Sick kiddos

I had turned over a new leaf (yet again) to post more consistently...but as they say "the best laid plans".

As life usually does, it put a wrench in said plans. The kids caught some sort of virus that lasts about 4-5 days...and when it works it's way through each one of them. Well, you do the math. I've been nursing one sick child or another for almost 2 weeks now. And to top it off, I seem to have gotten a little something myself. I woke up yesterday morning and every joint in my body hurt. Ankles, toes, wrists, elbows, fingers, you name it and it hurt. To tell you that this typing thing is taking an eternity is an understatement. :)

I'm sure we will all be on the mend soon and back to a healthy house. Besides, it's killing me that we aren't outside enjoying these 45 degree days we are getting at the end of January. I need me some fresh air!

Lily the Lounge Lizzard

This is what Lily likes to do while I am making supper...lounge on the floor at my feet.

Wish I could do that instead of cook. :)

 Ben

Ben and Ella 

Lily

Cora

Ella and Lily went to stay at Grammie and Papa's house a while back. They had lots of fun being the only two grandkids there and got lots of individual attention. I love it that they can make lots of great memories with their grandparents.

One of the special things they got to do was check out where their uncle Jamie works. He is a paramedic in TRF right now and he showed them the lay of the land.

Jamie hooked Ella up to the heart machine. *Ahem* Excuse the fact that I don't really know what it's official name is. Ummm...maybe EKG machine? Yeah, let's go with that. I'm sounding smarter by the minute.

And proof that:
A) Jamie knows what he's doing.
B) Ella is alive.

Ella also learned about oxygen levels...

Stethoscopes...

And even got to listen for herself.

Even Lily got in on the action and took a little look around.

I wish I could say that she is demonstrating where an oxygen mask goes...but I'm guessing she's just sniffing it. This girl has the nose of a bloodhound.

I have no words for this picture...it just makes me laugh. She looks like she is being eaten by the mask with that little itty bitty face of hers.

And the whole crew. Judging by Ella's smile...I'm guessing she had a lot of fun.

Thanks, Jamie, for taking time to teach my girls a little something. Thanks for investing in them and making them feel loved and special. You are such a great uncle. They love you so much and think you rock. Next up...Ben. He's gonna want to come take a tour when he gets his adventure time with Grammie and Papa too. :)

Norah L.

I had so much fun taking pictures of this new little one...and since Jason's family checks the blog, I wanted to get a sneak peak of the newest family member up right away. I know that this little girl will bring lots of smiles.

Carrie, your daughter is just exquisite. I had a blast.

Baby Jameson

I had the pleasure of taking pics of one of the cutest babies I know. My cousin Whitney had her first baby in October and let me tell you...he's a keeper!

Since my family (and his) checks this blog regularily, I thought I would post a few pics of that little bundle of goodness...

Trick Or Treat

Yes, I realize that it's November 20 and that Halloween was in October. I was gently reminded by my sister that I promised pics of the kids in their costumes and I hadn't delivered. It's good to have people in your life that will keep you on your toes! :)

...Let me bring you back to the day before Halloween...

24 hours to go...and costumes are just a thought in my head. No, seriously. I had pictures in my head, but no actual, tangible costumes to put on my kids. Jason's job that day was to fashion said costumes so I could finish them that evening. Well, as usual around here, we get a bit distracted and as nightfall came, we had 1 out of 4 costumes semi started. I told Jason he needed to stay up and finish his part so I could start mine right away in the morning.

12 hours to go...I woke up that morning to find that our project hadn't progressed any from the night before. Yikes! Less than 12 hours to go and I had a lot of work ahead of me. I broke out the exacto knife and started creating. I got out the spray paint and bathed them in a lovely shade of each child's choosing. I brought them into the house to dry as it was so foggy outside, you could literally see the water droplets in the air. Then panic set in. Within about 2 minutes, my entire house smelled like a spray paint can. It was aweful! I was forced to open the windows just to try to air it out. I quickly came to the conclusion that the only way they would dry was to be inside and since that wasn't going to be happening, I was in a pickle.

6 hours to go...No costumes for 4 children and we were becoming desperate. I didn't know what to do, so I started laughing like crazy. (Yeah, not that laughing really actually helps the matter) The irony was setting in. One year ago, I was scrambling to get costumes ready up until the bitter end and I vowed that the following year I would plan and be prepared. I was losing my marbles trying to figure out what to do.

Ella, being so creative, decided that she wanted to use her leftover birthday balloons, which were purple, to be a bunch of grapes. Ever tried stapling on balloons to a shirt? No easy, my friends...not easy. We finally got them all attached...just the right amount left after a few minor casualties. We went upstairs to show Jason and as Ella went into the room, she cut the corner a little too close...and POP! Hmmm....back to ground zero again.

I called around and found some costumes I could borrow from friends and as I did that...the sun came out. Oh...that lovely sun. I was so happy to see it! I quickly hauled out the costumes to dry and air out, knowing they still needed 2 more coats of paint. I quickly got to work and became more determined than ever.

We had to do a few change-ups at the end...but we managed to get each child a costume that they were excited to be in. It turned out to be a raving success. And I bet you are just dieing to see what each one wore...

Oh...just as a disclaimer...we were so excited to get out to start trick or treating that I forgot to take any pictures. Wait...before you sigh in frustration for leading you on...I did take pictures. The next day. Yep, I made them put their costumes on again just so I could snap a few. So if you are wondering why the costumes look a little worse for wear...it's because they had survived an evening of getting in and out of the trailer being pulled behind the 4 wheeler, delivering all the kiddos and their friends to houses upon houses.

Ella was a ballerina, Ben a red lego, Lily a purple lego, and Cora a mouse.

Not easy to get 4 kids to stand still and look at the camera. Especially with a lego ready to fall off at any moment.

Ben's costume? The bottom part of the lego connector fell off and disappeared before we even reached the first house. I sprayed another one just for your viewing pleasure. Unfortunately, the cover wasn't the right size so he had to hold it on for the pictures. Ha!

Heeheee, this picture makes me laugh. She loved being a lego.

And Miss Mouse? She couldn't figure out why on earth I was making her wear this again. Oooh, just seeing this picture makes me want to scoop her up and kiss her. Those cheeks get me every time.

They mangaed to get to every. house. in. the. development. Oh, yes they did. I'm pretty sure that we will have candy until next halloween.

Guess we'll have to ration this out or there might be tummy aches in our future.

Hmmmm....brush up on our sorting skills, do some candy math with addition and subtraction problems, and make some beautiful graphs.

And enjoy the big smiles all of this brings.