Fun in the Sun and Rain

Wow, it is finally nice to have a "normal" spring time in Texas. The flowers are in bloom (has anyone noticed the roses? They are just beautiful.), there is an ongoing buzz of lawn equipment and some days have brought a late afternoon rain shower. Just as it should be!

A recent rainy afternoon, we got out the boats and had boat races down the alley. The water was rushing pretty fast and made for some exciting racing. Today, the boys broke in their new swimming pool and had tons of fun. Jumping, sliding, golfing (is this a pool activity? It is in our pool), splashing and a little bit of shivering went on today.

We have noticed an abundance of butterflies in our yard this year. Have you? They also are quite beautiful and have captured the eye of the dog. Gracie captured one yesterday and the boys rescued it in with their bug net and put it in their bug jar. Today, while the kids were swimming, Gracie snuck off with the bug jar, opened it and waited patiently for the butterfly to emerge. I didn't have the heart to tell her or the boys that it died a very hot death yesterday trapped in the bug jar.

We hope you are enjoying this spring weather as much as we are. Happy Spring!!!

Noah's Last Day of Pre-School

Noah had an awesome last day of Pre-school. The day was full of fun activities such as making a water-stretcher (bubble wand), having a pizza party, riding bikes outside and indulging in Blue-Bell ice cream and a pizza cookie. His teacher handed out certificates and handmade booklets full of pictures from the year as well as the recipes they made. The books also have conversations about his likes and fears throughout the year. His teacher did a wonderful job putting it together and it will be cherished.

The kids made their own T-shirts that they wore today. The shirt has a caterpillar on it made from each child's hand. The purpose behind the shirt is to remind them of their friends they had in Pre-school every time they look at it. What a wonderful idea, because most of the kids will be going to different schools next year. Noah is pretty sad tonight about not seeing his friends and Mrs. Lisa again. Noah has always held his friends very close and today was hard on him. I also got caught up in the emotion of the day and didn't want it to end.

Noah, you have grown into a handsome big kid who is full of knowledge and very inquisitive. I love that you are sensitive to others and that you are not afraid to take charge and negotiate. I am so proud of you and all that you have accomplished this year. I look forward to watching you grow and seeing what you accomplish in the year to come.

I love you,
Mommy

Camden's Last Day of School

Camden is officially out for the summer. He had a great last day of school, complete with a pizza party and cupcakes for dessert. He was so excited to give Miss. Lisa the gift he made for her. He colored a pretty picture on one side and on the other he wrote his name for the first time! Yeah, Camden!!!

He didn't seem to have much emotion about it being the last day and not seeing his friends for awhile. He knows that when school is over, the pool opens up and we will be going swimming. This has been far more exciting to him than the last day of school. The only problem is, the pool doesn't open for at least two more weeks!

His teacher gave us a photo album of the events over the last year. It is fun to see how much he has grown and changed. On the first day of school he was sporting a black eye and on the last day of school he was sporting a scar over his eye from the stitches. Sometimes, things do not change enough!

Tomorrow is Noah's last day and it will be hard to say goodbye to a Pre-schooler and hello to a big Kindergartner.

We want your opinion!

We are on the hunt for a new vacuum cleaner. We have not had good experiences with the products we have owned in the past. (It may have something to do with the operator, but I don't think so.)

Anyway, please tell us what has worked best and least for you and why.

Camden's Big Day

Camden turned 3 years old somewhere in that week that we had a wedding and a trip to the hospital. We celebrated at a local park with friends from church and Pre-school as well as family. He of course, got a "Chick Hicks" cake that his teacher from school made. I thought it turned out really cute and tasted delicious. It was a very windy day, but that didn't stop the kids from playing and having a fun time on the playground. Camden took his time opening every card and looking at it before he opened his present. He was very serious about the whole process. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, that is how he approaches most things that are important to him. We were glad to have his Great Grand-parents and a Great-Cousin in attendance for the party.

Camden has really grown over the last year. He has learned to share and take turns. He has learned to listen and follow directions about as well as any 2 year old can. Pre-school has been good for him and I am looking forward to this next year to see how he blossoms. He definitely takes after his mama in the strong-willed department. He knows what he wants and goes after it full throttle. He is also like his dad, in that he can be very reserved and shows little emotion. But most of all, Camden is Camden. We love his squishy marshmallow hugs and that he stills crawls up in our laps and wants to be cuddled. We love that he is all-boy and full of so much energy. We love that his "blue" still makes him feel safe. We love that he has great eating habits and prefers fruits and veggies over just about anything else. We love that he has No-Fear and is willing to try anything. We love how he adores his big brother and looks to him for everything.

