Things are MUCH better here!

Well, I hate to put it in writing for fear that I'll jinx myself, but things are back to normal at our house. That was a NASTY virus! I haven't been 100% until today really, and I got sick on Tuesday. Even as recent as Friday night during the night, I was still sick. But today, I feel great!!!!! And so does Ryan! Right in time for the work week! :-)

Friday night we ventured out for a short time (as long as Ryan and I could handle it) to take the kids to do something fun since they had missed their trip and Thanksgiving. They begged to go to germ-infested Chuck E Cheese to play games. Neither Ryan nor I felt like eating, so we just took them to play games and then picked up a pizza to go for them to eat at home. We really had a great time. The C.E.C. at Westshore has expanded, and had quite a few new games, so it was fun for the kids and for Ryan and I as well! We both love arcade type games. So the 5 of us were all armed with tokens and hung out for a few hours racking up tickets for some cheapo prizes.

Lisa and I had planned to go to Michigan City bright and early Saturday morning and thought we better play it by ear since we both had been sick and didn't know what the morning would bring. I was up ALL night Friday night with severe stomach pain and didn't sleep from 1 a.m. on, so I called her in the morning and said I didn't think I could go. I slept for a while longer, showered, and felt decent, so I called her back, and we headed out. She felt fine and could eat again, but I was still leary about eating (you would think I would have lost 20 pounds since I really didn't eat from Tuesday- yesterday, but funny how that did NOT happen!). We hit our favorite MI City outlets, scored some good deals, got a few Christmas gifts and stayed much longer than we anticipated. How does a girl tear herself away from outlets????? It was great weather for shopping as well- sunny and warmer than usual. We got home around 5:00, I picked up dinner for my troops on the way home, and then started wrapping all the gifts that I have purchased. I am 99.9% sure that I am done Christmas shopping, and all the gifts are wrapped and under the tree. A good feeling!

Did I mention yesterday was SUNNY and WARMER than usual? Today we are under a Winter Weather Watch- the snow started falling around noon and hasn't let up. We are all snuggy in our sweats inside the house watching it fall. It is really pretty coming down, but makes me cold just watching it. The ground was completely clear again since it hadn't snowed in awhile, and it always amazes me how quickly it can be covered up again. I decided to bake and cook today since I haven't since I've been sick. I made cheeseburger pie and even Brooks, my picky/finicky eater, gobbled down 2 pieces. I love finding recipes that my whole family will eat. I also made rice krispy/peanut butter/chocolate bars. Yummy! Food finally appeals to me again today!

My kids are so used to being at home, that I am sure they are not going to want to go back to school and the normal routine this week. They have been best buddies all week! Brooks and Sadie still have another day off tomorrow to ease back into things. :-) Wish I did!

Off to see what the uproar over the Packers game is about! I have 2 guys glued to the Panthers/Packers game hoping for a Green Bay win!!!!!

UGH!

Am I thankful? You betcha! I have so much to be thankful for. What I am most thankful for this Thanksgiving are my 3 beautiful, wonderful, loving and patient children. God has blessed me in ways I cannot begin to count.

My children were expecting to go to Nashville, Tennessee as soon as I got off work on Wednesday to spend Thanksgiving with their Nana and Papa, Uncle Brent and Lee, Bobbie, Megan, Hunter, Hailey, Nancy and Bob. I started feeling pretty rotten on Tuesday, but had fun plans during the day so I tried to buck up and shake it off. We went to visit Grandma Hains, went swimming and went out to lunch with Lisa and her girls. I wasn't feeling so hot at the pool, so after lunch, we came home and Sadie and I slept all afternoon. I hadn't even packed for the trip, but I could not get up long enough to do anything. The kids and I all had haircuts at 5:15, so I rolled out of bed in time to make the appt. Well that did not go well. She foiled my hair and cut all 3 kids' hair and each second that passed, I felt worse. Finally as she was washing out my hair, I knew I had to leave immediately. I left with wet hair and no haircut and made it home just in time before puking for the rest of the night. Ryan was only working until 8:00, so I told the kids to fend for themselves until dad could come home and put them to bed. My sweet, sweet Cobe fixed himself and the other 2 dinner (a small detail I seemed to have forgotten in the midst of my violent sickness), and took care of them AND me until Ryan got home. Ryan said he didn't feel quite right either. He slept on the couch and I continued to be sick all night. I obviously didn't make it to work on Wednesday. Well.... it hit him the next morning. Plus I still couldn't get out of bed. Nice! Once again, Cobe rose to the occasion and took care of his brother and sister all day-right by himself. He is my hero! He enjoyed the added responsibilty I could tell. :-) He kept coming in to check on me as well to see what I needed. And the great part of the whole day- I didn't hear one fight, one bit of bickering, one harsh word- nothing negative at all pass between my kids. All this on top of the fact that they pretty much knew at this point that our Thanksgiving plans were ruined. Cobe was disappointed, but he handled it like a champ- he REALLY wanted to go see Hunter and hang out with him. Hunter is his idol! Ryan and I both were down pretty much the whole day today as well. It has not been a fun virus. I am assuming it is the one that Brooks had 2 weeks ago and Sadie had last week, so now Cobe is the only one left to be hit with it. I am praying he is spared. (Oh and PS- I passed it on to Lisa and she was down and out all day today puking.)

