Matt called this morning letting us know he made it safe and sound.

My bebe now has his own spot at the table in Nolan's high chair. Again, cute? or obsessive? ;)



The boys had swimming lessons today again, and lucky me got to get in with Jacob. I LOVE putting my swimming suit on! NOT! However, it was very fun being in there with him. He is just wild and crazy, so happy. He went under the water a ton and was so proud. Connor did great as well. We got home and took a nap. It must have been all they needed because then they were chasing in circles and wrestling (I was having visions of our life with 3 boys so close together in age in the years to come).



Matt, Kristin, and Kelsy dropped by for a visit tonight, with ice cream! MMMMM. We played some Wii, and Uncle Matt even made a treasure hunt for Connor. Kelsey took a bath at our house so we got out our tub. Guess who Nolan thought needed a bath? Kelsey girl's first Mario cart game.Auntie Kristin's first Mario cart game also!

Don't go daddy.....

Matt left for Germany today. Connor came running out of his room when he woke up this morning and squeezed Matt's legs really hard saying, "Don't leave daddy." It was too cute, and heartbreaking at the same time. I wish I would have had the camera right there and then. Matt kept them this morning for a little bit and did breakfast and hung out before he took them to day care. I guess when he dropped them off Connor gave him a big hug telling Matt that he was giving him a big one to last all of today and for the rest of his trip.

Is bebe cute, or getting obsessive?

My bebe

I was at my mom and dad's house tonight setting up the webcam for our trip and Nolan made a new friend. He made such a good friend that he had to take "my bebe" home with us. He started crying when I said it was grandma and grandpa's baby. "No, my bebe -home!"

He had me put eye drops in "my bebe's" eyes, we changed his diaper, gave him kisses goodnight.....are you seroius?

Mom, look at me!

On a mission to find the cure for pink eye

So ....this morning Matt headed up to the cities early and I had the boys to myself. When it's just me and them it's a crazy morning. Connor was really tired so I let him sleep in a little longer and figured we could just get dress, brush teeth, and run. Well, as he was brushing his teeth (mind you this is about 7:10) I notice his eye is all crusty and really red. Great! So I asked him about it and he said it hurt. I knew right away because pink eye has been going around at daycare. In fact we took Nolan in two nights ago to get checked out and he didn't have anything. Needless to say....I was in a heap of trouble. Matt was already gone, I had to take the other two boys to daycare, I didn't have a sub or sub plans yet and school started soon. Luckily I have a great team that I work with and it all feel into place (well sort of). I took Connor in and sure enough he has it. I should have asked for a mega bottle of drops because it's almost inevitable that the other two will get it. We are ALL putting drops in our eyes at the Ginskey house, pink eye or not. ;)


Connor was so bummed because he didn't feel sick. He didn't understand and he was now going to have to miss making and eating his own ice cream at school. Ms. Jane said they would try to figure something out for him to do it when he gets back.



Connor and I had a blast at home today though. I feel guilty saying that because I was away from work - but hey the kid couldn't go to school or daycare and someone had to stay home with him. It was strange being home from work with a kid that wasn't really sick. We played spies and had a really big and important mission. We had to find the cure for coughs (a hippo bean bag) which was somewhere in the jungle, the cure for runny noses (a turtle bean bag) which was in the castle, and the cure for pink eye (a rubber ball) which was at the bottom of the sea. Man, Connor had the whole thing planned out - we had to avoid guards, booby traps, laser beams, etc. We were sent secret messages and looked for clues. It was quite a mission. Here is Connor's spy belt and gear that we used (great Christmas gift).

Candy land update - they played a game and Connor had everything planned out in his head, he was so excited. I guess Tyler didn't get the card this time. It didn't really work out.....maybe next time.

Apparently a basket of clean clothes makes for a great place to lie down.

Pursle guy, pursle guy what do you see?

Connor and Jacob were playing Mario Cart tonight and Connor looks at me as says, "Mom, whoever created Wii is COOL!"

We love bath time. The boys have a blast together.

One of the boys' favorite books as they've grown up has been Brown Bear, Brown Bear. Tonight in the bathtub Jacob created his own Brown Bear story....

Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong, what do you see? I see a pizza looking at me.

Pizza, Pizza, what do you see? I see pursle guy (those of you that have been following this blog know that this is purple guy Waluigi) looking at me.....

I think there is maybe too much Mario Cart playing going on.

Busted....

Connor ordered books from his school book orders a couple of weeks ago and they came in today. He is such a thoughtful brother. What 5 year old would order books for his brothers? He ordered a book for Jacob and Nolan and these pictures are of him giving and showing the books to them. It was also library day today and Connor checked out a book to bring home that he could read to Jacob and Nolan. I am so proud of him.


Snuggling in bed tonight Matt asked Connor to share a cool thing about his day at Mary's and at school. Connor decided that the coolest part of Mary's was playing Candy land with Tyler, an older boy at daycare. However, he said that Tyler always seems to win....Matt asked him a few more questions....Connor told him that every time it seemed like Tyler got these good cards to move really far, he always dealt, he always went second, etc...... It was decided that Tyler "might" maybe be rigging the game a little bit. Now, I have to mention that Tyler really is a great kid and so good to Connor. Matt and Connor devised a plan for what Connor should do tomorrow when they play, something like switching who was going to go first last minute without changing the cards. Connor was so wired and excited after their conversation and couldn't get the huge grin off his face. He kept saying, "Tyler is SO BUSTED!". We couldn't keep from laughing.

The Mom Song

Have you seen this? My cousin sent it to me (I know I've seen it before also). Hilarious. Love it. It feels like the truth sometimes - and my oldest is only 5 years old! Does it make anyone else feel like a nag? ;) Don't forget to pause the music in the side bar before you push play so you can hear it.

Basketball

We went to breakfast after church this morning and as we're eating Connor puts his hand to his head and says, "Oh... I have a brainburn!". (after he explained it to us all.....the opposite of a brainfreeze I guess because he was eating hot food and it made his head hurt like it does when you're eating something really cold).

Matt's team played really well this weekend. It was fun watching them. My camera battery was fully charged.

Apple Pie and Ice Cream

Matt has a tournament in town this weekend so we went to his games today. It's the first games I've been able to see, so that was nice. Of course I get my camera out and the battery is dead. Tomorrow.

Matt bought apple pie for dessert tonight. Yummy....hot applie pie and ice cream.

Do you think Nolan liked it?

I love these slippers (as does Jacob) that Nana gave Jacob for Christmas. Yes they are a pair!

Matt,Kristin, and Kelsey came over tonight to visit for a little while. Kelsey the poor girl, the boys are constantly in her face or wanting to be by her. Connor helped get her pjs on.


Connor was at a birthday party for a little while tonight and while in bed talking he sadly with tears in his eyes says to me, "Mommy, the other guys must have looked longer for their present for Luke because they were cooler than mine."

I didn't really know what to say, but we talked about why he thought their's were cooler and by the end of our conversation he was satisfied with his pick for a gift.
Teddy loves to sleep with the boys.

For Hilary of course..........

I didn't get this up last night, but these are things that happened on Thursday.

We were shopping for a birthday present last night and decided to get our valentines for school and daycare. Connor was looking them over and he grabbed a box of Hannah Montana valentines. I gave him a puzzled look for a moment and asked, "Those are what you want for your Valentine's?".
"For Hilary, yeah. She likes Hannah Montana." I hated to have to break it to him, but we weren't going to buy a box a valentine's just to give Hilary one she wanted, and then buy another box to give out to everyone else. He decided on Kung Fu Panda because there were girl and boy valentine's to hand out.

Jacob got out of the bathtub and the first thing he said to me was, "My pen*s is cold!" Oh brother.

The boys were snuggling in our bed in the morning and I gave Nolan a kiss. In this whiny voice, Jacob says, "Me a kiss too".

We were driving home from daycare and Connor says to me, "Mom, if you believe, you can walk on water."
"Oh yeah, where did you learn that from?"
"Sunday school", he matter of factly said to me.
Don't we all wish it was that easy! ;)

No black.....

