Shed Aquariam in Chicago

Nothing really going on. I have been trying to get over a terrible sinus infection.

Coltan and Cody have just had soccer practice and nothing very exciting with them going on either.

Carson keeps having asthma issues. He was supposed to have OT yesterday and Nancy was out sick. So they rescheduled for today and she is still out sick. That is better for me so now I can nurse my headache from the comfort of my own home.

Here are a few pictures from the Shed Aquarium in Chicago. We went there just before Christmas. My parents took Carson, Coltan, two nieces, and myself. It ended up being very cold so Carson and I ventured off and did more sightseeing while the others walked up and down Michigan Ave.

Cody had a few soccer games in St Louis MO so he stayed back in KC so that he could go.

Here we were waiting for the water show.

This was the amazing view from the Shed.

Carson standing in the window in the cafeteria.

Those eggs were very popular. It was really sad because parents would try and grab them so their own children could play with them. I never seen anything like it.

On our way to the car. That is Lake Michigan behind us.

Prayers needed for Jaxson.....

Please say a prayer for my little buddy Jaxson. He is currently in PICU and is really a sick kiddo. He has been struggling for a while with a virus and they confirmed he has a sister virus of RSV and also has pneumonia. I'm sure Lacey would love if you could hop over to her blog and leave a comment for her cute little guy.

Get well soon Jaxson. Carson and I are praying for you!!!

Easy Mac N Cheese.....not so easy

A couple of nights ago, I made some baked BBQ chicken, stuffing, scalloped potatoes, and peas. When it was time to gather the boys, Cody was asleep. So after dinner, I put a plate out for him in case he would wake up hungry. So around 9:00 PM, Cody woke up and said he just wanted some mac n cheese. I was sitting in the living room which is next to the kitchen and started smelling something that was worse than burnt popcorn. I ran to the microwave and this is what I found. Did you know that even though it is easy, you still should add water in it? Cody proud of his straight A in Home Ec. I think the first thing the teach in that class is READ THE DIRECTIONS.

I ended up burning lots of candles because it was to cold to open the windows.

Carson has pigtails???

We haven't done a whole lot this week. Coltan, Cody, or both were home everyday this week from school. Carson and I haven't gotten the flu yet (knock on wood) but Carson has had 2 asthma flair ups since last Friday night.



Cody hasn't had anything this week and he was sick on Wed and Thurs. He went back to school yesterday and is now at his dad's hopefully doing lots of homework because he has a full day of soccer tomorrow with the ODP MO state team. This is the team that only chooses 17 kids from the whole state.



Cody was in a soccer tournament last weekend and they won every game. One game the final score was 15-2! Cody averaged 3 goals a game and played awesome. They ended up taking first place.



Coltan guest played with a team from West Des Moines (yes we live in Kansas City) and Sunday night, he played one of the best games I have EVER seen him play. He ended up scoring 2 goals. One goal was right at the buzzer and he barely made it in. It was sweet! The team ended up finishing 3rd place and Coltan had a lot of fun.



Back to the West Des Moines team.....years ago, Cody and my neice Aspen traveled to West Des Moines once or twice a year. Their was a coach there named Bill who has a daughter who is Aspen's age and a son that is Coltan's age. He watched Aspen's championship game and asked her if she would be willing to play as a guest player and travel with the team. So he was coming to town to play in the tournament and called my mom to see if Coltan and Cody were available for the tournament to play on his son's team. The tourney lasted through Monday and there were a few parents that had to leave Sunday so they could work on Monday. So Coltan played 2 games Sunday and Cody played the last game Sunday. Cody was also responsible for Coltan's first goal. He got the ball to Coltan and then Colt just tapped it in.



Coltan of course turned 15 on Monday. We stayed at home and hung out. We planned on eating with the family on Tuesday. So at dinner Tuesday night, Coltan said he wasn't feeling very well. My dad didn't make the dinner because he was home with stomach flu and Coltan and Cody spent some time with them over the weekend.... So Coltan has been home since. He was supposed to have a game today but no school, no soccer.



Carson and I have been getting very serious with the potty training. He is really testing me. Last night he decided to aim in my floor vent in the kitchen and I had a really nice mess to clean up. I know Carson knows what he is doing. He has even taken off his diaper and put on a pull up to pee in that. So getting him to potty in the toilet, I'm not sure. We tried to potty train last summer and he was doing really well. He would earn a sticker and for every 10 he would get a Thomas the train engine. That worked for a while and then he just lost interest in earning trains. So I'm at a loss. Any ideas, I'm listening!



Carson ended up having a scary attack last Friday night. Thank goodness between all of his meds and having oxygen, I was able to keep him at home instead of urgent care. The weather outside was cold and it was so foggy you couldn't even see the house 2 doors down. So needless to say, I was really wanting to not get out in in. I ended up getting his left lung clear but still heard lots of wheezing in the right lung. I pushed him up to 4 liters of oxygen just to get his sats at 95. I stayed up most of the night giving him treatments every 2-3 hours just to keep the wheezes away and his sats up. I called the doctor and we have him on Prednesone. He still isn't 100% yet but we are working on it.



