Friday, December 26, 2008

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful, busy day yesterday at our house. We fell into bed last night and said to each other, "What a crazy way to celebrate the incarnation." Christmas is just so different with little people in the house! Nana and Papa were here and we had a blast with them. Here are a few shots from my NEW Christmas present!! :) Maybe now I'll be better about blogging...ha!

Thank you, Nana, for the cute Christmas pjs!!


Could be her new favorite...she spent quite a bit of time feeding her new baby yesterday!

These planes were quite the hit with all three of my boys. :)

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Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Nutty Berry


This is our friend "Nutty Berry." G-Money named him last summer when he started coming around. I know it seems stupid to blog about this creature...I mean, REALLY. I shouldn't even give him the attention he so craves.

We came home from the store one day and found a little hole nibbled out of G's pumpkin. Well, we caught him. He is UNASHAMED. Needless to say, the pumpkin is completely gone now and we have one fat squirrel hanging out in our tree. He's begs and "talks" to me when I come outside. It's hard to ignore him, but I'm afraid he'll invite himself in if I give him too much attention.

Seriously, the squirrels out here are a different breed.

Friday, October 03, 2008

Out of the mouths...

G: "Mommy, do you know what a 'sophia' is?"
E: "Do you mean the girl's name, like mommy's jewelry?"
G: "No...a SPEARA."
E: "I'm sorry, I don't understand what you are saying."
G: more emphatically: "A SPEARA"
E: completely confused: "No. I don't know what that is. What is a Speara?"
G: "A ball."
E: ?!? realization: "OH...a Sphere. Where did you learn about that?!"
G: "From school."

PreK isn't what it used to be, folks.

G: "Mommy, I think I'm going to pull for two teams. The Gamecocks AND Georgia."
E: "WHAT?! Why, sweetie?"
G: "Because I'm a George."

I guess that makes sense when you are four.

Thursday, October 02, 2008

sharing

"I think I'd like a bite of that, G."


"He left me!"




She knows how to work them, doesn't she?!

G-Money is in School!!






Two posts in one week...i know you are impressed. :)

G-Money started PreK this fall. He was so excited to go and has grown up SO MUCH in the last few months. It's amazing, and I'm so proud of how well he is doing. Parent-teacher conferences are next week, so we'll see how things are really going, but so far, so good.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

My Birthday!






We celebrated my birthday on Friday and it was such a FUN day! I really wanted to go see the aspens, so we drove to Mueller State Park and went for a short hike. The kids loved being outside (aside from the bees) and we loved watching them run. We then drove down to Cripple Creek to see the steam engine (a HUGE hit!) and then home to have dinner at Red Robin. It was a kids dream...and mommy was happy too. It's funny how your perspective changes when you are a mom. It's so fun watching your kids just enjoy life.

Sunday, August 03, 2008

June




Happy Birthday C-Love!





We are so thankful for you, sweet girl!!!
May 31, 2008

More May...


A little baseball action...
the head cheerleader!

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Cousin Mania

I'm feeling a bit shell-shocked here. I had no idea how much work this would be.
People said, "You are nuts." I said, "Oh, it'll be fun!!" (Perpetual optimist.)
It is fun!
I am nuts!!

Here is the run-down of the week so far:
4 sisters
8 kids under the age of 4
7 in diapers
2 nursing
5 highchairs in my eating area
2 baby pools in the back yard
1 home project in the works...we decided to tear apart my kitchen and paint the cabinets while the sistas are in town. Yeah. (I have to say that Evelyn is the QUEEN Project Manager for this. She has done this before and knows exactly how to tell us what to do. We need a good boss since the house is not quiet until after 9 pm and that is when we start painting. We are so bleary-eyed, I'm not sure how it is going to look, but I'll post some pictures later.)

We are having a great time being together. Next time we are planning a sister week without children. :)

Big Boy cousins...
These two are sweet friends. They are 2 weeks apart. We've caught them holding hands and snuggling together. I think Sweet C is so glad to have another girl in the house. :)
The Queen. Good-bye yucky brown cabinets!!

