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.

Merry Christmas!

Here are some photos from our day!

Emily's Christmas Eve service outfit

Putting cookies out for Santa right before bed

Opening gifts on Christmas morning

Emily opening Candyland (which we played shortly after opening gifts)

Benjamin riding the car Santa left him

Benjamin (and Mommy) still sporting jammies while trying on the new vest from Grandad in NZ

Mommy sporting the new apron from Grandad in NZ (yes, I wore it and yes, I cooked)

Benjamin playing in his new tent

Jeff and Emily

Me and my girl

Me and my baby boy

The best gifts of all!

Christmas Means...

...cookies and milk while decorating the tree and a visit to Santa!

This past weekend we bought our tree and Emily and I decorated it while Daddy kept Benjamin otherwise occupied. We did invite Benjamin to join us girls for a warm chocolate chip cookie and milk afterward, though. This is something I started doing a few years ago and hope to make it a tradition. While the cookies aren't entirely homemade (dough bought from the store), I bake them and we enjoy them after decorating. Here are a few photos of Benjamin helping Daddy get the tree just right before Em and I decorated it. I have to add a footnote here and say that we've already had at least two glass ornament casualties in the five days the tree has been up. Unlike last year when he was so tiny, someone is awfully interested in the tree this time around!

Of course I had Christmas music playing while we decorated and I loved hearing Emily sing along to every single tune, even if it meant making up the words because she had no idea what was being sung. :-) Here are a couple of photos of the kids enjoying their cookies and milk.

This morning we went to the student union on the campus where Daddy works and got to spend a few minutes visiting with Santa! Before we left the house, Emily told me she was going to give Santa a hug. I thought, "Yeah, right" as I remembered last year the only way she would get her photo taken with him was with Benjamin and I as a barrier. She did better this year, although Santa will just have to wait for his hug from her. At least she talked to him this year. She was a bit taken aback when Santa called her by name! And he knew Benjamin's and Mommy and Daddy's names, too! How did he know? Why, it's the magic of Santa (for adults only: Santa also attends our church-hee hee).

Benjamin wasn't exactly sure what to think of Santa. He didn't cry but had a perplexed, serious look on his face at all times. He was most interested in the sleigh bells Santa wore on his wrists. Here are some photos from this morning and for fun, a shot of us visiting Santa last year at this time.

Of course, Mommy couldn't be left out! I had to give Santa my wish list, too!

I just thought this was a cute shot. One night last weekend we watched The Polar Express on TV. None of us had ever seen it but I had been wanting to. So we all got in our jammies and put the kids on the couch together under a blanket. They actually stayed this way and watched the movie for probably 15 minutes!