You Blew WHAT Out Your Nose?!

I helped Charlie blow his nose tonight after the kids' bath and you'll never guess what came out of it. Never. After three blows, I pulled the tissue away only to see the bottom of a huge booger. Charlie immediately stuck his finger up that nostril, pushing whatever booger I saw back up there. I got another tissue and insisted that he blow again, knowing that it was lurking up there. After one big blow, I looked in the tissue (Oh, come on. You know you do it, too.) and what did I see? Any guesses? Drumroll, please....


TAPE. As in Scotch tape. Like a hunk of waded up plastic tape. Obviously it was covered in boogers, but I did as any sane mother would do and picked and pulled at it until I could identify the object. I asked Charlie if his nose felt better and he said that it did. Go figure!!! I then asked him if he put it in there when we were at either Grandma's houses or when we were at home, and he said home. The width of the tape was the same as a roll of tape that I've had in the drawer for a super long time; in fact, I found it in the attic at the Cavour house when I was cleaning out Matt's section two summers ago. I just finished the roll of tape (which was still sticky in case you were wondering) when I was wrapping presents before our family Christmas. I remember giving each child a small piece of tape, but I was almost positive that they used them to decorate the present I was wrapping. Apparently not. Needless to say, Charlie has been walking around with a wad of tape up his nose for probably two weeks or more. We were very insistent that nothing should be put inside the nose at any point in time, so hopefully he gets the memo. At the very least, I'm hoping that he remembers how crazy uncomfortable that must have been and doesn't try that trick again. I just keep running through different scenarios that all end with some kind of medical intervention - all of them possible by sticking tape up the nose. I'm thankful it's out safely!

Tape. I mean, really.

Ice Fishing with Charlie

Today, I took Charlie to DeWeese Reservoir for his first ice fishing outing for the year.  I had told him the night before we were going to go so he was excited then and again when he woke up in the morning.  Of course he had to rub it into Alanna that he was going and she wasn't as all big brothers must do I suppose.  It was a warm (for winter) and sunny day which ended up being a good thing (explained later).  Since I don't have any of my own ice fishing gear right now, I borrowed some from a friend at work (this will come up later in the story as well) and we met another guy I know from work at the reservoir.  Charlie and I arrived at 9:30 AM, popped a couple of holes, and as I was setting up one of the lines . . . SPLOOSH!  Charlie had been watching me, took one step back and stepped knee deep into the other hole.  We had been on the ice for less than five minutes and his foot was already soaked.  After I pulled him out I took his boot off and squeezed out as much water as I could, then squeezed out as much water from his pants and snowpants.  I pulled off his wet sock and one of my dry socks, put my sock on him, wrapped it in a walmart bag to keep it relatively dry (he did just step into a fishing hole after all), then put his boot back on.  I guess it worked because he never complained of having a cold foot and we were on the ice for almost three hours.

You'll notice the blue ice scoop that had been borrowed from a friend in close reach to Charlie.  He had fun playing with it, scooping out ice from the holes and scrapping the snow.  I said to someone we were with, "I have a feeling I might be buying Dave a new ice scoop before the day is over."  An hour later . . . SPLOOSH! . . . down the hole goes the ice scoop.  It reminds me so much of ice fishing when I was a kid, I remember doing the same things.  I've stepped in an ice hole, and I dropped flash lights, fishing rods, lures, etc. down ice holes.  I didn't get mad at him because I blamed myself for for predicting the outcome, but doing nothing to prevent it.  A learning experience for the the both of us.  Next time, bring a ball for him to play with, bring a change of clothes, warn the kids about dropping things in the hole, and tell the kids to watch out for holes so you don't fall in.

 

We did catch some fish, bringing home six trout.  Charlie was able reel this one in all by himself.  He was very proud and very excited to tell me all about it on the ice, on the drive home, and after we got home, and then he was excited to tell Julie.  He already asked if we could go fishing again tomorrow so I know he had a good time and this will be the beginning of many days like this to come.

Melty Beads!

12-3

Day #3 of our countdown to Christmas was one of my all-time favorite VBS crafts when I was a kid... melty beads!! I loved that craft and can still picture a field of ironing boards on melty bead craft day at United Methodist church's summer VBS. :)

Charlie did awesome and followed my instructions really well. He made a penguin holding a candy cane (or candy CAN as Charlie and Alanna call them) with a scarf around it's neck. Alanna had some serious help from Daddy (ok, he did all of it), but she picked out a few colors to help contribute to her project. She made a Christmas tree with ornaments. Several seconds under the iron, and poof! I'm not sure why I love this craft so much, but it's just fun. We have extra beads and two more wintery projects that we'll pull out to brighten up a dull winter day.

