Sick of Sick Days

9 days ago, Gerrit, my 5 year old came down with the flu! The same symptoms as most with headache, fever, body aches and just feeling lousy. Finally Wednesday he went the entire day without fever so Thursday I load him up and send him off to school. That same day Thijs started with the fever and aches. After 2 hours the school called and said Gerrit was crying and wanted to come home because he felt so terrible. Great! Now I feel terrible for making him go to school.
Luckily his doctors excuse (thanks Paris!) was good for the entire week so I kept him home Friday. Now here I was with 2 boys with the flu, at home under my feet and totally irritating the hell out of me! Nurse Mommy was wearing thin!
With the weekend brought more fever and now a nasty cough. We took Gerrit to the ER on Sunday to rule out pnuemonia and found out he had an ear infection. They sent us home with breathing treatments, antibiotics, and steroids.
Monday morning I had had ENOUGH sick! Both boys are whiney and weepy and I wasn't having any of it! I ignored my gut and sent them to school. At this point I couldn't tell if they were faking it or not. I figured the truth would come out at school.
Both of them made it the entire day but eventually came home to tears and more aches! Now they are both passed out.
I feel awful for sending them to school but I am just sick of them being sick!

Bad Haircuts

It is a well known fact that I am cheap. My husband is also cheap. Our local Sport Clips closed and we were looking for an alternative.  So a few months ago we decided to save a few bucks and get some hair clippers for our boys. How hard can it be? Of course, I buy the cheapest ones at Walmart.
We set up our "salon" in the kitchen. I started with Gerrit's hair. Buzzing it here and there but not too short and not too long. It was "ok". He was squirming and crying towards the end and I had to rush him upstairs to the shower, leaving my husband in charge of the other 2 boys.
Next up was Thijs. While I am upstairs with Gerrit, my husband decides he doesn't need the handy color coded "guards" and that he could cut Thijs' hair without it. Thijs is very wiggly and antsy. About half way through the cut he yanks his head to look at his other brother, Andy (Eric's apprentice). Needless to say a GIANT chunk of hair came with it.
By this time I am finishing up upstairs and as I am coming down the stairs I hear major laughing and commotion in the kitchen. My husband and oldest son are both in tears. I knew something awful was going on. Once I realized that he had a  major bald spot taken out of the side of his head I started in on my smart-a$$ husband "What the hell were you thinking?!?!?! This is NOT funny! Picture day is in 2 days and he looks like a goofball!!" As I am yelling at my husband, Gerrit picks up the scissors behind my back and whacks off a huge chunk of hair on the top of Thijs' head.
What can you do at this point? So after my rant I take Thijs upstairs and try in vain to fix these spots. He looks like a dog with the mange at this point.
I give up and now every time I see his school picture I am reminded of this episode. I have since vowed to take them to a real barber shop now. I think it is worth the few extra bucks.

"Nice Ascot"

Thijs and Gerrit love whispering in my ear from time to time "Nice Ascot". If you are familiar with Toy Story 3, when Barbie meets Ken for the first time she says to him, "Nice Ascot!" (Click here for the scene, forward to :50sec)
The boys think this is hilarious and of course so do my husband and I. Recently we were flying on KLM from Amsterdam to the US and of course the flight attendants were sporting silky blue ascots. I had to point this out to my guys.

As we are exiting the plane both boys tell each flight attendant "Nice Ascot" as they walk by. Of course Eric and I are cracking up because these dutch speaking ladies have no idea what they are saying. My husband had to translate "My sons like your scarf". I am sure they thought how strange but we thought is was absolutely hilarious!

Furniture selections for parents with boys

About 4 years ago my husband and I ventured out to purchase new living room furniture. My old set had already suffered through 2 other kids and it was time for an upgrade. Luckily we choose black leather.
I love leather furniture, car seats, purses, shoes, etc. Black, preferably. Luxury? No. Because I can easily wipe of puke, pee, poop, food, drink, drool, milk, etc etc etc with just a baby wipe.
The reason I decided to write this today is because my almost 4 year old, Thijs, just LOVES writing his name now. T-H-I-J-S on anything and everything. His "S" is more of a squiggly line that resembles a slinky but the rest is mostly legible. So as he was sitting quietly on the sofa "watching TV" I discovered his name clearly written in large font several times in ink all over the top and bottom of the sofa. Thank you Huggies for creating multiple uses for baby wipes.
Do I condition the leather every 3-4 months to keep it in brand new condition? nah. Waste of time. These boys will ruin anything and everything especially if you pretend to really like that particular piece of furniture.
We even found his name scrolled across the back of his grandmothers favorite chair while visiting recently. It was velour and was not washable. We also didn't mention it because her vision just isn't what it used to be.

So if you are in the market for a new living room stlye, don't bother with cotton, chenille, wicker or vinyl. Stick with 100% leather and you will be much happier and you will thank me later!

The Christmas Tree "Incident"

Finally! The boys are old enough to know not to mess with the Christmas tree. Or so I thought... Today, as the whole family sat together (which is rare) in the family room, Thijs starts checking out the tree of lights in the corner. I pay no attention (my specialty) to him as surely he can't and won't hurt anything. Right? yeah, uh huh...
Moments later, my beautiful 7 foot tall pine tree, adorned with ornaments and lights from around the world and construction paper keepsakes from the past 11 years of schooling and imported all the way from North Carolina, came crashing down right before my eyes!
The dog is barking, Gerrit is crying, I am paralyzed, Emily is laughing, and then as the dust settles and the broken ornaments are deeply implanted into my carpet, Thijs suddenly screams "THAT WAS SO AWESOME!!!!"
Thanks, son, you never cease to amaze me with your talents!