Christmas festivities

  The past couple of weeks have been wonderful!  My wonderful mother in law, Linda, arrived a week and a half ago. Right when Linda walked in the door, Kate squealed and did a happy dance as she ran into the living room to then turn right back around and run the other way! She definitely got her shy bone from me. We had a happy few days in Del Rio, shopping, running errands, and getting ready for Christmas, and then headed out to San Antonio on Friday.
  First stop, to see Santa!  We didn't get to see the Bass Pro Shop Santa like we had hoped (his free tickets sold out), but the Sam's Club Santa made Kate just as happy!  ...Abby, not so much.

  We had a great time enjoying the city Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. Saturday evening, I ran my half marathon with Melanie Strong and did way better than I thought I could. 2 hours and 3 minutes!!

  Sunday morning the hotel does a weekly rubber ducky race in their wading pool for the kids staying at the hotel. The kids decorate a duck and then all are dumped into the pool at the start of the race.  We weren't paying a ton of attention till we noticed Kate's duck was towards the front of the pack. Her duck ended up winning third place and she won a stuffed elf!
  We then checked out of the hotel and headed to Denny's with the Strongs. Breakfast was delicious but more importantly, fun for the kids. They were laughing up a storm and having a blast with each other, all while getting some food into their tummys.
  Tuesday Paka arrived. Kate was thrilled!  We had been telling her all week that she couldn't open presents till Paka was here. I realized the day before Russ arrived that Kate was planning on opening presents right when he arrived and so I explained we had to wait one more day after Paka arrives to open presents. She understood well enough because we all survived Christmas eve just fine!
  While Andrew was driving to the airport to pick up Russ on Tuesday, Linda, the girls and I went over to the Strongs to make and decorate Christmas cookies. Kate complained of a tummy ache after we got home. I'm sure it had a lot to do with all the cookie dough and frosting she was eating... which means she had a wonderful time!

  Christmas eve morning, all six of us went to gymnastics to cheer on Kate.  She was fairly overwhelmed with all the support she was getting and was not happy the first half of class.  She eventually warmed up to everyone and had a great second half of gymnastics.

  After we got home, we put all the Christmas goodies we had previously baked onto plates to be delivered to our friends. We then delivered our goodies with a 10 second snippet of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas".  I have gone over to the other side...of mommyhood, and decided to make my family sing while delivering Christmas goodies. Something I slightly dreaded when I was a child, but still have good memories of doing. 
  Our day of being out and about was finally done and we were able to sit down and enjoy ourselves, for one minute, before throwing the girls into the tub for a quick bath. We then opened one present, matching family pajamas, and sent the girls to bed so Santa could come.

  Santa did a wonderful job of setting up presents and I'm sure he had a ton of fun getting everything perfect for Kate and Abby's first Christmas at home. Once Kate woke up, it was go time. Everyone else got up before she was allowed out of her room and cameras were at the ready! ...well, one camera. Mine was dead.

  Santa ended up bringing a toy train and a Anna doll for Kate and a teddy bear and elephant toy for Abby. Kate was super excited about her toys and then saw Abby's new toys. I thought we might have a problem but after I told Kate Santa had brought them for Abby she excitedly took them over to Abby to show her her new things.
  We opened presents for a while and didn't get around to opening a few of the girls's presents because they were so happily playing with their new toys. (We did eventually open them at the end of the day.)

  Breakfast was delicious. I was able to Skype with my family while my little brother, who is on a mission, was skyping them. It was great seeing him but hard saying goodbye. I'm so proud of him and the work he is doing. Andrew and Russ went shooting in the afternoon and dinner was in the evening. It was a wonderful day and we feel so blessed for all our family and friends that love and care about us.

  I love the Christmas season. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for giving the world the greatest gift, his son, Jesus Christ. He truly is the reason for the season.

House full of sickos

  The past three weeks have been full of one sickness after the other. This time of year Andrew seems to get sick and then stay sick forever, however, the rest of us are usually fine. Not the case this year as you can see by the picture below.

  Three weeks ago Kate had pink eye and an ear infection. Two weeks ago Kate threw up all over the Durango. Two days later Andrew and I caught what she had. A few days after that Abby got pink eye and Kate a double ear infection. They both are now working on getting over the latter string of germs but I now have a cold and can barely breathe out of my nose. Not to mention, every time I bend down my head feels as if it is going to burst.
  With all those sicknesses set aside, and forgetting about Andrew's ridiculous-drawn out-crappy work situation, we are doing great!
  We are SO excited for Christmas!!  Grammy is arriving Monday, Friday is my half marathon, Paka is arriving the following Tuesday and then a couple days later is Christmas!!!
  Kate is kinda understanding what is going on.  She loves helping me wrap presents and putting them under the tree.  We baked gingerbread men last week, which she also loved. Every time we go to Wally World she spots at least two dozen Santa's. I feel like my excitement makes her excited and then me seeing her get excited makes me even more excited!  It's a wonderful circle to be in.
 I still have a few more presents to get and make and wrap.  My goal is to have everything ready, wrapped and sent by the time Linda gets here so we can just enjoy our time together as a family and not have to worry about running around last minute.  It is looking to be a wonderful time of year!