Bedtime. I think you can see 5 heads in this shot.

I'll get pics of #7 and #8 in the next post.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I feel pretty lame that I haven't blogged in so long. But...I'm moving on and I'm just going to do what I can these days. We've hit a new level with Baby C becoming mobile--she is crawling everywhere, climbing the stairs, and cruising. Gone are the days where she would sit contentedly and watch her brothers play! This girl's gotta move. She turned 1 on Saturday and I'm still in disbelief. Where did the year go?! We just had a small family party and ate pink cupcakes. Yum. :)

I'm trying to remember the last month...oh, yes.
Bryan went to the ER the end of March with a severe sore throat. (I know, it sounds lame, but the man couldn't swallow...it wasn't like our last ER visit the day G came home from the hospital. That's a whole different post.) While we were there, they ran several tests including a CT scan which revealed a large lump on his thyroid. Our family doc sent him on to a specialist who wanted to do a biopsy. We had the biopsy the end of April and the doctor called us THE NEXT DAY with the results. (Getting a call immediately after a biopsy is never a good sign...) SO. We went into the office and basically they couldn't tell from the biopsy if the tumor was cancer, so they wanted to take a closer look. (Open him up and get it out.) I called Tootie, the brilliant oncology nurse, who said, "Oh, Boone. If you're going to get cancer, thyroid cancer is the best kind to get!!" She almost sounded excited about it. :) ha!!! We really felt God's hand on us--both of us were really at peace. It was good.
Bryan had the surgery May 6 and they removed 1/2 of his thyroid. Tests came back: NO CANCER! Praise God. He is a little less lumpy these days. :)

Nana came to visit and help us during the week of the surgery. She was such a blessing!

I guess I've also been busy selling jewelry, and I've been recruited to teach G-Money's Sunday school class. BUT...I'm going to make this blog more of a priority this month.

Watch out--the sistas are coming. I'm going to have 6 kids (sometimes 8) under the age of 4 in this house. Hubby is leaving town--can you blame him?!

Pictures to come...

Monday, April 21, 2008

Who needs hair?

She has just enough to hold the bow in. Just wanted to show you, Nanni-Pan. :)

Just as a follow-up: G-Money is doing TONS better. Grandma called when she heard that he had scarlet fever and was freaking out about it. When she had it 70 years ago she had to be hospitalized for 6 weeks! I'm so thankful for penicillin. The other two are showing NO symptoms yet...I'm checking their temps like a crazy woman, though. Bryan is home for a few days before he leaves for the Men's Retreat this weekend, and I think we might get to go on a date this week sometime. Ahhhhh...that'll be nice.

Happy Monday, everyone!

Friday, April 18, 2008

Momma Called the Doctor, And the Doctor Said

This is a very sick boy.
See the flushed cheeks and the paleness around the mouth?
Combine that with a sore throat, high fever, and a RASH all over his trunk and you've got:

SCARLET FEVER is a disease caused by an exotoxin released by Streptococcus pyogenes. Group A occurs rarely with impetigo or other streptococcal infections. It is characterized by sore throat, fever, a 'strawberry tongue', and a fine sandpaper rash over the upper body that may spread to cover almost the entire body. Scarlet fever is not rheumatic fever, but may progress into that condition. The rate of development of rheumatic fever in individuals with untreated streptococcal infection is estimated to be 3%. The rate of development is far lower in individuals who have received antibiotic treatment. (From Wikipedia)

So, basically it is just a strand of strep throat. BUT...you would not believe the fear that seized my heart when I heard my sweet pediatrician say in her oh-so-calm, soothing voice, "This looks like a classic case of SCARLET FEVER." I suddenly had flashes before my eyes from childhood books...you remember the ones, don't you? I had visions of all of us contracting this dreaded disease. (We still may...)

