ugly sick viruses that linger...

Our poor A Bear has been battling a high fever since Saturday. We were visiting Modge and Podge Sat. evening and woke up Sunday morning with her fever being 104.2. Of course it really bothered us so we took her to the ER. The doc tried his best to have a bed side manner with a three year old but you could tell he was very uncomfortable. He looked her over and said that all was clear - ears, nose, throat, breathing, etc. So we felt like fools and took her home and did the tylenol/motrin pattern. It is just a virus he said!
As of yesterday, MM was having a difficult time breathing and was using her inhaler and treatment machine at school for the third day in a row. Since she had been on steriods for this two weeks ago, we went to the doc for another plan of attack. Right now MM is missing some recess and play time at school and this really bothers me. She needs that time to let loose, yell out loud, play with her friends, and just be a kid. So we increased some of her other meds to see what will happen.
Meanwhile as MM is getting checked out and taking a breathing treatment in the office, A Bear is becoming pailer and pailer and breathing heavier and heavier. So I ask for them to listen to her breathing and tell me what we should do. Dr. H decided to examine her too and I am glad he did! A Bear has massive ear infections in both ears - almost to the point he was surprised they had not burst! She also has a tight chest and a bad cough. B and I must have taken her to the ER right at the beginning of this.
Hind sight is 20-/20. I should have know something was going on with her ears when she asked me to blare the cartoons on tv so she could hear them. We asked her repeatedly if anything hurt....her answer was always no! So what we have learned is that A Bear has a high tolerance for pain.
So off to the pharmacy we trotted to get some omicef for Abear as well as some aubertol and to get a higher dose of flovent for MM! God willing they will get better soon.
Momma is about to go stir crazy in this house - they have to get better so we can get out some :)

Thanksgiving 2007

Well God put in my place this Thanksgiving. As of the beginning of November no one was coming here for Thanksgiving and we were not traveling either (mom's surgery, Brent's schedule, etc.). So our plan was to go to the Hilton for brunch. No cooking, no cleaning....just food and football! About a week before Thanksgiving Brent's cousin and his boys were invited to our home for Thanksgiving by extended family's request. So that meant I had to cook. Igrumbled and got pissy about it.....I even thought about letting Kroger's or HEB do it for me. I was not finding joy in this great occasion. But something came over me and I mustered up the energy and patience to work this out. Shopping at 6 am the Wed. before Thanksgiving, I had the thought that I am going to just have to give it my all and make what I can make....although in the back of my head there was a voice saying it won't be like MIL's cooking or Aunt B's cooking.
But I did it! I am proud to say that I had a relaxing day in the kitchen making all the favorite foods for the big day! It seemed to all fall into place - the preparation, the cooking, and the food. (It does help to have a double oven!) We even had some great conversation over the meal and Brent got to hang out with his cousin and get the scoop on A&M football and the coaching situation.
We has mostly traditional foods: turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes (yummy!), green bean bundles, broccoli rice cheese casserole, potato rolls, cranberry sauce.... and some nontraditional additions - red wine margaritas!
I was able to end this great day visiting my friend's newborn baby boy all by myself - no sharing! It was great. God really showed me that I can find joy in the little things and it is great to have the ability and means to cook for friends and family. It was a great Thanksgiving afterall.

Bad Bad Blogger...

Well this time of year always seems to be a little overwhelming for me. I am not sure why I cannot deal with it better - maybe it is the time change, maybe it is the hustle and bustle of the season. This year I want to slow down and take a moment to really sit in the silence of the season and show God how thankful I am for His Son.

I am trying to create some meaningful traditions for our family that let us celebrate this season together as well as extending God's love to those around us. When I was little my parents had a Christmas countdown pocket hanging that they would put little ideas in for each of the days. I am following in their footsteps by doing the same thing for our girls. Modge gave me some advice when I was choosing the ideas - make some of the service oriented in order to be a model of God's love to others. I look forward to seeing how the girls do with giving this year. I bet they are going to be very happy to help others in a little way!

I made my countdown boxes in the fashion of Ali Edwards (http://www.aliedwards.typepad.com/) and then I created little cards that goes inside each of the boxes. Some of the ideas are:
donate food to the food bank
go out for breakfast with Daddy
go visit Santa's Wonderland
take cookies to the firemen
make Christmas cards for grandparents
etc.

I am excited to start this with the girls and I will let you know how it goes!

Trying to stay on top of the shopping, wrapping, and planning the weekend getaways to see all the family...but most importantly remembering the reason for the season - Christ's birth.

God bless you and Merry Christmas!

My Halloween Tree

For Halloween this year, I decided to make a Halloween tree out of scrap supplies and some imagination. Here is how it turned out! I created cube ornaments, black bats, added spider webs, spiders, and clear ornaments filled with Halloween curled paper! It was a lot of fun to make. The tree is a black twig (spray paint) and it is in a black cauldron with split peas in the top.

Bat Feast and Halloween Festivities

The Bat Buffet

They were supposed to give us their scariest faces!!!

MM has been learning about bats at school the past few weeks. At the end of their celebration they were able to have a bat feast. They got to sample several of the things that bats eat including kiwi, mango, bananas, strawberries, raisins (pretend bat gauno!) , worms (gummy of course), whip cream (they pretended this was pollen) and red juice for the blood drinking bats! Then in the afternoon, many moms came to help and the students rotated through stations where they got tatoos, made monster hands, measured with candy corn, participated in a right and left story, and make spooky suckers while following directions. All the kiddos had fun!

Animal Parade

The Chicken on the Move...

A Bear got to take part in an animal parade at her preschool to celebrate Halloween. All the students were encouraged to dress as an animal. She was going to be Minnie, but then we remembered we had a chicken! I have to say....A Bear is a great chicken!

Happy Halloween!

The ghosts of our neighborhood!

The Pumpkin Trails

The Witch's Brew

Minnie & A Rock Star

The girls had a terrific time last night trick or treating in the neighborhood. Our street is normally very quiet and last night it came alive. It was great to see all the kids out dressed in their favorite costumes. We had Minnie Mouse and a Rock Star. They are just growing up too fast!

(Excuse the quality of some of the pics - my digital camera broke and I had to use a disposal....boy am I spoiled with my digital!)