next year I'll plan ahead a little better and try something a little more intricate.  Probably not, but maybe.