Well, Isaiah got over his strep and we were able to enjoy several activities in the month of November. There was the Veteran's Day program, Carissa's Daisy Girl Scout investiture ceremony, Thanksgiving lunches with the kids, and finally Thanksgiving break.
My pretty little daisy
She was so proud to learn the oath and law
Over the break we continued to have fun. We went to a really fun birthday party where we made gingerbread houses, David's school had a field trip to the Fort Worth Stockyards, and we had Thanksgiving with some friends in the ward.
Gingerbread houses
Long horns in the middle of Fort Worth
The kids enjoying their picnic lunch (PS. They dressed themselves. I honestly had nothing to do with the matching sweatshirts.)
A mural in the visitor's center
The day after Thanksgiving we went shopping at a few Black Friday sales. That was fun and an adventure as usual. We took the kids because we decided to get Aaron and the boys some new jeans. I had him take David and Isaiah to Target to get those while I took the other three to Wal-Mart for some purchases. Jacob had a cute comment to sum up how he felt about the chaos that happened at 5 am...When things had calmed down and we were walking around the empty aisles that had been crowded only minutes before he said, "Mom, the game is over now....Can we play again another day?" I just laughed and told him maybe next year.
And then the Christmas holidays officially began. They were pretty much normal, shopping, cleaning, wrapping, creating...Carissa's girl scout troop was in the Christmas parade so we went and supported her in that. We also had our ward Christmas party where the kids got to visit Santa.
Carissa on the float.
He didn't like Santa very much.
We made plans to go to Conroe in the few days before Christmas and be back home for Christmas Eve. Then the week before that changed a little. It started with Aaron staying home sick. The second day he was feeling even worse so I said he had to go to the doctor. He didn't fight me, which shows just how sick he was. So he went to the doctor who diagnosed him with what else....strep throat. He stayed home the rest of the week. Towards the end of the week David and Jacob were starting to sound really croaky. David admitted to a sore throat but Jacob was in denial and claimed he wasn't sick. So on to round two of doctor's visits. Naturally both boys tested positive for strep and were put on antibiotics as well.
Monday came around and Aaron went back to work. David seemed to be feeling better as well. Carissa also seemed to be fine, but Jacob didn't seem any better and I had my worries that the other two would catch it if they didn't have it already. So, we altered our travel plans. Knowing that my uncle was already setting things up for the hunting trip we decided to send Aaron and David down to Conroe anyway and they took Carissa to keep my aunt busy. I got to stay at home and make the final preparations for Christmas Eve. I was very disappointed, but that's the way it goes I guess.
So, on to Christmas Eve. It had actually been cold the day or two before and on Christmas Eve we started to get snow. And it stuck! I was glad Aaron and the kids made it home and we hung the stockings, snapped some pictures, and sent the kids to bed.
Excited for Santa
I LOVE this pic
The stockings were hung...
Santa Clause did make his stop that night, despite the snow, and the kids had fun opening all their presents the next morning. I was a little disappointed though. We actually had a white Christmas and the kids seemed to think playing in the snow would be less fun than with their new presents. Oh well. I'm sure some day they will appreciate it.
Santa Clause came!
He even brought stockings for the cat and dog.
Proof it snowed that night....
...And it was still there the next morning!
Since our Christmas plans had gotten messed up, we decided to go down to Conroe on New Years day. It was still fun, even if it was later and shorter than originally planned. Aaron and my uncle went hunting again (didn't get anything this time either), and we had fun at the house. Thanks for hosting us!
Walking the dogs in Conroe
Since the New Year we have been keeping busy with scouts. David and Aaron have the Pinewood Derby coming up and Carissa and I are keeping busy selling Girl Scout cookies along with the different activities her awesome leader plans. We went to the fire stations the other day.
The Girl Scout cookie rally lock-in
Up all night
Joseph turned 2 yesterday and I guess he felt left out because he is now pretty sick. It started last night when he came into our room at around 3 in the morning with a fever. I gave him some Tylenol and told the doctor about it at his well child check-up today. He sounded wheezy and so they did a flu test and took a chest x-ray. Both looked good so the doctor diagnosed him with Bronchiolitis and said to give him breathing treatments every 3-4 hours for the next couple of days.
Well, tonight on the way home from dropping Carissa off at Girl Scouts with Aaron, he threw up all over himself. I pulled him out of the car seat when we got home and got ready to put him in the tub and he felt warm. I took his temperature and it said 105.1! I called Aaron, called the dr, stuck him in the coldish water, and it started to come down. I gave him some medicine and it has come down a lot. But now I'm worried it's something more serious. I guess we just get to watch it overnight and call in the morning.
We knew we were due for something, but sheesh, why does January always have to be so rough?! What a way to start the year.
I will try to post more often, but don't know how exciting the posts will be since Joey broke our camera. Oh well. I'll try.