So would I have chosen this? OF COURSE NOT!!!! We would have had a blast in Nashville! My cousin has a webcam hooked up to view his dock (they live on a lake), and they got on the tramp tonight and jumped and waved at us in the 65 degree weather as they were wearing SHORTS and T-SHIRTS!!!!!!!! so we could experience what we were missing. The kids and I all gathered around the computer to watch the fun they were having. Then they headed off to my parents' hotel to swim. Aaaaahhhhh... would have been SO nice!

So my title of UGH! is true- UGH for the way I have felt; UGH for missing our trip to Nashville, UGH for not being with family on Thanksgiving, but how thankful I am that my own family of 5 is SUCH a blessing! All three of my kids gathered in my bed tonight and prayed for everything they were thankful for, and Cobe said, "You know mom, this was probably the best day of mine and Sadie's life; we had so much fun together making up games, and we laughed so much." (I don't know why he left out Brooks because little Brooksie was giggling right along with the other 2 all day). What a Thanksgiving!

New Toys

Here are a few pics of the Christmas presents from Nana and Papa. THANKS A TON!!!! Early presents ROCK, especially ones that keep my kids busy. We had a family foosball tournament tonight, and you can see from the first picture who lost. haha It was me and Ryan against Cobe and Brooks. Don't worry- it was fair- I am horrible! Brooks couldn't take defeat though.


Here is the pouting boy. Too bad he doesn't live up to the Sayiwon't theme! :-)

Cobe with the air hockey table. Right now, it is between Brooks' and Cobe's bedrooms.

And here is the foosball table- it is in the bonus room beside the bar.

Chili Night and more

Saturday morning we went to Cobe's soccer game- not a good result. They lost 7-2 and none of the kids looked like they knew what they were doing out there- rough game too. Cobe got hurt 3 different times- busted his lip, got elbowed and got knocked into the side of the wall pretty hard. I think his ego was more bruised than his body though- he did not have a very good game. Oh well- you win some, you lose some, right? ;-)

We came home and got ready to leave again. Cobe had a birthday party to go to, so Ryan dropped him off at the Lost City for that. He went to the mall and called me to bring the other 2 because they had an exotic animal display set up in the mall. He also had found some great deals at Dunham's for a Christmas present my mom and dad wanted to give the kids, so we met him there. They had 8-10 tigers- ranging from newborns to bigger ones in cages at the mall. You could pay $25 to go in the cages with them to play with them for 8 minutes. We opted NOT to do that, but the kids did enjoy looking at them and other people playing with them, feeding them with bottles, etc. I took my camera, but you weren't even allowed to take pictures unless you paid the $25. We ended up making out like bandits at Dunham's- great deals on two presents that will be WELL used at our house if last night was any indication. :-) My parents got the kids a foosball table and an air hockey table. Ryan came straight home and worked on putting the foosball table together so we could use it last night. It took him hours, but he finished just in the nick of time before our guests came over. Funny thing though, after the men tried playing it, they all realized that all the foosball men had been put on backwards, so they had to take it back apart. It took them awhile, but they fixed it and now the men are on right. They all had fun playing it and the boys have already been at it today as soon as they got up. Ryan will put together the air hockey table today for some Sunday afternoon enjoyment.

