Birthday Preparations and Antibiotics All Around

Yesterday, Ethan received a birthday package from Grandma and Grandpa Wheeler. A new Spiderman shirt and a fleece scarf! Ethan put both on immediately and wore them all afternoon, pretending to be Spiderman and singing "Spiderman, Spiderman...does what only a spider can..."

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!

In health news, the kids have been pretty sick since Sunday, both running high fevers. Ethan was diagnosed with strep on Tuesday and has been on antibiotics. He is feeling alot better and is excited (and not at all contagious) for his big dinosaur birthday party tomorrow at Tamarack Nature Center. Most of his preschool class and two other friends are coming...we will have 16 three and four year olds in one room with one naturalist/teacher and 3 parents. Say a prayer for us tomorrow.

Mary Kate did not test positive for strep on Tuesday and had no sign of an ear infection, despite running a temp of 102....but has not slept more than a couple hours at a time since Sunday night. Mom was sure it was an ear infection due to her symptoms and the fact that she wanted to sleep upright while being held. Today, after the 48 hour culture on the strep came back negative, a re-check of her ears shows severe infection in both ears. She is now also on antibiotics and we hope she sleeps for a longer stretch tonight.

Here's a picture of the dinosaur cake that we made yesterday. Ethan chose the colors of green and orange for his dino.

And lastly, today Ethan received a birthday present from Great Aunt Rayetta and Great Uncle Steve, whose cattle ranch we visited this summer on our Montana vacation. They sent him a fantastic belt buckle with his initial on it. Watch for a picture of him in his full cowboy duds soon...hat, boots, and buckle! He is very proud of the "shiny Ethan cowboy buckle."

Thanks, Aunt Rayetta and Uncle Steve!!

The Map Puzzle

Ethan received a map puzzle as an early birthday gift from his friend Katherine. It was lots of fun to put together!

Happy 30th, Uncle Justin!!

Today Uncle Justin turns 30!! Happy Birthday, Jake! We love you.

The kids made cards to send special birthday wishes your way. You'll notice that Mary Kate's card did not make it into the envelope. That's because she stuck it in Beau's water dish. Ethan drew a birthday cake complete with 30 candles on it. When he finished getting all the candles on, he said..."Wow, Mom, I should have made the cake bigger to fit all these candles."

And they stopped playing long enough to let Mom snap a quick picture of them.

We hope you have a fabulous day.

Snowshoes!

Ethan LOVES his new snowshoes and spent about an hour tromping around the yard on Sunday.

Christmas with Grandpa Grilz and Grandma Brenda

On Saturday, we celebrated Christmas with Grandpa Grilz and Grandma Brenda, who have both finally recovered from their bout of stomach flu. We are so glad they are feeling better. It was a nasty bug and Grandpa really felt lousy for over a week.


We had a great day. Mom and Dad were pretty busy, but they did manage to snap a couple photos.


Here's Ethan opening his gigantic remote control Hummer H2. He aslo received a really cool digital camera for kids and took about 30 pictures with it. We'll post some of his photographs as soon as he'll let us have the camera for a few minutes to upload them to the PC.





Here's Mary Kate opening her Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls. She also got a really cute crib for them, but it had to be assembled, so we'll post pictures of that soon.




Mary Kate helps Grandma Brenda open some new perfume.




Ethan and Mary Kate gave Grandpa a new John Deere shirt.

Pigtails!

Mary Kate is wearing pigtails today...for the first time! They are very cute, despite Mom's amateur-status in the pigtail hair-styling arena. I'm sure we'll get better with practice.

Taking her baby for a stroller ride, and carrying three of her new purses.

Three purses can get kind of heavy...so some adjustments are needed.

Mary Kate's Getting Ready for the Waterpark

In preparation for our annual trip to the waterpark, Mary Kate tries on her new swimming suit. What a cutie!!

Happy New Year!!

Ethan and Mary Kate here with a New Year greeting for everyone. Happy 2008!!

Dad had to work New Year's Eve Day, so we hung out with Mom in the morning until our babysitter came over so Mom could run some "errands". Mom actually had a wonderful morning shopping, picking up some books at the library, and had a nice lunch at Ingredients. But she doesn't tell us this stuff...she uses the code word "errands."

We had supper and baths a little early tonight and were asleep by 7 pm. Then Mom and Dad made a candle light dinner for themselves and relaxed in the family room watching Garrison Keillor's Christmas Special until midnight to ring in the New Year. They even got to watch fireworks over White Bear Lake from the family room window. We miss all the good parties.

Our love to everyone.
E and MK