Weirdest. Thing. Ever.

OK, so tonight at dinner we have some awesome stir fry (made by yours truly) that of course the boys barely touched.  punks. and ended dinner with some fresh cut pineapple.  It was pretty acidic, but nothing that was really bothering me (and my lips get swollen if i eat a whole orange).  I look over at Aidan who has been sucking down piece after piece and it looks like he has bitten his lip and is BLEEDING like crazy.  I ask curt if he had fallen earlier while I was making dinner and he doesn't remember anything and I asked Aidan if he had bitten his lip and he said "nope". (really, "nope" - too funny)  I don't think too much of it b/c he is still asking for more pineapple.  I then notice that the pineapple is yellow and pink from all of the blood and his hands are covered in blood.  Curt is in the kitchen and I grab one of the rags and ask him to open his mouth.  Both his tongue and the whole inside of his lower lip looks like someone has taken a tiny razor to them and he has DOZENS of spots where blood is pooling up and coming out.

Aidan gets a haircut!  He held on to that sucker FOREVER without finishing it . . ..

It doesn't seem to bother him, but it bothered me - bleh.  so that was his last piece of fresh cut pineapple for awhile and we had him start chugging cold water with the hope that it would wash away some of the acidity and gave him an "ice cube popsicle" to cut down on any swelling he might have.  has anyone ever seen this???  it is quite possibly the strangest thing I have ever seen . . .

Who says parenting is hard?  Just put one of them in a cage/hamper (B, A, G)

anyway, other news.  i am constantly amazed by all of the new and different things the boys can do.  They have all started yelling "I did it myself!" after they do random things - climb into a chair, buckle themselves into their boosters, zip their hoody (with help), etc.  It's so fun to see that independent spirit, even though i'm sure i will one day sob b/c they don't "need" me any more.

The boyz (B, A, G)

Brady is a WHIZ with his manners these days.  He regularly says please and thank you without suggestion, and he also loves to bring his brothers their stuffed animals.  He wants them to return the favor, but Aidan and Gavin don't often think to do it unless Brady says "I want aidan/gavin to get it".  Sometimes the brother will hear it and respond, other times we have to ask (b/c if we get it for him, it's just NOT good enough).  Brady also likes to direct others' play.  we will often hear "come here honey" or "sit here" in his sweet little voice as he tries to convince his brothers to do whatever.

Snuggles for Brady and Dad

Haircuts mean SUCKERS! (G, A, B)

Aidan is QUITE the broom/guitar player.  He has all kinds of dance moves and LOVES to play along to just about any song on.  he also LOVES eating my tomatoes right off the vine.  I usually pick them when i get home from work and he is always right behind me asking if he can hold them.  He then eats at least one or two right then and there.

Sheriff Gavin is in town

Gavin knows all songs and the order in which they come on our CDs.  His FAVORITE song right now is "I've got a feeling" from the Black Eyed Peas.  His favorite thing to do to it is to jump.  the whole time.  I have some great video i need to play with to cut it down, but so you can see the magic from beginning to end.  Gavin also knows if you skip a page in any of their books and he will make sure you go back.  It's pretty incredible what he must have stored up there.  He also likes to recite from some of his books if you say a word that triggers his memory.  If you don't know the book, it sounds like gibberish, but when you realize it's from "One Fish, Two Fish" or whatever, it also clicks with you as to why he's saying it.

We love playing in the puddles from mommy watering her tomato plants! (B, A, G)

Aidan and Dad chill

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

No, i'm not talking about the movie with Steve Martin and John Candy.  Yesterday Curt and I had the Planes, Trains and Automobiles of having children.  All within about an hour.  It was ridiculous.

The Singing Dunes of Qatar - the people look like ants!