Is your face hurting? Cause it's killing me.

  I can remember when I was little taking baths and eating popsicles in the middle of the night whenever waking up with a high temperature. Well, that happened this week. My poor baby Kate woke up Monday morning at 2 am with a fever of 103.5. She's never had a fever that high and I wasn't sure exactly what to do so I sat her on the couch while I consulted Dr Google. Turns out my mom knew exactly what she was doing! Reading what to do made all the memories of being young and sick flood back to my mind. So bath and popsicles it was. And some Little Bear, Kate's favorite TV show. And no heavy blankets, just bed sheets. I can remember feeling freezing cold and wanting to pile on the blankets but my mom insisting I only use one measly bed sheet. Well, I am now that mom. Bed sheets it is!
  Abby and I got sick at the same time Kate did, however, we are feeling much better. Things have only gotten worse for Kate. This morning we went on a family outing to the clinic. Kate has an ear infection and pink eye. The pink eye started Monday afternoon. I was hesitant to diagnose her but now regret it because she could've started antibiotics so much sooner. The poor thing.  She's been a trooper though! No complaining at all from her but I want to cry every time I look into her eyes. She insists they don't hurt but man, oh man, they sure do hurt to look at.
   Oh, and Kate is still potty training extremely well! I put a pull up on her Monday when she was feeling the worst. I didn't think she would be super happy pulling her pants off to go potty every couple hours, especially with body chills. With that in mind, I did not ask her if she needed to go potty at all the entire day. She ended up taking herself and not once went in her pull up! I am one proud momma!

Halloween

  Halloween this year turned out to be a fun holiday! Everything went great. Wednesday was the branch's Halloween trunk or treat. We don't go to a ton of church activities, not sure why because we usually have a good time, but I'm glad we went to this one.
  It started off with a chili and corn cook off/ dinner. It was yummy and Kate surprised me by eating an entire corn on the cob, by herself! The trunk or treat was a nice success. Andrew handed out candy from our trunk while I took Kate to go beg for candy from everyone else. I wasn't expecting her to say much, because she usually doesn't - to others that is, but once Kate figured out candy was the reward to saying "trick or treat", she was spouting out the phase to everyone that even remotely looked like they might give her candy. I couldn't keep my smile in, beaming at how adorable my little girl is. :)
  Because trunk or treating was such a hit with Kate, we decided to let her repeat the experience on Halloween night. I wanted Andrew to be able to experience the adorableness of Kate beggin' for candy so I stayed home with Abby to give out treats. We had an okay amount of kids, not enough to clean out our candy stash though. All the kids were well behaved, for the most part, and had costumes on. In years past we got more than a few older kids, not dressed up at all, going around with their Walmart sacks trying to get candy.  The lack of effort exerted and the entitlement of free candy vibe they gave off kinda ruined the experience for me. But this year we didn't get any of that. Like I said, a fun holiday experience!! I look forward to a pleasant repeat next year.

Columbus Day

  Today was a wonderful day! Andrew had the day off and because of the beautiful weather we decided to go have lunch at the creek. Best idea ever. We all had a blast!
  The dogs loved running around, eventually jumping into the water to chase some fish. After eating our lunch, we took a nice leisurely walk around the creek with Kate happily dragging Cleo everywhere she desired to go.
  Once back to where we had started, Kate and I got into the water as well. Kate had a great time but not as good as she was hoping.  She kept asking to swim in the water which was not going to happen. It was quite windy and only 70 out. We are Texans so those two factors together equals too cold for a swim.
  We still enjoyed ourselves and left with two happy girls, one totally asleep and the other almost to that point.
  At home, Andrew beat me at a game of monopoly for the third time this week, beat me at a two out of three game of Yahtzee, beat me at a three out of five game of candy land, AND beat me at a two out of three game of mancala. Gahh! Andrew is a nice winner and I do like playing with him so my losing streak might continue if I can convince him to play some more.
  Like I said, a great day!!

Wet spot on the couch...not necessarily a bad thing.