WE LOVE YOU, CAMDEN!!!
Mommy and Daddy

Crazy Hat Day

No, these aren't swim caps. They are pull-ups. One of them didn't seem to matter that his had already been used...the right way.

Spring Storm

The last three weeks have been typical as far as spring storms go for this area. Each week they have been building in intensity and last night was by far the scariest. We cut short our errand running last night because the sky looked ominous. Not long after we arrived home the radar was light up with large shades of red and yellow. They estimate the winds at being between 75 - 100 mph last night. The boys and I spent some time in the bathroom, listening to it howl. Brian, of course, watched the storm laying on the couch without a care in the world. I tried to open the front door at one point and had to fight to shut it, it was intense. We lost power for about 3 1/2 hours but the boys had fun using our camping lanterns.

The pictures above are what it looks like out our front door. Leaves are everywhere, our Bradford Pear tree lost a limb and somebody's shingles are in our front yard. At first glance they don't appear to be ours (although I am secretly hoping they are, we need a new roof). We listened for hours as firetrucks raced past our area and stopped not far down the road. We prayed for safety for ourselves and for those less fortunate.

We are safe. God is good!

Wedding Highlights

Whew, what a week! It's official now, Mark and Tiffany are married! We couldn't be more excited and proud of the two of them.

The weekend started with a Bridal luncheon I attended on Friday. The rehearsal went smoothly and the boys behaved well despite having no nap that day. Camden did not make the rehearsal dinner and went home where he promptly fell asleep. There was good food and fellowship at the rehearsal dinner followed by an awesome video of Mark and Tiffany over the years growing up and ending with their engagement. Many wonderful toasts were made and it was clear that God has been in control of this relationship since before they were born.

Saturday arrived with hair appointments for myself and then Brian had lunch with the guys. I think a little NFL Draft was watched, but please don't tell Tiffany that! We arrived at the church at 1:30 p.m. for pictures and then we hung out waiting for the ceremony to start. The boys did fairly well with minimal rolling on the floor smashing their flowers and dirting their tuxes before the wedding.





The ceremony was beautiful and Tiffany was a gorgeous bride! It was very touching to watch them take communion and prayer with one another during the service. Several good friends added wonderful moments with scripture readings and singing. The boys fulfilled their duties as ring bearers and watched with awe during the ceremony.



The reception was equally as beautiful with the decorations and the food was awesome. Mark choose a Dallas Cowboy's jersey for his grooms cake, complete with his last name and wedding date as the numbers on the sleeves. Mark also surprised his guests with an ice cream bar so that everyone could enjoy ice cream with their cake. The dance floor was a hit with the kids. Camden did some wild dancing that included throwing himself on the floor about every 15 seconds. Noah took a little while to warm up to the idea of dancing but was soon throwing himself around the dance floor as well. Camden got a little challenging during the reception due to having no nap yet again. He was found several times at the elevator alone trying to get on and go for a ride. He also tried multiple times to pull over a three-tierd glass serving tray just so he could get the strawberries on the top. Loads of fun!




Mark & Tiffany walked under a canopy of bubbles and left in high style riding in a Rolls Royce.

Congratulations Mark & Tiffany!

Repeat Performance 1 week later

We are getting good at this E.R. thing. Today, we just simply relived last Thursday. Camden fell at school and hit his head on a picnic table. Yep, in exactly the same spot as last week. So, off to the E.R. we went. I had the same parking spot, the check-in nurse was the same and remembered us from last week, it was the same day of the week at the same time during the day. One minor difference today was we had a 3 1/2 hour wait in the lobby before we were called back.

Camden was the same "tough as nails" kid through the whole strap him down, inject medicine in the wound, sew him up with three stitches process. His stitches are blue this time instead of black and he is sporting a pretty decent bruise with this round. He is going to be a doctor when he grows up because none of this phases him.

Once again, we were off to Dairy Queen for a star ice cream. The stitches are scheduled to come out next Tuesday, just like last week only I hope we don't return next Thursday to the E.R.

Hope your day was uneventful.

Camden's 3!

Here are some pictures from his birthday party at school today. Of course he had to have cupcakes with "Chick Hicks" green icing. He is also sporting a new shirt with Chick on it and new shorts. Inside his present from Mommy and Daddy he found a "Chick Hicks" die-cast car, which is now his favorite toy! Big suprise! We are off to Chuck E. Cheese, Camden's pick for dinner. Happy Birthday Big Guy, We love you!!!!

Sprouts

After hearing really good things about Sprouts from several different people, I decided to take a drive and find out what it is all about.

