Easter Weekend

The kids and I traveled to my dad and sister, Brenda's, this past weekend for Easter (Daddy stayed behind at home...sniff sniff). The main reason we traveled this weekend was because my niece, Haileigh, was being baptised Sunday. Didn't want to miss that!!

Saturday my sister had her step kids and all their kids over for lunch and an Easter egg hunt. Neither of my two kiddos were feeling all that great (colds and coughs) so they didn't look all that enthused in the photos, especially Emily. I think Emily found the most eggs, as her bucket was heaping full. Benjamin was more interested in just running around the field and playing on the swingset than he was looking for eggs. But the Easter Bunny was very good to them! The bunny left a basket for them at BB's (my sister's) and they each had one waiting for them here at home. And my sister gave each of the kids a bucket of goodies on Saturday before the hunt. So they had plenty!

Sunday morning we all went to church as a family and got to see my niece being baptised. Emily had never seen a baptism before and was very curious about it. She asked me, "Mom, is Haileigh going to walk with Jesus?" Trying to keep things simple, I said yes, that's what this meant. Then Emily looked at me with a worried look on her face and said, "When will she be back?" Hee hee!

We ended our visit with a wonderful lunch at my sister's and then the kids and I got on the road for the almost three hour trip back home (during which they both slept nearly the entire way!). It was a great weekend. Here are some photos.

Our Little Rock Star

Benjamin was playing with sister's guitar yesterday so of course I had to snap some photos. Yes, it's hot pink. And yes, it's a Bratz guitar. But he didn't care (and neither did I)!

When he sees we have the camera he gets a big smile on his face and says, "Cheese!"

This is right before he smashed it and broke into pieces (just kidding but isn't this what some of the rock stars do?).

The other day I babysat a little girl whom we've watched before. She and Benjamin are about 2 weeks apart in age. The loved playing with each other. Here they are trying to hold hands at the breakfast table. (Please excuse Mommy's face...it was early)!

Spring Snowstorm, etc...

It's been quite a while since I've posted. We are doing okay here. At least the illness seems to be slowly ridding itself from our house. The latest, most exciting news is an unusual spring snowstorm that started Friday and lasted through the morning Saturday. We received 18 inches of snow!! Emily and I spent some time outside playing in the snow. Benjamin didn't play as he would have been up to his neck (or worse) in the snow. When we did bring him out later in the afternoon after it had warmed up, he wanted nothing of it! Jeff and I both picked up a bit of snow in our hand to show it to him. He very emphatically shook his head no and leaned back as far as he could. Maybe next year he'll be interested in playing in it.


In our backyard Saturday morning

Em and I getting ready to play

Mommy showing Emily the fine art of snow angel making

Don't think we'll be getting out of our driveway for a day or two

Dad and Benji...no, they aren't wearing coats...it really wasn't that cold later in the day, amazingly enough.

Daddy showing Benjamin the snow. You can see Benjamin leaning way back. :-)

Another shot of all the snow

Sunshine on bright white snow, plus light sensitive eyes equals...squinting. And I had just gotten out of the shower so no makeup or hair fixed, etc. It's the au naturale look!
Emily & Benjamin playing in her room...our little prince and princess

Taken a month or so ago...just a random shot of Benjamin really working really hard to use his fork. Unfortunately he hasn't progressed much. He still uses his hands for most of what he eats.

Isn't She a Little Too Young?

It seems my daughter is sweet on a little boy in her preschool class. And it appears the feeling is mutual. For several months now, when I would spy Emily on the playground before time to pick her up, she would be holding hands with a little boy. At first I thought it was our neighbor, who is also in her class. But it was a different little boy, I'll call him "B."

"B"'s mom and I have talked before about this budding romance. Well, this week it really seemed to go to the next level, perhaps because Valentine's Day is approaching?? Anyway, "B"'s mom told me yesterday that he has asked him mom nearly every day for a month if Emily could come over to his house to play. And yesterday at their class Valentine party, he asked his mom if Emily could sleepover at his house! Their teacher told me she heard him ask this, too. His mom explained that only boys sleep over at boys' houses, girls at girls' houses, etc. Hopefully he will be satisfied with just play time with Em.

Last night, Emily got a call on her "phone" from "B"'s mom saying he was coming over to play. So pretend "B" came to our house to play and even had supper with us (I set out a place for him and everything).

I think it's sweet that she has a "boyfriend" and that he is equally smitten with her. I mean, come on! Who wouldn't be!! :-)

Some New Photos

In my last post I mentioned I hadn't taken any photos of the kids since probably Christmas. The last few days we had unseasonably warm temperatures so of course we took advantage of it by playing outside.

No, Daddy did not bend the top of the swing set. It's the result of last year's tree limb falling on top during the ice storm.

Benjamin looking like such a big boy.