  So, Kate took a long bath tonight. She was probably in there close to an hour. Totally fine by me because she was having a great time playing in the water and Abby was having a great time watching her. However, whenever Kate takes a bath she drinks a lot of the bath water. Also fine by me because she is rehydrating. But...what goes in must come out. 

  After Kate was done with her bath, I wrapped her up in her towel, sat her on the couch and told her she must NOT pee on anything. She is only to pee in her diaper or on the potty, something she is terrified to even talk about.  Side note-I have attempted to start the potty training process many times with Kate. I have been stubborn for extended periods of time urging her to sit on the potty and refusing to give her any snacks, sweets or soda till she goes to the bathroom on her potty. It all ends in lots and lots of tears on Kate's part, so I give in.  Anyhow, last week she sat on the couch, naked as a jay bird, for a good half hour without peeing. I put a diaper on her once I realized how long it had been and not even 15 minutes later her shorts were wet. She had peed so much that her diaper could not hold any more. I was proud and surprised Kate could, and did, hold her bladder while sitting on the couch.
  Tonight I attempted to repeat last week's experience. I was doing dishes while Kate was watching a movie, naked, on the couch when Kate informs me that she has peed.  ...ummm, what!?  I checked and sure enough, her statement was true.
  Gahhh! I didn't want her to feel so bad for what she had done that she starts crying but I also wanted to take the opportunity to perhaps persuade her to sit on her potty. That way I could explain, again, where I would like her to start going potty.
  As soon as I pull out the potty Kate's tears start to flow. I attempt to distract her from what she is doing by counting with her. It works!! We count to ten, then twenty, then twenty again. After each sequence I ask her if she would like to try and go potty. Nope. Nope. Nope!
  Then I try explaining how her potty chair works. While showing her where she should aim to pee some spit falls out of Kate's mouth onto her seat.  I mistake it for pee and say, "Yay! Good job, keep going!"  So she does!!! Kate went pee in her potty!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  I was ecstatic which made Kate very happy and proud of herself, so much that she didn't want to get off the potty! I am hoping, oh so very greatly hoping, that Kate wants to keep going pee in the potty.  We shall see tomorrow!   :)

Hondo

  The last time I went to a corn maze was in Rexburg, ID with my family home evening group, about...6 years ago. Holy cow, that is a long time ago!!! Didn't realize it was so long till just now! Ha! Anyhow, we went this past Saturday with the Strongs and had a great time together.
  The corn maze was in Hondo, which is about 2 hours away, so we packed a ton of books, toys and snacks for the drive. Even though the girls didn't sleep almost the entire way, Kate passed out 10 minutes before we arrived, they both did great.
  Right when we got there we did the corn maze. There were 10 pages, all different categories, with clues to help you through the maze. We grabbed three pages; scouting, biblical facts and tiny tots. The kids had fun running through the corn and kicking up dust as they went. There was a ton of dust, everywhere!

  Once we were done with the maze we headed over to the slides. Oh my, how the kids loved the slides!  They would have gone down the slides till they passed out from exhaustion had we allowed it. We didn't. Instead we grabbed some yummy fair food. Smoked turkey leg, grilled chicken sandwich, the yummiest French fries I've ever had in my life, and a funnel cake. Oh.my.yum. 

  Afterwards we headed over to the hay ride which took us to the pumpkin patch. We did not buy any but the kids had a good time trying to pick them up.

  The rest of the evening was spent jumping, eating, feeding the goats, sliding and running around.

  The girls slept most of the way home which made for an easy transfer into bed.
  Spent Sunday morning doing a ton of laundry while listening to general conference. Man oh man, was that water dirty from all the dust. Extra rinse, Mr. Washing Machine? Why yes, please!

Well, shit.

  Didn't have the greatest night's sleep last night. Andrew got more bad news yesterday, something I did not foresee coming at all, and it kept me up the majority of the night.  My emotions have been going through fits of rage, disbelief, and sorrow, splattered with a lot of not so nice words.
  I gave up with sleep at 6 and decided to distract my thoughts with mindless searching of the interweb. Mostly looking at places to move to. Far away from here. 
  I heard Kate making noises in her room at 7:45 but wanted her to play for a little bit before getting her up for the day. I decided at 8:15 that I was in need of one of her make-everything-better-hugs and opened her door.
  I was not expecting what happened next. A massive wave of the nastiest smell hit me square in the face. It smelled like Duke had exploded everywhere.  Everywhere! I looked around Kate's room and could not see a trace of poop anywhere.
  Then I looked down at Kate. She was oozing from her diaper. There was poop on her pants, her shirt, her blankets and her pillow. Oh.my.gosh. Worst blowout ever.
  I have now gotten her cleaned off and cleaned up, scrubbed her clothes, started a load of laundry and cleaned the bathroom.
  Even though it was quite the mess to clean up, it was exactly what I needed to start my day!  I had been dealing with an over flowing amount of shit, pun intended, in my mind all night and morning. I couldn't wrap my head around it all, still can't, and I couldn't get my mind off of any of it. Go figure I'd have to deal with actual shit.  Just what I needed to get my mind off of mine and Andrew's troubles for a few moments while I cleaned up my sweet baby girl! 
  I've always known that life is unpredictable. Heaven knows I could have never foreseen this coming. This mountain we are climbing in our lives right now seems pretty massive at the present time. I hope and pray that it will look just like a grain of sand in the very near future.
  For now, I will keep having faith in the Lord, that He is watching over us and that this will all work out eventually. 
   For right now, at least, I will be happy with sweet hugs and cuddles from my clean baby Kate!