What I found was a great little grocery store that is all about being healthy. Most of their products are organic and many are gluten-free. What I was after was everyday products that were low in sugar for Brian to try. Found those too. We brought home, cheese, fruits, veggies, pasta, hot dogs, breads and a couple of different types of chips that are good for you and taste great! I found that the prices weren't too bad. I have been told that they are much lower than Whole Foods. If you get a chance, drive over and check out Sprouts!

Brian goes to see an Endocrinologist tomorrow. Will update when I have more information.

Noah starts T-ball practice tonight and I have mixed feelings about his coach. It is the same coach that he had for his Soccer team. He cancels practices on a whim and is not very organized. He also tends to play favorites with his own child. I know they are just 5, but I would like to have a good foundation of the fundamentals because Noah really likes baseball.

That's all for Now. Tomorrow my baby will be 3 and we are counting down the minutes. Will blog about that tomorrow.

He was in stitches today and I don't mean laughter.

This pictures pretty much sums up our afternoon.

Things were going well in the morning when the kids were in pre-school. After school, everything changed.

We came home to find millions of termite swarming in the garage. After a quick panicked call to my dad, I got off the phone to hear Noah yelling that Camden was hurt. No biggie, someone is always hurt. Noah's voice changed and just like with the broken arm I knew something was very wrong.

Camden was lying face down on the carpet and when I picked him up he had blood all over his face. I applied pressure and then looked. I have never seen a cut that requires stitches before, but I knew instantly that this one did. I couldn't get the bleeding to stop so 2 minutes after my last phone call to my dad, I was calling him back. How do I get to the hospital while holding Camden and applying pressure? The good Lord had the answer. The bleeding stopped the entire way to the hospital.

After explaining to the E.R. check-in nurse, that just last week I finished paying off our last visit and would have appreciated a little more time before the next one, we were in an exam room.

Before I describe what happens next, I want to say that Camden is a very tough, brave little boy. Camden was strapped to a body board to immobilize him. The only thing he could move was his head and and E.R. Doc. had that pretty well immobile as well. The Doctor then shot him in the wound with numbing medicine and put in four stitches. Two stitches were put through skin that wasn't numbed. Why do I tell you this? Camden never screamed or tried to get out of his situation, he did whimper and was uncomfortable. He responded better to this situation then he does to a typical time-out. He is tough as nails.

Camden and Noah are eating a star ice-cream from Dairy Queen, which always makes any E.R. visit better. Until next time...

FLU

I am awake with fever, chills and body aches and no relief in sight, so I am going to blog. It is 1: 15 a.m. and I am tired of this routine. Friday night at 6:30 p.m. to be exact I felt like I was hit by a run-a-away freight train. Saturday, I tested positive for the dreaded flu. Flu, you might ask? Yes, the flu. I am 2-3 months late for getting it, but I wanted to make sure that I didn't miss out on it this year. Yep, I got a flu shot. 1 in 8 people still get the flu, I was told. Well, we have at least 3 maybe 4 people in this house who have had the flu in the last week. We blew that statistic out of the water. Maybe they should call our house to ask figures for next years census.

Camden is miserable, Brain is still on the fence on whether he is going to give in to it, but I don't think he has much of a choice. Noah had it last week and is delighting us with his energy this week. I need help! I am barely functioning and Brian is doing the best he can.

Tami flu. The jury is still out on this one. I have heard wonderful things about it from other people. It may have lessened, on slightly, my symptoms. However, I am just plain miserable. Have I said that before? Well, this is my forum and I am going to complain. It has provided me with an upset stomach and insomnia. For this, am I thankful? Maybe, it has given me this opportunity to blog which I otherwise wouldn't have had. It didn't do much as far as prevention for Camden.

Speaking of Brian, his sugar levels have hovered around 250 all weekend. Doesn't seem to be dropping much more. I think he is in denial and your prayers on his behalf would be much appreciated.

Thanks for listening to me rant. It's back to shivering.

Easter, Health & What nots - 2 Part Post

I have been a bad blogger lately. It's not that there isn't stuff to write, its just that I don't have as much time to write anymore.

We had a nice Easter, if you don't count that I threw my back out wearing new shoes and a new bra. That's a story for another day though.

Sharon, a.k.a. Tutu, and Ross were here visiting and we spent the day all together at my parent's house. It turns out the stomach virus Noah had on Friday was really the adenovirus and he was pretty miserable until Thursday. We battled high fever, bad headaches, vomiting and extremely swollen tonsils and adenoids. If you listened to him you would have believed that he was full of nasal congestion, in reality it was his adenoids so swollen. The kids were reatlly excited to see that the Easter Bunny had brought them "Cars" beach towels and swim suits this year.