As for me? Well I have started seeing someone. We are taking it very slow but he is a super nice guy. I have known him for a while and he ended up moving last year on a job transfer. He decided he didn't like it as well and moved back up before Christmas. We haven't really went on a date yet but I'm always very busy with the kiddos. He stopped by after the new year and we are just kind of hanging out. He did ask me to dinner last night but you know, sick kid at home. We are supposed to go to his house today if Coltan feels better. He lives on a lot of acres and wanted to go 4 wheeling. We will also have to see about the weather. It was raining this morning and he is 1 1/2 hours south of me, so we shall see what happens. Coltan and Cody think he is cool. He plays dodge ball with them, wrestles with them, and even likes Xbox. Carson and him play trains together. Carson's eyes light up every time he walks into my house. It has been so nice to have a stable, well balanced, even tempered male in the house, even though it's every now and them......slow....baby steps. I just don't want to rush into anything and I want to stay very focused on the boys because no matter what, they come first.



So Carson and I were messing around a few mornings ago and I couldn't resist taking pics of his cute little face. He brought me two rubber bands and told me he wanted pig tails. He then went into the bathroom and laughed and said, mom, I look soooo silly. Then he brought me the camera. I guess this is a clue, he is ready for a hair cut.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Happy Birthday Coltan!!

Yesterday was really Coltan's birthday so as usual, I'm a day late.

15 years ago I woke up at 4:45 AM and noticed my water broke. I woke up Chris and told him it was time. As we were driving to the hospital to deliver my first, I started getting worried wondering if I was going to be a good mom. So I started crying and told Chris that I changed my mind and really didn't want to have this baby. LOL

I was in labor for 24 hours and 10 minutes and out came my beautiful baby boy named Coltan Carl. He was a really chubby baby and always smiled. Coltan was 8lb 10oz and 20 inches long.

Coltan was always early with everything he did. Sitting, crawling....walking at 10 1/2 months. He was by far the easiest and quickest when it came to potty training (which was good since Cody was born 11 months later).

As Coltan developed a personality, I started to get a little worried. He is A LOT like his mom. Wants to have the last word and thinks he knows everything. We have had our share of ups and downs that come with the typical teenager but overall, he is a wonderful, polite, great kid.

So today is the day that I reflect back on how much you have grown up. You were once this little boy that needed mommy for everything to the man of the house. He helps me fix the broken things in the house and on occasion, helps out with Carson. Coltan is the first one to open doors for the elderly and has even been known to help them shovel their driveways when we have 15 inches of snow in about a two week span.

Coltan also helps with dinner and he is my HUGE helper when it comes to laundry. Coltan is also very sociable. He loves hanging out with his friends and loves playing soccer. Coltan made JV his freshman year which is really an honor considering our high school is very large. I enjoyed watching most of his games but as the fall continued, so did the decrease in the temperature and a few games were beyond freezing.

Coltan is a pretty good student and usually I don't have to worry about his grades to much.

Coltan's soccer team didn't travel but he still was able to go to a lot of fun places this year with me. We did go to Columbia a few times for his ODP and we had our family vacation in South Dakota last summer. Coltan also went with us to Chicago last Dec and had a lot more fun than I ever thought.

With all of this said, I'm really looking forward to this next year when I'm going to be his favorite person. Since he is 15, he is getting his drivers permit and only the parents can be with him. LOL We are going to have a lot of quality time together and I'm scared....but excited!

Happy Birthday Coltan! Even though your 15, you will aways be my baby. I love you!

Thanksgiving 2009
First day of school Aug 09

South Dakota June 09

Coltan and Carson acting like they are talking to the statue.

Coltan hanging out with NO hair earlier 2009. He was getting a physical for school sports.

Aren't they always an angel....when their asleep?

One of my all time favorite pics. Carson really loves his big brother.

St Louis Coltan enjoying some time with us.

Weekend update....

Well it turned out to be a fun weekend for the boys and I. We had a really great X-mas and I had planned on downloading those yesterday but there were 9000 homes in my area that had a power outage and that made it impossible.

Friday of course was Christmas and I had the boys open gifts. My dad came over first thing in the morning and we made biscuits and gravy for the family. Everyone else came over to eat and then we took the time to clean up. Carson played most of the day with his toys from Santa.

We always go to a local casino on Christmas day for dinner at the buffet but we ended up with 7 inches of snow and the roads were terrible. So then I was going to plan B and go to my Papa Clyde's house and my dad told me to stay home due to the road conditions. So Chris had Coltan and Cody and Carson and I stayed home and built train tracks.

Saturday was Cody's 14Th birthday and he also had a soccer game. Chris kept the boys for the first part of the day and since the roads were so bad, they spent the morning at Grandma Ann's for Christmas. He brought the boys back by 2 and then Cody had a game at 4. Of course he won.

After the game, we left and drove what should have been a 10 minute drive to Kobe's Steakhouse for his birthday dinner. We ended up getting another 2 inches of snow and the drive took more like 25 minutes. I think I got up to 40 once the whole way there. My parents and 2 nieces and my boys all had a really nice dinner and then for Cody's dessert.......banana pudding. Cody didn't want a birthday cake.