We had fun with the Bekins and Remicks last night, but Sadie proved NOT to be over her stomach virus. She started with diarhea and it was a mess. She tried to handle it herself in our bathroom- not a good idea. So we cleaned that mess up. Poor thing woke up this morning with a mess all in her bed and a mess all over her. SO here we go again- we have had to sanitize all of her bedding, her bathtub, etc. etc. etc. UGH!!!!! I think poop is much worse than throw up!!!!!!
And poor little Easton- the Remicks had already warmed up their car and were on their way out the door and Easton fell up our wood steps and busted his front top teeth. He chipped one and pushed the other one back into his gums at an angle. He was in severe pain and none of us really knew what to do since it was his teeth. Lesley called her aunt who works at Easton's dentist and got some advice from her. He'll most likely lose the tooth that was pushed back into his gums and will have to get his other tooth filed down most likely. Not a good ending to a fun night- Easton and "Sissy" are quite good buddies and had a blast playing together all night. So cute!

That brings us to today. We were all going to Sunday School, church and Ryan's parents' house for lunch, but that plan will have to change due to Sis's illness. I guess the boys and I will go to church, and Ryan and the boys will go to his mom's for lunch so we can stay home in shifts with Sis.

A few pictures from last night:


Darc, me and Les

In this picture the girls were cooperative...

In this one, they weren't!!!!!!

Max, Carson and Ryan playing police- Max LOVES policemen and took a break from watching COPS long enough to play with Ryan.

Catching Up

Another sick kid this week. Brooks threw up twice at school last Friday and was sick until Saturday probably. Sadie threw up MULTIPLE times starting at 3 a.m. yesterday morning and did not stop all day. Poor little peanut! I think this was her first stomach virus in her life, (that I can remember anyway) and she did not know what was happening to her. She was so sweet and kept apologizing to me for throwing up. Like she could help it! She threw up over 15 times. I called in sick for today, so I could stay home with her. She has been quiet, but has eaten today and seems to feel better- no more throwing up so far. I ran to Meijer's really quick and got her a new movie, so she is resting on the couch watching Barney's Christmas. We were supposed to go to our church tonight for a family movie night to see Kung Fu Panda- kids were supposed to take sleeping bags and wear pj's. It would have been fun I"m sure. BUT I am not going to spread our germs NOR get anyone else's at this point. I am ready to be done with the puking for the winter. So I picked up the movie Pippi Longstocking while at Meijer's for the kids to watch tonight and we'll have our own family movie night in sleeping bags and pj's in our basement! The kids and I saw the play Pippi at my school last week, so I thought they'd get a kick out of seeing the movie. Meijer's has movies for $4.41 right now, so you can barely rent one cheaper. Pippi Longstocking was one of my favorite childhood characters, so I am excited about seeing the movie too. Didn't I dress like her as a kid for a book fair or Halloween or something Mom? I remember sticking coat hangers in my braids to make them stick straight out like hers.

I have caught up on a lot since I have been stuck home with sick kids. The house has been cleaned, re-cleaned and cleaned some more. Comforters washed, sheets washed, floor scrubbed, bathrooms, etc. etc. to get rid of the germs. I love having a sanitize cycle on my washing machine because I have had to sanitize both Brooks' and Sadie's comforters after these illnesses. Ryan has cleaned a large majority of the mess-he does so much better with that kind of stuff than me. I get too overwhelmed and don't know where to start. He is a pro at cleaning!

I have a house full of groceries too- nice feeling. We are having the Bekins and Remicks over tomorrow night for chili night- an annual thing we do each year. Hopefully everyone will stay well so we can actually have it.

The kids have all next week off from school. We leave Wed. for Nashville, TN to go stay with Lee and Bobbie and their three kids. Nancy and Bob are joining us there as well as my parents and Brent. We are super excited and can't wait to see our family as well as leave this snowy mess for a few days!!!!!!

Sadie just joined me in the office and is playing teacher and singing to her students, so she is back to her normal self. :-)
Hope everyone has a great SNOWY weekend (if you are in Michigan reading this anyway!)!

Alone is something...

that I'm not alot! But I am this afternoon! Yippee!! Ryan is at work, the boys are at school, and Lisa took Sadie for the afternoon. She brought me a surprise when she came to pick her up- a delicious smelling candle that I am burning and a cool star-shaped bowl. Gotta love a best friend who takes your kids off your hands and brings you gifts at the same time! I love you Lisa!!!!!!

Quick post to share some pictures from yesterday:

Sadie as the masked woman.

