Frogs - Leap Year Music Video

Happy Leap Year!!

Funny Stuff

Kevin has been going around singing..."Over hill, over dale.........poor Dale!"
Hee Hee. That's funny. And it's even cuter when you see it, and hear him say it with his cute "tiny" voice!
Here's another one......
"Mary had a little lamb.......and then the Dr. fainted!"
Ha!
Well, that's all I got.
You've been great!
Goodnight!

The World Is Your Canvas!

In an attempt to keep the boys busy today, I decided to send them outside on our font deck in the snow. It was a nice day out, not too cold, so it was perfect for some playtime outside. The rule was that they had to stay on the deck where I could see them. I put them out, and tossed out a couple of wooden spoons and said" dig!"

Then I sat down to eat my lunch while the baby slept.

As I was relaxing for a few seconds, it hit me......why stop at just spoons? I got two spray bottles and put in some water and food coloring.

This is what happened.........

Our deck is pretty large, and with the recent snow, was a blank page for coloring! It was great. They had alot of fun, except for one minor altercation of a snowball to the face.They stayed out for about an hour, and then came in for hot chocolate. They asked if next time they could have more colors.

We'll see.

The Great "Spot" Caper!

Boy, when you take your child to a medical specialist, you can believe they know what they are talking about! After two visits to the pediatrician and not making any headway as to a diagnosis for Ryan's "mysterious" spots/blotches, we took him to a dermatologist. This is the person whom should know about all things SKIN.
He said that what Ryan had was viral and has to run it's course, which in his experience has been known to be 2 to 3 months.
THE NEXT DAY after the Dr's visit, they started to clear up, and now two days more, I can hardly see them.
He started getting them right after Christmas-end of Dec. Now we are nearing the end of Feb. Sounds like this Dr was right on the money! We have a check up set with him for mid April, but I know he will not find any spots!
I am soooooo happy, and relieved. Praise God!
All the rest of us seem to be on the upswing, and are feeling a bit better. Today we are snowed in! That means.......... you guessed it!
Playdoh
Markers
crayons
Floam
etc.
Too bad we went through all of this and it was still only 9am! But we are having a good time!
Here's a question for ya.... Guess which child put the green marker in his mouth?

Note the two shades of green here...dark green on the mouth and a lovely lighter shade under the nose! Hee hee!

COLARUSSO MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

Well, all the diagnoses are in:
Mommy has a sinus infection, and needs antibiotics.
Kevin has an ear infection, and needs antibiotics.
Seanie baby has, quote the Dr: "an impressive" sinus infection, along with Bronchitis, and needs antibiotics.
Ryan just came from the dermatologist getting some mysterious red blotches on his torso checked. It turns out it is viral and must run it's course.With the help of a cream, it should disappear in a month or two. Thankfully they are not itchy nor are they contagious.
UGH!
Daddy has been taking wonderful care of us, and has continued to be his usual saintly patient self. We are very thankful that we could manage all the dr visits with Daddy being home for a four day weekend for President's Day. Hopefully in a few days we will be back to our happy and more "chipper" selves. Then I promise we will have a more exciting blog post, than one that looks like a dr's chart!


Bye for now.... I have to go line everyone up for meds!

Dryocopus pileatus

also know as the Pileated Woodpecker!

the pileated has been one of my (Jeff) favorite birds ever since I was a kid. I'll always remember looking up woodpeckers in the bird book at my Nana and Pop pop's house, admiring the striking red color that many of the woodpeckers have. I always wished I could see one, but it wouldn't be until a few years ago that I started seeing/hearing them with any regularity. The pileated is my favorite of the woodpecker family, and 2nd only to my absolute favorite bird, the bald eagle.

anyway, we have some pileateds that hang out around our neighborhood very regularly. Today, one of them spent about an hour in a tree next to the house pecking away. I took some pictures out the bedroom window. It's a rainy, foggy day today, so the pictures didn't come out as good as I would have liked them, but anyway, here are a couple...

If you'd like to learn more about this awesome bird, go here...

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Pileated_Woodpecker_dtl.html

random thoughts from Jeff

Jeff here...

All 5 of us have this stuffy, sneezy, runny, cough-y, thing going on. Danielle went to church to sing in the choir & teach junior church, and the boys & I stayed home & watched kids movies all day. I spent part of the morning listening to sermons online from a minister that I've gotten to know a little out in Kansas. Handel's Messiah and Hosea. no, not in the same sermon... Check it out here if you like. http://www.redeemer-pca.org/

In other news, Ryan, Kevin, and I found a frozen dead possum behind the garage yesterday. That was exciting!! Mystery stew for dinner tonight??

Oh, and I wanted to share with all of you (3 or 4 readers strong!) something that I learned last week. It's very profound and insightful. Here it is...Never, never, ever tell your wife that she's cranky, especially if she really is!! 'nuff said...

Happy Valentine's Day

" A magnificent marriage begins not with knowing each other, but with knowing God."