Hey, who needs a fancy basketball hoop when you have an empty cat litter bucket and a ball!!

The last week or so Emily has been asking to clean the house. What!?!?! Far be it from me to deny her this pleasure. What she really wants to do is squirt the glass cleaner. So I gave her the bottle and several towels (she sprays the cleaner pretty generously) and showed her what she could clean with it (no wood). Of course, she gets a few coins for helping out so that's a big incentive. Brother was curious about this activity so I gave him a dry cloth to join in the fun. Here's a photo of them each on one side of the hall door. Do you think they will continue their excitement about cleaning for the next 15 years or so??

Daddy worked on some home projects this past weekend (one of them trying to de-squeak a very old, squeaky wood floor). He had two very eager helpers! Doesn't everyone wear high heels when working about the house? Ha!

Daddy getting hit on the back with the tape measure.

Welcome February!

Boy, I am glad to see January gone. It was a rough month at our house. First, Jeff finally got a diagnosis for his several months of nausea. He had H. Pylori, a nasty bacteria that lives in the lining of the stomach. He took two different antibiotics for the course of two weeks. Thankfully he has felt well for over two weeks now. Looks like the antibiotics worked!

Three weeks ago Emily threw up and later that day told me her throat hurt. Uh-oh. I looked and sure enough it was red with white bumps. So off to the doctor we went and were diagnosed with strep throat.

Two weeks later (which was last week), Benjamin woke us in the night making horrible breathing sounds and acting like he was gasping for air. After a rough night of trying to make him comfortable, I took him in to the pediatrician the next morning. After getting blood drawn and chest x-rays (NOT a fun experience with a 16 month old who did not feel well), he was diagnosed with a severe case of croup so the doctor admitted him to the hospital. We were there from Wednesday morning to Thursday evening. He was made more comfortable with breathing treatments and steroid shots.

During a visit to see her brother Wednesday afternoon, Emily started throwing up in his hospital room. UGH! ENOUGH ALREADY! She frequently complains of her tummy hurting. So last Friday, the day after getting home from the hospital with Benjamin, I took her to the doctor where she had to get blood drawn to check blood counts and also check for H. Pylori (it's contagious). Luckily all her blood work checked out just fine. But she is now on a prescription antacid for a month when the doctor wants to see her again. I think she just might be the kind of personality who carries her stress in her stomach. Lastly and unfortunately, I came home from the hospital with a head cold which I generously shared with my husband.

That was our January...

So, I'm really hoping things will start to look up for us. We have been so sick this winter for some reason and the medical bills are starting to stack up (Benji's hospitalization, my trip to the ER in Dec. and Jeff's procedure in July in addition to the other office visits).

Okay, I'm done whining. But we could sure use some prayers here for better health.

On a positive note, I am excited to be starting a candle business to help make ends meet. I will be selling candles from Southwest Candles and hope to start doing some home parties soon. I'm hoping it goes well! I'm just waiting on my shipment of samples and then I'll get started. I'm also going to be teaching a graduate level Counseling class for my former full time employer starting in March. The one night a week, six week long class, is a fun one for me.

Unfortunately, I haven't taken any photos of the kids since the first of the year so none to share this post. Hopefully next time! Until then...Happy Valentine's Day!

It's Been a Great Week!

We've had a great week with Daddy being off work this entire time. We've not done much of anything special, just enjoying lots of relaxing time at home. I think I've enjoyed having Jeff home the most as it's just nice having two sets of hands and additional support when it comes to the kids. I've had some wonderful time to myself, too. So thanks to my wonderful husband!

We had a nice quiet Christmas with just the four of us. New Year's Eve was uneventful...I fell asleep in front of the TV a little after 9pm and was in bed asleep before 10:00. What party animals we are! At least we were not on the roads but instead safe and sound at home.

Yesterday we took a spur of the moment trip to Wichita, a little less than an hour away, to visit a hands on museum for children and adults alike. It was a discount day and oh my gosh! The line was out the door what looked like half a mile. After standing line for about an hour and a half (yes, we did and the kids were very patient) we got inside. I had never been there so it was fun for me, too. The kids enjoyed it. Here are a few photos from yesterday (the batteries in the camera died). One exhibit was on Jane Goodall and chimps. There was a life size chimp nest that Benjamin spent some time in (Emily wouldn't get in). There was also an exhibit called the Scoop on Poop. There was a funny photo op that we put the kids in.

My little monkey and my handsome husband

My other little monkey climbing around in the forest

Speaks for itself...

After leaving the museum we met our friends, Liz, Adam and Bodi for a quick visit. Bodi just turned a year old and is so sweet. He loved Emily and kept flashing her the sweetest smiles. After a quick stop at Burger King for supper we came home with two very tired little ones (the big ones were tired, too).

And here's a picture that I took a few days ago of our cat, Murphy. I just thought it was sweet. He found a nice soft place to sleep.