Sledding in the Mountains

12-2

Taking advantage of some of his use or lose time, Matt took Monday afternoon off. We packed up the snow gear and headed up into the mountains for an afternoon of sledding and playing in the snow. We went right back to the spot where we cut down our Christmas tree and found a few great hills to go down. Alanna happened to fall asleep about 15 minutes before we got there, so she and I rested in the car for an additional 30 minutes while Matt and Charlie hit the hills. It was breezy but not too cold, and the snow was crusty on top in some spots but powdery underneath - not good at all for snowman building, but just fine for sledding! I'm not sure who had more fun out there.... Charlie or Matt! It definitely wasn't Alanna who cried for the first few minutes (how would YOU like to be woken up, bundled up, and thrust out into the snow?!) and wanted to be held for quite a while. She and I took a trip down the smaller of the two hills, but she didn't particularly like it. Matt tried pulling the kids through a flat little woodsy area but Alanna wasn't having that, either. She warmed (haha!) up after a while and I was able to put her down. By the end she was walking around and licking the snow, but still wasn't too sure about the sled. In Alanna's defense, the hills were probably 5 times bigger than they are at Mountain View park in Canon. Charlie, on the other hand, had a perma-grin the entire time and took several trips down both hills by himself. He even walked up the big hill pulling the sled many times before Matt started giving him rides. His cheeks were rosy red but he was loving it! At the very end, he took a tumble off the sled and I saw his chin quiver a tiny bit, but he pulled through and didn't cry. He laid there for 10 seconds before hopping up and smiling about it! Such a trooper!

Here's how to gauge the amount of fun we had: one of our sleds came home in 6 or more pieces. :)

Alanna put on her brave face toward the end and went down the hill with Daddy.

I love this one!

Yep, even I went down the smaller hill with Alanna. It's surprising how much a person uses their abs while sledding! Or lack thereof....

One happy, one sad.

I thought Charlie would for sure fall asleep on the way home with how hard he was playing all afternoon... but he didn't!

Pueblo Parade of Lights and Countdown to Christmas

11-30

Continuing with our busy Thanksgiving weekend, we headed to Pueblo on Saturday to take in the Parade of Lights. Since we now have a zoo pass to the Pueblo Zoo (thanks, Jill!), we stopped there for an hour to check in on the animals. The kids got a kick out of feeding this oversized rabbit leaves and such! After running through the zoo, we stopped at a few stores and grabbed supper before hitting up the parade. We found a great spot on the curb but after a few floats went by, the police started re-routing the parade, ending it a block before where we were sitting! We walked down and were able to score a place on the sidewalk among lots and lots of people. The kids were pretty bundled (but no snowpants this year!), but it wasn't too bad out at all. Charlie even scored a huge, huge lollipop from a restaurant that was passing them out!

Sunday was a stay-at-home day.... whew! The kids helped me bake cookies of some kind - I forgot what we made that night since we have baked so many cookies this week. :)

Starting off our countdown to Christmas activities, we put together this Christmas tree calendar to count down the days. It doesn't look exactly like the picture on the package, but close enough. :) I have a lot of crafty things planned over the next few weeks which works out great since Charlie's on such a crafting kick. We have been busy around here!!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

11-29

After supper on the same day that we cut the tree down, we pulled out the boxes and decorated the tree. Though you can't see it very well in the first picture, I took out three sets of gel window clings for the kids to put up; ornaments, Christmas trees, holly and berries, and a Santa face. They're super kid-friendly since they feel like glorified Jello jigglers! They had a blast.

While Matt tested lights (we went with white this year) and strung them on the tree, I went through the ornaments and pulled out the ones I wanted on the tree. Matt laid out some hooks and the kids went to town. Naturally, two of the lowest branches got loaded down with several ornaments a piece. :) Alanna was struggling with the hooks a little bit, but she tried her best. Matt and I got to hang up a few, too, all while running interference with the kids. All in all, the project took about 90 minutes. I put colored lights up in the living room picture window, and Matt put colored lights on Charlie's Christmas tree outside. He built a little X-shaped Charlie Brown style Christmas tree stand on the bottom of it and wrapped it in lights. No worries - it didn't tip over like Charlie Brown's tree. It looks super cute out there; our neighbor ladies have already commented on it!

At least three ornaments on the same branch... all within 6'' of each other...

I should have turned a bit more to get a belly shot with the tree. Then again, the tree might have disappeared behind my XXL waist. :S Isn't the tree really nice? It looks skinny in this picture (probably because I'm standing next to it!) but it's not in real life. We also have the tree skirt on and several presents under it to make it complete.

Cutting Down the Christmas Tree

11-29

The day after Thanksgiving is typically reserved for cutting down the Rustand family Christmas tree. :) We have had some fun and memorable experiences in the past handful of years! This year would not disappoint. Matt picked the spot - uh, obviously. He knows all BLM land pretty intimately! He picked a great spot this year, on a two-track road off the road we were on last year. I grossly underestimated the amount of snow we could potentially run in to since it was supposed to be 60ish degrees in Canon on Friday. :( Mom fail. As you can see, we did the best we could with what we had to work with, pulling the kids' socks up around their pants and putting on hats and mittens. We mostly walked in the tracks on the road staying out of the 8ish inches of snow on the ground. At least for a while! We actually spotted our tree almost right away but continued to hike up the road for a while. The kids had SO MUCH FUN!!! Alanna didn't want to walk at first, but she warmed up and embraced her adventurous side after a while. Charlie jumped right in and didn't stop smiling for nearly the entire 90 minutes we were out. I was SO TICKED OFF at myself for not planning better and bringing snowpants, boots, and sleds.... oh, Julie. As if it's hard to throw in a few extra things just in case! Ugh. Anyway, we decided that we could come back a different day to play and the kids would have just as much fun.

