Scary Incident

This post falls under the for journal purposes category.

Yesterday I woke up and to my dismay had caught the stomach bug that has been making it's way through our house. Trent was back at work so Madyson became head babysitter. I was hoping that as the day went on I would start to feel better but it only got worse. Around 4:00 I called to see if Madyson could play w/Brayden at my neighbors because he was all over me. Then things went down hill. After yet another trip to the bathroom my hand and feet started tingling. After a few minutes they went totally numb and I could not move them. My stomach was cramping unbearably and I couldn't move. I was starting to get pretty freaked out. I couldn't get to a phone so made my way to the front door. I finally got the kids attention, luckily the boys were playing outside. They ran and got the neighbor who in a panic rushed me to the emergency room. I have never been so excited to have someone put an IV in my arm as I was last night. All I could think was just stick it in and give me some drugs. Thank goodness they work quick. Once they kicked in I was finally coherent again and I started to feel much better.


Luckily it turned out the I had a full blown hemorrhagic UTI. The numbness was caused be dehydration and shock and thank goodness it quickly wore off. After a few bags of fluid and a stack of prescriptions they sent me on my way. I vaguely remember leaving the hospital and couldn't figure out where I was when Trent's alarm went off this morning. Whatever they gave me really knocked me out!

Thankfully with antibiotics and this miracle they call sleep I am feeling much better today.
Poor Preston was so upset last night and was crying because he thought it was his fault I had to go to the hospital. He was the first on to get sick so he was thought it was his fault. I have been trying to explain that he did not make me sick and that what I have is not contagious but he's still not totally convinced

I am so thankful for my neighbors who got me to the hospital and took care of my kids, helped clean my house and got the kids dinner. My mom (who happened to be coming into town last night) for staying with the kids and taking care of my house that had been destroyed while they had free reign, and my sister for taking the kids today and getting groceries.

We had a Great Christmas

We love Christmas time and this year was great. My goal this year was to finish shopping early so we could just enjoy Christmas. I got about 95 percent done but did have to make a run Christmas Eve morning. By early afternoon everything was wrapped and ready to go. That's a new record for me. Our cards were out before New Year's and I didn't have to stay up half the night wrapping presents. The bummer of the day was that Madyson was sick. We had plans to have dinner Christmas Eve with friends but cancelled because Madyson was so sick. It turned out ok thought. It was actually very nice just being home with everyone and not rushing around.

Like always everyone got to open a Christmas Eve gift and you'll never guess what it was. Okay it was pj's but what else would it be! Grandma Smith had sent Christmas books so we also let them open them and they were very excited. Everyone got dressed in their new pj's and we set off to look at lights. Growing up we always knew the neighborhoods to go to and we would spend the evening oohing and aahhing at the beautiful lights. Well, in Oklahoma it's not that easy. We haven't found those kinds of neighborhoods close by. We did find one house that was incredible and as we drove by Preston said "how'd they do that, it's a miracle!" I think we are going to try and come up with a new tradition for Christmas Eve as the light viewing seems to turn into more driving than viewing.

Christmas morning we actually had to wake the kids up! Luckily Madyson was feeling better and everyone had a great time opening presents. We spent the day playing with their new stuff, trying to keep Brayden out of the kid's stuff and enjoyed being home together. We went to dinner at the Merkley's and then came home and played games. We had a wonderful Christmas.

One of my favorites parts of Christmas is receiving Christmas cards. We don't do a very good job of keeping in touch with everyone through out the year and it is so fun to receive the cards and see how everyone is doing. Thanks to all our family and friends who sent one to us, we miss you!

Most of all I am thankful for the birth of our Savior and the opportunity we have to celebrate the greatest gift we have been give. We hope your family had a wonderful Christmas and that the light of Christ will shine brightly in your lives!

Christmas Eve

Chrismas Day!

Presont wanted an egg cooker so he could make his own boiled eggs! He was so excited!

Happy 11th Birthday!

I can hardly believe it but Austin is 11. They grow up too fast. On his birthday he convinced me to let him stay home from school part of the day. He ran errands with me and then we had lunch at Wendy's followed by a stop at his favorite, Krispy Kreme. For dinner he chose Chili's as always and got ribs and the lava cake. Trent took him shopping for a new basketball hoop and ball. Then his surprise present was a deep fryer. Believe it or not that's what he has been asking for and he was so excited! We had a fun day and I'm glad he talked me into letting him spend the morning with us. On Saturday he went bowling with some friends and had a great time.
Austin's favorites right now include playing football with kids in the neighborhood, cooking on the BBQ, sleeping in, camping, fire, he loves fire, and the Twilight book series. He has read it twice!
Austin is still our biggest cuddler and we love him so much. It makes me sad to realize that he is no longer a little boy but excited to see the young man he is turning into.