Baby E and Sis playing in the snow. I got a few smiles out of him, but he wasn't too sure about those darn mittens! :-) Gloves are totally overrated!

Fun in the Snow!!!!!

Well... as you can see from my previous post, it snowed today. The kids were RARING to go as soon as Cobe got off the bus. We suited up and headed outside for some good times in the snow. The boys made snow angels and played snow football. They pulled Sissy around in the sled for awhile too. Cobe, Brooks and I shoveled the driveway, the sidewalk and the front porch. It was light, fluffy snow so not too hard to shovel. BUT, everything we shoveled is already covered back up by new snow!!!!


Sadie took this picture (hence why our heads are chopped off!) :-)

Me and my dollykins

The 2 football players

He kicks!

Brooks hiking the ball to Cobe.

A difference a day can make..

Yesterday, we barely had any snow. It stopped soon after I took my pictures. But today, it has been steadily coming down. It's still pretty, but I now remember why I dislike Michigan winters so much!

I love the view from our back screened in porch though of our pond- very calm and pretty sight!

The first real snow of the season

Today the snow is beautiful. Today. There are big, fluffy, white flakes coming down, and it is gorgeous. It is pretty because there are no big, brown piles of slush around. Our garage is still clean, so I am okay with today's snow. Ask me in a few weeks how pretty I think it is. :-)

And everyone managed to stay well throughout the night. Here's hoping Brooks was the only one hit with the stomach virus!

Sick of me yet?

Now that my internet service is fabulous once again, you may get sick of all my posts! :-)

Quick post to say we are on the mend... I think. I don't want to speak too soon. What Brooks had could not have been the horrible norovirus because he was only down and out for 24 hours. He threw up twice, had a low-grade fever (ummmmm, Lynette, he FELT slightly warm! ), and that was it. He was already asking for tacos last night to eat????? Who throws up and then craves tacos????? That's my boy! He was tired today and sluggish, but ate normally and had no fever (ummmm, Lynette, he didn't FEEL warm). Cobe started complaining of a headache early evening and didn't want any dinner, so I don't know if round two is hitting us yet or not. He said he felt better once he crawled into bed tonight, so we'll see. I cleaned like a madwoman all morning and feel like my house is spotless- LOVE that feeling. Ryan and his dad went to our old house where we still had a few random things in the garage, so they loaded up Jim's truck and brought that JUNK over here. So Ryan spent the evening cleaning out the garage here to make room for it all until we can figure out what to do with it. That man is amazing when he cleans- the garage doesn't even look like it has more in it than when he started!

Cobe's indoor soccer team won their game today. I guess it was another close one, but the Zeeland Strikers pulled out a victory 3-2 in the last 54 seconds. I missed the action since I was home with Brooks, and Cobe said he didn't play much, so I guess if I had to miss one, it was a good one to miss. :-)

I don't feel 100% either- not sick, just not well. So I am heading to bed for hopefully a full night's sleep without anyone waking up sick during the night...including myself! Hope everyone else stays germ-free!

My Darling Diva

Sadie Claire- she is our entertainer, our sass queen, our gal full of spunk, and she has a style ALL of her own! The outfits she comes up with crack me up. Here is just a wee sample of what all she put on the other day to strut around in.


Here she is getting some lovin from her mama!

She was wrapped in several scarves, a headband and you can't see it in the pictures, but she had to carry around an umbrella hanging from her arm as well. She is something else!

The Sickies Have Landed

The kids and I went to my middle school play last night, Pippi Longstocking, and they really enjoyed it. We went with Lisa and her girls. It was super long for 5 young kids to sit through, but we tried to get them to leave at intermission, but they begged to stay. We didn't get home until almost 10:00, and all 3 kids were tired. Brooks had been complaining that he was hot towards the end of the play, but it was stifling hot in the auditorium, so I didn't think anything of it. He felt fine once we went out into the cool air.

This morning Ryan called me once I got to work and said that he didn't know if he should send Brooks to school. He said his throat hurt. Brooks' throat hurts a lot b/c he coughs quite a bit due to his asthma, so Ryan had to make the judgement call since I wasn't home. He gave him some Tylenol and sent him on to school. I emailed his teacher and told her to let me know if he seemed sick. She emailed back and said he was fine. So I chalked it up to him staying up so late last night and just being tired. (She is a WONDERFUL teacher- taking care of my baby for me!)

