Well, the kids are back in school today, but fortunately the nice weather lasted all week.  And I made the boys play outside every single day, so that was a win for me.

An even bigger win – I convinced Ane to also go play outside!  Will miracles never cease?

Note to self: it is time to move Thumper off the trike and on to something… bigger.  Where his knees don’t hit the handlebars while pedaling.

Second note to self: teach Rerun how to ride a bike without training wheels.  He’s fast on the scooter, but needs the additional challenge.

Now, we HAVE the bicycles that the younger boys can ride… we just need to pull them out of the shed, size them up, and then set them free.  Not that hard, right???

Oh look, it’s raining again.  Never mind.

My Facebook memories kindly informed me that it has been EIGHT YEARS since I had my gallbladder removed.

Ah, fun times.  Actually, the pain that triggered the whole thing was just incredibly bad.  Once I knew what was going on, I could at least avoid triggering another attack.  And then recovering from surgery was tough.  I felt like I bounced back from giving birth much faster than having my gallbladder out.  But everyone was so helpful, and my mom was around (it was midwinter break then, too) to help watch the kids.

And yes, that’s Tad that is reading to Grandma.  All the boys have moments where they look eerily alike.

Rerun wasn’t quite two years old yet, and I couldn’t pick him up for over a week after surgery.  That was hard.

But we all survived, and aside from occasional gastrointestinal issues, I can safely say that the surgery was for the best.

I still can’t believe it’s been 8 years, though.

We received a random package from Amazon, and we have no idea who sent it or where it came from or why.

There’s a couple of keychains, a couple of programmable key fobs, and a package of split key rings.

And no note.  Just our address.

We asked around to people who might have our address in their Amazon lists.  Nope, not them.

So the Webmaster called Amazon customer service.  They have no idea where it came from, and basically told us to enjoy our freebies.

The Webmaster: “Why couldn’t they have accidentally sent us a new iPad….?”

Maybe Amazon is celebrating Ane’s driver’s license?  Who knows!

Anyone need a new key ring?  We have a few to spare.

We are having a most unusual run of sunny, spring-like days (followed by very frosty, clear nights).

Which means we are legally obligated to go outside and play.  Ane’s friends were all bored and wanted to go to the park, so I took the boys along, too.  Ane hung out with her friends, and the boys were busy scootering and playing and doing their own thing.

Except when Ane drafted Tad into taking pictures of her and her friends on her phone.  This isn’t the Instagram generation for nothing.  I swear they can’t do or eat anything without taking a picture first.