We were invited to head to the Singing Sand Dunes west of Doha with a caravan of other families from the compound for the late afternoon/dinner time.  It's probably the longest car ride the boys have been on and they loved it.  When my folks were here in December we moved one car seat to the "WAY" back and the boys fight over who gets to ride int he back, so we never moved it.  It was an extra special car ride for Gavin on the way there and Aidan on the way back.  But I digress . . . anyway, so we get to the dunes, it's breezy and cool as the sun is beginning to set, there are some Qatari guys duning in 4 wheelers that the kids were at once scared of (loud) and fascinated by.  We get out of the cars and all of the big kids hit the dunes like swarming ants climbing as though they had a biological imperative.  it was hysterical!

Curt and Aidan checking out the scene

The boys loved climbing the dunes, playing in the sand and in general chilling out and watching their surroundings.  After about an hour, we all slid down the dunes (also quite fun) and had a picnic dinner with lots of other folks.  We were in the car by 6PM and headed home.  The boys were tired but they didn't even fall asleep on the way home - i think they were too wired from all of the excitement! :)

Curt has Gavin, Heidi (purple) has Brady and I have Aidan - Up we go!

We walk in the front door about 6:45PM and Gavin promptly pukes in the entryway.  Luckily it was all on tile and his shoes (some clothes) so it was fairly easy cleanup.  We managed to keep Aidan and Brady out of it until we could clean it up and clorox the floor and Gavin seemed like he was OK.  I took A&B upstairs so they could see Grandma and Grandpa V and i could start getting them ready for bed and curt could give Gavin a  breathing treatment since Curt's back was bothering him.  The boys basically jumped on the bed FILLING it with sand since Aidan's new trick is to unmake our bed.  I get Brady on the changing table and I hear Curt say "Belle, I need you to come down here".  pretty calm, considering.  i start to leave, then remember to get Brady down so he doesn't fall and hurt himself and then i think to grab a few towels.  I get downstairs and Gavin has puked all over himself, the nebulizer mask, curt, etc.  he is pretty calm, as is curt and  begin to wipe the puke off of everything I can.  I cover gavin in a towel and begin to bring him upstairs to put in the tub when I hear Aidan screaming bloody murder.  I get to the top of the stairs and he is bleeding from his mouth.  kind of a lot.  So I put Gavin in the tub with the towel and no water, turn on the light and then tend to Aidan.  He has either fallen on his toothbrush or off the bed and somehow bit his tongue, which of course, bleeds like crazy.  he is fine.

Aidan says "Onward March Mommy!"

Dad, Gavin and Brady enjoy the scenery and sand between their toes . . .

The Happy Family BEFORE the mess (G, A, B)

So, as I begin to get Gavin's diaper off and the water going to be able to spray him off, Curt comes up, still in his puke clothes.  Still not sure why he didn't take them off and leave them downstairs where the washer is, but it wasn't the time to ask. :) So all 5 of us are in the bathroom, curt trying to take off his puke clothes without getting more on himself or the floor, Aidan and Brady trying to climb in the tub and Gavin sitting calmly in the water.  I get Aidan ad Brady in the tub and then with Curt's back being bad he says since he is already on the ground, he will wash them if I can get the bed ready with towels, PJs, etc.  I am laying out towels and creams and stuff and I hear "Dammit!"  I think, oh no, Gavin has puked again.  I run into the bathroom and ask what happened. "Aidan pooped in the tub."  I begin DYING LAUGHING.  Curt is not.  the boys are all standing up looking at the floating turds (there are several) and trying to avoid them (smart).  we drain the tub, pick out the poops, spray the boys down, the tub, each of the non=slip things on the bottom of the tub and start the baths over.  I am still laughing.  We get everyone washed, lubed up, and in PJs.  Aidan then asks for a book - child after my own heart.  we read ONE BOOK. they are in bed by 7:45 PM.  yes folks, 2 pukes, a bloody lip and poop in the tub all in one hour.  Gotta love life with multiples.  We still have about 45 minutes of spraying off and cleaning and beginning laundry, and cleaning out the car, etc. before we sit down to watch The Daily Show to pick up the pieces of the last hour of our life, but otherwise Curt and I are intact.