Anyway, it was a bright sunny Colorado day and we fully enjoyed our time. Right before we cut down the tree at the end, the kids found a little spot to slide down the hill in the snow. After many trips down the little (and I really do mean little!) hill, we pushed on, knowing that the kids would end up really cold in a hurry. We walked back to the tree we picked out, Matt got to work, and the kids and I picked out a little Christmas tree for Charlie to take home. While Matt was hauling out the big tree, I cut down a little one for Charlie - he was so tickled with it!! The last 30 yards to the car were a bit of a struggle; Matt carrying the big tree, I was carrying Alanna, the saw, and Charlie's tree (since he said it was too heavy), and Charlie was walking next to me all while both kids were starting to cry presumably because they were cold! We made it to the car where we peeled off wet layers and warmed up bright red feet (I'm still kicking myself!!!). Matt strapped down the tree while I got the kids settled with a snack. The kids perked up in a hurry and we cranked up the Christmas music on the way home. Seriously, I think this year has been my favorite of all our years cutting down our Christmas tree. What a beautiful day in a beautiful place!

Awww!!!

Throwing caution to the wind, Charlie had a blast plopping down in the snow!

This is our tree!! It's probably the best one we've cut down; a really nicely shaped white fir without any bare spots. As you can see it was standing alone! Oh, and the backside view of Matt is for your viewing enjoyment. Or rather, MY viewing enjoyment. :)

You'll have to look closely at this picture to find where our tree ends and the one behind it keeps going... it really wasn't a 30' tree like it appears in this picture! And check out Charlie's tree!!

He man-handled it for a while before declaring it too heavy.

Strapped and ready to head out!

Happy Thanksgiving!

11-28

Sticking with our nobody-has-family-in-town tradition, we spent Thanksgiving with Karen, Caleb and Abigail. (Kurtis was in Canada.) We hosted this year, and I made turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, carrots and croutons, a veggie cup, and a pumpkin/caramel dessert. Karen brought sweet potato casserole, dinner rolls, and a pumpkin pie. It was quite the feast despite the fact that I tried to keep it to a minimum!! I think the only thing I cut out this year was the jellied cranberries - the kind that makes that sweet sucking noise as you slide it out of the can. :)

I did some of the prep the day before, which was a good thing since I still stayed plenty busy Thanksgiving morning. I planned for us to eat at 12:30, but due to a slow-roasting turkey, we had to push it back to 1. The kids were extra hungry! After the meal, Karen took all 4 kids outside for about 20 minutes so Matt could finish carving the bird and I could do dishes. We all played outside for another half hour before coming in and doing a few Thanksgiving crafts. Nothing fancy, just a few activities to keep the kids from going crazy. After crafts, we had dessert, and then finished the afternoon (4:30-6ish) riding scooters/bikes/plasma car in the gym at Karen's church. It was a great day together!

Matt helped me do a pre-Thanksgiving craft the night before; these cute sugar cone cornucopias! They came in a pack of 12, and after the first 2 or 3 kinda failed, we found our groove and got 8 of them to curve at the bottom. I filled them with M&Ms and almonds and put them at each place setting.

Our Thanksgiving crafts were a gumdrop turkey, folding paper leaves, and a 'guess the number of M&Ms in a cup' game. Because kids have no concept of guessing, I put three columns of numbers on a piece of paper and had them circle a number from each column. As it turned out, Matt's guess was almost spot on at one less than the actual number.

Caleb, Karen, Abigail.

Alanna chewing a gumdrop, Matt's nice smile, and Cap'n Closed Eyes.

I pre-loaded snack baggies with all the materials for the gumdrop turkeys so there wouldn't be any arguing over who got the last purple gumdrop or so-and-so got more than me...

Alanna's finished turkey - but it's facing her and not the camera.

Tip from Julie: Want to know if your 3-year-old is ready for a scissors? Put a few pairs out on the table and see what happens. Charlie picked up my admittedly pretty sharp crafting scissors and proceeded to cut a hole in his shirt - as in, pointed the scissors toward his chest and pushed it together so it cut whatever was in its way. The casualty was a roughly 2'' hole in Charlie's shirt.

A little snuggle time after going 'rafting (as Charlie called it at first! "Mommy, are we going 'rafting?).

Sledding at Mountain View Park

11-23

Karen invited us to go sledding with them one day, so we got all the gear out and went for it. The kids had a good time, though Alanna was done after about an hour. It probably didn't help that her boots are glorified fashion boots. I think her feet were freezing! :( (I've since replaced the fashion boots with a much warmer, made-for-winter boot.) I even went down the hill a few times with the kids! Matt was running Charlie and Caleb down the hill to make them go really fast, despite the fact that he had already run 11 or 12 miles that morning. It was nice to get the kids out in the snow!