Locked up...

When the doctor at Children's told us that they could not perform Charlie's surgery if he got sick we immediately made plans to keep Emily home from preschool for a few weeks and cancel play dates and stay home.  With all of the this time spent home I knew I needed to come up with some FUN stuff to keep the kids occupied.

On Monday we built a humongous fort in the living room...

 Later that afternoon Mr. Sun came out and spread his rays just long enough for Emily and Jack to get some fresh air.  I quickly mixed up some chalk paint and they painted away...

 

 The wind was a little chilly so I kept Charlie inside but fortunately he just sat there contently and watched them play...

 On Tuesday I got out the streamers and let the kids decorate the house...

 Later that afternoon Emily tried out the new nightgown I made her, settled in on the couch and I rented the movie TANGLED for them.  We have been anticipating the release of this movie for months and it was definitely worth the wait...

 Charlie sat with the bigs of the couch, stole their snack plate and then ate his first cookie...

 After dinner we decided that Daddy needed to see the movie as well so we had a double movie watching day.  The kids snuggled in their bean bags on the floor while Charlie cuddled with Daddy.  I have to say that I LOVE that my husband wanted to watch Tangled and loved it just as much as I did.  He is such a well rounded guy...

On Wednesday Grandma Emily came to visit us and we played ALL day.  Jack found his way to the kitchen two different times with only one request, "cake."  Then he snuggled down on his bean bag to watch Tangled again...

On Thursday the kids had fun playing in the streamers (thank you for the gift Auntie Jenny)...

...and Emily dressed herself for the day.  I have to say that sometimes this can be very interesting but I think she did a pretty good job.  She is wearing her new "wedding dress" and put a new skirt on underneath so that is would twirl when she danced with her prince...

We made some more minions. Emily decided they needed a touch of coconut...

Jack just likes making them...Twinkies just aren't his thing I guess...

The sun decided to come back out for awhile so I quickly got out the bubbles and put them outside...

"Where'd dey go da bubbles?"

Charlie is such a good sport.  He sat contently and watched them have all their fun through the doorway...

After an hour or so of playing, Emily slipped and fell in the muddy grass in the backyard and was in total disarray.  I cleaned her up, wiped away her tears and promised a walk to the mail box.  Taking a walk with all three kids is a draining task since I have to carry Charlie and chase Jack the entire time so I dug out the back pack, stuck Charlie in it and off we went.  Two free hands was an incredible help.

When we got back the kids wanted to ride their bikes for a while.  Emily is getting extremely proficient at riding her bike by herself while Jack gets so overwhelmed with his options...tractor?tricycle?scooter?

Later that evening, when we were all settled in, the UPS man came and made a very special delivery for Jack...

On Friday morning Grandma Emily came and watched all three kids so that I could do Costco shopping all by myself for the very first time.  We buy so much at Costco each month that I never have enough "room" for the kids in the cart.  I end up pushing a towering cart of items in one hand while holding Charlie in the other so I was incredibly grateful for my mother's help. 

When I got home I put all of the Costco away, the boys fell asleep and Emily went to the farm with my mom to feed the animals.  With some time on my hands I got to some well needed sewing and cleaning, cooked a fabulous dinner of Panko crusted cod, pan seared scallops and steamed broccoli and settled in for the night with all of my boys...

Around 7pm I picked up Emily.  Charlie resorted to his new favorite activity while Emily and Jack cuddled on the couch...

 With NO plans for the weekend (only because we cancelled them all) I am looking forward to some time together.  Although I LOVE spending so much time with our friends and family,  I honestly cannot remember having a weekend without something scheduled on the calendar.  With such a busy week ahead of us I think we could all use a little down time.