True.

Mama Hutch: So Sharks, what are you going to be when you grow up?

Sharks: Older.

Darling

My boys have been bringing me so much joy recently, even amidst the sickness. Not that they didn't before; perhaps I just notice the moments of delight more when we are all feeling so awful.

Sharks loves to sing and I am happy to encourage it, especially in the car since we have no radio or anything. And I finally caught him singing when he couldn't run away and got him on video.

The last few days

What with being inside so much this week, we built a fort.

I know I had more fun with it than the boys (who doesn't love a fort!), but they sure managed to crack each other up. Brotherly love, and all.

And then we pause for this:

Before we head back for more fun in the fort.

One of those days

Not really the best of days, but I was reminded that my circumstances shouldn't cause me to lose my joy.

Today I made what was not the best decision of my life and took Sharks to the urgent care across the street. Long story short, he is fine and for that I am very thankful. But after 3 hours of waiting in the ER for a chest x-ray he didn't even need, I was definitely questioning my decision making.

And in the midst of having to decide what was best for the health of my children, I had my own little cry fest. Apparently every time I have to wait for more than an hour at the doctor, I cry. I just start thinking about my poor child sitting there miserable in Doctor's Office sicksville getting more ill by the minute when they could be resting at home and the tears flow. It gets results though. Five minutes after crying to the receptionist at the ER, we were in a room. I promise I didn't do it on purpose. I'm pregnant. Even telling Chet about it later made me cry.

So on the way home, I was still teary, and I said sorry to the boys about such a bad day and how I was sorry I made a bad decision, and Sharks said, "No, Mommy, it was a fun and awesome day." And then I was laughing hysterically and thanking the Lord for my little ones, who bring so much joy even when I am feeling like a failure of a mom.

He knows his animals

The other day, I said, "Oh, you little rascal," to Sharks. To which he replied, "I'm not a rascal, I'm a raccoon." Well, ok then.

Then today I said, "What's up, dog?" Wrongo. "I'm a cat, Mommy, not a dog."

We've got the sickness over in Hutchland

Colds, coughs, headaches, and wheezes. Not a lot of fun. So, I've been plopping the boys in the tub quite a bit. The warm water helps their breathing, and they can't get into anything while in the tub.

Right now it's all about survival. And the neti pot. (Which works, but I hate using it.) Sharks was really curious about it after watching me use it, so I let him try it. He kinda coughed and sputtered and I figured that would be the last time he asked for it, and I was right: "Mommy, once is enough." On the other hand, he is always ready for his "medycin."

Bring on the shamrocks

Um, yeah. This little place on the corner of our street, well, they need a new PR guy. I believe this is what they call grasping at straws.

But I am totally going anyway - think about all.the.fun. (Well, half as much fun.) I can wear half as much green. Drink half as much beer and get half as drunk. Meet half as many, half-as-tall leprechauns. Par-tay.

One determined little weiner dog

A guy from down the street stopped by yesterday to ask if I had seen his missing daschund. He was especially worried because his dog is blind and deaf.

I hadn't, but I'm wondering how he could possibly manage to lose his dog. The dog is blind and deaf. I mean, every time my neighbor lets his dog out, he has to carry him outside and then carry him back in. The dog can't have been moving very fast. Though maybe he just follows his nose. (Hey, that's exactly what I have been doing these past months...speaking of which, I've gotta run - I think I smell cookies.)

Flashback

This makes me think of my brother (hey, Nate!) when he was a little whippersnapper. I can still picture him stopping to pull his knee socks up.

So here's to little guys in knee socks and shorts from the 80s.

14 weeks

One of my little helpers wanted to be in the picture too. Pardon his lack of clothing - we are still waking up Chez Hutchinlove.

Trains and more trains

A friend told me about a local place where they make wooden trains, and in order to generate business for themselves, they have around 10 train tables set up, just for kids to play with. One of the tables is was huge, maybe 14ft long, and covered with tracks and trains. So we went to check it out yesterday.

When we walked in, I was overwhelmed with the amount of trains - pretty much little boy heaven. Even though there were a bunch of other kids playing too, there were plenty of trains to go around. The best part is that it is free. And who doesn't love free! So now we know another awesome free place to hang out.

And little Deedo could even play with them.

In the Garden

Every time we go to my parents' house, the first thing the boys want to do is to go pick veggies from my mom's garden.

Even Deedo got in on the action.

And it's a win-win situation: they have a blast picking the tomatoes and peppers, and I get to take some home.

Everywhere we go, the shades go too

"Hey Mom, I look cool with these sunglasses."

Crash. And then another crash.

Sharks fell all.the.way.down the stairs today, from the upstairs to the main floor. I was in the basement doing laundry, so I didn't see it, but oh, I heard it and it sounded bad. He has a big goose egg on his forehead and a few other bruises. Thankfully, that was it - no broken bones or even a concussion. Praise the Lord. It was scary.