Reward: Missing Elephant

So yesterday the unthinkable happened. Elle is missing. The elephant that Brayden has been attached to since he started sleeping in his crib is gone.

I had to wake Brayden up to go to Madyson's party at school. I put him in the car with his elephant to try and help calm him down. When we got to the school I made him leave it in the car so that it would not get lost. After school we went to gymnastics and then came home. At bedtime I asked Trent to get Elle out of the car so Brayden could go to bed. He came back and told me it wasn't there. I told him it had to be and went to find it myself. After tearing the car apart I came up empty handed. It was gone. We had to put him to bed without it last night and he cried and cried.

I was sure that I would be able to find it because we had only been two places so I got in the car and went go rescue her. After searching the parking lot at the school I went to Oklahoma Gold sure I would find it laying in the parking lot there. It was not there. Someone was still in the gym so I went in and checked the lost and found but still nothing.

In the middle of the night last night Brayden woke up crying so I went in and picked him up. He just kept reaching out waiting for me to hand him his elephant. It was so sad he was just screaming and reaching. He finally went back to sleep with no elephant. I'm sure he will eventually forget about it but I am so sad that it is gone. None of the kids have ever been really attached to anything and it was so cute to watch him cling to his elephant and suck on the hat. He loved the ball on the end of it. I guess I shouldn't have broken my own rule that Elle doesn't leave the house because she will get lost.

Thanks Honey

On Wednesday night I had plans to go out myself. I had planned on dropping Austin off at scouts so Trent could stay home with the other kids and just pick him up when he was done. Well, like always, plans changed and Austin had to go to a different activity. We couldn't just drop him off so Trent needed to go with him. I told him I would cancel my plans and stay home with the other kids. He, being a great husband, insisted that I still go out. It wouldn't have been that big of a deal except for the fact that it was freezing outside and the activity was an outside activity and a night hike. He bundled all of the kids up and took them with him. He did the hike with all four of them in the freezing cold so that I could have a night to myself. What a great dad and husband!

Crazy Kids

My crazy kids decided once again that they had to play outside even though it was freezing. After the sprinkle of snow we had they just couldn't stand it. It was about 7:00 pm and 11 degrees with the wind chill, but they decided they wanted to go outside. They bundled up and spent the next 45 minutes scraping every flake of snow thay could find into a bowl. Then they did the best they could with their frozen hands and made snowballs and had a snowball fight! There is something about the cold that makes them like each other. Maybe if we moved to Alaska they would get along all the time!

Lovin Soccer

I was playing soccer with the kids and Brayden wanted in on the action. We all stopped for a minute and started yelling "run Brayden, kick it, kick the ball." With a huge smile on his face Brayden ran over to the ball, stopped right in front of it and bent down and gave it a big kiss!

He slept all night

Brayden finally slept all night last night! He was a great sleeper and then on Halloween he got croup. After four days he was not getting better so we took him back to the Dr. and found out the he also had strep. The poor little guy was miserable and could not sleep. He finally got healthy but the sleep issue was still there. Finally, last night he went to be at 8:30 and didn't wake up until 6:45. Even better, all the other kids slept too. I can't remember the last time that everyone made it through the night. I hope we have many more restful night too come. I can't imagine what life will be like if I get to sleep all night every night!

Should I call 911?

Preston was playing with a wiffle ball and got it stuck on his finger. I thought he was just kidding so I gave it a yank to get it off. He wasn't kidding, it was really stuck so I got some lotion and tried rubbing it on his finger so the ball would slide off. After a few failed attempts Preston started getting pretty worked up. His finger was swelling and he was starting to panic. I tried to cut it off with scissors but they wouldn't cut through the plastic. There happened to be some hedge trimmers in the laundry room but after one attempt with them I realized I would probably cut his finger off and make things worse. I usually stay pretty calm when the kids get hurt but for a moment I felt a little panicked and the thought crossed my mind "should I call 911?," but the thought of a fire truck showing up at my house to cut a ball off my sons hand was a little embarrassing to me. Luckily before I could finish that thought, Preston looked at me started laughing and said "I'm ok mom, I'm ok." The ball was still stuck and his finger was getting bigger but luckily I remembered Trent had some scissors from his EMT bag that could cut through just about anything. After a few more minutes of snipping we had the ball off! Preston still has his finger and I didn't have to bother any firefighters!