Thank you, Wikipedia for this walk down memory lane:

But, I don't want to bore you. :) Here are some things my boy said today:
9:30 AM: "Mommy, maybe we should pray and ask God to make me feel better."
I was convicted immediately. Why hadn't I already done this aloud with him?? So, we prayed and then we went outside to play. (Where the above picture was taken.)

After the drama of the afternoon when his fever spiked and he couldn't stop crying/screaming in pain, and then finally getting him into the doctor at 4:00, he says, "Mommy, I think I want to go to the doctor every day to make me feel better." It's amazing what an extra dose of Tylenol will do. He's convinced that just walking into that office healed him.

Coincidently (?!) we read the story about Jesus raising Jarius' daughter from the dead and his healing of the "very sick woman" (who had been bleeding for 12 years) tonight. It was a great time to talk about His power to heal. Isn't it cool how God did that? G-Money was listening so intently, and I think I cried through the whole story. I could relate so much more to Jarius after today.

Bryan was home for the most critical 3 hours of the day before he had to leave again for the Session retreat. What a blessing that I could go to the doctor with only the one, sick child and not all three of them.

My dear doctor wrote a prescription for all three children. This is highly contagious, so we may all get it. :) Fun, fun. I'm praying against that. Aloud. With my children. :)

Thursday, April 17, 2008

When Daddy's Away...





What a week!
Mom, Dad, and Bryan all left me on Monday.
Here is what has happened this week:
  • Hair appointment (baby Caroline came with me). Very relaxing for the Momma.
  • Playdate with friends in their newly-dirt-filled backyard. This was fun for all involved. The boys dug in the dirt, the Mommies chatted and the girls sat in the swings.
  • Weaned the big girl. (WHOO-HOO!!!!!) "Missy Prissy" finally took a bottle last week and began sleeping consistently through the night. (I could blog an entire post on her sleeping habits, but I'll spare you. If you want the dirt, Becky, call me. She has NOT been textbook like my first child.) D-struction has taken to calling her "Missy Prissy". It cracks me up every time I hear it.
  • Brutal virus strikes G-Money and he wakes up with puke in his bed.
  • Pukes again this morning. (but, D-struction claimed it as his own. In his words, "Mommy, I'm sick. I spilled." as he points to G's puke on the floor.)
  • G-Money runs a fever of 99-102 all day long WITH Tylenol and Motrin in his system every 3 hours.
  • It snowed about 5 inches last night. It is April 17 and we have snow on the ground. And, I'm excited about it because it is moisture for my flowers and for the grass!! Things will be greener tomorrow because of it! :) Hooray!!

Bryan comes home tomorrow for a few hours and then leaves again for the Session retreat.

But, you know what? I'm really doing ok. I know God is sustaining me and giving me what I need right now. I've had good times with friends and I know my husband is getting away and being refreshed with other godly men. Praise God for that!

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Elloree Grace





There is something so sweet about meeting a newborn. It struck me today when I met my new niece. I walked into the room and there was my dear sister holding this precious little girl and I was just reminded of how amazing life is. God creates these little people and then gives them to us to cherish and grow and teach and love...I got to meet someone for the first time today who is going to be one of the most important people in my sister's life! Her daughter! We don't even know her yet and she is precious to us. We love you, Elloree. We are thankful God gave you to us, sweet girl.
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Baby Girl!!

Elloree Grace Flippin
April 1, 2008
2:24 am
7 lb 9 oz
20 in.

Congrats Aunt Shinny and Uncle Todd!!!!

(pictures to come after I visit today...)

Friday, March 21, 2008

Our visit with Nana and Papa


Before Nana and Papa came we made a list of things to do with them during their trip. I've posted them for you to enjoy--we accomplished them all! The kids LOVED having them here (and we did too!) It was such a treat. WE MISS YOU!!!
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1. Visit Air Force Academy





The boys went to the AFA one afternoon while the girls went shopping!
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