Another boat day

  Went out on the lake again this weekend. Had a great time with the Strongs. It was perfect timing too. We got out around 2:30 and were home by 7. Not too long but still long enough to have a fun time.
  The Strong kids wanted to ride on our boat back to the dock so I hopped up front with them while Andrew drove us back.  It was rather nerve wrecking for me because I had 4 kids to be in charge of not falling off the boat instead of one.  My heart jump started a few times but the kids had a blast!
  

Birthday weekend

  We had a fun weekend with the Strongs celebrating the twins' third birthday. The weather was finally cool which I loved but it was accompanied with lots and lots of rain. I don't mind the rain but it did hold the kiddos back from playing outside as much as they wanted. Whenever the rain let up the kids would run outside to jump on the bouncy castle and have as much fun as they could before the rain would start up again.
  Opening presents was fun! I loved watching all the kids watch the birthday boys open their gifts, especially Kate!  She was very exited about everything they were getting and wanted to help open presents as well.

  At one point during the evening Kate allowed Brandon to hold her in his lap which is a huge step forward for Kate.  Usually she stays as far away as possible from Brandon, making it a game to run away from him and hide from him, peaking around the corner and then running away giggling.

  Cake and ice cream was delicious.  Kate enjoyed the "pink" ice cream and the frosting on her piece of cake.

  Kate played herself exhausted and passed out on the way home. I was able to change her diapers and put her pjs on without her waking up. Sunday morning we left early for church to stop by the Moseley's to meet their new baby boy, Campbell. Oh my heavens, he is so precious!! I totally could have held him all day. So glad he is doing well and that we were able to meet him!

Labor day weekend

  Had a wonderful 3 day weekend. We started off with a trip out to the lake on Saturday. We had a great time, as usual, but getting out to our little cove took longer than usual. We were waiting for some of Andrew's work buddies to show them the way. They told us they were only a little bit behind us on time so we figured we'd wait. Well, it was a good hour from the time we were in the water till we got to our cove. I was a bit annoyed and Kate being so ready to be in the water didn't help things. Poor thing was crazy hot with her life jacket on and all, ...I was not happy.
  Once we got the boat anchored and started playing in the water, however, things got so much better. Kate was having a great time, we were all cooled off, and, surprise to me, all of Andrew's buddies got into a big water fight with the older kids which was a blast for everyone involved and everyone watching.
  And Abby got in the water for the first time! It was a bit of a shock to her at first but after a couple of minutes she started to enjoy the water.

Right before heading out to the lake.  Abby was all ready to go, Kate...getting there.

Boating back to the dock with the Strongs

Beautiful sunset.  Not sure what Kate is doing, though.

  Sunday was good. Kate happily stayed in nursery which is always a good thing.
  Today we went and did some shoe shopping. Both Andrew and I were in need of new running shoes and Andrew also needed some flip flops. Mission accomplished.
 We had Burger King for lunch which we all enjoyed, including Kate. She is talking so much more now and the whole time we were shopping she kept saying, "ice cream, please." How could we say no to that? So off to BK for a yummy oreo shake.
  Once we got home all the girls, that includes me, took a nap, while Andrew worked outside on the Durango hooking up the wires that connect to our trailer. It took him a ton of work but saved us a good $500. :) He had to take off the back bumper, install the wires, line the wires along the under side of the Durango and hook them up to the engine. Love my hard working man.
  And to finish off our weekend, I went on a quick 2 mile run which starts off my training for a half marathon I will be running at the end of December! I've got quite the way to go but I'm determined to do it!

  Oh, and Abby just keeps getting better and better at eating solid foods.  She's starting to like both fruits and veggies!  Yay!!  Here she is enjoying some green beans.  Yum!