Then his school called around 11:10 and said he didn't feel well. I ran and got Sadie and Ellery from preschool, then headed over to get Maya and Brooks from school. By the time I got there, he had already started throwing up. The secretary said he was asleep in a chair and started throwing up out of nowhere. Nice! I felt horrible for the secretary. He was in a compeletely different set of clothes, and she had washed out all of his clothes and put them in a bag. Yuck! He whimpered the whole way home and went straight to bed. He has just gotten up for the first time and has a fever. Poor little guy!

Cobe came home from school with a flyer about the Norovirus. 26 third graders were out sick today with the virus and 7 went home during the day. Only 3 were from his class, but still, it is going around something fierce! So I am guessing that is what Brooks has, and I guess we are all in the path of getting it this weekend. Ironically, we have NO plans this weekend except for Cobe's soccer game tomorrow. That doesn't happen much around this household- we usually have packed days, so at least we have the "time" to be sick if we have to get it. The flyer sent home from Cobe's school said that people are contagious for up to 3 days after contracting the virus. No wonder that thing is spreading like wildflower in Holland!

Sooooo, I am feeling pretty nauseous myself, but I don't know if I am getting ready to be sick, or if the thought of the virus being around us is making me feel sick. KWIM?

Hopefully I can post tomorrow saying all is well and Brooks is on the mend. Until then...

Goofing Off

The boys re-discovered Webkins tonight. So it was a fight for the computer. I had not even suggested that they go on-line since the service was so poor in our new house, but they both got to visit their pets tonight and play a few games.



And Sadie begged to play the whole time. I guess she needs to set up her own account. She has one Little Kinz, but we have never registered it yet.

Do you ever get overwhelmed with love for your kids??? It was one of those nights for me.

Proof of the warm weather we had one short week ago!

Jeff and Chele- this is Sadie's new "Ontana" shirt she used your gift card for. She loves it!

(Ignore her silly expression- I think I caught her mid-sentence)
Look at that boy kick. Who would have thought he would have QUIT soccer with skills like that! ;-)
He's all about soccer when it is on his terms!
My cutie pie!

Trying a picture post with my new net service

A few Halloween pictures that I haven't been able to upload until now.

Sadie the witch.
Cobe the haunted baseball player (?) (his idea) :-)



And Brooks- the Detroit Tigers baseball player. Ryan and Cobe carved the pumpkin beside Brooks at Cobe's school. His teacher had a pumpkin carving party. It was a lot of fun- I got to count out 515 pumpkin seeds for a math lesson while Ryan carved. Yuck!

I am at a loss for titles lately- how can one sum up a scattered mind??? :-)

We had such an enjoyable weekend! The party at my school was a lot of fun Friday night. Cobe invited his friend Chase, so the 4 kids and I partied hard. Haha There were inflatables, basketball, Nascar racing (which was a blast!), finger-nail painting (which Sis AND the boys got a kick out of), crafts and lots of food. I finally dragged them away around 9:00 to go back home. Saturday a.m. Cobe lost his soccer game 6-7. It was a downer because the whole game it went back and forth who was ahead and who was losing. It was tied 6-6 and the other team scored with 47 seconds left in the game. So we knew it was over then. Poor guys! Cobe scored 2 goals though (right Dan???), so he at least had a good game. All focus on the game was lost right away when I told the kids that we were going straight from the game to get flu shots. Sadie and Brooks really don't get bothered by things like that, but Cobe???? He handled it better than I thought, but I could tell he was nervous. He asked a million questions. We got to the Dr.'s office and found out that they were out of shots! They had run out 20 minutes before we got there. So Cobe was super excited- he learned that God does answer prayers! :-) We'll have to go back later in the week when they get a new shipment in.

Saturday night Mason and Tanner spent the night, and Lisa and I headed to the auction at our church. I felt bad because I didn't think we'd be gone that long, but we stayed for the whole thing while Ryan had the 5 kids. Oops! He didn't seem to mind though. He handles loud, rambuctious boys better than I do anyway. He just tunes them out! I got home, made them milkshakes, then tucked them in bed. Not a hard night for me at all! I didn't buy a single thing at the auction. I bid on a few things, but things were selling for way over my price-range.

Sunday we went to Fusion and church. Fusion was good once again, and the kids got to sing at church with their grandparents. The kids' choir sang a few songs first, then grandparents were invited up to sing 3 songs with them that they had been practicing. Jim and Mary Jo joined Sadie and Cobe (Brooks opted not to sing) up on stage for a few songs.