Apparently I panic during stuff like this. And since I'm kind of squeamish, I was nervous there would be blood, in which case I'd run the other way and let Chet take over. But there was no blood, just a huge, huge, growing bump on Sharks forehead, so I kept telling myself to take deep breaths and stay calm so I didn't freak out Sharks any more than necessary. I think we did ok. Got the ice. Stopped the crying. Had some chocolate milk.

Then this afternoon, we went downtown for Stage 1 of the Tour of Missouri. If you are interested, you can watch a clip here. I won't bore you with cycling info, but a lot of very talented riders were here for the race. (My dad is a huge cycling fan, and it's become a family tradition to watch the Tour de France together every summer, so seeing some of those riders do their stuff in person was sweet.) Plus we got to ring our cowbell. For realsies.

The race was 10 laps of 7.5 miles, so we were there for about 3 hours, watching the cyclists loop around the city. We walked around quite a bit to keep the boys interested and made a stop at some fountains for much needed playtime. Our final watching point was about 300 meters away from the finish, and lo and behold, on the last sprint of the day, there was a CRASH right in front of us. Just so you get the picture, there was a group of 118 cyclists, going maybe 40 miles per hour, careening towards the finish line. Though only two riders crashed and the rest of the peloton managed to avoid them, it was pretty intense. One guy got his biking shorts totally shredded up to his bum. (Can you say road rash?) But in the end, everyone crossed the finish line.

Recycled Houses

This is amazing. Takes green homes to a whole new level. I love the ceiling made of frame samples. Intense, but unique. The guy who builds them uses mostly recycled materials and fits everything together in ways I wouldn't ever think of. And he builds them for low-income families.

After reading this,we just might have to move into one of those homes. At least they are sweet looking and environmentally conscious.

Speaking of bulbous heads...

...how can you not love this one?

Extreme Pogoing

Since I feel like an idiot every time I pogo, it never crossed my mind that someone out there turned it into something cool. Or at least dangerous.

And just in case you're wondering, the extreme pogo community is still low-profile, so you could probably break into the pogoing circuit if you get started now.

I have a pogo stick if you want to borrow it.

Water Playtime

Passport Photos and Cookies

Today was a day of running errands and I was reminded again why I prefer to run one errand at a time, at least with the kids. I had to get my passport photo taken at Walgreens and since I know it will be around for at least 10 years I decided to put a little makeup on. Well, I should have just forgotten about that cause the picture is bad, folks, real bad. I had my hair in pigtail braids and a stretchy headband (my fashion statement of the year - I have maybe 7 different colored headbands...one for each day of the week apparently) but I didn't know that they make you take headbands off for the picture. Oh, part of the reason I am so into headbands is because it helps you hide the fact that you haven't washed your hair or that you are having a really bad hair day. Anyhoo, my hair was showing and it was frightening. AND I had the kids with me, so just imagine trying to keep your eye on the camera and your eye on two speedy little dudes. Hello, cross-eyes.

Then over to the grocery store for some odds and ends while we waited for the photos to develop. On the plus side, I can now legitimately park in the New and Expectant Mothers space again. And at our grocery store they let each kid have a free cookie from the bakery, so the boys love the grocery store. Wouldn't you? I mean, come on, free cookies!, so sometimes I go in for a pack of gum or something just to get the boys their cookies. Just kidding. I don't do that. Often.

And then back over to Walgreens to retrieve my photos where I got to groan at them again upon seeing the prints in real life.

Then to the Post Office to mail off my passport application. But there was a shift change and the only guy working didn't know how to do passport stuff so I had to wait. And wait. As my arm fell off from holding Deedo so long. Finally the new guy came and we got the thing mailed off, which was tough since by that point I had only one arm. I decided to pay an extra $1.10 for a money order since I forgot my checkbook. There was no way I was going to go home and back just for my checkbook. My sanity is worth $1.10, thankyouverymuch.

Then finally home for lunch (which no one really needed after the cookies.) And Naptime (which deserves to be capitalized.)

It may not sound like many errands and the kids were wonderful and that was a blessing. The tiring part is the in-out, in-out of the carseats, over and over again. And even that wouldn't be bad if our car wasn't falling apart. One of the back doors only opens from the inside which means I have to reach around from the front to the back to get it open. And we don't have power locks or whatever those are called, so it takes magic to get all the doors locked and unlocked every time we leave or get in.

Phew. I'm getting tired again just thinking about it. So I'll stay home for awhile.

Outta Sharks' Mouth

"Mommy, I just don't know what to do about all the screaming." (In reference to his little brother's frequent shrieking. Join the club, buddy.)

As Chet was leaving for school: "Don't worry, Pops, we can hang out together later." (Oh so cute.)

"I will clean up shortly." (I definitely don't say that. Blaming that one on my mom.)

A little slip up

Yesterday was just one of those days. Nothing really happened except tiredness.

Keep in mind that I had maybe 4 hours of sleep the night before so I was out of it in a big way.

I loaded the boys into the car and got in myself before I realized that I was wearing slippers.

*Sigh.*

So I just went on my merry way, slippers and all. Come on, they're pretty much shoes.