I thank the Lord everyday for a wonderful marriage to a sweet man who has been my Valentine for a very long time! Not just my Valentine, but my best friend!

Happy Valentine's Day, Jeff!

Love, Danielle

Props to the "Slogger"

Ok. What do you get when you have:
1. a sick mommy
2. a camera with no batteries
and
3. an ice storm that causes a power outage with no electricity and no heat???????
Answer: No Blog Post.

Aside from all that, now that things are a bit "clearer" around here, I must give "props" so to speak to my absolutley wonderful, oh so manly, and very good lookin husband o'mine. Also heretofore known as "The Slogger".
This is because he spent a great deal of time shoveling half-ton slush and ice from our driveway, in the pouring rain. Also for getting up on ladders and clearing out the ice plugged gutters, in the pouring rain, and becoming soaked through to the bone. All this to protect his family from certain DOOM. And the topper: a freezing cold, wet man came into the house only to be welcomed by a cold, heatless environment, and an inability to make any hot drinks whatsoever. Poor thing. And this is what the wet man said...... " I slogged thru the slush for you!"

To that I say: Thank you! Noone has ever done that for me before!

I checked on webster's online dictionary to see what the definition of "slogger" was, just in case it was something profane that I should not be calling my husband!
It said: 1. someone who walks in a laboroius, heavy-footed manner. (ok, that kind of fits....)
2. someone who works slowly and monotonously for long hours. (that's about right, although we must add: while wet)
3. A boxer noted for an ability to deliver hard punches. (ok, this doesn't really fit, but I'm sure my honey could go a few rounds! )
Anyway, This post goes totally to my Great, Wonderful, "Slogging" husband. Who took care of his family when we needed him!
We Love you! And we are so very Thankful for you!!
Love Always,
Mommy and the boys

Sweet Nothings

Today was spent indoors, since it was wicked cold outside. Three of us have the sniffles as it is. It was a good day for baking some Valentine's Day cookies ( and tasting of course) while making some special cards. Ryan and Kevin got a chance to use their water color paints ( while Sean napped).

And that's it.

Good night!

Mud Magnets

Where there is mud.............there are boys. They are drawn to it. It is in their very nature. This trait is known to not be in the female make-up. Which could be why MOM has a hard time standing back to watch & just "let them be".
Truly, there was only one "itty bitty" wet spot! They found it. And it became larger.......

At one point, Ryan came over to me offering what looked like a "mud meatball". He had covered one of Daddy's golf balls completely in mud and held it up to me between his two tiny fingers. Mmmmm!

They had a great time outside enjoying the nice weather. They ran alot( which means bedtime will be cake!) It's too bad I didn't get pictures of them when they broke out the shovels and rakes and really got to work on that mud!

Relax Mom. It's ok.

Our Daily Visitor

Our little friend here, has been bedding down in the afternoons around 3:00 behind our garage. The boys enjoy watching from the window as she snuggles in for a nap.

A GIANT Victory

Jeff here...

They said we couldn't beat Dallas, they said we couldn't beat Green Bay, and they said we definitely couldn't beat the 18-0 "perfect" Patriots. Well, I say, let the nay-sayers say nay! The Big Blue Wrecking Crew has proven all the doubters wrong, and are the victorious Super Bowl XLII Champions!!! QB Eli Manning and Coach Coughlin have cemented their place in NY/NJ sports history. Manning, who was the whipping boy of the sports writers as recently as 6 weeks ago, took the helm and led a phenomenal 4th qtr offense that proved impossible for the Patriots to stop. The Big Blue Defense made Tom Brady look like a confused rookie at some points. Don't get me wrong, the Giants committed some mistakes that might have cost them the game, but the Patriots were not able to capitalize on them. Ah, what a game. Quite possibly the best football game I have ever watched. Even better than watching Scott Norwood's field goal attempt go wide right back in 1986 when the Giants beat the Bills 20-19. Hey Patriots - cheaters never prosper!!

It's The KING!! (And I don't mean Elvis!)

Well folks, I'll tell you what. It don't git much better'n this!
We had the most AMAZING, EXCITING time last night! We got to see "The King" !! That's right! Here he is.........hold on to your seats!

A 1970 PLYMOUTH ROADRUNNER "SUPERBIRD" IN DINOCO BLUE!!! OF COURSE!

WHAT A BEAUTY!!!!!!

Are you still breathing?? We have a local restaurant called "The Chatterbox" which is often the home of many classic cars. There is always one showcased inside, and in the summer they have Sat. night set aside for cruisin! The place is covered in classic cars. They also do "biker" night and "corvette" night too! The boys love this.
Right now it is the resting spot for "The King", who's owner apparently lives in NJ! And for all of you "CARS" fans, this is THE car that Disney used for the movie. In case you don't believe me....

This car spent some time with Disney/Pixar for the making of the film. This makes everything even more spectacular!! The boys were SOOOOOOOOOOO excited! Can't you tell?

It was a night to remember, that's for sure!! Lot's of fun was had by all!