We went home after church for the Packers game- I cooked a bunch of different appetizers for lunch while the guys watched the game. Then Ryan and I headed off to see Fireproof after the game. It was a good movie- a good message, but an extremely low-budget film. I didn't know what to expect- I kept hearing how good it was, but had never even heard the plot. It was like watching a Lifetime movie on the big screen. Bad, bad acting, but really an uplifting message about marriage and accepting Christ and putting Him first in your marriage. It was a good date movie for sure.

And now that brings me back to Monday! Wonderful Michigan weather- last Monday it was 73 degrees, today it was snowing when I left the house this morning. I am okay with cold, but not with dreariness. I think the sun is supposed to shine again for the rest of the week which will be nice. I need to find a good indoor activity for my kids- Cobe is already spazzing out when I say he can't go outside and play (it was pouring rain/slush when he asked), and I am tired of them playing indoor football. It hasn't been the greatest for my freshly painted walls! Cobe is getting an indoor football target for Christmas, so I hope that helps some.

And one last thing- Becky, Johnathan is my cousin who lives in S.C. He is a hoot, and he doesn't get it from a stranger. Growing up in a family full of wit was quite entertaining (his dad is quite humorous). There were 10 cousins on my mom's side, and we were all quite close growing up and got together frequently. I miss all of them and their humor and silly antics. So Johnathan and Bobby, if you are reading, comment more frequently to entertain me and my friends. :-)

It's FRIDAY!!!!

Not that I am that excited about Fridays, but I couldn't think of a title. ;-)

We have really been enjoying this atypical Michigan weather! I realize cold and snow is right around the corner, but this week's weather has been such a nice bonus!

We have a fun weekend ahead. Tonight I am taking my kids to the "Blender" at my school. They get to come every year and have a blast playing with my middle school kids. And the kids seem to love playing with their teacher's kids as well. There is pizza, pop, cotton candy, popcorn, etc. as well as crafts, limo rides, basketball, swimming, Guitar Hero, DDR, and whatever other activities middle school kids are into these days. I told the boys about it last night and they were pumped! I do enjoy "down" time with my students too. Tomorrow morning Cobe has a soccer game (which is at 10:00 Lynette, not 11:00, so I'll have to do flu shots after the game), flu shots, then the Kraal boys are coming over to spend the night. Lisa and I are going to head out to our church auction for the evening for awhile too. I love auctions. I usually don't buy anything, but I love the action and contemplating getting a deal, even though I get too chicken to bid on most stuff. I bought a little white rocking chair one year and something else that same year- I think some food items, but other than that, I haven't ever bought anything. It's still fun though.
Sunday will be our normal routine --Sunday School and church. Then I may try to go to the movie Fireproof. I have heard so much about it and really want to see it. I haven't checked where it is playing yet, but that might have to be a Sunday date for Ryan and I.

This week has been pretty routine until last night. I had one of those helpless moments where I needed Ryan BADLY, and he was at work, and I couldn't get a hold of him. The older I get, the less I am able to handle stress I am finding. ESPECIALLY when the safety/health of one of my kids is involved. My boys had just asked to watch Game Plan (and yes, Lynette, we own it. :-) ) so I was putting in that movie for them. Sadie was just standing there watching me put the movie in. All of a sudden, she started screaming and holding her eye. It was the kind of cry that I could tell she was in extreme pain, not her normal "throw a fit" kind of cry. I tried to pry her fingers off of her eye, and could not even manage. But I could tell that her eye had already swelled up and I couldn't even see her eyelashes- and baby has some long eyelashes! She screamed and screamed and screamed. The boys were nervous and upset; I was nervous and upset, but none of us knew what had happened to her. I kept trying to call Ryan, yet he was on a search warrant and couldn't get his phone. I got a wet washcloth for her eye and just held her and cried b/c she was screaming so hard and in obvious pain. It took me awhile for some reason to remember, but I finally remembered that an eye doctor lives across the street from us, so I picked her up and ran across the street. He was getting his hair cut, but his wife called him and he came over about 5 minutes after she called. (He is a SUPER nice man!!!!) He wedged her eye open and could tell that she had scratched her cornea which he said would be super painful and light sensitive. She had cried so hard and long by this point, that she was exhausted. He told me to put her to bed b/c it had to heal on its own and sleep would be the best thing for her. She went right to sleep and seemed fine today. He said he would go to his office last night for numbing drops if I needed him to if she couldn't get to sleep. Did I mention how nice he is??? She didn't need them though- slept through the night and was fine today. I had just cut her fingernails yesterday afternoon, so she must have just snagged her eye with her own fingernail. She finally told me, "Mom, I am SOOOO mad!" I asked her why, and she said, "Because I poked myself in the eye!" She is a hoot! Sure does make you put everything into perspective when one of your kids is hurt. I had been bellyaching all day about not having enough money, and when something like that happens, makes me realize that I need nothing!

