We have thoroughly been loving the springlike weather as of late.

Warm weather

After our long post-church naps this afternoon, the 3 Amigos and I played with flashlights on Liberty Loop during nightfall, while Daddy grilled hamburgers.

We tended to some much-needed yard work yesterday. I got a ton accomplished while the the kids napped: I removed the jasmine from our deck so I can have better visibility of the kids while they’re in the back yard and I’m in the kitchen, and I dug up a gorgeous bush from our weed-infested, soon-to-be demolished “amoeba garden.”

After my alone-time garden therapy, the kids helped me dig a big hole to transplant the bush, they assisted Daddy in moving the mass amounts of jasmine to our “nature pit,” and then my strong boys helped Daddy and me move riprap, which we salvaged from the yucky garden.

Houston shows off his first-ever trophy for a great season of basketball.

I finally assembled the seesaw the twins got from Santa. Maddie, our 5-year-old neighbor, has been over a couple times to teach the dudes the proper ways of seesawing. She is so helpful and loves directing the 3 Amigos. Maddie has twice led the boys in filling up buckets of broken-down compost and moving the dirt to Daddy’s veggie garden. Amazingly, Houston, Gabriel and Zeke follow her instructions to the tee and without complaint. It’s so intriguing to watch kid dynamics at work.

Clubs

We’ve been away from home a bunch this month, mostly attending GMOM and Moms Club activities. The dudes and I have attended three Moms Club playgroups, which are major fun for the boys. But I’m making friends, too. In fact, I met a gal, Lorrie, who hails from my hometown and lives only about a mile away from us. She and her two daughters are heading over to the casa for a playdate tomorrow afternoon.

I’m also bonding with my fellow GMOMs. I recently went out for a moms-only dinner, and then the 3 Amigos and I attended an awesome GMOM event at BounceU.

With a little help from Mommy, Zeke strung together this bead necklace w/ his initials.

Other activities

Houston went to the circus last weekend with Daddy, Matthew, Miss Beth and Mr. Alan. I took advantage of the lighter kid load and took Gabriel and Zeke to the Children’s Museum. The twins had a blast — especially loving the life-size vehicles (fire truck, train and airplane) and feeding the chickens — and did a fine job of exhausting Mommy. Thank goodness I only took two kids.

We made a surprise trip to see Granny and Grumps earlier this month. It was originally supposed to be only Daddy and Gabriel, but we decided to throw caution to the wind and head up to the mountains with the whole posse. Granny was happily surprised.

Doctors galore 

Gramsey and Papa came to town for a visit, which freed me up to go to the hand doctor. My left wrist had been killing me for weeks and the pain reminded me of what my right wrist used to feel like prior to having surgery to remove a ganglionic cyst and repair a tear. The doc says it’s probably another cyst that has been aggravated from overuse (read: changing unwilling children’s diapers for nearly four years). I’ve been wearing a splint and taking a regimen of ibuprofen, which has helped immensely.

Using a drill on his Toby train brought Gabriel much pride & enjoyment.

The boys had a dentist appointment on Valentine’s Day. Houston, who has been the anti-doctor kid up till now, did fantastic. Gabriel and Zeke were brave for the hygienist, but were over it by the time the dentist came around. Overall, the appointment, which took both Daddy and me to handle, was a vast improvement over last time.

Zeke’s cough is back in full force. I’ve had two moms say, “That sounds exactly like an asthma cough.” And since the pediatrician and throat-specialist routes didn’t pan out, it looks like taking him to an allergist/immunologist will be our next course of action. Poor kiddo.

As far as the twins’ speech goes, they are on fire these days. So much so that Miss Pat says that once they plateau with therapy, she only needs to see them every other week. This will help stretch out the insurance-covered appointments with Miss Pat through their third birthdays.

Shenanigans are rife while the dudes are “getting cozy,” as Houston describes it.

Discipline

We are now using an “If-Then” discipline chart. One column describes the naughty behavior, the next column has the corresponding Biblical verse, and the third column lists our punishment. It has been great, not only in keeping the boys in line, but also in helping me stay strong, confident and on top of things.

I also purchased a whistle, which I use when I need to get the boys’ attention while they’re being loud or when they’re far away while outside. I have a pretty loud voice, but I hated having to yell all the time. The whistle gives me more control over situations. Plus, the kids really respond to it.

Houston & Zeke experience their first taste of Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

Household

Tonight is the fourth night that Houston has slept on his mattress in brothers’ room. These pretty successful slumber parties have been Houston’s ideas (if it was up to him, he would be sleeping in one of the cribs with a bro). But it’s good practice for when they do ultimately share a room: once the changing table is gone and we get bunk beds.

I moved Houston’s art table out to living room a few weeks back because my guess was that Gabriel would really utilize the space for his creative drawings. I was right: our little artist can often be found for long periods of time, sketching away, concentrating on his work, not (yet) drawing on anything other than paper and usually holding his crayon properly. Amazing stuff!

Click the top photo to check out pics of Houston’s final basketball game and the above photo to view the post-game celebrations. Click Zeke in his bead necklace to see all the January photos and click Gabe drilling to see a few February shots.