a little fun

Last weekend Toni was invited to a birthday party for her friend Mathew who turned six. Toni just can't believe that all these kids get to turn six before her. The party was held at Austin's Park and Pizza and quite a few kids showed up. First we all gathered in a party room and had pizza and a beautiful Pirate cake. The kids sang and the birthday boy opened all his gifts. Then they passes out vouchers for the kids to go pick and ride different things. Toni was not interested in most the kid stuff...she wanted to push the limits and ride things she really should not be. Lucky for Toni her best friend from church showed up (she calls him K-Love....really Caleb lol) and they are two weeks apart. He likes to push the limits as well (they are not scared of anything). At first they stayed with the group and played video games and such.

But then they broke off and went to the rock climbing wall. The requirements are that you weigh at least 45 pounds....They are close. Toni weighs 44 and Caleb 42...but they let them on. Fun to watch. They played laser tag and were the only 5 year old in there not even the 6 year old wanted to go play in the dark. We went to the bumper boats and they were not tall enough to ride but Toni and Caleb charmed the man and he helped them onto their own boats. It was so much fun and I am glad I got to run around with them.

Did I mention that Caleb has a little brother named Samuel. They all look so happy together.

Man it is cold.

The picture is the road to my daughters school in the morning.

I am not a cold weather person...so I can't wait for this cold front to go away. I know it will because I live in Texas and one week it is cold and one week it is nice. Sooooo its cold...for now. Yesterday Mikey woke up a mess, he had been coughing all night and his fever was 102 (not scary for a 3 year old) and he was shaky. I took him to the pediatrician and again there is nothing they can do for him. Rest, fluid, medication for the fever and we get to wait it out. The good news on him is his ears look great, he does not have strep, no sign of a sinus infection and they seem to think this is the end of what-ever he is fighting. The bad news is his chest is not sounding perfect so if he is still coughing in a few days we have to go back in. They say if he is improving every day instead of getting worse not to worry. So I took my little sick cuddler home and gave him meds.

Also yesterday Toni had thanksgiving lunch and all parents and family were invited to join her. She had went to bed with a ear ache and was up most the night before in pain. Lucky us she woke up ready to go to school. I told her after her little party dinner at school she would be leaving and heading to the doctor. She was good with this idea. John and I went to her lunch at school and ate with her class. It was fun. I got to meet most the kids in her classroom and the food was good too. Toni is such a great little student. After the lunch I loaded her up and took her to the Doc. Yep...twice in one day. Did I mention that the Doc is not right down the road. Our pediatrician is in Round Rock over half an hour away from us. I am glad we went. She has a double ear infection due to coughing and the Doc does not like the sound in her chest. She describes the sound as a crackle. If she does not shake this cough by Monday I have to bring her back for chest x-rays. The Doc says this is how pneumonia starts and it sounds like the beginning. She is now on Anti-biotics and we are hoping that not only does this take care of the ears but it will take care of the chest as well. Sickness is not fun. I feel like we are just going to be sick ALL year. I went to the store and bought very expensive oranges for them. Lucky me both my kiddo's love oranges. I think I will peel at least one a day. Yesterday they both ate one each.

I have been fighting a cold or something for a few days and I am tired of fighting, staying up at night with one kid or the other, feeling bad about not getting more done around the house. I am losing the battle of sanity with my brain and my house. Lucky me I am still not sick. Vince was sick over last weekend and Monday and Tuesday...but he seems fine now. I think I am not sick because I simply don't have time to be. Today I am making 12 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a Kindergarten party at Toni's school. They all have to be cut and delivered by 11 so I have a little time. I am thinking coffee sounds great this morning. I can only have coffee about twice a week or I get hurt on it. BUT...I think today is going to be one of my two days I am going to brew. IC (Interstitial Cystitis) is not fun...but hey at least I can control it. I am thankful that I don't have something more serious like cancer.

Mikey is on the couch and he is laying with our cat Zella. I think she just knows when someone needs a friend. Mikey is such an animal lover. Toni is at school and seemed better today than yesterday. I hope all goes well with her today. Well...that is what has been going on.

A very Thursday day.

