And this is what it's usually like in the Hodin household...

Well, we're all sick over here! It started last Tuesday, with Scott waking up feeling yucky with a sore throat and cough, etc. He stayed home Tuesday and Wednesday (yeah, makes for a fun Valentine's day!) sick. I worked Wed and came down with a sore throat Thurs and then I had to work Fri as well. Anyway, by Fri morning, Rhys started getting the nighttime cough going and also had the fun green stuff coming out of his nose (we affectionately call them 'snot rockets'). So, we stayed home all weekend, as to not spread our cooties to the masses! By Monday, I wake up with a SEVERE sore throat, it was bad! Tues it was worse, so off to the Dr I went. After a super fun strep throat test (read: LONG Q-tip swiped back and forth along the back of your red, painful throat) that turned out negative...the doc said I have acute sinusitis (a nasty sinus infection). So off I go to the drug store to get my antibiotics (thank you Lord that Wal-Mart now has $4 generics :)). Well, it is now Thursday and I still feel yucky, Scott is off to the docs today and Rhys is still coughing. Fun, fun...

And it just gets better...today as I drop Ethan off at school, Rhys becomes fascinated with this pretty mud puddle (we're talking, thick gooey nasty mud). I turn around for one second and the next thing I know, he has fallen in it. Now, here I am at school with a 21 month old with thick mud all over his pants, socks, shoes, hands and now shirt because he's wiping his hands on it. Fortunately it is a balmy 75 degrees or so, so I strip him to his diaper, leave his clothes in a pile in the grass and run inside the classroom with a half naked baby in my arms. I wash him in the bathroom, grab a plastic bag and head home with a sad little boy who has no clothes on
:(....Fortunately, the mess was easy to clean up and he is now sleeping soundly.

Now, on to something GOOD that has happened this week. Rhys did the CUTEST thing this week. I was putting my shoes on and he runs up to me going teek-a, teek-a, teek-a, while moving his fingers back and forth on my armpits. He learned how to play tickle-tickle and was practicing on mommy :). Now we'll tell him, go tickle dad or Ethan, he runs up, grinning and does his teek-a teek-a move. So cute! I got it on our digital in video, so I will try to post on here if possible.

Field Trip to Zoo with Dad!!

Scott was fortunate enough to take last Friday off to go to the zoo with Ethan and his class. Scott was responsible for Ethan, Carlos and Malin (May-Lynne) for the day and the boys LOVED have Ranger Scott in charge of the three army dudes :). The giraffe's were a big hit, as well as the sleeping lions....By the end of the day, all three boys fell asleep on the bus ride home! Here's some pics...

Ethan at school, before leaving for the zoo...

Ethan, Carlos and Malin...

Dad and Ethan on the busride there...

The boys all tuckered out after a long day there...

Ethan...

Ethan had a fun day today...I was lucky enough to be able to teach Art Masterpiece to his class this afternoon. Once a month, I show the kids a piece of artwork and then talk about the artist, the artpiece and then they get to create something similar! Today was Palma by Deborah Butterfield. For those of you who don't know your art (ahem, ME) it's a life size sculpture of a horse made out of scraps of metal, wood, etc. Anyway, the kids got to make collages of animals using different shapes and they all had a blast.





Then this afternoon, Scott made a 4WD mountain out of our couch cushions for the boys to go on. It has been affectionately called Couch Potato Trail. Well, looks like Ethan still needs a little practice 4wheeling :)...


Here's Ethan going UP the 'trail'

Now comes the hard part, going down...

















Uh oh, we had a roll-over!!! (don't worry, he was fine :))
















Whew, he made it out alive!!
















Of course, Rhys had to have a turn :)...

Most Recent Pics

We went to Portrait Innovations while my grandma was here. Here are some of the pics...

Gilbert Fire Dept Station #1 Grand Opening

We had a wonderful morning today. The four of us went to be a part of the grand opening for Gilbert's newest and nicest firestation. We got to hear the mayor, fire chief, police chief, councilmembers, and architects all speak. Although the kids were getting antsy during the 30 min presentation, Ethan did a great job of sitting there quietly and Rhys decided it would be fun to walk up in front of everyone, sit on the curb and smile at anyone that would look his way!! After the ribbon cutting, we enjoyed a nice hamburger lunch with all the fixins' (our tax dollars at work :)) and then got to tour the facility. Wow, is it a beautiful fire station!!! The kids were even photographed by the AZ Republic (our large, local newspaper here in Phx)!! Take a look at the pics...

Grandma Visits Us

My grandma flew out from New Hampshire on Jan 16th to spend some time with her kids, as well as me and her great-grandkids! She flew back home to lots of cold weather on Jan 31. We had a nice visit and the boys loved spending time with her, as did I :)...Check out our pics...

Melanie, Scott, Mike, Rhys, Jeanne, Ethan, Bruce, Rita


Ethan, Grams, Rhys...



Ethan, Grams, Rhys, Melanie