Gavin, Brady and Aidan enjoy a picnic dinner at the dunes before we head home  How cute are they?!

Mom on the Run!

Well, 3 months after thinking i might, just might, train for and run the Half Marathon in Marrakech, Morocco I packed my stuff and hopped on a jet plane sans hubby and rugrats for 5 days with colleagues/friends and made my way to Marrakech.  It was GREAT!  Now, it did take me nearly 2 of the 3 months of training to decide FOR SURE i was GOING to take this trip and leave curt and the boys (i think i booked my ticket 29 December for a 28 Jan departure).  Some of it was feeling guilty that i'm at work all week, i'm doing these long training runs AND i'm going to leave curt to fend for himself and not spend weekend quality time with him or the boys.  and it was so worth it.  I really feel like (even though I didn't know I needed it at the time) my mood has been lifted 150%.  While exhausted, i am relaxed and really enjoyed being able to just go with the flow with the other 12 people i was with.  My time wasn't too bad either.  The last 1/2M i did was Big Lake in NH in 2004 in about 2 hours 4 min.  7 years and 3 kids later (and a LONG day of traveling coupled with air sickness and not eating well the day before the race) and I only added about 10 mins - 2 hours 14 mins 48 seconds thankyouverymuch. :)

only part of our group - in the casablanca train station 3+ more hours to go!

I got to talk to curt and the boys on the phone a couple of times and it was so great to imagine them clamoring around the phone trying to figure out 1) why they couldn't see me on the computer like they usually can with people we talk to and 2) if i might actually be somewhere in the house ("Mommy downstairs?").  The other great thing was (and I knew this when i was considering the trip in the first place) was everyone (curt included) was FINE without me!  Curt said they would ask about me, but when they got their answer (Mommy's in MOrocco running a race) they were fine with it.  I knew they would be OK with it but they are pretty mommy-centric right now (everything from they only want me to change diapers - gee thanks! to only want me to put them to bed, hold their hands goign downstairs, buckle them in, blahblahblah).  Knowing that they were cool with me being gone means I can do it more often, right? :)

By the time i got back, curt was sick, then the boys began to get sick.  it's taken me nearly 10 days to actually post this fool post because we have had puking, and fevers and LOTS O' DIRTY DIAPERS and more fevers and it's been pretty much since i flew through the night to come back from MOrocco that we have slept through the night.  We took the boys to the dr. on 13 feb to find out aidan and gavin are wheezing to go along with the nasty coughs all 3 have and brady has a double ear infection.  we have our follow up appt on 16 feb and it's the night of 15 feb and gavin is coughing LIKE crazy and pulling at his ears - i have a feeling we are goign to have more ear infections reported when we go in tomorrow.

Some other cool stuff about the trip.  we stayed in this riad (like a house.B&B, only cooler) called Riad Zineb.  it was BEAUTIFUL inside.  Each room had amazing details and there was a small (and very cold) splash pool in the center of the courtyard.  you had to go down some WICKED narrow and scary-ass streets to get to the place (we arrived in Marrakech around 1130PM and 4 of our friends who had arrived the day before met us to walk us there.  we would probably still be searching for it had they not guided us there!).  The caretakers (Kidezia and I never got the names of the otehr two) were SO wonderful.  They made us fresh squeezed OJ, yummy all thigns bread, fresh made jams and jellies and sweet mint tea.  it was ridiculous.  Marrakech was also pretty cool.  We tried snails our last night (didn't want to be too daring before the race) and shopped for pottery and leather.  i got Fes hats (look like shriner's hats and yes, aidan LOVES his) for the boys for dress up and these wizard robes that all of the local men wear.  the boys won't even try them on :)

post race pic

the courtyard of riad zineb

my bed room

breakfast room

my bed room looking into the bathroom

one of the many shops in the market

babouches

snails - really, they weren't so bad.  and little kids were just SUCING them out of the shells!

i was like a turtle getting my souvenirs home!