Didn't really mean for that story to become a novel!

I am still amazed every year how quickly time passes. I emailed Mary Jo this morning about one of Cobe's soccer games being changed to 12/4, and she reminded me that that is Ryan and my anniversary. When I read her email, I thought, "She is confused. Our anniversary is in December." Duh! December 4th is right around the corner!!!!!! 10 years we will have been married! We wanted to go on a big, luxury vacation to somewhere balmy and warm, but with moving, it isn't in the cards. Moving was WAY more expensive than we anticipated (hence all the bellyaching yesterday about not having any money!!!!!), so we will postpone our belated honeymoon once again, until we can save up some extra money (probably in 10 MORE years!). Then our family Christmas party for his side will be the weekend after our anniversary. Then the next weekend we'll leave for NC for a week! TIME NEEDS TO SLOW DOWN! I am going to try and make it my goal to enjoy the day, and not plan so much for the future. It passes by too quickly! (And yes Lynette, it is TOO, not to!) :-) (Do you like all of my inclusive comments to you in this post Lynette?)

Off to pick up my little cherub from preschool. Can't wait to smother her with kisses!!!! And thankful that she has her sight! How much I take for granted... and how blessed we really are.

I DO still have a blog...

just no reliable internet service to go with it! I bit the bullet yesterday and called to get our "own" internet service at home so I won't have to use our unreliable neighborhood service. It has been down for almost a week now, so I can't do anything. I have such cute pics to post of the kids- Halloween costumes, playing outside yesterday in the 70 degree weather, and other random shots, but our appt. to get our internet hooked up isn't until Monday of next week... so the wait continues. I am frustrated that our neighborhood provides free wireless and yet I'll still have to pay. But I have suffered long enough. No more! :-)

Halloween was great. A balmy, warm night, lots of candy, fun with friends, and a new experience that we won't be repeating. We tried Ridge Point for Trunk-or-Treat, and we had 7 kids in our group. Not condusive to keeping up with 7 kids. It was PACKED! We didn't stay there long and headed to Faith instead, which was more up our alley. Much calmer, fun games and lots of candy. My kids love going there for Halloween. But we did get free pizza and drinks at RP, so worth the trip there and fighting the masses for that. :-)

Let's see...indoor soccer has started up. Cobe had his first indoor game of the season on Saturday. They played a team that was the only team that has ever beaten them, so our guys were psyched out before it even started. But we beat them this time 9-0!!! Cobe had a good game- he scored 3 goals and was definitely in his element. He loves soccer- but he still says he is going to play football again next fall. I wish those two sports were in different seasons so he could do both. Lisa and I went shopping all afternoon after the game. Got a few more Christmas gifts and some groceries. We headed over to the Bells that night for some YUMMY, YUMMY steak and some Wii action. Fun night! And did I mention the YUMMY food??????

I think our old house sold. Some folks made an offer and our builder accepted it, so we are set to close end of November/early December. I hope it all goes through- it would be nice to see life in it again. We still have a few things to move out of it, so we need to get on that. We were still using the garage there as storage for the stuff we didn't want to move, but didn't want to give to Goodwill, so now we'll have to decide what exactly to do with it all. It isn't much thank goodness.

I don't do well remembering what all has gone on in our lives when I don't post frequently. So, this will have to be it for awhile. My boys are great, Sadie is still pushing my buttons and trying my patience, hmmm... what else? haha Sadie and I used her Target gift card from Jeff and Michele recently, and she got the movie Aquamarine and a Hannah Montana shirt. She wore it yesterday and I washed it so she could wear it again today to school. So I took pics of her yesterday Jeff and Chele, so you could see her prizes. Thanks!

Well.... my students are now entering the classroom, so I guess I better do what I am paid to do-TEACH!