about wednesday

Just when I start things are starting to calm down around here, things get shaken up.  Yesterday started out with what was supposed to a normal 6 month ear recheck for Evan from his ear surgery.  Well, I decided to take Collin along to see if I could have him checked out as well, since he's been complaining about his left ear.  Evan checked out fine & we even got in his skin allergy test, which we have been wanting to do for a while, since he seems to be sensitive to many things.  The allergy test turned out great too, no allergies {guess we just have an extra sensitive boy!}.  Collin, it turned out, has ear infection, which he hasn't had since he was 6 months old.  He is now on his 3rd version of antibiotics, which is the most antibiotics he's been on in his entire 9 year life!  Turns out the other 2 he's been on tend to be resistant to the bacteria that causes most ear infections.  I hope this is it.  Now if we could only avoid all other illnesses for the rest of the winter!  Lydia is getting better as well, seems to be much more happy, so I think she's making progress as well.  She's been very congested in the morning & I haven't had any luck getting her to eat breakfast, but the babysitter says she's eating really well at lunch.

My mom, bless her heart, called to invite us over for supper last night, knowing I've had sick kids & cooking has not been top priority.  So of course, I said "YES!".  Less than an hour later she called & sounded a little panicked.  She said that they had just found out that my brother's house was on fire & they were going to be with him.  Thank goodness, no one was home {except Leroy the dog & Evalyn the cat} since it started before the kids got out of school.  My brother was working in town, so he was able to get there quickly & he got the pets out, but he inhaled alot of smoke.  So, we're keeping them in our prayers & trying to help in any way we can.  Since our family all lives near each other, they have plenty of places to stay.  We even got some clothes rounded up for them, since right now, they can't get anything out & everything will probably need to go to the cleaners.  Thankfully, they think it's been confined to a small portion of the house, but there was alot of smoke.  Of course, they are all pretty shaken, I can't even imagine.... hopefully they'll find out more today.  

Oh & in all of this excitement.... we didn't forget, HAPPY BIRTHDAY RANDY!  Randy is my sister Kim's husband & we love him {and his fabulous cooking!}.

Happy Birthday Denise!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU......

Okay, so she says she doesn't celebrate anymore & that she never gets cards on her birthday, so I'll just post for everyone to know it's her birthday!  Denise is my incredibly talented co-designer at Reminisce. I've been lucky enough over the last several years to work with her, learn from her, & she has become a great friend.  I hope you have a good one today!  

and now a little Evan funny....

As many of you know Evan is the funny man around our house.  When we were making cookies on Saturday, we decided to put some colored sugar on them.  Our choices were pink, green & yellow.  Evan, who was helping me & my mom with the cookies, said "let's do pink, mom kinda likes pink, & green, because that's mom's favorite color."  Jokingly, I went up & was giving him a big hug & kiss, saying "oh Evan, you know me so well, can I marry you?"  To which Evan responded, "no, you're already married, now get lost!".  I couldn't  stop laughing.  He's always good for that... maybe he should work on his responses before he starts dating though?

getting better

It's starting to get better around here... hopefully it lasts.  I'm typing right now with NO SICK KIDS at home!  yay!!!!  I sent Collin to school on Friday & he actually made it through the entire day.  Lydia is back to the babysitters today, she hasn't run a fever since Friday, so hopefully she will be feeling much better soon.  Still alot of coughing going on.  I'm hoping we can get through the meds w/out anyone else getting sick so we can go for our flu shots next week.  

It was a slightly uneventful weekend around here.  My birthday was spent at home since the kids were sick, but Dan brought home pizza & Grey's Anatomy dvds to watch, so wasn't too bad.  Evan kept bugging Dan as to when they were going shopping to get my birthday present... what a good boy, always looking out for his mom {btw, I don't think Dan got the hint}.  Saturday morning I shot out the door as early as possible with my sister Carol to go to Burlington for a short shopping trip.  They just redid our local Target & it has a Starbucks inside of it, so I got my coffee & shopped for a while.  I was on the look out for ideas for Christmas & I actually bought a few stocking stuffers & a BIG present for Dan.  I was in dire need of a new winter coat, so off to Younkers where Carol helped me pick out a super cute wool coat {after trying on about 10}.  Then Carol, my sister Kathy, my niece Erin & mom Mary took me out for Chinese.  MMMM.  I don't get to eat chinese when Dan's around, he's not fond of it at all.  We then headed for home, but made a detour to The Grapevine, which is owned by my very talented friend Melanie.  She had been closed over the past few days preparing her many Christmas trees that she has decorated in her shop every year.  So exciting to see her ideas.  Bought a cute little black top hat {looks like Frosty's hat} to put at the top of our tree.  I headed home then & got the kids & we spent a few hours at Carol's house making some cookies.  Yesterday, I had promised the boys that if I could find someone to watch Lydia I'd take them to see Madagascar 2.  Carol was nice enough to stay with a slightly grouchy girl we could go.  The movie was fun, but still not nearly as good as the first!  We got our fill of popcorn & soda, though.  

Oh, & a little shout to my friend Sarah & her hubby Tyler.  They just celebrated their anniversary.  She had a funny post on her blog about going on their "date" without a tag along {I think any parent can relate to you on this}.  I remember now when they got married, Dan & I traveled to Okaboji with Collin, who was just 3 months old at the time. Yikes, has it really been that long?  Anyway congrats you guys.        

thirty f o u r ?

really?  GeeZ, where has the time gone.  Was thinking this morning what my wishes are for myself this year....

less stress, enjoy my kids more, be more creative {hands on}, dates with dan, patience {this is one i'm always praying for, trying for, hoping for} & remembering to keep doing the things i love {scrapbooking, design, decorating}... these can always bring me back where i belong.

Not sure what I'll get to do for my birthday, was dreaming of Olive Garden & shopping, but not looking to good with 2 sick kids.  Maybe I'll be lucky enough to get to Target.  I really want to go to see Madagascar 2 with the boys, too, but we'll see!

and just a quick shot of me & Lydie together.  She's home sick today... took her & Collin to the doctor yesterday.  Collin is still dealing with bronchitis, he finally got his medicine changed & seems to be slowly improving.  Poor guy has had a fever since Sunday!  Sent him to school this morning, no fever, but I'm thinking he probably won't make it past lunch & I'll have to go get him.  The afternoons are when he gets tired.  Lydia they think has the bronchitis as well, plus a nice case of strep throat.. YAY.  They couldn't even test her yesterday because they were out of test strips, there has been so many cases coming into their office.  So meds for her as well.  She woke up this  morning with some fierce pink cheeks, which, for my kids, means fever.  Pray for them so they get well soon {& that Dan & I don't end up with any of this yuck!}.