The SCARY alley we had to turn down to get to our beautiful riad.  you would NEVER guess what beauty lay down this path . . .. 

In other fun news - in about 4.5 months i will be a stay at home mom! :)  i told my supervisor and AVP the week before i went to Morocco that I would not be returning to QF next year.  it felt like a huge weight was lifted just by making that decision.  while we haven't decided 100% if we are staying, if we do stay, i know I won't be working and it feels GREAT! :)  Especially after weeks like these where the boys really seem to need some extra snuggles and of course BOTH curt and I are frazzled from missing work for dr's appts, needing to do work stuff at night (either from home or to go back in) when we both could really use NOT having to also hit up the pharmacy, grocery, etc.  of course i am somewhat concerned that if we stay, when the school year is starting back up i will be standing on the other side of the proverbial fence saying "OMG!  what did I do?!".  truthfully, i don't think i will feel that way, i have already been plotting things I will do in addition to spending time with the boys - working on my social class game to market it to educational users, get my certification to become a personal trainer, read student affairs literature each week (WHO does that in their jobs?!), put all of our damn photos in albums!, and the list goes on . . .

anyway, i will post more soon as the boys have been doing funny and not so funny stuff lately (OK, quick story.  curt was at work saturday night and i had 3 sick coughing, snotty, cranky kids.  iw as heating up soup for dinner and i hear brady say as sweet as could be "excuse me" about 8 times.  I look from the kitchen and see him on his motorcycle with gavin in between the wheels squirming around.  Gavin had been laying on the floor playing with his car and brady RODE THE MOTORCYCLE OVER HIM.  he had a red mark on his spine and everything (but didn't cry b/c he has a freakish pain threshold apparently). So I "took" brady off of the motorcycle, put the motorcycle int eh storage closet and explained to him why what he did was naughty.  brady laid on the ground with super pouty face which i ignored and I checked in with gavin (i really didn't even yell - weird).  at dinner Brady asks where his motorcycle is and I tell him he was naughty and rode his motorcycle over Gavin's back and hurt him and Brady says, clear as day, "I said excuse me."  I nearly died as i tried to explain to him that you couldn't JUST say excuse me.)

New vocabulary and other fun . . .

So after Curt was gone for a week facilitating LeaderShape Doha, the boys and I were INSANELY happy to have him home!  Not that we didn't have fun and have good friends help out while he was gone, but as I said in the note i sent with him, ". . . we are just so much better WITH you." :)

We decided to take it easy Saturday night and go out to dinner with the brood.  As we entered the mall, the giant carrot from previous posts was sitting outside.  Curt says, "Is that a carrot?  Do you think it tastes good?" and in MOMENTS Aidan has hightailed it over, climbed on the trailer and is putting his mouth on it to try to eat it.  Hysterical.  he does love his veggies . . . :)

When we were leaving the mall, i was holding brady and aidan's hands and curt had gavin's.  We were parked at the end of a row (with a curb on the passenger side) and some IDIOT comes FLYING aroudn the corner in their landcruiser and nearly hits Aidan who is dawdling along.  Scared and COMPLETELY PISSED i say pretty loud, "That guy should NOT be driving to F@$*ing FAST!".  Brady (who is in the parking spot) looks up and me and says as sweetly as can be "That's f@$*ing fast!" All i could think of was that scene from A Christmas Carol when the kid swears when he's helping his dad change a tire and the look on his face, which i'm sure matched mine - shock and horror.  WHAT had i done?!  I didn't acknowledge it, curt and i are both doing EVERYTHING we can to hold in our giggles and curt takes brady to put him in the car seat.  As I am putting Aidan in the car seat, (brady is in the middle seat) AGAIN, Brady looks and me and says "That's f@$*ing fast!". Trying to implant SOME OTHER WORD in his brain i say, "yes that guy was SUPER fast.  TOO fast, SCARY fast"  curt is laughing so hard to himself he has to walk to the back of the minivan and catch his breath.  at one point i have to turn my back and leave the minivan myself because we are DYING.  Brady hasn't said it since, but of ALL of the words for him to get right the first time, it has to be THAT ONE?!  As we pulled out of the spot, curt says "Well, there goes parent of the year . . ."