Sunday Cody had two soccer games at 7AM and 7PM. My parents volunteered to take him to the first game since it was so early and mom didn't want me getting Carson out that early in this weather. So my step dad got up at 5:30 Sunday morning and took Cody to the game. Thanks Paul. He brought Cody home and we all hung out and the boys played with Cody's new birthday present. I got him an X-Box 360. Just before 5PM the lights went out. Carson started crying because he could no longer see his Thomas the Train engines. It was really funny. The more Coltan, Cody, and I laughed, the more upset he got. After spending 30 minutes in the dark with Carson's Thomas the train flashlight, we decided to head to my mom's.

As we were pulling out of our neighborhood, it was just pitch black. We got up to the main road and approached our first stoplight. Seriously folks, if the power is out, treat it like a 4 way stop!! I could not believe the traffic and the idiots that didn't know what to do. The next intersection...,.same thing.

So then we ended up at mom's safe and sound...and warm. Did I mention 9 inches of snow, plows no where to be found, AND the temp is 20?

After staying at mom's, it was time to take Cody to his game. They ended up killing the other team. It was 8-0 and Cody played great. We decided to go out for dinner since I wasn't sure of the status with the power. My next door neighbor would text and say LIGHTS ON, then Off again. By the time we got home, power was on but my house was cold. It's amazing what 3 hours without your heat can cool the house off that much.

So what did we do today? We kept busy catching up on cleaning and laundry. I plan on working on Carson's room and rearranging it because he got a Thomas table from Santa and it is totally invading my living room at the moment.

So here is my question. How long do the boys relax before it is back to organizing the house, getting their Christmas stuff put up and doing some light housework (taking out trash, taking dirty clothes to laundry room, emptying dishwasher, etc...) My boys think since it is Christmas Vacation, they shouldn't have to do ANYTHING. Anyone else having this problem? If your one of those "mean" moms that make your kids do chores on X-mas break, please leave a comment so my boys know that I'm not the only one who believes in a little help.

Well I'm off to bed now. Boys are all getting haircuts and we have a lunch date with a good friend of mine. Maybe after all of that, I can find some time to download my pictures of Christmas and Cody's birthday.

Happy Birthday Cody!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CODY QUIN!!!!! I cannot believe that 14 years today, you can into my life. I have truly been blessed. Cody you were my easiest pregnancy and easiest delivery. You have always been (most of the time) my easy going child. You mostly just go with the flow and have made me so proud. Thanks for being such a great kid.

You have always been a great brother to Coltan. Yes you two have your moments but for the most part, you have been good friends.

You are a great big brother to Carson. You know how to change his diaper, give him baths, feed him through the tube, give him breathing treatments, and just be a good snuggler or train builder. Carson goes into your room everyday and sits in your bed waiting for you to get home from school. Thanks for being so good to Carson.

Here is a rare moment that we stop and take the time to grab a picture together. I have always enjoyed watching you play soccer.

We have really been all over this year.

• Jan your Grandma and Grandpa Hoffman took you and Coltan to Lincoln NE for a soccer tournament.
• Jan, Feb, and Mar you were in Columbia for ODP
• April we went to Springfield IL to only come home early due to a snow storm. That is where we got stuck in the mud hole parking lot. LOL
• April, the very next weekend, we left Sat morning for Des Moines IA. Your first game wasn't until noon so we headed up that morning. You played the first game, went to lunch came back and played your second game. Then the blizzard warnings took place and we left and headed back to Kansas City in the sleet. What a long day that turned out to be.
• May we went to Springfield MO for State Cup and you WON
• June we headed to South Dakota for regionals. We didn't do as well as we wanted but it was a fun experience. Then we made our family vacation out of it and headed to Mt Rushmore.
• July we laid low and just went to the Lake of the Ozarks and hung out for a weekend.
• July you got on the bus and headed to Rock Falls IL for your ODP soccer tournament.
• Aug was another slow (but needed) month. We had a couple of local tournaments.
• Sept we were off to St Louis for a tournament
• Oct we went back to St Louis for a tournament.
• Oct we had another tournament in St Louis and they ended up with tons of rain. The whole tournament was flooded and we were notified on Fri at 2PM...same day we were leaving. By 2:45 we were told to head to Wichita for a different tournament and we kicked butt. We had 1 goal against us the whole tournament.
• Nov we headed to Memphis for another tournament
• Dec you had Grandma Ann take you to St Louis for a game and it was one of your best. You ended up scoring SEVEN goals.

Cody, we have had a great year with lots of fun. You have gotten the opportunity to travel to a lot of neat places. I'm looking forward to another fun filled year with you.

So now I hope everyone understands why my vehicle that is barely two years old, already has 68,000 miles on my car. Cody, I can't wait til you get a part time job and start helping out with the gas. LOL

With all of that said, I hope you have a wonderful birthday.

Cody is with Chris right now celebrating and then he has a soccer game at 4 so he is coming back here for his game and then my family is taking him to Kobe's. His favorite restaurant. Pictures later!