Breakfast in Bed

Last week I had a rough night with Brayden and the kids got up before me. Austin came into my bedroom and told me he wanted pancakes. I told him to go make some and to my surprise he said ok. I thought for sure he would come back and complain about having to do it himself. To my surprise he went and fixed pancakes and bacon not only for himself, but he fed the other kids too. When he was done with that he came back to my room and asked if I wanted him to make breakfast for me. What a sweet boy!

Kids in the kitchen

Last week I got so tired of coming up with and idea for dinner and fixing it by myself that I told the kids they were each going to cook dinner one night. They were thrilled with the idea! They each got to decide what they would fix and what they would need to cook it. On their night they had to cook and clean up. I wasn't sure how it would all turn out but it was wonderful. They had so much fun and it was great to have a bit of a break from the normal meal time routine.

Madyson made her favorite taco rolls and escaped with just a small burn on her finger.

Austin barbecued hamburgers and made french fries. He is becoming quite the backyard bbq king!

Preston made chicken quesadillas and spanish rice

Thanks for the great food and a break from the kitchen!

They do like each other!

Most days at our house include many fights and arguments and I wonder why everyone can't just get along and enjoy each other. Well the other day they did. It was freezing outside but Brayden doesn't care and wanted to go out. I got him all bundled up and ready to go. Madyson, being the awesome big sister that she is said she would go with him so she got ready. They started playing and Austin wandered out. Before long Preston joined in. They played in the backyard, helped Brayden on the slide and had a blast. It was so wonderful to see all of them playing together and getting along. When they finally came insde, no one was crying or yelling and they hadn't gotten in a fight (the way things usually come to an end) it was simply because they were all frozen!!! The days that they all get along are few and far between but those moments give me hope that someday they will realize how important they are to each other and that they can all be great friends!

UUUGGH! I just realized that I deleted the good picture and kept the blurry one but since these moments are rare the blurry picture is going to have to do.

Very Thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving! This post is a little late but we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Without much family near it is such a blessing to have great friends. We spent Thanksgiving with the Searles and Christensens. We had 6 adults and 12 very energetic kids. There was lots of outside play, we couldn't have asked for better weather. We also had lots of wonderful food and more delicious pies than we could possibly eat. The kids entertained us with their talents and we all had so much fun watching them perform. The best part of the day was being able to spend it with friends. As I look back on our year we have so much to be thanful for. I am so glad for the opportunity to stop and reflect on everything we have been blessed with. As we get close to the start of a new year, I am going to try and take more time each day to remember all I have to be thankful for. As usual I wondered why I hadn't taken more pictures once it was all said and done but at least we got a few.

The Adventures of Brayden

What happens when the big kids leave the bathroom door open with Brayden in the house?

Toothpaste art!!

The Adventures Continue!

After Brayden's bath I use q-tips to dry his ears. I'm not sure if he got them confused with mascara or what. We found him hiding with 2 tubes of mascara (he figured out how to open them himself.) He had one in each ear!

I think he is a little confused between mascara and q-tips

My Little Performers

Over the last two months the kids have each had the opportunity to perform at school. It has been so fun to see their anticipation and excitement. I love to watch each of them become more confident in front of other people. For some of them it comes more naturally but for some of the it is a big step. I am so proud of them!!

PRESTON

Does it get any cuter than kindergarteners singing about numbers and their country? Preston's class did a little play about the pilgrims and Thanksgiving. He was Governor Bradford and had the only speaking part. He did such a great job. They also sang a song about counting by 5's and 10's. Then they sang You're A Grand Old Flag and God Bless The USA. He was so proud and practiced like crazy before the program.

Governor Bradford "God has been good to us we should thank him"

Preston singing God Bless The USA

AUSTIN

Austin's class studied explorers and then had an explorer breakfast. He was Jacques Cartier. At the breakfast each student got to tell who they were and where they had explored

MADYSON

Madyson's fourth grade program was called make a difference. They had songs about what they could do to make a difference in the world. She had a solo in one of the songs and did a beautiful job.