The kids had fun at their Easter parties at school. Brian and I had fun watching Camden collecting Easter eggs with his school friends. He was so polite, when he found his allotted 8 eggs, he went and sat down and waited for is friends to finish. Brian and I looked at each other and asked "who is that child?" Next, it was time for Noah's class to hunt eggs. They shot out of that class like a freight train coming down the track. They ran as fast they could while stepping on eggs trying to beat their friends to the eggs. They all had fun, but the intensity between the boys age groups was a little frightening.

A while back I blogged about Brian injuring his elbow. He finally west to see an Ortho. doctor who prescribed a steroid and physical therapy exercises to do at home. I am happy to report that the arm is doing great but Brian had quite a scare from the steroid. He started having some scary symptoms and went to see his G.P. They did some blood work and all of his levels were way to HIGH!. His sugar level was 600 on Wednesday. He was quickly given some medication and and lots of paperwork on Type II Diabetes. He saw the eye doctor today because his vision has been blurry for three days. Good news, the pressure in his eyes has stayed the same but he has a sugar glucose coating on his eyes that should go away when his levels return to normal. The nurse checked his sugar today at school and he was down to 250. He returns on Sat. and Wed. for more testing. Please pray that this is just temporary and his levels return to normal once the steroid is out of his body. Please pray that if they don't return to normal that we will have an easy adjustment to a new healthier lifestyle.

Camden is excited about turning 3. He wants and will get a "Chick Hicks" birthday cake. He is fascinated with Chick. He is the bad guy from "Cars" and Camden is all about the bad guy! We ordered him his very own t-shirt with Chick Hicks on it and personalized with Camden's name. I have no doubt that shirt will be worn EVERY day! He still eat, breaths, lives race cars and specifically Chick. He still thinks he is a race car and we have to remind him that we "don't crash people". He is officially potty trained and he acts like it was no big deal. One day I will remind him that we worked on this feat for a YEAR!!!

I will do my best to blog more often. We are very busy the next three weeks and I really want to capture everything in writing.

And the prize goes to...

BRIAN!

Friday was another day with four kids. Friday was different because Brian took care of four kids while I went to clean my dad's house. Here are some of the highlights from their day.

I get a call about 10:00 a.m. asking, "where are the diapers?"
"They are in the diaper bag", I say.
"No, they aren't!", he says.
"Yes, they are. There are about 6 of them in the bottom of the diaper bag", I say.
"No, they aren't!!!", he says.
"Well, put a pull-up on her, or go buy some.", I say. No easy task with 4 kids.

Brian then loads 3 boys ages: 2, 4 & 5 and a little girl 7 months old into the car and drives to lunch at Fuddrucker's on lower Greenville Ave. with his Aunt. They got a front row parking spot and things were good.

Once inside and the food arrived, Brian left the table to fix his hamburger. On the way back to the table he met Aunt Tish and Noah, who had just gotten sick all over the floor in the middle of aisle. Apparently, Noah has a stomach bug and waited until in a public restaurant to tell his dad.

After lunch, Brian swings by the drug store to pick up some diapers. After much debate with himself about what size to buy, he settles on size 2 diapers.

Back at home, he changes baby D. into her new diapers only to find that size 2 doesn't fit this seven month old. She wears a size 4. So, Brian tells her to "suck it up" while changing her diaper and hopes that her legs don't turn blue from poor circulation.



When I arrived home later that afternoon, I was greeted with "You may go out and drink all night every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, no questions asked!".

It's nice to be appreciated.

4 kids sleeping, cookies baking... I'm blogging!

Whew! Adding 2 more children to your family on a daily basis several times a week can prove challenging sometimes. Last week, I took them to a gymnastics place that had an open gym. The boys and the baby loved it. The baby just watched everything that was going on and completely wore herself out. Then it was off to a park to eat lunch and walk along the paths. It wss difficult to push a stroller, feed a baby and make sure that one of the older three did not fall into the stream. Thank goodness for good friends who helped me watch the older three.

Today, I ventured to Wal-Mart with all four to buy flowers and soil for the flower beds. There were two rules... 1. No running and 2. We all stay together. So O.K., in the end we all ended up some where in the HUGE garden department. That counts doesn't it? I didn't lose anyone and the boys only picked the flowers off of at least 77 flower pots. Sorry Mr. Wal-Mart man!

We came home and while the baby napped, we planted the flowers and collected hundreds of doodle bugs. Some of which we will share with the other set of kids grandma. She will be so thrilled!

They are all sleeping right now, which is no small feat. They have been so good today, so when they wake up chocolate chip cookies will be waiting for them.

Hope your day is super!