151/365

Extras in the Van
This morning, our friends called to ask if we could pick up their girls for church since she had messed up her back and was in a lot of pain and they were going to urgent care to have it looked at. The boys were excited to have them ride along with us. They were even more excited when they found out the girls would be spending the day at our house tomorrow to give their mom a chance to rest.

150/365

Up the Nose!
This morning Zach had almost finished his McDonald's hashbrown and had just a couple small pieces left. I saw him playing with them and was getting ready to tell him to either eat them or go throw them in the trash. He stopped, stared at them a second, and as I watched, shoved them up his nose!! I couldn't believe it! Why in the world would he shove it up his nose?!?! I yelled what he had done and started to get up to grab him. John was right next to him, but hadn't seen it happen since he was playing a video game. He grabbed him, but by that time Zach had sucked it farther up his nose. John thought it was just gone and clear, but having heard horror stories of one of my uncle's shoving things up their nose and my grandparents not knowing about it until much later with bad outcomes...I ran to get the nasal aspirator. Sure enough, it was still lodged up there, but thankfully I was able to get it out.

149/365

Hives!
And not of the bee variety! This morning, after breakfast I went to change Zach out of his PJ's and this is what I saw...his poor tummy covered in hives. We have NO idea what it is from. Last night we have normal stuff (baked chicken covered in BBQ sauce, mac & cheese, corn-on-the-cob, and milk to drink) and this morning for breakfast he just had a brown sugar/cinnamon poptart & milk. Things he has had tons of times! I washed his sheets yesterday afternoon, but with the normal fragrance/dye free detergents...only thing I added was a little Clorox to the sheet to try and get a stain out. John & I even looked him over closely to make sure we didn't see any stings/bites - nothing. After a few doses of Benadryll throughout the day, it is starting to look better this evening before bed. I also rewashed his sheets this afternoon just in case that was the problem (but I usually use Clorox when I wash his blankie/burp rags). Thankfully he never seemed bothered by them at all...never complained about them or scratched at them. We are wondering what is going on around here! First we have a leaky toilet in the master bathroom, then the bees trying to take over our house...and now Zach with unexplained hives! (and no, the bees were not here looking for Zach's "hives" ;) - hahaha ).

***On a positive note: The bees didn't show up this evening!! *cheer* Maybe they were scared off by my bee-slaying abilities ;)

148/365

"Always Hungry" & "100% Good, 10% of the Time"

When I saw these shirts at The Children's Place I couldn't pass them up!! They describe both the boys to a T!

***I battled the bees once again this evening! When I went into the kitchen sometime after 5pm today, there was one lone little bee on the large window. So I ran downstairs to check it out, and sure enough there were more down there - about 15 all together! The ones in the basement were once again not moving very fast and some weren't moving at all. This is just NUTS!!! After a closer look at one today, we are thinking they are worker Honey Bees (after looking at the chart HERE ). John bought some vent netting to put over where we think they are entering the house so we'll see if that works. Also going to try and find someone to come out and help us with them.

147/365

Invasion of the Bees!!

What an afternoon we have had today!! I had just finished given the boys a bath before we were to head out for church. We came back into the kitchen so I could get them something quick for dinner when Drew screamed "A Bee!" and ran out. Sure enough there was a bee flying around in our kitchen. I thought it was strange and wondered how it had gotten in the house, but really didn't think too much about it. I managed to chase it out of the house, but as I was closing the sliding glass door I noticed there were more bees around the large

in the bay area of the kitchen. At first I thought the 6-7 bees were all on the outside....but then I heard the buzzing sound. UGH!! They were ALL in the house!!! After telling Drew to get Zach and head back to the master bedroom (making sure to shut the door), I went to close the other bedroom doors and look for the bug spray. Thankfully in the Carey White Elephant Christmas gift this year, we had received a can of wasp spray. Worked on them like a charm, but left a BIG mess on the kitchen window and floor...but at least no one had been stung. After taking care of those unwanted house guests, I noticed MORE bees flying around outside! When I went out on the deck I could see that they were swarming around the exhauste tubes for our water heaters!! From the deck I was able to spray the exterior of the tubes, but not get down into the tubes very far. Evidently they were flying up the tube, in through the motor and out into the interior of our house!

When John got home from work (bringing more sprays), I noticed that there were some bees in the downstairs windows as well! UGH!! It wasn't over!!! John went down to start the attach and I followed. We noticed that those bees downstairs weren't doing too well - hardly flying. So it was pretty easy to take care of the 15 or so down there. WHAT craziness!!! John also sprayed the exterior where there were any openings to try and prevent them from coming back in!

We aren't exactly sure what sort of bee they are, but MAN they were too close for my comfort!!

(one of the dead invaders)

146/365

Leapfrog "TAG" System

Awhile back, while walking through Wal-Mart, I came across a VERY discounted TAG system (like almost half price). So I picked it up to give to Drew sometime later on. Well...today was that "later on". He has really been wanting to learn to read, but gets frustrated when Mommy tries to help him, so I thought he might benefit from the TAG system since he can run the pen across each word in the story and have it say the word. He had a blast playing with it almost all day long!

145/365

Memorial Day 2009

Since it was raining today, we weren't able to be outside enjoying this free day. So John spent a good majority of the day playing Rock Band, I watched a movie ("Taken" which is VERY good btw) and the boys watched a movie of their own and played in the basement (with very few fights even!). After Zach got up from a LONG 3 hour nap, we ran out to the grocery store and then to Lowe's to get some curtain rods for the master bedroom (YEAH! our curtains for that room should be in this week). When we returned home - and thanks to a break in the rain - John grilled burgers for the boys and steaks for him & I...while I cleaned and cooked some corn on the cob that we had just picked up (our first for the season). All in all a nice, relaxing day.