Well Thursday snuck up on us (can't believe the week is gone). Thursday morning I had to wake my baby girl up for school and I did not want to. She had the roughest night. She woke up several times coughing and at one point threw up because of the coughing. I just knew when I went to wake her up she would want to skip school. But I always ask her anyway cause I hate to make that little girl mad. She woke up and started getting ready, I drove her to school instead of the bus thinking she would change her mind before we got there. No such luck, but she was still coughing. I dropped her off and headed home. about 9:15 the school nurse called me and told me that Toni was in a coughing fit and asked what I was doing for her asthma. I was a little surprised, I told her that Toni had never been formally diagnosed with asthma but her pediatrician and I were both aware that it could become a problem if I can't keep her allergies under control. She takes clariten and most the time that is enough. But something blew in with the storm on Wednesday and she was going under. The only thing that will work when she gets bad is Zyrtec but it makes her so sleepy. She falls asleep in class and it is hard to wake her up. Soooooo I only give it to her on days like this. But I had already given her the claritin for the day so that was out of the question. The school nurse thought the best thing to do would be for me to pick her up. No problem....I went down to the school, signed her out and went to the nurses office. Toni was not there. The nurse said Toni was upset that she was missing class and wanted to wait for me in the classroom. So they called her and she came down the hallway and as we were headed to the door she said "hold on a sec momma". She ran back to the library and talked to the lady for a second. Then she came back and said "I had to let Mrs. Rice know that I would not be helping her today during free time, I told her this morning I would" Awww my sweet girl is giving up free time to help some of the teachers. Anyway when we got to the car she said "lets go get something for my cough and then you can bring me back to school. I don't know why I was shocked by this statement but it took me by surprise. I was thinking she could come home and get rest. But...I took her to Walmart and bought her triaminic thin strips which help with coughing and it is a little tiny strip that dissolves on the tounge. It was around her lunch time so I had Mikey and Toni both pick a lunchable at Walmart as well. Then I headed to the pharmacy to buy a humidifier for her room for at night when needs it the most. Mikey, Toni, and I all sat in the parking lot as they finished eating. I gave Toni a thin strip and headed back to school. They were a little shocked to see her again but the lady at the front desk was happy that Toni loves school. Her class was at the playground and Toni insisted that I just let her go across the whole school grounds and the parking lot by herself to meet up with her class. YEAH RIGHT. Mikey and I walked my big girl to the fence that the playground was in and let her go from there. I understand that she wants to be independent but really...come on. Anyway. The humidifier is really helping and she slept way better last night. No phone calls yet from the school today.

Circus

Well last weekend the circus came to Austin. It was so much fun. John and the kids had never been to a circus and they thought it was great. There were clowns all over the place and at one point one came and sat next to Toni. She just kept pretending not to see him she did not know what to think. She finally warmed up to the idea that they were there for fun and then her and I were on a hunt to get them to sign her book. We only managed to find a few clowns to sign in her circus book but seeing her chasing them down to get the signature was like watching a star struck fan chase down Brad Pitt. It was a three ring circus and they had elephants, Tigers, Lions, a really fun dog show, Jugglers, a cool circle cage that had 7 motorcycles in it at one time, and Trapeze. I am sure I am missing other things but it was so much fun. Mikey loved the mirrors that could make you TALL or short, Fat and small. John was so entertained seeing him enjoying himself was fun too. We will be going back to the circus next year...sooooo fun. We bought the kids the cotton candy, popcorn and slushies when the vender's would pass us. We skipped all the expensive toys all over the place but our kids were quite happy with the junk we feed them. Our neighbors also went and we sat next to them. The neighbor boy goes to clown camp every year and he was an honorary clown for the day so she had great seats. Noah (the honorary clown) was in the center ring during the opening ceremony. After seeing all the acts, the clowns, and the super cool animals both my kids agreed that the best part was the dog show. Now you know they are my kinda kids.

Olympics

Well...I have been wanting to get together with my church more on a social level. I love all the stuff I am involved in but never really get to have fun with them. I was invited to a couples special Olympic games night. If you could not find childcare for your children it was $8 at the church for the night per family (no matter how many kids you had). I was crazy happy that John said he would go (and I know he just agreed to go for me). We were to dress up as our fav. Olympian and show up ready to compete. 14 couples showed up and we started out with a home cooked meal and fellowship for an hour. Then we were split into random groups (and you could not be on the same team as your husband). There were 5 different groups and we were given five min. to come up with our country (had to be made up...nothing real), draw a country flag, and sing a short anthem. It was great I was in group Coco mo and ready to compete. we had several events lined out and we had to pick team members to compete in each. First was pole throwing (OK...it was really straws that we tossed to see who could make it the farthest), then it was Shot put competition (ummmm it was a small foam ball). We went from the balancing beam (one two by four piece of lumber placed on the floor...like 2 inches high) and everything in between. We had to act like it was all real. We even ended with couple ice skating (in the gym with no real skates...all fake). In the ice skating events we had to have a lift and that was fun on our team because we are the only ones that sent out two guys to pretend skate (one in a dress). We all laughed our selves stupid and had a blast. From being flung across the gym on wheels to cartwheeling, tumbling, and leaping the way to victory, in the end we all waited for the results and of course my team won (I am a sore loser and I will not lose). We got the gold and had to sing our anthem in front of all...again. The team John was on won the silver. It was such a fun night (it lasted 3 hours all in all). I really like playing with the folks from our church and John had a blast too. I will remember to bring my camera next time...too funny.

First day of November

Today was a fun day...we stayed outside most the day and played with the neighbors. My kids wanted their faces painted again so I told them sense it was Saturday I could. But not on school nights or church days. Toni wanted to be a cat and Mikey just wanted paint. Lia and I took turns outside with the kids so we could each do our laundry and clean our houses a little. I really have great neighbors. It is now November and guess what came by today. Yep...the ice cream truck. Lucky them I had a little extra money from the washer (I still have not learned not to launder money). Mikey still is clingy but no fever today, I just don't understand what has got him down. The kids are watching Wallie right now (thanks Uncle Vince). They really love movie and I like it because there is not much talking so it is nice to play when you are tired of noise.

I miss my husband. I hope he is having fun with the guys and getting a break. It is nice to have his help with the kids in the evening but I understand needing to get away some times. I wish he was home but I know it is opening weekend of deer season. I wonder how many wives are our there thinking the same thing I am. I told him if he goes he has to bring me a WHOLE deer home. (he likes to give some of it away). I told him he can't give any away unless it is his second deer. I miss the deer meat in the fridge.