"Mary said color tree brown, and weaves breen, no black", said a very proud Jacob after I told him how much I loved his tree. Our daycare provider, Mary, does school with the younger kids in the mornings. Love it. Jacob for some reason loves to color things all in one color right now, and especially black. Mary often times gives him "suggestions" as to what to color, such as the tree brown and the leaves green in this picture!

Pretty darn good job I think! This one is definitely going up on the window!

Big Day....

Big day in history today, pretty cool to say we lived through it. Now please don't judge me, but I was not a big fan of Obama, (or should I just say I didn't vote for him.....) however I am a big fan of the need for change in this country. I am hopeful that he will do this for us, very hopeful. Whether you are a believer in him or not, it's hard not to feel all of the excitement going on. I wanted to get a picture of the boys by the TV with it on, but didn't get to it.




No lie, Nolan went and got the Wii controllers and put one on Elmo's lap for him to play and then used the other one (he doesn't really play, but he thinks he is). About two minutes later he went and gave his controller to our cat Teddy on the couch. He was so excited to be letting them play.

Nolan tracing his feet and daddy's hand.

Don't go daddy....

Nolan and Jacob love the Little Einsteins right now (actually Connor will watch it too). This show has been a part of our lives since Connor was little.

I love going to get Nolan out his crib in the morning. He 99 % if the time has a huge smile on his face. He's so funny because we have to take everything out with him, Elmo, Ooh Ahh Ahh (monkey), puppy, blanket, and sometimes his books, oh and of course his cup if he had one. Then he needs all of it by him while he watches cartoons.

Connor and Jacob trying to keep daddy from leaving for basketball practice. Connor actually got a little teary eyed that Matt had to leave.

What a great day

We had a wonderful Sunday. We went to church (right now Connor is in Sunday school, Jacob comes to mass with us, and Nolan goes to the nursery. Things are good right now and everyone seems happy finally. Jacob wants to be a big boy, Nolan is finally not crying when we leave him to play, and Connor is doing great in Sunday school. In fact, today he said the Our Father for the class for their opening prayer), after church we went to breakfast at the Elks (incredible breakfast), and then Grandpa and Grandma came over for the day. Matt had a basketball tournament in Rochester. Grandma and Grandpa played everything and anything with the boys. Here Connor and Grandma are playing a new Guess Who game we got for Christmas. We LOVE Guess Who and this new version rocks!

Our neighbors always have a tree burning after the holidays and the whole neighborhood comes and hangs out for the night. The fire gets huge sometimes. They have a big trailer sled hooked up to a snow mobile for the kids and it's just a great time visiting with everyone- especially in the winter when we don't see everyone very often. This is the first one that all five of us have gone to. In the past it's been Matt and Connor, or Matt and Jacob and Connor because it was so cold and Jacob and Nolan were so little yet. We have such a great neighborhood.

Boys morning in and hiding from dinosaurs

Mommy leaves the house for a few hours to get her haircut, and the boys come out to play! They call it a boys night/day whenever I go somewhere. They had a dance party in the kitchen (we often do this while we're getting dinner ready). Daddy took some great pictures!Because I am going to print this blog off eventually and give the boys binded copies I wanted to include things they like at the moment. Connor is a big fan of the show Monster Buster Club (these kids work hard in a nonviolent way to solve mysteries and get rid of aliens). He is also a big fan of American Idol. We like trying to figure out if they're going to make it to Hollywood or not.

Nolan wants to be just like his big brothers. Here are the two boys with their backpacks truckin' all over the house on an adventure.

Jacob is a neat freak. He saw a streak of something on the fridge and decided the whole fridge needed to be wiped.
Nolan apparently loves almonds. Is this odd? I don't remember the other two boys liking any type of nut.

We finally got around to doing Connor's Pixos that he got for Christmas.

My dear friend from high school, Sara, brought her three lovely kids over to play late this afternoon. They moved back to Owatonna from Tennessee awhile ago and this is only the third time we have gotten together. We have completely opposite work schedules. I treasure the times we do get to be together and visit (as much as possible with 6 kids around us!). The kids warmed up to each other by the end of our time together and were running all over the place. They're hiding from the dinosaurs in this picture.