Tonight we ordered pizza and Gavin actually ATE CHEESE. that was pretty much all he ate (nothing like flavorless pizza bread leftover), but we could hardly believe he actually ate the cheese and toppings!  At one point, Brady says "Knock Knock!"  We are both surprised since we haven't done knock knock jokes with the boys, must be tess and ariana! I say "who's there" and Brady says "people!" "people who?" and he just giggles.  So cute.  I told him he had just told us a joke and he laughed some more.  double cute. :)

Gavin has been stringing together 3 and 4 words these days which is AWESOME!  he is also repeating lots of things after his brothers which is really cute to see.  His favorite is to say the Sesame Street Song, "sing, singoutloud,singoutstwong!" just about as fast as he can.  and randomly - you never know when you will get a hit of sesame street. . .  :)

Aidan has also become our human garbage can.  he is eating what seems to be twice what his brothers eat (it also takes him twice as long). he must be on a growth spurt b/c i can't tell where he is putting is all!

all in all, life is good at the VuKenoyer's . . ..

Some pics from the kenoyer november visit i never got up . . . oops

 Yes, Gavin's feet ARE that big :)

 Haircuts mean only one thing - SUCKERS! (B,G)

 Here grandma, have some goldfish! (B)

 Aidan did NOT let that sucker go

 First time at the trampolines - too much fun! (A,G,B)

 First time on a merry go round.  Brady wasn't so merry . . . (G, B)

 Brady wasn't interested in the sweet car that shook either . . . Gavin & Aidan didn't have to be convinced!

 Aidan runs in the park

 Gavin runs in the park

 Brady chills in the park

 How we wore them out . . . (G, B)

 a few more laps boys! (G, B, A)

Family Thanksgiving picture from Aunty Coco - we did our best! (G,B,A)

We are starting a boy band - i hope ABCs will sound new and fresh in 2011! (B,A,G)

Christmas 2010! (ok, so i may have gone overboard on pics)

Gavin on his first pony.  But he didn't want to let it go anywhere :)

Grandpa V shows Brady himself and his brothers on his new video camera.  Grandpa is AWESOME. 

Aidan and Grandpa watching their new Animusic video - is that a guitar playing ITSELF??? 

 Gavin gets a feel for power - sitting in dad's chair at work :)

Let's jump Grandma! (A,B)

 Let's run Grandma! (A,B)

 Tickle fight with Dad (A,G)

 Some brother wrestling (G, B)

 Aidan and Brady's new favorite place to hang out.

Aidan our Christmas elf! 

 No wait, Brady our Christmas elf!

Gavin our serious Christmas elf! 

 'T'was the night before christmas . . . (B)

CHRISTMAS MORNING!  It's a FIRE ENGINE! (B) 

AND A POLICE CAR! (G) 

Santa brought some awesome hot wheels.  Aidan is parking them for everyone. 

Mom and dad got us some food to play with (G,B,A) 

Where else could I use these tongs??? (A) 

Gavin drives the police car over the "speed bump" 

Breakfast of champions (B,G,A) 

Mom's off work - let's go to the trampolines! (A,G) 

 Brady wasn't so sure about the loud noises from the indoor roller coaster.  So he sat on my lap the entire time . . .

A giant carrot we saw leaving the trampolines.  No idea why it was there, but it seemed like a good pic

and the gifts keep coming! new towel and truck for gavin from Uncle Chad, Aunt Erica, Noah and Gabe! 

 Brady loved re-enacting the "silly monkeys jumping on the bed" from Aunties Raber and Slabas

 Aidan decided to take the silly monkeys for a drive . . .

 pooped out (G & A watch a video while mom cat naps)

Brady and Aidan JUST up from a nap - so happy to see daddy! :)